Rehearsal dinner, etc

Ok, the rehearsal dinner has changed, again. 


It will be held at Ted's Montana Grill in South Windsor. Here is a link to the menu if you want to look at it. We need to be at the restaurant NO LATER THAN 3:30, so please be at my house, with all of your wedding stuff for 1. That will give us some time to put away all of the stuff, meet up with all of the groomsmen, etc at the hotel and then head to the restaurant. 


As far as dress goes, I have recommended that the guys wear khakis and a button up shirt. Sundresses are great, as are dress pants and a nice top for the girls. (Or a skirt and nice top...you get the idea). I have faith that all of you will be fine. 


So, that is about it for now. Then the rehearsal will be at 6:15 at the church. YIPPEE. 

ALRIGHT! CHURCH INFO!

Here is the info that you all have been waiting for! Church INFO! Please refer to the diagram to understand what I am talking about. 

Note: Diagram is NOT to scale. 

So, during the processional, (the part where we all enter) we are going to be coming in through the DOORS. Woot woot. When you walk in, go to the correct area. Bridesmaids, go to the left front pew, groomsmen to the right front pew. Maid of Honor to the left front sideish. Dax and Alan do not process in. More to follow on that. 


So, the order for the processional. 
Alan's Paternal Granparents
Alan's Maternal Grandparents
Jessica's Paternal Grandparents
Alan's Parents
Jessica Mom and DAN
THEN
At this point, Alan and Dax will walk across the front of the room and stand in their correct positions. (Coming from the right side)
THEN
Justin and Dan
Jordan and Jerome
Andy and Mike
Mary
Bettina
Meredith
Caitlin
THEN
The doors are closed. I assemble behind them with my mom and then the doors are reopened and I walk in. BAM. Marriage happens. 


For the recessional. 
Alan and I go out first
Followed by
Caitlin and Dax
Andy Meredith Mike
Jerome Bettina Jordan
Justin Mary Dan
Followed by 
My parents
Alans parents
Then a free for all


The receiving line will line up in this order with closest to the door of people coming out to furthest
Jessica's Parents
Caitlin
Jessica
Alan
Dax
Alan's Parents


The rest of the bridal party will line the area below.  




Phew. Anyone have any questions? 

FLOWERS!!!

The flowers have been ordered! SWEET! They will arrive Wednesday, June 6th!

Something borrowed

So, quick question. Does anyone have a pretty hair comb that I can borrow for my "something borrowed?"

CELL PHONE=DEAD :(

My cell phone has died. If anyone needs to contact me for awhile, please email me!

SHOES! FINALLY!

I FINALLY found shoes! JUST IN TIME since my bridal dress fitting is next Thursday. Here is a picture!

Since the picture is fuzzy, here is the link.

AHHHH!!!!

50 DAYS LEFT! CRAZINESS! SO MUCH LEFT TO DO!

2 MONTHS LEFT!

TWO MONTHS LEFT! EEK!

Only a couple of decisions have been made since I last talked to all of you:

1.) The seating chart is finished. Since the bridal party is so HUGE (SOOO many groomsmen) it would be ridiculous to have a long giant head table. So we are not doing that. Instead, we are doing the arrangement shown below. The middle rectangle will be Alan and I with the maid of honor (Caitlin) and the best man (Dax) that way they will be there to give the toast and Alan and I don't have to sit alone all night. The left side of the diagram will be where all of the "bride" related people sit. This includes you guys, my brothers, etc...

Our Loverly Barbell Setup

2.) The place cards are in the process of being printed. By which I mean, I have been lazy and haven't finished them yet. They are going to be in little silver picture frames and include a wallet sized engagement picture of Alan and I. These are our wedding favors to all of the guests.

3.) We are naming the tables after buildings at Bucknell. Per Meredith's AWESOME suggestion, we are also putting a picture frame describing why the building is cool on the table. Those are finished. Here is a picture of one of them. 

A terrible photo, but you get the idea.

4.) I have decided to do all the centerpieces with real flowers. 

5.) Caitlin is apparently getting here like a week before the wedding. CHACHING! Now I will have help. So if anyone else is going to be here and wants to party, they are welcome to stop by.

6.) All of our music is picked out. You guys are walking into to this. They wanted me to walk in to it, but it reminded me of storm troopers. The music is AWESOME. The Ave Maria is so beautiful.
A Trumpet Voluntary in D major by Purcell

I will be walking in to this.

Canon in D. This is not a great version but oh well.

We will all be walking out to this. 

Hornpipe by Handel.

That is all I can think of at the moment. If I think of anything else, I will let you know!

BRIDAL SHOWER!

Ok, so the bridal shower in CT will be the DAY AFTER the makeup fun party. I figured if I made it that day, if you guys were coming to the makeup party it would be easier for you to come to the bridal shower. If you can't make it to either though, don't worry about it! Here is a link to the invite...I'm mainly just testing out what its going to look like here...you will get an official one in your email!

Bridal Shower Invitation

Rehearsal and Dinner

First of all I want to say CONGRATULATIONS TO MARY!!! We are all so excited for you! 

Second, I want to let you guys in on some more information that I just got worked out, specifically about the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal will be on Friday, July 8th at 6:15 PM. This is one event that you CANNOT miss otherwise you will have no idea what will be going on the next day! Which would be bad!

To preface, our rehearsal dinner is going to be a little unusual. As you know, all of the out of town guests will be staying at the Marriott Hotel in Manchester. Alan's mom has also reserved the a conference room at the hotel for the weekend so that all of the guests of the wedding will have a place to convene, hang out, etc during the course of the weekend. So, rather than have a fancy, uptight rehearsal dinner, we will be having pizza, pasta and salad in the conference room at the hotel with all out the out of town guests (mostly from Alan's family.) This will give everyone a chance to hang out, meet everyone and just have a good time!

So, with that information out of the way, I will now tell you the plan for the evening. You girls should meet me here at 2:00PM. We can then head over to the conference room, set up, then run out to get the food. Dinner will start at 4:30 in the conference room. Around 5:45 we will head out to go to the church for the rehearsal and following the rehearsal head back to the hotel to hang out with guests a little longer, play some games, etc before heading out around 9PM to make bouquets and get everything ready for the morning!

Good News!

Good news good news!

Number one: I will be in Connecticut all summer. That means I can be around to help out and go to the makeover party thing!

Number two: I am now planning a second wedding. Mine! Josh proposed to me on Sunday night. We're going to get married in October of either 2012 or 2013. Not much news besides that, still in the process of getting everyone informed, and we aren't really planning anything until after I've graduated, but I wanted to share the news!

Who thinks we should get these for the wedding? LOL

WEDDING HAIR PICTURES!!!

So, I have pictures of my hairstyle. What do you think?

No, I'm not naked. I'm just wearing the dress. 

 

Makeup fun party!

Ok guys!

So, I apparently got entered in this contest and won a makeover party for all of us girls. It includes a facial, lip treatment, makeover, etc! Plus they will be giving out samples and have free product raffles! Woot woot!

So, the date of our makeup party (it will be at my house in Hebron) IS June 10th at 7pm! Perhaps we could all do dinner or something before? Let me know if you can make it or not! Also, everyone who does come...bring your dresses and you shoes! We can store the dresses here (and the shoes if you want as well) so that way you dont have to worry about it the day before the wedding. Also, we could do a mini fashion show! We could all try on the dresses, etc. Sound good? Let me know what you girls think!

Ahh. The joys of hair and makeup.

Ok, so I had my trial makeup done the other day and it was literally so terrible it made me cry. Not my proudest moment, but far, but the woman made me look like a 90's tranny. It was awful. In any case...I still have no idea what I am doing for makeup.

As for hair...I have a trial at Capricorn I which is on Main Street in Hebron (which means nothing to you out of town folks, but its really close) on February 24th. Updos for you guys would start at 50 BUCKS! I figured everyone would be happy about that! Less that originally expected! SWEET! We would have to go 2 at a time, but that is doable, especially considering it is so close. This place also is getting set up RIGHT NOW with a makeup artist, so as soon as I have more details about that, I will let you know. Basically, once I have the trial, I will have MUCH more information, and possibly a schedule! 

Keep being awesome ladies! OH! Also, so far 2 peoples dresses have come in! Very exciting!

Hair and Makeup Part II. In Poll Form

Alright girls, here is a poll. If hair and makeup were the same cost (about 60 bucks) and together would cost about 120 which would you rather get done for the wedding? 

Which would you rather get done?

HAIR AND MAKEUP!

I do believe I found a traveling makeup and hair salon people! More details as I know more.

Hello Ladies

Yes I know that tag line is creepy. Which is exactly why I did it. In any case, I have some GREAT NEWS! All of the bridesmaids and all of the groomsmen ARE OFFICIALLY FITTED FOR THEIR RESPECTIVE CLOTHING AND HAVE ORDERED IT! This is HUGE you guys! You have no idea how worried I was about all of it! I just want to thank all of you so much for getting it done!

Just a quick check: Has everyone received her invitation?

Wedding Favor Picture!

Just showing you guys a quick photo of the framed picture. These are going to be the wedding favors! 

My hand looks funny. Like a CLAW!

New poll! What should be the first fast song?

So, all in all, Alan and I want the reception to rock for both the old people and the young people. We figured what better way to do that than by using classic rock jams? So, what song do you think would be the best for the first fast song to get people out on the dance floor? Naturally I have included links to listen to the songs! If anyone has other song suggestions PLEASE COMMENT!

Shake it up: The Cars
Take me home tonight: Eddie Money
Any way you want it: Journey
Gimme all your loving: ZZ top

What song should be the first fast song?

All the Details you ever wanted to know about a Catholic Wedding Ceremony

So, apparently some of the groomsmen have been freaking out about this whole Catholic wedding thing and it got me to thinking...not a single one of you is Catholic so you might have the same concerns, etc that they might be having. So, here is the post to set your mind at ease.

There are several types of masses that you can have in the Catholic Church to celebrate the Sacrament of marriage. The longest and most formal of these is a Nuptial Mass which is an ENTIRE Catholic mass with the extra wedding stuff chucked in. A mass has a lot of ritual that goes into in general. People stand, sit, kneel all at certain times and say things all at certain times. If you guys are nervous, it might be a good idea just to go to a Catholic Mass one Sunday to get more acquainted with the traditions and what goes on.

Here is a website that details pretty well what happens during the Catholic Nuptial Mass. It varies a little from church to church, but this basic format will put you in good shape for understanding the terminology that the priest will be using during the rehearsal. It will also tell you the times to stand or sit since, because you will be in the front row, you can't just stand when the people in front of you do!

Nuptial Mass Info: this is a link by the way.

All in all, the important thing to remember about the mass, if you remember nothing else, is that because you guys are not Catholic you can not take communion. Thats all. So just stay in your seats when the call people up for the Eucharist and you see people lining up and eating bread. Dont get up for that. 

All of you will be fine. I believe that most of the ceremony you will just be sitting down in pews. Just keep and eye out for what everyone else is doing during the mass section and at the rehearsal we will go over all of the wedding stuff. If anyone has any questions, concerns, etc...just talk to me and I can help you work out anything. Even if you are just curious about what stuff means, etc, let me know!

FIRST POLL!

So guys...here is the first official poll!  There are 6 days left to vote, so let me know! 

For those who don't know the songs, here are links to youtube versions!

Rock and Roll Part 2

I'm A Believer

 

Which song is a better reception entrance song?

Ok...

Apparently pictures do not come through in the emails. But at least they let you know that the blog has been updated!

Engagement Pictures!

Alan and I had some engagement pictures done (finally!) and I thought I would post a few of them for your viewing pleasure! For those of you who don't know, our wedding favors are going to be a wallet sized engagement photo in a silver frame. Its also going to be there place card for the tables (the photo will be hidden by the name card and we will tell them about it later during the reception.) Anyway, here are 4 of the shots. 

My Favorite. Matchy Argyle!

The one in the picture frames

Alan's Favorite

Which one is your favorite?

Three down...

So far three bridesmaids have their dresses ordered! Huge weight off of my mind. Bettina, just to let you know, the dresses are now going to take 12 weeks for delivery. Try to get in before February, cause once February hits, it can take up to 24 weeks for delivery (which would then not get there in time for the wedding.)

Also, since Mary brought this up to me today, we are NOT buying coordinating shoes. 1.) they are expensive and 2.) you wont even really be able to see them anyway. Everyone just bring all of the pairs of black heels that they own when they come to my house the night before the wedding and we can select the ones that look the most similar. I also have a bunch of pairs ranging from a size 9 to size 10. If you don't have any black heels, just bring some black flats and we will try to fit you in some of the extras we have lying away. Worst comes to worst, you can just wear the flats.

Also, remember that if you need/want to have the dress altered, you need to schedule those appointments NOW for late May, early June or you will not get an alteration scheduled. Wedding = crazy. I have no idea how people plan these things in 3 months.

Also, I would like to take this time not only to thank all of you for being awesome about this wedding business. I know that it is expensive and a hassle and that I am not the most on top of what exactly needs to be done at what point (but just think, I am a crash dummy for every other wedding in our friend group) so I thank all of you for bearing with me. :) It means so much to me to have you all there with me through all of this.

So, this may be the coolest thing ever...

I have long thought it annoying that one cannot simply get email alerts when a blog has been updated. So, I have been poking around, and low and behold, I THINK I HAVE FOUND A WAY TO DO IT! Now, every time someone comments on a post, or publishes a new post, it should inform every single person in their email inbox. Snazzy right? In fact, you might even, just now, be reading this from your inbox. If you are, you still have to go to the blog one last time since I just published a bunch of stuff before putting this into effect.

Information about the night before the wedding...

So, for the night before the wedding, everyone will have to be together. We have several tasks to get done in the morning of the wedding and they need to be done, and we need to be back, at my house, no later than 11:45 AM. This means we have to get 5 girls completely ready for a wedding in a very short amount of time in the morning. Which means everyone is staying at my house (or some other as of yet undisclosed location) the night before so that we can all get up early in the morning together and GET STUFF DONE. Cause that is how we roll. If you suggest that we have plenty of time, you will get this response:

Why 11:45AM you might ask? This is because the photographer will be at my house at noon wanting to take the pre wedding shots of the bride (me), the bridesmaids (you) and my parents (them?) in various different poses. This process takes at least 1 hour and then he goes to the church to meet the groom and his groomsmen to take some picture of them (the groomsmen and Alan in this case, not my parents, the aforementioned them) before the ceremony starts.

Also, the night before the wedding is traditionally the rehearsal and directly following the rehearsal dinner. Plan on being free that entire night, and the entire day IF POSSIBLE. I realize that some people are not taking off the entire week prior to the wedding as I am, and actually have to work. I get it. For those without the pesky job responsibilities, however, it would be awesome if we could all meet that day at say 10 am? There will be lots of floral stuff to deal with at the very least. REMEMBER to all bring everything you will need to spend the night AND everything that you will need for the wedding. The rest of you who have responsibilities, just get there ASAP. As soon as I know more about the rehearsal dinner, I will talk dress code. 

Following on from there, in case Woman has something else up her sleeve which I don't know about, that may be the bachelorette party which will consist of the making of bouquets, centerpieces, and anything else that needs to be finished before the wedding. 

So, to sum up:

Be at my house, with your dress as early as possible the day before the wedding. 

Be prepared for stress.

Come with everything you will possibly need because once you are in my clutches I will not let you go until following the ceremony. 

Smile pretty for the camera.

This is the final thought that I leave you with. 

You know it.

Wedding Jewelry

So, for Christmas, Alan's mom, being awesome like she is, got me a necklace and earring set that is just gorgeous to go with my dress! I will naturally attach some pictures. 

 Sorry the picture quality is so poor...

Here is a zoom in of the earrings.

Let me know what you think!

So, its been awhile...

An overall update is in order, I believe. It has been awhile since I have been on here as not much wedding planning has been going on, but to update!

The bridesmaid dress has been picked! It is F12688. So far 2 of the 4 bridesmaids have bought it. EXCELLENT!

Next! The invites are ALMOST all completely sent out and replies have been coming in! EXCELLENT!

 Everyone who can should take pictures in their dresses and post! It will be cool! As soon as I have any more information, I will let everyone know!

Also, just cause I love embarrassing Woman, here is a picture of her in the dress!

Doesn't she look so pretty?

Everyone else should feel free to post pictures of them in the dress too!

 LOVELLS!