It's Been 6 Months!

I just realized that today marks 6 months since my husband, Schuyler, and I were married! It's been a wonderful 6 months, and the time has FLOWN by! From making our house into a home, changing to the same last name, and a complete 360 change in my career path, it's been an amazing start to our life together. I just wanted to mark this little milestone in our new life together and share a few of my favorite wedding photos!

All photos by CvB Photography

I wish we had more fun photos of the two of us, but thanks to Florida weather, we were rained out of our 3 hours of shooting time! You can see more details from our wedding in some of my very first blog posts. I can't wait for what else is in store for us!

Why I Blog

I felt like sharing something about myself today, I hope you all won't mind. It's the answer to the question, "Why do you blog?" If you had asked me at this time last year about blogging, I wouldn't have had an answer because I had no idea about it! I knew that they existed, but I didn't know about the vast amounts of information, ideas, and inspiration (the three I's, how cute!) that were available through blogs.

In January (described in more detail here), I was told about Style Me Pretty. From then on, I was forever a member of the blogosphere. There are so many things that I would have done differently if I had been reading blogs earlier on in my wedding planning, as I've said several times in my blogging.

Photo from author's personal collection

I decided that when I returned from the honeymoon, I was going to start a wedding blog. But I didn't want to start a blog just because I was still in love with weddings. I started this blog because I want to help other brides, bridesmaids, mothers of brides, basically whoever is involved in a wedding! I want to provide tips and tricks to brides so their planning experience is fun and their wedding day goes smoothly.

I realized that I was one of the first in my circle of friends to get married, and therefore I didn't have anyone to go to for advice. At times, I know I was annoying my friends and mother with discussions of bridesmaid dresses, invitations, monograms, flowers, the list goes on and on. There were times that I felt like I had nowhere to turn for answers to questions about my wedding.

So brides, grooms, bridesmaids, mothers, fathers, whoever is reading: feel free to ask me questions! If you need some ideas, you can't decide on a monogram, invitations, centerpieces, whatever it may be, two heads are better than one! I would have loved to have someone to collaborate with on some of the decisions I had to make when planning my wedding. Leave me a comment, or send me an email. I will be more than happy to help!

Photo by CvB Photography

In my few months of blogging and connecting with others in the wedding industry, I've realized that I truly do want to help others enjoy their wedding day. I'm working to gain more experience in the wedding industry so one day I can physically be there to help brides have the best wedding day that is possible!

So, for my friends, family, blog readers, and anyone else who was wondering, this is why I blog! I absolutely love doing it, and I can't wait to share more with everyone!

The Story of My Wedding Dress: Don't Do This!

When you get engaged, what's the first thing you do? Buy bridal magazines! And of course the magazines are filled with pages and pages of advertisements for wedding dresses. And you mark the pages you want, go the websites and drool, and start dreaming of your wedding dress.
When choosing your dress, the number ONE rule is: DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

• Look at all the different designers and styles.
  
• Go and try some on, with NO intentions of buying at all.
• Know what style and fabric you like.

Well, I made a huge mistake. I did look at what I liked. I knew what style I liked. I knew I wanted lace. But I didn't buy it. I bought something different than what I had been looking for. It was the first time trying on dresses, and the first store I went to. I went to another store, didn't find what I wanted, and went back and got the dress. I was rushed due to other people's schedule constraints. I wanted my wedding dress.

Impression Bridal

Don't get caught up in the moment!


I now tell all of my friends that they are NOT allowed to buy a dress on the first day of looking. So now I'm sharing that advice with all of you.

I should have known, my mom should have known, my sister should have known. Maybe if my best friend had been there, she would have known. When buying a SHIRT, I have to search all of the stores in the mall before buying it. We should have known.
5 months after purchasing the dress and 3 months of the dress sitting in the dress shop, I became very upset. I could not walk down the aisle and be married in the dress I had. It just wasn't me. I thought about it for months. I tried to convince myself that it was fine, that I did like it. It sounds awful, but it happens all too often to other brides.

So, I went on a covert mission-to a different bridal shop by myself. I tried on dresses in their "Boutique" section of the store (aka cheaper than the $5000 dresses), and found 2 dresses I loved so much better than the one I had.
Then I brought my sister there. She loved it. My wonderful husband (then fiance of course) saw how upset I was and said it was okay to put the dress on our credit card so my parents wouldn't have to buy another dress. He hadn't even seen the first dress or the new dress. What a keeper.
So I told my mom. She was NOT happy. She didn't speak to me for a few days, and I finally convinced her that I really wanted her to see it before I purchased it. So she did. She convinced ME to keep looking, since the dress I had found wasn't PERFECT.

Well, I didn't get THAT dress, but a whirlwind of going to stores within a 120 mile radius began. I knew the brand I wanted, and it had to be lace. When I wasn't completely in love with anything, I went to the designer's website that I frequented pretty much every day, and wrote down all of the style numbers of the dresses I liked. I then emailed and called stores that were further than a one hour drive, and asked them how many of those styles they had.
Having done my research, my mom drove down to Bonita Springs (2.5 hour drive) with me one Thursday morning. We walked into the small store and dresses just lined the walls. It was amazing how much they fit in a tiny store! I probably tried on 20 dresses, and we were there for 3 hours. The dress I ended up getting wasn't even on the rack- they had just received it the day before, and it came straight out of the box. Thankfully, for this reason, we were able to take it home with us that day.

I was so blessed that my mom was agreeable with this whole ordeal, and she did admit that my new dress was so much better than the first one. And yes, I'm still absolutely in love with it. I'm planning on wearing it for our 10 year anniversary. That's the plan anyways.

The moral of this story is: Don't buy a dress the first day you look!

Real Wedding: Lauren & Schuyler Part 5

Last but not least: the Reception.

Since it was raining, we weren't able to get any extra time for photos at the Country Club of Ocala, where the reception was being held. We also weren't able to get the "preview" of the ballroom before our Grand Entrance.
Therefore, I was in shock when we were announced and we walked into our Reception. (You can see it in my face in one of the pictures below) It was so much more than I expected it be, and I have Dan from Unforgettable Events to thank for putting everything together so beautifully.

We had 2 desserts! Bananas Foster and wedding cake, which was so pretty I didn't want to cut into!


My brother was unable to attend due to a deployment to Afghanistan, but he sent a speech to his best friend to read to make up for his absence. It was heart wrenching for my family because we kept thinking he was going to be able to make it, but especially for me, because if it weren't for him, Schuyler and I would have never met.

All of the guests that I've talked to have said that they had a ball at the wedding, which is exactly what we wanted. My only regret is that we don't have more pictures of the reception, since the photographer left before everything was over (another post for later). However, thanks to Facebook, I do have some candid photos from my friends and family.

More photos of the decor and design elements can be found at the previous post Real Wedding: Lauren & Schuyler Part 1.

I hope you enjoyed reliving my wedding day with me through all of the posts this week! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!


Vendors:
*Photography: CVB-Photography
*Flowers and Decor: Unforgettable Events
*Cake: Ms Debbie's Sugar Art
*Venue: Country Club of Ocala
*Event Coordinator: Radiant Events by Jaye
*Paper Design and Printing: The Design Grove

Real Wedding: Lauren & Schuyler Part 4

Now for a glimpse into our very limited photo session:

Little did we know that a (then rare) Florida afternoon thunderstorm was brewing, and as we walked out of the church, it was a race to get a few pictures and then make it to Ocala's Historic Downtown Square.

The picture from the previous post "The Story Behind Lauren & Schuyler" was the necessity, and we were able to fit in a few more before the clouds starting looming above.

We raced to where the rest of the bridal party, and got juuuuust a few pictures with the whole bridal party before the skies opened on us.

Sadly, there were many more photos that I wish we had the chance to get. However, we have no control over nature. They say it's good luck to have rain on your wedding day though, right?

Up next: Reception Photos!

*All photos by CVB Photography

Real Wedding: Lauren & Schuyler Part 3

Moving right along...I couldn't hold back anymore! I wanted to get the rest of the wedding posted for all to see! Just one more left....

The ceremony was beautiful. Held in the gorgeous Catholic church that I grew up in and performed by the priest that watched me grow up, it was my dream to have my wedding there.

Growing up, I always imagined walking down this incredibly long aisle toward my future husband, and as I got older I would start to tear up just thinking of it. I of course cried walking down that aisle as I got closer to Schuyler. Note his face, filled with anticipation.

Following the ceremony, we had a gap of time until the reception due to the time the ceremony was held. Expecting to have 3 hours to take pictures, we were in no hurry, which was how we planned it...

Up next: The Photo Shoot!

*All photos by CVB Photography

Real Wedding: Lauren & Schuyler Part 2

With both of us growing up together, there was no question as to where the wedding would be: good old Ocala, Florida, a growing town in central Florida, south of Gainesville and north of Orlando. Ocala is where I was born and raised, where we met, and where we plan on moving to start our family in the future.

The preparation process took place at my parents' house. "The early bird gets the worm!"-or rather, gets married. That's what I was saying when I woke up at 6:30 AM on the morning of my wedding to rouse my bridesmaids and family members to start getting ready.

The ceremony was in a Catholic church, and was scheduled to start at 1 PM, which meant having to begin the getting ready process bright and early. Thankfully, all of the girls were so excited that waking up early was not a problem at all.

The girls kept telling me I was so calm, and honestly, yes I was. I think they were all more nervous than I was. I had waited for the day for a very, very long time. There was nothing at all to be nervous or anxious about.
However, yes, I was VERY excited- for everything to come together, and most of all, to have my best friend become my husband.

Up next: The Ceremony!

*Photos by CVB Photography