Slowly but Surely...

Well things kind of came to a halt during the holidays since I have been working about 70+ hours per week... but now that's all over with and I have time to brrreeaatheee!! YAY!!

I designed the image for our Save the Date a while back and had a company transfer the design onto a magnet. HOWEVER, when I received the magnets, the coloring, centering, and clarity were horrible! I called the company to see what could be done about fixing this major problem. Long story short, I edited the design and they are re-printing them for me... not completely free, but I'll take it. I revised the design using a larger canvas and made sure to convert the image to CMYK (which somehow slipped my mind previously, which explained the horrid orange tint to the images after printing). Anyway, below is the design that I am hopeful will be the last. I REALLY like the way they look on the computer... I just hope everything comes out this nicely when they are printed... we shall see!

(This image isn't the actual size... the magnet will be 4x6)

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!!!