Some of my favorite shots

One of my bridesmaids just asked me - "HOW are you going to choose which pictures to include in your wedding album?" And she is totally right!  Jack Looney gave us over 1200 pictures, I posted about 300 on facebook, but there were hundreds more I adore!  Maybe our wedding album will have multiple volumes?  Anyone know where I can find an XL Photobook? :)

Here are a few more of my favorite shots from the BIG day:

(Photobooth!)

What I love about the way Jack shot these pictures is that he was able to capture SO MUCH emotion!  Sure Adam and I took some "staged" pictures (like the one of us along the fence) but so many of the ones I adore are the candid ones that really seem to grasp all the amazing things we were feeling throughout the day! There are tons of other pictures I could post here - especially of the photo booth!  If you are contemplating having one at your wedding (or even a party) DO IT!  They are a blast to look through :)

*all of the above photos were snapped by Jack Looney Photography! 

Vendors in Review (Part 1)

All along we kept saying to each other "we have the BEST vendors!" And it was true! I think it is definitely a testament to Charlottesville and the great people it produces (no joke).  It's far enough south that the people are sweet and patient.  Bur far enough north that people still have a sense of urgency and promptness (haha, sorry to just totally stereotype the north & south!).

I'll start off this review by saying I'd recommend each and every vendor to another couple getting married (or anyone throwing a big party!).  I know I'm biased (hey, this is the first {and only} wedding I'll do!), and that people have different budgets and visions to work with - but every one of these people/companies were amazing to work with!

So, without further adieu...the vendor rundown:


Ceremony: St. Paul's Memorial Church
Reception: King Family Vineyards
Wedding Dress: Priscilla of Boston (Platinum line)
Wedding Shoes:  J Crew
Groom's Suit: Jos. A Banks
Bridesmaids dresses: J Crew
Groomsmen suits: Jos. A Banks
Groom's & Groomsmen ties: J Crew
Flower girl dress: Priscilla of Boston
Wedding jewelry: earrings- borrowed from my mom; necklace- Priscilla of Boston; engagement & wedding rings: Princess Jewelers
Day of Hair: Bristles (they also did Meredith's, my mom's, and my aunt's hair!)
Day of Make-up: DIY (ha!), but seriously, I did my own.  I didn't want to risk hating the way my face looked!
Wedding Coordinator: Kate FitzGerald from I Do Details Events (and she did way more than just the day-of stuff!)
Flowers: Woodmont Designs
Band: 10 Spot (via Sam Hill Entertainment)
Caterer: 20 South Catering
Rentals: Festive Fare
Cake: Paradox Pastry
Getaway Car: Albemarle Vintage Limousine 
Wedding night accommodations: The Boar's Head Inn
Wedding stationery: some of DIY, but the Save the Dates and Invitations were Wedding Paper Divas
Calligrapher: Left Handed Calligrapher 
Honeymoon (!):  Oxygen Jungle Villas (ok, not really a "vendor" but they were so amazing so they totally deserve a shout-out)


...phew.  I plan to review all of the vendors, but like I said, we LOVED them! And can't thank them enough for helping our entire wedding (from the beginning stages to the actual day) such an amazing experience.
:::round of applause!:::

So much to catch up on!

This will serve a place holder for the MANY posts I am due to write!  Which will include:

• Bachelorette Party!!  Affectionately dubbed the #BBBB (Blair's Bachelorette Beach Bash). It is safe to say my girls spoiled me rotten!
• Engagement pictures: a good friend took them for us in & around Georgetown on a mild mid-March Saturday.  We got some great shots and now feel more comfortable in front of the camera!  I have trouble uploading pics to Blogger at work, but I'll post a few to Facebook :)
• Bridal Shower: oh boy...what a fun night!  It was "entertainment" themed and we had the best time.  There were so many small touches (Blair & Adam M&M's, napkins, cookies, etc) and the food was outstanding!  We had a ball.
• Whirlwind trip to C'ville: we have another coming up this weekend (hair-trial!), but the one we did in March covered big topics - wedding ceremony, finalizing the cake, tasting the white wines!

I can't believe we are about to hit the 1 month mark!  Which also falls on our 6 year anniversary (dang!).  Not sure we'll be doing any celebrating together, though.  For Adam leaves with his buds for his BACHELOR party. Charleston, SC - you've been warned.

Updates with pictures are next...promise!

100.

In exactly 100 Days I'll be getting ready to walk that aisle and become Adam's wife (!!!!).

Crazy how fast these last few months have gone by, but I knew they would.  And now the real work fun starts :)  We had an insanely productive weekend in Charlottesville (Mere, my momma, Mrs. Matthews, and Kate joined Adam & I for the weekend) - we crossed off lots from our "to-do" list, got great ideas, ate TONS of yummy food, and just got to spend a lot of great time together.

My mom and Mere have all the pictures of the weekend (in all the hustle & bustle of getting ready I completely forgot my camera) but we did document the trip!  It was so great tasting all the food we'll be serving at the reception (y'all better come HUNGRY!), choosing our linens/serving plates/etc (I'm so excited about the final product), and - one of the highlights - meeting with the organist to choose the songs for our ceremony (and on May 7th there will be 100% chance of bride-tears, seriously, no way around it! I started tearing up just hearing the song I'm going to walk out to with my dad).  Sheesh.

With just 100 days to go (well, the weekend actually kicks off in 98 days!), we're trying to cross off as many small tasks that we can get done NOW instead of later.  I've been spending time researching decorations, DIY projects, etc. I can now picture the ENTIRE weekend and it is going to be a dream come true - we just have to get it all done :)

We're off for a weekend of skiing with our family!  We're actually heading to a place we were this summer for my friend & b'maid, Nancy's wedding! Yay!

Another inspiring wedding!

I often check out Style Me Pretty (let's be honest, I pretty much stalk it on Facebook, Twitter, and their website!), and one of the most recent weddings they highlighted has a few elements I ADORE.

First - the color of the flowers.  The bride has a colorful bouquet and the b'maids have white bouquets. That's exactly the look we're going for!  Since it'll be spring, and the ladies will be in a bright color, we thought it would look really pretty for them to hold white flowers (we're thinking tulips since they'll be in season!).  On the flip side, I liked the idea of me holding a bouquet with some color to it - but honestly, at first I was really hesitant...I've really only seen brides carry white bouquets!  But, the more I think about it (and now with some awesome inspiration pics!), I know it'll be beautiful.  Humm....could it count as my something blue?

Second - I love their "WELCOME" sign at the reception!!  That would be the most PERFECT thing to put on the doors as people walk into our venue.  Plus, printing out 7 pictures and hanging them on twine is not going to put too much of a damper on our budget (score!).  Might have to use that idea ;)

Asking the wedding party!

I'm due to write an entire post on how I asked m'ladies to be b'maids (I tired to be cute & creative!), but Adam has...well...taken an interesting approach.  We have been engaged for FOUR MONTHS (...woah...), and he is still getting around to asking his dudes!  Adam, c'mon!!  He's making his dudes sweat it out BIG TIME.  I am happy to say he's asked most of his g'men (including my bros!), but he has a few more to ask...!  So if you see him, give him a little nudge ;)

Travel sans the hubs-to-be

This weekend, my sister and I will be embarking on a most awesome adventure - WE'RE GOING TO GREECE (!!).  It's a trip we've been planning since we were in elementary school (no joke) with our best friend (and one of my b'maids).  She's Greek and has been to Greece pretty much every-other summer since we've known her.  Since we were 8 years old, we said "we'll go to Greece after high school graduation!" and that didn't work... then we tried after college graduation!... And that didn't work!  So finally, after our dear Greek friend graduated from Law School (she's taking the bar exam right now...GOOD LUCK!!), we're taking the trip we've been planning for almost 2 decades :)

What's funny for me now is that I'm engaged, and it feels a little weird to be going somewhere without Adam! Sure, we've traveled a bunch of time without the other (family trips, work trip, boy/girl trips, etc.), but now is there some sort of expectation what we should ALWAYS travel together (I think most of the Real Housewives of OC would say YES, but should they really by our role models? hahaha)?  I'm in the boat that taking trips separate from each other is actually a GOOD thing!  As much as I will want him in Greece with me and I'll miss him a lot (we were thinking of Greece as a h'moon destination!), I think having some time apart will be just fine & dandy :)  Actually, he's got a boys trip already lined up for a few days while I'm gone!

Also: I'm due to post pics from this month's Wild & Wonderful West Virginia wedding, this weekend's Cville Wedding (wahoowa!!), and of course, GREECE :)

Til then...I'll be sitting on the Greek beaches drinkin ouzo ;)

Oh weddings :)

We just came back from a truly unbelievable weekend in Snowshoe, WV. One of my best friends (and b'maids!) got married to one of Adam's fraternity brothers (another one of our great friends).  The festivities started on Thursday and lasted until Sunday - and all I can say is WOW.  They were surrounded by such happy, loving, supportive people who were SO excited about their nuptials!  I can't wait to post my pics and share some stories from this epic weekend!

During the weekend I also attended my FIRST rehearsal dinner!  The groom's family really set the bar high!  They had a delish cheese board with berries and sausage, a blue grass band (so appropriate for West Virginia), a really cool motif of the couple (it was one of their fav pics made up of much smaller pics...I'll try to find an example!), and the dinner was accompanied by heartfelt toasts from the two fathers and the MOH & Best Man.  Following the rehearsal dinner we met up with everyone else at one of the mountain top bars for more fun & festivities!

Ah - so many great ideas!!!  It was SUCH a great weekend!  Can't wait to post more.

PS - we're under the 300-day mark until May 7 (!!!!)

Happiness is...

...the fact that in less than 24 hours I'll be reunited with dear friends to celebrate for a bachlorette weekend!  Indeed, one of my b'maids is getting hitched this July, and we're headed to The Greenbrier for some relaxation, games of black jack at the casino, and much more for the bride-to-be!  Her gracious MOH has a cottage at The Greenbrier and is hosting us for the weekend.  I used to go to The Greenbrier when we were younger (my mom's lawfirm would host retreats there) and I remember it being sooo gorgeous!! Can't wait!

AND, happiness is the fact that I'll be driving straight from the bachlorette party to THE BEACH!!  It is one of my most favorite times of the year!  Our family and my mom's sisters' families all crammed into one house.  Days full of reading good books, drinking cold drinks, bocce, crabbing, and just plain old fun.  It's funny, right after Adam and I got engaged, this week at the beach was one of the things I was looking forward to most!  Not that I imagine we'll be doing a lot of wedding planning at the beach, but just that it'll be us with our extended family, having fun!  Hopefully just like we'll be doing on May 7 ;)

Before I forget! I need to post soon about our recent weekend trip to Charlottesville!  My mom and I met with almost all of our vendors, and OH MY GOSH.  They all blew me away.  I've said it once, I'll say it 1 million more times - they are all so nice and put out the best vibes!  It is making this whole "planning a wedding" thing much less stressful :)

Where do I even begin?!

It has been a whirlwind of an engagement thus far! It has been exactly 47 days (whoa, already?!), and we have several things already accomplished:

• Date! (5/7/11!)
• Reception Venue
• Bridal Party (although not all of the party have  been officially asked yet!)
• Bridesmaid dresses (and potentially one color we'll be using, yay!)
• Hotel blocks
• Transportation to & from reception
• Caterer (99% certain on this one!)
• Ceremony (99% certain on this one!)

Things in progress:

• Short list of bands
• Where the heck me + Family will stay
• "Get Away" car
• Short list of photographers
• "THE" Dress shopping
• Wedding Website
• Rehearsal Dinner location

Wow, I'm not sure if writing it down makes me feel really accomplished, or really behind!

Mere (and MOH), and my mom have been PRICELESS. Actually, you'd think my mom was born ready for this gig :)

In the next few posts I'll write about the proposal (it was pretty darn cute), our unofficial engagement party (thanks Mere!), how we chose the venue, our ceremony crisis, our Foxfield Get Together, bridesmaid dress shopping, how I asked the b'maids, and much more!

Stick around! I hope you'll like it :)