wedding: uncorked

i've mentioned before that tyler has been so interactive with the wedding planning. he also is interactive in everyday life, which i LOVE! one of my favorite projects was a joint effort between the two of us, and it turned into a lovely decoration for our home! the months preceding the wedding, we collected wine corks from family, friends, special occasions (i would literally stalk bartenders), and i even resorted to ordering corks on ebay! in the end, i had collected wine corks from our friends' weddings, my parents' anniversary, and other special events between us, our family, and our friends.

it was all for a "cork board" on which we displayed our engagement pictures at our reception. we opted for a video to play at our reception instead of doing a slideshow, but i still wanted to display our engagement pics, so this seemed like a great idea.

tyler glued all the corks onto a piece of plywood. then made a custom frame for it. we borrowed an easel at the reception venue to display it. we printed 4x6 prints of our engagement pics, and i used some of my scrapbooking materials to crop them down to the sizes i wanted. then we took clear push pins and pinned the pictures to the board. we put the board in the bar area at our reception to tie in the "wine" theme of the board. here was the final product:

we're still in the process of "moving in", but this board has earned a lovely place in the wall of our dining room to accent our wine bar. (it will be hung on the wall very soon.) at the wedding, it was a great conversation starter, and now it serves as a great memory from our favorite day!

fin.

worth a billion

if a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth about a billion... especially this one.

check out this video of our wedding day. it has been on repeat in our home since we first saw it. it's like we're there all over again, and we love it!! thank you, sergio plecas, for such a wonderful job!

and along with the video, here are some video stills from the video that i just adore...

getting in the dress...

 the actual bench where tyler proposed to me...

first dance to "i cross my heart" by george strait.

cutting the cakes!

if we look ridiculously happy, it's because we are. and watching details from this day make us smile over and over again. so many memories that we will cherish forever, and i'm so thankful to have it all on film! i wasn't sure if a videographer would be worth the money, but i was so wrong. because, like i said... if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a billion... but this one is absolutely priceless.

fin.

happily ever after

so... WE'RE MARRIED!!! it's been absolutely wonderful, and i have so many details i can now share that have been held top secret for so long. this blog is about one of those surprises that i just adored from our wedding.

for our wedding reception, we decided to show a video instead of a slideshow. it came about because our videographer, Sergio Plecas, suggested it, and i am so happy he did! it really helped shape our favors (which were movie inspired) and several of our highlight dance songs were from movies. on a day when i wanted to feel like a movie star, we actually did because we had a movie-quality video to share with our family and friends! however, many friends couldn't make it and some that were there didn't get a good view of our video, so here it is again for your viewing pleasure. it's also on youtube.

enjoy!!

fin.

today

today is my wedding day.

today my life will forever be changed.

today the words "I", "me", "mine", "my" will be replaced with "us", "we", and "ours".

today will be the day i've dreamed about since i was a little girl.

today everything we have planned for so long will finally come to pass.

today we get to share the most important moment of our life with the people we love most in the world.

today a dream will come true.

today i get a new name.

today i get a new life.

today my responsibilities and obligations increase to a greater capacity than they've ever been before.

today my best friend becomes my husband.

today God's perfect plan will unfold.

today will be perfect. even if everything we've planned goes awry, even if it rains all day, even if the flowers wilt, even if the dress gets a hole in it, even if nothing goes as scheduled or planned, i will end the day married to my favorite person on this planet. so it will be perfect.

today i will become my beloved's wife. i've never been so happy, excited, or READY for anything in my entire life.

here we go...

fin.

expectations.

tyler and i have had very little quality time together the closer it gets to the wedding. i've enlisted him to help me some with DIY projects, i'm working full-time, and he's working part-time and in school. i'm aware that our limited free time will also present its challenges when we are finally married (in TWO DAYS), but we'll make it work.

the other night, we were having dinner together, and we started talking about our expectations of marriage. some were funny, and some were silly. others were as disturbing as they were hilarious. and i am going to share one of them with you, because it made me laugh so hard. but first... a segway...

the definition of "assault" has baffled me since i entered the legal world, especially in tennessee law when battery (i.e., physical injury) and assault (i.e., fear of physical injury) are looped together under the term "assault". why i lay that groundwork is because the following conversation could legally be considered "assault" under tennessee law. but for that to stick, i would have to be in fear of actually receiving physical harm. but i didn't. instead, i laughed.

everyone should know that tyler and i have the kind of relationship where we are both really sarcastic, and we are both really possessive of each other. not in a bad way. just in a "you are mine and nobody else's" kind of way - which i think is a very healthy way to enter into a marriage.

and now - the funny part...

we were talking about cheating and divorce. and how both of those will NEVER happen in our relationship. here is how the conversation went. i think i've got the quotes right, but even if they aren't exact, it was pretty close...

me: "there's only one way out of this marriage."
tyler: "yep. death."
me: "exactly. and if you ever cheat on me, that way out becomes a lot more clearly defined... and a lot more violent."
tyler: "yep."
me: "i'm not kidding."
tyler: "me neither."
me: "like... if you cheat on me, i will stab you. repeatedly."
tyler: "well, if you cheat on me, i will shoot you. then whatever is left of you will be mounted and i will put you on my wall. then, you will forever be my trophy wife."

I CRACKED UP! i think it's funny, because some people would hear that conversation and see two violent, possessive, crazy people. i look at it and see love. warped, i know. now, would i ACTUALLY stab tyler? and would tyler ACTUALLY shoot me? luckily, we're making vows to each other that include forsaking all others. so we never have to know. :)

fin.

coming together

it's all coming together. i've never been busier in my whole life, but it's all about to be worth it.

that's all for now. lol

THREE DAYS!

fin.

our photographer is the best. seriously.

don't take my word for it.

http://lorilinephotography.com/blog/paige-and-tyler-engaged-chattanooga-tn/

see the rest of our amazing pictures done by lori line at: http://www.pictage.com/client/event.do?event=1121575

she's amazing, and i highly recommend.

here are some of my absolute faves:

i obviously have a lot of favorites. and i'm highly self-critical, and i have VERY high expectations. a photographer that can make me this happy is worth every. single. penny.

and yes, tyler and i like to kiss. a lot. but you can't blame me. if your boyfriend/fiance/husband was this hot, you would want to kiss him all the time too!(no, i'm not insulting your boyfriend/fiance/husband. but i'm just really attracted to mine.)

if you have a special event, call lori line. seriously.

8 days. aka 1 week and 1 day. excited doesn't even begin to describe how i feel!!

fin.

importance

with ten days to go (yes, omg, TEN, i can't believe it either), i am struck by the IMPORTANCE of what's going on and the importance of every event leading up to the wedding. i've been trying to soak in every moment - from choosing our reception menu to my final fitting. every decision is a huge part of piecing together our big day. but in the hustle and bustle, i'm trying really hard to remember what is important.

the stress of the day quickly approaching has been pretty hard to handle at times. i wanted to be about 20 pounds less than i am now for my wedding day. but i shift back to what is important. to tyler, i will be the most perfect bride he's ever seen - because i will be his. i know this, because he's told me. and i believe him. he's not going to see the 20 pounds i wanted to lose but didn't. he's going to see his bride. that's what is important.

there are so many last minute projects that have piled up. it's been killing me, and i've been barking out orders like a drill sargeant. my finest moments have not been the past few days, but it happens. i've had to let some things go. example: i really wanted to make prediction cards for our wedding for our guests to predict where we would be on milestone anniversaries. there's just not enough time, and it's not going to happen. it was a great idea, and it would have been really cute. but again, i shift back to what is important. regardless of the predictions people make, we will be together. we will have a beautiful wedding day, and we will end as mr. and mrs. evatt. that's what is important.

life is busy. sometimes it's hard to keep up. and with the huge "to-do list" that awaits me each day, it's hard to carve out alone time with tyler. but we do. because it's important. it's important to remember what this is all about and why we are getting married in the first place. we're best friends. we love each other. and we're about to say goodbye to our old lives and start a new one - together - in the presence of God, our families, and our friends. there is nothing, i repeat, NOTHING, more important.

i say all that to say this. keeping my perspective straight on all this has been challenging at times, but i'm trying to do it. a wedding is one day. a marriage is a lifetime. i'm so blessed to have the wonderful man that i do. every day, he does something that makes me so proud to be his almost wife. i still can't believe that of all the women in the world, he picked me. everything feels like it's moving so fast, but i'm making a vow to slow down, breathe, calm down (as much as possible), take it in, and enjoy this moment. because it's important.

fin.

cardboard boxes and memories

we finally have a home! the last few days have been pretty hectic, but i'm finally getting settled into mine and tyler's apartment. i'm moving in first, and he will join me in living here after the wedding. but, of course, i still consider this "our home". one of the things i love most about tyler is that he makes life so much fun - everything is an adventure.

just like tonight...

we finally got some things from the grocery store last night, and i have been looking forward to finally being able to cook! so tonight we were at the apartment and i made us a yummy dinner. when it came time to actually eat, we realized something we already knew but something that hadn't fully sank in yet... we have no furniture. at least not yet. (it will all be delivered wednesday, and i can't wait!)

we have food. we have dishes. but no solid surface on which to eat. that's when my fiance, the genius, comes up with an ideal solution - a cardboard box table! so our tablescape became very simplistic but quite functional! see for yourself...

sitting across from tyler with nothing but a cardboard box table between us, it dawned on me... this is one of those moments i will cherish forever. when life gets overly complicated and we bogged down with "stuff" and start running out of space and outgrow our one bedroom apartment, i will remember this... the night we sat in an enormous, empty room, ate off of our cardboard box table, and dreamed out loud about our future together. so much remains uncertain about what we have coming up together, but i know that we're going to make it. and we're always going to be okay because we'll always have each other. and if we lose everything else... we'll have ingenuity and love... and a cardboard box somewhere nearby... :)

26 days!!!

fin.

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

i heard this song the other day going down the road, and i thought... i have no idea what the verses of this song say but this chorus is resonating with me. everything is definitely changing! (that, and i just kind of dig this song so enjoy it.)

life has kicked up a notch, and it has been super busy. tyler is getting ready to start classes, i got a job (YAY!), we found an apartment, we have had a wedding shower and have started a large collection of home things and are planning our move-in! and we are at just over a month until the wedding. so hard to believe that this is actually happening!! it's a surreal and wonderful moment. sometimes, it can get a bit overwhelming to know that your entire life is about to change, but i'm embracing it and trying to take in every second of happiness that we have going on right now. we're in a good place, and we're so happy. this is a pic of us after our first wedding shower. it finally started setting in that we are REALLY getting married...

the RSVP date has come and gone and we now have a better idea of who will be sharing in our day (despite the fact that we're still missing a LOT of RSVPs). it makes it all seem more "real".

we completed our engagement video with the wonderful sergio and amanda plecas. it's a special project that we're excited to share with our guests at our reception. sergio and amanda were amazing during filming, and i know that they are going to put together something great for us! they will also be with us on our wedding day to film our wedding. they do such great work, and i'm so happy that i found them!! this is a pic from our session with sergio hard at work making magic happen... just wait and see... it's gonna be AWESOME!

we also finished our engagement pictures with my friend and amazing photographer, lori line! lori is one of my sorority sisters, and i've discussed her before in the blog. she had some great ideas for our engagement session, and tyler and i are chomping at the bit to see those images. they should be up soon, and as soon as they are, there will be a blog post about it!! and, as you can see from this pic, lori is a mess... lol

honeymoon is paid for.

passports are in.

first dress fitting was conquered, and fancy fits perfectly! and even the dress store made a note of her name. i LOVE monica's. check it out:

so, i guess now, that we are officially exactly 6 weeks out from the wedding, it would be a good time to get on my DIY projects that i've been putting off. yeah... i've planned myself silly but haven't actually DONE things yet. so, the next 6 weeks are going to be insanely busy, but it will all be worth it. and i am so excited!

in other related news, i've started calling tyler "hubs" so that i can get used to it when we're finally actually married.

THIS. is. REALLY. happening.

42 days! o. m. g.

fin.

the golden ticket

i cannot begin to say how much i LOVE our wedding invitations. tess at lovebirds stationary did a fantastic job working with me, despite my million edits and my overall pickiness over everything from design to wording to envelopes. she created something absolutely gorgeous that i will treasure forever. i debated for a long time on whether to do DIY invitations or to just order them, because i was shocked at the price of professionally made invitations, but tess eased my fears and i quickly learned that DIY, for me, would inevitably lead to disaster and a meltdown. through tess, i also learned that you don't have to pay a ridiculous amount for something nice and memorable. after all, the invitation sets the tone for the wedding, so it should be something beautiful, but money can be spent in other places that is much more important. tess incorporated that into her business motto, which is, "Stationery for brides who'd rather splurge on the perfect dress or amazing photographer!" i was so lucky to find tess and her amazing designs (which are all fully customizable).

so... i must say that the online image is nowhere near as pretty as these little dandies are in person (and the color varies a bit as well), but i'll share them with my blog readers. i must say - this is a print screen image made in paint of a pdf file, so the quality is so-so. but you'll get a general idea.

without further ado...

our wedding invitation!

pretty, huh? thank you, tess!! i will recommend you to everyone i know!

61 days, or, in the alternative, only two months until the wedding!!! (and rsvp's are requested by august 15, so get them in PLEASE!) and don't assume i know whether you're coming... just oblige me.

fin!

passing the bar

planning a wedding while simultaneously studying for the bar exam AND trying to pray everyday and really get ready for the spiritual side of marriage can wear a girl out! i've had several breakdowns along the way, one of which occurred last night, and i was reminded AGAIN of just how wonderful my fiance is. with tears streaming down my face, droning on and on about my white girl woes (i.e., things that don't really matter in the scheme of things but at the moment cause me to freak the heck out), and wailing about how i just KNOW i'm going to fail the bar exam, tyler takes my hand, looks in my eyes and says to me, "baby, if you fail, it's ok. i won't be disappointed in you and neither will anyone else. i don't know what you're going through and neither does anybody else unless they've actually done this. you've gone through three years of law school, and you are so smart. you don't have to prove it to me or anyone else. but if you do fail, it's ok." then he kissed me on the forehead, and said (in a whisper) "but you're not gonna fail."

he renewed my determination to keep going and give it my best. that's why i know he's perfect for me. he gets me like nobody else does, and he knows just the right thing to say. 78 days until he's officially my husband, and, as he said last night, until he is my "covenant partner". he amazes me everyday. i am so blessed.

on a side note, invitations are being mailed out today! more on that later... it's an exciting time!

fin.

getaway

my reception getaway dress has arrived...

and might i say - it makes me, oh, so happy!

my wedding dress is completely different than anything i would have pictured myself wearing on my wedding day, but it's perfect. my getaway dress, however, in a full-length version, is what i would have actually pictured myself wearing on my wedding day. so, now, i get the best of both worlds! out of the two, i love my wedding dress more (duh), but my "getaway dress" is also pretty darn fabulous. the best part is that i'll wear it again on the honeymoon for mine and tyler's romantic private dinner on the beach. I CAN'T WAIT!

so, sorry there will be no previews. just know that it's perfect. :) :) :)

84 days!!

fin.

marriage was designed to be a good thing.

most of this blog is pretty light-hearted, but there is something that is REALLY grinding my gears that i must get off my chest...

let me start off with an example from today. my mom, little sister/maid of honor, and i were out shopping for some wedding decor, and the guy at the store asked what we were shopping for and we told him what we were looking for and also told him that it was for my wedding. and, as many times before, he congratulated me but then quickly turned the congratulations into a condolence, saying "bless you, honey. no really..." and then many people (including that guy) tell me how awful marriage is...

REALLY, PEOPLE?!

i'm obviously excited to be getting married. it's not the time to tell me horror stories about your marriage. maybe i'm naive, or maybe those people just lack tact. but i really think it's the latter.

i understand marriage requires work and sacrifice. i also understand that not every moment is perfect, but all in all - i am very much in love with my fiance. i am also very independent. i'm not marrying him out of necessity or obligation. i'm marrying him because i WANT to. i have striven my entire life to be able to provide completely for myself, so that i wouldn't ever have to be "stuck" in a situation (i.e., a marriage) that i didn't want to be in. maybe not everyone else has had that same experience. maybe other people have had bad experiences with marriage. (obviously, an institution that fails as often as it succeeds leads one to think that many don't have good experiences.) but for those that have had bad experiences, don't rain on my parade. it's tacky and just plain rude. especially when you know neither of us or the way we value each other and love each other. so, zip it.

marriage was designed by God. it's a good thing. God Himself actually called it a good thing. just because people don't hold it in high esteem or respect the fact that it's a covenant relationship that should never be broken doesn't make it an inherently bad thing.

90 days till my COVENANT RELATIONSHIP (not torture) starts, and i'm really excited!! so, back off, random stranger. and keep your negativity to yourself. thanks in advance!

(now i'm wondering if i should print this off and hand it to people when they make such rude comments to me...)

fin.

double digits!

we have reached 99 DAYS in our wedding countdown! i remember when the countdown was in the 400s. i can't believe the double digits are finally here. let's take a moment to take this in....

breathe in...

breathe out...

HAPPY DANCE!

no, really... if i had my wedding dress in my possession, i would have done this.

but since i don't have my wedding dress in my actual possession, tyler and i may or may not have done this today. don't judge us. you haven't seen our mad skills... yet. that's what the reception is for. ;-)

NINETY-NINE SETS OF TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AND THEN WE'LL BE MARRIED! YYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fin.

getting ready... with style...

so, i am the queen of livingsocial and groupon. and when i see deals on anything that could possibly be wedding related, i pounce. i saw a deal for cafepress, and my mind started racing with all the cool, personalized things i could get my bridesmaids. but then i started looking at prices and thought, "man! this ain't no vistaprint!"(where things are inherently cheaper). my $50 groupon just wasn't going to get me what i wanted for my girls... so i got selfish and started looking for myself.

behold, my getting ready ensemble. (to be paired with black yoga pants, because i'm gonna be in a corset and maybe spanx for the remainder of the day so i should probably start out with comfort in mind)...

aaaaaaaaaand...

i know they have things like this at victoria's secret, but i feel confident in my sexiness without having to label it on myself. aaaaaaaaand i can use the jacket to wear on the airplane (which will most likely be chilly) on our way to the bahamas (which will most definitely be warm and exotic and everything perfect)!

so, now that i have my outfit on its way, what are we waiting for?! 100 days seems like an ETERNITY right now.

fin.

the end of the nightmares.

my dress fits. all is well in my world (as of right now). still not 100% confident about how i look in it. i still have some toning to do and some weight to lose, but even if that doesn't pan out quite how i'd like it to, the nightmares can stop, because IT FITS.

relief is finally setting in a little at a time.

105 days to go. :-D

fin.

i'm giving in, and they're going out.

i've battled whether or not to send out save the dates for quite some time now. well, i had my mind made up that it was a waste of money and completely unnecessary... but then i designed some and fell in love, so it just had to be done. now that they have FINALLY gone out (there's no turning back now!), so i will share it with you - my loyal blog readers!

i've also been saving this blog post until i finally got word that people were getting their save the dates, because i didn't want the surprise to be gone when they got them in their mailbox! so i've been on pins and needles waiting to get this blog post up, because i am legitimately beyond excited.

about the blasted little things...

i wanted a design that included pictures and nodded to some of the surprises in store for our wedding without giving away anything substantial, and i think i did just that. it was difficult, though, because we haven't done our engagement pictures yet, so we had to choose an amateur picture of us that was a good shot of both of us. and by "we had to choose", i mean i had to choose and tyler approved. even though we used a self-made pic of us, i don't think it took away from the design.

the only downside is, with official wedding almost invites going out, i had to trim back the guest list, which is more impossible than words can possibly convey. it hurt my feelings probably more than some of the people's feelings that i cut, and i hope there are no hard feelings, but there's only so much budget to go around! so if you didn't get one, please don't hound me about it. i might actually cry. and it might actually be lost in the mail. for real.

anyways.

keeping budget in mind, i was really happy to find save the dates for next to nothing. i designed these on vistaprint and only had to pay a tiny additional fee to get some extras plus shipping! and since they are postcards, the postage charges to actually send them out were minimal. and we made hand delivery to as many nearby friends and family as we could. also, since i just graduated and had several thank you notes to mail out, i tucked some save the dates into many of the thank you cards i sent. it may be borderline tacky, but THAT, my friends, is how you work on a budget.

so...

now presenting...

OUR save the date!

and i LOVE them!

fin.

centerpiece fail

so, i tried my hand at making a centerpiece.

and i failed.

it's awful when you have these grand plans in mind, but they never quite come to fruition how you hope. (sigh) at least i have a few other designs that i can work on to keep me busy and not make me feel like a complete failure.

in good news, however, save the dates have gone out, guest book and pen have been bought, invitations are being ordered today, linens are in the works, reception menu has been somewhat decided, and limo service has been booked! i've been a busy girl this week!

whoever thought i could take a bar review course and plan a wedding simultaneously? apparently, i can. and i'm rocking it. (at least in my mind i am...)

fin.

holy inflated guestlist, batman!

wedding woe. my guest list is HUGE. i am just looking for some reassurance from past brides. how many did you invite and how many actually showed up? i mean... i LOVE my friends and family but i'm probably going to be excited about getting some "sorry, we can't make it"s, because our venue for the reception simply won't hold the amount on our guest list. i mean, we have our people that we know won't make it, but we send them an invite anyways as a courtesy. but even with those people not counted, i'm starting to get a little worried.

fin.