Wedding Planning Update

It's been a few weeks since I've really posted about wedding planning. We've been tackling the last few major items and we crossed a BIG one off of the "to-do" list this weekend...

We booked a band!!!

Groove Knight to be exact. I am so excited! Really, you have no idea. I have always wanted a live band for our reception, and wasn't sure if we were going to be able to make it happen, but we are! This isn't just any band either. They were at the top of the list and come highly recommended. We took their last spot for the fall! Thank you mom and dad for making sure this wedding is everything we've dreamed about. We can't wait for September 1! It's 125 from today in case you were wondering.   

Sacrelige

Sic 'Em Griff!

Anyone who knows me at all knows I.love.RGIII. He's my very favorite and has been for the last four years. I love that the rest of the world now loves him too. Who wouldn't? Anyway, it goes without saying that all of Baylor nation is proud of our very own Heisman winner, myself included, but the Redskins? Out of all of the teams in the NFL? I was born to be a Dallas Cowboys fan. It's practically in my blood. And no self-respecting Cowboys fan roots for the Redskins. Ever. Sooooo, that leaves me with some serious inner turmoil. We've known Griff was going to Washington for a while, but I hoped that it wasn't true. I hoped that the Colts would realize what they're missing out on. I like Andrew Luck, yes, but he's no RGIII. The Colts are just lazy in my opinion. Draft a younger version of Peyton Manning and plug him into your old formula. Done. Sigh...None of that matters now. Our beloved Baylor Bear is now a Washington Redskin. I hate it, but I love RGIII even more than the Cowboys, which is why I will now be rooting for the Redskins. Don't tell my grandpa. Or my uncle. Or my parents for that matter. Thanksgiving might be a little complicated this year...

Our very special helper

We made a quick little trip down to Salado on Good Friday to meet with our wedding planner and do our cake tasting (yum). Although I enjoyed the day off, my sister and brother in law were both working, so my mom had both of my nieces. Dad took off to watch baby Micah while Keira made the trip with us. She was so excited to "eat cake" and reminded us of that fact all the way down 35! Girl after my own heart.

Once we arrived in Salado we went straight to the church where Justin and I are getting married. I love it. That's the subject of another post entirely, but it's just perfect. I needed to snag a few pictures for our rsvp postcards (they're going to be FAB) and it was a good opportunity to let Keira run around before our afternoon appointments. There happened to be a little field of bluebonnets in front of the church, so I took the opportunity to grab a few shots of my darling little niece.

she recently started calling him uncle justin. melts both of our hearts.

working it

sweet girl

After our mini photo shoot we headed up to our reception site and spent three hours going over details, sampling cake and making big decisions like whether to serve mashed potatoes or baked macaroni and cheese at the reception. Spoiler alert: we chose both. Keira was such a great little helper and sat at the table going over all of the details with us. I love having her share this time with us and I hope she remembers some of it when she's older. We keep telling her how special she is to us, because she is so special to both of us.

*Please pray for my sister, Aimee (Keira's mom). She was admitted to the hospital last night with pancreatitis. They are unsure of the cause and are reviewing tests and scans right now. She's doing alright, all things considered, but she is in a lot of pain. She should be in the hospital through the weekend and will hopefully be released on Monday.

Wedding drama (part two)

The bridesmaid dress situation began Saturday morning (thank you to Carrie for alerting me to the problem). A few hours later Justin and I went to our scheduled appointment at Men's Wearhouse to look at tuxes and get all of those particulars out of the way. We assumed it would be nothing more than a routine, quick check off of our wedding to do list. We.were.so.wrong.

 Most know that J and I have very different styles. He's modern and I prefer vintage. Opposites attract, right? I tend to think so. Anyway, one thing that we've always agreed on when it comes to the wedding is the guys' attire. We both wanted light gray and we both wanted vests. We plan to take lots of photos without the jackets after the ceremony and we love the vest look. Neither of us thought that was too out of the ordinary. Apparently, it is. The only rental available was more of a silver (think PROM) and definitely not the vibe we were going for. The salesperson explained that light gray tends to be a more casual suit and vests tend to be more formal. Not only were there no rentals available in what we wanted, but what we wanted doesn't exist. Cue meltdown number 2. Right there in the middle of prom-a-palooza-2012 next to a selection of awful shades of multi colored satin vests and cummerbunds. Just as we were about to leave we noticed a three piece suit that we both liked hanging near the register. Upon closer inspection it was a great alternative to what we had in mind. The suit was being picked up by a groom, so we got to chat with him about his upcoming wedding. The suits are more of a khaki than a gray, although they have a gray tint to them. The kicker: they're linen. (I told Justin to add multiple steamers to our wedding day pack list). It's a sturdy, Calvin Klein suit, so it's probably (hopefully) not what you're thinking. It will be perfect with the bridesmaid dresses and the peach seersucker tie we have picked out for the groomsmen. Here's a photo of a photo of the suits in a catalog at Men's Wearhouse. Clearly, we are not having the guys roll up their pants or wear hats. Nor is our wedding taking place on a beach. Just to clarify.

Wedding drama-rama

Remember how smoothly I said the wedding planning was going? Or how I said I didn't care about colors or flowers or cake flavors? Well, I lied. Not really, but I had two major meltdowns last weekend and have had a few not so pleasant conversations with the Nordstrom Bridal Suite, so I don't think my wedding planning counts as "smooth" anymore.

First of all, the bridesmaid dresses. Here's a shot of them in action:

via

Gorgeous, right? I love the color, the fit and the style of the dress. The price point wasn't bad either. I chose this dress about a month ago, asked my bridesmaids (all nine of them) the following week and last weekend discovered that they are completely sold out of the dress in any size smaller than an 8. That affects a whole lot of my bridesmaids. I won't bore you with the dramatic details, but apparently the designer ran a trial on the color and decided to stop manufacturing the color. After fruitless calls to Alaska, Nova Scotia, California and Seattle trying to locate the last remaining elusive smaller sizes, we're just going to have to get them altered. Nordstrom is paying for that of course. They probably shouldn't sell me on a dress that they don't have enough of in certain sizes. I made sure the manager of the bridal department knew that. Anyway, all of the girls now have a dress. So that's done. Check. I am so thankful to have such sweet and understanding friends. I love those girls.

More on meltdown number two tomorrow. Hint: It involved the guys' suits.

Outtakes

We took our engagement photos just a few weeks ago. St. Patricks Day to be exact. It was definitely one of our most favorite days in recent memory, even if it didn't get off to the best start. We're just giddy with excitement. And let's be honest, spending two hours nuzzling up to my man isn't a bad way to spend a day no matter what the circumstances.

The whole process of being engaged is so surreal. I've mentioned several times before that I wasn't sure I would ever get married. I just thought that maybe that wasn't what the Lord had in store for me. I'm so glad that being single forever wasn't the plan, and Justin and I have known we were going to get married for a while, but the fact that we are engaged still hasn't sunken in. I'm just so stinkin' happy.

Anyway, getting engaged can sure make a girl feel special. Lots of attention, oohing and ahhing over the ring and sweet notes of congratulatory wishes. And we haven't truly even begun all of the really fun stuff. Except for our engagement shoot. That was really fun, as I just mentioned and what was supposed to be the subject of this post. Rabbit trail alert. Back to what I was saying. Engagement shoots are fun, but they aren't always as glamorous and lovey dovey as one might think. As I thought. We definitely had lovey dovey moments and even a few where we completely forgot that Melissa was even there, but there were lots of hilarious and sometimes awkward moments too. I'm too vain to post the "outtakes" on facebook, but some of them were too funny not to share. Before I post them, I should note that these are a product of me just not being able to pull off the serious look and blinking more than the average person. For all of these outtakes we have a million that we love. I just know to stick to my "realtor smile" as my brother calls it, from now on. So, for my mom, sister and anyone else who reads my blog, enjoy.

getting used to the camera clicking

one of the first shots. i think we look like we are at a highschool dance ;)

trying to pull off the sweet closed eyes shot = fail

the shot isn't an outtake, but justin said he felt homeless when were shooting here. still makes me laugh.

blink!

And...

drum roll, please.

I present to you my personal favorite, and what makes me laugh out loud at myself every time i see it...

ta-da! wow. i look like i have bells palsy (no offense coach mulkey). i so wish i could pull off the sexy look, because j sure can. sigh...