Wedding Plans in the Works

 Amber left our holiday festivities early to spend New Year's with her boyfriend, Casey and to return to work. She had spent most of her time here finishing a blanket she was making for Casey and planned to give it to him as a Christmas gift when she returned. He, of course, was thrilled with the gift because she had put so much time into it. It was crocheted with "Game of Thrones" quotes on it. Beautiful. He was truly touched. He was wishing he had his surprise for her that night because he would have sprung it on her then. Instead he was patient and stuck with the original plan. He took her to one of their favorite spots on a lake with a pier leading out to the water. He pulled out a ring he'd bought for her and asked her to marry him. I'm sure there were a few tears as she emphatically said YES! You can see that he is all smiles here too because he was happy with her answer. She called us and let us know and we were all squealing with joy for her. They've been dating for three years and have known each other for about seven years. I'm sooo happy that she's found her true love.

Her ring is beautiful. She had to have it resized to fit her hand but is quite excited to be wearing it.

This is where he proposed. Such a beautiful setting for them to return to each year.

Now the fun has begun and we are in full wedding planning mode. First item checked off the list was finding a venue. I drove to NC in early February and we drove to about five different venues in the mountains and finally settled on one in Asheville, NC called Laughing Waters . It has a nice lodge with housing for our family and the girl's side of the wedding party. There is a creek running in the back of the lodge and there are several great locations on the property for holding the ceremony. If it rains we can always set it up in the lodge as well.

It will be a beautiful place for a Fall wedding. We reserved it for the weekend of September 18, 19 with the wedding on the 19th.

My next visit was in early March and we worked on wedding flowers. I met her at her local Michaels and we got the flowers for 50% off and then went back to her apartment to put the bouquets, boutennieres and corsages together. I showed her how to wire flowers and she was a pro in no time. She said she enjoyed doing it and I'm sure she will find other ways to use that skill in her home decor.

At the end of March I made another trip to NC to look for wedding dresses with her. Hannah drove over from Goldsboro for a girls' day out. Amber had shown me several months before this a dress she'd found online that she liked and was hoping to find something similar at the shops. She found one at David's Bridal that she liked but it was a little more formal than she had hoped for. She wanted less of a train. After talking about it that evening she decided to order the original dress she saw online and take a leap of faith that she would like it when she tried it on. We put in the order the next day. I'm hoping it will be the dress of her dreams when it arrives in June. Next up will be "Save the Date" postcards and Invitations. She will be a most beautiful bride. I'm enjoying sharing all the planning time with her. So nice to see her smiling so brightly these days.