My Fairytale Wedding

Every little girl dreams of having the most perfect wedding day and well, I was no different.  A dress as breathtaking as Cinderella’s, gorgeous hair and makeup, vibrantly fresh flower arrangements, family and friends, and most importantly: prince charming.  After finding and falling head over heals in love with my prince charming, it was finally time for me to plan what would soon be one of the best days of my life.

As an engagement gift, one of my girlfriends gave me a wedding planning book. As I started to flip through the hundreds of pages, I became insanely overwhelmed and frantically shoved it under my bed. Who knew the wedding checklist for planning the perfect wedding would be over 1000+ items long. It was way over my head!

To be honest, I don’t really care about the linens, menu, or the tedious seating chart. I simply just wanted to marry my best friend and have a damn good time while doing it. Well, I made a wish… and it came true.

After going back and forth between having a big wedding or a small one (and wanting both) we came up with the perfect solution. We decided to elope. BUT, we wanted, well, we needed our immediately family with us, (obviously)…and then post honeymoon, we would throw a huge wedding reception party to celebrate… well actually, two HUGE parties to celebrate. 

Since Tahoe doesn’t have much of a shopping selection, let alone any sort of bridal boutique, my mom, sisters and my soon to be mother-in-law, took a trip to Sacramento to find my Cinderella dress. After 2 different trips and almost a dozen stores later, I found the perfect one. It was more than I ever dreamed, it was absolutely striking, every single detail of it. 

Almost our entire immediately family was planning on vacationing in Hawaii in April, so we got the others onboard and picked the location: Hana, Maui Hi. Hana is Serene and Mystical and is completely isolated from the rest of the island, especially the particular venue, a private black sand beach with a backdrop to die for. 

Although we eloped, we had everything you would have at a traditional big wedding. A girls day with bar method, a pamper party and champagne. And a boy’s day with hiking, exploring, swimming, and of course, tequila! 

As the time got closer to the hour we were to wed, nerves of happiness and joy were exploding throughout my body. And then, the time came. Walking down the beach with my dad, hand in hand, to marry my handsome husband. My eyes were full of tears, and as the Hawaiian ukulele played faintly in the background, I glanced around. We were completely surrounded by our family, and at that moment, I was the happiest girl in the world. 

As the ceremony began, my breath was completely taken away, not only because of the huge event that was currently taking place, but because the man who was officiating us was wearing a thong and cape. As he chanted, yelling for our ancestor’s blessings, the sun found it way perfectly over us. My whole body had goose bumps because I knew that not just our immediately family was present, but all our loved ones above.

Since our wedding was in absolute paradise, we decided to have a luau for our reception. We had an amazing Hawaiian band, hula dancers and tiki torches galore! We ate good food, danced the night away, threw back tequila shots, heard some hilarious speeches and cut the cake. (My dad even busted out the worm!) It was truly a night I will never forget, a night I replay it in my head over and over again, wishing I could do it all over again. 

Everyone always says your wedding day is the best day of your life, and they couldn’t be more right.  As Helen Keller once said, “The best and most beautiful things in the world can not be seen or touched –they must be felt with the heart.” Although there was a lot to see and a lot to touch, that feeling I felt in my heart will never fade away. I am now a wife. I am now Mrs. Wallace. And I will forever be grateful for our magical wedding. Chris and I are now one!

xoxo. 

Always. Shine. Bright. 

Photo Credit: Eric Rasmussen, professional extreme sport pohotgrapher