Cross your t's and dot your i's

Yep, I just went there.

My life is generally an organized mess. I have a million things running through my mind at any given moment and I can probably tell you a little bit about a lot. However, through the hundreds of papers in my desk I can probably tell you exactly where that scratch piece of a paper is I doodled an address. Yes, I know I'm crazy.

But, when it comes to the wedding I've tried really hard to be organized. It's one day that takes months of planning and I don't want it to be messed up. I've found The Knot Wedding Organizer to be my bible. Everything you could ever imagine is written in it and it probably has the best timeline checklist I've ever seen. I have a tendency to work a little bit ahead since I'm planning a wedding from out of town. It also has tons of advice. I wouldn't be surprised if by the time the wedding comes around in October.. that the binder is broken because of how often I'm going through it or putting contracts in it. 

I would be so lost as to when to book vendors without it. I'm not one to remember every little detail. I encourage those who give me story ideas to constantly bug me about it because chances are I'm swamped with 10 other things and forgot. This keeps me in check. And.. frankly, gives me the idea to make one for my life. 

Here's a link so you can see what I'm talking about: Wedding Organizer

This next thing is something I wish I would've found 10 months ago. Google seriously has done it again! 

http://www.google.com/weddings/ Is one of the best resources for weddings. WHY did it take me so long to find this? Everything you need. If you're a gmail user like myself then you're really going to LOVE this. It creates Excel-like spreadsheets in Google Drive for anything and everything for your wedding. I'm LOVING the budget creator right now. I can access everything I need all in one place. It doesn't matter what computer I'm on either. 

Another piece of advice: Hire a day-of coordinator. Emily over at http://www.emilys-eventsllc.com is who I'm using and I couldn't be happier. She's always there when I need her no matter what issue I'm having. She's organized and always checking up on me to make sure things are going well. I haven't even met her and I feel like I know her. It's a great resource to make sure you're on the right track to planning your wedding. AND it will keep you from having to do a whole lot on your special day. 

Happy Wedding Planning :)

What's your advice for staying organized?


 

Here's a promise to myself...

AHHHHHH!!!

The wedding is about 8 months away and I feel like I've made no progress on getting in shape. It seems like every time I start to get in a workout routine I get sick or something magically gets in my way. 

No more. I'm writing this blog post as a promise to myself. I feel if I commit to updating this blog with my progress, I will HAVE to do it. I can't let people down now, can I?

So, here's my commitment. I will workout at least 3 days a week and I will eat healthy. No more fast food, tons of carbs or dessert. The hardest part will be not eating after 7pm. But, I will do it. 

I can't wait to look great and feel great in my wedding dress!! I'm doing this for ME and no one else. 

Keep me in check people! Share your tips and advice too! I'd love to hear your healthy ways to get in shape!

Follow your heart; Accomplish your dreams

I'm not one to compliment myself. I have far too many weaknesses for that. I'm my biggest critic and I have lofty goals. 

If you've ever read my bio you know that I've dreamed of being a journalist since 3rd grade. Sure, there were some other far out dreams in there too. At one point I wanted to be a dentist and a vet. I can tell you I would make A LOT more money with those career choices. ;)

I started doing the morning announcements back in 3rd grade. I continued that into middle school and chose to go to a high school with a TV production program. Since 6th grade I've known how to edit video, make graphics, run audio.. and pretty much anything else you can think of. I'm very proud of those accomplishments but I've never shared that. 

I only knew 3 or 4 people when I entered my freshman year of high school. My favorite class: Television Production. It was so much fun. After my first year.. I was moved into TV Production 4 ( I think). It was the class where you produced the morning announcements. Yes, I was that girl on TV my sophomore year of high school. People knew me solely as the "girl on TV." People made fun and cracked jokes.. luckily that stuff doesn't really hurt me. I was having fun and doing something I loved. 

Recently, a friend of mine posted some of those videos on Facebook. Ok... I may now realize why so many people made fun of me. What a funny show. We thought we were so good. But, we were 16, 17 years old. How good can you really be? LOL! Take a look, feel free to poke fun :) 



http://www.schooltube.com/video/59f0ce9fc43d4806a55c/UPC%20TV%2011-8-2004%20Show

http://www.schooltube.com/video/9a3f275753ed4f4f8cb2/UPC%20TV%2011-5-2004%20Show

But, here's the moral of the story. People may make fun of you, think you're not good. They may tell you, you'll never be able to do something. Well, here's the thing: There's always room for improvement. Set you heart on something amazing and go for it. I've been on a 20 year journey to get here. Did I ever really think I would accomplish all I have? I'm not sure.. but, I knew I COULD do it, but only if I kept trying. Do I still have a long ways to go? If I told you I was perfect I would be lying. If I told you I still didn't have goals, what am I doing this for? Journalism isn't easy. It's a tough business with tons of people who are competing for the same job you already have. 

No matter what you chose to do, keep following your heart. It knows best. Dreams are possible to accomplish. I'm living proof :)

Let the Wedding planning commence... Again!

If you've ever planned a wedding you know it's stressful. There's so many details. More than I ever thought possible. So, since Thanksgiving I've put the planning aside. I needed time to think about the Holidays. And.. well, truthfully I just needed a mental break. Ladies... it should be ok to take a mental break from all the planning every once in a while.

The closer it gets, the more excited we get! Now that we're finally in our Wedding year, it's more of a reality! YAY

Things are finally coming to fruition, plans are being finalized and it's beginning to feel real. The break gave me the strength to keep going without stressing out. I feel relaxed and refreshed. 

Now, here's to dealing with a bunch of people who aren't the best at answering phones or responding to emails.

 

11 months and counting

I can't believe we've been engaged more than 6 months! Ahhhhh time really does fly by. As much as I would LOVE to rush this process along, I'm enjoying taking my sweet little time.

We're getting vendors booked and things like that as soon as we can. I've noticed some photographers, videographers, etc are already booked and we're still a long ways out. It's crazy. So my biggest advice to all you future brides out there.. BOOK EARLY! Especially things that are most important to you. Pictures probably were our number 1 thing so we booked our photographer well in advance so we'd know we would get the best of the best.

Here's another piece of advice: before you make your budget do some research. This is one thing I'm really starting to regret. Just go through some websites and find out what the average cost of a photographer, videographer, caterer, etc in your area is. It's proving to be difficult to find a videographer within my budget that's exactly what I want. I live in a world of video, yes, I'm going to be picky.

Be realistic about your budget. There's plenty of things to trim and do cheaply. Do you really need those massive centerpieces or can you settle for something else? How important are flowers to you? Food? I will say we're going with a more expensive caterer because we were blown away by the food. We literally talked about it for HOURS!! So, yes we're willing to sacrifice something else for some really good food.

Be mindful! Don't overspend unless it's absolutely worth it and you have the money to do it!

Going Gluten Free? Don't Forget Your Makeup, Ladies

I recently blogged about my love of cheap makeup. Ok, don't let me fool you. I'm a sucker for really good and a little more expensive makeup, too.

Thanks to those at Dominion Salon in Huntsville, I've been trying out all the latest stuff from Zuzu Luxe. Here's the link for a whole list of Zuzu products: Click here!

I would love to be one who considers themselves a health-nut, but lets be honest.. I'm not. I eat junk food, I drink soda.. I'm a sucker for almost anything salty. So, I'm not the person who is going to preach about going gluten-free but I do realize that some people HAVE to.

Here's some of the products I'm currently using:

This is a multi-use pot. Use it on your eyes, cheeks, lips or whatever you can think of. It's light and I like my cheeks pretty bright so I use a lot of it. But, it has a nice shimmer to it.

 

This is my favorite lipstick probably ever! It has such nice coverage!

 Obviously I use this eye shadow a lot! It goes on nice and soft!

 I've received more compliments when I wear this lip liner than anything else. I'm not a lip liner person either but I love this! Sometimes, I even wear it alone.

 Taking care of your skin is super important. So, don't always opp for the cheap stuff on your face, especially if you wear makeup often. This is oil-free and gluten-free! You can't even feel it!

What's your favorite makeup?

Engagement Pictures!!

Ahh... so we're moving along with the wedding process. We've visited florists and done some catering tastings! YAY! We've even seen the venue in person. We really are just so excited but the process is overwhelming.

So, on a recent trip to Orlando we set out to have some fun. Our amazing wedding photographer came along for the ride and took some engagement pictures.

You can check out more of Robert McClory's photography here: http://www.robertmcclory.com/

This is one of my favorites. It just captivates who we are, I think. Vince always has me laughing about something.

So, before I share some more pictures I wanted to give my tips on getting your Engagement pictures done.

1. Don't fret over what to wear. I wanted us to match.. but not too matchy. I initially wanted us to be casual but I couldn't find an outfit I truly was comfortable with. I found this dress at Forever 21 (I know ladies, shocker) and just fell in love. It was comfortable and affordable.

2. Make sure you decide what kind of pictures you want. Do you want it to be natural or set up? Everyone's personality is different but these pictures should definitely show who the couple is.

3. Have fun and relax. For most people, I bet being in front of a camera is kind of intimidating. I love the camera so this comes naturally. But, I do understand it doesn't for everyone. Pretend it's not there and just be you. Those will be the best pictures anyway.

4. Trust your photographer. Sure, you may not think the location is the best. You may not like this or that. But, he/she has a vision. We loved our locations to begin with and never imagined they would turn out so amazing. They were above and beyond our expectations. But, I've looked at my share of engagement pictures on Pinterest and I'm sure some of these people asked themselves, Are you serious? But, I really haven't seen one I haven't liked. 

5. I'll say it again, HAVE FUN!!!

Ok.. here's some more pictures.