Maybe some live entertainment

Maybe we can fly in these guys? Two of them will already be at the wedding.

www.stbrigidsaccordionband.co.uk.

I promise I will never be this bad!

While so far I have been very civil and pleasant during the wedding process, I can't promise this will continue when the pressure is really on. But I promise I will not be as rotten as this person who posted on the Boston area Knot message board.

"I often sit here and read posts about people's mothers and think... oh i'm glad my mother is not like that.... well I was wrong.

FI and I are paying for the wedding my mom asked... told me to invite about 8 extra people and that she would "pay for them" that is 8 people on top of the 3 i'm already inviting just becuse they are close with her. so total she wants me to invite 11 people just for her. she said she will pay for them but she has not given me any money. Now she wants me to let people bring all their kids. She says she doesn't understand what the big deal is. The service is buffet style so she figures that if there isn't enough food then just some people don't get to eat and thats it. She also says oh well don't worry about where people are going to sit we all sit where ever we can !

Oh and one of the people that people that I have to invite because of her is ugly and loud and had a stroke so she is all retarted looking ( not nice I know ). who in the h377 is going to want to sit next to her? I'm not sitting none of my friends near her. I don't even know where to put her she is going to ruin my reception with her ugly self.

I couldnt' take it anymore this weekend when I went home. I told my mom to shut up!! I was really nasty but she asked for it. "

UM - WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Junk Mail

My friend at work told me of a web site where you can get free subsciption to magazines. They are not the best magazines but some of them are interesting. (Basically the magazines promise a certain subscription level to advertisers and I bet this web site helps them acheive it, also there is a lot of money to be made in selling subscriber lists to various companies.) And I saw one I was mildly interested in so I signed up for it. But as an experiment I decided to use B's last name. I was curious to see how far the name would travel in the ranks of junk mail.

So I had forgotten about it until one night B met me and some lovely ladies out at the PHP. He cam ein and said that I had gotten mail addressed to "E..... C....". I told him of my plan and we both found it funny that I had gotten a piece of junk mail (apparently I won a cruise) before I even got the magazine.

About a week later I finally did receive the magazine and so far no other pieces of junk mail but I know they are coming. They are slowly planning their attack but what they don't know is that it also gives me time to prepare a defensive strategy. Watch out.

Wedding Party Left in Dust

CNN had a interesting set of photos from the China Quake. Click here and you can see a couple taking their wedding photos and then the collapse of everything around them. Everyone was afe but they were stranded for awhile.

Cause of Death: Arm Circles

So in my quest to live a healthful life - I hired a personal trainer. My gym is currently having a good deal and I wanted to do it anyway. So I met with Vayu on Sunday. He seems like a very nice guy but I will grow to hate and I accept this fate.

After we meet and go over things like resting heart rate, optimal heart rate range blah blah blah. We begin our workout and he likes to keep things basic and we do calisthenics. I of course think it will be easy - jumping jacks? Piece of cake.

Um - I was wrong. Way wrong. We started off with a variety of arm circles. Arm circles - chld's play! No! I thought I was going to cry. Arm circles were hurting and they never seemed to end. This is when I began to hate to Vayu but I told him that afterwards. The workout moved on from arm circles to even more sadistic forms of torture.

This picture lies, no one smiles while doing arm circles.

Hawaii Bound

We purchased our flights to Hawaii last night. Well, technically we cashed in all the points we have collected over the past year and a half from our credit cards. And we basically had to pay the taxes which were not as bad as two round trip tickets to Hawaii with a two day layover in San Francisco. B and I decided that the ticket prices won't be going down for awhile and we should just bite the bullet.

Now we just have to figure out lodging and that will take awhile.

Another song that wasn't...

Another possible first dance song that I really like but in the end may just not be a good fit is "I will follow you into the dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. I really like songs that are a bit darker or that get straight to the matter - kind of like European movies. Much better (and realistic) than the Hollywood machine of everything turns out fine and the poor girl gets her prince. I think it sets a bad precedent but that is a discussion for another time.

So here are the lyrics to yet another song that almost was our first dance song. I still love it and may play it or include it in a slideshow. I also included a video of it from youtube.

Love of mine
Someday you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark
No blinding lights or tunnels to gates of white J
ust our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of the spark
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

In catholic school, as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my tongue as she told me "Son fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
You and me
Have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes
Are all worn down, the time for sleep is now
But it's nothing to cry about cause we'll hold each other soon
In the blackest of rooms
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
I'll follow you into the dark.

SNL Parody of The Office

This is hilarious! SNL is sometimes spot on. Watch it before it is removed.

Want to be on tv?

Making your dream wedding a reality can be almost impossible. And if you or someone you know is getting married THIS SUMMER, then there’s very little time left to make that dream come true. That’s why “My Fair Wedding,” the newest lifestyle show from the Women’s Entertainment Network, is offering a few lucky brides a chance to have celebrity wedding planner David Tutera ENHANCE and UPGRADE their weddings before it’s too late!

In 2006, Modern Bride Magazine honored David as one of the Top 25 Trendsetters of The Year. With a few thousand dollars and his extensive knowledge and skill, David Tutera can bring some last-minute elegance to your fast-approaching nuptials.

If you or someone you know has spent months planning that dream wedding, and something STILL isn’t quite right, contact our producers TODAY! Email Wedding@pilgrimfilms.tv with the wedding date, a picture of the bride and why she needs David’s help!

Weddings should take place within an hour of New York City in July or August, 2008!

Shout out to Kerry on her birthday!

And the winner is no...

I did not print any of the envelopes last night so if you voted "no" you won. What you won is up to you. I instead went through all the things I have printed and put the discards in a pile - these will not be wasted as they will be sent to the politcians and celebrities we invite to tthe wedding.

In a discussion with B I was patting myself on the back for not doing wedding crafts on Sunday and being okay. Apparently he has a different take as he said I was walking around the apartment restless and unsettled looking for something to do. It is all about perspective.

BM Kim is still a BM

BM Kim did not let us down. I received the envelopes today and they are very nice and just the color I wanted. Good job BM Kim!

Anyone want to take a bet on whether or not I Gocco the envelopes tonight (with my address)?

A mission not so impossible

BM Kim was given a mission when she was out to visit. It was a simple one but if done incorrectly, could set off a tidal wave fury that she is ill-equipped to handle. She had to go to Paper Presentation and see if the coco envelopes they sell would match the invitations and were a similar color to the chocolate brown envelopes from Paper Source. Online the envelopes from Paper Presentations appeared too light but envelopes there are about half the price of Paper Source.

On Wednesday, I arrived home to find this email message waiting for me:
"Mission accomplished. The coco brown is rich and luxurious and I think it will compliment your invitations nicely.

It is the color of a hershey bar. Milk, not the Special Dark."

B was a little apprehensive to purchase based on BM Kim's opinion because he did not understand what her qualifications were. But once I explained that she saw the Paper Source version of the envelope, saw the invitation color scheme in person and knew I would hurt if she steered me wrong, he took her word as gospel.

I have placed my order and they are expected to arrive tomorrow.

Blast from the past

I was a fan, I admit it. I also admit to spendin 15 minutes this morning watching all the clips and talking about them.

Six months to go!

We have 6 months to go today and we are looking good. According to the knot checklist we have 94 to dos left (we have done 90 out of the 184).

Yay!! I hope the time goes quickly.

Invites galore

So I did the actual text of the invites and they are done. The only parts left of the invitations are the directions card (B is in charge and those will not be printed by hand) and the envelopes. In the end, I am really happy with the invites. We did have a minor printing issue but because I am brilliant the pain was minimal. The only real problem with adding my text was my need to get started right away without making room for the paper to dry. So I started the printing and was basically just putting invites any where I could get to and nothing was in a neat line. Kind of like this:


B came by after he noticed I was putting the invites in weird places, specifically here:


B left the Mets game and Celtics game (both losses) that he was watching to set it up like this for me:

But the hardest part is over.

Groomsmen take notice...

According to the knot here are your duties and I have issue with many of them.

The groom's close friends and relatives, the groomsmen, support him throughout the wedding planning process. Take your role as groomsman seriously -- after all, you're helping one of your best friends through what can be a very nerve-racking day. Plus, if you act like the levelheaded, responsible guy you are, you'll impress those single bridesmaids. Read on for a rundown of your duties.

• Like the bridesmaids, you'll have to pay for your wedding gear. Luckily, you can usually rent a tux for quite a bit less than what the bridesmaid dresses will cost. Be sure to get fitted at the specified store with time to spare -- you don't want to walk down the aisle in floods! As a groomsman, be prepared to serve as information central for those who aren't in the know.
  
• Attending all prewedding festivities (engagement party, couple shower, bachelor party, rehearsal dinner). Perks: Free vittles and drinks.
  
• Helping the best man plan the groom's bachelor party. Perks: Good food, drinks, and perhaps some insights into female anatomy.
  
• You'll conspire with the best man -- and the bridesmaids -- to decorate the honeymoon getaway car in style.
  
• Before the ceremony, you may be asked to usher guests to their seats. At traditional Christian ceremonies, guests of the bride's family sit on the left, and guests of the groom's family sit on the right. At Jewish ceremonies, it's the opposite. When a couple arrives, take the woman's arm and escort her to her seat; her escort will follow you. Always seat the oldest woman first if several guests arrive together. You should arrive at the ceremony site at least 45 minutes early to review special seating requirements.
  
• Be prepared to serve as information central and direct guests to restroom facilities and the reception site.
  
• Purchase a wedding present, perhaps with one of the other groomsmen. You'll have more buying power, and two heads are often better than one when it comes to gift ideas. Sometimes the entire groomsmen gang pitches in for one knock-them-off-their-feet wedding gift.
  
• At the reception, you may be introduced with the bridesmaid you escorted during the recessional. You may also be asked to dance with bridesmaids or single female guests during the evening. Wow, how easy is this?

They are useless aren't they?

Oopsie daisy

I came home to find a letter from the caterer in my mailbox. It was a friendly reminder that we have our first (of two) payments due in a week (180 days before the wedding). I messed up and put the reminder of payment at 90 days before the wedding (when the remainder of the Picnic House rental fee is due in case you cared). So our largest wedding payment to date will be put in the mail tomorrow and sent off to Washingtonville where I hope it enjoys its new home.

Thank goodness they sent us the reminder!

Nothing new

Nothing is new in my life or wedding planning so instead here is an awesome nature video for you. It is about a year old (I first saw it a few months ago) but just amazing.

Bridesmaids take notice...

I outlined what the Maid of Honor needs to be doing for me and now I will outline what the maids should be doing according The Knot.

The bridesmaid is an integral part of any wedding, on hand to comfort, console, multitask, and party hearty at all bridal event(s). Whether it's your first bridesmaid gig or your 50th, here's a cheat sheet of your to-dos.

• Offer to help with prewedding tasks. Try to be specific when you volunteer. For example, say, "Would you like me to help you shop for bridesmaid dresses/stuff invitations/pack for the honeymoon?" instead of just, "What can I do?"  

• Scout out bridesmaid dresses, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories. Pay for the entire ensemble. (Break in your shoes before the wedding day -- that will minimize slipping, blisters, and aching tootsies.)

• Help to plan, cohost, and pay for the shower and bachelorette party with other bridesmaids.

• If the maid/matron of honor isn't already handling this task, keep a record of all the gifts received at various parties and showers (so that the bride/couple can write thank-you notes); maintain RSVP lists.

• Attend the ceremony rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. (Keep abreast of all prewedding parties, and go to as many as possible.)

• Run last-minute errands. On the day of the wedding, be on hand to confirm flower delivery times, meet and greet the ceremony officiant, or satisfy junk food cravings.

• Stand in the receiving line at the bride's request.

• Serve as auxiliary hostess at the reception by introducing guests, making sure they know where the bar is located, and inviting them to sign the guest book.

• Hit the dance floor when the music kicks in. Dance with groomsmen during the formal first-dance sequence. Also, be on the lookout for toe-tapping guests who might need encouragement and/or a dance partner.

• Give the maid/matron of honor a break by helping to carry the bride's train whenever necessary. Bustle the train before dancing begins, and be ready to help fix it if it comes unhooked. Accompany the bride on visits to the restroom, if asked.

• Purchase a wedding present perhaps with one or several of the other bridesmaids. This provides more buying power, and two heads are better than one when it comes to gift ideas. Sometimes the entire bridesmaid troupe pitches in for one knock-her-socks-off wedding gift.

• Be a trooper, no matter how stressful the ordeal becomes. Try not to complain about the bridesmaid dress -- even if the color is horrendous. Be gracious and tactful.

• Provide plenty of emotional support during the planning and on the wedding day.
  

Trying on of the bridesmaid dress part 1

While BM Ellen is the only bridesmaid to actually have the dress, she opted to wait until a few months after giving birth to even try the dress on (she was eight months pregnant when the dress was brought to her). When BM Kim was up in Boston, she tried on her bridesmaid dress and while it was the same size as she tried on at RK Bridal, they fit was a lot different. I remember the sample dress was very big on her and was nervous when she ordered the same size. The sample dress would have needed a lot of alterations but when she tired on the actual dress, it was much better than expected. I mean, it will need to be taken in in spots but definitely not to the degree we both were expecting so that is good. Hopefully we do not have issues with the other dresses.

Shout out: Happy birthday to Alett!

New computer is here!

And I am learning the ins and outs of a Mac Book.  So far so good but I can't rename pictures I have imported and hoping to figure out that one soon.  I have over 1,000 pictures to import, name, caption, and organize.  I figure if I do one album at time (from Shutterfly, Picasa, etc) I will be done by Christmas.  This will also help me learn how to edit photos and then I will be able to make brilliant photo books for the wedding. 

A wedding quiz from the AP

1. How many bridesmaids will be in Jenna Bush's wedding?

2. Where will Jenna Bush and Henry Hager be married?

3. Who was the last child of a president to get married while their father was still in office?

4. How many children of presidents have been married during their father's presidency?

5. How many weddings of presidents' children have been held while their father was in office?

6. Who was the only president to be married at the White House?

7. Who designed Jenna Bush's dress?

8. How many children of presidents have chosen to be married at the White House?

9. Who is Jenna Bush's maid of honor?

10. Who was the only child to get married in the Rose Garden while their father was president?

11. Whose wedding in 1966 featured a 300-pound cake?

12. Who was the only son of a president married at the White House?

___
Answers:
1. 14. These women are not called bridesmaids in Texas, but members of the "house party."

2. At President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

3. Dorothy Bush, the daughter of former President George H.W. Bush. After divorcing her first husband, Dorothy was quietly married for the second time on June 26, 1992, at Camp David.

4. 21. Jenna Bush is the 22nd.

5. 22. Jenna Bush is 23. Elliot Roosevelt, son of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, married two times while his father was in office.

6. President Grover Cleveland. Presidents John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson also were married during their presidencies, but their wedding ceremonies were held elsewhere.

7. Oscar de la Renta.

8. Nine. The first was 17-year-old Maria Hester Monroe on March 9, 1820.

9. Her twin sister, Barbara Bush.

10. Tricia Nixon married Edward Cox in an elaborate Rose Garden ceremony in 1971 that boosted the popularity of her father, President Nixon.

11. Luci Baines Johnson, the youngest daughter of President Johnson, was married to Patrick Nugent at the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception in Washington, but had a reception at the White House that included a 300-pound cake decorated with swans.

12. John Adam II, son of John Quincy Adams. He was one of three brothers who were at one time engaged to the same young lady, Mary Hellen, their own first cousin.

Back on the bean

I have had real coffee again since my lenten sacrifice.

I have had a few iced mochas from Starbucks recently but I consider that more chocolate than anything else. But this past weekend, BM Kim was my pusher. She pushed me to do a lot and one of those things was get coffee. We grabbed breakfast and coffee at the coffee shop at the top of my street: True Grounds - it's a great little place and if you visit I will take you there. And the coffee is fantastic. I really liked the flavor of it. I have yet to drink the coffee at work because I find the smell gross (too strong and burnt) so maybe I will just stick to good coffee on the weekends.

Yummy Apple

We have a new computer on the way to the apartment. We are now an official Mac-owning household. I can't wait. My first priority is to get all my pictures in one location and labeled. It will take a while but I need things to keep me busy because too much of Jon and Kate Plus 8 makes me want sextuplets.


I also want to learn any photo editing software the mac may have because I plan to create the wedding albums and honeymoon albums using one of the online photo book companies (outlined here).

The photo project will begin once I am done with goccoing the invitations and other things that need to be gocco (some are top secret and some are bottom secret).

Begining of the end

So I started on the actual invitation portion of the invites. And this one is more difficult because I have to Gocco twice on each card. I started with the border and next I will add the text. Because of the size of the invitations, we had to get creative in laying out the cards.

B took time out of watching the Ranger/Penguins (GO RANGERS!) game to assist in laying out the cards. I am a lucky woman.

So the next part will be the last part of the invitations - then I will gocco my address on the envelopes but I am not as worried about those.

B will be printing direction cards for these using a regular printer and not a gocco - I am not that loco! (I had to do it eventually.)

RSVP Take 2

I noticed a small error on the RSVPs that I had already made and it was annoying me. So to make myself feel better and move on, I reprinted the RSVPs. This time I did it with BM Kim. She was amazed by the Gocco machine (it will blow your mind seriously people).

So she helped me line up the cards as I printed them and she drank wine (I partook in the red wine after I was finished so as to not GUI - gocco under the influence). Not a bad job by BM Kim. She has earned the right to still be a BM.

BM Kim is on a bus back to New York and we are sad.

Maid or Matron?

BM Kim and I were talking last night about the names of the ladies side of the bridal party. So the question is that if you are married you are the "matron of honor" so then shouldn't other married attendants be "bridesmatrons"? Or are they still a bridesmaid?

I don't know. Is this like those other conundrums such as which came first the chicken or the egg?

Happy Anniversary to Me!!!!!!!!!!

Today is the one year anniversary of our engagement (for a quick refresher on the engagement story click here). While my original hope was to go back to Providence for the week - life had other plans. But spending time with BM Kim and B is equally as nice. I wonder if B will get me an anniversary gift. Anyone want to take a bet?

That's what friends are for...

Has hell frozen over? B and I always say that no one comes up to visit us but here we are about to have a visitor for the second weekend in a row. Yay! Last week we had POTFRK and this week we have BM Kim. Things I want to do with Kim here:

• Go to Somerville Open Studios
• Gocco more of the invites
• Dress her up like a doll
• Go out to dinner

I put new sheets on the bed last night and that is it. It is not the Ritz Carlton so I hope she doesn't expect turn down or concierge service.

Shout out to Maureen - Happy Birthday you foxy minx!

Believe in Boston...

Last night B and I went to the Celtics-Hawks playoff game. It was incredible! The Garden was insane and the crowd intense. I can't imagine what it would be like if they make it to the next round. I mean, people might physically explode at the Garden.

Though the Hawks are a young team and they will be a force to reckon with but not this year (sorry - Tim, Thomas, Kristen, et al). Oh and no one likes Bibby.