Because the Internet is a strange, sometimes scary place, I've opted to make most of my profile friends only. Please feel free to be my friend if you are an active pw member! I love making new friends :3

It was wonderful, first. He proposed at a football game between out home town team and my schools team (HUGE rivalry there. The battle of I25! Goooooo Aggies!)

His sister asked me for my camera, so I turned around to give it to her... and when I looked back at James, he was down on one knee (sooo, about eye level, since he is 6'8 lol)

Luckily, his sister took pictures of it all! :')

First picture, with my phone!

Oh my goodness! :D

There it is! Thanks for looking.

So, as of this week, I have:

The dress (won from a bridal show! $1500 value, free. It should be about $200 tops for the alterations, including a corset being put in.)

The shoes, which I had been coveting from Mojo Moxy, (named Clara from Shoes on a Shoestring) that my grandmother suprised me with this week!

My garter, which I won on Facebook from HCC Custom Wedding Garters (She is FABULOUS, btw. I ended up buying on of her custom garters. I will post when it gets in! :D)

The cake serving set, the toasting flutes, and a ring holder from the Lenox "Heiress" collection.

And the Lenox cake topper (about $100 for everything Lenox, at the Outlet Mall at Birch Run in MI)

Well, that seems to be all so far! The wedding is set for February 2012, so I *think* I am getting a good jump on things!

Update!

I got my veil. I don't have pictures of it, as it is at my parents houre right now (probably because I would prance around in my apartment with it...) I have the pictures from the place that I bought it from though! (Ignore the icky mannequin...)

I got it in and it looks AMAZING! Seriously, these pictures can not do it justice. the best part is that it falls right above the detail on the front of my dress. plus, with shipping it was a whopping $27 USD. <3

My parents took me to Cancun for the holidays. While we were out today,my Dad bought a beautiful set for my wedding! It is sterling silver and white opals. There is a bracelet, necklace, and earrings. I love them! :D

I can't even capture how beautiful this necklace is!

So, the invitations are pretty, but the envelopes are kind of plain. Sooo, Hobby Lobby was having a 40% off sale on their stamps, and I thought I would try my hand at stamping the envelopes to add a little glitz!

Here are the originals: 

Sooo, here are the stamps I got:

Clear Stamps, $9.99 (I just noticed she rang it up at $0.99! omg!)

Scroll Tree Rubber Stamp, $6.99

Heart Line Rubber Stamp, $6.49

Fresh Bloom Rubber Stamp, $8.99

With silver, blue and light purple ink, and the 40% off, total came to $35.37 :)

Soooo, here are my mock ups!

  Front of the invitation envelope

Back of the invitation envelope

Front of the Reply card Envelope

Back of the Reply card envelope

The purple I got (which is being used for the blossom flower stamp) is really too lught, I think. It goes well with the invite though, so I think I'll just roll with it. I think they're going to turn out well. :D

So, I went to Austin to visit James this weekend. It was wonderful. Long Distance sucks, but it will be worth it eventually.

While we were at an office store finding him a desk and chair (so he no longer has to have his computer on his microwave stand and a bar stool....) I was in the clearance section. I saw some cherry blossom invitations, and decided to check out the price. $3.94 per box of 50 invites and reply cards!! I showed James, and since he loves cherry blossoms, we got them!

(He told me that they average to $0.08/invite right now. lol) I am still thinking of ways to jazz them up. I an thinking of buying small crystals in purple and blue to put in the center of the flower!)

On top of that, I found out that I WON a custom wedding dress hanger from NOknowsweddings blog! I have been coveting them, and trying to figure out a way to justify $25 on a hanger.... now I don't have to! :D)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilafrances?ref=top_trail

It will look like this, but it will say "James <3 Amanda" yayyyy!

I also have ordered a custom garter from HCC Custom Wedding Garters, can't wait to see what it turns out like! :D

I will be in my roommate's wedding this November. And, I offered my jewelry making services, if she buys the materials. So, here is what I've made:

For Me!

For Mandy

For Cassie

For Holly

And for Melissa

I am thrilled how they turned out! :D Yayyyyyyyyy!

*update* Here is a couple shots of me wearing mine! :D

Hope came to me and asked if I could create a necklace for her soon to be Mother in Law. She showed me her dress, and we went to the store to choose her beads. I created this with her ideas in mind:

I am pretty proud of this one!

We started the day at 11 am in the Ultimate Changes salon. This salon was AMAZING. They had other customers, but for the most part, it was all about me and the girls. My photographer even came and took photos at the salon. She captured some amazing shots. The salon even had a little breakfast for us! They put out some bagels, and cream cheese, as well as coffee. Plus, their in house massage therapist was giving chair massages! No one would get one, so after my hair was done, I hopped in, just flipping my veil over! :)

After the salon, we decided to keep with a tradition from one of my bridesmaids weddings, and ate lunch at Chilis! We invited our photographer as well, who still kept the camera out. She got some great shots of the interactions between me and the bridal party. Melvin, my man of honor even got in on the ring shots, lol!

We got back to the room, and were in a flurry of getting ready. I kinda of just got in the zone and did my makeup, talked to my niece who is the flower girl, and the we got my dress on.

And let's not forget... I got married on the FOURTH. at FOUR! lol. We were doing that ALLL DAYY!

Next was the ceremony. Even though this was the right thing, I still started having slight panic attack! lol. So when I look as though I can't breath... I couldn't, not until I had James' steadying hand in my own.

After the ceremony, we had a Beautiful reception in the ball room! The food was spectacular! The menu was:

A spinach salad with hot bacon dressing

A choice of either:

Green Chile Chicken fettuccini alfredo

OR

Meat Lasagna

OR

Veggie Lasagna

And then wedding cupcakes for dessert!

Our cutting cake was white cake with a lemon filling, and guests were given the choice between:

Marble cake with raspberry filling

OR

Red velvet with cream cheese filling

OR

white cake with Apricot filling

YUM!

Here are the posed shots! I HATED regular shots, so We went on an adventure around the Hard Rock Albuquerque, finding great shots!

Ceremony

Seating music

Married Life, UP Soundtrack

Bridesmaids Walk

I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing, Areosmith

Brides Walk

Today I Met the Boy I'm Gonna Marry, Darlene Love

Recesssional

I'm Yours, Jason Mraz

Reception

Entrance Music

I'll Cover You, Rent Soundtrack

First Dance

Darling I Do- Shrek Soundtrack

Father/Daughter Dance

Paul Simon- Father & Daughter

In My Life- Johhny Cash covers The Beatles

Stealing Cinderella- Chick Wicks

Mother/Son Dance

It's a Wonderful World- Louis Armstrong

Cake Cutting

It's a Wonderful World- IZ

Garter Retrival

Hot For Teacher, Van Halen

**Cut to "Got it bad, got it bad, I'm hot for teacher...."

ALT CHOICE: You Really Got Me, Van Halen

Bouquet Toss

All the Single Ladies- Beyonce

Garter Toss

You Really Got Me- Van Halen

Last Dance

Save the Last Dance For Me, Miachel Buble

The Play List

Minnie the Moocher, Blues Brothers

Origin of Love, Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Love Song, 311

You Shook me All Night Long (Remix)

I Want You To Want Me, Cheap Trick

I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Beatles (Across the Universe)

All You Need is Love, Beatles

All Around Me, Flyleaf

All My Love, Led Zepplin

The Way You Make Me Feel, Michael Jackson

Come What May, Moulin Rouge Soundtrack

Your Song, Moulin Rouge Soundtrack

Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's

Broken, Seether ft. Amy Lee

When I'm 64, Beatles

Everytime We Touch, Cascada

Nothing Else Matters, Metallica

Just The Way You Are, Bruno Mars

Don't Take The Girl, Tim McGraw

Yellow Submarine, The Beatles

What a Wonderful World, Louie Armstrong

my girl, the temptations

Unforgettable, Nat King Cole

1,2,3,4 Plain Wite T's

I found out yesterday that I won my choice from a site on etsy! I won through a contest run on www.bronzebudgetbride.com , from an etsy seller (http://www.etsy.com/shop/kathyjohnson3?ref=top_trail) Since I already had a veil, I chose this beautiful hair comb! I LOVE it, and can't wait for it to get here. here it is:

Ahhhh! :D

And I signed up to go to a bridal show next month. I am too freaking excited!

I am so in love with my dress! Ah. And some really cute shots of my hanger with my various garters. :3

I found this lovely website, and just had to have one. She gave away some, and I love her quality. Well, I got the e-mail telling me my CUSTOM garter that I ordered was on its way... WOOO HOOO! She was even sweet enough to include a picture, and I LOVE it.

YAY! :D

Here are my Save the Dates. I'm going to try to put all the information so that if someone would like, they can re-create them.

First things first, Here is the instructions for the origami fold I used... and yes, I did get it from my Origami a day calender. :D I decided they needed to end up being about 6 x 6, and so I used paper that was scrapbooking paper which was 12 x 12. After doing a bit of research, I decided to go with multicolor packs of scrapbook paper, since those are cheaper than individual sheets. I then decided to use stamps on the outside, and print on cardstock inserts on the inside. I also made the envelopes! Here are some pictures of the process, and the final product.

All of the save the dates!!

Some of the envelopes

I decided at this point that they needed something. I considered a belly band, but those were a bit difficult.

This stamp seemed to do the trick!

Here it is complete, with the inserts I had printed.

And the back :D

The inside. I got these inserts printed at Kinkos. A friend works there, and gave my a wedding present in the way of printing.

And there is the final product with an envelope.

I will be leaving this open for everyone for now, but will make it private with my profile soon. Please request to be my friend if you would like to have it for later! :)

woooo hoooo!! :D

Have a MEOW-y CAT-mas! <3

Posted on the traditional post, but needed to add it here! Here is the photo that the nice man who certified our marriage liscence took for us!

Hello lovely ladies! I am going to use MY cardbox, the one we made like Carl and Ellie's box in Up!