These Dayz...

So the wedding is over, the holidays have passed, and now I'm ready to start blogging again. We've gone thru quite a bit of changes since last fall, but they have been good changes!

We had all the kids home for Christmas...that was a first in four years! We all had a great time and it was the best Christmas in a long time.

After the holidays, my main focus was being able to work from home! That finally happened at the beginning of February and I absolutely love it! For a couple of months I'll still travel to the office a couple of days a week, but this April, I'll be home everyday! Being able to work from home didn't come easy and with our plans to move back north in May almost didn't happen. All in all, it all worked out and over Memorial Day weekend, we'll be back home with friends and family for good!

Our Wedding Day!

So we planned our wedding for an outdoor wedding at The Merry Family Winery and thought that October 1st would be perfect. The weather should have been a little cooler and the leaves would be changing. Mother Nature had something different in mind...it turned cold that weekend and it rained all day. So we moved the ceremony inside at the winery, but it was still perfect and I couldn't be happier! Here are a few photos from our very special day!

Bret Michaels - All i ever needed

I love this song...considering it for our first dance...what do you think?

Three Weeks To Go...

Well, we are three weeks out and I'm starting to go into the anxious mode...lol It was such a busy week and I don't feel like I got much done for the wedding. I did manage to get most of the invitations out. The rest will go out today...nothing like waiting until the last minute!

Today we have a birthday party to photograph so it won't leave a lot of time to work on things for the wedding, but I'm going to try and get as much done as I can.

My wonderful friend, Janie, has been working on the bouquets for me and sent a few photos...they are going to be beautiful and just what I was looking for! Thanks Janie!

Just a little photo fun...

So I don't think I have ever had an Engagement Session where I am the one in the photo. I would much rather be on the other side of the camera, but last weekend Kent and I set out with his daughter Sarah and our other son (her boyfriend) Tai, to take some photos...here are some of them.

Even a small, intimate wedding has a lot of details...

Trying to keep a wedding small and intimate on a shoestring budget is not an easy task. There are still a lot of details and we are fortunate to have so many friends and family helping us out. Still recovering from the fire last year, which is an entire journey of its own, planning a wedding back home, 600 miles away has it's challenges.
So we want to give a shout out to those that have not hesitated to put their time, money and heart into making this the perfect day for us!
Location! Location! Location! My best friend, Jenny, jumped right on securing her family's winery for our ceremony! Finding a venue is one of the first and biggest challenges when planning a wedding.
Kent's cousin (brother) Sean didn't hesitate when we said we wanted an after party with bonfire, music, dancing and fun! He locked in a perfect location not far from the wedding...the Elks Park and he insisted on paying for it!
Uncle Kermit and Aunt Christi locked in our minister, who is now 86, and married the two of them over 40 years ago! He also baptized Kent and Sean.
Jason, Kent's other cousin, has offered to be our DJ...no doubt he will do an awesome job. He even has his 4-wheeler decked out with a bad ass stereo system!
My fabulous and incredible sister has offered to make the deserts in a jar for the reception...which are amazing! There's a couple photos of the ones she did for her daughter's rehearsal dinner in one of my blogs.
My amazing brother and brother-in-law are going to help with photos and videography...they are awesome! Of course my wonderful neighbor from back in Vienna will also be doing some of our photography! He is great and the first photographer I thought of to hire for the wedding!
Another one of my great friends has been a gem! She has offered to make the wedding bouquets for me and the bridesmaids as her wedding gift! That is so cool!
Jenny has also started collecting mason jars that will be used for centerpieces on the tables. She is also my wedding planner and doing everything on her own time...she is awesome! Her husband is also getting in on the action! He has already booked our double honeymoon for next fall...a CRUISE! What a gift!
Our beautiful daughter, who is also an inspiring photographer, is taking our engagement photos today! We are very excited and look forward to having lots of fun with that!
I am sure this isn't the end of what our family and friends will do to make this a perfect day! So it's important to say thank you to everyone! We don't know what we would do with out you!!!

My brother

Jenny and Russell

Kermit, Kent and Sean

Hubie

Tracy

Nathan

Sean and Jason

Janie

You all rock!!

More DIY ideas that I am considering for our wedding

Guest Book - My lovely niece did something similar to this, but I haven't seen her finished product yet...I love how personal this idea is!

Next on this list is desert ideas~ we aren't really traditional and my best friend did something similar to this idea. We're thinking of a variety of deserts and wine from the Merry Family Winery that will compliment one another~

Flower inspiration~ I found these on a DIY wedding website and just love the colors...doesn't look that difficult~ I think I'll leave out the butterfly though...it seems to take the focus off of the flowers.

And here is a wedding favor I like...candles!