The Necessary Paperwork

In Arizona, a marriage license is good for one year from the date it's printed, so we figured we'd get it when we both had a chance to get out of work early and meet downtown. It's a little over 9 months until we'll need it, but we got our marriage license today!

-Lisa

Put A Ring On It

Today, we made a stop at Shane Co. to get my ring cleaned and to check out wedding bands. I don't think that either of us really intended on buying them today... but when it's right, it's right :).

Example of a contoured band

I wanted to find a wedding band that matched the band of my engagement ring. A normal circle band wouldn't work b/c of the way my ring is put together, so the band would have to be contoured (it would form kind of a "U" shape; see the pic to the left).

They brought out somewhere around 8 different bands that could work well with my ring, and the choice soon came down to two - both of them had bands the identical size (with identical diamonds) as my ring. The only difference was that one of them had a row of diamonds along one side (in addition to having a row of diamonds around the edge). Wearing the band below my ring (closer to my body), the difference was amazing. I see the side of my ring every time I look at my hand, and other people can even see it if I have my arms down at my side. The additional sparkle really enhanced the ring.

I seriously considered choosing the other band (with no diamonds on the side) b/c it was less expensive and it still really looked good. Patrick and I talked it out, and both of us admitted that the extra row added sooo much. Since this isn't a piece of jewelry I'll only be wearing every once in a while and just seeing the ring and band together made me smile, we decided to go with it and put it on layaway!

Next, we went over to the men's section to look at the men's wedding bands. They had rings of 4 materials: platinum, gold, tungsten & cobalt. There were positives and negatives of each option, but Patrick really liked the simple look of a white gold band.

The thing that helped sell us on it - and that impressed me the most - was the fact that they said Patrick could choose to have more than one finish on the ring! It's apparently a really easy change, and if he wants to change the look of the ring down the line, he can change it! It's free and takes only 3 days. A 5mm band looked great on his hand, and he's thinking of combining a brushed finish and a shinier finish with a stripe: similar to the ring to the right. I love it!

I asked him if it was strange having a ring on his finger; he said 'absolutely' and it would take him a while to get used to it. Hey, even after only three months (it's exactly 3 months today), I'm still not completely used to wearing my ring... but it feels really weird if it's not on my finger!

Since the value of gold has been fluctuating so much lately, we decided to put his ring on layaway and lock in the price. If the gold's value goes down in the next 9 months, we can lock in that lower price and not have to pay a higher amount. If the value goes up, we're set on the pricing we got today. Win-win situation!

I feel like this was a big step, and it was a very productive day!

- Lisa

Hotel Reserved? Check.

In order to make finding a hotel as easy as possible for our guests (and to plan for a form of transportation in advance so people don't drive after drinking at the reception), we have our block of hotel rooms reserved for the wedding weekend!

After researching and visiting a number of hotels in the area surrounding Aldea, we were by far the most impressed with the Sheraton Crescent (2620 West Dunlap Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85021) and chose that hotel. 

My quick overview... The Sheraton Crescent:
- is located only 2.1 miles away from Aldea
- offers a complimentary shuttle the day of the wedding to/from Aldea until 11:30pm (the time when our reception ends)
- has a couple of pools: one with a fun-looking waterslide & one that's ideal for laying out
- has the nicest rooms of the hotels we considered
- is ranked #3 on Tripadvisor.com for all hotels in Phoenix
- is offering our group a rate of $85/night + tax for the night of the 26th and 3 days before/after. If anyone is planning on staying longer than that, I can try to help get details/pricing for you.
- offers a choice of 1 king-sized bed or 2 double beds for the group price
- has basketball courts, tennis courts, volleyball courts, racquetball courts and a fitness room (for those who want to work out while on vacation)

The link to book the hotel rooms is up and going, but the information listed on the main page (about the time/location of our ceremony) isn't updated yet. Click HERE to access the site to reserve hotel rooms at our group price.

I had originally planned on getting 2 hotels set up as choices, but after weighing the options, it's going to be so much easier to just do the one. I realize that not everyone will want to stay at the hotel - and that's ok! - but I'd love to get as many people there as possible. On the wedding website, I might list 1 or 2 other hotels that are in the area, but the rest would be up to each guest to figure out rates, transportation, etc.

Melissa & Jeff

On another exciting note, I found out today that Melissa & Jeff, a couple of our friends who moved to Ireland just before we got engaged, are planning on coming back to the US for the wedding weekend! Can't wait to see them!

We're down to only a couple weeks until going to Cleveland to celebrate our engagement with Patrick's family over Labor Day weekend. Hopefully the next 2 weeks will fly by b/c I'm excited for the long weekend away.

-Lisa

Working on the Registry

We started the process of getting our in-store registries set up! Patrick has already been having fun with an online registry that can pull items that are for sale from any website online, but we went to Bed Bath and Beyond yesterday to try out the scanner gun.

We thought we'd just walk in, pick up the scanner and get to work... but I guess we overlooked some details. It took a lot longer than we expected; when we walked in, there were already 3 other couples working on their registries, and we had to wait about 20 minutes to get a scanner gun & a salesperson to help with it. Once Dawn came around to help us, she had us fill out paperwork and got our registry set up on their system... then gave us a pretty in-depth tour of the store and the items they recommend.

By that time, we'd already been there an hour and the Browns' preseason football game had started. We scanned a few items to make sure it was working and said we'd go back to work on it again. It was a lot of fun though, and I let Patrick be in charge of the scanner (yes, I realize that could be dangerous lol). After BB&B, we headed out to grab some food and watch the game (Patrick was depressed b/c when we got to his Browns Backers bar, we found out they were having issues with their cable and couldn't show the game. We got Cincinnati Chili to make him feel a little better :) ).

Going through the section of the store that has all the comforters, sheets, decorations, etc, we realized that we don't know what we're looking for as far as the bedroom. As he and I have talked about (multiple times), we respect each others' choices on the colors of our current bedrooms, but neither the bright pink on my accent wall nor the orange on his fits both of us. Today, we're hopefully going to go around and get some paint, carpet & color ideas for what we'd eventually like the bedroom to look like. Just the thought of getting to decorate a new room makes me happy!

Yesterday, I also sat down to finish my pink glitter reception shoes... buuuuut I hit a major roadblock. As I peeled the blue tape that was protecting the inside and the soles of the shoes from the glitter, I realized that it was also peeling the pink glitter off the shoe. To test it out, I barely pulled the pink glitter coating, and it peeled off easily to reveal a completely unharmed pair of gold/copper flats below. As I kept pulling, all of the glitter easily peeled off. Ohhh nooo!

This definitely calls for a 'TAKE TWO' on the shoes. I'm not sure what I need to do on them: scuff up the surface so the glue can hold onto something, try a different type of glue, just wait and keep my eye out for fuschia glitter flats or figure out a completely new idea for my reception shoes. Fortunately, we're still over 9 months away from the wedding, and I have plenty of time to figure that out. I'm actually ok with this b/c even though I loved the look of the pink glitter (especially in the pictures), I wasn't completely sold on how the texture of the glue/glitter looked - I would have liked it smoother. If anyone has any great ideas, please let me know! In the meantime, now I have an excuse to go shopping at Joann's or Michael's Craft stores. I guess I can handle that... ;)

-Lisa

The Wedding Party is Complete

From the first time that Patrick met my family, my brother David (I call him Doodle) has played the 'protective brother' role. During the first weekend Patrick was around the family, I asked him if he liked Patrick, and he responded, "I won't approve until I meet him five times." As tough as he tried to be, the two of them hit it off, and they got along really well each time they were together. Knowing that they hadn't met five separate times when we got engaged, I texted Doodle and asked if he approved now. His response was, "Yeah, I guess... but does he realize he has to spend the rest of his life with you?!" Gotta love brothers. ;)

A few years ago - After Doodle's HS graduation

Going back to STL would be the fifth meeting, and the timing was perfect b/c Patrick was planning on asking Doodle to be a groomsman at some point during the weekend. On Friday, we made a stop to get a bottle of whiskey that the two guys could toast from when Patrick asked him.

On Saturday (after fishing), David got out a bag and said to me, "I could give this to you as a present, but it's kind of for him..." and trailed off. I just smiled as he gave Patrick a bottle of Jameson, an Irish whiskey. That was his peace offering and way of saying that he finally does approve of him. They went downstairs and talked a little while later, and our wedding party was officially complete! We're very lucky to have this amazing group of friends/family in our lives.

-Lisa

Engagement Party - St. Louis Style

We just got back from an incredible weekend in St. Louis with my family. Our flight landed in STL on Friday afternoon and went with my mom straight to Cecil Whittakers, my favorite pizza place, for lunch. They have St. Louis-style pizza; it's a thin crust pizza with provel cheese - and soooo good. After lunch, we went over to my cousin (and matron of honor) Lindsey's house to see her and her two boys. Gavin just turned 6 months old, and I hadn't been able to see him in person; I had met Logan (who's now 2) a couple times, but it's amazing how much bigger he's gotten!

The guys showing off our fish

My dad suggested going fishing the next morning, so 4 of us got up before 5am and drove a couple hours to Maramac Springs Park. The creek is stocked with trout every night, and we had a very successful fishing trip. David (my brother) and my dad each got their limit of 4 trout in the first hour, and Patrick & I helped get that total up to 14 by the time we left. It was gorgeous: there was fog over the water when we arrived, and the water was so clear you could see the fish swimming around.

My dad announcing Patrick's new title

After getting back to my parents' house and taking naps, it was time for the engagement party! It was really hard for me not to mention anything to Patrick in the week leading up to our trip, but my dad had been planning a surprise for him - a ceremony to induct Patrick into our royal Polish family. My Uncle Dave took Patrick away to go to the gas station (so we could get everything prepared), and he came back to see everyone sitting in the living room & some of us wearing crowns; there was also Polish music playing. The initial look of confusion/fear/amusement on his face was PRICELESS.

The Royal Family

The ceremony was hilarious, and my dad went above and beyond anything I expected! He had put together a 3-page script, had Burger King crowns for all of us and he had decorated a red velvet crown for Patrick. He also had a scepter, a sword, pierogies, polish sausage and polish pickles to present to him. A couple of my dad's uncles acted as the elders, and they all walked in with a blanket around each of their shoulders and their Burger King crown. The two of them even stood up and sang a song in Polish! Just thinking about the ceremony makes me start giggling, and it was the perfect addition to the party.

It was an incredible weekend overall, and I'm very thankful for how much my family has embraced Patrick. Everyone adores him, and they easily see why I'm so happy with him. After a really rough year last year, all the fun & laughter is definitely a huge step in turning that around.

-Lisa

Yep... It's Another Shoe Update

In doing research on making strassed shoes, I read that it took some people 30+ hours to finish their shoes. After going through my 4,320 crystals, my question to those people is: WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!

I apparently FLEW through the process of decorating these shoes. I'd say it took maaaaybe 10 hours, but even that # is pushing it, and the time went by fast b/c there was a movie or tv on the whole time.

Unfortunately, I ran out of crystals just before I finished... but I only have to finish decorating the part of the straps that surround the buckle. No problem: I can just pick some similar crystals up at Michaels!

The latest picture update is to the right:

Because these 4-inch heels are probably going to kill my feet after a while - and b/c I don't want to break/sprain an ankle while trying to dance in them - I have plans for a pair of reception shoes, too... and those were started tonight!

In order to prevent the glitter from getting everywhere, I used a thin pink glitter and fabric glue that said it would stay flexible after drying to made a paste, and then that paste was painted on a pair of comfortable flats. The shoes still need some work b/c the paste needs to be applied smoothly and they need a couple more coats, but my vision is coming together. Even though it looks like there are multiple pink colors in the picture, it's only b/c it's still wet.

It's so much fun to be allowed (and encouraged!) to make my outfit for our big celebration 'ME'! Can you tell I'm still loving this whole process?!

-Lisa