It’s four a.m. on the Monday before the wedding and it’s still dark out. We leave the house bound for Mexico with five huge suitcases packed to the brim and a wedding dress in a white garment bag so large it could have housed a body. There are a few members of the wedding party traveling with Emily and me and we are all equally bleary eyed.

It’s raining and eerily quiet on the empty streets of New York as I watch our driver meticulously tetris our suitcases into the back of the cab. As a finishing touch he lays the large white garment bag containing Emily’s wedding dress carefully on top. I’ve never seen the dress itself but will soon. T-minus five days to wedding, and as the city rushes by behind us Emily and I wonder about what we have forgotten. We are headed to Mexico.

Two days later, it’s the night before guests begin to arrive. I’m standing in a dimly lit small liquor store in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico with one of my groomsmen, Josh. We are both a little bit drunk. I am pantomiming, trying to explain to the clerk that we do not need one big bottle of tequila but rather 140 mini bottles of tequila. I turn to the cab driver and ask “Como se dice ‘welcome bags’ en Espanol.” Josh laughs.

Eventually the clerk understands and loves it. We load three surprisingly small boxes into the cab. Success.

The next night is the rehearsal dinner. It’s at a small restaurant in Tulum. My mom has just told a story about seeing a video of Emily do a magic trick with an egg in a video posted online. She says it’s the moment she knew we would end up together. It was a touching toast and a lovely sentiment.

I take the microphone and explain that we’ve got the same egg trick set up on a table in the back. (I had a hunch she might tell that story) All eyes are on Emily and I as we set up the trick, it doesn’t really work but it’s a hit with the crowd regardless.

A few hours before the wedding, I stand on a balcony with the rest of my groomsmen feeling like a bit of a cliché as we drink beers, eat guacamole and told stories of the good old days. In the distance the DJ is setting up and testing the sound system as I watch the hotel employees carry the chairs and tables out onto the lawn. It finally sinks in; this is my wedding. Like today, right now.

Blink my eyes and I’m standing on the beach in front of family and friends. There’s Emily walking down the aisle. She looks absolutely stunning in a gorgeous dress and I feel incredibly lucky to be marrying my best friend.

Blink my eyes and we are walking back up the aisle, rose petals floating around us. Blink my eyes and we share a quiet moment after the ceremony. Blink my eyes and we are on the beach taking photos. It’s a blur as Emily and I move from conversation to conversation. It feels like the reunion special on a sitcom in the best possible way. It is so much fun to see all the people from different aspects of my life interacting. Having fun. Laughing. There is so much love and support flowing that night that it is overwhelming.

I’ve never felt anything quite like it.