Supporting Our Troops, And Their Brides!

I've always felt the summer is a time to be patriotic, especially with the 4th of July.  It's also a time that makes me think about our military who are deployed overseas. Dave and I have some friends currently deployed and some that are actually getting ready to deploy.

Josh & his fiance' , Stee

The deployment period can be really tough especially for loved ones who are spending months apart. I have several friends who are engaged and having to plan a wedding on their own while their future spouse is defending our country.  I know planning a wedding can be tough, but I can only imagine having to do it on your own.

Two bridal stores here in South Carolina are teaming up with a national program to give military brides a free dress for their wedding day. The program, Brides Across America make it possible for military brides, who would unlikely otherwise have the opportunity, to wear beautiful wedding gowns on their big day.

Today and tomorrow (July 11th & 12th), Amanda's Collection in Conway will honor military brides, saying "thank you" to our troops by giving away designer wedding gowns.  A store in the Charleston-area will be doing the same Bridal House Of Charleston will be giving away dresses on July 20th. 

But the program isn't just local, it's taking place at a lot of bridal salons across the country. And it's so easy to get a dress. In order to qualify, brides or their fiancé must be on active duty in the military, either currently deployed or deployed within the last five years to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Libya or Japan. Identification and deployment papers must be presented at the event to qualify.

And if you've already planned your wedding and have your dress hanging in your closet and don't know what to do with it, why not donate it to Brides Across America. Your beautiful dress will be passed on and donated to a military bride in need. If you're interested in donating, visit http://www.bridesacrossamerica.com/Donations.html .


Remember next time you see a Soldier, Marine, Sailor or Airmen, be sure to thank them for their sacrifice.

Best Day Of My Life

As promised, I'm here to share all the details of the most wonderful day of my life.

The day started at 8am... after a night of girl talk and giggling, we finally went to bed around 2am only to awake up early the next morning. Tina, my hairstylist, came to the hotel to do my hair for me. She did such an amazing job and I couldn't be happier. We weren't able to get together to do a trial run so she did it based on pictures I had printed and pictures I'd sent her from my bridal portraits. Thanks Tina for such an amazing job!

Afterwards, mom and I headed to get our make up done at Macys with Clinque.  That's when I got the first phone call of the day telling me it was an hour after the time the Officer's Club said we could come and no one was there, except for my two bridesmaids trying to get in. I told them to call me as soon as they got in. About 30 minutes later, things were fine.

It was a little after Noon when I reached the venue and I wanted to check everything out to make sure things were going the way I wanted. I was nervous at all. We had a room for all of us to get ready and it had plenty of windows for us to look out to see what was going on.

First Look

Soon after the photographer arrived and that's when time started flying by. We were taking lots of pictures, having fun, and getting me dressed.

Dave and I decided that we wanted to see each other before the ceremony, not only to calm our nerves but for the beautiful pictures that come from it. I've seen so many great pictures from this moment, I couldn't pass it up. We had the perfect location.  Out to the side of the lawn of the Officer's Club is a bridge, so that's where the photographers took Dave, giving me the chance to walk up behind him. It was a priceless moment, just like I hoped for. He actually cried moments after turning around and seeing me there in my wedding dress.. just an hour or so away from becoming his wife. After a few moments to ourselves, we were whisked away for pictures.

We then noticed guests were starting to arrive, so I took off back to our room and the guys hung out in the reception area. We also let guests hang out in there as it was like 90 degrees outside and no breeze. The ceremony started about 15 minutes late as it was Retiree Appreciation Day on base as well so the front gate was backed up, and there were still a lot of guests waiting to get on base.

The ceremony was by no means perfect, but perfect to use. Everyone looked amazing standing up at the front as a I walked down the aisle. I loved the parasols and how it looks from this picture and I know the girls enjoyed them since it was rather warm. I have to admit and always will, I did jump the gun on the "I Dos". I heard Mary Louise (our officiant) pause when reading the the vows and I jumped in and said "I Do" when she actually had another line to read.

Jumping The Gun on "I Do"

The guys wore aviator sunglasses during the ceremony, including Dave but when I looked into his "eyes" or glasses, all I could see was my reflection, So I took them off of him during the ceremony so I could see.

During the exchanging of rings, Ryan, the best man decided to play a little trick. He handed Dave the ring box... and it was empty. Then he decided to be silly and act like he didn't know where the rings were. He then pulled them out of his pocket... and I had trouble getting the ring of Suzanne's finger.. it was stuck for a quick second.


We had one part of the ceremony we had to skip over and come back to later on. We wanted to give our mom's roses as a representation of our love and thanks for everything. It was supposed to happen near the beginning of the ceremony but someone forget to put the roses on the table. But the coordinator was able to get them and had the guys pass them up to us.

And the only other issue we had.. well I did was during the sand ceremony.. it took forever.. and I kept spilling my sand on the table.. Oh well! lol

Mr. & Mrs. Turner!

I'll stop here and come back at a later time to recap the reception.. that's something you won't want to miss.
Where else where you find a gamecock, pink converse sneakers and groomsmen running around without their shirts..... Um that would be our reception! Stay tuned....

My To-Do List

Well Happy 2011! It's my wedding year!  I can't believe it's finally here. I feel like it was only yesterday I was calling vendors and having to repeat myself, "No, not next year. 2011." Now it's here and now I realize what I still have to get done.

I figured I could start posting my "To Do" list and marking off things when they are accomplished.  Note: This is not a complete list of everything I must do or have for the wedding, but a list of what I must complete from here on out.

 Need to Do:

·            Meet with Carol for catering

·            Update flower list with Sandra

·             Download wedding ceremony music

·             Meet with DJ – list of “to play” and “not to play” songs

·              Measurements for Guy Tuxs

        Make Appointment for Alterations

        Have beads fixed on dress

·              Bridesmaid Order Dresses

·              Pictures for memory table

·              Must take picture list

·              Go to post office to weigh invitation

·              Schedule hair trial

·              Figure out who’s doing my makeup

·              Apply For Marriage License

   Need to Make:

·              Card Box

·              Programs

·              “Day Of” wear

·              Sand Ceremony Frame

·              Emergency Kit

      

   Need to Buy/Order:

·              Clear Labels for Return Address

·              Frames For Flip Flop & Map Sign

·              US Travel Map

·              Stick Pins

·              Postage for invitations

·              Pick out other gifts for Bridal Party

·              Sand/ Glasses (sand ceremony)

·              Dave’s wedding band

·              Garter

·              Business card holders for sharing cards

·              Sparklers, Ribbons & Container

·              Pen for guest book

·              Koozies

·              Parasols

·              Beverage Napkins

·              Flutes & serving set

·              Solemates – heel covers

      

          Not  too bad I guess. It could be worse.  I've made the appointment for alterations for next week. My   mom is coming down for my birthday and we'll go to David's, then we'll go by the place I want to order the koozies from, and then try and find a place to order the sparklers locally.   One bridesmaid has ordered and received her dress. Both my matron and maid of honor both went and were fitted this week.  So that one is almost crossed off.   

           And we had a little run in this week with the guy's tuxes.  The original place we were going to rent them from is now going out of business but we have since found another place and they've been such a big help.  They even sent Dave a thank you note today for choosing them and they look forward to working with us.  From my understanding, they just took over the rentals from the store going out of biz, so I believe we are their first rental order.

           We'll make it! One day at a time... Until Next time!

Wedding Dress Shopping

Yay for wedding dress shopping! I've always been told once you buy the dress, the wedding's a done deal. Well I guess it's done then! =)

Last weekend was a pretty eventful weekend. We went out with a bunch of friends for dinner on Friday and had game night at the house. Mom & Joe came to town that night. My grandparents decided to come down on Saturday. I had an appointment at 1 p.m. at David's Bridal with Krystle (who's wedding I'm in). Tracy (BM) and Christie (MOH) were able to come as well as my friend Melissa.
Before I even started searching through the dresses, I gave each of the girls, including Krystle, a gift to open. Krystle, Melissa and I have recently all became close and I wanted them to be a part of the special day. So I bought each of the girls a cute Tumbler Glass with a "BRIDESMAID" logo on it, wrapped it up and boxed it. Inside the box of Melissa & Krystle's... I wrote "I would love for you to be a Bridesmaid in my wedding." Both were so happy and said yes. I think Melissa even shed a little tear ;)

I guess I probably tried on 12 or so dresses....but it was the 5th one ... when I knew! Of course I can't say much about it, as Dave reads my blog. But it's perfect. Things I was considering while looking for a dress besides looking good .. I had to remember the wedding is planned for outdoors in May. So it should be pretty warm so I didn't want anything to fitting or heavy. The dress is perfect!! As soon as I walked out in, everyone smiled and nodded their head. =) So we decided to go ahead and buy it!

While we were there, we decided to look at some bridesmaid dresses and boy am I glad we did. As stated before, the colors are Pink and Orange. We looked at the two colors and boy oh boy is David's Bridals Tangerine color BRIGHT!! So we've decided for the girls to wear "Watermelon" and will carry orange flowers. We'll do something else to make to MOHs stand out.

We picked out two different dresses...but we decided to go with this Y-neck that Christie and Melissa have on in this picture.

YAY!!! More things to mark off the list.

Dave and I are doing the Bridge Run this weekend, but will be heading to Men's Warehouse next weekend to start looking at options for the guys to wear. He's still set on letting the guys wear Rainbows with their suits. So luckily David's Bridal makes "Watermelon" flip flops that match perfectly so the girls can wear those for the reception.

Until next time!