Silly me for not doing this post sooner! Aaron and I took engagement pictures about a month ago! It was a blast...from putting the outfits together to taking the actual pictures I loved every second of it. We chose our locations based on our relationship and wedding theme. The first location is our actual ceremony and reception venue, the historic Carpenter Theater in Richmond,Va. The second location was Shockoe Bottom in Richmond,Va. The Carpenter Theater was so kind to put our names on the marquee the day of our shoot. It was absolutely breath taking to see our names in lights in our home city. People were stopping, cheering and blowing the horn in aw of our photo shoot. Our outfits were perfect! I wore a coral convertible dress by designer MonifC with my navy and cream Jessica Simpson sandals all brought together by silver and white gold jewelery. Aaron wore khaki cargo shorts paired with a butter yellow Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. Later in the pictures we wore matching Chuck Taylor's and Ralph Lauren Polo hats paired with my jean vest. The more casual look we used for the pictured in Shockoe Bottom so that we could walk the streets freely and comfortably.

In many of the pictures I used props. The props I made myself! That was a lot of fun as well. The props are great additives especially since some of the pictures will be used for the save the dates. The props were also chosen based on the theme of our wedding and our relationship. The two quoted hearts, "&" symbol, movie clapper, and A's all brought our pictures to life!

That day we took over 300 shots in about 3 hours. The pictures were taken by my brother Lorenzo Carey of www.thedigitalscene.com. He did an awesome job of bringing our never ending story to life. My make up brows and lashes were done by makeup artist Brandy. Please follow her on instagram: @brandypagemua. There are many more pictures but too many to post on my blog. If you want to see anymore please email us at [email protected]. I will gladly send the rest of the pictures. Bye!

Plus size bridal gowns have been a mess for years! The horror in thinking I would ever have to wear one of those things. Ugh! But after much research I'm finding the fashion gods have heard my prayers! The plus size bridal collections are going for hot mess to fab! It would be ideal for me to have the ideal body as I walk down the isle to give my had to my groom, but I've never had the ideal body. I'm not about to try and become something I'm not. I do intend in getting in shape and toning up but thts about it. I like my size 18/16 hips and apprently so does my husband to be! So I haven't tried on any gowns and I honestly don't plan on trying any on until January 2013. My wedding timeline says my dress should be purchased by May 2013 and hopefully it will be. I plan on searching high and low, state to state, boutique after boutique until I find the dress for me. The dress I have in my mind is a mix between fit and flair and mermaid. I don't want anything too tight because I have to dance the night away in that dress. I do not plan to change dresses on my wedding date. I do plan to change different accessories to take my dress from sacred to party in 2.5 seconds! For the wedding I love the arm coverings and capes. For the reception the coverings have to go though! U also was thinking blue shoes for the wedding pink shoes for the reception. Lol, I don't really know what I want to do yet. Something is in the pipeline. As of right now my top wedding designer choice is Bonny Bridal Unforgettable Collection. The dresses are plain and simple. I don't really want anything to crazy as far as a dress because my jewels and wedding itself will be extravagant enough. Check out some plus size wedding gowns and let me know what you think?!? Also let me in on those ideas of how to go from sacred wedding to party reception without changing dresses.

So as you should know I'm having an engagement party! Yup, I'm excited as usual. So the invites are out everyone is buzzing and excited. The questions have began rolling, "what do you wear to an engagement party?" "do I bring gifts to an engagement party?". Well....NO GIFTS at an engagement party. It's not for gifts it's a time for the two families to meet and become one for our special time. A card of congratulations or encouragements will suffice as the perfect gift. Everyone will have plenty of time to bring gifts. Now for these outfits! You know I'm addicted to the fresh! But a bit of etiquette in regards to receiving invitations the time of the event will always indicate the appropriate attire. This is no cookout so jeans are completely out of place along with sneakers. The party starts at 6:30pm so casual attire is appropriate. It is a dinner party. A nice pair of slacks and a sports jacket for the men is dinner party appropriate. For the ladies, this is the perfect "little black dress" event. I'm so excited! I've been toying with a few Monif c dresses for this event and I've also seen some nice dresses on bloomy's and saks. What I wear is of course a surprise...but it will be nice and classy. What do you have in mind to wear?!? Do share.

So I'm having an engagement party!!!! Everyone always says what's that? It's an opportunity prior to the wedding for both families to meet. That's it. Our families haven't ever really met so what better way?! It will be a dinner party, something simple. Just enough for everyone to meet and great. The invitations are here and on thier way! I'm so excited...I couldn't invite everyone so invited my Aunts and Uncles his Aunts and Uncles and the wedding party. Simple enough. Stay tuned a few things will be unfolded at the actual engagement party so get ready! I'm excited, this will mark the official wedding planning to begin from Oct 2012 -March 2014 a year and six months to create this jaw dropping wedding! Perfect!

Setting the tone at my wedding is extremely important to me. A wedding ceremony to me should be sacred. You can't expect people to respect the sacredness of your wedding if you don't ever set the tone. So for my ceremony I'm creating a sacred ambiance. As I've shared before the entire wedding will be dimly lit by candles. The candles set the tone for an evening wedding as well as a sacred wedding. Perfect! In addition to the lighting I will also have two specific types of music at my wedding to set the tone to match the ambiance. My sister suggested we use some sort of string instrument. I hadn't ever heard any sort of string instrument at a wedding but I'm open to ideas. I did some research and it sounds absolutely gorgeous! Probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen or heard at a wedding. It will do exactly what I want it to do for my wedding ceremony. I'm having a harpist play at my wedding and a jazz pianist to assist my two soloist. Have you ever heard a harpist at a wedding? Absolutely breath taking. I tear up at the sound. When you have a moment please check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aur05rZW2-E&feature=youtube_gdata_player . I'm so glad my sister suggested this. It will bring a very different element to my wedding while still providing the traditional feel of a wedding. I'm so excited! Any suggestions, leave a comment or email us at: [email protected]

So for 5 years I've worn a close cut. I love my hair this way and apparently so does the rest of the world. But have you ever seen a bald head bride?!? Me either... So I decided to embark on a hair growth journey. I'm not sure what looks I'm going for but its going to be different. A new me walking down the isle on my wedding date. My fiancé doesn't care either way he loves me, which is a great thing. If this new look doesn't cut it we always know my current look works. Soooo here we go, a new look for me starting now! Below are some wedding hair options for me. What do you think?

A successful marriage... Most people hear wedding and immediately ask questions about planning or get excited about how awesome the wedding is going to be. I'm extremely excited about my wedding but nothing excites me more than knowing I will be spending my life with my best friend. Successful marriage is very important in my family. My grandparents were married for just about 65 years, most of my aunts and uncles have been married for over 30 years and my parents have been married for 26 years. Yes, these marriages have experienced ups and downs but through it all remained. I pray for the same success for Aaron and I. I'm positive that we will be successful, we have been with each other at our lowest points and still remained. Not to mention, the foundation of our relationship is strong. That foundation is very important. In addition to our deeply rooted family we will also receive Christian marriage counseling. Counseling is necessary! I love my Sweets but we come from two totally different sides of the tracks and that will bring it all together for us. A lot of people have drifted away from marriage counseling, quite frankly...it's necessary! That will settle issues about previous relationships, issues with your relationship, the things that you all do that grinds each others gears, your doubts and fears just to name a few. So to wrap this up...in addition to Aaron and I having a jaw dropping wedding we will also have a jaw dropping marriage! I'm enjoying this planning process but I am also enjoying preparing to become a wife. The nurturing, the understanding, the cooking, the babies, the decorating, packing lunches, ironing uniforms, just catering to my man and my future marriage! I love doing those things!

Welcome! As you know I'm engaged to be married to the love of my life! I'm so excited about being married, I decided to do a wedding blog. So here goes...I'll start by sharing our story of how we met. Aaron and I met in Virginia Center Commons mall. We knew each other from mutual friends in the past but never really spoke. We exchanged numbers on December 22, 2007 in front of Up Against the Wall clothing store. Later that night he called me by accident and we talked for hours. While we were talking Aaron became a victim of attemptedvrobbery and was shot in his back once. I had no clue, I thought his phone died, I was oblivious...I had no clue he had been shot. The next morning I received a call from the police for questioning, I was shocked and afraid! Later that afternoon I proceeded to visit him in the hospital and the rest is history....I never left his side! That's how we got to become best friends turned lovers....our wedding date is May 3rd 2014. Please stay tuned as we plan the wedding of the century.

Wedding planning is some what stressful but extremely fun at the same time. As everyone knows, I'm over the top, extra, extreme, all of that. I love big, gaudy, statement wow factor stuff. I love being stand out. I have to turn heads and grab attention at all times...so you know the wedding will be all of the above. I picked a theme...vintage urban chic! Ha, I made that up. But vintage because back in the day glam, bling, patterns, and sass was pretty much all that you saw and I love that! Urban because when you think of urban you think trendsetter, fashion forward, out there, envelope pusher if you will and I love to push the envelope not to mention my babe is a city boy! Chic, that brings it all back in. When you think chic you think less is more but very trendy after all this is a wedding so it can't be but so over the top. So that's the wrap on my theme I made up. My wedding venue has been chosen already, I chose the historical Carpenter Theater in Richmond, Virginia. I went with this location because even without decorations my theme was immediately bought to life. It was recently remodeled and brought back to life and I love it! My wedding is an after five affair so guests will wear bowties and gowns. My decor will be all white everything. I went with all white because I'm having a spring wedding and white is so clean and spring like. My flowers will be a nice colorful mix to bring the decor back to life. Everything will be candlelit from the wedding to the reception. I want to set the mood and what better way than thru lighting! So there's a run down if how my wedding will look and feel. Any ideas of how I could bring my theme to life?! Please share, I'm open to every idea.