The Kirk Wedding- Details

I'm sure you've heard me say it a few times, but our photographer is AMAZING

She put together this little collage of all the "details" of our wedding.
I love it!

The theme was Vintage/Elegant
Our guest book was a Shutterfly photo-book
John & I had letters delivered to each other before the ceremony
There was a "Selfie Booth" with props for everyone who came
Our wedding hashtag was #hatchkirkwedding
Babies breath...everywhere
I wore my Grandmothers pearl necklace, and pinned a locket of hers on my bouquet
All of the bouquets were wrapped in lace
Mint, peach, browns, and grays
 It was the best day EVER!


More pics to come soon...I promise!

Photography by Shailynn Photography

One week

In exactly ONE WEEK from today John & I will be getting ready for the biggest day of our lives.

ONE week from today we will be

Saying our "I do's"

Kissing a LOT

Celebrating our marriage

Stuffing our face at any possible time

Dancing the night away

Spending time with friends & family from all over

Throwing cake in each others' face

Tossing bouquets & garters to the next lucky gal and guy

Appreciating everything that has gone into such an amazing day

Saying Thank You to everyone who came, and those who helped

Missing the ones that can't be there

Laughing, smiling, and taking in every single moment.

 ONE week from today

We'll be starting the most amazing journey in our life

ONE week from today

I'll wake up as Jessica Hatch, for the last time... and go to bed as the new Mrs. Jessica Kirk

I can't wait!

Friday Favorites

I can't say that this is going to become a weekly thing, but I liked the way it sounds. Plus, who doesn't like mustaches? Ya, it has nothing to do with this but I like it anyway... Maybe if I ever figure out how to do "link-ups" I'll do a Friday Favorite link up, but I have no idea. Here are some things I'm loving right now

Tomorrow, we are EXACTLY 2 weeks away from our wedding! Coffee in the morning, either to go, or from home- It's a must These new jeans from American Eagle, softest material EVER (pretty much anything from that store)
THIS movie trailer. I've watched it 5+ times I don't know if it's the amazing Beyonce remake of "Crazy in Love" in the background,  or just because I'm excited about it. If you haven't watched it, you should.... If you haven't read the book, do it.  It doesn't come out till next Valentines Day, so you have plenty of time. :)

and THIS song from Jason Aldean, it's on repeat daily

and obviously my fiance' but he's my favorite every day
 "except yesterday, yesterday he really pissed me off."
HA! Just kidding!
That's all :)
What are your some of your favorite things this week?

A warning to future brides

 I told you I'd write about my HORRIBLE wedding dress experience so here it goes! ANYONE who has ever planned a wedding knows how expensive it can be, and if you're not careful, your dress can take over your entire budget. "It's a dress you wear once" I remember my Mom saying that about buying prom dresses, which I went cheap with those as well, or I borrowed them from a friend. This dress I didn't want to borrow or rent, I wanted to cherish it, just like I cherish this man I'm going to marry, and I wanted to LOVE my dress.  When I started planning my wedding I had a budget, and I knew that photography & food was going to take up quite a bit of it. I also knew how important the photos were to me, and I was willing to spend money on it. As far as a dress, all I knew is that I had to love it. I live in a small town, and there's one bridal store here with not a huge selection, the closest city with a selection was about 3 hours away, and I just didn't want to have to go spend two days trying on dress after dress.... I had been planning it on Pinterest for awhile... so I knew the style I wanted but the price was going to be ridiculous. I had a friend that had purchased hers off e-bay, shipped overseas, somewhere in Korea or something.

I started looking online for those kind of stores Places I could get my wedding dress cheap, but it could still look like a designer dress. (no one would even know, I didn't care, I needed to save money) That's when I found this website... WWW.GINDRESS.COM Every single time you go to this website you'll see this flashy promotion

Sounds great right? Even better, my dress I wanted was ALL lace and it was only $280! It was January and I figured if I ordered it now, It'd get here by March and I'd have PLENTY of time to get a new one if it didn't work out, and if it did, I just spent $280 on my wedding dress. I mean seriously! Look at this discount!
$354.00 $1,416.00

FREE SHIPPING! ONLY 57 HOURS LEFT

(that price will be the same a week from now, just so you know)

Also, if it's too good to be true, IT IS.

BUT I sent in my measurements, and I waited...

the first of March I got an email saying my dress was on its way, and I was so excited!

THEN, red flag #1 happened

DHL was the company who was shipping my dress, I had gotten an email that said my dress was delivered but it was not. It was not on the porch, and it was not on anyone's on my street. 

It was also a weekend, and there was no way I was waiting for a report to be filed.

DHL sent their delivery guy back out from Salt Lake to go to the house he left it at and call me, he had left it at the wrong house and luckily those people were out of town.

That was about 5 hours of pure stress, and they even had good customer service.

So I met up with that guy, he gave me my dress and I had it in my hands, I took it to work we took it out of the box and checked it out and it looked beautiful.

I tried it on that night, it was a little big but it just needed to be taken in on the sides

I took it to my seamstress in April

She didn't start it until a two weeks ago, she was busy, but I was also stressing every day I didn't hear from her.

BRIDES: #1 rule for altering a dress, NEVER tell your seamstress the day you're getting your bridals done. Tell her it's like 2-3 weeks before the day it actually is. I promise you, I've experienced it, AND I've heard it from more than one person. 

 I had a fitting about two weeks ago and it went horrible
Apparently the way the dress is made, the lace doesn't "gather" right, and the lace on the bottom has holes in it that I never noticed, and it would have to be completely redone.
My seamstress said she can do it, and she can make it work
but like I said above, I have to love my dress, I don't want one that will "work."
Especially after spending the same amount on alterations, as I could on a new dress that I'd love.
So that's my story!

NEVER ORDER A WEDDING DRESS ONLINE, especially if it's out of the US
and that's my advice...
Some of you might say "well I did, and it worked out just fine"
well, that is SUPER AWESOME, but that didn't happen to me, and chances are it happens very rarely
That's why I'm sharing my story with you, so you don't make the mistake I did.

Tomorrow and the next day I will be trying on dress, after dress, after dress
at more than 3 different appointments, driving all around the city.
It's almost a month away from my wedding.
Don't do what I did... try on your dress at a store, LOVE it, and buy it.
Don't do it a month before your wedding either ;)
After the wedding I'll post pictures of the dress that I ordered VS the dress I end up wearing
Until then... tell your friends, tell anyone you know who is getting married or planning a wedding.
DON'T buy a dress online.

Catching Up

  Our life has been pretty crazy since the last time I blogged, so let's catch up! On Friday, John flew to North Carolina to pick up his little girl, I went camping up on our Uncles ranch with my parents, niece & nephew. My dad got a "side-by-side ATV" I forgot to take a picture of it, so I found this one on the internet just to give you an idea of what the heck I'm talking about.  

It's awesome

We spent a couple hours cruising around on this, Dad even let me drive it! Shocker

My niece Riley & I on our way up to the Ranch

On Saturday it was my friends Wedding Day!!

She was beautiful, and so was the wedding.

Lawn Games

Cake Pops

Taco Bar - seriously AMAZING

Beautiful Bride

Great music

I've known Jasmine (the bride) for awhile, her sister Whitney is my best friend (top middle pic) I am so happy for her & Alex, they've been together since they were 14 years old!!

I'm so glad I was able to be there to celebrate with them!

Best Wishes Mr & Mrs Shields!

On Fathers Day we had a big lunch at my parent's house

BBQ Ribs

Corn on the cob

Baked beans (Dad's famous recipe)

Shrimp pasta salad

all the fix-ins for a great meal

YUM!

Every year I have the hardest time choosing a card for my dad, I either want to make him laugh, or make him realize how much I really love him. I usually go with the mushy ones but I actually bought him TWO cards this year because I couldn't help it, the card was too funny not to get.

I should have taken a picture, but.... I didn't, so i'll just explain it.

The front said

"Dad, you're like a Father to me"

the inside said

"No but really, I mean that"

All I could think about was the guy from the Hangover, so I had to get it.

My dad & I have a weird sense of humor, so we thought it was hilarious.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing in my parents backyard enjoying this fresh beverage

Let's hope that hour in the sun gave me a little color

I've decided against tanning beds (I spend my money on a lot of stuff, but spending money on skin cancer is not on my list).... and I haven't found a fake tan that I am brave enough to try...

If you're reading this, and you have a favorite "fake tan" lotion that doesn't make you orange and you can use it all over including your face- comment & let me know what it is cuz this girl is WHITE.

I need some color before my wedding (53 days!), or I'll blend in with my wedding dress.

Gross

So that was our crazy weekend

John &his daughter got home Monday at 2am....that story is coming soon :)

Let's just say, I love being a "step-mom"

Stay tuned!

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Weekend with the Kirks

I suck at taking pictures, and I really need to take more...but, here's a recap of our weekend. Of course, more words than pictures, sorry bout it.   On Saturday, I got my hair done and that night we went to our friends wedding! Let me tell you, we LOVE to get dressed up and go out. Fun time with friends, and a fun dance after the reception. They also had this amazing sweet strawberry popcorn & a smore's bar! We had a blast!     This is my friends little girl, she loves John! 

 

 I had to take a pic of her centerpieces, cute & simple!

   Gosh he's handsome, I'm a lucky lady!!

  The next day it was SHOP, SHOP SHOP...and then a movie. We were exhausted by the time the movie started, but luckily we didn't fall asleep We shopped for the "extras" to wear for our engagements this Sunday... ahhh! We shopped for our new bathroom remodel that's happening this week, eeeek! and we went grocery shopping...    I couldn't be more excited about our bathroom remodel, I can't WAIT until it's done! I'll post the before/after pics soon :)  

I'm also looking for some cute and affordable bathroom wall art, if you know a good website, post it in the comments, please!

  Oh, and the movie we went to, "The Other Woman"  It's funny, not as funny as I thought it would be but it was still pretty good. Cameron Diaz & Leslie Mann are hilarious. Go see it!

 

and so it begins....

Every girl dreams about their BIG day

the flowers

the dress

the grooms face when you walk down the isle

the cake

the "I dos"

the celebration

the dancing

the bouquet tossing

....and everything else

Here's what they don't warn you about...

THE PLANNING

I've talked to a lot of women, and everyone says something different

they liked planning it

they hired someone to plan it

they loved planning it

they wish they would have just eloped

I don't know how you could LOVE planning a wedding. I used to think I wanted to be a wedding planner but after the last few months, I think I'd go insane.

Women, let alone BRIDES are so picky, and high maintenance!

We have to have the most beautiful, the most fun,
 and the greatest day in history for our Wedding Day.

If I have a little girl, and she comes to me and says "I can't wait to get married!"

I'm going to hand her a planner and tell her to get going...of course in that generation she'll just have Pinterest and have already started pinning her DREAM wedding. *yikes*

Is it just me, or does everyone have three types of weddings in their head when they're planning

Their ideal wedding

Their Pinterest wedding

and the wedding everyone is talking them into having.

It's exhausting!

and living in a small town makes it a lot harder, there aren't very many options here.

Why is there so much stress put on Wedding Days? 

I've told John several times, lets just go to the courthouse and then have a reception the day we were planning on getting married. Luckily he knows how important that day is to me, so he's not letting me get out of it. Also most of my friends are married, and I have advice from some of the pros but I still wish I didn't have to do it.....