We got our first wedding gift in the mail yesterday! A much-needed and long awaited crock pot, courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Don & Gene Autry. Daniel’s already prepped a couple of recipes for the next weeks worth of food. 🙂

We also went yesterday to shop for props for the bridal portraits I’m having Erica & Laila take for me on April 13th. Daniel, as always, completely surprised me with his ability to take my not-so-eloquent description of a whimsy-woodsy photoshoot and instantly create a list of items I would need. He should seriously do this sort of thing for a living, because he was perfectly dead-on with what I wanted but couldn’t quite explain.

Since I’m not so great and putting ideas into words and I haven’t taken them yet, here are some of the inspiration sets (and associated props) for the upcoming shoot:

The complete shoots can be found at:

http://www.wantthatwedding.co.uk/2012/04/30/whimsical-woodland-styled-wedding-inspiration/

http://www.frostedpetticoatblog.com/2013/01/winter-fancy.html

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2010/04/02/whimsical-alice-in-wonderland-themed-photo-shoot/

http://www.glamourandgraceblog.com/2013/photo-fridays-fairy-tale-bridal-portraits/

More information for what I want can be found on my pinterest boards “Becoming Mrs. West ~ 05.26.12” and “Wedding Photos”

In addition, I started an account (via a livingsocial deal sent to me by bridesmaid, Michelle Sunde) at MissNowMrs.com today. Obviously I’m not quite ready to change my name, but even looking at the documentation was a little weird. The most bizarre was the point where I was prompted for my “New First, Middle, and Last Names.”

So official.

I’ve pretty much decided on Kaleigh Morgan West as my new name, but there’s a little sadness surrounding the loss of the name Danielle, only minorly eased by the fact that my fiance is named Daniel. It’s been my name for my entire life and it’s a little hard to say goodbye to it now, after having served me so well these last 23 years…

Also, the cut-off date for RSVPs has come and gone, and we’re now looking at a party of nearly 250 guests (including the 30-some-odd folks that DID NOT RSVP, but we still presume plan to come). We pay our final portion of the wedding costs on April 12th, at which point it all becomes a little more than completely real.

More updates to come, I’m sure. This is an ongoing process but BOY! is it going fast! 😀