Bridal Shower Deets

I know I did a quick recap, but I think the details deserve some spotlight. Sorry it's taken a while, but I was waiting for pics to be posted by attendees! It was held at Roundtree Park in Falls Church, VA. It was a beautiful day! Ok, it was a little hot, but we were in the shade, and at least it didn't rain! There was tons of food - sandwiches, fruit salad, veggies, and, most importantly, mimosas! Everything was green :) green table runners, green solo cups, and all the little details MOH Cassie made were green, too! How did she know?! Lol. Check out all the details!

Such a cute area! Even though we didn't sit at those little tables out there, they were still cute (it was too hot out there).

Mmmm Mimosas.

She made this He Said/She Said shower game, using the same green print I used for my invites. How cute are the little sillouhettes? She even wrapped little pencils and attached them to each sheet!

And she made drink stirrers!

I don't know if you can tell, but she sewed fabric on the side of a pop up hamper and it says "Wishing Well"! That's where people put green glass they brought for me. In case you're not aware, I collect green glass, and it was such a great idea for her to have everyone bring me a piece! I don't think anyone really understands how much that excites me, lol.

She even sewed together a banner - which is amazing and I hope FH doesn't mind me hanging it in the house somewhere... only half kidding. :)

Me and my super cool ribbon hat. Oh, and balloons tied to my sash. I walked around with those on for quite a while, wondering why people outside of the shower were staring at me...

No, I'm not angry here. I have like 80 gumballs in my mouth because we were in the midst of playing the infamous gumball game (where they ask you questions about your FH and if you get it wrong you have to chew a gumball, and keep them all in your mouth til the end). I did pretty well, but Bridesmaid Amanda made sure to get the big gumballs. I was glaring at her for this reason. Lol. And probably stumped on a question... But I did really well, I swear! They were just really big gumballs...

And another little DIY project from the weekend for lil ole me? MOH Ryann had her friend Chelcia made me a fun bachelorette fascinator! It had a silver base and hot pink feathers coming out of it and was awesome. It stayed on all night! I actually kind of forgot it was there... but that would be how people knew I was the bachelorette!

-C
xxx

Los Fotos - Part II

This one's going to be a little more difficult. I'm open to ANY possible suggestions for this one because I'm having a lot of trouble with it (btw I'm thinking #1 from the last post for pre ceremony shots, open for discussion with the photogs of course).

There are so many beautiful mountains and farms in Sussex County, but I don't really want to just drive around all afternoon trying to find a spot in them. Does that make sense? I mean, you can see them, but I'm not sure they're open to the public or accessible?

Spot #1: The place I really want to go to, Waterloo Village, is shut down with NO TRESPASSING signs all over the place. Gary (one of our photographers) says we can hop the fence... but it's a pretty big fence and with my luck we'd get caught! Sigh. Unfortunately since it's been shut down to the public since 2007, I couldn't get inside to get any photos of my own.

via Google Images

via Google images

via Google images

Spot #2: Wild West City is exactly what it sounds like - a recreated wild west town with fake (sometimes) shoot outs and people dressed up in old western gear. I've never actually been here other than when they shut it down and hold a massive yard sale for the local animal rescue, so I can't really say anything good or bad about it.

Spot #3: Hopatcong State Park. You may recognize this from my last post. I feel like at first glance Hopatcong State Park doesn't look like much, but there are a fountain and a dam I haven't seen (I called it a waterfall, my bad) and there's water all around (the lake as well as the Musconetcong River). It says it's 9 miles long, too. Plus going on a Sunday for day after shots should be much less crowded than Saturday afternoon for the preceremony shots!

Spot #4: What about Mountain Creek? I love going skiing up there in the winter, but can't say that I've been up there in the off season, when, like most ski resorts, they turn into a water park/hiking location. Don't really want to do a super amount of hiking in my dress, not gonna lie! BUT it's probably the prettiest location! It's about 25 minutes away, though.

All three images via MountainCreek.com.

So what do you think? Any other ideas?

-C

xxx

Los Fotos - Part I

I had a great conversation with my photographers (Hughes Fioretti) over Skype* last week, and they claim to read my blog, so let's see if they do ;) We're flying them up from Orlando, Florida to do our wedding. Yeah, they're just that good. I'd met the female half (Julie) before, she's a good friend of MOH Ryann (who used to live in O town), but this was my first time meeting the male half (Gary) via Skype. These two are so excited to come up north to do our wedding! I guess a lot of people envision beach weddings with palm trees as their perfect backdrop, but that's what they do all year long, so they're excited to see real trees and mountains and changing leaves! Guys, if you're reading, there were a couple trees already starting to change this weekend so you may get your wish!

So anyhoo. Part of my job when I went home this weekend was to scope out some photography sites for the pre ceremony shots (first look and bridal party shots) and also for our day after session. For those not in the know, a first look is when bride and groom see each other before the ceremony, and the photographer catches their first look at each other. Like so:

Via WeddObsessed

Some brides don't like this idea because it involves seeing the groom before the wedding, but, personally, I love it. I love the sneak attack the bride gets to pull on the groom, I love getting the genuine reactions of both bride and groom without everyone else around, and I love that we won't have to miss out on the reception because we're busy taking photos (this goes for the bridal party shots as well).

For those wondering, I am not doing a trash the dress as my day after session. Yes, I believe I am wearing the dress again. But I can't fathom trashing it :( So, it will just be an extra session of photos in a different location!

Onto the locations. In this post I'm going to present options for the pre ceremony pics, and would love your input!

Spot #1: Lake Musconetcong





Selling points: swans, benches, random "aisle" leading to lake, real live lily pads, under 5 minute drive from the house

Spot #2: Lake Musconetcong (different spot)



Selling points: Same as above except this is literally around the corner from my house (and minus the swans). An under 2 minute drive. Those mountains across the lake usually change color in the fall (obviously it's the TREES on the mountains, not the mountains themselves), so that may look cool.

Spot #3: Hopatcong State Park






Selling Points: It's a state park so it has trails (although I've never been on them). Also on a lake, has stairs/fun things to play around on, has a beach (although it's kind of dirty), has a waterfall (I couldn't get close to due to how crowded it was). One con is that it gets filled to capacity early and, while we should be able to get in the park around 4:30, there will probably still be a lot of people around. About a 5-7 minute drive from the house.

Soooo where do you think we should do our pre ceremony pics? Spot #1, #2, or #3? Be on the lookout for Part II, which will show options for the day after session. If any of you locals out there have any ideas for those, please feel free to add them in the comments! I think I have plenty for the pre ceremony shots, though, especially since we're trying to keep it close to the house.

-C
xxx


*If you don't know what Skype is, you're missing out. Basically it's FREE video calls to anywhere in the world (all you need is a webcam), and FH and I wouldn't be where we are today without it. GIVING CREDIT TO BRIDESMAID AMANDA HERE FOR INTRODUCING US TO IT! :)

Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow

Today is a lot of things. Today is the day before my RSVPs are due. *cough* I'd like to say today is the day I book my porta potties, additional rentals, and photobooth, but that really depends on their price quotes and response time. So today is the day I email all those people and attempt to get some booking done! Oh right, and today is exactly 30 days from our big day! (According to theknot.com; I would've thought it was yesterday since it was the 18th!) 30 days from today, I'm getting married. I really truly have no idea where that year long engagement went! I'm excited, but I'm also trying really hard not to have a major freakout! I have so much left to do, and only 30 days to do it! Do you have any idea how fast 30 days flies when you're planning a wedding?

Two words:

LIGHT

SPEED

Yesterday I had my "final" dress fitting (turns out I needed a couple more nips and tucks so I now have another final dress fitting Sept. 8th). So glad I finally have my jewelry and shoes decided, though!

Tomorrow (well, Friday - Sunday) I'm going home (AKA my wedding venue) even though my house is still a disaster area from moving - sorry FH but it looks like that's just how it's gonna be when you get here (in less than 2 weeks!!)! Other than the wedding weekend I was planning on only going home Labor Day weekend. Yeahhh I realized I definitely should go this weekend after starting to make a list of things I can do while I'm home. It's a pretty long list. It includes a site walk through with the tent guy, meeting with my caterer, meeting with my DJ, and scoping out photography locations for our first look and day after shots! The last one's my favorite :) One of my photographers is pushing for Wild West City for the day after shots. I'm not opposed to it, but I guess I think it'd be more me than FH? I got me some country roots but he's... well, he's British! I don't think they had British cowboys... But I have an email into WWC to see if we could get in there and we'll see what they say. I'd rather not have to pay admission to get pics taken in front of wild west cheesiness :) But if they let us in for free, that could be another story altogether...

I know I haven't posted much lately in the way of projects. It's not that I haven't been working on any, I have, but they're either slow going and not finished or I forgot to take pictures at the time. :( Don't worry, I'm sure there will be plenty in the coming weeks, and even after the wedding as well! Last weekend Bridesmaid Amanda, Bonnie and I worked on our "nuclear bombs" as their sig others called them (who were present during this project). AKA LED throwies for my chinese lanterns (they'll provide light for the lanterns with the battery operated LED light, versus having more string lights). They're done! I ordered my chinese lanterns from PaperLanternStore.com. As soon as those come in I have to figure out how the LED lights will get attached. I'm thinking fishing line, but need to see how the lanterns are constructed inside. I think I may need to stock up on fishing line before the wedding... Michael's must sell it, right? Since so many people use it for projects? I'll check that out this weekend when I go home.

Hopefully the LED project will make my tent look like this! Except, green instead of blue, of course. :)

Via TheKnot.com

-C
xxx

Anybody Care For An Update on my Finger?

Remember this? I injured my finger playing volleyball in April. Yeah, APRIL. That was, like, forever ago. Anyway, I thought I'd just jammed it at first, then realized hmm it's been 2 months and the swelling has only gone down slightly and the pain hasn't subsided. Plus, I couldn't wear my ring because OF COURSE, just my luck, it was my left ring finger.

I went to a hand surgeon at the recommendation of my primary doc. He said, "Well, I hate to tell you this, but it's probably going to be like this forever." So I uncomfortably laughed because, you know, when doctors joke it's not really funny because they could be serious. Turns out he wasn't joking! He was like, "No, I'm serious." He told me the pain would go away but could take up to a year, but that I had torn a ligament in my finger and the scarred tissue from it trying to heal was what was making my finger swell up so much. He sent me to the Orthopedic area (it was all in one hospital) to get a consultation from a physical therapist just to see if there was anything I could do to relieve the pain or anything else that could need relieving, really. She gave me some buddy straps I have to wear when I play now, and some tapish stuff to wrap the finger in, which would hopefully bring a bit of the swelling down. It did, slightly, but as soon as I'd take the wrap off it would balloon back up. People started telling me I should get a second opinion. I should probably tell you I'm a rookie at this. I've never really injured myself before apart from sprains - and the only thing I've ever had to go to a doctor for was the only bone I've ever broken - the very tip of my left middle finger - and that was in a car accident when I was 6. I had to walk around with a ginormous splint on my finger. Yeah, so basically I had a ginormous middle finger for a couple weeks. Pretty funny actually. When I was younger I always secretly wanted to break my arm or something. Don't ask me why. I guess I thought it was cool in the way I thought everyone else getting to have braces but me was cool. (I know, people with braces are like WHAT?!)

But I digress. My point is that I don't know what to do with injuries. Second opinions? Huh? I can do that? Will the other doctor get mad at me for not believing him?! Lol. So I was told I should have a doctor that specializes in sports medicine look at it. You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find one - who does hands!! Um, hands are injured in sports, too, ya know! I could not believe it when I heard "Oh, Dr. So and So doesn't do hands!" (I'd also like to point out that this was said with QUITE a snobby tone, like how dare I think that he would sink so low as to do HANDS!) I finally found one, about a 40 minute drive from here. Went out to see him on July 26th. He basically told me the same thing (that it might be like that forever) BUT then was like here let me give you a shot of Cortizone and Lidocain and see if it does anything. He was not hopeful, like not even a little bit. I think he just felt bad that I came all the way out there and he told me the same thing as the other doc. Let me tell you that shot directly into my knuckle was NOT fun! He numbed me but the pressure I felt made me almost pass out (plus it took a long time because the area it had to go in was so small). Yeah, I don't do so well with (non tattoo) needles.

Buuuuuttttt... guess what! It worked! It really truly worked! I couldn't believe it. Just a few days later the swelling went down, and now my ring fits just as well as it did before - and is even loose! Not so loose that it'll fall off, but I had this problem last fall, went and got it sized (the reason for my diamond getting loose!), and yet when it got cold in the office my ring would still spin and drive me nuts. I'm not ready to really start complaining just yet (although it is really annoying when the diamond end ends up on the inside if your finger when you're typing), seeing as how a month ago I couldn't even wear my ring on the right finger, but I've now gone from one extreme the other other. One sausage of a finger to a skinny little toothpick. But at least I don't have to resize either of my rings before the wedding! Well, maybe a tiny bit, since the band didn't fit right in the first place, but not up a whole size like I would've had to with my sausage finger! :)

(I'm pushing it up for emphasis, but still! It wouldn't even go over my knuckle a month ago!)

-C
xxx

My Rack

Anybody in the market for a garment rack? No? Just me? Oh well, I feel the need to scream from the rooftops now that I found a good one. Or at least type it on my blog. As you probably know, I moved recently. As you also may know, my FH lives in London. So, that means I'm setting up our entire house. I'm pretty sure he's MORE than ok with that. Anyway, it's a 3 bedroom place, and I told him he could have the closet in what will be our bedroom, if I get the entire room next door. :) So basically I'm turning it into one big walk-in closet. I call it my "getting ready room" but totally need something catchier. Any ideas? Anyway, the getting ready room does not have a closet, so I've been going through some trial and error with garment racks.

Take one was one of the metal adjustable ones from Bed Bath. Just a basic one, but looked sturdy enough (to me). When we put all my clothes on it (Bridesmaid Amanda helped me put it together), it leaned, BIG TIME. Like at an unnatural angle. So I went out and bought another (take two), bigger one that cost a bit more. Bonnie helped me put that one together. Seemed all well and good, until I went upstairs and found it in a HEAP (and broken, to boot). I set the other metal one back up (take three) and put a LOT less clothing on it. Still leaned. I tied it to the wall, but decided I'd go check out Ikea anyway. I was planning on biting the bullet and buying one of those big wardrobe things that I knew I'd never be able to move again. I found a metal garment rack instead, and I hope I'm not speaking too soon here (fingers crossed!!), but it looks as though take four was a success!! I can even go in and grab the bar and push it a little and it doesn't seem to be loose or swaying or ready to collapse or anything!! So, Ikea, in the past I haven't been your biggest fan, because I like my furniture old and sturdy (I get most from thrift stores, and that's the way I like it. They don't make things like they used to!), but I give you credit on this. Your Portis rack is my savior.

Ikea Portis Rack

In case you're wondering, it's made of steel and has a very "wrought iron" look to it, which I love! Looks like I don't have to find places to fold some of my clothes after all - they may just all fit! This thing is STURDY. I also bought the matching "hat rack" to hang on the wall and put purses or something on.

Ah organization. Ah being able to find my clothes again!!

-C
xxx