I suck at blogging!!! (wedding updates)

Okay, so I made this blog with the intent of posting things when ever something happened with the wedding. Clearly, I haven't been doing that so well. But, I do have an excuse! Haha, the wedding was so far off for so long, things actually weren't really happening with it. And then the holidays came, and things were crazy, and the wedding literally got put on pause.

BUT! We are officially less than 4 months away! So it is crunch time!!! Over the last few months we have collected all the items for the center pieces, all the paper lanterns, pretty much all the decorations! With the exception of a few items.

I finally picked the perfect design for my wedding cake too! My grandma is going to be making it for us, she has made ALL of my cousins wedding cakes! I cant wait to see it!

Just imagine this cake with 3 tiers, and add turquoise and yellow polka dots and gumballs as well! I LOVE LOVE LOOOVE the gumballs! That's when I decided that I want to incorporate gumballs into the decorations at well. I recently bought 3 pounds of orange, pink, and purple ones. I just need to get the yellow, turquoise, and green and we will be set! I'm thinking we'll fill some vases with water and have them float in the water. And probably do something with them around the buffet too. :)

Can I just say I love the idea of this wedding turning into a candyland theme?? I had the bright idea of adding some popcorn to the buffet too. Now, if only I could find someone who could lend me a cotton candy machine....if anyone knows of one, I would love you forever!!!

I don't know how many of you know this, but originally I wanted the wedding outdoors. But then, I changed my mind and said we would just do it in a church to not only save money, but to also relieve the stress of not knowing what the weather would be like. Well....I changed my mind again. I wanted to go back to doing it outside, I called the original place I wanted to do it; the lady told me they had MANY openings in June. So you can understand how hopeful I became, "Whats your date?" She asked. "June 16!" I replied. "Oh, honey, that's the ONLY DATE taken in June. How do you feel about changing your date?" If you guys have been following my wedding planning at all on facebook, you know that I have changed my date 100 MILLION times!!! I swore, that this was THE LAST time I would change it, and besides, I already booked my honeymoon. I can't change that!!! So I sadly told her no...I have called around several places. They are all either taken or way out of the budget. I'm currently looking into parks up either Provo Canyon or Hobblecreek Canyon. But we'll see.

Something amazing happened recently too. So much so I nearly cried! Without going into much detail because its personal, one of the wedding costs was taken care of for us by a special person. It relieved so much stress, that I honestly don't care where I have the wedding anymore. Yes, I'll still look into venues, but if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. Its my own fault for being so indecisive. And my "personal wedding planner" is such an incredible decorator that I know it will turn out amazing! My only thing is, I want a lot of room for dancing. I may possibly even have a live band, and it would nice for everything to be set up, without having to have a waiting time between the ceremony and reception. But we'll see. I know everything is going to work out just fine! We'll see if I continue this state of zen as the wedding nears. HA!

We also got both of my sisters dresses, along with my other 2 bridesmaids!

Since Kat is the maid of honor, we decided to get her a dress that was different from my other bridesmaids. It was SUPPOSED to be pink, but she wanted this dress. And we couldn't find a good pink one anyway. Oh well. :) But Torey LOVED her dress! She likes it mostly because of the scarf. :) She's going to make an adorable flower girl! 

And these are my other girls dresses! My cousin Krissy is going to wear the green one, and my bestie from my childhood, Jessica, is going to wear the orange! We just ordered them this weekend, I can't wait to see what they look like on!

As you can see here, I found these AWESOME daisies!! They already had polka dots on them!! I about had a fit! And I guess I shouldn't say I'M the one who found them, actually, my brother Ethan did. So props to him! The shoes here are my wedding shoes! The hot pink heels are for the ceremony, and the flats are for the reception. They were on sale! So I figured, may as well get a comfy pair for the reception, since I will be on my feet the whole time! Also, we got the groomsman ties. I need to exchange the pink one for a yellow one though, since Katey ended up with a yellow dress. The blue one is for my dad too. :) We finally talked him into wearing a tie!

This is just me showing off the shoes next to my dads dirty feet so they look extra awesome. :) I like how the heels aren't too high either!

Sooo that's pretty much it for now! Its all finally starting to come together! I'm going more wedding shopping this weekend, and have a few things coming in the mail. In the next month or so I'm going to be asking for addresses and emails! Invites will be sent out at the end of April! (I am doing regular invites for family and a few close friends, and e-vites for everyone else, just to save on postage! So be sure you give me an email you check regularly!)

I'm also going to be hosting some "craft parties" to make all the center pieces and other things for the wedding. So I would LOVE it if anyone wants to come and help. ;)

At the end of April/Beginning of May we will be having my bridal shower! Its going to be a tea party! With lots of different teas and lemonades for those who don't like tea, and yummy treats! So if you want to come to that let me know!

THEN a week or 2 before the wedding we will have the bachelorette party! Who knows whats going to happen at that...my mom and momma dos are planning it...should be interesting though! I know for sure it will involve cocktails and jello shots. That's reason enough to come, yeah?? :)

Josh and I also finally registered! We are registered at 2 places.

1. www.honeyfund.com - in the search bar on this site type in either my last name (Mackey) or Josh's last name (Blanchard). This is a website that will tell about some of the things we are hoping to do on our honeymoon that you can help make possible!

2. http://www.target.com/ - we did register for some regular household and entertainment items of course! Or you can even go to the actual store and look it up right then and there.

Though we did register we are more so hoping that donations will be made to help cover the wedding costs and the honeymoon. We already have a home with some great things, so we are hoping to combine the contributions to larger, nicer items such as a new living room set and bed. But of course, we will much appreciate anything given at all, and are not expecting anything but great company and the wedding of our dreams. :)

Stay tuned for more updates! I'm really going to try and be better as this, since the wedding is growing near!!!

Dress Shopping!

Sorry this is a bit delayed, but things have been INSANE lately. I feel as if I have no down time!

So, as many of you probably already know, I went dress shopping last weekend! Now, originally, I had wanted to wait till February to do that. But, when I went to the bridal fair, many people were already signing up for appointments. So I decided, what the heck, I can just go and look, see what I like, then come Feb, I will know what I want!

My mom, momma dos (my moms bff Lori who I've known most of my life!) Beckie (Lori's daughter who has been a friend of mine since I was like, 5!) My sister, Katey, and my maid of honor, Jessica, allll came for moral support and to tell me if I looked stupid or not! (wow, run on sentence!)

First, we hit up a local bridal shop. The first dress I tried on, pretty much everyone cried. I almost cried too, but only because everyone else was! I loved just about every single dress I put on!! But I didn't want to get attached to any because I had 2 other appointments to hit up. I'll post the 3 that I loved from the first appointment!

This was the first dress. I loved the top, the halter, and the veil, but I wasn't digging how the fabric was all bunched on the hip like that. This was mom & momma dos favorite.

This almost my "IT" dress. I loved how it felt, how light it was and of course the bling!

This is the back of it. I LOVED how it made my booty look. :) But I didn't want to get attached.

Now, of course, EVERY bride HAS to try on a poofy dress. And I just LOVED this! Granted, I don't think I could ever get married in it, I've always visualized myself getting married in a more sexy dress. :) This was SO FUN to wear though! And I loved the flowers on it!

Now, my second appointment was at David's Bridal, they have some stunning dresses there, don't get me wrong. But I don't know if its just because I had just finished eating, so I was a bit bloated, or if its because I kinda got an idea of what I wanted, but I HATED almost everything I put on. Also, my party wasn't reacting to anything, and at my first appointment it was all gasps, awes, and tears! Then here it was like, eh, its okay, I liked the first ones better, that sort of thing. But I did find 2 that I really liked.

The back of this dress is what I fell in love with! I LOVED the keyhole back. I loved how it felt all swishy when I walked, and the lace.

But this one, I loved how it was more form fitting, and I LOVED the train and how the lace overlaid on it. I felt sexy, but stunning. But still...I wasn't quite IN LOVE with it. And I was getting worn out, discouraged, and HOT! You can't imagine how hot it gets trying on these things!

Then, we finally made it to the last appointment. Its actually a rental place, which is what I wanted to do anyways. No sense in spending thousands on a dress you are only going to wear once, I think! So by this time I was like, okay, if I don't find "IT" then I am going to call it quits for a few months.

So the first lady that helped me put me in 2 gowns. Which I hated...they were just BLAH! Thats the only way I can describe them. Too plain, to poofy, not me. So this other lady comes up and can clearly see my frustration. Apparently she had been talking to my party, looked at some pics that we took, and told me she had an idea. It was different, but fun, so she was just going to go with it! She made me turn around while she dressed me so I couldn't see the gown. She got me a tiara, veil, the whole package, and we walked out of the dressing room. Immediatly, everyone began to cry and said I looked amazing. When she turned me around so I could see myself in the mirror. I just knew. I found "IT!!!" I broke down into tears, which isn't something I did AT ALL that day! I was so in love with it! And its funny too, because almost everything about it I said I would NOT have. So I didn't even try anything on like it! Funny how that works!

Now of course, I'm not going to post a picture of it. Some of you have been lucky enough to see it, though! :) But for the majority of you, you just have to come to the wedding!!! And trust me, you'll love it! Its got to be one of the most gorgeous gowns ever!!! So stay tuned, 8 months and counting!!!

The Music! (But I do still need help finding one...Suggestions PLEASE!)

Last night Josh and I FINALLY agreed on a song we BOTH enjoy! Amazing right? Of course, being the bride, and the princess that I am (tehee!) I got the final say on our first dance song. That will be to "Everything" by Lifehouse. Beautiful song and lyrics! It makes me melt everytime I listen to it, its so perfect! Of course, with Orrin's help, we'll be cutting it down, because its just toooo long to dance to! But thats okay!

The song that Josh and I finally both agreed on, is the one we'll be leaving to! Originally, I wanted to be funny and play "Kokomo" by The Beach Boys! But he thought that was lame and cheesey. (which it totally is, but that was my point! Oh well!) But we agreed on "Is This Love" by Bob Marley! Which I am officially obsessed with and keep listening to, its so perfect too!

For the bridesmaids, flower girl, and myself to walk to, will be "Awake" by Secondhand Serenade. This is going to beautiful, Orrin will be playing it on the guitar! If he ever gets around to learning the keyboard, that will be pre-recorded and started for when I come walking out! Magical! ;)

Now, I'm having problems finding a good song for the daddy daughter dance...I know for sure I will have 2! Because the first one is going to be more of a joke! Because it reminds me of what my dad always says!  ;)

As for the REAL daddy daughter dance, I don't know what I'm going to do...I need some suggestions! Your help would be greatly appreciated!

On a Roll!

So I feel like I'm on quite the roll here. I developed a blog, booked the honeymoon, and I even have 2 appointments for dress shopping in 2 weeks! Although, I am not making any final decisions on a dress till probably February. This is mostly just for ideas. I still need to slim down more! ;)

SO I thought I would take this time to update you all on what has been done so far! I have a wonderful lady from church helping me do all this! She's already helped make me a mock table, and some decorations. She is SOOO CREATIVE! I love it! For those of you who don't know, my theme is polka dots! My colors are pink, yellow, orange, bright green, turquoise, and we've recently added purple to the mix as well! So very bright and springy!

These will be the center pieces! Don't you just LOVE them?! Inside of them will be jewels, come on now, you know me! Things have to be sparkly! Recently I bought a bunch of pots, sticks, and papers. We'll be using white table clothes and cut out a bunch of circles to decorate it with. Then have this on there as well!

This is a cute suitcase that Jen turned into a card box!

And here is a small scale of the things I have started buying! But needless to say, my office is turning into wedding decorations central! We'll be using LOTS AND LOTS of paper lanterns in allll the colors! Of course, we'll add daisies to the mix, and those little balls you see, are tooth picks with paper lanterns on top of them! Josh gets the credit for finding those!

I just bought the patterns for the bridesmaids and Torey a week ago! Now, if only I could find that exact fabric for the bridesmaid, I would be in heaven! That's my next goal, (after the passports) find all the girls fabric!

The project I started this last weekend, the girl's shoes! So far, I just have Torey's (the purple) and Jessica, my maid of honor's done! I still have Kat's and Krissy's to do! Kat is yellow, Krissy is green! The groomsmen will be wearing the same color tie as their opposing bridesmaid. Poor Timmy, Josh's brother, gets stuck with pink! ;)

These delicious looking things here, are called Brownie pops! Polka dots on a stick! These were also Josh's idea! These will be the wedding favors! I'm excited because they are super easy to make!

And lastly, I went to a bridal fair this last weekend and was able to get my hair done! I am in love with this do! Of course, I'll probably try a few others before the actual time comes, but I don't know...this is so chic and simple, AND makes me look like I have a lot more hair than I actually do! I just might have to go with this! But like the dress, I'm going to have to try several on before I make the ultimate decision!

Today, I have been working on getting everything out of my head and out on paper. At the fair I got a 3 ring binder to keep everything in. So I filled it with more organized lists of things I need to buy and do before the day comes. And I must say, it was very, VERY overwhelming. I had to quit for a little while because I was getting so stressed! People laugh at how panicked I am, though the wedding isn't for 9 months. But you know what?! I say, get all the stress out now, so by the time the day comes, I'll be calm as can be....I hope.... ;)

I keep gettingmore and more excited everyday! (and stressed...) I hope many of you can make it and share Josh and I's special day together! Trust me, you don't want to miss this. There are several things that I have up my sleeve that I won't be posting... gotta keep some things a surprise so people will actually come!

The Journey Begins!

Okay ,so technically, the journey began WAAAY back in April when Josh proposed. But due to being indecisive and having so much time to plan, I slacked. But! Its official! Our wedding will be held on June 16,2012 for those of you who weren't aware!

The wheels are finally turning and things are falling into place! So I decided to create a blog to not only keep my family and friends up to date on the wedding plans, but more specifically for those to help make it the wedding of our dreams! And when I say wedding of our dreams, I really mean the HONEYMOON of our dreams! Because now that I know I am going to somewhere I've ALWAYS wanted to go (the honeymoon is in JAMAICA! By the way...) Josh & I would LOVE to have this be the honeymoon we've always dreamt of. There are so many things we can do there, its insane! And you know, the fact of the matter is, we'll probably never be able to do something like this again till we're retired. So of course we want to make the most of this!

And that's where you come in, everyone knows we already live together. So we have plenty of dishes, towels, appliances, and decorations. So rather than getting gifts, we'd much rather people contribute to this trip! As you can see, I have listed the top things that we want to do in Jamaica on the side. I also included links to the Sandals resort we'll be staying at so you can see what all the different tours and extras!

It would mean the world to us if you could be so kind as to make that happen! I can't express enough how thankful we would be! Of course, you are not obligated to do so, and we still have 9 months till the actual wedding! But this blog has just been created to let everyone know where we are on the planning and to make it easier for those who would love to come, but live to far way to do so!

So, stay tuned for pictures of all the goods that are coming along! I just started on the bridesmaids shoes last night! And I already have some of the center pieces done! This is a major milestone in Josh & I life together, I'm excited to share it with you all!