My name is Gillian my FI is Scott. We’re both 24. I live in Orange County, CA and he lives in Los Angeles County.
My fiancé and I met in January 2010. A mutual friend of ours told me that he wanted to introduce me to someone that he thought was a great guy. Well…he was right! We met and hit it off right away; we had so much in common. We were both serious about this relationship and got close really fast. We became best friends and after 7 months of dating we started to talk about the idea of marriage. I knew he was the one for me. I have never met someone more considerate and loving than he is. I find him fascinating and attractive and smart. To me, he’s perfect. Around the time we started talking about marriage he informed me that he spoke to an Army recruiter and I was devastated. I knew this was something he was interested in and always had been but I was hoping that he would find a regular job since he already had his bachelor’s degree. After long discussions and more talking to the recruiter’s office they offered him a position and he took it.
Anyway, back to the reason why I’m here.
We had been talking about marriage and I was showing him rings for a couple months now. I knew he was in no shape financially to buy a ring anytime soon but I wanted him to get an idea of what I was interested in. Well our 1st anniversary came around and we decided to spend the day at Disneyland. Halfway through the day he led me to Snow White’s wishing well and started babbling about his feelings, etc. which only confused the heck out of me. I didn’t know why he was talking about this when we should have been going on rides and eating unhealthy food! Next thing I know he is down on one knee and pulls a black box out from behind him. I gasped so loud I’m sure the people in the parking structure heard me. I did not see this coming for one second and with a ring in the style that I had showed him! I was so surprised and happy and hysterical all at the same time. It was the best day of my life. (If you want you can read the story in more detail on my bio page)
That was almost 11 months ago. The first 6 months of our engagement we did not do very much in planning or anything. Then he left for basic training and I knew he was to start OCS immediately after so I would not see him for nearly 6 months. After he left we set a date in June 2012. The first thing I did was buy my wedding dress. I got it on sale and bought it as more of a base dress. (I’m planning to change the top shape of it and add other things that I had always dreamed of on my dress.) It's going to end up as a sweetheart top, the bottom of the dress is meant to be like a ball gown with pickups (that sounds horrible but I promise it looks very nice) and I am adding roses of the same material and color as the dress into the pickups. I am also going to be adding a sash to the dress and most likely put some kind of design in the very front. Probably a fleur de lis.
Soon after that I started searching for a venue and fell in love with one. I sent my FI pictures of it and he agreed that it looked nice. We will be getting married at the Heritage Museum in Santa Ana, It's a huge property that owns 2 Victorian houses, an orange grove, a hiking trail, a working blacksmith shop, and beautiful gardens. It was so beautiful and I knew this was going to be it.
Since that time I have booked our photographer and our florist who see my FFIL. He's a chiropractor. They are doing an exchange of services which won't cost me a penny! I have already met with them and set everything up. I have also seen their work and was very impressed. My photographer has done a number of weddings of big executives, CEOs, and even did Weird Al's wedding. She also knows David Tuterra. Was thinking about trying to sign up for My Fair Wedding but I don't want my wedding too over the top and I was also pretty nervous. Not gonna lie.
I also found a DJ who is a friend of my uncle's. My uncle got him to do our wedding for dirt cheap.
As of right now, I am planning to have my hairstylist friend do my hair on the day of the wedding and possibly my makeup too. I'm just a little nervous to talk to her about prices right now.
I am leaving for FI's OCS graduation soon and the day after we both come home we are meeting with the caterer to finalize the menu and do tasting! Can't wait for that. I love yummy food.
The only thing I feel like I have left to do besides find a seamstress in the Orange County area is pick a place to do our wedding cake. I have had 2 people suggest the same place to me so I will be checking that out soon. Can't find any prices anywhere so it makes me nervous.
Oh! Our wedding colors are: Dusty Rose, Slate Blue, and Soft Gold.
We are going to have a Marie Antoinette/Versailles inspired reception. It's not a theme but more of an atmosphere with French accents, lots of petite deserts, champagne fountain, masquerade masks, etc.
I found the lovliest people on etsy to help make my vision come true. There is a girl in England who makes BEAUTIFUL masks and they aren't too expensive. I have already ordered 15 masks from her and I'm thinking that might not be enough for our 120 people reception. We will have 15 tables and each mask will be started as a centerpiece which the guests can pick up and use in the photobooth that my cousin is MAKING for me!
There is another girl who runs her company on etsy and I actually found her after pinning pictures of her gorgeous invitations on pinterest. They were PERFECT! So I ordered my Save the Date cards, Invitations, and Thank you Cards through her. I just recieved my STD cards a few days ago. I'm waiting for the wax seals to arrive (they go with my french 'theme') and am planning to send out the STD cards in December. Hoping to take engagment pictures soon as well so we can send them out with the cards. I know it's a bit late for E pics since we've been engaged for almost 11 months. Whatever.
And lastly I found another girl who made me a beautiful dusty rose colored giant rose that is attached to a big ostrich feather which I will be attaching to my birdcage veil. It's really lovely. My cousin who is my MOH stated that she could make my veil for me. I'm so excited!
My cousin is my MOH, my two sisters will serve as bridesmaids (1 is probably considered a JR), as well as 2 of my closest friends. My FI has 2 brothers and 3 best friends so the numbers worked out.
We also still need to start our registry and plan and book our honeymoon. We are going to Ireland for 2 weeks! 
Well I think that's about it. I don't know if I'm leaving anything else off the to-do list. Let me know if anyone wants to see pictures of anything I have so far and I'll do my best to track some down!
I'm glad this board is here as I know I will have many military questions because I still feel like I know next to nothing about it.
Thanks for reading!