Happy Anniversary!

Kevin and I are off on our honeymoon- but wanted to send a special shout out to the people who made our dream wedding possible yesterday.  My parents wedding anniversary is today and it will mark 33 years of marriage for them! We love you for showing us how to build such a strong marriage and support each other throughout those 33 years.  We hope you enjoy your restful vacation after the wedding and know how much you mean to us, each and every day! We are so glad we can share the start of something wonderful just a day apart!

Happiest day of my Life!

Today marks the Happiest day of my life!

"Wedding day"

I get to marry my best friend- the man who I have dated for over 6 years.  We get to formalize our love and devotion to one another in front of all our friends and family today.  We are so lucky to have found each other!  Many thanks to all of you who have gone along for the ride with us! We love you!

Mani/Pedi Day

Today is wedding spa day.  Such a funny routine brides do, to become transformed for the big day. We have mani's, pedi's and glow tan's on the agenda throughout the day.  Hopefully it will be a relaxing time, free of any last minute wedding issues! I am looking forward to spending the day with my Momma and Sissy as we get beautified! 2 more days!!!

I can breathe now...

Chocolate Fix

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of learning how to hand make chocolates for our wedding hospitality boxes.  My boss at work, Lia, kindly volunteered to show me how to make chocolates for these boxes after I told her my idea a while ago.  She used to teach cake decorating and candy making at Michael's prior to having her sweet little 9 month old.  She uses this kind of stuff as an outlet and invited Jenna and me over to spend a few hours hand making chocolates for the wedding! 

The prep area

It was so much fun and was shockingly easier than one would expect.  We had ordered the chocolate melts last week, and she showed up how to melt chocolate in a double boiler.  It was super easy and we got to play with Antonio, her little guy during the entire process.  I had purchased molds and we started off with dark chocolate first, then moved onto coloring white chocolate with the colors of the wedding! We even got to flavor one of the chocolate colors.

We ended up making about 80 + bags of chocolates of varying colors.  They are so yummy tasting.  I sampled one- but that will be the last chocolate until the wedding day! What a fun, memorable project! Thank you to Jenna for helping and Lia for teaching!

One last snapshot of sweet Lia's son- Antonio playing with his Daddy's golf club!

Easter Weekend!

Catching up on a few posts prior to the wedding madness! It's crunch time around here! 

We had a lovely Easter weekend last weekend that will be remembered as the most "productive" one ever.  I had Mom and Dad visiting aka "helping" all weekend long while Kevin managed to work all day Saturday and spend time with the family on Sunday.  It was a very non-traditional Easter because of the wedding this year.  We had a great final floral meeting with the event designer on Friday afternoon.  We adore Chris Macksey from Bold American Events here in Atlanta.  What a nice guy! He is my wedding angel.  

Then on Saturday, we spent the entire day assembling the hospitality boxes for our guest's hotel rooms! It turned out to be quite an intense project.  I started the day on Saturday morning at 8:00am hearing my mother already up cutting ribbons for the various projects that we were to work on throughout the day.  She doesn't stop- and I am so grateful of that! I put together a quick little Easter lunch for the family consisting of Honeybaked Ham, Aunt Trudy's Potato Salad, and Deviled Eggs.  It was just the right mix to give us a little Easter during our non-traditional weekend! Needless to say, we had some very TIRED doggies on Saturday afternoon!

Chelsea- my sweet baby doggie helping with wedding projects!

Then on Sunday, we went to church and celebrated with brunch. The music was spectacular as well were the flowers.  We were all most impressed with the giant floral cross outside the church.  It was quite a site and particularly busy after each of the four services ended.  Mom and I decided that the best time to get married would have been Easter weekend, since the flowers are in pristine condition!

Kevin, Andra and Jenna after Easter Sunday Service

A Numbers Story...

Days until the wedding: 30

Days until we leave for our European honeymoon: 31

# of people left to respond: around 20

Days until I see the final floral mock up: 11

Days until my final dress fitting: 14

Days until tax season is over: 21

It's getting down to the wire now that we have passed the 1 month countdown.  I don't really see Kevin at all anymore as he is working around the clock.  We do have one last shower tomorrow night being given to us by his office at GH&I, so I am looking forward to getting in an hour or so of his presence as well as meeting his coworkers!

It's such a weird feeling to be this close! It's finally here after all the planning, consulting, organizing, and preparing!  My Momma is the one who is  keeping it all together- she has been working non-stop on this event, and I am so grateful she has been with me every step of the way!

Baby Norah and Luck of the Irish

We had such a great time last weekend- Kevin and I took a little break from wedding planning and tax season work to drive to Greenville, South Carolina to visit the newest addition to the Golden family- Baby Norah! Norah is Christopher and Katy's new daughter.  She was such a sweet, angelic baby and we were thrilled to spend a few hours with her.  We also got to see Christopher and Katy's new home.  It was quite lovely and we are excited for them to have such a gorgeous baby to share it with.  

It was St. Patrick's Day, so Kevin and I were both donning our luck of the Irish! We left their house around 6ish and grabbed some dinner at Chili's in Anderson, SC.  They were really into the green theme and dyed our drinks green!

Ribbon & Paper Products

Never did I really realize how many paper products and how much ribbon tying goes into a wedding! We have been up to our ears in paper products....from the programs at the church, to the wedding welcome packets for the hospitality boxes, to the menus for the seated dinner, to the thank you notes (which I am already behind on!).  There is just so much paper and of course, since I am Suzanne Rentz's daughter, all paper items need some sort of ribbon to accessorize them!  We spent an entire Saturday tying gorgeous ribbons on a wedding item.  They turned out beautifully, so it was time well spent!  Loved every minute of it! It's these moments your personal wedding style can really shine!

Honeymoon Plans

So... things, lately, couldn't be more crazy and chaotic.  The thought of the honeymoon is really what is getting me out of bed in the mornings after I stay up until midnight most nights obcessing over wedding details!  Today, Kevin and I completed the final details of our honeymoon selections- the restaurants on board our cruise ship! We are so very excited that we will be cruising in the Mediterranean in exactly 44 days from now.  We have opted for a steak house, a French restaurant, and a hibachi grill on board- however there are special entertainment selections as well.  We are doing a murder mystery lunch on board the ship on our day at sea.

I am most excited about our trip to a place I have never been before, Cinque Terre.  There is a story to this town, a place called Lover's Lane that we will walk down.  If you leave a padlock on a particular area in Lover's Lane you will have everlasting love.  Kinda cool on our honeymoon right?!

Joe's Stonecrabs!

For Daddy's early Birthday present (his Birthday isn't till March 8th!) Kevin, Jenna and I went in on treating the entire family to Joe's stonecrabs in Miami when we were down there the weekend of our couples shower.  We had the most amazing meal of stonecrabs, hash browns, and spinach- and how can I forget- Key Lime Pie:)


We flew into Miami Friday morning and before we knew it, we were in route to meet Mom and Dad for a delectable lunch at Joe's stone crabs.  We ADORE stone crabs so it was a real treat to be able to eat them and celebrate Daddy's birthday! 

We definitely want to make this yearly tradition! We love you Daddy and wish you a fabulous 55th!

Peachtree Road United Methodist Church

The church Kevin and I have selected to get married in is a very important part of our lives! We really fell in love with Peachtree Road United Methodist (PRUMC).  Kevin is from a Baptist background and I am from an Episcopal background, so picking somewhere in the middle of our two backgrounds was super important to us! 


We have now completed our marriage counseling with our minister and feel very good about how the ceremony will go.  My mother and I met with the wedding coordinator at the church last week and organized the way in which the bridal party will walk, and music selections.  


I am really looking forward to our ceremony and hope it goes as planned, and that I don't trip down the aisle!

Main window above the alter

During a Christmas program at church

The Invitations are in the MAIL!!!

Wow! We seriously cannot believe the wedding invitations have been mailed! It has been a long time coming and I am so grateful that I got to help my mom and dad stuff and stamp the invites! They are absolutely stunning and just what I wanted! I hope everyone loves them as much as I do! The calligraphy was a fun selection and it was executed really well- with hardly any issues!  It's like the night before Christmas when you have butterflies in your stomach! I am just so thrilled that everyone will be getting a special treat in their mail boxes!



Looking rough- I know, it was about 11pm!



Wedding Shoes

My mother is pure genius! We have been on the hunt for wedding shoes of a particular height since day 1 when I got engaged.  I don't like to wear high heels for extended periods of time, and I also am adamantly against being the same height as Kevin.  I really like my head tucking under his chin. 

So Mom knew the task, and she was in Nordstrom all of 5 minutes when she spotted the perfect wedding shoes!  She bought them in silver first as the ivory weren't available yet.  I took the silver one's to my first dress fitting so that I could judge the height and then the ivory one's appeared on my doorstep in no time!

I am so excited and cannot wait to wear these on the wedding day!

Augusta Bridal Shower!

Old family wedding pictures

Gift Table centerpiece

The lovely hostesses!

What sweet women Mrs. Dale and Mrs. Vicky are to have thrown such a lovely wedding shower for me!  These ladies above are dear friends of Mrs. Golden's and absolutely outdid themselves on a gorgeous bridal shower for me at Abilene Baptist Church!  They really hit the nail on the head with delicious treats including petit fours and cucumber sandwiches.  They did gorgeous flowers and gave me a corsage for my dress.  It was so great to meet and see all the Augusta crew that will be at the wedding!  I got so many wonderful kitchen items off our registry as well!

So much fun! It was a really special weekend in Augusta!

My Momma, and future Mother in Law

My future sister in law and sister

The buffet!

Sweet sorority sisters who drove all the way to Augusta!

Awesome gifts!