30 days as Mrs. Mascia.

Ant - When you asked me to marry you, you said we would be embarking on a journey of trust, teamwork, communication, growth and success.

Today, in front of our friends and family, I vow to love and cherish you every day of this journey for the rest of our lives. 

You make me a better, more patient person.  I promise to continue to learn your patience; it is something that never ceases to amaze me. 

For better or worse, I promise to communicate.  You and I know that this is what sets us apart.

There is absolutely no one on this planet who makes me laugh harder than you.  I vow to do everything I can to bring as much joy to your life as you have to mine.

No matter how busy our lives may get, I promise to put you and us first, always.  You always challenge me to be better, and together there is nothing we can’t do.

Ant, I promise you a life full of adventure.  Whether it be discovering the world around us or the adventure of starting our own family, I vow to make every day with you count.  You are my partner and my best friend.

I can’t wait to see what our life brings us, because I know that in the end, I will only love you more.

Happy 1 Month, Mr. Mascia - xoxo

White Carpet Appointment - The Dress!

eeek!  I just realized something very exciting.

Now that the wedding is over, and you have all seen the dress - I can go back and share with you the rest of the pictures from my White Carpet Appointment last summer!  I initially share the details of the day in this post, and you can see The White Dress by the Shore's blog post here - but I obviously couldn't show you any pictures of me trying on THE dress!  That day was seriously one of the best days with my favorite women, and I can't speak more highly of the experience.  Having the boutique to ourselves made the entire experience so relaxed and special...and I love that I can go back and relive the moment I "said yes!"

Sorry, this is the definition of a "photo dump" - but there were so many good ones, and as I was going back I was really able to relive the entire day!!  My goal here is to share with you all the details you never knew you wanted to know about wedding planning - and part of it is how interesting the dress shopping experience was!  TWD made it as smooth as possible - and Shana was a saint, but it is a big decision! and the pictures do a fun job of showing you the whole thing.....so let's take a look :)

this was the first time I tried on "the dress"

I LOVED that it had the oh so subtle pockets

and have we discussed the back?

this was the first belt Shana picked out for me

I loved how simple yet detailed the top was.

I'm loving how flattering it is...

we think it might be "the dress"

****this picture above might be one of my favorite - Kristin's iPhone pics that she took legitimately helped me make up my mind.  I really thought I loved two of the dresses - and decided to look at two pics she'd taken side by side.  As soon as I saw those, I knew there was no comparing the two.  I felt, and looked like a bride in my dress. 

so we put a veil on!!

and the moms cried...

at this point I was prettyyyyy sure

I adore everything about this picture

Again, bear with me....remember this is a BIG decision.  After all of the pictures outside, I was starting to get nervous about the fact that I might have actually found MY wedding dress.  on the first trip!!!  Since I was feeling a little overwhelmed, we took everyone over to try on bridesmaids dresses and give me a breather.  Once I had a chance to digest and talk to my mom - we tried it on one more time (yes, that's three times, if you're keeping track)...

Another warning - my official "say yes" moment is coming up - and I am NOT pretty when I cry.  Oye.

lace up corsets are amazingly flattering!

I'm realizing it's the one...

....and here it is.  ugly tears, happy bride.

now we realize we need to pick a belt! so many decisions in one day.

I tried on this second one briefly...

...before we agreed the thinner one was MUCH better.  trust the professionals :)

Mission Accomplished!

Shopping for a wedding dress is such a unique and "once in a lifetime" experience - a wedding dress is obviously nothing like that I wear on a normal basis....and yet you want to find the perfect dress that still screams "you".  I was able to describe what I wanted enough that the ladies at TWD were able to help me put together the perfect outfit.  and I was SO so lucky to have all of my ladies with me!

How was your dress shopping experience???  Did you know it was "the one" right away?  And more importantly, did you have ugly tears also???

xoxo

Flower girl dresses - the choice

Wayyyy back in this post in January I shared with you my hunt for flower girl dresses.  Now that I have plenty of adorable pictures of the girls in their dresses, I wanted to share them with you!  First....let's discuss this picture.  It is by FAR one of my favorites from our rehearsal.  We weren't sure how they would do walking down the aisle together, and during the rehearsal there wasn't even technically an aisle.....but off they went! and then Laura got this shot with the groomsmen behind them and I just about died.  SO stinking cute.

Anyway, back to their dresses.  I had done lots of brainstorming, and knew I wanted them in white or navy to coordinate with the groomsmen. I sent the information I had to my cousins to ask their input.  One of the things my cousin Nicole mentioned in her email was that both girls often wore Carters - a brand we carry at work!  I did some more online research and ended up finding this adorable dress!  Carters is great because they often have the same styles in both baby and toddler sizes, which is what we needed.  Both of my cousins loved the dress - so we made the decision and bought it!  The dress is perfect, cotton and simple and NOT expensive! So many dresses you find online that are officially "flower girl" dresses are crazy expensive, especially when the girls are so little and will literally wear it for a couple of hours.

I told Nicole and MaryAnne that shoes & hair were completely up to them, I wanted to keep things simple and easy!  They couldn't have been more adorable.  Both girls wore matching white bows in their hair, and little white shoes.  Below are a few pictures from the night that show the girls in their dresses - they couldn't have been a better match for the day!

perfect little ladies walking down the aisle!

they made it!!!

enjoying the handmade wedding favors

modeling the back of the dress ;)

As I said before, I knew the girls would look cute in anything - and I am SO glad we were able to find something pretty and simple.  and, just as I suspected, they stole the show!  S did an amazing job - she was able to hold her flower basket AND H's hand and guide her down the aisle without any difficulty!  I mean, really, could they be any cuter??