check your mailbox!

Our wedding invitations have gone out! I am so happy with the beautiful suite that Anna Hurley created for us, and I'm so excited for all our friends and family to see them too.  The stamps were found by searching eBay on a daily basis, but I managed to round up enough vintage Tropical Flowers to finally send out all the invites.  I love the way the stamps look with the color of the envelopes too.

I can't wait to start receiving the RSVP's!

invites. website. check, check, check!

303 days till the wedding. that seems like plenty of time to get things done, right? let's hope so. i have no idea what i'm doing other than following a generic timeline of tasks to complete each month. every time i make a decision or book a vendor i get to put a big check in a box, until hopefully the wedding day comes and everything is done and i haven't forgotten something that wasn't on the list to start with. that's my biggest fear. so far, the list goes like this:

book a venue. check. find a dress. check. order invitations. double check! not only did i order them, but the whole invitation suite, including our Save the Dates, has been custom designed by the fabulous Anna Hurley. she has done an amazing job and it's been the hardest thing for me not to show everyone what they look like. i'd hate to spoil the surprise for anyone who gets a sneak peak. they are being printed now, and i just can't wait to see how they look all printed up. 

i also got to put a big check next to the box that says "design a wedding website" because ours is finally done! i was adamant about not using the generic wedding website templates that are readily available and perfectly acceptable. in true Ashley fashion, i had to make life difficult and make one from scratch. after all, i am the same girl who wrote a 42 page itinerary complete with pictures, biographies, and local history for a weekend trip up the coast with friends. yes, i tend to overdo things. i digress. for the website i used the design from Anna's wonderful invitation suite and tried to put as much useful information up as possible. i know nobody wants to read a book report on St. john, so i hope i did a good job of editing down the BS. anyhoo, check out the site and let me know if i forgot anything.  don't forget to sign our guestbook too!

t minus one year

one year from today, we'll be on st. john, dancing the night away as a married couple. yippie! now, does that mean it's our negative one year anniversary? and for that matter, do we have to start the count over once we're married? tyler and i have been together for over 5 years now, but when we're married for a year, is it only our 1 year anniversary? seems a bit unfair to the dating years. 


oh well, it's still exciting! i think we should celebrate!


365 days to go...

location, location, location

it's official! 

we have booked a wedding venue! it took some fanangeling, because apparently st. john is a very busy place for weddings in november. but we ware very excited to announce where we will be getting married!

the wedding will be held at the westin resort & villas on the island of st. john. this is a gorgeous resort, and we think it will be the perfect setting for our wedding. we plan to marry at sunset, on the westin's private beach. since the beach faces west, it is sure to be an amazing view. then it will be on to cocktails, dinner, and lots of dancing on the grounds of the westin's beach garden. ah, i can hear the waves crashing and feel the breeze blowing already... i can't wait!

if you'd like to check out the westin online, click here to go to the website.

i heart jose

good news, we have chosen a photographer!
the photos are my favorite part of any wedding, so it was very important to me to choose a great photographer. in my mind, the choice was easy. i have been admiring one photographer's work for quite some time now. jose villa is an amazing fine art wedding photographer and i am so honored that he is going to shoot our wedding!
click here to check out his website and portfolio, and click here to view his blog.

these are some of my favorite images from jose's website:

time and place

drumroll, please.......


we have chosen a location and wedding date!!
the wedding will be held on friday, november the 5th, 2010 on the island of st. john in the us virgin islands.


we are so excited to have this major decision out the way. it was very tough, since i had my heart set on wine country. but when we considered all our options, we ultimately decided to make the most of getting married and have a destination wedding. 


doesn't st. john just look divine? we chose the island not only for its remarkable beauty, but because we have both been to st. john and loved it. we wanted to pick a place that is special to both of us and this fit the bill perfectly!


we have not picked a venue just yet, but stay tuned!

congratulations, amie and brody!

amie and brody got married today! 

it was a beautiful ceremony on the beach in duck, nc. the weather was iffy and we couldn't decide if it was going to rain, but in the end it was a wonderful day. the slight haze turned out to be perfect for the photos, which were taken by elizabeth zongolowicz of blue peacock photography.

it was so much fun making amie's bouquet and decorating the house for her big day. it was a real "family affair", as lynda and my mother did all the cooking, i did the decorating, and the guys pitched in wherever they could.

after the ceremony, we had cocktails and food while listening to the music played by kim kalman.

we're engaged!

have you heard?! 

we are getting married! 

tyler proposed during a trip to sonoma, CA in may and we couldn't be more excited. we rented an amazing cottage in the mountains of santa rosa overlooking wine country. 

(thanks for the tip, mike!)

it was a magical trip and i was totally surprised! keep reading for all the details.

we went to a few wineries on the first day, but too much wine gave me a headache! we went back to the cottage for a dip the the hot tub and a quick nap. tyler wanted to hike and explore the rest of the grounds so we crossed the creek by way of a scary suspension bridge and found the Stargazing Cottage. tyler was acting weird, but i thought it was just the wine. 

i don’t think tyler could keep the secret any longer! he totally surprised me while i was checking out the view. and the ring was the one i spotted in Santa Cruz the year before! what a good little sneak! i was beyond surprised!we popped the champagne and started celebrating!

the next day we were up for an adventure! we decided to go down the Russian River in a canoe! it was a blast. a picnic lunch and couple bottles of wine made it and awesome day trip. we didn’t even tip over! 

our last day of the trip was spent in san francisco. what a beautiful city! we even got a sunny, almost fog-less day! it was the perfect end to a wonderful trip.