8/29/09 - going to the chapel

So then we made our way to the church and our room for final preparations.

Something borrowed, old & blue!

This ring belonged to my grandma (I affectionately called her Nana). When she passed away, my mom got most of her jewelry, and this ring was one of her favorites. So my mom let me borrow it :) I was so happy to have something of Nana's to carry down the aisle, I know she would have loved to be there in person. I was very, very close to her!

Ryan's mom gave me a beautiful handkerchief with my new initials. I wrapped it around my bouquet and carried it down the aisle as well! She wrote me a beautiful note that made me tear up and want to cry. I'm so blessed to be a part of the Duckworth family!


And the preparations are completed with something new...my dress!


I only had to use the bathroom once that day, thank goodness! It was a beast to get on & off and the bride's bathroom was the size of a refrigerator. Not easy to get in & out of even without a big dress on. Thank you Holly & Ashley for helping me out :) True friends!


Next post...the reveal!!

weekend recap

Did I "survive" my first dress fitting? Well yes I did :) Thankfully, it still fits. The biggest alteration will be shortening the dress, since it is about 2 feet too long on me. It was really fun, and I wish I could show you pictures, but then that would just ruin everything now wouldn't it? My mom, sister, and my mom's friend Phyllis came with me. I love Phyllis because she knows how to sew, and we tried to figure out how they made the veil I really want. It's almost $300!! But I haven't been able to find a veil like it anywhere else. I'll keep looking though.

Here's a picture I can show you though...Holly in her Maid of Honor dress! I don't think it's bad luck to share these. She is getting a different dress from the bridesmaids, because she's that special :) It's wrinkled from shipping, but you get the idea. I just love the back!

On an earlier trip, she modeled the bridesmaids' dresses. I love these so much, especially the cap sleeves!


After the dress fitting, I went home and found that a wedding present had been shipped to the house. I honestly hadn't been expecting anything, and was quite curious as to what it could be & who it was from. Well, surprise of surprises, it was from one of the voiceover talents I work with occasionally out in LA. I have never actually "met" him - we only talk over the phone when we have promos to record. But he totally surprised me and sent a wedding gift - 8 placemats and 8 napkins from Macy's. He totally made my day!


Also after the dress fitting, Holly & I spent many hours addressing invitations. My dad did his calligraphy on all the inner envelopes, but he ended up not being able to address all the outer envelopes. So, he gave Holly & I a little crash course on calligraphy and we tried our hardest to address the envelopes as beautifully as he would have. I forgot to take pictures of Dad's calligraphy, but here are some older photos from a weekend where we assembled everything. The invitations were kind of a pain to put together, but Holly was a pro and caught on quickly!




I got back to Atlanta on Sunday and did a little shopping. I found some great summer dresses at Old Navy! I think the yellow one will be good for the shower this weekend, and the pink one for my Atlanta shower & bachelorette in early August. The pink one is my favorite shade of pink, one of our wedding colors :)

I also stopped by Nine West, my favorite shoe store, and got these for the wedding day. I'm a flip flop kind of girl and can't imagine wearing anything else on my wedding day, hehe. Plus, they were on sale! Can't beat that.

July is here!

Yeah, so we haven't been the greatest about keeping this up to date. Sorry!

But, it is now July, which means we have less than 2 months to go til the BIG DAY! Ahhh we can't wait! I'm not sure about Ryan, but I have some exciting events coming up this month. My first dress fitting is this Friday, 7/10! I hope I can make it to Augusta in time. My company has an awesome thing called "summer Fridays" which means we can leave at 3pm if our work is tied up enough. So, hopefully, I'll be able to leave at 3 and make it just in time for my 5:30 appt. It's a little inconvenient because the seamstress only works Thur & Fri, and being in Atlanta certainly makes the alterations process harder. But, I'm really excited about putting my dress on again, and seeing what the seamstress has in mind for my dress.

Another exciting event coming up is my first bridal shower on 7/18. One of our dear family friends and the wife of our officiant, Joyce Reimer (or as I like to call her, Aunt Joyce), is hosting a brunch at her house. It will mostly be the women from my hometown church (where I've attended since I was 10 yrs old), but Aunt Joyce said all ladies are welcome to attend :) If you want more details, let me know!

After the shower, I'm going to Halo Salon for my hair & make-up consultation. We are renting out the upstairs area for the bridesmaids luncheon and having all the girls in my wedding party hair done, plus my hair & make-up. That will be a fun time :) I have some ideas for my hair, but I'm still not sure exactly what I want. Any suggestions?

an exciting day!

I just listened to my voicemail and guess what?? My wedding dress has arrived in Augusta! :) :) :) Yippee!!! I can't wait to go home & try it on! It came so much earlier than I expected...we were estimating 5 months from when we ordered. I guess we ordered it early Feb? So definitely wasn't expecting it to arrive this month!

Wanna see it? Haha! Just kidding! You'll have to wait til August 29th.

I have to say it's been so great working with Elegant Bridals. They make you feel like family. Our first visit, I was confused because you don't see any of the dresses. They keep them all hidden, and your consultant talks to you about your dream dress. Then she pulls dresses and you try them on in rounds. It was a different process from any of the other bridal salons I went to, but I really enjoyed it. Our consultant, Sara, was also so sweet and fun. The dressing rooms are private and large, and there's also a big stage area outside the rooms where you can try on your favorite dresses in a big, big mirror. I hope the rest of the process (alterations!) goes just as smoothly and fun-ly (is that a word?) as finding the dress! I wasn't planning on having bridal portraits done before the wedding, but now that my dress is here so early, maybe I will!

What an exciting day :)