Elefantes en México

Hola Hive!!  Mr. E and I just got back from our honeymoon in Mexico and it was AMAZING!!

With all of the anticipation leading up to the honeymoon it was safe to say that I was packed days before we left last Saturday.  Mama E & Daddy E dropped us off bright and early at the airport (and watched little Gypsy for the week, thanks guys!) and after what seemed like forever in the American airlines line (because I needed to change my passport number in their system) we were off!

We arrived at the resort, Excellence Playa Mujeres, before the 3 pm check in time but were happy to kill time  with martinis and lunch above the pool with a view of the ocean.

Mr. E may have had a little bit of jet lag while waiting for our room buzzer to go off, but the room did not disappoint! 

Love that he still has a drink in his hand

We opted for a 2 story room with a roof top terrace, and loved the views from both balconies! 

Second story with private pool

View of spa from the bottom deck

View of the ocean from the back of our second balcony

Our week consisted of a lot of pool time

As well as some time at the beach.

This was our first time at an all inclusive hotel and it was so nice to be able to drink and eat whenever and whatever we liked (of course now that we're back it's time to get back to the gym).

Breakfast on our balcony

Dinner at the Indian restaurant 

Dessert at the Italian restaurant

Dinner at the French restaurant

Hibachi at Spice

We also enjoyed dinner on the beach one night.  It was a little dark by the time the 3rd and 4th courses came out but it was still fun times.

Knowing Mr. E, I knew that he would get just a little bored with a whole week of relaxation so we did do a couple of fun activities, which I'll share with you in the second half of our honeymoon recap!

Are you looking forward to trying new foods on your honeymoon?

Showcasing Our DIY Efforts

With all of the work put into our DIY projects, I knew I wanted a way to remember them after the wedding.  After reading Mrs. Seashell's post on framing her invite, it spawned the perfect idea!

I found a shadow box at Michael's and put in some of our favorite DIY projects including our save the dates, our invite, our passport program and our boarding pass escort card.  I love being able to see the collection of projects all in one spot, and thinking back on the team work it took to create them all for our wedding.  

Since Mama E has been saving all of the DIY projects as well, I thought it would be sweet to make a version for her and Daddy E as well which I gave to them at our rehearsal dinner.

Will you showcase any of your paper projects after the wedding?

A Personal Thank You

We were very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family come from all over the country (as well as outside of the country) to Dallas to celebrate with us during our wedding weekend.  Our wedding would not have been the same without the love and support of our guests, and their generosity in the gift giving area simply blew our minds.

Similar to the thank you cards that we made from our engagement pictures and used for shower gifts, I wanted to make photo thank you cards for the wedding.  We almost forgot to have a picture taken on the wedding day with my awesome DIY sign, but thankfully right after the send off Mr. E reminded me and the photographers.  We were able to get in some last minute shots before going back up to the bridal suite for champagne and cake.

I couldn't decide on one picture (I have a feeling I am going to have a very hard time narrowing down pictures when it comes time to make our album), so guests either received this card.

Or this card

I'm so impressed that Lynn was able to get a good shot with the banner flapping all over the place due to the wind.

I love that Vistaprint now allows you to add a picture and message on the back of the card too!

It was a personal goal of mine to have all of the cards written and in the mail before we deposited any checks, so we were hard at work as soon as the cards arrived in the mail.  Hand cramps aside, I can't thank our guests enough but I hope these words will give them an idea of how much it meant to us to celebrate with them.

Will you be ordering thank you cards from a wedding picture (or two)?

*Wedding photos from Lynn Michelle, pictures of cards from me

Minimoonin' in San Antonio

I mentioned before that due to Mr. E's finals we would be taking our honeymoon a month after our wedding.  We both needed some time off before going back to work so we headed back to San Antonio (the destination of our first road trip together) for a little minimoon relaxation.

When I say relaxation, I do mean relaxation.  It was so nice to have the time away and have nothing planned. Right before the wedding (thanks to several suggestions from other bees) Mr. E and I decided to finally make the semi big purchase of a new Cannon Rebel T2i, so I enjoyed playing around with it on our trip.

We headed by the Alamo (celebrating 175 years) and strolled the Riverwalk.

We took the newlywed ring pictures.

And we ate...

...and ate...

..and ate some more.

Our one to-do item on the trip was to find some tiles at the Market Square for our last name.  I thought I remembered seeing letters the last time we were there, but sadly all we could find were numbers.  Since we will be starting the house hunting process soon (yay for more space and a back yard for Gypsy!), we decided to get tiles to commemorate our wedding date.

Even if you can't get away for a long time, I highly suggest getting away for a couple of nights after the wedding.  It's so amazing to just bask in the glow of your recent wedding!

Will you be taking some time off after the wedding?  Minimoon or honeymoon?

Gifting My Favorite Ladies

I didn't want to post this prior to the wedding because I know that my girls follow me on the Bee and I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

Shortly after I asked them to be a part of our wedding, I already had an idea of what I wanted to gift them for standing by my side.  I love Coach!  This is evident by my collection of bags that takes over a whole shelf in our guest room closet.  I wanted to share my love with my friends, who all love a good purse!  I had a budget in mind for what I wanted to spend total, and by going to the outlet in Allen and using an additional 30% off coupon I was able to get their gifts and only go over budget by $32 (we'll just chalk that up to tax).

I picked up similar bags for BM Philly, BM Cali and BM Aggie, but selected colors that I know they really like. Here's Mama E holding them up while we stand in line at the outlet.  Black for BM Cali, Grey for BM Philly and Gold for BM Aggie.

Another shot of the bags on the shelf

For MOH Navy, I ended up selecting a purse very similar to one I own (that she saw and loved during my shower/bachelorette weekend), just in a darker shade of blue.

Another short on the shelf while standing in line

For my cousin's wife who helped to keep those ushers in line and oversaw the programs & guestbook, I selected a passport cover.  She loves to travel and this goes perfectly with the overnight bag (or airplane carry on bag) that her husband gave her for her birthday.

I also picked up a couple wristlets for our readers.  I got a steal on these, because the sign was 50% (with an additional 20% for the holiday weekend) when it should have said 30%.  The manager was sweet enough to let us have it for the deeper discount before changing the sign for anyone after us.

Did you have fun picking out gifts for your friends that will stand by you on the big day?