I'M BACK!
Thank you ladies for all the well wishes. This board is fantastic! Thanks for all the inspiration and ideas. Well, the week started off a little kooky. My boss has pneumonia (which we think he never got rid of when he had it back in January....yes January- and we all got sick so bad we had to shut the office down- oh it sucked!) and came in like it was really important- especially after his doctor put him on a restricted work schedule to get rest from home! So needless to say my throat started feeling scratchy and I started pumping myself with vitamins and green tea! Ladies I swore if that man got me sick-it was gonna get personal LOL.....
Snafu number one- when my husband (sounds good to say it-smile) and I were talking about who was coming when and how and who was picking them up- I remembered I needed to get my moms flight info- she had the invitation package and the timeline and still managed to schedule her flight to arrive when the rehearsal was suppose to start! LOL So we decided to push it back an hour and it wasn't a big deal because we didn't have bridesmaids or groomsmen to contend with. The only two attendants were my brother and my cousin.
I'd been watching the weather like a mad woman especially since we had it outside. The one thing I wasn't looking forward to was the heat so I made sure I provided a cooler for my guests with bottled cold water. My programs I gave some serious thought when starting to plan the wedding and found a great template for a fan program. I thought about having a company do it, but it wasn't difficult to do and I had fun doing it...so it was the poor man's air conditioning but at least it was pretty! LOL I also decorated a small wicker basket with the same ribbon I purchased for my bouquet and added the cut outs I made for the reception only invites on them as a cute decoration.
For the welcome bags for my out of town guests I hand beaded the bag (which was all white) in our wedding colors (Tiffany Blue, Black and White) with our initials and stuffed them with white and Tiffany blue tissue paper and filled them with chips, gum, soap, lotion, candle, water, instant green tea mix, raisins, tissue. The labels for the bags served a multi-purpose: to seal the bag, to act as a name tag, a thank you note and decoration. I tied black and white ribbon to secure the bag even further. For the favors, my "theme" was a throwback to the 1940's. So I purchased martini glasses (came in a case of 36) and personalized each one myself with art deco etching- so no two glasses are the same. On the base of the glass I glued the same beads I used for the welcome bags with our initials and wedding date. I also made homemade chocolate truffles (which were a blast to make-yum!) There were six flavors in all: Raspberry Espresso, Cayenne spiced Mango, Vanilla Chai, Orange Sherbet, Champagne and the signature one was Red Fire Martini. I made the "flavor cards" to fit on the bottom on the candy box so people would know what they were eating! LOL And I also made labels that said "Gourmet Truffles" for the boxes as well. The challenge was keeping them cold so they wouldn't melt in the July heat.
For the confetti I got the eco-friendly kind and in Tiffany blue as well. The confetti is water soluble, which was perfect for the restaurant to clean up. In lieu of a guestbook, I wanted something more personal and found an engravable metal photo mat for people to sign with a diamond scribe and we'll use it to frame our wedding photo.
Our wedding cake was soooooooo good. It was a three tier buttercream chocolate cake with raspberry and chocolate mousse filling. I almost don't want to wait a year to have the anniversary cake...LMAO.
My makeup I kept it pretty simple, just wore some foundation, black eyeliner, and a tinge of red lipstick.
The wedding dress was an ivory lace halter and I chose to wear a lace bolero to take some of the attention away from my boobs....lol...I'm quite busty and the halter was definitely a challenge to work with....lol. The bolero was great also because the restaurant was a little chilly...lol.
The sash was a mauve-ish color and I wanted shoes to match the sash, not the necessarily the dress and found the shoes at Kohl's of all places but it was the color I needed and the price I greatly appreciated and best of all I can wear them again! I didn't want to have the problem of having shoes that were so style specific that they could only be worn or even indicate that they belong with a wedding gown.
The jewelry I chose worked great with the dress and I almost didn't purchase (the earrings and necklace) it because in the Spanish culture, women (brides) don't wear pearls because it is believed to bring sorrow. I gave serious thought to it and decided to get them anyway because I used "elements" of a Hispanic wedding but not following the "true traditional" route. I'm somewhat superstitious and trust me this bothered me for a bit and have since gotten over it. My mom, as a gift I gave her peacock styled semi-precious stone earrings. She loaned me my grandmothers sapphire ring as my something borrowed and old. My something blue was my garter and my something new I chose my wedding ensemble! LOL
My Man of Honor (two snaps up honey....lol) I gave him a handcuff style bracelet. I gave my brother a gift card (game junkie) and my husband (still sounds good....lol) I gave him an engraved id bracelet with our wedding date in roman numerals- which leads to our wedding rings. They are 14k/18k two toned gold bands with our wedding date in roman numerals on the band. The whole roman numeral band idea came about on a vacation and one of the magazines on the plane had an advertisement of a jewelry company and showed a picture of a band with the roman numeral and he mentioned when we got married we should get those bands.
So the day started off with waking up and double checking that I had everything. My husband spent the night at the firehouse (he's a fireman) because we had a full house...lol. I had to finish up the truffles because with all the running around the day before I was tired and didn't want to do a half *ssed job. I had to take my brother to get dress socks, my mom to the bank and get my nails done. My Man of Honor picked up our uncle from the bus station, my husband came home and hung around for a bit- I guess to make sure I was ok. He took my brother to get their hair cut and left to hang out before the wedding. I felt fine for the most part- just felt pressed for time because the day seemed to be breezing by so fast. I didn't feel nervous or jittery; just felt like we were getting ready for a party not a wedding....lol. My mom and I left to go to the hotel and my photographer was already there waiting at the restaurant eating lunch while he waited for us. I checked in and went upstairs to start getting ready. I wanted to style my hair in a 1940's hairstyle I saw but my hair was not cooperating- so I went to plan B- I didn't go to a hair salon because I knew with trying to coordinate picking people up I wasn't going to have time and to hire someone to come and do my hair was going to be tricky too- so I opted to do my own hair. I wore spanx and a cincher because I wanted to make sure everything was "IN" LMAO. My mom helped me with my dress and the photographer started firing away. The Suburban showed up while I was taking my pictures and then a little panic set in because I really started feeling pressed for time. The photographer told me to relax and joked around with me to get me to calm down and it worked. So we hop in to the car and set off for the wedding venue which was held at a park. The chauffeur felt like an old family friend or relative he was sooo cool. When we got to the venue, my Man of Honor and a very close friend of mine were putting the final touches on the gazebo we were using for the ceremony. The band I hired were there playing soothing Caribbean music for those who were there and showing up.
We parked at the far end of the parking lot and the photographer jumped out to start doing his thing at the gazebo. My mom and the chauffeur started chatting it up and I brought my cell so I could text my cousin (MOH) to see how things were progressing. Then our friend who was marrying us showed up and several minutes later my husband, my brother and my husband's friend/co-worker showed up. So while sitting there and watching everything go on that's when it finally hit me that I was getting married and proceeded to have a five minute panic attack! LMAO I started crying and the chauffeur was like "Mom, I think it finally hit your daughter!" SO my mom runs around to my side of the car and is trying to take my veil off to get a picture and I'm shooing her hand away to keep her from lifting my veil, I'm fanning myself to keep from messing up my makeup and then they are both tearing up the car looking for tissue. So needless to say I didn't mess up my makeup because I managed not to have any tears run down my face and then got myself under control. We had a good chuckle about it but then it was time to refocus on why we were being held up from starting on time. I kept asking my cousin who was there and then he mentioned that my husbands grandparents and his uncle weren't there yet. That's when I started getting annoyed. His uncle ALWAYS holds stuff up. He's too laid back. So I ask my cousin to ask my husband to find out were they were because we were starting to run late. They showed up almost 35 minutes later AFTER the ceremony was suppose to start- so you know I'm pissed right? Then his uncle gets out the car and is taking his sweet *ss time. So my mom walks over to him and introduces herself and tells him he's holding up everything and to hot step it so we can get started. You know this dude on the way to the gazebo was still sauntering ever so slowly checking his voicemail?! So before he could sit down good, the chauffeur drove right up to the bridge where I was suppose to walk across as my aisle and my brother who was best man and usher came and escorted my mother to her seat and then came back and got me. While I was walking up the stairs my dress was getting snagged on the heel of my shoe....lol. So he helped me with that and finally got to stand with the man of my dreams. My cousin forgot he was suppose to take my bouquet and after a couple of eye gestures he finally caught on and took it. We did the first part of the Arras ceremony and everything else commenced. Managed to get through my vows without getting emotional but my husband got a little teary and would glance away occasionally to get himself together. So were pronounced husband and wife and made a lot of kissy face! I felt like our families were like the paparazzi because they were taking so many pictures. We went and took photographs with the family so they could be off to the restaurant and we took ours and then headed to the restaurant too. When we got there the patrons clapped and cheered before we entered the area sectioned off for our reception. We were seated at our sweetheart table and it was a very intimate relaxing evening. We got to talk to everyone, drink wine and champagne. For the appetizers we had one huge platter of calamari and another huge platter of thai chicken wings. We also had a choice of Seafood Chowder or Maryland Crab soup. There was the house salad (mesclun greens, red grape tomatoes, red seedless grapes and walnuts with sweet onion mustard vinaigrette) and tossed Caesar salad. Our guests had their choice of 6 entrees: Linguine w/ Mussels and Clams (rope grown mussels and littleneck clams steamed in white wine butter sauce with saffron, red bell pepper, garlic and oregano), Grilled Tenderloin Tips (six ounces of beef tenderloin tips grilled over mesquite charcoal fire-served over sauteed exotic mushrooms), Fresh Atlantic Salmon (Canadian salmon grilled over mesquite charcoal fire and served with lemon caper butter and fresh asparagus), Chipotle Baby Back Ribs (a full rack of tender meaty pork ribs glazed with house made smoky chipotle BBQ sauce and served with french fries), Maryland Blue Crab Cake (two jumbo lump domestic blue crabmeat lightly bound with fresh eggs, herbs, spices and panko pan fried and served with rosemary roasted potatoes and red pepper remoulade) or Hardwood Grilled Chicken Breast (ten ounce chicken breast topped with our chipotle barbeque sauce and cheddar jack cheese, served with fresh corn salad with garlic mashed potato souffle). We were toasted by our guests and then we toasted our guests. After dinner we chatted for a bit and then cut the cake which was so good. But the funny thing was we fed each other small pieces of cake and that's all we had! LOL. Everyone else loved the cake and I made sure our anniversary tier was removed and wrapped up to go and I cut the second tier and the kitchen staff cut up the third tier. They were nice enough to provide take away containers for both the dinner and cake for people to take home.
The restaurant printed menus with our names and the wedding date and we got to keep those. But everyone raved the entire time about how nice and intimate the wedding and reception was and that everything was perfect. I was so glad that they enjoyed themselves so much. And it made me feel great because I'm a stickler for detail (as you can see from this loooong post...lol) and it's nice they appreciated the attention to detail. My husband loved how I planned everything and complimented me when we got to the hotel that night. While it was fun planning I don't think I'd want to do it again unless it was to help someone else plan theirs. So I'm glad it's over.....lol. The next day we checked out the hotel around 7:30 in the morning and went over to see my husbands grandparents at their hotel before they left to go back home later that day. From there we headed home and hung out with everyone who stayed at our home and people who were still in town that stopped by. I took my uncle back to the bus station and then came back and took my mom to the airport. Some friends of ours chilled at the house and then we decided to go out for Chinese before they headed back home and hung out the rest of the day with my friend. The next day my friend hung out with us before her train left at 12pm that day. Then after we dropped her off we finished up packing for our honeymoon to Aruba. If you haven't been you should go. It was nice everyday and we had a great time.
My wedding pics are scheduled to get to us by tomorrow, so soon as we sort through them I'll make sure I come back to post some. The pics from the honeymoon are on my husbands computer so I'll have him email me some to post.
WOW AKitten, thanks for the details, felt like I was there. It almost felt like I could taste the food as I was reading what was on your menu. MAN i'm greedy. Anyway Congrats.
These are some pictures I took and my brother took with his camera phone. The group shot at the rehearsal from left to right is my brother, my mom, me and my cousin. My husband left because he had some stuff he needed to take care of.
[quote="sensationablyhappy"]WOW AKitten, thanks for the details, felt like I was there. It almost felt like I could taste the food as I was reading what was on your menu. MAN i'm greedy. Anyway Congrats.
[/quote]
Gurl you're not greedy, you know good food when you read it! LMAO
Thanks for the well wishes. How has your first month been?
Everything looks beautiful, love your DIY toasting glasses. Can't wait to see more pictures.
My first month was great. This coming weekend DH and I are going to an all expense paid trip to Myrtle Beach courtesy of the US Army. My babe get all kinds of perks, so that's one good benefit of being an Army Wife. Because I like's free. Lol. I'm looking forward to it.
Thanks! Those weren't the toasting glasses, those were the martini glasses that were part of the favors.
Nothing can beat free gurl, hope you enjoy your trip!
Hey AKitten, Where did you go in Aruba? We are currently planning a trip there next year...We need honeymoon details too! Congrats again, and great job on those personal touches!
[quote="Bumblebeekee"]Hey AKitten, Where did you go in Aruba? We are currently planning a trip there next year...We need honeymoon details too! Congrats again, and great job on those personal touches!
[/quote]
We stayed at the Talk of the Town Hotel, which is very low key and the bartender Dino was fantastic, kept us tipsy the entire time we were there. The walk to downtown Oranjestad was about 10 minutes and the hotel is right across the street from the beach and 1 mile from the airport which was great from us because we had a super early flight on the way back home. The other hotels are further north and are considered "high rises" and are hella expensive but the area and layout are nice but kind of isolated. We took public transportation to see most of the areas and we normally like to experience a place like the locals do- so there's plenty of walking and bus riding. Oddly enough although Aruba is beautiful the island is still very much under development and there isn't tons to do so 3-4 days is sufficient and even if you miss a thing or two you won't feel bad about it because you did so many other things. One note though, the museums are in the process of being moved to new locations, for the exception of the Numismatic Museum, which was fantastic...so that cuts a lot of things out to do. OH AND DON'T TRY AND MAIL ANYTHING BACK TO THE STATES!!!!!! We had some Rum and hot sauce we wanted to send back because we didn't want the hassle of checking one of our bags and they told us that it was 64 dollars and if we had more items to pack it would actually start to cost less! So I managed to get the hot sauces back without it being detected (wink) and my husband drank up the rum.....lol.
Congrats Akitten. Sounds like you had a blast in Aruba.
Com'on Girl... Where are the honeymoon pictures? We want to see just how tipsy yall were...LMAO
[quote="cmt"]Congrats Akitten. Sounds like you had a blast in Aruba.
Com'on Girl... Where are the honeymoon pictures? We want to see just how tipsy yall were...LMAO
[/quote]
My husband actually took all the pictures and has them on his laptop...I have to have him email me some so I can post...with coming back home and tending to get home and work stuff straight it's been kinda crazy....
Wow Akitten, thank you so much for sharing the details of your extremely special day. I felt like I was there going through it with you as well. Your menu has me salivating (LOL).
Again, congrats to you and your Husband, on your wedding. Keep the pictures coming. You looked magnificent!!!
Oh and Akitten, if you don't mind sharing, where did you purchase your martini glasses? I've been looking for affordable ones for a while, but can't locate any and since you purchased a box of 36, I have to believe that you got a great deal. Usually, on the weddings that I've done, it's all inclusive with the location, but I was looking to purchase some for my own wedding. Thanks a million.
[quote="Ginoue"]Oh and Akitten, if you don't mind sharing, where did you purchase your martini glasses? I've been looking for affordable ones for a while, but can't locate any and since you purchased a box of 36, I have to believe that you got a great deal. Usually, on the weddings that I've done, it's all inclusive with the location, but I was looking to purchase some for my own wedding. Thanks a million.
[/quote]
Thank you Ginoue. I purchased my glasses http://www.acemart.com//product-view.ep?pID=820047 from Ace Mart. It cost $102 for the case which was great. I think it was worth every penny. The glasses were nice and best of all glass. They packed the heck out of the box and they were delivered with not a one broken.
[quote="Ginoue"]Wow Akitten, thank you so much for sharing the details of your extremely special day. I felt like I was there going through it with you as well. Your menu has me salivating (LOL).
Again, congrats to you and your Husband, on your wedding. Keep the pictures coming. You looked magnificent!!!
[/quote]
Having my reception at a restaurant was the best choice I could've ever made and this particular restaurant has superb food. Everyone took home take away containers and was raving the entire weekend. Heck I plan to go back and try some stuff I didn't get a chance to but my guests did!
Thank you so much for sharing. I plan on including a couple of martin glasses in the packages that I'm putting together for the couples attending our wedding. Thanks again.
Congratulations!! Hope everything is better than you ever dreamed. Please return with details and pics soon.
"I'm a work in progress, God is not through me yet"
Congrats!!!! Enjoy your day to the fullest... I know it will be lovely...
congratulations! I hope your day is all your dreamed and more! hurry back with pics!!!!!!!! :)
Congratulations AKitten!!!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10712;106/st/20081228/e/Our+Anniversary/k/5eb4/event.png[/img]
[/url]
CONGRATS!!!!! I hope all goes well on your big day. Good luck sis!
Congrats AKitten. I know your day will be spectacular!!!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10728;2/st/20090906/e/Our+1st+Anniversary/k/f5b3/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Congrats!!!!
http://www.mywedding.com/cheynnieandstevenswedding
congrats newlywed
Congratulations Sweetie, I hope your day was just as special as you imagined it.
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;17;90/st/20080718/e/Two+Hearts+Became+One%21/k/b47e/event.png[/img]
Congrats!
THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE WELL WISHES!
Soon as I return from the honeymoon I'll be sure to dish the details. See you guys in a week! Off to Aruba!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Congratualations 4 Sure! Best wishes to you and your new hubby, and here's hoping that you had a F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S Day!
[url=http://daisypath.com][img]http://dwdf.daisypath.com/TikiPic.php/x6JfPkg.jpg[/img][img]http://dwdf.daisypath.com/x6Jfm5.png[/img][/url]
Congrats newlyweds!!Hope you had and are still having the time of your life
Enjoy the honeymoon honey - I know you will!!!!
Congrats Akitten!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know everything went great at your wedding so all you have to do now is enjoy your honeymoon.
url=http://tickers.livingchaos.co.uk/][img]http://tickers.livingchaos.co.uk/tickers/image/anniversary/14/53/2009-8-9/19469/366/T3VyIEZpcnN0IEFubml2ZXJzYXJ5IGlzIGluIA.jpg[/img][/url]
Congratulations on your special day! Hurry back with pictures and details.
Congrats Akitten on your wonderful day. Hope it all turned out exactly the way that you envisioned and then more. Enjoy Aruba!!!
Congrats! Can't wait to hear details and see pics...God bless your union!
We've been Happily Married 2 Years and Counting:)
a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/">
Congrats Akitten. I know you day was spectacular!!!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10728;2/st/20090906/e/Our+1st+Anniversary/k/f5b3/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Congratulations
I'M BACK!
Thank you ladies for all the well wishes. This board is fantastic! Thanks for all the inspiration and ideas. Well, the week started off a little kooky. My boss has pneumonia (which we think he never got rid of when he had it back in January....yes January- and we all got sick so bad we had to shut the office down- oh it sucked!) and came in like it was really important- especially after his doctor put him on a restricted work schedule to get rest from home! So needless to say my throat started feeling scratchy and I started pumping myself with vitamins and green tea! Ladies I swore if that man got me sick-it was gonna get personal LOL.....
Snafu number one- when my husband (sounds good to say it-smile) and I were talking about who was coming when and how and who was picking them up- I remembered I needed to get my moms flight info- she had the invitation package and the timeline and still managed to schedule her flight to arrive when the rehearsal was suppose to start! LOL So we decided to push it back an hour and it wasn't a big deal because we didn't have bridesmaids or groomsmen to contend with. The only two attendants were my brother and my cousin.
I'd been watching the weather like a mad woman especially since we had it outside. The one thing I wasn't looking forward to was the heat so I made sure I provided a cooler for my guests with bottled cold water. My programs I gave some serious thought when starting to plan the wedding and found a great template for a fan program. I thought about having a company do it, but it wasn't difficult to do and I had fun doing it...so it was the poor man's air conditioning but at least it was pretty! LOL I also decorated a small wicker basket with the same ribbon I purchased for my bouquet and added the cut outs I made for the reception only invites on them as a cute decoration.
For the welcome bags for my out of town guests I hand beaded the bag (which was all white) in our wedding colors (Tiffany Blue, Black and White) with our initials and stuffed them with white and Tiffany blue tissue paper and filled them with chips, gum, soap, lotion, candle, water, instant green tea mix, raisins, tissue. The labels for the bags served a multi-purpose: to seal the bag, to act as a name tag, a thank you note and decoration. I tied black and white ribbon to secure the bag even further. For the favors, my "theme" was a throwback to the 1940's. So I purchased martini glasses (came in a case of 36) and personalized each one myself with art deco etching- so no two glasses are the same. On the base of the glass I glued the same beads I used for the welcome bags with our initials and wedding date. I also made homemade chocolate truffles (which were a blast to make-yum!) There were six flavors in all: Raspberry Espresso, Cayenne spiced Mango, Vanilla Chai, Orange Sherbet, Champagne and the signature one was Red Fire Martini. I made the "flavor cards" to fit on the bottom on the candy box so people would know what they were eating! LOL And I also made labels that said "Gourmet Truffles" for the boxes as well. The challenge was keeping them cold so they wouldn't melt in the July heat.
For the confetti I got the eco-friendly kind and in Tiffany blue as well. The confetti is water soluble, which was perfect for the restaurant to clean up. In lieu of a guestbook, I wanted something more personal and found an engravable metal photo mat for people to sign with a diamond scribe and we'll use it to frame our wedding photo.
Our wedding cake was soooooooo good. It was a three tier buttercream chocolate cake with raspberry and chocolate mousse filling. I almost don't want to wait a year to have the anniversary cake...LMAO.
My makeup I kept it pretty simple, just wore some foundation, black eyeliner, and a tinge of red lipstick.
The wedding dress was an ivory lace halter and I chose to wear a lace bolero to take some of the attention away from my boobs....lol...I'm quite busty and the halter was definitely a challenge to work with....lol. The bolero was great also because the restaurant was a little chilly...lol.
The sash was a mauve-ish color and I wanted shoes to match the sash, not the necessarily the dress and found the shoes at Kohl's of all places but it was the color I needed and the price I greatly appreciated and best of all I can wear them again! I didn't want to have the problem of having shoes that were so style specific that they could only be worn or even indicate that they belong with a wedding gown.
The jewelry I chose worked great with the dress and I almost didn't purchase (the earrings and necklace) it because in the Spanish culture, women (brides) don't wear pearls because it is believed to bring sorrow. I gave serious thought to it and decided to get them anyway because I used "elements" of a Hispanic wedding but not following the "true traditional" route. I'm somewhat superstitious and trust me this bothered me for a bit and have since gotten over it. My mom, as a gift I gave her peacock styled semi-precious stone earrings. She loaned me my grandmothers sapphire ring as my something borrowed and old. My something blue was my garter and my something new I chose my wedding ensemble! LOL
My Man of Honor (two snaps up honey....lol) I gave him a handcuff style bracelet. I gave my brother a gift card (game junkie) and my husband (still sounds good....lol) I gave him an engraved id bracelet with our wedding date in roman numerals- which leads to our wedding rings. They are 14k/18k two toned gold bands with our wedding date in roman numerals on the band. The whole roman numeral band idea came about on a vacation and one of the magazines on the plane had an advertisement of a jewelry company and showed a picture of a band with the roman numeral and he mentioned when we got married we should get those bands.
So the day started off with waking up and double checking that I had everything. My husband spent the night at the firehouse (he's a fireman) because we had a full house...lol. I had to finish up the truffles because with all the running around the day before I was tired and didn't want to do a half *ssed job. I had to take my brother to get dress socks, my mom to the bank and get my nails done. My Man of Honor picked up our uncle from the bus station, my husband came home and hung around for a bit- I guess to make sure I was ok. He took my brother to get their hair cut and left to hang out before the wedding. I felt fine for the most part- just felt pressed for time because the day seemed to be breezing by so fast. I didn't feel nervous or jittery; just felt like we were getting ready for a party not a wedding....lol. My mom and I left to go to the hotel and my photographer was already there waiting at the restaurant eating lunch while he waited for us. I checked in and went upstairs to start getting ready. I wanted to style my hair in a 1940's hairstyle I saw but my hair was not cooperating- so I went to plan B- I didn't go to a hair salon because I knew with trying to coordinate picking people up I wasn't going to have time and to hire someone to come and do my hair was going to be tricky too- so I opted to do my own hair. I wore spanx and a cincher because I wanted to make sure everything was "IN" LMAO. My mom helped me with my dress and the photographer started firing away. The Suburban showed up while I was taking my pictures and then a little panic set in because I really started feeling pressed for time. The photographer told me to relax and joked around with me to get me to calm down and it worked. So we hop in to the car and set off for the wedding venue which was held at a park. The chauffeur felt like an old family friend or relative he was sooo cool. When we got to the venue, my Man of Honor and a very close friend of mine were putting the final touches on the gazebo we were using for the ceremony. The band I hired were there playing soothing Caribbean music for those who were there and showing up.
We parked at the far end of the parking lot and the photographer jumped out to start doing his thing at the gazebo. My mom and the chauffeur started chatting it up and I brought my cell so I could text my cousin (MOH) to see how things were progressing. Then our friend who was marrying us showed up and several minutes later my husband, my brother and my husband's friend/co-worker showed up. So while sitting there and watching everything go on that's when it finally hit me that I was getting married and proceeded to have a five minute panic attack! LMAO I started crying and the chauffeur was like "Mom, I think it finally hit your daughter!" SO my mom runs around to my side of the car and is trying to take my veil off to get a picture and I'm shooing her hand away to keep her from lifting my veil, I'm fanning myself to keep from messing up my makeup and then they are both tearing up the car looking for tissue. So needless to say I didn't mess up my makeup because I managed not to have any tears run down my face and then got myself under control. We had a good chuckle about it but then it was time to refocus on why we were being held up from starting on time. I kept asking my cousin who was there and then he mentioned that my husbands grandparents and his uncle weren't there yet. That's when I started getting annoyed. His uncle ALWAYS holds stuff up. He's too laid back. So I ask my cousin to ask my husband to find out were they were because we were starting to run late. They showed up almost 35 minutes later AFTER the ceremony was suppose to start- so you know I'm pissed right? Then his uncle gets out the car and is taking his sweet *ss time. So my mom walks over to him and introduces herself and tells him he's holding up everything and to hot step it so we can get started. You know this dude on the way to the gazebo was still sauntering ever so slowly checking his voicemail?! So before he could sit down good, the chauffeur drove right up to the bridge where I was suppose to walk across as my aisle and my brother who was best man and usher came and escorted my mother to her seat and then came back and got me. While I was walking up the stairs my dress was getting snagged on the heel of my shoe....lol. So he helped me with that and finally got to stand with the man of my dreams. My cousin forgot he was suppose to take my bouquet and after a couple of eye gestures he finally caught on and took it. We did the first part of the Arras ceremony and everything else commenced. Managed to get through my vows without getting emotional but my husband got a little teary and would glance away occasionally to get himself together. So were pronounced husband and wife and made a lot of kissy face! I felt like our families were like the paparazzi because they were taking so many pictures. We went and took photographs with the family so they could be off to the restaurant and we took ours and then headed to the restaurant too. When we got there the patrons clapped and cheered before we entered the area sectioned off for our reception. We were seated at our sweetheart table and it was a very intimate relaxing evening. We got to talk to everyone, drink wine and champagne. For the appetizers we had one huge platter of calamari and another huge platter of thai chicken wings. We also had a choice of Seafood Chowder or Maryland Crab soup. There was the house salad (mesclun greens, red grape tomatoes, red seedless grapes and walnuts with sweet onion mustard vinaigrette) and tossed Caesar salad. Our guests had their choice of 6 entrees: Linguine w/ Mussels and Clams (rope grown mussels and littleneck clams steamed in white wine butter sauce with saffron, red bell pepper, garlic and oregano), Grilled Tenderloin Tips (six ounces of beef tenderloin tips grilled over mesquite charcoal fire-served over sauteed exotic mushrooms), Fresh Atlantic Salmon (Canadian salmon grilled over mesquite charcoal fire and served with lemon caper butter and fresh asparagus), Chipotle Baby Back Ribs (a full rack of tender meaty pork ribs glazed with house made smoky chipotle BBQ sauce and served with french fries), Maryland Blue Crab Cake (two jumbo lump domestic blue crabmeat lightly bound with fresh eggs, herbs, spices and panko pan fried and served with rosemary roasted potatoes and red pepper remoulade) or Hardwood Grilled Chicken Breast (ten ounce chicken breast topped with our chipotle barbeque sauce and cheddar jack cheese, served with fresh corn salad with garlic mashed potato souffle). We were toasted by our guests and then we toasted our guests. After dinner we chatted for a bit and then cut the cake which was so good. But the funny thing was we fed each other small pieces of cake and that's all we had! LOL. Everyone else loved the cake and I made sure our anniversary tier was removed and wrapped up to go and I cut the second tier and the kitchen staff cut up the third tier. They were nice enough to provide take away containers for both the dinner and cake for people to take home.
The restaurant printed menus with our names and the wedding date and we got to keep those. But everyone raved the entire time about how nice and intimate the wedding and reception was and that everything was perfect. I was so glad that they enjoyed themselves so much. And it made me feel great because I'm a stickler for detail (as you can see from this loooong post...lol) and it's nice they appreciated the attention to detail. My husband loved how I planned everything and complimented me when we got to the hotel that night. While it was fun planning I don't think I'd want to do it again unless it was to help someone else plan theirs. So I'm glad it's over.....lol. The next day we checked out the hotel around 7:30 in the morning and went over to see my husbands grandparents at their hotel before they left to go back home later that day. From there we headed home and hung out with everyone who stayed at our home and people who were still in town that stopped by. I took my uncle back to the bus station and then came back and took my mom to the airport. Some friends of ours chilled at the house and then we decided to go out for Chinese before they headed back home and hung out the rest of the day with my friend. The next day my friend hung out with us before her train left at 12pm that day. Then after we dropped her off we finished up packing for our honeymoon to Aruba. If you haven't been you should go. It was nice everyday and we had a great time.
My wedding pics are scheduled to get to us by tomorrow, so soon as we sort through them I'll make sure I come back to post some. The pics from the honeymoon are on my husbands computer so I'll have him email me some to post.
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Akitten, sounds like your day was perfect. Cant wait to see the pics
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10728;2/st/20090906/e/Our+1st+Anniversary/k/f5b3/event.png[/img]
[/url]
WOW AKitten, thanks for the details, felt like I was there. It almost felt like I could taste the food as I was reading what was on your menu. MAN i'm greedy. Anyway Congrats.
These are some pictures I took and my brother took with his camera phone. The group shot at the rehearsal from left to right is my brother, my mom, me and my cousin. My husband left because he had some stuff he needed to take care of.
More to come soon.....
[IMG]http://i34.tinypic.com/9zy4d1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i37.tinypic.com/2d28vw2.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/1z1uuqf.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/20j623a.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/6j3h1g.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i36.tinypic.com/6s8ld3.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/dpvhig.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/2hz6zh3.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i36.tinypic.com/zjebrc.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i37.tinypic.com/rsvp0y.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i35.tinypic.com/dmv2gi.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/29vnq79.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i38.tinypic.com/3538l85.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i38.tinypic.com/11r6wd1.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i38.tinypic.com/4jqlqw.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i37.tinypic.com/2vw8zgp.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i36.tinypic.com/2lmbh2d.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i34.tinypic.com/2w2q0w9.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i34.tinypic.com/j9r9z4.jpg[/IMG]
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
[quote="sensationablyhappy"]WOW AKitten, thanks for the details, felt like I was there. It almost felt like I could taste the food as I was reading what was on your menu. MAN i'm greedy. Anyway Congrats.
[/quote]
Gurl you're not greedy, you know good food when you read it! LMAO
Thanks for the well wishes. How has your first month been?
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Everything looks beautiful, love your DIY toasting glasses. Can't wait to see more pictures.
My first month was great. This coming weekend DH and I are going to an all expense paid trip to Myrtle Beach courtesy of the US Army. My babe get all kinds of perks, so that's one good benefit of being an Army Wife. Because I like's free. Lol. I'm looking forward to it.
Thanks! Those weren't the toasting glasses, those were the martini glasses that were part of the favors.
Nothing can beat free gurl, hope you enjoy your trip!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Hey AKitten, Where did you go in Aruba? We are currently planning a trip there next year...We need honeymoon details too! Congrats again, and great job on those personal touches!
We've been Happily Married 2 Years and Counting:)
a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/">
[quote="Bumblebeekee"]Hey AKitten, Where did you go in Aruba? We are currently planning a trip there next year...We need honeymoon details too! Congrats again, and great job on those personal touches!
[/quote]
We stayed at the Talk of the Town Hotel, which is very low key and the bartender Dino was fantastic, kept us tipsy the entire time we were there. The walk to downtown Oranjestad was about 10 minutes and the hotel is right across the street from the beach and 1 mile from the airport which was great from us because we had a super early flight on the way back home. The other hotels are further north and are considered "high rises" and are hella expensive but the area and layout are nice but kind of isolated. We took public transportation to see most of the areas and we normally like to experience a place like the locals do- so there's plenty of walking and bus riding. Oddly enough although Aruba is beautiful the island is still very much under development and there isn't tons to do so 3-4 days is sufficient and even if you miss a thing or two you won't feel bad about it because you did so many other things. One note though, the museums are in the process of being moved to new locations, for the exception of the Numismatic Museum, which was fantastic...so that cuts a lot of things out to do. OH AND DON'T TRY AND MAIL ANYTHING BACK TO THE STATES!!!!!! We had some Rum and hot sauce we wanted to send back because we didn't want the hassle of checking one of our bags and they told us that it was 64 dollars and if we had more items to pack it would actually start to cost less! So I managed to get the hot sauces back without it being detected (wink) and my husband drank up the rum.....lol.
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
congratulations again! sounds like your day went off exactly as you planned! I loved the colors and your pics!! can't wait to see more!! :)
Congrats Akitten. Sounds like you had a blast in Aruba.
Com'on Girl... Where are the honeymoon pictures? We want to see just how tipsy yall were...LMAO
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10728;2/st/20090906/e/Our+1st+Anniversary/k/f5b3/event.png[/img]
[/url]
[quote="cmt"]Congrats Akitten. Sounds like you had a blast in Aruba.
Com'on Girl... Where are the honeymoon pictures? We want to see just how tipsy yall were...LMAO
[/quote]
My husband actually took all the pictures and has them on his laptop...I have to have him email me some so I can post...with coming back home and tending to get home and work stuff straight it's been kinda crazy....
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Congrats!!! and great details. I am sooo happy your day was a sucess!! Be Blessed
Remember To Always Be Fabulous!!!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10716;24/st/20090718/e/Our+Wedding/k/7e60/event.png[/img]
[/url]
http://www.mywedding.com/porscheandfakhree
Thanks so much. Can't wait to see more wedding and honeymoon pics!
We've been Happily Married 2 Years and Counting:)
a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/">
Thanks for sharing the details and pics. Felt like I was there with you. Can't wait to see more.
"I'm a work in progress, God is not through me yet"
Aww, lovely and made me hungry.. Thank you for sharing.. Can't wait to see more!
http://www.mywedding.com/cheynnieandstevenswedding
Wow Akitten, thank you so much for sharing the details of your extremely special day. I felt like I was there going through it with you as well. Your menu has me salivating (LOL).
Again, congrats to you and your Husband, on your wedding. Keep the pictures coming. You looked magnificent!!!
Oh and Akitten, if you don't mind sharing, where did you purchase your martini glasses? I've been looking for affordable ones for a while, but can't locate any and since you purchased a box of 36, I have to believe that you got a great deal. Usually, on the weddings that I've done, it's all inclusive with the location, but I was looking to purchase some for my own wedding. Thanks a million.
Congratulations again. Hope you and your family had a wonderful time. Everything looked beautiful.
[url=http://daisypath.com][img]http://dwdf.daisypath.com/TikiPic.php/x6JfPkg.jpg[/img][img]http://dwdf.daisypath.com/x6Jfm5.png[/img][/url]
[quote="Ginoue"]Oh and Akitten, if you don't mind sharing, where did you purchase your martini glasses? I've been looking for affordable ones for a while, but can't locate any and since you purchased a box of 36, I have to believe that you got a great deal. Usually, on the weddings that I've done, it's all inclusive with the location, but I was looking to purchase some for my own wedding. Thanks a million.
[/quote]
Thank you Ginoue. I purchased my glasses http://www.acemart.com//product-view.ep?pID=820047 from Ace Mart. It cost $102 for the case which was great. I think it was worth every penny. The glasses were nice and best of all glass. They packed the heck out of the box and they were delivered with not a one broken.
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
[quote="VIPrincessBride"]Congratulations again. Hope you and your family had a wonderful time. Everything looked beautiful.
[/quote]
Thank you VIPrincessBride. We had a blast, funny thing is it feels like a lifetime ago now....lol
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
[quote="Ginoue"]Wow Akitten, thank you so much for sharing the details of your extremely special day. I felt like I was there going through it with you as well. Your menu has me salivating (LOL).
Again, congrats to you and your Husband, on your wedding. Keep the pictures coming. You looked magnificent!!!
[/quote]
Having my reception at a restaurant was the best choice I could've ever made and this particular restaurant has superb food. Everyone took home take away containers and was raving the entire weekend. Heck I plan to go back and try some stuff I didn't get a chance to but my guests did!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Thank you so much for sharing. I plan on including a couple of martin glasses in the packages that I'm putting together for the couples attending our wedding. Thanks again.
I havent been on in a while however it is never too late to say Congrats.
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;17;90/st/20080718/e/Two+Hearts+Became+One%21/k/b47e/event.png[/img]
[quote="housewife147"]I havent been on in a while however it is never too late to say Congrats.
[/quote]
Thanks Housewife147!
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
I could've sworn I commented :)
Congrats again Mrs. Akitten! You made me wish I was there!
[quote="FutureMrsKeepUp"]I could've sworn I commented :)
Congrats again Mrs. Akitten! You made me wish I was there!
[/quote]
Congrats to you as well Mrs. Jones (I too am Mrs. Jones) Lot of Joneseseseses....LOL
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10755;116/st/20080725/e/Our+Wedding/k/110e/event.png[/img]
[/url]
[quote="AKitten"]I could've sworn I commented :)
Congrats again Mrs. Akitten! You made me wish I was there!
Congrats to you as well Mrs. Jones (I too am Mrs. Jones) Lot of Joneseseseses....LOL
[/quote]
My mom is a Jones too!!! Lol
We've been Happily Married 2 Years and Counting:)
a href="http://www.TickerFactory.com/">
[quote="AKitten"]
Congrats to you as well Mrs. Jones (I too am Mrs. Jones) Lot of Joneseseseses....LOL
[/quote]
It sure is...
YOur day was so pretty. What a pretty color! you two looked so happy. God bless.
[url=http://www.TickerFactory.com/]
[img]http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/4;10723;56/st/20080903/e/Happiness+Returned/dt/-1/k/6fc2/event.png[/img]
[/url]
Pages