who needs peonies?

i just discovered another great flower option - rinoculous.  they're gorgeous and a smaller, less expensive than their beautiful twins!

so many details, so little time!

11 months to go!  still no photographer, dj/band (or even a decision as to whether we want a dj or band), finalization of menu, colors, dress, bridesmaid dresses, flowers....

before i was engaged i used to think, oh i have this thing in the bag!  now that it's here though, the details sure are overwhelming!

i guess a day trip to napa is in order - i can worry about this later, why not enjoy the sunday first :)

reminds me of my cous

this is a unique boutoinerre, isnt it?

 

flowers!

i received a phone call from a potential florist the other day to discuss options.  i really love beach roses but in late september, those could be hard to come by.  now i'm looking for pretty ways to dress the table - lanterns, canning jars, flowers, candles....it's just a matter of putting it all together i think!

my bridal party!

i am so excited to have my bridal party all figured out. 

christine allegrini - maid of honor
courtney page - bridesmaid
caitlin beattie - bridesmaid
breanne page - bridesmaid
betsy chaffet - bridesmaid
erin mcgrady - bridesmaid

courts, bre, me and caits

betsy, me, christine, erin

some people say it's a big bridal party, but, firstly, wait til you see pat's list of groomsmen, and secondly, how can you narrow down the list of women who have helped you get where you are today?  here's a little something about each of them. 

christy - dj christy chrust - what can you say?  we've known each other since 1st grade in calvin leete elementary school.  in 3rd grade we realized we had the same handwriting (that has since changed and mine's gone downhill) and from that point on, we've realized we were meant to be friends.  in high school we worked together at my family's hardware store, pages (www.pagehardware.com - yeah, i put the plug in, haha!), and we were inseparable.  we saw each other through boyfriends, breakups, cape cod vacations, myrtle beach trips, maine, florida, and so many other memories i can't even type at the moment. 

courts - literally my first friend on earth - we grew up right down the street from each other, when our parents would walk our strollers down the street to meet each other, our legs would start kicking in excitement, before we could even form the words to express our thoughts.  we got in trouble together and literally went through the ins and outs together.    

caits - camp hoffman!  pen pals, since i lived in CT and she in MA - courtney and i used to fight over our distant cousin from massachusetts :).  we had so much fun together, and everytime she'd come and visit or i'd go up there, there were plenty of memories to be made! 

bre - my lil' bind (don't ask, or kat will kick your ass! :)) - i always wanted to do her hair, since i didn't have a little sister (but had an awesome brother so it was OK).  bre and todd used to get in to trouble and courtney, caitlin and i were usually the culprits!  after courtney's wedding last year, bre was the MOH and we got to know each other even more! 

betsy - bu bu - the #19 most "disliked" person on my list in early high school, because she took my "man" from me - little did i know what a wonderful and loyal friend she would become.  when she started at page's, so did our friendship!  when the going gets tough, you call betsy, she is the rock of our group! 

eem - AKA erin mcgrady, or j bojono.  yet another page hardware pal, eem (erin elizabeth mcgrady) and i go back all the way to 4 years old or so - when i lived at 15 south fair st, i lived right next door to her grandparents, and when she came to visit, we would play.  apparently i was a "bossy" friend (hey - i was an only child until 6!) but luckily we continued to be friends, all the way through my move to state st, 1/2 mile down the street from eem.  she's always been a great friend!

i am so honored to have all of these wonderful women standing for me on my wedding day and i love them all as if they were the sisters i never had!

mission accomplished - date, church and venue!

after a long flight back east and what seemed like an even longer drive back up to guilford (after stopping in hoboken for some real jersey bagels of course), i stopped by pat's brother's house to see the kids and say hello, as my parents were on their way back from rhode island and weren't home yet to meet me.  it was fun to see family for the first time since we've been engaged and the little girls were cute, excited to have a new "aunt"!
i headed up to guilford shortly afterwards, and went down to check out the guilford yacht club - it was, of course, just as beautiful as i've imagined in the photos, and i thought i had my mind all made up on where the reception would take place.
well, that was, until i met up with my parents and we drove down in to the thimble islands of branford - when we came upon the pine orchard yacht club which as soon as i walked inside and saw the view, i knew it was "the one".  check out this amazing view of the thimble islands and long island sound:

and here's the view looking back at the venue from the water:

i looked at my parents and we all said "ok, this is it!" - we all got excited, and i gave pat a call, to see what he thought.  just so everyone doesnt think i've been making all these decisions on my own, pat and i have been researching venues for the past few months even, "just in case", so we had an idea beforehand of where we might want to get married.  it is so hard to tell through photos online though, so i wanted to check them both beforehand.  well anyways, pat could tell by the sound of my voice that the place was perfect, and he was excited as well. 

next up, we had to figure out a date!  i've been planning some things around some vendors that i wanted, example steve depino for photographs (http://www.stevedepino.com/) and jenny fresa for makeup (http://www.jenniefresa.com/) - so i was hoping the available dates would match their openings as well.  long story short - my dates didn't quite work out with theirs, but they did match with the church, and to my family and pat's, that's probably most important. 

i actually had a good meeting with the priest and felt really comfortable, so we decided on a date, September 25, 2010.  we accomplished a lot today - can't wait to start planning!

where and when!

that'd be good to know, wouldnt it?  this weekend i'm heading back (on the redeye!) to guilford to find this out!  it's been hard planning from across the country so i'm excited to check out the two contenders - i'm between the guilford yacht club and pine orchard yacht club - i've never been to either so it'd be nice to check them out.  pine orchard has tons of dates available, which is good, but guilford is selling out quickly - so i really need to get this nailed down fast!  i will also be meeting with the priest at st. george in guilford - hopefully if all goes well i will have more news to post by tuesday - where and when!

 

the perfect shoes

i think every girl dreams of owning a pair of red rimmed heels - you know what i'm talking about ladies - christian louboutins.  i think these would be the perfect pair for the special day, don't you?

the priceless view

here's the view from the roof - pretty great right!

here's the view from the other side: