FuturePhillyMissus

Blog has moved!!!

2008-10-17T17:53:00.001-04:00

The blog has moved to Wordpress (just think they have better blog options plus I can easily update from my Iphone!)

New link is http://futurephillymissus.wordpress.com

Our first registry gift

2008-10-14T18:07:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we got our first registry gift from my former boss and coworker. (I recently transitioned to a different business unit). I can't tell you how exciting it was to receive that big black and white box from Crate and Barrel.

Doesn't it look lovely on our dining room table.

The Candle Saga Continues

2008-10-14T09:45:00.006-04:00

So as you know I got a great deal on candles last week. They came and HOLY COW its a lot freaking candles!!!!!!!!

In this photo each box contains 40 candles and there is still another box underneath with another 40!

I had to check with my florist to see if she had glass containers for this quantity of candles, which duh, she did not have enough for in her existing stock. (Plus I am adding 24-40 more candles.) So she would have to order new glass. Since my florist is a small business owner I didn't think this was fair to her and would be an extraordinary expense, which would eventually get passed on to me. So in her and my best interest I started to hunt for a cheap solution. (Most venues do not allow you to have free standing candles, they either need to be in a container or sit on some type of dish).

Well the internet hunt was on! I love trolling the internet in order to find a great deal.

First up is Save On Crafts. I found that they had some really spectacular prices. Here is a sampling of their deals I am considering.

Clear glass cylinder 7-7/8" tall floral vase $2.36 each

Order 12 for just $1.49 each

Regular price $2.99 each

7.825" tall x 3.25" wide (diameter at the top) glass cylinder vase. Measures 3" diameter until it tapers at the bottom to 2-1/4" wide.

Quality Glass Cylinder Vases at Discount and Bulk Discount Prices

Clear Glass Cylinder Vase 6" tall X 3¼" diameter $2.69 each.

Order 12 for just $2.29 each

Regular price $3.99 each

Excellent for shorter stemmed flowers, floating candles and tea lights.

Quality glass hurricane shades and bases at discount and bulk discount prices.

6 clear 4" Diameter glass bases will hold pillar candles up to 2.9" wide - You get 12 bases for $10.20/ $.85 each

Reg. price $19.08/ $1.59 each

Candle is not included. Pillar candle holders. It has a thick outer lip. Holds up to a 2.9" pillar candle.

Then in a random Google search (search words candle wedding centerpiece) I came upon this lovely idea utilizing glasses from IKEA as candle holders (courtesy of Mrs. Lemon on Weddingbee). What a wonderful and resourceful idea.

IKEA has great prices on their glassware. (I've priced their candles and even with shipping and handling the candle vendor I went to was cheaper. But that is not to say that you can not get a steal on their floating candles and votives. Just be wary of burn time.)

Also check her post for a great deal on plumeria flowers. From my recent trip to Hawaii I can attest to their loveliness from first hand expereince.

So my question is now: What will I do with all that glass after the wedding?

Better start researching how to burnt candled from glass containers.

Cake Tasting II : I'm the greedy one for once

2008-10-06T17:16:00.005-04:00

(via Starling fitness blog)

Roe and I had another cake tasting yesterday at a famous cupcake place here in Philly by the name of Brown Betty's. And as you know from the last post I am somewhat of a cake snob. However, I entered into this tasting with high expectations. A couple of weeks ago Roe and I had sampled their wares at their new Rittenhouse location and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I was so anxious to get at all that cakey goodness into my mouth that I actually bit into part of the cupcake paper!

Now we had originally planned to go with a more traditional cake and I had foo-foo'd doing cupcakes as too trendy for the longest time. But when we had their cakey goodness we changed our mind. One they have one of the most kick a** cakes out there. Period end of discussion. Two we are always looking to support African American business owners in whatever we do. And three we saw how creative we could get with the display and how it could really add to the decor and feel of the wedding.

Well we were greeted by Norrinda and I must tell you she was the most pleasant woman. Her and her mother, who is the owner and prime baker were working the shop that day. I love the fact that all the recipes are a reflection of their family history and they demonstrate such a love and passion to preserving their memories through baking. You can see this by all the family photos decorating the wall of the shop. Its like walking into your great aunt's house and being treated to afternoon snack.

We had already tasted their carrot cupcake and lemon and were sold on those, but we wanted to try some of their other flavors, particularly the red velvet. Now as someone whose family comes from down south I did not have a tradition of eating red velvet and I have heard raves about it for the longest time. Therefore it was top on the list.

Roe and I tasted the red velvet, buttermilk pound, chocolate fudge, and regular vanilla. They were all great but the red velvet was TO DIE FOR. I wanted to push Roe away and have it all to myself. We both agreed that red velvet had to be served at the wedding. To quote one of Roe's favorite expressions "I gots to have it!"

Needless to say we settled on lemon, red velvet, carrot, and vanilla for the cupcakes and red velvet for a 6" cake for cutting. And we have decide to do two shades of a soft pink for the icing on the cupcakes and a traditional chocolate fondant icing for the cutting cake.

Going with cupcakes also helped in saving us money since we have a smaller wedding and usually bakers will add a surchage if under 75.

Now for the display, which I want to partly be a surprise. Just know that I am on the hunt for lovely pink milk glass cake stands like the following.

Deal on Candles

2008-10-06T17:00:00.002-04:00

So as you may or may or not know one of my design elements is candles. Partly because I love candlelight and partly because it is a cost effective design alternative to flowers yet still classy, elegant, and striking.

I have been trolling the internet to find bulk candles as a great rate. In my inital design consultation with my florist we agreed that I would provide the candles so as to cut down the cost and she would provide the glass containers they are to sit in (check with your vendor because a lot of places have rules against open flames - plus I think the glass enhances the effect of the candles.)

I started out by doing a Google search and found a number of vendors that sell candles as good rates. By far I found that Dining by Candlelight a wholesale internet seller had the best prices. They sell votive/tea light and pillar candles as well as containers.

I was most interested in their pillar candles, which can be costly else where. They sell the traditional 3" wide and also a 2.25" wide one known as a chamber pillar. I went with the chamber pillar since they are a little less costly and just as effective. They burn anywhere from 30-70 hours depending on the size.

(source diningbycandlelight website)

And as you can see they were even discounting them below normal price. Off course I got the sale sizes (2.25", 4", & 8"). Still need to get some 6" which I am hoping they discount and tealights which I have seen for better prices than Dining at other vendors.

332200

2 1/4" x 2 1/4" WHITE Mini Pillars - 48/cs
Burns 15 hours

~~$45.00~~
Sale: $23.85

332201

2 1/4" x 2 1/4" IVORY Mini Pillars - 48/cs
Burns 15 hours

~~$45.00~~
Sale: $23.85

225469

2 1/4" x 4" Unscented Chamber Candles - 48/cs
Burns 30 hours

Colors

$86.40

225600

2 1/4" x 6" Unscented Chamber Candles - 24/cs
Burns 50 hours

Colors

$49.50

225869

2 1/4" x 8" Unscented Chamber Candles - 24/cs
Burns 70 hours

Colors

$104.28

225400

2 1/4" x 4" Unscented Chamber Candles - 48/cs
Burns 30 hours

Colors

~~$72.00~~
Sale: $40.00

225800

2 1/4" x 8" Unscented Chamber Candles - 24/cs
Burns 70 hours

Colors

~~$86.90~~
Sale: $40.00

I was a little freaked out when during the check out process they asked for a tax id and company name in order to preceed, however, I filled in dummy values and my transaction went through.

Can't wait to receive them. And candles store well for years so no need to worry that there are almost 11 months to the wedding.

We plan to use them on the alter during the ceremony and lining the aisle, as well as on all the reception tables.

My question is what the heese am I going to do with all these half burned candles after the wedding?

Late summer garden

2008-10-06T16:44:00.005-04:00

I know its fall and everything but I wanted to post pics of my garden from late summer.

Enjoy.

Craigslist Finds

2008-10-06T08:31:00.002-04:00

Since I am addicted to wedding internet porn, I come across a lot of wedding stuff during my time surfing.

The one place I am finding that has potential great deals from smaller vendors is craigslist. In my search for wedding vendors I started with theknot (internet and print), friends, and my planner. I just wish I had known about all the blogs and craigslist. There is some great talent out there who may not have the exposure as some of the bigger names or are trying to build up their business.

I came across Mhari Scott Photography and was really captivated by her images and style. She does photojournalism, which my fiance and I decided to go with since we wanted a real life record of the day. And to top it off to boot her prices are AWESOME. 8 hours for $1550 (according to her website).

The second find was Kimberly Noel and she had a style that was a little more vivid than Mhari Scott, yet still great photojournalistic style and once again reasonable prices (packages starting at $1295 woohooo!). Check out her blog to look at her work and more info.

You find fab wedding stuff in the oddest places ....

2008-10-01T13:49:00.004-04:00

You find fab wedding stuff at the oddest times and places.

Place : Genaurdi's Supermarket
Time : Between 9 & 10 at night

These would be perfect for florals and decor.

And check out the price on these puppies (1/10 of the original price).

Unfortunately they don't go with my theme, but would be great for someone else.

Wedding Dresses I Wish I Was Daring Enough For

2008-09-30T14:31:00.004-04:00

If I was more bold and sassy here are some of dresses I would choose. (Or just had a 2-gown wedding or had multiple wedding receptions or was just filthy rich and wanted pretty dresses. Alas none of these are true.)

Melissa Sweet (courtesy theknot) - which was on my short list and looks even better in person
I felt so Carrie Bradshaw in it

Vineyard (courtesy of theknot) - was on my short list. While classy and sophisticated wanted something more romantic

Monique Lhuiller (courtesy of theknot) - the colors are surreal and divine

Oscar de la Renta (courtesy brides.com) - so classy

Vera Wang (courtesy of brides.com) - saw these in runway show and its stunning

J Crew (courtesy of brides.com) - to live out my Jane Austen fantasy

How lovely is this ....

2008-09-28T20:30:00.003-04:00

Was surfing looking for possible cake toppers and ran across this on Etsy.

This is from the seller stjudescreations. She creates the most lifelike flowers. This is listed for the purpose of pew flowers but I could also see this as a lovely cake topper. The possibilities are endless in terms of what you could do with her flowers.

Weddings are Not Cheap

2008-09-27T09:53:00.003-04:00

[source www.thedigeratilife.com/]

After going through another week of running the budget (for like a whole hour - I keep running month over month comparisons. How anal am I?), looking at where we stand in our wedding fund, sending out another big deposit check for a vendor (sending out the checks really hurt the worse - it's like someone clutching a fist around my heart), and purchasing other little incidentals I had to stop and ask myself : Is all this worth it?

This week I began to doubt myself and the choices we are making. For a wedding of our size, 50 people including ourselves, plus no alcohol or dancing are we spending too much? While not disclosing our budget lets say for our brunch reception we are kicking out the same per person price as people having their wedding at county clubs (which includes open bar). My girlfriend who is also getting married next year raised the same question. An acquaintance of hers just threw her whole wedding for $12k with three times the number of guests as mine!!!! (And I saw the pics it was a nice affair) When I heard this I nearly dropped into spasms on the floor and said to her in a whiny voice, "Am I doing something wrong? "

I think I have come to a point where all if not most of our vendors are locked in and I am starting to second guess our judgement. Could I have gone with a cheaper florist and gotten more arrangements? Could we have had a bigger wedding for the same price? Are we just spending too damn much money for 50 people for one day? And there are still little things that we would like to do that are not in our original budget (like draping, lightening, etc.) Also we decided that since we are doing a nine day cruise of the Carribean in October we are changing our honeymoon plans, which means more expense for us since we had planned to do an all inclusive resort. The little costs here and there are starting to add up and I see that we are easily going to come in over, when just last month we were $2K under! (Which by the way is my fault because I had the burning desire to have a videographer after seeing the work of the company Wellspun which pretty much ate the surplus up.) I feel like its spiraling out of control and I can't stop it. And I know there will be other items that "I just have to have or I will die and the wedding will not be right ....". But will there be money in the budget? And believe you me, Roe and I will not be the proud receiptents of an economic bail out if we get ourselves in trouble.

My fiance ever the pratical one constantly reminds me that its just one day and not the rest of our lives and that we have other priorities. Very easy to for him to say. I want us to have a fantabulous wonderous day with everything just right, but at what cost? And me who never worries and is the most non-chalant person is starting to stress over it. At one point I just wanted to junk everything and just go to the City Hall.

Drawing the line in the sand is hard. When do you say enough is enough and my day will be special regardless. No one will notice there is no pin lighting on the florals, or that we have no big florals in the ceremony room, or that its a dry wedding (Who are we kidding? People will definitely notice that). And that day will be special with or with out these things.

Help! Are other brides panicing about costs and asking "Is it worth it?"

Wedding Purse : Is it Really a Must Have ????

2008-09-19T09:41:00.000-04:00

Right before I departed for Hawaii, I had been working with the etsy seller blueorchidhandbags to design a wedding bag for myself. It came the day before I left and I must say I was thrilled!

Here is a photo courtesy of blueorchidhandbags.

I really loved working with her, she was so easy and accommodating. First I sent her pictures of my dress and described the colors of my wedding and the color of my dress sash. She then sent fabric samples of things she thought would go well with my outfit. And she was willing to work with me until I found the perfect match. From there I think the turn around for my bag was about a week.

THANKS BLUEOERCHID!

I was originally drawn to her because of her simple yet elegant clutch design and she has a lovely range of fabrics to choose from. Wanted to also choose something that I could use after the wedding as a fancy going out bag and to carry on our anniversaries.

However, it did get me to thinking about why do we as brides obsess about our pocketbooks so much? For the weddings I have been to I can not recall seeing not one bride carry their purse on that day. For my friends wedding last year, for which I was a bridesmaid, I did not know she had a bag till the professional shots came back and I saw it in only 1 shot of her accessories laid out on the bed. Now my cousin who was married 40 years ago said she wore her little pouch wristlet bag the whole wedding as a means to collect cash gifts. (WOW, how often does that happen these days!)

My question is do we really need to carry a bag that day? While I am uber excited about mine, I wonder as to its practicality. When I need something such as blotting paper or a retouch of my lipstick will I just ask a bridesmaid for something? Are we just so entrenched in the habit of getting purses to match our outfits that we feel compelled to get one on this day as well? And I find it super ironic that I put so much energy into getting a purse when as a little girl and into most of my teens it was like pulling teeth for me to carry a purse (YUCK!). My of my, how things change!

Invitations to be a Bridesmaid

2008-09-12T15:07:00.001-04:00

So here was my inspiration for my bridesmaid invites courtesy of Mrs.Lovebug on Weddingbee.Com:

So I had already told my bridesmaids beforehand that I wanted them to be in the wedding. But I wanted to do something special for them and really show how much they mean to me. So I decided that this would be my first DIY project! Yeah.

I decided to do a backstage pass as well as a ticket to the wedding. All was done in Microsoft Word since I have no clue about Photoshop. And all was cut out by hand since the fanciest cutter I have are scissors. The tmeplate for the ticket I got from the Microsoft website and I just modified it to suit my needs. (can pass it to anyone who wants it - assuming someone other than Roe and I are reading the blog.) I decided to get each of then monogrammed totes from Etsy seller loyalty and blood (to use as supermarket bags, to carry stuff for the wedding, etc). Then I just packaged it together with a ribbon.

They loved it.

OMG! MY FUTURE ANNIVERSARY!

2008-09-12T11:46:00.000-04:00

Our conversation while watching HGTV House Hunters (one of our favorite TV shows)

Roe: "Tomorrow it will be officially one year."

Me : "Huh ...."

Roe: "One year exactly till we get married"

Me (pausing for a second to remember the today's date. I swear I am clueless half the time.) : "Oh Yeah"

Roe: "Want to do something special tomorrow to celebrate?"

Me: "Sure why not."

Do I come across as nonchalant and lackadaisical? Yup. Is that me 95% of the time? Yup.

But inside I am doing the Happy Dance!!!!

(image: www.selmanc.info)

Did I tell you that my fiance is greedy?

2008-08-26T20:40:00.000-04:00

Since it is the season and I have been baking my kiester off, I thought I would include the recipe for the item Roe can't seem to get enough of (I mean it is borders on gluttony!).

My master plan every year is to capitalize on fresh peaches while they are in season and bake enough cobbler to get me through the winter or at least till January. But no Mr. Roe has to eat it all at once. When the mood strikes (which is often) he jumps up and screams "Cobbler Time!" and does his happy dance. Then he precedes to eat it with a heaping of ice cream.

So tomorrow I am back at peeling a million and one peaches to make cobbler, which I am storing in Roe's mother's deep freezer. Hopefully I will be able to sample some come winter (but I doubt it).

Two words for Roe: Greedy Ass!

Peach Cobbler

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Filling
Fresh Peaches Sliced (About 4 cups)
2 packs of gelatin (I believe it’s the equivalent of 1/4 cup)
At least 1 teaspoon of cinnamon ( I added more but it is to your taste)
At least a 1/2 cup of sugar (Also more if you want it sweeter - I think I put in 3/4 a cup)

-Blend all together and set aside

Topping
2 cups of Flour
1 cup of sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup of milk
1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon of baking powder

- Sift all dry ingredients together.
- Melt Butter and add milk to it
- Slowly stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients
- Pour over peaches in dish.
- Bake in oven till knife comes out clean from center. ~50 Minutes

I AM ADDICTED TO PORN: WEDDING PORN!!!!

2008-08-26T20:26:00.000-04:00

I think its time that my dirty little secret comes out of the closet. I am hooked, I am addict, I need a fix every day. I am addicted to wedding porn.

How did I know that I had a problem? When I promised myself that I would stop subscribing to wedding blogs on Google Reader at 15 subscriptions and here I am just having added my 30th today! When I wake up in the morning I reach straight for that Iphone to see the latest blog updates and before I go to bed at night I check for new feeds and may reread the posts from earlier. It is a running joke with my fiance that I love the Google Reader more than anything else in the world. And that my friend I do not find amusing, because in every joke and the phrase "I'm just kidding" is a grain of truth.

And it was so easy to get to this point. The pictures are so beautiful and colorful (damn it! its called eye candy on all the blogs for goodness sake), it appeals to a woman's inherent desire to admire and aspire towards having pretty things (like shoes, dresses, gifts, etc), it taps into an emotional nerve so that you can vicariously live through others and experience a wedding day through pictures and stories over and over again, should I go on?

I have tried to wean myself off but to no avail. I am hoping that on my cruise next week I am able to curtail my habit. But will I be back here again in a couple of months? Will my Google reader wedding subscriptions go even higher?

Pray for me.

Oh Etsy How I love you, let me count the ways

2008-08-26T20:11:00.000-04:00

If you asked me just 4 months ago what is "etsy" I would have said "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?"

But now I am completely and utterly in love. I need to view etsy almost everyday. I look for reasons to casually drop by to peruse through all the delectable goodies.

Needless to say I am addicted.

Here are some of my favorites:

loyalty and blood - purchased these as bridesmaid invitation gifts

lizzybleu - purchased these for Roe which he will be wearing on our wedding day

Boojiboo-so I can stroll around the house and play 50's housewife

muchachaK - I am so lusting after her jewelry rolls and reversible clutch

Simplyseasonal - love to do these as favors or just have them in my own personal "make me feel good cause I am have a sucky day" food stash

Official Proposal

2008-08-19T09:02:00.000-04:00

So I have been negligent in posting one important detail of our wedding, how Mr. Roe proposed to me. I have to admit that its not the most romantic or exciting story that some brides have. Roe and I came to a mutual decision to get married, maybe its our age and fully knowing what we want in a spouse and having been through a lot of "frogs" . We both realized that this was something special early on and that we would be great together. However, I will admit that he did know a little before me. Early into our dating Roe would throw out casual statements like "You are going to be my wife", "I see us spending our life together", etc. And when he said this I was overtaken with a sense of calm and it just felt right. So we decided back in April to get married but my official engagement was not till July. How do you explain that after little under 4 months of dating you are getting married. Crazy right?

So Roe planned something special for me for my birthday - a trip to DC for fun and relaxation. He booked everything and would not tell me where we were going. Now I knew that 2 weeks previously he had picked up the ring, so it was locked away in the house. (Torture for most, but given my laid back personality it really didn't bother me. I figured I'd get in due time.) He booked us at the Hyatt in Crystal City VA, which was really nice. That day we arrived (which was my birthday) we went exploring in Old Alexandria window shopping at little shops. We often look at furniture and home goods laying plans and cataloging stuff we love for our next home. After walking through Old Alexandria for about 2 hours we came back to the hotel to change for dinner. Roe wouldn't tell me where we were going, so I was pleasantly surprised when we landed in Georgetown on the waterfront. Our first choice for dinner was Sequoia, however, they were fully booked on a Wednesday night and only had outdoor seating. Given that it was like 90% humidity that day, no way did we want to sit outside. Luckily near by was a lovely spot by the name of Arcadia. Arcadia had a very Northwestern feel and all their produce and meats come from cooperative farmers. Well I really made a pig of myself. As I am in the midst of fighting sleep, which I am notorious for doing after a big meal, I see Roe reach into his pocket. I just welled up and started to cry - and I mean cry hard like a baby. (Is this what I have to look forward to on my wedding day - uncontrollable tears and my ugly cry face?) He took my hand and started to say the most lovely things, half of which I don't remember. All I know is that at the moment I have never loved a man more than I loved Roe. Unfortunately I was crying so hard that the waiter must have thought something was wrong so he cam over midway through the proposal. Bless his heart! But after assuring him that I was ok Roe continued on and placed the ring on my finger. See how HAPPY we look!!!!!

Here other pics from our trip.

Stationary Vendor

2008-08-19T08:53:00.000-04:00

We have been on the hunt for a stationary vendor. I have been collecting quotes from people over the past couple of weeks and it has surprised me the range in prices. We originally thought that our initial budget for our stationary would be more than sufficient for a wedding our size, that is till my paper crazed self got carried away with all the paper products for the wedding. So we have doubled our budget. (I know shame on me! But I LOVE PAPER and I really want to have beautiful stationary.) It makes you question if its worth it and do people really appreciate it, its something that most people will casually glance at and then throw in a pile somewhere. Well I plan to frame mine after the wedding as a memento. And it took some convincing and cajoling to get Roe to go along with my grand scheme of everything.

We have our last vendor meeting this Saturday and I am hoping that this is the lady we decide to go with. She has lovely, truly beautiful work. I am just hoping that her prices are reasonable and fit into our budget.

Will post more after our final decision is made and give an overview of everyone we considered. Until then sharing with you my stationary inspiration board.

The Shoe Wars - I still may win but the chances are slim

2008-07-27T09:28:00.000-04:00

So needless to say my fiance and I have drastically different views on wedding shoe attire for both men and women.

For women he is a supporter of the tradtitonal ivory or white bridal shoe.

[photo Dyeable Shoe Company]

While I have fallen in love with the trend of the colored wedding shoe.

And to quote him "Its ridiculous!". And he is not too pleased at the thought of seeing me with colored shoes the whole day. But I don't care. Baby wants colored shoes, and Baby is going to get colored shoes.

But because of the colored shoes I had to concede to the "Gators". (I inwardly cringe right now.) I don't like Gators and never will. They just evoke images of Huggie Bear to me. But he swears that nothing is more comfortable or finishes off an outfit better than Gators. I was adamant at first that he had to have a more traditional shoe for the wedding but because of the colored shoes and to be fair, I had to back down on it. So now its a Gator wedding.

One for You and One for ME!

2008-07-27T08:50:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I said that I was not going to be a bride dictator and demand that my bridesmaids wear the same dresses. I have two bridesmaids that are as different as night and day. One is classic the other trendy, one is understated the other flashy, one is tall and willowy the other extremely petite with curves. I want them to look and feel great in the dress they wear, and I highly doubt that will be accomplished in forcing them to wear the same thing. In fact I think its Mission impossible to find a dress that would look fantastic on both of them.

So I was going to designate a designer and say to them choose what looks best as long as its chocolate brown. I was leaning towards J Crew since I love their classic flirty styles and figured that maybe they could get another wear out of them.

Until I saw the bridesmaid dresses from Priscilla of Boston and I fell in love!!!

I totally wanted to change my mind and have them each wear one of these lovely creations. [photos courtesy of The Knot]

Darn it I was lusting after them myself. In fact I was lusting so hard that when I drove by the shop this weekend and I saw the beatiful papaya dress with the ruffles in the window I told my fiance that we had to go in and try it on. So we went in with him being very uncomfortable since in his words "he was entering an inner sanctum of women" and tried on both the ruffled concoction and the strapless dress with pockets. Needless to say they were both AWESOME! And I decided on the spot to get the ruffled dress for myself to wear to my friend's wedding in May. And I am putting the strapless number on the short list for my rehearsal dinner. And to top it all off I get a 15% discount for having bought my wedding dress there and being a preferred customer. Can we say YEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!

What else I love about the dresses is the fabric. Its a cotton which is perfect for spring/summer weddings/functions and so appropriate for daytime. They offer their cotton dresses in a range of lovely colors, which includes brown, but was disappointed that there was no soft pink. The papaya pictured here was the closest thing ;-(

So I am going to let my bridesmaids still choose the dress of their choosing from PB as long as its cotton (and maybe chiffon - another choice for a daytime summer wedding), tea length, and its chocolate brown.

But would it be odd to have worn one of your bridesmaid dresses to a friend's wedding earlier in the year? What do you think?

Break from Blogging - A break from Wedding stuff

2008-07-18T13:21:00.000-04:00

Yes I took a break from blogging and I took a semi-break from wedding planning. After my stint of wedding dress shopping and my growing daily obsession with all the blogs (which I still battle with), I realized I am not focusing on what's important: my relationship with my sweetie.

Sometimes we get so obsessed with the destination that we do not enjoy the journey. So now I am trying my best to pace myself. As my girlfriend reminded me, savor your engagement, ask for help, you don't have to do it all at once, and at the end of the day all that matters is you and your fiance/husband and the love you share.

And darn it I have 13.5 months to go!!

Ring Bowls

2008-05-27T12:13:00.000-04:00

I am hearting ring bowls right now. Needless to say I am hearting them upon the much anticipated arrival of my own ring. Yes I am ringless (however, that is for another post).

So I am bookmarking my favorites until that special day.

Images in order of appearance

1.http://www.everydayartifact.com/gifts_artroom.htm

2.sherry truitt studios :: forging, one peace at a time (1st image)

3. Etsy.com Paloma's Nest... Crafting, one Peace at a time

Garden Shots

2008-05-27T11:35:00.000-04:00

One of my passions is flowers and I love to garden. I take pride in my little patch of earth. Thought I share photos of my flowers that are currently in bloom.

This totally unrelated to wedding stuff and most of these can not be used as bridal flowers (except the irises)

Enjoy.

Cake Recipe: One Bowl Chocolate Cake

2008-05-27T10:54:00.000-04:00

Since I am a cake fanatic ( though my hips cry out in rebellion), I am going to share with you a simple and oh so YUMMY recipe I got from our girl Martha. (She really is uber talented and I have yet to have a bad experience with her recipes).

This cake is moist, rich, flavorful, and to top it off fast and easy to make!

Enjoy! I know we did this past Memorial Day and oh how my hips hate me.

Makes awesome cupcakes too.

Ingredients

Makes 2 eight-inch square or 3 eight-inch round layers

Unsalted butter, for pans
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pans
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter round or square cake pans, and line bottoms with parchment; butter parchment, and dust with cocoa.
Into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, stir in eggs, 1 1/2 cups warm water, buttermilk, vegetable oil, and vanilla until smooth, about 3 minutes.
Divide batter among prepared pans. Bake, rotating once, until tester inserted in center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes for 8-inch layers, depending on amount of batter.
Let cakes cool in pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely, right side up on rack.

Cake Part I: Not all Cake is Created Equal

2008-05-27T09:19:00.000-04:00

We went on our first cake tasting at Bredenbeck's Bakery. Though I have passed by Brendenbeck's thousands of times never considered them for our wedding cake until we came upon their booth at Chestnut Hill Day a couple of weeks ago. Their portfolio of cakes were beautiful and the clincher was they could lock us in at '08 prices. For the future Mister this sent him over the top.

Now I am somewhat of a cake snob and price is not the deal clincher. I want a cake that tastes FABULOUS! One that makes you feel like you have died and gone to heaven. So needless to say I was a little skeptical and really needed to get a taste before I said yea or nay.

So we went on a cake tasting this past Sunday. The staff there at Bredenbeck's are very helpful and friendly. The bakery storefront is extremely small so for the tasting they take you up to the third floor and it is a hike. But once up there you are in a room surrounded by beautiful cake models. They present you with a plate of different flavored pound cakes (Basic package, however basic layer cake is same price as traditional pound.)

(Clockwise from top raspberry swirl, lemon, traditional, chocolate chip pound)

I liked the traditional best while the future Mister loved the raspberry (one of their most popular).

Future Mister while eating his raspberry swirl

While the cake was good it was not Fantabulous. We asked about the layer cake and they provided us with one of their chocolate cupcakes to sample. It was somewhat dry and the pound cake was clearly better. Their pricing of $3.75 a serving is very reasonable and a cake for a wedding our size would be about ~$200. (I talked to another bakery and they have cautioned that like all other food items flour has gone up in price which may drive up the cost of baked goods. So be warned for 09 at any bakery!) I loved the fact that Laura our tasting consultant was good at listening to our design ideas and made great suggestions about sizing. Since we want the look of a three tiered cake and that would clearly be too much for our wedding party, she suggested a dummy tier made out of styrofoam which they could execute with butter cream or fondant icing.

They clearly had beautiful designs, however, I was just not won over by their taste. So the hunt continues.

Here is a link to their website.

http://www.bredenbecks.com/weddings.php

Their online album does not do justice to the work they are capable of, the sample cakes at the tasting were gorgeous. (Sorry no shots! What was I thinking.) I suggest if you like a good traditional pound cake and care more about the look rather than the taste then they are a great choice.

Venue

2008-05-22T14:54:00.000-04:00

So after a semi-exhaustive search we chose the Four Seasons in Philadelphia as our venue.

Here were the driving reasons:

1) We were adamant about having a Center City location. Convenient for our in-town guests to get to and our out of town guests really get a taste of Philly by being in the heart of the city.

2) We wanted a hotel so we could have the ceremony and reception at the same place. (Cuts out the whole cost of transportation).

3) Since we are not going the traditional route of having an evening wedding we needed a place that could accommodate a late morning - early afternoon wedding. (Really its a deal for the hotel because they get a twofer in one day. Some hotels were very adamant that since we wanted to do it on a Saturday they could only accommodate day time weddings on Friday or Sunday. Saturday's were reserved for their big weddings in the ball room)

4) We wanted to do a brunch (the best meal of the day), heard raves about their brunch spread and the brunch menu options were spectacular.

5) Their decor is gorgeous and the level of service is beyond compare.

6) In our venue visit the wedding coordinator Lanay was prepared & organized, friendly beyond compare, and seemed genuinely interested in us and our wedding plans. She did not push us to do things we didn't want to and really helped in working with our theme and things we love.

7) The meeting rooms were beautiful and went along with our cozy sophisticated theme.

8) The flow of the hotel was great. Everything on one floor. Which we have to consider for older guests and just for ease of moving from one room to another.

9) The possibility of using the terrace for the cocktail hour.

10) Possibility of great shots right outside the hotel on the Parkway or at Logan Circle.

Even though they were the priciest of all the hotels we looked at the future Mister, who is very strict about the budget, turned to me on the car ride home and said "Let's do the Four Seasons". Which came as a totally big surprise. I had casually thrown out the question "So what do you think? Thoughts, impressions?" Holding my breathe and expecting him to pick the most economical venue. But this time he was the "BUDGET BUSTER". And I was advocating for the cheaper venue. (I know .... me advocate for the cheaper item .... Bizarro World!) Well I guess in all of this nothing will ever be as you expect it.

I will admit there are some cons to the venue we choose but I feel they are minor in the grand scheme of things.

1. We did not get a complimentary room, though other hotels offered. We are only getting a discount on a suite. And this was the case with a couple since we were not doing a night time wedding.
2. We do not get a tasting. We actually had to go to Sunday brunch at the hotel to get a feel of what the quality of food would be like. (So in essence we paid for the tasting).

But needless to say we have the Four Seasons and I love it. YEAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

(It was secretly the one I wanted anyhoo!)

Here is a link to a picture of our reception room.

Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia Meeting - Meeting rooms : Washington Room

Boutonnières

2008-05-22T09:34:00.001-04:00

(All top photos courtesy of The Knot)

Okay so me and the future Mister went back and forth about the boutonnières.

I think they are terribly kitschy! To me they bring up images of high school prom. And do not to me make a man look dapper at all. But yet I feel strange breaking with tradition. The pics above are lovely examples of some versions of the traditional boutonnières.

Well at my first floral meeting we decided on simple rose boutonnières, however, after some thought I really hated it. And considering the Mister's personality and style I didn't think it was truly a reflection of him. Then we kicked around the idea of one made out of Swarovski crystals to give him a little bling. But I must admit to me it did not come across as too masculine.

Then we found the following site http://www.wirename.com and I knew I found the perfect alternative. And the Mister loved it. See a sample of their work.

We are thinking of either doing his initials of his full name or linked initials of our names. How cute is that!

What I am obsessed with lately

2008-05-22T08:47:00.000-04:00

So I go through periods where I become maniac and obsessed about certain aspects of the wedding (Yeah and its 478 days away, just call me crazy!). Well its my hair today.

See just 3 months ago I had to cut off a substantial amount of my hair because it was breaking off and severely damaged. From what I don't know and my hairdresser still can not figure it out. Well needless to say I was not pleased, in fact I was devastated! Still am and still have not adjusted to seeing myself with hair this short ...... I am going to stop now because I could go on about this forever.

Well needless to say even though the wedding is so far out I will still need to get extensions put in to get the look I want. I got them from my friend's wedding this past September and loved it! They looked so real, but I think my hairdresser did a wonderful job blending it with my natural hair. Here is a pic.Well I found a great site for hair photos (http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/be_byte6/)

And found a couple that I really love. I want a soft romantic look for the wedding and also something that I can easily wear down for the reception if I so choose.

I know I want the front to look like Eva's and the back of the last photo with a pretty flower or hair pin would be gorgeous!

Inspiration Board & Thematic Elements

2008-05-13T20:27:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my first entry in my wedding blog. Though no one may ever read it, my fiance suggested that it may be a good outlet for me since I am trolling the internet all day looking at wedding stuff anyhoo. His thought was why not join in all the fun and stop being a spectator. And unfortunately I am ashamed to admit that I have been bitten by the wedding bug. I was not one of these little girls that always dreamed about weddings, or a single girl that had a secret stash of bridal magazines and kept a book of clipped wedding pics for that "special day". Quite frankly till me and Mr.R decided to get married, I truly had resigned myself to a life of singledom and thought of weddings never crossed my mind. But now that I am actually planning one (which quite honestly is not till September 2009) I see how it is easy to become absorbed and consumed with it. It combines all the things women love: fashion, entertaining, shopping, partying, etc. How could anyone not be won over. And for me a person obsessed with planning and organization it is an unimaginable high!

So needless to say in my over achiever anal compulsive way I already have a venue, wedding coordinator, photographer, and florist. (Scary right - considering my wedding is only for 50 people including me and Mr. R and I will gladly fill you in on all the details in future entries).

Working in collaboration with the wedding coordinator she and I cam up with a theme that embodied all the things that Mr.R and I liked and truly captured the look and feel we wanted for the wedding. And that was (drum roll please): Olde City Elegance with Soft Romance. A play on the fact that we are both natives of Philadelphia and love it and wanted a soft romantic yet elegant wedding.

She had us list out things we like and words we would used to describe the look and feel of our wedding. Using this she came up with a theme and also pulled out 4-5 elements that we could use in the design of the overall look of the wedding - thematic elements.

Here is what our original brainstorm list was:

Casual-Elegance Black & White Films/Photographs Calm Rain
Intimate Jazz Music Serenity Laughter
Romantic Ballet (Giselle) Apples Animals
Fragrance/Cologne Tea Brown Sugar The South
Simple Art Clothes Baking Mirrors
Candles Warmth Books/Reading Clouds
Peonies Inviting Flowers/Garden Silver Metal
Chocolate Clay Architecture
Cookies Roses Diamonds
Leaves (Autumn) Impressionist Art Watches
Italian Spring Fun

From that we got the thematic elements of: Diamonds/Crystals, Silver, Wrought Iron (Inspired by Architecture), Romantic Flowers (Roses, Peonies, etc), Candelight.

Doing this has really helped me to focus in planning the look and feel. It also caused me to make major changes to my inspiration board. I love my board!!!!!!!! I love to just look at it and I take it with me to all my vendor meetings and when I see ideas on the net or books I refer back to it to make sure things are in line with the overall vision.