I Am The Luckiest

First things first: I survived the tri.  No injuries, no limps, no drowning.  #Success.

The weekend before the triathlon was one of the best weekends of my life but I have been on a high for so long that I haven't had a chance to blog about it.  My dear, sweet besties:

(dear, sweet besties)

threw me the world's most amazing bridal shower!  As corny as it sounds, I have never felt so loved.  After I got over the weirdness of the fact that all of my good friends where in one room together, it was the most wonderful afternoon.  We decorated cakes and cupcakes, ate cake and cupcakes, drank champagne and laughed! 

MOH Sarah even made aprons for all of the girls as party favors.  Yes, you read that correctly.  She made 20+ aprons, all with different, beautiful fabric for the girls to take home (as modeled below by hard-at-work cake decorators, Yael and Lindsey):

Following the shower festivities, we were off to Downtown Denver for a *surprise* bachelorette party!  BFF Kari surprised me first with a videotaped interview of my Fiance answering questions about me, him and our relationship.  It was so much to watch and guess his answers ... we've re-watched the video at least 3 times this week :) 

The rest of the evening went by in a blur...

Dinner at The Ninth Door

Statue Imitating

A "dance party!"

There was also some fist pumping but unfortunately that picture came out a little blurry!

After a full day of recovery, the parents, in-laws, Fiance and I were off to E.P. for all of the final wedding prep.  Everything went so smoothly and all parties involved now have the needed confidence that the day is going to flow like wine!  We even learned how to use the self-timer!

Next time you see this background will be for the Welcome Reception/Rehearsal Dinner/BBQ!!!!



Bridesmaid = Burden?

My fabulous Fiance sent me this great article the other day from one of his favorite financial websites, Mint.com.  The article, Not Maid of Money: The Burden of Being a Bridesmaid, shows an adorable graphic and says that the Estimated Cost Breakdown to be a bridesmaid comes to the not-so-adorable number of $1,695.

One-thousand, six hundred ninety-five US dollars.


Granted, this is allotting $300 flights to a shower, bachelorette party AND the wedding, $200 worth of gifts to the bride, and several other items ($50 for lingerie??) that are more than a little unnecessary (errr, at least for our wedding).

The article also lists Best Practices for the Bride and the Bridesmaids.  It's a cute, short read and it really made me grateful to the ladies whom I've stood up for.  I did not spend nearly $1,695 to be a part of their special day and consider it a gift in itself that I have wonderful friends who want to stand up for me on my wedding day.

So, dear friends, just because I'm asking you to wear that dress, just think, it could be worse ;)

2 MONTHS AND COUNTING!!!!!!

Lesson Learned: Full Price is Just a Suggestion

(Cue corny voice)
This is the first in a (hopefully) multi-part series called Lesson Learned.  I hope these tips help future brides during the wedding planning process.

I knew this from Day One but it keeps reappearing in the planning process.  The majority of the planning has to do with securing services from vendors for which you are mostly paying for their time.  Time does not have a price tag and some think that their hourly rate is worth much more than others.  This is up to you, the hirer, to decide.  In the process of making this decision, whatever you do, DO NOT accept their first proposal.  Time, while valuable, is also incredibly negotiable!

I'm also learning that items, other than services, are also worth bargaining for.  Example #1: my wedding dress purchased online.

I don't know if you know, but...

Like, seriously, love it.  (Ever watched Extreme Couponing? OMG!)

So here's the Bridal Party Attire Story:
The Groom knew exactly what he wanted to wear and exactly how he wanted the Groomsmen to look.
The Bride had no idea what she wanted the bridesmaids to wear as long as they look pretty :)
The Groom scouted out his preference, signed up for the email list and patiently waited for the right time to buy.
The Bride scoured websites, walked through the mall and not-so-patiently worried about finding the perfect dresses.
The Groom's time came over the weekend.
The Bride's moment arrived yesterday.
The Groom entered his favorite suit shop, coupon in hand (err, signs in the store), and purchased - not rented - SIX suits at the cost of Buy ONE Get TWO Free.
The Bride created an account on the discount designer flash sale website and purchased FIVE Vera Wang dresses at 55% off.
The Groom walked away with $2,202 in savings.
The Bride logged off with $605 in savings.

Not too shabby.

(I'm pretty excited about this, can you tell?!)

Chag Sameach!

Happy Pesach to all of my Jewish friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful 1st Seder last night.  The Groom and I were lucky enough to be invited to join the extended Trosky clan at their family seder.  We were just two of the twenty-four people gathered around the table for a thoroughly enjoyable evening!  They started a very fun tradition in their family of doing a "5th Glass of Wine" by passing a goblet around the table and having everyone pour a drop of their own wine into the goblet while making a wish, or saying a prayer, for the coming year.  My wish was that the Groom and I will always have a warm place to go when we aren't able to make it home for the holiday.  We are so grateful to Kari and her family for their hospitality and I have to admit - I hope to be a dinner party-thrower like her cousin!  Very impressive, Michelle!

I'm trying my hand at making my own Matzo Ball Soup on Saturday, something I've never done, so let's all keep our fingers crossed for that one!

Coming Soon:
Bridal Party update...  The ensembles have been purchased!

What Do You Mean It's Only WEDNESDAY?!

Do you ever have those weeks where you wonder what exactly is going on around you?  Like you missed something ...  or slept through something...  yeah, I'm having one of those weeks right now.  It should definitely be the weekend by now but because it's not, I shall blog.

Here's how my week has been so far:

Monday = Migraine
Tuesday = Torture
Wednesday = Wedding!

(Notice a theme?)  The good news from this week is that I met with a florist today and it was so.much.fun. We talked colors and themes and romantic ideas and flowers and flowering branches and does the Rabbi really need a boutonniere?!  I am getting a formal proposal in the next week and cannot wait to see the ideas she came up with.  But let's talk about something first.

Did you know...

... that Billy Balls don't come in any other color besides yellow?

They're only one of the coolest flowers ever.  What is genetic engineering good for?!

The good news is that all those mason jars that I've been collecting are about to come in really handy so don't stop eating your spaghetti sauce!

Week Outlook:

Thursday = Travel (meeting with a friend to compare Costa Rica travel notes)
Friday = Fun (need I explain myself?)

Side note: I talked to our Rabbi today - just to check-in - and mentioned that I was meeting with a florist. He then began to give me advice on flowers.  Thanks, Rabbi Buz.

Side side note: I found a pretty BM dress that I thought was cute and one of the BMs told me that it looks like Tinkerbell.  To torture or not to torture...

Appointments, Meetings and Colors, Oh My!

Sorry for being such a blog slacker lately.  You must have the worst opinion of me right now!  The truth is that I just couldn't stop staring at the picture below.  Ahhh, such loveliness. 

This is what I've been doing while NOT blogging:
* Scheduled THREE appointments to try on dresses while MOB is in town next month!
* Scheduled two meetings with two AMAZING photographers!
* Scheduled two tastings... because that's what the groom wants to do!
* Scheduled one meeting with one hilarious Rabbi (one other meeting with another Rabbi option in the works)!
* I might have changed my colors... but that's still TBD.
* Mostly, I'm having a lot of fun!

Invitations are being analyzed, colors are being played with, food is being examined, dress are being dreamt of and the bridal party, well, that's another story.  Is a bridal party necessary?  I'll save this for a follow up blog post...

Wedding stuff aside, I'm moving next week.  And I haven't packed a thing.  I'd much rather spend my time looking at pretty wedding pictures!!