Moving right along.....

My list has a few more check marks on it this week.

The first check, I am proud to say, is from my wonderful fiance. I got crazy one day and decided to delegate a few wedding items to him. Just a few. I gave him the task of finding and booking a limo. And that is what he did. DONE!

The last time I wrote, I mentioned that we were getting ready to have our engagement photos taken. The photo shoot went great! We felt really comfortable with Debbie, and she was full of great ideas for locations to take us to. About a week later, she had the photos ready for us to view, and even had a slideshow put to music which I absolutely LOVE. In fact, the first time I watched it, I cried. I am such a sap!! But it really brought everything into perspective for me and just made me very happy to see US very happy :)

Engagement Picture Slideshow

Now that our engagement pictures were complete, I could move forward with our Save the Dates. I found a website where I could design them myself so that's what I decided to do. If you EVER have any needs for all things paper, please look into using Vistaprint.com. Awesome prices, lots of great designs, or you can upload your own design, and the products are very nice. I have a feeling I will be using that website more than just a few more times! 

And last, but certainly not least, I have decided on my flower vendor. I signed on the dotted line and dropped off the contract after work today. The girl I am working with is fantastic - super nice, easy to work with, flexible, and decently priced. I don't have to make up my mind on exactly what I want until 2 weeks prior to the wedding, so that makes me feel better.

Whats next on the list, you ask?? Well for Mikey its Rehearsal Dinner location & reservations, hotel room blocks, and tuxes. For me its bridesmaid dresses, finding a hairdresser, and booking makeup. We have a meeting with our reception coordinator this Saturday, so I am sure that will bring more work my way. But at least for now, today, I feel accomplished!

Engagement Pictures

October is finally here. And you know what that means. OK, so you probably DON'T know what that means, so I will tell you ;-) We are getting our engagement pictures done!! This Saturday as a matter of fact. We decided a long time ago that we wanted to have them done in the fall, outside, so that we could capture the beauty of all the colors. There is a park very close to where we lived called Hills & Dales and its soooo pretty there. They have a beautiful little pond with a bridge, walking trails, and of course, tons of trees. The last time we were there, there was another couple there getting their engagement pictures done and it was kinda nice to sit back and watch, knowing that would be us in a few months :)

Our photographer, Debbie Leclere, included this engagement picture shoot as part of our wedding package. This of course will be our first time working with her and I am really excited. She is such a sweet lady, and very talented. I cant wait to see how the pictures turn out! I am using one of our engagement pictures to make our Save the Date magnets with, so once we get the images back from her, I will be a busy little bee putting those together.

Actually, this coming weekend is a very busy one for us. Not only do we have our engagement pictures on Saturday, but we also have our annual fall cocktail party to get ready for. Ahhhh.....I love this time of year :)

The "B" Bling

I have been eyeing some pretty beautiful cake toppers for a while now. I knew that I had plenty of time before I had to settle on one and place the order, but I have just been obsessed with finding the perfect one.

I found several online that were gorgeous, with an equally gorgeous price tag of course. I was not willing to spend an arm and a leg on something such as the cake topper, so I kept searching. It has finally paid off :-)

I love bling. No, I mean I REALLY love bling. Especially for weddings. Where else can you be over the top with shiny bling and get away with it??? ;-) So it is no surprise, that I have chosen a beautiful bling "B" cake topper for our wedding cake. I ordered it Monday and can't wait to get it. Its a fancy, swirly, sparkly, B. In the words of my good friend Sara, "Shiny! It looks like you!" LOL!!

"Do It Yourself" Projects

There are some things about our wedding that I deem as necessary "Do It Yourself" (DIY) projects. Not only to save $$ where we can, but also because I really believe that it adds a very personal touch to the wedding. There is something very cool about seeing the fruits of your labor come to life, right? :-) I say that now, but who knows, in 3 months when I am knee deep in craft glue, I may have a different opinion.

Before I start, let me be VERY clear that I am NOT an artsy person. At all. I am an analyst, for pete's sake. Something in me tells me that those 2 things just do not work together. BUT, in spite of the fact that I am no Davinci, I am still up for the challenge. I have several projects that I would like to do on my own (or with the help of my trusty bridesmaids) but I want them to LOOK like they were professional. Here goes nothin'....

The ever growing list of DIY!

• Save the dates
• Card box
• Bathroom baskets
• Centerpieces
• Favors
• Unity Candle
• Photo sharing cards
• Table numbers
• Escort Cards
• Guest Book
• Toasting Flutes personalization (maybe, lol)

That's the list so far. We'll see how far I make it before I throw in the towel, lol. I am ordering part of the save the dates tonight, the rest will have to wait until our engagement pictures are done next month. The centerpieces have been a work in progress for 2 months now. Everything else I am hoping will become wintertime projects.

Happy crafting! (wow I never thought I would say that)

Colors - DONE!

Whew! I have been wanting to say that for a LONG TIME. I can now officially say that the colors are finalized. YAYYYY!!! They will be violet and silver. Well, the designer of the bridesmaid dress calls the color violet, I call it more of a purpley pink. Whatever it is, its very pretty and I am so happy with it. So happy in fact, that Emily and I went out Sunday on a mad shopping spree for centerpiece flowers and such. The lady at the dress store gave me a fabric sample of the bridesmaid dresses so that I can match it up to all of the other things I still need to get (like flowers) and that was a HUGE help.

Now its just going to be a matter of rounding up all the girls and me together one day to get over to the bridal shop and pick out styles. I want each girl to wear a different style, but of course the same fabric and color. I will let them each pick out the ones they like and TA-DA! Everyone is happy :) Or at least I hope they will be.

On to the next thing on my list!!

Busy Bee

We crossed 2 more items off of our "to do" list this week, so I felt the need to update you about it.

Last weekend we met with 2 cake vendors - first with Dorothy Lane Market, then with a home run business called The Cake Movers. DLM was of course wonderful, who doesnt love that place? But we felt that we could find something just as nice for a little less dough. So we met with Courtney from The Cake Movers in Englewood. She started this business 2 years ago and runs it out of her home. She does all kinds of specialty cakes from weddings to birthdays to anniversaries, you name it. I saw lots of pictures of her work, and she brought 2 boxes of samples for us to try. We were both very impressed with everything she presented, so we went ahead and booked her! I dont have to make a decision on flavors until a month before the wedding, so I have plenty of time to settle on that, although I already have a good idea of what I want ;-)

Next up - the honeymoon!!! If you havent figured it out by now, I like to do alot of research before making big decisions. The honeymoon is a HUGE decision. We knew that we wanted hot, tropical, palm trees, and beach with non-stop umbrella drinks. We had also decided that since we have done a cruise the past 2 years, we would try something a little different and go with an all-inclusive resort. I LOVE cruises - but for our HM, I wanted something a little slower paced where we could just sit back, relax, and go at our own leisure. 

I had several MUSTS - all-inclusive, adults only, oceanfront room, spa access, great food, things to do close by, and not terribly far away (we didnt want to spend our first day as a married couple on a plane all day). Mike really had his heart set on a Caribbean island. I literally combed the Caribbean with a fine tooth pick. I would fall in love with one place, then find another that I liked. I am severly indecisive, so that has not helped matters AT ALL. But I do believe that all of my hard work research is about to pay off. We will be booking our HM this weekend!!!!!!!!!!

Where did we decide, you ask??? Riviera Maya, Mexico!!! Secrets Maroma Beach, to be specific. This place looks nothing short of amazing. The reviews on TripAdvisor are excellent. This resort is everything I was looking for. The beach here was rated one of the top beaches in the world by the Travel Channel, which makes Mikey happy since he is more of the beach bum out of the 2 of us. The resort has amazing food, we get a honeymoon package which includes spa treatments, a dinner on the beach, etc. We are close to Playa del Carmen so I can do some shopping, Cozumel is only a 45 min ferry ride, and Cancun is a 30 min taxi ride. I AM SO EXCITED!!!  

Click here to see the resort we chose for our honeymoon!

Still so much to do, but I think its all starting to come together very nicely :-)

Dress DONE!

A few weeks ago, my maid of honor and I went to the bridal district in Cincinnati to do some wedding dress shopping. I had 2 appointments lined up - the first at Cincinnati Bride and the other at European Bridal (right next door). Cincinnati Bride had a ton of dresses to look through, and it was pretty well organized into different styles. But it was a Saturday, and it was pretty packed. In fact, the lady that I had an appointment with, was busy helping a girl that came in as a walk-in before me. So the whole time I was there, she was tending to both of us at the same time.

I picked out about 6 dresses to try on. Several styles of what I was looking for - A-line, drop waist, lots of bling, pick ups through the skirt - pretty traditional gown. But every time I put them on, I just wasnt impressed. It just wasnt me. Not to mention the fact that those dresses are incredibly HEAVY! I felt about 30 degrees warmer each time I had one on. And if I am that hot for the 5 minutes I have the dress on in the store, I can only imagine how it would feel on my wedding day, nerves going crazy, outside under the tent, dancing. No thanks.

The other times that I had gone shopping with my mom, she had picked out another style that she really liked on me, which was something I had not pictured myself in. So at Cincinnati Bride, I chose a few of those styles to try on, and actually really liked one. It was pretty on, and the material was so light and easy to move around in. I had the lady write it down and told her I would come back with my mom later in the week (everyone knows you cant make a dress decision without your mother present ;-)

On to the next appointment! Did I mention that Emily is 9 months preggo and has already peed about 6 times by now?? She was such a trooper and a great help :) Anyways, the next appt. was at European Bridal. Immediately walking in I didnt think this was my kinda place only b/c it was alot smaller and the selection wasnt as big as the other place. But they had a gorgeous dress in the window that was the A-line pickups style that I just HAD to ask about. The sales lady's reaction? "Ummmmm what's your budget?" LOL - thats never a good sign, right? I told her, and she proceeded to tell me that the dress in the window was a custom made piece that was $3,500 - FYI that is WAY over my budget ;-)

The good news is that she pulled out another dress that was sorta kinda like it..........in its own kind of way. What the heck, why not try it out. I put it on, and it happened. IT happened! That was the one. Emily agreed. I got a little choked up when I put on the veil and headpiece with it. And thankfully, this dress was in the budget :)

But you know the drill - I told the lady to write it down and I made an appt to come back on Monday evening with mama. So Monday rolls around and I loaded mom up in the car and drove back to Cincy. Now keep in mind, that every other time mom has been dress shopping with me, her response is always the same when I come out of the fitting room. "Oh now that's pretty" or "Oh wow" or "Oh I really like that". But this time was a little different. I walked out and she said "Oh wow. Oh double wow. That's the one."

I feel pretty in this dress, and isnt that what every bride wants on her wedding day? But not only do I love the way it looks, I also love the feel - I can move! I can breathe! It doesnt weigh 5,000 pounds!

The real kicker of this dress is that its NOT the style I thought I was looking for. Instead, its the style that mom had picked out for me. Its different than any other gown I have seen in any weddings I have been to, and I like that. I like the "different" factor. I LOVE it. I also like the fact that dress hunting is DONE!

Mike's Take On Photographer #457

Don't hate me.........BUT...........we just got back from ANOTHER photographer meeting. I know, I know. WTF?!?! I think this was like #7. This is a big decision and I am having a hard time committing.

So I found this next photographer online of course. They are based out of Cincinnati and their pics online looked awesome, so I thought it would be worth meeting him.

I am going to do this blog a little different this time. I am going to let Mike write this one. He seems to have a special way with words. Here goes....

So, we meet hildo at Starbucks, we sit down and the first thing out of his mouth is "do you have any questions?" No, "this is who I am" or "this is what I do"....I knew right away dude was a doucher. He literally picked a booger right in the middle of our meeting. I shit you not!! He had two photo albums. The first looked like it was shot in 1942. The second looked like someone had hocked a loogy on it. I wouldn't let this guy poopy scoop my yard let alone photograph the most important day of my life.

Love,
Mike

The Hunt for "THAT" Dress

Mom and I went dress shopping together last weekend. We went to Lillians in Centerville. That place is alot bigger than it looks. The lady who helped me was super nice and not one bit pushy, just very helpful. I probably tried on about 10 dresses, 2 of which I re-tried on at the end. There is no doubt that ALL of their dresses are very pretty.........HOWEVER........I dont think I am convinced that they have MY dress.

Maybe I have watched that show "Say Yes to the Dress" one too many times. I just picture myself putting on the dress and having the waterworks of tears start up because its THE dress. Ya know what I mean? And I just havent had that happen yet.

My maid of honor (who by the way, is 9+ months pregnant with her first baby) and I are hitting the Cincinnati bridal district on Saturday in hopes of finding "the one". All the while praying that she doesnt go into labor during our hunt. I have appointments at 2 different stores, and there is a third that I would still like to browse while we are there. Of course, I will blog about our experience next week :-)

At least I have a good idea of what I am looking for. Lots of bling (would you expect anything less ;-), strapless, white, pickups, and most likely A-line. Seems simple right?

I actually fell in LOVE with a dress I found online, but I cant seem to find anyplace that has it, of course. One of the places in Cincinnati usually carries that dress, but when I asked if they had it in stock, they told me the sample had been sold, and if I would like for them to bring in another sample dress, it would cost me a whopping 300 big ones. WHAT?? Yeah. Oh, but they would put that money towards the dress IF I bought it. And if I dont like it, then they would put that credit towards another dress. And if I dont want a dress at their store, then I am out $300. In the words of my other best friend and bridesmaid, Nikki......."Homey don't think so!!" LOL

So for now, the hunt for "THAT" dress continues.....

Shady Photographer

Wow, I just realized how long its been since my last post. But you know how it goes, you get caught up in everyday life and forget to write in your journal from time to time. So tonight is the night for me to catch up a bit....

As you know we are spending alot of time searching for the perfect photographer. We have thus far interviewed 5 different people. Now, some of you may think that is over kill, but I happen to think that its very necessary. The pictures will last a lifetime and they are at the top of the list of importance.

This blog in particular is about 2 photographers that we met with. Our experience was an interesting one.....

A few weeks ago we met with.....we'll call him Mat.....on a Wednesday night at Panera. His personality was a tad dry, but his pictures were fantastic! He seemed to have that "eye" for those special moments. He even did an engagement session as part of your package that included a montage put to music. And his prices were spot on. He showed us a paper that we would fill out that was VERY detailed - basically listing all of the specific shots that we would want on the wedding day, so they would not miss any. After meeting this guy, we were not crazy about the dry personality, but we knew his ability and pricing would be hard to beat.

We asked him if he had ever done a wedding at Country Club of the North (which is where our reception is) and he said yes, that he would send me the link that night so I could check it out.

Later that night, just as he said he would, he emailed me a link of photos to the wedding he did at the country club. All very nice pictures.

While I was on the computer that night, I decided to look at more pictures from the photographer that we had scheduled a meeting with the very next day - we will call him Rex. So I went to his website and poked around, and found something very peculiar. Rex had the very same wedding pictures posted on his website that Mat had emailed me a link to on HIS website. HMMMMM.......I'm no einstein but I am pretty darn sure that NO wedding has 2 separate photography companies shooting. The pictures were exactly the same, and each guy had his own watermark on the photos. So who was telling the truth? Who actually shot those pictures?

I decided to send an email to Rex - the guy we hadnt met in person yet. I wanted to see what he had to say about it! I of course mentioned no names, just the fact that someone else was claiming those pictures were his. Rex returned my email the very next day with a pretty clear answer.

You see, Rex has been in the business for 30+ years. Mat? 4 years. Apparently, Mat used to work for Rex's studio. Mat photographed that wedding while working for Rex, so technically, the photos belonged to Rex, but Mat has since gone off on his own and decided to take those pictures with him and now watermark them with his new company logo. Pretty bold right?

Something else he decided to take with him? Remember that very detailed paperwork that Mat showed us that we would fill out so that he wouldnt miss any of the photos that we wanted? That also belonged to Rex. Word for word, it was the same document. We found this out during our face to face meeting with Rex. I did not mention anything to him about Mat using this also.

Mike and I decided not to use Mat's services, even though he is an obviously talented photographer. There is something to be said about someone who is shady about things like that. I have alot of respect for a man who has been in business for himself for over 30 years, and not alot of respect for someone who tried to rip him off. We just decided that if Mat was going to NOT disclose any of those details to us upon our very first meeting with him, who's to say he wouldnt be quite shady with us in other contract and pricing details? Its just not worth the hassle.

So the hunt continues. I have about 3-4 more photographers that I have found online and I am interested in meeting with, then I have promised Mike we will make our decision. As you can imagine, he is pretty tired of this search :-)

Until next time..... :-)

Eye-Opener

I have several things to update, but I thought I would update today on an off-topic event that happened to me yesterday instead......

7:45am driving down I-675 N in the pounding rain in the left hand lane, my car starts to hydroplane. Now, keep in mind, this is during rush hour traffic and since the rain is coming down so fast and hard, we are only moving at about 55mph. I lift off the gas pedal as my dad always told me to do in this situation. That doesnt help. Instead, I lose control, and the back end of my car starts swinging back and forth. When I see that I am facing the direction of possibly crossing the median and flying into oncoming traffic, I instinctively jerked the steering wheel the opposite direction, which caused me to do a 360 in the middle of the highway. While spinning around, I saw the headlights of all the other cars trying to miss me. One was so close, I saw the Volkswagon symbol on the front grill staring back at me between his two headlights. Somehow, someway, no one hit me. I just continued to spin until I had crossed all 3 lanes of traffic, slid off the right side of the road, down an embankment, up a hill and into some trees. The car stopped b/c it got wedged on top of rocks and the front end was buried in branches.

My first reaction after I realized the car had stopped? TEARS!! And lots of them. Sheer panic. WTF just happened?? I looked out my window and saw a man pull over and get out of his car to come help me. I looked down at myself and realized I was NOT hurt. Not even a little bit. My air bags didnt deploy, and I didnt even feel sore. Stuff inside the car was jostled around and my fresh capp was spilled everywhere, but that was it. The man called the cops while I called Mike.

I dont know how much Mike understood me when I called. I was crying so hard I'm sure it was barely recognizable as English. As fast as I got the words out that I was in an accident, he was on his way....

Meanwhile, this man was standing outside my car in the pouring rain in his work clothes. He couldnt get too close to me b/c my car was tilted and lodged over rocks and mud and standing water. He asked all of the regular questions - are you hurt? are you sure? do you need anyting? He stood in the rain and waited with me. He introduced himself to me and tried to get my mind off things, as I was visibly upset. He said his son had a baseball tournament that night that probably wouldnt happen. When I told him my name, he said that was also his daughter's name, and he was proud to say that she was graduating from high school this year.

Not too long after, another car stopped that I did not recognize. Out came a man dressed in full military fatigues. He ran up to the car and yelled in to see if I was OK. He then checked out the car to see if he could tell if there was a gas leak. He even made sure my door could open in case they would need to get me out fast. He also stood in the pouring rain until the cops arrived.

Once the cops were there, they asked me to grab the things I needed and get out. Now, keep in mind, the car is tilted to the side up on a hill and I am of course wearing heels :) So the military man opens my car door and shoves his boot down into the 2+ inches of mud and water and tells me to go ahead and step on his foot to get out. Little things like that amaze me.

As soon as I was out of the car, the men left. It happened so fast I didnt even get to make sure they knew how much I appreciated their help. I now wish that I had their contact info so that I could send them a card or something.

I filled out a police report, waited for Mike, and watched my car get towed out of the mess.

Its funny, the things that fly thru your mind during that split second that you think something really bad is about to happen. For me, it was the thought of my parents having to get "that" phone call about me. Mike - realizing that he had just kissed me goodbye not more that an hour prior. Friends, family, everyting. Its crazy.

I am a lucky girl. I truly believe that someone was watching over me yesterday. TRULY believe. My sister wasnt ready to see me quite yet.

Love the ones your with. Kiss the ones you love. Tell your friends and family how you feel. And cherish it all.

Love,

Me.

Decisions, Decisions

Yeah, its been a minute since I have last updated. But maybe that's b/c not much has happened. We did meet with one photographer last weekend - No. 9 Images. The guy was really cool, we liked him alot. We also liked his pricing and package options. But nothing seemed overly exciting about his photos that we looked through. Nothing really stood out as wonderful, or caught my eye and made me think I just HAD to go with him. So the search continues.

We have 2 more appointments set up right now - one for this coming Sunday with Maxim Photography and one next week with Ron Shuller Photography. I will keep you posted on those.
I also have a whole list of other ones that I want to meet and see what they are all about - 808 Studios, Locke Innovations, Leclere Photography - The list keeps going. I have done so much research online for wedding photographers its sick. But again, its very important to me, so I will torture myself with it until its right.
I think searching for a photographer has been the LEAST fun of anything so far. Mostly b/c it makes me a little nervous. I want WONDERFUL photos, but so does everyone else. I want to get an awesome price, but so does everyone else. So I am trying to find that balance of breathtaking photos of my wedding day without grossly overpaying. Ugh.

The other "ugh" ? Wedding colors. I havent made up my mind on that one yet either. I mean, I have ideas in my head, but then just when I feel like I have made up my mind, I look through another one of those magazines and see something really pretty and think "Hmmm maybe I should do that". I think its just going to come down to me going to one of these decoration rental places and actually laying out sample tables with the colors in my mind to see what it looks like. I am a very visual person and unless its laid out right in front of me, dont expect me to make a decision on it. Wish me luck on that one as well.

DJ Meeting

Forgive me for being a few days behind on my update. I am sure you will live ;-)

Saturday Mike and I met with our potential DJ at the Starbucks in Oakwood - a place the DJ suggested which was awesome considering we live right around the block from there. His name is Dan Edwards - you may recognize him from the morning news on channel 2. He also has his own DJ business in which he does mostly receptions and sometimes other events.

Right away we were impressed with his resume - he has been in the radio and TV business for 30 years. He is very organized and easy going and has great suggestions for reception possibilities. And we had to give him an upper hand when we found out he lives just a few streets over from us :)

I wouldn't be able to tell you if he is priced right or not - I didnt even interview anyone else to see what else is out there and how much they charge. I just knew that the DJ is an integral part of the reception, and I want someone who will entertain and keep the party going. I went to a wedding a few years ago where Dan was the DJ and thought he was excellent. The person who hired him told me that hiring Dan was the best decision they could have made for their reception. I am sold!

So that's one more thing crossed off our list of things to do for the wedding. Feels nice to have the ball rolling. The next thing on my list? Photographer!!!

Pastor Meeting #2

Mike and I just got back from meeting with the pastor at a church right here in our neighborhood - Lutheran Church of our Savior. We had visited this church last week and fell in love with it immediately. We love the fact that its right here in Oakwood, but the building itself is just beautiful! Huge wooden ceilings, stained glass windows, trees everywhere, and the building is very old and rustic looking.

We sat down with Pastor Gary at 7pm and talked for an hour. He is a little eccentric, but very open minded, down to earth, and easy to talk to. He shared alot of information with us and asked us questions as well. He told us there is a community garage sale being held at the church this coming Saturday - and if you know me, you know I love garage sales! So I will definitely be back for that :)

We have one other church that we MIGHT go take a look at. But honestly, at this point, I am not sure we really need to. I think we are both in agreeance with where we want to become a married couple :)

Pastor Meeting #1

So we went last night to meet with the pastor at Central Christian Church on Smithville Rd. He was just going to squeeze in a quick "hello" with us before another meeting that he had. So we arrived at 6:15pm as agreed, and no one was there. However, the door was unlocked, so we just let ourselves in ;-) The church sanctuary is very pretty. Huge wooden ceilings, beautiful stained glass windows, not too big, it was great.

David Turner is the pastor at the church and he showed up as we were looking around. We had about 10 mins to talk to him before he had to go into a meeting, but that was long enough for us to determine that we liked him. He is very down to earth, nice, outgoing, and lives just a few streets over from us!

All in all, we were very happy with this church so it is right up there in the running! We have a meeting tomorrow night with Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Oakwood. Then we have one more church in Kettering that we want to take a look at before making our decision. If the pastors at those churches are as nice as the guy we met last night, its going to be a harder decision than I thought!