Only a month late with this...
So the boy finally made an honest woman of me. Our wedding was tons of fun, and in every picture, we're both grinning from ear to ear. A lot of people told me how much they appreciated all of the personal touches: we did a ton of research and wrote our own ceremony, using out readings and songs that meant so much to us. My mom made the arch we stood under, my mom and Mike collaborated on the centerpieces, my cousin made the bouquets, we made all the paper goods--invitations, programs, seating cards, etc. I even skipped hiring a DJ in favor of making playlists on my iBook, and had a friend be our DJ. So, everything about the wedding had a bit of "us" written all over it. Mike's best man, who HATES weddings, told us he loved everything about ours, because it was so different. His girlfriend told me he'll go on about our wedding for hours to anyone who'll listen. That made me feel so good about how much work we put into it.
Our families had a lot of time to meet and mingle, as did our friends. Our moms really bonded as well, and even got up and did karaoke together at the after party. I really liked that it was a whole weekend too, because the wedding itself went by so fast. It was so nice to have plenty of downtime to hang out with our peeps afterwards.
Onto the honeymoon:
Lisbon was pretty cool, but not really tourist-friendly. We got lost several times, because the guide book left much to be desired (it steered us to three closed restaurants in one afternoon), probably because Lisboa is not exactly a tourist hot-spot, and there were no signs anywhere telling you where to go to see the biggest attractions in the city. And getting lost on foot in a very hilly place makes you cranky, ie "You mean we have to walk up THERE?! AGAIN!?!"
Madrid seemed cool, but we both got sick. I was pukey/poopie sick the first day and a half, and as soon as I felt better, Mike got sick for the rest of the time there. The good part was that our hotel was really cool, which was a plus, since we spent a lot of time there. Our hotel was very near all the major museums, two of which we visited. If you can't drink, you might as well soak in some culture. We did take a bus tour to see the sights and saw two of the best art museums in Europe, but the thing to do in Madrid is just to eat, drink, and hang out, so we feel like we kind of missed out. Even still, the museums were awesome.
Barcelona was incredible. It made up for everything that went wrong up until that point. The architecture is amazing, the food was to die for, the vibe is so laid back, the people are gorgeous...it's just everything you want from a city PLUS a beach that we didn't even make it to, because there was so much other cool stuff to see. We didn't do half what there is to do, but we took our time doing as much as we did, because we knew from the minute we stepped off the plane that we'd go back.
So yeah, the boy and I are happily married and loving it. Yay!
Our families had a lot of time to meet and mingle, as did our friends. Our moms really bonded as well, and even got up and did karaoke together at the after party. I really liked that it was a whole weekend too, because the wedding itself went by so fast. It was so nice to have plenty of downtime to hang out with our peeps afterwards.
Onto the honeymoon:
Lisbon was pretty cool, but not really tourist-friendly. We got lost several times, because the guide book left much to be desired (it steered us to three closed restaurants in one afternoon), probably because Lisboa is not exactly a tourist hot-spot, and there were no signs anywhere telling you where to go to see the biggest attractions in the city. And getting lost on foot in a very hilly place makes you cranky, ie "You mean we have to walk up THERE?! AGAIN!?!"
Madrid seemed cool, but we both got sick. I was pukey/poopie sick the first day and a half, and as soon as I felt better, Mike got sick for the rest of the time there. The good part was that our hotel was really cool, which was a plus, since we spent a lot of time there. Our hotel was very near all the major museums, two of which we visited. If you can't drink, you might as well soak in some culture. We did take a bus tour to see the sights and saw two of the best art museums in Europe, but the thing to do in Madrid is just to eat, drink, and hang out, so we feel like we kind of missed out. Even still, the museums were awesome.
Barcelona was incredible. It made up for everything that went wrong up until that point. The architecture is amazing, the food was to die for, the vibe is so laid back, the people are gorgeous...it's just everything you want from a city PLUS a beach that we didn't even make it to, because there was so much other cool stuff to see. We didn't do half what there is to do, but we took our time doing as much as we did, because we knew from the minute we stepped off the plane that we'd go back.
So yeah, the boy and I are happily married and loving it. Yay!