I found out today from a co-worker that our wedding is featured on an Arubian website, visitaruba.com, how exciting is that!?  Out of all the weddings that were taken place on the picturesque island, they chose to feature ours!  I had no idea they were going to do this so thanks to my friend who was just surfing the net for her next vacation spot. 

     See on the right side under Latest Aruba News... Jeff & I are that Virginia couple!  Eekkss, we're famous, well not really but we're very flattered!  So check out the site to read a little wedding excerpt and see a couple of our wedding pictures!
                                       OUR ARUBA WEDDING
     Oh yeah and they featured our Welcome Dinner at Aqua Grill as well!  Aruba LOVES us just as much as we love them!     
                                       OUR WELCOME DINNER
     Did you come across any good surprises after your wedding?

     So you read the post about me finding 'The One' and now is the time to show her off!  Without further ado here's my Jim Hjelm 8950.

     I just love the neckline of the dress and its form fitting style.  This dress was very much me.  Though it have been a little challenging getting into the dress, it was all worth it in the end!

     The dress really did show off my 'ass'ets, but there's nothing wrong with that right!?  With this train I ended up with a french bustle, which looked gorgeous during the reception, and might I add worked well during our first dance (stay tuned for that post)!

     Though the dress might not be beach appropriate, it was me, and that's what it's really all about right!  It's all about me & 'The One' (and I do mean the hubby this time)!

     Did your dress reflect your style or was it something totally not you, but still fell in love with it?

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     The day before our beach wedding, the hubby & I followed our photographers around the gorgeous island of Aruba to "Trash the Dress!"  It was probably the best part of the entire trip!  Scott, Adina, & Hunter's talent are beyond words and their photos are jaw dropping gorgeous!   
     The anticipated email finally arrived today!  Our pictures have been blogged by the ever talented Hayne Photographers!  I just wanted to share with you the fabulous pictures and to let everyone know how much we highly recommend the Haynes as photographers!  Not only are they talented, but they are truly sincere, down to earth people, who Jeff and I consider great friends after sharing this wonderful milestone in our lives!!  Much love goes to them and they're work!!
     So check out the blog...
http://www.scotthayneblog.com/aruba-beach-wedding-photographer-photography-destination-filipino/

     Now that its all over, I wanna show off the dress!!  I've been waiting to blog about it for quite sometime, but then I was too scared the fiance might see it, plus I wanted our guests to be a little surprised!  In the beginning months of wedding planning, I was always flipping through bridal magazine and Jim Hjelm's dress designs always caught my eye!  So despite the costs, I was determined to walk down the aisle in Jim Hjelm!
     Every girl envisions how they would look walking down the aisle to meet their future husband, right?!  Well I pictured myself in something romantic, a trumpet or mermaid style dress (a dress that'll show off my 'ASS'ets (heehee)!   At first I feel in love with this one, an all lace number, it's so classic & elegant, wouldn't you agree?

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     But when I tried it on, it wasn't quite what I pictured.  I basically looked like a doily, as my sister would say!  So this dress was out of the running!  Next dress, I tried...

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...a gorgeous modified A-line with a floral one strap.  Stunning isn't it, but this dress didn't quite bring me tears of joy or the over excitement of finding 'The One.'  I could sense that finding my dress was getting closer.
     So then the bridal consultant showed me this baby...

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     OMG, it was love at first sight!!!  It's everything I imagined I would wear walking down that sandy aisle & saying "I DO" under the Arubian sun!  After trying this baby on and getting the smiling approval of my mother, mother in law to be and my loving sister, I knew it was meant for me!  Though there were no tears of joy, there was utter happiness and lots of jumping for joy, seriously lots of jumping!   
    
     So after months of waiting for the dress to come in and then the fittings to follow, I carefully (hand) carried this beaut to Aruba!  The dress made it safely to paradise and I rocked it out!  I couldn't have seen myself in something more gorgeous or more ME, than THIS dress!   

     Stay tuned for the debut of the me and "THE ONE!"
     Did you end up in a dress that you envisioned from the beginning or did you go with something totally different than what you imagined?   

     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?

     Here is a closer look at the Welcome book I added to the OOT bags.

     Below are 2 of the pages that I added to the welcome book so that our guests were in the know about our events for the weekend.  If you plan on making an itinerary, making welcome books are so fun and easy.  For you Aruba brides, if you'd like the pages just ask me and I'll email them to you!  I added maps of Aruba (geographical, hotel, & restaurant maps), Aruba info, a thank you note, photoshare site info, guest room phone list, & Papiamento/English translation, so thats 13 pages total. 
  

  I bought plastic photo albums from the Dollar Store and printed the pages on linen paper and cut the page in 4s.  I informed the guests to turn the Welcome Book into a photo book after vacay, so that's a 2 for 1 deal!

Here is some Aruba info I added...Weather, transportation, phone calls, just the island basics!

     How do you plan on informing your guests of your wedding events?

     We had family travel from NJ, NY, VA, GA, SC, and even PI (Philippines)!  The event wouldn't be the same without all of them there so to thank them all for coming and welcoming them to the island of Aruba, my Mother-in-law and I put these bags together with the help of others. 

     The canvas bags were printed in the Philippines, thanks to our Uncle & Auntie, who brought them to the states upon their arrival.  They also printed swim suit bags (his & hers) and bought fans to add to the bags. 

I also added Tylenol, First Aid kits (which we're actually used by a lot of our guests), gum, granola bars, personalized water bottles, postcards (in lieu of a guestbook), a welcome book I DIY'ed, an Aruba booklet, & a Westin itinerary.  Antibacterial & luggage tags hung from the bag handles as well!

     Here's the bag and all its contents!  Jeff & I personally handed each one during our welcome/rehearsal dinner and it was a huge hit, everyone loved it! 

What did you give your guests as a thank you for coming to your event?  If you had OOT bags, what did you include in them?

     Jeff and I have always been Westin fans, but this room by far was our favorite, after all it was our honeymoon/bridal suite!  Check it out and take a tour with me...
     Walking into the suite, you have a living room area with a sleeper sofa and a flat screen television.  In this area there was also a balcony, a smaller one of the 2 in the room.

     Here's the bedroom area.  Jeff & I love HEAVENLY BEDS (this is partly the reason why Jeff & I are Westin fans)!  But the balcony area is what made this room!  It was wonderful waking up to sunshine in the morning! 

     We had a visitor waiting for us when we arrived!

The view was gorgeous from our room!

The view of the right side of the balcony.

The view to the left of the balcony and below.  Here's the pool area of the Westin Resort.  The morning I was getting ready for the wedding I found some friends & family doing an aqua aerobics class.  Just seeing them having a great time (they caught me watching them and waved) just brought a huge smile to my face (and a tear to my eye)!

Another beautiful view of the island!  I enjoyed the sunrise and breeze every morning on this balcony (how can you not?)!  It makes me sad that I'm not there anymore!

     Here's the bathroom with his & her sinks, a standing shower and tub, and not to mention my own makeup vanity! 

     So as you can see, our living arrangements for a week were very accommodating!  We enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait to come back to it next year!

     The hubby and I are so glad we chose the Westin to host our wedding extravaganza.  They truly went above and beyond for us and we can't thank them enough!  Our wedding coordinator, Patrick, did an amazing job.  He was always on point with communication through email, answering all our questions in a timely manner (even to say he received our email and he'll get back to us shortly).  I often here of brides in Aruba having communication problems with wedding coordinators or planners, but that was NEVER the case for us!
     As soon as we arrived in Aruba, we were greeted by our driver, Patrick set up car service to pick us up (& drop us off) from the airport (another Westin perk).  Soon after, the hubby and I checked in, we were hooked up with a Suite (living area and bedroom, shower & separate tub, 2 oceanfront balconies, & a king size Heavenly Bed).  We were also upgraded to free breakfast every morning (another perk added by the Westin).  After checking our our living situation for a week, a nice gift was delivered to our room... champagne and a beautiful card from Inge & Patrick, how thoughtful!  A nice way to start of vacay!
     Jeff & I met with Patrick for our pre-wedding meeting, where we discussed details of the ceremony & reception and any other last minute details.  I had given him my DIY projects (escort cards, programs, flip flop basket, menus, table names, etc) and instructions of where and how to place them.  We walked around the property and did a quick run through of all that would happen on our big day!  The meeting was very helpful and reassuring for Jeff & myself, so we enjoyed the rest of our days prior to the wedding in the sun! 
      The big day finally arrived and it was PERFECT with a little bump but nothing that ruined the day!  A crazy thing happened as my girls and I were about to take the elevator down to the beach for the ceremony....the POWER went out on the whole island...eekkss!!!  I have to be honest, I did freak out for a minute, but luckily the generators kicked in, I was able to take the elevator down and walk down the sandy aisle!  Unfortunately the microphones didn't work on the beach, but it didn't stop us from saying our vows!
     Patrick, was the hero of the day, making sure everything was being taking care of with having no power.  I must say, he rocked it out!  I'm sure he was stressed, but he didn't show it or let me know it which relieved a lot of stress on my part. 
     After the ceremony, the bridal party took pictures while our guests enjoyed the sunset cocktail hour with the sounds of the steel pan player.  It was a gorgeous night, not too hot and the wind wasn't crazy (for those brides worried about the wind, it was fine-my veil stayed in place!)
     The reception was the best part of the night!  Patrick made sure everything was in place before the guests arrived.  He even got security to buy some citronella candles and OFF spray for our guests (we never noticed the mosquitos until that evening, must have been because of the power outage).  That was a sweet gesture, even our photographers captured the moment when our guests sprayed repellent on themselves! 
     The reception setup was perfect, Patrick did the setup as asked and everything was in place! He stayed for the whole wedding party just to make sure everything was going as planned!  We are so thankful to have worked with Patrick and we couldn't have asked for anyone better!  So Patrick, if your reading this...THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!  YOU ROCK!! 

     The husband (I like the sound of that) and I just got back from the beautiful island of Aruba!  We can't put into words the amazing time we had this past week!  We had a great time with all our family and friends and we're hoping they did too!  We're so glad that we picked Aruba to host our wedding, the island is so gorgeous with its turquoise waters, blue skies, and beautiful sunsets!  I'll soon post reviews and stories of all we did in Aruba, but for now I have to unpack and enjoy this time home with the hubby!  Stay tuned!