My super talented cousin and her husband to be were kind enough to shoot some video for us on our wedding day. They put it all together in a beautiful film that I watch at least twice a day!

Enjoy
(and Merry Christmas friends!)

Anna and Abe from Anna G on Vimeo.

Um, who else can't believe it's almost December? It has been almost two whole months since Abe and I got married and we should be getting our professional wedding photos back very soon! Until then I'm going to continue to share some of the photos from our wedding day that were taken on our iPhones. 

That morning the girls and I woke up to my mom making coffee and laying out some breakfast options in the kitchen. We all came downstairs in our leggings and adorable monogrammed button downs (one of the bridesmaids gifts that I gave them)! Around 9 the hair girls arrived at the house and started making us look fab! 

One of my favorite parts of the morning was getting my makeup done. I didn't hire makeup girls but instead had each of my super talented bridesmaids help me. Megan was a contour/eyebrow genius and Lindy made my eyes looks super gorgeous. After all the hair and makeup was done, my photographer took me upstairs to get some shots of me putting on my dress.

   

Literally the prettiest I have ever felt in my entire life.

After we got lots of good pictures, it was first look time. Because it had been raining on and off all morning our photographer decided that we should get me settled somewhere outside and then have Abe come to me (instead of the other way around). We knew we wanted this time just for us so we made my family and our wedding party stay inside. Although this wasn't a popular choice, it made the first look that much more special. As Abe walked up behind me, our photographer was counting down "He's 20 feet away....10 feet... right behind you" and I couldn't help but start to cry from nerves/excitement. We hugged and smiled and Abe told me my dress was exactly what he'd pictured...it was perfect! 

Luckily the rain held off and we were able to take lots of photos of just us and some with our bridal party before it started drizzling again. After all the photos were taken there was nothing else to do but wait for the ceremony and soak in the day.  We sat in the living room and got warm by the fireplace. My girls and I laughed and talked and had coffee...carefully.

Gimmie caffeine.

Abe and his groomsmen and brothers took some photos in the sunroom. 

    

It was the perfect morning and kickoff to the wedding day. My next post will be about the ceremony and reception (I promise not to take weeks to write that one)! I also CAN NOT wait to share a wedding video that my cousins put together for us. I literally have watched it (and cried) a million times.

Hey y'all! It sure is hard coming back from honeymoon bliss and being forced back into working 40 hours a week. Abe and I soak up every second of time off that we get and have been trying to do fall activities we may have missed before the wedding (we still have pumpkins on our porch that we need to carve, turkey carvings anyone?).

Now I'm forcing myself to sit down and write about the wedding weekend so that I don't forget too many details! Today I wanted to write about the rehearsal day. That day, our friends and families were coming into town and we woke up to pouring rain. The weekend of our wedding Hurricane Joaquin was making landfall and traveling up the east coast. My mom was doing her best to keep my spirits high (buying cute rain boots and stocking up on umbrellas/adding walls to our tent) and that afternoon we had a bridal luncheon planned to honor all my sweet bridesmaids. I found Poofy Prints on Etsy and had an adorable invitation made!

We had a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant and I bought a charm pull cake for dessert! 

After our lunch we headed to the nail salon to get our toes and fingers done! We sat in the massage nail chairs and watched it pour rain outside. It was so stressful. Even though I knew at the end of the day Abe and I would be married and everything would be wonderful and amazing, at that moment I could only focus on the rain. People wanted answers about where to park cars and whether we should get married under the tent or not. It was overwhelming. Luckily I had my wedding planners to answer most questions and my Dad worked his booty off to make sure everything was perfect. 

An hour later we headed to the farm to work on the rehearsal dinner. We had planned on having the dinner under our already set up tent with some red and white tablecloths and simple flowers (we were going for a laid back BBQ). Our bridal party arrived and we decided to go ahead with a very very quick rehearsal outside. We walked down the aisle in our boots with rain jackets and umbrellas. 

Photos stolen from my sweet wedding planners, The Louisville Belles!

After our rainy rehearsal run through we went inside to prep for the dinner. I made the last minute decision to move our dinner inside the house instead of under the tent (in the cold rain). Luckily we have the best bridal party and they were able to help me move tables and chairs and put down tablecloths. Our families started arriving and we had a cozy dinner inside the house with a fire in the fireplace and the sound of rain falling outside. We had previously decided to have our Best Man and Maid of Honor toasts at the rehearsal to allow the party to keep going on the actual wedding day. Lindy and Logan did amazing jobs. We gathered everyone in the living room and listened as Lindy read a poem she had written and Logan reminisced on our college years.

     

Even though we were all scrunched in the house, it made it more special and more fun because it was just like having one big giant family in the house again (just like when my grandparents were alive).

After everyone headed home, my bridesmaids and I went upstairs for a pre wedding slumber party!

In my next post I'll show y'all some iPhone photos of the wedding (until we get our professional photos from Bella Grace)!

GUYS! Abe and I are married! The day went off without a hitch (well maybe one or two, but my planners kept those well hidden until after the day was over)! Everything was amazing and I felt more beautiful than I have in my whole life. When they say your wedding day is the best day ever, they don't lie. I swear I'll write more about the whole wedding experience but until then here are some sneak peeks from my photographer, Bella Grace Studios!

LOVE

I know you want to come to Kentucky to visit and attend my wedding, however you AREN'T invited. Keep your cold temps and your rain and send us sunshine instead.

Love,
Anna


Although it's always something you have to keep in mind while planning an outdoor wedding, a rain plan is NOT something that a Bride wants to implement a few days before the wedding. When you wake up to texts from your mom with links to blogs about how to make your rainy day wedding a hit, you just want to curl up in bed and stay there. In an attempt to make myself feel better about the coming weekend and the weather that may happen, I've been Pinteresting rainy wedding day images.

Beautiful images of brides in cute rain boots

via

and couples hiding under umbrellas

via

are very fun to look at, but its kind of scary. You put so much time and effort into planning this fab party that could be rained on...but ultimately when it comes down to it, I'll be marrying my best friend and thats what matters most.

via

With less than two weeks till the big day Abe and I are definitely feeling the pre-wedding stress. Every day we have off in the next few days is devoted to wedding meetings/wedding prep/work on the farm. To say we need our honeymoon is an understatement (give me all the margs on the beach). Luckily there has also been some fun and exciting events to keep our spirits up and not totally focused on how the flowers will turn out and if the DJ will keep the party going (thinking about these details keeps me up at night).

I hope to get some blogging done between now and next Saturday and update you all on my bachelorette party and monograms and mimosas shower!

Until then I leave you with a picture of my adorable nephew shopping for ring bearer shoes!

A few weeks ago we had a stock the bar party at our apartment. After months of having/planning my showers, Abe told me that he wanted to have a party/shower of his own that wasn't just full of women and party games. He really wanted to have a stock the bar and although we threw it together very quickly it was so much fun! We knew we wanted to keep it very low key and have a cookout in our backyard. I put up a few decorations and set up ladder golf (one of our favorite yard games).

We were given lots of bourbon (much to Abe's delight) and some tequila and wine! It was the perfect couples shower and it was so nice to relax with our friends!

Oh my gosh guys, there is less than ONE month until the wedding. ONE. What the heck?! I can't believe how quickly time has passed.

The final to-dos:

Plan day after brunch*
Schedule beauty treatments*
Buy accessories for Abe (need white shirt)*
Find dress for rehearsal*
Day after brunch invitations*
Decide on all special songs*
Choose seating cards*
Order table numbers*
Draft schedule of events for wedding weekend*
Write thank yous (CONTINUE TO DO THIS)*
Meeting with these vendors for a one month checkup:*
-DJ
-Caterer
Put together welcome bags
Plan ceremony with Pastor (vows/poems/readings/ect..)
Honeymoon clothes!
Make seating plan...
Make signs for bar/ceremony/directions to farm/ect
Get marriage license
Have hair trial
Figure out alcohol situation

And I'm sure there are many many more items that could go on that list...

Last weekend I had my bachelorette party! It was an absolute blast and I promise to do a full post on it soon! Until then, here is are some sneak peeks :)

An update on this months to dos, since we are so close to the end of the month and there are so many things to do! 

Plan day after brunch
Shop for gifts for wedding party
Research marriage license requirements
Book hotel room for wedding night
Get transportation for bridal party to wedding
Order shuttles for guests staying at hotel
Schedule beauty treatments
Meet with officiant to plan ceremony
See sample centerpiece from florist/have a meeting with florist to discuss everything
Buy wedding rings (halfway done)
Buy accessories for Abe
Find dress for rehearsal
Contact newspapers for guidelines about wedding announcements
Choose gifts for shower hostesses
Schedule food tasting for final menu (six to eight weeks pre wedding)
Day after brunch invitations
Decide on all special songs
Think about vows
Have final address list for invitations
Mail wedding invitations/rehearsal dinner invitations
Choose seating cards
Order table numbers
Break in wedding shoes
Plan welcome gifts
Finalize honeymoon
Draft schedule of events for wedding weekend
Draft a shot list for photographer
Choose ceremony readings
Update master guest list as RSVPs come in (working on)
Write thank yous (NEED TO DO THIS)
Meeting with all vendors for a two month till checkup:
-Planners
-Photographer
-DJ
-Florist
-Officiant
-Caterer
-Rentals
-Hair girls
-Ceremony musicians 

The sheer amount of things we need to get done in the coming days is a bit mind boggling and makes me feel like Ollie (DERP). But hey Y'all only 42 (actually 39, this was taken this past weekend) days until the BIG DAY!

     

A few weekends ago I had my first bridal shower! It was thrown by my wonderful Maid of Honor and she did an absolutely fabulous job. About a month before the shower she sent out invitations that she had handmade. Not only were they totally adorable, they also came in an envelope filled with confetti that fell out when you opened it (nothing is better than snail mail with confetti)!

Lindy had planned lots of surprises for me, from the photo booth to the cactus cupcakes, everything was PERFECT (she seriously needs to go in the party planning business).

This shower was for my close friends and a few of my Mom's sisters. We had a taco bar for dinner and plenty of margaritas and fuzzy worm shots to go around! After dinner we played a few really funny games and I got to take a swing at a piñata filled with ring pops and Fireball whiskey. After all the pre-planned activities, we danced the night away on the patio with glow sticks.

Hostess with the mostest

Some of my sweet bridesmaids who were able to make it! (Missed you Amanda and Megan)

Both Lindy and I don't particularly love being the center of attention so she didn't want me to sit down and open gifts in front of everyone (and feel uncomfortable). Instead I opened gifts at the very end of the night with the guests who remained. It turned out to be much more fun opening serving and bakeware and yelling "YAY, LOAF PAN" "OH MY GOSH, DISHES"!!

All in all this was such a fun and wonderful time with some of my best friends. I couldn't have asked for a better shower or a better MOH.