I Said Yes to the Dress!

Hey guys!

It's been a while since I posted an update. There are a few more developments I want to let you in on!

First of all I chose a dress! Not just any dress. THE dress! I tried on 7. I could only eliminate 2 and I was getting frustrated. Then....I tried on the very. last. dress on my list.

And boom! Done. It is perfect. I cannot wait for Mr. Mayo to see it!!

We also have an officiant!

His name is Randy Brothers. He was my supervisor when I worked at Volunteers of America. He is an amazing person. He is charitable, funny, positive, and just a great person to know and be around. He is the perfect person to marry me and Brett!


Lastly, we have scheduled our engagement pictures!! They will be November 12th. We are going to take them in Brett's back yard and around his neighborhood. We will be transforming his back yard into a comfy, cozy, romantic little spot!

This is perfect for several reasons:
1. Brett asked me out on our first date in his back yard.
2. This will be our first home together!
3. Our favorite things to do together are definitely "home" type things. Walking the dog, watching storms on the front porch, and playing baseball with ping pong balls in the back yard :)

So there you have it. I can't wait to share more of our journey to the aisle! Only 242 days! Seems like forever, but I know it will go by quickly. :)

Photographers!

Today marks one month since Mr. Mayo got down on his knee and asked me to be his wife. (Or more-or-less just told me he wanted me to marry him.)

In addition to everything else we have booked lately, I wanted to introduce our WONDERFUL photographers...Amber and Josh Ulmer, at Ulmer Studios!

They have photographed so many of my friends' special days, that I knew, even waaaaay before Brett and I got engaged that I HAD to have them photograph our wedding!

If you know me, you know I LOVE pictures. And that is probably (definitely) an understatement. I am SO excited to have this amazing couple capture Brett and I. I can't really describe how amazing they are...they just are! I know I will get EXACTLY what I want out of my wedding day photos.

I'm super pumped that it's only one month in and we have all the big stuff taken care of! That really eases some stress off of both of us, and will give us time to focus on the fun little things! (I know Brett is so excited about the fun, little things! ha...ha...ha...) :)

We Have A Reception Site!

Well, I have to say, so far, this whole wedding planning business has been super easy! As of this weekend, we have all the biggies taken care of! Pretty amazing for being engaged just shy of a month!

Saturday, we visited Five Oaks Golf and Country Club. I had done makeup for a wedding there one time and it was just gorgeous! We had received pricing beforehand, so as soon as we stepped out onto the veranda and saw the beautiful view, Brett said "Yeah, let's do it."

So we did!

Setup, cleanup, catering, tables, and linens are all included there, so already it's a few less things we have to worry about!

Here are some pictures that I took while we were there!

Ceremony Site!

We have a ceremony site!

Brett's "uncle" (read: a very close family friend) and his wife have VERY generously allowed us to use their farm and home for our wedding ceremony!

We are excited to be able to incorporate some warm, family touches in our big day. We are excited to put our creative mojo to work! (Ok, maybe that's more ME and his uncle's wife that is excited about that!)

Sunny Day Farm is gorgeous! And the house? It's 110 years old! It is colorful, and magnificent, and belongs in a magazine. It will be the perfect place for Brett and I to exchange vows.

So, one more thing to mark off the list! (Kind of a biggie, too...so relieved to have that taken care of!) :)

Warning: Girly!

I'm going to go ahead and guess, that about 99% of you who are reading this are girls. So, I really don't *need* to make this disclaimer, but I am going to anyway.

This blog, as a whole, is going to be mostly girly.

I'll be updating on you all on this Mayo wedding, down to every sparkly little detail! Because let's face it: Girls like weddings. Girls like girly things. And we definitely like sparkly things.

So fellas...feel free to go ahead and exit out of this tab, and continue reading your funny stories on cracked.com, or gizmodo, or whatever other websites entertain you.

Ladies, stick around!

We've only been engaged for two weeks, but I feel like we have made a ton of progress!

We did our wedding budget, and nobody cried, or ended up black-out-drunk. Win. Amiright?

We picked out our first dance song:

And guess what? We are going to DANCE dance to it! Like..MY kind of dancing! Not that stupid ballroom crap. Brett is going to take some Lindy Hop lessons and we are going to rock out on the dance floor! (As much as you can "rock out" to a very sweet Sinatra song!)

I've also picked out the color palette. Basically, it's gorgeous.:

I will have my hair and makeup done by the fabulous Katie Russo and Leslie Ingram, with Katie Russo Beauty!

And as soon as we sign the contract with the photographers we have been talking with, I'll definitely be posting that :)

I am loving every second of this wedding planning! I can't wait to nail down more specifics to share with you all!