Wedding Update!

Planning a wedding is as stressful as it seems. I know that I've helped many of my friends plan theirs and been a part of their days. Just when I think I've got it all done and set in my head and under budget, a new curve ball comes whaling my way. We have made some good headway though...here's some updates on where we are at!

Dress/Bridesmaid dresses:
You can catch up on my dress adventure here. Needless to say, that part of the puzzle was short and sweet...and under budget to boot! As far as bridesmaid dresses, we've tackled that battle as well. J.Crew it is kiddies...silk taffeta collection to be exact and in the Spiced Wine color. So YAY to this!

Venue/Design/Colors:
I blogged about this a bit ago. Another piece of the puzzle taken care of. Only thing to do now is sit back and wait for my meetings in December/January for menus, flowers and cake and such!

Music:
Battle of all battles right now. If I had my way, we'd be having a Journey coverband. If Mike had it his way, we'd end up with a DJ or an iPod. We'll see who wins. So far the band I've contacted keeps cancelling or rescheduling our meetings...kinda frustrating. I've extended my search to other bands so we'll see where it goes. As far as a DJ, I'm pretty against them at my wedding, but who knows I may find one that isn't beyond cheesy and it'll work out. Only time will tell!

Photography:
Done and couldn't be happier with our decision. After much searching and blogging and thinking, we went with Scobey Photography! Can't wait to get started working and planning with Graham and Ashley on our special Day.

Engagement Party/Showers and such:
Our Engagement Party is set for August 28th...full on Football Tailgate theme (YAY!). Our gracious families are throwing us this shindig at my brothers pad fully equipped with kegs and bbq! Can't wait to get these parties started.

Registry:
Now talk about fun! Mike and I have had a really good time working on our registry! We've picked Williams Sonoma, Crate and Barrell, Macy's and Pottery Barn for our registry. We've tackled most of the main items and can't wait to see what we end up with! Kind of hard though to imagine what our soon to be "big kid house" will look like so hopefully we picked enough stuff out and the right "look".

Honeymoon:
Even more fun than the registry or anything else! Mike and I were undecided between Thailand and Hawaii for our honeymoon. After research and pricing out options...and finding out Thailand would cost us close to $16,000 just to get there first class...we decided to go with Hawaii. We'll be going for 11 days/10 nights and splitting our time between Oahu and Maui! We're super stoked about our honeymoon and can't wait to get to paradise!

So in a nutshell, we're moving right along. As of today, we're 326 days out. That's 326 days to finish planning and getting everything in gear by April 30, 2011!

Savannah on My Mind

My old boss and coworker, Maureen and Mike, got married this past weekend in Savannah, GA. It was a short and sweet ceremony in one of the squares and followed by dancing and food at Vic's on the River. Here's a photo recap of the weekend.

Oh Honey...Honeymoon That Is!

Mr. and Mrs. Morris (we'll call them G&I for short) have offered to give us a kick butt honeymoon of our choice, with only one stipulation...find a Marriott! The way it'll work out I think we'll go for 10 nights (11 days). I think we'll try to split our time in places if possible.

Mike and I originally wanted the 'over the water' bungalow type kind of honeymoon. Our first pick, Fiji. Needless to say well, Fiji didn't have what we needed...as in a Marriott.

Onward and upward we went to keep searching ...

Thailand was next on the list. We found an incredible Marriott resort in Phuket that would have suited our needs for a mere ten days. We met their criteria...only problem...it was going to cost close to $16,000 to get us there first class. Yes, first class. It is a freaking 27 hour plane ride and there is NO way I'd be doing that coach. Mike broke the news last night that Thailand was pretty much out of the question now that we know exactly how much it would cost.

So again, back to the drawing board ...

Hawaii is the next best bet I do believe. Mike came up with a killer plan of two Hawaiian locals that are to die for. One on Maui and the other Kaua'i. I think this might just be our best bet. The more I research the locations and find out that yes, there is indeed stuff to do in Hawaii, the more excited I get.

Stay tuned to find out what we picked. Either way, it's going to be awesome!!

Warrior State of Mind

So this weekend it might be inevitable that I end up in the hospital. I'm pretty much the most accident prone person I know and embarking on a 5k run with 11 obstacles, also known as WARRIOR DASH well, may not be the smartest idea. Hell, who said you have to be smart all the time?!

So indeed, I shall do Warrior Dash tomorrow in the lovely (I think) town of Mountain City, GA. About 30 of our friends are heading up towards the area and renting a cabin on Lake Burton. Tomorrow we will adorn ourselves in silly costumes and prepare ourselves for um, "battle" as they call it. This said battle includes a 5k run (about 3.2 miles) and then the obstacles below:

*Knee High Hell (through tires)
*Leap Frog (from one platform to another in water)
*Muddy Mayhem (through mud under barb wire)
*Warrior Roast (leap over fire)
*Junkyard Jam (jump over car)
*Warrior Wall (climb wall)
*Breathless Bog (crawl over logs in water)
*Cliffhanger (rappel down side of wall)

*Black Forest (no freaking idea!)
*Tunnel of Terror (crawl through big black tunnels)
*Cargo Climb (climb up cargo net)

God Help Me! I really am only doing it because I feel like I was peer pressured into it and well, because I want the viking helmet you get after finishing! Should be a totally good time. Here's to hoping that I don't have to visit the hospital this weekend and if I do, I hope it's for one damn good reason!

Check Photography Off the List!

We're only really responsible for a few big pieces of our wedding. Thankfully, where we are getting married handles about 85% of our items (ie: cake, flowers, design, food and alcohol)...the rest (ie: photography, music, invitations) is about all that is left. Well put a check mark to the left of photography because we finally decided on one!

I had set up five appointments in the Atlanta area with photographers that I found via recommendation or website/blog. I met with four and then questioned meeting with the fifth just because well, I was tired of asking the same questions and getting similar answers. I felt like they were all the same and didn't' know how to choose. I sure am happy I decided to meet with the fifth photographer that I booked appointments with cause well, we choose them!

Mike and I agreed on Scobey Photography! A husband and wife couple (Graham and Ashley) will be capturing our day. Not only are they awesome photographers with a great storytelling style...they're pretty cool to boot. Their website and photos from previous shoots won Mike over and helped sealed the deal on our decision. I knew that getting along with the photographer was important and when I left the meeting, Graham said "Even if you don't book with us, we should all get pizza sometime, you sound like the kind of people we want to hang out with!" That might have won me over before I even showed Mike their website/blog.

So Graham and Ashley, if you're reading this....I think we'll take you up on that pizza deal and good news, you get to hang out with us ALL day/night on April 30, 2011! Prepare yourself!

Friday Favorites: Favorite Fried Green Tomatoes!

My Friday Favorite is a little early this week!

You know you're from the South when you CRAVE Fried Green Tomatoes (FGT)! I mean I've been craving these bad boys for at least a week now...and NO, I'm not pregnant! If I'm out at a restaurant and the menu claims they have FGT, you best bet I'm ordering them! I do have a favorite and I'm very partial to the ones at JCT Kitchen. This place is awesome without the FGT, but lets be honest...it is so much better because they have them...and on a sandwich to boot! If you're not a tomato lover, cause I'm not, you have to give these things a try! In fact, I might have to go find some for lunch today!

What's your favorite fried food?

Coming Together Nicely...With a Pretty White Bow and All!

Most girls dream about their wedding day for some time before it actually happens. I'm one of those girls. I've been in love with these colors, flowers, design, music and venue type since I can remember. Thankfully, my fiance is in agreement on almost all of this! Here's a little glimpse of what our big day will look like!

After visiting a few locations for our wedding, we have decided to get married at Flint Hill. It is a gorgeous antebellum home built in 1835 with southern charm. Flint Hill is located in historic Norcross, GA, just minutes from Atlanta. Our ceremony will take place under the gorgeous cherry tree and lights out on the back patio and we'll bring it on inside for a night of dancing and fun!

As far as our color palette goes, we're going with a modern yet classy look with a 'spiced wine and kiwi' combination with slate grey accents. I love the thought of darker colors with a bright pop so this color combo will work perfect with my, I mean our, vision! So far it's been fairly painless to find stuff to fit this color palette!

Our design and 'theme' if you will is Fleur de Lis. I've always been a fan of this emblem and Mike has a tie back to New Orleans so it seemed to fit us to have this as part of the design. It's kind of ironic that our color palette screams Mardi Gras and so does our design, yet um, that wasn't what we were going for!

For flowers and band, well, you'll have to check back. I've got a few things up my sleeve! If all sticks to the plan, it's going to be nothing short of amazing!