This is what awesome feels like!

Off to Turkey

2007-09-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

In about 10 minutes Gina and I will jump in our cab and fly out to Istanbul. Before I go I want to show you what could be the most awesome picture ever.

See you all in a couple weeks.
(Photo Credit: Sarah Gerstner)

We're married!

2007-09-03T19:42:00.000-07:00

So, the day we've been planning for 14 months finally came and went. It's true what they say that the wedding day goes by in a blur.

All in all, the day was perfect... and we would not have done anything differently. As Chris has said, we surrounded ourselves with good people and here are some shoutouts to them.

Our photojournalist, Liz Lynch
Our priest, Rev. Anthony Marques
Our dj, Phillip Andrada
Our catering sales manager, Melinda Hofelich at Colonial Heritage
Our florist, Cathy Nester at The Flower Cupboard
Our cake designer, Theresa at Cake Ladies
Our Rolls-Royce driver, Bob at Royal Coach
Our family and friends
and all the others that were involved who made our wedding day what it was.

I keep asking people about it to see what their point of view was of our wedding. So, feel free to post your comments and post links to your pics from the wedding.

Here are a few that we've received:
Mer's pics: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=19erwr8h.75892jz5&Uy=-93y8pq&Ux=0
Laura & Ian's pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/projectedimages/sets/72157601827998289/
Kim's pics: http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=ev8b28j.chtcyhmf&Uy=-sahw21&Ux=0

Help us play D.J.

2007-08-13T09:34:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend I started to compile a list of songs to add to our post-rehearsal dinner iTunes playlist. Problem was I was compiling music from what I already have which isn't exactly appropriate for the event. We would like your help in coming up with song suggestions to add to the playlist. Use the comment section to leave suggestions but please include both the artist and song title.

Moving pots and close calls

2007-08-03T09:44:00.000-07:00

I moved most of my pots, pans, and cutlery to our William-Sonoma registry from Macy's. I found the prices were comparable or better at W-S. W-S actually carries items in the store, whereas Macy's doesn't really carry the All-Clad in their stores. Also, W-S gives you 6 months to use your registry completion discount v. 90 days at Macy's. So, if we don't get everything, we can save to buy it later.

Chris and I have been worried about his passport arriving in time for the honeymoon. He applied in May (it's his first passport... he's only been to Mexico and Canada) and with the delays in passport processing it could take up to 13 weeks! So, we've been sitting idly, waiting to hear. This morning, he got an email saying that his passport was in the mail... Yay! I don't have to go on my honeymoon alone :)

It's hard to believe that our wedding is WEEKS away. Craziness. We applied for our marriage license yesterday, so we've got everything to make it legal.

It's raining presents!

2007-07-29T10:46:00.000-07:00

Now where do we store all of them? Yesterday was the last of my bridal showers. I had my family one last weekend and my friend one yesterday. Both showers were awesome thanks to Tita and Ellen and also to their helpers... Rachel, Michelle, Regs, and Arlene :) Food and decorations were amazing and I'm really touched by all the work that went into these showers.

We got a LOT off our registry and it seems there's only big ticket items left -- our china, bedrom duvet and sheet set, our flatware, my Kitchen Aid mixer, pots & pans. I'm looking forward to using all these new things in our home and I'm going to have to invite lots of people over for dinner based on the gifts we got :-p

Last night, I went out to Clarendon Ballroom with some of the girls for a local bachlorette party. It was the appropriate place to say good-bye to my singlehood since I spent most of my single days at CB. They made me dress up in a veil and tiara and I had a "bride-to-be" tee that Katie gave me. It was fun dressing up... got a lot of high fives and congratulations from random people. There were also about 4 or 5 other bachelor/bachelorette parties that we ran into. One bachelor was getting married the same day as Chris and I. It was fun dancing since we haven't been out like that in forever.

What's the cow, chicken, and carrot?

2007-07-16T07:45:00.001-07:00

Most people received their invites over the weekend and several people have asked what the entree options were, so I'm going to list them on the blog for people's reference.

Cow = Beef tenderloin medallions
Chicken = Pan seared Chevre & cranberry stuffed chicken with fruit nut chutney
Carrot = Vegetable Napoleon (grilled veggies - portobello mushroom, eggplant, zucchini, squash, etc layered with cheese)

Both beef and chicken are served with the following:
- Shrimp Scampi in a garlic cream sauce
- Side of Rice
- Side of seasonal veggies

Vegetarian option served with rice.

Also, for kids under 11, they will be served chicken fingers and fries.

Invitations are out!

2007-07-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Our wedding invites went in the mail today! Yay! It's such a huge relief to have these out. We got them on Monday evening and I addressed them by hand on Monday and Tuesday nights. Chris and I stuffed, stamped, and sealed most of them last night. Towards 10:00 pm, which is Chris' bedtime, we took a break and he fell asleep on the couch. I was getting annoyed because I wanted to get the invites out today. Mind you, I was crabby from my lack of sleep from addressing envelopes til the wee hours of the morning. So, Chris promised that we would do it in the morning. We got up earlier than usual and finished while watching ESPN SportsCenter.

There was a big debate over including directions in the invite. My family felt that they should be included, Chris didn't want to add anything to take away from the look/feel of the invitation, and I was on the fence. So, we'll probably send out a separate letter to those who RSVP "yes" with directions and other helpful info for the weekend.

Some wedding planning updates:
- Key West was awesome and definitely a fun time. El had designed these really cute "Gina's Bachelorette Entourage 2007" t-shirts for one of our nights out.
- Chris had an equally awesome time in Wisconsin.
- I went down with my parents 2 weeks ago and we have all the reception food and ceremony music picked out.
- We put a deposit on my wedding band this week, which we found at Protea Diamonds. It complements my engagement ring well :) Chris is still searching for his band, but found one that he liked at Protea too.
- Chris and a few groomsmen ordered their rental suits last weekend complete with vest, tie, shirt, and shoes.

Too Cute

2007-06-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

Got a text message from Chris today:

"Having an awesome time i cant get enough signal to call please call cabin"

It made me smile :) I was surprised though to get a text from him since he is on his bachelor party. I wasn't expecting to talk to him all week.

So, I called him and he's having a great time just relaxing, reading, eating, napping, playing Guitar Hero, and the ocassional game of 3-Man. Sort of the anti-Bachelor party, but it's what Chris wanted. His two college friends/groomsmen both commented that "this isn't the bachelor party we were expecting."

He proceeded to tell me that he took a survey last night of the guys and who had talked to their significant other. Pretty much all the guys fessed up. Granted most of the guys are either married, engaged, or co-habitating. I'm guessing he rationalized that if the other guys can talk to their girls, then he could talk to me... It was nice to hear his voice :)

So Pretty!

2007-06-15T12:03:00.001-07:00

Chris and I just received the revised proof for our wedding invites and they look awesome!!! I can't wait to see the final product :)

3 month update

2007-06-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've never broken it down this far, but we're less than 12 weeks away from the big day! Scary how fast time has gone by... Chris and I will be engaged a year this weekend. Feels like only yesterday when we were debating on the merits of a DC wedding v. a Williamsburg wedding.

Planning is coming along and our to-do list is getting shorter and shorter. We ordered our invitations on Friday and should see a proof at the end of this week. Our recent trip to Williamsburg was productive -- found a bakery for our wedding cake and put a deposit down; saw our rehearsal dinner site; had a rehearsal dinner tasting (yummy and got free beer, Brooklyn Brown Ale); and met with deejay and our site coordinator to go over some logistics.

We have no worries about Green Leafe shutting down. They just opened a new restaurant, Green Leafe Gourmet, in "New Town" and that's where we had our tasting. Their catering office is also based out of this new location, so totally different kitchen from Green Leafe Cafe, where the My Chemical Romance food poisoning incident happened.

So, we've got a lot accomplished and we'll both be heading to our respective bachelor/bachelorette parties next week. Chris heads out to Wisconsin on Sunday for a week and I leave the following Thursday for Key West. I think we're both looking forward to these trips since we haven't had a real vacation since we got engaged.

Ah, sunny island here I come :)

My Chemical Romance Jeopardizes Our Catering

2007-05-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

It's about time I start using our blog for sensational journalism! According to TMZ.com, the owner of the Green Leafe Cafe has received personal threats because the bands, My Chemical Romance and Muse, had to cancel tour dates due to alleged food poisoning after a concert at The College of William and Mary.

So how does this affect us? Gina and I picked Green Leafe Catering for our rehearsal dinner and welcome reception. We both love Green Leafe and they seemed well equipped to handle catering since they were on the recommended list of vendors at the Alumni House. Despite this bit of news, we didn't have any plans to change caterers. That was until this morning, when I ran into a co-worker, who is also having Green Leafe cater her reception and is close friends with the owner. According to this unnamed insider, this may result in health investigations and maybe even lawsuits that may shut down Green Leafe forever. Personally, I don't believe this news will change any of our catering plans, but we will be keeping a close eye on the situation as it develops.

4 months away

2007-05-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

I can't believe our wedding is FOUR months away! It's amazing how fast time went by. I feel like I've been a huge slacker lately with the wedding stuff, but we're pretty much on track with everything. Designing invites are what's next on the list, but that's Chris' to do. I think we have a general idea of what we both want for the invite, so hopefully it won't be too difficult. Goal is to get invites out late June/early July.

I'll be heading down to Williamsburg in 2 weeks to meet with the florist and a baker. I'll also scope out some spas for nails and hair. Although, I have no idea if I need to get my hair done... it's probably something I could do on my own. I should figure that soon, huh? I spoke to a dj a few weeks ago and just need to call him to confirm. We have 2 more trips scheduled for Williamsburg in June for our rehersal dinner and reception tastings. Bridal showers were scheduled months ago, but since I'm the bride I have no planning involved with that. Also, Key West is coming up in mid-June for my bachelorette party. I do need to look into my bridal party gifts and giveaways. Oh, and wedding bands for Chris and I.

So, things are coming along. I'm even attempting to get into shape by taking a Pilates class and a swimming class. I just took my first swimming class today and it kicked my ass. I haven't done any cardio workouts in forever and haven't really swum in 8 years, so I was quite suprised when we were doing laps! I love being in the water, but it will take some time for me to learn how to breathe again and just build up my stamina. Probably didn't help that I had a glass of wine and heavy h'or derves prior to class... haha.

Wedding Website Launched

2007-03-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

thisiswhatawesomefeelslike.com

Our wedding website is now live. I owe a BIG thank you to my groomsman, Chris Guirreri, for his help with the template and flash skills. I should also credit Cisco's Human Network for their cool center panel idea.

For some reason, it feels like the website is going up a tad late, but hey, we still have six months to go. Keep checking the site, we will be updating it with more information and after the wedding, I'll add multimedia elements -- youtube videos, slideshow, etc. Now on to the invitations…

i heart my dad

2007-03-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

My dad has been a real trooper helping out with the wedding planning. There was one thing that I ABSOLUTELY had to have for my wedding and he's making it happen. Dad had to call several places and do several Google searches, but he found it! It's going to be so awesome :)

UPDATE: Because inquiring minds need to know.... I've ALWAYS wanted a white, vintage Rolls-Royce or Bentley for my wedding day.

This is a 1963 Rolls-Royce Phantom V limo. Only 1 out of 516 produced. It's also the only vintage Rolls-Royce in the Hampton Roads area. Thanks, Dad!

6 months to go!

2007-03-04T17:36:00.000-08:00

Save the date cards are being mailed out this week and our website will be launching early next week. We have a placeholder for now with the room block information, so that our guests can begin making their reservations here.

We graduated!

2007-02-28T14:12:00.001-08:00

Chris and I successfully completed our Engaged Encounter requirement... Yay! We even got out early because of the snow... Yay!

Engaged Encounter was definitely intense with all the thinking, writing, and talking. By Saturday afternoon break, I was wiped out and took a power nap. Format is couple/priest present on a topic, you write for 20 min on said topic w/ questions to reflect on, then you talk for 20 min with your fiancée on what you/he wrote. Session on Friday was 8:00 - 11:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am-3:15 pm/4:30 - 10:00 pm, and Sunday was 8:00 am - 12:30 pm with a 9:00 am mass. Some of the talks or questions were a bit redundant after having to write/talk about it for the umpteenth time.

We hit the bar both Friday and Saturday nights and there were other couples drinking too. I was bored to tears when we sat at the bar between these two "I'm rich, bitch" couples talking about their wedding plans. Here's a sample of the dialogue:

NY Italian: We booked the Willard first and of course St. Matthews didn't have any dates after we put our deposit down. I've been registered parishioner for 5 years.
Michigan Boy: Nice... Willard. Ya, we got the last June date at St. Matthews. So, where are you getting married?
NY Italian's fiancée: We're having our wedding at St. Aloysius, which is associated with Gonzaga.
Michigan Boy: I've heard that's a pretty church too. St. Matthews is too big for our wedding. It can hold a thousand people, but the church is just so pretty.
NY Italian: Where are you having your reception?
Michigan's fiancée: We're having it at the Hay-Adams.
NY Italian: That's such a classic DC institution. Do you have to provide names and social security numbers for your guests?
Michigan Boy: We're not using the rooftop, but you can see the snipers on top of the White House

I was rolling my eyes at Chris the whole time. I joked that we should say our reception was at the Mandarin Oriental, but I bit my tongue since we did tell some other couples that we were getting married in Williamsburg. Most of the couples seemed like normal 20-30 somethings with the exception of this older couple who were probably in their late 40s-early 50s and there were two standout couples, Trouble and Nerd.

Trouble: Girl was loud, wants to be center of attention, has background in acting. Her fiancée or possibly husband b/c he had a wedding band on his left ring finger. Both arrived late to sessions in the morning with Starbucks in their hands. There wasn't a Starbucks in the hotel, which means they left the hotel (against the rules). They also took a picture with the priest when he was giving out certificates.

Nerd: Both looked like your typical stereotype of a scifi/fantasy fan. Girl was 24 and looked like she was stuck in 1994. Both were at the conservative spectrum of Catholicism. They were also the only couple not to stand when asked, "I believe sex is an important part of marriage." So, pretty likely they were both still virgins and likely to use NFP. She had picked up a pamphlet.

So, those were the highlights. All in all it was a great weekend.. better than I thought it would be. There were no surprises with what Chris and I discussed. I think it just validated that we are on the same page and we are ready for marriage :)

Catholic Engagement Encounter Weekend

2007-02-23T13:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight Gina and I will be going to our weekend long "Catholic Engagement Encounter." Its looking like it could be pretty intense especially tomorrow because it will go from 8am till 11pm. The good news is once its done its done. At first I was a little apprehensive about it but I'm hopeful that it will be fine and helpful. If it does wind up getting too preachy and annoying I will at least enjoy the spectacle of the whole thing. The only big concern I have is sharing a room with a total stranger for the weekend. This is hard for me because I don't like rooming with people I don't know and I only live 5 minutes away. I joked with Gina about sneaking out but she didn't find it funny and frankly I don't want to risk failing and having to do this all over again. At one point I had my own room booked but I cancelled it after figuring out that we would pay for the room I wouldn't be sleeping in and this thing goes so late its not like I would spend a lot of time there anyway

I'll post the best and worst of the weekend when I get back.

The Good, The Current, and The Stress

2007-01-30T23:23:00.000-08:00

Today was my day off with my mom... I found my veil and headpiece at White Swan Bridal in Vienna. We put an order in and it'll arrive in a month or so. Yay! While at Fair Oaks, we found a potential flower girl dress at Macy's. Similar in color to my dress and it will complement both mine and the bridesmaids' dresses. I contacted the girls' moms and asked them to stop by a mall soon to have the girls try it on. Hopefully, it'll work out. It's simple, but elegant and costs significantly less than bridal shop flower girl dresses. I've also changed my mind on the seersucker for the ring and coin bearers. It's a no-go. Saw a boy's seersucker suit at Talbots Kids and it doesn't really work with the rest of the bridal party. Plus, the boys are growing and wouldn't look as cute as a younger boy would. We'll just put them in whatever Chris and his groomsmen decide to wear.

Things that I'm working on at the moment are contacting cake people and finishing up the other two room blocks. Chris is contacting deejays and our photographer. We've got the save the dates back from the printer and will be ready to go out as soon as Chris finishes up our website, which should be wrapped up in the next few weeks. I'm also putting in our application for "Engaged Encounter," which is mandatory for us to marry in the Catholic Church. It's a weekend retreat that will have us talk about certain topics that could be potential issues in a marriage. We've heard positive things about it from friends that have attended in the past, so we're not too concerned about it.

The neverending stress for me is the guestlist. It's a bit overwhelming... I wish there was a way to cut it down significantly, but with my relatives being the majority of the guestlist it's quite impossible without pissing off this cousin, aunt, uncle, whatever. Our parents have their friends that must be invited. Coworkers. Friends, who are mostly married or seriously dating someone... It all starts to add up. Everytime I see the list and how much this wedding is going to end up costing, I tell Chris we should elope. As easy as that would seem in solving the guestlist and budget issues, I've always dreamed of the church and big reception... a party to celebrate us and our love. I try to keep optimistic and tell myself it'll all work out... somewhere inside me I know it will. **fingers crossed**

My first and last bridal show

2007-01-19T08:10:00.000-08:00

Anybody who really knows me can probably guess that I'm not the bridal show type. That shouldn't be a surprise because bridal shows aren’t designed for, marketed towards, or even compatible with males. I'm sure you could make an easy argument defending this practice with typical male stereotypes. It is true men are less inclined to be motivated, involved in the decision making process, or in many cases they just don't care at all about the planning that goes into their own wedding. And why should we? The simple fact is weddings aren’t for us they are for the bride. The flippant response men joking give "just tell me when to be there" is really a secret acknowledgement that they just want to stay out of the way.

But of course we care! We want the best for our brides to be and because of this that I attended my first and last bridal show ever. Well, I must be the only groom who cares because I didn't see any others. Sure there were a couple of Dads parked on the couches in the atrium because they didn't want to spend the $5, but for the most part it was just me. I held false hope that since the hotel was right next to the Budweiser brewery after I did my "lap" I could find my tortured band of brothers in the hotel bar watching playoff football while the women educated themselves on the latest fashion trends in white lace fabric. *sigh*

In a nutshell here is what I learned:

Cake tastes like cake
Wedding vendors are like a mafia, and they all want you to sign up for their ~~junk mail~~ raffle
Never wander, because as long as I was with Gina they didn't talk to me
I can do a better wedding album myself

All in all it wasn't a total waste of time but I will never go to another one.

Observations

2007-01-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

Chris and I just got back from Williamsburg yesterday, where we attended a local bridal show. It was Chris' first time attending one and I'll let him share his thoughts on it ;-p Some observations I made were...

Not too many options regarding vendors. I was hoping to find a dj and cake person, but no luck.
I was one of the older brides there... Most of the other brides were in their early-mid 20s. Must be a Southern thing?
W&M Catering and Green Leafe Catering also seemed like good options for our rehersal dinner. They both had great food displays and it tasted good.

We also visited some of the hotels to figure out where we'd make our room blocks. So, we should have that all worked out by the time the save the date cards go out/website launch next month.

This post brought to you by Linemark Printing

2007-01-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

Today was a fun day, Gina and I finalized the save the date card and it is off to the printer. To give you an idea what they will look like I posted a comp of the design. It looks different from other save the date cards I have received and I think it came out well. Shout out to Linemark for "hooking a brother up." Linemark has been a printer I have worked with since my early days at E&Y. It is great that they are helping me out, especially considering all the headaches I have caused them over the years. I can't wait to see the finished product and send them out. Now back to the website...

We're going to....

2006-12-31T15:58:00.000-08:00

GREECE & TURKEY ON OUR HONEYMOON!!!

This is a map of the ports we'll be visiting on the Windstar's Wind Spirit ship. We are so psyched :D We'll take a few days before/after the cruise and spend a few days in Athens and Istanbul. Some of the really cool things about Windstar is the casual atmosphere, 1 to 1.5 crew to passenger ratio, 150 passengers total, no crazy Vegas-type shows, and BOSE iPod SoundDock Stations in each cabin! To top it all off, we got this all for an awesome rate (thanks to our travel agent!). It's amazing how things have been working out for us (knock on wood)... getting the bigger church, a great reception site, and going on a cruise that we thought we couldn't afford. I don't know if it's luck, fate, or some higher power that's looking out for us, but whoever/whatever it is... thank you!

Refund please!

2006-12-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

I finally got around to making some calls today to get refunds on Wren and our honeymoon cruise. Yay, money! I'm feeling a little poor with all the Christmas shopping :( So, I will get half my deposit from Wren and full refund on the cruise deposit. Chris and I are still going on a honeymoon and it's highly likely that it will be a Mediterrean Cruise of Greece and Turkey, but for reasons below we have reevaluated things.

1) I've done 2 big ship cruises with activities galore and that's just not the ambiance we are looking for on our honeymoon.
2) Smaller ship = more unique ports and less tourists
3) Chris talked to a coworker, who's Greek, and she recommended going in September v. October because it will be warmer.
4) We can leave for our honeymoon a week after our wedding v. waiting a month.

So, we're considering a smaller cruise line and will hopefully have that worked out soon. We have lots to do in the upcoming months. So, stand by for updates! Happy Holidays!

Happy Birthday Gina!

2006-11-29T13:11:00.000-08:00

Today is Gina's birthday but unfortunately I have to spend it without her because she is on her Caribbean cruise with her family. I can't even call her but I talked to her yesterday and she is safe and having a good time in San Juan. I wasn't invited because when they arranged the trip we weren't engaged. Its all good, just wish I could spend it with her or at least tell her "Happy Birthday" *sigh*. Oh well at least after next year they won't have an option.

So yeah the blog hasn't been updated in a while, especially by me. I don't even know if we can even call it a blog since we have only posted sixteen times. We aren't even within 9 months of the wedding and how much is there to talk about? Once things start getting closer we will be adding more and more. To be honest the whole purpose of the blog was to have an "In the moment" record of the all planning, anxiety, emotions, and drama so that we can look back on and remember instead of just an album recording the day. So to those who read and check regularly forgive me that I haven't had much to say because there just hasn't been much to report. I'm amazed that people actually read this and find it quite cool.

Ok so here is my update. I'm behind on the website....Very behind. First the good news, I have a website layout design and Gina is on board. I also have an idea for how the invitation should look and print and it is radically different from what I had in mind originally. The other idea was ok but not very original and it would have been a pain in the ass and expensive. The bad news is my laptop harddrive died and almost took everything with it. Fortunately I had some time off so I was able to swap it out and transfer as much as I could which took almost the week because it would stop working and I'd have to let it sit and try again. Eventually I was doing everything in pieces in order of priority. The web design was the first to come off. The graphics applications however are lost and I have to find a way to replace them quickly. So once that is done hopefully I can get this up fairly quickly. I'll have more as it happens.

Voting

2006-11-07T06:38:00.000-08:00

I did my civic duty today and voted, however it took almost 30 minutes to get through the L-Z line. The A-K line was non-existent... Next year, I get to be move up in the alphabet!

Quickies

2006-11-06T06:49:00.000-08:00

Got official word on Friday that we have the CCM Chapel... yay for not having to VTC our wedding! So, I've opened up our Knot page with actual locations of church & reception site. Also, people can sign our guestbook (hint, hint).

We've asked most of the folks we wanted to participate in our wedding and you can view their names on our Knot page. Folks that aren't listed there are our readers, who are Katie Sylvester, Meredith McGuire, & Reagan Clyne. The only people left are the primary sponsors, who would be our godparents or ninongs/ninangs for the ceremony.

We do need to start looking at blocks of rooms particularly at the Ho House for it's convenient location near everyone's favorite W&M watering hole, Green Leafe Cafe. Other than that we're pretty much on track!

Bridesmaid dresses, coin bearer, and church update

2006-10-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

Went shopping with 3 of my 4 bridemaids (Rachel, Michelle, & Ellen... my 4th is a grad student in Chicago, Sarah) a little over a week ago. Figured we might as well go while they've got brown dresses on the rack versus waiting 'til spring when it would be all pastel stuff. We hit a couple of stores... Ann Taylor, Macy's Bridal Salon, Tommy Hilfiger, and Nordstrom. Initially, I had envisioned strapless, brown, tea length dresses... My sister and cousin didn't want strapless and preferred halter. So, we focused on the cocktail/tea length dresses at first with a few long gowns thrown in. We searched and searched... then ended at Nordstrom's, where we found THEIR dress. Long and strapless... go figure we'd go with something that we weren't originally thinking ;-) Don't get me wrong, it's a gorgeous dress and definitely could be rewearable, even shortened as the dress does come in a shorter style. All I know is that it will complement my dress well and we stuck to the chocolate brown color :-)

This weekend, I FINALLY asked my coin bearer to be in the wedding. He had just woken up from a nap, but was coherent enough to say yes! My ring bearer also re-emphasized that he would be carrying our rings as we watched a cousin exchange rings at the altar ;-) Kids, gotta love them.

Chris heard from the CCM Chapel lady this morning and W&M Athletic department won't give an affirmative answer yet regarding the Fall 2007 schedule. There's still a tentative game the night before our wedding date, which is all and good since that means we could still get married at CCM that Saturday. The CCM lady still recommended moving our wedding date and Chris politely told her that was not an option. So, looks like we'll have to wait until early December to find out. Our tentative guest list is well over 200 and with Wren's max capacity at 120... it will make things challenging. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for us!

Check, check, and check

2006-09-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

My week off between jobs was not as relaxing as I thought it would be, but I got a lot accomplished wedding-wise. We went down to Williamsburg and finally decided on a reception site... Colonial Heritage Club. I was leaning towards Williamsburg Lodge originally, but after weighing the pros and cons Colonial Heritage was the clear winner. Our parents came down for the day and we showed them both sites we were considering. Colonial Heritage was everyone's vote. Of course, I was still undecided even after everyone's input. It was a HUGE decision to make, but I think it fits "us" best. Despite all the time touring reception sites and hotels, Chris found some time to play 9 holes of golf with Thomas. I had my clubs too, but Kingsmill was a bit intimidating for me... So I was caddy.

While down there, we also came across a travel agency that specializes in cruises. Chris and I have always planned to do a Mediterranean Cruise even before we got engaged. So, we found the perfect cruise for us with all the ports that we would want.. Barcelona, Spain, Nice, France, Florence, Italy, Rome, Italy,Naples/Capri, Italy, Athens, Greece, Istanbul, Turkey, Mykonos, Greece, Santorini, Greece, & Venice, Italy. It would be a 14 day cruise, but how often do you get to see all these wonderful cities all in one trip!

And last, but not least... I bought my dress. Yes, my wedding dress. I first saw it in the Bridal Showcase fashion show and it was the first one I tried in the store. I tried some other dresses, but this one just fit so perfectly. It's simple & sophisticated, and princess-y :-)

Bridal Showcase

2006-09-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended my first bridal show at George Mason. I had my entourage with me -- my mom, sister, aunt, and cousin. However, I was the lucky one and got to wear the "hand her the various information/price sheets" (heart-shaped "bride to be") pin. Thanks to my sister and cousin, I didn't have to carry too much of the stuff I was collecting.

It was definitely an experience. We started making our rounds of the various vendors of catering companies, bakeries, florists, photographers, deejays, videographers, travel agents, etc. It's unbelievable how crowded it was early on... I was starting to get claustrophobic. We tasted a lot of cakes, but nothing really wowed me. I think the next time I go, I will have Chris come with me. It would be nice to have his input on some of the vendors i.e. there were some pretty neat things that photographers were doing with wedding albums now.

We saw one fashion show and they showcased this one designer, who's dresses were non-traditional. Seriously, I don't know what bride would even consider wearing a dress that was see-through then again maybe if I were Lil' Kim or a porn star... might be a different story ;-)

I'm not sure if this bridal show was of much help to me since we are having a destination wedding in Williamsburg. Most of the vendors were from the DC Metro Area. I think there's a show coming up in Williamsburg if my wedding mags are correct, so we will have to check that one out.

363 Days & Counting...

2006-09-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how fast these last 3 months went and we are a less than a year from our wedding day. We are planning on heading down to Williamsburg in the next few weeks and make a final decision on a reception site. It's between two sites.... one's a country club and another is a hotel & conference center. Both have their pros and cons, so we'll see.

I'll be heading to my first bridal expo show next weekend. I'll hopefully get some ideas for things. Most importantly, I need to start looking for a dress and getting into shape for the big day! I should have more time to work out... now that I won't have a 2 hour round trip commute each day. I gave my notice on Thursday and will start the new job a week later. I never thought I would leave SRA, but I think it's time. Luckily, it'll still give me enough time to build up leave for the wedding and honeymoon next year.

That's about all for now. We should have more to blog about in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Dog days update

2006-08-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a visit from our Priest. I have to admit going into this meeting I was a bit apprehensive about being married by the Catholic church. They have a lot of rules and formalities (ie paperwork) but the meeting went well and I feel very good about Gina's choice for the Priest.

Gina and I have started pulling together ideas and concepts regarding the actual website. We have some cute ideas but it will be time consuming and being a graphic designer I feel this pressure to make it above and beyond your typical average wedding site.

I have decided on a bachelor party location and it will be S-W-E-E-T. I'm excited, although I have to iron out some details with the best man regarding planning. The good news is nobody will be required to travel to a volcanic island. Gina assures me that a co-ed trip to the land of ice is in the cards for 2008. Start saving...

Finally, I plan on attending a press check for a work project tomorrow or early next week. Word on the street is this particular vendor has a letterpress operator. Do you think there is any chance our lucrative printing contracts will help obtain a reasonable deal for our invitation?

I plan to find out.

Seersucker!

2006-07-29T19:10:00.000-07:00

I am soooo excited!!!

I've come up with the ring and coin bearer's outfits. I haven't officially asked my ring and coin bearer yet. But, this was too cute and I had to share right now.

Chris and I were at Barnes & Noble last night... I had picked up some wedding mags of course ;-) In one of the mags, they had the little boy attendants wearing classic blue & white seersucker... this was the 3rd time I've seen it. I started googling to see where I could potentially buy little boy seersuckers and I came across a Washington Post article and picture, where I first saw it.

Yes, it's John Roberts being announced as President Bush's choice for Supreme Court Justice and there's his little boy in the exact outfit I want for my ring and coin bearers. It's so perfect!

Double-booking Chapels

2006-07-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

I put our name on the waiting list for the CCM Chapel for the same date and time, Saturday, September 1, 2007. This chapel can hold 350 people. We won't know until mid-October-November if we can have it.

According to the chapel lady, "If the August 31st date is a football game I cannot schedule a rehearsal at any time during that day. We have many activities with the Catholic Campus Ministry Chapel during a school year. The only thing I can think of is having the rehearsal on Thursday night at 6:30."

This makes it a little challenging because it will cause the wedding party to stay an extra night and not even sure if our priest could swing that. Another option is to hold the rehersal elsewhere. Not sure if this is a possibility because I'm not sure if the Chapel Coordinator will have to be present. So, many questions...

I haven't run this past Gina yet but…

2006-07-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure the awesomeness speaks for itself.

2006-07-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

Now we can start worrying how we are going to fit everybody in there.

And the wedding date is....

2006-07-17T07:29:00.000-07:00

September 1, 2007, 2:00 pm at Wren Chapel!!!

Could it be... Wren?

2006-07-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

On Friday, I decided to inquire into the Wren Chapel, which is located on W&M campus. I checked out the website and called the chapel coordinator... LOTS of pros versus the CCM Chapel!

1) They have 4 wedding times in one day v. 2.
2) They have weddings on football game days v. no weddings on days of football games.
3) They can let me know about a September date within the month v. waiting until December when the W&M football schedule comes out.

Only con is that Wren seats 120 guests max excluding the bride & groom, officiant, and bridal attendants. I'll definitely have to whittle that guest list down more.

The coordinator said that there were only 2 other couples on the waiting list for September 2007, so there would be a pretty good chance we'd get our preferred date and time... YAY! It was good to hear this news after the heartache I've had with the CCM Chapel.

Sunday Night Update - got an email from Wren lady, she just opened the September 2007 calendar. She just needs to contact one other couple and we'll know our date soon! This will be such a huge relief and I can go back to enjoying being engaged!

Best Man

2006-07-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

Chris Thomas is the best man

What's with the name?

2006-07-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

When people ask me if I was nervous before proposing to Gina I always say that it felt like the biggest weight off of my shoulders. I mean sure there was apprehension because I wanted the moment to be perfect but other than that I was ready and had been ready for some time. I would equate it to other happy moments that resulted in hard work paying off, for example the feeling of your first day of summer after weeks of final exams, or after a long hard move enjoying your first beer on your couch. The only difference this time (aside from the once in a lifetime moment) is I have someone to share the joy with.

I was prepared for the ramp up in wedding planning but may have underestimated the urgency of the some of the decisions. The amount of time we decided on should give us plenty of time to enjoy the engagement and plan with a cushion. Besides the conflicts Gina discussed over the dates a lot of the big decisions are already locked in with little stress or disagreement. I realize that may come across all lovey-dovey but honest to god it's true.

One of the very first wedding plans we made was deciding on the wedding domain name. I plan to start conceptualizing the design for the website in the next month or so once we start ironing out firm details. As it stands we really don't have much to make a website out of yet anyway and the few details we do have will probably be discussed on this blog anyway.

Behold our wedding domain: thisiswhatawesomefeelslike.com.

The name is actually a quote from a short story published on McSweeney's Internet Tendency (http://www.mcsweeneys.net/2006/6/9bloom.html). It doesn't really relate to wedding stuff or anything but it made me laugh which is usually enough for me to attach to anything.

I know this name is going to raise eyebrows and it already has with the few people we told but Gina and I feel it is iconic, memorable and most important sets this wedding off as the casual fun event we want it to be.

Have you picked a date?

2006-07-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

We've been engaged almost a month now. We have a priest, colors picked out, and where we want to go for our honeymoon. I thought we would have the date all figured out by now, but there were some glitches. The chapel I want to get married in is next to Zable Stadium. Chapel rules - no weddings on days of W&M football games. Okay, I can deal with that. More emails with the coordinator - she tells me that the Fall 2007 football schedule would not be out until December 1st. Uh, I can't want another 6 months to confirm a date! She proceeds to tell me that she contacted W&M and they have a tentative schedule... there is a night game scheduled for what would be the evening of our rehearsal. "Sorry, but I can't give you that date. I HIGHLY recommend pushing the date up. July and August are wide open". So much for a fall wedding. Sigh. I talked it over with Chris... our options were to bump up the date to summer or have a fall wedding in NoVA. We both really like the destination wedding in Williamsburg, so it looks like it will be a summer wedding for us. We're heading down to the 'Burg this weekend and hopefully by early next week, we will FINALLY have a wedding date.