Christmas Wish List ~

It's that time of year when I start daydreaming about all the fun things that I would like from Santa.

Usually, I have things in mind like scarves, boots, cozy sweaters, etc., but with our impending move to Hawaii in just a few months, there really isn't any point in asking for all of those things.

Instead, I've added some items to my list that are fun year-round and things that I will really be able to use in our new local.

It's all pretty self-explantatory. I would also love some new yoga gear form Lululemon and anything off our registries at Macy's, Pottery Barn, or Kohl's :)

What's on your Christmas list this year???

Wedding Wednesday: Bridesmaids Dresses!

After looking at a LOT of different inspiration photos, I knew that I wanted to use blush pink and ivory as the two main colors for our wedding theme. Little did I know that it would make finding the perfect bridesmaids dresses a very stressful process!

Turns out every designer has their own version of "blush" and finding one that was perfect was a harder decision than I thought it would be. 

I also wanted to take the price into consideration because several of my bridesmaids are traveling from out-of-state so that was another challenge that I had to contend with.

I had many favorites, but when I saw this dress, I knew it was the one.

Mori Lee, style #682 in Ivory Lace and Blush Chiffon

Now, apparently no pictures exist of this dress in the exact colors that I'm using so the above photo is the exact style, but think Ivory lace. The photo of the dress below is the exact colors.

Can't wait to see this beautiful dress on all my girls!

A Small Dose of Reality...

Last Friday, Shaun and I attended a commissioning ceremony for a good friend of ours. He was picked up for the Navy LDO program and will be leaving in just about a week for officer training. Once his training is complete, he and his wife will be moving to Guam where he will carry out his next sea tour.

This was the first commissioning ceremony that I had ever been to and it was surprisingly very emotional! This is a HUGE step in Jeremy's career and a huge step for both him and his wife as a married couple.

While Shaun will not be receiving a commission just yet, this will be us in a matter of months when we leave for Hawaii. I am so happy for our friends, but I will miss them so much!

Toward the end of the ceremony, it really started to hit me that we will have to say, "see you soon" to all of the wonderful friends that we've made here in Charleston. While I am excited for a new adventure, it is going to be very hard to leave after three years.

On the other hand, we are moving to Hawaii, unbelievable! I guess I will just have to hope and pray that lots of friends and family come to visit us there.

So much to do, so little time; The venue!

Still trying to get my blog caught up on the wedding planning process, a lot happened in such a short amount of time!

My main goal was to get all of the big vendors and decisions done/ made before the holidays so that we could enjoy this time with our families and not have to stress out about wedding planning.

First comes the ring, then the dress (or if you're me, vice versa haha), then we had to find the venue, photographer, DJ, bridesmaids dresses, caterer, register, and choose the wedding party. All which I can happily say are DONE!

A few weeks ago, actually just a few days after we got engaged, Shaun and I went to check out a venue that we had found online and had fallen in love with.

Living in Charleston, there are a million and one beautiful places to get married and this city has long been called one of the top wedding destinations. With that being said, I knew that I wanted to find something beautiful, but slightly off the beaten path to not only try and save a few bucks, but to try and have something slightly different than every other couple that's gotten married here.

The venue that we chose is Old Wide Awake Plantation in Hollywood, SC.

 Some additional photos that I took during our tour.

 Front of the house.

Side view.

 Looking up at the front of the house.

Beautiful sprawling porch..

 Looking out from the front porch.

Another porch view.

More porch..

The drive, leading up to the house.

Overall, the property is just perfect. There is a small pond with a fountain next to the house as well as a fire pit. There is also a park at the end of the road that lies right on the river, which will be perfect for photos!

These pictures can't even start to portray how beautiful it is and I know that with our personal touch, it will be a fairytale!

Wedding Planning Update: The Dress!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know we did! We spent the long weekend in Eastern Kentucky at Shaun's mamaw and papaw's house. We also got to visit with lots of family and talk wedding plans :)

On Monday, after we got back into town, I went to meet with our wedding planner for the first time. She is the event coordinator at our venue and I couldn't be more excited to work with someone so knowledgeable. I have a vision, but there is no doubt that I will need a little help carrying it out.

 

 Now, you may recall that I went home to CT back in October to visit my cousin and her newborn little boy. While I was home, there was another very important event that took place. I said "YES" to the dress!

You might be thinking right now, "hey, you weren't even engaged in October" and here's where I say, "that is true, but..." You see, Shaun and I have been talking about getting married for at least a year now.

We had already talked a ton about getting married in April, especially since he is due to get transferred around that time. Back in October, I still had no idea what his plans were for our engagement, but I knew that if we were to get married in April, I had to get on shopping for a wedding dress.

With a little more discussion, Shaun gave me the okay to go dress shopping with my mama while I was home since the next time I would be in CT would be Christmas. At that point, it would most likely be too late to order a dress for an April wedding.

I had been scouring the internet for weeks by that point and yes, I was that girl that had the wedding Pinterest board before I had the ring. Hey, at least I knew exactly the type of dress that I would be looking for and I quickly found that I was in LOVE with the Watters line.

Once home in CT, I looked up to see who in the area carried the Watters line of dresses and found April Rose, however, it wasn't until after I had already had two unsuccessful visits to two other bridal shops. Once we got to April Rose, I knew that I was going to find my dress there.

I tried on at least ten different Watters dresses and while I loved them all, there was only one that I knew was the one. I honestly didn't think that I would cry when I found my dress, but it actually turned out to be a really emotional moment.

I had been picturing myself in a white dress for some time and when I saw myself in THE dress, I just absolutely knew.

Here are some of the beautiful dresses that I tried on, but you'll have to wait until after the wedding to see the one that I chose!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful week!