My Bachelorette Weekend Part 1

I am still on cloud nine after the BEST weekend of my life. I have always suspected, but can now confirm that I have the best friends that anyone could ever hope to find. I know I'm just one giant ball of emotions right now, but this weekend made me focus on how lucky I am to have such great friends in my life. I was pampered all weekend and each activity was tailored to me and all the things that I love. Which, if I'm being honest, is friends, storytelling and reminiscing, food, Fort Worth and relaxation. Oh, and cupcakes, definitely cupcakes.

My weekend began with my very own chauffeur, aka Kelly, picking me up and whisking me away to my favorite nail salon in Fort Worth. My sister met us there and we enjoyed fantastic manis and pedis. Afterwards we headed over to West 7th for dinner at Hacienda San Miguel. Yum! We checked in at the Omni Fort Worth, got in our pj's and rented a movie, listening to the storm outside. Perfection.

kelly brought me a very special starbucks drink to start the weekend off!

The next morning we ordered room service and Kelly got me my favorite Starbucks drink with another fun little note. Aimee, Kelly and I headed down to the pool and just relaxed waiting for everyone else to arrive. The weather was perfect, kind of cool, lots of sun with a mixture of clouds off and on. As others arrived I got to visit with them and then I was surprised again with a massage at the hotel spa! One of the best massages I've had in recent memory for sure. More pool time and a yummy poolside lunch later, we headed up to get ready for our night on the town. Carrie had a special veil made for me, made by one of our small group girls. So special! I loved it.

starbs drink no. 2

exactly what i needed

i have no idea what i would do without this girl. thank you for all you did to make my weekend so special!

sisters! aimee put a lot of hard work into making this a special weekend too! thank you!

carr! one of my beautiful bridesmaids



our view looking up. love the omni



carrie helping me put my "veil" on

Part two coming tomorrow. The best night. Someone pinch me over here...

Odds and Ends

handmade chalkboard chargers for the reception

We are in the homestretch over here at wedding central. Otherwise known as my house. If you were to stop by you would see boxes of reception odds and ends ready to be packed in the car for their journey south on I35. You would see stacks of chalkboard chargers complete and another stack (or two) that still need to be finished. You would also see my bride's book and the rest of the thank you notes that I need to write and get sent out. In short, you'd see a mess. And while that mess is stressing me out, I wouldn't have it any other way. It means that our wedding is soon. I can hardly believe it's almost here, but it's definitely almost here. In 18 days to be exact. We.are.so.excited. Justin had his bachelor party last weekend at the Rangers game and my surprise bachelorette is this weekend. Squeal!

check out the hat they made Justin wear at his bachelor party. I personally love it ;)

We are so grateful once again to our dear friends and family who have made this season so special. We know a lot of hard work, time, energy (and money) have gone into celebrating us and we will never be able to thank you enough. We love you and can't wait to see everyone soon!

FAQs

Like most brides, I get a lot of questions about our wedding. Daily. To save myself a little breath, here are a few answers to some of the questions I get asked most.

1. Why is your wedding in SALADO?!
I suppose the old junior high adage, "because we felt like it," isn't the most appropriate response here, although it's often what I feel like saying. Truth? We wanted to get out of town and Salado was a perfect fit for us. Don't get me wrong, we love DFW. I'm from Grapevine, Justin's from Fort Worth and we thought about getting married here. For a second anyway. We both wanted a small(er) wedding and didn't feel like that was possible up here. Also, I've always loved Salado, specifically the little white church we're getting married in. That's another story though.

2. From a couple of guests with kids: Why weren't our kids listed on the invitation?
In short, and hopefully without offending anyone, because they aren't invited. Sorry. Here's why. The church is small and it's one room. As in no hallway, no narthex, no place to take a fussy baby. And there's just not room for older kids. We love your kids, we really do, we just don't want to hear them at our wedding. Even my sweet 18 month old niece Micah won't be there.

3. What's the dress code?
Definitely dressy, but we want everyone to be comfortable. It's probably going to be 102 that day and we're aware of that. The groomsmen will be in linen suits and the bridesmaid dresses are knee-length. But it's still a wedding. Ties and jackets preferred for men. No jeans and definitely no shorts. Hopefully that goes without saying.

4. Is the church air-conditioned? YES!!! I get so frustrated with this question, which I hear all.of.the.time. Mom and I were just there last Saturday and it was actually cold inside, so no worries. We wouldn't get married in September in a church without air conditioning. Promise.

5. Are you going to see each other before the ceremony? Much to our sweet photographer's dismay, no. We both wanted that moment. And we're serving hors d'oeuvres for the guests who will be waiting afterwards. We promise to make it quick!

6. How many guests are you expecting? We're up to 155 and that doesn't include several people who haven't replied. (Side note: How hard is it to reply? Even if it's just via text or email?! Just let us know people. It's rude not to).

7. How are you going to make around160 guests squeeze into a church that seats 130? Math has never been my strong suit, so bear with me on the numbers. The church seats 130. We have 9 attendants each which equals 18 people that will be standing. Plus Justin and I, plus Matt equals 21. My three honorary attendants are reading, so they'll be on a seperate pew at the front and all of our soloists and musicians will be in chairs. We'll have roughly 30+ people either standing or in an individual chair, so we think it will work. (Another side note: We're not seating late arrivals. The wedding coordinator will send any late arrivals straight to the reception. I thought it would be too distracting to have the door opening and closing and people having to scoot in on the pews to make room. Isn't that the cardinal rule of going to a wedding? Be early)?

8. Where are you going on your honeymoon? ST.LUCIA! We're so excited too.

That's all I can think of for now. We are so ready. 25 days and counting...

One Month

In exactly one month I will be getting ready to walk down the aisle and marry the man that my heart was made to love. The one person I love more than anyone else on this earth. My partner, my soul mate. I can't believe it's almost here. Clearly we're excited. We're so ready to finally be married. All that being said, we're cherishing this time together. Being engaged has been a sweet, sweet time for us. We are in a marriage mentoring program through our church and are paired with an adorable, wise couple who have been married for 45 years. Talk about wisdom. We meet with them weekly and it is absolutely one of our favorite things each week. In between the last minute details, purchases, trial hair runs, hour-long calls with the wedding planner and not eating carbs, it's a nice pause to reflect on what this is all really about: our marriage and our life together.

I'm a giant bundle of nerves, emotion and, if I'm being honest, a little tension. I apologize in advance if I'm snippy. The countdown to the wedding + staying up crazy late to watch the Olympics has not been a good combo for me. It's all worth it though.

I'll meet you guys here in 30 days. I'll be the one in the white dress. Probably crying.