Weeeeeee DID ITTTTTTT!

The wedding was on December 8 and it was wonderful.

The house looked great, the oysters were tasty and the party was amazing.

Steve's family members came from as far as South Dakota.

Okay, now that I can Monday Morning Quarterback it, there are certain things I wish I could have changed. But, it's little stuff - I wish I would have twisted and turned a little bit more in front of the mirror with the seamstress. There were a few pictured where my dress gapped a little too much so you could see my bra strap.


I'd also have paid a little more attention to stuff that needed to be picked up around the house. In some pictures there are stacked bins that pop up in the background of some pictures.

What went wrong?

Our minister showed up an hour and a half late. It seems that even though we'd repeatedly told him the day, date and time he still managed to think our wedding was on Saturday. I know Friday isn't when most couples get married, but December 8th felt right. I knew that I wanted a December wedding. December 8th was my maternal grandmother's birthday and I'd always felt close to her. It was also the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, and my grandmother's name was Concepcione. Now that I read that my reasoning seems kind of silly but whatever.

Also, planning this on Friday night threw my cake lady. I'd decided I wasn't going to have a traditional cake. I was going to go with a three milks cake - it's delicious and more typical of what you might find at a hispanic wedding. But, the closer we got to the wedding the more I started to hear my mother's voice, "It just won't look the same in pictures!" And, I had my mom and dad's cake topper from 35+ years ago and I just knew that wouldn't look right on a sheet cake. So, I tromped down to Publix and orded a simple two-tiered cake they call the Simply Devoted.

In the long run, it paid off because the cake lady arrived at my house on Saturday with the cakes. Fortunately, I hadn't paid for them and it was genuinely her mistake not mine.

What went right?

Everything else.

I was mostly surprised that I wasn't nervous. Ever - even when I was sitting in the chair at the salon getting my hair done I was really calm. I just left the house and said, "I'm going to get my hair done. I'll be back." I took off by myself and it was great just being able to enjoy the quiet moments I had leading up to the ceremomy.

The food was amazing.

The oyster bar was a big hit. It was cold outside, but as oyster lovers we braved the frigid temperatures and stuffed ourselves silly with oysters. The oysters were really all I ate, but I tried some of the hot food items and they were delicious as well.

The drink - we bought a lot of beverages, but by far the most popular was the cosmo punch. I watch a lot of the Food Network and during one of the commercial breaks Rachel Ray made a quick little alcoholic punch.

Ya'll, I've never seen people go this crazy over a punch before.

Here is the recipe for your upcoming holiday parties:

Cranberry Punch (also referred to as Cosmo Punch)

1- 750 ml CranFusion Vodka
1/2 Cup Cranberry Flavored Mixer (We used Rose's)
6 Cups Cranberry-Raspberry Juice
3 Cups Fresh Orange Juice
1 lemon - Juiced
1 orange thinly sliced
8 oz fresh or frozen raspberry
1 bottle of sparkling wine.

Except for sparkling wine, mix all ingredients in punch bowl. Add sparkling wine to individual glasses.

Cheers!