Honeymoon in Florida's Paradise :) part 3

We woke up bright and early for the activity on this days agenda - the Yankee Freedom ferry to Fort Jefferson at Dry Tortugas National Park. This was one item on our honeymoon registry, and we were so excited to enjoy that gift!

It's about a 2 hour catamaran ride to the Dry Tortugas from Key West. We ate breakfast on the ship and got to see some sea turtles and dolphins in the ocean. I, worried about getting motion sick, took a dramamine that morning, and ended up being sleepy for the rest of the day. And, weather wise, it was overcast (you can see that in the pictures) and kind of drizzly. (Not exactly my beach kind of weather).

The fort entrance off the boat dock. 

Some views from the top of the fort wall. 

Walking on the wall surrounding the fort. 

Bobby got in some snorkeling while we were at the park - I succumbed to my sleepiness and took a little nap on the beach. We got lunch on the boat that day (pretty yummy too...) and some more free time before we needed to board and head back to Key West.

One of our few "honeymoon" pictures from the whole trip.

Bye, bye, Fort Jefferson.

What's next? Pirates, Treasure, and RAIN!

Honeymoon in Florida's Paradise :) part 2

It's been over 3 months since the wedding, and I have not been good at recapping everything. Hopefully I'll be a better blogger now :) Onto our honeymoon part 2!

So we have arrived in Key West -  and I showed you all our cute little B&B

The Southernmost Point Guest House

This sign was across the street (south) of our little B&B. 

Maybe a little bit of competition to be the true southernmost place?

It was just a block away from the Southernmost Point, where we stopped first. 

And after we relaxed by the pool for a little bit, we decided to get some dinner. So we headed out on a walk to Duval Street, where the original Margaritaville is.

We walked past the Hemingway House and saw some of the 7 toed kitties

We found mile 0 on our walk. 

(I am never sure what to do in pictures like this... I guess a thumbs up was my thing that day)

We celebrated the sunset on Mallory Square, 

and watched a few street performers before we got dinner and Margaritas!

Then we made our way back to the southern part of the island to get some sleep before our Dry Tortugas adventure the next day!

Honeymoon in Florida's Paradise :) part 1

We spent the day after our wedding with our families who travelled from far away, and opening our wedding presents (thank you to everyone for our gifts!!). On Monday morning, we wrapped up a few wedding details, and then headed south for our week in the Keys!

We stopped in Fort Lauderdale for the night, to break up the drive, and went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. (yum!) Tuesday morning we woke bright and early, ready for the sun, beaches, and some margaritas!!

After the drive through the rest of south Florida, we stopped in Key Largo at John Pennekamp State Park, so I could practice my snorkeling.

The first, and only, snorkeling expedition for this sun-worshipper.

Bobby was disappointed in the park, and informed me the water was unusually green. The green didn't help me any, but I was more concerned with convincing myself that I could breathe with a snorkel. (I'm not very good at convincing myself of things like that...)

We went for a stroll on the park's boardwalks:

And then decided that it was time for lunch! We stopped at a local restaurant and Bobby enjoyed some conch :)

Then it was off to Key West! Over the next 100+ miles, we talked about Bobby's fishing and lobstering adventures, listening to Bob Marley, and just enjoyed each other's company. When we got to end of US1, we found our hotel the Southermost Point Guest House:

Next: Margaritas, Southern Bouys, and Hot Tubs!

Post-wedding blues

It's been awhile. I know. Bad blogger.

I do have a reason though - fighting the post-wedding blues. I was in DIY planning heaven for 11 months, and it all came together wonderfully at my wedding. The day was perfect - everything I had hoped for. And then, I was bummed. And I rationally tried to get myself out of it for weeks. I am so happy to be married to my best friend. Life is great! It's just, that for this planning nut, I had nothing to plan! No DIY projects, nothing to search for online, no details to organize.

But, I am starting to feel better now. I have worked on a few projects (including a great throw rug for my living room and a long-overdue scrapbook from our Hawaii adventure), and my planning energy has gone towards a few vacations in our near and distant future.

So.... not that I'm getting out of my post-wedding funk, I feel prepared to reminisce :) Hopefully this will be a new beginning for my blog. Not only recapping the wedding, but sharing stories from my newlywed life!

The Bachelorette Finale

No... not that reality tv show. The adventure to Margaritaville for my bachelorette weekend!

While we waiting for our table, we ordered some drinks and added a commemorative napkin to their decorated wall:

(sorry for the sideways pic)

And I needed my picture with it, of course:

"No, Brittany, open your eyes!"

"okay... that's a little too much"

Then we got our table and almost all of us ordered the turkey version of the cheeseburger in paradise. And I got an awesome balloon hat!

During the volcano show and margaritaville sing-along, I was the "woman to blame" and Alix, Elyse, and I got to dance with the salt shakers!!!

(really not a very good picture of me....)

After dinner we got a group picture in city walk and then headed back to the hotel. 

After a day in the theme park we were all (read: I was) pretty tired, and watched "say yes to the dress" and "4 weddings" until we fell asleep. It was a perfect weekend, and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends!!

Now I am looking forward to my next adventure in the theme park when Harry Potter land opens! I am going to get a wand :)

Photography Love

I had the absolute best time with my friend, and photographer, the day of my wedding.  Hanging out with Alicia of Alicia Biehl Photography brought back so many wonderful friendship memories, and it was great feeling so comfortable with the photographer capturing all of my wedding memories!

I should be getting pictures from her soon... and then I will share a few of my favorites here. I've seen a sneak peak on facebook (perk of having a friend take pictures for you??), and I love love love all of them!!

Here's a few from my now mother-in-law :)

Alicia catching the first cake-cutting moment. The cake was delicious!

Post cake-eating. Bobby was very nice and didn't cause as much of a mess as I did!

This is one of my favorites of Mary's pictures (from the first dance). She even snuck a copy of it in our honeymoon car! 

So... I'll be stalking Alicia's blog and compulsively checking facebook until my wedding pictures are done! Can't wait to share them with all of you!

2 days

I woke up this morning before 5am. Wide awake. I think I'm getting a little bit excited about this thing happening in 2 days. While there is a lot to do over the next 48 hours, like baking cookies for the cookie bar, finishing the ceremony program, and finishing little odds and ends, I am most excited for one thing.

On Saturday, I become Bobby's wife. :)

Bachelorette Weekend, Part 2

Did I mention that Harry Potter Land will be open next month?

By the time the rest of the girls met up with us, we rode Dueling Dragons, had a snack, and visited Dr. Seuss Land...

Me, Alix, and Ilana on the Caroseussel

... it was time for some water rides! We lucked out that it wasn't an absolutely miserably hot day in Orlando, but it was warm enough to want to cool off a little. We went on Dudley Do Right's log flume ride:

I apologize for the sideways picture.... my computer pictures are not cooperating at the moment!

We dried off for a few minutes, and then headed back to the hotel to change before enjoying a night at Margaritaville!

Bachelorette Weekend, Part 1

This weekend was a fabulous few days with my sister and closest friends :) Bridesmaid Elyse did the best job organizing everything and Bridesmaid Lauren and Maid of Honor Alix were there to celebrate and make the weekend complete!

Lauren picked my up on Friday afternoon, and after a brief stop to pick up Alix, we were on our way to Orlando! They surprised me with dinner at Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorite restaurants!

Drinks on the patio

Yummy cheesecake for dessert!

We then had a relaxing night at the hotel, falling asleep to "Say Yes to the Dress" and "4 Weddings" on TLC. They surprised me with some essential bachelorette gear (keep an eye out for it in the pictures)... custom pink tshirts, a crown, and some of my favorite candy!

Our plan was to get to Islands of Adventure first thing to get some of the roller coasters done before the lines got long. The Hulk was a our first stop (first row even!) and then we went on Dr. Doom and Spiderman all within the first hour!

Pre-Spiderman with Lauren and Alix... no 3D glasses for me!

And we had several snack breaks that day... Elyse and I enjoying some dipping dots!

We were joined at the park by 4 more friends, and started getting curious stares from the other people at the theme park. All us girls in our hot pink shirts and me in my crown!! A highlight of the day (for all of the Harry Potter fans anyways) was getting a sneak peak of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and Diagon Alley. Can't wait until June 18th!! Yes, 6 days before my wedding I am already getting excited about Harry Potter "Land". I don't want to be a muggle anymore!

Hogwarts!

Next up.... getting soaked and margaritas!!

Accessories for the bridal party

It was quite a long search for bridal party accessories. The bridesmaids dresses were one of the first things I found (yes, even before my dress!), and Bobby's personality made the decision for non-suits for the guys pretty easy. The other things, however, were not so easy, but I found them. I am still a little unsure of how the colors are going to all match up on the day. And, you have to promise that after you read this, you won't be paying that much attention to it either!

Finding the girls' shoes were easier than the guys' ties. (I always smile a little at my rhyme... guys ties guys ties guys ties). The shoes were found during my internet surfing time in class... bad student. But, the colors were perfect! I found these on Victoria's Secret:

Source

Now imagine them with turquoise straps and a fabulous pink and turquoise flower! The pink matches the darker of the pink dresses and the turquoise is a little lighter than maid-of-honor Alix's dress. I have seen them with the lighter of the pink dresses, and it's not quite perfect.... but I am hoping that day-of it will look fine. Too late to worry about that now anyways! Oh, and I even bought a pair for myself and have been wearing them non-stop because they are so super comfy!

I also have been working on a few secret other accessories for my fabulous girls! It was a super-quick DIY project, but I am going to wait on posting that until after the wedding.

As for the guys, their clothes were pretty simple... tan khakis and a white pin-stripe button down shirt. My vision for their ties changed throughout the whole process. Originally, there were no ties, just colors shirts, in my vision. But that didn't happen due to not being able to find colores shirts. All of the pink shirts were bubble-gum fraternity boy pink, and completely clashed with the fuschia and ballet pink dresses. (My apologies for any males reading... just trust me, they were different shades of pink).  Since we had to then go with all white shirts, Bobby needed a little uniqueness, so I started searching for some colored ties. I was thinking maybe a pink-turquoise paisley or some stripes, but nooooooo. They had pink-yellow, purple-turquoise, pink-red, turquoise-green, and any other color combination imaginable. Except a nice pink-turquoise.

I then started searching Etsy and found some fabulous options for bridal party ties. tuxandtulle helped me find some wonderful fabric in the right colors and made some perfect cotton neckties. (I kind of wish I had bought a white one for Bobby, because I think cotton ties are great!) I am also going to save those pictures until post-wedding. The ties came packaged in some wonderful gift bags, so we are going to give the ties out as groomsmen gifts at the rehearsal.

Marriage license. Check.

My dear family and friends who have waited patiently for me to blog some more - I am back! The crazy semester is over, and the wedding is just over 2 weeks away! I have a lot to blog about - all of my DIY projects that are finished or near-finished, my wonderful bridal shower, my bachelorette party (which is next weekend, woohoo!), and then I'll be posting wedding pictures!

But today, the topic at hand is that Bobby and I are officially ready to be married! We have now completed all Catholic church and legal requirements for marriage. The only thing left is the wedding itself :)

Our adventure this afternoon was to the Alachua County Courthouse for our marriage license. Here's us in the car all smiles and excited to get married:

Bobby was such a good sport, smiling for the camera. Even though he's not much of a picture person... guess it's good practice. But we'll have to work on that smile.....

Other marriage things we have done (a little recap)

1) Pre-cana (so named for the miracle of the wedding at Cana, which I didn't know). A full day of learning about marriage and God and being Catholic. Just kinda glad we got through it.

2) Marriage spirituality course. Luckily only a morning course, and that went by pretty fast.

3). FOCCUS. Bobby and I are on exact opposite ends of the personality quiz we took. But I knew that already.

4) Natural Family Planning course. Let's just say I learned more than I wanted to know about the signs of fertility. 

Even though those courses wouldn't have been our first choice for weekend activities, I respect the reasoning behind them and I am glad Bobby and I had to go through them together. We certainly got to talking about a few things which might not have come up otherwise, and we have a new appreciation for all couples married Catholic.

I've even picked out the readings, and are asking people to play roles in the ceremony. Now we just need to wait to meet up with the music minister to plan out or ceremony (Mass) music. Yep, a complete Catholic Mass and the Sacrament of Marriage. No shortened stuff for us, with our Catholic families behind us. Although my non-Catholic friends might not know when to sit-stand-sit-kneel-stand-kneel-sit, hold hands, share a sign of peace, and say "Amen", they'll at least now be able to say they've been to a Catholic wedding. Doesn't everyone have to go to one once in their life?

Our Guestbook

The invitations have gone out (most of them...), and RSVPs are coming in! How exciting! Next on the DIY paper-crafting list? Our guestbook!

I always knew I wanted more than just the sign your name on the line guest book (who's going to look at that in 20 years?). I've seen a few creative ideas at friends' weddings:
1. Notes in a bottle for a beach chic wedding.
2. Signed photo matte surrounding a picture of the couple.
3. "How we met"-themed madlibs.

And, I did a lot of searching. I found plates, photobooths, scrapbook pages, and numerous other ideas. But on a recent Weddingbee search, I found my favorite! A coloring book page guestbook (inspired by Guestbook Store). I finished the design today, and starting printing them out. The printing is rather time consuming, since my print won't print front and back by itself. But, we couldn't have found a better priced guest book! I am using the up the remaining paper purchased for the invitations, so the only cost will be the 8x8 scrapbook album (~$15 at Michaels, but I'm going to wait on one of their 40% coupons!).

Here's some screen shots of the pages:

The front (the blue line only shows up in Pages, as a page size guide)

The back!

I haven't figured out all of the details yet, but some table at the reception site will have all of these pages and some crayons, colored pencils, and other artsy supplies.

And, to be completely honest with myself, I probably won't look at the guest book as much as my wedding pictures, but it should offer enough amusement to be looked at once or twice! :-)

Cake Tasting Yummy-ness

Our cake-tasting date was fabulous. The cake at Flour Pot was delicious, but in the end, our budget demands won, and we decided to go with Publix (around $300 versus around $500). But who doesn't love Publix cake anyways? Delish!

We won't need to place our final order for awhile yet (they only need 2 weeks notice!!) but here's a peek at our top choice for cake style.

Source

The cake is called "Our First Dance". We have our own Willow Tree cake-topper, so we won't be buying the one pictured on the cake. One reason why I love the look of this cake is the similarity between the roses on the cake and our cake topper. I am not going to show off the piece itself (I want a few things to be a surprise for my wedding guests!), but here's a picture I took over the weekend:

I found a "how to take awesome pictures of your engagement ring using a point and shoot camera" tutorial on Weddingbee a few days ago. I can no longer find the post... but it seemed easy enough and I figured I would give it a try. So, the picture above is one of my attempts (more to come with future DIY flower posts). The ring is posed oh-so-nicely at the bottom of our cake-topper. Won't those roses coordinate wonderfully with those on the cake? (And isn't my ring so pretty? Bobby did a great job in choosing the correct level of blingy-ness.)

So what are our cake flavor top picks? White cake with fruit filling and buttercream frosting. None of the fondant stuff for me.

Oh, and I can't believe I almost forgot to tell you my funny cake tasting story. (I actually posted the blog without it, and added it later... OCD much?). So, at our tasting, we had a full plate of yummy cake/icing combos to try. Maybe 20 pieces all together, 2 of each, one for me, one for Bobby. Well, Bobby's not much of a chocolate cake person, so I ended up eating his share of those. We ate, we talked cake options, and managed to eat all of the pieces except for one when we were about to leave. Now, if you know me, you know I would never leave a lonely piece of cake left on the plate. That piece would just get all sad know his little cake friends fulfilled their life goal of tasting yummy and being devoured by a hungry bride. So, I ate the last piece. (It was delicious by the way - chocolate with cream cheese icing). Then, the lovely cake baker decided to use that exact moment to highlight my gluttony by saying -

"I've never had a couple finish all of the cake samples before."

At least that last piece of cake never had a chance to get lonely.

it's raining... it's pouring

I wish I was snoring...

Hopefully the walk home (about a mile) in this rain will be worth it. Bobby and I are going cake tasting today! We have an appointment at The Flour Pot Bakery, and we're going to check out Publix while we're out as well. YUM!

Honeymoon... yay!

How complicated life can get as a student and DIY bride-to-be. I could be wrong in this, but some aspects of wedding planning are more difficult as a student, than as a full-time employed "grown up". Such as... a very limiting budget. (That's probably the worst part about being a perpetual student). Not everything is bad though - although  choosing my date was limited to down-times in the semester, I am able to take off a bunch of time for last-minute organization and the honeymoon! And, now, (get excited!!), I present to you our wonderful honeymoon plans!! (da-duh-daaaaa)

A fabulous week in sunny Key West!

Bobby and I have a room at a super-cute hotel (champagne provided in-room...sweet!), right on the beach. And of course, since Key West is a rather small island, the hotel only a short walk away from Duval street (all the restaraunts/pubs/action happens there). We've registered for our honeymoon using honeyfund. There are a plentitude (did I just make that word up?) of honeymoon registry sites out there, but most charge a service fee. Honeyfund, however, is abosolutely free. There's no better word to a budget conscious bride.

Here are some items from our honeyfund:

A night's stay at our hotel.

Ferry trip to the Dry Tortugas.

Tickets to Pirate Soul and the Mel Fisher (Treasure) Museum

Dinner and Drinks at Margaritville and the Rum Barrel

Lunch at Sloppy Joe's

Bobby and I are both pretty excited about our trip... we knew we needed to plan something on a smaller scale than last summer's Hawai'i expedition, so Key West was an island get away close to home. (Perks of living in Florida). The day trip to the Dry Tortugas will definitely be the highlight of the week. The ferry service we'll be taking is the Yankee Freedom. They provide breakfast, lunch, and refreshments for the day, give us a tour of the fort at the national park, and give us plenty of time to go snorkeling and sunbathing.

Going back to the student thing before wrapping up... I wrote this in class. I confess to being one of those students. Oh well.

Nearing 100 Days

We are nearing the 100 day mark... and I am absolutely positive those 100 days will FLY by. I had a similar countdown at this time last year, for my graduation. It seemed to take forever to get to the 100 day mark, but then in no time, it was graduation. Only this year, in no time, it will be starting my life as the Mrs.  How exciting!

I really want to try and write more consistently... might be a little hard with my extremely hectic school schedule, but I would like to chronicle my trials and tribulations and all of my excitement! I have a bunch to talk about... invitations, flowers, and every other DIY project on my list. Today's topic is favor bags.

One of the first wedding-related decisions I made was my favors. I wanted something useful and budget friendly, as well as something to showcase Bobby and I as a couple. I loved the candy bar at a friend's recent wedding. I've seen similar favor ideas all over the wedding blogosphere, including a cookie bar. YUM! So, we're having a cookie bar. Filled with yummy homemade cookies! Our favorite recipes - chocolate chip, peanut butter, shortbread, and a few others.

The cookie bar led to DIY favor bags. It's a project that I'm actually almost finished with... going to finish them after this post, actually.

I bought the bags from Oriental Trading ($3.49 per dozen). The curling ribbon is from Michael's ($1.99 for a huge roll), and the cards were from Office Depot ($10 for the box). I printed a thank-you note and monogram on the cards, punched holes in one corner, and punched holes in the sides of the bag. The curling ribbon is in a bow, curled on the ends, for easy opening of the bags. 

I was originally going to attach another card to the bag, with table numbers, but our reception plan has changed, so these are the final bags. We have plenty... bought the bags when our guest list was still fluctuating, so these bags might show up in another DIY project. Wish I could do candles at the Hipp... they'd be perfect for luminaries.

116 days

Just checked my wedding countdown - we are fast approaching the 100 day mark. And I'm freaking out a little bit. Not the marriage part, but the wedding part. Here's my to do list:

1. Finish my DIY flowers and make bouquets.
2. Finalize our food menu to account for everything in our budget.
3. Visit the Hipp to get a better idea of reception set up. And, see if we can bump our reception up by 30 minutes.
4. See if the DJ can bump up the reception by 30 minutes.
5. Finish all of the church's requirements for marriage.
6. Find fabric to make sashes for the girls.
7. Find shirts/ties for all of the guys, and make sure everyone has the right pants.
8. Collect enough wine bottles for our centerpieces, and make them into such.
9. Make table numbers.
10. Rent tables and chairs for the reception (this is a big one and needs to be done THIS WEEK).
11. Make a veil.
12. Order a cake.
13. Get my dress altered.
14. Find shoes for me and the girls.
15. Try out making tissue paper poms as possible ceremony decor.
16. Finalize our invitation design, print them, assemble them, and (after ordering envelopes) get them sent out.
17. Assemble the escort cards/favor bags.
18. Collect items for our out of town guest's swag bags.

I'm sure there's more... but making that list did make me feel a little better. The biggest thing on my mind at the moment is my huge DIY project - my flowers. I tried assembling a bouquet with some finished flowers and hit a huge roadblock. The pipe cleaners I've been using as stems really should be doubled up to be more sturdy, meaning a possible waste of a few rolls of florist's tape. The sturdier flowers I made (from ribbons/buttons and my cotton roses) over power the white flowers I previously blogged about. I need to play around with those a bit to see if I can get them to stand out more. And a few might become hair flowers for my bridesmaids. On a good note, here's a somewhat simple DIY project that I might be able to use some flimsier fabric for: Fabric Poms. They are backup if the tissue paper poms look bad, or they might be turned into bridesmaids poms if I can't get the bouquets to look right...

A new bridesmaid

Bobby and I have some wonderful new additions to our bridal party, his sister, Kelly, will be a bridesmaid, and his brothers are going to be groomsmen. Wait, you say, didn't you already get everything figured out for you bridal party? Didn't you buy dresses already? Yes and yes... let me tell you the story of adding a few more wonderful people to our special day.

When Bobby and I started talking about friends to make up our bridesmaids and groomsmen, we realized it wasn't going to be as simple as we hoped it would. I knew I wanted my sister to be my maid of honor, and Bobby wanted his closest brother, Mike, to be his best man.  We were going to keep it at that, but then I started thinking about my wonderful friends, and knew I wouldn't want my wedding day to be without them. I really only had two friends who I wanted to pick, Elyse and Lauren, who I've introduced to all of you. However, that left Bobby with a little bit of a predicament. He has two close friends and two more brothers to choose from. After much discussion, he decided to ask his friends, Jimmy and Christian, to be groomsmen, and we were going to ask his brothers to play another special role in the wedding. Also, having his brothers be groomsmen, would then leave his sister without a role to play....

Anyways, our "solution" didn't seem to be one we really wanted, because the topic of asking the rest of his siblings to be in the bridal party kept coming up during our conversations about anything wedding-related. But one thing was stuck in my mind... asking his brothers and sister would leave our attendants uneven!! Would I dare break from wedding tradition and have an uneven number in the bridal party? The answer is yes - I would. Although this whole thing has seemed dramatic, I know that post-wedding, the memories of having all of our siblings and close friends with us will outweigh someone needing to walk down the aisle alone or in a group of three.

So, now Kelly is another wonderful bridesmaid. I'm excited to have my soon-to-be sister involved in all the festivities this way (I don't have any pictures with her... need to take some and then I'll introduce her to you all!). And, I even figured out the dress situation, thanks to my thoughtful maid of honor.

The pink dresses I had ordered from etsy (see my previous post about isadora) were from a now discontinued fabric. (If I was a bridezilla.... what drama there would have been.) Luckily, I found a dress in a lighter shade of pink, and now I am searching for a pretty pink/turquoise paisley patterned fabric to use as a sash, to tie all of the dresses together. I even found a few patterns for making neckties, and I am hoping I can find enough fabric to be sashes for the girls and ties for the guys.