Introducing...the Mrs.!!

So...I've been married almost a week now (our date was 9.10.11), and everything is awesome! I guess I should do a wedding recap, right? : )

Of course, everything did not go perfectly/as planned, but all in all, I was happy with everything, and most importantly, I was married at the end of the day!

I have to say I felt a little...weird all day. I mean, I didn't really feel like a bride at all until it was time for the actual ceremony, and I really didn't feel "bride-like" after that either lol. It was just a really surreal feeling all day, like I couldn't believe it was happening. And now that I'm married, things really don't feel that differently...

Anyhoo, I thought the venue was decorated beautifully (shout out to my aunt and her friend), my cupcake cake was amazing, and everyone looked fab! The wedding started about five minutes late (which was only because some guests were late), but like I said, everything was great...There were a few snafus: I did trip a little going up the stairs to get married, we ended early because most of the guests were older, some people were getting on my nerves, and Chris's car battery died before we left, so we had to wait around so he could get his car jumped off. But, like I said, it was fab, I didn't have to turn into Bridezilla (although I wanted to a couple of times) and I'm soooo happy that it's all over, and I'm married now!! : )

Anyhoo, here are a few pics (in no particular order; shout out to NakeshiaRenee Photography!):

** One more thing: I want to give a HUUUGE thanks to LaKesha Womack! She coordinated my wedding and helped keep me sane throughout the entire process. We definitely could not have done it without her! 

20 days to go!!!

OMG! I can't believe that I have less than three weeks until the BIG Day!! Y'all, I'm finally more excited than I am stressed, but believe me, I still have things to be stressed about lol....Let's see, Chris still doesn't know who his groomsmen are (I know...), and I haven't gotten a whole bunch of RSVPs (and the date to reply is this coming Saturday). But, I know everything will work out, so...yay!

I still have a few more things to do (of course, lol):

• Going to get decorations Tuesday.
• Have to figure out who's doing my bouquet, and get single flowers for the bridesmaids.
• Finish the programs, which probably won't be until the week of, unfortunately : (  But, I will have help, so yay!
• Get my bra, makeup and nail polish, which I plan to do this weekend.
• Have my Passion/bachelorette party/gathering this weekend.
• Make a list for the DJ and photographer.
• Have one more counseling session.
• Get ready for the honeymoon
• Make a day of schedule for everyone.
• And I almost forgot the most important thing...get the marriage license!! But, we're definitely doing that this week.

And oh yeah, we have an apartment! So, I will officially be a South Carolinian, although it's only about 30 minutes from where I live now. But I'm super excited because I was a little worried about finding somewhere to live lol...

Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully, I'll be able to do an update before 9.10.11, but we shall see...until next time...

It's getting closer...

So, today, I was on The Knot, and I saw that I only have 47 days left until the wedding! I started freaking out a little...I mean, it's really hard to believe that in about a month and a half, I'm going to have a new name, a new place and essentially a new life. I think it's really starting to hit me now that I'm. About. To. Be. Freaking. Married. I'm excited and nervous at the same time...

I'm excited because I get to spend the rest of my life with an amazing man...but I'm nervous because it's going to be completely and totally new. Like, we're going to be living together (I mean, I stay with him from time to time, but it's not the same), and I'm going to be a wife doing wifely things...that just seems almost weird...but I can't wait! : )

________

In other news, my aunt and cousin will be decorating our venue, and I think I found a florist. We also sent out invitations last week, so yay! In the next couple of weeks, I'll be purchasing decorations and my shoes that I haven't bought yet, and hopefully, I'll be getting a hair trial, too. I'm starting to get excited!! ^_^

P.S.- Here's a (not-so-great) pic of our invitation:

More Updates!

Wow, I haven't updated y'all in two months! So, so sorry...I have been super busy. Yes, the wedding is still on, in case you were wondering lol.

What's been going on:

I officially have five bridesmaids and one maid of honor. One did order hers in mid-June, and I'm praying that it comes back in time-- and fits. And they're starting to plan the bridal shower, so I'm super excited about that! Unfortunately, I still don't know who the groomsmen are...

I met with a florist who has grand ideas about decor...ideas that cost twice as much as the venue! {Yeah, I know...}. So, I've decided to ask her to just do the bouquets and boutonnieres and have my aunts to decorate.

I recently tried my dress on for the first time since I got it...and it's too big. : (  And I didn't lose weight. I'm hoping it's because I didn't have the slip on. So, I'm going to buy one, and see. *fingers crossed*

Oh yeah, we received the final version of our invitation, and we'll be sending them out next week...

So yay! I finally feel like I'm making progress, but I'm really just ready for it to all be over because I have been really stressed. And I'm just really ready for my life to get back to normal...and I'm ready to be married!! Lol!

Until next time...

May Updates

So...what have we gotten done since last time?

We finally had our cake tasting. Well, not "we" exactly; it was my mama, sister and me because Chris had to work. And although our cake baker left a ton of samples at my house, he still hasn't tasted them. So, I went ahead and decided on the ones that we would use. We're doing cupcakes for about 200 people, so I decided to do 25 cupcakes with each flavor, and he's cool with that. And I'm doing a groom's cake, which I'm very excited about!

I've also been looking at decor ideas and flowers (I'll post pics of what I have in mind in another post) and trying to figure out the whole DJ thing. And we received the almost final version of our invitation, so yay!

But, of course, there's something not going quite so well (isn't it always something?). It's the bridesmaids. To be honest, I don't even really know who's in the bridal party any more. There are supposed to be eight of them (including the maid of honor), and I know for sure that three bridesmaids have their dresses. Yes, just three. One is a maybe (haven't talked to her lately, and she lives out of town). The other four haven't ordered , and I'm kinda frustrated about it because 1) I asked them to be bridesmaids a loooong time ago (last year), and they could've saved money and/or declined (really, it wouldn't have hurt my feelings; 2) One of the people who hasn't ordered is my sister/maid of honor; 3) The wedding is in about three months, and since it's about to be summer (i.e., wedding season), if alterations are needed, there's a chance that they may not have enough time. But, I've decided not to dwell on it/worry about it. Whoever has their dresses and shoes will be in the wedding, and whoever doesn't, won't. At this point, it's as simple as that.

However, I do feel like it would be pointless for anyone to order theirs after the end of this month, so I'm going to tell them if they don't order it this weekend that they shouldn't worry about it. They can just be guests. But yeah, it's annoying because I already have enough pressure/stress dealing with other aspects of this wedding, so I really don't need this situation adding to it. Well, we shall see what happens with that...that's about all that's been going on...until next time...

Engagement Pics!

Last weekend, Chris and I finally took our engagement pics. Although I had a migraine, it was pretty fun, and I love how they turned out. And our photographer, Nakeshia, is awesome! Here are a few pics:

You can check out the rest here. : )

I'm back...

...in the planning mood-- woo hoo! As I told y'all last time, for the last couple of weeks, I have so not been in the mood to plan this wedding. I guess it was the fact that we didn't have a venue or photographer. Now we have both! I'm going to pay the deposit and sign the contract on Monday {although we did have to change the date to Sept. 10}. But, the good news is that we don't have to rent tables and chairs, so that's a huge burden lifted.

And we got a freelance photographer; she did my headshots last summer. So, now I'm kind of excited about the wedding since those two huge things are out of the way. I've also paid the deposit for my jewelry, and I'm getting a custom flower made by Flowers From Fatima.

Next on the agenda:

• Finally take engagement pics.
• Get the rest of the bridesmaids' dresses.
• Look for tablecloths, invitations, flower girl dresses, music, a DJ
• Start thinking of centerpiece ideas
• Resend the Save the Dates since our date has changed
• Start getting guests' addresses

I still have a lot to get done, but I'm feeling better since we have the major things squared away and the wedding is two weeks later. : )

Well, that's it...until next time...

A super delayed update

Hey y'all! So, I know this is waaaaaaay overdue. I aplogize. I have been swamped with everything-- wedding, work...life in general. Let's see; what's been going on...

Let me be honest with y'all: I have been extremely stressed. I mean, last week, I was basically at the IDGAF point-- seriously. It seems like nothing is/was going right {it's getting a little better}. As I mentioned before {I think}, I live in a small town, so there are not many venues to choose from. Since the last venue I wrote about didn't work out, we've been having to look for another. I think (God, I pray) that we've found the ONE. I should talk to the lady tomorrow, and everything should be squared away...and mom is paying-- thank God! We're having to cut the guest list down to 200, but it will be worth it.

We still don't have a photographer *ugh* If you've had a wedding, you probably know that wedding photogs are not cheap, and we are definitely on a budget. So...yeah. But I think (hope and pray) we'll have that squared away super soon...

We're going to be doing our cake tasting within the next few weeks which is awesome, and Chris went and checked on the tuxes and got prices...I'm also working on getting a flower made for my hair, figuring out invitations and decor, and the other bridesmaids will be ordering dresses at the end of this month...I'm sure I forgot something, but just know that I'll be plenty busy for the next four months...

Y'all just send me positive vibes and prayers so I don't pull my locs out lol!

More updates

I have sooo been neglecting this blog, but I'm happy to report that I've been getting things done! : )

We now have a caterer, menu, a cake baker, videographer, and we're close to choosing a photographer {hopefully...but it has been somewhat of a struggle}. Now, we're at less than six months away, and I'm getting a little anxious about everything. We still haven't confirmed our reception venue or our photographer; but, we should be taking care of the venue this week {fingers crossed}. Oh yeah, I forgot that I'm having custom jewelry made {shout out to Carrie of Carrie's Beaded Accessories!}, and one of my friends, Ian of Spontaneous Spark, is designing a logo for invitations. And shout out to my fabulous wedding coordinator, LaKesha Womack, for helping me stay sane!

Another thing we've been struggling with is the registry. We're still not done with that yet because we have to find 300+ things to put on there *le sigh.* Luckily, I found myregistry.com, and on there, you can make a place for people to give money toward your first home or honeymoon. Yay for that! So, now, we won't have to find 300 items to put on our registry, which is good because we have about 75 things on it now lol. My goal is to finish it completely this week...

Also, I'm very excited to say that two of the girls have their bridesmaids dresses! Six more to go; hopefully, that goes smoothly as well.

Ummm...I think that's it for now

Until next time...

Updates: The Dress!

So...I got my wedding dress a couple of weeks ago! Woo hoo! It was quite an interesting experience. It was super crowded being that it was a Saturday and this is 'busy season' since everyone got engaged over the holidays.

I only tried on four dresses because I had already figured out which ones I really liked and just wanted to narrow it down and pick one! I didn't want to be there all day {I'm not a fan of trying on clothes}, and thankfully, we were out in less than two hours.

So, I had a really hard time choosing between the first and last dresses and so did my crew, which consisted of my momma, sister and three besties. After I tried on the last one, I tried on the first one again. I swear to you, everyone in that store had something to say about it-- everyone was gushing over it and giving me their opinions, and to be honest, it was kind of weird. After much back and forth, I ended up choosing the first dress I tried on that day.

I ♥ it because it has the right amount of details for me, it fits me well, shows off the little bit of curves I do have, and it's comfortable. And, by the way, I didn't cry (not a crier) or squeal or anything like that; I did smile a lot though. What can I say? I'm a pretty laid-back person...

I first saw my dress online, but I didn't really ike how it looked on the screen. I decided to try it anyway because I loved the shape (mermaid), and I'm glad I did. Oh yeah, the wedding colors have been changed, too lol...the dress has gold accents, so I made my sister try on a gold bridesmaids dress. It really complimented what I had on, and it looked good with her skintone. Now, the colors are gold, hot pink/fuschia and burnt orange!

I'm happy that that part is out of the way, and now I can kind of figure everything else out. I'll be back soon because I really have to force myself to cut the guest list {for real, for real}. Until next time...

Fighting = True Love?

The other day, Chris and I were in the car, and I brought up how there's this Facebook page that essentially says couples who truly love each other argue/fight {verbally} a lot. I thought it was an interesting theory, and I wanted to know what he thought.

See, Chris and I hardly ever argue. In fact, by today's standards, they probably wouldn't even be considered arguments. I mean, we have our little spats about stupid stuff (like why he hasn't cleaned or something), and yeah, we might raise our voices, but we're not screaming at the top of our lungs, cussing each other out and fussing because he didn't call me back. Personally, I don't think arguing all the time is indicative of love. Yes, you'll have your disagreements from time to time, but I don't think fighting all the time in a relationship is healthy. I don't know though, I could be wrong. I like to think Chris and I are very much in love...

What do ya'll think?

Photo Credit

Updates- 2!

Happy New Year, ya'll! I can't believe I'm getting married this year!

Anyhoo, I haven't done a whole lot in the past month for the wedding mainly because I want to book vendors after I attend another bridal show that's closer to where I live. So, I plan to see what they have there, and then start booking people.

The venue: So, we got the price and capacity of the National Guard. The price is pretty reasonable, but the guy said it could realistically hold 200 people, and our guest list is considerably more. But, we now have another option that is less expensive and holds 300 people, so...we shall see how this plays out.

The dress: I made an appointment to purchase the gown near the end of this month {whoo-hoo!}; I'm definitely ready to get that part over with.

The bridal party: I've confirmed all the bridesmaids and the flower girl. Now, I have to figure out the number of hostesses and/or candle lighters. And Chris has to figure out the whole usher thing.

The dreaded guest list: We still haven't finalized the guest list *smh* Well, I kind of forgot to add some people, and they weren't people I could forget {they were family}, and we're still having some issues with cutting it. But, we have to figure it out ASAP because we're supposed to send save-the-dates next month!

Everything else: One of my goals is to spend at least two hours a week on wedding stuff so when August gets here, I won't turn into Bridezilla. And I have been researching ideas for reception decoration and centerpieces.

Well, that's about it for now...Until next time...