Official

I know, I know, I haven't written another recap in weeks. And I need to finish writing them soon or I'm going to start forgetting things I want to be sure I have written down!

In the meantime though, I wanted to post the official, long-time-coming news that I am legally Kelly Lawler! It's honestly a little weird that the name I've had my entire life is now gone and not on any of my ID's or credit cards... but my new name is growing on me (despite the abundance of the letter L), and it really just kind of feels like I'm a "real" adult now, all married and whatnot.

In other news, we got our wedding pictures!!! If anyone that's reading this hasn't seen them yet, give me a shout and I'll pass along the gallery login information!

Here's my number one absolute favorite of Dan and I -

Photo by Studio 6.23

Never able to sit still for long, I'm hard at work designing our first ever Christmas cards with one of our other favorite pictures, and we're also doing some exciting work over at the house that I can't wait to finish up. I allowed myself to start getting into the holiday spirit BEFORE Thanksgiving this year, and given how fast these last couple months have flown by I'm glad I did so I can enjoy our newlywed holiday season together for a little longer :).

Happy weekend!!

The Big Day - Part 4

In the frenzy of learning the ropes in my new position at work, trying to get our house in order, and FINALLY writing thank you notes... I sort of forgot I had only made it through the ceremony in my little recaps. So, thanks to both Allie and Kevin for reminding me that I'm way overdue for a post :).


After our official announcement as husband and wife (woot!), Dan and I walked down the aisle to clapping and cheering, and I loved every single second of it. We stopped at the back of church and came right back around to the front while our bridal party processed out, and immediately started to try and gather our families for pictures. I didn't know that my mom and a few others had planned a little "bubbles sendoff" for us - the problem was that we had already arranged with Ben + Mindy that we would NOT go outside, as we needed to do family pictures quickly and get on our way to the locations they'd scouted for the rest of our photos. We heard from Jeff that a crowd was gathered outside of church waiting for us with bubbles... but he had to go and tell them we weren't coming out for a good half hour or so. So, apologies to anyone that stood around waiting for us!!!

Family pictures with the Lawlers were a little crazy because the family is bigger and there were little kids involved, but I think we did a pretty good job of getting everyone finished quickly so Kim could leave and get the boys down for naps. I had to tell Nikki that we wanted her in some of the pictures - she wasn't going to be in any of them! Seeing as she will be our sister in law in just a few months, it was important that she be in the photos, so I'm glad she was there for them. My family was quick and easy since there's less of us, and soon enough we were corralling the bridal party on to the limo to head out for the fun pictures!

Mindy was awesome and agreed to ride on the limo with us to the first location, which was right in Oak Park. She had explained to me that they usually don't go on the limo because there's not a whole lot to take pictures of, but because they're so great she came with us for a bit anyways. I have no idea if anything will come of it as far as photos go, but she was there for Thomas' toast and the popping of the champagne, so there could be some fun shots. The first location for photos was up by the el tracks, where we actually did some of our engagement pictures. We randomly saw Bridget's mom when we got there, and people in their cars kept stopping or honking as they drove past us, which I got a kick out of. Ben + Mindy set up the entire bridal party and did their thing, and just from looking around at how they had us all lined up I already know the photos are going to be incredible.

Dan and I decided that we wanted to be the first ones to post a wedding picture on facebook, you know, since it was our wedding. I thought it was insane that literally within an hour of posting it I had nearly 100 "likes" and a ton of comments!

I have no idea where the second and third photo locations were, but know that the second one required all the guys to cross over a VERY busy 4-lanes of traffic. Ben eventually came back across the street for me so we could do photos of Dan and I, and when I got bored of waiting for the traffic to break I stuck out my thumb for a "hitch hiking bride" picture that Bridget took :).

When Ben finally got me across the street and I walked up to where they had the guys standing, I think I actually squealed - I can't even explain how awesome the location was, but the pictures are going to be A.MAZ.ING. The guys all looked so good lined up in their suits and the ties... oh, the ties. They sure were a source of stress throughout our planning because I wanted them to be perfect, but I could not be happier that we waited until we found something we really loved, because I am STILL thinking about how great they looked. Once the pictures of the groomsmen were done I got to get in close with Dan for some more couple pictures, and Ben + Mindy had fun telling us to kiss... and then kiss again... and again. They crack me up.

When we went to cross the street back to the limo I saw Bridget and Jeff standing and waiting for us. As we got closer I realized Bridget had my phone... and as soon as we crossed over to them she said to me "OK, so don't panic..."... which is never a good sign. With a quick explanation we learned that one of our rental companies didn't deliver this lattice screen thing that was a CRUCIAL part of the reception decor. It was supposed to cover the awful "tree wall" that was literally my least favorite thing about our space, and it was also going to have our place card hand wipes and pinwheels clipped to it. Poor Rachel was at the Levy Center in a total panic trying to figure out what to do seeing as she knew how excited I was about that whole part of the setup... I felt awful that she had to deal with it but if there's anyone that I knew would figure out a solution, it was her! Back on the limo we paused the party so Dan and I could try and get in touch with the vendor, who was of course nowhere to be found and totally unreachable. Eventually we called my cousin Jason - the only person we knew with a truck - and asked him to please RUSH to the hardware store, buy two 4x8' sheets of lattice, and get them to the Levy Center as quickly as possible. He was (understandably) not happy, but agreed and ran out right away. As our guests were starting to show up at the Levy Center around this time, we got a couple more phone calls and learned that they figured out a different solution and everything was going to be fine. Unfortunately Jason was already on his way from the hardware store with the lattice... which then didn't get used... but he was a good sport about it and it was really huge to me that he went so far out of his way for me that day. 

The last photo location was for the girls, and I freaked out when we got there and I saw the front cab of a semi truck in SOLID TEAL. It literally matched the girls dresses perfectly, and I asked right away if that was where we were taking pictures. Turns out Ben + Mindy are pros for a reason - they explained that the girls dresses were so close to the color of the truck that they would blend, and pointed 15 feet away at an amazing little weathered red barn kind of building that was where we were actually taking photos. Ben + Mindy are also pros at making a girl feel like the boss on her big day and took a few quick shots of me on the truck cab that I can't wait to see. I somehow managed to get dirty grease all over my hands while climbing up on the truck, and Ben saved the day with hand wipes from their van. The last few shots were of me solo and then Dan solo by the red shack, and I still giggle when I think of Dan's face while he hammed it up for the camera and mocked Mindy's pose direction. :)

To be continued...

The Big Day - Part 3

I didn't do a very good job of focusing during church. (If anyone is actually surprised by this, they must not know me too well). Whenever we were standing, Dan kept trying to get me to just stare at him and look him in the eyes, and I would giggle and look away to see what else was going on. When we were sitting, we were off to the side up front, so I had pews and pews full of my family and friends to look at - so many things to distract me! Once towards the beginning of the ceremony I realized the pew decoration right next to my mom was crooked, and I spent the next few minutes trying to silently tell her and my dad and brother from across the church that I wanted it fixed. My mom eventually got it, fixed it, and rolled her eyes at me. I'm glad she figured it out or it likely would have driven me crazy throughout the entire ceremony.

Although I felt better once I was down the aisle, there was one point while everyone was sitting that I started to have a major hot flash, and immediately felt like I was going to pass out. I started to sweat and could feel myself getting red, and my brother noticed and made gestures to me to breathe in... breathe out...

I remember all of the readings clearly. I have a great bond with my Aunt Renee, and Dan and I both agreed early on that we wanted to ask her to do a reading, and I loved that she was so honored to be a part of our ceremony. Rachel did the second reading with only three days notice because my cousin decided to tell me he didn't want to do it at the last minute. I thought I would be more hurt by him "dropping out", but it was mostly anger and frustration only because the programs were already at the printer with his name in them. Thankfully, our friend that was printing them had asked to see a proof the following morning, so the change was quickly made and no money or time was lost. I was surprised at my own reaction to the entire thing - sure, I was mad, but I also just said (and meant) "It's important to me that the people that are a part of our wedding WANT to be a part of it. So if he doesn't want to, then I don't want him to either." Rachel stepped in and did an awesome job, and it was just one of the many ways she saved the day. Seeing as we got much closer than we ever had been throughout my engagement, I took the last minute switch as a blessing in disguise because it gave me the chance to have someone that was crucial in our planning be a part of the ceremony. Allie and Alex split the petitions, which Dan wrote. As they were reading them, I knew the one about praying for the sick was coming up, and the one about praying for those who were not with us would be after that. I got a little choked up when we prayed for my friend Eva who has been battling cancer, and cried more than any other time throughout the day when my Aunt Debbie's name was read, along with all of the other relatives and friends who have passed away. Bridget snuck me a kleenex the next time we were standing, and I forgot the "blot, don't wipe" rule and probably messed up my makeup. Oh well.

It was hard for me to hear my Aunt's name and really think about the fact that she wasn't there with us that day. I obviously still miss my grandmother and other relatives who passed away when I was younger, but it was different with Debbie because it never occurred to me that she wouldn't be at my wedding until she was gone. When I was 15 and my grandma passed away, I wasn't even thinking about my wedding, so it was always a given that she wouldn't be there. But Debbie met (and loved) Dan, and I used to talk to her about our fantasy wedding before she got sick, so it always just seemed like she would obviously be a part of it. I can't even imagine what that will be like for my cousins when they get married, and I hope that I can help in honoring her on their wedding days like we tried to do at mine.

I probably shouldn't admit it, but I don't remember a single word of Father Larry's homily - which is odd, because I truly did listen to it. I remember liking it, and smiling, but I was in such a blur overall that I don't remember any detail from it. Even though we walked through the ceremony several times, I never did realize until we were there that our vows were completely separate from the blessing of the rings. I liked that these parts were spread out through the ceremony, and we also had a nuptial blessing song in there that Mr. Anderson lead, which I loved. When we were exchanging rings, Father Larry started to have me say "I, Dan..." and everyone laughed when he corrected it to "I, Kelly..." I appreciated his mistake because it got me to laugh and calmed me down a bit when I was just getting choked up again.

I didn't get to see Mr. Lawler before the ceremony, so I was so thankful that we had decided to go around to all of our bridal party as well as both of our immediate families during the sign of peace so I could finally say hi to him. I love that there are certain moments throughout the day that really stick out in my memory, and seeing my father in law right then is one of my favorites.

I had asked Father Larry specifically to wait until the very end of the ceremony to have us kiss... and I was VERY adamant about him saying "you may now kiss the bride!" because to me that is the most classic and traditional line from any wedding. He waited like we asked him to, but when he announced us as "Mr. & Mrs. Dan and Kelly Lawler!" everyone started clapping and Mr. Anderson started playing the organ from the choir loft... and we hadn't kissed yet. There was a hilarious 30 seconds or so of Mr. Anderson playing, everyone half clapping because they weren't sure what else to do, and Father Larry trying to get his attention so he would stop playing... and then finally he was able to tell Dan he could kiss me. Someone got a picture of Dan and I looking up to the loft kind of laughing, and I'm hoping Ben and Mindy also caught this moment because I found it absolutely hysterical.

I tried several times before the wedding to get Dan to "practice" how we were going to kiss, but of course this continuously just turned into a joke and we never actually had any idea of how it would all go. In the end it all worked out just fine :)... and to me, that was the "official" second we were married!

To be continued...

The Big Day - Part 2

A couple weeks before the wedding my mom started talking about how she would "take care of" myself and my bridesmaids getting to church from my gramma's house. Considering it's literally a 3 block trip, I joked around a lot about walking to church, but of course nobody was having that (looking back, I'm glad nobody listened to me on this one). While I was getting my hair done someone said "oh, the limo is here", which was when and how I found out my mom somehow swung getting a limo last minute, even though I was facing away from the window and couldn't see it. After rushing out of my gramma's house with Amanda behind me carrying the train of my dress I sort of just stood there by the limo and took it all in - and cried a little because I knew I was going to see Dan just a few minutes later.

Bev got appointed to help me get in and out of the limo, which I found amusing only because I would have just jumped in and shoved my dress in behind me, but seeing as we hadn't even made it to the ceremony yet I needed to at least pretend to try and keep my dress wrinkle-free. Kadence was sitting across from me and was in total awe of the fact that she was in a moving vehicle and didn't have to wear a seatbelt. Bev reminded me that I had asked her before the wedding if she would say a prayer with the girls before we left for church, and I'm so glad she remembered because it is literally one of my most vivid memories from the entire day, and it was the perfect moment to just stop and take a deep breath and have a minute with just my bridesmaids and flower girl. She of course threw a bit of humor into the prayer, which made it so perfectly Bev. She also made me relax with what can only be described as a breathing exercise, and for that I could not be more appreciative. I was grateful for those few minutes sitting next to her chatting and praying considering there were 160 other people around for the rest of the day.

I didn't realize that when I got to church my dad would be there waiting for me - all I had focused on was preparing myself to see Dan so when the limo door opened and I saw my mom crying and my dad about to, all of the breathing and relaxing was gone (sorry Bev) :). Our videographer caught me yelling "Mom!!! STOP!" from the limo when I saw her crying, and there's a funny shot of me fanning my face in an effort to not ruin my mascara when I saw my dad.

Mindy got me situated and brought me around to the "backyard" of the parish center where Dan was waiting with his back to me. It was quieter than I expected it would be, and I felt like it took forever to walk to Dan. Ben told him to turn around when I was a few feet away, and when he said "hi honey" I think I experienced every emotion imaginable in a matter of half a second before I was close enough to hug him. I got makeup all over the shoulder of his suit coat (and the shoulder of every other guy's suit coat that I hugged all day), so I'm sure Ben and Mindy got some funny shots of me trying to wipe off his coat while he attempted to get me to just leave it - which is so typical of our relationship I couldn't love the moment any more. I knew our first look would be a little awkward, and Ben had prepped me to have a few minutes of "us" time before having the "ok, now what..." feeling, and it was sort of exactly that - except that instead of "now what" I said "ok, I'm ok now" because I felt like I could finally breathe. Mindy posed us for a couple quick photos and the mood lightened a bit when a bug flew in my face and I had a very spastic reaction. Awesome.

I was rushed into the bathroom when I got over to church to avoid every single guest seeing me prior to my walk down the aisle. This was the moment I realized Mindy was right that it was ok I was a little late to see Dan - had I actually seen him at 1:00 when I was supposed to, I would have been REAL bored and antsy sitting in the bathroom for 45 minutes waiting for the ceremony to roll around! Thankfully I only had to sit for about 20 minutes, and the first half of that was spent with Allie, who I was excited to spend a little time with. I thought the lady that was supposed to be our "church coordinator" did a crappy job of getting everyone ready for the processional, but there are worse things that could have happened and again - the imperfection of it all was so "us" that I wouldn't have changed it anyways. I missed some things by trying to stay off to the side so people didn't see me, but I think Manda (who walked first) may have been the only bridesmaid to make it down the aisle how and when she was supposed to. Right after she walked we realized the kids were about to go, so there was a shuffle to get them to hold back and wait their turn. I realized Michael didn't have his "here comes the bride" sign so Bridget ran back into the church to find it. Kadence didn't want Erin to walk away without her, and Brendan jumped in to try and hold the kids back. The other girls did an awesome job of working around the commotion to get down the aisle, but I think it would have been amusing to see from the pews how it all looked. Michael got nervous and shy and started to cry, and Kadence quickly followed. I think they ended up both running down the aisle half in tears, but I didn't see it so I have no idea. I have no doubts the photos of this will be adorable.

They did the whole thing where the doors close so my dad and I could get situated, and then reopened for our "grand entrance". I'm surprised my dad didn't tell me I was hurting him because I was clutching onto his arm so tight. Although I would have liked to just stare at Dan and only Dan as I walked down the aisle, I knew well before the wedding that I am far too easily distracted for that, so I had a few people in my mind that I HAD to find in the crowd - if only for my own comfort and sanity. Amy was first and I spotted her bright face right away. The next were Dan's cousins who had promised me they would cover their eyes when I walked down the aisle because I was nervous about all of the attention I would have on me - I never did spot them to see if they really did this, but I have a feeling they'd forgotten seeing as we were all drinking when we had the original conversation. The last person I searched for was Lauren, who I found... and who was a mixture of smiling and crying and trying to hold it together... just. like. me. I had to look away because her crying only made me cry more, but knowing she was there was my first "ok I can relax" moment in church. And then I focused in on Dan, who looked so damn handsome in his suit (with a cleaned up shoulder) that I think I blushed when I caught his eye even though I had already seen him. The whole process of my dad giving me away and me hugging my mom while Dan hugged my dad and then switching was of course a little frazzled, but then we were standing at the altar and Father Larry was welcoming everyone.

I couldn't stop looking at Manda, who was up next to the piano with her guitar - she played when I walked down the aisle and it was honestly one of the most amazing parts of our day. She also played during the gathering song, and Dan and I just watched her and tried to smile and silently cheer her on because she was an emotional wreck (just like her big sister). I gave her a thumbs up when she finished and I think that was when we both finally started to relax a little bit.

To be continued...

(For the record, I had no intention of these recaps being so long... but I am loving reliving every moment of the wedding as it is in my mind, and will love looking back on all of these tiny details years from now when the memories are a little more fuzzy. So, bear with me) :)

The Big Day - Part 1

I've thought a lot in the last couple days about how I don't even know where to start with wedding recaps. I have a million things I want to write down, but I can't quite figure out how to organize them, or what to write about first. I figure I'll just start writing... and if it doesn't make sense, so be it! I keep telling people that ask "how was it?" that everything was amazing... but half the time I was in such a blur it didn't even click that the whole day was literally all about US. I would stop dancing/talking/running around every now and then and it would hit me that I was living MY wedding, it wasn't just a dream or something I was counting down to anymore... it was actually really and truly happening. I can't quite describe the feeling, but I assume I'm not alone in that sentiment. In the end, all I can really say is that it was incredible.

I started my wedding day with the most insanely nervous stomach EVER. Typical. I guess I knew it would happen, but considering how calm I felt the rest of the week, I suppose a part of me thought I'd somehow remain calm that day too. I was wrong. I barely slept Friday night, and when the hair and makeup girls knocked on the door of my gramma's at 6:30am I knew my chances of sleeping just a little bit more were over. I started a pepto-bismol and half a xanax routine bright and early, and unfortunately didn't manage to keep much of a breakfast down, so I switched to pretzels and ginger-ale and tried to keep myself busy. I had all of my bridesmaids with me, and despite my stomach telling me otherwise, everything was surprisingly calm for most of the morning.

The lilies my mom and I picked up Thursday morning were ALL still closed at 11pm Friday night, so it was literally a miracle that they were suddenly open on Saturday morning - just in time for me to realize I didn't have the floral tape with me to make the bouquets. Thankfully, Jeff had stayed at our house with Dan, and was able to drive the floral tape over for me, and after I wrapped one together the girls took over and finished the rest in no time. The flowers didn't hold up through the day at all, but I sort of actually appreciated not having to carry them around. The not caring was half the point of buying farmers market flowers in the first place, but I am a little nervous that the lack of flowers in all of our hands is going to look "off" in the bridal party photos. We'll see I guess!

When Ben and Mindy showed up things suddenly got very REAL for me, and although I immediately went into a frenzy, I also immediately got a new sense of calm... because that's what amazing photographers do for you I guess, without even trying. I knew that the day was (in a way) in their hands at that point, and I trust them immensely, so I started to let go and just... be the bride.

All of a sudden my hair was still in curlers and I knew I was going to be late for my first look with Dan. Mindy gave me a pep talk and pointed out that the "updated" timing would still work out perfectly. Getting dressed happened insanely fast, and I realized too late that I wanted all of my bridesmaids there and they weren't. But, I had my mom, Manda and gramma, so I'm sure the pictures will be treasured in my family forever, and I will cherish them.

At some point Bridget gave me a little box. In it was a charm bracelet of sorts that she made for me - it had something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue on it. She wrapped it around my bouquet for me and once it is restrung into a bracelet I will wear it regularly to remind me of how much our friendship grew throughout my engagement, and how I never would have made it through it all (laughing the entire time!) without her. I also had my gramma's bracelet as a something borrowed, my turquoise shoes and a pin Mr. Lawler gave me years ago as something blues, and the flowers on my shoes made of my mom's veil and button of my late grandmother's attached to the flower in my hair as something olds. I loved that I had so many little "tokens" of special people in my life with me all day.

I remember walking down the stairs focusing only on not falling. My aunt and uncle were there and I didn't know it, and I likely started to cry when I saw them. My 8 year old cousin who is usually hyper and off the wall was just sitting there grinning ear to ear and waving at me. His sister who I still imagine as a little kid was wearing a strapless dress and was seriously gorgeous. I am still talking about how pretty she looked that day, and seeing her is the last thing I remember about being at my gramma's house.

To be continued...

Attempting

WELL, my kitchen is officially too small for all the wedding goodies we got, and I've spent a good chunk of the last 3 days staring at my pantry and cabinets trying to figure out where I'm going to store everything. I've also filled a cutlery tray with our gorgeous new flatware, wallpapered the back walls of the hutch, and refilled those shelves with all of our new glasses and some serving pieces, and I am in LOVE with how it all looks. I've broken down enough boxes to build a fort the size of my house, and I've oohed and aahed over my Kitchenaid mixer that I've decided to give a permanent home on our itty bitty counter top - the fact that I'm willing to give up valuable counter space to the mixer is a solid indication of how much I love it... and I haven't even used it yet.

On top of trying to adjust to a "normal" sleep schedule again and going back to work today... basically, I haven't had any time to blog, and it is driving me insane. I have SO many stories from the week leading up to the wedding, and more importantly - SO many more stories from the actual wedding - and I absolutely cannot wait to journal them all here on the blog. With recaps, vendor reviews, a writeup of my favorite wedding gifts of all (they weren't on the registry!), stories and photos, I'm fairly certain I can keep this blog going for several months... which should give me just enough time to figure out what on earth I'm going to write about now that I don't have a wedding to plan anymore ;).

I'll be back to write my little heart out just as soon as I can get my newlywed life in order! In the meantime, here's one of my favorite photobooth pictures :). It's a great indication of how fun our bridal party was, and I truly had a blast with them on the big day!

Pizza Pizza

So, we're married! Lots of day-of goodies to document later, but for now I'm busy enjoying our mini-moon... With some of the best pizza I've ever tasted!

Awesome Aunts

My incredible family is helping with a huuuuge wedding project this afternoon at Bridget's house. It's a surprise to most of our guests, so no major details here... But here's a fun picture of Barbie and Cinde doing some prep work!

Happy Feet

They're done!! (thanks mom!!)

Practice makes perfect

Guess who finally downloaded the blogger app for posting on the go?! 3 days to go!!!

Cut it up

Well friends, the wedding is NEXT WEEKEND, and I am a bundle of nervous, excited, anxious and about a million other emotions all mixed up. We've been putting the finishing touches on a lot of projects this week, as well as starting a few last minute ones - like the flowers for my shoes made out of my mom's veil!

I'm not feeling terribly up for writing a whole long post as my mind is going a mile a minute, but I figured I'd at least end the week with an action shot. So, here's Manda cutting circles out of my mom's veil to make the little flowers!

My awesome mom has kinda taken this project over for me (along with about 100 others - THANKS MOM!), and the little flowers are looking great. As soon as we figure out the best way to attach them to the shoes, I'll post a final picture.

A HUGE thanks to my mom and Manda, who have literally come over every night this week to work on projects with me, and to Bridget and Rachel who also come over every chance they get. Thanks to Bridget the tissue paper flowers are all bundled in the centerpiece vases and ready to go to the reception, and thanks to Rachel those very vases will be set up on the tables at the reception along with all of the other decor to bring my vision to life!

Isn't he charming?

I mentioned before that Dan picked out a wedding band, decided when he picked it up that he wasn't crazy about it, and then purchased a second one at the jeweler that my band is from. Well, with just 10 days to go he went to pick up his new band this morning, and thankfully - he likes it!

So, he sent me this photo from the car -

While my response was a reminder not to text and drive, I have to admit I was excited to see the picture. I can't believe we'll both be wearing our bands daily as of NEXT weekend!

Tastes like Jello

We completed a crucial project on our wedding list this weekend - Hurricane taste testing.

As anyone who has read this blog at all probably knows, I credit the beginning of our relationship to the time Dan and I spent in the New Orleans area rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. It's been important to me since day one to incorporate New Orleans into our wedding day somehow, without going straight to the typical Mardi Gras "theme" that really doesn't make the connection at all. I've also been saying for MUCH longer than we've been engaged for that we should have hurricanes as our "signature drink" at the reception as an easy (and tasty) way to showcase that incredible important time together. 

We spent a little time recently looking up different hurricane recipes online, and quickly realized that many of the recipes are insanely complicated and would end up costing us a fortune on the bar tab. The solution? Pat O'Brien's hurricane mix - which is way more authentic New Orleans than any recipe concoction anyways!

Thankfully, Mr. Lawler had a few packets of mix at home from our trip to NOLA last winter, and he generously donated them to our tasting. He also provided a couple different kinds of rum, which was all we needed, making the taste testing totally stress free for me - thanks almost-father-in-law!!

Manda, Bridget, Aris, Allie and Jeff joined us for the testing, and Dan and Mr. Lawler made it fun with a couple different ratios of mix-to-rum so we could all decide which "recipe" tasted best.

Manda joined in the fun with a glass of the mix sans-rum. Her thoughts? "Tastes like Jello before it goes in the fridge!" -

My dad and Uncle Joe stopped by later for a quick test as well -

After a couple hurricanes and some Party Rock Shuffle tutorial watching at the house we all walked to Ribfest (YUM) where we ate a bunch of food, drank a bunch of beer, and did a bunch of dancing and singing along with the live band. We ended the night with late night pizza at the house... and more dancing (at least on my part). Based on how much fun we all had Saturday night, I'd say the taste testing was a success!

Painting Party

Well, I'm way late on posting this one, but forgive me - I've been knee deep in making tissue paper flowers til my fingers hurt. It will all be worth it in the end (or so I keep telling myself)!

Speaking of the end. It's in 2 weeks. Wow. I think I'm sort of in denial about the whole thing, and I'm already a little sad thinking about how I'm going to be done with wedding planning - forever. (Unless of course I manage to start a wildly successful wedding planning business like I've been saying I should do for ages).

So anyways, Bridget and my mom came over a couple weeks ago and we repainted ALL of the vases. Remember how I was all slaphappy excited about them being done eons ago? And then I put them out on the front porch and the sweltering summer heat caused the paint in all of them to crack and bleed? Yeah, it was awesome. Thankfully, the paint all washed right out and we were ready to give it another shot (good thing I'm using fake flowers because these painted vases are NOT water friendly).

Before we started painting, the lovely Bridget helped me lay out a fake table setting on the living room floor, so we could pair off the vases for each table based on size, shape and texture.

As we paired them, my mom wrote letters on the bottom of each, so we knew which ones went together.

Bridget mixed up two different shades of gray paint, and my mom and I started with the turquoise. My mom bought a bunch of dollar store cooking racks for the vases to stand on upside down while they dried, so that as much extra paint as possible would drip out (hopefully avoiding further cracks). This proved to be a good idea, but also caused several panic attacks from all of us because if one vase tipped... about 20 others would follow. Trust me - the sound of that much glass clinking together is NOT a good one.

Dan helped finish up the last few when he got home -

Thankfully, it's been a couple weeks now and the vases still look pretty and perfect. There were 5 (out of more than 50 - so not bad!) that need to be repainted for one reason or another, but other than that, this project is complete! Now if I can just finish the flowers that go in them...

1 down... 5 to go

My mom, gramma and Manda came over last night to work on tissue paper flowers with me, but thanks to some great finds by my mom in the remnant bin at the fabric store - I spent the evening working on a different kind of flower. That's right, I FINALLY have a flower for in my hair, and considering I DIY-ed it - which was certainly not the original plan, I am thrilled with how it turned out.

I know the dirty background of my dining room table isn't much of a backdrop, but isn't it pretty?!?

I didn't take any pictures of my progress, mostly because I totally winged it, and also because the project involved an open flame and it was making my mom nervous every time I got my fingers too close. But for reference, I used this awesome tutorial I found thanks to some googling. Since I didn't know if my satiny fabric find was the same that was used on the blog I found, I used the same process - cut out shape, singe the edge - but just did different sized "petals" that I layered together instead of cutting out flower shapes like in the original tutorial. I'm actually really pleased with how the flower turned out considering it was my first shot at it! 

For the center of the flower, I decided I really wanted to use one of my grandma's old buttons. I originally planned to use them to make boutonnieres for the guys, but since we decided not to do bouts at all I realized I wasn't "involving" the memory of my grandmother in any way like I wanted to. So, Manda and I searched her button jar for something sparkly or silvery... and came up empty handed. What we did find was a gold button that we loved the shape of, so Manda got to work painting it gray with a little brush, and then used a toothpick to dab tiny white dots in all the little crevices! We experimented with different glitters to give it a little sparkle (which actually involved Manda having to paint a second button - sorry kiddo), but for now I'm leaving it alone while I figure out exactly what I want to do with it. My mom suggested tiny little rhinestones sporadically on the petals and while I'm not crazy about that idea I'm thinking they would work placed very carefully on the button where the white dots currently are. We'll see.

In the meantime while I figure out the center of my flower, I'll be starting on making smaller gray versions of this project for the bridesmaids to wear in their hair on the big day. Since they each have a different style dress and will have different shoes, hair and jewelry, I'm excited for a little something to tie them all together!

18

Thanks to the extra day off for Labor Day, we had another insanely productive weekend full of wedding stuff, and I'm actually feeling VERY good about everything left to do with just 18 days to go!

Here's my typical iPhone photo rundown of the latest...

We got our marriage license this morning! I found this part of our planning to be a huge stress thanks to us going in the wrong building, having a camera in my purse that was not allowed inside, and everyone there just being unfriendly in general... but it's done and we can now legally get married! -

My mom and Manda came over last night and together with Dan we made major centerpiece progress! Dan cleaned up the messy painted edges on the vases (I still need to post pictures from last week's painting party!), and my mom and I experimented with more tissue paper which ended up being a great success as we came up with 3 more easy flowers that look AMAZING when they're all bunched together! Here's my mom showing off one of our bouquets -

And here's a close up of one of the new flowers I figured out. They remind me of peonies, which are my favorite flower, so I'm thrilled with the outcome -

While we worked on flowers, Manda got busy painting the "Here comes the bride" sign for Michael to carry down the aisle at church. I did the second coat later and added a gray edge to the plaque, and tonight I'll string some ribbon through at the top for him to hold and this project will be finished! -

Earlier in the weekend Dan put together and labeled all of the cupcake boxes, and we decided we'll use a bushel basket that I picked up at Pier One on clearance to hold a bunch of them up on the dessert table. -

I'm not too happy with how the labels turned out for the boxes, but I practiced "letting go" and decided it's ok if they aren't absolutely perfect. But, at Dan's prompting I wrote a quick complaint email to the company the labels are from because a bunch of them weren't cut properly and ripped when we tried to remove them from the sheets, and their online templates are FAR from user friendly. This morning, I got an email from the company that they're sending me a care package full of their products as an apology! Here's hoping it shows up before the wedding... I'm SURE I can find something else to put labels on :).

We also did a ton of shopping this weekend, which resulted in finishing up all of my bridesmaid gifts and small thank you gifts for most of the people involved in our ceremony. I spent Sunday at the mall with Rachel and Allie doing bride things as well - including purchasing my wedding day earrings (which are PERFECT and match my ring!), a potential day-of nail polish color, aaaaaamazing heels for the rehearsal dinner, and other little bridal necessities.

With less than 3 weeks to go, I'm an odd kind of calm (have no fear, I'm sure I'll still have plenty of panicked moments). I really just can't wait to see how all of our hard work comes together on the big day!

Mrs.

Look what the fabulous Rachel got me for my birthday!

While I was super excited, Dan had a typical guy reaction and just looked confused while he said "um, it's a hanger". But clearly, it is not JUST a hanger, it's a personalized with my almost-new-name snazzy fancy hanger that will make photos of my lovely dress that much more exciting! Seeing as I've loved these little hangers since I first saw a picture of one, I'm giddy to have one all of my own for the big day! It's a little odd to think about the fact that I'm going to be "Mrs. Lawler" since that's what I've always called Dan's mom, but I'm thinking I'll get used to it :).

Thanks for the awesome birthday present, Rachel!

Details

I cranked out a bunch of little projects this weekend with the help of Manda and Dan, and as I have expected from the beginning, these little details are the parts of our planning that I'm loving the most. To me, the tiny personal touches are what's going to make our wedding really "ours", and not just a cookie cutter day. As usual, I documented everything on my iPhone - although the photo quality isn't as great as if I were to use my fancy camera, it's just SO much easier to snap a picture on my phone and email it to myself for easy blogging.

Here's a photo recap of the weekend!

Saturday morning was my hair and makeup trial, which I did at my gramma's house while Dan played with Louie and my gramma's dog Abby in the backyard. I am in looooove with my hair when it's all in curls, and was also a huge fan of my makeup. The girl that is doing my makeup used to volunteer with us when she was in high school, so I've always known her as "one of Dan's teens", but I've been telling her for years that when I got married I wanted her to do my makeup, and here we are! The hair stylist is her best friend, and it was great to have the 2 of them already so comfortable working together for my trial. I have no doubts that all of us girls are going to look gorgeous on the big day thanks to Irish and Caitlin being there to help us get ready! Here's a shot of the back of my hair -

After my trial, we headed out with Manda to pick up our wedding bands. While choosing mine was a simple "I just want it to match the band of my engagement ring", Dan had a bit more trouble finding something he loved. He finally found one at Kay's a couple of weeks ago (despite me hating their "every kiss begins with Kay" campaign) -

When we picked up my ring a little while later at a different jeweler, Dan found a DIFFERENT band that he liked more... so we bought that one and went back to Kay's to return the other one. Thankfully, we saved $75, and the new band he picked out can NOT be returned, so he can't change his mind again ;).

Manda spent the afternoon and evening with us, and spent the night Saturday. On Sunday, Dan headed to Great America for work and Manda and I decided to stay in our pajamas all day doing little projects and visiting gramma. I typed up a quick little card to explain the significance of the wood we used for the table numbers, and Manda helped me mod podge them on to the backs of each number out on the front porch. Dan and I later added a quick layer of mod podge to the fronts as well to give them a little shine -

Even though he was exhausted from a long day of roller coasters and water rides, Dan came home and helped a TON with getting the hotel bags all finished! I made a little tag for the candy, which reads:

"Hometown Goodies - The Ferrara Pan candy factory is in

Forest Park, just blocks from Dan & Kelly's house!" 

Dan helped hole punch everything and I tied them up with teal string -

Then Dan turned the dining room table into an assembly line, and the two of us walked around in circles dropping all the different items into each bag -

We also managed to get our handy printer to run these hangtags through, so we could print an "Enjoy your stay" design on them. We hand wrote a little note on the back of each tag in teal and coral, tied them to the bag handles with more teal string, and called this project complete! -

On the schedule for this week is putting together our "must haves" song list for the DJ, painting vases Wednesday night with Bridget, confirming all of our rentals, potentially (finally) finishing up cake plates, and hopefully finding time to make more tissue paper flowers. I'm grateful that this coming weekend is an extra day long!

I Spy

Several people have heard me refer to our house as "Wedding Central" in the last couple of months, so I thought in the spirit of full disclosure I would give my 6 readers a peek into what our life currently looks like nearly every evening and most weekends :). This, my friends, should be pictured in the dictionary under "organized chaos".

Exhibit 1 - The "clean" half of the dining room table. I spy... the ever-handy macbook with a sneak peek at the menu belly bands, my new cutting mat, a ruler and exacto blade ready to score the now printed menus, a packing box full of tissue paper, paint and brushes for the centerpieces, and a cupcake box awaiting labeling...

Exhibit 2 - The not so clean side of the dining room table. (This changes almost daily - and earlier this week nearly the entire table was clean for a whole hour while we ate dinner!) I spy... a vase full of pipe cleaner "flower stems", a plastic bag full of MORE tissue paper (in new fun colors!), striped cupcake wrappers, new ink cartridges for our printer that's working overtime getting everything done, a mini glue gun, the perfect teal ribbon that will wrap around each layer of the cake, random tissue paper flowers, a cup that houses all of my current daily "tools" - pens, glue sticks, exacto knives, paint brushes... 

Exhibit 3 - The fiance, hard at work cutting out menus! I spy... teamwork at it's finest.

So, um, yesterday marked just ONE measly month until the wedding, and I couldn't be more excited. I had a few moments at work when I would think I was going to hyperventilate thinking about it, but in all honesty, I feel fairly good about where we're at with everything for the time being! Whenever it hits me how close it all is, I often think about my friend Lauren's vows, which stated "Today, I marry my best friend..." So simple, and so true. I can't wait.

The little things

It's weird to be constantly busy with wedding projects, yet feel like I have nothing substantial to write about. I realize this is partially due to me wanting to keep some of the details secret, but also recognize that a big part of why I started this blog in the first place was so I could go through it later on down the road and see all the fun little projects I did along the way. So, in a feeble attempt to catch myself up on some things we've been doing, here's a bit of a picture documentation, all courtesy of my handy iPhone.

First up are the thank you notes that I hand stamped and embossed to send out to all the lovely ladies that attended my shower. God forbid I just BUY some ready-to-go cards, right? At least they're super cute! -

Our constantly changing seating chart. Every time we get a "yes" RSVP, the name immediately goes on a little post-it flag and up on the board. The post-its make for easy rearranging as more names come in, and it's a quick visual representation of how many seats we're currently filling. Eventually, the other side of this poster board will turn into a space layout, when we'll decide which group of people goes where. Want to be as close to the bar/bathroom/dance floor/nearest exit as possible? Speak now or forever hold your peace. ;) -

Toiletries baskets for the bathrooms at the reception. This probably could have been more on the "nice to have" than the "have to have" list, but I figure since we're serving ribs the least I could do was offer our guests dental floss and Shout wipes for potential spills. Don't worry friends, there will be plenty of extra napkins on the tables! -

The bed in "Manda's room" (that is, our extra bedroom) after the shower. There are no words to describe how happy the words "Crate & Barrel" and "Bed, Bath & Beyond" make me these days, so despite the overwhelming mess this is a pretty awesome image to me. Since my BFF stayed with us the night of my bachelorette party the gifts have since been relocated to the office, making the room even more impossible to walk in, but if I just have one ridiculously messy room in my house that's not so bad right? -

I also realized today that I never did a post about the infamous invitations, so I'll be sure to get that up soon! 32 days and counting!!

Happy Day!

It's my birthday! I've already been stuffed full of all kinds of breakfast treats from my production friends here at work, and my phone is buzzing off the hook with text messages and people writing on my Facebook wall. I'm continuously being reminded this summer of how lucky I am to have so many great people in my life - I am truly blessed!

Apparently Dan has birthday plans for us all afternoon and evening... AND tomorrow morning! So, I'm forcing myself to take ALL day today off from the wedding. (I ran into a friend last night who said planning a wedding is like having another job, and I quickly realized how right he was - hence me "taking the day off")

Perhaps even more exciting is that Sunday is Manda's birthday! I love getting to share birthday time with her every year, even though her turning a year older always makes ME feel old. She told me that she talked to our brother the other day and he mentioned that when he was looking through the pictures from my bachelorette party he had to do a double take on a few because he couldn't tell Manda and I apart. While she obviously still looks significantly younger than me, we are definitely looking more and more alike as she gets older. The picture below made me think of my brother's comment, and it's one of my favorites from my bachelorette party. Happy Birthday weekend Banana, I love you!!

I wear my sunglasses at night

So, my bachelorette party has come and gone, and I could not be happier with how the entire thing went. I had an absolute BLAST with my best girlfriends, and was once again spoiled with gifts galore... the people in my life sure do know how to make a girl feel special!

We kicked off the afternoon with a little pre-party at Bridget's, which was great because it meant my mom was willing to join us for a little while :). My friends did a great job of getting me bachelorette gifts that I would actually wear - top favorites include the zip up "bride" hoodie from Mary Rose to wear the day-of, and a "sexy little bride" tank from Bridget that I'm already planning to wear to bed the night before the wedding when I stay at my gramma's with a couple of the girls. Manda also got me a great little "sisters" book, AND filled the entire thing out with memories and inside jokes - I loved reading through it last night while recovering from the party :).

Speaking of Manda, she bought pink wayfarers for all the girls, which we definitely had a good time with -

After Bridget's we headed down to Market Days to see Darren Criss. When we first got there the crowds, rain and security guards had us pretty convinced we weren't even going to be able to see. Thankfully, Bridget made friends with one of the guards who got us a good view, and Darren got everyone in the crowd to put their umbrellas away, which was a huge help for those of us in the back that couldn't see over them!

From Market Days we walked to Mi Tierra (YUM), where the girls treated me to dinner and pitchers of margaritas. I loved that my friends all took on a bit of a "parental" role with helping keep track of Manda in the huge crowds, and even ordered an entire pitcher of virgin frozen strawberry margaritas so Manda could take part in the fun drinks. At the end of dinner I was surprised with ice cream, a sombrero and everyone singing Happy Birthday to me!

Somehow, we all ended up drawing mustaches on our fingers, which made for more laughs and fun pictures -

After my dad and uncle picked Manda up from the restaurant us 21 and up girls headed out to Mad River for an evening of dancing, drinking and hilarious bar games ;).

We got home good and late just before 3am, where I washed my feet (hehehe) and made grilled cheese sandwiches for myself and Mary Rose. I woke up Sunday with a raging hangover, which I treated with gatorade and a late greasy lunch with Rachel. I literally could not have wished for a better weekend, and I am forever grateful to my friends for making me feel so loved! Thank you to Bridget for planning nearly the entire day and hosting us all at your house beforehand, to Manda for buying us all matching sunglasses, to Mary Rose for coming in from Green Bay just for my party and Rachel offering to DD so we didn't have to worry about rides, to Allie for being a total riot on the dance floor (Saturday was quite possibly the most fun I have EVER had with my cousin, and we've had some good times so that's saying a lot!), and Bev and Bridget R. for coming out despite other plans and being jet lagged... I had an amazing day and night and love each of you dearly!

This has gotta be the good life

I've made a little pact with myself to do everything I can to enjoy these last few whirlwind weeks of being engaged, and try to keep the stress and panic to a minimum. I know I'll still have plenty of moments where I think there's no way it's all going to come together in time, but my hope is that I will be able to stop, take a deep breath, and remember how blessed I am to be going through this time with the guy I love more than anything. It's sort of started to hit me over the last couple of weeks that all of this planning is actually going to result in something - that is, us being married! For a long time it just felt like we were planning a party, and now I'm starting to get excited (and oddly, content), thinking about the fact that it's not just a party, it's our wedding, and it's going to be incredible.

I'm already regretting the fact that I didn't take a single picture at my shower last weekend, but here's a few that have popped up on Facebook!

First up is the adorable cake. My mom used the little lovebirds and "just us" phrase throughout the shower decor, starting with the invitations. In other words - everything matched. She knows how to make her daughter happy, that's for sure. :)

 Dan also made me extremely happy by showing up in the collared shirt, khaki shorts and boat shoes that I requested he wear ;).
 

Erin had already left, but here's me with my wonderful bridesmaids! Manda was a big help with the gifts and planning, Bev was the most organized gift-tracker I've ever seen, and Bridget made me the fabulous bow bouquet I'm holding here! 

Tomorrow is the big bachelorette party!!! I'm insanely excited and definitely looking forward to seeing what the girls have planned!