Where Has The Time Gone?

We are close to 5 months away and I'm starting to feel the pressure. My nights now revolve around something wedding related and my inbox is full of wedding emails. This week we have three vendor meetings.

The biggest check off our list is sending out our save the dates!

Happy Veterans Day!

The Never Ending {List}

I'm kind of in a weird planning phase. I have started the work on getting our Save The Dates, Invitations and programs designed. With that comes filling in the holes of our guest list. I've labeled everything in red on our guest list that needs to be filled in and I HATE red boxes. Lucky for me, my mom has really knocked some of those out in the past day or so. Also lucky since I HATE looking at our guest list. Never would I have thought that it would be this large but I will save all of that for another day.


Other than that we really haven't don't that much. I know there is still a lot to be done and I just need to go out and do it but...sometimes I would just rather watch football on Saturdays than cross things off my to-do list.


Things that need to be completed:


Book the cake baker (I know who I want and what I want, just need to do it)
Book the videographer
Find a florist
Decided how the heck I want to display our escort cards and what our escort cards will look like
Linens and rentals (I'm looking forward to this but I know that the list will be ever changing so...I don't have a huge urgency to do this)
Lighting (still to early to do this since I don't have a great floor plan laid out
Guest book (Clueless...)
Bridesmaid dresses (someday this will happen)
Exit vehicle (clueless...)

I'm thinking, wishing, hoping, praying that once I have our paper goods in hand and I start addressing the envelopes that it will make me want to kick into high gear. 


7 months until we say I DO!! 

Honeymoon {Booked}

This evening we finally booked our honeymoon and we both couldn't be more excited. I'm the person that could have flown to a single destination and stayed on the beach all week. Maybe it's because that was what we did each year for our family vacations but it's really relaxing to me. Clay on the other hand would be bored out of his mind.

{My Brother and I on the beach in San Diego}

So where did we decide to go? We are taking a cruise to St. Thomas, The Bahamas and St. Maarten. I will be able to sit on the beach some, or at the pool and Clay will be able to be a frequent visitor at the casino. 

Wedding Registry Adventures

I had every intention of taking pictures of our adventures in registry land but...I'm pretty sure the moment I mentioned it to Clay he was ready to walk out of the store. 


We started at Williams-Sonoma one early Saturday morning and had a great experience. We walked around picking out everything we really wanted or needed and nothing we didn't care to have. Somehow, we ended up with about 6 cookbooks so we did cut a few of those out. I had found a coupon in a bridal magazine a friend of mine bought me that scored us a free Bride and Groom Cookbook! I was pretty excited about that. 


Our next store was Pottery Barn because we thought it would be easy. The reason we were registering at PB to begin with was to register for dishes. The design we picked out comes in a few different colors so we decided to get 4 place settings in each. When we were at the store, we registered for 4 dinner plates, 4 cereal bowls etc. When I went to check our register online I realized that only in the store can you purchase individual dishes. Online everything is purchased in a set. To add to the confusion, the blue dishes were no longer being sold in store but only online (yet, that still haven't appeared online.) In the end, we decided to register for 8 settings of the white along with 4 settings in green and 4 settings in yellow and hopefully we will be able to trade a white set for blue. 


I think I was most excited about Crate and Barrel and I don't even know why! I love the store and the prices. Here we registered for our flatware and all of our glasses. C&B was the easiest store to register at, we didn't have to sit down with anyone and hear why we should create a registry with them, we were just handed a gun and off we went. Picking out flatware out was a battle but in the end Clay let me pick since I care about that type of thing. We also registered for a lot of white serving dishes a some really neat cooking tools that we are excited about. 


The last place we went together was Bed, Bath and Beyond. Not my favorite store in the world but I understand that most people have one near them. I don't like BBB because 1. the packaging (I know, stupid but I think it's ugly!) and 2. everyone goes to BBB when they see it on someone's registry list. We really didn't register for too many things here. The main thing is our pots and pans which we couldn't be more excited about. I currently hate what I have. 


Yes, we have one last store to conquer but Clay is leaving that task up to my mom and me. Macy's! I will be registering for China among a few other things since Macy's is a popular store among my family.  Hopefully we will knock Macy's out this weekend!


We did register at 5 stores (I HATE saying that) but...we don't have a huge list at each store. Crate and Barrel is by far the largest while Williams-Sonoma and Pottery Barn don't have very many things at all. We really did choose things we wanted or needed and didn't add anything just so that the list would be larger. 


My suggestions on registering.


1. Have a list of what you are looking for. If not, you will leave things off and end up registering for things you will never use. 


2. One store a day and go early! The earlier the better because no one else will be in the store. 


3. Let the guy hold the gun. For one, Clay was much better at it than I was but it also will kept him occupied! And, between the gun, a purse and a list, I couldn't hold it all!

Westin

A few months ago, I attended the grand opening of The Westin at the Domain for work. As soon as I walked into the hotel I just kind of fell in love. We don't have beautiful hotels in North Austin, we have normal hotels. This hotel is beautifully decorated, very modern-chic. 

Once we picked our venue I started to have people ask me about hotels. We started looking downtown but quickly realized I didn't want me guests to have to pay $20 a day for parking on top of the room fee. 


I quickly called The Westin and made a block room reservation.  It was quick and easy and I'm sure they thought I was crazy since we had over 15 rooms booked in a matter of weeks. And that is without our save the date going out!


The night before the wedding, I will being staying in the suite that my girls and I will be getting ready in on my wedding day. The suite is beautiful,  lots of natural light and very big. Each suite has a large living room, wet bar, bedroom, full bath and a half bath. It will be the perfect amount of space for the morning of the wedding. This is also where Clay and I will stay on our wedding night. 

{The Living Room of the Suite}

Clay isn't someone who gets excited about all of this stuff. He would be perfectly happy with having a backyard wedding with paper plates so when I took Clay on a tour of The Westin and he left the hotel with a suite booked for him to get ready in I knew he was just as excited as I was about the hotel. 

Let's Rehearse

Somewhere in our wedding planning we made the decision not to have our rehearsal at our venue. There was no reason to tote our guests downtown, on a Friday, during rush hour for a 20 minute rehearsal. Instead, we will have it at our hotel. Easy-peasy. Once this decision was made it really opened up our options for where to host our rehearsal dinner. 


Today I met Clay's mom at Urban an American Grill inside The Westin where our guest will be staying. One word...a-mazing.


I knew that I would like the food, the food at the grand opening was great. The hotel and restaurant is beautiful and I remember when I first saw their private dinning space I said this would be a great place for our rehearsal dinner. 


We started lunch off with a mango, avocado and shrimp salad. Wow. It was so good. Like his mom said, I would have never ordered it and it was really amazing.


We each ordered a different entree. I ordered steak to check it our for Clay and Donna ordered the Salmon. Our Salesperson then ordered the scallops for the table. They were all great and I think Clay would approve of the steak. The portion was huge! I thought the scallops where the best and so simple. 


For dessert we had the doughnuts holes (crazy, I know) and creme brulee. The creme brulee was great but the donuts were surprisingly outstanding. There is nothing like fresh hot doughnut holes.

Clay's mom booked the dinning room for our rehearsal dinner and I couldn't be more excited. It is going to be a great way to start off our wedding weekend.


As for what we will be dinning on for our actual rehearsal dinner...that will be decided closer to the date when Clay can join us and we can enjoy a nice tasting. 

Southern Hospitality

Last week I got an exciting call from Blue Bell Creameries in Brehnam, Texas. A few weeks ago my mom sent a letter to them (yes, as in snail mail, they don't have a phone number listed online) and made a small special request for something for the wedding. Last week they called us and said they can complete our request!


So, today I made a trip here to take a look at our product! Now, you will have to wait until after the wedding or maybe just a little closer to find out exactly what we bought.

When I called Clay to tell him about this he just kind of laughed at me because I was so excited over something so small. Well, it is small but I am VERY excited. 

Change Of...Buttons

This weekend I went bridesmaid dress shopping with my 2 MOH, Mom, and Future MIL (post on that coming soon.) One place we went was Serendipity Bridal which is where I bought my dress. I saw my dress from afar as I'm keeping it from a secret from my maids. I was however browsing the stores new collection of Priscilla of Boston dresses. One word....all amazing! I love P of B. Probably my favorite designer. Sadly, my P of B dress I liked didn't end up being the one.


Ok...back to the post. As I was looking at the dresses, I loved the buttons on the back. I thought 'oh, I wish my dress had buttons. Wait, I should be able to add buttons. That should be easy.'


My mom walked over to my dress and confirmed that buttons would look good and easy to do. My bridal consultant called the designer on Monday and even better, they can add them for me. 

{Source}

I'm just adding buttons to my bodice and think it will make it even that much better. The best part of it all was going in Monday and being able to look at my dress again!. It should be shipped in the middle of September. I can't wait for it to get here. Now...I need to work on the shoes!

I Guess Our Guests Need To Eat

{Source}

This weekend Clay, my parents and I met with Shannon from Crave and the meeting couldn't have been better. We didn't know what we wanted, I just had a few ideas and even more things that I knew I didn't want. 


1. No chaffing dishes
2. No Buffet
3. No cliche wedding food


Simple as that. 


Our first decision was to go with stations. We will have four stations with completely different options. All the stations will be in the same area but the layout and station option should avoid having people wait in one long line as if they were in a cafeteria. 


{Our Stations}


1. Comfort Station (or I like to call it Clay's station)
2. Carving Station
3. Pasta Station
4. Salad Station


We will also have a round table that plates will go on, along with a large focal centerpiece of some sort and a pretty chalkboard such at this one!

{Source}

I would love to reveal the menu but the menu was formed by just bouncing idea off of each other and I didn't even write them all down! Once the menu is finalized I will be sure to post it.


I knew from the start that this was a meeting that I wanted my parents to attend. There were way too many decisions being made and way too much money being spent for Clay and I to decide everything. It was wonderful having them there along with Clay and I because we were really able to develop a menu that reflected us. We all agreed on the menu and then each chose an appetizer to try at the tasting. 


How was your menu developed? 

Happy Friday

I'm sure just like everyone else, I'm so glad it's Friday!

I thought I would leave everyone with this picture. This is the lake house my wonderful bridal party and friends have rented for my bachelorette party and I couldn't be more excited!

Wedding Related Weekend Plans:


-I'm meeting with a potential caterer which is really exciting. I just don't know what I want to eat on my wedding day so I'm excited to talk about the options.


-I'm taking my MOH's, Mom and Future Mother-in-Law to go bridesmaid dress shopping. Figures crossed it is as easy as finding my wedding dress but I have a feeling that it may not. 


If both of these tasks were accomplished, those would be two big checks off our list. 

My Fair Ladies

There are so many decisions to be made as soon as the wedding date is set. But if I'm being honest, the wedding party was decided on about 36 hours after Clay proposed. My list was pretty easy to choose. Being a bridesmaid requires a lot more than being a groomsmen so I didn't want to add anyone just so I matched Clay's numbers. In fact, I have one less that Clay does and I don't even care. One of my girls will walk down the aisle with two guys. I'm sure she won't be complaining about that!

{My Girls}

{My MOH's Amy and Kristen also my future Sister-In-Law's} 

{BM Carey who I have know for what seems like forever}

{BM Jenny -  I only have one cousin on my Dad's side and she is it! On a side note, this is a very old picture of all of us!}

{BM Whitney -  We met before my freshman year in high school and ended up going to college together}

{BM Kaitlin - My wonderful college roommate}

I love all of my girls for all different reasons and can't imagine spending my wedding day without any of them! In fact, one thing that I have always pictured when thinking about my wedding day is spending all day hanging out and getting ready with my wedding party.

{My Flower Girls}

{McKenize will be almost 3 when we get married}

{Collin will be 16 months when we get married and is definitely the youngest member of our bridal party}

Both flower girls are Clay's nieces and the daughters of my MOH's. A lot of brides seem to be stressed out about their FG and RB walking down the aisle. Me on the other hand could care less. If they don't walk down than they don't walk down. Collin hasn't even started walking yet so hopefully by April she will be a pro!

The Ring {Part 2}

Right after we were engaged, our lives were pretty busy.  We didn't have time to drive to Houston to finish the ring. 

A few weeks passed and I started to get really antsy and really wanted to finish my ring. We finally decided that we would drive to Houston early one morning so that I would get back before I needed to be at work.

I called the jewelry shop that we were recommended to and asked if I need to make an appointment. I was told no and then I asked if I could make one anyways. I was told no again. Ok then! I called three times before we actually made the trip up to Houston to make sure that the guy we were told to work with would be in and they said yes.

We drove to Houston early one morning and were there right when they opened. We walked in, pictures in hand, and asked for our guy.

He wasn't going to be in today.

Clay was about ready to walk out, I was lost and confused, and there we stood, 3 hours away from Austin, not knowing what to do.

Finally, we decided that we would start working with someone else.

Clay and I took a look at what they had and just like every other jewelry store, they didn't have what we were looking for. We decided that the best option would be to purchase an eternity band and cut it in half. We picked the diamonds for the band and suddenly it was all over and time to leave my ring with the store. 

It was really scary leaving Houston, without my ring and really not knowing what my ring would look like. 

A few days later I received an email with pictures of my ring.

My heart sank, it was absolutely perfect. If I wasn't in a public place, I would have screamed and jumped up and down. 

A few days later, my ring arrived at my parents house.  It was like getting engaged all over again!

The Ring {Part 1}

Clay and I have talked about getting married and engagement rings for really as long as I can remember. 


Secretly about two years ago, Clay's brother and sister-in-law were making a trip to a private jeweler in Austin and Clay and I went with them. I was sized for a ring and we even talked about what I liked. 


Since then, my tasted has changed a little but and I actually ventured out to a large jeweler with one of my bridesmaids to try on some rings about a year ago. I must say, rings look totally different on your hand than they do in a picture. 


I decided on what my dream ring would look like and sent it to Clay. This was last January. When I told him what I wanted, I also told him that I didn't want to discuss this anymore so that I didn't really know when it was coming.


In January, little did I know Clay had gone to our jeweler to start talking about my ring. 


Some point between January and May when he proposed, the jeweler found what he thought was the perfect diamond. 


Clay went over to take a look at it and decided that indeed it was perfect.


Next started the process of designed the remaining part of the ring. Once Clay had decided on what it would look like, there wasn't going to be enough time between that day and proposal day.


From what I have heard, Clay was a little stressed about it but made the right decision in the end. He had our jeweler place the diamond on a simple silver band.


When Clay actually proposed to me, he kept telling me 'this isn't the ring' 'this isn't the ring.'


In order to finish the ring we need to go to Houston, so, off to Houston we went...  

The Venue Search {Part 2}

I know you lost sleep over where Clay and I ended up choosing as our wedding venue. :)

We will be getting married in April at The Mansion in Austin, Texas.

{Source}

It is plenty large enough, it's inside and it has free parking which in downtown Austin is hard to come by! This venue is more old-antique looking than our style so we will be transforming the space into a modern ballroom.

When we were having a hard time deciding between places, I just felt like my creativity was much greater when picturing my wedding at The Mansion. 

Our ceremony and reception will take place in the ballroom and cocktail hour (although, it won't be an hour!) will take place in the courtyard.

Venue Booked: Big Check

The Venue Search {Part 1}

Yes, I'm the girl that has thought about my wedding since I knew what a wedding was. I didn't however have my wedding planned out as most people thought. Honestly, I didn't know much about what my wedding day would look like, not my dress, the venue or the colors. 


When Clay and I got engaged I was in a rush to select a venue and a date. I knew if we just picked a date, everything else would fall into place.


Venues are one thing that Clay and I had talked about for the past year or so yet we had a really hard time selecting where our wedding would be. I had already emailed several venues to gather information that way when the time came, we had a better idea of where to start. 


Our Venue Wish List
1. Large
2. Inside
3. Not in a hotel


See, our list wasn't even that demanding! 


Knowing most of the venues in the Austin area, surprisingly there wasn't a lot of venue to pick from that met our criteria. 


Initially we started with The Long Center. From pictures on the internet it was beautiful. We really liked how the room had floor to ceiling windows that displayed the Austin skyline without being in the heart of downtown where parking became a problem. After talking to the staff at The Long Center, there was just no way that we could fit our guest list into that room. I was a little sad after crossing this venue off of our list.

{Source}

Another option was Mansion at Judges Hill. As you can see from the picture, it is beautiful! It has an outdoor ceremony space and an indoor reception area and from what I have heard the food is amazing! We set up an appointment to view the space but sadly never made it to the appointment. Again, I think the space was just too small and didn't want to waste my time or theirs viewing the space.

{Source}

We also considered Villa St. Clair off the toll road in Austin near Manor. There were definitely pros and cons to this venue, just as there are to all venues. We both didn't like the location. No matter where our guest hotels where, it was going to be pretty far for them to drive. I also didn't like how the ballroom overlooked the parking lot. I just couldn't imagine dancing with Clay for our 'first dance' and then looking over into the parking lot. 

{Source}

Like Mansion at Judges Hill, they had an outdoor area that would be great for cocktail hour or an outdoor ceremony, weather permitting. In the end I think the biggest concern was the size. At that point in time, our guest list was still growing and with so many people from out of town it was really hard to determine what our final number would be. If it does rain on our wedding day, I can't see 220 people in the narrow hall way while they flip the ceremony space.


All of these venues are GREAT venues but sadly, none were for us. 


So where did we choose? I guess you will have to wait and see :)


Happy Friday!

Video of Clay's Proposal!

Being together for almost 5 years, Clay and I had definitely talked about getting married, what the rings would look like, our engagement, etc. 

Every time we talked about Clay proposing he always seemed to stress out about the whole thing as if I wanted this huge lavish ordeal in front of the world. That was not at all what I had in mind!

I did ask him if he could get pictures and video of it if possible. If not, I totally understood. I also asked him to have my family in town since they live in San Antonio or I knew our first stop would be driving to see them.

I was so glad to have a video of the proposal not only to be able to show my family and friends but to remind me of what happened! It all happened so, so fast that it was hard to really take in everything that was happening. 

Our Engagement Video

We're Engaged!

I definitely have some catching up to do as we have been engaged over two months now but finally after 4 1/2 years of dating, Clay and I are getting married!

{The Proposal-The Long Version}

I had a hint that it was coming sometime during my graduation weekend but never thought Clay would propose in front of our families. Clay had asked me months before if he could propose to me on graduation weekend but I almost took it as if he was trying to throw me off. The other big hint was that he never asked me what I wanted for graduation. Not that I expected a gift from him but....it was a little strange for Clay.

Once my actual graduation day came and went, I didn't think Saturday was an option since we had my graduation party that afternoon and a wedding to attend that night.


{Saturday, May 15}

That morning was really busy and I didn't have time to talk to Clay that much. He was extremely helpful making sure everything was completed before our families arrived. We had planned to sit down and eat breakfast that morning but that didn't happen. A few of us ate bagels as we were cleaning and setting up.


It was finally time for my party and both of our families had arrived at my parents house. Our families gathered in the backyard for a little bit before it was time for lunch.  Everyone grabbed something to eat and after being asked by Clay a few times, I finally grabbed my plate. I sat my plate down next to my Dad and left to get something to drink. When I came back, my Dad had moved and Clay was now sitting next to me. Weird, but I didn't put too much thought to it.


As we were enjoying lunch I noticed that Clay didn't have much food on this plate. When I asked why he wasn't eating he said he was full. Full from the bagel he had 7 hours earlier! I think I lost my appetite because at that point I knew Clay was up to something.


Shortly thereafter, Clay left the table for a few minutes and when he sat back down my Dad started to give a speech. Again, I didn't think anything of it since he did the same thing for my brother at his graduation.


At the end of his speech, he asked if there was anyone else that had anything to say. For a split second I thought, oh maybe my grandfather or uncle was going to say something or maybe I should get up and thank my parents. Like I said, that was only a split second because Clay jumped up, turned to me, and asked me to marry him! 

My parents had engagement gifts for Clay and me (a wedding planning book for me and a bottle of Crown with an aTm cup for Clay). They then brought out champagne and cigars for everyone and suddenly my graduation party turned into a big celebration.

I've said it again but it was absolutely the best proposal ever. Thank you to everyone that was involved, especially my parents for all of their hard work for the party and all of those who knew ahead of time but made sure that I didn't know.

I had asked Clay for pictures of the engagement (check) and if possible a video too (check) and he was able to get both.

Thank you to Amy and Kristen for getting the video and pictures!

Stay tuned for the video of the proposal and the plans we have made thus far!

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