Archive for category Real Weddings

I follow HUNDREDS of wedding blogs – seriously. Hundreds. There are a lot of talented bloggers out there full of great ideas but my favorite posts are always the real weddings. I love seeing gorgeous ideas actually in use and every once in a while you get a wedding like Kelsey & Carl’s that just really takes your breath away.

Now to be fair – I LOVE pink. I LOVE vintage. And I LOVE flowers. And this wedding has a lot of all three.

Check it out on Style Me Pretty!

Surprise wedding dances aren’t exactly new anymore. Youtube is chalk full of videos of couples dancing to a lovely sweet song that “accidently” scratches and then turns into a wild, fun dance. I love the twist in this one – it’s the father/daughter dance rather then the couple and it’s hilarious. If you and your dad have the type of personality and relationship to pull this off, it’s definitely a memorable way to enjoy a dance with dad!

Today J and I celebrated (well, gave each other cards, not much of a ‘celebration’) our four year dating anniversary. Being with J for four years is like one of those Twilight Zone episodes where it feels impossible that we’ve been together for FOUR WHOLE YEARS and at the exact same time feels impossible that it has ONLY BEEN FOUR YEARS!

Four years and one day ago a couple girlfriends and I were having a girls night after the television show that J directs and I produce (I assistant produced at the time). One of the girls mentioned J and I went on and on and on and on about what a wonderful guy I thought he was. Finally she interrupted my soliloquy to say “Do you like J??????” It was like a light bulb went on in my head “Um, yes. I think I do!” I was giddy and embarrassed at the same time. J is a lot older than me and we come from different religions. I didn’t think that a ‘real’ relationship was possible for us. But dang. But he was so cute and so sweet that I had a MAJOR crush.  The next evening a mutual friend was having a party at a club. J walked in with his buddy and I got tingly. It felt like we were drawn to each other that night.

I was convinced immediately that I wanted to be with this man. But it took him a little bit longer to be so sure about me! We dated for a couple months. Then he got sent to St. Louis for a big event that the TV Network we work for was putting on. A girlfriend and I decided to go to St. Louis too even though we didn’t have to work. We drove. During the event this girl got really sick. She decided to fly back to Birmingham, leaving me to drive 10 hours alone. Ugh. Awful. Well, J thought it was pretty awful too, so he gave up his quick and easy 1 hour non-stop flight to drive back 10 hours and through 5 states so I wouldn’t have to be alone.

Before we left I had prayed for a sign that we should be together. I asked specifically for rainbows. During our 10 hour drive through 5 states we saw 10 rainbows! It was his sacrifice and all those dang rainbows that had me convinced that J was the one for me. Every day over the past four years has been filled with thoughts of him. Every day I’ve come to know and love him more. And in only 80 days I’ll be his wife. I can’t believe how lucky I am. I hope it doesn’t rain on our wedding day… but if it does, I pray for a rainbow!

J and I are getting married in the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church requires some form of marriage preparation before you can get married. We chose to go on an Engaged Encounter weekend.

Let’s be honest here. I was DREADING this. Absolutely dreading it. J is the sweetest man ever, but he’s more of a “doer” than a “sayer”. He’ll do sweet things for me all day long, but when it comes to whispering sweet nothing in my ear, he’d probably tell me that my ear smelled nice… or something goofy like that. Poor J was dreading this weekend even more than I was.

First things first. It was FIVE hours away. They offered weekends in Birmingham but none that worked with J’s crazy traveling schedule. But even WITH gas money, the EE in Mobile was $100 cheaper than the one in Bham. That helped convincing J that the long drive was worth it.

And it REALLY WAS worth it. It was such an amazing weekend. We listened to talks given by couples that had been married for 50 + years and one that had been married for almost 30 years discuss the trials and joys in their own marriages. The ups and downs and how they dealt with them. It was inspiring to hear stories of couples who have had a lifelong, successful and happy marriage. Who remained committed to each other despite human weaknesses.

After the talks we split up and wrote love letters to our fiancés, based on several different questions. J’s not much of a “sayer” but he’s a darn good writer!! After we wrote our letters we got back together to read and discuss them. I LOVED reading what J wrote to me. I KNOW J thinks I’m terrific, but to have a love letter that says so means so much to me! We were able to discuss some minor issues we have, our hopes for the future, how to resolve conflict and how to make decisions. The whole weekend was so edifying and fruitful. I feel like J and I really connected and grew as a couple. If you would have asked me prior to the weekend if I thought J and I would get a divorce I would have said “I hope not”, but after this weekend I’d say “DEFINITELY NOT!”

I highly recommend making an Engaged Encounter weekend or doing some other form of marriage preparation. The statistics they told us were that 1 out of every 2 marriages ends in divorce, but only 1 out of every 500 marriages of couples who attend an Engaged Encounter end in divorce! I like those odds! !

I just found out that I have received the Susan B. Anthony List Young Leader Award . They give out four awards every year to young women who exemplify leadership in the community. I have to say, I’m wondering how they couldn’t have come up with someone better than moi! Maybe I should offer some recommendations of some really outstanding young women. Maybe they thought “heck, this girl has potential… and she won’t be considered YOUNG for much longer… so let’s hop on it!” Hehe!

But heck, for right now I’m going to bask in it. I’m thrilled to death!! THRILLED. They are sending me to DC for a Gala at the Willard Hotel, which is so fancy I’d never even heard of it and subsequently passed out when I googled it. BEAUTIFUL! Don’t tell the organizers, but I’d be happy in a Holiday Inn!!

The ONLY problem (other than their lack of discernment in picking ME) is that the gala in DC falls in the middle of my busiest wedding planning stretch ever. At first I thought there is NO WAY I’m flying to DC in the midst of this hectic time. But then my Dearest reminded me that it is quite and honor, a once in a lifetime opportunity, and that I can sleep on our honeymoon!!

March 19: Drive to St. Louis
March 20th: Bridal Shower in St. Louis
March 21st: Engagement Pics in St. Louis
March 22nd: Drive back to Bham
March 23rd: Back at work
March 24th: Trip to DC for Gala
March 25th: Fly back to Bham, prepare and film TWO shows, Mom comes in town
March 26th: Fun with Mom in Bham
March 27th: Fun with Mom in Bham
March 28th: Bridal Shower in Bham
March 29-April 1: Fun with Mom in Bham
April 1: Fly to St. Louis with Mom
April 2nd: Good Friday in St. Louis
April 3rd: Bridal Shower in St. Louis
April 4th: Easter
April 5th: Fly back to Bham

I’m back from a glorious 10 day trip home to St. Louis for wedding planning…. Um I mean for work. Yes. My employer sent me to St. Louis for work.

First things first. We had an appointment at our reception venue for a menu tasting. It was during another wedding, which I thought was simultaneously really weird and really cool. The poor bride kept looking up to the balcony where we were eagerly leaning over the ledge (not so) subtly stalking her wedding.

Jody was a tad disappointed that he missed out on our wedding crashing experience, so for a week I had been referring to our tasting as the “wedding crashing”, he probably didn’t even know we had a real appointment. Ah the deceit. Hehe! As you know, I like seeing our venue in action and he likes pretending he’s Vince Vaughn (minus the not so exemplar behavior!)

SOURCE

Mom, Dad, Jody and I had an absolute blast. We ate dinner in the balcony and loved everything they served us. We expected plan ole` wedding food, but we were all pleasantly surprised. We had chicken marsala, which we’ll likely choose as one of our meat selections. And roast beef, which three of us thought was a little dry and one of us LOVED.

The room was BEAUTIFUL… even though it wasn’t decorated to our tastes. (Come on, fake roses in glass vases AND white feathers?… Didn’t seem to mesh).

We spent the whole night thinking about our wedding. Dreaming about what our night would be like. If we have half as much fun at our real wedding as we did crashing this one, I think it will be a success!! It’s amazing to think that the next time we’re in that room we’ll be husband and wife!! Yay! Can’t wait!

So we are t-minus four months until wedding day. Since I live 10 hours away from where our nuptials will take place, I try to cram as much as possible in to very short visits back to St. Louis. Thankfully, my wonderful employer is sending me to St. Louis to produce a show, I’m leaving tomorrow and I’ll be gone 10 days! Yay! And guess who my wonderful employer is sending along as the director of the show?! My beloved!!!! Double yay!! (Technically, he’s the real producer; I just take notes… triple yay?)

So we have two weekends in St. Louis. That’s NINETY SIX blissful hours of pure wedding planning! (Not to mention the 5 days in between those two weekends which will give me some added time with my wonderful folks!)

I am really getting such a kick out of being a bride to be. I kind of understand why girls cry after the wedding is over. What will I google!? What kind of blogs will I read? What kind of blogs will I WRITE? I’m already a little nostalgic about my wedding and its still FOUR months away. I really hope these feelings make me cherish each second of my wedding day. Not get all fussy about things not going perfectly. Who cares if it rains (eek!). Who cares if the flowers aren’t perfect or the cake is lopsided? What’s important is that I’m marrying the love of my life! Right? Now, please keep reminding me of that as the wedding gets closer! Hehe!