El Paso winter wedding
Texas wedding December 2018
Whilst we were in Prague in April we got the exciting phone call from John announcing his engagement to the lovely Avery which we hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting yet! We were thrilled at the excuse to come and visit one of our favourite places - Boulder, Colorado. Fast forward a few months and a couple of facetime calls later we were in El Paso, Texas and the dream has finally become a reality! Lew and I had spent Xmas and a few extra days in Boulder relaxing and breathing in the fresh winter air before making our way south to Texas for the first time Dec 27th. We had a cute airbnb close to downtown and the first night was supposed to be Johns Bachelor party with an open invite. The plan was to hire some bikes and head around town drinking in local bars and eateries along the way. However, an unexpected stomach virus knocked down some of the bridal party and family so we settled for a bar a short walk from our pad. Believe it or not there were still friends of Lew and Johns from high school that I hadn’t met so there were so new introductions and some catch ups! This happened with a cocktail and local beer in hand of course! This was the night we met the wonderful Avery for the first time but it felt as if we had known her for years anyway and I can’t put my finger on why this might be! It lasted a couple of hours before the future Mr & Mrs Coats left for an early night and we all headed out knowing it would be a crazy few days!
Friday 28th December
Today was all go and we started the day off with Avery and John picking us up with the intention of walking up Mount Cristo Rey. I can tell you now the weather was absolutely not what we expected down on the border of Mexico and we were lucky to have all our warm clothes from Colorado with us. As we drove along Avery pointed out where the Mexican city of Juarez is and I was shocked to see that there was already a wall dividing the Mexican and the US city. This original wall was built in 1994 when president Bill Clinton was in power and was aimed to prevent illegal crossing between the two counties and also reduce the amount of drug trafficking occurring. This barrier is not continuous and is instead a group of short physical walls secured with virtual fences made up of sensors and cameras that the US Border Security watch. As of 2009 there was 930 km of barriers in places along the continental border of 3,201km. Nevertheless it there is a very distinct “them” and “us” feel the a wall even being in place. Speaking to Avery about Trumps plans for the even more solid and continuous wall made me a little heartbroken at the bond between the two cities and the connection they would lose. They don’t see themselves as “Mexican” and “American” so much but rather neighbouring towns where often people living in Juarez on the Mexican side will come across to El Paso daily for work. This community would never be the same if these plans go ahead. As we continued to drive we ended up out of the state of Texas and into New Mexico which was where the walk begun. We met up with a few more keen friends such as Anna & Eric and Avery spoke to us about the history of the walk and why it meant so much to her. Without getting into too much detail her dad is currently in prison accused of white collar crime in which many close friends and family believe to be a wrongful accusation. Years ago this area we were currently standing in was not safe for such activities due to the many baditos (A Mexican outlaw) murdering people in the area. Avery’s dad Chris played a huge part in getting the community back into the area and making sure it was cleaned up for locals to use. So this walk surrounded by close friends meant a lot to her as her and also gave us girls some time to chat! As we walked up the trail the snow became to fall and it was certainly bitterly cold. At some point we even crossed into the Mexican state of Chihuahua but this isn’t a case of getting your passports out. Avery said that often when Mexicans want to cross the border illegally they climb this mountain, swap their clothes and then continue down the US side to be picked up in the carpark. Border control only counts the number of cars and not the number of people. Seems like the most obvious way to sneak into another country if you ask me! By the time we got to the top, Lucia Avery’s bestie since the age of 5 had caught up with us with her dog Zoe! We had a few photos up the top by the tall limestone statue of Christ whilst the the snow came down gracefully around us. It was a little sad looking at the Juarez on one side with its falling down houses, dirt road and apparent poverty compared to the city of El Paso with its tall buildings, highways and large houses. The trek down was a little unpleasant and a few star jumps and shortcuts down steep hills was much needed to keep some warmth us. Lucia, Avery and I were headed to a hair appointment that we were running late for so we had to run the last few meters and speed off back towards civilisation.
Avery’s sister insisted on her getting her hair “blown out” of which was a new word to both of us girls but I have to admit it made her look a million dollars and only involved a brush and a hairdryer!! Lucia picked us back up and we made our way to the Nail salon where Avery and her family + Bridesmaids were waiting for the beautiful bride to be! She had so kindly invited me to join them all and I felt so welcomed into her world. The darling Pat Coats arrived and we picked out a nail colour with the help of Lucia since I had no idea the difference between gels and powder as this would be the first time iv ever had my nails done. I know, but I can never have beautiful nails being a nurse as long nails that have nail polish are most certainly not allowed! We were all handed out some beautifully decorated boxes filled with all sorts of dairy and gluten free items - including lemon tarts, salad and crackers with hummus. We were super spoilt! Being a little confused by the option of nail designs I decided to copy Lucia who seems to be waaay more in know about this than me. She was getting some incredible design she had seen on social media called the “unicorn”. Very cute and used a sparkly powder as well as many layers of white and clear coats. They turned out absolutely stunning and I was very pleased! Lew on the other hand when I turned up at home thought they looked tacky. Well huni they are going to be around for a few weeks so you better get used to them!
Anna and Eric were just leaving our place as I turned up home and we didn’t have long before Lew had to go to the wedding rehearsal and the for us both to go to the rehearsal dinner. Lew took an Uber to the church and when it was time I walked the 10 minutes down to the Mexican restaurant where the dinner was. There were SO many people I didn’t recognise and I think majority of them was the Coats family since they are so darn huge when you include all the children and grandkids! We drunk Margaritas of course and ate lots of amazing Mexican food I had never even heard of. Thankfully Lucia sat with us and could explain what everything was! Pat had organised a lady to sing a song that she had written and Lew and I were in charge of videoing it all. It was so beautiful watching them all standing up the front tears in their eyes and I couldn’t believe we were part of such a special moment. John is finally getting married!!!! We caught up with a heap of people we hadn’t seen in a long time and met many new faces. The night ended and we said our goodbyes to Pat and Joe and walked home in the dark and snow! Snow in Texas yes! Certainly wasn’t the mild weather I was expecting when I chose the dress I would be wearing for the big day!
Saturday 29th December 2018
Today is the day! It was of course bitterly cold after the snow we got in the morning. Lew and I had a very relaxed morning before catching up with Eric and Anna for lunch down at the local cafe called ‘Savage Goods’ that has the most AMAZING dairy and gluten free food. Anna and I were in absolute heaven with her being gluten free and me dairy free! Have you ever had a dairy free burrito with soy cheese and a chocolate donut? Um me neither but it was crazy good! We hadn’t seen these guys since their wedding so there was lots of catching up to do literally right until closing time for this cute place. They had tonnes of donuts left over so they gave us an entire box for free!! Couldn’t have been happier in my life!!! Plus I have a nice relaxed dress for the service so their no food baby worry for me! We now didn’t have very long until we needed to get to the church and we downed a fizz stick each as were having a bit of an afternoon slump post sugar ingestion! We rushed to get ready for the service especially since Lew had never put a full suit on! We were of course a bit late by the time we arrived and with Lew being the best man there were some very stressed individuals that we ran into! One even commented that Lew was physically present but not mentally!! HAHA!! Didn’t quite know how to respond to that one! Everyone begun arriving and we took out seats in the freezing cold church. Lew looked incredibly smart in his suit and I have to take back my comments about black suits, I no longer hate them but I think they just need to be tailor especially if your tall and lanky! The ceremony begun and I ended up sitting by myself which wasn’t the best idea since a) I needed someone to snuggle next to me for warmth! b) I had never been to a catholic mass before and felt very lost. Not to offend anyone but I stifled a laugh during communion as I thought they were using a taco as the bread since we were so close to Mexico. I later confirmed this was not the case. But alas it was rather funny at the time. Avery looked stunning in her white dress with the most beautiful lace sleeves and long train. Her matte red nails from the day before suited her so well and the red and gold theme of the wedding. Despite only meeting her the other day I felt like I had known her for years. I love her and John together and they compliment each other so well. Once the bride and groom had officially become Mr and Mrs Coast and the registry was signed the photos begun! Somehow Lew and I always miss out on a photo together with the bride and groom as there is always so much happening. It is always a little disappointing but not the end of the world. They were setting up for the giant Coats family photos when Lew grabbed me and said that Grandpa Coats who is in his 90s wasn’t feeling very good. They were very concerned he was having a stroke and an ambulance was called. There was another ED nurse there and together we gave him a quick once over and ruled out the possibility of a stroke. The Coats family were incredibly thankful and I felt almost embarrassed as I usually get abused for my work as opposed to praised repetitively. The paramedics turned up and gave him the once over and left him in out capable hands. He was stoic and no chance he would be going to hospital anyways! We managed to get some photos after this including one I will cherish for many year of us and Pat and Joe! We were then pushed into a van for the bridal party of which I had no idea whether I was even allowed to be in here but this was the only way for us to get to the ranch reception now! There was a lot of defrosting and a fair amount of feeding Avery snacks in the back seat as she was starving. Guys promise me you will do the same when im a bride ok? Or dont judge me if I just take a break from all things bridal and eat haha! Everything was run by Averys older sister who was incredible impressive as a wedding planning with a headset and all! Lew and I felt a but overwhelmed as this was the first time we had experienced this type of wedding organisation! Is this what is expected?!! There were some photos taken and then a plan for the entrance of the bridal party. I stayed behind to carry in the bags as they all went in. John and Avery immediately went up to speak about her dad in prison and how sad she is that he couldn’t be here with her on her special day. The groomsmen handed out balloons to everyone with lights inside of them and we shook them up as we all walked outside into the cold to release them in one big group. The idea was that her dad could see them and it was a tribute to him. It made me feel a little teary as I thought of not having my dad there to give me away. I can tell how much of a strong women she is already by what both her and John have been through together. There were some speeches by the incredible Joe Coats in which the entire family cheered madly for him and the best man Mr Lewis. Round two was much more favourable for the young Kiwi with not a single “UM” being mumbled this time. We had decided not to record it but I wish I had as I was in awe of the confidence he had built over the past two years. Man was he going to be a formidable boss and leader at some point in his career and I can’t wait to be by his side! Dinner was a very typical ranch style with lots of meat! And I have forgotten to tell you about the set up! So it is basically a massive tent with large gas heaters to warm it up and it is situated on Averys family ranch. It was an insanely cold night and I did eventually go and put my pants and merinos on as I couldn’t handle it any longer. Most of the guests had to do the same. The night went fast and we ended up all dancing outside with the live band who were fabulous! It was a wonderful night despite the weather and we had met and made many new friends!
