Engagement Photos are up!

Without further ado, I present to you:

S and E's Retro Engagement Shoot

It's absolutely fabulous, we're pretty much head over heels with our photographers.  If you haven't already you should seriously check them out. We wouldn't change a thing, except maybe correcting our ages since we were 8 and 10 when we first met. We forgive them the little mistake though, their awesomeness means they've been super busy creating art.

I'm not sure if we have a clear favorite but there are a number that we're definitely going to be blowing up. As soon as they get our online gallery up we'll post a few of our favorites here so you can help us decide.

 Choosing our photographer was SO difficult, our pictures are pretty much the most important thing to us and we couldn't have gone with better people. Ohana, we love you guys!

30 day Check in!

To Do/ In Progress:

• Get RSVPs from everyone!
• Finalize the reception menu and service details with the caterer. - once we get the final head count - we still need to hear from 25 people!
• Have second dress fitting and schedule subsequent dress fittings 
• Pick up and pay for marriage license 
• Book the rehearsal dinner site and finalize menu plans.
• Book the farewell brunch
• Book a hotel room for the groomsmen and bridesmaids
• Book a hotel room for the wedding night. 
• Design and print up programs
• Brides: Choose your bridesmaids' accessories (shoes, jewelry) and either buy or pass along purchasing information. - working on it!
• Pick out and purchase veil 
• Brides: Put together a wedding beauty plan and make appointments at a nearby spa (massages, facials, etc). If you're considering whitening your teeth, this is the time to do it!
• Design and purchase wedding bands. 
• Purchase wedding dress underwear! 
• Finalize and confirm any special ceremony songs or ceremony readings with your VIPs (very important extras).
• Pick all wedding music including entrance pieces and first dance song
• Talk to people you'd want to do special performances or readings as part of the ceremony.
• Merge bank accounts
• Schedule any extra photography sessions you want. a day-after session in your wedding clothes; a rock the dress session before or after the wedding; or even a boudoir photography session. - still have to schedule bridal session 
• Buy groomsman socks 
• Arrange wedding day transportation for you, your wedding party, and guests (as needed).

• Buy coffee bar cups and lids
• Choose and reserve all tables, chairs, and any other wedding rentals you'll need for the reception - The tent measurers will be coming out friday!
• Make seating chart and print place cards
• Purchase table number frames, scan old photos and print table number photos
• Start taking better care of yourself. Get in wedding day shape by eating right, joining a gym, and/or even hiring a personal trainer. - 3.35 miles everyday plus rabbit food. Except for the last few days where I've been sitting on my behind stress eating. 
• Make sure everyone in the wedding party is aware of what you expect of them -- especially your bridesmaids and groomsmen. Provide a list of duties to the maid of honor and a list of to-dos to the best man. This is a moving target so I think it'll always be in progress
• Start planning the rehearsal dinner. Look for rehearsal dinner sites in your area and provide the host with contact information for your attendants and any other guests. E and I picked a rehearsal dinner site but it was vetoed - it's now back on the table! who knows
• Hash out your wedding flower proposal. Decide on your floral style, choose the right wedding flowers, and negotiate prices with florist. Once you're certain the contract outlines everything you agreed upon, sign it. We're working on picking out flowers but don't know how many flowers we're going to need or where we should order them from yet.
• Order florist supplies
• Order flowers to be delivered to the house 
• Buy or rent ceremony decor and reception decorations that aren't included in your flower proposal (chuppah, aisle runner, program basket). We've collected most of our Mason jars, globe lights, finished the aisle kissing balls and are working on the tent kissing balls! We need to order our card cage, flower girl baskets, cake stand, LED lights. 
• Finish purchasing candy buffet candy
• Order enough wine, beer and champagne to stock the reception bar
• Write and finalize ceremony vows
• Decide on a guestbook 
• Send out rehearsal dinner and brunch invitations 
• Book a photobooth if we're using one
• Create a must play list of songs
• Create a must shoot list of photos

Done:

• Purchase Engagement Shoot clothing
• Have engagement photos taken  - February 21st, 2011!
• Grooms: Give all of the groomsmen the info they need to buy and/or reserve their attire.
• Talk to your maid of honor and best man about any pre-wedding party plans (such as the bridal shower, bachelorette party, and bachelor party).
• Brides: Confirm delivery date for your wedding dress and schedule your dress fittings. My first fitting was February 18th
• Grooms: If you are purchasing a suit, visit the formalwear shop to get measured.
• Grooms: Choose and buy any accessories you will need (shoes, shirt stays, cuff links, pocket squares). - we purchased everyone's tie as a gift and got their shoes comped
• Buy scoops and tongs.
• Pay for Ketubah and ring block
• Have a hair trial appointment
• Have a make up trial appointment
• Start thank you notes

SNEAK PEEK: Engagement photos!

E and I are so excited we just had to give everyone a sneak peek! Our amazing photographers, Ohana Photographers, just put up our first engagement shoot photos! We love them and can't wait to see the rest!

Right now the pictures are only on facebook but we'll link to the blog post as soon as it's up!

So our amazing photographers somehow managed to move mountains and post an official sneak peek of our engagement shoot in record time! We are the lovely screaming couple in the black and white "sneak peak" stream and they posted three more picnic shots here. 

Happy Birthday Roxie!

Happy 1st Birthday To My Favorite Little Girl!

Happy Birthday Roxie! Your Auntie Sarah loves you <3

Valentines Day 2011

Happy Valentines Day!

SO I woke up Valentine's morning to breakfast in bed from E :) Literally as I was waking up and stretching I accidentally stuck my hand in the bacon since my eyes were closed >_< It was very very sweet, who says romance can't last a decade? 

E had a dentist appointment at 4pm so he headed off to his appointment and I went to his mom's place to pick up vintage props for our photo shoot. She has a massage therapist come over once every week or two and she and her boyfriend get a massage. However, her boyfriend ended up having class that night so she let me have his massage! I needed it SO badly, essentially my entire body is one giant knot from my toes to my ears. Even the muscles between my fingers were all knotted up! I should probably have a massage more often but I somehow never find the time or the cash. It was a really welcome treat. 

After my massage, E brought me a rose and he and I headed back to our place to get ready for our fancy dinner. It was a bit of a rush since I don't really have a "go to cocktail dress" but I pulled an outfit together and E put on a sharp suit. We made it to Mastro's Steakhouse just in time to make our reservation and had a fabulous dinner. It was absolutely delicious, I definitely ate off diet, and I don't regret it in the least!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Valentine's Day! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Source)

I hope everyone has a fantastic Valentine's Day!

2 Month Check In!

This two month check in is more than a little late, but I've been super busy! Hopefully I'll have stuff to add for the 1 month check in!

To Do/ In Progress:

• Purchase Engagement Shoot clothing 
• Have engagement photos taken  - February 21st, 2011! 
• Finalize the reception menu and service details with the caterer. - once we get the final head count
• Book the rehearsal dinner site and finalize menu plans.
• Book a hotel room for your wedding night. 
• Book your honeymoon flights and make all your other honeymoon travel reservations.
• Grooms: Give all of the groomsmen the info they need to buy and/or reserve their attire. We picked suits, we need to send our guys to purchase them!
• Brides: Choose your bridesmaids' accessories (shoes, jewelry) and either buy or pass along purchasing information. - working on it!
• Brides: Put together a wedding beauty plan and make appointments at a nearby spa (massages, facials, etc). If you're considering whitening your teeth, this is the time to do it!
• Shop for and purchase wedding bands. 
• Grooms: If you are purchasing a suit, visit the formalwear shop to get measured.
• Talk to your maid of honor and best man about any pre-wedding party plans (such as the bridal shower, bachelorette party, and bachelor party).
• Brides: Make sure you have all the under-the dress essentials and any special lingerie in time for your first wedding dress fitting.
• Finalize and confirm any special ceremony songs or ceremony readings with your VIPs (very important extras).
• Pick all wedding music 

Do It Yourself Project #6: Pom Pom Pomanders!

In case you've been wondering where I've been for the past few weeks, I've been making these time consuming pomanders EVERY NIGHT. We're up to 12 aisle pomanders and 8 tent pomanders so we have a loooong way to go on the tent poms!


Like so many other brides today, I have jumped on the pomander bandwagon and have enlisted the effective if somewhat unwilling help of my mother and sister.  They're cute, fun and on the whole a much less expensive alternative to floral decoration. I plan on hanging mine from the aisle chairs and from the ceiling of the tent. I also plan on hanging globe lights that I found at Big Lots of all places. 


To start, I ordered a giant box of blue tissue paper from papermart. The box of 480 (30" x 20") sheets came to about 30 dollars shipped and I used a portion of it for the invitations so it was money well spent. I also bought some styrofoam balls from michaels, some floral wire and some ribbon. It took a good couple hours to cut it down to size, 10" x 5", on a fairly crappy paper cutter and then began the tedious process of making flowers.


Although these decorations are fairly light on the wallet, they are extremely heavy on time. Each pomander easily takes at least 5 hours to complete and that's if you're working without breaks. This is not a task you should take on unless you have the time to commit to it. I also like my pomanders fairly dense and full instead of spread out, so my large poms take about 70 flowers each with my small poms taking about 40 flowers.

Do It Yourself: Pomanders!

Company: Tissue paper, Papermart
Coupon: None
Cost: ~ $30.00

 

Company: Styrofoam Balls, Michaels
Coupon: 40% off coupon
Cost: 4" size (aisle) is $3.49 - 40% = $2.09
Cost: 6" size (tent) is $4.99 - 40% = $2.99

 

Company: Ribbon, Michaels
Coupon:  40% off coupon
Cost: $3.99 - 40% = $2.39

Company: Floral Wire, Michaels
Coupon:  40% off coupon
Cost: $2.99 - 40% = $1.79

Total Cost: $39.26

Do It Yourself Project #5: Soap Shower Favors

Because I didn't have enough on my plate to do already, I just had to make these insanely cute shower favors because they seemed so "us". Because everyone was so busy, the only available day to have my shower was my 24th birthday, February 5th. This also meant that the shower was on the anniversary of the day E proposed to be in Paris in front of the Eiffel tower. This project is really inexpensive, under $10.00 with coupons, and only takes an evening to complete depending on how many molds you have.

Do It Yourself: Soap Shower Favors

Company: Shea Butter Soap Base, Cello Bags Michaels
Coupon: 40% off coupon - check your local paper, it's one per item per person so bring friends!
Cost: $6.00 - Soap, $1.99 - Bags

Company: Eiffel Tower Molds, Amazon
Coupon: None
Cost: $1.99 plus shipping

Company: Essential Oils, My House or Amazon or Michaels
Coupon: None or 40% off coupon
Cost: Free if you have it or $2.25 plus shipping from Amazon or Michaels carries some 

Total Cost: $9.98

Bridal Shower

I just had my bridal shower and I have to say I had a fabulous time. E and I got some really lovely gifts and we got to celebrate both the wedding and my 24th birthday! My auntie orchestrated the whole thing and it couldn't have been more lovely, the food was delicious and she ordered beautiful centerpieces.

Pictures are just starting to trickle in !

                               The only time you'll see me drinking!                       Me and my friend Emily, aren't we cute?