Whoa! Time is just tick tick ticking away….I completely missed my Month #7 post (sorry to all our Moms who looked for the update), I’m a week late for our Month #8 post, AND we are already less than 100 days out from the wedding!! 94, to be exact. (But who’s counting?) Go grab your popcorn, get comfy, and be prepared to hang out for a bit: Tony and I have been engaged for 8 months now, and we had a lot going on in Months #7 and #8! Get ready for tons of photos and engagement/wedding updates.
In Month #7 of being engaged, Tony and I….
–shared our first full Christmas together (although Tony DID come over to my parents’ house last year for dinner and the white Christmas). It was so special to spend time with each other and our families during the holiday season. This was our first time experiencing the “we need to see everyone” schedule that most couples face, but we made it work. (Thanks to a nap!) It went something like this: Christmas Eve church services at his dad’s church, Christmas Eve dinner at my parents’ house, including baking and fudge-making…Christmas morning stockings and brunch with my parents, visit Tony’s sister’s house to see his nephew’s 1st Christmas, his parents’ house for gifts and snacks, his grandma’s house, nap at my parents’, opening gifts with them, dinner at 10pm, and falling asleep on the couch watching Rudolph. Then the next morning, we got up to meet his grandparents and Mom and her husband for lunch in Greenville, stopped back by my parents’ house to see our sweet family friend Shirley, and back to our house to meet my BFF who had driven in from Alabama. I’m tired just remembering all of that!! 🙂
Christmas Eve church service…my parents, Tony’s parents, and his two brothers
Christmas Day with my parents….adorable stockings handmade by my mom (mine when I was a baby, Tony’s cute gingerbread chef this year)….our first “family picture” with Pearl the Cat
Christmas Day with Tony’s parents….this has been a big year for their family (a new baby and 2 engagements), so it required all new stockings!….Take 1 of the family photo…Take 2 is much better. *Sigh* 😉
–had a great visit with my BFF and Matron of Honor, Rebecca. Since she lives so far away, she hasn’t been able to be involved face-to-face with wedding plans. During her visit, we packed in tons of catching up, wedding planning, and dinner out. There’s just nothing like time spent with the people who know you the best and love you the most!
–ordered bridesmaids dresses!! They will be in mid-March, and I’m so excited to see them! I had a fun morning with Rebecca (MOH), Robyn (bridesmaid and match-maker), and Ella Jane (Flower Girl Extraordinaire) at the dress shop. EJ’s favorite part was dancing on the pedestals and hiding in the dress racks. 🙂
–worked on a Bridesmaids Craft Project, thanks to Pinterest! We are making these cool candles for the reception space….just glass jars, modge-podge, and lace. **I still need glass jars if you can donate any to the cause!**
–welcomed the New Year, also known as “The Year We’re Getting Married.” Tony had to work late, so I hung out with my parents for the countdown, and then he and I toasted at midnight on Mountain Time when he finally got home. We just pretended we were in Colorado. 🙂 The next day, we had lunch at the Waffle House and ate traditional porkchops, beans, and greens with my parents and played funny card games with them. It was a great way to spend the first day of our Wedding Year!
Happy New Year, 2012!
One of my favorite recent photos of us…so comfy.
–celebrated Christmas and Hanukah with more of Tony’s family, hosted at our house. It was fun to have them here with us!
–hung 4 humongous canvases from our engagement portraits!
3 of the 4 canvases!
–WE FINALLY FOUND OUR FLORIST!! We are so excited that Adina at Frilly Bloomer’s Florals will be prettying up our wedding and reception. She is super talented, and a complete riot!!
–we attended a wine tasting, and while we were there we decided on our honeymoon location!!
We are traveling to……….Italy!!
–I had my last visit with my one-of-a-kind Aunt Dot, who died just a couple of days after I spent a perfectly normal afternoon at her house. Tony and his parents all helped our family say goodbye to her.
–spent the weekend in The ATL with Rebecca and her husband Marshall. We have a blast with these two! We went to the World of Coke Museum (thumbs down, except for the all-you-can-drink tasting room), ate some great food, laughed a ton, and visited CNN (pretty cool, even though I don’t watch the news.)
This photo just cracks me up; it was too funny not to buy from our CNN Tour! I don’t know why we are wearing coats while reading the news. I told Tony that it looks like I am interviewing a homeless guy; thanks Big Beard!
During Month #8 of being engaged, Tony and I…
–visited with my awesome far-away bridesmaid Marilynn while she was in town for a couple of days. We have family and friends attending the wedding from SC, NC, Alabama, Illinois, Iowa, and Las Vegas, but Marilynn wins the prize: she and her hubby are coming all the way from Seattle for our big day!!
–received our first wedding gift from our registry! Tony’s grandparents sent us an amazing 1st Gift: our KitchenAid Mixer! We are so excited to begin using it….recipes are welcomed. 🙂
–had a quick and fun get-away in the mountains with our awesome friends and photographers, Craig and Lindsey. (3 photographers on a trip, and no photos…oh well!) Our engagement portraits were also featured on their blog–yay!
–WE FINALLY FOUND OUR CATERER!!! Food is such a big part of our lives, and we had a really difficult time finding the right caterer for our wedding. We are beyond excited that Brian from Tupelo Honey Cafe’ in Asheville is keeping our tummies full during cocktail hour and dinner. The menu he prepared is ridiculous. We could not be more excited about our wedding food!
–got our Save the Date cards!
–hosted our parents for the Superbowl. It is so awesome that our parents are friends through our relationship!! (They even get together, and don’t even invite us! 😉 )
–continued our weekly cooking nights when Tony gets home from school, and we also had an awesome Spanish dinner night, thanks to our inspiration from Chef Jose Andres’ cookbook and some authentic products from La Tienda in Virginia. Yummo.
On the menu: anchovy-stuffed olives, manchego cheese, braised chicken with stewed vegetables, and potatoes cooked with chorizo and paprika. Oh my. (And yes–we cook in our jammies.)
–picked out at least one song for our wedding ceremony, and we picked out our nephew’s Ring Bearer outfit. SO CUTE!
–started planning several showers and our Bachelor/Bachelorette party! Yay, let the celebrating begin! (or continue…I guess we’ve celebrating our engagement and marriage all along…)
–picked out the guys’ suits for the wedding, and Tony got measured for his! We also got ties for Tony, our dads, and all the groomsmen. My bridesmaids’ dresses are a color that’s difficult to match, so we are really excited that we found 3 different patterns of ties in the perfect color!
–celebrated our “engaged Valentine’s Day” with a 10 course tasting menu at Devereaux’s downtown. Dinner (and my date!) were amazing! I also got a beautiful necklace and earrings, and I gave Tony a wine book and a Pinterest-inspired homemade gift.
–continued to grow The Big Beard. TBB is sort of like a pet, or a houseguest, or an old friend. It is definitely an entity all its own. (It will also be gone before the wedding.)
The Big Beard on one of its bushier days; Tony, deep in thought, comparing beards with the inventor of Coke.
If you’ve continued reading this post all the way to the end–thanks for being so interested in me and Tony, our engagement, and our love! We love you and we’re excited that you are part of our journey. Leave us some love in the comments section to let us know you made it to the bitter end. 😉
Love,
Amy + Tony
