Our third day in Bali was Doni a d Rika's wedding day. It was extremely hot and humid, but everything still turned out great. Mike had the honor of being the officiant and Zoe was a flower girl! I was a bit worried because Zoe was still jet lagged and the time of the wedding (5 pm) was Zoe's "zombie mode" time . I resolved to try to get at east two naps in and also to have candy on hand to "perk" her up ( don't judge me ... Although we hardly ever give her sweets, both mike and I were more than willing to make an exception for today since we didn't want her to snooze her way through her first flower girl gig!).
The ceremony and reception took place at the Allila Villa Soori in the city of Tabanan. It was about 2.5 hours away from where everyone was staying so we made sure to leave early so we wouldn't be rushing. Zoe had no problem taking her second nap in the car but wanted to keep sleeping (like her night time sleep).. I tried to let her sleep as long as I could buy I had to wake her up eventually and put on her flower girl dress. Sheen though she let me out her dress on and fix her hair, she was still very groggy. I gave her a kit Kat bar and some sour patch kids and they seem to "help" a bit. Aside from the sleepy factor, it was also insanely hot that poor Zoe (and mommy) were sweaty and sticky, adding to her uneasiness. Again, considering how uncomfortable it was my little trooper didn't complain too much ... It was her sleepiness more than anything that she was having trouble with. Even most of the adults were miserable and cranky complaining of the heat.
As we got closer to the ceremony, Zoe seemed to be a bit more awake and I was feeling more confident that maybe she would be able to walk down the aisle with the other flower girl sans mommy. As the bridal party was lining up about 2 minutes before "show time" Zoe was even socializing with he bridesmaids ... She pointed to their dresses and said "wow nysh dresh!" They all giggled and told Zoe her dress was very pretty as well. Zoe then twirled around in her dress and lifted it up to show them her fancy sandals. The bridesmaids all gushed and dubbed her the cutest little girl they've ever seen (I agreed with them of course). She then started pointing to each of their shoes as if to say she thought they were fabulous, too. Everything was all smiles and giggling and I figured Zoe was ok ... But when the doors opened so that the entourage could start walking down the aisle, Zoe got nervous/scared and begged me to carry her. Rika assured me it was ok if I carried her since Zoe was scared so the two of us ended up walking down the aisle together =). Poor thing -- I think if it wasn't for her jetlag she would've been totally fine. Oh well ... it
was her first time. And she didn't cry or anything ... she just needed help walking down the aisle. Once we started walking down, she saw Michael standing at the altar and she kept saying "Dada! Dada!". The rest of the wedding turned out great. It was a beautiful ceremony/reception and we are so honored to have been a part of it all. Michael did a great job officiating it and was approached by several people to possibly do there wedding. I told them as long as me and Zoe could come along, we'd be there! Hahaha!
Congratulations Doni and Rika! Here's to a long and happy life together! Hurry up and make a baby so Zoe can have more cousins her age!!
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| Trying on her flower girl dress |
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| So proud to be an official flower girl! |
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| Flower girl swag |
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After 2 hours on the road and still fighting off jetlag,
we made it to the Allila Soori |
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The ceremony site was beautifully decorated and featured an
impressive view of the ocean |
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| The REAL VIP's at the wedding =) |
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| Cheering Dada on from the sidelines |
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| Bubbles always make her so bubbly |
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| Taking advantage of the open bar |
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| Enjoying a Balinese sunset |
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| Z and the Hadi Sisters |
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| Jet lag finally got the best of her at the reception ... |
