Eyes on the Bride: Nicole E.

Some of you may already be familiar with this next featured bride-to-be, as Nicole is the heart and soul behind the blog Big Day for $10K. Since her upcoming September wedding is now quickly approaching, we thought we'd reach out and ask Nicole to share just a few of her wedding details with us here. Lucky for us, she agreed!

(all photos are from Nicole, who explained that her and Dan were set up at a friend's wedding for the garter/bouquet toss, and these pics were taken in a photo booth right after!)

Bride's Name, Age, Occupation -- Nicole, 25, Social Marketing Strategist

Groom's Name, Age, Occupation -- Dan, 28, Surveyor

City of Residence -- Centreville, VA

Wedding Location -- Great Falls, VA

How you met -- We met my (Nicole) first night of college. He was a senior, I was a freshman and we had a mutual friend. I thought nothing of it... at all! Little did I know that he spent the next almost two years mustering up the cojones to ask me out!

How long you've dated -- A little over 5 years

How he proposed -- This past Easter, before my whole family came over for lunch, Dan made me go on an Easter Egg hunt through our living room, dining room and kitchen. The "last" egg (which I found first and was told to ignore) had the ring in it. :) I was complaining that he was making me leave the kitchen - I had to cook, people were coming over!

Wedding colors/theme -- Rustic, casual. Bridesmaids will be in black, groomsmen in grey tuxes with black ties. Flowers and accents will be mustard yellow, orange, teal and coral.

Bridesmaids' dresses info -- Strapless sweetheart pencil dresses, knee length. They're black eyelet lace and so cute! They'll be wearing flat gold gladiator sandals.

Best part of planning -- Being just about done! :)

Worst part of planning -- The guest list. I should have given both sides a strict number of allowed guests...we are currently over capacity and trying to shave down the list. Really, this has been the only stressful thing about the process!

Most surprising part of planning -- Dan has opinions! Who knew!? Aside from that, no real surprises, just enjoying being almost there!

Favorite vendor so far -- I may be biased because I went to high school and college with her, but our photographer is AMAZING. She is so caring and accommodating and so insanely talented that I can't wait to work with her. You'll have to check her out! {www.jessicasmithphotography.com/blog}

Places you registered -- Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Bed Bath and Beyond, HoneyFund

Any Do-It-Yourself (DIY) plans -- We will be decorating the whole venue ourselves - with the collection of vases, mason jars and milk glass that we've amassed over the past few months, I will be doing our flowers, and we will have a ton of DIY touches (including personalized mason jar name cards/drinking glasses)!

Honeymoon Location -- Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (CANNOT WAIT!)



For more details and to follow along with Nicole's planning every step of the way, be sure to check out Big Day for $10K. Thanks for stopping by TWB, Nicole!