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Body, Mind, & Soul

Since the summer heat is getting to me, I am going to reminisce about the beautiful spring weather and talk about an Eco-Beautiful Weddings Magazine article from the Spring issue, Getting Fit Inside & Out.

The article talks about getting your body, mind, and soul ready for the bid day.  So I thought I would share a few things that I have enjoyed making a part of my routine.  First, I start my day off with a cup of tea in my favorite green mug that was made out of recycled water bottles.

Saturday mornings I enjoy going to visit local farmers markets.  There are a handful within 15 minutes so I like to mix it up to see the variety each has to offer.  If you can’t make it to your local farmers market for the latest and greatest, grocery stores are now featuring produce from local farms.  How can you say NO?

I have always been more of a snacker than a big meal person, so eating every 4 hours is not a big deal for me.  My new favorite snack is the CLIF kid organic ZBar.  I think I have gotten everyone in my family hooked!

To keep hydrated throughout the day, I keep my Camelbak water bottle with me.  I am able to refill it in the kitchen at work and it gives me an excuse to get up and moving every hour or so.

To bring everything together I started doing heated power vinyasa flow yoga a few times a week in addition to running.  I have been doing yoga for a few years now, but heated is a whole new experience.  It pushed me to eat well all of the time and constantly stay hydrated.  For the 90 minutes that I am in the room, I am thinking of nothing outside and I think we all need that break.

~Brianne & Jed

(Weekly Engaged Bloggers)

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{Dip In with Eco-Friendly Swimwear}

After the Big Day arrives, you are off to relax and enjoy being a new Mrs. on your honeymoon! If you are traveling to any warm climate, you will need a super sexy bathing suit. For all the green bathing beauties, I have found the most adorable & stylish bathing suits made from organic cotton! Fashion-Conscience.com has a variety of colors and styles to flatter every body type! Regardless of whether your honeymoon vacation may take you, you can still be sophisticated & environmentally conscience!

Aqua Blue Organic Cotton Halter Swimsuit

Yellow  and Pink Organic Floral Bikini Set

Heart Print Frill Cut Away Swimsuit

Cheers!

Persephone Efessiou

Polished Image & Style

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My Anniversary…Remembering The Dominican Republic

Yesterday marked my 2nd Wedding Anniversary and two years since my husband has been in the States!  And, as promised – I wanted to share with you photos from our 2 weddings.  We had one wedding in the Dominican Republic – which was a ceremony and reception for family only  (and just a few very close friends).  We had another wedding here in the States as soon as Miguel got here (see yesterday’s post).   Here are photos from our Wedding in the Dominican Republic…

I wore my Nicole Miller dress at both weddings and really only wore the blue and white Lacoste shoes at the wedding in the United States.  I love those Kate Spade shoes – but they are not very comfortable!  Then I have my parasol!

I am not much of a girlie girl…but on this day (like most women), I felt lovely and so happy to be getting ready to marry the love of my life in front of all of his family and my family.  That day – was like no other in my mind’s eye. By the way – I got my beautiful gardenia fabric flower from ebay for $3.00 and I wear it all the time!

These are two of my favorite photos from that day.  One – I love fresh limeade in the Dominican Republic…and true to form – it was hand-squeezed on our wedding day!  Then I adore this photo of Miguel getting ready – just the smile and the tie that he still has!

Flip flops are a big deal in the Dominican Republic – We bought 60 pairs for our guests and all were gone by the end of the ceremony!

My favorite paper lanterns, the limeade station, the 6 page round programs that were in Spanish and English – all items that I brought from the States (minus the limeade itself).  The table runner was left over from a wedding that I did in Anguilla and the lemonade jars are at my mother-in-law’s home, my sister-in-law’s and one of Miguel’s Aunt’s apartments!  I still have our programs as each one had a different set of paper and ribbon.  I reused some of the ribbon for other projects and the paper I just love and cannot part from!

Our amor table along with the plastic (yes – they are plastic – but we still have them and his mother has them) colored plates that I had to have as I wanted multi-colored plates. No – those are not menus – they were trivia questions.  Since some people at the wedding had never met me or my family – we had trivia about each other’s family and the guest that had guessed the most amount of trivia correctly – won a prize at the end of the night. I still have all of these cards!

Me with 6 of my 7 flower girls (all are Miguel’s nieces and one is a baby).  They carried cute glass lanterns down the aisle  that they all got to keep.

(My favorite portrait of me that day)

I loved this reveal time at the nearby country club where we got married at his uncle’s beach home.  My maiden name is Van Veen and my married name is Vasquez (Martin is my professional last name from my 1st marriage that I had when I started my business) – hence the V on the parasol!  I am really Senora Vasquez!  We took these reveal photos prior to the ceremony.

This may seem like a nothing shot here – but I did not really want to see Miguel prior to the ceremony – so in order to keep things “fresh”…his mother handmade my veil and we put it on just before I went down the aisle.  My veil is so special to me!

Our ceremony!

I love this photo of us praying…since my brother is a photographer and the best man – he actually took this photo at the altar!

MARRIED!

Love this moment – we were able to get away from everyone while they were changing the ceremony area over to the reception area to steal a dance to Miguel’s favorite song…I can remember him singing it in my ear.

My handsome hubby!

Our fun favors with wrapped local peanut brittle and Dominican coffee!

Love this shot of our decor around the pool next to the house:

Hope you enjoyed this weekend’s anniversary photos of me and my darling husband Miguel! Stay tuned for some fun posts this week!

(Katie Martin)

All photos by Documentary Associates

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Our Wedding Anniversary, Part 1!

Here is part one of my wedding photos – 2 year anniversary and really the 1st time I have blogged about our wedding photos. From the photo above until the end of the day – June 26th, 2008 was one of the happiest days of my life.   Not only did we get married that day – but he had just gotten in from the Dominican Republic at 1am that morning for the first time ever to the US! His visa had several problems for several weeks and the immigration process was grueling.  Jennifer Domenick, friend and amazing photographer, was there when we got to Hotel Monaco to get ready.  ABOVE SHOT: She was taking photos of us kissing and when I popped my head up and realized that she was taking photos of us making out (I will keep those photos private – sorry folks!)

Jennifer really spent some quality time with us as we got ready…we were just so elated to be in each other’s arms – here in the States – we just could not bear being separated prior to the wedding.  I was crying and then Jennifer was crying!

Gotta love the Hotel Monaco – perfect dress photos there every time!

I decided to wear all the rings that Miguel has given me that day.  Tthe gold band he gave me when he proposed, the Larimar  blue ring for my birthday and my engagement ring and wedding band (which holds the diamond from my grandmother’s engagement ring). I was putting on my custom-earrings with peridot and blue topaz in recycled white gold from Dominion Jewelers in VA.

Favorite photo of me that day…I remember thinking how I missed my father that day.  My brother walked me down the aisle. (Love the make-up Carola!)

I adore this photo of us right before the ceremony…waiting at the Arts Club of Washington.

The ceremony and portraits:

Our cake  (from Cakes by Design)- which I am still obsessed with:

Dancing (notice the Dominican beer “Presidente” in Miguel’s hand):

Then – the fabulous Snapshot Studio – which was so great for all of my friends and family there!!!

Keya (my head designer on staff and best friend) with her son Dwayne! XOXO

Here is Jennifer Domenick with her husband Ethan!

My fab DJ Aaron Couch with his wife Diedge!

Jeannine and Michelle (staff and friends)!

Robin Fisher with her son Kemit (our Style Editor and AMIGA!!! – WEPA!)

Tom Van Veen and Ashlee Wilcox of Documentary Associates (also my  brother and sister-in-law/best man and maid of honor!)

I love this photo of my mom’s crew!  Top left is Kathy and then my mom…I just love them!  Hey Silverliners!

And this photo is priceless. Alison DeWit of Distinctive Floral Designs (left) is my closest friend in the wedding industry.  Without Alison – these past few years would not have been the same!  Keya is just beaming as she has known me since 2nd grade and knows that Miguel has made me the happiest woman on earth!  Love it!

Stay tuned tomorrow for our wedding in the Dominican Republic!

(Katie Martin)

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