Ambiance

Ashley has a new idea……(aka get the check book out)…. She wants us to add accent lighting to the venue for our wedding reception. I think this is a great idea and i just happen to have some ideas on how to do this. As of now we are in limbo because we may go through a company that does it, or just buy the equipment and do it ourselves considering the equipment is super reasonable. Last night we looked up some do’s and dont’s and we feel we have a good handle on the situation. The only thing I’m a little worried about it the fact that i would be doing the actual lighting…… lol don’t worry i got this (possible last words??? haha)

Quick thank you

Hey everyone I just wanted to thank you for reading our blog and checking out our website! It’s aweosme to have so many awesome people really interested and participating in our journey! We had 48 views yesterday just on this blog and that’s so awesome, I was shocked! just wanted to thank everybody and I hope that our story inspires and entertiains all of you!

-Rob G.

The Dress.

Yesterday was a very successful day. Rob & I met my parents and my sister at the David’s Bridal in Orlando to shop for dresses. Rob & my dad went out for some quality male bonding time while we were busy in the store… and 3 hours later we emerged victorious! I found the perfect dress.. well actually the sales consultant found it. I probably never would have picked it off the rack myself, but when I put it on I absolutely loved it. I can’t tell much detail about it because Rob will read it, obviously; but I’ll try to paint some kind of picture… it’s white and ********** and the ****** has ******* all over it. The skirt is really **** because the **** I’m wearing with it is like a *********. The skirt also has a **** *******, which is my favorite part. I feel like that told you absolutely nothing, but it’s the best I can do. Karen & Lindsay also picked out their dresses! They both look beautiful! I decided to change the color slightly because the lapis was much darker in person than it looked on the internet. So now the colors are wine and champagne… and that’s purely coincidence. Haha. Things are coming together! The dress was the last major thing on the list, now it’s just the details to work out! Yesterday was a really great day.

Rob’s take on the bridal show

I walked into the large building and could smell the estrogen!

I looked around and saw brides to be and bride “wannabes” (aka southeastern girls woops i just said that) everywhere!!!!!

I walked around with Ashley holding a junk load of stuff….things were looking bad for me!!!

Then a glimmer of hope came… in the form of FOOD! Bridal exhibits apparently give away cake, cookies, shrimp cocktail, chocolate covered strawberries designed to look like tuxedos, photo booths, and more.

“This isn’t so bad,” i thought to myself, until the seminars began……

Somehow I got stuck in a seminar about “being green on your wedding day.” apparently if we have everything at one location we will save people from driving which will help keep down gas emission and apparently save the world……….My question is “should we also have our honeymoon night in the building with everyone there?” because driving to the hotel may cause the final hole in the ozone layer………. Honestly though I had a lot of ideas but Ashley kept hitting me and making me put my hand down, so I didn’t get to share many.

The next seminar the photographer suggested “sexy pictures” as a gift for the groom on the wedding day, I was fine with it.

Last seminar  I literally walked out because the woman was demonstrating how she had given the model bride a fake weave, bangs and something else and proceeded to take all of it off which freaked me out……

Things were looking dim until I found the man lounge………Food, TV and couches=great.

Final conclusion….Ashley was entertained and happy and I was well fed.

Lakeland Bridal Exhibit

Sunday was Lakeland’s bridal exhibit, and since I hadn’t been to one of those yet I figured it would be fun to check out. So I drug Rob along… he was good for holding all of the free stuff I was collecting, and filling out the hundreds of raffle tickets, but not so much help with brainstorming ideas. Definitely needed one of the girls for that one. The raffle tickets, btw, proved to be a waste of time. We didn’t win anything.. I did get my hopes up today though when I got a phone call from someone while I was at work telling me “Congratulations, you have been selected to receive one of our bridal packages!” Turned out to be a scam. RP Brides… apparently they call everyone and tell them they’ve won, but you have to go to one of their exhibits. Someone told us while we were at the show not to even talk to them because they were sketchy. Oh well. Since most of the vendors that were showcased at the exhibit are in Lakeland we can’t really use them. Plus we already have our venue, photographer & dj.. really the only thing I got out of it were cool floral ideas, and Rob finally convinced me to get a chuppah for our ceremony. One of the florists had one set up at their table and it was beautiful! Not cheesy or cheap looking at all.. There was also a lady who makes custom stationary… she did really great work so I think I’m going to look into her for our invitations and place cards. This weekend mom is meeting me in Orlando to go dress shopping. Hopefully we can find my dress, and get some of the bridesmaids out of the way too. At least half of them Well, that’s all from me. I’m sure Rob will be posting his own perspective on the bridal exhibit shortly. Should be entertaining… lol. XOXO

7 Months to Go

So everything is just about ready. We’ve got our venue, ceremony musicians, dj, photographer… all that’s left to do is find the dresses, which hopefully we will get knocked out next Saturday when my mom & sister come up. Once that’s out of the way I can start working on the details: flowers, centerpieces, etc. The fun stuff. We’ve also been speaking with a few travel agents recently about honeymoon plans. We’re thinking St. Lucia if we go the island route. But we’re thinking about Europe too… depends on what sorta deal we can work out. Well, I’m gonna have to cut this one short because I have a hair appointment to get to in a few minutes. Just wanted to update a little since it’s been a few weeks! Oh, one more thing… our website is up ‘n running so check it out! AshnRob.com

-Ashley

Movin’ right along.

It’s been a while since I posted, I know. I started work about 2 weeks ago, so I haven’t had as much time as I would like to sit around on the computer. But plans are still in motion! I have been working on Save the Dates this week, so hopefully in the next few days I will have those ordered and on their way out. Last weekend we went to Daytona and met with our “wedding coordinator” to discuss the menu and show dad the venue, since he hadn’t seen it yet. And I’ve also been in contact with DJs and musicians and working on contracts…. so things are coming together. Eight months still seems so far away, but I know it will go by fast because of how much there is to do.

Rob bought me this book from theknot.com because he knows how much I LOVE lists! It made my day. I know I’ve said this before, or maybe a few times, but crossing things off a to-do list is one of the most satisfying feelings in life. That’s my opinion at least.

BTW, we should have our new and improved wedding website up and running in the next few days, so keep an eye out for that! I’m trying to bring back my old html skills. We’ll see how much I remember….

Asking the parent’s permission

It was a cold evening in December and my heart was racing. I met her parents at chiles and made small talk with them as we waited for our table. We chatted about nothing really and made a lot of small talk.

Finally our food arrived and I said “Now that I’ve tortured you for the last hour it’s your turn, I just wanted to get a chance to torture you both. I apologize for not asking you this questions sooner, but I made a promise to Ashley that she would never know when I was going to ask her. So…I wanted permission to marry your daughter….”

Brad and Kelly smiled and look at eachother…”so who won the bet?”…..Brad piped up, “well that would be me.” Kelly quickly corrects him and states, “I knew too.”

Brad sat up straight and folded his hands and took a deep breath and said that he first wanted to tell me that His daughter thinks the world of me and that he would love to invite me into the family…he went on to tell me that our relationship has been nothing short of a “fairy tale” and that he hopes there will be many more chapters in the story to come. He said that Kelly and himself did not get all of that because everything happened so hast and that our relationship is perfect. He was really excited. So excited a matter of fact, that he told the waitress that his daughter was getting married and she looked at me and we avoided the uncomfortable confusion in her eyes by stating that I was the guy she would be marrying and not the daughter to which he was referring.

Kelly said how she is just amazed at how I just am able to handle her daughter and reach her and talk to her when no one else can, to which I quickly responded that we both compliment each other’s weaknesses and strengths. I wanted to be sure that they knew Ashley was indeed my strength and comfort more than I ever could be to her.

We finished the meal by talking about wedding dates and plans but I’ll never forget how beautiful her dad put it that our relationship has been a “perfect fairy tale.”

Ashley you are my protector, my joy when I am sad and my strength when I am weak. You are the reflection, the mirror of Christ for me.

-Rob

the diary of a real caveman

I have to face up to the realities of my circumstances. I Rob Goetsch Jr am indeed a caveman. Through long hours of self examination and months of self-denial I admit some things need to take place. Getting married entails that as Brewster puts it, I need to be “naked-sexy.” There are a few things i need to work on to get ready for this wedding (honeymoon). But in the mean time I must embrace what I have become.

• Eyebrows: I am starting to grow a uni-brow this is unfortunate and kinda gross but in the caveman approach to this issue I realize that there is no need for sunglasses because I can indeed block out the rays with my brows.
• I have developed a tire around my waist, this would seem to be a deterrent for my future wife but in reality it is storage of heat for the winter months.
• I have a full beard, which serves as prime example of “MAN” hear me roar……..

My fiance is brave and courageous and has stuck by me during this transition into primal endeavors and I feel its time to make some changes and lose the weight and the brow but I still kind of like the beard. Stay tuned for transition updates from….

Caveman…

to Cave explorer

News Update

Hey everyone,

So nothing big has been going on with the wedding planning but we still wanted to keep everyone up to date. This weekend we are going to Daytona and meeting with the lady from the Yacht club about different aspects of the reception. Our engagement photos are coming in the mail this week and we will begin working on our “save the date” magnets. So be looking for those in your mail boxes very soon.

-Rob G.