Engagement pictures!!

We had such a great time taking our engagement pictures and were so excited to get to see them this past weekend. Our pictures were done by J&C Imaging and for the next month we have an online gallery to view all of the pictures. You can see them by following this link:

http://jcimaging.morephotos.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=viewphotos&size=thumbnails&thumbpagenum=1&eventid=44673&eventstatus=0&categories=no&keywords2=no&groupid=0&bw=true&sep=true&ckw=false

Here are a few favs:

We are so happy with how they came out. We are going to have a tough time deciding on which prints to purchase. We couldn't be happier with our photographers at J&C Imaging!!

Dress shopping, take one

A couple weeks ago I was joined by my mom, sister, and family friend Olivia to shop for dresses here in Manhattan. (Manhattan, Kansas for any of my east coast friends reading this. I was not in New York without calling.) The day started out great when we arrived at Celebrations of the Heart and the girls already had multiple dresses pulled for me. Now, over the years I have been in a few bridal shows for Celebrations of the Heart and worn many wedding dresses for that reason. Never once did I try one on that I really loved. I could appreciate the beauty of so many dresses, but nothing had stood out. So I was a little nervous going in that nothing would "speak" to me. But three dresses in, I found a true beauty. I apologize, but since Andrew has access to reading this I will be giving zero description. I tried a few others and realized that all I was doing was comparing each one to the one that had stood out. I already have a weekend of dress shopping planned in Kansas City that my sister-in-law is flying in for (how awesome is she?). There is one dress in particular (again, can't describe via public blog) that I want to try on that is available at a store in KC. And we have a whole fun weekend planned, so I want to continue looking. At that point I will see if I find another dress that stands out to me or if I continue comparing each one to my so far favorite. After we finished at Celebrations of the Heart, we got some lunch. I got a meal shake at Healthy Attitude (I got the Wedding Cake Shake) then headed over to AJs Pizzeria where the rest of our group got lunch and we sat outside enjoying the beautiful day. After lunch we headed to our next dress appointment at Weisners Bridal. I wish we had skipped this one. Their service was terrible. A couple dresses were to small for me to try on, so when Mom asked if she could have the designer/style number so I could try it on somewhere else, they told her they couldn't give that to her because they don't want anyone to purchase it somewhere else. They'd even gone far enough as to cut out the tags in all the dresses so you couldn't see the designer. That clearly gave the impression that they don't care about the brides, just about their sale. So after that I would not purchase from them even if they did have the dress I want. Since that would not have been a fun end to the day, we decided to head down the street and have a drink at Carlos O Kellys. Nothing like an ice cold margarita on a warm sunny day. A great ending to the day. The following weekend, Andrea (my rockin sister-in-law/Sister Bear that is flying to KC to dress shop with me) was in town for Andrew's graduation, so we made a quick trip to Celebrations of the Heart so I could try the dress on to show her. This way everyone I'm shopping with in KC will have also seen this dress and can help compare. Can't wait for our dress shopping weekend next week!!

First things first

Well I am starting this blog two months into the engagement, so there are some things that have been accomplished that I will update on first. The weekend after Andrew proposed (which was followed by me saying "yes") we headed up to Chicago. (Sidenote: if you want to hear the engagement story, check out the link on the right to our wedding website.) While we were there we stayed with my "summer family" the first night. While in college, I took a summertime nanny position for this family and continued for three summers. It was the best "job" ever. They are family, so it was easy for me to decide I wanted the kids, Tyler and Elly, to be Ring Bearer and Flower Girl. So I made them little cards with poems that asked them to be in the wedding, along with a cookie for each of them. Tyler's cookie had a ring decorated on it and Elly's was decorated with flowers. This bribery worked, and they said yes. I couldn't be happier that I get to share my day with these two that I love so much. And it means that their parents have no choice but to come to the wedding, too. ;) For the second half of our weekend in Chicago, we went and stayed with Andrew's grandma. I had not met her yet so it was great to finally be able to do that. Andrew's aunt and uncle happened to be visiting the same weekend from Arizona, so I was able to meet them as well. They all were so sweet and welcoming. Andrew had not told them about the engagement before we went to visit, so it was fun to surprise them and have Andrew introduce me as his fiance. We went out to dinner and they surprised us by having our waitress bring out a cookie cake for desert with two rings decorated from whipped cream on top. Little did they know cookie cakes are probably  the quickest way to my heart, so I felt like family immediately.

 With our Ring Bearer and Flower Girl

 Our cute cookie cake

 The cookies and poems for Tyler and Elly

Once we got back from Chicago, we had a little break for about a week before my mom got home from visiting her sister, my "other mother", in Arizona. Once she got back we were all anxious to get some of the major planning/scheduling things done for the wedding. We found the perfect spot for the wedding I was dreaming of, Prairiewood Retreat and Preserve. If you are unfamiliar with it, you should really check out their website and see a fraction of the beauty at this place http://prairiewood.com/  I'm so happy and excited to say that we were able to book the place for 4 days, Thursday-Sunday of the wedding weekend. The wedding and reception will be held there, allowing us to do any setup that we can on Thursday and have the weekend to really enjoy ourselves. There are four guest suites on site that will be for me and my bridesmaids to stay at the two nights prior to the wedding. And then for our wedding night, Andrew and I will stay down the street at Scenic Valley Inn. My mom made the reservation for that as well, under Mr. and Mrs. Esser :) We are hoping for an outdoor wedding and the reception in the on-site barn. The ceremony will be moved into the barn if the weather doesn't cooperate. We have hired Dave Lewis to be the DJ for our wedding and couldn't be happier with that choice. Dave did both my sister and brother's weddings as well. But as the voice of K-State, he shouldn't be surprised if one of our K-State fan guests ask him to say "Good for a Wildcat, FIRST DOWN!" Our photographers will be J&C Imaging. They did my bother's wedding and are definitely a wonderful choice. I know that I can relax on the day of the wedding and know that our photographer is going to perfectly capture every important moment. So now that those main things are booked, I feel really great about where we are in the planning process. And tomorrow is our engagement picture session and we are so excited. The weather had originally said it was going to rain/thunderstorm, but I quickly vetoed that idea and the weather is now predicted to be 80 degrees and partly cloudy. Should be a great day.

A couple weeks after our engagement, my sister (Matron of Honor) and my mom planned an engagement party for us. We had it at my sister's house and had a few little deserts and wine. It was a great chance for friends to come over and see the ring (I love showing this thing off). I had such a great time chatting with everybody. While we were there, we asked my nephew if he would be the Coin Bearer in the wedding. A Coin Bearer brings 13 unity coins down the aisle, gives the to the groom, who gives them to the bride. They each symbolize something different. Google it, it's pretty cool. When we explained his duty of carrying a little bag of coins down the aisle he said, "like a robber?". So our ceremony will be complete with a robber/coin bearer. In order for our guests to understand the meaning of the coin bearer, we wanted to have somebody read about the tradition of it and give the meaning of each coin. We asked our dear family friend, Olivia, to do this for us. We are so happy that she will be a part of the ceremony. We couldn't see it any other way.

At our engagement party

 THE RING!! Ah, it still takes my breath away

So, that's about where we are at with wedding planning. I'll have to post some other details another time. Don't want my readers getting too bored :)

Just the beginning...

Hi to everyone interested in reading about this year of graduating, job searching, moving, and most importantly, getting married. What an exciting year this will be. I thought this blog would be the best way to not only let others in on what is happening this year, but also for me to have a place to look back on and remember all the excitement. One year from today I will be marrying my best friend. Join me in the countdown.