Tent Set-up!

Dad and mom drove straight down to the Point after the Welcome to the South dinner. Late night for these two. They volunteered to meet the tent and rentals fella at the Grahams at 8AM that next morning. Well... morning came and brought with it another wave of storms. Mom cheerleaded the tent guys into setting it up - promising them rainbows and enough blue sky for a Dutch boy's britches? Anyways - it worked. Dad, and two rentals guys unloaded all the rentals and set up the tent on the beach in the rain. The area we'd raked on the beach just two days before was now a small swimming pool. Yikes!

Air boat Rides and GATORS!!!

We are positive the air boat rides pretty much blew our friends minds. AND THEN THERE'S THE GATORS!!!! Dallas, the tours of your beautiful lake are full of memories and laughs our friends are sure to hang on to for a long time. Thank you for being so giving! It was AWESOME!

Welcome to the South!

What a wonderful night! Thank you Stricklands for welcoming our friends and family into your home. The rain cleared, the sun set, and the adventurous ones set out on the air boat to pet a few gators. We had grilled, stuffed pork tenderloin (thank you Syd!), baked sweet potatoes, white acre peas, okra + tomatoes over rice, marinated, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and delicious, warm fruit cobbler. We all slept like babies after this fun-filled evening. Will and I couldn't believe all this was for US!!!!

THURSDAY!

RAINING. Will and I met Bill at his office bright and early and did a walk-through of our ceremony (which is 99% complete). We are thrilled to have Bill officiating our marriage! I enjoyed showing Will Bill's office and neighborhood - man are the people of Tallahassee friendly! Will took off for the golf course for "MAN DAY" with Ryan, Stan and Matt (who has just arrived from Cali), and I headed out to Lisa's with mom to set up decorations for the Welcome to the South dinner.

Man have the Stricklands been busy. Syd has already preped the meat, Dallas had cleared the yard, and Lisa had the white beans already bubbling in a pot on the stove. Plants had been bought, the house looked amazing, and the drive down the long driveway was enchanting as ever. Burlap, greenery, tables, airboat rides and a deliciously thought out menu... fabulous. We wiped off chairs and tables and moved them all inside to avoid the rain. Covered them in cloth and wrapped the plants. Everything was set for a wonderful evening with family and friends.

I ran home and showered as Will met Darren, Charles, Inga and Svenni at the airport and led the convoy out to the Stricklands.

WEDNESDAY!

Where has the week gone??? Rain, rain, a little sunshine and MORE RAIN in Tallahassee. Ahhhh! (My hair does love the humidity - it's looking lovely and full of body!) I took off in the mroning with mom for a little decor shopping. We got some tent light globes and candles, assembled a thoughtful, fresh, hand-bagged tea and monkey mug gift for Cyndy. Then searched through Target for "wrap-arounds" - no luck. I made it back to Willy with Chic-fil-a in hand... a special treat for the Yankees.

Will and I got to work on our ceremony and then we headed to Red Eye to meet Denny "the Wedding DJ" for a music chat. Denny was great, in control, and it seems we have a little more work to do on music! I took off for a September Bday Celebration at Kool Beans with the ladies and Will was off for some shopping and famous speghetti at Ryan and Lindsay's. So fun to eat well, drink well, and have some great laughs with Laurie, Kel, ML, Maria, Holly and Kris. Go! Go! Go!

TUESDAY!!!

Willy’s 32^nd Birthday. We made it in from the stormy beach just in time to grab Will at the airport.

The two of us wisked away through the drizzly rain and off to the Tallahassee Court House where we got our marriage certificate! Then we drove off to COSTCO and loaded the Malibu full of wine, wine and more wine. The ol' Malibu, filled to the hilt with beverages, cups, plates, cutlery, etc., was transformed into an enviable low-rider which barely cleared speed humps. We headed to mom and dads where a bday partay was in the works. Delicious apps, grilled chicken, veggie skewers, and red velvet cake! YUM… we stuffed ourselves, Will opened gifts, and we all enjoyed each other’s company and one of Granna's special Bday poems (We'd love a copy of that!).

After dinner we visited Ryan at the Fire Station, got a tour and practiced our best judo chops, then sleepily headed back to Ryan and Lindsay’s for a much-needed, sweet sleep.

MONDAY!!!

I woke up at sunrise, with that "first-day-of-school feeling", and headed down to the Point to join mom and dad for some pre-wedding prep work. Mom and dad had already seen rain, blue skies and a rainbow... good weather omen?

We marked the ground for the streamer poles, cut hundreds of polyester and vintage lace ribbons (thank you Senior Center), built and erected a flag pole, divied up gifts, raked and cleared shells and sea weed from the tent spot, funneled sand into glass canisters and 45 empty wine bottles (thank you family for drinking and Freddy for soaking and scrubbing all the labels off), and melted and melted and melted candles (dripless candles no less) until the wine bottles had that “romantic feeling”. You know the one. We sorted all the things and things that dad and mom had taken down the night before and fell onto the couch for a delicious shrimp and couscous dinner.

These happen to be action photos... but the real raker was Freddy. I'd like to have seen his biceps BEFORE and AFTER our wedding weekend!

The next morning came early and brought a typhoon with it. The fate of our beach wedding was up in the air! I drove back into Tallahassee at 20 mph the entire way home, windshield wipers at full speed, praying for all the rain to pass on through the Point and bring on the sun.

Salon Perfect, Vamps, and Home-made Chili

I flew in to Tallahassee Sunday and had a lovely evening of “Salon Perfect” and Vamps with Lindsay and Carrie. The girls practiced my wedding day doo as Ryan and Chase got caught up on some serious deer hunting videos. After we perfected the half-up-con-veil-with-room-for-laurel, we settled into the lush couch for some delicious, hearty, home-made Chili, crackers, cheese, and red wine and cozied up for some Eric and Sukie action.

Svenni's a PRO!

Thank you Svenni for staging a pro photo session! Will carted a wicker chair over to Washington Square Park, plopped it down in the wet grass and Svenni climbed on top with his super-sonic wide lens camera. Will and I, in our finest attire, rolled around on the ground as Matt directed us. We came up with some pretty sweet pics! Wedding CD, here we go!

NICE Handy Work!

Freddy did a little master crafting with the router on a few beautifully constructed pieces of wood, creating this one-of-a-kind wedding sign! Thanks Dad!