4 months

till "I do."

Yikes. I gotta get busy!!!

Card ... cage???

When I started thinking about what kind of card box we wanted to have at our wedding I was at a loss. There were so many traditional choices that can be found on any number of numerous websites but I decided that I wanted something that was not traditional and maybe just a little unique or different. My first choice was to use an antique looking chest. I found many choices at local craft stores but they just didn't seem to fit with our decor. Then I started thinking that maybe we should just use a hurricane vase, since we are already using one for something else - that I'll blog about later. But, then we would end up with two hurricane vases and that wasn't unique at all. So, I started searching around and discovered that something that a lot of brides are doing is birdcages. At first I thought well, that's not really unique because a lot of people are doing it. But, I kept getting drawn back to the idea of using one. So, I brought all my suggestions to the husband-to-be and asked him what he wanted to use - and he said "the birdcage"! So, I got busy researching for the best price and I found this birdcage from this website (where I also purchased some of the items for our center pieces and favors - which I blog more about later).
It was very reasonably priced (under $15) and when it arrived I knew that we had made the right choice. We plan on putting spray painting it black (its currently a bronzish color) and putting red rose petals on the bottom. We also plan on wrapping some ribbon around it and placing a monogram on the front, probably this one:
(designed by BriannaNichole)

Here is our inspiration photo of what we want the finished product to resemble:
I got this photo from a fellow blogger, Stefanie who got it from Knottie mauiluv's bio . This is the same birdcage that we bought!!!

I'll make sure to post a picture of our finished product!

Something new

My something new will be this beautiful fresh water pearl and Swarovski crystal vine cuff bracelet that Jon purchased for me as a gift to wear on my wedding day!
We found this bracelet on Etsy from seller Nanda. It's prefect and will go perfectly with the rest of my wedding day jewelry!

125

In 125 days I'll be getting married!!!

Woo-hoo!!!

There is a lot left to do even though everyone thinks that everything is done - it is not! Sure the vendors are selected and our venue is secured and my dress is hanging in the closet with BOTH pairs of my shoes ... but we've still got all the little details to deal with like printing our invitations and RSVP cards and all the envelopes for both and another small detail like RENTING THE TUX's ... plus a million other things.

It's gonna be a busy few months yet ... but in the end - it will all be worth it!

Wedding Day Hair

I've finally decided how I want to wear my hair. Up and curly with some cute little hair pins that I just purchased :)

These are my inspiration photos:
(I have no idea where I got these photos - I think it was the Hair Bio - but I'm not sure)

My hairstylist and I agree that the side sweep in the front will help minimize my fly-aways and that an up-do is the best way for me to keep the most curl all day since my hair is very, very straight and does not often hold curl for very long.

These are the *perfect* hair pins that I just purchased from Esty seller ButterflyEnchantress. They are white stephanotis flowers with pearls - which are the exact same accent flowers that I will have in my bouquet!
I'll be going up to my salon in El Doraldo Hills in late January for another trim and to have my hair trial along with a makeup trial with the salon's owner. Thanks to Linsey, one of my very best friends and bridesmaid, for the suggestion of my hairstylist!

Flower Girl Baskets

When Jon and I got engaged we both agreed that we wanted two flower girls in our wedding - my neice Shyann and Farina's (my cousin and Maid of Honor) daughter, Taeyah. By the time March rolls around, Shyann will be 6 and Taeyah will almost be 4! They are adorable!

Early in the wedding planning process I had mentioned to Jon that I was not fond of flower girl baskets and I thought maybe the girls could carry pomander balls of roses instead. But, Jon had decided that he wanted the girls to carry baskets and toss petals as they walked down the aisle ahead of me. So, I started the search to find the most reasonable baskets that were as adorable as these two little girls will be on our wedding day. I searched website after website after website. These baskets are not cheap! But, finally, I found the perfect baskets, at a reasonable price, and we ahead and placed the order this morning.
The basket is simple yet elegant - and it was right in the budget that I wanted to spend! The girls are going to be adorable walking down the aisle together (hopefully in matching dresses - that has yet to be determined) tossing out red rose petals. I can't wait!!!

We've been blogged!

We spent last Friday morning in Old Sac with our photographer, Debbie Brown, taking our engagement photos during our Getting To Know You Session! We had such a great time! It took us a little bit to get use to being in front of the camera but once we did - it was sooo much fun! It was a beautiful fall morning and Old Sac is such a unique and fun place. Our amazing photographer captured some great photos and posted them on her blog - you can see them by clicking here.

Go check out our photos!

Thank you Debbie for an amazing morning and amazing photos! We feel so blessed that we've got such an amazing photographer and we can't wait for the wedding!!!

Engagement/Getting to know you session

Tomorrow, Jon and I are having an engagement photo session/getting to know you session with our wedding photographer Debbie Brown (www.debbiebrownphoto.com or www.debbiebrownphoto.blogspot.com). We are very excited! We'll be meeting Debbie in Old Sac and I'm excited to spend some time with her and I'm excited to have the day off work to spend some quality time with my husband to be. I'll post an update next week about how the session went!