with a little help from my friends...

...this wedding is coming together. Matthew and I are blessed with wonderful, helpful and extremely talented friends. There are many things that we probably would've had to "hire out" for, but instead have found many of the resources within our own circles. We're still paying most of them, of course, but it's nice to have friends who know us helping us with these things, instead of strangers. Our friend London is our videographer; Matt's co-worker and friend Jason is doing our photography; my childhood best friend Amanda will be doing my hair; Ann's sister-in-law Tami is doing my dress alterations; my dad's friend Teri is making our cake; Naldo will be running our sound. We're borrowing equipment from our church and from my office.

Liz helped us cut our invitations, and Justin and Morgan helped us assemble them. Staci Mae helped me pick out my flowers, as I really don't know much about what I like. My co-worker Deb is helping me with my bridesmaid's gifts as her wedding gift to me. Heck, my co-worker Verna even notarized our marriage license application!

The biggest blessing to me is that Stacy Mackey designed our centerpieces, and helped me get organized and start shopping for supplies. Thanks to her, we're probably going to save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars by not having to rent decorations from the company we're working with on our other rentals (tables, linens, etc.). The centerpieces she came up with are AMAZING! I'd post a picture or two, but I don't want to spoil it. She's a decorating genius.

And of course we're getting tons of help and support from our families, the wedding party, our church, and many other friends...

So, it's coming together. It's getting to be a bit of a whirlwind, but it's been fun. Last weekend I had a nice, relaxing break from it all- Charlotte, Beth and I spent the weekend in Kansas City. We stayed right on the Plaza. Our hotel, the Marriott, was amazing, and we had a lot of fun shopping, eating, hot-tubbing and sleeping! It was really nice. These girls are two of the bestest friends a girl could ask for.