The Post with Everything Wedding-Related :)

I have finally finished my mad blogging marathon to record all of the details from the wedding extravaganza. Mike and I are so thankful for the outpouring of love and support that we received surrounding our wedding. We praise Jesus for the gifts of friendship and family. We are humbled by the faint picture that our earthly wedding reflects of the greater wedding feast to come. We are excited about our new life as husband and wife, and praise Jesus that we get to walk this life together, serving our Savior.

I hope you are not too overwhelmed by all of the details and that this post serves to direct you to only the things you want to see (or not see). There's A LOT of info and pictures. But I think it's kind of a big deal :) And I want to be sure to have a good record of everything. Plus, it was fun to re-live all of the wedding fun!

So here it is...the post with everything wedding-related :)

{Pre-Wedding Fun} All the things I couldn't or didn't have time to blog about before the wedding...

Chapter 1: The Dress!
Chapter 2: Using That Event Planning Background
Chapter 3: Hair Trial in San Antonio
Chapter 4: Bachelorette Party
Chapter 5: Mom Time :)
Chapter 6: Practice Makes Perfect

{Our Wedding Story}  Not to be confused with a small novel...

Chapter 1: Bridesmaid Luncheon
Chapter 2: Getting Ready!
Chapter 3: Saying "I Do"
Chapter 4: The Wedding Party
Chapter 5: Party Time, Round 1
Chapter 6: Sweet Moments...
Chapter 7: Party Time, Round 2
Chapter 8: The Outtakes :)

**As a fun BONUS, our photographer blogged about our wedding day over on her blog. She is the lovely lady (along with her sweet husband!) that gets the credit for a majority of these oh-so-wonderful photos. Her blog post is a little shorter than my 8 blog posts haha, so you may want to head over there for the shorter (though still very FULL) version. Jillian, thank you AGAIN for EVERYTHING! :)

{Our Honeymoon} Cancun awesomeness...

Chapter 1: Vamos a Cancun
Chapter 2: The Excellence Way
Chapter 3: Cancun Adventures

{Our Honeymoon} Chapter 3: Cancun Adventures

While we were in Cancun, we had the opportunity to take a couple of excursions. We are so thankful that we were able to take these excursions, as people were extremely generous with their wedding gifts. We definitely enjoyed every minute and have some fun memories!

For the first excursion, we headed to a place called Xel Ha, which is a natural aquarium about 2 hours south of Cancun. Here, the fresh water from an underground river and the warmer waters from the ocean meet, and they have built a tourist spot around it. We had become fairly accustomed to the "all-inclusive" nature of the resort, so this excursion was just right for us, as it too was all-inclusive.

We spent the day snorkeling/floating/shivering down the river :)

We didn't see a ton of fish, but we did see a barracuda...

We had met a sweet couple at the resort who were also on their honeymoon. Jared and Carla had planned an excursion to Isla Mujeres and were generous enough to let us tag along. We took a ferry ride out to the island, where we had a full day of activities waiting for us.

Heading out on the ferry with Jared and Carla

The water was so BLUE!

When we arrived at the island, we headed straight for our appointment to swim with the dolphins! It was a lot of fun, and we really enjoyed it. There was something exciting, yet equally terrifying at the same time, about being in the water with such a big mammal.Our dolphin, Fatima, needed a little encouragement at first before she warmed up to our group. We were able to feel her skin, teeth, and tongue, get a kiss, and take a couple of rides with her during our swim (one where we could hold on to her flippers, and another where she came from behind and pushed our feet with her nose for a ride on a boogie board). I wish we had pictures to show you. There were some good ones. But sadly, we were not allowed to take pictures with our own cameras and the price they were asking was just too much. So we will just have to remember our fun experience without fun images...

But here are some pictures of the island...

I want to go back....

Looking at Cancun from Isla Mujeres...

We also had the opportunity to zip line while we were on the island. The zip line people kept asking if I was scared. At each new platform I told them, "Nope. I'm excited!" Thankfully, I am not afraid of heights, and it was pretty awesome to zip line over a beautiful tropical ocean.

I mean, really. How incredible is that view??

Excited to zip line!

We spent the rest of the day snorkeling and hanging out on the beach.

We had a great day, and we are thankful for our honeymoon friends!

{Our Honeymoon} Chapter 2: The Excellence Way

We had the incredible opportunity of staying at the Excellence Playa Mujeres resort in Cancun, Mexico. Mike had been to one of their sister properties for a friend's wedding, so we decided to check out the Playa Mujeres resort for our honeymoon. I had never been to an all-inclusive resort, and let me just say- I am a complete fan! It was so nice to be on a vacation and not have to worry about the $ we were spending...because a set amount was already spent and everything was included! For my little Type-A brain...definitely. worth. it.

The resort was beautiful and we loved our room! Mike made me pose in different parts of the room, so ignore my awkwardness and enjoy the tour :)

In-room hot tub...

Bathroom...

Outdoor lounge chair...

With 7 restaurants on the property and 24 hour room service, we certainly had no lack of food. And since everything was included, we enjoyed a lot of fun food :) Not sure which entree to choose? Try them both! Want some ice cream? Grab a cone on the way back from the pool from the convenient walkway dispenser. Hungry for chocolate cake in the middle of the night? Order room service!

There were also fun perks for being honeymooners...romantic room setup, dinner for two, breakfast in bed...

There were a lot of activities throughout the week- pottery classes, sports tournaments, concerts/shows, etc. Mike played poker one afternoon and we rented jet skis another, but mostly we spent our time at the beach...

We got some reading in...

...some sunbathing and a few naps on the beach...

...and of course there were plenty of fun drinks had by all...

Bahama Mama, please!

...some more naps... (according to Mike this is how I spent our honeymoon, and unfortunately, the evidence would seem to be stacked against me haha)

We definitely enjoyed our time at the resort, and we are SO grateful that we got to celebrate our honeymoon in this way. We were sad to leave, but we have some great memories from our trip!

Twinkies :)

{Our Honeymoon} Chapter 1: Vamos a Cancun

And now to the part of our story that includes.... Our Honeymoon  :)

After all of the wedding festivities (as fun as they were), Mike and I were definitely ready for our honeymoon. We stayed at the Hotel Palomar for the first 2 nights, which was great! Since we had the 2nd reception on Saturday night, it was nice not to have to jump on a plane right after our wedding reception. We were able to relax and breathe a little after the whirlwind wedding week, and just enjoy our first day of being married. But we were definitely excited to head to Cancun on Sunday!

This was our first vacation, so it was fun to travel together! We joked the whole week about how it was the longest uninterrupted time we had spent together :) While we were waiting for our flights...

...we grabbed some food...

...admired our new bling...

...took some photos...

...checked out facebook to see the pictures friends had posted from our wedding...

...and even made some new friends... (Ignore Mike's foot. Mike struck up a conversation with the girl in the background about iPad vs. Nook and we learned that she and her husband- who is behind Mike's foot- were also on their honeymoon. And were also future church planters. So awesome.)

The flights went by quickly, as we were able to enjoy a few movies on Mike's new iPad.

Bienvenidos a Cancun!

We arrived in Cancun and were greeted by our driver- bottled water and wet towel in hand.

We drove through the city and headed closer to the coast. After about a 30 minute drive and a scenic tour of downtown Cancun, we arrived at the resort. We were super excited about the week ahead!

{Our Wedding Story} Chapter 8: The Outtakes :)

Our story just wouldn't be complete without the outtakes :) I hope you enjoy these funny moments as much as we do. Because while there were countless sweet moments, the day was made perfect because of fun moments like these...

Dancing M&Ms!

This girl has way too much going on to be bothered by some crazy hair and a curling iron...

No clue what was so funny. But I'm the only one who thinks so. Apparently.

Such a sad face haha.

Laugh and be goofy? Check.

What's a pose that defines your friendship? I've got a "Sic 'em" and a "Surprise Faces!"

Aww...sibling love. And awkwardness....?

Ummm...yeah.

Hehe. Poor Paul. We love you! :)

Mike looks good. And then you notice his best men...

Again, not sure what's so funny. And again, I think it's WAY more funny than anyone else...

Well, I thought this would be a sweet picture. Little did I know...

Haha- super cute!

Literally, LOL. Oh dad...

Bolivar holds a special place in our hearts.

Mike and my grandma. ??

Mike's dad looks lost. Laura looks annoyed. My mom looks disgusted. My dad just had to close his eyes. And apparently, Mike thinks it's hilarious. 

He. Was. Done.

I probably spent 10 minutes surveying everyone's face/expression. Totally. Worth. It.

"A joyful heart is good medicine..."

~ Proverbs 17:22a

Our wedding day was filled with joy and laughter; thank you Jesus for such fun blessings!