70 Days Out!

I am a terrible wedding blogger… I haven’t blogged in 4 months. Shame on me!  I suppose most of that is for the best since we weren’t really doing any fun wedding stuff for a while. However, things have really picked up in the past few weeks! It’s been exciting.

A short recap: Some dear friends recently threw us a bridal shower, we found a beautiful rental house, some of the detail items for the reception came in, annnnd the invites were printed!

I’ll give more details on the above stuff later. Here’s a sneak peak of the invites!

I designed them myself. The print quality was not quite up to my standards, but they were dirt cheap. Holy cow, they were cheap. I’ve designed wedding invites for several of my friends, and for as many different pieces as mine had, I got a steal. It pays off to work with printers!

And I must say, I love the “Celebration” stamps. They remind me of a patchwork quilt, which goes well with our country-rustic wedding.

We are in the process of finalizing and printing the guest list. Stuffing and labeling will be the fun part.  :)  These will be mailed sometime in the next 2 weeks.

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Interested in custom wedding invitations?

Leah has designed wedding invitations for all types of budgets. Contact her at invitesbyleah[at]gmail[dot]com for more information!

 

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This is the year!

We are getting married this year!

After a treacherous drive north, David and I spent a little over two weeks together in Michigan for Christmas vacation. (David gets another 2 weeks off still.) We met a couple that were married on our wedding date. They told us it was a good date because it was exactly 6 months from Christmas, so it’s easy to remember. We hadn’t realized that before! We’re less than 6 months away now.  :)

It was fun spending the holidays together as an engaged couple. I think it was actually the first Christmas Day we spent together!

We finished booking the vendors over break. I also spent some time designing our wedding invitations. As a designer, I am my own worst client… I’m never happy! However, I feel pretty good about the direction we decided to go with. Just a few more details to confirm, and then it’s off to the printer with those!

The next few months are going to fly by! We can’t wait!

Wedding Dress… Check!

David and I got to spend the whole week of Thanksgiving home in Michigan. I hadn’t been home since July, and it was great to spend time with family and friends.

I also got to go dress shopping!

My mom, David’s mom, my sister and bridesmaid Mary, and my long time friend and bridesmaid Vicki came with me! This was my third time dress shopping. I was determined to choose a dress this trip since time was running out on ordering one in time for the wedding.

We went to Becker’s Bridal in Folwer, Michigan. I had heard about it from my aunt, and David’s mom had actually gotten her wedding dress there 27 years ago. Fowler is a very small town, and it is known for its bridal shop. Brides come in from all over the country. I believe they said they have over 3,000 dresses!

Since I had already been dress shopping before, I had a better idea of the style I was looking for. I tried on lots of dresses, and finally knocked it down to 3 dresses. One of those dresses was a style I had tried on at a bridal shop in Virginia – absolutely gorgeous, but far too expensive. Luckily, I decided I liked the other 2 dresses better than that one. Our attendant was so great and she was the one that pulled the two dresses I was deciding between!

I went back and forth with the two dresses for a long time. We all liked them both. They had some slight similarities, but were both unique. At the suggestion of our attendant, we took a lunch break. After lunch, I tried on both dresses again. It was still a hard decision. After someone asked me what I liked best on one dress that I would want on the other dress, I was finally able to made a decision.

I am so happy with my dress! Luckily, I don’t need any other alterations other than length in the front and the bustle. I am relieved about that because I won’t be able to make it back to Michigan for alterations until a few weeks before the wedding.

I’d post pictures on here, but it’s a surprise for David!

–Leah

Even more engagement photos!

David has been tutoring for one of his courses. His student’s mother has been growing her photography business and was in need of some models for an engagement session. We were more than happy to help her out!

We took a few shots at an old gas station, went to a beautiful apple orchard, and made a few stops here and there around town.

Here are a few of the pictures:

 

 

 

You can view more photos on the Live Simply Photography blog. Be sure to check out her website, too! If you live in central Virginia, we highly recommend Live Simply Photography!

Thanks, Nicki! We had a blast!

Planning and lack thereof (250 days to go!)

If there is something called a “honeymoon phase” of wedding planning, I suppose it’s over for the moment for me.

I loved pouring over the different wedding blogs, seeing all the gorgeous pictures, and dreaming of our own day’s details. After about 6 months of that, I still like to look at the photos but  they make me feel guilty – like I should have already started on multiple things. Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited about our wedding day and am really, really, really looking forward to it. I’d just rather someone else plan it, let us check off on things, and then we show up.  :)   But alas, when you’re your own wedding planner…

There has been recent progress. We booked the caterer the other week and started converting the guest list to excel sheet with addresses. David’s family has been working hard on the farm at home. They tore down an old house/shack in front of the reception area and are working on the interior of the sugar shanty, which will be – I think – where the bridesmaids and I’ll be getting ready. There’s a ton of landscape work being done as well. It turns out they had to lay tile back in the woods because our wedding clearing was flooding. No worries though… it will be gorgeous. They’ll cover that with dirt and seed it soon.

I made a dress appointment for over my Thanksgiving vacation! I have found the dream dress, but it is far too expensive. So now it’s finding one like it at the dream price! It turns out the dress shop is the same one where my future mother-in-law got her dress 26 years ago. I am taking that as a good sign. (I really have to get it next month – time is running out on ordering…)

While I might not be as on top of wedding planning as I could be, I am absolutely, completely in love and so very, very blessed. I am thankful to be in the same city as David and for this season of growth in our relationship. I am thankful for friends and family working so hard even now to make our wedding day special and beautiful. I am thankful for a wonderful job, a place to live, and for the new friendships I’ve made in the last 6 months. God is so good!

Well, here’s to continued planning progress and another wonderful 8 months of engagement!  :)

–Leah

Engagement Photos!

When we were looking for a photographer in Virginia, we were so lucky to hear about the DuckDuck Collective from one of David’s friends.

We wanted our engagement shoot to reflect our wedding location. DuckDuck knew of a place. We ended up driving for a while till we found a random field and woods, and later a spot by some hay bales.

DuckDuck was wonderful to work with, and we love our photos!

Asking My Bridesmaids

After I had decided who I wanted to be my bridesmaids, I decided I wanted to ask them to be in my wedding in a special way. I browsed around the Internet for a while, and was so excited when I found the seller Emelles and her handmade cards on etsy.com.

Michelle was absolutely wonderful to work with! She helped me with all of my customization questions and kept me updated as she worked on them. The cards were created and shipped very quickly. (I highly recommend her!)

I love the thermography dress images and the embossed pattern. I know I want blue and green to be the wedding colors, though I’m not sure these shades will end up being the final shades… But anyways, the cards turned out beautifully!

I’ll have a post soon telling about each of my girls!

Here are a couple more images of the cards:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Leah

A Peek at Engagement Photos

Can we just say that the Duck Duck Collective rocks? See for yourself!

Date Change & Other News

Due to recent events, we have decided it is in our best interest to move our wedding date From July 16, 2011 to June 25, 2011. (313 days to go!)

The vendors were all fantastic and made the date change such an easy transition. We are incredibly thankful and take it as a sign that the change was mean to be.

In other news:

• David and his dad have been working on clearing the wedding site area and creating a walking trail.
• The flower girls and ring bearer are confirmed – David’s cousin’s precious triplets.
• My mom is coming to visit for a few days and we will probably tackle dress shopping round two.
• David is returning to Virginia on Thursday, thus ending our 3.5 years of (on and off again) long distance.
• We have our engagement photo shoot this Saturday with Duck Duck Collective. There are a few last minute wardrobe decisions to make, but other than that, it’s just hoping it’s not so hot outside that we will look nasty and sweaty.

There are so many wonderful things to look forward to.  :)

–Leah

Shoes: A TOMS Wedding

 

Image Credit: TOMS Shoes Facebook

 

When we decided our wedding is going to be in the woods, I knew heels were out of the question. I also knew I didn’t want to go the flip flop route – too casual for me.

After talking about it to David and showing him pictures, we have decided to have a TOMS wedding. For those of you who haven’t heard about TOMS Shoes, their mission is “One for One” – for every pair of shoes that is purchased, they donate a pair to a child in need. (I already own 2 pairs of TOMS and love them!)

Our plan is to outfit our entire wedding party in TOMS (3 or 4 bridesmaids, 6 groomsmen, bride, groom, 2 flower girls, 1 ring bearer, and both David’s and my parents). The shoes will also serve as our gifts to the wedding party. We love that in additional to giving our friends and family awesome shoes, the presents will “pay it forward” and help a child in need. And even if our friends and family don’t wear their shoes after the wedding (which we really hope they will!), we know there will be a child somewhere wearing theirs!

If you’re interesting in having TOMS at your wedding, check out the TOMS wedding page of their website. They also offer some print-outs you can use at the reception tables. It says if you purchase TOMS for your entire wedding party, there is a discount, which is awesome.

I am thinking about the “Natural” color for everyone… and maybe one of these blue colors for David and me:

 

If you were in the wedding party, would you like these shoes as a gift?

–Leah