5 Months & Counting!

Time is flying! We're exactly 5 months out from the wedding right now. As you plan your trip, just wanted to provide a quick reminder - make sure you get your passport in motion now. Here's how you can get started:

• If this is your first passport, get the details here: http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_832.html
• If you just need to renew your passport (you must fit specific guidelines to do this via mail or internet): http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/renew/renew_833.html
• To apply in person (must do this if you are getting a passport for the first time or if your expired passport is from before the age of 16): http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/
• Current (as of Feb 3, 2010) processing time for a non-expedited passport is 4 - 6 weeks, so plan accordingly!
• If you wait until the last minute, you can get your passport expedited (still takes 2 - 3 weeks): http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/first/first_831.html
• Please note: unless you're driving to Mexico, the new passport card will not work. It's not valid for international air travel.

Hope this helps and is a good reminder for everyone! Get ready for another stamp in your passport!

Krystle & Brian's Wedding - Review of Details

We're nearing the 5 months out mark and save the dates are going out this week - so thought it might be nice to do a quick review, for folks looking for an all up view of the details.
Flights:
- We're not booking group flights or anything like that, as we're sure people will want to stay for different amounts of time.
- Make sure you fly into Cancun - it's the closest airport to Akumal
- If you're planning on doing travelling other than to Akumal, rent a car...otherwise, if you're just staying in Akumal - no need to. Just hop in a shared van, one recommended provider is: http://www.cancuntransfers.com/express/ You can even reserve online if you'd like.

Accommodations:
- Pretty much all types of hotels, B&B's, condos, all inclusives, and hostels are available in or near Akumal. Check out our earlier post for specifics on hotels, condos, and all inclusives.
- If you're looking to stay in a bigger city, Playa Del Carmen is 15 - 20 minutes away and has the bigger, brand name hotels (Marriots, Hiltons, etc.). Just remember that you'll need to find some transportation to the wedding. (Taxis and collectivos are easy to hail)
- If you stay in Akumal, everything is less than a mile apart, so you won't need to worry about getting around.

Akumal:
- Akumal is about an hour South of Cancun, away from the giant resorts and crazy amounts of tourists.
- Known for snorkelling and diving, there's pristine beaches with reefs that are a short swim from shore.
- Also within a short drive/taxi ride are the Tulum ruins and many cenotes (caves for diving).
- There are little restaurants, shops, and places to grab a drink along the beaches of Akumal.
- The wedding party is staying at the Romero Compound - located on a lagoon. Typically people need to pay to use the lagoon, with the exception of those staying on a private property, so feel free to come by for a swim in the lagoon or one of the pools!

The wedding/reception:
- The wedding is on Saturday, July 3 at 5:30pm at Casa Romero
- Dinner, drinks and dancing will follow at the same location
- Dress is beach cocktail - we'd prefer no jeans, shorts, or flip flops for the ceremony... however we do understand it's Mexico, in the summer - so feel free to get more comfortable for the reception.

Your presence at our wedding is the best gift we can ask for, however - for those who have asked - we are registered at Crate & Barrel and at Macy's .
When we're closer to the date, I'll provide the phone number to where the bridal party will be staying, along with more details (as they become avialable). If you have any other questions, please shoot us an email or leave a comment and we'll get back to you!

So looking forward to our wedding and seeing everyone in Mexico!

More Akumal Details

For those of you wondering about Akumal - had a chance to catch up with the owner of the villa, he passed along a great map.

Everything from Akumal Bay to Yal-Ku Lagoon is a total distance of 1 mile. A few key points of interest on the map:

• Yal Ku Lagoon: This is where the Romero compound is, and where the Watsons, Murphys, and bridal party will be staying. There's great snorkelling in this calm water lagoon.
• Half Moon Bay: Great sandy beach with snorkeling and two beachfront restaurants
• Akumal Bay: More sandy beach, snorkeling, this is where the turtles go to nest (great chances of seeing at least one!), and several restaurants
• Turtle Bay Cafe: This is the cafe our wedding planner owns. It's well known for some delish breakfasts and goodies!

As you can tell from the map, we're about an hour away from Cancun (which means to plan for an hour travel time from the airport).

New Year, More Photos, More Details!

First off, Happy New Year to all! We had our last Christmas apart (thankfully!) and enjoyed the holiday time with our families. We've also been working on the wedding details and getting more and more excited to go to Mexico!

We did receive the rest of our engagement pictures, to view them visit here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2208207&id=25900729&l=ee39250c78 or check them out from our photographer's page here: http://www.kristenmarie.org/blog/2009/12/26/krystlebrian.html

In wedding planning news, after a FULL year of searching... I finally chose bridesmaid dresses! Very exciting, very cute dresses, and now feel like planning is really under way!

Finally, for those who may be joining us in Mexico but haven't yet found somewhere to stay - there's two townhomes still available on the Romero compound (where the Watson family and Murphy family, as well as bridal party will be staying). Each fit 4 people and are $1500 for the week. If you're interested, please let me know and I'll put you in touch with the owner.

We're less than six months out, save the dates will be sent out soon. I'm sure before we know it, we'll be in Mexico!

Engagement Pictures - Sneak Peek!

Our photog posted one picture as a preview on her website... I kinda love it. However, more than one person has said "umm... aren't you supposed to be in the same picture for your enagement pictures?". But... I still do kinda love it.

A quick recap of our engagement pictures day... believe me, it didn't get off to any great start. I decided to wake up early, do my hair, and head off to the mall. You see, earlier this year when my sister was up visiting, she went and got her makeup done at Bare Escentuals and they did such a fabulous job, I thought I'd do the same for pictures. This ended up being a VERY bad decision. Not only did they go over on time, but before I could swipe the brush out of the makeup "artist's" (AHAHAH ... yea right) hand, I had two very dark (pretty much black and blue) eyes. So I ran out of there, hopped in the car, and started rummaging around for napkins to wipe the skank-eye off my face. While trying to hold back tears, trying to wipe my makeup, and just get home - I hear a siren behind me. I pull over. The siren pulls over. He gets out of his car. "How fast do you think you were going?". "ummm... 35 maybe?"... "Wrong, 37 - I'll need your license and registration". AGH. Luckily I had never been pulled over before (statistically I am a better driver than Brian;)) and was let off with a warning. As a note to all of you Christmas shoppers - Bellevue Way cops will pull you over for going 37 MPH.

Luckily my lovely fiance had already gotten the dog ready, was ready himself, didn't comment on my crazy eye makeup that I was still scratching off, and we made it to pictures on time (and without skank-eye).

We ended up taking pictures at the UW Arboreatum. Cool mossy bridge, beautiful trees, crisp autumn leaves, and broken down freeway structures covered in broken glass and left over hobo homes. A little strange, yes... but we're still pumped for the pictures.

Can't wait to share them with you (plus, I'm just about the least patient person in the world, so I'm DYING to see them).

About 7 months till the big day:)

Engagement Pictures - Location?

Here at the Murphy/Watson household we're in full swing "workout like crazy because our engagement pictures are in less than two weeks" mode. Luckily we joined the brand-new, beautiful, clean, wonderful (can you tell I really like it??) YMCA in Newcastle. Anyways, while we're going to look great ;) for our pictures, we're still trying to settle on a location. A few things to keep in mind...
- We're taking our pictures in November...in Washington. Weather is iffy, might be cold, but it's the only time we have.
- We aren't really "urban" people - so probably not looking for a city location.
- We are bringing the crazy (aka: Atilla) with us for some of the pictures.

Here's a few of my location ideas:
- Marymoor park in Redmond - lots of trees, cute river nearby, random structures (including a windmill), and completely dog friendly
- Golden Gardens park in Ballard - great park, but it's on the water and will be windy - so I would have crazy hair in all pictures
- Bellevue Botanical Gardens - beautiful location, but... have done Watson family photos there in the past
- Discovery Park in West Seattle - similar to Golden Gardens, it's near the water and will be windy/probably really cold.

Any other ideas/suggestions? Or even places to completely avoid? We don't want to look completely out of our element, but we also don't want to look freezing and annoyed.

Frosting Overload

Although Brian and I are doing this "untraditional" destination wedding, we didn't want to miss out on some of the traditional planning items... namely - cake tasting. So, following the advice of Amy, we decided to sign up for the Trophy Cupcakes wedding cake tasting. Holy frosting overload. (Holly and her sister, Heidi, were there to attest to this)... the first few mini cupcakes went down delicious-ly, however I can safely say that I will be staying away from buttercream frosting for a while. We tasted about 10 different types of cupcakes - personal favorites (minus the frosting overload) were snickerdoodle, vanilla chocolate, and carrot. Cupcakes themselves were awesome, something we're considering replicating down in Akumal!