 Stephanie, her sister, and friends at her bridal shower. Wedding showers have never quite been my favorite way to spend a weekend afternoon. I’m not a huge fan of the shower games, the excitement over bakeware, the no-guys-allowed policy. So I was a bit leery when we started discussing my own shower. But my family knows me, and my showers were a total blast.
My in-laws-to-be first hosted a couples shower for us: a huge gathering of our friends and family that went until two in the morning! Held at Pat’s parents’ house, we started the evening outside mingling, sipping champagne, and munching on hors d’oeuvres. We moved inside for dinner, which, among other delicious items, featured awesome cheesesteaks. And then we danced, drank, and chatted our way into the night—well, early morning. Guests left with favors Pat’s mom had thought up: rally towels with our names and the date of the wedding on it!
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 Brand X Pictures Read this fun piece on HuffPo today and had to share—not to burst any bubbles, and not to rain on any shopping parades, because it’s really not doing that, honestly. But it is giving a pretty realistic account of what shopping for a wedding dress really entails—frantic text messages and public nudity and second-guessing included—without painting over it with a glitter-and-champagne brush. (I mean, there is also joy and excitement and all of that, of course—but you already knew that.)
Good to read if you haven’t headed out yet on your first dress-finding expedition—and good to read to relate to, if you’ve been there done that.
Anyone else a little surprised by what their first dress-shopping experience was really like? In what way?
RELATED: Do Bridal Salons Judge Your Wedding-Dress Budget by the Size of Your Engagement Ring?
RELATED: Here Are the 8 People Who Should Not Come Wedding-Dress Shopping With You
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 Stephanie and the moms at the Bredenbeck's cake tasting! In following with the theme of delicious food making me unreasonably happy (re: last week’s menu tasting blog), my wedding-cake tasting at Bredenbeck’s Bakery on Wednesday morning was a blast!
With me, I brought my mom and my mother-in-law-to-be. And we were all up to the challenge of sampling delectable cakes. It’s a hard job, but somebody’s gotta do it. I opted for no breakfast to prepare myself for sufficient cake eating.
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 iStockphoto Do you have a song that, every time you hear it, takes you back to a moment you’ve nearly forgotten about? You catch yourself in the grocery store daydreaming while staring at a can of beans or while waiting at a stoplight, and you’re suddenly snapped into reality when the person behind you honks their horn during the chorus. Well, the song that Eric and I have chosen for our first dance, and the song my dad and I will dance to, have done that to me for years. And it’s so exciting to know that for the rest of my life when I hear them after the wedding, I’ll immediately be thrown back into that moment.
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 Kristy at her bridal shower last weekend. You know the saying “It takes a village to raise a child”? Well, it came full circle to me this weekend when I realized how many people, events, and moments made me into the person I am today. Sometimes, I guess, it takes a momentous event, like your bridal shower to make you realize it.
This past weekend, I gathered with some of the ladies from my “village” to celebrate our upcoming nuptials. There were women from all aspects of my life; ladies that babysat me before school, ones that fed me homemade meatballs every Sunday, ones that shared late nights and even ones that shared too many glasses of wine. But more importantly, ladies who have shaped me into a woman that will soon marry the love of her life. And what better way to celebrate this than good food and wine, amazing company, embarrassing soon-to-be-newlywed games, and a showering of presents!
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Brand X Pictures We saw such a fun post this week on SheFinds—well, fun, yes, but actually really smart and helpful!
It details the eight people you really should not take dress-shopping with you, and it is really quite on the money. Every time I watch one of those Say-Yes-to-the-Dress-type shows, I end up shouting at the television. And not at the mean or weird or rude or unhelpful or unsupportive people who make up some of these brides’ entourages—but rather, at the bride herself, for bringing along someone she has to have known would be a giant pain while sitting on that dress-viewing couch.
This lays out eight of those specific characters, and points out why they are not helpful in this particular quest of yours. The only thing I have to say, though, is—number five? Seriously? That exists?
Any bride out there learn the hard way that not everyone in your life is fit to be part of your dress-shopping entourage?
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 Carly with her mom and sister at her bridal shower. I woke up one Sunday a few weeks ago to a beautiful day. Sun was pouring in my bedroom windows and the forecast promised mid-60s. What the forecast didn’t promise was the April shower that would take place that afternoon (and that’s because John Bolaris wasn’t invited!): my first bridal shower!
I say my first because I’m being blessed with three: one with my mom’s friends, one thrown by my bridesmaids, and a joint shower for both of us at his parents house with some of their local friends. This first shower was held at my parent’s house in Ambler, with a guest list including some family friends, a few of my mom’s co-workers, and some of my girlfriends as well.
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 Yuri Arcurs Whether the little guy belongs to either the bride or the groom or is jointly owned and raised, so many couples these days are using their pets in some way on their wedding day. Sometimes they’re given actual roles (ring bearer!) and sometimes they’re just there as an adorable addition to photos (they are part of the family, after all), but either way, there are definitely a few things you should think about if Fluffy is going to be involved in your Big Day at all.
This piece we saw today makes a few great points. Namely, that: 1) You need someone to be in charge of your furry little buddy, and that person needs to not be you. 2) You need to check with your venue about their rules concerning pets, and then make sure you follow them. 3) You need to see who among your peeps—both guests and vendors—are allergic to various cuddly little animals. If your photog is wildly allergic to dogs, that is going to majorly impact your little photo session.
It goes on to give a few ideas for how to incorporate your pet into your wedding day—all fun ideas! Check ‘em out.
Are you going to be bringing your pet along on your wedding day? What will they be doing? And more importantly, what will they be wearing?
RELATED: The First Year: Marrying Your Pets
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 Kristy and Eric's rings! I had my mind made up before we even started looking at wedding bands: a plain white gold band would accompany my engagement ring.
I’m a pretty simple lady; I love nice things, but am pretty mild when it comes to the bling factor. After Eric proposed to me and I had a chance to catch my breath and analyze the ring, I thought, “Man, that’s a lot of bling!” So, I was dead set on pairing it with a ring ranging very low on the bling scale … But, well, sometimes sparkly things can entice even the strongest of ladies.
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 Carly and Sean at their engagement party. Something pretty exciting struck me this week and I want to share it with you.
I’m getting married!
Now I know that may sound silly. In fact, I’ve known for sure that I’m getting married (and have been wearing the ring to prove it!) for the last 11 months. But, that’s been all in my head; something I’ve known. After Sean’s proposal, we went immediately into planning mode and it’s been go go go ever since. Of course, I’ve continued to love Sean and feel excited about our upcoming wedding throughout these last months, but recently, as the Big Day draws closer, the knowledge we are getting married has changed from being a fact in my head to a feeling in my heart.
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