Hello...

So I know, it's been a while! But I finally feel as if I have some update-worthy information!

First.... WE HAVE A CHURCH! Ok so I know that I already shared that news and pictures previously. Anyone that knows me knows that I am always second guessing my decisions and as it got closer to the day I decided maybe it was important for me to have a long center aisle to walk down.

Now one would think that this would be an easy thing to find. It's not! In my desparation I even started looking at the absurdly expensive churches downtown. By expensive I mean it starts at $1500! The most expensive one was $6500!!!! Crazy. It really just turned me off of the churches because aside from cost, I really think its disgusting to charge people that much to get married in the house of the Lord! I mean come on people!!

The perfect church existed in Wanamaker, Indiana, a few miles from my house. The problem is that they decided to no longer allow non-member weddings after they found beer cans and pot after the last non-member wedding (which is horrible!). Well my oh-so-wonderful mother who has more balls than most people I know attended church there, was introduced to the pastor, explained the situation... and well long story short we now have a wonderful church! It only hinges on us completing the necessary paperwork and pre-marital counseling. I can't tell you enough what a relief this was!

Here is a little sneak peak of the interior... but I promise this picture does not do justice to St. Johns Lutheran Church!

In addition to that, I officially paid for my dress and veil... again this makes it oh so real! I was a little apprehensive and having second thoughts when we went to the bridal shop and I saw other pretty dresses that I had not tried on. Once I had MY dress on though I knew it was the one!

This month I have some goal, and I feel like if I publish them on here then I will be held accountable:

• Order and send the Save the Dates
• Lose at least another 4lbs
• Start officially looking at invitations
• Pick out bridesmaid dresses
• Don't fail student teaching because I am so busy with wedding madness!

So we will see how it goes!

Shooooweee...

So I have finally gotten started doing the for real stuff... Made my list and I am slowly making progress!

First, I got a CHURCH!!!! Wooooo Hoooo! Finally! It's a really cute white country church just down the road from my parents home. I have thought it was cute since I was nine and we moved here, so it just seemed fitting that we get married there.

It had all of the requirements....

Stained Glass: Check!

Neutral Colors: Check!

Wooden Pews: Check!

I am really excited! Now there is not a center aisle, which was something that I wondered about at first, but I have got some really cool solutions and can't wait for our guests to see!

Plus there are little to no restrictions about decorations, so I can go crazy with them! It's like a blank canvas. That was great to find out, since so many other churches had such strict restrictions about what we could or could not do.

So since I have the church I was able to book the rehearsal dinner...

I wanted something low key, like a class cookout, since so many of our friends and family have never met. Since I don't just happen to have a huge tent-worthy backyard, I have to rent one. Ironically, the site is called 'Winchester Place,' (I will be settling down in Winchester, IN).

There is a really good butcher in town that specializes in hog roasts and cookout style catering. They are a family business, which I can appreciate, and have already been more than accomodating. I just feel like the rest of the weekend will be so formal, it will be nice to have a good time with all the important people in our lives!

I am doing some dress shopping this week and weekend, so maybe I will have more good news to report! We have a few weddings to attend coming up in the next few weeks, so I plan on stealing some ideas!