it was a long day, but a good one! by the time diana and i had made it to the hotel we were both exhausted from all the wonderful events of the day! it was truly a special day.
by the end of the night, after having a wonderful time, people started heading home. as the crowd dwindled, we migrated out to the reception hall lobby where there were comfortable couches to sit in! over the next half hour we played around, just enjoying the joyful celebration of the day!
all that fun and all that dancing made me pretty thirsty! i wasn't really interested in drinking any alcohol, what i really wanted was some good old fashioned diet mountain dew! unfortunately the bar at the reception hall only served coke products. i knew nothing could quench my thirst like a diet dew could. i was quite disappointed and really wanted some- in steps jeffry lee! he hopped in his truck and drove down the street to the gas station and came back with two diet mountain dew 2 liters just for me!!! thats why i love me some jeffry lee! best man? no, bestest man!
the final event of the night was diana's throwing of the bouquet. we called out all the single girls who were there to gather on the dance floor and diana flung her flowers behind her! who caught it? josh's girlfriend amanda... you do realize what this means, right josh?!?
now, its time to dance! we had gotten all the formal stuff out of the way, now it was time to let loose! for the rest of the night everyone had a great time just moving along with the music. there were a bunch of fun moments during the dancing: the girls did a little line dancing, aaron lip synced a bit of vanilla ice, and adam cut a rug with my 90 year old great aunt!
as the night progressed, we finished our meals. then it was time for some dancing! after everything was cleared from the dance floor, the dj invited diana and i to come and have our first dance. our first dance was to the song 'better together' by jack johnson. it is a song that diana put on a mixtape she made for me when we were first dating. i fell in love with the song and it became a part of our story.
diana and i both agreed that we didn't want to go nuts with a cake. in fact, we didn't even have one out on display. we had some cake, but it was just the sheet cake that everyone was going to eat after the meal. we didn't bother with one of those fancy shmancy cakes that look good, taste bad, and cost hundreds of dollars.
my old roommate from college, robb, had a fun story to share. back in college when we were going to room together, along with rex, robb decided to spend a semester studying in belize. rex and i knew we would miss him, so we decided to make a replacement robb for that semester. here is what we did: we went to the movie theater and purchased a life size cardboard cut out of james dean, then i took a photo i had of robb and brought it to kinkos and had them blow it up to be life size. i cut out the head and put it on the james dean cutout and voila! we had a replacement robb! we kept it in our dorm for the whole first semester. rex and i got used to it pretty quick, but every time someone would come into the room they would be startled by the scary looking man standing in the corner! eventually when robb did come back it was really funny because everyone would say hi because they recognized him, even though they had never met him!
one of the last minute ideas i had for the reception was for people to come up and tell stories. it was so last minute, in fact, that i thought of it while we were sitting at the head table at the reception!
at the reception bubba and tweets got to sit at the head table with the wedding party, that meant that they got to sit with their mom and dad, which they were quite happy about. through out the night tweets hardly left our sides, she was quite taken by diana's dress and stuck close to her all night! at one point i pulled out my camera to take some pictures, and as always, she wanted a turn to take pictures! here are the photographic gems she came up with!
after we took care of clean up at the church, we all headed over to the reception hall. by the time we got there everyone seemed to be having a great time. we had gone against my mom and aunt's wishes, and didn't have a seating chart. they tried to convince us many times, but diana stuck firm and told them no. it turned out to be the right choice, i think, because there were a ton of people there who had not told us they were coming, and a bunch who said they were coming but didn't show up! if we had spend the time creating a seating chart, i think we would have just wasted our time and confused everyone!
a first look at the new family- diana and my family united together! it sure helps out that everyone really likes each other. my sister jill is really excited to have a new sister, my parents and diana's parents get along really well together!
the passage diana and i selected for our wedding was Colossians 3:12-17, which says this:"As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
...and now we're married! just as simple as that! we kissed and walked out to much cheering! after laughing with diana and high-fiveing the guys in the back of the church, the two of us headed back in to dismiss everyone and thank them for attending. diana and i hugged each one of the guests- the flower on my lapel was totally destroyed by the time we got to the last row!
here it was, at last. the day that diana and i had been looking forward to for a very very long time. i had always heard that the wedding day is supposed to be so great for the girl, its the fulfillment of all the dreams she has had since she was a little girl. well, i've got to tell ya, it was pretty good for the boy too! the ceremony was fantastic, i could hardly whip the smile off my face! everything went perfect, diana was radiant, everyone was there to celebrate with us, it was just perfect. by the end of the ceremony my cheeks were killing me from smiling so hard!
all this wedding planning and the ceremony itself doesn't actually make you married, in case you were wondering. the thing that actually makes you married is this little sheet of paper! pastor randy insisted that we sign the wedding certificate before we walked in for the ceremony- i guess that means we were really married before the whole thing even started!
we headed back upstairs to see the girls. up until this point i had never seen diana's wedding dress. i had successfully avoided it for the past 8 months and had no idea what it looked like.
the girls have been at the church for a little while already getting dressed and ready. the guys arrive around noon and we head down into the basement. we find a room that would work nicely for a changing room, and head in. each of us brings our tux with us and we proceed to change. we were joking the whole time about different things, but had to choose our words carefully with jackson there!
after breakfast we all arrived at the church to get ready for the days events. a busy day is ahead; the weather looks good, the sky is clear, the nerves are calm, everyone is joyful and excited. i this is going to be one to remember!
finally! the day diana and i had been waiting almost a year for is finally here! the day starts off with diana and the other girls heading out to get their hair done. the guys and i plan to meet up for breakfast around 10:30 am. but before we do that, diana's dad and step dad still needed to get their tuxes.
after talking with my brother, i headed into the rehearsal dinner. everyone had beaten me in, so i was the last to arrive. we had the dinner at uccello's in caledonia. we had our own little banquet room off the the side all to ourselves. it was a really great time, and the food was amazing!
ever since the summer i knew my brother wasn't going to be able to attend the wedding. it was a very unfortunate thing that i was really bummed about, but thats what happens when you've got a brother in the military. since he wasn't going to be able to be a part of the celebration, i knew i would at least be able to talk to him the weekend of the wedding on the phone, and i eagerly awaited his call!
diana and i arrived at the church just as everyone else was pulling in. we got into the church and greeted everyone. pastor randy, the pastor from my church (first highland crc) in indiana, arrived to organize the event and let us now what we were in for. we all gathered down at the front of the church and he gave us the rundown.
we finished up with the set-up, but our preparations were far from over! a few months ago when met with the woman who would be doing our flowers, she said that it would be important for us to stop by and check on the flowers the day before the wedding. she said that it would be a busy day and we probably wouldn't want to, but we really should. she was right about that first part! after the busy morning and afternoon, the last thing we wanted to do was drive across town to check out the flowers! but its a good thing we did. there wasn't anything wrong, but seeing them really got diana excited and pumped her up again just as the exhaustion was hitting! the flowers were amazing and looked great.
after we got the reception hall in order, the next thing on the list was the reception hall. we drove through taco bell for lunch, then headed over the the church: covenant christian reformed church. we got right to work with trying to come up with a good way to set up the stage. diana wasn't totally sure how she wanted it, other than she didn't want it too crowded up there. there were a bunch of fake trees already up there and around the church that we could use. we also brought some strings of lights, flowers, and some tulle to decorate. so we got busy! the guys moved the heavy stuff while the women told us where to put it. i strained my back a bit, and was worried that i was going to be in pain for the whole weekend, but by evening, it was all better!
friday morning diana's bridesmaids drove up to help out with setting everything up. first on the list was the reception hall. the tables were being set up when we arrived, so we got right to work. mom and aunt ruth (she and uncle don were the master and mistress of ceremonies) got busy making the center pieces for each of the tables. the rest of us strung lights on the fake trees scattered around the room. everyone offered a hand, even the kids, and we got it done very quickly! we had a bunch of different center pieces, some of them had candles, others had flowers, and all of them had rocks on the bottom of them. it took a bit of doing, but we also got my computer set up with the slide show that was going to be playing on the screens for the first hour as everyone arrived before dinner was served.
thursday afternoon i drove down to diana's to see her and her family. her grandma was in town from florida for the wedding, so we stopped over there to see her and talk with her. again, we figured we would be too busy the day of the wedding to really get to spend time with her. we had dinner there and had a great time!
thursday morning my mom and i headed over to check out the wedding programs. my mom did a ton of work getting these together, it was one of those things that diana and i werent able to take care of being out of town (and we had totally forgotten about having them... some of the details get lost when planning a wedding!)
wednesday night i came into grand rapids to get all the wedding stuff ready (i took thursday and friday off of work). diana had a bunch of stuff to do too, but had to finish up a few things in buchanan before she and the girls came up to join us. they did come up to visit shortly on wednesday night. diana had set up a dinner with her good friends josh and tshecomah. she came up with her sister and lissa. we went to josh's favorite: blue ginger. they have great chinese food, and we all had a great time. it was a chance to spend some time with her friends a bit more one-on-one than we would get to a couple days later at the wedding! when we finished dinner, we were up for more, so we went to main street pub on 28th street. it was a great time, even though i was exhausted!
one of the things that diana and i had talked about doing for the wedding was making a cd of songs that we really loved and played a part in our relationship. we wanted to make this cd and give it to our guests as a party favor at the wedding, and as a way of giving them a little insight into our lives through the music we love together. the grand plan was to take all these songs we always listened to and burn a bunch of copies to give out. in the fall we made a couple 'rough drafts' of the cd just to see if it would work. after a few tried we settled on a playlist we both liked. now all that remained was actually making them!
i have a lot of cds. for many years it was a habit of mine to go to the cd shop almost every week and pick up a couple albums. while it was fun to collect and listen to new music all the time, it leaves me with one big problem: where do i keep them? i've always been very attached to cd cases. while so many people have easily moved on to mp3s and itunes, i can't let go of the physical cd and its case! i've always thought that the artwork on the album and in its booklet is a large part of the artistic expression of the music.
i'm finally ready! after all these months of working on the house, i think i'm finally ready for a wife to move in!
one week left, and only one room to go! in preparation for diana's arrival i have been repainting all the different rooms of the house, and now i am finally on the last room!
tuesday when i came into work i found my room a bit different than when i left the night before! monday night some of the moms of my students came in to school and decorated my room in celebration of my upcoming wedding! there were ribbons, streamers, posters, bells, and a bunch of other decorations all over the room! they had even collected a bunch of different items and gave me them as gifts- each one had a message written on it: a measuring cup telling me 'make sure you bake for your new wife!', a hanger with the message 'make sure you do laundry for your new wife!', and a bunch more. during lunch i opened the gifts and had a really fun time with the kids!
the day after the bachelor party was a rough one, to say the least...
when we got home from the party, aaron realized he was hungry. adam was willing to take him to steak and shake, and i figured i'd go with him. on the way we kept cracking jokes and laughing hysterically! i went into one of my laughing fits because it was so funny! when we got to the drive-thru we had a really hard time calming back down from all the craziness. on the way back to aarons, diana called and we got to talk for a few minutes- it sounded like they were having about as crazy of a time!
after we got back from the house we waited around for about 45 minutes for the other group of guys to get back. while we waited we hung out in kitchen and messed around. aaron and jeffry lee have a white board up behind the oven, so we messed with that for a bit. mostly we just talked loudly, cracked jokes, and had a ton of laughs! a few guys didn't stick around for the other group of people to show up. tim headed out, he did have to go and pick up his three kids for the night, after all!
when it was time to go we headed outside. we had to wait a little while for the taxis to show up, but fortunately there was a guy selling chili dogs right there on the street corner! score! timmy and i each got one as we waited, and let me tell you this: it was one of the best chili dogs i have ever had in my life! timmy still rants about how amazing the chili dogs were.
the night of the bachelor party i had my camera with me, as always, and i was busy taking tons of photos. every time i would take one someone would comment on how the flash was blinding. i decided to put this to the test and took some really close up photos of everyone who came! some of them are a little too close up, but check them out anyway!
that's when the night began: we arrived at mojo's! jeffry lee pulled a few strings, so we got right in and we headed up stairs. it took a bit for everyone to get there and get in, but once everyone arrived, the party got really great! we had an amazing time doing the things that guys do at a bar! i was hoping we would be able to play pool there, but when i saw an opening and got hopeful, we realized that it was empty because it was out of order. as the night progressed we had more and more fun, for a while there we even stepped out on the dance floor and did our thang! we spent the time there just mixing it up, talking with everyone else who came. it was really nice to see all the different people mingling with smiles on their faces.
after we said goodbye to papa, we walked over to mojo's. along the way we walked through the monroe mall amphitheater. just as we were right in the middle of the floor, the huge outdoor lights come blasting on! i thought it was strange that they would come on just at that second, and then a voice came up over the speakers, thats when it hit me: this was for me!!! my buddy zagman somehow has the keys for the monroe mall amphitheater and opened it up and turned everything on! i look over to the stage, and there is adam walking out on stage with a mic in his hands! he gives a little salute to me, saying this is my bachelor party and telling everyone to give me a round of applause. and wouldn't you know it: there were a couple dozen other people walking by at just that moment who start clapping! adam proceeded to sing through an original rendition of 'the graduation song' by vitamin c. he took the lyrics and altered them so that they were about diana and i! most of the lyrics i should not share here, but trust me, they were funny! (unfortunately it all happened so fast and unexpectedly that i didn't have time to get my camera for any good pictures)
we got downtown and had planned to go to hopcats, but the place was packed. we didn't quite take into consideration that this was infact a saturday and march madness was in full swing... oops. after waiting about twenty minutes, we decided that we would move up the street a little bit and instead ate at bar divani. just as the guys were making their way to bar divani, my dad called and said that he couldn't find a parking spot anywhere downtown. (in case you are wondering: yes, i did in fact invite my dad to come along with us for my bachelor party. why? because he's cool!) he drove up and i hopped into the car with him to drive around a bit and help him find a place. we ended up going into the parking garage at the b.o.b., it was almost totally full, so we had to go to the top level! when we finally arrived at bar divani, the guys had started ordering and we joined them. they were already having a blast! it was really funny to see my brother-in-law hanging out with they guys along with us, it was really cool that he fit so well into the mix! after a little bit of time, even papa was digging it! he chatted it up with adam and kevin and seemed really at ease around everyone. the food was delicious and we all had a great time talking and laughing. next stop: mojo's!
by six o'clock everyone started showing up. jeffry lee, aaron, rex, freddie and i were already at jeffs place from seeing the movie earlier. soon, the cars started pooring in! we had a huge collection of people, all the guys in the wedding: jeffry lee, aaron, rex, my bro-in-law tim, and the two ushers adam and dusty, and we had a few other people join in the fun too: zagman, max, and even aarons little bro kevin! we were all set for an awesome night on the town! jeffry lee, dressed all fancy, was the man in charge for the night, and he had planned ahead and called a couple taxi's to bring us downtown.
ah yes, the rite of every young man as he prepares for his wedding day: the bachelor party! jeffry lee, being the best man, was in charge of planning this party. and he took his job very seriously! we had been talking about and making plans for this for a couple months now, and now the day finally arrived! i didn't want anything too shady, not the stereotypical bachelor party stuff, i just wanted to hang out and have a good time- and we did!
jeffry lee, rex and i had planned on hanging out for the whole day, so we started right away at noon! i headed over to jeffry lee's house and we hung out while rex drove over. when we were all together we stopped in for lunch at applebee's. we chatted and enjoyed the food. after that we went to the mall to see 'i love you, man' with aaron, freddie, and max. the movie was hilarious, and provided us with a running joke for the rest of the night: 'slappin' da bass!'
i headed up to grand rapids on friday, the 20th. jeffry lee and some of the guys were up for something, so we met up at fridays (big surprise, huh?). as a nice surprise chris kootje was there! wow, i hadn't seen him in about a year and a half! it was really great to catch up with him and hear about the excitement in his life (he recently got engaged)! we just hung out there for a little bit, because at nine we went to go see 'watchmen' across the mall.
on diana's last day at home depot her coworkers took her out to hacienda for a good bye party. it didnt start until 6:00 pm that night, so i raced right out of work and drove straight there, and i actually made it there in time! diana didn't know i was coming, of course... we had a great time, a bunch of her work friends were there and shared some stories of the great times they had had at work... well, at least about good times they had there avoiding work! it was really cool to see everyone together one last time.
we are having so much fun here in riviera maya, we have been so busy enjoying everything that i've only got a minute to update! this place is really amazing, its so beautiful! we have been spending our days soaking up the sun, and our nights enjoying the delicious food.