4th of July Picnic turned Wedding Shower! ... SURPRISE!

My aunt and uncle are famous for their picnics. They always have these massive picnics where they invite their friends and our family and we all eat, and hang out, and just have fun. I was told that they were having a picnic on July 5th, in celebration of the July 4th holiday. I made some tasty meatballs in the crockpot and was ready to go have a picnic with my family. Well, we got to the picnic... and I noticed that a lot of the guys were sitting outside and only a few of the women were outside. My aunt told me she was having computer problems and asked me to come inside to look at her computer... and when I opened the door... SURPRISE!


I was SO surprised. A lot of my extended family from Virginia was present, as well as a few of my bridesmaids. My great-grandparents even made the trip to be at my shower. Well, actually, it was technically both Jason and my shower. They called it a "wedding shower," and he was in on the surprise.



First, I was told to sit in the corner on a chair appropriately adorned with bright pink balloons. A "Bride-To-Be" sash was placed on my shoulders, and the gifts were shoved into my lap. I opened tons of gifts, many of which I happily recognized from my Bed, Bath, and Beyond registry. I received lots of practical, useful gifts, such as a griddle from my grammy:



And some other gifts... that caused me to blush quite a bit:




After the gifts, the ladies joined the men outside for a picnic (I was the only guest who actually brought food, lol). We had burgers & dogs, mac & cheese, my oh-so-tasty meatballs, chips & dips, and of course---CAKE! My aunt made the cake for Jason and I, which made it even more special.



After we all finished eating, the ladies headed back inside and played games. The first game required several rolls of toilet paper and some ingenuity and creativity. Everyone was broken into teams of 3, and given 3 rolls of toilet paper. Each team had to construct a wedding gown of toilet paper in 10 minutes. I got to be the judge! It was so much fun, and lots of laughs were shared... as you can only imagine! The gown on my cousin Whitney, in the middle, was my favorite, and was deemed the winner.



After all of the gifts were given and the games were played, the guests slowly began to leave. But before most of everyone left, I managed to round the ladies up for a group shot. These people mean so much to me!



My next bridal shower, to be held by my bridesmaids, is scheduled for August 9th. All of my friends will be invited to that shower. This shower, given by my aunt Missy, was primarily for family and close family friends. I would've never guessed this shower was being planned, and I was so pleasantly surprised by everything! I'm so lucky to have such awesome family and friends!!!

Here's a few more random pics from the wedding shower:

108 Days to Go!

Yes, I'm counting down the days! Jason actually bought me a calendar for Christmas this past year, and I wrote down the number of days left until the Wedding on every single day.

Well I realize it's been quite a while since my last post. I know, I know. Shame on me. But, those of you who have ventured down the blissful road of nuptual planning know how busy (aka CRAZY) life can become. On top of wedding planning, I was taking classes towards my master's degree, teaching full-time, and chairing our graduation committee at work. Things are finally beginning to settle down a bit, and while I'm furiously busy planning and sorting out all of the teeny-tiny details of this wedding, I figured I should take a minute to let everyone know what's going on.

My invitations are FINISHED and beautiful. Thanks to some advice from friends, I checked out Ollie's selection of wedding invitations and found the PERFECT invitations. They were even better than I could've imagined. AND, to top it all off... I got all of my invitations for UNDER $30. How crazy is that!?

The bridesmaids dresses are in and BEAUTIFUL! I love the richness of the color. I'm so excited to see my girls in their dresses. I'm going shopping with my flower girls tomorrow for their dresses, and it's going to be a blast.

I had my first fitting last night for my bridal gown. So far, I'm going to need the straps shortened (I have a short torso), my waist taken in (because I've lost some weight... woohoo!), and my hem shortened (I totally expected that one). At my next fitting in August, Brenda (my seamstress) is going to pin the bustle. She wants to be sure the hem looks alright first before she does the bustle. I love my dress so much... I can't wait for the day when I don't have to take it off after a few minutes!!!

Well, here are a few wedding-related photos for you to savor for a bit. Here's a picture of my engagement ring, with my wedding band wrap.
My flower girls were fitted for their gowns this past weekend, also. Here's some pictures of our shopping experience!

Just some thoughts...

Well, today I am lucky enough to spend the day relaxing because of the snowy/icy conditions outside. SNOW DAY! One of the many perks of being a teacher ((smiles)).

As I'm just laying around, I'm thinking a lot about the wedding. I wish I could just snap my fingers and have the wedding be here NOW! I hate all of the waiting around. I know that I'm only 8 months and 5 days away from our wedding day, and time has definitely flown by since we got engaged on August 16th... but at the same time, I know how exciting it's going to be when we are finally husband and wife and I just can't wait!!! When I spend time with Jason on the weekends, we have so much fun together. Seriously, without a doubt, he is my best friend. He knows me better than anyone, and he makes me laugh. We have fun, no matter what the circumstances. Whether we're cooking dinner together, hanging out in the garage, curled up on the couch watching tv together, going to church, we always have a good time together. There is a level of comfort and security that I've found with him that I've never experienced with anyone else. I know that he's going to be an amazing husband, and a great father one day. I just can't wait to start our lives together!!!!!!

This time last year, we were in California. My Valentine's gift last year was an all-expense paid trip to California for 10 days. This year, we're going to play it low-key. We're going to have dinner in Frederick at my favorite restaurant, Macaroni Grill, on Friday evening. I'm so excited just to spend quality time together!

Here's a couple of pictures from our California trip last year. We had so much fun! I love him so much!!!!!!!

Plans in bloom!

Over the weekend, I stopped by a small floral shop in Greencastle just to get a ballpark idea of what to expect for flower prices. The owner of the shop pulled out a catalog book for me to look through of pictures of bouquets, with price stickers indicating the fortune that they cost. I, being as naive as can be, was only hoping to spend $500 on flowers. Boy was I underestimating the cost of flowers!

I had an appointment this evening with the owner of Roostervane Gardens in Funkstown. I personally prefer doing business with this shop because the work is always beautiful and creative. I immediately sensed a warmth from Denny (the owner) that I hadn't sensed at the other shop. He sat down with me, took meticulous notes of what I wanted. As I was talking about the colors and flowers I was envisioning, he would run downstairs to his shop and bring back flowers for me to look at the fit with the theme I was discussing. In the end, he had a small pile of flowers that represent >those that'll be used in my bouquets and arrangements. I asked him if I could buy the sample flowers from him, and he insisted upon giving them to me instead. My cascading bouquet will be the ivory roses (Eskimo Roses) with freesia and other white/ivory flowers, and ivy. My girls will be carrying bouquets with the flowers found in the picture (Eskimo roses, mango calla lilies, red and orange alstromerias, freesia, pyrnicum berries and other flowers). My flower girls will carry kissing balls of the same flowers. I'm really excited about the colors and the flowers, and my souvenir bouquet that he gave me. I'm not sure how much it's all going to cost yet, but Denny's going to mail us a proposal. For each item, he's going to provide 3 different prices (high, medium, and low). The higher price will be for bigger bouquets and the lower price for smaller bouquets. So, from that list, I'll chose the bouquet sizes that will best fit my budget.




I'm going to look at invitations this weekend, and I'll let you know how that goes!

Love,
Kristin

...And the REALITY sets in.

My FMIL (future Mother in Law) invited me to go along with her to a wedding being held at Antrim Brethren in Christ, the same church where Jason and I will be getting married in 8 months and 29 days. ...but who's counting *wink wink*

I walked into the church, immediately sensing the excitment and anticipation in the air. We walked into the sancutary and the beauty of the moment was very overwhelming. There were candleabras at the end of each pew, and there were large candleabras in the front of the church on the sides of the communion table where the unity candle sits. As we were seated and I began reading over the program, I realized that there is so much left to plan and arrange... and it REALLY stressed me out!

As the music played and the attendants came down the aisle, I caught the look on the groom's face as he smiled at each girl coming down the aisle. I could just picture Jason up there, smiling at my cousins and friends as they were coming down the aisle. And when the triumphant music began and everyone stood as the bride came down the aisle with her father, I admit that I became quite tearful (even though I don't even know the couple). I feel like the most emotional part (and most awesome part) of my wedding day will be my Daddy walking me down the aisle... and that moment when Jason and I see each other for the first time that day. I think I might be a bit emotional once I get to the alter... but I think that once Jason takes my hand, I'll be fine...

Anyways, this whole experience was eye-opening... kind of like looking into a crystal ball and seeing what our day will be like! I'm glad I went along because now I know that there are a few other things that I need to add to my ever-growing list of things to do :)

That's all for now.
kms

Planning Bliss

Well, I tried really hard to temporarily refrain from thinking anything planning-related over the holidays, so that I could just enjoy the holidays and put all of the planning funness off until the new year.

I must say I was pretty sucessful with this notion... However, the new year has finally arrived, and I'm still not really any farther along with my wedding plans. I am actively searching for the perfect invitation at the moment. I've come across everything from super expensive invitations ($800+ for 100 invites!) to eco-friendly handmade invitations... and several in between. There's the kind that you buy and print yourself... or the kind that fold up and don't require envelopes... or the kind that present all of the wedding information in a small portfolio format. Most of my searching until now has been online. I'm somewhat apprehensive about ordering online, though, because I'd much rather see the invitation in person before I order. Does anyone know of vendors around town that may sell/print wedding invitations?

For favors, I came across a really neat idea that I've fallen in love with. It's actually quite the "sweet" idea... hehe. I'm going to buy mini glass jars of honey to give as favors to all of the guests. I'm going to remove the original label and replace it with something that says "Meant to Bee, Kristin & Jason 10/18/08". I love the idea of an edible favor, because I would rather give my guests something that they can take home and ENJOY, not just throw away once they walk in the door.

I've also decided to add another attendant to my bridal party. I've asked my dear friend and confidant Melody to be a bridesmaid, as well. Initially our intention was to keep the wedding party within the family, however it seems silly to me to not include someone who I am so close to. So as of now, our sides are uneven... I have 5 attendants, Jason has 4. But oh well! There are no rules that say it HAS to be even. Melody will also be playing the piano for a few numbers during the ceremony.

The bridesmaids gowns have been selected. The girls will be wearing wine colored chiffon gowns. My maid of honor, Beth, will be wearing a halter-style gown, and the rest of the girls will be wearing a strapless number in the same color. My girls are going to look great!

Jason has decided that he would like Pastor Ken to preach a sermon during the ceremony. Nothing long... maybe 20 minutes at the most. I talked with PK and he said that he has done this in the past by "tastefully interlacing" the message throughout the ceremony. I'm so glad that Jason is giving me his input for the wedding. It's going to be such a special day for us! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!

Well... Operation Wedding Weight is in full swing and I've lost 6 pounds! 24 more to go until I reach my goal. WOOHOO!

I believe that's all for now. I'll keep everyone posted as I make more planning progress!!! :)

Love & Hugs
kms

The Penguin Suits!

Jason and I ventured to J&B Bridals on Thursday evening to choose the tuxes that he and his guys will be sporting on our wedding day. I was worried that he'd be indifferent, but he actually had an idea of what he wanted his tux to look like. He decided on a long-tail suit jacket for himself, and regular suit jackets for the rest of the guys. The long-tails are considered "more formal," and we thought it was only appropriate, considering I was going to look extra special that day... so, he should look extra special, too! From the beginning, he told me he did NOT want to wear a tie. So, we're going for the mandarin collar look, with the black/gold button cover at the the top. All of the guys will be wearing ivory shirts. Jason will wear an ivory vest to match my dress, while the rest of the guys will be wearing wine colored vests to match my girls' dresses.

Another decision that we made over the week was to have flowergirls and a ring-bearer. I initially only planned to have one flower girl, but we have a feeling that she'll only cooperate if her sister can walk with her... therefore, we have two flower girls. All of the kids are children of Jason's cousins. My flower girls are going to wear simple ivory dresses with wine colored sashes at the waist, and the ring-bearer will be wearing a suit to match Jason's (with the tails and all!).

Only 10 months and 17 days to go! :)
Kristin