Wedding Party Invitations

I am so excited to be sharing my wedding party invitations now that all the girls have received them and have accepted!  It was really hard to keep this a secret until they had received them!  This was a project that I started working on before Christmas and one that I was so excited about!  I knew I wanted to do something special, unique, and truly "girly."  I dreamed up the idea of having bridesmaid dress shaped cookies customly made for my girls.  Of course I had to ask the girls to be part of the wedding somehow along with the cookie, so during one of Mommy's many visits to Atlanta so far, we spent one Sunday afternoon at Paper Affair (a fabulous stationary store that I could do some serious damage in!).  We knew our customized wording for each girl and picked out some sagey green scalloped card stock to have each poem printed on.  The wording was as follows (using the MOH version as the example here):

We thankfully had a very patient and creative store associate who donated much of her time to get the wording, alignment, detail, and printing just right for us!

Paper Affair

So once the individual customized cards were printed for my sister, my maid of honor, the seven bridesmaids, two program attendees, and two brides book attendees we were ready to rock and roll with the cookie portion of the invitation!  In late December I had been in communication with a baker on Etsy who customized cookies.  I was able to convey my vision for the cookies (pearlized dress color with gold pattern on top and gold pearls) and in turn she was able to execute my vision quite perfectly!  I was so thrilled to see the finished product! I asked her to attach each girl's individualized poem invitation to the cookie with gold ribbon.  Most girls received their invitations late last week. 

It was such a wonderful feeling to receive the many phone calls, text messages and acceptances over the weekend!  I am so excited to have my closest girls by my side on my special day!  I also heard the cookies were quite delicious as well:)

Here is the rundown for my bridal party:

Jenna Rentz- sister and maid of honor

Amrita Ford- best friend and bridesmaid
Whitney Smith- high school friend and bridesmaid
Kittery Neale- high school friend and bridesmaid
Caitlin Ellery- sorority sister and bridesmaid
Tiffany Fogg- cousin and bridesmaid
Maggie Rentz- cousin and bridesmaid
Mary Shiver- cousin and bridesmaid

Courtney Engelke- childhood friend and program attendee
Whitney Engelke- childhood friend and program attendee

Amanda Rickles- sorority sister and brides book attendee
Suzanna Willis- sorority sister and brides book attendee

And the beat goes on...

Things are progressing slowly but surely in our wedding world.  Unfortunately, we cannot book our reception site until a year out, so we are patiently waiting for that time to come so we can move full steam ahead with plans.  Right now, I am enjoying having a little time to read all my bride magazines, research photographers, and dream about the honeymoon.  This timing actually works out perfectly with Kevin's schedule as he is knee deep in tax preparation until April 18th.  The long hours and weekends have started.  This past weekend left me with idle time on my hands which is something I haven't experienced in a very long time! I went to the gym, relaxed on the porch with my magazines, and talked to a wedding photographer.  We also went to go see the movie "Just Go With It" and now are considering Hawaii as an option for the honeymoon! It was so gorgeous!  A very funny movie...it was just what we needed for our date night after focusing on the wedding 24/7! 

We also used a Groupon this past weekend that my best friend Amrita had given me for my birthday to a delicious sushi and noodle house in Buckhead called Genki.  They had live music and amazing food.  Kevin doesn't care for sushi like I do, so he ordered an outrageously delicious brown rice bowl.  It was a great date and made me appreciate living in Atlanta around so much culture.  On Sunday we played a round of putt putt golf with sorority sister, Caitlin, and her boyfriend Chris.  We also did a little residential neighborhood looking for that glorious day when we can move in together!  Even though I have a 25-30 minute commute to work everyday, we both feel strongly about our desire to remain in the Vinings area, where I currently live.  It fits our lifestyle very well and is so close to Buckhead.  Kevin and I love house looking, so much more to come on this subject!

Two are Better than One...

Kevin and I have been taking a marriage course at our Methodist church for the past three weeks in February and it is about to wrap up next Wednesday night.  I am honestly sad to see it end as I have really enjoyed meeting the other couples (approximately 12 other couples in the class) and hearing how closely all of our paths have aligned during our engagement periods!  The first night, the minister made all the guys go around the room and tell the story of how each couple met.  Then, the second week, the girls had to tell the stories of how the boys proposed.  It was so funny to hear the girls version of the stories and watch the boys want to chime in and correct some of the details that they thought were more important! 


This week's class was particularly entertaining as we all played an improv game.  Basically the rules of the game were that you had to make up a weird juxtaposed word, say it to the person to your right, and then that person would in turn have to define it on the spot.  The great thing about this game was that there were no wrong answers.  Anything goes!  Kevin gave me some iteration of the word "Laegren" ...my response was "a color from the Martha Stewart Color Collection between a turquoise and a lime green." 

Then I turned to my right and gave the word, "pickletoe."  It was really fun to hear what everyone came up with or rather struggled to come up with! The point of the game was show that sometimes, marriage isn't easy, just like the game, but you have to be there rooting for your team mate and get through it together! And if all else fails, just make it up and go with it!

Our homework assignment for this week's class was to bring in some scripture readings that we were considering having read at our wedding.  Kevin and I haven't nailed down our definite choices quite yet, but we have a pretty good idea.  Our minister said that he used to write love letters to his girlfriend at the time, current wife now, Leslie using paraphrasing from Ecclesiastes 4.  This particular verse struck a chord with me because Kevin is always there for me and picks me up joyfully when I need a hand!  I also like the interpretation of the three strands which are not broken.  I believe Kevin and I are well on our way to building a Sacred Marriage and I have so enjoyed this course and the people we have met along the way!


Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4

Somos Novios

This past weekend was quite a trip! I think Kevin and I have finally wrapped up our "on the road tour 2011" (at least for the next two months while he is in tax season!)  Sorry for being so absent the past two weeks (Caroline Inge-my personal apologies to you! I was reminded by Caroline that I was being a bad blogger via her facebook post!) We have just been living life at warp speed!

Last Friday we traveled to the Atlanta airport to pick up my sister and then drive home to Gainesville, Florida.  We arrived around 10:30pm to a lovely Valentine's day dinner buffet prepared by my parents.  Highlights included chocolate dipped strawberries and a latin favorite, Picadillo.  Unforutnately, we had to delay our visit to Miami as my grandfather was in the hospital and had to have an operation on Saturday at 8am.  We decided to stay close to Gainesville over the weekend visiting Papa in the hospital each day and to leave for the concert on Monday morning.  We had a really nice visit in Gainesville.  On Saturday night Kevin and I located Father of the Bride at Best Buy and we all watched the DVD (15th Anniversary Special Edition) together.  Even though we have all seen the movie before, it was a real treat to watch it since we are actually going through the process now!

Sunday was also a special day as my mother, sister and I got to play with my Mom's wedding dress! It was the first time it had been opened since her wedding day.  It was the most fun we have had yet during the engagment period! I loved looking at the dress and imagining what her wedding day was like!

Monday morning I worked from 7-9am and then we were off to Fort Lauderdale for the Bocelli concert (Sunrise to be exact).  The concert was at 7:30pm so we were on a schedule to get down there.  We had a lovely Valentine's day dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse.  None of us had ever been to one before and were very intrigued by the process of bringing meat around on skewers.  It was very entertaining.  We rode together in my mother's car as the concert had a complimentary Lexus parking lot.  We were so impressed when we drove up to the concert and got front row parking! 

Valentine's Day Dinner at Brazaviva Steakhouse!



Andrea Bocelli was magnificent! He literally took my breath away! It was a chance of a lifetime to be able to see him live on Valentine's Day!

 We had great seats and could see the entire orchestra.  My best friend Amrita attended his concert in Boston back in the fall and filled me in on all the highlights.  She was right when she said how amazed I would be! He sang all my favorites, Somos Novios, The Prayer, Granada, Time to Say Goodbye etc.

It was definitely an experience I will never forget! Thank you to my sister for such an incredible Christmas present!

Our family outside the Bank Atlantic Center, Sunrise FL

Tuesday morning bright and early, we jumped back in the car and drove home to Gainesville, grabbed a quick bite of lunch and stopped by the hospital to tell Papa goodbye.  Then it was back on the road again for five more hours.  Kevin and I got back to Atlanta last night after a long but fun filled weekend! 

The wedding plans are coming along.  My mother visited the first weekend in Feburary and we finalized a few things.  I can confirm that the wedding will be held here in Atlanta at our church and reception will follow!  I will wait to share the reception location until it's contracted!  I will post my mother's visit re-cap later this week- just wanted to share the Bocelli highlights first from Valentine's Day!  Thank you to all who sent such sweet thoughts about my grandfather and our travels. 

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

My goodness...We are already in February! Cannot believe how quickly January came and went (so glad I have a little over a year till the wedding because January felt like I was in warp speed!)  Kevin and I traveled every single weekend!  This weekend and next will be the last one's I will have Kevin fully available to do wedding "stuff" until tax season is over on April 18th this year.  So we are definitely trying to make the most of our weekends.

Well, I didn't meet my own deadline of the end of January for deciding when and where the wedding will be.  However, reinforcements are on their way! Mommy (and possibly my sister) will be here on Friday to narrow down two different reception venues.  We are really excited to put this big decision behind us which will help shape the over all feel of the wedding.  I will be so excited when I can officially announce our choice to all of you!

Next weekend, over Valentine's Day, Kevin and I will be travling to Florida for a Christmas present my sister gave to our entire family...tickets to see Andrea Bocelli in concert!  We will be spending the first two nights in Miami (Kevin's first trip!).  Since our family is orginally from Miami and all my mother's close friends still live there, we thought this was a great excuse to introduce Kevin to everyone!  We are really looking forward to this special Valentine's day treat and seeing all our dear friends!