Weddingbee Boards

I am a 25 year old Catering Manager that loves wedding planning (mine and other peoples!), reading, watching tv (affectionately called by the FI's family as "Sarah TV"), shopping, scrapbooking, going on the computer, cooking and sleeping!  I overuse parenthesis way too much and like to plan every little detail way too far in advance.

He is a 27 year old Finacial Advisor who loves sports (watching, not playing) drinking, playing Beer Pong & XBox or Wii, hanging out with friends, sleeping in and making fun of Sarah TV!  He uses the phrase "Thats what she said!" way too often and can be very sarcastic.  His favorite sports teams are Angels, Ducks, Lakers, Penguins and Steelers.

While he makes fun of ALOT of shows that I watch (but still continues to watch them!), we do watch several together that we really enjoy.  Our favorite show is Chuck (so sad it doesnt come back until January '10)

We live in the same apartment building as his sister and her FI with our dog Roxy.  She is a 7lb toy poodle, not cut like on though!  She gets into anything and everything food and has miraculously survived eating a chocolate bar her own weight (5lbs), white chocolate, a 1/4 lb of raw beef scraps and so much more.  She has actually eaten a hole through my purse to get to a cookie and hershey kiss!  She is the biggest sweetheart though and loves to curl up on our lap or lay next to us like a person in bed at night :)

We met during the summer at work.  I was the hostess at a restaurant in Downtown Disney.  He came in one day and my friend and I were staring at him saying how cute he was.  I dismissed it though because I figured he was just there to eat and why bother?  Then I saw our manager come out and hand him a uniform and started talking to him.  I then realized he was going to work there as well!  He was the "Pizza Window Guy" and worked right next to where the host stand was. 

One of our managers had a going away party and I asked if he wanted to go and he said he had to go home, change, etc, and that it was too far to come back.  I ended up not going either but then a bunch of us were going to a bar another night and I asked him if he wanted to meet us there.  He said he was gonna go home to change and would call me.  He actually did call trying to figure out where to go and it turned out he took the wrong exit in another city (same exit name but about 15 minutes apart!)  He was so frustrated he was ready to turn around and go home but he still came and it turned out to be our unofficial first date!

After that, when they needed help in the pizza window on the weekends, I always volunteered.  He eventually became a food runner...There were 2 levels to the restaurant so if he was scheduled upstairs, I suddenly decided I hated working downstairs and HAD to be upstairs.  If he worked downstairs, I changed my mind and HAD to work downstairs :)  Of course our managers caught on but didnt care.

I found out about 2 months into dating that he was from CA, but went to school on the east coast in PA, at Villanova.  We decided to see what happened and ended up staying together the entire 2 1/2 years long distance until he graduated and came home for good!

I first have to explain what a hard time I gave my poor FI, because I had no idea he was planning on proposing.  I knew that he would ask within a few months just because we had brought it up in conversation that once he was out of training for his job it would happen - I thought this would be in May or June of 2008 (We got engaged March 29, 2008). 

It turns out that he was actually going to ask me a few days earlier because I wasnt working one night.  I totally forgot that I was working and he kept saying to get someone else to cover for me but I couldnt (we had a huge open tasting at my work).  He kept bugging me so much it briefly crossed my mind he was going to propose but I dismissed it.  I called his sister and asked what was going on because he was being so insistent and was never like that.  She said she had no idea but it turns out she called him to tell him to chill out, that I thought something was up.

On March 29 I was at a crop with my friend and cousin, scrapbooking and he had been bugging me about when I would be home.  I told him probably not til 8 or so (I had originally planned to stay until 11pm)  He said he wanted to go to a movie and dinner and if I could come home earlier, hed appreciate it.  I was actually pretty snotty, not wanting to leave early, but I did (keep in mind I had NO idea!). 

So I got home and he came out to my car to help me get my things, but told me to leave almost everything in the car.  I insisted that I wanted to bring it up and he said to leave it.  I sighed and followed him up to my apartment.  He said he had something for me and gave me a scrapbook.  I said thanks and continued walking up the stairs because I wanted to look at inside.  He told me to open it and I complained that it was too dark and I wanted to sit down and look at it.  He told me to open it again, I complained again and then opened it.  He put together a whole scrapbook, about 10 pages of different pics of us (using tons of special scrapbook stickers, paper, etc).  He always mocks my scrapbooking so I was so impressed he put one together for me.  I thought at first I would come to the last page and it would be a proposal but there wasnt one. 

We walked inside and my jaw dropped.  He had cleaned my entire aparment, hung twinkle lights from my ceiling, there was over 12 dozen roses throughout the living room (hanging from the windows, in the blinds, on the sofa, everywhere) and he had our song playing in the background.  There was a piece of scrapbook paper on the coffee table and as I walked closer (I still had NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON!) I saw that it was stickers of a boy on one knee asking a girl to marry him and in the center was a blank spot (to put a picture of him he took of himself on one knee with the ring).  I turned around, shocked, and he was on one knee asking me to marry him.  My first words were "Are you serious?"  He said yes and I started crying and blubbering "yes!"  We opened champagne he had got and I told him I didnt want to go to the movies anymore and he told me that was never the plan, he had made a reservation at a really nice restaurant for us to go to after!

We took our engagement pictures at Angel Stadium.  It was surprising easy to arrange, it was $100 per hour, we took 2 hours, and we got to go anywhere we wanted in the stadium with the exception of the clubhouse.  We took pics everywhere and it was just us, the photographer, FSIL, FBIL and FFIL.  We got to play catch on the field, in the bullpen, run the bases, etc.

"First base" at Angel Stadium

Us in the home field dugout

Centerfield!

Centerfield with a baseball with our wedding date on it

Our silhouette in the Angels press box

On the rock pile at Angel Stadium

I have 4 bridesmaids and 1 junior bridesmaid.

Lindsay is one of my friends I met through work.  We worked together at the Catch in Anaheim and then I got a job at Naples and she came and got a job as well.  She worked for my parents for nearly 3 years and we lived together for 4 years!  She is also engaged and just set her date for October this year

Samantha is my FSIL.  We live in the same apartment building and her FI has become quick friends with my FI.  We get along really well, enjoy the same shows and hang out alot.  I am also a BM in Sam's wedding!

Janine is my co-worker, we met almost 2 years ago.  We sit right next to each other in a glorified cubicle.  She is getting married the end of August and our boss cant wait so she doesnt have to hear about wedding planning or get asked advice every day anymore ;)  I am Janines MOH for her wedding!

Genevieve is my MOH, we have been friends for over 7 years.  We met at work when we were at Charlotte Russe, then I went to ESPN Zone and got her a job there too.  I worked there for 5 years, left in 2007 but we have remained good friends and I cant wait for her to be my MOH.  She was there when I wasnt even engaged planning my wedding (of course almost everything I wanted then I dont want now!)

Tori is my Junior Bridesmaid.  She is 8 years old and my cousins daughter.  She is the cutest thing and while she really wanted to be a flower girl, she is very excited to wear a "big girl dress".

From left to right is Lindsay, Samantha, Janine, Tori, Me, Genevieve, Morgan and Abby

My FI has 2 Best Men, both his older brothers.

Bill will be doing double duty, acting as a best man and our officiant!  He is getting ordained through the court for our wedding.  He is a lawyer and a great public speaker so he was the first person we thought of to ask to marry us.  He has been married for over 5 years and has 2 twin boys and a new baby girl.

Chris is the other Best Man who will be standing at Brads side while Bill is officiating :)  We are getting married at the same place he did (though I had no idea when I picked it!).  Chris has been married for 4 years, has a daughter, Dasha, and other baby on the way due in September!

Sean is my brother, the FBIL to Brad.  He is VERY into jiu-jitsu, has won world championships and tournements all over CA and Vegas.  He has never been in a wedding before so Im sure he is a little nervous :)

Andy is one of Brads best friends, they have been friends since high school.  Brad was also a groomsman in Andy's wedding about 4 years ago.  Andy is a fireman and has a daughter, Emily, and a little baby boy on the way, due just a few weeks after our wedding.

Phil is another one of Brads best friends.  They also met in high school and are huge sports fans together.  Phil moved across the country but they will still start games at the same time and text or talk throughout them so they are watching them together :)

Brian is my FSIL's fiancee and him and Brad have become quick friends.  They are always playing video games and beer pong together.  Brad will be a groomsman in Brians wedding in October.

From left to right is Phil, Chris, Sean, Brad's Dad, Brad, my Dad, Andy, Brian & Bill

I have a very small immediate family, just me, my brother and parents.

Brad has a huge family including his parents, 2 brothers, 1 sister, 2 sister-in-laws, 1 soon to be brother-in law, 2 nephews, 2 nieces and another niece on the way!

Here is both of our parents with us

We have three flower girls and two ring bearers.

Two of the flower girls are my cousins daughters, Abby and Morgan.  They are both 4 years old.  They were both so excited, Morgan started asking the night before when she could put her dress on!  The other flower girl is my DH's (and mine now too!) niece, Dasha.  She is 1 1/2 and made it all the way down the aisle by herself!

Our ring bearers are my FI's (and again mine now too) twin nephews, Jack and Liam.  They are 3 years old and very excited to be ringbearers.  Though I think they were more excited for their new shoes when they went to get measured for tuxes.  They are the cutest funniest little boys ever!  During the ceremony, their mom told them when to walk down the aisle and they took off running!

 

And here is the entire bridal party:

I wore a Maggie Sottero dress, "Aurelie".  It is a gorgeous strapless ivory dress with beading and pick ups and a corset back.  The train has cascading pickups which made it very hard to put in a bustle but it worked! (11 points!)  I love my dress but by the end of night at the hotel I could not wait to take it off, it weighs almost 20 pounds!!! Im not lying either. 

detail of the dress getting ready

My favorite part of the dress, the back!!!

My bridesmaids are wearing an Alfred Angelo dress, style 7014.  It is strapless, cocktail length, chocolate brown satin and organza dress with a teal trim and teal peeking out from the bottom.  I had the girls take off the ugly flower. No offense to people that like the flower, its just not me :)

This is the dress they are wearing but in a different color

Our flower girls wore a really cute dress from Alfred Angelo, it is ivory with a "tealness" bodice and cascading flowers.

I took these pictures on our honeymoon with the flowers that were left in our room. My e-ring is a princess cut solitaire with a platinum band and my wedding band is white gold with princess cut diamonds in a chanel setting.  His band is white gold and VERY heavy!!

At our rehearsal dinner I had the photographer we hired for the RD take pics of our rings on a starfish, it came out great!

I originally purchased the same shoes I had my BM's get for my wedding day shoes at Davids Bridal.  After that, I found another pair I fell in love with, which was a good thing considering the original shoes started to hurt after only wearing them for my dress fitting!  I got Dyeables shoes online from shoebuy.com and had them dyed the same color as linens for the wedding at a local shoe repair place.  They turned out great and I cant wait to find an outfit to wear them again with. 

My bouquet was made up of calla lillies, fiddlehead ferns, stephanotis with blue crystals in the center and other white & ivory flowers.  My bouquet had a very special meaning to me, as I had the florist put in 2 white butterflies that represented my grandparents who are no longer with us.  My mom had a dream after my Papa passed that he told her whenever she saw a butterfly it was him looking over her.  She saw a butterfly the next day and at his grave site during the ceremony.  At my Nana's funeral we saw 2 white butterflies hovering around the ceremony, just a couple years later.

We had 2 different centerpieces.  Half of the tables had short centerpieces that were in a 5x5 vase filled with fiddlehead ferns, callalillies, hydrangea and other flowers.  Each of the tables with the low centerpieces had 3 brown frosted votives with battery operated flickering tea-lights.

Our other centerpiece on the other half of the tables was in a 24" cylinder vase.  I had the florist put blue seaglass on the bottom of the vase and floating orchids inside.  We also put a submergable light at the bottom of the vase so when the lights in the room dimmed later in the evening, the centerpiece lit up.

For our favors, we had 4 different flavored chocolates shaped like shells (from weddingfavors.com)  There was white chocolate (my favorite), dark, dark mint and milk chocolate.  My MIL bought organza bags from a fabric store for really cheap and we had an assembly party.  We put together all the bags and then we made the tags to tie on the favors...All 225+ of them!!!

 

Our invitations took quite a bit of work...We contracted an invitation company who was horrible to work with and it literally took about 15 drafts before she could get the spelling, punctuation and even the WEDDING DATE right!  All in all, I love them and they came out so nice but it was quite a process to get there.  The lady we worked with had them done with thermography and cut the pieces, and then I put them all together.  The line we used for the paper and pocketfold was Envelopments.  Since there was quite a bit of detail and many layers, it took me about 3-4 nights in front of the tv for 3-4 hours at a time putting them together.  We got so many compliments on them so it was well worth the time!!!  As you can tell, I was so proud of myself I did a mini photo shoot with my invitations :)

One thing I was NOT going to attempt a DIY on was our wedding programs.  I looked all over etsy before I found DecadentDesigns.  She had also done my bridal shower invitations and I loved her work.  I used one of her program styles that was a simple folded program.  I was able to send her a pdf of the image we used on our invitations and had her use that as the tab on the front.  She customized it to my colors and had all the info listed inside, they turned out great!

I bought a basket at Michaels and then took a couple leftover starfish from the placecards and glued them on the front of the basket.

We used Magnet Street Weddings and got magnets for our save the dates.  After our engagement shoot at Angels Stadium, we chose several pictures to use and had 3 different designs made up.  Our close family and Angels fans got all 3 magnets and then we sent 1 or 2 to everyone else.  I dont have a picture of the magnets yet, but here are some of the pictures we used on the magnets.

I used dried starfish for our escort cards.  We had about 220 people with about 135 escort cards.  I bought the starfish online and printed out the placecard to tie on with the font "Scriptina"  I used a small hole punch to punch the corner and then tied 1/4in chocolate brown ribbon through it and around the arm of the starfish.  They took me a bit of time but I loved them and have wanted to use starfish as the escort cards since before I got engaged!

Here is a picture of all them in the box ready to be placed

And the starfish waiting to be picked up by the guests!

I also made menu cards for the guests, using the same paper & starfish from the invitations to carry out the theme throughout the night.  This was quite another process, as I made about 240 menu cards.  Most of it was made at work (shhh...) so I could use the laser printer, and I went through 3 cutters before I found one that would work.  I printed the menu on ivory cardstock, hand cut each one and then matted it on the teal "tartan" cardstock and then hand cut that.  I then used a glue gun to attach the silver starfish on the top of the menu card.

Here is the menu cards on my desk waiting to be finished

And in the pocket of the napkin at each place setting for our guests :)

We got ready at my DH's parents house.  We started hair and makeup at 10am, along with mimosas. Mmm... Later my MIL had sandwiches for us to snack on.  All the girls got dressed there and then we made the trip over to the Reef for me to get dressed in the bridal room.  The bridal room was extremely hot, even with a fan and there was too many people in there at one time.  My mom finally kicked everyone out except my MOH, her and the photographer so we could actually breathe :) 

The boys got ready at the hotel in our suite and enjoyed a couple drinks before they came over to the Reef for pictures.

Yes, it really took 3 girls to bring my dress up!

My mom and MOH helping me into my dress

Lacing up the dress

 

 

I knew I wanted to get married at the Reef since before we got engaged, I really liked the venue from the pictures I had seen.  The Sunset Deck where our ceremony took place was the huge selling point - it has an amazing gorgeous view of the Long Beach harbor and skyline. 

Detail shots of the flowers and aisle

I tried so hard not to have an "ugly cry face" but it just wasnt happening.  I must have started to cry at least three times before the my entrance, which made my dad tear up every time too :)

My groom waiting for me at the end of the aisle

Our starfish unity candle was quite an ordeal to get lit.  There was barely any breeze, but just enough that it took our moms at least 5 or so tries to get their candles lit.  They shieled the flame when we lit ours and then it blew out less than a minute later.  Oh well... :)

Brad breaking the glass

A "birds eye" view of the ceremony location on the Sunset Deck

We're married!!!

The best part about our reception was definetly the view.  The Harborview Room had a wall-to-wall view of the Long Beach harbor that was absolutely gorgeous

We used sand pails filled with toys, a coloring book and crayons and snack for the kids at the wedding.  Each sand pail was customized with their name and drawings

Our sweetheart table

We had a photobooth as our guestbook, where guests could take pictures in the booth and it printed out 4x6 pictures of all 4 with a custom banner on the bottom.  The guests kept one copy and put the other one in our guestbook.  We used a book with all black pages and had them write with metallic pens

Just part of the view from where the cake table was (it looks like we were outside!)

Dancing the night away

After our grand entrance, we went right into our first dance, which was to Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea"  The first twirl got lots of cheers!

The grand finale!

I danced with my dad to Heartland's "I Loved Her First"  I was teary the whole time and we both broke down crying at the end.  Other than the above picture, this is one of my favorite pictures from the whole wedding.

Brad lightened it with his mother/son dance, by doing a fast dance to a Preservation Hall Jazz Band song

Before we began the other dancing, we did the Hora.  I was very excited to do this until I thought I was going to fall off and break my neck.  Someone had to hold the chair for me to sit down because of the bustle on my dress.  I only had about 4 guys holding me up and Brad had about 6-7 holding him.  I dont think they took into account the weight of my dress.  Nearly the whole time I felt like I was going to fall face first into the crowd of people below us.  It was so much fun but definitely scary!!!

For the ceremony, the grandmas, parents and bridal party walked down the aisle to Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole.  This was my grandparents favorite song and we played it at my Papa's funeral so I wanted to use it in the ceremony.  My aunt leaned over to my mom during the ceremony and scolded her for not telling her about the song because she was in tears.

My bridal processional was *supposed* to be Storybook Love, the theme song to the movie "The Princess Bride"  I had wanted this song as my processional for a couple years.  When I walked around the corner and paused before walking up the aisle, I noticed the wrong song was playing.  I told my dad and the coordinator, who asked if I wanted her to tell the DJ doing the ceremony music.  I said no, it was too late but was very dissappointed the song I had been waiting and dreaming to walk down the aisle to was wrong.  It turns out the song was from the Princess Bride, if you download "Storybook Love" on iTunes, it is called "Once Upon A Time...Storybook Love" and the DJ played it from the beginning which was from a different part of the movie.  It still upsets me to think about it but at least it was kind of played.  (I did tell the DJ the name of the song and he said he knew what I was talking about.  In retrospect I shouldv'e made him play it for me because he blamed me saying we didnt talk about where to cue it up.  If you just download Storybook Love on any other music site, its the right song and the other part isnt even included.  Oh well)

As huge Angels fans, we wanted to incorporate some things about the Angels into our ceremony.  For the recessional, we used the song "Build Me Up Buttercup", which they play during the 7th inning strecth at the games.

We also used Angels songs for our grand entrance.  The bridal party entered to "Calling All Angels" that they play at the beginning of the games and during recap videos.  We entered into "Jump Around", the song that they play when the Rally Monkey comes out during the game.  We had the DJ do the same tagline before we entered but changed it to "If you make noise, THEY will come"  Everyone got really loud and he said "Believe in the power of the Rally Couple" and then we entered.  It was awesome and people that really knew us loved it.

Our first dance song was "Beyond the Sea" by Bobby Darin.  Brad and I were in a long distance relationship for the first 2.5 years and this song talks about it a little.  It became our song when he was away at school so we had to use it for our first dance.

My father/daughter dance was to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland.  I was going between that song and  "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts.  I played both songs for my dad and told him to choose.  He heard My Wish and then got super choked up while listening to I Loved Her First and decided that was the song.  Everyone loved it and was all teary.

Brad danced to a song with his mom by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for his mother/son dance.  He had grown up going to the concerts with his mom so it had a special meaning for them.

We did the cake cutting to "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies which was not only fitting because of the cake, but because Brad's nickname for me is Sugar.

Girls caught the bouquet to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce.  Cliche I know, but I originally wanted "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" which was also cliche :)  Guys caught the garter to "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen. 

Some of our must play songs were "Right Stuff" by New Kids on the Block (yes I am a Blockhead, we even got up and did the dance!), "We Built this City" by Starship and "Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing.  We didnt have a TON of must play songs and only one Do Not Play song, "Sweet Caroline"  Since they play this at all the Red Sox games, we Angels fans dont take part in that! :)

We had an amazing 4 tiered cake with different layers for each one.  The top and bottom layer was a white cake with caramel mousse filling, the 2nd layer was white cake with amaretto & raspberry jam filling and the 3rd layer was a red velvet cake with cream cheese filling.  The whole cake was buttercream frosting and had white chocolate shells dusted with luster-dust.  It tasted amazing, I only wish I ate more than a couple bites!

 

For our cocktail reception we had 5 hors d' eouvres that were tray passed including a chicken skewer, beef skewer, seafood stuffed mushroom, a salami coronet filled with cream cheese and chinese egg rolls.

We had a 3 course dinner with caesar salad to start.  This was hand plated by the servers at each seat which was a very nice touch.  The entree was a duet entree (our guests didnt have to choose) that was made up of my favorite meal and Brad's favorite meal, chicken picatta and a filet with boursin cheese melted on top.

After the ceremony, Brad and I took the limo over to the lighthouse which was about 5 minutes away.  Since we hadnt practiced our dance since our last lesson over a week before the wedding, we took the opportunity to do so :)

Our wedding was at the Reef on the Water in Long Beach.  Our ceremony took place on the Sunset Deck, with a beautiful backdrop of the Long Beach harbor and city skyline.

The reception was in the Harborview Ballroom, which has a huge wall-to-wall window that overlooks the harbor and skyline as well.  There are gorgeous chandeliers hanging that ivory draping is hung from.

I cant not recommend The Reef enough, the service and staff was amazing and I could not have asked for more! 

Venue/Caterer - The Reef on the Water

Photographer - Caught in the Moment  I work with them alot at my job and they are fantastic.  They did our engagement session as well and gave us a great discount on our package which includes 2 photographers all day and a 30 page 11x14 magazine style album (with the pictures printed on the pages)

Florist - Sweet Peas Florist.  They did Brads brothers wedding as well and have beautiful stuff. 

Linens & Chairs - Elegant Design Specialty Linens.  We are getting all of our linens and chiavari chairs from them.

DJ/Lighting - Invisible Touch  Victor will be our DJ, they are doing the ceremony music as well and will be providing uplighting all around the room.

Cake - Rossmoor Pastries.  YUMMMMM is all I have to say!

Ever since a year or so before the wedding, I knew what I wanted as my gift.  We are huge Angels fans and I always wanted an Angels jersey with my new last name on it.  Obviously this wasnt a surprise it was my gift but I was so excited for it.  We went to a game and ordered together to make sure I got the right size.  I found out I could have a different number on the front than on the back so I had "06" on the front for the month of our wedding and "09" on the back for the year.

My gift to DH was a brick at Angels Stadium.  We always talked about getting one, so I ordered it and got a replica brick as well that we could keep at home.  I had it delivered to my parents house so he wouldnt see and my mom called when it arrived asking what the heck I had delivered there?  Was it a brick?  She was serious and had no idea what it was, I told her to open it and she saw it really WAS a brick!  I was going to wait to show DH until after the wedding but I found out that it was placed just a few days before a game we were going to.  We went to the game and I had no idea where it was so I was trying to sneak around out front looking for it.  He wanted to go in and I told him that I wanted to find something first.  He had an idea and then I told him I needed his help finding it so we found it together.  He was SOOO excited :) 

Here is our brick at Angel Stadium (we took off our rings and took a picture of them on our brick)

Our honeymoon was in the Dominican Republic in Punta Cana.  We stayed at the Excellence resort, which is an all-inclusive.  Our room was a junior suite with an ocean view AND its a swim up room!  We can literally get in the pool right outside our room, get on a raft and go over to the buffet and bring back breakfast!

Everything was included and because we are on our honeymoon, we also get a free couples massage, horseback ride, a bubble bath with rose petals, champagne upon arrival in the room and a private dinner on the beach!

This is the airport we flew into, isnt is pretty?

I did want to do at least one tour, a zipline adventure, but we didnt end up doing anything except stay at the resort the whole time!  It was so amazing and relaxing, we would get up at 11 each day and grab  some lunch, get in the pool for a few hours, take a nap and/or shop, go to dinner and a show after and then hit the bars :)

Our room

The view from our room

Though we didnt spend much time down on the beach, it was gorgeous!

The Excellence Club pool right outside our room was amazing

Dinner one night at Toscanas

The best part of our honeymoon was the romantic dinner on the beach, it was just us at our table and another couple about 50 yards away.  It took place around 7pm so we got to watch the sun set, it was so beautiful and a night to remember!

Its tradition in my DH's family that for each girl that gets married, his mom and her group of 3 friends plans the bachelorette party.  I did feel bad for my BM's because they wanted to be more involved and I was honestly worried it wouldnt be how I had envisioned it, but it turned out great!  I wanted a princess themed party, after I found a super cute princess party invitation.  I forwarded the info to my BM's who got them for me despite the fact they were a little on the expensive side.  I have the best BM's!

My bridal shower was on Sunday, April 26th at my MIL's friends house.  The day started out with food...mmm...  I got my one of favorite meals my MIL cooks, a chicken taco salad.  I also requested garlic rolls she makes, they are delicious!!! 

They put so much hard work into it and even had a sparkly light up crown for me to wear, along with crowns for the little girls coming.  They even put crowns on top of the cheesecake dessert.

After the food, everyone played a game.  I am not into the typical bridal shower games, a la the toilet paper bride so we did one simple game, a crossword puzzle.  My SIL put together the crossword puzzle that had about 15 questions about me and my DH

Some of the girls trying to finish the puzzle (and cheating by copying each others answers!)

After the game and food came opening the presents!  Yay!  I was overwhelmed by how many awesome gifts I got.  My DH was most excited about the vacuum cleaner, as we desperately needed one! 

Throughout me opening presents, my MOH was hard at work putting together my RD bouquet

Her hard work paid off with a result of a beautiful bouquet!

Me and my cousins, aunts, Nanny and mom after the shower

and me with my bridesmaids and MOH!

My BM's and friends were really troopers with my Bachelorette party.  I didnt want to do the typical thing for my bachelorette party so I decided I wanted it to be 80's themed.  We got together one night and made 80's themed invitations, inspired from one I saw on Etsy.

We used cardstock to print on then went outside for the fun.  Anyone remember splatter paint?  mmmhmmm...  We set up newspapers and went to town with different neon paints and brushes.  I ruined my pants in the process and outside our door there are still neon specks, but what came out of it is these hot invitations:

I live in an area where its just a short walk down to all the restaurants and bars, so for the bachelorette party we met at my SIL's apartment all dressed in our 80's clothes and walked down to my favorite restaurant, Le Creperie.  We obviously got a ton of weird looks but thankfully I was wearing my bachelorette sash so some people got the hint that we werent just crazy.

Me and my best friend/BM at dinner. I got to wear a sparkly crown the whole night too!

I was served a *lovely* dessert at the request of my friends. ahem.

My boss definetly won for best hair!

All the girls after dinner

After dinner we walked back to SIL's apartment for the slumber party.  Only about 4 of us spent the night but it was great.  SIL had decorated her apartment with pictures of 80's movie posters all over the walls and streamers hung from the ceiling.  We didnt quite make it to the movies but we did have goody bags of Razzles (thank you 13 Going on 30!), candy necklaces, slap bracelets and other fun candies,

My SIL/BM, MOH, BM and me outside the apartment

MOH doing an 80's workout pose!

Me and my mom :)