tis the season.

Merry Christmas from the soon to be McCarty couple! From our home to yours we wish and hope that you have a fantastic holiday season! 

This is our first year in our apartment during christmas and let me tell you, I have had so much fun decorating. Let me show you

:)

tacky light tour <3

yay new banner!!!

oy vey the no shave november facial hair, but look at our tree :)

christmas kitty: she loves the tree skirt

registry.

i know you're probably thinking, "i've just spend all of this money on christmas and i just want to keep spending, so where can i buy zack and ashley a wedding present." I'm just kidding, i know that is the opposite of what you are thinking, however I have been asked so I wanted to go ahead and post this. So far we are registered at crate and barrel. We haven't decided if we are also going to register at target. This is the link to our registry at C&B and hey some stuff is on sale post-christmas! Please don't feel obligated to purchase anything for us, as I know that many of you are traveling far and wide to be present at our wedding, and your presence is truly going to be a gift on our big day

:)

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Gift-Registry/Guest/View-Registry.aspx?grid=4954177

oh and p.s. only 145 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!

decorations

while in the obx for our vacation my sister, mother, grandmother and myself met with Renee Landry, who as i've mentioned will be doing our decorations. I'm super excited for everything she has in store for our wedding. 

for the ceremony we are going to have old, refurbished church pews down on the beach :) I mean picture this, the beautiful ocean, right before sunset, the beach and our own created ocean-side church. I can't wait for the day i say I DO <3 

as for decorations and centerpieces we are sticking with burlap, clear and blue mason jars and peonies :) Of course we will be using mostly pink peonies, I wouldn't have it any other way. Here is a picture of what we are planning on doing:

Something like this without the wood plate :)

engagement session.

it's been way too long since we've blogged, and not to mention we have had our engagement photos taken!!! while we were on our family vacation in the outer banks we met up with Ginger in Corolla to take our engagement photos. We started our morning off on a tour with the Corolla Wild Horse fund. It was an incredible experience where we learned about the wild mustangs as well as got some awesome pictures :) After we finished the tour we made our way to the Corolla lighthouse and the Whalehead club. We had an incredible day of being super giggly and got to show tons of affection in public, hahaha. We loved getting to know Ginger with Gingersnaps Photography, and here are some of our favorite pictures!

www.corollawildhorses.com

my absolute favorite

this is love

look at him model!

giant ampersand :)

these are our save the dates

love this tree

awesome bridge

<3

YAYYYYYY

GUESSS WHAT?!?!?!?!
two things:
1. I have bought my wedding dress <3
2. I have passed the NCLEX and I am now Ashley Hemphill, RN

My dress in 3 words: romantic, beautiful and unique!!!! It is perfect for our venue!

juicy details.

So for the bread and butter of our wedding day: the venue.

We will be "wed" on the lovely beach of Duck, NC in front of the home, Absolute Ambiance. How did I come across this beauty of a home you may ask? While in the OBX for the OBXWA wedding expo weekend we knew that we wanted to visit this home during the open house hours. We pulled into the driveway and BAM, fell in love. As we walked through the main room it felt like us, our wedding theme and exactly what I had been dreaming of {not to mention there were dolphins swimming in the water behind the house.... uhmmm sign that this was IT} and on top of being esthetically pleasing this home has a beautiful caterer size kitchen and a grand room with the most magnificent ceiling that could house our wedding if.... {god forbid} there need to be a rain plan. Each room has a unique design to it making for many opportunities for wedding day pictures. Out back of the house are two lovely decks which will hold tables and chairs during the reception, a pool and hot tub which will be fun the week before the wedding and a perfect grill preparation area for our reception food. Okay, enough from me, let the pictures do the talking : 

back of the home.

 I mean look at that window!!!! did I mention the amazing ceiling

 just one of the many beautiful rooms.

 part of the great room and a view of the huge kitchen.

 rain plan.

 where we shall be wed :)

 food prep area and pool.

 front of the home.

Isn't it amazing?!?!?!?

some links.

if you want to follow some of the design aspects of the wedding day, you can check out my pinterest! This is where I will be getting tons of inspiration as well as trying to put it all together in my head. Follow me :

http://pinterest.com/ashhemp/the-big-day/

i will also have the awesome Renee Landry on our wedding team to help design and implement all of the crazy ideas floating around in my head. We will be having a "meeting of the minds" while we vacation the first week of August and I couldn't be more excited. Renee has a fantastic vintage and unique feel to her work, which matches our wedding perfectly. You can find her here : 

http://reneelandrystyle.com/

{Also check out her new iPhone app Flatter Chatter}

The Groom's Voice

So, somehow some way I feel inclined to post something on this blog, I mean it is my wedding too, right? We will go with a yes/maybe/sure on that one.

I would have to say that I am marrying the most amazingly astounding wonderful young lady there is in the whole entire world. I mean I would not just move out of my comfort zone for just anyone! HAHAHAHA!

I was trying to say something awesome like she has been posting but thats all I got for now!

Phil 4:13

valentine's day.

We live 396.8 miles apart, and yet I felt closer and more in love on this Valentine's Day. Living 8 hours apart from one another has not left me feeling doubtful or all of that other stuff people think happens to long-distance relationships. Nor do I feel like I love Zack anymore than the day he moved to Virginia, but I can promise that I love him a lot stronger and appreciate him more. When I say I love him stronger I simply mean that I don't think anything could change how much I love him. I can't wait to be Mrs. McCarty!!!! So now the funstuff about Valentine's day!!! He got me FLOWERS. Not roses, because well...... I hate roses lol. It is a flower that has thorns on it..... how romantic is that?!? Instead he got me lilies! pink one's at that. This is the first time he has gotten me flowers, which made me super excited!!!! Although today marks the actual day, we will be spending our own valentine's day together next week and I can't wait to give him his present. I know he'll love it, and has no idea what I'm getting him :) I hope everyone else had a fantastic Valentine's Day, and that even if you don't have someone special in your life, that you took this day to love yourself, friends and family.

photog.

I like to think of myself as a photographer, an amateur one, but still. This being said I knew that I had to find an awesome photographer with the personality to go with it. While my sister, mother and I were attending the OBX wedding expo reception I noticed this bleach blonde running around taking pictures. I managed to track her down and got as much information as I could from her in that moment. The next day as we were walking around the expo we got to her booth. It screamed clean, modern and talented. I know that she is not the most expensive or probably not the most experienced, but her personality had me excited. We booked her that day and I couldn't be more thrilled to have our engagement session this summer or to have her document our wedding :) I introduce to you, GingerSnaps Photography!!!

http://gingersnapsphotos.blogspot.com/

the basics.

Bride: Ashley Hemphill

Groom: Zachary McCarty

Wedding Date: May 17, 2013

Location: the glorious outerbanks :)

the engagement: Zack was mister sneaky and showed up to BW3 while I was working!!! He snagged the microphone without me knowing. He had my whole section empty (which made me angry before I knew what he was doing). While I was putting in his (and friends) drink order in I heard his voice over the intercom. "Attention Buffalo Wild Wings! Ashley Suzanne Hemphill, I have a very important question to ask you" As I turned around he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife :) The entire restaurant burst out into clapping and people began clinking their glasses for us to kiss. Oh did I mention I was crying and said YESSS. He gave me the most beautiful, perfect and exactly what I always envisioned my engagement ring to look like.

I should get back to my homework :) Tomorrow I'll update you on the photographer we have booked :)

YAYYYY

welcome welcome to our WEDDING BLOG. I have a lot of family that I know is eager to be on top of all of the wedding planning details, so I thought the best option would to create a blog that people can follow. I kinda want to make this a daily blog that just documents the next year or so of our engagement and our wedding planning. I hope it works out :)