Day 5, 27 April 2002
Saturday the WEDDING DAY!

All is calm, all is bright. . .
6:30 am to 9:00 am: Breakfast
Tried to get more then six hours of sleep that night but was unsuccessful. There were the nightly croaking tree frogs and the daily impact of the rising sun on your face. And oh yeah the brief panic attack after the rehearsal dinner. I can't believe I'm getting married, not necessarily to Dan, but the fact that I am at all. I asked him, "Are you nervous?" but he was as calm and cool as a duck on water. Damnit.

Breakfast with the family

Breakfast as usual with the whole family on the terrace. We arranged for the Inn to have a nice fruit and muffin spread for everyone each morning that they're all here.

The day looked promising as far as rain and lack thereof. Billy and a staff member were setting up paper lanterns in the bar area and open-aired living room.

Staff hanging lanters in the open-air living room

9:00 am to 1:00 pm: Poolside R&R
Dan and I decided to stay put today by the pool and not risk another fiasco like the day before. By 10 am the troops next door from Hacienda Tamarindo arrived to join us poolside. Thalika and I had float racing games and splash all morning while the others play croquet on the lawn. Dan stayed under the palm trees, slathered in SPF 1000, wide-brimmed hat firmly in place. It is a beautiful day, just a few wispy clouds in the sky.

That's Shaun getting ready to practice snorkeling...(see below)

Float races with Thalika and Li

Thoughts of that much-needed manicure and pedicure for the wedding flitted into my mind every now and then, but I couldn't pull myself away from the fun in the sun just to primp.

Shaun, zoomed in. Ha ha!

Dan relaxing under the shade. Even so, he develops a severe sunburn.

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Lunch
For lunch we all decided to walk along the beach towards Esperanza. Samir, Marcus and Amanda joined us. The sun was blazing hot as we stopped every now and then to look at little urchins gurgling in shallow pool tides. I kept an eye out for sea glass and bleached-white sea urchin shells to add to my collection at home.

When we arrived at Banana's twenty minutes later my legs felt like they were on fire. Dan's legs were practically bubbling. Ew.

Anne and Jesse were pulling out of the lot. Tim, Hayley, Keven and Dan were already at Banana's finishing up. I told Anne to meet me back at my room at 4pm to prep for the 6-ish wedding. n

Everyone commented how remarkably calm we are despite the fact we're about to get married. "You should be stressing about hair and makeup or something. Why are you even hanging out here with us??" I kind of wished I did stress a bit more, then maybe I wouldn't have raggedy talons for toenails. It's almost 3 pm before Dan and I leave our guests at the restaurant and scamper back to the Inn. Suddenly we're pressed for time! Suddenly I didn't allot myself enough time to primp!

AAAAAAAH!
3:45 pm to 5:15 pm: The mad dash to get ready

I ran to the front desk where my flowers were waiting. The bouquets for Anne and me were made of 4 variety of orchids arranged in a cascade. I would have prefered them in a more natural-looking bunch but oh well, that's my own doing for not wanting to be mired in too many details. They were beautiful besides which at the least is what I wanted. The men's boutinniers were just a single pink orchid stem backed with a sprig of green. The mothers's had larger blooms, backed with baby's breath. I abhor baby's breath so I plucked them out.

My dress, freshly steamed and ready for its debut

I showered quickly, Mom came by to "do" my hair (quick blowdry and curl), but with the tropical air it just wouldn't stay fluffy. Where are my curlers?? Ack I didn't bring any! And oh yeah my hair's too short for curlers! Why was it cut so short...? What was I thinking? Good God I look like a 10-year-old boy!

I felt radiant not so much from the impending nuptials but from the heat steaming off my scorched legs, arms and chest. Not to mention my face. That walk along the beach was not a good idea. I slathered on makeup to reduce the blotchiness and dabbled on this shimmery lotion to give myself that "glow" but I ended up looking greasy instead.

Dan shaving

Anne and Mom's huge makeup supply

Li preening

Anne finally arrived freshly scrubbed and we really start primping. All of the sudden it was nearing 5 pm and I was getting extremely nervous. Anne tried to curl her hair with hot irons but the humidity just limped them straight again. We'll just have to go au naturel. At the last moment I put on my dress and Mom quickly sewed up the open back a little, adding pearl buttons at the top.

By the way, while we were all getting ready like this, Dan was also in the same room changing, shaving, preening. So much for the bride and groom not seeing each other on their wedding day. By the time Anne and I were done preening Dan had long since finished. He was outside in the open living room mingling with the arriving guests.

After a few deep breaths and a very quick moment of bonding (me: how do i look? anne: beautiful. me: i'm getting married. anne, getting an eentsy bit teary: i know.), Anne and I emerged clutching our orchid bouquets and before we can say I DO there are a ton of pictures being snapped. The photographer snaps away. Everyone and their digital cameras snap away. My face hurts so much from all the smiling.

WEDDING DAY Part II >>