Wedding Planning Road Trip #2

Last Wednesday Ryan and I climbed into the car around 5am and began the road trip to South Carolina. When we arrived we had some down time to relax downtown and scope out an event being held in our venue. We then met up with the family and had a Farewell dinner for y brother/ Birthday dinner for my sister. We all had a great time catching up.
On Thursday we had an super busy day. We met with the hotel to go over some things including figuring out the best room for me to get ready in! We also had lunch with Al and touched base with him about our ceremony! After rushing around all morning we went home and took a nap before having our engagement pictures taken. Luckily I woke up in time to go get my make up done and my mom helped me with my hair.
After great thought and consideration Ryan and I decided to have the pictures taken at my parents house and my neighbor's house (so we could get some good pictures by the lake). Even though I have not seen the pictures, I am so glad we chose this venue. It was perfect, we were relaxed. And we both just had fun!
On Friday we caught up with a friend and then headed down to Aiken for Dana and Sonya's wedding. We had a great weekend catching up with friends and day dreaming about our own wedding.
Then on the way home it hit me.... We are almost 10 months away from getting married. So, I came home ready to kick it into high gear.

Showered with Love

Hey Ya'll! I know that I have been missing from the blog for a while, but I thought I would catch you up on everything.
In the beginning of June I had my first Bridal Shower! I know, I know, you are probably thinking "ALREADY!?!" But, Ryan's family is spread across the country and many of them were in town for Ryan's cousins graduation. Since they would not be returning to the East coast until the wedding they decided to throw me a bridal shower. (which made me grin like the the Cheshire Cat... See picture below for evidence).

Not only was I showered with love, but I was also showered with gifts! It was like Christmas! Without any prompts or direction Ryan's Great Aunt got us a spice rack that we had been drooling over for months. And we got a Ninja and wine glasses, two things we desperately needed.  I also got some lovely gifts for me, needless to say I was a pampered bride to be.

Please ignore my creepy alien eyes in this picture, a friend was sweet enough to document with a cell phone.

To all those who were unable to be there we missed you and I cannot wait for you to join us in South Carolina for the wedding!

I can't think of a time I have been showered with so much love. And now I can hardly wait for the bridal shower with all my friends and family that are located down south. But I've got some time until then... for now I will strive to get the save the dates out to all my guests that have to trek to South Carolina for the wedding and try not to think about the fact that I have so much to to do over the next 10 months.

                                                                    Much Love,

P.S.- Coming soon to a computer near you: A post on our recent wedding planning road trip to South Carolina and our engagement pictures! (I am so excited!)

Wedding Planning Road Trip #1 Recap

***WARNING: If you are incredibly hungry do not read this post until you have something to munch on. The following paragraphs may make your mouth water, stomach growl, and may result in side effects including visual delusions relating to scrumptious meals that you have only heard great things about***


When Ryan and I got in the car on Friday morning I was set on collecting pictures of our wedding planning road trip and having a photo recap of our adventures. Well, I should have known better... I think I got a total of 3 pictures on the trip. All of which are still on my camera that I have yet to find and unpack. So, you will have to read my ramblings instead of looking at my sad attempts at photography.

Day 1: Friday
We crawled into Ryan's car at 4am and began the almost 600 mile trip to S.C. After a very uneventful start to our trip we stopped at our favorite chain for late night/ early morning snacks: WA HO!

flakmag.com via google images

After a quick bite to eat of the most amazing greasiest food ever, we hopped back in the car and hit the road. (and soon there after missed our exit for I-85). The rest of our trip to Greenville was exceptionally boring, so I will spare you all the details. Except!! Ryan and I stopped for a lunch break at southern favorite-- COOKOUT! (Please note that food is what our lives center around and we have to get our fill of all things southern when we go to S.C.).

From Wikipedia 

Ok, ok... so enough about the road trip down, I suppose I will let you in on things we actually did in Greenville. 

After we took a short nap at my sister's we met up with Al (our minister) and talked about the ceremony. This talk got Ryan and I so excited about getting married that we have already knocked out a good chunk of ceremony since returning to M.D. Anyway, after hanging out with Al for a while we met up with my sister for.... Dinner! We ate at a new pub in downtown Greenville called the Nose Dive. It was Awesome! My sister convinced us to eat outside it turned out to be really nice. Ryan got an inside out black and blue burger that he claimed was one of the best things he had ever tasted, and I got a pulled pork sandwich with the best sweet potato fries I have ever tasted. (My mouth is watering right now as I think about their wonderful fried goodness! YUM!) I should also note that in addition to dinner I had a beer (It was a pub after all!) that the waitress had described to me as "Cream Soda Like". Needless to say I was curious and could not resist. Well... it was really good. Possibly the smoothest beer I have ever had. So, after a drink and some scrumptious food we walked down to the Greenville Drive Baseball Park (located right in downtown!). We enjoyed a great game with Megan and some of her friends-- even though the Drive lost. 

Day 2: Saturday

After sleeping in, we went back downtown and walked through the farmer's market on the way to meet with the florist. As we were walking along I ran into the husband of one of my professors at PC (He is a local farmer in the Clinton area and has a very successful CSA). After chatting with him we continued down to our beautiful venue and met with the florist. All I can say is wow. This is a woman I have known since I was little and she is amazing. She completely put Ryan and I at ease about how our venue would be decorated and would look. Perfect. (I will not divulge any details other than we will be centered on a low country river side theme. And we will be using Navy and a blush rose color as our color scheme). Anyway, after putting our decor and flower arrangements in the capable hands of Janey, Ryan and I went to lunch. We ate at the Ale House in downtown (it was all in the name of research). There we had the most amazing buffalo shrimp and had a pretty darn good burger! With full bellies and heavy eyes we drove on to Seneca and lounged around for the rest of the day. And watched the Braves Game! 

Day 3: Sunday

We went to church and then went over to my grandmother's for my sister's welcome home party. There Ryan was able to meet some additional members of my family. It was really great to catch up with people and relax. I won't bore you with details.

Day 4: Monday (The never ending day)

Monday morning we headed home. We got a bit of a late start because we had some coffee with my mom and dad before leaving and then stopped by Winthrop to have lunch with my brother. It was so good to see him! After lunch we continued on. We thought that we were extremely clever and decided to go home by way of 81 instead of 95. Bad mistake... I-81 got shut down for over 15 miles and was detoured on a small country road. We bypassed it all but still had 3 hours added onto our journey. Complaining aside, please pray for all the people and families effected by what occurred on 81 and in the Christianburg/ Roanoke area on Monday. 

So, after a wild and crazy weekend we are satisfied that we know fun activities and places to eat to recommend to our guests. In addition, we got some planning knocked out. If only we weren't repeating the trip in 2 weeks... At least we have Sonya's wedding to look forward to!

Peace,