Fleming Fun: Erin and Matt's Jamaican Jam

On July 24, we left for Jamaica to celebrate Erin and Matt's wedding. Our flight left at 6:00am from Richmond so we set the alarm for around 3:15 am so we could shower and have time to gather some last minute things and still be there 1.5 hours early. The alarm went off and I turned it off and then somehow I managed to fall back asleep. When did I wake up? You guessed it-at 4:40. AAHH! We jumped out of bed, took the fastest showers ever, threw our stuff in the car and sped (literally) to the airport. Of course, once we arrived at 5:20 am or so, the airport was a madhouse. But fortunately we were able to get checked in, bags checked and through security just in time to board the plane. Phew. Our connection in Atlanta was very brief as well and they were boarding when we arrived at the gate. We arrived in Jamaica and so did our bags thank goodness. Our plan was to wait for the Pooles and the Schoellers (whose flight landed one hour after ours) and then catch a shuttle together to the Rockhouse Hotel 1.5 hours away. Jeff and I found a little bar outside the airport and drank Jamaican beers until their flight came in. We began to worry when it had been one hour since their flight had landed and they still had not come through customs. A booze cruise had been scheduled for Erin's bachelorette party for 2:30 pm and Jeff and I quickly realized that if we didn't leave the airport right then, I might not make the boat. Since we had no idea when the Pooles and Schoellers would make it through customs, Jeff and I grabbed a shuttle and headed off by ourselves. We arrived at the Rockhouse in time to make the boat and luckily our lost friends arrived shortly after us. We all made the boat. Phew again.

Literally 15 minutes after we all arrived, all the girls headed out to the water to board the Wild Thing - a huge catamaran. We were all so excited to be together in beautiful Jamaica to celebrate Erin's bachelorette so naturally we began drinking. We had red stripes and rum punch. The first stop on the Wild Thing was for snorkeling and Chambo and Jenny were the only ones to participate. Then the boat was off again and we waved frantically and screamed at our men as we passed by the Rockhouse Hotel. They were all outside by the pool. Our next destination was Ricks-a bar and restaurant with some cool cliffs to jump from. Chambo, Jenny and I decided it would be fun to jump from the tallest cliff-35 feet. I decided to go first otherwise I knew I would not do it. I was excited until, SMACK, I landed on my side. Ouch!!! This terrible landing resulted in the biggest, longest, blackest bruise I have ever had that started at my waist and ended just below my knee. The jump was oh so fun, but the landing was terrible. Luckily my new injury could not be seen in my bridesmaid dress. Phew once again. The other girls landed more successfully than I did although Chambo also sustained some minor injuries. Needless to say, I will probably be sticking to shorter cliffs in the future.

Our ride back to the beach from Rick's was fun and hilarious. Since Erin was the bachelorette, she was fortunate to be able to dance with a staff member from the Wild Thing. HA! We all began an impromptu dance party afterwards that didn't end until we arrived back at the beach.

Our ride back from the boat cruise was hilarious. It involved singing Bob Marley at the top of our lungs (along with our bus driver) and then singing DG Rush songs at the top of our lungs...don't ask.

When we got back to the hotel, we met up with the boys again, got showered up and hung around the hotel. Fun night!

On Friday morning, we all woke up, had breakfast and then hung around the pool and the ocean all day long. The view, water, pool, etc were beautiful and we had a blast all day long.

Friday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Erin did a great job coordinating the rehearsal and then dinner that followed was the most fun and most crazy I have ever attended. Erin and Matt had created signature drinks: the Edward and the Chud. The Edward was a sugarless mojito and the Chud was a whiskey drink. They were both delicious. As the night went on, things got crazy. The Jamaican bartenders introduced snorkel bongs to us. Basically someone sits on the bar and puts a snorkel in their mouths and then someone else poors the beer down the snorkel. I can't believe we never thought of this before. The next thing I knew, the bride was fully clothed and in the pool with Jenny and Krysta. Ed then proceeded to tell us that she would no longer be friends with us if we didn't jump in as well. So Lellis, myself and Lizzy proceeded to jump in-fully clothed. We swam and laughed hysterically for the next hour or so it seemed.

Needless to say, on Saturday morning we all felt like we might die and the words "I will never drink again" probably came out of some people's mouths. The night before, the bridesmaids had planned to meet at 8am to have breakfast and practice our speech for the reception. That breakfast was one of the most fun and funny I have ever had. None of us were making any sense and everything we said and did was hilarious. Our practice had to be moved to some shady lounge chairs by the pool but at the end we were ready for the speech. We all met up with Ed again in Krysta and Lellis' room to have our hair done and get ready for the main event. Ed got us the most amazing bridesmaids gifts which consisted of an orange polka dotted tote bag from jcrew, beautiful yellow and orange purses from jcrew, a vera bradley toiletry bag in the elephant print, fake eyelashes, and foot petals. THANKS ED!

We got our hair done and dolled ourselves up all afternoon and were ready right on time. Ed looked AMAZING and I think we all got choked up at one point as she put the final touches on her wedding day look. Her mom helped her put onher dress and then we were all ready to walk down the aisle.

The wedding ceremony itself was awesome. Erin and Matt's good friend was the officiant and wrote the entire ceremony. It was beautiful and very fitting. Matt and Erin were so sweet and you could definitely feel the love. The decorations, printed materials, flowers, etc. were beautiful and it was so cool to see Ed's vision come to life. The reception was soo much fun with excellent Jamaican food, great music and good friends.