I do - and they did.

I do want to thank our bride and groom for, not only making each other's dreams come true, but for fulfilling one of mine too.

Very kind of you Mr. & Mrs.

I have always wanted to travel to somewhere tropical for a wedding because I imagined it would be such a unique and joyous time.
A time when everyone just has to happy and in the moment.

(Why I didn't do exactly this for my own wedding still baffles me!)

I'm greedy. I absolutely love a good wedding.
I love the feeling that we're all here or the one thing.

We've all committed our day and night to celebrating. Woo hoo!

And well, a wedding away just takes all that good stuff and streeeeetchs it out.

I do believe our wedding trip to Sabah didn't disappoint my long held fantasies!

From the moment we met some of the 'wedding crew' at the airport,
I started buzzing.

It was like when you walk up to a wedding ceremony and see all the familiar faces that you get to spend the next few hours with - but so much better because it was going to be days, not hours together - on an extended escape from the real world where work is replaced with play and nobody has to drive!

(I'm well aware that the sight and sound of our excited toddler might have had the other guests at the airport thinking along similar lines, but with a much more negative slant!)

I do love the atmosphere that surrounded our whole trip.

I loved seeing the familiar faces (and hearing the tired jokes!) in the lobby, around the pool, at the breakfast buffet, on the beach, at happy hour. I loved becoming more than acquainted with the other wedding guests and getting to know the families of our bride and groom so well. I loved forming friendships while our kids swam and played. I loved that we were all confortable and easy with each other. I can hardly believe I socialised so naturally in bathers, for flips sake. Bathers I wouldn't wear at home!

By the time the wedding day arrived, we were friends more than invited guests.

(Partly the cause of excessive alcohol consumption and questionable dancing that followed, I firmly believe!)

It was a wonderful feeling to leave the poolside that afternoon knowing that the 'peez de reziztawnce' was coming!

I was feeling especially lucky that my best-man-Hubby was bringing me into a whole new world -

the groom's preparation.

I've been a bridesmaid for friends and a bride so am pretty offay with the excitement, giggling, floral delivieries, photography, champagne and beauty regimes that the girlie component of the bridal party enjoy.

I was pretty curious when the boys arranged to come to our suite to ready themselves.

I thought I would get some insight into the way men really feel about marriage and get to see our groom let down his sarcastic, wise cracking veneer to reveal that romantic, gushing side he has.

I thought I might witness some 'bromance' and shed a little tear at the sheer masculine beauty of it all.

Nuh.

When the groom hadn't arrived well after the arranged time and didn't answer his phone, I panicked and prepared for some talking down, some nerve soothing, some revving up maybe.

But apparently he was just in the shower.

Girls, they didn't do much of anything.

They sat on the couch in their jocks and asked the time approximately four thousand, three hundred times.

They dressed, corsaged, let me take some hurried pics and left.
It was all a bit of a letdown to be honest.

I'll take the hair, make up, bubbly, planning, gossiping, bag packing and repacking, teetering heels, giggling stuff next time! 

Mother Nature really turned it on with the weather for the wedding day and walking towards the wedding pavillion you couldn't help but be in awe of  this true church of God.

Everyone managed to ditch the bikinis and boardies and looked just gorgeous - well, it would be hard to look anything but when you are set against this beauty.

Waiting for our bride's entrance, Magoo and his little buddies were wired about the bubble blowing that they had been promised and shifted in their seats constantly.
Hotel guests were sensing an occasion and sidling over to check it all out.
The groomsmen continued their vigilant clock watching.

The bride and her attendants looked just divine as they made their lovely, long procession to the boys.

The ceremony was brief, but beautiful and heartfelt.

The backdrop, amazing.

The apres-vow Moet, well appreciated.

After the chaotic, whole group shot, the newlyweds enjoyed a photo shoot on the beach while we simply enjoyed them enjoying a photo shoot on the beach.

Magoo and co. just enjoyed the beach.

The reception was held just metres from the ceremony on a grassed area in front of said beach.

The setting couldn't be any more gorgeous and I have trouble remembering the tableware as the view just blew any possible crystal / mirror/ floral / glass concoction out of the water - literally!

The meal was termed 'barbeque buffet' but was much more 'sensational feast'.

We had beautiful, plentiful food and fantastic people to share it with.

The drinks were flowing and our little people were as electric as the humid air.

Magoo danced, ran and yelled himself silly, having the time of his life.

It was no easy diplomatic feat to prise him from the dance floor for the speeches and the bridal dance.

Once Magoo retired to his grandparents' care, Hubby and I mistakenly believed ourselves to be young and free (Well, that's what our anthem tells us anyway!).
We didn't think ahead to that cute, little knock on our door (which, for some reason, resembled a catastrophic earthquake) at 7am the following morning.

We drank, boogied, sang, drank, cackled (ok, just me), drank and partied for hours.

The signature 'scarecrow' dance move from here featured heavily in the second half of the night's proceedings.

According to Sabah legend, a couple of us may, or may not, have been seen teaching the 'scarecrow' to a group of Japanese tourists in the hotel lobby lounge in the wee hours of the morning. 

The gorgeous 'wedding in paradise' was just the icing on the cake of a brilliant week.

I do look forward to a much discussed return to the Shangri La Rasa Ria, Sabah for that en mass vow renewal some time in the future.

Shar :-)