The Suit

It's important to understand what the man's role is in a wedding. We typically laze around until the last minute and then scramble to take care of the business. It is my goal not to do that. We have worked as a team to get almost everything done. Every day, contact this, call that, suits here, and flowers there, we are almost done! It is important however, to sit back and reflect why we do this. In light of all the events of the recent months, I've begun to do lots of self assessment about this whole wedding thing. I have grown more infatuated with my fiancee with every day. She's such a go getter. It makes me want to do more and be more active in my life. That's the funny thing with relationships, you want to make it all about the other person, but in the end, it becomes about you. In a good way of course. With all that's going on, I thought I'd share that. I often imagine what things will be like in 10 or 15 years. I don't do this because I want to rush through the present and get there sooner. Rather, I like to imagine all the things along the way that will eventually lead me to these events. For instance, I'd love to buy a house with a big back yard so we can grow our garden and have a place for Hazel to run around. Part of buying a house is looking for one, for which I can't wait. Looking for a house means Elizabeth is out of school, and I can't wait to see her walk across that stage. To walk across the stage, means that Elizabeth has poured hours and hours of studying and reading into become someone who not just saves lives, but physically, emotionally, and mentally improves the quality of life of anyone who happens to walk through her door. And to study day and night means that she is where she is now, a hard worker putting in the long work days, and extensive sacrifice to get back into PA school. So as you can see, it's not about the buying the house that gets me excited. It's about the entire journey along the way. 

I would like to note that I am a music major, and inevitably there will be 5,000 grammatical and spelling errors. I write music not words, so be gentle. 

The past few months I've really begun to miss my bro's. It sounds stupid but, when the vast majority of my friends live more than 12 hours away, it really makes ya long for the olden days. The days when we used to walk around downtown and get into just enough trouble. Not too much. Just enough. I am really excited about getting to share this wedding with them. I don't think I would have ever guessed that they'd beat me to the punch, but hey that's how things go. I would also take this time to say that I am so proud of my brother and sister in-law for bringing beautiful Caleb into this world. He's a heck of a dude and he'll be a great addition into the clan. 

At any rate, I think it's important to remember that as we draw closer to the wedding, that this is a wedding of two families, not just two people. I am proud to have a new sister, mother, father, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, uncles, and two new, however little, dogs. I know, that the same can be said for Elizabeth. When friends and family run so deep, it's important to give them their proper due. I'd also like to give a shout out to Drew and Sara for their future babe. She's going to be spoiled rotten with love and Aunt Liz and Uncle Dan, are pumped for the arrival. I think this will be all for now I think. I will leave you with this small adage.

I saw a story of a young high school boy who had a terminal illness. He had a documentary of his last few months of life. He mentioned that there is one reason why we are here on this earth. That reason was to see someone smile and know that it was because something you did. His way of making people smile was to give his family, which he loved more than anything else, songs of which to remember him by. He wrote music to express his thoughts feelings and emotions. This gave his family and those around him a reason to smile. And that was his goal. This boy is not unlike me. I have a family I love and care for. I have music. I think that if I can do what he did, use his music and love for his family to make people smile, only then I will truly be living. 

It's time to shower...

So with 3 months left it's almost time for showering.  Dan and I are so blessed to have a supportive network of friends and family that have graciously offered to throw showers and set up fun trips to celebrate the wedding.

Over Memorial Day weekend, the festivities begin in Atlanta.  My bridesmaids and I are going on a one-day vineyard hop through the North GA mountains to celebrate and bond over fine wines and good food.  We will make a quick stop for dinner in the small German town of Helen, GA before heading back to Cumming that evening.

My best friend and fellow bulldog, Amye, offered to host a small couples shower the next day in Atlanta. The guest list includes young couples that Dan and I sometimes double date with as well as some of the out of town bridesmaids that won't be able to attend later bridal showers.  Amye is so thoughtful; she was inspired by the couples shower she and her husband Matt received last spring.  She wanted to give us a fun day at one of our favorite restaurants, The Olde Blind Dog-Milton.  We are so looking forward to another reason to eat there.

 

In June, my cousin Amanda is hosting some of my Memphis and MS family for a bridal brunch.  Amanda and my cousin Kevin have a lovely home in Brighton, TN.  With her aunts being well seasoned wedding coordinators, I know I am in for a treat.

Soon after, Dan and his college buddies head to NOLA for a bachelor trip.  I hear casinos, a flat boat ride, and hurricanes are in order.  I know they will have a great time (just don't get arrested) ;).

On July 3rd I move back to Memphis temporarily to help organize the last minute details for the big day.  While there my amazingly talented bridesmaid Lindsey Archer with the help of my sister are throwing yet another bridal shower for me in Cooper-Young.  Check out her blog to see her stunning home and pictures from the many events she has thrown over the past year.

http://lindseyearcher.com/

Finally July ends with the bridesmaid luncheon hosted by the mother's long time friends Rhonda Jacques and Suellen Young and the rehearsal dinner at The Majestic Grille.  Let's don't forget the big bash the next day where we say I Do and party til midnight (well 11:30 that is).

So much is coming up I can hardly wait.  While on the shower note, Macy's has graciously sent us a Friends and Family coupon for 25% off our registry.  The promo code is FRIEND if shopping online; I'll try to post an actual coupon later.

I can't believe I have let the blog go for so long without a post.  For the most part, Dan and I have been very busy with work and travel.  I have only had one full weekend off since Valentine's Day (kinda sad, I know).  Now we are less than 3.5 months away from the wedding.  Good news, we have been stress free in 2013 while planning the big event.  Thanks to our 15 month engagement, we have been able to tackle one decision at a time and give each facet of the wedding our full attention.  

Recently, we spent the Easter holiday in Memphis in order to take care of a few details.  Special thanks to All American Sweets in Bartlett for an extraordinary cake tasting.  It's good to know that our cake and cupcakes are coming from an actual bakery that makes everything from scratch.  Trust me, we saw the kitchen with our own eyes and it was a spectacular scene.  3 flavors await you at the reception, but we will let the exact ones be a surprise.  

We also took engagement pictures around midtown with the help of Kristen Archer.  Although the second half of the shoot was plagued by rain I still think we got some great shots before my hair completely went to a big mess.  Look for pics on our blog once editing is complete next week.

Finally we booked a block of rooms at the Hampton Inn downtown.  Jill on sales was a great help and by far this is the best choice for out of town guests with a complementary breakfast and easy walking access to Beale, the rehearsal dinner, and the trolley line.  They were also very generous with the rate for being downtown Memphis.  There are only 15 rooms available so look to our "Eat, Sleep, Play" link for details.

That is all for now.  Look for more posts soon.  I will be much more dedicated the next few months.  

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Planning

Throughout this whole planning process I've discovered vendors can be just like characters out of a Clint Eastwood movie.

The Good...For the most part ALL of my vendors would fall into this category.  My experience dress shopping at The Barefoot Bride does however stand out above all the rest.  Joelle Scholl does a great job categorizing her store full of consignment new and used wedding gowns.  You name it, she probably has it; plus she is there one on one with almost every bride.  It really makes you feel unique and not just another cookie cutter girl in white.  She encouraged me to try on a little bit of everything and to my surprise I actually chose a gown completely out of left field.  On top of that, her pricing is superb; really more than reasonable.  Where I saved on the dress, I have been able to splurge on an amazing photographer and vintage prop rentals.

The Bad....I wouldn't place a particular vendor here but I will mention the one bad thing about the wedding industry in general.  Getting married is EXPENSIVE.  I remember looking at venues with Dan over Labor Day weekend.  We would walk out of a hotel thinking "they want to charge me $5000 for that?!"  It's true, a lot of the things besides the venue (especially the little but vital details) are super pricey.  In the end, we realized that we'll be married no MORE married if we had a designer reception than if we shop at Goodwill and do a lot of things ourselves.  Besides it's more fun to be a do-it yourself  couple.  

The Ugly...Well let's just say that while we LOVE our venue now, it has had moments where we (especially Dan) have considered our venue "The Ugly" in our wedding planning western.  After my acceptance into Emory we sort of scrambled to decided if we would still get married in November or move the date forward to July.  After deciding July was best, we started negotiating the date with the venue.  Let's just say the quaint downtown art gallery we chose as the backdrop for our big day had overnight become the hottest new venue in downtown.   In addition, our "frat" boy contact at the gallery just wasn't as prepared for the influx of requests to use the venue as he needed to be.  As a result not only did we have to fight to even get a date in July, but there were also a lot more rules/fees to using the site.  All a formality, I guess, of overnight success for the venue.  We reminded ourselves of the reasons we chose 409 South Main in the first place and after my visit last week I just can't imagine anywhere else that would accomodate our vision and budget quite like 409.

In the end I feel the Heath/Grass Wedding Extravaganza of 2013 has actually come together free of drama so far and we hope to keep it that way with more experiences that fall into "The Good" column.  

Making up for lost time

The new year and new year's resolutions have called for me to "make up" for lost blogs over the past 2 months.  Work has been incredibly busy at LifeSouth as we have dealt with an emergency need for blood since the Christmas holiday.  I have hardly had more than one day off of work at a time it seems. Most of those days have been spent running errands and doing as much planning as possible for our big day in July.  I will do my best over the next few days to play catch up and share all the planning fun.  From selecting our location to playing dress up at The Barefoot Bride each decision has a story I hope to share.

Emory, at last.

So some exciting news came on November 30.  I was accepted into the Emory School of Medicine PA Program!!!!!  There are not enough exclamation marks to cover that news.  I got the call while driving 400 North in rush hour traffic.  I was lucky to have not run off the road after such phenomenal news.

We barely had time to celebrate before we started contemplating what that acceptance meant for the wedding date.  As much as we loved the idea of a fall wedding, the idea of "what if I have a massive final the day before the wedding" seemed like a very scary/stressful notion.  Plus I could not fathom the stress on both Dan and my Mom if I couldn't fly in until the day before.

With all that in mind we quickly scrambled the next week to secure our venue for the summer.  After going back and forth with the venue owners and playing out scenarios in our head about what day would work best for our wedding party and families we decided on July 27th (really the venue decided July 27th for us, but we are going to make that day work).

In a sense the month of July is only fitting for Dan and I to wed during.  We met on July 4, 2009 and "officially" started dating around July 23.  Although we will forever have our anniversary in the middle of band camp, it will be a constant reminder of where we started (out in the middle of a practice field).

I'm still waiting on the venue to confirm 100% that we have the date but all looks good for now.  I spend the rest of my day off securing more vendors for the big day.

So much has happened...

In the past 7 months...
WE GOT ENGAGED IN NYC!

Dan was offered a great teaching opportunity at Forsyth Central High School in Cumming, GA and we moved to Atlanta in July.  Shortly after we both started our new jobs.

                           

In August our family grew by 1.  Meet Hazel...

We have been so very blessed this past year.  We are hoping to receive an acceptance from Emory University's PA Program before Thanksgiving.  Keep our little family in your prayers as we embark on an eventful year to come.