Honeymooners

Promptly at 6 am on July 10, 2011, Ryan and I's honeymoon flight departed for Antigua.  For those of you doing mental math, you are correct- our flight took off 6.5 hours after our reception ended.  After experiencing the joy that is trying to convince me to move from the couch after I've fallen asleep more than a few times, Ryan recognized that an all-nighter was a neccessity to get yours truly to the airport.  Luckily our friends and family are just the right dosage of party to help in such an endeavour. Post-reception we all retired to the hotel and made way too much noise in the lobby until slowly people started peeling off to their rooms.

Around 3:30 am as my eyes started feeling about 100 pounds a piece, and all but 1 of our compadres had abandoned us, we hailed a cab to the airport.  (Sidenote: employees don't arrive at the airport until 4 am, McDonald's does not open until 5 am.  Plan accordingly).  Two sleep-filled flights later we arrived in Antigua: ta-da!  To summarize for you:

- Our first married night's sleep:  On a plane on the way to Miami
- Our first married breakfast: McDonald's.  In the airport.
- Our first married travel memories:  Trying not to drool on one another mingled with sleep-filled delirium.  (Ryan also looked dangerously close to using the barf bag at one point.  )

These are undoubtedly the makings of a stellar romance film.  Spielberg, call me.  Back to the story...

We triumphantly arrived at our resort.  We stayed at the Verandah resort.  It was a perfect honeymoon destination - very private and outrageously lush.  The vegetation to person ratio there was like 17,000:1.  I can't even imagine how many people it takes to keep things growing.  There are 2 of us groundskeepers at Casa Martin and we have killed nearly every plant in our yard, but I digress... 

I would like to give you a daily rundown of what all we did because I'm sure you're absolutely dying to know, but to be quite honest with you all the days sort of ran together.  We basically did a lot of hanging out at the pool, a lot of hanging out on the beach, a lot of eating and a lot of sipping frosty beverages.  After 4.5 months of busy season and 15 months of wedding planning... all I wanted was to vacay my face off.  Which is precisely what we did.  I was not interested in anything that required planning, relying on others or being out of a lounge chair for longer than 30 minute increments. 

The one time we ventured off the premises of the Verandah jungle was to take the Excellence Circumnavigate tour.  In the brochure pushed upon us by our cab driver, there were several options for excursion activities... all with extremely sexy sounding descriptions such as riding through the jungle in a Jeep, swimming with sting rays, etc.  What made us choose this one, you ask?  Well this one was billed as a cruise around the island and as a bonus you could "see the houses of the rich and famous- like ERIC CLAPTON!"  I have waited my whole life** to see Eric Clapton's house- how could I let this opportunity pass us by?!  Between that and promising snorkeling and a lunch of local cuisine, I was sold.   

This cruise did not disappoint.  The first part of the morning was a fairly tame ride over to the snorkeling destination which was, I believe, called Green Island.  Our fun tour guide pointed out historic landmarks, told us funny tales and even showed us Pat Riley and Oprah's houses.  We then arrived at Green Island and got our snorkel on.  I thought I would be a pro at this because I had done it before and Ryan had not.  Plus I wanted to be a marine biologist for a sizeable chunk of my childhood life- obviously this should translate into stellar snorkeling skills.  It turns out that due to a disinterest in fully securing the harness in my nether regions and a general misunderstanding of my snorkel mask- I thought I was going to drown for about the first 18 minutes. Eventually Ryan helped me get these issues straightened out and I enjoyed the remaining 7 minutes of snorkel time to the fullest extent.  Let that be a lesson to you though children- love of marine life does not translate to snorkeling ability.  Also, you should listen to your instructor carefully. 

After our snorkel time we were fed some delicious cuisine I can no longer remember but loved at the time annnnnd the bar on the boat opened.  Several of our fellow excursioners took full advantage of this fact which turned the second half of the boat ride into quite the event.  There was a conga line.  There were some local Antiguan ladies putting their moves on display.  It was all you've ever dreamed of in a night out on Washington Avenue.  Our tour guide also seemed to enjoy the bar as on the way back rather than pointing out landmarks he pointed out things like "Ohhhh, there's a crooked tree."  It was an awesome time and I highly recommend this little trip if you make it to Antigua. 

Without further ado, I'll let the pictures do the talking.  Overall, it was an incredible, unforgettable week and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.  Thank you hubs for planning it.  :c)

** sarcasm font

Where Ryan and I spent about 50% of our time- the pool.

Our little bungalow.

View from our balcony.

More balcony view.  The Verandah is on a peninsula and our room faced the smaller bay.

My new friend, who sat on the balcony and watched the sunrise with me while the hubby slept.

Mongoose!  These guys were hard to capture on film.  Probably because they're so busy fighting cobras like Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.  What a stud.  (P.S. I don't think there are actually cobras in Antigua).

Beer inspires Ryan to take artsy pics.

Oh hey, look we did take some pictures of eachother rather than just animals and scenery.

Exploring the resort... and how to take self-timer pictures.

I picked a winner.

The big bay and beach.  I miss it.

I had an odd fascination with this cactus.

Master paddle-boaters.  Is this an olympic sport?

Different kind of paddle boat.  P.S. I want a pelican for Christmas!

Ryan "The Ultimate Tourist" Martin in his natural habitat.

Din-din time.  Lauren Conrad, I do not appreciate that your dress makes me look preggers here.  We will discuss.

Absolutely stunning sunset from our balcony.  Ask Ryan how much I loved that lone, strangely-shaped tree.

The resort calendar claimed there would be hermit crab races on Tuesday night.  I made sure that we had front row seats.  NO HERMIT CRAB RACES.  I'm still kind of bitter.  I think this guy was also because we found him wandering the grounds the next day.

Not hermit crabs.  I forgot how funny it is to watch these guys scurry around.

Ryno & I hiking to Devils Bridge.  I mourn the loss of that tan.

Standing on a washed out cliff, beer-in-hand is probably not something people recommend, but Ryan's quite the risk-taker.  (P.S. This is Devil's Bridge).

More Devil's Bridge.

Just like Galveston, right?

Shawna, this picture is for you.  If you've ever looking for the best hotdog in the world- the Verandah.  Do it.

Jen, this picture is for you.  Tree-climbing feral cat.

We never did master that self-timer thing.

On our way to see Eric Clapton.

Saving my snorkeling life warrants some double-fisting.

Zebra boat.  I liiiiiike.

The moment you've all been waiting for... Eric Clapton's house.  Yes, all of it.

Another incredible sunset.

Wandering around the resort on our last day.  Sad face.

Front-runner in the desktop pic competition.

Ladies, try not to stare directly at the TMNT shirt and party hat.  You might find yourself TOO attracted.

Ryno & yo.

Most. genius. invention. ever.

Right before the last supper.

One last sunset.

Waiting for our taxi back to the real world.  Until next time Antigua...

Wedding Part 6: The Devil is in the Details

Oh, hello there!  Did you think that just because we'd covered the reception that my little wedding documentation journey might be over?  If so, you discounted the fact that I'm a type A accountant who slaved over details of the day for approximately 15 months... and I don't ever want to forget a single one of them.  So, today's post (which really is the last post surrounding July 9, 2011) will cover all of the little parts of the day that might have escaped some guests but were the real sweat and tears meat and potatoes of the production.

The Dress
Vendor: The Princess Bridal
I have been in love with this dress from day 1... more than I can say for the groom!  (Definitely kidding).  The only problem I could see from the get-go was that the sash it came with was champagne-colored which had nothing to do with my teal/purple color schematic.  After several failed attempts at finding an appropriate colored sash to replace it with at High Fashion fabrics, Joann's, etc I resorted to an internet find.  Bridal white is the way to go, FYI.

Not pictured: Sash

I love this hanger- ordered it on Etsy.  Thanks BlackScrapCat.

Had to get a picture of my bustle because the alterations lady at The Princess Bridal was so amazing.

 The Shoes

Vendor (Mine): Alfred Sung
Venor (Ryan): Al's Formal Wear
Any of you who know me well will recall (or at least have heard about) the high heeled incident of 2005.  For those of you who do not remember the fall heard round the world- basically I ripped the hems out of my jeans.  I wore heels.  I fell.  I broke bones.  Nothing like breaking both elbows and alternating a sling from arm to arm your 5th year of college to make you feel young again.  I had zero desire for a repeat performance on the biggest day of my life and so I decided that flats were probably the way to go. 

I searched for a while (read: on the internet on my lunch breaks during busy season) for flats that were cute AND the correct color- a very tall order, apparently.  As any good internet shopper knows, it's hard to discern colors on the computer screen.  I never found anything that really spoke to me, so I decided to order some ivory peeptoe flats I found and some accessories from the site our bridesmaid dresses came from and play arts & crafts.  They wound up working out perfectly... and I got to match the bridesmaids.  You know how I feel about matching, Melissa.

Save the elbows!

This is probably the first, and only, time you will see a blog where a bride mentions the groom's shoes.  My soulmate is a different sort of man, my friends.  Many of you close to the wedding have heard (probably on a near daily basis) that Ryan wanted to get married in a white tux.  I unequivocally put the kibosh on that from the very beginning.  When it came time to go to the tux store to pick out his tux and his groomsmen's tuxes, he behaved so well (only longingly touched the white tux on display twice)... that it tugged slightly at my heartstrings.  He felt very strongly about these shoes, and I just couldn't stand to squash another one of his dreams.  Truth be told- I actually love them. 

Next best thing to a white tux.

The Rings
Vendor (mine): Dickinson by Design
Vendor (hubs): James Avery
I absolutely love Ryan's ring.  Now, when he first insisted to me that his ring would come from James Avery it caused me to re-think this whole marriage thing... however, after seeing the one he picked, I think I'll concede defeat to him.  Oh yeah, I also love my ring too.  :c)

Rings-a-lings 

The Bridesmaid Dresses
Vendor: Alfred Sung
I thought I knew 2 things when I got engaged when it came to what I wanted for bridesmaid dresses:  I wanted each bridesmaid to pick her own style and that I wanted them to be a citrus-y green.  As you can tell by pictures, I actually only knew one thing.  After rifling through bridal magazine after bridal magazine, I absolutely fell in love with the Jade peau de soie that Alfred Sung carried, not to mention they had a plethora of pretty cuts to choose from.  I've said it a million times and I'll say it again- my bridesmaids are absolutely beautiful. 

Sassy ladies.

The Bride's Cake
Vendor: Edible Designs by Jessie
If you are planning a wedding, or really any event, do yourself a favor and go visit Jessie.  She's such a sweet lady and her cakes could not be more tasty.  I didn't know exactly what I wanted my cake to look like, so I mainly did a lot of pointing and saying, this top with this bottom, with this pattern... and voila!  Choose your own adventure cake.. don't mind if I do.  I love how it turned out.

I believe the first two layers were vanilla with almond creme filling and the top two are lemon with lemon creme filling.  I will let you know in one year if I remembered that correctly.

Close-up.

The Groom's Cake
Vendor: Edible Designs by Jessie
Long before Ryan told me that I was the one, he informed me that at his wedding he would have an X-box cake.  This is the detail of the wedding that Ryan felt the most strongly about.  Just to give you an idea, his conversation at Jessie's was about twice as long as mine.  He also may or may not have consulted JT on which games he should have on the cake.  JT is overseas serving our country, so obviously determining the most meaningful games for Ryan's cake was a high priority.

Final Verdict: Halo & Madden.

How amazing is Jessie?

The Invitations
Vendor: Amanda Lamb
Amanda is my amazing former co-worker who's sadly left Houston to live and work in Austin.  She made the mistake of mentioning one time in training that she makes wedding invitations for fun.  I emailed her to see if she was still in the business or would be interested in doing ours- thus began a whirlwind of romantic email exchanges regarding fonts, colors, serifs vs. san-serifs and just in general me getting to witness Amanda's creative process at work.  She is truly amazing and I absolutely loved our invitations.  Thank you so much Amanda!  If you are interested in contacting her, let me know and I can get you her email address.  Please pardon the quality of these pictures- I took them on my camera phone.  I am clearly not a photographer!

Front of the envelope

Invitation front.  (P.S. This offer has expired).

The enclosures were in a pocket on the opposite side of the invitation.  Amanda is brilliant.

RSVP postcard.

The Programs
Vendor: Amanda Lamb
After doing such a stellar job on the invitations, we decided that we needed Amanda's touch on as many wedding-related items as we could manage.  I told Amanda I wanted to do something kind of fun and different for our programs and she came up with this idea completely on her own.  I loved it immediately.  I think, judging by the pics below, that it was a hit.

Forgot your lipstick?  No problem, grab a program.

Nothing accessorizes a suit quite like a fake stache.

The true use of the program.

Brendan laughing in the face of gender roles.

The Table Numbers

Vendor: Hobby Lobby
It took me forever to come up with a cute, semi-original idea for table numbers.  After hours of wandering aimlessly in Hobby Lobby and Michaels, I finally decided I wanted to use chalkboards.  We bought chalkboards, wooden numbers and had a few paint parties to get them the color they needed to be.  Of course, we had no idea what we wanted to write on them.  On the way to the lake one day my inner accountant reared its ugly head when I found myself suggesting to Ryan that we write sayings including each of the table numbers.  That, dollfaces, is how these came to be.  Ryan & I had an awesome time coming up with sayings for each of the numbers.  Some of my favs were: 3 Times a Lady, 6 on the Beach and Dressed to the 9's.

If you were having trouble remembering the date, table 11 was for you.

Table number action shot.

The Table Overlays

Vendor: Internet Site that I can't Remember + Boarman Family Project Team
This is another of my wedding ideas that evolved over time.  I was originally set on having chair sashes.  I combed the internet for HOURS trying to find chair sashes that looked like they were the right color.  After approximately 20-25 hours of doing so I decided that it was a lost cause and it was time to go back to the drawing board. 

My next idea: table overlays.  I spent another 5 hours (learned my lesson the first time) looking for the right color table overlays to no avail.  My Mom & I decided, after much consternation, that we could just order fabric and cut it ourselves.  After searching every Joann's and Hobby Lobby we could find, we wound up deciding that this lace-y aqua colored fabric we found on the internet would probably match... kind of... if you squinted your eyes and had a few glasses of adult beverage.  Clearly this exercise had worn us down because we purchased all they had left of it- which is definitely the biggest risk either Caddy or I has ever taken in life.

One night up at the lake my Dad, Mom, Ryan and I spent hours upon hours in the garage assembly-line style cutting this bolt of fabric into overlays on the ping pong table while drinking wine.  So, while the lines may not have been that straight- those overlays sure made for a lot of laughs and a night I'll never forget.  As a bonus, I actually think they turned out wonderfully.  Thank you so much Team Boarman... I'm so blessed to have a family who will spend an evening with me wielding a wine glass and scissors.

Made in Conroe, with wine love.

The Escort Cards/Favor Bags
Vendor: Amanda Lamb
Much like table numbers, I spent FOREVER trying to come up with a fun idea for escort cards.  My friend Ashley had adorable apples and Justin & Lindsey had horseshoes... so I felt like I had some big shoes to fill.  One day while surfing the internet I found a picture of some bags with fun patterns and I decided that we could roll the escort cards and favors all into one.  I consulted Amanda on this and she agreed it was definitely a possibility.  Amanda MADE beautiful bags with escort cards that perfectly mirrored the theme of the invitations.  Have I mentioned she's amazing?

Next line of business: what do we fill them with?  I knew that some of my guests didn't like, and/or were allergic, to chocolate- so that was out of the questions.  I wandered around CostCo for about an hour on the phone with my Mom.  We finally decided that toffee popcorn was a fabulously universal selection.  After sending her a phone picture of the size of the cannister, she and I did some mental math and decided that we probably needed about 17 of these cannisters.  I paid and went on my merry way.

A few days later when we were assembling the escort card/favor bags we learned that we really only needed... wait for it... 5 cannisters.  So if my parents give you a canniester of toffee popcorn for Christmas, now you know why.  You also know where my understanding of spacial concepts and mental math comes from.

Purple, teal & geometric all over.  Makes my heart smile. 

We definitely forgot to pick those up prior to seating ourselves.  Faux pas.

Floral
Vendor: Darryl & Co
There's really not too much of a story to tell when it comes to the floral except that I loved all of it.  I highly recommend Darryl & Co if you're planning an event, particularly if it's at the Bell Tower because they're about 2 minutes away. 

My gorgeous shakeweight for the evening.  White roses, lillies & hydrangea.

Can't tell you enough how much I loved these - Picasso calla lillies & purple hydrangea.

White pomander balls that lined the aisle.

More ceremony decor.

Snippet of the head table.

Flower girl's ammo- white rose petals.  The basket is from Etsy, of course.

The candelabra centerpiece. White lillies, cream roses & purple hydrangea.

The twiggy centerpiece.  That is in fact the technical name.

Pretty shot.

PHEW!  And now I have finally finished blogging about the day I became Mrs. Martin.  It's a toss up as to whether documenting this or passing the CPA was more difficult.  Stay tuned for tales from the honeymoon and lots of other fun wedding festivities for the ladies in my life.



Boom- married.