Whirlwind.

I am linking up with Helene for Total Social: Favorites! I am posting about my (second) favorite weekend ever! (Read about my favorite weekend HERE and part 1 of this weekend HERE!)

This weekend was an absolute whirlwind! I drove six hours to Atlanta Thursday night, filmed all day Friday, drove six hours back on Friday, then headed to Nashville on Saturday to celebrate my twenty first! (read more about Friday here!). Then we drove back Sunday, rested, and my family took me out for my birthday Monday! I felt SO loved and celebrated this weekend- it was the BEST! Exhausting, but the BEST!!

Here are some quick (iPhone) pictures from my sweet birthday weekend in Nashville:

Wedding Wednesday: Say Yes to the Dress

So, I have tried on a lot of dresses. When I say a lot, I am talking about 60-80 a lot. I came close to purchasing one- put it all over social media and then changed my mind. Who knew I would have so much trouble picking ONE dress!? My main problem is that I literally love them all! After the first day, I was seriously considering a career path change! Trying on wedding dresses has been SO much fun!

Rewind to early May. I am sitting at Starbucks one night and decide to apply for a few bridal television shows thinking maybe something will come from it, or maybe nothing will! About two weeks later I heard that I was going to be called for a phone interview! It was a big shock to me, since I had basically forgot I had applied! The phone interview went great, and the next step was the Skype interview! After a few mishaps, I made it to the Skype interview in late June and my video was "cut-up" and sent to TLC for casting! Somehow I made it and was given a few dates to choose from! I chose Friday July 11, got my "entourage" on board, and the rest is history!


My entourage from left to right:
My mom
My Godmother Debbie
My aunt Kim
My maid of honor, Hayley
My matron of honor, Andrea (also Tyler's sister!)
My future mother-in-law, Cindy
I am still so thankful everyone was able to make it! Such a special shared experience!! 

The morning of the show, the seven of us ate brunch and prepared for a long day of filming! I had a pre-show interview that lasted about an hour, and my mom and aunt had one as well that lasted about half as long. They shot us chatting in the waiting room and then it was time to go upstairs and look at gowns!! (by this time we had already been there for three hours!!) Looking at dresses was pretty genuine. We had to "open up" (turn towards the camera)and repeat some things, but all opinions and likes/dislikes were all genuine.

Believe it or not, I only tried on three gowns. After I changed my mind about the "almost" dress, my mom and I perused the Bridals by Lori website and found a brand that we LOVED and a dress that we were OBSESSED with! Seriously, that night I  said "that's the dress!". The only problem was that it was no where to be found in Louisville! As soon as I put on the dress at BbL, I just knew!!

After I got "jacked up" and said YES to the dress we had a few post interviews and we were out the door! In total, we were there for SEVEN hours! It was a tiring process! Overall though, it was GREAT! The producers and camera men, as well as the BbL staff, were incredibly nice, welcoming, and just as warm as they appear on television! The show is not fake whatsoever! It may be a little dramatized and embellished, but not once did I ever feel forced to say anything but my own thoughts! The dressing room experience was just like that of any other bridal salon (besides the camera woman and the award "touching" of the dress while speaking about parts I liked!), which I appreciated! My consultant was great and I loved working with her!! The whole thing was very real, which, as a big fan of the show, I was glad to experience! I just cannot say enough about how nice everyone was! Yes, the day was long, but it was fun!! I am so glad I was given the opportunity to do this! The episode will air Spring 2015, thankfully after March 7! I am excited to see what the show uses, since they have 7 hours of footage for a 10 minute story line ;)

xoxo
taylor

Featured!

I promise I will get to a life update soon (!!), but for now you can read my featured post over at Two Belles & a Bride! Two of my friends started this blog, all about love, marriage, and faith and I just love reading it, and I know you will, too!

xoxo
T

Wedding Wednesday: To Do List

So...not a ton got done in June! Life happened and I loved it! I have lofty goals for July and I am determined to get as much done as possible this month! I go back to school on August 15 and my goal is to have as much done as possible before then...here's hoping!

I also re-did the to-do list to a more manageable timeline! I was a little too ambitious before! SO, JULY...let's do this!

     July

·      Set up florist appointments

·      Complete Guest List with addresses

·      Set up cake appointments

·      Talk with ceremony musicians

·      Set up hotel block

·      Book ceremony musicians

·      Book Florist

·      Book Bakery

·      Book photographer

·      Take engagement photos?

·      Order dress!

·      Ask wedding planner

·      Ask flower girls & ushers

·      Tell girls which dresses to order & give the go ahead

·      Buy rings

August

·      Order Save the Date’s

·      Book videographer

·      Finish registry

·      Book hair & make-up

·      Ask readers/decide on passages

·      Craft reception décor/order

·      Address save the date’s

September

·      Send save the date’s (on the 1st)

·      Make sure bridesmaids dresses/accessories are ordered

·      Make sure all men’s wear is ordered

·      Decide on transportation

·      Craft reception décor/order

·      Order invitations & thank-you cards

October

·      Make sure rehearsal plans are coming along

·      Flower girl attire

·      Address invitations

·      Wedding night accommodations?

·      Craft all ceremony décor

·      Craft reception décor/order

·      Address invitations

·      Decide on favors and order/make

November

·      Reserve any rentals

·      Craft reception décor/order

·      Purchase reception keepsakes (guest book, toasting flutes, cake knife, and server)

·      Wedding gifts for bridal party/parents

·      Purchase all other accessories (veil, shoes, jewelry)

·      Usher/flower girl/ring bearer gifts

·      Address invitations

December

·      Finish addressing invitations

·      Provide shower guest lists

·      Confirm gown delivery

·      Check up with florist

·      Check up with bakery

·      All crafts done

January

·      Mail invitations January 13^th

·      Final rehearsal list

·      Mail rehearsal invites

·      Review registries/adjust/complete

·      Dress fitting

·      Create a wedding weekend timeline

·      Create a ceremony timeline

·      Create a reception timeline

·      Craft programs

·      Decide on ceremony music

·      Requested/banned song list for reception

·      Bar order

·      Confirm hair & make-up

February

·      Finish programs

·      Create floor plan with Kye’s

·      Send wedding timeline to wedding party

·      All shower thank-you’s

·      Check on hotel blocks

·      Write vows

·      Give Kye’s vendor list

·      Get marriage license

·      Pick up wedding bands

·      Confirm all times and final counts with vendors

·      Check up on all unanswered RSVP’s February 10^th

·      Make sure attendant gifts are ready

·      Reception seating

·      Escort cards

·      Final payments

·      Rehearsal plan

March

·      Get a manicure and pedicure

·      Tips in envelopes- give to Hayley

·      Drop off decorations

·      Pack wedding weekend/honeymoon

July Goals

List making is in my blood. I've been a list maker for as long as I can remember. Decluttering my brain at the beginning of every month has been so good for me! Inspired by some "big" bloggers, I hope to turn these monthly goals into daily goals as well, as well as the typical "yearly" goals and maybe even a 101 in 1001. What can I say!?- girl loves her some goals :). I hope to be back later this week or next with a list of things I hope to accomplish daily, in this year, and in the next 1001 day! Eek!

So, June. June was a FULL month. A sweet and eventful summer month chalk full of sweetness and events ;) Therefore...not all of my goals got accomplished..and I'm perfectly okay with that! I let life happen.
June Goals:
Call and make that doctor's appointment! Okay, seriously happening this month! 
Register for the Praxis! Done & Done! It was a last minute sign up and I PASSED!!
Finish my resume and update my LinkedIn page. Okay, but seriously. Happening this month!
Go pick strawberries at Huber's.
Catch up on my year to date photo album
Catch up on mine and Tyler's "dating album". . …Noticing a theme here? THIS month!
Pack up my entire Lex room.
Continue looking for future church home's for Tyler & me. 
Workout 3 times per week. 

So, all in all, not too shabby! I still am in shock that I passed the Praxis, but now I need to get that resume DONE so I can actually begin to look for jobs in January! I also plan on doing that dating album during a free weekend- so we'll see if that ever happens!

July Goals:
Finish my resume and update my LinkedIn page. This will happen!
Catch up on mine and Tyler's "dating album". I just want to get this finished! We are going to put our engagement time in there too (not actually engagement pictures, but just life's happenings!) so it will be done done in March! 
Call and make that doctor appointment!
Read one "for fun" book.
Stay on track with my bible study. Children of the Day by Beth Moore
Workout 4 times per week.
Social media free Sundays.
Do something special for Tyler's first day of dental school!! (!!!!!!!)
Completely clean out my room/belongings at home! Tyler and I are going to live in a teeny tiny apartment come March, so I need to get rid of the junk! My goal is to not need to store anything at my parents except holiday decor and childhood keepsakes! In order to make that happen... a LOT needs to go! 

So, there we go! I have faith in myself! Getting these things done should make for a smooth August/semester, so whenever I feel like I want to quit- someone remind me of that! ha! Starting next month, I plan to make a printable of my goals so that I can SEE them on a daily basis for some extra motivation! We'll see if that actually happens ;)
Have a great night, friends!

Wedding Wednesday: Our Wedding Website!

Today is short and sweet! 

Our wedding website is LIVE! I put a lot of time and effort into this website, because I feel like it is really convenient for guests- it was also pretty simple and my "inner-blogger" definitely came out in full force. (I know I also love when couples have wedding websites!) Not only do guests have the start times, the venue address, directions to the reception, hotel accommodation information, and registries in one place, but they also get to read about our story as well as our bridal party to make them feel like a part of our day- which they are! Yes, our wedding is a celebration of Tyler & I and our love for each other and covenant with Jesus, but it is also a big "thank you" to all who have loved and supported us thus far! We LOVE our friends and family! We are inviting a little over 350 people to our wedding and we are excited to celebrate with each and every one of them! Hopefully this website makes our wedding process easier on the people we love most!
View it here!
xoxo Taylor

Sunday Funday.

I love picking fruits and vegetables while they are in season. I say this as if I do it often, but in all actuality I could count on one hand the number of times I have done this in my life. I want to change that- I dream of a garden in my backyard one day, but until then, driving 30 minutes a few times a year to Huber's Orchard will have to do.

 We ate...a lot! If you ever do Huber's- do take-out! Much cheaper and much faster! Still just as AWESOME!

Yay! What a fun (hot!!) day it was! Love spending Sundays with this guy :)

Until next time! xox Taylor