Project Wedding Invitations

This past weekend, Brian and I met with two people regarding our wedding invitations. We went into the first meeting not really knowing what we were looking for. We came out with clearer ideas, but still had not found anything that caught our attention. At the second meeting, we saw something that we both liked (HOORAY!), and we are now in the process of finalizing our decisions.

But, to be quite honest, this is not an easy task. There are so many options when it comes to invitations: square or rectangular, traditional or non-traditional, script or block font, layered or not, modern or 'old-school' (...they may have called that something else...), and these are just a few of the options. Then, once you pick a few options and put them together, you get to look at 85 different invitations of the styles you just chose, and then you have absolutely no idea what options you just selected, much less what you even want.

Oh, and don't get me started on colors. They have every color of the spectrum to choose from, and really give ROY G BIV a run for his money. The problem is, I am definitely a fan of pretty colors. So much so that I almost completely changed the colors of our wedding because I saw this really pretty blue that I absolutely adored. (Project wedding invitations may well turn out to be 'project redo the entire wedding' if I don't stop.) Nonetheless, Brian talked some sense into me, and I snapped back to my senses and decided to stick with our chosen few.

Really, this has been one of the hardest things we've had to do for our wedding, so far. (I suppose we are pretty fortunate.) We have one more meeting tomorrow evening to discuss our invitations and we are confident that we will have something tangible in the next few weeks.

In other non-wedding related news, Jack officially graduated from Puppy Kindergarten last night! He won a new toy which we now call our blue 'Koala Walla' for "being cute" and mastering almost all of his tricks. We are very proud!

Being good and listening...for the moment...

Our diploma. (And new toy!!)

Taste Test

Last night we had our first tasting at our reception venue, and we got to see the lovely space that we have rented for our reception night. It was absolutely amazing to see The Venue there in person and at night when we will be throwing our bash. The atmosphere is absolutely incredible, and the view is awesome!

Incredible atmosphere!

Awesome view!

Our chef!

The food was delish, the company was delightful (Mary and Tom - Brian's Mom and Stepdad joined us), and the night was overall productive. The great thing was that our venue had additional vendors there (linens, invitations, a photo booth company, etc.) where you could sit and chat about additional wedding items. And, since I am a huge (understatement) photo booth fan, we all just had to have a go:

Photo Booth Shenanigans!

It's amazing how fast August is approaching. Seeing our venue last night made it all very real. After a brief lull, wedding details are starting to pick up again!

Moments

There are moments throughout all of our lives that we will never forget. Moments of joy, moments of hope. Moments of sorrow, moments of fear, moments of freedom. We are all unique in our own way, but we all have moments. There are moments we share with others and moments we encounter on our own, but together those moments unite us.

Some moments fill you with so much joy and happiness that you just can't control it. You don't have words to describe your emotions. You are overly excited, and even that doesn't do your emotion justice. These are the moments that put our mundane life into existence. These are the reasons we remember the moments and not what we were doing days before these moments occurred.

This weekend was one such moment: my brother, Travis, proposed to his girlfriend, Shanel, and I was overcome with a happiness that brought tears to my eyes. Being able to share the experience, this moment, with them, family, and friends meant so much to me and everyone around me. It was in that moment that I just couldn't be happier. I was brimming with love and happiness and excitement, and you could easily sense that many of the people there were also feeling the same. Not only are we connected because we are family, but sharing in this moment together made it unforgettable. (Not that Travis or Shanel would ever forget this day! I'm just saying it was monumental to all of us being there as well.)

Congratulations, Travis and Shanel! We are so excited for you!

(Click to view all photos.)

150 Days!

We've literally hit 150 days until our wedding, and even though we started the countdown a while ago, it feels that much more real to see such a nice round number! It seems like it's a lot closer in 'day' terms as opposed to 'month' terms. For example, 150 days feels right around the corner. 5 months feels like we've got some time. But there are both one and the same - six of one, a half dozen the other - and somewhere, middle of the road, we are well on our way.

150 days and counting!!

Our Recent Life

With the arrival of March, spring is in the air and we are now one month closer to our wedding! It's still chilly and there is still snow on the ground, but the prospects of warmer weather and sunshiny days are much more tangible.

In our wedding world, we've been working on finalizing the Bridal Party, the Bachelor Party (actually, I think Brian has pretty much nailed this one down - more on this later) and the Bachelorette Party, looking at invitations, and starting to iron out some of the finer details for our big day. We also have our first, and probably only, tasting at our reception venue this month. It is here that we will make our decisions on what food we will have at our reception. We can't believe how fast it's all happening. August will be here before we know it.

In our non-wedding world, we've been relaxing, exploring the world with Jack, playing ball, taking walks, and tending to all the 'normal-world' stuff you need to tend to. And speaking of our dear, sweet puppy, he is at the vet, as we speak, having is 'baby makers' removed.

He was under strict instructions not to have anything to eat or drink after midnight last night. Fortunately, at our Monday night puppy class, we played 'Pass the Puppy', and he received more than his fair share of treats from all the other puppy owners. It was our way of thinking he was able to at least have a late night snack that he otherwise would not have received!

He has been such a joy to have around the house. Bun is still not a huge fan, but we've been keeping the peace. Here are some updated photos of Jack:

We are keeping him in our thoughts and preparing a lovely feast (his normal dinner) for him when he returns tonight. Despite what he had to go through, we know he will be excited to be home!

I Had a Dream

(Compliments of M.L.K.-ish)

Except it wasn't necessarily a nice, warm and fuzzy dream. It was a nightmare. It was my first wedding nightmare, and hopefully my last.

[Flashback to the dream.] Here I am on the day before our wedding. We are at this place where we are getting married. It's like a destination wedding, but it's not on a beach and it's not here in Ohio where we are actually getting married. Everyone is arriving from out of town and the hustle and bustle starts to pick up when suddenly I realize that I never got my dress altered. But then I also never found bridesmaid dresses, and now I literally have 24 hours to get all of that done. I start to panic.

I'm trying to find Brian and there are so many people. I keep seeing these people with black suit pants on, white suit jackets, black vests, black and white polka dot shirts, and these bright blue bow ties. I'm talking prime color blue kind of blue. (No where near the colors we decided on for our wedding...) I finally find Brian and he is wearing the same thing. I ask him what he is wearing. His response was, 'this is what I decided on for the wedding...'

At this point, that part doesn't even bother me. It's the fact that I have no bridesmaid dresses, my dress isn't altered, and I have no way of getting anything done. And now I'm in tears.

In the midst of Brian trying to comfort me, like the wonderful fiancé he is, I wake up, and realize that it was all just a dream. My heart is pounding, my mind is racing, and I lay there thinking, 'of course, why couldn't I have realized this in my dream??' It took me a while to get back to sleep.

It's funny what our subliminal tells us. I have been looking for bridesmaid dresses and shoes, and haven't found anything, yet. I'm not necessarily worried about it, but I'm not feeling like I'm smooth sailing either. And as far as the dress getting altered, I've been looking into seamstresses, too. But, once again, I don't really feel stressed, since the dress doesn't arrive until May anyway. I suppose it's all in my head somewhere or another. Maybe I suppress my stress about those issues and they surface in my dreams. I'm not really sure how to decode them, but for now, my subliminal speaks.

As far as Brian's 'outfit', we'll just have a chat and make sure we are on the same page. Like I said, I'm hoping it's the first and last of these sorts of dreams, but if not, they're at least quite entertaining...the next day!

The Mayan Riviera

It's official! (Have we been saying that a lot?) We have booked our honeymoon! We will be headed to the luxurious Riviera Maya, Mexico for a superior stay at Secrets Maroma Beach - an adult, all-inclusive resort on the dazzling Caribbean sea which promises pure white sands, crystal-clear waters, and warm tropical breezes for a perfect paradise. Since we've kind of forgotten what grass looks like because of all the snow, the very thought of basking in the warm Mexican sun makes our skin tingle. It will, without a doubt, be unforgettable.

For those of you who aren't that familiar with the area, the Riviera Maya is an area of Mexico that encompasses three or so towns about 30 miles south of Cancun on the eastern portion of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Much is promised with the adventures that await us! It appears there are ruins to visit, zip lining potential, (possibly even a dip or two with the dolphins!), ecotours, relaxation, and a much anticipated week away! We're headed for 8 days and 7 nights on a Sunday to Sunday trip.

This is going to be a fantastic honeymoon!

Ranunculus

As a horticulture major, I love plants, I love foliage, and I especially love flowers. Therefore, when it came time to pick out our wedding flowers, I was more than enthused! I love seeing the different combinations of flowers put together. I love to see how you can create a completely different feeling by pairing different combinations of flowers, and I love talking to other people who know what the industry has to offer. It's great to be able to speak with someone that you can bounce ideas off of until you are sure that you are both on the same page, and it's even better when they have some insight into something that would fit the look you are going for that you didn't even know of!

We found our florist, and she is awesome!

We were referred to Sarah from some of Brian's friends who were married in 2009. When we saw pictures of their flowers we knew there was potential. When we sat down to talk to her about what we wanted and didn't want, she was all ears, and despite us having a pretty good idea of what we wanted, she helped us create our perfect combinations of flowers.

They are wild, romantic, lovely, and alluring. They capture your eyes and your heart and make you fall in love all over again. They will delight our summer evening wedding. They are perfect, they make us smile, and most of all, they represent us.

Tahiti or Fiji or Spain. Oh, my!

We're just under 6 months away from our day. It's amazing how fast it really is coming upon us, but with snow on the ground in Columbus, a new Winter storm headed this way tonight, and nearly 3 feet of snow in Maryland, the very thought of summer still feels like quite a ways away! We know it will be here before we know it so we are trudging away through the snow and still making wedding plans.

We are in the process of deciding on our florist so that is in the works, and our newest endeavor has been our honeymoon. (This has been a topic that we have touched on before but is now our focus, and a great focus at that!) I would've thought this would be an easy part. Pick a place you both want to go, book it, and voilà. Boy was I wrong.

Brian and I have both been though nearly every option in the Caribbean (or so it seems), but we have yet to even decide on a location. Not because we can't agree but because we've set the bar pretty high with our engagement spot in Jamaica. We are looking for something very similar to Jamaica, but since we've been there we'd like to think a bit out of the box and head somewhere else.

We are looking for an adult-only and an all-inclusive resort. We like spas, beaches, activities, relaxation, and luxury, but within reason of course. So far we think our best bets will be the Riviera Maya in Mexico or Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Antigua, Turks and Caicos, and St. Lucia are also options, but we still haven't decided. Hawaii is an option, but is not very high on the list. We are open to other suggestions. We've looked into Spain, the Greek Isles, Bora Bora, Tahiti... Some of these places are way out of our price range, but I'm just emphasizing that we are open to anything!

Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

PS: I wasn't kidding that Maryland got nearly 3 feet of snow:


PPS: Wouldn't this be a great snow blower advert?!

Save The Date

Brian and I both had an idea of what we wanted our 'save the date' to look like pretty soon after we got engaged. In fact, we actually managed to complete them well before we needed to! Now that we've actually gotten them sent out, I thought it would be nice to post a picture of them. Believe it or not, once we had decided to do our save the dates this way, this was the first photo booth we went into, and our first take. (We had a couple practice ones the day before!) We made the signs that are in each photo and then photoshopped our information at the bottom of the photo. We then sent them off to be put on magnets, and voilà! We made our save the date!

Our last touch was our presentation. We put together a design with card stock of what we hope our wedding colors will be similar to and sent them off to our recipients. All in all, we were both pretty impressed! Here's our final product: