Bridal Hair Styles

My cousin, Sarah, did a trial run on my hair last night. She only did one hair-do and I thought it was wonderful. Check it out.

There's a slight poof in the back and the bun is to the side of my head. I also love the part in the front. It's a very elegant look. The only question is - where do we put the veil if the bun is off-center? I want to wear it low on the back of my head, so maybe we just center it in the back, even if that means it's not over the bun. 


I'm starting to look like a bride, don't ya think? :)


And to step up the hair-do one more notch, I want to wear a (fake) white flower in my hair. They're very popular these days and you can find a zillion of them on etsy.com at lower-than-bridal-shop prices. Here are some of my favorites:

 

Thank you to Sarah for being awesome and volunteering to do my hair and my bridesmaids' hair for the schwedding! We're all going to look soooo pretty.

Marriage Prep

John and I started our marriage prep at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Houston, TX this past weekend. Coincidentally, John and I met at speed dating put on by the St. Vincent de Paul Foundation as a found raiser. Oh, and we got engaged 4 days before St. Vincent de Paul's feast day. Perhaps St. Vincent is the patron saint of our marriage. And making him an even more appropriate choice as our wedding's patron saint, he is considered patron saint of hospitals (where John works day-in and day-out) and volunteers (I was a part of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps for 2 years, during which I met John), among many other things. We have a saint on our side. Neat!


I was thinking I should write about the whole marriage prep process, as it's a huuuuge part of the wedding preparation for both John and me. Yes, it's true that there's a lot of physical stuff to prepare for the marriage during our engagement (e.g. dress, tux, flowers, decorations, reception venue, cake, hotels, etc.), but more important than any of this is the preparation of ourselves spiritually and emotionally. We're both in this for a lifetime, so we have to make sure we're ready for that come the big day more than anything else.


On Saturday, we arrived at the St. Vincent de Paul Parish Center around noon to take the FOCCUS test - a 156-question pre-marriage inventory. After bride and groom take the test (separately), the scantron-like answer sheets are shipped off, analyzed somewhere by some computer system, and sent back to be reviewed by priest and couple. Well, we haven't gotten our results yet, but look forward to seeing them. The test has questions that cover a variety of categories including lifestyle expectations, personality match, communication, religion and values, parenting, sexuality, marriage readiness, key problem indicators, and family origin. 


To take the test, you read each statement and either mark agree, disagree, or uncertain, depending on your personal feelings towards each statement. Here are some sample statements from the test (taken directly from U.S. Catholic Bishop's website):

1. We are in agreement about the husband and wife roles each of us expects of the other in our marriage relationship.
2. There are qualities about my future spouse that I do not respect.
3. We have discussed the ways our families solved problems and how this may affect our problem solving.
4. We disagree with each other over some teachings of the church.
5. My future spouse and I are open to having children.
6. I am concerned that in-laws may interfere in our marriage relationship.
7. My future spouse and I can talk about our sexual fears, hopes and preferences.
8. We are in agreement about how we will make financial decisions between us.
9. I sometimes feel that this may not be the right person for me to marry.
10. My future spouse and I agree that our marriage commitment means we intend to pledge love under all circumstances.

After answering 156 questions of that nature, you can imagine that you have quite a bit to discuss with your future-spouse. Well, John and I spent most of the rest of the day chatting about how we answered the questions, how we thought each other would have answered certain questions, and began to go over some of the topics we had never discussed before (mainly financial stuff). It was great! And that's the true purpose of the test anyway - it's not to tell you whether or not you should be getting married to this person, it's to get you talking about the big ticket marriage items before you sign up for a lifetime of marriage. 

So in a few weeks, we'll be getting our results and sitting down with a priest to discuss them. When the tests are analyzed, it gives you percentages based on how well you matched in each one of the major categories. If we don't match on some of the questions (which we've probably already discussed anyway), those questions get flagged by the test analyzing system and topics of discussion are printed out with the test based on the non-matchy stuff. 

Also, after the new year, we're going to be meeting with a sponsor couple. This well-established Catholic couple will be meeting with us 5 times to discuss all the topics that we briefly encountered on the FOCCUS test. They'll even meet with us a few months after the wedding to check in with us. We're looking forward to having this relationship with another Catholic couple in Houston, to see us through some of the most important months of our courtship :)

And I'll leave you with a hilarious story that involves a friend-couple of ours who went through the same marriage prep process as us before they were married. The groom of the couple, nicknamed D, encountered the statement on the FOCCUS test, "I have a problem with the amount of alcohol my future spouse consumes," and thought it would be funny to answer "agree," in that he wished she would drink more. Well, the bride, nicknamed V, did not think that this was funny. And V reeeeally didn't think it was funny when the priest who reviewed the test with them kept questioning her about her drinking problems. 

Oh, how fun it is to play little tricks on your future spouse, especially when a priest is involved. 

Dear readers,

I've decided that I can't hold it in any longer.

I would like to show you guys the beautiful dress that I will be wearing come July 16, 2011.

It is amazing.

It makes me look sooooo good.

Like a 15 out of 10.

That's probably the highest score I've ever given myself.

So here it is.

The moment you've all been waiting for.

Drum roll please.

Hahah! Made you look!

So it technically is my gown. It's my gown in a bag!

You thought you were going to actually see the gown? Oh, so gullible, you.

I promise to post pictures of me in the gown from every angle possible after the wedding happens.

We're almost at the 7 month mark, folks. Start the countdown now :)

Dress Obsessed

The dress shopping experience has been... well... an experience (to say the least).

Shopping at Priscilla of Boston

It all started back in October. I decided to get the ball rolling early on the gown shopping. I figured, why not? The idea of going into a bridal shop and trying on pretty wedding gowns was quite appealing to me (I mean, what girl wouldn't enjoy this?) so away we went. I took co-worker and Glee-friend Veronica and roommate Ann with me. First stop: Priscilla of Boston. Bad choice. Not only were the gowns all over $2000, but none of them looked great on me. Oh, and their sample gowns are all size 8. If you didn't know, wedding gowns run about 2 sizes bigger than your normal pants size, so ladies, prepare for that before you go gown shopping and don't let it upset ya. In case you're wondering, my gown size is 12. Woo-hoo double digits!

Anyway, Priscilla was a bust. So, onward we went to Houston Bridal Gallery. They had gowns in larger sizes with lower prices and prettier/more flattering styles. I actually fell in like with one of the gowns there. It was strapless with alternating patterns of lace and a cinched waist. It flattered my skinny parts (waistline) and detracted from other parts by flaring out on the hips. It was pretty but I wasn't 100% sold. Plus, the gown was a bit out of my price range, so I didn't let myself get attached. I headed out still with high hopes and then put a halt on gown shopping for a month.

I wanted to take my mom and sis gown shopping with me since they're the two most important ladies in my life, so I knew I was going to have to wait until I was home in RI to have them with me. Thus, it was quickly decided that Thanksgiving vaca would be the perfect time to shop together. We went to three different bridal shops: Sassy & Classy, Bridal Garden, and Cinderella's. With my lovely entourage (Mom, sis, sister-in-law Meg, cousin and hairdresser Sarah, and bridesmaid Kate), I modeled about 30 dresses that day. I found a beautiful one at Sassy & Classy that I thought had potential to be "the one" although I was a little nervous about the flimsiness of the dress and the sweetheart neckline (scooping strapless top = lots of cleavage).

And this is when I started to go lace-crazy. Everything I tried on from hereafter was going to have lace and look vintagey. Why? Because I like the elegance of it and it compliments our theme perfectly (vintage theme - to be discussed later).

So next, we moved on to Bridal Garden across the street. No contenders there. I tried on a bunch of lace ones but nothing was better than the one at S&C or the one back in Houston. So...

On to sushi lunch break. Delish.

Finally, we hit up Cinderella's. Wouldn't you know, they had the same lace gown that S&C had! I started to think that it was a sign. I tried on a few other dresses there, and then put the S&C lace one back on. It was beautiful and definitely vintagey. It fit my body well. It made me feel like a bride.

But then the pressure started. The flamboyantly gay bridal consultant/owner with spikey hair showed me a calculator with a price figure marked way below my budget. He was going to sell me the sample gown at half the price of the dress. Then he showed my mom which made her happy. Then the woman who was helping me into the dress kept saying, "You look amazing. You look stunning. You look beautiful." And they told me I needed to come in the next morning before my flight to try it on again to make a decision. Oh, and they also said that gown makers close up shop during the months of Dec and Jan so I basically had to purchase a gown now if I wanted any hope of having it in time for my wedding.

And then a mild freak out ensued. I was feeling overwhelmed and was tired from a full day of gown shopping. There's a lot of pressure being up on those pedestals! I asked to take the gown off and then got out of there pretty much as quickly as I could. Phew. Pressure was off. I was starting to think clearly again.

But then we got back to the house and John and I started watching a movie. Not even 2 hours after having left Cinderella's, the lady who was helping me into the dresses called me on my cell phone to ask me if I had changed my mind about the gown. Talk about pushy! Well, at that point, I took this as a sign - the opposite of the sign I had seen/felt earlier in the day.

So, the dress shopping ended, and I knew I was going to be leaving RI without a gown picked out and without my mom, sister, and amazing entourage to be there when I tried on more dresses. Thinking about this caused some tears in the airport during our layover in Atlanta. I wanted my closest relatives/friends to be there with me when I tried on/picked out/ bought "the one" but the reality hit me in that uncomfortable airport chair that there was pretty much no way that was going to happen anymore. I had to pick out my dress soon so that there was enough manufacturing time between now and the schwedding and I wasn't going to have my family/bridesmaids/friends in Houston to do it with. And to top it all off, I was feeling overwhelmed and thinking, "I'm just never going to find the right one. Maybe my body isn't meant to look perfect in a wedding gown."

Well, with some encouragement and tear-wiping from John, I picked up my chin and started calling around making appointments at bridal shops in Houston. I even did some gown shopping alone and it wasn't that bad! I went to David's B by myself (on a whim) to try on gowns this past Tuesday and though I didn't find "the one" I got some ideas.

Then, the day came. The day that an average, ho-hum, gownless girl became a stunning future bride with the perfect gown. Sounds dramatic, right? Good.

It was Thursday. Kate Niemer (stellar coworker and Houston Jesuit Volunteer) was getting out of work early along with me so we decided to spend our extra free hours gown shopping. Seriously, I was on a mission and every waking/non-working hour was going to be spent in the search for the gown. First shop on the list - Marry Go Round.

Ok, I need to take a second to sing praises to this bridal shop. It's a consignment bridal gown store meant for brides-of-the-past who are looking to sell their worn or unworn dresses and brides-of-the-future who are looking for discount gowns in perfect condition. The idea is brilliant! And you can tell it's brilliant by the number of gowns the shop has! There must have been 20+ gowns in my size and then more in the back that weren't yet sorted onto the racks!

So, I go to town picking out dresses. They had so many lace ones! And I even picked out some that didn't have lace but I still liked. Well, about 7 or so "not the one" dresses in, one of the store workers pulls out a dress that she wants me to try on. She said that it had just been brought into the shop at noon that day by a bride who hadn't worn it at all. The bride's wedding venue had changed so her designer dress wasn't the right style or fit for the feel of the evening anymore.

Well, it fit me like a glove. I can't say much except that it's not lace. It's better than lace. It's just pure amazing all in one gown. And how did I know for sure that it was the one? It was a collection of the following things:

• I gave it a grade of an A, instantly.
• I didn't want to take it off.
• I didn't want to try any others on, even though I still had more in the dressing room and was originally planning on going to another shop that was having a sample sale.
• I wanted to buy it immediately so that another bride-to-be didn't have the chance to come in and buy it.
• I wanted to keep trying different accessories on with it.
• My mom and dad both loved the picture Kate sent to them.
• Kate was excited for me.
• I was happy.

So it was a long process (and you just got all the details... because I knew you were crazy curious), but it was all worth it in the end. Oh, and I'm under budget by about $200. Sweet! 

And, I've decided that the gown is going to be top secret til the schweddin' day (save my bridesmaids and mother, of course). Now, if you know me well, you know that this is basically an impossible feat for me but in the past 24 hours, I've kept it on lock down, so we'll see how I do keeping this secret for the next 7.5 months.

As we left Marry Go Round (with gown in hand!!!), Kate and I posed for this very special picture. And no, none of the gowns featured here are "the one."

A special thanks to Ms. Kate for being such an integral part of my big decision! She was so encouraging and made the shopping experience tons of fun. You can read the story through here eyes/ears/brain at her loverly little blog: http://niemerjvc.blogspot.com/

Oh, and if you'd like to see pictures of all the gowns I tried on that weren't the one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stepherrara/sets/72157625016954743/

I said yes to the dress and I'm 100% elated!

Rhody Love

Thanksgiving week was spent in Rhode Island with the fiance and my lovely family. We had so much fun doing a bunch of wedding related stuff, and it started immediately upon landing! We called a (free) Radisson shuttle from the airport and were taken directly to the hotel within 20 minutes of being in RI. It was great! The Radisson is actually right across the street from TF Green Airport so it will be suuuper convenient for our guests flying in from outta town.

We arrived at the Radisson and Linda (the wedding coordinator) welcomed us almost instantly. She showed us the cocktail room where guests will get delicious beverages and snack foods during a reception hour (... btw, we're renaming it "happy hour"). Then we saw the ballroom. It's perfect! It'll be a great space for one heckuva party. We then saw the courtyard which Linda said will probably have decorated trees - with strands of lights. I love this! It'll give such a magical feel to the courtyard.

After the tour, we sat down and chatted with Linda for a while about vendors, decoration ideas, and just life in general. She seems like a great chicka who's going to be a lot of help during this whole process.

My parents and sis (with Lindsey) joined us around 4:30pm at the Radisson for a sample tasting of our dinner choices for the wedding. It was so great to see my mom, my dad, my sis, and my niece after having been away from RI since June. And we all got to enjoy an amazing meal together. We tried so many delicious foods! Pesto pasta, tossed salads, steak, chicken, potatoes, veggies, and tons of desserts. By the end of the meal, were stuffed, but we pretty much knew exactly what we were going to pick for our 4-course wedding menu upon putting down the utensils. All I can say is, it's a meal to look forward to. Especially the dessert. Especially if you're a chocoholic.

The next morning, John and I headed to Christ the King Parish to meet with Fr. Matt for our pre-nuptual inventory. We attended noon mass first, then shared delicious greek food from International Pockets during our meeting/chat. Though he probably won't be saying our wedding mass, it was great to meet with Fr. Matt to get this first Catholic detail checked off our wedding prep list. Fr. Matt is such an awesome guy, so of course we had a great time. And John and I were smiling ear-to-ear as we answered the pre-nuptial questions. We're just so excited about marrying each other! And Fr. Matt totally picked up on the happiness.

Since the parish is basically on the URI campus, we picked up Jeff (little bro) and brought him back to the house with us for his Thanksgiving break... but not without stopping for some bubble tea first. Mmmm so yummy! We then headed home and had a wonderful night with my sis (Lauren) and her boyf (Dave) at The Remmington House for dinner and The Crowe Bar for drinks. And I got to see one of my bridesmaids at The Crowe Bar! Justine was there with her hubby, so we had a grand ol' time catching up and chatting about the schwedd. I hadn't seen her since her wedding over 2 years ago (since she lives in Maine), so it was so loverly to spend some QT with her.

The next day was Thanksgiving, which we spent with aunts and uncles on Mom's side of the fam. We spent time bonding with the relatives and John fit in perfectly. The evening was spent chatting, football watching, fooding, and playing hilarious games (e.g. Toss the Cookies).

The last day of our short vaca in RI was spent wedding dress shopping with Mom, Lauren, sister-in-law Meg, cousin and hairdresser Sarah, and bridesmaid Kate. I must have tried on 30 gowns. I'll give a more detailed gown-shopping account in my next post as it'll be all about the whoooole gown search.

After the unsuccessful gown shopping trip, my mom hosted a party at the house for all relatives and close family friends to meet John. No joke: John was the belle of the ball! He worked the crowd like you wouldn't believe. He was only by my side about 25% of the night. The rest of the time he spent getting to know my aunts and uncles and high school/college friends by chatting them up. He thought they were all quality people, and I think they felt the same? Can't wait for him to meet my dad's side of the fam!

Well, Rhody, I miss you already. Hopefully the next trip home (Christmas) will be just as fun! And hopefully there will be more wedding planning to do. I'm really liking this stuff!

Marry me, Stephanie!

I realized today that I hadn't shared the proposal story yet. Well, for those curious, here is a detailed account of the proposal told in the 3rd person, as it will appear on our wedding website (which has not yet been revealed!):


It was just a regular Thursday night at the end of a long September. Stephanie was returning home from a spiritual women's group meeting, and John was relaxing in his apartment, playing video games, waiting for her return. After the meeting, Stephanie's roommate (Ann) encouraged her to go spend time at John's apartment. She considered just going back to her apartment with Ann, but Ann gently nudged Stephanie towards John's front door.

Upon entering, Stephanie found John playing video games at his computer - nothing out of the ordinary. However, when he noticed she had arrived, he jumped up from his chair very quickly and quit the video games instantly - really out of the ordinary. He asked Stephanie if she wanted to go out for dessert. You see, it was technically John's night off, since he didn't have to work the next day, so he wanted to go out and have some fun. Unfortunately, Stephanie declined, explaining that she still had lesson plans to write and needed to be up very early the next morning for school. So she began working.

Not even a minute later, John excitedly exclaimed that he had been working on a surprise for Stephanie while she was away at her meeting. He went into the other room and came back with a wrapped present that had the shape of a large photo album. Stephanie asked, "Is this a photo album?" and John answered, "How'd you know? Just open it..." So she opened the present and found exactly what she had expected: a photo album. The cover of the album read "Our Adventures," much like the album from the movie "Up."



As they turned through the pages together, Stephanie found pictures from their whole relationship. John had printed out his favorite photographs of the two of them and labeled them each with cute, little captions. Thoughts began to cross Stephanie's mind: "Is he proposing tonight? No, he can't possibly be proposing. I know he doesn't have a ring. Stop thinking he's going to propose! There's no way." But, MUCH to her surprise, as she turned to the last page, she found a picture of John, down on one knee with the ring in hand, and another picture of the words, "Will You Marry Me, Stephi?" in John's handwriting. He was proposing!

Stephanie didn't know what to do with herself. She couldn't believe John had actually tricked her! He ran into the other room, grabbed the box with the ring, came back and dropped to one knee, asking her to marry him. She said "Of course!" and put he put the beautiful ring on her dainty, little finger. She also could not stop saying, "You tricked me! You tricked me! You're a tricker! I can't believe you tricked me!"

After the initial excitement of it all, they spent the rest of the night smiling with one another, sharing a glass of sangria, and enjoying some celebratory cake bought by Stephanie's roommate Ann. The lesson plans could wait another day...

Fun with (scanner) guns

Things are progressing.

The reception hall has been booked and we've already set up a sample appetizer/dinner/cake tasting for our visit home to RI for Thanksgiving. Delicious food is definitely something to be thankful for :)

Save the dates will hopefully go out in December and John's parents are thinking of throwing us an engagement party the week before Christmas in John's hometown (Johnson City, TN) for family/friends who won't be able to make it to the wedding. Both of these require that we have our registries set up, so that's what we've been working on all weekend.

We decided on 3 places to register, as each offers some fun things to choose from for us and our guests: Macy*s, Crate&Barrel, and Bed, Bath & Beyond. 

I don't think we were expecting to be getting it all done so soon, but seeing as the engagement party was just brought up, we felt the need to start a gift list. You could say the registry experience has been a whirl-wind these past two days. It's been super fun, but also intense at times. I mean... we're picking out the furnishings/do-dads of our future abode! And it can be really overwhelming, especially when you're at three different shops with all these different options and haven't really sat to ponder, "what color scheme would be good for the master bedroom?" yet. I don't think we realized what kind of undertaking it really was until we got to the stores and began to pick things out. 

Well, two days and about 10 hours of pseudo-shopping later, we've put together some pretty solid registries. What's great is we can still go into the registries online and add, delete, or update anything we want, so nothing is extremely permanent. Also, even if something we decide we don't really like a few months from now ends up being purchased, we can always return it for store credit. These thoughts make the process a little less daunting (as the permanence of it is gone)! 

Also, the scanner guns make it less stressful and even more enjoyable. We are masters of the barcode. Check it out...

Note John's flip-flops with his dress clothes. Registry shopping requires comfortable attire. 

Stun guns aside, we've discovered another fun thing about registries. Heading back from Crate&Barrel this afternoon, both John and I agreed that we felt as though we had just gone on a major shopping spree, yet felt even better about it because we hadn't spent any money. Seriously, what a great way to fill a desire to shop-til-you-drop-and-empty-your-wallet without actually emptying your wallet. Sign up for a wedding or baby registry at your favorite  shop (we won't judge), go scan your favorite items 'til your heart's content, then leave without spending a dime. Although you won't have any bags in hand on your way out the store, you'll still feel like you've shopped out all your energies and you won't feel any remorse about cleaning out your bank account. Ahhh, the joys of registries.  

Reception Hall: 92.4% Definite

The location of our reception has been the big question mark as of late. As I mentioned before, my darling mother (with my dashing father) has been going on meetings and talking with wedding-reception coordinators since the engagement like it's her job. John and I are so grateful to the both of them doing this for us. We wouldn't be 92.4% sure about the reception venue if it weren't for them. So, before I announce exactly where the wedding partay will probably be taking place, let me explain a bit (... quite a bit) of the process that has been going on.


Since the start, John and I said we wanted our reception venue to be something unique. I won't lie, I was somewhat inspired by a coworker who is having his wedding reception on the top floor of a beautiful library in Chicago, IL. So, the interwebz searching began. I also got some ideas from some family members (my bro Matt and cuz Sarah). Pretty quickly my heart (and some of John's too) became set on this:

Cheesy? ... yes. Hilarious? ... duh. Extraordinarily epic? ... well, obviously! The Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT hosts weddings on weekends right inside the actual aquarium. So while our guests were dining on their foods and sipping their cocktailz, they'd be able to go up to fish tanks and interact with the sea creatures. 


Needless to say, we were instantly sold. I mean... this is screaming unique. Can you think of a wedding that you've attended that is more out of the blue than this? (pun intended)


But, then we hit a wall. My momma was not happy. My dad wasn't thrilled either. And in addition, my Memere just thought it was weird. They made some good points, too. It would be far from the church and not to mention, just the food at the reception alone would have eaten up our entire wedding budget. (pun intended again)

Another pic of the Mystic Aquarium

So, we put the aquarium on the back burner and started looking into some other venues. Next up, I fell for the beautiful, elegant, classic Federal Reserve in Providence, RI. It used to be a bank and was converted into a reception hall many years ago. The inside is gorgeous. The bank teller counter has been replaced by a drinky drink bar, the ceilings are high and ornate, there's a balcony inside that overlooks the whole reception hall, the floors are marble, and the place just screamed unique. To be honest, I started the whole reception search thinking we'd have the reception in one of the mansions in RI, but that was quickly squashed by the big dollar $igns associated with each. Therefore, I think what really drew me to this place was it's resemblance of the inside of the mansions we couldn't afford. Check out these pictures:

The pictures are definitely a little outdated, but they give you an idea of the inside of the hall. So, I tell my mom that I'm interested and she sets up a meeting with the owners. It turns out that it's actually under new ownership. It's called the Dorrance now and it doesn't officially open for business until December. One of the new owners worked for this place for 10 years organizing wedding receptions while it was still the Federal Reserve. The other woman was her brand new partner... meaning they hadn't run a single function together. My parents ended up getting a really bad vibe from them (i.e. when asked about pricing for the food, they were given a random price quote and were told that a nice guy down the street is the caterer... strange much?). Unfortunately, my (second) dream hall was no longer a reality.

Two other ideas that came up were two barns in different parts of the state, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, RI (pictured on the right), but neither idea went very far (they both required furniture rental and caterer hiring). We emailed a few Country Clubs in RI, but each of them was booked (I mean, our wedding is only 8.5 months away now). There was also the Ocean Cliff in Newport, RI. My parents actually met with the wedding coordinator there and quickly realized that it was going to be WAY out of our price range. The landscape there is beautiful (right on the ocean with the Newport Bridge in the background) and the food sounded delicious, but to have an afternoon reception there (which is cheaper than an evening reception), it was going to cost thousands of dollar$ over our budget... and that didn't even include the alcohol! Lame.

Ocean Cliff en la noche

Now you're probably wondering... how did you go from alllll of these ideas to being 92.4% sure about a reception hall? Well, in pops the Radisson Hotel. My mom had suggested the Radisson as a reception site pretty early in the search. I put it in the back of my mind and spent most of my efforts coming up with the list of duds you just painstakingly read about. Well, once it looked like all those places were out of the picture (and I got a random email from the coordinator at the Radisson checking in on us), we decided to further investigate. We quickly discovered that we would be getting a LOT of bang for our buck$ if we decided to have the reception there. Check out everything they offer in their wedding reception package:

• Cocktail hour before the reception
• Four course meal for each guest (made by chefs at Johnson & Wales University... the same folks who catered my parents' wedding)
• Wedding cake
• Linens/tablecloths/etc.
• Ice sculpture (yes, you read that correctly)
• Champagne/wine toast
• Mirrors and votive candles to highlight our centerpieces 
• Discounted hotel rooms/suites for our guests
• Use of the hall from 5:30pm - 12 midnight
• Shuttle to and from airport for our guests
• Room for Bride & Groom at the end of the night

AND we would be under-budget by thousands of dollars. The frugal part of me just cries out with joy when I think of how awesome this deal is. AND to top it all off, having the reception at a hotel makes it suuuper convenient for our out-of-town guests (of which we'll have many... since John and I are just sooo friendly). 

Basically, John and I just can't say no. We talked about it and decided that (after all that research on reception venues) the reception hall isn't the most important part of our big day after all... it's about having all our awesome family and friends in the same place, and showing them a great time. We decided that (especially with all those extras included) the Radisson would help us affordably do just that!

And the only reason that it's 92.4% definite (as opposed to 110%) is that my mom hasn't called to book it yet. We're expecting this teeny, little detail will be taken care of tomorrow :)

The Ballrom at the Radisson

Radisson Courtyard

So, it is unique? ... not really. Is it fancy and mansion-like? ... nah. Is it going to stick out in the memories of our guests as the most amazing reception hall they've ever been to? ...nope. But, will it still be epic? ... you betcha! You can't have a Schwedding without epic-ness of some sort!

Oh, and all the money we'll be saving will help us pay for the grand honeymoon we've recently started talking about. If anyone has suggestions for a beautiful island getaway (we're talking crystal-clear waters, white sand, perfect temperatures, and fun adventures), we're all ears. 

The Schwedding Party

We've chosen a wedding party! We will have 5 ladies and 5 guys to help us celebrate our big day. I've written up a little background info on each of the bridesmaids and a reeeeally little intro to each of our groomsmen. If you notice, we actually have two Best Men.  I like to joke and say that we have a Best Man (Eric Schweitzer) and a Great Man (Mike Corte), but both are technically Co-Best Men. John just couldn't choose between the two (and I can't blame him... they're both awesome). So, without further adieu...

Lauren Ferrara Maid of Honor

Lauren and I have known each other since the day she was born. Though we didn't always have the most loving of relationships in our younger years (i.e. bottle-stealing, gum-stealing, shouting matches, etc.), we have grown to share a beautiful bond that only sisters (15 months apart) could share. I couldn't have asked for a better sister or better person to share my big day with. Even though she probably doesn't realize it, she has taught me patience, unconditional love, and compassion. She currently lives in Coventry, RI and is a wonderful mother to my favorite little niece, Lindsey Marie. 

Kathleen Schweitzer Bridesmaid

Kathleen is probably John's favorite sister and will definitely be one rockin' bridesmaid on the day of our wedding. She has been so friendly and fun since the day we first met (for stir-fry at Crazy Bowls) and has recently become someone I go to often to share wedding planning details. She currently lives in St. Louis and is studying at St. Louis University as an undergrad in communication sciences and disorders. Can't wait to call her sister!

Kate Arsenault Bridesmaid

Kate and I met at a training in 2006 for our summer jobs at Camp Westwood YMCA. We were both camp counselors to kiddos (ages 7-10) and instantly bonded over the craziness of our job. Although I only worked at Westwood for one summer, our relationship continued to strengthen after the job ended. We would hang out in coffee shops, go on shopping sprees, drive around RI, and talk about life, love, and all the in betweens. Although we live over a thousand miles apart, we still share a strong bond, especially in our chosen professions: she's an English teacher in RI while I'm a math teacher in TX. Kate's been a loyal friend since day one and I know I'll be able to rely on her during all this wedding planning stuff!

Emily Gagne Bridesmaid

Emily and I met at URI back in 2005. I was in a sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma, and she was thinking of pledging. The first time we really bonded was at an ugly sweater party (see picture) and were basically inseparable after that. We would spend hours with each other, listening to the Wicked soundtrack, sewing quilts, and just being silly. After Emily's sophomore year, she decided to move back to Maine to enter nursing school, but we continued to stay close. I was honored to be bridesmaid in her wedding about a year a go and now she'll return the favor by being a beautiful bridesmaid at our wedding in July! 

Justine Capraro Bridesmaid

Justine and I go waaay back, to the 7th grade in fact. I remember the day we met so clearly: I walked into English class and the only seats left were at an empty group in the back of the room. Justine left her group to join me in the back and we've been friends ever since. Back in our younger years, we spent endless hours on the phone and hanging out. We would watch movies together, talk about any- and everything, and even take trips to CT (or maybe just one, scary, sleepless trip). As we grew older, our busy schedules took us separate ways, but we continued to stay in touch (through snail-mail, phone calls, facebook, etc), and over two years ago, I was asked to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. It was so wonderful to be a part of her special day and I can't wait to have her be a part of ours! 

Eric Schweitzer Best Man

Eric is John's little brother. John loves his little brother like, well, a brother. They enjoy video gaming together, mainly of the zombie-killing variety. Eric also looks really good in orange (... and John told me to say that). 

Mike Corte Best Man

John and Mike have known each other since freshman year of undergrad at St. Louis University. They've been besties ever since. As far as I can tell, John looks up to Mike as much as Mike looks up to John. It's really a beautiful thing. Whenever John speaks of Mike Corte, he always speaks in hyperbole (i.e. "Mike Corte once killed a grizzly bear in an arm-wrestling match") and ends with, "Mike Corte, Great Man."

Reuss Anderson Groomsman

Reuss and John also go way back. They've known each other since freshmen year as well. They met in the halls of Marguerite Hall on the SLU campus, becoming good friends instantly. Reuss was studying aviation science, and John, computer science. Recently, John took a trip to Florida to hang out with Reuss for a International Fall Festival at Epcot in Disney. Rental of a bright yellow Corvette and drinks around the "world" ensued. 

Jay Sherfy Groomsman

Jay Sherfy is also a Great Man, according to John and others. John met Jay in Marguerite Hall as well. You could say he was a pseudo-floormate. They've known and enjoyed each other's presence for many years now. This is a picture of them after almost being mauled by a bear. Luckily, they blubbered like little girls and the bear had mercy on them. 

John Derus Groomsman

John and John were neighbors during John's senior year and quickly became good friends. John D. once threw a bag of trash onto John S.'s balcony and it smelled bad. John S. retaliated by doing the same. John S. doesn't actually know why it happened, but it was funny at the time. Their friendship was sealed in an "animated discussion" on the relative merits of Van Halen during different time periods. Also, this picture has no relevance to their relationship, but it's nice... no?