You know that moment...

There has been a lot of wedding progress since I last posted. Scott and I went over to M&Ds (Mom and Dad's) and went over our wedding plans. Now, I can't speak for Scott, though I can usually gauge it pretty well, but I was preparing for the worst. I was expecting them not to like my ideas, not to let me explain my side and not to understand where I was coming from. That wasn't the case (for the most part!) Our visit (yes, the four of us actually all sat down together, which should read: "Dad sat down and gave his opinion too," so that when I read this months from now, I will still believe it!) went very well!

After I showed my mom my Book of Inspiration, which is awesome! All the dresses, flowers, centerpieces... ahhh. She loved it. The colors are a definite go. Everytime I look at them together, I am more confident. Anyways, she and I reviewed all my ideas, then we went to work at setting the wedding day plan. Things got a little rough here, but only because I of course have this perfectly laid out plan of what I think my wedding day will be. She laughed at me. But it's okay. She loves me and knows that I am like this, so I am sure she expected it.

After awhile, my dad came in and he and Scott joined our conversation. We talked about everything, from where the preacher sits and the reception, where to put the memory candle and are you going to have a rose? What time we should all gather at the church, what time to ceremony is going to start, are you going to have a limo? How much time between the ceremony and reception there will be, what color dress my mom will where, are you having a DJ? STOP! Haha, I just casually want to mention that this is where Scott and my Dad had a conversation that made me laugh. But in the end, we are getting a DJ, that my parents' are taking care of. Yay! Not something we were going to spend the money on. Anyways, as I have already said, it went so well.

The guestlist is officially finalized. AND, since those invitations that I just loved turned out to be an obscene $1500, NO joke, for paper, I felt like I was at square one. Well, that was until last night! I was out with my great friend Teri and we found some that are so perfect for what I want, AND its going to be less than $100 for all the invites and response cards. Oh, and favor boxes. For $100. Total. HAHA! When you get my invite, look this back up so you can relive how freakin' excited I am about this.

So back to last night. That was the moment I knew I could do this. Have a budget wedding and still make it look gorgeous. Have a budget wedding, but still have the elements that reflect me and Scott. It was an amazing moment. Thanks Teri!

And, you know that moment that you feel after you have been struggling with a lot of things and then you finally feel a tinge of relief? I had the moment, too. And I feel good. I feel like one (or a few) brick from the wall of stress has been removed.

Thanks, God!

Romance.

When I was a little girl, I dreamed that Cinderella and Jasmine and Belle were my best friends and that we lived in castles next to each other and would go out on our beautiful mares and ride around, waiting for Prince Charming to come whisk us away. I thought about how I would be wearing a long, flowing gown and my hair would by long and wavy and he would life me off of the saddle and hold me in his arms and spin around. Birds would flutter to and fro and bells would chime and in an instant, we would be kissing at our wedding.

Do you feel like you saw this movie? I was absolutely in love with fairy tales. I would play pretend with anyone who would play with me, my little sister, my Gramma, my mom, even my Papa or my dad. Often, it was by myself and with my pets. I would just imagine being a princess and being submerged in love.

As I grew older, I realized that these visions of love are just what they are, fairy tales. I still waited for my Prince Charming to come, of course, but not on a hilltop with birds and belles. Or horses. I have never ridden one, let alone been lifted off of one. Then I learned of the place the modern girls' dreams of love and peace come true: Paris.

(I borrowed this photo from my pal Justin. He is Europe right now! This is an amazing photo and I hope he doesn't mind I used it, but it is what inspired me to write this exact blog!)

See, Paris is just one word. Romantic. The architecture is exquisite. The food is various and delicious. The sights would heal any sore eyes. The language is a song to any ear. The history is full of love, war, poverty, royalty. The landscape is full of structure and beauty. It is the perfect place to share with the one person with whom you want to share all romance with.

I have taken French in school, but have never made it to the place where I am certain that all of my romantic fantasies would come true. I have dreamed of the day that I would stand in front of the Eiffel Tower, would sip wine off a balcony overlooking a promenade and stare at exhibits I can't even imagine at the Louvre. I have dreamed of the day that I would kiss Prince Charming, here.

I still believe in fairy tales, even though my life is so far from one, I wonder if they even write them anymore? I still believe in Prince Charming. I get a kiss from him every night and every morning. During our courtship, he used to carry my away in his red Stratus to his castle, the Kappa Sig house. Now, we share our lives together every day, growing more and more in love. I have stood in front of many structures and kissed him, even if it hasn't been the Eiffel Tower. Very soon, I will stand in front of our family and friends and our Lord, and kiss him on our wedding day. Sometimes girls do get a happy ending!

Wedding planning and the 29th Olympiad.

I must say, that things are really going smoothly right now. With the help and advice of some friends, I am taking deep breaths and exploring many more options than I thought I had!

And...drumroll, please. I have accomplished a task!! Haha! I have finalized my guest list and have inputted about half of the addresses. Yay for me! I also may have found a promising vendor. I cannot wait to see what she has to show me! Hopefully, it will resemble this:


So my cousin is coming in 2 months and I cannot wait. I cannot wait to show her all of the stuff I have planned for the wedding. Since she lives so far away, it's hard to keep her completely in the loop. I hope that this blog helps, though! I really want her opinion, so I want to show her the layouts and color ideas I have.

So how about those Olympics? I am enjoying watching them as much as I can. I have always been a fan of the Olympics, ever since I was a little girl and would go gymnastics in the living room in front of the TV. Or dancing and twirling around while Nancy Kerrigan competed in ice skating. High five to the men US gymnastics team!!! Bronze is not shabby!

I know what's on your mind...

So, yeah, I am always thinking about it.

Are my colors right? How do I really feel about the dress thing? Am I going to go for it and wear yellow shoes too? Is that me? Rather, is that the real me on Wedding Day, or just the "big talk" me who likes to idea but at the last second is going to pull her classic white heels out of her Wedding Day bag that she swore she didn't pack...?

What are we going to end up spending? Can we afford to have the elements I want? When I say that I really don't care...do I really care? Is it possible that we are 8 months out with hardly anything confirmed and soon it will be 6 months...and then 3 months?

Am I going to be happy with my pictures? Am I really going to have time to be a nazi about all the photos I want? Am I going to be thinking the entire time... "I wish there would be a picture of this..." "I wish I had taken more photos of me and Scott..." "Damn, I just thought of an adorable pose for me and the bridesmaids, but it's all ready 9pm..." Am I going to go through all my photos when I get back from my honeymoon and be depressed?

What happens when it's over? Am I going to wish it went differently? Am I going to look back and think, it was absolutely wonderful...or that it was okay.

Should I be collecting addresses now? Should I feel bad for not getting the save the dates that she made up for me over months of talking about it, but I just can't spend that much, don't want to spend that much? Is it smart to being DIM (doing it myself) on so many elements?

Is Teri right? It will all work out and I will be happy with everything because I am marrying the man of my dreams and that's all that matters? If so, why don't we just elope?

On the other hand, MOH and I were in Party City today and they had the cutest Bachelorette party items. Ahh.. it will be fun I suppose. I am sure that I am not the only bride to be who feels this way, maybe the only one who will admit it. I get sooo excited sometimes, with the planning and the dreaming...walking down in a gorgeous dress to meet Scott at the alter where we will be joined in matrimony forever and spend the rest of my life as his wife. But other times I just think, this is a lot of stress for a party.

Wedding websites...

So I love the wedding website that Scott suggested... weddingwire.com. It's a great site and easy to navigate! I love the wedding website feature. And I love how you can see all of your plans and details right in front of you - it has a great layout. It makes it fun to look at every time I find an idea I want to keep track of, instead of having to keep up with tear-outs, lists and my bulky planner. Thanks hunny, I really do like it!

Love in all ways.

This is a picture I took today of my ring on my grandma's antique hand mirror, which is one of the best things I own to remember her. I was combining all the things I love: (my ring, hehe) Scott, my grandma, memories and taking pictures! I really love this photo and wanted to share it with all of you!