June 26, 2013

Whirlwind of Perfection

Where to begin? The past two weeks have been the biggest emotional whirlwind of my life. Mr. Bradford and I officially became husband and wife on June 15, 2013.
As cliché as it may sound, there is only one word to define our post-wedding feelings: perfection. The only bad part of the day was that it had to come to an end. The ceremony was intimate and romantic as we had hoped it would be (and I somehow managed to refrain from becoming the sobbing bride). Mother Nature blessed us with the most perfect weather. I experienced quite the welcome to the Army during the saber arch that plastered ear-to-ear grins all over the faces of our guests from the very start of the celebration. Beautiful, tearful toasts and blessings were given by some of our favorite people. The dance floor was literally never empty or lacking in the goofiest of moves in true Brad and Kayla style. And every hug we received was followed by a heart-felt sentiment noting how incredibly happy we both looked. It's because we genuinely had never been happier!

Many of you are becoming quite familiar with our friend and photographer Jill Knight of Jillography; she is the mastermind behind the lens of our beautiful engagement pictures as well as those from Brad's graduation day. Well, she has outdone herself once again. If you haven't already, you must visit the sneak peek she posted on her blog (click on the "Hooray!" above). Be forewarned: the happiness of our day captured in these pictures will consume you and force you to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We can hardly contain our excitement to see all of the pictures she shot from the rehearsal dinner BBQ on Friday, the wedding day, and the farewell brunch on Sunday. The sneak peek from Saturday alone is the bee's knees, the cat's meow, the bomb diggity (Brad's descriptive contribution)...we could go on for days. Enjoy!

So after the best weekend of our lives, we jetted off to Saint Lucia together for our honeymoon. We spent our week in paradise consuming an ungodly amount of ice cream treats and reminiscing about the whirlwind of perfection we had just experienced. One of the highlights for me was an afternoon spent in a very luxurious beach side cabana. We were served breakfast, lunch, and tasty tropical drinks and spent the day just lounging and reading in blissful peace listening to the ocean. In those moments I was finally able to feel myself unwind and truly relax. When we did decide to venture out of our cozy haven of a personal cabana or suite including a patio with a private pool and stunning ocean view (spoiled rotten, I know), we went on some pretty incredible island adventures.

One afternoon we found ourselves soaring through the rainforest treetops on a ziplining excursion. That trip ended on a sour note for me when we stumbled across a very hairy, large tarantula friend. I suppose it is the rainforest after all. On another day we took a speedboat tour around the island. Pit stops included a mineral mud bath and hot springs, a refreshing waterfall swim, an authentic and delicious home cooked Creole meal, and a visit with rainbow-colored fish friends while snorkling some beautiful reefs. It was the best way to see the best and most of Saint Lucia outside of the golden resort gates. We were far from disappointed! The natural beauty of the island is completely breath taking. Experiencing it alone would have been fabulous. Experiencing it hand-in-hand with my new husband was something I will never forget.

So now what? Life does not slow down for us. No way, no how! We are in New York for just long enough to unpack, do laundry, post this blog, and repack. Then we are on our way to Orlando to celebrate the wedding of great friends on the Fourth of July at Disney World. We fly back to New York on Friday, attend another West Point wedding of more dear friends on Saturday, pack up my beloved river oasis apartment on Sunday, and drive back to Michigan on Monday. Say a prayer for our sanity please. As soon as life slows down a bit, if ever, I promise to post all of the graduation, wedding, honeymoon, and summer adventure pictures for your viewing pleasure. Until then, I hope you enjoy Jill's blog and a few of our favorite honeymoon memories below.

Looks as though life will continue to be a whirlwind of perfection for awhile for the newly-wedded Witts!

Welcome to Saint Lucia!

Panorama of our patio, private pool, and ocean view

Cabana day

Cabana view

The famous Pitons behind us on our boat cruise

Sunset from our patio

Tanned and happy Mr. & Mrs.