Moon Planning by Mr.GT - The Backup Plan

Previously:

Rolling the Dice

OK, so if you read my last post, you know that I planned for a cruise to the Bahamas… in Hurricane season. I knew there could be problems going into it so I did at least ask the advice of the unbiased operator at the cruise line. She assured me that if there was a hurricane, the ship could out-run the storm. While it was of some comfort that we wouldn’t be in harms way, the amount fun that we would have was now in question. I knew that I would never say, ‘Hurray for four days stuck on a ship!’ Being on the ship was already the least exciting prospect of the cruise so I needed another plan. What else is there to do in Florida?

My first thought was the everglades. I looked into it and found that while they are open 365 days a year, “During the slow wet season (summer), facilities may have restricted hours or close altogether, and recreational opportunities may be at a minimum.”* There was no way that I was going there to miss the best parts of the park.

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I’m sure that there is stuff to see and do in Miami (where the cruise ship is docked) but it just didn’t seem grand enough for the honeymoon. As some of you who have been following my Mrs.’s blog may know that we had a long engagement. We felt that if we made it to and through the wedding, then we would have ‘won’. We would’ve beaten the stress and would’ve felt like ‘Champions’. Indeed, we felt that way so much that the song made famous by Queen was our reception entrance song. But I digress. Something worthy of Champions was needed for the GT’s honeymoon. Where do people go when they feel like they can’t top the experience that they just had? You might have guessed it… We’re going to Disneyworld! OK, so we already went to Disneyworld but I had to say it.

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Disney was the guaranteed good time in case the cruise didn’t satisfy. Now all that I had to worry about was crowd levels. But that wouldn’t be too heavy on Labor Day weekend would it?

*http://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/hours.htm

Moon Planning by Mr.GT - Rolling the Dice

Due to the enormous amount of energy that was being spent by my beautiful bride planning the wedding, the task of planning the honeymoon fell solely on me. I was given free rein to plan any trip that I wanted (within our budget of course). Now, some guys would love this opportunity to choose a honeymoon location. This groom knew better. You see, the GT’s don’t do anything half-hearted and I knew that this trip had to be great. What a responsibility! I kept asking her opinion on locations and all that I got in return was, ‘I trust you’. So, with the weight of her trust on my shoulders, I set out to find the perfect location. My job was made a little easier once I filled in some criteria. First it was process of elimination. My 1st choice was Tahiti.

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Unfortunately, Tahiti was eliminated due to the high cost (even though I kept trying to figure out a way to make it work). We have wanted to go to Italy for a long time now so that was my number two option.

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The only problem with that was planning. I knew that Mrs. GT would want to see everything there was to see in Italy and if we missed something due to my lack of planning… well, let’s just say that I didn’t want her to lose her trust in me so soon after just being married.

With ideal honeymoon location #1 and #2 out, I had to start over. What was it that I wanted us to get out of this? It had to be warm (Mrs. GT gets cold at 85 degrees). It had to be somewhere that had a lot of activities because we are not the kind of people to just lie around the beach. About this time was when I really started to get stressed about what we were going to do. All that I could think of was that I wanted to relax and I didn’t want to plan anymore. Where can one go to relax and not plan, but still see everything? That was when I decided on a cruise. Just the word cruise sounds relaxing. While the thought of being trapped on a boat didn’t exactly appeal to me, it did fit my criteria and it was the only thing that I could think of. I didn’t want the cruise to be too long so narrowing it down to where we were going was really easy. We were off to the Bahamas on a four day adventure!

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All that I had to worry about was hurricanes… and that wouldn’t be a problem, right?

Banana Republic One Day Sale

Go here to check out the sale flyer...


and don't forget to take a lookie look at their sale items! These bangles would be so cute as bridesmaid gifts, and they're less than 5 bucks each after the 30% off with free shipping!

Happy Shopping!

Ridding the Lump

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I don't know anyone else that share this sentiment, but one of the things I really looked forward to about being married was being able to pack that engagement ring away!

I have never been big on wearing jewelry, and had never dreamed about wedding rings of any kind. It was very weird to carry something so valuable on me all the time, and at the beginning it was honestly quite uncomfortable to have a thing sticking out at that odd (to me) spot on the finger! The mister offered that wearing it was not a requirement, but after leaving it at home for a couple weeks I realized that it made him quite happy to see the ring worn. So I wore it most of the time, and got mostly used to it. 22 months later though, whenever the sticky-outty part hits or snags anything, it still freaks me out a little.

Upon our return from the honeymoon, several people already asked where my e-ring went. Some folks have a hard time understanding why I wouldn't want to don it everywhere I go. While one of my bridesmaids is looking to get a second band to add to her current big rock e-ring plus blingy band combo, I'm totally digging the comfort of my simple little band. The e-ring is now safely tucked away at home, to be brought out only on special occasions. No more sticky-outty for me on da daily, whoopee! Ahh... the joys of marriage.

I'm glad the mister and I agree on that comfort comes first. Even though I would have been fine with not wearing anything at all, the symbol is important to him so this is how we compromised. But I do know many out there who would feel awkward not wearing their e-ring along with the wedding band. What do you plan on doing? Did you and your spouse agree on the ring wearing arrangement? Am I the only one out there getting odd looks for rocking only the band?

We are the Champions, My Friends

My wife (hee-hee), Mrs. GT, asked me to fill in for her on this, the ‘We did it!’ post. I readily agreed (as I generally do to her requests) and now am finding it hard to put into words what I wanted to write. Forgive me as I have never blogged before and am having a hard time performing under the pressure of the Weddingbee audience. What I really want to say is that the wedding was amazing. Everyone says that it was the best wedding that they have ever been to. It was so much fun and a great experience for everyone there, which is what we were really striving to achieve. We wanted it to be a celebration, not just a day about us. While the Mrs. and I can find things that didn’t go exactly as planned, we really couldn’t be happier with the results. To give you an example, below is the best-man performing the double-fisted champagne-spray dance. Yes, he was drinking straight from that magnum bottle.

(Photo Courtesy of MOH)

There are so many details and so many different things that I would like to say about that night but the main thing that I remember is how I felt when I saw my bride when she first walked out. It might be a cliché but she really was the only person there at that time and I was overwhelmed by how beautiful she was. She might tell you that I cried during the ceremony but I assure you that it was simply bright outside.

Like I said, it wasn’t perfect in that there were several things that didn’t go as planned. One of our vendors didn’t even show up (luckily it was a non-essential vendor but still…). Our programs made liars out of us due to the fact that another vendor didn’t provide the fireworks that were promised to us. These are the details that make for good wedding stories. People who paid attention to the programs noticed but there were so many other details that those flaws were quickly glossed over. The day was perfect in its imperfection. Fun was the word of the day. From the wedding high five (in place of the first kiss) to the ruined tuxedo- complements of a spectacular knee slide maneuver (on the dirt dance floor) performed by the best man. The atmosphere was charged with celebration.

Best of all, I am a married man now.

Outty 5000, G(T)

So this is it, kiddies! We're getting married tomorrow and things are already crazy over here! If the mister finds out I'm up here talking to you all I'm dead meat so I gotta keep this one short!

I thought I'd at least say goodbye in person, sorry the video is crap and the sound super sucks but hey, it's the thought that counts right? Here's us at the rehearsal a couple hours ago:

We'll report back in a week and a half or so, until then, you all behave!

XOXO,
G2daT ... and I'm out!

Tree of Love

I'm happy to announce the near completion of one of my favorite wedding projects - the Marriage Celebration Tree!

We requested (and sometimes begged) for wedding pictures from our married guest, along with their wedding date and a quote of their choice. Here is how we're displaying them (a few more are still in the works, and please excuse our messy garage!):
The cards are hung with mini clothespins tied to the trees with red strings. Here up front and center is a picture I adore of my FMIL and FFIL:
On the back of the picture there is the name of the couple, their wedding date, and their quote if they provided one:
As you can kinda see, some provided short and sweet notes, others gave us whole paragraphs!
For our parents and grandparents only, I want to add some kind of indicator sorta like this lil' hanging strip:Our idea is that our wedding is one shared with our guests. It is really important to us that it is a celebration of love and marriage, rather than just the joining of just us two. I hope this helps convey the message!