That Holiday Feeling

Well, the holidays are almost over, so we thought we'd write a quick few lines to tell everyone how it went. It was a busy season - like everyone's - but enjoyable.

I think we set the bar with getting our Christmas cards out as early as possible. Amanda thought it would be a great idea to showcase a couple of our engagement pictures my Dad took. We have to admit, the cards caused quite the stir!

Next, we went to go get our Christmas tree at Eaton Creek Farm. This was our second year to partake in selecting and chopping down the "perfect" tree. I was more selective than Amanda in this part-I think she was just ready to go because in true Washington fashion, it started to rain.

We celebrated with our 3rd annual tradition of seeing the Nutcracker. We'd hoped to attend the top class production in Seattle, but apparently the tickets were made out of solid gleaming platinum, for that is the only way I can possibly describe the price. Instead we opted for the Tacoma Ballet, which was charming and pleasant, and also featured the smallest theatre seats known to the history of man. It was an opera hall built for a race of ballet-enthused leprechauns. Really, if I have trouble fitting in a seat, you know you have a problem. Anatomically, I don't even have hips. We buy a Nutcracker ornament every year to add to our tree.

As if we hadn't done enough for Christmas sake, Amanda decided we should make our first ever  gingerbread house starting from scratch. It was fun for the first five hours. We managed to get all mixed together, rolled out, cut, baked, and constructed. We didn't have the energy to decorate it. Besides, I was eating the candy while working. The gingerbread turned out nicely and afterwards we appreciated all our hard work.

Amanda was kind enough to stay in Washington for Christmas, in spite of a shocking lack of warmth and vitamin D. She's doing all right, but I'm going to have to fly her out to some sort of island, soon. The wet, Washington winter is not kind to Southerners.

Christmas was wonderful. Like most of you, our family gets a bit more numerous each year. There are nieces and step nephews and parents and friends to visit, so it's tough to get everyone under one roof. We chose to solve this problem by celebrating for a solid three days. There's no problem with scheduling that making Christmas longer can't solve.

So we spent Thursday the 23rd with my sister Becky and family, Christmas Eve with my mother and her best friend Vicky, and Christmas day having brunch at my Dad's. Then back to my mother's. I'm sure she was at least a little tired of us at this point. Wine helped.

As you've heard, Amanda got a rather nice Mishe bag (if I do say so myself) and I got a set of sterling silver collar stays. If you've never thought of buying collar stays, then trust me. You should. Mine have nice things inscribed on them, like "You have a big heart," and the wonderfully inaccurate, "You share your dessert."

We hope you enjoyed your holiday season as much as we did! ~S.

Amanda + Scott

Miche Bag

Have you ever heard of a Miche Bag? It might just be the greatest invention in purse history!

It's a basic purse but then it has all of the different "shells" which are the outside of the purse. The shells  magnetize to the base purse. It's great because now when you change purses you don't have to dump everything out and re-organize it again. You simply, just take the shell off and then add a new shell. It's really as easy as the 1-2-3 macaroni and cheese!

I got one for Christmas, thanks to Scott! : ) I absolutely love and adore it.





My first Miche Bag-Wendi

 
I have been wanting one for a long time now but they only had a small purse available, but now have expanded and have a large purse. If you know me, you know I love large purses. You have to have enough room for everything you may need, right?!?!

The shells even have names to them which I think is a good marketing tactic. When I worked at David's Bridal, I thought the coolest thing about the shoe department was that they all had women names. And nope, they didn't have an Amanda when I was there. They had it a few years back but currently don't make it anymore : ( Apparently, having a shoe named Amanda isn't a top saler. lol

I am already picking out my next shell I plan to get-Lauren! Besides being the name of my fabulous niece, it's a great looking purse!




Isn't it adorable?

Things like this always make me excited to be a woman! : ) There are some perks to being female for sure. ~A.
Amanda + Scott

All's Fair in Love and War....

Every year, Scott's family has an annual pictionary Thanksgiving game. It's a big deal. There's even a trophy involved!

I got to partake in the festivities last year (2009) and was adopted onto Mark, Becky, and Scott's team. We usually have 3 to 4 teams and most of the people are there every year making the competition pretty heightened. I will have to admit between me and Becky, we define the word competitive. : )

We took the championship in 2009, making my first name mark on the grand trophy. That would be hard to beat but after another intense, but not even close 2010 game-we were deemed the Champions again. Sadly, Mark made the mistake of switching teams. : ( He won't be let back on again next year, we've already decided!! haha

Champions 2010

 Here's a picture of our victorious win! And the word we won on this year was "war" : )

~A.

Amanda + Scott

And Then There Were Two

As anyone who's been trapped in conversation with me for longer than two and a half minutes knows, I like skiing. Some people might even call it a private obsession, but I disagree. There's nothing obsessive about sleeping in ski boots or wearing your thermal wear in the shower.

So I always knew that I wanted to teach Amanda to ski. I was, though, a bit nervous. I've never actually taught anyone to ski, not really, so I was a bit worried I wouldn't be up to snuff. Luckily, I had my old friend James, a ski instructor out in Las Vegas, who helpful provided these words of wisdom when I called:

"Don't do it, man," James said, helpfully. "For the love of God save yourself."

See, the first day of skiing isn't the most relaxing thing in the world. It involves a lot of flopping around on your back in the snow and wondering why your knees hurt so much. It can be difficult to master, endlessly frustrating, and really rather cold. Amanda does not deal well with the cold. She is not well-insulated.

But she's a good sport, so three weeks back we took a nice drive out to White Pass, conveniently located just outside Time And Space Itself. And I taught Amanda how to ski.

She was brilliant. She was patient, eager to learn, and only once was I fairly convinced she was about to hit me in the face. She's breezed into wedge christie turns on the second day, mastered every run on the lower mountain, and even failed to complain when the wind chill dropped to a pretty brutal ten degrees.

Starting our day!

After six hours!

Day one complete!

And, to make it even better, she watches FIS World Cup races with me. Now I know I have to marry this woman. S.

Sneak Peak: Engagement Pictures

Scott and I took our engagement pictures on November 14th. It turned out to be a nice day for the most part. Below are 2 of the shots we both really liked:

If you have received our holiday card, these pictures look familiar to you! More details and pictures to come soon! ~A.

Amanda + Scott

S'more Cupcakes, please?!?!

So I have decided I love making cupcakes. It's time consuming but it's fun. I made some cupcakes for Scott's birthday a couple of weeks ago and tried something new. Filling the cupcakes. It didn't turn out too terrible considering all of them were ate. Of course, that's not saying much because Scott will eat ANYTHING! : )

We were asked to bring a dessert for Thanksgiving and I had no intention of making cupcakes until I found a S'more cupcake recipe by Ray Rachel. It's not so much the taste that caught my eye as it was the presentation. They had graham crackers, chocolate chips, and marshmellows on the top. Who could resist such a cute little cupcake that is screaming, "Eat me!"

On Thanksgiving, we set out to make our cupcakes and had all of the needed items. However, during breakfast I told Scott I just got an idea to make the cupcakes better. Seriously, these are Cupcake War worthy. I am prepping to go on the show! JK Check out our final cupcakes below:

They were decorated with graham crackers, chocolate chips, and marshmellows.
YUMMY!



I love how they turned out!

The idea: I have a ton of crafting stuff from left over projects. I just recently made customized wooden hangers for our wedding day that has our names stamped on them. When I purchased the alphabet stamps, I also got these fall theme ones only because I wanted the maple leaf (crazy, I know). I hadn't used the fall stamps at all and wanted to be able to do so. Light bulb went off and decided we needed to make Thanksgiving flags and add them to the cupcakes. It was fun to make them!

How to make them:

• Take card stock and and stamp them. I used yellow, brown, and creme card stock and the stamps that I already had.
• Cut the words out with the theme designed scissors.
• Use toothpicks and tape the words on to them.

Everyone seemed to enjoy them! : ) Don't forget to look for me on Cupcake Wars.....
~A.

Amanda + Scott

***SNOW***

We had our first snow this past Sunday. It was beautiful and we enjoyed going to church in the weather. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy driving in it on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. : ) Not only did we get about 3 inches of snow but we had a ton of ice everywhere due to the extremely cold conditions. (14 degrees one night!!?!?!)

For those of you that know we really well, you know that Texas doesn't get much weather like that and this Southern girl does not do well great driving in them. I love my Honda CRV but it's 2 wheel drive. Fortunately, I made it through the week with my Honda all in one piece and without a ditch experience. The only casualty there may have been is a few of my hairs turning brown to gray! It was stressful!

So not only was the weather beautiful and we still have snow on the ground today for Thanksgiving, but it allowed me to expand my knowledge on a couple of other things:

• Ice Scraper-I snagged an ice scraper this year when I was volunteering for a community event car show. We were stuffing goody bags and someone made the comment that if you didn't have an ice scraper, you should grab one. Oh boy, am I glad I did. Me and my ice scraper got to spend quality time together for at least 10 minutes for 3 mornings. You can say that on my being thankful list is that ice scraper. : )

Before my ice scraper



• Snowballs, Snow angels, and Ski lessons-Scott and I got the bright idea that we wanted to play in the snow on Monday evening. Granted it was dark because it gets dark about 5pm or earlier here. We got bundled up and headed out. I was schooled in how to make a correct snowball and was shown when properly made it does it's job quite well. We made snow angels (Mine was better than Scott's; He even said so). And then I got some pre-ski lessons. Scott was preparing me for our first ski trip that is coming up this weekend. We made a small snowman which I think is cute. We would have made it bigger but the snow wasn't wet enough when we tried the "rolling" thing that you see on TV. Scott went to school in Minnesota so he is educated in all of this very important stuff! It seriously is one of my favorite memories with Scott!



Our little tiny snowman! : )

 We are looking forward to this holiday season and all the festivities that it will bring! ~A.



Amanda + Scott

Cleverer Every Day

After three busy months of wedding planning, if I have one tip for prospective grooms out there, it would be this: Marry a wedding planner. I'm not saying you should leave your current girlfriend, wife, or beloved partner, but I am saying it would probably make your life easier. We have been unstoppable planners, in spite of the fact that, for much of it, I was barely conscious.

This is not just because I'm a selfish and lazy person.* It's just that Amanda is so focused and driven that she makes the Terminator look like a bit of a flake.

Which is not to say that I'm entirely without responsibility. I had to ask my groomsmen, for example. I've also been entrusted with designing our Save the Date cards. I'm glad Amanda has entrusted me with this task, but I'm not an arrogant guy. It's not like I'm so proud of my Save the Dates that I'm going to mention them throughout the rest of this blog.

But wedding planning is more than about designing brilliant Save the Date cards, the likes of which Picasso can only envy. It's also about engagement photos, taken by my very own father. He did a great job, and we can't wait to show you the final product. Keep an eye out for them.

While the National Gallery considers my Save the Date cards for a possible exhibition, Amanda has been hard at work on part of the bridal party gifts. If you're one of our bridesmaids, groomsmen, matrons of honor or the best man, you have something to look forward to! If not, then this paragraph is probably just a bit awkward for both of us. I'm very sorry.

Anyway, we're busting with pride, excitement, and artistic ideas for Save the Dates which will probably endure as a highwater mark for Western Civilization. So we'll run for now, but check back next week! I'm hoping to teach Amanda to ski. We'll see if the wedding is still on come Monday. S

*Well, OK. It's MOSTLY because of it.
Amanda + Scott

Monogram Madness!

Well, the wedding planning is in full swing! Scott has been doing a great job working on our monogram and our save the dates. He's amazing and super talented in photoshop and he's certainly got "skills."

Who would ever thought that choosing colors, shapes, designs, etc would be so fun yet tiring?!?! It's a process but one that we are both enjoying. Scott's the most supporting and present fiancee I have seen in a long time but I am not biased or anything! ; )

In other related news, the umbrella I ordered should arrive by Friday and hopefully we will be taking our rescheduled engagement pictures on Sunday. The hangers I ordered that I will be customizing should be in today! It's fun getting boxes of wedding related material in the mail. Every wedding planners dream. :)

Have a good afternoon and if you aren't greeted by a box or a person that makes you smile when you get home-smile anyways,- well as long as it's not a bill. ~A.

Amanda + Scott

Another Year Wiser

So a terrible, awful, unpreventable thing happened this week, that I truly never saw coming. I turned 30.

I suppose I always thought this could happen. I know a lot of people, good people, over thirty. Some of my best friends are over thirty. Even my father seems to be somewhat north of his thirties, something I've long suspected. But for the most part, it seemed like something other people did. It's not my type thing.

Now it's happened. I'm learning to deal with this as best I can, but it's hard. I'm facing a life of changes. I'll become increasingly befuddled by popular music. I'll likely never again be in a situation where it's socially appropriate to wear a hoody.* My metabolism, already seething with unease, will become openly rebellious.

Sigh.

Still, if you're going to turn thirty, you might as well do it in style.** Which is why I'm terribly grateful to my fiancee, Amanda.

Amanda didn't just plan my birthday party. She planned a birthday weekend of epic enjoyment. She took me to Seattle, baked me (stuffed!) cupcakes, planned a dinner at my favourite Italian restaurant, had wine, had gifts, took me to a piano bar, and is currently making an ice cream cake in the kitchen for the family dinner tonight. About the only good thing she didn't do this weekend was help Liverpool beat Chelsea, and even then I'm almost certain that the winger who assisted for Torres' second goal looked suspiciously cute and Southern.

So if you weren't there, we missed you! But thanks. Thanks to Maren, for a soccer ball I prize more than my eventual firstborn son, to Diane, for the amazing bottle of wine, for Ben and Heather, for always putting up with me in good humor and taking the best pictures I've seen, and to Steve and Abby, for the beer, the singing, the Petron, the laughter, and for the best after-party I've had in thirty long years.

Oh! And thanks to everyone for making me take my clothes off on stage last night. But that's another story. S

Amanda + Scott

*Unless, of course, I become a boxer. Mayweather rocks himself a hoody.
**Style example: This thirty year old still slams out a 6:30 mile. As a warmup. Recognize.

Rain, Rain, and Umbrellas

Scott's Dad, Dr. Connolly, will be taking our engagement photos! We are very excited about this and we think he is too. He's an amazing photographer by night and a doctor by day. He certianly has a rare talent that goes beyond snapping a button.

You can check out some of his awesome work at http://gallery.me.com/kevinconnolly.

We have done some research and have decided on where to take our engagement pictures and know what we are envisioning now. Hopefully, next weekend will provide us with a good weather day with sunshine...fingers crossed.


In the meantime, I found this wonderful paisley print umbrella that is a must have. In fact, I am going to purchase it right after I finish up this blog. : ) My way of justifying the purchase you ask??? Well, we are going to use it in the engagement pictures! It should be a fun prop! ~A.

Amanda + Scott

Treasure Hunt

Since I have decided on my wedding dress, the hunt for bridesmaids dresses began! I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted and I didn't want it to be a typical bridesmaids dress. Sure, I am okay if they don't wear again but I wanted something more unique than your standard satin dress. I originally thought I would like to have a dress that had a lace overlay to give the dress some texture but I couldn't find one. David's Bridal had one in a color I liked but it was short and floor length was a requirement. Becky got to be my model  a couple of weeks ago and did a great job. We found a couple we both liked but I didn't feel the need to marry them as my choice.

So then I spent a few hours online, like all brides do, to search through endless amounts of colors, fabrics, designers, and cuts of dresses I found one that I really liked and could possibly love. It's a Bill Levkoff design, http://www.billlevkoff.com/. And by the way, he has an amazing website, you should check it out! I was most certainly impressed with the quality and ease of use compared to all the other websites I surfed before getting to his. After I had found a few others of his I liked, I thought the hard part was over-boy was I wrong!

I ended up calling all the stores that carry Bill Levkoff in the state of Washington the next day! Out of the 12 stores, I was able to speak to 5 of them and they confirmed they didn't have that design in store therefore  not allowing me to see the actual dress. I was bummed! : ( What a treasure hunt this ended up being. But the next morning, I got a call back saying they had that dress in stock! Things were taking a turn for the better and then I got two more calls telling me they had that dress too. What was nice is that this cut the driving time down from at least an one hour trip down to 30 minutes.

On Saturday, Scott, Cortney, and myself made the trip up to the bridal store to check the dress out. Scott was a trooper and gets the "best support fiancee award." Cortney looked lovely and was a fantastic model as well. It comes to no surprise though, that I will have the most beautiful bridesmaids any bride could wish for! The trip was short and sweet. We saw the dress, LOVED it, looked at the colors and confirmed what we had thought. It's going to be sable (chocolate color) with a camel (champagne color) sash. : )

Okay, I am not going to ruin the surprise of the bridesmaid dresses since I built up all this suspense but I will leave you with my second and third favorite! Enjoy! ~A.

Amanda + Scott

Holy Guacamole!

One of the things I miss the most about Texas, is the Tex-Mex. There is nothing like it on the face of the earth and I have been going through withdrawals that I am quite sure is starting to take a toll on me from being the Pacific Northwest. A few months back, Scott and I discovered a restaurant called The Matador that is comparable to Tex Mex. We make every opportunity to visit there as often as we can. : )

Have you heard of groupon? It's a group coupon that you can buy online at http://www.groupon.com/. You put in your email address and choose your location and then you start getting daily email of groupons. The groupon can be for restaurants, spa services, fun places to go, etc. You can save some serious cash if you can catch what you are looking for. I bought my first groupon a few weeks ago for another so called "Tex-Mex" restaurant here in Washington. Scott and I ended up getting to go and use it yesterday for lunch and it's my new favorite place to eat! What is the restaurant's name you ask? It's Chevy's. It's great-the colors of the place, the staff, and most importantly they know how to make some salsa. It was so yummy-I couldn't stop eating and my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The tableside fresh made guacamole didn't hurt either!

Now we will be going there quite often! I am proud of Scott because now he has developed a good appetite for true "Tex Mex" and is almost as addicted to it as I am. Our kids don't stand a chance! haha

I must run so I can start dinner....too bad Chevy's isn't close or I would let them cook for me! ~A.

Amanda + Scott

"The Dress"

After working at David's Bridal, I can tell you almost anything and everything about wedding dresses. Whether it's satin, organza, chiffon, or lace to A-line to ball gown to form fitting, what under garments goes with what cut and what type of dress flatters your shape-I have seen it all. I had fun helping hundreds of brides find "the dress" along with the rest of the bridal party-bridesmaids (BM), flower girls (FG), and mother of the brides (MOB). The wedding dress is hands down the most important dress a woman will ever wear. And given that fact, there is much anticipation, excitement, and sometimes fear of finding the wedding dress.

When Scott and I were down in Texas, I was able to get to go try on some dresses with my Mom, Erin (sister-in-law), Lauren (my niece and flowergirl), and Amberly (dear friend and bridesmaid). It was a lot of fun but it did feel odd to be the Bride, which I am now adjusted to being! : ) I had hopes that I would find a dress I would like but ended up falling in LOVE with a Maggie Sottero design. I left Texas knowing I would have to try that dress on again in Washington to be able to "make sure" it was the one for me. This past Friday, I had the day off work and I got to go with my wonderful friend, Becky who is one of my Matron's of Honor, to try on dresses again. It was very special and memorable to be able to go with her because we used to work together at David's Bridal.

I LOVED the dress even more and I have decided that it will be my most important dress! It's very exciting and so perfect it feels surreal when I have it on. I have always joked that I would love my wedding dress so much that after the wedding, I would clean the house in it-and now that's not so funny because I seriously might do it! : ) (don't judge) It feels great to be able to see the dress when I think about exchanging vows with Scott. Now that finding the wedding dress is marked off the list, it's on to finding the "perfect" bridesmaids dresses. Well right after I put in my order for the beautiful dress-it takes at least 4 months to get in. It's well worth the wait! : ) ~A.

Amanda + Scott

He loves me, He loves me not, He loves me!

Scott sent me flowers on Thursday to my work. I was very surprised and happy about them! The previous week I had put in a ton of hours at work getting ready for our biggest fundraiser of the year, our annual auction. My arrangement is a beautiful representation of fall colors!




My iphone doesn't take good, quality pictures

My favorite flower is the Casablanca lily. It's so beautiful and the smell of them is like no other flower. I fell in love with them when I worked for a florist a couple of years ago. I still remember working my first day and when I pulled my shirt off when I got home, it reminded me of those silly, laundry detergant commericals where the flowers spin off the clothes. haha Lame, I know but I will never forget that moment. The very first flowers I got from Scott were Casablanca's. : )

They look better when you take the red pollen off

These flowers will be making an appearance in my bridal bouquet. The meaning of the flower is "celebration" which I think is quite fitting for our wedding day! ~A.



Amanda + Scott

Bridesmaids!

I always knew I wanted to ask all my bridesmaids to be my bridesmaid in a special way. After much thought and searching the web, I finally came up with my own unique idea on how to make it meaningful. A trip to Micheals for gathering supplies and sometime later and I was done. Scott actually was jealous that he couldn't ask his groommen in such a cool way! : ) haha I covered boxes with scrapbooking paper and filled them with chocolate candy-yum!

Each box had a card to go with it

A couple of the boxes

This is what each of the inside of the lids of the boxes had on them!

 2 things every woman needs:

   1. Chocolate

    2. Bridesmaid

Will you be my Bridesmaid? 

(and two of them said Matron of Honor)

A shot of all my supplies I used

Finished project!

I finished the project just in time to be able to take them all to Texas with me. I asked Cortney before we left on our trip and then I was able to see Maren, Erin, Amberly, Orison, and finally Becky back in Washington. The only one I didn't get to see is Kristin when I was in Texas so I asked her over the phone and shipped hers to her.

There will be more to come on my fabulous Bridesmaids in the weeks to come but I am excited to know each and every one them! ~A.

Amanda + Scott

The Date Is Set!

It's been a busy week in wedding planning. We've booked the venue, hired a florist, and we think we've even picked our baker, too.

More information on that, later. Because most importantly, we've set a date!

We'll be married on November 12, 2011, at the Villa di Felicita in Tyler, Texas. That's just about four hundred days away. Idiot rookie that I am, I thought wedding planning was pretty much done after we picked our vendors. Amanda has informed me that this isn't the case. Her to-do list takes up several binders.

The Villa is quite charming. We toured it back in March, when I sneakily asked Amanda's dad if I could marry her. You can check out some pictures through "Our Links". We'll also post some hotel and travel ideas in the next few weeks.

We've also started dance lessons. We had our first class last Thursday, and Amanda's toes are still in recovery. I don't think there's any major bone or ligament damage, but I imagine she'll be wearing close-toed shoes to the next class.

So that's just over thirteen months to master the fox-trot, waltz, and possibly the tango, without finishing off any off Amanda's toes. Wish us luck!

Amanda + Scott

Globetrotters

So as most of you know, last week Amanda and I traveled back to the great state of Texas. On one hand, we had quite a bit of wedding work to get done - vendors to meet, venues to book. On the other, Amanda was in desperate need of defrosting after six months stranded in Washington.

It was a brilliant trip. We spent the first few days in Dallas with my sister, Maren, veterinarian extraordinaire working at the Dallas zoo. We watched a few movies, played a bit of soccer, and Amanda tried Indian food for the first time. Excellent trip.

After that, we drove out to East Texas to visit Amanda's family. S




Maren and me before we went out to eat Indian food

We had a wonderful and delightful trip and made many memories that will last a lifetime. I was able to see a few good friends while visiting which is always welcomed! I miss all my Texas friends dearly! Also, I was able to see my family and quite a lot of extended family as well. It was nice getting to introduce Scott as my fiance and show my ring to all the women! Fun times!



Amberly and Gena hosted dinner for Scott and me! Love her curtains!

 I am certain Scott and I both gained 10+ pounds during our trip to Texas! No lie, but something to note-we started our healthy diet right back up today. Food is always one of the highlights to Texas. You can not even get close to the quality of Tex Mex up here! Taco Bueno was our first stop and then we hit up Fuzzy Taco's, McAlister's, Mi Chula's, Bodacious BBQ, Johnny Cariono's and many more throughout our 9 day trip.

The whole reason we traveled was for my Grandparent's 50th Wedding Anniversary! What a joy and honor to be able to celebrate that amazing day with them! They were so thrilled about their party and everyone that was there. Those memories will be cherished in my heart for years to come. I can only hope Scott and I will get the chance to experience 50 years of love, life, and memories together. : ) People don't always get that blessing.

Amazing shot Scott took!

So cute! :)

Lastly, we did get to squeeze in some wedding planning! We will let you know when and where very soon. Actually, we are trying to decide between two dates and then we will be signing the contract. I was able to get to go dress shopping with my Mom, Erin (sister-in-law), Lauren (niece), and my good friend Amberly the day before we flew out. It was a ton of fun! And I found a dress I loved but I will look a little up here in Washington before making any final decisions.

Newly engaged couple with the 50 year Rookies!

Everyone-the people who left early-Scott=this picture

Hope you all had a great Monday! ~A.

Amanda + Scott

Good things...

We thought we would give a quick update and share all the good things that are happening!

• First, I worked a client's wedding this past Saturday at The Rainier Club in downtown Seattle. It was a very beautiful and special day! Also, I had another client who had their wedding on Saturday in Auburn, Washington. I loved being able to work with these clients, in addition to them being fellow Texans! :) I had arranged for a fellow colleague to work their wedding day. Both weddings were great and enjoyed getting to be a part of both couple's wedding day!
• This past Monday we made a step (no pun intended) towards being an engaged couple. We will start ballroom dance lessons at the beginning of October. We will be missing the first official class due to being out of town but I am sure we will catch on! The location of the classes is actually near my new apartment so it works out quite nicely. Here's to hoping Scott doesn't have two left feet. Yesterday I received my first "official" wedding magazine as a BRIDE! I have spent what seems like the greater part of my life looking through wedding magazines but this one was special.

Let the dancing begin!

• Our agenda for our trip to Texas starting this Saturday is jammed packed but we are both looking forward to it. We will be touring 2 venues while we are down there and will finalize our date and location for our big day!
• Lastly, today I booked another wedding client for July of 2011 in Oregon. Yay for destination weddings! : )

Have a great rest of the week. I am off to work up the contract for that new wedding client!

Amanda + Scott

Bridal Show 101

Today marked my first visit to a wedding expo. Not Amanda's, of course. She's wears the practiced look of a bridal show veteran, navigating the maze of booths, venues, and business with mechanical, ruthless ease. We were organized.

Doubt me? Pah. We had stickers. Other, amateurish couples had to write their addresses down each time they visited a booth. Not us. I had my pre-made, Amanda Graham return address labels, complete with name, address, and wedding date, saving us precious minutes of time and sparing the vendors the sight of my poor penmanship. We were that prepared.

Otherwise, it was a fun show, but a little bit disappointing. Amanda has informed me that it was far from the class of bridal show that you'd see in Texas. But then, Amanda finds most things in Washington to be slightly inferior in quality to the great South. There were a surprising amount of photographers, very little cake, and the barest amount of free swag.

Still, it was our first real engaged outing, and I enjoyed myself immensely. I got a groom sticker. Thinking of wearing it to work tomorrow. S

The "Bride" and "Groom" stickers! haha

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We ventured out today to the Tacoma Fall Bridal Show. It was fun going with Scott but weird that I wasn't "working" the bridal show but "attending" instead. We got the cheesy Bride and Groom stickers given to us within 5 seconds of entering the door. : ) I used to laugh on the inside when I saw people wearing them, but I wore mine with pride today!

So with that being said here's a few tips to those of you who will be attending a bridal show in the future:

• Check online on the bridal show website. Many times you can print out coupons i.e. Buy one ticket get one free. We saved $15 today! Also, we parked in the street and burned some calories while walking a few blocks and saved another $10. Good day for the wedding budget!
• Go prepared. Take a bag where you can easily put information in and is easy to carry. Skip the purse. Many times the bridal show will have premade goody bags for the guests but you can't put these over your shoulder. You are then left fumbling (no football though) when looking, tasting, and talking to vendors. Not to mention that had ran out of them by the time we got there this afternoon.
• Stickers are your best friend at bridal shows. Before you go, make printed out Avery self adhesive address labels with Bride's Name, Groom's Name, Address, Phone Number, Email, and Wedding Date. Your hand will thank you after it's all done and over with!
• Sign up for EVERYTHING. You never know what you will win! : ) We are hoping for a honeymoon.
• Don't get stuck with those crazy vendors that will talk your head off. Meet them, ask them your questions, and get the information.
• Timing is crucial. I would advise you going to the bridal show during "non-peak" times such as the end of the day on Saturday or Sunday. We went today with 2 hours remaining and managed to see ALL of it in an hour. We didn't have to fight any crowds or Bridezillas! Yikes! (I have been around my fair share.)
• Go for the FOOD! This is one of the best things about bridal shows. You get all the yummy tastes you want from crab cakes to wedding cake. Don't skip out on this part. *Please note that this part only applies to Texas bridal shows. The Washington one really lacked the Food Perk.*
• Take your fiance if you want. I am lucky to have a guy that is willing and inquisitive about weddings. And no he's not faking it for my part. : ) Or at least if he is, he's great at faking. Add that to his wonderful qualities. If the fiance is a no go, then round up your friends! : )

That's it! If you apply those tips-you are sure to have a great time. ~A.

Cool shot that Scott took

Information Overload!

Amanda + Scott

Welcome To The Blog

We're a cutting edge couple. First we introduced our very posh wedding website, and now we're happy to welcome you to our ever informative, always amusing, and occasionally enlightening Wedding Blog.

Why a blog, you ask? From living in Washington to planning the wedding in Texas, it's not always easy to keep in touch with everyone we love. So we'd thought we'd start a blog, to write down the little details of our engagement, and let our friends and family share in the wedding planning process.

It should be fun.

Feel free to participate in the comments section any time. We'll even listen to and take special requests. For example: "I'd like to see Scott in a tie-dye tuxedo at the wedding." Enough of you ask for that, and we'll try to make it happen. S


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I am going to give this a try, but writing is Scott's strong point and my weak one.

It happened, it really did. That day that I have been waiting for since I was a little girl happened! Now that the shock of actually being able to call myself a bride has set in, I am estatic about planning our wedding. Now I know what most of you are thinking, and no I don't have our wedding all planned out....yet! I do have quite a few ideas, connections, and wants but most of all I look forward to becoming Scott's wife and having a wonderful party with family and friends. I have been to so many weddings I have lost count and I have enjoyed them each in their own way, but I know our wedding will hold the dearest spot in my heart.

For the meantime, here's a couple of pictures from our proposal!

The happily engaged couple!

Oh and just so you know, there will be NO tie-dyed tux at the wedding! : ) ~A.