Let Them Eat Cake

Yesterday, I was driving home from Athens (more on why later) & decided to stop in Monroe to finalize our invitation proofs at Carmichael's.  Don't ask me why, but I have been completely forgetting to do this for about a week now.  After we saw the first proof, we had to have our monogram changed from 

SCJ

to 

SCA

Technically Anthony's first name is James, but no one calls him that, so we decided to put the A in its place.  I won't post a picture of the full invitation because I want it to be a surprise, but here's what the monogram that will appear on it looks like: 

I love it :) After finalizing the order yesterday, they will be printed & back to me within a few weeks, so I can start addressing them!  I originally wanted a professional to do calligraphy, but it's something I want to try to do for myself.  

P.S. for anyone else wondering & I have already told several people, I HIGHLY recommend them for invitations...even though they will try to rope you into registering there as well.  The other vendor I would also suggest is our florist, Jeff at The Garden Gate in Monroe.  I'd also say our fantastic photographer, but she will no longer be photographing weddings after this year.  So unfortunately you missed your chance even though I got to her just in time.  Still feel so blessed to have her capturing every moment of our wedding day.  Speaking of MH, we got our engagement picture CD in the mail last weekend! 

This is the cover...isn't it perfect?!  She customized it to fit our wedding colors, which I love!  I haven't been able to open the files yet on my computer (the only thing that I can complain about with my MacBook), but I'm planning on getting them onto my mom's computer tonight then emailing them to myself :) Can't wait to be able to order SO many prints & maybe even a photo canvas ;)

Okay, so that was a roundabout way to get to the fact that I got lost going to look at the invitations in Monroe.  I've never come into the city from Athens before, so I ended up going the completely wrong way (I bought the new iPhone last weekend & Siri is not living up to my expectations, to say the least...)  Somehow I wound up right near our venue, The Cotton Warehouse.  On my way, I passed a super tiny, cute bakery (literally a couple of blocks from TCW) called Simply Southern Bake Shop that I have heard good things about before but couldn't remember the name of it.  Some people call it "Sweet Memories," though & that's why I couldn't ever find it online.  I had some time to kill, so I parked the car, walked right in & asked to look at their portfolio.  I liked what I saw, so I set up a tasting for us in early May.  Hopefully since they are so close to the venue their transportation fee will be low or even complimentary.  One more thing about to be checked off the to-do list!  Yay :)

So...back to the reason why I was back in Loganville yesterday...we have been looking at a house pretty seriously & are interested in it, so my uncle, Larry came with us yesterday to loan us his contractor eyes & do an informal inspection on the house & give us his thoughts.  It went well, so we'll just have to see what the next couple of weeks hold.  Praying that if this is where God wants us to be, the process will be quick & easy...it could get messy since it's a short sale.  Also praying that opportunities for work will open up close enough to the house for us to not have to move or pay an arm & a leg for gas & vehicle maintenance.  As I write this, I just received an email about returning to my position at summer camp, which is great & Anthony also *might* have a window of opportunity at the company he works at now...but we've been let down by them before so I'm not going to get my hopes up until there is a certainty, just like this house.  Choosing to just trust in God for both & that's enough!

Two more bits of exciting news.......

1. My wedding dress came in on Monday!!!!!!!!  I get to go try it on & get started with the fitting process sometime in the next couple of weeks :)  eeeekkkkkkkkk!!!

2. Even though we signed a contract with a DJ from Spectrum Entertainment months ago (literally), he finally gave me the link to start my online music/entertainment planner.  Apparently there was some confusion & I guess he had sent it to my mom's email instead originally?  It's a lot of information & a lot of material to plan (how the heck are we supposed to choose who all gets to sing & read at our wedding?  We have so many talented people around us & so many we want to include...), but I'm still excited.  

Now I'm off to fill out a bunch of paperwork (like 11 forms) so that I can have my job back this summer!

The Kid Question

As I mentioned last week, we placed an order for our invitations!  Among sorting out all of the wording for the invitation, envelopes, etc. there was also a problem with the RSVP cards.  Most people who read this blog know by now that we aren't inviting children to our wedding for various reasons (it's something that adults enjoy & appreciate more than kids, we're on a budget & every extra person is a lot more expensive than you'd think, & most importantly we're on an extremely EXTREMELY tight capacity of 150 people maximum for the ceremony).  It was a bit of a struggle for me not to choose the "Adults Only Reception" option for the RSVP cards, but my mom informed me that usually denotes "open bar," which definitely is not the case for our wedding.  I have thought a lot about how exactly to maneuver this awkward situation (because really, even if it does step on toes, this is our wedding & we have very good, very specific reasons for not inviting children & I don't think it should be hard to understand).  I just thought it was ironic that I received an email today from The Knot about "19 Wedding Problems Every Bride Deals With."  The very last one was this exact problem!  And here's how they answered............

No Kids Allowed

Q. Is it okay to have an adults-only (18 and up) guest list? If so, how do we spread the news?

A. It's completely legitimate to want an adults-only reception, especially for an evening affair. And most parents of young children will jump at the chance for a night out without the kids. Even so, this is a sensitive topic, and putting "adult reception" on your invites is a little too in-your-face, so take a more subtle tack. First, tell your parents, wedding party and other close relatives and friends, so they can spread the word if any guests ask them. Second, the people whose names are on your invitations are the only people invited to the wedding ("Mr. and Mrs. John Doe" means just the couple; "The Doe Family" means little Suzie can come too). Most guests will take note of this and RSVP for just themselves. If they RSVP for kids too, call them and explain that because of "budget constraints" (always the best excuse, even if it's not true), you decided to invite only adults. Try to understand that some may be genuinely surprised or hurt, and be understanding, but don't give in -- if you say yes once, the requests will start pouring in.

Read more: 19 Problems Every Bride Deals With http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/planning-a-wedding/articles/problems-every-bride-deals-with.aspx?page=7#ixzz1rZhMNTBe

Just thought I'd share!  Happy Monday everyone :)  

The Final Four

Four seems to be our lucky number!  Wedding on the fourth, four bridesmaids, (hopefully four tiers on our cake), four years together before we get married............you get the idea.  As is tradition, the picture of my calendar month:

There are still a couple of things left on last month's to-do list, but nothing too major.  There's a new list for 2-4 months & it's going to be kind of a lot to take on, but we're in the home-stretch, so I'm just going to have to push through it.  

_ Select bakery & order wedding cake.

_ Order party favors. (Already working on this with the Mason jars, but we're going to have to order napkins & then I'll have to put the jars together & do everything I want to them)

_ Select & order room decorations. (We're only really doing hanging curtains & this really cool candle piece at our venue, then there are a couple of DIY things that I want/need to make for the ceremony)

_ Purchase honeymoon attire & luggage. (Not that much attire needed, but we do need some new luggage...)

_ Select & book transportation for the wedding day. (Not really necessary)

_ Check blood test & marriage license requirements.

_ Shop for wedding rings & engrave them. (Mine is already made because it matches my ring perfectly, but I can't wait to have his made!)

_ Consider having your teeth cleaned or bleached. (Definitely going to be doing this!  I already have the whitening kit bought)

_ Consider writing a will &/or prenuptial agreement.

_ Plan activities for your out-of-town guests both before & after the wedding.

_ Purchase gifts for wedding attendants. (Already got mine & I've got to say...they're pretty amazing!!  Anthony just has to get on that for his guys)

That's all for now, it's dinnertime & I'm starving! :)

The First Presents & The First Project

We are so excited to have received our first gifts from our registry!  I got both the plates & the knives for my birthday...from my mom & then my dad (in that order).  I always have trouble telling people what to get me for birthdays or Christmas, so it's really nice to be able to have a registry for things like this :) the plates are the accent pieces for our china pattern.  I'm in love!  I can't wait to be able to fill our kitchen with things like these & cook dinner for my man (& everyone else!) all the time.  So so exciting.  I was bummed to learn that I won't be able to use thank-you cards with C's on them until after we're married, though.

Saw these at Carmichael's when Haley Rae & I ordered my invitations there today (I'll get the proofs next weekend, yay!)  There's red & aqua together, not to mention that I registered for a white one of these adorable bread baskets.  Speaking of invitations, it is a ridiculously complicated process.  It only took a collective 3+ hours to pick them out, get the right fonts/wording/etc., & get them ordered.

More red & aqua kitchen things!  Not that we're having a red & aqua kitchen...more like red & black.  They're still cute anyway!

Today was our first big home-improvement project.  Technically it wasn't for our home, but hey...it still counts!  I messed up my mom's coffee table pretty bad with nail polish remover :( oops.  Anthony spent all afternoon today sanding & re-staining the table.  Turns out he's pretty good at it!  The table still needs a second coat of stain, but it looks a million times better already.  Something tells me he's going to come in pretty handy when we have a home in the near future!  :)

MELISSA HUME PHOTOGRAPHY

MELISSA HUME PHOTOGRAPHY

Two of our engagement pictures that I just had to have!  I got MH to email them to me so I could go ahead & put them on Facebook for profile pics :)  I just love them so much.  Couldn't be happier with our pictures!!!