Today was a Fairy Tale

Every girl dreams of her wedding day with few exceptions. I definitely wasn't an exception, but when it came down to making my dream a reality and planning my actual wedding, I was afraid to have high expectations. I'm the kind of person that gets frustrated when things don't go exactly as I want them to. In an imperfect world things inevitably go wrong, so I decided to lower my expectations.

There was a lot of tension in the air during the days leading up to the wedding. We were supposed to be having a garden wedding, but it was raining every day, and on Friday (the day before the wedding) I woke up to an especially stormy day. The political setting wasn't helping things either. Gas prices almost doubled causing strikes, road blocks and protests throughout the country and raising the concern that people from outside La Paz (including Adolfo's family in Santa Cruz) would not be able to make it to the wedding. Days before the wedding there were rumors that bank accounts in American dollars would be frozen, and people made a mad rush to the banks to get their money out. In the midst of all the chaos, I couldn't do more than trust God to somehow bring the wedding together.

God stepped in and saved the day! On Friday, the 31st of December, further strikes, road blocks and protests were put on hold until after the New Year, and Adolfo's family arrived safely from Santa Cruz. Friday night, the evening before the wedding, Adolfo called me and told me to turn the TV on and see the evening news. The law raising gas prices had been revoked, and peace was restored to the country! As for the weather, God couldn't have given us a more beautiful and glorious day!!!

January 1st of 2011, I woke up at 6:00. I had my quiet time with God and a special mother-daughter talk before having my shower and eating a quick breakfast with my parents. I got the car out and drove over to pick up my dear friend Janelle. We came back by the house to pick Elisa up and drove over to the beauty salon at 8:30. On New Years Day, two lovely ladies got up early and came to the salon specifically to do our hair! In a country where no one is ever punctual, their punctuality was a great blessing!

Once my hair was done, I left Elisa and Janelle getting their hair done, and I went to get my make-up done at another place. This time the lady made me wait almost half an hour. I waited in the car and tried to relax. It was 10 when she started on my face, and the civil ceremony was supposed to be at 10:30! My mom and Adolfo kept calling me. Thankfully I wasn't far from the house. I got home and quickly slipped into a red dress. We got a phone call saying the notary would leave in five more minutes if we didn't arrive. My parents, Adolfo Sr. and Adolfo Jr. and I rushed over to the notary's office, which was thankfully only blocks away. Our two witnesses and Adolfo's cousins were there waiting to witness the civil ceremony. The notary was about to travel and in a hurry. She quickly performed the civil ceremony and gave us our marriage certificate. We were now legally married! (In Bolivia a pastor cannot legally marry, so there are usually two ceremonies--legal and "religious") Afterwards Adolfo had fun telling people how we nearly didn't get married that day!

We made our way back to the house where people had already started to arrive. It was quite the ordeal trying to figure out transportation for everyone heading out to Valencia (a small town about 35 minutes outside of La Paz). Those who had cars had to help take those who didn't have a car. Once we packed the cars full, we headed out to Valencia.

The Vargas family, dear friends of ours, kindly allowed us to use their property for the wedding. Once we arrived, I went inside the house to change into my wedding dress (using my mom's wedding dress was a dream come true!) Auntie Susy (my "aunt") came in and helped me get changed and put the veil on. Then I posed for a bunch of pictures as the sun shone down on me from an above skylight. Yecidito and Johanan (my "cousins") were the amazing photographers that shot hundreds of pictures that day. They are very talented and artistic individuals, and I can't wait to see the pictures they took!

The ceremony finally started at about 1 pm. Adolfo entered with his mom, Ruth. Adolfo's two brothers, Ruben and Matias, went in together and then Caleb and Elisa (my brother and sister). Then came the exciting moment of walking through an arch and down a cobblestone path on my dad's arm as he "gave the bride away." We had a short and sweet ceremony led by Pepe Mogro, a good friend of my dad's who knows me since I was little. I love Pepe and his family very much, and I can't think of who I would have liked to have marry me more. We were declared husband and wife, and we had our first kiss!

While waiting for the catering company to arrive with the food, we had a long photo session right there in the garden. Once the food arrived, people came by to kiss, hug and congratulate us on their way to serving themselves lunch (buffet style).

Immediately following lunch, Adolfo and I danced a waltz to live music played by some young people from my church and my brother Caleb on the violin. Then came a bunch of speeches and toasts. My dad had everyone laughing with his exaggerations of protecting his daughter from any young man that should wish to snatch her away. He commended Adolfo for his perseverance and welcomed him into the family. Adolfo Sr. gave a short speech welcoming me into the Guzmán family. Matias (Adolfo's youngest brother) gave a toast. My friend Janelle gave the other toast. Finally our mother's spoke and shared some stories.

The speeches were followed by the cutting of the cake. While people enjoyed their cake, we had some special numbers. A few weeks previous to the wedding, Elisa told me she wished she could sing the Taylor Swift song "Today was a Fairy Tale." She and my friend Janelle ended up actually singing that song for us! There was a couple of other songs that the band had put together. After that we had pictures taken with our guests and families. People started to leave. Those who remained gathered in a circle, and Carlos Vargas gave us a blessing from Leviticus and prayed for us. It was a beautiful close to a beautiful day!

Our wedding day couldn't have been more "perfect." That day I felt like God was smiling down on us. It truly was a "Fairy Tale Day"! Thank you, God!!!