Drum Roll, please...

and we have the groomsmen!

While I was super psyched about asking the ladies, JB took his time about asking the guys. We finally have all of their answers, so I figured I'd take this opportunity to introduce them (although I lack pictures for these introductions).

Groomsman - Brian
Jokingly, I like to refer to Brian as JB's boyfriend. I can't even begin to imagine the kind of trouble these two could get into!

Groomsman - Thomas (Ted)
Ted is Johanna's cousin. He teaches high school in the neighborhood.

Groomsman - Robert
Robert is JB's brother-in-law. He works as a doctor and is great father to JB's 3 nieces and 2 nephews. JB and Rob met a few years back when JB's older sister was in college.

Groomsman - Drew
Drew was JB's roommate for several years during college... and even after college. Drew is another one of those computer magicians! (this seems to be quite common amongst members of the bridal party!)

Groomsman - Eric
Eric was also JB's roommate for a few years during college. Since then, Eric has gone to Cornell and is working on a PhD in physics. I couldn't even begin to explain what he is actually working on!

Congratulations!!!

Now that I've seen the news announced on facebook I've decided it's fair game for the blog :-D

Congratulations to Bridesmaid Jen on her recent engagement with Nate!

In other news, Congratulations to Bridesmaid Theresa on her recent engagement with Kerry!

Nate & Kerry are both very lucky guys!

mmmmmm...

We went to the reception hall for a food tasting this weekend. I wasn't really prepared for how it unfolded but we got to see a lot! Jon gave us a whole box of food to take home to taste. He said we'd be able to see how the hall was set up. I figured he'd let us take a look from the kitchen door. Instead, he took us up to the balcony. We could certainly get a good look at the set-up... but everyone at the reception could see us up there. Anyway, once we went back into the mansion part (out of view of the wedding guests) we got to talk about a bunch of ideas with him and his mom (who used to run the place).

He said we could come by any weekend we're around to see how the hall is set-up... we may just take him up on that offer next weekend!

Next weekend is Pre-Cana class... should be interesting. I've heard mixed reviews about these classes.

A Junior Bridesmaid and a Flower Girl

This post is long overdue! I posted it as draft and it got buried under a list of other posts. This one dates back to June 20th.

In keeping with the way I asked my bridesmaids, I paid the Build-A-Bear shop another visit. This time I went with Mom and Veronica. We picked out creatures and outfits. I have chosen to ask JB's older niece "Francie" to be a junior-bridesmaid and his middle niece "Sally" to be flowergirl. (those are their blog-pseudonymns)

I really wanted to build a pony for "Francie" but when I picked up the B-a-B pony, we thought it looked possessed. Since it was kinda creepy looking, I decided that I'd build her a tiger instead. All three of us liked that one... it was Veronica's first choice. The tiger's outfit matches the color of the dresses that the bridesmaids' creatures are wearing.


We picked the creature for "Sally" because it is cute and girly... just like her. Her creature is wearing a top with flowers sewn on the front.


The girls both seemed pretty excited when I asked them. I'm thinking they were excited more about the creatures than the whole being in the wedding deal. Anyway, I'm glad that they will be joining us in the wedding party.

... and the lovely ladies...

An excellent find... if you ask me

I'm very excited about something I found at a shop at the beach! I got something that I think is super-awesome for the bridesmaids. Since at least a few of them read the blog, I don't think I'll divulge... at least not yet anyway.

Bridesmaids' Dress

The search for the perfect bridesmaid dress has begun. I would like to have the ladies in matching dresses. We started looking at the shop where I got my dress. Julia and Veronica have each tried on a bunch of dresses. Julia tried on dresses after the last episode of wedding dress shopping. Veronica was lucky that she didn't try on dresses until after I ordered the dress because she didn't have nearly as many to try on! They were both relatively good sports about trying on dresses that they didn't actually like... although Veronica made some priceless faces!

We're looking at dresses that either come in tea-length or can be shortened to tea-length. Some of the dresses come both in a brown and a blue color that I like. Some of the other dresses come in a nice brown color but the blue isn't quite what I had in mind. However, as an accent color the blue would be fine. One of the questions still up for debate is can the ladies and the men all be in brown with blue accents? Cindy mentioned that this would contribute to symmetry in the pictures... something I hadn't even thought about.

We shall have to give this more thought now that I have finished finding my dress.

The Dress!!!

The Dress has officially been ordered from All Things Bridal!!!!

Dress Shopping... take 5... The Dress

This weekend was a marathon dress shopping trip. We added one to the peanut gallery... Dad came along! I was down to the top 5. Since he has helped pick my dresses for most other dressy occasions, I wanted his opinion on the top 6. After seeing the first two at Shop 2, I was able to eliminate one and keep one on the maybes list. After seeing the next three at Shop 3, I had narrowed it down to two. Dad told me his opinions and his favorite was one of the top two. I'm pretty sure I've decided on a dress, but I figured I'd give myself a few days to sleep on it. Drumroll of suspense...

weeeeeeeeeeeeeell, you'll just have to wait until May 28th to find out which one I picked! :-)

While we were at the shops, we also looked through the racks of bridesmaid dresses. We saw a few nice ones at Shop 2... most of which we also saw at Shop 3. We also saw a number of others at Shop 3. V had to go home, but Julia, JB's Mom, and I stayed and looked at a few more of the dresses. Julia tried on all of the dresses that we had pulled out. It was fun to look at the different styles and see how they looked on a person rather than on a hanger. Much like the wedding dresses, they were very different on the hanger than on a person. Anyway, that was just a bonus preview as we had not planned to look for bridesmaid dresses on that trip.

Dress Shopping... take 4

Today we went to Classic Weddings in Lititz. This shop caught my interest because they advertise modest wedding gowns. Woo Hoo... something with straps... or maybe even with sleeves. Indeed they do have some gowns that have sleeves. Unfortunately, (or fortunately for my decision making process) these weren't really what I was looking for once I had them on. The sleeves were very movement restrictive.

This trip was a little different than the others. Since this one was much further away, I had less scheduling flexibility and wasn't able to accommodate everyone's needs. So, the peanut gallery this time included Mom, Veronica, Julia, and Dad. Yes, not only did Dad come along, he even looked at dresses! I ended up writing down 4 "finalists" at this shop. However, of the four, I have since eliminated one and the others are all by a designer that I can get at the shop in Quakertown. The people seemed nice. I learned some interesting info about dress lengths. All in all, I'm glad I went but it probably won't be the final choice as it is quite a drive.

Funny side story from this trip: One of the dresses I picked to try on was vastly too small. I don't think the lady intended to insult me but she told me not to worry about that style because the shape would accentuate my hips and thighs and you don't want to highlight large thighs. Thanks. Me and my large thighs will find another dress.

While we were out in the area, it was impossible to pass up a trip to Shady Maple! We had a great lunch following our shopping expedition.

Incognito Letter People

I have asked each of the people who have been featured here for their permission to put them on the blog. You will notice though that some names throughout my posts are abbreviated with letters. These "letter people" are people who I haven't actually acquired permission to reveal their identity on the blog. I know this is a sensitive issue for some people. If you are one of the "letter people" or if you suspect that you are one, I'd be glad to use your name with your permission... just leave me a comment or send me an email.

Bridesmaid - Chrystina

Again, I can't exactly put my finger on when we first met. However, Chrystina and I met through choirs of all sorts... Drexel Chorus and St. AJ's church choir. I can't even begin to imagine how many gallons of bubble tea we have consumed together!!! Should I ever need an "ice breaker activity," I know just who to call... or if I need someone to make a card, or arrange an a capella song, or to eat cuppycakes, or someone who totally understands what it means to be over-involved in life...

Why a monkey? Chrystina is sweet, silly, crazy, hyper, and happy just like her monkey... who has since been named Lily :-)

Bridesmaid - Julia

I'm not really sure when I first met Julia. Julia is JB's younger sister. We met at least once before JB & I actually started dating... at The Gardenville Inn. I went with JB to a birthday party for his cousin L. We got to know each other better one evening when she stayed at my apartment... mine was cleaner and smelled nicer than the boys' place :-D.

Why a cat? While I'm not really sure that she's ok with the whole animals with personalities deal, she does enjoy her pet cats Marvin and Roxy. So, the cat seemed fitting.

Bridesmaid - Theresa

Theresa and I met at summer orientation before our freshman year at Drexel. She was wearing a pretty sundress and looked friendly... the rest is history. As undergrads, we competed together with the Concrete Canoe team. (That's a blog post for another time on another blog... those days live somewhere in the world of xanga sites.) Theresa and I were roommates for the first three years of grad school. She has since taken up residence in a lovely apartment a bit closer to Bucknell where she is a visiting professor.

Why a bunny? Theresa had a pet bunny growing up and still takes a liking to bunnies. In fact, when I visited her we checked out the baby bunnies at the pet store downtown.

Bridesmaid - Jen

Jen and I met in first grade and went to school together for 12 years. We survived all things OLPH and then moved on to all things BeCaHi! Jen's decision to join the Band Front senior year, was the deciding factor that set off my mascot career. I wasn't going to join the band, but I certainly wasn't going to the football games by myself! We've spent many many hours hanging out at each other's houses through the years. According to the "dictionary by Veronica," Jen and I are "nocturnal twins." (I think she was going for fraternal.)

Why a frog? It all comes back to Kermit... "it's not easy being green" By the way, the matching green shirt was merely a coincidence!

Bridesmaid - Maria

Since I had to pick some sort of order in which to write these posts, I decided to put them in order of length of time we've known each other (to the best of my recollection).

Maria is my youngest cousin. That being said, she's only two years my younger. Over the years, Maria, her brother "Ted", my sis, and I have gotten into plenty of trouble together! We're the four youngest cousins... therefore, we stick together!! From skits, to dress-up, to pool parties, to beach adventures, to diocesan chorus, to crazy 4th of July cook-outs, we've done lots of crazy things. Just watch out, this girl makes a mean cocktail!!

Why a moose? Well, a few years back, we gave Maria a moose for Christmas. Broose has taken on quite a life of his own along with his moose buddy Burl. So I thought it would only be appropriate to give Maria a girl moose.

The Date...

Apparently I never actually mentioned the selected date, I merely stated that we had set a date. The ticker at the top of the page is counting down to 05.28.2011!

How I asked the ladies...

One Friday evening, a few ladies from the 11:30 choir and I invaded Build-a-Bear at the King of Prussia mall. We picked out animals suited to each of the ladies I would be asking to be bridesmaids. I got to stuff them and put a heart in each one. Each of the "creatures" got a fancy dress which included a purse and necklace, silver heels, and a flower bouquet. We had fun evening... and Baby K even got a froggy. Unfortunately, the B-a-B lady told me that "moose is seasonal". So, I had to pick an alternate animal for one of the ladies. Later I found out that I could get a moose through the online store. So the pictures of all of the "creatures" are missing the girl moose :-(... but she's featured in her own picture.

Thanks to Beth, Amanda, Shannon, JB, and Baby K for a fun evening at the mall!

I also made cards to go with the "creatures". You can't really tell in the picture, but the layer with the embossed dress stands off of the rest of the card with some foam squares.

Here are some pictures of the prep process...

Coming soon... The Ladies!

Dress Shopping... take 3

This weekend we went to All Things Bridal in Quakertown. I had a bit of trouble finding it after discovering that the street was closed for Quakertown Day. Somehow I ended up in the 300 block of E. Broad instead of W. Broad. 318 E. Broad doesn't appear to exist.

Anyway, I found this place through pictures on Project Wedding. The lady was wonderfully helpful. This appointment went the way I imagined wedding dress shopping would be. I had a few ideas of dresses I wanted to look at based on the pics I had seen online. Based on some questions she asked me and my responses to dresses I tried on, she selected other dresses for me to try. I tried on quite a few dresses and again narrowed the choices to a top 3. She showed me some options for making strapless styles less strapless. She had some really neat solutions to the strapless concern.

The top 3 are all very different... I don't know quite where to start on the decision matrix... ok, perhaps I should abandon the decision matrix idea. So, now I really need to convince Dad to come with me to look at dresses.

While we were there, we also looked through the rack of bridesmaid dress styles. V, Julia, and I each found a few styles we liked. I don't think we took any notes on these though; it was more like window browsing. On the bridesmaid topic, watch for posts coming soon... I have spoken with all 5 ladies. I just need to find a few more minutes to write the posts!

Dress Shopping... take 2

Dress Shopping - part II was a much better experience than part I! This weekend we (Mom, V, JB's Mom, JB's younger sis, and I) went to Jon's Bridal in Allentown to look at some dresses. They had chairs for the peanut gallery, someone to help put on/take off the dresses, and they actually paid attention to us and didn't scoff at my commentary. After trying on about 20 dresses, Roxy (the lovely lady who helped me... and listened to my commentary) had me re-try the "maybe" ones to narrow the choices down to a top 3. Since then, I have actually narrowed it to a top 2 to look at when I go back to reconsider.

The peanut gallery enjoyed mimosas during the parade of dresses. While they obviously had opinions, they didn't really share many thoughts loud enough for me to hear them.

Overall, this was a successful trip. I tried on some dresses that previously would have fallen into the "won't consider" list and actually ended up liking them. Note to self, revise the "absolutely not" list before next weekend's appointment. Now I just have to convince Dad to come back to the store to see the dresses. He's always been my go-to person for what to wear for dressy occasions. (For prom, I bought two dresses to take home to show him and returned the one he didn't like. :-) The one I kept has been very useful over the last.... __ *cringe* number of years.)

Bridal Party...

Friday evening's festivities were Part I of my "project". Part II has been in progress. Still not ready to share pictures, but I finished my little "project"... i.e. my idea for asking a few girls to be with me as bridesmaids. All the gluing is finished. Now I just have to do a little bit of writing and then find time to talk to each of the girls.

more details coming soon!

Updates... or lack thereof

Dear Bloggy Friends,

I have not abandoned you! Easter preparation has been all-consuming these last few weeks. I'm sure I am not the only liturgical musician who feels this way! Anyway, little progress has been made on any sort of wedding planning in the past few weeks.

We had been discussing what to do about music for the reception. The Changing Times will play for a little bit, but we still need to decide how to approach the rest of the music for the evening.

JB and I have discussed a bridal party... but the list cannot yet be divulged as we have not yet had a chance to speak with the individuals. Hopefully this will be coming soon.

Coming soon: wedding colors... I hope :-D I have an idea of what I'd like, but I don't think JB is quite on-board with those colors.

Dress Shopping... take 1

First stop: David's Bridal - 2/28/2010
Accompanied by Mom, JB's Mom, and MoH
Outcome: innnnnnteresting...

The store was very crowded and they weren't particularly friendly to put it nicely. JB's mom's request for a chair certainly seemed reasonable to me! The lady didn't seem to appreciate my responses/commentary on the dresses. The first one was too low cut... I could see way too much when I looked down. The straight dress was kinda pretty but too straight... won't twirl nicely when I polka. What?... yes, I said polka, thank you very much.

Skip forward, I can't exactly remember the order... one of the dresses was SUPER itchy. Itchy is not my style! There were two more with standout commentary (again, not appreciated by the store lady). One dress had a very pretty top, even though it was strapless but the bottom looked like it had bulldog jowls. Apparently this is some French style. It was a lot of dress and I felt the need to smooth it out.
And I'll leave you with my last comment gem... my impression on this dress was "I feel like I'm wearing a lotus flower."

My Mom has been privy to my absurd clothes shopping expeditions for most of my life... JB's Mom probably thinks I'm a total nut case.

Conclusion: I didn't get to try on all of the dresses that I had marked in the magazine but I wasn't really impressed with what I did try on. The material of the "bulldog dress" felt nice... most of the other dresses didn't seem to have such nice material. So, I got some ideas as far as what I like/don't like.

Aside: We got to wittness a real live bridezilla who was apparently picking up the dress she had ordered and now thought it didn't fit. She had a meltdown complete with tears and a little scene about how she'd wake up on her wedding day and not want to put on that dress and then there would be no wedding. Sorry honey, I think you have your priorities mixed up! Don't get me wrong, I want to find a nice dress and not just settle on the first one I try on but I couldn't even imagine letting a dress be the stopping factor in a wedding!!!

Maid of Honor & Best Man

One day I'll learn to actually use my camera rather than just carry it around in its case. Anywho, my "maid of honor starter kit" finally came in. So it is now official, V (my sis) will be my MoH and J (JB's bro) will be his best man. I set up my sis with a stylish Vera Bradley tote bag in the "sittin in a tree" pattern complete with matching file folders, a mini notebook, a pen, and an address book so that she can keep all the wedding info neatly organized.

Wedding plans...

So I have resolved not to use my facebook status as a running commentary on wedding planning... so I thought a new blog was in order! A little background on the title: Drexel assigns IDs addresses using your initials and a few numbers. It just so happens that the only difference between my ID and JB's ID is the last name initial "J_328".

Here's a quick run-down to get caught up-to-date on the plans:
12/26/2009 - The Proposal... and the eventual answer :-)
1/9/2010 - Lehigh Valley Bridal Expo... I even let someone put makeup on my face and didn't passout!
(somewhere in here we started putting together lists of relatives and friends... although Mom had started earlier)
1/16/2010 - This day was a whirl-wind day. We saw the Massonic Temple at 9am and met with the chef. We were penciled in the book for a tentative date. Then we went over to the church and met with the Pastor who had a list of questions and such for us. He scheduled us in for the date we had discussed at the hall. And there it was, we had a date, a church, and a hall for the reception. All in one morning! *Phew*
1/28/2010 - Discussed our list of priests over a lovely dinner at Maggiano's thanks to Aunt Ceil!
1/30/2010 - Went to Mass at St. Columbkill in Boyertown and talked to the priest afterward about being the presider for our wedding Mass (he will also be helping us with our Catholic marriage prep and paper work)... he said yes... YAY!

And that's about where we are now.