Engagement Photos

Brady and I took our engagement photos over the July 4th weekend! Since then I have had a job interview, bought my wedding dress (you have to wait until March 10th to see it!), got a job teaching middle school, and bought a car. So this month has been wonderfully busy!

Back to our photo shoot. My dear and talented friend, Cara Schrader, took photos of us all day Saturday. She did such a great job! It was a blazing 102 degrees for the majority of the day. Our first location was at Vargo's. It's a restaurant in Houston that has live peacocks. We showed up in our formal attire around 11 AM and started stalking some peacocks. To those of you that are not familiar with peacocks, they are not super outgoing creatures. We spent the first hour chasing around the same peacock who kept on jumping up on the roof to avoid us (and peacocks can fly by the way for short distances). The second thing you may not know is that they are very loud. Have you seen the movie UP? Peacocks sound exactly like Kevin. Very loud, obnoxious, and quite startling if you're not expecting it.

Here is one of our favorites, again taken by Miss Cara Schrader. The grounds there (all though very hot) were also very pretty. This was one of those swingy bridges and Brady had too much fun swaying the bridge back and forth violently to freak me out.

After the first hour, we went inside for maybe five minutes and then came back outside. We found that some of the other peacocks weren't as aloof as the first one. In fact, the peacock that hung out by the gazebo, was just plain helpful. Look at the amazing amazing amazing picture Cara got!! After she took this one she cheerfully called to us, "Ok, we got it!"

We then went back to Katy for lunch and a cool down. Our next location was the Houston Water Wall by the Galleria. After the playing the stressful game of "Find a Parking Spot" we were off again to capture some water wall shots. Everyone on facebook likes this shot the best.

We took a lot more, but it takes too long to upload them all to blogspot. The best thing about the water wall was that we could just stand really close and get misted. Definitely helpful with the heat.

Our last location was George Bush Park on Westheimer. We didn't take as many here but the ones we did take I really love. Here is my favorite shot.

Basically, July has been an awesome month. :)

Wedding Dress!

FOUND IT!

Just kidding. But to start off my wedding dress search, I tried on my mother's wedding dress from 1982. It actually fit pretty perfectly, it was just super long. Krista, my maid of honor, and Lauren, my cousin were meeting at my house to accompany my mom and I on our dress search. I answered the door in this dress. I wish I took pictures of their faces. 

So after I made a quick wardrobe change, we set off for three different bridal appointments. The first stop was at Weddings by Debbie. It's about 5 minutes away from my house on the Katy Freeway. It was a huge bridal salon. I had a helpful consultant and I tried on six different gowns. I liked two of them. 

We stopped for lunch before continuing to the second appointment at Parvani Vida. It's a smaller store off of Highway 6. Here we had more success. I found three dresses that I really loved. Two were by the designer Casablanca and one was by a designer called Symphony. 

My mom, Lauren, and I continued to our last stop, Houston Bridal Gallery. It's also on the Katy Freeway, but  closer to Memorial than Katy. It was the smallest store of the three. We found two dresses that are so so gorgeous, both by Justin Alexander. 

It was a really awesome experience. Now I have to make the tough decision of which one I want! I have 5 favorites, although I keep on thinking about three in particular. All of them are within my budget (so don't let those snooty Klienfeld's consultants from Say Yes to the Dress make you think you have to spend $5,000 on a wedding dress).

Although trying on wedding dresses is more tiring than you would think, I still really enjoyed it. Everyone was complimenting me, telling me I have a tiny waist, or that I have the perfect body for bridal (my height paying off for once!). Now I have to go back to my real life of teaching pre-school, changing diapers, and being normal. 

WE CHOSE A VENUE!

FINALLY!  We chose a venue! I am so excited. I feel like a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders. The plan is to get married at Marvin UMC. After the ceremony, we will travel a mere five minutes to Hollytree Country Club. 

When we saw it, it was sectioned off, but the room will be a lot bigger when we get married. It has these really tall ceilings with big wooden rafters. There are two large fire places and a wine cellar. I am really excited! It also includes a cocktail area with a bar and a piano.

Now that the huge decisions are made, I can move on to the details.

Tyler Venues!

My mother and I made a trip up to Tyler this weekend. With Brady's new job in Henderson, Tyler is an easy and sensible choice for location. My mom AKA wedding planner made up a detailed spreadsheet of locations around the Tyler area. I went in and rated the venues based on their photos and accommodations. We toured four locations this weekend. It was pretty fun. I got referred to as "the bride" several times which never fails to make me smile. 

Stop One: Lake Tyler Petroleum Club

Three walls of windows, right on Lake Tyler. Bar and dance floor included. Buffet style for dinner. Outdoor cocktail space. Ideal for reception only.

Stop Two: Centaur Arabian Farms

Gorgeous grounds and landscaping. Reception area will only seat about 110 in the barn comfortably.

Ceremony location for Stop Two. Gorgeous as well but no bad weather plan. They have a tent available but for all we know March 10th could be really freezing.

Stop Three: Villa de Felicitia

Gorgeous venue in the middle of the country. This is the one we are all leaning toward. It has a ceremony and reception location. There is an outside spot AND a back up spot.

The lovely reception area from Stop Three, Villa de Felicitia.

The outside location for Villa de Felicitia. GORGEOUS. The aisle is really long though.

Marvin United Methodist Church, over 100 years old!

Stop 4: Tyler Womens Building 

Also historic. It was build in the 1930s. We visited it the morning after a wedding, so it was still super messy. It would be difficult to seat all of our guests and have a dance floor. :(

The outside of the building. It had a lovely little garden in the back.

So those are our options. We still have a lot of things to consider and numbers to crunch. But plan on March 10, 2012 in Tyler, Texas!

Where are you registered?

Brady and I registered this last weekend! Let me just say that registering was the best thing thus far about being engaged. Picking out all of this stuff for my future household makes this more real and more exciting.

This last weekend I went to visit Brady and his family in Mount Vernon, Texas. It's a nice five and a half hours away from Katy. Brady and I had previously registered at Target and Bed Bath and Beyond online. While I was in town, we registered at a local shop on the town square. It's called Coe & Company on Houston Street. They were closed for the Memorial Day weekend but we managed to squeeze in an appointment. Luckily, Brady's family goes to church with the owners of this tiny antique and house goods shop. She graciously opened up the store for Brady, Brady's mom, and I to shop around for my bridal shower (by the way, his hometown is all ready planning me TWO bridal showers!). It was really awesome, shopping in a closed store. I felt like a celebrity, or a contestant on What Not to Wear. We got to register for sheets, towels, table linens, glass ware, and miscellaneous home decor.

So in conclusion, you may now find Brady and I on the following registries: Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Coe & Company (no website). For the Target and Bed Bath and Beyond registries, you click on the wedding registry link and type in either my name or Brady's to search for our wedding. It is easier to search for Brady Hunnicutt, since he has the more unique name of the two of us. It cuts down on the search results.

Table Decor Sketches

I was in an artsy mood today and decided to break out my prismacolor pencils from high school. I was having trouble explaining exactly what I envisioned for the reception decor. Now I'm decent for an amateur artist, so you'll have to bear with me on these sketches. I didn't have the exact shades of colors that I needed, so use your imagination.

Here is a close up of the flower arrangements. I want a super tall and skinny vase so my guests can see and talk to each other across the table. A peacock feather could be attached to the outside of the vase. Inside will be a mixture of white peonies, green spider mums, and blue hydrangeas.

I didn't have the colors I wanted, so use your imagination. I want the table cloth to be cerulean blue, the color of the font. I want the table runner to be celery green. The tea light candles will be a light teal.

This is a quick sketch of the place setting. I want a menu on each plate describing what the guests are eating. My cousin, Clark, had some at his wedding and I really liked them. Another peacock feather will accompany each guests' menu.

So those are my ideas. What do you think?

Venues Venues Venues - Safari Texas Ranch in Richmond

Brady came to visit me for the long Easter weekend. We managed to squeeze in an appointment to look at venues between sailing, Easter egg hunts, eating, and visiting family. We went to see Safari Texas Ranch in Richmond, Texas. It's about a 30 minute drive from my house in Katy.

We toured this sprawling ranch's facility and liked the Safari Room. It is paired with an outdoor gazebo overlooking a lake and real wild life. There were deer and zebras on the other side of the lake.

The indoor area is pretty country. It matches Brady's style and I think the decor would match my style. I would add a bunch of Asian paper lanterns at different heights to create visual interest.

So this facility was nice, reasonably priced, and it was all ready booked for March 10, 2012. March 3rd was open, but the problem is we can't book anything till we both know where we'll be living next year. It's frustrating. But at least we managed to find some reasonably priced venues.