Honeymoon

It's Friday and as much as I enjoy the weekend, nothing beats a week away. Since I won't be having one of those until our honeymoon, it's always nice to dream. Besides, no matter how much you enjoy planning a wedding, I don't think anything will beat the honeymoon.

I know I'm going to be exhausted from all the excitement leading up to the wedding and then the actual wedding. It will be nice to get away and have some alone time with Brandon as husband and wife!

We've toyed with numerous ideas like Sea Island, Ga, Scotland and a tropical island. I think we're going to save Scotland for an anniversary trip. I really want to just go lay on a beach somewhere and relax. It'd be nice to have the option of hiking or kayaking or something outdoorsy, but not something we have to do. 

Since we'll be on our honeymoon over the 4th of July, my patriotic future husband has declared we will be going to the US Virgin Islands. Now we just have to choose which of the 3 islands we want to visit.

St. Thomas - St. John - St. Croix

St. John is the smallest of the 3 islands with a population of less than 5,000 people. With the privacy of a small population also comes the negatives. Like the fact that there isn't an airport that goes directly into St. John so you have to take a ferry out to the island. Luckily, they run pretty frequently so it's not too big of a hassle. I would love to stay on St. John. Especially at the beautiful Rosewood Resort on Caneel Bay.

St. Croix is the largest of the 3 islands, meaning it has much more variety and option when it comes to places to stay and things to do. The Renaissance at St. Croix Carambola Beach Resort & Spa would also be a wonderful place to spend our honeymoon at more reasonable rates. The perk of a larger island is that there are more hotels to allow for competition in pricing.

St. Thomas is the third island that makes up the USVI and has charm all it's own. With a population not much smaller than St. Croix, you're also given lots of choices when it comes to places to stay. They have your more familiar chain hotels from the more affordable Best Western's to a Ritz Carlton. I really don't think you could go wrong staying at any of these resorts.

Which island would you stay at if you had to choose? I honestly don't know right now, they all look amazing!

Under the Tent

I hope everyone's having a wonderful week so far!

Today we made some big progress in terms of the overall aesthetic of the wedding!

We met with our florist at CE Rental to pick out our linen and chair rentals.

From our one meeting, I honestly cannot say enough good things about CE. They were so helpful and understanding...not to mention that they have HUNDREDS of different linens in all different colors.

We took a good amount of pictures so that I can show mom (and all of you!) and they even gave us some samples. It's nice to actually see the texture and remember the color in person as well as in our pictures.

Right now we're planning on having 12 of the blush duponi linens on the left and 8 of the taffeta "ribbon." I love the ribbon one because of it's texture and the floral patterns the ribbon creates just adds more of a garden-y theme underneath the actual flowers.

I say right now because when I showed mom the pictures, she loves the one on the right so much and I think both her and I are semi-leaning towards using the ones on the right on all the tables. I also think that even though the taffeta ribbon linens are "more" in terms of the pattern, the blush might bring too much pink to the over all look of the reception.

Here's the linen on the right on a bunch of tables.

With both those linens, we decided that an ivory napkin looked much better than a plain white. The white was just too much of a stark contrast to the soft ivory of the ribbon linen.

We also decided to go with the mahogany chiavari chairs with the ivory cushion.

As far as the cake and sweetheart tables are concerned, we're planning on going with the one on the left. This will likely change if we do all the guest tables in the taffeta ribbon linen. The one on the left is the same blush duponi linen as above, it just has a pearl/beaded overlay. If we switch things up and only have one linen for the guests tables, I'll probably want to use the blush duponi linen on these two tables.

As for the cocktail tables, they don't necessarily have to "go" with the rest of the linens since all of the above will be outside in the tent and the cocktail tables will be in the main entryway of The State Club.

I didn't get a picture of that swatch, but it's a similar material to the blush duponi, but in a champagne color.

I also think these would be really fun cocktail tables.

Are you overwhelmed? I know I am!

Our other big task that we're looking into right now is videography. I think it's great and Meredith's video was beyond amazing. Everyone we've looked at so far is fantastic and their prices reflect that. 

Our pictures are going to be so incredible that I just have to decide if it's something that's really important to us and if we do want it. Whether that's having one through the getting ready process, during the ceremony and the first part of the reception with our dances and toasts. So many decisions!! Does anyone know any aspiring videographer's that would be artistic but still give us a good deal? 

Edit: I forgot to add that we're also getting our dance floor from CE! Brandon was adamant about this dance floor. Similarly, like he was about having a band over a DJ. I'm not sure where we're getting our tent from yet. It all really depends on The State Club. If they have an exclusive contract with Classic Party Rentals to do the tent, then we'll have to go through them. If not, we'll be going through CE and using the people that they use. (I'm really hoping for the second option!)

The Vow

This movie looks so cute! "They"compared it to the next Dear John, but I never saw that...so I have no idea. (Maybe we'll rent it tonight since we're both exhausted).

Unfortunately, the movie's not coming out until February 2012.

I'm not sure why they'd release the official trailer so soon...I guess the movie industry likes to torture us.

And apparently I want to torture y'all too since I'm sharing it. It was just too good not to.

First Look: Location

We're starting to get all our ducks in a row with what we want for our wedding day and I think our vision is coming together better than I could have ever dreamed.

If you like to picture your wedding as much as I do, then it helps to know the locations that the events are taking place. It also helps that I at least know what Brandon and I both will be wearing (sorry B, you'll have to wait until June 30th for that). We had all of our locations secured, except for one...our first look.

If I've talked to you about our first look, you'll remember what a big deal it is to me. Brandon and I are both very traditional and I think that says a lot for Kellie's photography that she was able to persuade us with pictures. I always thought the moment Brandon would see me in my wedding dress for the first time would be walking down the aisle. Now it'll be even better. I'll see his face, he'll see mine. We can hug, kiss, laugh, cry and it will all be caught on camera, but we'll be the only two people around. I can't wait for that moment.

My new favorite of Kellie's - Chris and Anna's wedding

So the moment I was sure of, the location, I had no idea. I knew I wanted it to be somewhere with pretty grass and lots of trees, but didn't know how I felt about actually walking through the grass in my heels. It also needed to be relatively close to the church, which was somewhat of a challenge considering we're getting married downtown.

Leave it to me groom to come up with the perfect spot.

Not only do we both love politics, but we love our state even more. The capital grounds are beautiful with green lawns, gorgeous trees and even flowers beds placed sporadically. Brandon even briefly was vying to have our reception held on these grounds. The problem? I refuse to have guests use a port-a-potty at a wedding. Gross!The North Carolina Capital grounds is the perfect location for our first look.

So that's one more thing checked off our list...

And we also officially decided to have the rehearsal dinner at 18 Seaboard. Hopefully it'll be available!

Engagement Picture Outfits

I know I posted previously about what we'd be wearing for our engagement photos, but I'm slightly redirecting the looks I'm going for. Especially after I found the cutest Madewell dress while in New York.

I really wish they had the actual dress online...it's so hard to visualize sometimes and mine is much cuter than the one I pictured! I'll probably wear either my platinum jacks or a pair of flats with the dress.

Brandon being Brandon obviously still wants to wear a bow tie with at least one of his outfits. Based on the ones he has right now, we both think his lavender seersucker one would look best. It's actually a lot more subtle than the picture makes it appear, but we might try to something that matches a little better.

High Cotton Ties

I really love this one in general and think it might go better with my dress.

B's also decided to switch things up and wear his boots instead of the dressier loafers that he was originally planning. Our engagements pictures with probably (hopefully) be shot in a field, and boots are definitely more practical!

With Brandon wanting to wear his red and white button down, I'm going to look for a white top so we both won't be in competing colors. I love this top that another one of Kellie's brides wore for her engagement photos. The problem is that I obviously don't have any way of finding out on my own who made it/where she got it. It would also be multi-functional and I could wear it to football games! (Speaking of football games...we're 51 days away from kick off!)I also think I want my other outfit to be jeans and a cute top. I feel like that'll make for a good combination of pictures. Brandon really wants me to wear my cowboy boots for my jeans picture, but I'll just have to see if regular or skinny jeans look better with whatever top I end up picking out. For my jeans outfit, Brandon will just keep on his khakis and change into a more casual button down without a bow tie.

Brooks Brothers

photo by Kellie Kano

With a top like this, I think skinny jeans and flats would look best.

I really like both of these jeans.

J Brand 811 in Ink

J Brand 811 in Navy

Does anyone have any suggestions or know where I can get this top? Seen anything close to it?

I'm so ready for our engagement picture session to be here! We're almost down to our month countdown for those. Maybe if I have lots of mini countdowns within our main one, it will make the time go by even faster.

I Solemnly Swear that I'm up to No Good

New York recaps will come later...but more importantly,

HARRY POTTER PREMIERES TONIGHT!

The movie series is coming to an end and it's sort of bittersweet. 

I've read all the books numerous times (I've actually lost track), but every time I'm always on the edge of my seat. They really are books that I've grown up with. My brother and I have attended numerous midnight releases. Not just for the movies, but for the books as well. We couldn't wait to get our month in advance-reserved copies of the book. We have two copies of each one because it wouldn't be fair for one of us to get to read it before the other.

So tonight, I'm dragging Brandon and my brother to the theater for a midnight showing when I have work in the morning and Brandon has bar prep. Sacrifices must be made and lack of sleep is well worth it in this case. The fact that I'm dragging them both there 3 hours early is still yet to be deemed worthy, but I can't miss a single dressed up fan or risk the chance of not getting our seats in the exact center of the movie theater. (And Ryan Kirkendall, I don't care what you say. You may have been in the same theater as us for the last one, but our seats were way better).

Is anyone else going to the midnight showing or sometime soon?

Knottie of the Week

I'm so excited that I get to write this post!

Starting today, I'll be the spotlight, "Knottie of the Week" on The Knot!

A little while ago, I filled out a short Q&A about our wedding and the lovely girls at The Knot selected me!

I seriously can't believe it!

Here's the link.

Catching Up

It's been a busy week!

Last Thursday we started our move from the apartment to our two-month condo sublet.

I definitely think this move was harder than the one in September will be. It's really hard to care about where things will go when you're going to pack them up again in a month. We got things sort of settled...if you count having our washer and dryer in the dining area.

The move wasn't without drama though. The movers were supposed to get there in between 12 and 5, we were told closer to 1...

All those times came and went and finally the movers showed up at a little past 6. The moving company had double booked the day, but the movers that came were awesome! They had everything loaded up and unloaded in a little over 2 hours. 

Sunday we had a busy day of unpacking, but we did take some time to go over to our friend's house and have a mini barbecue. I think I'm crazy though...who moves into a new place and decided they're going to bake a cake from scratch? Obviously I do, but it turned out delicious and I'm glad I made it!

We have some big checks that we've done this week!

We FINALLY scheduled our engagement picture session! We'll be taking them on August 17th and I am so excited! I love looking at Kellie's pictures and I can't wait for them to be her pictures of us!

Brandon also booked our getaway car for the reception. We're both really excited about it!

White 1960 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud

I think to get to the ceremony and then from the ceremony to the reception, we might rent trolley's for the bridal party to ride on. I think it would be really fun...as long as they have air conditioning! I'm pretty sure that B and I will rent a small towncar to take us to the reception. I really want us to be able to have the alone time after the ceremony and there's no need for our fancy getaway car to take us to the reception when we're not having a big exit from the church or anything for people to see us!

This Saturday I'm going to New York with practically all my family from my mom's side and I'm so excited! Hopefully I'll remember to take lots of pictures so I can have a picture heavy recap! I know it's going to be a lot of fun and I'm pretty sure my brother has lots of good restaurants already picked out! I am sad that B can't go because it's so close to the bar, but I know he really needs this extra time to study. When I get back, we'll be down to the two week countdown until he takes it! Really exciting for me...but terrifying for him!