happy birthday little buddy

[card via someecards.com]

just kidding! however the past week was very long and heart-wrenching. i won't go too much into it since it's now a new week and time for smiles and joy [at least i'm going to try my best to make it that way]. and i feel so grateful to be able to say that last tuesday's inauguration was probably the best and most inspiring event that really helped me to stay positive and serene. sadly some family sorrows occured and everything has been turned upside down; however, i have always been a huge believer in perfect balance and i know that everything will work itself out for the better in the end.

also, i've been keeping a very large secret. j and i have been house hunting and we found a house! we have been negoiating with the family that owns the house and hopefully we'll be able to all agree on a price soon. with all of the counteroffers last week, i felt very devastated (i know, i have broken the cardinal rule and fallen for the house - so shoot me), but j and i have worked out every number in our budget and may get some monetary wedding gifts early so we're keeping our fingers crossed that it all works out. regardless of what happens, i am finally at peace with whatever the outcome is.

anyways, moral of the story is that there have been many things that have sadly pushed the thoughts of wedding planning to the back of my head for the past week; however, we did meet with 2 different catering options yesterday which has helped spark motivation to get back on track! the two different companies we met with could not be at complete opposite ends of the spectrum! the first company sat down with us for 2 hours and talked about everything involved in the wedding which was great, but i can tell the price tag is going to be huge. the second company was so laid back and other than the food, they are not involved in anything else. i will say that their prices seemed pretty high considering how laid back they were. now if we could only find a cater with medium involvement and a lower price. you would think having all vegetarian options would help cut costs, but apparently not...

...when meeting with caters or planning your wedding, what resources did you use to cut back on catering costs? any suggestions would be wonderfully appreciated!

and before i go, and most importantly, today is my niece [and future flower girl] natalie's 4th birthday! happy birthday sweet baby!

unacceptable

[image via http://www.keepcalmgallery.com/]

how have i already let a week go by without updating this thing! it has been a very hectic week and i just now finally feel like i can breathe a bit.

some exciting things have been happening lately! i haven't mentioned that j and i are trying to buy a house! we've been looking for a little over a month and it's been a bit discouraging, but we now have a favorite but it's out of our price range so we've been trying to figure out a budget. i think we're going to try to make an offer, because it's better to at least try than to never try at all [and always wonder what could have happened]. there are 1 or 2 others that would do, but they don't come close to the one. so fingers crossed...

in other wonderful news, we have officially booked our photographer! we signed the contract last night and put down the first deposit yesterday and we could not be any happier! the wonderful matt miller will be shooting our wedding next october and it's going to be a blast! please check out some of matt's amazing work!





[images via matt miller at http://www.thefivemilegrace.com/ or http://www.matthewmillerphotography.com/]

cheers! xo

it's official

so now that it's 2009 [the year of the wedding] i really have to get everything lined up! don't get me wrong - i'd say considering the wedding is set for october 10, 2009 that i still have a bit of time. since j and i got engaged last may, i felt that i had so much time that i just started collecting so many ideas. the problem with a long engagement is that i got overwhelmed and burnt out quickly before i had even really started booking anything. almost worse was that i couldn't get many people (i.e., parents and j) to take me seriously. i would consistently bring up ideas or try to move forward and all i would hear is "we can talk about it later, the wedding is still over a year away". but now that it's 2009 - it's time to check off more on the list...

as for some of the larger tasks, many have been completed. we set the date. we've put the deposit down on the venue. i have my dress. we've decided on the attendants. we've got a general theme idea. we know the color scheme. we've got our officiant. we've got our photographer! i'm sure there is more that's been done, but we still have a long way to go. checklist to come soon.

now about the date...i had always known 2 things before i got engaged - now i wasn't a girl who always dreamed of her wedding, but i knew i wanted a fall wedding and i wanted it to be outdoors. in georgia, the driest month of the year is october. by having an october wedding, i'm hopefully securing a nice fall wedding and increasing my chances for a rain-free outdoor wedding. since j asked me in may to marry him, i knew that it'd be easier to wait until october of the next year to get married. in deciding on the official date, we had to take a lot into account. for one, the first saturday of the month was the day before j's mom's birthday and since we thought it'd be better not to have our anniversary conflict with her birthday each year, the 3rd was eliminated. we also had to consider that the UGA fall home games in athens floods over into the small town where the venue is so we had to make sure that we had the wedding on an away weekend; thankfully the next weekend was safe so the 10.10.09 date was set!

now on to the venue...i didn't take me long to find the location. moreso, after seeing it, it didn't take me long to know it was absolutely the right spot. no other venue even came close no matter how stunning. j and i went out to madison, ga to visit the farmhouse inn (hence the name of the blog) bed and breakfast. we were immediately greeted by the lovely innkeeper, the beautiful oak tree, and lots of chickens! the farmhouse inn is on 100 acres of hiking trails, fishing ponds, a lake, and it is all breathtaking. even better is that you rent the whole b&b for the weekend and really get to spend time with those you love. j and i are really excited to be able to extend the celebration, eliminate any need to rush through one of the happiest weekends of our life together, and to just enjoy every second!

it will definitely be an affair to remember...


[image via http://www.thefarmhouseinn.com/]

jason and i are headed to north ga today to enjoy the weekend with some great friends. some r&r is definitely needed now that the holidays are over. i am looking forward to just enjoying the wooded views and the tranquility that it will evoke.

"you cannot perceive beauty, but with a serene mind" - henry david thoreau