Bridal Shower

So I figured it was about time I update this! lol Shawn and I have been so busy latley with wedding plans and havent had much of a chance to get on so let me get you all caught up :o)

August 14th my bridesmaids through me a wonderful shower. It was so much fun and I was so glad to see how many people were able to make it :o)

Shawn dropped me off so we took a few minutes to say hello together before he was kicked out ;-)

Me and my soon to be hubby!

The room was decorated so nice. Each table had a tree like centerpiece on it with a stone filled vase bottom. Each branch either had a picture of Shawn and I on it or a love quote..so cute. The favors were bags of reeses pieces (of course matching the color of my fall wedding theme).

All the mom's, grandmother's and I got to take one of these home!

Favors

After my sister had welcomed everyone and we had a bite to eat we started with the games. I think everyones  favorite was the marshmallow game.  My sister would ask me questions about Shawn i.e. his favorite color, nickname growing up etc. For everyone right....well I got nothing lol, but for every question I got wrong I had to stuff a marshmallow in my mouth! (Which had most people hysterical by the way lol)

Amanda looks like she is enjoying slowly choking me a little too much! lol

After getting to the point of being unable to breath the game was over! lol My over all score was 6/10...disapointing I know! lol 

Afterwards we took a little time to get some pictures with family and friends.

Jackie and Lynda (my other moms) past coworkers

My mom and I

Next was cake! It was soo delicious and the best part was that we had so much left over I was still eating it a week later haha! 

Making a wish ;-)

Lastly...you guessed it! Gift time!!! I was spoiled rotten and I'm not afraid to admit it. I couldn't have ask for anything more. I got some wonderful gifts. And my bridesmaids had quite an efficient system. My sister wrote down everything I received and from whom, Amanda made a fantastic bouquet out of all of my ribbons, Courtney took all of the pictures, Kim took care of the garbage and handing me the gifts and Shannon repackaged  everything and stacked it all back up! I think I made record time lol!  It took me a few weeks but everything is finally unpacked and put where it belongs. 

Opening gifts! We had quite a system going.

The shower was absoultly wonderful thanks to my fantastic bridesmaids! You guys are the best! Thank you to everyone who came and for all of your thoughts and best wishes! Love you all! 

My girls! Shannon, Courtney, Amanda, Kim, Myself and Kristie

Thanks for reading!

Only only 31 more days until the wedding!!!

Cake Tasting :-P

Hey everyone! Sorry that I haven't written in so long we have been super  busy! We've been working very hard to get everything finished for the wedding so I figured I was do for an update!

As some of you know we have had some troubles with are cake from price chopper so we decided to try elsewhere. On my way to a dentist appointment I happened to pass by a new bakery called Make Me A Cake Next Door. I was so drawn in by the window display and the reviews that I had read online that I had to call for a consultation.

This is the inside of the shop! :o)  It was so cute! 

This picture is from a review 

(http://blog.timesunion.com/bethlehem/2180/make-me-a-cake-next-door/)

This morning we had our cake tasting and let me tell you it was probably one of the best parts of planning. The cake samples were delicious! We tried their basic tray (I wanted to really keep things simple) which consisted of chocolate, white, yellow and red velvet cake all topped with their butter-cream frosting. In the middle of the tray were three different fillers... white chocolate mousse, chocolate mousse with home made chocolate gnash, and homemade raspberry preserve. It was soooooooooooooo good :o) !! After trying them all we decided that we liked the chocolate and white cake the best with the chocolate mousse filling.

As you can see we devoured our samples! lol

Shawn enjoying our tasting :o)

We couldn't make up our minds as to which cake favor we like the best so, we went with both! The cake itself is going to look like the cake I had talked about a few blogs ago with the three square tiers with flower decorations. We are adding a few things to the cake also but were going to keep those a surprise for our guests.

Melissa was the women who helped us out and she was fantastic. She was so helpful and was able to help us stay within our budget and still have a beautiful and delicious cake!

We also dropped our invitation envelops off to a calligrapher today.  After writing up all of the save-the-dates I decided that I wanted someone else to do the actual invitations lol! I had gotten a reference from a friend from nursing school who used this women to do her invitations for her wedding and she spoke very highly of her. So I gave her a call...she was so accommodating and her prices are very reasonable. We should have them all back by next week and I can't wait to see them~!

Time is winding down so quickly the wedding will be here before we know it!!

Thanks for reading :o)

Only 70 more days until the wedding!
Only 85 more days until the honeymoon!!

Courtney & Robert 6-19-10

This past weekend one of my best friends got married! If you've been following my blog for a while you will know that I have referenced Courtney many times as we have definitely found each other helpful for any kind of advice in planning our weddings not to mention someone to vent to at times lol. Her wedding was absolutely beautiful and I just wanted to share a few moments from the night!

Courtney and Robert

Courtney and Robert are two of the nicest people I know. They both are so incredibly kind and honest people its hard not to love them. They complement each other so well and I know that their life together will be nothing short of amazing!

On our way to the rehearsal dinner...pretty excited!

So the fetivities started on Friday with the rehersal dinner at The Ponds. The returant was very cute and the staff was wonderful. The bride and groom made a quick speech before dinner just to introduce everyone and to through in a couple thank you's. For dinner we had a few choices. Shawn and I both had the linguini with red wine clam sauce (yum!) After dinner we headed outside to help set up chairs for the ceremony which considering we had around 30 people there it didn't take very long at all. After that we made our way back inside the resturant to enjoy dessert which also was  very delishious! After everyone was pretty stuffed we then worked on the inside and covered the chairs and worked on tieing the bows. We made sure that the couple had everything set up that they needed and we headed home.

The following morning seeing as how I was a bridesmaid all of us girls met at The Mane Street Salon in Millerton to have our hair done! They girls there were so nice and we all had some pretty spiffy lookin' do's! :)

 Meredith (Maid Of Honor)

Nikki (Maid Of Honor)

Courtney :o)

Back of Court's Hair

Courtney's hair turned out beautiful we all loved it! The flower comb really added a nice touch! And her hair stayed like that all night long to boot!

After that we headed to The Pond to get dresses have a few cocktails and do our makeup. We even had our own little cocktail hour set aside for lunch! And before we knew it it was time to walk down the isle!

Courtney and her Dad getting ready to walk down the isle!

It was so beautiful out it just made that day that much more perfect! Courntey looked absouutly stunning in her wedding dress and it was hard to not shead a tear as she walked down the isle to her soon to be husband. Their personally written vows were just as tear jerking I was seriously regretting not wearing water proof mascara! lol

Courtney reciting her vows

The bride and groom also included a stone ceremony during the wedding which I thought was very interesting. Everyone who attended the wedding wrote their initals on a stone a placed it in a vase that the bride and groom had at the ceremony. It symbolized not only the bride and groom becoming one but all of their family and friends coming together as one to celebrate their love! 

Not only was their ceremony beautiful but Courtney and Rob wrote the entire thing themselves which I thought was very sweet!

Rob and Courtney finally Husband and Wife!

Then came the pictures! We did so many I can't wait to see how they came out! Some were fun and some were formal and I'm sure Rob and Courtney will love them!

All of us ladies showing off our pretty shoes!

After that It was parttttyyyyyy time! The reception was tons of fun! Ive never danced so much at a wedding! The food was delish, the music was good, and the cake was amazing!

Myself and Shawn

I had samon as my entree at the wedding and it was so good! We all also had sides of potatos and greenbeans and everything came in huge portions; I was pretty impressed.  The DJ was good and played a good variety of songs. The reception hall was sooo pretty it had a very clean spring look to it.

Centerpiece

My beautiful bouquet

The cake tasted as good as it looked! It was a vanilla cake with a whipped frosting and raspberry filling very light but very good!

Wedding cake

Aww Rob was so good!

Courtney's dance with her father was so heartwarming! Her dad is awesome and I was able to get some pretty great shots of the two of them!

Courtney and her dad :o)

Unfortunately Rob didn't have his mom to dance with so the guys made sure that Rob wasn't left out! They all joined together and danced around Rob! It was so touching!

Rob and his groomsmen

The garter toss was too much fun! Courtney's face was priceless!!

Haha Rob going to work!

Overall we all had an amazing time. I'm so sad that its all over but so happy for the two of them and what the future will hold. I was so honored to get to be a part of their wedding. I feel like it has truly brought us so close as friends. I feel truly blessed to have them both in my life and wish them only the best in life! :o)

Love this one!

Thanks for reading!

Only 101 days until the wedding!
Only 116 days until the honeymoon!!

Wedding Rings

A wedding ring symbolizes eternity, endlessness, and something that can not be broken. Wedding rings are given as a token of unending love for each other. Traditionally, as a symbol of strength in the marriage. Today Shawn and I finally purchased our wedding bands!! It feels so good to finally have that done and out of the way. I really want to wear mine now but I suppose I'll have to wait it out until the wedding :o) We purchased our rings at Littman Jewelers which is also where Shawn got my engagement ring as well as a few other piece of jewelery over the years.

We picked out my ring first. Shawn and I had already taken a gander a few months back so I pretty much knew what I wanted. My engagement ring is shown above.  As you can see it has diamonds down both sides so getting the right wedding band was a little tricky (especially the  diamond right in the middle that lays right on top of my finger). So I had looked at a few rings with a slight bend in them so that the two rings would not rub up against each other and causing damage to either or both of the rings. So I ring I decided on is the one ...

I love it! It's so pretty and simple it really compliments my engagement ring! I cannot wait until I get to wear it every day! :o) Unfortunately the ring that I tried on today did not fit. (not even close!) So I will get to pick my ring up on the 15th! Can't wait!!! 

Next we obviously picked out Shawn's ring. Going in we knew Shawn wanted something durable. He had been looking into a titanium ring, however when we went today their selection wasn't all that great. However we looking at rings made out of something that is called tunsted. It a strong durable metal that cannot be resized if Shawn needs his ring to be sized they would have to order him another one. (which is no biggy considering that its covered under warranty for life) So after looking at a few and trying on different ones. Shawn decided on this one...

I personally love it just as much as Shawn does! Its simple but so nice and modern. Its definitely something that I can see Shawn wearing. It matches his style well. And lucky for him they had one in the store that was his size! Shawn also can't wait to wear his! (We even practiced putting his ring on at home haha)

The wedding is getting so close and we can't wait. Before we know it, it will be October 2nd and we'll finally be husband and wife! :o)

Only 118 days until the wedding! (we'll be in the double digits soon omg!!)

Only 133 days until the honeymoon!

Pre-Cana

So this past weekend Shawn and I attended pre-cana. For those of you who don't know pre-cana is a class that those of the Catholic religion are required to attend before marriage. Being that I am Catholic and want to be married in a Catholic church this was something Shawn and I need to do. The class is meant to help the couple on the right (and religious) road to a happy and health marriage. The program gets its name from the biblical account of the wedding feast of Cana, where Jesus brought “new wine” to the couple, a symbol and a reality that he can restore us to the type of love that truly satisfies, a love that lasts. The class will give the attendees the hope that this type of love is possible!

Of course Shawn and I had plenty of reservations about going to the class. We had heard all of the horror stories and needless to say we were not exactly thrilled to get up at 7:00am on a Saturday morning. Luckily it wasn't nearly as bad as we had imagined. We were in a room with about 15-16 other couples all around the same age as us. There were even a few couples there we knew! Who would have thought! lol We started off the day going around the room introducing ourselves and stating one good quality about our significant other. Shawn and I were almost late and ended up having to sit in the front row...so guess who had to go first! lol The good quality I had for Shawn was that he knows how to ground and comfort me when I dont have a level head. Shawn, who's not a very outspoken person (especially under pressure) said "I feel the same way....there's too many to list" aww...nervous and cute lol. 

After we broke the ice so to speak the deacon and his wife starting talking to us about alot of different things...money, children, personalities, commitment and most of all what it truly means to be married in the eyes of God. Now I'm not saying that I would love to run off and do this class every weekend it did have its down sides. The class ran from 8:30-4:30 (although we did get out a little early) we had to provide our own lunch, and the class was $100 to take. But overall the class was not bad. The point they were trying to get across wasn't a bad one and it wasn't 8 hours of preaching. The deacon and his wife were very nice and modern when it comes to religious views.

After the pre-cana class Shawn and I had to head up to Haines Falls to go to 5:00 mass to meet with Father Motta again and give him our pre-cana certificate. After mass Father pulled Shawn and I aside and ask us each questions separately. Nothing too invasive the questions were just along the lines of "is there any reason your aware of that would inhibit you from having children" "do you freely consent to marriage" yadda yadda lol. We should only have a few more meetings left and then...wedding day!

Lastly we have decided on our florist! We haven't sent anything in stone yet but yesterday my sister and I (Shawn had fire house obligations) went to Jeneane's Floral Creations in Ravena. Friends of ours has there wedding done there and had recommended her to us. She is so nice and  professional. She was able to pick right up on what kind of look I was going for. We went over everything from bouquet's to runners and pew decorations. The best part...she is completely within our budget!! I'm so excited and I cant wait until wemeet with her again!  (Love this centerpiece! Obviously this is not the colors I would have but I just wanted to show a sample of her work. I love the look of the cube vase. I'm really looking into having something like that!)

P.s. I would like everyone to please check out and follow.... http://onlyamamaknows.blogspot.com/ if you are a mom yourself (or plan on one day being a mother ) or even just love fun stories and awesome photogrpahy you'll love her blog...and and tell her I sent ya! Thanks :o)

Thanks for reading!

Only 128 days until the wedding!

Only 143 days until the honeymoon!

Time to party!

I have so much to share with you all and so many great pictures for this one! One of my best friends as many of you know is also getting married. This past month we had both her bridal shower and bachlorette party.  The bridal shower (though we had the threat of a down pour) went wonderfully! We ended up having a beautiful spring day for the outdoor shower.

We decorated the tables with vases of daisy's and tied ribbon to well...pretty much everything! The bride of course had her own specially decorated chair and hydrangea flowers.

Our spread was so delicious including an array of appetizers, penne vodka, chicken marsala, green bean casserole and salad yum! :o) For dessert we had a choice of a cupcake cake, cookies or fruit (all of which with the option to be dipped in chocolate!

We also had the guest play games. The first was a questionnaire called "How well do you know Courtney" and the second was toilet paper wedding dresses (that was a blast!)

The bride received so many wonderful gifts from all of her family and friends; everything from wine glasses to quilts!

We all had a terrific time and Courtney looked pretty darn good in her bow hat lol :o)

The following weekend we through Courtney her bachlorette party!

 We started off the night at Hana a Hibachi restaurant in Albany. That was a blast! Our chef had quite a sense of humor (he even called himself Jackie Chan) and kept us laughing the whole time. He even made a cute little heart out of fried rice lol!

One of the waters, Jamie had told us at the beginning of our dinner that he had a surprise for Courtney. When he returned at the end of our meal him, and most of the staff came out and sang "Going to the chapel" and wegot free ice cream to boot! It was hysterical! 

After we finished at Hana we went to Bomber's Burrito bar for a few drinks to finish the night. We enjoyed a few margarita's and some good music and called it a night. (The rest of the girls and the bride had a room at a near by hotel to continue the party!)

Oooo and before I forget!!! Before all of the festivities the bride gave us bridesmaids some pretty amazing gifts including.... engraved wine glasses with our initial, an engraved picture frame, gifts certificates to a salon, and for me in particular tons of Lush bath products!!!  It was such a great time and now I truly can't wait for my turn!!!

Thanks for reading!

Only 129 days until the wedding!

Only 144 days until the honeymoon!