Asia & Chocolate

Excellent Nashville wedding vendors ...

When I got engaged I had a vague idea of what I wanted my wedding to look like and so I immediately began scouring the internet in order to make my dreams come true. But one area I had some trouble with was finding vendors.

ALL of my vendors ended up being discovered through word-of-mouth. Maybe I'm just dense, but it took me forever to find a dance floor rental place - and I found the one I used through my caterer - whom I discovered through a friend of my mom.

So, I thought I'd do Nashville brides a small favor and share my vendors with them ... obviously these people don't just do weddings, so others might benefit as well - not just brides.

Photography: Evin Photography *** Evin is a long, time family friend and talented photographer. She and her partner Sara Mac made my wedding day a day to remember with the beautiful pictures they captured. Visit her Web site (evinphotography.com) and click on "buy prints" ... and then on "Josh & Laura Wedding" (they won't be there forever, so don't wait to see them).

Flowers: A Wedding to Remember *** Both of my brothers used Sue Workman of A Wedding to Remember for their wedding flower. Her pricing is, if not the lowest, then dang near close to the lowest in the industry. The flowers are gorgeous and you will not be disappointed. (Call Sue @ 615-790-3065)

Caterer: Your Place, Not Mine *** This out-of-the-way caterer was recommended by one of my mom's friends. And boy am I glad we listened. Not only was the food GREAT, but the prices couldn't be beat.I would suggest discussing with him how the leftover food will be handled at the end of the night, because my only complaint was that there was a lot of food leftover, and his servers loaded it all up and took it with them. We paid for it, so I would make it clear that you want to keep the food at the end of the night, if you prefer. (Call Mike @ 615-871-9156)

Party Rental: Classic Party Rentals ***My caterer recommended this party rental place, and they turned out to be the perfect fit for me. I rented my table cloths and dance floor from them. Excellent service!

Cake: Linda King ***When I saw this cake at a friend's wedding, Josh and I had only been dating for a few weeks, but I knew this was the cake for me. It was delicious and had cherry blossoms all over it. I LOVED it. So when I got engaged I called up my friend and asked for the name and number of the cake lady. :) It's a couple who bakes cakes out of their home and the price is very reasonable; they will even stay for the reception and serve the cakes themselves for no extra charge. She ended up making Josh's groom's cake as well. We loved them both. (Call Linda @ 615-368-7534)

And now that I'm married and so over all things wedding, I've discovered a great blog for doing a wedding on a budget. I just wish I'd known about her sooner. For all the budget-wise bridal information visit the Budget Savvy Bride Weblog.

Happy wedding/party planning!

Hiatus

The wedding planning and home renovations are keeping me away from blogging, obviously.

I'll be back after the honeymoon - sometime in June.

You can always follow me on Twitter.

just thought I'd share ...

 

In case you didn't notice - it says, 100 Days until your wedding. That's 2400 hours. Or 14.29 weeks. Woohoo!

And while that sounds like a lot of time, it's going to fly by - I just know it!

Last night I came home and was exhausted. It's mostly from overthinking the wedding and how it's all going to work out. The to-do list is a mile long and I live in fear that I'll forget something or overlook a very important detail. It's overwhleming and it should be enjoyable, right?

So tonight I'm going to Bible study, and then going home and deleting about four shows on my DVR. I'm going to refocus on the important things in my life: Jesus, Josh, friends and family and getting to work on time. :-) The wedding is NOT the most important thing in my life. And while it marks the beginning of my covenant relationship with my future husband (something I've been waiting for for a long time), it does not matter whether we have balloons or paper lanterns, whether the confetti goes with the theme or not, or whether I have an aisle runner. It matters than we show up and make a lifetime commitment, that our friends and family are there to enjoy the day with us and that God is honored. The details don't matter - and no one else will know their wrong except for me.

Therefore, today I deciding to rejoin the land of the calm, relaxed and rested. Because at the end of the day who gives a care if you have a cute cake topper?

Wedding day

Why is it that the thought of putting on a party for hundreds of my closest friends leaves me feeling almost paralyzed? And the thought of making a covenant commitment in front of them all nearly makes me break put in a sweat? I have to seriously give myself a pep talk every day, telling myself that if so-and-so can do it then so can I. What is wrong with me? Some aspects of planning are fun, but mostly I just want to get this over with. Is that terrible?

can I ask for a re-do on my week?

In the past week I have ...

1. Had my debit card number stolen and had a fradulent charge made on my checking account. Therefore I had to cancel my debit card and am waiting for a replacement.

2. Later that day I got a large bill from the hospital from my 12-hour stay when I had surgery. Do you know how much the WHOLE bill was?? $13,000!!! I had no idea hospitals were so expensive. Thank God I have insurance and don't have to pay the whole thing. But I still have to pay a lot.

3. I got scammed in Craig's List. I thought I had sold my car, but then the transaction started sounding fishy and I research CL scams and it was exactly what was happening to me. So no sold car. The price of the car would have covered the hospital bill.

These three things have compounded an already busy week. Wedding planning is insane! It's like have an extra job.

Some things I was thankful for this week:

1. I met with the caterer on Thursday and I've all but booked him. So excited to have that out of the way.

2. I started a Beth Moore Bible study on Thursday nights that I am super excited about. I've never done a Beth Moore study before and I know I'm going to love diving into the Word with these women and Beth.

3. My wonderful fiance is always a bright spot in my life. He's wonderful, caring, and always listens when I have a bad. We got to have dinner at my favorite restaurant in Huntsville last night. It was such a good evening of conversation and relaxation. We have the best time together! (Good thing since we'll be together for the rest of our lives ... :) )

4. God loves me, pursues me, comforts me and is faithful to me even when I'm being a butt and can't see the forest for all the stinkin' trees in my way.

I know there are many more things I am thankful for (oh yeah, sleeping in this morning was wonderful ... and a three day weekend is great too!) ... but that's all I have time to write. Off to David's Bridal for flower girl dress fitting. Love the wedding planning (most of the time).

Invitations

In wedding news, I've kind of put things on hold in order to enjoy the season. But the wedding is always weighing on my mind, even if I am giving myself a temporary break. My mom and I took advantage of the 50% discount coupons at Michael's craft store over Christmas and purchased all my invitation needs a half price. I am using one of those do-it-yourself kits, but I've changed it up a little bit.

This is what it would look like if I did it the way it's intented to be done ...

But I've changed it up a little bit and I really like them. Now it's time to produce them en masse.

This is a glimpse of what the invitation will look like ...

I can't wait to send these out! I need to start addressing envelopes now.

orange disappointment & engagement pics

Josh and I spent a wonderful weekend in Knoxville - well, except for the terrible loss (at HOMECOMING) to Wyoming. But, we're following the Titans (9-0!!!!!) this season and not paying much attention to my beloved VOLS. Sadness.

For some reason I am not much of a picture-taker. I typically forget to break out the camera, even though I keep it in my purse at all times. So, I have no proof that we were there ... boring, I know. We spent Friday and Saturday nights with my friend and roommate from college, Lara and her husband Keith. It was fun to introduce Josh to my friends and get to show him around when I went to college. And he got to experience Neyland Stadium for the first time - although it wasn't the best game in which to experience UT pride. We got to hang out with my brother Stephen, also. He's a freshman at UT and doesn't have a car or a lot of money, so we treated him to a few good meals - they should last him until Thanksgiving. :)

The sadness of the game on Saturday was quickly overshadowed by an e-mail from Evin telling me that our engagement pics were online. I probably spent 30 minutes of the game looking at them on my iPhone. I LOVE them ... and am so excited that we got the opportunity to have them taken. We are using Evin Photography, but Evin's not taken them since she was already booked for our wedding day. Her partner Sara Mac did them and we really like her. You can see the pictures online. Just follow this link and sign in ... you have to set up a password. www.pictage.com/578930

Happy viewing!

Now my goals this week are to book the florist, caterer and cake person. I have GOT to get those things booked this week.

goin' to the (owen) chapel ...

I'm kind of easily stressed out. (The doctor said my surgery would improve my personality ... so I'm hoping it helps out the stressed out part too!)

So when I got engaged and realized that it was up to me to put together a wedding and big shebang afterwards, I got a little stressed. One step at a time, one step at a time.

This week, while recovering, my mom decided to get me out of the house one morning and go look at some of the churches I'd researched online. And guess what?!?! We picked one: Owen Chapel at the corner of Franklin Road and Concord Road is so cute, historical and quaint, the perfect price and a great location. (Hopefully everyone will fit.) I'm so excited because now I can plan other things like decorations and where to have the reception. We're hoping to have the reception just down the road at The Martin Center. But we have to request it and we haven't done that yet. Oh and I booked my photographer last week as well, so we should have engagement pictures soon.

Things are coming together and I'm just going to have to remember to take it one step at a time and not get overwhelmed. All that really matters is at the end of the day Josh and I will be married. That will be the best part of the day anyway!