Engagement Day

August 3rd, 2013 is a day that Stu and I will always remember! August 3rd is the day that Stuart proposed in Aiken, SC at Hopeland Gardens. He took me on a trip "down memory lane" around Aiken, and ended our afternoon at the gardens where he popped the question! He hired a photographer to capture everything on camera, so now we have these special memories to look back at. These are only a few them!

It's crazy how fast time flies! Tuesday will make 4 months since we have been married :)

 If you know the story behind this day, you know what this pictures is... 

Stu was in the midst of the whole proposal spill and I was too busy complaining about hungry I was getting. 

Bridal Portraits

It’s been almost 2 months since we got married and I just realized I never loaded my bridal portraits! I am so glad that Jessi took these amazing pictures before the actually wedding day. She met at my apartment and drove up to Clemson with me, mom and ma. That moment of first putting on my dress and being made up from head to toe was different than any other! That was the first time it really hit me that I was a bride!!!  

All the pictures were taken at Clemson’s botanical gardens. We had the best time walking around the beautiful grounds and capturing these special moments. I loved getting all the complements and congratulations from other people strolling around that day, and especially the little girls who thought I was a princess!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day!

Honeymoon to Dominican Republic

I have had a great week at Edisto with my family, but nothing could beat our honeymoon trip to DR.

Stu and I flew out Monday following the wedding and went to Excellence Resort in Puna Canta. Our trip was 7 days and 6 nights to the beautiful Dominican Republic. We could not have had better weather our entire trip! We started out most of our days on the beach and ended the afternoons in one of the pools. 

We were warmly welcomed at the resort by the concierge and a glass of champagne.

Our suite over looked the cascading pool, so it was a gorgeous view in the mornings when we enjoyed breakfast on our balcony. 

We loved the food! There were 8 restaurants to choose from plus room service at anytime you wished! Our favorite dinner spot was the French restaurant called Chez Issabelle and our favorite lunch spot was The Grill which sat over looking one of the pools and beach. 

This was our first full day on the beach! I loved that there were beds to lay out on! We went venturing down the beach and found some cool trees that hung over the water. Stu was definitely in his element!!!

Poor Stu forgot his sunglasses, so he went and bought a new pair at one of the gift shops on our resort. AND that's when my obsession with my new fedora hat started :)

This was day 3! We got up that morning and went to breakfast in one of the restaurants. After breakfast, we quickly hit the beach and and ended our day in the pool!

This was day 4!

On Friday, we left the resort and went into the city to go snorkeling on a catamaran. We met a wedding party from Canada who had brought over 25 people with them for their trip and they were all on the catamaran with us. We also met a couple who lived in NC and their nephew played for Clemson :) That couple flew home on the same flight we did, so I found them in the baggage pick up area and welcomed them home! 

This was our last day in DR :( We spent the day by the beach and pool with friends, and we went back to The Grill for the 3rd time for lunch! 

Four couples that we know from back home ended up coming to the same resort Thursday to Sunday, so it was a great ending to our week having friends from home. 

This was a sweet friend that we met while in DR! She and her husband were also on their honeymoon and married the same day we were :) After we all returned home, we added them on facebook and realized they lived in a small town called Swansea, IL! What a small world since Stu grew up in Swansea, SC!