I will finally be “The Real New Mrs. Allen” in one month y’all! Ironically enough, when season ends, we get ridiculously busy. We went to Scottsdale, Arizona for a month, moved into a new house, went to Dallas three times and Chicago twice, attended a gorgeous shower hosted by my best friends and now, I wake up everyday just trying to catch up! I will make sure to put up a few pictures from our trip but right now, I want to gush about the most amazing bridal shower my friends most graciously hosted for me. I also want to thank my mother for lending her home, my grandmother for basically catering the event, and all my aunts for pitching in to cook and clean. I was definitely “showered” with love!
This was my advice tree. Each guest wrote a piece of advice on the tags and hung it on the tree. Definitely one of my favorite details! 
Avocado Dip
My lovely Hostesses! 
My Nana’s shrimp dip. 
I wish I could share more details but we had a lingerie shower so it’s best to keep some things a secret ; )
This post was long overdue but I did promise to eventually share all the details of the wedding planning process. Before I sign off, I want to highlight some of my most recently acquired vendors! I had to be incredibly diligent when I was in Dallas so my days were filled with tastings, DJ meeting, and dress fittings but somehow, everything got done! I don’t want to spoil the surprise of the wedding décor, but I will share my other vendor’s info, my experience thus far, and my vision for each aspect of the wedding.
I have a slight obsession with wedding photographs. That’s why finding a wedding photographer was at the top of my priorities. We are thrilled to be working with Anna Routh Photography. She is currently based out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina but used to reside in the DFW area so she graciously agreed to return to shoot our wedding. We decided to hire a second shooter as well to support Anna and to make sure we don’t miss a single moment. She was highly recommended from one of my friends that had just got married. We had a couple Skype meetings and I obsessed over her most recent wedding albums and decided she was the one. Her style is romantic and ethereal, exactly what I was looking for. She also has a knack for catching amazing candid moments between the bride and groom, I just hope my mouth isn’t open in all of them!
You can find her work here: http://annarouthphoto.com.
So the same way I love photos, Jeff loves videos. He’s an avid Vine user and was adamant about having an awesome videographer that could capture one of the best nights of our lives. We watched countless highlight videos and those done by Heartstring Films were the only ones that really illuminated the love the couples had for each other. I could tell that was of the utmost importance when they went to shoot a wedding and that was exactly what we were looking for. This is an incredible art because they have 5 minutes to cram in all the best parts of a wedding and they consistently do it and make it look effortless. Jeff and I both agreed we wanted to work with them for our wedding. We hope our day is full of laughs, a couple tears and great music. These are all things we know will be emphasized in our video and we can’t wait to share it with those that are unable to make it to the wedding. Jeff Brummett , owner of Heartstring Films, has been incredibly professional and quite honestly a relief to work with. He is confident in his style and didn’t ask me a ton of questions that I just don’t have the capacity to answer.
You can obsess over his work just like we did: http://heartstringfilms.com
Selecting a DJ was Jeff’s duty and I think he did pretty well. We will be working with Jake Hans of Le Force DFW. He is knowledgeable, organized, and has a few tricks to get the crowd on the dance floor. Another draw to working with LeForce is this awesome personalized web page they have created for each couple. We can go in and add songs we want played, make payments, and even leave notes for our DJ. LeForce also offered to do special lightling but it was unnecessary since our venue provides it with our package.
To learn more about their business visit: http://www.leforceentertainment.com
Last but certainly not least, I want to offer a special thanks to Mrs. Eva Flowers for agreeing to be our wedding pianist. To have so much of our family so closely involved in the wedding ceremony is incredibly special. We are working on a certain surprise that won’t fail to disappoint!
I will share all the details of my cake designer and florist after the wedding! Until then, check out their websites!
Sugar Bee Sweets: http://sugarbeesweets.com
Stems of Dallas: http://stemsofdallas.com
I would wholeheartedly recommend each of the vendors profiled above! If you have any questions about my experience, please don’t hesitate to Facebook me, Tweet at me, or just send me a quick email.
I will be celebrating my last few weeks as Marissa Holden with a small shower organized by my Kansas City family and a sure to be fabulous bachelorette weekend in Dallas! 26 days and counting!
Marissa
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