Wedding Week: Second Day in the Bayou

Friday, October 15

Yep, another run was on our schedule. We woke up and ran down the beautiful NOLA Riverwalk down the long, powerful Mississippi. Nothing new for us though – we run down the Mississippi River all the time. It’s just two blocks from our house in Downtown Memphis, but to see the same river knowing we had just driven 400 miles… that’s an impressive body of water! We knew all friends and family would be coming in on this day, so we had to get moving fast to make sure we could equally spend time with everyone. We headed out to West New Orleans first thing to pick up all the guys’ tuxes, do a final tanning bed session, and stock up on champagne, wine, and snacks for our suite!

That afternoon was a dream! We worried ourselves sick before we left thinking: Who are we going to spend time with on what day? When are we going to have time? How are we going to split time evenly between 150 people? Are we going to have to split up… Tres go visit you family and Andrea go visit yours? But, I should have known… everything would work out, just like the entire weekend did! Our suite ended up being a hit, and I’m so glad we got it! Once we got back from running around, there was no need for us to go anywhere… in just a few minutes, we had at least 20 people in our suite – Tres friends, my family, some of Tres’ family – it was great! Soon after that, we found the time to visit with Tres’ dad’s side of the family, and then immediately after that, my family ran into Tres’ grandmother who they had been longing to meet… it was like one big, happy, accidental reunion! Everyone was so excited to be there and finally meet each other!

That night, we even had the time to go out with a big group of Tres’ friends and their wives (my newest girl friends! They have been my friends for years now, but I still refer to them as “my new girlfriends”… hehe!) Only a few of my friends had made it in town this day, but I’ll be darned if we did not accidentally run into them at La Feittes Blacksmith Shop! I was just hanging out and all of a sudden there was Erin (one of my bridesmaids), her husband Brandon, Tina, Zack, Corbett, and Justine. Corbett had traveled all the way from Oregon, so it was good to get to visit with her a day early. Running into them was just the craziest thing ever, and when I say this is EXACTLY how the entire weekend worked out, I mean this is EXACTLY HOW THE ENTIRE WEEKEND WORKED OUT! Everything was like a dream… unplanned, yet so easy! It was like there was this constant good luck cloud over mine and Tres’ head every single day leading up to the wedding. I can’t even out it into words… all I can do is describe the unbelievably terrific events that kept unexpectedly happening to us. And believe me, it only gets better. After all, this was only FRIDAY! We still had two more days before the wedding! (P.S. ANOTHER beautiful day! Not a cloud in the sky! It was like the closer we got to wedding day, the more the sun shined… we were so lucky all weekend!)

*** Here are some pictures from our crazy night on Bourbon! I wish I had more from throughout the day. I think my grandma took some family ones of all of us hanging out that afternoon, so I will have to hunt them down from her and add them :)

The Real Housewives of Memphis, Knoxville, and Atlanta!

Tasha, Holly, Me - Acme Oyster House It got pretty wild, and the video camera came out... I can't wait to see what we got on here. Yikes!
Nice shirt Mike! We thought his shirt and my purse were too funny!
Hurricane time on Bourbon!
The crew we ran into... my high school gals! Love them!

Wedding Week: First Day in the Bayou

Thursday, October 14

We got up in time for a little run (nothing was stopping us from trying to be in the very best shape of all on our wedding day… even a few days before we will still at it). We knew we had a day of errands to run before friends and family started getting in town, so we got busy immediately! We started the day off by getting our marriage license. This was the first step to becoming an official married couple, and we were both about to pee our pants with nervous excitement! Getting a marriage license has to be the easiest thing I have ever done – I swear if dogs could talk, two of them could walk in and get a marriage license… it’s crazy! After that journey, we headed to our rehearsal dinner spot to make sure all our ducks were in a row, we talked with the event planner, and we checked out the magnificent room one more time… we were set to go! Late that afternoon, we had our rehearsal with Southern Oaks. We were done with everything else extra-early, so to kill time, we enjoyed the city – walking around listening to the ever-famous NOLA music, smelling the spicy food seeping through the walls of all the restaurants, and hoping in every bright-colored, silly shop we could find… got to love New Orleans! There’s never a dull moment!

Our rehearsal was interesting, and oh-so-perfect. In the many weddings I have been in over my lifetime, I decided Southern Oaks does the rehearsal in a way that makes a lot of sense: TO NOT HAVE ONE AT ALL! Yep, that’s right… no rehearsal! Let me explain… There actually is a rehearsal, but it’s for the bride and groom only. The beginning of the rehearsal was set up like a meeting. We spoke with our main wedding coordinator on everything… and I mean EVERYTHING – all the fine-print stuff from who would be standing where in the ceremony to the exact songs that would be playing in each part of the reception. After we were 100% confident with everything, our coordinator took us (just me and Tres) step by step through the ceremony. It was the perfect rehearsal… no need for bridesmaids and groomsmen (They would learn everything one hour before the wedding. May sound stressful, but it’s actually the most amazing, calm rehearsal I’ve ever been to.).That evening, we had a magnificent dinner at Jacques-Imos Cafe (word to the wise: if you ever visit NOLA go here... or else!!!). We went here with Tres’ mom, aunt, and a few of our good friends who came in early. It was a good wrap-up to a great day! P.S. I have never woken up to a more beautiful day… wow, could the sun have been shining any more perfectly? I prayed for it to continue!

Getting things organized in the suite

Walking around the French Quarter that day. This may have been the most still I have ever seen one of these Mannequin people. It was UNREAL!

Me and Tasha at dinner - Jacques-Imos

Wedding Week: Trip to the Bayou

*** Note: Today is our ONE MONTH Anniversary as a married couple... wow! Time flies! So in honor of one month, I am FINALLY posting "Wedding Week" posts! Sorry for the delay... Enjoy :)

WEDNESDAY, October 13

We started our last day of work with a packed down car. Hint… when you get married out of town, be prepared to drive! For you brides who fly to your wedding destination with no problem, I praise you! I have no idea how we could have gotten married somewhere not close enough to drive! It was quite funny though, we took lots of pictures of ourselves leaving the house as a “single couple” and of our packed car (pictures below...haha), and headed to work for the day. We left work normal time: 5:00. It only takes about five and a half hours to drive to NOLA from Memphis, so we were in good shape, getting in just in time to get some much needed z’s. Much needed because we had both been up every night that week finishing up last minutes wedding details, packing, and preparing for Wedding Weekend! (P.S. The sun was shing down heavily on Memphis when we left… I hoped the same for New Orleans).

About to walk out the door and head to New Orleans... next time home, we'll be married!

In the car ready to go!

My sweet driver
Back seat... PACKED!

Trunk... PACKED!

I'm a Wife... Now What?

When I said back at the beginning of October that I was officially OVER the wedding, I clearly was not kidding. Almost a month later, I have not blogged about the entire wedding weekend. Not that it wasn’t fantastic, perfect, or the most amazing time of my life, but “wedding” was my second job for over a year… I think I have subconsciously wanted to forget about it for awhile.

Not only have I not blogged about the wedding, but I have not gotten around to even LOOKING at the honeymoon pictures we took. If one more friend/family member asks me to post them on Facebook and I continue to forget, I may just have to forfeit my life as a Social Media Queen. Not sure why I even would refer to myself as that, considering the incompetence I have shown over the last month, but we have trucked it into married life on an open, speedy road. We have so much going on in our lives right now! I cannot begin to tell you the number of people who asked me before the wedding, “What in heaven’s sake are you going to do with your time when this is all over?” Oh, boy… what a question! I told them all that I could think of 100 things post-wedding to do with my time, but I didn’t know 1,000 would be on the agenda! Here are my “bad blogger” excuses…

Getting back to work after nearly two weeks off is cause for enough stress, but outside of work, I have been overly consumed with a few other aspects of life. One, I will start graduate school in January. I got accepted into the Journalism program at the University of Memphis, and I have been consumed with registration, choosing classes, and learning the process of becoming a student all over again (it’s been 4 years… I need to get back into the groove!)

Two, if it was a show, we would be at the beginning of HGTV’s “True Life: I’m Redecorating.” As a married couple, we will be residing in Tres’ condo in Downtown Memphis. He bought it just a few years ago, and it’s absolutely perfect, but we are about to make it perfectly “ours” with new furniture and décor! We have started shopping and getting ideas, but we are going to take our time with it.

And three… it’s about to be head-on, craziness in the travel category. It’s that time of year in the cheer world – competitions! So I will be all over the place in the next six months. Not to mention, THE EXCITEMENT of a few fun trips me and the hubby have planned. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we will be going to Chicago! Ekkk, I love that city and can’t wait to experience it all over again! And we just confirmed tonight a trip to ATLANTIS!!!! We will be traveling to the Bahamas for a quick weekend trip in March for a friend’s birthday! I’ve heard it’s fantastic, and I can’t wait to dip my feet into beautiful, tropical water again!

More blogging on school, redecorating, and travels to come… Until then, I PROMISE to be a better blogger and get the wedding weekend details up soon! See ya’ll soon with some WEDDING BLISS!

Wedding Photos... What a Blessing!

WOW, WOW, WOW!!! Once again, my breath has been taken away by Armosa Studios! These photographers were an absolute gift for God. All the way from Florence, Alabama, we were lucky enough to have run across this wonderful couple that has talent that speaks perfectly through photos. Not only are they gifted, but they are also amazing people. I bet there isn’t one bride and groom they’ve worked with who they did not become friends with after their shoot. They not only have a talent that every bride longs for to be treasured in the scrapbooks of her wedding, but they are easy going, fun to work with, and they have a love for each other that is so evident when you’re around them. The mere fact that they “love love,” is more than enough reason to want them to take your wedding photos; add their matchless talent in there, and you have the BEST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS in the world! Thank you Tera and Wes for being dream photographers. Because of you guys, for the rest of our lives, a photo album can be opened, and we can relive the best day of our lives all over again!

Below are some of my favorite photos Armosa took of us, but there are more on their blog that can be seen from our special day! See the Sneak Peak here: http://armosastudios.com/2010/10/30/tres-andrea-new-orleans-la/

Sneak Peek

When you begin planning a wedding, you picture what it will be like in your head a million times. You never think the day will come when “your day” will finally arrive. After all those predictions, visions, and dreams, it comes… and then it’s over. And then a bigger day comes – a day way larger than the wedding day that you dreamed of for your entire engagement period – the day you are home and MARRIED! After all the bliss of planning, the brunches, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding day, and the honeymoon, the day comes when you are back home, back to reality, and MARRIED! :)

This is the day I am experiencing now. This is the day that after all those daydreams I never once imagined in my head. And this is the day I am happier than ever. I am married to my best friend and there is much more to think about together that doesn’t deal with formal attire, flowers, cakes, and ceremony music. We are now a family. We have begun our lives together, and more than wedding planning – we have a life to plan! And I look so forward to planning it with my sweet groom!

I plan to get in depth with our entire New Orleans weekend – there is much to be shared. Until then, here are a few pictures that capture our day just perfectly. More to come...