Newspaper Engagement Announcement

Keep an eye out in the Lincoln Journal Star for our engagement announcement and photo. It will most likely be appearing in the February 8th Celebrate! (but we're not 100% sure). It will also be available online at:

http://www.journalstar.com/celebrate/index.php?fc=Engagements

We had quite a successful wedding planning weekend. It started early, too. Mom, dad, Andrew, Emily and myself all took off early on Friday afternoon to meet with the caterers and decorations people at East Campus. We met the catering manager, Kari, for the first time. She was so delightful and she really made us feel confident that we were in good hands. She will be coordinating deliveries, supervising the servers and helping out on the day of the wedding. So, now we have the menu finalized for the most part.

We were also able to talk to several people at East Campus about the decorations. Dad and I have been especially worried about how we are going to do the decorations, so it was a relief to find that we can do exactly what we want with them. I really think we'll be able to make it look beautiful in the reception hall.

On Saturday afternoon we met with Meier's Cork and Bottle, who we decided to hire for bartender service. They are so friendly, professional and knowledgeable. I'm really happy that we've hired them.

Cake and Flowers

Mom and I went to pick up the new cake samples from HyVee today, and we paid the deposit for the flowers while we were there. We like shopping at that HyVee anyway, so we just did our weekly shopping at the time. (All the employees we've dealt with there have been so friendly!)

When we went to get the cake samples from the bakery, the employee who handed them over to us told us that the Amaretto we'd requested turned out incredible. She said they would need to start offering that one as an option, and that it was her new favorite. Mom and I couldn't wait to try.

The bakery added pineapple to the citrus cake, which made it taste incredible also. (Andrew's favorite cake, other than cheesecake, is pineapple upside down cake.) Andrew just doesn't care for most cakes, and when he tried the this pineapple citrus, he really liked it!

I gave out some of the samples and took votes, because I honestly love them both. I couldn't decide on my own. I like that the Amaretto was our idea, kind of like a "signature flavor." However, it's very rich, like the red velvet we're already getting. Having a fruity option with the richer, more chocolaty Red Velvet seemed more appropriate. This way hopefully everyone will like something (even Andrew)!

So, I just counted the votes to make my decision. Then, when the votes were practically even, I wasn't sure what to do. I decided it would all be up to Emily, who hadn't tried the cakes yet. I was very happy with either flavor.

She decided on the pineapple citrus and I think it was a great decision. And, as dad says, we have someone to blame if no one likes it. (Just kidding...Emily thank you for making the decision I couldn't make!)

Hotel Reservation Info

We have booked a block of rooms for the wedding at the Lincoln New Victorian Suites.

Most of the rooms in our block have king size beds and pull-out beds. We also have one double queen suite reserved. According to the manager of the hotel, it's likely that the hotel will have cancellations prior to our wedding date, opening up additional double queen suites. Be sure to check when you make your reservation, if a double queen suite would be your preference.

The rooms can be reserved under either "Losh" or "DiPaolo" and the discounted rate is $73.99 per night. There aren't restrictions on this rate when you book for the wedding, so if you plan to come up early or leave late, you should get the same rate each night.

They will hold this block of rooms for us until April 29th.

Check-in time is 3:00 PM (possibly earlier if you're arriving earlier)
Check-out time is 12:00 Noon. The indoor pool and hot tub are open 24 hours/day.

Below is the web address for the hotel chain, along with their contact information. Please let me know if you'd like further information from me or if you have any questions.

http://www.newvictorianinn.com/

Lincoln New Victorian Suites
216 North 48th Street
Lincoln, NE 68504
(402) 464-4400

Mother-of-the-Bride Dress

Well, I'm back to wedding planning. I took some time off during December to enjoy the holidays, but the time has come to get back to the task at hand.

Over the holidays, I did manage to sign the contract with Sarabande Jazz. This is something I've been working to finalize for months and it's so nice to have the contract finally signed and the deposit sent. I really think they are going to make our reception something special and it's hard for me to imagine not having them play at our wedding.

This weekend I have an appointment with the person doing the redesign on my dress (and possibly some alterations on mom's dress). Mom found her mother-of-the-bride dress on the day after Thanksgiving at Nordstroms.

After our more serious early morning shopping in Kansas City, we went to the mall to do a little browsing the day after Thanksgiving. Eventually someone suggested that we go and look at some stores to watch mom try on some Mother-of-the-Bride dresses. Cyndi was especially excited about this, so she and I started helping mom pick out some choices. By the time she had tried on a few dresses, Debi, Elly, Sharon and Heather had joined us in the dressing room to see the options.

The sales lady brought in dress after dress (not many of them were in our wedding colors, but mom tried them on anyway, for style ideas mostly). When mom put on the dress she ended up choosing, she looked stunning in it. It's as if the dress were made especially for her. Everyone agreed that it looked beautiful, even though it wasn't exactly the right color scheme for the wedding. It is a halter-top dress that is a mock-two piece. The top has intricate bead-work and embroidery in metallic shades and the bottom is floor length in a deep brown. We are hoping that we can switch the outer layer of material on the bottom of the dress to a rust or copper colored fabric to bring the colors of the wedding out in the dress a little more. I guess we'll find out this weekend!

We're also meeting with the baker and the person doing the flowers at HyVee on Saturday. I hope it all goes will, we should be starting to make some decisions about the bouquets and other wedding flowers. I know I want calla lilies and gerbera daisies, but I have a lot of decisions to make concerning the bridesmaids bouquets, the corsages and boutineers, etc. The baker and I already have a pretty clear vision of the cake, we just need to decide on the second cake flavor. I know I want Red Velvet, and I'm thinking I'd like an orange citrus cake also, but I'll need to taste it before I decide. Anyway, it will be good to get a few more details hammered out this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it.