The wedding day arrived bright and early, after a night of having every guest to the house for dessert and wine. We had all been at Smugglers cove the afternoon before the wedding and had gotten acquainted for a couple of hours on that sublime strip of sand and water.
I met the groom's parents for the first time. They are lovely people and we got along wonderfully. The dessert party later that evening just cemented everyone's camaraderie and a quick trip to the much read about Bomba Shack after the guests had departed the Villa
with most of the younger people had ensured that I slept like a log that night due to happy fatigue and a bit of jet lag.
The morning dawned and there were drops of water over the deck from rain through the night. Now the sky threatened more rain and we kept going outside and looking up to see if there was any blue bits headed our way. There was plenty of blue sky in the distance though it didn't look good over Tortola. But I was confident that we had a good chance of a lovely day as I knew the weather changes fast here in the Caribbean.
Amy got started bright and early doing her own hair and makeup before starting on Shonah, the maid-of-honor. I went about getting bagels with the trimmings out on platters, and juice and coffee made and put out on the table in a help-yourself sort of way. Christopher spent most of the morning laying on his bed with his computer
while the women of the house were in happy chaos of showers, blow dryers, ironing and makeup. There were peals of laughter all morning, especially once the two bridesmaids arrived from their beach-side apartment to join in and have their hair and makeup done. One of them is blessed with a perpetual laugh and zany sense of humor and she kept everyone's spirits up and the house full of laughter for the rest of the morning.
Amy, bless her dear heart, stood on her feet from 7:30 in the morning until 3:45 in the afternoon, not taking a single break, to get everyone looking absolutely stunning. I had decided, long before my daughter had even met her man, that when my girls decided to marry I would hire Amy to do the makeup. I had worked with a lot of makeup girls and Amy's work was outstanding, especially her way with eyes. And my girls have beautiful eyes and I knew no one would do them the justice they deserved as well as she would. She didn't disappoint. I never imagined, back when I first made that decision, that I would be paying her with a trip to an exotic island.
At around 1:00 I hopped in the Montero (which we had finally gotten on our way back from Smugglers Cove the day before) with Christopher and Izzy and headed down to Long Bay so he could get ready with the rest of the groomsmen and give a hand to the groom where needed. When we arrived at the beach cabin and knocked on the groom's door, his dad answered. The groom was off with the wedding planner to find a new spot for the ceremony as, apparently, the surf was too high to have it where they originally wanted it. My eyebrows shot up. Oh really!?
Let me explain:
In the two days that the Ashleigh and Rob had been on the island before we arrived they had been busy with plans and errands with the wedding planner. On our first night in the villa my daughter had filled me in, between my frantic calls to find out where my luggage was, on what had transpired with said wedding planner. Apparently the woman, who is the most well known and used planner on the island, was very obstinate about some things; one of those things being where they chose to have the ceremony. They wanted to have it on the west end of the beach where it was away from the resort and thus much more private with less chance of looky-loos and walk-bys. Planner said no. She felt the surf would drown out all the voices and no one would hear a thing. She suggested, insisted really if Ashleigh is to be believed and I believed, that they get married on the lawn behind a building where there was a gazebo. Aghast, the bride and groom informed planner that they didn't travel half way around the world to get married on a piece of grass, they could have done that quite nicely in Vancouver. They specifically chose Tortola for it's beaches and they were getting married on that beach. Up until now, Ashleigh had never pulled the 'Bridezilla' routine but apparently came close in this moment. Planner backed down and barefoot on the sand it would be.
So knowing this, my hackles were raised upon hearing she was now dragging poor Rob around to find a new spot. "Come on" I said to Izzy, "we are going to take a look at this surf and see just how high it is." I marched (yes I am afraid I marched) down the beach to the chosen spot. Looking out over the landscape I could see that the surf was indeed very high, but there was lots of sand beyond the reach of the water's edge. At least 30 feet. Looked like a ploy to me. I marched back and found Rob had just arrived. I asked him what was going on and if this was Planners ploy to get her way of a wedding on the lawn. He said that she was right, that the surf was far too high and would likely wash away the arch and isle before they even started and they had picked a new piece of beach. I said I had just walked down there and it looked like there was a lot of safe beach to me. He said no, it was a good call, and they were going with the new location. I asked where it was and he told me out in front of the restaurant. I groaned. I knew that this was the one piece of beach Ashliegh had not wanted to use as it was right in the thick of any activity going on at the beach part of the resort. I tried to protest but he cut me off and said the decision was made [I had never seen this side of him and, although frustrated, admired his decisiveness] and that he needed his guys to come down there and start clearing lounge chairs from the area. I left them to it and headed back to the villa with Izzy. On the way we tried to figure out how I would break this news to Ashleigh. I wasn't looking forward to it.
When we walked in she was getting her hair done and she asked how Rob was and did I give him her message (I love you and can't wait to see you, or something like that) and I said yes and he had one for her (I love you and can't wait to see you too, or something like that). I then said that there had been a small glitch to their plans. Right away her face changed to one of dread and said one word, "What?" "Wellllll, with this weather today the surf is really huge down there and it isn't safe to have the ceremony where you wanted it." I cringed slightly waiting for her reaction. It came. "What?? This better not be 'the Planner's' doing." "No," I sort of lied, "Rob agreed and he has picked out another spot that he said you will love." He had said that he would make sure it was perfect. I could see she wasn't convinced. "Where?" she asked. Ok, so this was the part I didn't want to tell her. "Uh... I didn't go and look because I just wanted to get back here but it is more towards the resort." "It better not be near the restaurant." she didn't look like a happy bride anymore at all. "Look sweetie, you need to trust your guy. He said he would make sure it was perfect for you and he knows just what you want. I am sure [I wasn't at all] that you will love it." She was still frowning and I made some excuse about having to go get some ironing done and made a hasty retreat before she could ask me anything else.
I found out later that Amy talked to her about what was really happening that day, that she was marrying the man of her dreams and she was in paradise. Why let something that was beyond her control ruin the fun of the morning. Just let it go. Miraculously, it worked and Ashleigh let it go and soon the peals of laughter were ringing out from the table once again. Whew. Add saving the day to Amy as well as beautifying everyone. Asking her to come along was probably the best decision I made in this whole affair.
All too soon, the time came to take some pictures of the girls before we headed to the ceremony. It was actually 4:00 and we should be down there by now but we weren't going to miss having photo's in the gorgeous setting of the villa.
We headed down to Long Bay and suffice it to say that we could never have imagined how beautiful, how perfect, this day would turn out to be. Pastor Ricketts was amazing. To say he had never met the married couple, before two hours ago and then only Rob, the ceremony was a complete reflection of who they were and what was important to them. He made us laugh and he brought tears to our eyes. Yes, the surf was pounding and I had trouble hearing the vows, but a more fitting setting for these two lovers who are almost as much in love with the water as they are with each other could not be imagined.
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