Happy Birthday Matt!

Today is Matt's 25th Birthday! Happy Birthday to you! You're officially old! Haha! I can say that because I am officially old too. Yes, Matt is marrying an older woman... woo woo. I turned a quarter of a century about two months ago... Oct. 12th. Really 25 feels no different than 24 or 23 or 22. It feels a great deal different than 21 though. Matt and I talked about it this morning and we agree once you hit 21, birthdays are not that big of a deal.

So here are the latest with the wedding plans... Wedding colors could be changing. I had the most beautiful shade of mint green in my head for the wedding and that color does not exist. The only mint green that exists is the nasty split pea soup green that no one would ever want to wear! Gag! Stephanie is heading down to the bridal shop with me on Saturday to check out a pink dress with a platinum sash, it's hot. Lucky for me all my bridesmaids love pink and look good in pink and Matt is cool with pink for the color. It is a light pink, like cotton candy. So we will see what happens with that.

Matt wants me to write about him some more, he doesn't think that people care what color bridesmaids' dresses we are using. So let me tell you a little more about Matt... He is studying, like nobody's business. That's all I have to say about that. So there's a little tidbit about Matthew, he studies... a lot. There is a reason for all this studying though, he is flying to Minnesota for a week in February for a trail competition and he is preparing to argue against schools like Harvard. Glad it is Matt and not me, it would be like that scene from Legally Blonde, before Reece Weatherspoon became a law genius.

Come and Gone...

Christmas has come and gone, Matt and I enjoyed spending time with our families and friends. Thanks to everyone for the awesome presents and great company! We love you all! I also was very happy and surprised at all the faithful readers that mentioned the blog to me over the holidays. Rock on! You guys are the best and I will make a better effort to post more often!

So here are the latest wedding plans: we have picked out colors, mint green with pink accents. I know that Stephanie will love these colors! I just think that they are so pretty together, and the blog has had those colors the whole time! Did you get that hint? :)

We have also semi-decided what the cake will look like and we ordered a cake topper Christmas Eve night, that I am SO excited about! But that is going to have to be a surprise.

We have also picked out some places to register but we haven't set up our registry yet. We hope to do that sometime in January.

• Belk's - We love Fiestaware and they carry all the colors, plus there are Belk's everywhere.
• Target - Who doesn't love Target, great prices and great stuff. Plus, they offer 10% off whatever is left on your registry that you did not receive! You know how I love an extra added bonus.
• Added Accents -Thanks for that idea Grandma Quinn & Patti! We love the idea of supporting local business, they have awesome things, lots of polka dots and bright colors. Plus, their website says that they will dedicate a table to Matt and I! How cool is that?

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we are looking forward to a super New Year!

Matt is either always studying or in the witness protection program...

Blast From Our Past

Our last poll question was how long Matt and I have been dating.
Answer: a little over 9 years. Here are a few pictures from way back when...


Freshman Year of High School- 1998


High School- 1999


The Old Mill- 2000


Senior Prom- 2001 (Funny side note, Matt froze my corsage)


Freshman Year of College- 2002


College- 2003


Atlanta- 2004


Graduation- 2005 (Dad in the background of this picture cracks me up)


Christmas- 2006 (After college we thought we were "pimptastic")


Amy's Graduation- Summer 2007 (We are shocked Amy got her diploma, just kidding Amy)

Whew, what a blast from the past!

3peat

This post has nothing to do with wedding plans, but is very important! Matt and I are proud Appalachian State Alumni and we are ecstatic about last nights win! Go App!

Front of the Appalachian State Homepage www.appstate.edu

Oh Captain, My Captain...

Matt and I had our engagement photos taken today. We love our photographer! Dana is the best! We did a "walking session" of downtown with lots of shots in old buildings with some cool architecture. I can't wait to see the proofs, she said it would take about 2 weeks. So I figure that the announcement will go in the paper around the middle of January... like 6 months before the wedding. We have some pictures from our trip to Charleston that we thought our loyal readers would like to see.

Why Matt would make a horrible captain...

You can't look one way and point another...

So I offered a suggestion to keep him in line...

Giant Cannon...

I'm Bad....

Matt is on break, it is the last week of school for me, and Christmas is closer than ever! I am sorry that I have not been a "super blogger" this week. Eek!!! 8 whole days without a post! Are you guys still out there? I should have more to post about later in the week, engagement pictures are this week and Matt and I also need to contact the church to set up some meetings. I will blog more when more is bloggable! Haha!

Busy!

I cannot believe it is December! There is nothing really new to report about wedding plans. Matt is studying very hard for exams. Thank goodness they end Friday! Woo Hoo! After Friday we have a lot to do involving the wedding. Engagement photos, meeting with Mary (she'll be the person performing the ceremony), picking out invitations/wedding colors and choosing wedding bands! What a list! I am very happy that Matt and I will have some time off together to get these things taken care of. Keep reading!

Dutchie is studying hard too...

Dresses!

Went dress shopping on Tuesday and I really feel like I found my dress! Can you believe it? That soon! I went to David's Bridal first and hated the experience. Yuck, all the dresses that did not have a big poofy slip under it, were see through! And everyone always says that they have great deals or whatever, not in my opinion, the one dress I semi-liked was $699. I didn't expect that from them. So after David's Bridal I wanted to stop into another dress store just to see what it was like, they didn't turn me away because I didn't have an appointment, they didn't just hand me a catalog they actually let me look through the dresses they had in the store and I had my own personal bridal consultant, and she was awesome! They had beautiful dresses for $299, better prices than David's Bridal and better looking dresses too. I tried on 3 dresses and then the consultant, Amber, asked me what I liked and didn't like about each. So then we went out into the store together and picked out 3 more. The first one I put on I loved. It was what I had thought I wanted to begin with. Mom was speechless, my Grandma cried and I think I smiled the biggest with that dress on! We put a payment on it, so it is hanging safely in the back of the store with my name on it. I have talked to a bunch of people, some say try on more dresses, some say "why bother, you know you love this dress". The more I look at the picture of it online the more I love it. Matt is pouting that he can't see the dress until the wedding, I think that is too cute. Too bad though, its like the wedding rule or something.

New Poll

Matt and I are very happy to see that Vegas won the last poll! We would really like to know who the wise guy is that said we should stay in Mamers *cough* Jamie *cough*.

Anyways, just a little update to say that after an appointment on Tuesday I will be trying on wedding gowns, how exciting! I just can't wait! This is something I have been really looking forward to. Also, Matt and I had a long discussion about what song should be our first dance, we are still debating. It will come to us, we will know it when we think of it... could be a great poll question... we will see. Speaking of questions, check out the new poll, Matt and I really need your input on this one...

Very Pleased

Matt and I are excited! The photographer that we want to use is open for our date! She has a wedding the weekend before, how lucky are we?! We are going with DWA Photography out of Sanford. Here is her website if you would like to check her out http://www.dwaphotography.com/ She was so easy to talk to and all of her pictures are gorgeous.

We have scheduled engagement photos for December when Matt is done with exams. We have a long list of things to do when Matt is done because he will finally be able to go and do things! Haha!

So far the list has on it: meet with the pastor to discuss our wedding, go out to dinner a lot, pick out wedding bands, check out invitations, and plan our honeymoon! Looks like Vegas is winning according to the poll, that is awesome! But if you would like to see Matt and I attempt to get a tan in one of the other fabulous locations listed, please vote.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, we wish all of our readers a Happy Turkey Day!

Cross It Off The List

And boy is it a LONG list! But, Matt and I have 2 biggies crossed off, we have a place to get married and a place to have our reception! Yay! We will have the wedding at St. Thomas Episcopal Church (where Matt's family attends) and the reception at Carolina Trace Country Club, all on our special day, July 26th, 2008. We are really really pleased with how this all worked out. A big thank you to everyone who made this possible!!! Matt and I really appreciate all the help!

Since Church Wedding was the big winner last poll, we decided to see what our faithful readers would say about Honeymoon destinations, please remember when you vote, that I don't tan easily...

We have a couple of pictures, because pictures make the blog much more entertaining....

Here is the church on the outside, the inside was being painted.


Oh, and here's a question for you.... Who has 2 thumbs and is pretty stoked about Matt and I getting married?

This guy right here... Alex!

3 Weeks So Far...

Plans are going well. I am going to try on dresses at the end of the month. Yay! Nothing really to new to report... I did order 2 books that are going to be very helpful. One is Easy Wedding Planner, Organizer & Keepsake Book and the other is Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette. Helpful time lines and how to address an invitation, wedding budgets and other stuff like that. I also downloaded some excel pages to help with budgeting and getting guest lists together. It is amazing what Google can do!

I also found this funny cartoon that I thought I would share, makes me think of the show "Bridezilla"...



marriedtothesea.com

We All Have Things To Do...

Matt has his things....


I have mine...

And Dutchie has her's too... watching TV

Things are still the same as last week, we are hoping to have a place for ceremony and reception by Thanksgiving. And according to the poll, looks like we need to be looking for a church and not plane tickets to Vegas! :)

2 Weeks

Today marks our 2 week engagement. 2 weeks down, only 8 months and 3 weeks to go until the big day!

After talking to a few people I feel better about preparations for the wedding. Lots of help and support. To everyone who has been so helpful, thank you! We really appreciate everything you have done.

Sunday is New Poll day. Since we had a tie on the last poll, 9 for Church Wedding and 9 for Vegas, we decided to have a tie breaker! So get those votes in!

Nothing really to add, still looking for ceremony and reception venues. As soon as that is taken care of all the other exciting things will follow... dress shopping, photographer hunting and honeymoon planning! Yay!

Location, Location, Location...

It's the most asked question that we don't have an answer for yet... "Where are you getting married?" I think we are going to let me loyal voters pick, so far the church wedding is winning... but there is one more day of voting left! So if you really want Matt and I to tie the knot with Elvis, or out in nature vote now!

We are looking for information on reception/ceremony sites. We are still open to ceremony/reception at the same place if it is an awesome location. If anyone has any suggestions, please email us. Google doesn't know it all, and all these wedding magazines think that we do in fact have a money tree in our yard (wouldn't that be lovely).

A few places have been looked at, some have been crossed off, and some have moved up a little higher on the list. After getting a few price quotes from some places this is what Matt and I looked like...

One Week Engagement

One week ago today, Matt and I got engaged! It's been a whirlwind week!

Matt's grandparents took us to a nice facility tonight, Woodlake in Vass, NC. Beautiful! Plan to call them tomorrow to check prices and availability. Matt and I really want to get married on July 26, 2008 but have a "backup date" as the next Saturday, Aug. 2nd, 2008. We want to find the perfect place and we have plenty of options, which is nice. I also have an appt. to see another local place tomorrow.

Matt and I enjoyed previewing photographers tonight online. If they didn't have a website, we crossed them off the list. I mean you are a photographer, pictures are your selling point, put some online! We have a list of 3 local people that we plan to contact for pricing and setting up some engagement shots. Matt made a good point that I shouldn't contact a photographer until we have decided on a place and an official date. So here's to being up the creek without the proverbial paddle...

Speaking of planning, I have had a lot of people teasing me for already setting dates and looking at places. I guess you have to know me and Matt to understand. Matt has like a 2 week block from school that we could do a wedding, and we both always want to have "our ducks in a row". So we wanna know, where and when ASAP! Plus, we are really ready to get married, we don't want to wait until Christmas or 2009. And you wouldn't believe how many places I have already called that said, "We are booked into 2009". So that is why we feel the pressure to make this decision quickly.

I guess I am trying to treat these wedding plans like school plans, I mean I know what I am using from today until Christmas. But classroom plans are all up to me, I do whatever it is I need to do, I have the final call. I don't have to check to see if I can use my classroom or construction paper or whatever else. Wedding plans are much different, it is like a puzzle, each little piece has to fit. I am on the phone hoping that they have room for us and that they are not booked. It is kinda stressful considering I have never done anything anywhere close to this before. I mean the last time I planned a party a giant thunderstorm knocked the power off on the whole street! But you know what? That party went off wonderfully, people jumped in and brought candles and we ate by candle light and my parent's had a great 25th wedding anniversary. Like a co-worker says, "It'll all come out in the wash". And she's right, it will all work out the way it's supposed to.

So, keep your fingers, toes and eyes crossed that Matt and I find the right place for us.

Save The Date!

Matt and I have set a date! July 26, 2008. Now starts the rush of finding that perfect place. Called a place in Pinehurst today, they have an opening on the 26th of July. It is called The Fair Barn, really neat place. It is used for a few High School Proms and The O'Neal School uses it for their annual auction. I am excited to go and see it. I also emailed The Highgrove in Fuquay Varina yesterday, no response back and I called Ferrington Village and left a message (yeah, Dad if probably pretty glad they haven't returned my call). I am learning a valuable lesson, start things early! I am just happy to have some options. If anyone would like to throw an option out their for me that would be grand!

You might noticed that I have changed the page. I think that the dots were a little "too much" for the blog. I like this look a lot better. Also, we've added a countdown timer (Seriously, only 8 months, 4 weeks and 1 day away!), a poll and a visitor counter. Matt is pretty excited about the poll...

Thanks for all the loyal readers already! I cannot believe I am getting stopped at work and receiving phone calls about our blog. That is awesome! This event is very important thing to us, and we are so excited to share it with all our family and friends! Keep checking back, we hope to update a few times a week.

Big News!

Matt And I Are Getting Married!

I know its some BIG news! What a wonderful evening... I don't know how I am going to sleep tonight! Let me tell you all about it!

Matt tells me earlier in the week that we have to go to a law dinner on Sunday night in downtown Raleigh, this is nothing out of the ordinary. So I agree to go and get all dressed up and everything. So we leave the house tonight and we are past the exit for Cary when Matt hands me the invitation to the event and says, "read the directions for me". I immediately notice that the invitation says, "Monday, Oct. 22nd". I go, "Matt this thing is tomorrow night." So Matt bangs on the steering wheel and goes, "We're going to Sullivan's anyways. Read me the phone number" So he calls and makes a reservation and the whole time I am going, Sullivan's is expensive we don't have to go there. But we go.

So we have a delicious dinner and everything is wonderful. So about 9:30 we head home. Nothing out of the ordinary except we had a bomb dinner. So we get home and Matt opens the door and the house is full of roses, like seriously 5 dozen or something ridiculous like that, I am still finding flowers! There is a chilled bottle of champagne and everything. I turn to Matt and he is on one knee and proposes!

So of course I find out later that the whole law school dinner thing is a sham and he made the invitation himself and on purpose put the wrong date. He had made reservations at Sullivan's long before and the phone call in the car was fake. His grandparent's set up all the flowers and everything at the house. So many people were in on the whole thing and I had no idea! Matt went and asked my dad on Tuesday if he could ask me to marry him and my dad said, "She'll be a good wife, she'll save you a lot of money" Haha, that's dad, always concerned about the dollar.


This is part of what the house looked like...


Hey, what is that face supposed to mean?


That's better...


Ta-da!

There will be plenty more blog later, right now I am too excited to really type!