Engagement Shoot Outfits

I've been stressing for WEEKS about what to wear for our engagement pictures that we have this coming Sunday. I originally wanted to have our pictures done at a carnival or fair, but as luck would have it.. there were none. So, I set out to find two outfits that I pretty much could wear anywhere.

First up, I found this sparkly tank top from Charlotte Russe:

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I just love me some sparkles and this fits my personality PERFECTLY.

But, I wasn't about to just wear a tank top in our pictures.. oh no. So, I found a cute knit bolero/shrug to go with it at Old Navy:

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 Just ignore the white shirt that it is shown with!

And of course, no engagement shoot isn't complete without at least a second outfit to change into.

So. I found this cute black jacket to wear:

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The cool thing about this jacket, if you roll the sleeves up a little bit there are black and white polka dots! Umm.. yes, please!! That will go so great with my black and white polka dot flats that I own and will be wearing with this outfit! I also plan to wear a white cami underneath the jacket, too.

Both tops will be paired with regular jeans, as well. I couldn't find any pictures of the outfits my fiance is wearing, but you'll see them in a couple weeks. One is a button up striped shirt and the other one is a Joey Votto Cincinnati Reds jersey (you'll see what he chose this at a different date as well.).

Did you stress out about what outfit to wear for your engagement pictures?

Remembrance

As our wedding gets closer and closer, it has really been hitting me how much I wish my mom and grandma could be there. It was really important to me to find a way to keep their spirit near and dear to me on the day of the wedding, so what did I do? I turned to etsy, of course.

I'm going to buy a memorial photo charm to attach to my bouquet.

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I'm not 100% sure if I will get a double sided photo charm or just get two separate ones, but I plan to have one for my grandma and also my mom to keep them with me that day. 

I also really wanted to do something for my fiance since he lost his grandpa that he was extremely close to a few years back. I'm going to have his grandpa's picture put in one of these charms and I'm going to ask the people at the tuxedo rental place to pin it in his jacket  so his grandpa will be close to his heart. I really hope I can keep this part a secret until the wedding day. I have a huge problem with spilling beans.. haha. But don't worry.. he never reads my blog!

What are some ways you plan on remembering those who can't be there on your wedding day?

Yummy In My Tummy!

I just realized I never did talk about our tasting with the caterer.

It. was. DELISH! Seriously.

I'm so unbelievably excited about the food at our reception (as well as the cake) and I think our guests are going to love it. So, what's on the menu, you ask?

We have two main dishes to choose from. (Sorry I don't have actual pictures of the tasting.. but you get the idea.)

1. BBQ Chicken (yeah, I know.. BBQ sauce and a white dress = possible disaster? Eh, I'll be fine.. I love me some BBQ chicken.)

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2. Sliced top round of beef in homemade gravy. Seriously.. this was SO SO SO tender!

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Then we have 4 side items as well.

1. Macaroni & Cheese made with large penne noodles.

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2. Roasted parsley red potatoes.

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3. Seasoned green beans.

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4. Buttered sweet yellow corn.

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But, that's not all.. it all comes with assorted artisan breads and rolls, butter and condiments to compliment entrees as well as dinnerware.

YUM!! I can't wait!

A Cardigan Love Affair

 I stumbled across a picture on one of my many google searches and I fell IN LOVE with these brown cropped cardigans! 

As many of you may know, my bridesmaids dresses are similar to the picture.. knee length, blue dresses with brown sashes and a brooch. Since our wedding is in November, cardigans would totally fit in and really... don't they look SUPER cute in that picture?!

I'm just having a hard time finding dark brown/espresso colored cropped cardigans (keyword: cropped) for them to wear. If anybody has any suggestions as to where to find one (all I find are black and white ones) that are also offered in extended sizes (my bridesmaids are all shapes and sizes).. please let me know!!

RSVP Design

So, I know in my last post I said I wasn't going to share anything about our invitations until we kick them out of the nest and watch them fly.

Well, lucky for you all, no one in my family nor Derrick's family knows about my blog. Neither do any of our friends (with the exception of my BFF/Bridesmaid), so it'll be safe to share some of it with you. So, what did I spent about 3 1/2 hours completing last night? Our RSVP postcard!! That's right, I said 3 1/2 hours.. I had to keep going back and re-doing it and tweaking it bc I would find something that just bothered me.

Anyways.. here is the result of my hard work (and it gives you a glimpse into what the rest of the invite looks like!):

{Personal Photo- Please click on the picture to make larger if needed}

We wanted to have a fun mad-libish RSVP for people to fill out. So, what do you think?

See Ya, March! (Sneak Peak Included)

March was a pretty slow month for me, wedding wise. I made our ring bearer pillow and picked out the flower girl dress, but that's about it.

Now.. April is a whole different beast. My April (and going into May) is JAM PACKED! Here's what is going to get accomplished this month in my life in no particular order:

• I'm working my first wedding at my internship this Saturday (12:30-Midnight)!
• I work at the office of my internship once a week during the week. I can pick and choose the weekends I work weddings, but this month I'm only working the one this weekend.. you'll see why.
• Our engagement pictures are a week from Sunday (the 10th) so expect to see some pictures about two weeks after that. (Also.. please cross your fingers that the shirt I ordered to wear will be here in time!) This is about a 2 1/2 hour drive both ways.
• April 17th- We have our first marriage counseling class back in our hometown (hello 90min drive both ways!)
• We're going to finish up the last few of our save the dates this month and get those puppies out into the world.
• April 24th is Easter and we have to make ANOTHER 90min (both ways) trip to spend Easter with Derrick's family.
• We're going to finish up our wedding website (I'm waiting on our engagement pics to use).
• We're actually going to start working on some of the invitation assembly (the design was mostly finished yesterday and it's inspired from Mrs Meerkat on Weddingbee.)
• The bridesmaids dress measurements are due this month (today to be exact, lol.)
• My dress SHOULD be finished this month (or early next month).
• I'm talking with a florist to get some price quotes as well.

Not to mention, there is other little life stuff this month that is going on. Ahh.. busy busy and I'm sure I'm leaving some stuff out. Not to mention, our lease is up in June and we have to start finding another place to live (we're waiting a year to start building our house due to time restraints) and we'll need to start packing (we have a TON of stuff).

Stay tuned, my blog will probably be popping this month!

And because no one likes to read a blog post without pictures (LOL!).. Here is a SNEAK PEAK at our invitation design:

{Personal Picture}

LOL.. Sorry, it's like a quarter part of a piece of it  and it's missing a big piece that hasn't been added yet. BUT.. you'll get to see these beauties after they get kicked out of the nest (probably sometime in September!)

Flower Girl Dress Jackpot

I know I posted before about finding a flower girl dress at Target, but unfortunately.. it didn't fit. The biggest the dress is made in is a 5T and my little niece will be 5 in July. The dress fit her now, but it was a little tight and more than likely would be too small by November.

So.. last night I was buzzing around on etsy and I stopped and looked my seamstresses etsy shop just to see what she's been up to and I noticed that her daughter just opened a shop the beginning of this month. You know what she makes? FLOWER GIRL DRESSES!!

Not just any flower girl dresses, oh no.. she actually had a little miniature version of a polka dot dress. Seriously, look how cute this thing is:

{All images taken from her etsy shop.}

Cute, right?  So.. I'm going to be contacting her about making the flower girl dress but with smaller and more polka dots, a blue sash tied in a bow in the front but on the side, and also have a pool blue pettiskirt  for underneath the dress (not the purple that is pictured.) Ahh.. I'm so excited about finding this flower girl dress and I can't wait to put in the order in August or September (her turnaround time is about two weeks!) I'll definitely post pictures on here when it comes in!