Checking In

Hello there, internet friends.

I just wanted to check in and tell you that I am still alive.

The mister and I will be off on our honeymoon in just a short 2 days! I am SO EXCITED!

Everything has (so far) worked out perfectly. We are flying my mom out to watch Owyn, the dog and the house while we're away. We're flying into San Jose, starting off in Monterey and driving up the coast to Sonoma, and back down to San Fransisco. Sounds amazing right? We have flights, a car and a cottage for our 2 nights in Sonoma and that's all. No plans, no reservations, no where to be. I can't wait!

 our adorable little barn cottage

Wedding Photography

Have you SEEN??

The amazing Langs have posted pictures from our wedding. 

I'm sure you you've seen, if you follow Stacie, which you'd be crazy not to.

GO HERE. NOW!

C to the G

I am now a Gramp. 

It feels so strange. Did anyone else feel different when they changed their name? I look at this picture of me, in my wedding gown and say, " Chelsea Gramp" and feel as though I'm looking at a stranger. I'm kinda likin' it. It's like I have a new identity. And I can be whoever I want.

I didn't think I'd feel any differently towards Dave (and it might be because it's only been a few days), but I do. I have a stronger respect and bond towards him.  He is my husband and I will forever be his.

Left overs

 (I am in LOVE with our new backyard. We have been spending all of our time back there. Thank you DAD!)

We have a TON of left over beer and taco goodness from the street taco cart we had at the wedding, so we've been inviting friends to come finish it up with us. I must say, I am loving the friend time. Why don't we always have kegs and a fridge full of meat? 

Tonight we had our friends Jamie, Nic and their young one Jimi Jaden over. The kids played and we drank. I love them! Dave and I met through mutual friends. Before I got to know him I knew he'd be an good person because every single person in that group of friends has a beautiful spirit. There's not a single person I could say something bad about.

Dave goes back to work tomorrow and I am sad :(

We've been livin' up the newlywed life.

Luckily he's only going back for 2 days and then it's the weekend again!

I can't wait to show you all picture of the wedding and tell you all about it. 

It was absolutely beautiful. Like a dream. 

The most beautiful part about it is the love that we share for each other.

<3

Official

Welp folks, it's official. 

I'm finally a Mrs. 

Can't wait to share the AMAZING pictures from the Langs.

Champagne Bruch, For ME!

My lovely Matrons of Honor hosted a beautiful champagne brunch in my honor last weekend. 

It was lovely. I have pictures to prove it.

   

   

Wedding Mumbo-Jumbo

So I finally started planning our wedding. 

We have so many really neat things planned. I can't wait to see how everything turns out! 

a little sneaky peaky..

Dave and I are collaborating on invitation designs. 

Dave is very creative and talented in the graphic design dept., so I give him my rough idea's and he turns them into magic. I was telling him what I want as for a map and he was wanting to know what the invitations were going to be like. I showed him the actual invites and envelopes and he didn't like them. So, today he came home with all of these sample books of different papers and envelope sizes and started talking all this printing mumbo-jumbo.

So now our invitation are going to be a lot more elaborate than I was thinking. Which means more time. And more money. I guess this is why people always end up going over their budget??

At least I can turn over the invitation responsibility, right? 

At any rate, I can NOT wait to see how they turn out!

(i just like saying that phrase and wanted to throw it in)

It's a Damn Good Day to be Alive

" Let all that has breath praise the Lord"

Psalm 150:6

It's Good Friday, and it's a damn good day to be alive!

I hope you all have a beautiful Easter weekend. 

**************************

In other news...

My wedding dress and graduation gown are hanging next to each other in my dress closet (yes, I have a separate closet for dresses).  It's a good sight to see.

And those two are dominating that closet!

Wedding Inspiration

{VIA}

Wedding Ispriation: Colors

School is done. over! Yippee!

Time to daydream about my wedding!

One question I often get regarding the wedding is 

"have you chosen your colors"

The answer is yes! All colors! 

Hello, its an outdoor Spring wedding. All colors are too beautiful and what would Spring be without being bombarded with a variety of colors? As long as it can be found in a flower that grows in Spring, it's made my list!

This girl knows whats up:

My bridesmaids (although only two) will get to wear whatever they want. 

As long as it fits into the look I want, I don't care.

Everyone has a different style and body shape, why tell them what they have to wear? 

We want this day to be fun.

We don't want to focus on the details

because that will distract us from what the importance of the day really is.

I'm starting to get pretty excited!

Wedding Inspiration

 {more here}

 {more here}

 {more here}

I absolutely love the burlap, wild flowers and assortment of jars and patterns.

I haven't done any wedding planning yet, but I can assure you it will be one beautiful Spring wedding.

Wedding Bands- For Him

Ive been asking Dave what type of band he wants and he's decided he likes wood and meteorite. 

Preferably meteorite. 

I found these from this etsy shop that have 1 million unique things that are perfect for Dave. 

My favorite is the first one because it has both wood and meteorite.

Wedding Inspiration

My sister found this wedding that The Farm, 

which is where we will be getting married this St. Patty's Day.

Images found HERE

Now, can you see why I was so determined to get a spot here?? 

It's perfection. 

Zack and Molly had such a beautiful wedding.

I Do's

{images stolen from here. Please don't sue me. I'm poor}

It's official. We will be saying our I Do's at The Farm at South Mountain.

You have no idea how excited I am. 

This is the only place in the phx metro area Id like to say my vows to David Christopher Gramp. Yes, his name is Gramp, and yes, I like to call him Mr. Grump for more than one reason. 

Our ceremony will take place on this beautiful well kept secret farm and our reception will take place in our backyard. The backyard that sold us on our house.

Letter to Dad:

Dad, I hope you've been working operation wedding reception plans. 

P.S. I have some ideas myself, if you'd like to listen.

P.S.S. Do you know anyone who can clean up our ENTIRE backyard for a very good price??

Like tree trimming and all? Ill talk to you about it tomorrow. Since I talk to you everyday. I guess this letter is pointless, especially sine i know you only look at picture and don't read my posts. Wendy, we can laugh about this (and him) once you read this.

( I love Wendy. She's wonderful and hilarious. She still likes me (i think) even though she's know me since a young child and dealt with me during early adolescence.)

I'm gonna be Mrs. Grump (haha) March 17, 2011!

Yes, we're getting married on St. Patty's Day. 

Our wedding will involve lots of clovers and green beer. 

Just kidding. Maybe.

Jar Collection

Within the past few days we have made some wedding decisions and got this ball rolling. I hope we can keep it rolling. 

We decided on the venue and have an appointment Monday to sign the contract and hand over our money. We also decided on the back yard reception. So Ive handed the future of our back yard over to my father. Because he is a professional.

I bought 2 wedding dresses. TWO? Yes. Two dresses. 

I bought them from the J Crew wedding line and they are on a truck to my front door step. Well, one it. The other won't be shipped until November. You must think Im crazy for buying two, but in all honesty, I wanted to buy 5 but I had to talk myself down to 2, or Id be one broke sad little bride. I wanted to make sure I had a back-up incase I didn't love the other. I can return them, and I had a 20% coupon! What's to loose? It was meant to be. I was on the phone with my sister in Nashville while we were adoring every single dress when I got up to check the mail and there it was. My coupon. See? Meant. To. Be. I bought them 2 minutes later. 

I've also began my jar collection. My plan is to have tons and tons of different vases and jars to put a variety of wild spring flowers in them as center pieces. I want long light linens with burlap draped over. 

I have so many ideas running through my head. 

This is like a dream come true!

Thanks Dave for making my dreams come true by proposing!

You are my favorite mammal. But the Slig is my favorite mini-mammal.

________________________

A mini-trauma occurred last weekend...

My diamond went missing. 

My ring snagged on a blanket, I looked down, and my diamond was gone. 

This was really sad. And scary. 

Not only is it the diamond that Dave proposed to me with and thought very hard about but it was a very very nice diamond. Crystal clear. I loved my diamond so much because It was a symbol of how Dave sees me and our life together. At least that's my opinion. He chose to go with quality instead of quantity. That shows a lot. I respect that and I'm glad he knew that I'd respect that as well. He knew he could get a bigger diamond (for less), but chose to get me a really pretty one.

On the bright side, it is currently being replaced. 

I'll be ring less for 6-12 weeks, but I think Ill be okay.

Wedding Planning

This wedding planning thing is a lot harder than I anticipated. 

First thing- BUDGET! How does one set a budget? 

It's probably the toughest thing yet. 

Also, why do photographers cost so much?

It's too bad I cant do it myself. 

Dave and I always saw ourselves eloping in the wine country. 

It's just so us. But now, we're starting to think differently. 

Dave really wants to share the special moment with our family. And we really want to have an outside reception with the tons of friends and family we have. Oh and, it'll be a lot less expensive to have the ceremony and reception together. There is one thing we're set on. Honeymoon in EUROPE! I figure now is the time to see all of the amazing artifacts and monuments I study endlessly in my text books. After this year I will be graduated and plan on getting a "real job" and having more sligs (aka, babies!). The thing I love so much about my major is Art History. Seeing and learning about it gives me buterflies in my stomach. Sometimes, like when Id learn about medeival peices associated with the poem "The Dream of the Rood" Id get teary eyed. Being able to see this history in life would be life-changing.

So now we're having a hard time deciding..

inexpensive ceremony/reception here and honeymoon in Europe 

or

elope and do a "mini moon" in Napa and return home for a reception followed by a European honeymoon whenever we get around to it-meaning, probably not gonna happen for a while.

hmmm...

This is why we need to set a BUDGET!

Oh and P.S. - We're planning a Spring wedding. 

March 18th if everything works out. 

Mark your calanders!

Cartel Coffee Lab

Lately we've been visiting Dave favorite coffee shop. We used to go often and then we stopped for one reason or another. Its very delicious and they use organic goods and recycled cups.

Check out their website and go visit them! If you're cool enough.

Click Me!

A Garden Reception

The reception was held in a neighbors beautiful garden. Everyone had such a great time. It was a very relaxed wedding. Easy listening music, close friends and family, soft lighting, lots of wine, and my favorite, street tacos. I wish I took more pictures but I was busy eating my tacos. It's one of my favorite things in the world.

I loved the centerpiece. Sand lined the middle of the tables with shells and candles placed on top. And we figured out that the favors are not soap on a rope, they are candles, so do not try washing your body with them. By the end of the night everyone had wax all over the cloths. What is it with people playing with candle wax?

For the toast Dom Perignon was passed out to everyone, other than to the non drinkers who had cider. I have never even seen a bottle of Dom Perignon so I was not going to pass up the opportunity to taste it. Sooo... as I was helping pass out the glasses, I helped myself to one and placed it at my seat. They say a small amount is okay and it's not like it was a shot of jack or anything. I don't regret it. It was so good. I am not a chamagne drinker, but if it was Dom everytime I would be.

A Beach Ceremony

This is Dad and Wendy moments before the ceremony. The night was perfect. The whole bunch walked down together from the house to the beach where the ceremony was performed.

As much as I did not want to wear my baby shower dress, I could not find anything else that 'beachy', but it worked out great.

Dad's neighbor who collects cars picked them up on the way back to the house for a spin in one of his early 1900's Rolls Royce. It was an awesome car. Best thing about it was the horn.

A Hop, Skip and a Jump

We're heading off to Dad's house again this Friday in Point Loma for his and Wendy's beach wedding.

(^the invitation^)

The wonderful thing about going to see them is that it's not the usual visiting family situation. It's more like the ultimate beach vacation. Perfect views and just a hop, skip and a jump away form the water. At no cost.

Something tells me I won't be getting into a kayak this time. :(