At the reception, we had the regular lights off and strobe lights illuminating the room.

Jean-Paul and I shared the first dance. We danced to "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. We also decided to do one last dance with each other before it was time for me to share a father-daughter dance with my dad. The other song I had picked out was "Kiss Me" by the band Sixpence None The Richer.

Jean-Paul and I danced around the room, holding each other close. He twirled me around the room, spinning me in circles as my hair flowed in the breeze. It was at that moment I felt like a true princess. I took Jean-Paul in. I really got a good look at him. He looked so handsome in his black tux, gold dress shirt, and maroon colored tie. His smile really set off the entire look. I was so happy to finally call this dream man my husband. I had to pinch myself after the dancing to see if I was just dreaming. But of course, I felt the pain. I definitely wasn't dreaming.

He finally gave my hand back to my father for our father-daughter dance. The song of choice for my dance with my Dad was "Butterfly Kisses" by Bob Carlisle. My Dad recognized the song, and although he tried to keep his composure, the tears streamed down his face. It almost broke my heart to see my Dad cry. I had never seen him cry before this day. I could only imagine how he must feel to have to give his daughter away, for her to have her last name changed.

My father and I danced together, and soon after, it was time for Jean-Paul to dance with his Maman. The song of choice was "Here For You" by Neil Young.

Watching how Jean-Paul was when he was dancing with his mother was the sweetest thing ever. I wondered if they use to dance together when he was a young boy. They both had tears that fell from their eyes as he would spin her around and flash a smile at her between the tears.

After the dancing was over, everyone joined in to one last dance which was the "Cha-Cha Slide."

I figured that would get everyone out of the sappy sad mood and into a party mood.

It was fun watching my old family and new family dancing together. Even the little kids enjoyed the song, and it was hilarious seeing my colleagues Charlie Browning on the dance floor.

The baker brought out the cake. The cake was a 3-tier cake with white icing. Maroon and gold edible flowers climbed up the sides. The cake topper was a man and a woman embracing each other while staring deeply into each other's eyes.

Jean-Paul and I gathered around the table and made a toast.

"To the rest of our life together."

And everyone chanted, "To the rest of your life."

Jean-Paul and I cut into the 3-tier cake, looped our arms together, and smashed the cake into each other's mouths. Jean-Paul smeared the cake and icing into my face so, I did the same to him as payback. If our life together could be as fun as the cake smashing, then I was sure we would be in for a blast.

After the cake, everyone ate some finger foods and cake themselves before leaving. I gave everyone that came a little goody bag and gave a special goody bag to my girls that stood up there with me at my wedding.

As everyone was clearing out of the party, we began to take the decorations down and clean the church back up before church the next morning. Then we went to rent a room in the hotel for the night for our honeymoon. We had our lives to get back to.

After we got the church cleaned back up, and we gathered all of the decorations together to put into storage, Jean-Paul and I bid my parents good night and we went back to the hotel. The next morning Celeste would have to travel back to Paris.

Jean-Paul drove us to the hotel. When we arrived, he walked around to the passenger side, opened my door, and lifted me from the seat. He carried me the entire way to our hotel room, despite the stares from the other guests.

When we got inside, I immediately changed from my wedding dress to my pajamas. I took my hair down and cleaned the make-up from my face. Then I climbed under the covers and snuggled against my new husband.

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The next morning, we checked out of the hotel before taking Celeste to the airport. We watched as she got on the plane back to France. Jean-Paul tried to remain strong, but I could tell he wanted to cry.

Before heading back to New York Jean-Paul insisted that we go back to my parents' house and stay one last night with them before heading back.

So we did.

When we arrived, my mother helped me put my dress back into the dress bag and she hung it up in the closet of my old bedroom. I could come and get it at any time. Jean-Paul ended up putting his tux in the closet by my dress.

I helped my mother make dinner which consisted of homemade ratatouille. Or at least we attempted our hand at making it homemade.

Jean-Paul really enjoyed the nice gesture. I suppose that's what really mattered.

We gathered around the dinner table and joined hands as my father gave thanks. Instead of just giving thanks for the food, he also prayed that Jean-Paul and I would be safe in our travels and would have a happy and long life together.

After dinner, Jean-Paul and I went upstairs to go to bed for the night, although it was still a little earlier in the day. We were going to go upstairs and talk for a bit before going to sleep. He set the alarm for four AM which I thought was really weird. There is no way that I want to get up and go to New York at four in the morning.

"Why do we have to get up at four in the morning? It only takes eleven hours to get back to New York. We could leave at noon and still make it home by eleven PM," I said through a half groggy voice.

"I wanted to wait until tomorrow, but, follow me."

Jean-Paul and I walked swiftly back down the stairs and into the living room. My parents followed suit. He pulled a black suede box off of the kitchen table.

"I wanted to wait until tomorrow and say something, but Blakely,...we are going on an official honeymoon. I already cleared it with the restaurant and I already cleared it with Doctor Lynch. We are going to Paris tomorrow morning," he said handing me the plane tickets.

My eyes got wide and my Mom had a smile that spread across her face.

"Oh my goodness, Jean-Paul! You really had everything thought out ahead of time, didn't you? Did you two know about this?" I turned to look at my parents. They tried to hide the smile, but their smile broke out across their faces. They shook their heads up and down to mean yes.

My mother started giggling in excitement.

"Jean-Paul is taking me on your dream honeymoon trip," I smiled.

I turned to look at my mother and what she said next wasn't what I expected.

"You are so right about that. I told Jean-Paul about how my dream honeymoon trip was to Paris, but your father and I weren't able to have a proper honeymoon when we first got married. And knowing that Jean-Paul is actually from Paris, I can see why he would want to take you back to his hometown to visit. Don't worry about the passports. We got those take care of a couple of months ago," my mother whispered.

I gasped in shock. They knew about this for at least a couple of months? Jean-Paul and my parents were always full of surprises. I wondered if Celeste was secretly in on it too?

The only problem with a honeymoon to Paris was that I had nothing to wear. My mother loaned me her suitcase and decided to go with me later in the evening to get some clothes for our trip. The memory brought me back to when my mother and I went shopping before our trip to Paris so many years before.

Everything about this trip was starting to flood back all of the memories. I felt my heart burst into happiness.

We went to a store called Ana's and my mother helped me pick out some shorts, jeans, and t-shirts. We also came across an Eiffel Tower and France shirt that I just had to get.

When we returned back to my parents' house, my father and Jean-Paul were in the living room with my Dad's old guitar. He was teaching Jean-Paul to play.

I went back upstairs to pack my bags and set them by the door for the next morning.

Finally, my eyes were about to draw closed, so Jean-Paul and I made our way upstairs and to the bed for the night. He threw his arm around my waist and whispered, "I hope you like your surprise. I hope this trip to Paris will be the best trip ever."

I smiled and turned to face him for a moment. I looked him right in the eyes and whispered, "I love my surprise. I always secretly wanted to go to Paris on a honeymoon, but never thought that would happen until I married a French man." I placed a soft kiss upon his lips, before turning back over and going to sleep.