Keep A Close Eye

There's a lot on the way!!

I have to apologize for my apparent 2 (yikes!) weeks off blogging. Like I mentioned, even though I wasn't blogging, I was wedding planning. I also got sick, which may sound like an excuse, but it really was a major blower. I haven't been sick in ages and it was horrible!

What's on the horizon?

I'm back in my routine though! Back to work, back to the gym, and oh yes, definitely back to blogging! I have so much in store for you guys too! Everything from a complete review of area cateres and how-to (my advice) for choosing yours, deets on our fabulous planner, wedding dress shopping (Holy cow! I could write for days about that fiasco!), and a DIY fail. Yes, fail. No worries though! I'm totally not letting it get me down. It has to do with our Save the Dates and I must say, I'm actually proud of myself for tackling this project so early on. If I was a few weeks from sending these puppies out I'd be in big trouble! However, because of my persistance in the matter, I think I diverted what could have been a catastrophe! Anyway! I am sorry to yet again promise more and run off, but I do promise more!!

In the meantime, are you not totally inspired by these images I found over at My Black Book? Goldmine!! All very inspiring to our ever-evolving (and shaping up quite nicely, I must say) wedding!

Happy Monday!

We're on the hunt for dishes and lovely tea cups such as these.

They are so hard to find in bulk!

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LOVING this Easter deco.

We could do any of this stuff, especially since our big day is the weekend after!

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Perfect for a Spring garden or wedding!

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Under the Weather

So I know I promised a lot of meaty posts about all the wedding-related things I'm getting done with my time off, and I'm sorry that I haven't lived up to that promise. I've been sick.

I don't remember the last time I had a cold, complete with a sore throat (the kind where it hurts to swallow), so you'll have to excuse my lack of enthusasim to blog, or do anything really. Since Monday, I've been pretty out of it. I'm trying to rest a lot so that I'm well for work on Monday. You'd think I'd use this free time to gather up wedding inspiration, but I'm not.

We did go to a tasting last night and yes, big news:  we have decided on our caterer!! The food and service was hands down the best we've discovered yet and there's really no doubt in our minds we've found the company we want to work with. I'm going to try to work on my big vendor review - caterers post this weekend, and share everything soon..

In the meantime, here's some lovely inspiring images from the blogsphere.

Totally into butterfly designs right now...

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What bride wouldn't want to walk down this aisle?

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Check out this bride's shoes. So unique and cute.

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Awesome wedding cookies... I might be biased cause they are our colors.

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Hoping to feel better and blog more soon...

Have a great weekend!

Busy, Busy & Balloons

Hello lovelies and happy Friday!

Oops. It's Thursday, but I'm off tomorrow so it's MY Friday! Woot woot!

I am sorry I have been M.I.A. lately.

There are SLEW of things going on at work and also with the wedding.

I will update all of you as soon as possible. Just know that even though I'm not blogging, I am working hard to make big wedding-related decisions this weekend. Tonight we're going to a tasting (we've narrowed our search down to three caterers), and tomorrow and Saturday I'll be wedding dress shopping!

I have a lot to share, but unfortunately there has been a "situation" with my job that has required my full attention. Can I ask that you please keep me in your prayers? I'm making a BIG transition. 

Oh... and I know a lot of people think balloons at weddings are lame, but personally, I love the idea.

What are your thoughts? 

These are our colors!

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Thank you!

I just want to take a second to thank everyone for such loving words of encouragement...

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Today was one of those days. I woke up in a funk with a lot of crap on my mind, both wedding (well, marriage) related and other. I didn't feel like working, but I didn't have a choice. And I didn't feel like blogging, but luckily I posted a few things last night, including "Insecurities."

My mood didn't much improve when I got to work, but as the day went on and I recieved your comments, my spirits were lifted! It was one of those things I couldn't ignore -- you know when you're in a bad mood and you refuse to acknowledge anything good? Well, despite wanting to feel bad, I couldn't help but feel good about the love and support you showed.

It was so refreshing to hear such positive feedback and knowing it was from awesome women (I know you're awesome because I read your blogs, and your blogs are awesome), really made me feel better! When you've got so much going on in terms of planning a wedding and a marriage, it's really nice to know you're not alone. It's nice to know others have been there, want to share their experiences, and lend a shoulder.

So without making this way too sappy, I just want to thank you all for your kiind words of encouragement. I was truly encouraged. Thanks to you, I had a lot of confidence today. I thought of our wedding the way it should be thought of - as something that is for us, not for anyone else, and there is no right or wrong. Even though that should be obvious, it gets down played, like many of you pointed out, when you're looking at pictures of seriously fabulous weddings everyday.

Anywho, thank you again for all your comments about our venue, style, and ideas. You all are truly a blessing and I cannot image how a bride that doesn't blog gets through it.

Much love!!

XOXO

Insecurities

I've been feeling very insecure about things lately.

As soon as I hear about another wedding, venue, or DIY project, I start to feel unprepared for our big day. I start to question whether Oxon Hill is really a nice venue and whether I've chosen the right DIY projects to tackle...

I know. I know. What's my problem? This is our day to create any kind of party we want, anywhere we want (considering our budget of course), so why should it matter what others think and what others do? Well, it just does. You don't want to do a crap job. Come on, we all care. Probably a little too much.

I just get cold feet about the decisions we've made and it sucks. Miss Sloth mentioned this earlier in the week. Having a long engagement gives you more of an opportunity to second guess yourself, and third, and fourth second guess yourself. Ugh. I honestly wish I wasn't like that, but I feel like I can't help myself. I wish I felt more assured in our decisions. I can't stand being such a fickle bride.

Here's the thing:  a friend tells me her friend picked their venue and it's a resort. Immediately, I start to wonder if our venue is as nice. This is before I even know what the name of this resort is! Nevertheless, I start to wonder why we didn't pick a resort. Should we have picked a resort?

I run and look up the resort, just to find it's rated 4.5 stars on Wedding Wire. What do I do next? In a complete panic (unforeseen to others of course), I promptly check the ratings for Oxon Hill.

Please, please God!

Let it be 4.5 stars or more!

Whew.

We're 4.5 stars...

I think it goes without saying we all feel insecure sometimes, so our wedding is not going to be any different. We're going to see and hear about other brides and weddings, and sometimes feel a little envy or doubt. It's normal. I know it is, but it still sucks.

Do you feel insecure about your wedding?

What makes you feel that way?

How do you get past it?

Onto more happier notes soon!

25 Random Facts + I Got An Award! Woo!

I love my blogger buddies...

One of my favorite blogs (ever), Beer Budget Bride's Musings just did a really cool post titled "25 Random Facts," and I got a huge kick out of it! It's fun to learn a little something about the people writing our favorite blogs. It's not like we ever get to see them or talk to them directly so seeing their picture and reading about them is pretty cool, if you ask me.

1. In college, I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. Awful, I know.

2. I'm a workout whore. I love running and lifting weights, and I go to personal training twice a week.

3. My fiance is my height. No, that's a lie. He's probably a little shorter than me. Truth is, I love him anyway and think he's perfect!

4. I secretly (really, really) wish I was one of those go-against-the-grain artsy types of chicks with lots of tatoos and a rebel attitude.

5. I listen to country music and used to go line dancing with my mom.

6. I had actually never, ever thought about what kind of wedding I wanted until my fiance told me to start thinking about it, which was a little over a year ago.

7. Okay this is really gross, but I love you so much I'm going to tell you anyway - sometimes I pick my nose! Bahaha! Seriously it's way faster and more effective than going for a tissue. Sorry. Yeah, I might go back and erase this one.

8. On a more serious note, I really want to write a novel. A best-selling novel. I feel like I'm supposed to write a book, but maybe that's wishful thinking.

9. I also really want my book to turn into a movie (wishful thinking, huh?). It could happen, right? One of my favorite books, Eat, Pray, Love is going to be on big screens soon.

10. I love my yorkshire terrier, Rocky, but I don't walk him often enough or give him treats, play with him, or rub his belly as much as I should.

11. My grandmother nicknamed me motormouth when I was young and it's seriously so true. I could talk for hhhooouurrrsss.

12. I'm really frustrated with our wedding plans. I hate to say that because I sound like such a sad, sulky bride, but I have so many ideas and yet I'm not doing anything. I have this fear it's going to be a really lame wedding :(

13. When I was a little girl my dream was to travel the world. I'm 25 and yet to leave Virginia. I've done some traveling around the States, but I've never left the country. I think I'll DIE if I don't get moving soon.

14.  I'm one of those people that writes a to do list all the time and there's never enough hours in the day to get everything done.

15. My mom lives in a little cottage in the country and I love it there. I wish I could live with her.

16. My hair has been all sorts of colors and styles. In all of the photos of Aaron and I over the years, I look like a different person! Here's a picture from when my hair was short and blonde. I can't wait for the PWC (post wedding chop!)

17. I'm a die-hard fan of the music artists Kelly Clarkson and Pink.

18. Even though we're spending nearly $20,000 (don't shoot me, please) on our wedding, I definitely have a hard time justifying it. All the brokeass brides are right. It's only one day.

19. My parents are split and even though it's been a tough thing to deal with, I wouldn't trade my two little step sisters for anything in the world. They are the cutest children EVER.

20. It's really hard for me to sit still and do nothing, but I absolutely love to watch movies with my fiance.

21. My favorite television programs are 48 Hours Mystery and Snapped.

22. My weight watchers screenname was addictedtogreasensugar, and I've always thought that was so perfectly fitting.

23. Most of my friends don't read my blog, but I love them anyway.

24. My wedding ring is perfect. My fiance has immaculate taste.

25. I want to run a marathon.

Hopefully you've enjoyed that little peak into my life the same I enjoyed learning more about the Beer Budget Bride! I'm sooo totally overwhelmed and excited to share that she's given me a cool new award below:

She seriously made my day with this!!!!

I am so thankful for her following and all her (and yours) awesome comments!! I'm glad that there's a few people that enjoy reading Olive Weddings, since it is my little pride and joy!! It's amazing that more people I don't know read this blog than folks I do know, like friends and family. I think it just goes to show the blogging (and especially the wedding blog) community is really there for each other.

*tear*

I'm so glad to be a part of it all! Thank you, Dancy!!!

Please note that this award was created by JEM at Aquabride and the she says: the only rule is now you pass it on. It doesn't matter to how many people.

Therefore, I'm going to pass it onto my co-worker and blogger friend, Mark over at Running With Blue Sponge. He has some really awesome Random Facts. He went so far as to do installment posts, with an extra (false) fact, which readers had to guess!

I also would like to award D. Marie at The World Around Her for being such an awesome blogger pal! I see her on all of the bride-to-be blogs leaving her two cents! She must know how much we all love comments. She just posted her own 25 Random Facts, be sure to check em out! One of which is that she just finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert's latest book - I'm dying to know how it was!!

Thanks again, Dancy!

My Honey Is Sweet

I love spending time with Aaron's family...

Like many other Saturday mornings I've spent in Williamsburg, Aaron, his family, and me started off with a lovely breakfast. It's sort of a tradition of theirs to have breakfast together (there are four of them, Aaron, his mom, dad, and sister), and I have really come to enjoy it.

I never did anything like this with my family. We always ate our meals in front of the TV and it was rare if all of us sat around and talked. Aaron's family, on the other hand, always spends this time together, catching up, and sharing about different things.

I know a lot of people don't enjoy their in-laws, so I consider myself lucky. They are so supportive of each other and it's really refreshing. I really enjoy watching them interact, and talking with them, I feel so comfortable and at peace. I care a lot about Aaron's family, they are truly unique, and I realize this more and more. I found myself truly enjoying them this weekend and it might sound cheesy, but being around them I feel at home. It feels like they are my family too.

His extended family is great too...

Sunday morning we didn't have breakfast, but we went to church and then to Aaron's grandmother's house, which is another family tradition. I absolutely love Aaron's grandparents! They are so sweet and always so glad to see me (to see us, I should say). A few of Aaron's distant relatives were in town so I met a bunch of family I had never met before, and everyone was really nice!! During all the visiting, I really felt blessed to be marrying into such a wonderful family.

It would be enough that Aaron's sister, Amber and I are really close or that his parents liked me, but it's so much more than that. Aaron's family has been so supportive of us and welcoming of me. There's a lot of love in his hometown and I told him this weekend that I really loved it down there. I feel like we spend more time with his family than we do mine (to a certain extent), but I really don't mind. I enjoy being with his people and I really, really look forward to more occasions like we had this past weekend.

And I love when it's just Aaron and I too...

If you think we did the family thing the entire weekend, guess again. I told you Friday that our anniversary is the fourth of July and Aaron, being the sweet guy that he is was sure to set aside some alone time this weekend to relish in our 4 (or is it 5?) years together. He really out did himself too! Last year we had an awesome view of the fireworks on Duke of Gloster street in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg and I had no idea how he would top that this year, but he did!!

He took me to this wonderful bistro that is located in heart of Colonial Williamsburg. The food was amazing, but what made it so special was that we had an amazing view of the fireworks - unobstructed - from our table, and boy, was it romantic!!! The resturant dimmed the lights when the fireworks started and I couldn't believe our view!! I was really excited and I felt so touched. I felt so lucky that Aaron went out of his way (and not because I told him too because I didn't mention anything about our anniversary and plans for the fireworks) to set this all up.

He even timed our reservation so that we were finishing up eating when the fireworks started! He's soo good!!!

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We picked up an ice cream cone from baskin robins afterward and let me tell ya, I was in heaven!! I had fallen in love with Aaron all over again and I just couldn't resist sharing our special time with you. Of course we did a few other fun things this weekend, but our anniversary dinner and view of fireworks stole the show.

What did you do for the fourth?

Does your guy do awesome and romantic things to commorate when you met? Share them!!

Our Anniversary

Happy Fourth of July folks!!

It was about 5 years ago this time when sparks flew between Aaron and I! It all began on a road trip that my brother and I took from Richmond, which is where I was living, to Virginia Beach. Aaron decided to join us at the very last minute and at the time, I hardly knew him. Needless to say, he did everything in his power to impress me and I was smitten with his charm! 

We're going to Williamsburg for fun at the amusement parks, quality time with family, and hopefully a good fireworks show. We hope you have an amazing holiday! Do something for us and remind your significant other of the time when you first had feelings for each other!

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As It Once Was, So It Is Again

On trying to be someone I'm not....

As many of you know, I've thought long and hard about changing Olive Weddings into a new, more modern and classy blog. I really wanted to change the name (see my posts about this here and here), because I was tired of the name. To be perfectly honest, I thought the name was kind of dumb. It's not as clever as the names of a lot of really cool wedding blogs out there -- blogs I admire and wish I could be called among.

My plan was to change the format and even some of the content. I searched (and I mean searched) for new premade blogger templates. I bought a few headers and even contemplated getting a full blog makeover. I came up with the new name, "From Madness to Marriage: the musings of a girl gone bridal," and planned to pay for a custom illustration and revamp. I was even going to change my dot com!

Our best ideas are our initial ideas...

There I was, ready and set to launch into a new world of blogging. A more beautiful and glamorous world. One that might come with it recognition and envy. I was ready to have a new look, the perfect name, and volia the fulfillment would settle in, but as much as I racked my brain for new ideas and searched for new templates, I couldn't come up with anything I felt I could stick with.

I mean, I like the madness to matrimony idea, but what's wrong with keeping things they way they are? There's nothing wrong with Olive Weddings and I was starting to miss my old template. I loved this blog when I first created it. I've made a lot of these changes and I tried a few new approaches. All of it, just to find that I wanted back what I started with. Nothing has looked as good as this original template, which I found over a year ago on an awesome site called Yummy Lolly. The best part is... it was free.

Why do I want to be a big time blogger anyway?

I'm so totally content with the readers that I have, there's no need to have more. I've gotten more than I ever imagined out this blog, just the way it is. You guys have no idea how awesome I feel when I get comments from you... It's so nice to know somebody is listening and watching! I think I just started to feel like I needed to be better for you guys, but nobody ever asked for that. I looked at all the amazing blogs out there and thought I needed to do something to be amazing too, when in all actuality, I'm prefect content just blogging here, the way it is, for the few of you that come by from time to time.

Bloggers and brides have a lot in common...

I want to relate this topic to our wedding, because I think there are a lot of parallels. Like blogging, a lot of people get married. There's a lot of blogs out there and a lot of weddings out there. It's easy to look at the weddings on Style Me Pretty and want to have a wedding just as stunning, or read about the fabulous DIY brides on Weddingbee and want to be just like them. While it's fun to imagine these things and it's alright to strive to be better, it's not cool to think you've got to change something to meet a more mainstream standard. Of course I want a blog that is recognized and admired and of course I want a platinum wedding done up David Tuttera style, but at the end of the day I think I'm off better off sticking with what I know.

Stay true to who you are...

My point is that through this blog and through the process of planning our wedding, I'm learning to stay true to myself. I don't have to have the same type of blog as the next bride-to-be, no matter how cute hers is. I also don't have to a clever, awh-inspiring name that is going to make my pasttime my career. The only thing I have to do is enjoy blogging. That's it. The same goes for my wedding. I don't have to have all the frills or all the expensive extras. I just have to have a good time. I've just got to remember the reason I'm there and the reason I'm here.

Have you felt blog and/or wedding envy? How did you deal with it?

Did you try to transform into something your not too?

Share your stories, they are always welcome!

My Mom and Dad Engaged

I love old pictures...

I love looking at how things have changed over the years, which is why I was fascinated when I found these engagement shots of my parents while digging through my mom's pictures this past weekend. Aren't they a lot different than the engagement shots you see today? 

Have you seen pictures of your parents before they were married?

Did your parents take engagment pictures?

Off to the boonies

I'm headed to the Shenandoah Valley this weekend to spend some quality time with my mom. She lives in a little cabin in the woods and I'm really excited to get away from city life for a little bit. Especially with views like around every corner...

I'm taking my camera, my laptop, and my wedding planner...

I hope to get a lot done, but I also want to relax quite a bit too. Unfortunately, I won't have internet access (ahh, I'm freaking out a little) so I will miss all of your lovely blog posts over the holiday. I'll be back in full swing Monday evening. Probably with pictures like these, which I took last weekend on our trip to Charolettesville, VA at Thomas Jefferson's Montecillo...

Going anywhere special this weekend or sometime soon?

Do you love country places with mountain views and lots of pretty flowers?

And... We're Back!

Please Pardon My Absence...

I haven't been motivated to blog for a number of reasons (I've been busy at work, transitions at home, etc), but mostly because I was really tired of the way this blog looked. Cute as it may have been to many of you, after seven months of the same template, I felt I needed a change. I'm the type of girl that rearranges her room every few months (sometimes weeks)... so a makeover was overdue. I wanted something fresh, new, and with three columns. Hence, the new look. What do you think?

As for the wedding plans, they are well underway! We're in the midst of finalizing engagement party details and I also took a trip over to our venue (Oxon Hill Manor) on April 9th, exactly one year and one day until our actual wedding! Everything is moving at an excellent pace and I couldn't be happier. Our venue is absolutely stunning and I have a lot to share about my visit (and new-found love for Oxon Hill in the spring)! Not to mention a few new photos!

Busy, Busy, Busy...

We've been marking things off our massive to do list and discussing the must haves (and don't needs). While we've narrowed down and decided on things like our website, our venue, and photographer, we're still in the midst of making many, many decisions on other things like our invitations, videographer, and ceremony setup, which I hope you'll help with!

When I'm Not Wedding Planning...

I'm running! I haven't shared much about my love for running on the blog, but I'm hoping that will change! Running is my favorite thing to do (besides read wedding blogs) and I just completed my first 10 mile race! On April 11th, I participated in the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in Washington, DC, and it was exhilirating! I just started running about 2 years ago and now I can't imagine life without my iPod and asic sneakers!

My New Best Friend...

Is a laptop!! Whether it was because he noticed I wasn't blogging as often or saw how frustrated I saw with  my old pc, my man surprised me with a new latptop this past weekend!! I love it, love it, love it, love it!!! I'm still in shock, but happy as ever to have a brand new place to do all my blogging and wedding planning on! It's a Toshiba and it's just perfect! Her and I are becoming fast friends...

I promise to be better and blog often. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Weekend

I know I've been promising a bunch of meaty posts lately...

And I swear I'm good for them. I said this last Friday and I'm going to say it again. There's quite a bit going on between changing the wedding date and work. I hope you readers understand! The warm weather isn't helping either. I desperately want to spend time outdoors, rather than inside blogging! You know what that means: I need a new laptop. The one I have is centuries old and I can't stand to wait for it to boot (yes, it's one of thosethat takes 10 years to start up).

Along with the changing seasons, you'll see some changes here as well. 

To name a few, there's a new layout on the way, better navigation, and I'm nixing the New Approach. More on all of that later. For now, here are some pictures to make your heart melt (at least they do mine)! 

This is one of the first flowers that Aaron ever gave me back in 2005!

I took a dozen pictures of it, because I couldn't believe how beautifully it bloomed. A close friend of mine at the time told me her mom always said, "If a man gives you a rose and it blooms beautifully, that means he really loves you!" Turns out my friend's mom was right because 5 years later, the fella that gave me this rose got down on one knee and asked me to spend my life with him..

Ahh... Isn't this the stuff weddings are all about?

Thanks for stopping through!

Anyone Out There?

Follow my blog please...

Hey folks, if you're a blogger or a friend, or a friend of a blogger, you should know blogging is tough business. It takes a lot of effort, consistancy, and creativity.

As a blogger (a newbie blogger, I'll admit), I crave attention. It's not that I want to be famous, have a trillion followers, or profit from this in anyway. It's just that I long for comments. I want to feel like I'm talking to someone. Anyone. Not just talking to myself. You know what I mean?

So if you have any tips on promoting a blog or if you have friends that might enjoy reading this blog, please show some love and support my little universe here at Olive Weddings.

Please note that I probably won't get any comments on this post. Nobody will read it, but guess what? I'm going to blog and blog some more anyway!

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Thank you to the 14 followers that I do have. You guys have made my day on many occasions with your following and comments. Thank you for your continued support. If there's anything I can do to help you further a dream of yours, please let me know, because you're helping to make mine come true!

SCCRRRREEEEEECCCCHHHH...

Good news and bad news...

The bad news is: We're not getting married in October. Don't worry though, we're still getting married!

The good news is: We're getting married in the spring of 2011 and we have confirmation (whew) that my dad will be contributing to the budget. 

Many of you may not have known this, but the wedding date and budget have been sore subjects for quite sometime now. Aaron and me wanted to get married about a year after his proposal in October (see here and here), but my dad -- being from the old school and all -- thought we needed to give our engagement more time. Meanwhile, he was also staying mute about his part in the budget.

So I know that we said October 24, 2010, and we weren't lying. That would be when we got married if it were up to just us, but that wasn't really a date without my dad's approval. It was more of a hope or a plan. I suppose that's what couples in love who are anxious to get married do, right?

So in a nutshell that means (whether you noticed or not), we've been planning a wedding, with little knowledge of the type of wedding we're going to have (fall or spring, big or small). Well, you can just imagine the stress we were going through not knowing when or how we'd pull this off. I will admit Aaron's been a lot calmer and patient than me. I've been pulling my hair out, crying, and throwing fits, because I wanted to know when and what kind. I wanted my dad to say, "This would make us happy..." and he really wasn't saying much at all. Call me a daddy's girl if you want, but it just means a lot to me that everyone is as happy and confident as I am that I'm getting married.

So now. Well, now it feels real. It feels new again. It feels like a fresh start. Believe me, I won't be getting much sleep tonight. The creative side of my brain is literally freaking out because we're going from a fall wedding to a spring one and it's like planning a totally different day. The logical side of my brain is freaking out a little bit too because now all the calanders, the discussions with vendors, the to do lists and the dates we set for things like the bridal show all actually mean something. We've finally got some butter to put on our bread.


 Everyone's backing us now and I'm so thrilled.


1. I'm really really happy that we don't have to debate the date anymore. 2. I'm super giddy that this time next year I'll be marrying Aaron! Ahh! Yay!!3. I'm relieved that my dad is ready to commit this. It's hard to explain, but my mom said it best... "This is a transition from being with the first man you ever loved to being with the man that you're in love with."

Did your parents help you set your wedding date?

Wannabe a Weddingbee

Weddingbee.com... best place for brides around.

I know I've said Style Me Pretty (SMP) is my favorite wedding website of all time and it's true, I do love SMP. In my opinion (no offense to all the other awesome blogs and websites out there), there's really no other place online you can go and find as many beautiful real weddings. SMP has more than one stunning real wedding featured everyday and I'm not kidding when I say stunning either!

However, there's another cyber place I love where you can go and find something reliable everyday as well... not a real wedding, but real wedding planners. SMP is the place I go to see weddings, not talk about them. If you want to talk weddings, the real deal about weddings -- not just the flowers and fufu -- you go to Weddingbee (WB).

There's loads and loads of great feedback and "real" wedding stuff on WB. You've got brides talking about their image, their flowers, their shoes, a classifieds section (hello! That's really cool and very useful), boards, bios, and galleries!! Everyday bride stuff. The nitty gritty.

{Picture credit: Shans-Shananians}

To be honest, I've sat and read WB posts for hours whether it was on the way home from work while I'm on the bus, on the metro on my way to the club (I'm not kidding), or at work taking a (ahem) break... IT never fails, every time I go, I'm intrigued by the real stories, the real concerns, the real of it. I always leave feeling like I've learned something.

It's kind of like when I go to SMP and think, "I want my wedding to be beautiful." When go to WB, I think, "Give it to me straight," or "I want to hear from a bride like me."

The coolest part is feeling supported.

See, most of my friends are single and while they're really happy for me and my soon-to-be, they're not into weddings yet. I'll be the first of my click to get married and so for most of my friends this is a new experience, a dry run. It's not like I don't have amazing friends, because I do, but they aren't interested in talking weddings all day everyday.  

They don't understand the planning that goes into making invitations and save the dates, or the obsession that occurs about details like flowers and place settings -- no offense to them, but it's something only brides can understand.

I go to WB to read the planning, the execution, and aftermath of weddings. The good, the bad, and unfortunately the ugly. It's just a real website with a lot of real information and well, that's what I wanted this blog to be. A place where other brides (or at least one other bride) would come to be inspired and really care about my journey to the aisle. One bride to another, you know what I mean...

So here's the thing, you have to apply to be a bee! I know you guys (my friends) are thinking, wait, you have to apply? Well, yes, duh! If you knew the website like I did, you'd understand. It takes a lot to be a bee. Recounting your every wedding thought and movement, being honest and upfront about all the wedding everythings you're going through, and writing it all out and caring about your readers, your commenters.

It's not a task to be taken lightly.

Like with many things in life, if it doesn't happen, I suppose it wasn't meant to be. Nevertheless, it's a honorable and courageous undertaking, I must commit myself to. And there are always the bees that did make it in, there to support me and offer guidance, which is the real treasure about this site... So wish me luck and say your prayers... hopefully I'll be considered.

Blogging for DCNearlyWeds

I'm so excited...

Because I'm blogging for DCNearlyweds as Miss Columbia Heights!!!!!

It might sound foolish, but I'm thrilled and overjoyed about this! I'm honored actually! I discovered DCNearlyweds over a year ago, scouring the internet (as I often do) for wedding inspiration. I read post after post, unknowing that one day I'd be blogging for them!

There's so much good information on this blog! Especially for couples getting married in the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia area). There are about 25 nearly brides who vary by location, style, and everything else! The blog's archive goes all the way back to 2006, which means there is almost 5 years worth of bride batter to read and be inspired by!

The other exciting part about all this (besides the license to rant on and on about weddings) is that there's actually an audience!! DCNearlyweds has hundreds of followers (may be even thousands)! After just ONE POST with them, I've received 2 comments (sooo exciting)!!!!! I've received the same -- about 2 comments -- over here with 60 POSTS. Needless to say, I'm looking that-a-way for feedback!

I'm thrilled to have my foot in door to an amazing wedding community! I'm elated to be receiving feedback and support from other brides-to-be! There's no doubt 2010 is off to a good start! Please keep an eye out for me on DCNearlyweds and check out their other bloggers too!!!

Good Times in 2009

 1. Aaron's Proposal:

  

 

 

2. The National Story Telling Festival:

3. Running a 5k:

 

 

4. Landing a New Job:

 

5. Beginning a Blog:

What were some good times you had in 2009?

Our First Christmas

Will be next year...

Unfortunately, Aaron and I will not be together this Christmas, but I am comforted by thoughts of all of our joint Christmases to come. I'm really, really, really looking forward to having our own apartment (right now we are living between his house in Williamsburg and my grandmother's house in Arlington), so that Christmas can be on our terms.

Of course, I am also anxious to decorate! Probably because my mother and grandmother were over-the-top decorators and somehow, I got that gene! I've inherited a lot of decorations from them too and I cannot wait to put them all up for our first Christmas together next year!

I've heard that it's difficult for married couples to split their time during the holiday between their families, but Aaron and I are ready for the challenge. We've discussed spending Christmas Eve with his family and spending Christmas Day visiting my Mom and Dad.  It will probably be a little hectic at first, but at least we'll be together.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 

{Photo credit: Southern Living}

{Photo credit: Hostess Blog}

{Photo Credit: Country Living}

{Photo Credit: Dream Homes Group}

{Photo credit: Southern Living}

{Photo credit: Country Living}

{Photo Credit: Better Homes and Gardens}

{Photo credit: Young House Love}