Meet the Newest Addition to our Family...

Isn't she just the cutest?! She's a 9 week old Bichon Poodle mix, and I think she may quite possibly be the most adorable thing ever. We just can't decide on a name! I originally liked Bella, but it's so common right now, particularly with the whole Twilight thing (which I've never gotten into). Right now we're between Pumpkin (she's actually more of a orange-y gold-ish color than the picture makes her look), Bella (pronounced Bay-uh like in Spanish), Paisley, or Lily. Which name do you think fits her best?

We're taking her to the vet today - I'm so excited to take care of our new fur baby together. I told David we'll have to take a 'family picture' this weekend! I probably won't post again until Monday because I'm enjoying a weekend at home. Hope everyone has a great couple days off!

Do you and your SO have any fur babies? How did you decide on his/her/their name(s)?

Bouts or No Bouts?

Before planning my own wedding, I thought everyone used boutonnieres (I hate spelling that word - I'll be copying/pasting for the rest of the post!) for their groomsmen. I never really liked them, though. What guy really enjoys wearing a flower? And they always end up smashed by the end of the night. In high school, my mom and I (uh, I'm not sure how much I helped..) always made David's boutonnieres - There was no way we were going to pay close to $20 - probably more than that now! - for something we could make for less than $2. They always turned out well, too:

 

*I apologize for the awkward half-boob shots - Didn't we coordinate well, though?*

So, I'm sure, that between my mom and I, we could easily DIY the boutonnieres (since we're DIYing all the flowers). I just don't think I want boutonnieres, though. I asked David what his thoughts were, and he said he'd be totally fine with just having pocket squares. Fine by me! I made the pocket sqaures for my sister's wedding in May - They were super easy, and turned out well:

*Gotta love the awkward sneaky shots from wedding guests while the photographer is trying to organize the formal bridal party pictures*

All DIY pocket squares require are fabric and pinking shears. I found some pinking shears on the Hobby Lobby website for $10, but any fabric or craft store would carry them.

I'll probably use a pink damask print fabric similar to this one, because I think it'll coordinate well with their pink vests:

source

I used 12x12 inch squares for the pocket squares I made, but I read that they're usually anywhere between 10 and 18 inches. I'm not sure what type of fabric is 'best' to use, but I'm just going to look for something wit a silky finish.

David hasn't picked out what his groomsmen will be wearing yet, so they may come with pocket squares. I might still be stubborn and insist on making them, though. I'm only a bride once, right? I think the damask print would look better than a plain one in the same color as the vest. Or maybe I'm just overly obsessed with damask. :)

Do you like the look of pocket squares in place of a boutonniere? Have you ever made your own?

Moving Deeper

I know my posts tend to focus on the wedding and usually not as much on the marriage. Sometimes thinking about our actual marriage is a little overwhelming. With the divorce rate as high as it is and the frequent stories about people we know giving up on their marriages, it can be a little scary.

We both understand that our marriage will not be easy. We've watched the marriages of the people closest to us struggle, and in some cases fall apart. I think a lot of people that don't know us as well think we're only making it harder on ourselves by getting married young. While I don't think it magically gets easier with age, I do acknowledge that many young couples end up divorced. David and I agree that it's important to learn from those with the life experience we're lacking to prepare ourselves as best we can for our future.

Over the weekend, we met with our friend's dad who is also a pastor at the church we're getting married at. The church requires that you meet with one of their pastors on staff even if he isn't officiating the ceremony. I had no idea how much knowledge we'd get in the hour we talked with him! He was totally open and honest with us about his own marriage and how hard it's been. He showed us two different diagram type things that he uses for the "nearly newlyweds" class he teaches, and I just loved one of them.

• The first function of a relationship is close proximity. As social beings, we long for a connection with another person. This is established through spending time together. A marriage functions as a way to form that connection and to be able to experience life together. 
• A relationship also functions as a safe haven. A marriage provides you with someone who will be there for you and is just as committed to you as you are to them. Pastor D said he likes to use the word covenant, which literally means a binding or sealed agreement. To establish a safe haven, however, you have to have trust, availability, love and commitment, responsiveness, and repair of disconnects. He talked about two kinds of trust - trusting your spouse's heart and trusting his/her character. Trusting his/her heart means you're able to be fully confident that he/she will be completely faithful to you emotionally and physically. Trusting his/her character means you're able to trust that his/her word means what it says. He gave the example that he'll tell his wife he'll be home by a certain time, but then gets caught up doing something. It's a little thing, but it makes it hard to trust his word. The other part that we focused on was the ability to repair disconnects. Pastor D brought up John Gottman, who wrote The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, which I read over the summer. Dr. Gottman says he's able to predict (with over 90% accuracy) whether a couple will last after 5 minutes of observing them interacting. One of the main things he looks for is whether couples are able to repair their relationship after disconnects.
• Another function of a marriage is as a secure base. Your spouse is the person that you'll always be able to go back to and find love. You can fail at work, in a friendship, whatever - Your spouse will still be on your side. Your spouse also provides a foundation for decision making and choosing a plan of action. 
• The fourth main function of a relationship is an alarm system. Your spouse will say, "Something's wrong here," even though that may mean he/she is met with denial or anger from you. Your spouse is the person who loves you enough to fix a problem, struggle, whatever even if fixing it is harder than ignoring/accepting it. 

I don't think any of that was something I'd never heard before, but the way it was laid out resonated with me for some reason. While I know it will be hard to be/provide all of those things, I know it'll be so rewarding! It made me even more excited for marriage and for the adventure it will be. I love that David enjoys "counseling" as much as I do - We love talking to people who have been in our situation and have had incredibly successful marriages. I can think of three different couples (all of which I've blogged about, actually! Pastor D and his wife, our officiant and his wife, and the couple I blogged about here - Hi Kathryn, if you're reading!) that we've met with that started out just like us - high school sweethearts, married right out of college - and are happier than ever! I know it's possible, and I know David and I can and will be just like them.

Have you taken a step back from wedding planning to focus on your marriage? Have you ever looked at a relationship the way the diagram does?

PS - He gave us 2 books to read, so I'll be posting them as soon as we find some time to read them! One of them is This Momentary Marriage by John Piper and the other is When Sinners Say 'I Do' by John Harvey. Have any of you heard of either of them?

Centerpiece Mock-Up

While I was at home, my mom and I finally found some pink tulle to use for the centerpiece mock-up. (It was amazing how hard it was to find! Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, and Hancock Fabrics were all out!) My mom had a couple ideas for the vases without the submerged tulle, so we played around with them a little using some LED tealights. We were able to find a package of 8 of them (with a replacement battery for each one!) at Big Lots for $6. I should write a post about all of the wedding things I've found at Big Lots - I love that place! Here is what we came up with:

I wish I would've been able to get a clear picture without using the flash, but I wanted you to get the idea of what it'll actually look like all lit up!

Here's a clearer picture before we were finished:

I'm not sure if we'll use that damask ribbon or a thicker one around the middle vase

We decided there was too much tulle submerged and you couldn't really tell what it was, so we tried it with about half as much tulle and liked it much better:

It matches better with the tulle bows on the other vases and you can actually see the texture of the tulle in the vase this way - We liked it much more!

There will be a damask table square under the vases, so they'll be grouped closer together, and we'll have 4 votives around the vases as well. I think all of the candle light will look so pretty! I just need to buy the floating candles and the rest of the tealights, and we'll have all of the supplies - David and I bought the river/floral rocks at Michael's on Sunday night because they're $0.89/bag right now! Make sure to get some if you're using them for anything - That's the lowest price I've seen.

What do you think? Doesn't the pink tulle look better than the white I tried it with originally?

A Lovely Wedding

In honor of my brother and SIL's first anniversary, I wanted to share some of the pictures from their wedding. I absolutely love fall color schemes, and their's was no exception. If I wasn't so anxious to get married (can you blame me?! 6 years is a long time!) I would've loved to have a fall wedding. So maybe the pictures can serve as inspiration to another lucky fall bride! Enjoy!

All photos by Cornerstone Photography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the overload of pictures! I couldn't choose favorites!

Which season is your favorite for weddings?

A Dress for Mom... And One for Me, Too!

I absolutely hate typical 'mother of the bride' dresses. They always seem like they'd be better suited for an elderly grandmother. After seeing the cute dresses my mom found for my brother's wedding last November and my sister's wedding in May, I knew I had nothing to worry about regarding what she would choose. I did mention that I'd prefer neither of our moms wear all black - It just seems too much like a funeral to me. However, my mom loves wearing black, so I knew that was what she'd be drawn to. 

We decided to go shopping on Saturday afternoon and happened to check out the formal wear at Dillards. A lot of their dresses were on clearance, so I think we both tried on about 10 dresses or so! The one she ended up choosing is so pretty - I love it! And, even better, it was marked down all the way to $20.99!

Isn't it perfect? My mom thought maybe a short dress would be better since my bridesmaids will be wearing knee length dresses. (And it will be HOT in June!) I love that it's so flattering and cute! Much better than some floor length skirt and jacket with shoulder pads. David's mom asked my mom and me if we'd go shopping with her to find her dress, so we definitely still plan on doing that. She hates shopping, but she looks good in everything!

I loved 4 or 5 of the dresses I tried on, but I was somehow able to limit myself to one. I think it'll be perfect for a bridal shower (or some other wedding event that I NEED a new dress for!) I love how it looks on, but I'm not talented enough to take a decent picture of myself in it, so this picture will have to do:

I especially love the ruffles at the bottom:

It's OC by Oleg Cassini and it was on sale for $29! I'm so excited to wear it, it's going to be hard to try to save it for next spring/summer! 

Was it a struggle to find a dress both you and your mom liked? Did you end up finding your mom's dress or your shower/rehearsal dresses much earlier than anticipated?

Please Forgive Me...

I had been doing so well scheduling posts for the coming week, but I just ran out of time last night. I went home for the weekend, and we got lots of stuff done! I'm excited for the posts (that I will get written tonight!) this week. Just to give you all a sneak peak:

• I got the CD of our high resolution engagement pictures, so I'll be able to finish our STDs!
• We met with the pastor of the church we're using for the ceremony (another one of our friend's dad) and it was great - They require a meeting with their pastor and he had so much good stuff to share with us. I'll be posting about what we talked about, and he also gave us 2 books to read, so I'll be posting about those too! 
• My momma found her Mother of the Bride dress! I love it, I think she loves it, and she got a great deal! 
• My mom and I did a centerpiece mock-up with the submerged tulle, and it turned out better than I had even expected! 
• I bought an adorable dress (bridal shower, maybe?) and some great finds at Michael's!
  

It was an exciting weekend - I'm excited to share the progress that was made with you guys!  Also, I was pleasantly surprised to find I received another blog award today (on an otherwise crappy Monday) - Thanks so much, Chocolate Lover! If you're not already a follower of her blog, you should be!

I'm supposed to list 5 things I'm obsessed with, and then pass it on to 5 fabulous bloggers! Ok, so things I'm obsessed with:

1. Weddings, wedding blogs, wedding websites, and wedding photography - I'm sure you've figured that out if you've spent any time on my blog at all!
2. Children - I absolutely love kids. Working with them is probably the most rewarding thing I've ever done! 
3. My precious nieces and nephews - In case you forgot how cute they are, allow me to remind you:

 4. Cute clothes - I can't resist buying an adorable new dress, even though I have way too many already. Especially if it's a bargain! I love finding cute things on sale!

5. My wonderful fiance, family, and friends - It it weird to be obsessed with them? I guess maybe so. But I do love them a WHOLE lot! 

And now 5 fabulous bloggers:

A Colorado Cupcake

A Future Mrs.

Gator Bride

Random Reflections of a Perfectionist

Unspecified Thoughts

I tried to choose some of the bloggers I hadn't chosen previously - There are so many of you that are just wonderful! It's so hard to choose only 5!

I hope you all had a great weekend and a not too terrible Monday! Be sure to check in this week for posts recapping this weekend's progress! :)

*Edit: Em at Burning River Bride gave me this award, too! Thanks, girl!