Oh my goodness. Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmygoodness. How did we get here?? I am trying my best to stay calm, but am not always successful. I am very thankful that though wedding planning is not John’s specialty, he is doing a great job picking up the slack on household chores, giving me extra time to check things off the master to do list. Speaking of the to do list? I decided to consolidate my three or four lists into one, and to break out every task into each of its component pieces (so, for example, “make drink stirrers” has now become “choose ribbon color”, “order ribbon”, “cut ribbon”, “cut sticks”, and “assemble stirrers”). This makes the list look more daunting (currently sitting at 122 to dos – yikes), but it also makes me feel good to know exactly what needs to be done and to have it all in one place. With that said, let’s check in! Belathee Photography Since my last update: — Invitations have arrived, been addressed and stuffed, and sent back out the door! So far we’ve received responses from 79 of our 157 invited guests (68 yeses), and our RSVP deadline is today. — I had my final dress fitting last week, and my dress is being shipped to Connecticut soon! — We’ve placed the order for our ring bearer bowl – short and sweet. Can’t wait to share! — We’ve finalized all of the details for our ceremony – order, readings, songs, everything – and are waiting for confirmation from our pastor. We’ve already sent the details out to our musicians! — I’ve FINALLY been making some good progress on our DIY projects! There has been much wood cutting, ribbon tying, cardboard painting, hot gluing, signage designing, and calligraphy-ing happening over here! — I ordered bridesmaid/reader/helper gifts and

It is highly unlikely that there will be cake smashing at our wedding, but I love this photo anyway :) Chudleigh Weddings via Snippet & Ink Since my last update… — I’ve begun scanning photos for our slideshow (we picked the songs months ago – so excited about them!!) — I printed our marriage certificate and guest book cards — We’ve started brainstorming for our first dance song — I designed a few paper pieces that will go in our welcome bags/boxes, and have begun thinking about what said bags/boxes will look like (and whether, in fact, they will be bags or boxes) — Our veil is in the works! — We booked the second night of accommodations for our minimoon — We took our engagement photos! OF COURSE I will share them with you soon! — I sourced a few more items at the flea – another large frame, another silver cup, and another floral frog — While home in May, I chose a wedding day bracelet from my Mom’s stash! Next up on the list? — We will have our first pre-marital “conversation” with our pastor (his word, not mine). We are very excited about this!! — We have an appointment for John’s tux tailoring — We need to determine our guest list for our rehearsal dinner and confirm our reservation — I hope to have our invitations in hand (whoo!) and start the addressing process! — We need to take another look at our prospective reception menu (it’s been a few months!) and update it before our tasting — Same thing for our floral order – we need to take another look and make any necessary edits before our walk-through with our florist P.S. I think I’m going to post my remaining planning updates on the 15th,

We have officially crossed the halfway mark, my friends. Tomorrow is February 25, which means it’s been 8 months since we got engaged, and 6+ months until our wedding date! Whoa! One more for my mini desserts collection… this one from Southern Weddings, photo by Jodi Miller! Since my last update… — I found a clutch (many thanks to a dear friend who’s letting me borrow hers!) — We’ve gone through several rounds of invitation options with our amazing designer (more about her soon!) — We finalized our room blocks for guests (tip: make sure you do this WAYYY earlier than we did!) — We booked our band!! (Finally!) — We booked a string trio for our ceremony. — We placed a preliminary rental order for things like tables and chairs. — We placed our order for lounge furniture (yay!). — I took home a flea market find for our menu. Next up on the list? — Since we didn’t accomplish it last month, I’d like to get the ball rolling on groom and groomsmen attire. — We have several able-handed friends that will be visiting us this month, so I’m excited to put them to work on some DIY projects! :) — We’re all so ready to put the bridesmaid dress situation to rest. I sincerely hope we have those suckers ordered by the next time I update you. Let’s see… when I asked on my last update what you wanted to hear about next, y’all said tent (check!), videographer (check!), first DIY project (I’m going to keep that one under wraps), and florist (haven’t covered that one yet — will do so soon!). Anything else you’re curious about