Where to start??? I am fairly new to PW... I was lurking around (stalking like a major criminal offense level of stalking) this website for about 3-4 months or so before I joined and have TONS of ideas- thanks ladies!! But unfortunately I'm a right-click aholic so if I have some of your pictures please let me know and I'll give credit where credit is due.. Just so you know, some of my pages are only available to friends... I apologize since it is not the nature of PW, if you'd like to learn a little more about me and my FI, please request me as a friend... I'm leaving all my ideas public since these pictures aren't mine and if they can help you, I'm more than happy to share with the next lucky girl!! But as I make more progress with my DIYs and wedding details, I'll be adding more private pages to keep my personal ideas from prying family members and/or friends... I don't mean to turn anyone away, I just want to make sure my surprises are just that--surprises!! I will make the pages open to everyone soon after our big day.. Please feel free to PM me with any questions, worries, concerns, or great stories!! I'd love to help you any time!!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, It is not rude, it is not self seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perservers." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Now, about me and mine... The FI and I literally grew up together so he has always been apart of my life... We have dated a few times in the past as kids but somehow, something seemed to always come between us.. So, you know how I know he is the right one for me???... well lets just say I stand firm on that "third times a charm" adage... I can't wait to marry this man... He is truly the other half of me!!! You could say it was love at first sight (make that third sight) but that couldn't be farther from the truth... We knew that we had something, some would call it a spark.... But whenever we were together the whole world lit up around us... We have experienced the most joyful and amazing times together as well as the used box of kleenex... He loves me and I love him for loving me through the good times and the bad times... As any relationship we have had our fair share of ups and downs... But at the end of the day, I am his and he is mine... We don't plan to be married for another couple years so right now I'm still in the fun stages of wedding planning where ANYTHING is possible and the familiar realities like time, money, and family drama have yet to set in... Unfortunately, we are having to pay for the entire wedding ourselves due to family finance issues which means I will be DIYing (or WE will be attempting to) a lot of it but rest assure it will be a day that neither one of us will never forget... I'm so excited to be getting married, but more than that, I'm excited to have finally found the right person for me--after many failed relationships, I truly thought that it would never happen!! We are getting married on July 9, 2014 which also happens to be my birthday... what a way to gain a year in age by gaining a husband... It definitely is a long engagement but it will give us a chance to make sure we have everything right for our special day... And so, with that being said, let the planning begin!!!

Well, this is one wedding related issue I refuse to stress over... We don't have a huge budget but I'm working every angle and searching for the best deals... Our budget right now is $10,000- $15,000... We eliminated a lot of "my wants" to get our current budget… Hopefully, in the end, it'll be less than that... We've run into some financial issues, so in order to get married on our day, our way, we need to do this… Ever since I was a little girl, I always imagined this big, huge, fairy tale wedding will all the frills and bells and whistles that I could imagine.. Realistically, my dream wedding would be one that would end up costing $150 per person… RIGHT!!! Now that I'm in love and actually planning my own wedding, I realize that there are more important things than having the event of the century - and that's the meaning of the actual wedding and the celebration as a whole... We've decided to cut costs by having a cocktail reception... We were going to cut the guest list from 350 (which still wasn't enough to invite everyone I wanted to) down to 200 to save a bunch of money, but with a cocktail reception, we can invite the 350 people and it'll still be cheaper than a sit-down meal anywhere else... I plan to DIY a lot of things like the STD's, invitations, flowers, centerpieces, and favors… My mom knows a lady who makes cakes, so that won't be a huge expense… Our biggest expense right now is our honeymoon, but to me, that's understandable. The way I see it is - whether it's a wedding that costs us $50,000 or one that costs $10,000, we'll still be married. The meaning is still the same - and to me that's the most important thing…

If you want an honest opinion or constructive criticism, trust me, I am your girl… I won't say I like something if I don't and I won't tell you you look good in something if I think you could look better in something else… I try to treat all the PW brides with the honesty I afford to only my best friends... They always come to me if they need advice on some drama because they know I'll be the one to tell it like it is, and I can only hope that principle, an honest opinion, would be appreciated more than a white-lie here on PW, especially when it comes to a girl's wedding… If I say something you didn't want to hear or that clearly rubbed you the wrong way, in advance, I am sorry!!!! PM me and we can talk about it... I am not that girl here on the forums trying to keep something going…EVER!!!

I LOVE shoes (what woman doesn't?) and will probably have a harder time choosing my shoes than I did  choosing my wedding dress. These are some of the shoes that I love....

Choices!!! Choices!!! Choices!!! What's a woman to do?????

I know a lot of people don't want kids at their wedding, and I can 100% see where they're coming from... However, we have so many little cousins and young family friends and I can't imagine our day without them... I am hoping to create an atmosphere with a sitter that allows for kids to have fun and give their parents some time to enjoy their night out as well... I'd love to have an area for the kids to hang out in or provide a little pack/box of entertainment at their seats or even a area where they can watch movies... There will be around 15 kids at the wedding, and to make it fun and enjoyable for them, as well as the other adults, we are hoping to have a kids table set up after dinner is done... I will be providing kid-friendly food such as french fries, chicken tenders, corn dog bites, pizza rolls... I picked up about 24 boxes of crayons from Wal-Mart for 44 cents each!!! Got to love the back to school sales... I also picked up coloring books and puzzles from the Dollar Tree and Family Dollar and 30 tubes of 15 glow stick bracelets for a dollar each... I was only going to pick up enough glow sticks for the kids to have two each, but the FI thought that the adults might want to wear them too (I know I will!!!), so I picked up enough for everyone... I am hoping to find more little goodies for the kids to pay with at the table so that they don't get too bored... I had initially thought of setting up our PS3, but once again the FI came to the rescue and convinced me it was a bad idea because the guys would take over... So true!!!