Ceremony Shoes - 1 Down... 1 to Go!

I got the crystals from ebay in the mail this week, so I started working on decorating my shoes yesterday! I definitely get more entertainment from gluing the crystals on than Patrick did... He watched for about 2 minutes, said, "This is worse than watching paint dry!" and walked off. ;)

I worked on gluing for about an hour yesterday and finished the first shoe today (besides for the area surrounding the buckle) while listening/watching some shark shows for a few hours. Check it out!

Starting out by lining the edges:

Shoe #1 - DONE!:

- Lisa

Tonight's Open House at Aldea

We went to Aldea tonight for their weekly open house. Because tonight was the last Wednesday of the month, they had it set up like they would for a ceremony and cocktail hour - in addition to just the reception area. It was gorgeous.

Once inside, we were starving and started with food. We got food from the caterer who hasn't been very easy to work with, and we were very underwhelmed with the food. The grilled vegetables that looked incredible turned out to be refrigerated and a little soggy. The pork roast tasted like it had Campbell's cream of chicken soup poured over it. We then went over to Babbo's table and once again loved the food. The bread salad, pasta, bruschetta... all good. Love them, and they're moving further and further ahead of their competition.

After eating, it was time for dessert, and we went to the two bakers to try some cake. The first had 3 types of cake to try: strawberry/banana, chocolate/banana and vanilla/raspberry. It was good, and the example cakes they brought were very pretty (I loved that 2 of them had crystals on them in some way :) ). The second baker wasn't there in person, but she had dropped off some cake to be used as samples. Patrick and I both stared at one of them that could either be carrot or pumpkin; when we were told it was pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, his eyes absolutely lit up. Mr. "I don't really like cake and don't eat much sugar" went back for a couple extra little pieces. I admit it was very good, but he's sold.

We met with Manny, the DJ from Push Play Entertainment. We had looked at his website and did research on reviews and were very satisfied; we just needed to meet with him. I set it up that we'd meet him at the open house, and he was ready for us with a questionnaire that already had our name and wedding date on there. He seems very organized and knowledgeable, and we both felt comfortable enough with him that we booked him before we left. We're very excited, and now get to start working on the questionnaire that includes all of our specifications/requests of songs/games/etc.

We're definitely moving in the right direction!

-Lisa

Some Wedding Traditions Explained

It seems like everything wedding-related goes back to some tradition, and that caught my curiosity. I used a number of different websites, and I'm admitting I'm not going to give credit to those pages for the information; good thing I'm not in school ;). Who knows if these are actually true, but in doing research, these were the traditions I was most amused/intrigued by:

• The word "bridal" - That word originated from beer! At some point, the bride and groom would drink together, and "bridal" evolved from "bride's ale."
• Throwing the bouquet - One of the explanations says that the bride threw a bouquet of flowers into a crowd in order to distract them so she could escape.
• Left side / right side - The reason the bride stands on the left goes back to the days when the groom would have to kidnap his bride. In case he had to fight someone, he held his bride's hand with his left hand - that left his right hand free to use his sword.
• Wedding rings - Why are wedding rings worn on the left hand on the second to last finger? Both Romans and Egyptians believed that there was a vein that ran from that finger directly to the heart.
• The toast - Why is it called that? An old French custom was to place a small piece of bread into a wine glass - for flavor.
• Throwing the garter - Anything brides wear is considered to be good luck. At one point in history, people would tear off pieces of the bride's dress so they could get good luck. In order to keep her dress unharmed, brides used a garter as a distraction.
• Veils - Arranged marriages were part of history, and there was a chance that if the groom saw his bride before the wedding, he could try to refuse to marry her. To avoid that, brides started wearing veils to hide their face until she was given away by her father at the altar.
• White dress - Even though the Japanese have always used white dresses in weddings, Queen Victoria is to thank for starting that popular tradition in the western world. Prior to her wedding, brides just wore their best dress.
• Something Old - Brides wear something old to symbolize that they're still connected with their family & past.
• Something New - Symbolized the bride's optimism & hope for her life ahead.
• Something Borrowed - The borrowed item is often from someone who is happily married; the item is said to pass on their good fortune in marriage. Another explanation is that it reminds the bride she can rely on her friends & family.
• Something Blue - The color blue symbolized purity, fidelity and love.
• ...and a Sixpence in Your Shoe - Apparently that's the last line in the "something borrowed" rhyme. It's meant to signify good fortune and prosperity.

Who knew!

-Lisa

Tuxedo Appointment - Attempt #2

We were really productive this Saturday! We got up early and both worked out. From there, we met up with some friends for lunch and stopped by David's Bridal to get a fabric swatch & then to another Men's Wearhouse. This experience was a LOT better. Kathy (the saleslady who introduced herself first thing!) walked us through all the details of the types of tuxedos & accessories. She showed us all the vests and ties, and I have to admit that the flowered & striped combination (shown in the picture) didn't look too bad when put with a tuxedo.

We talked to her about the possibility of having the groomsmen buy suits instead of renting tuxes. I wasn't big on that idea...until she explained the difference between suits and tuxedos. Do you know the difference? It's not much... As compared to suits, tuxedos have:

1. A satin stripe down the leg of the pants (instead of not having the stripe)
2. A satin lapel (instead of being the same material as the rest of the jacket)
3. Buttons on the jacket sleeve are fabric-covered (instead of being plastic)

That's it?! Once I realized that there wasn't much difference between the two, and it would only be a little bit more expensive for the guys to get to keep a suit (instead of paying $ and keeping nothing), I opened up to the idea. Patrick is in the process of talking to the guys to get their opinions, but we looked at some black suits, and I think that either would look good.

We wanted to also check out JoS A. Bank, another suit/shop. I realize that we're probably a hard sell b/c we're both in sales, but simply put: we have hoooooorrible luck with our first experience at each tux shop. We walked in, and after standing and waiting patiently a couple minutes for the guy at the register to finish writing something, he told us to take a seat next to a desk with a computer. 

We started flipping through the book of vest & tie colors, and after about 5 minutes, a guy with a store manager nametag came peeking awkwardly around the corner. He was very distracted and kind of talked to us about general details of what comes with the tuxes, but kept looking around the corner - then walked away with no warning.

I looked at Patrick with wide eyes, and he calmed me down saying, "Don't worry, he's just waiting for the salesperson to finish up with his customer; that's why he kept looking around the corner." At that moment, the manager came back and handed us his card, saying, "Here's my card before I forget," and walked away again. Whaaaaattt?!

We tracked him down and Patrick did a great job of asking specific questions - that were answered briefly; he wasn't about to volunteer any information that wasn't asked about (having had a bunch of questions answered by Kathy at Men's Wearhouse, we knew the basics and knew what questions to ask). Patrick asked if the guy could write down some of the prices/info he was talking about, and the guy practically threw a pen at him and told him he could jot down whatever notes he wanted.

I asked if we could see some of the specific suits/tuxes/shoes/vests/ties, and with each question, he said we couldn't! They apparently don't keep them in the store, and we have to go by the colors (on the 1 inch x 1 inch swatches) & pictures in the book or website. After the 4th "NO" we got while asking to see a sample - and the 3rd time the guy randomly walked away - that was about all. We asked for other locations of JoS A. Banks in the valley b/c even though we liked the selection & prices, this guy was definitely not getting credit for our sale.We'll try again on that one...

Update on the Flower Dog Outfit... Belle's dress is looking REALLY good. I have it finished besides for finishing the underside (the loose ends/threads need to be covered up). She's such a good sport; as I played around with ideas of what would be the best way to make sure the dress stayed on, she patiently sat in front of me and waited until I was finished. I finally realized that instead of making a dress that had to be closed with a zipper/velcro/snaps/etc, I would just make the dress around (and attached to) the new harness I bought for her that matches the bridesmaid dresses. Genius!

That's all for now. Goodnight!

-Lisa

Chance & Belle

One of the most important things to Patrick and me is to make sure our wedding is very much US. Well, if you weren't aware of this, we're proud parents, and it just wouldn't be US if our "kids" weren't a part of our wedding.

If you're haven't met our "kids," their names are Belle and Chance, and they're our dogs. Belle (my 5lb Chihuahua) and Chance (his 35lb English Springer Spaniel) are both 3.5 to 4 years old and have become best friends over the course of our relationship; they're hilarious together. We could watch them for hours: Chance is so gentle with Belle and will lower a toy so she can grab on and play tug of war. Belle rules the roost when she wants to... that little dog can be tough and bites his nose when she wants to keep him in line. She sits between his front two paws when she wants to feel safe, and they cuddle up often to take naps together.

We've heard of people including their dogs in their wedding, and we loved that idea. Their titles are still in the works, but we want to have Belle as the "Flower Dog" (instead of Flower Girl), and Chance would be the "Ring Dog-er" or "Ring Dog" (instead of Ring Bearer). If you have a suggestion on what to call them, please let me know!

I bought material to make Belle's dress, and I started working on that tonight. I think it'll be tougher than I originally thought b/c I want to make her dress similar to mine & apparently it's not easy to replicate! That means Patrick won't get to see it until the wedding day, but he's ok with that. Chance's outfit probably won't be as intricate; we're talking about just having him in a bow tie & collar to match the groomsmen, but we'll see what I/we come up with.

It makes me smile just thinking of them being a part of our wedding day.

-Lisa

Tuxedo Appointment - Attempt #1

This morning was our appointment at Men's Warehouse. The only thing I knew about tuxedos is that they're usually black and they usually make the guys look fantastic ;). Patrick said that he's worn a tux for a few other occasions, but he's never had to get them set up for a number of guys. We didn't know what to expect!

We grabbed a quick breakfast and then got to Men's Warehouse excited to get the tuxes checked off our list... only to be greeted by a salesguy who had no idea we were coming (note: I had received both a call and an email to verify the time of the appointment). He tried to roll with the punches, said he was glad we came and brought us over to a desk.

We sat down, and without even telling us his name, he asked our wedding color. He quickly grabbed a fabric sample (of paisley/flowered vest and striped tie) and said, "Well, here you go!" They color didn't look exactly the same as I remembered the dresses, but he looked at me like I was crazy when I asked if there were other options. That's the only option we have if we want to use our color: no solid, no checks... just flowered + stripes.

Having the color out of the way (in his mind), he got out a book that contained pictures/descriptions of tuxes and handed it to us... and walked away. Patrick and I just looked at each other confused. We tried to be good sports by looking at the pages, but we had no clue what we were supposed to be looking at. We tried to figure it out by reading descriptions, but we sat the book down after a minute or so and then sat waiting for him for probably 4 minutes. He eventually came over and said he had put together a few looks for us, then showed us 3 tuxedo jackets he had laid out.

He did a very quick run-through of prices, told us the # of buttons each of them had & told me that we WOULD be using white for the shirts b/c my dress was white (even if that's the look we'd been thinking, he said it like we didn't have a choice). Patrick had to ask if he could try one of them on. Apparently there weren't any other sizes, and the first sample was a little short on the sleeves and a little tight, but it wasn't too bad - Patrick looked sharp in it, but I thought the lapel (I think that's what it's called b/c I google'd it, not that the salesguy explained it) was strange. Absolutely no offense to Patrick, but the second one looked like the scene from Tommy Boy when Chris Farley sings "Faaaat guy in a little coat."

We started cracking up and couldn't even focus on what the tux looked like b/c it was sooo small on him. The salesguy - yes, we still didn't know his name - stuttered through the words, "So, um, do you want to get something set up?"

It was my turn to give him a look like he was crazy. Being in sales, both Patrick and I both understand the idea of a BASIC sales strategy, and he apparently had no clue. We told him that no, we weren't ready to get anything set up.

He nodded, said, "Ok, well when you're ready, here's my card." The last thing he said to us - while we were walking out the door - was "Hey... Sorry about the vests." We sat down in the car and agreed we were more confused than when we walked in.

I'm not sure that I'm willing to give Men's Warehouse another chance after this totally wasted 10-minute experience, but if we do, I PROMISE we won't be using that card.

-Lisa

P.S. On a more positive note, we went over to David's Bridal after Men's Warehouse, and I showed Patrick the two bridesmaid dresses we're thinking about. He said that he really liked both of them! Kate texted me a couple pictures of her in the two dress choices this morning, and she looked great in both (Mandy and Kate have tried them on so far). While we were at David's Bridal, I tried to get Patrick's opinion on veils/sashes, and I have to give him credit - he's a smart guy! He knows I haven't chosen my veil yet, so he gave his opinion... but when I asked him about a flowered sash that could go on a dress, he realized I could have something along those lines on my dress, and with a smirk on his face, he refused to give an answer. Two points for him ;)

This Week's Updates

It's been about a week since I posted an update, so let's see what I missed...

- We have an appointment at Men's Wearhouse on Sunday to start looking at ideas for the guys' outfits.
- I sent out a couple bridesmaid dress options to my girls. They'll hopefully be able to try them on and get back to me with feedback at some point this month.
- After the tasting at Babbo's Catering, we were completely spoiled. I emailed the other catering company that's an option, and the girl wrote back asking which FIVE things we'd like to try at our tasting. Since Babbo gave us more than five options for each course, I was caught off-guard. They also only offer tastings at 10am or 2-5pm during the week -or- before 11am on Saturdays. REALLY?! We're definitely leaning towards Babbo.
- I've been working on figuring out the hotel in order to set up a block of rooms. I toured 3 hotels to check them out, and 2 of those are still in the running. We were thinking of doing two hotel options for guests, but I think I'll just set one block up at the hotel we're staying at and then just list a couple other budget hotels on our wedding website so interested guests can do the research/reservations themselves. Both hotels we're considering are very nice and under $90/night, so it's pretty affordable compared to a lot of places around the valley! There are plus's and negatives for each one, but we want to check out the suites they offer (since I wasn't able to get in and see them), and then we'll make a decision.
- We have a consultation set up with the DJ on Wednesday the 27th. We'll meet with him at the Aldea Open House, and since it's the last Wednesday of the month, we'll be able to see the outdoor areas of Aldea set up as they would be for a ceremony and cocktail hour.
- We had put research for honeymoon ideas on hold until we were able to look at flights, and that time has come! I'm putting this one on Patrick b/c the idea of going on vacation is the thing he's most excited about :).
- We're down to only a couple weeks until our trip to St. Louis to celebrate our engagement with my family. We go to Cleveland a month after that, and I'm so excited for both engagement parties!

I think that's it for now! Patrick and I are going to a wedding tomorrow, so we'll be on the lookout for ideas - both good and bad :)*. We'll be able to spend time with some friends that I haven't been able to see in a couple years, and it's always fun to get dressed up. I love weddings.

-Lisa

Let's Talk About Shoes

Yes, I realize we're 10 and a half months out from the wedding, but I've already been thinking of the little details when it comes to my outfit. Since I have the dress figured out, the remaining details are: shoes, jewelry, hair & makeup. Let's start with SHOES!

My initial idea for my shoes was to get a fuschia satin heel... like this:

I love that idea, but my latest idea would add some... ok, maybe more than "some"... a LOT of sparkle.

I read about this idea on weddingbee.com after finding multiple threads about brides who "strass'ed" their Christian Louboutin shoes.

I'm still not sure if I would want to use pink or clear crystals, but my inspiration pictures are to the right...

After searching around for a pair of shoes to try it on, I found a pair of heels that would work perfect; they're a copper-ish colored peeptoe heel with a strap behind the heel; the heel and platform are black. The guys' tuxes are going to be black, so I wanted to try and find a way to tie in black with the decorations... and being able to tie it into my shoes is even better!

I'd leave the platform & heel black (and not covered with crystal), and I'd glue crystals one-by-one to the rest of the shoe.

Part of me was scared that I'd be getting myself in over my head, but that feeling went away pretty quickly ;). If I mess up and hate how the shoes come out, I can just go find my original idea for a pink satin heel.

I'm going to get the crystals on ebay (that's the best deal I've found), so it will probably be a while to get them back from the ebay seller. That should give enough time to finish the invitations before I'm able to start working on the shoes! Yesssssss.

BEFORE:

 

-Lisa

My Dress is Now Complete

I'm going to keep this vague just in case a certain redhead decides to read this... ;) but I bought the perfect accessory for my dress today!

It's something that I had tried on with the dress originally, and adding that little touch pushed me over the edge to say yes. Since I'm a bargain shopper, I had been shopping around (at other bridal shops and online) to make sure it was the best deal, but I hadn't found anything I liked as much for the same price or less. I used my saleswoman skills and got them to lower the price... to a little less than half the sticker price. At that point, it was an easy decision to say, 'SOLD!'

It finishes off the dress perfectly, and I'm thanking my mom for making it a special present from her!

I have a lot to figure out for my attire: shoes, veil(?), jewelry and how to do my hair/makeup... but I guess 324 days is plenty of time ;)

-Lisa

P.S. If you know what the accessory is (it was shown on the pictures I texted/emailed a few people), shhhhhh!

Staying Ahead of the Game

We've made some serious progress on the invitations!

Last week, Shannon (the wife of Sean, Patrick's best man) read the blog entry saying I was planning on making our invitations and emailed me saying she had made the invitations for her wedding. She had some suggestions and sent me pictures of how hers turned out - I loved them, and that was enough to inspire me to get working on ours!

From the examples I had made, I knew my favorite. Without knowing which I liked best, Patrick actually chose the same one as his #1. That decision was an easy one. We had a long weekend with nothing planned on Sat/Sun/Mon, so we took a trip to Joann's Fabric & Craft store (I love that store). They were having a ridiculous sale b/c of the holiday weekend, and we got the cardstock for the invitations on sale at 73% off! Score.

Instead of just showing Patrick a handwritten example of what it would look like, I put together the full version (including printing it up and using the actual paper it would be on). His reaction made me laugh; he said he really liked them & that it looked very professional... but pointed out that I hadn't completely cut a line straight on one of the layered pieces. We have a lot in common b/c I saw the same thing ;).

During a couple movies and a number of tv shows, I worked on cutting/scoring the cardstock into the right sizes, and Patrick helped by folding them along the scored lines. I worked on them for a while after kickball tonight, and the pocket part of each of the invitations is now put together. I'm still touching up corners with a gluestick but learned that glue dots are a huge timesaver.

We won't be sending out the invitations for months, but the picture to the left is a teaser... You'll just have to use your imagination!

I've been loving hearing that people are getting our Save the Date's in the mail; it's fun to hear everyone's feedback, and it even helps to make this feel a little more real.

I know it's still early - and I'll knock on wood as I'm typing - but our wedding planning process has been really easy so far. There have been a couple things we haven't agreed on 100%, but we've been able to come to a good solution after talking it out. We're just trying to make sure that we remember our wedding should be a celebration of the two of us, and things are seeming to fall into place with that in mind. We make a pretty good team (if I do say so myself)! :)*

-Lisa

Catering Tasting #1 & Aldea Orientation

Patrick took the initiative and set up our first catering tasting at Babbo, an Italian restaurant. We didn't have high expectations and were just excited that they told us to come with an empty stomach b/c we "would leave stuffed."

Last night was that tasting! We asked Banks to come with us; we wanted his opinion, but we also knew he'd help make it fun. We showed up at 5:30 and were greeted by Chris, the manager. He showed us to a back corner booth and asked some questions to find out about our wedding stats/ideas.

Patrick, Banks and I are three of the least picky eaters possible, and we were excited to try everything. With each dish, Chris explained the ingredients in detail and acted as an incredible host. We started with the appetizers; he brought out probably 5 samples, including a garlic bread, olive tapenade, pesto bruschetta and firecracker rolls (similar to egg rolls with three different fillings - steak, spicy chicken and one other).

Next came salads; we tried 6 salads: from the traditional caesar salad to a spring salad that had pine nuts, golden raisins, feta cheese, red onion and a sweet balsamic. Patrick took one of the salads that they gave us and asked to change up a few things; they made it, and he called the amazing result "The Sweeney."

The pastas came next. Again, we had 6 different pasta examples. Some were boring; some were unique, but there was a lot of it! After this course, we figured we were finished, but no.. We still had the entrees to come.

Chris brought out 7 different chicken entrees. There was a lemon chicken, a chicken topped with a spicy sausage, chicken marsala, wild mushroom chicken marsala, a chicken dish with creamy sauce and brussels sprouts, spinach gorgonzola chicken and chicken parmesan.

Just when we were stuffed and I couldn't imagine eating anything else, Chris brought out a huge coffee mug full of tiramisu. I laughed under my breath as Patrick volunteered to try it; he doesn't like chocolate, so I was just waiting for the cocoa powder to hit him. Apparently, he either avoided or ignored it, but he LOVED the tiramisu. Yes, my fiance (the guy who doesn't like chocolate, who rarely likes desserts and who had just said he was REALLY full) finished most of the tiramisu. That's how you know it's good!

We tried to tip Chris at the end of the meal, and he flat out refused. He said that this is a complimentary tasting, and there's no way he'd accept a tip. We tried again, and he refused again. That impressed me.

By that time, we had been eating for 2 hours. Banks left to meet some friends, and Patrick & I headed to Aldea for our Orientation. Evelyn, the owner, took about an hour and a half to get to know us and explain details we'd need to know and figure out what we were hoping to do with our wedding. I love that she's very prompt when it comes to starting events (just like me) and that she's completely open-minded to helping to make our wedding "US" - whatever that means. She's great, and I love that she takes the time to get to know a bit about each couple getting married at Aldea.

The next meeting at Aldea will be our decorating meeting. I CAN'T WAIT :). Evelyn joked around with Patrick saying he didn't need to be there. He laughed and said that it's the one meeting he DOES need to be at... He's scared I'll choose pink for everything, and he wants to make sure to monitor that ;). I love that he wants to be involved - even it it's only to make sure there's not too much pink!

We have another caterer to try out, and Patrick wants to try some more that aren't on the list of what's included in our Aldea package - as long as it's a complimentary tasting lol. We'll see. The first tasting went much better than either of us thought, and unless the other caterer blows us away, we have a really good idea of who we'll be getting our food from.

I love this.
-Lisa

The SAVE THE DATE's are in the Mail

Just a quick entry, but I dropped the Save the Date's off at the post office today!! They were delivered to us on Wednesday (exactly when they were promised - 2 points for Magnetstreet.com) - and we love them! The colors really pop, and we think they turned out really well :).

On Wednesday, I started addressing the envelopes right away, Patrick picked up the stamps yesterday and I had return address labels made at Kinkos for a big $1.64 (and only 5 minutes... Very much worth not having to write my own address 100 times).

We had a fun night last night, and I'll write about out catering tasting #1 at Babbo's and our orientation meeting at Aldea later.

Have a good Friday!
-Lisa