Since nothing about the wedding was related to a hotel, I gave guests a list of local lodging and didn’t do welcome bags or anything.

My extremely conscientious maid of honor decided to make bathroom baskets for the women and the men.

The men's restroom basket

She decorated the baskets in tulle and pearls to match the rest of the decorations for the reception. Some of the things in the baskets were:

- hairbands and bobby pins

- shoe shine

- clear nail polish and a nail file

- contact solution

- mini first aid kits

- Tums, ibuprofen and cough drops

- tampons and pads

- tissues and Q-tips

- hand sanitizer and hand lotion

- Shout wipes

- lint roller

- hair brush, comb and hair spray

Along with the baskets she included a cute poem and the number for a cab company in case anyone needed a ride. I’m not sure if any of my guests had to call for a ride, but it made me feel better knowing that it was there for them.

If you’re considering making baskets or some sort of care kit for your guests, I highly recommend it. Half of the hair bands and tampons were gone by the end of the night. One of our male guests was delighted by the shoe shine and several ladies used the nail file and lotion. And that’s only what people told us about.

One thing to consider that my maid of honor mentioned is that if you’re having a reception at a restaurant or somewhere that you have to share the bathroom with other events is that people other than your guests will use and possibly steal the care items. There’s not much of a way to avoid it if you set out a bathroom basket, we had the whole facility to ourselves so that wasn’t a problem.

Why…Heelllloooo there! I am Honeysuckle Bud and I am the newest edition to the garden! I am really excited to be a part of this great Wedding Planning community and I just can’t wait to start posting with all my ideas!

So a little about me? Well… I am a Mid-Twenties Quirky and Enthusiastic Midwestern Princess, addicted to Starbucks Caramel Macchiatos and Red Bull Energy Drinks. Hater of Turnips and Slow Drivers. I am a lister of lists and stresser-outer by nature. I love to laugh and go to the movies…I have seen 18 movies to date this year alone. (I don’t even want to think about how much money I spend on Movies every week.) I currently work at a local bank as a Personal Banker but always looking for bigger and better things. The last 5 years of my life were working 60 hours/wk in Sales and while planning my wedding, I wanted something as stress free as possible so I went to Banker’s Hours…literally!

I am getting married on March 17, 2012 – Not because it is St. Patrick’s Day – However, that does play a part in it, but rather that is my FH (we’ll call him Mr. Honey) & I’s current anniversary and it just happened to fall on a Saturday in 2012. It will be our 5 year dating anniversary the day we get married, along with St. Patty’s Day which is our FAV holiday – we are both very proud of our Irish Heritage!! We are having a destination wedding on Marco Island, Florida. We are only inviting around 50-60 guests to attend and plan on holding an “after celebration” gathering for all Friends and Family not coming to the actual Wedding.

I met Mr. Honey in college at a local bar where me and my friends went to every other night. He came up to talk to me, spitting some terribly cheese pick up lines. I interrupted his “Did you fall from Heaven because…” line and asked him what he was drinking. He had a pitcher of Captain Morgan and Diet Rum. Mmmm…my favorite. I grabbed the pitcher, turned around and walked away. One of my friends said Handsome Honey was just dumfounded. He was in shock, never had a girl steal his drink and walk away. I think he was intrigued, because he came over (after getting a new drink) and asked me out on a date. Sadly, I shut him down. I had just gotten out of a long term relationship and was not interested in meeting anyone. Over the next few weeks Handsome Honey just kept asking (and getting shut down). After the third time, I got tired of saying “No” and accepted. After that date, we were inseparable! I got to know him outside of the bar & Frat Boy scene and slowly but surely fell in love with him.

He is 2 years older than me, so he obviously graduated College before me. After his graduation, he moved 2 hours away to the “Big City” and for 1 year 5 months of our relationship we had a long distance situation. It was a struggle and very hard to handle. We would fight and argue with trust issues but we survived, fighting tooth and nail to make sure we would. In April 2009, I moved myself and my son to the “Big City” and Mr .Honey and Honeysuckle Bud took the plunge and moved in with each other. After living together for almost 2 years, Mr. Honey proposed, on October 5th, 2010.

I wish I could say that my engagement was “Magical” or “Beautiful”, however, I can not. It was a random Tuesday when we were both off work together. My son was at school, I was upstairs blogging or doing whatever I do while Mr. Honey was downstairs in his man cave. He was wanting to go purchase a new MacBook, but I kept giving him trouble that he couldn’t go spend that much money because he “was trying to save for something special”. That is what he told me every time I wanted to go out and eat, or go to the movies, etc. After texting back and fourth  a few times (yes…we are THAT couple that will text in the house that we are both in) I heard him coming up the stairs. I wasn’t really paying much attention when he sat down next to me. I turned to look at him and he had a red box in his hand tied with a ribbon box on top. He handed me the box and asked me to open it, so I did. Inside was this Amazingly Beautiful 1.5 Caret Princess Cut Diamond set in White Gold. It took my breath away. I looked at him and he spit out “Will you Marry Me?”. When I screamed “Yes!” (instant water works started) he gave me a hug and kiss and proceeded to tell me to get my shoes on that we were going to Apple. As un-beautiful and un-perfectly planned as it was…I wouldn’t have changed it for anything. Mr. Honey is an unusual breed and I am drawn to his uniqueness. If he would’ve done it traditionally it would not have meant as much to me because I know it would not have been natural for him.

That is our story, I apologize that it was so long!! Back to the purpose of this post – I am just thrilled to be the newest Bridal Bud and I am looking forward to reading everyone’s ideas as well as posting some of my own!

Elope.  The wonderfully simple and delightfully complex word. How I love thee.

The Cymbies are under the 75 day mark. One would think that I would be super excited. Sadly, I’m simply tired. I’m sick and tired of weddings and all things associated! Is that wrong? For this very reason is why I have been taking an extended siesta from the Garden. I’m sick of making decisions about things that never interested me and tired of writing checks and swiping my credit card.

According to my married friends, every bride to be hits this point at some time during her engagement. Mine hit and while I am still trucking along with wedding plans, I have been avoiding wedding things, such as wedding blogs, tv shows, and magazines. I simply want June 26th to get here. Yes I meant to put one day after my wedding day. I just want to be married already.

Now for the encouraging part of this message. According to my married friends, once your wedding day arrives, its all worth it. Or so I’m assured. I keep thinking that the glitter and lights of Vegas are calling my name.

Any suggestions for overcoming the wedding planning blues (besides hang in there)?

The day we got engaged the questions about wedding details started coming at us from everywhere. I’m sure any newly engaged woman has experienced this and sympathizes with the overwhelming feeling we had at the beginning of our engagement. Of course I loved, and still love, telling our proposal story and showing off my ring but I wasn’t expecting all of the wedding questions so soon after we got engaged.

Needless to say it got us thinking, so we started off 2011 in full wedding planning mode. Before we started visiting wedding venues I wanted to work out some of the details so Mr. Man and I started trying to answer some of the basic questions. We both want a small wedding so that decision was easily made. Then came the debate of getting married locally or having a destination wedding. Charleston is one of our favorite cities so I started doing some research on venues and of course I found beautiful plantations and so many wonderful unique venues. The problem came when we started to look at the travel costs for every wedding planning visit and for our guests. I just couldn’t imagine not being able to take care of something important right away in person, being that Charleston is about 5 hours from us. So Charleston was out of the question and we decided a local wedding would be the easiest for both us and our guests.

Now that we knew we would be getting married around Greensboro we needed a date. We decided that since the fall is our favorite time of year we wanted a fall wedding and October seemed like the ideal month because the leaves would be changing and we would have beautiful colors. This fall seemed like it would be too soon for us, and as you’ll find out later a lot of venues were also already booked, so we decided on fall 2012. Working out all of those details came pretty easy but that all ended when we started looking at an exact date. Below are a few questions that we worked through and that I hope will help you choose your perfect wedding date.

1. Is there a major holiday the weekend you want to get married?
2. Are there any events going on in your area that weekend? (major city events, university homecomings, industry events, sporting events, etc.)
3. How will this affect your wedding day plans and your guests?

Picking a date in October was challenging for us because of Halloween, a local university that brings in a major crowd for their homecoming and furniture market, a large industry event in our area that books up every hotel in town. Finally we decided on October 20th, 2012 in order to avoid all of those events and to hopefully get nice fall weather and beautiful leaves.

I’d love to hear from you all, what were the first decisions you made when you started planning your wedding?

When deciding whether or not to have a destination wedding, there were a few things that I was concerned I would miss out on. It is interesting, looking back, at how those thing have worked themselves out. Local flowers, planning myself (and with Fressia Mom), and our minister of choice.

I had found a local grower at a farmers’ market close to home that make beautiful wildflower bouquets. They were quite inexpensive and seemed absolutely perfect. As soon as a destination wedding became a possibility, I knew the local flowers would be out. While I give serious props to those who can find flowers local to their destination, I have not been that resourceful. However, I decided on orchids that are readily available around Florida so they won’t have to travel far…and Freesia Dude usually gets me orchids for my birthday.

The planning, as I mentioned in a previous post, I tend to obsess over and be rather unsuccessful at. So it seems to be in everyone’s best interest that we implement the assistance of a wedding coordinator. With this help, the planning process became very focused, which is very helpful, but completely out of reach for Freesia Mom. To compensate, she and I are doing our best to find other ways she can get involved with activities here. My favorite experience with her so far was the day we went dress shopping, that post soon to come! I still feel very involved in the planning of my destination wedding. I know this experience is different from planning a wedding here, but it’s all I know first-hand and it’s unique and perfect for me!

That brings us to one last main point: the officiant to marry us. Fairly early on, we spoke with the Community Pastor, one of a few pastors at our church, and he planned on marrying us in Texas. When our Texas options were not working and we began seriously considering a destination wedding, we met with our Pastor to discuss the possibility of him joining us. Since the day we first spoke with this pastor, it was very clear to me he was exactly who God wants to marry us. When we presented our thoughts and plans about the Florida Keys, he was very open and considerate. He discussed it with his wife, and they will be joining us in the Keys! It is now official and we are SO excited they will be coming to share this time and guide our vows. We feel so blessed for all the ways our “plans” are working out in spite of ourselves!

Yesterday, the Pastor sent us a wedding ceremony outline of different wording and suggestions for the ceremony. As I read through all the passages and vows, I couldn’t help but get a little teary. Reading through the vows makes this surreal event so so real and truly amazing. I’m so excited and cannot wait for the day that our pastor pronounces us “man and wife”!

Now to decide if/who will do a reading…? I don’t think the Eternity Candle will work well on the beach (with the wind), and pouring sand might have a similar problem. A simple ceremony will work great for us. Any other ceremony event ideas?

My sister got married two years, almost to the day, before Freesia Dude proposed. She and I are rather close in age and in friendship. I was her MOH and she is mine. The day she got engaged was the day that I started paying attention to all those details at weddings that one does not usually consider. From my point of view, she handled the whole process like a champ. She had every bit of it under control and turned out an amazing wedding that totally encompassed the personalities of her and her new husband. It took around a year to plan her fairly sizable wedding. During her planning, I decided that if when my day came I would do a destination wedding and if not, it would be small and simple and DEFINITELY not take longer than a few months to plan.

One of the first questions I was asked after becoming engaged was whether I would have a destination wedding. Immediately I said no, I would miss out on several things that I will only get to have one chance at. I had set in my mind that I would plan a wedding on the Texas beaches that Freesia Dude and I both grew up on.

I dreamed of a ceremony on the beach at sunset, in front of a beach house that would hold the reception. A small number, around 50 or so of our closest friends and family, would make a fabulous, yet not overwhelming, party. After all, socializing does make me tired! (My apologies, this is a small joke from my family that originated during my brother’s engagement to my now sister-in-law. After attending a couple of wedding preparation events, I returned home exhausted and explained that “socializing makes me tired”, it has stuck ever since.) So a quaint wedding on the beach had my name all over it….until I began to consider who those “50-ish guests” would be, and where there was a beach house on the Texas coast that did not have a septic system that would be massively overloaded by 50 people! (again, my apologies, this time for the unsettling example)

Freesia Dude and I began looking between Galveston and Surfside Beach. This land is not within city limits, allowing us to hold fireworks which would be nice as we were hoping to have a July 4th wedding (this will be our 5th “dating-anniversary”). Also, it is less crowded, but has fewer homes. While searching we found a couple houses that looked like they might work, so we took a Saturday drive to the beach to take a look. The first house we drove to was filled with quite a buzz and, judging by the white tulle draped on the railings, we suspected they were setting up a wedding!

We decided to walk up and ask if we might look around, trying to be as non-imposing as possible. Turned out that the people were renters (like ourselves) that were, in fact, setting up for their daughter’s wedding that evening. They welcomed us to look around and showed us all of their hard work. The house was looking amazing! I’d have hired them if I could! Freesia Dude and I both loved it and left the house to call the owner. When we got in touch, I asked if the home was available for our wedding and she said no. Apparently, too soon before the date that we wanted to schedule, another couple had booked the house for a wedding and the owner refused to book two weddings so close to be courteous to her neighbors. While a very considerate and just reason, I was miffed and heartbroken. Probably more the latter.

The owner offered the house if we could move the date back a couple of months, but we couldn’t. Freesia Dude and I picked this date out of a fairly small range of available dates, and she could not fit our window. I fought for July 4th because I love the idea of getting married 5 years to the day after we began to date. Aside from that, I think it’s a fabulous day to have an anniversary every year!

So the search continued. and continued. We made more trips to the beach, visited with a couple of other beach house owners that were happy to have us. Unfortunately, we could not find a way to hold a wedding at their homes due to small, but unavoidable, technicalities. We even checked out the Stahlman Park Reception Center. While it was very nice, it was a bit large for our small group. We called anyways only to learn that the Surfside Police take residence at this site for the July 4th weekend to keep a close patrol on the beach goers.

Galveston was next. Inside city limits, no fireworks, more crowded. We considered adjusting the date if we found the right venue. Next, we learned a lesson. After finding several very nice looking homes right on the beach that looked perfect for our wedding and reception, we learned that all of them are owned by a rental agency that essentially hung up the phone the second I mentioned the “W” word. They wanted nothing to do with weddings.

While there are many, many other options in and around the Galveston area, I had my heart set on the beach. I felt stuck in a planning rut, considering one at a time each of the things that I felt was a must, even the beach. Freesia Dude saw me and decided it was time we got out of this planning rut. Briefly, during our Texas beach planning, the thought of holding our wedding on a beach in the Caribbean flitted through our minds. We almost immediately dismissed it as we felt it was too distant. However, stuck without any ideas for a wedding location, which at this point was the pinnacle determining everything, we began to consider the Florida Keys…

The one and only thing we knew for sure going into our planning was that we wanted our wedding to be a laid back beach vacation and heck of a good time for our guests.  A time for everyone to cut loose,  relax and forget about the worries back at home.  We knew the only way to accomplish this with our family and friends was to give everyone a high stepping, fist pumping, booty shaking dance party where everyone could release some tension with not a care in the world… WOW, was that a success!

I spent countless hours listening to music, reading every wedding song list and even sent out song requests to friends.  I wanted to make sure we had a perfect mix to get everyone in a good mood.  I came up with roughly 15 songs that I thought embodied our style and passed it on to our DJ, Daniel at Event My Way, and told him to work his magic! Of course there was a separate list of songs we didn’t want played… your typical wedding party songs, but our biggest request was that there would be NO slow songs except our first dance and Daddy/Daughter dance.  Since we were doing a destination wedding, I was never able to meet Daniel in person, just have a couple of phone conversations with him.  We spoke for a total of about an hour, and I have never been so impressed with someone who can read you like a book in that short period of time.  He knew exactly what we wanted based on my short list and our phone conversations and we ended up with a killer mix of 80s, dance hits and classic rock that kept everyone on the dance floor all night long! There were even times when I disappeared to talk to someone, only to show back up on the dance floor and be shunned to the carpet because there wasn’t room on the floor! It was absolutely amazing and more than we ever hoped for! I am still getting comments to this day about how much fun people had dancing the night away!  And in case you don’t believe me regarding the fun, here are some pictures to prove it!

Dogwood Dude and friends... there was a lot of terrible singing going on!

Dancing montage

Not for the faint of heart...

Thanks to Emily Harris Photography for capturing all the craziness and a big thanks to Daniel at Event My Way for creating the craziness!

I love looking at photos of other’s weddings as I really enjoying searching for the small details, the little things that we may sometimes overlook.  As you all know, I had run the wedding gauntlet in the years leading up to my moment, and for so many of those weddings, I never paid attention to the little things; like bouquets, accessories, table numbers, guest books and even cakes and centerpieces… all the things that you can use to show your personality. Of course once I started planning my own wedding, these things became much more pronounced and I started pulling inspiration from every wedding I attended!

Here are a few shots of some of our small details, that I absolutely loved!

My bouquet... I never would have thought these things would be so heavy!

My jewelry, and yes ladies you all helped me pick out that cuff!

Can't get enough of my shoes! Photographed here with Dogwood Dude's and my rings.

The palm frond isle runner... although there was some pretty serious tripping going on.

Our engraved cake cutting utensils, a gift from my fabulous friend Lindsay.

Our guest book, a book of photos from the Florida Keys.

Wonderful photography provided by Emily Harris Photography, flowers by Blooming Design and Events.

One thing I have absolutely loved about BridalBuds is the feedback I have gotten from everyone! I had so many questions along the way, and my wedding colors were probably one of the biggest dilemmas I faced.  After much thought, I ended up going with Coral and Turquoise/Tiffany Blue.  I was pretty excited about our colors given the room we were working with, and the amazing natural light that filled the room especially during the sunset. Of course with all the candles we had, it was just as beautiful at night.

Here are a few pics of our decor, with a special thanks to Charlene Lopez at the Key Largo Hilton, Blooming Design and Events and Edda’s Cake Designs for making our wedding an absolute dream.  The creativity that went into designing this amazing scene was well beyond our wildest dreams.

Our wedding cake… I couldn’t stop starring at it, I was just so obsessed with it!

I loved this centerpiece design because I felt like it was bright, colorful and refreshing.  We had floating votive candles in blue water, a few smaller floral centerpieces and a larger center floral design with a round style vase floating in a square vase.

A view of the amazing natural light.  I had originally wanted white chivari chairs, but due to budget constraints went with the white wood folding chairs… personally I thought they still looked great!

Close up of the incredible centerpiece!

A bar shot

And just because I love it, one more close up of the cake!

Thanks to Emily Harris Photography for capturing every single detail so I can relive it every day!

Thanks to the Key Largo Grande for providing a vision and such an amazing backdrop for Blooming Designs and Events to work with! And last but definitely not least, thanks to Edda’s for a beautiful… and tasty cake!

Pretty much as soon as Hydrangea dude and I got engaged, the first order of business in regards to wedding planning was…choosing the venue.  As I am sure most brides-to-be can agree, choosing the venue is one of the first (and most likely) the hardest decision to make.  With wedding venues booking up more than a year in advance, I knew my fiancé and I had to get on the bandwagon and fast and choose where we wanted to hold our dream wedding.

The first step was choosing the actual city we wanted to get married in.  Since most of my extended family is in Illinois, I grew up in North Carolina, my parents live in Orlando and I currently live in Atlanta, it was no easy task choosing a location that was convenient for everyone.  We ended up deciding on a semi-destination wedding in Fort Lauderdale, FL, where Hydrangea dude is from.  Since most of my family and friends would be traveling in for the wedding, not matter what, we decided on Ft. Lauderdale, since it was one of our favorite places to go.  Not only is Fort Lauderdale beautiful in April (when we are getting hitched), but it also is close to beaches, the airport and a location that most of our guests would likely want to visit.

After choosing the city, next was the venue.  After what seemed like hours and hours of research and thousands of Google searches, I created an excel spreadsheet that compared all of my favorite locations in Fort Lauderdale.  Creating the document was very helpful because it helped choose what was very important to us by comparing prices, amenities and the overall feel and look.  We looked at every possible venue, from hotels to historical homes, from the beaches to the marina and even downtown.

After several long days looking at venues, Hydrangea dude and I decided on the Hilton Marina – Fort Lauderdale.  It was perfect for us because of its wonderful waterfront views, convience to restaurants and the airport, and its willingness to work with our budget.

If you are debating between choosing a hotel for your wedding, here are some great things we have found by choosing one for ours:

1. Choosing a hotel for your wedding location is great for those who have a lot of guests traveling from out of town.  Not only do they give you great discounted room rates for all of your guests, but it is very convenient and allows your guests to save money by not having to purchase a rental car.

2. Most hotels offer wonderful wedding packages that include pretty much everything you need for your wedding, from the ceremony to the reception to the catering.  We found that most hotels are also very negotiable, especially when you have guests staying at the hotel, and they have wonderful menu options and prices comparable to that of an outside vendor.

3. Most hotels include a wedding coordinator as a part of the package and if they are anything like mine, they are beyond what is expected.  The wedding coordinator (Gaylene) at our hotel is wonderful.  She is there every step of the way providing insight to vendors, helping to schedule the ultimate wedding itinerary and will be there for me during the rehearsal and day of the wedding.  This was perfect for me because now I don’t have to add the expense of hiring an outside wedding planner.

Have any of you had good experiences with a hotel as a wedding venue?

Hi Everyone! I’m back! We had such an amazing time that words can not even begin to describe our experience at the wedding and on the honeymoon.  Our wedding was everything we could have ever imagined and much, much more! From the beach to the flowers to the massive party that ensued, we will always remember that day as the best day of our lives!

I wanted to kick off my wedding posts by sharing with you the best decision we made during the entire process of planning our wedding… the decision to see each other before the wedding.  Thanks to our amazing photographer, Emily Harris, for even suggesting it! I know that many choose to go the traditional route, and I thought we would too, but if you are comfortable to forgo that tradition, we highly suggest having that special moment before the wedding!

Moments after first seeing each other!

I spent about 2 hours having my hair and makeup done and immediately got dressed to go see Dogwood Dude.  We were able to spend over an hour taking photos of just us, much longer than we would have if we would have waited till after the ceremony.  We also knocked out the family and attendant photos before the ceremony so our family members and attendants could head off to the party immediately after the ceremony.  After all the photos were done, Dogwood Dude and I split up and went to separate rooms to enjoy about an hour of time hanging out and relaxing with our friends.  It really was amazing to have the photos done and have an hour to hang out with my girls and just enjoy my time with them.

I remember my biggest concern was that seeing each other before the ceremony would take away from that amazing moment when you get to the aisle and see your groom standing at the end and the excitement that occurs.  I will say that although I was able to stay a lot more calm and not as nervous in the minutes leading up to the processional, when I saw Dogwood Dude standing at the end of the isle, near the water, my stomach still lit up with butterflies and it was a completely different feeling of excitement then when we first saw each other earlier in the day.  Seeing each other before or not, there will never be another feeling like that first site at the altar and knowing that you are about to marry the man of your dreams!

Without further ado, here is the sequence of our first sight! As you can see I was REALLY excited!

Walking up! I loved how I could see him before he could see me!

Dogwood Dude getting anxious to turn around!

I was so excited when he finally got to turn around!

It was such a beautiful moment!

Many, many thanks to our AMAZING photographer, Emily Harris Photography!

Location: Nature trail along the beach at the Key Largo Grande Resort and Beach Club

Boutonniere and Bouquet: Blooming Designs & Events

I can vividly remember when we first told Dahlia Dude’s parents that we wanted to have a destination wedding in South Africa. Dahlia Dude’s Mom blankly stared at us for almost a whole minute, and Dahlia Dude’s Dad scoffed and rolled his eyes. Encouraging, right?

First of all, who wouldn’t want to get married here?

Cape Town Beach

And who doesn’t want pictures like this?!

The Happy Couple

I mean, come on! Secondly, The exchange rate from the States to South Africa will make our dream wedding WAY more affordable. I mean WAAAAY. It takes ten South African Rand to equal one U.S. Dollar. Ten. So that means that some of the coordinators we’re looking at budgeted our entire wedding out at under $7k. Hello?! How awesome is that!!

But, on top of all this, Dahlia Dude’s parents know that I’m a South African. That’s right, I’m a Saffa. And I love Cape Town. In fact, basically my whole family still lives there! And when I took Dahlia Dude with me to a family reunion, he loved it, too. In fact, he now wants to move there! But none of this really seems to be clicking with Dahlia Dude’s parents. In fact, just the other day Dahlia Dude’s Mom and I were talking about a wedding that the four of us have been invited to. A local wedding. And here’s how the conversation went:

Dahlia Bud: I’m so excited for Bride’s wedding!! It should be beautiful.

Dahlia Dude’s Mom: Yes, and I can’t wait for you to see the venue!! You’ll get sooo many ideas for your Big Day!!

Dahlia Bud: I’m sure I’ll like what I see, but I don’t know how much I can translate it into our wedding. I mean, we can’t really take anything with us, and the venues will be totally different.

Dahlia Dude’s Mom: Well, I thought it was so cool that you and Bride will have the same venue!! I always wanted to get married there, but it was just too expensive.

Dahlia Bud: *pause* Yeah… *walks away*

I’m sure I could have handled that much better, but I didn’t really know what to say! And don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore Dahlia Dude’s Mom. She’s great, and whenever she sees anything even remotely wedding related, she prints/cuts it out and saves it for me. So sweet. And, you know, I understand that Dahlia Dude and I are breaking his family’s traditions, but we’re both really excited about the wedding that we’ve chosen!! I’m hoping they come around, because I’d love for her to be a part of all this.

Did you break any family traditions while planning? Either yours or your fiance’s? Did you get any flak for it?

When we were thinking about our exit, the only thing I really wanted was sparklers. I knew it would be dark out and that it would just look really cool. We are all looking a little damp because it poured a few minutes before!

I loved seeing everyone’s smiling faces and hearing all of the good cheer. It was a spectacular way to cap off one of the best days ever!

We loved our cake so much. Our vendor — Bob’s Bunz — was awesome. It tasted great, looked beautiful, and arrived in plenty of time. Each slice had one layer of key lime cake, one layer of chocolate cake, raspberry filling and key lime buttercream icing.

Here we are cutting the cake. I’m probably giving Plumeria Dude a last-minute reminder not to shove cake in my face. What you don’t see is that I got so excited about the cake, I took a bite before Plumeria Dude had a chance to give me any! Bad form, Buds!

I am still excited about the cake.

Now it’s my turn.

I wish we could do this every day.

During wedding planning, Plumeria Dude and I had a running joke about our “one thing.” You know, the one wedding thing you absolutely can’t live without. For Plumeria Dude, that one thing was either a dinosaur groom’s cake (so he could shove the dinosaur butt in my face) or maybe to have obnoxious facial hair or to wear a tuxedo t-shirt instead of a suit. It’s all a blur to me now.

My one thing? Was for the reception to be an awesome dance party. And I think we did pretty well on that front.

We take our dancing very seriously at Casa Plumeria.

Our moms bust a move.

My aunt, mom and I belt one out– probably to “Mustang Sally.”

And we don’t stop!

Even the babies are getting in on the action.

For some reason, there was a lot of pointing.

See what I mean?

Aww yeah.

Do I smell a dance-off in the works?

By this time, my hairdo had taken on a new dimension.

Here’s a full-length shot of my reception dress, which I accessorized with a hot pink silk sash and gold heels.

Deadly serious.

It was all over but the shoutin’.

Now on to the fun part– eating and dancing! I’ll spare everyone all of the photos of our friends and family around each table.

The food was so yummy! We had cooked-to-order seafood pasta pasta stations as well as prime rib carving stations. The Caesar salad was plated.

I’ll take one of everything!

Here we’re singing “Happy Birthday” to our friend Kat!

Friends and family start making some noise…

So we oblige them with a kiss! (Eek, it was warm and I look sweaty!)

Before we could dance, we had to wait for a certain someone to yield the dance floor.

Plumeria Dude and I managed not to trip, even though my dress was long and the dance floor uneven. Our song was “Book of Love” by Magnetic Fields.

I am really glad we took dance lessons– it made us look like we knew what we were doing!

My dad and I danced to “Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)” by Billy Joel.

Plumeria Dude and his mom danced to Rascal Flatts’ “My Wish.”

And now everyone joins in!

Mmm, Kir Imperials!

Plumeria Dude and I were really excited about being able to spend time with our guests at the cocktail hour. We had passed hors d’oeuvres and Kir Imperials– so yummy! We did take some formal photos but deliberately limited these. I’m not a big fan of the stiff, posed shots. The light was beautiful though, and we took advantage of it.

We’ve got our hands full!

Plumeria Dad gives a short but sweet toast.

Clinking glasses with Plumeria Sister-in-law

Plumeria Dude’s family

A kiss for my flower girl

And a fist bump!

A woo hoo moment for the Plumeria family

Plumeria Dude with one of his favorite wedding gifts

After some nerve-wracking waiting around (our string quartet had not shown up, so our awesome DJ had to improvise ceremony music for us!) it was finally time to start our wedding ceremony.

Plumeria Dude walks down the aisle with his folks

Our flower girl ditches the pomander (that’s my sister-in-law behind her holding it) and sprints down the aisle!

It may look like I’m trying to be demure, but really, I’m trying not to fall in the pool

Trying to avoid the dreaded Ugly Cry

Dude, we’re getting married!

Plumeria Brother-in-law reads Ogden Nash

Plumeria Brother gives us a blessing

Sealing the deal

Boosh! It’s party time!

All photos courtesy f22studio.com

As it implies, the rehearsal dinner is the meal that takes place after the rehearsal, typically the night before your wedding… I know you are probably thinking, DUH! Hosting of the rehearsal dinner is often done by the Groom’s parents and includes the wedding party, family and other close friends.  But of course, since it is me…. we have decided to do it a little differently.  Since our wedding takes place on a Friday night, we had originally thought that the majority of our guests would arrive at the Key Largo Hilton that morning… well, you can never make assumptions when it comes to wedding guests.  We now realize that the majority are coming down Thursday morning (with some coming as early as Monday…Dogwood Dude and I won’t even be there till Wednesday morning!).  This of course has altered our plans for an intimate rehearsal dinner with just our parents, brothers (one is Andy’s Best Man), sister and my lone bridesmaid, my Maid of Honor. Looks like we are now throwing a fabulous beach bbq! Thanks to Dogwood Dude’s parents, and his mother the eternal party planner, its going to be a feast for EVERYONE!

Don't get too excited....its not going to be as grand as this lovely image from Paradise-Island.org

So we are going to keep it pretty simple, and utilize the beach we already have reserved for the ceremony (they close it down 24 hours in advance so there is no added cost).  Add in some chairs, tables, an i-Pod docking station, food, beer and wine and we are going to have ourselves a great little 2 hour “Welcome Dinner” to welcome everyone to the hotel.  Added bonus, we’ll be on the beach at sunset!

Images clockwise from top left: TwoSkinnyJenkins, StylishEventsBlog, KeysCarribean.com, Elf-n-magic, Hilton, CheapoAir, Leader-Insight, Classy-Wedding-Ideas, Epicurious and Amanteibiza

So what is everyone else doing? Are you keeping it small or inviting everyone?

Before the ceremony started, I headed back to the house with my brother to keep away from the soon-to-arrive guests. It was the calm before the storm.

I put my bouquet in a vase so it’d be fresh for the ceremony.

My precious niece Eloise, who served as my flower girl.

My mother sees me for the first time.

In the meantime, guests started to filter in.

Plumeria Dad has a pensive moment.

Plumeria Dude and his folks– so coordinated!

Our moms

It’s showtime!

All photos courtesy f22studio.com

I know it has been far, far too long since I updated my recap! Mea culpa– I’ve been a very bad Blossom. I could tell you all about how I have this awesome new job with lots of travel & that Plumeria Dude and I are pretty wrapped up in house-hunting. But let’s get to the good stuff instead!

Plumeria Dude and I decided we wanted to do all of our photos before the ceremony. We’re not superstitious, and we also wanted to maximize our time with our guests. Plus we really wanted to dig on that yummy cocktail hour food! With that in mind, we staged a “first meeting” before we did our couple photos. Here’s how it went:

I was attempting to be a placid bride, but I was really nervous! You can see our reception tent in the background.

Plumeria Dude is a happy camper!

Doofy look on my face– are you surprised?

A kiss that won’t mess up the lipstick– so important, ladies!

We then took a series of portraits in the backyard of the estate. I have to say, there’s no better backdrop than the Atlantic Ocean!

I love the way my skirt flutters in this one.

All photos courtesy f22studio.com

Well….it’s official, forecasters have predicted an active hurricane season with above-normal threats on the U.S. coastline.  Great, just what I wanted to hear.   They are suggesting 16 to 18 tropical storms in total, 15 of which will likely be in the western Atlantic or Gulf of Mexico.  (In a typical season, there are about 11 named storms, with only two or three impacting the coast of the US)  Well, lucky for us, we have a back up plan, or “Force Majeure” for those who speak lawyer.  This allows us to postpone the wedding for another weekend, or receive a full refund.  All though rescheduling the wedding is not ideal considering everyone would have made their travel arrangements, it’s still something.

From CrawDaddyCove.com

Of course we knew going into it that we had planned our wedding during hurricane season, but the discounts were a little blinding.  We purposefully chose our weekend, the first weekend of hurricane season, hoping that given the history of the Keys, we would be fine.  We also chose a location, the Key Largo Hilton, that had amazing indoor spaces in case of rain and storms that can typically pop up in the afternoon hours at the beach.  With that being said, I do think it is a great idea for brides to look into wedding insurance.

Think of all the planning, all the details, every little thing that goes into your wedding… Did you know that wedding insurance can cover:

No Dress

Lost Deposits

Lost Rings

Severe Weather

Transportation Shutdown

Ruined Photos

Call to Duty

Damaged Gifts

Sudden Illness

and so much more!

I have done some research, and thought I would provide you with some options.

Travelers Insurance has a wedding protector plan

WedSafe by AON

Fireman’s Fund has Weddingsurance

So, who’s got wedding insurance? Do you think it is needed?

We are having a VERY CASUAL beach wedding.  I know he is definitely going to wear flip flops. I am now trying to figure out what my groom should wear…what do you think?

Choice 1- White short sleeved button downs with khakis

Choice 2- White long sleeved button down with khakis

Choice 3- Or this…what the groomsmen are wearing – khaki shorts with a colored top, maybe one of our wedding colors.

Then once we pick one…what will his best man wear? What about our 3 1/2 year old ring bearer?

I just got back to NYC from a weekend of wedding planning in Delray Beach, FL with my mom. It was…. stressful…and COLD. I had been looking for a short break from the winter chill, but got 35 degree temps down south. Thankfully, the afternoon of my arrival was beautiful and I got to visit again with the 2 giant palm tress under which we will say our vows (still left to be written).

My mission down in Delray was to find a rehearsal dinner location, and to meet with all the vendors I have selected from afar. Mostly, I am happy to report, I feel like I got a lot done on my 3-day trip. But there are still lingering questions that are obstacles in our planning (such as still no clarity about the rehearsal).

This was the first time since I got engaged in July 2008 that my mom has been involved with the planning process.  Still reeling from her second divorce in 2007, she isn’t the biggest cheerleader on all things marriage. I got the distinct impression, though she would never come out and say it plainly,  that she’s not really happy about this wedding or my choice in future husbands. That’s hard to swallow, for sure. But, somehow, I have to find a way to just let it go. Any other brides dealing with a difficult parent?

Worrying about what others will think, and being concerned about my guests’ enjoyment of my wedding, has been a constant challenge in this process. Instead of looking at decisions and asking the question, “What will resonate best with who I am and who my partner is?”, I am considering first, “Will his father approve of this?”, “Will my Aunt go for that?” Surely, this is not the way to plan a wedding; so if you’re doing that too, band with me and make a late new year’s resolution to change perspective.

I feel like I got engaged and suddenly woke up 3 months before the big day. Out of nowhere, deadlines are looming and I am behind schedule. How did that happen? I was so organized and on top of things! I was doing so well… and now….I don’t know. Feels overwhelming. More to come about flowers, invitations and music!

Ok….so after hours of deliberation (I mean seriously, it shouldn’t be that hard) I have chosen our colors! I took into account all the great advice I got from all of you.  Unfortunately, Dogwood Dude’s only advice was “Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy”… I resisted the urge to tell him that he wasn’t making me happy at that moment!  I decided to do some research into local flowers to see what we could get for a good price and what colors I had to choose from for those flowers.

So, here were the three choices I was looking at….and click through to see what we picked!

Instead of sticking with one entity I decided to combine elements of each! We have chosen to go with Coral, Turquoise/Tiffany Blue and White for our wedding.  It took a little while for me to really be able to visualize the decor, but here is a bit of my inspiration.

Clockwise from top left: Invitation by Buddy + Bean, bangles by Aurora Bijoux, necklace by Polished Two , bouquet by Bloom Flowers, cake by Cheryl Kleinman Cakes, bouquet found at The Knot, menu card from The Knot, cake image from Sarah McGee, centerpiece by Merriment Design and dress from JCrew. Center: table decor from Brides.com