Flowers. We Finally Got Around to You.

In my previous post about wedding wedding colors I mentioned some things about flowers and boutonnieres and my bouquet. Well the reason I know all that stuff is because we've finalized our flowers (for the most part).

So I don't spoil all the decor for the blog readers before the wedding day, I'll just give you a peek at our attendant flowers. None of this is exact so hopefully readers will still be wowed by everything day of.

First of all, our Bridesmaid bouquets:

The bouquet is calla lilies with gold beaded stems strewn throughout to give the bouquets the gold accent I mentioned before. Our flower girl, instead of dropping flower petals, since this is not allowed by our church, will have the same bouquet (but a little smaller) with a big gold ribbon tying it together.

To go along with the bridesmaids, our groomsmen will be wearing calla lily boutonnieres:

They will also have some golden beaded embellishments. Bogdan will have a white rose with a more pronounced gold embellishment.

And finally, there's the breathtaking color palette that is my bridal bouquet.

That last picture is a sort of approximation of what my bouquet might look like. It's stargazer lilies and dark roses, but I'm not sure if they're the right shade of red. Also the picture quality isn't that great.

But anyway, if you remember what my bridesmaid dresses look like, you'll remember that they are all in very bright colors. That is why, for the bridesmaid bouquets, we decided to keep them all in white and save the striking colors for my bouquet which would only have to stand out against the ivory white of my gown. I think it was a good call because I can tell you that finding colorful flowers to match bright pink and bright blue? Not an easy find...

Everybody Loves Recaps

Or, at least I do.

I'll admit that I have never been a weddingbee girl. Though the forums did prove useful for some honeymoon help and invitation etiquette advice, I've never really caught the "forum fever". However, in recent days, the weddingbee blogs have been up almost constantly on my computer. The reason for this? Guaranteed recaps. In fact, I can even search "recaps" and filter their blog posts down to just the things I'm interested in reading :-D.

Why am I so interested in recaps you might ask? Well, I'm at the point in the wedding planning that every bride gets to, where they've been working for months and months and months and you're really ready for the big day! But... the big day's not here yet. Reading recaps is like a vicarious "the wedding day is here" thrill. It fills me with the rush of excitement, the joyful tears, and the wide smiles that I'm sure I'll have on my own wedding day (though in exponentially larger amounts).

I've even reread the wedding recap I wrote of my FSIL's wedding, as short as it is. It's a particularly fun wedding to recall as I was actually there, and actually experienced the ceremony, the love, and the dancing (heck, I even caught the bouquet!). I wish she had done her own prolonged recaps so I could draw out the thrill ;), but I take what I can get.

They make me more excited than ever to eventually write my own recaps. I want to record everything I can remember from the wedding so that years and years in the future, I will have my wedding story to read. Because even if it's only one day, I want the memory to last my whole lifetime.

But seriously... Why isn't it December yet!?

Double Digits

OH MY GOD!!!! We're in the double digits! We're no longer several hundred days away. We're not even 100 days away! Just over 3 months away! Oh my goodness! I can't believe we're getting so close!

Extreme Make-Up Trial

I probably didn't mention, but Mishka and I went up to visit his parents this past weekend. My Future MIL, who graciously offered to do make-up for the wedding, did my first (and only) make-up trial for the wedding. But, just because it was my only make-up trial doesn't mean it wasn't intense!

First of all, the make-up trial itself took several hours. Close to four. My FMIL even woke me up early so we could have the perfect sunlight.

First we figured out my eyes. Let me give you a quick reminder of the eye make-up my FMIL bought for me:

The name is "Molten Shore", which sounds like it should be a summer eye color, but in reality it turned in to a fantastic winter palette. We tried the colors in several different combinations, but our final eye configuration looked something like this:

Although there's a little more purple and brown and a little less silver. But you get the idea. I! LOVE it! I thought it turned out crazy gorgeous :-D.

Then, we moved on to the lipstick. Which might seem like it wouldn't take that long since we had finished the eyes, but you would be wrong ;). We had 19 different lipsticks we wanted to work through. I didn't end up trying all 19, but I tried at least 10. We decided on something very close to this:

So all in all I'll have a very dramatic winter look. I'm very happy with it :).

Oh, but you didn't hear the most extreme part! I wore the make-up ALL day! And not just around the house. It survived a walk by the ocean with the spray of the sea, an extended play on the swings with the wind blowing in my face, and I even went grocery shopping with it on (I got some looks, i'll tell you).

And if my make-up could survive all that and still look gorgeous (I didn't see my parents until the end of the day so they got to experience it after all of the above and they loved it!), then I know I'll look fantastic all throughout my wedding.

I'm so excited :-D!!!!

Family Talents

I've been told time and again that if people want to help you with your wedding planning, try to use their talents. Up until this point, I think I've been doing a pretty good job of that.

My sister C is great with music and makes our family newsletter every year so she's been tasked with creating our wedding program and helping compile a list of songs to play during our "d.j." period.

My sister G is the most organized person I've ever met and she's been an amazing help planning and organizing tasks for me (as well as helping my mom with my super secret bridal shower ;) ).

My mom knows more than I ever will about weddings and is always there with advice and to come with me to any appointments that Mishka cannot because of work.

And now my dad has even found a way to contribute to my wedding planning. Something that he's super excited about and will be able to put his own personal touch on. You see, he's a wine guy. A real wine connoisseur. And so, for a discount on our food and alcohol, my dad has arranged to supply our venue with wine for our reception. He's even customizing his own wine list based on my menu so that each meal pairs well with what will be available.

He's even including a surprise for my future MIL ;). I know she'll love it, but I'll let exactly what it is be a surprise for her (since I know you read my blog).

I can't tell you how touched I am that he decided to do this for us, and it is also great to see how excited he is. He even woke me up early one morning just to confirm some choices on my menu :). Love it!

Ring Bearers and Flower Girls

It seems that over the past few months I've noticed a lot more wedding talk going on around me than I used to. Maybe that's because I'm running with a different crowd, or maybe I was just never paying attention.

Anyway, recently I've picked up on a lot of talk about flower girls and ring bearers can be "too young". I've been getting some strange looks from people when they find out that my flower girl is twelve and even a few because my ring bearer is ten. Half the reason you have a flower girl or a ring bearer is because children between the ages of zero and seven are SO DARN CUTE!!!

But you know what else they like? Attention. And you know what gets a LOT of attention? Misbehaving.

I can't tell you how many horror stories I've heard over the past few weeks. Crying, screaming flower girls, ring bearers who refuse to walk, tantrums, accidents in their pretty clothes... the list goes on. This all culminated in finding out that one of my students committed many of these offenses as the ring bearer in his mother's friend's wedding. He refused to walk, screamed and cried, even threw the pillow with the rings on it on the ground. His mother was mortified and the bride became very stressed (who could blame her?). Whatever can go wrong might go wrong right?

And so I'm actually really happy that my flower girl and ring bearer are older. I know that they're potty trained, are old enough to respect that the day is not all about them, and are mature enough not to throw a tantrum at the slightest provocation. Though the cuteness of the 5 and under crowd is undeniable, I know from experience at work that you do take a risk when you give them the responsibility of being a part of your wedding party. A risk I'm glad I don't have to take.

Hand Binding

While we're on the subject of wedding colors, there are a few other colors I feel we should mention. In a previous post I talked about the Ukrainian (and Celtic) tradition of hand-binding. While we will be doing it in accordance with the traditions of Ukrainian Catholicism, we will be incorporating the Celtic standard of using colored ribbons, each with a different blessing for one's married life:

Pink: unity, romance and joy

Blue: patience and devotion

Brown: grounding and home

Gold: prosperity, wisdom and longevity

Red: passion and strength

I love how many different parts of our ceremony will be filled with symbolism. Every second of our wedding will be filled with love and meaning as created by Mishka and myself. I could not be happier with how it's turning out.

Wedding Colors? Yeah We Don't Have Those...

It's funny because I know that for my FSIL Katerina and her husband, wedding colors were one of the first things they chose. And for many couples I know that is the way. Things become so much easier when you have a color direction in mind. Mishka and I, before we were engaged, used to talk about the colors we would like in our wedding.

But when it came time for the decisions to be made... it began to look like we were including every color under the sun! Want a look at our very inclusive list of colors? First there are the two different colors of our bridesmaid dresses. The first is Azalea pink, kindof like this:

Then there is the peacock blue dress my FSIL and Maid of Honor are wearing:

From the bridesmaid's bouquets, to my dress, to the baby's breath in my ceremony crown, there will a lot of different shades of white:

The ornaments in our centerpieces, as well as my bridesmaid's shoes and the New Year's Eve paraphernalia we provide to our guests will be silver in keeping with the season:

My sexy husband will be sporting the color black in his tux, both in his jacket as well as the vest underneath. It will look something like this (but no bow tie lol):

The church and reception hall will be filled with the colors of winter and, more specifically Christmas:

And finally, my bouquet will echo a few of these colors, but with a twist all its own (because the Bride always wants to do her own thing ;) ). The two flowers are the Stargazer Lily and the Black Baccara Rose. Just try to envision the unusual gorgeousness:

But with all these different colors, it began to feel as if there was no unity to our wedding. We began to fear that our bridal party would look like a mish mosh several different weddings and that our decor would not have a cohesive, beautiful feel.

Then, Mishka came up with the perfect solution. There should be one unifying color. A color that would not be dominant in any one respect, but would appear in little accents throughout our wedding. And of course, it would be a color we both loved and that was fitting with New Year's Eve:

Gold.

There will be tiny gold beads in my bridesmaid's bouquets. The groomsmen will wear gold striped ties, Mishka's boutonniere will have gold accents, the centerpieces will have some gold in them, as will our invitations.

So though we have MANY wedding colors, we now have a central color which will tie it all together in the same way a gold ribbon will be tying my bridal bouquet together. And it will certainly be lovely :) (and seasonal!).

Our Menu

Our menu is crazy. There is going to be so much food at this wedding that I think it's only fair to warn guests about the amount so that they don't fill up too quickly. Because in addition to appetizers, there's essentially going to be TWO full dinners. Seriously.

Don't mistake my tone. I couldn't be happier that we're going to have so much food and so many options for the varied tastes of our diverse guests. Let me give you a picture of our guests' food journey....

Upon entering they will be given a glass of champagne with a sliced strawberry on the side and will be able to enjoy any one of the following passed hor d'ouevres:

Baby Lam Chops with Roasted Garlic Glaze

Gulf Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce

Cajun Shrimp Crostini

Tempura Shiitake Caps with Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce

Mediterranean Bruschetta

Roasted Pepper and Fresh mozzarella Tartlet

Sesame Chicken with Oriental Dipping Sauce

Scallops Wrapped in Bacon

Prosciutto and Melon Canapes

Caviar and Creme Fraiche in a Red Bliss Potato Cup

Smoked Salmon Salsa in a Cucumber Boat

Veal Carpaccio on a Garlic Crouton

After about a half hour the staff will open up our cocktail hour stations which will appear suspiciously like a full meal to our guests.

There will be a few cold stations:

Chilled Seafood Display - shrimp, oysters, and clams with cocktail sauce and cajun remoulade

Antipasto Display - cold cuts, assorted cheeses, grilled marinated vegetables and assorted breads and crackers.

Seasonal fresh fruit

Bountiful Bread Display

And there will be even more hot stations (get ready for your mouth to water!):

Italian Station - penne pasta with choice of vodka sauce or tomato basil, foccacia, bread sticks, and infused olive oils.

Carving Station - brown sugar roast pork loin with honey dijon sauce & roasted turkey breast with cranberry relish

Mexican Station - beef and chicken stuffed fajitas prepared to order, stuffed jalapenos, tostadas and salsa/guacamole

Shrimp and Scallop Saute Station - sauteed to order with herb champagne cream sauce

After the stations we will move to the ballroom. There will be a champagne toast while we enjoy our two appetizers. Keep in mind that this isn't an either or, everyone will have both. Which makes me so happy because just the thought of either makes my mouth water:

Wild Mushroom Strudel with Armagnac Cream Sauce

&

Baby Bibb with spiced almonds, mandarin oranges and honey thyme vinaigrette

Then, finally, we're on to the main course of the sit down dinner. Often, when you have a seated dinner you need to put the menu selections on the invitation so that guests can make their dinner choices ahead of time. Not so at the grand summit. They have table side dinner service which means guests will have their order taken on site, which I think is kindof classy :):

Sliced Chateubriand with bordelaise sauce

Fillet of Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce

or

Sauteed Breast of Chicken with Wild Mushroom, Tomato, and Tarragon Concasse

Then, after a bit of dancing and a bit of drinking ;), it will be time for dessert. I'm sure our guests will need the dancing time in between to work off some of their fullness from dinner (and cocktail hour). They will be able to fill themselves up again on:

Wedding Cake! - Hazelnut cake with Chocolate Fudge filling

Viennese Table - assorted french and italian pastries, assorted cakes, mousses, tortes, cookies, crepes suzette and ice cream station, italian cannolis piped to order

26 Years Ago Today...

It may come as a surprise to learn that this week there is not only one wedding anniversary in my family, but two! My parents, were married 26 years ago today. They'll be going out to dinner tonight to celebrate the occasion so their children will have to fend for themselves for dinner ;). I'm sure we'll survive.

To give you a little glimpse into their wedding... they got married at 10:30 in the morning if you can believe it. Apparently, their family was none too happy about that, but it was their day after all :). They had an early evening reception where they apparently left the dance floor only to cut the cake. My dad refers to it as the only time he forgot his duties as a host (which if you know my dad, says something about how happy he was on their day :).

Still, even with all that, my grandmother refers to their wedding as her favorite wedding of all her children. She said she thought the ceremony was the most meaningful and that the reception was a lot of fun. Which is definitely saying something since my grandmother is not one to play favorites :-D.

So congratulations mom and dad! 26 years and counting!

Get Your Dancing Shoes On!

My wedding shoes are beautiful, classy, and... well... 5 inch heels.

I love them to death, but I can't honestly see myself dancing all night in them. And I'm reluctant to take my shoes off and dance barefoot for two reasons. First of all, I did that at FSIL Katerina and her husband S's wedding and, by the end of the dancing section my feet were stained black and KILLING ME. Granted that didn't stop me from dancing at the time, but by the time I got back to my hotel room I could barely walk. And I still had to shower to get my feet back to normal color. Obviously this is not the way I want to spend my wedding night so that plan is out.

The other reason I don't want to go barefoot is that my dress is a little long on me when I'm not wearing heals. It would be dragging on the floor all night. Which rules out both going barefoot and wearing flats.

So it became clear that I needed to buy another pair of shoes for the reception, and that this pair of shoes needed to be both comfortable and have a bit of a heel. Seems an oxymoron no?

Well then you've never worn an Aeropastale! I have a few shoes by them, and I have to say that they consistently make beautiful heels that are not a pain to walk in. So, while my mom, sisters and I were in New York enjoying my day off from work, we decided to drop in on Aeropastale to see what there was to see. We didn't necessarily think we'd find something, but they were having a clearance sale and the prices were too good to pass up.

Well, I found something all right!

Now I know what you're thinking. Brown? Honestly though, they'll be hidden by my long gown and... I don't really care that they're not white. I think the brown looks gorgeous on my foot and I'll be able to wear this shoe for a long time after my wedding, whereas a white shoe would be more limited.

And the best part? I decided to wear them out of the store as we walked (ended up running) to the train station and not a blister in sight. If I can run 2 miles of New York City in these shoes without destroying my feet, I can certainly dance the night away at my wedding.

Another thing checked off the to-do list!

Congratulations FSIL and FBIL

One year ago today I was a bridesmaid instead of a bride. One year ago today I witnessed the celebration of the love of my FSIL Katerina to my FBIL S and their being united in marriage.

They had beautiful weather, a riverside ceremony, delicious food, and loving friends and family present. What more could a couple ask for on their wedding? And what more could a guest want? As a bridesmaid and a guest I can attest that a good time was had all around.

So Katerina and S congratulations on your first year of marriage! May you have many more equally happy years ahead of you. And the next time I see you I will have a special anniversary surprise for you :).

Differences vs. Similarities

Mishka and I are VERY different people. In fact, if you take each aspect of our personality separately we appear as almost complete opposites. Ironically, the differences between us are what make us such a highly cohesive couple. We seem to be able to adapt to any situation thrown at us through the help of our combined strengths.

However, that is not to say that we do not have similarities, and I have to admit that some of my happiest moments are discovering things we both enjoy. The latest of which, is an online show/movie called Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog.

We've been watching it together somewhat obsessively and essentially know the entire show by heart. By the way, it's a fantastic piece of film if anyone is interested in a 41 minute musical tragicomedy.

But I can't tell you how much fun it is to sing duets to each other in the car, or giggle endlessly together over the idea of a supervillain mastermind named "Bad Horse" (the thoroughbred of sin!!!). And the end? Almost too perfect.

And so we're planning an encore encore (encore) viewing this evening while we play a game of St. Petersburg. And we'll sing along to all the songs at the top of our lungs, laugh at Captain Hammer's ridiculous macho mannerisms, and be in awe of Neil Patrick Harris's pitch perfect portrayal of the tortured nerdy Dr. Horrible.

So in a way it's less Differences versus Similarities, and more Differences AND Similarities. Because in my opinion, you need both. And we're discovering more of both all the time.