Fairytale Wedding

When people asked me what my wedding theme was I would always hesitate trying to find the most accurate word. I usually ended up telling them the theme was fantasy. I used as many ideas from my favorite movies and books as I could think of. I even asked Austin for some of his favorite but he's not as nerdy as I am. I'm just going to point out some of my favorite touches with pictures from the wedding.

The lobby table at the church.
The top hat with our wedding date written in a Mad Hatter fraction.

The apple is a wink to my maiden name (Appel) but also I bought it because it reminds me of Snow White.

The paper bouquet is made of Harry Potter pages. There is also Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (because it's purple).

I don't have a picture of our guest book while it's closed but it says "Be Our Guest" (Beauty and the Beast had a big part in decoration inspiration). 

Then I had a pen that looks like a quill to sign the guest book with.

My brother actually is to blame for this one. One day he just blurted out "You guys should have 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good.' in your wedding vows and then whichever one of you dies first the other one should tap their coffin with their wand and say 'Mischief managed.'." This seriously makes me cry every time I think of it. Anyways Austin said we couldn't put it in our vows because not enough people would know it was a Harry Potter quote and would think we were weird. But I did get him to agree to let us sign this piece of paper during the ceremony.

Our invites.

The rings were carried down the aisle in this Harry Potter book box made by my mom.

My shirts from the bachelorette party. We all wore them the morning of while we got hair and makeup done.

My nephews, the ring bearers, were Batman and Robin.

My goddaughter was our flower girl. She threw gold confetti (pixie dust) instead of flowers.

The wands that we had hidden in our bouquets came out so we could jinx the groomsmen.

We made the Unbreakable Vow with the help of one of my maids of honor.

Champagne glasses that say "After all this time" and "Always"

Beauty and the Beast centerpieces. Cogsworth, Lumiere, and a single red rose under a dome on every table. Then pearls draped around to be "extra fancy."

Star Wars is life.

Like I said....

(painted by one of my bridesmaids)

The Beatles had to make an appearance somewhere. Even if it was next to a donut.

Yes I know, we didn't realize we were holding them backwards. But you get the point.

Quote from Peter Pan.

And another....

(painted by my mom)

A Hobbit quote.

Honey sticks aka "Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust."

This sign was next to the moon bounce. Unfortunately it was raining so I didn't get to jump around but the children all enjoyed it. 

(Painted by my mom)

My parents surprised us the day before the wedding with this...

They are so amazing.

(Reception was held at their home.)

And fireworks... because what love story is complete without fireworks?

(Austin's cousin set them off for us. It was amazing.)

So there you have, Disney fairytales, Harry Potter, The Hobbit (there was a second sign from LOTR not pictured), and Star Wars. This is only a fraction of what was incorporated but only some things can't be photographed. For example, our First Dance was to Lana Del Rey's Once Upon A Dream. Unfortunately I wasn't able to have anything Transformers related but seriously... there is nothing subtle about giant alien robots, although we did invite Shia LaBeouf to the wedding, but he never showed.

The Flowers

I've never loved Austin just a little bit. From the moment I fell in love with him I was all in. Some would call me crazy. I did things like dry and save every bouquet of roses he ever bought me. They used to sit on a table in the corner of my bedroom in vases all squished together, collecting dust and taking up space. But I just couldn't ever bring myself to toss them out. They made it through all my decluttering phases. And now I'm so glad they did, because maybe a year before he proposed a thought came to me, that if we ever got married, I would have my bridesmaids my roses from Austin. I carried the first flowers he ever bought for me which was on our 1 year dating anniversary.

I carefully wrapped each bouquet in different silver and gold ribbons and added a charm with each bridesmaid's favorite animal or something meaningful to me regarding them. Mine has a cameo that I thought was pretty and my style. I also added feathers and glittery purple sprigs to mine to beef it up a little bit. The result (in my opinion) was perfect.

Also, you can't really see them because I tried not to make it obvious, but the wands I gave them when I asked them to be my maids are inside of the roses.

Side note: I was excited not to have to spend money on flowers.

Thanks for reading.

One Month Left

I haven't written anything in awhile because I want the wedding to be full of surprises for you all. I can't wait to show you in great detail everything I have been working on and what it all means to me... after the wedding.

Let me just say that it has been the best year of my life. Full of love, laughter, friendships, adventures, fun, and so much more. I have been offered help with the wedding every which way I turn from family to people I've only just met. We are truly blessed.

There are 30 days until the wedding and I am terrified. But probably not what you think of. I have 99 worries but "I do" ain't one. I cannot wait to put on my mom's dress, walk down the aisle, say my vows, and forever be joined with the man I will dedicate my life to. The problem is this past month has been full of drama and September is only going to be the same if not worse.

I'm worried it's going to rain. Plans are changing. I don't have all the centerpieces yet. I'm running out of money. People aren't RSVPing. The honeymoon isn't planned. Every time I cross something off my list of things to do I remember 3 more things I still need to do. Endless decisions to make. I really could go on...

But I won't. All that matters is that the day I thought would never get here is now only 30 days away. And I will continue to count down with a smile on my face.

Thank you to those of you helping me for showing me so much patience. I didn't want to be a crazy bride but I have certainly had my moments. My nephew told me the other day "I'm glad you're not crying today Mee-Moo." Lord help me...

We bought a house...

April 10th 2016- We went out with our realtor to look at another 5 or 6 houses. It was our 3rd time out searching. One of the properties we wanted to see was having an open house that day but they let us squeeze in early to have a look around. It was the first house we went to that i could actually Invision us in. There were 3 bedrooms "A master bedroom, a guest room, and you could have your office with room for your treadmill!", 2 1/2 bathrooms (growing up with 6 people in a house with 1 bathroom... extra bathrooms were a must on my list of necessities), no basement "After all the flooded basements we've seen this year that's actually a relief.", a garage "We could fit both our cars in here when it snows!", a sunroom "This is where we will smoke my hookah.", a covered deck "Perfect for eating crabs!", a pool "I can have [my nephews] over to swim!", plenty of room in the kitchen, "We should host thanksgiving this year!", and it is on a cul de sac "No through traffic!".

As we left the house our realtor said something to the effect of "They're going to get lots of lookers on this place."

My heart sank into my stomach. As we drove on to the next viewing I told my fiance' "There was pixie dust falling from the sky in the back yard." 

I don't remember any of the other houses we looked at that day. And I stopped looking online for possible candidates. I begged Austin "Can we at least make an offer? It's perfect. I couldn't live with myself if we didn't at least try." He said we could and on April 15th we made our offer.

April 16th- My 25th birthday. I was out poppin' tags with my sister and my cousin. I got a phone call saying they had counter offered (what we were expecting) and we accepted and Austin went ahead and signed the contract. Best birthday present ever.

We made it through all the inspections without any serious issues and were able to get the loan we wanted.

May 31st- We did a final walkthrough of the house. Our situation is a little different because the owners are renting back for a month. So we haven't gotten to see it empty yet. But the house is very well taken care of and still no serious issues. Then we all met at the title company's office and within an hour, we were officially home owners!

June 22- We move in

Us with our awesome realtor who found the house and made it all happen.

 Our home.

Thanks for reading.

Fast Forward

A lot of people are asking why we are having a "long engagement". I think 14 months is pretty average. Some people wait years whereas others only wait a couple months. But whatever the "norm" is, to me... it totally is starting to feel like forever!

We have been engaged for a little over 6 months at this point and still have a little over 7 months to go. I keep randomly freaking out and trying to get things done. All I want to really do is curl up in a ball and take a 7 month long nap until my wedding day. I CANNOT wait to get married! I'm so excited but it's an angry excited because even though everyone (including myself) is telling me that it will be here in no time, it does not feel like no time.

But here is why I am so glad we don't actually have the option to self induce comas for unnecessary reasons.

If I had slept through last week, I would have missed:

My Mommom's 80th birthday, her 80th birthday party, and helping her and my Poppop set up their first smartphone (Lord help us all).

Spending the day with my Maid of Honor and my Goddaughter/flower girl. We did some wedding planning, shopping, and had an amazing lunch at a new restaurant that turned out to be an amazing eating experience.

Going Easter dress shopping with my big sister. Then sharing a sushi lunch. And walking around Goodwill looking at the always interesting and sometimes straight up nasty array of items.

Having lunch with my future brother who lives out of town, my fiance', and my cousin and her boyfriend who I usually only get to see on holidays.

House hunting for the very first time. we picked out a few different houses to go look at and our realtor was so nice. We had an awesome time and even though we aren't quite ready to buy a house yet, it got me really excited that the time is coming when we will be able to settle down in a place we can call our own.

Buying a house and planning a wedding means saving money. So my fiance' and I have been cutting way back on eating out. So after we looked at houses we went out, just the two of us, and were able to sit down and have a nice meal while we discussed the places we had just looked at.

This is going to sound SUPER corny, but our time is like a canvas. How can we appreciate a painting without actually taking the moments to paint it?

Our wedding day is going to be amazing. Because it is something we will have waited for (patiently or impatiently) for what seems like a lifetime.

Bridal Shows

I've been wanting to go to a bridal show since I got engaged. I bought tickets to one in VA months ago by accident and no one had time to make the trip to go with me so I never went. One of my bride's magazines had a coupon code for 2 free tickets to The Great Bridal Expo in Cockysville, so I printed them out and asked my sister/one of my maids of honor to go with me. Luckily her husband didn't mind watching the kids for her the second time this week (THANKS ROB!) so we went out, just the two of us, for the first time in forever.

We were so giddy, I felt like I was 17 again, going out with my big sister. The best part of the expo was that I already have almost everything you need to pull off a successful wedding. So we got to relax, have a glass of sangria, and look around without feeling any pressure to commit to anything.

We filled out some cards at different booths to try to win free stuff. Got some free stuff, plastic necklaces, pictures from a photo booth, jelly. And then there was a fashion show. The host was HILARIOUS. I told my sister that I wanted him to follow me around all day to make me laugh. The fashion show was cool. Even though I also have my dress and the bridesmaid's dresses picked out, I fell in love with these 8ft veils some of the girls were wearing. So I'm going to look into those.

Like I've said before. I'm all about experiencing everything there is to experience in this wedding planning process. Especially the fun stuff! So I would definitely encourage you to go to one of these things. Even if your wedding is already planned.

We also took a TON of stickers on our way out the door labeled "I'm the Mom, Bride, Groom, Wedding Entourage..." Like... A ton. I'm also all about documenting everything. They'll look good in my scrapbook.

Suit Shopping

Yesterday we went suit shopping. I was excited to cross another thing off my list but I was also excited to have a personal fashion show from my man. We decided before we even got to the store that we wanted suits, not tuxedos. We also had a coupon for Mens Wearhouse for 50% off suits for the wedding party (WIN).

We walked in the store and the woman that came to help us was so awkward. I was immediately uncomfortable. She sat us down at her desk and said very unenthusiastically "First off, congratulations." I could tell she wasn't actually excited for us because she never even asked to see my ring. Everyone in the wedding business asks to see the ring. It's like an unspoken rule. And you all know how much I like to show off my ring. So anyways, then she says "Oh, I see you brought your scrapbook." I said "Oh, yeah, my wedding planner. You never know when you're going to need that information." She kind of mumbled and seemed permanently nervous. I told her we knew we wanted to buy suits. She sighed and her eyes traveled around the room searching for... help? I don't know. Fortunately she helps with rentals. So she went and found someone else to help us. I was so relieved. The man she introduced to us, Charles, was much more lively and confident and knew how to provide good customer service.

He took us over to the suits and I told him right off the bat that we had a coupon, and also that my brother who is in the wedding is 6'7". Between those two things that narrowed our options down to two suits. I didn't really LOVE either of them at first. And the one I thought I liked more Austin didn't like. The more I looked at it though I realized it was almost tan, and we didn't want that. So he tried the other one on. Thankfully, he looked awesome in it. I was still kind of sad that I didn't get to see a bunch of different options, but it really made our job easier.

We saw the colorful vests so I pulled out my handy dandy wedding planner where I had a color sheet with the exact colors of the bridesmaids dresses. The colorful vests were a renting option only, so one of the women in charge of rentals came over (thankfully not the same one that greeted us). They all let me lay out some of the vests on the jacket we had decided on and mismatched ties and what-not. I was having fun, but in the end we settled on grey vests. Which looked classiest.

When it was time to go I didn't want Austin to change back into his clothes. He looked so handsome. We were filling out paperwork and when Charles saw my last name he said "Appel... Appel... Are you related to a music teacher?" I said "Yeah! That's my Uncle!" Then we talked about him for a while and Charles said "I've been helping dress that man for 15 years." I got a good laugh out of that because literally all my uncle wears are suits.

We were probably there for an hour and a half. Not bad, I thought. Then we had a delicious lunch at Outback to end our day out.

All in all it was a fun day.

And I can't wait until the next time I see him in his suit again when I'm walking down the aisle towards him to become his permanent Best Friend Forever.