Save Our Date!

We had a tough time deciding how we wanted to Save the Date.  We had our pictures from our actual engagement, which were nice, and I definitely wanted to use them in some way, but  I didn't want a magnet with our pictures on it, or a postcard with our picture on it, or really anything else that was majorly just a picture of us as our Save the Date.  Not that I don't think our pictures are wonderful, I just wanted something different.

Luckily the internet is full of inspiration. 

Here were some ideas I fell in love with: 

DIY Save the Dates by WeddingChicks

I loved the ampersands, and the design is simple and classic.

A Fall Bride

No, not me.  I'm definitely a winter bride.  But, my family is planning a second wedding this year, as my little brother proposed to his girlfriend of 10 years (!!) the Saturday before Valentine's Day. 3 months after  Mr. Ly and I got engaged, and they are planning a wedding for 3 months before our wedding!

I think everyone expected me to have a less-than-cool response to finding out my little brother was getting engaged.  Not the case. To be perfectly honest, I had always thought he would get engaged before I did.  He has been with his fiancee for 10 years, and they have watched countless numbers of their friends and family get engaged and married, long before they did.  They are serial wedding attendees, and I can not imagine how torturous that must have been for my brother's fiancee.  I've read some of the waiting posts, and trust me, I feel for you girls, it is not easy.   My brother had planned on proposing before the end of 2011, however, within 1 day of each other,  his future brother in law proposed to his girlfriend, then I got engaged the very next day.  Let's just say it wasn't part of his plan, but being the good brother that he is, he didn't want to steal our thunder, and decided to postpone his proposal for a few months.