I Had a Dream

(Compliments of M.L.K.-ish)

Except it wasn't necessarily a nice, warm and fuzzy dream. It was a nightmare. It was my first wedding nightmare, and hopefully my last.

[Flashback to the dream.] Here I am on the day before our wedding. We are at this place where we are getting married. It's like a destination wedding, but it's not on a beach and it's not here in Ohio where we are actually getting married. Everyone is arriving from out of town and the hustle and bustle starts to pick up when suddenly I realize that I never got my dress altered. But then I also never found bridesmaid dresses, and now I literally have 24 hours to get all of that done. I start to panic.

I'm trying to find Brian and there are so many people. I keep seeing these people with black suit pants on, white suit jackets, black vests, black and white polka dot shirts, and these bright blue bow ties. I'm talking prime color blue kind of blue. (No where near the colors we decided on for our wedding...) I finally find Brian and he is wearing the same thing. I ask him what he is wearing. His response was, 'this is what I decided on for the wedding...'

At this point, that part doesn't even bother me. It's the fact that I have no bridesmaid dresses, my dress isn't altered, and I have no way of getting anything done. And now I'm in tears.

In the midst of Brian trying to comfort me, like the wonderful fiancé he is, I wake up, and realize that it was all just a dream. My heart is pounding, my mind is racing, and I lay there thinking, 'of course, why couldn't I have realized this in my dream??' It took me a while to get back to sleep.

It's funny what our subliminal tells us. I have been looking for bridesmaid dresses and shoes, and haven't found anything, yet. I'm not necessarily worried about it, but I'm not feeling like I'm smooth sailing either. And as far as the dress getting altered, I've been looking into seamstresses, too. But, once again, I don't really feel stressed, since the dress doesn't arrive until May anyway. I suppose it's all in my head somewhere or another. Maybe I suppress my stress about those issues and they surface in my dreams. I'm not really sure how to decode them, but for now, my subliminal speaks.

As far as Brian's 'outfit', we'll just have a chat and make sure we are on the same page. Like I said, I'm hoping it's the first and last of these sorts of dreams, but if not, they're at least quite entertaining...the next day!

The Mayan Riviera

It's official! (Have we been saying that a lot?) We have booked our honeymoon! We will be headed to the luxurious Riviera Maya, Mexico for a superior stay at Secrets Maroma Beach - an adult, all-inclusive resort on the dazzling Caribbean sea which promises pure white sands, crystal-clear waters, and warm tropical breezes for a perfect paradise. Since we've kind of forgotten what grass looks like because of all the snow, the very thought of basking in the warm Mexican sun makes our skin tingle. It will, without a doubt, be unforgettable.

For those of you who aren't that familiar with the area, the Riviera Maya is an area of Mexico that encompasses three or so towns about 30 miles south of Cancun on the eastern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Much is promised with the adventures that await us! It appears there are ruins to visit, zip lining potential, (possibly even a dip or two with the dolphins!), ecotours, relaxation, and a much anticipated week away! We're headed for 8 days and 7 nights on a Sunday to Sunday trip.

This is going to be a fantastic honeymoon!

Ranunculus

As a horticulture major, I love plants, I love foliage, and I especially love flowers. Therefore, when it came time to pick out our wedding flowers, I was more than enthused! I love seeing the different combinations of flowers put together. I love to see how you can create a completely different feeling by pairing different combinations of flowers, and I love talking to other people who know what the industry has to offer. It's great to be able to speak with someone that you can bounce ideas off of until you are sure that you are both on the same page, and it's even better when they have some insight into something that would fit the look you are going for that you didn't even know of!

We found our florist, and she is awesome!

We were referred to Sarah from some of Brian's friends who were married in 2009. When we saw pictures of their flowers we knew there was potential. When we sat down to talk to her about what we wanted and didn't want, she was all ears, and despite us having a pretty good idea of what we wanted, she helped us create our perfect combinations of flowers.

They are wild, romantic, lovely, and alluring. They capture your eyes and your heart and make you fall in love all over again. They will delight our summer evening wedding. They are perfect, they make us smile, and most of all, they represent us.

Tahiti or Fiji or Spain. Oh, my!

We're just under 6 months away from our day. It's amazing how fast it really is coming upon us, but with snow on the ground in Columbus, a new Winter storm headed this way tonight, and nearly 3 feet of snow in Maryland, the very thought of summer still feels like quite a ways away! We know it will be here before we know it so we are trudging away through the snow and still making wedding plans.

We are in the process of deciding on our florist so that is in the works, and our newest endeavor has been our honeymoon. (This has been a topic that we have touched on before but is now our focus, and a great focus at that!) I would've thought this would be an easy part. Pick a place you both want to go, book it, and voilà. Boy was I wrong.

Brian and I have both been though nearly every option in the Caribbean (or so it seems), but we have yet to even decide on a location. Not because we can't agree but because we've set the bar pretty high with our engagement spot in Jamaica. We are looking for something very similar to Jamaica, but since we've been there we'd like to think a bit out of the box and head somewhere else.

We are looking for an adult-only and an all-inclusive resort. We like spas, beaches, activities, relaxation, and luxury, but within reason of course. So far we think our best bets will be the Riviera Maya in Mexico or Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Antigua, Turks and Caicos, and St. Lucia are also options, but we still haven't decided. Hawaii is an option, but is not very high on the list. We are open to other suggestions. We've looked into Spain, the Greek Isles, Bora Bora, Tahiti... Some of these places are way out of our price range, but I'm just emphasizing that we are open to anything!

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

PS: I wasn't kidding that Maryland got nearly 3 feet of snow:


PPS: Wouldn't this be a great snow blower advert?!