Coming Up...

Hello Again!

This blog entry is dedicated to my future mother-in-law, Ruth! ;) I think about updating the blog all the time but I want to talk about something significant when I do. I have a few things to update about. We have finally scheduled our engagement photo session for October 27! That lands on Robert's 29th birthday. I asked him if he was sure he wanted to take them on his birthday and he reminded me that "a birthday is just another day." I DISAGREE, but that's okay. I have the rest of our lives together to convince him otherwise. :D So I guess we'll just have to take the day to celebrate our upcoming nuptials as well as his birth. What a fun day!

On the same subject, I have had this chair sitting in our house for a few months:

I purchased it for $60 off craigslist with the intentions of painting it a different color using this tutorial I found on pinterest: Painted Upholstery. We will use it as a prop in some of our engagement pictures. I'm excited to see how it turns out. If it ends up looking super awesome maybe we can find a place for it in our new home.

Now that we're about 8 months away from the BIG day, we've started talking more about ideas for decorations, food, flowers etc. I know 8 months is still a long time but I can't believe we're even this close to our wedding already. I remember when we were saying "16 months is forever..." Things sure are coming along!

365 Days to go

Sneak Peak: Ceremony Site

We went to Oak Glen today to see our venue. There were a ton of kids there on a field trip so it was pretty lively. The location where our ceremony will take place is above the grounds where the main house and barn are located so by the time we got up there it was nice and quiet and we had the area to ourselves. It is SO pretty!!! When we took the family out there in February there were no leaves on the trees and the grass wasn't very vibrant. The coordinator told us it would be "a little more green in April" so I expected just that, a LITTLE green. It was COMPLETELY green! The trees are filled with leaves and the ground has much more color. It's so beautiful. God willing, it will be just as gorgeous this time next year! It's such a great place and we're so happy to have found it! It was really cool to stand there with my future husband and envision our big day taking place in that very spot. I'm so excited to marry the man of my dreams in just one short year :) 

After our visit to the ceremony site we ate at the restaurant from where the food will come for the wedding. It was really good! Robert especially loved the homemade applesauce. It's just not Oak Glen without a taste of something made with apples. It was a really great day. 365 days and counting!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

We had our engagement photo session scheduled for March but it decided to rain on our chosen day. We figured we have a year so we weren't terribly upset over it :)

I've had two dreams now about the BIG day. The first one consisted of grass table cloths and not enough centerpieces.... DON'T EVEN ASK! Luckily, the last one I had was a lot less stressful. All I can remember about it now, is that I was wearing a dress that was completely the opposite of my actual dress. Yes, I found my wedding dress! I've kept this little bit of information quiet because I felt like it might be weird that I found it 14 months in advance! What can I do, right? Remember when I said we're a little ahead of schedule? Well, I meant it. We don't have much to worry about until it comes time to pick out flowers and decorations. I think I'll take my time over the next year and slowly collect as we see fit. If it weren't for my anxiety ridden personality, I would say the planning for this wedding is pretty low key.

I have a vacation coming up soon. Robert and I are going to make a trip back out to Oak Glen to see our venue in the state it should be in by this time next year. I'm really excited!

Updates!

I feel like A LOT has taken place this month. Robert and I did go up to Pine Rose Cabins in Lake Arrowhead as we had scheduled and we actually ended up going to look at a venue called the Lavender Farm in San Diego the day before that. The Lavender Farm was beautiful but it didn't end up being what we had imagined. Pine Rose was a really cool spot but that venue was way out of our price range.

So, remember that venue I blogged about earlier? The one with the restriction on certain types of music? Well, it's official. That's the place we're getting married at! We went up there this weekend with Robert's parents and my mom and sister, and signed the contract. I'm so excited! You might be asking yourself how we came to this conclusion when we were originally so against it. Well, we have Robert's brother and sister-in-law to thank for that. When we told them about the place their reactions were unlike anyone else's. I think I was originally really worried about our guests having a good time and when Jeff and Jenny expressed to us that they thought it would be really cool it really helped us both to look at it from a different perspective. The bottom line is that it's not going to matter what kind of music is being played at our wedding. People are going to enjoy it or not. They're going to dance to it, or they won't. Plus, the band that was suggested seems to have a wide range of well known cover songs. This venue is just perfect for the vision we have for our wedding, Vintage, rustic elegance. Okay, it's really more my vision but Robert likes it too! :)

At this point we're really ahead of the game. Most would say too far ahead of the game but that's just my style! Oh yeah, we also moved the wedding from February to April of 2013. This way there will be more green on the trees and in our pockets!

Real Marriage

Friday evening and Saturday morning, Robert and I attended a marriage conference called Real Marriage by Pastor Mark Driscoll. It was a great event about real issues that come up in real marriages. Although we're not quite there yet, it definitely brought up some things where I found myself thinking "Yeah, I really do need to change that about myself" or "That's something I know I should work on." He focused a lot on single people and currently married couples but I felt like there were some great tools for us engaged folk. There is a lot to look forward to in building a marriage. I know it's going to be a rough road getting to know each other in an even more intimate setting, but I know that there is no one else in the world I'd rather be learning and growing with for the rest of my life. We're going to be great. I can feel it in my blood!

We have another venue appointment up in Lake Arrowhead this Sunday. I'm really excited to see what the grounds look like. I've been googling weddings at this place and the pictures look amazing. Plus we'll get to see what Lake Arrowhead looks like in February. After our stop there, we're going to take the liberty of celebrating Valentine's Day a few days early. Shopping and food. What more could a girl ask for?

Stuff & Things

Since my last post we have come to the conclusion that the venue we were originally hoping for is not going to work out. I've come to terms with it (hehe). We went to look at another venue in Oak Glen this past weekend. It was perfect! Great area for the ceremony and beautiful spot for the reception. Plus, the price was good! The only catch was that they require their weddings to play only the type of music that fits in with the theme of the venue which is 1940's or earlier. They provided a list of approved bands for us to choose from and once we took a listen we decided that it's just not doable. We agreed that folk, hillbilly, bluegrass is just not something we can settle with. So back to the drawing board on that!

Last night we had our appointment with Dee Dee. She is A-MAZING! I couldn't stop staring at her work hung all around her cozy little office. Not only is she fantastic at what she does but she really took the time to talk us through how she works and what we can expect from her. We never had any doubts! Like I told Robert, she's "my kind of woman!" She's beyond punctual, she has plenty of back-up plans, and she gave us those double walled (sweat less) cups! Haha. I hate a cup that sweats :( LOVE HER! Our engagement session is likely going to take place some time in March. I can't wait!