DIY Projects

With only 18 days left until the wedding, I thought I'd share with you one of my DIY projects- my guest book. I have been working on it on and off for quite a while now and am finally almost finished with it. I bought a regular photo album from Michaels and have added pictures of Koy and me on different types of scrapbook paper for the cover page and each of the left-hand pages. Then, on the right-hand pages, I put different labels from Paper Source on scrap book paper. The guests will write their well wishes on the labels. I think it has turned out pretty cute, although, I don't think I actually saved any money doing it myself. I ended up spending quite a bit of money on all the pretty scrapbook paper and special tape. I think it is worth it, though, and will be a little extra special to me in the years to come knowing it was a labor of love. :) Here are a few pictures. I don't want to share too many and ruin the surprise of seeing the actual book at the wedding.

These are not great quality pictures since I took them with my phone, but you can get the general idea.

Flower Girls

I am so excited about Koy's two little nieces being flower girls in our wedding. They are both seven years old and are adorable! I found the cutest dress and headbands for them from Crewcuts- J Crew's kids store. I wish they made clothes big enough for me there because they seriously have some super cute, fashionable outfits. Here is a picture of the dress and headband. They are going to be precious!

My adorable nephew who will only be 18 months by the time of the wedding is going to be our ring bearer as well. He is going to be the cutest thing in the world! He is going to wear gray pants, a white button down shirt and a purple or silver tie. I can't wait to see him all dressed up! It will be very interesting to see how he walks/runs down the aisle. I think it will probably be best to have him walk with the flower girls so maybe they can hold his hands and guide him down at a good pace. :) We'll see. They will all three be adorable no matter what type of entrance they make.

36 days to go........ : )

Bridal Shower

This past weekend, my wonderful friends/bridesmaids threw me a beautiful bridal shower. It was a bit chaotic at first because we had to change the location at the last minute due to a friend's family emergency, and then there was horrible traffic that day, but once it was all set up and everyone got there, we all had a really good time. They decorated the place so cute and had great food and drinks. I'm so thankful for all my friends and family that could make it and for my best friends who put so much time, energy, and love into planning the event for me. I don't know what I would do without their support. Here are a few pictures.

Cute set up of some of our engagement pictures

The pretty cake and desserts. They tasted amazing as well!

My soon to be step mother-in-law, me, my mom, and my soon to be mother-in-law

My beautiful bridesmaids: Carlie, Lauren, me, and Heather. We missed you very much Lea!

The Countdown Begins

So, there are only 66 days until our wedding, and not everything is finalized. That makes me a little nervous typing that out, but I think everything will come together and it will be a wonderful day. I have definitely had some moments, though, that I wished we had just planned to elope! We are having a small wedding and it has been really hard cutting down the guestlist. I know that you cannot please everyone all the time, but it's still hard knowing that you cannot include everyone that you want to. I had to make some very hard decisions that I struggled with and aguished over, but I hope that everyone can understand and know that we had to do what is best for us on our special day. We both always wanted a small wedding, but once you start planning, things can get out of hand quickly. Koy has a very large extended family, and we are not able to invite the majority of them, so I definitely had to compromise on my share of the guestlist as well. Anyway, I think it will all work out in the end, and everyone will understand and be happy for us no matter what, but its quite stressful when you are in the middle of it all.

Anyway, on a lighter note, I had my final dress fitting last weekend and could not be happier with how my dress turned out! I am getting my bridal portraits taken in a few short weeks and have my first shower in a few weeks as well. I cannot wait to celebrate with my very close friends and family! I'm also excited about a few do-it-yourself projects I am working on for decor for the wedding. I hope they turn out as cute as I imagine them!

Honeymoon!

After checking my account on the knot this afternoon, I realized that our wedding is exactly 100 days away! Wow, I can't believe we're going to be in the double digits in a mere 7 hours, and we still haven't figured out food or alcohol! Yikes! I know we will figure it all out, but it is a little stressful thinking about all the things that still need to be done.

One of the most important parts of the whole process HAS been figured out, though, and that is the honeymoon! We are going to Costa Rica and CAN-NOT-WAIT! :) We are goint to stay at the Arenal Volcano for our first two nights and then at the beach at the Xandari for the next four nights. We plan to go up to the Volcano, go zip-lining, go horseback riding, snorkel, possibly surf, get massages, and also soak up the sun and relax! Sounds awesome, huh?! I'm not 100% positive about the surfing lessons yet because I was pretty terrible when Lea and I took a lesson in Australia, and it was soooo hard and exhausting! However, that was six years ago, and I am definitely in better shape than I was back then. So, hopefully I'd be better this time around! Ha ha! We shall see.

Here are a few pics of the places we'll be staying:






Arenal Volcano

Beach at Xandari

I can't wait for the big day to be here and then for us to be on the most amazing tropical vacation!

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving was great this year. Koy and I got to spend time with both sides of our families, which meant a lot of driving and eating, but it was worth it. We had lunch at my aunt and uncle's in South Lake where I got to see my mom, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, aunt, uncle, cousins John and Wendy and John's girlfriend Jessica, and my grandma Mee Mee. My dad couldn't make it because he was sick. Poor thing. We definitely missed him. Phoenix had been sick too but he seemed to have a good time running around trying to open every cabinet and drawer in the house. : )

After lunch, we headed to Ennis to have dinner at Koy's mom's house with her and his step dad, his sister, brother-in-law, and nephew and niece. His mom and step-dad have recently started the Paleo diet, so everything she made was paleo-approved. I wondered how the dressing would be without the bread, but it was actually really good. She made it with coconut flour, I believe. We went by his Dad's place afterwards where I played Just Dance on the Wii with Koy's niece Sydney. That game is so much fun! I'm pretty sure we danced to Blondie, MC Hammer, and New Kids on the Block! Awesome!

I can't wait for next Thanksgiving for more turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie, and pecan pie. Those are some of my very favorite foods!

Wendy, Marci, Phoenix, and Mee Mee.

Wendy, Jessica, John, and Mom

Adorable family- Lauren, Phoenix, and Chris

Soon to be sister and brother-in-law- Lauren and Koy

The Countdown Begins!

When Koy first proposed, I went around telling people that we had over a year before the wedding, so I had plenty of time for all the planning. Well, the wedding is now less than 5 months away! I can't believe how fast time has flown by, and I'm sure these last few months will go even faster. It's making me a little nervous, even though our wedding is going to be very small and simple, there are still so many details to worry about.

Lately, I have met with and booked a videographer which I am very excited about. My bridesmaids ordered their dresses a few weeks ago too. Now, I need to start thinking about what Koy's nieces will wear as the flower girls and what my nephew Phoenix will wear as the ring bearer. I also had my first dress fitting last Thursday. That was so much fun! I finally found my shoes the week before, so that was good. Ruth at Lulu's is doing my dress alterations and she couldn't be any nicer. She pinned the sides where it needs to be taken in and the hem needs to be taken up a little. I am also changing the neckline, so I can't wait to see how different that looks when it's all done. I go back in just a couple of weeks for my second fitting.

One glitch in our planning so far is our caterer. Our favorite restaurant Kozy has closed recently. Hopefully they will be reopening soon and will still be able to cater for us, but I can't really take the chance that they won't be able to so we are starting to look at other options. So, please let me know if you have any suggestions on good companies that aren't too expensive. We also have some pretty specific requirements of the caterer, so this could be tricky. Koy wants it to be as paleo as possible, so basically no breads or processed foods. We would also like to have gluten-free dessert options. Hopefully we will find someone that is able to accommodate our wants and needs. Keep your fingers crossed for us!