Where in the world...

has Allie been?

Yes, I'm sure you've been wondering where I've been and why I haven't been blogging. You're saying to yourself, "Self, WHEN is she going to get it together and share with us again?"

The wait is over my friends. All two of you will be relieved to know I've busted through the blogging block and am BACK.

Even better? I'm going to let my wedding planning throw up all over you.

You just visualized that, didn't you?

I'm sorry.

Sort of.

If you aren't the sort that gives a rats ass about wedding crap, I'd suggest you mosey on back to your Facebook games - Draw Something is rather popular or so I hear.

Oh, you're still here? Awesome. Here we go.

So I'm getting married. Not sure if you heard that news. The Big Day (as it shall be referred to from now on) is November 5, 2012. Yes, that's Monday, November 5, 2012. What can I say? I'm a non-traditional bride.

Keeping with that non-traditional theme, we're having a destination wedding. We've chosen Riviera Maya, Mexico as the location paradise to host a small group of friends and family who are able to join us and celebrate The Big Day.

If you did the math, you'll realize that The Big Day is just over 7 months away. Yeah, that means it's pretty much go-time for all things wedding-related for an OCD planner-type like me.

I have:

-chair sashes

-various shells and starfish

-my dress, and shoes

-wedding night lingerie (woot!)

-base of our invites and envelopes

-guest book

-monogram postcards

-return address labels

-materials to make my veil

-our photographer is booked - Lotus Blossom Photography (the BEST!!!) 

-our registries are done (Macy's & Crate & Barrel)

-reservations made at the resort for us & our guests

-my sash & hair thingeemabob have been created and are on the way 

We still need: 

-rest of materials for invites, including enclosures

-his attire 

-favors (I have my ideas, but am wanting to keep a few things a surprise!) 

-need to order my bouquet and his boutonniere, decide if we're doing corsages/bouts for the families

-paper lanterns for aisle decoration & reception decorations

-book our airfare (minor detail, right??)

-consider booking a Trash the Dress session in Mexico (don't worry mom, the dress really doesn't get trashed...) 

-parasols for decorations/photos - I would love to have enough of these for all of our guests for shade, but I am not hauling them down to Mexico! 

-finalize our rehearsal dinner menu selections

-finalize our reception menu choices (so we can put them on the RSVP, wedding website, etc)

-figure out what the heck to do about centerpieces

-alterations made to my dress (planned for late summer)

I need to make: 

-my veil

-assemble the invites once I get the pieces

-place cards (once we have the RSVP/menu selections back)

-table #'s

-programs 

-thank you banner (for our photog, will then make a thank you notecard)

-wedding weekend events timeline

-playlists of music for ceremony (he's in charge of playlist for dinner & receptions)

-menus for rehearsal dinner

-put together the ceremony elements (aka write our vows)

Now I'm a little stressed that the last two lists are longer than the first one. Guess I'd better get to work!!! 

Enjoy your new day! 

Engaged a Week...

..and wow, the wedding-planning-fatigue has set in.

I now fully understand why brides turn into Bridezilla. Or at least why they are perceived to be Bridezilla. It's because everyone has an opinion about what YOU should do for YOUR wedding. And they share it. And then they don't like it when you tell them "thank you, but that isn't what I had in mind."

Ok, I may have said it more like "the only thing I have to do is get a marriage license and visit the JP." (Thanks to Cris @ Kiss My Tulle for that bit of wisdom!!)

And ok - maybe they didn't receive that so well. But seriously people. It is my wedding. I love you, and I want you there, but I'm not going to change what I want to accommodate you.

We've tentatively decided to have a destination wedding in Mexico, in October/November 2012. Because while I haven't always envisioned what I'd wear on my wedding day, I've always thought I'd get married on a beach at some gorgeous resort. That's what I want y'all.

And we're thinking (today) about going to Riviera Maya (aka Cancun/Playa del Carmen). Oh, and we're paying for it ourselves. These two points are key.

Here's what I've heard so far:
1. From my father, when my fiance called to get his blessing (BEFORE HE PROPOSED): We give our blessing, but traveling to Mexico is just too difficult for us.

Yeah, thanks Dad. Impeccable timing as usual.

For what it's worth (and apparently that isn't much), Cancun is a 2 hour flight from Orlando (where my parents are). That's the same flight time as them flying to DFW to see me. EXACTLY. WTF?

Oh, and by the way? We haven't even made final decisions on location, timing, etc.

Yes, I later talked to my family (but not my Dad - because there's no talking to my Dad about his feelings...), and they translated what he said to be "we give our blessing, even if we aren't able to attend the wedding." I'm not sure I'm 100% ok with that, but we'll do what our family always does - put it behind us and move on. We just aren't a talky-feely family y'all.

Moving on... the next thing I've been told:
2. You HAVE to have a white/ivory wedding dress. You'll regret it! (this from a well meaning dear friend who got married in a black dress..).

So here's my dark little secret - I've never wished for the big white dress. Mostly because I'm a big girl, and I'd prefer not to look like a big white cupcake on my wedding day. This is all about my own insecurity and how much I hate trying on clothes of any type. I just don't think my body is all dress-friendly. I've done the bridesmaid dress before and wow - yeah. Those fittings were just painful.

Plus - I'm having trouble imagining spending a gob of money - as in the MOST amount I've ever paid for a single garment - on a dress I'm going to wear for a few hours. Why?! I'm uber-practical, I admit it.

While I appreciate my friend's enthusiasm for the idea of the dress, and an offer to go dress shopping with me, I'm still having trouble with the whole idea of it.

I'm pretending to be on board with the dress idea. I'm pinning dresses on Pinterest (what? you aren't on Pinterest yet?!), I'm googling "plus-sized wedding dresses" like a mad woman. I'm researching dress shops here in the area to see if they carry plus-sized samples (because let's face it - if I'm going to drop some coin on a dress, I want to see how it looks on me). I'm talking myself into the whole idea.

But really? I don't know how I'm going to feel standing in front of the three-way mirror in some expensive dress that may or may not be flattering on me. And I'm still not even sure I want to go through that whole experience. Will I do it? Probably. but damn, I'm not comfortable with the whole idea yet.

3. Then there's my sister, whom I love dearly, but can't help but insert her opinions. I will mention that she's already had her wedding. Big church wedding, country club reception in our hometown. She tells me that she wants to be a part of the wedding planning, and wants to be the little sister through it all. Which is wonderful, and great.

Except that she's already decided that she will not be going to Mexico with her three children. I respect her decision. I really do. She isn't the type that has traveled a lot with the kids.

So I made the effort and invited her out to go dress shopping with me (per the above, still not high on my list of things I want to do, but I figure it's inevitable). She says she'd have to bring her youngest kiddo with her. At which point I reminded her she'd have to bring all the kid paraphernalia as well. It's not like I have a spare playpen or car seat, or bottles or ANYTHING for a 1 year old.

And I really, really want to see my little niece again. So that's not the issue. Promise. Bring her, we'll make it work was my response.

Then my sister says "are you SURE you don't want to come to FL to go dress shopping?!".

Yes. I'm sure.

My wedding. Revolves around me. For once.

*sigh*

I love my family. Dearly. We are all very close. And my friends. I need my friends. I appreciate that they care so much about me and want my day to be perfect.

My point is, I see how stressful wedding planning can be. And we've barely begun.

That is some scary shit right there.

/rant
/vent

We now resume our travel blogging.

Enjoy your new day!

Our Proposal Story

We interrupt this travel blog to bring you this very special announcement:


Mr. NYC has asked me to marry him! Of course I said yes.


Here's the story:
We had reservations at our favorite restaurant here in town on Friday night. Long story short - I thought we were making them for restaurant week, but I had the dates screwed up. I offered to cancel them so we could go somewhere less expensive, but he wouldn't hear of it. This should have been clue #1 that something was up. 

During the day on Friday he texted me a couple of times to find out when I was getting off work, and heading home. Then he said he was going to leave a little early too. This should have been clue #2. 

I got home, and he was already there. I told him I just wanted to freshen up and then we could head to the restaurant, since they have a GREAT happy hour. So I changed out of my work clothes, freshened my make up, and exchanged my work jewelry for more flashy evening jewelry. I did notice that the ring box was still there, so thought to myself "tonight isn't the night, no big deal. he's planning some surprise later." 

We went to dinner, enjoyed some drinks at the bar before hand. He said a couple of times that we were celebrating my new job, he was thanking me for all I'd done for him, etc. So I should just enjoy myself, and get what I wanted. I thought to myself that was odd - we'd already been out to celebrate the new job, and he usually isn't that effusive about things. Should have been clue #3. 

We finished our meal, and came on home. I settled in on the couch to relax and watch some TV. That's when he came out with the ring, got down on one knee and said "now I can ask you to be mine. will you marry me?" 

I said yes, hell yes I will. And then promptly teared up. 

He then went into the guest room and came out with 5 dozen roses. Yes - 5 dozen!! 

He said he knew how much I loved them, so he got them all for me. 

Here's the quickie cell phone pic of my ring - bling bling! 

And a couple of the ring with my roses:

I absolutely LOVE it. It's classic and timeless, just beautiful. We got the matching band too (for a heck of a deal!). 


Oh.my.goodness. I'm getting married!!!!! 


Enjoy your new day!