AmericanTowns.com

I found a great new resource for finding anything in your area. AmericanTowns.com lists local restaurants, events, businesses, community headlines, real estate, and organizations. Find it all in one place. AmericanTowns.com is also reference for any out of town guests planning a trip to our Charleston wedding. It's easy to use and even gives some reviews of restaurants. They've been searching for local bloggers and I hope to be featured! Keep your fingers crossed!

Costa Rica here we come!

We live near the beach already but where can you visit a hot spring in South Carolina?? Thankfully we won't be looking for hot springs here we are going to Costa Rica! Now to decide what the heck to do there, where to stay, how long, how much?! Since Kevin and I are fugal, my best resource is the local library. I going going to spend my lunch picking up some books and then we can plan the honeymoon over the weekend. I still think we should take the honeymoon before the wedding and break up some the excitement!

Juliet Elizabeth Photography

Juliet has a new blog! It looks great! Check it out: http://julietelizabethblog.com/

We Survived Registering! Yea!

Valentine's weekend was wedding productive as promised! The MAJOR accomplishment was registering. We went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond on Sunday around 11:30, 3 hours later we were done. Who would've thought it takes so long?! I didn't. We even made trips a few weeks ago to decide on some of the big items. So, what was the best part about registering?? THE FREE GIFTS. BB&B has all kinds of programs in place to receive free gifts by registering for certain items. We will receive a few things in 6-8 weeks just for selecting the right stuff. I believe the program is fairly new so if you haven't registered yet, ASK. They've also added other new bridal tools. Check it out, http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com and have some fun!

DIY Pinwheels

For the wedding me and my maids will be taking on a few do-it-yourself projects. The first test run was with my sister (my matron of honor) a few weeks ago.

I saw pinwheels when I first started wedding planning but I just couldn't figure out what to do with them. Now, we've finally figured out how to incorporate them (well almost). I think these will help give us a more casual feel at the ceremony and also really help incorporate the "beach theme" (see the seashell in the middle) into everything! Take a look at what we came up with in the photo. The directions I used are located here. Check out the link and have some fun!

I almost forgot....COLORS!

My color scheme was inspired by a bridesmaid dress I found online. I found a great dress for under $100 at Nordstrom, but I only saw it in black. Trust me I love black dresses but I would like a punch of color in my wedding. I called up Jess, one of my bridesmaids, and asked her what she thought of the black dress. She loved it so we looked for additional colors. She said, "Tiff, it comes in pink." If you know anything about me, you know I LOVE pink. The colors for my wedding instantly changed to pink, pink, black, and more pink! Thanks Jess! Sorry, all out of pink online. Take a look at the black dress.

An interesting concept...

Like I said earlier, I had lots of trouble keeping florists within a budget. I also couldn't make up my mind when it came to centerpieces. So, thanks to my brilliant mother, yes mom brilliant, we are going to use cakes as centerpieces! I can't give too many details away but I can tell you they are going to be delicious! Everyone you ask in Charleston has one baker they all recommend, Ashley Bakery. I am so delighted that we are able to use them for our wedding. And don't worry, there will be a cake cutting. How could I miss the opportunity to smash cake in Kevin's face!

Then comes the florist

I had a hard time coming up with a florist I liked. I had tons of inspiration photos and ideas, but I didn't know the names of the flowers or what colors I wanted to use. I began "interviewing" florists late last summer. I won't mention names but I had some interesting experiences. One florist booked an appointment with me but was the only one in the store for the afternoon. At first I didn't mind, but he had to take several phone calls and help many customers while we were discussing my wedding. Everytime he sat back down, we started over. Essentially, we never got anywhere and he sent me a quote over $600 more then I requested. I also had another florist laugh at my budget, smoke during our meeting, and told me there was no way she had time to email me anything. Needless to say, I never heard back from her! Finally, I came to my senses and quit talking to florists. I took a break until after Christmas. In January I called the first florist I met with way back in August, Catherine Davis at Charleston Flower Market. I enjoyed our initial meeting but I had no idea what I wanted when we first met. So I called and changed my colors and updated the plans and now she's doing the wedding. They also offer a sample bouquet before the wedding. My bouquet will feature bright pink Vanda orchids (pictured above). I've worked with Charleston Flower Market in the past so I'm very excited to have them on board. A big thanks to Mandy Townsend for suggesting them several years ago for company events!

Catering

We found our Caterer at the Southern Bridal Show last year. Let me tell you, this was the only thing beneficial there! Bridal shows, at least here in Charleston, are not fun. Anyway, we chose Regal Catering. They've done tons of events at Alhambra Hall so their experience at our venue will be especially helpful. Michelle, one of the owners, has been exceptional throughout the process. I can't wait to finalize the menu. We're thinking salmon and chicken, yum! Regal will also book all of our rentals and bar through Snyder. Basically, Michelle will be running our reception from start to finish. That's why we are so happy we found someone so great to work with! Keep your fingers crossed.

Juliet Elizabeth Photography

I would like to introduce the wonderful people we've meet throughout the planning process. I'll start with the first vendor I booked, Juliet Jones. To learn more about Juliet and to view her beautiful photography visit her website or blog. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful person to photograph our wedding!

2008 was a good year!!!

The Perfect Place

Shortly after we were engaged my family was visiting from Ohio and Kevin's mom from California. We decided it would be the perfect opportunity to pick the location. We did some searching and narrowed it down before we took 5 1/2 (the half was my new nephew) on this crazy adventure. 5 people means 5 opinions everywhere we went. Everyone had something they absolutely hated about each place! After a few trips we finally looked at Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant. We all loved it, but Kevin and I didn't love the availability. Two Saturday's were available when we looked at it, August 29th and September 5th. If you live in the area you know that hurricanes and humidity are a bit of a problem in August. But, we collected all the information we needed to make a decision because our families all loved it. A week later we noticed one of the Saturdays disappeared. We panicked, if we wanted to get married here we had to move quickly. Kevin filled out the contract and we notified everyone that we'd be saying "i do" overlooking the ocean at Alhambra Hall in August! What a relief, we found an affordable place to get married in Charleston.

Circa 1886

We arrived at Circa 1886 and I slowly noticed everyone was looking at me up and down. I tend to get uncomfortable in fancy restaurants so I immediately feel under dressed. It turns out they were all looking for my ring. Kevin called ahead and told them he was planning to propose that evening but the ring had been delayed at the jeweler. He clearly told the staff at the restaurant to make sure the ring was on my finger before we were seated. Once the staff knew we were officially engaged, they all congratulated us one by one and greeted us with champagne. It was such a beautiful evening filled with smiles, laughter, and great food. Our dessert was even served with "Congratulations" written on the plate. The perfect dinner for the most PERFECT evening.

The Proposal

There are so many beautiful places in Charleston, SC but there is one special place that I will forever hold near to my heart, the pineapple fountain in Waterfront Park. This is where Kevin popped the question. We had a nice evening planned to go to Circa 1886, one of the city's few 5 star restaurants. Everyone was suspecting when I told them about my plans for the weekend except for me. Kevin told me that a friend gave him gift certificates to Circa 1886 (like they even have gift certificates) so we were going to go and enjoy a dinner on his company but first we'd go to Waterfront Park to see an art exhibit. I said great, what a romantic evening. We got all dressed up in suitable "5 star" attire and headed to the park. We walked around the park for a little while looking for the art exhibit with no luck so we went to my favorite store Indigo. I noticed Kevin seemed to be in a rush but our dinner reservations weren't for 2 hours. We slowly strolled back to the car when he stopped in front of the fountain and grabbed both of my hands. I am still unsuspecting until he begins to talk. Before I know it he's down on one knee asking me to marry him. Instead of saying an immediate YES, I yell "open it, open it!" He opens the box (with his hands shaking) and places the most beautiful ring on my finger and finally I say YES. The moment he stands up a group of young girls came rushing towards us and asked to see the ring, my tears are still flowing. A moment after I can hear a women talking on the phone telling her husband that a young man just proposed in the same place he did several years ago. This same women (Laurie Diel) is a photographer and offers to take our photo (shown on the left). It was such a wonderful beginning to a fantastic evening.