Headin South for Some "Tooth" Whitening!! A Dizneydawn TR ACTUAL Update 7/14

[NancyLuvsMickey]

Congrats Dawn & Dan!!!

 

[teacher1717]

Great report so far!!! Your kids are simply gorgeous!!!

 

[Disneymom77]

What a great picture! Your family is beautiful

 

[SnowWhite607]

Well I have just caught up at the tail end of this but I am really enjoying reading about your adventures!! Congrats on your wedding! Your kids are amazingly beautiful!!

 

[jedijill]

That picture is great! Congrats on the wedding!

Jill in CO

 

[nutmegg]

Congratulations!!!

 

[MrsB1228]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing that wonderful photo! You all look AMAZING!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

WOW!!! BEAUTIFUL!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

 

[Jennifer48]

Congratulations!!

 

[Avery&Todd]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

we'll be waiting right here for Monday morning, so you can give us the scoop on the wedding!!!

 

[sue and co]

Congratulations you all look great and I'm glad you are all ok (I was getting worried there had been some major disaster).
Look forward to next week and catching up on all that has been happening).

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

Congrats!!! Super glad to see you are back-you have been missed!!

 

[burly]

wow you all look beautiful. And Dawn, your hair!!!

Congrats.


KIM

 

[lovegrumpy]

Congrats!!!! You all looked amazing. Hope
It was just like you dreamed it to be.

 

[Normangirls]

What a lovely picture of a lovely family -- and you are just glowing!

CONGRATULATIONS!

 

[fairestoneofall]

congratulations on your wedding!!!!

 

[GoofyWife]

Wow! Dawn and Dan - congratulations, Dawn, you look amazing and I love your hair - can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[Dizneydawn]

We made it home safe around 5 p.m. last night. Cars are unloaded, most of the stuff is put away and I have a huge list ahead of me that needs to get done but I know I promised wedding details so here is a few for now!

We had 19 friends and family there which was perfect since our max for the venue was 20! My sister Laura did the officiating and she really did a great job preparing the service. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing sister.

The morning of the wedding was windy and Treyner was in charge of hanging the colored netting we had. Because of the wind, it was determined to attach them to the top and bottom of the columns of the trellis. Did I mention this was three stories up?? So Treyner stood on the balcony copper ledge and held on while tying them while I swore, sweated and prayed. Nobody listens to my safety lessons in this family!

We scrubbed bird doo doo off the balcony and ledge, brought a few end tables up for the i-pod docking station and the front "altar." Luckily the house had these beautiful wood and wrought iron chairs for the guests that were originally around the massive table downstairs and I could not have asked for it to look any better. Simple and stunning. I had not been a big stickler about how exactly I wanted it to look and I just knew it would all come together and it did. The elevator was a huge help taking all the heavy stuff to the top floor!

Everyone there pitched in and did something. Leah (neighbor girl who traveled with us to Charleston last year) went with Dan to get the cakes, flowers and marriage license so he did not have to deal with parking in downtown Charleston. My friend Camilla, whom I have known since college, came and ironed all our clothes while we were on the roof decorating. Her daughters, worked on getting the music uploaded on the i-pod to play the two songs we wanted for the service. We were ready to roll by noon!

I spent an hour at the beach, just watching the boys and getting a bit of sun, then around 1 p.m., headed in, took a long bath in the jacuzzi tub and thought about my vows to Dan and the extraordinary path these last 4 years have been for us. I really spent that time centering myself and wishing my grandparents were there because they would have loved Dan and how happy I am with him.

I straightened my hair, put some curls in it, makeup applied and then got dressed. It is so WINDY on that top deck I knew any natural curls would be a disaster and the artificial ones I placed were not going to last with the humidity or wind but it gave some bounce and I will say I felt great. I usually look at strictly my weight in pictures or the mirror but that day I felt amazing and that was a gift straight from God.

The clothes for all of us came together without much planning. Carsyn's dress we had found when we went prom dress shopping. She was the only one all ready to go until the weekend before we left! I had thought of doing pinks and oranges for colors but last minute simply went with beach tones in part due to what we found. I had thought khaki linen pants and white shirts for the boys but when I saw the blue, I fell in love. I also knew shorts were more practical and would be used again vs. pants that would hang in the closet.

No joke, the Sunday before we left, we got the boys their things. The Monday before we left we found Dan his outfit and my dress...well yeah - that was found Tuesday morning! We left on Wednesday!!!!!

Looking back, maybe I was a nut job for not stressing out about those details. My sister and Dan's Mom were always asking we what I was doing and what the plan was. The truth of the matter was those were details I just knew would come. What was important to me was who could be there, the location, a nice dinner after and the fact that I was marrying my best everything.

My sister grabbed Dan so we could see one another alone in the Master Suite. She took some pics of the moment and they mean the world to me. It was emotional and meaningful and Dan started to tear up and I told him if I cried and ruined the seven inches of mascara I had on me, I would need to smack him!

We took pics inside the house, on the first level balcony and then, about 5:45 p.m. the service began. I rode the elevator up to the fourth level and took a deep breath, tried to remember all I wanted to tell Dan and when the door opened, there he was looking handsome and happy. We had not really even talked about how I would walk out to the ceremony and he just made the decision to wait and walk with me. Another minor detail that never crossed my mind but it was perfect.

Leah's boyfriend was another piece for this wedding puzzle. Chance is a music production college student who also has an amazing voice and guitar playing ability. He had played songs while people were seated and when Dan and I walked out, he sang Eric Clapton's, "You Look Wonderful Tonight." Dan kept squeezing my hand and when we stood before my sister, I looked over at Chance and here was this twenty year old kid, with a blue shirt on and these brilliant blue eyes, with the ocean behind him, playing a song to us and we had not even planned that piece of the wedding until he arrived with his guitar at the house to stay. He looked like a young James Taylor/Jimmy Buffet folk singer sitting there and I kept taking deep breaths, trying to take it all in. I love music and this was just the best gift.

This was a wedding done as inexpensive as possible in so many areas yet it all had come together in perfection. Even the sky was overcast which meant people were not melting on the roof! If I had asked God to create the perfect cacophony of senses, this would have been it and here I was, lucky to be in the wedding of my dreams, marrying the man I never could have thought I would dare to wish for.

The service was pretty short but we made it personal to us. My sister said a welcome, a prayer, blessed our rings and pronounced us. We had Carsyn read some pages from a small inspirational book we like. Treyner had earlier in the day gotten sand and placed it in a vase with glass beads we purchased and that was on the altar. He passed around sea shells we found in our few days there with a marker and asked people to write a few words of wishes for us on the shells which then they placed in the vase. Too windy for a unity candle but I wanted something we could always keep to remind us of that day and again, a last minute pull out of my hind end thought that everyone loved as did us. We played two songs in the service that we felt expressed our love for our family, each other and that day. We said our own vows to each other that we had written/rehearsed alone. Dan read his and I tried to go from memory of what I had planned but since I had nothing to concentrate on, it was easy for my head to think and I needed a few seconds to gather my composure because I was a waterfall. I kept looking at people by us and everywhere my eyes rested, they were crying as well.

That was no help at all and finally I gazed onto the ocean and seagulls and bit the inside of my mouth hard enough so I was no longer a weeping mess. I said my vows to him, then it was the pronouncing of us as Mr. & Mrs., the smooch and we thanked our guests, took more pics on the beach and was off to dinner!

I am trying to shorten some details simply because I want to keep some things private but I will tell you the laughter moments and Kavorka filled exploits!

First, Baylor hurt his neck, the night before the wedding, running on the beach. One of those muscle pulls that means you cannot move your neck so your whole torso needs to pivot to see on either side of you! You will notice in the pictures he is often not smiling the biggest and or his neck is leaning to one side because he was in so much pain.

During the ceremony, Treyner had started to tear up several times as did Baylor and being "manly" men, they tried to stop the emotion with a joke. (Gee, wonder who they got that from? ) Baylor had leaned into the other two and said, "Can I just get drunk tonight so someone can punch me in the neck and straighten it out and I won't feel it?"

Now again, those who know me and the kids from my ramblings here know #1 I do not approve or condone underage drinking, let alone from a fifteen year old. #2 My kids are totally inappropriate with humor and if it might get a laugh, it's fair game!

So the three of them are chuckling right behind Dan and I, we are trying not to laugh at their laughter and it helped me not keep blubbering as well.

Second, it was so windy up there that we all thought the vase of flowers was going to take a digger. It is the only ceremony I have been to where the ordained as well as bride and groom kept rearranging the altar, trying to block the wind and support the vase the whole service. My sister just kept smiling in front of us, talking through her teeth, praying the vase would hold on a few more minutes. I kept telling her to move closer, to block the wind. She even tried to stand with her legs a bit apart, to make herself as big of a barrier as possible.

Third, after the ceremony was done, Treyner came up to us and said, "The Jokes on You guys!!!"

We looked at him puzzled, then he explained the table we were using as an altar, was from his and Baylor's room and the drawer in it, contained all his underwear. So we had stood up there, praying and vowing, over his boxers. We all laughed except Baylor who then had to know Treyner had confiscated a pair of his underoos when he was getting dressed and realized his was up on the balcony as part of the altar arrangement!

Fourth, at the restaurant we ate at, there was an older couple behind the table Dan and I were at, who was not happy with their meal. It was an expensive place, very ritzy and after literally 35 minutes of listening to them complain, complain to every manager they could find, every waitress within ear shot, watch the woman get up and chase the head manager down, hear them tell everyone it did not matter that a $200 meal would be comped that they still were going to write the worst review Charleston had ever seen on their experience etc... I could not take it anymore.

Treyner was sitting by me and he had wanted to blow up ten minutes into our being seated.

Finally, as the head manager was sitting on his heels at their table to try and talk calmly to them and be reasonable, I could not take it anymore.

We have all had bad meals but when it is comped and apologized a thousand times for, it is obvious your experience was not being taken lightly. If they had been treated like crap, I could understand some hostility, saying I would never come there again etc. but this was like Emmy award winning tantrum for nothing.

So I leaned back (they were literally less than two feet away) and said, "Excuse me. I am sorry your experience was not what you had hoped it to be. I can understand your disappointment but we are here for our wedding and we too would like to have an enjoyable meal. If you still feel the need to express yourself could you do it at a more appropriate place like the front desk or podium, not right in back of our party."

I was shaking but my voice had remained calm and the lady, blinked at me like she just realized there were other people in her vocal space, said she understood, said congratulations to us, told the manager they were done and would be leaving.

Now what I did not tell you was that they were angry they were not seated right away, even though they had arrived 30 minutes early for their reservations. That because they had to wait, they had an $80 bill at the bar she was not happy about (because of course you are forced to drink when you wait) and they also ate 3/4 of each of their plates plus had a massive bottle of wine, in a table chiller that they had consumed most of as well. I know it was their anniversary, they came alone sans grandkids and kids to have a nice evening out and she was blubbering like her best friend had just died. Minus her bra size, I could tell you everything about their night.

I am wondering how many times they pulled this card to get free meals before?

Here is some more photos of the day!

On the first deck!

A house down from ours in front of the sand dunes!

Me and Shannon! (Shannn to many here!)

So many photographers we were looking everywhere!

Love this one!

Before the wind machine!

With my sis!

The house!

Miss. Carsyn!

On the beach!

One happy family!

Already posted this one but wanted to have just one link on the first post!

 

[Normangirls]

Oh, Dawn, I am so happy for you! I'm glad everything was just as you had hoped it would be, and just reading your description has me tearing up here at work.

The kids look beautiful, but you and Dan take the cake. You just look so happy!

 

[Dizneydawn]

Oh, Dawn, I am so happy for you! I'm glad everything was just as you had hoped it would be, and just reading your description has me tearing up here at work.

The kids look beautiful, but you and Dan take the cake. You just look so happy!

I added a few more pics to the post! Go look!

Thanks for all the kind words. It was amazing!!