One year later: how I feel a year into my engagement

It has been a year since I got engaged. Time flies! As I reflect upon the first year of our engagement, I can't help but think just how blessed and lucky I am to have found the love of my life at such a young age. I can't wait to marry and grow old with the same boy who sat next to me in Freshman communications class, convinced me to break my no dating in high school rule and gave me my first kiss. I fell in love for the first time at 15 years old and I am marrying the same boy nearly 6 years later. If someone would have told me before I met Zac that I would be engaged to my high school sweetheart and only boyfriend at 21 years old I would have called them crazy. I had decided at 14 years old that I would be 35, a judge and filthy rich before I got married and I was never having children. Then a red-haired boy entered the picture and tossed that whole plan out the window with a few sweet text messages and one pink carnation on December 18, 2009. I am engaged at 21, planning to be married at 22 and I already have names picked out for my children. Amazing how one person can change your whole life... and I would not have it any other way. Thanks for turning my world upside down Zac... this may not have been what I planned when I was 14 but it's a much more beautiful world with you by my side.

Mushy stuff all out of the way, being engaged really isn't all that different. I finally got used to wearing a ring... I finally remember to call Zac my fiance and not my boyfriend and I already have my wedding dress. Our relationship is as strong and wonderful as ever... even if Zac flees the scene every time I get out the wedding planning binder and we cannot agree on a set of dishes... (Zac and I wouldn't be normal if we weren't squabbling about something). All I know now is I cannot wait to be married to this crazy guy I am lucky enough to call mine. Being engaged is great but I am so ready for the next step. Only lots of planning, guest lists, DIY projects, college graduation and 395 days stand between us and our wedding.

Well... back to the wedding registry!

Rustic Decor

I did some shopping today while it was raining. I wasn't really looking for wedding things but I always keep my eyes open. I happened to come across this adorable blue box, with bird wire on top and a little chalkboard on the front. I thought it would be the PERFECT card box for my wedding. I have not decided if I want to paint it or "rough" it up at all. For now I like it and I will decide later exactly how to DIY it.

I also found these large shutter/doors to be used as a back drop or decorations piece. I am thinking of painting it in my wedding colors or "roughing" it up a bit so it seems more rustic. 

My plan is to use them as a photo display station as well in this style found on Pinterest: 

I also found a smaller set of shutters that I want to use behind the cake or on the head table or something. Similar style to the previous Pinterest idea. For $5, I I couldn't pass it up!!! 

Overall, I am super excited to have stumbled upon these awesome rustic decorations that I can DIY into fabulous country rustic wedding decor. Now I just need to find more! 

Happy DIYing :)

Basics

I have finally gotten around to writing down my basic wedding ideas and plans.  It's good to have your basic, most important wedding details figured out early. You need to agree and decide upon the 3 lost important things to your fiancé and you in your wedding. Those are the things you should not compromise on and skimp on. Save money in other ways and pay for quality in these areas. We chose venues, food and photographer as our most important things. Also we have the other basic details and preliminary guest list, wedding party information, etc. With this information you can begin to really plan!! Here is my notes:

Starting to Plan

As soon as I got engaged, I wanted to start planning. I am OCD and overly organized though so my planning had to be perfectly organized. First thing I did was buy a wedding planning binder. I went with the Knot version because it had excellent reviews and seemed to cover a lot of the basics but was flexible for me to add my own ideas. 

It has great ideas, tips, questions to ask, things to remember.... Very happy I purchased this, $20 well spent! 

Along with the Knot binder, I wanted my own binder for the overflow. 

In this binder I have extra paper, notebooks, address lists, a pencil bag. 

Here is what I have in my pencil bag: highlighters, colored pens, sticky tabs, pencil, black pen and sharpies. Also another little legal pad for lists and jottif random ideas. 

So there it is: my wedding planning binders. 

Inspiration!

Yes, I am a Pinterest addict... I will be the first to admit it. My Wedding board has over 700 pins...

I am also obsessed with DIY so of course, I will be DIYing a lot of my wedding.

Some of my favorite wedding items are: Lace, Burlap, Horseshoes, Mason Jars, Wildflowers, cowboy boots....

My colors are soft green (my favorite color), aqua (for my fiancé') and hints of ballerina pink.

Some of my favorite inspirations:

Welcome to my Wedding Blog!
I just got engaged (June 17, 2014):

 

and I am so excited to begin planning my wedding! I want to have a outdoor, country, western wedding full of DIY and crafts. We are planning for a long engagement, 2 years, so I have plenty of time to put all the fun DIY projects I have pinned to use. My bridesmaids and I have already started planning the crafts we will be making and it is going to be so fun AND save me a lot of money. Check in regularly for my updates, ideas, planning frustrations, finished projects, failed projects and any other wedding planning nonsense I come up with.

That's all for now- my "When I Wear a White Dress" board on Pinterest is calling my name... :)