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!

 

The Meaning of the Garter

My wedding dress is 90% complete. This weekend I ordered my veil and garter which means only the shoes are left! It took me a while to decide on a veil. I knew I wanted something simple being that my dress has so much detail I didn't want the veil to take away from my dress (especially since its worn for such a short period of time). I found quite a few that had the simple look that I was going for so I needed to figure out what length I wanted. Originally I was going to go with a fingertip length one but as I was browsing I came across this one...

It's a little bit longer than shoulder length and I LOVE it. It has just the right amount of volume I wanted and is so beautifully simple I knew this was the one I wanted. I plan on wearing my veil either just above my up-do or right below it (I don't want it too high on top of my head because I don't plan on wearing the veil over my face) The best part was the price. A lot of veils that I have seen range anywhere from $100-$175, however lucky for me this veil is new and on sale! So I was able to get it for a whopping total of $49.00! I can't wait until it comes in!

I also ordered my garter. As I was looking though all of the differnet choices I starting to think... what is the actual purpose of this thing? So...I Googled it lol! I was suprised at the stories most with the same general idea but I came across this one which I think explains it well with out dragging on a boring story...

Historically, this wedding garter tradition also relates to the belief that taking an article of the bride's clothing would bring good luck. As this often resulted in the destruction of the bride's dress, the tradition arose for the bride to toss unattached articles of clothing to the guests, including the wedding garter from the thigh of her stockings. This tossing of the wedding garter by the groom is also another version of the bride's tossing of the bouquet of flowers to the crowd. The idea is that anybody who is unmarried catches the bouquet will be the next one to wed. Thus, the unmarried male guest who successfully caught the wedding garter was believed to be the next man to be headed to the altar from the group of single men at that event. Traditionally, the man who caught the wedding garter and the lady who caught the bouquet will share the next dance.

So after I understood the tradition behind the garter I figured I should probably get on with picking one out. I wasn't as picky about this as I was the veil...I mean after all no one really see's it anyway. I did however know that I wanted to order a set of two. One for me to keep and one to be thrown for the garter toss. After a little bit of deliberation I ended up choosing this one...

The smaller of the two will be the one to be thrown.  The garter is mostly made of lace with some flower detail. It is synched at the top obviously where the elastic is. On the bigger garter I chose the bow to be in the color pool where the smaller one is in white. I debated back and forth between truffle (which would have matched my bridesmaids dress ) and pool. I ended up choosing the pool 1) because it looked better with the white than the truffle did and 2) because I can use it as my something blue :-)

Also I have picked out and started to finalize the plans for the wedding cake. Im hoping to have the cake look like this ...

I want basically the same flowers except for replacing the pink flowers with red ones. I love the piping on the layer (which I realize is quite hard to see here, but if you click on the picture it will get bigger). I love the square look so were definitely going to do that. The layers are also going to go as follows- bottom layer chocolate middle layer- vanilla Top layer- Chocolate. I'm also thinking about  having a smaller cake topper on top (maybe our monogram) and flowers around that also. Any ideas for the cake let me know! I'd love to hear them!

Thanks for reading!

Only 167 days until the wedding!!

Only 182 days until the honeymoon!

Honeymoon

As of  yesterday Shawn and I have booked our HONEYMOON!!! So exciting! We are going to be taking a 7 night Carribbean cruise via Royal Carribbean on the Liberty of the Seas. We will be leaving on the 17th of October and will return on the 24th of October. Our cruise will leave out of Miami, Florida (were looking at flights now). Our cruise will visit Philipsburg St. Maarten, San Juan Puerto Rico, Labadee Haiti and then back to Miami. This will be the first time either of us have ever been on a cruise and we are really looking forward to it. I've added a few picture to show you all a few things the ship offers. If you want to get a more indepth look click here --> http://www.royalcaribbean.com/multimedia/virtualTour/ship.do;jsessionid=0000Zf72bN40xoDuDP1_xRW9L69:12hbioe0u?shipClassCode=FR

Libery of the Seas

Royal Promenade

H20 Zone Water Park

Balcony Stateroom

( I can't wait to sit out on the balcony star gazing! )

And don't worry I'll take plenty of pictures to post when we get back! Soo excited!! Only 195 days until our honeymoon!!

We have also finally mailed out our save-the-dates with help from both of our families we were able to get everyones address and this past weekend Shawn and I put the finishing touches on our envelops! We used wedding ring stamps, the return address labels that were in the previous blog and matching seals.

Wedding Ring Stamp

Shawn Working Hard on the Save-The-Dates

The Finished Product

Last weekend Shawn and I also did our registry which will be used for the bridal shower. We ended up doing two. One at Bed Bath & Beyond and one at Macy's. The women who helped us at Bed, Bath & Beyond was great! She was very enthusiastic about her job and really wanted to make it fun for us. She gave us a few tips, a tour of the store, gave Shawn the scanning gun (which made him happy as a clam) and sent us on our way. At first we were a little weary as to what to pick out. There was so much to choose from! But once we got the ball rolling we were scanning everything! It was so much fun. After that we took a break for lunch and then headed to Macy's. However after picking out so much at Bed, Bath &Beyond there wasn't very much at Macy's we really needed, but we still made the best of it and picked out a few things that we liked. (p.s. the scanning guns at BB&B work much better than the ones at Macy's!!) Although because we did do the registry at Macy's I got a free tote bag :) lol 

Thanks for reading :)

Only 180 days until the wedding!!!