My friend Jess over at Tulaloo (a fab little stationary studio) sent me these great links to help in my wedding planning....I thought I'd pass them along!
Thanks JLWWLLD!
http://snippetandink.blogspot.com
http://www.thebridescafe.com
http://blog.thehandcraftedwedding.com/handcrafted_wedding
http://ritzybee.typepad.com/my_weblog
Monday, January 26, 2009
Step #3 The Dress
So...I wasn't actually planning on my wedding dress being one of the first things that I could cross of my wedding to-do list..it just sort of happened.
My sisters Aimee & Stacy (Maid and Matron of Honors) are busy mommas and have very little free time, so when Stacy called me up on January 7th, and said that she wanted to go to Syracuse on Saturday the 10th, and maybe we could go wedding dress shopping...and Aimee is also free that weekend...I jumped at the chance.
Stacy called me back like 3 minutes later to say that she booked me an appointment at David's Bridal at 10 on Saturday (wow she is efficient...must run in the family.)
We called mom and she was in too.
Being the planner that I am...I went to the David's Bridal web-site about a million and a half times between Wednesday and Saturday. David's has a nice selection of dresses for those of us that are lacking in the skinny department! I picked out some ones that I liked from the website...and noted their order number. Then...I found this little link on the bottom that allows actual brides..not the model posing as a bride...to post photos of them wearing the gowns. I found this to be EXTREMELY helpful! (Who would have thought that a real person wearing a dress would look very different from a model wearing that same dress???? go-figure!) Needless to say...my favorite dresses were not the same as before.
Saturday morning (bright and early), we all pile into Stacy's SUV- Mom, Me, Stace, Aim and baby Mattingly who is my flower girl. We make the snowy trek down Route 81 to Syracuse in search of a gown.
A special thanks to my honey for buying me a Tom-Tom for my birthday, we got there with time to spare.
I should preface this by saying that I had no idea what to expect while trying on wedding gowns, I am not a real girly girl, and the idea of shopping for hours actually makes me ill...So I went into this thinking that I was just going to try some on..get sick of it..and look another time.
I sign in with the nice lady at the desk..and she assigns me Jackson (the wedding assistance from HEAVEN) She was so great...she (very discreetly) asked me what size I thought I needed and pointed me to that direction. She asked me to pick out a few to try on for now, and stated that I could try on any and all that I wanted. I picked out a few, with the help of Aimee (Mom and Stacy were in the bathroom with Matti...she had an "up the back-er"..I know the Mommy's out there know what I mean!) and took them to the changing room. Jackson appeared with headpieces, veils, slips & bras...everything a bride to be could want. Jackson would play with Matti, while Aim & Stace were helping me in or out of a dress...she was just wonderful, and her manager (didn't catch her name) was fantastic as well. At the end of the day..I try on a hand full of dresses, about a dozen in all and ended up falling in love with the very first one that I tried on! So..just to be sure, I put it back on, with the slip and veil..and a head thingy.
I gave the final the a-o-k to Jackson, and tell her that this is the one I want...she says "I think you need a smaller size." God love her!
-my best advice to a bride who is shopping for her wedding dress....take your sisters:) and your mother, and enjoy it...it is supposed to be fun, and it's true what they say, you will know it when you put it on!-
My sisters Aimee & Stacy (Maid and Matron of Honors) are busy mommas and have very little free time, so when Stacy called me up on January 7th, and said that she wanted to go to Syracuse on Saturday the 10th, and maybe we could go wedding dress shopping...and Aimee is also free that weekend...I jumped at the chance.
Stacy called me back like 3 minutes later to say that she booked me an appointment at David's Bridal at 10 on Saturday (wow she is efficient...must run in the family.)
We called mom and she was in too.
Being the planner that I am...I went to the David's Bridal web-site about a million and a half times between Wednesday and Saturday. David's has a nice selection of dresses for those of us that are lacking in the skinny department! I picked out some ones that I liked from the website...and noted their order number. Then...I found this little link on the bottom that allows actual brides..not the model posing as a bride...to post photos of them wearing the gowns. I found this to be EXTREMELY helpful! (Who would have thought that a real person wearing a dress would look very different from a model wearing that same dress???? go-figure!) Needless to say...my favorite dresses were not the same as before.
Saturday morning (bright and early), we all pile into Stacy's SUV- Mom, Me, Stace, Aim and baby Mattingly who is my flower girl. We make the snowy trek down Route 81 to Syracuse in search of a gown.
A special thanks to my honey for buying me a Tom-Tom for my birthday, we got there with time to spare.
I should preface this by saying that I had no idea what to expect while trying on wedding gowns, I am not a real girly girl, and the idea of shopping for hours actually makes me ill...So I went into this thinking that I was just going to try some on..get sick of it..and look another time.
I sign in with the nice lady at the desk..and she assigns me Jackson (the wedding assistance from HEAVEN) She was so great...she (very discreetly) asked me what size I thought I needed and pointed me to that direction. She asked me to pick out a few to try on for now, and stated that I could try on any and all that I wanted. I picked out a few, with the help of Aimee (Mom and Stacy were in the bathroom with Matti...she had an "up the back-er"..I know the Mommy's out there know what I mean!) and took them to the changing room. Jackson appeared with headpieces, veils, slips & bras...everything a bride to be could want. Jackson would play with Matti, while Aim & Stace were helping me in or out of a dress...she was just wonderful, and her manager (didn't catch her name) was fantastic as well. At the end of the day..I try on a hand full of dresses, about a dozen in all and ended up falling in love with the very first one that I tried on! So..just to be sure, I put it back on, with the slip and veil..and a head thingy.
I gave the final the a-o-k to Jackson, and tell her that this is the one I want...she says "I think you need a smaller size." God love her!
-my best advice to a bride who is shopping for her wedding dress....take your sisters:) and your mother, and enjoy it...it is supposed to be fun, and it's true what they say, you will know it when you put it on!-
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Step #2- The Engagement
So...I have to tell you the pre-lude in order to get the full effect!
We were driving towards town on New Years Eve...on the way to Target to buy new heels since Daisy (my cute doggie) ate my favorite ones!
On the way..my sister Stacy, and my friends Buffy and Erin all call..and at some point in all the conversations...they all say...ohhh..I bet you are going to get engaged.
My reply was..."you guys are going to feel bad when I come back crying because you all got my hopes up."
After I hang up with the last one...JJ (full knowing that he is planning to propose later) says...You know..it's kind of annoying that all your friends and family think that every time we go away we are going to get engaged...I (get pissed) and reply that ..why wouldn't they think he was going to propose since he dropped a load of money on the room, and planned this great new years get away. He tells me that he just wanted to do something nice for new years...Then I proceeded to storm away from him into Target and cry about how much is sucks being the girl in the relationship because you have to wait for the man to decide that its time to get married. (20 minutes go by..and we are fine)
Cut to later...
We get to the hotel (Fallsview Hilton- Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)...beautiful jacuzzi suite...overlooking the falls....we go to the Watermark restaurant for a nice dinner...Picture it...me in a dress and heels... after dinner we go back to the room and I change into something other than a dress and heels...jeans and sweatshirt....he keeps his tie and jacket on..(odd...yes)...we walk down to the falls area...there is food, a concert..lots of lights for the new years celebrating....we see that there are fireworks at 9pm and at midnight...its like 8:45 now so we go to find a nice spot near the falls to see the show... 9pm..the fireworks start....nice show....he is standing behind me...and asks..."So..we have been together 8 months tomorrow, are you still glad you sent me that e-mail? I reply "Honey..you always ask me that on our anniversary, and I always tell you that I wouldn't change a thing...and I'll always say that" Right as I say that, he slips the ring into my view and says, "How would you like to spend the rest of your life with me? Kylie will you marry me?"....I immediately start crying...and sobbing...and then I hit him...."Why did you let me yell at you earlier!!!"...he laughs...and says...."Well...are you going to say yes? I said "Yes, of course!" So..after that...we took a beautiful horse-drawn carriage ride along the falls...then we went up to our room...sat in the bubbly jacuzzi for a while...and then got out just in time to see the midnight fireworks from our room. What a beautiful day!
Step #1- find a groom
So, one day, I was home sick from work-not the really really sick kind of sick, but sick enough where you could justify it to yourself to stay home.
I wake up, let the dogs out, fed them, and got right back into bed. I turned on the television to my favorite morning news show, the Today Show on NBC. While watching I see a preview for an interview coming up later in the show "stay tuned as we talk to the inventor of new, free internet dating site that everyone is raving about"
Now, you should know, that I have tried the online dating thing before, but you may notice in previous posts, I don't mention any of them-that's because none of them turned in to anything. For one reason or another, it didn't happen.
Matt Lauer talks to this guy who started a free dating site from his computer in his bedroom, and manages it's day to day operations from that same, small, one bedroom apartment. The site is run completely from sponsors (hence why it is free).
I go to my laptop and go to Plenty of Fish. Now, most of the sites that claim to be free, are not free at all, they may have a free sign up, or free searches, but you can't actually talk to anyone unless you pay. Plenty of Fish is not like that at all. You sign in, create a profile, and start looking. The one thing I really liked about POF is that you could see who was looking at your profile, and it would put the most recent first....so you knew if someone was checking you out. I was on POF for a few months, with no connections.
One day in April 2008, I log on and see that someone new had looked at my profile, so I decided to check him out. He was from a town close to me, and I noticed something familiar...He was wearing a Cornell Cooperative Extension shirt. Only those who work for CCE know that shirt..that red shirt..and that logo as well as we do - but he didn't send me a message- the nerve!
So..being the assertive gal I am, I sent him a message.
He replies to my message with his e-mail address and we begin exchanging e-mails. His first
e-mail came to me the day I was leaving to go to Alfred for Hot Dog Day. I had typed an e-mail from work, but the computers went down just as I was leaving and I didn't know till I got back that the e-mail never went through. (He still picks on me saying I snubbed his first e-mail). We exchange e-mails and Instant Message for a week or so and find out that we know a lot of the same people, and that we had even been at a few of the same trainings during our time at CCE. He used to get up early in the morning (when he didn't have to) to chat with me on AIM, and I would always check my e-mail a million times a day to see if he sent me something.
On May 1st, 2008, he sent me a text message saying that he was in town, and asked if I could get away from work for a while and meet him for ice cream. I jumped at the chance!. I leave work and drive about a mile down the road to The Cowlick. The first thing I noticed about him was that he was wearing his Cornell Sweatshirt(he has his MAT from Cornell), and had a great smile. We say hello, and get some ice cream (he paid!) We ended up talking for a few hours and later on that night, he asked me to be his girlfriend. We haven't been apart since!
The Prelude
Anyone who knows me, knows that I was the perpetually single girl.
My first boyfriend ever was in the 6th grade, (Hi Pete!), and I remember the first time he kissed me, after he walked me to my bus, I felt like I was going to get in trouble....I was in the 6th grade for christ sakes...what am I doing kissing a boy!!
Never dated really anyone for a while after the bus debauchery! High school, I was busy playing sports and joining clubs...and for my junior and senior proms, I went with great friends both years (Hi Jeremy & Eric!).
College was soooooo much fun...I loved college, loved my friends, loved the town...loved it all. I had a brief boyfriend during the summer between sophomore and junior year (we met while working at a summer camp) that lasted for a bit into fall semester of junior year, but eventually faded out when the jerk didn't call for like a week...so that was that..buh-bye!
Cut to newly graduated Kylie with a great job working for Cornell, and living in her very first apartment. (woo hoo for me!)
I date:
Stephen (cheated on me when he went out with his friends one night)
Joey (found out later he was married!)
Todd (lied to me about his age)
The comes Anthony, we dated for two years, he also cheated and ended bad!
After leaving Anthony, I was single for 3 years . Unlike a lot of people, I was ok being single, I'm not like most women who need to have a boyfriend. Don't' get me wrong...I'd love to have one, but I'd rather be single and happy, than in the wrong relationship.
The one thing that I always had going for me, was my confidence, and none of those old boyfriends could take that from me.
"Love many, trust few, always paddle your own canoe" -Aunt Kathryn
My first boyfriend ever was in the 6th grade, (Hi Pete!), and I remember the first time he kissed me, after he walked me to my bus, I felt like I was going to get in trouble....I was in the 6th grade for christ sakes...what am I doing kissing a boy!!
Never dated really anyone for a while after the bus debauchery! High school, I was busy playing sports and joining clubs...and for my junior and senior proms, I went with great friends both years (Hi Jeremy & Eric!).
College was soooooo much fun...I loved college, loved my friends, loved the town...loved it all. I had a brief boyfriend during the summer between sophomore and junior year (we met while working at a summer camp) that lasted for a bit into fall semester of junior year, but eventually faded out when the jerk didn't call for like a week...so that was that..buh-bye!
Cut to newly graduated Kylie with a great job working for Cornell, and living in her very first apartment. (woo hoo for me!)
I date:
Stephen (cheated on me when he went out with his friends one night)
Joey (found out later he was married!)
Todd (lied to me about his age)
The comes Anthony, we dated for two years, he also cheated and ended bad!
After leaving Anthony, I was single for 3 years . Unlike a lot of people, I was ok being single, I'm not like most women who need to have a boyfriend. Don't' get me wrong...I'd love to have one, but I'd rather be single and happy, than in the wrong relationship.
The one thing that I always had going for me, was my confidence, and none of those old boyfriends could take that from me.
"Love many, trust few, always paddle your own canoe" -Aunt Kathryn
Everyone else is!
So....I figured that since I spend a lot of my down time (both at work and at home) online, looking at the blogs that my friends (Jess & Jacy) have created, I should start one.
This all really started because a great friend recently told me that I should write a book about efficient (and very cost effective) wedding planning. I imagine that this dear friend thinks this since I've been engaged about 24 days at this point and I'm just about done with everything.
My plan is to post the different stages of planning my wedding, in hopes that your comments and ideas can help me nail down the details that I have yet to solidify!
Talk to you soon!
This all really started because a great friend recently told me that I should write a book about efficient (and very cost effective) wedding planning. I imagine that this dear friend thinks this since I've been engaged about 24 days at this point and I'm just about done with everything.
My plan is to post the different stages of planning my wedding, in hopes that your comments and ideas can help me nail down the details that I have yet to solidify!
Talk to you soon!
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