I’m sorry i’ve been M.I.A. lately… it’s pretty obvious what i’ve been up to!! I’m the new member of my husbands family haha. Not sharing new last name. you understand right?? I’m a wife though! How crazy is that?? Anyway.. onto the pics! Some are professional, some are guest photos!
i made all of the decor, programs, and the cake topper! :) We DJ-ed the reception ourselves and everyone pitched in to help us make it such a great day!
So, we’re engaged now, Right?
Good. Got that.
We’ve told our friends and family, strangers and friends of strangers. I told the world right here on my blog. It’s been 2 months and I’m still encountering people that still didn’t know we were engaged. My dentist didn’t know, my friends far away haven’t seen the ring in person. Each time someone says congrats or “let’s see it!” I get all giddy all over again and hold out my hand as if we were engaged yesterday.
It really is a great feeling. I don’t brag, I don’t just randomly hold out my ring finger to strangers. I keep it hidden sometimes, protected in my pocket. It’s hard when I talk about Ian though. The word “Fiance” is so silly sounding to me. Not that I don’t like it, or I don’t want to be his Fiance either, but we both agree that the word fiance is just an odd word. Most of the time I call him Ian to people, or I’ll say “my boyfriend”, or jokingly say “my soon-to-be hubby”. Sometimes I get messed up and say, “boyfr- oh, I guess fiancee now….” Which then makes that person say, “ohmigosh! Let’s see it!?” *Cue the warm fuzzy feeling* :)
The first thing we did was choose a time period for the date of our wedding. Well, I lied. I guess the first thing we tried to do was a guest list, but that still isn’t finalized (and I bet it won’t be for a while).
Anywhoo… we didn’t want a long engagement and Winter and summer are just too extreme weather for us. That leaves Autumn, which we both adore. Autumn was 11 months away. Practically “next year!” Which made my mom a bit nervous since I’m her first married out of 3. (Me too!) The second option was Spring…. of 2013. I pictured gardens and flowers, and Robins Egg blue lanterns, and pretty white fluffy decorations, and a gorgeous outdoor wedding somewhere with a view. BUT it’s Spring.. of 2013. That, to me, is a long engagement. That’s practically a year and a half. Nothing wrong with an engagement that long, but we didn’t want it. Meaning Fall of 2012 was the winner.
I can’t even begin to count the number of times we were told “Enjoy the engagement!” “Don’t let the planning be stressful!”, “Walk away when you disagree!”, “Enjoy it!”, Enjoy it!”
I’d nod and say, “yes yes I know”… but secretly, I was stressed from Day 1.
We needed a place! A church! and a date! I’m from NY, he lives in NJ. We didn’t even have a STATE at one point! We started just exploring places blindly.
Right around thanksgiving, we looked at a place, The Lodge at Lake Hird. A huge restored Lodge from the 1930s. Wood beams, wood floors, huge fireplace on one side, right on a lake, area on a back patio for a cocktail hour and everything. 
THAT was the description. It was umm… a hunting lodge. NOTHING AGAINST HUNTING LODGES, but for a wedding? Picture this: 20-something decapitated deer hanging on the walls staring at me and my guests. No thanks. (They can’t be removed, I asked.) Maybe I’d rent the place for Ian’s retirement party one day, but not a wedding. I was disappointed, and had a nice little freak out about how we won’t find a place for us that we can afford, and blah blah.
Oh yes, Budget. I won’t reveal the full extent of our budget. You can’t buy a new car with it is all I’ll say. We have two generous families (my mother is giving me half) and Ian’s family has offered any support we may need. Thank you all. <3
We're both self sufficient individuals, so accepting help and things is still new to us. I have been saving for .. oh… about 1.5 years. Ian and I have been dating for 2.5 now. Yes, I started saving before I was engaged. Right as soon as I knew, right when we started talking future plans, and possible marriage, I began a Wedding Fund bank account at the bank. I felt so adult-y!
Geez, I'm sorry… this is the longest post ever. I'll add more photos as an apology!
FAST FORWARD…
We choose Our Lady Queen of Peace as our Church. This is currently Ian's church, and will be mine when I move to NJ. It seemed right to choose it. It's a gorgeous church.
Right before Christmas, Ian and I checked out the venue called the Warwick Center. It has a chapel on the property (Mulder Chapel), with a reception room right underneath. (The Port Ewen Room). We had booked our church, so we choose that reception space! It’s got wonderful views of Warwick Valley in Warwick, NY! The views are really breathtaking, and these photos were from December. Just imagine with all the fall foliage!
The room in this photo is set up for another wedding (180 people!) ours will obviously look different with our designs and only 100 or so people!
Patio Space for Cocktails
thy have plans for a gazebo here, but maybe not before our wedding.
We also met with a caterer. He was fabulous. We choose a great menu, and are working out some kinks. Hope we can work with him. I’ll share the menu in my next post!
I got these books!
And also unrelated.. i got this one on Audiobook:
It’s to listen to while in traffic. Audiobooks are so great. Why has it taken me so long to start listening?!
Now I cant wait to go home and start reading and learning some more! Ian’s sister is having a boy! So I’ve gotta get some cute male, blue, boyish, tough, animal, cars, planes, automobile-themed fabrics. :)
Also i’m in the market for a rotary cutter. Been looking around and comparing prices.
I’m liking this fiskars one.
QUESTION: Is it worth buying the Pinking Blade? will it cut through the fabric? or is it just for scrapbooking?
I really need to work on the next Illustration Friday theme “dessert”. I have too many ideas!
While I was stalling, I updated my etsy once again to include these pretty little treasures:
A cute little Tea Pot necklace:
& two pairs of rainbow earrings.. cool and warm colors. :)
I also added a photo of my gift wrapping to each listing. All Jewelry comes in a 100 % Recycled Kraft paper box with tissue and ribbons. :)
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In other news, Ian took me to see Mary Poppins on Broadway for my birthday! I’ve never been to Broadway show. It was awesome. :) We took the PATH train from Hoboken. I’ve also never been to Hoboken. It’s beautiful! You don’t even need to be an artist to appreciate all the details on these buildings!
Me outside the gorgeous station. Did you know that the whole station was copper, and after time it turned this green color? Like the Statue of Liberty! What a sight to see back in the day. Photo credit & Fun Fact by: Ian Hopkins. :)
The ceiling is ALL Tiffany glass! GORGEOUS!
Photo credit: Ian Hopkins. :)
So, Ian is still in the process of purchasing a house. The deal has been dragging since Jan, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel, with a closing as early as Sept 9th! (VERY wishful thinking though)
So armed with happy thoughts, we decided to go out-and-about looking for ideas on furniture. Window shopping, sort of. :) We stopped at Home Goods, Home Depot, Wal-mart, K-mart, and SLEEPY’S. While at sleepy’s they put us on a machine bed type thing that measures your body weight and how you sleep and where your joints hit and where you need the support. It was awesome. After watching a mini-movie, and having a mini massage by this giant bed, we got our results.
It turns out my current bed is too firm for me, and his current bed is too soft for him. Thus the aches and pains. Long story short, we tried out a ton of beds! Huge beds, tall beds. I have a twin bed, so everything was huge! (enter Sleep-to-Live bed) It was big, and soft and nice and perfect and you can customize it! They had a huge sale that was worth hanging on to that idea. I want it! Everyone NEEDS this bed. :) Haha, I sound like an infomercial, don’t I? Sorry.
It was huge! Done with Prismacolor Markers and Pencil. :)
This is Ian and I sitting on a huge mattress and box spring in the middle of nowhere. I liked the simplicity. :) I haven’t drawn a picture of us in almost a year. It was fun. :)
My first thought was a double-cheeseburger because I was so hungry, haha.. so I gave my rabbit friend a double carrot-burger with cheese. :)
First a sketch:
Then the final drawing:
And then i used markers to color it in!
I brought it into photoshop to fix the background.. it was WAY to streaky. This was my first time using markers to color something in completely. Before I was just using them for little bits and pieces. :) Not too bad, right? Colored pencils will always be my favorite though! :) Then, I added the “All You can Eat” sign and the borders and copyright in Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe would be proud. :)
I leave for vacation on Saturday! I’m heading to Seneca Lake in Lodi, NY with Ian and his family. :)
This is a Pic of the house we’ll be staying in :
Hope the weather is great, and the wine is tasty, and the antique shops are overflowing with junk! See you all August 9th! Take care! ;)
-D
COMPLETED PROJECT! Stare at it in all its crocheted glory! :)
It’s a brand new pot holder/ hot pad for Ian’s house (when this house deal finally goes through! its been dragging since Jan.) i used medium weight Grey Wool and a size H hook i think.
i still have to “block” it, so any other views makes it look all wonky warpy.
And a project a made a few months back is this adorable dragon!
(sewing on his belly)
He’s available for sale in my etsy shop!
i bought a ton of supplies these past few days. I’ve got lots of jewelry and embroidery projects floating around my brains! They will make it to my etsy shop as well! check back as often as you’d like!
<3
Also, in other news… my car got rear ended in traffic yesterday. I’m fine, the guy is fine. Just a scratched up bumper for me, and a nice big dent in his grill and cracks for him. I hate the Tappan Zee Bridge. Luckily the guy was very nice and offered up as much help as i needed to get it fixed up. We waited FOR-EV-ERRRR for a NY State Trooper to file the report. ::sigh::
[Warning: Do not take photos while driving in traffic. very dangerous… except when its practically a parking lot. :/ ]
i love to give surprise presents. :)
i hope whatever everyone did was lovely!
:)
Two little Characters i made for a Christmas card. :)
Bear’s hat had silver glitter on it, and Fox’s holly barrette had iridescent glitter on it. :)
A Very Good Coat Rack 