Canon in D began playing. The most beautiful miniature bride ever (Bella!) started walking down the aisle. And I started crying.

I was literally shaking with my lip quivering as I walked the stone path within the lush gardens of the resort toward my future husband. When I reached him, I could see he had a tear in his eye too. Even after dating for 2 1/2 years, this moment of seeing each other for the first time touched us both.

That might be because he wasn’t allowed to see the gown or even hear a description of it. My ensemble started with John’s favorite bling earrings. I chose the matching bling shoes next. The gown . . . that was a little trickier. I was one of those “wait until the last minute so I can lose more weight” brides. Yeah, that didn’t really happen. So I finally had to try on dresses. Ugh. And choose one. Then I changed my mind when it came in and went with the other dress I liked. Jeez. I hate it when the girls do that on “Say Yes to the Dress.”

But, it turns out the second dress was perfect, with chiffon layers and small train, just right for a tropical island wedding. Now I needed the perfect bling sash to match the earrings and shoes. I ended up finding it on Pinterest - thanks Glam House on Etsy!

As I stood there next to my handsome groom with my hair in a half updo (his favorite!), we held hands, exchanged vows and rings. Then came the coolest part: the sand unity ceremony. It’s like a unity candle for the beach. Bella, John and I each had a different color of sand we poured into a glass jar, blending our little family together. And now we keep the sand on our mantle.

I will tell you, the sun waits for no bridal party. So after our ceremony we walked directly down to the beach for sunset photos. And I’m so glad we did! They turned out to be among our favorite photos of the wedding day.

Afterwards, we danced to “When I Fall in Love” by Nat King Cole then Bella helped us cut the cake and eat that along with scrumptious appetizers in a gazebo by the ocean.

And I cried during our First Dance. But just me - if I say John cried again, I’ll be in trouble with my husband - can you tell I’m still getting used to and having fun saying “my husband”?!

You can see our entire wedding album (Bella jumps in the sand and John actually picks me up at one point!) here.