BEACH TOMORROW!!!

Tomorrow we are headed to OBX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I could not be more excited!! Not only will it be our first trip as a combined Johnson/Wells family but we are also going to see where we will be getting married and having our reception less than a year from today!! Also meeting with photographers and caterers!

And it will be my 4 year old niece's first time to the beach, so that in and of itself has me CRAZY excited!

We meet up with Lorenzo's parents and brother and my sister and her husband and niece tomorrow morning then we make the drive to Avon!

I will update you on all we get accomplished, and PICTURES!, when I get back!!

Have a great weekend everyone! (I know I will!) ;)

We have passed the ONE year mark!!

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't written in over a month! My goal is to write once a month but we shall see how well that goes...

Anyway... WE HAVE PASSED THE ONE YEAR MARK!! My wedding is officially less than 365 days away! I know that may not sound like something to be excited about, but it is SO nice to be able to tell people my wedding is July 13th and not have to specify the 2012 part!

Also, the one year mark means I was able to officially book our houses for the week! Kinnakeet Sunset and Windjammer are officially booked for the Johnson-Wells Wedding July 7th - 14th of 2012! I am so excited to see the houses when we go down there this August! Only 2 weeks!!

Otherwise, my dress should be here any day now!! And we are going bridesmaids dress shopping this Sunday in Richmond. Hoping to find awesome cute flowy dresses at a department store to save my bridesmaids some money but we will see. Hey, it worked for Courtney's dress which we found at JCP on super sale and it was perfect for her! So here's to getting lucky twice! **fingers crossed** (And praying my dress comes in before Saturday...)

<3 353 days till the wedding!!

7 years! Now that's something!

So Lorenzo and I just celebrated our 7 YEAR ANNIVERSARY a few days ago. I have to say, they have been the greatest 7 years of my life. Also super exciting, this anniversary marked exactly 13 months until the wedding, and you know how we feel about the number 13! :) :) It was definitely lucky for us and will be lucky when we get married on the 13th of July 2012.

We spent the night before our anniversary at my sister and brother-in-law's house spending time with them and my 4 year old niece. We had my Grampa's funeral the day before and it was a very rough day for my family, but we got through it and I know Grampa is in a better place, dancing the night away up in heaven with Gramma.

Anyway my wonderful fiance and I spent the whole day together and he treated me to a romantic dinner at Outback (DELICIOUS!!) and bought me a gorgeous pearl necklace (the birthstone for our anniversary month, June). I got him an AC adapter for his new 42 inch TV he got from work, so it was a win win.

In wedding news...

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY BOOKED A TRIP TO THE OBX THIS SUMMER!!

I can't wait to feel that Cape Hatteras sand between my toes. We are going with Lorenzo's parents, my parents, and my sister's family from August 10th-15th. It will give me a chance to finally see the house where we are going to have the reception and scope out ceremony locations. Also, working on appointments with photographers and caterers while we are down there so we can get everything figured out. It will be a wonderful vacation and definitely a necessary wedding planning trip.

Also, my dress will be in at the end of July so I am going to make an appointment to go try it on and hopefully take all of my bridesmaids, as Caitlin will be back from Wales for the summer. Wedding planning is moving forward at a rapid pace. I will keep you posted! :)

Wedding Bouquet Flowers!

Hey Everyone!

It has been over a month since my last post...whoops. :/ Oh well, I didn't think I had much to right about as there as not been too much progress in the wedding department. However, now that I think about it there actually have been a few things we have gotten accomplished. We have thinned down our registries to include items we actually need/want (Go figure?) and we have finished our Save the Dates and are going to begin distribution next week. YAY!! They are so neat!

I have also chosen my wedding flowers which will consist primarily of magnolias! They are gorgeous and I wanted something white and full but not roses. I will also be including irises, cat tails, small colored lilies, and a few other ocean elements like sea grass. I am so excited. I couldn't find a picture of anything similar to what I am envisioning (I love doing something new!!) but here is a bouquet I like:

Lorenzo and I have also purchased my wedding band and he has picked out his wedding band that we will be getting in the next few weeks. They are so pretty!!

My band:

Lorenzo's band:

I am sooo excited for our wedding!! I need to stop planning so quickly or there will be nothing left to do! lol ;) Well, only 419 days to go!!

Patience is everything...

I am trying to remember that. While on a full speed roller coaster to my future (moving plans, family expansion, career goals, wedding planning, and the list continues) it is really hard to remember to be patient. It often feels like everything is going a mile a minute and there is nothing I can do to slow it down, but oddly enough at the same time it feels like other things won't move forward no matter how much I try to make them. At this point all I can do is be patient, something I have never been any good at.

"But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:31

Wish me luck...

My fiance is so crafty...

I am so lucky to have a fiance that is so talented at everything he does! (Even though him being better than me at most everything is sometimes frustrating). I told him my vision for our wedding invitations and my ideas for save the dates and he executed them perfectly!

Yesterday we finished making mock-ups of our save the dates and wedding invitations. They are both so unique and so us. I am so excited to see people's reaction when the get them! The rest of the details are a secret, but trust me, be prepared to be "Wow"ed!

HUGE UPDATE!!

(Not THE DRESS of course, but a pretty one...I AM A BRIDE!!)

Life is going FABULOUSLY!! (Much of that do to with wedding stuff coming together!)

Last post I mentioned that I was going on my second dress shopping trip...well guess what folks...

I FOUND MY DRESS!!!

It was complete fate! My mom, sister, bridesmaids, flower girl, and I took a road trip down to Caryn's Bridal in Farmville, where my sister had bought her wedding dress. We had a great lunch at Macado's before our appointment (I got a delicious buffalo chicken wrap...yummm). Then we headed to Caryn's and met with my consultant, who just happened to be the same consultant that had helped my sister! (And remembered her!) So I gave her the list of dresses I had found on their website that I liked and she went to pull the dresses. While she was doing that I began to look at the dresses on the racks around me. I found a rack that was clearly meant to be "destination" wedding gowns, which was what I had in mind for my beach wedding. Low and behold, the first dress on the rack was a dress I had seen at Bridal Impressions in Harrisonburg and liked, but I didn't have anyone with me so I didn't try it on. (Ironically I had an appointment the next day at Bridal Impressions specifically to try that dress on so I could show my sister/matron of honor). I tried on several other dresses and none of them "Wow!"ed me. Then I put that dress on and I just felt so beautiful, bridal, and comfortable. It was everything I was looking for. Unique and different but flowy and beach. I was a goddess. Because I still wasn't sure if it was the dress or not I tried on a dress my consultant had picked out. It was a ball gown with a corset back and ruffles at the bottom. It fit me like a glove and I really did look good it in. I just didn't know how to feel about it. It was sooo different from my original vision I couldn't even handle it. I just stood in it for 10 minutes just staring in the mirror deciding how I felt about it. My sister and bridesmaids suggested I walk from one end of the stage to the other wearing that dress and look at myself in the mirror. I did and I liked what I saw, but I didn't love it. So I put the other dress that I felt like a goddess in and they suggested I do the same thing. I started walking and I looked at myself in the mirror. Suddenly I had a vision, I was walking in the sand towards Lorenzo. There he was, looking at me with the biggest smile on his face and tears in his eyes. He was beaming at me, glowing in that dress. In that moment I knew, it was the one. I broke into tears right there on the stage in my goddess dress. It was perfect, exactly what I wanted, totally ME. And believe it or not the dress was $250 cheaper at Caryn's than at Bridal Impressions. Talk about fate. It was the perfect dress for the perfect price and I had everyone I needed with me when I found it. Even now weeks later I can't wait to put my dress on and walk towards Lorenzo, the love of my life.

Dress Shopping Trip #2

So I am about to head out in an hour for Dress Shopping Trip #2!! So excited! We are headed to Caryn's Bridal in Farmville, VA (where my sister purchased her dress for her wedding in September 2009). I am bringing all of my favorite girls along with me and hopefully now that I have been dress shopping once before it will be easier this time, though I don't count on it. I think I have a better idea of what I want but honestly not sure. I am just excited to spend time with the women in my life and go shopping, though if I found the perfect dress that would just be icing on the cake....I'll keep ya posted! *fingers crossed*

Can you tell I am excited?!?

Check out my awesome new necklace!! Can you tell I am excited about the wedding?

Wedding Website

Also check out our wedding website!

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/LorenzoWells&KellyJohnson

My Dress Dilemma... :/

So, who knew finding the perfect wedding dress could be this complicated? I have always been a pretty decisive person. I know what I like. But dress shopping last Saturday was sooo complicated. It doesn't help that I am not a size 6 and therefore have trouble fitting into the stupid sample sizes they have at every wedding boutique. (Seriously, have you not heard, women come in ALL different sizes. Only carrying sizes 6-8 in stock at your store is dumb! Not to mention unrealistic.) And it's not just that, once you find a dress you love its hard to get 8 of the women closest to you to love it as well. And falling in love with a dress you have seen somewhere on a 6 foot tall size 4 model (Again wedding corporations, not okay) does not necessarily look good on you. And it doesn't make sense to ask people to pay $1500 for a dress they can't even try on to at least try to envision how it would look. But alas, all is not lost. I have found several dresses I really like, even love, just they are all very VERY different. So getting the right vision is hard because honestly, I haven't done too much picturing of the dress aspect of the wedding. I know that is supposed to be a big deal to people, and it is, but I just don't have a clear vision of what I want it to look like. Or my vision doesn't exist. One way or another...

But I still have a few other places I want to try to find dresses. Richmond is not the only city in Virginia with bridal boutiques. I may go visit several in Harrisonburg in the next few days and trips to Farmville and Lynchburg are in the works. I will keep you posted on my search! Wish me luck...I may need it. ;)

Something is finally done!!

I am feeling a major sense of accomplishment because something for the wedding is finally nailed down! I have ordered Desteny's Flower Girl dress!! I found the PERFECT dress for a great price and just couldn't pass it up. And I should have it in time to take it with me and my bridesmaids, and Desteny, wedding dress shopping on February 19th! It will go well with whatever dress I pick, and I hope it looks as good on her as I think it will! I will keep you posted!

Groomsmen outfits: (and Zo's ensemble)...

My idea for Bridesmaids dresses: (something like this...)

The dress I ordered for Desteny!!! ( LOVE IT!) :

My Wedding Look Book

So, while other things for Lorenzo and I's July 13th, 2012 wedding are slow to come together. I do have a few ideas of what I want our wedding to look like. Check out these ideas I love and will be incorporating into the wedding. Lemme know what you think!

Invitations that look like this...

A cake like this...

A ceremony on the beach that looks like this...

A bouquet that looks like this...

These are all just ideas to wet your appetite for what will be a fabulous wedding...and tons of fun!