Wedding Dress

Sooo I finally purchased my wedding dress!! It's very exciting and it makes me feel that much closer to actually being married. I got the dress at David's Bridal. My consultant was Carrie and she was wonderful! I'm also going to be using her for the bridesmaids shopping, she was so helpful. I would love to tell you all the details but I'm afraid Shawn will read this and I don't want him to know what the dress looks like at all until the day of the wedding :) But I can tell you that it is beautiful. Oh and that feeling that they tell you you'll have when you try on "the one" is completely true!

I came in with a few pictures from online that I had liked and a few bridal magazines to show my consultant what kind of styles I liked. I tried

on a good 7 or 8 dresses before I tried on the one that I ended up getting. They were all beautiful but there were things about each of them that I didn't quite like, or they just weren't quite me. I tried on a ton of different kinds. Strapless, off the shoulder, thin straps, thicker straps, v-neck, sweetheart, poofy, lased, beaded, form-fitting, flowy, corsets...you name it. So I got a pretty good idea of what I liked and didn't like. 

Then I tried on the dress that I ended up buying. I knew as soon as I tried it on I loved it. I had a combination of all the things I had liked from the previous dresses and more. I felt like a bride when I looked at myself and most importantly I felt beautiful! It was a wonderful feeling and I couldn't help but smile. Once I walked out of the dressing room I knew my mom and sister thought the same thing. As my mom put it " Oh my god...it's so you!".

After that I tried on a few vails which really put the look together. I tried on about 10 of those lol. A cathedral one that went down to the bottom of my dress, and then from there continued to try on shorter and shorter ones from then on. I tried ones with lase sown on, beads on the bottom, sides, or all over, tiara's , clips etc. However before this appointment I hadn't really thought much about the vail. I had been so consumed with what kind of dress I would like that I hadn't even considered a vail to go with it. So I did not purchase one today. I want some more time to look at various different styles before I make a definite choice. I also got a necklace and earring set while I was there. Sooo cute! Very subtle (I didn't want it to take away from the gown) but it matches my dress perfect! 

The dress itself actually fits me well. I ended up going up one more size then I normally am beca

use... my chest was a little tight in the first size, and being that I would like to breathe on wedding day I went one size up and their just going to take in the waist a bit for me. The length also fit me well. I used shoes that they had there (my heals are packed away right now for the move) I used the tallest pair they had and the hem of the dress came to right about where it should be. (For those of you who don't know Shawn is 6'6 so I'm trying to make up the height difference a bit lol). She measured the height of the shoes so that when I do go shoe shopping for the wedding I know the size I'm looking for. 

It was a wonderful experience and I'm very very happy with my decision. I can't wait to actually get my dress and put it on again, and most of all I can't wait for Shawn to see it. :)

Thanks for reading!

Only 296 days until the wedding!

Roses are red...

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't written in a while I've been quite tied up with work and getting everything together for the house. The house plans are coming along well. We're about to have it apprised. We did our inspection and the results weren't more than a few minor things. We filled out our loan application and our approximated date for closing is December 15th. Its been a lot of work but very exciting at the same time! I'm going to shoot a video on move in day to give you all a better look :) 

Ok so back to wedding planning. Since my last blog we have hired a DJ, Lin Smith (The Tunesmith). She's great! Shawn and I took some time out to meet her and had a blast. She's a lot of fun and wants to make sure we have a celebration to remember. She has thousands of songs to choose from and by the time of our wedding she will have all genres of music available up to September 2010. Anyone can request any song...well as long as its not on our "do not play" list so if your a Hanna Montana fan sorry that won't be played lol.

I also booked a hair stylist for the wedding. I go to Anavah Salon to a girl named Nikki. Her and one or two more girls (we haven't decided yet) are going to come up to the hotel that morning to do all the girls hair including myself of course and the mothers. They are very reasonable. Its $50 per girl who travels and then however much the updo's are going to be (usually around $40 per person.) I still don't have a clue on how I want to do my hair yet. I've been watching tutorials on YouTube religiously to get ideas on hair and make up. I haven't found any certain one I love yet, but one of the girls I regularly watch had said that she would post a bridal video for me...so I'll make sure to post it here when she does. :)

Also, while I was getting my hair cut last week Nikki and I were talking about flowers and

she had asked if I had anywhere in mind. I told her that I didn't really although I have heard from quite a few people (my photographer included) that Price Chopper does a wonderful job. Which was quite the coincidence because the next women she had coming in worked for the floral department in a price chopper close to where I live. I got to talking with her and she said that they DO deliver (at least that one in particular does) and that a few of the girls she worked with including herself have a background in design. She gave me her name and the number so I could call and set up a consultation. She told me they are much more affordable than most floral shops and everything is very fresh (which was what I had been hearing all along). So needless to say I am definitely going to call and set up an appointment! I put a few pictures of the colors/kinds of flowers I am looking into doing bouquets out of throught out this blog!

And last but not least

...I called Country Studios where Shawn and I had gotten our engagement picture from below done to order more prints. (Ones for close family and a small one to send out for the save-the-dates) And I could not believe their prices!! For 2 ...only 2 5x7's it was $65 and for a sheet of 8 wallets it was $45 dollars! So needless to say we will be taking our business elsewhere! I have had nothing but problems with this company. They take excellent pictures I'll give them that however when I went to go online to look at my proofs I got the wrong couples pictures!..and they are only open on the weekend so I had to wait the week to get a call back just to find out that they weren't sure what had happend and that it should be fixed the following week!I'm thinking of going to picture people. I know a few people who have had pictures done there and they only take an hour to get and they have much better package pricing! I'm going to try and get a similar picture to the old one though. I may change up the pose but I like the colors and they go sooo well with the save the date magnets I am planning on using, so I'll keep you all posted on how that goes!

Thanks for reading!

Only 315 days until the wedding!

Busy Bee's

So I figured it was about time that I catch everyone up on what been going on. We have been super busy lately not only with the wedding plans but with our jobs and house hunting as well.

I finally got a job as an RN at a trauma center about 45 minutes from my house. I love it there! The staff are all so nice and welcoming and willing to help. Its a big change from nursing school, but I'm really enjoying all of it. Especially all the wonderful people I've been meeting :)

Shawn and I have also been doing a bit of house hunting and we have finally found the one that we want to call home! It's in a nice quiet little neighborhood in the same town where we currently live. It has three bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice big kitchen, dining area, attached 2 car garage, fireplace, deck, pool, and a full basement which we plan to have finished. We put in a bid for the house a few days ago and it was accepted. Now we just have to get approve from the bank and will be well on our way to moving in! Were both a little bit nervous but very excited that soon enough will have a place to call our very own. If everything goes as smooth as possible and on time our closing should be around the 30th of November!

Okay so now back to the wedding! We've been working on a DJ and we think that we have found the right one. She's energetic and keeps everyone dancing... and best of all she is very reasonably priced! were planning on meeting with her sometime this week to go over the nitty gritty of what exactly we are looking for.

I've also been looking a bit more at bridesmaids dresses. One of my bridesmaids gave me a swatch of color for a dress idea and I love it. It's called cinnamon which would be the perfect color for a fall wedding! I know the picture makes it look red but the color in person is more like a mix of brown and orange. So pretty!

Shawn and I received our engagement picture in the mail a few weeks ago. Were planning on using this picture on our save-the-dates. I'm in the process of sending paperwork back and forth between companies to get permission to copy the picture onto the magnet itself, which in the beginning sounded too complicated but it's actually quite easy. 

Thanks for reading!

Only 343 days until the wedding!

Photographer...Check!

We now have a photographer!! As of yesterday evening Paul Saunders (the gentlemen listed in the blog below) is booked for our October wedding and Shawn and I are so very excited! He has done over 2,000 weddings and has been in the business for 23 years. He is very reasonable with absolutely no hidden fee's the price that he gives you is it (tax included). He is extremely flexible with his packages. You can swap and trade just about anything so that you only get what you need. 

He was very energetic and had so many ideas for pictures to take at the wedding. He wanted to know all the details...what kind of flowers we were thinking about, what color bridesmaids dresses I wanted, the size of the families etc. He also told us that his job is to tell a story with our wedding photos. He doesn't like a lot of posed pictures he prefers to get more candids then anything to really capture the moment. One of the things I loved the most was that he said in all his years of shooting wedding he has never missed the brides mother, grooms mother, and grooms reaction as the bride come down the isle. (If you couldn't already tell he completely had me sold by this point!).

So we decided to go with his gold package. That package includes unlimited coverage from the brides home (in this case it will be the hotel), through church ceremony, family formals, and loads of reception pictures. 800+ color preview shots in a storybook style personalized library hard cover wedding proof books (that we keep!!) 24, 8x10 wedding album enlargements, and/or up to 48 5x7's and/or 96 prints matted to an upscale florentina leather wedding album. 2 florentina leather parent albums each with 24 matted 4x5 custom enlargements, 2 8x10 custom-framed enlargements, 8 8x10's and/or 2 16x20's or 4 11x14's, 18 5x7 enlargements, 60 thank you cards or 120 loose pictures, and JPEG's of all of the package selections. So as you can see his package comes with everything we could possibly need and then some!

However Shawn and I have also decided that (as another option for this package) to trade in our traditional wedding Album and upgrade to the designer flush-mounted coffee-table style album which blew us away! Its very unique and offers more room for pictures than the traditional album. This picture is a

n example of what a page in one of these albums can look like, and the cover.

Paul had also mentioned to us that if we want any specific pictures to be taken that we don't want to worry about having to remember on the day of our wedding, to just write them down and he will make sure that the pictures are taken (parents ideas too). He also had mentioned to us that he will get everyone that comes to the wedding in at least 1 picture. Which to me was huge! 50 years down the line I want to look back on my pictures and remember exactly who was there. Paul also mentioned that he is very respectful when it comes to taking his pictures (especially in the church...more brownie points :) ) He said that he stands in the back of the church and can still get beautiful close up shots.. and by looking at his albums you would have never known he was actually that far back. He said most of the night you wont even know that he is there. He doesn't use any harsh flashes that will be distracting either.

He also gave us a cd to look over for ideas that includes 700+ wedding

photos. Needless to say I'm going to be spending a great deal of my time today looking them over!

Over all Paul wants Shawn and I to just enjoy our wedding day stress free, and I couldn't ask for more. I would highly recommend him to anyone getting married and in need of a photographer!

This is my absoulte favortie picture out of his album's..and it was taken in the rain!!

P.s. Let me just also include that I highly recommend to anyone getting married (and planning their weddingthemselves) to get the Modern Bride survival guide! It is the most amazing book. Practically every question I have had this far I've been able to figure out with it. It gives so many helpful tips and tons of checklist to keep you organized! It also has good questions to ask you vender's when your looking to hire and even ideas for hairstyles on the day of wedding. It has everything!!

Thanks for reading!

Only 360 day's until the wedding!

One Year to Go!

Its official...we have exactly 1 year until the wedding as of today! I am so excited its hard to believe 4 months has already gone by since we got engaged, I can only Imagine how fast this year will go by.

So...let me catch you up on whats been going on lately. Shawn and I went to Country Studio's (Where we won our free portrate from) and got an engagement photo done. We decided to only get the one pose for now, which we will pick up next weekend to decide weather or not we want to order more afterwards. We are also considering to take a trip to picture people and see what they offer. After that we are going to choose our favorite one and use it on our save-the-dates :)

We are also meeting with Paul Saunders on the 6th which I am VERY excited about! He 

is the photographer I have been looking at for the past few months. I love his work and I am very exited to finally get to meet him and see some of his albums in person. He was actually referred to me by a nursing classmate who was married last October and had shown me some of her proofs (and even they were amazing). He is decently priced, you can rearrange your package to whatever you need, and you get to keep all of your proofs in a story book type of package.

I have also been working on a wedding website. Thanks to the idea from my girlfriend Courtney, and have gotten quite a bit done. I'm really pleased with how it came out. It still needs a few tweaks here and there but all in all it looks good. Its full of information for our guest and a few fun things too. I plan on putting that information with the save-the-dates, that way if our guest need directions or they forget an adress or just need to ask me or Shawn a question its all right there.

Shawn and I are also going to be visiting Hunter Mountain either this weekend or next to take a look at the summit for possible photo ops. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to share :) There will be weddings also going on during the next three weekends so I am hoping I can also get some decoration ideas while we are up there. While were there we also plan on visiting Oktoberfest. Its a free festival full of authentic German culture and cuisine. Oktoberfest will also be held the weekend of our wedding.

I have also decided that the girls and I are going to be going bridesmaid dress shopping either the end of January or the beginning of February. I have a few dresses in mind. I love this dress, however for the wedding I would have them chocolate brown not a hot pink and most likely floor length. Its simple, but flattering and affordable! I also found a hair salon that I'm interested in having come up for the wedding to do all our hair on the big day! They are very reasonable and are will to travel up the the hotel :)

Shawn and I have also been taking a peak at wedding rings. Although we don't intend to by them just let we've gotten some good ideas of what we like. I found one that I loved. It's a very simple white gold band with about 6 or 7 small diamonds across the top, I think it would complement my engagement ring well. Shawn has been looking at the titanium rings. They are simple but the all look so different and unique from your average wedding band. I love them!

The countdown has also begun for some serious toning and a bit a weight loss on my part. I've been walking about a mile and a half a day and doing some ab work. Ive lost 2 pounds and 1/2 an inch around my stomach. Its not much but its a start, and thanks to my girlfriend Amanda I will also be starting Pilates workouts! I'm hoping that I can start shopping for my dress within the next few months. :)

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that's what you've given me. That's what I hope to give you forever." ♥

Thanks for reading!

Only 365 days left until the wedding!

Being a Bridesmaid

So this past weekend I went shopping with my girlfriend Courtney for bridesmaid dresses for her wedding. It was so nice to finally get to meet up with all the girls I had heard so much about! Our first stop was David's Bridal. Loved it there! The woman who helped us was so nice and we had so many dresses to choose from in an array of different colors. We started off with finding our sizes and then debated on what colors would go best. We looked at sashes and ribbons mixing and matching. We tried on every style of dress from haulter to strapless... you name it we had it on. They were all beautiful but we all didn't feel as if we had found the right one yet. Then as we were browsing through the isles Courtney found a dress that she had seen online and loved! It was a strapless dress covered with blue flowers on a white background with different hues of green and yellow mixed in. It matched her color scheme

 perfectly! So we tried on the dresses, unfortunately there was only one there in blue that was 10x to big for any of us. So we opted for the orange ones to get an idea of how they would look. Jess grabbed the blue one and pinned it on so we could see it. As we all stood together and saw the look on Courtney's face we knew it was the one! 

We took a break for lunch at the Olive Garden to talk over what we all thought would look best, and afterwards we were all pretty sure we would have to go up a size after eating so much :) We decided to take a look around at one other bridal shop just to make sure we saw all of our options before deciding. The second store didn't offer as much of a selection and most of the dresses we wanted to try only came in one size. (One that half of the time no one could fit into). But we made the best of it and looked at all of our possible options. After trying on a few dresses it was obvious that the best dress was the flowered one we had all tried on earlier. 

We left the second dress shop and went back to David's Bridal. We made sure our sizes were correct and bought the dresses. And the best part was they were on sale!! We each got our dresses for $100.00 :) 

While we were trying on our bridesmaid dresses it was hard not to notice all of the beautiful wedding dresses scattered around. We couldnt help but to look around and OOoo and Ahh. They were absolutely gorgeous and I fell in love with all of the lace and beading that was everywhere! It made me 10x more excited to look for mine (hopfully in the next few months)!

All in all the trip was great. It was fun to have some time out and about with the girls to get to know one another, and it gave me good ideas on how to go about shopping when I need to bring my girls! 

Thanks for reading!

Only 376 days until the wedding !

Chugging Right Along

Ok so a few months have passed by and we have finalized a few more details for the wedding. We found a church in Haines Falls which is located about 10 minutes from where the reception will be held. Its not a huge church but its cute and has a lot of character. We met with Father Motta in August to give him a chance to get to know Shawn and I. We're to meet with him again this month to go over some more details of the ceremony and our pre-wedding classes.

We finally booked our room block to what we thought would be a decent number for the amount of people that will probably stay...and I have to say it is so nice to have that out of the way! We also found out that Shawn and I receive a complementary suit from the hotel for booking our wedding with them! We also decided to have our rehearsal dinner at Vanwinkles restaurant located in the hotel, which will be nice and convenient on the day of our rehearsal.

Also, as a gift from my Shawn's grandmother we will be having a harpist play during our cocktail hour! I think this will be such a nice touch and he has asked that Shawn and I pick a few of our favorite love songs for him to play. We still haven't decided that part yet..I mean what kind of songs can you play on a harp? I don't know..but I'm sure it will still sounds beautiful.

We've been looking into photographers and DJ's lately. I think we've got them each narrowed down. I've seen both the work of the photographer and DJ we have in mind at other wedding, so its nice to know what kind of service we would be getting. Now its just a matter of meeting with them and booking the date!

My fiance and I are also planning on taking a trip up to Hunter next month. Debbie (the wedding coordinator for the Copper Tree) had suggested we come up around this time of year (since we will be getting married October of next year) and take a peak at other wedding and how things can look. She also mentioned that we could take the chairlift to the mountain top to discuss where it would be best to take pictures during this time of year. I am so excited. Debbie has been so incredibly helpful and I know she wont let us down.

I am also very excited for the 19thof this month. I will be going dress shopping with one of my good friends, Courtney for a bridesmaids dress for her wedding. Not only will it be great to spend some time with her, meat the other bridesmaids, and try on beautiful dresses, but it will also give me a lot of incite for how I'll need to organize things when that time comes along for me.

I am also currently in the process of making a wedding website. ( An idea that Courtney had turned me on to) I always thought they were a good idea so I decided to go ahead with it. If a guest happens to loose directions or a number to the hotel all the information they could need will be just a click away. It's surprisingly been a lot of fun to make the website. I'm still not done yet. It needs some tweaking and finalizing, but all in all I'm happy with the way it came out!

Oh and I almost forgot! Shawn and I went to the Altamont Fair a few weeks ago and while we were there we saw a drawing for a free portrait. So we decided what the heck its worth a shot and each entered our names. Well that following Monday Shawn got a call from the Photography studio and they informed him that we had won the free portrait! Were scheduled to go at the end of this month, and we plan on using the picture as our engagement photo that we will put in the paper and on our save-the-dates!!

Thanks for reading!

Only 394 days until the wedding !

And So It Begins!

So...I have begun the process of planning my wedding which is set to take place on October 2nd, 2010. Little did I know how tough this process was going to be. From the nitty gritty of decoration details to who should be on the invitation list everything needs to be just so. At first I appreciated everyone's input and thought that it was helpful...until everyone had a difference of opinion on how we should do things and I nearly lost my mind!

However I have finally come to the revelation that I should not be planning wedding to please everyone else, but to please my fiance and I and how we have envisioned our dream wedding. I have millions of ideas spinning around in my head and now I have to figure out a way to organize them all into decisions.....its all easy to talk about until you have to put it on paper....and out of our bank accounts!

Little by little though things are getting done. We have a reception hall up in beautiful Hunter Mountain which I absolutely fell in love with! I'm in the process of looking at 2 different church's, and determining our room block for guests who want to stay (my biggest headache!)

I think out of it all I am most excited for shopping for wedding dresses. Granted it is a ways away but that is defiantly what I am looking forward to the most! And I am dead set on keeping it a secret. I only plan on bringing my mom and sister (maid of honor) to my dress fittings. I want everyone else to be surprised! After all I'll only get to do with once so why not wow em'!!