Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Eric and I had an Engagement Announcement run in a newspaper for the very first time yesterday! It ran in the Elgin Courier, which is the local newspaper for Eric's hometown. I inquired about being in the Sunday paper because I figured more people would read that one, but then I learned that the paper only prints on Tuesday... so Tuesday it was!


Here is the online version of our article:

I didn't feel that it was necessary before, but after a couple shocking complaints, I will go ahead and add that there were some people left out of this announcement because of the size of my family. This was only the first announcement published, but there will also be announcements running in The Southlake Star, The Dallas Morning News, and The Fort Worth Star Telegram, so my other grandparents will be mentioned in one of those papers. (Grandma Dottie Lorenz & Grandpa Joe Sandavol, Grandma Adria & Dick Krull, Grandpa Bill & Grandma Mary Toon, and Albert Haggerty). Additionally, Michael Toon is my step-dad. My biological dad is Troy Haggerty.

Hopefully that clears up any confusion!

Op·u·lent: Characterized by rich abundance

Today Eric and I decided on a bakery for our wedding cakes! Eric has been unable to accompany me to any of the tastings thus far, but he was able to make it to this one and it ended up being the most important! We chose Opulent Cakes of Colleyville for our cakes, and I feel so good about this decision!! Donna, the owner, is so hospitable and her designs are beautiful!! We taste tested 6 different flavors and we decided on Amaretto Liqueur (the best I've ever had) with 3 layers of butter cream filling for the bottom 2 layers of the bride's cake, and Chocolate Liqueur with 2 layers of caramel filling and one layer of chocolate mousse filling for the groom's cake and the top 2 layers of the bride's cake.

This is what the bride's cake should look like (I photo shopped the original photo to look lavender). It will also have a crystal monogram cake topper.

Groom's cake: The TCU Stadium!!

We liked these the least (which is still very good! haha)

These two were good... but not the winner.

The winners!!! SOOO amazingly yummy!!!

The end!

Save the Dates, Calligraphy, and Invitations... Oh My!

As I'm sure everyone is aware, I am SO excited about the success of our engagement pictures!! What everyone might not be aware of is the fact that I was waiting on the engagement pictures to complete the Save the Dates. I'm actually designing them myself and having the design put onto a magnet. I have designed 3 similar versions of the Save the Date using 3 different engagement pictures so we can send everyone a Save the Date with the picture we feel they will prefer. My designs aren't completely perfected or 100% final, so I'm not posting them yet... but I will definitely post the designs when they're completed!

On another note, I visited an adorable stationery shop in Fort Worth called Byrd + Bleecker, which is conveniently located only about 2 miles from my house, to see in person some wedding invitations that I have been scoping out online. I think I have narrowed down the selection to 2, but the problem is that I love each of them for very different reasons. They are comparably priced, so I can't really use that as a deciding factor.

Here are my two finalists, accompanied by reasons I love them...

Picture this: Where the peach color is there would be lavender and where the red color is there would be amethyst.

• I love this design... The peony design is so elegant, timeless, and rich with southern flair. I love the Parisian elements as well.
• All pieces are beautifully letterpressed.
• Lots of font options.
• Free envelope printing for return address.

Picture this with the yellow flowers on the bottom (as pictured), but with amethyst colored text, and lavender edge painting (although you can't see the edges in this picture).

• I LOVE THE PAPER!!! That sounds silly, but a sorority sister of mine (Katie "Glonek" Day) used Smock Letterpress for her wedding invitations and the recycled bamboo paper is super thick and feels so rich and amazing. It was unlike any invitation I had ever seen when I received mine from her.
• I LOVE THE FONTS! Smock has 2 fonts available which are designed after the hand calligraphy of a famous calligraphist, therefore the letterpress text on your invitation makes people double take on whether it was done by a computer or if it was hand scribed and then pressed.
• EDGE PAINTING! This is such a fabulous option, in my opinion! The edges of your invitation can be hand painted a color that compliments your invitation (since the paper is pretty thick and the edges are wide enough to notice if they are a different color). I remember receiving Katie's invitation and thinking how unique and truly different it was that the edges of the invitation were a different color... I also pondered for quite a while how that was even achieved! Beautiful touch!
• I guess the main thing I don't like as much about this invitation is the design... I like the Parisian Peony design better, but I love all of the little detailed elements that this company has to offer.
  

Decisions, decisions!
I'm going to talk to my mom about her opinions on each of them also, so I will keep you posted on the decision making process!

Engagement Photos!

Eric and I couldn't be more pleased with our engagement pictures... they are amazing and EXACTLY what we hoped for. Joseph and Stephanie from JosephMark Photography are truely the most talented photography team I have ever seen. I am SO thankful to have such wonderful people capturing these important moments which will turn into memories that last for the rest of our lives!

Below are some of my favorites from our engagement shoot...

Picture Perfect!

It finally happened! We took our engagement pictures!!

Today was beautiful... sunny, clear blue skies, slight breeze... and best of all-- NO RAIN!

We started at 6:00pm in the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens where we met Joseph and Stephanie Ellis of JosephMark Photography. For the first location I wore a navy and white dress by Antonio Melani and Eric wore Seven for All Mankind Jeans with a white Polo and his Lucchese boots. The first couple shots included Eric and my most favorite things... our dogs!! Louis and Lucky were so well behaved and helped create super fun shots! Those pictures will be priceless! After we finished shooting with the dogs, we took pictures at several different locations around the rose gardens. I got to preview one photo that Joe took looking through a bunch of Lavender at Eric and I. It was so beautiful! Joe is such a talented photographer with a beautifully artistic eye. The Fort Worth Stock Yards right before sunset served as the backdrop for the second round of photos. I wore a cream colored dress with my Leddy Vaquero TCU boots, while Eric sported a light brown Polo with his jeans and Lucchese boots. We took so many neat shots! In one of the shots we were in the middle of the street with the "Fort Worth Stock Yards" street sign in the background. Eric was holding me in his arms and dipping me slightly. The sun was perfectly shining in the background... Joe said it was one of the best stockyard shots he has taken in a long time... if not ever! (That made me so excited because he has taken SO many amazing pictures in the stockyards.) The last location was by the Ashton Depot on the outskirts of downtown Fort Worth. The abandoned parking lot Joe chose to shoot from had a perfect and beautiful view of the downtown skyline. By this time it was completely dark outside, so the lights made for very dramatic, incredible photos! Joe found a small puddle of water in the parking lot and was somehow able to capture our reflection in the water with the skyline and lights... I saw the preview on his camera and it was breathtaking! For this set of photos, Eric wore a solid black Robert Graham button down (it had beautifully embellished cuffs, of course-- a Robert Graham signature) with jeans and black Prada loafers. I wore a silk black baby doll style tank by BCBG Maxazria with jeans and black patent Tory Burch wedges.

I could not be more pleased with the way our shoot went, and I know I will be overjoyed when we get to look at all of our beautiful photos!! Eric was even commenting on how incredibly talented Joe is and how his passion for photography is so evident. During the last set of photos with the downtown skyline, Joe was laying on his stomach on the ground so he could capture the shot from just the right angle. He got all excited every time he captured a perfect shot. Eric and I later commented on how blessed he is not only for having such a priceless skill, but also to be able to do what he loves and get paid for it! How rare! Joe and Stephanie are a very positive and uplifting couple to be around... we can't wait to see them again on our wedding day, and I can't wait for them to take my bridal portraits in the spring!!

Hooray for a fabulous day of picture perfection!

Looking Good So Far...

I'm still freaking out about the possibility of having to reschedule the engagement pictures this Sunday for the millionth time!! HOWEVER... I have been doing some intense praying and I was pleasantly surprised when I just checked the Weather Channel's website!!

ZERO % CHANCE of PRECIPITATION!! We might actually get to take our pictures!!!

HOORAY!!!

3rd Time's a Charm?

Eric and I have had to set 3 different dates for our Engagement Photos so far.

Sunday, August 2nd, then Sunday, August 23rd, and now Sunday, September 27th.

The first time we rescheduled because there was way too much going on and Eric and I were not prepared for the photos. The 2nd reschedule was due to Eric's horrible cold that he developed the day before our shoot... and now I am fearful of having to reschedule because September seems to be the new MONSOON SEASON here in Fort Worth, Texas! WHAT in the WORLD is going on with this weather?! I am SO sick of rain and no sunshine! I keep hoping "3rd Time's a Charm" will apply to this situation, and that the weather will not force us to reschedule and set a 4th date for the photos!!

On top of the fact that delaying them in general is frustrating because I'm looking SO forward to having these pictures taken, it is getting pretty expensive to keep rescheduling!! Think about all the prep work we have done each time... we each get our hair trimmed, I get my nails done, we like to tan a couple times so we aren't ghostly pale, I get the dogs groomed because they're going to be in a couple of the photos... etc. If I do all this again and then it rains us out, I'm going to scream!

Ok that's all... just needed to vent :)

PRAY FOR SUNSHINE!! haha.

"...And They Will Talk About It!"

BEST NEWS YET!! I PICKED a FLORIST!! (Pun intended... haha.)

Call me crazy, but the floral decor at my reception is one of the single MOST important things to me. When planning events, the overall appearance is one thing that most people remember and later reminisce about how beautiful everything was. SO, after much competitive shopping, I have decided that Signature Productions Florist and Event Planning will be responsible for creating centerpieces and floral decor that will be memorable and beautiful! Signature Productions is in the Village in Colleyville right across from The Piazza where my mom works. Their slogan, "And they will talk about it!" happens to be exactly what we're going for! The shop is absolutely beautiful and the owner, Ed, is genuinely nice, very knowledgeable, and so accommodating. I emailed him, along with several other florists, a huge list of all the floral pieces I would be ordering with quantities and pictures of floral designs that I like. This quote request was very detailed and so specific that some florists just told me I needed to come in and discuss it in person, and some didn't even respond!! Not only did Ed communicate regularly with me, reassuring me that he was working on my quote and had not forgotten about me, but when he finished the quote and we met to talk about it I was completely blown away! Ed had payed specific attention to every detail that I sent him. He formulated a detailed quote for me that ended up being about a half a dozen pages. He went as far as contacting growers in several other countries to ensure the most bang for my buck. Ed is enthusiastic, polite, fun, very talented, and most importantly, he wants to make me happy. I can tell that he genuinely cares about his clients, and not just about the payments involved. I CANNOT WAIT to see what he comes up with when we meet with him a couple months before the wedding to see the mark-up arrangements. I am so confident in this decision, although I felt like it would be the hardest and most nerve-wrecking part! I couldn't be happier!

Here are a couple pictures of Ed's shop and designs...

And Then There Were Two...

Last Saturday Eric and I were scheduled to meet with the manager at the Grapevine Men's Warehouse, then meet with two different bakeries that came highly recommended by my mom's co-worker, Michelle, at The Piazza. Well, it turns out that Eric didn't feel well on Friday morning, and then felt even worse on Saturday. We ended up having to cancel our Engagement Pictures scheduled for Sunday! He couldn't stop coughing and had developed a full-blown cold. So, we cancelled the Saturday morning meeting with Men's Warehouse, but my mom went with me to the bakeries to taste test more cakes. We went to The Cakery in Southlake first and then to Sweet Expressions by Selina. We were very impressed with both bakeries and we will definitely be choosing one of the two. The Cakery gave us the best price quote, but Sweet Expressions is owned by a very talented European woman who only takes on ONE cake design per week. Therefore she has the time and ability to spend as much time as needed to make the cakes perfect. Also, she is extremely detail oriented and her own worst critic, so I think she would do an incredible job simply for her own satisfaction in addition to wanting to please Eric and I. Both bakeries are fabulous and I will be thrilled to work with either one... so I will keep you posted with the final decision!

Sugar, Spice... and not very Nice!

I realize it's been exactly a week since I was jumping for joy about going to taste test cakes and meet with the photographer, but a LOT has been going on which has caused a delay in posting my findings.

First of all, I don't know if I have ever specified which photographer we're using, but we have chosen JosephMark Photography. As far as I'm concerned, this husband and wife team is the best. I am completely obsessed with their documentary style photography and I have yet to find a photographer who is able to capture so much emotion and life in their photos. And trust me, I have looked at a zillion websites. I also love the use of color, contrast and light with JosephMark. I could go on and on about why this photography team is my favorite... but I'll spare you for now.
We met with Joseph at their super awesome photography studio, which is located in the old Sears and Roebucks building in Dallas. It's incredibly artsy and perfect for a studio. He showed my mom and I a slide show of some of his favorite pictures projected onto a giant screen (seriously, this thing had to be at least 72 inches wide), and then we looked at the package and album options. All of their albums are leather bound with one of two photo layout options: they can mount the photos and create a framed and matted look, or they can design a page layout for every single page with a custom designed arrangement of photos. The second option allows for about 80 photos to be included in a 50 page album, and it looks incredible, not to mention it's totally custom, so naturally this is the design my mom and I prefer.

All and all, I would say it was a very fun and successful meeting. Eric and I will be taking the first round of many photos, our engagements, on Sunday, August 23... I can't wait!!

AFTER the photography studio, we headed 15 minutes across downtown Dallas to Romano's Bakery. The guy who greeted us when we walked in (if you call it a greeting) was less than hospitable and without saying more than a couple words, immediately handed me a clip board with paperwork to fill out. After several minutes, he came and sat with us at a round table and began quizzing me about my wedding details and started telling me how many layers I needed on my cake... not even stopping to find out that my mom works in the wedding industry and she was already fully aware of what we needed and wanted. We told him my wedding would have around 250 guests, so he started adding a ton of layers to my cake until my mom stopped him and explained that it's only common sense to plan for most but not all of your guests to eat cake. Plus, we would have a large groom's cake also, and we didn't want to end up with enough cake to feed a small army! He was clearly just trying to tack on dollars to our order. He was pushy and curt, never spending enough time explaining anything or making the experience fun for us. My mom then asked him, based on the experience of a Bride who had her wedding at The Piazza only one month prior, what Romano's would do if they got into a car accident on the way to the wedding and the cake was ruined. His response was simply, "Well that's never happened." My mom explained that the bakery delivering the cake for the Piazza's Bride had not experienced that before either, but she wanted to know if they had a game plan-- just in case. He then replied, rather snarky, "We would just get it fixed." Our thoughts: Right. You're going to 'get it fixed' when you are an hour away from your bakery and the cake is in shambles. Whatever. My mom just starred displeasingly at his lack of effort to find something even remotely reassuring to say. Once I was fully annoyed, I told him that we had not officially decided on a bakery for my cake design, and the reason for our visit was to view the cake design in person and meet the staff at Romano's to see if we would even want to work with them. At that point he became slightly nicer and more animated... barely... but at least there was some attempt being made. We taste tested 16 flavors of cakes, which I will say were delicious. My mom and I agreed that we liked the Amaretto Liqueur best in white flavors, and the Caramel Turtle best in chocolate flavors. The guy then asked us about our design for a groom's cake, and I explained that we had found an amazing cake at Creme-de la-Creme in Fort Worth which was a to-scale cake model of the TCU football stadium. He quickly stated, "We've done it." I just rolled my eyes at this point thinking: Sure. You don't even know what it looks like. I pulled up a picture of the amazing cake on my iPhone to show him... he took one look at it and said, "Oh wow that's a lot of detail." As I think to myself: Oh but I thought "you've done it". He asked me to email a picture of the cake to the bakery for the head baker to look over before they could quote a price for the design. When the meeting finally came to an end, the guy stood up and stuck out his hand while saying, "I'm so-and-so, by the way." He had never even introduced himself. We shook his hand and politely thanked him.

In the car on the way back from the bakery we pretty much concluded that I would be taking a picture of the beautiful cake with the fondant bows to another bakery, preferably one in Fort Worth where people have manners, and have them recreate the design. This will eliminate the almost $200 delivery fee Romano's would have charged to deliver the cake to Fort Worth also.

I was definitely shocked by this meeting, but I can't say it was a huge failure. I did get to see the design of the cake I love in person... and it was even prettier than the picture! I just hope another bakery can create the same design! We will be visiting Creme-de la-Creme very soon to taste test their cakes and see if they can design the cake with the bows. This would be the best idea since they are also the ones who make the stadium cake that Eric wants for his groom's cake. Everything will work out just fine... and the great part about getting started early is that I have plenty of time to figure things out if I need a Plan B!

We'll have a perfect cake... and we'll eat it too!

So, until yesterday I haven't cared much about my wedding cake at all yet. The way I see it, they all pretty much look the same: layered, white-ish, flowers, maybe an icing monogram, maybe a last initial on the top... etc. HOWEVER, I was looking through the most recent (Fall 2009) issue of D Weddings (it's a local DFW magazine) and I found the most perfect cake!!!!!!! I am in love with it. Mine won't look identical to the one pictured on page 147, but hopefully it will be something similar! For those of you who don't have your issue of D Weddings handy, the picture of the cake is below, but it's kind of small... sorry!

The cake is from Romano's Bakery in Dallas. The bows are made of fondant icing and each one has a crystal broach in the center. I am picturing this cake in a very light lavender with the bows just a few shades darker. The bows and broaches will remain the same... and we will have crystal monogram letters "e C b" on top (also pictured below).

This decision isn't set in stone, but it certainly has my vote so far. My mom and I are meeting with the people at Romano's Bakery this coming Tuesday, July 28th to look at all of their designs, talk about pricing, and taste test their cake flavors! I will keep you posted as to how the meeting goes!

THE cake:

The Crystal Monogram Cake Topper:

To anyone currently planning their wedding...

I'm SO excited... I searched online last night for a free seating chart template that I could download and I finally FOUND ONE! It's awesome... it has a page for budgeting, a guest list with "yes/no" options for whether or not you have sent them an invitation, the number of people that were invited, the number of people attending, the gift you received from that person/family, and a "yes/no" option for whether or not you sent them a thank you note, and also a seating chart template for various different sizes of tables. All you do is type the guest's name in the numbered box and their name is written next to that seat. It's SO nice and such an easy way to organize everything!

Here is the info...

• Website Link: http://www.weddingvic.com/tips/organiser.htm


• Click the button that says "Click Here" to download


• You need Microsoft Excel to use this template

This is a little preview of the seating chart template...

I will be so glad to have this when it comes time to make seating charts!!!

Detail Oriented

So, when planning a wedding every bride has their "thing" that they are incredibly excited or particular about. My "thing" (or should I say, "things") is flowers and table linens. I know that sounds strange, but they can really transform everything from great to really grand. I have decided that I want my bouquet to be solid white, with a mixture of Peony's and Roses, and the bridesmaids bouquets would be mostly yellow with some purple. I know that I want the table centerpieces to be very structured, round, tall, and really grand. ("Spray" type floral arrangements remind me of a funeral). Since I'm not particular about the kind of flowers being used other than for my own bouquet, I basically plan on using the florist who can give me the best deal. I want LOTS of flowers and I want the centerpieces and my bouquet to be BIG... so a good deal will be very necessary.

Does anyone know a florist who will give me a good deal?

ALSO, my mom is the sales manager at The Piazza in the Village (a very prestigious wedding venue), so if a florist partnered with us and gave a really good deal, my mom would definitely be referring each of her clients to our florist... a win win situation for everyone! :)

These are pictures similar to what I have in mind...

1. My bouquet... all white with peony/rose combination:

2. Bridesmaids Bouquets (size and shape of the first photo, but with purple like the second photo):

3. Centerpieces (obviously not these colors... they would be like the bridesmaid bouquets... mostly yellow with some purple):

...More ideas to come!!

I also don't know who to use for table linens because I have scoured the metroplex and nobody seems to have the royal purple damask or scroll pattern I want! If you know where I can find these kind of table linens, let me know! :)

Oh how I looooove wedding planning... especially all the little details!!

"Love's like a runway..."

I am excited to say that my bridal shoes were purchased this morning! I have always dreamed of looking like a bride out of Vogue... very couture and almost slightly avant-garde. The latter will be achieved by wear of my royal purple Manolo Blahnik Hangisi pumps on my wedding day! It is certainly not customary to wear colored shoes as a bride, but I think they are very "me"... and they're my favorite color! I found these shoes and didn't even piece together that they were the same design as Carrie's bridal shoes in the Sex and the City Movie, only hers were midnight blue. Manolo Blahnik designed those custom for the movie, and then recreated the shoe in a few colors and made them available for sale shortly after the movie was released. I had never seen the shoes in purple before, and I'm completely in love with them. It's such a regal and vintage look, but modern all at the same time. I can't wait until they arrive! What better a feeling than walking down the aisle in Manolo's? Well, getting married to the love of my life, of course! ...But I'm sure it will be a close second ;)

No need to stress... I found The Dress!!!

After barely surviving the Dallas Bridal Show, my mom and I decided to visit the Priscilla of Boston boutique since we were already out in Dallas, which was a rare opportunity because neither of us enjoy driving out there! I called around 4:45pm and set a last minute appointment for 5:30pm. We arrived about 10 minutes late (fashionably, of course) and walked into the beautiful bridal salon. An adorable red head greeted us and said she would be my consultant. We filled out paperwork and talked to her about my taste and "vision". I warned her that I am very decisive and particular, so I will probably be very blunt about the gowns I do and do not like-- which she said would actually be very beneficial. We walked to each collection's section beginning with "Platinum". I chose about 6 dressed I loved from this collection, which is very exquisite and embellished. We then moved to the classic "Priscilla of Boston" collection, but there was nothing that really stood out to me. We continued to a few other sections and selected a few other gowns, totalling around 10 dresses to try on. The first dress was pretty but nothing special. When I started putting on the second dress, my mom said, "Oh I think I'm going to love this one!" I liked it on the hanger, but when I put it on... well, I fell in love with it! I went and stood on the alteration pedestal to look at it from every angle in the mirrors. I loved everything about it... and I had a huge cheesy grin the whole time I had it on. I went back to my dressing room and continued trying on several other dresses, all of which were beautiful... but none compared to the dress I fell in love with. My mom and I narrowed our selection down to two. I tried them both on again, asking my mom over and over what her opinion was of each (she has excellent taste). She liked them both, but she told me I had a different kind of glow and happiness when I put on the initial gown that I loved. She told me, "It just looks like you... it makes a statement." I then tried on a feather hairpiece and a veil with the gown, and tried pulling back my hair to get the full effect. It was utter perfection. I knew the look I was trying to go for and this nailed it head-on. I wanted high fashion, slightly vintage, sophisticated, different, somewhat traditional, a dropped-waist, strapless neckline, ivory fabric, and lots of bling. That's quite a few specifics to find all in one dress... but this one had it all! I know it seems early to have made this decision, but I just know this dress was meant for me.

It's perfect.