The Wedding and Honeymoon

The day started off bright and early with an 8am hair appointment, wow is that ever early for a bride who loves her beauty sleep and as Eric will attest I'm not a morning person. However, I wanted to look my best for my groom! My hair turned out beautiful! It was such a beautiful day! The day was going to fly by as I was busy getting ready and ironing out the last details but there was something I needed to do so I took a moment and took a red rose to place on my grandpa (PopPop's) grave. Red roses were his favorite. I prayed with him and told him how much I wish he was there but that I know he will be walking down the aisle with me. I kissed the rose and laid it down, looking up to the sky and rejoicing in the beautiful day God had provided to us.
I then went to my make up appointment with my bridesmaids Alex and Cori. They kept me entertained and my nerves calmed. Then it was off to the church to "relax" and stress over last minute details. Right before the ceremony Eric and I decided to exchange our wedding gifts to each other. Now what do you get a computer genius/nerd that he will actually use or want? An internet capable remote start for his car of course! Eric gave me a beautiful diamond bracelet! Then it was time, it was the moment we had been planning for, praying for, stressing over and thanking God for!

The wedding was PERFECT in every sense of the word! It was truly a dream come true! Of course my accident proneness had to take the spot light when the lit unity candle I was holding fell out of the taper and landed on my dress! 911 and the fire department were spared as the flame went out on the way down. Our minister (Dr. Hartman) dusted off my dress and handed the candle back to me. Eric said it was classic Lee Ann, he knows me so well already!

As we walked down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. Stride we walked through the Arch of Sabers. It is something the Air Force does to welcome the bride into the Air Force Family. What I wasn't prepared for is that at the end the guy on the end taps me on the butt with the saber! Haha!

After the ceremony we had a beautiful butterfly release. Since I was a little girl I always wanted to release butterflies at my wedding and yet another one of my wishes/dreams came true! I always think of butterflies as a new beginning and our wedding day was the beginning of our lives together! We then got into my dad's 1981 red Corvette and drove off to the reception. The reception was filled with laughter, dancing, toasts and shoving cake into my face, thanks Eric. We were on top of the world with excitement! And so thankful to be spending it with family and friends. We danced and cried and laughed and then someone spilled red wine on the front of my dress. Not just a spot but all down the front! But hey it was about time for my to change into my get-away dress anyways!


The limo arrived, we hugged and kissed our family, then we ran through a shower of rice and confetti! The limo drove us to Hyatt Regency in Dallas. Our room was beautiful! Our flight to Cancun left the next morning. We landed and at last we were in paradise.....well sort of. It was raining cats and dogs as the shuttle took us to our resort. The Ocean Spa Resort was beautiful, the lobby and spa had been renovated. Our room on the other hand left much to be desired, apparently the hadn't remodeled the rooms yet. It rained the first two days we were there and to make it worse our room was leaking! To hopefully pull me out of the depression slump Eric decided to do some shopping therapy and what do you know, it worked! I got pretty good and haggling and was able to get some great deals on things! The next day we enjoyed a nice couple's massage and laid on the beach and enjoyed the peace, quiet and relaxation of not having to do anything! The next day we went on a zip line excursion. It ended up being a huge park that not only had several zip lines but also had underground cave rafting and amphibious vehicles. It was so much fun!
We had such a great honeymoon and are so excited to start our life together!