someone elses invites....that I like :)

Ok since I have yet to blog about my invites... and I probably wont till next week.  I thought I would blog about someone elses!!! haha

I saw these on this amazing blog called oh so beautful paper. I LOVE this blog!

anyways, these invites are soooo adorable, I wanted to share :) Click Here

99 days!!!!

Today…. Thursday June 24th…. I patiently await a few lovely things in the mail today ..

1. My exciting new baby girl, my iphone4 :)

2. My invites!!! (I will posting them here in a few weeks once they are out in the mail)

3. More pieces to my bridesmaids gift

4. a mini girl night dinner with my ladies!!! Well that’s not in the mail, but its something im looking forward too!

I just can’t wait for my work day to be over so I can see all my exciting stuff!!! Even more so, Im excited to see Cole tomorrow.  HE’s so comfy and wonderful. I love that we can be away from each other, miss each other, but not fall apart,…. Anymore. I used to Cry to hard everytime he left, but now I have that sense of “he’ll be back soon and it will be great”. I guess it’s a little easier for me to say cause its only a week and he barely travels anymore. If he did travel more for long periods of time, I’m sure I’d be singing a different tune:)

Anyways, I was hanging out with my friend and AMAZING make up artist Erica last night (www.ericamadera.com) and we had recently talked about silly wedding terms we see on various wedding blogs. One of them being “Hot dog and two donuts”. Yes its like a fatty meal, but it actually represents 100 days till your wedding! Erica pointed out that yesterday was my hotdog and two donuts! OMG! 100 days away!!! Finally!!! Its starting to happen, its almost here, and the wedding planning is almost over! EXCITING!!!

Through my engagement, I have noticed a few things I would definitely do differently, knowing what I know now:

1. wedding planning is fun and exciting, but very time consuming, and can sometimes distract you from the point. (those vows of love and commitment to another person… yes… that is the point.)

2. Its never to early to wedding dress shop. Don’t feel silly going in before you have a ring. They are expensive, and you should make a very educated decision by looking at as many options as you can. Maybe even in just magazines. I wanted a A line at first, I ended up with a trumpet. I wanted no sleeves… I ended up with sleeves. Look at as many options as possible, don’t get pressured into a dress because it’s a “good deal”. Like your dress for the dress…. Not the price.(but of course, stay in your budget, don’t bother putting one on to “try” unless you can actually afford it…… after tax.)

3. When considering your budget, be realistic. Over budget, don’t under budget. Things add up. When we did our budget, I completely forgot about shoes…. Jewelry, hair pieces, make up, grooms gift…. So many things were left off that were ended up being not cheap.

4. Involve your bridesmaids as much as they want to be involved, or don’t have any. Its kind of easy for a bride to do everything themselves because you don’t want to feel like you are burdening everyone else with your wedding stuff. But some people, mostly your close friends and family, want to be involved!

5. Just because your wedding is expensive, don’t spend your whole engagement locked up in your house because you have to “afford the wedding”. Continue to go out and enjoy your time being engaged. Go camping, vacation, continue your hobbies. Stay happy and not miserable.

Those are the ones that come to mind as of now…. Just some words of advice. Im sure not everyone would agree with me, but its just my little option.

On to some pictures from one of my favorite blogs that I borrow ideas from!!!

So if you didn’t know… I have 2 wonderful doggies. One is a pug. His name is Brody and he is the most handsome pug in the world. Anytime I see a pug I get so excited. Brody doesn’t…. he apparently doesn’t think he is one, and the others are beneath him. But I saw these pictures on SMP and I had to share!

Lastly,…. Look at this girl’s dress!!! Isnt it beautiful! I hope to look that beautiful on my wedding day!!

Its all coming together... yay!

So many things feel like they are finally coming together! It’s great! Invites should be in soon, and out in a couple weeks, my shoes are in, my dress is in, my belt should be mailed today, starting to collect “wedding night’ attire and thinking about wedding day jewelery! Done a hair and make up trial and Vegas is coming up!!!




Its fantastic to feel on track and not behind on anything. I love it!



I am still working on losing some inches around my body. Im more worried about the inches, than the pounds. I am trying to eat smaller portions, healthier foods, trying to avoid sugar as much as possible and keeping my lunchtime exercising! Its taking a lot of commitment to remember all these things.



With Cole being gone in Jacksonville this week, I am going to try on my dress again, with my shoes and hope I won’t need a hem alteration. With a lace dress, an hem alteration can easily start at $200, depending of the type of lace. It can just go up from there. Seeing that I have already spent a small fortune on my appearance for the wedding, I don’t really want to tack on too many more costs! Okay… I do want a little photo booth, but im pretty sure we can’t afford it haha :D



I have been watching all these silly wedding shows and it just makes me so excited! It also put things in perspective, that I am not the only person in the world to get married and to take a little pressure off. I just really hope I don’t cry during the ceremony. I hope I can just take it all in while its happening!



I think one of the most exciting things will be changing my name. At this point, when I think of “Mrs. Van Gundy” I think of Cole’s mom, but I know that in about 3 months, that will be me as well! So weird! Or to hear “for the first time, I present to you Mr and Mrs Coulston and Holly Van Gundy” . To not see the Johnson after my name…. and so many capital letters in my new name.



I know I may have mentioned it before, and its silly, but I am starting to feel more and more like a bride. I know being a “bride” isn’t that big of a deal, but it feels like it should be. It’s a title most (not every) girl wants to be someday, and it’s a little exciting  To feel like my wedding and pre wedding stuff is happening and to cherish all these moments of happiness with my closest friends and family is really exciting!



Ok, well that’s enough on my “feelings” for now. Haha



One of my bridesmaids, Stephanie, is throwing Cole and myself, a couples shower here in Seattle, in August! We’re actually both really excited about it! Sharon and Courtney and throwing the bachelorette party in july, with the help of the other bridesmaids, Stephanie, Tany, Diana and Lindsay. So we have some fun time ahead of us! Its really nice to have so many friends surrounding us and it really make this time special. Cole and I loving each other is an obvious given (ex: ring on my finger :) ) but to have so many friends and family supporting us is really touching and so wonderful!



Even my friend not in the wedding party! For example, my friend Amanda, helped me through the process of thinking of bridesmaids and groomsmen gifts(Bridesmaid: do not ask her what it is! :) ) and countless other things and my friend Erica doing my hair and make up for the wedding AND my bridal portraits (:) ) and all 17 girls coming ALL the WAY to vegas for the bachelorette!!!! Its just really makes me recognize how grateful I am to not only have Cole in my life, but all my friends and family…. Here I go about my “feelings” again haha.



Okay… I should end this blog before I get all teary eyed….


on a happy note, check out this photo gallery from SMP... how amazing is this venue! I didn't post pictures cause the whole gallery is drool-worthy :)
http://www.stylemepretty.com/gallery/gallery/a-simple-photograph+1693

Blogging

I know, I havent had a post in awhile. The reason is, my work computer has now blocked blogger.com except I can use it inintervals of 10 min at a time and only 6 of those 10 minutes a day. Also, work has gotten incredibly busy and made it really diffcult to think about wedding stuff!

But to share some good news, I FINALLY got my shoes in the mail and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! AND I also recieved a proof of my invite and they are so amazing! I love how unique they look! the design the paper, everyone is fantasic! Can't wait till I can share!

Lastly, my wedding dress belt should be done in about a week and then it will be shipped here! I am so excited! I hope it looks wonderful!!!

I will share more when I have more exciting news and possibly once my invites have been sent out, I can show everyone else my invites! Im so excited!

WISHLIST and DIY

Heres a Few more things to add to the wishlist as well as some of the DIY projects I had been working on and FINALLY completed!!!!!Im pretty happy with the outcome:) So first off, I LOVE this wedding dress. I love my own as well, but there is something about the simplicity of this as well as the trumpet-eqse of it that just draws me in!Second, ok, I understand that the puppy looks a little out of place in this photo. I got this from SMP again and apprently, the bride and groom has a destination wedding in Palm Springs and were unable to bring their beloved Vizsla, Sampson. The bride was worried that Sampson would get to excited and jump on her!!! So her friends brought a cardboard cut out of their loved Dog. He was in many pictures and people loved it!... Maybe Brody and Taylor WILL be making a appearance at the wedding!

Now on to my DIY projects. The first one is the bathroom sign I made to go with my bathroom baskets. I am not creative enough to have made teh poem myself and got it from a knottie on the knot.com. I am also not so great with the iphone camera so you may not be able to read it anyways!!!

The next are door hangers for the Groom's getting ready room and the Bride's getting ready rooms. I saw this on the SMP blog.

Lastly, my just married sign. I posted earlier about the sign I wanted to hang in a doorway at the reception. I am not sure how I would get it to hang or if the hotel will even let me hang it, so we will see!!!