Dawn and Mark’s Jamaican Wedding

Time to talk about the reason we were all in Jamaica, Dawn’s and Mark’s wedding, mon!

The wedding was on the Saturday after we arrived, and on our first night we had an impromptu bachelorette party for Dawn, in the same pink shirts we all wore at her actual bachelorette party in Ottawa.

The wedding didn’t start until 4:00, so I hung out at the beach all morning with Sherrie until it was time for the bridesmaids to get ready in Dawn’s sensual suite.

We stayed under a palm tree in the shade as I didn’t want to be a lobster in my bridesmaid dress, and Sherrie had gotten burnt in the sun the day before.

Dawn’s mom’s best friend Illona offered to do all of our hair for the big day, which was GREAT because I suck at doing my own hair. I also have very thin and fine hair (like it dries absolutely straight naturally, which is good because it is easy, but it always looks the same), and the girls all know this and let me get my hair done last, which was very nice of them. I was really afraid of it falling out.

All of our hair turned out beautifully (and stayed beautiful all night long), and I loved the colour of our dresses. We popped against the white of Dawn’s beautiful wedding dress.

So Dawn brought enough glasses for the entire wedding party. And she had a beautiful pair of mustache glasses for herself to wear.

But back to Dawn’s dress. It was gorgeous. I loved the style on her and the detail and the beading. She was absolutely stunning in it. Troy really liked it also.

Of course Troy was invited to the wedding (but we lost him the night of the wedding, sadly, and we checked the Lost and Found every day but he never turned up).

Once we were ready, it was ceremony time. Sherrie was a diligent photographer during this, so all photo credit goes to her for these pics. The ceremony was right on the ocean, and with the breeze it never felt too hot. It was just such a gorgeous setting. Paradise and a half!

It was a BEAUTIFUL and touching ceremony. Dawn and Mark wrote their own vows and they were funny and heartfelt and romantic all at the same time. I am pretty sure everyone had tears in their eyes. I certainly did, especially when my little Dawnald was speaking.

It was really funny when they received their marriage license, because it was huge…

Dawn and Mark were all “YEAH MON! We won the lottery!”

We took a TON of pictures.

Nice ones…

And of course funny ones…

And then we went over to the spa and took more…

And a beautiful pic of us girls with the hot couple…

Which is probably my favourite.

Dinner and the reception took place in the Asian restaurant, but we ate from the Italian menu, which was my favourite menu of all the restaurants on the resort. It was SO, SO good. We started with potato and leek soup…

And for my main I chose the beef.

Which was amazing. I loved it. Cleaned my entire plate.

Dessert wasn’t bad either.

We did the speeches during dinner, and the bridesmaids planned a special rap for Dawn to the theme of “Fresh Prince of Belair” (which I downloaded the music for). I think Dawn enjoyed it, it was pretty funny.

Dawn and Mark had a beautiful first dance…

Lovers.

By the time we did the bridal party dance, the cake-cutting, the father-daughter dance, and the mother-son dance, it was time to clear out of the restaurant and move onto the dance party.

But first we dropped by Dawn and Mark’s room to quickly grab our things that we had left in there, and we noticed that their suite had been changed into a romantic retreat and the resort staff had filled up their jacuzzi with water and rose petals. So Dawn helpfully tied Mark’s shirt into a knot so it wouldn’t get wet…

And then he got in.

And then we all hit up the Infinity Bar, which was having a “White Party” that night (perfect theme).

And when that place finally closed we went to the disco, which is open until 7am. And things got a little crazy…

Maaaan it was a fun wedding. We had a really great time. I was so glad to be a part of it, and had so much fun with all the guests the rest of the time on the resort. Destination weddings are really where it’s at.

I am also happy to report there were no embarrassing piggyback moments. Wins all around.