The Day Before

The day before our wedding was a whirlwind. I was up early to get the world's slowest manicure and pedicure with BM Kelly and my MOH. Then it was back home to rehearse my dance with my dad (more on that later!), then back to the salon for an equally slow, but completely amazing, blowout. Then I met up with my MOH and BM Kelly to drive over to the hotel for the weekend.


Knowing that our wedding weekend was finally here made me incredibly happy and excited. I had planned so much and prayed a lot for things to go well and I just felt content and ready, feelings that were furthered by the appearance of lots of little fortuitous signs: Mr. B's hotel room was 602 (our wedding date), the Mets had some crazy no hitter (apparently this was legendary, I don't know, I don't do baseball), my hair and outfit were just as I'd always envisioned them.


Our rehearsal dinner was held at Mr. B and my favorite restaurant, called Due Mari. We had about 40 guests and served a buffet of appetizers, and delicious Italian entrees of pasta, branzino, steak, and chicken. It was laid back, with the guests just eating, drinking, and catching up for a few hours.


Couple of tips for your rehearsal dinner- if you plan to have speeches, make sure you know exactly how those will work. It was very difficult to hear on the mic we brought, so we wound up just listening to our friends' speeches in their hotel room later. They were so awesome and sweet that I do wish our families got to hear them too.


Also, take a little time to think about the structure of the party. We just figured everyone would show up at the restaurant and eat, but it got off to a slightly awkward start, since there were five huge tables and I don't think people knew where or when to sit. They waited for us and we were busy greeting everyone and running around.


Anyway neither of these were a big deal, and we had a wonderful time with our families and friends. I felt so loved by all the people who had traveled to be there, took the time to write thoughtful speeches, and spent the night with me.


Enough rambling, right? Here's some pics:

That's us at our table with the bridesmaids and groomsmen

Me and BM Kelly

Me with my MOH and BM Kaitlyn

With our groomsmen

With Mr. B's family

All photos by my dad. My awesome dress is from J. Crew.

The Ambush

On Cinco de Mayo, I was sitting on my couch with Mr. B, reading and thinking how strange it was that we had no wedding tasks planned for the day, when I heard a knock at our apartment door.


Since I live in a small building that you have to be buzzed in to, I pretty much expect a knife wielding killer anytime I hear an unexpected knock. Luckily, instead of a killer, the surprise guests were my MOH and BM Kelly, who ambushed the apartment with overnight bags, a videocamera, and lots of excitement.


My MOH immediately set to plugging in her iPhone our speakers, and told me I had a half hour to pack before I was being whisked away for my bachelorette party!!  The girls helped me toss 87 thousand different outfit and shoe combos into my overnight bag, and before I knew it, we were in a taxi headed to the Westin Times Square.


At the hotel, I was greeted by the rest of my bridal party, some cousins and friends. There were snacks set up (on zebra print plates), a bottle of Jack Daniels (my fave), and great decorations everywhere.
The girls handed me a few bags of bachelorette swag: a Lolita wine glass, a gigantic pink plastic "Bride" pimp cup, a crown, a veil, wedding day underwear, and a necklace, and immediately began fixing me a Jack and Coke in my pimp cup.

We got ready together, which was an awesome flashback to college, listening to MOH's amazing playlist (seriously, I am pretty sure she got every one of my favorite songs on there) and then headed in a huge Escalade  to a little unmarked East Village restaurant called In Vino. It was the perfect restaurant- delicious food, a Tuscan-cave like atmosphere, and regularly refilled glasses of wine. We feasted on a variety of appetizers, pasta, and dessert.

Posing in front of our gigantic Escalade cab

 At dinner

Then, we took a cab over to a top secret location for the best part of the night: karaoke!! I am not sure there is a human being that loves karaoke more than I do. The night was a blur of sake shots, more Jack Daniels, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, dance parties in a private room, and sake bombs in my pimp cup.  (Please prepare yourself for a LOT of pictures).

Everyone at karaoke

With my cousins- one is a BM and the other is reading at our ceremony

My best friends and roommates from college

BM Laura doing Faded, our favorite song

Lots of singing

After karaoke, my cousin Rebecca got us into some trendy Meatpacking District club called Gun Bar. She lives around there and apparently knows the bouncers. We managed to not spend a dime in the club, getting in free, getting free champagne, and getting handed free drinks from friendly nearby strangers sharing their bottle service. I may or may not have taken shots of vodka straight from their bottle. The club was fun and music good, although my scene is usually more of a grubby 30-beers-on-tap type of place.

At the club

 We broke for the night and BMs Kelly, Kait, and my MOH and I crashed back at the hotel room, where we stayed up chatting for a while. The next morning, we had a bridesmaids' brunch at our hotel, and then went back to our own homes, to crash and nap (or in my case, watch a billion hours of Real Housewives of NJ.)


My bachelorette was a perfect combination of my favorite things, and it was exactly what I would have imagined.  The older we get, the harder it is to have crazy nights out with my girlfriends, and I was so happy to be able to have this night. I really appreciated the surprise factor and all the planning the girls did. It was awesome!!


What did you do for your bachelorette?

Hailing cabs back

A Blogworthy Shower Recap

This past weekend was my best friend and MOH Jenn's shower, which I thought I'd post here because her future in laws did a beautiful job on it, constructing a shower that really looked like it walked off the pages of Style Me Pretty.

Unfortunately, as I was a busy bridesmaid, I don't have a ton of pictures, but I'll do my best.

The event was held in a family member's beautiful, huge backyard. They set a big tent up next to the pool, with round tables covered in pink linens. The centerpieces were linen wrapped mason jars with paper flowers:

They look good here, but looked so much better in context outdoors!

Her FI's mom just happened to have a huge collection of mismatched yet coordinated vintage linens, which she used as napkins. Pink linens provided a nice backdrop:

On the deck, a drink table was set up with the ubiquitous notes to the bride, a specialty cocktail of gin and tonic with elderflower liquor (the bride's favorite), fresh squeezed lemonade, and a variety of appetizers. The table was accessorized by a bunting banner made of scrapbook paper that matched the linen napkins.

Food was simple sandwiches, pasta salads, and roasted vegetables, but dessert included amazing carrot cake cupcakes decorated with fondant that matched the paper flowers:

 And my favorite was the favors! The groom's aunt paints watercolors, so she took a few of her paintings of dresses, shoes, and other girly things and made a set of six notecards for each guest. These were wrapped in various mismatched yet coordinated linens, with sheer ribbon and a little flowered heart:

The day was great and the bride loved everything- and we thank God, we had AMAZING weather. It was awesome to see a very bloggy shower in real life.

Have any of you attended any showers you really liked?

Groomsmen Gifts

Like everything guys do, choosing groomsmen gifts was a project that took about four seconds of Mr. B's time.
He ordered monogrammed beer mugs from the Pottery Barn.

Pub Beer Mug, Pottery Barn

They're a pretty solid groomsmen gift, after all what guy doesn't like to drink beer? These ones in particular are a nice heavy weight, and the monogram is a nice, deep engraving. I know the boys will love it.
I also wanted to highlight one other cool groomsmen gift idea, something I bought for Mr. B and his brother. Etsy seller HandySam makes really cool, well-designed wall mount bottle openers:

(Personal Pic)
 

You pop the top off your beer and the cap goes into the cool vintage can, and to empty, you can just twist the can upside down. So cool!

Closeup of the opener

The seller was unbelievably fast (I got these three days after ordering them), and also offered me a discount (full disclosure, I asked for one. I always ask if I'm buying multiples of an item. I've never been denied).

Combine these with some cigars or a nice bottle of liquor (or just do them by themselves) and I think you have a very nice groomsmen gift!

What did your guy do for his groomsmen?

Gifts for the Girls, Part 2

A little while back, I brainstormed lots of bridesmaid gift ideas. 

Then I forgot about it for a while.


Then I realized my wedding is really soon, and I didn't have time to waste.

I started with the monogrammed robes, one for each girl. They were a bright aqua with white monogramming; I got one for myself as well, in the reverse color scheme.

They came from Etsy seller Oak Embroidery Loft, who I have to highly recommend. Holly was very sweet, responsive, and prompt, and even gave me a discount for ordering six (I think they wound up being like $20 each). The robes are a medium weight waffle knit cotton.


I also purchased matching Old Navy flip flops.


In keeping with the personalized theme, I also purchased monogrammed acrylic trays. The idea came from The Peak of Tres Chic, an interior design blog I like to read, and I scoured Etsy to find a cheaper alternative.


I found seller Lime Tree Gifts, who also was super sweet, prompt, and also gave me a bulk discount ($17 each), and ordered five engraved acrylic trays:

I was obsessed with these- I'm ordering five more as gifts for our readers and moms, and myself!

I'm using them to hold the bridesmaid's "Survival Kit," which contains:

• Shout wipes
• Tissues
• Cute heart shaped shoe cushions for painful high heels
• Mini hair spray
• Makeup remover wipes
• Fashion tape

My mom packaged up the survival kits for me with cellophane and aqua ribbon:

And then we combined that with the robes and flip flops, into a bigger version:

(We'll be adding a nice bow to it)

I will be making and handwriting thank you cards to each girl (I am so nervous to do that, I sometimes have a hard time putting sentimental things out there), and I am also paying for their hair.


So what do you think? Nice gift?  I keep feeling like it's not enough!

Shower Recap

Well, considering it happened over a month ago, I think it's time to recap my bridal shower! Bear with me, this is a long and pic-heavy post! 

I'll start with the invites, which my mom picked out and I LOVE. The leopard print and the super high heel are so me:

"Wild Time" invites, available at Storkie.com

I have to admit I wasn't 100% surprised at the shower, but I was very excited, as indicated by my face walking in (terrible quality pic, I'm sorry):

I was also really nervous with all the attention being on me. I wasn't sure who to approach first or what to do, and I think I clutched my maid of honor's hand for the first twenty minutes!

My mom, who planned the shower, chose to have the shower at my favorite local Italian restaurant, which was the best decision.  The place has delicious food and a great casual elegant atmosphere. 

There was no theme exactly, but my mom and my cousin Pam decorated the tables in lots of white, bling, and pearls. I thought they looked beautiful:

You probably can't tell in this picture, but the hydrangea centerpiece has a gigantic pearl cluster tied around the vase- awesome!!

My table was lined with these awesome centerpieces- tall, top heavy vases filled with huge pearls and rhinestones. The tables had little wedding bell confetti, big fake engagement rings, and bottle openers that looked like silver high heels (which I kept and now use to open my Flying Fish).  Mom and Pam did an amazing job on the decor.

Me with Pam, 1/2 of the team behind the decor

My mom gave a lovely and tearjerking speech at the beginning, and my maid of honor surprised me by following suit. Then we went right into lunch, a three course meal of mozzarella and tomatoes, salad, and a choice of chicken, salmon, veal, or pasta.

During the meal, my bridesmaids went around with a few noncheesy games- guests had to guess how many ring pops were in a jar, and also had to fill out a ten question "B&T" trivia sheet. The winner was Brad's ten year old cousin Toni Ann, who called Brad during the shower to ask him all the questions!

Me with my bridesmaids, and Toni Ann, the winner (and my junior BM).

BM Kelly also made "Advice for the Bride" cards, which is something I had always wanted at my shower.  I loved reading what people wrote, my favorite piece of advice being good old Toni Ann's:

It's probably important that you know Mr. B is crazy skinny and not a big eater!

Some guests at the shower

With some of my girlfriends, M and  H. I am a bridesmaid in H's wedding next July!

And here I am with some of my lovely cousins (are you getting bored of these pictures yet?)

After lunch, it was time for gifts! I was astonished at the humongous pile on the table:

This picture is like, only a third of them!

I have to admit but I was a little uncomfortable opening gifts, I kept getting yelled at to talk louder and I felt weird screaming out what I got. But I was amazed at how generous people were. We received so many great gifts off of our registry, including nineteen place settings of china (can you believe that?) My dad was less excited, since "Mount Lenox" is now taking up an entire room in his basement!

The girls did the "timer" game, where a timer went off every few minutes and the person whose gift I was opening got a prize. I think it was a good way to keep the guests entertained.

Mr. B's brother's girlfriend also made me a beautiful wishing well. Unfortunately the only picture I have of it is sort of crappy, but it was really amazing, covered in white lace and flowers and pearls. She is a crafting genius. (Also, wishing wells are so awesome- I loved all the cute stuff I got, like crazy printed rubber gloves and a diamond studded apron!)

My bridesmaids chipped in for my Kitchen Aid mixer, and some of them also made me some beautiful baskets. BMs Kelly and Laura, and my MOH made me a holiday gift basket, filled with all decorative goodies for holidays, and BM Kaitlyn made me a honeymoon basket, and a wine basket, which was so thoughtful. Each bottle had a note on when I was supposed to drink it (wedding night, first fight, etc) and I have to admit I totally teared up reading all of them.

After gifts, we had a Napoleon cake, which was unbelievably delicious:

And then Mr. B showed up:

And brought me flowers, which capped off a very lovely day!



My shower was perfect- great friends and family, generosity, my favorite restaurant and favorite things. It was really a wonderful afternoon and my mom and bridesmaids did an amazing job on everything.

And then it made me realize just how close we are to the wedding!

We Have Wedding Rings!

This past Friday, Mr. B and I picked up our wedding bands!! I figured I'd share because who doesn't love looking at some good old ring porn?

I plan to wear my rings on separate hands, as I could not find a wedding band that matched my engagement ring. There is one designed specially for it, but it is super ugly. And also really expensive.

So I just opted for my dream band, which doesn't go at all, and I'll just move the engagement ring to my right hand.

I went with a shared setting half eternity band:

I think it looks beautiful and classic, and can definitely stand on its own. (And in the future I can possibly get some more, in different stones/shapes, to stack!) I suppose I could also wear them together, but that's a little over the top for me. It hides the pretty detail in my e-ring.

Mr. B also opted for simple and classic, choosing a white gold Art Carved ring with a brushed finished and milgrain detail:

And here they are together:

Good thing these bad boys are locked away, otherwise I'd be extremely tempted to just start wearing it now!

Post Wedding Goals

I looked at my calendar yesterday and realized that almost every ounce of time I have in the next two months is going to the wedding. And I am loving every second of it, so much so that I am nervous I'm going to go into a post wedding withdrawal.

I love to be busy, creative, and at work on a project, so the wedding is a perfect outlet for me. But without it, I'll have more time to work on other things, so I set some goals up for myself:
1. Have people over more. I want us to have the kind of house where people always come to, and right now we're not really there. I'd love to have our families over more, plus we've got some close friends moving three blocks from us, so I hope they're ready for lots of Italian Sunday dinners!

The last time we had people over was the Superbowl!

Which, btw, I got totally carried away with  I love party planning! 

2. I also really need to go through all our engagement/shower gifts and see what we're keeping, returning, etc. I can't say I need 18 place settings of china, nor can I believe I actually received that many.

Think I'll drop down to 12 and buy some of those pretty crystal glasses! (Personal Pic)

3. Paint our apartment. I think we have a pretty nice place, but the landlord painted it this awful peachy beige with salmon colored molding. It. Is. Hideous. 
4. Also in terms of apartment decor, I've discovered a great blog, The Peak of Tres Chic, which features tons of amazing design inspiration. I turned our second bedroom into my walk-in closet, and now I want to further morph it into an oasis of girly glam, with this picture as my inspiration:

Source

Love the lavendar and mirrored furniture!

5. Keep blogging. Started this blog to become a bee (fail, twice over), but I really love blogging so I want to continue. Without a wedding to yap about, I'm torn between doing a straight up food blog, or a more all-encompassing lifestyle blog.

You'd see stuff like this- a recent lunch of sausage and bean soup with escarole (Personal pic)

 6. Get my career act together. For the past 3.5 years, I have been a government budget analyst, flip flopping around to three army bases. While I loved my first two locations, I'm kind of hating the current one, but am not in a spot in life where I can make big moves. Since I've gotta stay put for now, I'm going to work on improving my attitude and taking charge of what I can to make it better (I do recognize I'm 50% of the issue). In the meantime, maybe I'll think about some other options or further schooling. Technically this goal should start next week, not post wedding, but whatever.

My beloved original base- now closed, hence all my career movement (Source)

7. And finally, translate some of that wedding energy into great things for my friends! I've got a few weddings next July, so I'm looking forward to having more freedom to work on showers and surprises for them.


So that's just what I'm thinking, who knows what real life will bring? Anyone else have some post wedding goals?