Da Mens.

You've met my lovely bridesmaids, so it's only fair that I introduce... Da Mens, as Chuck has named them. We're both very blessed to be surrounded by wonderful friends and family and these guys are no exception. They're all so awesome and Chuck couldn't have picked a better group to share our day with.

ZACK
Zack is Chuck's younger brother and best friend. FSU Med Student by day, you can find him hitting the books (just look at that head! I mean, c'mon!) When he's not studying or getting ribbed about his head, he spends time with his girlfriend and her cute little boy, or you can catch him goofing around and rocking out at The 220.



BRENT
Brent is Chuck's youngest brother. He's currently attending Freedom High School. Although they're 12 years apart, they can always find things to share, whether it be music or fitness.







JOHN
John and Chuck have known each other since the third grade. From that first "Hi, what's your name? Wanna be my friend?", they've been friends ever since. They have the same quirky humor and you can often find them cracking tons of their inside jokes from childhood. Not only are John and Chuck good friends, their families have also remained close all these years.


ROBERT
Robert or Bert Burt, as we all call him, is Chuck's good friend and former roommate. He's the owner of the infamous 220 where we've all gone to hang out and rock out. There's literally always a story to tell after you've been hanging out with Burt. We always say that a trip to the grocery store with this guy will usually turn into an adventure! And he sells high powered lasers. No, really...he does!


CHRISTIAN
Christian is my younger brother. Chuck has affectionately named him "Banana Hands" because of his freakishly large hands and long fingers. He says shaking Chris' hand is like shaking a bushel of bananas. Christian's a big guy, but don't let that fool you... He's a big goofball! Chuck's always messing with him just to hear his squealing laugh. He's Mudder's biggest potato salad fan.


LAWRENCE
Rounding out da mens is my youngest brother, Lawrence. He's pretty much the genius of the family. Chuck's on a mission to get Lawrence to go with him to NYC in hopes of finding the Cash Cab and winning big! When he's not studying or involved in his numerous ASA extra-curriculars, you can catch him wakeboarding or Playing Guitar Hero.

So there you have it. Da mens. The ones that will be there to witness our big day along with my lovelies: Chuck's two brothers, two guys that might as well be Chuck's brothers and his two brothers-to-be. Just wait, it's gonna be a good time!

My lovelies.

I really don't know what I would do without my friends. Especially my girls. And when it comes down to standing with us on our special day, there are no other people I would rather share with than these beautiful women.

MINH-THI
Minh-Thi has graciously accepted to be my maid of honor. She and I met while working at Grandesign. You are never going to meet a more fun, loud--in the best way, of course (we loud ones tend to stick together), energetic person--period. She's so charming and lovable that you would be a fool NOT to love her! Just ask anyone that knows her. They'll tell you that I'm right.

EMILY
Emily is Chuck's sister. I love Emmie to pieces! She's so funny and independent. Her laughter is so infectious, that you can't help but to laugh with her. I only wish more of us could see life through her eyes and just see the pureness of it all--no BS. I couldn't be more proud and happy to call her my sister.


KATIE
Katie and I met at Grandesign also. We instantly connected with our similar tastes, sense of humor and overall quirkiness--we swear we share the same brain. We've had some pretty awesome adventures! She is one of the most talented and humble people I know and she's become one of my best friends. It's awesome to see how God puts people in your life for a reason and I've been so thankful that He placed us in each other's lives. And she and her hubby, Ant, are going to be parents later on this year! She's going to be the best mom, I just know it!

JANICE
Jan and I have known each other since we were in middle school! So you can only imagine how many shared experiences we've had over the years. We were there for each other through all the frogs and we were there for each other when we found our princes. I recently had the honor of being one of her bridesmaids on her wedding day and I'm so honored that she agreed to stand with us for ours.

TIFFIANY
Tiffo and I met while we were both working at Quiet Flight Surf Shop. Oh the good times at good ol' QF. We've had some zany adventures and along the way became fast and life-long friends. She's adorable beyond measure and you can't help but love her. She's newly engaged and I can't wait to share the planning journey with her too!

MORGAN
Definitely not least is Morgan. Mo is Tiffiany's best friend and they've known each other since, oh, forever! Naturally I met Mo through Tiff. Mo is so much fun and she's become a great friend. She LOVES her Cowboys (the actual cowboys as well as the country bar). She's such a doll and she's so much fun!

So you've met my lovely bridesmaids. I love each and every one of them so much. They're more than my friends--they're the sisters that I never had and I'm so proud to have them share our special day with us!

I proposed =)

To my bridesmaids, that is. And now that they have all received them (and said yes, btw =) ), I can finally blog about it!!

I was looking for creative ways to ask my girls to be my bridesmaids. Then I found this post by Miss Apple Cider on Weddingbee, of course. I absolutely loved the idea of proposing to my bridesmaids, but I decided to add my own flair to it.

So where do I find Ring Pops? I hadn't had one in so long that I didn't even know where to start. Chuck and I were at dinner at Cracker Barrel one night and I told him about my plan to "propose" to my girls. (In true guy fashion, he's just going to simply ask his groomsmen). I told him that I needed Ring Pops, but where should I begin to look? When we finished dinner, we were at the cashier when Chuck says, "Hey look! They have Ring Pops here!" SCORE! :) Now to find the perfect presentation.

I needed just the right box so I perused through The Container Store and found these Shantung Gift Boxes. I purchased the 4-inch square boxes, 5 in gold and 1 in red. They were here in 4 days, to my amazement. I highly recommend ordering from them. They have awesome stuff!!

I wanted the perfect note to go along with my plan, so I made up a poem for my bridesmaids and maid of honor. Then off to Michael's (dangerous!) for pretty paper. I created the notes in those 4 days that I was waiting for the boxes. I also picked up 2 long styrofoam bricks from the floral arrangement aisle. I cut them to fit the boxes and place the pops on. It was cheaper to buy the 2 bricks and cut them than to buy the already cut pieces to fit. It's amazing what you can find at Michael's!

So assembly line time! I had already created, printed and assembled the notes prior to the boxes arriving. They turned out great, don't you think?




One disappointment in all of these were the Ring Pops. I opened them to find that some of them were sticky. Ew. Stupid Florida humidity is probably to blame. So to avoid the pops getting stuck to the paper when I placed them in the boxes (not to mention keep it sanitary--and I used gloves to handle them all, btw), I wrapped each gem with a small square of plastic wrap. I also found that little styrofoam flecks were getting everywhere after I cut them, so I wrapped each styro block in saran wrap too! Ah-like so...


There's a small bed of raffia under the styro block to give it some height. Then I placed the corresponding notes on top of the pops, placed the cover and wrapped each box with a pretty raffia ribbon. I also made little tags for them.


And here they all are, ready to be given away!


Aren't they pretty? The girls loved them and I am so happy they all said yes. Thank you, gals!

I'll introduce you all to my lovely ladies in my next post! =)