wedding wednesday

Anniversary photos are sort-of wedding related, right? Right!

About a month ago, A and I were in Shreveport for a good friend's wedding. Meg (of the ever so wonderful Everyday Meg) and I had been talking about anniversary photos (her taking them of us) and it just so happened that her favorite location ever ever ever is in Shreveport! And her boyfriend (heyyyy girl hey Mo-Reese) is from there! Exclamation points all around! 

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early (who am I kidding, it was DARK when we woke up) so we could get the best light and we headed out to the land of the homeless people to get the shoot on. Ok they weren't there when we were there, but there were sleeping bags and liquor bottles so you could tell that's where they hang at night. But DON'T WORRY MOM, you can't even tell in the pictures!

I did and still do love our engagement photos, but like I mentioned before, I just wanted something a little more us me. And the result, oh man, was amazing. I cannot accurately put into words how amazing Meg is. She just has an eye for amazingness that I could only DREAM of having. Since I can't put into words how amazing she is, I should probably just let the pictures do the talking. We have a total of 136 (!!), but below are a few of my favorites. If you enjoy them as much as I do, you need to hire her ASAP :)

Maybe that was more than a few, but seriously, I could have put all 136 on here because I just love them all so much. I need to find more walls for all of the canvases I want to order!

wedding wednesday

Does an anniversary post count as a wedding wednesday post? Because that is totally what is happening right now.

Sunday just to happened to be our one year anniversary! I'm not quite sure HOW it's already been a year. Also, since I'm not even done with my actual wedding Wednesday posts, I guess that forces me to admit that I've been a terrible blogger. THERE! I said it.

A made the plans for the big day...and I was more than happy to let him. We ended up going out to dinner the Thursday prior because the restaurant he picked was closed on Sunday, and we had a friend coming in for the weekend. He did great, but then, how could he not when the way he found it was by googling "romantic dinner places in Houston?"

We ended up at a place called Just Dinner in Montrose. It was adorable! The owners found an old bungalow and fixed it up to be a restaurant. The tables are in the living room and dining room portion, and there were probably only 10 of them. It had the most romantic vibe, which was perfect for our anniversary. And the food! We left feeling fulfilled but not stuffed, which is pretty great in my book. The portions were great, too. I really hate the over-sized portions most places serve...because, yes, I know you can take half home, but when it's in front of me and delicious, I want to eat it all! And then I leave feeling like an elephant. So! If you live in Houston or visit any time soon, I highly suggest this as a date night. Or a girls night as the table next to us was having. They were 60 years old and it just made me smile seeing that. As did this comment: Girl 1: "James hated vegetables so I never cooked them." Girl 2: "Well no wonder you divorced him!"

 

I got to wear my fancy new statement necklace...I think I may have a groopdealz problem, but that's a story for another day.

 

We ended the night with a Nutella tart thingy with rice krispies in them. I loved it until I got a bite with a nut in there and then I didn't like it so much. How can I like nuts on their own, but HATE them in my chocolate? This makes no sense to me!

 

A did great with my gift...mainly because I sent him a picture of it and told him where to get it. Hey, at least it leaves me as one happy girl! No complaints here.

 

And then! Sunday night we did the traditional anniversary day celebration of the top tier of the cake and champagne in our wedding day toasting glasses. I was slightly worried that the cake would taste funny...but GOOD NEWS! It tasted exactly the same as it did on the day of. It was so good, in fact, that I had to throw away the remaining huge hunk of it because I knew that I would eat it every day until it was gone. Carbs, it's an addiction. The sprinkles looked slightly runny after being in the freezer for a year, but you can't win em all.

 

On a serious note, I am so blessed to have married such a great man. This year brought on a lot of changes and new things, and I wouldn't have wanted to experience those things with anyone else. So, one year down and forever to go. I know that it will only get better with time :)

wedding wednesday

We're nearing the end, y'all! I bet there are some FINALLY!'s being said right now. 

Before I get into the after party, I need to set the scene for what A and I did between leaving the reception and arriving at the hotel.

I guess what normal people would do from that point is go straight back to the hotel, into the honeymoon suite and not talk to anyone else for the rest of the night. But I wouldn't be writing this post if we did that, would I? No. 

We're driving down 1960 in Houston giving the driver directions (anyone else think he should have already known those?) when we see some friends turning left to head to Specs. For those of you not from the great state of Texas, Specs is the best liquor store known to mankind. 

All of a sudden, someone yelled out "turn left!" OK ok, that someone was me. I was now directing the limo driver to turn into the parking lot for specs. I just wanted to see my friends, you guys.

We catch the friends (who happen to be my parent's best friends from college and their daughter and her BF who are now good friends of A and mines. Love how that worked!) just before they leave and whatdoyaknow, they head back in with us. Without that, we wouldn't have this.

Two bottles of champagne? Don't mind if I do. And although A looks less enthused, he got some vodka. Our friends even bought it all for us as an additional wedding gift. We've clearly got some of the best friends out there.

There were more pictures, but said friend is no longer on FB so I can no longer see them. Stupid FB!

After the pitstop, we headed back to the hotel, ran upstairs to change real fast, and headed back down (with champagne in hand) to join in on the after party. More on how we took over the hotel lobby next week.

wedding wednesday

I'm baaaaaack. And I'm a homeowner! But That'll be another post for another day. Lots to do on the home-front before I share anything about that. 

So, today I'll be finishing up the reception posts with one big shebang. (I got around 3,000 pictures from my photographer, so this was HARD.) And here we go...hope you like pictures! These are just some of my favorite ones from the night. Random and out of control, just like the night :) And since this fancy iMac doesn't even have a DISC drive, I pulled these off FB and the quality is kind of pooey. Sorry!

So maybe I chugged the glass. And by maybe, I mean definitely.

And then I stole A's. Did you think I was lying about the champagne thing?

Copperhead road!

Sorry for ending this post on a sad note, but my sweet Uncle Al, in the center, passed away over the weekend. I am so blessed that he was able to attend our wedding. He was the uncle that sent me baseball bats growing up to "keep the boys away." He's in a better place now and out of pain, but my sweet Aunt is hurting. 

Tune in tomorrow for a PSA about never buying anything from Conn's. Riveting stuff, my friends. 

wedding wednesday

 

It's baaaack! But late, as always, because when I blog on my PC, everything else shuts down and gets slow and annoying. Mac for the win, again.

 

Last WW (forever ago), I gave you all some advice for the big day. Had you asked me prior to my wedding day to give that advice, it would have included "don't do a money dance." I think the money dance (or dollar dance) might be a southern thing, so some of you might be confused by this. It's basically a series of a few songs where people line up and pay you money to dance with you. My thoughts on this prior to the wedding? Tacky. But since pretty much EVERY wedding Andre' and I had been to prior to ours had one, I told him we could do one too.

 

My thoughts on ours? LOVED IT. And no, I'm not a brat, I didn't love it because we made a lot of money from it, I loved it because of how many people I got to dance with! This allows you another opportunity to interact with your guests, but in the most fun way possible - DANCING. What gets better than that?

 



 

My sister was the money collector - sorry, but nothing was getting pinned to my dress on my watch - and the line trafficker.

 



Sorry, Boo, had to post this one. Love you!

 

Andre' dancing with his sweet MawMaw. Or Mamaw? Or however you spell that. It confuses me on the daily.

 

 

 

 

all that money is for meeeee?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there was the part where my brother-in-law dropped me. Don't worry, I got right back up and more importantly - no champagne was spilled - but it was probably one of the funniest parts of the night.

 

 

Moral of the story: I still think they are kind of tacky, but I am glad we did it because of the chance to talk to more people throughout the reception. I still remember the sweet talk I had with A's friend/groomsman Ross and I will always remember/laugh about Chad dropping me. Memories :)