If you didn’t know, Mr. Skripgraf and I were married in sunny Mexico Mexico United States Michigan Mexico
We chose the resort based completely on an internet friend I made via TripAdvisor. This is actually the second time in life I have contacted a user from TripAdvisor, so I would recommend doing this any time you have a travel question as it has yielded great results for me. My friend, Mylene, is French-Canadian and had her wedding at the same resort in February 2010. She could not say enough good things about the resort and the wedding and because the resort allows children and they were available during my mother-in-law’s winter break, our decision was made.
We flew in Wednesday for our Saturday wedding. Two 1-hour meetings after we arrived and the wedding was officially planned and on its way to actually happening. At this point we still had no idea what to expect. We saw two other weddings happen before our own, but each one only had a handful of guests and so it was difficult to gauge how our party of thirty-two would fair.
The Wedding
Mr. Skripgraf and I were not nervous during the days leading up to the wedding. It did not hurt that we were able to enjoy the sun, our families and friends, and some delicious libations during those days so it would have been hard to not be relaxed. I did feel some jitters the day of the ceremony, but that was more related to being very aware that every stranger on the beach that day would have their eyes fixed on me for at least the walk to the wedding gazebo. (And not just their eyes, I found out, but cameras as well.)
The wedding was really nice. Better than I imagined. The flowers were beautiful, the song we chose was actually too short for the walk down the aisle but I don’t think people noticed, and besides the extreme wind the weather was perfect. We exchanged vows and at the end a bottle of champagne was popped open which surprised me for sure. We exited the wedding to Culture Club’s “I’ll Tumble For You.”
After the ceremony, the photographer finished up his pictures and I must admit that by this point I was tired of having a camera up in my grill. I did get a little impatient…to the point that I did not even care when some middle-aged women were totally trying to photobomb my wedding pictures. Luckily my maid-of-honor’s boyfriend told them to take a hike. The pictures turned out very nice, at least to my untrained eye. Finally, the party could start!
After the wedding was a cocktail hour at the Barracuda Bar. This was the beach bar complete with swings that is right on the ocean. The sun was setting as we had a few cocktails and horse-de-vores and by this time the nerves were gone and we were thrilled to be married.
The Reception
The reception was by the adult pool and happened to be next to the outdoor sit-down seafood restaurant on the marina. I thought for sure these diners would be a little irritated that a wedding was interrupting their quiet, romantic dinners, but actually several people congratulated our wedding group and said they were glad we were all having such a good time. We also had some other “guests” who were drinking the mini “Coronitas” on their balconies and watching us dance the night away. There were white lights they put on the trees and I think the food was good. We chose to do a buffet since we knew there was a chance that we could choose a plated dinner selection that someone would hate. At least with a buffet there’s little chance someone would hate everything on it. The DJ was fun and I thought he did a great job playing plenty of 80s, 90s, and current hits. He played Journey and that makes any wedding reception complete, in my bookJ Again, my expectations were exceeded because we did not have much direct input into anything.
The Crashers:
I was hoping for wedding crashers and we got them. There were a couple of people sidled up to the bar in bathing suits (shirtless!) despite the sign that said “private party.” Once more people made it to the cocktail hour from the ceremony they probably became uncomfortable enough to leave. Or the dirty looks my mom gave them frightened them away. There were two people that wandered over to the actual wedding reception. It was very obvious our party was a wedding and not some sort of special buffet the hotel was putting on. Big round tables, people dressed up, and a gal in a white dress. They checked out the buffet as about half our guests watched. I was hoping they would help themselves because there was plenty of food and I was curious what they would do since there were exactly enough seats for invited guests and no room at the inn for them. My father-in-law, however, did not find this amusing and he walked right over and told them to make like a tree. I guess they spoke a language of Eastern European origin, but I don’t buy that they didn’t realize this was a wedding. In any case, they left and my dream of a dramatic crashing scene was crushed;)
Karaoke:
There was supposed to be karaoke at the resort’s “club,” Desires, so we thought this would be a fun way to finish the night since our reception could only go until 9:30. When we arrived it was clear that the guy running the show, Giovanni, absolutely did not want to do karaoke that night. Seeing our disappointment he begrudgingly agreed to let us have an hour of karaoke. The Cutters did a great rendition of “Cruisin’” which was their own wedding song and so I thought this was a perfect selection. My sister-in-law (SIL#1) and I bit off more than we could chew with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” but my brother, Bro#1, helped us out and I think it was fun. My college gal pals and I turned back the clock with our usual “Like a Prayer” complete with mimed dance moves and Mr. Skripgraf performed a wide selection of music as he loves karaoke more than anyone I know. Eventually Desires (best whispered in a baritone voice) turned into a dance clurb so the people who were left danced the night away…at least until midnightJ
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