Girl gets wedding bands

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy gives girl beautiful ring.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl orders wedding bands.

I absolutely LOVE my engagement ring. I think it is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.

It took me a while to start looking at wedding bands. In fact, I didn't until we decided to move the wedding up. Then it kind of hit me one day that I really needed to get on that and buy our bands. So I started looking. I went to several jewelry stores and tried on all kinds of different things. I really thought I knew what I wanted, but as I began to look, I found that was not the case at all. I ended up ordering the ring from the jeweler that was made to go with my engagement ring.



It arrived in a beautiful little box (with a green holiday bow)...



And it even had Godiva chocolates with it! Now that is class!







LOVE IT.



J and I have gone back and forth about what he wanted. He knew he wanted something plain...no stones, no design. But at first, he said he wanted yellow gold. Then not much later, he said that maybe he'd like white gold. The thing is... he isn't here! So he hadn't had a chance to try on rings and really decide what he wanted. So I found a ring that is made out of tungsten. Which is basically steel. I figured it was different looking and would be tough.



When he is home and wearing his ring everyday, I figure we can go pick out the ring he loves... but I wanted him to have a ring for the wedding. And who knows, maybe he will end up loving it! :)

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

I think it started before I was born.
Christmas Eve.
My mom's family would gather together and open presents that my great grandmother had gotten all of us. We would eat and talk and catch up on the last year. Because most of us hadn't seen each other since last Christmas Eve. This tradition has continued on my entire life. All 25 years. Until this year.
I missed seeing my family this year... but I was beyond excited when I arrived at my grandma's house and she presented me with 2 pins for my bouquet... one from my Great-Aunt Eileen, and one from my second cousin, Nancy. Both are beautiful!!!

This one is from Aunt Eileen... because of my love for Disney as a kid:


And this one is from Nancy. She said she has had it for over 20 years! I love the color of it! And it catches the light!


Just like I say in every brooch blog... it is SO MUCH FUN to get these pins from everyone! It's fun to hear the stories and see why each pin was chosen!

If you want to send me a pin, I am still collecting them. I am about half way there and I'm getting so excited to see it all come together! I am hoping to collect them all in the next month or so... by the beginning of February... so I have enough time to put them all together before the wedding. Let me know if you need my address!

Girl chooses venue

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl goes to Vegas.
Girl chooses venue.

When we decided to move the wedding to Vegas, my mom and I instantly both began to scour locations online. There are so many wedding venues in Las Vegas. So. Many. But what we started to notice is that most of them were indoors, draped in satin and had an Elvis option. None of those were things we wanted.

I was starting to think we might just go find a place in the desert, and bring our own chairs. Then I received a text message from my friend Sarah. She'd heard we were going to Vegas and wanted to tell me about a place that some friends of their family own. I looked it up online and it looked promising.

We set out to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving, and we had a plan. And a list. We had several venues we were planning to check out. I began calling around as soon as we got settled into the hotel and found that most of them were not open on Thanksgiving day, which is when we had kind of planned to check them out. The only one that I actually got a hold of a person was the venue that my friend Sarah had sent me. We arranged a time to meet him the day after Thanksgiving.

The plan was for us to get up in the morning and head to some of the other venues without appointments, then head to our appointment at 3pm. But as mom and I got in the car, we decided that we didn't really want to look at the other venues. So we headed to the outlet mall instead. It was Black Friday after all.

A little before 3 pm, we headed to the venue. The Ritz of Las Vegas. It was the most promising of the Venues we'd looked at online.

We met with the guy in charge, and after about an hour of viewing the venue and hearing about all of the details and just chatting, I knew it was perfect. It was a little bit more than we'd planned to spend for a venue, but it meant we could have a reception, which we weren't really planning on before.

So after only one short search, we booked a venue. This is where we will be getting married:

Girl chooses accessories

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy gives Girl beautiful ring.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl buys a dress.
Girl chooses jewelry.

My mother always says that the year I turned 10, I turned into an alien child. I was awful. But when I turned 11 I went back to normal. Not sure how that happened, but it did. That was also the year I refused to wear color. I wore blue jeans and over-sized white t-shirts. And don't even THINK about anything sparkly. Ironically that is also the year I got my ears pierced (for the first time). And I picked pink sparkly studs. But other than that, there was no sparkle for me.

I am not exactly sure when I changed my mind about sparkle, but if you ask my mom (or J, or anyone else who knows me), she will tell you that I love sparkle now. The more sparkle the better.

So even before I had chosen a dress, I began to think about what I wanted for jewelry. Once I did choose a dress, that vision became much clearer. I knew I didn't want a necklace. The neckline of my dress would be great for one, but I wanted bold accessories that would really be fun.

The first thing I found was a bracelet. I knew it was perfect.



I also knew I wanted pieces from Lauren of Lo Boheme. I've worked with her in the past on shoots I've done, and used her pieces on my models. I also have a few pieces she has made me that I am in love with. I even shot her new line recently. I knew I wanted to use her pieces. But I couldn't decide what!!! So after chatting with her, I decided on 3 different pieces that she is custom making for me (pictures will follow). One for the ceremony will be a birdcage veil and ivory flower. Then for the reception an Ivory and Purple flower piece. J and I are also doing a day after session with our photographers (more on this later as well) and Lauren is making me an amazing headband for that.

I knew I wanted to wear earrings, but I didn't want them to fight for attention with my hair. I found a pair when we were in Las Vegas, but I am still not sure they are exactly what I want. So I'm still searching for those.

There is a place on the side of my dress where there is a little tie (not to be confused with a neck tie) and there is a small space that is perfect for a brooch. And since I am working on the brooch bouquet, I decided that that was a must. When my grandma let me choose from her brooches from my bouquet, I immediately fell in love with this one:



I already blogged about my shoes.

There is one more very special touch. A surprise for J (I'm pretty sure he does not read this blog from Kuwait). J is an avid Miami Dolphins fan. I mean really. He is the definition of fanatic. So I found these on etsy:



I'm not even sure we will have a garter toss, but I knew I had to have these!

All of the little details are starting to come together and it is so much fun!

Girl gets brooches

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl asks for help.
Girl gets brooches.

I have been a youth pastor for almost 8 years. That's actually kind of how I met J, since he is a full time youth pastor when he isn't away in the Army. It's a little known fact on my blog... because for the most part I keep my photography blog about photography and my wedding blog about my wedding. But I have been working with these teenagers since a lot of them first entered middle school... and I've already graduated through a few groups. I adore these teenagers, and they become a big part of my life.

There's a very special girl in my youth group and her name is Shirley. She started coming a number of years ago and I have enjoyed every minute with her. She is not only a beautiful girl inside and out, but she is amazingly creative. She is into fashion design and photography. And she is really great at both! It has been fun to watch her grow up and develop into a young woman. I am blessed to know her.

A couple of weeks ago she brought me an adorable box that she had covered with pictures of me and J (who as I mentioned before is also her youth pastor). Inside were two beautiful pins for my bouquet. She said there was no special story behind them but she wanted to contribute to my bouquet. And I am so glad she did :)

I love getting all of these amazing brooches!
I am about half way there with about 30 brooches. I need about 30 more. So if you have one you'd like to send me (it can be old or new, with meaning or no meaning), I would love to get it! I am trying to collect them all by the beginning of February so I have enough time to put together the bouquet!

Girl goes shopping

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Girl goes shopping.

I love to shop.
It doesn't matter what I'm buying, or if I'm not even buying anything at all. But my favorite kind of shopping is the kind where you are looking for something specific... I imagine it's a bit like how the guys feel when they go hunting. I look, I find, I kill. Then I bring it home with me.

I knew that some shopping would be required for the wedding.
There's the typical shopping... dress shopping... shoe shopping....
But after we found the venue and started to put things together, I realized that I needed center pieces, and some fun little details.
And so the shopping began :)

The first shopping trip was with Javier's cousin-in-law, Danielle. She and I scoured several stores and managed to track down lots of treasures for great prices!







We also found several other things that I will be blogging about later on that turned into DIY projects.

Right now I am up in Oregon visiting family. One of our traditions is shopping the day after Christmas. We do it every year. At a ridiculously early hour of the morning. And we love every minute of it! It was not my plan to shop for the wedding... but it just sort of... happened.






































Okay now I know that some of that alone looks a little overwhelming... and almost cheesy. But not to worry. It won't be when I'm done with it :)

I am building a crazy collection of stuff. I can't wait to put it all together!!!
And I need to add a little note here for my mother: Please excuse the poor quality of these photos. I know I am a photographer, but I seem to take the majority of my personal photos with my cell phone. There is no excuse, I know. Don't worry... we will have a wedding photographer (2 actually)... I will not be taking our wedding photos with my cell phone.

Boy gives a gift

Boy proposes to Girl.
Girl says yes.
Boy gets leave.
Girl goes to visit.
Boy takes Girl to Tiffany's.
Boy buys Girl a bracelet.
Girl says goodbye.
Boy goes to war.
Girl plans a wedding.
Boy sends a gift.

Christmas time.
The most wonderful time of the year.
Usually my most favorite time of the year.
I love the shopping and lights. The songs and the decorations.
But this year has been very different.
Having J gone has been really difficult.
I haven't been happy and full of cheer... but actually kind of sad and down.
It's hard missing our first Christmas together.

J mentioned that a Christmas gift would be arriving for me.
And it sure did.
From New Jersey.
I wasn't really sure how that happened or what to expect.
But I eagerly ripped into the shipping box and this was staring back at me:




I instantly knew what it was. I've become familiar with Tiffany & Co.



I slowly opened the little blue box and found a little blue pouch :)



And inside the little blue pouch...



Once again, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Not only had he not forgotten me on Christmas but he picked out an amazing gift that I was totally not expecting. I am constantly amazed at how he listens to the things I say and takes them to heart. Somehow, all the way from Kuwait, he managed to remember something that I had pointed out in the store months ago. Then he managed to have it sent to me... IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!

Complete with the little blue box... and red holiday bow :)

And if I wasn't lucky enough... I found this note:



March cannot come soon enough! Only two and a half months until I marry my very best friend. The man who loves me more than I ever thought someone could.