Countdown: 39 Days – Eagan Family Shower Weekend

St. Patrick’s Day has always been a big deal for by big Irish family. We haven’t missed a St. Patrick’s Day parade for as long as I can remember, but this year may have been the best yet!

Matt and I were in St. Louis for the weekend for a family shower on Sunday – at least that’s what we thought. When we arrived at the parade on Saturday, this is what we saw:

That’s right, a float in our honor! Complete with a wedding chapel and even an Irish-colored sombrero (I’m half Irish, half Mexican, btw)! I was shocked! I’m glad I had my sunglasses on b/c I even teared up a little. I just couldn’t believe all the work the whole family had done for us. From my Aunts coordinating the parade to my cousin designing special t-shirts, everyone pitched in. I mean, my Honorary Uncle made the sombrero out of paper mache and my Uncle actually built that chapel in his garage!! Amazing.

The day was so much fun and I was reminded once again just how lucky we are to have the families that we do. Truly blessed!

Thank you to everyone who helped to plan and execute this awesome day.

Here are some other photos from the day:

Countdown: 88 Days - Flower & Tabletop Preview!

When we were in St. Louis for Christmas, I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the flowers and linens that will be used at the reception.

I LOVE the florist we’re working with – Barb Wehking/Bloomin’ Buckets (check out their new blog!). When my Mom and I left after our first meeting with Mrs. Wehking, she said – you two were really on the same wavelength in there! I always knew they did great work and hoped that I'd get to work with them for my wedding one day. Plus, we've known the Wehking family since I was in 2nd grade with their daughter KC!

We had only one meeting prior to this and had talked about what I was going for, but it was like she read my mind and could see exactly what I was envisioning! The centerpieces will be fuller on the actual day, but I love them already!

Our wedding coordinator, Elizabeth from Cosmopolitan Events, was also on-hand to show us some table linen options. I wanted to go with a shade of grey for the tables but was worried that with 30ish tables, it would be too dark in the room. I think we came up with some great options – including some really fun linens for the cocktail and cake tables. Here’s a sneak peek at some of our ideas:

  

 

I’m so excited to see everything come together in May!

Countdown: 117 Days - Carmichael Shower

I have A LOT to update you on! Our Christmas "break" was filled with wedding planning. We covered cake tasting, reception dinner tasting, floral and tabletop viewings, rehearsal dinner reservations, hair & make up trial, ceremony music and more! This means some of you (Laura Korbecki) will be happy to hear I have a lot of content for the blog!

First up, our wedding shower hosted by Matt's Mom's side of the family, and it was so much fun to celebrate with all the Carmichael's in Muncie, IN. 

Our little helper

Matt's new golf bag organizer!



  


Two of my bridesmaids who live in Indy also made the drive up to celebrate with us!

 The family!

We also celebrated the upcoming arrival of our niece Caroline! Baby stuff is so much fun!

Thanks to everyone who was able to make the shower - we had a blast and can't wait to see you all in St. Louis!!

Countdown: 148 – Family Meet-and-Greet

In October my parents hosted a family meet-and-greet for all the Acosta’s, Eagan’s, Carter’s, Carmichael’s - and everyone in between - to get together before the wedding. Since our families are spread out all over the country, this was the first time that my extended family was meeting matt’s – and it was a blast!

We are so grateful for the amount of people that made the trip for the weekend. We had people there from Missouri (obviously), Indiana, Virginian, Texas, Louisiana, Colorado and Seattle!!

We can’t wait for the next time we’re all together – The Wedding!!!

A special thanks to my Aunt Alice for taking all these photos from the party:

Countdown: 152 Days - Save The Date!

Five months from TODAY I will be a married woman!! I can't believe how fast time is flying. There's so much to do! And now it's really starting to get real, especially since the Save The Dates have gone out!

I knew when designing the Save The Dates, I wanted it to be a postcard, and have something to do with St. Louis since most of our guests will be traveling there from out of town. And since we don't have engagement pictures yet (oops), we had to be a little more creative. 

I've been working with Courtney Callahan on all of our paper designs and she totally got what we were going for. Definitely check her out if you're a Chicago or St. Louis bride-to-be!

Here's the final product:

 See you in St. Louis!!

Countdown: 177 - Sneak Peek

Less than SIX MONTHS to go!!!

We are in full planning mode and are finally able to start focusing on all the details people tell you you're not allowed to focus on until at least six months out. Woo hoo!

Since we're planning from Chicago, upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas trips home to St. Louis mean vendor meetings, linen & decor decisions, tastings, hair & make-up trials...and probably a few secret visits to check on my dress that is already IN!

First up, our save-the-dates which are going out this weekend. Here's a sneak peek at the design...

Countdown: 255 - Maggie & Collin's Wedding!

Two weekends ago I traveled back to St. Louis to celebrate the marriage of one of my oldest friends and bridesmaid, Maggie. She married a wonderful Texas boy, Collin, and their wedding was absolutely beautiful. Not one detail was missed and everyone had such a blast.

Here are some photos from Maggie’s big day. How gorgeous is she?!

At the rehearsal dinner the wedding party all took turns to say something about the bride and groom. I wasn’t sure what I would say – there were almost 20 years to cover! But I just focused on our friendship through the years and how happy I am that we still remain friends.

I’m so happy for you Maggie! Being a part of your special day meant so much and I’m so happy you will do the same for me in May!

Countdown: 277 - Guest Post by Julie Ravensberg, MOH

Hi everyone!

I'm Julie, Lauren's incredibly pretty, smart and funny MOH. Some of you may also know me as Zoof. For that nickname, I thank Matt.

Lauren was a bridesmaid in our friends’ wedding this past weekend. During the wedding ceremony as I watched Lauren walk down the aisle, I got very excited and emotional.  Maybe it was the music, or the church or the general wedding atmosphere. Or maybe it was because I realized that in 9 short months (277 days) my BFF will be a MRS.

Little did I know 9 years ago when we were moving into the dorms at IU as freshman roommates that we’d end up best friends, sorority sisters and MOH’s in each other’s weddings. Who would have thought that my boyfriend’s confirmation sponsor would later be our daughter’s god-mother?! If the past 9 years have gone by this fast, then I know that the next 9 months will fly by!

I’m honored to be a part of Matt and Lauren’s big day and cannot wait until May 5 - It will be here before we know it!

- Julie

Countdown: 285 - Flowers!

I'm having the first meeting with our florist in a couple of weeks so I'm starting to pull together some examples of what I like. (OK, yes I've had most of these pictures for months now and, yes, some from before we were even engaged. I can't help it, I'm a planner.)

Here are some of my faves:

Photo Credits: l photographie;  mywedding.com; perfect-wedding.info;  mywedding.com; john koch; l photographie; jpsotila; unknown