Licensed to Wed

We officially have "permission" to get married, according to the state of Georgia that is. Cary and I made the trip to the Forsyth County Probate Office today and purchased our marriage license. Show them your diver's license, tell them your parents' names, and have a happy life together! Pretty simple, huh? I wish the rest of the wedding planning had been that easy.


Since today is the last day of April, we have 22 days until the wedding. Wow. Time has flown by! We have been making final payments, documenting response cards, and dealing with all of the little details. I'm just ready for the wedding to be here!

Bridesmaids Luncheon

Last Sunday, Mom and I treated the bridesmaids, my grandmother, my sister, and Cary's mother and grandmother to brunch at the Partridge Inn in Augusta, GA. It was a chilly morning but we braved the wind and sat on the veranda, overlooking Augusta. You never can predict the weather in April. (Luckily, they fired up the heaters to keep us warm!)


We started off with a yummy brunch of made-to-order omelets, bacon, shrimp and grits, lobster tail, and even oysters! Then, it was time to open gifts. The girls received a lunch cooler full of goodies as well as a something cute to wear in their hair for the big day!


Lastly, the girls participated in a Southern tradition called a Charm Pull Cake. Little silver charms are placed in a cake (traditionally, the wedding cake) with ribbons attached to the charms and flowing out of the cake. Each girl chooses a ribbon to pull and the charm attached represents her future. For example, pulling the wedding bells charm would mean that girl is the next to marry. Or pulling a baby carriage would mean she is the next to have a child.

I decided to modernize the tradition a little (and "rig the game" so to speak). The girls knew which ribbon color was theirs and pulled their own charm.

Kelly and Sandy each received charms of nurses.

Courtney's charm was a toothbrush and toothpaste, while Jill's was an OT charm.

Courtney, Kelly, me, Sandy, and Jill

Bachelorette Party

Before all of the wedding events last week, my girls treated me to a bachelorette party. Courtney, Jill, and Kelly took me to dinner, gave me a lingerie shower, and then treated me to a mani-pedi at the spa the next morning. It was a lot of fun and a great way to start the weekend.

We went to dinner at Bee's Knees in downtown Augusta.

Then it was back to Courtney's for the lingerie shower (sorry, no pics to show). The next morning we all went to a spa and got pedicures. A perfect way to start a busy but super fun weekend!

At Dj and Co. Salon and Spa

Thanks Girls, I had a great time!

1 month to go!!

I can't believe it. As of today, we are down to just 30 days until the wedding! Crazy to believe we are almost there. Just 4 more weeks, and we will be married.

We wanted to share our engagement story with you as well as most of the pictures from our engagement session. Here is a digital version of our book with all of the engagement pictures as well as a little story of how Cary proposed. Hope you enjoy.

If the link does not work, copy and paste the one below into your browser.
http://preview.picaboo.com/Webview/CoverPage.aspx?user=000000000004A37EC4&album=00000000000586A541&showHeader=1&coverPage=

Ring Bearer

While the shower was going on in Augusta, I was at Kelly's parents' place taking care of our ring bearer, Weston. He is my cousin as well as Julia's twin brother. Since the bridal shower isn't a whole lot of fun for us guys, Kelly's dad and I spent the day taking care of Weston.

About to mow the lawn...

Climbing on the rocks

Coloring in David's chair

He knew exactly how to use the stethoscope.

Feeding the goats.

Flower Girl

Julia was such a cutie at the shower, I wanted to share some more pictures of her. She is the daughter of Cary's cousin, Mary Beth, and she will be our flower girl at the wedding.

Julia with her Aunt Diane

While Jill and Courtney were a huge help at the shower and kept me organized, Julia was my little helper, too.

I gave Julia hair barrettes with beaded white and pink flowers. Aunt Anne helped her put them in her hair.

Bridal Shower!

Sandy, one of my bridesmaids, threw me an amazing bridal shower this weekend at her home. Family on both my side and Cary's side were invited as well as family friends. All of my bridesmaids were able to come down and participate, too! We had an amazing time and Cary and I received so many beautiful gifts...I'm not sure we can fit them all into our new home!

The house was beautifully decorated and we had a wonderful spread of food and drink! We took so many pictures, I'll try not to overload you!

All the yummy food!

The gift table
With my mom and Aunts

Opening Gifts
I'm such a goober, but I'm obviously excited about Arthur Court!

Lauren and Sandy

With my sister, Lisa

With Mom and Diane

Aunt Valerie and Aunt Dot

Granny with Julia, our flower girl! (More pictures of her to follow!)

The Mailman

The mailman and I are best friends! He just doesn't know it. I must admit these days, my favorite thing to do is to wait and see what he is going to bring. Reply cards (postcards, actually) have been coming in everyday--sometimes two or three, sometimes five or six. And it has been pretty exciting to see who is coming to our wedding.


(A close second is the UPS guy. You see, he delivers for that little store called Bed, Bath, and Beyond.)

And speaking of invitations...since we have sent them out, I guess I can show them on the blog now. They were a lot of work, but both Cary and I are happy with how they turned out.

This is the invitation and the front of the reply postcard.

This is the back of the reply postcard and the front of the outer envelope (the inner envelope was kept plain, didn't think I needed to show you a blank envelope!)

Thanks to everyone who has sent in their reply postcards and to all who have sent gifts. We can't wait to see you at the wedding. Keep those reply postcards coming!

It's been 1 year

As of yesterday, it's been 1 year since I proposed and this wedding process started. I'm sure Kelly actually started planning before that, but it was official on April 9, 2009. I would have posted yesterday, but we went on our annual trip to the Masters. Thanks to Kelly's dad, we were able to spend the day at Amen Corner and the rest of the amazing Augusta National Golf Course.
This was our view throughout most of the day...except the azaleas were not in bloom this year like in the picture above.

Also, just a heads up for all of you coming to the wedding, you will need to bring your ID if you wish to drink the beer or wine we are offering. Despite being on Forbes Top 25 Richest Counties list for 2010, Forsyth County is a real stickler for alcohol citations. We were encouraged by Windermere to let our guests know in advance of this strictness because you will be required to show an ID at the reception if you plan on drinking. Sorry for the inconvenience, but we wanted to warn you so you could all be prepared.

50 Days Until "I Do!"

That's right, only 50 more days until we are married. Kinda hard to believe. Although the wedding is getting closer, most of our energy has been focused on PT school. Cary and I have been busy studying for our boards, interviewing for jobs, and trying to finish our electives.


Wedding plans are coming together quite well. We are down to the details, confirming plans, and paying the final bills. April should be exciting. My sister-in-law has planned a shower for this month and the bachelorette party is coming up, too! Plus we have Easter this weekend, which we will spend with Cary's family. Masters Week begins next Monday, and with Tiger's return it should be interesting. So lots of things going on...but unfortunately most of our time will be spent studying for boards.