Cheers! Time for a Vino Wedding!!: April 2010

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Congratulations to my Brother & New Sister in Law!

Congratulations to Eric (my brother) and his new wife Tina! We had a wonderful (and busy) wedding weekend! Thursday was Tina's wedding shower hosted by her Mother Sally, Friday night was the rehearsal dinner at Johnny Garlic's Restaurant hosted by Larry and Sue Harman and then Saturday was the wedding!!!

Christian did a great job as wedding officiant and we got through our song, Lucky by Jason Mraz! Eric and Tina seemed very happy! Here are a few pictures from my Mom's camera:

The Cake made by the groom! Yes, Eric made his own wedding cake!

Ceremony

Ring Bearer, The "Best Pet" Buddy!

The Harman's

Christian, Me, Tina, & Eric

Eric & The Bridesmaids....

Table Arrangements (By the bride, Tina!)

Christian & I singing 'Lucky' by Jason Mraz

The Bride, Tina, about to toss the bouquet in front of Dad's Cobra!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Every Bride To Be's must have's....

So, summer is upon us and I can't wait to go lay in the sun (something I haven't been able to do for about 6 months here in Minnesota)! But wait! My dress is strapless, I can't have tan lines!! That got me to thinking about a lot of our bridal needs....

Here is my short MUST HAVE list for the modern bride to be.... ENJOY!

1. The Bandeau bikini top. I recommend Victoria's Secret online, they have a ton of mix and match colors of swimsuits and they are very affordable!

2. SUNSCREEN. Seriously, all summer long, no matter what you are wearing, ladies, we need to keep our skin beautiful for our big day! I love my Lancôme SÔLEIL ultra expert sun care, SPF 50 (it's intense but great to mix with your face lotion in the morning)!!

3. Aveda Dry Remedy Moisturizing Conditioner. I use it once a week! I need it since I'm trying to grown out my hair for the big day! Really, I just love all of Aveda products.....

4. A Vampire Novel. Ladies, we have a lot on our minds right now! Planning, calling, booking, budgeting, shopping, searching, crafting, the list goes on! You don't need to bog yourself down with deep, meaningful, intellectual novels! You need sexy, blood sucking boys and the girls who love with them (no matter the cost)! At least until after the wedding.... I recommend The Vampire Diaries, The Twilight Series, and my personal favorite The Sookie Stackhouse Series (aka TrueBlood). Have I read all of these? Maybe. Do I own some of them? Maybe. Do I have one on my bedside stand right now? Maybe.

5. Date Night!!! Christian and I now plan a weekly (ish) date night so that we actually get to spend some time together! Date night doesn't mean "wedding planning night" either, it means going to a movie, dinner, walk in the park, or just hanging out in the backyard! We've had some fun one's too, including bike rides, a play, farmer's market trip, walking along the river and movies at the cheap theater (hey two month old movies are still new to us)!!

I hope this list helps everyone (my future brides Alicia M. and Jenn L. specifically). Enjoy your summer and enjoy the wedding planning because they both go by very fast!!

Some Links to help you get started:

http://www2.victoriassecret.com/landing/?cgnbr=OSSWMZZZZZZ

http://www.consumersearch.com/sunscreen

http://www.aveda.com/products/CATEGORY10515/Hair_Care/Shampoo/index.tmpl

http://www.amazon.com/Sookie-Stackhouse-Books-Charlaine-Harris/dp/0441017770

http://dating.about.com/od/dateideas/a/frugaldateideas.htm

http://www.coolestdates.com/

Monday, April 19, 2010

Shoe Update...

Here is an update: I just posted about my wedding dress and finding shoes to go with my dress before alterations begin! Well I found a pair of shoes that I LOVE but they don't make them in the color I want anymore! Ugh... I've been online hunting all morning, calling stores, checking every shoe website in North America and no shoes.

Finally I checked out ebay where I found, for sale, ONE pair of the beautiful Badgley Mischka shoes (in my size), they aren't the correct color but we can work around that! The only thing was, that the auction was ending in 45 minutes! I tried to call Christian but he was at lunch and I couldn't get a hold of him. See, I don't have an ebay account nor do I know how to use ebay! Are they trusted sellers? How do you win? How do I set up an account? I was starting to panic! I tried Christian again and the poor guy was just back from lunch when I explained my stressful predicament! He was a Rockstar and got onto Ebay and checked it out for me. We agreed to a max price that we were willing to pay and he started the bidding. One other person was out bidding him every time and finally that person went just above our price agreement. Shoot! But, it's ok, I'll find a different pair of shoes! Then I looked again just 5 seconds before the auction closed and there was a new bid and it won. It was from Christian!!! He is the best, and he won my shoes (at a good price too)! They are beautiful and they fit like a glove (if gloves had 4 inch heels). Now I just need to figure out how to dye them.... But, that's another post! What a great Fiance I have! :)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Wedding Dress!

Well my wedding dress was set to arrive at Starlett Bridal Shop on April 20th! I hope I get a call from them soon... We are keeping our fingers crossed that in is on time since I will be in Sonoma County from April 22 through the 29th!

I can't wait to see it again. I hope I love it as much as I did the last time I saw it, I think I will but I still get nervous thinking about it! It's going to be like Christmas morning seeing it...

I hope to start any alterations while I am home as we are not scheduled to be back in California until the end of July (just over a months before the wedding). My main concern regarding alterations is, that I'm having trouble finding wedding shoes that I love. I've been shopping a few times and Edith graced me with her shoe expertise a few days ago but we agreed there wasn't a great selection this time of year. It's Minnesota, we had boots and only boots for the last 6 months, maybe it's just taking them a while to restock with open toed, pretty high heels! I will keep trying this week before we leave for Cali! Wish me luck!!

Edith also suggested I try looking online at shoes.com and endless.com. If you see anything that looks interesting, I'm all ears!

Eric & Tina's Wedding!

On Thursday Christian and I leave for California to attend my brother Eric and his fiance Tina's wedding! I can't believe it's only a week a way! It just goes to prove that time flies (especially when you are planning a wedding). I'm sure we will stay pretty busy all week.

Thursday night is Tina's wedding shower, Friday night is the rehearsal dinner and Saturday afternoon is the wedding! Did I mention that Christian is marrying Eric and Tina?!? Well he is... And we are singing a song in honor of the Bride and Groom at the reception so we are both a little nervous/excited! Between now and Saturday I think I will be observing a lot of "Do you take this woman to be your...." rehearsals in the bathroom mirror!

We look forward to visiting all of you family/friends in Sonoma County! Can't wait to see you all! Dum, dum, dum dum.... (insert bridal March here.)