Libbie & David Ward

Dear Libbie and David,

We wanted to thank you for helping make our honeymoon the adventure of a lifetime. Because we wanted to share photos of your gifts, we decided against sending more traditional thank-you cards; instead, below is a picture gallery of what your contributions made possible!

<nerdy statement> A decade's worth of psychological research suggests that experiences make us happier than material possessions. </nerdy statement> Because we're fortunate enough to share a home with the appliances and furniture we need (IKEA furniture, but hey), we opted for a less traditional spin on wedding registries. It was our hope that a Honeyfund would offer a month's worth of incredible experiences—from dinners to sightseeing, from train tickets to hotel rooms—that we could directly attribute to the loved ones who made those experiences possible. We even carried a spreadsheet with us everywhere we went that indicated who had sponsored each activity, which helped guide us through each day.

Please enjoy the photos and captions below! If you'd like to see more pictures of our honeymoon travels, you can view the full gallery here.

Thank you again for your generosity and friendship, and for making this first chapter of our marriage possible.

Love from,

What you sponsored: A private tour of the Vatican

All the shout-outs to you both for making this private tour possible—because otherwise, and even with a ticket reservation, we would have been standing in a half-mile-long line the entire morning just to get through the entrance. Tommaso got us to the front of every line, and coupled every new room with historical knowledge and wit. He's an archeologist from Sapienza (literally, "Knowledge") University on the other side of the city—the same archeology team now excavating part of the Roman Forum. Throughout the tour, Tommaso pointed out sly additions (or occasionally omissions) to frescoes and sculptures that were, hundreds of years ago, political or social statements against a particular pope, rival artist, or ruling family.

We saw Sistine Chapel (which doesn't allow photography, video, or talking—Tommaso said the guards had permission to do everything but shoot people who break these rules) and moved as slowly as we could through St. Peter's Basilica, trying to take in as much detail as possible. The basilica was just as striking as Ryan promised it would be.

Entrance to the Vatican museums. This hall houses one of the most extensive collections of sculptures (particularly ancient Roman) in the world.

A mini-Pantheon inside the Vatican museums. After architects figured out that the secret to a perfect dome was removing squares of marble from the inside (i.e., to balance out the structure), other architects started copying the design.

When the Vatican museum still belonged to the Pope, a sunny courtyard (which houses this statue) was his area for meditation and contemplation.

Just a really, really old mosaic floor. Estimated date: 400 AD.

Heading toward Sistine Chapel, which doesn't allow photos (but is incredible). This long hallway had maps of each and every province in Italy, but rotated as if the Pope were looking at it from Rome (so any provinces to the south were flipped upside down, for example).

Ryan found our hotel building on an old map of Rome.

First walking into St. Peter's Basilica.

A common destination for pilgrims; there was a line to touch his feet.

The bronze altar was incredible--particularly its size. The entire scale of the place was mind-boggling.

With our tour guide, Tommaso.

In front of the altar during a Benedictine chant (which is what the people behind us are watching).

The most awe-inspiring thing about this basilica were its mosaics, which were made with such painstaking detail that they looked like paintings. You can see the individual pieces from here, but only if you look closely.

Looking up at Saint Peter.