Check. Check. And Check!

Church, booked. Photographer, booked. Reception venue, BOOKED!! :) It's so amazing how it ended up working. The venue was being held for another couple until December 27th and we would find out at that point if it was ours or not. Today my parents wanted to take Mono and I over there just to see it in case we do get it, and apparently, on our drive over there, the lady called us to tell us that it was now OURS! Our cell phone never rang so when we got there, she thought we were there because we got her call, but we didn't so we didn't know what she was talking about. She told us it was ours and we were all beside ourselves with excitement! The parents of the bride came to the place for dinner a few nights back, saw how nice it was decorated for Christmas and decided that they would have their daughter's wedding in December instead!! YAY! Thank you to that other bride! :) You made our wedding day that much better!! So now we have a third very large part of the planning done! :) Off to bed I go. Lots going on this coming week so I don't know how much blogging I will be doing. Merry Christmas to all!

Rings And Things

We picked out and bought our rings today! So exciting! I knew we were going to the jeweler to have my engagement ring sized down a tad and to look at choices of wedding rings, but I had no idea Mono would buy them today! First he picked out his, which I think looks really good on him. And then I picked out mine... kinda. The jeweler (a family friend) asked what my favorite one was and the look I really like was and so I showed him, totally not thinking that would be the one. Mono then said, "Can you please get a price on that for her size?" And he ordered it!! He said I will have this for the rest of my life and he wants me to have the one I like the best. He was so happy to get them! So our rings are ordered! It was so weird trying on wedding rings together... a good weird of course! :)

And today my Mom did some searching for hotels for our guests to stay in. Apparently it will be a busy weekend and quite a lot is already booked up. Hopefully everything will go just right with that. My parents have been doing some running for me, meeting with people and I really, really appreciate it. I am second in line for getting the reception hall I really want. I am going to go see it with them and Mono this week, which I am looking forward to. I'm praying we are the ones that get it. We will find out by the 27th for sure. Fingers crossed and lots of prayers going up to heaven! :)

That's about it for right now though. Not much else has been going on. I am sure there will be lots of talking while we are visiting with family. The other day we had a birthday party for Mono and I saw family for the first time since our engagement. My aunt cried. :) She's the sweetest. I can't wait to see the rest of my family. :) The party was so nice, being with some of my family and most of Mono's. It really hits now that they will officially be my family too soon. :) I already consider them family though. The two of us are so blessed to have such wonderful families! :)  We have so much fun when we are all together!!

I will try to keep you posted on any other things that go on. Mono's Mami and my Mom both gave me wedding magazines to help with the planning which I am loving looking through. :) I am really enjoying the Christmas season, but it will be nice when we are back home, and all this is over and I can sit and focus on wedding plans. :)

Lights. CAMERA. Action!

Well, today I got a response from a photographer I would really, really like to use for our wedding. If you know me well, you know I love photos! It is a really important aspect of the day. I will want to capture the many wonderful memories from our special day in beautiful photographs. It is something I will have and cherish forever. So it is one of the most important things I want to look for and not settle on. The photography competes for importance with my dress. ;) That is how much I really want to have nice pictures. :) I am waiting for a more detailed price listing from her and then I can go from there. :) I am still deciding on some places to go look at for our reception. I am thinking when I am up north for Christmas, I will spend some time driving to different venues. There is a super nice place but it is further away and probably pretty pricey, but we are maybe going to look into it at least and just see how bad it is. I think we have a date that we are aiming for... Saturday, October 1st, 2011. It is the feast day of St. Therese (Gus and I both have a special love for her), so we thought that might be a nice day to have it. We will see. I have to find out from the Church if they are available and I also have to find a banquet hall open on that day. I'm praying to her for some guidance in my decision making! :) I am looking forward to knowing that I have a date, Church and venue decided on. Then the real fun can begin!

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!