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Wedding Planning in Atlanta

My lady and I have decided to get married. The question became “What do we do next?” You can do either an at home wedding or a destination wedding. As we both love to travel it was a no brainer that we would be doing a destination wedding. Planning a destination wedding can be hard. We did some research on what was the best way to accomplish this and it feels like so much. I felt it would be necessary to capture this experience.

                First things first you need to decide on a location. For us we originally wanted to be somewhere tropical. So with that we went through the list of the usual suspects of fun in the sun. Mexico, Costa Rica, Aruba, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. Originally, we settled on Jamaica. That is until we talked to my mom. For those of you that don’t know my mom is wheelchair bound and lives in a skilled nursing facility in Atlanta. After talking with her and hearing how excited she was about the idea of my getting married. We changed our minds again to Atlanta, GA. I’ve been to Atlanta several times and would often visit several times a year to see and check on my mom. To make it easier for her to come we landed on Atlanta.

                After choosing our destination the next thing was to land on a date. We sent out our save the dates prematurely with The home of all things wedding | Zola to let people know we were getting married. However, upon our trip to Atlanta we had to adjust our date in order to secure the venue. Lesson Learned lock in your venue before sending save the dates.

                I want to level set with everyone. Having a wedding can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. We chose to have a venue that was both picturesque and allowed us to hold the 150 + people we are expecting. We took the weekend to go to Atlanta and see what the venues looked like. Be prepared to pay for what you want. Also, when doing your research do not forget to add tax because it adds up quickly. It looked like most of our options had the same price but the incidentals like valet parking, cutlery and plates among other things will add up on you.

We originally liked a few for different places for several reasons over the internet. However, when we got into the space, we noticed things that slid our like-o-meter up and down. For instance, one venue we went to was beautiful. It had an indoor space and outdoor space but once we get in the space, we realized it was way bigger than we needed and did not offer any picture taking spaces so we would need to leave to get the good pictures.  Another location we went to was great in a lot of different ways but had no natural light. Which was a big deal for us.

                One thing you need to understand about a wedding. As much of a celebration a wedding is, it is also a production. One in which you are trying to capture so much in a short time. We wanted to make it as easy as possible to facilitate taking pictures and getting all our stuff together on that day.  

                Our ultimate choice was with the venue SUMMEROUR STUDIO | Novare Events. The venue met out needs for natural light, simple industrial design, picturesque landscape of both city and vegetation and lastly was wheelchair accessible.

                This is as far as we got with our wedding planning. Next is to find a wedding planner to assist with the coordination of vendors and hotels. This is an extraordinary task, and we will be interviewing soon. We are just under a year away from our March 13, 2022 date, and there is a lot of work that still needs to be done. I will keep you posted on our progress.  

Valentine’s Day Love Fest in Mexico

Over Valentine’s Day weekend the future wife and I decided to do a romantic get away in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico! The weather was a balmy 80 degrees and there was not a snowflake in sight, which was a recipe for good time.

We flew into Cancun, Mexico and if you’ve never done so make sure you are prepared to be accosted by several locals who barely speak English trying to get you to go to a time share presentation. They will tell you its not a time share presentation but that is what it is.

We indulged the lady who spoke to us for a few reasons.

First, I had experience in dealing with timeshares and knew that they are harmless if you know the word of the day. That work is an aggressive “NO”.  I cannot stress to you enough you need to be willing to walk away because they will rope you into a contract that will be exceedingly difficult if not impossible to get out of.

Second, we knew that they will often give a lot of freebies to go to their presentation. In our case they paid for our cab ride to the resort and to get to the presentation. They also gave us free tickets to Tulum (Which we had planned to visit anyway).

Third, they offered breakfast at a true 5-star resort. A little background on this there are all inclusive resorts and then there is Sandals. It is a beautiful resort. The whole operation is different than a regular all-inclusive resort.  It’s basically the Gucci version or resort life.

So, we took the deal and were on our way to our resort. Then it happened 2.5 hours of traffic. There was some sort of sink hole in the road going to the resort that backed up traffic for miles. What would have been and 1 hour and 20 mins took more than double the time. If your going for the next month add that time to your plans so you are not surprised.

We stayed at the Grand Palladium resort which was a noticeably big resort. We had our reservation for the Grand Palladium Kantenah however the resort did a bate and switch on us with one of their sister properties the Grand Palladium White Sands. We were told for the inconvenience we would receive and upgraded room. We chose the Grand Palladium Kantenah for some of the amenities they had available. Newer furniture in the rooms, Access to the beach, etc. In the white sands the furniture was a bit older and the rooms seemed a little dated. They could have alerted us to this ahead of time but did not so shame on them. However, they knew we were not going to turn around and try to go somewhere else, so we checked in and enjoyed the ride.

They also tried to get us to go to their version of a time share presentation for a hat, or towel, or whatever other bogus item they could give us. The gifts they offered were not anywhere near what we were offered at the airport and by the time they tried to talk to us about them we had no interest because we were tired and hungry. We blew off the dude trying to sell us and told him we needed to eat. Now I usually admire someone not willing to give up, but this dude was too much.

When on our way to leaving the resort that night the dude literally popped out of nowhere to tell me he made my appointment for the presentation at 9am. I told the dude we may not even be up that early. The next day he called at 8:31. WTF? Dude I’m on vacation! So, he got a little of my old bill collector ducking skills.

Step 1: Pick up phone.

Step 2: Hang up Said Phone.

The end

Back to the story. So, while waiting in traffic the love of my life points out several different restaurants that would be cool to try. We chose one we thought would be amazing. Its called Alux Restaurant, Playa del Carmen, México. It was one of THE coolest dining experiences I have ever had. The restaurant is set inside of a cave. They take you down a set of stairs and boom you are in the swankiest restaurant you’ve ever been in. The food was awesome, drinks were amazing, and atmosphere is not one you will find in many other places. Hands down one of my most valued experiences of the trip.

The next day we got up and went to the timeshare presentation at Sandals which they assured us before it started it would not be a time share presentation (it was). However, I will say the property was stunning. They showed us a room with a great view and a few amenities of the property. We came to the table and they tried to strike a deal with us. We however remembered the word of the day “NO” and declined every offer. They did their level best to make it make sense for us but with the way we travel it did not. Needless to say, we left with no timeshare and richer 1800 pesos (the cost of our cab ride to the resort), 2 tickets to the Ruins of Tulum (street value $160), and 2 full bellies.

We left the presentation and went to Tulum to enjoy a day in the sun. When walking we noticed they had the option to rent a bicycle. We indulged in this option and rode off toward the ruins. At the ruins they had a place to lock up the bikes. We explored the area and saw a city that lost the battle against time. It was very picturesque with views of the surrounding countryside and of the ocean. After we made our way out of the ruins, we went to one of the local beaches. They had a few to choose from. When we arrived at the beach, we found a bar and sat and ate and drank the day way. Later that night we found a restaurant at ate dinner amongst the locals and even caught a street show.

The next day we lounged at the resort, enjoying the day of rest and relaxation. We found our way to the beach and just enjoyed each other. We ate at the Italian restaurant at the resort which was sub-mediocre. When leaving to end the night we were caught by the resort photographer and had a small photo shoot.

Happy Valentines Everyone. I hope everyone finds their Phallon. BUT THIS ONE IS MINE!!!

Weekend trip to Houston

Not every trip you will take will be to some sexy island location. Sometimes its just a trip to see family and friends. My trip to Houston was one such trip.  It was meant to solidify the relationship I have built with my fiancé by allowing me to meet some of her family. There are a few things I have learned from this trip that I would like to share with you.

                First and foremost, not every trip you take will be glamorous. If you have that expectation you will be wrong every time. Go with the flow and enjoy the ride.

                Second, weekend trips are the best. For us over achievers at work, it gives you enough time away to relax and let your hair down but not enough time for your work life will suffer. Gotta be able to pay for those trips, am I right?

                Third, no one needs to be out until 5 am. It completely threw off our time clocks. Especially me as i get up at 4:30 am on the regular basis. What was I doing out until 5 am you might ask? MINDING MY BUSINESS!!!!!! Thank you very much.

                Fourth, Houston has a weird fetish with Hookah. I have never seen it literally everywhere. Usually, you must go to a place that specifically has it or specializes in smoking but everywhere we went had hookah available to you (i.e., Your local restaurant or gas station). It was a bit weird to see if you are not used to it.

                Lastly, Houston acts as though no one ever heard of COVID-19. It was a little freeing but also a little scary how cavalier everyone was about it. Restaurants were open to capacity. Not a lot of social distancing. A far reach different from my dining experiences here in Chicago.

                Now to the fun stuff. When arriving late for a quick weekend getaway, be mindful of your rental car situation. We had to wait forever for a rental car. Not sure if they were short staffed or if certain people were unqualified to work their system but the net was there were a lot of unhappy customers. They had more people handing out cars than they did checking people into them. It was rough after traveling. The upside of this was we got to ride around in a Chevy Camaro all weekend long. Downside of that is I’m 6’2, 300 plus and getting in and out the car was an exercise in body contortion.

 We stayed in an Airbnb, which was a hidden gem in the heart of the city. It was basically an over garage apt which more than met our needs and was cheaper than a hotel.

                Houston food there was legit though. We tried to go eat at the  Turkey Leg Hut | Home of The World Famous Stuffed Turkey Leg (theturkeyleghut.com) but the line went up the block and around the corner and I was hungry…HUNGRY HUNGRY. So waiting 3 hours for a turkey leg wasn’t an option when they would be able to get us in. Let me set this scene for you. The line was so long to get in that they had food trucks in the parking lot basically offering snacks while you wait. I heard great things but nothing in my mind was worthy of that wait.

                We did however get to eat Brunch at place called Phil & Derek’s Restaurant and Wine Bar, Houston, Texas, 77003 (philanddereks.com). This place was phenomenal. This is a soul food restaurant through and through except they aren’t out of the things you want. The food was great the atmosphere was awesome, and the staff was helpful.  The booze flowed there too!!!! It was great we must have gone through 2 bottles of prosecco for a reasonable price. But you want to know what it looks like. Of course, you do. Well, I will not disappoint you. (learning from experience said take pics)

 Everything about this place was dope. If you are in town check it out.

                The second place I want to give props to was Breakfast & Brunch Food Restaurant – Snooze A.M. Eatery (snoozeeatery.com) we ate here the day we were leaving. The food is a more Tex-Mex feel but good. It was just what we needed that morning to get through the flight out and make it home.  Worthy of digestion my friends!

                Side note. When traveling during the winter be prepared to deal with the consequences of your northern home, we came back to an ungodly amount of snow on the ground. Lesson learned for me be prepared to shovel when you get home OR HIRE SOMEONE WHILE YOU’RE GONE.