Bride Pictures

Here are a couple self pics that I took after the wedding (while we were in La Jolla). I am all sweaty and tired at this time, but at least you get an idea...

2 Days

I think this may be the final post on this blog for a couple weeks (until we get back and link photos from the wedding, honeymoon, etc). Thank you all for your love and support during the wedding planning process. We are both soooo excited to start this new chapter in our lives and are so thankful that you are coming along for the ride (even if you aren't physically at the wedding or near us in the future, your love and support means the world to us and we can feel it across the miles).

Thanks everyone!!

We love you all,

Carlee & Ryan

08*16*08

Wedding Weather

Weather for the wedding day seems like it will be very nice. The 10 day forecast now includes our wedding day, so the Wedding Planner Weather Report is emailing me updates on the weather. Check out our Weather Website here if you get a minute.


High in the upper 70s, mostly sunny.

Sounds like a normal San Diego day to me :). The UV Index is supposed to be HIGH though, so I would recommend some sunscreen (you won't be in the direct sunlight if you don't want to be, but it might be something you would want to think about bringing with you.

Out of Towners

Looking for something to do Friday night before the wedding? I know that some of you may want to just relax, explore the city on your own, etc, but for those of you looking to meet up or go out and don't know where to start, Ryan and I thought we would set up a little something.

We will be at the Rehearsal Dinner until probably 7:30 or 8, so we thought if we told people to start meeting up around 8:00pm that people would get there around the same time. I will warn you, there is a $10 cover at the door. We were thinking of setting up a reservation, but don't want something too formal, so we just figured if people wanted to show up you could show up. I don't know how late I personally will be staying out (I need my beauty rest, duh, hehe), but I still thought it might be nice to see people. Again, nothing to formal, if you want to show up, show up, if you don't, no problem either - we just didn't want people to be stuck in their hotel rooms bored or anything like that.

8:00pm: Out-of-Town "Youth" Hang Out
The Shout House
http://www.theshouthouse.com
655 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 231-6700

The Shout House is a dueling piano bar.

There are a lot of entertainment choices out therebut only one that has captured the basic desire of everyone to "be" the entertainment

ROCK 'N ROLL / SING-A-LONG / DUELING PIANOS
Dueling Pianos are two piano players/singers performing at two, face to face grand pianos in front of two large mirrors performing the classic rock 'n roll hits from the 1950s to the present. It's request driven by the audience and with the use of multiple teams, goes non-stop all night.

IT'S A CELEBRATION OF LIFE AT THE TOP OF ONES LUNGS!
It's the great music hits of all time combined with great showmanship, energy and comedy. Watching the people, watch the people . . . It’s worth the price of admission alone!

Less than 2 weeks

Less than 2 weeks and counting (11 days to be exact :) ).

Everything seems to be coming together smoothly. This week we (and by we I mean mainly me) are working on the seating chart (and getting the board together for that), music, practice dancing, programs, name place cards and a few other little odds and ends.

Thankfully Ryan's last day is Friday so he will have all next week to do any running around if I need him to (even though I am sure he is planning on surfing from dawn till dusk :) ).

Must Have Pics

I have noticed that on a few of the bios I run across on TheKnot.com that some of the brides-to-be have started a list of "Must Have Pictures". I haven't been collecting any, but today I saw one that I want to make sure that we do... I may start adding a few more in this post (so check back throughout the next couple weeks), but figured I would at least start with this one.

LOVE:

(PS Congrats Steve and Marianne)

Jump for Joy:

Dress Drama

Of course, what else would I expect... MORE DRESS DRAMA!!

Friday I had an appointment to go in and pick up my dress (which was pushed back by David's Bridal two weeks last minute) at 7pm. I ended up getting there about 6:30 (I was already out and about down that way so I thought I would go in. Mind you, I already called the day before and they said that my dress was ready, which is why I thought it would be okay if I showed up a little earlier. So I walk in the back, where alterations is and no one is back there. They have this room off the side with the sewing machines and such and I hear people in there. I decide to give it a few minutes and wait (I don't want to rush someone if they are in the middle of sewing a dress and can't get up right a way). I wait... Nothing. So finally about 3 minutes after I got there I said, "Excuse me?" An employee came out (who I remember from the first time I was there for the fitting) and asked my name so that she could get me the dress. She got my dress and asked if I wanted to try it on... OF COURSE (I would be worried if people come in and don't try it on, but maybe some people just trust them to do a good job the first time). Okay, now you have to remember I just wanted to have the bust taken in slightly (it fit okay the first time, but I thought I would be more comfortable if it was tighter and I wasn't tugging on it all day). When she fitted me for the tighter bust she said that I needed some bra cups sewn in because, well, I didn't seem to fill out the top as much (surprise, surprise, hehe). Back to the story, so I put on the dress and I walk out of the dressing room. I am looking in the mirrors and no one is around again. I twirl around and check out the dress for probably another 5 minutes and no one comes out. I finally say "____? (the employees name) Could you come out here for a minute?" She came out and asked how I felt about the fit. I pointed to the bust area and showed her how it sort of puckered. I wanted to make sure I wasn't being ultra-critical and just noticing something that no one else would see. She noticed it too and looked back on my ticket to see who the seamstress was. Fortunately (or unfortunately, whichever way you want to look at it) the woman who sewed the dress in the beginning was working that night and would be able to 'help' me. She asked her to come out and I showed her what the problem was. She stated that it could be fixed with a few stitches (there are two layers, and she thought that if she stitched the top layer to the bottom layer when it was taught it would make everything line up). She put a few pins in and I took the dress off. I gave it back to her and she took it in the back to try and fix it real quick. She gave it back and I tried it on again. Same thing... nothing seemed to be different. I came out of the fitting room (getting slightly more irritated since I already had waited an extra 2 weeks and now it looked like it would be even longer to get my dress back). The employee helping me came out and I pointed at the bulge again and told her that it didn't fix it. She stated that maybe my chest was too big, which I stated to her that the bra cups were sewn in because I was not filling it out and if it was to tight because of those we could take them out. She got the seamstress again to come out and look at it. I think she was getting frustrated with me or the dress or was just tired because it was 7pm on a Friday, but whatever the reason she starts getting attitude and saying that there is just too much fabric and there is really nothing she can do about it. She tried to pull it taught again and sew down further (near my belly button) so that maybe it would fix it. She pinned it, I took it off and back to the sewing machine it went. I get it back a third time and it is... yep, you guessed it, STILL DOING IT. I come out of the dressing room and the employee can see on my face that yes it is still doing it and she can tell it is not fixed too (so it isn't just me being anal about it not fitting right). She goes back and gets the seamstress ANOTHER time. This time the seamstress is more upset and keeps saying that there is nothing she can do unless she takes the dress totally apart and starts to take out material in the middle of the chest (at this point I am pretty upset and thinking I BOUGHT THE DRESS FROM YOU, IT ISN'T MY FAULT IT HAS TOO MUCH MATERIAL, IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT DON'T SELL IT IN THE FIRST PLACE). This time she pulls about a half inch of the material up to the top and decides to try and pin it this way. Again, she pins, I take it off, and she sews. By this time I am pretty much just over the whole thing and thinking that I don't care because I will only wear it for a few hours. I get the dress back the fourth time and it is slightly better. I think you can still see it puckering, but at this point I am sick of dealing with it. I come out of the dressing room and the employee tries to comfort me and say it looks much better, but I am so sick of dealing with it that I say something like 'Sure, it's fine' and take it off for the 5th time. So all in all, I have had a pretty bad experience with David's Bridal and will NOT be recommending them to anyone in the future. I had heard a lot of people say that they wouldn't use them but didn't really have good reasons (they are a chain, impersonal sometimes, etc), but now I have some solid facts of why people should not use them... I am hoping that when I try on the dress next time it will fit like a glove, but who knows at this point.

New Address

I have our new address, just in case anyone was curious... Send me an email or post a comment if you would like me to send it to you... Also, if you are coming to the wedding it will be printed on the programs (so you will be able to have a hard copy too then).

Schedule

This weekend will be a busy one. Ryan picked up our keys to our new place yesterday (he has a movie premier to go to tonight so asked to pick them up a day early). That means this weekend I will be moving most of my stuff up there this weekend. Also, tomorrow I have to go in to David's Bridal and pick up my dress (which reminds me, maybe I should call them and verify they will actually have it done this time). On top of moving, cleaning, etc Ryan and I are planning on going in to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond and picking up some of the gifts that are on our registry that haven't been bought yet (with the gift cards that we received from the shower). Ryan will move things over slowly (art things for in the office, clothes he isn't wearing, etc) when he gets time, but he has about 3 weeks till he has to actually get his stuff done (so I am sure he will take his good ol' time :) ). I am planning on taking pictures of the apartment once we start getting it decorated and furnished, but that might be a few weeks. The weather is supposed to cool down a little this weekend, which will be nice with all the moving, packing, unpacking, etc that we will be doing. Wish us luck!!

Shower

This past weekend I was back in Michigan for my bridal shower (THANK YOU AGAIN MOM FOR THROWING IT). Everyone seemed to have a great time. We didn't play the standard games or do anything really embarrassing, which was very nice. We had some big salads, fruit, breads, and desserts to eat. After the food we did a crossword puzzle (I had put it together a few months ago). My mom thought it was hard, but I went around and were trying to give people hints (some of the guests even called Ryan as a 'phone-a-friend life line'). :) After that I opened our gifts (most of which were gift cards, which made it a LOT easier to travel with instead of like knife sets, etc). The shower lasted about two and a half hours or so and we had about 20 people there. It was very low key and great catching up and seeing friends and family for a little bit (especially since I hadn't been back to Michigan since Christmas). Stacey was my personal photog for the shower, so once she loads the pictures I will link them for everyone to see.

Gifts

First off I want to say THANK YOU to all of the extremely generous friends and family that have sent Ryan and I wedding gifts - it is soooooo nice!! We are overwhelmed by every one's generosity and kindness.

I wanted to let everyone know, we are not using the gifts right until after the wedding. I have been asked a few times (mostly by people who I work with since they see all of the boxes coming in) if I have opened the gifts to see what we have received. We are opening them as we receive them but ONLY to write thank you's. I have read in a few places that you should send thank you's within 2 weeks of receiving gifts (this not only will alleviate the amount of thank you's to write at once, but it shows the sender that you have received the gift [it seems like some of the gifts sent are taking anywhere from four days to two weeks to arrive] as well as it shows your gratitude). I have received a couple of strange looks when I told people we have opened the gifts to write thank you's, so I just wanted to clear up in case you have received a thank you from us. We are not using the gifts yet, we just wanted to show you how thankful we are, as well as let you know that we have received your awesome gift. Now I don't know if anyone would have even thought twice about it, but I thought since people around here seemed a little taken back that we would clear it up in case others felt the same way.

Again, RYAN AND I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!

David's Bridal

I have heard a lot of people that do not like David's Bridal. I hadn't had a problem with them... Until NOW. I just received a voice mail (remember, they have had my wedding dress for over a month now and my appointment is supposed to be tomorrow at 7pm to pick up my FINISHED dress). The voicemail was a woman asking if I could reschedule my appointment... I called and asked what was the hold up. She said something about one of the seamstresses being out and they have been backed up... Since my wedding isn't until August 16th they didn't put a priority on it. I asked her what my options were, I mean if my dress hasn't even been started, it is not like I could go in tomorrow to pick it up because it wouldn't be done (obviously). I have two main problems with this, A. They have had my dress for over a month and have not told me until the DAY BEFORE that it was not going to be done (I mean what if I was going to do pre-wedding photos or I gained/lost weight and need the dress changed more) and B. My dress is NOT difficult (I am not having it bustled, I am only having the chest area taken in a slight bit - it fits already, but I would feel more comfortable if it was taken in a little so I am sure I won't be pulling on it throughout the day). It just ticks me off when places like this screw over their customers. I have already bought the dress from them, paid for the alterations and now you can't even follow through on your part of the deal - OR AT LEAST HAVE THE CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS TO CALL THEM EARLIER THAN 24 HOURS BEFORE...

I guess I will no longer be recommending David's Bridal to people...

Smoothly

Things are still running smoothly. We don't have anything new to report, but I didn't want anyone getting worried since we hadn't posted anything in a couple weeks.

A little news -

I will be flying back to Michigan next week to attend a Bridal Shower that my mom is throwing. YAY!! I fly out of San Diego Thursday afternoon and will be back Sunday evening.

Ryan and I will be meeting with one of the ladies from the Bali Hai on Sunday to pick our table linens, table set ups, arch design, etc. Once that is all done we should be set to go (except for paying that is :) ).

I have to go pick up my dress on Friday from David's Bridal. I was having it altered a little (just taken in slightly), so I am going to call them later this afternoon to double check and make sure we are still on track for me to try it on and take it home.

Inviting "Celebs"

I saw on a couple bio's on TheKnot.com that people were inviting 'celebrities' to their weddings. Now, no one really expects them to come, but it is just fun to put them on your seating chart, possibly get a letter from them, etc. Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know, if you are attending the wedding, you might bump into: Mickey & Minnie Mouse, The Govenator (Arnold) or the Detroit Pistons. I sent all of them an invite and this little card with it:

We know that you are really busy,
And you probably won’t be able to attend,
But we’d like to ask a favor,
If it won’t offend.

Would you send a letter or a picture?
Maybe a congrats or wish us well?
Just to get a response from you
Would really be swell!

One of the girls on the message boards said that Minnie & Mickey and Arnold had sent them a signed picture back :). I thought it might be fun to put in a scrapbook or something... Maybe Uncle Chauncey will even make it out for the event.

Next Project

Most things are ready to go for the wedding, so I need to try and find things to fill my time :). I came across this idea of putting rhinestones on the soles of your wedding shoes (both as a 'something blue' and also ask just some little personal touch) and I thought it was a cute idea. I bought a pack of blue rhinestones and will try it out tonight I think. Here is a picture of what I am going for (with our initials and date of course :) ).

Preparing for Marriage Schedule

Next week is our final Preparing for Marriage Class with North Coast. I realized that I haven't really gone into detail about the classes or anything, so I figured I would do it today :).

Week 1 - JD (who is the married and young families pastor) talked to us about each other's expectations, compatibility and sexual purity. It was helpful to actually write down our expectations in different areas, so that they don't go unsaid and therefore unmet.

Weeks 2 and 3 - We went over the Myers Brigss Personality Preferences. I had done this 'test' before (back in school for a few leadership things), but it was really cool to see how Ryan and I fit together, what might be some benefits to our relationships and what might be some of the stumbling blocks with how we were each uniquely created.

Week 4 - Charlie (the executive pastor) and his wife Suzi went over how to reach financial freedom and set goals (financial goals that is). It was interesting to hear their view points (most of which were similar to common sense, but others were new ideas I had never thought of before).

Week 5 - Dave came in and taught us about communication and conflict resolution. It wasn't necessarily that helpful (at least for me), but it did help to show that open communication is key (which is pretty obvious, right?).

Week 6 - Chris (one of the lead pastors) and his wife Amy went through surviving and thriving marriage. I can listen to Chris talk for hours and not even notice the time (I think it is because I see him as a Christian Chris Farley or something, who knows, hehe). They went over what to do when road blocks come up, because they will. It was great to learn more about their relationship and really hear the nitty, gritty of what can go on (not just the butterflies and rainbows side of marriage).

Week 7 (next week) - JD and his wife Linda come back and they will be discussing intimacy in marriage. We are actually going to split up in boys and girls and talk in different places (I know it may seem like we are in junior high, but I am sure it will be beneficial to have the two separate talks).

Overall I think that this class has been very beneficial. Since Ryan and I have been together for almost 5 years, it isn't that we didn't know most of this stuff about each other (or ourselves), but it was nice being 'forced' into talking about it. We had weekly 'homework assignments' to do, whether they were writing down 10 reasons your partner is the one you want to marry and discussing them, going through a mock conflict, etc. We had to turn them in, but no one looked at them, it was more just to get you to do it (and feel like you accomplished something by turning it in).

Thank You

I just wanted to say a quick THANK YOU to everyone. I am daily astonished by everyone's generosity and joy towards Ryan and I. We are both so thankful to have you in our lives!! THANK YOU!! Thank you not only for what you do, but more importantly WHO YOU ARE!

Hairs

So Friday after work I headed over to the Avia Salon and Day Spa (it is about half way between work and my apartment). I had scheduled an appointment with a woman named Barbara (I had seen recommendations for her on TheKnot.com on the San Diego Message Boards). I went in around 5pm (I left a little early since I took a shorter lunch) and she worked on my hair till about 6:45pm. She said it would probably only take about an hour on the day of the wedding, but she wanted to be able to work with it, see what exactly she wanted and could do with my hair, etc. Anyway, I had brought in a couple pictures of what I wanted and she was able to either match it almost exactly (or at least make me love it anyway, even if it looked a little different). I am very happy with the way it came out. I am not going to post any photos right now (so that it is more of a surprise when you see the real pictures), but it is sort of loose curls pinned lower on my head (I didn't want it to look too 'done' or 'prommy'). I love the way it turned out (and my mom, Stacey and Jess all like it too, so it isn't just me, hehe) and can't wait to see everything together (with the dress, jewelry, etc). Just wanted to let everyone know that I have marked another thing off my list and am actually very happy with the trial this time (as opposed to the last one that I hated!).

2 months from yesterday Ryan and I will be getting MARRIED!!

Mail-In Shower

Yesterday I received something in the mail from Aunt Kris (she is Ryan's "Aunt" but everyone calls her Aunt Kris). It was a flyer that she had sent out to people for a MAIL IN SHOWER for Ryan and I. I had never heard of anything like it. It had a really sweet poem and suggests that people send us wedding gifts during a specific week so that we get gifts all summer long - HOW AWESOME!! Ryan and I are soooo thankful for this amazing gesture. I wanted to let anyone know that might have gotten the flyer:

PLEASE DO NOT MAIL GIFTS TO THE ADDRESS ON THE FLYER!

Please use the address that is located on the registries (which goes to my work address). The problem is that I live in a gated apartment complex so FedEx and UPS (which is what the gifts would come through) cannot get in to my complex and therefore cannot leave anything for me. Again, Ryan and I are soooo gracious for this, but just wanted to mention the address change is anyone had received it and thought about participating.

Wedding Map

I am working on creating this Wedding Map for our guests. You can drag the map around to move to different areas.

Your thoughts??

Tasting

Ryan and I have set up our tasting for the wedding. We will be going to the Bali Hai next Sunday to try the items that we have tentatively put on our wedding menu. Since we are having an all vegetarian menu, we are going with items that are not normally on the menu (and therefore would feel more comfortable tasting them before the day of the wedding :) ). We are happy with the choices we have made, now just hope they live up to their expectations. More to come on how the tasting went in a couple weeks.

Dress fitting

Another thing to mark off the list. I had my appointment Saturday morning to go in and have my dress altered slightly. Of course I will not be posting any pictures here (we don't want Ryan sneaking a peak or ruining the surprise for the guests), so I'm sorry if I got your hopes up. Since I was not having a lot of things done to it, I will go back in about a month to make sure everything is set before I bring it back to my apartment again.

Wedding Weather

So I was looking on Weather.com and found that you can register with them and they will create a little personal Wedding Weather Website for you. Check it out here.

Wedding Weather Timeline
Here's an overview of what you'll see on this page and when.

More than 10 days away: averages and records, as well as actual weather from the past 3 years.
10 days away: your Wedding Day Forecast, including high and low temperatures, chance of precipitation, and more.
48 hours away: an hour-by-hour forecast so you can plan accordingly.

Looks like perfect weather to me, what do you think??

License

Tomorrow morning Ryan and I will head to the County Clerks Office to get our Marriage License. In San Diego the license is valid for 90 days, so I figured might as well get it. Since both of the people have to go down to get the license the only day that we can go is on Saturdays. I guess it gets really busy and it can be quite entertaining (because they do civil ceremonies there too). I am not sure how long it will take us, but we are hoping to go down tomorrow morning and get another thing off the list. On the information on the website it says that they sell Polaroids of this special moment (and the money goes to a fundraiser or something), so we will see if we purchase the picture, hehe.

Dress Donation

I know that I have been trying to keep my posts split (keeping wedding planning info on the Goin' To The Chapel blog and everything else on the Be The Change blog), but I thought this one should be posted on both, so that maybe I could get more input and information.

Currently I am not planning on keeping/ preserving my wedding dress after the wedding. I was thinking that I could sell it, but then I figured the best thing to do with it would probably be to donate it to someone that could use it. I know that there are a lot of great organizations that you can donate your wedding dress to. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or know much about it. [I have information on Brides Against Breast Cancer. I would love information on other organizations or ideas.]

Wedding Surfboard

Came up with this idea last night while laying in bed. Sent this email to about 20 surf shops so far. Maybe someone will be so kind as to donate a board :). It's worth a shot, right? The worst that can happen is they say no and we go with what we were originally thinking.

Good morning! My name is Carlee. I have a somewhat odd request. My fiancee and I are getting married in August. He loves surfing. I thought it would be an awesome idea that instead of having a guest book for our friends and families to sign, that we could have everyone sign on a surfboard that we could then hang up in our place (they would be able to write well wishes, encouragement, etc). The problem I am having is that I have very little (actually nothing) left in our budget for a new surfboard. I thought I would contact you to see if you would be willing to donate a surfboard for us. It doesn't have to be something that will be ride-able or really great quality, I just thought that maybe I would check to see if this would be something you might be willing to do. Please do not feel obligated, but I just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask and maybe we would get lucky. Again, thank you so much for your time and considering this request.

Have a WONDERFUL Week!!

Carlee (and fiancee Ryan).

Cross our fingers :)

RSVPs

Hurray! Yesterday I opened my mailbox and had about 10 RSVPs in the mail!! Now most of them were people saying that they couldn't make it, but at least I know the invites are getting out to everyone. So far we have 6 people coming to the wedding besides Ryan and I - one of my co-workers and her husband, one of my grandmas, and Ryan's sister, brother-in-law and soon to be nephew. I hope we start getting a few more Yes's... or Ryan will have A LOT of cupcakes to eat :) I am very glad to see them starting to arrive though, because the sooner people return them the sooner we will be able to work on things like seating arrangements, etc, and also if they send them in now we won't have to harass them once the due date gets here. :)

Updates

A few updates to mention:

*Invitations are in the mail and most people have started receiving them. We have been told that the ink from the RSVP envelopes has bled onto the invitation. My mom suggests gently rubbing the smeared ink and it will come off. [Sorry about that, I didn't even think about the possibility of that.]

*Cupcakes have been agreed on. We have finally worked out all of the details with our baker and we have a contract in the works. All I can say is YUM.

*Hair appointments have been made. I will be going in for a trial run in a few weeks to see what I can do the day of the wedding. I probably won't be posting photos (I don't want to give everything away), but I think I am going with some sort of curly updo that doesn't look too finished or done.

*Business cards (that I mentioned before in the Photo Sharing post) are in the mail and should be here within the next week or so. Can't wait to see how free business cards will actually turn out :).

I think that is all for now. Of course we have tons of stuff going on, but we are trying to leave some surprise for the day off :). Hope you have a WONDERFUL Wednesday!

3

Today marks three months.

Ryan and I have been engaged for three months.

Ryan and I will be married three months from today.

Although people say that the time flies by, I think it has been going along normally. I mean if it was flying by I think I would be much more frantic and overwhelmed than I am right now. :) Or maybe this is just the calm before the storm. Just kiddin'!

Don't Starve

For A Gown...


The Incredible Shrinking Bride

How the pressure to look perfect on the big day is leading some women to extremes.

Since 24-year-old Noelle Nicolai got engaged in early January, she's been surprised that no one has asked about her plans for "happily ever after" or the details of the engagement. Instead, all the questions have revolved around one topic: what she's going to look like on her wedding day.

"I've fielded a barrage of 'What are you going to do with your short hair?' 'Do you have a dress?' 'What will your makeup be like?'," says the Utah native. Although Nicolai has long prided herself on her ability to resist what she calls society's "aesthetic obsession," she says that less than a day after becoming engaged she found herself writing a to-do list of "shallow" goals that included teeth whitening, monthly facials, waxings, hair shine treatments and tanning. She went to a dermatologist for a regime of antibiotics, creams and cleaners to guarantee a blemish-free face by her wedding day at the end of June. She even pulled out her retainers from her high-school years to get her teeth back in "post-braces alignment." At the top of her list: knocking 12 pounds off her already thin frame. (She's got a Body Mass Index of 20—the lower end of the normal weight range.)

All this fuss seems a little crazy to her fiancé, who's constantly reminding Nicolai that he's happy with her as she is. But Nicolai is hardly alone in her desire to look perfect on her wedding day.


The rest of the article here.

In the mail

The invitations will be dropped off to the Post Office tonight after work!! WHOO HOO!! Mark another thing off our Things To Do list!! We are putting them in the mail right at the 3 month mark (which is what most people recommend for destination weddings - I know, I know, it isn't a destination wedding for us, but for 95% of our guests it will be, so we are just looking out for them and giving them ample time to schedule flights, hotels, etc if they are going to be joining us for the CELEBRATION).

So be on the look out, hopefully they will reach everyone in one piece :).

Photo Sharing

I have been addicted to searching around on TheKnot.com and looking for new and exciting things to add into our wedding. I normally like looking at people's bios and look at things that they are planning to do (it has given me great ideas of DIY projects). Anyway, today I came across an AWESOME idea (or at least I think it is great), and I just had to share it. One of the brides had created a photo sharing website (through Snapfish) and then had some business cards printed that she put out on the table. The business cards were made through a company called VistaPrint and you get 250 free business cards just for signing up (great deal!).

Anyway, we will be stealing (or borrowing, whichever way you look at it) this idea. I ordered the business cards this afternoon, right after I set up a photo sharing site. I love pictures, and I thought it would be a great way to have every one's all in one place (rather than getting them through email, facebook, myspace, etc). I have uploaded a couple albums so far. I am hoping that after the wedding people will upload their own pictures, Ryan and I can upload ours (both that we will have professionally taken as well as the ones that we will have developed from the disposable cameras we will have on the tables) and we can even have out honeymoon pictures on there too. The site actually lets people order prints off of it too, so if people really love the picture, instead of just downloading it, they can have it professionally printed and mailed to them.

All that to say that I was excited about the idea that I came across and can't wait to see it come to fruition. Oh yeah, if you want to check out the photo site before the wedding, let me know and I can send you the website.

Whoo Hoo

Saturday Ryan and I hit up Kinko's to see if we could get a test run of our Wedding Invitations, RSVP Cards, and Bridal Shower Invitations. We got a test run and everything looked great. We asked if we could drop it off to have all of them run off (expecting that they would tell us to come back later in the week to pick them up) and they told us they would be done in about an hour. After the girl started working on them, she told us that if we wanted to wait she could get them done right now. After being at Kinko's for about 30 minutes we got all of our stuff printed! WHOO HOO! They told us it would cost $1.00 per cut (we put 2 invitations to a page and 4 RSVP cards to a page), so just to cut our invitations it would have cost $60 extra dollars (and that's not even counting the RSVP sheets and shower invites). We decided to go to Michael's and buy a paper cutter (because Ryan can use it for his art also). Last night I cut all of the invites and cards and stuffed them into the envelopes. I am going to show Ryan a sample of them tonight, but from my perspective everything looks great and hopefully we will get them in the mail by Friday!! YAY!!

Invitations

Ryan called me after he went to Kinko's and told me that the test run of our invitations and RSVP cards turned out WONDERFUL! I am going to give them my stamp of approval this weekend and then hopefully start the printing process. If things roll on the track they look to be moving right now we should be able to put them in the mail right around Mother's Day.

If you want an idea of what the invites will look like, check out our Save The Date image below (we have changed the color up a little and messed with the design just a little more, but you will at least get a sense of what we will be doing).

Flights

Hey everyone. I wanted to give everyone a heads up.My parents booked through a travel agent for their flights, hotels, and cars to come out for the wedding. The travel agent called my mom this morning and told her that as of MAY 1st, most (if not all) of the airlines will be reducing their flights to try and save money, and therefore will be canceling flights (to try and make sure that flights are totally 100% booked rather than having 2 50% booked flights, etc). The travel agent was able to rebook different flights, but I wanted to give EVERYONE a heads up. The travel agent recommended that people check their itineraries after MAY 1st to make sure that the flight you had originally booked had not been canceled or changed. (I know that Ryan and I have both on separate occasions have been screwed over with airlines not telling us that our flights had been changed or canceled - GRRRRRRR). Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up (not just for the wedding flights, but any flights you may already have scheduled after May or may be scheduling in the near future).


Have a TERRIFIC Tuesday!!

Etsy

I just want to let everyone know about an awesome site. It is called Etsy.com. It is a place where artists can display and sell their handmade pieces. I have gotten a few things for the wedding through the site and have gotten a few gifts off the site also. It has given me tons of great ideas of things that I can do myself (or different ways that Ryan and I may be able to create art and decorate our new place). Check it out if you are looking for gifts or even for personal items.

One of the artists that I have worked with has a site for jewelry. Check it out if you get a chance.

Prep For Marriage Class

Monday Ryan and I will be starting our Preparing for Marriage class at North Coast. I hope that it is beneficial and that it sparks good conversations for Ryan and I. I also hope that both of us will stay calm and joyful even with the commute to the campus for the classes.

Our six or seven week premarital course meets on Monday nights and covers topics such as God's design for marriage, communication and conflict resolution, Myers-Briggs personality preferences, financial freedom, and sexual intimacy in marriage.

It's been a while

I wanted to say SORRY that it has been a while since we have posted much about the wedding. Things have been moving along smoothly (for the most part). We haven't really made any new decisions lately, which may be why we haven't had much to post about. We've got a bunch of little stuff marked off I think, like wedding bands ordered (mine just arrived at Ryan's yesterday so hopefully this weekend I will be able to try it on and make sure it is perfect), we are working with the baker still on our cupcakes, we have booked and paid for all of our honeymoon stuff, we are still looking (or just trying to decide) on places to rent and or buy after we get married, we are working with a wonderful woman in Minnesota on the bouquets and boutonnieres (which I am sooo excited about), the cupcake stands have arrived, we are in the process of finalizing the invitation design and hopefully will get those printed this week or next (and in the mail in the beginning on May, seeing as it is a 'destination wedding' for most of our guests), and we will be starting our Pre-Marriage classes next Monday. Again, lots of stuff happening, but most things are moving right along schedule. Thanks for checking in, and I hope to be updating more soon (once we finalize the last bits and pieces of different aspects).

A Whole New World - Peabo Bryson

A whole new world
With new horizons to pursue
I'll chase them anywhere
There's time to spare
Let me share this whole new world with you

The rest of the lyrics here.

Shower Suggestions

Calling all suggestions :) My mom and I are trying to figure out ways to have a bridal shower. The thing that is hanging us up is the fact that we will be having the shower in Michigan, but I live in California. It is going to be hard to travel back with the gifts or to ship them back. My mom had suggested a "Gift Card Shower", which would be MUCH easier for me to bring across the country with me. Any other ideas out there? Or any wording suggestions on how to put something like that on the invitations?

Thanks in advance for your ideas!!

Prayer Please

If you are the praying type, it would be wonderful if you could keep Ryan and I in your prayers. We are in the process of trying to decide where we would like to live after we get married (Currently I am living in San Diego and he is living in Oceanside, which is about 35 minutes north of where I am at). Since Ryan commutes to work about 45 minutes to an hour each way (north to Lake Forest), it is tom-foolery for us to look for a place near where I am currently located. We don't know how long Ryan will stay with his current employer, so if he stays there for a few more years we should probably move up closer (probably Orange County area), but if he isn't we both really like the Carlsbad/ Encinitas area. Also, we aren't sure whether or not we should look into renting or buying something. I know this is a lot to think about (tell us about it, hehe), but if you could just pray that God really shows us where he wants us clearly (whether that is at our current jobs and live further north, new jobs and live closer to where we are used to, etc), that would be AWESOME!! Thanks in advance for your prayers and continued support!!

Glenn Teal

Ryan and I are proud to announce that we have asked Glenn Teal to officiate our wedding (and Glenn has graciously accepted :) ). Glenn was the lead pastor at CrossRoads Community Church (the church that my family has attended for for the last 12 years or so I think). Glenn has not only been a boss tome when I worked in the CrossRoads office, but has also been an outstanding pastor, a remarkable leader and a fantastic family friend. Glenn and his wife Nancy have recently moved out West and Glenn has taken the Lead Pastor position at Timberview Christian Fellowship in Spokane, Washington. If you don't know Glenn yet, check out his blog here. Again, we are so excited that he has said Yes!

Monroe Evening News

This is the announcement of our engagement that was in the Monroe Evening News.

Countdown

Save a Tree & The Date

For those of you who haven't received our Save The Date email, I wanted to post the link. I think Ryan has done an AMAZING job with all of our stuff (he designed the Invitations, RSVP Cards, Save The Date email, etc). Check out our Save The Date info here if you haven't already.



Once again, RYAN YOUR TALENT AMAZES ME!! Thanks for all your hard work - all the effort definitely shows!! I love you forever and always!!

Save The Date

So Ryan has done an amazing job with our Save The Dates!! Thanks babe!! We started emailing them out this morning (but of course some of the email addresses we have are wrong, so we have to double check with some people) and hopefully they will be getting into every one's email boxes sometime today. I think next week we will put a link up on this website so that everyone else can check out the awesome job Ry did - so be on the look-out for it!!

The Cute Couple

Music

We would like YOUR input! Ryan and I are putting together our music play lists and would love to know what songs you would like to hear at our wedding. I can't guarantee every song will make the list, but it would be terrific if we could get input from our friends and families (since they will also be enjoying the tunes along with us).

Honeymoon

Just wanted to let you know that Ryan and I decided on our honeymoon. We were originally thinking South Africa (which hopefully one day we will be able to go to), but with the vaccinations, all the safari stuff, etc., it was a little too out of our price range. We have since changed our mind and picked FIJI!! We will be in Fiji 8 nights, 4 nights at the first resort and 4 at the second. Check them out if you get a chance!! I am super excited about it!!

This will be the first resort we will go to:

http://www.thebigday.com/Travel/Fiji-Resorts/FirstLandingResort.htm

This will be the second resort we will go to:

http://www.thebigday.com/Travel/Fiji-Resorts/ParadiseTaveuni.htm

We have been working with The Big Day.com to set up all of the travel information. They have been extremely helpful and I can't wait to actually go on the trip and see how amazing these resorts are!! Check them out if you get a minute (they have travel all over the world).

Yummy

We have added another link on the side of the blog (Elizabethan Desserts) and crossed another task off our Things To Do list, WHOO HOO!! This past weekend Ryan and I went and tried the cupcakes that we have now decided on having at our wedding. Check out the website if you get a chance, because everything looks SOOOO yummy!! Can't wait to shove one of them in Ryan's face... JUST KIDDING, I'm not planning on doing that ;).

Engagement Shots

Check out some of our shots from our photo shoot this weekend. http://picasaweb.google.com/Carlee6/EngagementShots Once Ryan edits our top couple choices we will post those, but we just wanted to give a sneak peek to our loyal fans :).

Naked NO MORE

After much drama (and by much, I really mean MUCH) over my engagement ring and having to finally ship it back to Cheboygan, Michigan to have it re-sized, my finger is naked no more!! This weekend will mark one month since Ryan and I have been engaged, and unfortunately I have had my ring for less than half of that(it has been off my finger and out of my possession for at least 16 days already). Who knew my size 3.5 finger would cause so much hassle. My ring is back and on my finger once again!! HURRAY!!

Love in Trees

Invitations & RSVP Cards

Ryan and I (mostly Ryan though) designed our Invitations and RSVP cards this past weekend. We really like the way that they have turned out (we may be tweeking them slightly in the weeks to come but are pretty set on how they look right now). We have shown a couple people the design (family and some of the wedding party), but we are going to try to keep them secret so that you can get the full effect when you get them in the mail. After we send everything out we may post them here (in case people that aren't invited would like to see, or maybe future clients of Ryan's would like to check out some of his work). Just wanted to let every one know we are on our way and getting things checked off our list of To Do items :).

Registries

Ryan and I have almost finished our registries (You have to remember, I am the planner, so I am trying to get everything done NOW rather than waiting until when it MUST BE done). We have registered at Target and Bed Bath & Beyond. Now, I am NOT asking for gifts, so please don't take this post as 'here is my list of needs, buy them for us please'. I know I like looking through people's registries (even if I don't buy anything from it), so I thought other people might just want to click through ours to see what our new place may look like. :)

Things to do in SD

Things to do while in San Diego

Beaches
** Mission Beach
http://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/mb.shtml
** Mission Bay
http://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/mbay.shtml
** Pacific Beach
http://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/pb.shtml
** Ocean Beach
http://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/ob.shtml
** La Jolla Cove
http://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/cove.shtml

Areas Around Town
** Gaslamp Quarters / Downtown
http://gothere.com/sandiego/gaslamp.htm
** Little Italy District
http://www.littleitalysd.com/splash/index.asp
** Old Town
http://www.oldtownsandiego.org/
** Coronado
http://www.coronado.ca.us/
** La Jolla
http://www.lajolla.com/
** Sea Port Village
http://www.seaportvillage.com/

Attractions
** San Diego Zoo
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
** Wild Animal Park
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/index.html
** Sea World
http://www.seaworld.com/
** PETCO Park
http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/sd/ballpark/index.jsp
** The Whaley House
http://www.whaleyhouse.org/
** Mission of San Diego
http://www.missionsandiego.com/
** Disneyland
http://disneyland.disney.go.com/

Museums
** Balboa Park – 15 major museums
http://www.balboapark.org/
** Birch Aquarium
http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/
** San Diego Firehouse Museum
http://thesdfirehousemuseum.org/_main/
** Star of India/ Maritime Museum
http://www.sdmaritime.com/
** Cabrillo National Monument
http://www.nps.gov/cabr/

Wedding Website

We started a "Wedding Website". It isn't a blog, more of an informational website (made through TheKnot.com) that will tell more about the venue, hotels, how to RSVP, info about the bridal party, etc.. Check it out if you get a chance. It is still in the beginning stages so I am sure it will be changing many times between now and August, but I thought I would get it out there sooner rather than later. Any feedback would be great too!!

Place

Not only have we picked the date, we have also booked the place we will be getting married at. The Bali Hai! I went there a couple weeks ago, just to check it out and when I walked around their grounds I thought 'THIS IS PERFECT'. I took Ryan, his sister and her husband there 2 weekends ago to show them around and they liked it too! I called today and Leslie (the coordinator) told me that someone just cancelled the 16th (must have been a God thing) and that it would be open. We have it booked from 11am-5pm!! HURRAY!! Check out their website here (and look at some of their gallery pictures). It is on the bay (you look across right to downtown San Diego), it has a Hawaiian feel, it seems fun and young but still nice enough to have a wedding at, it just seems GREAT!!

(I also feel a lot better about planning now that we have things starting to fall into place)

Date

WE HAVE PICKED THE DATE - August 16th!! WHOO HOO!!!

She She Me Stationery

She She Me stationery is AMAZING! I recently found the website while looking for "Will You Be My Bridesmaid?" cards around on the Internet. I noticed that the packages of cards come in groups of ten and at first I was pretty bummed, seeing as I am only having 3 bridesmaids in my wedding party and I thought that if I did buy the pack at least 6 of the cards would go to waste. I contacted She She Me and asked if there was any way that I could personalize a pack of cards so that none of the cards would be unused. She She Me responded quickly, professionally, and luckily for me, was extremely accommodating. They allowed me to pick and choose to make my own personal pack of 10 cards. I chose 4 "Will You Be My Bridesmaid? cards, 3 "Thank You For Being My Bridesmaid" cards, and 3 "Thank You From The Bottom Of Our Hearts" cards. I will use one of the "Will You" cards in my album to track the process of the wedding. We will be using the "Thank You From The Bottom Of Our Hearts" cards for our families, since they are so cute. The cards arrived in about 3 days (much quicker than I was expecting) and they are amazing. The cards are on thick paper and great quality. I love the cards and can't wait to use them. I would definitely recommend She She Me stationery to anyone.

Photography

We will be using Drew Wilson as our photographer for both our engagement pictures (we are planning on taking some professional ones - not just the self taken ones from the actual engagement) and our wedding pictures. Drew is a great guy (a friend first, photographer second) and I can't wait to start working with him on a professional basis. Check out some of his work here. Once we have the engagement shots taken Ryan is planning on making some sort of 'Save the Date' image and I will definietly post it on here, as well as some of the shots from the shoot.

Our Relationship - By Carlee

Our Relationship.

It was a Sunday evening at one of New Life’s New Life Team Meetings(which is where a specific part of campus gets together for ice breakers, team builders, worship, short teachings, etc). I noticed Ryan out of the corner of my eye. The thing that caught my attention at first was not necessarily him; it was more the words that were written in Sharpie on his hand. I wish I remembered the exact phrase, but it was something along the lines of “Lord, Find Me” with an X (I thought it was sort of like an X marks the spot on a treasure map). I had never dated someone who had God at the center of their life, and I think there was a slight inward tug that it was something that I wanted, something that I needed. Anyway, back to the story, Ryan liked one of the girls that lived across the hall from me in the dorms, so I would see him every once in a while when he would go over there to try and hit on her. I didn’t make any sort of move, other than making him a sign with a BIG smiley face on it and put it on his door (he seemed down and I wanted to try to cheer him up). At the beginning of my freshman year I had come out of a long term relationship and I think I was nervous of getting rejected and since I knew he liked someone else I didn’t want to put myself out there to be hurt again. I remember walking home from Stats 350 with Seema, one of my girlfriends, towards the end of our freshman year and telling her that I thought I could really like Ryan and that I was so excited because we would both be going down to Orlando with New Life for Leadership Training for the summer. She encouraged me to get to know him and to really let him know how I was feeling, if there was anything there. I went down to LT not really knowing anyone. There were 7 of us that came from the part of campus that I lived in, which was The Hill, and that meant that the seven of us were together a lot. It just so happened that Ryan was part of that seven, lucky for me :). Four of us ended up having to work at Universal, which meant that we were car pooling together daily. Not only were we able to get to know each other at all of our group functions, but we were able to bond over our horrific Universal experiences and we could just all hang out on the rides to and from work (the traffic was pretty bad, so we would sit in jams for an hour a day at least). Ryan and I became close and I knew that I liked him as more than a friend. After LT there was still a month or so before going back up to Ann Arbor and I kept in touch with both the girls from LT and Ryan. The girls, Vanessa, Jenni, Michelle, and I would have weekly phone conversations about the books we were reading together, but would normally end up talking about random life stuff. I remember telling them that I had liked Ryan, and I actually got a bit of resistance. After grilling me for a little bit, I remember telling them that I could really see myself with him, I could see myself marrying him, and that he is someone that I wanted in my life for the rest of my life. Ryan didn’t official ask me to be his girlfriend until we got back to school that next fall. We started dating September 1st, 2003 and it has been amazing. I am not saying that we haven’t had our ups and downs, because we definitely have, but honestly when I look back over the four plus years we have spent together as girlfriend and boyfriend I am overwhelmed by the loving, exciting, adventurous times we have shared.

I can't wait for the great adventure that lays ahead of us!!

WELCOME

WELCOME!! Ryan and I wanted to record our wedding planning journey, and what better place than a blog :). (Apparently we don't have enough blogs and websites between the two of us that we felt the need to start another one). We thought we would use this blog to comment about different vendors we have worked with, companies that we endorse, the planning process, etc.. Also, since most of our wedding guests, family, and friends are across the country from us, we thought this would be a great way for everyone to feel more involved in the entire process.

The Story

THE ENGAGEMENT STORY

So Ryan and I do this activity called Geo Caching. It is like a high-tech version of treasure hunting. On the website you can go on and put in a zip code and it will give you all of the hidden 'caches' around that area. Ryan told me Friday night that he wanted to go to the 'oldest cache in San Diego (and one of the first 1000 in the world)' on Saturday morning. I thought this was a little fishy because normally when we go out geo caching I get all the info, and also he likes to sleep in but he wanted to go out to this one at 7am Saturday morning. He was trying to play it off like we had to meet up with his sister and her husband for breakfast, which is why we needed to go so early. We ended up at this park (Kate Sessions Park in La Jolla) that overlooked downtown San Diego and is just a cool park. We were looking around for the cache and once we found it Ryan called me over (because normally we look in different areas to give us more of a chance to find it) and he was down on both knees (he gives the excuse that it hurts his knee to be on one so he was on 2, hehe) and asked me to marry him. I remember saying 'Shut up' a couple times but then a resounding YES was said! I have uploaded the pictures from this weekend on my google account, so check them out. The first 20 or so our the shots from the engagement and the following 300+ are from the sight seeing we did with his sister and her husband throughout the weekend, since they hadn't been out to San Diego (so we were quite the tour guides on our engagement weekend).

As you can see in the pics, we are both SUPER excited!! :) And hopefully when we start making decisions about when, where, etc. I will be able to post them (so that everyone feels included in the planning process. :)

Thanks in advance for your warm wishes; the support of our friends and families mean the world to us and we are so excited to know that everyone is so happy for us!!