2010 approaches...

I can't believe that 2009 is pretty much over. This was a crazy year-- I started my Master of Fine Arts program at Lesley University, got engaged to the greatest guy in the whole world, was a bridesmaid for the first time ever in Lisa and Andrew's beautiful wedding, said goodbye to my grandfather, and put up with an incredible amount of unnecessary work-related stress. It was definitely a year of ups and downs, and I'm excited to see what 2010 holds in store for me.

I've recently made a few decisions about the upcoming year that will benefit me in many, many positive ways, but I'm not going to talk about them just yet... I'm looking forward to the next few weeks, though. I feel like I'm standing on the edge of a huge cliff and there's most likely a safety net at the bottom, but I'll only know if I jump.

2010 is going to be the year about jumping. My immediate plans are to work on the novel I started in November. I'm 50,000 words into it and it needs a lot of work, but I'm planning on incorporating the novel into my assignments for this semester. I hope to have it in some kind of presentable manuscript by the summer. I'm also going to be pushing myself to get more into the freelance writing scene. I've made a good start with local papers and my portfolio is growing every week, but I'd like to jump into larger publications like magazines.

**CAN WE SAY REAL SIMPLE MAGAZINE??**

I entered an essay contest back in September and they announce the winner next weekend... I feel something really good in my bones about my chances of winning. I'm visualizing the phone call and manifesting as many good vibes as possible... to start 2010 with the news that I have been chosen... well, that would basically set the tone for the whole year.

Aside from the writing stuff, I am SO EXCITED that it's almost our wedding year! I recently changed my mind about bridesmaid dresses. We'll be going with a cornflower blue instead of brown. I just think it'll be more summery and fun. I need to get my girls together and pick a designer, which may be tough since we're all on very different schedules. I'm leaning towards Bill Levkoff because he has some great styles that would compliment a lot of different bodies. Nothing is set in stone, though I need to get on that STAT!

Our Save the Dates are in their envelopes and will be addressed in the very near future... like, this week. I may need to recruit some willing bridesmaids to write them out with me. Or I might just spend New Years Eve doing that. I have no plans to go out because Matt's on the Cape with his buddies and I'm quite the old woman lately (9:30 and I'm tired... that's so pathetic).

We also officially have a VIDEOGRAPHER! I'm very thrilled about this because I wanted one so badly and we weren't sure we could fit it into our budget. We got very lucky to find Cozzi Video! Now our big day will be with us always.

I've been a lucky girl lately-- all my bridesmaids were/are home for the holidays, so I got to see them all at least once! Sara is back from Spain and we spent the day together today. I missed her so much, and the next stretch will be even LONGER. But she'll be home in the summer just in time for a few rumba lessons and a wedding. Chelsea came up from Virginia and I got to see her and a few other girls at Applebees one night. Those two are the farthest away so it was lovely to see them. I can't wait for the wedding to have everyone together all dressed up and ready to party!

I should get back to writing a book review for the paper, but expect more frequent updates from me... now that the new year is approaching, I have a feeling wedding things will be demanding a lot of my attention and time!

Post of Many Things

As I sit here in bed updating this blog, I can glance up and look into my open closet and what do I see? Why, my wedding gown in its pink garment bag, that's what! Today Lauren and I went for much needed stress-relieving manicures and pedicures, and then we went to pick up my dress. It has been sitting at Cinderella's Bridal since June when we made the down payment on it, and lately I have been wanting to have it here at home. I really don't plan on putting it on again until the spring when it needs to be altered, but I just felt better having it in my possession. So, we took a drive (while wearing pedicure flip flops in the freezing rain/slush), payed the balance and picked it up. I tried it on for Lauren while we were there and she liked it. It's weird-- I had a sudden flashback as I was standing there in the dressing room. I saw Lauren and me as kids again, playing dress-up in dresses my mom made, running around the yard and making up games as we went. And today I was wearing a wedding gown. It's unreal how fast time goes and how quickly life zips on by. Lauren and I have known one another for 23 years, and how we got here, to this point where I am in a wedding gown and she is helping me plan the big day, I really have no idea.

I found out on Wednesday that a co-worker was diagnosed with stage 3 kidney failure. She found out right around Thanksgiving. Last week, an old friend from high school lost his father suddenly and without any warning, while the family was all together in one room. And today, Matt found out that two of his buddies from the Army are being deployed, even though they are on inactive duty right now. Had Matt not joined the Army Reserves, he may have gotten those same orders today and who knows when our wedding would be. It feels like we just dodged a bullet...

All these events have made me exceptionally grateful today, for what I have right now in this very moment, because it truly could end any second. I am blessed with a wonderful family, incredible friends, the fortune to be able to pursue my dreams, and the most amazing fiance in the world. I am warm and comfortable right now, and it's a cold night here in Rhode Island. I have so much to be thankful for. I have relatively good health, a job, and a bed. And more love than I know what to do with.

Tonight we are having our first snow of the season. I am not a fan of winter, but when I opened the front door earlier to take a picture of it on my cell phone, I was struck by how silent and bright it was outside. The front bushes are lit with white lights and the snow was falling on them without a sound. It was like the world had paused and the snow flakes were taking their time reaching the ground, like everything depended on that silence. It really was beautiful. And my dog loves it.

When I went to visit Matt in Kansas in the summer of 2008, I had a technique for making every moment last. I never wanted to leave, because I knew once I flew back to RI, it would be weeks or months before we would see each other again. So every so often I would stop what I was doing, take in everything around me and think, I am here, right now, right here. It made me present in every moment, and helped me to appreciate my time with him because I knew it would end. I really haven't done it very often since, but I think I will start up again. Thanks to that, I remember very specific moments, like hiking the Konza Prairie, standing in his kitchen as I reached for the Oreos, driving down the flattest stretch of highway my eyes had ever seen, kissing Matt goodbye in the airport with wet cheeks and a rock in my stomach. We should all be so lucky to remember our lives, to have memories we love.

I think that our wedding will be a celebration of gratitude and love and I really can't wait for the day to finally arrive...

Don't wait to tell someone you love them, and don't wait to start loving your life. You don't have forever. Do and say it all now. You really kind of have to...

Save the dates!

Mmmm... I just enjoyed a bowl of Greek yogurt with half a pomegranate mixed in. So tasty!

I haven't update in a while, but it is definitely time to pick up the slack. Two weekends ago I woke up from another one of those irrational wedding nightmares. It was the second time I've had this dream: it was the day of the wedding and somehow we had forgotten to send out invitations and I began to panic. So, when I got up from that dream, I woke Matt up and we sat down and designed our Save the Dates. We don't need to send them out for a while still, but I had to do something to put my subconscious mind at ease! Anyway, they came in last Tuesday and they're awesome. Here's a sneak peek:

We chose a template on www.magnetstreetweddings.com and uploaded our own pictures, changed the font, and tweaked the colors to reflect our theme. I was so excited when they came in the mail! They're magnets, so my mom promptly put one up on the fridge. I can't wait to send them out to everyone!

I also found another ring that I love. A few weeks ago I was running some errands with my grandmother, and we stopped into Tribeca Jewelers in Apponaug to pick up a watch that she had dropped off. I was browsing the rings, and my grandmother picked one out and when I tried it in.... it fit around my ring like it was MADE for it! I couldn't believe it. It's the same design, it curves perfectly around my ring, and the diamonds on the band stop at the same point on the band as they do on my engagement ring. HOLY COW. It was like an Ah-Ha moment. I'm 99.99% sure that's my ring. I still need to bring Matt and show him what it looks like, but he thought it sounded great. Plus, my grandmother found it... that's a sign. I mean, we were there picking up my grandfather's watch and it was like something drew us to that ring. Weird, huh?

We've also been busy tweaking our registries lately. We spent an afternoon at Bed, Bath and Beyond last weekend. It's unusual, but I'm not as into some of the details as Matt is. He's particular about design details and I'm like, can I use that fork to eat dinner? Ok, that works for me. I'm letting him choose a lot of things in the kitchen because that seems to be where he's most interested, whereas I'm more into things like fabrics and colors and how the bedroom and bathroom will look. I also noticed that when I was the one carrying the scanner gun, I was far more into it than on the days when Matt was scanning things haha ;)

We have also been busy adjusting to seeing one another every day. Actually, it wasn't a hard adjustment at all! We both wondered if it would be weird when he moved in here with me and my parents, but it hasn't been strange at all. We slipped into a routine and it's really nice to see him on a daily basis! I make him lunch (on days I remember and get up in time) and I even attempted dinner last night! I'm trying to get into some sort of domestic routine, and Matt's been helpful. We made this spicy chicken and shrimp teriyaki last night for dinner, and while I did the shopping and prepared the marinade and the ingredients, Matt was right there at the stove helping me cook. It's funny how good food tastes when you know all the work that goes into it!

Today is Halloween and I don't really have any plans-- Matt went to the Cape to visit his family and I might just lay low or swing by a friend's party later on. I miss him already! It's funny because this is the inverse of how it's always been-- we used to go 5 days apart and 2 together, and now we spend the weeks together and he went home for the weekend. It'll be nice to see him tomorrow when he gets back to RI :)

I think that's it for now! Tomorrow I start NaNoWriMo so I need to finish my last submission of the semester today so I don't have to worry about it! Wish me luck!

Bling Bling

Last night Matt and I ventured to the mall and scoped out rings again. We keep coming back to the same two rings each time, so I think we know what we're going to get. I had wanted to have a local artist make my ring for me, but the price of gold is ridiculous and at least with Zales we can get discounts. I think we're going to wait until the post-Thanksgiving sales and go get our rings as Christmas gifts for each other... make that Christmas/Birthday/Valentine's Day haha. This is what my ring looks like:



It's curved to fit around my ring. There is still a little gap, but it's actually kind of pretty, rather than being distracting like I felt the straight bands were. I didn't want one of those rings that has a dent in it to fit a square ring in it. That's why this works well-- I can wear it alone if I want and it won't look funny, and it will look good with my ring as a set. Woo! As of now, this is "the one" (and that is subject to change, of course haha)

I won't post Matt's ring because he might want to keep it a surprise (while I could care less haha.. The only thing stopping me from posting my gown pictures online is the possibility of Matt seeing them).

I wish there was more for me to update, but right now planning has slowed wayyy down. Can't wait til after the holidays, though-- time is going to fly! 298 days to go :)

Changes

On September 18, my grandfather passed away. The week following that was hectic and sad, but his wake and funeral were an incredible tribute to the amazing man, teacher, husband, father, grandfather, friend, mentor that he was. He had about 500 people show up to his wake, that's how many lives he touched and people he loved. I miss him so much and I wish he could have seen me get married, but I know he will be there, as will my great aunt Alice, Matt's grandfather, his great aunt Kathleen, and everyone else who is no longer on earth but is still watching out for us.

RIP Pop Pop xoxo

Matt got a job!

Well today shaped up to be pretty fantastic. On Monday, a family friend who works at the VA office in Providence called us and said there was a job opening that Matt would be perfect for... well, he had the interview this morning and about 3 hours after the interview, they called and told him that they wanted to hire him! He'll be helping new veterans with their benefits and loans and in the process he'll get to learn about them for himself, too. It's so exciting! I'm so glad he got a job... it's almost been a year since he got out of the Army and I know it's been tough for him to apply to job after job and get nothing out of it. This is a great thing for him! I'm very happy for him and his new job :)

There are no recent wedding planning updates unfortunately. Things have kind of leveled off since we have everything done that we need to have done at this point. We've been playing around with some Save the Date designs, but even those don't need to go out for a while still.

So I guess this begins a new chapter for us. Matt will be living in RI and staying with me and my family at least for a little while to save some money. We'll be able to see each other daily, which will be a first for our relationship. We'll have to get used to it if we're going to get married! I think it'll be an exciting and interesting change for the better, and I hope that Matt likes his new job!

Island Living

Matt and I got back from a great weekend on Block Island yesterday. The weather was PERFECT. We spent so much time in the sun (and we paid for it... talk about sunburns!), on our bikes, walking around, and people-watching. To be fair, we did equal amounts of napping after the long bike rides. I bought a pair of really cool earrings from this little girl named Sally who travels around the world 8 months of the year with her family on their boat and lives on the island the rest of the time. She buys her beads from other countries when they're traveling, then comes home to Block Island and makes earrings and sells them on the side of the road. I was fascinated by her! She was the sweetest kid, and her earrings were really neat. She had her stand set up right next to the Island Manor where we stayed, so we passed her on our way to dinner one night and I had to stop and chat. What a cool life, huh?

I already miss the island. It's always so much fun to go somewhere new with Matt because we both like exploring and taking pictures and learning about places, so we have good time when we venture to a new locale. I remember how fascinating Kansas was to me when I went out there to visit Matt last summer (twice). I never would have thought the midwest would interest me, but being there with Matt was so fun. He showed me places he knew of already, and together we found some new and really beautiful ones, too. That was kind of what this weekend was like-- I showed him the places I know and love, but together we wandered around the island enough to stumble upon some REALLY awesome spots. We watched the sun set on a lake near the North Lighthouse on the first night we were there, and it was totally by accident that we found it. Wander around enough and you'll always be rewarded!

I saw a girl in line for the ferry yesterday who was carrying a bag that had a great saying on it:
Go into the world and do well, but mostly, go into the world and do good.

Isn't that a nice thought?

No wedding news at the moment... The big things are done, and right now it's smooth sailing for a little while. We have our marriage prep class in a couple of weeks, but other than that, we're good to go!

Brainstorming on.... HAIR

I've already started trolling around www.etsy.com's wedding section in search of the perfect hair accessory for the ceremony. (As of today) I think I'll wear my hair down (maybe half up?) and very curly with a veil for the ceremony. But for the reception, I want to be able to party, so I've been thinking about doing a switcheroo before the reception and pulling my hair into curly/messy low bun and throwing something fun in my hair. I'm thinking a flower/fascinator/feathery creation, but I haven't found THE ONE yet (sometimes I think it was easier finding the guy than all the other stuff! haha). I was just trolling around theknot.com (I do a lot of trolling lately) and found this:
Kind of love it a lot. I have tomorrow off and I think I might have to meander over to A.C. Moore and pick up some crafty things and attempt something like this (minus the veil). Isn't that pretty? That's how I picture my hair, too. I just think it'll be easier to boogie down with all our guests if my hair and a long veil aren't getting in the way. Plus, it's like a mini-costume change since I don't think I'll be doing any real costume changes that night.

The wedding that this picture is from is absolutely gorgeous (http://www.erinheartscourt.com/blog/). Look! They played a black and white movie during their reception! Dreamy.


These two are so cute it makes me sick. And their photographer was amazing!


Well this post got a little off topic! :)

Trolley-tastic!

So on my lunch break I received an email from Viking Tours of Newport in response to my inquiry about booking a trolley for our wedding. They sent me some info and said they still had our date open, so I quickly called Matt, forwarded the email to him, and we both agreed pretty quickly that we had to do it The trolley is adorable. Check it out! http://www.newportweddingtrolley.com/

I'm excited. The trolley holds 30 people, which will comfortably accommodate our insanely large wedding party as well as our parents. I'm loving these easy decisions! This was a no-brainer. We had no other way to really get our party around unless we got an enormous limo, or a few smaller ones. We weren't really sure what we were going to do, actually!

But now we have a trolley! I'm so excited. I've never ridden in a trolley before, so this will be special. We can decorate it, too! Start brainstorming, bridal party :)

Photographer Success!

This weekend was hectic, but really productive for me and Matt. He got to my house on Friday evening around 5:30, and by 7:00 we were out the door and on our way to Pawtucket to meet with Erick Brown. His studio is in his backyard in a small, converted garage, and it's the most adorable thing I've ever seen. He's got framed pictures everywhere, a wall of pictures of the couples he's shot recently, a huge projection screen on the back wall where he plays slide shows of past weddings, and adorable ourdoorsy wicker furniture. He greeted us and we sat down and started looking at his albums, and before we could tell him that we wanted a mix of traditional pictures and really fun, candid ones, he came right out and said that his approach is to capture the traditional shots, but to mix in a good dose of fun ones as well. Perfect!

There was one picture on the wall that we both kept looking at because it was so beautiful, and after we told him we thought we might do pictures at Goddard Park, he said that Potowamut Point (not sure I'm spelling that correctly) is at the end of the road past Goddard, and then pointed to the picture and said, "That one was taken there, actually." He told us that's a good place to go because there are usually less people than at the park, and the neighbors that live on that beach are really friendly and sometimes invite the wedding parties into their gazebos for pictures. Matt and I took a quick ride down there last night after picking up Seven Moons for dinner (mmmm) and we were sold. It's definitely a great spot.

So anyway, the longer we talked with Erick, the more we liked what he had to offer. He was very honest and straightforward with us and there was no pressure from him at all. His packages are incredible compared to other photographers, price-wise and also what comes in the package. As we were walking back to the car Matt and I looked at each other and half-joked about just signing the contract and giving it back to him before we left. I could tell he was our photographer because we were excited. We left the meeting feeling really good about the work he'll do and his overall professionalism. We made our minds up on Friday night, essentially. Even still, we went ahead with our two scheduled meetings on Saturday and liked them both quite a bit, but they didn't really compare to Erick. The packages were a little more expensive and didn't have as much included in them. We were looking for someone a little different, and I think we found that in Erick!

I'm going to give him a call tonight and tell him we'd like to sign him, and then we'll be all set with the big stuff! Now we can focus on... what?? This might actually be the point where we can relax for a while until all the little things start needing to be done!

We have:
*The church (Sts. Rose and Clement)
*The reception (Crowne Plaza)
*The band (Wayz and Means)
*Musicians for the Ceremony
*Priest for the Ceremony
*The photog (Erick Brown)
*My dress
*The bridal party
*Invitations
*Color scheme
*Florist
*Marriage Prep class booked

I guess the next logical thing to do would be to start thinking about the Save The Dates. But really, even that doesn't have to be done for a while longer! Hooray for wedding planning. It really isn't too hard, especially with a wonderful and involved fiance! :)

Another Nightmare!?

I'm not normally one to have bad dreams, but I just woke up from the third or fourth nightmare I've had so far about the wedding! This one was really vivid.

In the dream it was our wedding day and I was standing outside the doors of the church with my dad, barefoot (where are my shoes??), and when the doors open we start walking up the wrong aisle (there are a few rows of pews in this church). In addition to that, the lights were off and it was dark outside (really dark for 2:30 pm!) and the church looked awful without lighting.

There's no music playing, but we keep walking, and the walk ends up being about 3 seconds long, which I thought was weird. When we get to the altar, Matt's not there because he apparently was running late and no one told me. Then I realized that not only was Matt missing, but so was the priest-- instead of being the priest Matt asked to do the mass (his family friend and childhood pastor), it was the church's priest. And even though we met with the Deacon and he said guest priests were totally fine, this guy was telling me that they didn't allow guest priests and he turned ours away that morning! What?!

And then my father ran off to try and figure out why the musicians didn't play anything while we walked down the aisle, so I was standing awkwardly at the altar all alone when the priest said, "You stay right there. I don't need you running off and changing your mind." What again?!

I was like, "I won't change my mind... don't worry," and stomped off, barefoot, to figure out what was going on. My dad reappears and says, "All set! Let's do that entrance again!" and all the bridesmaids and groomsman file out and I follow them out and then I woke up.

Jeez.

When I'm awake, I'm not stressed about the wedding at all. I'm excited! I don't understand why my unconscious mind keeps freaking out. We're just under a year away-- it seems too soon for me to be waking up in a panic, right?

Well, in any event, Matt arrives later today and we've got a fun-filled photographer-meeting-y weekend ahead of us, and really, just having him here with me will make this week worth all the stress and wedding nightmares!

(Here's a picture of the church, although in my dream it looked nothing like this):

Thinking of Photos...

This week has been pretty crappy, I have to say. It's been long and stressful and I'm very much looking forward to Matt getting here tomorrow night. We have a meeting with Erick Brown tomorrow night, Catherine Hellman on Saturday morning, and Kristen Coffman after that. We also have a meeting at East Greenwich Photo, but I'm on the fence and we might cancel it if the other 3 go well because I think they'll be pricey. We also have the possibility of using the same wonderful photographer that Andrew and Lisa used for their wedding, but we're waiting to hear back from her... She's not doing weddings anymore, so if she agreed, she'd be doing us a huge favor. Hopefully Matt will remember to call her and touch base tonight so we know what we're doing.. We really have to make a decision about the photographer ASAP because we also have a deposit on Bella Photography, but we can get a refund on that by the end of the month if we go with a different photographer. Plus we're pushing it time-wise. Less than a year til the wedding, and we don't have a photographer booked. All my magazines say this is dangerous.

It's so much to think about! I want to make a list of questions for each photographer so we can really get an idea of how they work, but I don't know where to start. I'm planning on making a list of shots we absolutely must have, but that can come way later. I guess right now what matters is finding a photographer that has a beautiful portfolio, great personality and packages that don't cost an arm and leg!

The good news-- once we make a decision, we'll have the "major" things all taken care of!

A Wedding Poem...

So my dear friend Kali, who I've known for about 4 years now, is a poet in the MFA program at Lesley, where I'm studying fiction. We've always written each other letters-- the real kind that you have to put a stamp on and lick shut! It's a wonderful way to cultivate a friendship. We're both writers by nature, so words are how we've always connected.

Anyway, I asked Kali to write me a poem the other day and she wrote such a lovely one that I had to share it with you all. Matt and I think we'll use it in the wedding program. Kali was one of the people who watched our relationship bloom from the start, so it was nice having her poetic perspective on it... Enjoy!

Rumba Ocean

For Matthew and Kristin Offiler

One way streets

red arrows point

toward goodbye. Never Again.

Announcement Airport

speaker: flight with a lover

untouched landed. Mother’s Day.

They waited, we waited

so long for this day

when you’d return

home by the shore,

whispers of

forever.

She says, breathing him in

crawling, curling toward

his heart; the only life that matters.

Sunflowered

Kansas yellow skies

are tiny threads of

this story.

Tonight we’ll return

again to the waves

infuse joy with salt water

roll cuffs in our pants

and rumba, future.

She looks to the

plum orange skies

of a moment that means life.

Grasps his fingertips

with laughter and they sway

inside of Dawn.

what i have inside me, for you

sacred yellows unknown oceans.

With love and blessings,

Kali M. Lamparelli August 14, 2009.

Summertime finally

The weather for the past three days has been very summery, and I have to say I'm loving it. It's Sunday night right now and I'm thinking about this weekend and how great it was. On Friday some of the bridesmaids and I went to lunch and then headed to The Bridal Garden in East Greenwich to peruse the b-maid dress selection there. I'm not very concerned with the shade of chocolate brown that the girls get (they're picking their own style dress), but they did point out to me that sometimes the shade varies from designer to designer. I'm sure it'll work out fine, though. Luckily they all found dresses they either a. liked a lot and are pretty sure they'll get or b. thought were cute and now have a direction for what styles they like. It was a lot of fun because the attention was totally on THE GIRLS! And whatever, I know I'm the bride and all, but these girls are wonderful ladies and they deserve days devoted to decking them out like the superstars they are. This was the first of many group outings and hang-outs and I'm really looking forward to them all! It's so nice to be surrounded by friends and to feel the love and energy from them, and to know they not only have my best interest at heart, but also that they're going to make this planning process so much fun.


Then, after outing, Matt arrived from Fort Devens where he's doing his time with the Reserves. We headed over to Andrew and Lisa's apartment so Matt could finally meet the not-so-little-anymore kittens, Archie and Merlin. We hung out over there for a while and had a great time, Lisa and I looking at dresses online while the guys tossed a ball back and forth and drove the cats crazy. Someday they'll be doing that with our children. Eek.

Saturday afternoon Matt and I headed to Cape Cod, and unfortunately hit traffic on rt. 25, about seven miles from the bridge. Long story short: it was 85 degrees, humid as heck, and the AC in my car is broken. Not happy campers! But when we got to his parents' house, they had the AC going and I'm sure we've never been happier. That night we went to see the Saw Doctors at the Melody Tent, and it was an experience, let me tell you! This summer has been my introduction to cult-like musical followings: first Jimmy Buffet in June, now the Saw Doctors. You don't just like the Saw Doctors; apparently, you love them (HI ANNE!). It was a ton of fun, although Matt and I crashed when we got home (don't keep us out past 10 pm... we're in our 20s but already acting like we're 75).

This morning we went to church and then headed back to RI for my brother's graduation party. Wouldn't you know-- more traffic! We just couldn't hit it right this weekend. It wasn't as bad getting off Cape actually. We made it back to RI in an hour and 45 mins and then spent the night with my family and our family friends, eating and cooking out and playing Apples to Apples. Matt left about an hour and a half ago to head back to Fort Devens because he has to work tomorrow... such a bummer.

That reminds me, I said I'd call at 9:30 and it's 9:40! Off to check on my wonderful fiance, the amazing man I am so excited to marry in less than a year :)

DIY madness

Ok, just a quick lunchtime post to share a new obsession that just began about 15 minutes ago. www.oncewed.com is awesome. I think I might have to recruit my local bridesmaids one weekend and have a crafting party and see if we can pull off any of this stuff! Here's my latest idea (please ignore the embellishments on the example... it's a little over the top for my taste, but you get the idea!)

http://www.oncewed.com/10483/diy/accessories/diy-bridesmaids-headband/


I'm thinking blue or yellow headbands with feathers (if the girls want) or other pretty embellishments. I think I'll need to raid A.C. Moore for fun stuff then have the girls over to craft. Ohhhh, I can feel the crafting bug already getting to me...

Lunch Break Brainstorm

I only work part-time, but between my job, reading and writing for grad school, spending time with Matt, friends and family, and trying to organize my life, work out on a regular basis, and get enough sleep... I feel crunched for time. So I've been doing some of my wedding brainstorming on my lovely 2 hour lunch break. Today I'm only spending 30 minutes or so on marthastewartweddings.com, but it's enough to generate some cute ideas. See below:

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/article/instant-album?


http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/article/colorful-cards-guest-book?

Ring Brainstorming

Matt's got it pretty easy. We've gone to a few stores and tried wedding bands on, only to find that hardly anything fits my engagement ring, while he can pretty much get whatever ring he wants. Lucky guy.

I've got a few options. I know someone who can custom make a ring for me to fit the shape of my ring (not that it's that unusual in shape... it just prevents bands from sitting flush against it).
But lately I've been thinking that I would really like a band that isn't shaped funny, just in case I ever want to wear it alone. So, do I deal with a band not sitting flush against my ring (the gap really isn't that bad), or do I have one made to fit with my ring and just count on wearing them together for most of my life? Hmm. Another option I'm kind of liking is wearing stackables. I guess the idea is you get one for your wedding band, and another for an anniversary. Here's an example:
Gorgeous, huh? Probably very pricey, too. I'm usually not one to spend mega-bucks on anything (I'm convinced that 95% of things out there can be found less expensive elsewhere), but I guess this is different. This is the one piece of jewelry I'll wear for life. So I guess in that case it should be something that I'll enjoy looking at forever. The rings in the above pictures a a little too blingy for me, but I like the stacking concept and the idea of having a meaning for each one.

My other option is a simple band that matches what Matt chooses. Are we supposed to match? I'm not even sure of the trends in wedding bands nowadays. In any event, I have lots and lots of time to figure it out... it's just fun to look at pretty rings and drool!

Any tips out there? Lemme hear 'em!

So many ideas..

I've been on a cleaning kick this past week, and it's triggered something in the creative sector of my brain. My inner crafter is clawing her way out, and who am I to hold her back? After browsing some wedding sites this evening (after purging my bookcase of 31 books that need to move out or risk being evicted), I've been thinking that I'd like to try and DIY as much as I can for the wedding. It'll make it more personal, and it's DEFINITELY more affordable. Here are my thoughts so far:

*DIY card box: http://www.merrimentdesign.com/covered-card-box-for-weddings.php *DIY hair fascinator for reception: http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/mrs-pineapples-a-wedding-in-a-week-hair-flower

*Ceremony Programs: http://www.merrimentdesign.com/double-zigzag-sewn-wedding-program-booklet.php


This merrimentdesign.com lady is killing me with her crafty cuteness. I love it! I'm also thinking about making the guest book either in scrapbook format OR blurb book format. I thought we could fill it with time line of pictures (baby pics through recent ones perhaps?) and leave blank pages for guests to writes messages. I'm itching to make stuff! Who's with me?! :)

EDIT:

I am dying over this. So cute, so much personality, so easy. I LOVE IT:

http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/good-things/blooming-rings?backto=true

Honeymoon ideas anyone?

I know it's early, but I've already started daydreaming about our honeymoon. We know for sure we'd like to visit some place warm and beachy, preferably with outdoor activities during the day and maybe a dinner or two on the beach by night. I have no idea where we'll end up, but my beautiful future-sister-in-law Lisa showed me the website www.9beaches.com. Be warned: if you're going to go to the website, prepare to cry and whine, "I wanna goooooooooooo" over and over until you convince yourself that you will someday get there. It's amazing-- little cabanas perched over the Caribbean ocean, some with see-through floors that allow you to look down on the fish swimming through the crystal clear water beneath you. HEAVEN, I tell you.

Too bad it's probably out of our price range. But, we can dream!

This is another topic where I'm 100% open for suggestions. While I'm hoping for a tropical island get-away, it really doesn't matter. I'd be just as happy some place interesting or unique or romantic. I don't even need to leave the US if we can find a city we'd both like to visit. We tend to have fun when we explore new places together, so I'm sure we'll have a great time no matter the location.

But really..... who wouldn't want to wake up and look at the floor and see clear blue water and fish? Sign me up!

Wedding Nightmare Numero Uno

I'm not really the type to have bad dreams, but when I do, they really tend to freak me out. I had one before Lisa's shower, and in it, I fell on the cake and ruined the whole day. Then, a week AFTER her wedding, I dreamt that I was at home getting ready for her wedding. I was trying to get my hair and makeup to cooperate, but was having no luck and got more and more stressed by the second. Then, I started getting text messages from the other bridesmaids telling me that I was late and they were already in the limo on their way to the church. I woke up in a cold sweat and had to mentally check the date and make sure I wasn't having a premonition.

Now it's my turn to have nightmares about my own wedding. I knew I'd have them at some point, but I figured it would be more towards the actual date of the wedding, not a year before! It happened the other night. I was slumbering blissfully, when my mind took me down a path of wedding-day terror. We decided to move the wedding up from August 2010 to August 2009, which left us hardly any time to do anything. So on the day of the wedding, it was rainy, humid, and gross out, and I started freaking out because I realized that NO ONE HAD SENT OUT THE INVITATIONS! Nobody but our families and the bridal party knew about the wedding. On top of that, I was running late, couldn't find my dress, and was missing most of the bridesmaids. Panic set in and I was running around like a lunatic, throwing things into the car, trying to hold back my tears, and hoping we'd get there on time. Then, suddenly, I stopped and said, "We can't do this today. No one knows it's today! We have to wait til next summer."

And then I woke up, anxious and sweating again over a silly nightmare. I hope that's it for a while. Waking up in a cold sweat is really kind of disgusting!

It's official...

Yesterday we put the deposit down on the Crowne Plaza, so we now officially have our reception site booked. It's pretty exciting-- now we have the two biggest aspects of the wedding taken care of. I'm excited to see how the reception turns out at the Crowne. It's a beautiful hotel and the staff has been really helpful and informative so far. They know what they're doing and they do it well, which is comforting.

Florist!

On Friday I went with my parents and Lauren to my first meeting with the florist. He was fabulous-- his shop (Florentine Florist in Cranston) was beautiful and as soon as we sat down the ideas coming from this man were great. I went into the meeting really clueless, just knowing that I liked how bunches of hydrangeas looked, but only knowing that because I see them everywhere. I'm really unaware of all the types of flowers out there. He liked the hydrangea idea and added some other nice touches, like daisies and roses. He's going to decorate the cake with matching flowers to tie everything together, too. We're thinking of doing a mix of tall and short table arrangements at the reception to make it visually interesting, and he even has these beautiful wrought iron stands that he bought specifically to match the designs in the Rotunda Room where our reception will be held. Cool, huh? He also suggested I go see him at a couple of wedding shows so I can get a better idea of what I like (since I'm really not too picky or specific right now).

One thing he said that I'm really going to take to heart and start working on was this: he told me that I need to be more assertive throughout this planning process and really know what I want and be willing to tell the vendors what I want. Apparently I kept saying "I'm not sure" throughout our meeting, and he insisted that I did know what I wanted, I just don't have the vocabulary for it yet. It's partially that, but it also really is that I just don't know right now. I have ideas and if I see something, I usually know immediately if I like it or not, but when it comes to making all these decisions, I really don't know. But, he was right in a sense. If I keep saying that I don't know what I want, I'll get talked into things that I really don't want by vendors who can sense my state of not knowing. So.. that's the next thing I'll work on: really figuring out what I want so I don't get taken advantage of during this process!

This past weekend was great (I'm sitting here writing this on Sunday night at 11:00... I REALLY don't want to get up for work in the morning. I wish I was still on the Cape!). I spent the weekend at Matt's house with his aunts Ros and Liz. We talked wedding, looked at pictures, researched photographers, cut out appliance and homey things from magazines... the works. The two of them were so much fun and had some great ideas. Their excitement makes me more excited! I'm really looking forward to being a part of their family.

So tomorrow it's back to reality for me. Work, scrambling to get the writing done for my first submission (planning a wedding while doing grad school? I must be crazy...), and a doctor's appointment. At some point this week I've got to drop off our reception venue deposit and contract to make it official. Eek!

Also... if there's anyone reading this, feel free to leave suggestions or advice in a comment. I'm completely open to ideas, opinions, etc. In fact, I'm really looking for all the help I can get! I'm especially interested in knowing how other people have made decisions, ideas on colors and themes, and things like how other brides have incorporated family heirlooms into their big day. Let the ideas roll!

Hoping next summer actually acts like summer...

My apologies for the previous post with the awful yellow font. Once I made it yellow and realized you can hardly see it against the background, I tried to change it, but Blogger was being uncooperative and wouldn't let me turn it any other color. Boo to you, Blogger!

The weather today is awful. It's gray and wet and cold, and it's the end of July! This summer has been mostly bad, and I'm PRAYING that next summer is nicer. If it rains on my wedding day, that's ok. Really, it doesn't matter. But a part of me is hoping it's beautiful out for good pictures and just a general summery feeling for the wedding. Everybody cross your fingers!

Tomorrow is meeting number one with the florist... I'm excited. I have a couple of pictures to bring with me as ideas, but I'm really interested to see what he thinks will look good. In my head, I see daisies and hydrangeas, but I'm no florist and I don't know many flowers beyond the basic garden ones. We also need to put the deposit down on our reception site this week, so once that's done, we'll have the big stuff figured out! The church, the reception, the florist... I guess after that we need to make a decision about a photographer and we can sit back for a few months, right? I've already got my dress, so there aren't many other "big" things we'll need. Woo!

Any suggestions from the world out there? From anyone married or who has seen something at a wedding they really liked or didn't like? I'm about as open for suggestions and ideas as they come... this process can be overwhelming, so any advice is greatly appreciated!


Hoping the sun comes out this weekend...

The Players

So, I'll be honest-- it was impossible for us to choose a small wedding party. We probably could have done it if we tried, but there are so many important friends and family members that we wanted to include, that we couldn't imagine leaving them out. Our bridal party may not "match" the size of the guest list (150ish), but who cares? It'll be a fun group before and during the wedding, and that's really what matters more than following convention. Right? Right!

The guys consist of our 4 brothers (Andrew, Tim, Andrew, and Nick), 2 of Matt's buddies from college (David and Sam), and 3 of his friends from the Army (Gerry, Pat and Kevin).

The girls are made up of my nearest and dearest friends who've been with me for years, some from childhood, some from college, and the rest from high school. Lisa is my soon to be sister-in-law, but we started out as good friends when we worked together at RIC. Another friend from working at RIC-- Katy, practically as good as a sister the past few years. Lauren has known me since we were little babies (I'm 6 weeks older and our parents have been friends since college, so we grew up together). Sara M is another friend from childhood, but we got really close in middle school when a science project forced us to work together one day. The rest is history...

Sara K, Sonja, Shana, Chelsea and Sam are all my best friends from high school. They were around for some of the most important growing-up years, and even though we're scattered around now, they remain some of the most fun and awesome people I know.

Our two flower girls are David's daughters, Sarah and Daniella.

It's a big bunch, as you can see, but I can't imagine it any other way. Everyone is important to us, and we want them all to be involved!

Getting the wedding ball rolling...

I'm slowly learning that planning a wedding is a lot more complicated than it sounds. I always knew that it would be really involved, but I didn't anticipate all the small details, all the decisions, all the opinions other people would have.

But, regardless of it all, we've gotten the ball rolling and that is really what matters right now.

*the proposal*
Matt proposed on May 16, 2009 on a jetty off a beach on Cape Cod. It was a beautiful spring day and we rode our bikes from his parents' house to the beach, then walked down to the jetty. We both had our cameras and were snapping pictures when he suggested we sit down and take some of us together. I'll be honest-- I had hoped he would do it that weekend because he had let on that he might have a ring and the suspense was killing me. But that morning, I put the possibility out of my head because he was acting too normal. I've always heard about guys being nervous and weird the day they're going to propose, but he was just too calm and cool. Although, if you know Matthew at all, you know that he hardly ever strays too far from calm and cool, even if he's stressing out. So, I figured we'd just take a nice bike ride and enjoy the weather... but he fooled me (which is hard to do... I figure everything out.)

So he suggested we take some pictures on the jetty. He sat down behind me and we started snapping away, but when he put his arms around my waist, I glanced down and saw that he had a small black box in his left hand.

"What is that??" I asked him, but I already know what it was, so I immediately started crying. As much as I had wanted that day to come, I was totally overwhelmed with the actual moment. And if you know Matt, you can guess his reaction-- he laughed. I'm crying, he's laughing, and he hasn't even opened the ring box yet. Finally he asked if I wanted to see it, and I said yes, then he got around to asking me to marry him, and I said OF COURSE. It was a perfect day all around and I couldn't have asked for a better proposal.

We didn't do much planning right away (aside from buying a pretty wedding planning binder at the book store ) because Matt's brother Andrew and his fiance (also my good friend) Lisa were in the final stages of planning their wedding, which took place on July 11. We wanted to make sure we weren't distracted from helping them, since Matt was the best man and I was a bridesmaid. The weekend following their beautiful, beautiful wedding, we started visiting venues and meeting with people and choosing our colors and all that stuff.

*the venues*
We went to three hotels this past weekend: The Crowne Plaza, the Radisson, and The Marriott in Providence. We're looking at hotels because we'll have a number of out-of-town guests and we figure it'll be easy for them if they can party and sleep in the same building, especially since the reception is going to be roughly 6pm-midnight. All three hotels offered the same general package, but after looking everything over again, we realized that the Crowne Plaza would be giving us more for the money we'd be spending and we liked it visually more than the other places. The Marriott was gorgeous, but it's more expensive and you get less, and the Radisson is nice inside because it's just been renovated, but the outside is a little bit dumpy.

*the church*
Since I'm not Catholic and Matthew is, I decided to enroll in RCIA which will start in the fall. It's Catholic education for adults, and when it's over, I'll be confirmed into the Catholic church. This wasn't really a hard decision for me to make. I didn't grow up very religious, but when I met Matt, I realized how important his faith is to him. He never pressured me to go to church with him, but ever since the beginning, I've enjoyed going with him. I like seeing what it means for him and his family. I like that they never push their faith on anyone else, but they share it openly because it holds them together. I've had experiences in the past where religion has been forced on me and since I didn't understand it, it pushed me away. With Matt, it's always been my choice to participate, and when I have questions, he answers them without judgment. This is why the decision was easy for me. We'll be married at Sts. Rose and Clement church, which is also where I'll do my RCIA class come the fall.

*photography/invitations/dress*
We also met with a woman who works for Bella Photography as a consultant, and she showed us the packages they offer and explained how their program works. Basically, you fill out a survey and they match you with a photographer who best suits your needs for the kinds of pictures you hope to see from your wedding. The package is pretty good... they include a really nice album, plus small "clone" albums for the parents. Plus we would own the rights to all the pictures and anyone could access them at any time and print them from their choice of printer (be it Walgreens or Snapfish or whatever). We thought that was really nice. We're opting to skip the videographer and instead just have someone set up a camera at the ceremony and then again at the reception. We'll have to figure that out later.

Our invitations are already purchased (thanks to WalMart and Ebay and Martha Stewart) and we spent no more than $45 on them. I also have my dress, thanks to a discount at Cinderella's Bridal (www.dressesbyscott.com) off a dress I fell in love with.

To be honest, I don't feel picky about much of the components of the wedding. There's so much that goes into a wedding, and in the scheme of things, it's just one day of your life together. I'm excited for it, of course, but I kind of feel like it's silly to get swept up in the planning when it's only one day. I'd rather focus on what it'll be like every day AFTER the wedding, because I think that's what really matters. But... don't get me wrong-- I'm excited for the day to get here because I love him more than I can say and I can't wait to start our life together.