Pro Bio


We were married Sunday, March 4, 2007 in Sarasota, Florida.  It was the best day of my life!  
Thanks knotties for all your help!  I couldn't have done it without you.



Quick Links
Welcome Lunch Cruise
Saturday, March 3 the guests gathered on Marina Jacks II for lunch and a tour of Sarasota Bay.
It was a casual affair where everyone could catch up with eachother before the wedding.

  

 

   

 

 

    

   

And now for four reasons why my mother isn't any fun :P

She is a good sport though :)

 

 

The guests (obviously bored out of their minds) had to resort to playing thumb wars for entertainment :P

 

Shaun vs. Groom's cake

 

After much (much, much) battling Shaun wins!  A couple of the younger guests refused to eat it based on it's apperance :P

 

   


  My Grandma passed away in August, but she asked Shaun to give me her wedding ring before she died.

The Wedding!

It was a beautiful day!

Getting Ready

 

   

Hahaha, this picture cracks me up!  This is the face I always remember her making while we were growing up :P

   

 

  

This set of pictures is classic.  Each father is putting on or fixing their son's ties :)

 

   

 

   

 

My grandma and grandpa's pictures and Shaun added a baby picture of me and a note that says "reserved for first born"

I love him :)

 

Decor

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Ceremony

 

 

   

 

It looks like I'm trying to eat him :P

Formals

  

 

 

 

Cocktail Hour

   

 

 

My mom cried so much over this....it made other people start to tear up too

 

 
My Dad's said "Dad, To remember the day you gave me away, I love you, Jess"



Shoes on

Shoes off.  The shoes lasted about as long as the kids lasted in their "wedding clothes" :)  But hey, points for keeping my dress on :P



Jess making sexy look effortless                                                                  

 

                                                                                                                                                 The "Cake"

 

Dancing

 

 

 

  

    

  

 

This picture makes Dela say "Hell no, I can't take him anywhere!"

  

There are many ways to say goodbye.  The bride high five is by far my favorite :)

 

 

 

   

Polariod Camera Pics

(scanned in from the guest book)








Honeymoon
Le Blanc Spa Resort
Cancun, Mexico
I Highly recommend 1. waiting at least a week to honeymoon (we waited 2 months) and 2. doing an all-inclusive honeymoon.
It was great to pay for everything up front and then not worry about a thing once we were there.

We get to Orlando Airport and there is a security breech.  This is the line to the security check.

 


Ahhh, in our room at last

Whoa, what a view!  

 
The room had a full size jacuzzi tub

The awesome shower had 5 heads on one side and then another head on the other side.

View of the other rooms

Every floor had a personal butler assigned to them.  It was wonderful.

Dinner the first night at the gourmet restaurant

Gourmet was our least favorite place to eat, but we're still stuffed and happy :)



Night view from the room

Ready for bed 
Even the bathrooms were awesome                                                                

 
Grabbing a drink and a smooch at one of the bars

  
  
Eating breakfast in our room while watching the sunrise.  Room service was 24 hours, all included.
The Japanese restaurant-out favorite!  The fish was SO fresh

  
yummy breakfast buffet

One of the infinity pools with a swim up bar.  The bar opened at 8 every morning.  We'd start with mimosas, then scredrivers and work our way up to margaritas :)
 

This bird sounded like a screaming child.  MOST annoying.
  
The spa downstairs and the downstairs pool

The lagoon pool has a huge jenga, chess and checkers as well as a ping pong table.



Watching the dolphins

Shaun playing with the camera features



 For Sale


39 Lotus flower tealight holders 13 spiral staircase stands

7 bags breast cancer awarness M&M's.  Regular and Peanut.

SOLD

Wood cake stand painted gold.  Can be repainted.

SOLD





 



More than I can count hanging flower strands :P  (I think it was something like 135 total)
I will ship



40 mini chandelier ornaments

SOLD
The e-mail of the fantastic knottie that made my chocolates is leigh@atrion.com

SOLD

Sold

2 drink jugs (will ship)

Thomas Knoell headband (gold toned), I can e-mail more pictures

Ribbon Brooch (gold toned)

2 Watters BM dresses

More to come!
Vendor Information
Welcome Lunch Site- Marina Jacks II -We had a great time.  It was casual and perfect for a welcoming of all the guests.  We were able to talk to everyone and introduce those who hadn't met.  We had a fabulous time and are so fortunate that John Payton and his beautiful wife were able to join us.
Ceremony/Reception Site- Crosley Museum -Shaun and I fell in love with Crosley.  It's so beautiful and overlooks Sarasota bay.  They can be a pain in the neck to deal with about certain things, but it's worth it.  Everyone commented on the perfect location and we couldn't have agreed more.
Officiant- Mark Plaster -He was wonderful and helped SO much.  He even decorated our hotel room and when we got back we almost cried at how beautiful it looked.  He was amazing.
Florist- Jayne Grioux- I can't say enough good things about Jayne.  The flowers (and price) speaks for themselves.  She was so awesome and I love her.  She is refferal only so if you e-mail her let her know that you got her name from me.
Caterer- Morton's-The best tasting caterer in Sarasota....hands down.  Not the most organized.  We tasted at a lot of different places and the quality of the food was super important to us.  They are very expensive though, if we had to do it over we would have gone with someone less expensive that only had "good food", not "out of this world great food" and better service.  For the price of Rodeo Drive we got
Wal Mart service.  Everyone loved the food though and the day of the service was pretty good.
Photographer- John Michael Payton -We can't get enough of John, we are SO happy with our choice.  We loved our e-pics and his photos from other weddings.  Check out his blog www.paytonphoto.com/blog.
Not only is John an amazing photographer but he is funny and so great to work with.  We were at ease in his company and have full rights to our photographs.  His prices may seem more up front but because we don't have to buy the photos from him we spent so much less than brides that went for cheap up front and buying the photographs after the wedding.
Ceremony Music- Caren Traynor-Harpist, so sweet and reasonable prices.  She did a wonderful job and everyone commented on how classy it made the ceremony and cocktail hour feel.
Reception Band- DeLeaon Band-We didn't want a cheesy DJ, and DeLeaon Band was perfect for us.  They played the songs we asked and even let my Uncle take the reins and sing for a bit.  They were a great band at a reasonable price.
Lighting- Affairs in the Air (941) 745-1797 - They will do beautiful work, but they overcharge and are a bit snooty.  It was worth it for me to have them handle the lighting and hang my flower strands that I worked so hard at.
Hair/makeup- Aimee and Tracey at Vincent Salon
and Spa (239)931-4144-  Both girls were amazing and made us look fantastic.  I never felt so pretty in my life and they made everyone feel so wonderful.  They traveled to the venue which was fantastic and let us all eat and chit chat while they were hard at work.  I highly recommend them.
Invitations- Dawn Rodriguez- The invitations were BEAUTIFUL and she was so easy to work with.  She is a New Jersey knottie and did a spectacular job!  I couldn't have been happier with them.  We were going to order everything from her (programs/table numbers/escort cards) but I twiddled  my thumbs and ended up not giving myself enough time :(
Tuxedo's- Men's Warehouse- We picked Men's warehouse because there is a location close to everyone that needs to rent a tux.  They were very easy to work with and everyone looked wonderful.
My Dress- Solutions Bridal- I got my Marisa 590 at Solutions.  I think it was overpriced, but Solutions is very nice and they took care of everything.  The girls are very nice too.
Wedding Coordinator-Charity Plaster -I can't say enough good things about Charity.  I thought between the knot forums and my own aweseomeness (:P) that I wouldn't need a coordinator.  Boy was I wrong.  Even before I hired her she was SO helpful.  Now, she is just a life raft that I couldn't have done any of this without!  Even now after my wedding she is still helping to keep me in the loop with all the feedback with the vendors and any last minute after wedding stuff that creeps up.
Honeymoon- Le Blanc-We aren't leaving for our honeymoon until May because of my school schedule and it will be our first time out of the US together and our first time in Mexico!  If I give you any advice WAIT TO HONEYMOON!  You don't have to wait long but wait.  Take a couple of days, a week or a month with your new husband.  Spend it alone or with family down for the wedding.  The last thing you need is the pressure of packing, making a plane and travel.  Also, the guests brought down a wicked flu and I was sick for a full 8 days after the wedding.  If you can...wait.