Destination: Wedded Bliss[ful Ignorance]

Ignorance is bliss.

So is the Caribbean. Or so I've heard. And experienced through cold images.

Before I was engaged, I was ignorant to this world known as wedding planning. For some reason, I thought the billions of brides that preceded me just hadn't figured it out yet. I mean, ahem, I am carlyklock. My wedding won't know what hit it. 'I'll keep it simple...The last thing I want is for my wedding to be the least bit stressful...It's going to be all about us...' yada yada yada.

This past week, Reality and I met for the first time in a long time. And Reality laid down the law. I've already had my first wedding planning breakdown and it's been one week since the Stallion asked me to marry him. Shameful, I know. It's all Reality's fault. It crushed every single one of my former wedded bliss[ful ignorance] notions all at once. Like this bucketful of water crushed a Ford Escort:

So, in order to maintain my sanity, here are the things that we know as of right now:

(this is my dear friend Clare at her reception. Doesn't it look FUN?)

1. Small & meaningful wedding, BIG party. The Stallion and I agree that we want our ceremony to be intimate and focused on the meaning of it: the fact that we are vowing to spend the rest of our lives together, being good to each other all the way. And I want to feel the power of our family and closest friends behind that. I do not want to not know the people sharing this momentous occasion with me. Surprisingly, the Stallion and I have already met the majority of each other's extended families. Which is awesome. And this whole division of guests to be invited to the ceremony and/or reception lends itself to..
2. Destination ceremony. Hence the map of the Caribbean above. I think that is our top choice right now. Couldn't be broader, right? Right now, to me, there is no bigger expanse than the tourism trade in the Caribbean Sea. Depending on how mean Reality is, we might relocate stateside. But since we're set on doing a destination ceremony, that means it makes the most economical sense to do a ...
3. Weddingmoon. aka ceromony and honeymoon in the same place (more or less). At the same time. Which really pushes for the ceremony to be in an absolutely fabulous place. Like the Caribbean. Where we'll honeymoon, all whilst our guests are likely to be extending their vacations as well. (Can we say gorgeous beachfront suite with private EVERYTHING please?) And, because we want to be 92% carefree once we get there...
4. All-Inclusive Resort. There's really no other way for us to go, right? Hopefully it will cause our guests to be 100% carefree once they get there and have the time of their lives. Which is what I want - for this wedding to be a beautiful, memorable lifetime event for not only us, but all of our guests as well. And since all-inclusive means we do all of the sweating up-front, that means a long engagement. So we have plenty of time to save the money we'll need for all of this wedded bliss-ness. So, our date is likely to be...
5. May 25-ish, 2011. I would like March or April so it's still pretty cold and gross here. And we're all itching for a warm beach somewhere. But, alas, every spring the Stallion virtually leaves me for 3 months. Okay, I am being slightly dramatic. But there's another wife that goes through it, too. And she agrees with me. What might the Stallion be doing all of this time? Why, coaching high school lacrosse, of course. And not just coaching any lacrosse team. It's the Kansas State Champion lacrosse team. No big deal. (and yet now you are all finally rationalizing the 'ridiculous' alias of 'the Italian Stallion' in your minds. Yes, it's all starting to make sense now...)

That's all we've really decided for now. Well, that and these randoms:

1. During our return reception, we will likely serve greasy food around midnight. Think sliders, flatbread pizzas, chicken tenders, and the like. Speaking of - anyone know of a venue that will stay open until 1 or 2 am? The greasy fare is to give you all your second wind. Duh!
   
2. Right now my color palette is leaning toward grey and aubergine and spring green. Like this:
3. And I have all sorts of ideas for little things to do for our guests at the ceremony during their stay. I think I just might go all Martha Stewart on them.
4. One of the front-runners for the return reception is the Hotel Phillips. But we really haven't gotten that far yet. And there's this new rooftop venue opening up in the Crossroads. We're going to check it out next weekend during an open house.
5. Return reception will start at 8pm and not include cake-cutting, bouquet-tossing, or a dollar dance. And I don't think I'll wear my wedding dress. But I haven't decided that yet. It will likely depend on how dirty I get it on the beach. But if I do wear it, there will definitely be a wardrobe change that night.
   

I think I might be sharing too much. Feel like I'm ruining the surprise factor. But it really doesn't make that big of an impact, does it? Whatever.

So, anyone have a fabulous vacation to the Caribbean they want to share? I'm all ears!