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!