So we did it! Our Halloween wedding went off with a bang! Everything turned out beautifully. The weather threatened rain in the days leading up to the wedding, so (for sanity's sake) we had tents put up just in case - it didn't rain after 8a on our day though. I'll put some images under the cut - along with the photographer's website with all the proofs - for anyone who wants to see. And if you're a Fresno area bride, e-mail me if you'd like some vendor recommendations!

( Halloween Wedding )

I feel so blessed and so spoiled right now! I'm just home and unpacked from my second shower - thrown for me by my sisters (including my sister-in-law and my sister-in-law to-be [who calls me the sister she never had]). It was amazing! They put so much time and energy into everything! I'm just astounded.

The theme was "Stock the Pantry". Everyone received a recipe card with their invitation. The instructions were to share a favorite recipe with the bride and to provide for her all the tools and (non-perishable) food items required for your recipe.

So not only did I get amazing family recipes, but I also ended up with nearly all the materials to make each recipe for the first time... Plus we ended up with an amazing assortment of kitchen utensils and such that I never would have thought to register for, but now that I see recipes that use the items I can't imagine not having them in my kitchen. And people got to "ooh" and "ahh" over recipes and recall times they'd had whatever it was when visiting the person who supplied the recipe. It made for a very communal party!

We played some great games too! Brenda was in charge of those, and they were wonderful!

The first game was "smell the spice" - she had ten cover cups (covered by cheesecloth) with some spices in the bottom, we had to smell the spice and then write down which spice it was. Now this sounds terribly easy, right? Oh my gosh was it tough! Once you smell a spice (because really, they're quite fragrant), every spice after that smells exactly the same! I told everyone it wasn't fair; they all laughed at me!

After that game we did another baking-type game. We got into teams, and each team got a box filled with baking items. We had to guess what kind of food we were making, based on the items in our box. Each box was different, some were missing an item or two, and some were complete for their recipe. It was great to try to determine what things were without knowing if you had all your items or not. She used Alton Brown recipes - box 1 was chocolate chip cookies (missing vanilla), box 2 was brownies (missing water and eggs), box 3 was buttermilk pancakes, box 4 was pizza dough (missing water and including baby asprin [because its part of the actual recipe!] - craziness!), and box 5 was something that's escaping me right now.

The last game was one where I Phil had already answered a series of questions, then each guest got to answer them and to guess whether Phil and I would have the same answers, then the questions were asked outloud to me... If our answers matched it was great, if not I had to put a marshmallow in my mouth. I only missed matching our answers up - and that's because I answered the question and didn't try to figure out how he would have answered them. :-D The ones I missed were: "What's your favorite place to eat together?" - his answer was "the bedroom" while my answer was "Katie's Kountry Kitchen or the casino" and the other question was "What is Phil's most annoying habit?" - I had trouble coming up with an answer (because he truly doesn't annoy me) while he answered "When I get really into something, I tune everything else out... Including Caitlin." One that made me laugh was "What day is the anniversary of your engagement?" - I knew the answer, but I also knew that he had no idea what it was so I said both. Brenda read his response, which was "Oh shit... I should know this but I don't. I'm probably going to be in big trouble for not knowing!" - but he's not in trouble, I know he's bad with dates (that's why its my job and part of why we're marrying on Halloween).

It was a great day! I am just so luck to having such amazing family and friends!

So for centerpieces I'm gonna do vases with flowers (sounds typical, right?)... But instead of doing marbles or citrus slices or leaves or whatever to fill the vase with, I want to do different candies. (My original idea was cranberries, but I think candy is more fitting with Halloween and me.) So............... I need red, orange, yellow, and/or black candy suggestions... I've come up with:
M&Ms
Skittles
Candy Corn
Candy Corn Pumpkins
Starbursts (wrapped or unwrapped)
Jolly Ranchers (do they make orange?)
Brachs (or others) hard candies

So that gets me to seven types... I have 13 vases to fill... I need 6more candy types!!! Ugh.

Today would have been my parents' 37th (I believe) wedding anniversary... And for the first time in my life, I am feeling kinda weird about it. He's moved on (if he was ever REALLY there to begin with), and she says she's over it and has been since before the separation, but she's never seriously dated since they separated (20years ago). Maybe because my own wedding is looming I am feeling the "what ifs" for my parents... Who knows...

*Kathy describes Philip, in part, as "Geeky just to the point of being adorable" - a completely accurate description.
*My mom and Sarah sitting on both sides of me, completely drunk off of the free-flowing wine, laughing and having the best time either of them have had in far too long.
*Seeing my siblings, our families, and our friends smile and support our upcoming union.
*A bit of a Polish toast!
*Cameras - everywhere and always ready.
*Hearing Phil's deep, rich laugh throughout the night.
*Sarah, "Is that really his dad? He's so short!" (They all are, I just got lucky Phil's not!)
*Jessica, Sarah, and Mom leaving mildly obscene messages on the log book in the women's restroom at the country club (Octopussy and Alotta Vagina).
*Jessica holding Mom up walking her to the car - both of them laughing uncontrollably.
*Feeling loved.

All in all, I could not have asked for a nicer shower. We are spoiled, loved, and wanted. Life is good!

Things are finally moving along! (Thank goodness!)

With 105days left until my October 31, 2008 wedding the following things have been accomplished:
* Met with both moms, discussed options and wedding needs
* Booked florist to do bouquets (Mom, Maid of Honor, and myself will do centerpieces, decorating arches, pool float, corsages, and boutineers)
* Booked all rental needs
* Ordered invitations (should arrive middle of next week and be in the mail 2weeks from today!)
* Booked photographer (I love her!)
* Secured location (Grandma's AMAZING backyard, where my parents had their reception and my uncle got married/had his reception...)
* Purchased dress
* Selected bridal party
* Selected dress for girls
* Priced pattern and material for flower girls
* Priced decor needed for backyard
* Booked DJ (Fiance's brother-in-law owns equipment and has someone to run it for us!)

I think there's more done, but that's what sticks out to me right now... So much still to do! Must go get busy.

So we're going to get married this fall. As long as I can find a location, which I think I can manage... I am beyond excited!!! A fall wedding really suits us more than a spring wedding did. Sure, we'll lose the St. Patty's date, but that's okay. I'd already come to terms with that previously. We might go with Halloween... Or a weekend date after that... So end of October/ beginning of November it is! So less than 6months out now... I *CAN* do this!!!!! (Right?)

So since the venue/type of wedding might change, the date might change as well.... We'll see what people think before we decide for sure... But some dates that might work include 3.14 (Pi Day), 3.21 (a countdown!), and 5.23 (Memorial weekend) (all in 2009). We'll see what becomes of all of this... I just have so much on my mind that I wanted these dates in here before I forget. :-D

MUSIC--
Songs while Seating:
Groom and Groomsmen Entrance: Imperial March (Star Wars theme)
Bridal Party Entrance:
Bride's Entrance:
Ceremony:
Recessional:
First Dance: "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts or "Don't Wanna Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith
Father/Daughter Dance (if we do it):
Mother/Son and Mother/Daughter Dance:
Reception Entrance Song:
Bridal Party Dance:
Final Dance:
Other Options:
"Its Your Love" by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill
"With You" by Jessica Simpson
"I Wanna Be With You" by Mandy Moore
"My Wish" by Rascal Flatts (one of the parent dances?)
"Brown Eyed Girl" (father/daughter maybe?) by Van Morrison
"Amazed" by Lonestar
"How 'bout Them Cowgirls" by George Strait
"Highway to Hell"
"I Wanna Love You Forever" by Jessica Simpson
"You're Still the One" by Shania Twain
"Have I Told You Lately" by Van Morrison
"I Can Love You Like That" by All-4-One
"Good Little Girls" by Blue County

READINGS--
"Where You Are" by Rascal Flatts
"How 'bout Them Cowgirls" by George Strait
"Did You Ever Love Somebody" by Jessica Simpson
"I Cross My Heart" by George Strait

I haven't laughed so hard in a long time... Phil, on the other hand, thinks I'm a crazy-lady (TM). :-D (And he's right!)

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1347641241

The teacher I work under/with and I were talking about relationships the other day... She asked what the age difference between Phil and I is (about 6.5years), and it turns out that its about the same as the difference between her and her husband. So she started laughing about the similarities and she said, "He's old enough to keep you grounded and you're young enough to lighten him up, right?" To which I just HAD to laugh... I said, "No, I'm young enough to keep him grounded and he's old enough to lighten me up!!" All she could do was shake her head. All I could do was laugh. And yet, its all too true. (And I wouldn't have it any other way.)

I wanted so badly to get Phil a Wii for Christmas. I knew it was going to be a challenge... And I knew it wasn't going to be easy. In fact, I was just going to buy him the games and components now and include a gift certificate that said he would get the console when I could find one (like the first of the year)... But yesterday, the man at Best Buy told me they were getting a shipment for sale this morning - 18 units. They open at 10am. I figured if I was there by 7am it'd be perfect... So I leave the house at 6am, in 28 degree and windy weather to stand in line for a Wii... Got there and the line was already longer than 18 units. I missed out. :-(

He says not to feel bad. I feel like I've let him down. I'm gonna keep looking... But really, this was my one shot.

So in talking about rings day before yesterday, Phil says to me, "Size 7... Just like your dress size, right?" To which I had to just laugh. I can't tell you any point in my life where I've been a size 7. But his innocence and thoughtfulness and the fact that he was being completely genuine just made me grin. I love this man!

Customized playing cards...!!! (Phil's idea!)

The backs will have a picture of us together with our names (in orange) and wedding date (in green). The fronts of the face cards will be us, our parents, and our "kids" (the cats). I *WILL* get a pictures of the cats all together to go on the Aces, Phil will get to be the Kings, I will be the Queens, his dad will be the Jack of Clubs ("puppy's feet" as he always says), his mom will be the Jack of Diamonds, my mom will be the Jack of Hearts, and my dad will be the Jack of Spades.

I am so stoked about this idea! I love that Phil came up with it - getting ideas and suggestions from him has been a bit like pulling teeth (unless he doesn't like my ideas, and then he just says he doesn't like it but he doesn't always have ideas to replace mine with). I love that it represents something he and I do a lot together (playing poker or other card games). And I love that it will be totally personalized to us! What could be more perfect?!



I also suggested a candy bar... He doesn't seem real up for it right now... But I think if I can find him some pictures and give him some candies I think will work, he'll be more on-board. I think they're really cool! And its not something anyone I know personally has ever done before, so I'd get to have something that's at least kinda unique. And its fun! But we'll see...

I went to my childhood best friend's wedding yesterday afternoon. It was great! Fabulous to get to be there on their special day, fabulous to see Michael and his whole family, and great to just get to see what another woman had chosen for her day.

It made me want to get planning more seriously. Its time... Right? :-D

So I contacted the location and left a message for their event coordinator... Fingers crossed that mid-week and far in advance will save some money. But time will tell.

Went and tried on dress by myself on Friday. It was a great experience! And I think I found a definite possibility for a dress... Just gotta think on it a bit because its not what I had originally thought of. But its gorgeous and I felt amazing in it! *Squee!*

Roses:
   Orange
   Gold Strike
   Papaya
   Peach Sherbert
   Jade
   Orange Unique (Might be the wrong name....)
   Azafran
   Verano
   Versilia
   Circus (maybe)
Non-Roses:
   green orchids
   calla lilies (orange, yellow)

Remember to cross fingers these are universally known names and not just Vons' creative team's names...... Ugh.

So he proposed and of course I said yes. :-D So now here I am, ready to plan and explore. Its gonna be fun! The date was the easy part (March 17, 2009). Now for the fun!!!!

Welcome. And please, be my friend. :-)