Where Do I Start? Seriously. Honeymoon it is! Part Uno

I'm so overwhelmed with where to start. Do I start with the ceremony? Do I start with the reception? All the stuff that happened prior? Since I don't have a lot of professional pics to show and tell, maybe I should start with the honeymoon and work backwards?

I know the MOH gave you a few tid-bits to start with. Is it enough to tide you over? I'll post a few other pics my wonderful friends and family took as well. So, I do think I'll start with the honeymoon. Here's a taste of the wedding via pictures from my friend, Scott. He's an amazing photographer and has been getting better and better with the purchase of his snazzy new camera and lenses.

Hugging my dad after the Father/Daughter dance.

Our sweet ride and fab driver, Reggie.

Here we go.

My first comment is this: do not leave for your honeymoon the day after your wedding if you can at all avoid it. We didn't leave until the Thursday after and it was AWESOME! We got to open gifts and put them away, make trips to the venue and chapel to pick up last minute things. I even got my dress and veil to the preservation place before we left. Getting all that done was just awesome.

So, for the honeymoon The Candyman and I decided to go to Zihuatanejo (zay-wa-ta-nay-ho), Mexico, pretty early on in the planning process. It's a place I've always wanted to go to and The Candyman is always up for tropical locales. Why did I want to go? Ever see the movie "When a Man Loves a Woman" with Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan? Watch that movie and you'll know why. There's a scene with them in an infinity pool and Playa La Ropa in the background. Ever since I saw that scene, I wanted to go there. So we went.

I found our amazing condo on HomeAway.com, which for me, is the only way to find a place to stay. I am not a hotel or resort person and this is now the third time I've used HomeAway and it's never failed to deliver. I highly recommend this site.

From the start Harriet, the owner of our condo (called Sueno del Mar), was a delight to work with. The rates were reasonable and her communication thorough. She even sends out a Zihuatanejo Guide that she's written to help her guests. For us, that guide was invaluable! She lets you know where to eat that's safe (no one wants Turista) and how much taxis should cost and all of that. She gives contacts for everything from fishing to massages. Very cool.

We supposedly went during the low (meaning: rainy) season and got a better rate. Rainy season, my ass. It was hot and the weather was stunning. We did have one afternoon of torrential downpours, but it was short-lived and we had already come in for the day so it mattered not to us. It cooled things down, that's for sure. I did feel kinda bad though, because there was a wedding party at La Casa Que Ve Al Mar (the name of our condo complex) and I feared the bride would get rained out.

The torrential downpour - taken from the balcony, looking down at the road.

The bride and her posse.

Happily the rain ended and we headed down to the beach for dinner. We actually saw the couple getting married on the beach! Sweet! As a side note, I am so glad that we didn't have an outside wedding. I would hate to have to deal with last minute weather changes. No thank you.

So, back to the details! We arrived at Sueno del Mar and we were greeted by this lovely welcome basket!

As well as this amazing view from our al fresco living room...

Let me tell you, this view did not suck one bit. Not at all.

The place was filled with the most amazing local art, this lady being one of them!

I will leave this recap with the place where we spent most of our time.

The view of the master bedroom from the balcony.

Our welcome towel art.

The view from the bed. Seriously, why leave?

I promise more 'moon recaps later as well as wedding recaps. I have got some thank you notes to write! :) So happy to be home!