Our big day is here (august 2, 2008)

Our big day is here!!!
I stayed up on Friday night before the wedding writing a letter to Michael that would be delivered to him on the day of our wedding. Once I finished the letter, it was easy for me to fall asleep! I think I was just so exhausted--all the planning and stressing---I was getting married!!!!! I got a great night of sleep and was rested for the big day. My day started off at the hair salon with my bridesmaids--we went in shifts since it was a small salon. Unfortunately, the day became a little rushed at the salon--probably my 1 regret of the day--i wish we had started earlier in the morning at the salon--as it was 8:30am was not early enough--even though our wedding was at 4:30 in the afternoon. But all in all, we made it and everything turned out just fine :)
My grandmother got her hair done too :)

Melissa and Lara at the salon (they were a part of the first shift of appointments--such troopers)

Lindsey and Christie getting their hair done

Lilly and Chloe getting their hair set

Jennie, Rachel, Lesli, and Me getting magazine inspiration :)

Getting my hair and makeup done---the royal treatment :)

Our ride to the church...

Goin to the chapel.... :)


The boys getting ready

The men have arrived at the church


The boys getting a quick bite to eat before putting on their tuxes.


Our adorable ring bearer Cavan. He had so much fun hanging out with the big boys :)


A few pictures of our wedding

Lara and me


some of the church decor


My family and me right before going down the aisle


Making my way down the aisle


Our beautiful aisle runner


My cousins (Lauren and Ally) --the program and guest book attendants


My bridesmaids and me


MARRIED!


After the wedding in the holding room right before we took pictures


The reception:
A shot of the reception ballroom


Best man and Maid of honor introduction


Our first dance - "Signed Sealed Delivered"


Grooms Cake - GO VOLS!


Our wedding cake - inspired by a cake in the Martha Stewart Weddings book


Daddy/Daughter dance


Polish apron dance--This was such a fun time at our reception. It is sort of like the dollar dance you see done at some weddings but this is a polish family tradition.


Candy buffet



Our parents


Rose Petal exit


Our getaway car


For more pictures, be sure to check out our wedding album online:

Enjoy!!!

Sunday festivities (Part II)

After church, we made the trip to Chattanooga. We had a 3:00pm appointment with the pastor at Brainerd UMC (where we are getting married) for our first pre-marital counseling session! It was great! This is the book we are working through!! I highly recommend it as it was highly recommeded to me by my cousin and his wife :) It is called BEFORE YOU SAY I DO (by H. Norman Wright and Wes Roberts). You will need one for you and one for your fiance.


After our session, we went to go and see Michael's parents and then all went to go and see one of their family friends who has about 15 classic cars. We got to go and pick one out for our send-off/grand exit for after the reception! We are sooo excited!!!!! We are going with the blue one. Because of where it was in this man's garage, we couldn't get a GREAT picture, but you get the idea. It is a 1931 Chevrolet. It has one of those little windows out the back. It is going to be so cute for the pictues!!! (the green one pictured below is similar in style and it was easier to get a picture of)

BUSY BUSY WEEKEND!!!

Sorry I've been MIA.....

I took off work last Friday to spend the day with my parents (who came down from Northern Virginia) in Chattanooga. We had 4 wedding vendor appointments on Friday.

We left Knoxville at 8am and drove to our linen rental company store. We had a brief meeting with the linen company. I showed my parents what Pam (the wedding planner) and I came up with for our reception tables. Linens are pricey. We had to do some wheeling and dealing and make many compromises, but what we came up with will be beautiful. These pictures don't do it justice, but of course will look much better with the tables set and with the flowers, etc.
Table overlays

Chairs with chair covers and the light peach organza sash


Our compromise: We will be doing 40% of the tables with the striped sheer overlay and the remaining 60% will have a light peach solid satin table runner. This will save a few hundred dollars!!! :)

These are for our wedding cake tables:

Brides Wedding Cake: Its this pin tucked sheer overlay with little shimmery beads at the tucks. We will have a light peach underlay for this table (matches the table runners that will be on 60% of the tables). IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!


Grooms Wedding Cake: This is a sheer striped overlay. It has a masculine feel without being to "harsh" next to our soft toned decor.


This is for our sweetheart table. This is a cream fabric with embroidery detailing that brings in our pale yellow and the peachy pink color!


This is for our candy buffet table. This polka dotted sheer overlay gives a whimsical and fun touch to our candy table! I am very excited to see how this will turn out :)



Mom and Dad brought in so much candy that they have been collecting for the candy buffet! It looks like they robbed a candy store!!! ;o) I am seriously going to have to take some pictures and post later!! :) They brought in some more big glass containers to add to my collection. I think we are up to around 20 containers :)
Also, Mom and Dad found a GREAT deal on some small squatty Mason jars for the guests to fill up with candy and take home! They brought all 300 of those too! (and I think we are going to need a few more because of our HUGE guest list) Needless to say, my house is the Wedding War Zone!! So much stuff!! :)

We also met with the florist on Friday. She met up with us at the linen company's store. My parents hadn't met her yet and she brought in some stuff to show us. Everything is going to be so beautiful and our florist is AMAZING!! I am so excited!!! (sorry no pictures)

Next up, our menu tasting! In a word, YUMM-O!!!! Everything was so delicious! I cannot wait!!!!
We will be having 2 options:
Herb Roast Tenderloin of Beef, Truffle Demi Glace
Marinated Airline Chicken (which we are calling Marinated Breast of Chicken--I don't want the guests to think we are serving rubber chicken from some in-flight meal deal), Mandarin Cranberry Relish, Orange Chili Sauce

Each entree is served over a bed of mashed potatoes and asparagus!
The presentation was spectacular!!! I wish I had gotten a picture!!! :(

Our Salad choice:
Asiago Caesar Salad

Mom and Dad were very pleased--and so was I! :)

Our last appointment of the day was at the hair salon! I was so excited! Judy (the hair stylist) knows exactly what she is talking about and for a rough draft (no product), she did superb!!!







And....best of all, my dad was a trooper through the whole thing. (so was Mom, but that's a given!)



More to come later today from Saturday and Sunday's festivities!!! (including my first bridal shower!!!)

Escort Card Display

This is one of those small details that many people don't really think about, but it is important. We are doing an hors d'oeuvres buffet for cocktail hour followed by a plated dinner. Whenever you do a plated dinner, it is very important that table numbers are assigned to your guests. (Otherwise, people won't fill up the tables as complete as they should be and you end up needing a lot of extra tables) It is not as important to me to assign seats though. My mom (who has suddenly become a Martha Stewart fan--which I LOVE!!) has been watching the show. The wedding special was on a few weeks ago and it talked about this very thing. Mom liked the example they featured with a board and putting the escort cards in envelopes. That way if some last minute table number changes need to be made, they can be without having to remake the entire escort card--because with the envelope idea you have the table number written on a piece of paper and stuck into the envelope--the guests' name is actually on the outside of the envelope. I saw this idea yesterday and knew I had to recreate it. I am hoping I can get my hands on an unused composite picture frame from Kappa Delta. (crossing my fingers) I would make the background of the "board" peach dupioni silk and probably do pink and yellow escort cards. Not exactly sure, but i think it will turn out GREAT! What do you think? (it may be a little hard to see it)

The Candy Buffet

I am really excited about our favors! We are having a candy buffet at the wedding. The tables will have a small mason jar (with ribbon and a gift tag of course) for each guest. We will have a candy buffet set up in the reception ballroom for guests to go up to and fill their jar to take home with them. This is a great way to continue the use of my color scheme and create a decorative element to the room while still providing a tasty treat for our guests! Since Michael's grandfather (who passed away last year) had such a sweet tooth and was known for his love of candy (and always had some in his pockets to share), we will be dedicating the candy buffet in his memory. This will also make it very personal and meaningful. Let me know if you have any ideas for peach, yellow, white/ivory, silver, and pink candy.