#blakeandhaley

One of my very favorite things about having a hashtag for our wedding (I'm a big old pinterest cliche or what?!), was being able to scroll through all of the photos while waiting on our flight the next morning. It was like reliving the day all over! Every now and then our photographer, Elise, has been posting little teaser photos and I am incredibly excited to get those photos!
Anyway - here are a few of my favorite instagrams I found on our hashtag!

1. Breigh's mom snapped this shot of us gals while we were decorating the venue. I will treasure this photo forever! (via @alissaclaire) 2. My dad cut this sign out of wood, then I stained and painted it. It was a labor of love that I obsessed over! It now happily resides over our bedroom door! (also via @alissaclaire) 3. Blake and I with our sweet flower girl, Daisy. She looked absolutely beautiful! (via @rcbpink) 4. And our cutie nephew/ring bearer, Milo. (via @mandymtucker) 5. From the rehearsal dinner: my mom and I put together little bags to give to all of our family/friends that attended the rehearsal dinner. It was full of info like numbers to call, a wedding day schedule, a thank you note and chocolates. Yet another labor of love! (via @alissaclaire) 6. Our program and favors. I searched high and low on the internet for blank cd's that looked like records... good news! I found them and they were perfect! (via @emmaredvelvet) 7. Our goofy bridal party. It was pouring rain when we had to take photos, so we were really limited to where we could actually take photos. Thank goodness this porch is pretty! (via @annaleeneale, our second shooter, and my old roommate!) 8. Blake's dad got a suuuper good deal through his company on Starbucks coffees, and I just couldn't pass up that opportunity to have those at our reception! And I think our guests enjoyed them, too. :) (via @elsiecake) 9. Our venue couldn't have been better. The detail on the curtains just about kill me! I'm so grateful for all of the help we had setting up the venue... I actually did none of it, and being the weirdo anal person I am, I'm surprised at how well I let go of it, and just let my friends handle it. And you know what? It turned out beautifully. :) (via @alissaclaire, of course!)

I'll be sure to share some of the wedding photos as soon as I get them in... but for now, here's one that Elise posted on Facebook... :)

Elise, you are incredible and I want to kiss your face for this photo!

xo Haley

My Bridal Portraits

When Elise and I had our booking consultation, we came up with a general schedule for the day's photo taking. We included about 30 minutes for just photos of me, which seemed like more than enough time (and honestly... 30 minutes is a real freaking long time when you don't like having your photo taken!). Two months before the wedding, I get a text from Elise asking if I was interested in a pre-wedding bridal shoot... duh! It sounded like a lot of fun, and I was definitely interested in photos being taken somewhere other than the venue. So, when August rolled around, I had all of my trials done (hair, makeup and even nails!), put on my dress, and we spent a real freaking long time (way longer than 30 minutes!) taking these photos. Here's a few of my favorites:

This turned out to be the best idea ever, because seeing my hair/makeup in photos caused me to have more of a critical eye on what I wanted to do for the actual wedding. I ended up ditching the braided bangs, because it wasn't as relaxed as I wanted my hair to look. And then my makeup artist, on the wedding day, gave me REALLY strong eyebrows, and I'm still not all that sure how I feel about them, but Colby said they looked fierce (which, I guess, is a good thing..?). But! I'm glad I did all of this a month before the wedding, instead of having hair I wasn't a big fan of in my "real" wedding photos forever.

Elise, as I have said before, and will say a million times over, is the best. I never had any doubts in her ability when I booked her for our wedding, and now, she's seriously going to be our go-to photographer. Why, you may ask? She takes the CUTEST baby photos.
Our photo session was a breeze and Elise & Ethan made me feel so comfortable (except when she asked me to twirl around in my huge, heavy dress... so awkward, you guys!). Ethan even carried me over mud, and Elise swatted the mosquitos away from me. What a team! ;)
I am so happy with these photos, and Blake is too! Thank you so much Elise, you are a dream and a half for all your hard work! (insert the kissy face emoji here)

xo Haley

Disneymoon, pt. 2

We spent so long planning this trip that it's terribly sad that it's over! I think that's why I'm enjoying putting all the photos together and writing a bit about each day. One of the biggest things we wanted to plan our trip around was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! We had heard that everyone dresses up for the event, young and old, so we did not hesitate for one second to bring costumes to dress up for the party! Turns out, everyone really does dress up. Including a huge gaggle of old women dressed in full length princess gowns. That really did happen, and I think I'm scarred forever because of it. We dressed as Mary Poppins and Burt, and got a ton of compliments on our "costumes" (which were really just our normal clothes, but whatever works!). We spent our morning at Blizzard Beach (one of the water parks), before going to the party, and the sun just drained our energy! Now we know better for next time; save your energy for the party! We ended up leaving by 10 or 10:30 because we were so tired, and the party didn't even end until after midnight!
And here are photos!

 ^^ Haunted Mansion! This ride was one I was *really* looking forward to!

 ^^ the villains host a huge dance party in front of the castle with scary music and fireworks. It's pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen!

I can't even tell you how amazing the party was. The park closes at 7pm to regular guests, and after that, you have to have the special party wristband to stay in the park - so it clears out pretty well! During the party, there's special dance parties all over the park, trick or treating stations, a Halloween parade where all the characters wear costumes and masks, and special Halloween themed fireworks set to songs sung by the villains. It's the best thing ever!
A new addition to the party this year was the Jack Skellington and Sally (from Nightmare Before Christmas) meet and greet. We immediately got in line for photos, but we heard that it was an hour and half wait from where we were in line, and the parade and fireworks were about to start. So we got out of line - which was sad, because we are HUGE Nightmare Before Christmas fans! Oh well. Next time. ;)

On Friday, we went back to Hollywood Studios. Since we'd been on most of the rides, we took a little more time to shop and just hang out. We had dinner at the Sci Fi Dine In Theater, which was themed as an old drive in and the tables looked like cars! It was SO NEAT. Other than the Castle, this was probably the coolest place we ate at! While you're eating, you're in a dark room (with stars near the ceiling to make it look like nighttime!), and there's a huge screen in the front of the room that plays old black and white sci-fi movie clips. It was really, really cool if you're into that sort of thing.

We also took time to see the "American Idol Experience" which was... interesting. Basically, people audition throughout the day and at each show, two people perform songs for the audience and then the audience picks a winner that will go on to compete at the end of the day at the "finale." Whoever wins the finale, gets a ticket to go to the front of the line at any American Idol audition. It's a pretty cool idea - and if you're a singer, I'm sure it's a fun addition to your vacation!

^ That's the Beast's Castle!! Inside of it is the new restaurant "Be Our Guest," which we didn't end up eating at. The lines for that thing are just nuts! Maybe next time when we don't feel so rushed to do other things instead. Another addition to New Fantasyland was Prince Eric's castle (which looks EXACTLY like it does in The Little Mermaid!!), and it houses the new Little Mermaid ride - which was amaaazing. I'm a big Ariel fan, I'm not sure if you knew that. ;) 

^^ a sweet cast member noticed our "just married" buttons and gave us fast passes to use at any ride at Magic Kingdom. In the end, we didn't even use them since the wait times for all of the rides were short (5-10 minutes!), but we kept them for the scrapbook...that will probably never be made. ;) 

^^ The tower from Tangled! Sigh. Tangled was a movie I was really skeptic of (I hate when they introduce new princesses...), but it quickly became a new favorite. So seeing this tower made my heart skip a beat! You can't go inside; it's just for looks. But it was still amazing! And the bathrooms in the area are full of "Wanted" posters, just like in the movie!

 ^^Disney recently added two Starbucks locations to their parks (one in Magic Kingdom and one in Epcot), so of course we had to try one out! ;) On our last full day, we grabbed a quick breakfast from Starbucks and found a small table to sit at - turns out the view from our table wasn't so bad. :) Plus! Aren't the Disney Starbucks cups the cutest?! I wish all of their cups looked like that!

A few other cool things: Next to the Beast's castle is Gaston's Tavern, which includes a room with the full size portrait of Gaston, and his huge chair! It was just too cool. We had "LaFou's Brew," which is not alcohol, but basically just frozen apple juice that looks like beer. Silly, but fun. 

Before the nightly fireworks, there's a light show that is projected onto the castle. It's a 10 minute show and it features a lot of the Disney movies. My absolute favorite part was the Tangled part, where all the lanterns are floating up the castle. I got goosebumps.. and maybe even a tiny bit teary eyed. I'm a big old sap sometimes.

We had the best time! I'm so grateful for this trip - we couldn't have done it without Blake's parents! (love you guys!)
The whole trip we kept plotting the next vacation, and then the next trip that we'll take when we have kiddos. Blake is hoping we have a girl somewhere in the mix so we can take her to the castle for breakfast. I married a good guy, y'all! <3

Thanks for following along!
I could go on and on about what I've learned from going on the trip. I'm pretty much a Disney expert by now. ;) But thanks for indulging me for this short time... Disney addicts are the best, right?!

xo Haley

Disneymoon Pt. 1

I feel SO incredibly dorky calling my honeymoon a "Disneymoon," but let's be honest - that's exactly what it is, and I have no reason to be ashamed. Right? Right. So, moving on!
Our honeymoon was so much fun! We didn't bring a camera along at all, so we only had our phones. At one point, we contemplated getting a disposable (I love the mystery of developing film so, so much!), but never bought one. So, as a general disclaimer, all of these photos were taken on either mine or Blake's phone, and a good chunk were uploaded to Instagram. Although! I did save some for blog purposes. And I'm splitting this up into two parts. Because no one needs to see THAT much Disney in one post, am I right?

Our resort was incredible! We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge (something so uncharacteristic for the non-outdoorsy folks that Blake and I happen to be). Upon check in, we were upgraded to this view from our balcony! It was gorgeous; we could see the lake, the water/light parade in the evenings, and we were this close to being able to see Magic Kingdom's fireworks from our balcony. We could see the reflection from some room's windows, though! I would definitely recommend WL to y'all!
Each resort has a signature breakfast, and ours happened to be waffles. And they were in the shape of Mickey heads. And they were so fluffy and light! I wish I could eat like this every day and not gain a million pounds because YUM.

On our first full day, we had intentions of spending all day in Epcot. We found out real fast that if you don't spend time doing every. little. thing in each country, you can get through the park within a couple of hours. We had lunch at the Rose and Crown Pub in the United Kingdom section - it was incredible! I had fish and chips (because..um, duh), and Blake had the Bangers and Mash. Both were so yummy! At the end of our meal, they gave us a signed menu from all of the employees (who are all native to the UK!), that said "Happy Honeymoon" .. it was just so cute! Anyway. After getting through Epcot, we ended up taking forever long naps then heading to Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. It was an extremely long day!

On Tuesday, we went to Magic Kingdom. Seriously, guys. That place is what dreams are made of! We had an 8:30 AM reservation for breakfast at Cinderella's Castle, so we were up bright and early to get ready and make our way over to the park. If you've never eaten at the castle (or even heard of the restaurant there!), it's pretty much the coolest experience ever - and Blake told me that it ended up being his favorite thing we did! Basically, when you walk in, they take you to a room where Cinderella is waiting for you. She talks to you for a bit, signs your autograph book (because we were total dorks and got autograph books for all the princesses to sign!), and takes a formal photo with you. It was like a freaking dream come true. We did this when I was 10, but I hardly remember it, so it was fun to experience it as an adult! After doing the photo, you go to the restaurant, order your food, etc. Blake and I both ordered the lobster and crab crepes. Holy yummy. I can't even. The only thing with this is that for an adult breakfast, it is a $50 meal. But I guess the silver lining in that is that you don't have to purchase the photo you take with Cinderella. You get a big folder that includes a 5x7 print of the castle, a 5x7 and a couple of 4x6 prints of you with Cinderella. But, let me tell you - it's worth every penny.
After eating, all of the princesses come out and go around to all the tables to talk, sign autographs, and take photos. All in that one meal, we got to meet Snow White, Ariel (!!!!), Jasmine and Aurora. Usually to meet princesses in the parks, you have to wait  in long lines just to take one photo, so it was so fun for them to come to our tables and talk to us for a couple of minutes! I am sad though; Belle wasn't one of the princesses we got to meet. In fact, I never even saw her at the parks! Crazy talk.
Blake ended up getting sick in the afternoon (it was SO hot outside, and the silly kid hadn't had any water all day.... only orange soda), so we went back to the resort, rested, and ended up canceling our dinner reservations (at a Lady and the Tramp themed restaurant! Insert a million sad faces here). We did, however, have dinner in our room while watching Modern Family all night. So it was still a good night!

^^^ you guys!! PIZZA PLANET IS REAL.

Wednesday was probably the most fun we had! We went to Hollywood Studios, which is my favorite park. It's very "old hollywood" themed, and if you know me, that is RIGHT up my alley. This park is split into a bunch of little hidden sections, which makes it feel huge. There's the old hollywood section, which has a bunch of shops and the Tower of Terror (which, if you know about that ride - it's set up like an old hotel from the 30's that is now haunted... can you say best thing ever?!). There's another section that is completely dedicated to Pixar (which was mostly just Toy Story stuff). My favorite spot was the Studio Backlot, which is basically just a long road that looks like the streets of Manhattan. Sigh, Disney speaks right to my heart. 

We ate at the 50's Prime Time Cafe on Wednesday (and Pizza Planet on Friday). OMG. 50's Prime Time Cafe was like living in the 50's. The waiters and waitresses are called "mom" and "dad" and when passing by your table will gripe at you like momma's do. We heard "get your elbows off the table" many times, and I was afraid we'd get in trouble for having our phones out at the table! The coolest thing was probably that the dessert "menu" is in a ViewMaster! It was fun to flip through the photos of desserts! (Blake picked the s'mores and they were incredible!)

Okay. So I feel like I've talked enough about the trip... so that's it for now! 

Tomorrow will be the last half of the trip which includes the Halloween party at Magic Kingdom! Psssst: Jack Skellington and Sally were there. :) 

Post-Wedding Haze

Just wanted to pop in with a quick note! (ALSO! The above photo is one of my favorites from the wedding day; Claire snapped this while we were walking back from taking photos during a complete downpour. Elise's husband was such a sweetheart and toted around umbrellas all afternoon, and carried the back of my dress whenever I needed. I'm telling you - hire Elise & Ethan for all of your photographic needs! You will not find a better team out there!)

I've now been married one whole week! It's gone by terribly slowly and extremely fast at the same time. I can tell, this first year is going to be a complete blur. (And if the wedding day is any indication as to how time flies when you're having fun, then geez, this year will be over in two seconds!)

Anyway- I just wanted to thank you for the sweet comments, emails, IG comments, texts, etc. for all of the love Blake and I have received over this past week. We are so grateful for your friendship! 

I hope to be back soon (tomorrow?! We'll see if I'm up to it!) with the photos from Disney. HOLY CRAP I'm so excited about all of that! I have so many photos and stories - I don't want to Disney overload anyone (you know how it is - when someone can go on and on about a topic you couldn't care less about? I don't want to do that to you!), but indulge me for just a post or two with all of our silly photos and stories in this next week. :) 

See you soon! 

Haley Tucker