OK, so I am waaaaaaay late on our monthly engagement update. To accurately celebrate our “engagement anniversary” I am supposed to blog on the 16th of the month. Where the heck does the time go?? Instead, I’m updating today on the 27th…..exactly SIX MONTHS until our wedding day!! I can’t believe that 6 months from now I will be Mrs. Keely….and I know that the time will fly between then and now. Time to catch you up on wedding plans and fun happenings during Month #5!
–We got three gorgeous and creative proofs from our invitation designer, Kara with Izzy Designs. She is AWESOME and has done a fantastic job with our samples thus far. Highly, highly recommend her!! I can’t wait to send these out….assuming we can EVER finalize our guest list. Ugh.
–I got to try on my wedding dress again! I invited my mom, Tony’s mom and step-mom, and Tony’s sister to come see The Dress and have lunch together. It was special to be with all of the ladies in my family and my “new” family. And of course, I love any excuse to wear The Dress!!
–WE HAD OUR ENGAGEMENT PORTRAITS DONE!!!!! It was so much fun and a little sentimental to take a whole afternoon to just be “us”….cozy and giggly and sassy and maybe even a little bit sexy. 🙂 One of the things I enjoy seeing when I am on the “photographer” side of the lens is how a portrait session forces a couple or a family to just focus on themselves and their relationships. It was really neat to be on the other side of the lens and feel how true this is. We are so, so happy with our images, and I cannot thank our dear friends Craig and Lindsey enough for capturing all of the things that make us “us.” I want to do a whole blog post with just our portraits, but here are a few favorites.
–We celebrated Tony’s dad’s 60th birthday (twice!). It was fun to be with his family and also to include my family in the celebrating. It is pretty cool to see that our parents are becoming friends!
(Tony with two of his sweet Grandmas, and who knows what my parents and his parents are cooking up in the bottom photos. 🙂 )
–Tony finally got his chance to dress as a pirate (since I refuse to let him do that for the wedding)….Halloween! We had a fun night listening to bands and dancing at Gottrocks.
Not sure why I look so happy, considering how intent Pirate Tony looks on slitting my throat…
–I shot a million fall portrait sessions (YAY!!!), and Tony actually helped me 2nd Shoot for two of them. He’s got a great eye, and it’s been fun to teach him about lighting, camera settings, and such. I love learning from him about food and football, and it’s pretty cool that he enjoys picking up the camera and learning my craft too!
–We are enjoying a few simple little traditions…me cooking dinner on Wednesdays when Tony gets home early from class (thank you Pinterest for all the recipes!) and Top Chef Texas afterwards, dinner and The Next Iron Chef Allstars on Sundays, and Chopped and House Hunters pretty much every time they are on!
–We spent a couple of days up in the mountains just hanging out and having fun! We went on a Zipline tour of the Nantahala Forest (got an awesome deal on Groupon), I took Tony to see the Western Carolina campus for the first time (Go Catamounts!!!), we ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Frog’s Leap Public House, we toured Biltmore House, and we just puttered around Asheville, shopping and eating. (We tried veal brains at Table. Definitely the most adventurous thing I’ve ever eaten.) We have such a good time being together, and it is just SO EASY. Nice.
Ziplining was so much fun!!
I *heart* Western Carolina!!
Tony with me at the WCU Alumni Belltower
–We met with another potential caterer and received a custom sample menu from them. We’re making some progress!!
–We had a ridiculously delicious Italian feast with about 16 of our friends, who are all amazing cooks. Tony (and I) prepared a Timpano, which is a 40-pound pot of deliciousness. We prepped for about 4 hours, cooked it for 2, and ate it for days. 🙂 Tony made the fresh pasta sheets, which line the pot and hold everything in, and we filled it up with homemade meatballs, cooked penne, pasta sauce, olives, salami and onions, and two cheeses. It was so good, and I’m craving it again after putting together the photos below!
–We enjoyed our own little “Snow Day.” I took a day off from working, shooting, editing, and Tony skipped class. We had been so busy that we just needed a rainy day to sleep super late, bum around, fix dinner, and destress. It was nice, and just like a real Snow Day it was tough to go back to real life the next day!
I say it every month, but we truly love and appreciate each of you for following our journey and for being a part of our journey. Thank you!!
Love,
A+T
