Paper Hearts

Over the weekend my mother and I have tackled another project:

Paper heart napkin rings and paper heart garland.

We took one of my mother's trashy romance novels (I knew they were good for something!) and traced hearts with a welder which burned the paper. In the end we were left with over 120 paper hearts.

My mom ended up doing most of them as the smell of the burning paper was unpleasant and thus made me feel unpleasant.

Source

I haven't taken picture of the hearts but they are very similar to the hearts above.

The next step is to string the garland onto some twine that I purchased at Michaels. Hopefully they will look like this:

Source

When I saw these little details I knew it would be worth the effort.

10 days.

10 days.

10 days until I marry the man Christ has chosen for me.

10 days until I don a beautiful ivory dress, veil and my grandmother’s pearls.

10 days until I will think of those that I wish, so badly, could be there to see me wed.

10 days until something will go wrong.

10 days until I realize that there is nothing I can do about things that go wrong.

10 days until my favorite girls walk before me, paving the way to my groom.

10 days until Joseph and I wash each other’s feet, beginning our lives together with an act of service.

10 days until we eat, drink and dance with those we could not imagine our lives without.

10 days until Joseph and I dance our first dance as husband and wife to a song that brings tears to my eyes.

10 days until my name become Jessica Meghan Edwards Ackerman.

10 days until we drive off into the sunset, on our way to Folly Beach for a week of relaxing and adaption.

The Simple Things

I realized today that the simplest things about this wedding are making me so incredibly happy.

Today, I called the events coordinator at our reception venue. She asked me several questions about the number of people attending and what food we would like to have. The time of the reception and what color linens would I like, white or ivory?

White or ivory? I have a choice? When we first talked so many moons ago, she mentioned they only offered white linens. I wanted ivory but if all they had were white I wasn't going to complain (or dish out hundreds of dollars to get ivory linens). So this little question gave me so much joy.

Another simplicity that I take joy in, is marking off the days on my calendar. It is something so small that I love to do at the end of a long work day. Each day brings me closer to marrying my Joseph and that thought is euphoric.

Flower Spill

Just because I can, I want to post photos of the flower inspiration I have been collecting.

Unfortunatly, I don't have the source information for most of these (I know...wedding blog rule # 925: ALWAYS provide source information for pictures and/or quotes). I fail.

Oh so pretty. I will have a deep red bouquet while the bridesmaids will have cream/white. I am so happy with the work that my florist (and friend) has done thus far. She is creative, concerned and a great communicator.

Oh Sweet September.

The following post was started on September 1. I was slack and failed to post it...so here it is.

It is hard to believe that it is September 1 and that it has been three weeks since my last post. It isn't that I haven't had anything to write about, I have lacked the time and motivation.

Will only 24 days remaining until Joseph and I commit ourselves to one another for the REST of our LIVES, I thought I would go over a few things that we have accomplished and a few things that need to get done.

Accomplished:

INVITATIONS! I was convinced that these 5x7 pieces of paper with fancy writing were going to be the death of me. After my sister-of-honor designed them it was up to me to print them. However, my printing and sizing skills obviously aren't what they should be and what was first thought to be an easy endeavor ended in a horrible disaster. Luckily, Joseph came to the rescue and sent the invites to Professional Printers in Columbia. THEY. WERE. AMAZING. They were fast and efficient and the invites turned out more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

Cake: The cake has been chosen and ordered. Yum, yum. The cake topper and table decor has been decided upon and purchased so now we are just waiting on the day to arrive.

Flowers: The flowers have been chosen and ordered. I collaborated with my friend who will be doing the flowers and we came up with some amazing ideas!

Reception Decor: the books have been collected, the flower vessels obtained and table runners secured. We are ready to go. My mom has made some additional decor that looks beautiful!

Wedding party gifts: We have these under control. Some are beautiful, some are tasty, some are playful and all are perfect.

Semi-Done:

Rehearsal Dinner: We have picked a place and called them to reserve it. That's about it. Who knew you needed to send out rehearsal dinner invitations? Not me.

Cake stand: Since we didn't want to spend a fortune on an 18" cake stand that cost 1.2 million dollars, I decided to head on over to Lowe's and buy the supplies to make our own cake stand. The cost? Approximately $30.

Needs Serious Attention:

Favors: Okay. So we know what kind of favors we are going to offer at the reception, we have the supplies to assemble said favors. So what's the problem? Lack of motivation. My wedding planning motor has burned out. I am sure it will kick into high gear.

Decor: There are minor decor items that need to get done, however, if they do not get done it is not a big deal as these items are not necessary.

Programs: I have though about programs...and I have thought about programs and that is as far as I have gotten.

Music: Since we are throwing some tunes on a MAC computer and letting them roll, we have to first make a playlist. We have yet to do this. I suppose we somewhat have a playlist ready but it needs some attention.

Food: We have a few food items in mind, however, we have yet to nail them down. I should get with my caterer on this.

There are a ton of other things that I have left out whether they are on the "done list" or the "need-to-do list". With only three weeks remaining I am sure it will all get done.

Gulp.....

Pre-marital Couseling

Counseling has been the best decision that Joseph and I have made since we started dating. I have learned so much about myself (good and bad) and have gained necessary tools and principles to help make our marriage successful.

For example, I learned that I am a feeler while Joseph is a thinker. I make decisions based on my emotions and Joseph makes decisions based on pure logic. I am a Retriever-Beaver and Joseph is a Lion-Otter.

I learned that I am severely passive aggressive...

While Joseph is extremely assertive (with a little bit of aggression mixed in). While it is hard to kick old habits, I know that in order for Joseph and I to communicate effectively and avoid unnecessary conflict, I will have to mosey into the realm of being more assertive and less passive aggressive. I have successfully been assertive once and it felt amazing...for the seven or so times that I have been passive aggressive since then...well...I have no excuse. Sorry, Joseph! I am working on it.

We also got some scary statistics. 50% percent of first marriages end in divorce, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages. Many couples, when faced with hardships, now turn to the easy way out: divorce. Instead of praying and working through the issues, they sign a piece of paper. They think, "oh...I married the wrong person." FALSE! You did not marry the wrong person. You gave up on the right person. Now I know there are circumstances where divorce is necessary (abuse being one).

But I digress. The whole point is that you marry someone not just because you love them, but because God has intricately designed us to need a helpmate. He did not design us to be alone. Matthew 19:4-6 states: "He answered, 'Haven't you read in your Bible that the Creator originally made man and woman for each other, male and female? And because of this, a man leaves father and mother and is firmly bonded to his wife, becoming one flesh—no longer two bodies but one. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.'" (The Message).

 

If a Picture Paints a Thousand Words: Part II

I left you with a cliff hanger: a promise to post some of our fantabulous engagement photos.

The day started off without a hitch, it was warm (okay it was HOT...and muggy). We were a little late getting started, I forgot why but I am sure it involved me not being able to find the shoes that I had previously purchased just for this occasion. Or maybe it was because my hair didn't look quite right. Whatever the reason, our photographers, Elizabeth and Daniel, were flexible and gracious.

We got down to the river walk and started to take photos. Joseph and I were immediatly comfortable with the camera and with our photographers. Here are some of the amazing photos that we took at the riverwalk:

 

With a bit of complaining, "oh em gee, it is hot! I am sweating like a suckling pig."  We moved on to The Flying Saucer. While Joseph and I have little history as a couple here, we both have significant history as individuals. Joseph was one of the few and proud who drank his way to a gold plate that now graces the wall of the saucer. I, along with many grad-school buddies, frequented Pint Nite on Mondays after various classes. (No worries, we never skipped class...) Here is an awesome shot from the saucer:

Of course it looks like I am a lush. Why is my beer half empty (or is it half full?) and Joseph's is full? Think about it.

In the end, the day was long, hot and oh-so-much fun. I cannot rave about Elizabeth and Daniel enough. Elizabeth will be taking my bridal portraits soon and I cannot wait! Hopefully the day will be much cooler as a 35-pound dress will got hot in a quick minute!

Until next time I will leave you with this: