The Somethings

Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. We all know the saying, and it is a tradition for brides to have one of each. The custom stems from an Old English rhyme, and each item is supposed to serve as a good luck charm for the bride. And I think I’ve finally determined each of my somethings.

Old
Something old was probably the one I thought about the longest. I didn’t want it to be just any old thing; I thought this would be the item that had the most sentimental value. My mom actually came up with a great idea. On my First Communion dress there is a pearled beading around the collar. She recommended taking that beading and wrapping it around my bouquet stems. I loved the idea, even if it meant mangling my communion dress a bit. But then Tricia came up with another idea – right on this very blog, courtesy of Eva Longoria.

Eva carried her communion rosary down the aisle. That never even occurred to me – but I love it! I cherish all of my first communion goods – especially because the nuns really up-selled us on some serious swag. I remember my eyes lighting up at all of the sparkly rosaries and white patent prayer books – it was very exciting for a second grader. Actually, Dan uses my prayer book in Church now to follow along. It may be somewhat emasculating – given that it is a petite white patent book with an angel girl on the cover – but it is sweet to see him using it.

New
This one is easy, because most everything I’m wearing that day is new. The most obvious being my dress. While that may be a traditional something new – I’m happy to designate that as mine. I was scanning The Knot’s suggestions – and I have to say, most were really unrealistic and lame. Among their suggestions were a spanking new “getaway” car, a stick of gum (yes, that was actually on the list), a diamond nose ring, a Wonderbra, and Chanel or Christian Dior lipstick in a sweet new shade. ‘Nuff said.

Borrowed
Earlier this year my mom got me a beautiful pair of pearl earrings. They’re very simple and classic – and I knew right away that they were the earrings I wanted to wear on my wedding day. So my mom offered to lend me her pearl necklace for the occasion as well. And the two match perfectly. I didn’t want to wear any overpowering jewelry, because I don’t think the neckline on my dress really needs any adornment. The strand of pearls is just perfect!

Blue
I know that many brides choose to wear a blue garter, but I don’t plan on wearing a garter. I will, however, put one on at the reception for Dan to remove and toss to all of our single male guests! I did mention to my mom that I didn’t want to do a garter toss because I wasn’t going to wear one, and I got a lecture on tradition:) It’s silly, but I don’t like the feeling of a garter on my leg. It’s somewhat OCD, but if one leg is constricted by a garter, I guess I’d like the other leg to be as well.

So, at the risk of giving away TMI, I will be wearing another sort of blue undergarment. I’m a fan of having the ‘blue’ tucked away somewhere, i.e. no blue nail polish, shoes or jewelry of any sort. That would throw off the whole all-white look I’m going for!

Hey Mr. DJ

Dan and I met with our DJ while in Kenosha last week. His name is Paul Kloiber, and we found him through a teacher that Tricia works with. He was a family friend of hers and he DJ’d her wedding. So I called him up, and it seemed to be a good match. He’d sent us a nice packet of information, and he offered us a discount because of the referral. So, we booked him!

I’d spoke with him over the phone a few times, but last week was the first time that we had actually met in person. Now I’d heard from Tricia that he was a very large man, so I guess I anticipated that before our meeting. Wow…no kidding. He's about 6’8 – and just a generally large man. I’ve never felt so tiny. Ditto for Dan!

He also informed us during our meeting that he was going to be undergoing gastric-bypass type surgery at the end of July. And today's Kenosha News published an article about the local businessman and his upcoming surgery. Check it out here. It’s a nice write-up – and we’re happy he is taking his health into his own hands! He’s an incredibly nice guy, and we’re looking forward to seeing him in action at our reception. He’ll be the one towering over all the guests:)

Not so-sweet dreams

I know in my last post I knocked the couple that was going to Barnes & Noble on their wedding night, but I've got to say - Harry Potter was the #1 man in my life this weekend! I think Dan was a tad jealous of all the attention that I gave HP this weekend. He really did dominate the weekend, so worth it. The book is amazing.

Anyway, I had the strangest series of wedding-related dreams last night. I kept waking up and then just when I thought I could get some sound sleep, I'd have another strange dream. In one dream, it was right before our ceremony and I was putting my wedding dress on only to find that the alterations were never done. I had a bunch of pins in the dress still, but the seamstress never followed through! That was not a good dream.

And then I had another one - this was really strange. Deacon Donovan, who did our marriage prep in Virginia, called me to tell me there couldn't be any food at our wedding reception because of a huge salmonella scare. And then flash forward to the wedding day, Deacon Donovan was marrying us (even though the wedding is in Kenosha), and he was totally dissing me in front of all the guests. And then no one could have food after that.

If I channel my inner psychoanalysis - I'll chalk these dreams up to wedding on the brain and the stress of finishing up all the planning before the big day. Has anyone else encountered strange dreams like this?

Harry Potter!

Unless you have been living in an underground cave for the last week, you are well aware that the next, and final, Harry Potter book comes out at midnight Saturday. Naturally, as an HP fan, I am extremely excited. It’s a given that I will have a copy of that book in my hands first thing tomorrow morning.

But, I had to laugh this morning reading a story online about a couple in Oregon that is getting married today and stopping at Barnes & Noble after their reception to get the new book.

I’ll be sure to keep this PG, but I imagine that on my wedding night I’d have more exciting things going on than Harry Potter! Don’t get me wrong – I’m a true HP fan, but is she really going to go back to the hotel and start reading the book?

Apparently the groom, who does not even read HP, arranged for him and his new bride to be first in line to get the new book. I guess that B&N is letting them “cut” in line as a wedding gift. That’s true love right there. Hey, I guess it will be a good story for their kids someday!

Bridal Shower

Whew...what a whirlwind week. Dan and I returned late Monday evening from Kenosha. I had my bridal shower, we had various family members in town, and we packed in meetings with our florist and dj as well. I feel like I aged an entire year last weekend! Oh – that’s right. I did. I turned 25 on Monday:)

The bridal shower was awesome – thanks to all who made it so fantastic! I thought I’d share some photos from the shower with everyone. For all those men who wonder what women do at these gatherings, here's your chance to get the inside scoop!


We played the toilet paper wedding dress game - that is, all of the attendees split into three teams and they had 12 minutes to create a wedding gown made only out of toilet paper. Each team was given a small piece of tulle, which everyone used to create the veil. I was able to channel Tim Gunn from Project Runway and critique each dress, and ultimately decide the winner.



So here were the three "brides," my cousin Krista, sister Tammy and my mom! Krista ended up the winner - the veil was the deciding factor. Although, the tp necklace and garter my mom sported was very inventive!


And here's a snapshot of the female wedding party (minus Dan's sister Abby who couldn't make it!)



From left to right: Top row: Alyssa, Jen, Me, Tricia, Crystal, Tammy. Bottom row: Flower girls Maya and Emma

I also had my first dress fitting last Saturday before the shower, which was really exciting. I loved seeing it on. I can’t wait to wear it - and for Dan to see it! I think the alterations will be minor – it fit fairly well. Lucky for me– or I’d probably have to end up wearing one of those tp gowns:)

Headlines

On my daily scan of the day’s headlines, I came across some wacky wedding-related stories. I thought I’d share them. In an odd way, hearing about other people’s mishaps (or in the case of one of these stories, serious problems), makes me feel like Dan and I will be just fine!

First, I came across this article about a wedding guest who arrived a year early for the wedding. This man, a teacher from Toronto, flew all the way to Wales to attend his friend’s wedding, only to discover upon arrival that the wedding was in 2008. He apparently called the couple when he arrived to get details on the location. According to the premature guest, "He [the groom] just said July the 6th and I assumed it was this year because if you tell the guy July 6th, they're going to think it's this year.”

Hmmm....does he not realize that people send invitations detailing the time, date and location?

Onto the next story. This one is a little more somber – a tale of “what not to do on your wedding night.” It was the headline that caught my eye, “Bride attacks groom with stiletto shoe.” While the guests were dancing away at the reception, the newlyweds were scrapping in the hotel room. The bride clocked the groom in the head with a stiletto, and she was hauled off to a jail cell the rest of the weekend. Not good – and a stiletto, that’s a serious weapon! Poor guy is lucky to have made it out alive. Apparently they’re still married.

And, last...Eva Longoria and Tony Parker’s 7-7-07 wedding in France. They sold the exclusive rights to their wedding photos to OK! Magazine for 2 million dollars! Insane, right?

OK! is dubbing it the “Wedding of the Year.” Wait a second, I thought that title was being reserved for our wedding?

Organizational Brouhaha

I live for organization. It helps me keep track of things. Whether it is filing emails or organizing the sweaters in my closet by color, I am a fan of keeping things in order. I guess it’s the Type A in me.

So when it comes to planning the wedding, it would be safe to assume that I am just as organized. But the reality is...not so much!

I think I’ve spent the past six months trying to be organized about the wedding. I started with a binder where I stored clipped pictures of ideas from magazines and informational packets from our vendors. I even had checklists of all of the things I needed to do over the course of our engagement. The binder grew in usefulness, growing from eight folder tabs to 16 in just a few short weeks, and actually, I can’t imagine life without it at this point. But, somehow it just wasn’t enough. I began filing emails into a “wedding” folder, which also proved essential. But even that wasn’t enough! Then I resorted to the excel spreadsheet. I sorted each line item by category, e.g. ceremony, reception, flowers, cake, etc., and added a color-coded status line to inform me if the task was done, in progress or not completed.

I had high hopes for the spreadsheet. But I still wasn’t feeling like I had achieved organizational satisfaction.

That was almost two months ago. Since then, I’ve abandoned some of my usual tactics and am now living “on the edge.” I still use the binder, religiously sort emails and refer to the spreadsheet, but more often I write notes and reminders and stick them all around my office and our apartment. That and I put reminders into my Outlook calendar so my blackberry buzzes at me at odd times of day. I think that may have been what I needed all along. While I had the tools in place before – I didn’t have an enforcer. Materials sitting in a binder and emails stored in a folder don’t remind you to call the florist or choose a cake design.

Now that we have less than two months to go, I’m sure all of my tactics will fly out the window and we’ll just be doing what we can to get everything done. And hopefully not forget anything....

Here comes the bride

Here's the most adorable bride of them all!

English bullies are my fave - ever since Tricia and Tom got Mary eight years ago. If I could, I would dress her up like this and send her down the aisle with the bridesmaids on Sept. 8! But, even I'm not that crazy:)

What's luck got to do with it?

It’s July 5th, and I’m already sick of 7-7-07. The media frenzy has been steadily building over this day – specifically for weddings it seems (although I might be on a one-track mind) – and now it is reaching its peak. Biblically speaking, seven is an important number – but really, outside of that it is way too gimmicky.

Take this couple that CNN probably spent a year trying to find in anticipation of making this story! Here’s their situation:

They met seven years ago, went on their first date on September 7, and then found out they and Hardy's daughter, Kelli, all share the same birthday -- July 7. They live at an elevation above 7,000 feet in Mammoth, California, and their post office box number is numbered in the 70s.

Whew...that’s exhausting. I bet they’ll have seven kids and given them each seven names. I wonder if they eat seven meals a day? See...this whole “seven” thing can get really out of control!

I’ll stop being a crank now...for the sake of those couples that are tying the knot Saturday and doing so for genuine, non-gimmicky reasons:)

In other news, my key lime pie was fantastic! I do owe some special thanks to my mom for instructing me on which lime juice to buy and to Dan for beating the egg whites until they were foamy. What can I say, I needed the extra muscle.

4th of July Pie

I love the 4th of July. From the parades to the picnics to the fireworks. It’s all so fun! This year, Dan and I will be staying in D.C. Typically, we take some time off and head to Wisconsin, but we’re budgeting our vacation time for the honeymoon this year!

In honor of the holiday, I’ve decided to make Dan one of his favorite desserts: key lime pie.

This is no small feat for me. I cook, sure. But baking is a whole different story. I’m even going to make my own graham cracker crust (?). I think I was destined to make this pie. Yesterday, I got an email from SELF.com with instructions on how to make a low-fat key lime pie. Sure, I signed up to receive weekly emails from SELF on healthy recipes – but I’ve never actually acted on it until now.

While I’ve never made pie, this seems fairly straightforward. Here’s the recipe:

KEY LIME PIE
Makes 10 servings

INGREDIENTS
Crust
1 1/2 cups graham crackers, crushed1/4 cup sugar5 tbsp butter, melted (or use a commercially prepared graham crust such as Keebler Ready Crust Graham Cracker Pie Crust)

Filling
1 can (14 oz) nonfat sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tbsp lime zest, minced
1 egg2 eggs, yolks and whites separated
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 cups low-calorie whipped cream (such as Cool Whip)
1 lime, thinly sliced (optional)

PREPARATIONS
Preheat oven to 325° F.

For crust: Mix graham cracker crumbs with sugar and butter. Spread evenly over bottom and sides of a nonstick 9" pie pan and bake 5 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool.

For filling: In a medium bowl, using a fork, beat milk, lime juice, and zest. Add 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks (reserve whites) and beat well. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. After about 20 seconds, add cream of tartar. Fold whites into custard mixture and pour into partially baked crust. Bake 45 to 60 minutes or until set. Let cool. Serve with whipped cream. Garnish with lime slices, if desired.

I'll let you know how the pie-making goes, and I make no promises that it will actually taste or look good.

Happy 4th of July to all!

The Key to a Happy Marriage?

What would you say is the key to a happy marriage? I’d say a marriage built on love and friendship holds the key to a lifetime of happiness. But, according to a new survey by the Pew Center it’s sharing household duties!

Yep that’s right – sharing household chores was ranked as “very important” to 62 percent of survey respondents, up from 47 percent in 1990. Surprisingly, this was the third most important factor to the more than 2,000 married adults that took this survey. Number one was faithfulness at 93 percent and happy sexual relationship came in second with 70 percent.

I would have loved to see this survey done in 1950 – I can’t imagine sharing household chores would have even made the list! I can see it though. If I had to do all the household duties, I would be a little unhappy. I think the same would go for Dan. We both work full time and are equally unmotivated at the end of the day to do dishes! So, we developed our own system. It just sort of fell into place. I hate taking out the trash. It’s probably my least favorite chore of all. So Dan is on that one full time. On the other hand, I love laundry (well – as much as one can really love laundry), whereas Dan hates that task.

I know it makes me happy that Dan is willing to help out, and I can certainly see how that could be a marriage booster. I’m sure I’d be much more of a “nag” if I had to fill the homemaker role on my own!

The survey also dished on the perceptions of cohabitation, children out of wedlock – all of the common no-no’s! It was all very interesting if you have the time to check out the full survey.

Also – if you were wondering, Dan survived his bachelor party! Thanks to all who showed him a great time. And – for the record, I didn’t actually give Dan any rules to abide by:) It was all for fun!