Finally!

Three weeks from today I will be walking into a room, wearing a gown, utterly excited!

Nope, it won't be our wedding day...its GRADUATION DAY!

Finally the day has come to put on that cap and gown, move my tassel, and accept my diploma! As I graduated from high school in 2003, this day has been a long time coming. I started going to Fresno City College right out of high school. After a few years at City, majoring in journalism, I decided that I needed a break from school. My plan was to take a semester off and instead three years went by before I started the process to go back to school. In that time I was working two serving jobs, met and started dating Zac, and moved out of my parents house. Realizing that I didn't want to serve tables as a life long job, I quit one of my jobs and started to get everything in order to go back to school.

When I stopped going to school, I didn't drop my classes, I just stopped attending class. It had a seriously negative impact on my grade point average and I lost my opportunity to receive financial aid. It took a lot to sort out everything but I was finally back in school and it felt great. I had a few semesters at Fresno City and then I was able to transfer to Fresno State. I changed my major from journalism to child development, and then when I started attending State it changed to Child and Family Consumer Sciences. The change in major made going back to school feel like starting all over again, but I couldn't be happier about the change. Clearly, I still love to write (and that's a passion that will never fade), but I feel so enriched by all that I have learned in my major courses and I am so happy with my decision to change my educational goals.

The next two weeks leading up to finals are going to be a little stressful. I have two term papers, a project report and an exam to get completed. May 11 is the final day of instruction and then its 4 finals to go before grauation! It's a lot to get done in a short amount of time but I am confident that I can get it all done and successfully pass my courses. Until then, my cap and gown are hanging in my closet. It's a nice little reminder on the days that I get ready for school, of what I'm working towards.

It's been a long journey and I am so excited to finally reach this accomplishment.

To make it even more special, this year is the school's centennial celebration. How awesome is that?!

Making a list and checking it twice...

Yesterday, while in a meeting for my internship at Fresno READS we got on the topic of list making.

If you know me at all, you'll know how much I LOVE to make lists. It's a small obsession, a compulsive disorder of which I have no desire to cure. On occasion my list making can get a little crazy, but I believe that for the most part, my lists come in handy in organizing what can sometimes be chaotic times. (Though they mostly just keep me organized in less than chaotic times.) We'll just say that I have numerous lists around our house (in notebooks, on loose sheets of paper, and on two dry erase boards) for a variety of reasons. In addition to lists of homework assignments, grocery lists, and craft lists, Zac and I have created a list of items to get and projects to complete for the house. We have managed to get a lot of the list taken care of but there have been a whole new set of items added to that list including:

-Getting furniture for the main living room

-Getting a more comfortable sofa bed for the office (so that when the guest room is already occupied, other guests don't have to deal with sleeping on the futon)

-Moving the washer and dryer into the garage and expanding the downstairs guest bathroom (I am so excited about this change!)

-Finish digging the trenches and leveling the ground in the back left corner of our backyard, so that we (and by 'we' I mean Zac) can begin construction on the outdoor fireplace, sitting area, and fish pond. It's going to be such a wonderful adult space to hang out, relax, and entertain guests.

There are a bunch of other items still left of the list which we will eventually get to. In the meantime we are enjoying all of the items we have already been able to complete. (Perhaps later, I'll post some before and after photos of some of the rooms in our house.) It gives me such pleasure to take a pen (or dry erase marker) to each list and begin to cross items off. It makes me happy and gives me a little sense of accomplishment. (I'm sure some therapy would tell me what that's all about! :P)

Planning a wedding involves a fair share of list making. Once I started thinking of all of the things that we would need to put together, organize, and do to prepare for the big day, I started to feel a little overwhelmed. (When I wasn't feeling uber excited to get started.) I wanted to put together a list to get me going.....but where to start? I also wanted to be sure that I wasn't missing any important 'to do's. The first step was browsing wedding planning to - do lists online. I also purchased a copy of "Bridal Bargains Wedding Planner". (I got the same one for Sarah and Amy when they got engaged, and it seemed to be at least a little helpful to the process of organizing.)

The book has a section with a master checklist that covers everything from announcing your engagement to sending out 'thank you' cards after the wedding. The large checklist is divided up into several smaller sections that are labeled by month. It definitely makes the overall list of things to get done a lot less overwhelming.

Just to make sure that I had all of my bases covered, I looked at the checklist provided on theknot.com. Just like the list in the wedding planner, they had a large list of things to get done, that were divided up by month. So I compiled the lists together, weeding out the items I didn't need to worry about (like hiring a wedding coordinator) and created a checklist that was appropriate for our event. After dividing it up into monthly sections, I had a few small lists that I could start working on. Here is a look at the first two.

12 months +

-  Get organized! Start a notebook/file folder to house all your wedding-planning paperwork in one place.

- Announce your engagement to family and friends.

- Envision your wedding style and/or wedding color scheme.

- Decide on a wedding budget and determine who will be contributing to thes budget.

- Choose a wedding date.

- Envision your wedding dress. Begin browsing through photos to determine the style of dress you would like to try on.

- Put together a rough draft of a guest list to give you an idea of how many guests you expect to invite.

- Get in wedding day shape.

9 - 11 months

- Research and choose a ceremony site.

- Research and choose a reception site.

- Start interviewing caterers.

- Look for a ceremony officiant.

- Begin to narrow down and finalize your guest list.

- Start shopping for your wedding dress.

- Settle on wedding colors (if you haven't already).

- Set up appointments with florists.

- Look for reception bands.

- Research photographers.

- Research videographers.

- Start your registry.

- Start thinking about your honeymoon. (Planning in advance can help you get better prices on airfare and hotels.)

- Choose your bridal party.

As of now these lists look like this:

12 months +

-  Get organized! Start a notebook/file folder to house all your wedding-planning paperwork in one place.

- Announce your engagement to family and friends.

- Envision your wedding style and/or wedding color scheme.

- Decide on a wedding budget and determine who will be contributing to thes budget.

- Choose a wedding date.

- Envision your wedding dress. Begin browsing through photos to determine the style of dress you would like to try on.

- Put together a rough draft of a guest list to give you an idea of how many guests you expect to invite.

- Get in wedding day shape.

9 - 11 months

- Research and choose a ceremony site.

- Research and choose a reception site.

- Start interviewing caterers.

- Look for a ceremony officiant.

- Begin to narrow down and finalize your guest list.

- Start shopping for your wedding dress.

- Settle on wedding colors (if you haven't already).

- Set up appointments with florists.

- Look for reception bands.

- Research photographers.

- Research videographers.

- Start your registry.

- Start thinking about your honeymoon. (Planning in advance can help you get better prices on airfare and hotels.)

- Choose your bridal party.

Look at all of those lovely slash marks! I made the last item on the first list bold and highlighted because I wanted to keep it as a reminder. I've started to make some changes (though, admittedly, not as hardcore as the changes I made at this time last year) but I still need the reminder of this task. Getting back in shape is an ongoing process and I won't cross it off of my list until I am completely satisfied.

We are just about to come up on one year until the wedding and I am happy to say that we have completed all of the big, important tasks. We have chosen a date, chosen our bridal party, found and booked a site for the ceremony and the reception (since the venue includes catering we don't have to worry about interviewing or hiring a separate caterer), and booked a photographer. According to the lists, we're ahead of the game! :) After graduation, I will have more time to dedicate toward getting everything together. I'm hoping to get as many of the smaller details accomplished as soon as possible so that the last few months before the wedding can be as relaxing as possible. (Don't worry, I was laughing as I typed that last sentence. Please trust that I am not delusional. :D)

For now I'll sort through my lists and get my pen ready to start making slashes through items as we get them taken care of......the compulsive behavior continues!

Fiore Films

Looking through wedding videographer websites, I've stumbled upon some amazing videos from Fiore Films. Fiore Films is based in New Jersey, so clearly we would never use them for our own wedding, but I still really enjoyed their work and thought that I would share it with all of you.

The first video I saw from Fiore was this clip of Sara and Rob's wedding. The clip was featured on a blog post for Lovely Little Details (a fun bridal blog). It was such a touching video. The groom is hearing impaired and the bride is an ASL interpreter. To read all the details check out the bride's blog First Comes Love.....Then Comes Marriage....Then Comes Life. But first check out their super sweet wedding trailer.


Sara & Rob Emotional Teaser from Fiore Films on Vimeo.

The next video that caught my eye was from Susan and Todd's wedding. The music is what pulled me in, and the emotional vows and their obvious love for one another kept me tuned in. The video was paired with the song "Falling Slowly" from the movie Once. (Which, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend that you do! It's amazing...but that's a whole other blog post.) This couple also had an amazing story that you can read here. Enjoy the video!


Susan and Todd Teaser from Fiore Films on Vimeo.

Aren't these videos amazing? I'm definitely having fun looking at all of these wedding videos. There are some really talented people out there and some really sweet couples. :)

Holiday, Celebrate

Okay, so yes, I am channelling some Madonna with that blog title. Maybe this clip of Adam Sandler's version from The Wedding Singer will make getting the song stuck in your head a better experience. :)

When Zac and I first intended to get married on Saturday May 5, we had mixed reactions from our friends and family. Some thought that getting married on Cinco de Mayo sounded like an awesome idea while others gave us a look that said "What are you thinking?".

Holiday or no holiday, it seemed like a great day to get married. :) After looking at our families we realized that the idea of a holiday wedding might just be in our blood. Both Zac's parents and my parents were married 30 years ago on a holiday.

February 14, 1981

Zac's parents were married on Valentine's Day in 1981.

They said I do at the chapel in Yosemite Valley.

This February, they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in Hawaii.

December 31, 1981

My parents eloped to Vegas! They were married New Year's Eve at the We've Only Just Begun Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This December they will be ringing in the new year by celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary.

A huge congratulations to both sets of parents on 30 years of marriage. In a world where most people have parents who are divorced or separated, we are both very lucky to have parents who are still together and happily married.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to continue this holiday wedding tradition, but we look forward to celebrating our own 30th wedding anniversary being just in love (if not more) than we will be the day we get married. (Not to mention setting a good example for our future kiddos. :D )

Check Out My Ride

Although we realize that we have a little over a year until the wedding, we've decided that if we have the opportunity to get things taken care of early we're going to take advantage of that opportunity. Even if we get little looks or funny tones from possible vendors as they confirm that our wedding date is indeed May 4 of 2012, it's much better to get things in order early than to be scrambling a few months before the wedding trying to organize everything.

With that being said, we were able to cross one item off of our list: limo transportation.

My mom has been saying that she would love to get us a limo to pick us up at the end of the night. So after looking into different companies in Fresno we settled on Royal Coach Limo Company. I remember seeing a few of their cars when attending Wolf Lakes' open house last March with Scott and Amy. Their Big City Limo was a big hit.

Royal Coach has a variety of cars to choose from. After looking at their website and seeing what they had available, we decided on their 1961 Jaguar Mk IX Limousine.

The 4 door limo comfortably seats 4 but there is definitely room for up to 6 people. (Not that we need to worry about space.)

The interior, which has grey leather seating, has an electric division privacy window, wine bar, and a space for chilled champagne.

Today we went to take a look at the car in person. After checking it out and going over the details of a contract, we set up a pick up schedule and put down a deposit. We love the look of the car and can't wait to take a ride in it. :)

The day of the wedding the car will come to the house and pick up my girls Sarah, Amanda, Amy and me and take us to Wolf Lakes. This way the girls and I can relax on our way to the venue. Towards the end of the night the car will come back and Zac and I will be able to have a few photos taken with the car before we head off to our hotel for the night.

Thanks Mom and Dad. :)

If a picture is worth a thousand words.....how many words is a video worth?

This is me and my Papa (my mom's dad) on Christmas day back in 1993. My mom's whole family was together for the holiday, which was a rare occasion, and called for some dressing up. :)

Two years ago, my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, they renewed their vows in a second church ceremony with their grandchildren playing the part of the bridal party. It was really special to see my grandparents so happy and so in love. Funny enough my grandparents wedding anniversary and the anniversary of my first date with Zac fall on the same date, June 27. Kind of crazy, huh? Zac and I celebrated our 4th dating anniversary and watched my grandparents recommit themselves to each other after 50 years of marriage. It really was something special.

Since Wolf Lakes is hosting a prom on the first Saturday in May, our wedding is going to take place on a Friday. Unfortunately, I learned later that this promotes a problem for my grandfather. My grandparents live in San Diego so their travel time to make it in town for the wedding would be 6+ hours. As they are a little older, driving into town will not likely be a good option for them, so the trip will likely be more stressful since they will need to ride a train or book a flight.

The issue of travel becomes a little more complicated when we factor in my grandfather's dialysis. My grandfather has weekly trips to the hospital for his dialysis treatment. These appointments last for hours and he's usually pretty wiped out when he gets out of them. Unfortunately, his appointments are on Fridays which presents some problems when it comes to the wedding. Coming into town for the wedding would mean that my grandparents would have to make arrangements and find a clinic that they trust to take my grandfather to for his appointment. Even if they were able to find a location and make sure that he got his treatment, my poor grandfather would not likely have the energy to make it through the wedding day and enjoy himself. My mom has told me that although he would like to make it, it doesn't seem like it will be possible.

It breaks my heart to think that my grandfather won't be able to be there the day that Zac and I get married. I completely understand the circumstances, and I would never want to create a situation that would stress him out or make him uncomfortable. It just makes me sad that he won't be there, because I love him so much.

When we first got engaged and needed to determine our budget, Zac and I were discussing what things we would like to have at our wedding and what other fun things (aside from the games) that we would like to include in the reception. We've made lists of ideas and started narrowing down the list. (Realistically it would be far too expensive to include everything on our list, and having too many elements will begin to make the wedding feel more like a circus that a celebration.) In the end we told ourselves that when all is said and done all we will have from the day is our memories. For us, the most important thing will be capturing these memories so that we have them forever. Photography will be our most important element. We'll consider everything else to be a happy bonus.

Thankfully, we've already booked our photographer and, having seen their previous work and experiencing their professionalism and work style in two other weddings, we are confident that we will have some incredible images from the wedding day. We also briefly considered hiring someone to do video for the wedding. It would be amazing to be able to watch the wedding in the future and remember the wonderful day. Plus it would be great to have something beyond photos to show our kiddos one day. :) After going through our budget and pricing a few videographers, we pushed the idea aside. As wonderful as it would be to have this footage, we thought that it would probably be better to put this money towards other things.

Now that it's been a few months, we've revisited the idea of having a videographer capture the important moments of the day. It means a lot to me that my grandfather be at the wedding, but if it isn't possible I would really like for him to at least be able to watch the wedding later. Whether we give a few guests cameras to capture moments from the audience or hire someone to capture the moments for us, having video is going to be just as important as getting still images.

The expense of hiring a professional videographer certainly hasn't gone down but we're beginning to look at the expense a little differently. After seeing some examples of professional wedding videos (I'm including a few of our faves below), Zac has said that he wouldn't mind forgoing a few things this year (like saving for a couch for our large, empty living room) to be able to have video done on the day of the wedding. I'm in agreeance. Yes, it would be nice to fill up the living room with furniture but we can always get this furniture after the wedding. So, we've started to research videographers, look at examples, compare prices, etc., to see if we can find the right videographer for us. Wish us luck in our search :)

I saw this video while browsing through posts on The Sweetest Occasion (one of my favorite blogs), and I fell in love. It is such a sweet video done by Ambient Sky, a video production company based in Portland, Oregon. This is an example of a "same day edit" video. The videographers capture moments before and during the ceremony, compile and edit the images the same day and often show the final product during the reception. Sounds insane to me that this type of amazing work can be put together so quickly. It definitely made me fall in love with the idea of having video taken on the big day.

Alla & Flavius' Same Day Edit, Oregon Golf Club, West Linn, Oregon from Ambient Sky on Vimeo.

This video was done by Cana Video Productions. I came across their advertisement in a wedding magazine that I picked up while wine tasting in Paso Robles with Amy back in December. The ad had such a unique look. Their videos really make you feel like you know the couple. The messages from bride to groom and from groom to bride allow you to have a little insider look at their relationship together. It's so sweet to see the couple's excitement for the day and their love for each other. Cana Video Productions certainly has a way of capturing the uniqueness of each couple they work with.

Wedding Preview: Joel & Morgan 3.20.10 from Ben Potter & Drew Barefoot on Vimeo.

This video, done by Rain Studios, was actually shot at Wolf Lakes. Although this couple got married on the Garden Side and we will be saying I do on the Lakeside, it was nice to be able to see what the videographers were able to do in this space. Zac and i liked the inclusion of the vows in the mini wedding "trailer" that Rain Studios puts together. It emphasizes the importance of the day and why we've asked everyone to gather together. :)

Leann + Dustin ~ Wolf Lakes ~ 5.1.10 from Rain Studios on Vimeo.

* If anyone has ideas, thoughts, suggestions, experiences, etc., to share about hiring a videographer, we would greatly appreciate the feedback. *

Blue and Yellow

Our engagement photo session with Van's Photography is only two weeks away. To prepare for the photos I've started hitting the gym hard again, begun tanning at Sunsational Tans, and am whitening my teeth.

I even got a hair cut:

Typing it out, it sounds like this will be a very vain couple of weeks but....well....whatever. (I weigh a little more than I did at this time last year so the work outs are necessary.... )

I was scheduled to work on the patio this afternoon but the overcast weather changed that and the managers called me off work. I took advantage of the day off of work by going to Forever 21 to look for a new outfit to wear in our engagement photos. At first I thought that I would just wear jeans and get a cute top but after talking it over, Zac made me realize that a cute dress was probably the better way to go. He plans to wear a light blue button up shirt and jeans and I think that a cute summer dress would go perfectly.

So today I went to our newly renovated Forever 21. After searching the three stories for over 2 hours and trying on (literally) 32 different dresses, I finally walked out of the store with two options. A yellow dress and a blue dress. I thought for sure that the navy blue dress would go nicely with Zac's light blue shirt. Still, I couldn't put down the yellow dress. I thought that it would be a good contrast against Zac's blue shirt. In addition, since our wedding colors are yellow and gray, I thought that it would be nice to have a little yellow in our engagement photos. We will be able to choose a few of our engagement photos to use as options for our save the dates, so adding in a little yellow might be nice to go along with the color scheme of our save the date stationary. In either case, I loved both of the dresses and whether or not I used the dresses for the photo shoot, I loved them enough to take them home and call them my own.

I tried both dresses on this evening to show Zac (as well as to see what they would look like next to his light blue shirt and dark blue jeans). We stood next to each other as I changed from the navy blue to the yellow and compared notes. In the end I think that we both agreed on which dress would look better in our photo session in two weeks. (I'll post the photos after we choose them.)

What do you think? Here are the two dress options. (Photos taken by my wonderful Zac :D)

Blue Dress

Yellow Dress



(*Don't mind the cocktail shaker and mango juice in the background of the yellow dress photo....it was mango martini time in the Banuelos/Chapman residence :D)

Bridesmaid Dresses

Since dress shopping is coming up pretty soon, I thought that it would be a good time to look through bridesmaid dresses as well. Sarah and Amanda live in Vegas so getting the girls all in the same place at the same time is going to take some planning this year. Everyone is going to be in town the weekend of my graduation (:D) so its the best time to get the girls in some dresses. We'll be making a trip to David's Bridal while all the girls are together, and we'll be able to see what the girls like and what dresses look good together. I would love for the girls to all wear different dresses. The color is still to be decided. I think that yellow dresses would be nice against the guys' suits. I've considered having them all wear different shades of yellow as well. In the end we'll just have to see what they all look like together and how the girls feel about them.

I've browsed through bridesmaid dresses on the David's Bridal website and sent a message to the girls telling them which dresses I like. I also sent them a few additional options. This way if they don't like the top three dresses, or if two of them like the same one, they have other dresses to choose from.

These are the top three dresses on my list:

Satin One Shoulder Dress with Ruched Waist Style 84333 

Short Pleated Satin Strapless Dress Style F14212

Short Satin Dress with Pleated Bust and Ruching Style F13277

Here are the other dresses that I liked, that the girls are welcome to choose from:

Y Neck Slim Satin Dress with Ruched Waistband Style F44319

Short Charmeuse Dress with Ruched Waist and Pocket Style 83707

Sleeveless Cotton Satin V-Neck with Pockets Style 639553

Hopefully the girls will all be able to find something that they like and will feel comfortable in. While all the dresses come in a shade of yellow, they don't all come in a shade of gray, so yellow might be the way to go. Of course the only way to know for sure what dresses we'll choose is to wait and see what they all look like in person. At least we have a selection of dresses narrowed down which is a great start.

Honeymooners

Zac and I decided that we should probably start thinking about our honeymoon plans. If we can sort out details early then we can set aside money in our budget to put towards our honeymoon. Also if we end up going someplace that requires a passport or somewhere that might involve brushing up on another language, we have time to get everything sorted out.

For years now, Zac and I have said that for our honeymoon we would be headed off to Greece. It's such a beautiful place (as least the photos we've seen are beautiful). Neither of us have ever been to Greece, so it would be a wonderful experience visiting a place for the first time together.There are a variety of islands that we can visit and explore. After doing a little research we found out the Santorini is the island with the traditional villages seen in most images of Greece. This island is said to have the best nightlife of all the Greek islands.

We found a variety of packages that would allow us to either stay on the island of Santorini or to spend a few days at each location: Santorini, Mykonos, and Athens. Some packages were all inclusive, providing hotel stays, travel accomodations to and from the airport, meals, and tours.

While it all sounds wonderful, it certainly comes at a cost. Although some of the packages are reasonably priced, the airfare is not. We need to be practical with our purchases and this trip doesn't really fall under the category of practical. As wonderful as it would be to roam the streets of Santorini, we don't want to start off our married life being completely broke. In addition to spending money on the wedding, we still have a house to furnish. We've also decided that we would like to start a family fairly soon after being married. (Much more about that later :D) Planning for our future and preparing for the arrival of a baby is a more important than an overly expensive honeymoon.

With that being said, we've started to brainstorm and come up with other ideas for a fun honeymoon. (We'll save the trip to Greece for a time in our lives when we can actually afford it :P)

Hawaii

Hawaii is probably one of the most popular honeymoon destinations. At first we thought that we would avoid going to Hawaii for this very reason. But Hawaii is such a popular vacation destination for a reason. Although Zac has been to Hawaii a few times, I have never been. Rather than being able to explore a new place together, I would be able to explore a new place and Zac could act as tour guide, showing me all of his favorite places, which could be a lot of fun. :)

No doubt we would be able to find all inclusive packages and airfare to Hawaii for a lot cheaper than we would if we were going to Greece. Though we have found packages that allow us to visit all the islands of Hawaii, Zac has said that he thinks our time would best be spent on the island of Kauai. Having never been to any of the isalnds, I will take his word for it. :)

New York

Oh New York. I have dreamed of going to New York for as long as I can remember. A few years back, Sarah and I made plans for a New York trip. Things changed, plans fell through, and unfortunately we were unable to make our trip happen. I made the suggestion to Zac that perhaps we could go here for our honeymoon.

Central Park alone would be a reason to make the trip. Horse drawn carriages and walking tours; the Conservatory Gardens; Central Park Zoo; the statues of Balto, Alice in Wonderland, and Shakespeare; the skating rinks; the water; horseback riding; picnics.....it's endless.

Then of course there is Times Square and the incredible number of plays and musicals on Broadway. No doubt we would have unlimited options for entertainment throughout our trip. I think perhaps that Zac might be looking for a more relaxing, slower paced honeymoon; a time to wind down after the big day. He doesn't seem to be as excited as I am about the possibility of heading to the Big Apple, so this will probably be a trip that gets planned later. Perhaps my partner in crime, Miss Sarah, and I will plan for one of our bi annual get togethers to take place in NYC.

Sandals Resorts : Bahamas and Jamaica

The Sandals Resorts offer some pretty amazing all inclusive packages at a variety of locations. Their accomodations are absolutely beautiful and the website says that they have a deal where your companian flies for free. (We'll definitely have to read up on the details to see what restrictions apply.)

The Montego Bay resort in Jamaica and the Royal Bahamian resort in Nassau, Bahamas both look pretty amazing. There are several different accomodations, restaurants, tours, and activities that we could check out while we're there. We'll have to look into costs of plane tickets and packages.

Suggestions for some fun honeymoon ideas are always welcome :)

"While wonderin' what dress to wear now...."

I couldn't help but indulge in this moment. Who doesn't love a little My Best Friend's Wedding to make their day better?! :P (I'm sure Zac just immediately raised his hand somewhere!) No this post is not going to talk about how much it would be great to have a sudden singing outburst in a restaurant. (After the flash mob post I can only imagine what thoughts might be going through people's mind.) Nope, sorry to disappoint, but I am not crazy...well at least not that crazy.

One thing that has been going through my mind lately is the dress. Senior-itis has officially set in and during moments when I should perhaps be concentrating on class work or school projects I find myself thinking about wedding details. Lately, the dress has been sticking out more than the other details.

I kind of know the look that I would like to have on the big day but I am definitely keeping an open mind. I know that liking a picture of a dress in no way guarantees that I will love the way the dress looks on me. I've also heard that often you go in with a particular look in mind and end up buying a dress with a completely different look and feel.

I plan to go dress shopping with my girls when they are all in town at the end of May. I am so happy that they will all be in town for graduation! The day before I receive my diploma we're all getting together along with my mother and Zac's mom to find me a wedding dress. I am so excited. From now until then I'll be looking at dresses to get an idea of what I would like.

This dress by Alfred Angelo has been my favorite so far. After a little research I've discovered that they have the dress at Luftenburg's downtown. Our dress shopping adventure is scheduled to take place at David's Bridal but I think I might have to take a trip to Luftenburg's to try on this dress.

I love the details on the flared skirt. I wouldn't want anything that is too full too high on the body because I am a short girl. The top of this dress will make my torso look longer and not make me look like a big, old school cake topper.

The Alfred Angelo dress is probably at the very top of my dress budget. As there are a bunch of other things to take care of for the wedding I'm definitely keeping my options open and seeing if I can find other dresss that are equally beautiful but for less money.

Since the girls and I will be heading to David's Bridal to check out dresses, I started looking up dresses on the David's Bridal website.

1. This dress has a very similar bottom detail as the Alfred Angelo dress. I just love the simplicity of the top mixed with the fun detail of the bottom. The only concern that I have with this dress is that the flare out starts up at the waist. The skirt might be too full for my frame.

2. I really like the top of this dress as well as the detail that the belt adds. I'm not a huge fan of the small pick ups on the bottom of the skirt. I think that I would prefer that if the skirt is plain that it be not be too fussy.

3. This one is a little more flowy than the other dresses. I don't know how much I will love the flowy skirt but I think that it would be worth trying on.

4. This dress is very elegant. I would definitely need to make sure that I am in crazy good shape for this dress. It fits so close to the body that there is no way of hiding any areas that I might be concerned with. It is very pretty though.

5. Vera Wang now has a line of dresses available at David's Bridal. This was not really the feel I originally thought that I would like but I love the way it looks. The one shoulder is an unexpected glamorous look. The belt is an extra special little touch.

6. I really like this dress. It's simple and elegant but has a little bit of glam with the beading detail on the top. It's closer to the body which shouldn't make me look too wide the way a big flare would. I'm not a super huge fan of the bow on the side of the dress but I might love it once it's on.

We'll see what happens when the dress shopping day finally rolls around. Maybe I'll try on these dresses and totally hate all of them, maybe I'll love one that I didn't expect to....however it happens I am just so excited to be trying on dresses. I'm sure I'll find the perfect dress to marry Zac in.

Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my 26th birthday.

This will be the 6th birthday that I have celebrated with Zac. He has made my birthday special every year and I am so grateful to have him in my life.

After thinking about it I realized that I was 25 when Zac and I got engaged and I will be 27 when we finally get married. When I think of it that way it seems like FOREVER until the big day. No more thinking of it like that. The last three months have gone by so quickly so I'm sure the year will zip on by, too. We still have tons of planning to do so having all this time will be nice to get it all done.

In the meantime I'm going to relax and enjoy the day.....
that is after my full day of school is over.

:)

Flash Mob Wedding

While browsing through posts on Lovely Little Details I stumbled upon this video of a flash mob wedding in Boston. I don't know about you, but I love flash mobs. It would be awesome to see one in person sometime but timing is everything....

Anyways, check out his amazing video:

Isn't that so great? It totally gave me chills. It reminded me of another amazing video that Zac showed me years ago of a guy proposing to his girlfriend on Main Street at Disneyland. I was blown away by the video. I told Zac that he made a mistake showing me the video. (Best not to get a girl all hyped up)  :P Whether the video is real or not, it's incredible!