So, we woke up early-ish on Friday- we had lots to do! We were having the rehearsal dinner at our house and (thank goodness) were having the bulk of the food catered in, but had decided to make a few things ourselves. So we spent some time putting that stuff together- taco dip, beans, etc.
We were still waiting to hear when my brother and Julie were getting to town. We finally heard that they arrived safely and the company they were renting the accessible van from was meeting them with he van at the airport and would lead them to the hotel so they could get some rest.
Around 9 am, the flowers that I had ordered from Sams Club arrived. I was so excited, they were so pretty! I had been having irrational nightmares the the flower order was somehow screwed up and that they were not going to arrive on time (or at all!) so I was very happy when fed ex was ringing my doorbell. I was also happy when the lady delivery driver complimented me on the Asiatic lily's we have growing in our flower beds. She said they were the nicest once she had ever seen! Anyway, Sam's ship the flowers dry, so we had to take them out of the boxes, remove all of the shipping material and then put them in 5 gallon buckets so that they could "drink" and hydrate themselves. Overall, they were in great shape and well worth the money we paid. It think it was something like $70 for 80 stems and we got 1 box of each color, so 240 flowers.
We spent most of the morning/early afternoon getting the flowers ready and making up the bouquets for the bridesmaids. I also made all of the bout's for the guys. I have to say, they turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself!) We could have had the bout's made by the florist, but she said it would be $10 each. I figured that was a little steep.
Josh did some running around that morning- he got the cars washed and then went to walmart to pick up ice and get me some more vases. I had definitely underestimated how many we would need to decorate the reception space with.
My Dad arrived on his Harley around noonish and we had some lunch. He and Josh got to work setting up the tables and such in the backyard for the party later. Our friends Kenny, Josh and Kari came over to help out as well. Before I knew it it was 3:30 and I was a hot mess. I needed to get everything put away and then go and get dressed as we were supposed to leave the house at 4:30 to get to our rehearsal on time.
I'm kind of bummed that nobody was taking any pictures during the rehearsal and the dinner. It didn't even occur to me to do so, so I guess I will just have to remember as much as I can and document it now!
The rehearsal went according to plan and then the whole crew was back at our house for the party! Josh's dad had gone and picked up the food at the caterer while we were at the rehearsal. Thankfully I was one of the first people back to the house so I got to work setting it all up. Soon more and more people started to arrive. I have NEVER entertained so many people before, but it was so fun! The food from the caterer was great- I was sooooo glad that we had decided to go that route. Thanks to my Dad for basically insisting that we do that. My Mom and I had been toying with the idea of doing the food ourselves to save money, but we never would have had time and would have had way less fun. The night went by so quickly and I felt like I didn't have enough time to greet everybody like I wanted to. It's fun being the center of attention, but I don't think I could handle it all of the time!
In the end it turned out to be a great party. We had basically everybody that was in town that night at the dinner so it was more than just the usual bridal party and it was great. It was the first time I had met some of Josh's family so it was nice to be able to spend a bit more time with them. The party broke up around 10 pm, and then I headed back to the Hilton with my amfam friends to spend the night there with them. We stayed up chatting for a bit, and I had to re-do my manicure since it was pretty much ruined from dealing with all of the flowers, but were all asleep pretty early, probably around 11 or so. I was actually pretty surprised to be very calm... it didn't take me long to relax and fall asleep at all.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Pineapple Tarte Tatin - Recipe Detail - BakeSpace.com
Pineapple Tarte Tatin - Recipe Detail - BakeSpace.com
This is the dessert we had in Hawaii that was AMAZING. I found the recipe online and want to try to make it soon.
This is the dessert we had in Hawaii that was AMAZING. I found the recipe online and want to try to make it soon.
Wedding Recap- Part 1
I'll start the wedding recap with Wednesday, June 24. This is the first day that I was off work and the day that my Mom came into town so it was really the beginning of the wedding festivities. Josh and I went to pick her up at the airport around noon. Then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for some yummy lunch. We had many wedding related errands to run, including going to pick up the silk flowers that had been specially made for my wedding.
I really wish that we had taken some pictures of the hideous flowers that we picked up that day. I can't even begin to describe how disappointed in them we all were. Despite that, we did take them with us and head back home that day. I was so bummed! Thank goodness I had ordered some bulk Gerbera Daisy's from Sam's club... I had planned to use them for the centerpieces and decorating around the hall, but suddenly we knew that we had to use them to also make flowers for me, the bridesmaids, and the bout's for the guys, and figure out something to decorate the ceremony space with. We were scared!
We stopped at Meijer and purchased some cheap flowers to practice on. We made a pretty pathetic looking bouquet that night, but it still looked better than the crap that the vendor had given me. Again, I wish we had taken some pics, but oh well.
That evening, my mom gave me a very special present... an open heart necklace- you know, the one that Jane Seymour sells. I really love the meaning behind it- "If your heart is open, love will always find its way in" I have worn it every day since. I love it :)
The next day we got up and got ready for our day of pampering... Unfortunately, due to the flower fiasco, we also were a bit stressed about what we were going to do for the flowers. Our first stop was the Woodhouse Day Spa. We had amazing pedicures there. I had a gift card that I had gotten from some friends for last years birthday that I hadn't used yet, so we decided to try it out. I will definitely be back! Next we went to meet Josh for lunch at the Flat Top Grill. Everybody loves Flat Top! We had about 90 minutes to kill before our manicure appointment, so we decided to take off and try to find a florist that I had heard good things about. On the way there, the decorator for the catering company called and pretty much saved the day with respect to the decorations for the ceremony room. She had some great ideas about how to make the space look beautiful... sadly I had to cough up about $300 for this, but in the end it was worth it.
We arrived at Lopshire Flowers and were greeted by a very friendly clerk named Robin! She agreed to make a bouquet for me for a very reasonable price which made us feel sooooo much better. At least my bouquet would be looking fantastic!
Next we headed over to In Touch H20 for our manicures. The manicures were nice... but given all of the work we had to do over the next few days we really should have waited to get them. By the next night (after the rehearsal dinner) my nails looked like crap and I en deed up having to re-polish them myself.
The whole time we were running around town on Thursday, my brother and his wife Julie were trying to get to Fort Wayne. They had decided to fly because it is quite a drive from where they are from (about 450 miles) and when they planned the trip they had an older vehicle that they didn't really trust to make the trip. Well, there was some iffy weather in the area that day and to make a long story short, they ended up spending the night in Detroit. At the airport. In their wheelchairs. It was not a pleasant experience for them, to say the least.
We spent most of the night just relaxing, having a few cocktails, and waiting up for Jason and Julie. They didn't have a cell phone with them so it was a bit tricky trying to figure out if they were going to get here that night or not. We ended up driving down to the hotel at 1 AM to check them in to their room because the front desk clerk told my mom that if they didn't show up by 3 am, their room would be given away since the hotel was sold out. We didn't want them to lose their wheelchair accessable room, so we went to check them in, then came home and crashed.
More to come...
I really wish that we had taken some pictures of the hideous flowers that we picked up that day. I can't even begin to describe how disappointed in them we all were. Despite that, we did take them with us and head back home that day. I was so bummed! Thank goodness I had ordered some bulk Gerbera Daisy's from Sam's club... I had planned to use them for the centerpieces and decorating around the hall, but suddenly we knew that we had to use them to also make flowers for me, the bridesmaids, and the bout's for the guys, and figure out something to decorate the ceremony space with. We were scared!
We stopped at Meijer and purchased some cheap flowers to practice on. We made a pretty pathetic looking bouquet that night, but it still looked better than the crap that the vendor had given me. Again, I wish we had taken some pics, but oh well.
That evening, my mom gave me a very special present... an open heart necklace- you know, the one that Jane Seymour sells. I really love the meaning behind it- "If your heart is open, love will always find its way in" I have worn it every day since. I love it :)
The next day we got up and got ready for our day of pampering... Unfortunately, due to the flower fiasco, we also were a bit stressed about what we were going to do for the flowers. Our first stop was the Woodhouse Day Spa. We had amazing pedicures there. I had a gift card that I had gotten from some friends for last years birthday that I hadn't used yet, so we decided to try it out. I will definitely be back! Next we went to meet Josh for lunch at the Flat Top Grill. Everybody loves Flat Top! We had about 90 minutes to kill before our manicure appointment, so we decided to take off and try to find a florist that I had heard good things about. On the way there, the decorator for the catering company called and pretty much saved the day with respect to the decorations for the ceremony room. She had some great ideas about how to make the space look beautiful... sadly I had to cough up about $300 for this, but in the end it was worth it.
We arrived at Lopshire Flowers and were greeted by a very friendly clerk named Robin! She agreed to make a bouquet for me for a very reasonable price which made us feel sooooo much better. At least my bouquet would be looking fantastic!
Next we headed over to In Touch H20 for our manicures. The manicures were nice... but given all of the work we had to do over the next few days we really should have waited to get them. By the next night (after the rehearsal dinner) my nails looked like crap and I en deed up having to re-polish them myself.
The whole time we were running around town on Thursday, my brother and his wife Julie were trying to get to Fort Wayne. They had decided to fly because it is quite a drive from where they are from (about 450 miles) and when they planned the trip they had an older vehicle that they didn't really trust to make the trip. Well, there was some iffy weather in the area that day and to make a long story short, they ended up spending the night in Detroit. At the airport. In their wheelchairs. It was not a pleasant experience for them, to say the least.
We spent most of the night just relaxing, having a few cocktails, and waiting up for Jason and Julie. They didn't have a cell phone with them so it was a bit tricky trying to figure out if they were going to get here that night or not. We ended up driving down to the hotel at 1 AM to check them in to their room because the front desk clerk told my mom that if they didn't show up by 3 am, their room would be given away since the hotel was sold out. We didn't want them to lose their wheelchair accessable room, so we went to check them in, then came home and crashed.
More to come...
Starting Over... or at least again!
Hello!
After many months away, I am starting back up with this blog. Lots has changed since the last time I wrote... most importantly, I am now a MRS!!!! :) The wedding was awesome. I will post a wedding and honeymoon recap at some point. I think the main reason I want to do this is so that I will have something to look back on in a few years and really be able to remember these amazing times in our lives!
Here goes!
After many months away, I am starting back up with this blog. Lots has changed since the last time I wrote... most importantly, I am now a MRS!!!! :) The wedding was awesome. I will post a wedding and honeymoon recap at some point. I think the main reason I want to do this is so that I will have something to look back on in a few years and really be able to remember these amazing times in our lives!
Here goes!
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