Vega-McGuire Wedding

Hi everyone!
I have decided to start a blog for our family and friends that we do not see on a regular basis due to distance and crazy schedules. I will try and post as much as possible to keep everyone up with how Mark and I are doing in our first year of marriage!  Please feel free to leave comments or shared advice/experience in whatever I write about. We would love to hear all about you as well...

To catch everyone up to speed, our wedding weekend started with the Rehearsal Dinner at Blue Moon Fish Co. in Fort Lauderdale. It was a great night where both families, along with the wedding party, were able to meet and spend some time toegther before the BIG DAY.

Me & Bridesmaids at the Rehearsal Dinner

The Groomsmen and Mark at the Rehearsal Dinner

  Wedding Day 

   Saturday  Sept. 4th, 2010

Saturday morning was unusually serene for me. I woke up at my mother's house around 8am, went a grabbed my cup of coffee and headed straight for the balcony. I sat there and basically told myself that this day would go by faster than most and to enjoy and take in each minute...said a little prayer, and went inside for some breakfast that my mother had prepared for me. After I took a shower, packed Michelle Jones', a bridesmaid of mine, SUV with my dress, luggage, champagne, and gifts to be placed in the hotel room later; Mom and I headed to the salon to get our hair done and meet up with Ali Venezia, my Maid of Honor. Salon100 was my very first employer. I was a receptionist for the salon when I turned 16. Being there with familiar faces was something that made me enjoy the morning without nerves...After hair, we went to lunch and later to Neiman Marcus for makeup at Chanel. Mara did our make up and did a great job at that! After make up, we headed to Bahia Mar and started getting dressed for family pictures. The bridemaids met me in the room, where I gave them their gifts which included their matching JCrew necklaces to go with their JCrew dresses, a bottle of wine, a stemless wine glass, and matching bracelets. The bracelets are antique jewelry that was given to me, along with hundreds of pieces, by my grandmother. She has collected them throughout the years, and so I told the girls about this and asked them to keep them close as I do with my grandmother. I wanted all of the important ladies in my life to be linked with a visual reminder. It was a special moment, even under the hurried circumstances of getting ready on time, and I will never forget it.
After this, we all headed down to the garden area where Mark saw me for the first time in my wedding dress! Both he and I became a bit teary-eyed int that moment. I had thought and waited for that moment for a very long time.

Aftter family pictures were taken, I boarded the Floridian Princess and went straight to the bridal suite with my bridesmaids and mother. The time in the bridal suite was a good time as we toasted to champagne, took some fun pictures, and said a few special words to eachother.

Then  Lauren Talchik, the owner of Charter One Florida & event planner, came down to tell the girls it was TIME. As the girls headed upstairs to the top level of the yacht, my father came down to bring me to the elevator. In those moments my dad and I were arm in arm and both very excited, not believing that it was finally happening, and smiling at eachother from ear to ear. I grew up very close and raised mostly by mother...in that moment, I was so unbelievely calm knowing that " my daddy" was right there with me. As the doors opened, we tightened up our grip and made that special walk together.
Mark was waiting at the end of that aisle with a smile, took my hands, we said our vows, and celebrated our first moments as Mr & Mrs McGuire.
The reception followed immediately after where we danced to our very first song, "I Do (Cherish You)" by Mark Wills.  Mark dedicated this song when we first started dating...it meant so much to us to dance to THAT song followed by another of our songs, "Amazed" by Lonestar. I then danced with my father to "The Way You Look Tonight" & then with my grandfather to the song "Nina a Mujer." I could not stop crying when I danced with my grandfather. He sang the entire song to me as we danced just as he did when I was a little girl. Those three dances were my favorite moments of our wedding...

Dancing, cake cutting, speeches, dinner, and garter and bouquet tossing happened, but the unforgettable moments to me were those unseen in months leading up to that day. Mark, both our mothers, family and closest friends were such a help and made our engagement so enjoyable. I never stressed or worried because I always felt that I was in good hands. Mark and I have come a long way, and nothing was going to be worth anything other than happy times.
- Christina