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!

Cake Tasting!

Cake Tasting at Cherokee Town Club- January 27th, 2012

Cake Tasting was perhaps the most fun event of the wedding planning process thus far! It is no secret that this girl LOVES cake! I could eat cake every single day!

So the way it worked was that we got to select (5) different options of cake variations and taste them all! We had our cake tasting on January 27th and it was quite a whirlwind! We ate cake, and ate more cake and more cake! Mom came along to help be our tie breaker in the event of that situation.  Thankfully, we all came to the same conclusion and are overjoyed with our selection!  Sarah Ogle, our wedding coordinator at the club was super sweet and brought each of us a rectangular tray of cakes to taste.  We really loved all of them, but there was a true standout.  Funny thing is- the combination we decided on was not one of the pre-selected options we asked to taste...we did some mixing and matching and came up with a delicious treat!


This girl loves cake...back at my birthday on January 12th, 2012



How Embarrassing!

My Oh My! Y'all...I am red in the face embarrassed about this blog, and my lack of commitment to posting lately.  I have a good excuse, but really, I hate that I have missed out on two months of documentation, because this wedding planning process is surely one that I want to remember and look back upon to say, "Gosh, I had so much time back then to do fun things!"

Kevin singing the lyrics to our 1st dance song

75% of the blame for not posting over the last two months falls on my tired digital camera.  I had that camera in high school and we had some great times together- New York City, Breckenridge Colorado, California, UGA football games...but the end was near and it finally bit the dust in early November- inconveniently right before my first wedding party!  I relied on my sister and cousin to document our first wedding party in Gainesville, FL a week before Thanksgiving.  It was a fabulous party and I am so thrilled that our family was there to celebrate with us! Kevin's parents stayed at our house for the first time and it was good bonding time for the two families. 

Engagement gifts!

Bride and Groom- Ready to go the party!

My mother threw a brunch for the Sunday after the party, and my grandfather even made it to enjoy a lovely day with everyone!

Mrs. Golden, Kevin, and Papa

Amrita, me, and Whitney

We spent Thanksgiving in Alma, GA with Kevin's family for the first time together and away from my family! It was fun to be with everyone and their food traditions are quite similar to ours.  


We then traveled to Gainesville on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to have a stone crab dinner with my grandfather and family.  Since I wasn't with my family on Thanksgiving, it was really special to have this dinner at Papa's house.  I didn't realize that this would be the last time I would spend with my sweet grandfather.  He took us all for a shock and passed away on December 17th, right before we were going to be re-united for Christmas.  He was a fighter and will always be remembered as such.  I have an empty void in my heart now that he is gone, but realize how fortunate we were to have some quiet special time with him at Thanksgiving.


So, December 2011 was a whirlwind.  My family pulled together his funeral three days before Christmas and the break went by in the blink of an eye.  We said goodbye to 2011 and welcome all good things in 2012 (there is so much to look forward to!)


Flashback to early December- I moved into a new home, where Kevin and I will live once we are married.  It is about a block away from where I used to live, so the move was quite easy.  I am getting it organized and decorated before we move in together- and the space has really come in handy with all the wedding paraphernalia!


Some photos of the place before I moved in:

Dining and Kitchen area

Gas burning fireplace...it's been quite handy lately:)

So that's a quick recap of the past two month's events.  There have been long days and nights, and so much has progressed on the wedding front.  I have so many further posts to share, and I promise I will be better about keeping you all updated! 


Tomorrow marks the 100 day countdown! 


Love to all,
Andra