Smile for the camera!

Today, we had an A-M-A-Zing photo shoot with my MOH D-Dubs for our engagement session. We have been engaged for over 18 months, so this isn't our first session. My MOH took photos of us back in October at our high school and they were great. After our first e-pic session, we had some problems and postponed the wedding. After we postponed our big day, our vision for everything really changed and the first set of photos just weren't what we had hoped. In addition, MOH D-Dubs started her own photography business. Don't get me wrong, she has amazing talent, but after starting her business she had the great camera to showcase it (fyi: for our first shoot we used a simple point and shoot digital camera). A date was set for our shoot and we moved our photos from the high school to a local downtown square with an amazing vintage feel. We played dress up and headed on down and had a BLAST! We really enjoyed our time with MOH and are so excited for the photos. I know, enough teasing---while we just took photos today, I will at least leave you with a little teaser preview!

Photo Courtesy of Perez Manuel Photography

Going shopping and not paying a dime!

Yep, that's what we did! That is to say---we registered for the wedding. We had been thinking about registering pretty much since the Mr. popped the question (well, at least I had been), and the checklists and our wedding planner finally said it was time! I was super excited and was pretty surprised when the Mr. was excited too! Shopping isn't really his thing, but I really think he just wanted to hold the scanner! That's right, I let him do it all---I never even scanned one item. :)

We knew from the very beginning that we would be registering with Bed, Bath and Beyond. It's easy, has a lot of different choices in a variety of price ranges that I'm sure our guests will like, and it's centrally located! Having wanted to do this from day one, you know I had a trusty spreadsheet in my Google Docs with a list of items we wanted to get. We've been making this list for over a year and it was really helpful. As time went on, things we owned would wear out, disappear, or break into pieces....the most common conversation in our house had turned into:

The Mr: "Hey babe, I think we need a new (insert common kitchen item here)."

Me: "Ok, we'll register for one. I'll add it to the list."

So, before we headed over to BBB, I printed off the list and we discussed our design options. It was surprisingly easy to register. We got assistance as soon as we walked in the door and just filled out a little paperwork and were on our way. I think the consultant there thought we were crazy. She gave us a little lecture about registering too early and how most items could go out of season. I know, we are nine months out from the wedding, but if The Knot tells me to do, then I'm gonna! I'd say we were there for about 2 hours and basically only got through the majority of the kitchen section. It took a while to decide on items and find the specific ones on my list. But, we had a BLAST! It was so fun...I wish I could show you, but I'm a bad blogger and didn't take any pics. We left the store after 2 hours, simply because they were closing for the night, and ended up with around 120 items on our list. Not too shabby! The plan is to go back sometime soon and finish up the list and keep checking online (you know, just in case crazy consultant was right and our ENTIRE registry is no longer available when the wedding rolls around!).

Having BBB on board is great, but we really felt like we needed to add another store to make it easier for our guests. We debated for weeks, maybe even months, and still weren't sure which one to choose: JC Penney, Macy's, Walmart, Target, Kohl's, Dillards or Sears! Way too many choices! After consulting with some fellow bride-friends, Target and Walmart were out for poor customer service and infrequent updating resulting in multiples of many, many items. Then, we just chose at random, since they were all great choices. Where did we end up? Kohls. We haven't actually made it there yet, but we will! I did register online and start our gift list. Maybe when we go to Kohl's I'll be good and take a pic for you!

Did you have a blast registering for gifts? Did you register at several locations?

Did I mention I'm a bad blogger?

Well, I am. I want to blog...I need to blog....but my life has been crazy and I've had NO time to blog! While I've just gotten off work after a long 12-hour shift and need to get to bed, I did want to drop by and let everyone know I'm still around! Today is a new day----the start of a new plan. My goals are as follows:

1. I'm starting Weight Watchers today...and a friend at work is gonna be my WW buddy! My plan is to lose at least enough weight to fit into my wedding dress. You know, the one I bought over a year and half ago. It fit a little loose when I bought it, and now it is difficult to zip me into the darned thing. So, I'm going to do my best to get that thing on...plus some. It would be nice, and probably much appreciated by my ever growing rear end, if I lost enough weight to have to exchange the dress for a smaller size! Enough rambling---step 1, lose weight!

2. Blog regularly. I know, I know...easier said than done. I went to a church camp in Arkansas once (many moons ago) where they taught us the secret of forming good habits. While, I think they were talking about reading the Bible...I decided to use it in other areas of life. The secret is this: if you do something every single day for 30 days, it's a habit! After that, you won't even have to think about it anymore! So, hopefully I'm not going to put my foot in my mouth, but my intention is to blog EVERY day! My main goal---I totally am dying (yes, DYING!) to be on Weddingbee! Plus, I just love the community you feel when reading other people's blogs and hope that someone will read mine!

That's the plan! Plus, I have so many things to show you. I've had a bridesmaids gathering, bought way tooooooo much stuff and designed a few things. We've also registered and are taking our engagement pics this weekend. So, there is lots to talk about---stay tuned!

Taking the plunge!

...before the wedding day! Oh, don't worry...we'll still take a plunge that day too into marital bliss. Recently, I took the plunge and hired a wedding planner. I had been throwing around the idea of hiring a DOC (day-of-coordinator) for awhile, but was still hesitant with paying the price. My mom recommended a friend of hers to serve this roll. While I did feel she would do a good job, it occurred to me that she may aim more to please my mother rather than myself. So, I continued to search for a professional that wouldn't break my bank. MOH D-dubs suggested I hire her friend Jacque of Designs by Jacquelyn. Jacque has been helping out with weddings for ages and loves it; she just recently decided to start her own business as a wedding planner. Jacque and I had a meeting and had a blast talking wedding for hours. I knew right away that I wanted to hire her, so we had a few emails back and forth to discuss price. Jacque's prices are very reasonable and on top of that, she's a friendor and has offered us a discounted rate. I'm so excited to have Jacque at my fingertips for all my wedding needs. For the most part, she'll be serving as a DOC, but we've added a few more services to our package.

Did anyone else take the plunge and hire a wedding planner? Did you have a hard time making this decision?

"Don't you think you should quit adding on more projects?"

"I don't want you to get burnt out!" That's what my fiance is constantly saying to me. I love a good craft project. So, anything DIY that jumps out at me automatically ends up on the list of to-do items for our wedding. I tend to think of it like this: There is more than a year until our wedding, alot of these projects can be done now and stored away for the wedding, and I have lots of friends and family that are willing to help me get these things accomplished in time. He thinks of it more along the lines of this: OMG she added something else, I know she's too OCD to let anyone help her do this, and I'm going to hate my life when she is stressed to the max with so much to do. God bless him for caring...but I really think it will be fine. The most recent addition: DIY Coasters. I know what you are thinking....do I really need these? Well, the answer is no. But, I do really want them and I think it is a simple task to complete. I did a little research online and found a great tutorial via Miss Fondue on Weddingbee. She came up with these:

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Pretty simple, and I don't think it will take me long to accomplish this task. I plan to do something a little different with design, probably along the lines of a bird or birdhouse stamp and maybe a quick little quote or our monogram. I thought it might be a good idea to practice, just in case I found it was too time intensive to accomplish this. However, that was a testing fail---I could NOT find these chipboard coasters at any craft or party store around here. Bummer. So, I took the plunge. I found a sale on e-bay that ended about 1 hour later, so I just up and bought them. In just a few days, 200 4"x4" white chipboard coasters will make their way to my house and for only $15 plus shipping. I don't think that's a bad deal and I can't wait to try them out.

Do you have any projects that you don't really need, but want, to have? Does your fiance try to talk you out of adding projects?

The List

I need a to-do list. I have tried to make one several times. I still do NOT have a to-do list! Of course, I could always use the generic one-year wedding planning timeline from (insert given wedding website here). But, that wouldn't really go with my wedding now would it. Not to mention, my life is somehow better when I make a list. I know, I'm crazy! I love post-its and list making and checking off the boxes to look like I've accomplished something. So, if I love it so much, why can't I do a checklist for the wedding? I feel like it is such a daunting task. With a little over a year to go until the wedding, there is plenty of time to accomplish everything. However, there is soooo much to accomplish that I am finding it extremely difficult to put into a list format. Any advice out there ladies? Help me make my list!!!!

Leftovers?

I have a slight problem: My shirt and cleavage are a cavern for food. It's like I'm saving leftovers for later. We never last 5 minutes into a meal before I drop something on my shirt and ruin it. Nearly everything I own has a grease stain of some sort right smack dab between my ladies. (Sorry, that might be a little TMI.) Why does this cause a problem for our wedding? We have decided to have a barbecue feast! Am I crazy, you ask? Barbecue? White dress? AHHH!!! I know, right?! So, a good friend of mine from work has been enlisited to make us: wedding bibs! I know, we aren't babies, but these can be really cute.

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I'm not sure what ours will look like quite yet, but we'll be wearing them to avoid any barbecue sauce drippings. Did you make a plan to limit spills at your wedding?