Happy -1 Year Anniversary!

Last Saturday was a very special day… a day we will celebrate for the rest of our lives! The morning of October 17, 2009, Tres and I woke up and begin celebrating our negative one year anniversary!

When we officially booked our date with Southern Oaks in September, they congratulated us with a bottle of “Southern Oaks” personalized champagne! It was adorable, and when we got it, we decided we would drink it on day when we had exactly a year until our wedding. That morning, we popped open the bubbly and mixed it with orange juice for Mimosas! I cooked French Toast and we had a great brunch, while watching the movie “Sideways.”

It was a lazy, casual day. After our movie over brunch, we took naps. That night, we went to a Grizzlies game and did a little bar hopping after that. It was a perfect -1 year anniversary. And now that it’s over it means… WE ARE OFFICIALLY GETTING MARRIED IN LESS THAN A YEAR!!!!

Budget and Beaches!

Money, money, money, monaaayyyy!!!! This past Sunday, Tres and I sat down and had “the talk…” The BUDGET talk that is! :) We spent literally the entire afternoon staring at a spreadsheet and mapping out our budget – what to spend on what, where to save, where not to save, etc. We were lucky enough to be given a great sum of money from my mom and dad to go towards the wedding, so we have been very grateful for that! But we have also learned that no matter what kind of budget you set, you will more than likely ALWAYS go over it. We have definitely gone over it, but we are not stressing about it… I love that saying, “Go big… you only get married once!” haha. And this is true, since we only get to do this one time in our lives, we are planning on not going overboard but having everything we really, really want!
It grows on trees... duh!

Sunday afternoon’s budget talk became Sunday night’s honeymoon talk! Now THIS was much more exciting than the budget talk! We love to travel together, and we do it a lot (I have a Travel Blog too)! So, I had been anxious to have this talk because I just know our honeymoon will be to die for! We discussed what we wanted and didn’t want out of a honeymoon. Here are our bottom lines:
Bermuda: There's nothing more unique than a PINK beach!

• Nothing “touristy”! At first, I kind of imagined us doing a place in Europe neither of us had been before, but the places we want to go in Europe are very touristy. The last thing I want to do is to be running around five different cities in a week’s time, trying to see 100 different attractions, with 10 different maps and tour guides in our hands, and so tired at the end of the day that I don’t even want to curl my hair or dress cute for dinner! No thanks! I am dying to go to Italy, but maybe we will save it for our one year anniversary!
• A relaxing place! Hence, nothing touristy! We will be off work for about a week for this, so I want my feet up and to not move a bone in my body the entire time. I want to be able to enjoy the days with naps in between and enjoy the nights without be tired (and also feel like curling my hair for dinner each night)!
• Not a long flight! This is Tres’ bottom line, and he has a good point. We are already having somewhat of a vacation wedding with it being in New Orleans. We will already be taking off some the week before to get down there and get settled, so we don’t need to go on a honeymoon where we are flying across the entire globe. A 20-hour plane ride will take a full day of vacation away from us on the way there and on the way back… No thank you to that too!
• Finally, a nice hotel room and good food! Just feed me good food, and I’m happy. Just put Tres in an awesome hotel room, and he’s happy... fair game!
The Turks and Caicos... tiny little islands

So, with all of this in mind, there is really only a few options, and they are all in the Caribbean! We, of course, have consulted with our good friends Trevor and Lori on this since they lived in the Virgin Islands for several years. This is what we are leaning towards (and this could completely change on any given day…): Turks and Caicos, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Barbados - with Turks and Caicos and Bermuda being the favorites. We like the idea of Turks because it’s different and the development is very new over there. Plus, I have read that it’s where a lot of celebrities go for their “moon”! And we like Bermuda because of the pink sand, the good reputation, and it’s not really in the Caribbean… it’s more north than all the other islands and it’s all by itself! We are going to discuss this further. TO BE CONTINUED…

Never say Never...

OK, so I am really starting to freak myself out with this wedding! The more I plan, the more I change my mind about things. For starters, I am not a fan of pink… nope, not at all. I don’t despise it, but I have never really loved it either. I am a “neutral” kinda girl… blacks, whites, ivories, and earthy colors. Don’t get me wrong… when I dress, I am known to throw in a big splash of color on more than one occasion, but for a wedding… I like simple and elegant. That way, when you look back on your wedding photos in 20 years, you aren’t wondering why in the world you chose hot pink or neon purple as your wedding colors. Now, if those are your favorite colors, I say GO FOR IT, but they are not mine!

(ABOVE: Pic 1 - The bouquet that gave me inspiration. Pic 2 - How beautiful the colors pink and gold are together)

WEIRD THING #1…. I am actually considering pink. Well not just considering, but I am quite certain of it. No, my wedding will not look like Pepto-Bismol vomited on it, but I would like to go with an antique dusty-rose or blush pink with the complementary colors being gold, beige, and ivory. It’s strange why I decided I like this color combo so much, but I ran across a beautiful bouquet on the Martha Stewart Weddings website, and when I saw it, I thought… THOSE have to be the colors of our wedding. The combination is very subtle, neutral, and “warm” for the Fall season. What’s makes me choosing this color even more awesome is, until I decided to choose pink and get my dress from Brides against Breast Cancer, I didn’t even put two and two together and realize it’s fitting for me to choose pink because it’s the Breast Cancer color! AND the wedding is in October, and that is Breast Cancer Awareness month! How COOL! Oh yes, and also awesome… my sorority colors were pink and white, so I will be representing Phi Mu ALL THE WAY! One more thing: surprisingly, Tres is totally ok with pink!!! :)

(BELOW: Gowns I traditionally like and think I would look best in)

WEIRD THING #2 – I have said 100 times since I got engaged and even BEFORE I got engaged that I would never, ever have a full bottom ball gown “poofy” dress… never. I have never really thought it was “me.” Weird thing is…. The more I look at them, the more I like a certain type of them. I have actually even saved some in my “Favorite Dresses” file. To think I may actually consider trying some of these types of dresses on when I go dress shopping is shocking, but to think I could actually choose one of them is even more shocking! We will just have to see when that time comes though. I still LOVE Sheath dresses – very tight fitting, simple, and elegant. That seems more my style, but who knows? The thing about a huge ball gown…? You can only ONCE IN YOUR WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE ever wear a dress like that… so you may as well. What do you think…? Full and poofy? Or straight and tight?

(BELOW: The types of gowns I have been drawn to lately... for some reason)

I am a Bride against Breast Cancer

Things have been crazy around here! So crazy in fact, that I haven’t really even thought about wedding stuff for about two weeks now. But, it’s time to start thinking again… today marks a year and ten days until the big day! We definitely have plenty of time to plan, but I want to soak this up as much as possible because one day we will look back and know we will never have this time back!

The latest news: I have been working on my formal Bridesmaids cards the past few weeks. I wanted to formally ask my girls to be bridesmaids. I love DIY projects, so I decided to once again get “crafty” and make the cards myself! They are absolutely adorable, and I should have all NINE of them out in the mail or to each girl no later than next week. Hobby Lobby has currently thrown up in Tres’ living room, so needless to say, he’s over the Bridesmaids cards and ready for me to get them in the mail already!

More wedding news… My theknot.com checklist is telling me I need to start thinking about a dress, so I have decided where I want to get my dress! If you have never heard of “Brides against Breast Cancer,” look it up! It’s an organization raising and donating money to Breast Cancer research through brides. They go on tour each year traveling all over the country carrying thousands of dresses with them, and they have huge conventions where they sell dresses that are donated from runway shows, modeling shoots, designers, etc. If you buy a dress here, the money goes directly to the Breast Cancer Foundation. I LOVE philanthropy projects, and this concept is just fabulous. I would love nothing more than the money for my wedding gown to go to a cause as good as this! Unfortunately, the organization only travels to select cities, so me, my mommy, and my Nenne will be making a trip to Atlanta in January for this event, and hopefully, I will come home with a great dress!