Rehearsal Dinner...

I remember a picture in the bathroom of the summer camp I went to every year up near Payson, Arizona. It was one of my favorite pictures. It was actually a two picture series and the first picture was a wedding party in their casual everyday wear, standing distracted in the church at the rehearsal. The second picture is of the actual ceremony, everyone standing to attention and dressed to the nines and the seats of the church filled with wedding guests. I loved the idea of the difference between rehearsal dinner and the actual day of - the chaos of the planning and making sure everyone knows their place and where to walk and where to stand.

Every step along this journey made the wedding more and more real, but then when everyone is together and finally in the same place, it is a little overwhelming that it is actually happening!!
The night before the BIG DAY our wedding party, our family, and some friends all gathered to plan and rehearse and celebrate.

The day actually began earlier in the afternoon when everyone showed up to start setting up. We were like a well oiled machine with everyone pitching in to set up chairs, hang lights, arrange tables and get everything ready for all the detailed decorating the next day. Everyone was so beyond helpful and I probably seemed a little frazzled running around the yard answering a million questions and trying to make sure things were going where they needed to go, but honestly it was just nervous energy and everyone was doing a superb job!! It was flawless!

Aaron and I had the wonderful privilege of entrusting the coordinating of our wedding day to the amazing Sandy Mowen. She was spectacular! She has been friend of my parents for over 30 years and has planned countless weddings over the decades. She was just amazing! Everything went so smoothly with her at the helm!

It was so fun to have everyone together in the same place finally meeting each other!

Introducing our wedding party

Waiting to walk down the aisle with my bridesmaids and dad

My beautiful girls - (from left to right) Ashley, Jeannette, Elisabeth, Nicole, and Kendra

The fellas - (From left to right) - John (pastor), Aaron, Andy, Shawn, Jeremy, Bruce, and Tyler

My dad and I

I love this picture of Elisabeth, Aaron and I - pretty much sums us up

Elsie & Emolyn - pretty much sums them up 

Sister love :)

Aaron's parents hosted the rehearsal dinner - Mac n' Cheese bar. A very clever meal idea if you ask me! You put some Mac n' Cheese in a martini glass and then load up with all sorts of toppings - from chicken to mushrooms and onions. We ate and laughed and the anticipation for the next day was hanging in the air. We honored our wedding party with gifts and words of love and thanks.
At the end of the night Aaron walked me to my car and we said goodnight for the last night next to my car. It was the last night I would have to drive home to a different home than him. It was so hard saying goodbye to Aaron that night, but so wonderful to know that the next time I saw him would be as I walked toward him down the aisle...

Prayer Shower...

The Sunday before my wedding was the last of my bridal showers before the big day. My mom had asked right after I got engaged if she could throw me a prayer shower. It would be entirely focused on encouragement and prayer for me and my marriage and Aaron and the wedding prep. When we started throwing around dates, we were planning on having it much earlier, but then we got the dates for when my friend Carla was getting into town for the wedding and decided to plan it so she could come. It ended up coming at a PERFECT time. I was so excited to start the week of my wedding covered in prayer by women who have known me and loved me for most of my life.
What a sweet time! I can't remember all the words that each woman shared about me and for me, so I am thankful they wrote it down. A lot of the women were older and had known me since I was very small. My mom created the most wonderful environment for me to be affirmed and loved so beautifully!

The table set up

This picture is a little blury, but it is a sweet picture of my mom and I

Aaron's mom Laurie gave me a "prayer request box"

My mom wanted the party to focus more on the affirmation and prayer time than any gift opening, so while some people gave me some awesome gifts here and there, most people put in money to get me a Kitchen Aid!! I registered for the pistachio color and it is so pretty sitting in my kitchen now!

Opening my KitchenAid

The rest of the evening was spent praying! I was so honored and touched by each of these women's influence in my life and to have them surrounding me with prayer and encouragement was so priceless! I loved that I started my wedding week this way.

Bachelorette Party!!!

SOOO sorry for the lack of blog posting... I am going to try to catch up here in the next couple of weeks and then hopefully I'll continue posting.

My sister-in-law after a long hiatus has starting blogging again and she has lit a fire under me to get my blog up to speed. The next several posts will be wedding catch up. If you are adequately sick on my wedding, then I apologize... who am I kidding, I don't apologize, my wedding was awesome and I can't wait to share with you the behind the scenes details and stories that magical day.


This post is going ALL THE WAY BACK before the wedding to my bachelorette party! I admitted in a previous post for my bridal showers that I didn't give much thought to the parties leading up to the wedding, but I will tell you, I had dreams about my bachelorette party. However, my bridesmaid Jeannette put it out there right from the beginning that she didn't want me to be in on any of the planning and that it would be a complete surprise!! I actually LOVED the idea, because I trusted my girls COMPLETELY to give me the party of my dreams... and it was!!!!

My roommate and bridesmaid, Elisabeth, packed my bag for me so as to give nothing away. We then hopped in the car and began a long drive to the other side of the city. I had no idea where we were headed and after ruling out Disneyland and a trip to Cardinals stadium, I gave up guessing and enjoyed the ride. We eventually pulled into a parking lot and walked into an establishment called PINK... turns out my bridesmaids had scheduled a dance class for us!!! We learned to pole dance!!! This was actually something I had mentioned to Jeannette probably a year before that I would love to do for my bachelorette party and she remembered!!! We had the most amazing time laughing, being silly, and trying our darndest to be at least a little bit sexy. haha! I am not at liberty to share a good portion of the pictures, but here is the group shot from after the class!



Note: You can see I have my hair done in the shot. I had my bridal hair trial that afternoon and this was the ultimate test as to whether the style would hold up for the wedding day - little did I know it would hold up through a pole dance routine!

After the class, we headed to a hotel at the Biltmore Fashion Park and changed to go to dinner at Zin burger. The rest of the party joined us for dinner! I cannot tell you the joy in my heart to have a loud, fun, laughter filled table of my best friends all together!



After dinner it was back to the hotel for gifts and girl talk. Most of the girls at my party are apart of my "girl group." We started getting together 9 years ago at first as a bible study, then as a book club, and then as a close knit group of friends. In the last 9 years we have celebrated each others college graduations, engagements, danced at each others wedding, sat in the waiting room for the births of babies, both rejoiced and grieved over life, and grown up together month after month sitting on each others' couches. But one of my favorite things that we do is love and lead each other in new exciting life seasons. At bachelorette parties especially we make a point to sit and talk and pray for whoever it is getting married and answer question about wedding days, marriage, love, sex and anything else you can think of. I think this time at my bachelorette party was my most favorite! My friends made me feel safe and supported and laughed with me and encouraged me! I don't mind saying that I have something pretty rare and precious with this group of women :)

It was such an awesome time! We stayed up way past midnight and just had a blast!

5 Days...

In 5 days (from this very second) I will be walking down the aisle to the man of my dreams and my best friend in the whole world - Aaron Kiva Mertz.

In 5 days I will be promising to love him for the rest of my life and stand beside him forever.

In 5 days I will be his wife. I will be his partner. I will care more about someone else than I will myself.

In 5 days I will embark on the crazy adventure of marriage. I know it will be challenging, difficult, amazing, joyful, filled with excitement and hope and wonder. And I will be doing it all with the most amazing man I have ever met and will ever meet.

In 5 days I will dance with at our reception. The moment I have always dreamed about! We will be surrounded by family and friends and loved ones who will continue to support us throughout our entire marriage.

In 5 days I will leave my wedding, with my HUSBAND! We will run through a line of sparklers to our get away car. We will drive to one of the most beautiful resort hotels I have ever known and take a big sign of relief that the wedding planning is over and the rest of our lives have begun.

In 5 days I will move into Phoenix to live with the person I will always live with for forever!

In 5 days I will be Mrs. Mertz!

Can you tell I'm excited?

Bridal Showers!!!

Oh my gosh!!! It is actually happening!! The official wedding festivities have begun and therefore, it is getting more and more real and more and more exciting!!

I will admit the wedding planning has grown stale and become an obligation more than anything to get excited about. Having 4 stores to stop at on my way home from work, only to not accomplish a single thing at any of the stores is more frustrating than I could handle there for a week or two. I never actually reached the point in every brides wedding planning process where you contemplate the merits of an elopement, but I did feel heavy feelings of regret for not spending the money (which I don't even have) to have someone do all the wedding planning for me. However, just as everything was becoming stressful and bleak, the bridal showers began!!!!

I was the girl that dreams about details of her wedding - from the centerpieces to the shoes to the music playing as I danced with my father to the first kiss with my new husband! But, I was NOT the girl who really thought about my bridal shower! I love bridal showers as much as the next wedding-obsessed girl, but I knew that the bridal shower was for someone else to plan, and I had too much mental space dedicated to floral bouquets. So when it came time to planning my bridal showers, I was so incredibly thankful for my amazing bridesmaids, beautiful mother-in-law, and spectacular mom who happily offered to throw showers for me!!! I trusted these women so much and was so thankful that they had a vision for those beautiful parties celebrating Aaron and I. I was also so thankful that I was free from having to think one minute about a bridal shower and focus all my attention on my DIY wedding :)

I am one incredibly blessed and honored woman!!!

First up was my large bridal shower! I invited mostly woman near my own age - married, single, and from all groups in my life. It was so much fun having those women all around me! Each of them I love and cherish so much! It was held at SunUp Brewery in Phoenix. I know what you are thinking - a bridal shower in a bar?? How classy of you Miranda... But seriously this place is so cool! They have a private banquet room with red brick walls, no neon beer signs, and big windows with just a really cool urban vibe. I loved it! My guests had delicious desserts to eat and were able to order ciders, beer, and wine if they wanted.

I have been to literally hundreds of bridal showers! Not even kidding :) So when I walked into mine, it was this overwhelming realization that after all the waiting, it was finally my turn! It was finally my shower!! One of my good friend's asked me if it was hard for me to believe that it was really my shower, and I just wanted to cry at how excited I was!

My beautiful, wonderful, uniquely gifted, and precious bridesmaids did all the planning and worked together to create a lovely evening.

My beautiful bridesmaids!! (Left to right: Nicole, Elisabeth, Jeannette, Me, Kendra, and Ashley)

There was no strict agenda, which was awesome because it gave everyone an opportunity to hang out and spend time talking with each other. It also gave me the chance to make my way around the room and talk to as many people as I could.

Me and the moms! (Aaron's mom Laurie, Me, My mom Linda)

I get to do life with these amazing group of women! (Left to Right: Jeannette, Heidi, Nicole, Me, Tara, Meredith, Kelsie, and Jessica)

The whole night was free of agenda and a chance for me to mingle with my friends and open gifts! These women were so generous with helping Aaron and I supply our home and marriage with such fun things :)
Such a daze of excitement, overwhelming love, and celebration!




The next bridal shower was just for family! Laurie (Aaron's mom) was so amazing at planning a beautiful brunch shower in her home. I was so honored to have a group of women around me who had so greatly affected Aaron and my life.

Delicious food!

 Each guest brought a recipe to share with me and my mom gave me the precious recipe box to hold them all in that she opened at her bridal shower 33 years ago.

Nicole made me a shadow box for Aaron and I to drop the tokens of our first year into. Shawn (my brother) drilled a slit at the top for easy access to drop in movie ticket stubs, plane ticket stubs, Disneyland ticket stubs, and other articles from our first year as husband and wife! Such an amazing gift :)

I was given an array of heirloom gifts of glassware, blankets, and a handmade afgan from my Mamaw. Laurie gave me a family cookbook spanning generations of Aaron's family.

Emolyn was my special helper! I was so glad to have her there :)

My niece Emolyn was able to come and she was so excited to be at a real ladies shower! She also made a friend in Aaron's cousin Katie's daughter Tessa. They played princesses together on the floor while I opened all my gifts.

My Aunt Etna came to represent her family :) We missed Anya and Myra for sure!

Me and Mamaw with my dad. I was SO grateful Mamaw got to come.

My sister-in-law Nicole, Emolyn, and I

It was so much fun to have family around me celebrating Aaron and I during this time!! I can't believe how blessed I am by my family and future family!



One more shower to go, which will be held a week before the wedding and has been organized by my mom to be a prayer shower. I am so excited for this shower and to have the week before my wedding start off with prayer and affirmation from some wonderful older women and friends! This last month before the wedding will be such a time of celebration!

Just 3 more weeks to go!!!!!

P.S. My bachelorette party is this weekend and it is entirely a surprise! I have no idea what is planned, but I know I have amazing woman planning all the fun and festivities, so I have NO DOUBT it'll be a blast! I will post on that soon :)

44 days!

I found this on a wedding blog I follow and thought it would be fun to post it on here :)

1. What are your middle names? Rachael & Kiva
2. How long have you been together? It was one year on September 2nd :)
3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? haha! My first memory of him was a month after I turned 12 years old (nearly 16 years ago, now). We met during the church Christmas musical production. We grew up in the same youth group and were in the same group of friends through high school.
4. Who asked who out? He asked me :)
5. Whose siblings do you see the most? His probably... but with Aaron being best friends with my older brother, he actually might see my siblings more than I do. ha!
6. Do you want children? We are excited to have some someday... but hopefully a day several years in the future :) We are just excited to be married and get to live life the two of us for a little while!
7. What about pets? No pets... We are dog people though. However, we agree our lives are too busy for a pet. Maybe when we have kiddos :)
8. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? He's a quick processor and I am slow processor, but we are learning to meet in the middle.
9. Did you go to the same school? We never went to the same school, but we were in the same youth group. He was two years ahead of me.
10. Are you from the same home town? yes... sort of. I grew up on Tempe, Arizona and he grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. We lived 30 minutes away from each other, but I spent so much time in Phoenix, I feel like it's apart of my hometown. 
11. Who is the smartest? Aaron for sure! He was Validictorian in High school and went to Grad School and everything. He is also just generally wiser than I am. I mean I hold my own, but he is definitely the smart one :)
12. Where do you eat out most as a couple? He has been introducing me to a lot of great Phoenix Restaurants. I don't know if we have eaten the same place twice! Except Mr. Sushi's on Northern and the I-17 and The Vig. Food is definitely and interesting thing in our relationship, we have very different tastes in food sometimes... I am mac and cheese... he is tofu and hummus. But it helps that I am willing to try new things a lot and he has no real problems with a good cheeseburgers and french fries :)
13. Who has the craziest ex? that is a complicated question... it is a tie, but neither situation was an official relationship and therefore neither was considered an official "ex".
14. Who has the worst temper? I really don't think either of our tempers are particularly bad, maybe a tie, but a good tie.
15. Who does the cooking? Aaron! I don't feel fully capable as a cook, so he does a lot of it... or we eat out (see question #12).
16. Who is more social? both of us are home bodies and introverts. But I think we are equal in our socializing. We both care very deeply for the friendships we have.
17. Who is the neat-freak? I am a deep cleaner, which means I wait until it is really messy and then clean every inch of everything... which will probably mean he will be more neat than I am overall. ha
18. Who is the more stubborn? depends on what we are being stubborn about. I think both of us are able to concede and serve the other person... at least right now/ Ask me again after a couple years of marriage. ha!
19. Who hogs the bed? In 44 days we will know for sure, but knowing how I normally sleep and how he normally sleeps... the poor man won't stand a chance. I sleep diagonal across my double bed with my arms and legs in all directions. He says he sleeps in the fetal position. hm...
20. Who wakes up earlier? He does for sure!!! I am NOT a morning person... but our work schedules will mean that I will have to wake up about 30 minutes before he needs to... but I guarantee you, he will still be awake long before I am most of the time.
21. Where was your first date? Well we went to Liberty Market in Gilbert for dinner the night he asked me out, but it was supposed to be just friends and we each paid for ourselves. A week later he took me out to Culinary Dropout in Scottdale and then we saw The Guard at the Camelview theaters. I remember it feeling so strange to hold him hand and for him to put his arm around me. The thought still makes me giddy.
22. Who has the bigger family? I do! I have big families from both my mom and dad. Aaron's mom's family is pretty small, but his dad's family is big.
23. Do you get flowers often? I definitely get them more often than I use to! I like the irregularity of his flower giving, it is a surprise every time!
24. How do you spend the holidays? Good question!! With the wedding being at the beginning of November and all our focus being on that, we have yet to discuss what we are going to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I stresses me out when I think about it... so I choose not to think about it at all.
25. How long did it take to get serious? I tell people it feels like Aaron and I started dating on the 9th month of our relationship. After knowing each other for 15 years, we didn't have to learn a ton about each other's family or past or like and dislikes... so we dove into the serious stuff right away. We also are both in a place in life, where we didn't want to waste time. So we said I love you about 2 months in and started having talks about marriage 4 months in. He proposed just short of 8 months.
26. Who eats more? Me! Haha... I also eat WAY less healthy than he does. 
27. Who does/did the laundry? Ladies laundry is way more complicated than guys laundry, so I'll probably take over and do it... or we'll do it together. 
28. Who’s better with the computer? We have never really tested it... but I would say me... or maybe its because I have a newer and nicer computer. ha 
29. Who drives when you are together? He drives more. It is a 45 minute drive from my house to his (which is where we usually meet up), so since I drive so far to get out there, he does the driving when we are together.
30. What are you most looking forward to as a couple? I think right now I am just looking forward to the blissful calm of finally being married. No more wedding planning taking away mental space, no more having to say goodnight by my car and having to drive 45 minutes before getting to sleep, no more scheduling time to see each other because we are busy and live so far away from each other. I am also looking forward to decorating our home... making it ours. I am looking forward to the holidays as a married couple. I am looking forward to Disneyland and Mexico for our honeymoons! I am also looking forward to the vacations we have planned in our heads before we decide to start a family - Thailand, Europe, New Zealand... hopefully we can do at least two out of the three in the next few years. I am looking forward to always being associated with Aaron and being Aaron's wife. I look forward to the day when no one remembers a time he and I weren't together. I love that man and am so proud to belong to him and that he belongs to me :)

Hope you enjoyed a peek into our relationship! This weekend is my first bridal shower thrown by my amazing bridesmaids!!!!! I am so excited that the festivities have begun! From this time out we have a wedding event nearly every weekend until the wedding!!! YAY!

And in BIG exciting news! My friend Carla is coming for the wedding all the way from London, England!! I met her when I studied there and we instantly became amazingly close friends. We have stayed close through Skype, email, and facebook. She came and visited me a couple years ago for a week and I was able to do a ton of fun day trips and showing her around the city. I even had a welcome party for her where she got to meet Aaron (but at that time he was just a friend who came to the party). She is excited now to meet him as my fiance and then husband. I am so excited to have her at our wedding!! To have her there as my guest of honor for the week leading up to the big celebration! I am so thankful that our friendship has lasted nearly 4 years and an ocean away. Excited to get to share this moment with her :)

Me and Carla (AKA Chels and Tilly)!

Charity Shoes!

Many years ago my friend Laura and I went out to coffee together. I remember hearing her heart for giving money to charities and how she wished she could always do more. Then she said something that has literally played in my head over and over again ever since. She said "I don't have more money to give, but I figure, I need shoes, so why wouldn't I buy TOMs?" What an amazing idea! I immediately started looking at different charities out there and specifically looking at their stores that sell Tshirts, jewelry, shoes, and other accessories which give their proceeds to the organization. What I discovered was amazing!! There are countless places to buy one-for-one items or clothing that is for a good cause. Then you have the many many partner companies that will create a line of jewelry on Etsy just to donate the profits to a charity! You could nearly complete a wardrobe with the stuff that is out there and know you gave a bit of money to people who need it.
In addition you also get to tell people about charity you gave to. When people ask me where I got my favorite 31bits bracelet, I get to tell them about women in Uganda who make them and who get to have an education because of the money I spend. Or when people see my Charity:Water T-shirt, I get to tell them about how there are people who have never had a sip of clean water. Or when people comment on my Falling Whistle necklace (which Aaron and his sister Ashley gave me for my college graduation last year), I get to tell them how children in the Congo are kidnapped and forced into child armies.

Last Christmas I decided to give my families only gifts that were charity based because 1.) I thought they would love the stuff I found and 2.) I wanted them to hear the amazing stories I have heard! My family loved the gift ideas and I cried giving each one to them and telling the stories of the people their gifts were helping! Even for Elsie (who was barely 1 year old at the time), I donated money to World Vision to buy a family a goat in Africa and got a little stuffed goat in return! Elsie loved her stuffed goat! I even donated the remainder of my Christmas budget to World Vision to help other causes.
My family was so amazed by the gifts they got, so this Christmas we all decided to forgo getting each other regular gifts (movies, toys, etc) and instead give each other charity based gifts! I am so excited for my family to do this! I know for me the process of gift giving forever changed me!

So when it came to my wedding, I was wanting to do what I could to give back. First stop - my shoes!!!

This was actually a little selfish of me :) I had wanted Sseko shoes since I first heard about them from my roomie and friend Elisabeth! She went to college with the girl who started the organization. Click HERE to read the story.
They were so cute and after watching Elisabeth wear her's around Disneyland for a whole day, I was convinced they must be beyond comfy! (and I thought TOMs or Crocs were the only comfy enough shoes for Disneyland)

So without further delay - here are my shoes!! Champagne Pink straps :)




I love them!! I tried them on when I got my dress fitted and they are so comfortable. I am going to have fun styling the straps in different ways till I find the wrap I love :)




I will also be buying additional staps to wear them all the time afterwards!

They also now have accessories!!! So as you wrap the shoes you can have a clip to accessorize and style up your sandals!


I love that a piece of my wedding attire will help these women in Uganda and bring awareness. When people ask me where I got my shoes, I will get to tell them these women's stories. Such a sweet reminder on my special day!

If you are looking for some fun charity gifts for the holidays or upcoming birthdays... or just for yourself, check out some of my favorite store below!

Sseko
Sevenly (This place is amazing!! Every week there is a different Tshirt which gives money to a different charity! They are pretty stylish Tshirts too :) I have one for Mercy Ships and several times people have asked where I got my shirt or what it means, and I have raved about this organization and Mercy Ships alike!)
TOMs
31Bits (These pieces of jewelry are SO affordable and fun!)
Given (This is a clothing line associated with World Vision)
    World Vision is an amazing organization where you can also sponsor a child for a monthly donation. You can also check out the charitable donation that can give families anything from clean water, to a goat. You can also give money toward their efforts to rescue woman and little girls from sex trafficing. Powerful stuff!)
Love146
Chains of Grace (associated with Love146)
Roozt (this actually links to several different companies)
To Write Love on Her Arms
Charity Water
Invisible Children
Falling Whistles
Compassion International (This is another organization that allows you to sponsor a child financially)

There are so many more, so please feel free to share any in the comments section!!!

To DJ or not to DJ??

... That is the question. Whether it is worth the money and an risky amount of trust in someone you don't know to create the perfect ambiance for your reception and in the mean time take A LOT of work off your plate, OR to brave the task of coming up with hours of music and perfected playlists of your own, ensuring you have the music you like and pick someone you know to take on the duties of being MC....

When I first began planning my wedding I was on a soap box about how necessary it was to have a DJ for the wedding. Aaron ask why it wasn't possible for us to turn on an iPod and run the reception ourselves remembering to cut the cake and have our first dance. I laughed at his suggestion and thought that we DEFINITELY needed a DJ. Afterall a DJ can make or break your reception!! You need someone who will carry the ambiance of the reception and make sure people are dance, have the reception flow from one event into another without a moment of your guests sitting around being bored. It is up to the DJ to announce the bridal party, announce when they are cutting the cake, when the bouquet will be tossed, and when the toasts will be happening. You also need to make sure that this DJ isn't awkward and doesn't hog the spotlight, or make off color jokes to pass the time, and isn't timid with speaking up and making sure things happen.
Will all of this said,  in the recent weeks I have asked myself just how important all of that actually is, and here are my questions and alternative solutions:

1. Risky trust!
With all of the above responsibilities resting on the shoulders of one man, it is really uneasy knowing that I will have met this person once or twice before the big day and have probably never seen him actually DJ a wedding!! This is a big risk for me to take! With a photographer you can look through picture after picture... with a videographer you can see their video footage to get the gist of their portfolio. But with a DJ, you might have a 5 minute clip from one of their weddings and that is entirely based on the taste of that particular bride and groom... so how to you know if this DJ will pronounce your best man's name right, or won't be annoying and talk too much, or won't pick awful songs to dance to and alienate a chunk of your guests cause he plays too much rap or too much Journey (note, I want to stop believe Steve Perry, I really really do).
With the way our wedding is shaping up, we have all of our friends involved in all the details. It is truly a community effort. From the photographer, videographer to the minister and caterer, they are all people we know and love! It is amazing how generous our friends and family have been. So with hiring a DJ, he would be the ONLY person there that we don't know, and we is the most vocal throughout the reception.

2. Music Selection
I am a big music person! I have the soundtrack of my wedding in my head and have specific songs I want to have playing during dinner, and during dancing, and before and after the wedding. I also have a do not play list so long I can't even begin to remember every song I hate hearing at weddings, so if I forget to put it on the "do not playlist" and then it starts playing, I'm going to be thinking in the middle of my reception - oh jeez, now people are going to associate My Endless Love with my wedding (note that is an awesomely bad cheesy song that I love, but will not have at my wedding - sorry if any of you had your first dance to this song). So with all these preferences, how realistic is it of me to expect me be able to give my DJ a playlist and say "play this and only this" and deny him the creativity of what he does. And with this desire to have more control over the music selection, wouldn't it just be more affordable to do it all myself from the get-go.

3. There's an app for that
Surprise!! The iPhone has an actual wedding app with allows you to control your wedding's music from start to finish!! You basically put music on your iPod/iPhone/iPad and assign the playlists to the different sections of the wedding - Pre Ceremony playlist, cocktail hour playlist, and dancing playlist. You also can assign specific songs to - Group Processional, Bride Processional, Recessional, Father/Daughter dance... etc. It even knows with certain special songs that it needs to pause afterward to give plenty of time for someone to turn the app off during your ceremony. Plus we have a friend who has a TON of sound equipment we can use from microphones, sound boards, to dance floor lighting.

4. What type of wedding are we REALLY having?
As Aaron and I have been thinking through our reception and planning our wedding, we have realized we may not be having the traditional reception like everyone else. We are having a backyard style wedding, which means, we are having fire pits, lawn chairs, and the dance floor is under a covered patio in the corner of the yard. Also since Aaron and I have basically grown up together most of our friends and family already know each other... so this will very much feel like a huge hang out party in someone's backyard! And we like it like that :) We definitely want dancing, but more than that, we want people to feel comfortable and relaxed. A DJ constantly telling you to get on the floor won't lend to that atmosphere. Also the dance floor is off in the corner, so if no one is dancing, it is not like people will notice a huge void in the middle of the room.

5. But how are you gonna make sure that people DO keep dancing?
Good question, I'm glad you asked :) The secret is.... DON'T PLAY SLOW SONGS!! Here is what happens with slow songs... people either take the opportunity to leave the dance floor to get a beverage or go to the bathroom or end up leaving to talk to people. OR they are single and it is awkward as heck to be standing in the middle of the dance floor after just having had a blast rocking out to Michael Jackson, now watching all your friends pair off and oh yeah, you're reminded that you don't have anyone to slow dance with - WORST PART OF A WEDDING RECEPTION!!! Believe me, I have been that sad person. So either way when a slow song hits 50% of the dance floor makes a pilgrimage off the dance floor and so when the next fast song comes on, you have a hard time getting people back out there. The answer is to keep the tempo fast and fun! People will leave for sure when they need to, but more people will join in as soon as their "jam" comes on! My friend Kendra just did this at her reception and it worked like a charm! People were dancing the whole time!
The no slow song rule of course does not include the first dance, father/daughter dance, and mother/son dance... all of which will be slow, but will happen before the fun dancing starts!

 I don't think I need to offer anymore of a case for my decision... and please hear me when I say that a DJ is invaluable if you decide to go with one. My advice is to definitely take the time to research and give yourself enough time before your decision needs to be made in order to meet with a few different DJs to make sure it is the right fit. If you have even more time, see if you can crash a wedding the DJ is playing at and so you can see him in action. Also decide what atmosphere you want to have at your reception. Do you want a dance party? or do you want dancing to be an option, but not the focus? This will help you decide if a DJ is necessary.

Sorry for the no post... to make up for it... here are some pictures of my inspiration for Centerpieces: 

Honeymoon

As much as I love planning my wedding, after the rush of the first few weeks - booking a venue, minister, photographer, getting a dress, organizing our wedding party, and spending hours and hours pouring over google docs (the best invention man has ever seen) filled with budgets, wedding timelines, check lists, and guest lists... I was kind of spent.
Now don't get me wrong, I still thought all about my wedding and added ideas to pinterest and dreamed of bridesmaids dresses, wedding shoes, paper straws, mason jars, and table linens, but Aaron and I quickly turned our attention to THE HONEYMOON!!!

Seriously, a wedding is one day and it will be captured by tons of pictures and talked about for years and hopefully one day my daughter will sit on the floor in front of my TV and ask to watch the video where I am a princess and marry her daddy, but don't underestimate the power of a well planned honeymoon!
The honeymoon is where my husband and I, for the first time EVER, will spend a full 24 hours entirely together - just the two of us!!  As someone who loves travel (I mean I became a Travel Agent for a reason), I am super excited about our first travel adventure!!

Aaron and I had a few parameters to follow for our honeymoon planning (in no particular order)

1. We did not want to go on our honeymoon right away...
We have heard many stories of couples sleeping through their first several days having full on exhaustion from the marathon of wedding events right before their trip away. We wanted to give ourselves time to relax and enjoy the vacation and feel like we were able to take full advantage of our trip! Because our wedding is the beginning of November and soon after that we will have Thanksgiving, my birthday, my dad's annual Christmas concert, we decided to make our honeymoon from December 8th - 15th... a full month after our wedding.

2. We did not want to be jet lagged...
 I love traveling to far off places and new cultures and discover new things, but for my honeymoon, there was one thing I didn't want to experience - jet lag. This goes along with not wanting to sleep through our honeymoon. The other thing is Aaron has never been out of the country where we needs a passport, so we decided to start with something doable for both of us. We decided on the Maya Riveria! We will be staying at a beautiful condo in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico!! The beaches are beautiful, the water is clear Caribbean blue, the food is yummy :) Aaron found an INSANE deal on Trip Advisor for flights and a condo penthouse on the beach... seriously it was a steal!

The Maya Riviera Coast

view from our balcony - yes, that is a hot tub and private loungers... and what you don't see if a grill too!

3. We wanted the perfect combo of relaxation and the must see sites and activities...
Aaron and I both enjoy the idea of sitting on the beach or on our private condo balcony overlooking the ocean for hours and hours on end. We would interrupt this relaxation for the occasional nap, movie watching, and maybe napping while watching a movie. However, I refuse to miss out of the once in a lifetime experiences that the Maya Riviera has to offer! Just two hours away is the world famous wonder of the world Chichen Itza! Just 1 hour down the coast is the city of Tulum and their ocean side Mayan ruins! Just a short drive away is a perfect spot to snorkel with sea turtles! Also across the water, just a short ferry ride away is Cozumel.

One of the 7 ancient wonders of the world - Chichen Itza

The ocean ruins of Tulum

The Playa Del Carmen sea turtles! They're RED!

We actually planned our trip to Chichen Itza just 10 days before the Mayans predicted the end of the world! We'll be in the center of all the action :)

4. We wanted to go to Disneyland!!!
Ok I know what you're thinking... there is no Disneyland in Playa Del Carmen... and you would be right, BUT we have a whole month before our big get away and in that time Aaron and I were keen to make it out to Disneyland!!! We planned it for the weekend after our wedding :) We will get married, go back to work the next week and then for the the Friday - Monday the next weekend, we will be in the happiest place on earth!!! I don't actually know which trip I am more excited about right now! Aaron and I both love Disneyland and are so excited to see the new Carsland, eat at the Blue Bayou for the first time, see the Christmas decorations that will be up at that time, and just be the two of us. Aaron particularly wants to go on the littler less popular rides we missed while we were there in February. We also are going to spring for annual passes so for our first year of marriage, we can take as many trips as we want!

Disneyland at Christmas is my favorite Disneyland

I even have my Bride Minnie ears ready! They were a gift from my sweet friend Katie!

So throughout all the stress, excitement, and overwhelming moments of wedding planning, I have two, count them TWO honeymoons to look forward to by the end of the year :)

Engagement Photos by Pinkerton Photography

Have I told you how much fun planning my wedding has been? My favorite part is getting to do all this planning with my best friend! Seriously Aaron has been a champ throughout this whole process thus far. He constantly asks me what he can be doing to help or what planning elements he can take off my plate. He has opinions about certain things (which are for the most part the same as mine anyway), but he has allowed me to share my vision and dreams for our special day and then is instantly on board! I love that he cares, but also allows the little girl who has always dreamed of her wedding to come out and get excited about all the things I have always wanted to do. Because of this lovely balance we are creating such a wonderful day full of beauty, class, fun, and the laid back charm we are both envisioning.

All of this to say, I am incredibly thankful for my amazing fiance! Aaron is playful, kind, encouraging, thoughtful, funny, smart, witty, and makes me laugh all the time. I am so excited to be his wife and get to do life with him for forever. This last weekend, we have the joy of getting to capture some sweet moments during our engagement photo shoot!!

Now I have been friends with Kelsie Pinkerton for nearly 10 years! I knew her before she even fully considered using her amazing talent as a wedding photographer. She is literally one of the most talented wedding photographers I have every seen! But not only does she take amazing photos and capture amazing moments through the lens of her camera, she is also one of the kindest, sweetest people you will ever meet. All of the brides she works with can attest to her kind spirit and ability to instantly put a couple at ease! She is just so much fun!!

Please go check out her other amazing work on her website: www.pinkertonphotography.com and her blog www.pinkertonphotography.com/blog

In the mean time, check out some of our beautiful engagement photos!!!

We woke up at the crack of dawn... actually we woke up earlier than that because we arrived Downtown Phoenix at the crack of dawn! Phoenix summers are unbearable to be outside, so we had to start at 5:30a (when the sun rises) to be able to be done by the time the temps rise. Even with that, we were still sweating like crazy by the end of the shoot.

I love old buildings and red brick and architecture! Aaron LOVES downtown Phoenix, so we decided it would make the perfect place for our pictures. Our wedding is going to be very country and backyard feeling, so an urban backdrop for engagement photos was really fun!

Thank you Kelsie!!! Check out our slide show (turn up the volume for the music)! www.pinkertonphoto.com/slideshows/mirandat