6 Months to Go - and the Start of a New Year!

Dec. 29th marked 6 months until our wedding day!  While I am so excited - it's starting to get real.  There have been a lot of things I've put off "until 6 months".  Well, 6 months is here and decisions have to be made!  (AAAHHHH!!!)  In the very near future we will be:

• starting our registry - which of course means we need to decide what we need and where we want to register!
• choosing bridesmaids dresses - my bridesmaids and I have looked a few times and I'm leaning towards a dress, but no decisions have been made...yet...
• cake - we need to choose a bakery (preferably one that is not ridiculously overpriced) and then choose the flavors.  This is one task James is looking forward to - he's been asking for tastings for months now!
• purchasing my accessories - I have not yet purchased shoes.  Yes, there was a blog entry over a month ago about shoes and I have yet to commit.  I will be doing this and hopefully getting my jewelry soon as well
• transportation - we need to get the wedding party from the chapel, around for pictures, and then to the reception.  We also need to get guests from the hotel to the reception.

In the slightly more distant future:

• choosing invitations - I've liked aspects of a few, so may put them together myself...total disaster?  We'll see what I decide!
• re-meeting with the florist and planning decorations
• food tasting at the country club to choose entrees
• choosing and assembling place cards and programs
• creating a seating chart - the dreaded dinner seating assignments.  My plan right now is to create a diagram and use different color paper tabs to represent different groups (Thompsons, Barrs, friends, coworkers, etc)

Mix in a bridal shower or two and a bachelorette party and these next few months are going to be busy!  

I cant' believe it's already the end of 2012!  When we got engaged, almost a year ago, and set our date for summer 2013 it seemed so far off.  In the blink of an eye we've been engaged for a year, moved in together, planned, and invested time in our relationship.  We've had definite ups and downs in 2012 and look forward to 2013.  Here's to a year of love, laughter, learning, growth, and friendship - CHEERS!

The Holidays - New Traditions

Because my family lives in WI and James' family lives in VA, our plan is to alternate spending  Thanksgiving and Christmas with each family.  We haven't started the alternating until this year - I am staying in VA for Christmas and celebrating with James and his family.  While I am so excited to spend Christmas with James for the first time, I am sad about not being with my family.  I am comfortable and used to my family and our traditions - I love them!  I always look forward to eating the Christmas Eve food my mom makes (that my grandma made before she passed away).  I like to see my parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  We've started a gift swap exchange that has been a lot of fun...  

I don't know what to expect with James' family for Christmas.  They have their traditions - although I'm sure none too different from ours, they will be different.  I've asked James a bunch of questions - what times we go where, what to wear, who we give gifts to.  It's foreign to me when typically the holidays are full of wonderful tradition.  But that's part of getting married and blending families, right?  Learning new traditions and creating our own.  I am so lucky because James' family is great - they are so nice to me and welcome me to any event.  They include me in everything they do as a family.  I can't imagine entering a family where that wasn't the case!  How terrible to dread holidays and family gatherings because you don't get along with your (future) in-laws.  I'm sure this Christmas will be fantastic and I will learn new traditions while James and I create a few of our own.  

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends!  Enjoy spending time with your families this holiday season and may you find comfort and joy in the traditions, new and old.  

Update:  It's Christmas night and I wanted to add that the past two days have been hard for me - I've cried twice, my mom has cried, and I've missed seeing my family.  I LOVED being with James this morning to open gifts and check our stockings.  James's family was wonderful and we shared great faith, food (Barr/McElfresh/Rose chefs - mmmmm), gifts, and conversation.  Don't get me wrong, it was lovely but it wasn't the same.  I'm sure this routine will get easier and start to feel "right" but honestly, this Christmas just didn't feel the same.  I am grateful for my family, my "new" family, and my friends who all love me so much - if they didn't I wouldn't have things to miss or other good stories and traditions to pick up.  I hope they know how much I love them and treasure them in return.

Pinterest

I have been "pinning" ideas for our wedding on Pintrest since before James and I were engaged - yes, I'll admit it!  I titled it "Someday" so it was ok...  Anyways, Pintrest has given me so many ideas - and so many things I can't imagine pulling off or wanting to pull off - for the wedding.  From decor to gowns to cakes to bridesmaids gifts, Pintrest has ideas for it all.  I've loved it!  At some point I know I will have to stop looking though, or I will never make any decisions!  

Another great use for Pintrest is for advice.  There are links to blogs about DIY do's and don'ts.  There are links to date night ideas or special anniversary gift ideas.  I found this blog today and I think it's great: 25 Tips of a Successful Marriage.  I'm not sure about all of the advice given here but a lot of it is wonderful.  

If you aren't on Pintrest, I recommend it.  You can get ideas for literally everything on there - recipes, gifts, events, fashion, architecture...you name it!  As a final thought:  I am so excited for our wedding - and then for our marriage.  I couldn't imagine a better match for me if tried.  My dream is to think that same thought in 5 years, 10 years, 50 years.  I am confident that with a little love, work, and laughter, I will!

BM Dress Shopping

I took to opportunity to go shopping for bridesmaids dresses while I was home in WI for Thanksgiving.  I was lucky enough to get all 4 of my Midwest girls and my mom together to grab lunch and then look at dresses.  We had a great time!  When we went into the store, I had the idea of finding a dress color/designer and letting each bridesmaid choose their dress style.  So we went to work pulling dresses.

We pulled quite a few to try on and start figuring out what features we liked and which features wanted to avoid.  We all decided that we didn't like shiny/reflective fabrics (such as satin).  I liked a more structured, sophisticated look.  I also realized that I wanted something that didn't look "bridesmaid-y".  We agreed that we liked sweetheart necklines.  As we got into it, we all were in agreement on a lot of things - so, we went in looking for a general color or designer and ended up all having one favorite.  Both Laura and Jen tried it on and it looked fabulous on both of them.  In the end, all SIX of us chose the same dress as a favorite.  We have a contender.

While the girls tried on dresses, I got a glass of champagne!

I took this information back to VA and shared with my VA bridesmaids.  Today the four of us and James's mom went out looking at dresses.  Of course, Williamsburg Bridal and Formal carried the line of dresses that our favorite was a part of, but didn't have that dress in store.  We went about our appointment in the same way as we had in Milwaukee.  We pulled a lot of dresses and began trying them on.  As we went through, there were aspects of a lot of dresses that we liked but not many that we loved.  We didn't all agree on what we liked and didn't, but we agreed that most weren't it.  Finally, we did find one dress that we all really liked and that looked good on both Catherine and Sarah.  Another contender!  

Now, to share photos of all the dresses with all bridesmaids and moms and see what people think.  We were able to get a photo of different dresses in the shades of purple that our choices came in.  So many variables and so many choices!  I want to get what I like - obviously, it's my wedding - but I also want my ladies to feel confident and comfortable and to love their dresses.  These aren't cheap, so I want them to at least like what they get.  Luckily we have all been in agreement and on the same page so far.

 Here's a few pictures of the dresses that were tried on.

These are the color options - not dress styles.