The Blair Wife Project: Introductions

Ah!  Ok I am SO excited about this one guys.  "The Blair Wife Project" is a new blog series that we're going to do a little differently - Cate is going to guest blog her own wedding planning adventures for you here!!  I LOVE her, for being her and for so graciously allowing me to be involved in this exciting time in her life.  All posts will be from her point of view, but I will throw my 2 cents in every once and awhile!  One of my favorite things about weddings and the bridal industry is how unique every bride is, and I LOVE that this will allow you to see an entirely different point of view than the one I share with you regularly.  So without further adieu ....here's Cate!

Hello! I’m Cate and I am the cousin-to-be Rachel mentioned recently got engaged. When Rachel began (aggressively) suggesting I document details of my engagement and wedding for this blog, I all but jumped at the opportunity to ask if I could be somewhat of guest blogger. The other shoreline bride, if you will.  Rachel and I have been planning this wedding for years so it just seems fitting we stick together in the blog department, right?

Rachel and I have been dance partners since Cody’s (my fiancé) brother’s wedding in October 2011. In addition to introducing me to Instagram, Rachel and I – I feel- forged a real bond when, in our wine-induced haze, we took each other up and started slow dancing. One moment we were giggling over nothing and then both of us looked at each other and in the same exact moment realized “oh sh*t, we are next!”  Little did we know how real that moment was!

(Rachel interrupting here - this is a picture from Keith & Sabrina's wedding of us with the bride!)

So- introductions. Relationship stats.  Cody and I met with college in 2009. We were both hired as Resident Assistants and went through training together.  Cody, affectionately a bit of a hoarder, still has the ice -breaker activity thing where he took copious notes to try and remember everyone’s names in the group and next to mine wrote “dark hair –(hot)”.

 Seven years later we are engaged. We were friends for about a year before we started dating February 28^th, 2010 and we got engaged on February 26^th, 2016 in Portland, ME.  I would say we are a bit goofy. We are both avid runners. He’s a car guy, I’m a bookworm. We have two cats, Frank and Bandit, and you might think we have a dog by the number of pictures I have of a silly hound-mutt on my phone but we don’t. That’s Cody’s brother’s dog.  I have a slight obsession. 

Cody and I are both CT born and hoping to get married fall 2017. I, personally, would love to just go and elope somewhere beautiful like Hawaii or New Zealand but I don’t think either of our families would have that. Plus despite my non-traditional-I-won’t-wear-white-because-you-say-so heart, a big part of me is excited for the journey. 

If I had to pick a phrase to describe our ideal wedding theme/style, it would be industrial-minimalist. So far, we both love the look of hardwood and metal interiors and are of the philosophy less is more. As a bride I don’t care too much about tradition or spectacle. I actually get pretty anxious at parties with more than 6 people. I don't want crazy up-lighting. I don’t want fireworks or a seven-tier cake. I just want to marry my best friend and have some fun doing it with the people we love most. 

The month of April is dedicated to the venue search. We have tours booked at about seven places so far and I will be sure to take notes and detail for Rachel to share with you! 

Check back soon for more updates on their venue search!!!

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