Becoming a Wogavino!
Monday was an ordinary day. The sun rose and fell, Doug made me a brilliant scrambled eggs and bacon (mmmm bacon – pause for daydream about me having cuddles with some rashers of bacon) and, our kids demanded all sorts of things from ice cream to transformers. It was for all purposes a very typical Monday. Except that Monday was the day that Doug and I got married. You see, further to my last post “Marriage – the evolution in my mind”, we ACTUALLY did it. Us, being the crazy peeps we are, followed through with our plans to privately and semi-secretly elope and I have to say, with 1000% honesty, it was the best decision we EVER made.
I’m not sure what goes through other couples’ minds when they decide to plan a wedding and why some people have the weddings they do. I think some people like to believe that bringing ALL OF Pinterest to life will be like hitting the mother load of weddings, one even Kimye would be jealous of. I am certainly not being critical, to each his own. Every couple is different. Speaking personally though, the one thing that Doug and I were adamant about was that our day was simple, relaxed, personal and that of course, we had as much fun as we could possibly muster into a Monday night.
Now why Monday you might ask? I mean, when I was sauntering around town with not a care in the world on Monday, attending various appointments and even partaking in a spot of shopping, peeps were all up in my grill about, and I quote “who gets married on a Monday?” WE DO MO FO’S! WE DO! Quite simply, I loved the idea of a leap year wedding. Something different, something unique, something that rocks around every 4 years because it’s a day too darn special to have every year. Now, before anyone asks, (1) no I did not nor will I ever care about the lack of anniversary presents every year (I am totes not a diva and am actually a horrible gift receiver); and (2) how will we celebrate our anniversary for the next 3 years??? Who knows, maybe have a 2 day bender spanning February 28th and March 1st because … LOVE!
With the date in mind, it was time to consider the how and the where. Seems Doug was like this energizer bunny, uber excited about the prospect of gaining a wifey and he took charge of the where perfectly by securing a beautiful 80ft boat, the “Silverado” that remained a surprise until the moment I stepped foot on it (this guy … saaaah amazeballs).
I was in charge of the how! I would love to say that I searched for days for the right way to celebrate this amazingness, that I scoured the earth for the perfect vendors to do their thang and that I struggled intensely with the never ending decisions to be made about the ceremony. If I said that, it would be absolute bullshit because those who know me know that when it comes to events for ME, I would do none of that. Instead, it took my all of 30 seconds to find the page for The Elopement Collective and to ask my wonderful friends Josh Withers and Brittney Snow-Withers to just plan the shit out of our day and let me go back to watching every episode I could of Supernatural on Netflix. AHHHH Netflix!
Any who, that’s exactly what these brilliant humans did. They secured the best of the best with Josh Withers (celebrant extraordinaire) and Wilde Visual (cutest and most charismatic videographer I have met ) flying in from Queensland and Izo Photography (such brilliant brilliant talent) and Bits and Blooms (their bouquet blew my mind) right here from Perth, and they created a mother truckin masterpiece! Literally, all Doug and I did was sign some paperwork, sent through details of the boat, requested a poem to be read and turned up. The rest was left in their more than capable hands and we could not be happier with how it all unfolded and the ginormous smiles plastered on all our faces all night is evidence of that.
I remember everything about our wedding and the baby reception we had on board. I remember every second of the ceremony, I remember all the things our kids yelled out on the boat (“I wanna watch tv” and “Look there’s dolphins”) and I remember every syllable of the vows Doug made to me. I remember it all because there was absolutely NO STRESS; ZERO FUCKS were given about anything except looking each other in the eyes and saying, “hell yeh we do”. This is how it should be surely??? SURELY????
Don’t get me wrong. I have absolutely nothing against big weddings, nothing at all. True, they aren’t what I would choose but I have been to many many a wedding where the guest count has been 50 and over, some topping the 400 mark and I have had the most unbelievable time, last one on the dance floor and everything (not that that’s anything unusual). It has nothing to do with size (that’s what she said); it has EVERYTHING to do with how accurately that day reflects you as a couple though. I have had a fair few people question our decision to make it small and intimate and expressing their disappointment at not being at the wedding. I completely get that, I know I would probably feel the same. However, what I gently remind peeps is that you don’t get married for everyone else, you get married for TWO people, the two people in this thing together. It’s about the moments that make you stop and realise that it’s a damn fine day to be in love and that the person standing in front of you is your beginning and end, just with their smile. It’s about getting hit right in them feels because you weren’t ever aware your heart could feel like bursting from happiness.
I felt all this and soooo much more and me, the wordsmith connoisseur for other peoples’ big days, am having such a hard time articulating how our day made me feel. All I have is that my soul is content, my smile has not left my face (and I don’t see it vacating anytime soon) and our wedding was fuckin brilliant. Equally, I am blessed because the sneak peak pics and videos that have been put out from my vendors allow me to relive the bliss in my heart and mind every second since.
Today is Thursday … 4 days ago I became Mrs Gustavino (Wogavino according to Doug given his family’s Spanish background); I became a wife to the best man I know and a step mum to a little boy who warms my heart every day. I became part of something formidable and something wonderful. 4 days ago I, Dilhari Mahiepala, decided that to elope with Doug would be the most amazing way to celebrate the brilliance that is US and, without any doubt whatsoever, I was DEFINITELY not wrong.
Xxx D
Postcript – It’s a material thing and why I didn’t choose to include it strictly in the above content, but when the human I chose to love for as long as we both can surprised me with my very own pair of Jimmy Choos mid ceremony, I decided to worship the ground he walks on because not only does he have impeccable taste … this man knows me inside and out and knows the way to my heart is through my feet. That my readers is the love of my life right there!
