Team Vazquez

This one is for you Bri-bri!



Tuesday: Gayle arrived at ~ 8pm after having ridden from Salt Lake City to Denver to Phoenix to Mexico to our place. We put him up in the Media Room/Man Cave.

Wednesday: Emily and Joe arrived ~ 5:30am and immediately went to bed. They had dibs on the twin bed in the guest room. Dad, Momki and Sara flew in and their plane landed 12:37pm. Brian had the day off, and I had a half day at work. When I got home Emily and I took the decorations over to Jody and everyone else went to lunch at Olive Garden. Emily and I grabbed some 85°C Cafe for breakfast on Thursday and then hit up VS for a bra to wear on Friday. I tried on every nude strapless bra in the store, and then some. I hate underwear shopping. That evening we meet with Cindy at Bolsa Chica beach and had a bonfire. We played around on the beach and roasted some hotdogs over the fire. Cindy had to leave early as Paul called complaining of some sharp pains in his abdomen. We packed up around 10pm and went home for some cupcakes and milk before bed.

Thursday: We slept in! When I woke up I set out breakfast and everyone else woke up and came out to eat. Emily and Joe borrowed some bikes and rode down to the beach to play for the morning. Brian went out for a haircut and Gayle, Sara and I went to play disc golf. We returned home around 11:30 am as Dad and Momki were coming by around noon. We sat and chatted a bit, then the guys all went out for some Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches and to spend some time on the driving range and batting cages. The ladies and I went out to get our nails lookin purty. After we went home to change and went to Stonefire Grille for a family dinner hosted by Cindy. Jennifer, Livie, and Gidz had all arrived around noon, and Danny, Julie and Omas plane landed just as we were getting to the restaurant. They came as soon as they could, and everyone had a really nice dinner. Richard, Shelley and Leslie were able to come, as well as Mike and Cheri, Grandma and Grandpa, and Cathy. When we got home, later, there was still a bunch to do. I finally went to bed around midnight after I ordered some last-minute photos to be copied at Walgreens, tied Brians and Seans ties, got wedding pictures labeled, packed an overnight bag, and made Sara and Emilys wrist corsages. Whew!

Friday: The big day!!! No sleeping in this morning. Brian got up ~5:30 to shower and get the guys out the door at 6am, before the photographer would arrive. Didnt work, they didnt leave until 6:30 am, right as the photographer walked through the door. Jennifer had ordered some silky robes for the Bride and Bridesmaids that had arrived the day before, so the guys were milling around all dressed up ready to leave, and the ladies were in silky robes, hair wet and/or in curlers and white nose strips on their faces. The guys left to pick-up Sean (Best Man) and the ladies set up in the dining room to get ready while the Photographer snapped pictures of us. Sara did my hair, then Emily took over and did my makeup.

The plan was to be ready to leave at 7:30 am to meet at the courthouse at 8am. Again, didnt happen. The Photographer took one last pic of me getting zipped into my dress then left to be at the courthouse to get the "first look" pic of Brian seeing me all dolled up for the day. I had to go into the bathroom at 7:50 to unplug the curling irons and straighteners, to much protest from the heads on the other end, and we were finally out the door at 8am. Thankfully there was no traffic.

We parked at the courthouse and Sara/Emily jumped out to find Brian and the Photographer to arrange for the Photographer to capture the moment Brian first sees me. He had a goofy grin on his face, I think it more for the fact he found this whole thing silly than for him being overcome with emotion on seeing me on this big day. We then have couples pictures taken around the grounds and inside the courthouse.

Brian and I checked in around 9:30 and wait for our names to be called while our families arrived and the Photographer took several pictures of our family and attendants. We decided while waiting to have Sean and Sara be our witnesses. When we are finally called in, I decide last minute to change my name on the documents from Waters-Vazquez to Waters as my middle name and Vazquez as my last. (A decision I now regret as I go through the process of changing my name on EVERYTHING!). We got the paperwork signed, then I asked the Officiant if she could read something I wrote before the ceremony. She said no, she could only read state approved vows. Gayle comes in to let us know everyone is seated and waiting, and I had the sudden inspiration that he would be perfect to read These Hands as he has a loud voice and wouldnt cry while reading it! I gave him the paper and asked him to read it when I got up to the podium.

We went upstairs to the courtroom and Brian and Gayle walked in, up to the front, to wait for me. Dad had been waiting in the foyer and came up to me with a big hug. We waited at the doorway and I nodded to Olivia to start playing the piano piece she had composed from our song, I Only Want To Be With You. As we started walking up the aisle, Gayle asked everyone to stand. He then proceeded to read These Hands, while I frantically gestured for him to stop. He stopped reading, then started again a moment later. I made a slashing motion across my throat, and again he stopped, only to resume a moment later. Brian finally leaned over to him and told him to wait until I was up at the front. I thought the first line "Take each other by the hands" would have clued him in!

I got to the front and Gayle began to read These Hands. I immediately started crying, it all hit me just then. This is freakin forEVER! I whispered to Brian that I had forgotten my handkerchief, and without missing a beat, Brian reached for his pocket silk, unfurled it with a flick, and handed it to me. Everyone awwwd and cheered.

Gayle finished reading, and stepped away from the podium as the Officiant stepped forward. She begins to read her "official" verbiage, then leans in to whisper to Brian and I that we can read the vows we wrote at this point if we wanted. I read the vows we agreed on, with a fairly unemotional, though very high-pitched voice, then handed the paper to Brian as he read. I realized at this point everyone was still standing! No one had indicated they could sit! Brian finished reading and the Officiant read the legally approved vows for the State of California. A couple of  "I Dos" and an unrehearsed but perfect post-vow kiss, and we were officially official.

We headed outside to quickly photograph all the different family configurations. While we were all posing and smiling on cue, one of the many homeless men in the area walked past with his shopping cart of possessions. He began to call out "Congrats!, Congrats to the Bride and Groom. Happy Wedding." He then started to sing in Spanish and serenaded us for several minutes. Everyone stopped to listen, and several joined in at the appropriate time with "Aye, aye, aye-aye." Jennifer later told us that Leslie had been standing next to her and had commented that she wished she had some money to tip the singer. Jennifer told her she too wanted to pay the singer, but that her husband would kill her. She then passed a $20 to Leslie and the singer was happily tipped.

After family pictures, we gathered around back where my motorcycle was parked. Gayle had been kind enough to ride it to the courthouse so we could get some pictures on it. I hopped on back and Brian tucked in his tie and we rode in circles around the parking lot as everyone clicked away. After several turns we pulled over, and Grandma Donna immediately jumped on and asked for some pictures with Gayle. We have several adorable ones of her posing foxy on the motorcycle.

We finished photos early and I decided we should head to Old Spaghetti Factory to see if my friends Jody and Alicia needed help setting up. Didnt do any good, I was banished from the loft we were dining in and told to relax and wait in the foyer. When I was finally allowed back upstairs, it was beautiful. They had done a wonderful job setting up all the decorations, it was beyond what I had envisioned. Brian and I were seated under a big stained glass window, in large upholstered chairs, one red one blue. Each table had a off-white lace table runner on it, topped with a scattering of dozens small skeleton keys and cherry blossom string lights along the length.

As guests came up the loft stairs they first saw the Key and Pictures table. On the left of the table was a sign I painted saying "Love is the key that opens the gates of happiness." A smaller sign next to it asked guests to leave their key to life, love, happiness, success, etc. We had a bunch of skeleton keys that also functioned as bottle openers, tied to manila price tags. Guests wrote their key on the tag, placed it in a book box, and kept the skeleton key. On the right of the table were wedding pictures from all of the family guests. In 4x6 black frames we had pictures of great-great-grandparents, aunts/uncles, parents, cousins, and even my Aunt Judy and her old partner, but new spouse, Aunt Donna. Behind them all was a 8x10 picture of Brian and me.

Across the loft from us, against the balcony, was the cake table. Atop a red glass cake stand was the small, 2-tiered Bride & Groom cake, with a cake topper fashioned out of wire reading 'finally'. It was a chocolate cake with strawberry cream filling and white butter-cream frosting, with red, silver, and blue fondant hearts around it. Behind it were the sheet cakes we got from Costco, one white cake, one chocolate cake, both with chocolate filling and frosting. Brian had picked out a cake topper, a bride and groom set of rubber duckies. One duck went on each of the sheet cakes. We also had bowls full of an assortment of 1" buttons for guests to wear in support of Team Vazquez.

Lunch was so good! Everyone enjoyed their meals. One of the reasons we wanted the reception at the Old Spaghetti Factory was the broccoli with mizithra cheese. If you have never had it, you are missing out big time. My family LOVES it and that was the big hit of the reception. In between courses Brian and I walked around visiting with family. As the afternoon wore on, some of the guests had to depart early, so we decided to get the cake cut and passed out. As Brian began to cut into the cake, his grandma Esther stood up and waving a finger at him, said "Now you be good!" He complied, and very nicely fed me a small piece of the cake, from the very large cake server. I replied in kind, but wanting to have a little fun with it, put a dollop of frosting on his noes. He swiped his finger through the frosting on the cake and then across my forehead. We laughed and he kissed my forehead, then licked off some of the frosting.

After I went to change and we were greeted as we came out the front door with a bunch of cheers and rice raining down on us. Family had decorated my motorcycle with hearts and streamers, and it awaited us to escape on. We stopped for pictures, then climbed on and rode off to check in to our hotel, pausing at the driveway exit so my brother could cut off the large 'Just Married' sign tied to the back. I wanted to keep it on, but it would have been a hazard, and blocked the rear brake light and license plate.

We checked in at the Hyatt HB where Jennifer and family had reserved a room for us. It was top floor and overlooked the ocean. Beautiful! There was a giant bouquet of red roses and a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries on the desk when we entered. A short while later we got a knock on the door and my aunt gave us our overnight bag, and the sign we had cut off the motorcycle!

My brother arrived to drop off Brians car and to ride the motorcycle back home. One look at the bike and he refused to ride it. He had some of the parking attendants help him remove all the glitter hearts and streamers before riding off. We relaxed in our room for a bit, then had a long soak in the hot-tubs until we were hungry. We had a sudden craving for nachos. We went back to the room to rinse off and found a restaurant still open that served nachos, barely making it there before the kitchen closed for the night.

It was better than I could have expected, and more prefect than I could have hoped for. Everything came together wonderfully and the small mistakes and mix-ups we just had to laugh at, they make for good memories. Everyone keeps asking if we feel any different, and I have to say, in the day-to-day, no. But, in the big scheme of things, I do feel differently about our relationship. I take it more seriously than I did, Ive committed myself to this, to us. I am also thrilled! I got to marry Brian!