This is carolinagirl's Pink Wedding!

Well, I am still planning this thing...trying not to go stir crazy. However, I am also planning my best friends wedding that is getting married in 9 weeks. Originally, we had thought we might have both the wedding and reception at a beautiful B&B that is owned by my fiance's parents good friend....however, he has become seriously ill and is putting it up for sell. He has told us that IF it is not sold we could still have it there but I am not feeling too comfortable with the "IF" part. I mean we have over 150 ppl coming so I need to be sure...like FOR SURE. So I have been looking around. I found a very beautiful, old country church that is close by where my Granny lives and they have consented to let me marry there. It is important to have something close to her since she is not in the best of health and is on home based oxygen. The other is an old historic hall that has been restored that has given me a pretty competitive quote for the reception. It includes EVERYTHING except DJ and Photography and Flowers which I have covered. So I am seriously, considering it. My only problem is this hall has a very Old World feel to it with the wrought iron chandeliers and the sconces on the wall. It has the old metal ornate ceiling tiles and the hard wood floors--very pretty. So my problem is I was looking at an outdoor wedding--how am I going to decorate this place...it has a completely different feel to it. Any suggestions or ideas, pics etc would be appreciated. Let me know.

Originally, we had planned on taking a small B&B weekend getaway just for us that weekend as man and wife and then taking the boys with us to either Disney World or somewhere cool as a family. My fiance's idea. He wanted something for us then something for us as a family which I must say....I loved. If you have been reading my blog you will see that we have went thru some hardships getting this thing off the ground, but they were worth the time and effort and definitely came before us getting married. So the money situation is getting back on track now so Hopefully we will have enough saved to have the honeymoon we want but if not what is the opinion on the should we wait until we have money to take the boys somewhere and just go to the B&B then or just wait altogether????

I am sure most of you watched poor Jennifer Lopez in The Wedding Planner and remember her saying, "Those who can't wed...PLAN"...well at times I can honestly tell you I felt just that way. My wedding has been planned, postponed...replanned...repostponed and I am back replanning once again. I have learned the in's and out's of all of this over thecourse of our 2 year engagement and by the time we get married it will be three. At this point in the game, I am helping to plan my best friend's wedding and I have found that I absolutely LOVE IT. I am a little on the detailed side (others call it anal retentive...LOL) and I am extremely organized. I come from a sales and marketing background so I have excellent people skills and I am not afraid to ask for this or that or to say well...we really don't need that so why don't we cut that and put it towards this or delete it from the cost. So, I guess my question to all of you ladies is....after planning your own, to those of you who are....would you consider doing this on the side, as a career, on a full time basis....because I am. I love a challenge and I love knowing that in the end I am going to see exactly what I want unfold before my eyes. Let me know your thoughts....

They say that if you love something let it go, if it is yours it will return to you...I have to admit I wasn't a believer but that has changed now.

I met Nathan when he was 19 and I was 22 through a mutual friend of ours. I didn't think anything would come of it, but after that meeting we ended up being a thing for quite a while. Well, as long as you can be a thing at that age...LOL. For one reason or another, we ended up breaking up and getting back together and then had our FINAL break up but remained friends. We were just too young at the time I guess. He moved away with his job, and I eventually got married and had my boys. Several years passed, and my marriage ended. But through all those years our mutual friends always kept us in touch with what was going on in the other's life. I guess they saw something we didn't. So, in 2006 when I was talking to my girlfriend one day she mentioned that I would never believe who was back in town and asking about me. I was baffled, and she told me it was Nathan. So, her husband (who happens to be his best friend) and her decided to play matchmaker. We met again for the first time in like 8 years and let me tell you the chemistry was still there. So we started seeing each other. I was a little skittish from being burned, but he was patient and kind. He worked in a city that was more than 30 minutes away from where me and my boys lived but everyday he would put in a 10 hour work day and then drive all that way to see us and play with the boys. He would come out and stay for two- three hours at a time. I remember Halloween when he took us trick or treating which was extremely special. Since it lasted forever (you know kids) and he had been working all day but he never showed it. He made us a priority in his life. He took me and my best friend who was also a single mom out to Chuck E. Cheese and he took charge of the kids and told us to relax (we were like what is that?)...LOL. He finally told me he loved me at the Cowboys game later that year we attended. I thought he never would, but he later told me he knew he had all along. I said how did you know that? He said "Tonya, even all these years apart I always thought of you, you always had this place in my heart. You were this special part of me. And the minute I got back here and I found you again I was like this is right." One night, when I was fighting with my fear of getting hurt again he told me the sweetest thing I think I have ever heard...He said,"I have travelled everywhere with my job, been to so many places but now I don't want to anymore I finally found HOME...you and the boys are my Home and I'm not going anywhere...Believe that." It made me cry. We have had our share of hard times but when we do that is what I remember. I couldn't have asked for a better friend, a better heart, a better love...a better home than him.

It was Valentines Day 2006....he had made elaborate plans to take me out and do all kinds of little things that would lead to this one BIG moment. However, FATE had a different idea that morning...LOL. I am full time student and mom of two so that was the morning of my finals for that semester, and I woke up to my oldest screaming in pain with his ear. I was a wreck because I knew I had finals and I couldn't miss them. So I asked Nate if he would take care of him while I took my exam. I ended up getting my son an appointment early enough that I could go but the meds needed to be picked up soon. Nate said, "Don't worry I'll take care of it." He dropped me off at class, took the boys with him, picked up meds and that was that. I rushed through my final and got home and he told me he needed to run some errands. I said okay and just cuddled down with my boys. He came back like three hours later. He called me in the dining room and said, "This isn't what I had planned or how I wanted to do this but that's okay. You're here, they're here, and that's what counts. I love you, Tonya." He gave me the flowers and the card and I was like Aww sweet my Valentines Day gift (up until this point I think I had forgotten about it). By then my boys were in the room to. He got down on one knee as I opened the card whick when opened read like a pop up book "Will YOU marry me?" I blinked back tears and looked down at him and he was tearing up too...He said, " I love you, you guys are my HOME and I promise to love you and Cherish you for all the days of my life, will you marry me?" I said "YES" and my boys screamed "YEAH".
To this day, it has been the best Valentines Day ever!!

Here's the deal. I have been married before so I know how precious not to mention priceless those moments in time you can't get back can be. So, I was wondering what other people are doing if you are on a budget for your photography. I have looked into a few things: for starters I am a student so I checked with the Art Department at my college and I got to see some of the work of our student photographers and let me tell you --they were pretty awesome. So i thought perhaps I would see what they would charge me. I also checked with the newspapers to see if they could give me a name of some who freelances for them. Of course, I am going to have the disposables on the table but I want some really good pictures you guys. The thing is I am paying for this wedding on my own and I am a single mom (not like that is too uncommon these days I know) but there are other contributing factors. And though I have been married before this feels like my first as silly as that may sound. I don't have thousands to spend on photography. Heck I just don't have thousands to spend...LOL. So any suggestions would be welcomed and no I don't have any friends or relatives that love to take pics...I know bad for me.

Well I like the mix of shapes ---this is where I opt to go away from the normal traditional look. I want the cake to have at least 4 layers and of course to be off white and to have pink flowers or pink accents. Not sure about anything past that so far.

Well, I lucked out because my fiance's mother is a florist so she has told me she would do all my flowers as her gift to us. So LUCKY ME!!!
I like the simple ribbon tied bouquets that are so popular now. I think they are sooo pretty. I go back in forth on shapes and sizes and of course the flowers. But now that I got my color choices down I think these are the bouquet shapes I have found that I like the most. However, I am always up for more ideas ladies...LOL

I was originally going to go the route of the traditional black, red and white wedding. However, I wanted a garden wedding so I chose the colors hot pink, light pink, orange and lime green. I love them! So springy!! We will decorate with having the trees lit up at night. Having an arbor or gazebo and tenting also and possibly some small votive hanging from the branches by different ribbon in my colors of course. Here is the centerpieces I love and the chair flowers I like as well. More will come soon I am sure.

I love the idea as well of a candy buffet in my colors of course. And having sweet tea (I am SOUTHERN) and some Sangria or Lemonade for the young ones in these really cool beverage dispensers that kind of match the look of the candy buffet. As far as the candy buffet goes, I love the look of this white chocolate fountain ---BUT let me say my man loves his dark chocolate too so somewhere at that reception there will be one of those as well--perhaps next to the fruit...LOL

Originally, I went with my soon to be sister in law and we chose another wedding dress put it the payment down on it at David's and I was sure that was the end of the story. When i got home I decided perhaps I needed to get that size 4 in a 8 due to my bust size and just have the waist taken in so I wasn't passing out from not breathing on the big day. So I went to David's in Frisco...which is FABULOUS. Great customer service. LOVE THEM!!! Anyways, tried it on and decided to go for the 8 and stuck with it. About 1 month before I was to have my dress completely paid in full they got THE DRESS in. I had no one with but A great family that I now call "my surrogate family" though I never saw them again helped me make my decision. I tried on both dresses and the grandma told me..."She said They are both beautiful dresses, no doubt about it. The first one(the one I had been paying on all along) is exquisite in every way, however when you come out the first thing you say is OMG what a beautiful dress. Then you came out in this one and all we could do is stop and stare because OMG what a beautiful bride in a beautiful dress. She said the dress doesn't make the bride sweetie the bride always makes the dress--that's the TRUE TEST. And the TRUTH is it was the one I wanted but I just needed that. I LOVE MY DRESS--in fact I put it on every now and again and smile and remember that as beautiful as that dress is--I MAKE IT MORE!!!

Okay, well I have been trying to decide between leaving my hair down or putting it into a half up half down style. I am so torn. Of course, it will mean trusting someone to do my hair which let me tell you I am not good at. I have long hair and I am extremely protective of it...LOL. Especially after going in and asking for a simple trim and them "trimming" my hair to my shoulders. So......I know it will mean practicing with someone for a while before I just give it over. I have blonde hair that has gone to an ash or dirty blonde with streaks in it over the years but I think I want to go blonde once more. Of course it means tanning once again...LOL. So here is my choices.

There both Carrie Underwood but I just love her hair!