Cake Topper

I know I haven't posted in a while but this month has been crazy. I graduated on the 12th with my Master's Degree in Occupational therapy so I had to enter the real world and start my job hunt. I've accepted a position at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia as an OT in inpatient rehab and I start on January 12th. I've still been on the lookout for wedding stuff but the majority of my energy lately has been on finding a job.

I bought a wedding magazine last week while we were in Harrisburg (Randy took step 3 of his USMLE exams) and I had nothing but time to kill while he was taking his test. It turns out the magazine was Canadian based which was hilarious because they had favors and themes that had completely different names than we would call them. For example, Stag night for bachelor party (My friend told me that for women it is called a Hen party and the women dress up like chickens. . .yikes). Well they had some really strange things that I didn't like but they also had a few things I did like. One thing Randy and I both agreed on was the Love Bird cake topper. We googled it online this morning and found one for a reasonable price so we have officially bought our first decor item for the reception. Here is a picture of the cake topper.

Dress Rejects

I thought it would be fun to post the dresses that I tried on and are now dress rejects:

This is the dress I initially wanted and if it was $2000 or even $1500 cheaper it would have been mine. Unfortunately, reality is that Randy and I are paying for the wedding and this dress is not in the budget so I sacrificed this beauty to help make the rest of the day special.

I tried this dress on with my sisters and it was very pretty and looked nice. I really didn't want an A-line dress though and kept this as an option for just in case. We thought it was really funny that the website airbrushed this girl's waist so she looks like a Barbie doll. You'd think with all the airbrushing at her waist, they could have done something with her face and hair too. Yikes!

I really liked this one too but the one I have is 100% better!

This one made me look hippy and I felt blah in it. Definite NO! I've come to the conclusion that I like the idea of lace but lace and I do not mix!

Dress!!

So after visiting 3 different bridal shops over the past month with either friends or family, a friend that works with Randy suggested that I look at the Nicole Miller Sample Sale in Manayunk, PA yesterday. I had it in my head that the dresses would be too expensive and it would be complete bridal chaos (I was picturing "White" Friday at Nicole Miller would be the same as Black Friday at Best Buy). I told Randy I wasn't sure if I wanted to go because I had found dresses at the other shops that I liked and I thought if I added more dresses to the mix, I would just be more confused and not be able to make a decision. Well I got to the shop at 9am yesterday morning and when I walked in the door I was pleasantly surprised. There was one other bride looking at dresses and 3 sales associates (I did not have to fight the other bride for my dress which was one of my initial fears of a sample sale). I picked out 5 dresses to try on. The 2nd dress ended up being the dress but I told myself to try on the other ones just to be sure. The other ones didn't even compare so I put on THE dress one more time and the girls handed me a bouquet and put a beautiful triple-strand of freshwater pearls and I turned around and knew it was the dress for me. Bonus: It was regularly $1900 dollars which was well above my price range marked down to $950 which is totally within my budget. I then called my mother and bridesmaid, Courtney, to get their opinions of the dress and through text pictures we all agreed that the dress was perfect. So I walked out of the boutique with my dress later that morning. I have the dress hanging in our hallway closet and I'm researching dry cleaners and seamstresses in the area to help make the dress completely mine (as you all can imagine, the dress is way too long but that is the story of my life and I knew any dress I got would need to be at least hemmed). I love it and I can't wait for Randy to see me wearing it as I walk down the aisle next year.

No spoiler alerts on the blog. . . .you will all just have to be surprised next October!

Music!

We booked the DJ this week. We really wanted a band to play at our reception but unfortunately the lone band of upstate New York (I'm sure there are more but I haven't heard of them) has been dragging us along with for over a month about whether or not they wanted to sign a contract. It was a hassle and a headache dealing with it so Peacock Music will be providing the entertainment for our reception. We are so excited that we have our important vendors booked and can finally focus on the fun stuff. . . . . .

Photographer

Randy and I booked our photographer!! It was a little more expensive than we wanted to spend but the pictures are one of the most important parts of our wedding and we are willing to splurge. Here is the website so you can all see what we have to look forward to: http://www.mclaughlinphoto.com/

wedding dress shopping

I'm heading down to DC this weekend to spend time with my sisters! Elise is down in DC looking at colleges with Rachel. I really want to have my sisters with me for at least the first time I go wedding dress shopping so I am taking advantage of having both of them together in the same city. I won't be buying anytime soon but I want to find the dress that makes me feel bridal. I have no idea of what kind of dress I want (no cupcakey ballgowns). Hopefully, I will get an idea of the styles I like from this weekend! Wish me luck!

Save the Date

We've set a date to be married: October 10, 2009!!!

The ceremony will be at St. Joseph's Church in Dannemora, NY and the Reception will be in the Gold Room at the Rainbow Wedding and Banquet Hall in Altona, NY.

Save the Date cards will eventually go out in the mail so keep checking that mail box!

Flowers!

My friend, Kristine, sent the most beautiful roses! We have also inherited our first vase. The flowers Randy got me had to go into the blender because we didn't have a vase so we had to improvise.

Here is Finch trying to eat my beautiful flowers in their makeshift vase. She appreciates their taste more than their beauty.

We're Engaged!!

We've decided that instead of a wedding website, we are going to attempt a wedding blog so our family and friends can stay up to date on wedding details and the planning process in general. So I guess we will start the beginning of our blog at the beginning of our engagement by telling the story of how Randy proposed...

It was a cold October Friday in Philadelphia. Bridget was toiling away at her fieldwork, counting down until she could see her "honey bunny" (yes, thats what she calls him). Randy had just been given the best news of the month: "It's quiet, why don't you go home early." POOF!!, he was out the door heading home.

As he was leaving Philly on I-76, his mind was concocting a wonderful evening for the two of them: steaks, a little wine, a little chocolate, and a little something sparkley. Suddenly his phone rang... It was his sweet-haht (Boston accents, gotta love 'em). She asked what he was up to and he said that he was on his way home. Bridget was jealous but felt better after he said he was planning to make dinner. Any night that Bridget doesn't have to cook is a good night by her standards. He then reminded her to call him as she headed home so that he could make sure dinner was ready for her when she walked in the door.

Bridget got out of work at 6:45 and called Randy to tell him she would be home by 7:15. At 7:15 on the dot, she walked in the front door to the sounds of jazz, the smell of steak, and the glow of candles. Not wanting to jump to any conclusions, she asked Randy if there was anything she could do to help with dinner. He told her to get a bottle of wine out of the wine fridge. Bridget walked over, opened the fridge, and pulled out the one bottle of wine (Gnarly Head, Old Vine Zin) in their possession (which was situated next to 2 Ommegang beers in their wine fridge that holds 18 bottles of wine). She brought the wine back to the counter and began to fish out their wine opener from a drawer when Randy said that there was another bottle of wine in the fridge. Bridget was unsure of how she could have missed it but walked back anyways to look for this 2nd bottle of wine. She opened the door and saw a small light glowing in the back of fridge, which she had previously assumed was the fridge light that can be manually turned on. Upon closer inspection, Bridget noticed that there was a scarf in front of the light. She thought that it was really strange that there was a scarf in the wine fridge, but knew that Randy sometimes put things for brewing in weird places so why not the wine fridge (boy, was she wrong). After moving the scarf, Bridget realized that the small light she saw wasn't the fridge light at all but was a light shining down on the prettiest, sparkley ring she had ever seen.

Bridget pulled the ring out of the fridge in disbelief and Randy walked over and got down on one knee. He held her hand and asked her simply if she would marry him. She said yes right away. They shared their first kiss as an engaged couple and Randy slid the ring on her left ring finger. Bridget then jumped up and down in joy and ran to find her phone so she could call her sister, Rachel. After calling her sister, she then called her parents and Randy called his so they could spread the news. After about 30 minutes, Bridget and Randy were able to sit down to enjoy their partially cold (but still delicious) dinner.

Hopefully we will be able to keep this blog up to date so stay tuned for more of Bridget and Randy's adventures in wedding planning.