When we began our planning, Abe and I already knew we wanted to have a DJ at our reception instead of a band. Nothing against bands and cover songs, but we wanted more than just people who play songs. We need someone who will read the crowd and keep the party going (without being cheesy and annoying...cupid shuffle four times in a row? No thanks.) Now we are in the stage of planning where finding our DJ is imperative.

Last night we met with a potential DJ. He really seemed to get our vision for the reception (being fun, upbeat, and a party atmosphere are all requirements). He also seemed to understand that we didn't want a DJ who interacted with the crowd by telling weird jokes or playing all of one specific genre of music (we like diversity in our music selection!). 

One issue both Abe and I are having is with the lighting that is almost always included with DJ packages. We know our tent will have beautiful bistro lights, but do we want disco balls and lasers? HECK NO. So the question becomes do you need special lighting to "set the mood" for the reception or can we just get away with our little lights in the tent? And then on another level, do we need additional lights from the rental company to make our tent special after dark? These are the things no one ever thinks about when thinking about getting married. These little questions that come up are essential for completing the overall look to the wedding, but who wants to think about lighting when theres cake to be tasted and dresses to be tried on?

This is what we want....

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But do we need this...

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Or this?

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Thoughts anyone?

Happy Monday!

This past weekend was full of friends and lots of fun! My weekend technically started on Thursday. I have been slightly sick (all the trees blooming has got my sinuses going crazy) so I didn't do much during the day. That night a group of us went to a Louisville City FC game. We had a lot of fun cheering on Lou City and drinking a few beers!

Friday I went to Lexington to have dinner with some of my maids. Kendall was in town and it was the perfect excuse to get together and have some pizza on a patio! We talked and laughed for a few hours before I came back to Louisville. I love my friends so much and was so so happy to get to spend some time with them!

On Saturday Abe and I headed to the waterfront with a few friends to enjoy some Thunder over Louisville festivities. Thunder is the official start to the Derby festival (Derby is in t-minus 12 days!). During the day they put on a really cool air show and have a fair down by the river. After a few hours of watching the show and baking in the sun, we headed back to a friends apartment to have a few blackberry mint juleps before the big fireworks show started!

I had never been to Thunder, but I was so impressed with the fireworks! They last for around 30 minutes and there was not one wimpy firework among the bunch. We were a few miles away from the riverfront and we still had an excellent view of the whole show!

Sunday was the day a lot of women in the south had been waiting for...the release of the Lilly Pulitzer for Target collection aka Pink Sunday!! I woke up at 7 that morning and headed over to a Target near my house. I got there at around 7:20 and was so surprised to find that I was second in line!

As time ticked on more and more girls arrived and the line grew and grew. As I was standing in line, I made friends with the first and third girls in line. I knew I wanted a shift and a scarf, but there was no way I could get both since they were in two different locations in the store. The lady next to me said she was going to accessories first because she wanted a bag and a scarf. She told me that she would grab me the scarf I wanted if I could look for a dress for her daughter. When the doors opened we started walking in and then the girls behind us started pushing us forward so I had to jog to keep from being pushed down! I ran over to the dresses and grabbed the one I wanted but by the time I had it in my hand I couldn't find the dress for the other women's daughter. It was mass chaos. Dresses were on the floor, girls were yelling, employees were yelling...it was a mess. I met up with the lady who had my scarf and apologized since I couldn't find her dress. I felt absolutely awful for not being find it, but there was nothing I could have done. Ultimately I walked away with a shift, a scarf and a makeup case! I was super happy with my purchases but couldn't believe how insane the whole experience was.

You may notice that my blog got an update! I wasn't super happy with the last layout so I turned to Etsy and found this lovely template! Hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do!

These adorable, personalized koozies from Haymarket Designs.

Get them here!

A monogrammed L.L. Bean tote (with my new monogram, duh)!

This necklace for each of my maids.

Get it here (although I'm having trouble finding it)

If you can't already tell, I've got a thing for monograms (like most southern ladies). I think Reese Witherspoon put it best when she said:

Since I've decided that I'm going to replace my middle name with my maiden name after I'm married, I've started monogramming things with my soon to be brand new initials! 

Have a great weekend friends!! 

Now that I've found both my dress and my bridesmaids dresses it's time to focus on the little ones in our bridal party. Our flower girl is Abe's sweet little sister and our ring bearer is my nephew (who will be around 16 months old when we get married).

I know I want them in southern-esque clothes and I've been searching Pinterest for inspiration. I could totally see my nephew in a sweet little bow tie or Jon Jon and Abe's sister with a huge bow in her hair.

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My mom and I thought about having something made for the occasion, but then we would have to search for a seamstress. The really nice thing about having someone sew two little outfits is that we could coordinate the fabrics and make sure they match perfectly. I'm not sure what direction we will go in just yet, but I know our smallest attendants will look perfectly preppy on our big day!

Happy Monday friends!

This weekend was super productive on the wedding planning front. On Saturday I went back to The Couture Closet with my mom, Lindy, Whitney and my aunt Laura. They were having a Sara Gabriel trunk show and I still hadn't bought a veil so it was the perfect opportunity to see if I liked any!

I found the perfect veil to go with my dress and a sweet pearl bracelet that adds just the right touch to my whole outfit!

Lindy and I had lots of fun playing with the veils!

As we were leaving, I asked the girls at the shop where their bridesmaids dresses were (they weren't on the sales floor that day). They said they had moved them to the back for the trunk show, but that I was welcome to check them out since I had picked my veil so quickly. Since I had two of my bridesmaids there I decided to do a quick check and see if there were any that I liked.

After looking, I found a dress style that I really liked. It was long and chiffon with a sweetheart neckline. Although the sample was in green, they had another style dress made by the same designer that was in navy. I had Lindy try on the green one and Whitney try on the dress in navy and we decided that it was perfect!

So we decided that the Jasmine B2 2078 was the perfect dress for my bridal party! Below is a picture of it in the color we chose (Cayman Blue).

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Heres a photo I found of a lovely bridal party in the navy version of the dress!

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Its so exciting to finally be super productive. Now onto find a DJ and florist!

Now that we are at the six months and counting mark it's time to start thinking about the type of cake we would like at our wedding. I've been a big fan of naked wedding cakes throughout the planning process but Abe isn't totally into them. The drawback with these cakes is that they look amazing when all the layers match in color, so having more than one flavor is kind of out.

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The other option is a classic cake with beautiful white buttercream icing and flowers. Abe likes this option because it would allow us to have several different flavors...and who doesn't like more icing? I especially like the cakes with adorable little polka dots and maybe a monogram!

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Our baker can do either type of cake so really the decision is up to us! Now just to decide which we like the most. Either way we will have a delicious cake on a beautiful cake stand (like the ones below from BHLDN) at our wedding!

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Today marks six months to the date of our wedding! 

This months to-dos:

Book Florist (we found one we like but want to visit one more before deciding)*
Find DJ and book one*
Send Save the Dates (they should be delivered in the next few days)*
Choose bridesmaids dresses*
Plan rehearsal dinner/find location*
Start on the registry
Think about day after brunch (do we want to have one?)
Music for cocktail hour
Hire day of wedding planner (DONE! And I'm super happy with my decision) 

(*these are from last month, oops)

Obviously we are still behind...can't ever be caught up on to-dos (haha).

In other news, this past week Abe and I finally rounded up all of our guests addresses (what a pain) and we ordered our Save the Dates! We found a design on Minted that we both loved and personalized it with a few of our most loved engagement photos.

Celebratory Comfy Cow after ordering our Save the Dates!

My mom and I went to Macy's and she was able to get some of the Fiestaware that we had previously registered for on a super sale. I printed off our registry and couldn't stop laughing at how long it was!

Our registry is as tall as me!

We have lots to do this month but since we have hired a day of coordination duo I'm feeling much more relaxed about the whole thing. They have already helped me so much!

Lets get some shoes!

Anyone still get that reference (haha)? So today is all about shoes. My dress should be delivered to The Couture Closet around May/June and I start fittings in July. When I go to my fittings, I'm supposed to have my wedding shoes with me so they can determine the correct length for my dress. I know I want to wear some kind of flat shoe but I'm not exactly sure what I want.

Option One!

Jacks. Until earlier today (when I saw them on The College Prepster's blog) I totally forgot I could get monogrammed Jack Rogers.

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They have a navy and white version that I love (and that would work perfectly with my wedding color scheme) and how cute would it be to get my new monogram on them?!

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Option Two!

Some kind of Kate Spade flat.

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Cute. Sparkly. Bow! Technically slippers? Not so sure.

Option Three!

Something I haven't thought of...I know I've only got a few options going thus far so I've got to keep searching the internet.

Recommendations anyone?