3 postponements. 2 years and 1 pandemic later, we finally had our wedding day! Now before I get into the lovey dovey details, I need to answer the question(s) I keep getting asked:

Was it the best day ever? Was it everything I hoped and dreamed? My answer is honestly no. I know I tend to be negative Nancy or as I like to call myself realistic Rebecca, but after a lot of thought, I realize all the visualization and hopes and dreams I had for my wedding day was too much for any day to fulfill with all the pressure.
Don’t get me wrong. I do think my wedding was beautiful! I think it was fun and memorable! I think it was a great time of family and friends, but I wish I told myself beforehand that it was just “a day” because I might have allowed myself to relax from the pressure.

Also since our wedding was during the pandemic, it was postponed and replanned so many times which also created more pressure for it to be perfect. And I’ve dreamed of and planned my wedding since I was 12 so this day had over 20+ years of expectation and hope. That’s a lot for any day!

So now that I got that honesty out of the way, I can go into detail about the day itself as well as advice I recommend.

Best advice: give someone your phone to record photos and videos! It’s great to be able to see the wedding from the outside perspective because the first thing I felt was regret as I fixated on the things that went wrong. But watching the videos and seeing the photos I was reminded of how much GREAT happened! Also as the bride, you’re hiding or “behind” a lot so I couldn’t see the processional or the entrances etc so it was beautiful to see it all come together.
Second best advice: as a couple, try and stay together as much as possible. You’ll be tempted to try and divide and conquer by meeting and seeing people, but you really want to have the memories together and be present together. This advice my groom and I failed at the last part of the wedding and I definitely fixated on that during the “wedding blues” aka the days after the wedding, but again looking at videos and photos reminds me of how much we did do together. So again, stick together!

Now to our day: it was a beautiful Saturday in Los Angeles, bridesmaids woke up bright and early to get hair and makeup done. We lunched on Chick-Fil-A and then took cute photos! Groomsmen also got ready together at a later time (seriously so much less work to be a groomsman!) and also took photos per my request.

City Hall: we all met up at City Hall and it was so busy! There were 3 other wedding parties and 2 quincineras all happening. I was very worried about how we would get our photos, but we were lucky and the spots we wanted (note: scope out your area ahead of time so you know where you want to take photos and have backups!) cleared out just in time. I only got a few photos so far, but they look amazing!

Ceremony: this was the grand entrance of seeing who showed up and making the public declaration of vows. This part was honestly my most favorite as it was really about my husband and I with our favorite people. And my father is a minister so having him officiated was even more special! We even got a few jokes in because life doesn’t always need to be so serious so enjoy it! I wouldn’t change anything about this. If anything, I can say the ceremony was the best ever 🙂

Cocktail hour: this was efficient group photo taking time! It was also a blur because I was just tracking in my head who needed to be where and what needed to get done. I do wish I scheduled in time to walk through the cocktail area to say hello to people. But I did hear the hor’devours were a hit so win!

Reception: also such a blur because so much was going on! I’m so proud of my schedule and adding in special touches to make it our own! We planned ahead with a choreographed first dance, father/daughter and mother/son dances and all were a huge success! I’m not a dancer by any means, but I think if you’re not a dancer, having choreography actually helps. My cousin is amazing and choreographed a waltz for us for the first dance, my dad and I did Zumba routine for father/daughter and my mother in law and husband did a tik tok dance. We definitely made it our own 🙂 then we had speeches which were beautiful! And lastly my fun special touch was to add in a married ladies toss because as your resident bridesmaid queen (9 times and counting!) I have quite a few married friends and I thought it would be fun to toss a baby blanket!

El fin: the rest of the night was saying hello/goodbye and thanking people for coming. I really wish we had more time with everyone, but it meant so much to me to see the faces and/or get texts after saying how much they enjoy the wedding. I’m also a relieved the day is over because it had taken over my world the last 2+ years! Finally we can move onward…and wait for the professional photos and videos to relive the day xo