We are going to be STARS on our wedding day!

Yep, you read it right. We are going to be STARS on our wedding day. You ask, How? and I say...

Because Jasmine* is going to be our wedding photographer!!! Can I get a hollaa? Holllaaa!!!

You might be thinking "how did that happen?" because a couple of posts ago, I mentioned that she was booked for our date. Well, Chris and I searched and searched and searched for photographers that we both really liked.

Outcome: not so good.

He either liked them and I didn't. Or I liked them, and he didn't. So we went to lunch and had "a talk."

Everyone and their mom knows that those talks never end with a happily ever after. Fortunately for us, it did.

Outcome: Changing our date so Jasmine could be our photographer.

So now, our official date: November 19, 2010

Location: Viansa Winery and Marketplace in Sonoma

Our photographer is the one and only: Jasmine Star

Who I'm marrying: Christopher James Allen

Are we cool? Coolest people evvaaa!

Happy Friday!

Bridal Party Dresses

As of right now, I have 3 beautiful ladies in my bridal party. I would love to have 5, but Chris only has 4 groomsmen at the moment. I feel bad for making him add another one, but then again I need my ladies to help me stay stress free, and calm throughout this whole process. Can I get an Amen? AMEN!!!

But because they are my ladies, I want them to look beautiful standing next to me on my big day. Trying to figure out what colors/what dresses I want them to wear has been a toughie. Geeze, I thought that after choosing my colors the hard part was over ;) But I have come to a decision. Because I want my bridal party to look classic, simple, and elegant, I've decided not to choose their dresses to match our colors. Instead, I've decided for them to wear black dresses. I also found it to be cute that they'll match the groomsmen :) Ultra fab right?

I've been searching the internet for possible black dresses. I know we won't be deciding until a little later, but here are a couple that I really enjoy.

Seeing this dress has made me lean towards a maxi dress for my ladies. Our wedding will be in the fall, so it will be a little chilly. This will give them enough coverage to stay a little warm during the ceremony.

I am a HUGE fan of anything ruffly. This reminds me of my favorite character in Sex and the City, Charlotte. I can see this dress with a pearl necklace and voila. Hello classy!

Besides my love for ruffles, I also enjoy a big bow now and then. This has the best of both worlds.

Which one do you like best?

*Dresses and Pictures are taken from J-Crew, and Nordstrom.

To Her:

Against the wall sits a comfortable bear.
One that I gave you as a token of simplistic love.
Beyond the simplicity, there's so much more to share.
I want to give you all that's below and above;
In the heavens and earth, in the seas and skies.
In moments of laughter and frowns
My love -- solely yours -- with wings flies
High as the loneliness of the past drowns
And together we emerge hand in hand
Upside down, right side up
To be joined as one by a single sparkling band
To which overflows my cup
With all the love in the world -- my world -- for you...

The beauty of love

To You:

The second our toes hit the sand, the faster the sun seemed to set. Straight ahead, the sky was filled with hues of purples, pinks, and oranges. The waves were crashing, yet the further we looked the safer it seemed.

For a moment, I tried to take it all in. I sat in silence next to you and snapped a couple of photographs with an intention of preserving the moment. Because in that moment, I felt safe and untouched by the world all around me. At that moment, it was just us with the endless ocean, and the colors that reflected our love.

It was perfection in it's simplest form. A moment that I want to always have for the rest of our lives.

Love,

G

Colors, Colours, Colores

I thought it would be one of the easier things to decide when we started talking about colors for the wedding. Let's be honest, as the groom I don't really carry or interact with the colors very much. Still, the colors we choose will present themselves throughout the entirety of our wedding. That said, it's a pretty big deal regardless.

It really came down to two sets of colors: Purples OR Orange & Greens. Both looked marvelous! I came up with a brilliant idea: Go to a florist and get a flower arrangement of both color schemes! Like I said, brilliant. Well, by the time I was able to get to a florist that could put some samples together for us, we had already decided on the Orange & Greens. With that in mind, I wanted to get a bouquet of flowers representing our colors to surprise Glady when she got home the other night. You can read below how it was received...Like I said, brilliant!

Our Colors

I spend nights wide awake trying to figure out what our colors should be. I even have nightmares about it. Purples, Greens, Reds, Pinks, and Oranges! AHHH the horror.

I'm totally kidding. But it has been a tough decision.

I've finally made up my mind. After seeing this Muse Board from Wedding Cabaret, I fell in love with Oranges and Greens. I think they are the perfect colors for our fall wedding.

I also bought a magazine this weekend from borders along with "The Modern Bride Survival Guide" and I am even more in love with wedding planning. I found these beautiful orange bouquets inside the magazine. I particularly love the orange with hints of green.

And just because he is the sweetest, I have to share. Last night I came back to the apartment, and found these lovely flowers waiting for me. I hadn't seen Chris all day, and the last thing I expected was to come home to find beautiful flowers. It was such a wonderful surprise. He even told me he chose this particular arrangement because it contained our wedding colors. He's the sweetest.

YAY for pretty colors. Happy Tuesday!

Side note:

I can hear Glady in the other room singing. She makes me smile. I love her so much.

Details, Details, Details

I think it's safe to say that there's a lot of details that go into planning a wedding. And details call for decisions. Surprisingly, I haven't encountered as many hard decisions as I thought I would...that being said, it's still early in the game.

However, there's one decision that is proving to be rather difficult. My groom's men. I have a fifth spot and am struggling to fill it. What makes a good groom's man? For awhile, my criteria was something along the lines of who would be there by your side when the sh*t hits the fan? or not-so-much the guy that bails you out of jail, but is in jail with you for whatever shenanigans you were up to.

Also, there's a good possibility that strenuous movement will be called upon from my groom's men. So, I have to ask myself, who can handle a little sweat...AND still look good in a tux?

Anyways, I'm by no means complaining. I love this. It's just fun to speculate on the process.

Willing to make my dreams come true...

I don't think I say it enough, but I absolutely adore my fiance.

After writing a post about J* being my dream wedding photographer, I asked Chris for the 500th time if he'd consider having J* as our photographer. He then responds with, "But what if she's booked?" So I said, "Well, we won't find out until we contact her. Could you please send her an email right now?" Then he looks at me and says, "I already have."

Unbeknownst to me, Chris contacted Jasmine to let her know we were interested in having her photograph our wedding. Unfortunately, she is already booked for November 5th, 2010 for a wedding up here in San Francisco. How ironic right? Not going to lie, I was sad. I refused to show my emotions to Chris, but I'm sure he knew. He told me later that emailed her back and asked her if she was available the end of October, or the second week of November. (He is willing to do anything for me. I am so lucky!) She emailed him this morning and said she was available November 14th, 2010 which is a Sunday. As much as I would love Jasmine to shoot our wedding, Chris and I are set for a Friday wedding.

But he isn't giving up. This morning, he replied back to J* and inquired about doing just an engagement session with her. If we had the chance to have our engagement photos done by J*, I would be just as happy.

But the coolest thing happened this morning. When I checked our blog, it said I had a comment notification. It came from the last person I ever expected to comment on my blog. The one and only, J*. (Chris gave her the link to the post) She had this to say:

"Ooooh, Gladys, this is the NICEST post ever!! Thanks for being so awesome and I know your wedding will be nothing short of fabulous!! :)" -j*

It definitely made my week. But really, I feel so blessed to have such a loving fiance. He wants to make all of my dreams come true. I hope he knows that I will do the same for him.

Happy Monday!

My dream wedding photographer

Chris and I haven't really talked about photographers when it comes to our wedding. Ok I lied. Maybe I've tried to convince him that we should hire Jasmine Star as our photographer because she's my absolute favorite. (I've even logged onto Chris' twitter and set it so that he's following her) But seriously, her work is beautiful.

Also, she's been a huge inspiration to me when it comes to my photography. I think that's a huge part of why I'd like her to photograph our wedding. When Jasmine found her wedding photographer, David Jay. His photos inspired her to leave Law school and pursue photography. Her work has the exact same effect on me. Except I'm not dropping out, or in Law School. But I've pursued my passion and will keep at it no matter what. I have her and Chris to thank for that.

Oh Jasmine! I doubt that you'll be reading this, but I absolutely adore your work and I wish that you and JD could come up to Sonoma next year to photograph our wedding. Or maybe just attend it as special guests, that would be just as cool. You can even bring Polo. Let me know :)

Our Wedding Venue

It's official, Chris and I have decided on our wedding venue...

We are getting married at Viansa Winery and Marketplace in Sonoma.

We absolutely love it there, and we are so excited!!!

We're Engaged!

Chris: I had been planning on asking my girlfriend to marry me on our 1 yr anniversary -- July 25th. Unfortunately, as with all the best laid plans, something went wrong. The ring wasn't done yet. I had this wonderful elaborate plan to take her to all our favorite and sentimental places around the City. However, the logistics didn't come together as I had intended. Chief among them, the ring I was having designed in Texas was not done and the ring designer was MIA.

So, I'm not the best at keeping surprises a secret. I just love the celebration so much! You can imagine, how hard it was for me to keep my big surprise a secret for almost an entire week until the ring arrived. Once I had the ring, I brought Gladys to "our spot" overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. I had been watching/hoping the fog would dissipate all day. The last thing I wanted was to propose to her in thick, cold, wet fog. There was thick fog as we drove on to the bridge and I was rapidly thinking of alternative sites to take my soon-to-be-fiance. Then we broke free of the fog and "our spot" up on the hill was basked in brilliant sunlight.

From the over-look, Gladys was reading my note facing the bridge. I was standing behind her waiting for the moment to get on one knee. She was nearing the end of the note and I took the ring out and knelt on the ground. Gladys turned around and within the second she knew exactly what was going on. I told her she has "made me more happy than I have ever been and that I want to continue these wonderful moments with you until the end of time." However, she didn't hear any of that as she was laughing, cry, and all-around ecstatic. Still though, through all the rush of emotion she managed to say, "Yes!" and I slipped the ring on her finger and now the beginning of our life together is underway...