K5 Becomes A Bride | We planned an amazing wedding!

New blog! I know, I've been MIA

2012-01-03T20:00:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year bloggers!

I've clearly not posted here for quite some time. After much thought, I've created a new blog with a new purpose, and I will no longer be posting on K5 Becomes a Bride...bittersweet.

This wedding planning blog was a lot of fun and now I get to look back at all the details I labored over for nearly 2 years! The best part is my little sister is getting married at the end of this year, so for the next 9 months I get to help HER plan a wedding. I certainly have a bit of advice for her!

Planning advice for you engaged gals: In the end, it's your love and your relationship with each other that make your wedding day what it is; not a cake topper, not a chocolate fountain, not the linens, not the fancy shoes that cost several hundred dollars. Keep it simple, keep it REAL. Have great entertainment, a great photographer and a great videographer (we thankfully had all 3!), and focus on the real reason for the day (and make sure you get all the family photos you can ON that day!).

I hope you'll follow my new blog where I'll be talking about our home renovation and styling projects.
It's called Rhody Home.

Don't forget to become a follower :-)

Signing off.
K5

Tall Vases for Sale

2011-08-27T10:05:00.001-04:00

I have 1 tall vase (center) and 4 medium-tall vases…pillar holder seen on the left to show height comparison…I may keep 1 of the medium-tall but willing to sell all 4.

Will be posted in the For Sale section!

Don't Forget: Items For Sale!

2011-08-24T12:07:00.001-04:00

Visit my For Sale page here!

Pro Wedding Pics TEASER!

2011-07-21T09:48:00.001-04:00

Hello world!

As you know it’s been a while since my last post. Married life is fantastic and we’ve just been keeping really busy with…well, being married and being domestic!! We wake up at 6am, enjoy breakfast together every morning, work full time jobs, enjoy dinner together every night, work on our house (it’s so cute to see him mow the lawn), enjoy a Sox game on the couch…as Husband and Wife! Saturday mornings equal house chores (keeping up with cat hair is driving us nuts), Sunday mornings equal making us a big breakfast, getting back into attending mass.

I’ve clearly been in a blogging/post-wedding slump. To be frank – the fun of planning is over. I have a hole in my life..a hole in my heart. I’m trying to fill it with other things now...projects around the house, work, creative things, and taking another RISD class again this Fall. It’s hard…for 2 years and 3 months I poured over fun, wedding imagery, met with our vendors (whom I now call our wedding friends) many, many times and devised the creative details for our wedding day…it came and went in a flash, and thankfully we are left with unforgettable memories and incredible, tear-jerking imagery that we will never get sick of looking at…THANK YOU JENNIFER LEATHERWOOD AND DAVID BETTENCOURT!

Speaking of wedding imagery, yesterday we received our pro wedding pictures from Jennifer Leatherwood!!

I have lots of posts lined up to chronicle the wedding, and I want Jennifer to blog the wedding first because she just has a nice way of putting images together, but I wanted to share one of my absolute favorite moments:

Us, the kiss, and my little Sis, Jess, the Maid of Honor, and the Best Man Ryan.

And the moment we turned to look at the crowd as Husband and Wife for the first time…lots of applause! :-)

Nothing else mattered…this was the most important moment of the day. We were finally MARRIED. And it was perfect. Our ceremony was so peaceful, he didn’t pass out when he saw me for the first time, we did not stumble when reciting our vows, I didn’t trip, he didn’t step on my dress when we were exchanging the sign of peace with our wedding party….all those little things that ran through our heads weeks/months before the wedding that we thought could go wrong naturally didn’t go wrong haha…the ceremony music was insanely beautiful…everything was just plain amazing.

Here’s the link to our wedding highlight reel by David Bettencourt in case some of you missed it!

Happy Thursday!!

Wedding Items Listed For Sale!

2011-06-28T14:30:00.000-04:00

Starting to get back into the swing of things :)

Check out my FOR SALE page for items from our wedding I'm looking to pass on to other brides-to-be. Will update soon with photos/prices.

I can't believe tomorrow marks ONE MONTH that we've been MARRIED!!!

A few quick photos!

2011-06-13T15:58:00.001-04:00

Just dressed, all laced up! Maid of Honor and cousin Sara following :)

Looking in the full-length mirror with Jenn Leatherwood snapping some shots and David Bettencourt filming from behind!
(my dress was Private Label by G, 1383 in Ivory)

A cousin took this great iPhone photo while we were at the altar!

And us…yes, drumming, alongside our beyond amazing DJ Victor!

I’m Back!! And with a video highlight!

2011-06-11T07:56:00.001-04:00

Hello!!! It’s been so long since I’ve last written! What a whirlwind it’s been.

I wanted to start off with our amazing highlight video that David Bettencourt produced…rave reviews!! I can’t stop watching and reliving the day! We love it so much.

View it here (wouldn’t embed for some reason): http://vimeo.com/24899393

I plan to write in depth when I have a bit more time, but our wedding day was nothing short of amazing and all that we wanted it to be. We are so happy to be calling each other husband and wife… it’s really cute…He just looks at me now and says “Hi, Wife” with a big grin.

Our honeymoon was so much fun which I’ll also detail later. We went to Disney for 3 days and then Sandals Whitehouse for 6. Unfortunately it rained every day at Sandals…sometimes buckets…it wasn’t just a passing shower, just rainy, rainy days. We got a few hours of sun in total, but we made the most of it! The views were still perfect and gorgeous…he surprised me with a beachfront walk-out suite!

This was a spot along the beach…some of the only blue sky we saw, and we made sure to soak up all the sun we could!

We are happily home now and settling back in and trying to organize life…we go back to work Monday! I can’t wait to share everything here, so stay tuned!

My Last Post before I Walk Down the Aisle

2011-05-28T20:36:00.001-04:00

Well, the time has come!!!!!!

As much as I wanted to post things this week, I simply had NO time whatsoever…I was non stop from the moment I left work on Friday 5/20 until now when I’m writing this post, 5/28, after an amazing rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I have all my bridesmaids here with me and tomorrow is going to be an amazing day..IT CAME SO FAST!

I planned on honeymoon posts as well but I don’t think I’ll have the time…I might try the day before we leave for the honeymoon.

THANK YOU to everyone who has read this blog and shared their support. Please continue to read after the wedding…I will have TONS of highlights and reviews of everything, and pictures!!

I love my future husband SO much and I cannot wait to become his Mrs. It was emotional saying goodbye to him tonight on his parents’ front porch, where we spent so much of our time while we dated…when we first began dating we’d watch thunderstorms roll in off that porch…and tonight I gave him my last kiss goodbye before I see him at the altar <3

I have the most amazing wedding artists who I can call my friends…two years planning this wedding, I really feel like I’ve developed great relationships with them...I’m so lucky to have them on my team!!

See you all as a married woman! I cannot be happier!!!

Old, Borrowed, Blue, New

2011-05-21T10:01:00.001-04:00

Here’s a photo of my great-grandmother Re-Re’s rosary beads…until her Alzheimer’s started advancing, she said the rosary twice a day.

She sadly won’t be able to make the wedding, but I can have a piece of her with my, wrapped around my bouquet handle.

My Old, Borrowed, and (the perfect) Blue

And my new…well, everything from my accessories to my dress!
While I can’t show you the dress I can show you the flowers for my hair that I’ll wear at the reception!

Thanks to Etsy Shop Prim and Posies! Anna was a pleasure to work with and got my flowers out to me ASAP! It came as a set of two. This is me wearing them at my final fitting (which was THURSDAY!).

EIGHT DAYS TO GO!

While I admit I’ve already been stalking the 10-day forecast, I know it will change a million times. But the weather we’ve been getting here in RI for the past week makes me think I should prepare and buy some cute umbrellas :-) I can always return them if we don’t use them!

We're featured on the Lovely Little Details Blog!

2011-05-19T15:56:00.000-04:00

Head over to Lovely Little Details today...the lovely Jacin featured our story and engagement photos!!

She also runs Darling Little Details..."a baby fever and nesting inspirations blog". Adorable.

TEN DAYS TO GO!

We finally got our marriage license!

2011-05-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

This post is a week late but better late than never :)

We drove down the road to Warwick City Hall last Wednesday…I love the architecture!

The process wasn’t bad at all…it took about 20 minutes, required our licenses and birth certificates, (we both now live at the same address so that made things easier), filled out the form, paid $24.00 and off we went!

I enjoy these old mementos!

One step closer!

As of this post: 11 days TO GO!

Still need to do:
-give a number to each table
-make placecards and print
-print tablenumbers
-print 125 programs (our Priest approved!)
-make cookie name cards for cookie buffet
-source sugar free cookies for the buffet
-final fitting is TOMORROW NIGHT 5/19!
-make final vendor payments
-pick a song to dance to with my Dad..tough one!
-sort out my Crate & Barrel tealight holders to see how many more I need to guy buy
-go buy C&B tealight holders
-get pens for guest book
-prepare goodie bags for hotel rooms
-wrap BM/GM and parents gifts
-go to Panera to put the breakfast order in for the morning of the wedding

is that it!?

Personalized Hanger

2011-05-18T07:34:00.000-04:00

How can one not love Etsy Weddings?

I knew from last year when I first spotted them that I wanted to have one of these to make the photos of my dress that much more special.

Thanks to Etsy Shop Buttonz & Bloomz I received my vey own personalized wooden hanger! JoAnn took my order last week and rushed it to me at no extra charge.

it came in a flat rate shipping box and neatly wrapped in tissue paper. She also included an adorable thank you note!

I went with the shabby chic white hanger and silver wire. One of the best things about this hanger is that is has the two indents at each end so the hanging straps don’t slide off.

See more of her work here!

Thrilled!!

Thank you so much JoAnn!

Shoes…wait, I thought we were done with shoes?

2011-05-17T18:00:00.000-04:00

No… we weren’t done.

Secretly I still pined for THE perfect shoe even thought I was going to dress up the flats from Dessy.

I was browsing Zappos last week and literally stumbled upon these babies:

I thought…wow…these COULD be the ONES! I ordered a 10 and an 11 to be safe…the great thing with Zappos is their free shipping both ways policy! Better than driving back and forth to DSW.

I got them last night. THEY ARE THE ONES!! Perfect in every way, so completely comfortable, the right color and EVERYTHING!

They are going to look so flipping amazing with my dress and I love how they look with pink polish. And although I now have 3 pairs of shoes I won’t be wearing on my wedding day, I now have the perfect ones…and that’s what counts right?? ;-)

Thank you Etienne Aigner for finally designing MY wedding shoe!! With only 12 days to go…wow, that’s cutting it close :)

The shoe saga can now officially be CLOSED.

Engagement Photo Guest Book

2011-05-17T07:30:00.000-04:00

It came in! WE LOVE IT!

Spine

Front and back inside covers lined with gray paper

Next page with photographer’s name and shoot location

Next page has a little “blurb” about us and our day with the photo of where we met :-)

The rest of the pages have selected favorites from our shoot…about 20 or so…and the other 20 pages are for well-wishes from our guests.

I plan to buy magenta and turquoise archival felt-tip pens for writing. I chose uncoated stock for the book so the ink dries quicker on the pages.

I can’t say enough good things about Blurb!

For around $55.00 (including shipping) I designed my own book with a wide range of options to choose from. I ordered it on May 1, it shipped out of Washington state on May 5, and I had it in my hands via Fed Ex by May 12. It was the most streamlined process I’ve ever gone through for a book site and the site itself it so user friendly (at least I thought).

I downloaded Blurb Booksmart

and simply dragged and dropped our photos. They had a variety of typefaces to choose from so I used Georgia…I didn’t have time to be picky or else I’d have used the typefaces from our stationery. If I had more time and was doing a more involved book with text and graphics, I would have chosen the PDF to book. You can use InDesign and follow their guidelines but totally make the book your own.

Two thumbs up for Blurb!

Bachelorette highlights

2011-05-16T22:48:00.001-04:00

My bachelorette finally arrived on Saturday May 7th! It was a surprise..though a couple of people slipped and I found out we were going to Foxwoods! BUT – I didn’t know what we were doing there so it was still mostly a surprise…at last minute, the dress code changed to dresses and those that wanted to wear one did. You only get ONE bachelorette!

Me and the college roomie…she got married last October!

Matching cups!

Party bus time!

We all got some classy pins that said “Kristina’s Bachelorette Party” with an engagement photo on it…thanks Erica!

Hey Foxwoods!

First stop: High Rollers Bowling! LOVE!

We were all attracted to these gorgeous flowers on the wall..so appropriate!

Loving the shoes and dresses!

loved the décor in this place…can’t wait to go back! for 2 straight hours we bowled, ate delicious appetizers and had lots of yummy beverages

Next stop: Shrine!

dancing the night away!

Last stop: mmmmm gelato after lots of dancing!

and this sums up the whole night…walking back to the bus at 1:30 with their shoes off

the next morning everyone brought a breakfast item…so good!!

I had such an amazing time! It’s not often I get to go out with the girls. So many of us have very busy lives and can’t all get together at once…it was a great night! Thanks for the night ladies! Kudos to my sissy for planning!

Some Engagement Photo Favorites!

2011-05-10T21:11:00.002-04:00

I could not be more thrilled with how our photos came out! Our photographer Jennifer Leatherwood gave us 299 images! I chose 40 of them (an arduous task) to make an engagement photo guest book through Blurb…should be receiving it any day now!
All images copyright Jennifer Leatherwood Photography.
Shoot location: University of RI
We chose this one for the cover:

Where we met…Tyler Hall :-D

Seriously, I’d post them all, but…I think you get the picture! If she posts them on her blog I’ll be sure to share!

How!?

2011-05-10T16:43:00.000-04:00

Um 19 days...make that 18 days and 7-ish hours?! to go?? What??

Setting time aside to update you all tonight! So much stuff since my last post!

One Month to go!

2011-04-30T07:37:00.001-04:00

Well, I was so busy yesterday that I failed to post this giant mark!! YESTERDAY the 29th was the one month mark!

We met with our DJ, Victor. We went over lots of details!! Ah cannot wait!

Thursday we had a phone conference with our videographer Dave Bettencourt…again, cannot wait! But before that we spent 3 hours looking at furniture.

Today we meet with our priest at 1:30 to go over lots of ceremony details….we kinda have to pick out readings and such! We’ve been so busy with the house I feel like the wedding has been put on the backburner. We bought new furniture yesterday and moved a bunch of stuff and we FORGOT to get our marriage license. Fail. Now I will have to meet him on one of my lunch breaks this week to get it…

On the plate today:

-Move more stuff to our new house’s basement
-Buy my bridal jewelry at Macy’s
-Buy bathroom accessories for our house…we’re hopefully spending our first night there Tuesday! Our new furniture comes then, and our new fridge comes Monday.
-Tanning (bachelorette is May 7th and, um, my WEDDING is 28 days away!)
-Get a MOVE on making our engagement photo guest book!!

How amazing was Kate Middleton’s dress?? It was totally her! I was up at 5:30 a.m.

Advice from a bridesmaid who just got married last October…
Relax..it ALL. GETS. DONE.

I’d be lost without Excel

2011-04-25T08:03:00.001-04:00

As of today:

And I’ve mostly nailed down tables, dimensions, and such. This helps with place cards, types of centerpieces (size of table determines what type of centerpiece will be on that table) and my room layout. As you can see, we’re doing two head tables (since there are 16 of us total). Maid of Honor and Best Man will sit with us and the 6 Maids/Men will either sit above us or below us…right now I have us on the bottom tier.

In house news, our countertops are being delivered this morning!

More Centerpiece Bargains

2011-04-24T20:56:00.001-04:00

Thank you Christmas Tree Shop –- 23.5” inch tall vase for $12.99! After I bought 2 I remembered I had a 20% off coupon to the store, so I went back and bought 2 more for $10-ish each.

At Save-on-crafts.com I could have bought these at 2 for $24 but there would be shipping charges. I like the ones above better anyhow :-)

Way back when I had posted about these that I had scored at a yard sale:

So I now have 7 tall vases! I’m thinking one at the placecard table and the other 6 flanking the dance floor – 3 on each side.

Still waiting on this branch to arrive:

Too bad our wedding wasn’t around this time…can’t get enough of these blossoms :-)

Hope everyone had a nice Easter!

5 WEEKS FROM TODAY…5 weeks from exactly the time that I’m writing this the formalities of the evening will likely be over and we’ll be getting down with our bad selves on the dance floor!

RSVP’s and Gravity

2011-04-22T12:00:00.000-04:00

We’re nearly close to receiving every response…some folks missed the deadline but are still sending in…I’m glad I made the date well in advance for this reason.

It’s SO exciting seeing guests “Accept” our invitation! Just picturing our day, it’s going to be filled with family and friends from as far away as Germany and Los Angeles to as close as the street where I grew up that my family still lives on. I’m imagining us looking around and seeing everyone there for US…OUR special day. It brings such a smile to my face and I can’t believe the day is getting SO close.

My long-time friend Erin and her boyfriend are coming all the way from Los Angeles…Erin and I have been friends since FIRST GRADE…I miss those days of elementary school so much. She and her boyfriend are now professional photographers in Los Angeles. http://byerinandrobert.com/

I love her style! She’ll be capturing our rehearsal dinner for us :)

Really though…just thinking about every single person that will be in attendance at our wedding…it’s overwhelming and heartwarming…family and friends that have watched up grow up and become the adults we are today…friends we’ve made since college…people that we work with on a daily basis that have become friends…new family and friends that we have come to know in the last 5 years of dating each other…Then there are those who might not be able to be there…my maternal Grandfather is not well…my maternal Great Grandmother who is 91 on May 16th has Alzheimers and she will not be there (A pair of her Rosary beads will be wrapped around my bouquet handle – they are perfect and I’ll show them to you soon)…And there are those that have passed away…my Aunt, my paternal Grandmother and Grandfather, and my Great Aunt…his maternal Grandparents…we will be mentioning them at our ceremony of course and lighting candles at the reception…

This is the BIGGEST day of our lives. I’m not sure how I’m not going to be an emotional basket case. I’m not sure how I’m not going to be sobbing as I walk down the aisle with my Dad while everyone is watching us…while I’m looking at my future husband at the end of the aisle. I know..that was a mouthful.

Talk about gravity.

More on Centerpieces

2011-04-19T22:20:00.001-04:00

In a February post I told you about the Crate & Barrel tealight holders I plan to use on some of my tables.

Tonight I took a trip to A.C. Moore in search of tall cylinder vases and actually stumbled upon an aisle chock full of clearance candle holders!

Meet the center candle holder and pillar candle that will nestle in the center of the C&B tealight holders:

Unscented Ivory Pillar Candle on clearance: $2.00
Candle holder, 13.5 inches high, on clearance: $5.99!

Guess what else I got in the mail tonight? A floor plan from our venue! At last, I can visualize, officially….like, where EVERYTHING will go, how many tables we’ll have (because we’re close to having final guest counts)…it’s all feeling a bit better little by little.

I scanned it and printed multiple copies so we can start to mark it up!

Back to centerpieces….I ran home and set these up…I wanted to test the pillar candle to see if it is dripless and smokeless. So far, so good. I LOVE how this looks…note that it’ll be on an ivory table cloth.

Bird’s eye

Votives will also be mixed in for a “bottom level”.

Still in the hunt for LONG LASTING unscented white tealights…please let me know if you know of any!

Off to sleep…this girl needs some beauty rest!

40 days left to go…still a lot to do!!

2011-04-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

We’re meeting with our priest next week (at the one month mark!). One thing I failed to do was obtain my Baptism, Communion and Confirmation records :-) Thankfully, it took just 2 phone calls this morning to those parishes and they’re already in the mail. I was worried about obtaining my Communion and Confirmation records because my church closed last year and merged with another, but they found them without a problem.

So…Remember to obtain your records at least a month to 6 weeks in advance of your wedding day if you’re marrying outside of your parish.

Also on the agenda for next week:

-Meet with our DJ to work out details

-Obtain our marriage license from our city’s town hall

-Likely moving into our house! We have 4/28 and 4/29 off together from work (a blessing since we work opposite shifts right now)

-His Bachelor Party is Saturday night 4/30…which is awesome – I’ll get to organize at our house! (at least that’s the plan).

-Figure out my centerpiece situation – I wanted to do manzanita centerpieces and instead of buying them, I could utilize branches from our dogwood trees…well, I think they look scary.

So, I abandoned that idea. Then my florist suggested crystal chandelier centerpieces as she has a few. While browsing for crystal stuff, I found these gorgeous branches from Save-On-Crafts.com for $17 each. I ordered one to see what it looks like…we may use these on 6 tables flanking the dance floor and again in the foyer outside the ballroom. If I hate these, we’re going the crystal route!

-Part of the bridesmaids’ gifts came in last week! Can’t wait to post about these after the wedding…working on that scheduled post ;-) (Will post on 5/29). I have to get gift boxes and cards too.

-Parents gifts…TBD

-One groomsmen has yet to get his fitting, and I found out last night their tuxes don’t come with socks…fret not, because that means we can buy them some fun socks ;-)

Both from Express…Buy any 4 for $25! That’s a good buy.

Which would you go with? They’re wearing all black (vest/tie/tux). The gray version’s blue matches the girls better, but honestly, they aren’t going to be seen in the same photo together.

Am I asking for trouble giving these guys colorful socks? I want cute pictures!

-Design placecards and table numbers
Jasmine’s blog inspired me for table numbers!

-Waiting on more RSVP’s….

-Second makeup trial sometime soon!

-Buy 2 bathing suits for honeymoon (I already have a bunch from last year’s cruise)…corral my summer clothing and see what I might need to buy (if anything).

-What else??

Ran a mile tonight

2011-04-18T21:34:00.001-04:00

Bought a Groupon for $10 that got me a month at Gold’s Gym…I began using it tonight…hopped on a treadmill to just “warm up” and I decided to run a mile…the second time in my entire life I’ve ever run a mile! The first time was late 2009, also on a treadmill while a member at the same gym.

Determination…stress, all these butterflies and this abundance of energy…I guess those things enabled me :-) I’m 7 pounds away from my high school weight…between renovating the house and being stressed out (I haven’t been eating my best) I’ve lost some weight.

Some photos of where my/our energy has been going since 2/18/11:

Kitchen Before:

Kitchen mostly after…waiting on countertops, floors to be polyurethaned, trim and appliances.

I painted every. wall. in. this. house….twice….oh and primed the living room, kitchen, hallway and bathroom…and the ceilings in the bedrooms and bathroom…

More cool before and afters soon :)

Ceremony Music I

2011-04-17T09:07:00.001-04:00

It’s about time to firm up our Catholic Wedding Ceremony music. I love traditional hymns. Something about an organ gives me goosebumps! I’ve also contacted some brass groups at the college I work at to see if any students are available to accompany are organist.

Here are some possible Prelude songs:

{ Currently undecided }

For my big march down the aisle with my Dad, I can only imagine this song…

Wagner’s Bridal Chorus

But, this is a possibility too:

Pachelbel’s Canon in D (gorgeous version)

Presentation of Gifts

Prayer of St. Francis

Communion

My deceased Grandmother Nina used to sing in her church’s chorus group…I remember her singing Amazing Grace all the time…Amazing Grace would be really special

Another lovely one is Ave Maria…brings tears to my eyes

Recessional!

Ode to Joy

Off to Palm Sunday Mass :-)

SIX WEEKS FROM TODAY (forget the days, I’m counting the measly weeks!) We become Husband and Wife <3
Got goosebumps writing that.

More shoe love

2011-04-10T09:22:00.001-04:00

Found these on Endless.com…

The Kate Spade Ollie Open-Toe Flat

$225.00

I wish.

Gwyneth Shoes Carolina Flat

$98.95….

Ciao Bella Faithful Flat

(I know these are black…but, they SHOULD have them in Ivory! Breaks my heart…)

The broach…the leather rouching…perfect for me.

$69.00

I still have these which I plan to embellish…but I still keep searching!

Honeymoon reveal, 50 days to go!

2011-04-08T06:00:00.001-04:00

*This post was meant for Saturday and I scheduled it for today by mistake... 50...51, same difference! ;-)

50…fifty…yeah, 50, days to go!
HOW!?
That means we bought our home 50 days ago…
Didn’t I just write how there were “85 days left to go” and I was thinking about Shower dresses?!
And…at the 4 month mark we bought our wedding bands…it sure feels like yesterday since we got engaged, let alone hit the 6-month mark.
Boy, you folks weren’t kidding when you said time is going to fly!
In previous posts I mentioned how I wanted our Honeymoon to be a surprise….and it was up until the second week of March. We were talking one night and I said “Well, you know that if you’re taking me on a cruise, I’m going to have to find out soon so I can plan my formal night attire accordingly :-) “ So he responded by saying that it’s much more fun anticipating a vacation together…after all, anticipation is half the fun of going on vacation! He made a point, and he told me, and I laughed and smiled and probably cried a few tears of joy…
WALT DISNEY WORLD and Sandals Whitehouse!!
We will spend 3 days at the Coronado Springs Resort!
We have a 3-day Park-hopper pass so we’ll be enjoying:
Magic Kingdom – naturally!

EPCOT! My favorite part is the World of Nations.

And, Hollywood Studios!

From Orlando, we fly to Miami, then to Montego Bay, Jamaica, THEN hop on a Sandals transfer and take a 90-minute ride down to Sandals Whitehouse European Village!

Heaven.
We will spend 5 whole days here. And I can’t wait to get a massage!

The only negative thing I’ve heard about Sandals is the sand fleas…we’ll be packing bug spray for sure.
Ahhh…it’s getting so close!!

Engagement Pictures This Saturday!

2011-04-07T09:30:00.001-04:00

I’m weather stalking…Saturday looks perfect! Come on flowers, bloom for us!

One of my favorite Spring E-pic Shoots from our Photographer Jennifer Leatherwood!

We have 3 outfits picked out…casual with dark jeans, and two dressier ones. Getting a mani/pedi tomorrow after work and my hairdresser will be styling my hair early Saturday morning :)

Highlights from my Bridal Shower

2011-04-05T18:45:00.016-04:00

“Wear two bags – all the good goes in the front bag and all the bad goes in the back.”
–Grandma Petrilli

That’s the advice my fiance’s Grandmother left on a “Words of Wisdom for Kristina” card. There were tons of other gems in the stack…I smiled as I read every one of them! I’ll share more with you in future posts.

Future hubs and I before he left :)

To be honest, I was very overwhelmed with opening all of my amazing gifts in front of that many people, but it was super exciting at the same time! We registered at Crate & Barrel, Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond to give our guests a range of options and prices.

Here are some decor, gift and cake highlights...

Seating cards and tulips

Every guest entered the “Guess the Eggs” contest – very Spring/Easter-ish!

How appropriate? Table #5 (wasn’t taken on purpose!) and one of the pretty centerpieces.

My bridesmaids collectively gave me this AMAZING basket filled will tons of baking tools, a pie plate, dish towels, along with the pretty cupcake tree in the front and more that I haven’t even uncovered yet. Re-usable cupcake liners (bottom left) are awesome and I never knew they existed!

Some pretty gift wrap.

“I have to sit here in front of everyone and open all of these!?” :-)
I was nervous!

The cake from Wright’s Dairy Farm! This baby had real whipped cream topping (so it wasn’t death by sugar), yellow cake and a 1/4 inch layer of lemon filling….LEMON IS MY FAVORITE! The colors match the scheme of the wedding too ;-) Kudos to Wright’s Dairy Farm in North Smithfield, RI for this great cake.

My sis/MOH and I posing in front of the gorgeous/yummy cake she got!

The girls and I before the fun began

Opening a Crate & Barrel box – “Is this what I think it is??”

Yup! Margaritas glasses! I love mine frozen!

A few guests got really creative and used containers like laundry baskets or woven baskets to put other gifts inside of…smart!

Another lovely basket filled with tons of goodies! This one’s from my cousins.

An Oneida pizza stone with carrying handles – got a pizza cutter with it too :)

An awesome glass cake stand that doubles as a punch bowl if you turn the base upside-down and place the cover upside down so it rests on top of it. Genious!

Dan’s goddaughter was there helping with gifts…she’s soooo cute!

A Kitchen Aid Mixer from my Nana! She loves baking and she’s amazing at it. Funny story here: I unwrapped the package and when I ever saw that it was a Kitchen Aid Mixer, the first words out of my mouth were: “I can make sausage with this!!” haha (Obviously I know I can bake up a storm with it, but I love the attachments…I can also make pasta with it!.) Everyone got a kick out of it hence why I’m laughing so hard :-)

Phew! I’m done! Look at my “bow”-quet!!

I got so many amazing gifts like cobalt blue luggage!, our complete dinnerware set, servers, gorgeous platters, the list goes on…we’re so thankful and blessed! Thanks to my future mother-in-law, sister and bridesmaids for such a wonderful day.

32 days until my bachelorette!
54 days until the wedding!

What goes up must come down

2011-03-31T10:36:00.001-04:00

Tuesday 3/22 I sent out the invitations…now we’re getting tons of responses! A wonderful thing!

But, to stay organized, I’ve re-purposed an empty envelope box for incoming RSVP’s. I’ve received about 30 so far. Every day I enter who is/isn’t coming along with their meal choices. I didn’t want to leave the tallying portion until the end so I’m trying to stay on top of it.

I must say, it’s fun opening the RSVP’s and reading guests’ little notes to us.

Getting lots of compliments on the invites, too :)

59 DAYS TO GO!

The invitations (and the process), at last

2011-03-24T22:25:00.001-04:00

I’m so happy to be able to finally blog about my DIY invitations!

First, a big thank you to: Paperworks in Pawtucket, Rhode Island for supplying me with all the stock (they have a storefront or you can buy online), Image Printing in Warwick, Rhode Island for the superb digital printing job, Mountaincow for the envelope liners, Ann Marie Scofield in Cranston, Rhode Island for the gorgeous, affordable calligraphy, and my future in-laws for letting me take up their dining room table with all of this stuff!

The supplies:

-A ream of Neenah Classic Crest 80lb 8.5x11, Solar White
-A box of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White A7 Envelopes
-A box of Neenah Classic Crest Solar White A2 Envelopes (RSVP’s)
-Metallic blue stock for mounting the invitation
-A lovely peony stock image
-Envelope liners from Mountaincow
-Adhesive from Michaels
-Paper cutter
-LOVE stamps from USPS (I didn’t like the wedding ones offered this year)

The process took a while…it took me forever to finalize my design. Of course, I had nearly 2 years to think about what I wanted, but when it came down to the week of sending these things off to print, I completely changed my design (which was just text before), and added a romantic, sketched peony. I went from vertical to horizontal layout, and I chose to stay with simple black ink. There is just something classic and formal about black ink on white paper. Maybe it’s my training in design that makes me love black forms on a white background.

First, I trimmed the 8.5x11 metallic stock down to size and got 2 5x7 mats out of each.

The remnants I am saving and want think of something creative to do with these for the reception.

I neatly stacked them in piles of 10 to keep track – I cut about 120 (60 sheets) and still have extra.

Then I ordered samples from Mountaincow. I wanted something patterned to break up the ensemble and originally wanted a pop of yellow, but decided to stick with swirly black on white…it turns out it looked great with calligraphy, but you never end up seeing the two together.

So here are the liners as they come in a package. They are scored so all you have to do is fold and the edge is perfectly straight!

They came with handy glue strips.

Simply peel…

Insert the folded envelope liner…

Apply the strip to the backside of the liner flap…

Peel the paper from the glue strip…

and you are left with a clear strip of glue.

Then you fold the actual envelope flap down to adhere it to the liner.

120 of these took a few nights and a lot of patience, but it is worth it for the look! Without the liners, the envelope was kind of transparent and I didn’t want the RSVP envelope text showing through.

Next was matting.

Without this handy adhesive contraption from Michael’s, it would have taken me days to cut glue strips and mat invites.

Here is the ensemble…oh, I forgot to mention earlier – I took a couple hours to apply all the stamps first, after calligraphy and printing, so that I could just stuff and seal when it came time to do so. It just made the process more streamlined.

Miss kitty, pretending to be a good helper, but really she kept jumping on the table every 5 seconds.

I then stuffed the contents into all the envelopes with the help of future hubs…I placed the invitation first with the RSVP card and Reception card behind it. The RSVP card was tucked inside it’s envelope flap. And then it was time to seal! Thanks Nicole P. for helping on that front!

WHAT a relief!

At the Post Office on my lunch break on Tuesday! I also sent one invitation to Germany which I put in a slightly padded envelope with some cardboard for safe travels.

RSVP date: April 15th!

If you’d like to see a PDF of my invitation, please email me at dansbride52911@gmail.com.

Amazing Shower!

2011-03-21T08:31:00.001-04:00

Just a quick post before I dive back into invitation assembly…

There must have been about 70 women at my shower…can we say overwhelming?? Yes :-) It was an amazing time, I barely ate because I was so nervous and I opened an enormous amount of fantastic gifts!! Can’t wait to share. Dan and I stood next to the two tables after we got everything back to the new house’s basement and just couldn’t believe our eyes…we’re so thankful!

Karey, the girl in cobalt next to me, assembled my bouquet of bows and ribbons…she could make a living doing this! Will share a larger photo later.

Back to invitations! 69 days to go!!!!

My Shower is Today! 70 days to go.

2011-03-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

I can’t BELIEVE this day is finally here! It’s SO surreal….my ONE bridal shower, is here. Does anyone else feel like they have to keep repeating these things to themself??

What am I wearing?? The green dress I ordered from e-Shakti did not fit as planned. It made me look very wide in the hips so back it went!

I ended up scouring Warwick Mall and fell in love with this dress from New York & Company..got 15% off using my AAA card…it comes to my knees which was a must-have while sitting on front of a crowd opening gifts :-)

Got these great Steve Madden flats to go with it for $29.95 at DSW after a coupon!

I did want some color for spring, but this dress is great and have some colorful accessories to go with.

I have my little Vera Bradley Palm Beach Garden bag which I only bring out for special occasions…it’s white and I dirty bags very easily!

And maybe a magenta cardigan and bracelet…

I can’t wait to see all ladies in my life there at my shower!

Fitness update

2011-03-19T15:00:00.000-04:00

Well, since we’ve been working on the house, working out has taken a back seat. However, running around and laboriously working on the house has kept me “working out” to an extent…painting ceilings and walls definitely works the upper body, lifting heavy things will keep my butt and legs in shape, and we’ll be moving soon. I think stress has also played a role in keeping the weight off, not necessarily a good thing, but I’m 8 pounds away from being my high school weight.

For Lent, I gave up candy which hasn’t been so bad thus far, but today is St. Joseph’s Day, and for Italians, that means eating Zeppole! Today is also the 8th anniversary of my italian Grandma’s passing. Her name was Annina (everyone called her Nina). I love that name and am trying to convince future hubby to name one of our daughters after her someday :) Here I am on my First Communion Day with her. (I was not taller than her at that point, I was just standing on a bench haha)

So, every zeppola I eat is in Grandma’s honor :-)

The incredible Groupon had a great offer for a $10 Gold’s Gym membership for 30 days. Now this was a score – normally one month is $39. Honestly, I think in the last month leading up to the wedding after we’ve moved in and things kinda settle down, I will be under the gun fitness wise and enjoy my gym time. I haven’t kept up with Jillian. I haven’t had a spare 30 minutes to even feel like working out lately!

I guess my advice to brides is, don’t kill yourself. During the last few months of the wedding if you just focus on eating well and get a good walk in here and there during your lunch break, it really helps. If you’re like us and just bought a house 3 months before the wedding, you’re going to be busy (maybe) renovating or at least moving in. Stress can ADD pounds if you don’t learn some type of way to deal with it.

Yes, I know, I’ve been MIA

2011-03-15T18:00:00.000-04:00

Things that have been consuming my life: Work, working on the house and errands for the house, wedding projects and errands to complete those tasks, and life. I’m exhausted. I have LOTS to share with you on the wedding front including my branches centerpiece project, invitations, and my shower is this Sunday! The house is moving right along, as is life, and I feel like I can’t get a grip!

Stay tuned for some great updates :-)

85 days to go

2011-03-04T22:07:00.001-05:00

Pretty overwhelmed right now with house renovations, remembering to do wedding tasks and working everyday!

The view out the bathroom window last Saturday:

By the end of tomorrow, we should have a completely brandy-new roof on top of our house thanks to my fiance’s uncle, cousin and family…so grateful!

Wedding news:
I dropped off the outer envelopes to the calligrapher yesterday…hope to have them back by 3/14 so we can assemble and send out by 3/21! That’s a huge step in the invitation process…I can’t wait to unveil the final product!

I bought this as a potential shower dress!

Shocked myself and went with spring green. But I love the retro cut and I need other colors in my wardrobe aside from blue :)

16 days until my shower…I’m getting so nervous and excited! I don’t do well in front of crowds nor do I enjoy opening gifts in front of people…But, I’ll have my lovely maids by my side so I am looking forward to a fun day :-)

I leave you with one of my favorite scenes from West Side Story, my FAVORITE musical. I just love old movies.

Celebrating one week of homeownership

2011-02-25T21:51:00.001-05:00

One week ago today we were high on happiness and had already stripped the living room of wallpaper!

We’re still happy one week later!

Saturday we ordered our new kitchen cabinets! And, we worked on stripping the kitchen wallpaper which had this lovely retro pattern.

Sunday we washed glue off the walls and one of my best friends/bridesmaids stopped by to help.

Thank goodness for dads, uncles and grandfathers…the kitchen got stripped Saturday and Sunday.

Then the wall between the kitchen and living room got stripped down to the studs.

After cleanup, a new L-shaped wall was built which will contain the refrigerator and pantry. It will also help to support the header beam which serves as reinforcement for the ceiling since the original load-bearing wall has been removed.

Across from this, (to the left in the photo) a half wall with a column was built. The column will be the other support for the header. Photos to come later.

We had a dumpster delivered yesterday because we’ll also be putting on a new roof…photo taken this morning, a very rainy day…just want this snow to disappear already!

Here are the three bedrooms all before paint and carpet removal:

(bonus – hardwoods are under the living room and bedroom carpeting!)

Future office

Inspiration:

Since both of us will share the spare, it will be modern with punches of color…a rich gray would be perfect…

…along with a colorful landscape painting of mine. He loves oranges, reds and blues, and I just appreciate all colors, so we’ll make it work!

Guest bedroom/second TV room

Inspiration:

We have a futon that will need a slipcover, a retro camel colored leather couch and a black TV stand that will house my future hubs’ video games (not sure if he knows that yet :-D )

Master

Inspiration:

We both LOVE blue. Our current bedroom situation is, in a word, chaotic. We want a peaceful retreat, without posters and noise on the walls, without my art stuff, and without piles of wedding and sports illustrated magazines everywhere. Our stuff will finally have a place in our new house and our bedroom will be a bedroom!

I think a deeper accent blue will go on the wall where our bed will be, to anchor the room.

Finally, the bathroom

3 people said it was a Victoria’s Secret bathroom (the walls at least!)

I despise the floral decals on the wall tile – why did they have to go and ruin a perfectly good wall of white tiles??? I really hope to remedy that in the future…the floor isn’t so bad.. the small tiles are cobalt/midnight blue…my inspiration for the new wall color. I also hate the medicine cabinet and light fixture.

Inspiration:

Obsessed with white and navy.

HomeGoods anyone? :)

This Saturday and Sunday will be painting galore and the roof is getting stripped.

Can you say PROGRESS?

We are feeling very thankful.

100 days AND we bought a house today!

2011-02-18T14:00:00.000-05:00

Champagne: check!!

By the time this baby posts we should be giddy new homeowners!!! A huge day in the wedding countdown AND we close on a house….perfect!

We really went through the ringer as far as trying to buy a house goes (as I’m sure many people are these days)…we tried for 2 short sales in 2010, both fell through and completely wasted our time. We hate sellers’ banks. We jumped back on the hunting bandwagon right after Christmas not knowing when or if we would find a house in time to be moved in before the wedding. We must have looked at 15-20 houses in 2-3 weeks time and finally found an adorable 3-bed ranch in an amazing neighborhood where we already know many wonderful people :) We’ve been wanting to move out on our own for a long time now and this is just a huge day for us! We’ll be re-modeling the kitchen, taking down wallpaper (lots of it), painting bedrooms and refinishing hardwoods…we have our work cut out for us but we couldn’t be HAPPIER!

Happy Friday!!

So excited for Friday!

2011-02-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Not only will Friday mark 100 days to go until the wedding, but…another momentous occasion will be occurring….and you’ll have to wait until Friday to find out what that is :)

Currently overcoming that yucky stomach bug that everyone else has! Second Valentine’s Day in a row I was sick.

Here’s to a healthy, happy Wednesday!

FOR SALE Reminder

2011-02-13T12:20:00.001-05:00

Just a reminder that I have a BRAND NEW, NEVER WORN pair of ivory flats for sale.

View them here >

Looking for cute dresses

2011-02-12T20:00:00.000-05:00

So I have my shower coming up on March 20 (first day of spring!), I think my bachelorette is May 7 (waiting for the girls to tell me what I should wear!), and May 28 will be our rehearsal.

I’m in love with all things 1940’s and 1950’s…from the hair to the shoes, I love it all. Then I found eShakti…

Here are some of my prospects…

$54.95, and for custom sizing it’s an extra $7.50…love it.

$54.95 and for custom sizing it’s an extra $7.50
*also a wear-to-work style…great for the office during the warmer months.

$54.95 and for custom sizing it’s an extra $7.50

$59.95 and for custom sizing it’s an extra $7.50

Love the detail on this one.

Depending on the dress, maybe some pearls and peep-toe flats…

Our Honeymoon Plans

2011-02-12T08:58:00.001-05:00

I don’t know about them! I wanted our honeymoon to be completely planned by my fiance and I want to be surprised literally at the last possible second…preferably the airport gate. But it might happen when we check our bags in.. we’ll see. haha

So, we had talked about doing a few days in Disneyworld…

then spending 4-5 days at a Sandals resort…
(Sandals Grande St. Lucian pictured below)

The possibilities are endless…well, he DID tell me we’re going to some place warm….but that doesn’t really narrow things down since most places are warm the first week of June :)

He keep joking with me, telling me we’re going to Grandma’s house, or Kansas:

We’re actually huge science and weather buffs so it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we came here…we could chase tornadoes! haha I know he’s joking though.

It could be a cruise…he was randomly asking me things about a cruise the other night…I might be on to something!

I’d love to cruise to Antigua!

106 days to go….and 108 days until I find out where we’re going.

*Since he did tell me we’re going someplace warm, I get to start thinking about packing… i.e. cute bathing suits, cover ups, sun dresses and sandals! What a great way to beat the winter blues :) Stay tuned for some posts on cute finds.

Invitations are in!

2011-02-11T16:33:00.001-05:00

Picked them up from the printers today! I could not be happier with the outcome…can’t wait to reveal.

Next, the outer envelopes will go to our calligrapher. But, actually, before that, I need to tidy up our guest list and make sure everything is spelled correctly!

Then, the assembly will begin, and they shall be dropped in the mail between 3/19 and 3/21!

107 days to go!

It’s all coming together!

2011-02-06T16:56:00.001-05:00

Thursday I met with my florist again to go over more details and how we’ll be setting up the tables. Because there are 16 of us in the wedding party, we’re figuring 2 head tables – 8 seated at each – and 22-24 round tables for the guests, varying between 60” and 72” rounds. Before we even begin to get RSVP’s I’m going to do a mock table layout with guests so we can figure out even further how many of each size table we might have. I’ll be doing a mix of centerpieces and it’s important to know how many of each type we’ll need, as some are based on table size.

One type of table will have all glass and tealights at varying heights on top of a mirror base:

I bought a bunch of Crate & Barrel candle holders from a bride…I originally saw these when they first debuted and fell in love. When I found the bride selling them at a discounted price because she’d already used them, I was elated!

Other tables will have an assortment of short frosted glass vases filled with single-blooms, in white, surrounded by votives, like this:

And the remaining tables will have the manzanita centerpieces I’m still dying to make! (They will be made as soon as there is space – beginning end of February!)

Saturday was pretty much a “get stuff done for the wedding” day!

I picked up my dress from the seamstress to bring it to the Bridal Garden to find my veil. Two of my best friends/bridesmaids came along and between their honest opinions and the ladies at the Bridal Garden, I found the perfect veil! I tried about 15 veils on from fingertip length to cathedral length. The one I decided on will have a detachable blusher with no detail, and the second part has splash of almost the exact beading on my dress and it ends just above where the detail on the back of my dress begins (waist line). I also discovered that putting cups in my dress honestly made everything feel so much better! haha Nothing wrong with a little padding assistance. As usual the ladies at the Bridal Garden were amazing to work with!

Then I brought my dress back down to the seamstress and we had my first fitting…it’s feeling more real by the day. I go back on March 10 with my veil and petticoat. Rose is fantastic and I’m so happy to have her play a role in my wedding day!

In the afternoon we went to the Crowne for our first details meeting! Meal choices, linens, and all of that fun stuff were written down….we’re also doing a signature cocktail! I love the idea of a blue cocktail to carry the color through the night.

Off to cook some buffalo chicken wings for the Superbowl!

4 months to go!

2011-01-29T16:54:00.001-05:00

We picked up our bands from Zales today :)

I was going to post them on our fingers….but decided not to. I’m going to post professional pics after the wedding instead!

Speaking of ring shots, here are some of my favorites from our photographer Jennifer Leatherwood:

Starting to think about OUR ring shot…the possibilities are endless.

Our tasting at the Crowne Plaza

2011-01-27T07:45:00.000-05:00

Cocktail hour kicked off the tasting in the Plaza Ballroom. Hors d’oeuvres were passed and cheese, vegetable and shrimp cocktail displays were set up. A wine table and bar were also set up where we could sample drinks.

Finally the doors opened and we got to our assigned table. We were with 3 other couples and one couples’ parents. It was definitely tight with 10 people at the table..will have to keep this in mind when it comes time for seating charts.

Not crazy about the decor or look of the table we had. I think we’ll have folded napkins instead of stuffing the saucers. Each table at the tasting had a different look to it to give couples a chance to see all the linen and chair options.

What I’m picturing our napkins to look like:
TreasuredEditions on Etsy

Two buffet lines set up at either side of the ballroom and we were able to sample Chicken Escarole and Tuscan Minestrone soups, 3 types of chicken, 2 or 3 types of fish and their accompaniments – wild rice, duchess mashed potatoes and I think string beans. Then there was a carving station with prime rib and filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus.

We both tried the Chicken Francaise, Chicken Breast with Apple Stuffing, Poached Pear Rosemary Chicken Breast, Filet Mignon, and all the sides.

Going into it, I thought for sure we’d picked the Francaise…my favorite dish aside from Chicken Piccata…I’m a lemon girl! However, there was no lemon taste and thought it was very dry. I was so disappointed. We were equally disappointed with the Chicken Breast and Apple Stuffing…

The last chicken we tried was so delicious, moist and flavorful - Poached Pear Rosemary Chicken! And, the Filet Mignon was equally pleasing. All of the sides were delicious as well.

What we didn’t try because they were not available, were pasta with marinara, and salad (understandable).

So, our meal choices will be Filet Mignon with a Peppercorn glaze, garlic mashed and green beans;

and, Poached Pear Rosemary Chicken Breast, duchess mashed potatoes, and green beans.

It was such an easy choice! In the foyer they had a table set up displaying the presentations of each dish.

And then…there was cake….lots of cake. Neither Dan nor myself are big cake people…we much prefer fudgy brownies, or myself, a lemon danish from an italian bakery…or cheesecake…something much more rich, you get the idea.

So, we tried vanilla cake with lemon filling (shown below), marble cake with raspberry filling, and chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling.

Completely blown away. These cakes were out of this world good. Their buttercream frosting was JUST right. This pastry chef definitely hit a home run.

We also got to sample their tuxedo strawberries..also delish!

So we got to thinking…I wonder what kind of designs this chef can do…Mind you, we had a dummy cake booked with Shemry (who is also amazing). We watched a slideshow of his cakes and this one immediately caught my eye (sorry for the odd screen capture)…..tall, dramatic, with fluffy hydrangea layers in between….the fluffiness mimics my dress :)
And ALL 4 of these layers are real? And it’s part of the package??

We decided to cancel the dummy cake and go with this! Saving us a decent amount of money. Shemry is amazing and I still highly recommend her! We simply decided to do this to save us some money…and it’s part of the package, so why not?

We purchased our wedding bands!

2011-01-26T23:40:00.000-05:00

On MLK Jr Day, we took a deep breath and went to purchase our rings! It was so exciting and one of those moments when you think “wow, this is totally starting to feel very real”.

The Groom’s

Mine – something like this…

I totally surprised myself. In the beginning I wanted a lot of metal to the band, but I tried on a lot and they didn’t look good with my e-ring. This style looks amazing with it and I’m so happy! The diamonds only go halfway so I don’t have to worry about losing any underneath and they won’t scratch anything. We purchased both at Zales…they had a great sale going on too! Can’t wait to engrave them!

Shoes: We have a winner!

2011-01-26T19:00:00.001-05:00

So last week I posted on the Dessy Satin Peep Toe Flats that I purchased in size 11.

The size 11’s were a failure…way too big:

So I returned them, re-ordered 2 more pairs, in sizes 9 and 10. The 11’s were so big I thought the 9’s would be the ones. I was wrong.
The 10’s were…a 10! :-)

They are VERY comfortable and the bottom is a soft gray suede.

Oy… I need a pedicure. Thinking magenta toe nail polish for the wedding.

Again, I can’t WAIT to replace the bows with something much cuter.

------------

So, since I refuse to pay for shipping back to Dessy, I have my first wedding item for sale!

SIZE 9 – DESSY SATIN PEEP TOE FLATS in Ivory | $30.00
Brand new, never worn. Why pay shipping? :)

*I believe a normal size 10 will fit into these, as I am normally size 11 and I fit into a 10.
Must be local to Rhode Island or nearby Massachusetts.
Please email me at dansbride52911@gmail.com if interested.

CB2 Pillows

2011-01-18T19:48:00.001-05:00

Got another promotional email from one of Crate & Barrel’s sister sites CB2…This time it was all about pillows, and boy did they catch my eye!

My three faves, for a studio/office:

What’s a world without color??

Update on the Shred

2011-01-18T09:32:00.001-05:00

Here’s a re-cap of the last few workouts:

I am loving the 30 minute workout! I can workout and get ready in just over one hour. I could try to work this into my morning routine eventually.

Note: Find all of these updates in my new Fitness Log page over in the left column.

Today is Tuesday 1/18/11 - Almost 24 hours after my last workout, I’m feeling great. Feeling stronger in all the right places – legs, lower back and core. Will be doing the Shred for a second straight day tonight after work. (I think you’re supposed to do it for 30 consecutive days, but I’m taking it slow in the beginning.)

Monday, 1/17/11 - Did the Shred. Definitely broke a sweat, and still very challenging. The cardio part is an excellent interval with “jump rope", lots of jumping jacks and butt kicks. Will be upping the hand weights from 3’s to 5's or 8's for some of the moves to get a better upper body workout.

Saturday, 1/15/11 - Tried the Yoga Meltdown, Level 1. Having taken about 10 yoga classes in the past year, I knew many of the poses. However, if you have never taken any classes, you might want to watch Level 1 first, then do it. Very quick transitions, not much time to look up without hurting your neck :-) Felt a little sore, but not as much as I'd like to have felt...I had to stop a lot to see what she was doing.

Wednesday, 1/12/11 - Had a snow day from work, did Jillian's Level 1 on the Shred. Definitely an intense workout and wonder about the effectiveness of the 3-pound hand weights I used throughout. Sore the next two days.

Tuesday, 1/11/11 - Purchased Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred as well as her Yoga Meltdown.

Taming the beast: Invitations

2011-01-17T22:10:00.001-05:00

Designing for one’s self is, in a word, challenging. All of these ideas are flowing in my head for invitations the more I browse blogs and wedding sites. Today, I decided on the following decisions so I can put this matter to rest ONCE AND FOR ALL.

1.) STOP browsing blogs and wedding sites in search of further inspiration for my invites. Simply appreciate what I see, and carry on. What I’ve already designed is simple, beautiful and very appropriate for our wedding. There are roughly 4 months to go and other details require attention. MOVE ON. No one is going to care more than me what these things look like. Most will end up in the trash.

2.) I’m going with patterned bellybands to keep the suite together. Why? Well, they’re pretty, for one.

Secondly, they cost less.

For argument’s sake we’ll use 120 for the actual count.

Pocketfolds would cost $82.80 + shipping if I went with the Turquoise 5x7.

Patterned bellybands will cost $45.00 + shipping. They come in packs of 25 and I’d need 5 packs…a discount is applied if you buy 5-8 packs. Sweet! I’ll order the Flourish or Garden print on Crystal metallic with Turquoise ink.

3.) Figure out how I’ll clasp the bellybands…whether with a 2x2 square, circle, or custom shape, or wax seal…whatever is cheapest and looks best.

4.) I will get three printing quotes this week from 3 local printers and compare to a site I found online that does small digital runs: Smartpress.com.

Smartpress has a pearly metallic stock called Ice Silver that comes from Appleton Coated’s Curious Collection…an amazing collection!

Here’s a quote from Smartpress:

120 count 5x7 invites on #110 Cover, Ice Silver, color ink = $90.35 (includes shipping)

1 insert + 1 RSVP card, both 4.5x5.5, on #110 Cover, Ice Silver, color ink = $128.30 total…they split orders! Great cost savings.

4.) Envelopes I will determine this week…I promise!

5.) I booked a calligrapher last week for outer envelopes!

That feels better. :-)

Third wedding day shoe purchase

2011-01-16T14:11:00.001-05:00

It continues… I received my third purchase yesterday.

(Remember my first and second purchases?)

So, here is #3…the Dessy Satin Peep-toe Flats in Ivory, size 11.

Online view

In Person

The soles have a really soft gray suede lining and a little extra cushion in the heel.

Front top view…these things look huge.

Back view…weird wrinkles, but maybe that’s the “style”.

I guess if you like bows, these are for you. They have a more casual feel with these bows, which I’m definitely removing and replacing with something dressier.

And….without further adieu, here they are, on.

Excuse the veiny feet and sock impressions around the ankles…I got home late last night to find the package and was so excited to try them on!

So, um, they’re HUGE. Not only do I have a ton of room to spare in the top, they flopped off of my as I walked.

These run insanely big. I am a true size 11 but these felt like 12’s or 13’s. The material feels like it has some give, so I KIND of have a feeling I could get away with 9’s.

Conclusion: I do think these are my wedding shoes. They’d be comfortable and I could most definitely style these up…and I’m pretty sure they’re a dead match for the ivory of my dress…as much as I hate to wear ivory shoes after swearing I’d wear blue.

Dessy does not have an exchange policy, as noted here. So, I had to place another order for 2 more pairs – sizes 9 AND 10, just to be on the safe side…and return these 11’s. For a site like Dessy that is so widely advertised and talked about, I would like to think they have their acts together. But now I have to absorb all these shipping charges so this pair of flats will likely end up costing $50 bucks before embellishing. Oy.

Shoe update to follow when I receive the new shipment!

30-Day Shred

2011-01-12T15:46:00.001-05:00

A few days ago I came to the realization I just don’t have the time to put into P90X – it requires at least a hour a day, 6 days a week…7 days if you do the stretching.

With some of you followers and my friends suggesting Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred, I looked into it some more, heard great things, and bought it last night @ Walmart for $9.00. I certainly can do the 30-minute intense workouts that the Shred provides.

With today being a snow day here in Rhode Island, I popped in the DVD and did her Level 1 sequence before lunch. I got a GREAT workout – there were even parts I had to stop a second (even though she tells you not to) to catch my breath or give my muscles a second to stop hurting. I did ALL of the abs moves without quitting! So, on my first day I think I did great and I’m starting to hurt in all the right places (legs and abs) – to me that’s a good sign! So happy I bought it.

I also bought her Yoga Meltdown (also $9 @ Walmart). I love yoga and it’s effects, but a 90-minute class is a big time commitment. I don’t have the most routine schedule right now either.

So – I’m figuring I’ll do the 30-Day Shred (not sure how quickly to advance to Level 2 and 3) and try doing her Yoga Burn 2 days a week on top of it.

Thank you followers and friends for this suggestion! Will report back on how I’m doing.

Tuxes: Check!

2011-01-10T23:31:00.001-05:00

This was super easy – we agreed on everything! I admit – I got teary eyed when I saw my groom all dressed up…it definitely hit me!

We nixed the gray tux idea – in 20 years we want to look back and smile because we went with a classic look :)

Ivory vest and shirt, ivory paisley tie and matching ivory paisley pocket square.

The one thing that will be different here is the vest – it will be 4-button instead of 6 (shown).

The guys – ivory shirt, black vest, black paisley tie and we’re using leftover fabric from the girls’ dresses for the 7 pocket squares! Their vest will also be 4-button instead of 6 as shown.

Thank you Jackie from Carl Anthony Tuxedo (Cranston, RI)!

Craving Salt? 30 Healthy Snacks

2011-01-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

More tips for the wedding day slim down.

I usually crave salty snacks in the afternoon. Self Magazine has a great list that’s also calorie-conscious!

5 olives (any kind) (45 calories)
1 small Martin's pretzel (50 calories)
2 oz Applegate Honey and Maple Turkey Breast wrapped around 2 bread-and-butter pickles (80 calories)
1/4 cup hummus, 3 carrot sticks (80 calories)
1 Laughing Cow Light Swiss Original wedge, 3 pieces Kavli Crispy Thin (85 calories)
One 1-oz package tuna jerky (90 calories)
1 oz buffalo mozzarella, 1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes (94 calories)
1 bag Baked! Cheetos 100 Calorie Mini Bites (100 calories)
15 Eden's Nori Maki Crackers rice crackers (110 calories)
1 cup unshelled edamame (120 calories)
50 Eden's Vegetable Chips (130 calories)
One 1-oz package of Planters NUT-trition almonds (130 calories)
1/4 cup Trader Joe's Chili con Queso, 18 baked tortilla chips (140 calories)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds in shell (143 calories)
2 pieces (30 grams) prosciutto, 4 dried figs (154 calories)
1 Subway Turkey Breast Wrap (190 calories)

Craving sweet?

Check out their healthy ideas here >

Fitness, eating well, and goals

2011-01-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Wedding Year!
(to us, and to all of you 2011 brides!)

My little sis / Maid of Honor got engaged on Christmas Eve! They are currently thinking a Spring wedding in 2012. So excited to help her plan stuff too! We’re going to the Southern New England Bridal Expo at the RI Convention Center this Sunday…my last hoorah and her first!

Coming up is my shower toward the end of March and my bachelorette party I assume will be some time in April :) All of these occasions to look good for!

First dress fitting is exactly ONE MONTH from today.

I’ve begun eating better since all of the last of the holiday cookies got tossed. Protein is the key in staying satiated. I once heard you should eat like a king for breakfast, queen for lunch, and a prince for dinner. Good thing breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.

Here’s what I’ve been doing:

2-3 egg whites in a frying pan with a bit of non-stick spray, a smidge of salt and a bunch of black pepper
whole wheat English muffin or a slice of whole wheat toast, a smidge of real butter on the toast or muffin (because the fake stuff is all chemicals),
coffee with 1-2 teaspoons of real sugar, 1% whole milk (takes getting used to)
small glass of OJ or grapefruit juice
piece of fruit..apple, banana, orange or grapefruit.

The key is getting that metabolism going.

Having a mid-morning snack of red grapes, a tablespoon of peanut butter (I keep it at my desk), a chobani yogurt or protein bar is great.

Lunches are tough but I’m working on that…tunafish with celery, carrots, or red onion, some lite mayo and a whole wheat pita is really great. Tuna can be replaced with low-sodium turkey from the deli…but I’m considering cooking up my own turkey breast and slicing it up for the week..no fillers or preservatives and I know what I season it with.

Afternoon snacks are the same as morning options but I sometimes like to have a coffee to rev up that metabolism, preparing me for my workout after work. A banana in the afternoon, if you haven’t had one in the morning, is great brain food. Banana’s actually have lots of sugar in them so it’s best to stick with medium to small size bananas. I keep unsweetened applesauce at work along with flavored seltzer when I craved carbonation.

Dinners are anything ranging from a protein shake to chicken or a lean meat and fresh steamed vegetables..whole grain rice or a sweet potato is good too…and I love a cup of tea at night.

And did I mention I drink at least 2-3 liters of water per day?
I love my Sigg.

Yesterday was rough – 2pm salty food cravings….so I had a clementine right from Spain (amazing this time of year) and one square of 86% cacao dark chocolate…but no respite. I am dying for French fries!

I fit into my dress just fine but still would love to tone up and lose a few more pounds and get back to my high school weight…and of course tone the abs, butt and thighs. Months ago, I was reading a wedding blog…a bride was looking back at her wedding photos and wished she had worked harder to lose that last 10 pounds…when else will I ever get to look as best I can? “I think I can, I think I can…”

Last winter we did P90X in preparation for our cruise in May…it was amazing and definitely had a positive impact on our health. We drank protein shakes along with trying to eat better...we totally looked and felt our best, but I think I could have done ever better if I squeezed out that last crunch, or did just one more rep or lunge, or had 10 less potato chips here and there.

This Sunday begins our P90X marathon…along with brisk walks during lunch break, I am convinced I can look and feel my best by 5/29!

Please share your fitness/diet tips!

Holiday Break! Be back in 2011!

2010-12-23T20:07:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it??

2011…TWO THOUSAND ELEVEN – the year we finally get married – is JUST around the corner.

In a way, time has flown, but it also seems like it’s taken f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get here.

I wish you all a wonderful holiday and may 2011 be your best year yet! I’m pretty sure it’s going to be mine!!

I leave you with a lovely kissing ball from my favorite store, Crate & Barrel.

Plain White T's - Rhythm Of Love

2010-12-20T22:20:00.000-05:00

Must incorporate this song somewhere in the wedding :-)

Holiday treats - Pretzelies

2010-12-12T17:57:00.001-05:00

This morning I made Pretzelies!

This Pretzelies recipe is compliments of the lovely Jacin over at the She Said Yes! blog.

Ingredients
-Snyders pretzel snaps (or generic brand square grid pretzels)
-Hershey kiss hugs, caramel filled kisses and/or peanut butter filled kisses
-Holiday colored M&Ms
-Sea Salt

Because I’m making these for a bunch of people, I bought a 1 pound bag of pretzels, 4 bags of Hershey’s kisses (2 bags of hugs, 2 bags of chocolate), 2 12.6 ounce bags of red/green M&M’s and Morton Sea Salt. I caught a great sale at Target for all of these items!

First thing’s first…unwrap all of the kisses.

After 1 bag:

After 2 bags:

Pretzel Snaps

I placed (112) snaps on the cookie sheet and placed one hugs in the center of each.

Got my chocolate M&M’s ready

I placed the tray in the oven on 350 for what turned out to be too long: 2 minutes. After 1 minute they weren’t soft enough but 2 minutes made them too soft…

I placed the M&M’s on top of each one individually…definitely time consuming and tedious! Trying to get each one to sit perfectly in the center and not touching the melted hugs took patience.

I then sprinkled sea salt on top. I love that salty/sweet combination!

I let them cool off and come to room temp before packaging them.

Mason jars! For you Jacin!

Love the hangtags I got at Target! Ribbon from Michael’s.

I will be doing an all-chocolate version of these and possibly a caramel one. Pictures to follow :)

Be sure to check out Jacin’s She Said Yes! blog if you are planning your wedding or just love pretty things. She does a post on Mason Jars every Sunday!

Happy Friday!

2010-12-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

What a lovely couple…I love her hair…definitely inspiration!

Photo by Erin Hearts Court
Hair by Nicole Deanne Bridal Hair & Makeup
Featured on November 29th @ Style Me Pretty

Wedding bands

2010-12-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

This is my engagement ring

so I have the ability to go with a lot of different wedding band styles…

I’m in love with these bands:

But not sure if I want diamonds on it…so I love this one too:

all by Benchmark.

My future husband loves the two-tone look

by Zales.com

What are your ring plans?

Second wedding day shoe purchase and other shoe finds

2010-12-08T21:40:00.001-05:00

Started out very enthusiastically at Shoes.com

Meet Coloriffics Carmen in Ivory Satin

When I got them I was shocked at how small the rhinestone ankle strap was…these are meant for a tiny person with tiny feet.

The 1.5 inch heels could have been okay...I may have had to shorten them a half inch…but gladly I don’t have to worry about that. The bows are cute, but that’s about it. I have, um, very (extremely) long toes and size 11 feet...I’m over it. I’ve learned to buy shoes that make my feet look prettier than they are and I was hoping these could have been a match. A pedicure wouldn’t hurt either, but these shoes are NOT doing it for me. They’re already back in the mail :-) Thanks, free shipping both ways!

Next purchase will between these two:

Dessy’s Peep Toe Satin Flat in ivory
-bows will be removed an replaced with a shoe clip.

or Dyeables Kara in White

-shoe clips would be added, and not sure if this “white” would match my “ivory”…dyeing might be needed.

But how cute are these? I’m obsessed with flowers on shoes…

charles by CHARLES DAVID Deena in Bone

I leave you with another sneak peak of a detail on my dress…

6 months to go!

2010-11-29T23:24:00.001-05:00

And I’m freaking out!

I still have SO much to do and I feel like it’s all creeping up on us! Invitations, tuxes, wedding bands, nailing down decor so I can purchase things and store them away…figure out and purchase bridesmaid and groomsmen gifts as well as parents gifts..find a garter, FIND THE PERFECT SHOES, find the perfect clutch, and oh my god I’m sure there is more.

…and we’re still waiting on a closing date for our townhouse so there will be painting, moving and decorating occurring over these next 6 months too!

Thinking of outsourcing invitations at this point. Am I nuts?

I love this from Shine Wedding Invitations, on Etsy:

Simple, modern, romantic and on pearlized stock…I’d use charcoal gray ink instead of black. Their prices are truly reasonable too.

Oh, decisions.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Thankful for all of God’s blessings today, and everyday.

As we become adults we realize the true meaning of holidays – being with family and friends, enjoying the food and shelter we’ve been given, and celebrating the life we have together.

And, thanks a million to all of my blog pals. I have connected with some of the most talented and creative people out there ever since I started planning our wedding and began blogging.
You inspire me.

Enjoy the day everyone!

Bridesmaids dresses are in!

2010-11-23T16:50:00.001-05:00

Got the call from Bridal Garden this afternoon :-)

One step closer! And one of my maids just moved back home and will get to try on the actual dress for the first time hopefully next week!

Success is not born

2010-11-18T09:45:00.001-05:00

"Have courage when times may fail. Be not afraid to make a change. Take a chance on the inevitable.

Make a difference in everything you do.

Be the person who you were meant to be. Success is not born; it is made by those who seek to see the difference." -Anonymous

More little things accomplished

2010-11-10T17:06:00.000-05:00

The little things..they add up!

-We found out the tasting at the Crowne Plaza will be on Sunday, January 23rd. We get to taste all of the food options available for us to choose from.

-We booked our marriage prep class for Sunday, January 30. We will be doing a one-day class.

-My bridal shower will be Sunday, March 20 – that’s all I know. Some girls like a surprise…I do too, but I know this event is coming..I’d rather be prepared and have a cute outfit all ready to go!

-We changed our engagement pictures to be in the Spring..I feel like we’ve been waiting forever..we’ll we have in actuality. I got my braces put on and I’m being stubborn and refuse to go in front of a pro camera until they’re off. And my dentist keeps pushing the date further back…I’m not going to rush us into doing them at the end of December when it’s cold and gray. We will wait for mid-March to come around…we’ll have daffodils and tulips and hopefully some blossoming trees. And we’ll be SUPER excited, as our wedding will then be only 8-ish weeks away!? Crazy? Yes.

Here are two of my favorite Spring engagement shots from our photographer Jennifer Leatherwood! Get’s me so excited!

Groomsmen looks

2010-11-03T10:00:00.002-04:00

So…we’re all guilty of it…stressing so much over what we and our bridesmaids are wearing that we can forget about our men! It’s important to complete the look of your wedding party so don’t let this one slide until the last minute.

I googled “build a tux” the other day and I found this awesome site Jim’s Formal Wear. After you’re there, you click the “Launch” button and you’re able to build TONS of different looks for your groom and his men.
When you’re done building a look you can view a report of the styles of each item you chose, and then see where you can rent these styles.

Awesome! Before I found this tool, I knew we wanted to choose and rent tuxes from Carl Anthony in Cranston, RI. They have a great reputation.

Here are some more looks I’ve built…and Dan approves of most ;-) Dan looks stunning and so handsome in gray…he is dark haired and dark eyed…an all-black tux can be a bit much…so why not experiment with gray/silvers/charcoals…they also work nicely with our blue bridesmaids.

Groom:

I love this tie from The Tie Bar – VERY similar pattern to some embroidery on my dress :-)

And his men:

Now.. to try on and see how realistic these renderings are…will report back!

I’m a Chatty!

2010-11-02T21:26:00.001-04:00

A Chatty Bride, that is!

Lots of brides are blogging with some great content. If you’re searching for vendors and advice on weddings in the southern New England area, be sure to check it out. Make sure you sign up to receive the next edition of SNE Weddings magazine too!

If I could dress an Autumn wedding party…

2010-10-26T17:54:00.001-04:00

I’ve been totally inspired by the amazing foliage around Rhode Island.

Below are some photos of my fiance’s family’s backyard…how gorgeous! It prompted me to (promptly) write this post.

All of these colors make me wish I could plan an Autumn wedding…and if we were, here are some of my picks for girls and their bouquets…

Alfred Angelo 7135, Paprika (Left)
Liz Fields 227, Moss (Our girls are wearing this in Turquoise!) (Center)
Alfred Angelo 7124, Persimmon (Right)

All bouquets from Martha Stewart Weddings

Alfred Angelo 7124 Shown in Charcoal (Left)
The Dessy Collection 2809 Shown in Merlot (Right)

All bouquets from Martha Stewart Weddings

Now…go plan a Fall wedding!

So much attention to what the girls are wearing…stay tuned for a great tool I found for dressing your groomsmen.

More on “The Shoe Front”

2010-10-25T23:56:00.001-04:00

So, back in September I talked about my first shoe purchase…

Well, I tried these on Friday night with my wedding dress…definitely didn’t like them with the dress. They don’t go with the look…at all. Oh well – final sale at Talbot’s…I’ll just have to save them for the honeymoon and wear them with some white crops!

While I don’t have any other shoe purchase to talk about, I wanted to show you some awesome shoe clips, compliments of Absolutely Aubrey.

Not only are their selections gorgeous but they are affordable!

I want these green shoes just so I can wear these clips! Awesome combination. $22.50

In love with these vintage green clips - $20.00

Something blue - $22.50

These would go well with my dress…with maybe a pair of charcoal or silver taffeta flats (if such a pair exists). $22.50

Also lovely: $25.00

Starting to like these ballet flats more and more..from Dessy.

Perfect for adding some shoe bling! And at $28.00 per pair, you totally can’t go wrong.

Color Palette decided, finally! For real this time.

2010-10-22T08:09:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of meeting with my florist! I have so much on my mind as far as colors go and with a little over 7 months to go, I feel like I need to start making real decisions…I can’t design our invitations and paper goods without knowing what our “official” colors are for the day...and I can’t start buying decor either. I was SO happy to have brought all my ideas to the table (I literally covered the table with photos of inspiration)…A big factor in deciding flowers and colors is discovering what types of flowers are typically in season during the last week of May…this helps to keep costs down.

I know it’s hard for you all to envision everything without seeing the dress, but after Tricia saw a photo of it and my ideas, she came up with a scheme.

At first we were leaning towards purple, greens and ivories…the purples because the Crowne’s standard ballroom chairs are plum and kind of hideous (sorry to offend anyone) and don’t really add to the look of the room…so we figured, let’s not fight the purple, let’s work with it.

Gorgeous. Modern and fun! I’ve always loved purple and turquoise.

But inside I’m thinking “elegant, romantic, inspiring and light”…not that purple and lime can’t be those, I just am feeling something else…Back in July I said I had “nailed down my palette, finally”..well, why don’t I ever listen to myself?? Oh, I know why…because I have such an appreciation for every color there is that it’s hard for me to make color decisions ;-)

And…with the lighting the way we want it, the candlelight and uplights, no one will notice the chair color..they will likely look brown…and when the bridal party, my groom and myself make our grand entrances, everyone is going to be in their chairs and looking at us, not the chairs...

So this is our palette! I call it Summer Sunshine…and even if it’s gray and raining on our wedding day, we’ll bring the sunshine!

And this is inspiration for my bouquet…simple tulips, a lighter shade than this probably… cascading against the silhouette and detail of my dress…It’s definitely starting to feel real!

Photo: Brides.com

We also came up with a fantastic scheme for the Grand Ballroom and I’ll have to sketch it out to show you.

Did I tell you we switched back to the Grand Ballroom? Our, ahem, guest list, outgrew the Plaza Ballroom … :-)

My dress came in!!

2010-10-19T22:19:00.000-04:00

(I got the call yesterday!)

I said I wouldn't reveal the dress until after the wedding...but here's a sneak peak of a little detail :-)

I hope to go try it on Friday night!

Aqua/Turquoise: more color palette brainstorming

2010-10-11T21:52:00.001-04:00

So I’ve been thinking a lot about the color palette…originally, before we chose bridesmaids dresses, I had the scheme of tiffany blue (lighter than dress below) creams, peaches and tangerines.

Because the color I chose is very close to a jewel tone and is rather intense, I’ve had thoughts of doing colors of equal intensity…a punchy purple, greens and ivories.

Here’s the dress:

Here are some nice flower combos that might be nice for the girls to carry:

The above two photos are courtesy of Flourish Designs, a Sacramento, California-based florist.

The above two photos are courtesy of Project Wedding.

Last but not least, I think this is my favorite find (obviously because the same color turquoise is pictured!)

Courtesy of The Bride’s Cafe.

I have to nail this palette down so I can design invitations! It’s getting late!

230 days to go! Ahh!!

Uplighting for the ballroom - inspiration

2010-09-30T16:53:00.001-04:00

How romantic and charming is this? Can’t wait until our day!

Compliments of the Style Me Pretty blog. Photograph by Orange Girl Photographs.

Hair stylist chosen!

2010-09-22T22:24:00.001-04:00

I’ll let my hair speak for itself :-)

Hair stylist: Leeann Tingley, who works out of Calma Salon in Cranston, RI
Verdict: Amazing. Leeann and I hit it off immediately..she’s a bundle of energy and her enthusiasm is infectious…such a positive person! She’s such a perfectionist when it comes to hair (and other things I’m sure) but she spent 2 hours perfecting my look…and I love it! Her prices are the average around the Rhode Island/Boston area.

I decided I wanted to look like me on my wedding day… just me, 10 times more glamorous haha. I usually wear my hair parted to the left. Dan loves me hair half up/half down…he definitely loves the look Leeann created!

I picture smoky gray eye shadow with some false eyelashes (not too many), a light lip and slightly rosy cheeks. Here’s my original makeup trial with Kristin Greene…wow my hair was super blond…and that was in April when I had NO tan!

I made this one sepia..just like the effect…Leeann did a beautiful job picking just the right amount of hair to sweep to the side…the bump on top will be a bit bigger on the day of for more drama and the back will be fuller…might opt for a few extensions..sshhh. Grow hair, grow!!

Right side view – love the natural soft feel. Veil (yet to be chosen) will be inserted where my hair comes together in the back…at the bottom of the bump. Definitely want more fullness in the back.

When I got home I had the urge to try a headband…since I love the retro look…Here’s a side view with a thin light gold headband…I LOVE the simplicity of it…I am now in search of a thin headband with a little bit of detail on it…nothing too “blingy”…will dig up some etsy finds and post soon!

I’d also love chandelier earrings…no necklace since my dress is a strapless sweetheart with silver embroidery and little swarovski’s at the top..I just don’t know if a veil + a simple headband will be too much…granted, I haven’t shown any of you my dress so it’s hard to ask that question :-)

Check out Leeann’s Facebook page! She’s also got her own beauty line!

She’ll be traveling to wherever us gals are getting ready on the morning of…likely our CONDO!! We heard that the bank approved the short sale FINALLY! But I’m not making a big deal about it until we have the keys in our hands…

Thanks Leeann!! You’re the best!

First wedding day shoe purchase!

2010-09-20T22:03:00.001-04:00

I’m sure it’ll be the first of many purchases…my feet are size 11 (I can get away with 10’s for flip-flops)…and I’m super picky when it comes to shoes and how they look on my skinny feet (which my fiance lovingly calls “flippers”).

Here’s a refresher of my pre-requisites:
- must be flats, or a 1-inch heel or less
- kinda want them to be blue to match the girls’ dresses
- peep toe preferred
- would love taffeta material like my dress
- I’m cool with stylish ivory flats as long as I could put something blue on them, like these neat flower clips from etsy seller cmitrou

These were originally $99.00, on clearance @ Talbot’s for $34.29!
I can’t wait to try them on with my dress! I’m disappointed in the fabric – crinkled patent leather – but I couldn’t let them go.Sale was final, so if they don’t work out, I can always wear them on the honeymoon and next summer :-)

Dying to wear heels…aren’t these glam?
From etsy seller emu926

These are from Dessy but I hate those stupid bows! I could always order them, take the bows off and get something else to put in their place.

Oh, shoe love.

Not all glitz, glam and glee

2010-09-16T22:19:00.001-04:00

My next post was going to be about my hair trial, but I wanted to stop a moment and reflect…which I do every day, multiple times a day, but never blog much about. I’m a real person with an imperfect life.

Once engaged, many girls, including myself, get very overwhelmed with planning…we obsess over our wedding day makeup, the style shoe we’ll wear…the species of flowers that our bouquets will be composed of…finding THE dress and bridesmaids dresses to go with it…and keeping up with the latest wedding magazine publications and blogs to cram in every last amazing idea before our chance to plan a wedding is O-V-E-R.

Aside from the “pretty” stuff, I’ve got some “ugly” stuff on my plate…the stuff brides likely don’t want to talk about because they want to paint a picture that their lives are perfect.

My parents are divorced. They have been since I was 9 or 10? I’m 25 now. That’s 15-16 years…of dealing with 2 sides…that’s now more than half my life. My mother has not been a prevalent figure in my life since roughly the same time. I grew up with my dad and grandmothers raising my siblings and I. My father strongly dislikes my mother and will not communicate with her.

My 90-year-old great-grandmother ReRe, who was my “pal”, that taught me how to play rummy and poker at a young age, that loved the Red Sox and Mo Vaughn, and said the rosary every day twice a day, has advanced Alzheimer’s…I can only show her my ring and she’ll say it’s beautiful because she’s always loved jewelry…but she doesn’t understand that her oldest great-granddaughter is getting married and it’s just so sad. I wish more than anything that she could be there.

Mr. K5 and I are trying to buy a house…and short sales are not short..they are long, drawn out ridiculous processes that suck the life out of you…all you want to do is move in together and have a place of our own, and host game nights, and dinners, and get a kitten and name it something adorable….and these banks stand in our way. It’s been almost 4 months since we put in our offer.

I’m not complaining. I’m just saying that just because there is a diamond ring on my finger and I’m planning my wedding, it doesn’t mean it’s been 100% glitz, glam and glee. Getting married is a big thing. It means having to face these types of issues, whatever they may be, and deal with them…not push them to the side. Because once the wedding is over, life comes at you. And my fiance is the only one I want to walk beside me through this life.

...and in the words of a wise, older cousin “stop trying to please everyone, or you’ll be bitter by the time you’re 40” :-)

More cake tasting

2010-09-13T21:07:00.001-04:00

Many who know about the Crowne Plaza’s packages know that they come with a cake, which is awesome! They are still going to be providing our cake for guests but I’d like an extra special touch on our cake. However, we can’t spend a lot on a dummy cake especially since a cake is in our package already…and, well, only a small part of a dummy cake is edible so why would we spend nearly 1200 on one? Some of these bakeries are out of their minds :-)

This Saturday we tasted some oh so delicious cake, compliments of Shemry Brown, owner of Shemry’s Cakery in Warwick, RI.

This cell phone photo of her presentation doesn’t do it justice…I was sad I left my camera at home! The front left was vanilla cake and had light and fluffy milk chocolate and peanut butter fillings; the front right was also vanilla cake and had an AMAZING tangy lemon filling; the back left was an orange cake with delicate vanilla cream filling, and the back right was the flavor we chose: vanilla cake with fresh strawberries and grand marnier fillings. Each one was seriously delicious…can’t go wrong with any of them!

Shemry really impressed us with her professionalism, creativity and business practice, AND she’s so nice!

Being an artist myself, I appreciate when a wedding professional can sketch their ideas on paper! I felt like we weren’t “just another wedding cake order”…Shemry came to the appointment with a sketch (below) of a 3-tier cake with a pillow emboss on each layer (fondant), after our I gave her a bunch of ideas from our phone conversation. After we got to talking at the appointment, she added a little monogram area because Mr. K5 and I love that idea, and it could be highlighted in our color blue. She continued to add flowers and I got so excited because it started to mimic the asymmetrical flower placement on my wedding dress…and then we compared the cost of 3-tier versus 4-tier…$250 for 3-tier dummy cake with a 6-inch actual cake on top for us to cut into – yes, that’s correct! And for the 4-tier it would be $325. So we had her add a 4th tier at the bottom of the cake!

We may go back to the 3-tier idea, but the 4-tier is just really dramatic and gorgeous…not sure what type of flowers would exist on the cake (will talk to florist about that), but Shemry will also add a slight dusting of light gold to give the cake a pinch of shimmer…loved her idea!

Here are some of her great wedding cakes:

Shemry also gave us the option to go with a rental wedding cake from her new company Covert Cakes.

I think it’s brilliant – Mr. K5 wasn’t too into the idea however.

One of my favorite quotes from Covert Cakes’ FAQ’s:

“You want a towering elegant showpiece but this "real" cake would serve 300 guests and you've invited a modest 100.

Rent a jaw dropper from Covert Cakes and you won't have to get creative with cake recipes for months after your wedding...cake kabobs, cake gumbo...you get the idea.”

Congrats on your new venture Shemry!

And we can’t wait to see our wedding cake :-)

Save the Dates Revealed!

2010-09-11T17:02:00.001-04:00

Back in June, one of my best friends, Jenn, came to little Rhody for a girls night…Before we met up with Erica for dinner, we made a stop at a beach in Narragansett so I could “write” our save the date in the sand. Because of our large guest list, we had roughly 100 Save the Dates to send. I made a pact with myself that we would spend absolutely as little as possible on this, but also try to be as creative as possible…So, a little DIY at the beach and use of my design skills enabled me to keep costs to a minimum.

Jenn – thanks for coming with me to do this and for documenting my process :-) and for offering your opinions on each version…I think I wrote this at least 10 different times in the sand!

The final photo taken…after waiting for JUST the right wave/water effect.

I cleaned up the sand in between the letters and numbers in Photoshop and converted to black and white, boosted the contrast a bit…I wanted a timeless feel and also achieved that with typeface selection.

Reverse:

I wanted to tie in our invitations with the save the dates and I’ll do so with a script font. “Formal Invitation to Follow” is the typeface Aphrodite Text…to be used on our invites.

Originally, I ordered these with a tiffany blue background, printed on a high-quality offset press via www.OvernightPrints.com. They arrived and then my fiance told me I forgot a word…woops…I was so mad with myself because being a graphic designer, I have to be so careful with client work…at least this was my own. So, by that time, we had chosen the bridesmaids dresses, in the deeper blue. I looked at it as an opportunity to change the color of the reverse…and of course edited the typo. I then re-ordered on a digital press (lesser quality than the offset but still pretty darn nice) and scored a September sale price on postcards!

This afternoon I had a little photo shoot in the grass with some extra cards. You can see the difference in print quality between offset (left) and digital (right). I’m sure it really only bother ME! no one will notice (until they see this).

Old color (left), new color, no typo (right):

Cost Breakdown

(Original, with typo) Postcards – 100, from www.overnightprints.com
Specs: 4x6, full color, 2-sided, 15 pt. cardstock, free gloss finish
Press: Offset
Cost: 39.95
Shipping: 11.95
Price per piece: 0.519

(Edited, actual sent) Postcards – 100, from www.overnightprints.com
Specs: 4x6, full color, 2-sided, 15 pt. cardstock, free gloss finish
Press: Digital
Cost: 29.95
Shipping: 11.95
Discount (Thanks to Sept. Sale!) -17.97
Price per piece: 0.239

Envelopes – 100, from www.envelopemall.com
Specs: Astrobright Colors, Celestial Blue, 4-3/4 x 6-1/2", (A6) Envelope
Cost: 9.25
Shipping: 8.51
Price per piece: 0.177

Postage – 100 (5 booklets of 20), from your local US post office

View the Love: King & Queen of Hearts stamp online >

Cost: 44.00
Price per stamp: 0.44

Accommodation Insert – 100, provided by Crowne Plaza
Specs: 4x6
Cost: Free!

Final Cost per Save the Date: $1.375, including my mistake and having to re-print!
If I hadn’t made the mistake, it would have only cost $1.136 per Save the Date.

Final total: $137.50 for 100 Save the Dates

We’re really happy with the final outcome and wouldn’t have done it any differently! Aside from the mistake of course…but even with the mistake, I still came in way under the cost of doing a magnet or going with pre-designed customizable Save the Dates. If we wanted to make the postcard a self-mailer we would have saved 17 cents.

Cake Tasting and more

2010-09-06T20:24:00.001-04:00

We took this past week off for a staycation and we got a lot done for the wedding!

Wednesday we enjoyed the beach together.

Thursday we tasted cake at a popular bakery in East Greenwich. (Good thing the beach was the day before and not after ;-) )

Lots of cakes and fillings…My favorite was lemon with seedless raspberry filling but our mutual decision was strawberries and champagne cake. I’m head over heels for strawberries and cake and he enjoys it as well.

Mr. K5 really loves chocolate/peanut butter anything, but he suggested we go with a type of white cake so I don’t get dirty. How nice is he?! I swear it was his suggestion! He won’t have to worry though…he’ll be getting a great groom’s cake :-D

Unfortunately, after being given 3 quotes for a dummy cake with a 6” tier for us to cut, we won’t be going with this bakery…The Crowne Plaza includes a cake in our package…no way is it justifiable to spend 1,100-1,200 on a DUMMY cake!

We’re looking into doing one with the Bakery Boutique in Smithfield, RI who came in WAY lower on a dummy cake quote. The Crowne will still provide cake for guests.

Friday we met with our priest who gave us a rundown of everything we have to do in the upcoming months. The last time we met with him was in April 2009 when we booked our date. Since it’s a Sunday wedding we have a couple of options for the rehearsal…Friday night and expect our wedding party and other guests to get out of work early and/or take the day off, or Saturday at 6:15 and have the dinner before or after. We’re leaning towards the Saturday rehearsal and not sure what to do about the dinner…do we want to be out late the night before? Or do we want to have the dinner before the rehearsal?

Today we put our Save the Dates together! Mr. K5 was a trooper…helping to stuff our postcard and accommodations info into envelopes, retrieving missing addresses, sealing envelopes with a moistened Q-tip (works wonders!)…It’s nice to also be developing our first address book..it’s the small things in life :-)

I’ll reveal what I did for the actual postcard later this week after they’ve been sent out, but in the meantime I wanted to show you the outside…the envelopes match the maids dresses and I just love the King and Queen stamps I got from the USPS.

Our guest list is hovering around 212 and we have about 80 Save the Dates going out.

This week I’ll be having hair trials with 2 stylists! So excited!

New look

2010-08-31T17:22:00.000-04:00

I call it sunny and springy with a dash of blue :-) Better layout and readability. Here's to hoping we get a sunny and beautiful wedding day...Just under 9 months (271 days to be exact) to go!

Some changes

2010-08-27T17:56:00.000-04:00

My blog looks different. I'm tired of the circles. I want something new! Something more related to the look and feel of our wedding.

K5 has something in the works. This current blogger template will have to suffice for these next few days :-)

We chose bridesmaids dresses!

2010-08-26T18:00:00.000-04:00

My gut was right! Liz Fields 227 was a hit. Bridal Garden in East Greenwich, RI was amazing and Cathy was so great with me and the girls…I highly recommend shopping there.

I originally wanted Tiffany Blue but the girls looked so nice in this color that it changed my mind. I will try to bring in some aqua elsewhere…like their bouquet handle wraps or the guys’ ties.

Here it is next to some bright colors to show contrast…Going to have fun with bouquets!

So complimenting on everyone’s shape..this photo looks a little green.

Here’s one gal already dancing in it!

CHECK!

Transportation Booked!

2010-08-23T18:27:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I worked with Kirtley Seveney of Newport Trolley to book our transportation. We have 16 in our party including us and we wanted our parents to come along too, so the only option we liked was the trolley. Our photographer and videographer will hopefully come along too…it’ll make for some great photos! It is also wheelchair accessible.

For 4 hours we were able to secure the trolley for $725.00 with gratuity included.

I want to say how awesome Kirtley was with me…she answered every question I had! Their transportation services are highly recommended in the industry so I’m sure we’ll have a great experience on the day of!

Bridesmaids dresses…quick update

2010-08-22T22:24:00.001-04:00

Went to a bridal shop in East Greenwich on Saturday…really thought about what my problem was with making a decision.

Then this Liz Fields dress popped into my line of view, and I had to try it on to get a first-hand feel for the dress so I could tell the girls about it.

The color in the store is Turquoise.

Color looks a lot lighter here.

This dress is amazing…why?

-Charmeuse fabric – light and flowy for a potentially warm day
-Comes with optional straps
-Creates a nice waistline but is not restricting, so the girls can DANCE
-Floor length…looks cute in knee-length too
-Super complimenting on all figures
-Zipper back
-Comes in TIFFANY BLUE (below)!! Seriously, it’s the blue I’ve been looking for that Impression and Alfred Angelo did not offer. I think that was my problem. I couldn’t make a decision because of the color...I hate being forced into things..my gut doesn’t lie.

The color is nice online but even better in person…I was so happy it was like I just bought my wedding dress all over again.

The plan: this week I hope to have all the girls try this style on and check this baby off the list…Let’s cross our fingers!

It also comes in peach in case my Maid of Honor wants to go different.

Advice for Brides having trouble with deciding on bridesmaids dresses…write down on a piece of paper what you want your day to look like (i.e. romantic, fluffy, bright, etc), don’t make split decisions, don’t be forced into choosing a color/fabric you don’t think is nice, DO go by yourself to gather your thoughts especially if you have a large bridal party, DO try on the dresses to really get a feel for what they’ll be dealing with for 12 hours. Would YOU want to feel restricted or hot and sweaty for that long of a time period?

DIY: Painted Wine Bottles, Part III

2010-08-22T21:46:00.001-04:00

In a follow up to Parts I, II and II.I – we now have GOLD BOTTLES.

Flash off

Flash on:

Natural light, with little miss kitty in the background ;-)

This super glossy gold was applied over the brushed nickel…I think that’s the reason why they are not as shiny as they are supposed to be. But, I like them. I kind of really like them :-)

Next step is to buy some flowers, votives, and an inexpensive white table cloth and do a little mock up! Stay tuned for Part IV.

Stuck on Bridesmaids Dresses

2010-08-20T13:22:00.001-04:00

The real hunt for dresses has commenced.

Monday night I went with one bridesmaid and we thought we had it figured out! Short wasn’t cutting it formality-wise. So we knew it had to be long.

This is the dress (“Dress A” for future reference) on:

Alfred Angelo Style 7060, Charmeuse Fabric (lighter satin)

This is it on the Alfred Angelo site for a different view..I would have to get it in Sapphire:

or Waterfall:

It definitely elongates a figure and is great for dancing the night away..and ultra light in case it’s hot..it IS a Memorial Day Weekend wedding!

Then I went Tuesday with 3 other bridesmaids and my Maid of Honor. They tried on Dress A, it looked good, and then we found 2 other styles that we really liked on everyone.

Dress B on 2 girls, Alfred Angelo Style 7041, Satin:

Dress B on the site:

Alfred Angelo Style 7041 in Robin’s Egg

Alfred Angelo Style 7041 in Cobalt

Alfred Angelo Style 7041 in Pool

Some complaints about Satin – the ruching will fall down towards the end of the day if it’s not tacked properly…it can be warm, and since this dress has a corset back, it can get uncomfortable after a while.

Dress C – I failed to photograph this on anyone..it was the last dress they tried on, everyone seemed tired, it was 8:30 and I was stressed out. They looked completely gorgeous in this one and it was very complimenting on 4 different figures but is rather restricting as it is a trumpet shape. The 4 girls that tried this on all seemed to love it – it looked great on all of them. Three others still have to try it on. Some complaints about taffeta is that it wrinkles easily and can be noisy when walking.

Impression’s website does a terrible job at showing how this dress actually fits:

It had a lot more ruching across the mid-section. The girls would opt to add a sweetheart neckline. It’s also got a zipper back.

The problem is I’d have to choose either Aqua, which I’m not super crazy about in taffeta, or Indigo which is a much deeper blue than I really intend to go with.

Here are some of Alfred Angelo’s blue swatches…

Click the photo to see all swatches…I’m debating Seafoam and Coral too (a bit on the pink side).

I could end ALL thinking about which blue to go with and choose Coral…still have the ivory, creams, peaches and tangerine flowers with some green hypericum berries…have the guys wear aqua ties for the splash of aqua.

Ultimately it is my decision…I just wish I could decide!

Please share your thoughts!

DIY: Manzanita branches – the inspiration

2010-08-08T10:21:00.001-04:00

I love the look of manzanita branch centerpieces. They can be done in a multitude of ways. For our late spring wedding, it would be nice to have small white and/or coral faux flowers attached to the branches, sparingly, and maybe leave the branches a solid dark cherry color (like the wood trim in the photo of the Crowne further down) or spray paint them gold. Have small white votives lit below them would cast a beautiful glow upward on the branches and the flowers. Very romantic!

Here you can see the manzanita branches were kept their natural color and have white flowers attached to the branches…very close to the look I’m going for.

Another element that could be incorporated are crystals. They certainly add some extra glam and sparkle. This particular one was used at a champagne bar but I would choose to use a second one at the escort card table.

This is a photo I took of part of the cocktail area right outside the ballroom. Picture a bar set up in this corner (where it will be set up for both cocktails and the entire reception. I’d love to have a large focal point set up on top of the bar.

Here a photo of the other part of the cocktail reception area. There are 2 entrances to the ballroom on the right, and the tables set up are where the escort cards will be placed and a card/gift table. Placing a focal point of a manzanita branch on each would be perfect.

Branch resources
*some have the requirement that you be a retailer or professional florist

Blooms and Branches

$6.85 per 18”-24” branch, minimum order of 2

Blooms and Branches

$12.60 per 18”-24” gold painted branch – a can of gold spray paint will run me around $4.00…I would likely buy the branch above and simply paint myself to save money, but wanted to show this option

Save on Crafts - $12.29 per 24”-36” tall branch

As noted on Save on Crafts’ website: If you are constructing a display tree, wish tree, centerpieces or a seating card tree you'll need to use a heavy, loose material such as stones, or set them in plaster-of-Paris.

I’m still debating which option I’ll go with and wondering what I’ll do with all of these manzanita branches when the wedding is over..they might just be for sale after!

Flower resources

Save on Crafts - $8.00 for 30 flowers – not sure how many each tree will need…

still working on finding the cheapest option for this!

Stay tuned for more manzanita goodness…

We’re hoping we get our condo soon…we bid on it a couple of months ago (short sales are AWFUL!)...I will then have a huge finished basement to do all of my DIY projects in!

New DIY Projects Page

2010-08-05T20:00:00.003-04:00

For organizational purposes, all DIY-related posts, including my own work and other inspiring brides' DIY projects, will be linked to in this new page. While my posts may get tagged, they can get lost in the shuffle as time goes on and new entries are posted.

Enjoy :-)

Happy 4 Year Anniversary!

2010-08-04T11:00:00.000-04:00

Today marks 4 years of dating for us :-)

Four years ago we went on our first date…we saw Talladega Nights, had dinner and then watched the sunset from Galilee Beach…

Today we’ll be doing something similar :-)

Us in…

2006:

2007:

2008:

2009:

2010:

In 298 days, I’ll be his Mrs! I love you DJP!

DIY: Painted Wine Bottles, Part II Continued

2010-08-03T22:26:00.002-04:00

As promised, here are some photos with candlelight (found some votives hanging around), a makeshift white tablecloth (sorry for the wrinkles), and the only thing not pictured are flowers that would be in little mini vases…

You can see the subtle reflective properties of this particular brushed nickel finish…It’s really not enough.

In addition to last night’s comments, I think we need more gloss and reflection…picture this x 10 around a ballroom…
Just not feeling confident in this wine bottle thing just yet. We’ll see what happens with the gold!

DIY: Painted Wine Bottles, Part II

2010-08-02T21:40:00.001-04:00

Well, it took me 5 months and 9 days to post a Part II to my Painted Wine Bottle Project…Part I involved washing and scrubbing about 10 bottles…

Part II involved priming the bottles, and deciding on a color. At first I wanted to go with all white glossy bottles, but then I changed my mind and wanted to do a brushed nickel.

I used all Krylon products because Dad says they are the best brand. Each can is around 3.99 each @ Home Depot. So far I’ve spent around $15.00 on trying all of this out.

Here they are primed with white, then spraypainted brushed nickel.

*The primed bottles had to be lightly sanded before spraying on the nickel finish.

While it’s not an overall failure, it’s not quite right for our wedding reception. The silver is more for an outdoor daytime wedding or a fireplace mantle in a very bright, modern living room.

They do reflect light softly, though the lighting and table shown are not accurate of what our tables will look like.

New thoughts on this project – try gold for a warmer feel. The silver is too industrial for a romantic evening wedding reception. If a solid gold/pinkish copper doesn’t do it, my last resort will be texturing the bottles with hand-painted brushstrokes. If that fails, then we devise a Plan B for 10 of my tables!

I do have pictures of dimmed lighting and some candlelight glowing around these bottles. Stay tuned tomorrow!

A quick rant about chairs and chair covers

2010-07-22T23:20:00.001-04:00

Why on earth do some brides insist on having chiavari chairs at their reception and then COVER them with a chair cover? I must say it's one of the biggest wastes of money. The chiavari is such an elegant chair...let it's beauty show! It's so clean...don't mess it up with a cover.

How they should be used:

Color palette nailed down…finally.

2010-07-12T19:07:00.000-04:00

Thanks to good friends who encourage me to stay true to myself (the self that loves blues) and The Perfect Palette, I have decided my colors and can now move forth with stationery ideas and decor!

The main colors will be light aqua/glass and a coral/peach with splashes of tangerine and ivory…maybe a light yellow.

My 6 bridesmaids will wear the aqua and my maid of honor will wear peach or coral to compliment.

Here are my favorite inspiration boards from The Perfect Palette:

I said Yes! to the Dress!!

2010-07-07T22:37:00.000-04:00

Thank you to Ana's Bridal in East Providence!!! Ana was wonderful and so helpful. The last dress I tried on was it! Close tie between it, and the first. But is it just so unique with lots of little details that just made it "the one" especially after trying on a veil with it.

No pictures here...327 days until the unveiling :-)

Just a little random fact...we got engaged on the 7th and I bought my dress on the 7th...our original wedding date was supposed to be the 7th...haha 2 out of 3 isn't bad. :-)

Amazing cookout!

2010-07-04T10:32:00.000-04:00

Feeling so thankful! The cookout with Dan's family was awesome yesterday and everyone got along famously :-) Couldn't wipe the smile off my face. A few times, I stood back, looked around, and took it all in...practicing for the big day :-)

Off to enjoy the pool and another cookout!

Families meeting!

2010-07-03T09:57:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th! Our families are having a cookout together today...first time! Should be good :-) We're also heading to Bed, Bath & Beyond to begin registering!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Fireworks over Newport Harbor (even though I'm a Rhode Islander, I've never actually witnessed this...someday!)

No heels for this bride to be

2010-06-22T22:28:00.001-04:00

Dan is only really 2 inches or so taller than I. Yet, I am a shoe lover..I worship shoes of all shapes from flats to 5 inch stilettos…if I could, I’d convert a bedroom into a shoe closet and buy every shoe I ever fell in love with. I have a small, okay, BIG, obsession with shoes..so much that I have to promise Mr. K5 that I won’t visit the shoe department if we go to Target together. He’s a funny one. I will sometimes spend an hour or two at DSW pacing up and down every aisle making sure to look at every shoe in the place…of course the clearance rack is the first place I run to. Never know what you’ll find. But one thing I must add is that I am a size 10 in open-toe shoes and size 11 in closed-toe shoes. Annoying. So the clearance rack mostly always has hideous stuff in my sizes. Oh well.

Back to the point – I can’t wear heels on our wedding day. I cannot be taller than the groom. Some brides are okay with that. I am not.

So I’ve begun my search for amazing flats in all sorts of colors, just bookmarking page after page of glorious shoes. Bridesmaids dresses haven’t been decided on yet so I’m waiting until then to really zero in on a color. And, yes, I said color. I can’t wear an all-white satin “bridal flat”. It’s not me. I want something fun, maybe with a little embellishment.

Enough chatter though – here are just some of my favorites so far, found via Zappos.com.

Romantic Soles Geneva in Teal Satin and Blue Satin

*if I had blue shoes, that could totally be my “something blue”

Me Too Lilium – Fuchsia Satin

Nine West Zalta in Navy

Block Raphaela in Silk Pink

These would actually work well with this lovely Maggie Sottero Venecia gown:

AK Anne Klein Mavra in Pewter Multi and White Multi*

*yes, I know I said no white, but these are seriously adorable and can be an exception to the rule!

From DSW – SM Lovely Flat in Blue

! And if I could wear pumps… here are just a few I think are adorable and would make a total statement…

From DSW - Paris Hilton Harmony

this should would totally go with my an aqua/peach and tangerine color scheme

From DSW - Ann Marino Hooray Flower Peep Toe Pump in Pink and White

Definitely more shoe posts to come!

Love my Dad!

2010-06-20T15:36:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day!

Here's a photo of us at my third grade Father/Daughter Dance.

Gets me thinking about what song to dance to for our dance together :-) Really would like to have a slow song but have it cut into the Twist or something funny. We'll see!

K5 Becomes A Bride | We planned an amazing wedding!

New blog! I know, I've been MIA

Tall Vases for Sale

Don't Forget: Items For Sale!

Pro Wedding Pics TEASER!

Wedding Items Listed For Sale!

A few quick photos!

I’m Back!! And with a video highlight!

My Last Post before I Walk Down the Aisle

Old, Borrowed, Blue, New

We're featured on the Lovely Little Details Blog!

We finally got our marriage license!

Personalized Hanger

Shoes…wait, I thought we were done with shoes?

Engagement Photo Guest Book

Bachelorette highlights

Some Engagement Photo Favorites!

How!?

One Month to go!

I’d be lost without Excel

More Centerpiece Bargains

RSVP’s and Gravity

More on Centerpieces

40 days left to go…still a lot to do!!

Ran a mile tonight

Ceremony Music I

More shoe love

Honeymoon reveal, 50 days to go!

Engagement Pictures This Saturday!

Highlights from my Bridal Shower

What goes up must come down

The invitations (and the process), at last

Amazing Shower!

My Shower is Today! 70 days to go.

Fitness update

Yes, I know, I’ve been MIA

85 days to go

Celebrating one week of homeownership

100 days AND we bought a house today!

So excited for Friday!

FOR SALE Reminder

Looking for cute dresses

Our Honeymoon Plans

Invitations are in!

It’s all coming together!

4 months to go!

Our tasting at the Crowne Plaza

We purchased our wedding bands!

Shoes: We have a winner!

CB2 Pillows

Update on the Shred

Taming the beast: Invitations

Third wedding day shoe purchase

30-Day Shred

Tuxes: Check!

Craving Salt? 30 Healthy Snacks

Fitness, eating well, and goals

Holiday Break! Be back in 2011!

Plain White T's - Rhythm Of Love

Holiday treats - Pretzelies

Happy Friday!

Wedding bands

Second wedding day shoe purchase and other shoe finds

6 months to go!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bridesmaids dresses are in!

Success is not born

"Have courage when times may fail. Be not afraid to make a change. Take a chance on the inevitable. Make a difference in everything you do. Be the person who you were meant to be. Success is not born; it is made by those who seek to see the difference." -Anonymous

More little things accomplished

Groomsmen looks

I’m a Chatty!

If I could dress an Autumn wedding party…

More on “The Shoe Front”

Color Palette decided, finally! For real this time.

My dress came in!!

Aqua/Turquoise: more color palette brainstorming

Uplighting for the ballroom - inspiration

Hair stylist chosen!

First wedding day shoe purchase!

Not all glitz, glam and glee

"Have courage when times may fail. Be not afraid to make a change. Take a chance on the inevitable.

Make a difference in everything you do.

Be the person who you were meant to be. Success is not born; it is made by those who seek to see the difference." -Anonymous