I know I haven't given my blog a whole lot of love lately....

but, I did today! I designed and put up a new header along with fixing the menu tabs, which was a long time coming.

I've come a long way since the last time I posted about our wedding. I've crossed a lot more off the list since December 16 (we are on the 'Short Engagement' timeline lol!)

Months Four, Five, and Six....

Arrange for Families to Meet

Hire a wedding planner

Book Venue - Old Wide Awake Plantation

Book Photographer - Aaron Nicholas Photography

Book Videographer - Dreampop Media

Book Officiant - Seacoast Church

Book reception DJ - Creative Sound

Purchase wedding dress

Choose bridesmaids dresses

Order flower girl's dresses

Book caterer - Cru Catering

Book florist - So Gorgeous Florals

Set-up wedding website

Choose groomsmen's attire

Place suit orders

Compile guest list 

Send save-the-dates

Order invitations - Working on that now

Choose wedding party

Book hotel room blocks

Get engagement ring appraised & insured

Book honeymoon - 3-4 year "honeymoon" to Hawaii ;)

Three months....

Proof Invitations
Help mom with ordering bridal shower invitations

Set-up registries - Macy's, Pottery Barn, Kohl's

Book location for rehearsal dinner

Schedule food tasting

Schedule walk-through of ceremony/ reception sites

Hire ceremony musicians

Choose cake maker

Order veil and/or headpiece

Book day-of coordinator

Shop for wedding bands

Choose rentals (glassware, dinnerware, linens, etc.)

Engagement photos

Compile list for showers

Meet with officiant to plan ceremony

Shop for bride/ groom rehearsal outfits

Shop for shower/ bachelorette dresses

First dress fitting

Buy shower hostess gifts

DIY rehearsal/welcome reception invitations

Pre-marital counseling - In process

Two months....

Stuff and mail invitations

Book hotel room for wedding night

Hire hair & makeup person - Ash & Co.

Buy gifts for wedding party

Research marriage license requirements

Buy undergarments, shoes, jewelry

Compile ceremony/ reception music

Draft schedule of events for wedding weekend

Order monogrammed cocktail napkins

Bridal portraits/ hair & makeup trial

Bridal shower - March 9!

Book transportation from reception to hotel

4-6 weeks....

Gifts for out-of-town guests? koozies? (southern state of mind)

Create final schedule of events for all vendors

Final dress fitting

DIY photo guestbook

Print programs/ menus?

Meet with photographer/ list of must-do photos

Meet with videographer/ list of must-do shots

Bachelorette party/ Girls' weekend!

DIY signs for reserved seating & seat yourself

DIY monograms for front door of venue

DIY signs for Rte 162 & Trexler Ave.
DIY table signage (menu, etc.) 

Frame bridal portrait

Order sparklers for send off

Rehearsal dinner groom's cake

Final vendor payments

Music selections to band and ceremony artist

Order thank you notes

Last two weeks...

Thank you dinner @ Halls w/ parents & siblings

Manicures/ pedicures

Rehearsal and rehearsal dinner/ welcome reception

Organize tip envelopes for vendors

Get dress steamed

Walk down the aisle & say, "I do!" 

Okay, maybe I lied. It feels like I got a lot done, but according to this list, I still have a LOT to do. There are many things in the works right now so hopefully I'll be able to check off a few more in the next week or so :)

I'll fill y'all in on more soon!

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!

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 Wednesday!

I am very excited today because Shaun and I are going to tour our number one choice for venue!

Old Wide Awake Plantation

Originally we had discussed a wedding date of Sunday, April 13, 2014, but changed it to April 6 due to our upcoming move. We thought this would give us more time to visit family after the wedding and before our move to Hawaii.

After calling around to local hotels over the past few days, I am quickly finding that April 6 was not a very good choice. The Cooper River Bridge Run is the same day and it is the biggest event in Charleston. I haven't been having very much luck finding a block of hotel rooms for our out-of-town guest, most places have nothing available.

Last night, we discussed changing the date back to April 13th or even the weekend before, March 30. We have told some people April 6, but we haven't sent out save-the-dates yet or signed any contracts.

What would y'all do? The cheapest hotel room I've been able to find so far ranges from $179-$199 (WITH a group discount!) Since we already have so many guests coming from out-of-state, I feel like this would deter them from coming even more :(

We plan to talk to the event coordinator at the venue tonight to get her opinion.

Any suggestions are welcome!

BIG NEWS!!

Sooo, I know that I've been a in and out of blogging a lot lately, but it has mainly been because I knew that we were on the verge of some big news and I could hardly contain myself.

We got official word about Hawaii now though so I can freely talk about that and something else happened over the weekend that I can also now talk freely about....

WE'RE ENGAGED!!

Shaun proposed this past Sunday and I say "yes!", of course :)

It was the most perfect proposal. He caught me completely off guard and I couldn't possibly think of a better way for him to have done it.

We have set the date for April 6, 2014. Yes, we have only about five months to plan, but I am ready! You see, I knew that it was only a matter of time and I may have taken it upon myself to do some of the legwork already (with Shaun's approval, that is.)

As of tomorrow, I plan to join in on Marie's Wedding Wednesday link-up or eventually create my own. Stop on by tomorrow for my first post, The Proposal Story!

 And, for those who are dying to see it (because I know I would be!)

I am one HAPPY girl! <3<3<3

**Florida Re-cap & Lots of Photos!**

Not a lot of words today, just LOTS of photos :) I was very happy with how most of my pictures came out using my new camera. I especially loved the ones in the natural light; I think I still have a lot to learn when it comes to indoor photography..but like I said, it's just for fun and to document life events. I'm not planning on going pro or anything like that.

My handsome guy after rriving at our hotel.. You can tell he already looks thrilled about the camera lol.

The pool at our hotel, nothing special and we didn't really get to spend that much time there anyway.

Such a hottie<3

My cousin's aunt & uncle's house where the ceremony was held..

My cousin, Alyssa and her boyfriend, Dennis.

 

My cousin and his two brothers. Their mom and dad are seated just in front of them.

With this ring...

The youngest daughter of the bride. 

My other cousin's daughter, Angelia. She's the cutest, however, she wasn't feeling too good that day :(

The oldest of the three boys with his niece :)

The Bride and Groom.

 

The "wedding party" :)

Angelia's mom and dad, my cousin and his fiancee.

More group shots including baby Kaidence, the son of the bride and groom..

Funny candid of my uncle as my cousin was dropping a bowl of fruit..

On the verge of a meltdown!

Absolutely loving the next generation of cousins.

Table-scape.

Cousins!

 

Had to get in a few of us, too ;)

On the drive home, we saw a sign for a 'Manatee Viewing Center'. I'm a sucker for manatees, so while S was snoozing in the passenger seat, I took a little detour. 

Those four little bumps in the water are manatees!

That's it! 

I hope you all enjoyed the photos of our trip to Florida. Like I said, I'm not claiming to be a photographer by any means, but I do enjoy taking pictures. I also was not the primary photographer at the wedding, they did have a professional (that's why in a lot of the pictures, everyone was looking off somewhere else!) I hope to get a lot more use out of my new camera and soon!

Side note: As I started adding photos to this post, I decided it didn't do them justice to not be edited a bit. All photos posted here have been edited by me :) 

Also, all photos are property of moi. Please do not use without permission. Thank you!