Suits

So I've always loved the idea of suits on guys instead of tuxes. I've been telling Zach since before we were engaged how I loved the suit idea. I just think it is really classic and has a vintage feel to it. Well last night we went to look at suits and were expecting something very different and a little less expensive. I am hoping over the next couple months we will be able to find something that fits our needs and our wallets. At least I kind of feel like this is Zach's problem and not mine, but obviously I am here to lend a helping hand too.

Bridesmaid Flowers

YAY!!!! So I found bridesmaid flowers I love. Could it be true that my little vision in my head is finally growing. :) I'm pretty excited. I've finally gotten most of the modern ideas I liked out of my head and can find alternative romantic/vintage ideas that go with our theme. I always think about my wedding dress when making decisions. It is so hard though because I am literally revolving our wedding around my dress and it makes it very hard for Zach to get the vision. I hope that on our wedding day he realizes why it all makes sense.


The flower I've fallen in love with is the lisianthus. It's so pretty and so simple.

Things I haven't updated...

1.) My wedding website isn't complete. I have no idea what I am doing with it. It staarted off smoothly and all has gone down hill. I might just have to use one of the generic The Knot ones. Blah. Give me another month and let's see what I can accomplish.

2.) We picked out a cake, but didn't order it yet. We have the flavor(s) of cake we want, how many tiers and what it will look like. So that is exciting. We just need to go in around the holidays and place our order.

3.) I'm sold on the color wisteria. I figure at the end of the day if I change my mind and hate the color, I still have the Zach and really that is all that matters.

4.) I even got our toasting flutes and cake serving set at Papyrus. Simple, but classy.

5.) Next order of buisness is to start looking at invitations. I was pretty convinced I wanted pocket fold style invitations, but they are VERY modern and our wedding isn't modern it's romantic and classic. So back to the drawing board with that.

Party Bus

We found our party bus and fell in love. It's amazing. I never thought picking one out would be so exciting, but it was. Just sitting on the bus was just another thing that made it more real that we are getting married. It's going to be a blast. It is awesome to see all these amazing details come together on our wedding day. I'm so excited to share this special day with our siblings and friends and this party but is going to make it more memorable.

Dear August 13, 2011,

I would love it if you would hurry. Okay?

Thanks,
Jillian

Flowers

Who would have thought flowers would be the hardest thing I have come to decide on yet? Surely, not me. I knew I didn't know much about flowers, but I thought I knew a few things. I really don't want anything modern. I want something more airy and romantic, but the options are endless. I found a couple flower pictures that I enjoy and fit my standards, now I just need to find the perfect florist who meets my wedding needs. I just want the flowers to be my ideas and wants not someone elses.

ONE YEAR AWAY

Today is August 13, 2010. Next year on August 13, 2011 I will be Mrs. Jillian Stillman. Scary, right? It's a little scary, but a lot more exciting. I do know that I will ALWAYS be a Kenny at heart (and foot). I can not wait to marry my best friend and am looking forward to counting down the days until then.

Change of plans

Obviously we have been changing somethings around because it would be too easy to pick one thing and stick to it. I'm pretty nervous about the Lilac washing my Bridesmaids out. So I think I am going to go with Wisteria instead. It is a purple pink. I know that I hate pink, but I love this color. I've also decided to only go with style number 83312. Does this mean I will never change me mind again? I don't know, but I am going to try had to stick with it so I can start thinking about flower girl dresses, centerpieces, decorations, etc. :) Although, I do have my eye on a very special bridesmaid dress. If it gets marked 1/2 off sometime in the next six months that it WILL BE the bridesmaid dress. :) Check it out!

I OWN A WEDDING DRESS

I got my dress :) Yay!!!!!! I am soooo excited. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. There are so many dresses to choose from and my dress is PERFECT!!!

I can not wait till Zach see's it. However, he must wait until August 13, 2011 at 1:00pm :)

Yummy

We are going cake tasting on Friday at 1:00pm @ Michael Angelo's Bakery in Broadview Heights. So excited. Our cake is actually included in the cost of our hall, but we aren't sure if we want to go with their cake. I love Michael Angelo's so we are going to see what they have before we make a commitment to the hall. If we chose not to go with the Halls cakes we do get money back. I have some ideas of cakes we want and like. So we shall see.

Wedding Website

Our wedding website is under construction. My goal is to be finished by 8.13.10. I think it is possible. Zach even contributed on the website a little bit. I am glad he likes being involved in the process with me even if he does get frustrated from time to time. I know there are some things he could care less about, but it is nice to know he cares enough about me and makes me happy even when he isn't thrilled.

Bridesmaid Dress

I spent the morning with Carolyn running errands. Not only did we have time to see my dress, but we also had time to pick out bridesmaid dresses which was super fun. Although the lady at David's Bridal sucked. After contemplating on where to buy dresses I decided on David's Bridal mostly for the Convenience factor. I do like the dresses they are simple and pretty. I went with my gut and picked the color Regency which is a true purple. So here they are:Option Number One and Option Number Two.

Purple and Orange

Yay! We finally decided on wedding colors. We had been going back and forth between orange, yellow, and green. Tonight Zach brought home daises for me and they were PURPLE and ORANGE and seeing them together really made me excited. Imagining those colors all over the hall made me happy & excited. I am sure I will be incorporating a lot more purple and different shades than orange, but I'm loving the colors.

Engagement Pictures

Thankfully my matron of Honor (my best friend and sister too) took all of our engagement pictures in Charlotte, North Carolina over the weekend. They came out great. I love them. My sister really did an amazing job. Even though I am her baby sister I am so very proud of her and her photography goals she has set for herself. Check out her website.

And Go....

Last Saturday Zach and I took our parents to the "potential" hall and we tasted the food. It was no Michael Simon cusine, but it was good for wedding food. Zach and I love the atmosphere it is EXACTALLY what we wanted, so the fact the food was good really worked out. So it's offical WE HAVE OUR HALL! My parents signed the contract today and we are good to go! I am so excited

Church - CHECK
Hall - CHECK


Now that we have the TWO MOST IMPORTANT THINGS done I can start organzing the smaller things and calling people and getting quotes.

We are also still working on wedding colors. Obviously we are doing purple (true purple), but we are having trouble deciding what we want to pair it with. I need a sign, a vision, an omen something :) HELP!

15 Things

I found this in the July issue of Brides Magazine. It made me laugh and #8 is far from the truth. I hope my sister is pregnant :) The rest of them I am pretty sure my friends would do without me having to tell them what makes a "perfect bridesmaid," because they all already are. Love you guys :)

What has been accomplished...

ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING. Yep that sounds about right.

The weekend was filled with wedding fun, but not for our wedding. Although, we had a great time and the wedding was beautiful. Our friends looked fabulous and it's official their married.

This weekend we are going to try the food at the Hall. Which I am so excited bc if the food is good we will have our hall picked out and booked

This weekend should be great. My best friend, Kristen (one of my Bridesmaids) is in town from Tampa and we are also going to do a little wedding dress and bridesmaid shopping. I might even cry. Kristen hasn't seen me since I've been engaged and I feel like it is such a big adventure that she gets to be a part of and I am so excited she is.

The Meeting of the Priest

So we met with the Priest tonight. We were both pretty nervous walking into the meeting. We were worried about the questions he might ask and what was really going to happen. I have never met the priest before which was really awkward at first, but it turned out well. He gave us the low down on all the basics. We scheduled our wedding at 1pm on August 13th. He even scheduled our rehearsal dinner for 5:30 pm on Friday, August 12. We are going with the no communion option and just have a basic ceremony.

Zach even asked the Priest if we could go check out the church. Although I have seen the church so many times the thought of being married in there was pretty surreal. In a split second vision I could see the whole thing come together with all our friends and family. I thought about a lot of great things and sad things that have happened at my church. It really made me nostalgic thinking of all those things. I mean my parent's were married there, my sister and I made all our sacraments there, graduated from 8th grade, watched my Grandpa get married there, my friend, Marissa get married there, my Grandma's funeral and now OUR WEDDING. I'm excited, but it's still sinking in.

Get the Ball Rolling

Finally things are starting to fall into place probably because Zach decided to take some initiative, finally. I think me having a mini meltdown on Saturday helped. Tonight is the visit with the Priest and we are going to look at a possible hall. Keep your fingers crossed :)

Dresses Dresses Dresses

As soon as Zach and I got engaged. I told everyone no planning for at least a month. Of course that failed. Mostly for the simple fact that people start asking questions like rapid fire, not to mention it REALLY is so hard not to talk about. I also found myself saying that I wasn't going to start looking at dresses until at least the fall, I failed again. I just can't help myself.

So yes, I snuck a peak and went to a bridal store with my mom, Brandie and Brandie's daughter, Cameron :). I found two dresses I really like and they are polar opposites. I have a really strong gut feeling that one of them is the dress. However, I am forcing myself to look at others, just because I want to be 100% sure. I mean as a kid my family joked that I'd wear white overalls when I got married. I have to admit though seeing myself in a beautiful white wedding gown is so weird, but at the same time I am so excited to my make a final decision in the future and have my dress. Its a wild thought to think one of those could be MY WEDDING DRESS!!!!!

The Priest

The idea of getting married in the church has always been something that meant a lot to my family & myself. Although I do not go to church every weekend. We have decided to get married in the church. Actually at the church I was raised in. Where I was baptized, made my first reconciliation, first communion, confirmation, and even graduated from 8th grade. I didn’t think it would mean all that much to me to get married in a church, but thinking that some of the biggest events in my life were made at my church. It only seems like the right place to be marrying my best friend.

We are meeting with our Priest on June 14th and as long as everything goes as planned. We will be getting married at 1pm on August 13, 2011 in Parma, Ohio.

Mark Your Calendar

We’ve set a date. We are getting married August 13, 2011. We are going to have a traditional ceremony, but we will definitely have some creative touches put on our reception. We are honestly so excited and so grateful for everyone in our lives to celebrate the most important day of our lives.

We're ENGAGED

On May 28, 2010 Zach proposed to me. It was amazing. Here is how it went down. Usually, I don't work on Friday's and spend the morning with my mom shopping and running errands. This particular day Zach was pretty sure they would get out of work early for a change. So around 3pm he told me he was on his way home and asked me what I wanted to go do. Most days I love being outside, but I didn’t really feel good that day. Finally, Zach convinced me and we headed down to the beach and went down by the tree I love. Unfortunately, the beach was packed with people and Zach wanted to leave and go somewhere else. I agreed. So we got back to the car and literally drove a couple hundred feet to a walking park right next to the beach that over looked Lake Erie. We started talking about our relationship (which isn’t out of the ordinary for us) and getting really nostalgic. Our relationship has moved fast and sometimes it is just to stop and realize how lucky we truly are to have each other. The next thing I know Zach is telling me I need to do this before I get sick. Before I realized what was happening he was down on his knee proposing to me with the most amazing ring. Of course I said YES. We had to leave the park immediately to get home and change for dinner. We went to Bruno’s for dinner where Champagne was awaiting us. The waitress even made an announcement to the entire restaurant (it’s a small restaurant that only seats 20 people) that we had gotten engaged. Everyone started clapping. It was so cute and although it was a little embarrassing, it was just another highlight to the most amazing night of my life and our life as a couple. After dinner Zach told me that we were meeting his brother and his brother’s fiancée at the Pub in Rocky River, which I was excited to do. The night definitely deserved a celebration. When we got their Zach surprised me with our family and friends who he had called days before to meet us out to celebrate. I truly am the luckiest girl with the most amazing man in my life. I never thought what Zach and I have was possible, but now I know that possibility is a reality, my life, and forever.