Where in the world?...

Without a doubt the thing my fiance and I have collectively enjoyed planning the most, has been the honeymoon. I am pretty sure listening to me describe the centerpieces was a close second for him though. No? Ok, maybe not.

So we have this big huge party with everyone we love, and then we get to go on a big trip. How cool is that? We started talking honeymoon pretty early in our engagement, although unless you're planning a trip to Long Island, you can't really do it that far in advance. That's ok though, because it gave us plenty of times to research and change our minds (a lot).

So where to go? Whenever we take a trip, I always take it as a personal challenge to go somewhere that Ryan has never been. Anyone that knows him will understand how tough of a challenge this is. He has been everywhere! Seriously, how many people's fiances have lived in Korea for a year and stopped in China and Thailand for fun? So yeah, it is always my personal mission for him to not have "been there, done that".

The first step was to figure out what kind of honeymoon we wanted to take, to narrow it down.

One of the first things that narrowed it down were our free flights! I am marrying the king of credit card rewards, and so most flights for us, with the points, would be free. This has helped us exponentially, we would not be taking as nice of a trip as we are if not for these flights. So we had to pick somewhere that had flights with our carrier. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Can we talk about Europe for a second? Of course we can, I'm writing this. I felt very pressured to "want" to go to Europe for our honeymoon because Europe is so pretty and great and "European". We threw around the idea of going country hopping in Europe, or just spending a week in one country. But we were both very iffy about it. But still I felt as if, if I didn't get to Europe, I would be lacking some kind of experience that I should have.

It wasn't until we went to Florida, and visited my Godmother, who has worked in the travel industry for years and has been even more places than Ryan, figured it out for me in 3 words:

"Europe is overrated"

And all of a sudden I exhaled. She hit it on the nose for us. I'm sure many people love to go see tourist attractions and speak to people who think we're stupid, but we do not. We have actually not gone places because we thought they'd be too "touristy".  When I think of all the places Ryan and I have traveled, it basically boils down to warm weather, beaches, gambling and drinks.

So we decided, we want to be doing what we love to do on our honeymoon.

We love love love relaxing somewhere tropical. What better way to unwind from the most overwhelming 17 months of our lives?


Apparently there are a ton of countries with beautiful beaches, so we had our work cut out for us. I'd review the places we considered and the place we chose, but I want to go to bed, to be honest. Come back for part 2!

What was your favorite vacation spot and why???

Saying Yes to the Dress...Again

Here we are with just about 10 months to the wedding- yikes- time is going fast!

Two things I've come to learn is that everything takes longer when you say the word "wedding" and everything takes longer on Long Island. Combine the two and I still have no idea why my dress takes 10 months to get from ordering to the fitting room.

That being said, the time to order bridesmaid dresses for my wedding is quickly approaching. I knew I wanted my girls to have a huge say in the dress we picked, so I started trying to get the troops together. Getting 6 busy ladies together at one time, in one place is a hard task, but we were lucky enough to have 4 out of 6 of us available for round one.

Round one *almost* didn't happen. Apparently luck was not on my side this morning. On my way to get changed before dress shopping, with my Maid of Honor in my passenger seat, my car literally stopped going.

I know nothing about cars, but eventually AAA was called, and my fiance came on his white horse (which was actually a black Altima) to rescue us. Knowing how badly I was looking forward to the day ahead, he insisted I take his car and that he would make sure my car got to the mechanic (major points there).

So we were on our way, again. And this time, the car didn't break, go us!

One thing you always have to worry about with a group of females is chemistry. I can't say I was too worried, but it's always a concern. Has anyone out there seen Say Yes to the Dress, Bridesmaids?

Holy catfight. From the bride who didn't even stop to think before she decided that her bridesmaids had a $500 budget, to the bridesmaid who announced that if they didn't pick a dress that looked good on her-she was out of the bridal party, I can't even believe some of the stuff that happens!

Fortunately, our experience would have made for terrible television. Everyone got along, everyone has great taste, and everyone is willing to rule out dresses that any of the other girls don't like.

I knew the dresses had to be a certain color, and the girls want shorter dresses, which goes perfect with our summer wedding.

 First, we hit the racks and pulled anything that we thought might possibly be a contender. The girls then took turns trying a few on, and we would either reject or save them for the next round.

I was having a blast not having to try anything on! We narrowed it down to about 10 dresses, and then picked our favorites from those. We made sure the ones we liked came in the perfect color, and then magically (or not) we had it down to just 3 dresses!

Currently we are all in discussion about which one we like the best. I am confident that after "Round 2" we will have our dress!

Here is one that didn't make the cut! Sorry, for the winner, you'll have to wait until they come down the aisle!

The ever present peanut gallery...

When you first get engaged, you think "Wow this is going to be great. My fiance and I are going to plan this amazing celebration and we are going to have a blast picking out everything we like..."

And wedding planning has been great. Anyone who knows me can vouch that I am loving (almost) every minute of this. But one thing that has been incredibly overwhelming for me, and I'm sure every other bride-to-be, is the constant flow of opinions.

You all know the saying....

Whatever they are cooking is not going to turn out right. Way too many cooks in the kitchen. And while I do value the opinions of others, sometimes it feels as if the only ones who haven't given our opinions, are me and my fiance.

For example, I fell in love with something that I planned on using for the wedding. I thought it up in my mind, customized it, and used a vendor that brought it to life. Elated, I showed my closest family members. It might sound stupid, but when you work to create something so personal, you get very attached to it.

Now I don't want people to lie to me, but there is a difference between lying and being brutally honest. One person, whose identity will not be revealed, blurted out "Don't you think its gaudy?"

No. I didn't think it was gaudy. I wouldn't have worked on it perfecting every detail, and payed a nice chunk of change if I had thought it was gaudy. This was a bridezilla meltdown waiting to happen, and I threw my hands up and shouted "Then you know what? Maybe I'm gaudy!"


There are two lessons here. Lesson one: If a bride shows you something she is planning on using on the most important day of her life, you probably shouldn't trash talk it. Haven't you ever seen the Ugly Baby episode of Seinfeld?

Lesson two: Brides, including myself, should remember to take people's opinions with a grain of salt. Before I had shown everyone, my fiance and I both decided that we loved it, and that it was perfect for us. Those are the only two opinions that I should care about. But what can I say, sometimes it is (extremely) difficult to believe that not everyone is as in love with my wedding as I am.

Which brings me to another point. Maybe somewhere out there, there is a groom who wants to be involved with everything. I am not marrying one of those. At the beginning of wedding planning, I would show Ryan everything, asking him what he thought. He would give me a generic answer like "That's great" and I would get frustrated.

It took me awhile to realize that Ryan hasn't been dreaming of pocketfold invitations for his entire life, and unless it was terrible, he was probably going to like it. So now, whenever I have a planning decision to make, whether it be a style of something or a vendor to use, I give him my top two, and tell him to pick. This has worked out beautifully. It's actually made him more involved in the planning, because instead of just yessing me to death so he won't have to see another freaking rhinestone, he only has to look at two things, and pick the one he likes better.

Even if you haven't planned a wedding, surely everyone has felt overwhelmed by opinions at one time or another. Let me know how you dealt with it!

Saying Yes to the Dress

Whoever said: It is more difficult to commit to the dress, than to the Groom is 100% accurate!

Dress shopping is something I had been looking forward to from as far back as I can remember. Even before I was engaged, I had been already addicted to shows like Say Yes to the Dress. Getting a lot of attention, playing dress up, and trying on things I probably can't afford are all things I love.

So many people have said to me how you never end up with the type of dress that you "think" you want. Well, I've always had an idea of the kind of dress I wanted.

If you've met me, you know I'm not really one for simplicity. I'm loud, opinionated and girly. Oh, and Hello! I'm from Long Island! That picture of the sweet, classic bride in pearls is just not me.

Sorry Kate. I love her and I really had high hopes for her wedding dress. But, thats it? Really? I think if my fiance saw me walking down the aisle in this he would yawn.

Side note: On the day of the royal wedding, he said he thought Kate's dress was too plain. I knew there was a reason I picked him!

Before you all start getting scared, I do have my limits when it comes to bling.

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. Awesome show. But really? A light up dress? And that amount of poof? I can't.

Anyway, I was pretty sure that I could find an amazing dress, somewhere in between Kate and the Gypsy.

I enlisted the help of my least opinionated bridesmaid (I have enough opinions to go around) and out dress shopping we went. A few things I learned:

• Wedding dresses are heavy!
• Most brides think its awkward to have another lady dress you. (thank you dance for desensitizing me to this)
• Bridal consultants need a lot of patience, and some of them don't have any. 

But the most important thing I learned was that I had known exactly the type of wedding dress I wanted.

It was difficult for me to settle, because I am a perfectionist, and I wanted to know that I had the best dress.

After going back and forth a few times, visiting a couple of different salons, trying on about 30 dresses and second guessing my every move, I finally found the perfect dress.

Sorry, no pic of this one!

I am obsessed with my dress. I look at the pictures I have at least once a day, and I've even watched a 7 minute youtube video of the dress, on more than one occasion. Isn't that what you're supposed to do?

Alright brides-to-be, how many dresses did you try on before you found "the one"?

DIY Diaries: Bridesmaid Invitations

It was time to conquer my first do-it-yourself project. Up until now, I hadn't really don't much of anything crafty. I wasn't into art in school, and I don't consider myself overly creative. I knew the first project i attempted would either give me more confidence to tackle all the other projects I had planned, or send me running to the wedding store to buy it all pre-made.


There are so many cute ways to ask your bridesmaids to be in your wedding party. I knew I wanted to do something personal, and cute. I also wanted to incorporate the theme to our wedding (I might have a slight matching obsession).

Option 1 was Bridesmaid Cookies: These are absolutely adorable. You make/order cookies in the shape of a bridesmaid dress, and its colored to be the color you want. In edible ink, "Will you be my bridesmaid" is written.











These are so cute! And I could have made them all in my colors, and added a cute little card. However, my MOH (maid of honor) and one of my bridesmaids live off of Long Island, and I was worried that the trip in the mail might have led to something melting/going bad. And even the girls that live on LI- if I wasn't able to get together with them within a few weeks, the cookies would go bad. So that was out.

I then thought about making a little box with a few things in them and a little poem, but what to do with that after you get it?

I decided to just go to Michael's and hope for some inspiration. Well after about an hour in Michael's, walking down aisles and comparing supplies, I ended up with:

• Wooden frames
• A paint brush
• White and pink paint
• Silver, purple and pink ribbons
• Blingy engagement ring stickers
• A few sheets of fancy paper

And so I decided to paint the frames, white first, to cover the wood, and then pink over it. I found this process extremely therapeutic and actually a lot of fun.

 After the paint was dry, I glued the ribbon onto the frames. This was a bit more frustrating as I am extremely particular that each piece of ribbon was laying perfectly straight. But still, it was fun.

Next was the poem. There are so many cute poem's out there for bridesmaid invitations, so I googled, found a few of my favorites, and tailored them together to work for me.

I cut the paper (good practice for the invitations), and typed the poem up on powerpoint.

I then enlisted the help of my fiancé to figure out how to print on little pieces of paper. I wanted to buy a new one for "wedding printing" but he insisted his big company printer that he was given would do the job. And after us both scratching our heads for a while and printing a few "test" sheets, we had it perfect.

The end result:

I am absolutely in LOVE with these. I kind of want to keep them for myself actually, but that wouldn't be right.

 

Wrap in purple tissue paper, and tie with matching ribbon, and you've got a perfectly cute invitation, which can double as a frame. 

 This most definitely gives me the confidence to tackle my next projects. Go me!

What DIY projects have you done that you enjoy?

Say cheese...

It sounds cheesy, but it's true: After your wedding, there really is nothing left but the pictures. Literally the first wedding nightmare I had was that I hated every single one of my wedding photos, and there was nothing I could do. Choosing a photographer would have to be done very carefully.

Like with everything else in my life, I have a very distinct style. Nothing pains me more than to think my wedding album would be filled with shots like these.

This photo is just breathtaking (Seinfeld reference: Ugly Baby). 

I mean wow. We are all standing in a posed line with out hands folded, and we are even all wearing the same color family. Alright, this is definitely NOT my style.

Your wedding day is the happiest day of your life. You shouldn't need to be posed. I wanted a photographer who could stay on the sidelines and just capture everything that happened naturally.

perfect. photojournalism.

The type of photos I like are more photojournalism, less "put your cheeks together and say cheese". 

The naturalness (word?) of this picture is exactly what I want. The photographer has captured everything about this moment, and it is ORIGINAL. They are the only ones with this exact wedding photo. 

And so the search was on. I knew that  I wanted a younger photographer who was organized and could handle my level of OCD. I also knew that I did not want someone who was exclusively a "wedding photographer".

I just feel like if all you do is weddings, eventually everything starts looking the same. Some might argue that an exclusive wedding photographer will know all the right shots, but for me, not what I wanted.

I was also very conscious of our budget. And so we started meeting with potential photographers.

One guy I met with because he was a preferred vendor of our venue, and on the phone he boasted about how unique and original he was.

When i got there I was in for a different story. Ryan had some sort of work function (not surprising) that night, so I brought my mom to the appointment.

When I told this guy what I wanted, he proceeded to show me cookie cutter, posed, wedding albums. The quality of these photos were good. Very good in fact. But not what I wanted. I explained to him again that I wouldn't want any of these shots, but I would want more photojournalistic shots.

And I kid you not. He said to me.....

"Yeah I can do the photojournalism. But I need to get my standard shots in first. There might not be time for many of the shots you want, depending on how long it takes me to get my shots."

At this point I was losing my cool with his arrogant personality. I'm sorry. You need to get "your" shots? Are you putting these into an album and keeping them to show your kids? No wait, thats us.

In a way I was happy that I knew our personalities didn't match. Saved me the trouble of booking a photographer I absolutely hated. And it's only slightly awkward when I see him at my venue's Bridal Showcases...On to the next.

And the next was perfect. We met with the owner of the small company, who, after talking to us, told us he knew which photographer would be perfect for us. He showed us a few albums from that photographer, and we (mostly me) were elated.

It was everything I wanted. But personality is also important to me, and the owner was more than willing to set up a meeting for us before we booked. When we met our photographer I knew instantly he was the one (Am I booking a photographer, or getting engaged again?)

He's young, modern, not afraid to take risks and (gasp!) skip on some of the cheek-to-cheek shots to be creative. And best of all, he doesn't only do weddings.

This was probably one of my biggest reliefs to check off the list. I was happy, and Ryan was happy that I was happy (a general theme to our wedding planning).

How did you choose your wedding photographer?

The great shoe debacle of 2012

Let's get some shoes.

Actually, let's not. I absolutely love shopping. I would consider myself pretty girly. I love jewelry, headbands and clothes. If I'm having a bad day, going into Forever 21 and spending some money (not a lot, Ryan) makes my day so much better. 

But if there's one thing I hate...it's shoes.

 

 NO SHOES!

(also known as my dream world)

That's right, I hate shoes. They're pretty, I guess? But clothes and jewelry are much prettier if you ask me. If I could live in flip flops year round, I would be the happiest of campers. 

I blame my long-lived hatred for shoes on dance. I spent most of my life in a dance studio, and when you spend 8 hours a day wearing this: 

 

You can see why I'd have no interest in this: 

I am guilty of wearing my hip hop sneakers to high school a few (more than a few) times. My dance background, combined with the fact that I've spent a good portion of the last 23 summers barefoot on a beach- well let's just call it what it is. I hate shoes. 

For the wedding, I guess, I will need to wear something on my feet. Going barefoot is dangerous and we all know that I am not a fan of danger. 

Many people suggested I tough it out, and wear "shoes" to the ceremony, and then change into flip flops for the reception...

Uh, why?...

Let me get this straight. My dress covers my feet. No one is going to see my feet unless I lift up my dress to show them. But I should wear shoes to the ceremony because its traditional? Or because everyone else does? Or because the wedding gods want to laugh at me as I stand for the most important 30 minutes of my life in an uncomfortable agony? 

Nope. 

Sorry, to me it makes no sense. I'm going to have my beautiful dress altered wearing shoes, so that I can wear shoes for 30 minutes, and then take them off? And then for the rest of the night, my dress is too long and I trip over it? 

I am going to wear flip flops the entire day. For me it just makes sense.    

I'm not going to wear just any flip flop. I need the most perfect, blinged out, white, comfortable pair of flip flops that exists. Hence why I'm starting the search now. 

I am on a mission. My first run-in with candidates was when I was shopping with a friend (Hi Andrea!) and not even looking for shoes. We came across these:

   

Aldo: Ciaffone $30

The look was perfect. I wasn't going for a platform but I did like the shape of the shoe. The blingy straps were stunning. However, when I tried them on, they smacked against the back of my feet so hard when I walked, that I think by the end of the night I'd have flat heels. 

The shoe search continues...

Girls: Show me your wedding shoes!