Coming Together.

What a wonderful weekend. Apart from seeing some of my best gals-Sus, Jess, and Bansi-Bryan and I got to spend some quality time with my parents planning for the wedding and celebrating my dad's birthday (I love the picture!). We spent most of Saturday looking at two hotels-Hilton and Renaissance at the airport. We all loved the Renaissance. The wedding coordinator, Gene, was a hoot and a great person overall. They had a three-course tasting for us as well, which was FABULOUS considering I am a foodaholic. And, we met with an Indian woman who does the decorations for the Indian ceremony. Plus, we found out she puts flowers together for the whole wedding-ceremony and reception-at wholesale. How awesome, right? Bryan and I were going to try for the fake flowers for the wedding party and reception, but with the vibrant colors we have chosen, we might have to use real flowers. But, this woman really had everything at VERY decent prices. We are hoping to finalize on the location sometime in the next month! Once it is decided, I will write some more. So excited. It really feels like we are planning for a wedding now. We look forward to our next visit home for more wedding stuff and to see some of our good friends for St. Pat's!

P.S. Susie, one of my bridesmaids, came over Saturday morning to get measured for the Indian dress. She got to try on one of my mom's Indian dresses...all I am going to say is Bryan and I are going to have a stellar wedding party! I can't wait!

Love.

Lovely. Beautiful. Flowers.

Flowers are one of my absolute favorite parts of a wedding. Maybe it is because Shefali means flower. Or, perhaps, they are so stunning in their color and variation, it is hard not to look at them! Going through many of my favorite blogs and other websites, I have stumbled across some beautiful bouquets that would look beautiful to use in our wedding. I don't really care what type of flowers they are, as long as there are some lilies since they are my absolute favorite flowers...maybe stargazer lilies! Ohhh, they are so pretty! The first three pictures are ones I love for the bridesmaids; it has so many fun colors! And, the dark pink and red bouquet is for me! It is so funny because normally, brides have more white and light pink, but mine is the very opposite!

Bryan and I hope to spend some time this weekend discussing some wedding details together, concentrating more on narrowing down our guest list of our friends (it's a bit crazy...haha), so we can share some of our ideas with my parents next weekend! We are so excited for spring to come (minus the allergies on my part) because we have some fun things to look forward to. We are aiming for a celebratory engagement dinner with our parents, since the holidays had been crazy. And, Bryan's mom and Aunt Therese are trying to put together a "Girls Weekend" trip to the Lake of the Ozarks in August! How fun is that?! I am so excited! Our goal this summer is try and travel a bit more than last summer. Bryan and I hope we can make it to the Kentucky Derby (we have always wanted to go!), Chicago (possibly with some of our friends!), Arkansas to visit our dear friends, Kari and Andy (we miss them so much and wish they would move closer to all of us!), and maybe a weekend getaway to somewhere within driving distance for us to enjoy! Not to mention, who doesn't love the warmer weather?! We can finally start to run back outside instead of working out indoors! I just wish we lived near a beach...I am leaving this up to Susie of investing in a beach house! Haha! Or, maybe one day we can own one! A girl can dream, right?! Love.