Saying Yes To The Dress

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I had my first two appointments to shop for a wedding dress on Friday. I'm just going to be honest, I was not looking forward to it at all. I haven't been feeling the best about my body and was nervous that I wouldn't be confident during my search. Everyone kept telling me that I'd feel so different when I found "the one". Thank goodness they were right!

The first shop we went to didn't have a large selectiong of dresses, but they were all so unique and beautiful. Sadly they were also at the top of our budget, but I decided to just have fun with it anyway. I tried on about 5 dresses and thought they were all amazing; there was just nothing that stuck out. The woman who helped me was wonderful and assisted in putting each of the dresses on since they were way too fluffy for me to attempt on my own. Overall, it was a really good first experience. I did learn a few things though:

1. Wearing nude undergarments, shape wear, and a strapless bra were a perfect choice.
2. A maxi dress and jacket were the best things I could have worn- easy on and easy off.
3. It was really difficult to envision the strapless dresses with the cap sleeves that I wanted, even though seamstresses are known to work wonders.
4. I just needed to keep smiling and being patient, the dress would come to me.
5. A small group of people was the best choice- momma and grandma were supportive and not critical.
6. Try EVERYTHING with potential on, something may surprise you.
7. Trust your consultant, they're in this business for a reason.

We had about a 2.5 hour break in between, which was the perfect amount of time. That diet coke, sandwich, chocolate, and rest, were just what I needed. After a long lunch and a walk around Nordstrom, we headed to our second appointment.

I don't know what it was, but I knew I was going to find the dress at this second appointment. As soon as I walked in, I immediately felt like it was in there somewhere. Again, our consultant was delightful and SO helpful. Those ladies are superheroes! We walked around and I chose about 10-15 dresses to try on. I eliminated a few through trying on different styles, and in the end had 2 that I like a lot. I still didn't feel like I had found "the one" though... Just as I was about to put on my 2 favorites for reconsideration, my consultant {Hannah}, brought over a couple more to try on. Honestly, I didn't really like either of them at first. They were a courser lace than I liked and the coloring was very strange, but I ultimately decided I had nothing to lose. I slipped one last dress on, walked out, and immediately saw tears in my momma's eyes. I knew this was the one.

I could feel it, an indescribable feeling that this baby was mine. Hannah brought over the lace bolero that actually came with the dress, which helped me envision exactly what the top would look like after I had it altered. I was so grateful that this particular dress already came with a bolero. Although I don't want to wear a bolero, it helped me to see how the lace would look on the top, just as I had imagined. The gown was gold with ivory lace on top, but not to worry, mine will be all ivory. We tried on a few veils and my grandma got a little teary eyed as well, that's when I really knew it was mine! I chose to hold off on the veil but picked out a sparkly belt, ordered my pretty gown, and we were on our way.

I am just so grateful and excited that I only had to try on about 15 gowns before I found mine. Talk about a weight lifted off my shoulders, phew! I keep going back to the photos and staring; I'm so in love with it! Oh, and speaking of lucky, the dress was about half of our alotted budget. This means I was able to spend the leftover money elsewhere and get the table runners I've been lusting after for months. Pure happiness!

We're Engaged!

Christian and I are engaged and I couldn't be happier! Wednesday, November 27 was the best day of my life thus far, it was truly amazing. I cannot get over how blessed I am to have such a kind and loving man to call mine forever. Christian has the biggest heart of anyone I know, sometimes I feel like I don't deserve his humble soul. My love for him is completely indescribable and grows stronger each day. I'm just so darn lucky. And now, on to more gushy stuff... the proposal!

A little preface: Christian and I have been seriously talking about getting engaged since the beginning of the year so I had hoped it was coming sometime soon. We did things a little backward and found a venue before the engagement because I was so in love with it and didn't want it to get booked up. I had a feeling the proposal would be coming in November/December because that's what we had talked about but I had no idea exactly when it would be. I was such a meanie and had been bugging the crud out of him about it a couple days before. He was supposed to go to Idaho to visit his mom and step-dad for Thanksgiving so I knew that if he left town without doing it that it wouldn't happen for awhile, I was just growing so impatient!! In reality though, I had a gut feeling it would happen the weekend of December 6-8 because we are going to Las Vegas with my family. I even scheduled a nail appointment beforehand so that the nails would be photo ready, boy did he fool me! Don't worry, I still had polished nails ;)

 

I picked him up from his dad's house around 11:30 am on Wednesday to go to the airport. I was so antsy the whole time thinking how hard it would be to spend another Thanksgiving without each other (after 4 years...). I kept bugging him about printing his boarding pass beforehand because the airport would be crowded and I didn't want him to miss his flight. He kept telling me, "No, I'll be fine". I figured this was just him being stubborn. We arrived at the airport with his (fake) suitcase and (fake) carry on, unloaded everything, and I sadly kissed him goodbye.

I headed home and felt guilty about my pouting so I called him about an hour later to apologize. I left him a voicemail and quickly got a response that he was in the security line. A few minutes later he texted me, "Alright babe I'm boarded and ready to roll :) I'll text you when I land. Love you baby :)". After I made sure he had landed and had listened to my apologetic voicemail I laid down for a little nap.

My dad woke me up around 4 telling me that our original plans to meet my mom's family for dinner had been pushed back a little bit. My grandpa is being inducted into the Arizona Farmer/Rancher Hall of Fame and apparently the organization needed a photo of my dad in front of Hanger Park, a park dedicated to my family, before the weekend. I grabbed my camera and my parents, brother, and I headed to the park before dinner to take the photo. I was totally exhausted and had just thrown my hair in a bun, little did I know I was about to get proposed to... good thing he loves me no matter my hairstyle haha!

We turned down the main road near the park and I glanced over to see a man standing under a tree amongst some balloons. I immediately thought that someone was having a party or maybe getting engaged but nothing really clicked with me. I turned the other way again and could feel us pulling into the parking area where the man was standing. I then turned back and said to my mom with teary eyes, "Is that CHRISTIAN?!". She nodded her head yes as I sat in the car hysterically crying. After a couple of minutes of sitting there in shock, I wiped away my mascara tears and got out of the car. As I walked toward Christian I was still so confused as to how this had happened, he was supposed to be in Idaho! He was so cute standing there, smiling at me with his hands folded perfectly. I couldn't stop hugging him and kept saying, "Is this real? I can't believe this!". Poor guy could hardly talk because I was interrupting with hugs, kisses, and amazement. He made a sweet speech about us and the importance of Hanger park. I was so close to my grandparents who have both passed away so it was touching to hear him talk about them watching over us and being a part of that day. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, of course I said yes! Christian had the ring designed so I was staring at it as he put it on me. It's gorgeous, so perfect! He also brought along our memory box that he made me a couple of years ago. It contains papers with memories made over the years together and other things that symbolize our relationship. We wrote the memory of our engagement down on a canvas that he had bought and turned around to see my cousin Tracy taking pictures as well as my good friends Jaclynn and Sterling. I was so happy to have it all documented through photos and to have the people I love there!

Guys, he even designed the whole little setup himself. Went to Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Party City, and even chose a color scheme. It was the best little display, he's a keeper!

Phew, if you made it through that I'm impressed. Now here's what I need from you all- an opinion on how involved the blog should be with the planning the wedding. Would you, as readers, like to hear about how I'm staying organized and on top of things? Or how I'm choosing vendors? Or what style and decor I'm going with, etc.? Just wondering if that'd be of interest... Thanks for stopping by!