Bridesmaid Dresses

Since most of my bridesmaids were in town today, I thought I would take advantage of the convenience and have them try on some bridesmaid dresses. Everything went well, and I'm pleased to say that I have the dress picked out. If you'd like to check it out, go to the David's Bridal link and look for bridesmaid dress style #F13128 in the color Clover.
Stephanie Lewis

Picture Time Take 2

A month ago Stephanie and I had our engagement photo session with our photographer, Scott Urban.  The photos were taken at a park in Boise while the leaves were changing color.  It was our first time shooting with him and we had a good time getting to know him more.  After seeing the pictures he sent us, we're excited to see the pictures he'll take at our wedding.

- Tyler

Open Registration

This afternoon, Stephanie and I went out and registered for weddings gifts at Target. We had a great time walking up and down every aisle picking out things that we want to put in our house when we're married. We had a blast!
- Tyler

Say YES to the Dress

Today I went to David's Bridal to look for THE dress. I took my sister, Jennifer, my roommate, Anna, and Tyler's sister-in-law, Amber. I had a list of 12 or 13 dresses that I wanted to try on. I went through all of them pretty quickly, and in about an hour and a half, I found the dress. As soon as I put it on, everyone, including myself, knew that this was the one. I didn't think that it was the one I would end up with, but I am so happy that I did. Because Tyler is not allowed to see it, I can't post the picture on this blog. If you would like to see it, please let me know and I'll email it to you.
Stephanie Lewis

Let Them Eat Cake

This last Monday evening, Stephanie and I drove out to Eagle and met with Greg Marsh (of Greg Marsh Designer Cakes) and discussed the possibility of him making the cake for our wedding.  He showed us a number of pictures of various cakes that he has done in the past, all of which were very impressive.  We shared with him our very simple, yet elegant design for the cake we want.  Once the details of the cake were discussed, we then got to sample a bunch of different flavors of cakes!  After another meeting with another cake designer this last week, we finally settled on hiring Greg for our cake.  We are very excited that the next step in our planning is complete!

-Tyler

Hey, Mr. DJ

The next step in our planning process was finding a DJ. Through suggestions from our friends and our photographer, we contacted Marty Zahn with Almost Famous Entertainment. We chatted a bit on the phone and I'm so excited to use his services. All contracts are signed and finalized. It is official that our wedding will be having music!
Stephanie Lewis

Photographer: Booked

Today, I met with Scott Urban, a local photographer in the Idaho area.  Tyler and I had looked around on the internet and immediately fell in love with his pictures.  It worked out perfectly that he had June 12, 2009 open and as of today, our photographer is booked.  He is such a friendly and personable man.  I'm thrilled to have him photograph our wedding!

Stephanie Lewis

Meet The Wedding Party

Laura Evans - Maid of Honor

I met Laura in, where else, band class.  We shared the same sense of humor, a love of music, and even a stand!  She's always on a mission to make people laugh, and she always succeeds.  She is one of the sweetest people I've ever known- with an unmistakable laugh!  I'm so glad to have her in my wedding.

Trevor Gunstream - Best Man

Trevor is my brother, he's been the brother I've had the longest, well the only one too.  He's one of my best friends and I couldn't imagine anyone else being my best man.  He currently resides in Idaho with his wife Amber and their three kids.

Heather Lewis - Bridesmaid

Heather is my oldest sister.  She's always looking to have fun, and that's exactly what we do when we're together.  She is a loving, supportive, and understanding sister. She has always been there for me and I'm blessed to have her as a bridesmaid.

Mark Gilman - Groomsman

Mark is one of my good friends from Colorado.  We've known each other for a long time.  We went to the same high school when we lived in Aurora.  We always had fun hanging out and goofing off together.  I'm glad Mark is going to be part of our wedding.

Jennifer Scott - Bridesmaid

Jennifer is my other older sister.  We've always had the same odd sense of humor and find the strangest things funny- even when no one else does.  She's  such a friendly person and a loving sister.  I'm excited for her to be a part of my wedding.

Nate Noe - Groomsman

Nate is another one of my friends from Colorado.  He's an amazing artist and musician.  There is never a dull moment with Nate.  He always knows how to subtly make something more interesting and funny.  I'm happy Nate is going to be a groomsman.

Becky Thorsness - Bridesmaid

I met Becky in our 7th grade gym class and we've been incredibly close ever since. We both have an off beat sense of humor, which is why we understand each other so well.  She is an amazing person with a big heart and I'm happy to have her as a bridesmaid.

Jameson Miller - Groomsman

Along with the others, Jameson and I met at church when we were growing up in Colorado.  We've been friends for a long time.  He is an amazing and genuine friend, who I'm excited to have in our wedding.

Taryn Gunstream - Bridesmaid

Taryn is Tyler's sister.  I got to know her my senior year and her freshmen year of college when we went to school together.  We were so excited to have her take our engagement pictures and very impressed with the results.  She is such a sweet girl and I'm excited to be a part of her family and have her as a bridesmaid.

Tyler Smith - Groomsman

I met Tyler in 6th grade when he and his family moved to Colorado.  We became good friends right off the bat.  He's a great writer and filmmaker, and has an extremely creative mind.  I'm glad Tyler is going to be one of my groomsmen.

Ainsley Gunstream - Flower Girl

Isaac Gunstream - Ring Bearer

Ainsley and Isaac are my niece and nephew.  We are very excited to have them in our wedding and share this time with us.  We couldn't ask for cuter kids to be in our wedding. 

Location, Location, Location

I searched on the internet for nice places to hold a wedding ceremony and reception.  I took down a couple addresses and, yesterday, Tyler and I went to check them out.  We went to a few local golf courses, but they weren't anything special.  We made our way out to Eagle, Idaho to another one.  As soon as we pulled up to BanBury Golf Course, I knew it was the one.  It was already set up for a wedding to be held later that evening, and it was gorgeous!  We talked with the man in charge of all the events held there.  He told us about everything that they do and everything that's included in the package.  He gave us some information to look over.  After crunching numbers and weighing our options, we would be stupid not to book with this place.  With everything that's included, I would save so much time and hassle not having to rent tables, chairs, linens, glasses, dishes, and so much more.  So, today, Tyler and I made a trip to BanBury once more and signed some papers.  With that, we picked the date of June 12, 2009 as our wedding date.  We couldn't be more excited!

Stephanie Lewis 

Picture Time

Before we even were engaged, Stephanie and I both thought it would be great if my sister, Taryn, could take our engagement pictures.  For her first semester of this school year she is studying abroad in Australia, which she's leaving for this coming Tuesday.  Our plan originally was that she would be able to take the pictures once she came back out here in August for school at NNU, but since she was now going overseas we weren't sure if she'd still be able to take our pictures.  However, my parents graciously flew her out to Nampa from Denver so that she could take our pictures.  Tonight we spent about 3 hours taking pictures around Downtown Nampa and Lake Lowell.  As soon as we were finished with taking pictures, Taryn started right away with touching up the photos.  By the end of the night she had most of the photos finished.  Stephanie and I were amazed at how well they all turned out.  We are very grateful for my parents sending Taryn to us, but also at the amazing job she did with our photos.  

- Tyler

We're Engaged!

Tonight, Tyler and I went to dinner and a movie with another couple of friends of ours.  I was a little suspicious that tonight might be the night, and I was looking for clues and hints everywhere.  Dinner seems completely normal, but the night wasn't over.  We walked across the parking lot to the movie theater to catch the movie (that no one seemed to know the title of).  A friend of Tyler's is the general manager of the movie theater, so he walked us into an empty theater that was reserved for us.  Nothing new or unusual.  However, all of the lights were off and the screen was black.  It hadn't dawned on me quite yet what was going on, until I saw Tyler's face pop up on the screen.  He had made a video of himself talking about the first time he saw me, when we met, our first date, the first "I love you," and our entire journey.  After the video ended, he knelt down and asked me to marry him.  It was such a sweet and creative way and it meant so much to me.  After I said yes, the lights came on and all of our friends and family were in the back of the theater clapping and cheering for us.  It was so special to have them there and experience that with us.  It was such an amazing night.  Plus, my ring looks AMAZING!!!

Stephanie Lewis

It took me about a year to figure out how I was going to propose to Stephanie.  I spent a huge amount of time (the whole 15 months she was living up in Alaska) brainstorming how to pull all my ideas together into one unpredictable plan.  Starting this last June I mentioned to Stephanie that some friends of ours were doing a couples date night at the theater.  I briefly mentioned it, hoping she would forget about it, but if it was ever brought up she might remember.  Near the end of July, I had my friend's wife call Stephanie and "invite" her and I to the couples movie date night for when Stephanie is back in town.  The first week Stephanie and I were back from driving through Canada, I had my friend's wife call Stephanie again and tell her what time we were having dinner and seeing the movie.  So tonight we went to diner at Smokey Mountain Pizza and Pasta with my friend and his wife.  We all acted our best not to reveal anything that could give away what is going to happen later tonight.  I actually wasn't nervous during dinner.  After we ate, we headed over to the theater.  Once we were inside, my friend Jeff (who is the theater general manager) met us at the front.  He led us to the theater where we were going to watch a movie.  Once inside, he handed me the box with the ring inside, which he was holding onto all day for me (since I knew Stephanie would be check to see if I had a big ring box in my pockets).  Once Jeff left the theater, a video I had made of my self talking about how Stephanie and I met to when I knew I wanted to marry her played on the big screen.  What Stephanie didn't know was our friends and family were all sitting up on the top row watching the video also.  Once it was over, I knelt down and asked her to marry me.  She said yes, which I knew she would, and the lights came on our everyone started cheering.  Everything went according to plan.

- Tyler