Because we are so grateful for our friends and family that came to celebrate in our joy, we wanted to treat them to a little piece of Aruba.  And what better way to do that than take them on a sailing and snorkeling trip!  We left this part as a surprise and announced it to everyone during our welcome dinner at The Aqua Grill. 
     The look on the faces of all our loved ones was priceless, and for that reaction alone, it was worth the money!  Besides, we knew everyone would have a blast (and we were right)!  All our guests were so excited and couldn't wait!
    

      We chose to private charter a boat through Mi Dushi, because of the great reviews and also because of the pier's location (which was right next to the Westin).  We chose the Sundown Safari package, which included up to 40 guests (with a max of 60-just pay individual prices exceeding the 40 guests), open bar, snacks, 2 snorkeling locations, and 3 hours of sailing!

     The crew was great!  They were so friendly and really showed us a fun time!  There were 3 crew members along for the ride, the captain, snorkeling expert Victor, & the bartender (I'm bad with names-sorry!). 
    

     Victor demonstrates the dos & don'ts of snokeling!  He made everyone laugh with his comedic personality!

Everyone from every age range came along for the fun, but the older ones had a harder time enjoying it just as much as the younger ones.  Lets just say I wish I added Dramamine (or barf bags) to our Welcome Bags! 

     While the husband pretended to man the boat it was  time for me to get in the water!  The first snorkeling location we stopped at, the water was a little choppy and murky, so needless to say, wasn't that great for seeing life under water.  But the second stop, was AMAZING!! (I'm sorry I can't remember the name of the shipwreck area).  There was so much underwater life:  gorgeous fish, unbelievable shipwreck, and even sea turtles!  Another friend even saw an eel (scary, but cool at the same time)!!  Snorkeling this shipwreck area was probably the most memorable part of my vacation to Aruba (besides the wedding itself)! 

     After snorkeling was done, we all enjoyed the rest of the sailing trip and watched the beautiful Aruba sunset! 

And once the boat was anchored near shore, some of the guests left on the water taxi (the older ones who got motion sickness), while the young ones stayed in anticipation to use the rope swing!

     After the whole excursion came to an end, we all walked back to the Westin from the De Palm Pier and took the opportunity to take some amazing shots with the sunset!  Here's all my girls & I taking that big leap for the cameras!  So beautiful!

     The whole day was amazing!  I'm glad the hubby & I chose to do this sailing & snorkeling excursion for everyone!  It's the least we could do for them since they came to Aruba for our wedding!  It was such a wonderful time and will forever be lasting memories.

     The BIG DAY is all about you and the new husband to be, but the morning of, its all about you and your girls!  I'm so grateful for the girls that came to stand by my side while I say "I do."  So the morning of the big day my girls and myself got together for some QT and before heading down to breakfast, I showed the girls just how much I appreciate them.

     These H&M bags consisted of a monogrammed robe, spa hotel slippers, a Coach makeup kit, monogrammed hangers, a Swarovski starfish necklace, & survival kits I DIY'ed.

     The husband & I thought that the necklace was a perfect gift.  A gift that would always remind them of their time in Aruba. The necklace was purchased from our local Swarovski boutique.  The necklace has 2 starfish (one all sterling silver and the other white with colorful Swarovski crystals) hanging from a sterling silver chain. 
     The robe was from Target and I purchased the rhinestone monogram from an Etsy seller.  This project was easy and turned something so traditional into something so personal!
     The monogram hanger I did using the same concept from my fauxligraphy.

     The Coach makeup kit consisted of a nail kit (only $2 at Michael's), Nivea hand creme ($1 from The Dollar Store), & Bath & Body antibacterial ($1).  Your gifts don't have to be all that expensive, it's just the thought that counts, right?
    I might add that the Coach makeup bag was from a Coach Outlet.  Because I went to the outlet on a weekend they were having an extra 20% off all sale items, I only got them for $25 a piece....great deal huh!?

     These survival kits were a cute, fun project.  The first kit I added antibacterial wipes, makeup remover, Shout wipes, blotting sheets, lip gloss, tissue, & a packet labeled "to hold it in place" which held bobby pins, double sided tape, & safety pins.  I made the label and stapled it to the Ziploc bag.
     Because I made these for the girls, I wanted to make a "survival kit" for the guys.  So I decided to use mini alcohol bottles for the gents (mini Jack Daniels, Jager, Absolute, & Capt. Morgan).  And because I did this for the guys, I couldn't help not doing them for the girls (I used Coco Rum, Firefly, Absolute Mandarin, & Parrot Bay-you know girlie drinks).

     The girls enjoyed all of it and I enjoyed watching them get into it!  It's like kids on Christmas morning!  So after the gift gifting, we went down for some good eats and relaxing massages (another gift I gave the girls!)

     Some might say I went all out, but for these girls I would do anything!  Besides, the upside to having a small bridal party is the gift of giving can go on and on and on and....you get the point!
     What do you plan on giving your girls to show your thanks for being a part of your special day?

     The fiance had a craving for chocolate chip cookies and had the brilliant idea of making them instead of buying them from Whole Foods like we normally do!  So we found a chocolate chip cookie recipe from Food Network, noticed that we had all the ingredients and it was listed as "easy," so why not!  This also gave us a chance to bust out our new registry gifts that we accumulated from our wedding shower! 

     I did the mixing (thanks Carl & Charisma for the mixer), so that I wouldn't get my hands dirty.  Can't mess up the manicure (I know, so girly right?!)  I left the messy work to Jeff, he molded the dough and placed them on our new Calphalon cookie sheets (thanks Joyce & Paul)!

It only took about 12 minutes and they were done!  The whole house smelt of sweet heaven!  The cookies were calling my name as they sat on the new cookie rack (thanks again Joyce & Paul)!

After cooling off, Jeff and I indulged in a couple of cookie goodness!  YUMMY!  Baking together was actually fun, but not the cleaning up part!  
Did you use your wedding gifts prior to your wedding?

     Remember my post about my obsession with airplanes?  Well I finally got the stamp I was looking for, for FREE!!  I found it on Addicted to Rubber Stamps for $1.29, found a coupon code online and got the stamp for free (I just had to pay for shipping)!

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     I hand made all the cards and then stamped away!  Before the image dried I embossed it and I love the way it turned out.  I then added the heart in the center to give it a little more flavor!

     The "Bon Vonyage" was made from my Cricut and I just added embellishments from my scrapbook supplies.

Here are all four cards that I made for each 'maid!   I'll be mailing this to them in a box with their passport covers and luggage tags that I purchased from Michael's!  This was just another way to get the girls excited about their trip!

What do you think?  Would you be excited to receive this in the mail too!?

     I thought it was only appropriate to shower my girls with goodie bags for my bachelorette party, since they did travel miles to be with me!  Besides, I love surprises (remember, giving them, not receiving them)!  So in the last few days before my party, I decided to make personalized water bottles, personalized champagne bottles, champagne glass charms, & chocolate chip cookies.

I wrapped 4 chocolate chip cookies in tissue paper, I liked to say that I baked them but of course no busy bride has time for that!

    "Friends are the chocolate chips in the cookies of life!"

I made the little thank you cards, each card having a different message!  I embossed the silver ring and used a heart punch!  I tried to get real crafty has much as I could!

"Just in Case..."  included gum, Tylenol, and a condom!  The condom was unnecessary, but it got the girls to laugh, which was the purpose!

Here's the mini champagne bottles, all bought for $4 from Total Wine.  I personalized it with a label that read "Jing's Last Fling Before the Ring!  Atlantic City March 2010"  I left the front label on and removed the back label and replaced it with my own personalized label.

I also added personalized water bottles, which were a hit!  I got the template from Ruffledblog.com.  The template was easy to download and it was easy to fix to my liking!  We'll also be using this template for our OOT bags for the wedding!

The girls loved it all!  The reactions on their faces were priceless and that was gift enough for me!
What did you do for your girls to show your appreciation?

     I just found this picture and I feel in love!  I know you hear me say that a lot, but its true!  During my wedding planning our MAC and the Web have been my vice (just ask my fiance)!  Anyway, when I was thinking about what I wanted to stuff in our OOT bags, I thought it would be neat to add some Virginia flair to it since that's where we live together.  Thinking of things that were "Virginia,"  ham was the first thing that came to mind, but whose gonna give that as a gift?!  Not me!  Then I thought PEANUTS!!  That would be a not-so-much-hassle thing to bring right?!  So in my search I found this today! 

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     Isn't it too cute?  Now I just have to look for the sack and stop by our local Virginia Store (another excuse to go to the mall and shop)!  Don't you just love it when when you get inspired by others!? 
     Oh yeah, do you think this will be a problem at the airport or customs!?  I hope not 'cause I'm lovin' the idea!

    There are certain things that you can say aren't wedding etiquette and I hope forgoing the idea of handing out wedding favors isn't one of them.  I never intended on giving favors at our wedding 'cause I thought it would be too much trouble to pack them to Aruba, let alone the costs of something that will likely be thrown away later.  But a couple months ago I came across another Aruba bride who got married this past October.  She came up with the idea of taking her guests on an excursion in lieu of favors.  I thought that was a brilliant idea-so I stole it, ok borrowed! 
     After doing the research of pros and cons, getting estimated costs, and company comparisons, I presented the idea to the fiance!  I thought it was a great plan, but then he shut it down with a quickness!  He complained we were already spending too much money!  I was so sad, really sad!
     This past weekend, I brought up the idea again at our marriage retreat (the most opportune time-since we're "putting everything out on the table").  I put on my sad face and asked him again if we could gift our family and friends with a 3 hour sailing excursion (open bar, snorkeling, snacks, and tons of FUN included-oh I know right, how could he say no in the first place?!) and he answered, "OK if it makes you happy?!  But agree that there will be nothing else added!?"  I soon agreed and did my happy dance!  I'm so excited about it and can't wait to surprise our guest when they read it in our Welcome Letter!
     Thanks goes out to Christine (the other Aruba bride) for the idea and the recommendation!  We chose to charter a private boat from Mi Dushi.  It'll be a 3 hour sunset excursion, full of good times with great family and friends!  It's all booked and paid for so there's no turning back fiance! 
     Do you like giving surprises?  Are you surprising your guests with anything for your wedding?

     A vision came to me before I went to bed last night and I couldn't stop thinking about it all day!  It's airplanes!  That's right, I've been thinking about airplanes all day, so when I have a vision, I'm all about it until I find it.  My intention is to hand make cards for my BMs with a little parting gift I found from Michael's Arts & Crafts.  To get my 'maids excited for the trip to Aruba I purchased passport covers and luggage tags for each one! 

But I also want to include a Thank You card with an airplane on the front cover (I'll post this once it's done)!  So can you see my dilemma and why I've been thinking about airplanes?  I first looked for stickers, but then it came to me that I should use a stamp instead so I can make goodie bags (with an airplane on the bag) for departing guests at check out!!  I'm so stoked, are you getting my vision now?

I found one that I really, really, really like, but it's from 3 years ago (picture below)

Then I found this on Etsy, but I really just want the plane!

Then I came across these tags in my search, also on Etsy.  So I convo'ed the seller and asked where the stamp was from.  I hope she shares her secret!

I just want my vision to come full circle.  Was there a project or a minor detail that you spent all day contemplating!?  Nerve racking isn't it?