first impressions

When I first created my wedding budget, I didn't allocate much to the invitation department. But the more wedding blogs I read, the more I'm starting to become brainwashed by stationery companies who remind me that first impressions mean everything.

I still don't believe in spending a fortune on wedding invitations (they usually get tossed in the garbage!) but I began thinking outside of the box in terms of style and design.

Luckily, I found a great vendor on etsy.com, who not only has the perfect design to fit my snowflake/DIY motif but is also really affordable. I'd post an example but I want my guests to be surprised!

So now that I have invitations in mind, I am contemplating whether or not I should hire a calligrapher to address the envelopes. There are a couple of calligraphers that have decent prices and cute handwriting but Momzilla doesn't think they are "formal" enough.

First, there's Swoon Over It. Amanda, the calligrapher, has three different styles. This isn't the one I would pick but it's the only image I could find on the web!

Her pricing starts at $0.95 an envelope.

Then there's Blink Calligraphy by one of my favorite wedding bloggers, Preppy Bride at 2365. Apparently she shares my love for wedding planning and DIY projects!

Below are the styles I like but again, Momzilla doesn't think it's fancy enough for a wedding. Her pricing starts at $0.75 an envelope.

Then there's Calligraphy by Michele, run by a woman who lives really close to my parents so it would be quite convenient to drop off and pick up the envelopes. This is the only calligrapher to whom MZ gave approval.

Her pricing starts at $1.15 an envelope. But I suppose I save on shipping since it would be local.

And last but not least, there's one more calligraphy option. Yours Truly. I signed up for an 8-session calligraphy class that will begin next week and I'm hoping my $95 enrollment fee will make me good enough to address my own invitations and then some. Who knows, maybe I can begin my own calligraphy service one day!

So what do you think? Is calligraphy worth it? If so, which style do you like?

Or do you think I'm making a big fuss over nothing and should just run the envelopes through the printer for free? :)

One style fits all?

I've finally begun searching for bridesmaid dresses and despite the anxiety I had about finding one dress to please all 8 of my girls, I'm pretty certain I found one that fit the bill.

My bridesmaids are all different shapes and sizes. Some are very short while others are pretty tall. Some have more curves than others. So I had no idea how I was going to find one dress that flattered each of their bodies when their bodies were so different.

So how did I do it? Two words.

Taffeta Ruching

I know, I know. Taffeta just screams "Ugly Bridesmaid Dress!" and I was pretty anti-taffeta myself. But I humored the dress consultant and I allowed my sister to try on the dress on the right below.

When my sister walked out, lo and behold, I was pleasantly surprised! The dress looked great and, according to her, felt really comfortable. She decided this dress was her favorite compared to the other satin ones she modeled.

But my sister is only one of 8 bridesmaids and while it looked fabulous on her, I needed to do more research. I brought in my roommate and future sister-in-law for their opinions. Both looked at the dress on the hanger, gave me a doubtful look, but tried on the dress anyway.

The verdict?

They loved it.

I would still like the approval of my remaining bridesmaids before I commit to it, but I am pretty certain they're going to feel the same way. The combination of taffeta and ruching seems to flatter most body types, which is not what I had expected at first look.

So the moral of the story? Try on dresses that you normally wouldn't have chosen and you just might find the dress you're looking for!

Countdown begins!

Now that the wedding is under a year (345 days from this entry, to be exact!), I've started concentrating on all the little projects and purchases that I don't want to deal with later. And while 345 days sounds like a long time, the first year of my engagement flew by so quickly that I'm starting to getting anxious.

After my experience watching my future sister-in-law plan her wedding, I saw just how chaotic and busy it becomes the month or two before the wedding. Nancy was worrying about tracking down missing RSVPs, organizing the seating arrangement, selecting the church readings, planning the rehearsal dinner AND working full-time! By the time I approached her with my ideas for programs, she was so overwhelmed that she didn't care about their design anymore.

I don't want the clock to beat me! I don't want the chaos and insanity to squash all my creativity! So I've decided to work on the little things now instead of later.

So what CAN be done so far in advance? Here's what I've begun:

• Place card holders
  
• Monogram design
• Program design
• Menu design
• Table names
• Table name design

January 15, 2011 seems so distant right now but with all the other events going on this year (weddings, baby showers, elections), I want to finish anything that can be done during non-busy times.

Your wedding countdown is very sneaky. It tries to convince you that each day you have left is devoted entirely to your wedding. Even someone like me, who loves this stuff, cannot dedicate the remainder of this year to just planning her wedding! I have relationships to maintain, friends to keep and a full-time job to pay for all these wedding expenses! And there are some projects that may take me much longer than I had anticipated. It's better to do a little each day than to kill yourself trying to do everything in just one.

So brides, get done what you can NOW; don't wait until later.

In the words Thomas Jefferson,

"Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today!"

so if you like to party, get on and move your body!

We finally booked our limo this past weekend with Romantique Limos and I'm pleased to announce that Gianfranco thought the limo bus was fantastic. I don't think he realized the awesomeness of a 40-passenger party bus until he stepped aboard. With the five TV screens, three tables and one restroom, how could you NOT be amazed? I tried to post the images on Romantique's web site but I don't think it's very clear.

We also ended up booking a 1949 black Cadillac, whose picture I can't seem to steal from the website at all, to transport me and my father from my house to the church. At first I was planning on using the traditional white Rolls Royce but after some consideration, I decided to go black instead for three reasons.

1. My sister is using the white one for her own wedding and I think it would be nice to have two different color cars.
   
2. I think the whiteness of my dress will contrast beautifully with the blackness of the car.
   
3. As a Classics lover, I think the black Caddy represents the "true" 50s look.

Now, I've already received a couple of criticisms, :ahem, Renee: about spending so much money on transportation. To you naysayers, I realize I'm spending a fortune on something I will only use for three hours of my life. I recognize that I'm being a hypocrite by refusing to spend money on nice clothes but shelling out thousands for such an insignificant item. I know it is just one day.

But that's it. It's just ONE day. How often am I ever going to ride in a black Cadillac? Or party on a huge limo bus with my favorite friends and family? Probably never again. So let me splurge on the one day of my life where I'm actually opening my wallet, will you?!

What do the rest of you think? Is the party bus a ridiculous waste or an awesome idea? Sound off!

guess who's back?!

I have returned! I apologize for my hiatus but my computer crashed over a month ago and it took this long to get a new one.

Since I've last written, I received a DVD of our engagement photos. Papillio did such a great job with them that I wanted to display just some of my favorites. With over 400 pictures from which I could choose, it was hard narrowing it down!

We spent the day at Horse Sleigh Farm in Washington Township, NJ. Because our original date was rained out, we had to wait until after Halloween to take the pictures and as you can imagine, the pumpkin selection after October is pretty sparse.

Thanks to our wonderful photographers, David and Irene, we were able to utilize our surroundings and make the best of what was left on the farm. In the end, we managed to take some pretty amazing shots!

First we started off in the corn stalks. This farm had a really cool corn maze so we were able to surround ourselves in stalk.

Can you find us?!

The owner of the farm was kind enough to let us pose on his John Deere tractor. Personally, I think the shots by the tractor are my favorite, especially since Gianfranco will probably never be that close to such large machinery again in his life!

After the tractor, we did some rolling around in the hay. Well, maybe not rolling; it was more like jumping! Below are some of the fun shots we took and you can really see Gianfranco's excitement in one of them.

Then we just took a couple of pictures around the farm.

Although we did take a few pumpkin shots, we left the farm in search for a bigger selection. On the way, David and Irene spotted this creepy but cool abandoned building where we stopped to take a couple of more pictures.

In the end, we finally managed to find an open pumpkin farm. We were there for about five minutes when an angry man comes running over to tell us we were trespassing on his farm. Once we explained what we were doing, he did allow us to stay but by that point we were so frazzled that we quickly snapped a couple in front of the pumpkins and headed on our way.

Moral of the story - "Where there's a farm, there's a farmhouse near by!"

o, holy night!

Even though the church was the first thing we booked upon getting engaged nine months ago, Gianfranco and I only met with the priest for the first time tonight. As I may have mentioned before, we are getting married on January 15, 2011 at 3pm at the Church of St. Clare and the Monsignor of the parish, Father Richard, will marry us.

My family was never very religious so I will admit that I was a bit nervous about tonight's meeting. But after my initial conversation with the Father, I felt a lot better about the whole situation. Father Richard was friendly and warm and genuinely seemed interested in getting to know us. I look forward to future meetings when he can learn enough about us to deliver a really personal ceremony.

Included in our church materials was a really interesting article from Catholic Update that presented ten questions each couple should discuss before marriage. At first glance, I assumed the article would be filled with outdated religious advice. When I acutally looked at the questions, however, I was surprised to see how relevant the topics were.

So after reading the article, I've decided to start a little mini-series of blog entries surrounding each question. I'd love to get input and opinions from everyone, married or not.

Stay tuned!

engagement photos!!!

We took our engagement photos on Sunday at Horse Sleigh Farm and boy, did we have a fantastic day! Our photographers, Papillio Photography, whom I'm constantly praising, did such a great job at capturing me and Gianfranco at our best.

I plan on posting a couple of my favorite pictures once I get a DVD from Papillio but in the meantime, feel free to check them out yourself.

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Enjoy!