Other Wedding Events Shower ~ Bachelorette Weekend ~ Wedding Week ~ Rehearsal & Dinner Shower August 11, 2007 By the food table at my beautiful shower - they even hung pictures of me and Eric over the years on the mirror! The food - sandwiches, potato salad, taco dip, veggies, fruit skewers, and strawberry lemonade - yum! With my wonderful shower hostesses My grandmother playing "Pin the Veil on the Bride" My sister and my cake (from Publix and oh-so-good) - designed to look like my invitation! They know my love of being detail-oriented! So many gifts! Everyone was so very generous. (What I wouldn't give to know what my sister-in-law as laughing at here...) With my bow bouquet for the rehearsal With all but one of my beautiful bridesmaids at the end of the shower - they were the best! Back To Top Bachelorette Weekend August 11~13, 2007 My sister planned an awesome weekend for me and 3 of the bridesmaids at Clearwater Beach. We had a blast! Heather giving me my veil, to be worn at all times during the weekend Cheers to a fun weekend! With my sister, ready to go out to the club! With cousin Molly at dinner With the girls at the club We met Subway Jared at the club! How random is that? Clearly, lots o' fun was had. What better way to start day #2 than with champagne for breakfast? At the beach, still with the veil With my sister at lunch, and LOTS of free drinks! That veil may not be so bad after all... At the club for night #2...what a fun weekend! Back To Top Wedding Week August 13~17, 2007 First things first: Marriage license! So excited! Bridesmaids Megan and Molly hard at work making my cardbox. They both flew in to FL for the week before the wedding and were SO helpful. I didn't think I needed help, but I did. They were godsends. Finished product! Cheap and functional, just what I was looking for. Eric and Megan helping me get organized Portioning rose petals for the centerpieces It wasn't all work and no play - we did take a day off to go to Busch Gardens to see my sister perform (she works there as a singer, obviously) Megan and I at Busch Gardens (in the rain) We also took the time to work on our pre-wedding tans! TIP: Invest in a strapless bathing suit for pre-wedding tanning. Tan lines on your wedding day are NOT your friend. Thursday before the wedding: Flowers have arrived from freshroses.com! Flowers packaged up 200 roses! Beautiful roses Assembly line: Heather and I stripped the stems while Molly and Megan trimmed the ends and put them in buckets of water and flower food. TIP: If doing your own flowers, enlist help! Even if you're not doing too many, the extra hands really help. Kristina, my mom, and Megan tying the ribbons on the pew flowers My mom and I working on the bridesmaids bouquets...this was tough for us because we wanted them to look "random." We didn't want the pinks and reds in any sort of pattern. However, we're both symmetry fanatics, so this was a bit of a battle. Admiring our forced randomness Heather "modeling" her bouquet I really didn't do any complicated flower arranging, but if anyone has questions about DIY flowers, I'd be happy to help! Page me on the West Coast FL or Wedding Recap boards. Friday before the wedding: Mani/pedi time! Kristina and Molly With Heather and Megan I'm officially ready for the wedding day! Bring it on! Back To Top Rehearsal & Dinner August 17, 2007 Processional practice! The boys So excited! Is he running away? Cold feet??? (Actually, he was practicing accommodating my giant dress. Smart boy.) With the bridesmaids Mingling with family and friends at the rehearsal dinner With the bridal party Our last night as unmarrieds! Bridal party opening their gifts from us: Bridesmaids each got a different tote bag from NYandCompany.com, pajamas from Victoria's Secret, shower gel, body lotion & sponge from Bath and Body Works, lip gloss and cosmetic bags from ELF.com, and personalized photobooks from MyPublisher.com. Groomsmen each got a personalized bobblehead from WhoopAssEnterprises.com TIP: If you're doing the tote bag thing for bridesmaids, or just want to get them lots of stuff, start collecting things early so you can look for sales! I got everything for and including their bags on sale, so they were able to get a lot more (and much nicer) stuff for less money. Kristina showing off her photobook My sister looking at her photobook with my mom Groomsmen showing off their bobbleheads TIP: Personal gifts are best for the bridal party! Whether each gift is completely different or just has a little bit of a personal touch, it makes it much more meaningful. I got the bridesmaids the "same" thing, but made it personal to each of them - picked tote bags in their fave colors or patterns I thought they'd like, PJs that fit their personalities, bath stuff in their favorite scents, etc...but their favorite part of the gift was the personal photobooks I made for each of them. If it comes from the heart and shows you were thinking of THEM, it'll be a hit. Some of my most favorite people! Back To Top