Peaches by Plums

It’s time to celebrate!

image via Princess Lasertron found via That’s Happy

We received the best news today, Ger has received his visa! I cannot tell you the total relief, consuming excitement and pure joy that we are feeling. He has been gone 420 days to be exact. That’s a long time for a couple let alone a newly married one. 

This process has been grueling. We’ve dealt with thousands of dollars in visa fees, incompetent lawyers (which ultimately delayed the process by at least 5+ months) and not to mention the time apart. I don’t wish this process on my worst enemy.

Tomorrow afternoon I will see my husband walk through those airport doors to freedom. I cannot tell you how proud I am of him after everything he has been through and how proud I am of us to survive such an experience. We’ve grown so much closer in this past year and we’ve learned a lot. It reminds me that in every situation there is opportunity to grow and always something to be thankful for.

Menorca Circa. 1999

If all goes well with my husband’s visa he should be home in two weeks! We want to take a nice vacation to celebrate and are trying to decide where we want to go.

Ger was going through old family photos and came across these amazing ones from a trip to Menorca. Looks like my kind of place!

images via The Power Family Collection

(Our Wedding!) Dinner & Toasts

Wow, I totally forgot to post more about our wedding! Let’s see where we are…ahh yes, dinner and the beautiful toasts.

Photos via Lisa Rigby Photography

The room was absolutely beautiful. Candles and flowers filled the space while we decided to go for more an intimate style with banquet seating. The rich red against the chocolate brown really made for an elegant background.

We hosted 32 guests and it was perfect for us. We didn’t want a big wedding and because it was such a personal occasion, we wanted to be surrounded by our closest family and friends.

The toasts were given by Ger, Stephen (Ger’s Best Friend) and Des (Ger’s Father.) All were filled with emotion, laughs and tears. To feel all of the love surround us was such a special moment.

Our Wedding Cake was spectacular! Given that I was planning from abroad I had to leave a lot of details up to chance. If you know me at all, you know that I absolutely adore cake so having the perfect wedding cake was not an option. Since the first time when I stopped in at Ormond’s Cafe in Dungarvan they were a delight. They immediately saw my vision and executed it brilliantly. We decided to have a butter cream frosting with a tier of chocolate fudge and the other being vanilla. Everyone raved about the cake!

After dinner we gathered on the terrace for sunset with a relaxing drink and more photographs. It was a perfect way to end dinner and begin the after party reception!

Happy Birthday, Husband!

via Classic Bride

I will flying to Ireland to see my husband in 23 days!! We’ll get to really celebrate then.

Love you xoxo

(our wedding day!) the groom’s side of things

For this post, I felt it fitting for you to hear first hand from my husband on what it felt like for him to get ready on the day of our wedding.

Take it away, Ger!

photos via Lisa Rigby Photography

What a day this was. After the pressures and emotions of the previous months—studying for finals, spending the summer with my mother in the hospital, suffering the prolonged separation from Abby, enduring mum’s death—I woke up on the 7th of August facing a different kind of pressure. How are you supposed to merge what is meant to be the happiest day of your life with the necessity to ensure that everything goes well?

The morning involved a number of duties, but what stands out most is pacing back and forth in my bedroom reciting my speech 20 or 30 times… what if it’s not funny? what if it’s not poignant? what if I don’t mention the right people in the right way? what if I forget my lines?

After getting ready, I arrived downstairs to be met by family and friends and photographer (the very talented Lisa Rigby), not able to sit still from nervous excitement. You can see my best friend, Stephen in the pictures above trying (and succeeding) in helping me to relax. A couple of swift drinks later and we set off for the church.

Some people might react to such a recollection by saying “why so nervous? It was your day” but I didn’t feel that way. I had several concerns, including my father for example, who was still grieving for his wife, and who had to attend his youngest son’s wedding alone. But most importantly of all, I had my beautiful wife-to-be, Abby. Her support and selflessness, not just in the build up to the wedding, but always, had been nothing short of miraculous. She was, and is, an incredible woman, and I wanted her to enjoy her day. It was a privilege to marry Abby and my nerves during the preparation were not for my sake, but for her’s.

it was the way the wind blew

via Lisa Rigby Photography

I cannot thank our family and friends enough for all of the love and support that they shared with us on our Wedding Day. Although there was sunshine and smiles, there was one thing missing on that beautiful day, Ger’s mom. After a long battle of cancer, Isabel passed away just days before the wedding.

When you start on the journey of planning your wedding, you don’t realize the decisions you’ll need to make, the hurdles you’ll have to cross or the life lessons you’ll learn.

Our wedding planning took on a new meaning the day we found out that my mother-in-law had cancer in February 09’. The road was never easy but the importance of love, sacrifice and patience were all things that I was lucky enough to learn. 

When you have days where you are fighting over flowers, linens or the menu please remember that it just doesn’t matter. Look around and remind yourself the wonderful things you are able to celebrate.

Weddings are for families and friends to come together. For us, It was the way the wind blew that we new Isabel was with us on our special day. 

it’s the final countdown…one month, baby.

A lot has happened in the past month, this & this. 

To be honest, it’s been hard to continue the wedding planning with everything going on but we must move forward.

Let’s revisit the list and see what we have left to do…

-Choose/Design & Send Wedding invitations     (Well, I gave up on doing invitations and think we will just send everyone a link to our website- no joke.)
We ending up buying invitations and now they are lost in the mail.

-Create Wedding Website for Guests Who am I kidding, no one is going to look at our stupid wedding website, whatever.

-Finish Pre-nuptial classes for the church

-Get my wedding dress altered (starting on Saturday!) Done! I am going back in July to make sure everything is all set! 

Had my second dress fitting yesterday and it was perfect :). She is going to pack it in a carry on for me the week before my wedding so I can get it over to Ireland. Thank god something is going right.

-Buy my wedding shoes so I can get my dress altered Decided to just wear the shoes I work at our first wedding.  No one will ever see them right? 

-Pick menu for our reception- Just about completed All set after much debate. Again, don’t get me started. 

-Buy wedding band- Yep, not done. Meeting Ger in Dublin when I arrive and going to pick out bands together then. 

-Confirm timeline for ceremony & reception- Almost done  All set. 

-BOOK FLIGHTS SO WE CAN GET MARRIED!!- Haha…still not done.  I’ll leave this one up to Ger.  Let’s hope the volcanic ash clouds don’t get in our way!  Still don’t have them booked. What is my deal? 

-Beg for time off from work so I can therefore book my flights I’ve decided that I shall not have to beg, it’s my wedding, people will get over it.   3 weeks baby!

-Decide when we are going to go to Japan on our honeymoon Waiting until next year when we have more time.  However, will be going on a surprise honeymoon- Ger to put together.  Not sure if we are going to be able to go on a honeymoon anymore. Will depend on circumstances. 

Items added to the list…

-Pick Music for Ceremony- When we were in Ireland we met with a couple who will be playing at our wedding. Can’t wait.

-Pick Wedding Cake Bakery/Organize Details

-Organize Flowers

-Book Hair & Makeup

-Book Guest Rooms

-Relax and realize that it’s only a wedding (I think I’ll move this one up to the top.) Really had to put in perspective these days. 

I hope I don’t sound too bitter because honestly I’m not. Just trying to keep moving and keep moving until we get to August 7th.

it’s not that far…but it is.

via Better Than Fine

Here’s the story…

Abby is from the United States. Ger is from Ireland.

Abby & Ger get married “legally” over the holidays.

Ger & Abby apply for a green card and wait.

Ger & Abby receive terrible news and need to fly to Ireland ASAP.

Ger applies for travel authorization so he can fly to Ireland and come back into the country while the green card is processing.

We wait.

Travel authorization does not arrive in time. We must fly anyway.

Lawyer informs us that Ger cannot come back into the country with Abby. Ger must wait EIGHT months (or more) until green card comes in to leave Ireland.

Abby cries and goes back to Boston. Alone.

So here we are…in a complete mess. Knee deep in wedding planning and terribly lonely.

At least I get to see my husband at our wedding, I just won’t be able to go home with him.

hang on little tomato

via it’s mary ruffle 

Oh boy, where do I start?  It’s been a bit of a rocky road for me the last couple of weeks.

We found out earlier this month that my mother-in-law who is struggling with ovarian cancer isn’t doing well and that things do not look good. There was no debate, we took the first flight out to Ireland and didn’t look back. Our days were spent at the hospital trying to be as comforting as we could.  As you can imagine, it wasn’t easy. It never is.

Here we are two months before the wedding and there is a good chance that she won’t be there. So many thoughts flooded my mind. How do I show my support? Will my husband be able to enjoy our wedding day without his mom? What is the right thing to do? Should we continue with the wedding or cancel everything? It has been incredibly overwhelming. 

Isabel did make it very clear to us to continue on with the wedding. If only it were that easy. 

From afar I am providing loving support to my husband, Isabel and his family.  

Next week…The power of immigration and why my husband can’t come home for six months.

egg shell blue. happy easter!

I found this great tutorial over at poppytalk and I had to share!

via poppytalk

What are your plans for this weekend? Any fun Easter plans with the family?

We are doing our own little “hunt” with Bradley and hiding treats all around the house.  Then after that we are spending the afternoon with Ger’s professor for some great food and drink.

P.S. I would love to see your photos of your colored eggs! Be sure to upload them!

via Ger Power

Ger (my husband) has been experimenting with different photography techniques.

Using the illusion of space and size, he creates a blown up version of miniature items.

I love it!

Happy Birthday, Love!

via poppytalk

To my darling husband, happy birthday! xxx

Our Wedding-Getting Ready, The Ceremony and (Pre)Reception

Are you ready for some fun!

The day of our wedding was surprisingly calm.  I didn’t have a care in the world and just felt happiness.

{I admit, the night before I warned everyone that no one is to be stressed or freaking out on the big day or else they would be escorted back home!}

Here are a few shots of us getting ready! I put on my father-of-the-bride soundtrack and got to work!

Our civil ceremony was scheduled for 10:00AM. We arrived at 9:45am and the lobby was already filled with our family.  At this point, everything was starting to hit me.  I was excited yet a little nervous.

I remember thinking to myself, “I need to feel like a bride. Do I feel like a bride? What does a bride feel like?” Then I realized that I was being silly and to just be in the moment.

The actual ceremony lasted under five minutes! I was so happy to have my cousin Hannah there to be my stand in “Maid of Honor/Ring Bearer/Jr.Bridesmaid.” She even matched!

We had  a little time between the ceremony and lunch so we headed back to my house.

As you know, Ger’s family was unable to attend this ceremony so we were lucky enough to talk to all of them on skype.  They had a toast in our honor while we admired the beautiful flowers that they sent to us. I’m so happy that they were included on our special day.

After talking to Ger’s family, we opened up a few games of Wii Sports and did some bowling! How many people can say that!? It was nice to have that down time to feel a bit more normal.

all images from personal collection

Our morning was just beautiful, low key and perfect.  Everything I wanted!

It didn’t hurt to have champagne at 10:30 in the morning, either!

Come back next week for more details about our reception!