New Year's

New Year's by kkwalsh featuring platform shoes

Erin Condren

I had never even heard of Erin Condren until one of my friends at work (Allison - see her blog here: Just a Carolina Girl) came to me about Plum District featuring a deal on their products. I couldn't be more thankful that I went ahead and bought it, because I got one of their $50 personalized life planners for less than $30. Now, I legitimately don't know what I would do without it.

They offer all different kinds of things, but their biggest seller is their life planner. They offer different kinds of planners, including a wedding planner, but I just stuck with the regular one because I knew I would still get use out of it after the wedding is over (it goes until January of 2013). There are multiple different designs to choose from and you can specify any colors that you want from their list of available ones. You can also get your name or anything on the front. I have been having a hard time staying away from things that have names/monograms on them because mine is going to be changing so soon, so I just got my first name on the front. Its so funny to think that in less than a year my name will be changing!

My planner looks like this:

I love the way that it is organized, with a monthly calendar at the beginning of each month tab and weekly pages in between. Literally the only issue that I have with this planner is that it doesn't have lined boxes, but then when I think about it that's okay because you can usually squeeze more into a day without lines if you have to.

At the end there is space for notes, as well as a pocket to hold papers, a ziplock to hold other things, and stickers for special occasions like birthdays, weddings, etc. I have already added a sticker for our wedding and my cousin's wedding in June! I legitimately spent at least an hour putting in birthdays and already scheduled events for the next year right when I got it. LOVE IT!

I have honestly never received a package in a cuter box, and they also sent me complimentary stickers with my name on them in two different patterns!! 

It has taken me a while to get a new planner, because I really hate ones with wire spirals that can get all bent and stuff. That is the only reason I have yet to try a Lilly planner. I throw my stuff into my purse far too haphazardly for that. I love that my Erin Condren planner has a plastic spiral that won't change shape or get out of whack.

Is there a certain planner that you swear by?

Bridesmaids

So I was finally able to ask all of my bridesmaids! I am going to have a Maid of Honor and a Matron of Honor, and I asked them a couple of weeks ago with a bouquet of flowers sent to each of their houses. Besides them, I have seven other bridesmaids (big party, I know). I had some trouble getting the cards that I had ordered to send them all, and they finally came in and I finished sending/giving them out!

I found a million ways to ask bridesmaids on Pinterest, but I ended up going with the cutest cards. My mom found them on Zazzle, which I had never heard of before, but they have a few cute things that are very inexpensive. The cards I ordered for each bridesmaid had a picture of that person and I together on the front, then the girl's name, and the inside had "10 Reasons You Should be My Bridesmaid." The reasons were things like "What else do you have to do on 9/29/12?" and "I want to show off how hot my friends are." The template came with a set of 10, but I changed them around just a little bit.

So the next step (after making sure they all agreed), was to give them all the low-down on plans, dresses, shoes, etc. I sent them all a really long email (forgive me), laying out all the deets and also requesting that they each send me an individual picture for the wedding website!

For dresses, I decided on the J. Crew short silk taffeta line in Dark Pacific. It was a pretty easy choice since I pretty much live my daily life in J. Crew. There are 8 different styles, and I'm letting my girls pick whichever one they want. I realize people's body types will differ, and they will feel comfortable in different things. Especially with so many girls, I want everyone to like what they're wearing so we all have a stress-free day when the wedding comes. Here are just three examples of the styles:

I decided to just go with nude patent pumps, something that at least a couple of my bridesmaids will already have and definitely something they will all be able to use again. My cousins found an adorable pair at Target for really cheap that will be perfect:

All of my girls are so excited to be a part of the wedding and a lot of them have already bought and received their dresses (J. Crew has the BEST shipping EVER). I am so lucky to have this group of girls to stand beside me on my wedding day and I know they will make the year leading up to it as amazing as possible! Love love love you all!!

9/29/2012

Deposits are down and the date is set! JMC and I are getting married on September 29, 2012.

Our venue ended up being NONE of the ones that I had posted last time. Although we thought one of those places was going to be best, we realized that all of them were probably going to be too small to accommodate our large group. We had also almost given up on finding a church to have the ceremony in, but we found one and its perfect!

Our ceremony is going to be at Harrison United Methodist, right down the road from both JMC's and my parents' houses. Both of our families have attended services at this church for a while, since we are both Methodist and this is the closest one to where we live. I don't know why I hadn't thought about it earlier. Also, considering our love for history, Harrison UMC is the oldest United Methodist congregation in Mecklenburg County, having begun in 1785.

Our reception is going to be held at Carmel Country Club. After a long, hard day of looking at venues that disappointed all of us, my mom and Mrs. C suggested we just drop by to see if we can walk in and check it out ourselves. Right when we walked in the ballroom, I knew this was the place we should have it. Even after we just let ourselves in, the event director excitedly agreed to give us a full tour of the clubhouse! She was very helpful in giving us examples of what other couples had done and she emailed us almost immediately with menus and specs sheets. It was very refreshing after the day that we had.

This weekend, we are going to look at dresses! I have a style in mind, but I could very well walk into the bridal salon and fall in love with something completely different. You never know! Mrs. C made me appointments at Mecklenburg Bridal and J. Major's, so hopefully I will find something at one of those places! If I don't find something this weekend, we are thinking about looking at the Priscilla of Boston in Raleigh since they are going out of business. I'm just so excited!!

Special thanks to my mom, Mrs.C, SRC, and Mrs. R for being of great help already in the planning process. I am so lucky to have all of you!

Charlotte Venues

JMC and I both grew up in Charlotte, so it only made sense that we get married there. We are both obsessed with our hometown and wouldn't have it any other way. Just look at how beautiful it is...

JMC headed to the Queen City yesterday for another office visit for a potential job, and I'm making my way down there today after work. Which seems like its coming at the speed of smell. I swear, every day this week has felt like a day later, which is the worst way for a week to be. Thursdays that feel like Fridays are COMPLETELY the worst, because I kept having to remind myself that I had to be at work again today for another 8 hours. Blegh.

I'm just so excited to get to Charlotte that I can't even stand it. 

Our main goal for the weekend is to find a ceremony and reception site. There are a few places that we have been looking at online, but we plan on going to visit them in person so that hopefully we can set an official date! We are also taking a trip to the jeweler to get my gorgeous ring cleaned and to pick out wedding bands. Yay!

Here are a couple of the venues we are trying to check out:

Byron's South End

The Charlotte Museum of History

The Palmer Building

Our wedding promises to be pretty big, especially since we are both such recent college graduates that we are still in touch with all of our friends from undergrad. Not to mention, we have big families! So we are going to have to accommodate a large party, but the more, the merrier! 

Avett Brothers Greensboro

It has been one week since JMC and I got engaged. And let me tell you, this has been the best week ever. Not only are we starting to plan our wedding for a short year from now, JMC got a job offer for when he finishes his masters, we went to maybe one of the best Avett Brothers concerts I've ever been too (and I've seen them 9 times), AND I won my first fantasy football game (bringing my record to a stunning 1-4).

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I'm basically obsessed with the Avett Brothers.

I have been going to see them in concert since my senior year in high school and my obsession has only grown. If you have never heard of them, you should definitely look their music up. 

So the concert was in Greensboro and my parents drove my brother up for it and we met for dinner beforehand since they hadn't seen JMC or I since the engagement. We also met JMC's oldest brother & his wife, his second oldest brother, and a few of their friends since they were all coming to the concert as well. We met at a pub called M'Couls that was pretty awesome. They had a good beer list (which was a must for JMC and his oldest brother, JTC), and their food was great! Not to mention, it was right across the street from Natty Greene's Brewpub that JMC and JTC have been wanting to check out. We didn't get to go in, but I'm sure we will return soon for a brewery tour.

The concert was completely amazing. Although the seats weren't the best one's I've ever had to one of their shows, they literally had the best set list I have ever heard. They played both of the songs that JMC and I wanted, Murder in the City and Swept Away (Sentimental Version), as well as The Once and Future Carpenter (which happens to be my future last name).

This perfect week is only a foreshadowing of JMC's and my life together. I know that even through good times and bad, we will always have eachother and that's all that matters.

And now, I get to blog all about the planning process! I couldn't be more excited to have the best friends and family to help me, especially my mom, Mrs. C, and SRC (JMC's sister-in-law). They were all instrumental in getting the ring designed and made and will be my right-hand-women through the next year. First up, venues and setting an official date!

Guess What?!?!

We're Engaged!!!

JMC is the most amazing man that I have ever met and I couldn't be happier about spending the rest of my life with him.

The proposal was more perfect than I could have ever imagined. And the RING is to DIE for! I have never been so surprised in my life. I had literally just been talking to my cousin who just got engaged about how I didn't think it would happen for a couple more months. I even boasted that I thought I would know because I would be able to tell by his nervousness. But the guy was calm as can be. Just like any other Tuesday. Little did I know October 4th, 2011 would be such an important date in our life together.

I'm still basically speechless about the situation, and I stumble over my words every time I retell the romantic story. I couldn't even concentrate at work yesterday and ended up going home to my fiancé right around lunch time. I'm hoping I can make up for the time in these last two days of the work week, but I'm pretty sure at least 2 hours per day will be devoted to being distracted by this gorgeous thing on my hand.

The past few days have been full of phone calls and emails and skyping and lunch dates. I couldn't be more excited about the year to come, as well as the many years to come that I get to spend with my best friend in the whole world.