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The morning after the wedding, my parents generously threw a brunch at their home for our family and friends. My friends from New York City who had flown in for the wedding we there; it was great to spend some more time with them and show them my childhood home. We talked and laughed about funny things that happened at the wedding, and a few of Justin’s friends came by, too. After everyone left, it was time for Justin and I to pack for the honeymoon, which was stressful. We didn’t have much time and we had to figure out what to bring and what to leave at my parents’ house for them to send to us later. 

At about 1 p.m., we said goodbye to everyone and headed to the airport. We were catching a flight from Indianapolis to Chicago, then going from Chicago to Paris. When we got to Chicago, I think the reality of what had happened that weekend started to hit me. It was so bittersweet—I was feeling several conflicting emotions. I was happy to be married to Justin but sad to be leaving the family and friends who had helped make our wedding weekend so wonderful. I had planned for so long, and then it was all over. I was excited to go to Europe (I’d never been) but also a little annoyed that we weren’t going some place tropical where we could really relax. Once we got on the plane to Paris, we started to calm down and get excited. About seven hours later, we arrived in Paris. It was 9 a.m. there. Justin had slept a few hours on the plane—I didn’t sleep at all. So we were exhausted, and despite being excited to be in Paris, we wanted to head to the hotel and take a nap before going sightseeing.

Paris:
We were supposed to be able to check into our hotel early, but when we got there the room wasn’t ready. The woman at the front desk said it might be ready at 1 p.m…it was only about 10:30 a.m. So we sat in the hotel lounge and ended up falling asleep on the couches. We woke up to a security guard saying, “Bonjour!” We took that as a cue to leave so got up and went to get something to eat. We went to a sandwicherie and I got my first taste of real French bread. It was amazing. We went back to the hotel and asked if our room was ready. It was! So we went up to take a nap. We woke at about 5 and headed to the Eiffel Tower. We took the sort-of-scary lifts up to the top. It was really windy up there! When we got down, the tower was beautifully illuminated (it was dark out by then) in blue lights. We were hungry so we ate dinner at a pizzeria near the tower.

The second day of our trip, we were still jet-lagged but enjoyed a room-service breakfast of delicious croissants, brioche, baguette and Danish with jam and pure honey (best room service meal I’ve ever had!). We did some sightseeing and that night, saw Moulin Rouge, which was so weird and out there that it was funny and entertaining (it was a variety-type show featuring a hodgepodge of acts like topless dancers, a snake charmer, mini horses and a ventriliquist). After the show, we got a yummy Nutella crepe from a street vendor (after that, I was hooked on them).

The next day, we slept in and then took the train to the Palace of Versailles. The trip out there was peaceful—we got to see a bunch of cute little towns full of pretty houses. Versallies is breathtaking—the palace is huge and the gardens are massive and beautiful. After that visit, we decided to go to Notre Dame cathedral. We got off the train and walked along the Seine towards it. We marveled at the intricate carvings on the Notre Dame, then found our way to The Louvre. We tried to go in, but it was closed so we ate dinner at a café there.

The next day, we took a flight from Paris to Pisa, Italy, and then took a train to Florence. 

Florence:
I was so excited about getting to Italy—I’d wanted to go for so long. We got to Pisa at about 11 p.m., so by the time we got into Florence, it was after midnight. But we hadn’t eaten dinner so we walked around to try to find some food. A few places were closed, but we finally found a pub that served food.

The next day, we headed out to see the Duomo, which was really close to our hotel. In fact, in Florence, everything is pretty close together. Then we went to get gelato (which we were so excited about, as you can tell by the pictures) and see the Ponte Vecchio. That night, we headed out to Acqua Al 2, which is a restaurant that serves amazing steaks covered in blueberry or balsamic sauce. Delicious!

The following day, we took a group winery tour with a company called Tuscan Trails (tuscantrails.com). The guide was an American who now lives in Italy. The tour turned out to be the highlight of the trip! First, we went to a winery and enjoyed tasting some reds and a white. We walked through a castle from the 1100s (the family that owns the winery still lives there!). It was so amazing—we were surrounded by olive trees, grapevines and colorful Tuscan houses. Next, we went to a small restaurant in the Ruffino region. It was so cool to eat at an authentic Tuscan restaurant—all the food was locally-grown and homemade. They even made their own olive oil in their backyard! We had antipasto, salad with fresh shredded Pecorino cheese, ravioli stuffed with gorgonzola and raddichio and penne with Ruffino sausage. We drank wine and enjoyed a yummy chocolate dessert. After the heavenly lunch, we headed to another winery. We toured their cellar and tasted two reds and a delicious dessert wine (I was the only one who liked it!).

Our last day in Florence, we went to a park area that overlooked the city, then saw the statue of David (so breathtaking). We had more gelato and more delicious wine and pasta. From Florence, we traveled to Cinque Terre, an area comprised of five coastal villages in the Liguria region of Italy.

Cinque Terre:
We spent our time in Cinque Terre eating (I had the most amazing pasta filled with cheese and pear), drinking wine and walking through picturesque towns. We stayed in Monterosso but my favorite town was the quaint Vernazza (pictured below).

We were there for two days, and towards the end of the trip, we felt ready to go home. We’d been living out of our suitcases for more than two weeks and we missed our apartment and our cats. The journey home had a few bumps, literally: the Easy Jet flight from Florence to Paris was delayed for an hour and then when it took off, had the most terrible turbulence I’ve ever experienced. I was convinced the plane was going down! Luckily, things leveled out and, thank God, we arrived to Paris safely. But then, when we got off the flight, we realized one of our bags wasn’t there. I was upset—I was so shaken from the flight and then my clothes, purses, shoes and souvenirs were lost. The baggage office said they would put the suitcase on a plane to NYC within the next few days. We checked into a hotel for the night in Paris and then the next day, got up and went to the airport to catch our flight to New York. That flight was uneventful, and after two days of stressful traveling, we were finally home and ready to start our regular lives again.

As I enter this new phase of my life, I do so never feeling more loved and happy in my life! It’s been an amazing journey and I want to thank you all for following along. Bye for now!

To sum it all up: our wedding day was perfect. Of course there were minor problems but the only thing that mattered on October 18 was that Justin and I were getting married—everything else just melted away.

I was blessed to only have to focus on me on my wedding day—not run any errands or do any decorating or anything like that. I started the day by waking up in my beautiful, big hotel suite at about 9:30 a.m. My best friend and maid-of-honor, CC, was staying there with me. I had planned on calling room service for breakfast in bed, but then found out the hotel only served breakfast in the restaurant downstairs. So my sister-in-law, who was planning on coming to the suite anyway, said she would pick up food and bring it for us. I had my favorite breakfast—French toast, fried apples and chocolate milk from Cracker Barrel. Then, I took a shower and it was time to head to St. Mary’s-of-the-Woods College, the wedding venue. My hairstylist was meeting me there to do my hair.

As my hairstylist was doing my hair, I was nervous but not too nervous. At about 1 p.m., my hair was done and I was ready for a quick bite to eat. Then, I put on my foundation; next, CC put on my blush and eye makeup (including a few false lashes!).

Then, it was already 3 p.m. and I needed to get into my dress (pictures were starting at 3:30). I gathered the troops and they helped me step into my dress. Then my mom started lacing up the corset back (see pic below). It was a little nervewracking because it had to be tight—I wasn’t wearing a bra and the corset was my only support. Everyone said the dress looked great, and between it, my hair and my makeup, I felt beautiful—that’s all I could ask for, so I was happy.

I wasn’t seeing Justin before the ceremony but wanted to get as many pics done beforehand as I could. So I asked my aunts, uncles and cousins to come early for pictures. I did pics with them, then with my parents, Justin’s parents, the flower girl and ringbearer, the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. It was stressful but my photographer and her assistant did a good job helping me get all the pictures I wanted. Then, before I knew it, it was 4:30 and guests started arriving. So I had to go back into the dressing room to hide and wait for the ceremony to start. After a makeup touchup, I sat down and looked at the clock. It was 4:55…I had five minutes before the ceremony. I took several deep breaths, and then my wedding planner came in and told us to line up. My dad was waiting for me in the lobby. He took my arm and we made our way outside (the weather was beautiful—sunny and 65 degrees) with my girls walking in front of me. I spotted Justin walking up to the altar and I got choked up (he looked so cute and I was about to marry him!!). My dad really helped me calm down—he was so wonderful. (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen my Dad happier! It was sweet.)

The ceremony was short and sweet. Our minister was great—he talked about how Justin and I grew up in different worlds (me in Indiana, Justin in NYC) and he made a joke about how wives are always right. ☺ Then my friend Lori did a beautiful reading. Justin and I exchanged our vows and his mom did another great reading. It seemed like as soon as the ceremony started, our minister was asking Justin to kiss me and pronounced us husband and wife.

After the ceremony, the guests went into the building’s lobby for a cocktail hour. Justin and I took pictures together with the wedding party. Then the wedding party went to the cocktail hour and Justin and I, along with the photographers, went to a lake and bridge on campus that boasts some beautiful scenery for more pictures. This was about the only time all day we had to talk to each other. It was great—we were so happy we were giddy.

After our pictures, it was time to go into the reception. We lined up with our parents for a receiving line, which turned out to be a great idea. We were able to have a quick chat with all our guests and thank them for coming, and I didn’t feel bad if I didn’t have a chance to talk to every guest again during the night (although I tried to)! We ended up with about 115 people, which I think was perfect—not too many, but enough guests for a good party. After we finished the receiving line, the wedding party lined up to be introduced. They walked into “Beautiful Day” by U2 and Justin and I walked into big cheers and “Let’s Get it Started” by Black Eyed Peas.

After the introduction, my parents did a welcome speech and then we ate dinner. Towards the end of dinner, Justin and I cut the cake. Then, I danced with my Dad to “Father and Daughter” by Paul Simon; Justin danced with his mother to “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song” by Jim Croce. Then, I tossed the bouquet and we did an anniversary dance. We spent the rest of the night dancing and talking to our wonderful guests (we had people come as far from Virginia, New York and Florida!). Before I knew it, it was midnight and Justin and I were waiting for the limo to pick us up. Sadly, our fairytale wedding was over, but I know the fun has just begun!

Check back next week to hear all about our European honeymoon!

Hi all,
This is my last blog post before the wedding! We leave for Indiana on Monday night, and the rest of next week will be full of last-minute preparations (and hopefully some family time). Here’s what I have on the agenda:

Tuesday:
-Justin and I get up bright and early and go apply for our marriage license
-Then we go to our wedding planner’s office with my parents. At this meeting, we’ll discuss all the details and make sure we’re on the same page; we also drop everything off so our planner can take it to venue—ring bearer pillow, guest book, flower girl basket, programs, etc.
-Confirm details with all wedding vendors
-Finish putting together wedding party gift bags
-That evening, attend my shower and bachelorette party thrown by my maid-of-honor, matron-of-honor and sister-in-law (one of my bridesmaids)

Wednesday:
-Hair trial with hairstylist
-Makeup trial with my makeup artist (my best friend and maid-of-honor!)
-Package and assemble favors
-Confirm table arrangements/seating/final guest count with St. Mary-of-the-Woods (our wedding venue)
-Confirm final guest count with our rehearsal dinner venue/make sure everything is all set with them

Thursday:
-Drop off out-of-town welcome gift bags to hotels
-Finish favors/any last-minute stuff
-Enjoy a low-key dinner with my family before all the craziness starts!

Friday:
-Bridesmaid lunch
-Get massage/mani/pedi
-Rehearsal and Rehearsal dinner

Saturday:
-Wedding day!

Sunday:
-Brunch at my parents’ house before we leave for our honeymoon

I’ll be honest—I’m nervous about the wedding and preparations. (I just can’t believe it’s actually almost here!) I know it’s going to be a stressful time. And I’m worried about how I’ll look. But, on the other hand, I’m excited and can’t wait to celebrate with all my closest family and friends. Wish me luck!

I’ll be posting a few long entries after I get back—one all about the wedding and one all about the honeymoon. Talk to you in a few weeks!

I can’t believe there are only two weeks left until Justin and I’s wedding. I’m feeling pretty good about how things are going—I’m just trying to stay calm and get things done. There are lots of little things we have to take care of…for example, we’re confirming things with vendors (like the songs we want with the DJ, talking to our officiant about how the ceremony will go, etc.) Tomorrow is when our RSVPs are due, so we’ll soon be on the phone contacting people who haven’t responded to see if they’re a “yes” or “no.” Then, we’ll start plotting out the seating chart, which will probably be a chore.

Next week is our last week in New York before the wedding (we leave for Indiana the evening of Monday the 13th), so I’ll be swamped at work trying to get everything done and at home, I’ll be busy doing wedding tasks. In fact, it might be one of the busiest weeks of my life! On Monday, I have my final wedding dress fitting. Well, this past Monday was supposed to be my final fitting, but when I tried the dress on, I saw that it still needs work. It’s too long and it needs to be taken in more at the waist. The fact that the dress isn’t ready yet makes me nervous, and it gets me thinking about other recent annoyances. For example, my mom almost didn’t receive the package we sent that had the finished programs inside (UPS said that it was on the way to Mississippi by mistake, but then it ended up on her front porch that same day). Justin got called to jury duty for Oct. 24, while we’ll be on our honeymoon (he’s going to get it deferred). The DVD of our slideshow doesn’t work with our wedding venue’s equipment. There are just lots of little things that pile up and get under your skin. BUT I am certainly thankful that we haven’t had any major problems, and I cross my fingers that we won’t later!

Current RSVP count: 81 yes. 41 no.

And after looking through the invite list, we anticipate having about 125 guests. That’s significantly fewer than the 175 guests we originally thought we’d have. While I hate that a lot of people can’t make it, I’m also sort of relieved that the wedding will be a little more intimate.

When we started wedding-planning, I don’t think we realized how important the guest count was going to be. Now we see that it determines how much food the venue will need to make, how many tables we’ll have (which dictates how many centerpieces and chair covers we’ll need), how many escort cards, table cards, favors and programs we need to make, and so on. It’s tough not knowing how many of these things we’ll need—for example, we made 150 programs just in case we needed that many.

The RSVPs are due October 4, so we should know for sure how many people we’ll have in just nine days (although I do anticipate having to call several people to get their answer!).

With only a month to go (I can’t believe I’m saying that), Justin and I have been very busy with wedding stuff. We’ve picked up our wedding rings and have been working on compiling our wedding ceremony programs!

We’ve actually been working on the programs for a while. We decided to make them ourselves to save printing costs. Way back when we first got engaged, I spent a lot of time browsing other brides’ profiles on theknot.com and I liked one bride’s program design. So I borrowed it and started customizing it to our needs. I filled in our wedding party’s names and just recently, I plugged in the order of our ceremony and the names of the readings.

Finding the right paper for the program was a little tough. At first, we were going to print a photo of us on the front of the program, but we couldn’t find pretty paper that worked with a photo. For example, we had ivory pearlized paper, but the photo didn’t print well on it. We looked fuzzy. So I decided to try to find paper that was pretty enough to stand alone as a cover (without a photo or words). I wanted a teal to match my wedding colors or an interesting-looking ivory (the color of my dress). I went to Staples, Office Max and Jam, a store here in New York City, but didn’t find anything that would really work. Then I went to Paper Presentation (also in NYC). They have SO many choices, and a lot of great stuff. I found several options, including a recycled ivory (with those little flecks in it), an almost-foil-looking silver and translucent, vellum-looking paper. I bought samples of those and brought them home to show Justin. We decided the coolest option was the ivory translucent with a photo printed on the first page, so it’s a sort of shadowy effect (you can sort of see a photo of us through the translucent paper). I’ll post a photo of the program soon—once they’re finally done!

Last weekend, my wonderful bridesmaid Meredith threw me a surprise shower and bachelorette party. All of my NYC girlfriends were able to make it, and we had a blast. Meredith had just moved into a new apartment, and I thought I was just going over there to see it and hang out for a few hours. But when I arrived, all of my friends were there. Meredith had made some of my favorite Indiana food (she even got the recipes from my mom!) and decorated her apartment. She even had a chair decorated with “Bride to Be” paraphernalia for me. We played a shower game, ate some yummy food and I opened presents (thanks girls!). Then, they told me it was time to change into something to go out. So I found a shirt in Mer’s closet to wear, touched up my makeup and we were off to a bar in the city called Mason Dixie. This was a great pick–they had mac and cheese, beer and a mechanical bull(!). Needless to say, we had a good time.

This weekend will be full of fun too–Justin and I are flying my dad into New York for two Yankees games (his favorite team!). We had thought for a long time about getting my mom and dad each a nice present to thank them for hosting our wedding, and decided that rather giving them a material gift, we’d get them “experience” gifts. We’re bringing my dad to New York, and next year, my mom and I are going to England (I’ll pay some of her expenses). They deserve these trips for all the hard work, finances and love they’ve put into the wedding.

Have a great weekend, all!

So I had my first wedding dress fitting yesterday and wow–what an experience! I didn’t expect it to be so stressful. I got there a bit late (darn NJ Transit bus) and so felt rushed. The woman brought the dress out and luckily, I still loved it! I got into the dress and an attendant started lacing up the corset. It was a bit tight. After some undergarment adjusting, I felt better and she laced me all the way up. My bridesmaid Meredith started helping me get my jewelry out and I put it on. We realized that the tiara/headband I had bought months ago is just too silver-y and bling-y to go with my creamy ivory wedding dress (too bad it was not-returnable!). It was just overpowering. Same with the rhinestone necklace I ordered online. It competed too much with the very detailed neckline of the dress’s bodice (luckily I can return the necklace!).

So after I was all in the dress and had my shoes on so they could do the hemming, another attendant showed me what my French bustle would look like. It was really pretty!

Then it came time to pick out a veil. I tried several on, and with the length of my train (it’s long), I decided on a cathedral with rhinestones scattered throughout (not too many, just enough to give the train some sparkle). It turns out the veil comes as a set with an elbow-length blusher (but the two veils will be on different combs so I don’t have to wear both if I don’t want to).

Finally, the seamstress came in and put pins in for alterations. After a brief misunderstanding (she thought I wanted a regular bustle when I wanted a French), we were done and I got out of my (beautiful) dress. I go back for my second fitting on Sept. 29–I hope the dress fits correctly after the alterations and that I still like the veil!

A lot has happened on the wedding front in the past few weeks—our invitations went out last Monday and we already have several RSVPs (most of them have been “yes”). And a few gifts have already arrived (thanks guys!). Also, our wedding rings are in and I have my first dress fitting next week!

But even with all of these developments, my to-do list is actually not that long right now. Here’s a peek at my list for this week (good thing I’ve got a long weekend!):

1) Finish and print ceremony programs

2) Finish packet for out-of-town guests with itinerary, directions, etc.

3) Send our DJ a list of songs we want played at the reception

4) Attend dress fitting (and remember everything I need to bring—jewelry, undergarments, tiara, etc.)

5) Hit Sephora for some new makeup for the wedding

It’s crazy to me that it’s actually crunch-time now. This summer absolutely flew by!

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone!