Beach Wedding

Today is wedding day eve. Although we didn't have a crazy late night out, I slept in.  One of the benefit of traveling without Drake.  I rolled into breakfast just before ten.  Watermelon, Gallo Pinto (rice and beans), and eggs with hot sauce - breakfast of champions.  The bride and I hung out on the beach for a little while before heading into town for her manicure, hair, and makeup trial.

The salon was located in the new strip mall according to directions.  We nearly miss it.  It was a very tiny strip with about 5 store front.  Two were occupied.  The salon shared the space with a very cute clothing boutique.  Its owner was French who has fabulous taste. As I waited for the Bride to do her thing with the hairdresser, the other bridesmaid and I browsed the racks.  I was very lucky everything sold there only came in XS and S.  The other bridesmaid was not so lucky.  She did some damage to her wallet.

During our first hour in the salon the electricity went out.  By hour two we were getting a little delirious from the heat.  Thank God, by hour three the AC came back on.  By the time we returned to Villas Hermosa, Greg had arrived from Vancouver.  The groom and his boys were on their bachelor party in Jaco came back too.  It seemed like they had a great time.  Hmm... I felt even more guilty.

We did a quick rehearsal on the beach around 4PM.  Then we were off to rehearsal dinner at Brisas del Mar.  This restaurant was located high above everything in area with an unobstructed view of the ocean.  The road leading up to it was steep when the taxi backed up I thought we were rolling backwards and let out a high pitch squeal.  Not my finest moment.  We sat down on the patio just before the spectacular sunset.  The menu of cerviche and seared tuna were delicious and the company was even more delicious.  This was going to be an awesome wedding.

We all went to bed early tonight.

The wedding day! The ladies got up early to get ready, but nothing was frantic.  We took our time.  It was all relaxing until it was show time.  The bride and groom took their wedding photos before the ceremony.  As the maid of honour, I followed the bride around holding her dress.  Actually, most of the time I was hiding behind trees to make sure I didn't photobomb their romantic wedding photos.

The bride looked truly ravishing, like a movie star.  The groom looked very handsome in his custom made linen suit.  A pair to be envied for sure.

I have been to many weddings before but this was my first beach wedding.  I walked out to 20 some wedding guests in bare feet decked out in foot jewelry.

 
Held on the beach under a small bamboo arch and performed by bride and groom's friends, the ceremony was short, sweet, and witty.  The stunning ocean backdrop was exactly how one would imagine a beach wedding would look like. 

  

Cocktail hour was followed by the ceremony which coincided with sunset.  As night fall hit, the lights and candles illuminated the beach. Yes, the reception was on the beach too. 

I survived the speech portion of the night and ate my way through the midnight table full of coconut mango cake and empanadas.  Maybe this was really cliche to say but I felt I was in a movie. Next to a massive bonfire, we danced the night away.  My only complain was I was really hot.  All the dancing didn't help.  I had occasionally go into the villas to get some AC and the first chance I got I changed into my shorts and tank top.

Road to Santa Teresa

My flight to San Jose, Costa Rica ended up landed early and customs was very quick as well as luggage pick up.  I needed to wait around for my two friends who were arriving from Guatemala and then we immediately caught a taxi to the Airport Denny's where we would be catching our shuttle. I know, who'd have thought?  The taxi driver told us there were actually two Denny's in San Jose, the other one was downtown.

The taxi was $3USD.  The US dollar is widely accepted here, especially on the tourist path. I didn't exchange any Costa Rica currency which were called Colones and had no idea what was the exchange rate was.  We waited for our shuttle bus at Denny's to go to Mal Pais, Santa Teresa on the west coast of Costa Rica where the wedding is taking place.  A domestic flight from Sansa Air or Nature Air to Tambor Airport would've taken only about half hour with another 45 minute taxi ride to Santa Teresa which would have cost about another $50 USD.  My shuttle cost me $59 USD (booked on anywherecostarica.com) and was about 5 to 6 hours. I won't be getting a lot of time in Santa Teresa so the ride will have to count as one of my sight seeing activities, especially since the ride also included an one hour ferry ride.  Works for me.

The shuttle van picked us up at around 8:45AM.  It was a comfortable 10 person van with air conditioning. My friends and I got shuffled around and separated into various different vans enroute before reaching the ferry. Our driver hopped out to get us ferry tickets. When he hopped back in, I was handed a ferry ticket valued at 800 Colones ($1.5USD). They must make a killing on these shuttle runs, I thought to myself.

I was reunited with my friends at the Puntarenas ferry entrance. We collected our luggage and boarded the ferry just before 11AM. On the ferry we immediately spotted quite a few familiar faces.  We had met up more than half of the wedding including the bride and groom.  The boat had a similar setup (but less than half of the size) to the Vancouver to Nanaimo ferry boats of which vehicles were stored on the bottom levels and passengers traveled on upper decks.  It was packed with tourists and locals alike. We sat at the back by the bar that was blasting loud mix of top 40 and reggaeton.  The sun was hot and the party has officially started. 

I was a bit mopey though.  There were quite a few kids running around including a few that was similar in age to Drake. I could've brought Drake, I threw my hands up and complained to whoever was sitting next to me.  I really needed to snap out of it and stop being a party pooper. I was in paradise and I need to enjoy my surrounding. The scenery was actually very similar to the Strait of Georgia. 

When we reached the Paquera on the other side I was suppose to board another van to continue my journey to Santa Teresa, but the bride and groom had a private van and offered me a ride.

Unlike the previous side, the road was pretty bumpy and dusty. It was a minor reminder of the Old Coach road in Australia. We arrived at Villas Hermosa our final destination just before 2PM. After almost 24 hours of travel I was exhausted and hot, but the hammock was strung up directly outside my room and I haven't even met the ocean located 200 meters away so I was excited about my next 10 days.