Bridesmaid Dresses

I'm very close to choosing the bridesmaids dresses! I already know that the color will be "berry", but it's the design that I'm debating over. One of my awesome bridesmaids helped me out and went to a bridal shop near her place and tried on two of the dresses that I am considering, and I really like them both! It's going to come down to which one is more comfortable for the majority of my girls. One is more form fitting, while the other might not be so much. Both have a lace up back, which is something that I really want (because my dress laces up). Here are some pictures:

This is the actual color, and the dress would be long (I'm leaning towards this one)

Again, this is the actual color. This one is more form fitting, so I don't know, comfort wise.

My cousin, and maid of honor, is coming up around Christmas time, so we are going to go look for her dress at that time. Then I will make my final decision about the bridesmaid dress. I also have to figure out the dress for the flower girl, but that will probably happen when I decide about the other dresses. I am the worst decision maker, ha!

So, I must say that I have learned a lot about dresses and dress shopping over the past month. I have mine and was so excited that my girls would get a discount on theirs ... until I found out why that was. I went to a local bridal shop with my mom and aunt so that they could check out dresses, and apparently places like Alfred Angelo and David's Bridal offer money off, but jack up the prices on alterations, unlike going to a private bridal shop. I called Alfred Angelo to ask questions about alteration prices, and they were right. So, I'm thinking that my girls will want to probably go to local places for their dresses. I know that I will be bringing my gown to Tattler's Lane in the Falls for my alterations!

Also, I think my mom has come very close to choosing her dress! :) She would kill me if I posted a picture of it for all to see, but it's gorgeous and perfect for the "Mother of the Bride" dress! Love it. She's thinking about going with wine for the color, which I think would complement the color of the bridal party well.

Aside from dresses, I've started working on Save the Dates (I love Shutterfly.com), and on Tuesday Ryan and I are going to go meet with our photographer to put together our engagement portraits for Christmas gifts for family (hopefully they will be done in time!). We have also started talking to a realtor and mortgage consultant to begin planning for buying a house! Because of my school situation, it is unrealistic to start looking until February-ish, and at that time I need to make sure that I at least have a full-time RN position available in case I don't find a nurse practitioner one right away. Our realtor wants us to start looking with her in mid-January though, because apparently sometimes they can talk the sellers into extending the time until closing for us to prove our financial status. Very excited! :) Plus, if we have a contract in by April 30, we can qualify for the new homeowners tax break, which is the goal.

Hmm, well I think I've typed enough, and that's about it for now. More to come after the holidays, I'm sure!

Cakes, Food, and Dresses ... oh my!

A bit more has been done since our trip to the Dessert Deli. The following week we went to Muscoreils Bakery and tried cakes with our moms and my maid of honor. We tried a white almond cake with raspberry filling, a white cake with strawberry mousse, chocolate cake with chocolate mousse, and marble cake with chocolate chip mousse. They were so delicious, and the owner was so nice. The price was much more reasonable, and there was no pressure to come up with a design or choices at the time. It didn't take much to get us to book, I had it in my mind going into the bakery that this was the one that I wanted. The cake was impressive, and the model cakes that they had in their wedding room were beautiful; we were even able to see a fall themed cake to get an idea of what we could do for one! While we haven't decided on cake flavors yet, some favorites included the white almond cake and strawberry mousse, and the marble cake and the chocolate or chocolate chip mousse.

Later on that week we went to Sean Patricks to try some food from their wedding menu to try to get an idea of what we want to offer as choices. We tried potato encrusted haddock with a lobster cream sauce, chicken francoise, chicken marsala, traditional baked chicken, pork tenderloin, and the filet. Most likely we will go with the fish option versus the pork. Our favorite chicken was the chicken francoise, very moist chicken lightly breaded and fried with a lemon butter sauce ... mmm! We are also going to go with the filet (or we might also go back and try the prime rib, but too much fat might be an issue), which was served on a piece of toast with onion rings on top ... the presentation was nice, and it was tasty. There will also be a vegetarian option, either ravioli or vegetable lasagna; we didn't try them, but I've had the ravioli there before and know those are good at least, but we'll see. Aside from the main dishes we tried their cream of potato soup ... TO DIE FOR. If that were my meal, I'd be a happy camper.

This past week I have done some dress shopping with my mom and aunt. David's Bridal had some nice dresses, and I ended up liking two of them; surprisingly both were all white since I was adamant about having color in the dress. Yesterday we went to Alfred Angelo Bridal in Rochester, and I found my dress! I can't go into much detail because it is bad luck and will ruin the surprise ;-) but I love love love love it, and it was a great deal. It's an egg shell white with some pearly beading and has "berry" colored strips going down into the train. The veil that the girl helped me pick out happened to have similar beading on it like the dress. We looked a bit at Mother of the Bride dresses and bridesmaid dresses, but I really want to get input from the girls. I'm hoping to go with my Maid of Honor when she comes home to pick out her dress, and to go with my bridesmaids to pick their dresses. The color will probably end up being "berry", but I don't know how I want to do the styles, how to distinguish my Maid of Honor, etc. Too much to consider!!! :)

Dessert Deli

Yesterday RJ and I went with our moms to do some yummy cake tasting at the Dessert Deli! We were presented with individual plates with two slices of cake: one slice was white with chocolate mousse filling and vanilla buttercream frosting, and the other was a two layer yellow cake with a middle layer of chocolate cake and strawberry mousse filling with vanilla buttercream frosting. I was on a sugar high after all of that, but the cakes were absolutely delicious. My personal favorites were the chocolate cake, strawberry mousse, chocolate mousse, and white cake. I didn't care for the yellow cake, it was kind of dry.

Overall, the experience was very overwhelming and I was a bit put off that I was pushed to come up with the types of cake and designs that I wanted. It was also very much directed towards me answering the questions, when quite clearly this should be a group effort between RJ and I! For me, this is preliminary and the purpose was to try cake, look into pricing, and start to come up with some ideas. Although I felt pushed, I must say, the guy who worked with us was great and very friendly. He sketched out a nice fall themed cake for us; it was a 4 layer ivory cake with 2 layers of orange (might be fine tuning the shade once I have my dress), orange bands, and had calla lillies (I'm leaning towards this flower for my bouquet) placed around the layers. This kind of confirmed my desire to have orange incorporated, especially if we truly do go the "fall themed" route ... I need to get more of RJ's opinion on this.

After working through the sketch and getting a cost estimate (which was pretty reasonable, actually, for this place), we looked through some photo albums of the cakes they have made. They truly have a God-given talent; I admire people who can make such beautiful cakes and have the talent that they do. :) Can't wait to go to Muscoreil's next week for more cake tasting!

401 Days!

I can't believe we're already down to 401 days til our wedding, soon enough it will be only one year away! I have all of my bridesmaids asked, and we now have our flower girl and ring bearer. We also asked my cousin to be a groomsman. So, as far as the bridal party, Ryan just has to finish up his guys, but we're making headway!

In other news, I'm getting pretty anxious about the wedding planning stuff. There is so much to do and think about, and much of it has to do with the actual color of the dress that I go with! My mom, aunt, and I (and maybe my MOH!) are planning on going to David's and Alfred Angelo (in Rochester) to start looking for wedding dresses at the end of September/October. Then bridesmaids dresses ... but I'm hoping to go with some of my girls or chat lots via computer to check those out and get opinions. :)

We have our DJ. We ended up booking Whirlin' Disc Sound in Clarence; they have a lot of experience with Sean Patrick's and the owner seemed to be very experienced and I was impressed! Plus, we get a gift card to Tuxedo Junction, and any little bit helps. After talking to him is when I began to get anxious about the wedding planning, because after the bridal shows are when things start to book (shows starting at the end of September)!

The next step other than the dress is picking out the cake. We have an appointment with Muscareil's bakery in early October which includes talking to the owner and cake person and trying cakes, yum! We are also going to check out the Dessert Deli at some point, another yummy place for sweets. Even though Ryan and I aren't huge cake people, I think this will be one of the most fun parts, haha. :)

So, I think that's it for now. School started on Monday and I'm already really busy, especially since I know that I have to teach research to myself. Our professor is a guy named Pow who is 73, and he's really cute but graduated from Yale and speaks on a level that is way over my head and gives at least 20 minute dissertations to student questions. Yikes! Not much teaching gets accomplished. That with our family course and clinical and an addictions course, it'll be a busy semester. But hey, the end is near (May '10).

Wedding Party Updates!

Today started off pretty rough (lost a friend to cancer) but the day got better with time... I have 3 more bridesmaids! I am so lucky that everybody has said 'yes' so far, and I am ecstatic about who is in my party! I asked my cousin Laurel on Sunday, and today I asked two very close friends from 2nd and 3rd grades, Megan and Sarah. :) Two more girls to ask, but Ryan and I just have to catch them!

Tonight was really nice as well. My mom and I met Megan and her mom for dinner. It has been a year since we've seen them and it was great to catch up. Everyone seems to be doing well and I can't believe how adult like everyone is becoming! I also talked to Sarah tonight and she's busy in Las Vegas and is on the verge of finding a job leading to Cirque. So exciting! Can't wait to have these girls in my wedding. :)

That's it for now, time for bed.

Wedding Colors!

We have our wedding colors! It was funny, my mom brought home a bouquet of gerber daisies and as soon as I looked at them they matched the idea of colors that I had. They are fall like, yet still incorporate pink like I've always wanted.

Watermelon Mango Wine/Burgundy

The mango calla lilies :)

The mango calla lilies plus colors of inspiration (just add in the wine/burgundy)

25th Anniversary

I love the thought of marriage. Tonight we threw my parents a surprise 25th wedding anniversary party. It turned out to be really great; lots of family and fun, and as a bonus it was great that our out of town family members were able to make it! The party was very fun, and I am so fortunate that my aunt and grandpa were there to help out so much with everything. It was so cute to see my mom's face when they came in for the surprise, she couldn't look at anybody! I'm pretty sure they were surprised. :)

Ryan and I are lucky to have parents that have been married for 25+ years, it's promising to know that marriage can be so sweet and loving and that it's so exciting to be married for so many years. There is obviously no doubt in my mind that we will lead a long and healthy marriage, but to be surrounded by loving marriages that last for many years makes our relationship that much better.

As far as wedding planning goes, not much more has been established. Actually, nothing at all. I have been so tied up with school it's not even funny. I swear, sometimes I have to remind myself to breathe. The week that I go away to be a camp RN will be nice.. I'm going to bring some bridal and wedding magazines and am going to start to come up with some stuff (colors, dresses, etc). Oh, I lied! We do have a few more updates. My brother Joe is going to be a groomsman, and my cousin Jacob will be our ringbearer (or, as he said, "I get to be a ringbarrow for two weddings!"). More people to be asked in the next couple of weeks, yay!

Photography

It's been awhile since I've updated, things have been really busy with school and not too much has been done as far as wedding planning (but there is a year and a half to go!). So, we chose Sean Patrick's for the reception which is very exciting. We also met with two photographers, both of whom were very different. One woman had just graduated from photography school and has been doing weddings for 5 years and does more of a "momento" type of photo shoot as opposed to traditional posed shots. The male photographer runs a business in Lockport that has been passed down to him by his father and they have been doing weddings for years upon years. This photographer does the traditional poses and also does the "momento" thing and takes pictures of people in real time. Ryan and I chose the Lockport business because of his experience, persona, beautiful portfolio, and the fact that he incorporates everything into his photography. I was also very impressed by the technology that they use to put the albums together and all of the suggestions that he had for the actual wedding day! As a bonus, he threw in free engagement pictures because we chose his company so early. Very nice. I am confident that he will do an amazing job.

Aside from choosing the photographer not a whole lot has been done. I am going to a bridal show in September with my mom and aunt and will hopefully start to form some ideas about dresses and colors at that time. A lot of thought has been going into the bridal party and people to be included in the wedding ceremony. I am really excited to start asking people because each person has played an important role in mine and/or Ryan's life (as it should be, of course). My cousin Kelli is going to be my Maid of Honor and Ryan's cousin Mike is going to be his Best Man. That's all we've got for sure so far. Another decision to make soon is the DJ. We were hoping to go with a band formed by my brother Joe and some of his musician friends, but Sean Patrick's requires insurance with bands, and if there is no insurance then there cannot be hazardous equipment including cords, amp stands, etc. Stinks, but I guess we have to work around it.

In other news Ryan and I have been out and about biking so far this summer. We are doing a 33 mile bike ride to raise money for cancer on Saturday, the Ride for Roswell. My cousins' family has done it for the past 3 or 4 years and we are joining the team with my brother this year. It will be a great time for a great cause! But it will be a joke to see the 33 mile finish line, holy cow I almost died after 10 miles LOL! Speaking of cancer, "My Sisters Keeper" comes out on Friday, I can't wait to see it. What a great book! Anyways, that's it for now!

And the decision is ...

Friday was the visit to Classics V, a nice banquet hall in Amherst. When you walk in there is a waterfall and stairs ... leading to nowhere, lol, we had a laugh. The foyer was very pretty with a large seating area. The main banquet room was very big and decorated nicely. I must admit, compared to Sean Patricks, the banquet owner person definitely did not sell it as well. If you can't already tell, I did like Sean Patricks better. There were just things that I didn't like so much about Classics - there was an odor upon walking in, it's an extra $2,000 for the full banquet room if we don't have a minimum of 200 people leaving a dance floor that is probably 5' in total, and there were lots of fees for decorations. I just wasn't sold.

So, we chose Sean Patrick's! It was unanimous, all four of us liked it better. I am ecstatic and can't wait to make an appointment for this week to meet with the banquet head to go over the contract and begin to finalize this!

Reception Sites Galore

It has been a busy week so far! Tuesday evening Ryan and I and our moms went to visit The Como, an Italian place in Niagara Falls, to see their reception hall for weddings. Not the most impressive, very old fashioned - but on the plus side the manager gave us a tour of the kitchen and we saw some very old fashioned pasta machines. They also make their sauce in this HUGE sink looking thing. Yeah, I'm Italian, I get a kick out of this stuff. Needless to say, we won't pick The Como for the reception but we had a yummy dinner out of the visit anyways.

Wednesday evening we booked 10/09/10 at the church, St. John's! Our priest is Father James - he's young and kind of goofy, but I think he'll make it fun and more relaxed. The "interview" that we had with him was very laid back and nice. Next step? Signing up for a Pre-Cana class and then starting to plan for the actual ceremony in the church.

Tonight we visited Sean Patrick's, a cute Irish restaurant nearby to see their banquet hall. Let's just say that I totally felt the "it" factor when we went in. It was beautiful. The room is very nice, the dance floor is in the middle, we can use a live band and CD music, the owner sets a ton of it up, there's a private bride's room with a private bathroom, the foyer is beautiful with a baby grand that we can rent to have somebody play in the beginning - yeah, I was impressed. The pictures of prior wedding setups were really nice too, and the chef that cooks for the party carves the fruit to go on the fruit platter in the shapes of animals! Also, it's only one party at a time. I do have to keep my mind open for one more place though ... Classics V tomorrow, we'll see how it goes! :)

We picked a date!

Tonight we picked our final date - 10/9/10! Off to call the church tomorrow and then start reception site shopping, yay! :)

Financial Stuff

Can I say how much there is to think about when figuring out finances and affordability for weddings and homes, etc? Just when I thought I had accounted for everything, there's even more! It's wierd to think about such adult-like things, exciting, but scary at the same time. Ryan doesn't think so, but I think that I'm already turning into Bridezilla. I can admit that I obsess over things, so you can imagine how obsessive I am about all of this wedding business even though we just got engaged almost 4 days ago! I just want this wedding to be perfect, but in all actuality, it will be because all I need is Ryan standing at the altar.

So, as you can tell I've really been spending time number crunching for the past couple of days so that we can begin to plan the best time to get married, buy a house or apartment, etc based on our income and savings. I really just want to set a date because I will be starting school for the summer in a week and it would make things much less stressful if we have a date set and booked at the church (then reception planning and booking ...). We discussed it at length tonight and it's looking like an October 2010 wedding is probably going to happen, and I am ecstatic! We both really want to get married in the fall if possible financially, and I think we should be able to with pushing back buying a house until we're more established.

Ok, off to bed, that's it for now!

Engagement

One of the best days of my life: Ryan asked me to marry him on May 9, 2009. It all started with a date to watch "The Notebook" over four years ago, and here we are now engaged!

On May 9, Ryan took me and my puppy Frankie to Letchworth State Park because I was dying to go as the spring buds were beginning to bloom. It ended up being a beautiful day and we hiked through some very beautiful trails and viewed the many waterfalls throughout the park. After eating lunch and packing up to go back out I went to the bathroom - when I came back Ryan said that he wanted to go back to a lookout viewing the middle falls to take a picture. After walking down to the lookout and waiting for people to leave the area so that Ryan could take a clear picture he asked if I noticed anything missing from Frankie's collar. I clearly did not notice the fact that her collar and tag were not "jingling" like normal, and when I looked down there was a ring hanging from her collar! Ryan then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him - of course I said yes (he claims that I did not say yes at first or answer, but to my defense I was in shock)! He then put the engagement ring on my finger, we shared a kiss, and the rest is history. :) It was so romantic and creative, I was truly touched. I am more excited than words can say to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life!

The ring is absolutely beautiful and perfect. It's a solitaire, princess cut diamond with a thicker white gold band. I love it, it's perfect, and it's exactly the "classic" type of ring that I wanted! Pictures are to come, of course.

So, the day was amazing. After the proposal we bought matching Letchworth mugs as our first items for our "Hope Chest" and for the memory and visited with our family members. Ryan then took me for a delicious dinner at Schimschack's, complete with the waitress preparing Bananas Foster at the table (very cool), and we went back to my house to toast with a glass of champagne and to cuddle on the couch.

As you can see this is the very beginning of what will become my wedding blog, which will create a memoir of the whole wedding planning process and of the wedding itself. We don't have a date set yet, but at the earliest we are thinking of getting married in Fall 2010. I cannot put into words how excited I am (Ryan knows, I have been obsessing already only 2 days in lol), and how much I cannot wait to spend my life with my one true love. I am so lucky to have met my "other half" who knows me inside and out and has stood strong by me for 4 years plus. :)