We recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. I am very grateful for 15 wonderful years with my best friend and sweetheart.

In honor of my blogiversary, I want to share a different sort of experience about our wedding reception. This experience also qualifies as one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

Before I tell you the story, though, I have to give you two pieces of background information.

Background Information Part 1-

My husband’s mother is Samoan. Polynesian women are amazing. They are strong, beautiful, strong, confident, and strong. Did I mention they’re strong? When I say strong, I mean they are forces of nature. They are so very strong willed. It’s amazing to behold. Seeing the beautiful strength of these incredible Polynesian women in my life has been an incredible gift (yeah, I’m looking at you sisters-in-law and mother-in-law!).

A big part of a Samoan wedding reception is a traditional hula performed by the bride. During said dance, those in attendance run up to the dancer and throw money at her or stick it in her hair or in her dress. Many people have come to call this dance the “Money Dance.” I was made aware of this tradition when we attended friends’ wedding receptions before we’d ever gotten engaged. I knew it was expected.

So I added a Polynesian Dance class to my final semester of college. Our wedding was scheduled for the week after I graduated.

Background Information Part 2-

I can’t dance. Like at all. Like if you saw me dance you’d know I wasn’t pretending to look ridiculous. It is innate. I have decent hand-eye coordination for shooting a basketball or hitting a softball, or even jumping over a hurdle, but I do not have the ability to make my body move on a consistent beat in a graceful way. At all. It’s sad.

A Tough Decision

After weeks of consistent effort in my Polynesian Dance class, I had to make a tough decision. It was the final semester of my senior year. My full schedule included my intensive senior course. I was working a part-time job every morning (early in the morning). And I was planning a wedding. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t master the basic dances we had been learning in class. I was afraid I would not have the time to practice while trying to keep up with everything else.

So I called my mother-in-law and apologized profusely. I told her I would not be able to do a dance at our wedding reception but that I would prepare a song to sing instead. My singing is not sensational, but it is infinitely better than my dancing. Any day. My mother-in-law agreed to the arrangement graciously and I was so relieved. I went about preparing a song to sing instead. I dropped the Polynesian Dance class on the last day of the “add-drop deadline.”

Our Wedding

On May 1, 2003, we were married in San Diego. We had a small ceremony and a slightly larger luncheon afterwards. On May 3, we had our luau reception in Tacoma, Washington. It was beautiful. A few members of my family were there, but the majority of the people in attendance were there for my husband. I was so glad to meet all of these people who came to celebrate with us. The luau was complete with incredible Polynesian foods in abundance, beautiful music, and talented dancers. My sisters-in-law were all there and they performed beautiful hulas. My nieces performed adorable dances in full makeup and lava-lavas. We still did the traditional first couple dance and father-daughter/mother-son dances, too. Then I sang my prepared song. It was an a cappella rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Believe in You and Me.

After the Song

With my song out of the way, my butterflies were gone and I felt like I could enjoy the rest of the evening. A little while later, our wedding DJ announced that he wanted the groom’s mother and sisters to come to the front. I turned to watch what I thought would be another beautiful dance. Then the DJ said, “And now we invite the bride to please come forward and stand in the center for the traditional wedding dance!”  My whole body just felt like it dropped to the floor. I was not ready for this! Not at all! I looked at my sisters-in-law and mother-in-law in disbelief. They were all waving for me to come up to the front of the room to join them. My choices seemed to be either run out of the room and feel like a total idiot the whole night or go up there and look like a total idiot for a few minutes. I opted for the second choice.

When I got to the front, I looked at my mother-in-law feeling incredibly betrayed and said, “What are we doing? I thought we weren’t doing this!”

The Dance

She smiled knowingly and said, “Just follow me.” Then she waved her hands around gracefully and I fumbled through the song making feeble attempts to mirror her every move. I was mortified. My face was on fire. I felt a wave of emotions as I attempted to make my arms and fingers move like waves the way my sisters-in-law and my mother-in-law did so effortlessly. After what seemed like forever, I stumbled back to my seat. My face stayed red for several more minutes and my pounding heart and shaking legs took even longer to return to normal.

My impromptu wedding dance definitely made our Washington wedding reception memorable. I’m sure everyone else was just hoping to forget the train wreck they saw in the form of my “dance.”

The “dance” also made me enjoy our Florida reception all the more because I felt safe surrounded by people who knew me and loved me and wouldn’t push me out onto a dance floor!

What About You?

What do you remember about your wedding reception? Even if you have crazy moments like mine, your wedding is a HUGE event in your life. It is something we celebrate annually and something we can look back on with fondness for the rest of our lives. For example, I look back at this picture and think, “Oh the good old days when I had a tiny waist…”

But seriously, a special day deserves a special gift. My friend, Leslie, has created just such a gift. She creates beautiful watercolors that she customizes to match your situation based on your wedding photos. Can you imagine one of these hanging on your wall?

Or these?

They are so cute!

Blogiversary Giveaway #4

In honor of my blogiversary, Leslie is giving one lucky winner a choice of ONE of the beautiful customized prints available through her fantastic new Etsy shop! They are all so sweet, the challenge will be choosing just one.

Leslie’s shop is still new, so be sure to keep checking back as she will be adding more very soon. You can follow her on Facebook @MomentsbyMae and on Instagram @MomentsbyMaeShop. Whether you are looking to buy one for yourself or as a wedding/anniversary gift for someone else, you can’t go wrong with one of these beautiful prints!

{Update: This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Rachel DeMille!}

If you’ve missed any of the days in the Blogiversary Celebration so far, it’s never too late to join in on the fun!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

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