HEY EVERYONE!

It’s been so long since I last blogged! Time has just flown by since the big day, and we’re loving every minute. Married life really is great! It’s been interesting learning to live with a boy, haha, but I love it.

I was thinking yesterday that before I met Alex, I didn’t realize that I was missing anything, but now, after meeting him and becoming his wife, I don’t know what I’d do without him. I’m so thankful for the chance to love and experience life with him. Alex is my true love; every time I’m with him, it’s made more and more obvious to me that he was made for me, and I for him. LOVE :) He’s been travelling a lot recently for his job, so every minute with him is a precious one.

We’re STILL moving into our “new” place (3 boxes left… Ahhhhh! I’m such a procrastinator, haha), and I’m in the process of decorating for Christmas, working working working, writing thank you’s, and cleaning! I love the holidays, even with all the craziness! :) But I wanted to take one last blogging opportunity to give an update and thank everyone once more for all that they’ve done for us. I can’t say thank you enough to all the people who helped give us our perfect day. Photos are up on Armosa’s blog if you want to see them, and the January Bridal Edition of the NO’ALA will have more as well!

It’s been a wonderful journey so far, and I can’t wait to see where life takes us next. Tell someone you love them!

Love.

Erin Wittscheck

:)

Hey everyone!!!

We’re finally married!!!!

The wedding was wonderful… absolutely everything I had hoped it would be. Even now, just thinking back on that sweet day gives me little happy chills. The day started early and we stayed busy, but I wouldn’t trade all those memories for anything.

Early wedding morning, I groggily rolled over, not sure what time it was, but I could see sunlight just starting to peep through the window. At that moment, I glanced over and saw my wedding dress hanging between Anna and Megan’s dresses, and it hit me. “I get to marry my love today.” What a feeling! I’d never felt so exhilarated/nervous/excited/impatient/thankful as I did in that moment. I fell back to sleep with the safest feeling in my heart, knowing that I’d be one with my love very soon, and that God is fully in control of it all.

When I awoke again that morning, it was to a camera in my face, courtesy of Wes Wages (Armosa Studios), haha. They are doing a video of our day for us, and I’m so excited to see their work! It’ll be all kinds of wonderful, and I just love ‘em. :) I started my day listening to my favorite cd (Matthew Mayfield‘s “Now You’re Free”, fyi), eating my favorite cereal (Banana Nut Cherrios, haha :), and laughing with my bridesmaids/best friends. So perfect. We headed out soon after for a full morning of makeup (provided my Natalie Faggioni), hair, and nails (provided by Andy’s). After getting all prettied-up and dressed, we headed out to the polo fields for Alex and I to see each other for the first time. Needless to say… I was WAY past excited. :)

I met Alex out in the middle of a field, with nothing around us except a wondrous blue sky that had been growing more and more lovely as the day pressed on. I walked as steadily as I could, trying my absolute hardest not to bust out in a straight run just to get to him faster. I saw him standing over near the creek, all handsome in his nice wedding clothes, and my heart was beating like crazy. The thought did occur to me, “Erin, what is wrong with you!? It’s not like you’ve never seen Alex before, come on!” Regardless, I kept on walking. The memory stands out to me even now: Alex looking into my eyes, brushing the windblown hairs away from my face, the warm sun shining down on our shoulders… that is a moment I’ll always treasure.

We got to take photos together, just Alex and I, and then with our wedding party and families. Time seemed to fly by, but I caught myself at random times just looking at my loved ones, etching the memory of that day in my mind. The time for the ceremony was drawing near, so Alex and I made our way back to the pavilion, courtesy of our dear friend Forrest, and a golf cart, haha. (Alex had to hold his arm over me to keep me from falling out… wedding dresses are sort of slick, haha. It’s a random memory, but I loved it. :) I nervously awaited my time to walk down the aisle, adjusting my dress, checking my hair, etc… but I stopped fussing long enough to look out over the field to see the sun dip down past the horizon. I looked to the other side and saw so many people I love, all who had come to celebrate our marriage with us, and I had that feeling again – that safe feeling – and I knew everything was perfect.

We enjoyed music by Matthew Craig and Dillon Hodges, and Alex and I enjoyed a special private dinner, our first as a married couple. The rest of the night flew by with hugs, dances, toasts (with drinks courtesy of The Wine Seller), “I love you’s”, surreptitious glances at Alex (hehe), delicious food, laughter, and fond memories I’ll never ever forget. I ate myself silly on tasty things (from Sweet Basil Cafe, Sweet Magnolia Cafe, Table 18, and The Dish), and I shared a bite of our wedding cake with Alex (from Sugar On Top). (Oh! That reminds me. We had DELICIOUS bbq for our rehearsal dinner, courtesy of Bishop’s BBQ. If you like bbq, don’t miss this.) I danced to one of my new favorite local bands (The Bear) and Tim (of overFlo Pro) made them sound even more fantastic than they already are. Everything looked so great, all warm and glowing, thanks to Party Pros and Lola’s. (Those guys are pure genius.) Even down to riding away in the Rolls Royce (Grogan’s provided it for us! It was SO COOL!!!), the whole day was perfect. I honestly wouldn’t have done anything differently. It was magical.

Absolutely magical.

Thank you to everyone that has helped us in some way during this process. I’m so afraid I’ll leave someone out if I name all the names, but I do want to say a special thank you to four people: the No’Ala, for being so helpful throughout this entire process. You guys are awesome! To Maggie Crisler: Maggie, you are amazing! Your work was fantastic, and I know you spent many long hours working on our stuff, and it shows, cuz it’s awesome. Thank you so much for EVERYTHING you’ve done for us. To Wes & Tera: You guys are so cool. You do the dreamiest work, and you’re the nicest people I know. Thank you, not only for recording this day for us, but also for being there for us along the way. We love y’all. :) And lastly, but certainly NOT least: Jordyn Dean. Jordyn, thank you for taking this journey with me. If I ever had a question, or a freak out, or even an inkling of an issue, you were there to help me out and restore my confidence. You made our day so beautiful, and if I did it all again, I wouldn’t choose anyone but you to help me plan. You are the best.

Love.

Erin

I’m sitting in my new place (our place after we’re married and Alex moves up) unpacking items from showers and moving things into place. As I’m unpacking, I can’t help but reflect back over this entire experience with a smile. The whole thing has been like something out of a dream – the too-good-to-be-true kind where you say, “There’s NO WAY this is real.” But, it is, and in 10 short days, I’ll finally be Mrs. Alex Wittscheck!!!

Not to sound like an advertisement, but these vendors have knocked it out of the park in every way. They are one of the main reasons this experience has been so wonderful – the others being Jordyn Dean and the wonderful people at the NO’ALA, helping coordinate everything with me, down to the last detail.  And as important as the big things are, I’m finding that it’s the small things that make it special and unique to who we are as a couple.

In the past two weeks, planning has been drawing to a close. I met with Jordyn about last minute details with orders of ceremony and reception. I met with Maggie to discuss final needs for signage and printing, and Alex and I met with Wes and Tera to discuss what we need for the big day and where we need to be for pictures/video etc. And Alex and I picked up our marriage license this week! :)

The days are passing so quickly that it’s hard to keep up. I’ve been told many times throughout this experience that it goes by in a flash, and so far I’ve found that to be true! I don’t want to miss anything. Fortunately, Armosa Studios will be capturing it all for us. And that way, you can see all our memories, too!

I know that there is NO way to truly convey, to the vendors and everyone involved, how thankful we are and how meaningful this experience has been to us. Thank you just isn’t enough. How do you say thank you for something as big as this? Thank you for everything you’ve done? Thank you for your hard work and dedication? Nothing sounds right.

All I can say is this: Thank you all for making our perfect wedding a dream come true.

Love.

Erin

Hey everyone!

It’s been a busy busy couple of weeks, and the end is so near! We’ve come so far on this wedding planning journey… it’s hard to believe it’s coming to a close. It is officially the beginning of September, which means… only 24 days!!! I believe that’s close enough to start a countdown. :) 

Last Monday my maid of honor, my mother, my soon-to-be mother-in-law, and I all went to the Center for Skincare and Wellness in downtown Florence. Carmen set up a lovely lunch for us (a delicious salad, assorted tasty sandwiches, and supreme sweets from the Sweet Basil Café!), and I have to admit, I couldn’t stop snacking, haha. We were scheduled to have galvanic spa treatments and to learn about the Vitality supplements that Carmen offers. We got our hands “scanned” and the scanner analyzed whether or not we were eating enough fruits and veggies, and let’s just say… I need to eat more broccoli. ;) We then got our ageLOC galvanic spa treatments, and the treatment is AMAZING!! Carmen treated only one side of all our faces, and within 15 minutes of the treatment, we could all see a healthful glow and fewer lines in our faces. It is glorious! You should take the time and stop by the Center to talk to Carmen about it all. She’s great!

This Monday, Alex and I visited Mefford’s so he could make the final choice for his ring. They are offering him one of their alternative metal rings, and Olin was kind enough to explain the differences between them all. Mefford’s is also kindly engraving mine and Alex’s initials on the inside of Alex’s ring, which really adds a special touch to it, I think. :)

Favors have also finally been chosen, and … once again, I love surprises, so you’ll just have to wait and see. I’m so excited about them! Let’s just say we’re tying in even more food inspiration AND a family recipe. Can’t go wrong!

We also met with our pastor this week to plan our ceremony and discuss our vows. It was in that meeting that it really hit me how close I am to being Mrs. Wittscheck… I’m absolutely beside myself with happiness. :)

And last but not least, I’m moving into OUR new home this week! Alex will be moving up here to Nashville after the wedding, and I can’t wait! I’m starting the organization process, and I can already tell that I’m going to love that part of moving in. It’s cool thinking about setting up household and getting things ready for our home. (“Our home.” Doesn’t that just sound great? Haha :) I don’t even know where I should start!

Love.

Erin

Hey everyone!

  I know it has been forever since you have heard from me. I am very sorry. I would like to say thank you to all of you who have been faithfully coming back to check on our progress. It means the world to us.

  For those of you that do not know, we will be moving to Nashville after our wedding. It was a tough decision to make. We do not want to leave the Shoals, but Erin has a great job up there and I will be able to find more work as a musician. Anyway, last week Erin and I finally found a place to make our home in up there. There will be some nice things about big city living, but let me tell you, the rent is not one of them! We will miss the Shoals area with all of our heart, and plan to return as soon as God allows.

  Enough about us, back to the wedding stuff. (We know that is why you are really here)  : D    With only one month left until our wedding, we are having to make final decisions almost daily. From picking out songs to finally deciding what kind of gifts to give our lovely guests to keeping up with our lives as they are now, we are having to make the most of our time everyday. Jordyn Dean, our wedding stylist, and Lyndsie McClure, of the No’ala, are wonder workers and have helped keep us on track this whole way. We could not have come this far without these two lovely ladies.

  I went last week to pick out my groomsmen gifts. Although I doubt my two dude friends are checking out our blog every week, I can’t tell you what I got them just yet. We will let you know after the wedding! What I can tell you is I got their gifts from Jamie Hood Jewelers. I liked the gift that I picked for the guys so much, that I decided I needed one too! Everyone at Jamie Hood was very helpful, and they had wonderful selection of every kind of jewelry that you could ever want.

  I decided since I was already out jewelry shopping that I should stop by Mefford’s Jewelers and figure out what kind of wedding band I would like. Olin was there to show me their selection and help me narrow down what I like and do not like. They are offering me one of their alternative metal bands, and he helped me learn the differences between each one. However, since I like to procrastinate, I decided to go home and sleep on it before I make my final choice. Olin gave me all the info I needed to make my decision, so now all it takes is me making a choice. Oh boy….

  I am excited for the wedding and even more excited about marrying the most beautiful person that walks on this earth. I hope to cherish this last month of planning so I can remember it forever. Erin and I have to constantly remind ourselves to slow down and remember everything. This is the only wedding we ever plan on planning, so we have to make it special for us. We are so glad that you guys get to be a part of it. I am sure our wedding would have still been special if we had not won the Shoals Perfect Wedding, but we would not have had the honor and privilege of working with the best vendors in North Alabama. For that, we will be forever grateful.

  Hopefully we can find some more time to start posting more on here as we get nearer to the wedding, so keep an eye out for that. Also, I need your help, my best man is asking me what kind of bachelor party I want. We are not too wild and crazy, but let us know what kind of bachelor and bachelorette parties you have been too and what you loved about them. That should help give us some ideas!

A blessed boy,

Alex

Hey everyone!!

It’s getting so close… I can almost see it. Lights, dancing, delicious food, friends, family, and laughter – the wedding is only 38 days away, and these last days are flying by! I’M SO EXCITED!

We’re working on getting last minute things done, but I’m having so much trouble staying focused and motivated. It’s like I’ve almost reached the end of planning and now I’m ready to lay down and take a nap (sounds like what I used to do in school when I had a next-day project due, haha). I’ve been procrastinating a little bit I believe, but Jordyn, Lyndsie, and Maggie are helping me push through, keeping me on track and motivated. I don’t know what I would do without them! It’s so important to get help when planning a wedding. Doing it all on your own is a massive undertaking, and trying to do too much at once can drive you crazy (I haven’t hit that point, but I’ve come close, haha!)

This week I had my first bridal shower; it was wonderful. It was put on by a bunch of fantastic ladies at my home church where I grew up. I remember being a little girl and seeing the fellowship hall all prettied up for a shower that someone was throwing for a bride – white linens, candles, sweet tea, cheese straws, spinach and artichoke dip, and, of course, orange blossoms (little delicious-to-die-for orange cupcakes). They were staples at every shower, and I remember thinking, “Someday, I’ll be a bride, and I’ll have a shower here, too, just like this.” I can’t tell you how strange and wonderful it was to stand in that room at my own shower, surrounded by love and the ladies that had known me from the time I was a toddler. I felt honored to be part of a tradition I had so often seen, but had never experienced. I’ll always cherish it :)

In other news, Alex and I got our teeth-whitening kits from Coker Family Dentistry. They’re treating us to the Day White/Night White system, and I can already see results. It was a pretty easy process; they made molds out of our teeth, and then they gave us the whitening system to take home. All I have to do is put the whitening serum in the molds, wear them for 15-30 minutes twice a day, and then take out and rinse. So easy! Needless to say, Alex and I will have shiny white teeth to smile at each other with on our wedding day, haha :)

At this point in the planning (and waiting) process, patience and motivation are the two things I’m struggling with the most. If you’ve planned a wedding before, did you ever feel impatient or unmotivated? How did you overcome it?

Love.

Erin

Hey everyone!

45 days til the wedding! It’s going to be here before we know it. I’m beyond excited for that day and everything that we’ve got planned!

I feel like I’ve been at a stand still for the past week, but Monday was very productive! We started out with a meeting at Party Pros, working with Jenna as she develops a layout drawing for all the vendors. The drawing will help the vendors keep track of locations for everything for the wedding and the ceremony. We also went over everything Party Pros is providing for the day to make sure we’ve got everything accounted for and ready. Working with Jenna and Jackie has been great! They’re confident and prepared; I’m excited to see how everything works out on September 24th. :)

After our Party Pros meeting, Alex and I finally finished our registry! :) Advice for any couples out there doing a registry: don’t get bogged down in just getting it done. There were several times that I felt overwhelmed and small just thinking about having to get it finished. The beauty of a registry though is that it’s a wonderful time for you and your spouse-to-be to spend time together. Don’t rush through it just to get it done.  Something I didn’t know is that if you don’t finish your registry all at once, you can always come back later to finish. We did that several times, just because there’s so much to register for, haha. ;) There are also online capabilities now that can help you create and manage your registry without being in the store. That’s nice, haha. :)  It was a lot of fun to walk around the stores though, holding Alex’s hand and picking out things that we would use in our home. It memories like that, the special things, that you’ll fondly remember down the road.

We also got to meet with everyone at PSI this week, as well as Maggie, to discuss designs and layout for our invitations. I’m so excited for you all to see what Maggie has come up with. She’s so good! And I know PSI will do an amazing job with the printing. It was so nice to finally meet with them! Laura and Kelly are very knowledgeable about printing and all it’s processes; I know that the invitations will come out wonderfully. I’m tempted to tell you all about the invitation design, but you know I love surprises, so I think I’ll just wait til I can show you pictures! ;) Printing should begin on them in the next week or so, as soon as everything is finalized. I can’t wait!!

For those of you that have planned weddings, what was your favorite part of the planning process? (eg. registry, meeting with vendors, design and decor, etc.) For those of you who haven’t, what are you looking forward to most?

Love.

Erin

Happy Friday Everyone!

This week has been an eventful one indeed! Our stylist Jordyn Dean and her husband Bradley had a precious little baby boy, River Asher!! We’re all so glad he’s here, and I just know that Jordyn and Bradley must be beside themselves with happiness. :)

So many big things are happening – babies being brought into the world, friends getting married, and our upcoming wedding – it’s so much to take in! As the wedding planning is coming to a close, I’m an absolute mixed-up bunch of emotions. I’m happy because I’m marrying my love, impatient because the day still seems so far away, anxious that I’m forgetting something, confident that it’s all going to be wonderful, sad that the planning is almost over, thankful that I’ve had so much help from so many wonderful people, and glad that I’ve made new and fantastic friends along the way.

We’re pulling last minute details together, making sure that everyone is on the same page and that everything is set in order. Invitations will be ready to send out soon, plans and decor for the guestbook table are falling into place, and favors will be made soon. As a sidenote, I’ve been searching for a father/daughter dance song for my dad and I, and I’m having a tough time coming up with one. My dad’s not the “Wonderful World” or “Unforgettable” type, so we don’t want anything too mushy or sentimental (mostly because neither of us will be able to make it through that, haha), but we still want something meaningful and sweet. If anyone has any ideas, let me know. ;)

 There’s only 50 days left until the wedding… I feel like it can’t get here soon enough! Everything is coming together. I don’t really want to say that it’s falling into place, because so many people are working hard to make sure that things are perfect. We are so thankful – I can’t say that enough. I want our day to be perfect, just like any bride would, but… I get to marry Alex that day, so no matter what, it already is the perfect wedding.

Love.

Erin

Hey everyone!

Officially less than two months until the wedding (59 days to be exact haha), and we’re so excited! Things are rolling along smoothly; it’s wonderful to see things coming together so beautifully. These vendors are making it so easy to plan this event, and I’m not just saying that!

This week, we had our highly anticipated “big vendor meeting” at the polo fields to discuss ceremony and reception specifics, layouts, and other loose ends that needed to be tied up. Representatives from the caterers were present, as well as Lola’s and Party Pros. We met with everyone and did a walk-through of the area where the ceremony and reception are going to be held, and we discussed everything. From linens, to table locations, ceremony chair set-up, decor, flow of the guests, music, food, etc. Tera from Armosa came along to photograph and document the process, and Jordyn helped facilitate the meeting and keep everything on track. (Sidenote: I don’t know what I would do without Tera, Jordyn, and Lyndsie – their input, assistance, and opinions are priceless!)

The more we talk about the big day and coordinating everything, the more excited I get about it. It’s getting so close now that I can visualize the day in my head, and it’s all full of smiles. :) A wonderful get-together of our friends and family, celebrating a new chapter in mine and Alex’s lives – it can’t get here soon enough!

We also got enjoy some music this week at the start of HandyFest! Which reminds me, we finally have a reception band! They’re called The Bear! The Shoals has some really great artists, and we’re excited to be able to show what the Shoals has to offer. Dillon Hodges will be making some glorious music at our ceremony, and we’ll have a few more folks playing around at the reception as well. It’s sure to be a good time! :)

I know I’ve said it before, but Alex and I are so thankful to have this chance to have an amazing wedding. We don’t deserve all this wonderful help; it really is overwhelmingly great. There’s too many people for me to thank them individually – I wouldn’t want to miss one – but collectively, thank you. Thank you everyone – friends, family, vendors, etc. – for helping us make this a day that we’ll never ever forget. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Love.

Erin

Hey everyone!

I feel like time is crawling along, but then I also feel like there’s not enough time to get everything done! I wonder if that’s a normal feeling, haha. I know I mention it often, but I’m definitely learning patience throughout this experience. I can’t wait to be Alex’s wife, but I also want to enjoy every minute of this experience… I’m so torn! haha.

This week we had a follow-up meeting with Jackie at Party Pros. Jackie is providing so many things for us! I’ve only really met Jackie twice, but he already has my vote of confidence. He’s confident in his work and what he provides, and seeing that makes me absolutely confident in what he’s doing for our event. Everyone I’ve talked to about Jackie has nothing but good things to say about his work. I know it’ll be wonderful. :)

We also met with our friend Tim of overFlo Productions. Tim is doing the sound for the ceremony and the reception, and like Jackie, Tim has my full confidence. He’s laid back and he gets things done, two good qualities in my opinion, haha :) Alex has worked with him in the past, and I’ve seen Tim’s work first-hand. I have no doubt that he’ll make everything sound golden.

Typing the word “golden” makes me think of that evening… When I visualize the wedding festivities in my mind, I picture a warm late summer night, a glowing celebration under a vast sky blanketed with stars, and friends and family enjoying a sweet time of happiness with Alex and I.

I can’t wait.

Jordyn, Alex, and I also met again with Maggie Crisler of magpie photo/design…. It’s time for invitations! :) Maggie… well, she’s just amazing. She works hard, she’s got amazing talent, and she knows how to get things done. The Save-The-Dates are wonderful; I know these invitations will be fantastic as well. Maggie is also doing a few more design elements for our wedding (labels, signage, program), and I know they’ll be awesome too. I can’t wait to show them to you all!

I’ve never asked before, but… I’ve been telling you all about our ideas and plans for OUR perfect wedding, but what’s YOUR idea of the perfect wedding? Let me know! :)

Love.

Erin

P.S. – Don’t forget to check out the engagement video that Wes Wages of Armosa Studios did for us! He does such an amazing job!!!