Cody thought I was slightly crazy for having all of the things I do thought out and more or less taken care of with so much time before the wedding--I'd like to call it being smart! The way we've got everything rolling (and by we I mean my mom, best friend, and wonderful Pastor Kathy...Cody said 'Whatever you want!' hehe) it's going to be so much easier on the wallets of everyone involved. We still have a budget--that's getting stretched, I'll admit--but none the less it's still there and money will be spent as wisely as possible. That being said......there are a few things I want to splurge on : ) After all, this will only happen once!
What's Done:
- Venue picked (can't book till July)
- Date picked (finally)
- Photographer booked (Sooooo darn excited to work with Tasha Owen Photography!)
- Colors chosen
- Wedding party chosen
- Invitations designed
- Reply cards and Thank You cards designed and printed
- Bridesmaid's jewelry purchased (LOVE Etsy!!!)
- All decorations for table centerpieces
- Favor bags and tags ordered
- Wedding dress purchased (I did this 2 weeks after the proposal--felt silly, but I love it! Thanks Mom!)
That list seems short when I write it out, but there are so many other things floating around in my head...and lets be honest, pinned on Pinterest...they just don't have a finality to them or it's too early to do anything about them : )
The things I thought would be the hardest for me to decide on actually turned out the easiest. It was a complete fluke that I even have a dress already. One day there just happened to be a few hours where my Mom and best friend were both free so we decided to make a last minute appointment at The Wedding Bell in Tacoma. It was fun! 8 or 9 dresses later I wasn't really thrilled about anything I had tried on and wasn't really looking forward to going to tons of different shops. Even though I didn't want to spend a fortune on a dress, David's Bridal was really the last place I wanted to get one. The consultant at the shop was sooo nice and never made me feel like I was wasting her time because I hadn't chosen anything yet. After all those dresses she said "Okay, I'm going to go pick out a couple of dresses that incorporate what you have liked about the others, and I'm not going to look at the price tag. That way you will know how much what you like is going to cost." Okay, fair enough. No joke, she did some magic trick because the next dress I tried on was literally a combination of every single thing that I said I had liked--and the best part was it was one of the least expensive dresses of all of them!!! DONE. Wrap it up....or send it off to be made, you know what I mean lol
The other thing I thought would be difficult was picking a photographer. I can't tell you how many times I got asked how I was going to take pictures at my own wedding the first few weeks after we were engaged : P I had narrowed it down to 3 choices before I asked my photographer friend Heather what she thought about my choices. She told me about a photographer that I hadn't really considered, mostly because I assumed I couldn't afford her. I was willing to spend more on photography for obvious reasons, but we still had a limit. After Heather raved about how awesomely wonderful it was to work with Tasha Owen and her husband, I decided to send her an email to see about her prices and set up a time to meet with her and go over what all is included in her services. As soon as I spent 5 minutes in the same room with her I was sold! She is one of those people that you can help but smile and laugh when you're talking to them, just an absolute joy and someone who has been a pro in the photography industry for several years--both show in their work! Not sure when we will schedule our engagement session with them but I know it is going to be fantastic : )
Needless to say I've been a busy bee as usual in the last few weeks with all this wedding planning business. Before school started back up a week ago I managed to get my scrapbook for 2010 done along with a project and a few recipes tried done from my Pinterest to-do list, . This one was super simple and I actually already had the frame and everything that went inside it. It's a nice alternative to the calendar that used to hang in it's spot next to my desk--plus its good for any week/year I want it to be.
The recipe I tried recently was a really simple one whose purpose was to satisfy my hot sauce + ranch craving. The original recipe can be found here--I adapted it to suit my attempts to eat better, and as good as a grilled cheese-style buffalo chicken sandwich sounded, I decided to make it into a wrap. I also substituted the mayo for fat free Greek yogurt--this stuff is awesome! I couldn't even tell the difference!
Buffalo Chicken Wraps
- 4 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (approx. 2 lbs)
- 5 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 cup nonfat Greek style yogurt
- 1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot Buffalo sauce (or sauce of preference)
- Blue cheese crumbles (to taste)
- Spinach leaves
- Burrito size tortilla
I warmed up some tortillas in the microwave, added a couple scoops of the chicken mixture along with a few blue cheese crumbles and some spinach leaves--yummy!!!
I am SO looking forward to warmer weather! Winter needs to be done now. A couple weeks ago we had a 60 degree weekend and it was fabulous, but such a tease. I took the Sunday afternoon to get some exercise in at Chamber's Bay and then a few hours of reading the last book of the Hunger Games trilogy, the Mockingjay, out on the Central Meadow. It was wonderful.
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| Chambers Bay--the site of our wedding next summer : ) |
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| My ring looked pretty in the sun, had to take a close-up of it ; ) |
