Marry Where You Met - Yay or Nay?

Ever think back to that first time you met the love of your life? I sure do. Often. When I first met him, I hated his guts. True story! I couldn't stand him. Didn't want to have to work with him. That is where we met. At work. At Target. But that isn't the story I'm wanting to tell today. 

I have seen a lot of posts online that show people getting married where they met. I knew another couple at the first Target I worked at who had requested to get married in the store. That request was promptly denied. 

Personally, I couldn't dream of the perfect wedding including walking through the clothing section of Target and ending in a cross section walkway. Something like this seems more like a joke to me than committing to a serious life choice. But to each their own, right? 

This got me curious about where other people might have gotten married that is... unusual. Apparently, grocery stores have even made that list. As have graveyards - taking 'til death do us part' to a whole new level. Fast food restaurants like McDonald's and Taco Bell have joined in for their food lovers. This post even showed one couple that said their vows while standing over a net stretched out over a canyon. Um, no thanks! 

What is the strangest wedding location you have heard about? Or what unique place might you want to get married at? If I were to do it again, maybe a comic convention....

Mr. and Mrs. We now are!

Our wedding went off splendidly. There were occasional hiccups, but they are the kind we can laugh at during and after the fact. Granted, I learned a thing or two. Like test the playlist BEFORE you are preparing to make your walk down the aisle…. But hey! We have something funny to reminisce about later.

The people who came, helped add to the memories that will last a lifetime. And as I go over some of the wedding pictures, I can’t help but smile as I realize that we did it.

I married the love of my life. And we are now moving forward to the next step in our lives. We are now able to make solid plans. To embark on the adventure that will last until the day we die. Nothing is better than that!

So a few things I want to share as advice for other brides. Always check the music before the day of your wedding. I made the mistake of updating the playlist the night before. I had added a second playlist that included the “special” songs. Entry, bridal march, first dance, father/daughter dance, etc. These were separate from the dance floor shuffle list. I wanted to make it easier for those who had to control those moments in the reception. Also, the venue didn’t have a firm handle of their audio equipment. So when it came to turning off the song or switching the song, there was a pause or the volume was way too high. There were also sounds of pulling the AUX cord out or plugging in. Not a pleasant way to flow. We had a good laugh though.

 

Keep it simple. If you are setting up the day of your wedding, do yourself a favor and make sure it is as simple as possible. You want more time to get ready than it takes to put everything out. I made chocolates to set out for the guests. Guess who forgot them in the fridge of our room? Talk about a waste of time, energy, and money.

Don't forget the little things. We forgot pens for the centerpieces and the guest book. We also had to send the guys out for bobby pins and the plastic dishes for left over food.

No matter how well you plan everything out, be prepared to miss something. There were a couple pictures I might have missed. I didn't get to dance much besides the First Dance and Father/Daughter Dance. I did dance with my younger brother who asked me to show him how to slow dance. That was a great moment that I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Otherwise, I was too busy talking, taking pictures or dealing with baby. I didn't set aside a moment to dance again with my husband. Although in retrospect, that might have been a blessing to our guests. We are both "White and Nerdy" after all. Dancing is something we enjoy doing behind closed doors, but might look awkward in front of others.  

And lastly, remember that it is your day. No matter what another person says or does. This is the day to focus on the love you have for someone else. I almost lost sight of that the night before the wedding. My best friend, my Mother, and my fiancé all brought that back into perspective for me. Our day was what we wanted it to be.  

How many days are left?!

Not enough! I'm cracking down to make sure I have each detail just right and complete. I think we did really well with the pillars and flowers.

We had the inspiration from my fiancés grandmother and mothers favorite flowers. So we knew we wanted to try for white roses and, if possible, blue carnations. I saw these at Wal-Mart once and wished I could've found them in fake flowers.

But we went with others to try to match it as best as possible. In the end, it came to be something beautiful and just as well.

I've also been working on the chocolates needed and trying my best to get them just right. 

In the midst of everything, I took Memorial Day to enjoy my family. It is so easy to get caught up in the craziness of planning and details. Especially when you are feeling like it is more of a chore than a joy. I took a step back to connect with my kiddos.

We talked about what Memorial Day is for. Why we celebrate it. My darling husband-to-be even grilled dinner.

We topped off the night with s'mores!

We made our funny faces, told goofy jokes, and added to the happy memories that will go on for the rest of our lives. I needed to remind myself that there is more than just working towards this Saturday. We have a life going on in between.

My final week of being engaged!

Less than 7 days left until the wedding. My dashing fiancé is decked out to be Captain Terrell. He will not be shaving his head as he fears it will not grow back. So a slight modification to Picard. But isn't that what great cosplayers do?

I'm excited to announce that mine is also complete!

And I feel ready to walk that aisle in it. Denise did a beautiful job. She put in so much hard work to create my dream dress. I know she had her hesitations about her ability to get it just right. But as the saying goes, we are our own worst critic. She hand sewed some of it, and got it perfected to fit me just right despite my flat-chested problems. You see, patterns don't account for lack of boobs.

A woman who wears a large should have ample chest. Wrong! So she had quite the time adjusting the dress repeatedly to lay right up top. I'm feeling so loved and fortunate to have had her making such a stunning dress for me.

My daughter has her dress embellished as well thanks to her Granna's design assistance. My boys are going to be storm troopers and my baby will be in her Trekkie dress.

I also completed the flower arrangements that will rest on the pillars my fiancé made.

Today, we worked on getting them painted. Tomorrow I have to do the final coat.

They look like the Twin Towers right now...

The vases were interesting. Who knew that painting glass bowl vases was such a difficult task?!

My dad texted me too. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to seeing him and the family. I do miss them, being so far away.

And thanks to my best friend, Gwen, I have amazing and unique gifts for the mothers and bridesmaids! She went out of her way to make it special.

Next week, I’ll begin the process of making the chocolates for the cake decorations and favors. We picked up some cute bags that will placed at some of the seats.

And lastly, I have to create my bouquet. Its going to be attached to a light saber hilt... if all goes well!

Time is picking up momentum. Soon, we will be standing at the alter leading to a great, adventurous future. I’m excited!

We are down to the wire now!

We are now less than 2 weeks away from the wedding day! Only 10 days to be exact. This past weekend, we went to visit my in laws. While there, I tried on my dress for the last time.

My fiancés grandmother has done a marvelous job with it! I also bought shoes to wear.

We picked up my fiancés suit. He is truly ready to deck out like Captain Picard now.

My mother-in-law made this sign for the minister to hold up after our ceremony.

This is what happens when two nerds are joined.

We discussed hair strategy.

I know what I wish my hair looked like, but I also know how stubborn my hair can be. So we are prepared. I’m going to be practicing this week to get the curls in the right order.

I am also doing this to save time on the big day. I still have favors to lay out, changing time, and last minute details to see to. This is what happens when you are on a budget. But I prefer it this way. I’m not like other brides. I don’t have the bridezilla mode. I don’t freak out over every little detail. I go with the flow and make adjustments as needed. I don’t want those assisting me to get overwhelmed or feel ready to walk away. I don’t want my guests to feel like everything is timed and choreographed throughout the day. My day, is your day. Our day to have fun and celebrate. I think too often, couples forget what is really important. Pictures are there to remind us of the details. But the moments themselves will be in our memories through the ages. A lavish ceremony followed by a grand reception? You can spend all the money in the world on those things, but what comes later? Or be smart about it. Have something simpler and follow it with the fun times you spend with the ones you love, making memories. This is our goal. We have all our lives to live after this one day. Even if we had more to spend, we wouldn’t. We are putting towards what happens next.

Creating the music list for the best day of our lives

Every wedding deserves a playlist that speaks volumes about the couple. My fiance and I, however, took our list a step further. We asked family and friends what songs they love. What would they want to play? After all, they have a dance floor opening up to them. But if the music is all us, they won't want to get up and move. We are nerds. There is Linkin Park, techno, maybe some anime tunes... Yeah, I can see a lot of motionless people now. So we have a huge mix. Techno, country, pop, foreign, set dance (what do you call a song that calls out the moves?), old and classic songs, as well as classic rock. We even have Lindsey Stirling! I respect that this day is ours. That it is all about us, but how do we expect to have a great time if everyone around us is miserable, silent and itching to escape? 
So I compiled a list on my YouTube account to show you how we Nerds roll. Just know, there are songs that I had on the list from my computer that don't show on the YouTube one. But I am curious. What songs did you have? What song would you want?  

Less than 30 days and counting down!

We are moving closer to the big day! And I'm so excited. I still have a project to finish and only... 27 days left?! But I will get there. One step at a time. My fiance is building 2 pillars to hold the flower vases that will grace either side of the ceremony stage. 

I have started storing everything we need in a box.

I'm even bringing light sabers and masks (among other props) for the green screen.

Our bubble wands look great. They are ready for use!

I put the lights in the galaxy jars. Can't wait to set these up.

And the best addition yet! My dad made a customized ring for my fiance. My trekkie will have one to fit his style "for now and always" as we always say.

I also got to see my wedding band. My fiance pulled it out upon my request. I didn't get a picture, but will do later. For now, I will say its a beautiful silver with the Wonder Woman symbol on the front and the inscription we say to each other often, "For now and always" inside. Its perfect for me! He really wanted to make me something special like I did for him. So what do I have left? I have to finish the music playlist, which I plan to add to YouTube so I can share it here. I have to paint the flower vases, put the flowers together and then make my bouquet (easier said than done). I also saw a couple pictures of the wedding dress. I can't describe how excited I am about it! Its looking beautiful. Very soon we will be at the day of our lives!

Only 45 days left?!

Time is speeding by. My list of things to prepare for the wedding dwindles down, but I feel the need to pick up the pace and start the remaining projects with haste. While visiting my future in laws this past weekend, we were able to see how well my fiancés jacket will fit and add his com badge with rank pips to it.

He is now ready to captain the Enterprise. Okay, not entirely... His pants are all that is left. My sister and sister-in-law both have beautiful dresses ready to go. As does my mother-in-law who had a dress made and altered to fit the theme a little more. It is quite exciting!
This week, I will have my hands full. I have my second child needing at least 3 appointments, some bubble wands to turn into light sabers, job applications to put in, counseling on Wednesday.... so much fun, right?!
The bubble wands will be for our send off. Our guests will be able to hold them up or blow bubbles at us as we walk away. Plus, it will be great fun for the kids after the wedding.

Oh yeah. I also have a wonderful playlist started. I decided to share it with you all. So once I have it complete on YouTube, I'll post it on the blog.

Strengthening Relationship Foundations

Why does time speed up when your to-do list feels so long?! We are currently taking premarital counseling as a requirement before getting married. I went into it begrudgingly. No offense to anyone who believes in it, but I hadn't seen success in others that utilized such services. That, and it was draining our reserve money as well. Plus, it takes time away from other things we have going on. We are required to have 5 sessions of 1.5 hours long and it costs $90 a session. You do the math. But I considered it something I would approach open-mindedly. After all, I want this marriage to be strong in its foundations. To truly last. One failed marriage and rocky divorce is more than enough for me. I don't want any more. And I know we both come together with our personal issues.

The first two sessions have been great. I was steeled against the bombardment of questions and provocation that I believed counselors were all about. Turns out... I was wrong. As a matter of fact, even with just these 2 sessions, my fiancé and I have begun to talk more and be a little more open about things. Okay, more so me. I don't like to "complain" about things. Or tell him when I'm bothered by something. Don't know why, but I prefer to keep everything bottled up. Especially when I know there is nothing he or I can do about it. That's what my journal is for, right? Yeah... no. I clam up. I shut down. Emotions go out the window. I become... robotic? Bugs the daylights out of him. No matter how hard I try, that's my defense. Its the wall I put up. I am getting better about it.

Counseling has helped. It was a requirement that I now feel should be given to all. It should be embraced. Especially when you are planning to unlock the Lifetime Partner achievement. (We totally plan to have the minister hold one of these up at the end of the ceremony!)

We still have a long way to go. Both of us, however, have faith that no matter what the future holds, we will go through the remainder of our lives together. We will weather the storms and make the best of everything. Together.

Only 52 days left!

Wedding preparations may have slowed, but certainly not stopped. And now that we are less than two months from the day, things are starting to pick up. Last minute details are taking form.
I'm so glad that I had started purchasing some of the things we were going to need while I still had my job. Otherwise, I may have scrapped more of the smaller details I had wanted. But I also have had both sides of the family pitching in to help. My mother has given us money towards the wedding as a wedding present. Being that we both came from homes stocked with most of what we needed, there aren't a whole lot of gifts we can ask for on the registry that people want to get. So money towards the wedding itself is perfect! His family has contributed to items needed as well. My dress is in the process of being made, his jacket and pants are being completed, the cake is being worked on by his mom (only wish I was able to taste test the ones she is practicing on!). Overall, I'm really excited about how things are lining up!

So what other things have I added to the finished details? Well, I've finally created the galaxy jars.

And let me just say here... I won't try that again. I'm not so crafty, for sure. No matter how well I try to follow the video. I found said video on Pinterest. Do you know how dangerous that site can be?! So many great ideas! But of course, then you want to try everything...
Anyhow...
It took me hours, not 20 minutes like in the video, but several hours to finish my 12 jars and 1 test jar.

And they still didn't come out exactly as the video. I still like them. And when I get those tealight candles, they will be complete. As an added bonus, I even had the idea to add the canning stickers that came with the jars to the front. Each sticker has my fiancés name and mine, divided by the year. Below that is a space for our guests at each table to write a single word that describes one or both of us.

Just a little something to keep people busy for a bit while adding to our story later on.
There will be more projects I'll share with everyone soon. This week is a busy one, but I have some light saber bubble wands to create! Some bouquets to share (Michaels had flowers 60% off!)

Only 4 more months to go...

My wedding day approaches quickly. I have just about four more months left to finish the preparations. I do have the cake toppers and he put on a custom engagement ring to show this lady is his.
He knows me so well. A diamond would've disappointed this nerdy girl. He created a ring with the Star Wars rebel symbols holding the ruby.

The cake toppers will look great on the cake we plan to have. He has Captain Picard and I have Queen Amidala.  

The invitations went out too. My future mother-in-law and her brother created the perfect blend for us.

And for my birthday, my Mom sent us our cake cutting set. A little polish and it will be beautiful!

Wedding planning continues!

I had a question posed to me in the comments of my last wedding post. I'd like to take a moment to respond to that question before addressing the next part of our plans.

So the question is:
"I understand wanting a nice wedding. Here's my question...if you know you're going to do it, why wait? I just don't understand people who wait. A wedding is for those getting married and not so much others who attend. Just my thoughts."

My reply is this...
For us, there are a couple things having us wait. For starters, finances. We are doing it when we will have funding for everything. As I'm currently part time, I only have so much money to cover all the bills every month. Not much is left over for anything extra.
Secondly, is our desire to make it our perfect day. Regardless of who is there, we have imagined a day for us that is to our liking. We have put much planning into it. We want a day we will remember for the rest of our lives as one of the best.
And lastly, there are certain people we want to share that day with. So picking the time that gives them the chance to be there is important to us. I want my family from Florida to come in. I'd love my best friends to be there. And he has a brother in the Marines that he would like to serve as his Best Man.
Waiting and planning will give us this accomplishment. We can truly enjoy the act of being joined in matrimony and starting a lifetime together.

Now for the next step we took in planning the wedding...

We had to hire a photographer. Okay, maybe we could've had a family member taking pictures. And truly, we will need someone to video the ceremony as that doesn't come included. But this way, family and friends can enjoy the day without being assigned such tasks. We also had a special photographer in mind for this part of the planning. Lene Griego is the proud owner of Master Photography by LG, LLC. We had very special reasons for wanting her to be our photographer. I've known her for over 8 years now. I've seen her work through Facebook. And also because she has a wonderful green screen. My plans were to utilize her green screen so that every guest has the chance to put themselves in a professional photograph with a background of their own that they get to take home as a favor. My fiancé and I have gotten to try this out at a couple comic cons. That's where we got this beauty done.

Master Photography has a physical location now that we hope to get our newborn pictures shot in. If you are looking for a fun or nerdy Christmas card this year, its not too late! You can call or stop by her location.  210-860-9005 or come by 8521 Blanco Road, inside the Mad Crafter Gift Shop.

Let me know what you think of our idea. Would you do something like this at your wedding?

Gooooing to the chapel and I'm gonna get marrrrieed!

Sorry, can't help myself with that title. Unless you remember the oldies song it went to, you probably think I've lost my mind and started writing like the idiot millennial youth of todays day and age. Yeah... no. I might be losing my mind, but I'm not reverting to stupidity with my English skills. I have dignity. They do not.
Anyhow.... moving on....
Normally, a couple decides to get married and THEN have kids. My fiancé and I went outside the box. We got knocked up and then agreed to get married. Neither of us are doing so because I had a baby though. Believe it or not, talk of such had occurred before we learned that 1+1 sometimes does equal 3. (Get the common core reference?) In addition to going about this step in the relationship backwards, we also took another step out of order. There was no ring involved when the question was posed. Heck, it wasn't even a question. More of a, "You know I plan on marrying you, right?"
I sit here laughing at the memory. Let's face it. I don't reside inside the box. I don't follow the crowds. I won't be a white sheep in the herd. I won't even settle to be the black sheep. More like a purple or a red sheep... The point is, I move to my own drumbeat. My decisions may not be what certain people want them to be. Maybe they aren't as well thought out as they should be. But they are my own. And my fiancé certainly rolls along with it. So the question wasn't, "Will you marry me?" Because I already knew that was the plan. I already knew there wasn't a doubt between us that that was the path we were on. There was no other answer than, yes. Followed by, "When are you planning this, by the way?" Because I promise you, I won't be having a shotgun wedding. I won't get married simply because I'm pregnant and its taboo. I won't do a justice of the peace ceremony thrown together in a couple months. My first wedding was in my parents living room and laughable all the way.
No, if I'm getting married again, it will have class. It will be done right. It will live up to the dreams I had of that happily ever after moment. Don't get me wrong, I'm no princess. I won't expect, or want, that Disney wedding fairy tale set up. I have every intention of nerding it up.
Fast forward to me being 9 1/2 months pregnant. We have now decided to start planning a wedding for next June. By then, I won't be pregnant. We will be moved into a better home/neighborhood. And I should be back to a much smaller size so that I can rock an elf-like or medieval style dress. The theme for our wedding? Star Trek marries Star Wars! He's the Trekkie and I'm all for SW. Granted I didn't fall in love with any of the dresses in the Star Wars movies. So that's why I'll be rocking another style. But close enough. I'm also a huge Lord of the Rings fan. It will work perfectly.
This month, we finally found the perfect venue. Its in an area we can enjoy, affordable (considering all that comes with the price and in comparison to others we looked at), fits our estimated guest list, and will add a great deal of class. Not to mention the staff is all for our theme! Vintage Villas in Austin is where we plan to go for our wedding.

I'm totally looking forward to it. And now that I know where, when and time... I can start putting together the more fun aspects of the wedding.
So from here on out, I'll post an update on the plans and things that are happening for the wedding. I'm sure it will be one to remember!