Music From Our Wedding

I promised, and I delivered.

For your listening pleasure, may I present:
Music from our wedding! We gave this mix away on CD as our favors and they seemed to go over pretty well. I worked for about 4 months on this mix. I'm pretty sure it's the best I've ever put together and it's basically us in 17 songs. It has a little of everything, including: The Beach Boys, Jack Johnson, Van Morrison, Cheap Trick, Rilo Kiley, Joan Jett, Ben Folds and lots more. Please notice that there is no "Wind Beneath My Wings."

Download HERE.

Listen below:

Enjoy.

Kiss the Whale

Today I love...
Wedding pictures!

Okay, so this is probably a cop out, but I've been sitting here staring at these pictures for a few hours now and I'm so submerged in them that it's all I can think about. So, here's your first tiny peek at our wedding pictures. More to come in the next few days. I'm slowly working my way through them and hope to get them posted to Facebook and Flickr sometime this week. I'm officially on Spring Break with school, so that frees a bit of time.

I also have some super-duper exciting news I'll probably share sometime tonight... or tomorrow... we'll see.
xoxo

Our Wedding Weekend, Part II

The Rehearsal Dinner

Be advised- This post is super image heavy. You can click on any of the photos to make them bigger.

All photos were taken by our wonderful friend Robert Wigington and edited by me. Robert has a blog, too. You should check it out.

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So. We got married under a huge old cedar tree completely covered in Spanish moss. Overlooking the river. A more perfect and beautiful place there is not. I promise. We looked all over Georgia.

This is our tree. With our friends and family gathering under it.


The cross of the gazebo was just visible over the minister's head through the trees. You'll get to see a picture of that... I promise.


My Dad, the constant photographer. I really love this picture of him. I think it may be my very favorite.


The Hubs. I think this was before I came out. I accidentally left my engagement ring in my room (oops!) and was a teensy bit late for the rehearsal. Horrible, I know.


Loooook at my tights. I'm pretty obsessed with them. I really love this picture. Those are Callie's hot legs on the left, BTW.


The whoooole wedding party. And pretty much our favorite people in the world.



Cheesin'.


My lovely, wonderful, beautiful bridesmaids.
Lovely Lane Chapel. Probably the prettiest little white chapel in the whole universe. I haven't actually seen them all, but I don't know how any could compare. This was our in-case-of-inclement-weather plan.


Not a bad plan, eh?
The inside is just as beautiful as the outside. Gorgeous wood everywhere.


Photoshopped nearly to death, but I really like it anyway. I think I may have a little addiction to Photoshop.


Speaking of addictions, the moustaches are probably in half of our pictures.


The toilet paper roll bouquet was from the bachelorette party the night before.


Wow. People are probably going to start thinking I really have a huge black moustache.


The head table at dinner in the Ellie Harvey Room. Chris' parents worked SO hard on the Rehearsal dinner and it was so lovely. My Aunt Kathie arranged the flowers... she's like the Yoda of flower arrangin'. Seriously.


One of my favorite games of the weekend was to put random people together and see how the interacted. College friends + high school friends + family = a very strange feeling.


More friends!


Some of Chris' family and some of my second family, The Berry's (Abbie's family).


I really like this picture of my dad and me. I also like that I have a hair tie around my wrist. Nice.


I'm not gonna lie here. This picture is probably of me telling them how awesome it is that my dress had pockets. Kristen doesn't seem impressed.


My aunt Linda (who I call Nina). Her hugs are the best.


And the obligatory feet picture. But seriously. This one is really, really good. (And look at my gold shoes!)

A huuuuuuuge thank you to Robert for agreeing to take pictures kinda last minute. He was a champ and these are pictures that we'll treasure for the rest of our lives.

We still have yet to receive our professional pictures from the actual "Big Day", but we're working on it. Soon, soon, soon!! In the meantime, I may put together a small post on some other wedding-related details like flowers, stationery, etc. And there will certainly be a few pictures of getting ready the day of. Mimosas may have been involved.

Also, if you were at the Rehearsal Dinner and didn't see a picture that you'd like to, (such as one of yourself/your family) let me know and I'll get it to you somehow. Robert took lots and these are just a small sampling.

Aaaannndd... Good night.

Our Wedding Weekend, Part 1

I'm doing this in stages for several reasons. For one, it would be a very long post if I tried to smash the whole weekend into one. Second, we don't have any of the professional pictures yet, soooo... I kinda want to wait on "day of" pictures. Here are some pictures of the weekend leading up to the wedding. About half of these were taken by Callie or Emily and then stolen from Facebook. The others are by me/from my camera. Enjoy!

The Bachelorette Party

Friday night, the girls took over the Wilson condo and threw me the funnest Bachelorette Party ever. It was super low-key with movies, wine, an ice-cream bar and the girls that mean the most to me in the whole world.

Presents and balloons! Yes!

Kristen gave me a set of nesting doll measuring cups from Anthropologie that I've been wanting for the looooongest time. Kristen truly gives the best gifts.

Clearly, she and Alissa together also make the best toilet paper dresses.

This is the first appearance of the now-infamous moustaches. I made 20 of them and they will pop up again and again. They seemed to be a big hit all weekend.

We also watched Mamma Mia! and strung paper cranes onto fishing line for the ceremony.

Cheers!

To sum up: it was the most perfect bachelorette party ever. And I couldn't ask for better friends.

The Bridesmaid's Luncheon

Saturday morning we got up, Abbie and I went for mani/pedi's, then we met the other girls and both Moms at Barbara Jean's down at the village for lunch.

I wrote each bridesmaid a letter, explaining to them why they're awesome and thanking them for it. Then they opened presents.....

I realize now that I got a good shot of the jewelry, but no pictures of the actual gift, which was this small silver heart box with each of their names engraved on the inside.

After a very tasty lunch, we ordered a bowl of Barbara Jean's famous "Chocolate Stuff" to split among the seven of us.
Yummmm!

Left to right: Lydia (my MOH), Mrs. Pam (my mom-in-law), my Mom, Callie, Emily, me, and Abbie.

Stay tuned for more wedding pictures. Next up is the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, but don't be surprised if I throw a few regular posts between all this wedding stuff.

The Last

Well, this is the last post before I have a new last name. I'm leaving tonight to go down to the island. Thursday and Friday will be days to finish last minute things, with a Bachelorette party on Friday night. Saturday is the Bridesmaid's Luncheon and the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner. Then Sunday is the big day. We'll be back in Statesboro on Tuesday night.

I'm in the middle of packing right now. It's insane. It really isn't like packing for anything else. The beauty products alone get their own suitcase, and if you know me well, you know that this is pretty crazy.

I'll probably tweet a few times over the next week, but other than that it will be radio silence until I get back. I'll be taking my camera, but don't expect lots of pictures ASAP. They will come, but it will probably be slow. They will probably be posted here and on Flickr, not on Facebook if I can help it.

Now, a quick trip to Hobby Lobby to pick up some last minute ribbon, then packing, packing, packing.

Wish us luck and a cool breeze.

The One Month Panic

Hello there, one month mark! You surprised me, you sneaky thing!

So, yeah. I'm not sure, but I think this is the point where I start panicking. Up until this point, we've been sailing on pretty calm seas. Even when our piano player backed out, I didn't panic. Even when our bakery backed out two weeks ago... I didn't panic. Even though it's a week until the RSVP deadline and less than half have RSVP'd, I haven't freaked out yet. Even when I tried my wedding dress on for the first time and the color is slightly different from the color I thought I ordered, I've stayed completely calm. In fact, that's the first time I've mentioned that one to anybody but Chris. But for some reason, seeing the 40-something days turn to 30-something days just hit me like a ton of bricks. In the past week, I haven't really been sleeping, I'm having nightmares about my dress accidentally being dyed black (oh yeah... woke up crying over that one), I've chewed my nails 'till my fingers bled, I'm second guessing every decision I've made, I'm not sure the florist and I are on the same page, I'm worried nothing will work out right, I'm scared nobody's coming, I'll cry over nothing, and I am just overall a nervous wreck.

People keep asking what they can do to help, and I can never think of anything at the moment. I always smile and say "I think we're okay just now, but I'll let you know." But it's times like now, at 4am when I sit staring at my mile-long list of to-do's and think, "I need hellllllppppp!!!!!!!"

Was I crazy to take on so many do-it-yourself projects? I'm starting to believe I was. Paper cranes, corsages, boutonnieres, programs, favors, vases for flowers, maps for invitations! And there's still so much more than that to be done. Buying. Ordering. Calling. Booking. Reserving. Emailing. Driving. Trying on. Having things altered.... the list goes on forever.

I know it will all get done. I do, really. At least I know the important things will get done. And I know that in the end, it isn't really about the wedding at all. It's about the marriage. It's about the vows we take on that day. It's about us. If I forget one silly little detail, the whole day isn't going to fall apart. I know that.

But for somebody who puts alot of stock in the little things, it's incredibly difficult to let those little things go. And for a serious DIY-er, it's hard to buy pre-made when I know I could make it and make it better.

This weekend is a long weekend and I think I'm going to spend the next several days getting things DONE. I also need to make a list of things other people can do to help... so that the next time somebody says "What can I do?" I'm ready with a task.

For now, I need to go to bed. Even if I just lay there for a few hours, I should at least try, right? Maybe I should try some meditation music or chanting.... "It will all work out. It will all work out. It will all work out....."

xoxo

Eeeeeek!

I'm not usually one to post such things, but really... this is crazy. I went to check on something to do with our guestlist at Martha Stewart Weddings and the countdown there always surprises me.

Soooooo soon! Hooray!

The Longest Weekend

My weekend started on Thursday night, which would usually be a good thing. This time, however it just made the whole ordeal longer. I'll explain.

Thursday night Chris and I drove down to Brunswick to stay the night so that we could get up Friday morning in order to meet with our bakery and florist for the wedding. At around 4:30 Friday morning, I woke up to a beeping cell phone and a text message from my Dad saying that my grandma (Mamaw) fell Thursday night and broke her left hip. Of course, there was absolutely nothing we could do from Brunswick, but it didn't stop me from worrying anyway. I think I take after Mamaw in that way.

So, at around 7, we ate breakfast and got ready to head to the bakery. After sitting and talking (and tasting some wonderful cupcakes) we are very happy and excited to be using Nautica Joe's Cafe for our bakery. Next, we went to the florist and talked through what we want and what to expect. Again, we are very happy with the florist we have chosen. (Their website is HERE, but doesn't really do them justice.)

After the florist, we headed off the island and made our way to Tignall. My best friend Abbie got married this weekend and the plan had been for Chris and I to stay with Mamaw for the weekend, but of course plans changed. Friday night we went to the rehearsal dinner and after a long day and long evening, we finally got to bed around 2am. Saturday was even longer since I had to have my hair done at 8am and then had wedding stuff all day long. Mamaw had surgery around 1:00 and they replaced the ball in her left hip. After we got Abbie down the isle, and stayed for a few minutes of the reception, Chris and I decided to call it a night. We went back to Mamaw's and I pretty much crashed. I definitely went to bed around 8:15.

Sunday, we got up and headed to Athens to visit Mamaw in the hospital. She's doing quite well, all things considered. She was still Mamaw, worried about everybody but herself, making sure none of us were hungry or anything. If you know Mamaw, this is quite typical. I believe they are going to try to move her to Washington sometime this week, so she can be closer to home, then she will be there for 2-4 weeks of rehab and recovery.

We finally got back to Statesboro last night around 11 and I'm not sure I've ever had such a long weekend.

This week, we're trying to get even more wedding stuff done. The list seems never ending. Plus, the ladies of Tignall Baptist Church are throwing me a shower next weekend, so I'll spend another weekend on the road.

Today, however, I'm planning on doing lots of little wedding things like emailing the florist, working on favors and corsages, and making lists for our wedding director. I also have a dinner date with Jessica tonight which should prove to be good fun.

I hope to post some fun things soon to lighten the mood a little. Please bear (bare?) with me.

Wedding Peek

Been a while, I know. I've been busy working on wedding stuff. A sneak peek, you say? I shall oblige.

Invitations, maps, and the prettiest stamps the USPS has ever had.

Covered buttons. Going into Hobby Lobby and asking for 1/8 of a yard of 5 different fabrics made me look kinda like a crazy person. Worth every strange look.

When I say craftiness runs in the family, I really do mean it. This is my Dad's handiwork.

Stacey, you were right. Where there's a will, there's a way. Or better still, where there's a little crafty know-how, there's a way.

I also have about 60% of the invitations addressed. I've only trashed about 6. And one of those was perfectly fine, except the person's address changed and we just realized in time. That's not half bad since I'm using a calligraphy fountain pen. I am definitely no calligrapher, but they're better than a good ol' BIC pen.

That's all for today. The Unisom has kicked in and things are going a little fuzzy.
xoxo