The Bells & Whistles

Our civil ceremony was so lovely and special with the darling little commissioner and our immediate families (minus Marc, Efua & Albert) that I felt like I had no need for the "bells and whistles" ceremony. The civil ceremony was so poignant, touching, celebratory and fun, that had we not been so far along in our planning for the other ceremony I might have opted to save some coin and forgo the Spanish wedding. Now, after having experienced Spain and the whole kit and caboodle, I am so happy I didn't.

Upon waking in the beyond gorgeous honeymoon suite at the Roommate Migueletes Hotel in Granada (a hotel I highly recommend by the way), one of my first thoughts was "I want to do that again!!!" It was such a great party!

My dear friend and co-homeowner Sean officiated the ceremony and did an extraordinary job. It was personal and very beautiful -- I cried pretty much from the moment I saw all my beloved guests smiling as I walked in with my dad to the final moment when Peter broke the glass and everyone shouted Mazeltov! The setting was gorgeous -- Albaicin and Alhambra smiling upon us --but the very personal sermon, the unity candle ceremony that included the kids, the Spanish arras ceremony, the breaking of the glass, and of course the final kiss where what really made it special. The reception was equally glorious. The food was divine, the drinks were flowing and the dancing...oh the dancing! We danced all night. The DJ was spectacular and we got to do the hora. Having attended so many Jewish weddings, I was quite jazzed to get up in the chair myself. We also had Haitian music, Spanish music, and everything in between. Peter and I danced the whole night and we weren't alone. At one point my 8-year old stepson came up to me and said his legs really hurt from dancing so much, but he couldn't stop dancing. My thoughts exactly!

When the music finally stopped at 2 a.m. I was sad to see the party ending (although I was happy to be heading on over to the aforementioned honeymoon suite with my new husband). I'm so happy I didn't stop at the civil ceremony and went forward with our decision to party heartily with my dearest family and friends.

Of course, under no circumstances did I ever consider skipping the honeymoon, which turned out to be even better than my already high expectations. I'll write more about that next time.