one fateful day

this past wednesday,
i got out of class, called preston, and started walking to my car.
he was helping paul fix his car, so i decided to wander over to the mall in search of wedding finds.
at gap, i stumbled upon this shirt....



and fell in love. i called my mom and sister, hoping they would hurry down to see the prospective bridesmaids shirts.
my mom answered said she would hurry down! i was getting very excited. i had looked for weeks and weeks for possible outfits with no avail. maybe this would be a great start.

i wandered over to a few other stores while i patiently waited for my mom. i walked into banana republic (they're having a 25% off sale items) and saw a dusty rose color out of the corner of my eye. i quickly walked over to the shelf, hoping it was something good. and to my surprise....it was.

i found some simply beautiful dresses. in the perfect color. they were very summery with a greek-goddess feel.

the dresses had a similar feel and look as these few images....





and they were on sale! imagine my delight. i went over to nordstroms to meet my mom (dad had tagged along too), and i took them over to banana, completely forgetting about the shirts at gap. when i entered the store again, i stopped, staring at the lady at the check out counter. immediately, i knew who she was. she was buying a pink checkered shirt, probably for her little boy.
can you guess who it was?

i'll give you a hint...her blog won most inspirational blog of last year

it was stephanie nelson of Nie Nie Dialogues!
i purposefully stood by the front of the door, pretending to look at some coat.
when she was about to leave, i stopped her to talk for a minute. for a second i thought she would just brush me off, but she was so sweet and willing to talk to me.
i told her i was at the BYU beauty talk she gave last november, where she told the story of her accident and talked about beauty from within.
i meant to take a picture, but of course i forgot. this pic will have to do




so in all, i bought my bridesmaid dresses and met an inspirational lady.
i would say that's one for the records.

vendors

i'm feeling much better now that our main wedding vendors are booked! and i couldn't be happier about them. we were able to get some grrreat vendors for a smart price.
the wonderful lady who took our family pictures back in october (remember those? we loved working with her) is my wedding photographer. her name is mikki platt, and she is just a gem! here are a few engagement pics taken by mikki. her website can be found at www.mikkiplattphotography.com

my aunt tina referred me to the dressmaker of these lovely gowns.......






i met with the dressmaker, melissa blackburn, last week. we talked about fabric: silk chantone, lace, organza. she drew up some sketches and took my measurements. she will start working on my dress in a few weeks! in the mean time, i need to find some shoes and a corset. oh, and making sure i can fit into my dress...that would be nice too.
farewell ice cream and cupcakes (i will see you june 10th!).
hello carrots and salad.

speaking of food...these people are catering the family dinner for the first part of the reception.

yum! i met with them last night to finalize all the food and set-up.

everything's starting to come together slowly.

hopefully it will all be ready in 79 days.

it's quicklyyy approaching!

right now, my thoughts consist of all things wedding.
i'm learning to art of multitasking from being in school, working, and planning a wedding.
well actually... i'm trying to learn! truthfully, i actually might be somewhat of a bridezilla right now (ask preston or my mom, they will support that statement).
dealing with tests, papers, picking out invitations, bridesmaids leaving on missions, finding cake stands, old missionary drama, creating the perfect dress, losing my photographer to another bride, finding a florist, changing the wedding date like 15 times, etc!
i know everything will turn out fine, and i have some awesome people helping with everything. in the mean time, i just look at some of these pictures to bring a little peace.








aren't they beautiful?
flowers are great at increasing spirits, even if they are just pictures.
i'm a little bit obsessed with peonies right now.



i also love this picture! what a fun idea and cute couple.

the story.

on thursday (feb. 3), my cousin laura asked me to go with her to get her mission pictures taken. her roommate had offered to take the pictures up the canyon. i thought it was weird that they were taking pictures up the canyon, but laura said her roommate was also taking bridals for another girl there. Laura was going to get a few pictures taken after the bridal session was over. laura told me to look nice so i could get in a few pics as well.

laura picked me up on friday just after i got my hair cut. we drove up the canyon, talking about mission pictures and optional poses. we pulled up to canyon glen. i said to laura,

"hey this is where preston and i had our first kiss!",

and she said she had forgotten about that, and then she quickly changed the subject. we walked out into the park and across the bridge. in the distance, i saw flowers and assumed there were for the bridal shoot (oh how oblivious i can be!). as we came around the trees, this came in to sight....

i was shocked.

i asked laura where the stupid bridal shoot was, and she just laughed and walked away.

preston got down on one knee.

he asked me to marry him.

i smiled.

and i said yes.

we talked, ate chocolate and snuggled by the fire (he made it all by himself!)

i cried. and he did too... possibly even more than me. he's the sweetest boy.

(warning=kissing picture. i don't like posting kissing pics but this one is just too darn cute)

(pics are staged after the engagement. awesome photos taken by laura)

i was super surprised to say the least. he got me good. well, actually laura got me good. preston can't really lie, but laura sure can! i had no idea.

it was one of the best days of my life.

and i'm sure there's a lot more of those to come.

my best friend's wedding

Kailey and Randy are now officially married!!

They got married early Saturday morning, so Preston and I drove up with my parents for the sealing (I got to wait in the foyer). It was snowy and cold, but oh so beautiful with the snow.

My mom always has said Kailey is a winter bride, kind of like Snow White or something. I guess that came true. She looked completely gorgeous in her pretty white dress

(check out the lace veil)

The yellow and purple looked soooo good together, especially in the flowers. I also loved all the tulle and twinkle lights around the reception center. Very whimsical.

I got to wear a purple bridesmaid dress with nice pearls from Kailey's parents.

Her parents are so kind and they made the day wonderful.

A country band filled the reception center with lots of dancing too.

Everyone got their groove on--even my fiance!

All of it was sooo beautiful.

It was definitely a first for me though--going to a wedding reception as an engaged woman!

Raquel and I stood with the huddle of girls hoping to catch the bouquet, knowing we technically weren't even eligible. My days of bouquet catching are officially over. And it feels great.

Anyways, I just wanted to say congrats

Kailey and Randy!

love you guys xoxo

(The next wedding will probably be mine! Three months and counting.....:)