Wedding Updates [1]

So I have been trying to wait until we had our engagement photos back to write a post about the happenings for the wedding. But our photographer was unfortunately having some computer troubles and had to send it off to be fixed. So we are still waiting to get those back, but hopefully it will be within the next couple of weeks and I can share those with you.

In the meantime, though, we've made quite a bit of headway towards the wedding!

The first thing we did, honestly without intending to, was find my dress. The weekend after Pat and I got engaged, we were heading to Greenville. Being the crazy person that I am, I had already created an account on David's Bridal and they had called to set up an appointment. Figuring it would be a good opportunity to look around and see what I liked, I set one up for that Sunday when we would be in town.

Little did I know that I would walk in and choose 10 dresses to try on. And I absolutely didn't think that I would try on only 4 before I found the dress. Honestly, it couldn't have been any more perfect. It fit like it was made for me, no alterations necessary. I added a few accessories to it to really complete the look and chose a sleeve style and a veil and we were good to go. I was able to walk out of the store with my dress THAT DAY!

What else happened that day? Well, we were able to find Kaley's dress! Kaley is going to be our flower girl and she is so incredibly excited. It really is adorable to listen to her talk about the wedding and all of the plans she has for throwing flower petals as she walks down the aisle. Oh, and you should seriously hear her reception plans. Pizza. Milk. Cookies.

But anyways. So we found the perfect dress for Kaley, also. Unfortunately she's crazy tiny so fitting a dress was a struggle. We actually ended up going with one in a size 6. Why? Because I wanted the length of it. There's about 4 inches in the body that have to be taken in, though, because she's never going to fill out that much in the next 9 months. It's just not a happening thing in her life. But she still looked adorable when she tried it on! And the colors of it match my dress!

I also selected a dress for my bridesmaids that day, as well as the color (Champagne) they would be in. It was probably the easiest experience I've had, too, because I texted them and said this is the dress and color and I didn't receive any complaints! Amazing! Honestly, that really tells me that I made the right decisions about who should stand up with me that day. It couldn't be any better and I am so excited!

What else have we accomplished? Well, we've started a wedding folder for all of the paperwork and everything we will collect over the next several months. Does that count as an accomplishment? It even has things in it already!

We also had our meeting with Fr. Bill and set an official date for the wedding! Pat and I will be married on May 31, 2014! The church is reserved, Fr. Bill has it on his calendar and all that's left is to coordinate with the Deacon who we hope will actually perform the ceremony. We're trying to make life difficult. Pat and I want the Deacon to marry us, but we want a full Mass. And only a priest can perform a full Mass. So we're working out our own special ceremony with everyone fit in!

Fr. Bill gave us the beginning paperwork to fill out and the book to begin choosing the music selections and readings we would like to have incorporated into our ceremony. When he gave it to us, I was thinking it was way too early. But now that I'm looking at the entire picture and everything we have going on this year.... Yeah, we're going to start looking at that book this weekend!

We've started making a list of reception sites and I plan to start making calls for rates and such at the beginning of next week. I know that we need to book it as soon as possible, and if life was perfect it would have already been done, but we had to wait until we had the date worked out with the church before we could reserve a reception hall. So I'm working on it. It's just not done yet.

Yesterday we went back to Greenville for my birthday. I decided that what I wanted most for my birthday was to get some things done for the wedding. We still hadn't decided on a secondary color to go with the Champagne I had originally chosen. So off we went to spend twenty minutes staring at the rack of fabric in DB debating over which one we liked best. In the end we went with the color called Wine. Personally I find it amusing that our colors are Champagne and Wine and we're planning to have very little alcohol at the reception, only one glass of wine per person for the toast. There's going to be children all over the place and no one needs to be drinking heavily in front of them!

So anyways, we selected a color. Once I'd selected the color we were able to look for a decorative bow for Kaley's flower girl basket! My great grandfather made beautiful hand-woven baskets for each of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to have their flower girl carry when they were married. I love the basket, so I don't want to cover it entirely, but I do want a little bit of color added to it.

We also found a dress for Gramma to wear and got ideas for my mom and Pat's mom! And can I just say that Pat was truly awesome yesterday? We spent an hour and a half in DB and he didn't complain once the entire time. I am truly blessed!

He also never complained when we walked down the storefronts to Men's Wearhouse to select outfits for the men! We settled on tan pants, with a tan vest, an ivory button down shirt and a champagne tie for Pat. I went with the tan suit because it really fit my vision and it was, literally, a perfect match to the Champagne swatch I held up to it for comparison! The groomsmen and my dad will be wearing the same thing, but with a wine colored tie. And the sleeves of their shirts will be rolled.

My inspiration from Pinterest :)

We also made our way over to Barnes and Noble where I made a bee-line for the wedding section to select a Wedding Planning Workbook! I am happy to say that I only looked at ten or so before I finally settled on one. It's a binder, with dividers, and everything is clearly labeled. Exactly what I wanted and not ridiculously expensive.

I also happened across a book that I can't wait to read! It's called "The Bride's Survival Guide: 150 Mistakes You Should Avoid for the Perfect Wedding". I'm seriously excited to start flipping my way through this book to read all of the things I really shouldn't do that it's entirely possible I already have in mind. It's sure to be educational!

At this point, that's all we have done. Honestly, yesterday morning I would have told you we had gotten no where and had so much to do that it wasn't even funny. I wasn't sure how on earth we were going to manage to get everything accomplished. But just fitting in the few things we did yesterday? I already feel so much better and like life is going to continue on its merry way and everything will be wonderful.

It's amazing what getting a few things done can do for your stress level!

37 weeks, 2 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes

until Our Wedding