Dear Diary: May 30, 2013

So I kinda hijacked Carlisle's diary in order to explain this better to all of you. I adore Carlisle, but he sucks at celebration details! I finally put my and Jasper's vow renewal together! So obviously, I know you would want all of the amazing details. I have all the photos of everyone's clothes in the album with the link below. It was to die for. OMG, I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Neither Jasper nor I told anyone what we wanted to do and we asked Bella to shield our thoughts when Edward and the Watchers were around. Rogue and Alexander returned home to hugs and a huge welcome. So I was super excited to include the two of them in our master plan. What we decided to do was basically combine a classic movie and the time when Jasper was turned. In other words, Gone with the Wind meets Civil War head on! I took it upon myself to order all of the clothes for everyone. Because this was just a vow renewal and not an actual wedding, we didn't need any justice of the peace. However, Rogue volunteered to make it extra special for us. We of course had no idea what that meant, but she said it would be awesome.

For a few days before hand, we banned everyone from the backyard while we got the surroundings ready for reception and the ceremony itself. And then the day before the actual event, when the Denali clan plus Garrett had arrived, we gathered everyone—family, Denali, and all the Watchers—in our living room to give them their clothes and explain how things were going to go. This is how that conversation went:

"Thanks for coming everyone," I said grandly. I heard a few grumbles.

"Alice, will you tell us what's going on already?" Bella asked impatiently.

"Patience is virtue. OK, OK—don't look at me that way," I told my family, who seemed like they were ready to hang me from the rafters.

"Any day now Alice!" Edward grumbled.

"All right . . . sheesh! So as you know Jasper and I have been planning our vow renewal. And it's all complete now. We have a theme and everything," I exclaimed.

"Quelle surprise," Emmett muttered.

My, my, my family was grouchy today.

"Awww come on guys! Cut Aunt Alice some slack. This is a special time for her, even if she does love to go all out!" Nessie defended me.

I love her! The rest of the family grumbled their consent. The Watchers said nothing. I kind of wavered in my resolve to spring this concept on them, as they were so negative today. Jasper felt my hesitation and started to radiate peace. I could have kissed him. I knew he always had my back no matter what and would hamstring anyone who would try to ruin my special day . . . erm . . . I mean our special day. Edward heard my thoughts and his face softened.

"All right shorty, continue. We won't interrupt anymore," Jacob said with a wink.

"OK, where was I? Oh yeah, the vow renewal theme. So I was thinking that this time I want to make it special for both Jasper and I instead of just my own theme. So I have come up with Gone with the Wind. It's romantic and it took place during the Civil War, which is when Jasper was turned. I have already bought everyone's outfits and I thought that the Cullen/Denali men could dress like Confederate soldiers while Jasper will actually have his officer's uniform and have the Watcher/wolf men dress like Union soldiers, while the women all have different Scarlett O'Hara dresses. How does that sound?" I asked anxiously.

"Wow Alice. That actually sounds really cool. What kind of dress do I get?" Bella questioned. Wait. Did I hear that correctly? Bella actually was excited about trying on a dress?

Edward laughed at my facial expression.

"Um . . . you get a very form flattering red dress. It has a train and some feathers at the shoulders. I think Edward will like it very much," I told her with a wink.

Then before anyone could say anything else, I dashed upstairs and brought down over a dozen garment bags with dresses and uniforms. Each garment bag had a name on it of the person who would wear it. I handed them out to their rightful owners and watched as everyone ooo'd and ahh'd over their respective outfits. Some dresses were poufy, while others were very form-fitting. Rogue had a very va-va-voom dress. Alexander couldn't keep his eyes or hands off of her for that matter. Something told me that after the ceremony, Jasper and I aren't going to be the only ones in the honeymoon phase, so to speak. I don't want to beat around the bush so I'll just say it: A lot of people are going to get laid tomorrow night. I heard a lot of snickers from all of our mind readers in the room at that one.

So then I shoo'd everyone off to do their thing and asked them to be ready tomorrow at 5pm for a very vintage day. Jasper and I went back to our room satisfied that everything was ready for the next day. We decided that we were going to take another honeymoon. This time it'll be my turn to choose where we go as our Japan trip was his decision.

After thinking very carefully, I decided that I wanted to go to Sweden to stay in their world famous Ice Hotel. We'd never done it before and it just seemed like a really cool place to spend our 2nd honeymoon. Since I got to pick the place, he picked the room, or suite rather. A link for the ice hotel are below.

The next day, Jasper ran around the backyard to make sure everything was ready. I was getting ready in my room. My dress was a green number that had a hoop skirt and some jewels on the bust and back. It was off the shoulder, so it did show a bit of cleavage. When I knew I was ready, I wanted to go see what the others looked like so badly that I skipped over the whole 'bride is seen last' thing. After all, I wasn't a bride.

I walked down the hall to hear where most of the women were and followed the giggling to Carlisle and Esme's master bedroom. I knocked on the door and opened it to see my whole family . . . well the female side of them plus all the Watchers and Leah. As soon as they saw me they oo'd at my dress, especially Nessie.

"OMG Alice, you look stunning! Just like Scarlett O'Hara," Nessie gushed after giving me a hug.

"I think we all look like her in our own way," I said, looking around the room with satisfaction. I did my job well, if I do say so myself.

"I'm glad you didn't make any of us wear Mammie's outfit," Bella said with a giggle. Everyone laughed.

"Yeah, none of you could pull that off. So I decided to make your dresses all fit your personalities—more or less," I said.

"I didn't think my personality was poofy light orange. But I'm glad my dress matches Nessie's," said Leah with a tight smile.

"All right ladies, it's time," Esme said, clapping her hands.

We all lined up, fluffing our dresses, making sure our hair and make-up was well-done and helped each other with a little shmutz here and there. Then, laughing and giggling, we all headed toward the back yard where the men waited.

Most importantly, my man.

He was wearing his Confederate officer uniform and hat proudly as he stood at the arch. Rogue proceeded to walk ahead of all of us and stand next to him in place of the justice of the peace. Then all the other ladies walked one by one down the aisle to the audible appreciation of the men.

We put the confederate soldiers on one side, and the union soldiers on the other—just for fun. As each woman walked down the aisle, she then turned and stood by her man in the section he was in. We had enough on both sides so it looked symmetrical. Before I came down, both sides started cracking jokes at the others expense.

Then Rogue called silence and I walked down with a very simple southern waltz being played from invisible speakers. My eyes were demurely lowered until I saw him, than he was the only one I could see even with so many people around. His eyes widened slightly when he saw me and took in what I was wearing. I walked the rest of the way and joined him at the arch with Rogue. His eyes remained wide.

He turned his mouth to my ear and whispered, "You—you look so beautiful."

If I could have blushed I would have.

"Thank you, kind sir," I whispered. He smiled his crooked smile.

"Anytime, ma'am," he whispered back.

Rogue then cleared her throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have come together today to hear these two wonderful people renew their love for one another. There won't be any solemn vows or rings exchanged. But each has written what the other has meant to them over these centuries and will now read for all to hear. Alice?"

Rogue gestured toward me. I cleared my throat, looked into Jasper's eyes, and started to speak:

Jasper my love
I know you aren't a fan
Of these gatherings
And of my constant over the top
Creations
But you love me for me
You protect me
You make me whole
Forget seeing the future
I don't need to see it
When you're around me
I just want to live in the moment
In your arms
Surrounding me always
I don't care if we're half way around the world
Or in our own backyard
As long as you're with me
I am at peace
Thank you for making my
Eternal existence
Brighter and more powerful
Then the rays of the sun
You are my heaven on earth

As I spoke I heard people gasp, but I didn't pay attention to any of them. I know they have never heard me be so open about my feelings for Jasper. But this was our vow renewal so open I was. Jasper, meanwhile, seemed to be glowing. If our kind could cry, I've no doubt that tears would have fallen from his eyes in that moment. Our hands were clasped together as we spoke to each other. That bond was never to be broken. When I had finished, Rogue turned to Jasper and without prodding, he started to speak his:

My darling Alice
Words cannot express
What your presence in my life means
There aren't enough ways
Not enough words in the whole world
You came into my life when I was ready to give up all hope
You loved me before I even knew what love really was
You are my queen
And I worship the ground you walk on every day
I may not express my feelings in front of others
But in my heart
I feel complete
We both started with nothing
And now we have everything
Every day that I get to wake up next to you
Kiss you
Hold you
I cherish with every fiber of my being
I am very proud to be your man
Your friend
Your lover
But most importantly
Your husband
Regardless of where we live
And how many time we have to
Change our names and relationships
To me you will always be
Mrs. Alice Whitlock
I love you!

Jasper's speech, I knew without even looking, had everyone's mouth hanging open—well, except maybe the Watchers, who were just smiling and wiping away tears. If I could produce tears, they would have been streaming down my cheeks. We had both just professed our innermost secrets regarding our feelings toward each other in front of the whole family, and for the first time, we didn't care. This was as much PDA that anyone's gotten from us, ever. And again we didn't care.

After Jasper was done speaking, Rogue said, "Now that these two have professed their unconditional love toward one another, there's a little ritual I like to do during these ceremonies. Will you both face each other and hold hands?"

When we did what she asked, she put her left hand on Jasper's head and her right hand on mine. She then closed her eyes and started saying something very softly as both of us felt a sensation start to go through us, it was very warm and comforting. I also noticed that Jasper and I started to glow. Just like Charlie and Sue had when they were first chosen. I can't put it into correct words what it felt like, but the only one I can choose is love. It felt like we were both bathed in love; that and warmth. It was like we were passing our love to each other through our bodies; it was as if I could feel Jasper and he could feel me. I've never experienced anything like that before. Rogue is one gifted Watcher.

After that was over, the ceremony came to a close and Jasper and I kissed to cheers and clapping of our friends and family. Then we walked down the aisle with my hand through his arm, followed by the rest of our party. We had ample time before starting the reception, so Rose being the resident photographer, took a bunch of photos of all of us, both by ourselves and coupled or with family. Finally when we knew we had well over 1,000 photos in that camera, it was time to PARTY!

Because we had wolves, Watchers, and Nessie who ate, we had a buffet of southern style cooking and a Civil War cake that was cut up and given out to after dinner. We danced to waltzes and other Civil War era music as well as the theme to Gone with the Wind which was just danced by Jasper and I alone. Then we had enough of all of this vintage stuff and put in some David Guetta and Michael Jackson. Jacob and Seth even knew all the moves to "Thriller," while Keith could do a mean Moonwalk, much to Leah's delight, and our own. We are living in the 21st century after all! We danced and ate all night long. We finally realized that it was 3am and that Jasper and I had our flight to catch to Sweden. We'd be gone only a week.

We ran upstairs, changed into regular clothes, and with our bags having been packed the night before, came back downstairs just as a town car pulled up. I planned everything to a T. We kissed and hugged our family and friends and thanked them for making this day so special for us, and then we were on our way.

I'm currently writing this to you from the airplane. Jasper and I are in first class. He's reading a book and I'm writing this in a notebook so that I could staple the pages to Carlisle's actual Diary. He gave me permission, don't worry. I wouldn't just take his diary and write in it, nor would I read what he wrote; that's a total invasion of privacy, and not something I do. Besides, I have my own diary somewhere. I need to dust it out one of these days. So anywho, I'll end here. I'm sure Carlisle will fill you in on our trip once we get back.

Have a great week everyone! Happy Summer!

Love, Alice

~Carlisle Cullen

Link to the Icehotel in Sweden where Alice and Jasper stayed: https://www.icehotel.com/