Thursday, September 27, 2012

Trip Planning, Anniversaries and Weddings

In just two short weeks, Paul and I will be celebrating our first anniversary!  We’ve discussed taking a road trip (have I mentioned how much I love road trips?) and he likes the idea of Galveston.  We had also talked about going to the biggest state fair in the country, Texas on 9/28-10/21, held in Dallas.  Texas State Fair.   Maybe we’ll combine the two?
We loved our simple ceremony and though we wish we could have had our families and friends with us, when you are our age and you’ve been married before, it’s nice to keep it small and intimate.  We couldn’t have asked for a more romantic weekend last year for our wedding in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.  We stayed at the same place our ceremony was performed, the Rock Cottage Garden Inn.  I wonder if I'm the only girl who kissed a horse on her wedding day?

I'll point out that I was close to six feet tall in this picture with heels and big hair so you can imagine how tall this horse was!  Paul wasn't the least jealous of me kissing him either.
I cannot say enough about how wonderful everything was about our wedding and visit there.  They arranged everything and it was perfect.  I look forward to going back there again, perhaps in December this year.  I read something about a cookie festival!  Besides bacon, cookies are one of my favorite food groups!
Weddings are a tricky thing to plan and I went through a lot of angst trying to plan something that wouldn’t break our budget (we had just purchased our new condo) and still be memorable and meaningful.  First we wanted to go on a cruise but then there were ship crashes, fires and onboard illnesses all over the news and we decided why take a chance with our special day? 
Then we looked into a beach wedding in Georgia or Florida.  But prices and locations varied widely and we learned the weather wouldn’t even be warm enough for swimming during our chosen dates.  That defeats the purpose of getting married at the beach!  And they were expensive with every tiny little thing being an extra charge.
We discussed Vegas but that just isn’t my thing.  I wanted more serious and romantic.  At first we joked about getting married in Arkansas, but the more I looked into it, the better I liked it.  Paul can be a little hard to please.  Yes, he’s picky.  Remember, this is the man who won’t eat the skin off pudding.  He had lots of requirements.  I wanted a romantic inn or B&B.  He wanted a cottage or cabin with privacy.  I wanted a location with an onsite chapel.  I’m pretty sure he said he wouldn’t stay in a girly room (pink with lace and ruffles).  We both wanted close to town. 
It took some searching but after my first conversation with Kathy at Rock Cottage Gardens, I knew I was in good hands.  She organized everything exactly the way we wanted it and is an amazing chef.  Our breakfasts were delicious and Gloria who was our wedding officiant and who also assists at the inn was perfect.  She took us two different locations and shot our wedding photos that urned out gorgeous.  She had us laughing constantly, especially at breakfast when the can of whipped cream misfired and covered her and half the people at breakfast with whipped cream!  Both ladies treated us like family.  We can’t wait to go back.

Our wedding turned out so well, it makes me wonder about weddings and how much people spend on them.  Sometimes putting themselves or their parents into debt and turning an important event into a nightmare to plan and coordinate.  It’s a wonder people don’t end up hating each other by the end of it all!  Who came up with the idea that weddings have to be so over the top?  As made obvious by Hollywood, a million dollar wedding can be a complete farce ending in divorce three months later.  Are people in love with the wedding and not their partner?  This is one of those things that make me go hmmm.
When in Eureka Springs, we visited Turpentine Creek and saw all the beautiful animals and Paul sat in the bear chair.  It is a wonderful large animal sanctuary and worth a visit and donations to help care for the animals.

I need to add that I found out via Facebook last night that my best friend snuck off to Vegas and got married.  I didn't even find out via her Facebook but because she was tagged in the photos of a stranger.  My feelings are hurt.  At least when Paul and I got married, everyone knew in advance we were going.  Her new husband rubbed it in when I asked.  I can't believe I encouraged her to date him!  Hmpf!

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