Wedding Wednesday: Paper, Prep and a Pick Up

Happy Wednesday! It's the middle of the week and normally I would be so excited about it being closer to the weekend, but this week I'm not. I have always loved the week after Christmas because the hustle and bustle has subsided and it's a great week for everyone to unwind and really enjoy the holidays, so I'm not really ready for the week to end! Will and I are not quite done celebrating Christmas and will head to Florence this weekend to exchange gifts with his parents/relatives! Then Monday it's back to the grind, I already have 3 sub jobs lined up for next week! Yay!

Before Christmas we (my mom and I) had decided to spend a lot of time this week working on that LONG wedding to-do list, since we were both off of work. Yesterday, a friend of mine came over and we worked on details about the rehearsal dinner. >Side note< I'm working on some of the rehearsal dinner since Will's mom has been in and out of the hospital for the past couple of months. > We organized table decor and she designed the rehearsal dinner invite. I had found one at a local invitation store a few months ago and checked on the price and it was an absurd $145ish for 45 invites. WHAT?!? So my friend, who is beyond amazingly talented at graphic design, was able to design a similar invitation (but even better than the expensive version) and I got a quote from a printer and it's going to cost like $30.00 for 50 invites + envelopes! #winning Post wedding I will be sharing all of the paper products in the wedding, but everything is under wraps until then!

Speaking of paper, my friend also designed our ceremony program for me. We didn't quite get finished with all of the design elements so I'm excited to see the finished product! We used the skeleton of her program to help with the elements for mine. I am an organized person, but for some reason the task of planning out the program was overwhelming, so it was helpful to have her to help me talk through all the specifics!

After we finished, we went over to my moms and started unpacking the decor that we are going to be using for the reception. We have 27 bird cages, 27 birds and about 8 bird nests so a few more of those to collect! We organized it all by size on big tables out in my parents garage, it was so fun to see it all out and grouped together! I can't wait to start organizing it by what is actually going on individual tables. It makes me so excited to walk into my reception venue and see it all set up! The event planner in me can't wait to see all these puzzle pieces come together and make the final product!

And FINALLY, my dress is FINISHED being altered!! Hallelujah!! I have to say, that besides the guest list, dress fittings have been stressful. My seamstress made, what could have been a headache, really relaxing and she was super confident in her ability to alter my dress! I think it was just stressful to me because my dress is altered and I'm not wearing it for another couple months, but since my portraits are scheduled for Jan. 18th, I had to have it done by now. It was exciting to try on the fitted dress today and finally feel like it's finally mine. For so long it felt like I was wearing someone else's dress because it was so BIG! She also completed the bustle which made it fit better for dancing and not so BIG around and cumbersome. Here are a couple of pics from picking up the dress today...

My seamstress, Merci and my gown! Concealed of course! :)

Sneak Peek of my Dress! Of course I blurred it a bit! ;)

I hope everyone has a great rest of your week and a VERY Happy New Year!!

Late 2015 Recap

Goodness Gracious! We are in the final days of 2015, and I haven't even blogged the last 2 months which has been jam packed with exciting happenings!! I think I'll start with Christmas and work backward...

Our 2015 Christmas Card! 

Christmas didn't feel much like Christmas this year because it was HOT. Everyday has been at least 65 degrees or more, and mostly in the mid-70s! It is IMPOSSIBLE to look cute and "Christmasey" when it's too warm to even put on a scarf! It also didn't feel much like Christmas because I chose not to put up a tree or even many decorations. The stockings were hung and there was a wreath on the door but that was about it! A perfectly good excuse was because we have too much going on and this week, I'm attempting to get back into Wedding Planning mode and therefore did not want to worry with taking down decorations!
We had a very blessed Christmas spending it with family and receiving some wonderful gifts. Will got me a new laptop, which was much needed! Watch out blog world.. I'm set now, if I can figure it all out! Will's big gift was a tool set from my parents, which he can't wait to piddle around with! We also got a set of our fine China which brings the count to 8 place settings! We are super excited!! We also got a few other things from our registry including our NINJA blender! Bring on smoothies!

Many nights in December were filled with attending holiday events, and I subbed nearly everyday! The month FLEW by!! Let's rewind back to the very end of November/beginning of December when....

WILL BOUGHT A HOUSE!! We are excited about our new little nest!

We have some painting to do, and some updating to take care of! We found a great deal on appliances and they should be installed in the next couple of weeks! We bought and were gifted some furniture this past weekend and we got a few house items for Christmas! I'm excited to share all our house updates as they happen!! Stay tuned in 2016 for the makeover!

In Mid-November I had my first (ever!) bridal shower! It was so much fun and I LOVED the fall theme! Here are a few pics from that event! 

The Winn ladies threw me the shower! Sweet family friends!

Bridesmaids/Honoraries in attendance!

The same weekend as our shower, we had our engagement pictures taken! We LOVE our photographer and I highly recommend her! Check out her website if you are in need of a wedding/baby/family photographer! She does amazing work! I would post our engagement pictures, however, Jessica wrote such a beautiful post and included some of the best of our pictures on her blog, so check it out here! And here is just a teaser picture...

2015 has been quite the year with lots of "ups" and a few "downs," but it will be a year I'll always remember! We are looking forward to all that 2016 has in store... it's sure to be sweet!