Under the shade of an oak tree

okay so close your eyes, and imagine this sun setting on a late June afternoon, standing under the shade of an old oak tree gazing out onto an adorable little pond with an adorable little building with an adorable wrap around porch in the background. Sounds pretty perfect right? well whats even more perfect than that? Im getting married in that. yep thats right, be jealous.

I just got home from a venue meeting with mama Doctor and Daddy Doctor (sadly Mr. Coastie couldnt be here) and Im proud to say the decision is unanimous. I have found my venue. Im going to book it tomorrow so while its not officially official im still very excited.

So the place is the Retreat at Bradley's Pond, its more wonderful than wonderful and im so excited about getting married here and I can envision the perfectness of it. okay okay enough chatter let me show you

this is the view of where the reception will be held from where the ceremony is going to be

this is the aisle, chairs will be on either side, im going to do something fun as decorations along the aisle and at the end is where we will get married, the arch will get decorated too, probablly just some awesome draped fabric

this is the veiw from the exact spot ill be standing when I sad  "I Do"

wrap around porch! love love love this. im going to have white lights along the banniserts and possibly something else, but really its just so pretty you barely need anything

This is the view of where the ceremony will take place from the porch 

another view from the porch

this is a view of where the reception will be, they are setting up for a banquet thats got 250 people so it looks a little crunched with all those tables, ours will bemarketably less buttttt, dont you love the fireplace and high ceilings?

Another view towards the side doors, where momma doctor, daddy doctor and Mr. Page are chatting it up

Well thats it, the pictures dont so much do its justice, its beautiful, im in love! Cant wait to officially sign that contract, minus the money i have to put down :(

I've heard every album, listened to the radio

Im in a weird place...In my planning that is. The thing is its too early I feel to start actually buying little things we need for here and there and I can't really book big things because we haven't picked a venue and even though we pretty much have our date cemented I don't want to do anything like that until its concrete, i.e. contract signed venue booked. So where does that leave me? Well it leaves me with lots of time and lots of ideas and a million random wedding details floating around in my head. My "wedding ideas" folder on my computer is choc full of pictures and bookmarked web pages of things that i like and i want to buy but feel silly buying right now (a clutch, and possible shoe/hair choices etc). I'm having dreams about the wedding every night, I'm hoping this isn't going to last for the next 400 days seeing as they are usually nightmares of terrible things happening! But I digress...

there was a point to this post, I'm getting to it I promise....

okay so one of these details that has been floating around my mind is the music and specifically the first dance song. Should be a no brainer right? ehh not so much. Mr. Coastie and I don't have an officially designated song, I've always just sort of thought that it was Brad Paisley's "Then". Why? well this song was playing when Mr. Coastie told me he loved me for the first time (cue a chorus of "awwwws") and the first time I went to visit him in Boston it was the first song that came on the radio in the car after he picked me up from the airport. For a long time it was his ring tone on my phone and basically it just really sums up how i feel about him. So basically I've always thought of it as "our song" and every time it comes on the radio and were together i gleefully pronounce "oh its our song"  and then lovingly sing along:


lets face it i can just see us dancing to that and it being perfect. can't you?

Well lately Ive had some other ideas pop into my mind and sway me from my dear brad paisley song. First up is the lovely sounds of Carrie Underwood, I used this song on a slide show that I made for Mr. Coastie for our one year anniversary and the more I listen to it the more I love it, but on another note it seems to be more of a "we just started dating and I'm swooning over you" type of song, not a "I just commited to spending my whole life with you" song, you be the judge



(try to ignore the halfway silly video on this one, although i do have a soft spot for the carrie/mike romance, its youtube, what can i say)

and lastly comes Lady Antebellum. I have both of their albums and I absolutely love just about everything they do, When the I need you now album came out I was driving along listening to it for the first time and this song came on that nearly stopped me in my tracks, I almost started crying because it reminded me of me and Mr. Coastie (and at the time he was stationed in Virginia and I missed him, I'm not just some weirdo crying when she drives all the time ha ha) This one is a duet which I feel is lovely because its a wedding dance so a duet just feels fitting



so there it is, my three first dance songs that i keep listening to on repeat one after each other. good thing I have like 409 days to figure this one out. what do you think?

Ring Things

So there is something you should know about me and Mr. Coastie, when we are bored we just decide to randomly do things, spontaneous random out of my checklist order things, but hey it works for us. As you remember we registered pretty much on a whim, we hadn't planned to register that day but we did and it was great and it worked. Well, Yesterday sitting on the couch watching my beloved SVU marathon this is how the conversation went:
Me: Im bored
Mr. Coastie: Lets go do something
Me: okay what?
Mr. Coastie: whatever you want
Me: we could go to the beach?
Mr. Coastie: um no
Me: we could go look at wedding rings
Mr. Coastie: okay
Me: wait, really?
Mr. Coastie: Ya sure
Me: REALLY!? (with tons of excitement)
Mr. Coastie: Ya lets go.

And we were off. Even though we probably wont be buying our rings until about Christmas time(aiming for the time when there is alot of sales going on) I never turn down an opportunity to look at shiny things. When we got to the mall for our jewelry store hopping adventure we both had sort of an idea of what we wanted. I want just a simple band with channel set round diamonds and Mr. Coastie wanted wanted a nice tungsten ring with a Black carbon fiber band, simple enough, rough and cool looking. Well as we started our searched much to our surprise we found out that tungsten really isn't the way to go. All stores we went to actually recommended gold. the reason? Well Gold can be resized and tungsten, Titanium and stainless steel cant, Gold can also be buffed and polished if it gets scratched, the others? not so much, While tungsten is scratch resistant it turns out its very brittle and you can break that sucker right off your finger (not so good). If something happens and your ring needs to be cut off your finger in an emergency gold can be cut, tungsten can be broken but titanium? your going to get your finger cut off before the ring is cut off. And the big selling point for gold for me was really that gold can be engraved and I'm centimental, i want to engrave Mr. Coastie's wedding band. So now armed with new knowledge about metals I feel much better about choosing our wedding bands in the future and now we pretty much have them picked out. This is what we've go out eyes on:

 (source)

So can i keep this scanner thingy?

Whats the best part about any party? well the gifts of course! and the best thing about wedding gifts? you get to pick them yourself! The whole registering process is something that both Mr. Coastie and I have been excited about, even before we got engaged we'd wander through stores and find things we would register for. The big question for me was when do we actaully do this whole register thing? I searched etiquette books, the internet and asked people and couldnt find a definitive answer, some places said you should register right away some places say not till 9 months out from the wedding and some say not till 6 months out. So naturally without someone telling me exactly when i was confused. So the other day with nothing to do Mr. Coastie and I decided to go to Bed Bath and Beyond one of the places we knew we wanted to register and just sort of look around and talk to the consultants. After a 30 minute conversation with the head honcho of the Pensacola BB&B and hearing this whole process would take about 5 hours and that the registry doesnt expire for 2 years so even though we wont be tying the knot till next summer she suggested we go ahead and do it. After considering the amount of time it takes and the fact that once i go to school Mr. Coastie and I's time together will be reduced to about one weekend a month finding a time to do this later might be kind of difficult and even stressful. So with nothing else to do we went for it!

Bed Bath and Beyond is marvelous, they give you a bridal consultant that walks through the entire store with you and makes sure you get everything you need, explains features of different things and etc. our lady, Shira was wonderful. She was the wife of a navy man so she could relate to our situation and we made jokes with her and laughed the whole time. Mr. Coastie got to hold the infamous scanner gun. I think he wanted to take it home.
Shira kept saying that she wanted to video tape him and use his scanner efficiency as a "how to" for other grooms who apparently have a hard time figuring it out.

We of course registered for everything from fine china and crystal (at $70.00 a glass i doubt we'll be getting much of that) to the little corn on the cob holders (hey these are a must in any household). There were a few quarky things that were near and dear to each of us. I for instance headed strait towards the automatic corkscrew, a friend of mine has this lovely little sharper image tool and I just HAVE to have one. Mr. Coastie had more lofty pursuits and headed for the Kitchenaid Mixers and even made a special order for one in "Willow Blue" I personally found this entertaining, I guess he wants to make some cakes? except he doesn't even like cake....

I highly recommend Bed Bath and Beyond, not only are the consultants awesome but the online help you get (they also give you a budgeter, website, seating chart etc that you can use if you don't already have one) is wonderful too. Also they give you enough "registry cards" to put in bridal shower/engagement party/save the date cards/invitations and even give you pre printed labels with your name and registry number to put on them! so easy! So many goodies

Im glad to say the registry experience was just as fun as we'd thought it would be. Those 5 hours go by super fast and its fun to pick out things for your soon to be wedded life and watching Mr. Coastie get so giddy with the scan gun was an added bonus. We still are going to register at one more place possibly JC Penny for bedding and some other stuff that changes seasonally, so that wont be for another 6 months or so but its nice to have this big task out of the way and one less thing on our plate. And did i mention how fun it was?

Things aren't always black and white (but my wedding is)

Wedding colors, the only "no brainer" when it comes to my wedding...well the only one except for the man at the end of the aisle that is. Some people have trouble when it comes to deciding their wedding colors, not me. Let me make a confession, Ive had my colors picked out for nearly 365 days (yes thats right, pre-engagement i was completely set on ym wedding colors). What are they you ask? Well those who know me will take about 2 seconds to shout out YELLOW! and you'd be correct. i love love love me some yellow. my bedroom in my Gainesville apartment being a standing testament to that. Now  comes the tricky part, what to go with the yellow?Well,  black and white of course. I know i know you are sitting there thinking the same thing that Mr. Coastie thought and i quote "Won't we look like bumble bees?" the answer is nope, not at all. Instead we will look like this:

 (Source)

My color inspiration completely came from Sunflowers, my favorite flower, they make me happy, it was the first bouquet of flowers Mr. Coastie ever sent me (good boy, he actually listened to all that chatter that was coming out of my mouth the night we met). As i began my wedding insiration search i was surprised to find that Sunflowers/yellow/white/black is actually a common wedding combination and i was happy to know that my vision wasnt completely crazy. Ive found so many wonderful things that have got my creative juices flowing and perfect inspiration for my Big day. I came across this inspiration board:

Ill be honest with you, I fell in love, this board is the exact vision i had in my head personified via google images right down to what the bridesmaids are wearing and carrying, and thus my wedding theme was born. Seeing as its going to be an outdoor wedding I want to go with a sort of rustic edge on a black white and yellow wedding, if that makes sense to anyone. In my mind its perfect, hopefully it materializes that way. So there you have it, the black, white and yellow side of my wedding.

Big Decision #1 : Where are we getting married?

I never knew finding the perfect venue was so difficult. I have a vision and i have a budget and I have 44 places none of which completely satisfy both. Some are too small, some are too big, some are too expensive, some are hot in the summer, some wont allow outside catering and ive suddenly become Goldie Locks who cant find porridge or a bed thats just right for me.

Things i know: I want an outside wedding, in the evening in June, i want it by some sort of body of water and i want a reception in the same place.

So the search for the venue has begun, ive made spread sheets of costs, and inclusions and rentals and availability and pros and cons and a decision cant be made. May I also remind you its tough to plan anything without having a venue and of course a concrete date. All this being said I love the Retreat at Bradley's Pond. I always have, everytime i see pictures from friends who have gotten married or had their reception there i swoon. let me show you:

 source

So this of course is my top love of a venue. so whats the big problem you ask? Its a little out of my price range. the venue itself is almost $2000 not to mention I would need to rent outside chairs linens china etc. so with that being said it doesnt fit into my budget perfectly, but am i willing to make some other changes to make it work. Anywho after 2 weeks of searching and stressing over it everyday i really have my heart set on Bradley's Pond. Next week I'm meeting with the Owners to check it out, Ill keep you updated on how it turns out and what I decide, in the meantime ill keep daydreaming about the perfect wedding venue.

Folders, Dividers and Spreadsheets, Oh My!

Hi, I'm Miss Doctor and Im a Type A personality ( in unison: "Hi Miss Doctor") Okay so this isn't an AA meeting but it is a confession of an addiction. Us Type As have a problem, the need for organization and perfection. Ill admit i love packing, cause i like to organize things, School supply shopping makes my heart happy and a girl can never make enough spreadsheets. So not 3 days after I got engaged I headed out to Target and snagged a 3 ring binder and a bunch of dividers. Why you ask? to make the wedding folder of course! I think Mr. Coastie is already sick of this folder, I have had it with me constantly and its only been a mere 3 weeks. Some people get premade wedding planning organizers from Borders or Barnes and Noble, but not this girl. I like things exactly the way i like it, thus that premade pink book wont do it for me. Its only been a couple of weeks but the wedding folder is perfect with places for the checklist, budget, ceremony, decorations, guest list, attire etc. how do you make your own planner?

2 inch 3 ring binder

Dividers

Bussiness card holders

Sheet protectors

Post its

Hole punch

picture of the happy couple/used left over scrap book and consturction paper to make the front now assemble and label to your liking!

its just to my liking, perfect for all my notes, ideas and eventual contracts etc will be there for safe keeping. and the upside? its a nice little keepsake for the future. At a cost of  $3.25 my homemade wedding organizer is more to my liking and cheaper than that $35.00 one on the shelf at borders.

Sometimes its okay to throw rocks at girls...

....As long as those rocks are diamonds. We all know that when someone get engaged the first thing anyone says is "let me see the ring!"  Every girl wants the engagement ring to be perfect and every guy wants the enegagement ring to be free (true story).

Growing up imagining my perfect engagement ring i always wanted the classic brilliant round cut solitaire diamond. I mean its timeless, classic, never goes out of style and really you cant go wrong with it. When things began heading towards engagement Mr. Coastie and I began to look at rings ( although this was 6 months before the actual proposal and let me tell you the waiting was agony, but that's another story all together) my classic solitaire mind started to wander to some accents and such, we searched high and low for something gorgeous but that wouldn't break the bank, Lets face it this girl isnt an $11,000 dollar ring kind of girl. Im very simple, i dont wear a ton of jewelry and am generally low maintenance when it comes to accessories, clothes hair etc. thus i dont need all sorts crazy stuff going on on my ring. So Mr. Coastie looked and looked and when the time came he knew what was perfect. even though my eye wandered he knew deep down what i really wanted was that round cut solitaire so on that beach when he was on his knee in that adorable blue box sat my perfect ring. Simple, classic, elegant, perfectly me.

So of course when i got home after the proposal i had to show off my ring and what better way to do that and stretch my creative bone than take a stab at some photography. all it takes is a nice camera (thanks dad for letting me borrow your Nikkon D40) and some awesome foliage around the house (thanks mom for planting some cool flowers) and voila! we have what i loving like to call "ring porn" 

so for your viewing  pleasure, i present my ring:

Let's introduce ourselves

Hi all. As we can all tell this is my official first post! exciting, i know. Okay so we'll start with a little introduction so we can get to know each other. Im Miss Doctor and will be sharing my life, stress, happiness and thoughts with you. Due to my obsession with wedding blogs that I daily surf on the internet I thought to myself that maybe i should start one myself, so here we are and here we go.

First a little background: I graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!) with a Microbiology and Cell Science degree. Starting this July I will be going to Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine for medical school. I am pennsylvania born and Florida raised and for the time being im in limbo getting ready for the big move to school.

I recently got engaged to the most wonderful man in the world ( okay im a little biased, but still im pretty sure he at least ranks in the top 10, objectively that is) and for our purposes we'll call him Mr. Coastie. Mr. Coastie is From Kalamazoo, Mi and currently resides in the beautiful city of Pensacola,Fl which makes me happy cause it puts him that much closer to me. We met in March of 2009 when his Coast Guard cutter was in port in Jacksonville, Fl for a couple of weeks. At the time i was living in Gainesville and had gone to Jacksonville to visit my best friend and her cousin. Mr Coastie happened to walk into the same sports grill that we were in and after staring from across the room for an hour my friend summoned him over, embarrassed me a little and convinced him to sit down. I proceeded to talk for 3 hours not letting him get a word in edge wise, which lets face it im a pretty verbose person, but luckily little miss chatty cathy didnt scare him away. He gave me his number and the rest is history. Our entire relationship has been long distance and while there has been alot of ups and a few downs I wouldn't trade a single second of it. Mr. Coastie recently made rank to Petty Officer and got stationed in Florida (Yay!). And being a mere 3 hours apart has been a blessing.

Now that you know a bit about us lets get to the good story: the proposal! I was visiting Mr. Coastie in Pensacola and he called from work to say we were going on a date night. So that night we went out to dinner and then he took her for a walk on the beach. As we were walking on the beach we started talking about our first date (which was on the beach in Jacksonville). Then Mr. Coastie stopped and turned around and said “There’s something Ive been wanting to do for a while” and proceeded to get down on one knee, I thought he was joking and said “ ha ha are you joking?” and then he pulled out a pretty little blue ring box and She lost it. I proceeded to shriek such a high pitch noise that only dogs could hear it and began crying (almost hysterically, although she sure he will say it was hysterically). He didn’t even get a chance to give his whole planned will you marry me speech because of the crying , and finally he said “we’ll are you going to leave me hanging here?” and I (who had almost forgotten I was supposed to actually say yes) said “absolutely”. And he put the ring on my finger and i offically became the Future Mrs. Coastie. 


So back to the present. So Here we are, the engagement journey begins. Being that he is in the military and im about tos tart medical school we are planning our wedding on limited funds and with limited time, so this should be a fun experience right? well, ill let you judge that. From here on out im going to share the fun, trials and tribulations of DIY projects, sacrifices and time management, oh and the parties, cant forget the parties, all along the way. So hopefully you enjoy and if you are planning a wedding yourself maybe my thoughts will help! Can't wait to share this journey with y'all!