Back to wedding stuff...INVITATIONS!

Okay, so it's been a while since I made an actual wedding post, and I have a lot of stuff to share!

Most importantly, at least for my stress level, is the fact that we have officially decided on and purchased our invitations! If you'll remember, we had decided to make our own invitations in order to save money, but to be honest I wasn't really looking forward to the hassle and I just wasn't 100% satisfied with the design I made myself.

Enter, once again, etsy.com! One day I randomly decided to search for wedding invitations and I found this seller: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5908359

All of her designs are quite amazing, but one in particular really struck me as matching our theme/decor. And the great thing about etsy is that it's all about custom orders, so I asked the seller to alter the design (colors and font) for me and she came through! Here are some pictures of the final design we purchased!


I did some number crunching and we actually ended up saving money! We ordered enough to get free shipping, and since we weren't required to purchase in increments of 25 or 50, we ordered just a few over our exact number of required invitations. Plus, the hassle level for getting our invitations has been drastically reduced...and that's worth more than a few dollars to me! :) Best of all, I am absolutely 250% in love with these invitations! The flowers actually match our final centerpieces, which I'll have to share with you in a later post!

Honeymoon! (Toto Saba)

Like I mentioned before, day 16 of our honeymoon will find us in Edinburgh! In the morning we'll have a sightseeing tour with a local guide, during which we will most definitely be passing the castle!


Here's another view, which shows how high up on a hill the castle is:


The afternoon and evening will be left to us to make our own plans. We'll definitely be indulging in some of the local culture, which may include entertainment such as this:


As for the rest of the evening, who knows what trouble we'll get into! ;)

Day 17 will begin with a trip to Jedburgh, which is where Mary, Queen of Scots lived. Jedburgh is only a few miles from the English border, and is also the location of the ruins of an abbey.


After that, we'll head to Northumberland National Park, where we'll get to see part of Hadrian's Wall (this is part of a wall built during the Roman Empire, if you didn't already know that)! Two decades ago, it was designated one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites, which is kind of a big deal. :)

Finally, day 17 will conclude with a tour in York, which will include this beauty:


Day 18 is the second-to-last day of our honeymoon! It will begin with Sherwood Forest, which I'm pretty excited about! I absolutely LOVE everything having to do with the Robin Hood legend! I've seen the Kevin Costner film, the Disney version with the foxes, and, of course, Men in Tights (my favorite version!). Anyway, hopefully the leaves will already be turning since it will be October 12, and maybe it will look something like this:

Next up will be a visit to Stratford-upon-Avon which you might know as the birthplace of Shakespeare. What a place to visit on a honeymoon! While I do love Shakespeare and all, I'm also excited to see the architecture in the town!


Finally, day 18 will end in Coventry, which is the site of a beautiful cathedral:


The last full day of our honeymoon will consist of a drive through Cotswold Hills and a visit to the site of Churchill's grave. Then we'll take a walking tour of Oxford, which is something I've been wanting to do for a very long time!


After the Oxford tour, we'll return to London once more for a final glimpse of the beautiful city! If we're not completely pooped, we'll probably hit the town once more before going to bed. The next morning we'll wake up and get on a plane headed for Atlanta.

That's the last of my honeymoon posts...I hope you've enjoyed them! :)

Honeymoon! (Toto Sita)

With two weeks of the trip finished and one week remaining, we will depart Manchester and drive through the Lake District into Grasmere, which is where William Wordsworth lived. I can understand how he became a poet, with scenery like this!


After that, we'll cross the border into SCOTLAND!! We'll start with a visit to Gretna Green, which is a famous eloping destination. It's actually a very interesting story, so you should look it up. Here's a famous set of lovers statue:

Apparently these wonderful creatures also reside near Gretna Green...I've seen one in person before, but it wasn't enough! It's such a cute little beastie:

We'll end the 13th day in Glasgow!! :D I am pretty excited about this part of the trip, since Glasgow has been on my "places to visit" list for a long time.

The morning of the 14th day will begin with a drive along Loch Lomond...I'm definitely hoping to see some scenery like the next two pictures!

There will be lakes aplenty during our travels on this day, and I'm really hoping that Loch Ness will be included! I am fascinated by the lake and by Nessie. :)


We'll be driving through Rannoch Moor on our way to the Scottish Highlands. I just can't believe the amazingly beautiful natural scenery...


Our final stops on this day will include Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, Cairngorns National Park, and Culloden Moor battlefield.

Day 15 will include more driving tours of the Highlands, through Dundee and Perth, which is home to a beautiful ancient castle.

Perth is also located on the River Tay, which we'll be crossing to arrive in St. Andrews. Jordan may be interested in the history of golf, but I'm much more interested in the castle and ruins of the cathedral!

After a bit more driving around, we'll end up in Edinburgh!! This will probably be one of the best parts of the trip for me...we'll be spending two nights in the city! I'll save the pictures of Edinburgh for Toto Saba!

Honeymoon! (Toto Tano)

Day 10 of our honeymoon will have us visiting the amazing Cliffs of Moher!! These awesome formations rise from 394 to 702 feet above the ocean!! I love the lines in the rocks, which indicate how very old they are:



Afterwards, we'll stop in Galway, which is on the west coast of Ireland. I loveloveLOVE these crosses:



By afternoon, we will have arrived in DUBLIN and we'll have the rest of the evening to ourselves. I can't even begin to imagine what I'll try to cram into this evening, but whatever it is, it will be wonderful!


Day 11 marks the halfway point of our amazing adventure, and is completely devoted to Dublin! We'll get a driving tour in the morning, which I'm sure will involve lots of historic buildings and, my favorite, statues! Here's James Joyce:

And here's another beautiful image of Dublin at dusk:

Once again, we'll have the evening to ourselves...and I'm positive it will involve imbibing at least a few delicious drinks. Perhaps Temple Bar? :)


Unfortunately, day 12 marks the end of our time in Ireland. We'll be crossing the Irish Sea back into Wales, and then driving along the coast until we reach Chester. (Interesting side note: did you know that "Chester" comes from Latin castra meaning camp or fort? The Latin was borrowed into Old English as ceastre, which came to mean city. Who says my Linguistics degree will never be of use?) Here's a beautiful cathedral:


We'll be spending the night in Manchester, which is in Northwest England.


Next up, in Toto Sita, we'll move on to Scotland!!

Honeymoon! (Toto Nne)

I have a lot of exciting wedding stuff to share very soon, but for now, I'm going to continue with the next part of our honeymoon! :)

We will be departing Cardiff on day 7 and driving through "dairy farmlands" until we arrive at the seaside resort of Tenby!

From here, we will board a ferry that will take us into IRELAND!!!! This is my dream come true. The ferry will take about 4 hours, so most of day 7 will be spent traveling. Day 8 will begin with a drive along the southern coast of Ireland, stopping in Cork!

We will definitely be visiting the castle and Blarney Stone!! Not that I really need any help with "the gift of gab," but I'll be kissing the stone. :)

After lunch, we'll head to Killarney and see the castle there before heading to our resort.

Day 9 is also full of wonderful Ireland! We'll take the Ring of Kerry drive, which I've heard wonderful things about! Check this out:

We'll be traveling through Adare, which is home to beautiful cottages and castles alike!

Then it's on to Limerick and a driving tour of King John's Castle:

If we've saved up enough money, we might be able to take part in a dinner banquet at Knappogue Castle, where we'll drink honeyed mead and be entertained with music and dancing! :)

This post is long enough already...Toto Tano will include Galway and Dublin!!