The Honeymoon (in pictures)

I know I know... where the heck have I been?!?! I cannot begin to explain how crazy life has been. Any spare moment that I have had I have just wanted to rest. I know it seems like ages ago now, but I do still want to share the honeymoon with you. Since I would also like to begin filling you in on my current life...I thought I'd just give you the honeymoon in pictures. I'll throw a few words in here and there, but mostly there will just be pictures of our fabulous week in Riviera Maya. We have already decided that we will DEFINITELY be going back. It was absolutely incredible!

Our very own pool!!

Oh hey husband. 

GORGEOUS!!

We made friends!!

WE ARE MARRIED!!

Candlelight dinner on the beach :) 

So much yummy food!!

Totally out! Cute, huh?!

We had soo much fun with our new friends from New York and Canada

The last night :( 

Massage on the beach the morning before we left

Ben and I had soo much fun in Riviera Maya and cannot wait til we can go back. I cannot say enough amazing things about the man that I married. The honeymoon is such a fun time to just be together and we even had the amazing experience of meeting some wonderful friends. I love seeing Ben interact with others and get to see his heart. Anyway, enough mushy stuff, but I love Ben a whole lot and will definitely say that the honeymoon is such an incredible experience that I wish everyone could experience like once a year. It was so nice to have absolutely no plans, sleep in, drink fun tropical drinks and eat whatever was laid before me. So, a week later and 5 pounds heavier, I came back even happier than when I left and more in love with Ben than on our wedding day. Who would have thought it possible?!?

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Ben Clark!!!!

Yes, this is my new last name and I get to be associated with this amazing man for the rest of my life!! I cannot believe I have been married for 4 weeks! That Sunday absolutely flew by, but was soo much fun. I'll try and fill you in on most of it without leaving out too many details.

I actually got a decent amount of sleep the night before the wedding. I'm sure it was due the enormous amount of activities we packed into the previous 2 days, but whatever it was I was thankful. I woke up around 8 and went on an hour walk with Jenni and Megan around my neighborhood. It was exactly what I needed. We got to talk about all of my excitement, fears, worries, etc. and they were so sweet and encouraging. Of course, we also had a lot of girl talk which I'm always in for! When we got home the rest of the girls were up and ready for some yummy breakfast cooked by Mama Berry. We chatted about absolutely everything and once we were finished I checked my honeymoon suitcase for the bazillionth time and continued to keep reorganizing things. The girls helped me pack and looked through all of my clothes to approve for the honeymoon. :)

The morning was mostly filled with getting little things done. I made sure everything was in order and the girls helped me wrap Ben's present while I wrote him a card and showered. When lunch time rolled around I was hungry, but didn't really want to eat. I decided on some turkey with cheese rolled inside to suffice my appetite.

After lunch, my sisters took me to get my make-up done for some good sister time. I am so glad we did this. It really helped keep me calm and I definitely wanted their opinion on the make-up. I hate wearing make-up, so I didn't want to look too unnatural. When we were done, we grabbed a drink from Starbucks to give me some extra energy and headed to the Piazza to meet the rest of the troops.

Piazza in the Village

This is obviously not what I saw when I drove up at 2:45, but isn't it beautiful?!?! I absolutely loved everything about our venue, especially the Bridal and Groom's Suites. 

Bridal Suite

We had so much room to get ready in here. Lots of mirrors, plugs, a bathroom, flat screen to watch the World Cup until my guests started arriving and tons of counter space. The Groom's Suite wasn't quite the same design, but absolutely perfect for the boys...

Flat screen, X-box, leather couches, poker table, etc. 

I know we both had a lot of fun getting ready with our wedding parties. I definitely got pampered in my room. Everyone wrote me sweet notes and I even got a foot and hand massage while getting my hair done. I definitely could have gotten used to that life! 

Taking a break from beautifying! 

Once we were finally all ready, Taylor took some quick pictures before the guests started arriving. Thank goodness they didn't take long because it was HOT outside! 

Up to this point I had kept my emotional self together pretty darn well. Once we got back into the Bridal Suite and I started watching guests arrive on the TV, I let the waterworks go. I started to get really anxious and just wanted to get down the aisle already, so all the girls gathered around me and Megan prayed a beautiful prayer before they all began to trickle out of the room. As more and more of the bridal party and my mom had to leave the room, it got harder and harder for me to hold it together, especially when it was just me and my sweet dad in the room. 

Megan and me 

Fortunately, I did finally get to walk down the aisle with the most amazing father any girl could ask for escorting me. Even though I was soo excited to take Ben's hand, I must say that it was incredibly hard letting go of my dad's. 

The service was great and everything went so smoothly. It was nice and quick exactly like Ben and I wanted and everyone really enjoyed it. I don't think I ever stopped smiling and even laughed pretty loud on stage at one point. It was all so wonderful and I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. There's no way to even explain what goes through your head up there...everything is just so surreal. 

OHMYGOODNESS!! I still cannot believe that I AM A WIFE!!! After taking some pictures (that I cannot wait to see!), Ben and I headed inside to dance the night away at the reception. 

Our first dance to "She's Everything" 

I think I might have been more nervous about dancing in front of everyone than I was about walking down the aisle. Ben and I didn't practice AT ALL, but he was a great leader and it ended up being perfectly fine...we even threw a few spins into the mix. :) 

After our dance we got to head up the line down the buffet and once we sat down it finally registered just how hungry I was. I had NO idea!! I dominated some fajita chicken, beans, chips, guacamole and salsa. The food was GREAT!!

Ben and I mingled for a while, but it didn't take us too long to hit the dance floor. At one point my dad passed me a dinner napkin through the crowd because he saw how sweaty I was.  :)

Taking a short break from the dancing

Around 9 or so Ben and I finally decided to cut the cake and have our milk toast. That's right...you read that correctly. Ben and I did a milk toast to go with his milk and cookies. I only had the one little bite of cake that he fed me and of the cookie too, but they were both delicious! 

The rest of the night was totally dedicated to the dance floor. At one point the DJ even got on the floor and taught us all the moves to Thriller. IT WAS AWESOME!! There was even a song dedicated to all the Tri Deltas and one to the Kappa Sigmas. We all had soo much fun!

 Before I knew it my wedding planner was taking me up the elevator to throw my bouquet off the balcony and Ben was doing the garter toss. The night absolutely flew by. Everything was amazing though...I loved my cake, the cookies, flowers, DJ...I loved it all! 

I could not be more thankful for everyone that was a part of Ben and my wedding. Our families and friends made everything so fun and so easy. I absolutely loved getting to see everyone and I wish I could see them more often. Thank you everyone for everything!! 

I could also not be more thankful for the amazing husband that God has blessed me with. No one could ever make me feel more beautiful and more loved. I cannot wait to see all that God has planned for us. These past 4 weeks alone have been a blast and we have a lifetime!! 

Practice Makes Perfect

So last you heard I was super relaxed, but soon after the mani/pedis I got super anxious. I went home and looked at my suitcase and kind of freaked. I had no idea whether I had all the clothes I wanted for the honeymoon and I didn't want to pack too much but I also wanted to make sure that I had absolutely everything. I think all the girls realized I wasn't being myself, so they all went to Starbucks to give me a little time to myself and get me a drink. Aren't they fabulous?!?! 

I inspected my suitcase for the billionth time and took a good long shower and felt much better. IT WAS FINALLY TIME TO GET READY FOR THE REHEARSAL!! Which meant....IT WAS FINALLY TIME TO SEE BEN...THE DAY BEFORE OUR WEDDING!!!!  

I was extra excited about the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for 2 reasons:

#1- My bakery offered to make Ben and I a cake for our rehearsal dinner and I got to design it. Since Ben decided to have chocolate chip cookies and milk for his groom's cake, I thought it would be cool to design a cake specifically for him and have it be a surprise. I could not wait for him to see it!

#2- One of my favorite blogs, Carrots 'N' Cake, had a really cool giveaway earlier in the summer that I decided to enter on a whim. Tina loves the website Rent the Runway and I've always thought it looked like a really good idea. The website offers designer dresses and accessories to rent for a very very discounted price. I entered to win a dress for free...AND I WON!!! The dress that I had my eye on was one that I wanted to wear to the rehearsal dinner and I was soo excited that I got to. It was something I would never have gotten to wear and couldn't wait to put it on for such a special night. 

I cannot tell you how anxious I was on the drive to the rehearsal. I just had that awful feeling that we were never gonna get there and I wanted to get there soo bad. When we got there it was such a relief to finally see all of our closest friends and family and to finally see Ben who I had barely talked to in the previous few days. 

Soo pumped!

I cannot even express how much I love our wedding party. They were/are all so much fun and even though I had to tell them to quiet down a few times, they made everything so special. 

I will admit that I was kind of a stress ball at the rehearsal. Ben and I picked music that we were really excited about and I just wanted to make sure it was perfect. Our wedding party was super loud, so I just had to raise my voice a couple of times and threaten them with dinner to get them to quiet down. :) 

After about 3 run-throughs we finally got to head over to Truluck's in Southlake for dinner....now for the cake! 

We had our own room at Truluck's and it was absolutely beautiful. The walls were decorated with many many wine bottles and I loved the feel of it. After everyone ordered, I had the waitress tap me on the shoulder and I made an announcement that I had a surprise. I was super nervous about Ben's reaction, but I had nothing to worry about...he loved it! 

The camo/deer hunting cake

Ben is super into hunting and everything that comes with it, so I thought this would be perfect for him. Plus, it would show all of his guy friends that I won't be stealing him and will still support him going to the lease during deer season. :) 

The food and wine and company was absolutely perfect. Ben even put together an amazing slideshow of us. He is so talented! I could not have asked for a better night and everything that everyone said at the end of the night was so sweet and of course made me cry. I absolutely felt like the luckiest girl in the world and was so sad to leave everyone for the next 24 hours...especially Ben. 

NEXT UP....MRS. BEN CLARK!!!

Side Note: I will say that at the end of the night Ben leaned over and said..."You're gonna need to wear that dress again when we're married." I told him that it wasn't mine and he remembered that I had rented it and promptly asked..."How much?" haha Needless to say the dress was a HUGE hit when Ben and everyone else. I have gotten almost as many compliments on the rehearsal dress as the wedding dress. Thanks Tina and Rent the Runway!!!!