Bio

Shelby and Drew

April 29, 2007

Grand Bahama Island

We did it!!

zzz

 ~~Pro pics ~~

Please credit StephCarson photography if you borrow any of these!

I am SO HAPPY with how our pro pics came out!  Thanks so much, Stephanie and Mike!!

Rehearsal and Welcome Party

       

   

   

   

   

   

       

   

Getting Ready

       

       

       

   

       

       

   

       

       

   

Pre Ceremony Pics

   

   

   

       

       

   

   

   

Ceremony and Reception

   

   

   

  

  

   

           

       

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

       

       

   

   

       

   

       

   

       

   

   

   

       

       

   

   

       

Day After Shoot

Rather than spending a ton of time after the ceremony taking pictures, DH and I decided to do a day-after shoot.  I put the dress back on and we had a blast taking pictures all over the Our Lucaya resort!  We were even joined by a group of photographers who were taking publicity photos for the hotel.  Woohoo - we're gonna be famous! :)

   

   

   

           

       

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

           

           

   

   

   

   

   


~~ Non-Pro Pics ~~

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

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~~ Boudoir Pics ~~

My wedding photographer, Stephanie Carson, also did my B-Pics.  I am SO IMPRESSED with how they turned out!  I would encourage anyone who is on the fence to DO IT - it was such a fun and liberating experience.  Here are a few samples.

       

   

       

       

~~ Vendors ~~

Ceremony and Reception Location: Banana Bay Restaurant and Bar, Grand Bahama Island 

Banana Bay is not your typical wedding location, but they did a great job for us!  We wanted something very casual with a gorgeous beach as a backdrop, and BB fit the bill perfectly.  They don’t do a ton of weddings, so it was not the polished experience that one would get at a hotel or resort, but that was okay with us.  If I could do it all over, I’d absolutely choose BB again! 

Pros: 

*The staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating.  They even built a bonfire on the beach for us after we asked, and were very flexible in terms of accommodating our requests along the way.

*The food was fantastic.  We went with a simple, casual menu (jerk chicken, bbq ribs, mac and cheese, rice and peas, salad, conch fritters) and it was done very well!  Many of our guests told us it was the best meal they had on the island.

*The location is absolutely gorgeous, and we had the beach and deck all to ourselves.  The water at BB is even more turquoise-blue than other beaches on GBI (it’s shallower) and we even had a nice view of the sunset, despite being on the eastern side of the island.  One thing that I thought was especially cool: there is a big sandbar in the water there, and you can walk out 100 feet or so and only be in up to your knees.  Many of our guests did this and found all sorts of cool stuff….live shellfish, live starfish, etc.  Kind of a cool and unique wedding activity!

 Cons:

 *As I mentioned above, there were a couple of “rookie moves” on the part of the staff.  The biggest complaint I have is that they were serving drinks in glass containers (glasses and glass beer bottles) during the later part of the evening, while we were dancing.  The “dance floor” is concrete.  It seemed like a glass or bottles was dropped and shattered every ten minutes, and it made me nervous because a lot of people were running around barefoot at that point.  Also, I had to remind them to pour the wine we’d brought in when dinner was being served.  Neither thing is a huge deal, but could have gone smoother.

*Also, if you’re considering BB remember that you’ll need to provide transportation for your guests to and from the hotel/resort area.  It’s not a long drive (about ten minutes) and we found that renting a bus for the evening to shuttle people back and forth was quite reasonable, but it’s another logistical thing to consider.

Wedding Coordinator: Jennifer Ellis at Weddings by Janay (http://www.janayweddings.com)

Overall, Jennifer did a good job for us.  When we were choosing a coordinator, we had narrowed it down to Jennifer and another, much more expensive WC.  We went with Jennifer because it fit our budget better.  I definitely think we got a fair value for what we paid.  I was a little nervous a few times along the way, but in the end the event turned out beautifully. 

Photographer: Stephanie Carson and Mike Bresnen, StephCarson Photography (http://www.stephcarson.com)

I can’t say enough good things about Stephanie and Mike!  Best. Wedding. Decision. Made.  Hands down!

Stephanie has a great eye for capturing the funny, spontaneous moments of the wedding.  Her style is very artistic and “photojournalistic” (to use an overused word).  Most of all, I loved how both Stephanie and Mike blended right in with our crowd of family and friends, hanging out with us for the entire weekend.  They felt like old friends after only a few hours!

Flowers: Weddings by Janay (http://www.janayweddings.com)

My WC also did my flowers.  I did simple gerber daisies.  My bouquet and BM bouquets turned out great.  (There was one hitch….when my BMs lined up to walk down the aisle, we noticed we were short a BM bouquet!  We’re still not sure if it was never there, or if it fell out in the limo on the way over, or what.  Anyway, it ended up not being a problem, my resourceful girls each took apart their bouquets and donated a stem or two to make an extra one.)

Music: DIY with a laptop computer

We did all of the music (ceremony, cocktail hour, dinner and reception) ourselves.  My WC arranged for an amplifier and speaker/microphone system, and we simply plugged into it and pushed play.  I’d highly recommend this to anyone who is picky about music (DH and I are total music snobs and I might die if the Macarena got played at my wedding!) or wants to save some money by not getting a DJ.

The role of “Emcee” was played at first by our WC, who announced our arrival at the cocktail hour (after taking pics), instructed everyone to sit for dinner, announced tables for the buffet, etc.  Later in the night, our Best Man sort of took over and announced cake cutting, first dance, etc.  We didn’t really plan it that way, it just sort of happened, and it worked out great.  (Even later in the night, the microphone was taken over by some of our guests who gave enthusiastic Dr. Dre impersonations.  It was hilarious!)

Also, our playlists are posted at the very bottom of my bio if you're interested!

Hair: Senses Spa at the Westin Our Lucaya

I’ll start of by saying that I absolutely loved my wedding hair.  It turned out exactly how I wanted it and I have no complaints whatsoever.

However, 3 of my BMs and my mom also had their hair done, 2 of the BMs and my mom ended up taking showers and redoing their hair.  The Senses guy gave them really hilariously bad prom hair.  I’m not sure how it happened, but I know that they weren’t very specific about what they wanted.  I think the moral of the story is go in with a very firm idea of what you want, and have lots of sample photos, and they’ll do fine.  (I had a whole battery of photos of what I wanted; my BMs and mom had none.)

Makeup: DIY

I’ve never been a big makeup wearer, and wanted to do it myself so I didn’t end up looking cake-y and weird.

*Face: I used Bare Minerals (the powder foundation and the Mineral Veil) and thought it turned out very nice and natural looking.  A couple of weeks prior to the wedding, I went to one of their stores and got a little lesson on how to apply their products.  I loved how I got a nice even skin tone and got rid of shiny-ness without looking like I was wearing a ton of makeup.

*Eyes: Started out with Laura Mercier eyeliner in Bleu Marine.  This stuff is absolutely awesome!!  I know the idea of blue liner sounds weird, but it worked great.  The lady at their department store counter sold me a special flat brush and showed me how to apply it.  Basically it’s a powder that you wet with the brush and apply under the lash line on your upper lids.  It makes the lash line look thicker without making it look like you’re wearing liner, and the blue brightens the whites of your eyes.  Also, it’s quite water-resistant…the stuff never ran, not even when I went swimming.  I also used a bit of Laura Mercier shadow in Guava (a nice dusty pink).

For mascara, I used Lancome Hypnose Waterproof.  This stuff is tough!  It survived sweat, tears, ocean and pool, but wasn’t clumpy or heavy like a lot of waterproof mascaras.  Highly recommended.

*Lips: I stuck with a simple clear Neutrogena gloss.

Dress: Amy Kuschel, from All Brides Beautiful, Hudson OH

I worked primarily with Lois but all of the staff at All Brides Beautiful were fantastic.  I knew I wanted a very simple dress - no beads, no sparkles, no lace, no poof!  They were very patient with me and my pickiness and did a great job with alterations as well - they even pressed my veil (which was borrowed from a friend, not purchased there) for free!

I also ordered Jenny Yoo sashes for my BM dresses from the store.

BM Dresses - J. Crew
I went with the Audrey Cotton Cady Dress in Black for my BMs, and added a splash of color with silk pink-coral sashes.  

Guys' Clothes - Hugo Boss and Brooks Brothers

DH wore a dark gray Huge Boss suit (a steal from the Saks outlet!) with a white shirt and pink tie from Brooks Brothers.  The GMs wore dark grey dress pants and the same shirt/tie combo, all from Brooks Brothers.  We were lucky to find pants for them in a shade of gray that matched DH's suit perfectly!

~~ Paper Projects ~~

Save-the-Date cards

DIY with materials from Paper Source and craft punch from Michael's

Invitations

Also DIY with Paper Source stuff and the same Michael's craft punch that I used for the STDs

Place Cards/Escort Cards

DIY with - you guessed it - Paper Source folding cards.  I even went back to Michael's and found a mini version of my palm tree craft punch!

~~ The Look ~~

Dress Shopping and Fittings

My dress was Amy Kuschel and I got it from All Brides Beautiful in Hudson, OH.

Inspiration for Bridal Party Look

 ~~Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party ~~

MoH threw an awesome combo shower and b-party for me in San Francisco.  

~~ The Proposal ~~

Drew popped the question in a rather memorable way - several hundred feet off the ground, at the top set of rap rings to Dark Shadows (5.7) in Red Rocks, Nevada!

Just a little background.  Before we moved out to the midwest, we used to go rock climbing almost every weekend in Southern Cali, and it's one of the things I miss most about living in flat Ohio.  DH planned a trip to Vegas in April 2006 and invited a bunch of our friends/climbing partners out from Los Angeles to meet us there, including our soon-to-be MoH and groomsman! The plan was to climb during the day and party at night.  When we set out for that day's climb, I suspected nothing.

Drew had done some pretty careful planning and orchestrated things so that he and I would have a few moments alone at the final anchors.  This is not an easy feat when you're climbing with multiple parties on a popular multi-pitch route!  But somehow he did it.  I was absolutely shocked when he pulled the ring out of his pocket as I was setting up my rappel.  I think the first words out of my mouth were "What are you doing?" followed of course by "YES!"  He wouldn't let me have the ring OR tell my MoH until we got back to the ground safely.  It was absolute torture when we got stuck at a set of anchors on the way with with MoH and her partner....but I was good and saved my explosion of excitement until we finished rapelling down.

The rest of the weekend was a fantastic celebration.  We stayed at the fabulous Wynn and relaxed at the pool and partied with our friends.  Here are some pics of the climb and the weekend...I wish I had taken more but I was a little distracted by my bling! :)  

~~ Playlists ~~

Processional 

Wash Away (Reprise) - Joe Purdy [Groomsmen escort moms and grandmas down aisle to seats]

Canon - Zox [Bridesmaids and bride walk down aisle]

Recessional

You Are My Joy - The Reindeer Section

Cocktail Hour

Love Song - 311

Graceland - Paul Simon

Fire it Up - Modest Mouse

What a Wonderful World - Joey Ramone

California Stars - Billy Bragg and Wilco

Shine on Me - Watershed

As Good as I Once Was - Toby Keith

Sunny Hours - Long Beach Dub All Stars

Movin' on Up - Primal Scream

That Was a Crazy Game of Poker - O.A.R.     

Marching Bands of Manhattan - Death Cab for Cutie

Forever My Friend - Ray LaMontagne

Chinese Translation - M. Ward

More Than a Feeling - Boston

Float On - Modest Mouse

Somebody Like You - Keith Urban

Island in the Sun - Weezer

Would You Go With Me - Josh Turner

Such Great Heights - The Postal Service

Right Me Up - State Radio

Summertime - Kenny Chesney

Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf

Dinner

The Littlest Birds - The Be Good Tanyas

Orange Sky - Alexi Murdoch

Brighter Than Sunshine - Aqualung

Little Moments - Brad Paisley

The Luckiest - Ben Folds

First Day of My Life - Bright Eyes

Bisbee Blue - Calexico

Green Eyes - Coldplay

The One I Love - David Gray

Bang Bang - Dispatch

I Will Follow You Into the Dark - Death Cab for Cutie

Mushaboom - Feist

Collide - Howie Day

Better Together - Jack Johnson

Til Kingdom Come - Coldplay

Making Memories of Us - Keith Urban

Danny's Long - Loggins and Messina

When You Come Back Down - Nickel Creek

Wild Horses - The Sundays

Under the Weather - KT Tunstall

Love and Some Verses - Iron and Wine

Dancing

Stand By Me - Ben E. King [first dance song]

Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas

Crazy In Love - Beyonce

Rescue Me - Fontella Bass

I Can't Help Myself - The Four Tops

My Girl - The Temptations

ABC - Jackson Five

Respect - Aretha Franklin

Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder

Bust a Move - Young MC

Yeah! - Usher

Hips Don't Lie - Shakira feat. Wyclef

Have I Told You Lately - Rod Stewart

Billie Jean - Michael Jackson

Centerfold - The J. Gelis Band

Love Shack - B52s

Iris - Goo Goo Dolls

SexyBack - Justin Timberlake

SOS - Rihanna

We Trying to Stay Alive - Wyclef Jean

Ms. Jackson - Outkast

Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

Tiny Dancer - Tim McGraw

In Da Club - 50 Cent

Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet

Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Get It Poppin' - Fat Joe feat. Nelly

You and Me - Lifehouse

Check on It - Beyonce

Toxic - Britney Spears

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy - Big & Rich

Honky Tonk Badonkadonk - Trace Adkins

You Had Me From Hello - Kenny Chesney

Without Me - Eminem

Nuthin' but a G Thang - Dr. Dre

Sugar (Gimme Some) - Trick Daddy

When You Say Nothing At All - Alison Krauss

You Give Love a Bad Name - Bon Jovi

Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand

Fade Into You - Mazzy Star

Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benetar

Can't Get You Out of My Head - Kylie Minogue

California Love - Tupac

My Humps - Black Eyed Peas

Don't Stop Beliving - Journey

Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffet [a party-ending tradition among my friends!]

Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton