Wedding!

Paul and I were forced to escape the bitter cold last week and fly to Jamaica for my little brothers wedding. Such a rough life, right? Thursday morning we got up at 0'dark early and headed for the airport. Unfortunately for the body scan watchers I got selected for a body scan. Of course. (For the record, it wasn't that bad). We were delighted that the flight turned out to be on time and we headed for Miami. We had a nice 4 hour layover in Miami and after what felt like 6 hours we finally boarded our flight bound for Montego Bay! Once we landed in oh-so-warm Jamaica we were herded like cattle through immigration and luckily our 2 bags and my dad's 9 bags (yes, that's right 9...it's cheaper to bring stuff rather than ship stuff to Jamaica) all made it with no problems and no questions! My brother had arranged our airport transfers so we found our bus, popped open a Red Stripe (one of 3000 that were consumed by the guests of the wedding over the 4 days. Again..not kidding) and headed to our final destination: Negril.

The wedding was at a boutique hotel called The Rockhouse. A GORGEOUS location right on the cliffs of Negril. The hotel is small so all the guests couldn't stay at this one place. My mom was at a place called Tensing Pen and Paul & I stayed with my Dad, my aunt and a few of their friends at a villa right down the road. The villa was perfect. The scenery was stunning and we had a cook to prepare us meals. Can you say spoiled? It took longer than expected for us to arrive at the villa and shortly after we got there it was time to go to the Rockhouse for welcome cocktails. The welcome reception was being held poolside and there was some unbelievable wind that night so we didn't stay too long at the welcome. We were all exhausted after a super long travel day as well. We said some hellos and they left to go back to the villa for dinner!

Woke up Friday morning to a gorgeous day. I was so thankful to be able to sleep in! I rolled out of bed and onto the pool deck where I stayed for a while. I read, played scrabble and just generally laid by the pool until it was time for the wedding rehearsal. Paul, who can't sit still, explored around a little and jumped off a 24 ft bridge at my mom's hotel. My dad and I headed out for the rehearsal and after that I helped Natalie (my dad's wife) prepare for the big rehearsal dinner they were hosting later that evening. We finished that up and went up to dress up for the big night. We started the evening with a cocktail reception and then dinner, then dancing. The whole evening was really fun. A bunch of my brothers friends toasted (roasted?) him and then we all spent a lot of time on the dance floor. A super fun night!!

Saturday was wedding day! Again, the day was gorgeous - bright, sunny skies! Paul and I spent the morning exploring the little town where we were. We bought a few things for the kids at the roadside stands, got offered to buy some "Bob Marley" and had a BBQ lunch at our villa. Before we knew it was time to get ready for the ceremony. The ceremony was held on the restaurant deck of the hotel. It was a gorgeous setting. I promise to post some pictures. I was a reader in the wedding so I got to sit up front and see all the action up close! The wedding was supposed to start at 4:30 but apparently a little glitch in the make up area postponed it for a bit. We were starting to get a little nervous that Ginnie was going to jump on one of the party boats docked near us and get forget this whole deal but thankfully she didn't. She was a gorgeous, gorgeous (I realize I've typed that word a million times but really...she was) bride. She looked absolutely stunning. The ceremony was really sweet and the pastor who was a friend of Brad's did a great job. After the ceremony we enjoyed cocktails (hmm..I've typed that word a lot too) and then headed over to the pool for pictures. The pictures are sure to be beautiful with the sun setting behind them! The reception spot was decorated beautifully. They had a reggae band and DJ. There was a buffet dinner and the food was great. The evening was really a ton of fun!

We headed back home a little too early on Sunday morning but as it turns out we were glad to have left early since many of our friends ended up with flight delays! Our kiddos missed us but were well taken care of by my sister in law and mother and father in law. It was a wonderful weekend away...just what we needed in the middle of December. Coming back to this cold was not so fun though..not at all! Pictures coming soon!!