T-Minus 120 days...

Okay, so it is a little ridiculous that it has been since February that I have blogged. That was not at all my intention when I first started this blog. I had hoped that I would blog at least once a week about the happenings and journey to becoming Mrs. O'Conner. Well folks, I hate to break it to ya, but when you are planning a wedding and commit to a year and a half engagement...you sort of hit a brick wall when it comes to the planning. I feel that I have been a VERY prepared bride and that, in a sense, I have been TOO prepared. I was able to get so much done from the get go that I hit a bit of a slump where I had enough to think about, but nothing to do yet because it was all still so far away. However, we are now at the 3 months 27 day mark until the BIG DAY which means that I am close enough to start working on some major things! Woo~hoo! So no more wedding day slumps...from here on out it is going to be work, work, work to get things done and PERFECT!

To catch you up to speed on the things that I HAVE been able to do during this "slump" please read the following:

*We took and received our engagement pictures! YAY! We took them in Parkville where we had our first date. Thankfully it was a beautiful evening and our photographer did a great job! Brian and I were a bit nervous and unsure how being photographed for 3 hours would go, but it turned out pretty well. I'm not gonna lie...but the end of the "photo shoot" we were exhausted, cranky, and hungry! It was hard work, but the pictures turned out beautifully! You should definitely check out our photographer at www.carterkc.com
Here are a few of my favorites:

*Brian and I completed our Pre-Marital Counseling with Jerry Purviance graduating in just 4 sessions with our counselor stating that he had "no reservations and had complete confidence in us as a couple". Not to gloat, but it is super nice to hear how AWESOME you are as a couple?!? Am I right? ;)

*Brian completed planning our honeymoon and I got my passport! We are going to be staying 7 days at a 5 star, all-inclusive, adult only resort called the Valentin Imperial Maya just outside of Cancun, Mexico. We plan to eat, drink, and be pampered as we celebrate being newlyweds! 147 days until we leave on that adventure! You can check out their website here: www.valentinmaya.com

*I managed to find a super cute bridesmaid dress online from some company in China. Best thing was that the dress was only $39.00!!! Reason being is that the shipping was $37.00. Still finding a "bridesmaid" dress for under $100 is a deal! I decided to order one of the dresses in my size to see if I liked it. It arrived 3 weeks later and fit like a glove...the only problem was that their version of burgundy was cherryapplefiretruckengineblood RED and I HATED it! After trying to speak with their customer service rep I e-mailed them pictures of the dress next to a shirt that was red showing that the dress matched exactly. They stated that what I received was their version of burgundy. I was told that if I wanted they could send me some material samples in the mail, but that it would take 20 days. I said sure, but then decided that I wanted to keep looking....so....

*I ended up choosing a bridesmaid dress at none other than...DAVID'S BRIDAL. I have always SWORN that I would NEVER give them my business as a bride, but unfortunately desperate times call for desperate measure. haha. Fortunately for me they had a dress that I liked at a reasonable price in the EXACT color I wanted!!! (Which is wine, not the sea blue that you see above). And the dress looks better on my girls than it does on this model! lol. I even found a Jr. Bridesmaid dress for Emme Jo and my mother picked out her dress as well! All dresses have been paid for and are ordered! Thank goodness...oh, and I'm still waiting on those color swatches from China. haha, not gonna happen!

*We picked out the tuxes for the boys....I blocked out a complete hour of time in our day to do so. I even called to make an appointment to make sure they had time for us. The gentleman reassured me that an appt was not necessary and to just come by anytime. That was absurd to me because as a woman you must ALWAYS have an appointment to do anything! Look at dresses, try on dresses, buy a dress, and pick up a dress. Surely we would need one for Brian as well, right!? WRONG. We were in and out in 11 minutes. I was shocked! But I guess that is a man for you...they don't typically like to shop around! At least Brian and the groomsmen have been low key...so far. ;)

*I have managed to make a FINAL guest list for the wedding. It was incredibly hard for me to do this because I know and work with so many amazing people! I'd love to be able to invite everyone, but our venue is only so big and so is our checkbook!

*My Maid of Honor, Iris, made the MOST AMAZING bridal shower invitations and sent them this week! She is SUCH a trooper considering I had her mail 70 invitations...which meant she hand cut and made 70 invites! I am so grateful for her time, talent, and especially her friendship!

*We have officially registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Target. Although I find registering quite exciting...I also find it overwhelming! There is just too much stuff to choose from to have in your home! But, it is kind of fun to pick and choose! Brian really liked playing with the scanner....haha.

*Our engagement announcement was put in the Pleasant Hill paper. As a small town you must always put things in the paper. It is rather funny, but I have always looked forward to the day that I would get to put my engagement announcement in the paper for everyone to read. It turned out very nicely and I was so excited to see it there!

*I have been working towards collecting all of the addresses that are needed for the bridal shower and wedding. It takes a lot of organization, but it will be totally worth it! Speaking of which, I had our RSVP's reprinted to our new address (as we are moving in July) and as soon as they are in I will get to start stuffing and addressing our invitations! My goal is to have them sent no later than July 30th! Which is quickly approaching!

*I am currently working on my bridal bouquet made out of brooches. I have been collecting them and working on it slowly. I think I have decided that I would like to incorporate some flowers too. It has been really neat though because I have received brooches from my great great grandmother, great grandmother, grandmother, mother, future-mother-in-law, and future-grand-mother-in-law. How SPECIAL is that? I am super excited to see how it will turn out!

Somethings to look forward to in my future posts will be....

*Invitations
*Decorations
*Flowers
*Hairstyles/Make-up
*Music
*Center Pieces
*Bridal Shower Fun
*Work out routines/pounds lost as the countdown continues!
*Bridal bouquets/boutonnieres!
*and much, much more as the days get closer and the stress makes life CRAZIER!!!!

I am starting to wonder if we should have ran off to somewhere tropical and gotten married a long, long, long time ago...but alas, that ship has definitely sailed! Our special day will be here before we know it and it will be AMAZING! :)

~Amanda~

Time is a ticking away....

Holy smokes folks! It has been a longggggggg time since I've posted anything on here! Well, we are officially down to 8 months and 11 days! Can you believe it?!? We have been so busy with our trip to Florida, celebrating Brian's birthday, celebrating Christmas, celebrating my birthday, and spending time with my sister during her visit here from Hawaii that the last few months have just zipped by! We are almost down to crunch time people!!! :)

So, here is what has been worked on since I last posted!!!

Our invitations arrived! I know it seems wayyyyyyyy early to be worried about invitations, but I got an awesome deal on them and figured they can sit in the "wedding closet" until they are ready to be sent! I worked with Midwest Marketing and they did a fabulous job! I am very proud of how simple, yet beautiful our invites turned out to be! JUST what I wanted!

We officially have a DJ! woot*woot! This is something that I had been trying to find since we started in on this journey. I had contacted about 10 different DJ's with only two responses. One was too expensive and the other one was already booked! Luckily I have a co-worker who is getting married in June and she suggested that I check her guy out. So Brian and I met with him and booked him immediately. He is young and seems super relaxed, yet professional and organized all at the same time. His name is DJ Ricky and I am so excited to see how AWESOME of a party we will have! Our package includes unlimited hours of music, dance floor monogram, and up lighting among other things! Oh, and did I mention that he has been to the Red Barn Farm before!?? That takes a lot of stress off of me worrying if he will have everything he needs....so yeah, so happy to have that checked off the list! If you are in need of a DJ, let me know and I will get you his information!

Our flowers are booked and are going to be done by Iron Rose in Weston, Mo. She not only has worked wedding at Red Barn before, but is such a lovely lady! I am so looking forward to creating some gorgeous floral arrangements for our big day!!!

Over Christmas, two of my bridesmaids and I went to look at bridesmaid dresses!!! After debating between two of them...we have finally picked the one! Here are each of them:

I loved the style of the first dress, but it didn't come in the wine color that I wanted my bridesmaids to be in. So, it came down to color vs. style and in the end color won! So, the winner is the 2nd dress! I also took a poll from all of my bridesmaids and they loved this dress the best! I am now on the hunt to find this dress at the best price! Wish me luck!!!

While shopping on my birthday, I happened to go into Express to use a gift card I had been given over Christmas. I wasn't actually looking for my wedding shoes, but I am relieved to say that I found them!!! I had been thinking about how I wanted some height in my shoes, but I didn't like the idea of being in heels. If you know me, you know that I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl....and that I'm NOT so big on heels. Not only am I worried to fall over in them and get blisters, but I'm also concerned about my heels sinking into the ground since we are getting married outside! So, as a sweet compromise, I decided that I wanted to purchase some wedges! But I didn't want just any wedged shoes, I wanted them to be a royal blue..."something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". And as luck would have it, I ran across these beauties:

I might jazz them up a bit with a jeweled broach for the front of the shoe, but I absolutely love them! They are super comfortable too and I feel like I can walk in them! hooray! I figured I would go fancier, but I'm BIG on comfort...plus no one will really see them under my dress. Speaking of my dress.....

IT CAME IN!!!!! As I type this, my beautiful dress is hanging in my closet!!! I went to get it and tried it on for the first time and it fit like a glove. I have a few lbs to loose until I feel 100% in it, but I absolutely love it and can't wait for Brian to see me in it. We ordered my veil that day as well and bought a beautiful jeweled comb to put in my hair. So my look is almost set! :)

So my goals for this next month when it comes to wedding stuff is as follows:

*Buy Brian's wedding band

*Get Bridesmaid's measurements and figure out where I'm buying dresses from

*Secure someone to do my hair/make up and bridesmaid's hair/make up

*Book Honeymoon (which is really Brian's assignment)

*Apply for a new passport

*Finalize guest list/start to get addresses

*Schedule Engagement Photos

*Schedule Pre-Marital Counseling Sessions

*Look at/Pick out Tux's for the guys

And anything else I can do! :)

I can hardly believe that we are almost down to 8 months until the BIG day! It is so exciting to me! I can't wait to marry my best friend! Time is just a ticking away....

~Amanda~