our first Christmas

Was wonderful.

I am happily awaiting so many more.

He has been the best part of my whole year, and I am blessed to have someone so wonderful so crazy about me.

T-minus 3 months, some odd days. Looking so forward to sharing a life with this amazing man.

opening presents at Nana's. she loves him ;).

Flowers? Done :)

I picked out my flowers the other day. While they may not be exactly these options, these are the pictures and ides the florist is working on:

my bouquet:
My greenery will spread out like this, but not as far as the longest strands on this one. There will be no lavender, and my florist, Leonard, is going to attempt to put blue roses in mine~to match the bridesmaid's dresses.

My Bridesmaids' Bouquets:
i think theirs will be a bit smaller than this one, but this is the idea

The Men's Boutonniere's:
simple, understated, not frilly

Mother's and Grandmother's Corsages:
the picture wouldn't allow me to cut the single rose out. the one on the right is what I want

Cake Flowers:
To me a cake topper is a waste of money and is just something I have to put in a box somewhere; something I don't want to keep up with. My contract pays for my cake flowers, and this is what I want:
I'll have a white cake that is an offsquare shape and this is what I want to compliment it.

We don't need ceremony flowers because the place has 30,000 tulips in bloom in April and there's no need to decorate with what is already there.

I think with my contract I will only have to pay for 2 bridesmaid's bouquets, 1 minister's boutonniere, and 2 mother's corsages. Awesome.

Wedding Invites

I've had great success in planning most of the wedding.

The one thing I am having trouble on deciding is wedding invitations....

But these are some I really like:








Just a few that are my favorites. I love, love, love the photo invite, but I'll have to find some that fit my budget...

When we make a decision I'll post it.

To Have and To Hold~forever

I'm sitting here thinking of the my title words and how important they are.

He comes and sits next to me on the couch, and makes sure he is touching me in some small way. An arm, a leg, a finger~something that always lets me know he is right by me, and always will be. This is not something I have ever asked him to do~it's only one of many ways he lets me know he cares.

He does things I want to do~even if it's not his idea of a great time~just to spend time with me. Now he doesn't give up on something he wants to do or would be willing to compromise something he despises *which I have yet to find* and I would never ask him to do so. But if it's something he can tolerate and he can be with me~he's all in.

He wants to see the world with me, is in the process of helping me decorate for Christmas, picks up around the house, does anything and everything he can to keep me happy. It doesn't take much, and it's the little things that do it. I'm not difficult.

In return, I of course do the same for him. I thank him on a regular basis for being so wonderful, to which he replies I make it easy for him. I try to remind him constantly how he is loved and appreciated *and he does me*, and he knows it, but I still feel all the words in the world cannot remind him enough.

It's nice to come home at the end of the day and just be together.

We're in the process of premarital counseling, and it's going well. We just finished a 3 page questionnaire about big life things that should be discussed prior to getting married. We filled it out separately the talked about it, and we are on the same page with all of it. Awesome.

I know that all couples say "yes we're getting married and it's forever and ever," but not all couples MEAN it. Does that make sense? WAAAAAYYYYY too many couples go in thinking "we can always get divorced." And most do.

We're not that couple. We're going in thinking "This is going to last 70 years and divorce is not an option. This is going to last 70 years and be a lot of fun and hard work, with lots of love, understanding, and communication required."

I think that's where we have an advantage.

149 days. Not that I'm counting. :)

To have and to hold~forever~is a long time. It's also an incredible thought. And an awesome thing I have to look forward to.

First we marry, then we party. And here's where!

The Location:

Crescent Bend, Knoxville, TN ~ not the most impressive listing, but it really is beautiful.

I had seen the house and the tents behind many times from the road but never knew what existed behind it or under them. One day in July, I just stopped in and found out.

I met our now wedding coordinator, Judy, and she sent me outside to the gardens to look around while she met with another weddng party, then she came to find me when she was finished.

We talked a bit about renting the property and when I heard "$6900 to rent on a weekend and all that includes is tables and chairs" I started to politely rise from my chair with a very nice "Thank you buh bye." She saw my discomfort and added quickly "But we do have this all inclusive option for this price." I sat down and had her proceed to explain, because the price is AWESOME. We get our food, our flowers, our cake, a parking attendant, our photography, absolutely everything for one price. Nobody else could come close to offering us this kind of deal.










Cermony site, set up for a wedding. The fountains are off until you are pronounced, then they turn them on. Cute!

The only catch is that we have to get married on a weeknight, Mon-Thurs., to get this pricing.

I came home and talked to the fabulous man that I get to call mine, and he responded with "I don't care when we get married, if it's on a Wednesday or a Saturday or whenever. I get to marry you, and the end result is the same." He's great :)

I took him to see the place a few weeks later, and on October 1 we went over and booked it.



Our wedding is on a Monday night, and that is perfectly ok.

We love this location. No rain is high on our wish list, but if it does the tents can provide shelter and a slightly different plan. Hopefully, it will be sunny and nice. Firsr we'll marry, then we'll party with our friends and family. Should prove to be the best night ever!

cute us

a totally cute pic of us our good friend Tamekia took last weekend.

thought i should show you the boy up close.

don't we look happy??

and he's going to marry me. i've warned him about what he may be getting himself into and he's all for it. he's amused by my antics.

:)

Dresses and Things

I met him, and five minutes later I could see the wedding in my head.

We started dating in March. By April, I had dresses picked out. In May, he asked me about getting married and in June, he proposed. I told him in May all the funny wedding things I had planned in my head from the minute I met him.

We even looked at a venue prior to getting engaged. Once it was official, I really got to start planning!

We have almost everything ready to go, and could probably do this tomorrow. However, that is too soon so April 19, 2010 it is.

And in my first wedding post, I'll show you my dress, my bridesmaids dresses, my shoes, and my ring. They're fabulous.

#1) My Dress ~ and it's perfect

I love it. It's not big and puffy, or an over~frosted~cupcake looking dress, because I am not Cinderella and I want to be able to move. It's chiffon and satin, straight down and flowy. The best part? It was clearanced because Alfred Angelo was about to discontinue it. Woot woot!

And it looks much better on me than on the model. It definitely wasn't the first pick but it was the best fitting and the one I fell in love with.

2) The Bridesmaids
They picked their own dresses, so if they don't like them it is all on them! I let them do whatever they wanted, so as long as it was chiffon or satin and I liked it. They are a very nice shade of blue and each bridesmaid is happy with her purchase:
*Maid of Honor dress


*Two bridesmaids picked this one:




*And the other two:


Each girl got what was right for her, and that makes me happy. I am so going to be a stress~free non~bridezilla!

#3) My shoes.
I really wanted something different. I really wanted blue shoes with sparkly jewels. I would post those but cannot find a pic anywhere. However, due to my sister rolling her eyes and commanding I have white shoes, this is the pair that made the cut:

I can do amazing things in heels. I'm hoping my abilities do not fail me on that fabulous day as I walk down many stairs to meet my groom!

4) The Ring:
We had my ring custom made, out of diamonds from a ring my Nana gave us. A man named Rick Terry in Lenoir City, TN came highly recommended from friends of mine. So we went to see him, he laid out several designs with my diamonds, and we picked one. I waited entirely too long on him to make it (he told me two weeks and it took six, and that is after three phone calls and a trip down to the store to demand it be finished), but he's as good as *lucky him* he thinks he is and it turned out simply elegant and beautiful.


That second pic is one of my absolute favorites. It is framed and sitting my living room.


I have yet to pick out jewelry but don't want anything too ornate or frilly. I'll post it when I get that done.

I will not have a veil because the wedding is outside and I do not want it blowing around everywhere. I also will not wear a tiara simply because everyone wears a tiara and has the same hairstyle. I think my hairstyle will go something similar to this:

Some rendition of this with a flower of some sort.


I have friends who can't believe I'm actually getting married. I was that girl who was not going to, solidly independent living on my own and happy that way. And now I'm the girl who is still solidly independent but is thrilled to have someone waiting on me when I come home to welcome me back with open arms.

April 19, 201o cannot get here soon enough.