Jewelry

So I think I have my jewelry picked out. Allan's step-mother offered to give me my wedding jewelry! I got really excited and started shopping because she asked me to show her what I liked. I have a really heavily beaded bodice on my dress so I didn't want to pick anything that would be overpowering and the top is a strapless with a sweetheart neckline so I wanted things that would work well.

They will be ordered soon and hopefully come in before Sunday so I can take a look at it all when Allan and I head there for dinner.

Here are pictures of what is being ordered.

Earrings:

Necklace - Epiphany Platinum Clad Diamonqiue Interchangeable Round Necklace

Bracelet - 8" Disney Mickey Mouse Sterling Diamonique Tennis Bracelet

I got really excited when I saw the Mickey bracelet because I really wanted to wear something Disney (considering I still work for the mouse) that wasn't so obvious and this completely fit the bill. :)

Got my ring back!

So I finally got my ring back on Wednesday afternoon. It looks great! They ended up making a small ring of platinum and soldering it to the inside of the ring so the white gold would not be in direct contact with my skin. It has been working out pretty well so far.

We also decided on our bridal party...

Best Man - Cole Vandewater
Groomsman - Jay Stuff
Groomsman - Mark Morelock
Groomsman - Tony Figeroa
Groomsman - Vlad Shamritsky
Ring Bearer - Jimmy Welsh IV

Maid of Honor - Lauren Mattegat
Bridesmaid - Jacquie Putzig
Bridesmaid - Carolyn Russo
Bridesmaid- Lauren Zabrecky (Shamritsky)
Bridesmaid - Mia Garnica
Junior Bridesmaid - Gwyn Zabrecky
Flower Girl - Juliana Zabrecky

Today I am heading to the bridal shop with one of my bridesmaids, Jacquie, so she can get measured and order her dress.We picked the dresses as well. We chose a gown from Watters and Watters. It will be in a copper color with dark brown sashes at the waist. I'll get a picture up when I have a good one.

Since I have gotten my ring back, I wanted to take better pictures of it, so here they are! (Click on the picture to enlarge it)

 

 

 

 

Still Waiting.....

So as you know I sent my ring out with the jeweler to have the half shank replaced with platinum. Well it was due in last night so Allan and I headed to the mall around 8pm to wait for it to get to the store. The jeweler always drops off everything at night. Well, we stopped by and the store told us that they hadn't heard from the jeweler yet. So Allan and I wander around the mall to return around 8:45.

They still haven't heard from or seen the jeweler, so my ring isn't there. I start wondering what the heck is up because they called him and couldn't get a hold of him! The store told me they probably wouldn't see him if he wasn't there already and he would need to make an afternoon visit today instead. I wasn't too fond of this and wanted to wait until closing to see if they at least got a hold of the jeweler so I know my ring is still going to show up and nothing happened to the jeweler.

9:30pm comes around and the store finally got a hold of the jeweler. Apparently his car broke down AND his cell phone died. Ok honestly, what are the odds of BOTH things happening on the night my ring is supposed to come back?? I was not very happy about it but at least they got a hold of him instead of just telling me their guesses.

So they told me to come back today around 12:30pm to pick it up because the jeweler said he would be there by 12. The store told me they would call me if it wasn't there by 12pm so I won't get there and get more aggrivated if it's not there.

Hopefully it will be there this time otherwise I will not be the happiest of people. GRRR!

Our Photos

Our photos finally came in the mail over the weekend! They were taken by Peter Ingersoll of Windswept Acres Photography in West Lebanon, ME. We had such a great time! We took these photos earlier in the day before Allan proposed so that is why the ring is not in the pictures. I had this bright idea that I wanted to walk out into the water fully clothed with Allan ahead of time. We brought everything necessary and when we got there we discovered how the cold the water really was. I was about to chicken out after we got in to our shins.... but Allan decided to dip me to kiss me... well then a wave came in, knocked him off balance, and sent us both into the freezing cold water. We were laughing so hard on the way back. Peter and some others on the beach seemed to get a kick out of us as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wave is coming...

It's about to hit...

The wave hit!

 

Lost balance....

Into the water we go!

Trying to get up...

 

Allan helping me up.... 

Laughing at him and asking why he dropped me!

 

Can't stop laughing while soaking wet and freezing

Colors!

So tonight Allan and I *hope* to get over to the bridal shop tonight. We want to look at a few colors that we were interested in. As long as Allan isn't working incredibly late tonight, we can get there and see the colors and what sizes are available because everyone is quite a range of sizes.

I can't wait for my ring to come back from the Jeweler. It will be back on Tuesday night and you bet that I will be there that night waiting to take it home, haha.

Also, I spoke to the photographer who took un-official engagement pictures of us about a week and a half ago. He said the CD/DVD of the images is in the mail. Hopefully they will be in today and I can look at those images already! We wanted to use one for a save the date to send out to friends and family.

And, the most awesome part of yesterday....

Allan went to see his friend/ groomsman Tony. Tony made an offer that I about passed out over.
He offered his vacation points toward a hotel in, guess where..... PARIS! We just have to get the plane tickets and it's ours! HOLY CRAP! I have wanted to go there for so long, especially after I took a few French classes and Art History. We could see the Louvre! I better start brushing up on my French now! lol.

Booked a DJ!

So it's exactly what the title says. We booked a DJ! We have "A Solid Gold Sound" for our DJ. They are in Hartford and have a lot of great reviews. The girl on the phone was really nice too.


I can't believe how much is getting done! It's great. Just had to put in that update!

Better day today

So this is pretty much a follow up on my ring that made my finger inflate. So my finger still looks like a balloon thanks to the wonderful metal known as nickel. Go figure!

So Allan and I headed to the jeweler yesterday to find out what kind of solutions they had for us. We came to one today.......

Considering we bought the extended waranty, which is awesome, the jeweler can replace the half shank to platinum. In lamen's terms, we are replacing the bottom half of the ring that goes around the underside of my finger and leaving the top half with the setting as white gold. So my ring will be a "hybrid" if you will, but the waranty covers the costs of doing that.

So my ring went out today to have that done and I will have it back in exactly one week from today. I can't wait to get it back. I do somewhat feel better knowing that even though it is at the jewelers,  if I had my ring right now I wouldn't be able to wear it because of my finger. So I am not missing out on precious "wearing time". haha.

We may have the bridesmaids gowns picked out. We are looking at Dulce De Leche from watters and watters OR European Cinnamon from Bill Levkoff. Hopefully we can head to the bridal shop sometime soon to look at the colors in person.

Also, we are waiting to hear back from a DJ. I emailed 2, 1 answered me but they are unavailable for our date. However he did refer me to two other dj's that he is friends with. I will just have to get on that!

Not having the best day

Hello All!
So today is not one of my better days. Yesterday (sunday) my ring finger starting hurting slightly after I had some difficulty gettig my ring on after my shower. I figured.... I am retaining water in my hands from my shower, no biggie. This morning I woke up and had the hardest time getting my ring off for my shower..... my finger is swollen now. :(

I am going to see the doctor to find out the problem. I have a few guesses:

1 - I could have an allergy to nickel and nickel is in almost every piece of jewelry
2 - I could have irritated my finger when I put my ring on yesterday
3 - Something could have created a problem when I took my ring to get cleaned at the jeweler. There could be something in the solution that would have caused a problem.

So I really don't know what the cause is, but I'll find out later today.

Centerpieces!

Hello All! We have found yet another piece of the puzzle known as the wedding! We found the centerpieces!!!!

Allan and I wandered into Christmas Tree Shop to wander because they have been known to have awesome things for centerpieces and fall is coming so I thought they might have a few things out.

We walked in the door and there they were.... these cute little wire pumpkins with votive holders in the center. They are large enough to only put one on each table and they are the CUTEST! And get this... they were only FIVE DOLLARS each!!!!!

Here is a picture of these fabulous pumpkins, which are still in the car right now. haha!

 

Aren't they just so cute!!!!

Cake and Photographer... DONE!

So yesterday morning I was thinking about a cake I tried over the summer and thought I should see if I could get the cake for the wedding.

The back story:

This past summer I worked in the University Computing office at Western Connecticut State University making updates to the school's website. One of the gentlemen in the office: Paul, would bring in left over cake that his wife made the night before in her cake baking class. One of the cakes that came in was AMAZING, for lack of a better word. It was incredibly moist and beautiful. After trying the cake, I told my now fiance that he had to try this cake because it was great. I also went over to Paul and told him to tell his wife to make note of that cake because I would want her to make it for my wedding when the time comes. He took me half serious, told his wife, and moved on. I took the piece of cake home and had my now fiance and a handful of friends try a bite of the cake. It passed everyone's expectations so we decided that was our cake.


So I headed over to University Computing to talk to Paul about this fabulous cake. He was very happy to hear my news and was excited that I was serious about the cake. He called his wife and she said she would do it! She said she was rather surprised because she didn't know how serious I was but she would be happy to do it for me.


After leaving the University Computing office, I wanted to talk to a friend/classmate/co - worker of mine about photos. I am in the art department as a Graphic Design major and a minor in Photography. I decided that I really wanted to hire someone I knew to take photos so I would have more flexibility with gaining copyright permissions so I can do my own editing. I talked to Allan about it and he was excited about the idea. I spoke with Samantha and she quickly said yes!

Now we are just about 72 hours into our engagement and we have the ceremony location, the reception location, and cake, and a photographer! At this rate, I'll be bored by next week!

Engaged and 24 hours later at a reception hall!

So Allan and I got engaged Monday night after an amazing weekend. Tuesday morning comes and we are both at work talking online. I asked him if he wanted to look at places for the wedding or if he wanted to wait. He asked which places I wanted to see and I told him a few, including the Lily Lake Inn in Wolcott, CT. He said he would look at their website, along with a few other locations he found. Not even 5 mins later he tells me he is on the phone with the Lily Lake Inn and they have a food tasting going on that night. Slightly surprised, I told him I was interested. He told me the larger of the two rooms was booked for our date but the smaller one was still open. It so happens that the smaller room was the one I was in love with from the pictures. It was too perfect!

So we arrived at the Lily Lake Inn and walked around the property. The food tasting was in the room we were looking to book so we were able to see how the traffic of people was handled in the room and how the tables and chairs would most likely be set up for a wedding.

We sat down for dinner and before it even started we were sold. We spoke to the manager, Tricia, and she was insistent that we eat dinner, then we would talk.

After dinner, we met with Tricia and she told us what she would need for a deposit. Considering we had gone up on a whim, we didn't have a deposit together yet. We let her know and she said she could hold the room for a week so we could get the deposit together.

The entire ride home I was so worried that we wouldn't get the deposit together in time or someone else would come in a get the room. The next morning (Wednesday) Allan went into work and told his boss about it and he offered to advance us the money out of Allan's Christmas bonus so we could put the deposit down.

Allan told me about his boss's offer and I was ECSTATIC! I was so happy that I could actually get the place I loved and the date we both wanted. We contacted the venue right away to let Tricia know that we had the deposit and we would bring it to her on Thursday.

On Thursday we went to the hall, gave the deposit and signed the contracts. So it's official! We have a venue for the ceremony and reception!!!

The Place
The Lily Lake Inn (Website)
Wolcott, CT

The Date
10/10/2010

Ceremony Time
4:00pm

Reception Time
4:30pm

We're Engaged!

So Allan and I got engaged on September 7, 2009. How it happened was a very unique story in itself, which completely fits us! Here it is!!

Everything started roughly 3 weeks prior. We both were at the mall and decided to window shop at Helzberg Diamonds. We went through their rings and found this one. I was in love! The sales girl told me to walk around the mall so she could talk to Allan to give him all of the information on it for a later date. So, about 20mins passes and I am thinking "he has been there a while, he must be buying it!" Well, he called me and said that he was done and to meet him in the foodcourt. 

When I got there, he had a balloon animal/Flower for me and said "I'm sorry, I couldn't get it because it was too much. It took so long because they were on the phone with the bank trying to negotiate." I am not going to lie, it sucked hearing that. Oh well, move on. 

So for the next week I was trying not to think about it and just say "I'll find something i like better." Well, we looked around a little more and couldn't find anything that compared.

Now, 9/4/09, we leave for North Conway, NH for Labor Day Weekend. We got there and I kept thinking "wow, this place is so nice and there would be so much opportunity here but he doesn't have anything, or does he?" So sunday comes along and he says "I have to tell you something." so I asked him what it was and he says, "I bought the ring you wanted and sent it out to be sized to have it for this weekend, only the jeweler got it back a day late (yesterday) instead of Friday so I couldn't get it before we left. I wanted to give it to you while we were up here but I can't." Of course, that just made my day! 

Monday morning we checked out of the hotel, drove to York, Maine to meet with a photographer that we were planning on taking pictures with prior and took awesome photos at Nubble Lighthouse and Long Sands beach. After what felt like 10 mins (was really 2 hours) passed, we packed up and drove home.

Allan took off to the jeweler as soon as we got in the driveway and came back with the ring in his pocket. He then said the most beautiful things to me and formally asked me to marry him. I, of course, said yes!