It's Such A Small World

 I have been struggling to find someone for hair and makeup for the wedding. Besides myself, I have a list of some of the girls that want hair and/or makeup done and as each day went by, I crossed one more option off my list. I had about had it. I finally found a place to do hair.  And the one girl I thought I had for sure ended up letting me know she couldn't do it. Then the place that I finally did get for the hair said they could do makeup, but I said I didn't need makeup. Then when this girl let me know that in fact she could not do makeup, I called the hair place back to check with them. Well, turns out, they can't do it either. My list was now all scratched off. But then, my dear friend (more like family), Jillian, offered her help. She has been so helpful and a lot of fun to chat with during the entire wedding planning process. We haven't seen each other for years, but have kept in touch (a lot) more recently. It's be truly wonderful. So she has been so gracious to offer her help doing the girls and my makeup on the day of the wedding. I am beyond thankful to her.

Now, to get to the small world part of the story... My Aunt Mare (Mom's sister - I call Jilly's Mom "Aunt Mare" too, but that's not the one I am talking about here... yet) has a friend that does my cousin's makeup for formals and proms. She is so talented. I just saw more pictures of my cousin's recent prom and she looked breathtaking. And I am not saying that because she is my cousin. She really looked amazing. Now, this friend of my aunt's is offering to teach myself, mom, two aunts and two cousins how to do our makeup and know the best color choices, etc for the big day. So then along with Jillian, we will be able to do a little as well. Great. I'm so happy to have two very talented ladies helping me to make sure I look tip top on our wedding day!

Today my Aunt Mare called up with a funny story or to use her words... I think she said hysterical. She was talking to her friend on the phone to arrange something with all of us to work with her when I come up for a visit and she was talking about my cousin's prom pictures on Facebook and mentioned me and the lady said, "Oh is that your niece that commented on that picture?" So my Aunt said yes and so then she knew what I looked like, etc... Well, then hung up the phone. Within a few moments later, the phone rang again. It was my aunt's friend. She was calling to say that she and I had two mutual friends. She said it was so weird that we don't even know each other, but we have two friends in common. My aunt asked who and it was none other than my other Aunt Mare and Jillian!!! So my Aunt got all excited and told her that Jillian is the one she told her about earlier that was going to be doing our makeup! It's amazing because this lady taught Jillian how to do makeup years ago! And Jillian worked for this lady's family's dance studio doing makeup! Now I really know that I am in two pairs of talented hands!

I can't wait to see Jilly and to have her do my makeup and to meet this mutual friend of all of ours and have her see what she says as well! What fun to look forward to!

I should have learned this lesson already while planning this wedding. I've had hurdles to get over and in the end, after all seemed hopeless, the best, by far, has worked out and has become more amazing than I could have hoped for!

You just know when some things work out the way they did, they were meant to be... And this was meant to be!

Fancy Feathers From A Dear Friend

Okay, so I was away for a few weeks over Christmas and when I came home, I had a little something special waiting to be opened. Turns out, it was from a peacock! Or a peacock was the delivery man because he left one of his fancy feathers behind. :) No, just kidding. It had a beautiful peacock feather on it.

Although I have a special little place in my heart for those beautiful creatures, it was from someone who has a much more special place in my heart…. my long distance sister, Jillian. She is the daughter of one of my Mom's dearest friends. We've known each other our whole lives. We have grown closer recently and she is becoming so dear to me. This is around the same time in our lives that our Mom's became such wonderful friends.




I know the gift inside of the package was itching for me to come home so it could be opened. It was a beautiful little wedding planning book. She ordered it exactly how she wanted it and it is just perfect. I am so in love with it. I am afraid to take it around with me because it is so fancy. I want to keep it as a very special keepsake. I've already begun to fill it out and I even had the perfect pen to use when I write inside of it. :)








Thank you, Jillian, first and foremost for being such a special long distance sister. I have grown even more these past few months to treasure and love our friendship and all of our similarities. I am thankful for YOU, and for the beautiful wedding planning journal you sent me. Love you.


P.S. She didn't even know I had a little place tucked away in my heart for peacocks and their fancy feathers!

I See Light!

Today was a good day. Most of the good news came from the afternoon on. It started out with a nice conversation with my best friend in Chicago, followed by another conversation with my best friend in New York...Yes, you are allowed two of them when they are as special as these ladies! Mono's sister-in-law, who is my soon-to-be sister-in-law (yay!!!!), sent me a whole list of possible reception venues in the area we are looking to have our wedding. I am so thankful for all of their help. They each live in a different state, very far away, but they all offer as much help as they are able to. I am so blessed. I also got word from the Church that we are allowed to have our wedding ceremony there. I will speak with someone tomorrow about more details. Praying that that all goes well. Then this evening I got another e-mail from a dear friend of our family's of a nice hotel within a short distance that she thought may be something I'd like. And it is! I have to show my Mom (which will be a task being that she is hundreds of miles away and does not know how to work a computer...hmmmmm.....) and see what she thinks and then I may call them to get some more info. :) That would be absolutely wonderful if a place so close worked out. :) Next on my list, after all this is settled, is needing to find a place for photographs. I would like somewhere scenic, not just generic. So we will see. I am asking for ideas from anyone that lives in that area, so hopefully I will get some good places. :) I am really excited that I am seeing some light in all this. I think once these big hurdles are over (ceremony, reception, date, etc) then the little details will be a lot more exciting! It will be nice to start all of this after Christmas when my Mom comes home. :) So that is my update for today. Hopefully these posts will get more exciting. And eventually they will come along with pictures, hopefully!

Just An Update

There is soooo much to do when you are planning a wedding... especially when you are nearly 800 miles away from the location! Right now, I am still just trying to get little bits of information figured out. I really have to find a place to hold the reception and I think that is going to be the biggest issue... for now. We are waiting to hear back from the priest to hear if we are able to use the specific Church that we want to be married in. Hopefully we will hear back from him soon. Once we get the okay on that, we will really look for a reception hall. I didn't want to go full force if we weren't going to be able to be married in this Church. I am having a hard time locating a place that I want though. I have to see if I can talk to a few people up in Maryland to see if they know of anything good. I have my list of guests and Mono is working on his. I have my list of bridesmaids, etc... and I am just looking forward to let it out who I have chosen. Each and every lady is very special to me so I am pretty excited about asking them. Mono is taking care of the groomsmen. I have a little bit of an idea what I am looking for in a dress for myself, but I am still looking. I want to start cutting things out so I can bring them when I go hunting for a dress. I am a little unsure about the colors for the girls' dresses. I had an idea of the look I wanted, but I am not quite sure yet. We are thinking the wedding will be next fall so I am not sure my look will be what I am going to keep. I may have to change it up a little bit. I have to ask a few people what they think. Another thing I am a little concerned about, I really, really wanted to have peonies in my bridal bouquet. They are probably my favorite, along with hydrangeas, and I am not sure if I will be able to have them in it. They are more of a spring flower. :/ I guess I can't base it all on the flower though, huh... I mean I could.... hmm.... ;) just kidding. And last but not least in my update for tonight... My very first friend, Katie, has been really spoiling me with gifts since we got engaged. It's like she went out that night shopping! haha- She sent me a card and three magazines first, and then today I got another package of gifts for wonderful wedding planning. She is surely a wonderful friend, and not just because of gifts. She is a very special friend. I am blessed with wonderful ladies in my life. Very wonderful ones. My other best friend, Kathleen, and I finally got to catch up and chat for a bit on the phone today. It was wonderful catching up and chatting about some wedding ideas. I wish both of them lived nearby, but unfortunately they both live states upon states away. I am hoping to see Katie in December and Kath in January. :) Thank you to all my friends and family for being such wonderful and special people in my life. Mono and I are both very blessed to have each and every one of you!