Monday Morning.

My morning: lucky charms, honeymoon planning, Parks and Recreation. Last night, I completely figured out a potential itinerary for our trip to Disney World. We aren't going until next October, but we are trying to get all of this stuff figured out in the next few months so we don't have to worry about it while we are doing the majority of the wedding planning. Surprisingly enough, we have a lot of stuff planned out for the honeymoon. All that needs to be done is get a room booked and get restaurant reservations. Yay!

How's your Monday going so far? I got an unexpected day off, so I'm using it to browse Pinterest.. so productive! :)
xo Haley

Ps... I got my first spray tan. I had gotten so used to being pale for the past few years (I used to tan a lot in high school... no bueno, you guys!) - and I don't get the chance to 'lay out' in the sun or at a pool all that often. So.. I got a spray tan! It's seriously not that bad; I didn't turn out orange or some unnatural color, it wasn't awkward (okay, it was kind of sort of awkward). I felt gross for a while since you can't shower for 8 hours, and I felt really sticky - oh, and you can't wash your hands! That was gross. But it's not all bad! I've enjoyed my week of color and maybe I'll do it again soon. :)

Dream Venue + Wedding Planning Woes

It's so crazy that our wedding date is still 15 months away, yet we have a lot of the *big* details (and even a few details) planned. We have a caterer (my dad, actually!), our wedding party is pretty much all picked (yay!), a photographer, a possible videographer, invites + programs are being designed right now, we're working on the venue (it's proving to be the most stressful part), and we've got a lot of our music planned out. 

It is incredibly exciting, and such a happy time - I just want it all to go by so much faster. I'm not taking my time and actually enjoying it... I've been so excited about getting married and having a wedding since I was like two years old, so I'm ready to get the party started! I thought that I would enjoy the whole planning process, but as it turns out - I'm just stressed out (and so is my momma! haha!) But - it doesn't matter how it happens or when it happens, I just want to get married to Blake. That's all that matters. :) 

The photos are all from our dream wedding venue, Miss Gilmore's Carriage House. I had no idea this place even existed until I searched high and low on Google, and just stumbled upon it. I blogged about this a few weeks ago, but we went and visited it while Claire was in town and we fell.in.love. While we were there, the woman who runs the venue kept mentioning that she hated her website. Well, my dad's best friend is a graphic designer (and is designing our invites) and he offered to completely redesign her website in exchange for the wedding venue for our wedding. I was ecstatic when I heard that he was willing to offer that to her, and yesterday I got the news that they brought up the offer to her...and she hired someone to do a new website last week. Imagine my bummed out attitude while I was out at the movies with Blake! All I wanted to do was get out of there. I feel bad for being so bummed out about it for so long yesterday, because I know that being sad about things (while useful for some, it never helps me), doesn't get anything done. And just because she couldn't accept the offer, it doesn't mean we have to give up the venue! It just means we're going to have to move things around in our budget and continue sweet talking my dad. The only other option if all that doesn't work out is moving our wedding date so we can have our original wedding location. So nervous, but I know it'll all work out the way it's supposed to. 

And like I said - in the end, I get to marry Blake and that's all that matters. :) 

Thanks for letting me vent! Sometimes I just need to write it all down and get it out of my system - plus, it'll be great to read back on all these wedding woes after we're married and get a good laugh out of it. :)

xo Haley

*Photos from @alissaclaire on Instagram :) 

Wedding planning, thus far.

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We have a date! We were wanting a June wedding, but the heat so far this June (and it's only the fifth!) has us convinced otherwise. Our families both agreed upon September 28, 2013. So we have fifteen months to go! Hopefully you'll stick around for the journey! I definitely plan on posting progress of planning as we go along. And I'm super excited!

Anyways, we originally picked June 22, 2013. Come to find out, Dad apparently has a "BBQ competition" already scheduled for that date. What? Seriously? So, we nixed that date. It wasn't until this past weekend we started tossing the idea around of a wedding in September. It seemed to be the least busy month for my family, so we scouted out some dates. After some talking, we had our hearts set on September 28th. Why? Because it's my grandparent's anniversary. (And grandma is SO excited to share!) 

Our first choice location isn't available on that date because of a fall craft festival (that I NEVER miss, but it looks like I'll be missing it next year...). So, it looks like we'll have to search elsewhere. Last night, my mom and I started a list of places we want to visit. I think we are going to try and fit in a visit or two this weekend while one of my bridesmaids (Claire!!) is in town. Excited to start the planning process for real!

We haven't even talked about size OR budget yet (scary topics we are avoiding, yikes!) ... so that may influence a few choices of venue. 

Did your first choice venue ever fall through? What did you do?

xo Haley

Disney Dreaming

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I went to Disney World for the first time when I was 7 years old. My family went on a vacation to Florida to stay with my dad's sister (she lives there) for the week. On the very last day of our vacation, we got to spend the day in Magic Kingdom. This was such a big deal because as everyone knows... Disney World is not cheap. It was seriously a dream come true, even though I can't remember it now, and I only have pictures to remind me. We went again when I was 10 (my birthday was actually right in the middle of our trip!) - my dad's company has an annual week long meeting in some random location, and that year, it was in Disney World, so that families could come along. This was an even bigger dream come true for me (and my family) because we were able to stay at the Contemporary Resort (which is like, top notch, let me tell you). We got to spend an entire week on Disney property, and got to visit every single park (some more than once!). I spent my birthday celebrating with Mickey and Minnie, and to this day, I still remember eating breakfast in Cinderella's castle. That trip to Disney is by far my favorite memory, even though I can't clearly remember it these days. (Old person brain!)

Anyways. 

I'm getting married! The whole thing is still sinking in, seeing as I've been planning my wedding for years. And I'm coming to find... with Pinterest at my finger tips 24/7, I basically have all that I want to do for my wedding completely planned out. All that I have to do is book things, and start the hundreds and hundreds of DIY projects. And with over a year until the actual wedding, I've got time to get this stuff done. So... my attention has been focused on the honeymoon! Blake and I have decided on... Disney World (didn't see it coming, right? Haha!). We've been reading all the books and the websites and talking all.the.time about Disney related things... and I can't wait! I think we are more excited about Disney World than the actual wedding! 

Looking through Disney blogs and such, it kinda makes me wish I was more of a princess kinda girl. If I were, I would totally force my parents into a Disney World wedding. Those things are stinking expensive though! But seriously. They look amazing! I'm sure my parents are glad they aren't going to have to shell out for a destination wedding of that level. :) 

I just wanted to share this today! We have Disney on the brain over here! So if you have any fun stories or tips, feel free to share! We *love* hearing about Disney vacations! It's our current obsession. :) 

xo Haley

I Have Bridesmaids!

 I've been browsing wedding blogs long enough to know that I needed a super good way to ask my bff's to be in my wedding. I actually had a completely different idea in mind when I walked into Hobby Lobby but walked out with supplies to make something entirely different. Here's what I came up with:

A bracelet was pretty much a no brainer as a gift for Breigh; we like to have little BFF type trinkets like this (I got us bracelets once that we both wore until they literally were falling apart). I decided to keep all of the bracelets the same for all the girls and make secret message bracelets! Good news: they loved them, and I am so happy with the way they turned out! I gave Breigh's hers first, and she was so surprised when she got it. I sent Claire's in the mail, along with her graduation card, so I'm pretty sure it came as a surprise to her, too. ;) And I gave Cassie her's last night! She'd seen Breigh wearing her bracelet and begged to know where she got it, but Breigh wouldn't tell her, so she was so happy when I gave her one of her own! I just thought this was a perfect, simple little keepsake to remember the whole planning process!
Colby is also a part of my wedding party, but I didn't think that a bracelet was quite fitting for him, so I just flat out asked him... he said yes and then asked what he could wear. Love him!

So there you have it! My side of the wedding party is official! I'm so excited and I can't wait to plan this little shindig with my best friends! I love you Breigh, Claire, Cassie and Colby! ♥

xo Haley
(and of course... we Instagrammed every time they got their little present!)

(Claire lives in Arkansas so I had to send hers in the mail! But she just told me today that she'll be visiting in the summer to help me plan! I'm so happy to have her by my side during all of this!)

Soon To Be Mrs. Tucker

So pretty much everyone knows already, but I had to make it "blog official." I'm engaged!
We went to downtown St. Charles (a historic town, just right outside of downtown St. Louis - the streets are made out of brick and all the shops are in old houses. It's the cutest!) - we just went to look around and maybe eat, but Blake had intentions of proposing there! It was so adorable, he was so nervous!

The ring was my great grandma's, from around the 1940's, I think. My grandma kept it in the original box with the wedding band in a little glass case with all of her mom's teacups, and so I've walked past it many, many times in my life. I've had my eye on it for quite some time! Finally, on Easter, I worked up the courage to ask her if I could try it on - and it fit perfectly! I think Blake knew that I loved it A LOT, so he took my grandma out for dinner and asked her if we could have it! And yes - he asked my dad for permission (!) and he even asked my best friend, Breigh (!!!).

We are so excited! We don't have any dates in mind just yet, but we have a timeframe we'd like to go with. My mom just asked for at least a year's notice so she can look hot at my wedding. ;)

Thank you for all the kind words when we broke the news yesterday! You all are seriously the. best.
We love you!
xo Haley


Oh, and PS - yesterday was just an exciting day all around! Right after we got engaged, we met little Amelia (and I finally met Janel's husband, Adam, after all these years of knowing her!), then we ate at Hooters (real classy! But Blake had never been there, so of course we had to go). We also went to a Florence + the Machine concert at the Peabody Opera House (gorgeous, gorgeous venue), and .... We MET her. No joke. More on that later. :)