MY GIRLS!!! Me and some of my bridesmaids at Easter at mama's house. (Lori, Dory, Heather and me) Aren't they adorable? I'm probably the only bride encouraging her bridesmaids to look worse in November! What was I thinking...surrounding myself with such gorgeous bridesmaids!! =)

So, mama and I ordered the save the date cards. I'm not really sure why we send those out now. I guess people just need a lot of time to prepare for weddings. I wonder who came up with the idea of "save the dates." I sometimes wonder if maybe people just come up with ideas and see how many people will start doing the same thing. I mean, because, seriously, don't we already send out invitations with the date? But what can I say, I'm a slave to trends. So I ordered these super cute postcard save the dates. Cheap, cute and effective, just the way we Dixons like it. (or soon to be Pratts) I also found out that Julie is going to fly down to try on dresses which is absolutely thrilling. That's going to be an awesome weekend.
Doug's dream has come true-we can register for our stuff online. He doesn't have to endure the utter agony of going into a store. We're pretty ying and yang on that-which works out. He thinks shopping is sort of plague, whereas I border on addiction. So we meet in the middle, which is great. Of course, when I say "we" are going to register....I'm pretty sure that I'll pick out most of it and let him click the mouse once or twice so he feels involved. Another thing I love about Doug, he doesn't really care what I pick out as far as wedding and registry stuff goes. What a good man.

More useless wedding updates...

Okay, so mixed reactions on the blog. Heather made some snarky comment but she's just jealous that she doesn't have a blog. (just kidding...you know I love ya) I do love the other comments though. This could be fun.
So I told Doug I would put wedding stuff on this, so here's the update.
We're tying on the ole ball and chain in Southport on Nov. 21 at the Community Center. This place has an awesome view and thanks to my sparkling personality,we managed to get the Nov slot. It shouldn't be too cool but even if it is....people can just wear a jacket, I mean, come on, it's the beach, right??
The dress....well, does the term "scary-polar bear-like-ice-princess" mean anything??.. because that's sort of the nightmare I keep having. So, basically, I haven't tried any on. However, I have had the pleasure of making my bm's try on dresses. It was awesome. We can't decide if we're going for more of a "skanky barmaid" or "matronly pilgrim" look. Maybe we could find a nice combination of the two. However, the colors are going to be purple and brown. or lavender and mocha. or lilac and espresso. We don't like the use the pedantic terms "purple and brown." So, choose whatever crayola names you like.
My mom is thoroughly enjoying this whole process. We suggested that we have barbecue at the reception and I think she needed oxygen. She manages to quell my extreme tackiness that tends to sneak out every once and while. (who wouldn't want an entire set of inflatable furniture?)

How it all started...It's all Alecia's fault..

So, barely over a year ago, I was pretty sure that I would be single forever and I was okay with that. (sometimes) but in February, Alecia called me out of the blue. She wanted to set me up on a blind date with someone that Ed knew. I normally would think of some way to get out of this but for some reason, I said okay. So we met on a Friday night for dinner at Japanese steakhouse in Shallotte. (no, that is not a oxymoron) and then bowling. He was so nice and sweet right from the start. He (who is half asleep on the couch right now, as I grill him) said he thought I was "beautiful." (bear in mind, he's half asleep =) I remember how good he smelled...and we all know that personal hygiene is important. Anyways, I let him win at bowling and flirted some but that was it. We dropped him back off at his jeep and he gave me his business card and I told him that I was going to give him my business card, which looks remarkably like a JCPenney receipt. That made him laugh, I think I had him then. He emailed me the next Monday and we kept on dating...and here we are over a year later. WARNING: Cheesy Portion..........He's everything that I didn't think existed...funny, kind, compassionate, loving and he tries to do kind things everyday. I couldn't ask for more. My family loves him, which is SO important to me and I ADORE his family. It's amazing how life will totally surprise you. I never thought that was true but I know it is now. (feel free to insert barfing noise here)

Here I am crying after I opened the ring box. It was unexpected. He actually managed to surprise me...although I had been on my toes for days. Not the most elegant pose, but pretty true to the moment.

The ring

Here's a picture of my ring. It's hard to get a good angle with the camera but this is the best one that I have. Isn't it pretty??

Getting started...

Okay. So, I thought this might be a fun way to keep track of wedding planning. I don't know if anyone would find this interesting but I would be lying if I said I said I didn't enjoy reading these things. I can't guarantee that anyone (other than my family) might actually look at this but we'll give it a shot. I haven't done a blog before so we'll see how it goes.

I uploaded a picture of us from Marshall and Dory's weddding. It was in October of 08 at Oak Island. This was pre-engagement.

We got engaged on Friday, March 20th. Here's the story: My mom and dad had finished closing their loan with Doug that day and we were eating dinner with his parents that night. Doug was coaching machine pitch and got there a bit later than the rest of us. Mrs. Pratt, Mama and I had already had a few margarita's and were having a good time. We had a delicious dinner of sea bass (way to go, soon to be mil) and we had left over St. Paddy's day green cake for dessert. (it was awesome, btw...vanilla with vanilla frosting..yum) and while we were eating, Doug tried to feed me a piece of cake and only managed to smear it on my face. (on purpose, as he told me later-he says it was a "diabolical plot") and when I went to pick up a napkin, the ring box was underneath. So, immediately, his mom starts crying and his dad's taking shots like the paparazzi...my parents are in shock. (I learned later that he had flashed the ring box to the my parents right before I came in) so, I, in true girly fashion, began crying. I looked at the ring and then closed the box....why, you ask. Because I'm stupid. So I continued crying and finally opened the box. Doug didn't say anything. He says "he just gave me the look and I melted." He's helping me write this. So the ring was PERFECT!!!!!!!! It was exactly what Heather and I had looked at online. It has Nanny's diamond in the middle and Grandma Dixon's diamond on one side and a matching diamond on the other side. PERFECTION!!!!! It's also huge, which, I love. I mean, let's face it, every girl dreams of a big engagement ring! I barely slept that night. I kept waking up to make sure it was still there. it's so pretty. I still find myself staring at it, and probably will for the rest of my life.