Mrs. Panther, Atlanta GA/Westport CTAge and Occupation: 24, Web WriterFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Music Recording EngineerEngagement Date: March 13, 2010Wedding Date: July 2011Venue: The Inn at LongshoreAbout Me: I'm a total goofball who goes through life at a breakneck pace, trying not to knock anything over. I tend to fall in love with everything I encounter, but more than anything, I love my two little kitties, Bela and Josie, and my big kitty, Mr. Panther! As a wannabe crafter, I'm still waiting for my artistic talents to emerge. (Any day now, really.) In the meantime, I spend my days eating anything put in front of me, buying every pair of shoes I see and absorbing wedding inspiration from every inch of my surroundings. Mr. Panther and I are hardcore New Englanders planning Connecticut nuptials from our new home in the Dirty South, and can't wait to mix our newfound love of classic Southern charm with some modern city touches.
Hello again! I keep faking you guys out - acting like I’m JUST ABOUT to start my recaps, then getting crazy busy again and disappearing. By now, so much time has passed, I worry that we’ve got a whole new set of readers who don’t even know who I am. And that would be a problem, because this here is the dreaded wedding shower recap - the last thing you want to see from somebody you don’t recognize. So I’ll keep it short!
My wedding shower was just a few weeks before our wedding, during a whirlwind of activity. It was the day after my hair and makeup trial, which was coolio because it meant I could leave my eyelash extensions in. Hey-oh! Read more…
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
Hive, I’m going to be honest with you. I finished writing my recaps a few weeks ago. I’ve been sitting on them editing them over and over again to “make sure they were perfect,” but in reality, I was just putting this post off. For the last 15 months, you’ve let me share my wedding with you. That fantastic day took place eight months ago, and I suppose it’s now time to quit dragging my feet and face the inevitable farewell. After all, a lot has happened since our wedding day. Mr. Lion left his job with family law and now works in insurance defense. I left my large trauma hospital, and I now work in a more specialized neurorehab setting. Most importantly (at least it’s what we’re most excited about), we bought a house! We’ve had a lot of change in the past eight months, but all of it has been good change. Best of all, we’ve had each other to rely on.
Mr. Lion and I have been friends since 2003, we’ve been together since 2005, and we’ve lived together since 2007. I really didn’t think being married would feel that different. I suppose in most ways, life still feels the same. We still enjoy the same things, and every interaction between us still reveals the goofy dorks that we both are. Our relationship is the same for the most part, but our plans feel different. Read more…
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
At this point in the day, I was very proud of myself for making it so long without crying. The day was over, and I had made it through dry-eyed. That is, until my bridesmaids said goodbye to me.
Only one of my bridesmaids lived in Atlanta at the time, and wedding planning was such a wonderful excuse to talk to them all the time and see them as often as possible. At this moment, it hit me that it was all really over. I lost it, and burst into tears. Read more…
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
After a six hour drive (with lots of stops for sight seeing along the way) we made it to Hotel Parador located between Quepos and Manuel Antonio. Once again, everyone was so nice and helpful. On our first morning, with no plans, we decided to explore the hotel grounds. There were trails all over the place.
It was probably not yet seven in the morning in these first two pictures. I should not that our sleep schedule went with the sun while on our honeymoon, so we were in bed around eight or nine and up by five. Read more…
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
Have y’all missed me?! I had planned on getting down to honeymoon recaps sooner, but my computer decided to kaput on me. I’ve been using the public library down the street, but the librarian wasn’t so keen on my using a public computer to blog. So now with a new computer and our hundreds of honeymoon pictures transferred, I’m ready to share!
I mentioned before I knew very little about the honeymoon. While we waited at our gate the (very early) morning after our wedding, I got Mr. Skunk to spill. The itinerary involved two days at Arenal Volcano and three days on the beach at Manuel Antonio. I was excited but also a little apprehensive. Mr. Skunk booked the whole honeymoon through LivingSocial. In case you didn’t know, LivingSocial is a flash sale site that has one deal per day. I usually research the heck out of vacation deals, and here I was leaving the whole thing up to Mr. Skunk and deal site? Call me converted. I think this post and the next will help convince you if you’re on the fence like I was.
My worries were eased as soon as we got on the plane and I managed to get a few drinks in me. We totally blabbed that we were on our honeymoon to get these babies fo’ free!
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
Our wedding ceremony came and went, and now our reception was reaching its close. For our last dance, we asked the DJ to play All You Need is Love by The Beatles. Mr. Lion and I stood in the center of the dance floor, and a giant group hug quickly formed around us.
You’re probably wondering why everyone was looking to their right. Remember that balloon from our Save the Dates? Our photographer brought his along so that we could take these pictures… Read more…
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
This post is hardly a recap. I’m not telling the story of an important wedding memory. I’m not revisiting a DIY project that you saw before our wedding. I’m not providing insight or advice that could pertain to your wedding. But these photos are some of my favorites from the entire day, and I just thought they deserved their very own post.
We put together Atlanta-themed OOT bags for our guests. Needless to say, these included glass bottles of Coca Cola. Our photographer (who was an OOT guest himself) was clever enough to bring his bottle with him to use as a prop. The resulting photos were pure Atlanta pride.
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
As I’ve mentioned before, Mr. Lion and I had an interfaith, nontraditional wedding. It wasn’t very religious, but we wanted to incorporate elements from each of our cultures into our big day. One way I wanted to nod towards my Jewish heritage was by dancing the Hora during our wedding reception.
My mom’s side of the family is Jewish, but not many of them had traditional Jewish weddings. In fact, our wedding was the first time I had ever participated in the Hora. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. Allow me to now speak from my very recent experience: the Hora is a lot scarier than I expected!
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
Hive, I sincerely apologize for this post. This particular part of our wedding reception came at a time when everyone had enjoyed a few beverages, and we were feeling a little silly. I had just tossed my bouquet(s), and it was Mr. Lion’s turn to take the stage. Naturally, he chose Eye of the Tiger as his theme music. Sigh.
The song began, and Mr. Lion went in for the kill. By the way, keep your eye on that little kid in the corner. Read more…
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
Tossing the bouquet was one of the moments I was most looking forward to at our wedding. I’ve dreaded participating in the tradition at other weddings, but I was really excited about a little surprise I had in store for my single girls.
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
At one point in the night, I noticed that all of our groomsmen had mysteriously disappeared from the reception. I could only assume that they were decorating our getaway car, a theory later confirmed by photographic evidence:
I really wanted to rent a white vintage car, like a Rolls Royce or something that I imagined would appear in an old movie.
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
I had one goal for our reception: I wanted it to be a full-blown dance party. I wanted the dance floor packed for the entire four hours. We had a fairly young guest list, so we asked our DJ to skip the traditional wedding reception songs and just play lots of hardcore booty shaking music! I think we were successful.
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
One of my favorite things about going to weddings is to observe all of the different traditions and rituals, whether cultural or otherwise. It’s always interesting how every bride and groom bring different customs to both their ceremony and their reception. I love it, because it makes each wedding unique.
I was especially looking forward to one particular tradition at our reception. Every time a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma gets married, all of her sorority sisters who are present at the wedding sing a song called “Pat” to her. It’s a silly song, but our sorority has been practicing this tradition for over 100 years and there’s just something about that history that I absolutely adore. I’ve seen displays of other Greek organizations’ traditions at other weddings and the reaction is always the same: the rest of the guests look at them like they’re nuts! And maybe we did look a little weird, but from our end of things, we had a blast.
Mrs. Lioness, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 25, Physical TherapistFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, AttorneyEngagement Date: August 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: Anthony’s Fine DiningAbout Me: I’m a Southern girl with New England roots. I say "wicked" and "y’all" in the same sentence and I like to drink sweet tea with my lobster. Mr. Lion and I are both former Floridians now living in Atlanta, which fortunately is still SEC country...Go Gators! We both love baseball, coffee, traveling, cooking, and playing Words with Friends with each other on our iPhones all day long. I’m very passionate about the things and the people I love, and I tend to plan things with all of my heart...our wedding, of course, is no different! Oh, and also Mr. Lion is a first generation American of Cuban descent. I may look more like Lucy than Ricky, but I’m doing my best to incorporate some Latin elements into our vintage-garden-Southern wedding!
I had mixed feelings about doing a dollar dance during our wedding reception. Asking our guests for money when they had already bought us presents (and many of them had also traveled to our wedding) seemed inappropriate. Then, I learned that it was a tradition at Cuban weddings. I was trying to incorporate different customs from our different cultures, and this one seemed like an easy one to include. I decided that it was silly to worry about judgment from our guests; these were our closest friends and family!
If you’re having the same debate, I highly recommend going for it. The dollar dance became of my favorite parts of our reception because it was such an efficient way to mingle. In the midst of a busy day, it granted me the opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with many of my guests.
We started off with our maid of honor and best man.
Mrs. Skunk, AtlantaAge and Occupation: 23, Post baccalaureate studentFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Mechanical DesignerEngagement Date: February 13, 2011Wedding Date: November 2011Venue: Neverland Farms About Me: I’m a Georgia peach born and raised in the dirty dirty. I love reading, baking lots of sweets and forcing them on my friends, and most of all, rock climbing. I am in the process of applying to graduate school in physical therapy and I work at farmers’ markets around town selling bread for a local bakery. The mister and I met while rock climbing just over two years ago and have been inseparable ever since. Our climbing friends mean the world to us and have played an integral role in our relationship. We’re planning a barnyard shindig filled with good food, good friends, and lots of love.
I think, at least. We left our wedding without signing the marriage license, so we’re going to get working on that soon. But we’ve been declared husband and wife by a practicing member of the clergy, so I’m calling it. I’m officially Mizzus Skunk.
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind. We are so happy to be home, though. First thing we’re doing is cookin’ up some collards, bacon, and fried eggs for breakfast and settling in with all the Walking Dead and Survivor (don’t laugh) that we’ve missed. I’ll get down to the nitty gritty here soon, but for now, here are two teasers.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
