Monthly Archives: May 2008
Honeymoon in St. Lucia
| May 15, 2008 | Posted by Angela under Family Stuff, My Travel Adventures |
It’s been 2 weeks since our honeymoon but it seems like 2 years ago! Work has been crazy for both Jason and I so we just haven’t had a chance to reminisce. But before I forget the entire trip, I need to blog about our adventure.
Jason and I are adventurous travelers. We enjoy the beach but we get antsy to go do other stuff too. Initially we wanted to do Costa Rica but it was rainy season so they said we might not be able to do a lot of things. I was working with Anne from Odyssey Travel and she is awesome. I am the type of person that likes to plan my entire trip, find good rates, nice hotels, things to do, etc. I love that stuff! But with wedding planning, I barely had time to put much thought into our honeymoon planning. So that’s where Anne helped out.
Sandals was running a special on a bunch of their resorts on various Caribbean islands. St. Lucia was the only one that had a volcano and rain forest so that is why we chose that island. We did an all inclusive package, our first time doing that.
We flew into Atlanta and had a direct flight from Atlanta to the island. It was about a 5 hour flight. St. Lucia is way down south right above Trinidad and Venezuela. It is 27 miles by 14 miles with about 130,00 people.
The island is very lush; lots of green. Their economy depends heavily on tourism and banana plantations. There were bananas everywhere! They even sell banana ketchup, which I tried and liked so I bought some. It’s not sweet though, it’s got a kick to it.
Our resort was very nice and had everything you needed. We had a first floor room right next to the main pool. Our patio was in a garden and faced the spa. We also had a rec center next to us so Jason and I played a lot of ping pong.
We did the spa one day, a tour of the island another day and a zip through the rain forest another day. The other days were spent laying out on the beach and visiting some of the other resorts because we had a free shuttle.
The zip through the rain forest was so much fun! The put you in a harness and hook you up to a rope and you zip from tree to tree. One zip was the length of 8 football fields! It’s such a great way to experience the rain forest because you are above the trees and can look down to see everything.
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The water of course was beautiful. We did a boat ride around the island on a catamaran. We stopped in one area to do snorkeling. When the boat stopped, from afar, you could see all these people in canoes coming from shore to the boats. They were selling goods such as jewelry and handicrafts and even coconuts. The coconut man, as I call him, was selling 2 coconuts for $5. We only had a $20 so we ended up buying coconuts for the entire boat. We made the coconut man very happy.
We did take a trip to the volcano. We saw the bubbling lava which was pretty interesting (and smelly). They have technology in place to anticipate an eruption so people can evacuate. It would affect half the island if it did erupt.
We also saw a part of the island that was in a scene of Pirates of the Carribean. You can see it in this picture.
The locals are very nice people. Everyone is friendly. The crime rate there is very low. And actually, while we were there, there was a tragic shooting of a police officer. The first one in the history of the island. So that was the talk of the island while we were there.
I drank lots of rum punch, the local favorite. I also brought back some real spiced rum, like there are spices in the rum bottle. Being such a lush island, there are so many spices that grow all over the place. I brought back some cinnamon, nutmeg and cocoa. Good stuff.
Overall, our experience was very good. Ultimately, it was nice to get away for a week and not get a signal to our Blackberries.
A Fiesta Wedding
| May 8, 2008 | Posted by Angela under Family Stuff, Local Places & Events |
It’s official. I am married! What a year it has been preparing for that one special day. We had a wonderful wedding on Saturday, April 19th, the kick off weekend for Fiesta San Antonio.
As stated in a previous blog entry, Jason proposed to me on the night of March 9th, 2007 on Pier 39 in San Francisco. When we announced the news to everyone the next morning, we received two comments: “Congratulations!” and “So when is the wedding?” So I guess we were going to have a wedding.
I always imagined myself getting married one day but I never imagined what my wedding would be like. I never had a particular vision of what I wanted. This could be good and bad. Good in the sense that since you don’t have certain expectations for particular things in your wedding, you are more likely not to get let down if something doesn’t go right. Bad in the sense that if you don’t make the decisions, everyone else will try to make them for you and that can turn into sticky situations.
We first set the date. We wanted to do a wedding in the spring and preferably during Fiesta week. Jason and I celebrate Fiesta every year together so we thought it would be fun and memorable to have it during this time. Also, when our out of town guests came in, they had other activities they could do while visiting.
Everything else seemed to fall into place.
The Rehearsal Dinner at Paesano’s in Lincoln Heights
We had the loveliest rehearsal dinner anyone could ask for. It was a three-course meal in a private dining room at Paesano’s, a well-known San Antonio Italian restaurant. Jason’s mother made individual place settings for everyone. She made hand-sewn bags with our initials on them. In them were mini wine bottles with our pictures on them, cheese sampling, cheese slicer and crackers. There were also personalized wine glasses and hand crafted candles that were shaped as roses with a saying for each rose color. It was beautiful! And the food was outstanding. The most special thing of the entire event was that Jason’s parents chose Paesano’s because that was where they first met me.
I remember that day clearly. Jason and I were just friends at the time and he wanted to introduce me to his parents. So I chose Paesano’s because they wanted Italian.
The Rehearsal Dinner was perfect and it was a perfect preparation for the big day.
The Ceremony at St. Mary’s Church Downtown
Of course we wanted to have our ceremony at the church we belong to,
St. Mary’s Church downtown. April 19th was the only date they had available and perfect because it was Fiesta kick off weekend so we booked it.
This Church is unlike most churches. Built in 1852, it is in the heart of downtown San Antonio. The architecture is so unique and beautiful and really a sight to see.
The Reception Venue at Pearl Stables
For our reception we chose Pearl Stables, a
recently refurbished venue. It was built in 1894 and served as a home for the Pearl Brewery’s draft horses. We chose this venue because of its unique architecture and antique feel. You didn’t need decorations in this building because it was beautiful as it was. April 19th was open so we booked it.
The Wedding Gown – Alfred Angelo
I started with my wedding dress. Everyone says that your dress will set the tone for your wedding. I received a $250 coupon for Alfred Angelo Bridal via email. Since I didn’t even know where to start, I figured it was a sign that I should just start there. I went to their website to get an idea of what they had to offer. I knew the exact dress I wanted to try on right when I got there. I tried on a few dresses but the one I loved the most was the first one I tried on. I did go to other bridal shops such as the Bridal Salon and Debi’s Bridal but went back to Alfred Angelo for 2 reasons: I felt the quality of the dress I tried on was better and I felt the service was better. I ended up purchasing the first dress I tried on.
My dress was part of the Piccione line at Alfred Angelo and it was a mermaid style dress. I loved it, it was perfect.
The Catering – Page Barteau Catering
We wanted an upscale, sophisticated meal with exceptional service. There are many big name catering companies in San Antonio and we received quotes from most of them. We chose Page Barteau although they weren’t one of the big names. When we received quotes from most of the big name catering companies, they never followed up 2-3 weeks later to see what we thought or what decision we had made. Page followed up. Although they work on many events, they made you feel like you were the only client they were working on. Our tasting experience was great, the food was great and the staff was great too. They really had that personal touch, yet they were professional. Another plus was that they could do the flowers and decor.
I am not a big flower person so I wanted something simple on the tables. I didn’t want this huge floral piece where you weren’t able to see the person across from you. We chose huge clear vases that were full of fresh limes and water and one lily curved inside the vase. Simple but made a statement.
We chose salmon and filet mignon for the dinner portion. We served mojitos, 3 different beers and white wine from the open bars.
The Cake – Buono Dolce Desserts
I prefer taste over presentation but it’s nice to have both. We went with a company called Buono Dolce mainly for convenience. Their cakes tasted great. Their presentation, eh, ok I guess. So the key for me was to go with something simple and traditional. White on white with classic piping. We bought a beautiful, modern cake topper. It was two joined silver hearts with crystals lined up on the corners. The groom’s cake was a traditional chocolate cake with tuxedo strawberries. They did a fantastic job on the presentation and of course the cake was tasty!
The Band – Texas Chili Peppers
My family likes to dance so music was a major decision for our wedding. Not knowing where to start, we just looked up various gigs in San Antonio and started scoping bands out. Jason and I and my parents went to Pasion Restaurant one night to check out a band called the Texas Chili Peppers. It was five piece band and they put on quite a show. We looked them up on-line and saw that they had been playing together for 10 years and they did weddings all the time. Also, their playlist was a very wide variety. They could play anything from Pop to Rock to Tejano, it was just what we needed. I cannot commend the Texas Chili Peppers enough. I didn’t even give them a playlist because I didn’t have enough time. They had the guests dancing from 8pm to midnight sharp. There was only one song that not everyone danced to. Everything else, the dance floor was packed.
More Music – Mariachi’s
Mariachi’s are a San Antonio tradition. We needed mariachi’s at the Church and at the reception. We had mariachi’s play as we exited the Church at the end of the mass. We also had them play during the cocktail hour at the reception and for Jason and I as we made a grand entrance into the reception.
The PhotoBooth – TNT Photobooth
So this was a last minute idea. When I went to the bridal extravaganza, I saw a vendor (TNT Photobooth) that rented out photobooths for events. I thought it was cool but it wasn’t within our budget so I forgot about it. As the wedding got closer, I started stressing over if everyone would have a good time. I remembered the photobooth so I looked them up and contacted them. They had the 19th open and they were running a special for the month of April. We went ahead and booked them and thank goodness we did! Besides the band, this was seriously the biggest hit the entire night. Everyone made their way to the photobooth and put their pictures into a scrap book where they could write messages for Jason and I. It was so awesome and I am so happy we did it. Check the pictures out here: http://tntphotobooths.com/clients/0419087408/strips_color.html
The Wedding Favors – The Fiesta Medals
Ok, this was also another huge hit for the wedding. Fiesta week is a San Antonio tradition. It is a week of celebration to honor the heroes of the Alamo and the diverse cultures of San Antonio. One tradition of Fiesta are Fiesta medals. People will collect medals that represent certain things. They will wear them on their shirts, as sash or even a hat throughout Fiesta week. So since we were having a Fiesta Wedding, why not have a Fiesta Wedding Medal? So we did and it was such a fabulous idea. We went through a local company, Hot Promotionals. We told them what we wanted and they sketched it out perfectly. It was a man and a woman dancing with confetti splattered around them. A Fiesta Wedding 2008, Jason and Angela is what it read. Everyone loved them and actually wore them at the wedding and throughout Fiesta week.
The Photography – JMark Photography
This has to be one of the most important decisions you make for your entire wedding preparation. The pictures will are all you have to remember your wedding day so you want them to express your wedding day as clear and as real as possible. I went to J Mark Photography based on a referral. They are out of Round Rock, TX and I went to meet with them at their home. They are a husband and wife and photography was their business. They had done many weddings before so I was able to see their portfolio. Their work was very high quality. I liked them because they had that personal touch, yet they were professional. Their pricing was also reasonable. They don’t through in a lot of extra costs, they give you want what you want.
I am happy we chose them. They did a fantastic job.
Based on what our guests said, we had an awesome wedding. I know Jason and I had a good time! It’s sad that you plan for such a long time for something that occurs for one day. It goes by way too fast. Jason and I did a good job with dancing and visiting with people. It’s tough being the center of attention, well for Jason and I it was.
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