Update mania!

I've been slacking. That's the best way to put it. Blog-slacking. Not life-slacking, that's for sure. As far as "life moments" and wedding planning go, I am in no way slacking.

I guess I'll back it up to my last post, which was on March 19th. Since then, a LOT has happened:

We last left off with the great undergarment hunt. Lori and I headed out to Trousseau in Vienna. The best part of the experience was the staff. They were super friendly and helpful. The worst part of the experience was that I had to be subjected to feeling (and slightly looking) like a stuffed sausage. I'll leave out the gritty details, but it's pretty obvious what I did in the dressing room, trying on and stuffing into these "bustiers". My favorite part was when i asked the girl if there was a longer version of the bra that would come down lower on my waist and she said "no, but I can bring you a pair of spanx". Well, spanx a lot lady. Not only did those look even worse, they were about 90 degrees too hot, and all I could picture was me passing out from heat stroke in the hot July weather, wearing a girdle and polyester spanx under my heavy wedding dress. PASS. But I ended up with an underwear "ensemble" that I really liked.

Afterwards my dear maid of honor asked if we could run into Dunkin Donuts so she could grab an iced coffee. I think trying on body-skimming underwear and then having to go into a heavenly smelling dunkin donuts where you have every desire to cram delicious smelling chocolate covered glazed goodness in your mouth two at a time, while knowing every calorie and fat gram in that deliciousness is going right to your waist and hips and thus making those 400 little hook & eyes on the back of a corset impossible to fasten is sheer torture. I love ya Lori, but come on! Although I must say my willpower was impressive as Lori bought her iced coffee and a couple donuts for her hubby, I was able to put my foot down and resist my urge to gorge. I walked out donut free. And had a plain chicken breast for dinner.

Next up on the list was Alterations...which went hand-in-hand with both the underwear, and the donut defeat. I have not experienced a vast quantity of alterations in my life time. It was either you bought it fitting just right, wore it too big, or just didn't buy it at all. The only times I can actually remember having something altered was my dress for Jenny's wedding, and my dress for Lori's wedding. And those were pretty simple alterations. And I wasn't wearing heels while having them done (i.e. there was no hemming needed...just a few quick tucks on the side). WELL...ask any former bride and she'll tell you, wedding dress alterations must be 110%, A+++, absolutely perfect. After all, this is the only time you'll wear this one particular dress...but it's also the main focal point of the entire day. Well the whole process started with my mom helping me into the dress. At 5'0" tall, this was quite a feat for her -- and after she panicked that she was going to break the dress by pulling on the zipper, therefore telling me that she didn't think it fit me anymore, we decided that it would be best for Lori and some of the girls to accompany me to the next fitting. Regardless, the dress still fit perfectly and alterations went into full swing.

First was the hem...easy enough. Then came the bustle. Ugh. That was a chore in and of itself. The dress was a little more complicated to bustle, so after showing me about 6 different options for bustle, the perfect one was settled on. Bless that poor seamstress' heart -- she was on her hands and knees pinning up that dress for about 45 minutes. I'm sure she was in pain because I know I was. My feet were so sore from standing in my heels in one place with little movement for that long. And my shoes are actually really comfortable! Fortunately I'm planning on replacing them with flip-flops as soon as cocktail hour starts. Anyway, I get to pick up my dress in about 2.5 weeks. Fingers crossed for another perfect fit -- and a perfect bustle outcome!

Most recently we had another florist appointment at The Flower Gallery in Manassas, which also ended in complete success! Mom paid in full, that's how much we loved this florist! All the flowers were picked for the wedding and I am so content and thrilled about what we picked -- I know the whole day is going to be beautiful with these selections. Sadly I can reveal no more than that, as I want some things to be a surprise on Jul 25th! I can tell you that flowers such as Lilies, Hydrangea's and my beloved Stephanotis will be making an appearance. Think fresh, classic, elegant and SUMMER! I love them and can't wait to see what fabulous arrangements Debbie (our florist) will develop!

On top of all of the wedding plans, we've been full swing in cleaning and prepping our new house. Mom came over and did some awesome painting (goodbye ugly mauve paint in foyer and dining room, hello beautiful greenish/tan neutrals!) and dad did some repairs and faucet replacement (after doing our faucet, I can confidentely tell you that NO, he will NOT hire out to do more of them :) it was pretty gross!). The movers will move my furniture in on April 11th and then we'll be just about moved in! We absolutely loved our realtor (Kathy Worek) and can't wait for our housewarming party...stay tuned for pictures!

LESS THAN 4 MONTHS LEFT UNTIL THE WEDDING!! :)

"Ask and you shall receive." Or Perhaps I should title this "It's raining celebrants! Hallelujah it's raining celebrants! And bra's..."

So my last post was a cry for help in two (completely different) departments:

1) The bra. No sooner had a I posted my anxiety about my wedding undergarments (or rather, lack-there-of), TWO people came to my rescue...and with the SAME suggestion none-the-less! I logged off blogger, and on to facebook (my life is so computer oriented it's sad), and had a sweet message from one of my old Mason sorority sisters/former suitemates/newlywed, Mrs. Kelly Johnson directing me to check out Trousseau in Vienna, VA. I went to the website and was incredibly intrigued and decided I would go check it out. Right then, my phone rang and it was my MoH Lori. I told her of my bra-woes (ha ha) and she said "hmm...you should check out the place that I went in Vienna..." and I said "is it called Trousseau??" and she said "YES! That's it!" and I laughed and said "Kelly just told me about them on facebook!" So I called my mom and asked her if she'd be available to go with me this week to check them out (since I need a bra by Saturday for my alterations appointment!) but unfortunately she's super busy with school work so she said "why don't you ask your MoH to go with you? I bet Lori would love to go!" Well I figured I'd ask Lori, but ended up leaving work, going to the gym, and then falling onto the couch and completely forgot about the bra store...UNTIL I was walking Whinnie and my phone rang and low and behold, it was Lori! She said "I don't know why I didn't offer this before when we were talking about Trousseau, but I'll totally go with you if you want me to!" Seriously, that's why she's my MoH. Total mind reader. Anyway, we're going to make the mini-hike out there tonight and find me something to keep me all "strapped in" (ha ha) under my wedding dress. I'm actually a bit nervous about this appointment as A)I plan on going right after the gym tonight and I hope I'm not sweaty/stinky and B)I'm a pretty modest person (as in I put my sports bra on over my regular bra in the ladies locker room...I don't like being on nudey display), so I'm hoping they let me try things on by myself...in a closed dressing room...with a lock on it. More about that tomorrow.

2) The officiant. Or -- seeing as I've decided that "officiant" is a made up word, since Microsoft Word does not recognize it, and continues to annoyingly underline it with the squiggly red line every time I type it in emails to my mom, dad and Todd -- I will call this person The Celebrant. Which is actually the official title for legal non-denominational wedding ceremony "performers" (for lack of better word). Anyway, right after I posted my blog, our wedding coordinator at Regency (Jennifer -- I love her!) emailed me a recommended Celebrant. I called, she answered, we talked, and she is available for our wedding date!! THEN, last night, as I'm talking to Todd on the phone, he tells me that his high school friend who became a Pastor returned his call, and he TOO is available on our wedding date! So now we have a meeting with the Regency recommended Celebrant for April 2nd, and we're going to set up a meeting with Todd's friend as well. Hallelujah!

So in no time flat, two big weights were lifted off my shoulders, and my little wedding prayers were answered! Big thanks to my blog followers and former brides who contribute their ideas and make things easier for me! XOXOXO

Invites and Flowers and Bustle's OH MY!

I received an email from my mom on Monday with this line in it:

"I’m loving that we are in the wedding whirlwind of ideas!"

Oh how right she is. We are truly elbow deep in wedding planning. This month alone, aside from getting the cake (read previous post, I'm still obsessed with the cake. I have dreams about that lemon buttercream), we have found & bought my wedding shoes, hair adornment/veil, met with two florists, and have another florist appointment coming up on the 28th, received ALL of the bridesmaid dresses and sashes, found & bought the invitiations, the favors, a few other random things for the wedding itself, AND figured out what we want to do for centerpieces. Whew, I get tired just thinking about it!

On top of all of that, last weekend mom and I spent the entire day with Marissa watching her try on wedding dresses! That was super fun and exciting :) -- and kind of nice to get to be the "observer" for a change! I kept asking mom if I could try some on just for fun, but she vetoed that idea. Guess she was afraid I would find another dress I like more than mine? Although I think that would be pretty impossible, because when we got home from the day of dress try-ons, I ran up to my former bedroom at my parents house, where my wedding dress officially resides for the next four months, and held my veil and shoes up next to the dress and fell in love all over again. As I was gazing longingly at my dress, my mother came in with a small box and said "would you like to wear my pearl earrings at your wedding?" They are absolutely perfect, gorgeous mikimoto pearls, and I can't explain how honored I am to be wearing them at our wedding.

Invitations were one of the tougher decisions. We tossed around the idea of making our own, and after scoping out the numerous kits at AC Moore, Michaels, and (yes...embarassing...) Wal-Mart, we decided that between the cost of the invitation making kits, the amount of ink we'd use printing, and the labor involved (I could see myself breaking a sweat over these things), that in the end it would be just as cost efficient to buy the invitations already printed. SO, we found a simple design and went with it. Now we just have to hold our breath until they are delivered, because we bought them online so we're not completely sure of what the final product will look like. I'll tell you one thing for sure -- no matter where you buy your invites, whether you make them yourself, buy them from a stationery store, a vendor, or an online distributor...wedding invitations are NOT CHEAP. They get you with every little cost..."oh, you want lined envelopes? That'll be $1.00 extra per invite." "Oh, you want your return address pre-printed on the response card envelopes? That'll be $3.00 extra per invite." I'm guesstimating those costs, but seriously, it adds up. I think if we had just bought birthday party invites and changed the word birthday to wedding, they probably would have been half the cost. Half as nice, but half the cost.



As for flowers and centerpieces, mom and I have come up with an idea that I absolutely love and it's unique, summery, classic and still elegant...well at least I hope it turns out that way ;) No more details on the centerpieces though. You'll have to wait for the wedding to see the end result! Same goes for favors, though I absolutely love the favor idea we have come up with and more than anything, it's very meaningful and close to my heart.


Finally I have an alterations appointment this Saturday back at David's Bridal (I know, are you shocked?? Long story short, we went to David's last weekend with Marissa, and informed them of the awful experiences I have had at David's every time, and they took such awesome care of us, that I decided I would bring my dress back for alterations. Plus they gave us 10% off my veil and 15% off my shoes. Bargain!) Anyway, the appointment is for the bustle, which should be fairly easy. I just have to get my "undergarments" before the appointment, which is going to be a little difficult because I'm not sure where to get them. Guess I'll have to do some research and go out searching tonight, tomorrow, and if necessary, Friday night as well. Which will be possible for me to do as this week kicks off "Shandy Cup" -- which I have explained in previous posts. Sidebar: this NCAA is particularly important as Univ. of Michigan AND Robert Morris Univ. (my brother's alma mater!) are both in the tournament. Sadly Mason (my alma mater) was bumped out by Penn State last night. But I can root for the Wolverines and Bobby Mo still!


Ok, got off the wedding track for a sec. And I don't even really like basketball! Anyway -- if any of you former brides out there know of a good place (locally...I'm talking Fairfax, Falls Church, Arlington, Alexandria) to get a wedding dress bra, speak up. I need help!

Which brings me to something else we need help with -- the wedding officiant. Seems like EVERY person we have contacted is either booked, or not interested in responding to our cry for help! Just kidding, that's a little dramatic. But if you know anyone who is available on July 25th, is ordained, certified, legal, and interested in performing our wedding ceremony, please have them contact me ASAP!


So as you can tell, we are clearly in the whirlwind of wedding planning, which I think is appropriate since we are about 4 months out (4 months! wow!!). We go to closing on our house on Monday, which is super exciting! And Todd is promising to teach me how to dance for our wedding. Last night we practiced in my living room, while trying to mimic the intricate dance moves on Dancing with the Stars. Needless to say, I need practice. But we laughed the whole time and it was adorably fun. I can't wait to practice on our new hard wood floors! :)


To recap: Need officiant. Need florist confirmed. Need wedding dress bra. Need nap!

Swiss Bakery: This place takes the cake...Literally!

We had cake tasting appointment #2 last night, and it was the cake tasting to end all cake tastings. Swiss Bakery came highly recommended from both my MoH Lori, and my mom's school friend/my email wedding "pen-pal" Kristen (whom I actually got to talk flowers with over the phone this afternoon! Thanks, Kristen!). Both of them used/are using Swiss Bakery for their respective weddings.

Now anyone who has kept up with my blog knows that I was positive I was set on a chocolate cake. Well low and behold, my set ideas went right out the window when Laurie, head pastry chef, placed the 6 beautiful little cake samples on a 12" x 12" tray smack dab in the middle of the table I was sharing with mom & dad. (Todd had to work late, sadly, so he missed the official cake selecting, but he trusts my judgment, and I'm sure will be happy with however it turns out!)

Allow me to set the scene... We arrived at Swiss Bakery for our 6:00pm tasting (not surprisingly I was about 7 minutes late, which my father affectionately pointed out and said "I would expect nothing less!"). We sat down at a corner table in this huge store, which not only had an amazing bakery counter with tons of cakes and pastries and homemade ice creams, but also had a huge wall of Swedish and German imported goods from wines and chocolates to salami's and cheeses. (I'm totally promoting Swiss Bakery right now...they should hire me) Anyway, they were so courteous and kept asking if they could get us some water or coffee or anything at all to drink. Finally we caved and asked for water and coffee, which my parents reported was the best coffee in town -- better than Starbucks (for real?!) -- to which Laurie informed them that it was a Swedish coffee brewed from a special Italian recipe, with this great history behind the story of how it came to be after World War II...I got lost, but my parents were quite enthralled with the story.

I got off track. ANYWAY...they brought out a tray with 6 perfect little mini cakes, round shape, different layers and flavors of sponge and pound cakes filled with buttercreams, bavarian creams, mousses...oh man, it was a cake lovers paradise. Well, we tried the first cake sample, and that was it. I was sold. A delicious vanilla sponge cake filled with a lemon buttercream. It was light, refreshing, and the most delicious cake I have ever tasted. After that bite, the rest just didn't compare. Not even the chocolate pound cake with chocolate mousse filling. (Shocking that the girl who used to demand a bag of oreos before entering her grandparents house would turn down chocolate, I know.) But this lemon buttercream was calling to me...singing to me that this was the perfect wedding cake choice. Summery, but still dessert like. Rich, but light. I told my mom that when I think about the perfect taste of my wedding cake, THIS CAKE is how it should taste.

So with the base and filling figured out, we had to pick a design. Well that was tough. I like clean, classic, simple. No fru-fru here. Finally after throwing together a million different pieces from various pictures in Laurie's cake binder, and vetoing several designs because I thought they were too "girly" (I know, right?) we settled on a design that I am thrilled with and super excited about. I won't reveal the design here so that guests will be surprised when they see the cake, though if you ask me what it looks like, I most likely will tell you. But it's simple, elegant, modern, and exactly what I want. And seeing as I've already been face-to-face with Laurie's excellent crafts(wo)manship at Lori & Josh's wedding, I'm confident our cake with be perfect.

Swiss Bakery takes the cake...orders!

Thank you (again) Mom & Dad, for the wedding cake I've dreamt of! You truly are making my perfect wedding plans come true!! Todd and I are so grateful for all you have done and do!!

House pictures!

Here are some (pretty poor) pictures of our glorious new home! These are the shots that were provided on all the websites, so they are not very good. Once we get our own pics taken, I'll post them here.

Here is our humble new abode!

front

deck basement fireplace more basement fireplace/basement walk-out
Master loft (two ceiling fans in Master!)
Master loft look over -- sky lights in ceiling
My glorious master soaking tub and double vanity
Master shower -- peek at the recessed lighting and high ceilings in master bath!
Master bedroom window, ceiling fan, vaulted ceilings
Guest bath. Todd is psyched about the green vinyl shower curtain. It will be immediately placed in the trash.
Guest bedroom (larger of the two)
Guest bedroom 2 (smaller of the two)
Living room looking into dining room, kitchen pass through & stairs to top level
Living room looking into dining room - love that chair railing and crown molding!
Living room window and walk out to deck
more living room/dining room/kitchen pass through
more...love those new hard wood floors!
Kitchen...island, bay window...
Kitchen island -- check out those granite countertops!
more kitchen island
and more...
one more for good measure
foyer/front door -- door on the left is powder room

WE GOT THE HOUSE, WE GOT THE HOUSE, WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We found a house we love, put in an offer, and today they accepted!!!!!!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!

That's all for now -- house details to follow soon :)

What a great day!

Wedding plans...full speed ahead!

So I suppose I should put in some updates on the wedding plans, seeing as this IS my WEDDING BLOG. Updates as follows:

Invitations:
Mom & I have decided to save a little money and make our invites ourselves. Mom found some really nice DIY invites and loaded up on them. But we have since decided that we don't quite like the formating, and have instead found some kits at Michael's (thanks to my future sis-in-law!) that we are interested in using. Only problemo there is that they are still a little pricey! I mean, not nearly as pricey as buying pre-made invitations, but come on, can't a girl get a coupon? A discount? Somethin'? Anyway, we have until about May 1 to seek out the perfect invite, produce them, seal them, address them, stamp them, and get them circulating around the greater US.

Dress:
I am currently in possession of my favorite article of clothing of all time...no, i'm not referring to the cat sweatshirt I took home from the lost & found in the 3rd grade (I swear it was mine, mom!) I'm talking about my wedding dress!! Aside from all the hassle I've had with David's Bridal, where none of the employees have a clue what is going on, I have finally taken the dress into custody....well, mom's custody. For the next 5 months (HOLY! 5 MONTHS?! EEK!) my dress will live in my former bedroom closet at my parent's house. We still have to take it to a tailor to have the bustle done, and a final steam press, but otherwise it's just about ready. So if you know a good tailor/seamstress, holler my way.

Bridal Shoes/Undergarments:
So I bought two pairs of Bridal shoes on endless.com -- which is a website that I love -- and was completely disappointed in what I picked out. My mom even said they were ugly -- and she's supposed to lie and say they're beautiful! haha. So those are going back to the internet...and this weekend Mom and I are heading out to look for shoes and undergarments. Where do you buy wedding dress undergarments?! Yikes...

Bridesmaid Dresses:
They are ordered, and almost all in, and I looove them! The color is exactly what I had pictured, and they look great on everyone! Long, but lightweight, so I'm hoping nobody is sweating too bad in the July heat ;) Regardless, I have the hottest bridal party this side of the Mississippi, so it would be pretty impossible for them to look bad no matter what I had them wearing. The bad part is that David's Bridal ordered the wrong sashes for all the dresses, so all the girls had to return them and order the right sashes. Surprise, Surprise -- David's messed up again! Anyway, all the girls have their shoes already too which I'm thrilled about -- and they all seem to like them! Monica modeled the whole ensemble for us last weekend (the 15th) and I was so happy with the overall look!!

Flowers:
We have a florist appointment this Saturday. I think I have found a centerpiece design that I really love...shallow, square, cobalt blue vases with white and blue hydrangeas. That's just an idea though -- I'll know more after the meeting. I'm still pretty sold on stephanotis for my bouquet. No clue for bridesmaid bouquets or boutanniers though.

Cake:
We were supposed to attend an open house at The Sweet Life bakery this past Sunday, but I failed to ask Todd his work schedule and since the open house started at 2 and Todd had to be AT work at 3pm, we didn't make it. So instead I have scheduled a tasting for us at one bakery this Friday night, and a tasting at another bakery on Wednesday the 4th. And yes, I still have my fingers crossed for a chocolate cake! :)

Tuxes:
Todd and Chris are venturing out this Thursday evening to start the Tuxedo search. Todd keeps tormenting me by saying that his yellow tux is going to be sexy. I keep responding with "oh, I feel bad for whoever you are marrying then..." haa :) I know he won't get a yellow tux though. He's promised :). I personally would prefer if he had the groomsmens vests and ties matching the bridesmaids dresses, and if he wore all white underneath, but he's not sure if that's "him" and I want him to feel like "him" at our wedding.

So that's the latest in Planning-Land. I'm sure I'll have a lot more to update after this weekend. We're getting into full swing, which is good, and also necessary seeing as we're only 5 months out. I can't believe how fast time is flying by! Before we know it, the wedding will have come and gone, we'll be "old married folk" and we'll be gearing up for Matt & Marissa's big day!!