These 8 words

Communication.

Respect.

Honesty.

Maturity.

Acceptance.

Tolerance.

Humility.

Compromise.

equal a successful marriage

thoughts?

My heart

You know that thought that hits you, and puts a big smile on your face- that just happened to me. It’s the small things in life that mean so much. Getting a text from Phil that says just three words I LOVE YOU means more to me then anything else. I can be sitting at work not wanting to be there, then I will get a random text or email that says those 3 words, and I instantly have a big smile on my face- and can face the entire world.

This to me is how I know this wedding is the real deal. All of this hard work, sacrifice of time and resources to plan the wedding, will all be worth it the day that I get to walk down the aisle and marry the man who is my best friend, and the giver of much more then I could ever ask for.

Thank you Phil for saying those 3 words to me at the times when I need to hear them the most- how do you always know? I promise to never take them for grated.

ever.
xoxo

picture source- http://leloveimage.blogspot.com/2009/08/learn-to-say-i-love-you.html

Cupcakes..Please!

Oh Martha you have done it again! These little gem of a cupcake are adorable! http://www.marthastewart.com/article/lollipop-cupcakes

I would absolutely love to make these for a family BBQ, or for a shower or even at the wedding! I love these sprinkles that come in all different colors. I wish I had a huge kitchen where I could keep sprinkles in all different colors at all times- don't sprinkles just make everything better?
Happy Friday everyone! Tomorrow I am off dress shopping with my sister (MOH) and Melissa (bridesmaid) Should be fun! Updates to follow

Photographer search complete!

I am so excited to share with you our photographer! Since switching our wedding plans, and moving the wedding from California to Michigan, I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to find a photographer that I was in love with- which I have no proved to be wrong!

When searching the internet from my computer in California for wedding photographers in Michigan- I was looking for something that was a little different, not so cookie cutter. I started getting a little frustrated- then I typed in these magic words into Google photojournalist photographer Grand Rapids area and voila, all of my searching came to an end.

I had found our photographer Melissa! Her company is called Telltale photography. http://telltalephotography.com/ She is located in Lansing, MI which isn’t too far from our wedding location. Once I found her site, I started going through her photos of past weddings and engagement sessions, and I knew it was meant to be! This is exactly what I was looking for. After contacting Melissa, and chatting with her on the phone, I knew even more that it was perfect. We instantly clicked. Her and her husband both went to Ohio State (Phil is a huge Ohio State fan) and her personality was amazing!

I am so thrilled that I was able to find a great photographer, and not have to settle for something less then what I really wanted! I am so excited to work with Melissa

Check out some of these great shots!

http://telltalephotography.com/

Inspired!

I ran across this great post on the http://www.nicholsblog.com/ http://thenicholsblog.com/2009/08/09/amy-greg/ and I was instantly inspired!

Now that we have decided to have the wedding at our family cottage, this post was exactly what I needed to see in order to get my mind in wedding cottage mode!

I am so in love with all of the colors! It is amazing how it all comes together. I have already decided awhile back that I wanted to do the Martha Stewart paper flowers that are all the rage on various blogs, but now I am going to do the big versions too! So we will have these flowers hanging from the ceiling from the tent, and as napkin holders- yay!
Also, can you believe how gorgeous these flowers are? I mean O-M-G I love them! I love this natural wildflower look, and the cottage is a perfect venue to pull this off!
Now after seeing this, I love the idea of having different color bridesmaid dresses. It looks great with all of these bright colors.

I am still going to use many items I already have purchased to go with the original red and aqua theme, but incorporate more colors into my theme. I can even use the aqua mason jars that everyone has been collecting for me!

Seeing that post has definitely affirmed our decision to have the wedding at the cottage. Now we can make all of our color dreams come true!

All images from http://www.nicholsblog.com/

BIG Change of plans

We’ll there has been a lot going on in the last month or so. The original wedding location in San Clemente has been scratched. What I thought was going to be an affordable location, turned out to be not-so-affordable (at least for us) After adding on all of the fees, permits, etc The cottage that was once oh-so affordable, because instantly unaffordable. So that began the search for a new venue. I think I knew all along that the new venue would always end up being our wedding location, but I had to first go through all of the other options in my head, and on paper before we came to a decision.

So with that being said, we have decided that our new wedding venue is….

The family lake cottage in Michigan!

This place has been a part of my life literally since the day I was born. It has been in our family for 120 years, so it has it share of family memories, traditions, and parties. Although I think this could be the 1st wedding at the cottage- which is amazing! I feel so good and at peace with this decision. I feel as though it is right, and my heart is telling me that. Everything so far is falling into place! From rentals, to catering, to the wonderful photographer I have found (more to come on that later).

I thought that planning a wedding from a distance would be super stressful and not manageable, but so far so good. I am hoping that it continues that way. With having a place so special to Phil and I as our wedding venue, everything will work out just fine!
Have any of you planned a wedding from over 2,000 miles away? Any pointers you can give are appreciated!