The final days are upon us and I think back now to how it seems that just a week ago we were counting down the triple digits. Now we are just mere days away from our big moment!! In some ways, I am just ready to just do it. After all the planning and preparation, I am ready for the reward. In other ways, I am a bit sad that it the big event is almost over. Of course, knowing that it is the first day of the rest of our lives together makes things exciting.

There have really been very few little details that have to be finalized in this last week. I worked so hard to make sure that everything was completed well ahead of time to make sure as little stress as possible this week. Now, I am a bit at a loss for things to do.

I should tell you that it is not just our wedding that we have going now. When we started our initial planning process, we were considering have a double wedding with my little sister.

She and her husband had to rush a bit with their wedding plans because he is in the Air Force and was getting ready to deploy. So, I had thought it would be a great opportunity to have a renewal for her with all of her friends and family from home.

Instead, she surprised us by letting us know that she was pregnant with their first child! A little girl who will be born at the end of June. Since all of our family will be in town for our big event, we decided to extend the fun and have her baby shower the day after the wedding!

So now, I have what seems like double in-laws, friends and family who will be coming in to attend the events and double the parties to plan!! It really has been a lot of fun though and I will tell you about both as I go along.

I figure the best way to do this is to walk you through our wedding schedule. On Friday morning, I will be taking my sister, my daughter and my stepdaughter to get manicures and pedicures and of course, lunch! Afterwards, we will meet at the Community Center to decorate for the reception and then later that evening we will gather everyone up to go to the Church for a quick rehearsal.

Our florist, Ken Cope, of the Corsage Shop, will already have the Church decorated with the candles that I have rented from him that he has decorated with our feathers. Yet another perk of not having live flowers…you can set them up ahead of time!

Mom was gracious enough, or perhaps crazy enough, to offer her house for our rehearsal dinner. She is preparing lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, bread, salad and some desserts as a quick and easy meal. With it being at her house I figured we would all be able to spend more time sitting around talking and hanging out after the meal then we would if we were at a restaurant. Plus, it will be a great deal cheaper.

On Saturday, Craig and I will be cooking a big breakfast for his family at our house. Later for lunch, we will be ordering some pizzas as we celebrate his sister Carri's birthday. Yes, we are marrying on her birthday! I figure that this could really work in my favor, as I can remind him of her birthday each year and she in turn can remind him of our anniversary.

After that, we are off to get ready! My bridesmaid Jennifer has always been great with hair and makeup. So, she will be lining us all up to make us beautiful. The Church has a great women lounge and restroom facility that will give us plenty of room for getting ready. So, all of our hair, makeup and dressing can be done right there which will save us from having to worry about weather, wind and wrinkles.

We ordered all of our groomsmen monogrammed money clips and I ordered cute pizza cutters and skeleton key bottle openers for my bridesmaids. With the exception of our daughters. For them, we ordered beautiful bracelets from Things Remembered.

The wedding is at 6 o'clock in the evening and guest will be greeted ahead of time by prerecorded music from Corrine Bailey Rae, Norah Jones, Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald. Programs will be handed out at the door that list the order of the ceremony, the names of our wedding party, an invitation to the reception, a thank you from me and Craig and a quote from George Eliot.

When the big moment arrives, the lights will dim slightly and Jason Von Lurry, a friend and amazing electric violinist from Memphis, Tennessee, will begin playing "Variations of A Lullaby". An unusual piece for a wedding yes, but beautiful none the less and just what I had hoped for to set the mood.

As he plays, our "flower girl" Kiley, Craig's beautiful 6-year-old niece, will enter in her blue gown. She'll be wearing her venetian mask and carrying a shattered glass teardrop that glows blue like a lantern. As she walks down the aisle, the pew candles will light.

We are doing this by using remote control candles. Behind her will be our children. Brittany and Micah will go to the front and light the real candelabras there and then down the sides of the Church to light the candles in each of the stained glass windows before returning to the back of the church.

After completed, Jason will begin Craig's song choice of the evening, "Iris" by the GooGoo Dolls. I really loved the song and was happy that he had chosen something he liked. However, I was concerned that it would not flow with the rest of the live music that we would be playing during the ceremony.

So, Jason stepped in and removed the lyrics and is instead using the instrumental version and he is playing the vocal part on his violin. It is beautiful! During that time, Craig will enter from the front of the Church with the Minister and his groomsmen will escort in our mom's and grandmothers and then my bridesmaids will enter carrying their venetian mask.

Now, cue the moment I have waited a life time for! I used to teach children's theatre here in Caruthersville and was privileged to meet some very talented kids along the way. One is the daughter of my close friend and bridesmaid Amanda. Her dad is a talented musician and singer himself and he will be playing the piano as Alaina sings Rascal Flatt's "God Bless the Broken Road" and I enter on the arm of my Dad.

I was concerned at the length of the song and did not want any awkward moments of waiting. So, I have decided to let her begin singing and then have the doors opened on the chorus for my entry. As I get to the end of the aisle, I have small peacock feather bouquets to present to each of our moms and grandmothers. I believe that this should cover the length of the song, putting me back in place just in time to be given away.

The ceremony will be like almost all weddings. Instead of a unity candle, we will be doing the blending of sand ceremony. We will each have a small bottle of sand (that is me, Craig and our children) that is in the color that we each selected. As the Minister reads about the blending of our family, Jason will softly play, "All I Ask of You" from Phantom of the Opera, a favorite of mine. We will each pour our sand into one single container. As we leave the ceremony, we will exit to Nickelback's "Never Gonna Be Alone".

After the ceremony, we will snap a few pictures and then move to the local Community Center. Walking up to the ceremony, the path will be lit with blue Moroccan style lanterns. These were my first wedding purchase!! Our entrance song is different, we are using "Por Ti Volare", which is a beautiful opera song, BUT we are using the version from the movie, Stepbrothers as it is a favorite of our kids and something that they will recognize and enjoy.

The hall will be done in low lighting and lots of blue accent lighting. Each table will have the Eiffel tower vase in various heights with the peacock feather and glittered sprig arrangement with a blue up light placed in them. On our table, we are going to use a long and low arrangement with our monogram in it, blue up lighting and of course, a couple of peacocks!

Over our dance floor, we will have small round glass globes of blue hanging at different levels. My good friend Cameron, will be our DJ. He always does a great job and was kind enough to do this for us. The cake table will hold our wedding cupcake tree and instead of a groom's cake, we will be doing a kid's cake. This is a surprise for the kids. A three layer cake, with each layer decorated with a miniature version of them and the things that they love. I am really excited about it!

For food, we are doing simple finger foods. Chicken salad on croissant, ham and swiss on rolls, a dip, some pinwheels and things like that. We are also doing a white chocolate fountain with a fruit tray, pretzels and Micah and Brittany's favorite…Cookie Dough Balls! On another table, we are doing a cheese fountain, lol, another tribute to the kid's love of Will Ferrell movies. There will be chips and veggies sitting around it.

It is Craig sister Carri's birthday, so we plan to play a special song for her. We also have a couple of songs that are special to the kids that will be played. Micah is a fan of Corrine Bailey Rae and so we will be playing, "our song" for she and I to dance to, "Put your records on". Craig and Brittany have always considered "Sweet Child O Mine" their song, but he wanted something to slow dance to. So, Alaina (the one who is singing me down the aisle) has put together a slower rendition of the song that she will be singing for them.

After the toasts are given, I will be doing the Thank You to everyone as Craig hates public speaking. After, I have a special surprise that no one else knows about. Originally, I wanted to have Adam Sandler's "Grow Old With You" played. I had asked my brother-in-law, Aaron to consider playing something special for my sister on his guitar.

I found out that he knows how to play that song. So, he will be singing and playing it for her and all of us. We are not doing the traditional garter toss and bouquet toss, I have always hated the way it singles the lonely crowd out. So for the rest of the evening, there will be cupcakes, dancing, fun and a great start to a new life.

Well, there it all is, the chance of rain is up to 60% and I am a little nervous about it. But otherwise, I am so ready to go! The following day will be filled with taking everything down at the reception site and putting everything up at the shower site. Then afterwards, we are off to Sandal's in Montego Bay Jamaica! Hopefully everything will go as planned, but I will report back to you later and let you know if any little snags occurred and how I could have avoided them When I next speak with you I will be Mrs. Craig Williams!!!

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Peacock feather photo provided by deepapraveen via flickr.

Well, here we are, with 2 months to go before our wedding. I'm calm, for the most part. So, since everything is planned, I thought I'd tell everyone on all the little details of our wedding. We, and when I see we I mean me, have everything planned. Also, I like to DIY a lot of things with our wedding being one of them. Wedding invitations are mailed out so I'm ready for RSVPs to start pouring in(hopefully) and finish the last details of our wedding. Here is what "I" have chosen for our wedding and WE are both excited and can't wait for it to get here!

Wedding Colors: I always knew I wanted pink, it's my favorite color. So, pink ended up being the main color with accents of cream, black and a bit of gray. Pink and cream will be our main colors. They are featured in wedding invitations, programs, centerpieces, bouquets and pocket squares.

Black comes in with the bridesmaids. I had zero luck finding any bridesmaid dresses that I loved and we're not ridiculously expensive, so I decided to have the girls pick their own dress. Since black is the easiest color to match, I went with that. There is a little gray in our wedding invitations and our bird seed packages, which I love it paired with everything, so I may try to incorporate it elsewhere.

Wedding Location: Of course, one of my earlier posts explains how we settled on Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, AR. I'm still so excited I picked it and can't wait to see it in the springtime with all the beautiful flowers. Now, I'm just hoping for a bright and sunny day with no rain.

Dancing & Drinks: While down in Hot Springs, we checked out a few locations for our wedding reception. In the end, we chose The Porterhouse for our reception. It features 3 rooms that will offer a place for eating, dancing and playing pool. I love how the room looks and think it will portray our wedding. Hopefully, our guests will love the room and the food that will be provided.

The Flowers: Once I started the wedding planning, and I saw pictures of peonies and hydrangeas, I knew I wanted those for my wedding flowers. I love them. A single peony will serve as the bridesmaid bouquets, peonies and hydrangeas will create my wedding bouquet. They will adorn every table as centerpieces at the reception.

I threw in a few branches and lace to create beautiful finishing touches for the wedding. Although, I did throw some carnations in there to represent my sorority flower and use them for the flower girl's kissing ball and corsages. I can't wait to see everything together!

Let Them Eat Cake: There will be a wedding cake, groom's cake and mini cupcakes! We figure our guests will be up moving around a lot so mini cupcakes are great to pop in your mouth and go. We actually have chosen 6 different flavors to fit every taste bud that are sooo yummy!

Of course, there had to be a wedding cake for cutting purposes and it's a simple 2-tiered cake with a feather cake topper. I forgot to mention that I love feathers and have incorporated them into a centerpiece, corsages, cake and my reception dress. Bart isn't a big fan like me.

The thing I'm really excited about, because I thought it'd be a nice surprise for Bart, is his groom's cake. A fun 3D sport's cake featuring a St. Louis Cardinals hat on a baseball field. Hopefully he'll love it! I love sweets and can't wait to eat all the delicious flavors that we'll have at the reception.

Thank You For Coming: For our wedding favors, we have chosen personalized koozies, setting up a candy buffet and having a photobooth. So excited about everything! That might have been my biggest problem during the planning process, I needed to have restraint. I love photobooths, our fun props and the fact that one of the pictures will go in our guest book and another picture will be something the guest can take home with them. The koozies have our names and the candy is more for looks, but I'm sure people will enjoy it too.

Of course, this isn't all of our details. There's the wedding dress, bridal party gifts, photography and all the little details that I've included in our wedding that I love. We can't wait for it to all come together and for the day to get here!

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Wedding planning was well under way after the proposal. We knew that we did not want to wait for a long time because we had waited long enough to find one another as it was. We set the date for March 26th, 2011 and started working to get everything together. (Yes, that quick!) There were three basic rules that we were going by.

One, we wanted a wedding that was ours. Traditions and customs were not important to us. What was important was our kids, and that was our number two. We wanted to make sure that they were very much included in the big day, just as they would be for the rest of our lives. And finally, we did not want our wedding to be cheap but we did not want to start out our lives together in debt for one day of fun. So, a DIY wedding it was!

Where We Will Exchange Our Vows

First things first, I have never been an outdoorsy kinda girl (I have this vision of a swarm of bees going straight up my dress like a bad remake of The Bird's), so we booked the church. I have always loved the Eastwood Memorial United Methodist Church here in Caruthersville, Missouri. It is beautiful, old and the perfect size for our family and friends.

Stained glass windows pointing toward the heavens, an arch of pipes sweeping across the front that connect to the pipe organ, which is the largest in this part of the United States, and beautifully carved wood throughout. This was a place that made you speak in hushed tones and it was exactly where I wanted to exchange our vows.

Next up were the decorations for the wedding, the church is so beautiful that it does not need anything to enhance it. But I have always loved the beauty of candlelight so decided to go that route. As I said in an earlier post, I like things that are different and I also love the theatre. The beauty of it's dramatics were something I wanted to include. So, an evening candlelit wedding at 6 o'clock it was! I had a lot of ideas for little bits of "flair" to throw in along the way, but I will wait to share those with you as we get closer to time

All The Little Details

From there, we booked the local community center where we would host our reception. With the backbone of the event taken care of, the rest was just a matter of filling in the blanks. I love party and event planning so to me this was very exciting and fun. My biggest challenge was to slow down and separate things. I am very organized, I love list and checking things off, so on top of my many handwritten and typed list, I also downloaded a couple of wedding planning apps to help along the way. Sometimes, I have to make myself slow down and decide what I really like from what I just think is cute. Often I get over excited and began to collect a hodgepodge of things instead of sticking with my theme.

Next up, was my bridesmaid selection. My maid of honor was simple to choose, my sister Ashley would fill that place. Without doubt or question the next two spots were filled by my daughter, Micah and Craig's daughter, Brittany. Then my three nearest and dearest friends who had been such an asset to me through the years that it was only fair they share in their time of celebration with me. So Leslie, Amanda and Jennifer were called on to stand with me.

Craig in the mean time wanted to host a competition to decide his line up. He was thinking of something in between Survivor and Fear Factor with a rose ceremony at the end but fortunately he just went with his best friend Shane as his best man, his son, Brittan, his brother, Casey, his cousin Trey and his good friends, Jason and Nic. Putting us at six and six, which was a little larger than we had originally planned but getting them all in was important to us.

Finding The Dress

I had begun looking for my wedding dress first online, then in a few bridal shops. The only thing that I knew for sure was that I wanted it  comfortable and I wanted it  a champagne color. Not so much because of it being a second wedding, as I said customs do not mean a lot to me, I simply liked the color. I got together with the girls and we went bridesmaid dress shopping. Craig and I both loved the color blue and chose it for the main color scheme of the wedding.

Our bridesmaids are very different in their sizes and my sister will be well into her first pregnancy by the time the big day comes. We wanted everyone to feel good about their dresses, to look good and comfortable.

I felt that the best way to do this was to let them choose their own style of dress, just simply keep them all long (which to me seems more formal) and in the same color of blue. Fortunately for us, David's Bridal does just this and made it very easy for the girls to go to the one nearest them to try on and order their dress. In the end, I was very happy with their choices, they all picked very similar dresses and looked beautiful.

My dress however was still no where in sight and I was beginning to get a little frustrated. I did however find a great pair of shoes while shopping with them at David's Bridal. They were on sale for $20.00 and were not only comfortable but were the exact champagne color that I loved so much. So as of that moment, I was getting married in a pair of really cute heels…not good!

Stay tuned for the rest of my wedding details, planning and stories that you'll enjoy!

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As a single girl who had been divorced for a couple of years, I had developed the belief that there were no good guys left out there in the world. That the stuff that made movies was nothing more than the romantic fantasizing of a wishful writer and that I would never find that "one" who would make everything bright and bubbly. After a series of rough spots, I was at a very low point in my life and was beyond even wanting to date much less looking for someone to spend a lifetime with.

Until…Cue one Craig Williams, a rice grader from DeWitt, Arkansas, a place that I had never even heard of. In his line of work he traveled a lot, going from one grain elevator to another, grading the rice barges that were being loaded. He would usually be there for one week a month, sometimes more.

During that time, we got to be pretty good friends. We found that we had a lot of the same interest, the same sarcastic humor and always had a lot of fun talking. But there was never any discussion about dating and when he was away I would never hear anything more than an occasional text asking about river stages, barges or maybe a movie that he had watched at my suggestion.

After one visit, I could tell something was on his mind, but didn't want to pry. A day later, I received a text asking for advice on how to ask a girl out, after a brief discussion he finally said, "Have you not figured this out yet?" Two days later, he drove three hours to meet me for our first date. It was through the week and I had to make it an early night because of my daughter but it was the most I had laughed in a long time.

When I met my Mom that evening to pick up my daughter Micah I said, "Now this one has potential!" Shortly after, we went on our second date, my family reunion!! I told him repeatedly that we could wait and do something another time, but he insisted that it was fine. By the end of the day, I knew that this guy was a keeper. He had been great to Micah and to my family. He had pitched in and helped out and never once did I feel the need to mediate or keep him involved. After that, we started seeing more and more of one another.

Sometimes he'd drive for hours to meet, only to have to turn around and immediately drive back for work. We continued to get closer and I was constantly amazed by all the little things that seemed to fit together so perfectly. The similarities that I had never realized and by how much fun we had trying new things together. I had finally found someone that I could spend hours sitting and talking with, never realizing how quickly time had passed. But still, I was hesitant and insisted that I would never "settle" again. Although somewhere, deep down inside, I knew that this was the guy not only for me, but for my daughter as well. I watched as he melted her heart and mine and we settled into the glow of contentment together.

In the next months, I met some of his family and friends and instantly felt that I had known them for years. The only concern that I had was in meeting his children. I loved listening to Craig talk about them. He always beamed such love and pride when he spoke about his daughter Brittany and son Brittan.

On September 25th, 2010 we joined our families for the first time and all of my worries were forgotten. These two great kids that I had grown to love before I had ever met them were nothing short of the wonderful that I imagined them to be. Beautiful, smart, talented, kind and so accepting.

After the first weekend, Micah, who was 11 at the time, began imitating everything that Brittany, then 16, did from hairstyles and dress to gestures and slang. And Brittan was the perfect compliment to her tomboy side, ready to hunt and race. Little by little, I began to realize that the crazy, fun kind of love from the movies I once cringed at, was very possible.

On October 20th, 2010 in the same spot that Craig and I had spent so many hours lost in conversation, where he had first told me he loved me, he asked me to be with him forever. I said yes, and to my surprise he pulled out a ring that he had been carrying with him for two weeks.

After a lot of laughs, hugs, kisses and tears, he asked if the ring was ok. I laughed and jumped up telling him to wait there. I came back with a ring that I had bought for a Halloween costume a couple years before. The evening I wore it I had told everyone, "I will never marry again unless I am presented with the real version of THIS ring." The ring Craig had bought was almost identical, another sign that things were just as they were supposed to be.

Stay tuned for the rest of my wedding details, planning and stories that you'll enjoy!

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99 are the official number of days until the Taylor-Johnston wedding. For so long, I have counted with three digits, but the long-awaited break through of getting into 2 digits is finally here. While I must admit that I am extremely excited, I suddenly feel an immense pressure because I realize all that is left to do and plan. This is the point where the thought of eloping enters the mind, but it is way too late for that now. So, on with the planning we go.

First Meet Hannah (Me)

I’m a "DIY (or at least try to), change my mind a million times, brightly colored, not so organized (though I’d like to claim to be), procrastinating and most importantly unique” kind of bride.

Meet John, The Groom

He is a builder in the Navy and has allowed me to plan every part of our wedding. This is in part due to him being deployed to Asia for the past 9 months of our planning process. Every now and then I will ask him “What do you think about this” or “how do you like that” and every response I get is quoted as “It’s whatever you want babe”. He is the most laid back person I have ever met and could care less about planning anything as long as I pick what I like-so I must not complain.

How We Met.

We met in the spring of 2007 in Gulfport, MS while we were both attending “A-School” for our jobs in the Navy. John “claims” he had his eyes on me then, yet the only memory I have of him is when he tackled me on the beach during a volleyball game and made my knee bleed. Tear, I know. However it was not until May of the next year that we met up again.

I had gone to Gulfport for a friend's baby shower and ran into him there. After a few weeks of trying the long distance thing (I go to school in Memphis and he was stationed in Gulfport), we both knew we could and would make it work. He “popped the question” in October of 2009, so here we are after many weekends of driving the 5 ½ hours back and forth between Gulfport and Memphis planning our wedding.

Now that you have all of our not so important back ground information, it is on to the planning process. These are just the basics for now.

Location, Location, Location

When making my decision for my wedding venue, I knew I wanted it outside. However, since I wanted to have my wedding in Paragould, this has narrowed my options to very few. Luckily, my parent’s friends, David and Patti Snodgrass, have graciously allowed me to have it at their new house in Bronze Leaf Estates. After looking at many reception locations, we decided on Sage Meadows. Despite the small size, I was in love with the large patio and interior décor. I am determined to make everything fit. Like I said early, I am great at procrastinating. Therefore, we are still unsure about where we will hold our rehearsal dinner. So any suggestions/ideas will be greatly appreciated.

Wedding Colors

Wedding Colors

Oh colors, why must there be so many to choose from? Anyone who knows me can easily say that I am anything but plain. White and black were just out of the question when I was deciding on my colors. I originally wanted to have a “rainbow” wedding, where each of my bridesmaids wore the same dress just each in a different color.

However, after looking at thousands of bridesmaid’s dresses, I realized that it was impossible. I could not find a dress that I liked that came in all the colors that I wanted. So, the colors I decided upon were bright blue/turquoise, key lime, and a grape purple. Just a little bright don’t you think?

I have six bridesmaids; two girls will wear blue bridesmaid dresses, two girls will wear key lime and the other two will wear purple. When it comes to my colors, I want each one used equally. I am weird about all things being “symmetrical or parallel”. Everything in my wedding will incorporate these colors including, invitations, flowers, tuxedos, decorations, etc. My main thought behind my wedding is that I want everything to be colorful and FUN. I think these colors will help do both.

The Wedding Vendors

Choosing all of my vendors came as a fairly easy task to me. For my wedding cake and food, I chose Lea Ann Tyler. She has been a friend of the family for many years and runs a small catering business out of her home.  If you want to find food that is “melt in your mouth” delicious, she's the one.

Her husband, Scott, does an impeccable job of decorating the cakes, as well. If you do not have a caterer yet, I strongly suggest you check her out and her prices are very reasonable. I believe her business has really flourished here lately, and I would recommend her to anyone.

For my wedding flowers, I chose Miss Rosie’s House of Flowers out of Lepanto, AR. Miss Rosie is exceptionally helpful, especially for me, the kind of person who has absolutely no idea when it comes to flowers.

All I knew is that I did not want roses, the rest I could honestly care less about as long as the flowers are pretty and are created with my colors. She has prepared flowers for others in my family and they were beautiful. So, I have no doubt in her.

And for my wedding planner, I chose none other than the one and only (in my opinion) Mrs. Alice Miles. She was my 5^th grade teacher way back when and has done many weddings in the past. She knows all the etiquette rules, registry tips and everything else in between. I truly believe she is going to be my lifesaver throughout this process.

Stay tuned for the rest of my wedding details, planning and stories that you'll enjoy!

This wedding story was brought to your by Wedding and Party Network. Want to share your wedding story? Contact social@weddingandpartynetwork.com.

I wanted to share a fun, bumpy and crazy wedding story that everyone I know will enjoy.  They are very good friends of mine and she is one of my best friends.  In fact, I'm just going to call myself her wedding planner and decorator and maid of honor, because I was just that and loved every second of it.  So, I couldn't resist sharing it on Wedding and Party Network and hope everyone enjoys it and hope you can take one thing away from it, PLAN!

Josh & Abby's Engagement Story

Josh Proposing to Abby at Midnight

This is a couple that has known each other since they were in 5th grade.  Josh always liked Abby throughout high school and I'm pretty sure she felt the same way, but it was never the right timing for them.  However, I do remember when our high school play was going on and they got "pretend" engaged.

Obviously, it was fate right then.  Unfortunately, they didn't start dating until a couple of years after high school and since then they have never spent a day apart.  Pretty much the rest is history.

I knew that the engagement was coming because she had talked about it a little so I bluntly asked him when he was going to propose.  Josh told me when and I'm very proud of myself for not telling her.  It was New Years Eve and they had went out to dinner with another couple and just went back to their hotel room, a pretty low-key New Years Eve.

It was midnight and he casually asked "what's your New Years resolution?"  She rambled on about who knows what, maybe to not procrastinate so much or not to speed as much, who knows?  Josh answered with "Well, mine is to be the best fiancé ever."  He then got down on one knee and proposed.  Starting the year off perfect.

Wild & Crazy Wedding

Their Gorgeous Backyard Wedding

This wedding was nowhere near wild and crazy, it was actually really low-key.  The wild and crazy part came from the planning.  It was set for October 2, 2010 in her dad's backyard.  Next it was moved up from October to July 17,2010, their 2 year anniversary.  It was then set for Destin, Florida, nut the oil spill happened.  Next it was the Memphis Botanic Gardens, but it turned out to be a bigger hassle since it was for a smaller wedding and they have a huge family and absolutely couldn't cut anyone.

Abby being aggravated and wanting to elope from the beginning decided on Jamaica.  That was changed because no one wanted to miss seeing them get married, of course!  I'm sure it was switched around some more, but you get the picture.

After a whirlwind of locations, it was set for July 17, 2010 in her dad's backyard.  Now on to colors,  decorations and cake.  Abby's motto:  "It will all work out." and it did, even with her procrastination.  Wedding planning isn't really her thing.  I felt like anytime I asked her something she would say "I don't know yet."

However, they couldn't have asked for a more perfect wedding fit for them.  The weather was great since it did downpour on our rehearsal dinner.  The lawn had been perfected, chairs were in place and their gorgeous deck was decorated with summary daisies and beautiful daisy pomanders.  It was a perfect Summer wedding and they even got Jamaica for a honeymoon.

An October to July wedding at various locations with a lot of "I don't knows," ended up absolutely perfect.  Their Summer wedding was too pretty to describe and completely fit them as a couple.   Abby and Josh will have an absolutely amazing and happy marriage that will last a lifetime.

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Hi, I'm Kelly and recently started writing for Wedding and Party Network, which is perfect because I am in the process of planning a wedding.  Perfect timing.  I thought it would be a fun experience to write about it, provide a few wedding ideas and keep people entertained with my fun wedding stories.  I will be talking about the ups, downs, my wedding diy's and all the wedding planning in between.  So I hope you enjoy!

The Perfect Proposal

First off, I will provide some background on us.  Meet Bart, a laid back guy who enjoys watching baseball and movies.  I'm not so laid back at all, could honestly care less about baseball and can barely find time to sit down to actually watch a movie.  Not opposite at all!  How did we meet?  I was actually really good friends with his sister, I knew she had a brother, but never met him until after 4 years of knowing her.

We finally met and the next week we were on our first date.  We clicked and have been together a little over 5 years now, 5 years and no proposal. Another fun fact to go along with the proposal story, we have a lovable, wonderful and amazing Pomeranian named Bella who is the absolute best dog in the world.  If you can't tell, she's our number one kid!

Now, this is the perfect proposal for us! I have been talking wedding nonstop because 5 years of waiting is a bit ridiculous for me and I was ready.  I'm not big on surprises and enjoy knowing them so I was actually telling him how I would like my wedding proposal done, preferably at an airport.  I thought it would be the sweetest thing to be proposed to in an airport, however that didn't happen.  It was better.  We had already gone and looked at engagement rings so he knew exactly which one I wanted, like the one from Tiffany's.  Which again, didn't happen but he did an amazing job picking out my ring!  I'm very proud!

I come home one day talking on the phone, give Bart a quick hi and run upstairs to finish my conversation.  Of course, I was talking wedding with one of my friends, who is actually going to be one of my maid of honors.  After 30 minutes on the phone I get off and I see Bart walking in the room.  With wedding on my mind, I say, "When are you going to propose?!".  He laughs and says, "I don't know Kelly" and  then proceeded to tell me if I found the ring I could have it.

Frustrated I decided to give up and get on the treadmill and Bart being amused goes back downstairs.  With little motivation, I start to get ready for the treadmill and then I hear Bella come racing up the stairs.  I look down to see her wearing a t-shirt saying, "Will you marry me?"

Bart follows and gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him and opens up an empty ring box.  I think I responded with "Are you serious?"  Bart finally asks me if that means yes.  Well, of course it does!  The empty ring box was perfect because he still hadn't found the perfect ring for me yet, which meant he was truly looking.  I finally got it and it's perfect!

Later, he ended up telling me how he had found someone to actually monogram the shirt, but I was pestering him way too much that he decided to just make it by himself.  This was the perfect proposal for us because it incorporated Bella.

This is the first wedding post with more to come.  I've recently booked the perfect chapel, reception venue and photographer.  I'm a big planner and have everything exactly planned out in my head so I hope you enjoy my wedding process as much as I do!

The proposal is a huge part of the whole wedding process.  It's the start of something amazing and something you'll remember forever.  So, whenever we hear a good engagement story we all

fall in love with the couple.  It gives us a glimpse into how they are as a couple.  Some people think back to their proposal, while some look forward to theirs hoping its half as good.  So, as soon as I stumbled upon a great proposal I just had to share it on Wedding and Party Network.

Of course, one night on Facebook I saw a photo album with the word engagement.  If I see the word engagement anything, I click on it.  It was Kate, she is an amazing and fun person and right then I was super excited.  I know her wedding details will be unbelievable.  As soon as I saw how Justin proposed I messaged her immediately, crossed my fingers and hoped that she would let me share her uhh-mazzzingg proposal.  Thankfully, she said yes and gave me all the details.  I'm a sucker for unique and romantic proposals and I'm sure I have some that will agree with me too.

Justin and Kate's Engagement Story

First off, Justin and Kate met on eHarmony.  They were matched on August 18, 2009 and talked on the internet for about 2 weeks before officially planning their first date on September 2, 2009.  There was an instant connection and great chemistry on their first date.  Kate remembers calling her mom to tell her that she was going to marry him one day.  How amazing is that?   Knowing he's the one after their very first date and I'm sure he felt the same way is so amazing and rare!  After hearing how they met, you know that the proposal and especially the wedding will be unique and beautiful down to the last detail.

So, on to the proposal!  They had planned a vacation to visit his family for the first part of the trip and hers last.  They were on the last leg of the trip to visit Kate's family on July 8, 2010, which they had arranged for just her mom to pick them up from the airport.  On the way towards home, her mom suggested that it might be a "great" idea for Justin to tour the Mall of America.  They all agreed since there wouldn't be

enough time later in the trip to visit it.  Kate was pretty much whatever about it and didn't really mind going.  Best of all, she was completely clueless about what was going to happen at that mall.

Justin and Kate were walking around and "happened" to stumble upon a photobooth.  Now, before I go any further, they absolutely LOVE photobooths!  They have a ton of photobooth pictures together that they have found at a variety of locations.  Justin even hopped in one by himself for Valentine's Day with signs that said "I Love You Kate."  So creative and such a fun thing to share.  Okay, back to the story.  Justin immediately said, "We have to get a picture," and of course she was easily convinced.  They hopped in, picked out their background, got situated and hit the start button.  The next thing Kate knows is that Justin is down on one knee proposing.  In complete shock, she responds, "Are you serious?!".  Of course, she said YES even though she was still in complete and utter shock and thrilled at the same time.  The best part?  When she finally stumbled out of the photbooth, her entire family was there cheering and celebrating.  They had planned EVERYTHING out the week before, including touring the mall, stumbling upon the photobooth and having her family hide.  Kate had no idea!  It was an absolute perfect proposal and an amazing photo to add to their photobooth pictures.

Absolute true love is what they have found.  This couple is so much fun and absolutely wonderful that I know they will have an amazing marriage from the beginning till forever.  I'm so glad they let me share their wonderful engagement story for everyone to enjoy and I can't wait to see their gorgeous wedding details on May 28, 2011.

We'd been dating for just over a year when my fiance surprised me one Christmas with a marriage proposal. It wasn't our first Christmas together so I wasn't expecting anything major.

We were playing "Dirty Santa" with my family when Josh asked me to trade gifts. We hadn't opened them but he seemed to know what was in the package that he held. I agreed to trade because he seemed really adamant about it.

I opened the package and laughed out loud. Inside was a big-mouthed bass. Continue reading "The Proposal That Got Me Hook Line & Sinker" »

When I saw the picture submitted to the Wedding and Party photo gallery by Levy, I knew I wanted to know more about her wedding and the theme that inspired such a beautiful wedding cake. I thought that others planning a wedding could get some ideas from her wedding story. I sent her an email asking out their wedding and its traditions and she was gracious enough to reply.

Hi there Ma'am, I apologized too for the delay of my replies. I have 4 weddings in a row this month and checking my emails is so hard hehehe. Anyway, I want to introduce first my self to you.. I am Levy B. Tkaczyk, a wedding coordinator/ planner for 11 years now. I am happily newly married last Feb2008. I just want to showcase my wedding coz i believe that its kind of unique and unusual.

Our wedding concept/ theme is a fusion of Ethnic/ tribal theme with canadian touch since my husband is from Canada. I live in an island here in the Philippines were the tribal/ethnic tradition is still intact. I am a Sociology graduate too and am fond of indigenous materials because i find it artistic and unique. Our Wedding Cake was inspired by different tribal groups of Mindanao namely Maranao, Higaonon and Subanen. It was 4 layered chocolate cake with 6 islands.

yes, Mr. Edwin Orbe is a professional photographer. He was the one who took beautiful pictures before and during our wedding. I recommended him also to almost of my clients here. I have a website too , feel free to view it ma'am.. mybrideandgroom.multiply.com —- i put some pics of my clients this year. we have a wedding website too its www.dannylevz.com, and we have some post nup pics at rlbphotography.multiply.com so till next, i am looking forward hearing from you soon Jam. thanks really for the email , it means so much. if there's anyway that i could help just let me know too…if its okay , i would like to link ur site too over my multiply account. please take care and God bless!