My Flower Hunt

After much delay, I have finally made an appointment with my dream florists, Fiori Flowers.

We'll see how everything goes in person after meeting/loving them at the Bridal Show in January and drooling over their pretty floral designs featured on their blog in the month since. Here are a few of my latest floral inspirations that I can't wait to share with them.

So much to do, so little time...

Between working full time at Western Refining, running TSM with Jessica & Farzad, writing for What's Up, working on my MBA and trying to stay in shape, getting to the grind on wedding planning has become extremely difficult. Luckily, though, having sweet friends like, Melissa Armendariz, keeps me excited and focused. She shared this adorable bouquet on my Facebook and I'm in love. Something like this in a blush or lavender color would be amazing.

My Pending To Do List: 

1) Have my engagement ring appraised & insured 

2) Attend "Before You Say I Do" classes at Abundant Living Faith Center March 4, 5 & 6 

3) Select location & schedule engagement photos with Shutterbug Photo

4) Engagement Party: Set a date, draft a guest list, and order the invitations

5) Visit Kara's Bridal- the owner contacted me via Facebook and invited me to come visit her boutique. She seems amazingly helpful and professional. I can't wait to go discuss some wedding details with her. 

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Over the past few weeks I've had the chance to check out two local flower shops- Angie's Flowers & Debbie's Bloomer's. Visiting the shops may have seemed a little premature, seeing as how we still don't have a official date for our wedding, but I still wanted to get a rough estimate of how much I would need to set aside for our floral budget.

In addition to getting a feel for cost, I also wanted to meet the vendors to see who I like & who I feel that I can trust with "our big day." While both vendors I have met so far were extremely nice, I was shocked by the news that one quoted me at almost double the price of the other. I'll leave which one ended up being the pricier option up for guessing...

At the end of the day, I don't know if I will end up choosing either of these florists because I still haven't gone to visit Fiori Flowers, with whom, you may recall, I fell in love with at the Bridal Show.

As long as we're on the topic of flowers, though, I've been thinking that I would love to have a purple colored bouquet. I've been looking around and the photos pictured above are a few of my favorite choices so far. Any early favorites?

Outdoor Wedding

After some searching around El Paso, I pretty much have my heart set on an outdoor wedding. What's still up for debate, though, is whether we'll go for Grace Gardens, a backyard reception in the Upper Valley, or even some other great location. One unique idea I found was to get married at one of the local pecan farms. These pictures are from a ceremony & reception which took place at a pecan orchard in New Mexico and I'm in love. The scenery is so romantic.

Instantly added to my checklist of things to look into...