Thursday, July 16, 2009

Save OUR date!






Last week, Shell and I were able to get our "Save The Date" postcards out into the hands of the masses. It was a joyful process (labeling/stacking, stamping/stacking), just knowing that it would be joyful for you all to be receiving them!

We had a little tribute session to Michael Jackson (we were doing this the night of his funeral) as we busted out a best of CD... classic. 

We quickly began hearing that people had received them just a couple days after we got them out (which was reassuring after sending them all out across the country), and have been given many compliments...

PROPS:
-The photos found on them were candidly taken during the actual proposal (in Millennium Park), by fantastic photographer Hannah Sutton!

-Then the card-stock layout and other elements were originally created by our delightful designer Amy Clark!


Although creating the guest list was not an easy task, we trust that those who ought to be there will be... who knows- maybe even a high-profile guest or two???

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Hammy (this is the man that will be marrying us)



Although it's not necessarily "new" news, we haven't publicized (blogged about) this one yet (it's never official until it's documented via the internet, duh!)... but we have asked Mike Hamilton to marry us (wed us, officiate us, etc.) on March 20th, 2010!!!  Hammy (the name that he is called most often) was the YP (youth pastor) @ C4 (Cross of Christ Community Church, the church Shelley and I grew up in) from '04-'08 (...I believe).  He has been a great YP (mainly for Shell as I was already off @ Moody when he became the "official" YP), ministry partner (Shelley was leading worship as a student and again in summer of '06, and I helped out pretty much anytime I wasn't @ Moody), and friend (the hangout, accountability, concert-goin', I'll watch your kids kind of friend... this is an exceptional type) to both of us!  We're super excited to have him be the pastor there for us on that day (since out of all the pastors IN THE WORLD he's the one who knows us best).

I enjoyed sharing this (hope you enjoyed reading it).    

-joshua (shelton)

Thursday, July 2, 2009

You'll Love David's Bridal



Today was more than an adventure, it was an excursion. At 11am today I have my appointment lined up for David's Bridal. My Mom, Amy (MOH) and myself arrived 10 mintues early with snacks in hand...just in case we got fussy! My Mom has Sugar Babies, Amy had Mike and Ikes and I had Snow Caps. At first our bridal consultant seemed nice and fun, but as time went on the more she began to clash with all of us. I felt like she was more concerned with making the sale that helping me find the perfect dress. After two hours of trying on dresses I got the point where when she asked what I thought of the dress I had on I simply said, "I'm done for the day." Seeing that it was 1 o'clock and we all seemed down from the progressivly worsening experience we headed over to Baja Sol for lunch. We got our food of tacos, quesadillas, and chips with salsa bar (Oh YEAH) and ate...a lot! While we ate I came to the conclusion that I had my top three dresses choosen and they were all beautiful but I felt like I would have had a better feeling about them if I would have gotten more productive feedback and care from my consultant. My Mom and I then both thought maybe we should call another David's Bridal, see if there was an open appointment and do it all over again...so we did.

We were able to make our way over to the other David's Bridal with plently of time to look at the Lands Inn Inlet next door. This second appointment was extra special because my Dad was able to join us as he was out making his business calls. As soon as we walked in I knew this was going to be a better experience. The front desk lady was SUPER nice and welcoming! She told us that our bridal consultant was going to be Mehert. She truly was a blessing. She was very warm and ready to have some bridal fun! She sat down with us and asked me about the wedding and what I liked in a wedding dress. She had me look through the catalog and pick a handful of dresses I would like to try on. I didnt tell her I was just at a David's Bridal so I picked out a handful and put my top three in the mix without telling her which ones those were. The funny thing is she choose the top three herself as the first three I would try on! And of course then I tried on other ones just for fun. The biggest change with her was that she got me the right size of dress! At the previous David's Bridal my consultant stuck with the same size even though it was too large. Mehert immedatley saw that I could fit better into the next size down and WOW what a difference a size makes. My top three looked SO MUCH BETTER when they actually fit!

Because Mehert has such a unique and beautiful name we all had trouble remembering the correct prounouciation so one time when my Mom asked how do you say it again she said that it means "mercy" so if we forgot we could just call her mercy. As soon as I heard that I was like "Oh thank you God for blessing us with Mercy!" Again I say she was a blessing.

We all had so much fun! Amy helped me get in and out of dresses which was very nice and helped Mehert pick out accessories so we could see the full picture. One of the best parts was when I tried on one dress Amy and I had both seen on a manique that we thought looked really lovely...but once I got it on...all we could do was comment on how bad it was! My Dad immediately was saying, "no, no, no" Amy said it looked like a swim suit top and even Mehert was saying "this sounds awful when you walk"

But the best part of the day was finding my dress! I had tried on a different one of my top three which was way to small (I thought my Baja Sol was going to come up!) then Mehert went to get a bigger size in it while I put on MY dress (which was in my top three), then I put on the bigger size of the other dress and as soon as I came out in the bigger size Amy and I both said the one I just had on before was IT!

Whewww so a long long day but very worth it because I found my dress, I was showed mercy and it was in our price range! I can't wait for you all to see it! :)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

postcards, fabric, and gowns


Well things keep coming together.  We received our save the date postcards and they look awesome! (Thank You Chatty-Cathy!)  Our next steps are to finalize the guest list, buy stamps, print labels and have those little cards of joy on their way!  



I went fabric shopping today and went very well.  I believe I found the fabric I want for my ladies and it is a beautiful shade of green.  I have some amazing seamstresses lined up to sew the bridesmaids dresses which is going to be awesome.  Not only will the dresses be less expensive, they will be in a lovely green not offered in stores and of course made with love! 



Tomorrow I embark on a big adventure of trying on bridal gowns.  My appointment is at David's Bridal and I am excited and nervous at the same time.  I have an idea of what I want, but its a big decision, and sorry no details about what I'm looking for or what I find will be disclosed....you all will just have to wait until March 20th.  One thing I will say is that I am not looking to break the bank for a dress that will be worn once.  
Well just wanted to give you all a brief update!