Moving Day!

Packing for moving day! I threw him clothes to put in the box!


And he threw them back! No more room!

Justin, his dad and Zach arrived at my house with the U-Haul to transport our stuff over to the apartment.
Jason was there to help get my hope chest out safely. For the record, this did not weigh as much as Aimee's.

Lots of room to spare!

And away they go!

A few weeks prior, we moved our mattress over to the apartment thanks to the help of Justin, his dad, Zach and Scipio! I know we fit right in, trekking down Route 40 with a mattress tied to the back of our truck...

=) Nevertheless, it arrived safely and we now have a very comfortable mattress to sleep on!

Thank you everyone for your help! I still have a little more packing to do, but we are almost there!

We are Legal!

Does that really say we only have 12 days until we get married??
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Our to do list is slowing coming to an end!

Lately we are working on Programs, Music Playlists, Vows, Centerpieces, Moving, Marriage License, Honeymoon Packing, Timeline Typing, Table Seating, Place Card Settings, and falling more and more in love with each other everyday. Life is good!

Justin was sworn in at the courthouse today! He picked up our Marriage License and in his exact words, "It's official....stop with those second thoughs! I had to swear in! Basically swearing to love you for the rest of our lives."

How romantic.

Mood as of right now: I want to be Mrs. Justin Gischel right now!

The World of Beauty

Using the correct make-up and colors on your wedding day can be a daunting task for the typical bride and even though I consider myself to be on top of my make-up skills, I still chose to have a consultation wtih a make-up artist to choose the wedding day materials. I am so glad I made this decision, these make-up artists do not mess around, they really know what they are talking about! She took into consideration so many factors such as time of day of the wedding, lighting, photography, length of wear, hairstyle and skin type. As well as preparing me for the big day, she also gave me some make-up tips and shortcuts for everyday wear. I most definitely recommend this for each bride-to-be!

We are all set!

*If I knew that none of my bridesmaids read this blog, I would post pictures of the gifts that I have for them, but since I know they do, sorry guys, you will have to wait!! I will say...I am very happy with my choice!

The ladies of New Covenant Presbyterian Church threw me a bridal shower on Saturday! Even though this was my 3rd shower, I don't think I could ever get sick of it or become desensitized to the generosity that people have poured out to us. We are genuinely overwhelmed by all of the gifts and love that has been showered onto us. Thank you all so much for showing your love to us! We are so grateful to have a church family that cares so lovingly for us. We pray that you will continue to show us your love through our years of marriage, as we learn the same love for each other.

Here are a few items that we received on Saturday:

There are many other things that aren't on here that we also received, but this just gives you an idea of the fun stuff we received on Saturday! So much fun!

Congratulations Justin!!!!

Justin and I would like to thank everyone for their encouragement and prayers during these past few months. Justin took his final exam for the semester on Wednesday, December 10th and he passed with an 85%! The weight that has been lifted off of his shoulders is tremendous and the relief is undescribable! We know that no matter what the grade, God has planned our future, but we are both so thankful that we can enter into the next phase of our lives as husband and wife, with Justin still in nursing school! Please send your congratulations his way, he has worked SO hard for this and spent countless hours and emily-less days in preparation for our future! He has one more semester to go! Love you babe!! Congratulations!!!

Guest Book

Love it!!

The Limo

We thought about veto'ing the idea of having a Limo to avoid an "unnecessary" expense, but the more we thought and talked about transportation on the day of the wedding, the more we realized, we do need the help of a Limo company.

From the very first phone call with Joanna, the owner of the compay "Limo Lady", the experience has been a very pleasant one. Her prices are the best around and her service so far has been outstanding. You can read numerous reviews and compliments on her services, on the wedding wire. They were also voted the Knot's Pick of 2008! We are very excited to be working with this company for our wedding!

Wishes, Wisdom & Women

The Gischels threw my second Bridal Shower over the weekend and it was so much fun! Thank you all for your hard work and the delicious food! Everything was beautiful!

We received our toasting glasses from Aunt Laurie and Uncle David! Thanks guys! They are gorgeous!!

Justin showed up towards the end of the shower for his special gift from Mom-Mom Dekker!

It was a great day! And to top it off we had a beautiful icing of snow! Thank you all for your generosity, it is greatly appreciated!!

Our Cake Topper!

My mom found the perfect cake topper at Pottery Barn! It's the perfect size and weight! It's actually an ornament-- very shiny and sparkly in person. =) I will be dropping it off to our cake decorator soon! Love it!

A Hidden Gem

There is a flower warehouse in downtown Baltimore called

Claymore C. Sieck

that is open to the public for discount flowers and supplies. This place is heaven on earth for a do-it-yourself bride. It is a hidden gem in downtown Baltimore-and definitely worth your time! I highly reccommend this place for your wedding supplies--their customer service is impecable!

My parents and I ventured down on Saturday morning to check out the merchandise and we were pleasantly surprised by the outcome. From the beginning the sales-people are at your beckon call helping you with ideas and pricing. We were helped by a sales-woman who does weddings on the side and she definitely went above and beyond to help us out. After roaming the aisles for a few minutes we came across these painted white birch branches. These are what I have been looking for!! We had seen them in Michael's and ACMoore but they were highly priced there. The prices at Claymore C. Siek are unbeatable! We also found some accents to hang from the branches and we are set! We walked out with smiles and boxes full of Winter Wonderland supplies.

Here is a rough sample of the centerpiece.

Showers of Blessings

I am truly blessed.

My mom and sisters through me my first bridal shower and it was such a BEAUTIFUL shower! I love them so much, they worked so hard and made it such a special day for me. It was such a strange feeling to be that girl opening the presents in front of everyone. I loved every second of it!!

Sarah, my sister-in-law, made me a cookbook of all of our family recipes. It is such a creative gift, love it!!

The Bridesmaids! (all except for Christie, we missed you!)

Justin and I are so grateful and overwhelmed by everyone's generosity! We took everything over to the apartment and found a spot for each thing. It's starting to look like home!

One Step Closer to Getting Married!!

The invitation process was so painless! I found an AMAZING deal online for the invitations and response cards. We printed everything ourselves and there you have it!

We used Rach and Ry's inkjet printer....

and spent an evening printing the invitations, response cards and labels...

Very happy with the final product!

We spent Saturday evening assembling the invites and they are stuffed, labeled, stamped and ready to go!

Thank you all for your help! Invitations will be arriving in your mailboxes soon!

The Flower Girl Dresses Are In!

Close-up

Front

Back

It's only appropriate for my little flower girls to be wearing pink!

Introducing the Flower Girls

Audrey

(niece of the bride)

and

Hannah

(cousin of the groom)


They are an adorable addition to the wedding party!