Meet Sean & Todd

Patrick is in Cleveland this weekend, and he went golfing with two of his friends, Todd and Sean. While golfing, he asked both of them to be in the wedding party, and he pulled Sean aside at one point to ask him to be his best man.

In picture (left to right): Sean, Patrick, Todd

Sean - Best Man. Sean got to be really close with the Sweeney family b/c he dated one of Patrick's sisters for years. Patrick refers to Sean as his "big brother as he was growing up," and he knew right away who he would want to ask to be his best man. I met Sean over a quick lunch when we went back to Cleveland this past winter. He cracked me up; he has lots of stories, he's very feisty, and I had to stay on my toes around him. I realized I had to try to give him as hard of a time as he gave me, and I see us getting along well b/c of that. Earlier today, Sean and his wife, Shannon, texted me the picture of the three guys together - Thanks again for doing that; I love the pic!

Todd - Groomsman. Patrick and Todd knew OF each other during high school, but they didn't become close friends until college - they both attended Muskingum University, and the two of them lived together a little over a year. I've heard a lot about Todd and met him in Cleveland; we got to talk for a while during the Sweeney's Superbowl party. Todd and Patrick have stayed in touch over the years, and I know that his friendship means a lot to Patrick.

My girls have all been announced, and Patrick is up to 4 guys... I haven't heard his plan for asking the others, but I'm guessing there are more updates to be announced at some point soon...!

-Lisa

Meet Kate & Maggie - The Final Two Bridesmaids

I'm proud to say that I have officially asked all six of my girls to be in the wedding party, and all six of them said yes!

The last (but not least) two are Patrick's sisters, Kate and Maggie. From the first time I talked to them on the phone, they have been amazing. I couldn't have asked for a more welcoming pair of siblings, and I'm so excited to have them as my sisters-in-law.

Kate - Bridesmaid. Kate (left in the picture) is Patrick's older sister. She lives in Cleveland (only a few minutes from his parents' house) with her husband Mike. Kate and Mike got married a few years ago, and she's already given some great advice that she learned from her wedding. I feel like we already have a lot in common and can't wait to get to know each other better.

Maggie - Bridesmaid. Maggie (in the center in the picture) just moved to Detroit after being offered a very exciting job with a major department store. She's had a long-distance relationship with her hockey-playing boyfriend Colin, and the move got her a LOT closer to him (looking forward to meeting him!). Maggie is a fashion expert, so I'll definitely be looking for her feedback/suggestions on dresses, etc!

It's always nervewracking meeting your significant other's family, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I met his dad first (less than a month into our relationship) and met his mom about a month after that... Since both of those meetings happened early, I didn't have time to really over-think it - and they were fantastic. After meeting his parents went well (and we started to get more and more serious), I was really nervous to meet Patrick's sisters. Maggie & Kate mean so much to him, and I knew that their opinion would mean a lot. Siblings can be very protective of each other, and they don't always accept a new bf/gf. I soon realized I had nothing to worry about. We finally met over Thanksgiving (when both of our families came to Phoenix). They welcomed me with open arms, and I consider myself very lucky.

In an earlier entry, I said that I would save HOW I asked the girls for later, and now that all of them have been asked, I don't have to wait any longer! I love scrapbooking, so I decided to put a personal touch into asking each of them. I found ribbon and sparkly letters that match our wedding colors, and I made each of them a scrapbook. For Kelly, Lindsey, Mandy & Kristen, I found pictures of the two of each of us through the years - starting around the time we first met and going to today. For Kate & Maggie, I asked Nell (Patrick's mom) for help. She, his dad & Maggie (without knowing what she was doing) went through old photo albums and frames for pictures of Patrick with each sister (there aren't many of me with the two of them... yet!). Their scrapbooks showed pictures of their relationships with Patrick through the years. On the last page of each book, I wrote a message telling each girl why they mean so much to me & asked her to be in the wedding party. I'm really happy with how they turned out, and more than anything, going through the pictures was a reminder of the good times over the years. With friends like these six, I have no doubt those good times will continue!

-Lisa

PS, I'm getting tired, but I'm almost too excited to sleep - Wedding dress shopping is first thing tomorrow morning!!

Things Do Work Out

I'll be the first person to admit that I was not initially a fan of Iris Creative Photography. When we talked to Amy (the photographer) the first time, she showed us her albums, and there were multiple photos that looked like they were a little blurry, and I couldn't figure out why she would show those pictures. One of the albums just didn't seem like it portrayed the pictures as sharply as I liked; I even told Patrick that I would not be happy if we got the albums with pictures like that.

Yesterday, when we realized we needed to figure out another photography option, I took Patrick's suggestion and emailed Amy asking if we could set up another meeting to ask some follow-up questions and see the albums again. She immediately responded, and we set an 11am meeting time for this morning. Patrick was sold on her, so he was comfortable with the idea of letting me handle the meeting.

I asked the questions I wanted more detail on, and I looked through the albums - specifically pointing out pictures that worried me. I asked for details on those specific photos, and it turns out that the brides/grooms specifically asked for a certain type of filter to be put on the camera for those pictures. She assured me that she didn't have to take any "whimsical-looking" photos & that ours could have sharp lines/images. The albums she has are either magazine style (with paper pages) or a thicker version with cardboard-like pages. The largest magazine-style album wasn't my taste, but the thicker albums are a much higher quality, and I would be completely happy with those.

I admit I was wrong on my first take on her. Amy and I were together an hour, and I'm now a big fan. At the end of our meeting, I told her that we'd be honored if she was our photographer; I feel really good about it, and I think she'll do an incredible job. Patrick loves the fact that she's from the Cleveland area, and they have that Ohio connection. He is also thrilled that she agreed to come take pictures at the rehearsal dinner in the place of an engagement session since we already have some amazing engagement photos (an engagement session is included with our wedding packet). The first photographer just kept telling us that walking around a rehearsal dinner taking pictures would be "much more entailed than an engagement session, so that wasn't a possibility unless we wanted to pay extra." Riiiight.

The more I think about it, the more it makes me angry that the other photographer didn't offer us the courtesy of letting us know our date had been taken - until we told her we had made the decision to go with her. I don't think that's the type of person we need to be working with! Like the subject line says, things do work out :).

-Lisa

So I don't get everything I want...

Apparently everything is not supposed to go exactly like I'd like... Sad. ;) I just got an email from Kiss the Camera saying she was no longer available on our date. I think it's very poor form that she didn't let us know it was taken b/c we'd been emailing back and forth over the last week. Therefore, I'm being bitter and taking back the compliments I originally gave... Take that lol.

That photographer was my favorite, but Patrick had a different one as his #1. We'll talk tonight and figure out what we're going to do!

-Lisa

We've been engaged one month!

Today is one month from the day Patrick proposed, and that month went QUICK. If this first month flew by, I can only imagine what the other 11 will do!

We're getting close to making some big decisions...! We liked the work and quality of Kiss the Camera photography combined with the personality of Christine (the photographer), and we think she'll be a great fit with the personalities of our wedding party & guests. I emailed her letting her know that, but she's out of town on vacation for a couple weeks and had told us that she wouldn't be checking her email as regularly as normal. I'm hoping we get this finalized soon!

I had two bridal shop appointments set for Saturday, but I decided to change one of them... The first shop I found at the bridal show apparently doesn't carry Maggie Sottero dresses; I love a couple of her designs & have my heart set on at least trying them on, so that shop wasn't going to work. I found a place called Almond Tree boutique, a consignment bridal WAREHOUSE. They carry a long list of designers, and apparently 95% of their dresses are brand new. That really caught my attention, and after checking out the reviews on multiple websites, I gotta check this place out! If we don't find anything at that 9am appointment, I have another appointment set at noon at David's Bridal. I'm not completely sold on any of the David's Bridal dresses I've seen online, but it's probably worth a look. If we find the perfect dress at Almond Tree, we'll just check out the bridesmaid dresses at noon! I'm really looking forward to our girls' day... Well, it'll actually be a girls' weekend b/c Patrick's going to Cleveland this weekend to see family/friends. He joked around about being glad he's avoiding a weekend full of "wedding, girly stuff," but I'm pretty sure there was at least a little bit of truth to the statement lol. I'm glad he found a weekend to go, and he's really excited.

Next Thursday (the 30th), we have a couple of appointments already lined up. The first is a dinner food tasting with one of the catering companies. They told us to show up with an empty stomach and promised we'd leave full. B/c of that, I think Patrick is already counting the days ;). After we're finished with the food, we have an orientation meeting with Evelyn, the owner of Aldea (our wedding venue). That should answer any questions we have and go into more detail about the planning process. I really appreciate the fact that Aldea is being proactive in getting our wedding details going!

That's about it for now; I'll update this after trying on some wedding dresses!

-Lisa

Pictures are Up & Appointments are Set

For anyone who hasn't seen the engagement pictures, I created a photo album on Facebook of my favorites. Even if we're not friends on FB, you should be able to see the album by clicking HERE. We're trying to figure out which one(s) to use for our Save-the-Date's; it's a hard decision! 

This week, we've been working out some more of the details. We went to the Arizona Bridal Show on Sunday, and that went sooo much better than I had expected. We have most of the things already checked off the list b/c of the all-inclusive package at Aldea, so we went into the show looking for information on honeymoon ideas, invitations, dress/tux shops and any other little details we hadn't thought of. We were in and out in an hour!

At the Bridal Show, I set two appointments at bridal shops to go dress shopping! My mom is coming to Phoenix this coming Thursday, and we're planning on going shopping on Saturday. I've asked Mandy to go with us, and I've also invited Briana (my 16 year-old little sister through Big Brothers Big Sisters). When Briana comes to my house for a sleepover, we'll usually end up watching an episode (or two) of Say Yes to the Dress, and she was really excited when I asked her to come along; it's probably more excited than I've heard her in the 2 years we've known each other! I have my definite idea of what kind of dress I want, but we'll see how it looks on me.

Patrick and I are close to choosing a photographer, and we went to a presentation about Sandals resorts at a travel agency on Thursday. We left with some ideas and a lot of information. His main goal for our honeymoon is to find a place we can go scuba diving - and he wants me to get certified before we go. It makes me laugh how I'm so excited about putting the details together about the reception/ceremony, and he's so excited about going on vacation afterwards :). We compliment each other well.

-Lisa

Meet Kelly, Lindsey & Kristen

I can officially say that I've added a three more girls to the bridal party, and they're representing cities all over the country. These girls are three of the strongest and most genuine people I've ever met. I always know that they'll have my back if needed, and I'm honored they're going to be standing up next to me!

Kelly - Maid of Honor. I got to know Kelly my first few years living in Phoenix. We are usually laughing when together & often find ourselves in some kind of mischief. She lives in Chicago, and we've been back and forth across the country numerous times over the years to see each other. One of the best adventures we've had together was our incredible cruise to Mexico; the picture to the left is of the two of us and the captain of the ship. Kel (and her boyfriend Brian) took a trip to St. Louis for my Hall of Fame Induction, and she was an incredible sport when I ended up in the emergency room with a torn achilles that Saturday - on her birthday. Kelly is just an amazing friend and person in general.

Lindsey - Matron of Honor. Lindsey is my cousin and only 5 days older than me; her mom was leaving the hospital with her when my mom was going in to have me. She would say that our relationship started our rocky - she claims that as a baby, I would bite. I question that story ;), but she and I have grown very close over the years, and she's become the closest person to being an biological sister that I've had. Lindsey and I have a running contest to see who can get each other the most obnoxious gift (jewelry, salt/pepper shakers, etc), so if you have any ideas, I'm all ears! She has always loved babies, so it's perfect that Lindsey is a nurse and works in the nursery of a hospital. She and her husband, Luke, live in St. Charles, MO (my hometown) and have two adorable sons: Logan (who's almost 2) & Gavin (4 months old).

Kristen - Bridesmaid. Kristen and I got to know each other really well while working for the Suns/Mercury and quickly became inseparable. We often share a sparkle in our eyes, and I love Kristen's feistiness; I know it'll always be a good time when she's around. Kristen moved to Denver, CO about 3 years ago, and (most recently) Kelly and I took a trip to visit her a few months ago. When the 3 of us get together, you'll usually hear a "BFF Rally" chant starting quietly and then getting louder and louder. Kristen and I had one of the best vacations ever at an all-inclusive resort in Puerta Vallarta, and we have had countless incredible memories over the years. I'm looking forward to getting Kristen's boyfriend (Greg) together with Kelly's boyfriend (Brian) AND Patrick; I think the three of them will get along great.

I won't give details of HOW I asked them to be part of the bridal party (that'll come later), but I'm very lucky to have them in my life and am so touched they've accepted! I love these girls.

-Lisa