We knew right after we got married we wanted to start our family right away...with puppies not babies!
Jeff was sooo eager and sooo persistent to get a puppy ASAP, but I wanted to wait a little bit, or at least until our stuff was moved. I told him to start researching breeders and shelters in the area to see what was around. We decided that we would get our Maltese first and eventually get our bigger dog, a lab of some sort, a little later. WELL- Jeff happened to find a breeder who had one Maltese-female puppy that was still available, and the breeder was only about an hour and a half away. The puppy sounded like exactly what we wanted- largest of the litter-female, and of the smaller kind (she would only get up to 8 pounds at the very largest!) We decided to go visit this puppy, and well, we fell in love.
So yes, Alexis 'Lexi' Bender is the new addition into our happy little family! When we got her she was about 9 weeks, and 3 pounds! Her birthday is the same as my Mom's!
She is so adorable, quite the diva, and soo playful. We've had soo much fun with her so far. She can be quite the handful, and Jeff and I both didn't get much sleep for the first couple of weeks, but shes sleeping much better. Potting training is going well too! Some days are better then others of course. Overall she is perfect, and definitely good training for the future ;)
So Jeff just posed a question to me...why am I still blogging even though the wedding is over. I simply explained to him that its not just our 'wedding' blog...its 'our life' blog. Even though I was hesitant to even start a blog, I've come to really appreciate and enjoy it! There are moments I want to document so I have every detail so we can look back on it and read in years to come, and also....eventually share it with our children :)
So yes-my blog is not over...and why would it? Our life is just beginning...
So let me start by saying that before I was bustled, Carrie led Jeff and I into the ballroom to see the reception all set up before anyone else did. I felt like I was on that David Tutera wedding show haha. As Carrie led us into the room with our eyes closed, I was filled with so much anticipation. When she said "open!" my jaw dropped and I could not believe what I was seeing. What I saw before me was my absolute dream wedding. The ballroom was lit up with my 'pink' lighting, our monogram was on the dance floor, light music was playing, the votive candles were lit, and omg I can not even explain how beautiful our flowers had turned out. Everything was absolutely PERFECT. It brought me to tears. I was also SO excited to finally see everything all put together and for Jeff to see what we have been working on for the past year. He was speechless as well.
After all the guests had been ushered into the ballroom the bridal party and the parents took their correct place and got ready for the introductions. It was SOO funny to watch all the bridal party practice all their dance moves for when they were introduced...all wearing sunglasses. As "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas started playing I got SO excited. The parents were first introduced, and then one by one the bridesmaids and groomsmen were introduced and they all did their little moves which ranged from 'leap frog,' 'beating the beat- NJ shore style,' and 'raising the roof.' Then finally...the DJ asked everyone to please rise and he announced "And it is with my great honor to introduce Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Bender!" O.M.G.
Jeff and I walked through all our excited guests, and made our way to the middle of the dance floor where we shared our first dance as husband and wife. I will be honest I cried during most of it, I was just so overwhelmed with happiness. At one point I closed my eyes and opened them thinking I would wake up from the most splendid dream and I realized I wasn't dreaming, this was real, I was dancing with my HUSBAND with all our loved ones looking upon us, in the middle of the most beautiful wedding reception...our wedding reception. I'm not sure if I've mentioned before but our first song was "Your Everything," by Keith Urban. That song pretty much captures all the emotions Jeff and I feel for each other...obviously it doesn't capture all of them, because that would be impossible! Jeff broke away from our 'little world' a few times to look at our parents who were all bawling, and told me not to look, because obviously I would loose it too!
After our first dance we made our way to our cute sweetheart table where champagne and bread was awaiting us. Fr. Lance gave an opening prayer which quickly followed by the Amuse-Bouche course which was tomato bisque soup with pesto cheese crostini (which BTW was AMAZING...and also was the ONLY thing Jeff & I had to eat the entire night...) My Dad then stood up to give his welcome speech. And let me tell you it was probably the most amazing welcome speech I have ever heard. It was so well thought-out, so well spoken, and it was delivered with so much love. He loves public speaking and is always a crowd pleaser at all his NRLA events, so this was obviously no exception. He started off welcoming everyone and acknowledging those who had traveled far to be with us. He then acknowledged my Mom for their 25th wedding anniversary and all that she has done during the past year to help with the wedding. He played the most amazing slide show of their life together and then presented her with a beautiful arrangement of 4 dozen red roses. It was so sweet and so special, it was so hard not to get choked up. After Jeff & I composed ourselves we made our way to the front to greet everyone ourselves and to announce a very important occasion..Emily's birthday! We had a cute birthday cake brought out with candles and presented her with a birthday tiara, and got everyone to sing Happy Birthday to her!
The Maid of Honor and Best Man speeches were phenomenal. Sean, Jeff's Best Man, gave such a heartfelt speech and said so many kind things about me...and Jeff and me as a couple. It meant so much to us. Emily, of course was adorable, and really surprised me with how composed, well-spoken, and articulate she was. My baby sister made us laugh...made us cry...and overall made me so proud of her and reminded me how lucky I am to have her as a sister. I couldn't have dreamed of a better Maid of Honor. <3
While the first course was served Jeff and I started making 'the rounds' to all the tables, to say hi to everyone and to thank them for coming. Our table visiting obviously took awhile since we had 26 tables, 209 guests, and we wanted to spend so much time with every single one of them! Jeff and I missed the first course, the second course, and the third course while visiting tables haha. Even though we missed all the courses, we filled ourselves with our yummy signature cocktail! ;)
A little more into the evening, Carrie approached us and said it was time to cut the cake! Yay! Our cake was soo beautiful, Perrin at VT Cake Studio did such a fabulous job! Cutting of the cake is such a cute tradition. It was such a 'sweet' moment between Jeff and I :) And no we did no mush the cake in each others faces! We simply put a dab of frosting on each others noses and fed each other with a fork :) We didn't get a big enough bite/piece to tell if it was good or not...but I later heard it was the most amazing wedding cake, so flavorful and fresh! So we were happy to hear that! We can not wait to try it out on our 1 year anniversary when we get to eat the top layer! lol.
The next ceremonial event was...the Father-Daughter dance...I knew it was going to emotional...but I really had no idea how emotional it was going to be...my Dad said a few words, and he then played a slide show of pictures of me growing up, which then led into our dance. Our song was "Daddy Let's Dance," by Jamie Tate. It was such a special moment, a moment that every little girl dreams of having with her daddy. Jeff and Mrs. Bender's mother-son dance was also emotional. Their song was "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong, such a classic.
A few other special things that happened during our reception was Jeff & I really wanted to acknowledge and celebrate 6 important people in our lives and their BIG anniversaries! This year is my parents and the Benders 25th wedding anniversary (they have the same exact wedding date...CRAZY!) and my Memere & Pepere's 50th. We asked our cake-designer to make 3 mini-wedding cakes so they could all 'cut the cake' like they did at their own weddings. I actually brought my parents knife they used at their wedding! After, the DJ played a montage of all their wedding songs. It was a lot of planning and coordination on my part....but it went PERFECTLY! They were all SO surprised and it was so special :) ALSO- to further celebrate my grandparents milestone anniversary- my Uncle Paul announced on behalf of the entire Anctil side (my Mom's side) that we were sending them on a cruise to the Western Caribbean! They were shocked! Jeff & I were so happy to share our special day and celebrate so many amazing occasions!
Later on...the DJ invited the bridal party back onto the dance floor, and played "You & ME," by Dave Matthews Band, a favorite of Jeff & I, and then invited all the other couples onto the dance floor. Once the dance floor was PACKED the DJ then transitioned over to a fast-paced song, that gave you the urge to dance! Needless to say the dance floor was PACKEDDDD the entire night after that. Which made us SO happy! I wanted everyone to dance and have fun, and it was soo much fun to see everyone going wild and letting loose! Our DJ, Corey, was SO awesome and SO much fun. He was going wild and having a dance party of his own behind his DJ booth! Born to Run was obviously played for AGP, and Heaven was obviously played for my favorite girlies, Alpha Phi! While Heaven was playing, I completely lost it...for multiple reasons...I knew that this would be the last time I would see all my friends for awhile before Jeff & I moved to Georgia. I tried to ignore the fact that it was kind of 'goodbye' for awhile, and I did a good job ignoring it, until Heaven was playing. I had my BEST friends around me, I was already filled with emotions and champagne, I mean how could I now completely break down for a moment?? (Love you all SO much..and miss you all like crazy! But no matter the distance I think of all of you always, and you guys will ALWAYS be my best friends <3)
SO- I definitely need to mention the bouquet and garter toss. Bridget O'Mally, my college roomie, caught my bouquet, and Brian Mason, fraternity brother and friend, caught the garter. It is tradition for the person who catches the garter to put it on the person who catches the bouquet. WELL- our DJ decided to 'spice' it up a bit...meaning he had to dance around her and try to 'impress' her. Let's just say I haven't laughed that hard in SO long. One of my favorite memories of the night, was during the last song. Since it was Em's birthday, the DJ played, "Say Ah." What made it special was some how all 4 of the Durfee siblings were dancing together celebrating Emily, and then people made a circle around us. It was so cute, and it really meant so much to me, and people could see how close of a family we were. Overall...our reception was AWESOME lol. We had the time of our lives. And what made it so special, was there was a glow of love and happiness that FILLED the entire room. I really can not describe that feeling. It was so incredible. And also, it meant so much to me that people saw how awesome my family is. I really am so blessed to have suchhhhh an amazing, fun, loving family.
Our reception ended about 11pm, Jeff & I were both STARVING...and a bit too happy from all the champagne! So we headed up to our 'hidden' bridal suite to where we were greeted with our dinners, more champagne, and rose petals everywhere :)
And that is how the Durfee-Bender went down. I will never forget that weekend. I couldn't have wished or dreamed for anything more. So yes I am now married to my best friend, the love of my life, and my soul-mate <3 Love you forever and more Jeffrey John Bender.
So this is me...Jessica Lynn Durfee signing off....and now Jessica Lynn Bender signing on!
I woke up Friday morning around 6:30am to the boys getting ready to go to their tee time. I didn't sleep that well and I knew I wasn't going to go back to sleep, so I figured I would just get up too.
The girls hung out for a bit and then we decided to go get breakfast. I think my nerves were starting to set in, or I was nervous about looking 'fat' on my wedding day, so I literally had 1 egg white and 1/2 piece of wheat toast lol. To ensure I looked perfect on my wedding day I spent some time at the gym to make sure my arms were toned and I my endorphins were high :) My workout wasn't that good, probably due to the fact I was way to antsy and had to much on my mind.
Since it was such a gorgeous day, my Mom, Emily, Morgan, and I spent some time laying beside the pool (I stayed in the shade...didn't want tanlines!) Guests started arriving and my excitement started going through the roof. It seemed so surreal and crazy that I was getting married TOMORROW, and all these people were traveling for us and to share in our happiness!
During the day we met up with Carrie, our fabulous wedding planner, to go over a few details. We also got to see the programs we designed, our cute little maple syrups, our menus, and our doortags, and our welcome bags! Everything turned out AMAZING. Carey Bunker with Lasso'd Moon did such an incredible job with all our printed materials! We also got to see the ballroom in its early set-up...I was soo excited to see my gorgeous gold-chiavari chairs! (one of the main things that I NEEDED to have!) We also stalked the poor guy who had to go to all the assigned guest rooms and place our door-tag on the door and our welcome bag in the rooms!
My Mom, Emily, and I spent the rest of the afternoon in the spa :) My Mom, Em, and Morgan got mani's, and I got my hair done for all the big events that night!
By 3pm all our bridal party had arrived, along with soooo many guests. At 4:30ish the bridal party and direct family headed over to the church for rehearsal. It was soo exciting to see everyone and I was so excited for them to be in VT and be in the place that I fell sooo in love with. With all the talk and the planning, I'm sure they all had visions of the area and the resort, but I was so excited for them to actually see it! I might also add our resort is also a Mercedes test center, so we of course went to the church in style ;)
Rehearsal went really well. Carrie took charge which was amazing and directed everyone where to go, where to sit, etc. She did incredibly well with dealing with a bridal party of 18, parents, grandparents, and some other guests. Doing the practice walk down the aisle was so overwhelming, and I of course got soo emotional. It was so surreal looking around at everyone looking at me, and then looking ahead at Jeff. The.Time.Had.Finally.Come.O.M.G.
When rehearsal was done, it was time to party! We then all headed over to Spruce Camp, footsteps away from our resort for the Welcome/Rehearsal dinner. We decided to call it the "Welcome Dinner" and not so much the "Rehearsal Dinner" because we invited everyone, and we wanted everyone to feel welcomed. We wanted all our guests who traveled to arrive and have a nice meal with us and it was a nice way to kick off the weekend! We had 101 of our guests with us that night.
The Benders did an amazing job arranging everything. The location was perfect, the food was soooo amazing, and the linens and centerpieces were so gorgeous. Jeff's groomscake was also soo adorable! It obviously was an army-inspired cake. Mr. Bender gave such a wonderful, heart-warming speech to welcome everyone. He said such loving things about me and about Jeff & I together, and it just added such a amazing tone to the entire night.
During the dinner Jeff and I wanted to thank some important people and wanted to show our appreciation. We presented the bridal party with their gifts, the parents, and our readers. For the groomsmen Jeff had flasks engraved with their monograms and a bottle of their favorite alcohol. For the bridesmaids I got each of them a single-pearl necklace to wear with their dress, and a spa-robe with their monogram and matching flip-flops to obviously wear in the spa the next day :) (as part of their gift we also took care of their spa appointments) For our readers we got them Godiva chocolates. Our parents were tricky. We wanted to get them something special, but they are both soo hard to shop for! After manyy brainstorming sessions Jeff and I decided we wanted to have paintings made of our family's favorite spot, and where we had many childhood memories. Nantucket for my family...and Long Beach Island for the Benders. With help from my bridesmaid Katelyn, we found a local painter in Waltham who agreed to do the paintings for us. They came out amazinggg and our parents loved them!
I lovedd our Welcome Dinner. It turned out perfectly and it was sooo good to see so many of our guests, many whom I hadn't seen in awhile! When the dinner started to die down, I knew I should probably call it a night, I had a big day in the morning and I should probably attempt to get as much rest as possible. Jeff and I said our good-byes to everyone and we made our way back to the Lodge to have our last moment together before we said "I Do." We found a private spot and we exchanged wedding gifts. For our wedding gifts I had gotten Jeff a new set of golf-clubs and golf bag (which he received that morning so he could use them!) but I had also gotten him something very sentimental, something that means a lot to just him and me :) Jeff gave me the most beautiful pair of Mikimoto diamond and pearl earrings to wear with my dress...my 'something new.' They brought me to tears, and they were beyond gorgeous. I really do not know how he does it, he alwaysss seems to know exactly what I would love and what would be perfect, needless to say they went with my dress PERFECTLY. At that point I was just so overwhelmed and I had just felt so blessed to be marrying him the next morning. How did I get this lucky? What have I done in my life to deserve him. I must've done something right to have God lead me to him. We said our goodnights and then parted ways knowing the next time we would see each other we would be getting married!
So thankfully my bridesmaids all came to hang out with me in my parents suite for awhile. There was noo way I was going to sleep any time soon so it was nice to hang out and have company :) It was soo much fun to just relax, laugh, and tell stories. My Mom also gave me the most sentimental wedding gift ever. I looked up and she came walking out of her room with tears in her eyes, and I was like umm ok? Little did I know what she was about to give me. When I was a junior in highschool we took a trip to Europe. One of our stops was Brugge, Belgium. While we were there she apparently bought a hand-made lace hanky made by Nuns, that she bought to give to me on my wedding day. Well it was that time to give it to me. I was so overwhelmed with emotion (again) because I knew how special it was.
At midnight it not only meant that it was the day of the wedding...but it was Emily's 18th birthday! We all sang happy birthday and I gave her her birthday present. I knew I wanted to get Emily something very special, not only was it her 18 birthday, she also let us share her special day with us. I got her a Tiffany's necklace. It was her very first Tiffany's piece, and it brought her to tears too.
I would like to say that I slept that night...but I don't think I really did..I was soo restless.
So to recap the entire wedding weekend I decided to take it day by day... if I tried to put it one post it would be WAY to long. This way it breaks it up a bit :)
Thursday before the wedding the Durfees invaded Stowe. My parents and Lilly left early so my Dad could play golf, Andrew & Morgan came up from Boston and then picked up Emily on the way, Matthew came from Burlington, and then Jeff and I left early afternoon. On the way Jeff and I made a few important stops such as purchase a new camera for our mini-moon and Jeff needed new sunglasses. One of our other important stops was we had to pick up all the tuxes. We got a call on Wednesday saying "ALL" of the tuxes were in the shop and were ready to be picked up. WELLL...when we got there ALL the tuxes were there EXCEPT Jeff's....Um....the most important tux? Mini panic attack. How could they not notice that the GROOM'S tux was not there...therefore it obviously was not ready to be picked up. The manager was so nice and felt horrible, and she promised to track it down, steam it herself, and drive it up to Stowe Mountain Lodge (1.5 hour drive roundtrip) first thing Friday morning...ok nerves were settled a bit, but it was still SO frustrating. To calm ourselves down we made a much needed Starbucks trip..Jeff got his mocha and I got my iced-green tea, and then we were on our way to our fabulous resort.
When we arrived I got chills...I felt like a princess arriving to her palace and it reallyyy hit me...this is reallyyy happening! My wedding, and the day I've been dreaming of my entire life, and the day we've been planning for all year. When we pulled up to valet, they knew exactly who we were. They were SO excited that we were there. I've always been blown away with their service, but that just exceeded my already high expectations. Its like they were all versed and shown a picture of who the bride and groom were, who the direct family was, and they knew these were the people they were to pamper and fulfill their every need. They literally told us to leave the car, and they unloaded it for us and sent all our luggage to both our rooms. We were greeted in my parents suite by beautiful flowers, a hugeee snack bucket, and very sweet notes from our closest family friends. It was soo sweet of them and it made the arrival that much more exciting!
The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed in my parents amazinggg suite and we greeted the Benders when they arrived. We decided to go have one 'last' Durfee-family dinner and Jeff went to hang out and have dinner with his family.
We went to a cute little Italian restaurant down the hill from the resort. We laughed, we cried, and it was such a fun dinner. I love my family so much and it was so much fun to just joke around and tell funny random stories of when we were growing up, but it was so emotional at the same time.We all called it an early night because the boys were going golfing really early and the girls wanted to make it a spa and pool day.
I obviously barely slept though...I was way to excited of all that was to come...
April 17th was my Bridal Shower. And let me just start by saying it was the most amazing Bridal Shower, the most amazing day, and the most amazing memory I will always have to cherish. So I will also forewarn you all that this post is probably going to be really long!
Friday night all my Bridesmaids and I headed north to my house! It was so nice to have all my favorites in my home. However, at the same time they were so secretive, whispering, going into the other room to ‘talk’ etc, I was starting to feel a bit left out! But I knew that it was all for a good reason! Mrs. Bender & Jeff's grandmother also arrived Friday night. It was so nice of them to drive all the way from NJ to be at my bridal shower. It was also a little weird at the same time having them there and not Jeff, it just made me miss him that much more.
Saturday, I spent the morning with my Dad! The girls needed to get me out of the house so they could set up and decorate- so my Dad took me out and while we were out we bought Jeff’s wedding gift! When I arrived back home all the guests had already arrived and it was such a nice atmosphere to walk into. I quickly changed into my ‘Bridal Shower outfit’ and was presented with a gorgeous corsage, which my sorority big pinned on me which I thought was really special.
The house was gorgeous- everything was pink! My bridesmaids and my Mom did an amazing job, the set-up was absolutely perfect. Every detail was well thought-out and it was better then I ever imagined. The tables were gorgeous- they were adorned with pink and green linens, beautiful flowers as the center pieces, made by Charri! And at each place setting was a ‘Jessica’s Bridal Shower’ packet and the most adorable favor. The favors were a measuring spoon set with adorable sayings like a “pinch of love.” They were perfect considering I love to cook. Every detail really reflected my personality. That just goes to show I chose the perfect bridesmaids because they know me so well! Tina made the most adorable chocolate covered pretzels and the most amazing punch with a frozen fruit ring! The food was catered by Willy, a local favorite caterer and friend! His food is always amazing, and all the guests seemed to enjoy. The cake was so beautiful, and out of this world good! I felt like I was in my own personal heaven! Emily gave a really short but sweet speech, which made me tear-up, I have no idea how I'm going to get through the toasts at the wedding!
The bridesmaids also did an amazing job with the game portion of the party. In the ‘packets’ was 3 games. The first game was “Guess how old Jess is,” where there was a poster of 10 pictures of me at all different ages. The second game was 20 questions of Jess & Jeff trivia, which was adorable! And the third game was of course bridal bingo.
When it came time to open the gifts, I was quite overwhelmed. When I had arrived Friday night the pile of gifts was already hugeeeee, from everyone that couldn't make it. That pile obviously grew as guests arrived and it took over my living room. I’ve neverrrr seen a pile of gifts that huge! I was worried it was going to take hoursss opening all the gifts, so like I said I was quite overwhelmed. However, my bridesmaids had it under control. They were so organized, they made it fun, and the whole opening gifts went very smoothly and no one died of boredom! They had fun games during it which really kept it going.
I can not express the generosity of my family and my friends. I was blown away, and still am. Not only did I receive some amazingggg gifts for Jeff’s and my future home, we also received some very special and sentimental ones. My sorority little & bridesmaid, Amanda, made me the most amazing quilt. It was pictures of Jeff & I throughout the years and in the middle was “To have & to hold from this day forward, Jeff & Jess, June 5th, 2010” I was speechless, and obviously it brought me to tears. It was one of the most amazing and thoughtful gifts I have ever received. My Mom also made me a beautiful cross-stitch with Jeff’s and my names and our wedding date. My Mom apparently had been working on it ever since Jeff & I got engaged. So that gift obviously brought me to tears too. When we finally got to the last gift, I was already so emotional, exhausted, and overwhelmed, my bridesmaids hand me a bag from all of them, and I knew it was going to be another tear-jerker present. I was right; they had made me a scrapbook. Each had a page filled with pictures, notes, and memories. I couldn’t look at it so I saved it to look at it when everyone left. What made it even more special was because for Jeff’s graduation present I made him a scrapbook of EVERY single event he had during his college career and all our special moments, and wherever he went he would always have those memories with him. So they made my scrapbook to match Jeff’s, so I would have one too wherever I went.
As guests started leaving they all commented on how lovely the shower was, how lucky I was to have such a great group of friends, and they could not wait for the wedding. Coming from a small town we pride ourselves on having that 'small-town feeling and closeness.' I think my close family and friends from Vermont were so happy to see that I found that after I left Bethel. I truly am so lucky and blessed to have such an amazing support system in my life.
When everyone had left, I literally just stood there and didn't know what to do with myself. I was just filled with so much emotion. I was speechless. I decided I had to show my gratitude immediately so I proceeded to stay up until 2:45am writing all my thank you notes (64 of them!). I then looked at my scrapbook, and of course cried through the entire thing. You of course always have memories stored in your head, but to see them laid out in a book is quite overwhelming and emotional. So yes I'm a very emotional bride, not a bitchy one! Just overwhelmed with happiness and joy. I mean how can you not when you have family and friends like mine. I couldn't wait for Jeff to get back from the field to tell him everything. We both realized that we are truly one of the luckiest couples ever <3
So another HUGE thank you to my bridesmaids, my Mom, my family, my friends, and everyone that was able to make it.
This past weekend was not only Easter but it was also a Pink Champagne & Cookie Recipe party for me!! Mary-Jeanne, a.k.a. my other mother, my Mom's best friend, AND reader at my wedding, had the most adorable idea of throwing me a little party in honor of my engagement and my upcoming wedding! She unfortunately is most likely unable to attend my shower, so it was the perfect opportunity!
She sent out cute invites requesting people to come with their favorite cookie recipe and perhaps a sample! And boy did people bring samples! There had to be over 10-15 types of cookies, all delicious! I will admit I indulged :) All the recipes were put in this cute little clutch, which was soo me :) Overall it was a great afternoon!
It was so nice to be surrounded by hometown friends & family. With my shower being a big mix of people, it was special to have something with just us, with the people I grew up with and those who watched me grow up.
Mary-Jeanne, thank you sooo, so, so much again! You always know how to make me feel so special!
A few weeks had gone by and we still had not chosen a venue. Not because we couldn't decide, but because my parents and I were so busy and we hadn't had a chance to really discuss it. I knew where I wanted to have it. My Mom knew where would be perfect. My Dad could see it in my eyes exactly where I wanted it to be at, but I would never say I want it here, because of the different logistics...
A few weeks after we had visited the Stowe Mountain Lodge I got an email from Heidi, saying that there was another couple that was very interested for June 5th, 2010 at their venue....oh great....the stress and anxiety was kicked up a level, so I just forwarded the email to my Dad. I might also add that we had not hired our wedding planner at this point yet, so we had no one on our side working for us. So STRESS. I figured I would just let my parents handle it, I honestly didn't care where they chose, I was already so happy because I was marrying the love of my life, so what else did I need?
It was Friday, July 17th, I was just sitting at my desk, anxiously waiting for 2pm for when I could leave for the weekend, and I was also planning on meeting my Mom, sister, and Memere to go to my first dress appointment. As I was watching the minutes pass slowly by, all of a sudden an email popped up from Carrie, the wedding planner...hmm interesting? So I open it and it said "Welcome to our services!" Ummm OH MY GOD! I kept reading and it said that she had been in contact with the Stowe Mountain Lodge and they have put it on hold for us for June 5th, 2010. OH MY GOD. I instantly was overwhelmed with emotion and just bawling at my desk. My Dad had just gone ahead and hired Carried, booked the exact venue I wanted, and completely, and utterly surprised me. I should have known that my Dad always seems to pull through for me, and always knows whats best. I called my Mom right away, and she had no idea either that my Dad had done this, and she started crying as well. Thinking about that moment I could not express how filled with joy and happiness I was.
Started dating in 2005, Engaged in St. Lucia 2009, Married June 5th, 2010! No longer a bride, but now a wife and loving life, however still obsessed with all things wedding!
We knew right after we got married we wanted to start our family right away...with puppies not babies!
ppened to find a breeder who had one Maltese-female puppy that was still available, and the breeder was only about an hour and a half away. The puppy sounded like exactly what we wanted- largest of the litter-female, and of the smaller kind (she would only get up to 8 pounds at the very largest!) We decided to go visit this puppy, and well, we fell in love.
handful, and Jeff and I both didn't get much sleep for the first couple of weeks, but shes sleeping much better. Potting training is going well too! Some days are better then others of course. Overall she is perfect, and definitely good training for the future ;)
It was so nice to be surrounded by hometown friends & family. With my shower being a big mix of people, it was special to have something with just us, with the people I grew up with and those who watched me grow up.
