It’s the day every young girl dreams about; the dress, the shoes, the flowers, the bridesmaids, and most importantly, the groom. So here are some details, for starters.
My dress, a blessing from God, was a total accident. Jairo and I were walking in downtown Quito (Ecuador) on non-wedding business when it started to rain. We ducked into the first store we found, and there was my wedding dress, complete with veil, garter, bouquet, and flower girl basket at a price you wouldn’t believe if I told you. The owner of the store told me I couldn’t try it on unless I was for sure going to buy it, company policy. So, in a spur-of-the-moment decision, we bought it, before I even tried it on. I was so nervous going into the dressing room, but when I saw it in the mirror, I was hooked. Good thing, too!
The shoes I already had bought before I even saw my dress or new it existed. I found them in a market in Ambato (also Ecuador) and I loved them. White, embroidered, low heel (which is perfect for weak-ankled, accident-prone me) and very low price. We got Jairo’s shoes on the same day, the first pair of dress shoes he has ever liked. Before the wedding he was begging me to let him wear them to church. (Of course I said no!)
I had two bouquets, one made of fabric flowers which was beautiful, and which I did not use in the wedding but rather saved since I tossed my real bouquet, which was made of tons of white roses and cost me (get this) $10. That’s with the rose petals for the flower girl included. I love Ecuador. The flower girl, Jairo’s 8-year-old niece, ended up with it, although I’m not sure how because she didn’t catch it. She was pretty excited about it though!
As far as bridesmaids go, I had eight. Yeah. My sister was my matron of honor, but from afar because she couldn’t make it to Ecuador, so my best friend Bre had place number one as the maid of honor. Here in Ecuador the tradition is that the maid of honor wears a red dress, but my wedding colors were green and white, and I was not into having a Christmas-colored wedding, so she wore a green dress, too, but carried a bouquet of red flowers in honor of the tradition. After Bre came Jairo’s sister Mirian, then two married friends of mine, Eliza and Viviana (Viviana also happens to be my new neighbor). Then came three girls from our church, Doris, Elena (who never showed up!!), and Sara. Finally was Jairo’s older niece Nathalia, who is 13, and then my flower girl, Jairo’s other niece Genesis, who is 8.
So, all of the bridesmaids, my mom and I got ready in the basement of the church. We arrived about two hours before the wedding and got to work right away on hair and makeup. Bre was in charge of my hair, which I wore down with wavy curls, and I did my makeup, which I did pretty much normally. I wanted to still look like me! Bre, my mom, and Jairo’s mom helped my put my dress on, which had a lace-up corset in the back, and made me slightly woozy. My mom bought me a gorgeous tiara to wear with my veil which was my something new, a ribbon from my grandpa’s boutonniere from his wedding was my something old which my mom wove into my bouquet, my grandma’s handkerchief from her wedding was my something borrowed, which we wrapped around the base of my bouquet, and my garter was blue. So, all fixed up and with all the trimmings of a bride, I waited on the stairs outside for my turn to enter the church with my dad.
It’s such an interesting thing to be the bride after having seen so many friends and family members get married. It seems so glamorous, so magical. But when your day actually arrives, the only really magical moment is when the one you’re going to spend the rest of your life with promises you “till death” and you realize maybe for the first time the magnitude of the moment and what it is you are doing. Up until that moment, it is neither magical nor glamorous! It’s stressful, nerve-wracking, worrisome, emotional and sometimes down-right embarrassing!
For example, as far as things which are neither magical nor glamorous go, I’ll give you an example. Two days before the wedding, Jairo and I, our parents, and Bre all go to Misahualli, about 2 hours away from Puyo, to swim in the river and see the monkeys. When we were heading home I noticed I had a few bug bites on my leg but paid no attention. The next day when I woke up, one day before the wedding, my knee was swollen to twice its size. One day before the wedding happened to be the day of our civil ceremony (in Ecuador you have to do both), for which I had a white, knee-length dress, so you can imagine how attractive I felt walking around like that.
By late afternoon it was hard to move my leg, but the rehearsal was at 7pm. I started to develop a high fever and pain all through my body, so before the rehearsal I went with Bre, my parents, and Jairo’s mom to the hospital. They prescribed me three medicines, one of which was a shot I had to have given to me in the pharmacy. So while everyone else was getting ready to rehearse for the wedding, Jairo took me to the pharmacy where they gave me a shot of 500ccs of hydrocortisone in my butt. And you know what? It hurt like crazy! I showed up to my rehearsal crying with a popsicle strapped to my pants. It’s just how every girl imagines her rehearsal going, right? By the next day my knee wasn’t too swollen, but still painful, and on top of that my butt hurt. Factor in that my mom, my mother-in-law, and all my bridesmaids have now all seen me nearly naked, in only an adhesive bra and seamless panties, and you have probably figured out that it’s not actually as glamorous as it seems.
My not-so-glamorous day was followed by an equally not-so-glamorous night. After spending all day, from early morning hours until late at night, getting ready for the wedding, having the wedding, and then having the reception, plus having a swollen, ugly, painful knee and a sore butt, it doesn’t exactly get you super hyped for the wedding night. Jairo and I were so exhausted and I was so miserable, we just went to sleep! It was actually a relief, because there is so much pressure put on that one night, that looking back I’m glad we got to the wedding night activities in our own time, when we both actually wanted to, and not just because everyone says we should. Going through the motions when we were both so incredibly exhausted would have been such a letdown, whereas waiting until we recovered and letting it be natural was much more fun and rewarding. Take that as a tip, brides-to-be!!
Everything said and done, looking back on my wedding now, I don’t remember that much to be honest. Jairo doesn’t either! Everything moves at the speed of light on your wedding day, so if you’re a bride to be, make sure everyone takes pictures of everything!! I remember the most important things, though. I remember my dad walking me down the aisle and giving me away in Spanish that he learned the day before! I remember how my best friend Bre was trying not to cry from the moment we woke up and how she kept telling me how beautiful I was! Love you Bre! I remember walking into the church and seeing Jairo and thinking how insanely blessed I am. I remember Bre singing El Shaddai with Jairo’s brother Patricio in honor of my parents. I remember how we forgot to unhook my train until half way through the ceremony! I remember how happy everyone was for us. I remember dancing with my husband, who learned to waltz just for me. I remember dancing with my dad, too. I remember my dad praying for us. I remember throwing my bouquet, the garter (which I now miss...I think Jairo is going to buy me a new one!!), and cutting the cake. I remember almost passing out during pictures because it was so hot and I was in a corset! But most of all I remember the promises I made to my husband, and the promises he made to me, and I thank God every day for blessing me and letting me spend my whole life with my best friend.
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