Thursday, March 14, 2013

Eat, Drink & be Married {TY notes, Dallas MOB dress, rehearsal dinner, DIY}

Please excuse me while I vent...

If you decide to quit your job to open a coffee shop, your clients (I) would appreciate a call or an email explaining that you will be leaving but so-and-so will now be taking care of you (me) and your (my) wedding cake.

If you haven't sent a confirmation to the printing company, then yes, the printing of your client's (my) formal wedding invitations will be delayed... and then you will have to pay extra to have it rushed and overnighted.

If you don't answer your phone or email making it completely impossible to work with, going to your boss's boss's boss's boss's boss is the only choice you give your clients (me).

Ah, I feel better.
____________________

I opened my apartment door early last week to find a package on the floor.  I noticed it was from Pottery Barn, but I certainly wasn't expecting a delivery since I hadn't made any recent purchases.  Along with a gift was a note from a dear friend of mine, congratulating Matt and me and how she is so happy that we found each other.  I couldn't wait to send her a thank note, letting her know how much that meant to me!  Then I realized that I haven't ordered any thank you notes!  Since my cousin (and bridesmaid) was in town we had already planned a girls' day that now included finding thank you notes.  After gluten free BBQ sandwiches, matchmakers and a new lip color, we went into Papyrus to look at sample thank you notes.  I also needed to check on the status of my formal invitations (refer to the printing company rant above).  Christa was an angel!  Not only did she keep me calm as I learned of the delay in the printing of my invitations(!), but she helped me design our thank you notes!  We had such similar tastes that it was like we were speaking for each other when suggesting ideas to the designer at Papyrus.  We had a blast!  Thanks for all your help, cousin!  Making such fun and special memories with my family has been one of the [many] blessings through all this wedding planning.

Christa and me, with a new lip and pretty thank you notes!

Thank you notes, designed by Christa and me!
    
Mom and I spent last Wednesday going from appointment to appointment to appointment.  We got so much done even though bridezilla was in full force (again, refer to the rants above).  After attending all scheduled appointments, Mom and I had the perfect end of the "work" day at LuLu Bridal where I wanted to look for accessories!  Once we made our selections, we went upstairs to scan their dresses for my house party and maybe even a MOB dress.  The first MOB dress I pulled was the perfect color.  We inspected it while it hung on the hanger and I eventually talked mom into trying it on.  She walked out of the dressing room and everything about it was beautiful, especially her smile!  We had pulled a few other dresses but kept going back to the first dress.  She put it back on and I asked her how she felt in it.  "I feel special,"  she said.  That brought happy tears to my eyes and then happy tears to hers.  (I know, we're goobers.)  We found the perfect dress for mom; and because she is so special to me, the fact that she "feels special" in that dress makes it even more beautiful.

Matt was so excited for the food tasting lunch at our rehearsal dinner venue last week.  We met his dad and his step-mom there, which was the first time they saw the venue.  They loved it (yay!).  Because of prior events (once again, refer to the above rant, lol), I was a little nervous that this lunch wouldn't be perfect.  I knew as soon as I tasted the appetizer that I had been worrying for nothing!  The food was PERFECT!  Seriously, we all loved every single flavorful bite.  As we were finishing our lunch the coordinator came and sat down with us to discuss the details of our event.  I am [now] extremely happy with this venue and all they have to offer!  I can't wait to have our family and closest friends join us at such a joyous occasion!  Now I'm busy looking for the perfect invitations (yay!).

Matt chatting with our coordinator.


Matt with his dad after a yummy food tasting!
I have been looking forward to my trip home to sit down with my mammaw so that we could work on ceremony details together.  I had the perfect job for her!  (Hint:  If you know my mammaw and are celebrating with us that evening, you'll know right away what "detail" she helped me with.)  That afternoon home was just what I needed.  I am so blessed to have the sweetest grandparents and am so glad that my mammaw and pappaw were a special part of this "detail" for our wedding day.
After some delay our invitations are here!  I've been checking all the addresses searching for errors.  My aunt Robbie (aka Bobbie) is graciously going to handwrite the few addresses containing errors with her beautiful handwriting; so if your invitation so happens to be addressed by Bobbie, consider yourself lucky :)  Thank you so much, Bobbie.  EEEEE!  To our family and friends:  I hope when you open your invitation that you love it and we hope that you can celebrate this wonderful day with us!
(Also, don't forget to send back your RSVP's!)  :)


Invitations are here and go out so soon!
Here's another DIY project that I'm working on as part of our wedding favors.  I spent one afternoon working on it while Matt was busy watching Duck Dynasty.  But if you ask him, it was him that worked all afternoon on the project (as he has with ALL of the wedding planning) ;)  Love you babe and really, I'm thankful that you're letting me do most of the planning...and projects  :)



I got the cutest invitation in the mail from the sweetest bridesmaids for our Couples Shower!  I am so excited to celebrate with some of our favorite people, especially this close to our wedding day!  My bridesmaids have been such a blessing and I am so thankful for their love and support.  It makes me feel so special that each are taking the time to plan and put together a shower honoring Matt and me - we are forever grateful for you and your special role during this time in our lives.  I also feel so very special that I get to marry Matt.  One night I couldn't fall asleep (it's becoming more and more difficult to fall asleep as of late) and I thought about how I have never felt as whole as I do now; because of you, Matt, I am complete.  I absolutely cannot wait to stand across from you, hold your hand and promise to love you forever.


Saturday, March 2, 2013

Celebration {DIY, Dallas Boudoir, tuxes, marriage counseling}

I finished my DIY project that will be used to inform our family of a specific request after our wedding ceremony.  They will also be used as seating place cards at the rehearsal dinner (two birds one stone!).  As fore mentioned, I chose to use a custom stamp (ordered from Etsy) and cards instead of spreading the word via text simply because I'm in love with those teeny tiny pretty little details ;)  Now that we have the name cards ready, we just need to work on all the other teeny tiny details for the rehearsal dinner!  So on the 66 days-to-go mark, Matt and I had lunch with his dad, Wayne, and his step-mom, Laura, at Wayne's favorite place, Celebration.  (The name of the restaurant was quite appropriate for the topic of our discussion!)  We discussed the details of our rehearsal dinner venue, menu ideas, seating charts, decor, etc.  It was so nice to catch up with my future in-laws(!) and share what's going on behind the scenes of all this wedding planning.  The four of us tentatively have a food tasting scheduled with the chef early in March that we're all looking forward to!  

Front


Back.

I finally received my Boudoir photos from Nadia (June Bug Company).  I had to wait two months for her to complete the editing process; and it was definitely worth the wait!  Her work is absolutely incredible!  She's creative, artsy, edgy and just a brilliant and very talented photographer.  The photos turned out just as I had hoped they would.  I highly recommend Nadia to do your Boudoir shoot or any other photo shoot for that matter!  I also highly recommend Courtney from Chi Ro Makeup, who did my makeup for this shoot (as well as our engagement shoot).  Here's a few from the shoot, but Matt won't get to see them until the night before the wedding(!):







Picking out tuxes have been on our to do list for several weeks now.  Matt and I finally made it over to Men's Warehouse.  I'm sure most of you saw the photo that I posted to Facebook (of Matt rolling his eyes).  He may have looked extremely bored, but when we were done, he stated matter-of-factly how painless it was.  See, wedding planning isn't so bad!  I fell in love with the Vera Wang tux as soon as Matt came out of the dressing room.  The inaugural collection, BLACK by Vera Wang, tux is exclusive to Men's Warehouse and the rental fee reflects it's modern sophisticated debut.  So after much deliberation, we agreed that Matt would wear (splurge rather) Vera Wang and his groomsmen would wear Calvin Klein.  After we agreed on the tuxes, we selected vests and ties that I'm really excited about.  And we are both even more excited that Matt's ensemble will be a little different than his groomsmen!

Matt and I had a great marriage counseling session with our officiant, Roy, and his wife, Casey.  We love sitting down with them because they are real, relatable and reliable!  Our session was over the pieces of love, which included tenderness, esteem, romance, support, leadership (there were several more but I'll spare ya).  Our officiant and his wife described the meaning of each "piece" and ways to improve in areas of weakness.  After we wrapped up the session, Roy asked if I had any special requests for him.  Casey and I discussed this at church prior to our session and we agreed that Roy must dance at the reception!  How fun would it be to see your officiant and marriage mentor getting down on the dance floor?!  Don't let us down, Roy!  ;)
Matt and I always feel refreshed when we leave and as we drive back to Dallas we continue chatting about topics that stood out to us most and how thankful we are for Roy and Casey.  I hope every engaged couple is as blessed as we are to have such neat Godly people preparing them for marriage.   

When my mom came into town last (to help with a few wedding projects of course), she brought a pretty little package just for me.  Before I opened it she explained that she bought it 15 years ago for me to have for my wedding one day.  Emotions filled my heart as I pictured her standing in a store long ago dreaming of my wedding day; I pictured myself, 12 years old playing with makeup; and I imagined an 11 year old Matt practicing his free throws.  How special this gift was then, at that very moment in the store, in front of the mirror, at the free throw line.  And how special it is now, 15 years later and just two months before my wedding day is finally here.  Thank you, mom, for having faith in me and having faith in God's timing.  
Hm, is it coincidence that there are 15 roses on this frame?      
    

What's inspiring me this month:

March wedding to do list:

- Purchase favors and appropriate DIY supplies
- Finalize and pay deposit for day of transportation
- Pick up formal invitations upon arrival, send them out on March 23 (6 weeks before the wedding!)
- Second dress fitting, March 6
- Make sure groomsmen get measured for their tux
- Florist meeting, March 6 (Darren couldn't meet with us last month as he was ill.)
- Continue working on bridesmaids' luncheon details
- Continue helping with the rehearsal dinner details, including the menu
- Shop for frames, signs and a few great swim suits for the honeymoon ;)
- Planning meeting at wedding venue, March 20
- Marriage counseling, March 24
- March 30, couples' shower(!)

A mere 2 months to go!