sometimes work is the best place to shower!

Two of my coworkers-slash-friends, Mel and Mary are getting married this fall (to their significant others - NOT to each other!) and I, along with the rest of the ladies in the office, had a little surprise dinner planned for them. We're a small company and we've been keeping our own tradition of "showering" our coworkers with gifts before a wedding.

Below are just a couple of pictures:

As we sat around the hibachi grill and laughed about life and work, I realized just how nice and lovely an intimate shower like this is. We all got to sit near the brides and actually talk to them. I'm usually scared to approach the bride at her shower, mainly because everyone else wants to talk to her and I don't want to interrupt her mingling.

I also like small showers like this because not only do I know when the bride is opening my gift, but I can provide any additional comments as well. At regular showers, I'm usually sitting in the back of the restaurant and mainly focused on winning Bridal Bingo. Mel and Mary were also commenting on how nice it was to take their time opening gifts rather than trying to beat the clock, because face it, it becomes quite boring watching a bride open presents for an hour and a half.

My wish? That I could have like 10 "mini" showers along the way. I wish I could split up the 80-plus people Momzilla wants to invite into smaller groups where I can actually sit and spend time with them. But alas, I know that it will not be and will just have to suck it up and practice my people skills.

But at least I can be hopeful that I, too, will have a work shower to anticipate!

i feel pretty, oh so pretty!

Wedding dress shopping was nothing like I expected it to be. Maybe I went shopping too early or maybe I'm still in shock that I'm getting married or maybe I've been forced to watch way too many "Say Yes To The Dress" episodes but either way, I didn't get as emotional as I thought I would. The only thought that went through my mind was, "Hmm. So maybe I won't be an ugly bride after all."

Go ahead, laugh at me and tell me that all brides are pretty. I'm sure you're right anyway. But I don't know, I've been carrying this secret fear that maybe I won't look as pretty in my wedding pictures as everyone else does. Silly, I guess.

It was pretty surreal to stand on the little platform dressed as a princess. Even though I didn't cry, I did get a little choked up at the thought of walking down the aisle in a gorgeous white dress (clipped three times, thanks Lyn!). In the end, I discovered the dresses I liked had sweetheart tops with beaded bodies and A-line skirts. Oh, and really long trains. Long enough to take a nap on it! MZ took a bunch of pictures (illegally) but I don't want to post any of them; I plan on keeping my wedding dress top secret!!

Okay so enough about my experience. I know most of you are curious as to whether or not I received airline tickets just for trying on the dresses. Honestly, I don't have much of an answer for you. I had heard bad reviews about Enzo Bridal but my initial visit was fine. The staff was friendly enough and they had plenty of beautiful, affordable dresses. MZ was ready to buy one then and there. I had to repeatedly remind her that it was still a little early to get my dress but agreed to come back and try them on again in the fall.

In the end, the girl helping us filled out a card with the dresses I liked and indicated that I should receive airline tickets. If I decide to buy my dress there then I get upgraded to a week long cruise. I guess I won't know if I get airline tickets until I make my final dress decision. Sorry if you are disappointed - I wish I knew more!

I plan on doing some serious shopping in the fall. For now, I am just relieved that I will make a pretty bride after all!

whose wedding is it anyway?

So I'm headed to Enzo Bridal tomorrow for my first shot at dress shopping. Even though the only reason I'm looking this early is because my curiosity about their promotion, I am still pretty excited to try on wedding dresses.

Now, Momzilla is a HUGE fan of "Say Yes To The Dress" on the Style Network. Anytime I'm over her house, she makes me sit and watch at least three episodes. And during every episode, she reminds me of two things:

1) She has to attend every bridal shop visit
2) She has to cry when she sees THE dress

Now, I absolutely love my mother and I value her opinion, especially when it comes to planning the wedding. She's got a great eye for detail and quite the creative imagination (which is GOOD in this case). And while I am perfectly fine having her with me at every visit, I still don't know if I agree with her second criterion.

MZ says she wants me to wear the dress that SHE thinks makes me look the most beautiful. If she doesn't cry when I walk out of the dressing room, the dress is not eligible. It's a lovely, heartfelt plan and I certainly want my mother to feel emotional when she sees me in my wedding dress but shouldn't I be the final determinant in which dress I wear? Don't I need to feel beautiful in it first? Isn't it MY dress to pick?

Just whose wedding is it anyway?!

I know, I know. My mother has been planning my wedding since the day the doctor announced she had a baby girl. She's been storing away gifts for my bridal shower since I'm, oh, 15 years old. I know she plans on decorating the house on the big day and that she wants to step out of the pews and join my father as he gives me away to Gianfranco. She's got all of plans down to the tiniest detail and I know that my wedding and my sister's wedding will be the highlights of her life.

But shouldn't it also be the highlight of mine? My mother already had her wedding back in 1981. She got to pick her hall, ask her attendants, and wear the dress of her choice. Isn't it my turn now?

I know my mother means well and I know she wants me to look breathtaking on my wedding day. I agree with her; I just want to make sure that the dress I wear is the one that takes MY breath away first.

So we'll see how tomorrow goes. Cross your fingers that the dress I ultimately buy is one that makes both me and Momzilla happy!

still looking for your wedding dress? read on!

I received a postcard in the mail from Enzo Bridal that is promoting a pretty amazing deal and I figured I'd share it with anyone who hasn't bought their wedding dress yet.

According to Enzo Bridal, they are giving 2 free airline tickets to any bride who tries on a dress in their shop as long as she provides proof that she's booked a reception hall. If the bride ends up buying a dress from the shop, Enzo will upgrade her to a week-long cruise for two on either Royal Caribbean or Carnival cruise lines.

Per Momzilla's request (aka begging), I've made an appointment next week to try on a dress. Do I think this is too good to be true? Certainly. Do I have anything to lose by finding out? Absolutely not. Worst case scenario? Enzo Bridal tricked me into trying on a wedding dress a couple of months earlier than I had planned. Big deal. Best case scenario? We can remove plane tickets off our wedding budget!

So if you haven't found your wedding dress yet, I suggest checking out Enzo Bridal in the event that their promotion IS legit and you can end up with plane tickets to over 40 locations.

Or, if you can wait a few days, I'll report back and let you all know if it was all just a scam.

Stay tuned!

d.i.o. - did it ourselves!

Okay sorry for not posting sooner but I had to wait for some of the pictures to arrive from the photographer (it will be obvious which ones were taken professionally and which were taken by yours truly). I wanted to show everyone the fun DIY projects MZ and I made for the dinner so here they are!

Our first project was the centerpieces. Below the picture are instructions on how we made them:

• Hurricane glass decoration
• Play sand
• Ivory pillar candle
• Sea shells
  
• Raffia
• Glue gun

Basically all she did was fill the hurricane glasses with the sand, stick the candle inside and scatter some sea shells around the candle. She then tied raffia around the outside of the hurricane glass, tied a bow and glued a sea shell on it. Presto!

Next, we wanted an appropriate way to direct our guests to their tables. Inspired by Shore Chic, I decided we could make our own starfish-in-the-sand placecards. Scroll down below to see how they were created.

• Starfish
• Sand dollars
• Raffia
• Cardstock
• Elmer's Glue
  
• Sand
• Funky scissors
• Hole punch
• Bucket
• Plastic box

First, we printed out the guest names and table numbers on different colored cardstock and cut them out with funky scrapbooking scissors. Using raffia and the hole punch, we tied the tag onto the starfish or sand dollar.

Next, we used the clear, plastic top of a serving tray (from Costco!), flipped it upside down and cut a little piece out of one of the corners. We drizzled some Elmer's Glue inside the bucket and threw sand in there to give the effect of sand pouring out of the pail. Then, we placed the bucket in the cut-out corner of the plastic "box" and taped it down.

Lastly, we dumped the sand in the "box" and stood the starfish and sand dollars in alphabetical. For a finishing touch, we also stuck the shovel in there as well.

It came out really cute and we received a lot of compliments for our creativity. In hindsight, I would have used a bigger wooden box to hold the starfish and sand dollars. We didn't really have enough for all 35 place cards.

The other big DIY project we did was a "Family Palm Tree." Remember how I mentioned in an earlier entry that I wanted a cool family tree to show how everyone was connected at the engagement dinner? Well much to the surprise of my family and friends, I made one.

There wasn't much to it; I used brown oak tag to create the palm tree trunk. Then I cut out six different palms out of green oak tag. One palm was for my immediate family, one was for my extended family and one was for my friends. I cut the same palms for Gianfranco's side as well. Then, on the appropriate palm, I wrote the names and relationship of each guest at the engagement dinner. The point of the palm tree was to show how everyone at the dinner was connected to me or Gianfranco and although it wasn't in a very noticeable spot, it still got some attention!

Some other things we did?

- One groomsman (my cousin in Mexico) and one bridesmaid (my cousin who was on vacation) were not present at the dinner so I blew up pictures of their heads and glued them on a stick. I wanted their faces to be in the bridal party pictures, whether they were real or paper.

Creepy? Yes. Hilarious? YES!

- Also shown in the above picture are the tasty treats we displayed. Even though we had a yummy cake, MZ thought it would be fun to fill beach pails with all different sorts of candy. We had lollipops, Twizzlers, Milky Ways, pretzels, etc. We also left little goody bags for our guests to bring some sweets home with them!


-We ordered the favors below, removed the pre-packaged ribbon, tied on raffia and stuck our own funky-cut thank you tag. They came out really cute!

- We also made our own napkin rings by tying the raffia into bows and gluing a seashell on top. It was a small detail but was acknowledged by many!

So there ya have it folks! I apologize for the insanely long entry but I wanted to show off MZ's hard work!

If you have any cute DIY ideas that you're planning on creating, I'd love to hear about them!

let it ride

I know, I know. It's been over a week since my last post but since I promised that I would cool it with the wedding talk after the engagement dinner, I've been keeping myself busy with non-wedding related stuff.

Okay, who are we kidding? Just because I'm not talking to HIM about it doesn't mean I'm not secretly getting limo prices behind his back! That's our next booking and I figured the less he knows about my research, the saner the bride I appear to him!

So as I mentioned in an earlier post, we're going to need a couple of limousines for the big day. To refresh your memory:

1 - 10 passenger limo to take Gianfranco and the groomsmen from his house to the church
1 - 3 passenger Rolls Royce to take me, my father and my sister from my house to the church
1 - 24 passenger Party Bus to take the bridesmaids to the church and then the entire bridal party to the reception.

Can I tell you how majorly excited I am about this party bus?! I think every time I tell someone we're getting one, I also throw in how I am more pumped about the party bus than I am about the actual reception. I know it's nuts but if you've ever ridden in one before then you know what I mean.

For those of you who have no idea what a party bus is or looks like, see the picture of one below:

How cool is that?! It's like a limo but you can stand up! And there's a TV screen! Okay, I know I'm being a little ridiculous seeing as we're only riding this thing for an hour and therefore will barely even LOOK at the screen but still!

I think the only reason Gianfranco isn't more excited about booking the limo is that he has no idea how awesome it is. I really do. Once he steps on board, he will be as infatuated as I.

Anyway, this entry is not intended to gush over the party bus but rather to ask my fellow brides for their recommendations on limo companies. Since most of these limos look the same, I am relying more on referrals and prices than on personal taste.

So, who did you use? What tips can you share? What horror stories do you have?