The day had finally arrived! It was wedding day! We were told to all meet up by this cool old fountain near the marina, outside a bakery.
I was up early, as usual, and enjoyed my coffee and a croissant we had picked up the day before. It was ridiculous. Far better than eating a chunk of yeast.
As I went to shower, I noticed a few more red bumps. I was getting a few bites every night. Or sometime. So annoying. Particularly annoying to have them on my face on a day where I KNOW I will be in pictures. Bah!
We cruised down to the fountain right on time and found our gang. The bride and groom were adamant that this was CASUAL. No need to dress up at all. After being super weird about what to wear for way too long, I wore a blouse and shorts. Bam. Casual is my love language. Everyone else was also casual thus far, except the groom’s brother, who appeared in a navy suit. He works in Dallas, so to be fair, maybe that was casual to him. Oh, snap.
We waited on “the other Rachel” who was the yacht/wedding coordinator. When she was late, we began to wonder if this was some elaborate sham. Like - surprise - no yacht. And also - surprise - no money! But, before long, there she was and we were off to board the ship!
As we waited to board, the crew was busy doing all their last minute preparations, which I’m sure were many but the most important of which, obviously, was pouring flutes of champagne for us to sip when we stepped aboard.
The plank came out and then two wooden boxes. And then a chair. Then, one by one, we approached, removed our shoes and placed into the wooden boxes, and then strolled on to our champagne! The moment my toes hit the ground it all hit me and I said, “Man. I really feel like I have arrived!”
We all explored the ship like little kids would - opening every door. Going up and down every staircase and ladder. It was GORGEOUS. I’m not sure how many people it would hold if we maxed it out - but there were 4-5 levels, probably 7-8 crew and the captain and only about 12 of us. SWEET!!!!!!!
The crew was impeccable - constantly around with more drinks, trays of pastries and snacks, quick to remove an empty glass or trash - but striking the right balance of not being too right around, ya know?
We cruised out of the marina and headed north up the coast. We passed by Nice which I only know because it’s the only town large enough for an airport along that route! And then we came into this spectacular cove facing Villafranche sur-mer which I can pronounce much better after a few glasses of champagne. While cruising north, I found this sort of mid deck in the front of the ship, just above the hottub, that was nothing but the most comfy big lounge cushions. I climbed right up there, plopped down, and enjoyed the ride!
Once in the cove, we dropped anchor and for whatever reason decided to flip the order of the day and have the wedding first then eat. Hey, us yacht people don’t care. We’re over here living our best lives. You could have said there was no wedding and we were going to eat breakfast 12 times and I would have been like- GREAT!
So, Pete and Mandy went to the main stateroom to get dressed while the rest of us continued jamming out to the music playlists I threw together the morning before. We also got to chat with the crew, which was cool. Oh to be in our 20s again and just working on a yacht crew and experiencing the world a bit. But no, we all rushed to get office jobs. BORING! Anyway, before long, Pete came up the steps and not far behind there was the bride! Ah! So lovely:)
Pete had his suit custom made by a tailor in Nice and had their names and wedding date inscribed on the inside. Mandy’s dress was absolutely perfect- somehow both gorgeous and very wedding like but also somehow yacht casual appropriate. It all worked! Pete said when he was being measured for the suit, he asked the tailor to make it a few centimeters larger just in case he gained a pound or something and the tailor said, “no.” So, no. He did not gain a pound;)
The captain came to perform the ceremony. Mandy told him if it was longer than 10 minutes she would be pissed. And also, that it needed to be funny. Mission accomplished! He was trying his best to read his script and speak English when all the sudden he accidentally said the word, “impotent” and man, no greater word has ever been said during a 6 minute wedding that was required to be funny. We were all like, “oh damn! Sorry, Pete! Actually, sorry, Mandy! Man. Whew!” HAHAHAHA. Immediately after we stopped laughing and hooting and hollering, the captain said, “Well anyway, if it doesn’t work out, there is always divorce!” And there were were screaming and laughing again. When it was time for vows, the captain gave up and handed them the script and said, “Read this!” Ha!!
If you know Pete and Mandy, this was 100% exactly perfect. Pete kissed his bride, we all took pictures, and then it was “time to party,” according to the bride who had also been trying to ensure she would fit in her dress!
The crew then kicked up all the food and drinks, cranked the music, pulled out all the water toys and soon people were diving and jumping off every possible spot around the yacht into that perfectly clear, somewhat chilly, Mediterranean water.
Sadly, all things must come to an end and before long it was time to head home. Jason and I enjoyed a Heineken together (IYKYK) and then I quietly slipped around to the front of the boat and climbed back up to the lounge cushion deck. For part of the ride home, I laid flat on my back looking at the perfect blue sky and white puffy clouds. What a dream.
Once back at the marina, we all hopped off and let Pete and Mandy settle up with the crew. We weren’t entirely sure what the evening would hold but my hair was tangled in 18,000 ways, I needed to drink a lot of water, and I at least needed a sweatshirt for when the sun went down so off to the apartment we went.
As it ended up, we stayed in the rest of the night. Parts of the group went to different places. We’d pretty much decided at this point that we’d encountered bed bugs and the best way to get rid of them is to wash and dry on extremely high heat for a long time so I set about washing everything we had, just to be cautious.
We enjoyed our balcony, finished up the remnants of our wine and food, and just sort of basked in the glow of the most perfect day (minus the alleged bed bugs) Thanks for including us, guys! May your impotence be short but your love be forever!
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