Josh & Courtney's Wedding Week: Part I

We have been planning the wedding pretty consistently since we got engaged in August 2013. But to be honest, I've been planning it for a while ;-) I had the guest list done back when we were in North Dakota (June 2013) and I went with my parents to look at wedding venues back in February of 2013 when I was in CA for Luke's Mission Homecoming. Don't be surprised! We all knew it would happen... eventually... sometime.

I knew that planning this wedding was going to be so hard for me because (1) I was doing it from a distance, (2) I was working 80+ hours a week/7 days a week, (3) I am a control freak, and (4) I don't know ANYTHING about planning a wedding! 

However, there were a few things that made it easier: (1) Josh. Josh is so calm and caring. The few times that I completely lost my freakin mind he was there to calm me down and keep me grounded. (2) My parents. Not only did they offer to contribute a large amount financially to the wedding they also contributed their time. (3) The budget. What budget?! Having both Josh and I working had been great financially. With both of us making good money we really didn't have to worry too much about the budget. It's not like we went CRAZY or anything! I kept my senses and my dress was less then a grand :-) (4) My family and friends. My parents recruited my Aunt Jamie to help with the decorations and colors. I just don't have an eye for that and neither does my mom. Between my Aunt Jamie and my dad they were able to make some great choices that made everything come together so well. My bridesmaids were also amazing! I asked Emily to be my Maid of Honor and she was in charge of finding dresses for the bridesmaids. I know it was a HUGE pain but they all turned out beautifully!

Right after we got engaged, Josh and I moved to Indiana to start a job there. My parents called us just a few days after and told us that they found this beautiful venue called Tivoli Too! in Laguna Beach and that there were only a few openings left for weddings in the Spring of 2014. They sent us pictures and we thought it looked cute so we decided to go with it. I was on the phone with my mom and I asked Josh, "Hey, do you want to get married May 24th?" and he said, "That's why I gave you the ring!"

So May 24th it was! The date seemed to close and there was a lot to do. We sent out "Save the Date" announcements in November and then took our Engagement photos in CA while we were there over Christmas break.

The next big stressor was sending out the Wedding Invitations. We had to work through the guest list over and over again; cut, glue, fold, stuff, seal, and send the invitations; and then wait... and wait... for the replys.

By the time the RSVPs were due (May 1st) I was so ready for it to be done. I didn't think about this at the time but one of the hardest parts was actually getting people to RSVP and to do the seating arrangements. I had to think about dates, relatives, personalities, who gets along with who, who knows who, is XXX going to be offended if I put them at a table in the back, etc. My head was about to explode! (And what made things harder was that 4 people canceled the week of the wedding. Two of them let us know but the other two just didn't show up! Ugh.)

Luckily, work was pretty slow in the few weeks leading up to the wedding so Josh and I were able to get a FULL week off! :-) Booyah!

And here is what happened in that week:

Tuesday, May 20. 

Josh and I went to work that morning to attend our morning meeting with the rest of the Inspectors. During the meeting the Construction Manager excused Josh and I so that he could collect some money for us before letting us head to the airport. How nice! Pipeliners can be pretty generous! After receiving our gift from the Inspection House we headed to the Chicago airport to catch our nonstop flight to Orange County.

We arrived in town and my parents picked us up from the airport and took us to Enterprise to get our rental car. Of course I just started telling random people that we were getting married and then Josh mentioned to the lady at the front desk that it would be nice if she had a Challenger for us. He, of course, was joking because he knew I got us a cheap "Economy" car. The lady smiled and said as a wedding gift she would let us take the Challenger at just an additional $5 a day! SOLD! Josh was so excited!

After we got the Challenger we met my parents at a place by their house for "Taco Tuesday" where we got some great seafood tacos and a Pizookie! 

After dinner we went to Balboa and my parents showed us the house we would be staying in with my other siblings until the wedding. It was right on the water! Can't beat that!