Certified Coordinated Bride
Jillian
Journal Entry # 5
#JBEVERAFTER

Hi guys!  WOW!  All I can say at the moment when I think back on Jeremiah and I’s wedding day/ weekend is “WOW!”  It’s about 5 months later but it feels like last weekend that we took over Costa Rica!

The two of us were so anxious the day before getting ready.  I did all of the packing making sure nothing got left behind, but also nervous hoping that TSA didn’t take any of our things.  So in one of my other posts, I explained the significance of our wedding date 07/07.  For seven days leading up to our wedding, my amazing HUSBAND gifted me each day with a special gift, each came with an explanation of why he chose it for me.  Before we knew it we were on our direct 5-hour flight to Guanacaste, Costa Rica touching down in the warm, dewy, sunny air.  Everyone was extremely nice from the moment we got off the plane.  Our amazing travel agent (Sharon Runk) from Destination Weddings had arranged for all of our guests to have shuttle service waiting for them as they arrived to and from the airport.  As we arrived at check in we were greeted with a passion fruit drink and set off to explore before meeting with our wonderful wedding coordinator (Juan, of Riu Palace Costa Rica).  We were nervous about rainfall throughout our stay since the country is known for a lot of it.  I am so happy to say that from the moment we arrived, it did not rain at all.  It was warm, and sunny the entire time!

Fast forward to our 72 guests arriving which was so surreal yet exciting at the same time.  When I tell you we took over the resort… WE TOOK OVER!  Of course not in a bad or rowdy way, but more like… the other guests wanted to know our itinerary, asking us if they were able to join in or be around LOL.  After the second day of our guests arriving everyone knew we were the bride and groom.  The bigger superstar was our 1, almost 2-year-old son Jonah, who the staff absolutely adored.  They knew what kinds of things he wanted for breakfast along with when it was time for his milk and having it ready.

The fist night our guest arrived our itinerary went into full action.  After everyone checked in and got settled everyone started pouring into one of the restaurants for our “All White Welcome Dinner” which was followed by drinks in the “Daiquiri Bar” which had these cute purple lounge seating areas.   We also met an awesome bartender (David) who we found out was in charge of the open bar at our reception!  He created a signature drink for us called the “Long Beach” which had my blush color theme for the wedding and was STRONG.  As the drinks were flowing, somehow we ended up at the resorts disco and had a blast.  Once we arrived, the rest of the night was a blur, HA!  The next day as everyone was recuperating we left it as an excursion day, for people to do things at their own leisure so they didn’t feel pressured.  Jeremiah, myself, and a big group of our friends and family did zip lining, ATV’s, and went on an animal sanctuary tour.  Later that day we met up for drinks at the swim up bar in the pool which turned into battle of the sexes in a flip cup war where other guests joined in on the fun as well.

The next day was the wedding!  The crazy thing is, I was only anxious leading up to that point.  Once it finally came, I was shaking with nervousness.  I didn’t know why.  I mean, we had been together for 8 years, have a beautiful home together and a whole cute little human being, yet still my nerves got the best of me.  I had a calm morning to myself before my bridesmaids and my mom came in and I gave them their gifts.  We shared a good cry before it was time to go.  We had a sunset ceremony on the rooftop terrace where we both exchanged vows that we had wrote to each other.  Jeremiah kept it entertaining and came out to Rich Homie Quan “Walk Thru”.  Our songs we walked out to were Case “Happily Ever After” and the song he proposed to me to Adele “One and Only. Can you say, “Tear jerker?”  The ceremony was followed by a champagne toast and a cocktail hour before the reception.  I know everyone probably thinks they had the most fun at their reception, but we really partied hard!  To this day we keep talking about how much fun we had there.  In the middle of the reception we surprised our guests with confetti popping to greet the “carnival” which had dancers dressed in costume along with drummers.  We enjoyed a delicious 4-course meal and dessert table and our bartender already had these colorful shots ready for all of us as we hit the dance floor.  Even the staff had to join us on the dance floor and told us how much fun they had with our guests.  We tried to keep everything personal from our MUA, MC, to the DJ down to our videographer, which were all guests of ours.  Unfortunately we had a tragedy involving our photographer that I won’t speak on out of respect for the family.  But our videographer was nice enough to photograph our moments as well.

The following morning we had a farewell brunch and stayed an extra couple of days for some alone time.  Once we got back to the USA, a month later we planned a game night on our rooftop to view a video recap of our wedding weekend that our videographer put together for us that you can check out on YouTube if you put in “Jillian and Jeremiahs Destination Wedding.”

To my future Bride-to Be’s:  Stay true to yourself though out this planning process and remember to enjoy it.  Advice from another married couple that stuck with my HUSBAND and I (still getting used to calling him that) was to not get upset about the things that didn’t go the way you planned… No one will know if you don’t tell them! (Wink)  This experience was nothing short of amazing!

Xoxo,
The New Mrs.

Vendor Collaboration:
Photographer / Videographer: Sean Pacheco @seanaverypacheco
Venue: Riu Palace Costa Rica @riuhotels
Dress: @gigicouturedesigns
MUA: @ms.kendall_
Travel company: Destination Weddings @destweds