tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246Sat, 05 Oct 2024 02:00:03 +0000Bridal ShowInspiration BoardOrganizationDIYInspirationThe ProposalBlog DesignBouquetsBridesmaidsBudgetCake TopperCeremonyDetailsDreamingFailFavorsGimpGiveawaysGraduationGuest ListHoneymoonOfficiantPlanning BinderRingsSave the DatesSchoolSuitsTechnical StuffThe KidsThe MenTutorialVenueWeekend Getawayhttp://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Samantha)Blogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-2704691166432394809Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:50:00 +00002011-01-25T14:50:10.627-05:00Could you possibly be... <em>the ones? </em>The sweet sweet replacement for my long, lost completely-unfindable first love?<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5c_8D_ePPzCLlFcdWot__yOdKOFazG68QC9Ifck70jftEeL4oOssWp7OEPO4OwsAHokG_L7y5-5CopC5ZYPSBwXSFF0yiMnX6DW6y9iELxz0M6pu3S_90pbyKl7eZcYHgTU171yXXTWE/s1600/20081221-christian-louboutin-petal-sandal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5c_8D_ePPzCLlFcdWot__yOdKOFazG68QC9Ifck70jftEeL4oOssWp7OEPO4OwsAHokG_L7y5-5CopC5ZYPSBwXSFF0yiMnX6DW6y9iELxz0M6pu3S_90pbyKl7eZcYHgTU171yXXTWE/s320/20081221-christian-louboutin-petal-sandal.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><a name='more'></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /> The Christian Louboutin Petal shoe - in pink. My first wedding shoe <strike>crush</strike> love. But as perfect as they are (romantic, light, dreamy, <em>Louboutins</em>) they are also expensive and down-right impossible to find anymore.<br /> <br /> So I had sort of given up hope. I was off searching for <strike>better</strike> other shoes to fill that red-soled space in my heart. And I found these -<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDsJHvSPpSyn_Z9FIx5YImvI8FYidGwUQ5dzHynYXWGY8ax7YL5SjGwLYhyP37csyOmbkwjymzZeyqaPZ3CT8tTYfw-DcDMuw9ACGE7Am2JNvUxMd5kULGDtXK55as-jXpYamcNYycDAe/s1600/badgley+mischka+dreamy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigDsJHvSPpSyn_Z9FIx5YImvI8FYidGwUQ5dzHynYXWGY8ax7YL5SjGwLYhyP37csyOmbkwjymzZeyqaPZ3CT8tTYfw-DcDMuw9ACGE7Am2JNvUxMd5kULGDtXK55as-jXpYamcNYycDAe/s320/badgley+mischka+dreamy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div align="left">Not exactly the same,&nbsp;but still romantic, light and dreamy. Not red-soled, but a whole lot cheaper.</div><div align="left"><br /> </div><div align="left">*sigh* Lets just sit and stare a while? mmkay?</div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2011/01/oh-hi-love.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-5055410419482950351Wed, 19 Jan 2011 21:41:00 +00002011-01-19T16:41:30.078-05:00Hey y'all! Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! Happy it's-been-way-too-long!<br /> <br /> Sorry for my extended absence. The holidays were crazy, as usual, and as I'm sure you all understand. They also marked a big crazy wedding breakdown for me, which I'll dicuss in another post. <br /> <br /> But now. Now, I'm here to talk about cake! This weekend we jumped back on the wedding planning wagon and booked our cake baker.<br /> <br /> Please welcome to our wedding festivities.... Walker Cake Co.!<br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDX6Re5xNIH8drcqSfnWggx0g3ev5-pM0tlrwMMooawEJsUoGBXgLg8c-U3Yv0Nlf_FhZKBJ35cgtwccrgl9vFxxEcam5a-VdTwqyk8Rd6-nBA2mb-ZOnqzv7VZ7CV3u3oMPUSOOH270j9/s1600/Walker+Cake+Co.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDX6Re5xNIH8drcqSfnWggx0g3ev5-pM0tlrwMMooawEJsUoGBXgLg8c-U3Yv0Nlf_FhZKBJ35cgtwccrgl9vFxxEcam5a-VdTwqyk8Rd6-nBA2mb-ZOnqzv7VZ7CV3u3oMPUSOOH270j9/s320/Walker+Cake+Co.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://walkercakeco.com/">WalkerCakeCo.com</a></div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">They were the first and only cake baker we even met with. To be fair, I had done <em>a lot</em> of online research and met a few other bakers at bridal shows. We saw a ton of great bakers but it seemed like they were all missing something. One had a great price and their cake tasted great but their designs left a little to be desired. Walker Cake Co. had everything we wanted: great tasting cake (with a ton of great flavors to choose from), reasonable prices and <em>amazing</em> design skillz. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">We brought our general inspiration board and our cake inspiration board to the meeting to give him an idea of what our wedding was going to look like and what kind of cake we liked.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsnnQkQQ_KuNU6En-mZfA9-bo_KX9IbHKRdsaZslwHjXkKX9qfVHZ-gjJ5AtZAX7EoJlCLJYqTPS_N7A-jk0zo7MovO-AjCtmUU20BVIa_VLbOxE3WBA_G6vSgViSXzJSlYnSaaIYsIxi/s1600/Wedding+Inspiration+PP+WM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsnnQkQQ_KuNU6En-mZfA9-bo_KX9IbHKRdsaZslwHjXkKX9qfVHZ-gjJ5AtZAX7EoJlCLJYqTPS_N7A-jk0zo7MovO-AjCtmUU20BVIa_VLbOxE3WBA_G6vSgViSXzJSlYnSaaIYsIxi/s400/Wedding+Inspiration+PP+WM.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4n2QN0-DTPcWF7jVOG-vNocrmsY2Bo2J21s4kpPkL1ERpTNRUXGci0B1hyDvu5ZeIaOBINDgOtVCpGbx6QshyRbzuM6csFR7UcAkbwNdIJESTO6Z2_A7hDe6YIOk8uLHguqjFqEySRSn/s1600/Cake+pp+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4n2QN0-DTPcWF7jVOG-vNocrmsY2Bo2J21s4kpPkL1ERpTNRUXGci0B1hyDvu5ZeIaOBINDgOtVCpGbx6QshyRbzuM6csFR7UcAkbwNdIJESTO6Z2_A7hDe6YIOk8uLHguqjFqEySRSn/s400/Cake+pp+wm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">The cake inspiration board that we gave him actually has one other photo on it that just happens to be what our design&nbsp;will be&nbsp;inspired by.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2Bzi2P5voGWaUGxOSYc-g768NgDIV9NljOqI0zO3t0Fdgbww2Yey1xwue7UihkiXwPWVWheCqF-aRGMXUfoIvWVrttjOGYrOogZ2pRNIJNuMomRIN1aJoFNoDv_rB7jdX2PUrmwB0EJY/s1600/Amy+and+Stuart+SMP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-2Bzi2P5voGWaUGxOSYc-g768NgDIV9NljOqI0zO3t0Fdgbww2Yey1xwue7UihkiXwPWVWheCqF-aRGMXUfoIvWVrttjOGYrOogZ2pRNIJNuMomRIN1aJoFNoDv_rB7jdX2PUrmwB0EJY/s400/Amy+and+Stuart+SMP.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.stylemepretty.com/gallery/photo/104077">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">*sigh* Isn't she gorgeous?! The flowers. The buttercream. The detail. The flowers!&nbsp;I <em>love </em>it!! We talked about a few small changes like adding a few colored flowers and/or varying the whiteness of the flowers to add a little dimension but I think it's going to be <em>perfect. </em></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">He sent us home with four cupcakes and of course, like a terrible blogger, I forgot to take a picture! We got two chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, one red velvet with vanilla buttercream and one chocolate with chocolate buttercream. All <em>sooo </em>delicious! (Obviously. I couldn't even take a picture before we scarfed them down!)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">We get to choose three flavors and so far we're thinking chocolate with peanut butter frosting, red velvet with vanilla buttercream and either white cake with vanilla buttercream or raspberry cream cheese cake with vanilla buttercream.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">What do you think? Would you rather have vanilla cake or raspberry cream cheese?</div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2011/01/cake-yes-please.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-3654541489990041085Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:04:00 +00002011-01-18T15:04:19.057-05:00Morgan over at <a href="http://thehandcraftedlife.blogspot.com/">The Handcrafted Life</a> is giving away a Target gift card and a Starbucks gift card!<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV5guSnhhdXAwxZoLuI6uYA-SMRY7TtHiMUcuXetuecsEx1HhYZYCb0Jb3qqPFbR3ZjBmR260b0_Lul7aIoSggG_t1gsIsZLv0nsH-PK4PQU-53p7snluUkemKsDxZ2zFb8MpNVTzfzVN7/s1600/target+gc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV5guSnhhdXAwxZoLuI6uYA-SMRY7TtHiMUcuXetuecsEx1HhYZYCb0Jb3qqPFbR3ZjBmR260b0_Lul7aIoSggG_t1gsIsZLv0nsH-PK4PQU-53p7snluUkemKsDxZ2zFb8MpNVTzfzVN7/s320/target+gc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaY-tXjXPH6xd4vCva7T0GiVlUDlOWScMvX22kRSDPiHh2-wTdJa2n18vL5pqP7xMCz879TdO1bYVA1J3IiW3vwIXfV04ZNtxOyGRio2GaVJ0jpeX9UxLVd5oVm6bwItkaNoZYyJ5dQdKZ/s1600/Starbucks-Gift-Card-Certificate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaY-tXjXPH6xd4vCva7T0GiVlUDlOWScMvX22kRSDPiHh2-wTdJa2n18vL5pqP7xMCz879TdO1bYVA1J3IiW3vwIXfV04ZNtxOyGRio2GaVJ0jpeX9UxLVd5oVm6bwItkaNoZYyJ5dQdKZ/s320/Starbucks-Gift-Card-Certificate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <br /> <a href="http://thehandcraftedlife.blogspot.com/2011/01/hooray-its-time-for-giveaway.html?showComment=1295377184309_AIe9_BEl5sVqRNXAggeU70bx-yh-JguvGCdr8uF3bFMeYkudxTwlQiP2S38XF8KbW4Uj0HoJ8l_VJ80vaa6jAZNBdZ1UqEDl2YtnnZyqnGBIEEzWLpflqRH0g6sE6VHkpLf9obKWC0mLRY0DRFHsqaql70TU8lXXdRchNs28ExW_rGV35lfpiBR433yzmXuLi3ZB8ALMy4GJhgNb5PEHRRMIvK3RXi1WLYaP40fDBpdNtudhsM90LTwrmfdrfYS-92avfQxhAU697fAiheG7ui56cVZRkOqiSs7GbqUfNw1cQlyzudfvy7T_iavt7MNeYaOPCtfkAPydkQriEp77_1hQVbSH-1KZI7ZjRHqiJDnNLl2xD5gxpjwo0NRkshHdc-4M18iDQ1M0awbzjh_xOfPONq4uhnZ76MfdQzrgAgSY5300gyzxuZhtNNX32mklH4QsooUzH_WI-w4zW7CjRpNVGD3rmSTEfTROGUUOdj-0xamMTQgicIjKOGGSCnEFIopd9CUrOdGoDXfu_mRPuX_Hsa8ciXmkG-bfDYiQ_35lA12AVl9uehMoTm31uiFF6xRcCiq3MyQH#c5557731877157631917">So go check it out!</a><br /> <br /> And while you're there, subscribe to her blog. Trust me, it will be well worth the three or four clicks it takes. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2011/01/handcrafted-giveaway.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-158330621988603592Sun, 21 Nov 2010 17:40:00 +00002010-11-21T12:40:44.898-05:00I've changed the "Buff Bride" tab on the navigation bar to a new "Downloads" tab! It's all set up and live so you can go ahead and click on it.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXVLhW4SPgzTz4B_gWVlQAIVOhC0BXQD6DKcBSqk3_6IcXcb6CFN-Ml1D3d4Hisr8jP1qUnUorxmv3wK61Wlfp2T78SEnHbDxJwS0L_Sq5tpA5ZHikbRHtAa-HAmX11YqLODN8MGYUDzYY/s1600/Breaking+News+-+download+tab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXVLhW4SPgzTz4B_gWVlQAIVOhC0BXQD6DKcBSqk3_6IcXcb6CFN-Ml1D3d4Hisr8jP1qUnUorxmv3wK61Wlfp2T78SEnHbDxJwS0L_Sq5tpA5ZHikbRHtAa-HAmX11YqLODN8MGYUDzYY/s400/Breaking+News+-+download+tab.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> I've uploaded all of the vendor worksheets that I've created for meeting with possible vendors. Early in my planning I found Miss Fondue's <a href="http://diy.weddingbee.com/topic/miss-fondues-making-it-easy-miss-fondue%E2%80%99s-vendor-worksheets">vendor worksheets</a> on Weddingbee and knew that having something similar would be helpful while hiring vendors. I took the worksheets that she had provided and made a few changes and then added new ones by gathering questions from the 'net. The links will open in GoogleDocs but you can also open and save them in Word format if that is what works for you.<br /> <br /> And, to address the issue of deleting the Buff Bride tab - I'm still working on getting healthy and I'll still feature things that I find that work for me and I'll update on my progress occasionally. I just don't want it to be a feature of the blog anymore.http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/11/breaking-news.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-764987761751376072Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:53:00 +00002010-11-18T20:54:34.260-05:00CeremonyOfficiantOr at least - now it will be because we've chosen our officiant!<br /> <br /> It was such a weight off of my shoulders to get this crossed off our to-do list. Now I know that no matter how things go on July 9th, and whether I get all of my overly-abitious DIY projects done or not, we'll be <i>married</i>. This is also a big deal for us because the details of our ceremony (which have yet to be completely hashed out) were creating a bit of friction between myself, my dear fiance, the future in-laws and my parents. It mostly came down to a "Catholic church ceremony" vs "an outdoor Justice of the Peace ceremony".<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLHwMjIwCPhoHe8tzHbW8Az3Qy97BnQfnU4ENWQOSDLnIQBO-2rZUW8ebAxuzHgR3lsyrHe_kFDTyEyKHVzKOJbKSDWPp3Gx8IGUstc56iLCjEkqCcX9LPOuAR7RR9YmxgGIj9RyGfiMX/s1600/it%2527s+official.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPLHwMjIwCPhoHe8tzHbW8Az3Qy97BnQfnU4ENWQOSDLnIQBO-2rZUW8ebAxuzHgR3lsyrHe_kFDTyEyKHVzKOJbKSDWPp3Gx8IGUstc56iLCjEkqCcX9LPOuAR7RR9YmxgGIj9RyGfiMX/s320/it%2527s+official.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://brideandgroom.com/">Left</a>, <a href="http://jsus.org/">Top-Right</a>, <a href="http://weddingbee.com/">Bottom-Right<a name='more'></a></a></div>I wanted an outdoor, Justice of the Peace, relatively religion-less ceremony.<br /> <br /> The future in-laws wanted a Catholic church ceremony.<br /> <br /> My mom wanted me to be happy and have whatever I wanted, but really wanted a religious ceremony.<br /> <br /> Sean wanted a religious church ceremony but was open to other ideas.<br /> <br /> I never imagined having a church ceremony and always just assumed that we would get married at our venue and probably with a Justice of the Peace. He was raised (strictly) Catholic and I was raised (loosely) Methodist, but neither of us regularly attend church now or really "follow" any religion. One day Sean told me he had talked to his mom earlier that day and that she had been looking for Catholic churches in the area and offered to pay for the ceremony costs if we had it there. When I asked what he said to her, he said "I told her we'd think about it." I was speechless for a while. It wasn't that I was angry, but I was surprised. In my head this was all figured out already. (I think I've <a href="http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-including-my-groom.html">mentioned</a> my lack of communication skills?)<br /> <br /> After we talked about our ceremony options a little we decided that we would most likely get married at our reception venue but that we would decide on the type of officiant later. This pretty much rules out a Catholic ceremony as most churches don't allow or recognize ceremonies outside the church. After a weekend at home visiting our parents Sean told me that his mom brought up the subject of our ceremony again and that he had told her we weren't planning on a Catholic church ceremony and we'd probably get married at our venue. Then he proceeded to say that she took it pretty badly and said that our ceremony won't even matter, that no one would take it seriously and that we were just looking to have a party.<br /> <br /> I'm not going to lie guys, that stung. A lot.<br /> <br /> We're putting a lot of thought into our ceremony and planning that small part of our wedding means a lot to us. Sure, I'm excited to party the night away, but the ceremony? The part where we say our vows and actually get married? <i>That's</i> the good part.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktto_nHOS5wzulENBsDCI-AFCilzFfcnhycO8_oJON9AJcrngB2EyKghWCAkh6AVHZPGccKk2wM6fHZ7-1RVCeS8cGAgIlxvbsSjnrcnE_y6F-0M4AKbcyC7Vf2o-QJbzKCdD8w3iJpQA/s1600/weddingbee.com+mrs+trail+mix+closed+circle+photography.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhktto_nHOS5wzulENBsDCI-AFCilzFfcnhycO8_oJON9AJcrngB2EyKghWCAkh6AVHZPGccKk2wM6fHZ7-1RVCeS8cGAgIlxvbsSjnrcnE_y6F-0M4AKbcyC7Vf2o-QJbzKCdD8w3iJpQA/s320/weddingbee.com+mrs+trail+mix+closed+circle+photography.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://weddingbee.com/">Source</a></div><br /> <br /> After that, I took a ceremony planning hiatus. I was stressed at the thought of combining what everyone wanted or choosing who to disappoint. But when November came, I realized it was time for us to make a decision. Having an officiant is kind of important, you know? And then one day, it just came to me. What about the Pastor from the church I went to when I was a kid? We're not super close to him, but we're at least familiar, where a Justice of the Peace would likely be a stranger. It will be a religious ceremony. Not quite Catholic but not religion-less. See? Compromise!<br /> <br /> So he marked the date on his calendar and with a few pre-marital counseling sessions, we should be good to go! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted and I think we've found the perfect officiant for us.<br /> <br /> Did you have trouble finding an officiant or deciding what type of ceremony to have?http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/11/its-official.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-2180796964395518482Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:50:00 +00002010-11-16T10:55:22.059-05:00OrganizationPlanning BinderI'm <i>that</i> bride, that carries around a giant planning binder. Make fun of me all you want - I <i>love </i>that thing!<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUtVhQ0nTXrMJJ4bXWAv3ffiARhdwer2Mv1Y__tNoQ-CT4HrUN-FbFELfGkzEOAcCGhkvspEVqbPITmKW2uXb0yWE36E58KhBkszWpjTmJ4r24Ee7G7coWVL_qweICBE-1v8SgyQyd8Kv/s1600/100_2416-1+WM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiUtVhQ0nTXrMJJ4bXWAv3ffiARhdwer2Mv1Y__tNoQ-CT4HrUN-FbFELfGkzEOAcCGhkvspEVqbPITmKW2uXb0yWE36E58KhBkszWpjTmJ4r24Ee7G7coWVL_qweICBE-1v8SgyQyd8Kv/s320/100_2416-1+WM.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><a name='more'></a>It probably weighs five pounds but I lug it back and forth from work every day in my tote bag, I bring it with me when we travel and always bring it with me to vendor appointments. It's basically with me all the time.<br /> <br /> Here's what's in it:<br /> <br /> A <a href="http://www.officemax.com/office-supplies/binders-accessories/inplace-innovative-binder-series/choose-your-binder-size/product-prod3030636">2" clear binder from Office Max</a> with elastic closures on the corners.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJ39fuusjXrH-VacnBwtNhKPnmCn-VuihLiMvejPQqukMNFvvugbnq2SR9d6pLt4cqSjR9dWQxQS-8AybqkX2XKgPJU6Ixf2PcE70QE8tVzvJYMpROijQ-duOmEeXJy0Lhj7U3DFfso1G/s1600/100_2421-1+WM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSJ39fuusjXrH-VacnBwtNhKPnmCn-VuihLiMvejPQqukMNFvvugbnq2SR9d6pLt4cqSjR9dWQxQS-8AybqkX2XKgPJU6Ixf2PcE70QE8tVzvJYMpROijQ-duOmEeXJy0Lhj7U3DFfso1G/s320/100_2421-1+WM.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <br /> A Vendor Contact List that I downloaded <a href="http://www.realsimple.com/holidays-entertaining/weddings/planning/wedding-planning-vendor-contact-sheet-10000001699939/index.html">here</a>. I keep this right in the front so I can find all of my important contact info easily without having to flip through the binder. <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJwVac-Fp1aKwBrqPSXjfHaYKGnNRoF2WEW9ppAgFuUGDMgWtFNGgFlBCvEW3QVptEAg-g8n2q5EYlUDrIeKh56SPVUy9P2yHWlU_qhNDQIe-q4mZJ7LnfS59_-xhwZMHsM7j0SrO2P-s/s1600/100_2418-1+WM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJwVac-Fp1aKwBrqPSXjfHaYKGnNRoF2WEW9ppAgFuUGDMgWtFNGgFlBCvEW3QVptEAg-g8n2q5EYlUDrIeKh56SPVUy9P2yHWlU_qhNDQIe-q4mZJ7LnfS59_-xhwZMHsM7j0SrO2P-s/s320/100_2418-1+WM.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /> And the main part of the binder - <a href="http://www.officemax.com/office-supplies/binders-accessories/inplace-innovative-binder-series/choose-from-10-binder-accessories-that-fit-your-needs/product-prod3030660">32 tabs</a>. Yes, <i>32 tabs</i>. Here's a quick run-down of the tab categories. I know when I was putting this binder together, I searched all over for what categories other brides had in their binders and didn't really find anything, so I hope this helps someone!<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvxGPbrFILoEQYv9My2cxYjt91nBPG5yqh42gklDwpb31aQIvlZ5iil7A43B1rMCrjeL0LjBDW5zy__CbD2eQh1r0TVNn9LelRO4Lk7EPyMnzqo3yNPME4U4-NGiP5teDUSEk9u7vULQQ/s1600/100_2419-1+WM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRvxGPbrFILoEQYv9My2cxYjt91nBPG5yqh42gklDwpb31aQIvlZ5iil7A43B1rMCrjeL0LjBDW5zy__CbD2eQh1r0TVNn9LelRO4Lk7EPyMnzqo3yNPME4U4-NGiP5teDUSEk9u7vULQQ/s320/100_2419-1+WM.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /> 1.Checklists 2. Budget 3. Beauty 4. Bride's Apparel 5. Cake 6. Ceremony 7. Coordinator 8. Decor 9. DIY 10. Favors 11. Flowers 12. Groom's Apparel 13. Honeymoon 14. Hotel Accommodations 15. Logistics 16. Music 17. OOT 18. Paper 19. Parents 20. Photographer 21. Reception &amp; Catering 22. Registry 23. Rehearsal 24. Rentals 25. Sunday Brunch 26. The Kids 27. The Ladies 28. The Men 29. Transportation 30. Videographer 31. &amp; 32. Blank<br /> <br /> In between all of those tabs are the <a href="http://www.russellandhazel.com/content/wedding-templates">templates from Russell &amp; Hazel</a> and any papers or important stuff for that category. <br /> <br /> A few <a href="http://www.officemax.com/office-supplies/binders-accessories/inplace-innovative-binder-series/choose-from-10-binder-accessories-that-fit-your-needs/product-prod3030648">clear pocket folders</a> to hold miscellaneous stuff.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7vwHTSQktSjLWShV031gkN8xAYU_9cZ3Nsbph3I7POMYv-Atp0EtQ7bOGA0nXWWiClxeu0hLM0UP2u3WamFMqxHlkflVJUOFnUlVZ553M-AkHz-_jaetOp2o05Iv_NwX8A5NVvDev-xC/s1600/100_2420-1+WM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG7vwHTSQktSjLWShV031gkN8xAYU_9cZ3Nsbph3I7POMYv-Atp0EtQ7bOGA0nXWWiClxeu0hLM0UP2u3WamFMqxHlkflVJUOFnUlVZ553M-AkHz-_jaetOp2o05Iv_NwX8A5NVvDev-xC/s320/100_2420-1+WM.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <br /> And a hole puncher that just hangs out in the back, ready for un-punched papers.<br /> <br /> Pretty exciting stuff, eh? Well, it is to me! So don't make fun. Staying organized really helps me enjoy this whole wedding planning process instead of constantly running around like a chicken with my head cut off!<br /> <br /> And I think that will end my Getting Organized Series. I'd hate to bore you to death with too much talk of labeling, binders and power point files. What do you do to keep organized?http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/11/getting-organized-yeah-im-that-bride.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-2884454191887088307Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:23:00 +00002010-11-16T10:55:37.453-05:00InspirationOrganizationI'm sure you are all well aware of this, but when you're planning a wedding, the amount of inspiration out there can be down-right overwhelming. Every single wedding is different and therefore they each lend their own inspiration to what a wedding can be.<br /> <br /> When I was first planning and brainstorming, this was <i>awesome</i>! All of the pictures, diy tutorials, blogs, the <i>ideas</i>! But now that we are less than eight months out from the actual wedding day, I realized that I really need to pare down all of that inspiration to just the ideas that I plan on or really might still use. I have a wedding folder on my desktop that contains pretty much all of my wedding related stuff, but I wanted something different to organize all of this inspiration and to help me remember what I wanted to do for specific things.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsnnQkQQ_KuNU6En-mZfA9-bo_KX9IbHKRdsaZslwHjXkKX9qfVHZ-gjJ5AtZAX7EoJlCLJYqTPS_N7A-jk0zo7MovO-AjCtmUU20BVIa_VLbOxE3WBA_G6vSgViSXzJSlYnSaaIYsIxi/s1600/Wedding+Inspiration+PP+WM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOsnnQkQQ_KuNU6En-mZfA9-bo_KX9IbHKRdsaZslwHjXkKX9qfVHZ-gjJ5AtZAX7EoJlCLJYqTPS_N7A-jk0zo7MovO-AjCtmUU20BVIa_VLbOxE3WBA_G6vSgViSXzJSlYnSaaIYsIxi/s320/Wedding+Inspiration+PP+WM.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> So, to organize all of my pictures and inspiration I created a master power point file. The first slide is the picture above, our inspiration board. Then, I have slides for a bunch of different wedding items that still need to be bought/designed/considered. It's by no means comprehensive yet, but I feel better already, and I can always add to it as needed. Here are some samples of what's in there:<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4n2QN0-DTPcWF7jVOG-vNocrmsY2Bo2J21s4kpPkL1ERpTNRUXGci0B1hyDvu5ZeIaOBINDgOtVCpGbx6QshyRbzuM6csFR7UcAkbwNdIJESTO6Z2_A7hDe6YIOk8uLHguqjFqEySRSn/s1600/Cake+pp+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4n2QN0-DTPcWF7jVOG-vNocrmsY2Bo2J21s4kpPkL1ERpTNRUXGci0B1hyDvu5ZeIaOBINDgOtVCpGbx6QshyRbzuM6csFR7UcAkbwNdIJESTO6Z2_A7hDe6YIOk8uLHguqjFqEySRSn/s320/Cake+pp+wm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiugyc5nqkoio0IxmgEkU7KHhpTz3npWH8UwJleHPwnu7NeH4UzCPoioFelbn-v-wdKBuvf0jiQ4Q3eplyNbV4SUVjxPLFk7UJ3Fl_iJ8b9jSPFi0sCQQA9LVggnOa3kDolQBtGz00DcUk7/s1600/Wedding+Dress+pp+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiugyc5nqkoio0IxmgEkU7KHhpTz3npWH8UwJleHPwnu7NeH4UzCPoioFelbn-v-wdKBuvf0jiQ4Q3eplyNbV4SUVjxPLFk7UJ3Fl_iJ8b9jSPFi0sCQQA9LVggnOa3kDolQBtGz00DcUk7/s320/Wedding+Dress+pp+wm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGujRbIZsVkckprkxTd8GzefNgP2O5194mWtjLEecNZuPo1h7a7J7nu6N4g5xkCa8pZHnkf4UGJy4AUmWgjNBGq3wKcDpArG2Jv0iyyQGNuQZZm9Ga_NFcnEeXwN0kuBuWlEZWIAJQ35w/s1600/Wedding+Hair+pp+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiGujRbIZsVkckprkxTd8GzefNgP2O5194mWtjLEecNZuPo1h7a7J7nu6N4g5xkCa8pZHnkf4UGJy4AUmWgjNBGq3wKcDpArG2Jv0iyyQGNuQZZm9Ga_NFcnEeXwN0kuBuWlEZWIAJQ35w/s320/Wedding+Hair+pp+wm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Oh man. Those images just make me so happy! Soft. Earthy. Romantic. Perfect.<br /> <br /> On a side note: I make a point to save all of my inspiration images with their respective sources/photographer credit and usually I will include that information in the post. But, obviously I didn't include all of that information on these slides. However, if you want to know where an image is from or it's yours and you have an issue with me using it, just let me know!http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/11/getting-organized-inspiration-overload.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-1055376546346559660Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:42:00 +00002010-11-11T14:42:07.684-05:00FailSave the DatesWeekend GetawayHappy One-Day-Shy-Of-One-Month-Without-A-Single-Freaking-Post!!!<br /> <br /> I've been working on our save the dates (that were supposed to go out last month) and let me tell you, it is not going well. They are a mini-fail in larger fail that is my life right now. I really wanted my next couple of posts to touch on revealing my design, posting a tutorial for how I did them, and actually sending them out. But I can't freaking finish them!<br /> <br /> In other fail news. We've barely spent any money on this wedding yet and I've already failed at keeping track of our budget. I got a bunch of stuff for our save the dates and never put half of it in there. So now I have to go back and add everything up again to get a real total. I just can't believe that it's like the third or fourth thing we've bought for this wedding and I'm already losing track.<br /> <br /> However, for some delightfully awesome news, we are going on a weekend getaway this weekend and I'm <i>so</i> excited. We're going to Cleveland for the weekend and seeing the Jets crush the Browns on Sunday! No, Cleveland is not the most romantic of getaway spots, but it really doesn't matter to me where we're going. Just that it will be the two of us getting away for a few days and getting to spend time with each other. And that's two days that I don't have to spend trying to recover the mess that I call our save the dates!!http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/11/hi-guys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-7869177023189903554Tue, 12 Oct 2010 19:15:00 +00002010-10-12T15:15:40.095-04:00I'm doing wedding stuff most of the day. If I'm not trying to directly cross of to-do list items, I'm doing "research" and reading blogs and bios to get inspiration. I'm doing this all.the.time. What's Sean doing while I'm immersed in my wedding world? Usually watching baseball, or football, or making calculated changes to any one of the number of fantasy sports teams he has, or he's adding to his massive collection of autographed sports stuff.<br /> <br /> I really don't want to be bothering him all the time, showing him this awesome blog post from so-and-so or showing him every inspiration picture I save to my computer or bookmark for the future. But I realized recently that in my trying not to overwhelm him and bother him, I've been leaving him out.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_MM25fM1HeHQtiwlG4zAtcdsmm_8h7FKH0Yo_MpzuURRDJqCigywCzcQ93PqvFYkzBNhBD1dAHgvIZpbgSZ0MAEIlcy01HO0x2uyl71HrAa6cr-fN8BnqdewIQVZGmvzJgMe2OPLnBA48/s1600/someecards+bridezilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_MM25fM1HeHQtiwlG4zAtcdsmm_8h7FKH0Yo_MpzuURRDJqCigywCzcQ93PqvFYkzBNhBD1dAHgvIZpbgSZ0MAEIlcy01HO0x2uyl71HrAa6cr-fN8BnqdewIQVZGmvzJgMe2OPLnBA48/s400/someecards+bridezilla.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <br /> <a name='more'></a>&nbsp;When we had our first meeting with our photographer she asked us a lot of questions about our plans for the wedding day. As I answered her questions I realized I had never really discussed a lot of this stuff with Sean. To my defense, they were never really concrete decisions, more of "I think maybe we should do this" ideas. But still, I felt <i>awful</i> about it. I know that he doesn't care about wedding details as much as me, but this is still his wedding too and I should be putting in more effort to include him. <br /> <br /> Two weekends ago we took a 6+ hour trip to Massachusetts for a friends wedding and I used the time in the car to catch him up on everything I was thinking for the wedding. I brought my huge wedding planning binder (post coming soon!) and went through it tab-by-tab and told him all of my thoughts. For almost every single thing I said he responded with, "sounds good, whatever you want." And even though it just reiterated the fact that he really isn't into all of the planning details, it was still nice to talk to him about it.<br /> <br /> How do you include your groom in your planning? Does he care about the planning details?http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/10/on-including-my-groom.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-1107446481956702980Wed, 06 Oct 2010 18:47:00 +00002010-11-16T10:56:33.616-05:00BouquetsInspiration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQ3wLptO8GwKpJjqG6s4SMcSHok83iFsqQA3nqiMbhDHU0hExVjeXwrcElm0EV1LU2wugP-q7roniybTGO2DxHekwNHZWg0tgp1SWVqeDuGoqa7A3TkQt4HAEDAiQn5zQsyijJYagw-sJ/s1600/theknot.com+avery+house+creative+-+amy+thoennes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYQ3wLptO8GwKpJjqG6s4SMcSHok83iFsqQA3nqiMbhDHU0hExVjeXwrcElm0EV1LU2wugP-q7roniybTGO2DxHekwNHZWg0tgp1SWVqeDuGoqa7A3TkQt4HAEDAiQn5zQsyijJYagw-sJ/s1600/theknot.com+avery+house+creative+-+amy+thoennes.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiIA8kds_0GmCIZXgHkOoE9hukM81vRrNpstThIFAK6fbb1jq7H-Gry2l4kXBpvLRyW3tYg_OhRHupBcjFxaNn7SmHBTQC2YpXN-on47dh-ShHJVFNHGozlgVy8tFRHm5u_QPojj17RH6P/s1600/theknot.com+carlos+andres+varela+photography+-+saipua.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiIA8kds_0GmCIZXgHkOoE9hukM81vRrNpstThIFAK6fbb1jq7H-Gry2l4kXBpvLRyW3tYg_OhRHupBcjFxaNn7SmHBTQC2YpXN-on47dh-ShHJVFNHGozlgVy8tFRHm5u_QPojj17RH6P/s1600/theknot.com+carlos+andres+varela+photography+-+saipua.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOnSr6tOL0YRNn8DKa2Lvo1Qj9Lh9xkLb44sikhyphenhyphen39hbivDxmxp2cXdjPEufQxRmVOI6Kohum497FEG89ZoZVkndnrBm4H4kU-249DDI9BXXrptOzDzv0s7DoH1t2cacANCDwp2y8ZK4sc/s1600/theknot.com+josh+merideth+bella+grace+studios+-+deanna+dillender+great+expectations.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOnSr6tOL0YRNn8DKa2Lvo1Qj9Lh9xkLb44sikhyphenhyphen39hbivDxmxp2cXdjPEufQxRmVOI6Kohum497FEG89ZoZVkndnrBm4H4kU-249DDI9BXXrptOzDzv0s7DoH1t2cacANCDwp2y8ZK4sc/s1600/theknot.com+josh+merideth+bella+grace+studios+-+deanna+dillender+great+expectations.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zIFhnSvrrdxYXEDTKHUAXZn-y1izXDIq3Zt141JxRsADhItada9Fy_57qvP1x_6x3MSshHWE7CAK9X6JC8wWifdZK3p8FeN8oJJWi3TJtal_LF9NzKwo8Ps9PaVNk9Fl2pbcmfZIc-d5/s1600/theknot.com+kimberly+brooke+photography+-+andrea+stieff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zIFhnSvrrdxYXEDTKHUAXZn-y1izXDIq3Zt141JxRsADhItada9Fy_57qvP1x_6x3MSshHWE7CAK9X6JC8wWifdZK3p8FeN8oJJWi3TJtal_LF9NzKwo8Ps9PaVNk9Fl2pbcmfZIc-d5/s1600/theknot.com+kimberly+brooke+photography+-+andrea+stieff.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySbxMFBvpPtSK2D7m5KQlIkd3rUOc74VgQTaXZhvNT5kLh6KAimoIONrzh5xb6BApjShdaUWc543kcQXJtlbimFay_SGDdePtDtKlRJBYA9TBu9bpxm8Ym9kXqq4im51CEidwRsilirJW/s1600/theknot.com+green+hydrangea,+cream+roses,+chinaberry+blooms,+succulents+and+artichokes.jpg" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJxrdeLtHT5wp_OK7FtTkis-QQtpCedvZWHJNPBrXEOJSZJ75t_xhwDLFC8tOKh1w4n32X7Rr_lekX-FsHyJsiMA-J-WT7-cC0k0QMSz90WnzQgBBJ7nIrJ013MoE80tSu4LpjM0EuEog/s1600/theknot.com+ivory+roses,+calla+lillies,+and+hydrangeas+with+green+berries+and+eucalyptus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnJxrdeLtHT5wp_OK7FtTkis-QQtpCedvZWHJNPBrXEOJSZJ75t_xhwDLFC8tOKh1w4n32X7Rr_lekX-FsHyJsiMA-J-WT7-cC0k0QMSz90WnzQgBBJ7nIrJ013MoE80tSu4LpjM0EuEog/s1600/theknot.com+ivory+roses,+calla+lillies,+and+hydrangeas+with+green+berries+and+eucalyptus.jpg" /></a></div>*All images from TheKnot.comhttp://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/10/wordless-wednesday-bouquet-edition.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-1500889037204534763Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:39:00 +00002010-11-16T10:57:47.249-05:00BridesmaidsDIYI've been itching to officially ask my bridal party since the day we got engaged. I asked my sister and future sister-in-law over the Winter because I kept getting questions about whether they were going to be in the bridal party and I knew 100% for sure they were, so I just asked.<br /> <br /> I know etiquette wise you're supposed to ask everyone at the same time so no one feels like they're the last kid getting picked to play dodge ball but, what can I say? I really wanted to wait until we were closer to the wedding and had actually set a date and venue before I went on inviting people to be in the bridal party. By the time we actually settled on a date I was <i>beyond</i> ready to ask my ladies. I had already designed their cards weeks earlier and I was just waiting to put them together.<br /> <br /> Now of course I'm a terrible blogger and never took a picture of the finished card. Can you believe that? I made six of them and never took a picture of a single one. Fail. Oh well, I made you this nice little illustration to give you an idea of what they looked like.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUQ26MhS9IxPWy4k0n3i-PH1sQVXE-pmrTKRyW1kPhd3nER7oO1R51cvT8INQQamcL71BsfHc5Gq9VZhh_0kfTJ4ZZc2wfqeBi3HIkJ3kQnqwzpKUgSAzicZXDiIJIvhzHRjgk8vP32q0/s1600/bm+card+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUQ26MhS9IxPWy4k0n3i-PH1sQVXE-pmrTKRyW1kPhd3nER7oO1R51cvT8INQQamcL71BsfHc5Gq9VZhh_0kfTJ4ZZc2wfqeBi3HIkJ3kQnqwzpKUgSAzicZXDiIJIvhzHRjgk8vP32q0/s400/bm+card+image.jpg" width="400" />&nbsp;</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> Try not to make fun of my Gimp skillz.<br /> <br /> They all said yes and were so excited. Which makes me even more excited. And my bachelorette party? It's going to be crazy. Seriously. I can't wait to get married with my six favorite ladies by my side!<br /> <br /> Did you do anything special to ask your favorite people to be with you on your wedding day?http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/10/setting-up-my-crew.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-607641729390936709Sun, 03 Oct 2010 00:02:00 +00002010-10-02T20:02:00.535-04:00This might be boring to some people but I'm a <i>big</i> list maker and this wedding has me making a ton of to-do lists. I have a big planning binder and a few master lists that I'll show in another post, but another thing I do is make a to-do list every month. I feel like looking at those big long wedding checklists on TheKnot or any other wedding site, tend to be intimidating.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrBSwJLr1JAlsbTx-CYNtFFbVA27R4Y7PwWx-8WM0kY1rFmxvUYYEqERaT6UJfcRA2rAKLRZ-tgCO8JUibMEfhXjhOMfvXfXlwBNUHsxIFR-qj4kNs4BERWFr10nakTExHj4rPYnAgGsM/s1600/bgminds.com+long+list.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglrBSwJLr1JAlsbTx-CYNtFFbVA27R4Y7PwWx-8WM0kY1rFmxvUYYEqERaT6UJfcRA2rAKLRZ-tgCO8JUibMEfhXjhOMfvXfXlwBNUHsxIFR-qj4kNs4BERWFr10nakTExHj4rPYnAgGsM/s400/bgminds.com+long+list.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <a name='more'></a>I've been creating a new to-do list at the beginning of each month to help me keep on track and keep my goals for the month in mind. Below is my to-do list for October, which makes us 9 months out from the wedding.<br /> <br /> 1. Work on Wedding Website<br /> 2. Research/Meet with Videographers<br /> 3. Make and send Save-The-Dates<br /> 4. Finalize Ceremony plans<br /> 5. Find Officiant<br /> 6. Research/Meet with Bakers<br /> 7. Research/Meet with Florists<br /> 8. Start the dress search!!<br /> 9. Research/Meet with DJ’s/Bands<br /> 10. Start on any DIY projects that can hold up for 9 months<br /> 11. Sign contract with Hotels for room block<br /> 12. Negotiate a discount on hotel rooms<br /> 13. Take Engagement Pictures<br /> 14. Figure out roles for nieces and nephews and ask them to participate<br /> <br /> How do you keep track of your tasks for the month?http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-to-do-list.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-770676688849902455Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:46:00 +00002010-11-16T10:58:04.456-05:00BudgetThat's the sound you would have heard if you were in our apartment last week while we made some<i> minor</i> adjustments to our budget.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIXMohK625oRZBH6D4qdgJ0ngoymoJLKjFZT-kYQCOtc4vynRDtSYoqdyxoLjRFJrmhTLLIiTQt1IZMk3j3NeM1mx5U5InvpZ55PscqXQtWqKYMVbegSYksKMdNmp2DLDBT3e3Na3JYIW/s1600/qqxsgChainsaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLIXMohK625oRZBH6D4qdgJ0ngoymoJLKjFZT-kYQCOtc4vynRDtSYoqdyxoLjRFJrmhTLLIiTQt1IZMk3j3NeM1mx5U5InvpZ55PscqXQtWqKYMVbegSYksKMdNmp2DLDBT3e3Na3JYIW/s400/qqxsgChainsaw.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> Two weeks ago, we met with an amazing photographer here in Rochester. I found her website and pictures online and instantly fell in love. I emailed her to get detailed pricing and package info and she responded almost immediately. Have I ever posted about how important timely responses are to me? I had already given one photographer a mental pink slip because he was so bad at getting back to me, even though I loved his work. Anyway, we set up a meeting and it went amazingly well. I had already drooled over every picture I could find of hers on the internet, but I was still amazed by her work at her studio. She was just as sweet in person and she really seemed genuinely interested in our wedding plans.<br /> <br /> The next day she followed up with a few of my lingering questions and sent us a breakdown of her travel costs. Then Sean and I sat down and talked things through. Did we really click with her? Yep. Do we love her work? Yep. Can we afford her? Nope.<br /> <br /> Travel fees and hotel accomodations added to the package that best fit what we were looking for added up to twice what we had budgeted for photography. Her work was amazing and she definitely wasn't overpriced for what she offers. But still, we just didn't think we could swing doubling the costs of what was already a big portion of our budget. So I emailed her and sadly told her we wouldn't be able to hire her.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRh0dZ14GYWJg6bNwO67Bz-XywhshSDuvq_pjyFM52T5fbSwwA6SVn9kvnQqGjUSFrp06ZEkyeOUd-GLNEAJlaVS0G2iAe4LfCabljXa-V_DdWVWGfhgDRTSfs6fP3LXvYsfV8-7wcsnwO/s1600/tehgeek.com+sad+panda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRh0dZ14GYWJg6bNwO67Bz-XywhshSDuvq_pjyFM52T5fbSwwA6SVn9kvnQqGjUSFrp06ZEkyeOUd-GLNEAJlaVS0G2iAe4LfCabljXa-V_DdWVWGfhgDRTSfs6fP3LXvYsfV8-7wcsnwO/s400/tehgeek.com+sad+panda.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://tehgeeks.com/">Sad Panda</a></div><br /> I spent the next week looking for another photographer I loved as much. It seemed like everyone I found whos work I loved was either booked or way out of our price range. Everyone that still had the date available I was just "meh" about. At this point, I was starting to lose sleep over this. One night was laying in bed on my laptop (because I couldn't sleep) looking at potential photographers when I realized that this was crazy. I opened up our budget and thought of a few potential areas we could cut. The next day Sean and I looked through our budget and made some tough cuts.<br /> <br /> Videographer? Gone.<br /> Day of Coordinator? Gone.<br /> <br /> Our photography package includes two shooters so I know we'll have tons of amazing pictures from our wedding which really puts me at ease with cutting out a videographer.&nbsp; I had also been searching high and low for a videographer that I liked and hadn't been able to find one.<br /> <br /> Cutting the DOC though hit me kind of hard. I really don't want either of us (or our family) to be running all over the day of the wedding trying to take care of things. I want us all to be able to relax and enjoy this one day. But, I think it will work out one way or another.<br /> <br /> I'll reveal our photographer in another post, this one is getting too long! Did you have to make any tough budget cuts to fit in the things you wanted and thought were important?http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/09/chop-chop.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-5914397785307336138Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:12:00 +00002010-09-22T10:12:25.311-04:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jHcLb-l4eq-GVXw1DctgGGsBI6ZfYWIHFaBzFN4Fsgct14DrFU38UOniQ4MtfKcacQh-zgBzMVR5kqdPP9YkYLY-9AcjuaYOPk5QXwdMeIMyThW9SGdVrDgvit3_DBfM7vMfxoGq5dr1/s1600/priscilla+of+boston+4306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2jHcLb-l4eq-GVXw1DctgGGsBI6ZfYWIHFaBzFN4Fsgct14DrFU38UOniQ4MtfKcacQh-zgBzMVR5kqdPP9YkYLY-9AcjuaYOPk5QXwdMeIMyThW9SGdVrDgvit3_DBfM7vMfxoGq5dr1/s400/priscilla+of+boston+4306.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://priscillaofboston.com/">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAsXApAbIeumd3e2SV3VOAeDIiLqNy59FKFGaHb15z5CiXA_94fbevil_IsukaH9Y3ziPsA94BpObsyTxXrptvBnaU-a72OK2AI65ez2JdATO_GWpfu7dH_mz2GRQHyX7HV6VgLDmQg5b/s1600/priscilla+of+boston+4306+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsAsXApAbIeumd3e2SV3VOAeDIiLqNy59FKFGaHb15z5CiXA_94fbevil_IsukaH9Y3ziPsA94BpObsyTxXrptvBnaU-a72OK2AI65ez2JdATO_GWpfu7dH_mz2GRQHyX7HV6VgLDmQg5b/s400/priscilla+of+boston+4306+2.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://priscillaofboston.com/">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJBA-MIY7dFSibLrlBNWxIA-Mi-iH7dopdVroCZBwAeHVagW31RIOv_gaxECswgHzPieyvSxHG-OB3BokGLTUc7ydg_plNe_TONsw6kF0N4Zn5XxrKDwm-JXShR8abqm_cIGcNFDcq2vP/s1600/priscilla+of+boston+4306+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJBA-MIY7dFSibLrlBNWxIA-Mi-iH7dopdVroCZBwAeHVagW31RIOv_gaxECswgHzPieyvSxHG-OB3BokGLTUc7ydg_plNe_TONsw6kF0N4Zn5XxrKDwm-JXShR8abqm_cIGcNFDcq2vP/s400/priscilla+of+boston+4306+3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://classifieds.weddingbee.com/topic/priscilla-of-boston-4306">Source</a> - <span class="postby"><a href="http://classifieds.weddingbee.com/profile/44471">Brynnen</a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="postby">*Sigh* Oh, Priscilla of Boston 4306. If only you weren't four times my budget. </span></div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/09/wordless-wednesday-dress-edition.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-7921554898067156749Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:37:00 +00002010-09-19T21:37:14.930-04:00We finally picked a reception venue! That means we now have a reception venue, a caterer, a <i>date</i>&nbsp; and even a possible ceremony venue!<br /> <br /> I cannot even express to you how excited I am about this!<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GoZcuj85hhh0BLJ-DnR1GEB0DC3DqMd2yIQtcAVv9RxxlPSSn1x0B6_kL1uyr-mLUD86ljRl16eJlrQunQYAjbO1RJZeEa5yQz0Ex4C964_5-qsCdn8qqdtVXlNU5xsinbLoJfAe2cdj/s1600/riverhouse-wedding-23+raw+photo+design.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6GoZcuj85hhh0BLJ-DnR1GEB0DC3DqMd2yIQtcAVv9RxxlPSSn1x0B6_kL1uyr-mLUD86ljRl16eJlrQunQYAjbO1RJZeEa5yQz0Ex4C964_5-qsCdn8qqdtVXlNU5xsinbLoJfAe2cdj/s400/riverhouse-wedding-23+raw+photo+design.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.rawphotodesign.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/riverhouse-wedding-23.jpg&amp;imgrefurl=http://rawphotodesign.com/blog/%3Fp%3D3443&amp;usg=__QAuwkKlxqA_gKk0N8kbCu7MFw_U=&amp;h=417&amp;w=625&amp;sz=276&amp;hl=en&amp;start=44&amp;sig2=Ayw6q5scWdY3p-vCAkHixA&amp;zoom=1&amp;tbnid=9v_2ieFCDW7tWM:&amp;tbnh=133&amp;tbnw=177&amp;ei=eh6QTNSmAcqNjAeH5qX3DA&amp;prev=/images%3Fq%3Dexcited%2Bwedding%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D585%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C917&amp;itbs=1&amp;iact=rc&amp;dur=577&amp;oei=Fh6QTPKqM9bQcMCh1MMM&amp;esq=6&amp;page=3&amp;ndsp=21&amp;ved=1t:429,r:2,s:44&amp;tx=121&amp;ty=121&amp;biw=1366&amp;bih=585">Source</a></div><a name='more'></a><br /> <div style="text-align: left;">So do you wanna know what we picked?!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">The Links at Hiawatha Landing in Apalachin, NY!!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjd1-h6dWr13VhBlp9htG_fLK7WSyCOChV5vNAC304mSV7JzP6SRDmyu78aPs3jV1R2HiKg0FfDkdJjm4xghydy8VkmSOhX6dr0D8DBuuukqgexgjtKqHIT4EBYOpcwLJOLzX65PZAzsiJ/s1600/fairwaystonedotcom+hiawatha.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjd1-h6dWr13VhBlp9htG_fLK7WSyCOChV5vNAC304mSV7JzP6SRDmyu78aPs3jV1R2HiKg0FfDkdJjm4xghydy8VkmSOhX6dr0D8DBuuukqgexgjtKqHIT4EBYOpcwLJOLzX65PZAzsiJ/s400/fairwaystonedotcom+hiawatha.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://fairwaystone.com/">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a gorgeous public golf course just outside of Binghamton, NY (our target area). The reception will be in a large permanent tent that overlooks the golf course with the beautiful mountains in the background. The pictures on the website just do not show how awesome the place really is.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGdw0OyENWoPH_AM8h4T5t7Q0AUzfLVfNPgvQmOaZBV77njte4B6sNfiN9G8Vvp__noup9QczAcgIFFLff0QkBUBJzqkEJjNWlFjonshAwQ0gDKlgNLaLXlatJz5OtB2LIuoovcGfctFe/s1600/hiawathalinks+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGdw0OyENWoPH_AM8h4T5t7Q0AUzfLVfNPgvQmOaZBV77njte4B6sNfiN9G8Vvp__noup9QczAcgIFFLff0QkBUBJzqkEJjNWlFjonshAwQ0gDKlgNLaLXlatJz5OtB2LIuoovcGfctFe/s400/hiawathalinks+1.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhory0EzGAuoQQU1yrYp1lqFXa86BD7NFmJYe_XYuChblve5ieBFGc3Q6QJEdDuVtSsPtkLc7trOwsNo09fQMne3m8r8V0DzDtOCUmSNqVR9h2YGMIfmKqnJdiCs2F71SFU-1oBhWSDWSk1/s1600/hiawathalinks+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhory0EzGAuoQQU1yrYp1lqFXa86BD7NFmJYe_XYuChblve5ieBFGc3Q6QJEdDuVtSsPtkLc7trOwsNo09fQMne3m8r8V0DzDtOCUmSNqVR9h2YGMIfmKqnJdiCs2F71SFU-1oBhWSDWSk1/s400/hiawathalinks+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hiawathalinks.com/">Source</a></div><br /> Not only is the place easy on the eyes, but we are getting a great deal. The catering menu looks amazing and is actually in our budget, which was a rare thing to find for us. And, get this, there is no site fee! We get the place for pretty much however long we want, we can have our ceremony and reception there and we are just paying for the food, tax and gratuity. That is nothing short of amazing to me!<br /> <br /> The site coordinator said we can just drop off all of our decorations a day or two before the wedding and they will do a table mock-up to make sure it's what we want and then they will decorate the tent for us that day.<br /> <br /> Oh my gosh. I'm so excited right now. I need to end this post before I end up spilling the beans on all of the amazing gems we've found here! But I do want to say, we looked at hundreds of venues online before finding this one. When I first contacted them, they were booked for the whole summer but I said I wanted wanted to come by for a tour anyway (we considered moving the wedding into the fall). Days before our meeting he emailed me to say they had July 9th open up!<br /> <br /> Fate I tell you! July 9, 2011 it is!</div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/09/end-of-era.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-6833302771393633246Fri, 17 Sep 2010 14:49:00 +00002010-11-16T10:57:32.033-05:00The ProposalI'm sure most of you are going to skip the previous long and wordy post leading up to this one and I gotta say, I don't blame you. But, I felt like it needed to be said, and it's important stuff! Now we'll get to the good parts (and the pictures!)<br /> <a name='more'></a>In mid-November I was set to fly out to California with my mom and sister for my aunts wedding. The day I was leaving I came home to find a package notice from FedEx on our door. It said that Sean had a package and needed to come to the warehouse to pick it up and sign for it. I thought it was odd but he had mentioned he bought a bunch of Yankees stuff online so I just figured that was what it was. Looking back he's pretty lucky. I was so distracted by needing to pack and prepare to fly from NY to CA for almost a week that I didn't even think twice about it.<br /> <br /> While I was out in California, Sean and I were talking on the phone and he told me the package that came the other day was my Mark Sanchez autographed picture (Jets = ♥). I got all excited about my picture and never gave his story a second thought.<br /> <br /> Also, out in Cali, I managed to get myself the H1N1 virus. Yay me!<br /> <br /> So, when I returned home I was a hot mess for a few days. And Sean? Would <i>not</i> come near me. Like, would not touch me with a ten-foot pole. And I, hadn't seen him in what felt like <i>forever</i> and since I was sick, just wanted to cuddle up. And everytime I tried to kiss him, he would give me a little peck on the cheek. So I kept asking him when I was going to get a real kiss and he would just laugh (I'm sure he was thinking something like "maybe, when I no longer have to worry about getting the swine flu and spending the next week on the couch feeling like I'm going to die.")<br /> <br /> Next thing I knew, it was the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I was finally over my battle with H1N1 and we had a million things to do that weekend. Both of our parents were coming up for Thanksgiving dinner at our new apartment in a matter of days. Sean told me that morning that he wanted to take me out to dinner to a really nice restaurant downtown that we had been wanting to visit for years and would be closing soon. The restaurant was in a really interesting area right near <a href="http://rocwiki.org/High_Falls">High Falls</a> with a beautiful bridge that overlooks the falls. I thought for just a split second that he might propose that night but I tried to put it out of my mind. I really didn't want to spend every minute of however long it might take for him to propose wondering "Is this it?!"<br /> <br /> We needed to go to Bed Bath and Beyond for a roasting pan and some other Thanksgiving supplies. So I took a quick shower, put on just enough makeup to not scare the other customers and threw on a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt. I figured it would get dressed up later for our dinner date but I was uninterested in putting in the effort just to go shopping. As I was getting ready to head out, I heard Sean call my name. I believe I yelled back something incredibly romantic like "What do you want?" (Isn't he so lucky to have me?)<br /> <br /> He yelled back "I want to finally give you your real kiss." I slowly walked in, half thinking he was kidding. He pulled me in and finally gave me the kiss I'd been waiting for since I landed in New York. And while I would have been happy with just that, when I opened my eyes he was on one knee with the most amazing ring. He said some sweet words about how much he loved me and then asked if I would marry him. And then, being the classy lady that I am, I responded with "Are you kidding me?" But then, (thankfully) I followed it with some happy tears and an "Of course I will!!"<br /> <br /> And now, the official reveal of my engagement ring that I love so much! Part of the reason I've waited so long to post pictures is because I can't get any good pictures with my camera. And don't judge her haphazard appearance too harshly, my ring is now almost a year old and she hasn't been cleaned in weeks!<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://8318355324984300314-a-1802744773732722657-s-sites.googlegroups.com/site/lovelivelaughwed/topframe/RingPic2WM.JPG?attachauth=ANoY7cqnqagksbFPzktKXtYuH4oS5C2kSUi5tpFstCnGxRnsSQLN33D2urSYuWe4ycHr_mZirQzHb8iBuOzcxeWJRahMIG4aVX8NfOkrKoUouhIMKiNhvqAFP2oq8xzZB-1DT0qqeIrrShCHBE2ZiQcxewoI374cfyYsKfV7mRNIfr5J6bEQYhvoNb4v6cKG5TFM9yf0g1DLEwPVPsjdrQTXUsKJycfcSg%3D%3D&amp;attredirects=0" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNWs_ibJNxh88HziwVFon4rQXinXossL5kk5e9n5q0xzWY7mqGMANa9CNjAV7_RWtNgHv6tr_gM-eThB_fv9UyrWmqlRdTk82EWcZ_GBYNcS2jLdOft-OieaO5lBwe3q7CQCzxnVmNBh0/s1600/DSCN0142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNWs_ibJNxh88HziwVFon4rQXinXossL5kk5e9n5q0xzWY7mqGMANa9CNjAV7_RWtNgHv6tr_gM-eThB_fv9UyrWmqlRdTk82EWcZ_GBYNcS2jLdOft-OieaO5lBwe3q7CQCzxnVmNBh0/s400/DSCN0142.JPG" width="400" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdX7kxj_GoVq7eJxWQtbSIqXstAx0vHwX5r2S7h-aIkNNj_650eFyQU1EYeSPD01DEs4715rW0OFVYiYEwRuiHgJei1qUYm94sq5dEcIIm2VSrWBC1xHie_DcQFgvB56sOdfhyphenhyphenr41gJq2/s1600/DSCN0141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdX7kxj_GoVq7eJxWQtbSIqXstAx0vHwX5r2S7h-aIkNNj_650eFyQU1EYeSPD01DEs4715rW0OFVYiYEwRuiHgJei1qUYm94sq5dEcIIm2VSrWBC1xHie_DcQFgvB56sOdfhyphenhyphenr41gJq2/s400/DSCN0141.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/09/long-overdue-engagement-story-proposal.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-6029298199186977434Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:31:00 +00002010-09-07T11:31:49.671-04:00The ProposalYou guys are lucky you're hearing this because I don't think I've ever told anyone the entire story truthfully. Now, before you go thinking I'm a compulsive liar or something, I have a few reasons. You'll see.<br /> <a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> A year ago yesterday we moved into our new aparment (which is, I guess, no longer new). Things were going <i>amazingly</i> well. The year or so before had been rough. We were rapidly outgrowing our old apartment and had absolutely no personal space to get away from one another. That combined with the fact that my 21st birthday had catapulted me into a massive quarter-life crisis, made for a rocky year. <br /> <br /> To go back even further - Sean and I have been together for a number of years and have gone back and forth between us as to who was ready to get married. In our early days, I was ready. He however, said that were weren't in the position to get married then. Fast forward a few years and the situation switched. He had graduated from undergrad and grad school and had settled into a comfortable full-time job. Unfortunately for him, this was right around the same time I hit full crisis mode and no longer thought I was ready. Fortunately for me, he's a patient man.<br /> <br /> So in the fall of 2009 we moved into a much nicer, much bigger place and I had officially worked my way though said crisis and was back to being myself. We were more in love than ever and our relationship had really strengthened over the tough year or two that had just passed. We were finally in the same place and finally ready to get married.<br /> <br /> At this point, Sean did something that I will always love him for, so I guess it's weird that I never really tell anyone the truth about it. He asked me to show him rings that I liked so he could be sure he got me something that I would love and would be excited to wear for the rest of my life. While I would have loved anything that he picked for me, it was nice to have a little input in the decision. The idea was that I would show him the type of ring I liked and he would make the choice and it would still be a surprise for me.<br /> <br /> I then spent far too many hours searching for engagement rings and showing him a million of them that I loved. One day I happened upon the most perfect ring. It was three stones, (a must for me, I have fat fingers. I wanted the width) absolutely gorgeous and priced really well. It was for sale from a jeweler in California that had a brick and morter shop as well as an online store. When I showed it to Sean, I made some <i>really</i> strong suggestions that this was the perfect ring for me but I still wasn't sure he would get it.<br /> <br /> I never really tell people that I showed him rings that I liked or that I had any kind of say in what my engagement ring looked like. For some reason, I feel like people think badly of me when they hear that I had a little bit of say in my engagement ring. Like they think I'm really pushy and picked out a big expensive ring and was like "BUY THIS FOR ME RIGHT NOW!" So I just told most people that he picked it out himself. And I'm not <i>really</i> lying because I really just showed him the ring and told him I liked it, he's the one who picked it as the ring to buy. Right?&nbsp; <br /> <br /> Next up: The actual proposal and the ring reveal!http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/09/long-overdue-engagement-story-backstory.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-8601100072737844081Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:01:00 +00002010-08-20T11:01:59.742-04:00or as I'd rather title this "You have got to be<i> kidding</i> me!!"<br /> <br /> A few weeks ago I was chatting on the Weddingbee boards with local NY brides about their wedding locations and my venue searching woes. One nice Rochestarian mentioned that she was getting married at the White House in Webster Park. Intrigued, I looked it up. It turned out to be a gorgeous (white) house on a bluff overlooking the lake with tons of trees and gorgeous scenery. My first thought? "ohmygosh I <i>love</i> it!"<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsSNZYTIjDsPBw4IvQ4GL5ZnTDzrPFtOfnWAyVfNxfVEtcM279nfDCVsG_-8A_GIuSgWOuw_OBW4Z5fVMOPlB0WDQpyZ8KGCbOj6vRCunwG-aouRS73TX1YsfEJ9q5xFFBKska88atS-_/s1600/monroecounty.gov+white+house+lodge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCsSNZYTIjDsPBw4IvQ4GL5ZnTDzrPFtOfnWAyVfNxfVEtcM279nfDCVsG_-8A_GIuSgWOuw_OBW4Z5fVMOPlB0WDQpyZ8KGCbOj6vRCunwG-aouRS73TX1YsfEJ9q5xFFBKska88atS-_/s400/monroecounty.gov+white+house+lodge.jpg" width="400" />&nbsp;</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://monroecounty.gov/">*Source*</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> It was in a public park so the&nbsp; rental fee was reasonable, they allowed alcohol, we could put up a tent, it had nearby hotel accomodations and we could pick our own caterer. It sounded perfect. I took Sean up there that very night to look around and he agreed that it was pretty perfect for what we were looking for. We reserved it that night for August 13th of next year and got all kinds of excited. We let family know that we'd (finally) picked a date and a venue and then everyone else got excited too.<br /> <br /> Before we paid the rental fees I wanted to call and ask the Parks Department a few questions, and it turns out it's a good thing I did. Everything was going fine until I casually mentioned that we were going to be having about 200 guests. This is the conversation that followed:<br /> <br /> Parks Lady: 200? That lodge only holds 100.<br /> Me: Yes, I realize that. That's why we wanted the tent, we are going to have everything outside. The lodge will only be for the caterers and for bathroom use.<br /> Parks Lady: Yes but that lodge can only hold 100 people. It's fire code.<br /> Me: Yes, again, I realize that. But there is not a single point in time that we are planning to have everyone in that lodge. Everything will be outside in the tent.<br /> Parks Lady: Yeah but if the weather gets bad everyone will try to run in to the lodge.<br /> Me:&nbsp; *<i>in my head* </i>Are you kidding me lady?!<br /> <br /> Then she goes on to say she needs to get us special permission and we'll have to rent this other lodge too for overflow parking and blah blah blah blah blah... She'll get back to us the next day.<br /> <br /> From the moment I hung up that phone I had a sinking feeling that this was going to go South quickly. Sure enough she called back the next day to say they would only let us have 150 at the most and we'd have to do all this other stuff to even have that many.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXIPR8F0eGOq3fWnDA1V7BAcoHyd2VYK9UA0Aw4EqVbWiMg47ROawVgqHiMXdwDryv36ZXfP49ion8ovJbQD0Gh3fqyIa9CU_Tt38SiCVAYeoRfazUa0cBotKdxMtaK44gnxrMF56M0JkT/s1600/sad+lol+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXIPR8F0eGOq3fWnDA1V7BAcoHyd2VYK9UA0Aw4EqVbWiMg47ROawVgqHiMXdwDryv36ZXfP49ion8ovJbQD0Gh3fqyIa9CU_Tt38SiCVAYeoRfazUa0cBotKdxMtaK44gnxrMF56M0JkT/s400/sad+lol+cat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div>I was <i>crushed</i>. It wasn't even really about the venue. I mean, we really did like it and I think we could have had an awesome wedding there. But it was really about just finding a venue and setting a date and moving the <i>eff</i> on!<br /> <br /> So now, we're continuing on with our search in the Binghamton area. It's a lot closer to where our family and friends live so it will be easier on them. It would have been a lot of traveling and expense for our guests since every single one of them would have been out of towners in Rochester.<br /> <br /> So if you know of an awesome outside venue in Binghamton for a reasonable amount of money, send it my way!http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/08/dissapointments.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-2072171165777544855Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:19:00 +00002010-07-29T13:19:33.287-04:00So I know I haven't been around much lately, but life has been crazy. Normally I would post that crazy stuff but it's nothing I haven't posted about before (job hunting, deciding where to live, <i>trying to find a freaking venue</i>) and I really don't want to bore you with all of that. So until I get some new news, I'm staying quiet.<br /> <br /> Well, after this post.<br /> <br /> Have ya'll heard of <a href="http://weddingbee.com/">Weddingbee</a>? I'm pretty sure all of my readers (all two of you) found me from weddingbee but just in case you haven't heard of it, let me tell you a little bit. When I first started getting interested in wedding planning (which I will shamefully admit was much before our engagement) I found <a href="http://theknot.com/">TheKnot</a>. Now, I'm not here to poopoo all over TheKnot. The actual informational section of the website is pretty good. I love to go there for inspiration pictures and articles, and their tools are pretty useful as well. However, if you mosey on over to the boards, it's a different story. Some of the local boards are pretty nice, but the main boards can get really really nasty. And I just can't stand that crap. I mean really ladies, we're adults, must we act like it's 9th grade all over again?!<br /> <br /> Anyway, back to Weddingbee. Eventually I found the site through some googling and it was like I found the fountain of youth! There are so many inspiring bee bloggers and they are all so down to earth! There are some bees I follow because their wedding ideas are similar to mine, some I follow because they always have great relationship advice, some I follow just because their posts are hilarious and fun to read. And the boards! If you post a question on the boards, 99% of the time, someone will answer it for you or at least try to help you. Even if that question has been asked 989,583 times before. The ladies on that board are incredibly kind and helpful.<br /> <br /> So, the ladies on the Upstate NY board are trying to plan a meet up for everyone in the Central NY area. Right now, we're thinking the meeting place might be Syracuse, since it's between Rochester and Ithaca/Binghamton. We have a few responses but we would definitely like to get more people to join!<br /> <br /> So if you're in the CNY area and want to join us, hop over on <a href="http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/lets-plan-a-cny-meetup">this thread</a> and let us know!http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/07/central-new-york-bee-meetup.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-3950291222665233920Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:07:00 +00002010-07-19T21:07:54.400-04:00As you all know, we've been searching for a suitable venue for, ohhhh about, 8 months. We went to look at a few more places in the Binghamton area on Sunday and struck out. Four times. So far <a href="http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/02/super-bride.html">my plan</a> of do-everything-myself and have it all be awesome has failed.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1X0TFivSlEMCarVpPhYM51dLA8cEYdDKch2Jg2h0unvfAZ4CwJPDMd_L_fDo_DbycdG43IXNg1v-wp700nj3BWuVPA5HV3bbfMuem4drzzFPZhbIFSEQ5mQfZDqlD2ZeJJIt2okRz_sjD/s1600/funny-pictures-cat-does-not-think-plan-will-fail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1X0TFivSlEMCarVpPhYM51dLA8cEYdDKch2Jg2h0unvfAZ4CwJPDMd_L_fDo_DbycdG43IXNg1v-wp700nj3BWuVPA5HV3bbfMuem4drzzFPZhbIFSEQ5mQfZDqlD2ZeJJIt2okRz_sjD/s400/funny-pictures-cat-does-not-think-plan-will-fail.jpg" width="400" /><a name='more'></a></a></div><br /> First of all, my dearest fiance informed me a few days ago that every single weekend well into September is now booked for us. I do not have a free weekend available for at least 8 weeks. So I made it very clear that we were to have no plans for this last weekend. No traveling, no lets-go-here-ing, <i>nothing</i>. Our apartment was a <i>mess</i> and I had a million things to do that I needed to catch up on. Then I realized that my excellent plan of visiting wedding venues next weekend when we were already planning to be in the area wasn't exactly the best laid plan. We really weren't going to have time. So I sacrificed my Sunday and we wasted the whole day driving the 2.5 hours to Binghamton to check out a few places and have dinner with my family (that part was not a waste, however.)<br /> <br /> Anyway, we went to the <a href="http://www.pumpellyestate.com/">Pumpelly House</a>, <a href="http://www.tiogagardens.com/">Tioga Gardens</a>, <a href="http://www.townofowego.com/hickories.htm">Hickories Park</a> and one other park that I'd just plain like to forget.<br /> <br /> As far as Tioga Gardens and Hickories Park go, there was nothing wrong with either of them, they just weren't going to work for us. Both were nice, just not what we're looking for.<br /> <br /> The Pumpelly House?<br /> <br /> Almost perfect.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp7BJxi7s4ucaPvMI0uQAVOJ1kZqwGElej8j9nfhbeZTVvRKHAXAXzJDLwh6Qe8hKdAOiAcOdQ5gxrGEvfpgTagW9ycrRFVAzmxfwJt5F0atAlpwVBrYbJH0tsMNVFE-Q9kxXV0j6Km_DO/s1600/pumpelly+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp7BJxi7s4ucaPvMI0uQAVOJ1kZqwGElej8j9nfhbeZTVvRKHAXAXzJDLwh6Qe8hKdAOiAcOdQ5gxrGEvfpgTagW9ycrRFVAzmxfwJt5F0atAlpwVBrYbJH0tsMNVFE-Q9kxXV0j6Km_DO/s400/pumpelly+house.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <br /> We met the owner and her mother (and their two dogs!) this last weekend and got to tour the grounds. The whole place is really really cute. The bed and breakfast is beautiful and spacious. The ceremony spot on the river is just to die for and the carriage house (pictured above) would be gorgeous for a small wedding reception. The biggest problem for us is the fact that they can only comfortably accommodate 150 guests and I just don't think we can, or want to, get our guest list down that far. There also isn't an ideal rain plan if we wanted to have our ceremony outside on the grounds. But really, if you are looking for a gorgeous wedding venue in Owego, stop over there. But do it quick because they book up <i>fast</i>! The owner is really sweet and I really got the impression that brides are well taken care of there. <br /> <br /> So, in other bridal fail news: I have made contact with a wedding planner.<br /> <br /> I'll pause for your shocked gasps.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqwuhySoAALmDKurmUqcSTd_xGI2wXPHja9Gw1kXVIg_M4BhiGYK0pAIpJiayBI9Rf4Mspqk4FM_QmauRDO0HvR-Txlo8ntx1v5yIYVkDIGtxl4XlginhR6t8t603rh_ehejJr0W8kP0F/s1600/next+exit+photogrophy+shock+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqwuhySoAALmDKurmUqcSTd_xGI2wXPHja9Gw1kXVIg_M4BhiGYK0pAIpJiayBI9Rf4Mspqk4FM_QmauRDO0HvR-Txlo8ntx1v5yIYVkDIGtxl4XlginhR6t8t603rh_ehejJr0W8kP0F/s400/next+exit+photogrophy+shock+pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nextexitphotography.com/blogimages/gbb_01.jpg">Source</a></div><br /> Okay, onward. I feel like hiring a wedding planner (other for than just day-of coordination) is kind of looked down on these days. A lot of brides are really hands on and DIY now and I think hiring a wedding planner is now seen as a waste of money or being spoiled. I was really reluctant to even make contact with a wedding planner because I felt like it was admitting that I couldn't plan this wedding, like I was some kind of failure. I finally sucked up my pride and emailed a coordinator this morning telling her we were having trouble finding a reception venue and while I didn't think I would need a planner for the whole process, would she be interested and/or able to help us find a venue. She emailed me back in less than 2 minutes. Bonus point #1. Then she said she would love to help us for as little or as much planning as we wanted and asked a bunch of questions about what we're looking for. Bonus point #2. I won't reveal who it is just yet, since I'm not sure how it will all end up. But I will say, getting her super nice and helpful responses, put me so much at ease. I really hope she can help us so I can move on from this venue search crap.http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/07/super-bride-fail-1.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-7787148388319517813Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:40:00 +00002010-07-14T18:33:29.036-04:00DreamingHoneymoonHands down, a vacation. Whether it's a week long retreat or just a much needed weekend staycation, vacations have the ability to cure. I can't actually go on vacation right now, and actually we just got back from a weekend in the Outer Banks at the end of May, but all this stress has me thinking about our future honeymoon.<br /> <br /> My first instinct?<br /> &nbsp; <br /> A secluded beach vacation somwhere like the Bahamas or Tahiti.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL64lCLAd55CwT4esM62ZfH8utplF8uwCn3uiR35CoTgOSWIH1o8ZCOwfPSNfIVoY7QP644BrTAcmSO-eXaaZSBH4BcY75jplP3hOYSQiKUnYomKOleoyaZzwaXvkm4LWbSjCp-9aMsqY-/s1600/traveltheworld.ca+tahiti+hut+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL64lCLAd55CwT4esM62ZfH8utplF8uwCn3uiR35CoTgOSWIH1o8ZCOwfPSNfIVoY7QP644BrTAcmSO-eXaaZSBH4BcY75jplP3hOYSQiKUnYomKOleoyaZzwaXvkm4LWbSjCp-9aMsqY-/s400/traveltheworld.ca+tahiti+hut+pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.traveltheworld.ca/Tahiti.htm">Source</a></div><a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLm04FxbHKBsmKKUIYdcyBVT7fBsmHE1NstbeURuJb3ERGKcpWrg4uCxQt2x5KFAydHpRxyVJdPp7SH4Py03e2L7LtNIiBuGYGd62JAJ8ffF3JP_SVQN-fATWcxKP08txqVHuNP1sipajo/s1600/honeymooncruiseshopper.com+hut+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLm04FxbHKBsmKKUIYdcyBVT7fBsmHE1NstbeURuJb3ERGKcpWrg4uCxQt2x5KFAydHpRxyVJdPp7SH4Py03e2L7LtNIiBuGYGd62JAJ8ffF3JP_SVQN-fATWcxKP08txqVHuNP1sipajo/s400/honeymooncruiseshopper.com+hut+pic.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.honeymooncruiseshopper.com/south_pacific_adventure.htm">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">What on earth could be more relaxing that your own private hut right over warm ocean water and white sand beaches?!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir6gmZOCNGfGVGupjxQ-Thm0G0sfksmDdUYrxNv9C5ivmiFmGqNSOUlBtdsi-Z1vhPGgh_Bd_rnWaKY5EG1Z_sz10MXLd4Jx7l4MLlEuLla-POBE0Dw7gxH3z34tfC3e4nFywRUJn7zik0/s1600/unk+bora+bora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir6gmZOCNGfGVGupjxQ-Thm0G0sfksmDdUYrxNv9C5ivmiFmGqNSOUlBtdsi-Z1vhPGgh_Bd_rnWaKY5EG1Z_sz10MXLd4Jx7l4MLlEuLla-POBE0Dw7gxH3z34tfC3e4nFywRUJn7zik0/s400/unk+bora+bora.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://urbangraceinteriors.typepad.com/the_blog/2008/06/easily-bored-random-woman-at-hotel-pool.html">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeX72gaeUfxlbuz5JGSoaaQrAzb5cfQnne6Ty3eXrbaYJcLW7Z2uyuYXGP4qAT6YXTcY6dyYJGahmhpKaIkISdiWAsWPQQ_9auMNHyXAWK9EMMsf7CUTYqR22N3IIbw7Xc8gfv2Unnebt/s1600/unk+bora+bora+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeX72gaeUfxlbuz5JGSoaaQrAzb5cfQnne6Ty3eXrbaYJcLW7Z2uyuYXGP4qAT6YXTcY6dyYJGahmhpKaIkISdiWAsWPQQ_9auMNHyXAWK9EMMsf7CUTYqR22N3IIbw7Xc8gfv2Unnebt/s400/unk+bora+bora+2.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://urbangraceinteriors.typepad.com/the_blog/2008/06/easily-bored-random-woman-at-hotel-pool.html">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">ohmygosh. A hammock over the ocean?! What I wouldn't give to take a nap there right now!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0I6-aCMj6v44_oZIkrvCFrHUf8_v8B4EY8dUIkPKdMDwRAk5aeICJ5Zqm5i_sstftzvIg1-Bzs-BG3LEtCXiduW9S6XK67dwZc8dLi3YEiKBhGMdtyeNOM6E7V3LdJtrZc-vih7XJr4S/s1600/unk+bora+bora+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0I6-aCMj6v44_oZIkrvCFrHUf8_v8B4EY8dUIkPKdMDwRAk5aeICJ5Zqm5i_sstftzvIg1-Bzs-BG3LEtCXiduW9S6XK67dwZc8dLi3YEiKBhGMdtyeNOM6E7V3LdJtrZc-vih7XJr4S/s400/unk+bora+bora+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://urbangraceinteriors.typepad.com/the_blog/2008/06/easily-bored-random-woman-at-hotel-pool.html">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Unfortunately, a nice long vacation to Tahiti or Bora Bora would likely cost us about $10,000. That's quite a chunk of change. That's more than some people spend on their whole wedding! Sadly, I highly doubt that glass floor hut is in the cards for our honeymoon. But a girl can dream right?!&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Trust me, this won't be the last of my dream honeymoon posts!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">What's your dream honeymoon?</div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/07/best-cure-for-stress.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-9184091262567967121Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:13:00 +00002010-07-09T15:14:17.216-04:00Weddings are full of them. Planning a wedding requires about 58,392 decisions to be made and in most cases, a number of compromises as well.<br /> <br /> One of our first big decisions and compromises came in picking a season for the wedding.<br /> <br /> I <i>love</i> fall. I get <i>so</i> excited when it starts to cool down a little and the leaves change colors and everything just feels all cozy.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgde2BIBRi86F6h31EDTDCwruE2rd0w27BtoKOv5qutiAd3J3TkKPWbE_4EBA-7U2MXSTedQn96WbdlET4z27TSwPJC5D8QG2K4P39P1SFv64_HWckPkCZuWc7UoTyTzqP8GRBFQiXE-ftF/s1600/thebeat.iloveny.com+fall+foliage+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgde2BIBRi86F6h31EDTDCwruE2rd0w27BtoKOv5qutiAd3J3TkKPWbE_4EBA-7U2MXSTedQn96WbdlET4z27TSwPJC5D8QG2K4P39P1SFv64_HWckPkCZuWc7UoTyTzqP8GRBFQiXE-ftF/s400/thebeat.iloveny.com+fall+foliage+pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thebeat.iloveny.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/oldforge-21.jpg">Source<a name='more'></a></a></div><br /> And oh.my.god. the apples. And apple cider!<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPhook4CNiJ4b6_AiMpyDA0YYJkk8DtmQEsmXxYwCVFKBxqrsGu9J4q_e-IgJMQlxl7W91HwG6EHHd3aIS95m969baIEdMRpfRgzhpX4nWd6nHQ4EaCmw70NONdaKKrnLPCZ12lrqzf5Z/s1600/hubimg.com+apple+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxPhook4CNiJ4b6_AiMpyDA0YYJkk8DtmQEsmXxYwCVFKBxqrsGu9J4q_e-IgJMQlxl7W91HwG6EHHd3aIS95m969baIEdMRpfRgzhpX4nWd6nHQ4EaCmw70NONdaKKrnLPCZ12lrqzf5Z/s400/hubimg.com+apple+tree.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s3.hubimg.com/u/1856034_f520.jpg">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCakb0ceUhnqgtv2on1S6KJsIjsXT_fVy62feQjxvkZTydbUJZlEIlaPhaUpJBUmKefZiHbmDs-2bH6cDD4VW6kI-kO6OdCZL3SFyry96W0hImblWQZIdsbY39PkCPO44s7ipcSOY7-li/s1600/smithsorchard.com+apple+cider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWCakb0ceUhnqgtv2on1S6KJsIjsXT_fVy62feQjxvkZTydbUJZlEIlaPhaUpJBUmKefZiHbmDs-2bH6cDD4VW6kI-kO6OdCZL3SFyry96W0hImblWQZIdsbY39PkCPO44s7ipcSOY7-li/s400/smithsorchard.com+apple+cider.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.smithsorchard.com/cover_pic700fr2.jpg">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">ohmygod. This post combined with the school supplies they had out at Target today is getting me all excited about fall. And only 2-3 months early!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">But this post is about decisions and compromises so as you are probably already guessing, we are not having a fall wedding.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">For one, as much as I like the color of changing leaves, it's a lot of color to have as your backdrop unless your wedding colors are fall colors as well. And the traditional fall colors just don't sing to me for our wedding. I know that there is no law that you must use orange, red, yellow and brown if your wedding happens to occur during the fall months, but we are really hoping to bring the outside in and I feel like there would be a lot of competition between colors.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPaJXURMGXosA3WEp4Rd3m1EbYxAabCMHeGGK34-SgHSYw79a-UkNWI3LijF9tDTSKEaxZfLXgRPgqDuz5jta4qTGjByewLd2Nz_d-4pjANl0BT46snmssH2Ri4Iao6bcx32ItSQn8-hnT/s1600/Fall+vs+Real+Colors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPaJXURMGXosA3WEp4Rd3m1EbYxAabCMHeGGK34-SgHSYw79a-UkNWI3LijF9tDTSKEaxZfLXgRPgqDuz5jta4qTGjByewLd2Nz_d-4pjANl0BT46snmssH2Ri4Iao6bcx32ItSQn8-hnT/s400/Fall+vs+Real+Colors.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Source: Me!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">We are also really hoping for an outside wedding and NY in the fall can get a little hit and miss with the weather. We've been in t-shirts up until Christmas some years and gotten snow in October some years. It's just a little too risky for me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHzGlVHoHM6ZFNqDLUiDC_g8G4ayt3eup21aV6vg_3uXbIwLHzIeyfdRWAF57F73Rdrst91RFTd2nqsCgEUeYAJbYzo-ylXjAW398SsyTTwKOPmz6-_T6-27Mbt5qml3nCfLslwWCLAXW/s1600/gettyimages.com+snowy+fall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHzGlVHoHM6ZFNqDLUiDC_g8G4ayt3eup21aV6vg_3uXbIwLHzIeyfdRWAF57F73Rdrst91RFTd2nqsCgEUeYAJbYzo-ylXjAW398SsyTTwKOPmz6-_T6-27Mbt5qml3nCfLslwWCLAXW/s400/gettyimages.com+snowy+fall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://gettyimages.com/">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">No, Thank you!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">But the biggest reason? I want our wedding to be an excuse for a big family reunion! One of my sisters lives all the way out in Colorado and we barely get to see her and her family! They come out every few years, when they can, but it never feels like enough. She and her husband have two of the cutest, craziest boys and they grow like weeds between the times we get to see them! I want them to be able to fly out and spend some time out here and not have to worry about coming out for just the weekend or taking the boys out of school for a long time. Along the same lines, I have 8 nieces and nephews and almost all of them are school age. I'd like to avoid making my sisters have to take their kids out of school and/or rush down for the weekend as well.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">So while I'm giving up my favorite season for our wedding, it's completely worth it to me. I can already picture our wedding week with all of our family together, hanging out, having fun and getting to spend some warm summer days catching up.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFSYhBNGxdKz42RyjLM5haIBlEuNi4eooXSvzNAXJmn3E0IOcqfvVbKcOR8BWkmxl057a5r9a4gEqspwUj7tRbKuPwpisNCsazHQDmUlbgNysiNtiFzNSuKZS9_-z6iDQ23uO6_6q9HuD/s1600/stonemountainpark.com+gmc+ultimate+family+reunion.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPFSYhBNGxdKz42RyjLM5haIBlEuNi4eooXSvzNAXJmn3E0IOcqfvVbKcOR8BWkmxl057a5r9a4gEqspwUj7tRbKuPwpisNCsazHQDmUlbgNysiNtiFzNSuKZS9_-z6iDQ23uO6_6q9HuD/s320/stonemountainpark.com+gmc+ultimate+family+reunion.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://stonemountainpark.com/">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> (So I realize that this isn't really a good "family reunion" picture, but I think it's <i>awesome</i>! I really feel like stealing that world tree and sticking it in my wedding designs.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">What compromises have you made? Did you have any happy oh-so-worth-it compromises?</div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/07/decisions-compromises.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-2110705550147276655Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:15:00 +00002010-07-08T13:15:52.827-04:00Notice the lack of posts lately? Well, I've been writing them. They just never make it out of draft stage.<br /> <br /> First of all I've been ridiculously busy. But second of all (and most of all) I am stressed out beyond belief. Like so stressed out I'm just plain angry. So maybe if I just let it all out there, something will give and I can get over it and move on.<br /> <a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> By the way, I'm 100% completely grateful for all that I have in my life, a loving family, fiance and friends, a great education, an awesome apartment, food in my belly, (some) money in my bank account. But, sometimes things suck, and I get grumpy. So if you are opposed to reading a little bit of venting (about wedding and non-wedding stuff), you might want to stop reading here. <br /> <br /> My biggest stressor right now is job related. I've been looking for a full-time, permanent job for a while now. I think we all know that the economy is bad and jobs are scarce and blah blah blah. It would be one thing if I just couldn't find a job at all. But that's not the problem! The problem is that Sean has a really well paying job here and he doesn't want to leave. I don't blame him either, if I were him, I probably would do the same thing. But it makes my choices really tough. I either have to ignore other positions outside of this area to stay here and possibly hurt my career path by doing so, or possibly take a great offer that requires me to move and live away from him. Neither of those choices are particularly appealing to me, but unless a really amazing job offer opens up around here, and quickly, it's going to come to that.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiCLgY1D-pGma8mdXNzj4erxBqA7ry50CpIwy5FP756rExe02jnzM2mML8xBzn8cqe3G30h-2G0D1Gi2I9fOPmSOZdSdDMjuI9DbBcCaN_kHuOvObpqslBsGJhv9PNhLH0OOC_dZ5oK8u/s1600/istockphoto+rock+and+hard+place.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiCLgY1D-pGma8mdXNzj4erxBqA7ry50CpIwy5FP756rExe02jnzM2mML8xBzn8cqe3G30h-2G0D1Gi2I9fOPmSOZdSdDMjuI9DbBcCaN_kHuOvObpqslBsGJhv9PNhLH0OOC_dZ5oK8u/s400/istockphoto+rock+and+hard+place.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp; <a href="http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-8806112-between-a-rock-and-hard-place.php">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Just in case you're wondering.. that's me stuck between a rock and a hard place. </div><br /> <br /> Then there is this wedding planning business. Gah. Do you know how long I've been searching for a venue? At first it was all cute and fun. It was like playing in a scavenger hunt. Now it's just exhausting and boring. I want to move on. I want to make some other wedding related decisions but so many things rely on our venue. I've actually been considering contacting wedding planners to see if they can do some sort of a la carte package and just help me find this freaking venue. I feel like once I get that decision made, I'll pick up speed again and I can do everything else on my own.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMyS95Jx1_azV2sYz6tb_azcJbotfriRFyp1kben5qG17XwEhcUBWE5SLnBgfgOqoLbcVaPowgccmFkp1pFxsPJc1rOsEyutU2BKTYleVYTRcPirYrL1972Sz9WpaFx9eBELX3b7dWOM_o/s1600/adamzyglis.com+magazine6+stressed+out+bride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMyS95Jx1_azV2sYz6tb_azcJbotfriRFyp1kben5qG17XwEhcUBWE5SLnBgfgOqoLbcVaPowgccmFkp1pFxsPJc1rOsEyutU2BKTYleVYTRcPirYrL1972Sz9WpaFx9eBELX3b7dWOM_o/s400/adamzyglis.com+magazine6+stressed+out+bride.jpg" width="400" />&nbsp;</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.adamzyglis.com/magazine6.html">Source</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><br /> Maybe, I'm just being lazy. I think part of me doesn't want to do wedding planning right now because I know it's not the most important thing in my life right now. My career decisions and my relationship with Sean are what's important. It's not that I don't want to get married, I <i>do</i>. But I feel like I have a cloud of more important decisions hanging over my wedding planning dreamland.<br /> <br /> AND! We just got this intern at work, and I have to share an office with him, and he drives me crazy for 8 hours a day. Seriously. It's awful. I <i>know</i> that's part of the reason I'm so crabby lately.<br /> <br /> Anyone have any advice to snap me out of my funk?http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/07/argh.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-9160943238316159628Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:24:00 +00002010-06-30T20:31:03.777-04:00Cake TopperI know that's kind of a weird thing to hate, but I do. I really, really dislike almost all kinds of birds. Let's go over a brief list of reasons why.<br /> <br /> 1. They are really loud<br /> 2. They poop all over the place<br /> 3. They're smart and kiniving<br /> 4. They are not very nice<br /> <a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> I get all freaked out when they fly near me. I get all pissed off when the poop all over my precious car. So, what does this have to do with weddings?<br /> <br /> I can't get the idea of a cute little bird cake topper out of my head! What the hell?! Can someone who hates birds have a pair on her wedding cake? I've got a long time to think about it so maybe I'll find something I love more before I need to buckle down and buy one. In the mean time let's look at pictures of some really cute ones.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwD6ClVQQKyhzgdy1fZrep-H1czFu5OD2CF0b8Bgo5tQH3DYarKe8UncV0W0EeIGa12XI_SievVcmCEaCZeFOvJ8q4KjTqvh_sNEBA_pdLmtfZW94OMvM6tohILlknktALNfk5DBFztOuX/s1600/Cake+Topper+Anna+Panik+CloseUP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwD6ClVQQKyhzgdy1fZrep-H1czFu5OD2CF0b8Bgo5tQH3DYarKe8UncV0W0EeIGa12XI_SievVcmCEaCZeFOvJ8q4KjTqvh_sNEBA_pdLmtfZW94OMvM6tohILlknktALNfk5DBFztOuX/s400/Cake+Topper+Anna+Panik+CloseUP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/annapanik?ga_search_query=annapanik&amp;ga_search_type=seller_usernames">annapanik</a>&nbsp;</div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFgEJio8aYGCP3xHbKRM6HupHR9pdRaOZCtdpiQO1jMfYZaG43xO-JkB_UyxbAU81sY2N1aQTGqUF57CNCroqJ38hVVcpRdspGKRdF4VuN7OjQiKtVTJ56pxD09vwvUvvVZEGaypA8GYq/s1600/Cake+Topper+Kikuike.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFgEJio8aYGCP3xHbKRM6HupHR9pdRaOZCtdpiQO1jMfYZaG43xO-JkB_UyxbAU81sY2N1aQTGqUF57CNCroqJ38hVVcpRdspGKRdF4VuN7OjQiKtVTJ56pxD09vwvUvvVZEGaypA8GYq/s400/Cake+Topper+Kikuike.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/kikuike?ga_search_query=kikuike&amp;ga_search_type=seller_usernames">Kikuike</a>&nbsp;</div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNqGkgS61ntiA8o3L_7SS3Jv8Jz2qpfHzlVvHtlrjwojDHFgx9YcA1EaPisetJMUbbtesYEqaSP74ZmdEc5axrgcz7kyWacgozEvovbxc9s6A-ELmvU0efqWTt_TIPckhAdXOVOSaZRmN/s1600/CakeTopper+RedLightStudio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizNqGkgS61ntiA8o3L_7SS3Jv8Jz2qpfHzlVvHtlrjwojDHFgx9YcA1EaPisetJMUbbtesYEqaSP74ZmdEc5axrgcz7kyWacgozEvovbxc9s6A-ELmvU0efqWTt_TIPckhAdXOVOSaZRmN/s400/CakeTopper+RedLightStudio.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/RedLightStudio?ga_search_query=red+light+studi&amp;ga_search_type=seller_usernames">&nbsp;Red Light Studio</a></div><br /> <br /> &nbsp;Have you had any unexpected oh-my-gah-i-have-to-have-that moments about something you would normally hate?http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/06/i-hate-birds.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3472000545970882246.post-5933621704093087382Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:32:00 +00002010-06-22T21:22:06.163-04:00Good. Me too.<br /> <br /> So I told you before about my <a href="http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/06/perfect-venue.html">venue wish list</a> and all about how I haven't found a venue we like. Well, we still haven't found anything. On top of that wish list is another secret wish list that I keep in my head that keeps me from liking a lot of our options.<br /> <br /> <a name='more'></a><br /> <br /> <b>Secret Wish #1</b><br /> A big fat design-it-all-myself tent wedding.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_675935807" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkiIXXrU7tgCpBFCUnig3RL4PUrccliCpX5PFHxNVXgFN94ZW1snzFWva6un1D9YcgbecCpWz30DtorwGqFX3lAzn7PEPMKTKzJvzY-gbBG6PKaPDRupn8oSpRqhHzWaj6eEDLVxwSd-C_/s400/highwirelighting.com+tentweddingpic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://highwirelighting.com/">Source</a>&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div>I know I said before that I was looking for some outside space and possibly a venue with great outside views. Well that was kind of a lie. I really just flat out want an outdoor tent wedding. Actually, I'd really like an outdoor wedding without the tent but since we live in New York and not California, I don't see that happening.<br /> <b><br /> </b><br /> <b>Secret Wish #2</b><br /> A river-front wedding.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr7NlBZAqOylDGmhevKVF7M2vKi1EwS9vFLQZAcwgB09tyO9Rp9IFHZ-3bW2cgPLuEmpWGzqU_EZi0jR3Tz-oFSJRe1BAAcROBdPH5eP1Px9dx79ds2Vf2FccSGEjHnhD2gAeL4coiTgK/s1600/newyorkfishinglakes.com+delaware+river.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCr7NlBZAqOylDGmhevKVF7M2vKi1EwS9vFLQZAcwgB09tyO9Rp9IFHZ-3bW2cgPLuEmpWGzqU_EZi0jR3Tz-oFSJRe1BAAcROBdPH5eP1Px9dx79ds2Vf2FccSGEjHnhD2gAeL4coiTgK/s400/newyorkfishinglakes.com+delaware+river.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">And again, I said before I'd be happy with any sort of water or mountain view but truthfully I think the only thing that could really satisfy me is a riverfront. Oceans and lakes are nice, sure, but my heart belongs with rivers. I'm sure most of you are rolling your eyes and probably with good reason. But I grew up on a river and it holds a special place in my heart. I love the sight and sound of the water flowing over the rocks, heck, I even love the smell (and that's <i>love</i> my friend! Have you ever smelled a river in the heat of Summer?) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: left;">So right now we are looking at maybe finding a state/county/local park that is waterfront and would allow us to set up a big tent and have a wedding on the grounds. Last weekend we drove around to a few state parks, Watkins Glen, Buttermilk, Robert Treman and Taughannock, but we didn't find a winner. I'll still post about that trip later though, because we had a lot of fun.<br /> <br /> Have any of you had a secret or not-so-secret venue wish list? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>http://lovelivelaughwed.blogspot.com/2010/06/wanna-talk-more-about-my-venue-search.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Samantha)1