May 25, 2011

Journey Of A Thousand Miles: Grand Entrance

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By the time we arrived back at the resort it was already dark but it didn't matter to me because the resort looked so beautiful all lit up.



We all made our way back towards the La Laguna terrace. As we came around the corner here is what we saw:





It was beautiful and romantic. It was everything a bride could want. We even got the thumbs up approval from Kari the Hair Fairy.



My friend Big E., whom I have known since I was six years old, escorted my mom to the table.


Big E. has been like a brother to me so having this photo of them laughing together just gives me the warm fuzzies.

While Mama-In-Law Meerkat and Nonnie Meerkat took a chance to look through their photos.


Nannu Meerkat went around checking out the decor on the tables.


I think what he was probably looking for was the menu. :P





I guess as long as we are talking decor, I should probably take the opportunity to show you the rest of the table goodies. To the tables we added deep pink gladiolus in tall cylindrical vases intermixed with the lanterns in the above picture.



There was also the I-Spy cards I made.


Our meerkat statue that stood in front of Mr. Meerkat and I along with a little sign telling about my adventures in blogging.



And last but not least, my favorite DIY project of them all - the favor boxes / place cards.



Each person had a box addressed to them sitting on the charger at their seat.



I was really surprised how much everyone loved them. They kept telling us how they were looking forward to hanging the little hand painted ornament on their Christmas trees when they got home.



Besides some sand colored table runners that was pretty much the only things we added. The terrace was already beautiful and I think anything more would have simply made it look cluttered.

Anyways, where was I again? Oh yes, I was getting ready to tell you about our grand, but totally unplanned, entrance. Totally unplanned as in it wasn't until we were getting ready to walk onto the terrace that Mr. Meerkat decided he really did want to be formally announced after all. So while all of our guests were getting comfortable, I let our DJ, Bijan, know that we had a last minute change of plans.



Bijan quickly cued up James Taylor's How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) and we made our entrance with all the Meerkat style we could muster.



Mr. Meerkat threw me for a loop when all of a sudden he stopped and bowed.



Yep that's my man, always hamming it up for the crowd. We quickly took our seat and placed our order for some yummy, girly drinks.



When the resorts coordinator gave us the signal that they were ready to start serving dinner, Mr. Meerkat and I went up to the front to say a quick thanks to our guests.


Went I got to the front of the terrace and turned around, I quickly discovered that I had lost Mr. Meerkat along the way. He was talking to one of our guests so I started waving him up to the front. 



When Mr. Meerkat finally made it up to where I was, he got the honor of being the one to start our speech.



I will spare you from having to read our entire speech. Instead let me share with you the best part. It was when in the middle of the speech Mr. Meerkat said:
We just wanted to thank everyone for coming and for all the help and support you gave to us. We love all of you. I know I can be cranky but I do actually like all of you guys.

Which everyone thought was hysterical because Mr. Meerkat is a stereotypical old man. You know the kind that yells "get off my lawn you whipper snappers". He has always been an old man in a young body and we love him for it.

We finished up the speech with lots of thank yous and then took our seats so that dinner could begin.

Up Next:  Noms & Toasts (Part 1)

May 23, 2011

Journey Of A Thousand Miles: The Bride and Groom (Part 2)

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After we had done a few photos on the beach, Sol took us to the backside of the hotel where some beautiful mangroves were growing. We found a little path and started to walk down it. 





When we got to the other side of the path, we climbed the hotel steps and went up into the balcony on the second floor.



And this my friends is when Sol put that amazing creativity of hers to work. 



She positioned Mr. Meerkat against the wall and then had me stand so that my shadow was on the wall next to him.



She did this a couple different was but I think my favorite of all these photos has to be this one:



Then Sol had me move up next to Mr. Meerkat for a couple photos of us together.





It was at this point Mr. Meerkat was giving Sol that pleading "please let me lay in the hammock for some photos" look. Well you can probably guess what happened next.



Of all our photos I think this photo of Mr. Meerkat looking all relaxed has to be one of my favorite.



The sun was just about to set at this point, so we headed down to the beach for some silhouette shots.





We even tried some unique umbrella shots.



While this looks flawless, it took a few tries to get the umbrella high enough over our heads and not flying to the side.



And then just as the sun was about to set completely Sol grab this last amazing shot.


And with that we got back into the vans (45 minutes behind schedule, oops) and headed back to our resort for the reception.


Up Next: The Reception - Our Grand Entrance

May 18, 2011

Journey Of A Thousand Miles: The Bride and Groom (Part I)

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After group photos, our families went back to the lounge area while we stayed by the waters edge to get some bride and groom portraits.



It was nice to have a few minutes to ourselves. Even though our guests were within watching distance, we didn't notice. You can probably tell from the photos that we were not noticing anything but each other.



As we started to work our way down the beach, Sol had us stop next to of one of the little papalas in front of the hotel.



I just love how creative Sol and Jonathan were with our silhouettes.



Now I have to be honest here that for next ten minutes or so of shots on the beach my memory is kind of a blur but I will do my best to tell you what I do remember.



I remember Sol and Jonathan telling us to walk down the beach a bit while they continued to work their camera magic.





I know at some point they told us to stop and turn around.





And I remember Sol telling me to walk down to the water.



Walk towards frigid cold water just as the sun is setting and the temp is dropping? Sure, no problem. Sol probably could have told me to stand on my head that day and I wouldn't have thought twice before doing it. I am really glad I was able to trust Sol like this because all those happy endorphins were making it hard to have a rational thought.



When I got back up to where Mr. Meerkat was standing, I immediately gave him the biggest "I can't believe we're really married" hug.



And a kiss. One of about a million he got that day.



Yes, I was one sublimely happy Meerkat.



Up Next: Our Bride and Groom Portraits (Part II)