Jorge and Laura’s Wedding Ceremony, Hacienda Teya

*Note: These are all pictures taken by various guests/family members. Within a few weeks, I hope to have the official ones from the photographer! Sorry if these are a bit limited.*

Last Thursday, everyone in my family took the 3-hour trip from Cancun to the beautiful city of Merida for our wedding.

The first thing we did once we got to Hacienda Teya was the rehearsal. My awesome sisters had made me a bouquet for the rehearsal out of bows and ribbons from the gifts we got at the bridal shower.

We spent the rest of the day getting hair and makeup done, while eating some Burger King. I was pretty calm the entire day, and the stylists were telling me I was the calmest bride they’ve ever seen. I guess I just knew everything was taken care of, and I was mostly just excited to see everybody at the reception.

My family got to the hacienda around 5:30 and spent some time taking pictures.

ME! about 20 minutes before the wedding.

My Uncle John did the ceremony, with the help of a friend who translated. Everything went very smoothly. Two bridesmaids read from 1 Corinthians 13 (everybody does it, I know, but I just love that chapter!) My sister Sarah read in English, and my friend Damayanti read in Spanish.

My sister Noelle and my dad performed one of my all-time favorite songs, Rock of Ages. It was beautiful!! (I cried… not gonna lie) I hope the photographer has pictures.

During the vows, Jorge began to cry and couldn’t continue on for about 30 seconds. He was embarrassed about it, but everyone thought it was so sweet (including me). I later found out that when Jorge started crying, all my uncles/cousins/guy friends in the crowd also started to shed some tears. Awesome 🙂

We threw in some Mexican traditions, including the arras (exchange of 13 golden coins to represent how we share financial responsibilities), and the lasso (a Catholic tradition when a cord with a cross on it is placed around the bride and groom’s necks, symbolizing their union in Christ). I hope the photographer got pictures of that, too!

Before the ceremony, I was nervous it wouldn’t turn out well because of all the translations, plus the mix of traditions we were using, but I have to say it was one of the most beautiful ceremonies I’ve ever seen, thanks mostly to my Uncle John. He did a great job of having everything so organized, so profound, yet so simple. I know, I know, maybe I’m just bragging, but SERIOUSLY! It really was a perfect ceremony. A few minor glitches here and there, but mostly those little things make for great stories later.

The groomsmen

Cousin Aubrie with the cute little hand fans we handed out to the ladies... very useful to cool off and to dry tears, so I hear.

Jorge's dad taking my mom to her seat... I still keep hearing about how gorgeous my mom looked at the wedding 🙂

My bridesmaids: I love these girls 🙂

Jorge's cousins as flowergirls (dresses made by Jorge's grandmother)

Daddy and me

 

Me trying not to step on my dress as I sunk into the carpet/grass

 

Bubbles!!

My favorite part of the entire thing was the setting. As Jorge and I listened to my Uncle John preach, we had a great view of a beautiful bamboo forest behind him. Not to mention the lush plants growing all around the garden walls. If you notice, we really didn’t have many flowers or decorations for the ceremony because, quite frankly, the space is perfect just as-is.