How I Asked My Bridesmaids

Last summer, shortly after we became engaged, I was in Kansas City with Jeremy.  I stumbled across the cutest little stationary shop in The Plaza and came across these precious cards....

I knew I had to get them for the girls who have been so special in my life and who I cannot imagine getting married without them by my side :)  

So I wrote inside each about how much each girl meant in my life and how much I wanted them to be a part of my special day, and then mailed them away!

The girls all loved them and I thought it put a special touch on such an important part of our wedding day.

How did Jeremy ask his groomsmen?  Well... probably a text message.... you know guys ;)

Our Engagement Pictures Experience

Having engagement pictures taken is something I dreamed of for so many years while watching all my friends get to experience such a fun time with their fiances.  Of course when Jeremy and I first became engaged, some of my first thoughts went to choosing a photographer (that's a later post) and planning our engagement pictures.

I knew I wanted our photos to feature us (duh!) and fall in Northwest Arkansas.  Seriously, Fayetteville is the prettiest during fall.  I also wanted our pictures to included unique locations, and have a variety of scenes (urban, outdoors, indoors, etc.).  I also warned my photog that I would be "high-maintnance" ;).

Many nights after dinner Jeremy and I would drive around Fayetteville scoping out the "perfect" locations.  With that being said, it was good to have ideas in mind and we used several of them.... but most of our favorite pictures came from walking off of the beaten path and just "going with the flow".  Even sneaking into a local coffee shop to "borrow" their electricity for our Christmas lights picture!

I had read on another photographer's blog to not stress about wedding details the day of our pictures and just spend the morning enjoying each other and flirting before our pictures.  Well.... that wasn't really realistic for us.  Jeremy attended his sister, Megan's cheerleading competition, and I got to enjoy spending hours getting ready.  (Which I will admit was SO fun... what girl doesn't love getting all dolled up).  This just meant we were able to flirt all day long in front of the camera :)

Picking our outfits.... This part was a blast.  I picked my outfits first.  I chose a variety of outfits and color schemes that I knew I would feel fantastic in :)   Then Jeremy and I went shopping for his!  I enjoyed helping him choose his outfits as much as I did shopping for mine!  We made sure not to be too "matchy" but still in the same color scheme and concept.  I think we did well :)

The day of our pictures I had a blast.  Throughout the entire wedding planning process, Jeremy has been focused on making sure I enjoy every moment and get to have my "dream wedding".  I mean seriously.... I'm a lucky girl.  He was no different for our engagement pictures.  He made sure I felt beautiful and adored, and that I enjoyed every minute.    I'll always cherish that day.

The Wedding Post

Yall... our engagement pictures were featured on The Wedding Post of Arkansas!  I just love it when our pictures pop up on my facebook news feed.  This is such a fun season in life and I'm so thankful I have a sweet fiance who doesn't mind "all things wedding".

Go check our the full post HERE.  

New Year, New Post

Yep... I've pretty much sucked in the blogging world these past couple of months.  The holidays left us even busier than we normally are, and to be perfectly honest, I just enjoyed the moment without worrying about blogging.  However, I really do enjoy blogging and want to blog this year to be able to look back at all the fun moments of our 13 month engagement, so let me catch up on the fun moments of the past couple of months....

Competition Cheer season has ended.  My freshman squad won 1st place at their first competition and then had a horrible showing at their last one.  The varsity squad won state for the second year in a row!

The holidays were spent in Cabot at my parents house and in Paris at Jeremy's parents homes.  I'll admit it was a bit weird having to spent time away from my family for the holidays, but Jeremy's family welcomed me with open arms :)  Did I mention I'm going to have 3 new sisters-in-laws?  Lots of girls are always around and it's a blast!

 Christmas also sent lots of snow to Central Arkansas and we were cooped up at my parents' home for most of it.  We started playing rumikub with my parents and I found out Jeremy is a HORRIBLE loser!  Hahaha.
Also, my dad tends to make up his own rules in his favor :)

We introduced the game to our friends Brittany and Andrew and they've become addicted as well.  I see lots of game nights in our future.  What's neat is I remember as a little girl my parents would always invite the Payne's over (the family of my best friend Ashley) and they would always play rumikub while we played and had pizza.   The tradition lives on!

The great tree debate is still up between Jeremy and I.  He has always grown up with a real tree, while I've grown up with a fake tree.  We'll see who wins and which type we get next year ;)   I loved decorating my small tree with a rustic theme this year.  

Jeremy's mom graduated from Arkansas Tech this past December.  We are SO proud of her!!  We attended her graduation in Russellville and had a lot of fun celebrating.  This May BOTH of my sisters will also graduate from Tech!

In December, Jeremy and I took a little trip to The Lodge at Mt. Magazine.  It's always gorgeous.  It doesn't even feel like you're in Arkansas when you're there.  

Heelyn keeps getting bigger and bigger and it just a true joy to be around.  She is seriously the funniest, smartest little girl I know.  She just says and does things that make us laugh so much.  I hate being away from her, but it's always a treat when I get to see her.  She loves Jeremy too....

Of course there have been Razorback basketball games to attend, although I haven't gone to many yet this year.  Jeremy always tries to go to as many as he can, and I tend to "pick and choose" which ones I go to.  There are only so many sporting events this girl can take in one week!

Well, there's the abridged version of our lives these past few months!  Here's to hoping I can become a "better blogger".

Arkansas Bride

Our engagement has been featured in Arkansas Bride!  I was so excited when the story popped up on my Facebook newsfeed....

Go on over to the Arkansas Bride blog to read the full story and leave us a comment!

Our Engagement Pictures

Saturday was a day I've been looking forward to for soooooo long.... We had our Engagement Pictures made!  I've always been so excited for the day when I would get to have engagement pictures made with the man I was going to marry. After "ooing and awwing" when my friends had their's made, it was finally my turn!

We chose Anthony Byrnes to be our photographer for our entire wedding experience.  Now.... I'm one of those girls who researched wedding photographers long before I met my groom :)  Anthony had big shoes to fill and he over-exceeded our expectations.  He was absolutely wonderful to work with and made Jeremy and I feel so comfortable.  The day was so much fun!  Anthony was willing to go wherever we wanted, even risking his life on the train tracks (haha) and his freedom by sneaking in to Razorback Stadium.   Luckily we didn't get caught :)

I could go on and on about how impressed I am with the pictures Anthony captured of us. I am so pleased with just our "sneak peek" and cannot wait to see more when he's finished with them.  So if you're looking for a wedding photographer, I HIGHLY recommend using Anthony.

Jeremy was so wonderful throughout the entire photo session.  He humored me and all my crazy ideas, went shopping with me for clothes to match my outfits, and did not complain once throughout the day.  He wanted me to feel so special and I absolutely did thanks to him.  I still can't believe this is my life, he's so perfect for me and I never thought I would find him.  

God's timing is always right.  Always.

November Days

Friday night was an important game for BHS.  The Bentonville Tigers played Fayetteville!  Bentonville is currently ranked #1 and Fayetteville was #3 on Friday night, they are always one of their biggest rivals and every year the game is intense!  This year even more so after FHS beat BHS in the Championship game last year by 1 point.  Friday at school was a hustle of activities preparing for that nights' festivities.  Days like those always wear me out.

Jeremy and I met our friends Steve and Brittany for dinner at The Flying Fish before heading out to the stadium.  Little did we know, the Bentonville square was hosting the annual Toy Fair.  It was a madhouse there.  Arriving before Brittany and Steve, we walked around the square for a while and quickly noticed that we were the ONLY ones there without kids.  Haha.  At least Jeremy got to see the cool cars used in the newest Batman movie :)  He was amused.

We had a lot of fun cheering BHS on at the game afterwards.  It was a perfect night for football.  The tigers ended up winning 24-17.

Saturday was another Razorback Football game day.  We had breakfast with our friends Kendall, Carrie and their little boy Owen at Mimi's Cafe.  If you've never been there for breakfast, you need to go!  It's one of my favorite breakfast destinations.... I love their quiche, but really anything on the menu is great!

After breakfast we headed to Razorback stadium.  It really made me sad to see how empty the place was, when considering just a year ago you couldn't even get tickets!  Now... tickets are easy to find.

At least we came away with a win over Tulsa, and it was fun watching sweet Katie Waldrip crowned Homecoming Queen!  It's always great to see such a high honor go to someone so deserving.

All my favorite local boutiques have had sales this weekend on their hogs apparel and I've definitely taken advantage :)  I'm so excited for my new hog clothes that I get to wear to the basketball games... Yes... basketball is starting and my fiance loves ANYTHING sports and Razorback.  So, I guess my Saturday's of football are just being traded in for weekday nights and weekends spent in Bud Walton.  Can't say I hate it though :)