Sunday, November 28, 2010

Vendor List

I've been getting a lot of questions about my wedding vendors, so I figured I'd put them all in one giant post for easy reference! I was fairly OCD about our wedding, so I really did my research until I found vendors I could trust that I knew could make my vision of our wedding become a reality. I pulled vendors from a ton of Houston suburbs to get just who I wanted. Consequently, I ended up really loving them all! I would honestly recommend any of these people to other brides... from our DJ to our bridesmaid dress consultant, they were wonderful!

The Big Ones:

Church - Prince of Peace Catholic Church - Mary Chapel, Houston, TX (Priest - Father John Keller)
Venue & Catering - Raveneaux Country Club, Spring, TX (Coordinator - Leslie LaNasa)
Photographer - Kelli Nicole Photography, Houston, TX
Florist - Antique Rose Florist, The Woodlands, TX (Trisha Hurley)
DJ - Southwest Sound Entertainment, Spring, TX (Clayton Orr)
Hair & Makeup - Hilda Kershman Studio, Houston, TX

Details:
Cake - Nutmeg & Co, Tomball, TX - (Megan
Rolls Royce Limo - Monarch British Limousines, Houston, TX
My Dress - Casablanca 1900, from The Princess Bridal, Spring, TX
Bridesmaid Dresses - David's Bridal, Houston, TX (The I45 location, Consultant: Mari)
My Veil - Angela Marie Veils, Cypress, TX
Table Linens - Perfect Touch Linens, Cypress, TX
String Quartet - Fine Arts Strings, Houston, TX

Other Little Things: 
Garters - Etsy seller sewuniquegarters
Invitations - Etsy seller moncherdesigns
Alterations - Laura's Couture and Alterations, Houston, TX - Karime
Bride's Shoes - Nina, Zappos.com
Candy Buffet Candy - ACandyStore.com
Sparklers - SparklersRUs.com

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Christmas Wish List!

With my law school finals lasting until December 17th, I've been trying to get a lot of Christmas shopping done before the frenzy of studying takes over my life. And of course, I had to come up with some Christmas ideas for myself too. :)

I always try to make my Christmas List way bigger than it needs to be... that way I still get surprised when I open presents. Hopefully this will give you a few ideas for your own Christmas list!

When Harry Met Sally


(source

Back when Jeff and I were just best friends, my boyfriend at the time told me my relationship with Jeff was like When Harry Met Sally. I've never seen the movie, so all these years I've been wondering what exactly he meant. I'd like to find out. Plus I love Meg Ryan. A lot.

Grey's Anatomy Season 6


I've been a devoted Grey's viewer since the beginning, so I of course need the next DVD to sit next to 1-5!

The Romantics


This book was recommended to me by a few different people, so I decided I need to read it! This will (hopefully!) be my "fun reading" over Christmas break before I start school again!

I Spy Halloween and I Spy Christmas


I just want these to sit on the coffee table during the holidays.

Vera Bradley "Let's do Lunch" Bag in Make Me Blush


I think this would brighten my day on weekdays around noon. :) Plus it would match my duffel bag and my makeup bag!

Westin White Tea Aloe Lotion


I used this at a Westin hotel once and I cannot get enough of it! Highly recommended!

Hobnail Milk Glass


I've been saying for a while that I'd love to collect hobnail milk glass pieces. BM Kristen gave me a few cute vases as a wedding present, so now I'm looking to make my little collection grow!

This Necklace (or something similar)


I've been wishing lately that I had some sort of dangly gold charm necklace. This one looks good to me!

Friends Seasons 3 and Up


My sister gave me Seasons 1 and 2 last year, so it would be cool to get a few more!

Penguin Hardcover Classics


I saw these somewhere on Weddingbee last year, and I've wanted them ever since. These would look SO GREAT on our bookshelves in the guest room. At the top of my list: Little Women, Sense and Sensibility, and Great Expectations.

Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray


We've started to collect the classic Disney movies as they come out on Blu-ray. Jeff and I both grew up on Disney movies, so it's a collection we're looking forward to one day sharing with our kids.

Victoria's Secret Flannel Pajamas


Don't these just look so comfy?!?! I want some. Any color will do!

Target's Merona Essential Cardigans




I love cardigans. I could never have too many. And there are so many cute ones right now!


Ikea's Svalka Champagne Flutes


(source

I have this grand idea in my head of having a New Year's party at our apartment. These champagne flutes would be perfect! And at jut $4.99 for six, it wouldn't even matter if one or two breaks!

Pier 1 Decor Items

Mini Reactive Vases

Book Boxes

Carved Wood Frames
(all from Pier1.com)

I've been dying to get some cute little decor items to put on the shelves of our entertainment center. Currently one shelf is full of Jeff's old baseball memorabilia, and two shelves are empty. But it seems silly to spend money on things that will just sit on shelves, so I haven't done it. But I'd love these little items!!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving. One of the greatest things about being an American! How wonderful that we get a holiday totally devoted to just giving thanks for all the blessings in your life! I needed Thanksgiving so badly this year. I've mentioned before that I don't really like law school as much as I thought I would, and I think I've been focusing on that so much lately that I've lost sight of some of the really great things about my life.

For example... first and foremost I'm so, so thankful for my amazing husband. He makes me laugh everyday, he makes the bed sometimes just because he knows I like how it looks with all the pillows perfectly placed, and he tells me I'm pretty even when I'm sitting amongst a pile of law textbooks and haven't showered in 48 hours. I've been really busy with school lately, and he's been cooking, doing the laundry, washing dishes, and generally picking up the slack for me without even mentioning it.

Did I mention he makes me laugh all the time?

I used to say that I didn't want to get married until I was 30 or 35. I wanted to focus on my career and be successful on my own and all that. But somehow I met the right guy and I ended up married at 21. God knew I was going to need him, and I'm thankful everyday that I found the perfect man for me so early in life.

And of course, I'm thankful for our families. We have such an overabundance of people who love us and support us. We've got THREE Thanksgiving dinners!! We're so blessed to have so many examples in our family of amazing married couples... we both grew up learning what true love looks like, what a marriage is supposed to be about, and what it means to really live out your wedding vows. It's been a priceless gift for our marriage.



Also, my little sisters. They make me smile everyday, and I couldn't be more proud of them. Knowing that they look up to me makes me strive to be a better person, and I just love them so much.

I'm thankful for our apartment, which has become such a wonderful little home. Despite the fact that our rent is increasing in January (which I am NOT happy about by the way!), it's a wonderful location, and I've loved being able to "nest" and build a home.


I'm thankful for Jeff's job. He gets paid a decent salary to do something he really loves, with people he enjoys working with, and in this crazy economy it means a lot to us that he has a stable job we can count on.

I'm thankful for scholarship money. With the scholarships, we've so far been able to afford my law school expenses without having to take out loans, and it looks like we'll be able to continue doing it that way. I don't think I'll fully appreciate this until I graduate and see most of my classmates having to make loan payments every month, but I know it's a big deal, and I'm thankful for it.

I'm thankful for our friends. We've been able to keep in touch with most of the people that mean a lot to us even though we moved to Houston, and I love that. We're planning on going to quite a few weddings this summer, which means we're finally going to have some "couple friends!" We were pretty much the first of all our friends to get married, so it'll be nice to have some other married buddies. :)

Who wouldn't want to be "couple friends" with these two?

I'm thankful for the great state of Texas. I love living in a place where it's 80 degrees in November. It's the land of barbecue, rodeos, and fajita & margarita dinners. We've got bluebonnets and Whataburger and country music, and I couldn't be happier to live in the friendly Lone Star State.

And last but not least, I'm thankful for this blog. It's provided me with endless hours of procrastination assistance, and it's given me a chance to do something I love - write! Plus, I have a wonderful bunch of readers, many of which I've never even met, who mean a lot to me.

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever."
Psalm 107:1

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Three Thanksgivings!

Today, Jeff and I are making the four-hour drive up I45 to the Dallas-Fort Worth area for Thanksgiving! Somehow we ended up being so blessed that we have not one, not two, but THREE big Thanksgivings to attend! Yes, this will be crazy, Yes, there will be lots of hellos and goodbyes and driving around. But oh my gosh... it is going to be so great to see our extended families and just enjoy a holiday together!

As excited as we are, three Thanksgivings in three Dallas-Ft. Worth suburbs is a little insane (but not so much when you compare it to our plan to drive four hours from Dallas to Houston on CHRISTMAS DAY...). I'm predicting we won't try to do this again after this year, because it's kind of an absolute mess. We're going to be driving almost 200 miles back and forth between the suburbs (likely in pretty bad traffic) on Thanksgiving Day. And we're doing a lot of coming late and leaving early in order to actually make it to all three.  I may or may not have typed up a very detailed timeline for the day.


We'll start in the morning @ Jeff's grandparents' house (Fort Worth).
Then Thanksgiving #1 - Plano, TX - My dad's extended family
Then Thanksgiving #2 - Fort Worth, TX - Jeff's family
Then Thanksgiving #3 - McKinney, TX - My mom's extended family

I can already picture us... Jeff driving like a maniac to try and make it to the next meal somewhat on time and me in the passenger seat re-applying makeup and trying my best not to stab myself in the eyeball with a mascara wand. To all of my readers who ask me what married life is life, sometimes it's like that. Every now and then it's all cuddling and sharing a bottle of wine and cooking yummy dinners. But mostly, it's real and it's flawed and it's full of things like driving 200 miles on Thanksgiving Day.

And of course, we'll be watching the Aggies take on Texas - Gig 'em Ags!


And then.... an early-morning Black Friday adventure with my sister, and a Christmas tree farm visit! The holidays are upon us!

I'm praying for maximum thankfulness and minimum stress. I'll be sure to update you on just how crazy the Thanksgiving craziness gets.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Love Like Crazy: A Sparkling End!

One of my favorite reception details (and one I didn't mention in my "details" post!) was the vintage Rolls Royce convertible. It was pretty and white and wedding-ish, and it had maroon interior to match our wedding colors!




The sparkler exit turned out perfect, and our designated sparkler handlers only had to skip over a couple of people due to tipsiness. :)


The kids hatched a plan to shower us with leftover candy buffet candy as well, so we left under a shower of sparkles and Sixlets.


I thought it was so fun that everyone was all excited and waving and shouting "We love you!" It was a sparkly, giggly, lovely sendoff!


Bye, family and friends!


I gave my brand new husband a kiss as we drove away... headed off into the world as a married couple!

And my dad, the father of three daughters, celebrated the fact that he finally got one of us married off. :)

Thank you for reliving my wedding with me and reading my recaps! I hope there were some helpful tidbits in them for other brides, and I hope they were at least slightly entertaining! If you have any questions about our vendors, DIY projects, etc., feel free to comment on a post or shoot me an email!

All photos by Kelli Nicole.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Love Like Crazy: The Reception Details

Just two more posts before our recaps are done! Today I'm going to share with you all the little details from our reception...

The quilt guestbook materials...

Finished squares!

Instructions with the test fabric!

Our family wedding photo display and the real guestbook...


(Notice the toss bouquet making another appearance!)

And then of course there was the candy buffet...





Our cake servers...


Our champagne flutes (the stems are full of tiny pearls!)...


Our "Jeff and Katie at Age __" table numbers...


One of my bridal portraits framed...







(photo by me)

(photo by me)

The "Pins" bowl was stuffed with pins at the end!!

And then there was the chandelier... one of the things that made me fall absolutely in love with our venue. Dancing under that at nighttime was such fun!


It was quite a special event, and I was happy to be surrounded by so many things that I really put some thought into. Everything I had planned turn out just how I wanted, which was such a blessing! 

My favorite project ended up being those table numbers. People were walking around to see them all, which I thought was really sweet. :)

Up next, my very last recap post!

All photos by Kelli Nicole.