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!

Props!

I handmade each prop for our engagement pictures! They turned out way better than I had imagined & I can't wait to use them!

Win a contest during my engagement-CHECK!

I have been wanting to win a contest for our wedding since we have been engaged. I told Noel it was on my "bucket list" of things to do while I was engaged. Seems silly I know. But I got the opportunity the last week of September. The Barefoot Bride page on facebook posted a status claiming to have a contest going on for free shoes and a $50 gift card to the winner who will post a picture of them and the story of how they got engaged and the winner with the most likes wins. I was the first and only one for a few days before anyone ever added their own posts. Finally, 2 other people added their stories and the race was on! The contest was supposed to end at midnight on October 1. Well, midnight October 1 came around and I had won yet the next day the owner of the page hadn't been on to declare the winner and the other competition was steadily gaining more votes. I finally texted the women and asked her what was going on. She told me to just keep going and extended the contest until midnight that night. I was so mad! Not only did I annoy every person on facebook for votes, but I was tired of sitting behind my computer begging for votes! We were neck and neck throughout the rest of the day but I was still ahead when I finally got off the computer. Later that evening around 8pm, my mother texted me to tell me I was losing by 20 votes. I told her that I gave up and that I had fought the hardest I could but there wasn't anybody else who would vote for me. Later when I got home that night around 11:30pm, I didn't want to look at the scores so I started to get ready for bed. That's when my WONDERFUL brother Troy, texted me to tell me that I was ahead! I couldn't believe it because I thought for sure I had lost. So, I got online to check and I was steadily pulling away from the competition! Troy told me that he saw I was losing and had thought, "She can do this, she can win!" And between him and my wonderful sister Shannon and her boyfriend, John Michael, they rallied all their friends for last minute votes and I won 385 to 355 & 25 votes!! I thank everyone who helped and I promise to never do this again! lol

Our Wedding Party

Our wedding party will consist of 7 groomsmen and 7 bridesmaids, 1 flower girl and 1 ring barrier. 


Jeremy's side: Best man-Phillip Luna, Groomsmen- Chris Phillips, Troy McDonald Jr, Ethan McDonald, Wesley Jaworski, Markus Wells, & Corey McCullough. 


Stefany's side: Maid of Honor: Noel Jaworski, Matron of Honor- Shannon McDonald, Bridesmaids-Amanda McNeil, Kim Luttrell, April Brooks, Chelsey Peeler, & Heather West. 


Flower Girl: Allie Wooding
Ring Barrier: Jensen Jaworski
                   

Don't go to David's Bridal in Bartlett!!

I recently took my girls to go look for bridesmaid dresses at David's Bridal in Bartlett. Noel, my maid of honor, was the one who called days before and made an appointment at 2. When we got there we told them that we were there for an appointment and they just told us to go look and pick out our dresses. So we did, and the very first one we saw we ALL fell in love with! I pulled a color swatch of the color I am doing for the wedding: Teal (Oasis in DB colors). As we go walking around pulling dresses from the racks we try to go and find out if we can get dressing rooms. We start walking towards the front and another consultant stops us and asks us if we needed anything. We proceeded to tell her that we had an appointment and needed fitting rooms. She asked if we had signed in and we told her no and she said we needed to sign in up front and as Noel was asking her another question, she walks off! So, we go up front, waited behind another large group, then sat down at the desk when it was our turn, only to have the consultant get up, tell us to sign in and walk away. We were dumbfounded! She didn't pull out any paperwork for us to "Sign in" she just assumed we knew what she was talking about. We started going through all the papers on the desk and pulled out what looked like what we were supposed to fill out and started filling it out. Then another women came up to us and asked if we had a consultant yet. We said no and she said she would try to get us one. We went back to the dressing rooms and had some of the girls try on the first dress we ALL liked. As we were talking about how much we liked this dress, another consultant comes up to us and tells us that the dress we liked only came in black and ivory then turned and walked away without telling us anything else. We had to go hunt another consultant down to figure out what dresses DID come in our color. She only showed us the racks with the pink tags on it then walked away again. Luckily, I had my cousin Doug there to help fetch dresses and sizes when needed and we narrowed it down to two dresses, NO THANKS TO DB CONSULTANTS!! We decided we would try elsewhere first before giving them ANY of our business! Noel has us scheduled another appointment at the DB location in Murfreesboro along with an appointment after that at the White Room where I will be getting my dress at in January, also in Murfreesboro. Hopefully we will have better luck at both service and dress choices at these locations and will be able to choose a dress that EVERYONE will like! I plan on having them ordered by January. 

Our Photographer Rick

Our photographer Rick Grainger has pleased us to the fullest and we haven't even used him yet! He is very enthusiastic about his work and encourages couples to do things that are sentimental to them verus the majority of other photographers who just want you to do things THEIR way. His work is phenomenal and he isn't badly priced! We are scheduled to do our engagement pictures with him Sunday, October 23 at the Alley Springs Mill in Eminence, MO. where my parents were married at and also where my mom grew up. Then for our wedding he explained to us that he will be with me every step of the way to capture every moment from getting my hair done to getting into our getaway car. He states that after taking pictures of the ceremony he likes to set up a display at the reception of all the pictures, unedited, from the ceremony and shows them ahead of time to all my guests, which I think is pretty cool! Then he will have them all to display after final touches on our own personal website so that our friends and family can look through and buy for themselves. The link to his website is posted below if anyone would like to take a look at his work. 

Something Borrowed

I have an idea to put up wedding pictures in an antique looking frame of our parents from when they were married. I also am having a special table in honor of both of our grandfathers who passed away when we were younger. It will feature pictures of them holding us as babies and candles lit in their memories.

Our Wedding Venue

We are getting married at Savannah Woods Plantation in Collierville, TN. Below is a link for the website to check out if you'd like. The place offers a rehearsal dinner the night before, both the wedding site and the reception, catering, decorations, both of our cakes, flowers, tables and chairs, and even a wedding planner! The place is absolutely gorgeous! The site where the ceremony will take place is surrounded by huge trees that provide lots of shade which is perfect since our wedding will be June 2, during the start of the summer season. We are still in the process of getting a bartender for our wedding, among other things. My sister's boyfriend is a professional DJ and he will be DJing our reception. We have the menu picked out and will feature a great selection of hot and cold items that are yummy!! We also rented a photo booth to take place of a traditional guest book. So when you're looking to sign our guestbook make sure you hit up the photo booth instead. We feel it will be a great treat for our guests and will also provide a more fun keepsake than a traditional guestbook! 

Introduction

Hello everyone! 


Thanks for taking the time to read up on all that has happened to us since we have been engaged. We hope that this blog will make it easier for everyone to keep up with what is going on. We will try to keep this updated as much as possible as our journey to becoming MARRIED draws near. We also want to thank our family & friends for their love and support for us. 


Happy readings! 


XOXO,
Stefany & Jeremy