Bachelor Party! 8 August 2008

On Friday, 8 August 2008, my sweetie and his buddies ventured out into the city that never sleeps for an all-night bachelor party! It was a magical night (08/08/08 — good luck I think) and apparently the festivities began at our apartment.

Nani, Alicia, and I were out and about in the city — learning to put on my wedding dress, having drinks, sitting down for dinner, and then more drinks — so we were not privy to any of the pre-bachelor party festivities.

But I heard it was a lot of fun…hopefully, there was no goat involved, right Tom Hanks?

Glad you guys had fun! Glad you all survived!

XOXO
M & S

Image: Movie Poster from Bachelor Party (20th Century Fox, 1984)

We Updated the Wedding Registry Page

Hi everyone,

Long time, no write.  Thanks to some of you for your emails and comments asking when we’d been back.  As the name of our blog will attest, we’ve had a whirlwind the last few months, but we promise to try and get everyone back up to speed.

According to one email, we’ve left everyone “in the middle of the story”…

First things first — we updated our Wedding Registry page since the wedding is so close and the shower is even closer.  Check it out if you are so inclined.

XOXO
M, J, and S

First Two NY Wedding Dress Appointments Made!

Thank god for Emily and New York Magazine….read on to find out why.

Last post about the first wedding dress weekend (which actually happened back in January), I mentioned how I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown and ready to quit the whole wedding event before I had even gotten started. My sweetie just looked at me and laughed every time I told him about my “pain”. So, it was about a week before Emily and Melissa would arrive (and several days before Sam, Melissa’s little sister, was due to arrive) – yes we were about to have a very full house, and I didn’t really have any appointments to look at wedding gowns.

Until that email from Emily came. She apparently knew what I was feeling and immediately set to work – actually that’s a miniature lie. Back in November of 2007 when I announced to her that we had found “the ring” and were having it made, she immediately began planning my wedding. Sent me emails frequently with possible venues, bridesmaid dresses, ideas for flowers, and all that stuff! Right away in fact – more like within minutes.

Anyway, getting back to her dress email – in it she suggested that we check out Saks (if we could) and Blue. She had gotten her information from New York Magazine online, which I thought was a great source. She sent the links to the descriptions, the one for Blue is quoted from the site below:

Blue

Designer Christina Kara creates modern, edgy custom-made wares for hip brides in her tiny shop, offering an array of fabrics (silk, duchesse satin, lace) and styles (off the shoulder, mermaid, A-line).

Young professionals looking for something fashionable turn here for fresh takes on cocktail dresses ($400 to $650) and ball gowns ($1,200 to $3,000). Everything is custom-made at the in-store workshop. As a bonus, designer-owner Christina Kara offers group rates for large wedding parties.
(Source: http://nymag.com/listings/stores/blue/)

I read that and thought, “Well, OK…I could be a hip bride. I like a fresh outlook on the gown. The prices are up my alley!” and figured I’d give it a whirl despite the one and only user review was a very negative one. (I’ve since learned to pay more attention to those user reviews – more on that later.)

A few minutes after that first email from Emily appeared, she sent another with the subject line “ooohhhhhh!” which I knew had to contain something good! In this one, she didn’t even write anything except for the description from New York Magazine online, which I’ve included below:

Morgane Le Fay

These stores will have you imagining yourself as a powerful CEO by day, a princess gliding down a staircase in glass slippers by night. Ethereal silk-organza ball gowns range from $1,400 to $4,000; brides love the dress collection here. For day, try the feminine business suits and wool jerseys.

Liliana Casabal’s bridal collection features light, ethereal fabrics, playing with opaque and transparent materials (ivory and white silk, duchesse satin, organza, and chiffon). Her clients range from avant-garde Björk to the more ladylike Dame Helen Mirren. Alterations not included for the prêt-à-porter collection.
(Source: http://nymag.com/listings/stores/morgane_le_fay00/)

“Ooohhhhhh!” was right! I was totally into the idea of Morgane Le Fay – under the name alone…but the description was completely perfect.

So I immediately called Morgane Le Fay and made my first appointment for the upcoming Saturday, followed by the call to Blue. The one thing going for Blue was that I spoke directly to Christina Kara, the designer, and she had a fabulous accent on the phone. The appointments were set for Morgane Le Fay at noon and Blue at 4:00 PM. So I was super excited, more inspired, and ready to try and make a couple more appointments now that I had something started.

XOXO
M, J, and S

Happy Birthday to the Ring Bearer, Haydn!!!

(Haydn after 3 or 4 cotton candies at the engagement party, 3/1/2008.)

Hi everybody!

Since today is a very special someone’s birthday, we thought it would be the perfect way to resume posting on our wedding blog! As we wish Mr. Haydn a very special 4^th birthday, we can also take a moment to introduce him as our very handsome, very cute Ring Bearer!

We’ve known Haydn since he was born and have been friends with his Mommy and Daddy, Nani and Will, for years. I’ve actually known Nani since our first year of college and our friendship has only grown over the years. I can remember her little truck and listening to country music [I’ll never understand that] in her dorm room! Will is the perfect match for her, and we love him too! Oh, and we can’t forget Haydn’s very special little brother, Graham, who will be 1 this summer!

(At the engagement party, 3/1/2008.)

Haydn had a birthday party last Sunday, April 20^th, at Ft. De Soto near St. Pete. I heard it was a lot of fun and both my sweetie and I wish we were able to have made it! (Although, we did send Haydn a birthday card and a big package from Toys R Us is on its way!!)

We hope Haydn has a wonderful birthday today and is spoiled all day long! (Hint, hint Mom and Dad.) We also know that he is going to make the very best Ring Bearer any wedding has ever known, and we can’t wait to see him next!

We love you lots and miss you bunches Haydn!

XOXO
M, J, and S

Wedding Dress Shopping – My Introduction

Monique Lhuillier “Caitlin”

As soon as I mentioned to some people we had ordered the ring, they immediately asked me if I had chosen a dress. That was almost a month and a half before we were actually even engaged! Of course, being a girl, even though I had never wanted to or planned to get married, I did have some ideas – something simple, no beading, very little if any satin, and clean lines. The dress should be modern with a classic twist perhaps. I had it in mind that the there would also be something about the dress to give that edge – that something a little different.

But in truth, I was just excited to be getting a diamond engagement ring, let alone a dress! Who had time to think about the dress when you had a rock coming your way in the next couple of weeks?

However, that was in November. It seems as though right after I spoke to Emily, she began planning the wedding for me. She started sending me emails about different venues, flowers, wedding gowns, and different bridesmaid dresses (and mind you I hadn’t even asked her to be one yet!!!)

So things started to sink in and I decided that after the holidays and the New Year, I should probably start thinking about the dress seriously. I had it in mind that we would have the wedding in September 2008, but with the possibility of the event happening in 2009. (We were hoping for 2008, and we eventually set it as such, but we had some see-saw action going on.)

One of the earliest thoughts I had about the wedding dress was one I had actually seen on television – how cliché, right? I was watching Brothers and Sisters and saw the dress Kitty (Calista Flockhart, otherwise known as Ally McBeal to people of my generation) was wearing and I thought to myself, “Hey, I could do that.”

It ended up being a Monique Lhuillier dress; the “Caitlin” to be exact. It’s the picture at the top of this post.

So after that, I sent an email to Emily letting her know that after the holidays, not only should I start thinking about the dress, but we should all get together for a little wedding dress shopping weekend in New York City…and the plans for the dress (and the rest of the wedding) were set into motion.

XOXO
M, J, and S

P.S. That’s not the dress I’m going to wear.

And The Wedding Whirlwind Actually Begins – With the List and the Flowers and the Dress…

And so it begins, the wedding whirlwind for which this blog is so fabulously named…

One you are officially engaged there is so much added to your plate. Not only are you continuing on with your daily routine but now you have to think about planning a wedding, making a guest list, choosing a venue, picking your wedding party, thinking about accommodations for guests, what kind of wedding bands you want, should you go with a band or a DJ, what about photography, who can do my hair and makeup, what shoes should I wear, do we have an engagement party, what will the girls wear, where do I get a pillow for the ring bearer, do we really have to throw a bouquet, what kind of flowers, the colors of the wedding, tuxes or suits, day or night, will my sweetie cut his hair, should I grow mine, do we have the event in Florida or New York, what about the honeymoon, who will marry us, what kind of cake should we have, do I need to have a huge rehearsal the day before, will we have bad weather, what about the invitations, oh God – do we need to send out save-the-dates, the engagement announcement in the newspaper, and the list goes on and on. (Anyone who has planned a wedding recently knows that the list really does go on and on…)

Oh yeah, and it’s time to pick a dress.

The dress.

For anyone who has a problem making decisions, choosing a wedding dress can be quite a difficult task – choosing anything about one of the most major events of your life can put the pressure on.

The dress decision itself can be a life changing and life influencing decision; one that you may regret later on down the road when you pick up that wedding album and cringe at what you wore. Or your guests might cringe at what you’re wearing. It goes both ways. (But it’s not about the guests – it’s all about YOU!)

For the fashionphile, choosing between so many different dresses could be the problem. You might want to wear all 60 that you’ve tried on. Or you can’t decide between two. Or you really, really, really don’t like wedding gowns.

The dress decision can be influenced by any or all of the issues I’ve mentioned or by none of them. It really just depends on the person. Which means it really just depends on me, and what I want, which I’ve learned over the past few weeks and months.

If this post overwhelmed you, it should. Because that’s the way I feel sometimes when it comes to the dress, and the rest of that list. As we continue with each post, I hope to give you a little insight on what we went through, some tips I’ve picked up, and give you a couple of laughs along the way.

It’s enough to make us googly-eyed! Kinda like this:

XOXO
M, J, and S

New Direction for Wedding Whirlwind

(Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride)

Hi to all of our readers! We’re very excited to know that some of our readers extend well beyond family and friends, which makes keeping the blog up even more fun. We’ve gotten some great comments and some really fun emails from people all over! I guess the blogging community really is a “small world”.

Anyway, now that you all know our engagement story, so to speak, and have followed all the installments in the Wedding Whirlwind saga (so far), we are going to take it in a new direction. We won’t be abandoning anything to do with the engagement – because there is still a lot more now that we’re “official” but it’s now time to get into the nitty gritty of planning the wedding.

We hope you stick around for all of that. Also, this weekend we’ll be putting up some much needed photos within posts like “Happy Birthday to the Bridesmaid Emily!” and “Almost Engaged…The Christmas Countdown” to name two.

We also know that a lot of these events took place weeks (or months) ago, but my sweetie and I are both very busy with work, planning, and other happenings (like our weekly wine class that we’re doing till the end of April). We promise to keep everyone posted as much as possible. (We have a whole list of topics and post ideas to come, so we’re crossing them off one by one.)

But, if any of you have any ideas for posts or questions you’d like to read about, leave a comment here (or send us an email – if you know our personal emails, use that, if not, you can find it on About Wedding Whirlwind.)

Until then!

XOXO
M, J, and S

Christmas 2007 Morning – Engagement Day Part Two

Quick flashback – I was like an adult child on Christmas morning, waking up excited about the day. I had gone around and gotten all of my siblings out of bed and ready for the day by about 7:30ish. They were none too pleased, but in an overall good mood since it was after all, little baby Jesus’ birthday.

Plus, there was the promise of presents and breakfast. To most people, that isn’t a half bad way to start the day.

So, you’ll remember that I had made my rounds, waking up Jennifer, Christopher, Douglas, and then finally Dale. As soon as everyone was downstairs, they asked where Jon was…to which I replied with a swift motion pointing upstairs toward the bedroom. He was still sleeping, and I just couldn’t have that!

I made my way back up to the room and nicely told him to get his butt out of bed. He was awake because he heard me waking up the rest of the crowd and dreading for his moment of “Good Morning”. So he casually hugged and kissed me good morning and told me he would go get ready for the day.

This meant some clean teeth, washed face, and clothes. Because we all know my sweetie won’t go downstairs in my parents’ house in anything less than a clean t-shirt, jeans or shorts, belt, and sometimes even hat, socks, and shoes! He’s so formal.

Minutes went by which seemed like an eternity. I went back upstairs and he shut the door (now fully dressed and ready for the day.) He got down on his knee, took my left hand in his, and asked away! He used my full name – the first, middle, and last!

He was so nervous and shaking that it almost occurred to me to taunt him, much like he had taunted me with the ring in his pocket for the previous several days, but I didn’t have the heart. I was too excited to have been formally engaged with the ring on my finger!!

And after all the preparation, to be engaged in my high school bedroom is the highest of all ironies, in my opinion.

I quickly kissed him and we hugged and I asked if it was really my ring now – officially…and promptly ran right down the stairs shoving my left hand into everyone’s face. Demanding that they get down and kiss my ring.

As if I were infallible!

Upon seeing the ring on my hand, the first and only think my mother said was, “Where did you get that?!” Thinking I had stolen it without permission.

I, of course, informed her (and everyone else there) that it was official and I was rightly wearing my ring. Mom and Dad refused congratulations until my sweetie came down the stairs and verbally confirmed that it was true.

As if I were a sneak!

And with that, my friends, was the first official day of what was to become known as our Wedding Whirlwind!

More to come, stay tuned.

XOXO
M, J, and S

Christmas 2007 Morning – Engagement Day Part One

6:30 AM EST – So I woke up like a little kid on Christmas morning. Ok, alright, so it technically was Christmas morning. And I’m not quite a little kid – maybe just a big one. I leaned over and said to my sweetie, “Merry Christmas! Do you have something for me?” I shouldn’t have to remind you that I was half-expecting the ring to have already been put on my finger in my sleep.

All I got was a groan that somewhat resembled a “Merry Christmas and no present for you, not now.”

With that, I got up, went downstairs and greeted my parents, who were the only ones up, aside from the six cats, dog, parrot, and turtles. We chatted for a little while. We looked at the explosion of Christmas gifts on the floor of the living room underneath the redwood resembling tree smothered in black and red ornaments, black birds, and lights. I showered and headed to Jennifer’s room.

Like I mentioned in a previous post, poor kid…

She was sound asleep; I armed myself with the knowledge that a sleeping Jennifer is one that will allow me to wear just about anything I choose from the closet. Currently, and in wide awake states, I am allotted only 3 to 4 t-shirts and a single blouse, which I paid for. The kid has about a hundred tops. And with this, I am not embellishing in any way.

And I chose the shirt I would be wearing when I would become engaged – a cute little red number, which Jennifer appropriately wore the weekend of our engagement party. (For those of you who recall my engagement dress – I did, for a half-second think about putting that on, but I thought it might give my expectations away…I had been drawing the line for the last several days.)

I checked back on my sweetie at about 7:00 AM – still sleeping.

Went downstairs, had a snack. Hung out with the family. After waking up to my rifling through her closet, Jennifer joined us. Then, it was getting late. And my mom did say if we wanted breakfast or any presents, everyone had to be up.

Like we were four years old…waiting for Sandy Claws.

(Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas)

So I took it upon myself to move the day along. First it was Christopher, who had relocated to Mom and Dad’s bed. BODYSLAM!!! Two minutes later, he’s up for the day.

Next is Douglas, asleep in his cave bed – he has removed his closet doors and has shoved the bed into the closet, as a built in wall headboard. Jumped on his bed and poked him with my toes till he awoke.

Then it’s time for Dale to be awake. We must always wake Dale up as carefully as possible otherwise, there could be an atomic outburst from him, with everyone running. So, I woke him up quietly and gently saying “Merry Christmas, there’s breakfast” – which was a small lie; Mom hadn’t really started cooking.

So, I went downstairs and informed my parents that everyone was up. Everyone, but my sweetie that is…

XOXO
M, J, and S

The Eve of the Engagement…Yes, Continued

When my sweetie and my sister (Maid of Honor, Jennifer) arrived back from my Nana and Papa’s home, with a load of unwrapped presents my mother had been hiding there, I couldn’t wait to see what had happened over there.

First, Jennifer came in and looked at me and said something like, “You’re going to marry Jon. We know all about it.” I just looked at her and said, “Well, yeah, it isn’t like it’s a big secret.” Then I slapped her on the butt and ran away. (This is a thing we do – among other annoyances I bestow upon the poor kid.)

So, the next thing I did was naturally give Jon the third degree on what had gone on. And he told me.

Before he told me the story, he did mention that the ring was not yet mine and not to even bother asking!

He said he sat down with Nana and Papa (and yes, Jennifer – I guess we needed her permission as well). He showed them the ring. They listened patiently and then they examined the ring carefully. (However, this would not be the first time they had seen the ring, I had shown them a picture of the original design the week of Thanksgiving.)

Jennifer just sat silently, said nothing throughout the whole visit – for those of you who know Jennifer, you know that this is a feat in and of itself. A true Christmas miracle.

As it turns out, Nana and Papa had been expecting this for some time. In fact, for the past several years, Nana had consistently asked me what our intentions were. I think she is really just in the mood for a great-grandchild. (Sorry Nana, but you might need to keep hoping there!) She is, however, already on the prowl for the perfect “Nana of the Bride dress”. As we all know, Nana loves to shop, especially for fashionable items.

Papa made it very clear to Jon that he had better take care of me, or he would have my Papa to deal with. No one wants to mess with Papa.

Side note here (edited in after original posting):  Jon made mention that Papa actually also said that he had a very good time spending time with Jon on the cruise [September 2006, New England] and that he thought that he was very good for me.  And welcomed him to our family.

At this point, Jennifer is still utterly silent. Continuing the Christmas miracle.

On the way back to my parents’ house, Jennifer said to Jon in the quietest voice, “You’re going to marry my sister???!!!” to which Jon replied, “Yes, which means I’m your brother for real now!”

And he punched her lightly on the arm.

Great, Jennifer now has 4 older brothers. And me. Poor girl.

XOXO

M, J, and S