Engagement Party

Well our immediate families finally met! It was a wonderful success. Endless THANKS go out to the Maid of Honor for hosting and delegating and to all other parties involved behind the scenes. It was a fabulously simple gathering full of games and laughs among family and our wedding party. I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did. Unfortunately, we did not have anyone on hand with a camera so as my aunt showed up she snapped a few shots and saved the day! Thanks Aintee!

BFF/Maid of Honor/Hostess

Accepting a toast to US! (apple cider)

Deciphering handwriting (facial expression) on our "say whats on your heart" cards.
Most people said "Keep God first" and "Never stop dating".








Future Grandmother-in-law and future Sister-in-law.






Future Brother-in-law/Best Man.





A bouquet from one excited mother to another...aaawww!






Mother on left; Future Mother-in-law on the right.



Life is sweet,
charlAMAZING

They Say It Gives You Wings...

So I met with my wedding planner (friend of mine) yesterday and he was READY! He kinda made me feel like I should be more into my wedding because he sure was....kidding ;) No but really I live for a TO DO list! I typically write so many that I will misplace most of the random sheets that I had to spill my thoughts on throughout the day that I may or maynot accomplish all of my tasks. With Mr. Planner's help and direction it has given me peace of mind!

The funniest part about the meeting with the wedding planner is that The Mister came in with his executive notebook ready to take notes and be engaged in this whole process and by the time Mr. Planner began asking questions, making suggestions and giving tasks...The Mister had scratched his head, wrinkled his brow, gave me his pen and closed his notebook. HA!! Meanwhile, Im just barely keeping up. LOL

There were several points in the conversation when I plainly said "I dont know" for questions like: what is the theme of your wedding? what kind of flowers do you want to have? real or fake? who is your bible bearer? who is your bell ringer? when are you going to take your engagement photos? do you know what kind of table settings you want to have for the reception? And it felt like all the questions poured out of his mouth just like that. And THAT is why The Mister had a mental meltdown and I was just barely keeping up.

In the end he reassured me that time is on our side and we are on track. He told The Mister that "it aint about you so you may as well keep an open mind". And that was that...meeting #1 with my awesome wedding planner.

Red Bull anyone?...Life is Sweet,
charlAMAZING

Pro Bono!

God has been so good to us during this process... As you know, weddings are costly and we are trying to execute a complicated operation at a nominal cost. Many spend a great deal of money on a one day event when there is life after the wedding and I refuse to go in debt in the name of a wedding. I can totally see how we can lose sight of all that we set out for in the beginning when trying to appease others, be the talk of the town, have a memorable event etc etc. But in the end our ultimate goal is to HONOR GOD. More specifically, that we have something that caters to our personalities, neat and organized, share this time with our loved ones, and be good stewards of our money. If we stay true to our #1 goal everything else will fall in place.

With that being said, so far I am blessed that God has impressioned the hearts of others to gift items or do services for our big day for FREEEEEE! Thats right F-R-E-E.

Among the services that will be free are:
videographer
minister
caterer
purchase of food
wedding planner
runner
Engagement photos

Life is sweet,
charlAMAZING

Love Jones Lane

A high school friend of mine interviewed me via facebook about our relationship. CHECK IT OUT!

http://www.lovejoneslane.com/black-love-story-headed-to-the-altar/

Found A Venue!

Porch wraps all the way around the building!

The pic doesn't do it justice

yucky green chairs...may have to rent different ones

Downstairs


Upstairs...main assembly space

Well its official...I have found my venue for the wedding! I must admit I was really on the verge of throwing in the towel and going to the courthouse. Truth is, I have never really dreamed of having a wedding. Since I was a child I prayed for a husband. Thats all I ever really wanted. This whole wedding thing is over my head and it requires a lot more effort than I care to exert. So the night before I went to visit the venue I was having wedding blues. I was really trying to figure out how was I going to break it to the family that there wouldnt be a ceremony, but that their invite to join us at the Justice of the Peace was on its way!

But I had not completely given up ALL hope. There was still a glimmer left enough to get me to this facility to check it out. As soon as I got there and got the full scope of the place I was overcome with joy and a new found hope. Not only did it look great but the price for all that I was getting was what made it a winner in my book. Thats pretty much how my mind works. In the overall scheme of things "if I dont like the price then it aint nothin nice". That applies to all things that I shop for. Is it just me that when you go shopping and you are look at something and you are like "its alright" but then after you look at the clearance price you are like "thats hot!" or vice versa LOL That is the story of my life.

SO! This new venue has put the wind in my sail, the ribbon in my sky, the ROCK in my ROLL...yeah, all that good happy stuff. Lets just hope things stay this way. I am currently trying to lock in a date and playing the waiting game with the facility coordinator so please be praying that God has favor with the date. Im tired of having to push my date back everytime I turn around. This is yet another bump, but a relatively small one. I wont focus on the small obstacles or you will have your invite to the Justice of the Peace sooner than later ;)

wind...sail, ribbon...sky, rock...roll, LIFE IS SWEET,

charlAMAZING