Rushing to the Finish Line

    The weeks leading up to the wedding were a bit of a blur (obviously, since no one managed to post any announcements for the wedding in the last few weeks.)   Jeff and Courtney - as well as their family- were busy planning and crafting out the last minute details of the ceremony and reception. And all their hard work was paid off with a very fun weekend!

     Courtney and Jeff had two wedding showers, one thrown by Jeff's side of the family and the other by Courtney's. The flower girls all got their dresses in and their hair pieces settled (all the girls wore some kind of headband for the ceremony) and the guys finished getting their tuxes the day before the ceremony (squeaking by!) Courtney decided on doing her own hair and makeup for the wedding as she liked the results from the bridal shoot so much she wanted to do it again for the wedding.

      The day before was Courtney's bachelorette luncheon at BJ's. Of course, it decided to snow in the morning, but most of the girls were able to make it to the lunch. Then we went over to Stephanie's house to do other bachelorette-y type things I shouldn't mention (wink!)

     The night before the wedding was the rehearsal dinner at Kendall's Restaurant in Noble, OK. The guests arrived to board games set out on the tables to encourage play and interaction between the bridal party and family. Chad beat Paul in a tight game of Chess that took nearly an hour and Kelcie beat Kate at many games, including Connect 4, battleship, matching game, and break the ice. We also did more important things at the rehearsal like go over the format for the wedding the next day. Bob Kelpine presided and Jamie made any last minute corrections to the speech as needed. Then we got to eat some delicious Southern style cookin' which was, undoubtedly, the best part of the night.

      The night ended with the girls going over to Courtney's for some more girl time as the guys headed to Chad's house in the city to do a bachelor party (board game night!) I don't really know what all happened there either, but they did play Cards Against Humanity at some point. 

 

    

Photography

     Last weekend, Courtney had a bridal photography session on the OU campus. The leaves were turning orange and fall was in the air. (It was also pretty cold and Courtney had to put on a jacket between shots.) The photographer for the event was Steph Bidelspach and you can check out some of the photography she's done in the past on her website: http://stephbidelspachphotography.com/  Since Steph was recently married herself, she knows exactly how it feels to be the bride as well as the photographer. 

    The few pictures from this session that I've seen are absolutely beautiful, but we can't share them with you yet. Guess you will all have to wait and see them at the wedding. And speaking of the wedding, has everyone sent in their RSVP's to Courtney and Jeff? If you haven't yet, make sure to send them off as soon as possible so that they can get a head count for the amount of food and drinkage they need to order. 
 
    They are meeting with Bobbicakes next week to finalize cake flavors. (I have my fingers crossed the lemon cupcakes make the running!)

     A last tidbit of wedding news is that dresses for the flower girls have been (mostly) finalized.  And that the bridesmaids shall be wearing beautiful headbands to go along with their updos. Ooooh, ahhhh. They kind of remind me of butterflies. Maybe it is metaphorical statement from Courtney? No, I won't even go there.

Bridesmaid Dresses Are In!

poor camera phone quality pic

    Kelcie, Court, and Kate went up Sunday to get the bridesmaids dresses that came in. We tried them on and they fit beautifully and are such a pretty green color ("Holly"- the color of the picture really doesn't do it justice). Since we were right by a shoe store, we also decided to check out what shoes would look the best with the dress. Courtney liked black the best, but nude, grey, golden 6" gaga shoes, and silver were also acceptable choices.


     Courtney's favorites were some Ann Marino black vintage heels with a bow in the front. They are kind of like a cross between victorian style and a 1930's heel. Very classy and sexy at the same time. Of course, we will look around and see if we see anything else similar elsewhere.

All in all, the wedding is shaping up to be very traditional, with a slightly vintage vibe. As per the rhyme: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Courtney on the lookout for something borrowed- does nail polish count?

Dress Drama= Done Deal!

    Courtney, the girls, and Court's mama went dress shopping again yesterday. Back up to the city, to David's Bridal because Courtney pretty much had her heart set on a certain dress. She brought a pic. of a dress that Jeff had liked and tried on a few more dresses just to be sure. A couple of the strapless gowns she tried on were stunning, but they had a bit more bling than Courtney was ready for. Here is another example.
     It was down to two beautiful dresses and Courtney tried one on and then the other until she was sure. But as soon as she'd tried it on again, after viewing the other, she knew. The assistant said that was the first time she had ever seen a bride actually hug her dress. And she got to ring the bell to let everyone in the store know she had "found the one" (besides her fiance Jeff, of course.)

(Jeff- do not click on this link!!!!!!) Here is the dress she chose.

     Then it was onward and upward to the bridesmaid dresses. Sonya had to work, so Kelcie and Kate got to pick out which dress they wanted (sorry Sonya- hope you like it!) Kelcie wanted short and strapless; Kate wanted the opposite. At one point, Courtney said they could all wear the dress they wanted in the color that they wanted, but eventually Kelcie's preferences prevailed. They got this beautiful number, in Holly Green with the concession that the spaghetti straps could be added in the same color.

    Next on the list is the Junior Bridesmaid and Flower Girl dresses, in the color of watermelon.