Our First Wedding Shower!

March 31 was our first wedding shower! It was family invite only and it was held at Jeremy's mothers house. A lot of our family had showed up and we got lots of great gifts! We got lots of kitchen items such as China, silverware, cooking utensils, skillets, pots, bakeware, over mitts and kitchen towels, can opener, a wine rack, and we also got our new bed set, some bath towels, and a few picture frames. We had some hilarious moments that made wonderful memories. The cake his mom got for us said this, "Our Wedding Day June 2, 2012 Name Here Stefany & Jeremy." Then my GRANDMOTHER bought me Victoria's Secret lingerie and made me open it in front of everyone! I was so embarrassed and shocked that she would buy me something like this (you would have to know my grandma!). The shower lasted for hours then we left. Jeremy had to go back home to close the store down and I stayed home and reorganized our kitchen and put away all of our new kitchen goodies! I was so excited! The next day I even used one of our skillets and our new plates to make my lunch. We would have to agree that our first shower was a success! Can't wait for our second one, April 14 with everyone invited to this one! I hope we got lots more goodies! :)

We got a videographer!

We didn't think we would have enough money for a videographer so we weren't going to splurge on it even though we really wanted a video of our wedding. After meeting with our wedding planner, Jeremy's mom came up to us in private and told us that she wanted us to have a videographer and she wanted a copy of our wedding and offered to pay for it. I was so excited and happy! I got an email from Message in a Bottle Productions and they were reasonably priced. We met with them one day and decided to go with them. I am so thankful for Jeremy's mom for wanting this as much as we did because now we get to relive our wedding day over and over again and make a tradition out of watching the DVD every year on our anniversary. I'll attach the link to the videographer so you can check them out if you'd like!

Registries Galore!!

We are officially registered for bridal shower gifts! We are so excited! We are registered at Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, and Wal-Mart. You can go online and search for our registries and print before you go to the store or you can order online or you can just go to the stores. We are going to have our first Wedding Shower March 31. This is a family only event. Then our next Wedding Shower that will be with all of our friends and family will be April 14. We can't wait!!

The Save the Dates are finally sent!

I finally sent out the save the dates that I've been working on for a month now! Be sure to check your mail for when they come in! And don't forget to "save the date!" 

Can't wait to be sitting by the ocean on our HONEYMOON!

Yes, we finally got our honeymoon picked out! Things are starting to come along nicely. We went to travel leaders over by the Wolfchase Mall and put a deposit down on our honeymoon. We decided to go with the Dominican Republic resort. Where we will stay at, there are also 4 other islands next to it that we are allowed to travel to and visit so we don't have to stay in one spot! Best thing about this place is that the honeymoon is all-inclusive so the total price will include everything from hotel to air fare to meals to a rental car to pick us up! We have a honeymoon gift registry set up now where if you would like to help us pay off our honeymoon or give us a little extra cash to spend as a gift, it would be greatly appreciated! I'll include the link to the website where it'll tell you how to help on there at the bottom of this page. I don't know about Jeremy, but I cannot WAIT to be vacationing on an island!! :)

Rings are on layaway!

Jeremy and I finally decided on rings yesterday. He went today and got them put on layaway. Mine are 2 antique curved rings from the 1800s with "orange blossom" engraving on the sides. They were the only things they had at the store that would fit my custom princess cut diamond ring. He got a black titanium ring with hammered texture. Very nice rings. 

Dress is ORDERED!

So I went December 21 and finally ordered my dress! I only owe $50 on it but that was only because I was $50 short! :( Oh well, when they call me when it arrives I will go back to try it on and make sure it fits and pay the rest off. I'm just so excited to finally have my dress ordered and I can't wait to try on MY dress!! Oh and I bought it at The White Room in Murfreesboro and I highly recommend those people. They are very nice and don't pressure you into buying their dresses like most salons do. They have dresses to fit all budgets. What kind of dress did I get, you ask? Well... I'm not telling you--- it's a surprise!! :D

Our hectic last few weeks!!

So the past few weeks have been pretty hectic for me! My cousin Brandy informed me that she wasn't sure if she was going to be around to do wedding-related things since her job required her to work out of the country a lot and didn't want to leave me disappointed if she wasn't able to come last minute so I had to find a replacement. It took me awhile but I finally got a replacement- my long time friend Amanda McNeil, with whom I was a bridesmaid in her wedding and also the matchmaker for her wonderful marriage to her beau, Adam. I'm so honored to have her on my team and to help me and be apart of this wonderful day for me! Lastly, we had a hard time finding bridesmaid dresses. We had a dress picked out but then I saw on it on a group of bridesmaids and to me, it honestly didn't look flattering. So I tried looking all around at other locations and had my girls picking dresses from a website and then tried to find these dresses at locations for the cheap but none of them were under $150. So I finally decided to go with one of the original dresses at David's bridal that we nicknamed the "cupcake" dress for my bridesmaids and then the last dress for my maid of honor, Noel. So now all we have to do is go to David's Bridal and get measured and fitted for a dress and then purchase the dress. We have to have them purchased by December so we have a date set for December 17 to meet there and get all that taken care of and hopefully will have one stress done and out of the way! 

I love Chicken Soup for the Soul Books!

I've been reading from my Chicken Soup for the Bride's Soul book here lately and I came across this story that I thought held a lot of meaning to marriage, even if I don't know the guy. The story is titled "Advice from the Groom's Dad" and it goes like this:


I have the most useless job in the world: father of the groom. Our Stephen is getting married this weekend and, as father of the groom, I'm expected to do absolutely nothing. Okay, I have to show up. But that's all. I have no duties. I don't have to hire a string quartet, arrange for flowers, select a modest but saucy little wine or walk down any aisle. I could nod off and no one would care. Or notice. Well, not for me the role of nonparticipant, I offer Stephen and his bride, Rhea, this advice on marriage:

• Always eat a good breakfast. A good marriage requires lots of energy and you shouldn't start the day on an empty stomach. 
• Always put the other person first. 
• Never leave home without a kiss. It's nice. If you can work in a little pat, I'm all for that, too. 
• Have fun. If you don't make each other laugh, there is something wrong. 
• Accept early in marriage that there are some things you'll never agree on-- the proper room temperature, station wagons, Capri pants, the three stooges. Don't panic. This is normal.
• Don't try to win every arguement. Compromise with dignity. And no gloating. 
• Live within your means. Money management is a lot more important that you may think in a marital bliss. Don't be afraid to do without. Things won't keep you together. When you look back, it isn't things you remember. 
• Surprises. You need lots of them. Just the other morning, I found a little poem left by my place at the table. That's why I think I have the finest life partner in the galaxy. 
• Don't sulk, whine, or leave things in your pockets on washday. 
• Don't save your best smiles for strangers, people at the office, clients. Get your priorities straight. 
• Talk to each other. I'm a big believer in this. 
• Have a nice, big, cozy bed where you can start and end each day with a cuddle. If you're too busy to cuddle, you are probably suffering from a bad case of self-importance---fatal in a marriage.
• Don't take each other for granted even if you're celebrating your golden anniversary. 
• Be faithful.
• Don't figure romance is over once you're married. It's just started, if you play it right. 
• Have dinners at night with everyone around the table discussing the day's events. Don't have the TV on. Don't read the newspaper. Don't complain. It's time to lighten up and relax. 
• Serve whipped cream now and then. Whipped cream puts everybody in a good mood. 
• A little lace never hurt a marriage. 
• Have children. And when you have them, take care of them. Love them, enjoy them, spend time with them, say "no" to them, play with them, hug them. Children are probably the most important contribution you'll make to the world so don't treat them like a hobby or leave them to strangers to raise. 
• Have a porch as soon as you can. And a couple of nice chairs. SIt out on summer evenings and watch sunsets. You don't always have to be on the go.
• Be around when things go right, but also when they go wrong.
• Listen, listen, listen. You'll be surprised what you learn. 
• No double standards.
• Early in the morning, when you're still just half-awake, reach over and touch your partner to reassure yourself that they are there, and that things are alright. 
• Tenderness is legal.

-Gary Lautens 

Engagement Picture Session 10.23.11

Finally got to get our engagement pictures done! We went to Alley Springs Mill in Eminence, Mo where my parents got married. It's a little town where my mom grew up so it had a lot of personal meaning to it. I was fortunate enough to have a very supportive photographer who agreed to travel the 4 hours just to shoot our photos. Jeremy & I left out Saturday morning to enjoy a weekend away together. We stayed at RiverEdge Resort and our room over looked the river. It was nice and cozy (except for the antique TV that Jeremy just couldn't get over!). We walked into town to get ice cream at my favorite place, the Dairy Shack, which is a place that my Aunt Connie actually used to own a long time ago and it was my mom's first job when she was 12. Then we walked down the strip to the grocery store to get water and went back to the hotel. Then we walked across the street to check out some western-like shops and then came back to rest for a while. Then later that evening we ate dinner with my grandmother and my great Aunt Lucille. I had a hard time sleeping since I was so excited about the next day! I just couldn't wait to get up and start getting ready. I woke up around 6am and started preparing for the day. We had to be out of our hotel by 11 and so we drove around town waiting for our photographer to arrive. I had a special request to photograph a few pictures with my grandfathers gravesite in his honor since he would obviously not be able to be at my wedding. That was where we started first. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted the pictures to look like but as soon as we got there, Rick had an even better idea. He saw that our reflection showed through the granite and thought it would be a perfect picture-and that it was! Then we took some at the outhouses by the church then drove over to the Mill. As the day went on so many people started showing up and didn't seem to notice or care that we were doing an engagement session and kept getting in the way of our background. Fortunately enough, we were still able to get some really good photos of the beautiful water and the mill and even a few at the school house. The website with our engagement session is listed below. We are so happy about how they turned out and can't wait to show them to everyone. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!