The April List: Recap

So I definitely jinxed us…as I am writing this, April's showers are in FULL effect.  Apparently April wanted to start and end the month with crazy inches of rain.  Let's hope the yard doesn't flood this time!  Luckily, tomorrow is May and the weather is supposed to be way better!!  Bring on the May flowers :)  I can't even wrap my head around the fact that our three month mark is coming up - so instead let's focus on how I did on April's list!

The April List:

-Invitations - get wording from Jen. If we like the coloring of the sample when it comes in - ORDER IT. - Done!! Got wording AND so many other things from Jen.  Confirmed with her last week that she will be doing our invites!  We just need to finalize the proof and they'll be good to go!

-Call Kathy at Branford House to update her with timeline info - Done!!

-Mock up current place card idea. - Done!! and very happy with it.

-Walk through BH with Jen - finalize timeline stuff, discuss room layout, etc. - Done!! and massively helpful.

-Coffee or BH visit with Pat - discuss ceremony music & other song ideas. - Not done yet…but we have a meeting scheduled for next week! So basically done :)
-Contact caterer with finalized timeline stuff.  Make a decision about chicken.  Stop talking about chicken, finally:) - Done!  Email is sent, haven't had a chance to confirm all of the details, but we got the conversation rolling…which is usually the hardest part.
-Mock up at least 1 table # - decide if we like the idea or not. - Done!! and we love it.  Some details still to be worked out but we generally know what we're doing.
-Practice seal - decide if we need to order new color or not - Done!! and good to go.
-Email BMs about shoes and hair - Half done.  Shoes email was sent, and I also sent an email with some rehearsal dinner details.  I decided to wait on the hair for now.  I'm trying not to kill them with too much info!
-Email Amy about setting up a date for hair trial & timeline of the day - Done!  Got her schedule, now I just need to figure out what day will work best for me to get there.
-Buy Ant's shoes/belt - Half done! Still need a belt.
-Pick ties for Ant & groomsmen - order 1 to test - Blew this one out of the park!  Forget ordering 1 to test…the tie for the groomsmen was picked, and ALL 9 ordered them!  I am a happy happy girl.
-Send updated timeline stuff to Rachel - Fail.  No good reason…you can't win them all??
-Send AAC check, FINALLY. Yikes. - Done! Nothing like the last minute…but I got it in the mail today :)
-Meet with videographer…book? - Again, last minute…but we just got home from a meeting with our potential videographer, and were very happy! It isn't booked yet, but probably will be by next week.
-Pay $xxx.xx of our Honeymoon balance - Not done…but there is a plan in place, so I'm not worried about it.

and there you have it!!!  April was very productive…we got some MAJOR things checked off that are making me feel better about the little details we have left.  These lists are a disorganized bride's savior!!! 

This weekend, we spent some QT with my parents in Rhode Island.  I love the beach, any time of the year!

We did a spontaneous wine tasting down near Misquamicut!  Talk about a lovely Sunday afternoon.

and just for fun, this is what my poor store looks like…emptyyyyy.

I am spending the weekend in NYC with Katie - so I will get May's list up before I leave.  In the meantime, how did you do with your April list??

The 6 month sprint: Week 7

Andddd, we're back!  Before I get too far behind again - let's chat some more about my recent 6 month sprint escapades.  I'll give you a hint, this one includes a LOT of sparkle.  I never mind being productive and running errands when it involves picking up sparkle :)

Thursday 4/10:  Got my regular update from the Mystic Marriott about how many rooms have been blocked…but this time I made a shocking discovery! The emails contain an attachment that actually shows me exactly who has booked, and for how many nights.  Don't ask me why I didn't notice this before.  I emailed them to fix a problem with one of the reservations, and got that settled.  Next step is sending friendly reminder emails to family about booking before the block fills up!

Friday:  Got an email from Ant's mother that she had decided what dress she thought she wanted, asking for a final approval from us.  Approval granted!

Saturday: Spent the day in Boston with our friends…blissfully doing no wedding planning.

enjoying the sun on a rooftop in Boston!

Sunday: Got home from Boston to a call from Ant's mother, excitedly telling us that she had found a different dress that she loved and wanted to buy!  She came straight to our house to show us - and I love it! It's perfect for our August wedding :) I took advantage of the chance to convince Ant to try on his suit for us, now that he's gotten it back all fitted and ready to go.  Omg…let me tell you.  That boy, looks good.  I am going to be the luckiest bride on 8/8.  We also came home to an invitation sample from Jen in the mail, and loved it!  We emailed her to get more details about cost, etc…but decided to wait and chat when we saw her in person!

sneak peek of our wedding invite

another sneak peek: this one of the MOTG dress!

Monday:  Ant and I both got out of work earlier than usual, so we headed to Mystic to pick up our wedding bands!!!!  They were perfect.  After that we had plans to walk through the BH with Jen. Silly us, the BH is closed after 3pm on weekdays, so we couldn't walk through it, but we were able to talk through SO many silly details as far as the day of the wedding was concerned.  We talked about table set up and DJ location and where "lawn game central" will be, and so on and so forth.  She is so patient and wonderful with all our questions!  We also had a chance to talk about the invitations - we got a quote from her and discussed the option of adding a few things we weren't originally considering.  We left the BH and it wasn't too late - so we decided to stop at the outlets on a whim…and ended up buying Ant's shoes!  More to come on that.  I came home feeling super motivated, so I went on an emailing spree.  I emailed our caterer about chicken and some timeline things, our cake lady with some pictures that more closely resembled the look we are going for, and Jen to tell her we were all in for our invites!

Ant's space ring, in all it's glory :)

lawn game central!

the beautiful patio of the BH

happy campers

Tuesday 4/15: I got a call from TWD that Brit's dress was in - so I called to say I would be in the next day to get them.  When I called back she told me my bridesmaid's earrings were also ready to be picked up!  I got a chance to talk to Marie Wiley about the possibility of her officiating our wedding.  She was very reassuring and I got off the phone with a lot of good information.  We also rescheduled our meeting with the videographer.  Between his schedule and ours it's an almost impossible task to find a day that works for everyone!!

Wednesday: Again - productive Wednesday's off!  This one was a BFFL wedding day!  We already had plans to go to the outlets, so while we were in Clinton we went to TWD and picked up Brittni's dress, my earrings & comb, and all of the bridesmaids earrings. {Insert extra happy bride-to-be happy dance}  The amount of bling in my house right now is totally out of control!  We also went to the outlets and did some damage - Melissa got a rehearsal dinner dress AND shoes.  Then we went to DSW, and found some gold heels for my MOH to wear on the wedding day!  Talk about productive.

if only you could see all the sparkle this little bag contains!

Melissa took care of safely delivering the dress!

retail therapy will make a girl happy

gold MOH heels? check!!

The weather has been SO up and down lately…I am ready for spring to hit in full force!  In the meantime, Ant and I are taking every sunny moment we can to be productive outside and enjoy the weather.  How are you getting ready for spring??

FINALLY removed all of the leaves from last season.  Next step: mulch!  

Oh, the joys of being a homeowner :)

Wise Guys: His Wedding Band {Part 3 -We're putting a ring on it!}

I took a longggg hiatus from this post…but I promise it was worth the wait! Part 3 {and the final part} of the great search for Ant's wedding band.

In Part 2, I introduced you to Lashbrook.  You're welcome!  Now I told you Ant found one that almost immediately jumped out at him…and that was their meteorite ring.  Yes, you read that right.  Meteorite. Ant's eye lit up in a very star trek loving sort of way…as he realized that part of the ring he was trying on came from space.  I knew we were done looking at that point.  The best part?? I actually really love the way the ring looks, too!  I know, minor details and major bonus points, the bride likes the ring.  But seriously.  In all of the rings we had looked at I always felt like something was missing…it was either too blingy and busy, or too simple.  Too dark, too shiny, and so on.  This one though?  It's interesting acid etched pattern gives it some parts that are darker than others, and a brushed look that's more interesting than basic brushed finishes.  Aka..perfect!  The one that they had at Mallove's wasn't quite right…it was too wide for Ant's hand.  She described all the different ways you could customize it with the meteorite, but Ant ultimately decided the simple style with a slightly thinner band was perfect.

Here is a brief description from Lashbrook themselves on how their meteorite rings are made:

The picture below is of the style Ant chose:

And then, just for fun…here are a few of the other styles Lashbrook has done with the meteorite.  In case you are now in love like we were and need to know more!!

Again, need I say more??  We love Lashbrook.  And I, as the bride to be, can not thank them enough for ultimately creating the perfect space nerd ring, that pulls off a seriously sophisticated look.  We'll pretend he chose it for the style and not the nerd effect.  Sigh.

Would your guy go for the meteorite band??  I'd love to see a picture of what band you chose!  This was one of the more interesting decisions we made…and I couldn't be happier with the outcome!

Hosting Holidays

Ant and I hosted our first holiday at the house on Sunday!  With each of our grandfathers having big birthday celebrations this month, we have seen most of our family within the last few weeks, so we decided it was a perfect time to take advantage of hosting a smaller event!!! We hosted Ant's parents, my parents, and my baby sis :) My mom also just turned in her PhD dissertation last Thursday, so there was plenty to celebrate!

I thought I'd give you a quick play by play of what hosting a holiday at the lake looks like!

Saturday night we went to the grocery store to stock up.  Anyone who knows me at all knows this means I was throwing a {minor} temper tantrum, and Ant was maintaining his saint level patience.  We didn't have a list, so it was even more of a mess.  BUT! We got the last sliced pre cooked ham…and all of the other necessary yumminess…and got the heck out of there!  We then spent the rest of the night doing absolutely nothing related to holiday prep.  We watched Frozen and relaxed on the couch and went to bed early!

Sunday morning we got up and had an early start!  Well, Ant got an early start…I insisted on 30 extra minutes of sleep, and when I woke up Ant had breakfast waiting…that man knows the way to my heart.  After eating we got into motivation mode, and proceeded to clean the entire downstairs.  The benefit to hosting family is that it um, gently encourages spring cleaning :)  We tested out our new dyson which I LOVE - it's perfect for our hardwood floors!  We got the ham in the oven, and took a break for lunch on the patio in the backyard.

The adorable note I woke up to - my fiancé is quite the artistic one.

Beautiful flowers from my future MIL

Decided Easter was the perfect time to get the flags flying!!

Let's get that ham cooking!

Our foxy little friend is ready for spring :)

After lunch, we decided to see what downtown Guilford looked like on Easter Sunday.  The answer…empty.  On the hunt for coffee, we discovered Perk on Church was still open! Bless their hearts.  We snagged a much needed cup of coffee, and headed back to the house.

Ant prepped some food, while I updated our heart garland!  The winter colors came down, and the spring went up!  About that time everyone showed up.  We learned that a 20 lb. ham is a little excessive for 7 people…but otherwise dinner went off without a hitch!  I loved having everyone together at the house:  everyone's been so busy, it was nice that we could all just relax and enjoy each other's company.  It was also fun to allow our parents to relax and just enjoy dinner - we had it covered!  {Disclaimer: His parents brought appetizers & my parents brought dessert - which was a huge help}

The fireplace with it's spring facelift..

Extra sparkle this time around.  You like??

I look crazy, but my kitchen smells delicious…so there.

My favorite co-host

The presentation.

The men, putting together a log splitter….in the living room.  My life.

The ladies - missing Ally!!!! 

The best part of hosting the holiday?  We're already home!! Once everyone finished dessert and headed home…we just had to do a little cleaning and voila!  Ready for R&R with my favorite guy.

How was your Easter?  Do you have a Easter Sunday family tradition?  I'm looking forward to continuing to evolve our holidays with our family and friends - and creating new traditions as a married couple!  

Hoppy Easter!!!

Okay, forgive the "hoppy" cheesiness…but I've been rolling with it at work and it's been a hit…so there ya go.  I hope you are all having a wonderful Sunday with your family & friends!!  Ant and I are hosting our very first holiday here at 140 Lakeside today!! {Family should be here any minute - wish us luck!} I can't wait to share with you all how it goes…hopefully it's something we can start to do more often!

The problem with holidays is that it is VERY difficult to find a good cup of coffee…we snuck into Perk on Church 5 minutes before they closed! Crisis averted :)

In the meantime, here are a few sweet shots from Ant's grandfather's 90th birthday party yesterday.  We  are very lucky to have some amazing people (and genes) in our lives!!!

The 6 month sprint: Week 6

Happy Hump Day!!!  I am thrilled to be spending this fabulous Wednesday with my MOH - doing some shopping and a few wedding related errands {which you will be sure to read about in my next 6monthsprint update}.  I know I JUST posted one of these, but I promised I was going to try to get caught up…so here we go!

Saturday 4/5:  Emailed another JP about our date to check availability.  Got an answer back right away that they were available {yay for that!} and asking for some more details.  Also got our Minted sample back in our custom colors.  It's PERFECT.  Insert happy dance around the living room that that decision is now final.  Had to work - but joined friends afterwards to celebrate UConn's big Final Four win!

This is what UConn roomie joy looks like when UConn wins the final four.  That, and too much flash.

Sunday: {Celebrated my Grandfather's 96th birthday.  Yes, you read that right. 96.  Love that guy!}  Requested he wear the same outfit on my wedding day.  He said he will consider it.  Emailed Jen about 3 topics: invitation wording, setting up a date to visit the BH with her, and checking on JP suggestions, since she does so many local weddings.

All this guy wants to do is dance.  So he hired an 18 piece band for his birthday party.  

I can only hope I'm as sharp as him when I'm 96.

Monday: Got a phone call that Ant's wedding band had come in and we could come visit/pick them up anytime! As a bride to be, I've learned that phone calls often result in happy dances of some sort.  This was another one of those times. {Watched the NCAA Championship - GO HUSKIES!}  While watching the game, worked with Jen on invitation details - finalized wording…and discussed another possibility for invitations with similar design.  More to come on that! Confirmed date to meet with Jen and walk through BH.

Tuesday:  I personally did absolutely nothing wedding related this day.  BUT!  Ant and all of his groomsmen living in CT currently…yes, all 7 of them…went to Jos.A.Bank and tried on their suits. Only 3 needed to be exchanged for the correct sizes.  One is currently being shipped to Nebraska, and Ant brought home the two that were ready to go from our last visit!!!  The groom's suit has landed and is now living in our closet. Yay for that!!!  I spent my night at work getting fabulous pictures of each of the boys as they tried the suits on.  That is going to be one fine looking bridal party :)

This is what a happy groom looks like after a night with his guys.  Suit in hand!

Wednesday:  We got our second save the date for the season - for a September wedding outside of Boston!!  Wednesdays always seem to be some of my more productive days, since I'm usually off.  I worked this Wednesday, but after work Ally came over with her boyfriend and my nephew Henry to spend the night!  While the boys played video games after dinner, we made the dining room gold paint central.  We mocked up a few versions of my place card idea…some better than others, and ultimately decided as a general idea it's going to work perfectly!

Isn't my nephew the cutest??

That brings us to last Wednesday, so I'll stop for now…How is your wedding planning going?? Are you in the 6 month sprint yet?  Or just starting out???  I'd love to hear about it!

The 6 month sprint: Week 5

Picking up where we left off…I've been SUPER busy with work and wedding things…so we're back tracking quite a few days for this 6 month sprint update!!  Hence putting some dates in so you can follow what the heck I'm talking about :)

Wednesday March 26:  Got a confirmation email  from TWD for my 4 fitting dates! {first fitting is 5/8, less than a month!!}  Also, did some bridesmaids hair brainstorming with roomie.  Thank goodness for Pinterest!

Thursday: Emailed the Marriott to confirm an issue with the rooms.  Got an email back the next AM that it was all set!  Yay for non-problems.  Also took an inventory of who has reserved rooms in the block so we can start sending out friendly "8/8 is surprisingly soon - please book!" reminders :)

Sunday:  Did some MAJOR bridesmaid shoe research so I can send out suggestions to the girls.  Got an email that my bridesmaids earrings were ready!!!! {can't possibly put enough !!! to explain my excitement.  I am in love.}  Went on minted.com and ordered the sample of our invite in custom colors so we can start to get the ball rolling on getting invitations out!

Monday: Booked hotels for our first wedding of the summer - yay for a full weekend in Newport!  Finally stopped whining and starting making moves in the JP department - sent an email to one potential person.

Tuesday: Heard back from the JP that he isn't available for our wedding date.  Whined a bit more…then moved on and started searching again.  Got a text from Jen on my way to work that my wedding band came in!!!!  Now we just have to wait for Ants!

Wednesday April 2:  Ant and I had the day off together so we became the most productive people ever.   {roughly} Spent some time online researching and choosing B&W pictures - and ordered prints.  Went shopping and bought frames/numbers/so much gold paint….then came home and started testing out our table number idea.  Did a 95% complete mockup.  Learned that spray painting in the house is not the smartest life choice.  Ran into another scheduling conflict {the joys of two different rotating schedules} and confirmed a new date to meet with the videographer.  Met Ant's mom for dinner and MOTG dress shopping!  Hit every store in the West Farms mall - with varying levels of success.  Came home to a pin from Jen of my ring - Pinterest is great for brainstorming but even more fun as you start to create a board that's all your real wedding things!  Perfect way to see it all come together.

There are less than four months now - and I probably say this all of the time, but I could not be more excited!!!  My monthly lists have done a wonderful job of keeping me sane and on track and we have done a great job of keeping the wedding planning process FUN :)  If it isn't fun, whats the point??