The long-awaited recap

Obviously, I sort of let this blog fall by the wayside. But I'd hate to think you just never knew how things ended up, wedding-wise.

Odds are, most of you already know me in real life and were there and/or are friends with me on Facebook, so you probably have a pretty good idea what it was like, but for the 2% of my readership who just happen to find me interesting despite not being an active part of my life, here's a snapshot.

I know almost every bride thinks her wedding day was awesome, but...well, mine was just perfect. I mean, stuff went wrong and there were the annoying things you have to do, but when I think back on it, there was just so much good.

I woke up the morning-if at exactly 7 a.m. I had set my alarm for another hour and a half later, but my body was operating on wedding time now. I was so. Freaking. Excited. After forcing myself to eat some toast, the day started with hair and makeup for the girls. My sister-in-law did almost everyone's looks (shameless plug for her salon here!), and we all left the hotel looking mighty attractive.

Then my favorite parts started. First, there was the first look for Joey and me. I was so excited to see him, and he looked so good. Our fabulous photographer and videographer were in hand to capture the whole thing ( and seriously, these guys are AMAZING. I'm not just saying that. They travel, too, so if you're looking, hire them. They're also positively delightful in person.), and then we did our bridal party pictures.





Then it was ceremony time. I know the ceremony can be kind of boring when it's not your wedding. But this was honestly my favorite part of the day. It was just really...meaningful, I guess. I cried like a baby, but only because he started it. Sigh, husbands, right?

After that, we were married! That's the craziest part. It's like, one second, single. The next, poof, married! Crazy in a good way. After the obligatory family photos, it was party time.

We tried really hard to make sure we enjoyed our reception, but it is a little challenging. Everyone wants to talk or take a picture with you or, ahem, take a shot with you, but you also have speeches and table visits and to spend time with relatives and friends who came all this way. It's a bit much.

But I can honestly say it was one of the best days of my life so far. There was so much love and happiness around me the whole day. Sorry to be a mush, but I can't help but get all goo-goo eyed when I talk about it.

Feel free to check out Megan's blog for more photos and AJ's site for the video clip (links above) if you need more. Hard to believe we've already been hitched for a month! Here's hoping for a lot more "one of the best days of our lives."

Mom found her dress!

My mother purchased and returned about four dresses before she finally found her dress for my wedding.

Now, I should say that this doesn’t surprise me. I have three married brothers, and I saw her go through the same struggle with their weddings. (And with my sister’s wedding in October, I’m sure she’ll do the whole thing over again for that.) To be fair, the parents of the bride and groom are under scrutiny during the wedding. They have to walk down the aisle too, and everyone will be looking.

Fortunately, my mother is a stylish lady, and I had no doubts she would find something fabulous.

The winning dress came from Dorothea’s Closet, a vintage store in Des Moines, IA. The shop has been open since 2007 and sells high-quality vintage clothing, accessories, lingerie and bridal attire. Fortunately for those not in the Midwest, there’s a website too.

I don’t want to spoil the surprise of her dress, so I’m not going to show it, but know this: It’s gold, it sparkles, and it looks great on her.

According to my Knot ticker, we’re only 26 days away from THE day. That is insane.

Favors and Food

We check quite a few wedding tasks off of our to-do list this weekend!

First, my bridesmaids and I and our good (and crafty) friend Heather got together to wrap the favors. Here’s a shot of the team (minus Megan, who had to leave to meet her husband. She’s such a good wife!):

We wrapped up about 160 favors before we had to quit (wrapping favors is surprisingly exhausting). Here’s the whole bunch:

The actual wrapping is a little basic, but I our linens are a pretty blue color, so I think the brown kraft paper will pop on each place.

Speaking of the linens, the fiancé and I went to The Riviera to pick them and our menu. Vicki was super helpful, as always, and even gave us an extra food station because our meeting started a little late. (Free food will always win me over.) The Riv has been really great about taking care of all of our requests, and I’m so excited to have them in charge on the day-of (and to take the pressure off of the fiancé and me!).

I cannot believe there are only 34 more days. Here’s what we have left to do:

1. Tally up the RSVPs (deadline was Saturday, but I know I still have some calls to me) and give a headcount to The Riviera.
2. Print and assemble programs.
3. Pick up the fiance’s suit; get my dress steamed.
4. Confirm hotel/honeymoon plans.
5. Finish our table numbers.
6. Finish corsages.
7. Final payments (ugh).

And seriously, I think that’s it. All together now: SHRIEK!

"Showered" With Love

Ok, I’m taking a quick break from thinking about other people’s weddings to talk about my own, because this past weekend was PACKED with wedding activities.

First, Saturday I had a surprise bridal shower! And I really, truly was surprised. I thought the fiancé and I were meeting up with some friends for lunch, but when we walked into the “restaurant,” everyone yelled, “Surprise!” I actually thought maybe they were surprising someone else. (I was REALLY surprised!)

The best part? My mom flew in to surprise me too! It was so much fun (after I recovered from the initial shock!), and I felt truly loved to have so many people go to the trouble to put it together for me. Here are a few photos of the highlights!

 {photos courtesy of bridesmaid Megan}

Next up: Suits! The guys FINALLY got them. I’ll give you the deets later this week.
And after that: APARTMENT! We found one we love and we’re signing the lease tomorrow. Woo, adulthood!

Brown Paper Packages

Our wedding favors came in! I don’t want to spoil the surprise for our guests (though I will tell you that they came from the Knot Shop!), so instead I’m going to talk about ways to wrap up favors.

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I bought all those favor boxes way back when for $5 at our prop sale, but the favors we ended up with are too big for the boxes (oh well). So now I’m back to square one on the wrapping front.

Here’s what I know: I want to wrap them in brown kraft paper. My bridesmaids and future in-laws have been saving brown paper bags for me, so I should have enough. (Plus, future mom-in-law has a random roll of brown kraft paper. Perfect!) Then I either want to tie them with this pretty blue baker’s twine I bought on Etsy (surprise, surprise), like so:

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You know I love a good doily. Or maybe use a witty sticker of some kind?

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I’m not sure. What are you brides doing to package your wedding favors?

Can’t Hardly Wait

When you’re planning a wedding (at least one that you’re actually looking forward to), time seems to move incredibly slowly and incredibly quickly at the exact same time.

Case in point, my Knot wedding ticker.

I know, I know, it’s cloyingly cute, but the colors looked good on my Knot bio, so…there you have it. Anyway, look at that thing.

The little love birds are practically on top of the birds at the end of the ticker! The fact that my wedding is so close blows my mind sometimes. I mean, I feel like we just got engaged.

But then I look at the info underneath the ticker. One month, three weeks, and three days left to go. Now, this is not a long amount of time. But still, a WHOLE month, THREE weeks, AND three days left to go?

The fiancé and I often discuss how we could have probably had a shorter engagement. But then we console ourselves with the fact that we would probably have been much more stressed and not had as much time to find good deals.

But when your wedding day is going to be as awesome as ours is, sometimes you just wish those birds would quit dawdling.

We Like Cake

We had our cake tasting last night! Both the fiancé and I had really been looking forward to this part. (Um, hi? Free cake? Three different kinds of free cake? Sign us up.)

Not only is our baker, Liz, incredibly sweet and easy to work with, she also makes some out-of-this-world-good cake.

We sampled French vanilla, red velvet and lemon cakes, and strawberry preserves, eclair cream and cannoli cream fillings. Though they were all amazing, there was a clear winner among the sweet little group: French vanilla with cannoli cream. Seriously, I actually feel bad that we can’t invite every person we’ve ever known to the wedding, because you haven’t lived until you’ve tried this combo. (Of course, I’m a sucker for a homemade baked good.)

Put it this way: The fiancé is verrrry discerning when it comes to Italian food. I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have worked out if I couldn’t throw together an impressive vodka sauce. And when he tasted that cannoli cream…let’s just say the contest was over.

Liz was even kind enough to send him home with a container of the leftover filling (pretty much making her his new favorite person). How much did he love the cannoli cream? I think this says it all: