Kimgowski Wedding Extravaganza
Well, I've put it off too long already. We've been back from St. Croix for 7 weeks now, and we still haven't fully recovered. The idea of blogging has sounded excruciating, quite frankly. Reliving events that I wish were still our reality when instead they're only memories getting further and further away....it SUCKS! But alas, I must put the sadness aside and get my thoughts down on "paper" while they're still fresh.
When we originally came up with the idea to do this "small, simple wedding," never in a million years could I have ever imaged it would take on such a life of its own. I had so many worries, as usual. Unsure how we would entertain 30 people on a vacation, not sure if people would all get along, no idea of what the set up would be....there were just a lot of unknowns. But the party started for us the second we got on the plane, and it only continued when we ran into Sara and John at the airport in Puerto Rico. We knew we were sharing the same puddle jumper flight into St. Croix, but we didn't realize we'd be sitting right next to them! Needless to say, in the 1 hour flight we managed to cause quite a raucous and even got reprimanded by one very unhappy stewardess. :) When we arrived at the hotel, we entered this beautiful, tranquil oasis and were greeted by the friendly staff with big smiles and rum punch! Immediately my fears of the unknown began to subside. I knew at that moment, it was gonna be a fun 10 days! We met up with Erica and Brian who also arrived that day and the 6 of us had the first 24 hours to ourselves. That first night we had so much fun drinking beers and eating food. Erica and Brian had never met Sara and John although you'd never know it - it was like 6 old time friends hangin' out! That first night set the stage for what would turn out to be the best week of our lives.
The following afternoon, the rest of the gang began to trickle in. Every time someone new arrived, the party changed for the better. New relationships formed, new friendships blossomed, and more and more fun ensued. We spent most of our time in the pool or on the beach just relaxing and spending time together. Two of my biggest concerns going into this were the weather and the other guests at the hotel. Well, the weather was about as perfect as can be! Sunny, warm, and beautiful. As if that wasn't lucky enough, there were seemingly no other guests at the hotel! You'd occasionally see someone else wandering around but for the most part, our party took over the entire property - and it was AWESOME! It was like our own private resort. There was a full service dive shop on site that we of course took advantage of. We had quite a few divers on this trip so SCUBA was in full effect! Being able to walk 20 feet from the pool, get some tanks, walk down to the beach and into the water was just a diver's dream. And to top it all off, having our whole gang wading in the ocean to send us off and welcome us back in from our dives, cold beers in hand, just added a whole new level of fun to the diving experience. We all laughed about that fact that most of the time when you go on vacation, the last thing you want to do is spend your entire trip at your hotel. But in this case, it turned out to be just the opposite. Here we had this gorgeous resort complete with delicious food and plenty of alcohol (PAIN KILLERS!), a dive shop, a pool, private beach, and all of our favorite people. There was simply no need to leave! We did do a couple dives from a spot down the road which was just gorgeous - one of the most amazing dives I've ever done. All of the diving was top notch - sharks, rays, turtles, eel, copious amounts of fluorescent, tropical fish - combined with the tropical, lukewarm water; it was just PERFECT.
Sunday through Wednesday was spent just enjoying the days - enjoying the moments. We knew we had a wedding coming up but it almost didn't even feel like it! Like, oh wait, we're here to get married - that's right! I didn't think it could get any better than the last few days and here we still had a wedding in the works! The hotel staff had been so wonderful through all of the planning. Sometimes they were a little slow to respond, but that all made sense once we saw their way of life out there on the island. Everything had a "sure, whatever you want, we can make it happen" sort of undertone along with a great big smile, which is exactly what we were going for! The day of the wedding was no exception. The ONLY hiccup that day was my manicure which went HORRIBLY wrong. How does a manicure go horribly wrong you ask? Well, a clueless Cruzan woman who has never done a french gel manicure before and decides to try it out on a bride. That's how! Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper. But thankfully Colleen came in at just the right time and helped me soak them in acetone and scrape off the butchered gel (while the manicurist laughed and praised Jesus), I slapped a clear coat on myself and called it a day. I truly didn't give a crap how my nails looked, I was more upset that I wasted an hour of my wedding day! But it all worked out.
Originally I had planned to not see Bart on our wedding day, but that proved to just be impossible! Plus, it just didn't seem right. After Lauren got my hair pinned up and the nail fiasco was over, I found Bart up in our room sipping on a beer, staring out at the ocean, contemplating.....life, I suppose. We got to spend about a half hour together up in our room talking about the commitment we were about to make, and it was just such a calming moment. Neither of us had been too jittery that week. Kind of hard to feel jitters when you're living off of Pain Killers. That day I expected to feel nervous and I REALLY expected him to be nervous. But instead, we were both calm, cool, collected, and just happy to be marrying each other. It's not at all how I expected us to feel, but it was so nice. So peaceful. So fun. I'm so grateful we had that time together before getting ready to just center ourselves and enjoy a few last calm moments before the craziness begun!
Once the official getting ready began, it all is sort of a blur in my mind. It was so nice to get ready in my parents room in such a relaxed environment. Lauren was incredibly sweet to give me the gift of her hair and make up services while Amanda gifted us with her photography! Having yourself beautified by your BFF on your wedding day while your other BFF takes pictures, adds an extra element of special. As we neared 5pm I began to feel the flutter in my tummy. Mom helped me into my dress, we snapped a few pictures, and we were on our way! The girls had been working tirelessly all day on the ceremony and reception set up. I really had no idea what it would look like as all I'd really given them was "sunflowers, simple, tiki torches, and arch." I couldn't wait to see it all! I heard the music begin and as Dad and I anxiously waited around the corner to make our entrance, we shared that moment that every little girl dreams of on her wedding day. That moment where you look into your Dad's eyes and you both realize you are no longer his. You have a new man in your life now and while your Dad will ALWAYS be your Dad, and you'll always be his little girl, something changes on that day. It's both wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I felt so overwhelmed with emotions I didn't expect to feel, and I don't know that I'll ever be able to articulate that feeling into words.
When it was time to walk down the aisle things REALLY became a blur! This is one of those moments you think about for so long. Your moment to walk down the aisle. Watching the video back is pretty funny because I walked SO fast! I seemed to have no interest in taking it all in and savoring the moment, but I did! I just remember feeling so overwhelmed. I turned that corner and saw the beauty that Kristy and Mernie had created, I saw all of my favorite people sitting there amidst the sunflowers and tiki torches with a turquoise ocean backdrop, I saw Bart standing at the end of the aisle with a nervous smile on his face. It all just felt like a dream. To be honest, I hardly even remember reading my vows. After waiting so long to hear Bart's, I only half way listened to his. It was just SENSORY OVERLOAD! (Don't worry, we read them again later.) Suddenly Perry was pronouncing us husband and wife and the hugs, the tears, and the photos began! The rest of the night seemed to progress the same way. BLUR. Somehow even with such a low key wedding and so few people, you still feel so completely overwhelmed on your wedding day! Everyone wants a piece of you! And I don't mean that in a bad way. :) I didn't converse with even half of our guests, and I hardly ate any of the food I was so excited about! Although I did get plenty of Cuban sandwiches. :) What I love though is that we kept it so low key. AJ gave us the awesome gift of Billy Bass on the steel drums for the first hour and a half which was AWESOME. We had come to love Billy Bass over the course of the week, so it was really special to have him there that day. THANKS AJ! And after that, we plugged in the ipod with some background music and I watched as all of our friends and family from different times and different places in our lives, laughed together, ate together, and looked as though they'd all been friends for decades. I did make sure I got my dance with my Dad and with Bart - that was the only dancing I insisted upon. :) And then suddenly it was 11pm and the bar was closing, people were getting sleepy, and the party was winding down. Of course there's always us few stragglers left over who had to move the party up to the hotel bar and pool. One of my favorite moments from the day happened around 1am. Kristy, Marianne, Amanda, and Lauren all jumped into the pool in their dresses! I had changed by that point so I went in in my bathing suit, and Bart joined us a little while later. A few of the boys were also there and together we all had hotel security have to come shut us up! It was such a fun moment. The girls floating around in their "Mennonite dresses." It was too funny, and a night I'll never forget.
I often think about how I would have dealt with having a normal wedding. The wedding day itself went by so fast and was such a blur. Even with only 30 people it just seemed like there wasn't enough time to spend some with everyone, and before we knew it the whole day was over. The only thing that kept me from losing my mind over that was the fact that we had just had 3 days of us all hanging out, and we still had 4 more days left! Having the wedding be a mere part of the entire celebration rather than the only element was the only thing that saved my sanity! I'm not sure how other brides do it, and with hundreds of guests to boot!
The rest of the trip continued on as the first half did. Beaching, scuba diving, pooling, eating, drinking, laughing, playing, and having the time of our lives. We also did our "trash the dress" photoshoot on Saturday which turned out to be even more fun than I thought it would be! Playing in the ocean in a wedding dress is so liberating. And it gave us some amazing shots! Just before that we also had the pleasure of getting to see little baby turtles who had just hatched make their way to the ocean. It was one of those experiences that you have to be in just the right place at just the right time to get to witness - and there we were! It was so incredibly beautiful. Miraculous really. Between the turtles and the trash the dress, that day was absolutely favorite for me.
One of the things that really struck me most during this trip was the randomness of this group of people, and yet how well everyone blended together. Seeing Henry hanging out with Paul, or Sara hanging out with Kelly, the Browns hanging out with Barbara......in what other universe would these people ever be hanging out together?? And having fun together!! Another feeling I'll never be able to articulate, but it made my heart smile all week long. When it came time for everyone to leave, we were pretty much devastated. Bart and I had decided to stay an extra day and a half for a little honeymoon. But the reality was, once the party left, it just felt wrong! Walking around the hotel and hearing silence where there had just been loads of laughter was almost eerie. Relaxing in the pool or the ocean where there had just been a party and now there were only empty beach chairs was uncomfortable. The rest of that afternoon we sulked in paradise, feeling sorry for ourselves that the party had ended! But we decided we had one more day and we needed to make the best of it. We left the hotel (SHOCK!) and headed out on a catamaran to visit Buck Island. It's an absolutely GORGEOUS island just off the coast of St. Croix. There were only about 8 other people on our boat and literally NO other people on the island. The water was even more beautiful out there, and we spent the day relaxing on the beach, snorkeling (which was kind of a let down), and then having a BBQ with the boat captain and the other guests. It was a nice afternoon and we enjoyed ourselves so much that we even tried to call Delta and move our trip! We just were not ready to come home. Never have I ever heard Bart not want to leave a vacation. He is always ready to get home. Not this time!! :) But we weren't able to change our flights, so we finished our trip with one last thing. We put our wedding vows into a bottle and using a mug and a spoon, we buried it along the trail above the hotel. Our hope is to dig it up in 5 years when we come back for a reunion trip!! It was a great way to wrap up our experience, and was a really special moment between Bart and me.
There was something truly magical about this whole experience. It's one of those things where unless you were there, it's really hard to explain. 30 people from different places, different walks of life, who all came together to celebrate Bart and me. They all took time out of their lives and spent tons of money to be there with us. Not only that, but the weather, the hotel, the staff, the food.....everything was perfect. There was no drama. There were no fights, no problems, no battles. There was nothing but peace, fun, excitement, laughter, happiness, joy, elation, relaxation, and love.
IT. WAS. PERFECT.
I don't think there are many people in the world who get to experience something like that, and we all were aware of just how special it was. Every single one of us knew that it was an experience of a life time, and it's something that will forever bond us all together. One of the most special elements for me was having Moggy there. How many people get to have that kind of time with their 92 year old grandmother?? I mean really? Moggy just got right up in there with the party, as expected. Every time I saw her wading out in the water with a cocktail in hand, smiling, laughing, and soaking up the sun, it just gave me such a feeling of happiness and also a bit of sadness. I know that I'll never get to have moments like that with Moggy again, and because of that, I knew to cherish every single of them. Don't worry Mog, I'm not putting you in your grave or anything. ;) I just know the reality of the situation. And the reality is that it is unlikely I will have that experience with most people in that group ever again, but I feel so blessed to have had it once, especially with Moggy.
One of the reasons it's taken me so long to get this blog out is that I knew I'd never be able to fully capture this experience in a blog. I knew I couldn't tell every story, share every moment, or describe each day fully and completely, and that has bothered me. So I've done my best to give a summary (albeit, a long one!) of mostly how we felt during that week. Bart and I are both in agreement that it truly was the best time of our lives, hands down. I had a strong feeling it would be. I remember saying to Bart many times before the trip, "I mean, don't you realize what a special trip this is going to be? Having all of these people in one place for a week?" And he'd reply, "Yeah, I guess. But I don't see these things like you do." When we were getting ready to leave St. Croix, he said something to the effect of, "I had no idea this experience would be what it was. To have all of these people together in once place and have such an amazing time together, it's unlike anything I could've imagined." He FINALLY got to feel how I feel about family. Having both of our families there spending quality time together is something that meant more to him than he could've ever thought it would. I think it gave him a new sense of the definition of family, and that was the best wedding gift I could ever get.
And so, while every memory and every story is not detailed here in this blog, those of you who were there have your memories to hold on to! And those that weren't I think have a good idea of how it all went down. :) Now, I also couldn't include all 3,000 pictures from the trip! So I've selected 2,000 of my favorites and also included the video I made of our scuba dives. Even though you've probably seen them all already, I hope you'll enjoy another trip down the memory lane known as the Kimgowski Wedding Extravaganza! (Pics are not in any particular order)
When we originally came up with the idea to do this "small, simple wedding," never in a million years could I have ever imaged it would take on such a life of its own. I had so many worries, as usual. Unsure how we would entertain 30 people on a vacation, not sure if people would all get along, no idea of what the set up would be....there were just a lot of unknowns. But the party started for us the second we got on the plane, and it only continued when we ran into Sara and John at the airport in Puerto Rico. We knew we were sharing the same puddle jumper flight into St. Croix, but we didn't realize we'd be sitting right next to them! Needless to say, in the 1 hour flight we managed to cause quite a raucous and even got reprimanded by one very unhappy stewardess. :) When we arrived at the hotel, we entered this beautiful, tranquil oasis and were greeted by the friendly staff with big smiles and rum punch! Immediately my fears of the unknown began to subside. I knew at that moment, it was gonna be a fun 10 days! We met up with Erica and Brian who also arrived that day and the 6 of us had the first 24 hours to ourselves. That first night we had so much fun drinking beers and eating food. Erica and Brian had never met Sara and John although you'd never know it - it was like 6 old time friends hangin' out! That first night set the stage for what would turn out to be the best week of our lives.
The following afternoon, the rest of the gang began to trickle in. Every time someone new arrived, the party changed for the better. New relationships formed, new friendships blossomed, and more and more fun ensued. We spent most of our time in the pool or on the beach just relaxing and spending time together. Two of my biggest concerns going into this were the weather and the other guests at the hotel. Well, the weather was about as perfect as can be! Sunny, warm, and beautiful. As if that wasn't lucky enough, there were seemingly no other guests at the hotel! You'd occasionally see someone else wandering around but for the most part, our party took over the entire property - and it was AWESOME! It was like our own private resort. There was a full service dive shop on site that we of course took advantage of. We had quite a few divers on this trip so SCUBA was in full effect! Being able to walk 20 feet from the pool, get some tanks, walk down to the beach and into the water was just a diver's dream. And to top it all off, having our whole gang wading in the ocean to send us off and welcome us back in from our dives, cold beers in hand, just added a whole new level of fun to the diving experience. We all laughed about that fact that most of the time when you go on vacation, the last thing you want to do is spend your entire trip at your hotel. But in this case, it turned out to be just the opposite. Here we had this gorgeous resort complete with delicious food and plenty of alcohol (PAIN KILLERS!), a dive shop, a pool, private beach, and all of our favorite people. There was simply no need to leave! We did do a couple dives from a spot down the road which was just gorgeous - one of the most amazing dives I've ever done. All of the diving was top notch - sharks, rays, turtles, eel, copious amounts of fluorescent, tropical fish - combined with the tropical, lukewarm water; it was just PERFECT.
Sunday through Wednesday was spent just enjoying the days - enjoying the moments. We knew we had a wedding coming up but it almost didn't even feel like it! Like, oh wait, we're here to get married - that's right! I didn't think it could get any better than the last few days and here we still had a wedding in the works! The hotel staff had been so wonderful through all of the planning. Sometimes they were a little slow to respond, but that all made sense once we saw their way of life out there on the island. Everything had a "sure, whatever you want, we can make it happen" sort of undertone along with a great big smile, which is exactly what we were going for! The day of the wedding was no exception. The ONLY hiccup that day was my manicure which went HORRIBLY wrong. How does a manicure go horribly wrong you ask? Well, a clueless Cruzan woman who has never done a french gel manicure before and decides to try it out on a bride. That's how! Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper. But thankfully Colleen came in at just the right time and helped me soak them in acetone and scrape off the butchered gel (while the manicurist laughed and praised Jesus), I slapped a clear coat on myself and called it a day. I truly didn't give a crap how my nails looked, I was more upset that I wasted an hour of my wedding day! But it all worked out.
Originally I had planned to not see Bart on our wedding day, but that proved to just be impossible! Plus, it just didn't seem right. After Lauren got my hair pinned up and the nail fiasco was over, I found Bart up in our room sipping on a beer, staring out at the ocean, contemplating.....life, I suppose. We got to spend about a half hour together up in our room talking about the commitment we were about to make, and it was just such a calming moment. Neither of us had been too jittery that week. Kind of hard to feel jitters when you're living off of Pain Killers. That day I expected to feel nervous and I REALLY expected him to be nervous. But instead, we were both calm, cool, collected, and just happy to be marrying each other. It's not at all how I expected us to feel, but it was so nice. So peaceful. So fun. I'm so grateful we had that time together before getting ready to just center ourselves and enjoy a few last calm moments before the craziness begun!
Once the official getting ready began, it all is sort of a blur in my mind. It was so nice to get ready in my parents room in such a relaxed environment. Lauren was incredibly sweet to give me the gift of her hair and make up services while Amanda gifted us with her photography! Having yourself beautified by your BFF on your wedding day while your other BFF takes pictures, adds an extra element of special. As we neared 5pm I began to feel the flutter in my tummy. Mom helped me into my dress, we snapped a few pictures, and we were on our way! The girls had been working tirelessly all day on the ceremony and reception set up. I really had no idea what it would look like as all I'd really given them was "sunflowers, simple, tiki torches, and arch." I couldn't wait to see it all! I heard the music begin and as Dad and I anxiously waited around the corner to make our entrance, we shared that moment that every little girl dreams of on her wedding day. That moment where you look into your Dad's eyes and you both realize you are no longer his. You have a new man in your life now and while your Dad will ALWAYS be your Dad, and you'll always be his little girl, something changes on that day. It's both wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I felt so overwhelmed with emotions I didn't expect to feel, and I don't know that I'll ever be able to articulate that feeling into words.
When it was time to walk down the aisle things REALLY became a blur! This is one of those moments you think about for so long. Your moment to walk down the aisle. Watching the video back is pretty funny because I walked SO fast! I seemed to have no interest in taking it all in and savoring the moment, but I did! I just remember feeling so overwhelmed. I turned that corner and saw the beauty that Kristy and Mernie had created, I saw all of my favorite people sitting there amidst the sunflowers and tiki torches with a turquoise ocean backdrop, I saw Bart standing at the end of the aisle with a nervous smile on his face. It all just felt like a dream. To be honest, I hardly even remember reading my vows. After waiting so long to hear Bart's, I only half way listened to his. It was just SENSORY OVERLOAD! (Don't worry, we read them again later.) Suddenly Perry was pronouncing us husband and wife and the hugs, the tears, and the photos began! The rest of the night seemed to progress the same way. BLUR. Somehow even with such a low key wedding and so few people, you still feel so completely overwhelmed on your wedding day! Everyone wants a piece of you! And I don't mean that in a bad way. :) I didn't converse with even half of our guests, and I hardly ate any of the food I was so excited about! Although I did get plenty of Cuban sandwiches. :) What I love though is that we kept it so low key. AJ gave us the awesome gift of Billy Bass on the steel drums for the first hour and a half which was AWESOME. We had come to love Billy Bass over the course of the week, so it was really special to have him there that day. THANKS AJ! And after that, we plugged in the ipod with some background music and I watched as all of our friends and family from different times and different places in our lives, laughed together, ate together, and looked as though they'd all been friends for decades. I did make sure I got my dance with my Dad and with Bart - that was the only dancing I insisted upon. :) And then suddenly it was 11pm and the bar was closing, people were getting sleepy, and the party was winding down. Of course there's always us few stragglers left over who had to move the party up to the hotel bar and pool. One of my favorite moments from the day happened around 1am. Kristy, Marianne, Amanda, and Lauren all jumped into the pool in their dresses! I had changed by that point so I went in in my bathing suit, and Bart joined us a little while later. A few of the boys were also there and together we all had hotel security have to come shut us up! It was such a fun moment. The girls floating around in their "Mennonite dresses." It was too funny, and a night I'll never forget.
I often think about how I would have dealt with having a normal wedding. The wedding day itself went by so fast and was such a blur. Even with only 30 people it just seemed like there wasn't enough time to spend some with everyone, and before we knew it the whole day was over. The only thing that kept me from losing my mind over that was the fact that we had just had 3 days of us all hanging out, and we still had 4 more days left! Having the wedding be a mere part of the entire celebration rather than the only element was the only thing that saved my sanity! I'm not sure how other brides do it, and with hundreds of guests to boot!
The rest of the trip continued on as the first half did. Beaching, scuba diving, pooling, eating, drinking, laughing, playing, and having the time of our lives. We also did our "trash the dress" photoshoot on Saturday which turned out to be even more fun than I thought it would be! Playing in the ocean in a wedding dress is so liberating. And it gave us some amazing shots! Just before that we also had the pleasure of getting to see little baby turtles who had just hatched make their way to the ocean. It was one of those experiences that you have to be in just the right place at just the right time to get to witness - and there we were! It was so incredibly beautiful. Miraculous really. Between the turtles and the trash the dress, that day was absolutely favorite for me.
One of the things that really struck me most during this trip was the randomness of this group of people, and yet how well everyone blended together. Seeing Henry hanging out with Paul, or Sara hanging out with Kelly, the Browns hanging out with Barbara......in what other universe would these people ever be hanging out together?? And having fun together!! Another feeling I'll never be able to articulate, but it made my heart smile all week long. When it came time for everyone to leave, we were pretty much devastated. Bart and I had decided to stay an extra day and a half for a little honeymoon. But the reality was, once the party left, it just felt wrong! Walking around the hotel and hearing silence where there had just been loads of laughter was almost eerie. Relaxing in the pool or the ocean where there had just been a party and now there were only empty beach chairs was uncomfortable. The rest of that afternoon we sulked in paradise, feeling sorry for ourselves that the party had ended! But we decided we had one more day and we needed to make the best of it. We left the hotel (SHOCK!) and headed out on a catamaran to visit Buck Island. It's an absolutely GORGEOUS island just off the coast of St. Croix. There were only about 8 other people on our boat and literally NO other people on the island. The water was even more beautiful out there, and we spent the day relaxing on the beach, snorkeling (which was kind of a let down), and then having a BBQ with the boat captain and the other guests. It was a nice afternoon and we enjoyed ourselves so much that we even tried to call Delta and move our trip! We just were not ready to come home. Never have I ever heard Bart not want to leave a vacation. He is always ready to get home. Not this time!! :) But we weren't able to change our flights, so we finished our trip with one last thing. We put our wedding vows into a bottle and using a mug and a spoon, we buried it along the trail above the hotel. Our hope is to dig it up in 5 years when we come back for a reunion trip!! It was a great way to wrap up our experience, and was a really special moment between Bart and me.
There was something truly magical about this whole experience. It's one of those things where unless you were there, it's really hard to explain. 30 people from different places, different walks of life, who all came together to celebrate Bart and me. They all took time out of their lives and spent tons of money to be there with us. Not only that, but the weather, the hotel, the staff, the food.....everything was perfect. There was no drama. There were no fights, no problems, no battles. There was nothing but peace, fun, excitement, laughter, happiness, joy, elation, relaxation, and love.
IT. WAS. PERFECT.
I don't think there are many people in the world who get to experience something like that, and we all were aware of just how special it was. Every single one of us knew that it was an experience of a life time, and it's something that will forever bond us all together. One of the most special elements for me was having Moggy there. How many people get to have that kind of time with their 92 year old grandmother?? I mean really? Moggy just got right up in there with the party, as expected. Every time I saw her wading out in the water with a cocktail in hand, smiling, laughing, and soaking up the sun, it just gave me such a feeling of happiness and also a bit of sadness. I know that I'll never get to have moments like that with Moggy again, and because of that, I knew to cherish every single of them. Don't worry Mog, I'm not putting you in your grave or anything. ;) I just know the reality of the situation. And the reality is that it is unlikely I will have that experience with most people in that group ever again, but I feel so blessed to have had it once, especially with Moggy.
One of the reasons it's taken me so long to get this blog out is that I knew I'd never be able to fully capture this experience in a blog. I knew I couldn't tell every story, share every moment, or describe each day fully and completely, and that has bothered me. So I've done my best to give a summary (albeit, a long one!) of mostly how we felt during that week. Bart and I are both in agreement that it truly was the best time of our lives, hands down. I had a strong feeling it would be. I remember saying to Bart many times before the trip, "I mean, don't you realize what a special trip this is going to be? Having all of these people in one place for a week?" And he'd reply, "Yeah, I guess. But I don't see these things like you do." When we were getting ready to leave St. Croix, he said something to the effect of, "I had no idea this experience would be what it was. To have all of these people together in once place and have such an amazing time together, it's unlike anything I could've imagined." He FINALLY got to feel how I feel about family. Having both of our families there spending quality time together is something that meant more to him than he could've ever thought it would. I think it gave him a new sense of the definition of family, and that was the best wedding gift I could ever get.
And so, while every memory and every story is not detailed here in this blog, those of you who were there have your memories to hold on to! And those that weren't I think have a good idea of how it all went down. :) Now, I also couldn't include all 3,000 pictures from the trip! So I've selected 2,000 of my favorites and also included the video I made of our scuba dives. Even though you've probably seen them all already, I hope you'll enjoy another trip down the memory lane known as the Kimgowski Wedding Extravaganza! (Pics are not in any particular order)
On our way to get our marriage license!
Our first night in St. Croix
Our daily breakfast table.
TWISTED ROOT!
Late night drinks in the bride and groom's room the night before the wedding!
Love this picture of Lindsay. Sums up the whole trip!
Kelly and Dad keeping me cool!
A little chillaxin pre-wedding.
Jackie was one of the staff who helped us plan and pull everything together. So incredibly kind and sweet. She made us feel like family!
Colleen was a favorite among the staff!
Margie the flower lady!
Burying the vows!
Buck Island
Mom with Jackie and Ann. These 3 women made the whole thing happen!
A moment that Kristy will remember for the rest of her life...
Leaving St. Croix :(
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