What a month!

So, on the 11th of October, John and I got married. We had a wonderful day. There were a few glitches along the way but nothing major and it appeared that our guests didn't notice. Besides, at the end of the day, all that matters is that we got married.

On Sunday the 12th, we had a brunch for people, very informal affair. It was nice to talk to some people that we really hadn't been able to talk to during the reception and just to hang out with family and friends. Later, John and I opened our gifts together. :)

Monday the 13th of October, we headed off for 25 days in New Zealand!! It was an absolutely amazing. The country is beautiful beyond belief. The people were really friendly. We got to climb part of a volcano, hiked on a glacier, kayaked in the Tasman Sea, cruised two fjords, saw penguins and seals in their natural habitats, and saw a variety of flightless birds, including a flightless parrot!

Yesterday, we ventured on the incredibly long journey back home (with two planes delayed) but finally made it. Today, we transferred all 5330 pictures taken on our honeymoon to the portable hard drive and John rotated them all! And yes, we did take over 5,000 pictures! And yes, that means that there will be a lot of blogging happening...

6 days to go

Somehow, it is only 6 days until our wedding! Where did the time go? It seems like just a few months ago that John proposed and only a couple weeks since we moved. Summer just flew by and now it is definitely autumn. It is so hard to believe that I have been at my current job for 4 months!

Lately, we have been doing a lot of work for the wedding. Well, really John has been doing a lot of work for the wedding. Since he's home more, he has been doing the vast majority of the prep and has taken over corresponding with some of the vendors. We've gotten our attendants' presents (I have 30 rows left on the last shawl, though) and John even wrapped his! He made the card box. He made table name cards and place cards. We've gotten our program mostly done (the church is doing it for us!). He organized the rehearsal dinner. I took my ring to get polished and appraised (I should get it back tomorrow!). We meet with the hotel for a final meeting on Monday. John has gotten a hair cut as wedding prep, too. We also both went to the dentist for a cleaning. :)

I've done lots of beauty prep for the wedding. I've gotten facials. I've gotten my hair highlighted, my eyebrows waxed, and my eyelashes dyed! Last Saturday, I ended up in a spa and hair salon on the same day! I never thought I would say it, but after Friday, I don't want to be in a spa for a while. On Friday, I'm getting a manicure and a massage. After the week we've had, I am so looking forward to that massage.

I am starting to get nervous. I'm not nervous about how the day will go, I know that it will be beautiful. Even if things go wrong (which I'm sure they will), it doesn't matter. What matters is that John and I will be married. What I am nervous about is that we have 115 people coming to see us get married. That's a lot of people coming to see us. We have events planned all weekend and it will be good to see people. I'm excited, I just wish that the butterflies in my stomach would go away and that my brain would focus on work things since I have a lot to get done this week!

Bachelorette night

Saturday a week ago, John had his bachelor party and I had my bachelorette/hen night. We had dinner at a lovely restaurant that my friend A knows. It was a lovely meal with lovely ladies. A had chosen the menu and tried to pick things that I would like (and she did quite well I must say). She even had the menus printed and a personal cake. I was quite happy that it was all in good taste. :)

After dinner, four of us when to a karaoke bar and tried to sing some karaoke. We stayed a couple hours but our name didn't get called. While waiting, J took some random guy's hat and cigarette and sported them for a picture. Luckily, the guy was a good sport about it. As we were leaving, we ran into some guys going in and chatted with them for a while before going for breakfast food a couple blocks away. After breakfast, we took the train back up to A's car and then headed home. We got home about 3:30 AM!! We were home about 1 1/2 hours later than the bachelor night. :)

The next morning, J, A, and I were up for an 11:00 AM manicure and pedicure. It was lovely pampering. and I'm headed back to the spa on Friday for a manicure and massage.

T minus 1 and counting

Thursday was one month before the wedding! We are now less than one month out. People keep asking me if I'm excited and I really don't know. I don't like that every spare/down minute, I am thinking about what needs to be done. We have a long "to do" list that is getting managed but it is still longer than I would like. I am really glad that we are here to do these things because it would be hard to do some of this stuff from a few thousand miles away.

Recently, we have gotten a lot done. I have tried on my dress and had a fitting (hopefully the only one), one of my bridesmaids got fit at the same time and the others have appointments for fittings. We have booked the rehearsal dinner location. Today we did a few reception decorations. I also finished one of the bridesmaids' shawls and am about 1/4 the way done with the second. I still need to weave in ends and block the third one that is done but that shouldn't take long...

Anyway, soon, we will be married and off to New Zealand! I'm so glad that John is researching and planning the honeymoon! Actually, he has been amazing through the whole process and has been doing more work that I have been for the wedding planning/tasks.

So, am I excited? I guess so. I am more in awe that we are getting married in less than a month! I don't think it will really sink in until I walk down the isle and see all the people in the church there for us.

Pineapple Downside Up Cakes

John's favorite cake is Pineapple Upside Down cake. When looking for things to register for the wedding, I saw a pan that makes mini cakes in the shapes of pineapples and immediately registered for it (as well as a cast iron skillet to make the cake in). Well, at the shower, I was very happy to unwrap the pan and it was given to us by one of John's siblings. His brother then gave us a tin of pineapple to facilitate making the cake. :)

John was so happy to get this pan that one day while I was at work and he was cleaning and putting the presents away, he decided to try out the pan. Below is the making of the cake, as taken by John.

The left over pineapple turned into his dinner.








His trusty beer was his baking assistant.













Then he waited patiently for dessert to be ready.








And finally his efforts were rewarded. :)

And the cakes were tasty. We think we can find a better cake recipe (we used the one that came with the pan) but I think that we are definitely up for the challenge.

Showered

A couple weeks ago, my sister generously hosted a bridal shower for me. For readers not familiar with this tradition, the guests to the bridal shower bring presents for the bride, aka shower her with guests. The tradition started when trying to build up a woman's dowry before getting married. Sometimes women have multiple showers. The relatives of the couple may have showers, work, friends. John's mom, niece, and sister-in-law came to my shower in addition to some of my aunts and cousins. J also came (remember her?). I felt so bad for J because she got a speeding ticket on the way!

The shower started off with a few bridal shower games. We played a word unscramble game, got points for various items being in our purses, and my sister asked me questions to see if I answered them the same way that John answered the same questions. We then ate a light lunch and I opened presents! Most of the pictures were taken by J.

ETA: the KitchenAid box contains an ice cream maker. :) I already had a KitchenAid (John was very nice to me one year for my birthday)

So much planning!

The big wedding planning is done and has been for a while. Now, we are getting into the details and I am starting to feel the stress. I have started dreaming about things to do for the wedding. I can feel my stress level/tolerance for things decreasing. John has told me that I have "bridezilla" moments when people disagree with me. Luckily, they don't last very long. :)

Anyway, last week, we got our invitations. That started the stress of realizing that we didn't have that many addresses and now have to print the addresses on the envelopes (we have horrible hand writing). We have gotten most of the addresses so hopefully we will just take some time each day and get them done so that we get get them mailed in a timely manner. This weekend, we also figured out some decorations for the reception and did more on our wedding registry. I know that things are getting done but there are a lot to do still...

Why do you feel the right to ask?

When people get engaged, it seems to open up a whole new line of questioning/conversation. People start asking questions that they wouldn't ask otherwise. They also make comments that they wouldn't otherwise make. Where are you going to live after the wedding? I may be pregnant by this time next year (they say this, I don't). When I disagree, I have actually been told that I am running out of time! That is not a polite thing to say, regardless of it's accuracy.

Today I was talking to a mate of mine. She said that she got the same questions when she got engaged. She also said that the questions continued until a few months ago, which was fortunate since she is pregnant and didn't want to have to dodge answers about "when are you starting a family?" Friends of mine mentioned that people they know have finally stopped asking when they are starting a family, and they have been married 9 years!!! I hope I don't get questions for that long...

But seriously, why do people who barely know you feel like they can suddenly start asking questions about every detail of your future life plans. Maybe we don't have plans. Maybe, just maybe, we just want to get married. Marriage does not have to equal buying a house. It doesn't have to mean moving of any type. It doesn't have to mean children or a family. Yes, these things sometimes happen but having a piece of jewelry or a legal document saying you "belong" to someone else does not somehow create a magic pathway to "adult" things.

Planning and more planning

People keep asking me how the wedding planning is going. I didn't really think about it for most of Jan or Feb this year. It was nice to not think about the wedding. Now, it seems like there is some work to do again. However, I think that we have most of it done! I am happy to think that. I am probably missing a quite a few things but the online checklists all say that the planning is on track.

Things done so far:

• Wedding dress is ordered and has arrived! (I can't see it though since it is in a different country!)
• Bridesmaid dresses are ordered (thanks to my sister on that one)
• We have our reception site and have done our tasting. Therefore, our menu is set!
• We've decided on our cake
• We have the church booked and the pastor to do the ceremony
• We have the friend who is going to do a solo during the ceremony lined up
• We have a person for the ceremony music
• We have ideas on invitations
• We have ideas on the rehearsal dinner location
• I have started trying to tone my arms and am doing cardio 1-2 times a week and getting back into shape (as is John)
• We have the music for the reception sorted. We do need to go over dinner music a bit.
• We have a color scheme and "theme" and have picked linens for the reception
• We've asked the people reading during the ceremony
• We've met with the florist and gotten a quote (but I need to change is slightly)
• I'm half way done with my shawl for the wedding (and can then start on the bridesmaids' shawls)
• Booked photographer
  
• And very important, we've booked our honeymoon flights and reserved the camper van for our honeymoon in New Zealand!! 25 days away! We are VERY excited about that!

Things that are left to do:

• Choose song for the soloist
• Choose processional/recessional music
• Choose first dance
• Actually order invitations
• Knit shawls for bridesmaids
• Buy jewelry for bridesmaids
• Choose groomsmen presents
• Order veil and find other bridal accessories
• Investigate salon to do hair/makeup on the day
• Figure out wedding rings
• Order reception table decorations
  

There are probably other things but I can't think of them off the top of my head...

Planning, planning, planning

A lot of people that I know who got married talk about how stressful wedding planning was and how they're glad that they never have to do it again. So far, I think we have most things planned and I'm still enjoying it. But then, I enjoy planning and hosting events. I like thinking about decor and what coordinates with what. I liked deciding what the menu will be (and trying the food). I have enjoyed choosing a color palette. I enjoyed meeting the pastor and interviewing a couple photographers. I even enjoyed meeting with the florist that we are using. The only thing that has been stressful so far is the bridesmaids' dresses and that was because I was trying to convince them to choose their own dress when they wanted to be told what to wear. I ended up compromising and saying, "choose from these dresses." It seems to have worked well and they have dresses that they say they are comfortable in which was what I wanted.

Anyway, today we completed a major step in wedding planning: we booked our flights for our honeymoon!!!!! We are going to New Zealand for almost four weeks! I am soooooo excited about this since it is somewhere that John and I have wanted to go and really this is probably the only time in our lives that we will go that far away. The journey there (and back) are about 24 hours each! On our way there, we will arrive two days after we started. On the way back, we arrive about an hour after our departure time in New Zealand.

The Ring

John and I have been engaged since May. When he proposed near the Eiffel Tower, he didn't have a ring; mostly because he didn't know what I wanted and I didn't know what I wanted. Just before we moved to Dublin in 2005, I bought myself a ring that I've been eyeing for a long time. After getting engaged, I wore this ring until we decided if I wanted a more official ring. We knew that we do not want a diamond because of the whole blood diamond issue. Also, when I tried on diamonds I just didn't like the way they looked on my finger. Therefore, we decided just to stick with the ring that I had.

Then, in August, I decided that I wanted a “proper” engagement ring for my birthday. So John humored me and we went and looked a bunch of rings. Again, we really didn't see much that we liked. Then we went into this little out-of-the-way store and saw rubies and sapphires. We really liked the way the Sapphire looked on my finger. However, most of the rings still had diamonds in them. Then one of my friends suggested I check out Design Yard because she's gotten jewelry there. One day after work I went and looked at their jewelry selection, and found this diamond ring that had an amazing setting. While looking at it, one of the sales clerks said that we could get a different stone put into the setting and that it was a Dublin designer who made the ring. After bit of a hassle and negotiation (the person we worked with was concerned that we couldn't pick our exact stone and wanted to make sure that we would love the ring before ordering it), we decided to order the ring with a sapphire. Then we waited and waited what seemed like forever (but was really only about 6 weeks), but the ring arrived to the beginning of November and I absolutely love it!

I've gotten many compliments on the ring, especially how unique it is. I think it's interesting that a lot of people think that it has a very modern design. However, I just think that it is clean and simple. Maybe that is part of why people think it's modern. Even though I've had the ring a couple months, I still get distracted by how pretty it is on my finger. One day, this led to a discussion between John and myself about why my ring is so great and this is what we came up with:

1. The ring changes color in different lighting and based on what I wear.
2. A Sapphire cost less than a diamond.
3. My sapphire is bigger than any diamond I remotely liked and looks good in a larger stone.
4. The sapphire's more dramatic.
5. My ring is unique, so no one else should have one like it,at least not in a sapphire.
6. We didn't buy into the marketing of the diamond trade. Traditionally, sapphires have been engagement rings stones longer than diamonds anyway.
7. In bright light, I can see all the cuts of the stone. This is what distracts me some times. :)
   
8. This ring was made just for me!

We have plans!

Today we returned from a week home. It was great to see people but it was more of a business trip of sorts. We had the mission to see how much wedding planning we could do in a week. On Monday, we saw the reception site and met the coordinator for our reception. We also interviewed a photographer and had dinner with friends. On Tuesday we met the pastor who will perform the ceremony and John got to see the church (I used to go there when I lived in the area). We were supposed to meet another photographer but she is moving out of the area next year so she canceled our appointment.

On Wednesday morning, we met with another photographer before I got my hair cut and colored. I really liked his eye but then I knew that to some extent because I had found him online and looked at his portfolio before the appointment. Wednesday night, we had dinner with John's mom and brother.

On Thursday, we met with the florist that I used to go to when I lived in the area. I used to stop by on Fridays to buy a rose. If I had a tough week, I'd buy more flowers. As I kept coming in, they got to know me a bit and would sometimes let me go in the back to pick whatever flowers I wanted (as long as they weren't for a wedding). Since I was in there often enough, I got to see what their work was like for weddings. I also use them whenever I send flowers in the area and people always compliment the flowers. During the meeting, I showed the woman my wedding idea book and she told me what would work or not. When I showed her examples of dresses that I was considering and she went into the back and came back with a perfect bouquet for my bouquet. It was exactly what I wanted. Then we talked about the other bouquets and the table centerpieces and again, she went into the back and came back with a perfect bouquet. It was wonderful. It was the colors that we wanted and had many of my preferred flowers in it! And the price was even in line with the budget (which I hadn't told them my budget beforehand)!

We met with a different florist on Friday but they didn't seem to hear what I wanted and didn't go make up examples for me to see. They were nice, but just not as personal as the one we are going to go with.

On Saturday, we went dress shopping! Two of my bridesmaids went to one shop to scope out dresses. They then met my sister and me at the shop we were at and I had just finished trying on dresses. After I had made a decision on my dress, we decided to go see if another shop had a particular bridesmaid dress for my sister to try on. We ended up back at the first shop which happened to have the one dress that I had liked and was on the list to try on. but the first shop didn't have On a whim and since we were there, I tried in on. And Renee and J liked it better than the other one. And it looks fabulous. But then both options look fabulous, just in different ways.

Saturday night we went to my favorite pizza place with a big group of plans. All in all, a great trip home...

Planning, planning, planning

Since we got engaged, I have been online many evenings browsing the web to help plan the wedding. We found our reception site online and signed a contract on Friday! We have a date and a location for the wedding!! I am quite excited and relieved to have the reception taken care of. It has been a challenge planning the wedding from this side of the pond (we're having the wedding at home) but also easier in some ways. I've been able to do almost everything over email. I know it isn't the same as seeing the site in person but we went with a pretty safe option. I know there is a lot of planning left, but at least we have one thing done. So far, the planning has been stressful, but fun. But then, I like to plan social gatherings. :)

Planning

So, since we've gotten engaged, we have been discussing lots of things about the wedding and trying to reach consensus on our "style." The problem is we don't really know what style we have or want and I have always dreamt about two very different wedding types. So, we continue to research reception sites and try to figure out our budget. And I continue to wait for my planning magazines.

Since I can't really plan much right now, my thoughts have turned to the honeymoon destination. I want something to look forward to. :) I want to put it in my head that I am working for ____. Originally we thought about New Zealand but I'm not sure we have enough time for there since I think we only have 2 weeks (maybe 3) for the honeymoon and that isn't enough time to get there, get over jet lag, and see the country.

So, dear readers, I am looking for suggestions for our honeymoon. :) Here are the criteria:
1. Not in the U.S. (tax reasons)
2. Pretty nature to hike in and I like waterfalls (big ones).
3. Not touristy/tourist trap/resort
4. We want a balance of nature and culture

Update: I forgot to say, we are having the wedding/reception in the U.S. and are planning autumn 2008 but don't have a date set yet. So, for the honeymoon, we could leave from the U.S. or Dublin.

Propoganda

In my excitement at being engaged, I went to a couple bookstores to get a wedding planning book and look at wedding magazines. There wasn't much selection for wedding planning books so I ordered a couple off amazon.com and will have them hopefully next week. I found a book on saving money and picked up a couple magazines for fun. A coworker gave me some more magazines from when she planned her wedding.

I looked at the pictures of the magazine and was struck with 1) how ugly a lot of the dresses are in the magazines and 2) how much more expensive dresses are in Ireland than the U.S. (where I will be getting my dress). Because a couple titles sounded interesting, I decided to read an article in one of the bridal magazines. Oops. It is about the most sexist reading I have done, possibly ever. All the propaganda says all attention should be on the bride. The articles talk about "you, you, you" in the singular form. Isn't there a groom???? Isn't he necessary also? Isn't the wedding about celebrating the couple starting a new part of their lives/adventure? I think I'll lay off the wedding magazines. Well, except the Chicago one that a friend of mine is sending me. :)