Charleston and Chance

 

So...(drum roll please)...We have a location and it is Charleston, SC. 

 

A very, very special location for my family and for me.  Luckily Randy is fine with having our wedding there and we will be getting married at my grandmother's church, followed by a reception at the Elk's lodge.  I grew up in that lodge.  I remember being a nine year old kid in my cousin Melanie's wedding and sliding around on the floor in my dress.  I can only hope everyone will love Charleston as much as I do. 

 

Part of the fun of it being in Charleston is that I'll be near to all of my family.  That means that my mom will (hopefully) have a lot of help with the details that I will not be there to help with.  My older brother has also offered to help us out.  He apparently has "wedding fever" which prompted me to get extremely excited.  I have no doubt that he will have my best interest at heart.  And he has an amazing eye for design.  It doesn't hurt that he is also our photographer, which means that he will KNOW what will look good on film (or digitally).

 

Can you tell I'm getting excited?

 

Part of the fun is wondering how the family will put some of my ideas together.  I'm totally okay with giving up some of the control about how things come out because I actually think it will be less stressful.  Which is part of my original vision of my wedding.

 

As far as invites go...I'm pretty sure they are going to be awesome.  We are still getting some quotes but I'm getting a littel geeked at the idea of using magnolia flowers in everything.  Which we can also incorporate into centerpieces and bouquets.  I've always been told that magnolias are part of my "southern heritage".  I also think they happen to be quite lovely.

 

As far as semantics, those will all have to get worked out later.  Transportation for our guests will be an issue.  We are thinking about looking for hotels near the airport to ensure that people will not have to rent a car.  We are going to try and help people save money where we can.  As far as everything else goes, we will be able to extend our guest list a little bit for two reasons.  1.Not as many people will be able to travel from Chicago, and 2. The venue is being catered by family and holds a ton of people.  All good things.

 

One other little tricky detail is that we have a new addition to our family.  A Golden Retriever Pup we named Chance.  Randy and I have been looking at pups here and there and after Kelly and

Dan's wedding (more to come on that too...) we hung out with some friends in the suburbs before we planned to head over to Randy's mom's house.  Instead of just bumming around we really wanted to check out pups again.  I don't know how to describe it but when I met this pup, he just melted me.  We bonded and connected.  I didn't want a male dog.  I didn't want long hair and I wanted a Weim.  But he fit the bill in personality and cuteness and he has the best demeanor...I'm already in love.

 

 

That being said, there's a moment when Randy was talking to the dog and I literally just melted.  I have a patient, loving and kind fiance.  He has really taught me so much in the last year about how to have confidence in love.  He's never jaded or mean or unfair.  I love the way that Randy loves. So now there is even more love in our little family.

 

Meet Chance Miller.  He's 8 weeks old.  He slept completely through the night without whining and still needs to be potty trained :)  But we love him.

 

So...as far as the wedding goes...we may be bringing our pal with us. After all it is a family event.

 

My friends Kelly and Dan got married this weekend and their wedding was extremely personable and about family.  It was very well done.  The message was loud and clear that it was about making everyone happy, fed and comfortable.  So great!  Plus all of the little touches that Kelly had planned just turned out perfectly right down to her hair and makeup.  The picture I have is blurry...but honestly that's how I felt about their whole wedding. It truly just feels like yesterday that they got engaged.  I'm so happy for them.  They were a wonderful bride/groom combo!

 

 

Next post:  Wedding Fever turns green

A Little More about Us...

I never really understood what "marrying your best friend" means. I'd always been sort of fooled by the idea that it was kind of a mystery and that there was no possible way to  be married to someone that you loved and you wanted to "hang out with" as often as everyday or forever.  Then came Randy.

Randy is everything I've always wanted in a husband. (not knowing exactly what one is...lol) He tells me often that he is terrible at "relationship stuff", but he really isn't.  He's actually pretty great...possibly better than I am (don't tell him this).  He's always there when I need him, and supportive.  He's so much fun and so much ridiculous. I think the biggest surprise I've found living with him hasn't been the run of the mill, who cleans what and how we can get along stuff, it's been how much we laugh together.  For instance, if you know Randy at all you know how much he loves free anything.  He keeps coming home from college with free water bottles. I think we might have gotten 4 new ones in the last couple of weeks.  I told him he wasn't allowed anymore. Sounds pretty simple, but it had us laughing for a good solid 20 minutes...we are also pretty easy to entertain.

We've done a lot of ridiculous stuff together and lot of stuff that has required "Team Mirger" (yes that is the combination of our two last names...don't worry, I'll be a Miller we both won't become Mirger's).  It's required us to team up and get stuff done.  After the purchase of the condo and many other details we've had to figure out together, we've discovered that we're a team.

Dating and now marrying Randy also means I've been able to get to know his family.  I've spent the most time with Randy's brother Doug (also his best man).  The relationship that the two of them have is hilarious.  Randy talks about how he used to beat up Doug all of the time to make him tough.  I'm not sure it worked, because they are both pretty sweet guys.  It's pretty rare to see two grown brothers hug each other as they are walking around town. Unless you are with Doug and Randy.  I actually hate when people say it's weird that I still hold my mom's hand in the store. :) I don't think there is an age limit on affection.
This weekend we went to the local VFW for spaghetti.  The three of us enjoyed the ridiculousness of the smoke filled bar, the happy vets and their families and some good solid spaghetti. My favorite was the garlic bread!

These days things have been pretty interesting.  It seems something new comes along every day.  For instance, in typical Randy style, we aren't doing any of the wedding planning stuff in order.  This weekend we bought his wedding band, which I think is on the "one month before your wedding list".  It was one of those, yup that's it moments.  Randy and I had been looking, we knew he that he liked the Tungsten rings and then we found this ring:

And it fit, which meant that we could just buy it on the spot and have one less thing to do later.  My band, on the other hand, has been a challenge.  All of the bands that match my rings are super blinging diamonds.  I had always imagined that I would wear a simple band and stop wearing my engagement ring after we were married.  So I'm looking for a scattered diamond band, where there are much less diamonds. You would think that it would be cheaper right?  Wrong, the only band I liked was way too much!  So, I'm still looking.  Thankfully I have plenty of time.

Next Post:  We decided where we are having the wedding :)  And planning has begun!

Setting Goals First

   So instead of talking about reception sites I thought I'd share a revelation I had about weddings when was driving home from Kelly's last night.  I think I’ve realized that I don’t dislike weddings, but weddings make me feel pressured.  I think that because there is so much riding on weddings for so many people (that it’s so important) I get so nervous that I am going to do something wrong or disappoint someone.  I feel that way with my own wedding.  It’s something that I am working on.  Taking on what I think everyone is expecting instead of just doing what I want to do and being satisfied.  I’ve been feeling that way at work too.  Putting a lot of pressure on myself that is completely unnecessary.  Randy has been great dealing with this, but I have to find a solution, a way to relax.  I’ve started by trying to set attainable goals. And try not to keep reaching for some ideal or perfection. 

So I thought I do that for my wedding too.

So here’s my vision:  To have a wedding that is low maintenance, I can invite my closest family and friends, and where we can celebrate our marriage.

    My goals are to:

           Keep the budget near to $10K for the Chicago wedding/reception

           Keep the invite list (Chicago) under 130 people

           Find a venue for ceremony and reception where people can be

           comfortable, get well fed, and enjoy each other’s company

           Keep the work/cost for myself, my family and my friends minimal.

Palmer House and the beginning of the planning

Our very good friends invited us on a weekend at the Palmer House in Chicago.  I have to tell you that there is a charm and charisma that cannot be compared with anywhere else I've stayed.  Maybe it's because of the old-school pictures of movie stars adoring all of the walls, or the opulent decorative staircases and seating everywhere.  But it's lovely and romantic and the perfect setting to our first weekend as an engaged couple.

I actually worked Saturday morning and then headed downtown to meet Laura and Aaron.  We were able to check in and take a dip in their pool and hot tub, which being the second week on the new job, was exactly what I needed.  

Randy and I went to Berghoff's and because I had never been there.  I have to say it's absolutely awesome.  I hadn't had German food until a couple of months ago when Meredith was showing us the 40th condo we wanted to look at.  And I have to say I am a pretty big fan.

We checked out Navy Pier for the very last day of fireworks, which was a special moment because we passed the boat we had just gotten engaged on and viewed some of the same fireworks we had seen earlier that week.  It was like getting to celebrate it all over again!

Once we got back, reality set in. We need to figure out our wedding!

 We've asked just a handful of our bridal party if they would be a part of our day because some of our plans have changed :)  We had originally talked about having a destination wedding.  Right now a bunch of things are up in the air.  As soon as we have more figured out I will be glad to post.  

What we do know is that at some point we are going to be in Charleston SC celebrating with my very big and very loving family.  My parents live there now and it just seemed to makes sense to do some kind of celebration out that way.

Next Post:  Looking up potential reception sites

The Condo and The Proposal

If you knew anything about our condo search, you knew that what had started out easy and with no issues became a true nightmare.  We went from condo to condo where people were denying our use of a VA loan.  Just total crap.  And then Randy left for Michigan.  I was told to keep going with the condo on Argyle or to keep looking and that if I found anything to just get it. He said that I knew what he wanted and that he would be okay with whatever I wanted because he knew that I was way pickier than he was.  I didn't completely agree with this, but I was starting a new job in August and that pesky "womanly nesting" crap made me want to get settled with him before I started my job.

I kept imagining a nice home cooked dinner and then then next morning running off to work.  I think in this image I was dressed like Lucille Ball and had a brief case and a big dopey grin on my face.  What I didn't think about was that if we did close as early as we wanted I would be closing on a Friday and then starting work on that Monday.  I know that I am very talented at organization, but even with the ton of help there would be now way to paint, organize and put the entire place together by then.  I sometimes don't think things through.  I sometimes bite off more than I can chew.

But skipping forward, we got the place I picked out (Randy hadn't seen it until he got here).  Although he thought the second bedroom was kind of small, he did like the place.  Which was a huge relief.

So...

We closed on Friday, August 19th and then I kissed Randy goodbye and headed to the new place to sleep and spend the night by myself.  I was going to wake up to friends and new furniture and Randy moving our stuff with the help of his friends.

Flash forward a bit more to a place that still needs a bunch of paint and a lot of small repairs.  But I cannot say this loud enough or enough times.  MY FRIENDS AND RANDY'S FRIENDS ROCK!  From Laura, to Bridget to Libby to all of Randy's friends.  They were absolutely unbelievably amazing.

We got settled a little bit that weekend and then I started work on that Monday.  We had a small get together of people on that Saturday after the job had started.  Everything was going really really well.

The week of my birthday Randy asked me to keep Wednesday evening open and be ready and dressed to go out by 5:15PM.  I assumed it was a celebration for our birthdays simply because I had kept saying that we would just go out to dinner together.  I told everyone at work we were going out and they were definitely suspicious.

I came home to a suited up Randy.  He looked amazing and I don't know why I didn't get any pictures of him.  We are not very good at bringing a camera to the different events we attend.  For future I need to be much better at this.

He surprised me with a trip on the Odyssey, which is a small cruise ship at Navy Pier. Actually a bunch of my friends had their proms/dances there.  I definitely was suspicious but couldn't figure out where he would be keeping a ring if he had one.  There was no bulge in his pockets and although he seemed weird (it's Randy).  Randy did great.  He had roses and champagne and waited until the fireworks started to ask me to marry him.  He got down on one knee and the crowd oohed and ahhed.  And then I said yes and everyone congratulated us.  It was a pretty amazing moment.  I love him!  I am so excited to be his wife.  Just so wonderful.

Ok...that's the abbreviated story.


Next Post:   The Palmer House and the beginning of the planning

How it all started...

We Got Engaged!







On August 31, 2011 I had been dating Randy for over a year. We met at a 4th of July Party the year before and had been dating long distance for many months before being reunited in February of 2011.  Things moved quickly once Randy returned home.  We knew we wanted to be together, that we were in love, that we wanted to buy a place and to start the rest of our lives together.

Romantic right?

Randy has always liked doing things his way, and although the actual engagement was a surprise the idea of getting married was not.  Randy had to attend three weeks of National Guard duty in August of this year and just like our time apart while he still lived in Texas, we spoke on the phone every night.  After one of our longer phone calls, we hung up and then two minutes later my phone rang again.  Randy had forgotten to tell me about a "free things to do in Chicago" email that he had been forwarded about free wedding dresses.  He told me that he knew that eventually I would ask him to marry me (yes ... this was an irrational belief that he seemed to hold onto).  So he thought it would make sense for me to check out some of the dresses and to see if I qualified for a wedding dress.

So yes, the dress came before the proposal.  Here's how it all went down:

I contacted the organization "Brides Across America" to find out that they had just given out dresses to a ton of Military Brides and the Finaces of the military.  I had missed it by two weekends.  I thought I would contact a couple of the designers that were in Chicago just to see if there was any possibility and to see if I qualified.  One of the designers "DeFloro Fashions" wrote me back.  She not only said I was qualified but that   I should set up an appointment immediately.  I did!

Here are some of the dresses that did NOT work:

You can tell by the look on my face in the last one that I really hated the ginormous Roman-themed dress.  Haha.  Laura Reno and Meredith Conn went with me to check out dresses.  Unfortunately my Maid of Honor and Matron of Honor were out of town, they couldn't weigh in on the selection.  But I ended up selecting a dress that had sleeves (which are being removed) and isn't bright white.  It's also a little tight so Randy and I started Weight Watchers last week.  I need to lose somewhere between 5-10 pounds to make it look right.  And because it was a custom dress that was being given to me for free, the designer had to work with that exact dress.

Anyway, I got the dress I wanted and it was (in fact) free!

Next Post:  The Condo and the Proposal