Photos Are Up!!!

Ok so the Online Gallery is posted for all of our Engagement Pictures. Will yall think I'm weird if I have 50 pictures of Eric and I kissing all over our house? haha bc as of right now, there are 50 that I want! Enjoy looking at the pictures :)

http://jhicks-photography.com/clients/

Password: Dallas

On a side note, I have a test tomorrow afternoon and I can't get motivated to study. :(

Reception Site: CHECK!!!

We finally have a reception site. Many of you know this has been the last piece to the puzzle and it has been stressing me out. The wedding is less than 5 months away, but no reception site. We found a place we liked within budget but then with the complete quote everything was additional; security, valet, tea and water, blah blah blah. Then we found THE ONE that includes EVERYTHING! They even have a small centerpiece they will do for us.

The wedding reception will be at The Renaissance Hotel in Richardson.


I'm talking everything is included in their package. Eric and I even get a Honeymoon Suite with Champagne and Strawberries the night of and breakfast in our room the next morning. YAY!!! My mom is signing the contract tomorrow. Thanks Mom & Dad. We Love You!!!

On another note, my MOH went crazy on the $5 wedding rack at Michaels lastnight. Lets see, she picked up a CUTE shirt for the ring bearer and flower girl, a Bride shirt, Bridesmaid shirts, and something extra cute but you can't know about it. ;) Thanks Amy!!!

Honeymoon: CHECK!

This week Eric booked our honeymoon. OMG I can't wait!!! I wish February 20th was here already. Only 5 months to go. I'm so glad we aren't doing a long engagement. I think both of us are just too excited to wait any longer. We decided to go with the H10 Ocean Coral and Turquesa in Puerto Morelos for our honeymoon.



We went with the all inclusive privilege package which includes all of our meals, drinks, flight EVERYTHING! It even includes snorkeling! There are 6 restaurants on the resort and we are in the Adults Only section which includes a private restaurant without kids and a private pool for adults only. One of my classmates went here last summer and loved it! They said it is a gorgeous resort. I was told we have to do the cave diving and the ATV ride.

Neither of us have been to Mexico, so we are so excited for a week long break from school and work to just sit and relax on the beach or at the pools together as husband and wife!!!

Here is a picture of the room. They are very modern.

And I can't wait to wake up to this gorgeous view. We will be able to walk outside and eat breakfast on the balcony. The only difference is we will have a private terrace with a jacuzzi.


That's one more thing I get to check off the wedding to do list. Thanks Melvin and Donna. We Love You!!!

Now I have an excuse to go shopping for honeymoon attire. It's a good thing I've been eating healthy and working out to get ready to wear a swim suit!!!

Now we just need to book a reception site. We have two possibilities right now, so we will see what happens.

Honeymoon Ideas

Do you have any suggestions for honeymoon places? Since we will be getting married in February, we are thinking about doing a warm place. Let me know if you went somewhere warm or if someone you know went somewhere. Also what resort did yall stay at?

As of right now we're looking at going to Puerto Morelos Mexico. This is the resort we're looking at.
http://www.h10hotels.com/eng/hotels-riviera-maya/ocean-coral.php

What do you think? Let me know if you have any suggestions for great deals. Thanks!

or this one...

http://www.elcid.com/marina_beach_resort/

Engagement Pictures

WARNING: A ton of pictures!!!

I absolutely love them all! I can't decide which is my most absolute favorite. Jessica did a great job. I highly recommend using Jessica Hicks for any and all photos.

http://jhicks-photography.com/ Go to her blog and leave Jessica some blog love :)

Save the Date!

Eric adjusted my fingers to make sure I was holding the ball "correctly." haha
Thanks Coach Adcock.

Playing catch was Eric's idea. Do I look like a professional ball player?

Another favorite!

This will be a larger print in our home for sure!

We tried to do serious faces, but Jessica had to snap the picture fast. We couldn't keep a straight face very long haha.

Since he proposed when we went to Chicago to see a Cubs game we thought it was appropriate to get pictures in our Cubs shirt. :)

This was Eric's idea. I like it! Gotta have some attitude.

Look at those faces! Very serious.

Which one is your favorite?

Engagement Pictures

We did engagement pictures this past weekend while I was in town. Our photographer is Jessica Hicks. She is amazing!!! I highly recommend using her. I have "stalked" her blog for at least 6 months. Eric and I loved her work we saw online, and then the actual shoot went great. Her personality was great and we had fun! She has a very different style. We didn't want something posed where you just sit and smile at the camera. Eric does not like getting his picture taken (what guy does), so I was worried how he would handle it. He said it was very casual with us laughing and giggling. We did some serious ones which was hard for us at first. The giggles would just come out. He was even throwing out ideas of some shots he wanted. I'm so glad he's the creative one. I can't wait to see all of the pictures. Don't worry I will post them on here.

I'm excited to see how the "save the date" idea turns out. :)

So for those of you in Dallas, you're probably thinking but it rained ALL weekend! It rained the entire time I was home Thursday-Sunday. Saturday I am thinking great should we even try to do the pictures. Jessica said she is willing to shoot in the rain if she has someone to hold an umbrella over her, so her equipment doesn't get wet. She also had a fabulous umbrella for us to use in the shoot. I have the best MOH!!! Amy came along to help out. We didn't mind the rain at all.

The weather actually held out on us. The first 2 hours it didn't really rain on us. I mean there might have been a very slight drizzle. Then we just used this great clear bubble umbrella. We were planning on playing in the rain after we got some great shots dry, but it never down poured during our shoot like it had all weekend.



I also had my hair and make-up done by the fabulous Tiffany with Smokin' Hot Makeup.

Fireside Pies

Ok so if you live in the Dallas area you have to try Fireside Pies. We go to the one in the Shops of Legacy, but I think there is one in Dallas. One of Eric's coworkers told him about this place a few years back and we love it! We try to go every time I am in town.

Hand-crafted pies baked in custom pecan wood fired ovens. The pecan wood gives the pizza crust a sweet taste. It's a different kind of pizza.

We start out with Fireside Fondue, Molten Four Cheese Blend & Fire Roasted Pie Sauce with Really Garlicky Herbed Crisps

For an entree we get the Stuffed Pie. It's not on the menu anymore, but you can still order it. It's like a calzon I guess with mozzarella, ricotta cheese, peperoni, spicy italian sausage, and spinach leaves. OMG it's so good!!!

You have to try it!

Wedding Update-Saturday

Saturday

• We had a wedding cake consultation in the morning. We got to try some cake and loved it! We designed what we wanted for both cakes. That is paid in full, so we got a 10% discount! That was way under budget :)
• We then went to look at Bridesmaid dresses. We had been looking online and I found one I liked. Amy and Ashley were both there to try them on and they both loved them. It is very simple and classy. They bought their dresses and got a discount for a current special. YAY for discounts!!!
• After that we went to look at some tuxes just to get ideas. Well we ended up deciding on what the guys will wear. Eric was there, so this was all his doing. I love it! He is going to look so good in what he picked out. Man my soon to be hubby is a stud! haha
• Then we went to DSW to look at shoes for us girls. I found shoes up here in KC at DSW, but I didn't buy them. They were at the DSW in Garland, and I still loved them. I decided to get them. YAY so I have shoes!!! Then after discussing, we decided Ashley and Amy can just wear black strappy sandals.
• Saturday evening my parents, Eric, Amy and I went to look at a reception site, Northwood Country Club. They were having a reception that night, so it was all set up. It was gorgeous!!! Now this was a way over the top reception. We think they had spent ATLEAST $10,000 on a florist for all of the center pieces. They brought in specialty lenins, specialty chairs, had special gel lighting the works. We think the reception not including the center pieces is ATLEAST $40,000. That doesn't even include if they're having alcohol. Now we are not planning on spending nearly that haha. I think we are set on that place for the reception.
  

We will be making our own centerpieces to try and save money. If you know of anywhere I can get cheap tall glass vases or any online coupons let me know. I'm thinking hobby lobby or garden ridge.

Wedding Update-Friday

Alright, so I haven't posted in a bit just because I did not have any updates. I had neuro finals last week, so there wasn't much wedding planning going on. I flew to Dallas Thursday night for a weekend full of planning. My MOH is currently in Dallas for a clinical site, so she spent the entire weekend with us helping out. It was so much fun!!! Here are some of the things we got accomplished this weekend. I unfortunately don't have any pictures of the weekend to post for you sorry. :( I will post them according to the days.

Friday

• Bought the invitation material. I found something I liked, but priced out it was $1000!!! Are you serious? We decided we're going to make our own invitations which will put us less than half of that cost plus under our stationary budget :)
  
• Looked at a few reception sites; still not sold on any of them.
• Went to a florist. LOVED the florist! The owner was not there, so I just got ideas of what flowers I want to use. I will call the owner this week, to do a wedding consult over the phone. Eric and my mother-in-law had found this florist the week prior for me. They did the dirty work and went to a few florist then picked out the top two. Z's Florist was my favorite!