2013 has been the Year of the Honeymoon. So far, we’ve ventured to Taiwan and Hong Kong, Boston, New Orleans, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. We’re officially hitched as of this past Memorial Day Weekend! We always seem to start planning for the next trip before we even leave for the first, and our official honeymoon is no different.
Since I was a child, I have always desired to travel. I learned how to read at the age of three, specifically so I could learn about far-off places. My dad bought me a subscription to National Geographics when I was five years old to feed my wonder. I would re-read every article and study the pull-out maps, plotting my future destinations. The world’s wonders seem so tangibly intangible when they’re in a glossy paperback.
Fast forward many years, I find myself lucky to have –literally—stumbled upon the man of my dreams (I say literally, because I’m pretty sure I tripped right onto him the night we met; ah, the wonders of a fine whiskey).
It’s nice to travel around the world with your best friend. It’s even better to marry him. We have had many adventures together in the course of five years; some of them WONDERful, some of them downright nutty. Like the time we were caught in a hail storm on Arthur’s Seat in Scotland or the time we took the wrong roundabout exit in France and found ourselves in a field of sunflowers. But, I wouldn’t change any one of these memories because with each one, I fell more in love with my husband.
This is it. We’re livin’ it baybee.Every wedding needs a theme. Our theme was “get wedded as cheaply as possible.” Actually, it was “shabby chic meets a southern hipster.” Most of our wedding decorations were inspired by our adventures, like our sunflowers (from France) and our wedding favors (sunflower tea and sunflower seed snack in Vietnam).
Pre-wedding setup: Flowers make it shabby chic.
Our unity ceremony, inspired by our lovelock escapade in Paris.
We had s’mores for dessert and two fire pits. Keepin’ it real.
teacup table settings
The sweethearts.
The dance par-tay.
The boys will be boys.
isn’t she (the bridesmaids) pretty in pink.
Our friends and family.
Every aspect of our wedding had our personal touch. We planned it much like we plan our travels: with a DIY aspect. Almost all of our wedding was handmade, right down to the invitations. The result of our intimate wedding was that we were able to connect and enjoy our day with everybody. Shmoozing with guests in the taco line, cooking s’mores around an open fire for dessert made us all feel like we were just one big family.
After the bills were all counted, our wedding’s entire cost was around two thousand dollars. We don’t believe in taking out a second mortgage to fund weddings just as much as we don’t believe in overspending for travel. It’s possible to have a nice wedding without blowing copious amounts of your hard-earned money. We wouldn’t trade our shabby chic wedding for anything else and we were very happy to have 65 of our closest friends and family to share such a perfect day.
Now that we’re married, it’s time to have another trip to culminate the Year of the Honeymoon in:
EASTERN EUROPE!
In late summer of this year, we’re venturing to Eastern Europe for a month. Our general flexible itinerary is as follows:
3.5 days in Prague, Czech Republic
3.5 days in Vienna, Austria
1 day in Bratislava, Slovakia
3 days in Budapest, Hungary
2 days in Belgrade, Serbia
2 days in Sarajevo, Bosnia
1/2 day in Mostar, Bosnia
2.5 days in Dubrovnik, Croatia
2 days in Split, Croatia
1 day in Hvar, Croatia
1/2 day in Plitvice National Park in Croatia
2 days in Zagreb, Croatia
1.5 days in Ljubljana, Slovenia
1 day visiting Predjama Castle/ Postojna Cave in Slovenia
1 day at Lake Bled in Slovenia
3 days in Venice, Italy
There you have it: the honeymoon to culminate all honeymoons in 2013. Although, there might be another honeymoon adventure at the end of the year.
[engagement photo] Ready for what’s next.Honeymoons, they’re the best part about getting married…
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