So I was looking at the budget yesterday, which is tight because my mom is currently jobless, and realized how fortunate we are right now. It seems like every major item, other than my dress, that was going to cost a lot, is not because a friend or family member has volunteered services. A lady that goes to my church does photography for weddings for donations only. She is the mother of a girl around my age who got married last summer so she definitely knows how hectic they can be. In fact, she usually uses the backyard of my mom's good friend Kathleen Lee. Mrs. Lee's yard is absolutely beautiful and I definitely want to use it for some after wedding shots. I'd love to do some bridal portrait pictures there as well. The Lee's have worked very hard to landscape their yard and it looks professional. We haven't made any official decisions yet regarding photography. We will probably wait a few more months before we do. But because of the tight budget, anything we can get for free or cheap is great.

Another item that fell into my lap was the cake. Now, I was prepared to spend the bucks on the cake, because it's just hard not to. My aunt and cousins have done cakes before and my mother asked them if they'd consider doing a wedding cake. It looks as though they may. This makes me extremely happy because if this goes through, I will have my cake for free. Of course, there is the groom's cake, but that shouldn't be an issue. Gray wants chocolate with strawberries.

Well, more updates later. Since we've started registering, I'm trying to keep track of what we registerred for and where. It's quite a huge job because neither of us have much to start off with. In fact, I'm moving into an apartment in the fall (as is Gray) where my roommates and I have a few hundred to go in and get joint stuff for the apartment, which will stay when I move out. We were able to get the money because of referals to the apartment comlex. Literally, Trina ended up referred her three new roommates, Gray and one of his... 5 referrals. So approximately $250 to Trina.

One last note, Bed Bath and Beyond is expensive but their customer service is SO nice. The first time we went, the machines were down for the registry system, but we were able to fill up two shopping carts full of stuff and they entered it for us today. The second time we went I was worrying about how guests would buy our china, since it's not in the story, you have to order it at the store or online and they ship it... well the lady who helped us was SO nice and reassured me not to worry about anything, that I had enough to worry about besides registrying.

And that's all for now.

Hey dough! (Swedish for goodbye)

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So, Gray and I just got back from Sweden and South Korea. While I was going my mom had the napkin problem fixed and we received our save-the-date cards in the mail.

photo from becsaboo

Gray and I are starting to register for gifts since relatives have started to ask what we want. We will be registering very soon and adding lists to the website.

Tomorrow marks the 10 month countdown. We're starting to get excited and I am realizing how much needs to be done. I'm just so thankful with how much we've been blessed the past two months. We may have a local photographer and my aunt might be making the wedding cake. Everything is falling into place.

Prayer requests: Please pray for my family. Right now we're under extreme financial crisis and there are some other issues popping up.

Thanks,
Becca

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So it wasn't going to be too long before I ran into a problem.

photo from becsaboo

Yesterday I received my personalized napkins in the mail. I was really excited until I read them. Not, they are fine except for one small error. We ordered them with a monogram initial, S. for Sanborn. Instead of a S, we have a G. As in Gray. I had Gray call them and they basically said we'd have to send them back, but WE'D have ot pay s/h. I informed my mother and now my dear sister will be making the phone call to them.

Stay tuned for more drama in wedding planning.

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So school is winding down and I'm about to be able to actually plan some stuff. It's all exciting. So far I've made two wedding purchases. I purchased personalized napkins, with our names and wedding date...
 

They are pink with black lettering. Then yesterday when we were at Wal-mart, Gray and I realized that they had the bubbles we wanted, for only $3... so we bought six boxes (24 in each box). So that's my two purchases so far. I'm really only making purchases when I find deals at the moment. Since we're trying to keep it simple, the bubbles will double as favors. I'm planning on adding ribbon to detail them. That will come later though.

I attended a lingerie shower on Sunday for Miss Ginger Harvey. She's getting married on May 12th! And Mandy is getting married July 21st. So that's at least two weddings to go to this summer. I'm pretty excited.

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It is now officially 13 months until the wedding and Gray and I are excited!

 

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Today Gray and I met up with Andrew Nelson to take our engagement pictures. He is extremely talented. Here is a preview of what he did. It was a lot of fun and we were actually the first engagement couple he has ever shot before.

There will not be much more wedding planning done until July when I'm back from Sweden.

So it's been a month, I know! Life has been crazy! There are a few things I've been looking at in that month:

• colors (rose pink and olive green - see picture)
• photography (engagement shots by Andrew Nelson, still deciding on my actual photographer, but I've got a few good options)
• wedding coordinator - Leah! She's going to help me plan and she lives near where I'm getting married so she should be a big help. That and she will help the big day go off without a hitch!
• Bridesmaid Dress shopping - We went today and I've got a good idea of what I want and what they want. Now it's just a matter of seeing what comes out over the next few months. The picture is an idea of what we'll be getting... tea length and strapless, but not as frilly....
  

So yeah, it's been a slow but sort of hectic month. I've been busy with school and still am. I wanted to go with my girls at least once before school got out because of summer and everything. One of my girls will be overseas next year and so I wanted to get an idea of what looked best on her before she left. I can't wait for school to get out so I can go to Sweden! And then let the wedding planning ensue!

The wedding dress has been purchased! This weekend I went up to David's Bridal in Antioch with my mom, sister, and her fiancee. I tried on two dresses and the third was nice, but it didn't have a train. The 4th dress was THE dress. hehe I ended up trying on another dress and hated it, I knew that the dress was the dress immediately. It is absolutely beautiful and it has the longest train in the entire store! Plus we got it on a sale day so that was good. I'm going to be taking my bridesmaids back in March to try on their dresses and I will probably have Paul and Tracey bring Kristy up to gets hers as well. So, yay for that! Oh and trust me, you KNOW when it's the dress, you just do. Although it is rather a funny story to tell about how it got picked out.

We now have our officiant (Beau Berman, Gray's home church college pastor) and we will be having engagements pictures taken soon by the fabulous Andrew Nelson!

Oh and please keep us in your prayers as both of us are raising support money for Sweden this summer.