Our Special Valentine's Day

Mike and I have decided to write our own vows. We are excited to compose our own special words, but aren't quite sure to go about it. We were discussing options Sunday night. Mike was so cute, as were in between periods at the Blues game, googling "writing your own wedding vows." We had an awful connection, but hey, we were in Box seats....so we are not complaining!!! (Thanks Bobbi and Tina!) Anyway, we decided to put our search for ideas on hold to watch the blues WIN! We ended up having a half day today due to the weather. I decided as one of my gifts to my valentine (or valentimes, as my kids say), I would compile a list of questions to answer/tips for us to complete to help us write our vows. So, tomorrow night, that is what we will do for our valentine's night :) Mike doesn't get home from work until late, so we are having a special date night this weekend too. I am really excited to get started. I have a few ideas, thanks to Pinterest, of ways we can display our vows in our home after we share the special words with one another during our ceremony. Wish us luck!

What Can you do with your Hands?

One of the toughest decisions so far has been over paper. Such a simple, everyday thing we use....paper. Having a background in wedding world, I understand the effect a simple thing like paper can have on a wedding. Paper can make or break the details of a great wedding. Details are my specialty. Bobbi trained me to have an eye for detail. She taught me how not to photograph a piece of paper and how to create an artistic photo that captured the amazing things that paper can do. Such as give personality and character to a wedding, it alone can define what your wedding is, means, etc. We consulted with a few wonderful invitation, or as I call them wedding paper, companies. There was one set of ladies though that left me beyond impressed. And what I like best about them, they fit our wedding vendor "must have" criteria. They are real people that came and acted as themselves. They understand the industry and are confident in themselves. And they simply do outstanding work. They work to get it perfect for you. They listen and create and create and listen. And one more perk I love...they are sisters. I think they are perfect for us too because of that. They get family. I get family and working with family, as I work with Bobbi. So, who are they, you ask??? Clever Hands Press:  http://cleverhandspress.com/ These lovely ladies are artist! We have been working with them for almost a month and each convo we have, I get more excited about them and what they are creating for our big day. Thank you Caitlin and Cara for doing such amazing things with your hands, minds and hearts! You are a gift! Just one more vendor added to our list of exceptional people! Words cannot express how blessed we are!

Wedding Party Gifts

One of our favorite things to do together is go to the Cards game! We love sitting in the bleachers and cheering on our favorite team! We had decided early on that we wanted everyone that was closely involved in our wedding, to a game with us :) So, our tickets arrived last week.....all 40 of them. The day after our wedding day, we are taking our immediate families and wedding party to the Cards game to continue our wedding weekend. We could not be more excited!!!

Who is in Charge Here?!

Our 1st picture of 2012! Right after midnight!

Oh my! Who is in charge here? Surely, it's not me! I have not done a very good job of keeping up, sorry! 2012 is here and we can finally say we are getting married this year. I cannot believe it! So, what needs to be done still? The big things are taken care of and booked. We are on to the smaller things. Planning has been fun so far and not stressful at all! So far..... The toughest decision so far has been getting our invite list down. We are only have 140 guests and that leaves many friends we would love to have celebrating with us not invited. At the same time though, we wanted to have a wedding that was more intimate. Latest fun news we have to share is that we booked our honeymoon! We are leaving the Monday after our wedding and will be going to Secrets Resort in Punta Cana! We are so excited!!! Today, I got my passport in the mail and wanted to leave now!!

What Do You Mean There are Others?

In my eyes there is one. Only one person who can get the job done. And only one person that I have seen successfully do the job well and make it look easy. From my perspective, there are not others. Chris Johnson is the only one. There isn't anyone who can compete with him. He is the ulitmite DJ. There were no others to choose from, interview or inquire about. I knew Chris would be our Dj and be the one to bring life and personality to our reception. Mike has met him a few times and appreciates his genuine and realistic views. Once you see CJ DJ, game over for the others! Amanda at the Hyatt just witnessed his talented ways for the first time and was blown away! I cannot express our excitment to have Chris Djing our wedding! What can you expect? A full dance floor, great music, great leadership and no BS or hokey crap! We cannot wait, Chris Johnson!!

Where to Register?

Mike and I had a tough time choosing where to register. We also struggled with how many placed we wanted to register at or if we wanted to register on a website that had the option of registering at any stores via there site. We went with simple. We decided on one store, Crate and Barrel. We registered pretty early and I am glad we just went ahead and got that completed over the summer. Mike was really great in keeping my ADD under control when zapping our choices. It was so overwhelming for me! I didn't want to register for any high ticketed items and Mike was once again great, and explained we were going to register for anything and everything we want. Great advice! I am glad he was calm, cool and collected, because there were several workers and shoppers that kept laughing at my inability to focus. Poor Mike, "Baby, we are going to 1st get this area done and then we'll get over there. Once section at a time." He's so patient with my 6 year old tendencies! If I would have known that our registration experience would have been that memorable, I would have made an engagement session out of it!! We would have had some amazingly candid pics from our experience!

School Has Started.....Bride on Hold!

I have 21 new little love bugs that have taken all my attention by the end of the day, leaving zero attention to being a future bride. Last weekend I realized I have better get on it! I have chosen 5 bridal shops. I do not know, is that too many? Guess we'll see. I am slightly....many a little more than slightly.....ok, I am freaking out about trying on dresses! Me, a bride? No, I send brides down aisles. This is so crazy! I am getting less nervous and more excited each day I we get closer to dress shopping. I will be starting my search the end of October. The 5 I have chosen are: Demetrios, Clarice's Bridal, Simply Elegant, Ultimate Bride and Blushing Bride. Wish me luck!! I cant wait to share how it goes :)