Against All Odds A Beauty

Brides the Beauties and the Bitches

Why Do You Want to Get Married?

When it comes to getting married, there are brides who are truly beautiful inside and out and then there are brides who turn into the dreaded Bridezilla. I have dealt with all types of brides on their wedding day, and trust me, all the stress, nervousness, anxiety, excitement, vomiting, freak outs and family drama, comes out while everyone is getting ready. After so many years of making brides pretty, I can tell within minutes of walking in the door on the wedding day, if a bride should be getting married or not. It is my intention that by retelling the love stories, plus all the crazy stories, that I will make future brides laugh, while also realizing how easy it is to become a Bridezilla. My goal is to bring to the forefront the fact that getting married is truly NOT just about the dress, the flowers, the photos or any other crap. Getting married is really about a ceremony and celebration that signifies the union of two people who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together. It is the time of your life when you go from it being all about “you” to it being all about “us”! Believe it or not. . . a wedding is not just about the “bride” and it’s not the “bride’s day” (as society would have us believe). A wedding is actually about the groom and the bride! Go figure! (Interestingly enough, there have also been a few sightings of the rare and elusive creature, “Groomzilla”!)

Against All Odds

The Single Wedding Planner gets Hitched.

As a hair stylist/makeup artist in the wedding industry, I am surrounded by amazing women who I work with every weekend. There are the planners, photographers, florists, chefs and of course all the other stylists. What I find interesting about the core group of ladies that I work with is that a large majority of us are single ladies! We are in the wedding industry, we love watching couples in love, we bust our asses to make each wedding special for the bride and groom but ironically most of us are single.

Maybe it is because we are waiting for our own unique connection, that love connection that we see every once in awhile in those special couples, those are the couples that inspire us to hold out until we meet “the one”! Well this is an unbelievable love story about the ultimate single girl (who ironically is an extraordinary wedding planner) meeting “the one” and making it work against all odds!

Yazmin, had helped hundreds of couples achieve their perfect wedding and being a libra, ruled by the planet Venus she is a true believer in love and romance. So, after years of helping others have their perfect wedding, she found herself holding out for the real thing, however she was not opposed to dating! Or online dating because how else are you going to meet someone?

Well there are numerous was to meet someone. When you look at the statistics, the number one way most couples meet is through their friends 39%. Then at work, which is 15%. The next highest is…you got it…at the bar/party 12% What is hilarious, you have almost the same chance of meeting your future husband at church or sports game 9% as you do by going partying! Now, that says something right there! You can either go pray to help meet someone or you can pray to tequila and get your dance on! That makes Saturday night way more appealing then Sunday morning! But the truth is that online dating is only responsible for 5-8% of all relationships. So, divide that percentage by all the websites and apps and the odds of swiping right and meeting your lasting love on are basically slim to none…. or in short, a miracle.

The Miracle

So, Yazmin found herself on vacation in Cancun and decided to check out Tinder for a guy to maybe date. She briefly chatted with some random guy, but they never connected in person. Life continues, and she returns home to Sayulita and then the random guy starts messaging her. Seriously, this is how you meet the man of your dreams?

But, amazingly this is the story. Yazmin and Fredric connected on “tinder” while they were both on vacation in Cancun. (they deny they were looking for a hook up, but I call bullshit because who goes on Tinder while you on vaca looking for a relationship?) Regardless, they did not hook up or even meet in person. What are the odds? A zillion to one. So, think about it this way . . . as a single girl, you go on Tinder looking for a hook up/date and end up briefly chatting with some random guy but never meet. Then, he starts messaging you and just to make it interesting and challenging, the universe decides to give just a few obstacles. Like neither of you speaks the same language, (Yazmin speaks English/Spanish and Fredrick speaks French). You both live on different continents. (Yazmin in Mexico and Fredric in Belgium). Just an F.Y.I. that is 6000 miles apart. So, after figuring all this out what would most of us single ladies do? Well, most of us would have blow him off as it would be to much effort and how would it ever work out? But, Yazmin didn’t. Why?

Trust your Intuition

For Yazmin, she just went with her intuition and said what the hell. So, when Fredric kept messaging her, she answered. After three months of texting/facetime via google translate, they set their first date, it was in New York. It was a really good idea actually, because if the date went sideways at least Yazmin could go shoe shopping. They both flew thousands of miles for the first date . . . a.k.a . . . sexo! Can you imagine the expectations they each must have had, after all the face time, texting and traveling thousands of miles, plus the sexual expectations? Plus, those lingering negative thoughts like, what if we physically get together and the sex sucks? How is that for pressure to be on your best behavior and to perform? I am sure those thoughts and many others crossed both their minds but when something is destined then love and chemistry does transcend over facetime and thank god for this love story their first encounter was . . .WOW!

Follow your heart

A week together in New York and they fell in love, when their time together came to an end, it was Yazmin who put up her tough girl heart wall. She had been through a few long-distance love affairs and decided to take the defensive position that “it was fun, see you around” truly it was just single girl survival. However, little did she know that Fredrick was truly in love and deep inside he was a true romantic. After he departed, she started finding love notes everywhere, in her handbag, makeup bag, suitcase, tucked in her underwear. For days, she kept finding these love notes saying, “I love you”, “I think of you, don’t forget us”, “I am always with you, my love”! With each note her heart wall crumbled. Turns out, Fredrick was one step ahead of our “single girl”! Yazmin realized that Fredrick was just like her but before she became jaded. Fredrick was pure love, open and free love and he restored that in her. Together they believed in love, romance and that true love/connection could over come all obstacles and odds.

Have Faith in your Path

It was love and for two years this couple made it work. Thousands of miles, lots of facetime, learning multiple languages, trips to each others’ countries and learning different cultures. They had a blast with each other and still managed to juggle their careers. The engagement was random and unexpected. Exactly what this bride to be needed. Because, how do you propose to a wedding planner, who has seen and heard it all? Fredrick nailed it, he asked when she least expected it! Early in the morning when she looked like shit.  You know a man loves you when he asks you when your half asleep with no makeup on.

Perfect! They are in love and engaged but WAIT, the universe has one more obstacle for them. The day Yazmin is booked to go wedding dress shopping, she decides that she has not been feeling well for a few weeks, so she takes a pregnancy test and BOOM! Baby on Board! Woops! No dress shopping that day!

So how complicated can it be to plan a wedding and have a baby?

Very complicated, issues of immigration, citizenship and who can work where and when. How long can each person be in each others country and just add a baby on the way. Plus, Yazmin had other brides counting on her to plan and execute their weddings during her pregnancy. But somehow they sorted it out and in February beautiful baby Julia was born and their soul group was complete.

Just Trust (it will all work out exactly as it should): Most brides spend 8-18 months planning their wedding. Crunch time is 2 months out. So, how much time do your really need to plan a wedding? Well, according to Yazmin, she planned her wedding in 2 weeks and I believe her. Because, that was all the time she had plus she had a newborn in tow. The wedding was awesome, perfect and chaotic all at the same time! But the best part was it was creatively brilliant! Why? Because she just trusted everyone (vendors, friends and family) to do their thing!

Yazmin arrived back in Mexico just 2 weeks before her wedding. She was excited, exhausted (but somehow still looked amazing) and completely in love with 7 week old baby Julia. When I asked her about the details of her wedding, she had her vision but what was so different was that her plan was to just trust all the vendors to do what they do best. Quote: “Marjie, everyone we work with is amazing at what they do, so the wedding will be amazing. All that matters to me is that all the people Fredric and I love that are going to be there!” Ironically, no truer words had ever been spoken. A wedding is not about the dress, flowers, food, photos or hair/makeup. A wedding is about the commitment a couple makes to each other and the people that gather to share and celebrate that ceremony.

Laugh in the face of chaos! So, the wedding planner entrusted her friends/family and the vendors do their thing. What was so strange (and a bit stressful) was having no bride input, that had never to any of us before. When we did ask what she wanted the answer was always the same “just do what you think is best! The wedding day arrived, and everything was flowing as it should, as a vendor you never want to stress out the bride…but we did not have a bride we had a wedding planner, so there was no stress because the bride was out in the garden planning. The hardest part was  taking the planner out of the bride. Yazmin wanted to stay in the reception area for hours to set everything up, however as the bride she needed to get ready. After, indulging her for over 2 hours, the photographers and I came up with a game plan of how to get her into the bridal suite and make her sit still for hair/makeup, dress her and take as many photos as possible before her “first look” and then get her in the taxi to the church.  Usually, we would have 3 hours for hair/makeup, dressing, photos, first look and then transportation time. Nope . . . by the time I walked out into the reception area and went to get her, we only had 1.5 hours. Holding her hand and slowly dragging her back to the bedroom. I kept calmly reassuring her that it would all be set up perfectly. She had never been a bride, she forgot that it takes hours to get ready. Once, I got her seated it was game on. I personally have never moved so fast but we all laughed, toasted along the way. It takes a team but she was ready in an hour, we dressed her in 10 min including hilarious moments like having breast feeding bride squirt all over me, a first for me! The photographers were brilliant, they got some amazing shots and thru it all we never lost it, we laughed because it was all for Yazmin and she is hilarious, so everything was hilarious!

But, the most hilarious moment was and this is a “wedding first” moments. Was kneeling in front of the groom with the photographer, frantically trying to safety pin the fly of his matador pants closed. It is not everyday, that the groom decides to get married in a full white and gold matador outfit which we all thought was totally hot! So hot he burst the zipper, it seems matador pants are a little tight! While we were kneeling in front of our girlfriend’s fiance, trying to fix his zipper without touching his dick. I looked at the photographer and we just started cracking up, probably not the thing to do in front of a guy while your trying not to fondle his package but we were both thinking the same thing. Seriously, how do you pin the zipper closed without touching the dick of your girlfriend’s fiance? Very carefully, very delicately and quickly!

Amazingly the bride and groom (with perfect pants) made it to the church almost on time, (only 20 min late). Which for a Mexican wedding is unheard of? I was sipping tequila from my girlfriend’s flask when the church doors opened. I don’t think anything could have prepared any of us for the moment when Yazmin walked down the isle. The amount of love that radiated not only from Fredric but from everyone in the church was unbelievable. There she was our single girl, walking down the isle to join the love of her life. Against all the crazy odds, they had made it. As I watched her walk, I cheered to myself! Way to go girl, you found it, your true love! I felt a few tears slip down my face, as I looked around, I was not surprise for there was not a dry eye in the church. The ceremony was over the top romantic and beautiful in the quaint Mexican church. But it was sealed by the christening of baby Julia, it only seemed even more perfect for them to complete their vows with the baptism of their new born baby. The ceremony was celebrated with a live Mariachi band upon exit from the church.

Drink and Dance! There are two great celebration in life that bring everyone together, weddings and funerals. In Mexican culture they both involve drinking and dancing. This reception was epic, Villa Del Oso is a stunning timeless villa and Yazmin had seriously out done herself. Romantic lights, brilliant colorful flowers, cocktails and food that was tantalizing plus speeches, games and a slide show all done in 3 different languages, so every guest felt included. My absolute favorite was the huge white Chrisperos, when they ignited during the first dance it made that moment magical and Yazmin and Fredrick looked like they were in a fairy tale, which they kinda where! The tequila flowed and flowed, the dancing started and never ended. The bride and groom where still grooving as the sun started to come up. It was the epic ending to an amazing day and night. A true celebration of a love story that won out even against all odds.  

So, this story will hopefully inspire all of us that true love, soul connection and magic do exist when it comes to finding the love of your life. When you are destined to meet “the one” it may occur in the craziest way. Our role is to trust our intuition, follow our hearts, trust that it will all work and have faith in the path that the universe has planned for us. Because when you do miracles really, honestly do happen and sometimes the ending is just like a fairy tale.

Why, because a wedding is truly about the commitment that two people make to each other and the people that they share that moment with, it isn’t about anything else. However, when you have a group of friends that rock the wedding world . . . you can just trust that your wedding will be amazing and the time of your life!

Cheers,

Marjie Martini