Happiest of all the Holidays to you!

Readers - wedding planning has taken a backseat to holiday prepping these past couple days! (as it absolutely should) However, this was our first Christmas living together in our new, little home so I thought I would share some lovely photos of us (mostly Javs) decorating :)


This is Javs holding our tree on top of the car. (We got it at a little community garden spot just a few blocks from our apartment - which is why we thought only tying one end of it to the car would be sufficient....it was not.)
Oh, did I mention that it was pouring rain on the night we got the tree? Which is why Javs is using his jacket to block the open window in the first pic and why our tree is parked at the bottom of our stairs in the second. Logan (our tree) need to dry off a bit (as did our shoes) before coming upstairs.

Don't worry - I did ensure that we had the proper, festive meal for the occasion: Papa Johns and eggnog. As you can see - we basically finished off both.

Unpacking Christmas decorations went much the way unpacking our belongs did when we first moved in. Javs would take something out of the box - hold it up and ask 'Where does this go?' But eventually he got into!

And after such an exhausting evening - rewarded himself with a brew.

Actually the apartment turned out pretty adorable if I do say so myself. I love mostly that my tree has a light-up angel (thanks sis!) and that you can see it from the street :)

I hope that each of you has a joyous holiday. Joy is not a word used often, except during this season, but it seems to fit perfectly. Although I'm busy and certainly stressed - I'm just so happy to spend this holiday with the ones I love.

We'll get back to wedding stuff next week ;)

A party for the bride!

Javier and I are super lucky. We have a wealth of family and friends that have been so supportive since we got engaged (many of you readers included!).

Support is important during this process. There are a lot of decisions to be made and details to think out and its nice to have people that have your back; people that can help you keep your day a reflection of you; people that can have a reasonable, outside perspective when its needed and people you're close enough with to say 'I don't want your opinion right now' and know will still love you!

Enter bridal party.

That's right! In addition to some wedding dress shopping, I asked my bridesmaids to join in the celebration 'officially' this weekend!

ISABEL! Javier and I are so excited that Isabel has kindly agreed to be one of my bridesmaids! In the middle of finishing up her junior year, applying for colleges and starting her senior year, Isabel is going to help us plan a wedding :) I'm excited about the young, fresh, (okay, with-it) perspective that she is going to bring to my ideas. In addition to being my future sister-in-law, I think its great that someone who has known Javier even longer than I have will be involved with some of the girlie details. She'll help make sure they day is a reflection of both of us! She also has a good strong opinion that she is willing to share: As we got shopping, I pulled one of the first dresses from the wrack and asked 'Isabel, what do you think?' Her response: 'I think it looks trashy.' Let's just say I put that dress back...

JESSICA! Who better to ask to be in my wedding than my first (and only) wifey? In addition to sharing our childhood and college years, Jess and I had the unique opportunity of living together through those transformation years; from college student to 'real person.' It took a while (hell I'm still working on it) and it was ugly at times (i.e. melting plastic in the oven) but she was there through it all. Which means this whole wedding planning thing will be a cinch. She's also willing to challenge me when I need it and will let it go when I refuse her advice. She was an amazing support during our courtship and will help make the day a culmination of where Javier and I have come from and an extension to where we're going. So excited to have her standing up there with me!

KELSEY! My sister and Matron of Honor is none other than Mrs. Kelsey Bottoms. You all know that she is not only my sister, but my best friend. We really are lucky to have each other and to have had the chance to live so close. I had such a blast helping her out with her wedding a few years back. (She set some pretty tough, non-bridezilla shoes to fill.) Mostly, I value her opinion only slightly higher than Javier's ;) I kid, I kid, but she does have great tastes. My whole life she has been such an amazing big sister to me and so selfless when it came to my happiness. She also sets a great example for me by finding joy in every day. I have a tendency to get stressed and I hope I get to enjoy my wedding day without letting the stresses get in the way. I know she'll be a big part of ensuring that happens. Oh, and Javier loves her too.

The four of us went to a delicious brunch (I would highly recommend Fontaine's in Alexandria if anyone is looking for a good brunch spot!). I had made each of them a little card asking them to be a part of the wedding and explaining why I wanted them to be there not only on the day, but during the process. It wasn't fancy but I hope will be something each can keep a) to remember me by when we're no longer friends b/c the wedding planning ripped us apart or b) as a memento from that awesome Staples/Cabezas wedding they got to be a part of. They each also go at little pocket mirror (a gift idea I got from Javier's cousin, who gave me one that I use all the time!) to keep them as purdy on the outside as the in. Mostly I know that being a bridesmaid is a lot of work; time, money and strength (fighting that bridezilla) and wanted to show each that I really do appreciate them taking me...I mean the wedding on!

So, I have maids! Of the bridal variety anyway and look forward to working with each as we continue planning! Thanks again ladies for agreeing to be part of the day :)

Good things come to those who wait

-a quick tangent from our planning progression.

I want to stop and give some credit to Javs for how much I love my engagement ring. (I know, I've jumped back 2 months just when it felt like we were getting on a decision making roll - i.e. no friends, I did not buy a wedding dress this weekend, but I will catch you up on that later...)

I bring this up today only because another colleague announced her engagement and eagerly passed around a picture of her bling. As you can see - its gorgeous. Really beautiful. And yet I look at it and immediately think 'I don't like it as much as my ring.' Which is great, right? I mean isn't that the point? Shouldn't she in turn look at my ring and think the same endearing thought for her own? The ring (like the wedding) is supposed to be about you and not so cookie cutter that any girl could pick it up and feel equally special and loved wearing it. (Whoa. That's a lot of pressure for a ring...) But I think part of my ring attachment comes from knowing the time and love that Javier put into purchasing it.

I was getting impatient. There I said it, admitted it out loud not just to myself but to witnesses. Javier and I had talked about getting married way before our Albert outing. He was the one, and I was his and we both knew it. We even went as far as talking high level planning for the big day. Details like...2012...Charlottesville...October...Jamie Cullum singing at the reception. (Wow look at how much of that is coming true already!) So there it was October 1st and I was ring-less and wondering.

You guys know the end of that story, but I'm still weaseling the rest of the back story out of Javs. Like that he started looking a long time ago.
-That he stole my rings back in the spring when I forgot them one day (one of two times I have forgotten them in the 3 years we've been dating) to learn what size I was. (I've found out since then that my pearl ring was actually bent and the jeweler straightened it out for me for free while Javs was getting it sized...never noticed.)
-I've seen a value audit dated back in July and asked 'you had it in July?!!?' - somewhat accusingly.
-He's described to me the stress he felt picking a size (even after using my rings as a starting point) because he wanted it to slip on so perfectly in that moment.
-That he hugged the man he bought the ring from when he finally got to pick it up (which, I know, sounds very Javs because he is such a hugger, but still).
-That his mom was actually the one to suggest the shop where he bought it because his father had shopped there a long time ago.
Just some of the details I've learned of a whole story he experienced that I didn't even know about.

I give Javs a hard time about not being much of a planner - whoops. He planned so much and bought the most expensive thing we own as a gift...for me. And I love it. And I love that people look at it and say it 'looks like me.'
(I went wedding dressing shopping for one day and whined to him that I needed his help! and wanted to talk about the dresses - don't worry he's not interested and wants to be suprised.)

But he planned a really big and really fun surprise for me for months! And on Oct 1st all I was thinking was 'hurry up and buy it, how hard could it be? we need to get planning!' - man do I need to work on those patience.

But I'm so glad he took the time, so glad he planned it out and so glad I haven't wanted to take it off since it slipped perfectly on my finger.

Good job Javs :) Love you :)

**Advice Alert** Learn to have patience. Good things come to those who wait.

Out of this world....

...that's where the Hubble space craft literally got to fly and is what we think of our official wedding photographer - Andrea Hubbell! YAY!

Thank you all for the kind and open advice you gave on my last post. I truly believe it helped because you each called attention to the distinct differences in the two photographers we were considering. The more Javier and I talked, the more we realized, while Joyeuse photos are absolutely beautiful, they weren't what we wanted for our wedding pics. The vintage look that Tahni edits with certainly makes her photos romantic, but in the end we decided that we really didn't want that editing style for our day. Andrea's clean and crisp approach really allows you to see how everything was on the day (the good, the bad and the ugly) - but I think that's exactly what we want! We want someone to document the day for us, as is!
So in the end, while cost did matter, it didn't decide for us (which I think is okay). These pictures will be what lasts (besides our wonderful marriage) past the day so we decided that we should get what we really wanted and if it meant skipping out on something later on, we were okay with that!

Here is Andrea and her hubby, Brian (our 2nd photographer for the day). Javier and I really enjoyed sitting down with them for just an hour and are looking forward to continue working with them throughout our planning. (Preview - Andrea will be taking some engagement pictures for us as well - look forward to it!).

Okay, so what did I learn from our photographer finding journey? I'll give you two.

**Advice Alert** Stand your ground.

Now, you don't have to be mean about it, but I think it is okay to know what you want, set some priorities and stick by them. So far, all the vendors we've met with have had a lot of advice. Which is great! They're in this business, they do 30+ weddings a year and the truth is, this is our first (and hopefully last). So its great to have the advice supplied in plenty. However...if you know what you want (and I mean that its a hope above hopes) and a vendor tells you 'you really don't want (that thing you actually really do want)' - you totally have to stick to your guns. Yes, they have more experience, but they don't know you! - and the day is really about you and that other half. We ruled out a photographer because I felt like she kept dismissing some of the options I was asking about, saying 'you don't want that.' Well clearly I do or I wouldn't be asking you how much its gonna cost....so, take the advice, but stick with what you want. After all, they'll get to do 29 more wedding this year and you'll still only get your one. They can do it their way for another wedding ;)

**Advice Alert** Negotiate.

Okay, I'm saying it like I'm William Shatner in a Priceline commercial and I am not. In fact, Javier is the negotiator in our house hold. (When he negotiated the price of his bed last year - I was so embarrassed that I went to wait in the car rather than watch the painful process of the back and forth.) I'm a negotiating wuss - which is somewhat odd considering my ability to argue in most other aspects of my life...anyways, I do think that there is some room for negotiating with your vendors for your wedding. I'm personally more of a fan of asking for more stuff at the price the vendor gave rather than straight arguing $$. Anyways, the point is, it doesn't hurt to ask and if you don't ask then you definitely won't get more stuff. Andrea's price was a little higher than what we were hoping for, but we talked with her about what we were looking for and ended up with a package that really fit our needs at a cost we could live with. She told us herself that she was willing to 'work with couples' if she felt like they would be good to work with. So ask, maybe they'll say yes!

Alright readers, two big decisions down (place and someone to take pics of us there)! I think we'll try to tackle food next! Apparently we're supposed to feed you folk if you show up?

Oh! and I'm trying on wedding dresses this weekend :) If they let us take pics I promise to post some rejects next week :)

Strike a pose

Madonna sure as hell could. But will we be able to?

So now that Javier and I have finally selected the lands on which we will vow to tolerate each others' poor driving and lack of patience for a lifetime, the next decisions should just be flying into place.... well kinda.

One of the best things about having a wedding in Cville is that it is a super popular place to have a wedding. This means lots of vendors and lots of options. One of the worst things about having a wedding in Cville is that it is a super popular place to have a wedding. This means lots of vendors and lots of options.

Lots of vendors, including photographers (which I think I hinted in my last post was our next mountain to tackle). I bet I looked (and by looked I mean studied) something like 15 different photographers' websites. (And I'm sure I didn't even find all of my options because I stuck to the 'recommended' photographers I found on venue or blog sites.)

I narrowed that down to like 7 or 8 that I liked and then Javs took a look. We got it down to 5 together, then cut out 1 because of $$ and met with 4. We thought it was important to meet with the photographers to talk more about their style and editing process, but also to make sure we felt comfortable with them. I know we are all picture takers (particularly me around 1am on a night out) but taking those formal wedding shots on a day where your nerves are already heightened meant we wanted a photographer who would put us at ease.

I'll tell you now we eliminated 2 photographers after our meetings. Not that they both weren't lovely people - just not the right fit for us. So we've got it down to 2! And in true Javier and Audrey wedding planning fashion....we're having some trouble making our decision...

http://www.joyeusephotography.com/?cat=4
http://www.andreahubbell.com/blog/

I know...they're both awesome right. (AND now you have two more fun blogs to follow if you're like me and adding something new to your google reader daily)

So here is our dilemma; we really like them both! We did feel slightly more comfortable with one of them. And of course, the one we liked just slightly more happens to be more $$ (sad face). Nearest and dearest, what do you think? Are they both so beautiful that we're good either way? Should we take the cheaper route? Or is comfort king in this situation?

**They both list pricing on their sites so if you investigate enough you'll figure it out, but we'd love to have your opinion before you check out the costs so you're uninfluenced.
***Please note, that while your opinion is being requested it may end up being absolutely ignored. Comment at your own risk :)