For those of you who are new to the page, or missed my wedding posts during the planning process, this post is for you. I am highlighting everything from my engagement up until right before my bridal shower.  This may be a little lengthy, but please bare with me! I wanted to make sure I get everything linked for your reading pleasure.

Here we go..


We were engaged on August 12, 2015 (My moms birthday!)  and quickly started looking into places to hold our wedding (I even blogged about first impressions of being engaged here). We live in the Finger Lake region of New York, AKA wine country. We knew we wanted to have a wedding that everyone would enjoy, but without breaking the bank.

We looked at a number of barns (You can see one of them here!), but none of them seemed to fit what we were looking for. We were having a small wedding, so a place fit for hundreds of people, just was not our style. I had booked marked a list of wineries in the area that hosted weddings.

A winery seemed like a great idea. We love wine. Our friends love wine. So why not. We looked at 2 places that responded to our request. R really wanted a wedding with a lake view. One of the wineries fulfilled that want, but the rest of the place was not working for us.

We decided on Knapp Winery. They had 2 dates left in the time frame we were looking for. Labor Day weekend or September 24th. We wanted Fall, so the 24th seemed like a no brainer. We booked and were set.

October came and I had an appointment with David's Bridal and a local boutique. My mom came into town and we had at it. You may remember I wrote about my experience with both here. I bought my dress a lot quicker than I anticipated, but it was love for sure.

Once the dress was bought and the venue was picked, I kind of stopped planning. We had engagement photos taken and I sent out cards to the ladies I wanted in my bridal party and everything kind of stood still til the Spring.

When March hit, I jumped into full on panic mode. So much to plan, so little time. I am a pretty thrifty person, so keeping costs down was very important to me. Our location was very pretty on it's own, so not much went into decor. I booked a photographer and a DJ and we chose our bakery. Everything was set.

We had planned to get married in front of a famous waterfall in the Ithaca area, however due to an extreme draught, there was no water. In August I changed the location of the ceremony. It was pretty risky, so close to the date, but I made it work and we had a plan.  

The first weekend of August was my bridal shower. I will be sharing that with you all next week on the 12th.

September 10th was my Bachelorette Party. That will be posted on 10/19.

You can expect the post on my wedding day on 10/26.

I can't wait to get into this mini series, sharing with you my wedding festivities.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to do a quick post to let you all know, I'm officially hitched! The past few months have been light here due to all the planning and stressers that come with planning a wedding.



I can't wait to show you all the stuff I did for this wedding in a mini series that will start hopefully next week. I have so much to show you all.

I am hoping to dig out a place on my desk to sit and plan for the week. Get some stuff written up and hopefully scheduled to roll. My house currently looks like a bomb went off in it with all of the gifts, decor, and food we have from the wedding.

More is coming soon, I promise! Have a great week!

So here I am, 11 days out from my wedding, 2 days past from my Bachelorette Party and I am starting to feel the burn. All of those little tiny details you don't think about a few months out have started to creep out of the woodwork.

Reality has hit. I get married NEXT WEEK. How did that even happen? How did the time sneak up like this? And my most confused question, how the heck did Summer fly by like that?!

Rocking the "Bride" hoodie!

I have officially picked up my dress. It is even more beautiful than I remember. It fits perfect and all of my accessories are on point. I am ready to rock the shit out of that outfit. It is true, I am not a fashion blogger, but I certainly have style. I have always been told that. Maybe you can all let me know when I post those photos in a few weeks..

I spoke to the bakery yesterday about the cake. It sounds lovely. The photographer is all set. We are finalizing our wedding playlist for our DJ. All good there.

Now one thing I decided to do just 3 weeks ago is change the venue of the ceremony part of the wedding. I know it was a really tricky thing to do that close to the wedding, but I just had this feeling it needed a change. I got all panic-y about it and we made the choice to move it. We are now going to be married at a private lake house on the beach. I am over the moon excited.

Everything is shaping up. I am on a strict diet until the day. I need to slim down just a tad and clear up my face. I have sugar and wheat allergic reactions so with all the stress eating I have done over the past few weeks has my skin looking a disaster. Green smoothies for me!

That is about everything I have to report right now. I will be doing more in depth blog posts after the wedding. This includes my shower, bachelorette party, and everything in between.

What do you all think? Am I on track for this wedding?

So wedding.. yeah.. let's talk about that today (Oh and the winner of my flash giveaway..). It's been awhile and as much as I want to say I have it all done and I just forgot to post, that would be a lie. I have seriously slacked over the past few months, and I wish I didn't. I have seriously kicked some butt in the past week at getting myself into a better place with planning, but I wish I didn't slack as much as I did.. See exhibit A:

On Saturday R and I met with our venue coordinator. We were there to set our menu, pick out the beverages (We are getting married at a winery so this is kind of important), and talk logistics. John, our coordinator and chef started asking us questions like:

"Who is your photographer?" Uhhhhhh

"Do you have a DJ?" Does my iPod count?

"Have you decided on a cake?" Well we have some appointments set up...

"What about flowers? Will you have them on the tables?" Oh shit flowers?! Forgot about those..

Welp John, let me just respond with, we are totally unprepared for this meeting, so uh yeah sorry?

Thankfully John was very understanding and told us we have nothing to worry about. Everything will work out. Right?

So, let's look at the things I have gotten done:

Wedding dress - Check!
Venue - Check!
Bridesmaid dresses - Check!
Photographer - Check! (This one JUST happened)
Save the dates - Check! (They even got mailed!)

So as far as the cake goes, we have 2 appointments set, so I am not very worried about that. Our new photographer has some calls in to a few DJs that he is familiar with so hopefully that works out. I am still very unsure on what I really want with flowers, but none the less I should probably make a few calls.

There is still plenty to do, but I feel a little better having all those bugger items crossed off my list. I have learned my lesson along the way in not procrastinating any further in this process or something may not work out in my favor.

Do you have any advice to keep the ball rolling for this wedding planning stuff? I'd love to know in the comments below!

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So yeah I did a quick flash giveaway.. Not as much response as I would have hoped but none the less..  I asked you which of my tax return wish list items I bought with my money.

There were only a couple of entries and MOST of you guessed right. I bought myself a new laptop! It was on like a super sale so I still saved a ton of money, which makes me happy. I am going to put the rest of my money towards my wedding. Yay to all of you for participating!

The winner is: Nicole M! Hopefully this $20 of your choice can go towards your new laptop as well!

Wedding planning is fun, but what really gets me excited is what is going to happen for my bachelorette party. A part of the planning that I don't have to plan. I know my girls will do me right by this, but just in case today I decided to come up with a list of fun ideas.

There are so many ideas out there that don't have to do with going to a bar and getting drunk. Some people may appreciate this, but me personally have not been a big drinker, and would prefer to do something fun with my girls that will be remembered. Here is a list that I think can cover everyone. There are ideas of all kinds and tastes.

Paint and Sip

Who doesn't like to drink wine and paint pretty pictures?  Paint nights are popping up all over the place and area fun way to get together with your favorite ladies and have a good night of laughs and art!

Karaoke

Ladies, I know we all are secret divas who want to belt out a good tune from time to time. Why not rent a private room at a karaoke bar and have some fun? Most places provide props that will enhance your rock star moments!

Glamping

I am not a huge fan of camping but glamping is something I can get on board with. Spend a weekend with your favorite gals and brave the great outdoors in your luxury tent. Who said camping isn't luxurious?

Casino

Love is a gamble right? Head out to a casino and take a risk! A casino offers a lot of options. From fine dining, to shopping, to nightclubs, and of course slot machines! 

Spa weekend

Who doesn't love a good pampering session? Head out to a local spa or take it one step ahead and head to a resort where you will be pampered all weekend. Massages, facials, and mani/pedis sure sound like a good idea to me!

Wine tour

Living in the Finger Lakes, and getting married at a winery, I can vouch for this one. It is SO much fun to hop from winery to winery, sampling delicious wines. Depending on what time of year you are planning this, you can participate in a themed tour, which is always a good time!

Tea Party

Last spring I attended a real fancy tea party in my community. It was SO much fun! I enjoyed all of the little finger sandwiches and snacks. I think this would make a lovely bachelorette party or even better, a fun bridal shower!

Comedy club

Looking for a night of laughs? Why not go to a comedy club? It doesn't matter if you travel to a large city or something local. They tend to be a good time not matter the size or place. 

Road trip

What better way to fully get to know everything about your friends than to share a car with them on a road trip? You can make this a long trip or just a quick weekend trip. Visit someplace near by you have been meaning to visit, or plan out a route and play it by ear!

Bucket list night

Do you have something you want to do before saying "I Do"? Get those bucket list items crossed off in a wild fun weekend with your girls as your backup!

Pin up photos

Every girl wants to feel glamorous and sexy from time to time right? Hire a photographer or head to a studio that offers these photo shoots and have a good time with your ladies! It has been a bucket list of mine for many year!

So there you have a it ladies. Some fun ideas for your bachelorette party. Get to party planning!

As I have mentioned on Monday, I had engagement photos done over the weekend with R. I do not have the photos back yet but I did take a few photos of my own. I wanted to share a quick sneak peak of the location as it was so beautiful and was taken in my hometown!

Enjoy!

The train came through!

Playing around with the mini pumpkin and my ring.

Sooo... My weekend was so full of wedding related stuff and I didn't even plan it! I had mentioned that I had engagement photos planned for Saturday. Me and R headed back to my hometown in Pennsylvania to meet with a dear friend. It all was perfect, except for the fact that it was 47 degrees outside! Of course it picked this weekend to decide to be fall on the borderline of winter. Good news is the scenery was beautiful and the sky was blue. We sucked it up and got some pretty great shots!

Between shots.. It was SO cold! And the wind was fierce!

Saturday morning I woke up to a text from R who was downstairs. The text contained a photo of what it looked like outside. Let's just say I am not one of those people who appreciated this..

Okay enough about that white stuff that makes me cold. One of my best friends and bridesmaids came up for the day on Sunday. We headed out to the wedding venue for lunch. I was so excited to be able to share it with someone else. We enjoyed some lunch and participated in some wine tasting both at the venue and another on the wine trail. We had so much fun and tasted some pretty amazing wines! I want to leave you all with a little teaser of the ceremony site as well as the reception site..

Not bad for a ceremony backdrop right?!

Wine barrels and lights!

Happy Monday!

Over the weekend I crashed my friends wedding... sorta. I made the 6 hour trip with a mutual friend to help celebrate her wedding day. Even though I went to celebrate her and her husband I couldn't help but take notice to all of the little details. Details I am looking at now to plan my own wedding.


She got married in a church. A beautiful Greek Orthodox church. I have never been in such a beautiful place. The detail in the murals and the sparkle in the chandelier was like nothing I have experienced before. I started to compare it to my ceremony. I am getting married at a winery. I will be surrounded by beautiful scenery brought to me by nature. The detail I will see will come from the flowers and the trees. The sparkle will come from the sun shining down on me.

The ceremony was beautiful. I learned so much, as I have never attended a Greek ceremony before. I really loved the traditions and how it all flowed in a way that I never felt bored, or ready for it to be over. 45 minutes sounded like a long time, but it flew by so quickly. I now think about the ceremony I will have. I haven't even thought about who would officiate my special day. Me and R are both baptized Catholic but neither of us are apart of a church. Things to think about as we move forward.

After the bride and groom excused us from the church, we headed to the reception space. A party in a banquet room of a casino. An idea I would have never come up with as my own. It made perfect sense to me. The casino had a hotel, restaurant, and spa. Everything you could need was found in this space. My reception will be hosted at a winery. Dinner will be served in the in house restaurant and the party will take place surrounded by beautifully decorated wine barrels. I can offer my guests a night of dancing, socializing, and good local wine.

During dinner guests were encouraged to get up and make toasts to the bride and groom. I really loved this idea. It takes the pressure off of the maid of honor and best man. Anyone could make a speech and that to me makes more sense. Everyone has well wishes for you and your new life. Why not let them spoil you with them in front of your guests?

The whole day was perfect. I was really excited to be apart of their special day, and left with all sorts of new ideas for my own wedding. It reminds me how all weddings are beautiful not matter how they go down. We all have our own traditions and visions, to make our day, us. We want to show our friends and family a good time, but we also want it to symbolize us as a couple. I can't wait to continue to share this journey with all of you.

Where do/did you get inspiration for your wedding?

Two months. It's been two months since R popped the question. Two months of being engaged. I have to admit. I have accomplished a lot more than I had anticipated. We officially booked our venue this week AND I bought my dress. That last detail there still doesn't seem real. I. Bought. My. Dress. I keep saying it but it's not sticking yet. 

Six days after getting engaged me and R attended a bridal expo. There were two bridal dress shops set up. One was David's Bridal and one was a local off the rack boutique called Dressellas. I scheduled a consultation with David's Bridal and chatted with the ladies at Dressellas. They both seemed like perfectly good places to start when it came to looking at dresses. A few weeks later I stopped in at Dressellas and also scheduled an appointment with them the same day as David's Bridal. I was pumped.


The date finally arrived and my parents came up for the day. We left my dad and R to their own devices and made the hour trip to David's Bridal. The appointment was at 1 so we decided to stop for lunch. The restaurant was literally right next door to David's Bridal, but the food never came and we had to take it to go. Not off to the best start.

We walked into David's Bridal and I was taken care of immediately. This was great however I was not feeling any of the dresses. Each dress felt like it was the same dress over and over again. I am really short so all the dresses were super long and there was nothing for me to stand on to see the full effect. After the third dress I pretty much lost interest in trying on anymore dresses. They must have put me in 10 dresses and I started feeling sad. None of these dresses were for me.

We came to the end of the dresses they had for me to try. Everyone looked pretty frustrated. Me, at all the dresses that didn't work out. Them, at all the time they just spend with me just for me to tell them I wasn't interested in any of them. I felt really awful when I left. None of the dresses felt special to me and the mood in the place had me wanting to run away and never look back. I am not sure exactly what the problem was, but I didn't feel like it was the place for me.

After all of the disappointment, we hid in my car and ate our lunch before proceeding the hour back home. We were now headed to Dressellas. We arrived about 10 minutes early and I was really considering cancelling. I was in no mood to try on any more dresses. We were greeted immediately and were told we could go and pick out any dresses I was interested in trying. This was shocking to me as I didn't get the option at David's Bridal.

I selected 5 dresses to start. The first 2 were not worthy of even leaving the dressing room but the third was getting me interested. I came out of the dressing room and was told I could go stand on the pedestal in front of the 3 way mirror. This was AWESOME. I was able to see the dress in its entirety. It flowed down to the floor and for the first time I was able to picture myself as a bride.

I put aside a dress and decided I should pick out something big and crazy as I said when picking through the racks. I emerged with a dress I would have NEVER thought would be something I'd like. I put the dress on, stepped on the pedestal and that was it. I had found "the one". It flowed down so beautifully and I felt comfortable and confident in it. This was the dress for me.

I had a wonderful experience. I was smiling. I felt beautiful. My mom shed some tears. The boutique was really the best option for me. I was not happy at David's Bridal. They didn't do anything wrong, but I just didn't feel connected at all. I can't even explain it. I tried to explain what I wanted but it didn't seem to work. I mean no disrespect to the chain, but it wasn't for me.

Where did you get your dress? What do you think? Chain or boutique?

So a couple of things.. Sometimes I forget how true the saying is "the older you get, the faster time goes". Seriously, where did September go? We are already half way through and I feel like I was just writing out my goals yesterday! I feel like I am always on the go and haven't been able to really pin down a weekend in months that was truly just for me.With that being said, this weekend review is starting on Thursday as it really was the start of my crazy busy weekend time frame if you will.

Thursday Today was the kickoff of round 3 of The Blog Staycation. A 4 day event that's all things blogging! Did you participate? Next, R and I had another wedding venue to look at. This is # 2 out of the 5 places we were interested in touring. I have to say I really liked this place as well, and feel sad that we may not be able to have our wedding there due to scheduling and needing to book fast. I would still like to follow through on the other 3 before we make the final decision. But more on that later this week!

Friday I FINALLY made it to a yoga class at Mighty Yoga. They were celebrating their 6th birthday and offering $1 classes all week. My week turned into one big appointment so every day I thought I could go, I realized I was already booked for something less fun. I REALLY needed this class. 75 minutes of stretching, strength building, and sweat was on the menu and I felt great after!

After yoga!

Saturday was my company's picnic. Last year it was rained out and we were denied our bounce house. Do you know how many adults kids were upset about that? This year was more promising as the rain held out until we were packing everything up (totally fun right?) and the bounce house showed up! R and I ended up leaving the picnic with 2 new camp chairs, a thermos, a waterproof backpack, and a full quarter keg. Yeah you read that right. Literally 2 cups were poured from the keg that was purchased and no one wanted to take it home. Of course we got suckered in.. So what's everyone doing after work today? Party at my place?

It may have been cloudy, but the park was beautiful at the picnic!

Sunday I headed back to Pennsylvania for the NEPA Bridal Show. I met up with my mom and 2 of my bridesmaids to check out all things wedding and bride. You might recall I attended my first bridal show back in August. This one was A LOT larger and really, really informative. I don't know what it is about northeastern PA but they are loaded with wedding and bridal companies. Like seriously you can find a bar AND a bridal boutique on every corner. Coincidence?  I think not. After a long day at home I drove home just in time to close out the Blog Staycation. Another successful event in the books and we look forward to seeing all of your posts starting tomorrow with a Link-Up. Make sure to stop by for that tomorrow!

So yeah, remember folks, the more you become an adult, the quicker (and busier) you get! Make sure to carve our some "me" time or "I'm doing nothing" time often. It really does make a difference! I hope you all have a wonderful Monday. If you don't see me tomorrow, you know we kicked that keg...

The proposal happened and you are now wearing a beautiful ring announcing to the world that you are engaged. You can't wait to show if off and go through the "look at my ring" stage to everyone you come in contact with. After all of the congratulations there come's that dreaded question; "When's the big day?"
It then becomes very real that you are not only engaged but you have a wedding to plan. Most brides get married within 12 to 18 months from the time their groom to be gets down on one knee.


Wedding planning can be pretty overwhelming if you don't stop and breathe and ask for help. One of the first things I did after R popped the question was look up bridal events in my area. I have been in a few weddings at this point but somehow how never attended a bridal expo with any of the brides I stood with. After only being engaged for 11 days, R and I braved our very first bridal expo.  So let me answer this question for you; "Is it worth it?"

Me and R headed to Heron Hill Winery in the Finger Lakes for a small bridal expo. Small meaning there were less than 20 vendors. I had no idea what to expect other than the expectations in my head. I pictured a very pink themed expo with lots of overly excited women prancing around in boas. (Yes kind of like a bacherlorette party). Obviously, I was wrong about that. R and I arrived at the event and I was given a fancy "Bride" sticker accented with purple grapes and a ticket for a complimentary glass of wine (Score!). They had run out of "Groom" stickers so R had to brave the tent without a tag.

What a gorgeous view!

The tent was lined with vendors for everything wedding related. We stopped and talked to photographers, DJ's, caterers, bakers, florists, and dress boutiques. We had the chance to sample cake and play around in a photo booth, which is pretty hot right now in the wedding world.  Even though at times I felt very overwhelmed, I found everyone very helpful. I was able to ask questions and get an idea of how quickly I needed to get things booked. Because R and I just got engaged we do not have a date set in stone yet, so they vendors could not help me get stuff set up, but that's okay.


I really enjoyed my experience and was glad this was a smaller event. It let me get my feet wet without diving right in. I also realized I enjoyed bringing R. I hear most brides to be bring their wedding party, best friends, or moms with them, but R was very helpful. I turned around at one point after feeling like my head was spinning (or was it the wine?) and he was happily taking notes. He is a good egg that one and never complained once about being there. He enjoyed talking to the vendors and sampling the cake.

After my first experience, here are a few tips from me on attending your first bridal expo:

• Start small if you can. The small venue was less crowded and gave it an intimate setting. I was able to speak with vendors without waiting in line or bumping into others trying to visit a booth.

•  Bring a pad of paper and a pen. Even though you can get business cards from each vendor, sometimes the info you are looking for is verbally given to you. If you do not write these things down it can be hard to remember what information went with what vendor. 

• Do consider bringing your fiance with you. You can also bring your girls but I found it really awesome to share this experience with R. We had fun and I felt like we were planning this wedding together. 

•  Ask lots of questions. If you don't see what you are looking for, chances are someone can answer it for you. They are all there to help you.

• Enter the giveaways. Most of the vendors were giving away something from their business. I saw photography sessions and free tux rentals as some of the giveaways. You never know if they are going to pull your name and that will be 1 less thing you need to worry about for your big day. (I haven't gotten any calls so I guess I didn't win :(

•  Have fun! This is supposed to be a time to gather information and celebrate your engagement. I left the expo with cards, appointments, and lots of info. This made me smile and ensured me I could do this.

All in all I really enjoyed my first bridal expo. I feel more informed and ready to start planning my big day. It can all be pretty overwhelming at first but with time it gets easier. I will be attending a larger expo next month with my mom and best friend back in my home state of Pennsylvania. Stay tuned to see how that one goes for me. In the meantime come back every Wednesday for a wedding themed blog post. If there is anything you want me to cover in these wedding posts, please leave me a comment below!

I've been engaged for a full week, and decided to compile a list of things things I've noticed just by wearing a ring constantly..

#1: The ring is a magnet for the question; "So when's the wedding?" or "Have you picked a date?" Then there's my personal favorite: "I didn't even know you were dating anyone!" Really?

#2: EVERYTHING gets stuck on the ring. I always have some kind of hair or fuzz attached to the prongs that holds in the diamond. Nothing like having this beautiful diamond covered in mystery fuzz all the time.

#3: I am currently really self conscious of my nails. I never paid attention to them in the past. I don't paint them. They are normally short and brittle and not pretty to look at. This goes back to my days of working in optical and constantly having my hands in acetone. Nails don't bode well in that stuff. Now I wonder if I should be painting them, or using super grow potions so they look nice.

#4: If you throw a party, EVERYONE will come. I am not used to this concept. I usually get a few people to come to my parties, but the one slated for this evening has a pretty large guest list and most of them are coming. Mind you this was planned BEFORE the engagement happened. Not related at all.

#5: No matter what I am doing I can relate it somehow to my future wedding. If I drink a drink, I think "Hmm would this be appropriate for a "signature drink" at my wedding?" or Wow! The color the sky tonight is totally the color theme to my wedding!"

Needless to say there are many more things I have noticed and my brain has fully went into wedding mode! Expect more fun stories along the way.

Happy Friday!

Where do I begin....? So if you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen that I announced something pretty huge. I got engaged! After 2 years of dating, after finally moved in together this summer, R asked me to be his wife!. I am so thrilled to be able to share this with all of you.

I am not going to tell you the official story today because I would like to have some time to write it and make it as perfect as the proposal was to me. I do want to share a few photos and warn you all that I will probably start to participate in "Wedding Wednesday" posts as I feel my way through this crazy adventure I am embarking on.

What I was doing right before the proposal.. arranging wildflowers from our yard.

Horrible photo.. but this was right after R asked! Love the cupcake!

I love it! He did good!

I have always enjoyed reading other peoples stories and wedding journeys so I am hoping to make mine interesting that you all will want to follow along with me. I would welcome anyone's recommendations on where I should start as I am pretty clueless!

Thank you to all of you who have already reached out. I am full of gratitude for all of your support and well wishes so far.

Happy Monday!