Married!

After months and months of planning and talks and discussions, my BFF was married! It was a whirlwind of a day that literally lasted all day. I was up shortly before 9AM and went to sleep around 4:30AM. I was running off of 1/2 a cup of coffee, a coke, and a whole lot of anxious-love energy. Thanks to my amazing husband for being right there with me working just as long and hard as I. With all that said, it was a beautiful wedding, Ada made a gorgeous bride, and I was absolutely and completely honored to be her matron of honor.

Here is a shot of my make-up and my hair in progress. The make-up was a bit more than I was used to, but after I blotted the eyebrows (yes, I said eyebrows), I felt a little more like myself. My hair was not how I had originally requested, but it certainly fit the criteria of off my neck with a part in the front. I later added a brooch in my hair and I hope the photographer or someone got a photo of it.

What special event is complete without a bucket 'o rollers!

The make-up palette. 

I had to include this photo for multiple reasons. One, Don took this photo and I needed to show off his skills. Two, this is Toch, Ada's younger sister. First time I met her was 13 years ago. She was still a girl and to see her so grown-up like this...it brought tears to my eyes. I've always seen her as Ada's little sister, and by default, my little sis. When I turned the corner and saw her all done up, well, she was just absolutely breathtaking.

Anyway, after we were all done up, we battled the rain and headed on over to the venue. We get there and Don got to work and took the following photo. He was assisting the caterer, Food Drunk Food which is my cousin's company from previous posts where I've mentioned meals. My other BFF, Michael's sister-in-law and her business partner were the florists for the wedding. By the way, I took all of the photos on her guestbook table. I was very proud of myself with the way they turned out!

Mari walked down the aisle without any issue. This is embarrassing, but I had tucked my cellphone in the cleavage space on the front of my gown. Incidentally, there was enough room in there for me to keep a lollipop to award Mari with her effort for walking down the aisle without any issue. Anyway, I was glad I did, because I caught the following shots:

This is Nick putting the ring on Ada's finger. That extra bit of light was two of the three photographer's flash going off.

This is them listening to the reading. Ok, despite the rain, this venue had tons of windows which allowed the natural light to spill in there and flood the room with extra yummy light. Do you understand how difficult this was for me to not have the silver bullet and snap away photos?

This is the sand ceremony. It was quite lovely and I think this shot wasn't too shabby. Of course, I was supposed to back away when the walked up, but I paused to snap the pic and lingered a little longer than I should have.

This is their first dance, At Last sung by Beyonce.

And here's another. You can see a blur of one of the photographers in the background.

Unfortunately, my battery on my cell phone died near the end of this reception, so I was unable to capture any images from the Nigerian reception. After cleaning up this venue, we headed on over to Garland and arrived around 12:30AM. We made it just in time for them to be formally introduced along with the rest of the head table. This was a very colorful and beautiful reception. Most wore traditional Nigerian clothes, and the women donned amazing hat dresses! I sat with Don admiring all of the styles and pointing out my favorites, finally settling on one that I would love to have. Don said it looked to him to be a good cross between the Western world and Nigerian culture. I told him I liked it because the pleating and full skirt.

One thing I did take from this celebration that I plan on using during Mari's Quince is the toast. They played a gloriously fun song where everyone stood up and created a type of conga line where they danced to the front and toasted not only the bride and groom, but the parents as well. It was so great! We lingered on for a few more hours, indulging in all kinds of traditional Nigerian food, all the while I was giving thanks to God for putting Don in my life so I could finally eat different types of food without fear. I had tried a couple of times to eat Nigerian food when Ada cooked it and it was always with great difficulty. This time, a piece of cake! Speaking of, I only had a small bite of cake from the first reception and it was ok. The bite I indulged in at the 2nd reception totally hit the sweet spot!

As I drove home, I reflected on the day and immediately gave thanks for everyone that helped. I think Ada loved her wedding and I know her Mom was very proud and appreciative of all that we did. Actually, as I was giving my farewell to her mother, the look in her eyes was so sincere, so genuine, so very penetrating that all of the emotion I'd held back all day was instantly released in an overwhelming surge. I leaned in and hugged her tightly. She held me like my own mother holds me, like I hold Mari. One day, I hope that I too will share in her gratitude as a mother towards her daughter's friends. Congratulations Ada & Nick! I love you both and I hope you enjoy Mexico!

---and a very special thanks to all of you who helped out and lent a hand. You know who you are and you know you worked really hard. I hope you know your efforts were completely appreciated! Y'all are the best people on this planet!