So, in Part 1 of our Big Five, I covered our wedding attire and our venue. No, I’ll be moving on to the other important parts of our ceremony/reception. So, without further ado, next on our list is…
Photography
I have a confession to make: Dahlia Dude and I are photography snobs., maybe that’s the wrong way to put it, but we both have a great love for amazing photographs. And we both knew going into this that photography was something we were definitely not going to compromise on. We wanted to best that we could get, and that was that.
Another thing that we knew almost immediately was that we didn’t want the walls of our new home covered with the cookie-cutter posed photos. No offense whatsoever to those who love them, and I definitely believe that poses have their place in our wedding album, but Dahlia Dude and I both look our best in candid shots. So we knew that it was going to be a photo-journalistic photographer for us. I believe that, after reworking our budget, we’ll be able to get everything we want for our money, and I’m really excited to see the results!!
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Sorry, ladies, I couldn’t help myself. The Big Five featured in the photo above are the buffalo, elephant, rhino, leopard, and lion. The phrase ‘The Big Five’ was coined by hunters years ago, and were given the name not because of their size, but because they were the five animals that were a) the most dangerous to hunt on foot and b) they were the most popular animals to hunt as trophies. But, alas, my post has nothing to do with these five magnificent animals. I just thought it would be a fun fact. Well, that, and my wedding is in Africa. How can I resist that connection?
Anyway, the Big Five that this post has to do with happens to be the five most important things at our wedding. Cotton Bud’s post ‘The Big 5 – Part 1“ inspired me, so both Dahlia Dude and I made our list of what’s most important to us, and decided to see how well they matched up. Amazingly, every single one matched. So, I thought I’d take a page out of Cotton Bud’s book and introduce/explain our Big Five. These are in no particular order, just the order that they popped into my head as I write.
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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?
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In about a week I am heading down with my Mom to Florida, where we are having our May destination wedding. This may be my last shot at on-site planning before heading down the week prior to the wedding in 5 months, so I am anxious to make the most of my trip down south. This is my Mom’s first visit to our wedding location, so I am eager to show her around as well. Delray Beach is such a lovely little town, I am really excited to check it out again!
Side Note: Do you ever stop to think about how you would plan a wedding without the internet? AMAZING how much we’ve come to depend on this resource.
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I am happy to report that Dogwood Dude and I found every single one of our parameters when searching for our destination wedding! The Key Largo Grande Resort & Beach Club is an hour from Miami Airport, budget friendly for us and our guests (especially for those Hilton Rewards Members), has two amazing 3rd floor rooms overlooking the ocean in case of rain, has a beach covered in arching hammock trees….and PLENTY to do! The funny thing is that so many people ask me how we chose Key Largo, which seems so remote to most, and I always tell them…we just had five parameters!
Here are some pics!
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I am going to be honest with you from the beginning… we spent A LOT of time figuring out where we wanted to get married! The good news, Dogwood Dude and I did it all from the comfort of our own couch! All we needed was Google Maps and a bunch of browser windows. We started in North Carolina and went all the way down the east coast of Florida and back up to the panhandle to find the perfect location. I know that seems a little daunting, but you just have to set parameters and I suggest tackling one city a night.
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 Taken by F22studio After we picked up my wedding dress from being steamed, it was time to get ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I slipped into my BCBG number (great find at T.J. Maxx!) and then headed outside to meet up with the wedding party. Of course there was some wrangling required, even though we didn’t have bridesmaids and groomsmen. With the help of our lovely officiant, Michelle De La Torre, soon we were all marching to the beat of the same drummer.
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 From http://www.flickr.com/photos/sammiedanger/2401084667/ One of the last-minute projects I recently tackled was putting together welcome letters for our guests. I have seen some fantastic examples of full-color wedding brochures that could pass for professional work, and some that are full of cute wedding clipart. But, true to Plumeria form, I didn’t have enough time or energy to truly do justice to a full-on brochure, especially given my paltry design skills. We are picking up brochures from the local chamber of commerce, so our guests will have Islamorada info at hand.
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Since our reception will be outdoors in the Florida heat, I started thinking early on about a second dress to change into for dancing. I had my eye on a cream-colored Betsey Johnson frock similar to this one, but the color wasn’t quite right and the fit was totally off. I also bought a dress from Dillard’s but changed my mind and returned it. (So glad I could do that without penalty– and Plumeria Dude was relieved I didn’t have the same attitude about wedding dresses.)
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 Taken by me! As I’ve mentioned before, I am a bit of a DIY newbie. I did seriously consider DIYing our wedding invitations but in the end, decided that it would be too complicated/stressful. But making my own thank you cards is much simpler and in the end, allows me to put my stamp (har-har!) on some of our wedding correspondence.
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