Honeymoon!

Justin found out today that he will go to nuclear power school in October!  We are both really happy about this because it means we get to take a honeymoon!!  (June and August were the other choices).  Justin is also really excited because his other submarine friends got October too.
We were really excited to start planning our honeymoon, but quickly got overwhelmed when we realized how open ended the possibilities are!  Here's some of the options we've looked at so far:

Caribbean
There are a lot of beautiful places in the Caribbean.  My biggest concern there is hurricanes, but some islands (towards the South and West) are supposed to be much less at risk for getting hit.  Aruba is recommended by many, but it's a flat desert island, which isn't as appealing to me as some of the islands with more beautiful landscapes.  It's also supposedly more of a party scene, which isn't exactly what we're looking for.  Barbados, Bonaire and Curacao are also in the supposed "safe zone."  The Cayman islands and the Virgin Islands are also options.

 

Cap Jaluca- Anguilla

 

Curtain Bluff- Antigua

 Peter Island Villas- British Virgin Islands

St. Lucia looks really beautiful and has mountains, rain forests and coral reefs.

 Ladera- St. Lucia

Jade Mountain-St. Lucia

Mexico/Central America
Mexico, Belize and Costa Rica also offer good options, and are a bit further away from the so-called "hurricane belt."  Mexico would probably be a more cost-effective option than most of the Caribbean islands.  Playa del Carmen is very pretty, but something on the Pacific coast might be better to avoid any possible east coast weather.  Maybe Puerto Vallarta or Los Cabos.  Acapulco is probably a bit too much of a party town for a relaxing honeymoon.
I have had a slight obsession with Costa Rica since I studied abroad there last winter break.  It was the most beautiful place that I had ever been, and I fell in love with the landscapes, foliage and animals there.  I would love to go back, but would also love to see other beautiful parts of the world.  Belize also has a lot of the biodiversity and beautiful landscapes that I love.  The Cayes off the coast of Belize are an option too.

Paradisus- Playa Conchal, Costa Rica

Silk Cayes, Belize

I don't think a hotel would fit here, but maybe we could swim there!

We briefly looked at the Pacific Islands, but they are so far!! I don't think I could handle a flight that long, and it would be really expensive to get there.
More ideas to come!

I found a dress!!

I decided on a spur of the moment to go to Betsy Robinson's in Pikesville with my mom. I wasn't really expecting to find anything and just wanted to see what they had. I ended up finding a beautiful dress! It was the first dress that I had tried on that I couldn't find a single thing about it that I didn't like. I'm not giving away anything about it except that it's perfect!

colors

Orange is not a pretty color.  It happens to be my favorite color.  Ever since my dad started coaching the Tigger's Tigers soccer team in 4th grade I have loved the color orange.  Orange socks, orange purses, orange kitchen utensils!  How do I incorporate such an informal color into such a formal event?

Coral is one idea.  While still possessing the brightness I love, it is soft and elegant.  But what do I pair it with? Navy blue? Emerald Green?

Another idea is to stick with the bright color in its truest form that I know and love.  I could hold a bouquet of tiger lilies and bring on a fiery summer theme to my end-of-summer wedding.  I could still pair it with Navy blue...or maybe yellow...

And what do I make my bridesmaids wear?  I don't think they will be happy looking like this:

In all my indecisive-ness, There is one color scheme I've decided I DON'T want---the overdone fall hues theme.  Everyone knows summer is coming to an end and the leaves will soon be turning.  They don't need it shoved in their faces!

note: you can click on the pictures to enlarge.  Please leave feedback/comments/ideas!! Thanks :)

our family girls

My Dad is the oldest of 8 children-- 3 boys and 5 girls.  The family must have had enough of girls by the time grandkids started coming around because somehow our family ended up with 14 boy cousins and only 6 girls.  My mom is always proud that she did her part having 2 of those 6 :)  With such a small number of girls in the family we have to stick together!  Over Thanksgiving I asked two of my girl cousins to be a part of my wedding. 

Kristen and I have been buds since birth.  I was 9 years old when she was born and so excited to have another girl cousin.  We always found each other at family gatherings and played together.  For a long time she couldn't pronounce my name and called me something that sounded a lot like "Gasoline."  We've both grown up a bit since then-- Kristen is now almost 12 and finishing up 7th grade.  She will surely make a beautiful junior bridesmaid!

Caroline is the youngest of the family girls, and an experienced flower girl.  In May she was the flower girl for Jennifer's wedding-- the oldest of the girl cousins.  She had a great time and continued to play "wedding" afterwards (I'm sure brother Jake loved that).  When I asked her at Thanksgiving to be a flower girl again next fall her face lit up as she gasped and screamed "Yes!!"

 

it's officially a party!

Today we finalized our decision to book Rob from Absolute Entertainment as our DJ.  Aaron Couch from Disc Jockeys on Call was the other main competitor.  We met with both Rob and Aaron last weekend.

Aaron was the DJ at my cousin's wedding and I thought he did a great job.  His voice is amazing-- I think one guest called him Barry White.  He offered us a good price, but couldn't guarantee that he would be our DJ.  We weren't okay going on faith in a DJ from his company that we hadn't met.  Aaron told us that my cousin had booked much farther in advance than us and that September 2010 was set to be a busy month, which was why he couldn't guarantee us that he would be the DJ unless we paid more than double the price.

At our meeting with Rob he gave us a demo of his DJ skills and music tastes, and also showed us some recent reviews of his performances.  We were pleased with the meeting.  Thanks to my mom's great bargaining abilities we got quite a deal on Rob for our wedding!

There seems to be something with DJs about being hot and cold with communicating.  The week following our sales meeting with Jason from Absolute Entertainment we heard nothing from anyone.  After meeting with Robby however we got excellent communication from Jason as well as the president of the company.  Aaron seems to be the same way-- my cousin had warned me that he wasn't great with communication, but he called and e-mailed me as soon as I requested information.  Let's hope we stay on the upside of things.  Absolute Entertainment also has an online planning tool, which should make things super easy for us to plan.

Things seem to really be coming together now with all of the big vendors booked.  Football season will be over at the end of this week, so I should have lots of time to go dress shopping then!

engagement photos

This past Sunday we had an engagement photo session with Frank Formica and one of his assistants.  We met at Frank's studio and drove over to the Naval Research Station in Annapolis.  We took some photos under trees with changing leaves, and then moved on to some rustic old buildings.  It was lots of fun and the pictures turned out great!  We are officially going with Frank for our wedding photos.
Here are a few favorites:

Next on our list of things to do is a DJ.  We've had one meeting so far with Absolute Entertainment.  They seem like good DJs and offer reasonable rates, but have been terrible with communicating!  We've been in touch with a few other DJs via e-mail, and are working on setting up some meetings.

Dress shopping is still in the works as well.  I went the week before last to the Bridal Boutique in Columbia with Mom, my sister and Grandma and tried on another 10 or so dresses.  I think I at least have the style narrowed down now, but don't think I've quite found the right one yet!

photographers

We've had a couple photography appointments over the past week or so.  Last Friday we met with Frank Formica.  He seems great!  He has lots of experience (30+ years) doing weddings, and isn't burnt out!  He is also experienced with our ceremony and reception venues.  He showed us lots of examples of his work and albums.  He showed us how he creates lighting and retouches pictures.  He also did the wedding photography for a family friend who gave a good recommendation.  Pretty much there wasn't anything to not like about him.  He was also great about following up with us. 

Monday we met with D. Bryant, who seemed totally exhausted from the past weekend's weddings.  He had nice photos, but just didn't seem quite as good as Frank!  He also mentioned that he had been mentored by Frank Formica.  Don said that his ability to direct people sets him apart from other photographers.  I asked him to see a sunset photo (since we will be seeing the sunset from our reception) and he didn't come up with anything.  Also didn't follow up with us afterward.

Frank offered to do a free engagement session for us, so if we like those photos that will pretty much seal the deal!  I don't think we have the time to look at as many photographers as we did reception sites, especially since I would like to do engagement photos before it's FREEZING outside.  As much as I would like to look at EVERY option to find the perfect photographer, I'm not sure it's worth the time.  Frank seems perfect and I think he will be great for our wedding!



I also went dress shopping on Friday afternoon with Mom, Grandma and Helen at I Do I Do in Gaithersburg.  They have a combination of consignment dresses, designer closeouts and new designer dresses.  Joanna, the girl that helped me was great-- not pushy at all, honest, and willing to make suggestions.  I also liked that they were willing to tell me the designers (unlike at Bridal Images in Rockville).  I tried on maybe 10 dresses and found 3 that I liked!  All of them were completely different from each other, and from the one I liked at Bridal Images.  I have no idea what I want!