Hi Everyone! I’m back! We had such an amazing time that words can not even begin to describe our experience at the wedding and on the honeymoon. Our wedding was everything we could have ever imagined and much, much more! From the beach to the flowers to the massive party that ensued, we will always remember that day as the best day of our lives!
I wanted to kick off my wedding posts by sharing with you the best decision we made during the entire process of planning our wedding… the decision to see each other before the wedding. Thanks to our amazing photographer, Emily Harris, for even suggesting it! I know that many choose to go the traditional route, and I thought we would too, but if you are comfortable to forgo that tradition, we highly suggest having that special moment before the wedding!
Moments after first seeing each other!
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I can vividly remember when we first told Dahlia Dude’s parents that we wanted to have a destination wedding in South Africa. Dahlia Dude’s Mom blankly stared at us for almost a whole minute, and Dahlia Dude’s Dad scoffed and rolled his eyes. Encouraging, right?
First of all, who wouldn’t want to get married here?
Cape Town Beach 
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When we were thinking about our exit, the only thing I really wanted was sparklers. I knew it would be dark out and that it would just look really cool. We are all looking a little damp because it poured a few minutes before!
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We loved our cake so much. Our vendor — Bob’s Bunz — was awesome. It tasted great, looked beautiful, and arrived in plenty of time. Each slice had one layer of key lime cake, one layer of chocolate cake, raspberry filling and key lime buttercream icing.
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During wedding planning, Plumeria Dude and I had a running joke about our “one thing.” You know, the one wedding thing you absolutely can’t live without. For Plumeria Dude, that one thing was either a dinosaur groom’s cake (so he could shove the dinosaur butt in my face) or maybe to have obnoxious facial hair or to wear a tuxedo t-shirt instead of a suit. It’s all a blur to me now.
My one thing? Was for the reception to be an awesome dance party. And I think we did pretty well on that front.
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Now on to the fun part– eating and dancing! I’ll spare everyone all of the photos of our friends and family around each table.
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Mmm, Kir Imperials!
Plumeria Dude and I were really excited about being able to spend time with our guests at the cocktail hour. We had passed hors d’oeuvres and Kir Imperials– so yummy! We did take some formal photos but deliberately limited these. I’m not a big fan of the stiff, posed shots. The light was beautiful though, and we took advantage of it.
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After some nerve-wracking waiting around (our string quartet had not shown up, so our awesome DJ had to improvise ceremony music for us!) it was finally time to start our wedding ceremony.
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As it implies, the rehearsal dinner is the meal that takes place after the rehearsal, typically the night before your wedding… I know you are probably thinking, DUH! Hosting of the rehearsal dinner is often done by the Groom’s parents and includes the wedding party, family and other close friends. But of course, since it is me…. we have decided to do it a little differently. Since our wedding takes place on a Friday night, we had originally thought that the majority of our guests would arrive at the Key Largo Hilton that morning… well, you can never make assumptions when it comes to wedding guests. We now realize that the majority are coming down Thursday morning (with some coming as early as Monday…Dogwood Dude and I won’t even be there till Wednesday morning!). This of course has altered our plans for an intimate rehearsal dinner with just our parents, brothers (one is Andy’s Best Man), sister and my lone bridesmaid, my Maid of Honor. Looks like we are now throwing a fabulous beach bbq! Thanks to Dogwood Dude’s parents, and his mother the eternal party planner, its going to be a feast for EVERYONE!
Don't get too excited....its not going to be as grand as this lovely image from Paradise-Island.org
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Before the ceremony started, I headed back to the house with my brother to keep away from the soon-to-arrive guests. It was the calm before the storm.
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