Cozumel: Where Bathing Suits are Acceptable Wedding Attire

I'm finally almost caught up with blogging! Yayyyyy!

This month, Adam and I were thrilled to attend the first weddings since our own: his best friend's, and my dad's! Unfortunately, they were on the same weekend. IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. We couldn't possibly miss either wedding, so we split and attended the respective weddings solo. I was beyond bummed to be away from Adam on what would've been a romantic vacay, but I couldn't stay sad long because I was headed off on a 4-day cruise to Cozumel with 50 of our family members and dad's friends! 

Carnival Liberty, front, docked in Cozumel

This was truly a trip of a lifetime. Getting to spend four straight days with so much of our family, all while celebrating my dad's marriage, was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I was genuinely sad that Adam was missing out on this, but I still had a blast! 

We got to spend several hours exploring Cozumel before the wedding later that afternoon. A group of about 20 of us hopped in cabs and headed to Money Bar. I'd heard raves about this place while on our honeymoon just a short distance away in the Riviera Maya. 

This place was pretty neat. Situated right on a pretty little spat of beach, Money Bar served up yummy drinks and food, and even provided snorkel equipment if you wanted to go cool off and see some fish. Surprisingly, there were quite a few to see! 

Taken underwater with my cousin Dusty's iPhone. Pretty cool, huh?

From there, we headed into downtown Cozumel to Wet Wendy's for lunch. Wet Wendy's is well-known on TripAdvisor for their massive, overflowing margaritas:

Brain freeze for one, please.

Honestly, Wet Wendy's didn't do much for me. It took us a $50 cab ride to get there, and while on the way, I asked the cabbie what he thought of the place. He didn't speak much English and simply replied "Americanos." Roughly translated, we were heading to a tourist trap. Aww, shucks. After getting spoiled with authentic Mayan food on our honeymoon, I'd been jonesing for the real deal on this trip. It was good, don't get me wrong, just not quite what I wanted, ya know? 

The wedding was so, so pretty! There was a torrential downpour about an hour or two before the wedding (apparently that's the new family tradition), but it cleared out just in time. 

My dad's new wife walking down the "aisle"! I guess we have a thing for tough terrain, too.

The ceremony was short but so, so sweet. Apparently my dad's tears on my wedding day were just the precursor to his own wedding. I'm pretty sure he cried every day of the whole trip - but it's his party, and he can cry if he wants to! :) 

After the ceremony, we all hung out for a little bit and enjoyed some margaritas before heading back to the ship. 

That's me on the far left, then my two brothers, Dad's wife, Dad, Mom-mom, and my two sisters.

Oh and if you can't tell, those are bathing suit straps in the picture above. Yup, I have now officially worn a bikini to a wedding. But that's just the kind of wedding it was! Come as you are, even if you're rolling in from the beach bar. Dad even rented a churro stand! Talk about incorporating local flavor into your destination wedding. 

My little brother, David, waiting impatiently for the stand to open!

Getting lifted by some of the crazy men in our family

All in all, an amazing bonding sesh with the fam, and a great destination wedding!