RJ & Sarah's Wedding

Yesterday we were lucky to be invited to our good friends wedding at Cal Tech in Pasadena. 

The weather was hot but luckily we found a shady spot. 

They were also serving delish flavored water. Andrew went with classic lemon and I went with cucumber. It always reminds me of a spa when I drink cucumber water and so it put me in a relaxed mood! 

Here was the entrance to the Atheneum and where dinner took place. 

Donna and Jerry were a handsome couple and definitely brought some dapper-ness along with them!

Andrew was handsome as well and very excited to be wearing his pocket watch (you can catch a glimmer of his gold chain). 

Since we had to sit outside in the heat for a bit (the bride and groom were fashionably late, as they should be) they arranged for the guests to have these beautiful sandalwood fans. And they smelled as beautiful as they looked. 

After the ceremony we took a group shot of everyone at the wedding and were ushered inside for cocktail hour. There we were met with this nice blackboard.  

We grabbed a couple cocktails and headed outside (in the shade) for a table. 

This is the first time the whole clan was together since the wedding, so we had to take a few family shots. 

And another angle so you can see the beautiful pillars at Cal Tech (hint: the entire campus is absolutely gorgeous). 

And now that Donna and I are all dressed up we had to get a couple photos of the two girls! 

And the necessary close up! 

Luckily we were able to sneak a chat in with the mother of the groom and we convinced her to take a picture with us! 

After we downed our cocktails we were given the dinner chime that told us to make our way to our tables. 

Nearly as soon as we sat down the bride and groom had their first dance.

Midway through the first dance the bride and groom invited everyone to join them on the dance floor. 

After the first dance we witnessed a cool Polish wedding tradition. The Grooms parents invite the bride and groom to take some bread and dip in salt. This is to symbolize the ability to get through hard times. The whole process is followed by a shot of vodka and water. The idea is that the head of the house is the one who drinks the vodka. The bride of course was the one who got the shot of vodka. 

It was nice to enjoy a wedding that's not your own. Andrew and I were able to relax with a couple drinks and hang out (which was not the case at our own wedding)! I highly recommend  crashing others' weddings because sometimes your treated to fun details like these place cards...

Or this cute thank you note from the bride and groom. 

Really the whole night was just a wonderful experience and we were thrilled to celebrate in our friends big day. 

One down, one more to go! 

Trip to LA & Rehearsal Dinner

And we are on the road again! Andrew and I have two weddings this week so we spent the day traveling to LA. Unfortunately the car started overheating after only a couple hours, so we spent the rest of the drive (in the desert no less) with no ac! We did arrive safe and sound, and hurried to get changed for the rehearsal dinner for RJ & Sarah's wedding. 

The rehearsal dinner was held in Pasadena on an outside patio. Luckily for us the sunset was beyond beautiful. 

I just love how the sunset bounced off this building next to us. 

I mean...come on. Just beautiful. 

Andrew and I enjoying the dinner (and thank goodness it's not ours)! 

The beautiful bride and groom. Just a stunning couple inside and out and we can't wait to help them celebrate their big day tomorrow. 

Honeymoon - Part 1

Andrew and I spent our honeymoon in St. Lucia. Neither of us had been to the Caribbean before and since we're both scuba divers we wanted to go somewhere with great dive sights. So we landed on St. Lucia and off we went.

Excuse the no-makeup, airport selfie!

 Our flight from Phoenix to Miami was overnight and once we arrived in Miami we had a 5 hour lay over! Once we got to our terminal we grabbed a bite to eat and rested our legs.

There was a lot of waiting around

Once we arrived in St. Lucia we breezed through customs, picked up our bags and headed out of the airport to greet our driver. Unfortunately he never showed up...but it was a blessing in disguise because instead we met the best taxi man on the island. Dave was quick with his facts and knew a great deal about his homeland. It was refreshing to have a driver who was not only proud of where they lived, but knew a lot about the history of the island. 

Panorama of the view

Dave stopped at one of the viewpoints and brought us both a Piton beer - the beer of St. Lucia. It quickly became a fan favorite of mine and A's. A likes to dub it the Caribbean Corona. 

We took our time looking out over the view.

Andrew was just happy we could move around again.

Us with our new favorite beer!

After a few pictures at the view point Dave dropped us off at our first hotel located in Marigot Bay. We stayed at the Marigot Bay Beach Club which happens to be across the bay, so after a short ferry ride we arrived at the hotel.

Our bedroom. Pretty basic but the best part is...

The view from our balcony

View looking into the bay

View looking out towards the ocean.

We were both pretty exhausted, so we had an early dinner at Doolittle's. This restaurant is named after the original Doolittle movie being filmed at this locale. Apparently it's a must eat restaurant in St. Lucia, according to all the guide books.

We decided to choose a table next to the water so we could see the sun set!

Doolittle's does a great happy hour special: buy one get one free (on select cocktails). The cocktail of the night was Bahama Mama and it was the most delicious thing we had ever tasted.

Once we got our cocktails we looked to the menu to order something delicious.

The sunset was beautiful. The perfect ending to our long trip!