A few weeks ago we had  our 2nd attempt at engagement pictures. The first session got rained out, I was so bummed! David and I's schedules were getting busy and we wanted to get the pictures taken before the leaves fell so we knew we had to act fast. Luckily we were able to reschedule right away for the next week and we finally got our pictures taken by Laura from Life Art Photographs in Des Moines! It could not have been a more perfect day for them either! The sun was out, the leaves were the perfect colors, it was the warmest day for 2 weeks, there was no wind and it didn't rain! Laura was great to work with and  made it easy for David to get comfortable, I'm sure the beer at the sports bar down the street helped a little too ;) We started at Easter Lake in East Des Moines, she promised us we were safe as we drove down the self-proclaimed "scummiest road in town." Once we pulled into the park, it was exactly what I wanted for our pictures--a secluded lake with lots of trees and grass! Eventually we made it to downtown Des Moines for some cool spots at the bridge and near the sculpture garden. 

I was so paranoid about what to wear for these pictures! Thinking about what would be classic enough to not go out of fashion in 20 years and still make for pretty portraits to hang in our house someday. After looking at tons of inspiration photos on Pinterest I began to notice trends in the couples' outfits and photos that helped me develop my own guidelines as I prepared for the photos. 

• Wear complementary colors 
• Avoid matching outfits, its not the 90's with your twin brother
• Wear your favorite outfits, not everything has to be brand new and it will make you feel comfortable and like yourself!
• Add fun, personal props! David and I have had a few picnics while we dated and have always enjoyed our glasses of wine! Our picnic pictures turned out to be some of our favorites! 
• Think simple outfits! We had to change in the back of the photographer's SUV a few times so to save time and ease, we wore the same jeans and just changed our tops. 
• Alternate patterns and solid colors! That was my biggest observation while looking at inspiration photos. One of the people wore a pattern and the other wore a solid color. I think this made pictures cohesive without being matchy matchy. 
• Laugh! Some of my favorite photos seemed candid and sweet when we were laughing and enjoying each other's company
• Here's the link to my Pinterest board of inspiration photos

I am so excited to post some of our pictures and maybe give some inspiration to another couple about to get their pictures taken! 

We hit the ground running once it became official! In the past 2 weeks we have accomplished SO MUCH for the wedding! 

• We set the date: August 31, 2014
• Booked the venues: Sacred Heart and Gull Point State Park
• Picked colors: Navy and Silver
• Met with vendors
• Priced decorations and flowers
• Booked engagement and wedding photographers
• Started a guest list
• Estimated wedding costs
• Attended a bridal show
• And bought a wedding gown!!

I've always had my eye on a fall wedding at Gull Point, so that was an easy decision but it got tricky trying to find coordinating dates with the church and reception. We feel lucky to have booked our wedding on a fun, long weekend at our dream reception hall! It was exciting to find out that my parents were married by the same priest who will marry David and I, in the same church! How cool is that?! 
Blue is one of David and I's favorite colors and I knew I wanted it as a wedding color for awhile. Navy is just so classic and timeless and Silver is just the right amount of glitz! =) 

Next we met with several vendors to price out their services to help establish our budget. We learned alot about different options, packages, and how much a wedding really costs. I had to create a wedding budget for a class last year so I felt like I had a pretty good idea about certain costs but was still surprised to hear estimated costs from the vendors themselves. I was most surprised by the cost of photography, videography, DJ, and flowers! I completely under-budgeted in those areas for my class project. Luckily for us, our reception is at a state park which means we get to bring in our own catering which will save us about $6/person to fed!  I could not believe how much of a difference that made! 
We are so excited to get our engagement pictures taken next week when we visit David's family in WDM. I realized last week that if we wanted a pretty background for our photos we better act fast before the leaves fall and everything turns brown. Since our wedding is at the end of August, and typically save the dates are sent out 6 months in advance, which would be February...winter isn't my favorite time of year, and cold weather and I don't get along. We are so excited to have Life Art Photography take our engagement pictures and to have C Starr Photography shoot our wedding day pictures. Both photographers have such amazing pictures, I can't wait to see what ours look like! 

Creating our "rough draft" guest list is going to be an ongoing struggle for everyone. We all have so many friends, family, and fraternity and sorority friends we want to include in our big day but our venue and mere cost is going to make it difficult to include everyone we would like to invite. Ah!! Yeah, that's going to be tough. #sororitygirlprobs #MyBigGreekWedding

I said YES to the Dress!! I can't believe it happened as fast as it did. For real, I had the worst time prom dress shopping. I was so picky and nothing fit the way I wanted. I imagined wedding dress shopping would difficult too! Guess not =) 
My mom and I went into a local bridal store, Elegance by Sarah, just to try on different styles, check prices--just trying to figure it all out! The consultant suggested to try 7 dresses first and go from there. My mom and I started pulling dresses going systematically down the rack, but there was this ONE dress that I had my eye on from the second we walked up the stairs. It just stood out from all the others. After pulling a few dresses, I skipped ahead to make sure that dress made it into the first 7 to try on. Again systematically, I tried on the dresses in the order we pulled them. Each dress was getting better than the one before it! I tried on all 7 dresses within the first half hour of my 1.5 hour appointment. I had it down to 2 dresses that were complete opposites from each other but my heart was kept going back to that one dress I saw, I knew it was the one. The store offered us a special first-visit package, where if you bought your dress on your first visit you received 25% off the dress, PLUS a whole sheet of other discounts on accessories, alternations, tuxes, and gown preservation! We took the afternoon to think about it and went back before the store closed to try it on, one. more. time. SOLD. I was over the moon excited! I was told I was the first bride to try on the dress and it arrived in the salon the day before! How lucky that we got there when we did?! I almost missed my dream dress by one day!

My mom and I went to our first Bridal Show as a Bride and Mother of the Bride! We had a fun weekend together in Sioux Falls and got a few more vendor contacts to price out. We signed up for countless drawings and giveaways hoping to win a honeymoon! We weren't there more than 15 minutes and my name was called over the speakers as a winner! WOOHOO! My mom went to claim my prize while I found seats at the dress show.--Drum roll--I won wrinkle cream! not quite a honeymoon but my mom was excited! Thinking my luck ran out at wrinkle cream, we enjoyed the rest of the day eating catering samples and looking through pictures. Later that night in the hotel I received a phone call from an unknown number, answered and WON again! This time a set of toasting flutes from a fine china company, along with a free 3 night hotel stay at their specified hotel chain!! WOOHOO!! Downside: We have to sit through their 90 minute showcase presentation in Sioux Falls about their products! Oh well, still very exciting! 

In kind of a nutshell--the first 2 weeks of our wedding planning! We've been so busy and my fiance', parents and soon-to-be in-laws have been so wonderful and full of great ideas! I can't wait to keep checking things off of our to-do list and enjoying the planning! 

What a busy, crazy, EXCITING month!!
School has been keeping busy with some great clinic experiences at a local school and the UNI Speech Preschool! This next month will be crazy with projects and big tests but its nothing I haven't already done! =) Also my roommates and I got a kitten, but Baby Girl deserves her own post!

Just over 2 weeks ago, on September 12, 2013, my boyfriend, David, PROPOSED! It was completely unexpected and I was totally surprised! Here's our proposal story (I apologize for the 3rd person writing, I'm writing it once for the wedding website!):

David enlisted in the help of his siblings to pull off this surprise! Earlier that week his brother, Chris, made plans for a "family dinner" at Amigos Thursday night with Brittany and Brianna. The next day, Brianna asked Brittany if she could give her a ride to a local pond for a class project before dinner that Thursday. She instructed Brittany that she needed to photograph the pond for a class project but didn't have a ride. Brittany being completely oblivious to the secret plan, replied, "How many ponds do you need to visit? I know a few." 

Brittany and Brianna pull up to Big Woods Pond about 7:50pm that night and began walking around looking for the "perfect spot" to take this picture. They walked around a bend in the pond and Brianna said she wanted to turn back and go to a previous spot. Before Brittany could follow her she noticed a familiar face sitting on a park bench not too far ahead. David smiled at her and waved her over. 

Brittany was completely surprised to see him, but this wasn't the first time he tried to surprise her by arriving early for a visit. She didn't thinking much of it and sat down to ask about his day. After a few moments of catching up, David stands and makes the excuse, "Let's see if this boat I saw earlier is out there still," and pulls Brittany up off the bench. He grabs her hands and stares into her eyes and this is when Brittany's mind completely shuts down and the details get fuzzy. HE'S GOING TO PROPOSE!! While Brittany tries to maintain composure, David was probably saying something very sweet and romantic about how much he loved her, but no one really remembers what happened! He got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife! Cue the tears, hugging, I love you's, and phone calls home!

After it started to soak in Brittany's first comments were, "I wish I wasn't wearing gym shorts!" and, "Wait, did you skip Justin Timberlake to propose?! You must really love me!"

Brittany and David finally got their dinner at 10:30 that night after several phone calls and a few more tears!


He designed my beautiful ring all by himself! You'll have to check out the photos below! We are so excited and blessed to celebrate with our families and friends. I'm excited to keep blogging about updates and how wedding planning is going. I've been dreaming about this moment since I was a little girl and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with a man as charming, smart, and funny as David! Keep checking back for more wedding updates! =)

I. Love. Weddings. 

I do. They make me so happy. Watching the couple stare into each other's eyes with such love and happiness--how can you not be moved by it? The last two weekends I've had the pleasure of attending back-to-back weddings, so I've been a very happy girl! I love getting dressed up and seeing the different styles, and personal touches that makes each wedding so different and special. I also love taking little mental notes for my own wedding someday, lets face it, I already have a notebook full of ideas for myself.! Any of my roommates can vouch for my obsession, some even poke fun at my planning ahead, but hey, I'm a daydreamer, its what I do and luckily they love me for it! =)

Here are some gorgeous pictures I've found online, click the pictures to see the original source.

Things I love about weddings: