Wednesday, December 22, 2010
More presents!
My first wedding present for future hubby arrived yesterday from Hong Kong! Pretty excited as it wasn't supposed to come for another month, although now I kind of want to make it a Christmas present. I like shopping early because you have more time to find something perfect, but then as soon as I find something I always want to give it to the person right away. But I'll be good and tuck it away with the bridesmaids' presents that I really want to give too.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Honeymoon!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Wedding Shoes - Round 2
As much as I liked the idea of blue wedding shoes, the 3 pairs of blue shoes I ordered last summer have all been returned. My dress just didn't look right with sapphire blue, and I don't want another shade of blue. So next stop on the shoe journey...glitzy flats. Not completely sure how I feel about wearing flats yet, but Zappos makes it so easy with their 2 way free shipping and a whole year for returns! Another pair is on its way :)
Friday, November 12, 2010
Big Planning Day!
After a lovely escape from the New England chill, I'm back from Florida and ready to tackle more wedding planning! Both my mom and I took the day off from work for an action packed day of veil shopping, meeting with the florist, and finally meeting up with the groom and his mom for the Wentworth Grand Tasting! We could have opted for a private tasting our of wedding food, but I think going to the Grand Tasting will be more fun, as we will get to meet some of the other couples getting married at the Wentworth next summer. Also our cake maker will be in attendance, as well as our florist. I can't wait to taste all the yummy food and see the ballrooms all decorated for a mock wedding!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Bridesmaids Gifts
Bridesmaids' gifts have been ordered! I've been thinking about this one for awhile now and I can't wait to see them when they arrive! I like them so much I had to get one for me too. Only 7 1/2 more months until I can give them to my girls!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
I miss wedding planning!
So I've really been neglecting my blog over the last couple of months because I haven't been wedding planning!! Work was crazy up until the 9/15 tax deadline, we managed to squeeze in enough time to get a puppy, and now work is super busy again for the 10/15 deadline. I'm hoping once this deadline passes I can resume planning and really get into things again.
Since the last post I did schedule our engagement photo session (2 weeks from yesterday!!) and Arthur and I attended our precana/pre-marital counseling weekend. We didn't learn anything overly surprising about each other, but they did bring up a few items we hadn't thought about before. We also have our menu tasting scheduled at the Wentworth in November. Next on my radar is finalizing save the dates!
Since the last post I did schedule our engagement photo session (2 weeks from yesterday!!) and Arthur and I attended our precana/pre-marital counseling weekend. We didn't learn anything overly surprising about each other, but they did bring up a few items we hadn't thought about before. We also have our menu tasting scheduled at the Wentworth in November. Next on my radar is finalizing save the dates!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Stage Neck Inn
Monday, August 9, 2010
Portsmouth Explorations
Sunday I spent most of the day exploring Portsmouth with Arthur and his parents. It was his Mom's birthday, so we took them to the brunch at the Wentworth that is held in the Grand Ballroom. It was so fun to go back to the Wentworth and show the Andersen's around. Service was impeccable - everyone we talked to was so helpful and nice. I would highly recommend the brunch at the Wentworth - by far the best I've ever had. I loved seeing the Wentworth again and just sitting and soaking in all the details of the room where we will hold our reception. We also got to meet Gina, our new contact at the Wentworth. I originally had talked with Gina, but then we were working with Jenni, but she left the Wentworth, so now we have Gina again, which is even better because she was Jenni's boss.
After the Wentworth we visited tons of restaurants - probably almost every restaurant in Portsmouth that has a private room for our ~35 person rehearsal dinner! After Portsmouth we checked out a few places in Kittery & York. We also stopped by the hotel where we have reserved a block of room to show them the rooms there. After all our visits the four of us sat down and talked about our top choices. One of them definitely stood out as a favorite for everyone, so we are going to look into this place further and hopefully secure it as our rehearsal dinner venue! All in all, a very productive day, and fun to finally be able to show the Andersens some of the places we've been talking about and visiting over the last few months.
After the Wentworth we visited tons of restaurants - probably almost every restaurant in Portsmouth that has a private room for our ~35 person rehearsal dinner! After Portsmouth we checked out a few places in Kittery & York. We also stopped by the hotel where we have reserved a block of room to show them the rooms there. After all our visits the four of us sat down and talked about our top choices. One of them definitely stood out as a favorite for everyone, so we are going to look into this place further and hopefully secure it as our rehearsal dinner venue! All in all, a very productive day, and fun to finally be able to show the Andersens some of the places we've been talking about and visiting over the last few months.
The Dress
I found my dress!!!
It was the second one I tried on. I had a feeling when I put it on that I wouldn't see anything else quite like it, and I was right. Dress shopping was so fun and easy! It was just me, my mom, and our stylist (sales lady? not sure her official title) Mackenzie, so I felt completed focused on the dresses. I described to her what I thought I intuitively would want, but asked her to try on a dress in every silhouette. She was amazing at figuring out exactly what I wanted, what worked on my shape & height, what would look best in our venue, everything. She found my perfect dress. I ended up with exactly the silhouette I thought I would want, but the fabric and details were not what I thought I would be drawn to, but better than anything I had imagined. The dress is from a newer designer out of Hong Kong. He's got a big presence in Japan and the UK, but is just starting to break into the US, so that's kind of fun.
Being me, I couldn't buy the dress on the spot. Mackenzie took down all the information and told us to call back if we decided to go through with it. My mom and I talked about it all afternoon, and called back at the end of the day. Because I didn't buy the dress right away they hadn't taken measurements, so we get to go back next week to take measurements and of course try the dress on again!! I can't wait to see it then!
It was the second one I tried on. I had a feeling when I put it on that I wouldn't see anything else quite like it, and I was right. Dress shopping was so fun and easy! It was just me, my mom, and our stylist (sales lady? not sure her official title) Mackenzie, so I felt completed focused on the dresses. I described to her what I thought I intuitively would want, but asked her to try on a dress in every silhouette. She was amazing at figuring out exactly what I wanted, what worked on my shape & height, what would look best in our venue, everything. She found my perfect dress. I ended up with exactly the silhouette I thought I would want, but the fabric and details were not what I thought I would be drawn to, but better than anything I had imagined. The dress is from a newer designer out of Hong Kong. He's got a big presence in Japan and the UK, but is just starting to break into the US, so that's kind of fun.
Being me, I couldn't buy the dress on the spot. Mackenzie took down all the information and told us to call back if we decided to go through with it. My mom and I talked about it all afternoon, and called back at the end of the day. Because I didn't buy the dress right away they hadn't taken measurements, so we get to go back next week to take measurements and of course try the dress on again!! I can't wait to see it then!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Invitations
Now that Phase one and 2/3 of Phase two of planning are complete, I am starting to be able to focus on some of the fun smaller details. I have really been looking forward to designing the invitations because I absolutely adore stationary. I love Papyrus cards because you can tell a lot of thought went into the details of the card, and sometimes on my lunch breaks I'll wander through Crane & Company to look at all the pretty designs. I'm also a big fan of personalized anything and love getting things monogrammed. So designing my own wedding invites = super fun.
I am very blessed to come from a remarkably talented family. One of these talented members is my cousin Hannah, a recent graphic design graduate. She has a great eye and I knew I wanted to have her design our invites right away. You can check our her blog here. She also has an Etsy site too! I'm pretty certain I remember telling Arthur on own cruise that I wanted to have Hannah design our invites both because of her great style and because I think it makes it so much more special to include family whenever possible in our wedding planning & celebration.
Hannah and I have been brainstorming ideas this week and it has been a blast. Hannah saw my vision right away and has had lots of great ideas already. I think this may turn out to be one of my favorite parts of planning!
I am very blessed to come from a remarkably talented family. One of these talented members is my cousin Hannah, a recent graphic design graduate. She has a great eye and I knew I wanted to have her design our invites right away. You can check our her blog here. She also has an Etsy site too! I'm pretty certain I remember telling Arthur on own cruise that I wanted to have Hannah design our invites both because of her great style and because I think it makes it so much more special to include family whenever possible in our wedding planning & celebration.
Hannah and I have been brainstorming ideas this week and it has been a blast. Hannah saw my vision right away and has had lots of great ideas already. I think this may turn out to be one of my favorite parts of planning!
Name Change
I think its pretty obvious from the title of this blog that I intend to take Arthur's name when I get married. What I can't decide on is whether or not to keep my maiden name or my middle name.
Luckily both my maiden name and middle name start with the same letter, so I supposed it doesn't matter that much, as it's usually only the middle initial that is ever used. But still, I think it is an important decision. I like my middle name because it is also my Mom's middle name. But I also like my maiden name because it's my family name. I'm not opposed to hyphenated names, but in my case I think it would be too long. I'm pretty sure Arthur wouldn't be fan either.
Anyone care to share their thoughts?
Luckily both my maiden name and middle name start with the same letter, so I supposed it doesn't matter that much, as it's usually only the middle initial that is ever used. But still, I think it is an important decision. I like my middle name because it is also my Mom's middle name. But I also like my maiden name because it's my family name. I'm not opposed to hyphenated names, but in my case I think it would be too long. I'm pretty sure Arthur wouldn't be fan either.
Anyone care to share their thoughts?
Big Wedding Weekend
So tomorrow is the big day - first round of dress shopping!! I'm so excited. It hasn't been a very good work week, so having this to look forward to has been really nice. Finding my dress hasn't been very high on my priority list, but now that it's time I think it's going to be so fun. For this first appointment it is just going to be me and my Mom, which I think will be really special. I am so blessed to have a wonderful relationship with her - I only wish we got to spend more time in person together. Having her in Manchester rather than Maine has made it much easier though. I have a good idea in my head of the kind of dress I think I will pick, but I think it's going to be super fun trying on all kinds of styles (with my blue wedding shoes that arrived this week!) And who knows, I might surprise myself and pick something totally different.
After dress shopping, both my Mom and I are heading to a bridal shower for my future sister-in-law, Ashley. 2011 is a big year for the Andersen family - both sons are getting married! As I love all things wedding I think it will be a fun afternoon, and also really great to meet Ashley's family and friends.
Sunday the wedding planning continues in Portsmouth. Arthur, his parents, and I will spend the afternoon in Portsmouth scouting out rehearsal dinner locations. It will also be the first time we get to show them the Wentworth. Should be a really nice day.
After dress shopping, both my Mom and I are heading to a bridal shower for my future sister-in-law, Ashley. 2011 is a big year for the Andersen family - both sons are getting married! As I love all things wedding I think it will be a fun afternoon, and also really great to meet Ashley's family and friends.
Sunday the wedding planning continues in Portsmouth. Arthur, his parents, and I will spend the afternoon in Portsmouth scouting out rehearsal dinner locations. It will also be the first time we get to show them the Wentworth. Should be a really nice day.
Photographer!
We have a photographer! Well two. We met with Chris from DMPJ last night and he was great! I'm so excited to have that checked off my list.
I fell in love with DMPJ as soon as I saw their portfolio. As I've mentioned before, the photographs are a very important element of our wedding and we both are drawn to the photojournalism style. Formal portraits are nice because you can get all the important people into one shot, but to me the pictures captured in between are so beautiful and really let the pictures tell the story of your day. Unfortunately the term "photojournalist" is thrown around really loosely these days, so it took awhile to find a studio that truly was dedicated to that style. Both Chris, our lead photographer, and Glen, the head of the studio, have newspaper experience, and have covered a variety of events. Glen also directs the photojournalism department of the New England School of Photography. I am very happy with our choice.
If you want to check them out here's their website.
Can't wait for our engagement session!
I fell in love with DMPJ as soon as I saw their portfolio. As I've mentioned before, the photographs are a very important element of our wedding and we both are drawn to the photojournalism style. Formal portraits are nice because you can get all the important people into one shot, but to me the pictures captured in between are so beautiful and really let the pictures tell the story of your day. Unfortunately the term "photojournalist" is thrown around really loosely these days, so it took awhile to find a studio that truly was dedicated to that style. Both Chris, our lead photographer, and Glen, the head of the studio, have newspaper experience, and have covered a variety of events. Glen also directs the photojournalism department of the New England School of Photography. I am very happy with our choice.
If you want to check them out here's their website.
Can't wait for our engagement session!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wedding Shoes
 |
I knew as soon as I was engaged that I wanted to wear sapphire blue shoes under my dress. I LOVE sapphire blue. I think my friend Molly is convinced it's the only color I buy. Sadly I will not be getting these shoes (even though they are sitting right down the street from my office) because 1) they are redic expensive and 2) they are 4 1/4 inches high, which would put me about an inch taller than Arthur.
So I scoured the internet and have ordered 2 similar pairs that are in my price range and in 2 and 1 1/2 inch heels. Can't wait for them to arrive!!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
DJ-check!!
We have a DJ! And pianist for cocktail hour and dinner! I'm a little excited.
So on Sunday we had a few leads on DJs but nothing concrete. We also had previously found a photographer, Nathan from DMPJ, who we both LOVED, but he wasn't available. I was starting to feel a bit of pressure, as I had taken almost a month off from planning and still had some big elements up in the air. So I did what I do when I stressed - get to work and start checking things off my list!
Also side note - I watched "Say Yes to the Dress" for the first time last week, which realllly made me nervous to go dress shopping. I got over after a day, as my Mom and bridesmaids are nothing like some of the people they feature on that show. But it did freak me out a bit at first.
This week has been a very lonnnnng work week, but very productive wedding wise. We talked to the wonderful business manager, Asha, at DMPJ again, and it is looking very optimistic that we can find an alternative photographer with the same style, and still get to work with Asha and her husband Glen (who would be our photo editor). They are both so talented and easy to work with I really did not want to let them go. Nothing is signed yet - we meet with Chris a week from today to make sure its a good match - so we remain optimistic, but not yet celebratory.
The DJ we can celebrate!!
My stress level is now only work related. I really do adore wedding planning.
And I'm started to get really excited to try wedding gowns on. 10 days!
So on Sunday we had a few leads on DJs but nothing concrete. We also had previously found a photographer, Nathan from DMPJ, who we both LOVED, but he wasn't available. I was starting to feel a bit of pressure, as I had taken almost a month off from planning and still had some big elements up in the air. So I did what I do when I stressed - get to work and start checking things off my list!
Also side note - I watched "Say Yes to the Dress" for the first time last week, which realllly made me nervous to go dress shopping. I got over after a day, as my Mom and bridesmaids are nothing like some of the people they feature on that show. But it did freak me out a bit at first.
This week has been a very lonnnnng work week, but very productive wedding wise. We talked to the wonderful business manager, Asha, at DMPJ again, and it is looking very optimistic that we can find an alternative photographer with the same style, and still get to work with Asha and her husband Glen (who would be our photo editor). They are both so talented and easy to work with I really did not want to let them go. Nothing is signed yet - we meet with Chris a week from today to make sure its a good match - so we remain optimistic, but not yet celebratory.
The DJ we can celebrate!!
My stress level is now only work related. I really do adore wedding planning.
And I'm started to get really excited to try wedding gowns on. 10 days!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Hello Again!
Wow - I can't believe it's been a month since my last post, and exactly three months since Arthur proposed! Time really is flying. So a quick update on everything.
First I want to congratulate my cousin (and bridesmaid) Amanda on her engagement last week!! I'm so excited for her - she will undoubtedly be a great planner and beautiful bride. Best wishes to you and Mark!
Second, the planning. All along I've sort of thought of my planning in three distinct phases.
Phase 1: Essentials - venue, church, minister - the items needed to set a date! Phase 1 is of course complete, so I sort of checked out of wedding planning to work on the engagement party. After the party was over Arthur and I had a week off, which I thought would probably include lots of planning, but instead filled with fun & relaxing.
Since we got home from our vacation I had been going full steam on Phase 2, High Impact Elements. For me those are the photographer, one of the few elements that will be left over after the big day, the DJ/music for a great atmosphere, and my dress. We've met with a couple of photographers now so that process is well underway, I've got my first dress appointment scheduled (and have started my get in wedding shape plan), and have started contacting DJs. Phase 2 planning is really exciting but a little stressful at the same time because these 3 elements are all really important to me. I know I would be disappointed if I didn't have wonderful pictures to document everything we've spent a year planning and the beginning of our life together. A DJ really can set the tone of wedding - fun, cheesy, dull, etc. I definitely don't want anyone stuffy because I want everyone to have a great time, but I also do not want things like the chicken dance or an overly interactive DJ. Just sometime to keep the flow of events moving, get people on the dance floor, and then let the rest unfold naturally. Then the dress. I don't really want to say much about that, mostly because I'm not breathing a word to Arthur about it, other than it will be white...
Finally Phase 3, the details. Really everything else like the invitations, favors, flowers, tuxes, etc. I'm super excited to get to these. For me, there won't be as much pressure as each a smaller elements with lots of options. I've also worked on a few of these elements in the last couple of weeks - bridesmaids dresses have been picked, started to look at different readings for the ceremony, I scheduled our pre cana counseling, and we scouted a few rehearsal dinner location options.
All and all I'm very pleased with how the planning is coming. Unfortunately work has really picked up for the summer busy season, but despite the 60 hour work weeks I don't think that will really deter me too much. Hopefully I'll be able to blog in a bit more detail later, but that's where things stand as of now :)
First I want to congratulate my cousin (and bridesmaid) Amanda on her engagement last week!! I'm so excited for her - she will undoubtedly be a great planner and beautiful bride. Best wishes to you and Mark!
Second, the planning. All along I've sort of thought of my planning in three distinct phases.
Phase 1: Essentials - venue, church, minister - the items needed to set a date! Phase 1 is of course complete, so I sort of checked out of wedding planning to work on the engagement party. After the party was over Arthur and I had a week off, which I thought would probably include lots of planning, but instead filled with fun & relaxing.
Since we got home from our vacation I had been going full steam on Phase 2, High Impact Elements. For me those are the photographer, one of the few elements that will be left over after the big day, the DJ/music for a great atmosphere, and my dress. We've met with a couple of photographers now so that process is well underway, I've got my first dress appointment scheduled (and have started my get in wedding shape plan), and have started contacting DJs. Phase 2 planning is really exciting but a little stressful at the same time because these 3 elements are all really important to me. I know I would be disappointed if I didn't have wonderful pictures to document everything we've spent a year planning and the beginning of our life together. A DJ really can set the tone of wedding - fun, cheesy, dull, etc. I definitely don't want anyone stuffy because I want everyone to have a great time, but I also do not want things like the chicken dance or an overly interactive DJ. Just sometime to keep the flow of events moving, get people on the dance floor, and then let the rest unfold naturally. Then the dress. I don't really want to say much about that, mostly because I'm not breathing a word to Arthur about it, other than it will be white...
Finally Phase 3, the details. Really everything else like the invitations, favors, flowers, tuxes, etc. I'm super excited to get to these. For me, there won't be as much pressure as each a smaller elements with lots of options. I've also worked on a few of these elements in the last couple of weeks - bridesmaids dresses have been picked, started to look at different readings for the ceremony, I scheduled our pre cana counseling, and we scouted a few rehearsal dinner location options.
All and all I'm very pleased with how the planning is coming. Unfortunately work has really picked up for the summer busy season, but despite the 60 hour work weeks I don't think that will really deter me too much. Hopefully I'll be able to blog in a bit more detail later, but that's where things stand as of now :)
Friday, June 25, 2010
Engagement Party
It's been a very busy week at work, so I'm a little behind on my posting, but I'm back now! The engagement party was so wonderful - everything I was hoping for and then some. The week before I got all the cleaning & cooking done so that Saturday morning could be spend decorating and setting up. First we transformed the backyard with paper lanterns, a few tents, some balloons, and lots of chairs. Then we got everything else ready! Mr. & Mrs. Andersen, my parents, and my surprise visitor, Aunt Sheryl, were so helpful and made everything come together. We had around 50 people show up - a great mix of the Andersen & McGowan families, Bentley grads, Sudbury high school friends, Maine bffs, Cornell classmates, Deloitters, and Ropes co-workers. Thank you to everyone who came!!
Menu
Hamburgers
Hotdogs
BBQ Chicken
Pasta Salad
Chips & French Onion Dip
Fruit Salad
Veggies & Ranch Dip
Cookies
Brownies
Pound Cake
For those of you who wanted the Lemonade cocktail recipe here it is:
3 parts Frozen Lemonade (I mixed both pink & plain) made with half plain water, half seltzer water.
1 part Vodka. For the vodka I mixed plain vodka with a splash of X-Rated Fusion Liqueur. Probably about 3 parts plain to 1 part X-Rated.
Most of the recipes I read called for a 1 to 1 Lemonade - Vodka ratio, so I'd play around with the ratios based on your preferences. Given the almost 90 degree weather and afternoon setting I went more with a spiked lemonade ratio, rather than hardcore cocktails. Personally I'm a fan of the X-rated liqueur, so I go a bit heavier on that when making ones for me :)
These were one of my favorite details of the party. I just couldn't resist!
Can't wait for June 4, 2011.
It was also the first time all the bridesmaids got to meet each other. I was so happy they could all make it. I really can't think of a better wedding party. And such stylish ladies too!
As I said before - it was perfect. Laid back afternoon BBQ with perfect weather, surrounded by lots of our favorite people. Can't wait to plan the next party!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Engagement Party Prep
Our engagement party is only 2 days away! Needless to say, I'm getting quite excited. We are anticipating between 50-60 people, which is absolutely wonderful, as I love entertaining. It will also be great for our friends & family to meet each other and to visit with people we haven't seen in awhile . The forcasted temperature has varied throughout the week, but it looks like it should definitely be sunny and between 80-90 degrees. Perfect BBQ weather :)
The real Mrs. Andersen and my Mom are bringing most of the food, and I've been busy all week gathering party supplies, testing cocktail recipes, and getting decorations ready. Arthur's also been super helpful getting some condo improvements done too. Tonight I will begin some of the food prep starting with homemade BBQ sauce and spice rub (recipe courtesy of mom of maid of honor, Mrs. Shea). I've had Mrs. Shea's BBQ chicken before and its delicious, so hopefully I can do it justice.
It's been a fun week getting things ready, but now I'm ready for the real fun. Can't wait to see some of you on Saturday!
The real Mrs. Andersen and my Mom are bringing most of the food, and I've been busy all week gathering party supplies, testing cocktail recipes, and getting decorations ready. Arthur's also been super helpful getting some condo improvements done too. Tonight I will begin some of the food prep starting with homemade BBQ sauce and spice rub (recipe courtesy of mom of maid of honor, Mrs. Shea). I've had Mrs. Shea's BBQ chicken before and its delicious, so hopefully I can do it justice.
It's been a fun week getting things ready, but now I'm ready for the real fun. Can't wait to see some of you on Saturday!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Wedding Website
First bit of the wedding website is complete. Here's a preview: www.stephanieandarthur.weddingwindow.com
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Groomsmen & Website
Arthur has finalized his groomsmen so we now have a complete wedding party! Our groomsmen will be Arthur's brother Jonathan, my brother Phil, and friends Rob, Allen, Michael, & Fleischmann. We are very excited about each of them.
We have also been working on a wedding website. Now that some of the bigger details have been worked out, we are almost ready to share the link. So stayed tuned, it will be up soon!
We have also been working on a wedding website. Now that some of the bigger details have been worked out, we are almost ready to share the link. So stayed tuned, it will be up soon!
Monday, June 7, 2010
It's Official
June 4, 2011!!
Everything worked out great this weekend, so our date is officially set. We met with the priest at St. James Church in Portsmouth and set everything up with him to be married there. The location is great in relation to the Wentworth (less than 3 miles from one place to the next). After finishing at the church, the groom and I scouted out some of the area hotels for places for people to stay next year. Portsmouth has a lot of options, but we came across a wonderful new hotel that had only open 1 1/2 weeks ago. Beautiful inside, and a great spot right in the downtown area, again about 3 miles from the Wentworth. All in all, a very productive wedding weekend.
Up next: The Engagement Party!
Everything worked out great this weekend, so our date is officially set. We met with the priest at St. James Church in Portsmouth and set everything up with him to be married there. The location is great in relation to the Wentworth (less than 3 miles from one place to the next). After finishing at the church, the groom and I scouted out some of the area hotels for places for people to stay next year. Portsmouth has a lot of options, but we came across a wonderful new hotel that had only open 1 1/2 weeks ago. Beautiful inside, and a great spot right in the downtown area, again about 3 miles from the Wentworth. All in all, a very productive wedding weekend.
Up next: The Engagement Party!
Friday, June 4, 2010
One Year Countdown
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Bridesmaids!
Each of the girls I chose has played an important role at different stages during my life. They are all very special to me, and have been so welcoming to Arthur and supportive of our relationship. I am very happy they will be standing with us on our big day.
So the McGowan/Andersen bridesmaids are Amanda, Sarah, Lauren, Maria, Tina, & Etienne! Once I had decided on my bridal party I wanted to be able to ask each of them in a special way. Armed with chocolates and a card, I attempted to see each of them in person, or at least deliver the sweets to them myself. (Etienne, I owe you chocolates!) It took a few weeks, but everyone has now been asked (and accepted!) so the bridal is complete!
The girls:
Amanda is my cousin, and as I do not have a sister I felt very strongly about including her representing family in my wedding party. Amanda is a few months older than me, so has in essence, known me my entire life. We shared countless memories growing up (I still know your parents phone number by heart, I called it so many times in junior high!), and I'm so excited to be able to spend more time with her while planning the wedding.
Sarah is my oldest friend and maid of honor. Sarah & I officially met when I invited her to my 8th birthday, although we probably had met earlier, as our brothers went to preschool together. Sarah & Mike came on several family vacations, our moms call each other sistah, and I truly consider Sarah my sister from my second mother. Even though I told you long ago that I wouldn't subject you to being maid of honor because of your dislike of all things girly & wedding, I have since decided those sentiments were just to get under your mom's skin. I'm so thrilled to have you as my maid of honor.
Lauren & Maria. I don't remember exactly when we met, but I know it was at church, and I'm guessing somewhere around age 10. Most of my memories with each of you include the other, probably because you two are so close. So many of my "firsts" growing up include the both of you, from the first time I stayed up ALL night (Maria's birthday sleepover), to my first car accident (poor deer), to sneaking our first sips of rum (sorry again, Mom), you guys have been there. I can't imagine getting married for the first time without you there! (jk Arthur, ONLY time)
Tina is one of the first really good friends I met at Bentley. We shared a class first semester of freshman year and have remained friends since. We took many of the same classes throughout Bentley, and most of our study sessions were spent with a good portion catching up and analyzing each other lives. Tina has impeccable taste in music, and introduced me to one of the artists I'm considering a first dance song. She is also probably one of the sweetest people I've ever known, and I'm so pleased she will be there to help analyze wedding details.
Last, but not least, is Etienne. Etienne went to law school with Arthur and is one of his closest friends. I've always liked the idea of mixing up the bridal parties a bit, and as Etienne has known Arthur longer than I have, she represents a new stage of my life, my life with Arthur. Plus is Etienne super friendly and nice and absolutely impossible not to like! Congrats again on your beautiful wedding, and I can't wait to chat more when you get back from your honeymoon!
Thank you all in advance! I'm so happy to share this experience with each one of you.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Wentworth
Today we visited the Wentworth by the Sea Hotel & Resort and loved it! The grounds were gorgeous, the ocean views picture perfect, and grand ballroom exactly what we were envisioning. They have an area with outside access for our cocktail hour, which was very important to us, and we liked the mix of indoor and outdoor space. The wedding coordinator was great, really informative and assuring. The attention to detail was very impressive. We still have some other logistics to work out (such as finding our church), but they are holding Saturday, June 4, 2011 for us! Can't wait to see if everything works out. Here are a few more pictures.
Some outside views
The Grand Ballroom
Front of Hotel & Historic Gardens
Marina
Date Night
Last night we took a break from the wedding planning for a double date with Sarah & Chris. Sarah and I had been chatting a few months ago about finding a time for them to visit, and I had heard about this place, Create a Cook, that did couples cooking classes. We signed up for A Night in Venice and had a fabulous time! We made a Risotto with peas, Wilted spinach and Swiss chard salad, oven roasted quail with sausage stuffing, and Tirami sù.
Hand stuffed quail
Sarah & Chris in action
Arthur finishing our Tirami sù
Our teacher, Moe
Finished products!
Friday, May 14, 2010
A Shout-Out to The Bride
I just wanted to give The Bride my never-ending thanks for all the research she's done so far. Although we're not all that far along yet, I can assure everyone that without all her efforts we would be nowhere close to where we are today.
Thanks, Sweetheart.
Thanks, Sweetheart.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Venues, Venues, Venues
The venue. Finding the one seems almost as elusive as finding 'the one'. Lots of really nice places out there, but nothing we've found yet seems to have that je ne sais quoi. We've cast a wide net, both in location and date, so the possibilities seem endless, but its definitely an information overload. Ideally the venue would be seaside (see The Harbor View Hotel above, my inspiration place), anywhere from Maine to Massachusetts, with both indoor and outdoor facilities, and have easy access for guest lodging. I like the idea of celebrating in a place the guests could also stay, but don't like the idea of a hotel ballroom, unless it was a really charming ballroom. Definitely would need windows, hopefully overlooking the ocean. Or could be something on a lake. Or a vineyard.
On Saturday we toured 2 venues: Searles Castle and Zorvino Vineyards.
There were a lot of positives to Searles. Pictures would be awesome, grounds are perfect (dinner in a tent, cocktail hour in the courtyard & first floor of castle), beautiful bridal suite, impressive event coordinator, plenty of parking, etc. Biggest drawback is guest lodging. Windham doesn't seem to have anything, closest town in Salem, NH which is really limited and neither town were particularly charming. So Searles is in the running, just not love at first sight.
Zorvinos unfortunately is out. I love the idea of a reception in a wine vineyard. Sadly the vines here looked more like a big garden, which is not exactly the Napa style I was hoping for. The grounds have some nice elements, but everything seemed a bit staged to me (especially the heart shaped pond). While the grounds would probably be a nice picture background, there isn't a patio or deck for guest to enjoy them, and I'd really like an outdoor cocktail hour. Tasty wine though! Definitely would recommend the complimentary tastings.
So the search continues.
I've done a lot of research this week and have been asking everyone for ideas and recommendations. Several more promising options have surfaced, particularly Wentworth By The Sea and The Exeter Inn. Both are historic hotels/inns, which I love, you get the charm and the ability for guests to stay! The Wentworth is in Portsmouth and The Exeter is in, well Exeter, which are so classic New England. I'm particularly excited to see The Wentworth and have an appointment on Sunday. I love that it is a restored hotel with so much history (Teddy Roosevelt stayed there and hosted peace talks between Japan & Russia!), it's on the ocean, has tons of amenities (hello spa...and golf for the boys), can have the cocktail hour outside, and dinner in the original ballroom from 1870's. Portsmouth would be as central a location as you can get when you guests coming from ME, MA, NH, RI, NY, and for everyone flying in Boston, Portland, or Manchester are all convenient. As the venue search has evolved over the last couple of weeks I've realized that my guests' comfort is really important to me. (probably why interest in Martha's Vineyard has been fading...it's a lot of work to get to!). I've never thought of New Hampshire as the place I'd get married, but I'm really getting a good feeling!
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Groom's backstory
It seemed like it was about time for an entry post for "The Groom"... best place to start is probably the part of the story the future Mrs. didn't know.
I won't try to write down the reasons I decided to propose because those are a bit too personal for a public blog, but I will say when - New Year's. A lot of people become engaged around New Year's, probably because there's a lot of excitement around with the end of one year and the beginning of the next - the metaphor to one's life story at engagement is pretty clear. For me, its always been a point in the year where I like to size up where I've been, where I want to be, etc. I looked back at 2009 and watched our relationship play back and forth in my head and thought about what I wanted over the next year. I realized then that whenever I thought about my future she was in it.
Nevertheless, I've always told myself that I would never make such a big decision without being at least a year into a relationship and I told myself that I would keep to that. Not yet knowing when, I began passing subtle hints and testing the waters (I also believe that one should never pop the question without knowing what the answer would be, so I had to figure that out too.) We went "window-shopping" at Tiffany's in NYC over New Year's to get a sense of her style. (For Christmas I had bought her a small "I love you" ring from Tiffany's - while my decision was not made at that time, the thoughts were there and I figured that it was never too early to start gaining intelligence about ring sizes, etc. Buying that ring not only gave her a great present but also taught me all about her finger sizes - information I filed away for future reference.)
I knew this would get her all excited (and suspicious), so I let her talk - the whole ride home from NYC she read the Tiffany's book and educated herself and me about all things diamond. I intentionally let any excitement/suspicion fade into the woodwork for a while. Life continued - I closed on the condo, she helped me pick out furniture, paint, etc. Her birthday came and passed. So did Valentine's Day, as well as numerous "date nights" that could have been interpreted as opportunities.
Sometime in February, we decided to book our Caribbean cruise. As soon as we did, I began thinking about that as the intended timeframe. I did whatever I could to not tip her off on that, however, so I let everything sit for a few more weeks. In March, I decided that I would have to get cracking if it were going to actually happen in late April. As March/April is the beak of busy season at work for the future Mrs., I figured that I'd be able to find some time over the weekends to do some ring research without tipping her off; what I didn't plan on was being just as busy myself ever since January, so I lost my weekend time as well.
Finally in March she had to go into the office when I didn't, so I decided to grab the opporunity. I took a drive out to Tiffany's in Chestnut Hill (not realizing at the time that EVERYTHING would be as overly expensive as what we saw in NYC). About 5 minutes from the mall, I get a call from the furture Mrs. saying "I got out early - where are you?" I had to think fast - I had talked about needing ramps in order to work on my car, so I said I was almost to the auto parts store so I couldnt turn around but would go see her after that. It seemed like she bought it, but I knew I would have to keep my trip limited so she didn't get suspicious, especially when I didnt buy anything (I later learned that she DID get suspicious, so it was lucky I did this far enough in advance).
Having decided the little blue box was out of the question, I threw out the whole "what kinds of rings do you like" question and got her buzzing about it again. She didn't seem to recognize my questions as being more directed towards an actual purchase this time, but just in case I wanted to do it far enough in advance so that "buzz" would fade well in advance of April 23 (our vacation start date). I think it worked - we didn't say anything more about it after that point, and I think the "buzz" once again retreated.
For a couple weeks, I used my "spare" time looking at the styles she said she liked and hunting for the perfect ring. Eventually I found it, put it on order, and moved onto the next step....
Asking her dad. She had made it very clear that there would be no engagement until 1) I got a ring and 2) I asked her dad. With step 1 done, step 2 presented difficulty because not only do her parents live an hour away, but her dad was working up by Dartmouth ever week except the weekends - clearly an evening drive was out of the question and with my busy schedule leaving early enough from work to get up there was not feasible. This left the weekends (which were becoming precious few by this time), but those had their own issue because we were both working so much. Then it hit me - Easter weekend. Rather than her going up herself on Saturday, I figured why not drive up together for dinner on Saturday, then drive back to my parents in Sudbury after that? So that became the plan. Problem was that the future Mrs. got stuck at the office until late, so dinner got pretty squeezed - my hope was to get up there early enough such that she and her mom would, at some point, take off upstairs or somewhere such that I would have a few minutes to accomplish my task without her knowing. Well, the clock kept ticking and it was about 11pm and everyone was getting tired. Fearing my window was closing, I got lucky - the dogs needed a walk! Her dad went downstairs to walk them - saying something about how I wanted to see the dogs (I'm not sure what I said, really - I was kinda nervous), I followed. Once her dad brought the dogs back inside, I said what I came to say (again, not exactly sure what I said, but I did get the message across). We went back upstairs and I made up some silly story about watching the dogs chase the flashlight in the back yard to try to evade suspicion as to why I went downstairs. Hoping she wasn't suspicious, I left the future Mrs. and her parents and took off to Sudbury.
All sat quiet for the next few weeks. The ring arrived, insurance was purchased (no Type A lawyer is going to bring an engagement ring through airports and on a cruise without insurance), and we psyched ourselves up for the cruise. While the ring was delivered to my office, I didn't want to leave it there - so it stayed in its nondescript brown shipping box next to all my camera equipment in the office for about 2-3 weeks. Luckily, she never asked me where the brown box came from or what it was...
Now, where to pack an engagement ring when you 1) are traveling with the future recipient, 2) have to go through airport security, and 3) don't carry a man-purse. Solution? SLR camera bag. Not only would it be with me at all times, but the future Mrs. never touches that stuff unless I ask her to. Obviously it was a risk (telling her to leave it alone would have raised suspicion), but it was the best I could do. I packed it under a bunch of other equipment in my bag and off we went.
We made it to the ship with my secret still intact. However, I had heard stories of people getting stuff swiped from cruise ship cabins during fire drills, etc. so I needed to figure out how to hide it. Fortunately, there was a safe. Since I couldnt ditch a ring box in the safe, I put it in a plastic case for one of my filters - fortunately she didn't ask why I cared enough about a piece of plastic to put it in the safe!
The last step was figuring out when, where and how to ask the all-important question. I had googled for some cruise ship proposal ideas before leaving and had decided 1) a "formal" night would be a good opportunity because we'd be dressed up all nice and the ship would have professional photographers all over to take pictures (when else do you get professional photos on engagement day?) and 2) earlier in the cruise was better than later so that she could enjoy being the almost Mrs. Andersen (and so I wouldnt have to worry about her finding the ring). I contemplated a public proposal, but decided that wasn't us, especially since we didn't know anyone on the ship. I tried to get out steward to sneak in a bottle of champagne, but that raised logistical problems with arranging room service. After running through it in my head about 20 times, the plan solidified itself. The green dress, the curly hair, "I've Got a Feeling", sunset, balcony, wine, etc. - it just seemed so us.
And the rest is history.
I won't try to write down the reasons I decided to propose because those are a bit too personal for a public blog, but I will say when - New Year's. A lot of people become engaged around New Year's, probably because there's a lot of excitement around with the end of one year and the beginning of the next - the metaphor to one's life story at engagement is pretty clear. For me, its always been a point in the year where I like to size up where I've been, where I want to be, etc. I looked back at 2009 and watched our relationship play back and forth in my head and thought about what I wanted over the next year. I realized then that whenever I thought about my future she was in it.
Nevertheless, I've always told myself that I would never make such a big decision without being at least a year into a relationship and I told myself that I would keep to that. Not yet knowing when, I began passing subtle hints and testing the waters (I also believe that one should never pop the question without knowing what the answer would be, so I had to figure that out too.) We went "window-shopping" at Tiffany's in NYC over New Year's to get a sense of her style. (For Christmas I had bought her a small "I love you" ring from Tiffany's - while my decision was not made at that time, the thoughts were there and I figured that it was never too early to start gaining intelligence about ring sizes, etc. Buying that ring not only gave her a great present but also taught me all about her finger sizes - information I filed away for future reference.)
I knew this would get her all excited (and suspicious), so I let her talk - the whole ride home from NYC she read the Tiffany's book and educated herself and me about all things diamond. I intentionally let any excitement/suspicion fade into the woodwork for a while. Life continued - I closed on the condo, she helped me pick out furniture, paint, etc. Her birthday came and passed. So did Valentine's Day, as well as numerous "date nights" that could have been interpreted as opportunities.
Sometime in February, we decided to book our Caribbean cruise. As soon as we did, I began thinking about that as the intended timeframe. I did whatever I could to not tip her off on that, however, so I let everything sit for a few more weeks. In March, I decided that I would have to get cracking if it were going to actually happen in late April. As March/April is the beak of busy season at work for the future Mrs., I figured that I'd be able to find some time over the weekends to do some ring research without tipping her off; what I didn't plan on was being just as busy myself ever since January, so I lost my weekend time as well.
Finally in March she had to go into the office when I didn't, so I decided to grab the opporunity. I took a drive out to Tiffany's in Chestnut Hill (not realizing at the time that EVERYTHING would be as overly expensive as what we saw in NYC). About 5 minutes from the mall, I get a call from the furture Mrs. saying "I got out early - where are you?" I had to think fast - I had talked about needing ramps in order to work on my car, so I said I was almost to the auto parts store so I couldnt turn around but would go see her after that. It seemed like she bought it, but I knew I would have to keep my trip limited so she didn't get suspicious, especially when I didnt buy anything (I later learned that she DID get suspicious, so it was lucky I did this far enough in advance).
Having decided the little blue box was out of the question, I threw out the whole "what kinds of rings do you like" question and got her buzzing about it again. She didn't seem to recognize my questions as being more directed towards an actual purchase this time, but just in case I wanted to do it far enough in advance so that "buzz" would fade well in advance of April 23 (our vacation start date). I think it worked - we didn't say anything more about it after that point, and I think the "buzz" once again retreated.
For a couple weeks, I used my "spare" time looking at the styles she said she liked and hunting for the perfect ring. Eventually I found it, put it on order, and moved onto the next step....
Asking her dad. She had made it very clear that there would be no engagement until 1) I got a ring and 2) I asked her dad. With step 1 done, step 2 presented difficulty because not only do her parents live an hour away, but her dad was working up by Dartmouth ever week except the weekends - clearly an evening drive was out of the question and with my busy schedule leaving early enough from work to get up there was not feasible. This left the weekends (which were becoming precious few by this time), but those had their own issue because we were both working so much. Then it hit me - Easter weekend. Rather than her going up herself on Saturday, I figured why not drive up together for dinner on Saturday, then drive back to my parents in Sudbury after that? So that became the plan. Problem was that the future Mrs. got stuck at the office until late, so dinner got pretty squeezed - my hope was to get up there early enough such that she and her mom would, at some point, take off upstairs or somewhere such that I would have a few minutes to accomplish my task without her knowing. Well, the clock kept ticking and it was about 11pm and everyone was getting tired. Fearing my window was closing, I got lucky - the dogs needed a walk! Her dad went downstairs to walk them - saying something about how I wanted to see the dogs (I'm not sure what I said, really - I was kinda nervous), I followed. Once her dad brought the dogs back inside, I said what I came to say (again, not exactly sure what I said, but I did get the message across). We went back upstairs and I made up some silly story about watching the dogs chase the flashlight in the back yard to try to evade suspicion as to why I went downstairs. Hoping she wasn't suspicious, I left the future Mrs. and her parents and took off to Sudbury.
All sat quiet for the next few weeks. The ring arrived, insurance was purchased (no Type A lawyer is going to bring an engagement ring through airports and on a cruise without insurance), and we psyched ourselves up for the cruise. While the ring was delivered to my office, I didn't want to leave it there - so it stayed in its nondescript brown shipping box next to all my camera equipment in the office for about 2-3 weeks. Luckily, she never asked me where the brown box came from or what it was...
Now, where to pack an engagement ring when you 1) are traveling with the future recipient, 2) have to go through airport security, and 3) don't carry a man-purse. Solution? SLR camera bag. Not only would it be with me at all times, but the future Mrs. never touches that stuff unless I ask her to. Obviously it was a risk (telling her to leave it alone would have raised suspicion), but it was the best I could do. I packed it under a bunch of other equipment in my bag and off we went.
We made it to the ship with my secret still intact. However, I had heard stories of people getting stuff swiped from cruise ship cabins during fire drills, etc. so I needed to figure out how to hide it. Fortunately, there was a safe. Since I couldnt ditch a ring box in the safe, I put it in a plastic case for one of my filters - fortunately she didn't ask why I cared enough about a piece of plastic to put it in the safe!
The last step was figuring out when, where and how to ask the all-important question. I had googled for some cruise ship proposal ideas before leaving and had decided 1) a "formal" night would be a good opportunity because we'd be dressed up all nice and the ship would have professional photographers all over to take pictures (when else do you get professional photos on engagement day?) and 2) earlier in the cruise was better than later so that she could enjoy being the almost Mrs. Andersen (and so I wouldnt have to worry about her finding the ring). I contemplated a public proposal, but decided that wasn't us, especially since we didn't know anyone on the ship. I tried to get out steward to sneak in a bottle of champagne, but that raised logistical problems with arranging room service. After running through it in my head about 20 times, the plan solidified itself. The green dress, the curly hair, "I've Got a Feeling", sunset, balcony, wine, etc. - it just seemed so us.
And the rest is history.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Girls Night!
Tonight I'm traveling up to Portland, Maine for a girls night with my oldest friends. I'm so excited to see them and to tell them all about my plans! I think its so special to still be friends with the girls who were there when we thought boys had cooties, had our braces, got our driver's licences, picked out colleges, and now are getting married.
When I think of all the places the four of us have lived over the last few years (California, London, Halifax, Boston, New Hampshire, France, Denmark, upstate New York, and all over Maine), it's really amazing that we are all within a few hours of each other now. The last year or so we've been able to get together at least once every season, which definitely has not happened with that much regularity since probably high school.
Here's a little trip down memory lane:
When I think of all the places the four of us have lived over the last few years (California, London, Halifax, Boston, New Hampshire, France, Denmark, upstate New York, and all over Maine), it's really amazing that we are all within a few hours of each other now. The last year or so we've been able to get together at least once every season, which definitely has not happened with that much regularity since probably high school.
Here's a little trip down memory lane:
Elementary School
High School
College Years
Maria's Bachelorette Party
Fall 2008
Summer 2009
Winter 2010
Spring 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)