Hello New Visitors

Hi to all the new visitors checking out our blog after reading your Save The Date card.

Thom and I started the blog shortly after he proposed in December of last year. We hope to keep everyone up to date with the latest wedding related plans. As you can see by the list of blog entries to the right, we have been busy.

We try to publish a few new blog entries each week. We want this to be an interactive blog, so please post your comments!!!!

Check back often for all of the juicy details... well not all of the details, we want to save some surprises for the big day!

Honeymoon Hotel Reservations

We have made hotel reservations for our honeymoon!

We fly into Dublin and will spend our first day and night there. Umm Guinness and Jameson all in one great city! Then we are off to Cork to see the city and kiss the Blarney Stone. Next is Killarney for a possible "jaunting car trip" (horse and buggie thing) with great views of the country side to Ross Castle for one final good-bye to my last name :). Then we are headed north to the Cliffs of Moher and for a stay in Doolin, a small town famous for tradition Irish music. Continuing north for a stay in Galway with a busy city center and just over the river is the city of Claddagh where the Claddagh ring originated. Finally we head back across Ireland to stay one more night in Dublin to see anything we missed before we fly back home.

We are getting really excited for our trip!!!

I just need to make a car reservation and confirm one of the hotels which seems to be more like a B&B.

Engineering the Save The Dates

This is what happens when two engineers assemble Save The Date cards.

Our sweet little fixture spaced the front card perfectly, so there was an even edge of the green backing paper on all four sides! I don't want to bore you with the details, but just know it worked like a champ!

Save The Date Assembly Line

We had Mom and Dad-Ross over for dinner tonight...as a bribe to have them help assemble the Save The Date Cards:)

Thom and I went all around town this weekend to collect the supplies. We went to six stores to find the right green paper, and we had to revisit two of the stores. But we got the right paper! I also picked up some glue dots at the craft store. Then we picked up the cards at the print shop and had them cut the green paper down to size.

Slight correction, we decided to print the addresses on the envelops for the Save The Date Cards. We will save the calligraphy for the formal wedding invitations.

I whipped up an awesome and healthy pasta bake, and Mom brought the wine and we had ourselves a little assembly party!

Thom printed the envelopes and attached the stamp, Dad separated the glue dots, Mom put the glue dots on the front card, and I attached the front and back cards. Then we all ended up stuffing envelopes. It worked out great!

The Save The Date cards will be in the mail tomorrow morning!!! Yeah our first wedding mailing milestone is complete!

Sashes Ordered

I was out running around this evening for wedding related errands and figured while I was out I should stop at David's Bridal to order the sashes for the girls.

I thought it would only take a few minutes since I knew what type of sash and what color I wanted, but of course it took over a half hour.

When you enter David's Bridal its like you are entering a different shopping world. Not like a normal shop where you can walk in, pick up what you want, and buy it. At David's Bridal you must be greeted by the chick sitting at the table strategically positioned at the entrance of the store. Think of her as the troll who guards the bridge. Even if you tell her exactly what you are looking for, she won't let you pass until she calls a different sales chick over to help you. Clearly you are not capable of ordering a long horizon blue sash on your own, you require assistance.

I managed to get by the guardian troll and pick up two example sashes, one for the type of sash I wanted and the other for the color I wanted, all before the assigned sales chick could come and help me. I made my way to the register, all by myself when yet another sales lady tried to guide me. But when I finally got there I had to wait for someone to ring up my order. Now why couldn't the troll lady leave her post at the door, or the invisible assigned sales associate magically appear, or the chick who attempted to guide me to the register actually meet me at the register?

A sales associate did show up after a few minutes, and she was very friendly while she took my order. Then the computer went out on the poor chick...twice! She did the best she could bouncing between registers and talking with the IT help people over the phone, but it was still a total mess. She was able to finally get the computer back up and running and finish taking my order.

By the time I walked out of that place I was done with wedding shopping for the day. Unfortunately, that was the first store I stopped at, and I had to hit at least three more stores before coming home. Not sure if nipping the David's Bridal trip in the bud was the best idea, but at least I didn't save it for the end thinking I could pop in for five minutes and be on my way home. Then I probably would have caused a scene somewhere along the 30 + minutes I was trapped in that store.

Bridal Shower Planning

I had Aunt Wendy, Mom-Ross, and all of the Bride's Maids over for lunch this afternoon to start planning the Bridal Shower.

I tried out some more new recipes from the Elli Cookbook (Christmas gift from Thom) for the lunch, and they turned out great. A heck of a lot better than the Mystery Macaroni I attempted when I had our parents over for dinner.

We planned a date for the shower, a location, and a menu. We even have an idea for some centerpieces, and a fun activity...no no no not a game, just a little activity :)

Thanks to everyone for coming, and helping with the planning!

Printing and Calligraphy

Thom and I meet up with Greg at the print shop on Friday during my lunch hour. Greg was very helpful and answered all of our questions. He said the Save The Date cards would be no problem and he should have them finished in a few days.

Aunt Wendy knows a Calligrapher, so she has offered to get our envelopes addressed.

The super cool Save The Dates designed by Devin, printed by Greg, and addressed by Aunt Wendy's friend will be out soon!

Cookie List

For those on the Ross side, the Cookie List is to keep track of the Cookie Table. The Cookie Table is a Youngstown tradition. The family makes cookies and brings them to the wedding. It's a great homemade plethora of deliciousness that you will get to enjoy!

Christie had a list of who was making what cookie, as to avoid duplicates. And since we have been getting a few cookie offers, I have started on too.

The recent influx of cookie offers probably has something to do with Thom's long list of requests he rattled off when we had the Ross and Godward parents over for dinner. Yes I must confess, I threw in a few requests of my own.

Thanks to all of the bakers.

Q: Win or Scam?

A: Scam

While at the Bridal Show with Jax this past weekend we both signed up for several prize drawings. I got a phone call tonight saying that I had won a prize, a 3 day 2 night honeymoon through Pink Apron.

I got excited for a minute, but realized this totally could be a scam. Of course the lady on the phone made it all sound great and super easy. We just had to go to a presentation where they would serve us gourmet food, give us cute aprons, and then show their products - that we had a discount for but did not have to buy.

So I signed us up, figured no harm if we change our minds. Then the excitement wore off, and I did some research on this offer. Turns out several brides have gotten the same call all across the country. One of the brides actually tried it out and went to the presentation. She said they were super pushy and really wanted you to buy their stuff.

Yeah we are totally not going to this thing. As much as I like food, I dis-like pushy sales people more.

Honeymoon Tickets

Thom and I have got our airplane tickets for the Honeymoon to Ireland. Just in time to celebrate with a glass of green beer!

We fly out of Detroit on Monday October 26 for Dublin, and will return the following Monday.

Thanks to all of our work travel, we were able to get the tickets by redeeming our miles.

We have tentative plans for the Honeymoon, but have not made any other reservations. The idea is to rent a car and drive around the island for the whole week, staying in a different city each night.

Hair Appointments for The Ladies

I have appointments made at my Aveda Salon for us Ladies to get our hair and makeup done on the day of the wedding. I have been going to this salon for over a year now, every since Julia and Christie turned me on to Aveda products!

Like most women I have gotten to know my stylist, Angie. Thom and I will run into her around town, and I hooked her up to play softball on a team with Jacquie this past summer. Devin met Angie at a free facial event they were hosting at the salon a month ago. Angie is super excited to do my hair and makeup for the wedding.

I am still working out the time line for the Big Day, but the hair appointments will be in the morning maybe as early as 8:30am. The bride's maids are cringing while they read this. I think I am the only one getting makeup and hair done, so I will probably take the longest. Maybe I'll suck it up and go in early by myself, and let the beauties sleep a little bit longer:) Both Mom-Ross and Mom-Godward are going to come up to the salon for their makeup and to hang out with us girls.

Jacquie is putting together a song list for fun music to play while we are all getting prettied up...or putting our war paint on as Dad-Ross would say! I was planning to bring bagels and mimosas to the salon for us to munch on while we primped, but Angie said that in the past the salon has provided mimosas, bagels and fruit for bridal parties -bonus! I have no doubt that The Girls and Angie will make the morning getting ready super fun!

Referrals

Thank you to everyone for all of the great vendor referrals.

Chrisy (Best Man's girl friend) for referrals to some great photographers
Anica for referring us to your Mom, Fanny the Florist
Christian for referring us to Bobby our photographer
Lori (from the bridal salon) for referring us to a Baker - we have yet to sample their cakes though
Randy (from our reception site) for referring us to the Marriott Hotel
Mom-Ross for referring us to Greg our Printer at Grecko Printing
Lindsay for referring me to David's Bridal for the sashes
Andy for referring us to some good bands

Keep the referrals coming!

Paper Appointment

We hope to get the Save The Date cards out soon. Devin has the design all ready to go, and Thom and I are collecting addresses.

Thom and I have an appointment with Greg at the printing shop on Friday during my lunch break. We plan on discussing envelopes, and timing, assembly, and costs. We hope to use a standard size envelope to save on cost, especially postage cost. Timing should not be a problem, we are targeting to get the cards out by the end of this month. Then we will print out the invitations later on.

Depending on their stock colors, we may need to purchase the colored paper elsewhere and have it cut to size. Assembly of the Save The Dates should be simple enough. I am just not looking forward to stuffing the invitation envelope… you know there is a certain way everything has to go, and I am sure my Mom will be more than happy to tell me exactly which way that is! Invitations are her thing!

Bridal Show

Jacquie and I went to a Bridal Expo on Sunday afternoon. At first I was a little leery of being surrounded by Bride-Zillas, but she talked me into it

It was a smaller show, not that we have been to other shows, but we were both surprised at how little time we spent there. There were tables for everything wedding, from Linens and Honeymoons to Cakes and Gowns. There was also a fashion show for bridal gowns, tuxedos, and bride’s maid dresses. By the end of it we had a bag full of hand outs. Since Thom and I are further along in the planning stages, most of the displays did not apply to us.

I did talk with a couple linen companies, including an "eco friendly" linen company. Not eco friendly in that they use organic locally grown cotton linens manufactured in the USA, just eco friendly detergent to wash their linens. Jax thought I was going to rip into the poor sales lady who was giving me their “eco” talk, but I was good and just surprised her by questioning their definition of "eco". But hey, even a small step in the right direction is a good thing!

There was only one transportation company at the expo, I was hoping there would be more. But, they had a discount for 2 free hours of service for the day of the ceremony. Thom and I are still not sure what we will do for Bridal Party transportation.

I was expecting to be sample a few cakes at the Expo too, but they only had one baker. Jax and I made quick work of those samples! I personally didn’t think their cake was anything too special. We have plenty of time before we need to find a baker so that means plenty time for more sampling.

Wedding Ring Event

The Jeweler Thom bought my beautiful engagement ring from, invited us to a wedding diamond and ring event. She left him a message while we were busy getting organized after our vacation, and we nearly forgot about it. It was like a cartoon with the light bulb turning on over our heads when we remembered to listen to her voicemail again. Luckily the light bulbs turned on on Friday night, just two days before the event.

We had visited the jeweler before Christmas, so I could meet her, and she could give us the ring cleaning kit gift set. They did not have the wedding band that matched my engagement ring in the store at that time. But she said they would have it for the bridal event they were hosting in the spring.

Thom and I didn’t hang around the bridal event too long, just long enough to order my wedding band and for him to sample some desserts. They had representatives in the store from each of the designers they carry, including the designer of my engagement ring, MaeVona. The MaeVona Reps were super nice and very knowledgeable.

The wedding band is beautiful and looks great with the engagement ring! It is a simple band, no stones, but is carved to match the style on the side of my engagement ring.

Originally, we were just going to look for my wedding band, but we ended up ordering it while we were at the show because the MaeVona Reps gave us a discount. Then as Thom’s Jeweler lady was ringing it up, she informed him of some bonus cash he had acquired from buying my engagement ring in their store.

Also, while we were at the jeweler they cleaned my engagement ring really good. She is shining pretty now.

Marriage Classes

To be married in the Catholic Church you are required to take Marriage Preparation Classes. Father Fred gave us the class listing, and we have signed up for the May class at a Church in Dearborn, MI.

The class is lead by a married couple from the church. I think it is meant to complement the meetings you have with the Pastor, and give you advise from a couple's perspective. I am glad we are taking the class, I always thought it was odd to be getting marriage advice from a man who was never married.

We have some homework to do before the class. I looked over the questions and they are mainly about family history. We have to make a full out family tree all the way back to our Great Grandparents.

The class is a two day event. Friday evening and all day Saturday... and no food is provided. I better bring us some lunch and some snacks.

Band Signed

Thom signed The G-Daddy's for our reception!

He talked with the drummer, and he told Thom that he thought he recognized us when we took Thom's parents to watch them play a few weeks back.

Thom mailed them our deposit, and signed the contact, so we are locked in. They will be emailing us a month or two before the wedding with their song list. We will get to choose all of the songs they play, or we can give them total freedom.

I have already been making a list of songs to have them play during cocktail hour, introductions, dinner, and while we dance.

Let us know if you have any songs you would like to request. But since my Grandma will be there, we get the ultimate power to veto any requests... just warning ya :)

Vacation - Daytona Bike Week

Sorry to our loyal readers for not updating the blog in over a week, but we were on vacation. Vacation from work, and from wedding planning.

Thom and I took some time off, and went down to Daytona FL for Bike Week! It was AWESOME!

We saw tons of great racing! There was dirt track racing were a local MI guy made the main event. Those racers are crazy getting the bike sideways through the turns.

The American Superbike motorcycle that Thom built ran great in practice. The bike made the second fastest trap speed at 198mph, faster than all of the factory bikes expect the Ducati that got up to 199.95mph. Yeah motorcycles running nearly 200mph!!!!!

Then the famous Daytona 200 motorcycle race was run at night. It was sweet watching the bikes run up on the banking under the lights. There was some crazy pitting strategies that made things interesting.

They also had the Super Cross race in the grass of the tri-oval. They actually let the fans out on the NASCAR tri-oval to stand and watch the Super Cross race.

We walked on the banking and through the Super Cross course after the race to see the riders in victory circle. That banking is nuts!

We also got away from the track and made it to the beach. I felt kind of silly driving along with all of the bikers in our rental car. But it was cool being down in Daytona Beach on bike week!