The Bridesmaids!

So now that I have asked all (lol theres only 3!) of my bridesmaids/MOH to be in our wedding its time to show off how I asked them and who they are! 

And there it is! I decided to make simple, pretty kraft paper cards with a personal note inside each one.

Taylor, Laura and Dana are my closest and best friends (aside from my fiance` of course!) and I couldn't imagine walking down the aisle without them! They are each unique, intelligent, quirky, funny, kind, amazing, wonderful women and I am too delighted that they will be in our bridal party.

Taylor, my sister- will be my Maid of Honor! What can I say about Taylor- only that she is the best sister a girl could ask for. No matter what she always has my back, (and I of course always have hers)- we are sisters, so we always look out for one another. Shes crazy and funny, and the most caring person I have ever met. She's also a super talented rock star!

Bridesmaid Laura- We met my sophmore year in college and have been best friends since. My fondest memories of college all include her- like all the times we spent having deep conversations in 'The Rat', or playing with mustaches, or that time we went to a concert and she sang on stage with our favorite band! (She is also a super talented rockstar). She is the Daria to my Jane.

Bridesmaid Dana- We met in high school, and it baffles me that it took until last year for us to get close. What can I say, Dana just gets me! We have too much fun double dating with our guys, and having life affirming conversations over starbucks coffee. Although it took us forever to realize that we should have been friends all along- I can't imagine doing this without her.

I love these ladies and I am so incredibly honored to have them by my side!

What do you think? Did you ask your bridal party in a special way?

-xo

Typeface Lovers, Please Stand Up!

*stands up*
It must be said that I spend a majority of my time looking at fonts...
I'm enthralled with how a word can be so drastically changed by the look of a font treatment. Which is why, to no ones surprise that I was seriously stressing over which font would be used for all of our wedding stationery needs! There were so many options, I could do a pretty, fun cursive; or a skinny lettered sans-serif hand written font, or a block font, or a handwritten cursive, or a combo of the two! And each different kind of font would have said something different about us as a couple!! So maybe I stressed over which font we would be using a little TOO much, but after all my searching I finally found the perfect font for us.

So before I show you the font, here were a few contenders:

Carolyna Pro Black

Jane Austen

Jacques & Giles

Some Weatz Swashes

Amatic SC

Comic Zine

Efforesce

Peony Pro

 and finally drumroll please......Our Font:

Bombshell!

See that right there? This is our wedding font!! This typeface was exactly what I was looking for, handwritten, cursive, elegant, and a bit timeless. I couldn't be happier with our font choice.

How about you, did you endlessly search for the perfect font? 

-xo

Finding the Venue

Shortly after we got engaged (well actually like two weeks after we got engaged) we booked our venue! I know that sounds crazy and a little premature but we knew where we wanted to have our wedding! And figured, why not?

Many of our special moments have happened in Clove Lakes Park, we've went on dates there, spent countless hours roaming through it, and over the years those trees became our park. We even got engaged there! So it only seemed fitting that this cute little venue on its own private island-bridge in the middle of the park was the place we would have our wedding.

So without further ado-
We are getting married at The Lake Club!

 The outside looks super pretty at sunset, with all the lights strung around it.

And this is what it looks like inside all dolled up for a wedding!

Whenever I see these pictures there is this little voice in my head that goes- 'This is where we are getting married! This is where we are getting married! This is where we are getting married!'

I am over the moon excited about our venue- and I know the future mister is too! It means alot to us that we get to celebrate one of the most special moments in our whole lives with our friends and family, in one of the most meaningful places to us. 

What about you, did you and your future mister know exactly where you wanted to get married? Or did you check out many venues until you found the perfect one?

-xo

Holiday Weekends

So this past long weekend was quite eventful! It was Valentine's Day and then it was my first time going to a Bridal Expo!

My forever Valentine treated me to banana ice cream-my favorite! And of course a beautiful lilac rose- (he knows me so well). And I made him cookie dough bites from scratch, inspired by my lovely bridesmaid Dana- (which he devoured haha!)
We spent the night just watching silly rom-coms and eating pasta. So perfect.

 And here is the link to the recipe I used, from Chef Chloe.

The Bridal Expo was also quite interesting. I took my parents, my sister and of course my fiance`- thinking that most people would do this...apparently not, in some cases the bride wasn't even there haha! It wasn't very big at all- but it definitely helped show the future mister and I exactly what we want and definitely don't want at our wedding; and also helped to give us a gauge on the cost of some things i.e- photographer, and DJ. Although the styling and things presented were not exactly my taste at all- It was still an enjoyable and informative experience and I even won a few raffles! (Yay free hair cut, free curling iron, free skin analysis, and free shoes!)
A few realizations the future mister and I came to is that certain things we don't want to sacrifice on, especially when the thing we really want is just as much as something that would be considered the norm but is not exactly what we are looking for. This was mainly about our photography decision. (more about this in a future post!) We also realized that although a DJ may be advertising that he plays mostly top 40, has two HUGE SCREEN TV's and lights to light an entire city, that doesn't always mean that that DJ won't cater to or work with your vision of what you want for your wedding. The fiance` and I had been particularly worried about this because there are certain songs we want to hear, and certain complete genres we don't want to hear on our wedding day- so it was relieving to hear that there are DJ's out there that will work with you!

Also there was a photobooth vendor there so we got to test it out!

I hope your Valentine's Day and President's Day weekend was just as good and love filled as mine!

-xo

Enjoying Being Engaged

Well its definitely been a while!!

The holidays have come and gone and I have neglected this lovely little blog, shame on me- but definitely NEVER again  :)

I guess a quick update is in order...

Since my last post here, a lot has happened: we have booked a venue, asked our closest and best friends to be in our bridal party, and I said yes to THE dress! (more about those in future blog posts) but mostly the future mister and I decided that we needed to slow down and just enjoy being engaged before everything gets super crazy! And we have definitely enjoyed some down time! The future Mister has been gearing up to start student teaching. It has been quite an adventure clothes shopping with him, who knew a guy could be more particular about the clothes he wears and more obsessed with bargain shopping then any woman I've ever met!! (Although he was very cute doing it!) Other than that we have enjoyed hanging out with friends and discovered a new love for crepes.

Here are some pictures for proof:

Us (on the left, with our good friends (also bridesmaid and best man!) Anthony & Dana, on a day trip to New Hope, PA.

We have been on a crepe eating binge. So far the best combo we found is fresh strawberries, bananas, maple syrup and home made whipped cream.

All in all it has been good to just sit back and relax and enjoy being engaged!

How about you, did you and your future hubby have time to enjoy this special time or did you dive head first into wedding planning?

-xo

The Proposal (Part Two)

So now for the story of how it happened...

Every year for the past three years Brian and I go to our favorite park and take pictures in the same spots. It started as a spur of the moment decision but it has become a bit more of a tradition, something almost sacred between us. Any way this was our third year in a row going to do this and we were having so much fun going to all the different spots we would always go to. Once we finally got to the last shot Brian insisted that I go stand so he could focus the camera and set up the shot. After setting it all up he came over to me and was suddenly acting very weird! And I kept asking him “why are you looking at me like that” and he kept saying “i love you!”. And then he rustled around in his pocket and pulled out a small rectangular box. And I gasped. And he got down on one knee and asked “will you marry me” and I of course said “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!” and then once it finally sunk in that this was real- I said yes. And then he pulled me up in the best hug and we kissed. It couldn't have been more perfect- and I couldn't have been more surprised. Also he was sneaky and took this pic while it happened!

The Proposal (Part One)

It happened on Columbus Day - a day we usually spend in the park taking photos together. But before I tell all the lovely gory details of how we got engaged; lets backtrack and see why I SHOULD have known it was coming...

 1. Over the summer, The future Mister had taken to teasing (read that: torturing) me by dragging me into Jewelry stores to look at rings every time we went to the mall. If you know me, then you'll know how awkward I was with any and all of these encounters. It probably doesn't help that most people think I don't look old enough to be legally drinking let alone thinking about getting engaged. The future Mister definitely reveled in seeing me get so nervous/excited though- and then he would quickly squash any hopes of this happening in the near future by simply saying a proposal wouldn't happen for "like 5 more years".

 2. After around two months of these silly/awkward jewelry store encounters, he suddenly stopped bringing me into them, and started wearing a denim jacket 95% of the time. If you know him, then you'll know how he doesn't even wear a winter coat until mid- to late January, so the fact that he was wearing a denim jacket mid- September was WEIRD! And this alone should have tipped me off that he was up to something.

 3. Along with the Jacket came his school back pack. Which he also started carrying around with him 95% of the time. He would always do his school work at his home- and now he was suddenly coming up with excuses that he had to bring it to my house to "finish up studying" which by the way never happened- he never once took a book out of that back pack around me. hmmm....

4. Over the summer, one of the Future Mister's and my favorite band was allowing their fans to purchase a personalized song that could be about anything. We had been planning to write the description together, but at the last second He decided he was going to write it on his own- and told me I couldn't see what he wrote- and to "not ask or bother him about it until it comes". (He said that with a very scary serious face- which he never does, so I thought maybe this was how he would propose to me--)

5. The clues kept rolling in right up until the day before it actually happened. Sunday mornings, my family always cooks breakfast. On this particular morning we were discussing what everyone's plans were for Columbus day- I was saying how every Columbus Day the future Mister and I go to the park and take pictures in the same spots for the past two years and how this would be our third year doing this. My mom suddenly got this face on like a lightbulb went off in her head and she simply said "That must be a VERY special day for you guys." Then there was this weird eye interaction between my mom and the future Mister- and before I could really notice anything, the conversation quickly shifted to something completely different.

 Despite all of these things clearly pointing to a proposal I STILL had no idea it was coming. And I was completely taken by surprise when it actually did happen.

 Engaged or married girls, did you know your proposal was coming? Or did you only see the clues AFTER the fact, like me?