A Brew of Blessings

Happy Wednesday, people. Sheesh, we are ALMOST to the weekend and I am ECSTATIC. John & I are venturing down to our future home{town} to start browsing for a new place to live this weekend. We’ve been making calls and setting appointments with realtors and such all week! {Sidenote: we are moving to Bristol, TN.VA…. give me a shoutout if you have any contacts!}

I started blogging in an effort to journey the adventures John & I are going through. Some good, some bad. But it’s all part of life, right? Well, after starting this blog I was able to quickly make friends who are going through the same situations as me, whether it be:

1. Planning a wedding
2. Dating a medical student {on Twitter I refer to this as #MedStudentRomance… haha}
3. Moving away from family for a job/significant other
4. Or simply those girls who love to talk fashion & beauty products

Anyway, one of the girls that I have followed since I started my blog is a beautiful girl named Tara. She is a living DOLL! Her blog is almost addictive!{not to mention it’s called A Brew of Blessings & I have a slight addiction to coffee!) Every post has something that I can relate to… and as I was saying… she is one of the gals who I was quickly able to make friends with simply because we are going through such similiar life situations & have a ton in common.

Tara is planning her dream wedding right now also. She and her fiance, Stephen, are tying the knot in 4 short months. Stephen lives in England and she in America… how crazy is that?! She will be moving to England after the wedding so she will be experiencing some of the same things I’ve gone through while living away from my family.

Aren’t they a gorgeous couple?

Now, read about Tara & Stephen and their road to WEDDED BLISS!

Here are the questions I asked Tara:

1. How did you & your soon-to-be-hubby meet?

We have actually known each other, or at least of each other, for as long as I can remember. However, it wasn’t until he came over from England to visit and attended a fundraising event that I was hosting that something just “clicked”.  He agreed to bake 200 brownies for the event {I think he knew chocolate was his in} and the evening of the fundraiser he approached me and asked if I would go to a theme park with him the following day. Being so exhausted I reluctantly said yes and oh-so glad that I did.  He got me to go on a roller coaster, which was an item on my bucket list, and I “accidentally” grabbed his hand. {Ladies, despite what he might say it truly was an accident ;)}. Two days later we went on our first official date night. I was invited to dinner at his family’s vacation home the day after that. He was on a place back to England the next day so we decided not to hold any expectations. However, he made sure to call me from the airport to say hello and from then on the emails, phone calls and Skype dates became more frequent. And the rest is history!

2.What were/are you most excited about in regards to the planning process?

I’ve tried to keep in mind that it is about the marriage and not all about “the day”. So going into it I was excited about the usual… finding the perfect dress, picking the colors, securing the vendors etc. But the thing I’ve enjoyed most is the premarital preparation that S & I have shared as well as spending some fun quality time with my mom, close friends and bridesmaids preparing. I’m also highly looking forward to the showers and the bachelorette weekend! The most important thing to me is finally getting to be with the love of my life & anything else is considered icing on the cake!

3.What are your wedding colors?

Our colors are a light gray & peridot {think a lighter version of Tiffany Blue}

4.How many attendants do you have?

We each have 7, which I’m sure seems like a ton! We just couldn’t decide and honestly could’ve kept going but we just had to try and draw the line somewhere.

5.Have you had any wedding “nightmares”?

Most definitely.  The most bizarre and funniest one I had recently was that it came time for the garter toss at our reception and I realized I never ordered a garter! So our dj “solved the problem” by making a garter out of a napkin ha. So random but a great reminder to get that ordered & checked off of the list.

6.What are you looking forward to most on the wedding day?

S & I aren’t doing the more modern “first look” so I’m looking forward to making eye contact with him as I walk down the aisle. {gives me goosebumps just thinking about it}.  I’m also excited about the father/daughter dance 🙂 My dad isn’t the sentimental type but he isn’t telling me the song he has chosen for our first dance which I think is really sweet, I’m looking forward to seeing what he chose.

And here are the questions I asked Stephen:

1.What is one part of the wedding planning process that you want a say in?

I think for guys generally we have a different perspective on weddings as many women, tara included, grow up their whole lives dreaming of and planning their wedding day. For guys it is absolutely the most important and special day of our lives too but it isn’t something we have such detailed visualizations about. With that said, as the manager of a design department and a former event planner I have and continue to love getting involved with all parts of the wedding planning!!! For me, its the tiny details that I know or visualize most where I have been most vocal like the transport and the food.

2.What are you looking forward to most on the wedding day?

It sounds cheesy but two things- seeing my bride for the first time and then hearing her say I do. I am so blessed to be marrying tara and might finally believe it is real after she says “I do”!

3.What do you picture the bride’s dress looking like?

Tara laughs at me when I say this but I picture a big flowing white dress kind of like Belle from Beauty and the Beast but in white. I’m so excited to see it and know she will look amazing in whatever it looks like!

4.What is the bride most stressed about in regards to the wedding?

Err good question. Given all the cost involved I think we both just care about people coming out of the day realizing how much we love each other and having enjoyed seeing us commit to each other.

5.What is one song that the DJ must play?

Great question and I know there are lots of special songs we have lined up for the day but given our surprise entrance plans its gotta be the song that me and tara will enter in because then it will all be underway. I’m not going to give it away other than to say its by the Black Eyed Peas.

6.What do you love most about the bride?

Having admired Tara since she was 16 years old, she is the most inspiring person I’ve ever met. She makes me a better person through her love and support and I know I would be broken without her in my life and by my side. I love her more every single day and although of course she is the most beautiful woman I can picture, she also has a beautiful heart and is kind, caring, generous and sooo much more. I am so excited for us to finally be together in marriage and for the rest of our lives!

One last picture of this precious couple!

Okay, is that not sweet? I mean, I read the rollercoaster/hand-grabbing thing and just DIED laughing. Too funny & oh-so sweet! I loved that Stephen had so much to say about it – it’s melts my heart! I sure wish I could make it to their wedding. Tara & I have traded a few ideas and I know hers is going to be out of this world! Can’t wait to stalk it!

John & I were asked the same questions… you can imagine my answers! I gave lots of detail & explanation & well, John… ya… he gave ONE WORD answers! So I asked him to at least form a sentence! He’s just a man of few words & I don’t hate it… that gives me more time to give my opinion! Ha 🙂

So that’s that for today… if you want to read my answers you can go to Tara’s blog here… & even if you don’t want to read about that mushiness – check her blog out anyway… it’s always a fantastic read!

xx.