The Last Feast

(Update on Photos: We still haven't seen a single professional photo. When I called our photographer at week 5 1/2, he said that he changed his workflow a few months back, and now it takes 7-8 weeks. This upcoming Saturday will mark 8 weeks since the wedding, and if we don't see something by then, I'm unsure how to proceed. I don't want to pester him, but I'm reeeeally anxious to see photos. It's getting to the point where they don't even seem real to me anymore... and Ryan has completely stopped caring. That's sad.)


After our rehearsal ended, we were all starving and ready for some dinner. Our large crew headed over to the Distinctive Cork, which was right across the street from my church. One funny thing I recall from that night is standing around the church lobby as everyone filtered out, and realizing I was all alone. I looked around for Ryan, but didn't see him, so I headed to my car and gave him a call.

Kelly: "Hi."
Ryan: "Hi."
Kelly: "Uhh... where are you?"
Ryan: "On my way to dinner with my parents."
Kelly: "Oh."
Ryan: "Where are you?"
Kelly: "At the church, waiting for you."

Woops. Silly me... I had assumed that my soon-to-be husband would want to drive with me to the rehearsal dinner so we could enter together. Instead, I ended up showing up behind everyone else, alone and lugging a ton of gifts, like a total weirdo.

Shame on you, Ryan.

When I arrived, the party was already in full swing. We had the entire restaurant to ourselves, and our guests were enjoying the open bar and hors d'oeuvres.

 

Ryan and I found a little time to chat with family and friends...

Sadly, I have no photos of the food (my photography skills were off duty wedding weekend), but it was delicious. Hors d'oeuvres were gourmet chicken and beef sliders.

Our bridal party had our own table, which was pushed off to the side a bit. It was nice having a chance to catch up with everyone that just got into town that day.

The main course was a choice of Pork Chop, Salmon, or Asparagus Risotto.

The kids got some sort of pasta (which looked delicious)...

After dinner was over, I wanted to make sure I passed out gifts before our guests started to leave. So I stood up, gave a general "thank you" to the crowd, and handed out our gifts to the bridal party and our parents. My parents received a digital picture frame, and Ryan's parents received a gift card to a restaurant back in Philly. Apparently I was too late with the gift-giving, because my brother and his girlfriend had snuck out at some point.

After the gifts were given, Ryan's mom gave a lovely toast. I wish someone had thought to videotape it, because it made both Ryan and I tear up a little. I'm very lucky to be joining such a wonderful family.

After all that, I went to grab some dessert, but it was mostly gone. Ryan's mom had ordered some mini-desserts, but the restaurant staff put them on display before any of our guests got there. So when people arrived, they scarfed the desserts while they waited for real food. Along with that, there were only enough desserts for two per person... but I saw people walking around with over 5 on their plates. Isn't it funny the little things that stick in your mind and irritate you?

Overall, everyone had a great time. Ryan's family did a wonderful job putting on such a spectacular dinner from 3 states away. There were rave reviews about the food and location.

Next up... Hopefully I get some professional photos so I can start the wedding recaps!

Mother of the Bride

Does anyone need a Mother of the Bride (or Groom) dress? My mom purchased a non-refundable one a few weeks ago, then changed her mind.

It has never been worn, and still has the tags. The only flaw is a small snag on the back near the zipper (looks like someone got it caught while zipping up the dress), but that's fixable by a seamstress.

She paid $360 for the sample dress, so make us an offer. We will ship for free. :)

Color: Indigo

Size: 12, unaltered

Jasmine Jade Mothers Dresses, Fall 2010. Floor length tiffany chiffon gown with an off the shoulder neckline and cap sleeves. Skirt length can be changed to tea-length or knee-length.

Fabric Contents: 100% Polyester Lining, 100% Acetate

Cleaning Method: Professional Dry Clean Only

If you're interested, leave a comment or email me at kel (dot) schultz (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks, blogger friends!

Gifts for Aunts

My mom has three sisters, and all of them were involved some way or another in the planning and execution of my bridal shower.

So to show my appreciation, I gave them each a gift... a box of truffles and a stack of personalized correspondence cards.


The truffles came from a local chocolate company, and the cards were Goccoed by yours truly.

The Gocco-ing may or may not have been so I could practice for our upcoming invitations. And I was excited to put to use one of the other inks that came with it.


It's a vintage typewriter, and their names in typewriter fonts, then tied with bakers twine. I presented them to my aunts at the end of the shower, after everyone had left.

Thanks, aunts!

Showering Me with Love

This past weekend, Ryan and I went back to Illinois for some planning and marriage counseling... but mainly for my bridal shower.

Yay!

It was Saturday afternoon at my aunt's house. I was surrounded by 25 of my family and friends, and way too many gifts!


After everyone said hello and got a drink (mimosas? yes, please!), we started with a couple games. I was so relieved that neither of them was that game where you make a toilet paper dress. Why? I dunno. It's just not my thing.

First, everyone was given a piece of paper with a bunch of trivia questions about Ryan and I. It was rather impressive what detailed tidbits were included. Some peoples' answers were rather funny. For "what is one thing Kelly and Ryan have in common?", one of my friends replied, "bacon".

Funny, but true.


The person who got the highest number of questions right won, and received a prize. That was my friend Rachel, from high school...


After that, we played a "Price is Right" style game where we had to guess the cost of a number of household items. The person who got each price closest won a prize. I did horribly.


After games, it was time to eat! They had a delicious spread of sandwiches, wraps, fruit spears, veggies, chips and salsa, and more...


Immediately following lunch, my aunts passed around dessert. I went straight for the mini cheesecake...


After we were done stuffing our faces, and I was satisfactorily full, it was time to open gifts.


We received so many wonderful things. A glass food storage set...


An apron from Anthropologie...


An IKEA umbrella (an homage to where Ryan proposed)...


And a Simpons figurine of Homer holding Marge (The Simpsons is our favorite show)...


That last one was from Ryan's mom. I definitely want to find a place to display it at our wedding!

Meanwhile, my lovely cousin, Alaina, was hard at work making a bouquet out of all the ribbons...


I think it's usually a job for the bridesmaids, but I only had one there (my MOH, Colleen, who sat next to me and took notes). But Alaina did a wonderful job!


There was a large debate over whether it was a bouquet or a hat. I've never heard of a ribbon hat before. It doesn't even make any sense (at least you can use the ribbon bouquet again!). But they made me put it on my head for a photo op anyway...


On their way out, guests could help themselves to a bag of 2 cookies...


One cookie was a heart with Ryan and I's new monogram in it, and the other was a big white wedding dress...


I had such an amazing time, and it was really great that so many of my friends made the trip out to attend the shower! Ryan and I had quite the time trying to unpack all the gifts and find room for everything (the hardest was our kitchen!).

I'm usually the photographer at family events, but it was really nice to have my younger cousin, Julie, take over for the afternoon. I got so many great photos, and didn't have to stress about it.

Overall: Bridal Shower = success.

Christmas According to Kelly

Welcome to my newest followers, Diana Lee and Sara. I hope everyone had a very merry holiday!

Christmas came and went. It was exciting, overwhelming, fun, and exhausting all rolled up into a little ball of wrapping paper.

Ryan and I started off the holiday with our own personal Christmas. We exchanged fun gifts like beer and space heaters.

Mmmm... spacey warmness...

After all my debating about whether or not to give Ryan his cufflinks, a funny thing happened. Ryan, too, gave me a present that is typical of a wedding day gift.


I was surprised by a gorgeous topaz and silver necklace from Rogers and Hollands. (I don't have photos because I'm dumb. You'll just have to wait!)

I wore it once on Christmas Eve, then left it at my parents house for safe-keeping until the big day.

While we were with my family, we received quite a few items off our registry... two sets of china, an electric griddle, a level, bannanagrams, a saucepan, and some mixing bowls to name a few. Looks like we need to add some more stuff to our registry!

My mom fulfilled a few items on my wedding wish list. She started by gifting me these beautiful hair combs...


We both commented how they were much smaller than we thought. I guess that's what happens when you skim over the description portion on Etsy. Woops!


But I definitely plan on working these into my 'do some how. They're just too adorable to let collect dust!

After that, Ryan and I opened a set of toasting flutes.


They aren't the ones I asked for, but my mom picked them out when she was in Germany... so I'm not complaining.


I'm so grateful for all the amazing presents people gave us. Ryan was welcomed to our family Christmas with open arms and a pile of gifts. Talk about spoiled!


It was the first Christmas Ryan and I have ever spent together... and it will be our last as a dating couple. Exactly 6 months from Christmas Day is our wedding. Let the real countdown begin!

Keeping it in the Family

Back in July, after a full day of dress shopping, my mom and I were in a full-blown wedding dress state of mind (which, btw, is way better than a New York state of mind).

As soon as we got home, my mom pulled out her gown from the depths of her closet. "I don't think this box has been opened since the day it was put in here," she said.

(Note to self: keeping my dress after the wedding is probably pointless.)

After pulling the dress from the box and admiring it for a bit, we just couldn't resist having me try it on. What's one more wedding dress in the grand scheme of the day?

Let's just say it was a hilarious sight to see. My mom must have been a size negative 4 in 1980, because the dress barely even fit my arms. It was tight in all the wrong ways and there was no chance in a million years (or 60 pounds) that we could have gotten it zipped up.


Sorry mom. It looks like your dress seeing a wedding day encore is out of the question.


(And yes... that is a bridal hat. (More like a bridal brim because it was open on top. Ohhh, 1980.))

Good times were had by all, and the dress went back into it's box.

... But not before my mom made a suggestion.

"Maybe this is dumb... but you could use the material for something if you'd like."

Ahh, mothers. Somehow they always know the right thing to say. Because I had the exact same thing in mind. I was eying the dotted lace on her skirt, and had some definite ideas of what it could be used for.

I could use it as a wrap for my bouquet...

Source

Or we could use it to make the ring pillow...

Source

My mom loved the idea, and it was settled.

(Note to self: keeping my dress after the wedding may not be as pointless as I thought.)

Dressing the Flower Girls

Our flower girls are adorable.

My 5-year-old Cousin

Ryan's 4-year-old Niece

These two cuties need adorable outfits to match.

Back in October, Ryan and I attended his cousin's wedding, where Ryan's niece was also a flower girl. She wore a 4-tiered white dress with a teal sash.


Ryan and I decided it's ridiculous for us to ask them to buy another flower girl dress for our wedding, just 8 months later. Why can't she just re-use that one?

Even more perfect is that her dress was taken in for the October wedding. By the time our June wedding rolls around, we can have it taken out again, and it should fit pretty well.

So we will probably have my cousin buy the same (or a similar) dress, and pair them with navy blue sashes so the girls match.

When I was in Philadelphia for Thanksgiving, Ryan's mom really had her mind set on buying the girls something to wear in their hair. At the wedding in October, Ryan's family was really unsure how they should do his niece's hair. Since his niece and my cousin have very different length hair, I was thinking a headband might work well for both of them.

So we ended up with these...


They were like $3.00 each at Claire's. What a deal!

They each feature a fake white flower with a few scattered rhinestones.


I will now model one for your amusement and mocking...


Yeah... it looks a little stupid on me. But it looked super cute when we tried it on Ryan's niece in the store. And it will be the perfect thing to keep her hair back out of her face.

I haven't yet asked my cousin to be a flower girl. We will definitely do that when we see her at Christmas. As for Ryan's niece... she came up to me at the end of the last wedding and asked, "Can I be a flower girl at your wedding too?"

::Awwwwww::