here are some things I love about my fiance

-He doesn't play video games.
-He takes care of the pets (because I don't)
-I will have red headed babies one day
-He has never left the seat up, ever

ok i don't hate registering anymore

Because I found plates that I looove!! Our married life will surely be complete with these lovely placesettings. (Registered at Dillards, hint hint)

Registering

Tonight we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to start building our registry. Everyone is doing Target these days, but their return policy is real screwy (something like only two returns allowed a year). BB&B's policy is whatever whenever! I thought it would be really fun, picking out a bunch of presents, but it was stress-city.
Pyrex bake ware or corning ware? Cuisineart or Kitchenaid? Non-stick or all clad? And oh we already have this and that, but should we get new/nicer ones? And what is the point of a toaster oven, if we have an oven and a toaster? Do we buy in package or separate?
It was so overwhelming, I felt like I was getting ten of the same little things and couldn't make a decisions on the important stuff. Not to mention Jean-Paul and I have such different tastes. He wants all the cool modern gadgets and I want everything retro or timeless.
I must have compared muffin tins for fifteen minutes. Poor Jean-Paul.. Back this weekend for round two!

Perfect Table Inspiration

P.S.- Ordered our invitations and thank-you's. You won't be seeing them for a while, but get ready! They are perfect!!!

So, we are trying to order our invitations, but can't decide what time. We want the ceremony to be during the day, ending with a sunset then night reception. I can't figure out the farmer's almanac. Wedding at 6 or 6:30? 7?
When does it get dark May 1st, 2010, in St. Francisville, LA?

Something blue and super cute

Found my shoes, and they are exactly what I was looking for!

So this past week we:
-Bought shoes
-Booked Adam Hudson Photo (!!)
-Decided on groomsman pants
-Got everyone to buy their pants (I think..)

I want to say this stuff is not so hard, but I don't want to speak too soon!

WEDDING DRESS- SUCCESS!!

So Jean-Paul's e-mails and phone calls really paid off when they led us to Mimi's.

They were selling a couple of samples from older collections at a discount to make room for the newer collections. I didn't find "dream dress", but I certainly found a dreamy one that happened to be part of the sample sale. I didn't want to make the decision on the spot, but when I woke up today I decided that if someone else bought my dress I would be heartbroken. I called mom and told her, and she bought it over the phone- I think she was sold on it before I even tried it on.

I'm so relieved! I thought I would be nauseous after going through with it, but surprisingly, I feel very calm about it. I think it will be absolutely perfect for the kind of wedding we want. I don't want to give anything away, but I will show off a little and tell you..

Its Vera Wang :)
It was 50% off :) :)

Ok, so I sometimes refer to him as the groomzilla, but I have to acknowledge that I have the best fiance imaginable. I have spent hours on the internet trying to find the "dream dress"with no luck, and while I was at work yesterday he emailed Vera Wang and asked her if she still had it.. and she does! She also told him that we may be able to find it in New Orleans at Mimi's. So he called up Mimi and found out about a trunk sale with discounted Vera Wang. Soo I'm packing up a jeep full of bridesmaids and mom and heading there now.
So cute that Jean-Paul

Mini Vacay!!

We are planning a mini vacation to Atlanta for our 6 or 7 year anniversary (we can't decide what year it is), and I am so excited about checking out the bridal boutiques! Priscilla of Boston has a shop there, and I have fallen in love with one of her dresses that I can't afford. Not to mention my good friend has just moved there, so I'll have someone to shop with me.

Now we have to figure out how to get a hotel room since we decided to meet each other on a day that LSU would be playing Georgia. (It's October 3rd, even though Jean-Paul thinks its October 2nd.)

Anyone have any ATL suggestions?

Dream dress

This is from Vera Wang's Fall 2006 collection. Does anyone know how to get your hands on a dress from a collection that far back? Ive been eyeing this one for years. love love love it

Two months in..

We put a deposit down for the Glynns in St. Francisville.. and SET THE DATE!
I really wanted to have an April wedding, but Jean-Paul said it'd be too risky, because of a silly rhyme involving showers. So, we set it for May 1st. I think it has a pretty good ring to it, which is important. But now I'm realizing it's also when rent is due, so we'll never be able to afford anniversary presents! And I've been told its "May Day", which I'm not really sure if that's a good or bad thing, the only time I've heard MayDay is when planes are crashing in movies.

So now that we have the date set we can start making some plans, which is exciting and nerve wracking. As it turned out the photographer I had decided on was booked for May 1st, and then it turned out that everyone I looked at was booked! I was lead to this really cool website modernphotographers.com where I typed in my date and location and they contacted all of their available photographers and within hours we had five emails from really great and AVAILABLE photographers. And we found one very similar to the first one we fell in love with.

So today we met with Adam and Allison Hudson of Adam Hudson Photo, to get to know each other and ask some questions and see if we are a good match. It went pretty well, aside from us being an our late. He seemed very excited to hear it was an outside vintage inspired wedding, so that was cool. We still need to do some price comparing, and I'm so nervous to make the decision, but I think these folks may be the one.

Still no wedding dress. I'm started to get veryy nervous on this, because I know it takes up to six months for some places to get dresses in after they are ordered (not to mention the time it takes for alterations). And we're working with less then 8 Months! aagh I just stressed myself out again.

One of the biggest surprises for me thus far has been how involved Jean-Paul has been.
He actually found the photographers and said, " OH MY GOD, This is the one! (while flapping his hand around) I mean all that matters is how I look in the pictures." I have been calling him the groomzilla, and I mean it, he's the one everyone needs to worry about, not me. He even gets this 'fabulous' voice when he talks about the wedding. I can't complain though, I am very happy to have his help in everything, and make the decisions together. The wedding is sure to be about "us" and not just me.

Ill have more updates as they happen, crossing my fingers the next will be about a dress.
Even though JeanPaul has pointed out- not a single person reads this. It's ok to pretend to be a blogger :)

Some Progress!

So when Jean-Paul asked me to marry him, the first thing I said after yes was- oh great now I have to plan a stupid wedding. And immediately he said we needed a date because everyone would be asking. I said- let's not talk about a wedding for a month, let me just be excited and engaged for a while without the stress of wedding planning.
This week I realized my month was up.
So this past week we may have decided on the following:
the "theme", the invitations, the place, the dress, centerpieces, flowers, colors, favors, music, bridesmaid dresses, oh! and the bridesmaids.
All in a week.. I feel like I am the wedding planner master. (I'm saying this now after a couple glasses of wine, because most of the time I'm hyperventilating over these things)
Of course not all of these things are definite (or in my budget), but they have definitely given me hope that there are things out there that I actually like!
More on this later, I need a wedding planning break!

On being engaged

Gosh, another post 10 minutes later.. what a blogger!
Here is the story about me and my fiance (weird to say) and about this wedding that i have yet to start planning.
He proposed a little over a month ago, on his birthday (july 8th) after a birthday party we had at my parent's house. The perfect Louisiana birthday party- dune buggy mud riding, beer drinking and ac/dc, followed by karaoke. Followed by a proposal, that completely shocked my brains out. I knew he had asked my dad's permission to marry me at his party (because my mom told me?!) but i was thinking "ok now hes got to buy a ring.. this could take a few months". So, when he was fishing through the closet when we were getting ready for bed, the last thing I expected was to see was the dream ring I had oogled over at Barkers (mom said, "only say 'yes' if it's from Barkers."). After ten minutes of me screaming into my hands with my eyes closed, Jean-Paul asked if I could just say a yes or no? What a silly question.
Surprisingly enough he seems to be very into the planning of the wedding. So much so that he picked a time- April 2009. Seemingly the perfect time of the year. The problem is, that's a pretty short planning period for someone who doesn't work 40+ hours a week, and considering that I am not that someone- anytime I sit down to think about it, I just get overwelmed and frustrated. Let me also tell you that I am not the bride sort of girl.
Never in my life did I picture my fairytale wedding, never did I really even think this sort of thing would happen. I didn't even want a real wedding at first, but after thinking about it- this is the only time I'll ever have to do this and I don't want to miss out on it. The hardest part thus far has been finding a place, a dress, a cake that suits who we are. I keep expecting that when I find the right place/dress I will know. We don't want anything "weddingish", just simple and sweet and US (while also being cheap and easy:). What I am most excited about is becoming Mrs. Jean-Paul Clinard, not so much having a fancy wedding day (where everyone is looking at me).
So this will be my journey into putting together the perfect celebration of the two of us becoming our own family and getting ready for the rest of our lives.

sorry if this made you throw up

OR..

A wedding preparation blog.
BECAUSE I'M ENGAGED!!

Only took a year to figure out what to do with a blog.
Only took six years to get that diamond.
Now how long will it take to plan a wedding

Here I am showing off how engaged I am: