June 2008

I just submitted this color board to Abby. I’m not expecting to win, but it was fun working on this.

My inspiration photo is the cotton. My fabulous photographer, Kelly Moore Clark took the photo over a year ago and posted it on her blog and I’ve always loved it. The blue is so blue and it just looks Southern. I can’t wait to see the other color boards that Abby posts!

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On June 5, my 31 year old cousin, John, died in a motorcycle accident. John loved life and truly lived it to the fullest. He never met a stranger and he had an amazing way of making everyone feel great about themselves and like they were the only person in the room. He flew helicopters, was a volunteer firefighter, and loved his family and friends more than anything.

When we went to the funeral in Louisiana, we met his little Brussels Griffon, Fiona. John bought Fiona to breed her and she actually had six puppies who have all recently found great homes. But Fiona is an orphan. Her grandparents and uncles can’t keep her, so Todd and I are taking Fiona into our home. Boudreaux gets a sister!

Some of you may recall that a Brussels Griffon played the role of Verdel in “As Good as it Gets.” Brussels Griffons are known for their human-like, expressive faces. We’re picking her up tomorrow and we’ll bring her back to meet Boudreaux. I’m happy to welcome her to our family.

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my brother and mom

celebrating post-ceremony

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This is sure to cause me future embarrassment!

Here are the New Rules:
Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share 5 songs you are embarrassed to admit to others that you like and tell why.
Tag 7 random people at the end of post and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I’m a music junkie and love anything that I can sing to, bop along to, dance to, cry to, laugh to, you get it. I like it all– as long as I can understand the words and it actually has a melody. I sing in the car and dance in the living room, much to my dog’s dismay.

1. “We Are the World” by USA for Africa– This one is an old family favorite. My parents recorded an MTV countdown for me when I was little and “We Are the World” was one of the videos. I love the song and actually called in and won a radio contest where you had to name the voices on “We Are the World” as they came into the song. And I mean, we really are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving. Ha!

2. “We Built This City” by Starship– Post-Jefferson Airplane, post-Jefferson Starship. Grace Slick was a thing of the past. Ouch. This song always came on the radio in the morning when we were living in Baton Rouge and it always makes me happy.

3. “Make Me Lose Control” by Eric Carmen– Another childhood favorite that never seems to get on my nerves. I am going to embarrass my brother by letting you all know that this was his favorite song.

4. “I Want it That Way” by Backstreet Boys– I was an *NSYNC fan in high school and the early days of college, but I love singing along to this song.

5. “I Would Do Anything For Love” by MeatLoaf– Wow. I’m so sorry to even put this on here. I made a CD of cheesy songs for Todd and me to listen to on our way to Gainesville in 2006 and put this song on there. We both LOVE singing along. It’s probably the worst.

I think everyone may have already done this, but if you haven’t and want to post it on your blog and let me know so I can make fun of you later!

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In the month that we’ve been back from our honeymoon, I have been out of town for one week without Todd and he was gone this week without me. My hubby returned from his trip today and I was so happy to see him!

We’re headed to St. Augustine for my cousin’s wedding tomorrow. We’ll pick my brother up at the airport and my brother’s coming back with us to Columbia for a couple of weeks to visit us and his Columbia friends.

The photo is one of my favorites from the wedding. We saw each other before the ceremony and took every single posed picture before the ceremony. I asked Kelly to be there when Todd and I saw each other for the first time so she could get that very special moment on film for us.

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I love my bridesmaids. They were happy, supportive, cheerful, and making me laugh more than ever! Kelly got some great shots of us with the Toss umbrellas I gave them. I’ve threatened Todd that I’ll be putting this group shot above the mantle. Sorry, honey.

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I really wanted all of our guests to feel like they left knowing who we are and a little about what we like. I tried to convey this with the music, the readings, the menu, the flowers and decor, and anything I could think of. Here are a few of my favorite parts of the day.

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As I reflect on the whole wedding planning process, there are a few things that stick out to me. We started off with a budget, but it grew (and grew and grew) and I’ve heard that you should expect to go over budget.

My parents and I each had things that were really important to us and because they were funding the affair and I love them dearly their opinion was not taken lightly. The most important things to us happened to be the most expensive, of course.

- The photography. We knew that it would be a challenge to bring Kelly of Kelly Moore Photography and her assistant or husband all the way to South Carolina from Louisiana and that we’d have to pay for it. But I also knew that I have never seen anyone’s work and liked it as much as I love Kelly’s. She is also an old friend of mine and I knew how comfortable we’d be with her. We definitely got what we paid for and I’m so thrilled to have these amazing images with us forever!

- My dress and shoes. This was one of the first things we did and I had no idea what I wanted in a dress. We didn’t set a budget for the dress because I had no idea what to expect and I wanted to buy the dress that I felt the best in. I saw the high end and the higher end and the middle of the road when it came to prices. I ended up falling in love with a very simple, highly structured, Carolina Herrera gown that didn’t totally bust our budget. We bought the dress and veil at Warren Barron Bridal in Highland Park Village in Dallas. I’d send anyone there for the most amazing experience. The veil was by Angel Sanchez and completely finished the look of the dress. I also feel like I have an heirloom piece waiting to happen in my veil. It is timeless and classic and the lace is just perfectly detailed. My mom told me that she wanted to buy me some special shoes to wear with my dress, but they couldn’t be white because I had to wear them again. And I’m such a shoe fiend that I never wanted to wear white shoes at my wedding, anyway! I found the perfect gold brocade d’orsay Manolos that went perfectly with my pink and gold color scheme.

-The music. Todd and I knew that we had to have the Root Doctors play at our reception. They were out of our budget, so we decided to pay for that ourselves instead of having my parents fund it. This was one of our best decisions. The band was amazing and completely made the party! We also knew that we wanted our very talented friend to come down and play and sing at the wedding in addition to arranging all of the music for the organist and string quartet. He agreed, but we had to fly him down. The ceremony music would not have gone off nearly as seemlessly without him and this was money well-spent.

- The paper. We started off with our Save the Date and after looking through books and options, I knew that we’d have to go custom. We had a lot of information to get out through the Save the Date, I wanted to include a photo from our engagement session, and I wanted the cover to be the lace design from Todd’s mother’s handkerchief. That lace theme came back on the invitation and again, that was custom and letterpress. We brought it back again for the cover of the program and then I used it again when I designed little table signs. I am an event planner and believe in branding the event and setting the tone for the event in the beginning stages. I think we did that and hopefully everyone’s expectations were met.

Next up… I’ll tell you some of my favorite things about the day and how we kept it about us.

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My excitement to write this entry is overwhelming! I checked our wonderfully talented photographer’s blog (Kelly Moore Photography) today and was so thrilled to find some of our wedding photos on there. I am at a total loss for words about how beautiful they are! The ceremony photos are beautiful and sentimental. The reception photos are lively and really show just how much fun the party was. Her detail shots capture every little thing that I put into the wedding. Really, Kelly is the best!

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