Cartagena, Colombia

Standing amongst an indoor field of flowers, a hanging garden above me, and mirrored walkway next to me, I can honestly say I never expected to attend such a beautiful and extravagant wedding. Such was the main even of our trip to Cartagena, Colombia. - David

We arrived with my parents on Thursday, March 14th, and slowly made our way via terrifying taxi to the lodging in which we were staying. I was not expecting the "Hotel" to actually be an old mansion with about 20 rooms for people to sleep in, which different groups were staying in. There were also 3 different event spaces, although how this layout was made is beyond my architectural knowledge. Suffice to say, it was an impressive affair. Jennifer and I were shown to our rooms, which was, to summarize it in one word, "Bed." It was a large room with five beds, and one small end table. We organized them into "nice clothing bed," "assorted things bed," "Jennifer day bed," and the "double sleep bed." Although outside the room was about 9 thousand degrees, we had our own AC that we could set to a nice balmy 68° F.

That afternoon we went out with my grandmother and parents to a restaurant we heard had delicious ceviche. This was the start of our Great Ceviche Adventure. We happened to run into my Uncle Josh (father of the bride) there, as they were also trying out the ceviche. Admittedly, the ceviche was exactly as good as promised. We had plenty, and it was delicious. We did not realize at the time that time how much Ceviche we would be having. That evening we then wandered over to the Movich Hotel for a welcome drink/light dinner with family. This was hosted on a rooftop bar that overlooked the city. It was stunningly gorgeous. The food they brought around? More Ceviche. This was almost as good as the restaurant ceviche. We helped ourselves and had a good night amongst family.

The following morning, Jennifer, my father, and I all went to the Marlin Beach Club, for a day at the beach. I can honestly say I've never been to such a nice beach resort/club (I don't know the difference). It had cabanas, unlimited drinks, a dance lesson, and delicious food served. We spent hours there overlooking the gorgeous blue waters, lounging in a pool overlooking said waters, swimming in the ocean, and just overall lazing about in the finest of ways.

After returning, we took a nice siesta before going out to the rehearsal dinner. When we got into the taxi, I used my broken Spanish once, at which point both the driver and Jennifer thought it would be a great time to have me practice Spanish. Whenever conversation lulled, the driver would goad me into practicing more, with Jennifer echoing the sentiment next to me. It put my very minuscule skills to the test, and found them lacking. The driver got a good kick out of it though.

Once we got to the rehearsal dinner, we were welcomed immediately, given drinks, and met some nice new people. There were two drink options: white wine and red wine, which was a brave choice as everyone was required to wear white to this event. I wore a white linen shirt and pants, while Jennifer pulled off quite a snazzy white dress. We both managed to somehow go the night without staining our clothes. Just prior to the dinner, my cousin Samantha surprised Camilo with a traditional Indian dance, supported by a troupe of her sorority sisters. Honestly, I felt like I was in a movie, everything was so extravagant and beautiful. The food was delicious, and the night went late.

The following morning was the wedding. Despite being given a tour of the venue the day prior, and having been able to wander around the premise, nothing could truly prepare Jennifer and I for the level of flowery splendor that had been set up. For the wedding itself, the room was filled with fresh flowers, with a curving mirrored walkway down the center that was reminiscent of a river. The ceremony itself was beautiful, with both Samantha and Camilo truly shining during the entire thing.

After the ceremony itself, we spent some time trying drinks at a cocktail hour, after which we were all lead by dancers in a personal parade down the street to the reception venue. The venue was in a different hotel. We walked in, took a left and then a right to go around the outside of the atrium, and then entered through large wooden doors into the room. A wave of scent hit us, as we walked in to a room filled again with flowers, this time an entire garden hanging from the ceiling. There were four women playing electric violin in the front as we all sat down. There was dancing, good conversation, great drinks, and even better food. Jennifer and I had a wonderful time. Samantha and Camilo took over the dance floor with their friends, and danced the night away. We wish them a wonderful and joyous union!

The next day, we woke up, not at all hungover thankfully, and attended the family brunch before heading back home. We did manage a quick walk around the city, which almost made us late leaving (you know us by now), but it was well worth it as we got to stand on the walls of Cartagena.