Team Love Attacks: Our Jack and Jill

Team Love!!

I had one of the best weekends since celebrating my Birthday in Indonesia, tied with our time in Brazil/Argentina and Nica.  Last weekend, Thomas and I went home for our bridal shower--thrown by the lovely Doreen Frasc--and our Jack and Jill.  All of our friends and family came together from all aspects of our lives to join us.  Since I am still waiting for some bridal shower pictures, I'm starting backwards with the Jack and Jill.  I took so few pictures, but thankfully my ladies had their cameras ready.  For this post, though, many are missing due to red cups and peoples' professions...wink, wink.  In effect, I can't post pictures of most of the groomsmen, arg! 

A sneak peek of the bridal party gear for the shower. 

Thomas and I wanted the Jack and Jill to be extra special and fun, especially since we weren't even sure if we had the time to plan one in CT.  Tom's best man and brother-in-law, Shane, recommended having the celebration at Nomad's in South Windsor.  Nomad's has everything from bull riding to bumper cars, rock climbing, laser tag, bowling, and arcades.  The perfect spot for us since we are little kids at heart.

We rented a billiards room.  Tom's sister, Dani, ordered pizzas and brought pies that her husband, Josh, helps make at work.  Tom and I decided to surprise our wedding team--10 groomsmen/bridesmaids and 2 ushers--with t-shirts.  Hence, Team Love was born!

Everyone's shirts had their name and the number '12 for the year
we are getting married.  These are our wedding colors.

Tom came home from work one day, and I was like "Look, I designed t-shirts for us."
They match our travel theme too!

If you ever need custom shirts, check out CustomInk.  I had so much fun looking through colors and graphics to make the perfect tee for guys and girls.  I sound like an ad, but the shirts came super fast and were amazingly professional and stylish.  I loved that we were able to find wedding and travel graphics too.

Team Smith College : )  Kor and Rach, two of my lovely bridesmaids.

We loved seeing everyone in their blue shirts.  It was so easy to find our team, especially with the ladies' roller-derby event ending.

We played pool, ate dinner, and split off for games.  A bunch of us played glow-in-the-dark mini-golf, drinks in hand.  We all had the same color ball, and at times, I couldn't even see the hole.  Some of the holes didn't have walls around them.  Once in awhile, someone else's ball flew around the corner and at you.  See below...

Glow-in-the-drunk mini-golf.  Ridiculously fun.  "Who's ball is this?!  Where did it come from?!
Is it mine?  Who's ball is this?!"

Some of us played competitively while others just kept swinging.  We finished golf and headed over to bumper cars.  It's pretty fun getting to ram one another.  "Make me wear a poofy Princess gown?!" BAM.  "Pink shoes, ew!"  WHAM.

The remaining ladies of Team Love. 

The later night members of Team Love and Team Usher.  Unfortunately, we never got to take
a group picture of everyone; we were having too much fun!

We ended the night with laser tag.  Fifteen minutes of running around is intense.  We matched four girls against five boys.  Smith and AF pride?! One of the ladies, who we talked to throughout the night, was married to the live musician at the bar.  All I know is that we lost, we sweated to death, and the boys were violent.  I remember getting ambushed by four boys, and Tom grabbing me, putting his hand over my gun, and shooting me.  I love you too, babe.

LASER TAG!!!! "How do these work?!"
"Ohhhhhh, you mean I had to shoot that little target."
"Damn!"

I think the final score says it all.

We got our butts kicked.  Our heads were bowed in shame.  

Team Usher, Ryan and Chris.

Maid of Honor Love : )
We'll take another MOH picture when Miss Katie is in town! That damn Bartley woman took
her hostage this weekend.

Somehow they always made it back home!

We laughed pretty hard and were exhausted.  So exhausted that we missed our cake tasting the next day.  It was so nice to wake up, though, after a small sleepover with the Smithies and have a big brunch with my parents.  We dropped our lovely ladies off at their bus stations and boarded the plane back to Florida after another whirlwind wedding weekend.  First and last dress fitting included.


It was definitely hard to leave our friends and family.  We have some amazing people in our lives.  Smithies missed part of reunion weekend--with Jane Lynch as the Commencement speaker--to be there.  Shower and J and J guests had to come in from all over the U.S.  $$$ and a pain for those who had to deal with extremely late buses.  One of our groomsmen, Jason, still made it to the Jack and Jill after driving over ten hours from North Carolina.  With no complaints, he walked up to the bar, ordered a drink or two, and got the party re-started.  People came on the verge of colds and long weeks.  We are so appreciative for all of the love and support we had and continue to have.  Thomas and I never plan parties or events so this was a first for us; we were so happy everyone helped make it happen.  To say I miss my friends and family is an understatement, so it is a good thing that we just spiffed up our Florida guest-room thanks to bridal shower gift cards.  But, that is for another post.


GO TEAM LOVE!!

All You Need Is Love (and horses): Engagement Pictures, Scene 2

Lights

When deciding where we wanted to take engagement pictures, we knew that the Seminole Wekiva Trail was a must.  The trail is one of our Florida sanctuaries and it is home to cranes, horses, butterflies, cows, and peacocks.  Saggy trees and vines border ranches and beautiful homes you would only find in Tuscany or high in the hills of a Central American town.  Since we love horses and see them every day--especially on the trail--we knew that they had to be a part of our pictures.  Plus, Thomas proposed while horseback riding in Brazil, and, hey, we are getting married in a barn.

Originally we contacted a professional equestrian center off of the trail to see if we could use their grounds and horses for part of our pictures.  While the owners seemed friendly and interested, they stood us up with less than a week before the shoot.  Devastated, we had no idea how we were going to find a place with such late notice.

Camera

We had ridden bikes past the equestrian center--it forms a horseshoe around the trail--and remembered seeing a beautiful home with a modern barn and horses penned up in the yard.  To be fair, the home should be classified as an Indonesian mansion.  Ironically, this same home was used for a small shot during the Bachelorette-Vienna season.  In the front of the grounds, we saw a sign that said Painted Dreams and made a mental note.  We stopped behind the barn for a water break and after staring for a few minutes, decided we would look up the owner's number and give him/her a call.  Southern hospitality, right?!  

I would also like to think that this stunt would make my Indonesian grandmother proud.  Eyang once saw a beautiful house that she wanted to tour, went right up to the owners who were outside chatting, and asked if she could come inside.  Of course, they let her.  It's Eyang.

Action

Most likely similar to Eyang's unsuspecting homeowners, the proprietress, Loretta, was quite surprised to hear from two strangers.  Lucky for us, she immediately said that we could use her property.  We offered to donate some $$ but she only wanted store credit to buy the horses dinner.  Loretta breeds and sells all of her horses.  

Loretta's daughter, Brittany, met us on the actual day of pictures--it should be noted that she is quite allergic to horses--to help take the horses out of their stalls.  Her excitement and helpfulness were heartwarming.  Loretta later joined us.  Not only did these lovely ladies let us use their property, but they also stayed to help, waving hay around to grab the horses attention and offer suggestions for some great shots.  I will never forget their kindness. 

Working with horses is not easy, and even Thomas and I found ourselves extremely--but pleasantly-- distracted.  The horses wanted in on the action, and we left the barn with hay wedged between shoes, heels, and clothes.  Thomas had a large wad of horse boogers on his shirt, and I had horse spit in my ear.  At one point, I looked down and my hands were black.

Once again, the pictures--thanks to Shipra Panosian Photography--speak for themselves:

Having engagement pictures taken is harder than it looks.  Thomas and I learned that we probably won't be models.  We laugh and smile too much.  When someone tells us to look sultry and stop smiling, I know that I just end up smiling even more.  We aren't good at being given directions for where to put our arms or where to turn our heads--especially when there is a giant horse trying to chomp the hay out of our hands.  One of my fingers can attest to exactly how much that hurts. 

But in the end, we had such a fun date.  For once we could focus on us and having a good time together.  We got to get all dressed up, wear matching clothes, and smile a lot.  It's always funny to see yourself in a picture: how you smile, how you hold hands, and how you laugh.  Most importantly, it's how you see how you make each other feel.  During wedding planning this becomes so useful; it reminds you to keep your eyes on the prize (and not some of the silly BS).