Something a little less stressful.

 So I've finally started on our Save The Dates! I'd have to say that I'm a   pretty crafty girl, butI had a little mental breakdown and became overwhelmed with the idea of cutting card stock, printing, pasting, and everything else that's involved with almost 100 Save the Dates.So I had started to look around for custom made ones on Etsy. I noticed a lot of shops were selling Save the Date templates. So I thought to myself, "Why don't I just photoshop something up?" So I did! I think they look great so far. I'm just working out a few minor details. I plan on printing them out through a photo site my photographer (Janickiphotography.com) recommended, Mpix.com. I printed out a copy at on photo paper just to see what a nice printout would look like, and I'm pretty happy with them. I'll have them printed out on pearl card stock. I'm very excited to get them out, but I'm going to wait until the beginning of January to mail them out. For now, here's a sneak peak at them :o)

Something [White].

I FINALLY found my dress! I cannot tell you how excited I am about it. I've probably looked at it a thousand times by now! I wish I could post pictures, but this is something I will, obviously, be keeping a secret.

There haven't been a lot of updates as of late; sorry. I'm really slacking on the wedding planning. Really, the dress was holding me back. I've been so stressed about it lately that I haven't been in the mood to plan anything else. But now that the dress has been purchased, I can move on, pick out bridesmaid dresses, shoes, flowers, and other things, and be sure of the direction we're going as far as decor and style of the wedding.

I've recently been working on our wedding registry...which is harder than I thought. Who knew that registering would be so difficult? I guess doing so online isn't the best, but oh well. So far we're registered on Target's Club Wed, but I'm also thinking of registering on Amazon which seems to be the smartest. At least it could incorporate items from a lot of different websites.

We received our engagement session proofs disc last weekend. This means I can really get into some Save-The-Dates...which I really wanted to send out soon, but obviously won't. I'm hoping for a January send out : )

So that's about all that's going on with wedding planning. Maybe with this Thanksgiving break I have coming up, I can pick up some cardstock and get bloggin' about something worth reading!

Happy Holidays : )

Something Catered.

We're quickly filling up our wedding checklist...as far as vendors go. We had a catering consultation this weekend. Like I've probably said before, we're trying to keep our wedding different, yet not too informal or tacky. We met with Old Carolina Barbecue Company. We had never eaten there until our tasting. We'll definitely be going back! They're almost your typical barbecue style food, but a lot of things seem to have a little twist to them. We can pick from your traditional barbecue foods, or a Tuscan style meal. But to keep things different and stick to the rustic theme I've adopted, we're opting for barbecue. So, we booked them that day! The only drawback with them, is that they don't provide alcohol, but the woman we met with gave me the name of another women can provide service for us as long as we provide all of the alcohol. Which is way cheaper anyway! So, all that is left aside from that are our flowers.

I recently joined the site Pinterest. For those of you who don't know, it's this great site where you can "pin" a picture to your board of things you like, which makes it really easy for someone else to look at other pinned photos for ideas. It's essentially an inspiration board, and I will be using mine to get inspired for some DIY wedding decor. I will waste my life away on that site!

Currently, I am hard core researching ideas for Save-the-Dates. I have a few really cute ideas, but since I'm doing them myself, I'm trying to keep them practical. I am planning on using our engagement photos in our Save-the-Dates, so I know they're going to be super cute. Get ready for some major DIY crafts!

So much is going on right now! Last weekend was a pretty busy weekend for us. We had a consultation with our cake baker, our engagement photos, and we were throwing my birthday party all in the same day. I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

Downtown Hudson had a "Wedding Walk" last weekend, where a lot of the local bridal vendors come out to show some of the newest ideas and hold mini consultations. If there was one thing Tyler and I were sure of having at our wedding, it was Main Street Cupcakes. Tyler doesn't like sweets much, at all, but I can always get him to eat a Main Street Cupcake. So we went through a little cake tasting (even though we've had their cupcakes a thousand time before!). They had a variety of mini cupcakes set out to try. We booked them that day and received our cake topper (6 inch cake for us to cut at the wedding) for free! We have until July to finalize our flavors, which is great because with over 200 flavors to choose from it's going to be a hard decision with a lot of eating...I mean research!

This coming weekend we have a consultation with our potential caterer, Old Carolina Barbecue Company. We're aiming for different with our wedding, and we figured what's different than bbq, right? Neither of us have ever eaten there, but I always hear great things about their food and their service. So, we're looking forward to checking them out! More details on that after this weekend.

Now, to what I'm sure you've all been waiting for, engagement photos. Our photographer Margaret of  Janicki Photography just posted a "sneak peek" on her blog. This session was supposed to take place the weekend before last, but it was pretty rainy and very windy that day, which would have made for miserable pictures. So we rescheduled for this last weekend, which turned out perfect! 80 degrees a third of the way into October? You couldn't ask for better weather. We tried to dress more for the season than the weather, which of course meant sweaters and boots. Between nerves and clothes, man was it hot! The first part of our session took place at this really cute, old bridge in a little town in the valley (we live near the Cuyahoga Valley National Park). There was a nice little creek, and a small about of wooded area. There was also an interesting field we walked to where the brush was taller than my head! Next, we had a pumpkin patch planned, but they were closed when we got there! So Margaret had another idea and she took us to this little pull off on the side of the road that had an opening cleared out in the trees. We were really lucky as far as trees go for these pictures. The fall colors had just set in, but hadn't completely fallen yet, so they looked perfect. Unfortunately, it was starting to get late by that time and the mosquitoes came out FULL FORCE! I tried to just block it all out in the name of great pictures, but Tyler on the other hand just -had- to swat at every bug that flew by. We also took advantage of the railroad tracks that were there. We were walking along the tracks holding hands, and I could feel Tyler tensing up. I'm thinking to myself, "C'mon. We're almost finished. Suck it up for a few more good shots and that's all.". Then He started rushing away from the tracks insisting there's a train. Sure enough, one came racing by. He's like Radar from Mash. I didn't hear it until it was about a hundred feet away from us.

So far, I love the pictures we've seen, and I can't wait to see more! Our photographer is great! I know I will love our wedding photos! So, check out her sneak peek blog post on us!

Something Pretty.

I finally started dress shopping yesterday. Now, before I get into the details, I will say that my dress is one thing that I will not post a picture of. Obviously, I want it to be a surprise : )

I have been going insane in the days leading up to my appointment. I wasn't sure what to expect, and maybe I watch too much 'Say Yes to the Dress', haha. I decided to start at Davids Bridal. They sell Vera Wang and I've been eying a dress or two from that line. So they start out by telling me they don't carry that yet. I cried inside a little, but I survived.

I brought two of my bridesmaids with me for opinions and sanity purposes. We pulled about 7 dresses, and the very first dress I tried on, I loved. None of the others after compared to that first one. I'm fairly confident that is my dress, but I think I need to wait to try on the Vera Wang dress. I would be crazy to buy this dress so fast, the -first- dress, right? I need someone to tell me I'm crazy, because it can't be that easy.

Pretty soon will be bridesmaid dresses : )

"Tie-ing" the knot

Cheesy, I know, but I seriously just giggled about that title for a good five minutes.

It's been a lot easier for me to choose, or come up with ideas for my fiance or our groomsmen than deciding on attire for me or my bridesmaids. I stumbled across this Etsy store a long time ago and completely forgot about them until today. They have the cutest ties/ring pillows.

I'm not 100% sure what my colors are, but I'm 95% sure they'll be some mix of blue and green. One day it's aqua and chartreuse, the next day it's turquoise and lime. Either way, I'm pretty sure I'll be making all of the men in my bridal party wear really cute ties. After all, I'm all about the little details. I just need some help choosing which tie I like best. So here are a few I like:








I have mixed feelings on this one. I think it will be the best option if I decide to go with beige suit and blue shirts.











This one is maybe a little more yellow, but I was planning on adding a third color for accent. Who knows, maybe that color is yellow.

I think this is the most manly out of the ones I've picked, and will probably be the front runner with Tyler.

This one is my favorite, by far. I'm just not sure I'll still be feeling the paisley in a few months, but for now love love love.

It even has a matching bow! I didn't really want to have a flower girl or ring bearer, but the matching bows and pillows are starting to change my mind. I was also thinking I could sneak one of these bows on my bouquet because I think they're adorable!



Happy Friday! : )

So much for blogging...

I have been a pretty terrible blogger. I wanted to keep track of everything going on with my wedding, but to be honest, I haven't done a lot with it lately. We do officially have our venue, DJ, and photographer.

Our venue is Happy Days Lodge at Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The park is a place we go to a lot, especially since we practically live in it. The venue has the option to do an outdoor ceremony, which is what I really want, but I guess we'll see once we get closer to the day. There's also an old cemetery right next to the venue in the woods that has piqued my interest. Tyler and I love to take walks through cemeteries (as morbid as that sounds, I know) and I was really hoping to have our bridal pictures taken there.

Our photographer is Margaret Janicki. I looked at her website and photos before scheduling an appointment and was pretty sure she was who I wanted for my wedding. So meeting her for coffee, she was the nicest woman; she showed me some of her prints which were gorgeous. At the end of the meeting, she gave me this little box that she told me to open when I got home. It had a bridal magazine, page flags, and a sharpie pen; a wedding planning start up kit. I thought this was really nice and something completely unnecessary for her to do, but it only reinforced my decision to pick her.

As for our entertainment, we're going with The DJ Crew. They would DJ at a bar we used frequent, and last summer they did one of our close friend's wedding. They're very detailed, and they make sure all my events going according as planned, and that the photographer gets the shots she needs to. They act as almost a wedding coordinator, which I love love love, because I need all the help I can get. They'll also be doing our ceremony since it will take place at the reception site.

I will finally be trying on dresses this coming weekend with two of my bridesmaids. I'm very excited about it, but very nervous! I'm such a picky shopper, so cross your fingers that my inner bridezilla doesn't make an appearance.

Something New.

Happy Wednesday! Its only half way through the week and it feels like the longest one yet. Wednesday always feels like a great achievement for me, because it means only two more days to get through until the end of the week!

This is my first public blog, so I'm still leaning. I'll start by telling you a few things about me. My name is Rachelle. I'm 24 going on 18 going on 50. I don't act my age. I like to play with toys and video games. It's an accomplishment if I can stay awake passed 10pm, 11 on weekends. I'm a nanny, and the children I care for are 2 1/2 and 7. So I'm usually wiped out by 6pm. I live in northeast Ohio, which sucks most of the time, but during the Summer it's not so bad. I was born in Hawaii, and spent my early childhood in San Diego, until my parents moved us to Ohio (awful, right?). My favorite Holidays are 1.Christmas, 2.) My birthday (you're reading that right), and 3.) Halloween, in that order. I have the same birthday as my mom, and that's in October, so I love fall and everything pumpkin.

Now, let's get to why I've started this blog in the first place. My boyfriend of almost five years recently proposed, and we are diving head first into wedding planning. We have a venue, DJ, and photographer already. Our date is August 18th, 2012; a year from tomorrow! So I'm using this blog to keep friends and family up to date on the planning, document the whole process, and get opinions on ideas I come up with (because I'm so wishy washy on everything).

So, welcome to my crazy world. I'm not a crazy girl, but all this wedding planning is already making me nuts!

*I'll get around to posting pictures, our engagement story, and other fun things, soon!