THE DRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

So.......YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! I found a dress!! And not only is it "a" dress, it's "THE" dress. My sister, Linnea, came into town over the weekend and her, my Mom and I went out looking both Saturday and Sunday. We went to three different places on Saturday and one on Sunday. Let me tell you, I have never felt so pretty in my life and I am so excited that I found it so quickly. I found the dress at our first stop of the day, Faccio Bridal in Cool Springs. The woman there are fantastic and they really make you feel wonderful. No wonder they won best bridal shop in Nashville. They deserve it! I had so much fun shopping with Linnea and my Mom. My sister made reservations at Amerigo for lunch and had champagne waiting on us when we got there. It was so fantastic!! I am still trying to get used to the attention. I guess you never realize how much you get until you are "The Bride". It's so much fun though and I so enjoyed spending the time with just the three of us. I think I probably tried on 40 different dresses throughout the two day wedding dress extravaganza. I didn't commit to the dress at first, I was afraid because it was like the third dress I tried on and I didn't want to commit and then find something at one of the other stores. But everything I tried on after that just didn't feel right and I kept going back to that one. It's so hard to explain how I felt when I had it on. It was sort of like I was living in a movie. I could see myself walking down the aisle and I could see Mr. Stilts standing there waiting for me. I didn't feel that way in any thing else so I guess it is true when they say you know when you've found the dress. Plus, all three of us cried when I had it on -which I know to those who know us might not seem like such a big deal (we all cry at Kodak commercials) but not a single dress after that had the same effect. I would like to give a HUGE thanks to Linnea and my Mom for tugging, pulling, and zipping me into so many dresses (even the super ugly one). I know their "zipper fingers" are not a fan of me right now. My Mom and Linnea rock and I will never forget the "slutty nightgown" or the missed opportunity for a young hooker intervention. Good thing we weren't on tv, right Mom??
I am sorry to say though that I will not be posting a picture of the awesomeness that is my dress....this I want to keep under wraps until March 20,2010. Which by the way is ONE YEAR AND THREE DAYS AWAY!!!! Nuts.
OH and PS- we decided to go with Gaylord Springs Golf Links for the reception!!!!!!!!! Two GIGANTIC checks this weekend- WOO HOO!

So.....We bought a church!

YAY!! I'm so excited! Last Friday Mr. Stilts and I, along with his Father, went down to Donelson Heights United Methodist Church and put down the deposit! Mr. Stilts and his Dad hadn't seen the church yet in person but they both seemed impressed. It's so pretty and I think it's going to be perfect for us. Now we just have to decide on the reception venue even though I think we both agree that Gaylord Springs Golf Course is the one we like the best and we absolutely enjoy the coordinator there. Plus, it's pretty close to the church so that is good. We don't want our guests to have to drive far between places. I am really happy with the way things are going and I am having fun doing all this. Mr. Stilts tells me that he is too. We have started interviewing some photographers as well and that is REALLY fun. It's one of my favorite aspects of the whole wedding. I love photography and I want us to get one that will really capture the day. I want to look back 10 years from now and feel like I am re-living the whole thing. This entire process can be really stressful at times but really we are having a blast thinking of ways in which we can make this day ours and put our touch into it. There are so many ideas running through my head and I'm sure through his so there will be more posts coming as we make decisions and rock this wedding. I will post again once we have the reception venue booked and I hope it's soon! Woo hoo!! :-)

FINALLY! Progress!!

So~~ We have finally hired a wedding planner!! WOO HOO! I am so happy about it, I can almost scream! It might not be much but it makes it feel like we are actually moving forward instead of standing still or running in circles. I think we have pretty much settled on the church as well but we still have to go up there to meet with the minister and the event coordinator. Also, we still have to sign all the necessary paperwork and such. As for the reception, we are getting closer to the areas in which we are comfortable with but still not 100% yet. Mr. Stilts and I are going back and forth on locations. I am still in love with Gaylord Springs but we have to be able to feel comfortable with what we are spending in relation to our budget. We both feel it's not necessary to spend a ton of money on one day and in reality, this is more about us vowing to be there for each other for the rest of our lives and to me, that's more important than any sit down dinner, honeymoon, dress....anything. I am so excited about becoming his wife. I know we have our ups and downs as any couple would (and ESPECIALLY a couple planning a wedding)but in the end I couldn't imagine going home at night and not having him there.
We have also started working out just about every day and really watching what we eat. I never thought I would be as motivated as I am but knowing that a wedding gown is in my future REALLY helps. Plus, we got the Wii Fit and it has been kicking our butt! It makes it fun and it's nice to be able to feel like we are getting well rounded work outs at home. Mr. Stilts has already lost quite a bit of weight and I have lost some but I noticed the other day some toning that made me squeal with excitement. That is the motivation I need to keep it going. I really want to be tone more than lose weight (even though who would be mad about losing weight.....not I) but mostly I want to not pay attention to the numbers and concentrate on how I feel about myself and how my clothes fit. Anyway, I am feeling that while this wedding planning is probably one of the most stressful things I have ever done in my life, it's also been a great motivator for both of to make some changes in our lives. I'm so pumped and hopefully the next time I post, I will have one more GIANT check off our list!!
YAY 1 1/2 CHECKS SO FAR!!! :-)

Still waiting....but with a slight glimmer of hope

So we are still in the process of trying to make some decisions. It is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be. I think we are sort of leaning towards the Donelson area for the ceremony. It's a great compromise for us since I would like downtown and Mr. Stilts would like Lebanon. It's right smack in the middle if you ask me! So my Mom and I went last Friday and looked at two possible churches in the Donelson area. The first two pictures above are from Andrew Price Memorial United Methodist Church (a mouthful, right??). It is absolutely beautiful with its stained glass windows and has so much history that I am really drawn too. The other two pictures are from Doneslon Heights United Methodist Church which is about one mile up the road from APMUNC. It is also really beautiful and the people there were so kind and helpful. It's a tough call but it might just come down to which one has the better price. Donelson Heights is cheaper and that is REALLY attractive to us, the couple on a serious budget. As for the reception, I think we are really liking the Gaylord Springs Golf Course. It is breathtaking and the thought of how gorgeous the pictures would be, blows my mind!! Plus, golf is a pretty big part of Mr. Stilts life so it would be something that is a piece of him. That, to me, is so important. We are going to meet with the event coordinator there this Saturday morning. I am really excited and optimistic about this meeting and hope that we can get what we want for the price we can afford. We went to visit the Mill in Lebanon yesterday evening and the woman there was such a pleasure. She showed us around and it was nice but it is a lot more expensive than we thought and you don't get a lot for your money. The area in which we would have to use too is just this HUGE warehouse that had no windows and really no charm. I think it would end up costing us a lot more money just to make it pretty, if that makes sense. I knew going into the meeting yesterday that it was more expensive but I want us to look at every possible option so that we know in the end that we got the best with what we could afford. Plus, I know it meant a lot for Mr. Stilts to go look at it. He also mentioned going to look at two other possible reception venues downtown, the Ryman (how AWESOME would that be?!??!) and the Suite Level Club at the Sommet Center. The Ryman we pretty much know already is going to be too expensive (even though if we did do it there, we would have both the wedding and the reception there) but we just think it's too cool to not look at. The Suite Level Club is a place where one of our wedding coordinator candidates suggested. It is supposed to be really nice and pretty with a ton of windows that show downtown. My Mom would LOVE that. So I have contacted both of these other places to see if and when we can go take a look at them. It doesn't hurt if you ask me to look at every option we are interested in. I do feel like though, I am personally falling in love with the idea of doing the wedding in Donelson and the reception at Gaylord Springs.

My main focus though at this point is deciding on a wedding planner. This is really important to me because I am ready to have something be set in stone. I know this is something that Mr. Stilts and I are going to have to decide on together and I am really hopeful that we can decide something this week. Cross you fingers for us!!!!!!!!

Maybe....Just Maybe?????

Ok, well I sort of feel like we are making SOME progress. We have narrowed the wedding coordinators down to 2 (from 3 so it's not THAT great) but it's something. Now I am torn between the planner I really, really want and the planner I know we can afford. It's such a tough decision and I know it's an important one. Maybe one of the most important ones for the whole wedding. I think they would both do a great job but one (to me) just seems to have more experience and is more "in touch" with what we want. I don't want to feel pushed towards certain things just because it's convenient. We also have a great option for a church. It's pretty and I think it would work for the wedding. We are trying to stick to a pretty small budget and I know we can do it, Mr. Stilts is definitely a "budget man" as his Mom calls him. I do not see a problem with this at all but I know that there are certain things that I think we should spend more on and I am not sure if he will be ok with this. He made a good point that if we kept the wedding local, we could save money on the overall venues and splurge more on the details. Which sounds great except ever since I can remember, I have wanted to get married in Nashville. But if we can find something local that we love, I am all for it. We need to be smart about decisions and make the best ones for us. So if that means that we get married locally, that's ok as long as we can find places that suit the both of us and that both of us are happy with. My only concern right now is the reception venue. The area of town in which we are thinking of having the wedding (Lebanon, TN) does not have that many options. I am hoping that we will find that diamond in the rough and we will both be thrilled with it. I know I would love a place that has a view or at least some windows and the one place that might work for us, doesn't have either. Also, the main preferred catering vendor at this place is not the best. I have eaten their food before and it's ok, but there is absolutely nothing special about it. We have decided that instead of a buffet or sit down dinner, we are going to do stations scattered throughout the room. This way there aren't 100 people standing in line waiting to get food with a buffet and we are saving money by not doing a sit down. I think this would be a great way to cut costs and have it be something a little different. So, moving along hopefully we will have a contract signed with a wedding coordinator really soon and then I can breathe a small sigh of relief that ONE thing is done! Then on to the VENUES!! Oh yeah, one more thing not wedding related. I feel so fortunate to be able to witness the first black president being sworn into office today. It is such a historical day and I look forward to the future.

Trying to get things moving...

So we have been trying to find a church to get married in and it's a LOT harder than I thought it would be. There aren't a lot of churches that hold as many people as we would like and the ones that do have a TON of restrictions. I understand them though seeing that we are coming in as an outsider and a non-member. Still though, we have a couple of churches in mind and I am hoping to be able to go and check them out in person soon. It makes it harder since I work full time but I have a wonderful Mother and future Mother-in-law who have the time to possibly go look at places while I am at work. Just to get an idea and then if they think we will like it, then we can make arrangements to do so. That way maybe we can weed out some of the absolutely nots. My Mom and I have started meeting with some wedding coordinators to possibly hire to help out. We have met with one so far and really liked her but we have two more to meet with this week so we will see how they go. I am hoping that Mr. Stilts and his Mom can come along for these meetings as well. I want them as involved as they want to be. It is not just my day, it's Mr. Stilts and I's day as well as a day for our parents. I am hoping the wedding coordinator we choose will be able to help with ideas for certain things and give advice as needed as well as direct the wedding weekend. I really want us and our family to be able to enjoy our wedding and not be bothered with little details or issues that might come up. I am having a BLAST so far in planning this wedding, even though, we haven't really done anything yet. So far all we really have is a tentative date, depending on the availabiliy of the church and reception venue. I am getting a little anxious even though I know we have plenty of time but I would really like to at least get ONE thing actually planned and set in stone. Hopefully with the next post I will!!

2009 is finally here!! Now I can say that we're getting married next year!! haha!

It does seem like 2008 went by SO fast but I am so excited about what is to come this year. I have so much to be thankful for and I feel very blessed. This year has been very good, better than last year I feel. I have a wonderful fiance (with an equally wonderful family), an incredible family, awesome friends. I am just so excited about what is to come this year. We have a lot of planning ahead for us and I am excited about all that we will come up with. I have heard Mr .Stilts say though that he is "just above the caterer" which I think is crap. I want him to be involved in anything and everything that he wants to be. I think we have almost 100% decided on March 20, 2010 as our wedding date. I know it seems far but I think it will give us every opportunity to have exactly what we want (well within our budget, that is) That is another thing we are working on right now, figuring out the budget we have to work with and the guest list. I think once we have those two things done, we should be in good shape. I have been reaching out to a couple of local wedding planners just in case I decide that we will need one. I know that my Mom and Mr. Stilts Mom will help (they have told me this) but I also want them to be able to enjoy this time too and not be totally stressed out. I do not want a wedding planner to do everything though, I think it will be a lot of fun for all of us to get together and plan this day. The wedding planner is just an option at this point and we are just checking them all out. I think my Mom and I are going to go meet with one possible option next week. We will see. I am getting really excited thinking about all the spring colors and what we might decide to use. I love the greens, yellows, purples and all those colors. I haven't been able to narrow down to a couple yet. I keep thinking about all these things that I have not thought of before and it's crazy all that goes into planning a wedding!! Nuts!! But it's going to be totally worth it in the end and I am totally pumped about all that is to come. Even the super stressful parts! HA!