China

We got our very first wedding gift last week!  I was so excited to see a box sitting on the doorstep because I had no idea what it might be.  So I brought it in, opened it up and saw our first place setting of China!

I can picture having Thanksgiving at our house one day using our pretty new plates and having fabulous dinner parties or tea parties!

I have my first shower in two weeks.  Everything seems to be happening so fast, I am getting so excited to finally be a Mrs!  I'll have some updates for you all soon!

Finally an update!

Man, have I been slacking on the wedding updates lately. I'm at the end of the term for school so things are a little crazy.  Hopefully I can catch up on all of my exciting news.  I finally have my bridesmaids dresses.  Best part?  They were under $50!  I happen to be a big fan of them :)

So here they are! Not the best picture.  The sister wasn't in the mood for a photo shoot, so I had to take what I could get.  So far they have looked great on everyone that has tried it on, very flattering and just a super pretty dress.

I also finally mailed out my Save the Dates.  I still need a few addresses, but I didn't want to put off mailing them any longer. So if you get yours late, it's because I didn't have your address.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Show me your bling :)

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated!  But no worries, I have a lot to report and some good updates for the next week or so.  We finally made it to the jeweler to get my rings appraised so we can add them to John's homeowner insurance.  While we were there we decided to look for a band for John.  Let me tell you, I was so worried this would be an ordeal.  He had his mind set on a simple white gold band, and I insisted that he needed to look around and try some on.  Rings are so different on your finger than in a display case.  He tried on the simple white gold band that he insisted that he wanted and it just wasn't him.  Tammy, one of the awesome ladies that work there, started telling him about Titanium and as soon as she told him it was light weight he was sold.  He tried three on in different widths and ended up with the 7mm brushed Titanium band. 

Sorry for the off-center not great quality picture, I took it with my phone.  And while I was taking pictures of rings, I decided to show you my engagement ring and wedding band too :)

Rings are so hard to take a good picture of, grrr...  But that is my best attempt with the camera on my phone.

More updates to come soon, I promise!  Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!

What comes before Part B??

Part-ayyy  hahaha.  I am kidding.  No, not really.  I want my reception to feel like a big fun party.

Anyway, I spoke with the company that owns several liquor stores locally.  They provide beverage services for events and parties.  Not only do they deliver all alcohol purchased to the site the day of the wedding, they also pick up and will buy back unused bottles.  Win!  I got a quote and was pleasantly surprised.  We'll be able to go for a little bit nicer alcohol for not much of a difference.  Woohoo for a check off my list :)

The wedding is only a little over 6 months away, I gotta get busy!

Flowers

I'm having a really hard time picking out flowers.  I've never been a big flower person, don't get me wrong I think they are beautiful I just don't know a whole lot about them.  I stumbled across a website (click here) and I'm pretty sure I've found what I want!  Of course I'm not 100% sure, but I'm really liking these.

This first picture would be my bouquet. It has green dutch hydrangea paired with purple lisianthus, vendela and escimo roses, and green button mums, with ivory double faced satin ribbon and embellished with a brooch accented with pearls.  No purple though, it's not in my vision haha.  And I'm not sure what ribbon I would use to wrap, but I really like this one!

This would be the bridesmaids' bouquet. It has ivory hydrangea, green button mums, green hypericum berries, and vendela and escimo roses hand tied with mossy green double faced satin latticed with ivory satin and embellished with pearl headed pins. 


What do you think?


*I have no idea what is going on with the font in this post... love me through it, k?*

Engagement Pictures

Hello all!  Here are some engagement pictures taken by Amanda Fagan.  I hope you like them :)

The dress!

I found my wedding dress this weekend! I went and tried some on last week and nothing really wowed me.  I saw bits and pieces of dresses that I really liked but nothing that I just loved.  Last Saturday, my mom and grandmother joined me and went dress shopping.  I had about six dresses picked out and in my dressing room to try on.  Adrian (my consultant who was flipping awesome) told me to pick the dress I think I would like the best to try on first.  So I grabbed the dress that I thought was gorgeous, put it on, looked in the mirror and immediately knew it was my dress.  I didn't want to try on any other dresses because I knew that was the one. But I put one more on that was by the same designer.  It was in my size (my dress was a size too big) and in a different color.  I decided I didn't want white, so the color I got is called alabaster and I love it!  I have pictures if anyone wants to see them, leave me your email and I'll send them to you.  I don't want to post it on the blog just in case John decides to try and sneak a peek.  I'm so excited to have the absolutely perfect wedding dress for me! 

I should have engagement pictures this evening, I'm hoping that they are good and I'll want to share them haha.  Keep your fingers crossed :)

Engagement Pictures

We took engagement pictures last Wednesday at the beach.  It was pretty windy, so I'm a little worried that my hair will be out of control in all of the pictures.  We'll just have to see.  I should have them the beginning of next week, so maybe I'll share a few :)

Other big news.... I'm finally going to try on dresses on Tuesday.  I've been dreading it, and something finally hit me today and I got really excited.  I'll try to remember to bring a camera and get some preview pics.

Just wanted to give a little update, hopefully I'll have more in my next post.

Need some input

So I have been toying with making my own invitations.  Crazy, I know, but a way to potentially help my budget out a lot.  I went to Michael's today to look for some DIY invitation goodies and I stumbled upon these little pretties....

And they were a CRAZY good deal.  So what do you think?  Likey, no likey?  Are they cheesy?  I like them, I like what I was putting together a little more, but it would cost at least twice as much and take sooo much longer. So I need some input.  Tell me what you think!

Music

This weekend John and I went and registered.  It was pretty overwhelming, we had to leave before we were done because both  John and I were exhausted.  We'll have to finish it up another time.

We have a DJ woot woot!  We haven't really started thinking about music yet.  John and I did have a conversation that went a little something like this:

Lauren: What do we want to use for our first dance?
John: I don't know.
Lauren: How about Endless Love.
John: Sure, as long as it's not the Glee version.

It was definitely a joke, but he SO knew where I was going with it. There will be Glee songs played at the reception, I have decided.  I have a section in a notebook where I'm writing down songs that I definitely want played as they come to me.  I'm also working on a do not play list haha.  I would love any input you have on music, any song suggestions?

Search for the perfect dress

I've been thinking A LOT about dresses lately.  A whole lot.  Which at first, I put it out of my mind because I told myself I wanted to lose weight first, but now it seems to be the next thing I must check off my list.  I've been looking at bridesmaids dresses and feel like I'm getting no where.  I'm pretty sure I need to find my dress to set the 'tone' I guess you could call it for the rest of the wedding. 

I'm a HUGE fan of Maggie Sottero wedding dresses.  Seriously, these dresses are beautitful!  I've also found several Casablanca dresses that strike my fancy. 

I really have no clue what style I'm going for, and I am trying to keep an open mind.  I don't want to not try on a dress because it isn't exactly what I've envisioned, mostly because I have no clue what I want and I want something that will look good on me.  Pretty sure I want strapless, but like I said, I'm not closing the door on anything just yet.  I'm always open for ideas or suggestions.  Any dresses out there that you think are fab and I would like?  I totally want to hear about it so I can get some ideas and start trying on some dresses!

Mmmm food...

I have a caterer!  We are using Liza's Kitchen, one of my absolute favorite places for lunch. I don't have the menu set, but I'm pretty sure we are going to do heavy hors d’oeuvres instead of a plated dinner.  My mom and I decided that would give it a little bit more of a party feel, because John and I are definitely not formal.  Cat at Liza's was super nice and we're going to set up a time for a tasting to figure out just what yummies we'll have at the reception.  I know that we will have the puff pastries with baked brie and apples, it's one of my faves!

I got my bridesmaids cards in!  I absolutely love them!  Chris at Pink Hearts Paperie did a fabulous job, you should definitely go check her out for any of your invitation or stationary needs!  She has way more stuff than is listed in her store and is really awesome at making what you need.  I will post pictures soon, I'd like to give them to the girls first.

There is a store close by that is having a huge dress sale that I'm going to go check out.  I stopped by on Friday and they were closed, of course, and I've been trying to call to make an appointment.  I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll find something fabulous for an awesome deal.

Woohoo for checking things off my list :D

Update

It's been a while since I've updated, I have just been super busy and not done much wedding planning.  I  know that sounds strange coming from my crazy planning self.

I have a meeting with another caterer on Friday.  I am really thinking this is the place that I want to use, so cross your fingers!  It's my favorite brunch/sandwich place, so at first I didn't even think about using them for catering.  But since they are only open in the morning and early afternoon, they devote their evenings to catering big events.  I'm also thinking about having them cater brunch for my bridesmaids and family the day of the wedding.  I'm pretty excited about it.

I've also been talking to my friend Leslie, who is an amazing photographer.  We're talking things out, so hopefully I will have her booked to do my pictures next week!  Click here to go see her lovely website and her stellar picture taking skills.

My cards have been ordered and will hopefully be in any day.  I'm so ready to finally ask the girls to be in my wedding and I know they will love their cards!

Here's to hoping next week will be a productive one!

Bridezilla...

The first sign of crazy came out today when John and I were working on the guest list.  I might or might not have been a total biatch because his family wants to invite an entire town to the wedding.  I was going through the list asking who all of these people were, my favorite response "Oh, that's my brother's roommate from college."  Needless to say, he did not make the cut.  No worries, I did apologize and all is well.  Even if we are still 150 people OVER what I was hoping.  I might need some anxiety medicine in the near future, no lie.

I originally wanted to make my own invitations.  I have a ton of ideas that I think would be amazing, but now that we are probably going to be inviting way more people than I anticipated, it is more likely that I won't be taking on that task.  I've been chatting with Chris (the amazing Etsy seller that is making my bridesmaids' cards for me) and I'm pretty sure she is going to be designing the invitations for me.  A little early for invitations, I'm just making sure I have all my grounds covered.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Weekend planning

John's mom is coming in town this weekend to start the search for a place to hold our rehearsal dinner. We're going to stop by our reception venue so they can both see it and eat lunch at one of our potential caterer's restaurant.  My parents and sister are going to join us, so hopefully it will be good!  This guy makes crabcakes that are to die for, so I'm pretty excited.

While chatting with John's mom last night she informed me that the ladies she works with want to throw me a shower, which I thought was super sweet.  The exciting part is that it's going to be a Christmas themed shower, where I can get Christmas china, ornaments or anything holiday related.  I am super pumped, because I have always wanted Christmas china (I am a nerd, this I know).  So yay!

I'm stalking my tracking numbers for my boxes and purses for my bridesmaids, hopefully I'll have some pictures to show soon :D

Hope you all have a great weekend!

A little retail therapy...

Thanks everyone for voting!  Option #1 won.  Chris over at Paper Hearts Paperie is awesome!  I can't wait to get these lovelies in!

I am trying desperately to not spend a bunch of money right now.  And I wanted to do some online shopping SO bad today.  So I compromised.  I did a little shopping for the wedding.  I know not everyone is a Vera Bradley fan, but I am.  They were having a really awesome sale, so I bought the Handbag style for each of the girls I'm asking to be a bridesmaid.  I will use it as part of their gift for sharing my wedding with me.  I am so excited.  I did justify buying one for myself, because it was cheap.  It has owls!  Isn't it cute?

I also went ahead and ordered the takeout boxes and the damask packing tape for the candy buffet.  I know it's early, but I keep telling myself that if I do a little at a time my wedding-related stress levels won't be so bad.

John's mom is coming in town this weekend to look into places for the rehearsal dinner.  I worry that having the wedding in December will mean scheduling conflicts due to Christmas parties.  We shall see.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

We Have a Date!

Mark your calendars, we have a date!  We are getting hitched December 11, 2010.  I am a nerd, I wanted to do this date because it will be 12/11/10.

I know I had previously mentioned some other reception venues, but I went to a Bridal Fair today and absolutely love where it was held!  It is a fairly new place on the beach, and has everything we wanted.  It is even right next door to a hotel so if people have too much fun at the reception (which I'm hoping they will) they can just walk next door.  The setup is awesome and the price couldn't be beat.  Now I just have to call the church tomorrow to make sure it's a go :D

Love is Sweet

Spending a ridiculous amount of time looking at anything I can possibly think of that is wedding related, I came across a Candy Buffet.  I immediately became obsessed.  In case you haven't seen one of these babies, here are a few pictures I found and really like.

How stinking cute it this?  I want to get some white chinese takeout boxes for our guests to fill up with goodies.  This is exactly what I had in mind:

I found some damask packing tape at organize.com that can be used to decorate the takeout boxes and add a little green tissue and I will have the perfect goody boxes for my guests.

While perusing TJ Maxx this afternoon, I came across some vases that I thought would be perfect for a candy buffet.  So, of course, I had to buy them.

I think it's a good start!  And while I know it's still a little early, I'm hoping that by doing things a little at a time I won't get so stressed.  We shall see!

Next I will have to pick out some yummy candy and treats to fill up my candy buffet!

Possible Reception Venues

I have been talking with Pam, from Carillon Beach Weddings and Events, and I have an appointment next Tuesday to check out their facilities.  Carillon is an absolutely beautiful little area in my hometown and is typically known for their beach weddings.  But since we're looking at the winter months there will be no wedding on the beach (that and because I would have a melt down if I was all sweaty on my wedding day).  We are going to check out the Market Street Ballroom.

The Ballroom is on the second floor of the building in the picture.  I think this would be absolutely beautiful at night and there will be many photo-ops just by stepping outside.  The ballroom is huge and can be sectioned off, so I'm thinking of doing both the ceremony and reception there.  That way after the ceremony our guests can step right next door for cocktails while we finish up pictures.  I am definitely taking my camera, so next Tuesday I will have more pictures to share.

I have also been talking with Michelle at the Visual Arts Center about possibly holding the reception there.  It is an art gallery and the inside is gorgeous.  The only down side is the location.  I grew up on the beach and this is in town.... lame I know, but something I can't seem to push from my mind. 

Don't forget to vote! 

Holla!

Mucho love to my pal Alex for coming up with my stellar blog name!  She rocks, just in case you didn't know.

I am still working on the layout and all of that good stuff, so please pardon the mess for a little while.  I hope to have it looking snazzy in a week or two.

As far as the important details go, I have a date in mind... but I'm waiting to make sure the venues I want are available before I let everyone in on that info.

Moving on to the first item of interest for the wedding blog....  I have six lovely ladies in mind to ask to be my bridesmaids and I want a cutesy card to send to them.  Because seriously, who doesn't love getting fun cards?  So the first line of business is a vote.  Which "Will you be my bridesmaid/maid of honor/matron of honor?" cards to order?  I love Etsy big time, and there are so many talented artists on there.  After searching through Etsy, I have narrowed it down to three cards.  Help me choose!

Option #1

This is from seller PaperHeartsPaperie.  She has some super cute things in her store!  If I had this card, I would keep the green backing (considering it isn't some ridiculous crazy green) and the dress would be black.

Option #2

This is from seller ShortcakeScraps.  I love the flowers, but I would probably get them in green if I ordered this one.

Option #3

These are from Embellished by Tiffany.  Black, white and green are going to be my wedding colors, so this would be exactly what I ordered.

Go on over to the upper right side and pick your favorite!