Count your Blessings, 1.2.3...

One of my favorite parts about getting married (besides marrying the most wonderful man in the world!) was realizing how blessed we are. I've listed a few things below that were amazing blessings on our big day but the list goes on, and on, and on...

1. Family

When it comes to planning a wedding, family is everything! Chase and I were fortunate enough to have two ridiculously supportive and helpful families to help us get ready for this {once-in-a-lifetime} event. My parents were gracious enough to spend about a year manicuring their home and yard to get ready for the reception. And, I may be one of the few and far between, but I am a bride with really awesome in-laws! We both having loving siblings who have adopted each of us into their families and we were so blessed to have them be such a special part of our wedding.

Each picture below tells a meaningful story of the love in our lives.

*These photos of my family make my heart feel so full*

Top Left: A photo of mine and Chase’s immediate family (a good lookin’ crowd!)

Top Right: My Grandma Walker giving my dad a kiss. So precious. She was the first to support mine and Chase’s relationship… she was ready to let me wear her wedding dress the first time she met him. It must be said though that my grandma is very old fashion about love. Her and my grandfather married after 2 weeks of dating and they were married for over 50 years! I am forever grateful to both of my grandmas for the examples they have been to me --- strong women and very committed wives.

Bottom Left: My new dad(in-law) with our nephew, Andrew (Jenn and Mark’s baby #4). Andrew is a beautiful little boy and it is so sweet to see Dan holding him in the midst of all the wedding chaos.

Middle: The newlyweds with their flower girls and ring bearers… starting from left is Dane (Jenn & Mark’s baby #3), Evelyn (my devilish little niece), Caden (Colt and Lydia’s handsome son), and last but definitely not least is Emily (Jenn and Mark’s baby #2… geez, they have a lot of kids!).

Bottom right: My mom helping me put my dress on. Such an epic moment in my life. My mom has always been around to help me through good and bad times and I feel blessed a million times over to have her as my mom.  ~ love you Mom! ~

          

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

We did miss a few very important people that day but we know that they were there with us, watching us from their special places. They were definitely a part of the details. I rode in Grandpa Mac’s restored Chevy station wagon which my uncle drove for me. And Chase’s Grandma was truly in everything… her favorite color was purple and she’s the only person I know (beside myself) whose would dress from head to toe in purple. I’m guessing she appreciated our choice of wedding colors.

 

To recognize our grandparents’ presence at the ceremony, we wrote notes to each of them which we put on open chairs in the front row of the ceremony. We later gave the notes to my Grandmas and Chase’s parents. One of the hardest parts of the day was reading those notes… it’s amazing how time doesn’t fill the gap of them not being there.

They will always be a blessing in our lives.

 

2. Friends
3. Amazing Photographer
4. Time
...to be continued

We Have Style!

Fun news – our wedding is featured on www.styleunveiled.com.  Yeah! Of course I think this is super cool because I like that others will be able to see some of the unique details from our special day. I hope other brides (and grooms) can use our 'real wedding' to get ideas for their wedding. Happy viewing!

A LESSON IN LOVE...

Oh, how absence makes the grow fonder!

My wonderful husband is away this week on a business trip to New York and I miss him. Sometimes if feels good to get a little alone time but a whole week without him makes me realize just how much I love being with him. I spend my days looking forward to him coming home from work, making dinner with him (like yummy homemade pizza), and watching our favorite reality cooking shows... Chopped, Next Food Star Network & Hell's Kitchen.

Now that we're married, we are often asked, "How's the married life?" and it really is great! I love being with my husband and my favorite part of everyday is when I get to cuddle with him as we fall asleep. Oh how I miss him!

A little more scrapbook therapy

--getting MY WISDOM TEETH pulled--

For the most part, my scrapbooking is usually done in chronological order. I'm finally out of the high school days and almost into college stuff... which will be a fun change since h.s. collages mostly consisted of newspaper clippings while college days provided me with lots of interesting pics and crazy stories. Featured today is a two page layout of when I got my wisdom teeth extracted during the summer of 2003. It was actually an ok experience for me... I'm sure the drugs had something to do with it. I also have an amazingly hilarious video of me after I woke up from the surgery.

As for the layout, I wanted to make it amusing but still use a clean way to display the pics. I found inspiration for this layout in my September 2008 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine (p. 40). The orange banner in the middle with white lettering keeps the page fun while the small embellishments around the border give it a touch of sophistication. Best of all, I saved my teeth and attached them to the layout.

See you next week for some more layout therapy...

Wedding Gifts

Chase's Favorite: Nexgrill from Mom & Dad Renois (got it at Home Depot) and we bbq on it all the time now... great excuse to have friends over!

My Favorite: My new Dyson vacuum from Mom & Dad Renois... greatest vacuum ever! But a close 2nd is the new juicer from Alice and Luis

Our Favorites---
Most Thoughtful: Gift card to the Ritz-Carlton from Britt and Nishan... we know where we're going to celebrate our 1 year anniversary :)
Sexiest: Stripper pole from my cousin Laura... seriously, she gave us a stripper pole!
Yummiest: Snickers, Lindt chocolates and peanut butter M&Ms from the Corzine family
Handmade: A precious green and purple quilt from Monica
Personalized: 'R' wine glasses from Val & Aaron... the first batch we received had a broken glass so instead of exchanging them, Pottery Barn sent us a whole new set so now we have 11 personalized white wine glasses... the more the merrier, right?

Other Greats: The wine cooler from Albie and Marli (now if only we could find a bar to put it on), coffee maker we bought at Macys with our gift cards, the wok from my cousin Craig - it makes amazing stif fry, all the great bar gear - Rabbit wine kit and cocktail shaker from Dick and Dana and the ice bucket from the DeRoses, and the new washer and dryer from Mom and Dad Walker!

Biggest Upgrades: *Absolutely the towels from the Tassey family, Eric & Tammy and KJ & Clint - we were still using the towels Chase got for his birthday from his mom when we were in college *The Oneida silverware from the Donohoe family - we were using an old set that I had inherited when I moved into a new place after my sophmore year of college *Last but not least is the drain stopper - we don't have a garbage disposal and we were in desperate need of a new sink stopper... guess it's a good thing we got about five of these goodies (from Target).

Two of my favorite things about getting wedding gifts are 1. Everytime I see something in my home that someone gave us for our wedding, I think of that person - such a great reminder of the people in our lives and 2. I was thoroughly impressed at how thoughtful the gifts and cards were from our single, male friends - I always thought only guys w/gfs and wives knew how to shop and write sweet sentiments but the boys proved me wrong with their exceptional gift giving skills.

THANK YOU to everyone for the awesome gifts and most importantly for the love, support and ridiculously fun wedding!

Gift Giving Advice for Guests-- Buy stuff off the couple's registry lists and if you can't do that then give gift cards. Also, put the card on the inside of the gift wrap or tape the card to the gift like it's going to be dropped out of an airplane - otherwise, the bride and groom might be giving someone else the credit for your gift... which reminds me, who gave us the steam mop? I love it so thanks!

Gift Advice for the Bride and Groom-- As you open your gifts, make a list of everything you receive and who it's from so you know what to write in your thank you cards.

Wedding 'Bible'

This binder was my lifeline for the months leading up to our wedding and now it needs some serious TLC. I will slowly sort through it and as I do, there will be much to blog about. So much good stuff - Flowers, DJ, Budget, Gift Ideas, Videographer, Rentals, Pictures and more!

Time to Blog!

The wedding is over and I'm going through withdrawals!! My friend Lydia, from Elle Cee's Cake Boutique, has been quite an inspiration to me the last couple of months... I used to be an avid journal writer, even when I was in grade school, and since college I've gotten away from it. Lydia has advised me that I need to get with the times and blog! So, here I go! (Thanks Lydia! ;)

Where do I start? Here's my first mission... during the wedding planning process, I had hoped that I would journal about all the emotions, planning details, reactions, up/downs, etc. as they happened but I didn't :( So, before I forget about all of the 'little' stuff, I'm going to blog about it, in detail, from start to finish. I can start with this - I absolutely loved planning our wedding! It has made me realize some of my passions for event planning and crafts, and I hope to build this blog into a site for other brides to get ideas, help, or relief in knowing that all the stress, chaos, excitement, anxiety... is part of the process so enjoy it!