Okoboji Trip

Being a little nervous about how to go about planning my first week-long vacation with no "adults" present, I've been consulting mom and dad a lot on Honeymoon/trip planning.

They helped Andrew and I narrow down the destination, mapped out several route options, and (the ultimate stress reliever) planned a long-weekend trip with us to scope-out our destination of choice, Lake Okoboji, IA.

What better way for us to see whether this was a place that we wanted to spend our honeymoon?

Andrew has been looking for work for some time now. The week before we planned to leave for Boji, Andrew was offered a job. (Hurray!) But, went to work immediately, and couldn't take off extra days for a long weekend (Not so much of a hurray.) So, Andrew entrusted me to do the Okoboji-scopeing without him : (

It wasn't the greatest weather while we were up there, but it was just fine for getting the lay of the land. I was able to check out several hotels I was intersted in, see a few of the surrounding towns that we might stay in, try a few restaurants and look at menus/prices for others. My folks let me drive the whole way there and back, so I have a good grasp on exactly how to get there and get back home. All of these things really put me at ease for planning the trip with Andrew.

I've included a few photos from the trip, enjoy!

Wedding Shoes

Well, I've decided on and ordered the shoes to go with my wedding dress. I'm going to need very pretty toe nails, because I've decided on ivory flip-flops from Sarah's Bridal. They are flats, which is important because:

• the hem of my dress is a little high as it is
• I do not want to be taller than Andrew
• in heels, I will most certainly trip and fall at some point

They are so comfortable, with sequins on the top. They are just exactly what I was looking for.

I just about have the save-the-date cards finalized, all I need is to get the address list together. I'm also beginning to think about wedding cake options. Dad told me about an incident with red frosting on a cake at work recently that stained everyone's lips, teeth and tongues. That's certainly something I need to consider when deciding on the type of frosting to use. I have my heart set on red and orange...but I don't want everyone stained from the frosting (especially in dressy clothes!)

Dress #1!!!!

I've made my decision. Last night mom bought me my wedding dress!

After feeling so torn between the two dresses, I tried them both on last night for mom, Emily, Lynnette and Linny. It sounded like everyone was leaning toward dress #1, saying that it went more with the style of the wedding and I looked more comfortable in it.

I wasn't completely convinced, because I had practically decided on dress #2 (it was getting so many votes!) and I thought it looked like a more expensive dress for the same price as the other. That's when aunt Linny asked the question that became my ultimate deciding factor..."Which dress would Andrew like better?"

Automatically I pointed at dress #1, and the decision was made. Everyone agreed that he would appreciate the simple style. So, I guess it's onto dressing others for the wedding now! (Though I'm so excited to take my dress to be altered, so that's it's a one-of-a-kind dress, just for me!)

It's Down to Two!

Last Saturday, mom and I went to a few bridal shops in town and we found that the J’Maries Off the Rack shop was finally open!

What a wonderful place! All of their bridal gowns are either $99 or $199! Their bridesmaid dresses are $29 and their flower girl dresses are only $20! I’d love to invite Rylee to shop with us there to see if we can find a dress for her and maybe dresses for Liz and Emily too.

I found two dresses that I simply cannot decide between. They are holding the two dresses for me through tomorrow. I’ve been taking votes on which dress people tend to like better on me. So far, there are three votes for #1 and six votes for #2.

They are both $99 dresses, so that didn’t make the decision any easier. As I started taking votes, all I got were votes for #2, so I thought I had my decision made. However, both Emily and Liz have voted for #1, so now I’m back where I started. However, I will love either dress. So, really, it’s not such a dilemma. It’s kind of a fun problem to have.

More dress shopping soon?

I’m thinking about planning another wedding dress shopping outing, possibly the 1st or 2nd Saturday in May. I’ve found dresses I like at the Wedding Gown Outlet (these are less expensive then all my other favorites!) and also at Sarah’s Bridal.

I really liked the consultants at both of these dress shops. I’d like to use Sarah’s Bridal for the alterations on whatever dress I choose, if possible. I was really happy with the alterations on my dress for Linny’s wedding done at Sarah’s, and it sounds like the same person would be working on my wedding dress if I have the alterations done there.

There are several "before and after" photos at Sarah’s of alterations, and the difference is really remarkable in some of them. There was even a dress at the Wedding Gown Outlet that’s too large, but inexpensive enough that maybe we could pay to have it altered to fit exactly how I want it to.

I finally received the contract for reserving the Perin Porch for the ceremony. I was assured that it was all mine for the day, but I was worried when over a month had gone by with no word and no contract to sign. I suppose my next task will be getting all the addresses for the save the date cards.

Andrew and I are scheduled to have our engagement photos taken next Saturday. They’re going to be outdoors, so here’s hoping that we don’t get rained out. I’ve really been looking forward to having them taken.

Grandma Eleanor's Visit

While grandma Eleanor was in town last week, we had planned to take her to see me try on some wedding gowns on Thursday evening. She was going to take us all out to eat afterward and I was really looking forward to it.

Unfortunately, a really nasty cold has been going around at work and I started to feel it on Tuesday. I stayed home sick on Wednesday and Thursday, and I had a fever the majority of the time, so I didn’t feel like going out at all. I feel so terrible that I missed out on the dress shopping and dinner.

Finally, I broke my fever and was feeling well enough to go back to work on Friday. I had passed on my cold to Andrew (poor guy, I guess that’s what he gets for taking care of me), but he felt well enough to go out for Liz’s birthday celebration that night. She invited us to Granite City for dinner, and it’s been quite awhile since I’ve eaten there. Everyone’s food looked really wonderful. Liz and I ended up getting the same kind of flatbread pizza (it’s funny how often she and I opt for the same meal when we go out to eat together). We had a very nice time, but the place was packed. There was quite a wait for a table (and still just as many people waiting for tables when we left).

After dinner, Andrew and I met mom, dad, Grandma Eleanor, Grandma Leona, Debi and Elly at The Blend to hear Tim and Sarabande Jazz play. By the time we got there, Tim was already taking advantage of Elly’s "attitude" as he called it. He was teasing her and putting her on the spot. It was hilarious, and she turned an array of shades of red.

Grandma Eleanor also spent some time drumming on Tim’s belly, which was quite entertaining!

I loved the drummer Tim was playing with on Friday. He did lead vocals on a few songs, and he has played with the drummer from the Vince Guaraldi Trio (the Charlie Brown music I love so much). I would love to have him at the wedding as well (I wonder if I can make that request when we put the contract together.)

Mom and I drove to Mound City with grandma on Saturday morning, and met up with Carl, Sharon and Heather at the McDonald’s there. They we’re kind enough to meet us half way, and on the drive back mom and I were able to talk about wedding and vacation plans for the upcoming months which was a lot of fun.

Happy Easter!

Mom, Dad and I drove up to Topeka to celebrate Easter this weekend. It was so much fun to talk about wedding plans with Skye, who recently became engaged to Steven! (I’m jealous, she already has so many wedding ideas!) She is planning to use red accents, so I offered to give her the eiffel tower vases we bought for the center pieces after we’re finished with them. They are red, so hopefully she will find a use for them. She seemed very excited to receive anything I could share with her. Our color schemes overlap enough that hopefully she can use some of my silk flowers also. It sounds like her wedding is going to be beautiful.

Skye saw a picture of mom in her wedding dress last November in one of the scrapbooks Debi had put together for Grandma Eleanor’s 80th birthday. She loved the style of the dress (it’s a beautiful hippie dress, with a flowery material that’s split down the front with lace accents and no train in an ivory color). It’s a beautiful dress, and now that she’s engaged she asked mom if she could wear the dress (or at least incorporate some of the material into a dress) for her wedding.

Mom asked me to try it on last night, to be sure I didn’t want it. It’s not exactly my style, but it is beautiful, so I was happy to try it on. It’s a little too short for me, and a little too small. It’s not a flattering style on me (mom had such a tiny waist!), but I’m sure Skye will look beautiful in it.

I do love how flowy and natural the style and material of the dress feel. I thought it was so nice that mom wanted me to try it on, and I’m glad that I did. (It would have been the first weekend in a month that I hadn’t tried on wedding dresses if I hadn’t tried her’s on!) Afterward mom, grandma and I looked through wedding and honeymoon pictures with mom in the dress. Grandma Eleanor is staying with mom and dad all week, so we’re going to have a lot of fun. We’ll be able to send the wedding dress back with grandma for Skye to use, along with the wedding magazines I forgot to pass on to her at Easter. It’s really great to be engaged at the same time she is.

We celebrated Tim’s actual birthday and surprised Debi by celebrating her upcoming 50th birthday on Saturday. Between the b-day cakes, the Easter candy and the desserts Skye and I brought, we had plenty of treats!

On the way back to Lincoln, we stopped to eat lunch at our favorite Nebraska City restaurant, The Avenue Grill, which will soon be holding a bridal fair. There were a few manikins in wedding dresses and tuxes. Dad couldn’t resist replacing the missing manikin head with my own.