2 days to go - the car ride

Drove all the way from Detroit to St. Louis with Miles in the back seat. Got syrup shot in my eye and Miles peed on Doug.

3 days to go - the car is all packed and ready

So today was awesome! I had a great day at work. Grabbed lunch with Jason, Andrew and Robert from Sway who is working on the Taurus feature animations with us. He mentioned they were looking for art directors and I couldn't help but fantasize about the idea of living out in the Culver City area. I love California weather. Too bad there are so many damn people there.

Work surprised me with a little mini party to send me off for the wedding. It was so cute with champagne and confetti! It was so adorable. I know that Alexis had a lot to do with it. She is so damn sweet. I love sitting by her at work. I can't wait to help her with her wedding if she needs it. Anyways, the surprise was adorable and I couldn't possibly work with a better group of people.

We left work early and I went to get my wedding dress. There was a big seam down the center of the dress that the woman working there fixed for me. I was seriously about to cry I was so worried. It came out fine and I need to not over analyze the little crease here and there. I was texting Alexis freaking out and she was so sweet and called me and totally calmed me down. Like I said, she is awesome.

So tonight was a lot of packing and last minute details. I finished Miles' ring pillow. It's adorable! I am so excited I made something instead of paying out my butt on Etsy for something. The stuff was cute but so expensive. Plus it's neat to have made it myself. I also finished grouping the tables with the place cards and letterpress letters. Made signs for the tables and got everything packed and ready. My wedding dress and veil are hanging in the guest bedroom now waiting to be loaded into the car tomorrow. I am just about done and ready to head to bed. Hitting the road at 7am tomorrow so we can get in town early. I can't wait to check into the hotel and relax - maybe go swimming!

4 days to go - 1 year since Doug proposed

Doug proposed one year ago today out in Big Sur while hiking through the mountains. It is hard to believe it has been a year already and that our wedding is this weekend and at the same time - I guess a lot has happened between now and then. It still cracks me up he proposed on Cinco de Mayo - I guess I am part Mexican so it works out.

Man, I am feeling it today. I did alright most of the day. Walking around with my head in the clouds and then about 10 minutes ago I hit a wall. I think all these late nights, restless sleeping patterns, and early mornings are getting to me. I got quite a bit accomplished today. Talked to the videographer who is super sweet. It is a woman which is awesome. She apparently used to shoot for the news so she sounds like she is going to be totally on it, which I love. My natural wooden altar got the axe today when I spoke with the florist. I had mentioned that we couldn't have anything stake into the ground at the gardens when I asked for the altar, but apparently they built it that way anyways. So now we can't use it. So they are refunding my money. I have way too many other things to worry about than let this upset me. I wanted to save a few bucks here and there anyways so it works out. I am just a bit bummed because it would have been gorgeous. Now I don't have anything special about the ceremony decor. In fact, I have no ceremony decor now. Which kinda sucks actually. Maybe I will email amanda and see what we can do with that 300 bucks for the ceremony space. I sent the hotel guest bags off with Brandon today, who is leaving tomorrow for STL. The first of the group to head out. I am really looking forward to everything being done and relaxing in my hotel room. Hitting the pool even. I bought several swimsuits online and will be returning what I don't like. I needed something for the honeymoon!

We stopped in at Kung Fu today to say bye today. Blackcoated beginner class. Sifu was so kind and is going to allow us to take Tai Chi classes as a gift. I have been wanting to try it. It is going to be hard with the schedule but I am excited to try and make it work! As we were leaving Ms Donnie was so sweet - wishing us the best and crying - she made me cry too! She is so sweet. I wish she could make it to the wedding. It would be so special to have her there, smiling at us. Her smile always makes me feel great! She has this amazing way of making you feel great. I am definitely going to miss the dojo while we are away. I think it will be fun to practice while on the honeymoon. You can't beat doing forms on the beach!

5 days to go

Today was pretty low key. We got a ton done over the weekend so tonight we didn't do a ton. We took the dogs to the vet so they are up to date on their shots. Rufus is staying at puppy camp/the pet ritz over the wedding weekend. He loves it there. Then Doug got a haircut. Earlier today though, Doug stopped in at the jeweler and picked up my wedding ring!! I am so excited. He won't let me see it finished. I think that's kinda cool. It will be super exciting to see it on the wedding day as we say our vows and exchange the rings. I also got my engagement band back with a pink tourmaline stone in it. It's pretty! I am excite to have the band back. I am obviously attached to it for sentimental reasons. It was cute when Doug pulled it out of his pocket in a little black satin pouch at work today to give it back to me with the new stone. It has been weird the past week without the ring on. I have gotten used to wearing one all the time. I also bought a swimsuit for the honeymoon! I actually bought two. Zappos has free next day shipping on clothes so I picked up my top two and we will see how they fit. I also started Mile's ring pillow. I will take pics tomorrow and update the post. Tomorrow is cinco de mayo/our 1 year engagement anniversary. It still cracks me up he engaged on cinco de mayo. ha. Makes it easy to remember!

6 days to go!

Today I am putting the name tags on the birds. Alexis helped me gather a decent amount of these cute little tags made by Martha Stewart. I put the names of each guest on a tag and then designated their table assignment on the back of each tag with a cute set of stamps we found at Michael's. Since each table is designated with a letterpress letter, each tag as a letter on the back. Here are a couple of pics of some of the birds I took outside to hang from our blooming crab apple tree. The tree smells so amazing right now! I am glad we are in town to enjoy it. Later I plan to start Mile's ring pillow.

One Week from today!

So I subscribed to weather.com for the 10 day forecast leading up to the wedding. As of a few days ago, the forecast was for showers 70%. Today it is saying partly cloudy! Let's hope that continues to unfold that way throughout the week. My mom is so sweet. She keeps telling me she is talking to the Big Guy about sunshine. I guess when you are talking about God as the Big Guy, it should be caps? HA. Anyways, I start these out and then update them at the end of the day. Somehow it helps me remember to do it. This is really just a form of an online journal. I like writing about things I want to remember. I can't wait to be doing our room in St. Lucia ;)

So I tried on the wedding dress for a final fitting today. Good thing I went out and tried walking in it. I kept tripping on the front. Turns out it was still too big. So they are taking it in a bit and it should sit higher and no more tripping. I was freaking out a little. My mom and I then went to Costco and picked up stuff for the guest hotel bags. I got lots of yummy snacks, threw an itinerary in there, an STL visitor guide, some water, mints, tide for sink washing (if they are like me, they'll need it), and put them all in the reusable target bags I bought a few months back. I think its a fun little package to get when you check into your hotel. So I packaged those all up tonight for each out of town guest

Then I put ribbons on the bubbles I picked up for the ceremony. Somewhere in there Miles hopped on video chat with Doug while he was at the office printing the programs. HA - this picture cracks me up!!! hahahaha..

8 Days and counting!

Yeah, tulips along the garage!! I planted them the fall before last and they get HUGE.
Anyways, today I drove to work to some classic MJ - Billie Jean, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough and Dancing Machine are just the best at putting a smile on my face. Then when I got to work I cut a couple big checks. I paid the balance I owed with the caterer in addition to paying the florist. It feels good to have everything paid for and not have a bunch of debt. I am so excited and kinda proud of myself for all the saving I did throughout the year. I put away 55% of every paycheck to pay for this wedding. I received help from my mom and Doug's parents and between that and the savings, everything is paid for! Woo hoo!!
Besides cutting checks, I didn't do a ton of wedding stuff. I filled out the tags for the guest bags. I also went to Kung Fu. It has been hard to make it with all the wedding stuff going on and work being a bit busy. Sifu was relating the 5 ways of being a great martial artist to how I could write my vows. It was very funny. After class, we talked a bit about the wedding and the honeymoon. He is so kind and such a wonderful teacher. I keep wishing I would have dragged myself in there sooner. At least I am there now.
We received the envelopes and cards for the guest book/jar table. They are so cute! I love the little envelopes. Paperpresentation.com had a great selection. We also received the stand for our hammock! I am SO excited to bust that out this summer. My aunt and cousins bought us the hammock itself for a shower gift. SO sweet! Then the Fitzpatricks were super kind and bought the stand and yesterday the picnic basket. I miss getting to see them. It has been too long since I have visted Alpena. It would be great to go up there this summer to visit with Doug. They are wonderful people.
Anyways, my mom and I are going to costco tomorrow to pick up some goodies for the 21 couples that are traveling for our wedding. I am hoping to find some sweet little vodkas and orange juices to throw in there. We will see what they have. Tomorrow is my final fitting for my dress as well! I can't wait.