Kim and Matt's wedding blog

It's getting closer!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I know I have not posted in this blog the way I had originally planned to. So sorry about that. The business has really taken off, and I am a lot busier than I expected to be. That's a good thing, though! I'd rather be too busy than scraping by. :)
Ok, so back to the wedding. Only a little less than 4 months to go! Matt and I have booked our flight. We are flying into Fort Lauderdale Wednesday morning June 4th, then renting a car and driving down to Key West. We are flying Skybus and we were lucky enough to get some of the $10 tickets. Our total flight including travel insurance came to $82! I'm so happy that we were lucky enough to snag these.
After the wedding we decided to do a "real" honeymoon. (as if Key West wasn't enough!) We will be driving up to Miami on Monday the 9th to hop on a 4 night cruise. The cruise will go to Key West and Cozumel. So we will briefly be back in Key West on Tuesday the 10th, from 7am to 2 pm. I can't wait to go to Cozumel!

Back to wedding details! Our original plan was to have the ceremony then have all of us go out to dinner afterwards; however, because of the wedding being in the evening at sunset on Saturday the 7th, we decided that it would be easier to do a rehearsal dinner the evening before. I am trying to make reservations now, and most likely we will be havinng dinner at the Blue Heaven. www.blueheavenkw.homestead.com
This is a really cool place, and very much epitomizes the spirit of Key West.
Now, after the wedding ceremony we were thinking of having everyone come back to wherever we are staying (not 100% sure yet where that will be!) and having some cake anad champagne and then whomever wants to can hit the town with us. (except the kids, sorry!) So basically, I guess what I'm sayinng is that everyone is on their own for dinner before the wedding on Saturday, unnless we want to try to a group thing afterwards. I think we can play it by ear. :)

Key West websites

2007-06-23T03:51:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are a few great sites to help you all navigate the great city of Key West, FL, also known as the Conch Republic.

www.keywest.com
www.fla-keys.com
www.key-west.com

You can also look on www.travelocity.com for different air and hotel packages. You can save quite a bit on airfare if you fly into Miami, Fort Lauderdale, or West Palm Beach and rent a car. Keep in mind, however, that the drive to Key West takes about 3 1/2 hours from Miami down the Overseas Highway. We have never run into any traffic problems, but they say there are bad accidents all the time on that road that completely shut it down. It's only a two lane road, so if you get stuck, you get stuck. :) It IS a beautiful drive though.
One of the great things about travelocity.com is that you can create your own fare tracker to certain cities. They will notify you via e-mail if there is a good deal on airfare to that city. Check it out! :)

Here is the link to our wedding coordinator:
www.lazyway.com
Our package is the Dream Barefoot Beach, click on 10-30 persons at the top of the page, and select Dream Barefoot from the pull down menu.

Some great places I have stayed in the past, all in Old Town:
www.southernmostonthebeach.com, this is at the very end of Duval St. Unfortunately, the wrong end! It's not a horrible walk to get to the night life, but it's not the best, either. :) Upsides: very close to the Southernmost Point in the US, close to the Butterfly House, right next to a small public beach. It also has a nice pool, and a pier.
Downsides: at the wrong end of Duval, right next door to a gay friendly clothing optional resort (could be an upside for some people, but not the ones with kids, I would think!)

The Heron House Court, www.heronhouse.com
This is where Matt and I stayed last year. We loved it! There are two properties, one is the Heron House, which is about a block from the center of Duval St. Great location, but more pricey. It has nice pool, lots of shade, lots of places to sit around in the courtyard, and I think it also has a continental breakfast.
The Heron House Court is about 6 blocks from Duval St. Not a bad walk, but we did rent a scooter. We did walk it a lot, though, since we went out every night, and didn't want to get DUI on the scooter! :) They also have a great pool, hot tub and continental breakfast. The HH court is a little cheaper than the HH.

Another option is to rent a villa at Rose Lane Villas. www.roselanevillas.com
This property is behind the Hard Rock Cafe that is on Duval St. I stayed here when it was under other ownership, but it looks the same as it did then. When I went in 2003, two couples rented one of the two bedroom villas, and it turned out to be cheaper than a hotel. Plus, these have kitchens, so you can go to the grocery store and stock up, and save a lot of money on dining out!

I hope this helps out, I am working on getting Matt to call some hotels down there and see if they can offer our guests a special room rate. I will keep everyone posted on that, as well!

Hi everyone!

2007-06-23T03:31:00.000-07:00

Hey all-
I know I mentioned starting this blog months ago, when Matt and I first decided to have the wedding in Key West; to keep everyone updated as to what is going on. Sorry, it's been so long! I was so busy with getting the business started that the wedding has taken a backseat! Business is going well, so now I have some time to actually do this. :)
We have booked the date for the ceremony, it is Saturday June 7th, 2008, at sunset. The ceremony will be held at Smathers Beach. After the wedding, we were thinking of making reservations for all of us to have dinner. I will definitely have to check and see if there is somewhere big enough for all of us, that won't be outrageous. Maybe we could rent the top part of Margaritaville...I'll have to check into that!
Matt is supposed to be looking into blocking some rooms at a couple different places in Key West. For those of you that don't know, Key West is divided into two parts, New and Old town. New town is the more commercial part of the island, and not within walking distance of the Duval St, which is where the action is. The upside of staying in New Town, is that it is generally cheaper. The downside, is that if you want to go hang out in Old Town, you need to take a cab, or rent a scooter or a bike, or I think you can take the trolley around the island, but it has limited hours of operation. I will check into that and post what I have found. Old Town is where all the action is, all the great bars and restaurants and nightlife. There are a lot different places to stay, some traditional hotels, but there are a lot of small inns and Bed and Breakfasts, as well. On another post I will put up some links to places I have stayed, or that I know are very nice.
Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, the wedding countdown has begun!!!