Real Quick…

I try on my wedding dress for the first time tomorrow!!!

I AM SO STOKED!!!!!

Ladies & Gentleman: This is Mambo #5

Well.. 

I’ve avoiding this post because I honestly don’t know how to put so much in a post without getting boring! 

So we went dress shopping the first time just my mom & maid of honor, Sam. I’m pretty sure shop 1 was also the shop with the highest price tags! But they had some stunning gowns.

 

 

That was stop 1. 

Stop 2 was another local shop.. 

Note: I got super discouraged a lot of the time because everyone was so busy… so I went to shops 2 and 3 with just my mom.  No, this is not a problem but it’s always nice to have a little crowd! 

So shop two I found a perfect gown..actually my awesome cousin surprised me and came to the appointment & she found the dress! in fact I probably would’ve said yes to the dress that day if they could’ve guaranteed me to have buttons down the back of the dress… but they couldn’t… the designer couldn’t either… & the seamstress couldn’t either… so that dress was out the window 
* one of my wedding dress dreams is to have buttons down the back *

So we moved on from a dress that I could see myself walking down the isle…

Shop 3 was strictly my mom and I… I probably put on 19 dresses… I had pictured myself in a big gown the entire time… day in and day out… until this shop… I put on a simple and understated dress.  And I liked it a lot… my mom hated it.  But the dress confused me and after 2 hours there I just had to put my clothes on and leave… super overwhelmed !

Dress shop #4 was a consignment dress shop… found an amazing gown. But it had multiple picks in it.  So we opted out of it.  This trip was very special to me.. it included my maid of honor, Sam, my mom, and my little sister Brittney. (We aren’t really related but she’s been around long enough it’s like we are!) She’s 14.  It meant so much to me that she could make it! It was a weird place though.  The ‘dressing room’ was LITTLE like stand in the corner and there’s a curtain around you little.  And the lady there was rude toward the end.. very rude.

So after we went to shop #4 we went across the street to shop #5.. but shop #5 did not have any appointments that day..so we scheduled one for the following weekend… 

So the week came and went and on Saturday we were on our way to Wedding Dress Shop #5… yes Randy Fenoli would be disappointed in my 50+ dresses I had tried on prior!

On the way to the shop, we had a serious talk… we weren’t going to be so critical.  We were going to keep an open mind.  Then we started joking about how it’s shop 5… well that made us start singing Mambo #5. Which has now stuck with us. So, we got to the shop.  It was Sam, my mom, & me. We started trying on dresses… we tried on dress after dress.. found a few I liked a lot… 

Then Alex, my dress consultant,  told me that she wanted to try a ‘wild card’ I wasn’t really sure of the wild card.  But i tried it.  I put it on and it fit so nice.  I didn’t see it in the mirror yet but I liked it.  Then I looked in the mirror and it was beautiful.  I didn’t know if my mom would like it (yes I was that girl.. the girl that wanted her mom’s approval, after all she’s my best friend).  However, I walked out and my mom looked at me in a way I haven’t seen her in a while. It was honestly a priceless face.  Then I looked at Sam & she looked the same. After going back and forth between that dress and another one (yes, I am flakey).  I had ‘the dress’ on; my future mother-in-law walked in the door.  I was all jacked-up with my veil.  Her jaw dropped & she said “wow.” And any doubt in my mind was gone.  I knew it was my dress. (yes, I’m stubborn too). & yes, this dress could have buttons put on it!!!

 

So needless to say after trying on probably 60+ dresses… the right one does shine through. 

Why did I feel the need to share this story today??
I was at work and got a call. They left a voicemail… 

IT WAS THE DRESS SHOP!! MY DRESS IS IN!!!! 
I got the goosebumps when I heard her say that.  

This is so real and happening so quick. 

 

I’m really excited to show you my dress.. in 10 months!

What’s your wedding dress story? Did you cry?

 

Short & Sweet

We have known our wedding party for about 5 months now… Today Bryan (finally!) asked the groomsmen to be apart of our special day! I am so blessed to be around such a great group of guys. I already call them my family but I’ll be proud to actually be apart of their family soon!

Flower Girls

Let’s talk about my perfect little flower girl. Note: I’m biased.  But she’s the sweetest thing.  She’s 2 years old.  Not terrible. 

 

She’s funny, cute, sweet, etc…

Really I hope when I have kids they are just like her! 

 

Meet my Flower Girl, Hannah. She’s my “2nd” cousin.  

 

I babysat Hannah for a few months last year when I was job-less.. it was one of the best experiences out of college.  I got to work with a very intelligent child, one of my dreams in life.  She reassured me that in 10 years when I decide to have kids I’ll be a good mom.  Even if that means we eat yogurt because thats our favorite food of the week.  Or we watch the same episode of Elmo because we love Elmo… ( Lucy the Lazy Lizard travels to Lackawanna. )

Sadly, my time with Hannah was cut by getting a big girl job.  But when Bryan and I got engaged I knew exactly who would be my flower girl (I actually knew way before the engagement).  

On Easter sunday this year I made Hannah a sweet Easter basket equip with a book asking her to be my flower girl with all the pictures we had taken while I babysat her.. (yes, she couldn’t read it but later in like she will love it)

 

 

I wanted to write this post for my memories of Hannah this past month.  

We went on vacation last month, both Hannah and I were sick the first half.  But we did share moments that I will always cherish.  The moment of many was very special to me. Hannah has literally been saying “Bryan” for a year. Which is very very adorable.  She knew that Bryan was the guy on my cell phone wallpaper. When Bryan showed up at her 1st birthday party & he wasn’t a picture I think that freaked her out a little.  But she knew his name.  Well this year on vacation she was saying my name.  It was absolutely adorable. So as the week progressed we put sunglasses on her and she told us she was a “super model” and we tickled Bryan’s feet and laughed about it.  We forced a swim sweater on her.  Then when she realized how awesome the swim sweater was we couldn’t get her out of the pool.  In the pool, Aunt ‘Bath’ (my mom’s picked up name because she gives Hannah baths all the time) taught her how to ball her fists and ask if you’re “ready to rumble.”  When she looked at my grandpa and said it, it was probably the funniest thing that could happen. 

But along with the funny we shared some serious times.  One day we told her about being a flower girl and what flower girls do.  I asked if she’d be my flower girl and she looked at me and said “sure!” and then I told her that a flower girl throws flowers on the ground.  She replied “Ok!”  I had been sitting on the floor and she got behind me on my back (like a piggy back ride) and I started to rock back and forth.  As I did this, she kept saying “flower girl flower girl.”  It was awesome. The next day without me bringing it up she said “me flower girl.” I asked her what flower girls do and she responded ” throw leaves.” Close enough right? 

 

Well today, after spending almost 3 weeks apart I got to see the sweet girl again.  Besides the fact that when I said I had to leave she told me “no” twice and then responded with “that’s sad” she brought up the flower girl again… except this time was unique. 

Note: I had not talked about flower girls all day. 

After about 2 hours of being inside we went outside.  My aunt and uncle have a BEAUTIFUL hydrangea bush in their backyard.  Hannah walked up to it. Pulled a lump of purple flowers out and started picking the flower apart.  One by one she starting throwing the petals on the ground.  Then she looked up at me and said “flower girl.”

SHE IS SERIOUSLY SO SMART!!!

I know I probably bored you with this story but it seriously meant so much to me! 

 

We are 293 days left until our big day!  I’ll leave you with a few more pictures of Hannah & maybe follow it with a question or two!

 

 

What’s the best flower girl story you have?