We Did It!!

Before we head off to Europe for our honeymoon, I wanted to check in and share some proof that we did, in fact, get married on Saturday!

P.S. This is also my official dress reveal! I wore the Casablanca 1900, also the choice of Mrs. Fro Yo, but I had it changed to a sweetheart neckline!

We had the most wonderful day, surrounded by the love of our friends and family! Can't wait to share more when we return!

Until then, all our love, 

Mr. and Mrs. Turtle!

Today is the Day!!

When Mr. Turtle and I got engaged, back in August of 2008, July 10, 2010 felt a lifetime away!  But now that it's here, I find myself wondering where all the time went.  Mrs. Oyster just made a great analogy in her recent post about the final days before the big day feeling like a giant roller coaster.  I feel like we're climbing further and further up, and we know the big drop is coming, and we're just bracing ourselves for it, because we know that once it comes, it is going to be so fun, but over so fast! This past week has been a whirlwind of chaos for me!  So many things seem to be going wrong, and I can't even count how many times I've just broken down and cried.  There were so many details I had planned that I have totally run out of time for!

Last night, I was up until 1:30 in the morning, in a hotel room with my bridesmaids, trying to assemble programs.  And everything was going wrong, and we didn't know how we were going to finish them in time, and finally, I was like, "You know what? We're done with these! I'm so over programs!" So I threw them in the trash, and we all just started laughing.  My dad and brother went to Kinko's this morning and had a bunch of programs printed off... just basic, one page programs.  This is totally unlike me and my obsession with paper projects! But really... I'm just over it! All of it! Somehow, with or without cute programs, even if everything that could possibly goes wrong goes wrong, I'll be married tonight!  So today, I plan to let go!  It's time to stop and enjoy the ride, because I know it will go by way too fast!

I am surrounded by family and friends right now, and am just so overwhelmed and blessed by their love, support, and generosity!  I feel so loved, and despite little things going wrong, right now, the whole world feels right!

The tent frame is up, and soon it will be draped with white chiffon, and filled with tables, chairs, linens, and flowers!




First I've got makeup, then hair, then pictures, all surrounded by my dearest friends, and then I will walk down the aisle to my first ever boyfriend, my high school sweetheart, my very best friend!

Mr. Turtle: I can't believe I'm about to marry you! After all these years of us, to finally call you my husband just seems unreal.  No matter how tomorrow goes, I know it will be perfect, because you will be there.  Thank you for being the one person in life who just gets me.  I don't have a doubt in my mind about forever with you, and I just can't wait for it to officially begin!

My Weddingbee Friends: Planning this wedding has been such an emotional roller coaster and a wonderful period of my life.  Blogging on here has only enhanced it and made it even more of a joy! Your comments have helped me and encouraged me more than you could ever know!  I hope that I have been helpful to you in planning your weddings and that you have enjoyed following me as I plan mine! I can't wait to share all my pictures and stories with you in the coming weeks!

Me in my "Getaway Dress"/Mr. Turtle's Grammy's High School Prom Dress

So I guess that's it!  For the last time as Miss Turtle, I'm out! ;)

A Whole New Life

For me, the most overwhelming part of this whole engagement has not been crafting the guest list, hiring the vendors, or designing the details.  It has been the realization that this wedding day signifies a whole new life for me... literally.

Photo Source

I just finished reading the biography of Marie Antoinette and strangely, I found myself identifying with her early life.  I recognize that's a bit of an exaggeration... I'm not a fourteen-year-old Austrian princess, nor am I marrying the Dauphin of France, and I'm definitely not moving to Versailles. (I wish!)  But like the young Dauphine, my new marriage will bring a lot of change with it.

To begin with, at the beginning of this summer, both Mr. Turtle and I graduated from college...

After the wedding, we're going to Europe for our honeymoon, and when we return, we are driving clear across the country, from our hometown in California to our new home in Maryland!  Mr. Turtle will be attending grad school there, while I begin the hunt for my first post-college job!  It will be my first time living in a different state than my family and friends. This also means that I recently quit the job I had for the past three years.

Me and Mr. Turtle celebrate signing the lease for our new place in Maryland 

Although I have to admit that I feel nervous about beginning this whole new chapter, I am also super excited to begin married life with such adventures!  (And isn't getting married enough of an adventure in itself?) When life is filled with so many changes, it's easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of it all and not process the reality of what is going on.  We've been trying to take time, in the midst of everything, to pause and enjoy life, to be thankful for what we have already, and also for new opportunities.

I'm thinking that what we're going through right now is probably pretty common for younger brides like myself.  Although getting married later in life has its own set of challenges for sure, I feel like all of this wouldn't feel so overwhelming if Mr. Turtle and I were homeowners and established in our careers.

Are any of you going through something similar?  Do you have a big move coming up, or another type of change, that has added to the stress of planning your wedding?

Top That!

Now that the countdown till our wedding day is in the single digits.... my life, as well as the lives of those around me, has become an intense whirlwind of last minute DIY projects, never-ending decisions to make, and general wedding craziness. In the midst of it all, I am going to try my very best to keep you updated on what we've been accomplishing! It's the least I can do, right?

Well the other day I decided to give a little makeover to the vintage cake topper that Mr. Turtle picked up at an antique store almost a year ago.  I thought it would be super cute to make the little bride and groom look a bit more like us!

Before:

After:

All I did was shorten the bride's veil and paint some of the details to match our coloring and wedding attire. Personally, I was pleasantly surprised at how nicely it came out! What do you think?

What are you using for your cake topper?  Did it involve a little craftiness on your part?