Fits Like a Glove!

Last Saturday I had an appointment to 'accessorize' my dress at Priscilla's.

Going into the appointment I had 3 goals: Pick out a veil, pick out a headpiece, and look at their shoes.

Before the appointment Lindsay, my consultant at Priscilla's, informed me that my alterations were completed so I would get to see and try my dress on!! That was suchh great news!! I was so nervous to put the dress on because I remember from my first fitting, they pinned it soo snug! I mean I have been watching what I eat and I've made a bigger attempt to go to the gym more often, but still, I was terrified of that dress not zipping up!! How embarrassing that would be!!

Slipping into my dress, having it zipped up the back, it fitting perfectly, and then just looking at myself in the mirror made me so happy. It fit like a glove! And it was nice to actually see it fit my body and not make me look frumpy or that it was about to fall off.

I was so excited to go out and show everyone! I felt confident and I felt like a true bride! What made me smile even bigger was everyone's reactions. Mouth dropping, tears, smiles, and "wows." I felt like a true princess. I was so fortunate to have my mom, my sister, my other mom, and a couple close friends with me on such short notice!

Lindsay pulled a few veils and we started playing with the idea of chapel vs. fingertip etc. The chapel veils are gorgeous and so elegant, however I'm short haha, and also my train really isn't that long so the veils extended farther which made it look weird...we decided on a fingertip veil that really complimented the dress. We also decided 'yes' on the blusher! It's one tradition I definitely want my Dad to experience...lifting the veil, giving me a kiss, and then handing me over to my groom.

We then started playing with some headpiece ideas. I know I def wanted something sparkly and "bling" to compliment my dress but I didn't know what...I'm uncertain of how I'm going to wear my hair which made it more difficult to decide on a piece. Lindsay showed me a piece from the designer Haute Bride, which I loved! However...I'm not 100% and it was on the pricey side...so we decided to hold off on that!

I didn't find any shoes that really caught my attention....so the search for shoes continues! (I've now purchased and returned 3 pairs)

Even though it was a miserable rainy/windy day, I still had the best day ever!

Sweetheart vs. Head Table

I was having an internal debate for months over the layout of my reception room. In more specific...the seating of the bridal party and Jeff & I. I thought I've always wanted a 'head' table vs. a 'sweetheart' table.

I've always envisioned a head table, mostly because I wanted to include all the 'old' traditions of a wedding, and a head table is definitely one of them! However, there were two huge issues with having a head table. 1. My bridal party is huge (18 people including Jeff & me) and 2. I did not want to separate the bridal party and their dates. Carrie was a sport and designed a few options for achieving my 'head table' look, but it wouldn't include their dates. If we were to include them we would need a huge table that sat 24 people......yeah....I felt that would look so obnoxious.

After a lot of thought and discussion we went with the sweetheart table! We all realized it would be nice to just have a table to ourselves so we can enjoy our meal together (if we have time to eat!) and just have a moment of 'peace.' Carrie also made a really good point...we're probably not going to be sitting there that much anyways...So then we designated THREE whole tables to seat the bridal party, dates and all!

So a cute little table for 2 just for my hubby & I :)

FOCCUS & Timelines

So this past weekend the weather held and I was able to make my way North to VT. Saturday I had a full day of wedding appointments in Stowe.

My first appointment was at 9:30am with Fr. Mercure at the church. It went well. We went over the results from our FOCCUS test and confirmed a few times. Usually both the bride-to-be and the groom-to-be go together to review the results, but in our situation, it was another thing I had to do by myself. Thankfully, since Jeff and I did amazingggg on the test it wasn't bad at all to sit there by myself. Fr. Mercure was quite pleased with our results. He said it was the 'best' results he has ever seen. Which made me feel good, but honestly I wasn't that surprised. Like I've mentioned before Jeff and I have one of the most pure, open relationships and we are usually almost on the same page, and if we're not, then we talk about it and figure out a better solution. We didn't "match up" on about 8 questions. And 3 I completely admit I misread it and was quite embarrassed about that. And Jeff mis-read one which didn't make any sense. And the other 4 we didn't necessarily 'disagree' like one person would put agree/disagree and the other would put 'uncertain.' So overall we did great and we can 'officially' get married in the Catholic Church! Yay for us!

My next appointment, Carrie met my Mom, Emily, and I at the church to discuss the floral design and talk about the processional/recessional. We made a few changes to the floral design and decided that less is more. The church has such a simple VT elegance, and we didn't want to take away from that. So we decided on a more subtle design which I am thrilled about.

We then made our way up the mountain to the SML.

We discussed a few details such as the timeline of the day, the layout of the room, and a few other important details. It was nice because we were able to go to our cocktail reception site and talk about the layout and visualize it and then go into the ballroom and do the same thing. Carrie has this cool program that designs the layout with a realistic view of the space and where tables should be placed, etc.

We all left the meeting feeling really good and accomplished knowing that everything is set in place and we just need it to be June 5th now!

Woo!

And we are now in the double-digits! 99 Days!

Heading to VT after work today for the weekend to hopefully iron out some little details! Hoping the weather doesn't stop me...

TGIF! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

T-100 Days!

So in honor of it being 100 days until the Big Day, I dedicate this post to the past 278 days of being engaged and wedding planning.

Wow I can not believe we've been engaged for 278 days!! It feels like just yesterday we were boarding the plane to St. Lucia...him acting soo strange...and then the first night him getting down on one knee under the stars, with a perfect tropical beach night as our background...and him asking me "will you be my wife." AH! I love replaying that moment over and over again in my head. Whenever I'm having a bad day all I think about is that moment and I have an instant smile.

People always say that "it will fly by." And to be honest, I doubted all of them. I thought the days and the months would drag by, due to the fact that Jeff & I would be separated by hundreds of miles for the entire time of our engagement. I also thought that since I wanted June 5th to come so badly the universe would find it funny to slow down time. But looking back, the past 9+ months have flownnnn by! Yes some days and weeks seem longer then others, but overall it has gone by so fast.

100 days still seems like forever to me. But I can start to see the 'light at the end of the tunnel.' I know these next 100 days will fly by even faster. And I am ready! All my wedding planning is done. Just a few minor details and decisions, and a few things we can't do until the time gets closer. So bring on June 5th!

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/

Drum Roll Please...

I am honored to announce the 8th and final groomsmen that Jeff has chosen...

Drum roll please...

Ralph Johnson!

After much thought Jeff thought it would be nice to include his sister, Elisa's, new husband, Ralph (his brother-in-law) in the bridal party!

Welcome to the fun Ralph!!