Blogger sucks

Peeps, I had a wonderful 'wedding cost' post all set up with tons of photos...and then Blogger threw up on me and my post was GONE due to some questionable error that I couldn't figure out.  Now I'm crabby and don't want to redo it yet.  I will leave you with this photo, which I took of myself after my post was deleted while gardening Sunday. 

You don't use an axe when you garden?  Huh....well, it was to chop out a huge vine that was woody and growing through our neighbor's fence.  That vine apparently didn't realize I am a badass!  But now I have proof. 

I may have to take photos of myself with other scary tools.  Somebody get me a sythe!

Hot dots

Just wanted to drop in before the weekend and share our 'Wacky Wednesday' challenge this week - it was all about polka dots, baby!  Granted, there was nothing 'wacky' about my awesome dress, but I was in a time crunch...so it's more like 'Classy Wednesday!'

We used some pinwheels as props, I think we look pretty darm cute!  It was coincidence that Jean's skirt totally matched my dress pattern.  Also, it's hard to see in the pics, but Jean's shirt has small black dots and her shoes are also dotty!  She totally beat me this week....

This weekend I will compose a few good posts...in between helping a friend move and Shaun's 29th birthday on Saturday!

Wedding pics and attire links

Whoa, it is hard to get back into the blog after all the things that we've been doing over the last month!  I have things to post about, but after our vacation I've become sort of used to reading before bed instead of going online....I'm working on the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' series now.  While I'm putting together some meaningful posts, I just wanted to share some professional pics from our amazing photographers, Matt and Sarah of Matt Haas Photography.  I am thrilled with these photos!

The entire wedding party consisted of me and Shaun, my brother Brian, and Shaun's sister Shelly.  I'm so happy we went this route, the photos are awesome and there weren't a ton of bridal party people running around.  I got her red satin dress from Light in the Box - I highly recommend them!

I got my fabulous hair dahlia from Etsy seller Little Miss Dress Up. 

This is the downtown Milwaukee TJ Maxx store window!  I can't wait to see all of the photos from this window, they have got to be awesome.

They guy's suits are from Men's Wearhouse - I had the hardest time finding chocolate brown suits, thank goodness they had these Sean John ones.  They were looking so PIMP!  Yeah, I said it. 

Of course, my dress is from Dolly Couture.  I loved this dress, I've never felt this pretty and carefree at the same time.  I could walk anywhere, never tripped, and everyone got to admire my gorgeous shoes all night.  WIN!

The shoes I ended up with are so fantastic, super comfy, and SO cheap.  They are 'Touch of Nina - Fencel' peep toes, only $35 bucks with free shipping from Bealls Florida!  I wore them until 2am and I do think they stole the show.

They definitely made it into every photo! 

I had to include this shot of the cupcakes - they were so delish, oh how I wish I had one right now!

At the end of the night, we went into a tunnel near the reception hall and got some amazing shots.  These are my favorites. 

Next posts will cover how I made the card box, and the down-and-dirty TOTAL COST of the wedding.  Gah!  It is nightmare-inducing, but I keep it real on the blog so you can all feel better about how much less you spent/will spend on your own wedding!  HA

Couples Negril is wonderful

Yes, I'm still around.  I'm having a hard time getting back into the swing of things, but I wanted to let you all know that we loved the honeymoon!  The resort was absolutely perfect!

To recap, we paid 3k for 7 nights at Couples Negril, that price includes our flights out of Milwaukee, transfers to and from the airport, and a complementary catamaran cruise through Island Routes.  I think it was worth every penny! 

The pool area was so nice, with a swim-up bar and pool volleyball every afternoon.  We spent most of our time here. 

The beach at Couples was perfect, much nicer than the beach at Sandals Negril and Riu Palace - totally smooth sand, no rocks, large and long...you could walk forever!  

The catamaran cruise was added on as a special deal through Cheap Caribbean, and it was SO amazing - we got to drive the boat!

I wasn't good at it, that's for sure.  The staff took my camera and got some awesome shots of us.  I can't thank them enough!

Shaun is obsessed with this 'eating the sun' picture - we tried to get more like it throughout the trip. 

We got a funny one of me jumping holding some big leaves...nerd! 

The food at the resort was decent at the buffets, and really great at the sit-down restaurants.  We ate at the asian restaurant twice, the food was so delicious!  This is about all we did with the chopsticks, we are 'fork' people.  I guess that's because we are uncoordinated. 

I also must mention the booze - they have TOP shelf stuff here.  Grey Goose martinis, good whiskey, and lots of champagne in the evenings.  I loved it! 

(BTW - there is no tipping allowed at this resort.  That really makes it easier to not have to carry around cash wherever you go - it was amazing)

All the drinks definitely helped me take my mind off the dozens of bug bites, heat blisters, and sunburn I got by the third day.  It doesn't matter that I was in all the same places as Shaun, he got no bites, no rashes, and hardly burned.  I was under a hat, an umbrella, with SPF 85 on and I still got all messed up!  Stupid pale, sensitive skin.  Paradise didn't agree with it, that's for sure.  Oh by the way, don't visit Margaritaville if you stay in Negril.  It's a dump, and this tiny margarita was $10.50.  Say wha??

Shaun made me feel better with a note in the sand.  AWE.

The last couple nights we were there, there was some burning going on nearby.  I heard some people say it was old sugar cane crops, others said it was just trash - but we saw this Saturday night:

It looked like the whole resort was on fire!  And Sunday, ash and burned leaves covered every surface - including the pool and all the walkways.  The resort staff was up very early hosing everything down, and they never did get the pool very clean.  When we woke up Monday for our flight, the smell of smoke was so overpowering that we were incredibly happy we were leaving.  If we had been just starting our vacation, I would be so pissed!  That is the only big negative we experienced.  And the shuttle ride to and from the airport was about 1.5 hours, so that was definitely tiresome.  

That didn't stop us from having a wonderful time, though!  We can't wait to come back someday soon. 

If you have any burning questions, I am happy to answer them.  Please make sure you have a link to your email or blog in your comment so I can answer you.  I can't wait to start working on the house again...and catching up with all your blogs, of course!

Married!!!

Peeps, the wedding was a screaming success!  I can't wait to see my professional pics, this is one of my 'preview' pics and I am in love!

The other previews can be seen at Matt Haas Photography's facebook page here.  They did a stunning job, especially with the photos we took inside the store window at TJ Maxx....holla!  We also set up my camera and tripod, and a lovely friend borrowed me a sweet backdrop and two professional lights.  We got so many wonderful pictures in our DIY photobooth.....

And possibly the best prop...

I'm ready to get back to normal and start reading everyone's posts again...of course, not while I'm relaxing in Negril this week...you will just have to wait until I'm back from paradise to hear from me.  Cheers!