pretty. pretty flower.

(hope you got my reference)

one of the next things on my to-do list is figuring out flowers. i'm not planning on using florist flowers for our centerpieces, just for bouquets and bouts, so for this post i'm focusing on the more important of the two...the bouquets.

here are some that i've come across that i like. as you can tell, i like oranges, yellows, green, & deep purple/wine. i don't really understand when brides have white bouquets and the maids have color. i'm not saying it's not pretty. it's very pretty, very elegant. but why shouldn't the bride have pretty colors? i want pretty colors! i've also discovered that i seem to have a thing for orange calla lilies...uh oh.





i believe the two below are my favorites. i love that the flowers have a kind of texture.

coordinator extrodinaire

i'm so excited - my friend, cheryl, has agreed to forgo her role as wedding guest & take on the very important role of being our wedding coordinator. she's full of great local wedding info and ideas. i'm really happy to have someone that i trust in charge of my wedding day. it will definitely help relieve some stress on the day-of.

yay for cheryl!

photo session scheduled

last week i finally got around to setting up our engagement photo session with our photographer, allison jansen. we decided to have engagement pictures done because danny & i really don't have that many pictures together. most of the time i'm the one with the camera, so i have tons of pictures of danny and scenery. pictures of both of us, however, are hard to come by. it's also a great way to get to know allison, for her to get to know us, and so we'll be more comfortable with our wedding pictures.

i was looking through photos from allison's past engagement sessions and thought i'd share some of my favorites. i really like the ones that are in an urban setting. i think that's what we'll go for with our engagement pics since our wedding pictures will be full of nature.

(click to enlarge)

hairstyles i like

i know that i want my hair up. i like how curly and kind of loose these styles are. i really like the first one, complete with the hairpin. i actually found some hairpins very similar to that one on etsy without realizing it. i like that it's simple & not overpowering or distracting but natural and beautiful at the same time. i'm definitely not a tiara girl.

sisterly love

a month ago, my sister sent a very important package to my parents' house....an event they forgot to mention to me, but oh well. last weekend, they came to visit us in huntsville and brought the package with them.

what could be in this very important package, you might ask? well, the answer is my sister's wedding dress which has now become my wedding dress.

the night we got engaged, the first person i called after calling my parents was my sister who immediately started crying (if you know my sister, this isn't necessarily surprising). the first thing she told me how happy she was for us. next, she yelled at danny for not proposing while we were in california visiting her & jim the week before. the next thing she told me was that if i wanted to, i could have her wedding dress to wear.

she got maried almost four and half years ago, and i loved her dress. it was beautiful then & it is beautiful now. i love the detailing (i don't know that danny knows what that means, so i don't think i gave too much away). i tried it on sunday night after my parents left (danny wasn't home). after i got it on, i realized that scarlett wasn't the best person to use the camera, so i attempted to take some of myself. unfortunately, i can't post the few the pictures that are kind of okay straight to the blog, in case danny wanders over, but i posted a link below to a secret album where you can see some (danny, do not click!)

besides the dress just being beautiful, i love that we've started a tradition...we've created a family heirloom. it makes the dress so special that my sister wore it when she got married. i know that my sister is excited that i'm going to wearing the dress, but i'm not sure who is more excited or who it means more to - me or her...i love you, sister.

wedded bling

like i mentioned in my last post, we went to the jewelry store last thursday to pick up my band. unfortunately, tom who does all their jewelry work wasn' there, so we couldn't see about getting the milgrain added. martha, the cute little woman who sold us our rings, told me that she thought the my rings were very pretty together as is & danny agreed. but i'm picky (according to danny) & i wanted them to match. we agreed to come back on saturday when tom would be there. so, saturday afternoon, we (we being my mom, dad, brother, & danny) went back & left the ring for tom to work on.

i went to pick up the ring yesterday. i was kind of nervous. what if i didn't like it? as tom watched, they handed me the ring, and...it was perfect! i am so happy with it & so happy i didn't let martha & danny convince me not to get the milgrain. it matches the band of my engagement ring perfectly.

the best part was that danny wasn't in town to make me take it off...no, i didn't wear it all day...just a little while to see how it looked... :)

it's arrived!

the jewelry store called & my wedding band is in! we're going today at lunch to try it on & see about adding the milgrain. yay for bling!

some cuteness for your friday afternoon

there has been a new addition to our wedding party - we now have a flower girl! none other than miss charlotte lamy (a.k.a. charlie)! charlie is the 3 year old daughter of our good friends, dave and jeri, & danny's favorite dancing partner. she enjoys little einsteins, monkeys jumping on the bed, and tickle spiders. she's smart, hilarious, and freakin' adorable.

i've had my first

i had my first wedding dream last night, and it wasn't a good one. it was dark, first of all. i guess it was night, but there weren't any lights & i think we were in our front yard which isn't the most ideal place for a wedding ceremony. the worst part was that no one was there. i distinctly remember that there were 4 guys there, but i'm not sure who all of them were...i do know of them was krishna & he wouldn't stop talking ad pay attention (i'm pretty sure i yelled at him in the sisterly way i often do outside of dreamland)...but that's it for guests. our wedding party didn't even show up (thanks a lot, guys) .

so, keep your fingers crossed that this not how our real wedding goes. please remember to come.

the lodge

i thought i'd share some pictures of our venue. we're getting married at the monte sano lodge at monte sano state park. it's a park located in huntsville on a "mountain." i say "mountain" b/c it's a mountain for alabama, so it's not a real mountain...more like a foothill. it's a pretty place and has a lot of great views of the surrounding area.

the lodge was renovated a few years ago, so it's really nice. the interior has a lot of personality and details that i love...lanterns, woodwork, stone walls, vaulted ceilings, open beams, two stone fireplaces. i love these little seating areas. i think i'm going to leave them set up in one room so people can relax, hang out and take a break from dancing.

it also has a full catering kitchen which tina is very excited about (which in turn helped our food budget). :)