Passport To Love: Bridal Breakfast

I was up bright and early on Friday morning having an oh so fun conversation with the hotel.  We had learned Thursday night that our guests who had checked in were not given the OOT boxes that we had dropped off earlier in the week.  Really?  Not something I wanted to deal with, but I wanted to make sure this was taken care of before the rest of our guests started arriving. I was told that the boxes had been locked up due to an inspection and the night manager was not given the key to that room.  They assured me that they would personally deliver the boxes to those guests that had already checked in, and the rest of the boxes were moved to the front desk for those checking in that day.

With that taken care of  (and since everyone else was still sleeping in our apartment) I took the time to write my sign off post and reflect on the 755 day journey that brought us to where we were.  Thinking about where we started and how far we had come really made me emotional.

No more time for tears, Mama E was hosting a bridal breakfast and we needed to get on the road!  BM Philly and I got dressed, said so long to the guys (don't worry Daddy E was treating all of the guys to breakfast at the Mimi's near our apartment) and headed up to Allen to meet up with the rest of the ladies.

The whole group

MOH Navy, me, BM Philly and BM Aggie

Breakfast was another small group setting that I really enjoyed.  All of these wonderful women were in town to celebrate our wedding and this was another chance for me to be able to talk with them and feed off of their excitement for our up coming wedding.

BM Philly and her mom

We ate and drank, but I guess we didn't party it up as much as the guys who I heard had more than one round of mimosas with their breakfast.

After a tasty breakfast, MOH Navy, BM Philly and I headed back to the apartment so I could finish packing for the weekend.  We got to talking and before I knew it, it was time to pack up the cars and head for the hotel.  Thankfully BM Philly had rented a car because there was no way we could fit all of the bridal party gifts, our suitcases and 5 people in one car.

Several bags of gifts

Our hotel situation worked out so well.  We set up a hotel block at the Fairfield where all of our guests were staying, and right next door (as in they share the same parking lot) was the Residence Inn which is where I booked a 2 bedroom suite for the girls and me to stay the night before the wedding.  We dropped off Mr. E and then headed over to our hotel to unload our bags. I'm glad that the Fairfield put the majority of our guests on the same floor.  This made it so easy for everyone to meet up with a couple of cocktails in between the events of the weekend.

Mama E let me know that she was on her way from the other hotel to bring my dress.  I had to quickly call Mr. E, who was heading for the lobby, and tell him to stay put until further notice.  

With the element of surprise still in tact, we hung up the dress and got ready to rehearse!

Did your FI have any potential run ins with your dress before the big day?

Wedding Week

- Livin' It Up In The Big Easy

- Errands and Pampering

- Welcome Cocktail Party

Passport To Love: Welcome Cocktail Party

Thursday was the real kick off of our wedding weekend!  Mr. E and I started the day off with some relaxing massages (which were a little stressful to book.  Spas - don't do a groupon if you're not ready to handle the response). After our massages, we enjoyed a late lunch with BM Philly and her fiancée who had just flown in from Connecticut and then we were on our way to my parents house.  Mama E and Daddy E hosted a welcome cocktail party for any friends or family members that had arrived in town early.  Nothing better at a cocktail party than a signature drink made with our wedding colors in mind!

Those blue martinis were a major hit with our guests as were all of the apps that Aunt Bunny prepared.

I got to see Daddy E for the first time that week.

We mixed and mingled, ate and drank while I played around with our new camera.

BM Philly, MOH Navy and Me

Brother E enjoying the signature drink

Mama E and me

Cheers Jas (my cousin and one of our ushers)

Mom, Dad & Ms. M (BM Philly's mom and one of our readers)

We ended the night with one of our family traditions which is to celebrate with shots (just like we did after bridesmaid dress shopping).  I was driving so my shot was of sprite, do you think anyone noticed? ;)

 Aunt Bunny did the honors of toasting the bride and groom.

It was such a fun, laid back atmosphere to hang out with our guests and really get to talk with them. As many of you know (or will know when your wedding arrives), it's very hard to be able to have long conversations with your guests.  You feel like you need to talk to everyone and there really isn't enough time to do so.  This welcome party allowed us to talk with our guests in a way that we would not be able to at the reception.

Will you have a chance to hang out with your guests before your wedding day?

Wedding Week

- Livin' It Up In The Big Easy

- Errands and Pampering

Passport To Love: Errands and Pampering

After my weekend get away to NOLA, I had the full week prior to our wedding free to do anything I wanted/needed to do.  Without any DIY projects to work on, the week was spent running errands and "cleaning" the apartment.  When I say clean, I mean as clean as you can get with DIY projects, gifts and other wedding stuff all over a 2 bedroom apartment.

Monday - I went for my last dress fitting with Becky, who is just the sweetest person ever!  (If you're in the Dallas area and need a tailor PM me and I'll send her info).

Everything fit great and we discussed using "top stick" to keep the top of the dress from moving around.  After much thought...well, really not that much thought, I think in the back of my mind I always knew what shoes I wanted to change into for our reception.

Yep my custom chucks!

I loved the fact that Mr. E would be wearing his and I thought it would only be right to wear mine, plus they are super comfy!  Since there was a huge height difference between my heels (and what my dress was hemmed to) and my chucks, Becky taught mom how to pin up the bottom of my dress for the reception.

Tuesday - We packed up all of the DIY projects.

Half of our stuff

I think one of the best moves was to print out a "box contents" page for each box.  Since I had pictures of all of the projects (documented for blog posts), I made a quick word doc that illustrated everything in each box and taped it to the top of the box.  I also printed all of the box contents pages and gave a set to our planner and the venue coordinator. I think this info made their jobs much easier while setting up on Saturday.

We loaded up the Escape (don't underestimate the size of a small SUV) and dropped it all off at the venue.

From there we swung by and picked up Mr. E's tux from Men's Warehouse.

Lookin' good!

Wednesday - Yay for a mom and me pamper day!!  Mama E treated me to a relaxer and a mani/pedi on Wednesday.  It was really nice to just relax with my mom and really get excited about all of the guests that would be arriving the next day.

Are you planning any activities to help you relax the week before your wedding?

Days before the big day

Livin' It Up In The Big Easy

Passport To Love: Livin' It Up In The Big Easy

There's nothing like finally shutting down the work laptop for the last time before the wedding.  My out of office actually began 9 days before our wedding day, and I don't think there's a better way to celebrate then with a couple of familiar faces in the Big Easy!

Too busy having a fun time that I didn't take many pictures.  Here's one from a trip Mr. E & I took in 2008

While some may have thought I was a little crazy to go out of town the weekend before our big day, for me it was the best idea ever!  I was starting to stress the weather forecast which I began looking at 15 days out.  Not a smart idea! Especially with how frequently Texas weather changes.  When I talked to Mama E about the 60% chance of storms on April 23, I was normally met with "but you know what they say... rain is good luck on your wedding day".  Not gonna lie, I really didn't want to hear that.  Yes, there was nothing I could do about it, but I needed to get the upset feelings out of my system.

Being able to talk to some real brides that were faced with not so awesome weather on their wedding days (Thank you so much Mrs. Mouse, Mrs. Fro Yo and Mrs. Guinea Pig) helped to get it out of my system.  Sure it would suck to not have the outdoor wedding that we had envisioned for the past 2 years, but in the end it wouldn't matter.  As long as I got to marry Mr. E, I knew the day would be amazing!  This get away was just what I needed to enjoy myself and really get into excited mode.

Anyone else crazy enough to take a trip the weekend before your wedding?

Passport To Love: Let the Elephant Recaps Begin!

Guess who's ready for recap action?

Yep, our awesome photographer Lynn Michelle had our photos uploaded by the time we got back from Meixco and I can't wait to share them with you all!

When thinking about our recap title, those passport programs kept popping into my head.

These were by far my favorite project (talked about here, here and here) and gave a nod to our travel theme and DIY efforts all in one title.  So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride... Elephant recaps are coming your way!

Elefantes en México - The Activities

It wasn't just sun, sand, food & drinks for the Elephants while on our honeymoon in Mexico.  Excellence Playa Mujeres had several day time activities as well as night time shows. 

  Fire show

Every night when housekeeping would turn down our bed, they left a list of the activities for the next day.  We watched a cooking class, took a tour of the kitchen (where I was spotted by a Weddingbee reader!) and Mr. E tried his hand at rifle shooting.

The targets were so small

This was how far away you had to stand back to aim

Sadly Mr. E didn't win the rifle shooting (and I really could have used another massage!).  Speaking of massages, we had a couples massage by the ocean which was so relaxing.  After the massage we enjoyed champagne with chocolate covered strawberries and watched the waves roll in.

We went off of the property twice during the week.  Once was to take the ferry over to Isla Mujeres for souvenir shopping.

And the second time was for our excursion to the Xcaret ecological park in Playa del Carmen.  

I researched online before our trip and booked something that Mr. E and I have always wanted to do, swim with dolphins!

We got to pose for pictures, and do tricks with the dolphins which included the foot push, having them sing to us and belly rubs.

Once we dried off and paid an arm and a leg for the photos and DVD of the dolphin swim, we headed to the wine cellar caves for a wine tasting.

Our wine tasting ended up being a personal one since the other group of 6 was delayed at the dolphin swim.  We had food pairings with 5 different Mexican wines.

The 5 wines we tasted

The second course included a Carpaccio of Red Snapper and Salmon with Chardonnay

The fourth pairing was duck with mole sauce and Shiraz

Mr. E is a fan of the dry wines

And there you have it.  A honeymoon which was a perfect balance of relaxation and activities.  We really enjoyed getting away for a week, and most of all spending time together as husband and wife.

Are there any activities or excursions that you will be doing on your honeymoon?