Summer Time and the Livin's Easy...

Hi everyone! I am so happy to report that there are some updates to our planning. Summer has been great so far and for the first time since I started teaching (2008), I feel like I can relax a little. Don't get me wrong, I am still doing work every now and then but at least I feel like I can spend some time doing nothing. Last time I updated, I mentioned that we had booked our honeymoon, selected a photobooth company and decided what florist we were going to use. Since then we have booked our flight to St. Lucia so that is done (yay!) and made appointments to meet with vendors in August to discuss details for the wedding.

So what was next on our list? Find a wedding dress!!! I waited a little too long to take on this task, but the final crunch towards AP exams was tough and I had a hard time focusing on anything but that. I am happy to say that I found my dress and it was ordered in May! Yay! (that rhymed, lol). I have NOTHING to reveal about my dress (sorry!) except that I love it and we are doing some custom things to it. Here are 2 words I would use to describe it: Romantic and Classic. I will tell you that I got the dress at Minerva's Bridal here in Orlando but that is all you get :)


Next on the list was.....Find an officiant!!! This was particularly hard for us, well especially me, because I really loved the idea of having someone we know marry us. However, there really weren't any options so I had to start my research. We had received a business card from a company called Sensational Ceremonies from our DJ but had just filed it away. Then, when doing my research the name appeared again on the weddingwire.com website and I read so many wonderful reviews that we decided to call them. The following week we met with Reverend Steve Swan and felt it was a great match! He had a great aura around him and we felt his personality matched ours.....so we are going to be married by him. Here is the information on our officiant:

 

http://sensationalceremonies.com/locatins-weddings/central-florida/officiants-cfl/rev-steve-swan-officiant-minister/

Another item on our list? Bridesmaids dresses! On June 23rd, my bridesmaids (Katie- Matron of Honor, Amanda, Vanessa, and Dana) met at my house where I treated them to breakfast. Then we headed to Alfred Angelo where we had our first run of trying on dresses. Here is a picture of when we arrived:

We had a few dresses we "liked" at Alfred Angelo, but we couldn't decide on anything and we wanted to find something everyone loved (which is hard to do). Our second appointment was at Bride's by Demetrio's and as soon as we hit the racks to look for dresses there were a lot of "potentials". After watching the girls try them on, we found a dress we all loved! I don't want to show you a picture because I want there to be some details you have to wait for at the wedding! I will tell you that it is long, very flattering, a wine color and very elegant. I can't wait! To be honest, I want a dress too! Haha. Afterwards we went to my FAVORITE restaurant Bento Cafe and had some yummy sushi!

Last week TJ and I went to register at both Bed, Bath and Beyond and Target. The first stop was at BB&B and you can see our excitement before we went there! (well at least in TJ's face.. my excitement face was taken first by myself, although it kinda looks startled more than excited hahaha)

When we got  to BB&B we met with a "bridal registry specialist" (whatever that is) and looked through a catalog for different china patterns. First of all, I cannot believe how expensive nice dinnerware is... it truly blows my mind. Then we started the registry process. This is where I wasn't too happy. The "specialist" walked around with us the entire time, so we had to make decisions on the spot and every conversation we had was now between the 3 of us.... not the 2 of us. To say it was awkward was an understatement. I mean, she was nice and all but it wasn't the experience I had hoped for. Also we didn't get to scan (or as T.J. says "zap") anything ourselves... she did it all. So the picture you see below is the only time we actually touched the scanner while we were there. 

Basically, the trip was a little overwhelming and awkward with the "specialist" following us around the whole time. So T.J. needed a nap, hahaha. 

In the end, we were registered and we were able to pick out some really awesome stuff! But since we weren't thrilled with experience, we decided to make a trip to Target where we could "zap" our own stuff. Also, we thought a few items we registered for at BB&B were too expensive and we wanted more economical choices for certain items. 

 Okay, so a few days later, we went to Target are did some more registering. This was a lot of fun! We were able to zap whatever we wanted and have real genuine discussions about what we wanted without having to worry about some creeper listening in, haha. Here are some snap shots from that day,

So we have a lot still to do! But most of it are details and a lot which we cannot get done until we meet with some vendors. But here are the next tasks:

1. Buy reception decor

2. Wedding favors

3. Invitations

4. Wedding Rings

We love you all very much and cannot believe our wedding is in 4 1/2 months! So excited :-)