~ My Bridal Shower ~

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.

For more pictures visit Katelyn's album! http://picasaweb.google.com/kmderamo/JessBridalShower#

So one of my lovely Bridesmaids, Bernadette, sent me this adorable cocktail! It sounds really yummy and looks super simple to make!

The Blushing Bride Martini:

1 lemon wedge

2 ounces vodka

1/2 cup pulp-free pink lemonade

Directions:

1. Rub lemon around rims of two martini glasses; dip in pink sugar!

2. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice; add vodka and lemonade

3. Shake well

4. Strain into glasses

5. Enjoy!

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/

Bridesmaid Dresses

So it has been about a month since the last time I posted....and obviously so much has happened since then!

The highlight of this past month was BRIDESMAID DRESSES!! About a month or two ago, my bridesmaids and I decided that October 17th would be a great time to all meet up and pick out bridesmaid dresses! A few weeks before the 'big day' I did so much research online and in bridal salons to figure out what exactly I was looking for. I knew the style I wanted: I wanted a sweetheart top dress, that was flowy, and most likely tea-length. I wanted the sweet-heart top because it would match my dress, and you know me "matchy-matchy!" I obviously already knew the color, my bold "Lily" pink. So the tricky thing was finding a company that carried my color.....in the dress I envisioned. After doing some "recon" as Jeff would say, I found a few companies that carried the exact color I was looking for, in a few dresses that might work. I then found local salons that carried those designers. After comparing all the different salons I decided to bring my business to a local salon right in Waltham. They had a majority of the dresses I had found on-line, they were right in Waltham so it was super convenient, AND they offered me 15% off and free shipping to all my bridesmaids. PERFECT!

My thought of mind going into "Bridesmaid Dress Day" was that I wanted this to be quick, simple, and easy. No stress, no upset bridesmaids, and no upset bride! To eliminate all those things I visited the bridal shop multiple times, and took time looking through every single dress on their racks, and picked out about ten dresses I thought might work. The owner promised to have all the dresses pulled and ready for my bridesmaids to choose from on the day of our appointment. I decided this would make everyone's lives easier. It was really important to me that my bridesmaids had a say in the dress. I wanted them to feel comfortable, beautiful, and happy. And happy bridesmaids make for a happy bride! Also by pre-selecting a group of dresses it minimized all complaining, stress, and the amount of time.

My plan couldn't have gone smoother!

On Saturday the 17th, all my bridesmaids gathered at my apartment in Waltham. It made me so happy that I was surrounded by all my best friends and the fact they were all here for me! The feeling was incredible. My best friend from home, Meredith, drove down the night before and we went out to dinner in Boston with a few of the other bridesmaids. It was so much fun having Meredith there and hanging out with all my best friends here. Everyone clicked SO well and I couldn’t have been more pleased. My Mom, Memere, and Em, came up from Nashua, NH Saturday morning, and the rest of my bridesmaids live locally so they just drove over Saturday morning. The only bridesmaid that couldn’t make it was Elisa, but that is because she is currently in Idaho!

So after visiting at my apartment we made our way across Waltham to the bridal salon.

The dresses were already pulled so each Bridesmaid held up two dresses. By process of elimination we were down to 4 dresses. This quickly was narrowed down to two. Each bridesmaid tried on each of the two dresses. It was blatantly obvious which dress was the dress.

The dress we chose was PERFECT. It was exactly what I had envisioned; it looked AMAZING on EVERY SINGLE GIRL. AND it came in my color. It was just meant to be!

I’m not going to go into to much detail about the dress we chose, you'll just have to wait and see how beautiful the 8 of them are on my wedding day! They will be STUNNING!

*The first picture of Meredith and Em, are a few dresses they tried on...NOT the winners!
**The second picture is of me and all of my beautifullll bridesmaids! (minus Elisa!)

My Color

So to some this may be a shocker........my wedding color scheme is...PINK! Ok it's not that much of a shocker haha, anyone who knows me or has ever met me...knowssss my favorite color is Pink. It's like Elle Woods on Legally Blonde, her signature color is pink!

Anyways, at first I was kind of leaning towards yellow....Since we were having a June wedding, yellow would be gorgeous, like a nice bright yellow. I also found some photos and ideas I really liked in magazines. But I guess a part of me was never sold on yellow....

I started playing with some other color ideas, like a "Tiffany" blue, a lilac purple, pink, etc. Jeff really didn't care, except for some reason he was really against any type of purple.

So after much thought I knew I couldn't be unfaithful to me, and my signature color, and I chose pink for my color scheme. I don't want like a light baby pink, or a bright barbie pink, I want a bold, bright "Lilly Pulitzer" Pink!

I've started looking at flowers, and I'm loving the bright pink roses...and have them everywhere....it's my favorite flower to receive from Jeff, so it's perfect! It's fate! :)