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.