Invitations...

This wedding is seriously getting the best of me.

Frank came home from work yesterday and found me curled up in a ball on our bed sobbing.

I thought I found an invitation that I really loved and it had all the matching stuff.

I'm second guessing myself.

Do I go with fun and whimsy or classic and elegant?

I'm afraid I'll get something and look back on it in 20 years and hate myself for just going with a trend. I want something that is modern, but not too modern.

Is black and white damask with a small cranberry border something that will stand the test of time?

And, I also need registry help! Go here and leave me some words of advice!

Here comes the bride...

Frank was in the field this week and I went home because my "second" mother, who I've known since I was a very little girl and who has always been an incredibly important person in my life, was visiting.

My mother, sister and I went wedding dress shopping when I was home earlier this month. I thought I had found my dress. It looked very Grecian and I cried when I put it on. I never expected to cry and really thought that was a sign. I tried on way too many dresses that day, though, and was extremely overwhelmed and exhausted by the time I put the dress on for a second time. We decided to go home and think about the dress.

I've been thinking about it ever since then and had pretty much decided that it wasn't the one. I have a very large chest and I felt like that was all you saw in the dress.

Yesterday my mom, sister, grandma, "second" mother and I went to another bridal shop. I put on another "Grecian" gown and loved it. I look better in Ivory, though, so I tried on another dress that I had pulled, by the same designer, in Ivory, to see how the color looked on me.

And that was it.

I have a dress and I feel absolutely beautiful in it. I wanted to wear it home yesterday. It is so unlike anything that I ever thought I would wear and is very formal. The wedding has definitely become a formal affair with the purchase of this dress and I have to go back to the drawing board for bridesmaids dresses!

I am so excited and it has finally hit me that I am getting married!

I cannot wait to put on my dress in January and walk down that aisle!!

Decisions, decisions!

I never thought I would be planning a winter wedding.
Honestly, I don't think it has really sunk in yet that it is going to be cold and most likely, a beautiful shade of "wintry" gray outside on my wedding day.

Our colors are going to be black, white and a cranberry/apple red. I absolutely fell in love with a cake and have pretty much based the colors and style of the wedding around it.

I'll go into more detail about the cake later, but for now, two questions.

Should I go with long or short bridesmaid's dresses?

Do you think black bridesmaid's dresses or cranberry/apple red bridesmaid's dresses would look better?
The Marine and one groomsman are going to wear their dress blue uniforms and the other two groomsman will be in black suits. If I go with red, I'll have white, red, blue and black in pictures. Too much?

Next time, I'll elope!

This wedding planning is seriously stressing me out.

I am, by nature, a worrier. I worry about everything.

I don't sleep because I can't turn my mind "off."

I have a wedding planning book that my mom and sister bought me, a notebook, a small notebook and a new calendar, all devoted to wedding lists.

When I get stressed out and overwhelmed and anxious, this funny thing happens to me. I randomly break into tears.

Big, ugly, cannot control or stop them, tears.

And this weekend, oh.my.gosh.

I cannot count how many times I burst into tears or even recall all the minute and ridiculous things that set me off.

But tonight, when we got home from a cookout and Frank went to the Reeds website, on his own, and picked out our wedding bands and asked me if I wanted to go next weekend to get them...

...well, that makes all the stress and worrying and anxiety and tears SO WORTH IT.

The Great Chapel Crisis of TwentyTen

Frank and I have decided to get married in Camp Lejeune. We came to this decision after considering a few things. For one, a wedding traditionally takes place in the Bride's hometown and I don't really have a "hometown" anymore. My immediate family lives in Charlotte, NC, but I spent the majority of my life in Clemmons, NC. My "hometown" is Pittsburgh, PA, and although my entire extended family still lives there, it would be next to impossible to plan a long distance wedding when my parents didn't even live there anymore. After we discussed holding the wedding in Charlotte, we determined that holding the wedding in Camp Lejeune made sense. After all, the Marine Corps. is our "home."

That brings me to the Great Chapel Crisis of TwentyTen. We originally wanted to get married in the Protestant Chapel on base. Well, apparently they are going to be doing renovations and are not booking events between November, 2010 and May, 2011. Strikeout Numero Uno.

I then looked at the Chapel in Courthouse Bay. I think it was a trailer, but this was a couple weeks ago and I can't remember for sure. Needless to say, Stikeout Numero Dos.

This brings me to MCAS New River's Memorial Chapel. We went and looked at it before we went on vacation for the Fourth of July. Although it was going to be logistically difficult, because of its distance from Camp Lejeune, where the reception will be held, I thought it would work. I went to book the Chapel today and they told me they only do weddings between the hours of 9:00-12:00 and 13:00-16:00. Yesterday when I spoke to people at the Chapel, they told me they would "work with me" and a 4:00 p.m. wedding would be manageable. Well, as it turns out, 4:00 p.m. isn't manageable and I could only do a 2:00 p.m. wedding. Strikeout Numero Tres.

After Memorial Chapel shut me down, I started to panic knew I only had a few more options. I drove to Camp Johnson and the Chapel was getting ready to fall down "well-used." Strikeout Numero Cuatro.

Tarawa Terrace's Chapel? A definite possibility. However, it was set up really weird. It was an "L" shape and would have been awkward for a wedding. Strikeout Numero Cinco.

The Midway Park Chapel? The Chapel that I didn't even go into after the Protestant Chapel strikeout because I thought it wouldn't photograph well? Well, looks can be deceiving. It is perfect!

And so, the Great Chapel Crisis of TwentyTen has been averted.

January 8, 2011

Four o'clock in the afternoon

Midway Park Chapel

MCB Camp Lejeune

Grab our new button!

Mrs. Gambizzle, over at Life As A Sailor's Girl, has created an adorable new button for me!










<center><a href="http://frankandkatiecarson.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i750.photobucket.com/albums/xx142/MrsGambizzle/Buttons/takeme.png" /></a></center> 
Seriously, could it be any cuter?
 
Grab one for your Blog Roll and share in the cuteness!

How It Happened!

I was a guest blogger on Sunday, July 4, 2010, and used my guest post to annouce "How it Happened!" The original post, in its entirety, can be found over at Flip Flops & Combat Boots. The shortened version of the post, which just shares how Frank and I became engaged, is below.

Frank took leave this past week because we had planned a vacay to visit my parents, in Waxhaw, over the Fourth of July holiday. We were going to leave on Wednesday morning, so on Tuesday, before I went to work, I left him a To-Do list.

He was sitting on the couch, watching television, when I got home from work. I was exhausted and melting in my scrubs with the 100 plus degree heat index and admittedly, looked pretty much like the walking dead. We chit-chatted as I looked through the mail, threw his mail at him, unpacked my lunch and asked him about the To-Do list.


Me: "Babe, did you finish your list?"
Frank: "What all did I have to do?"
Me: "Cut the grass."
Frank: "Check."
Me: "Go to the bank and cash the savings bond and rebate check and activate your new, unscratched, debit card."
Frank: "Put this [the cash] in your purse. And I forgot to activate the card, we can do it tonight online. What else?"
Me: "Put the wash into the dryer."

Side note: When you walk in our front door, you can tell if our dryer is running, as the vent from the back of the dryer "ends" there.

Frank: "I think I forgot. I'm sorry."
Me: "I think you did, I'm pretty sure the dryer was running when I came in."
Frank: "I'm not sure that I did, go check for me."

At this point, I knew the dryer was on, but I also knew that I wasn't winning this battle, so I begrudgingly shuffled off to the garage, where I was just going to crack the door and yell, "Yep, it's on."

I opened the door and sure enough, the dryer was running and there, on top of the washer, was the most precious ring box with a bow on top of it.

I panicked. I was pretty sure the ring had been purchased and I hate to admit it, we were already planning the wedding, but he totally surprised me. I was not expecting to find a ring, on our washer, on Tuesday afternoon, when I got home from work and was still in scrubs.

I picked up the box and walked back into the family room and he just smiled. As I crawled on the sofa next to him, he asked me if I had opened it and when I told him that I had not, he told me to do so. As I took off my promise ring, bought before his most recent deployment to Afghanistan, and replaced it with the gorgeous new bling, I looked at him and asked, "Are you going to ask me or just assume?" And after he kissed me, he grinned and replied, "Do I assume correctly?"

Why yes babe, yes you do.

Are you sitting down?

(This post was first posted on my other blog on Tuesday, June 29, 2010.)

Alright, blog loves, we need to have a serious heart-to-heart.

Has anyone, besides my mom and besties, put two and two together?

You know, all the hints I've been dropping.

(Like this and this and this )

Did you find the hints? Let me help you.

Purchase of The Knot. January 8, 2011. Avoiding the salon because I need long hair.

Something was made official today, something that I have been busting at the seams to share.

I'm getting married!

Wait, you don't believe me? Are you recalling the Marine's fear of commitment?

 

Well, I thought you might need proof of the new bling on my finger.

And, even though it took a thousand shots to get a semi-clear picture and cemented my belief that it is indeed terribly difficult to photograph diamonds, please enjoy!

 

Yes, it's official.

Welcome!

Well, here we go...

         ...a new ring

            ...a new day

               ...a new blog!

I've been racking my brain, for quite some time now, about changing my blog. I love my old blog. I love all the comments, advice and help. I love my followers. I love my "blogging besties." I love the real life friends I've made from my blog.

I don't love the name. I don't love that it is so negative. I don't love that it implies that I'm always unhappy, have something to complain about or ungrateful to the Marine Corps.

I was a disgruntled girlfriend when I created the blog and consequently, the name. I was dealing with a difficult deployment and, at the time, I was disgruntled. But, as time went on, I became less and less disgruntled and in the past couple of months, I cringe a little bit each time I see that word.

I didn't know how to transition to a new blog, though. And then, the perfect opportunity afforded itself.

A wedding blog.

A way to include all of our family and friends and guests in the planning.

A way to share with all my curious followers and blogging besties.

And so, "...Take Me Down to the Little White Church..." was born. For right now, I'm going to continue blogging on my other blog and blog mostly about wedding plans on this blog. I think I will, eventually, transition my blogging exclusively to this blog. I feel like this blog can grow and change with Frank and myself.

I do not think I will be cross-posting very much. With that being said, I am going to cross-post two entries from my other blog in order to make sure everyone is caught up on our journey to the little white church!

So, welcome to our journey! Have a seat and stay awhile. Please leave us comments and help us make our day perfect with your feedback and advice!