Honeymoon Recap - Part 1

 

Ryan and I knew early on in the wedding planning process that we wanted to go away on our honeymoon right away. In fact, on a past Wedding Wednesday post I mentioned where we would be going.

To say that we were excited to get away would be an understatement. We were looking forward to some uninterrupted time together as husband and wife.

The Sunday morning after the wedding was a sleepy one! We were kind of exhausted from the night before. So, we ordered pizza into our room for lunch and then slept most of the afternoon away!

That evening we did decide to go out for supper to The Keg that was just down the road from our hotel! We had an amazing meal! It is one of our favorite restaurants!

REALLY early Monday morning we were off to the Bahamas! Landing in this beautiful city early in the afternoon! We were picked up (and brought back) to the airport in this sweet set of wheels! We kind of felt like a big deal! :-)

A Rolls Royce!

We were greeted at the reception desk and told some bad news. Our room wasn’t ready yet. To make it up to us they asked if we wanted to be upgraded to their nicest room, the oceanview penthouse suite! Oh, ok…if we have too! (WOO HOO!)

That evening our butler (ya, we had our own butler all week, sweet!) booked us to have dinner at Gordon’s which is on the pier. We dressed up and headed off.

We had an amazing meal! Steak, seafood and all the fixings.

Our first full morning at the resort was great! We were greeted at breakfast with mimosa’s! Great way to start the day!

We then laid by the pool, which ended up being our most favorite spot.

I also started a new book! Had to read it after all the hype!

That evening we headed to The Crystal Room, given it’s name from the beautiful chandelier that hangs in the centre.

We again enjoyed a delicious and fancy meal!

After supper we enjoyed a sunset walk on the beach! I know, I know…Super sappy! But we were honeymooners after all!

Wednesday morning was an exciting day! We were headed to the private island and spending the day there!

Dock

Our butler had arranged for us to have a private cabana on the beach so that we were able to get out of the sun if we wanted to! We relaxed, ate lunch and even napped in this little cabana.

After lunch, we arranged to have a couples massage on the beach of the private island. It was heavenly!

That evening we cleaned up and headed to Kimono’s for supper. It is a Japanese venue where the chef cooks your meal right before your eyes!

That evening we curled up on one of the couches by the fire pit with a couple of night caps. They had a jazz player performing near the fire pit as well so it was relaxing and entertaining!

The first few days of our honeymoon we were spoiled! Between getting greeted everywhere with a “Mr. & Mrs.” and just relaxing, we rejuvenated after a busy time leading up the wedding. We were feeling very refreshed and looking for some adventures to follow on the coming days.

Happy Friday!

xo

Leading Up To Wedding And Morning Of… Via Iphone

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! Ryan and I have been working away at getting things back in order and back to “normal”. I feel like we are getting there. It’s going to be a while but we have progress.

Have I ever mentioned before how much I love my phone? I really do. The picture quality is great and for just a quick snap shot it works great! I love that I can go through the pictures of all the memories.

There were days leading up to the wedding that were so busy! I had worked so hard at getting little details done but there were many things that I couldn’t do until that week!

I knew things were going to be so busy and my poor puppy would be getting the short end of the stick. I had made the VERY difficult decision to bring him to a boarding place on the Wednesday before the wedding. That morning, when I packed him up. He knew something was up.

“Where are you taking me?!?!?”

Thankfully we stayed at a great boarders and he is happy and at home with me now! :-)

After I dropped Tucker off on Wednesday morning I headed to the city to pick up MY DRESS! Yes, 3 days before the wedding…I was cutting it close! ha ha!

But the wonderful Jasmine from The White Dress had it all packaged up and ready for me. We loaded it in the car (getting a few stares from by standers) and I was ready for home! It was a huge relief having my dress finally at home with me!

I would be lying if I said I didn’t rock out to this song a million times that week! It seemed to be my theme song!

(Yes I am listening to Radio Disney!)

Thursday was a big day! It was the day that we finally got possession of the reception hall! Between 3 cars full and one truck (with trailer) we got all the stuff up there! On Friday, my AMAZING decorator, Ilene, was wonderful and set all my the things that I thought of and made around the hall! It was awesome watching my vision all come together!

Friday night I did exactly what I wanted to do. NOTHING. My parents and I picked up wings/fries from the local bar, Gavans. We ate, talked and watched T.V. It was the perfect quiet evening.

Finally, the morning of my wedding had come! I slept so well the night before! I woke up rested and this was my view while I was lying in bed:

What a feeling! To wake up the morning of your wedding staring straight into your dress and veil! Wow!

My lovely MOH and bridesmaids arrived early and I was SO excited to see them! We chatted around coffee and breakfast while we waited to all get our hair and makeup done!

They all kept saying all morning how calm I was. In reality I was. I was so enjoying chilling, chatting and getting ready with my girls. It almost felt like we were having a slumber party versus getting ready for a wedding!

Jill’s hair half done

Amanda’s hair half done

Bekk’s hair all done.

Don’t worry. I did have my moment of realization when I opened my card and gift from Ryan! I started crying like a baby! Opening his gift brought me back to the reality of, yes I am getting married!

After getting dressed and putting on the final touches we were ready to go! Waiting for the time to come to all load in the car was hard! I was ready and just wanted to get this show on the road! I wanted to go to the church and see my man at the end of the aisle!

It was finally time to go but not before I got one last iphone picture. All of us girls ready for the church!

Reflecting on the days and moments before the wedding is so special. It gives me the same butterfly feeling that I had then. It was such a fun time getting ready and leading up the wedding. I was no longer counting the days but the hours, the minutes. Those are the final days as an unmarried woman that I will remember and cherish. I am so thankful for the wonderful technology of my iphone to be able to capture some of those moments.

xo

A Mrs. and Honeymooner!

 

Welcome back to reality!

Thank you to Nicole, Jill, Kelly, Stacy and Down With Fraggle Rock for keeping this place up and running for me last week! You are all awesome!

Thank you to everyone else for all of their sweet words of congratulations!

Ryan and I are now officially married and I can’t wait to share with you all that has gone down in the last 8 days or so.

For the meantime, today, I have a mountain of paperwork and laundry to get through so I’ll leave you with just this picture…

Thank you Julie C Butler for the beautiful teaser!

And my friendliest of “Hello’s”! It feels good to be back!

xo

Guest Post – Down With Fraggle Rock

 

Happy Friday everyone! Wow! Friday already…kind of sad! Today, I’d like to introduce you all to the lovely Kayleigh from Down at Fraggle Rock! I have been a bloggy friend with Kayleigh for a shorter period of time but she has been wonderful! We have been each other's wedding therapists! She is getting married in less then 4 months (Eeee!) and you should really head over to read about her coming nuptials!

Please give Kayleigh a very warm welcome! :-)

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Hello Lovelies! I’m Kayleigh from over at Down at Fraggle Rock, and I’m filling in for the wonderful Lindsay while she is off enjoying her newly wedded bliss. Congrats to the happy couple and I can’t WAIT to see the pictures (I’ve been stalking her wedding planning for months, so this is kind of a big deal haha).

I myself will be taking the big plunge into marriage in a few short months. Seriously, we just hit the four month mark and I may or may not be starting to freak out about everything I still have to do. Yowzas!

Wait… let’s back up. Let’s introduce the fiancé since he’s a pretty important part of this whole equation too! This is Big A. My main man. My best friend. And, of course it helps that he is ridiculously handsome… but I know I’m biased.

I’m here to talk about, what else… wedding planning! I’ve spent the better part of the past year searching, buying, refining, designing, you name it, I’ve done it. It has been full blown wedding, wedding, wedding.

We are paying for a good chunk of the wedding ourselves, so we have had to be smart about our purchases (I say we, but we all know that I just mean me!)

The most important advice that I can give you when it comes to buying things for your wedding, is that you hardly EVER have to pay full price for ANYTHING.

Seriously… I paid full price for my dress and the lights for the centerpieces (but the lights were $10-$15 cheaper EACH than any other website that I found). That’s it. The following websites & tips will be a dream come true when it comes to staying in your budget.

First of all… ALWAYS look for coupon codes. I Google everything. Just Google the name of the website and either “coupon code” or “promo code” and you will get some good websites.

Also, sign-up for every websites newsletter. You will get a million e-mails a day, but then send you updates on sales and special coupon codes.

My last tip… patience is a virtue. If you wait on something, then it will probably go on sale. They will probably come up with a coupon code for it. (Note: if there is something that you HAVE to have and it seems too good to be true, don’t wait. Just buy it if you have the money, otherwise you may have to pay more or not get it. I waited on the centerpiece lights and almost had to pay double the price!)

Seriously, because of this I saved us almost $100 on our Save the Dates, $50 on the groomsmen gifts, $100 on one of the bridesmaid gifts, $120 on our invitations, and LOTS more. And that adds up fast, trust me! (Plus let’s not forget the rush you get when you know you are getting something amazing for a great deal!)

Now… for the websites:

Save on Crafts: 

This site has some seriously great stuff. They don’t do promo codes, but their prices are still really good.

Michaels:

Sign up for their e-mails and you will get coupons almost daily. Also, we got our invitations from their MiDesign line. We waited months and months, and ended up getting 30% off with a promo code.

My Wedding Favors:

They have some great stuff. And their clearance, you can name your own price on some stuff. I literally just put in low numbers until they finally accepted the lowest they would go. I ended up getting something for $10 each instead of the $22.99 price tag.

Cards & Pockets: 

These guys make some great paper products. I bought our monograms for our invitations from here. There prices aren’t bad (although, I strongly suggest just ordering the monograms on one sheet and not paying the price to cut them, I ended up borrowing a paper cutter anyway and wasted like $15 total to get them cut) and they have promo codes from time to time.

Etsy:

I found some awesome things on Etsy. And most of the sellers are AMAZING! They even sometimes give you discounts when you are ordering more than one of something. Here are the ones I have worked with on wedding stuff and have nothing but AMAZING things to say about them:

Wedding Planner: Annelyn Designs

Engagement Ornament: Sunshine Ceramics (I didn’t want to wait and see if someone bought us one since we would only have one Christmas engaged!

Iron On Transfers: Something Glitzy (Everywhere I looked was really expensive for something small, these are a great price for a great size!)

Jewelry: Dos Puntos Accessories (I’m obsessed with skulls so I bought myself a fancy little bracelet to wear at the wedding)

So, those are my tips and tricks. I’ve found some great websites along the way. I can NOT stress more that if you find a random website that seems like a dream come true, Google it. I almost ordered from one website that had so many bad reviews about them double charging and not sending your order, I am SO happy that I looked them up before ordering. You can just enter the name of the website and put “reviews” after it. Google is a beautiful thing!

Well ladies (and gents?) that’s all I have for today. I hope that Lindsay is having an amazing time and I know we all can’t wait for her to get back to hear all about it.

Until then… if you need a wedding planning fix… head on Down to Fraggle Rock… I promise it will be nothing less than entertaining.

Smooches!

Guest Post – Blogging With Stacy

 

Happy Thursday everyone! I’d like to introduce you all to my cousin and friend Stacy from Blogging With Stacy! I have been following her blog since the beginning! She is a wonderful writing and has two of the cutest kids EVER! Stacy has graciously agreed to post for me today while I am away! Please give her a nice warm welcome!

Thank you so much Stacy! xo

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I am so excited to be writing on Lindsay's blog as a guest. I am filling in today while she is vacationing it up with her new hubby. Lucky - I am sure they are having a miserable time with their relaxing, butler service and no worry week - LOL!

Lindsay is my cousin...our mom's are sisters so I have known Lindsay all my life. Well all of her life actually seeing how she's younger than me. We are not only cousins but we became good friends eventually...I guess when she returned from college and her roadtrip to British Columbia. Since then she has nestled nicely into our circle of friends.

When Lindsay asked me if I wanted to be a guest blogger, I didn't hesitate...of course I would. However, I had no idea what I was suppose to write about. She told me I could write about anything - I decided to break it down with her suggestions:

1) What are your dream wedding plans?

Well...I am engaged but are there wedding plans in the future? Not likely but it's nice to dream. My boyfriend has been married before and says he doesn't want to do it again...he figures, we might as well say we're married cuz we have two kids together.

I used to think I would be upset not getting married, but after seeing friends and family getting married, it just seems too costly and too stressed for me.

However, IF we were to get married, this is how it would go down (not only is it simple, but it may be the only way to get Hubby to join in LOL):

· It would be at the Hunt Camp

· It would be right before hunting season

· My dress and the bridesmaids would be camo colored

· The guy may be in orange vests

· We would have a BBQ of chicken and ribs (or even hotdogs and hamburgers)

· We would all park in a field BEFORE the entrance to the camp and then all hauled in by 4 wheelers and in the back of trucks

· It would be mandatory to wear rubber boots

· Immediate family and close friends only

2) Talk about the kids

Well that is easy, peasy! I have two kiddos:

Madyson is my first born - she is 5 years old and starting school this Fall (scary!) Her nickname is Birdie, she loves cartoons, Barbies, playing games and doing arts and crafts. She adjusted well to the new baby and loves being a big sister.

Tanner is my second (and last) - he is 2 months old and gaining weight quickly. He was born at 9 lbs and now at 2 months - is close to 18 lbs! Maddy has nicknamed him Poopers! He is nothing like his sister was an infant. Maddy slept her nights right from Day 1 - she ate well, pooped well - Tanner on the other hand has switched formulas twice, doesn't sleep his nights, and just wants to be held more than Maddy did.

3) How do we know each other?

Well as mentioned above, we are cousins and friends. This is the part that I will tell a story of our younger days. I babysat Lindsay one summer at her house. Her farm had a Gator and we used to go and drive around the fields with it. One day, she got off to get something and I wanted to take off, little did I know that her foot was close to the tire and I ran it over...I think I even stopped then ran over it again. Anyways, we went back to the house and went to the basement...I remember telling her not to worry, everything is fine...I was literally trying to sink it in her brain that she was no hurt and that I did not run her over and the reason I was doing this was cuz I knew her parents would be in for lunch and I didn't want to get in trouble. Anyways, nothing was broken and she was fine! I probably cheered her up with our famous lunch: noodles with chicken bouillon!

Here are some pics of Lindsay and I (stolen from her FB)

At our friend Priscilla's wedding

Acting crazy at Fiddler Lake

Thank you Lindsay for having me as a guest blogger and see you when you get home!!

Guest Post – Keeping Up With Kelly & Co.

 

Happy Wednesday everyone! My first Wednesday post in a LONG time that isn’t “Wedding Wednesday”….Weird! I’m not worried though because I have a super awesome chicky for you all to meet today!

I started following Kelly’s blog way back when I started blogging! I loved the stories she had and I loved ready about her and Greg’s adventures. I think very highly of their relationship! Being that they work together and so do Ryan and I, I like to try to take notes on how they get through the daily grind.

So, without further adieu, meet Kelly!  

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Hi all! I'm Kelly from Keeping Up With Kelly & Co. While Lindsay is busy puttin' a ring on it and relaxing in the honeymoon sun, she asked that I write up a guest post for her. With all of the wedding details buzzing around on her blog, I naturally started thinking about my own wedding, marriage, life, etc.

 

I have been married to my high school sweetheart husband, Greg, for 8 years. I could go on and on about all of the things I love about him... but I felt inclined to blog about the things that I might not thank him for on a regular basis.

 

For example...

 

Greg is in charge of all meat in our household-- sure, I've been known to brown up hamburger meat or cook chicken for dinner... but as far as BBQ and other big meat items? Totally Greg's territory.

And speaking of meat? Greg specializes in cutting up any rotisserie chickens that I may pick up at the grocery store. I hate having to do it. And Greg loves helping me out with that (or so I think he does ;-))

 

Greg takes care of paying our bills. Which is good because my motto is, "Never do math in public."

 

He never complains about taking photos for the blog either-- like that one time that Lindsay mailed me a present for my birthday :-D

 

I can always turn to him for the god's honest truth-- no matter what. Although on some days I may say that he is blunt almost to a fault, typically I appreciate his truthful opinion.

 

He is also the unofficial zipper of zippers, clasper of bracelets, and fastener of any hard-to-reach clothing hooks.

 

I have a daily hug requirement that may come across as a pretty hefty chore that he never treats as a chore ;-) Greg gives the best hugs.

 

He takes the trash out to the garbage can for me...

Though more times than not he forgets to replace the new liner in the trash can. But that is okay. We can't all be perfect ;-)

 

There are things that I typically take on too-- like running our errands, making the bed and cooking our breakfast each morning, planning and making dinner, and making sure our home is all locked up at night.

We all have our roles at home, whether mundane or important. And of course marriage is all about compromise and helping out your "teammate".

 

Congratulations to Lindsay and Ryan on your new life together!! Send some sun to the rest of us, okay? ;-)

Guest Post – Jill’s World

 

Happy Tuesday everyone! I’d like you all to meet a very special friend of mine. One of my BEST friends in fact and my beautiful MOH Jilly! Or as I like to affectionately call her, Jilly Beans. It was Jilly who actually got me started on this whole bloggy thing. You see, I have been following her blog for YEARS and I really admired her writing and wanted to try it out for myself!

Jilly blogs over at Jill’s World so please go over and check it out! Thank you Jilly for writing a guest post for me today!

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Hey all!

My name is Jill, and you can find me most days blogging over on my little corner of cyberspace, Jill’s World! As most of you know, Lindsay got married on Saturday, and I had the pleasure of being her Maid of Honour – so yes, Linds is more than just a bloggy pal to me – she’s also one of my best friends IRL!

I was excited when Lindsay approached me a few weeks ago about writing a guest post for her while she’s off on her honeymoon.

OK, confession. I wasn’t just excited. I was also a little bit jealous.

Now, that probably sounds like a super-selfish and bitter thing to say, coming from the girl’s MOH, right? And by no means would I ever want to be the third wheel on a couple’s HONEYMOON, buuuuuuuut…

Frig, I wish I was in the Bahamas right now, too!

C’mon, admit it. You’re all a little jealous too, right?!

So. Here’s the good news: Summer is right around the corner! The hot sun, the BBQ’s, the pool parties, the bonfires, the ball games, the flip flops, the popsicles, the cold drinks…right.around.the.corner, people!!!

It’s around this time of year that I start to compile my Summer Playlist on my iPod. You know, the songs that just ooze summertime, and can pick you up on the dreariest of days. The songs that make me crave the heat. The songs that just smell like sunscreen! This year, I’ve gone with a mix of new and old that I think fits the summertime just right.

So, without further ado, here is my 2012 Summer Playlist!!

1. New Shoes – Paolo Nutini
2. Save Me San Francisco – Train
3. Red Solo Cup – Toby Keith
4. Feel So Close – Calvin Harris
5. All I Want to Do – Sugarland
6. Drunk On You – Luke Bryan
7. Wild Ones – Flo Rida ft. Sia
8. Boyfriend – Justin Bieber
9. Honey Bee – Blake Shelton
10. Here for a Good Time – Trooper
11. All Summer Long – Kid Rock
12. This Afternoon – Nickelback
13. Summer Girl – LFO
14. American Honey – Lady Antebellum
15. Back Down South – Kings of Leon
16. Barefoot Blue Jean Night – Jake Owens
17. Centerfield – John Fogarty
18. Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen
19. Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffett
20. I’m Yours – Jason Mraz
21. Knee Deep – Zac Brown Band
22. Tonight Tonight – Hot Chelle Rae
23. It Girl – Jason Derulo
24. Big Wheels – Down With Webster
25. The Boys of Summer – The Ataris
26. Summertime – Kenny Chesney
27. What Makes You Beautiful – One Direction
28. Hot Child in the City – Nick Gilder
29. Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams
30. Dirt Road Anthem – Jason Aldean

There! Thirty of my favourite songs with a summer vibe. What do you guys think? What songs about sunshine & good times would make your Summer Playlist?

I know Linds has her iPod loaded and she’s probably lying on a beach right now, flipping through Fifty Shades of Grey, sipping a yummy summer cocktail…

Oh God, I’m jealous.