Pepper Plantation is BOOKED!

We've booked our date!!! May 28, 2010 and I'm so so so excited. We officially have 439 days until we are married!

I debated if I wanted to post pictures or keep it a secret but I can't keep a secret especially my own and it's such a big secret so that does not help. I've posted pictures of our wedding venue... i know I'm terrible..

No.. it's not a hoe-down..we're having a southern wedding and what better than a barn to do that? It's gorgeous and these pictures do not do justice! We love love love it. We're going to use lots of candles and southern themed items to pull it all together.


Enjoy and tell us what you think...

these chairs are around the fire pit and along the outside of the barn. i don't know if you can tell but they have a palm tree and crescent moon on them!! LOVE IT!

this is going to be where the tables, cake, and dance floor will be. we are going to use lighting, candles, and flowers to pull it all together.

This is where we are getting married!! we are going to stand outside and our guests will sit on opposite sides of the fire pit.

This is the view from the dock!

This GORGEOUS southern location is called Pepper Plantation. It is in Awendaw, SC just passed Isle of Palms! I'm super stocked about this place because it is brand new and there has not been a wedding here yet... they've had a reception. Not to say there couldn't be one between now and then but it'll be one of the few I'm sure.

And if anyone knows me I like to be unique and have the one thing everyone else doesn't. (i know I'm seriously terrible but what girl doesn't want her wedding venue to be "hers".. and I'd be lying if i said i wasn't like that)..

hope to make a chart on the side to see which colors people like... even those of you who don't have blogs can vote!! so I'll get on that soon.

enjoy!! we're so so excited.. and hope you are as well!

Wedding Planning Here I Come!!

We are officially on Spring Break! Oh, how we needed this break so so so badly. I have been the biggest jerk the last few weeks. I've been so overwhelmed, over stimulated, over exhausted... the list goes on and on. Sadly I must admit that my grades have reflected these things. So as we are now on spring break here' what the plans are. Jason is now in Florida watching the Atlanta Braves at spring training and I am working a few days and WEDDING PLANNING the other days..

I am seriously so excited about planning this wedding! Did I mention that we went to check out a place for our wedding/reception venue and LOVED IT?! So now that we've kinda set the tone for our wedding we've got a lot to do in the next 14 months and something odd days!

My mom and I are going to look at table linens and decorations, floral arrangements, invitations, and possibly another venue just to make sure "i'm keeping my options open." She says that thought she knows my heart and mind are already made up and secretly so is hers. Oh and the fact that Jason loves it doesn't hurt either!

We were going for the beach theme but it's totally NOT a beach theme anymore and I LOVE IT! Simply said it's just plain southern!

Oh oh oh... also some exciting news is that I found a dress I L-O-V-EEEEE.. but I'm definately going to look around because I don't want to settle for just any ole' dress. My mom, one of my bridesmaid, and a friend have all seen it in person and some others have seen it in pictures. It's unique and everyone seems to like it so far.

Those are your updates folks! Enjoy :0)
Jen

* Ps- Jas I know you are going to read this so I just wanted to let you know I love you and am thankful that in 14 months and something odd days I'll be married to you as Jennifer Lynn Chinnis (the first from Iowa!!)

what a day!

Well hello everyone.... (this is Jason). 

well i'm not going to write like Jen did i'm a guy and don't talk that much (lol no offence ladies). Well today Jen and I went and look at our first place to get married at. I had a great time with her, her mom and my mom. While we where there all i could think about was holy cow im about to get married to the best person ever. I was just imaging what that day was going to be like and i cant explain the excitement i was feeling it was awesome. 

I also want to thank everyone who is praying for us and our feature. I know God is going to provide for his children. I know its going to be hard and challenging but with God and support form our friends and family i know we will make it. 

With love and thanks, 

Jason 

wedding planning thus far and a little life mixed in

I really couldn't think of another time in my life where we've spent so much time making decisions and not getting anywhere. Today is roughly 460-something odd days away from our wedding day and we've got nothing. So really there are no new updates and nothing exciting to tell you but I just felt like blogging today. So I'm going to blog about something else that has been on my mind lately... how much I can't wait for that day, how special it will be, and seriously how I have the greatest guy around.

I cannot wait.. I keep thinking to myself hmm next year around this time I'll be counting down the days and i will be so so close. Then I start to think about the week of the wedding and get crazy excited.. but the fact is there is no words or thoughts that can sum up the feelings i'll be feeling those days. For those of you that will be around me at that time I'm sorry ahead of time. I know I'll probably be a little(ha I'm laughing to myself because I don't think a little is the right word to be used there... more like MORE THAN EVER BEFORE) crazy and moody but please I beg you.. do not let me turn into a Bridezilla.

Jason and I have had an amazing relationship and not once have I thought to myself why him? Because though we are TOTAL opposites he is everything and more than enough for me. I couldn't thank God enough for him. He has been so good to me.. I'm not even going to start listing the ways he has been because no one else wants to read about that. So I'll just leave it at that. I can't wait to marry him and there is no other guy on this earth I ever want by my side, NEVER! We were talking the other day about if we could would we change anything about our past.. and I said no because I LOVE where I am in life. But if we could change a few things and still end up where we are today we both agree we would never date other people.. but even though we did we are so so happy because we realize there is nothing in this world like TRUE love. Now, I'm getting all mushy gushy so I'll stop. But really it is amazing and I pray that everyone will find that one person in life.

I really have tons of other things to do.. like get showered, go to work, do hw.. so I should probably go. Maybe I'll finish this another day!

16 months to go.. I think

I'm blogging since I feel like I've let our blog readers down.. so here are some updates on the wedding.. we have 16 months and a few weeks/days to go before we get married. And though that continues to seem like forever to some.. I'm getting nervous. Our wedding plans are continuously changing.. and when I say continuously changing i mean like everyday. We have no idea where we want to get married though we (or should I say I) am leaning more towards one idea more than the other. We have yet to find the place to do the ceremony/reception just because I am so indecisive and don't know how to make set decisions. And of course my wonderful fiance has said from the beginning this is my day so he is just going with the flow. At this point I'd love for him to say you know what i really would rather do it here, or nope don't like that... just a little help would be great. But he is making it all about me which is wonderful yet so so hard to handle.

Months before we got engaged I was sure I knew exactly what I wanted and was going to get it...HA! I was in a dream world.. and reality set in and this was a harder task than thought.

So where are we now? We have nothing planned.. nothing set.. no ideas together.. no dresses that I love.. no idea which day we are doing it (we have two in mind and it's a toss up).. colors we have but they depend on our venue.. and it's a mad house.

I do most of my wedding planning when my brain is over flowing with nursing facts so I'm always stressed! But my family has stepped in and taken the reins. My mom has been calling places but her ideas are just not the same as mine. My aunt has been contacting people she knows and the two of them together think they pretty much know how to decorate.. that scares me! They do have great decorating sense(though Jason would disagree) but I think when the day comes they are going to ask themselves what they were thinking. And who knows if it will turn out how I planned..wait.. I don't even have a plan...

My plans were to do the whole wedding planning thing over the summer.. however that seems impossible. I'd have to know exactly what I wanted and make decisions on the spot and the Lord knows I'm not capable of that.

P.S- it is not fun living in Charleston when trying to find a wedding venue. Apparently Charleston is a nice place for destination weddings and they think every square inch of this state is worth millions..

Enjoy!

Day 498

I kept thinking about this verse throughout the week.. Genesis 2:24 For this reason man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

We have broken the 500 count, with only 498 days until we are married! It sounds like so long but it really isn't that long considering we have so much to do. The one thing I am sure of is that this is the greatest journey of my life. I am so excited! Every time I see Jas I get so excited because I know he is the one man created and made to be my lifetime partner. It is an awesome feeling and it makes me wonder what I did to deserve such an amazing guy.

Wedding Updates:
1. Sunday my mom, Jason's mom, 3 of my bridesmaids, and another family member went to start looking at wedding dresses. I learned some valuable lessons from that adventure to say the least. Size is just a number (and wedding dresses run extremely small), trying on all the dresses is very tiresome, I'm thankful I brought someone I've grown up my entire life with because to say the least i was very exposed, there is a style for everyone and not every style looks good on certain people (especially me), and last but not least just because the entire store is filled with dresses does not mean you will find the one...
2. We've picked colors.. and only a few people know just because I'm terrible with secrets!!
3. I'm planning on booking the photographer sometime this week. We've chosen Richard Bell Photography. If you've never seen them THEY ARE AMAZING! Their website is www.charlestonwedding.com check them out!
4. We still have not chosen where we are getting married.. it's so so hard!
5. Oh, we have a date! YES, we have set the date obviously since we are already counting down.

There are probably more updates but we're back at school and my brain is again filled to the rim with nursing information ... so I'll update as often as I can.

Hope you are enjoying our blog and please feel free to follow us even if we don't know you. As I've learned many who read our blog don't have blogs themselves :) Love y'all! Have a wonderful week.

Progress

Jason and I have started our planning, though we haven't gotten far. We attempted to make a guest list which worked out fine until we realized we already had 244 people not including any of my family! This has caused some troubles considering we were going to try and keep the guest list at 250, obviously our list is going to be edited but it's going to be so so hard to cut people that we'd really love to have.

I'd love any and all wedding advice because I've got no idea what I'm doing and no idea how i'm going to get it all done with so little time. I know 2010 seems far away but we are so busy and school is starting again.. oh I can't even bring myself to think about all the chaos this summer is going to bring as we try and plan some more. So far this wedding planning thing has been no fun. I mean don't get me wrong I enjoy it but there are certain experiences that come along with it that haven't turned out to be quite that enjoyable.

I don't want to share too much information but i'll give you a tad bit of insight! We are planning a summer wedding in 2010. We want an outside ceremony and reception. We want everything to be simple yet intimate, rustic, and southern.

We will continue to keep everyone updated about the progress of our wedding but in the mean time please continue to keep us in your prayers as our faith is continuously being put to the test.