Road to I Do Wedding Series:

I. From Girlfriend to Fiancé - How it All Started to the Proposal!   

Welcome to the first blog post in my "Road to I Do" series! Before jumping in to all of the wedding fun, I thought it was only right to share our story of how we met and grew to become Mr. & Mrs. My husband's engagement plan actually didn't go anything like he planned (which is pretty on brand for us lol) - but somehow amidst the chaos he had to go through it could not have been any more perfect. 

So here's how it all started: We met for the very first time in Atlantic City, NJ during the summer of 2015. I was there to celebrate Chelsea, my childhood friend's, 21st birthday. Shortly after my arrival, the ladies took to the boardwalk where we met up with Chelsea's guy friends, who also came to celebrate. I vividly remembers Joe's loud "What's Poppin!!! I'm Joe Brown," and joking and conversing throughout the day as if we had already known each other. I, being under 21 still, said my goodbyes to the group later that night and headed home before everyone got ready to go out.

Fast forward to my 21st birthday in October 2015. I had been so excited for this day, and even got a party bus for my friends and I to celebrate. I had been in a relationship that ended shortly before my birthday leaving 3 open spots, but we all thought it'd be best to have a couple guys come along to look out after the group. I reached out to several of my guy friends throughout the week, but none were able to make it with such late notice. The morning of the party, Chelsea called and suggested that I could always ask Joe and Dyamond; she knew they would be a fun time and look out for the entire group even if they hardly knew anyone.

I decided to get Joe's number and texted him to see if him and Dyamond were free that evening to join my friends and I. Soon after I sent the text, Joe responded that they would be there! All the girls had arrived, followed by Joe and Dyamond. I casually opened the door and thanked them for making the trip; little did I realize I was opening the door of my future husband :)

     left to right: Dyamond, Chelsea, Me, Joe at my 21st birthday party

Once we got to the club, Joe instantly took me to the bar and was the first one to buy me a birthday drink. It was this night, we effortlessly established a bond that could never be broken. Joe drove an hour back to my house the following day to celebrate my birthday in my college town with me and just about every weekend to follow, for over a year, until I graduated. After graduation, we shared our free weekends at whatever halfway points we could find between my hometown in NJ and his in PA until we settled into our first place together in 2018. 

We rented an adorable townhome in Conshohocken, PA and absolutely loved getting to live together after over two years of long distance. Then came COVID in 2020, forcing us to stay put and canceling our trip to Europe that we had planned for that Spring. Instead, we booked a road trip through Arizona and Nevada that Fall - something totally different than any trip we were used to, which by the way felt magical! Little did I realize I would leave as a girlfriend and return as a fiancé. 

On our second day in Phoenix Arizona, we were heading to our sunset hot air balloon ride when I opened my email to find that the ride was canceled due to high winds. This had been on my bucket list so I was super bummed. I had later found out that it was also how Joe was planning to propose. The photographer (I was shocked that he had book one lol) had opened her cancellation email way before me so Joe had already known that the hot air balloon ride wasn't happening and had been silently panicking and thinking up other ideas. When I told him our ride was canceled, he told me we'd just enjoy one together some other time in the future and suggested a park or botanical garden instead before we started making our way to Sedona, AZ. Me, being down for anything, agreed and was instantly filled with bliss walking through beautiful plants and cactuses at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ. There was one beautiful walkway of cactuses, we stopped at the end and I remember feeling like time had froze. It was at that moment he got on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. Sure enough, he had managed to have the photographer meet him there and I had no clue she was lurking behind us, but I love that we'll always have that very moment captured to look back on.      It felt so special enjoying the moment just the 2 of us and then continuing on our road trip as an engaged couple. Joe knew my favorite numbers were 3 and 11 and said that he intentionally wanted to ask me on 11/3 while we were on the trip. We then got married on 3/11 without planning to have the same numbers in our date. Of course I'm a little biased, but our love story is my favorite. Like any couple, we've had ups and downs, but I ultimately believe we were meant for each other and could not be happier to have found the one whom my soul loves! If you've made it this far, thanks for reading & make sure to check out some of the other blog posts in my

 Road to I Do series!

Road to I Do Wedding Series:

 INTRODUCTION

We're married! It's been almost two months since we tied the knot on 3.11.22 and it still feels surreal that I'm a wife and I get to do life with my best friend forever. I had been anxiously awaiting the big day since the day I became a fiancé on 11.3.20 and it was undoubtfully better than anything I could have dreamed of. 

As someone who enjoys hosting and planning, I took the challenge of being a DIY Bride - we worked to come up with a vision, without outside opinions, so that everything was truly what we wanted. While I learned pretty quickly planning a wedding is much different than hosting a small get together at home (lol) I made it out alive and can now share the experience and all that I've learned throughout the process in hopes of helping future couples & brides!

I. From Girlfriend to Fiancé - How it All Started 

II. Finding Our Venue - Helpful Things to Know and Questions to Ask When Searching for a Wedding Venue on a Budget 

III. Bridesmaid & Groomsman Proposals - How We Asked Our Favorite People to Stand by us on Our Wedding Day

IV. For the Love of Wedding Planning - General Timeline I used & Helpful Tips

V.  NOLA Bachelorette Party - Your Guide and Itinerary for an Amazing Bachelorette Party in New Orleans

VI. Bridal Shower - Party Details I Loved & Registry Ideas for Future Brides

VII. Rehearsal Dinner - DIY Style & "Final Fiesta" themed

VIII. Details & Décor - Some of our Favorite Décor, Signage, and Non-traditional wedding ideas we incorporated

IX. Our Wedding Vendors - The vendors, brands, and entertainment we booked for our wedding day 

X. Our DIY Donut Board - How we created our own donut board as a treat for wedding guests during our reception

XI. The Wedding Party - Fun & Thank you Gift Ideas for Bridesmaids and Groomsmen 

Please enjoy & feel free to leave a comment or reach out to me via email (kaittouchthis@gmail.com) or Instagram if you have any questions! xo

 On the search for different date ideas that don't involve leaving your house? Look no further! Besides the fact that we were hit with a pandemic and forced to stay home, sometimes it's actually nice to be able to do fun things with your person while still in the comfort of your own home - with no getting ready, driving, making reservations, etc. 

Below I've shared 5 at home date nights that my fiance and I have had thoroughly enjoyed. They were all fun for their own reasons and super budget friendly! Whether for Valentine's Day, or the next time you don't have the energy to go "out and about," try one of these date ideas and make sure to let me know how you liked it!

STAY AT HOME DATE NIGHT IDEAS:

1. GET CRAFTY - PURCHASE A FUN & INTERACTIVE CRAFT PROJECT

It's always fun to do something together that you've never done! There are several different "couple's crafts and projects" on the internet. Have you ever thought of creating a casting sculpture of your own hands? We received an awesome kit from Pearl of My Heart and got to create a sculpture of our own. How cool that we now have this for life?! Bonus, it comes with a glass kit and string lights to put in it, which makes it such a fun touch to add to your home. You can USE MY CODE KAIT10 for 10% off your purchase! 

The project itself isn't very time consuming. The kit includes everything you need- you first create the mold, then hold your hands together inside of the mold for 3-9 minutes (that's the tricky but fun part.. you want to try to stay as still as possible), then you create a casting to pour inside and let it sit for 4 hours before you reveal. So during that time you can make dinner, or pick a movie or show(s) to watch while sipping your favorite bottle of wine. Then, you get to reveal the final project and make it yours. The kit also included a stand to add a picture and paint, but we liked it as it was.                

Who doesn't love a wine and/or beer flight?! Technically, this does require leaving the house to grab a few different drinks (unless you order them online for delivery). However, once you have all that you need you can create fun DIY tasting cards and try each while rating them together - OR - you can go one at a time with a blindfold and try to guess which is which and see who wins. I guess it depends on whether you're going for a fun, chill evening or a friendly competition. We did this with another couple for a birthday so that we could feel like we were at a brewery without leaving the house and paying for several flights. 

At first this might sound silly. How? What? However, this was one of my favorite date nights to this day! We were actually supposed to visit Italy & Spain in April 2020 before the pandemic hit and cancelled our plans. So around the time we would've left, we decided to recreate a night in Spain. We went all out - from the outfits we wore, to the dinner we cooked and the drinks we made. We even played Spanish music. 

I highly recommend picking your favorite country, or a country you'd like to visit with your partner and recreating it right in your home. Dress the part and pick an authentic meal that you can look up a recipe for online, along with a cocktail from that country. We did steak and shrimp in a homemade Spanish sauce and a homemade Sangria. We may or may not have also attempted some salsa dancing, lol!

4. GOOD OLD FASHIONED GAME NIGHT 

You can't go wrong with a good ol' night of games! This is a perfect way to have a date night at home. Crack open a bottle of wine, bring out some assorted snacks, and get the games out. Even if you don't have several games at your house, you can look up certain apps. Heads Up is one that you can play against each other right on your phone and keep score, and a deck of cards never fails. Trivia is also fun and there are tons of couple's trivia games. If you want to make it more serious and you're trying to learn more about each other, you can both take a free quiz that will rate your love languages and you can guess each others order before you reveal your results.

We personally prefer game night with at least one other couple because there's more options when you have 4+ people. Check out my "Favorites" section on my Amazon store HERE to view & purchase some of the fun games we enjoy! 

5. DIY PAINT & SIP NIGHT 

Who says you need to go to a "Painting With a Twist" party and pay $70-80 for 2 to paint and sip? You can have yourselves a night, with your own paint, drinks, and playlist of choice right in your very own kitchen at your table (with a nice cover on it of course). You can grab cheap canvases right on Amazon, along with a paint/paint brush kit, or we had rocks that were given to us and actually decided to paint the rocks to put outside. I have to say my fiance surprised me and did much better than expected (check out his peaceful dove, lol he was going for a tranquil look) 

~*~

These are obviously just a few of so many fun ideas! The fun part, too, is that you can choose how you want to dress. You'll likely go for a comfy, cozy look if you're doing something crafty and relaxing with a movie, but if you're bringing a specific country to your house for the night then hey you might throw on a fancy outfit and dress to impress. The options are endless! 

I'd love to know what some of your favorite date night ideas are, or if you plan to try any of these at home. Let me know in the comments! Have fun y'all!

-Kait xo