Vendor: Wedding Invitations

The invitations and save the dates arrived on Friday.

Admittedly, the thought did cross my mind to wait until Adam and I were together to open the box. It was a strange twilight zone moment where I felt an insane sense of urgency to move forward yet was paralyzed by indecision.

Meh. It didn't last long.

I ripped open the box to reveal the most darling dainty & rustic wedding stationary I could've imagined. They are pitch perfect.

Then I was struck with indecision again:

• squeal to my mother over the phone
  
• squeal via text to my roommate
• squeal in person to Adam
  
• squeal to myself

So, in all my 24-year-old glory, I skipped through the hallway squealing and waving a single invitation until my mom picked up the phone-- thankfully, she picks up the phone 97% of the time I call her.

She listened as I described every inch of the invitation, then promptly asked me to mail her a sample.

They arrived on her doorstep yesterday.

She loves them, too. I can just hear her squealing.

For lovely and affordable wedding stationary, check out Wedding Paper Divas.

-BTB

Newsies

I apologize for the delay. A week or so ago I mentioned that Adam and I combined forces to create something for the wedding. Well, here is it... hot off the press!

We submitted our love story to Smitten Photography's 4th annual LOVEstory contest with the hope of winning a wedding photography package from one of our favorite photographers with Knoxville roots.

The parameters of the competition allowed us to be creative, and so we gave it our best shot.

Drawing on our newspaper roots, I wrote an article to tell our (well, more so my side of) our story while designing a front page to truly illustrate it. Adam did a fantastic job making the spread, as well as his photos, look old and wrinkled.

(I'm working to figure out how to post the full size .pdf so you can actually read the text... until then, the copy is at the bottom of this post)

Sadly, we didn't make the final cut, but it was such a fun project for Adam and I to share as a newly engaged couple and as a writing/photography team that we're thankful to have entered.

Please visit Smitten Photograhy's website on Sunday, Dec. 5 to vote for the lucky couple who will win a dream photography package!

TGIF,
BTB

P.S. For my newspaper friends, we were REQUIRED to keep it within 8.5" x 11"

----

by Bride-to-Be

Hot off the Market
Knoxville photographer and Virginia writer set deadline for wedding

I fell in love with Adam in a beauty salon.

To clarify, I was not daydreaming under the dryer or gushing to the stylist over highlights.

Rather, I was running late to a four-hour hair and make-up makeover I was covering for the newspaper.

As I barreled through the salon’s door full of apologies with reporter’s notebook in hand, I was told the contestant was already in the changing room, and invited to take a seat.

I turned around and there he was unpacking his lighting equipment: Adam, the new staff photographer I’d rarely seen in the newsroom.

Little did I know he would be on assignment that day, let alone on my radar.

As I hurriedly took notes on bobs, bangs, and bronzer, I took note of Adam.

He was politely witty; he could carry a conversation about music; he was a pro at the name game. Moreover, he was resoundingly confident n what he was doing. I could smell Jesus on him.

My nerves, frazzled from work anxiety, fell into a peaceful sleep; in their place sprung a bewildering and steadfast attraction to “sweet, calm, generous, funny Adam,” as he was coined in my journal the same night.

“My full range of emotions is exhausting. I don’t even know the kid and I’m positive that I like him,” I wrote. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like this. It’s like going from zero to 60 without him even in the car.”

And so it began.

While I admit to always chomping at the bit, our story is slow and steady.

We forged a friendship across cubicles and behind cameras, dodging questions from coworkers while concealing our blushing faces over the copy machine.

I learned the true meaning of patience and pursuit as I waited for something that actually wouldn’t begin until I dated someone else and Adam ended a relationship with another.

Our story has proven that when the perfect comes, the partial will pass. When I met Adam, my limited understanding of love began to shed- how it sustains, how it remains, and how it gains in fullness.

I caught a glimpse of something eternal in the salon- something stronger than the ammonia fumes: Love has perfect timing, but adheres to no deadline.

Who, What, Why, When, Where?

Ok. There has been a lull in blogging. I came down with a cold last week which I took as an indication of taking on "too much, too fast."

While I have decided on a dress for myself and my bridesmaids, we have yet to nail down a date and location which makes me feel largely unproductive. However, when I consider what I've truly accomplished and researched, I recognize I'm no slacker.

Thus far...

- The guest list is 98% done
- Invitations have been narrowed down to two possible choices
- Quotes have been received from 2 photographers and 1 videographer
- A revised menu has been submitted to the chef at our desired venue
- Kegs have been price-checked from a local beer market
- Favors have been decided upon

During this entire process I have searched tirelessly to find the one decision that needed to be made in order for everything else to fall into place. Being of such a logistical nature, I was convinced there was going to be a magic order to all of this.

Truth be told, I'm stumped. All I can do is make sound decisions that compliment one another and uphold the values Adam and I have for our wedding.

With that being said, Adam and I value the presence of our family and community. Our wedding will certainly be a celebration of the good work started between the two of us, but it will also be an expression of our gratitude for all those who have loved and labored along with us.

After much conversation and research, I am thrilled to announce that I'm getting married in Knoxville! Although my parents were hesitant to walk their only daughter down the aisle in Tennessee, it has become clear that we're all taken with the Maple Grove Inn, a historic bed and breakfast in West Knoxville. It truly has a Virginia feel in the heart of Tennessee.

In the words of my father, a true Virginia Cavalier, "It is definitely a destination worth traveling to!" Being a retired English teacher, he usually doesn't end his sentences with prepositions, but anything goes these days for the Father of the Bride.

So, stay tuned as the date is announced!

Love,
BTB