It's been forever!

Wow the last time I updated was in August!

A lot has happened since then. We had our engagement party which was so much fun and almost everyone we invited was able to come. My parents threw our party at the Reef which was a nice, elegant dinner. Everyone who came was so generous and we really appreciate it! We love you! After we went out with two of my bridesmaids and my soon to be brother in laws for a good time.

We sent out our save the dates! Everyone should have them by now. We have a few we still need to send cause we ran out of stamps.

I changed my bridesmaid dress idea. It is now officially this in golden. I think it's more formal and I think the neckline is a nice touch.

I also found a photographer and videographer that I am in love with and I am so happy to have! Check Melissa Lynn and Yasu out at www.beimaged.com to get an idea of what our pictures and video will look like.  We will be getting a free engagement photo session in January in Manhattan.

We also have a DJ that I believe will be able to deliver the atmosphere we want for our special day.

I am toying with some fun ideas for the reception and I am also thinking of changing some our flower ideas around. Check it out here. I'll be updating that for future ideas and such.

:-D

So Many Ideas!

Well it's been tough figuring out what I want because all of the things you could do are just beautiful. I do have a color palette with the help of this website. With that palette in mind, I have narrowed down my bridesmaid dresses to this in "golden". I think I am going to add a sash in ivory, to match my dress, to the maid of honor's dress in order to "distinguish" her from the rest of the bridal party. 

I want to combine these two centerpieces: 

  

I also want blue/yellow hydrangea bouquets for the bridesmaids with a blush colored ribbon.

I want my bouquet to be along the style of these two bouquets but bigger:

I want a cake like this. 

That's all I got! 

  

The Date is Set! 06.23.2012

After looking at a total of 13 places all over lower New York within the last two months; we finally found a place that had everything we were looking for, for a reasonable price. Our wedding will be taking place at the Greentree Country Club in New Rochelle, NY, on Saturday night, June 23rd, 2012. Our ceremony will be taking place onsite on a beautiful beach front gazebo. I'm so happy about the place and the date. I originally didn't have a specific date as I wanted to be flexible so we would be able to book any venue that fit what we were looking for. Greentree was the only venue that we looked at that offered June 23rd, which is the day after my parents got married. I fell in love with the idea of having our date as close to my parents and still being on a Saturday. Picking a place wasn't easy because we are having a smaller wedding and most places require at least 150 guests on a Saturday night. Greentree had a minimum of 125 and they lowered it to 110, but we are inviting around 120 people so it's perfect. We are working on finding Save the Date magnets to send out in the next few weeks.

My parents are also planning on throwing us an engagement party. It's hard to plan everything being that we are so far from my side of the family and far from my friends and I think it's great that my parents want to throw something like that for Chris and I. My mom is calling a couple of places to book the party this week and we plan on holding the dinner sometime in October. Both our families and wedding party are being invited.

The Dress!!!

Today my Mom, Grandma Margaret and I went dress shopping. I had found a bunch of dresses I wanted to try on on theknot.com. It was between two styles, princess and mermaid. I liked strapless, beading and lace for both types, so at least we had some commonality. We were driving around in the area yesterday and realized that there was a David's Bridal right in Attleboro and decided we would just take a look and see how the princess and mermaid styles looked.

The first dress I tried on was a mermaid, but I didn't really like it. The second dress was a princess style with beading and a long beautiful train. I instantly liked it and could see myself wearing it.. but I still wanted to look. Third time was the charm. As soon as I put it on and looked in the mirror I just felt like a million dollars. It's timeless, classy and beautifully embellished. It hugs me in all the right places. It has all the detailing I wanted and the style train I wanted. I tried on a few dresses just to be sure but I narrowed it down to the second and the third dress. I think I liked the second dress because it was better than the first, but the third dress was the one for me. The dress is made by Oleg Cassini, who has designed dresses for women such as Jackie O, Joan Crawford and Grace Kelly. I had no idea that he designed the dress, I simply picked it out because I liked the way it looked. As my mom says, I have champagne taste with beer pockets :-P

I wish I could share more details and photos about and of the dress but Chris reads this and I don't want him to know/see anything  as we all know it's bad luck! 

We spent time accessorizing after. My consultant put a beautiful elbow length trimmed veil and I just couldn't believe that it was me in the mirror. The veil really tied it all in and I came very close to tears. My mom and grandma did enough crying for me though :-)

I got to try on tiaras, veils, earrings, necklaces and shoes. I bought three veils; a train veil, an elbow length trimmed veil, and a blushing veil. I bought an earring and a necklace set and a tiara. I tried on almost all the shoes, but didn't really fall in love with any (if you know me, you know I don't mess around with my shoes!). I'm still searching for shoes but I have until September (plenty of time) to find a pair, so I can do alterations.

I didn't want to take the dress, or anything else for that matter, off.  We spent a long time (start to finish we were there about 4 hours) taking pictures and calling/texting loved ones that couldn't be present. I'm so happy and in love with my gown. I really can't wait to wear it on my day and I wish I could wear it more than just once!!

I really had no intention on buying my dress today. But when you see "the one" you definitely know it.

Moving on Up!

We just finished moving to our new apartment in Mansfield, Ma and it's amazing! We have so much room, it's quiet, there's a balcony with a beautiful view, we have an EXTRA bedroom and an eat in kitchen. Our utilities are less since we don't have gas to pay for. I'm also closer to work. We are still settling in and buying stuff for our guest room. I did take some pictures and I will be posting them up once the place is complete. I'm having fun decorating :)

I also got accepted into Umass Boston's Early Education Masters program and I will be starting that in the fall. Just another obstacle waiting to be jumped.

But now that we are moved and I have been accepted I am able to focus on planning for the wedding! I have a week off in July that I plan on spending with my Mom here and in NY. We are going to use that week to plan and visit venues etc.

I also plan on having an Engagement Party towards the end of summer... that too needs to be planned!

I'm going to start looking at bridal shows and such that will be going on that week and we will go from there :)

Visit to NY

I had a three day weekend due to Patriot's Day so I decided this would be an opportune time to visit NY and see my family and friends since I've been engaged. My mom and dad were so sweet and got Chris and I a little engagement cake. After working all day and then commuting 3.5 hours it was nice to be surprised with such a cute and delicious cake!

cake and booze my favorite things

so cute!! 

Make a wish!

Saturday we had such awful weather that Chris and I stayed in and hung out with my parents. We did stop by Macy's where my good friend Stephanie works. We were able to say Hi and give her a few sales :) Later on that night we wanted to go out it was so awful out that we weren't even able to due to flooding!

Chris left on Sunday because he didn't have Monday off. I was able to see my best friend, Meghan, and her boyfriend James. We went to Woodbury with my parents and then out to dinner which was a ton of fun! 

Monday, I met a friend of mine from Iona that I haven't seen since I graduated. It was nice to catch up with Amanda. After my lunch date I went to my Grandma Joanie's and my Aunt Andrea's for another meal (sorry, I'm Italian). My aunt cooked chicken cutlets, mushrooms, baked potatoes, antipast and escarole. My Grandma Margaret and my parents where there too. It was nice finally being able to show my grandmothers and my aunt my ring. Shortly after I had to make the trip back home on Amtrak.
The weekends don't last long enough, I swear.

little rant... 
I was on the phone with my Dad while I was on Amtrak, talking about the weekend and stuff. I was talking quietly, mind you, and the train was practically empty. The man sitting in front of me was eavesdropping and when I got off the phone he said I was, "too young to be engaged".This really irritated me. As if I'm not aware of my age. What should my response be? "Wow! Thanks complete stranger I just met on the train for your priceless wisdom! Good thing you told me I was too young to be engaged, I could have made a big mistake being that you seem to know what's best for me!" Seriously, who the hell are you?  I told him I actually wasn't too young to be engaged and he followed up with, "just some fatherly advice, put it off as long as you can." I ignored it after that but I was thinking that, a) I have a father to give me advice, complete stranger on the train and b) no one asked for your advice. 

Next time I will just politely say, mind yo own bizness n' step off foo'

Engaged!

the ring!

Christopher proposed to me on March 30th, 2011 and now we are engaged after almost 5 years of dating, most of it long distance! We are excited to be planning our wedding. Follow us through this blog as I will be updating and documenting our journey in planning this wedding (little overwhelming!). Things are a little up in the air right now regarding where we will be moving to, and where I will be attending grad school. Once the dust settles this summer, we will start the process of finally tieing the knot! Our hope is that by next summer we will officially be Mr. and Mrs. Christopher and Stephanie Staubin!

In the next few weeks we plan on taking professional engagement photos and having an engagement party, but for now we are just letting it all sink in :)