we're legal...

We did it! After inclement weather cancelled the town clerk's evening session on Wednesday night, we decided to go in this morning and get it taken care of. About ten minutes after entering the clerk's office, we walked back out with our marriage license...it's all legal!
Yesterday was a happy mail day - part of the bidesmaids gifts arrived, as well as our personalized napkins ordered from the knot shop. How cute are they? They are a very pale blue and we'll alternate them with plain apple green napkins to incorporate both of our colors.
Our cake topper is coming along, courtesy of FI. I ordered the custom letter from Crafty Eddy and purchased the 3mm, flat back clear rhinestones at a local craft store. I had planned on doing it myself but, FI volunteered and he's been doing a great job!
A close-up. He painted both sides with metallic silver acrylic paint before starting in on the stones. This photo was taken the first night and he finished tonight (pics to come)! As for the guest list, I think we finally have it down (with the exception of the still missing response from our priest and his wife) and will be able to start working on seating soon. I think I may just go with the February knotties suggestions of using an online chart so that we can easily move people around on screen. Wish us luck!!!

Lastly, I have been truly struggling to find the perfect wedding gift for FI. He says he wants a watch but isn't specific about what type (not helpful), has shot down other thoughts I had (custom Steelers jersey) but, by fate, tonight I came across anthoer knottie's bio that gave me an idea. FI is a bridge engineer and is, well, obsessed with bridges. She had these in her bio with a link to the etsy seller - a silk tie screen printed with an image of the G.W. Bridge: I just convo'ed the seller and and hoping that they get back to me telling me a custom print job is possible before the wedding. Now, that doesn't solve the whole gift issue but, it's a start!

*UPDATE* They can get the tie to me, on time! Wheeeeee :-)

we inturrupt this program...

From the time I woke this morning and every time I have looked at the clock since, I have measured the day by what I will be doing then:

• At 8:57 I will just be walking into the hair salon with my mom, sister and one of my bridesmaids (with the makings for mimosas in hand)
• At 11:04 we'll be back in the hotel and welcoming the make-up artist, Christine into the suite
• And now, at 2:45 pm, I'll be in the side room of the church, anxiously awaiting my walk down the aisle to FI who will then become my husband in under an hour. Whoa. Getting misty here

I can hardly contain my excitement, my butterflies, the hopes and wishes for the day. Small details and to-do lists aside, I'm ready.

twisty, twirly, curly girly...

Today was my hair trial with Sarah at Eclipse Salon. Although I procrastinated on making a decision on a salon, and then in making the appointment, I really was looking forward to today. Sarah couldn't have been nicer and through our conversation it even turned out that she and FI went to high school together. I brought in photos of the style I wanted and I think she got it down perfectly, with my one change of a side-swept bang.

I love this first shot that she captured - looking at myself for the first time with all of my bridal accessories and getting a little teary.

The front: we decided after the pics that there will be more volume toward the back the day of; my headpiece was flattening it out just a touch here.

The back: love all of the soft curls she created. Up-do's are the one case where I'm grateful for the natural wave/curl in my hair as the styled curls really hold. Having the veil tucked way in the back allowed it to be a bit longer on my arm and see all of the hairstyle. Exactly what I had envisioned.

Good shot of the side swept bang. Sarah will completely embed the ends of my headpiece in the hairstyle the day of. You can see them slightly here so that it would be easy to take back out before I left.

I was so happy with the experience and can't wait to put this up-do and my accessories (have I mentioned how much I love my earrings?) together with my dress the day of - 34 days from now!

picking up the pace, moving it along...

#1 - Our honeymoon is booked!!! We are scheduled to fly out of NY to GREECE on Sunday, May 17th and will return on Thursday, June 4th. I could not possibly be more excited about this trip! I've dreamed of traveling to Greece my whole life. Though I am well-traveled, I hadn't had the opportunity to make it there before now. So. very. excited.

#2 - FI and I finished the RD invites on Tuesday night and sent them out yesterday. I just love how they turned out.

Chandelier detail with rhinestone accent:#3 - Another "something blue" that I hadn't gotten around to sharing yet. FIL's gave me this beautiful blue topaz ring for Christmas. I adore it and am so grateful to them!

#4 - My wedding band!!! We had it custom made at a jeweler upstate and my parents brought it to me this past weekend when they were in town for the shower. It's a perfect fit with my e-ring. I cannot wait to wear it in just 36 days...

On my hand, with my e-ring. The bands nestle together like puzzle pieces.

#5 - Tonight, FI and I have our big appointment with our reception venue to finalize the menu, cake, linens, chairs, timeline...everything! I am just about to type up a very lengthy list of questions. And, crud! I just realized I never printed a pic of the cake! Argh. Need to do that when I get in from work tonight right before we leave. Here is the inspiration photo, though we will ask for round layers:

practice makes perfect...

After much searching and debate, FI took the reins and booked our rehearsal dinner this weekend. After seeing how wonderfully everything worked at my shower and how great the food and service were, it was not a difficult choice to book the same restaurant and room for the RD. I had designed the invites for the rehearsal months ago, just waiting for the correct information to be added and now, they are ready to go!

Tonight, I'll print them on textured cardstock, mount them on black stock, round the corners and add just a single tiny clear rhinestone to the center of the chandelier for a little sparkle. With any luck, I'll have them in the mail by Thursday.

We've accomplished a few things in the past week:

1. RD booked
2. RD invite design done (today's accomplishments count, too!)
3. Details of rehearsal and ceremony confirmed with our priest
4. My Chrismation scheduled (being blessed into the church)
5. My ring came in (cannot wait to wear it!!!)
6. FI's ring came in
7. FI plotted out the aisle runner design

I think there are a few others but, that's what I can think of off the top of my head. What's planned for this week? Even more big things:

• 1st fitting (tonight!)
• Call Riviera Bakehouse to discuss design of RD cake
• Finalize menu, linens, decor and day of timeline with venue (Thursday)
• Finish assembling programs
• Paint aisle runner
• Order girl's bridal party gifts
• Hair trial (Saturday)

38 days to go!!! It's all feeling much, much closer and more real now. SO excited!

showered with love...

This Saturday, my wonderful sister (MOH) threw me a beautiful bridal shower/luncheon with over 40 family members and friends. The whole day was beyond anything I could have imagined and was just amazing in every way. From eight hours away, she planned the shower over the phone, sight-unseen and not one detail was left out.

I went into the shower in a state of disbelief (how could it be here already? is this all really for me?) and was determined to keep my composure. But, in that beautiful room, surrounded by so much love and generosity, I fell apart during my thank you speech and it made the enormity of all that is to come in the next six weeks really hit home. Here are just a few photos and highlights of the day.

Me and my beautiful sister, Corine:

The table set up. My mom and sister handmade the flower arrangements and even painted the flowerpots so that everything matched our wedding colors:

The favors. Hershey bars in customized wrappers. The back is even more adorable, listing the "ingredients" and well wishes. I'll take a pic to post as soon as I can:

The cake. Beautiful AND delicious!

My amazing bridal party - Jess, Diane, Aurie and Corine (MOH):

My mom and grandma:

FMIL and FI's aunt:

Our koumbara (marriage sponsor) and her daughter (FI's cousins):Cutting the first slice of cake for good luck!

Afghan from a friend, personalized with our names and wedding date:

My god-daughter, Sophie "helping" me open my cake service set:Coffeemaker from a group of my friends:
I couldn't choose a favorite part of the day if I tried. There was so much love and laughter in that room. FI and my sister did a great job of mixing both sides of the guest lists at the tables and, from the sounds of conversation and all of the laughing, I think we are going to have an incredibly fun and lively wedding reception!

Now, my sister has flown home, the gifts are a) put away in cabinets, drawers and put to immediate use, b) in storage at FMIL's house until we have more space of our own or, c) still sitting in boxes in out dining room awaiting placement after we clear our home of all of the rest of the wedding stuff!

Our mother's shocked me by, together, gifting us ALL twelve place settings of our china. There was not one gift that I didn't love and not one duplicate. Most people used the registry, some did something more unique and showed how much they really know us.

A few of my favorite gifts? Our china (Mikasa Chelsea Platinum), SEVEN brand-new All-Clad pans, and these two gorgeous pieces - Kate Spade demitasse cups and saucers and matching pedestal footed cake plate. LOVE them:

making a list, checking it...well, all the time!

1. My ring is in!!! Mom picked it up today and is delivering it to me this weekend.
2. FI's ring is en route and should arrive tomorrow!
3. Our cake topper arrived today...love it! Crafty Eddy rocks.
4. My bridal shower is this Saturday! Woot! My sister flys in to town tomorrow night and I can't wait to see her.
5. My first fitting is next Tuesday. I ordered my corset for underneath and am hoping it shows up on time.
6. Appointment to finalize our menu and other venue stuff is next Thursday.
7. The programs are all copied and about 1/4 are assembled and finished. Hoping to get more done this weekend with a little help from my friends and family.
8. Cocktail napkins have been ordered.
9. Last night, I assembled all of the thank you notes I'll need after my shower and I have new pens standing by.

We are getting there. No where near the end of the list yet but, we're making progress little by little. I am really looking forward to this weekend and my shower but, at the same time I know that the weeks are really going to fly after that! Thank goodness this coming Monday is a holiday and I'll be able to stay home and get through a lot of thank you notes and I'd also like to get the flower girl's pomander made.

So much to do but, I'm feeling in a much better place right now and not stressing as much. I'm exercising (go Shred!), eating right and trying to really take time out each day to relax with FI and have moments where there is NO wedding talk. It's all good :-)

Now, if the last 90-something people would just send in their rsvp's...

fifty. five-oh. that's all folks...

i love that i have found the person i truly want to spend the rest of my life with. that he gets me in ways that no one else has. we've planned nearly every detail of our wedding together and have, for the most part enjoyed the process. we've toured venues, laughed, pored over spreadsheets, magazines, binders and fonts. we've price compared candles and bounced around department stores with a registry scanner. there have been so many conversations about what we are most looking forward to about the big day, and all that the following years may hold.

we are now at 50 days.

f.i.f.t.y.

in getting to this point, i've discovered that every engagement ring should really come with a disclaimer:

warning: parts of the planning process will be crappy drudgery and downright frustrating.

it's not him or me or anything in particular, really. it's just that the fun, fantasy part of looking at sparkly baubles, flowers, venues and attending food tastings are over. done. now it's about the minutia. the little details that all add up to a list longer than your arm. so long that you can't quite see the end of it, no matter how much progress you make each day. these last two months, my friends, are not the fun part.

i know that it will all be worth it when i wake up on the morning of february 28th. our wedding day. all the stuff of now will fall away and it will be a flurry of family, friends, hair and make-up and one very classic white gown all leading to IT.

and, maybe that's why new brides-to-be aren't warned. i'd like to hold onto a little bit of a romantic notion that the drudgery at the end all gets forgotten in the magic of the day. that the craziness of those last two months ends up being so worth it that it's not important enough to mention. i guess by the first week in march i'll have my answer.

now, back to my to-do list.

sometimes i astound myself...

* ring, ring *

Clerk: "Good morning, Town Clerk's office. How may I help you?"

Me: "Good morning. Would you please tell me the dates of your upcoming late evenings for marriage licenses?"

Clerk: "Certainly, congratulations! We are open late on the second and forth Wednesday of each month. The next evening available is January 14th."

Me: "Great, thank you!"

Clerk: "Do you know what you need to bring?"

Me: "Um...no?"

Clerk: "You both will need to bring an original or certified copy of your birth certificate and your state driver's license."

Me: {silence}

Clerk: "Miss? Are you there?"

Me: "Oh, yes! Thank you!"

* click *

Me: "Crap."

Next call was to my Mom, asking her to please get my birth certificate out of their lockbox and bring it when she comes to town for my shower next week. Because her daughter, who is 34 years old and hasn't lived at home in 17 years, still keeps her important documents at her parent's house. And, it never even crossed said daughter's mind to take the birth certificate with her when she left that same house just. last. week. Nice.

On a positive NWR note (for Meagan):

Wii LOVE Mario Kart! Next to the Red KitchenAid mixer, it was the best Christmas gift we recieved. We are fiercely competitive with it but also laugh a whole lot!