I won! I'm a little bit late announcing it - the holidays and some wedding planning have been keeping me extremely busy the past couple of weeks. a big thanks to The Introverted Wife for my new thank you cards!

She wanted to know what you were most thankful for. It's easy to say family, David, a job, etc..... but what makes my life special that I'm thankful for? My students. I have students from Lloyd that think of me as a big sister and call me mom, and I have students at SLS that come to me when they need something. You can read more here.

Thanks!

Centerpiece Inspiration

I have to thank Elegant and Budget Friendly for posting this. I am so in love with this idea, I think it might work.

I'm wondering if we couldn't do it with floating candles or such (I'm really not big on flowers) but love the idea that we could do them with the black background and add red and gold touches to carry our colors throughout. I'm really seeing red floating candles and touches of gold glitter.

These planters would make adorable centerpieces for any music lovers. And wouldn't be too hard to do yourself if you wanted to have the music to your first dance song. Just get the sheet music, adhesive spray it to the planter then cover in acrylic to give a nice sheen.



Not that these are too costly either at just $3.77 a piece. Add some flowers to the real planter and viola a gorgeous centerpiece that is also functional after the wedding.

A toast anyone?

So, while finding the perfect champagne wasn't at the top of our list of things to do, I kept reading about Banfi's Rosa Regale and had to find out. Was it really as yummy as everyone said? David being the sweetheart he is, found a bottle, bought it, and chilled it for an evening of "wedding research." The verdict? Extremely yummy, I think this is my new favorite toasting drink. Now I'm just trying to decide if a red champagne is really smart with a white dress...

Luggage!

We officially have luggage!

While we were out for black Friday, I did a little pre-wedding shopping. How else are we going to get all of our cute honeymoon clothes to Disney World?

5 piece luggage set, originally priced at $200. Mine for just $50! I was quite excited. It currently sits in the wedding closet, still in its sealed box. I think we need to check it, but there was too much else to do today!

Not free, but really cute

So you need to head over to http://jewelrywithoutjewels.com/ and check out her amazing necklaces! I keep coming up with all kinds of fabrics that I need to be watching out for.... and then reminding myself that I have to be cautious about how much I buy.... there are still a wedding and a house to pay for!

Wedding Party look

THIS is the look we are going for. At least, as of last week. Granted, it's not the exact apparel that everyone will have, but it's the general color scheme.

Photography

One of the big things to decide on was photography. I know that our photographer was high on my list. There are quite a few websites bookmarked of photographers whose style I love. The problem was, most of them were no where NEAR our budget.

Then we (well, I) found Sarah. I actually found her the old fashioned way - by going to a local bridal show. I saw her work, was able to talk with her, and went on my way. But she kept popping back into my head. So David and I went and met with her over the summer so I could show him her work. He liked it too, but we didn't really make a decision. Then I realized the end of the year was coming.... and we decided we really do like her, we enjoyed her company, it is time to make a decision. So a contract is on its way to me!

You can check out her website at Photos by Sarah. There aren't a lot of pictures, but what she does have is a wonderful representation of her differing styles. I'm so excited!

I'll keep looking at other sites for inspiration. In fact, I might have to post some of the photos I've seen and just adore.

Shoes

It seems that, after the dress, the shoes are the most important thing. I had two priorities when I went looking for mine: comfortable and cool. Since they WOULD be wedding shoes, it made sense to looking for white as well.

I fell in love when I found these white flops from Skechers. After all, I LOVE Skechers. It made perfect sense to get these! I'm super glad I did - I'll actually be able to wear my shoes all day without being uncomfortable!

I won!

That's right folks, I WON! Thanks to Brooklyn Bride I now have $25 to Shutterfly! Her contest: submit a comment with what you would spend $25 at shutterfly on. My response?

"I would make one of the PhotoShow DVDs. I would love to share our proposal story, etc. with our wedding guests, but can't afford to ask a photographer to do it. This would get my on my way!

I could also get some photo thank you cards, to share our amazing wedding photos!"


I am SO excited to try this out! I wonder how many DVDs I'll have by the time I am finished....

Honeymoon

Where else could our honeymoon possibly be? the plan is to go to Disney World. Beyond that.... no plans. I would love to spend some time at the Grand Floridian. I think David wants to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian, or Contemporary. The list could have changed or be longer now. Who knows?

I'm sure we'll go back to California Grill. We might have dinner at Victoria's and Albert's. I'm sure it will depend on our budget. I would love to go back to Cinderella's Royal Table and Crystal Palace (I see a lot of time at Magic Kingdom in our future!).

It will be a fun trip - I can't wait to be celebrating our marriage in the happiest place on earth!

Guestbook pen, but no book.

If you can't tell, we have a loose Disney/Cinderella theme going. It seems very appropriate, since we both love Disney. If our color scheme was different, we would probably have a Cinderella wedding. With the red and black, Mickey and Minnie slide in.

Found at a deal, we have our guest book pen already. No guest book, just a pen. It was one of those can't pass it up things. So we didn't!

Kind of torn on what to do for the guestbook though. There are some really pretty traditional Cinderella books. However, the new trend of photobooks is a lot of fun. We could include pictures from our Disney trip when David proposed, the whole time we've been dating, etc. It's so hard to decide! It might also depend on if we have engagement pictures done. There is someone that I am thinking about trying to convince to come down next summer and do some "site" pictures - Music Hall, the conservatory, Devou Park overlooking the Cincinnati skyline. We'll see.

On the topic of pictures - we don't have a photographer decision yet. We have some thoughts... but no actual decision yet.

Child Attendants

I know who I want for our child attendants: Claire and Henry. They are SO adorable, and are so cute with each other. Seems a perfect match to me!

I want to make our ringbearer pillow. I see so many that I like part of, but not all of. Or I don't like the colors. I really like this one - imagine the lettering in gold, possibly with a red accent. The sparkle button... well, I'm not entirely sure that's appropriate for a little boy to be carrying. It might be necessary though. Since I've only seen this in silver, I think I'm going to get crafty and make it.


Claire's flower basket is not quite as easy. I can't seem to find a plain basket anywhere! And I'm not sure how I would go about adding the lettering to it. I do like the idea of them matching, but I'm not entirely sure this is possible.My other thought is to find a plain one and add some red and gold ribbon to it. I do want her to have an arrangement for it, so that it can become a keepsake.

A Fairytale Proposal

I was told to share our proposal story. It does seem appropriate, as that seems to be where a lot of our inspiration is coming from! So, without further ado, I give you the events from May 8, 2007 at the California Grill.

Our dinner reservation wasn't until 9:10 or something just as late. David wanted to be sure that we could see Wishes from up there. However, his dad insisted on leaving for the Contemporary at 6:30. He was worried we might get lost, as they were used to staying on property. Between him and David, they cracked me up. Looking back, it is hard to tell who was more nervous! So what did we do to kill time? Took pictures of course!

FINALLY it was time that we could head up and get an appetizer at least. I wasn't allowed to walk over with David to check in, his mom wanted to talk. Ok, I'm still clueless. We shared one of the flatbreads while we were waiting for our table to be ready. And this is where all of David's planning starts to come in. As the restaurant prepares for Wishes, David starts to lead me towards the back balcony (the one farthest from MK). I turn to ask his mom and dad if they are coming, and Momma C says "No, I don't really care for heights, we'll watch from in here." ok, once again, no biggie. We walk to the far end up the balcony and find a spot. (The whole reason I couldn't walk up with David when he checked in was because he was asking where a quieter, more private spot would be). I stood at the railing, David behind me. Normally he'll wrap two arms around me, hugging me from behind, but no, I just got one. once again, no big deal. I noticed he had his hand in pocket, but was still clueless.

David kept explaining what was happening during Wishes. It was a new show for me, and we couldn't hear the soundtrack. Right after A Bolt out of the Blue, he whispers in my ear: "Will you marry me?" I turn, thinking he's kidding, to see him holding a ring box. I was so stunned, I didn't even answer him! He kind of looks at me like, well? All I could do was nod. I had no idea that he had planned on asking, and couldn't answer him. I had to move the ring I was wearing (a promise ring he had just given me for Valentine's Day) so he could slip the ring on. Then I just hugged him until I could recover and start thinking again! When I could finally start talking again, he told me I had to call my mom and dad, they had known and he had asked their permission, so he knew they would want to hear from me. After I talked to them, I had to call our friend Jill, as she had known everything too.

While I was talking to Jill, the buzzer for the table started going off. It was in my purse. I had seen someone kept coming to the door and looking out - I thought maybe the managers always checked on what was happening on the balconies during the fireworks. No - the assistant manager was checking to see what I said! His mom was starting to get inpatient, and the manager figured the buzzer was the most unobtrusive way of getting us in! There were congratulations all around, then we headed towards our table, where there was another surprise waiting for me!

Already engraved with our names and the date. David had truly thought of everything, from the little details that would help make it special, to the fact that I would prefer the actual proposal to be a private moment between us. Then followed a champagne toast and dinner!





















Momma C and her Ramps and Potato Ravioli








I had the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta








David had the
Pan-Roasted Atlantic Salmon






And Poppa C had the Wild Alaskan Halibut with Ramps








All of us on a very happy night
But there was still one surprise yet to come. Our waitress asked if we would like dessert, and David said no for all of us. Strange, but ok. But that was because....







The Mickey cake was huge! We only ate one of his ears that night, we took it back to the condo and had it for breakfast the rest of the week. I was so surprised that night. David had put a lot of time and thought into this. It was an amazing evening that I wouldn't trade for any knight in shining armor down on one knee fantasy.

Cake, food, and other yummy thoughts

We have our cake topper. In fact, we bought our cake topper the same week we got engaged. Can you blame me? We were in Disney World, I love Cinderella, I had seen this, so I had to buy it while I could. Now, we just need a cake to go with it.

We went to a bridal show a while ago. David was excited about the idea of trying all the different cakes. I think his enthusiasm drained when he realized what a bridal show actually included.

Personally, I'm not excited about the cake. I don't want some monstrous thing, but it's just not THAT important to me. I would love to have carrot cake or cheese cake - I'm really not a fan of regular cake cake. We'll see what we can find I guess. I keep hoping that a cake baker will just fall into my lap. I'm not enjoying this whole hunt and hope process. And really... food just isn't high on my priority list. Maybe it should be - after all, I want our guests to enjoy themselves - but I figure they will have a good time no matter what we have or don't have.

My brother, darling that he is (yes, I mean it!) bought us our cake serving set. How perfect is this? I saw it somewhere, but I didn't get it, so Joey did! (Thanks Joe). I figure it will perfectly match our undecided cake design with Cinderella on top :-)









Our last yummy thought for the day: our toasting flutes. I had also seen these while in Disney. I made the mistake of telling David and his mom about them. They brought a set home. YAY! When we get closer to our date, we'll get them engraved at Things Remembered or some place like that.

Decisions, Decisions

So many decisions when planning a wedding. So to keep track, I'll post things that are actually decided upon!


One of the hardest decisions (for me) is already finished. I found this dress from Kirstie Kelly's Disney line and fell in love. No surprise, right? Until I saw the price tag.


Thankfully, I found a wonderful seamstress who can make it in my price range. It also allows me to make it a little more sturdy so that I don't have to worry quite as much about rips and tears. I think it's the perfect dress for a Disney princess.

Within days of being engaged, we had decided on our color theme: red and black, with gold accents. The plan is to have the bridesmaids in red with white flowers, the groomsmen in black tuxes with white flowers, and David and I will have red flowers. I want roses, but I would really like to do silk. I see no reason to spend an outrageous amount of money on flowers that we won't get to keep. If we do silk, I will be able to use my bouquet in our decorating!