When, Where and How!?

So one may think that after being in the events industry for a few years, I would have had this all planned out in my head prior to the ring on the finger, that I could make a few calls to vendor friends, lock down my place and then let the fun begin. Right? WRONG! This couldn't be further from the truth. I love how people keep saying, "This is going to be so easy for you!" I wish that could be true!! The problem is, I had SO many thoughts and ideas and the knowledge of the most fabulous of events that I believe it has made the start of decision row even more challenging!

To back up a bit, the weekend after getting engaged, Brad and I headed home to the good 'ol star city of the south to celebrate with mom and dad. We started discussions and enjoyed time with the family. Mom and dad hosted a lovely open house for family and church friends, Valentine's themed since that was right around the corner. Before leaving, two final things were discussed. 1. That the boy and I do plan to live together once my lease is up and 2. That mom and dad would find a time to come to town to talk budget but in the meantime, for us to start gathering ideas and quotes, basically, to do our "homework." Obviously #1 didn't go so well, I mean, who really wants to disappoint their parents (especially when they are contributing a good sum of money to the upcoming events!) But, Brad and I did as we were asked and I started doing the research of venue costs, vendor availability, etc. Problem - I was doing all of this without any clue of what the budget would be.

Brad and I had talked about hosting a large send off party and then take a small group of friends and family to Napa to tie the knot. After doing this research, the $45k budget spreadsheet that I had put together almost made Brad wreck the car. Ok ok...maybe I was living in la la land. That number is more than the average wedding cost...but I know weddings that cost MUCH more than that so to me it wasn't too very crazy. We also explored the option of the Homestead and venues in Roanoke, Smith Mountain Lake and here in Charlotte. Because I was starting to go a little crazy with all of my thoughts and no clear idea of "THE NUMBER" that I would be working with, I called mom and asked if she could pass along that information before coming to town the following weekend. And then comes the reality check! The number wasn't $45k and it was time to come down from the clouds and start living in the real world. I must say, it is certainly not as much fun!!

After much discussion, we decided that we'd get married here at home in the Queen City. This should help narrow things down, right? Negative! My days are speant living incredibly distracted (I really hope to keep my job through this process!) Endless website searches of wedding blogs and photographers' most perfect shots have me swooning and thinking about how I can bring those little details into my special day. So much oooing and ahhing that I have become a bit of a bridezilla in the past couple months. My emotions have gone to peaks and valleys and Brad and I have argued more than ever before. I want a fall wedding this October and Brad likes the idea of spring so we can save more money (so practical he is!) There are days where I don't think this is at all as fun as I envisioned it being. But, at the end of the day, I am in engagement bliss because I do have this great guy wanting to call me his lady, for life!

I also must say, thank goodness for Pinterest! An idea board and a gazillion pictures to look through for wedding inspiration. It is how I decided to go with the peach and pewter theme. Grays, silvers, pewter, coral, peach and touches of orange. I get lost in all the fun, creative ideas people before me have had and will probably end up "borrowing" a few.

One of the items I found on the site was this beautiful vintage necklace. I just knew I had to have it for my day. So, I bought it! It was called "peach cobbler" - perfect for my theme. Most people would find the dress before the jewelry but not me! The beautiful vintage piece showed up and it is just perfect. It even had a heart clasp that I didn't know about before it arrived. I believe it was meant to be mine!

When thinking of who would marry us, I instantly thought of Becky Proctor, a family friend from Rosalind Hills, our home church in Roanoke. Becky lives here now and has watched me grow up. She is the perfect one for the job. We had a lovely dinner this past Friday and she was delighted that we thought of her.

So, what have we accomplished thus far:

Decision #1 - Have the wedding in Charlotte/honeymoon in Napa

Decision #2 - Wedding day jewelry!

Decision #3 - Becky to be our wedding officient

A good start, but many more decisions to come!

In engagement bliss,

Emily

"I've loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. What would be more reasonable than to marry you?"

Here we are - this time has come! I truly did not believe that 2012 was going to be my year, that Brad was going to ask me that big important question and that I would be on this crazy roller coaster of a ride called wedding planning. It was never going to happen to me, never going to be my turn, right? All those frustrations and thoughts, nagging and pressure, all so silly now that we are here. It really is amazing how quickly that cloud of insecurity, doubt, worries and fears were lifted and I immediately felt a sense of "It's all going to be ok. this will be my life." And what a happy life it will be. I am going to marry the man of my dreams, my best friend, my guy. He came into my life so unexpectedly and swept me off my feet. I can't imagine a life without him and know that life will be more fun with him by my side.

Brad completely surprised me on Friday, February 3rd. The day had started off hectic when I reset the time on my alarm rather than hitting snooze. Instead of getting just that extra five minutes, I ended up getting about 45 minutes more. I frantically got ready for work and the day didn't slow down after that. Heading to Brad's for, what I thought was a quiet night in, I called to ask about going to the store to grab the items for our weekend social events (Duke Mansion reunion and Super Bowl Sunday). I thought it was weird when he said to come on to his place instead of going on by the store to grab the food items as well as dinner and a bottle of pinot for the evening. Not thinking too much of it, I headed on to 8448 Big Creek Court where he had snacks and wine waiting (happy girl I was!). We sat down and I turned on the TV and he said "Oh, I have some gifts for you!" To which I responded, "Gifts? I like gifts but what's the occasion?" He said, "Well, you know I've been a bit bored at work this week so I decided to start planning our trip to Napa."[We had discussed a trip to Napa and possibly getting married there one day.] He brought over a beautiful black and white photo album. I opened the cover to a note saying, "Our trip to Napa..." The book was filled with photos he had photo shopped of us in Napa Valley scenes. He mentioned that he had emailed 40 or so vineyards out in wine country and they had sent all kinds of items...thumbing through further there were free VIP tickets, tasting packets, chocolate and wine paring coupons. I was so impressed! But...still not thinking anything more of this than that we were taking a trip to California! The end of the book said, "To be continued..." and he then brought me over to the table where there was a basket full of more goodies..he said, "we have tshirts, hats, corkscrews, coasters, brochures, engagement rings..." and it was at that moment I froze wanting to rewind and hear that over again to make sure that was really what was said! He took the small box from the basket, knelt on one knee and asked me to marry him. I could barely say a word and must've said "Are you serious??" several times. He put that sparkly diamond on my finger and made me the happiest girl in the world. We made all of our fun phone calls to family and friends and had a beautiful dinner at Sante, the restaurant we had dinner at the night we decided to "go steady!" We hadn't been back since that date. It was perfect. What a fabulous story. I'm a lucky girl! Needless to say, a trip to Napa is in our future.

Many people are eager to give me advice and opinions. Whether it is from their weddings or the latest trends they have seen or heard. The most beneficial piece of advice I have received thus far was to blog about the wedding planning experience. There will be highs and lows (and many decisions!!) but it is a process and you will want to remember your steps along the way. This blog will be my personal journal (third time is hopefully the charm with my blogging efforts!) to capturing all of my feelings, progress, excitement and hope for what I believe will be the best day of my life.

In engagement bliss,

Emily