A Fall Must-Do

The crisp Fall air is certainly much cooler now than it has been in the last few months. The leaves are beginning to crunch beneath our feet, making us well aware that they are no longer hanging on the branches above us. The colors of the season are making their appearances. Sweaters are being brought out from storage, Halloween costumes adorn the racks in all the stores, mums are a common sight on neighbors' porches, and pumpkins and gourds are used to decorate many a table setting. The harvest moon has made its appearance, and we are all becoming aware of the changing seasons. Autumn has arrived, and with that, so have many of our favorite fall activities. One in particular being apple picking!

Yesterday, Brian and I took Jack to Lynd's Fruit Farm and met Brian's parents, Mary and Tom, for a stroll through the apple orchards. Brian and I hadn't been back to Lynd's since we were there last October with our photographers for our engagement photo shoot, but we were excited to go back. (Side note #1: the craziest thing happened while we were at Lynd's this go round. Kim and Eric (our AMAZING photographers) had never been to Lynd's before our engagement session. Neither had I, to be quite honest. Well, neither of us had been back to Lynd's since then. However, yesterday, we ran into Kim who was at the orchard with her daughter and daughter's friend to pick some apples! It was crazy, but so awesome to see her. We were both thinking of each other because it was the first and last time we had both been to Lynd's, but not in a million years would we have thought we'd see her there on the same exact day that we went back. I mean, this is like a one day a year occurrence and to pick the same day as the other person that reminds you of a certain place is very unusual. We were both shocked to see each other, but like I said, it was really nice to run into her!) (Side note #2: if you need photographers for anything, book with Picture the Love. They are absolutely fantastic!)

Mary, Tom, Brian, and I each picked some delicious apples, enjoyed each other's company, and savored the last few days of 'not having to wear a jacket' temperatures. (I could've easily worn a jacket...) There was a chill in the air, enough to be thankful for the long sleeves that we were wearing, and reminded us all of the rapidly approaching cold temperatures that I'm sure are right around the corner. Jack experienced a sensory overload for the first fifteen or so minutes, but soon calmed down (a little) and became slightly more manageable. Once he realized that he could pick up the apples (aka 'balls' in Jack's world) that had fallen from the tree, he was game. He would drop the apple when he saw you pick another, sit, and wait for you to throw it. (FYI - for safety reasons, we didn't start chucking apples all around the orchard for Jack to chase after, but we may have encouraged one or two slight rolls.) Once Jack realized he could eat the apples, there was no more grabbing his attention. Fortunately, apple picking (at least in our world) didn't take too long so once we all filled our bags we headed out to the tent to peruse the displays of homemade jellies, jams, apple butters, and cider. (Jack had to wait in the car for that part.)

It really was a lovely day. It was delightful to embrace the Fall season, it was fantastic to run into Kim, and it was wonderful to spend some Q.T. with Mary and Tom. Recently, we've both had hectic schedules and it's been hard to find the time to hang with the people who make you smile.

Enjoy the love below!

Bayside Nuptials

This past weekend, Brian and I traveled to Maryland to attend my cousin, Jamie's, wedding on the beach to her (now) husband. It was a lovely day. The weather was a wonderful September-ish day - sunny, crisp, breezy, low humidity; and the beach just looked so peaceful. The guys were dressed in white and the girls were dressed in blue, and our dear, sweet, wonderful bride was just beaming! She looked fantastic!

We had such a nice time enjoying the union of these two people. Oleksii (aka, Lesha) is from Ukraine. After Jamie and he said their 'i do's', they celebrated with a Ukrainian tradition. It was a bread offering from the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom. Basically, the bride and groom are presented one loaf of bread from both mothers. The bride and groom both take a bite, simultaneously, and the one who takes the larger bite is essentially the 'boss' of the family. We all had a laugh when Jamie took the bigger bite!

It was really nice to celebrate with Jamie and Lesha, with our family, their family, and all of their loving friends. It was a beautiful day, a lovely ceremony, and a fun reception. (Click on the photo for the entire album below.) We even got to hang at an after party at Jamie's Mom's house! You can't beat the festivities on a day when we're celebrating such happiness!

CONGRATULATIONS, JAMIE & LESHA!

A True Scotsman

Brian spent a year and a half working and living in Scotland. While he was there, he roomed with one of his coworkers, Matthew. Brian and I met shortly after he moved back to the United States, but from day one, he has always spoken very fondly of his dear friend. He believes that his experience in Scotland would not have been what it was without Matthew, and I believe it too. They learn from each other, they laugh with each other, they pull pranks on each other, they are also two peas in a pod, and it makes me so happy that Brian has such a wonderful friend. (Brian has a bunch of wonderful friends, to be quite honest.)

Matthew has come to the states multiple times to check out Ohio State football games. (Thanks to Brian!) This weekend was the second time he has come into town and stayed with us, and literally the third time that I have met Matthew. I cannot speak highly enough of him now either. He is a wonderful person, and seeing Brian and him together just makes me smile! We are all never short of laughs when he is in town. We are never short of fun, we are never short of smiling, and we are never short of a good time! (Sometimes too good on Ohio State football days!) We had an especially fun weekend with Matt in town (as is evident by the photo album below!), our dear Scottish peach!

You look quite purdy, Darlin'!

In honor of our long Labor day weekend, my Mom and I met halfway to each other in good ol' West Virginia. We met on Saturday and spent the day traipsing around Morgantown. It was a ghost town, surprisingly. We knew that there was a college football game going on, but there was, literally, not a soul in town. It was weird, but we managed to laugh it off and have a good time anyway! We stopped by the history museum (that no one knew about), walked this old railway that is now a walking trail three times (we were a bit turned around), we did a bit of shopping, we stopped by the oldest house in Monongalia County, we went to Oliverio's for dinner, we chatted, and we caught a movie at the historic theater. (Unfortunately, the theater is closing. Fortunately, no one cared at that point and we were able to bring a bottle of wine in to enjoy our movie! Who needs popcorn when you've got wine?!) We made the most of it while we were there, but I can't say that we'll continue to make Morgantown our meeting place!

On Sunday, we were headed to the Stonewall Jackson resort. It was about an hour south of Morgantown. On our way out, we stopped by Coopers Rock and did a quick hike. It was absolutely wonderful! (I highly recommend it for anyone traveling by.) When we arrived at the resort, we immediately noticed that we had just done a complete 180 from where we had stayed the night before! It was a really cool, log cabin kind of resort, and the resort had captured 'cozy' to a T! There was a huge stone fireplace, a wall of windows overlooking a beautiful lake, a pool, a hot tub, a coffee shop: cozy. We rode bikes, hung out by the lake, took walks, enjoyed the view, did a little hot tubbing, we even took a hay ride! (We were the only ones over the age of four who actually took the ride. Not including parents.) We had so much fun!

My Mom is one of the most incredible people I know. I am so fortunate to have her in my life. She is truly an amazing, strong, beautiful woman. Our weekend together was just so wonderful. It was rejuvenating to be together and not have any other responsibilities. It was delightful to enjoy each others company and laugh at the little things. It was relaxing to be in such a beautiful part of the mountains. It was just a great weekend, and I can't wait to do it again soon. I love you, Mom!

Internationally Known

Brian and I are so fortunate to have so many loving family members and friends. What's even more incredible is the amount of love and support that we had on our wedding day from all over the world. We had a lot of guests come into town from all over the United States, and even parts of Europe! It still amazes us both to think of all the people that traveled to Columbus, OH to attend our wedding, and we are so thankful to everyone that was able to make the trip.

All in all, here are our final stats:

Head Count:
140 total people

45 Different Cities:
Aberdeen, SCOTLAND
Avon Lake, OH
Bethesda, MD
Blacklick, OH
Brooklyn, NY
Cartersville, GA
Chicago, IL
Cincinnati, OH
Columbia, MD
Columbus, OH
Fairfax, VA
Gahanna, OH
Glenn Dale, MD
Granville, OH
Greenbelt, MD
Henderson, NV
Herndon, VA
Homosassa, FL
Honolulu, HI
Indianapolis, IN
Jersey City, NJ
Johnstown, OH
Kenton, OH
Leesburg, VA
Lewis Center, OH
Los Angeles, CA
Lynchburg, VA
New Albany, OH
New Hope, PA
New York, NY
Pasadena, MD
Plain City, OH
Port Charlotte, FL
Reston, VA
Rocky River, OH
Rustburg, VA
Silver Spring, MD
South Miami, FL
St. Pete Beach, FL
Stuttgart, GERMANY
Sunbury, OH
Upper Arlington, OH
Washington, DC
Westerville, OH
Worthington, OH

13 Different States:
California
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland
Nevada
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Virginia

3 Different Countries:
Germany
Scotland
U.S.A.

Writing this post still amazes me at the breadth of love. Once again, we are so incredibly thankful to all of our guests that traveled to support us, love us, and celebrate us on our very special day. It meant the world to us!

A Thousand Forevers

When we booked our videographer, Dustin, we were nothing short of excited for what he would come up with for our wedding video. He is an incredible cinematic artist who really breaks the mold of your standard 'wedding video'. (Which, by the way, we did not want.) When we met our videographer we were ecstatic at the professionalism, creative ideas, and adventures that we all encountered together in our short 24 hours. (We climbed rusty fire escapes, romped in fields of wild flowers, almost ran out of gas, found cool sites around downtown Columbus, and traversed an old fallen log, in addition to everything else we did to get ready for our day!)

We still are a ways away from receiving our final product (editing and perfection of wedding videos is a long process...a long process that we were aware of before we booked with Indy, plus we like to think that we've got so much cool footage!! :) ), but Dustin has posted our trailer! And, as we suspected, it is incredible: A Thousand Forevers

The Big Day

On July 25, 2009, Brian and I got engaged. Shortly thereafter, we started this blog to document all of our adventures in our quest to plan our perfect wedding. And when I say that all of our hard work, all of our late night planning and preparation, all of our discussions led us to our perfect day, I am not kidding. It was nothing short of perfect!

From the weather, to the dress, to the flowers, to the hair and make-up, to the cupcakes, to the people, to the music, to the excitement, to the photobooth, to the love, it was all so perfect, and we really could not have asked for anything more.

We held our wedding on Friday night, August 6, 2010. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning of that same week we found ourselves drenched in rain with threatening thunder clouds looming low overhead. On Thursday around 10 am the clouds cleared, leaving behind a wonderfully beautiful sunny day with a nice, warm temperature. Because it had just rained the for the past couple days, we were surrounded by lovely lush greenery everywhere. Goodale Park looked fantastic!

THE REHEARSAL

We had our rehearsal on Thursday afternoon, which went unmistakeably well, and then we all headed over to our rehearsal dinner location: Due Amici. It was beautiful. Everything was set up perfectly. There were candles and beautiful white tables. The exposed brick on the walls of the room made us all feel so cozy, and the food. The food! Delicious! Marvelous! Absolutely wonderful! We had a few additional guests that were not part of our wedding party join us for our rehearsal dinner. We had a slideshow of pictures of Brian and I growing up, we had lovely individual dessert cakes with the letters 'B & E' written on them, and we had such a fantastic time! (This perfect night was a precursor to our perfect day!) We all headed out to Bar Louie for a quick drink after our rehearsal dinner where even more of our out of town guests met up with us. We could already feel the love and excitement! It was all just so perfect.

Thursday night found Brian staying at the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Columbus, OH (along with many of our out of town guests), and I headed back to the homestead with my Mom and my sister, Amy. The next time we say each other we'd be saying our 'I do's'!

THE WEDDING DAY

Erin's Morning
I woke up at 6:12 am. There was no going back to sleep. I immediately checked my eyeball. (Jack poked my eye out the night before when we were rough housing.) It was still swollen and red. So, after Amy and I went to CVS and Walgreen's in search of something to clear my eye up, we were headed back home to pick up Mom. The three of us traveled to the eye doctor. The nurses were so sympathetic. They fit us in an emergency appointment because it was my wedding day. Fortunately, it felt much worse than it actually was. Jack had scratched the inside, white part of my eye, and the doc gave me some eye drops and a prescription for ointment and I was out the door. At this point, the morning itinerary had already been scratched. (No pun intended.)

Jack initially was invited to the ceremony, but after the night before, we decided that he would spend the day and night at puppy camp. Mom and Amy dropped Jack off while I gathered everything I needed for the hotel and the wedding night. When Mom and Amy returned, we headed to the hotel to get ready.

Once we got to the hotel, I got really excited! Brandi had already gotten her hair done, Tamara was in the process of getting her make-up done, and Shanna was next in line for hair. There was so much excitement! I layed on the couch with frozen blueberries on my eye to help reduce the swelling (and pain) while the hustle and bustle went on around me. I felt calm. I was excited, but I was just so happy to have everyone that meant so much to me around, and all in the same room.

I got my hair done first, and then my makeup, and all of a sudden, it felt like we were all running behind. We kept getting little updates on where Brian was, and it started to get a bit rushed. I was ready and whisked off to the park with our photographer, Kim, our videographers Dustin and Devin, and Brian's Mom, Mary, by Scott, my stepdad. I just couldn't wait to see Brian!

Brian's Morning
I woke up in the morn and showered. I went to the complimentary breakfast that was offered at the hotel, and then headed to Phoenix Links Golf Course to play golf with the wedding party, extended family, and friends. (Yes, there were nearly 30 people! And yes, we showed up all together ready to tee off on hole 1. The starter was not too pleased with us, but we convinced him to allow us to start on any hole. This ended up being the most unorganized method of golfing. My group of six got through about four holes...if that.) After 'golf' we went to Bar Louie for lunch, and headed back to the hotel to get ready.

I was excited, anxious, and could not wait to see my beautiful bride.

Once I was ready, I headed over to Goodale Park where I was to meet Erin. It was an absolutely amazing day!

Our Wedding Day
We met at the gazebo at Goodale Park. We decided to meet beforehand to take our photos since our ceremony was going to be a bit later in the evening. Our bridal party was to be picked up by the trolley at the hotel. We were all going to hit a few locations around Columbus to take pictures. Strangely enough, our bridal party arrived in two taxi vans. The trolley was a no show, and because we've always been told that, 'when life hands you lemons, make lemonade,' we decided that the bridal party would remain at the park and wait for the 'new' trolley, and Brian and I would pack in our photographers car with our videographer and his assistant and go take some photos and shoot some video. (This was one of the best periods of time throughout the day!) We went to Whetstone Park of Roses and shot some incredible photographs in the wild flower area. We then scouted a few industrial locations around Columbus and did some more modern wedding photos. We even climbed a rusty old fire escape (yes, in my wedding gown and shoes!) to get the perfect shot. Troopers we are, I tell ya! (Channeling my inner Yoda.) When we finally met up with the bridal party, they had been partying in the trolley at the park, and we were nearly 45 minutes from show time!

The bagpiper met us on the trolley and started warming up. This really was the only time I was nervous throughout the entire day. The bagpipes just invoked so much emotion! Everything was pretty much going as planned. The videographers put a mic on Brian, Scott (our pastor) and Scott (my stepdad) both met us at the shelter house, our day of coordinator, Terri, assured us that all was going as planned and we were ready to go, and off the trolley went.

Our ceremony went off without a hitch. It was beautiful. It was short and sweet, and I remember thinking, 'I can't believe were actually getting married right now!' (I was paying attention to the pastor, too...I think...) It was so exciting to be there with Brian. It was so exciting to offer our love to each other in front of so many loving family and friends. It was just an absolutely incredible day!

After the ceremony and group photos at the park, we headed to the reception. Once again, the place was just impeccable. I felt so loved. I felt so excited. I felt so happy to be there with my true love. The reception looked even more fantastic than we had envisioned, and we had a fantastic time! I think everyone had a fantastic time, and that is exactly what we wanted! It's true that the day and night pass by very quickly, but not once did I feel like it was going by too fast. I distinctly remember thinking at one point, 'we have so much time left for our reception!'

I never was one to have my wedding already figured out, but this day, that Brian and I created, was exactly what we wanted.

It was perfect.

Lunamieleros

Mexico.

Stunning. Beautiful. Paradise.

We returned from our seven night, eight day honeymoon in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico on Sunday night. We stayed at the Secrets Maroma Beach resort. It was a fantastic resort! It was extremely top notch, state-of-the-art, had impeccable attention to some of the most gorgeous details we've ever seen, and was so accommodating.

Upon our arrival, there was a sash on our door that said, 'Honeymooners'! We noticed quite a few of these sashes around the entire resort, and being in Mexico, a few were in Spanish: 'Lunamieleros'... (hence the post title)! (Clearly these were saved for the Spanish speaking guests that were staying at the resort. There wasn't a random lottery for a select few of the English speaking guests to start their honeymoon with a mind-numbing word challenge.) Our personal concierge (yes, I said personal - there was one for each building) escorted us to our room and showed us all the amenities the room offered. He showed us how everything worked, when cleaning services and turn down services were offered, where all the light switches were, the secret box where room service can place your food and not disturb you (this was truly amazing), and even where the bottle opener was. (Thank goodness for our concierge. It was conveniently attached to the wall next to the sink. We would've hung a towel on that little metal contraption had we not known...and we would've had a few chipped teeth since nearly all the bottles in our little mini fridge needed to be opened via the bottle opener.) We had a lovely view, two swan towel sculptures kissing each other with rose petals scattered about them, a chilled bottle of champagne (awaiting our arrival), and two perfectly set champagne glasses (awaiting the sparkling bubbly).

The A/C was set so low that the Mexican heat outside felt good after you had been inside for a few minutes, and we were informed that if we stepped out onto the balcony (aka: opened our balcony door), there was a sensor that automatically turned the A/C off. (The energy efficient thought has got to count, but the jacuzzi tub in every room, and additional balcony jacuzzi tub in select rooms may have just cancelled that thought out!) There were separate coves within the bathroom area for the shower and the toilet, each equipped with their own door. There was a platter of delicious, endless chocolate chip cookies loaded at the lobby. There were pools, and fountains, and details that just blew our mind away. The entire room, the entire resort was just so posh!

The beach was absolutely perfect. The clear water was made up of the most beautiful combinations of turquoise and blue, the temperature had the perfect amount of warmth that still felt so refreshing, and the sand! The sand!! It was so smooth, and white, and soft that rubbing your feet in it felt like you were rubbing your feet in silk. The waves lapped up so serenely onto the shore, and they offered the perfect touch as they gently rolled over our toes and feet when we walked along the beach.

Right next to the resort was an unfinished mansion. We're still unsure what happened there. Still, we dubbed these our 'ruins'. We were able to explore and photograph some sweet shots and views of the ocean. We even ordered a few prints from the photo session we had. We both loved the ruins. It was an incredible sight to happen upon on our walk down the beach.

We ate, we drank, we rested beneath a palapa on the beach, we ate, we read books, we read magazines, we went kayaking, we went snorkeling in the ocean, we went snorkeling in a cenote, we went snorkeling in a cave, we saw one stingray, two sea turtles, and one monkey, we took a ride on the Hobie, we slept, we did a little bit of shopping, we ate, we got massages, we got facials, we enjoyed being married, and we enjoyed our time in Mexico. It was our honeymoon...what did you expect?!

Sneak Peak!

(We may have checked our photographer's blog once or twice while we were in Mexico to see if they had posted any preview pictures from our lovely wedding day. Even though we were confident that they would text or email us before they did, or while they were doing it to let us know it was happening, we figured we'd still check...just to make sure!)

Our photographers were absolutely amazing, and that's putting it lightly. Kim and Eric are a dynamic duo. They are extremely professional, extremely talented and creative, and they are just so awesome to work with. Kim mainly worked with me, and Eric mainly worked with Brian (at least while we were getting ready), so it was just lovely to have another awesome woman to laugh with, joke with, and capture our special day! (I'm sure Brian thinks it was awesome to have another guy to bond with, too...well, maybe!) Anyway, Picture the Love completely outdid themselves with their photographic expertise. They surprised us both by having a preview ready for us to view only 10 days after our wedding. Incredible!

Check out the love below:

Wedding Photo Sneak Peak!

BLAST OFF!!!

...to the future!

(As many of you know, I will always be a cornball at heart.)

TODAY IS OUR WEDDING DAY!