Check it off

There is no doubt that checking things off of your "To-Do" list gives you an amazing feeling. I have felt this feeling lately, making it a point to check things off of my very own list. Yesterday we accomplished one very big thing.

Dave and I finally set a date and put a deposit down for a reception space!

That is right folks! On May 25, 2013 I will marry my best friend.

This is a big check off of our list because now we can finally start planning. Believe it or not it is a lot harder to plan a wedding from almost a thousand miles away than most may think. Dave and I really don't have funding for a wedding planner, so we are doing most of what we can ourselves. This is great for me because I hope one day that I can start my own wedding or event planning business. *I want to do a lot of things but one of them is start my own business*

We have been working with my mom who is amazing! But she has a lot on her plate. My brother gets married this September, both my brother and I are looking for houses, and my mom is a teacher and high school basketball coach. Not to mention all the other things life throws in your way, death of a family friend and death of Joe Paterno *who was a big influence on my family*. Now that we have set a date, Dave and I can start looking for our vendors and putting our own touches on the wedding.

We already have the church and the priest! Look at us go! We also have our Photographer! Well sort of...we will officially have our photographer when we sign some papers for her. Btw that photographer is the lovely Caise S. of Casie Photographics! We wouldn't choose anyone else to capture our special day. I mean she took these lovely pictures of us:

Aren't they awesome?

Well it's time to go work on more of my check list. Next up: Asking my maids. But first I have to finish their special project!

Bring it all together

So lately things around here have been nuts. Actually it seems like this year in general things have been crazy. I am trying to make ends meet by working 65 hour work weeks when they will schedule them to me, I am trying to plan a wedding, I am trying to factor in time to do things I love and want to do and more.

My favorite thing is wedding planning though. One of my friends and I have even talked about starting our own wedding planning business. Right now it's on hold due to the holiday season and my working a ton of hours, but it's a dream.

So far for the wedding we know only a few details:

I wanted a fall wedding. Due to other circumstances and not wanting to wait two years to get married, fall is out of the question.

We both want a unique reception. We decided to look at some rustic barns in PA and have found a few, but aren't really satisfied with the reviews we are reading/hearing.

Colors. A long time ago I decided I really wanted a teal/blue/chocolate brown wedding. I think we may change the color combo a little and instead of brown use yellow.

Theme. We are thinking of continuing the Tangled theme throughout our reception. That is where the yellow comes in. I think that we won't have to use the purple and that we can put our own twist on it with the teal/blue.

I am hoping to get an inspiration board together soon to post on here. Until then, use your imagination!!

"Tangled" up in you!

About three weeks ago I contacted the beautiful Casie of Casie Photographics and said the following: (not my exact words but close enough)

"So I'm engaged. Let's talk. Tangled Theme Engagement pics."

So Casie and I started planning on Pinterest. You can check out my board here and Casie's board here.

This past year, I have found a LOVE LOVE LOVE for the movie 'Tangled' by Disney. There is something about the story that captures me. Not only that, but the music is beautiful! *sidenote: I am considering having "I See the Light" as our wedding dance song. If you haven't seen it, please do!

Dave and I knew we wanted our pics to come before Christmas so that we could send out Christmas letters that say "We're Engaged! *Finally*"

Casie, who I have known for about a year now, was amazing! She took all of our suggestions and created these beautiful pictures. She even drove out to our apartment to capture about 5 shots in our kitchen! Dave is a chef so this was important to me.

Here are a few of our shots. You can view more at Casie's Blog. We are totally in LOVE with all of them!

Remember now: Dave proposed at Jellyrolls!

The frying pan shot was a must!

There are tons more so please check out Casie's blog post! We love her to death!

Perfect shoes

I am in love with these shoes. I am so much in love with them, that I have considered wearing them on my own wedding day and I'm not even engaged yet!

These shoes are made by TOMS. If you have never worn TOMS shoes, you are missing out. They are super comfortable and they have a One for One policy. For every pair of TOMS you buy, they give a pair of shoes to someone in need. TOMS hosts many shoe drops a year and you can volunteer to go with them! It's a great organization! Also, the prices aren't too bad (for two pairs of shoes).

The TOMS Wedding Collection is amazing! They have given men and women beautiful shoes for their special day. Not only that, but they have shoes for the whole wedding party down to the smallest members.

I am beyond excited for this and I know I am a little late on the curve. However, I am going to share some photos with you anyway!


Blue Glitter Shoes! LOVE THESE!


For the Groom: Black Velvet


Ivory Glitters!

I hope you love them as much as I do! It would be so great to have these! The best part about TOMS is that you don't have to choose something from their wedding collection. They have so many different styles, any of their shoes would be great!