LB Phases: October 2014

Everything leading up to my wedding day was part of the overall experience.

Why else would someone schedule monthly play dates to dress-up in their wedding gown; insist on spending Memorial Day Weekend crafting, calligraphing, and wax sealing a hundred invitations; and get dolled up in a white lace dress accented by her grandmothers’ pearls just to get their marriage license from the courthouse?

A month and a half before the big day when my Mom saw my Facebook post about getting licensed to marry (while wearing said white dress and pearls) it was my father who reassured my mom that Amy and Joey hadn’t got hitched without their family present; that Amy was just a sentimental person and enjoyed making everything related to her wedding a big deal.

My Dad, ‘Encyclopedia Gary’ as I jokingly call him because of his knowledge about many subjects, had it right. Relishing in all of the preparatory moments elongated the event for me and I genuinely enjoyed the entire experience.

That’s not to say there weren’t stressful times. Now a sweet memory, I remember a recurring and taxing conversation hubby-to-be and I had about my acquired wedding gown, which I was (and still am) completely enamored with:

Joey: Hesitant to bring it up again since a prior convo about selling/returning the dress didn’t end in his favor…

“I know I said I wouldn’t bring this up again, but we have to do this. We need to find a way to rip off your dress. The only way to create the wow factor that we want is to do that.”

***Side note shout-out: Thank god for my Husband and his incurable persistence!!***

And as the wedding month rapidly approached I got exponentially more ecstatic; more elated than I ever thought plausible. Ten days before the big day while traveling on business I had an infectious case of uncontrollable smiles and was spotted ‘Amy’ dancing anywhere and everywhere. I was high on life. And damn, did it feel good.

This is how Joey and I felt all wedding weeklong. Endorphins and PEA (the chocolate/love drug) counterbalanced our exhaustion. Sleep could wait (something I say very sparingly). It was time to be with our guests, ninety percent of who traveled from across the country to be with us on our special day.

My Mom was one of the first guests to arrive, five days before the big day. This is when it got tricky to keep the wedding surprises a secret. No one knew about our first dance, or the vintage car that would greet everyone at the venue, or the yummy end of night burritos. But really the biggest and most nerve-racking for us was our first dance. Joey chose the dances, I chose the music (John Legend of course), and we spent six months with our amazing choreographer. (A second side note shout out to Joey: He is a true showman! I never knew until this experience, but he is a performer and I love it!) All the while I was securing a confident and able seamstress and engineering the design of the rip-away gown to ensure it matched Joey’s ultimate vision. I thought my tasks were hard, but poor Joey; he knew the choreographed moves like he knew how to build a computer yet of course he had never rehearsed with the actual gown. The first time he would see the gown and rip off the dress was on our wedding day. Both of us were anxious and confident.

Every day more guests arrived and less welcome bags remained at the front desk. The boutique hotel was buzzing with Levine-Benoit wedding guests and everywhere you turned there was someone that looked familiar. Friends introduced themselves to family. Family reunited over poolside breakfasts. Our ring bearer nephews, flower girl goddaughter, and her baby brother played together in the hallways between hotel rooms. It was magical.

With our favorite people together we wanted to do something extra special for the wedding party; so the day before the nuptials we spent midmorning sailing around San Diego Bay. It was an epic way to kick off the wedding shenanigans. Photo credit to Greg Smith!

Rehearsal followed; and as I stop beside my dad in the back of the processional watching our nearest and dearest practice their walks down the aisle it was difficult to think of anything else: Tomorrow I would be a Mrs.! Time started speeding up.

Rehearsal took longer than planned, so we tabled the gift giving for later and we all crossed the street to meet up with the rest of our wedding guests for a Californian inspired dinner at the local park.

The goal was a laid back evening outdoors with good food and great company. Everything was going as effortlessly as I had dreamt it would. I think this is around the time I began floating. Everyone was here in San Diego. EVERYONE WAS IN SAN DIEGO! We moved across the country knowing fair well we would madly miss everyone back home, and believe me that feeling never goes away. But the feeling of having a hundred of our closest all together in our home city...Gah! If that feeling could keep me warm during the northeast winters we may just be on to something.

I remember watching the kids running around the playground, people playing Horse on the basketball courts… I even saw my Mom playing tetherball with my nephews. Those memories are etched in my mind, stored for those days I miss you all too much. Photo credit to the amazing Allison Noble Photography. She knows how much we love her.

Oh, and it was there too that the Levine clan realized there were families larger than theirs, even if it was just by one person. Papa seemed to fit right in. These group shots courtesy of my beautiful sister and maiden of honor, Jenn.

The next day fast-approached and Joey and I spent the early morning walking hand in hand through the village. Untraditional as it may be to some, we wanted to start the day the way we will walk through all eternity, together. And the serenity was a perfect start to our day. We parted before breakfast and I spent the next several hours at the salon enjoying a relaxing wedding day routine. Cucumbers on my eyes, I lounged on a chaise before hair and makeup started. I felt airy, carefree. Never having imagined my wedding day as a little girl it was shaping up to be just as I had recently hoped: peaceful and fabulous.

Stepping into my gown I felt more beautiful than ever before. All those dress-up dates led to this day and here I was surrounded by immeasurable amounts of love as my mother and bridesmaids zipped, hooked and snapped me in. Photo credit: Gemini Photography.

Pre-ceremony pictures started and my smile couldn't be faked. I was still floating somewhere between cloud 9 and married-land, yet even though I was levitated somewhere above the experience watching it all from above, I was also present. The feeling is unreal. Joey said it best, he said he finally understood the definition of surreal. I agree, and as fantastic as the experience was I vividly remember the very proud look on my dad’s face during our impromptu father-daughter first look shoot. It felt like the precursor to seeing Joey.

--Insert Sappy Alert (it gets worse)--

Seeing Joey… wow, what an unforgettable moment in time. My very soon-to-be husband looked so damn handsome! I knew he would, yet somehow he looked even better than I could have dreamed. I savored every step down the aisle, watching him watching me, but simultaneously couldn’t wait to be holding his warm hands gazing in his eyes. The ceremony was short and sweet, just how we wrote it. My Aunty Carol officiated beautifully, adding her personal stories about each of us. We shared our vows to each other and within minutes Joey broke the glass and I was Mrs. Amy Benoit!

We toasted with all our guests in front of the vintage auto then took off for some alone time as husband and wife. Life was moving so fast around us; it was a super busy beach day in La Jolla. 'Alone time' now seems a bit ironic. People were everywhere and many of them stared at us like we were on exhibit at the zoo. Looking back we did give them a good show. Here we were, bride and groom, climbing down the sandstone cliffs of the cove...me in my 4inch heels and Joey in his dapper pinstriped suit walking steps behind me holding my overflowing train. But Joey and I were jubilantly floating along, so high in our own surreal bubble of reality, that there really was no one else in the world.

Our first dance was the showstopper Joey had always envisioned and it sealed the deal for the most magical day of our lives. Everyone was so enchantedly happy; we honestly could not have asked for more love to surround us on our wedding day. Maybe in part it was the palm-lined streets, or the salty breezes of the charming La Jolla village. Maybe it was the Pacific coast sunset, or maybe it was simply the blissful occasion of two people totally and unconditionally in love tying the knot after a long-awaited engagement. Whatever the reason, there was this euphoric energy that I wish we could’ve bottled up to keep with us forever.

For all you there, thanks for making it magical. And for everyone who reads this, thanks for sharing and reliving the memories with me. Hope you enjoyed my rendition of the best day of my life.

Love love,
Amy