The invites are coming, the invites are coming!

Yes, that was a lame Paul Revere reference, but I'm so excited about our invitations going out that I'm okay with it.  I feel like Matt and I looked at every wedding invitation imaginable before finding something that was perfect!

Of course I had to make them as complicated as possible, so I decided I wanted to hand draw the maps myself and a few other details.  After a lot of planning and designing (a special shout out to my co-worker Katie for your help), the invitations are done and I think they look great!  They are going to print early this week and will be in the mail soon!

Then comes the fun part - watching for everyone's responses to come in!  I can't wait!!

Engagement pictures, round two

You may be saying to yourself, "But I thought they already did their engagement pictures a long time ago?"  Yep, we are so high maintenance that we need multiple engagement sessions. :)  Due to our 6 month engagement, we imposed upon the fantastic Katie McDonald to take a few quick shots of us that we could use on a save the date, and decided we'd wait until spring to take the full session.  Because really, who wants to take pictures in winter clothes when you can wait and wear fun springy clothes?

We just had our real engagement session and we had a blast!  It was a long day full of location changes, costume changes, and lots of laughs as I got loopy and had a giggling meltdown.  Katie was fantastic to work with and put up with our awkwardness all day, and even managed to make us look like we knew what we were doing!  She was even dodging traffic in the middle of the street, and I had to save her from an oncoming biker at one point on a trail.  She was really showing her dedication to photography!

The highlight of the day was that Katie managed to get us access to the Iowa Cubs stadium to take some shots on the field!  Here's a sneak peak, or you can view more at Katie's blog.  Enjoy!

Thanks, Katie!  We love how they turned out!

The Wedding Singer

Matt and I have been debating for quite some time about what we were going to do for ceremony and processional music.  I wanted something super fancy like a string quartet or a harp, and Matt wanted something simpler like piped in music or a synthesized keyboard.  Needless to say, we were getting nowhere in this discussion for quite some time.

Recently we were at an ice hockey game with a group of friends when I jokingly said that a group of our friends who have a band should play at the wedding.  Suddenly we both realized that our friend Cory, the lead singer of the band/most talented musician we know, would be the perfect choice for our ceremony music!  Cory plays every instrument imaginable, has a great voice, and has a great repertoire of music to choose from.

As it turns out, Cory has always wanted to perform a concert on the stage at Simon Estes, so it's win/win for everyone!  We couldn't be more excited about our choice of musician.  Take a look, he's a natural!

Cory rocking the air guitar at a friend's recent wedding
Photo c/o Katie McDonald Photography

Children!

Don't get too excited, this is not a post about when Matt and I will have children.  Instead, I would like to introduce you to the two adorable children who will be a part of the wedding!

Our flower girl is Matt's cousins' daughter, Abigale.  Abigale is about to turn 5 years old and is absolutely adorable.  Our ring bearer is my friend (and personal attendant)'s son, Jaxson.  Jaxson will be 3 years old soon and is also adorable.

Here's proof:

Seriously, are these not the cutest children of all time?  We recently found a flower girl dress for Abigale that matches the wedding colors and tomorrow I will be ordering a tiny little tux for Jaxson!

Control

Hi, my name is Erin, and I'm a control freak.

This is not new information to me...nor is it news to anyone who has spent a significant amount of time with me, but it has become abundantly clear throughout the past several weeks. In planning a wedding, there are many decisions to be made, many tasks to be done, and many people who have offered to assist. However, the event planner in me has a great deal of trouble relinquishing control of, well, anything.

Other than handing a few things off to Matt (because I suppose it is his wedding too!) I have for the most part preferred to do things for myself for two reasons. One, it's generally more difficult to explain to someone what you want than it is to just do it yourself. Two, when you hand something off, you lose the comfort of knowing that it will turn out exactly how you want it. (Yes, I know, I'm ridiculous.)

I made this realization after discovering how weird it was to have other people planning a bachelorette party and a shower for me. While everyone is doing a fabulous job, and I have no desire to throw either event for myself, it's strange for me to let someone else plan something.

So for those of you who have graciously offered to help me and I have yet to take you up on it...and there are many of you...don't worry, it's not you, it's me. I have issues. Although I do have the occasional need for immediate advice or reassurance, (thank goodness for gchat!) I'm in good shape. On the plus side, if the wedding falls apart I will have only myself to blame. :)

All about bridesmaids!

I stumbled upon this video today from the Dessy Group about the history and the role of bridesmaids. I thought it was cute so I'm sharing it with you in honor of my four fantastic bridesmaids!