If a Picture Paints a Thousand Words...

I have been waiting, longing and anticipating to write this post. The truth is...is that I love photography. I browsed photography Web sites for over two months looking for ideas, analyzing how much photographers go for these days and basically fawning over gorgeous photos.

One thing I quickly noticed is that it would be almost impossible to get a photographer for the wedding for under $1,000. And that was solely for wedding day coverage. I understand that most photographers are worth it. They put a ridiculous amount of creativity and effort into each photo, into editing and into making Bride & Co. happy.

Looking at our budget I knew that we wouldn't be able to afford the type of photographer I wanted. I always heard brides say, "prioritize what is most important to you. If it is food then spend a large portion of your budget on food. If it is flowers, spend a huge portion on flowers." Well, photography is the most important aspect of a wedding to me and with the prices I was seeing on the Web I knew that I would have to sacrifice the one thing that was truly important.

But it is amazing how God works. My friend Mary got married in May and throughout our conversations about wedding planning she mentioned how her awesomely-funny, amazingly-talented, magazine editor sister was wanting to get into wedding photography.

After a brief discussion with Joseph, we decided to go for it. We got an amazing deal of engagement photos, bridal portraits, rehearsal dinner photos and wedding day photos. I couldn't believe that our photographer was being so gracious.

While we were nervous at first, our first session with Beth and her husband Daniel proved to be a success. We were comfortable (though terribly hot).

Here is a little sneak peek of our engagement session:



Next up I will post a little bit more about our engagement photo shoot!

The Yo-Yos Bachelorette Extravaganza

So who are the Yo-Yos? The Yo-Yos are a group of women ranging in age from 25 to....well...women don't ever tell their real age. We all met working for Title Examining companies. Through adventures at the courthouse and cocktails after work, we became a tight-knit group of women who learned from each other and most of all lifted each other up during hard times.

That being said, I have to say. These women know how to have a good time.

Exhibit A:

Some of the Yo-Yos, plus Vanessa, minus Mom, Edna, Phyllis

We started the night at Senior Frogs at Broadway at the Beach. There were tiaras, a few drinks, some sticker bestowing (more on that later) and just plain fun. After a few bites to eat we headed over to Crocodile Rocks which is a Dueling Piano Bar. SO. MUCH. FUN. The piano players are so talented. Who can resist belting out "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey? Not me.

Mom and I at Senior Frogs...notice the Good Girl side of the wand is showing.

Now for the story about the stickers. Yo-Yo Angie decided to get a plethora of Bachelorette paraphernalia. Including stickers to give out to people with: the Best set of pecks, hottest buns, sexiest jaw line, worst pick-up line, worst dancer and nicest eyes.

Exhibit B:

Needless-to-say my nicest buns sticker went to an old man, best pecks went to a random dude that was with a bachelor party. The rest of my stickers? Nicest eyes went to my sister Katelyn and the rest went to her boyfriend Travis.

I had such an amazing time with this group of women. Their strength and youthfulness never ceases to amaze me.

In the shower...

...no! Not that shower. The bridal shower!

As I return from my little sabbatical from writing, I want to do a recap of my Myrtle Beach Bridal Shower. One Word: AMAZING!

I am so blessed to have so many good friends and family members, especially my mom, sister and sister-in-law, who planned the shower. There was food galore including my mom's famous cheese ball, pigs-in-a-blanket by Heather my SIL and my brother's famous salsa that Heather made per his careful phone instructions. There was also carrot cake. Nom, nom, nom.

The day went like this:

We (Vanessa, my Matron of Honor, and I) around 11. We scurried to get everything set up (i.e. yummy foodstuffs) and to finish making the favors (awesome ribbon cross bookmarks).

Guests started arriving around 1:50 and of course I was not dressed yet as I was being my usual Type-A self and trying to get everything set up along with my madre.

Once all the guests arrived we played an ice breaker game which consisted of splitting into four teams and  wrapping four guests in toilet paper and attempting to make them look like a bride. While I waited in Katelyn's room with her boyfriend, Travis, the guests got to work being designers ala Project Runway (without all the drama).

Yo-yo Angie, Aunt Roma, me, Mother of the Bride Beth and Sister/Maid of Honor Katelyn

I then got to choose a winner which was so hard. DRUM ROLL PLEASE

Aunt Roma! My grandmother made the bow on the right hand shoulder of the dress. It was so pretty!

Next we ate and drank punch (no, it wasn't spiked).

Then it was on to opening presents which was a game in itself. Katelyn contacted Joseph and asked him all sorts of questions about our relationship. "Where was our first kiss?", "What was the first meal Joseph cooked for you?", "What was the first movie you saw together?"

Each guest got a question and before I could open their gift I had to answer the question. If I got it right I got to open the gift. If I got it wrong, I had to pop a piece of bubble gum in my mouth. Let's just say I had a huge freaking wad of gum in my mouth.

My friends and family gave me so many amazing gifts. My favorites?

A hand crocheted garter and toss away garter that my mom made.
Several of my Grandmother's old cookbooks which she wrote "To Jessica, Love Grandma" in each one. How special???

There was also a bit of lingerie..."brown chicken brown cow" (say it really fast).

In addition, there were kitchen gadgets galore. A KAPOOSH...please click on the link...it was awesome and provided at least 30 minutes of entertainment. Men will be so excited about this gift. (At least Travis, Katelyn's boyfriend was). There was a set of bakeware, a place setting of our beautiful china, table setting, our comforter set and to many things to name.

Overall, it was an amazing shower! Thanks again to Mom, Kate, Heather, Travis (for his excellent favor making skills) and all of the girls who attended.

Here is a picture of one of my flower girls and I in her flower girl dress. Isn't she pretty?

All pictures courtesy of my mom, Beth.

Coming Clean...

I have to come clean. I started this blog for selfish reasons. I had a dream, the dream died and so I stopped writing.

My dream was to be a WeddingBee Blogger. What's that you ask? Only an amazing Web site that allows regular, everyday girls to write about their wedding planning experience. Each girl brings something different to the table whether they are DIY gurus, budget-savvy brides or simply too creative for their own good.

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In order to be a bee. You have to blog. In order to be a blogger, you must be compelling, interesting, a decent writer and most of all creative. Each bee blogger has their own icon, some of my favorites are, "Miss. Pug", "Miss. Lobster", "Mrs. Cowboy Boots" (she got married so they changed her from a Miss. to a Mrs.)

After a bit of blogging (around 15 posts), I filled out the application to be a bee. There were questions like, "Please describe details of the wedding you are planning including religious ceremonies, cultural ceremonies, etc." which I answered,

"Joseph and I are not only in love with each other but with Christ. We are planning a spiritual ceremony that will include both secular and Christian music, a foot washing ceremony and maybe even a bit of praise and worship music. It is important to both of us that the Gospel is shared but in a non-threatening way as some of our guests are non-Christian. We want to have a ceremony that includes all the beautiful aspects of us but that will also embraces our guests.

Our wedding will have some DIY flair as well as semi-DIY touches (similar to a blogging version of the show "Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee"…except it’s Semi-DIY with Jessica E.) There will be semi-DIY invites (with yours truly adding flourishes), hanging letters for the church and reception location doors, homemade wedding favors, homemade beer (oh yes…homemade beer. There will be documentation and free samples)."

I showed my personality, I was honest and I wasn't chosen to be a bee. When I received the rejection e-mail by heart sank. I wanted a cute icon...I was already set on being "Miss. Locket" or "Miss. Brooch"

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Each time a new blogger is introduced, along with their cute icons, my heart hurts just a little.

But alas, I was not meant to be a bee.

Engaged x2

I have been waivering on writing this post as it can be a little touchy but I believe the issue to be more common than most of us think.

I was previously engaged. Before I met my wonderful Joseph, I had a lapse in judgement and became engaged to someone that I knew was not right for me.

"Why?" you ask? Honestly, I don't know. I do know that I felt like it was the right thing to do. I was 22 and felt like I was getting to the age where people get married and have children. I was behind and needed to catch up. I felt as if I was being pressured to get married.

Once the ring was on my finger everything felt wrong. The ring was a huge shackal pulling my heart and body down. A huge cloud hung over me and there was nothing I could do to shake it. I tried lying to myself, telling myself that I was trying to sabotage my happiness: that he was, in fact, the one for me. I tried rationalizing the situation in my head. That I would learn to be happy with him. I felt trapped, as if there were nothing I could do. I saw my life and how unhappy I would be.

Then, I got up the courage to break off the engagement. Everyone was furious. My family. His family. Him. Everyone except me. I felt free. I knew the instant I gave back the ring that it was the right decision and now, more than ever, I know that it is true.

So, now I am engaged again. How do I feel? Elated. Joyful. Grateful. This is how being engaged is supposed to feel. I am excited about marrying Joseph. There is a freedom and a certainty that I didn't expect to have. I was afraid that I would have the same "gloom and doom" feelings that I had when I was 22.

 

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Since then, I always wondered how I would know who the right man was. Was it a feeling? A sign? All I knew is that I didn't, and wouldn't, go through another engagement break-up. It was too emotional, too scarring.

As friends told me over and over, you will just know. Things will fall into place. You will have a serenity and a peace. This is how it is supposed to be. When you wait on the one that God has hand picked you just know it's right.

Color Me Love

First, Happy Birthday to my Dad!

In a previous post, I wrote about my new-found love for pink. You would think I was a six-year-old girl playing with her Barbies because I loved pink so much. Blush pink with champagne, ballet pink with black: the combinations were endless and all more beautiful with the last.

But alas, I am writing to tell you that the love affair has ended. I found a new love: red.

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I have always been fond of red, the color of love and passion, wine and cherries, my blackberry and favorite nail polish. (Also the color of blood but we won’t go there today). Most importantly, my fiancé loves red which is a bonus for his groomsmen as they will be donning red ties instead of pink. Not that I would put them in pink ties.

The red that will grace our day is Apple Red by David’s Bridal.

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It is not quite burgundy but not bright red either. It is deep, it is beautiful and most of all it looks good on most skin colors. I am pretty sure I am going to start petitioning for red to be considered a neutral, like black or tan.

I was so afraid of committing to pink. Would I look back ten years down the road and regret it? Probably. Is red a safe choice? Yes. Which is perfectly fine by me.

Black (another favorite of Joseph's) will also be accompanying the apple red as well as ivory. Overall, the colors represent us as a couple. We are both drawn to them and will be using them in our decor for when we move in together.

Choosing the color scheme of the wedding was by far one of the most difficult tasks as there are so many beautiful pallets out there (not to mention the millions of inspiration boards that had me drooling!)

What scheme did you or are you going to use for your wedding? Was it a hard decision?

Short and satin

Going into the whole “I am the bride, I am going to design my wedding and it is going to be the best ever!” mode, I decided to not have a bridal party army.

You know what I am talking about, 3-10 girls dressed in the same color, same shoes, same hair style, same jewelry…okay you get the point.

For some brides, this is the dream they have been having since they were a little girl. Me? Not so much.

 When choosing bridesmaids dresses for my girls, I knew I had to pick a dress that would flatter an array of body types as not one of my girls is the same. There are tall girls, short girls, voluptuous girls, skinny girls, heavy chested girls and girls that might need a bit of padding (including myself).

I believe this dress would be called the miracle dress as it would fit everyone and make each girl look amazing. Alas, after searching high and low, internet and dress shop, I was unable to find this mythical dress.

That being said, I realized that each girl should be able to pick a dress that reflects her personality and style, that makes her feel good about herself (we all know that if you feel great in what you are wearing pictures turn out oh-so-nice), would fit into her budget and one that she will be able to wear again. We all have been stuck with bridesmaid’s dresses that will never again grace our body and shelling out big bucks for little wear time is never a nice pill to swallow.

After looking at several different options, David’s Bridal looked like the best option. Now, I know what you’re thinking: David’s Bridal…the big box bridal store. Before you go any further remember that there is a David’s Bridal in many large cities which is convenient for everyone.

I let the girls choose their own style of dress as long as it was apple red, satin and short. Here are their choices:

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I know...it is a lot but it lends to variety and most of all style.

Did you let the bridesmaids choose their own dresses? Was it beautiful or bust?