Drumroll please.....

And now, I present to you, the lovely, bridesmaids :)

Sadie - My Maid of Honor!

Sadie is my baby sister. Although her and I are eight years apart, it has been awesome watching her grow up and become such a wonderful, caring, & beautiful woman. She's an amazing soccer player and has a heart for working with kids. She has a great sense of humor and makes me laugh with her different "voices". And I am so honored that she will be standing next to me on the wedding day. I am so blessed to have her in my life as a sister and can't wait to continue deepening our friendship!

Melanie - Bridesmaid

Melanie, my oldest sister, has been a great role model for all of us siblings. She has always put a lot of effort into what she is doing at the time and it shows! For example, she currently is a Nurse and just asking her questions about her job or the field in general, you can tell she is smart girl who knows her stuff. She has amazing character and is always there to help! I'm excited for her to be part of the day!

Andrea (in the brown dress) - Bridesmaid

Andrea, my younger sister, is a wonderful Mom and new wife as we've seen in previous posts:) I have seen her become such a great mother and you can see her love for her family instantaneously. She has one of the best senses of humor and her comments can make you laugh for hours. Her faith shines through and again, I am so excited to have her be part of the day!  

Kate - Bridesmaid

Kate, Joe's younger sister, is also eight years apart from Joe. She's a beautiful, warm-spirited young lady and I have enjoyed getting to know her. Kate is an avid runner & soccer player and is another Shelerud who makes me laugh. I am grateful to become her "sister" and can't wait to see where life takes her. I know she will do some great things! I'm very excited to have her part of the day.

Jenna - Bridesmaid

Jenna, Joe's younger sister, I've had the pleasure of knowing since high school. We were both in a church drama group called, New Wine, and her faith is simply sweet. She is easy going and I could talk with her for hours. Jenna and her fiance, Drew, will be getting married a month after us and it's been fun to share this experience with her. A friend first, now becoming a sister to an amazing girl! Glad she's sharing the day with us.

Well there you have the line up. I am truly blessed to have these ladies in my life and know their love and support with continue long after the wedding day. Thanks for making this day even more special!!!

Until then, I do have one other lady that I will be sharing with you tomorrow. She's a keeper:)

Wedding Craft #1!

Asking someone to be a part of your wedding is more than just asking them to get dressed up and stand in front of a bunch of people. To me, it's an exciting way to say, "You are important to mine & Joe's lives and we want you to share in our celebration of love and the beginning of our new adventure together." And because of that, when I asked my future bridesmaids to take part in our day, I wanted to ask them in a special way. I ended up making them each a card with a poem that I had found, thanks to all those wedding websites, and gave the cards to them in person. It was great watching them read it and see their faces light up a bit:) I'll announce the wedding party (on my side) later this week but here's a peak at the cards!

Ok, well you know one of the bridesmaids :)

...try again

Just an update. The florist had to reschedule for next week some time. She just had a root canal Monday and is still in a lot of pain. Hopefully next week works out! Happy Wedding Planning!

Flower Power

I must admit. I felt lost not posting an idea or story to share with you yesterday. Will you forgive me? School is already driving me crazy and taking up most of my day but in a good way:) I may not be able to post something every day but I will at least do it a few times a week...more if I can so stay in touch!

Today is an exciting day and it's related to my OWN wedding:) I'm meeting with our florist tonight after work to get ideas and see what flowers look good together. I've talked on the phone with her a few times and she's so talkative & full of ideas! Whoo!! As far as flowers go, I'm thinking white flowers with some greens tucked in. Nothing fancy but still elegant. Here are a few pictures of what I'm thinking.

So pretty:) I'll let you know how it goes. I have to take some pictures tonight so I can show Joe. He told me he wants to help pick out the flowers too...especially what the guys wear. Love it!

a little love for the chair

Well it's official. It's my first day of fall semester...anatomy & lifespan development here I come! It's going to be busy with a touch of hetic going to school and working while finding the time to do a little wedding planning but we'll take it one day at a time! So in the spirit of all things wedding, here's another idea I have for the back of mine & Joe's chairs since our venue seating arrangement doesn't allow us enough room for a head table.

The little details that I love!

J + D

One year from today, my future sister-in-law is getting married! Jenna and Drew are an amazing couple full of love, laugther and flat out awesomeness!!! I am so excited I'll be seeing them this weekend for yet another family wedding - this time on Joe's side. His cousin Kallie is getting married!! A weekend with the Shelerud's...how delightful:)

Happy One Year-to-Be Jenna & Drew!!!

all things sweet

Here's my dilemma: I've been trying to think of something good for dessert after dinner. There's the regular sheet cake (which is my backup plan) but without actual workers at the barn who would typcially serve out the cake, is anybody going to eat it? I feel like people eat cake because it's placed in front of them and they don't have to go up and get it themselves. I guess I could be wrong. I definitely want to have a cake for Joe and I to cut (I do enjoy a little tradition here and there:) but I keep envisioning more than enough cake left behind because no one ate it or knew there was any cake.

I started to look into cupcakes but they are expensive! The cheapest I have found is $2.75/cupcake and with 320 guests (max) that's a lot of money! Then thought of pie (because we are at a farm after all!) or an assortment of bars that could be made by family and friends but that's a lot of work for everyone else too.

I've been seeing a lot of dessert tables filled with different kinds of candy, bars, you name it on display. I love the idea of something unique and different, but then I think, would people even eat that? I need some help, ideas, or maybe just a "I don't really care" type of attitude on the topic of dessert. :)

Whatever I end up doing, I want to make this "Sweet Love" sign!! How lovely!!

If I wasn't in the mood for something sweet before I am now!