.jackpot part 4.

When picking a bridal party, it is important to pick the people who you know have your back. While a bridesmaid doesn’t “technically” have to do anything other than show up to your wedding, there are some who fly to the moon and back for you. For my wedding, I was lucky enough to pick two Zillaz who would fly to outer space and back for me.

They are planning all pre-wedding activities with two others who each live 2,000+ miles away and are three hours ahead of us. They both have families, jobs and one is even back in school taking classes.

When it comes time to work out the details of a shower that is in disarray, they were ready willing and able to meet with me at a moment’s notice and work out the details. When I need someone to go shopping with me, they are available at any time, even if one starts the day with me and the other finishes with me. When I feel like the wedding world is against me, they both reassure me that everything will come together, everything will be fine and I will be beautiful.

When I express concerns about fitting into my dress, they offer to work out with me and if all else fails, rip off our insulin pumps and go rogue with me. Even though we won’t do it, I care that she cares. When I tweet about someone upsetting me or calling me a word that I have to look up on dictionary.com, they will immediately send an email, asking if everything is OK and offer their great advice, even if it is from a cartoon, “Smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave.”

They both cried when I asked them to be in my wedding and to stand up with me and watch me marry the love of my life. They both cried with me when I was shared with them what it felt like when I was diagnosed with diabetes and shared with them some very personal details of my struggle with my life and health. When I need a pick-me-up, it isn’t too far off to find a silly video posted on my facebook account or a request for a sushi date at our “first date spot.”

I know that these two Zillaz are friends for life because of what we’ve been through and what we will continue to experience together. I also know that we will be friends for ever because we have already crossed all of the bumps in the roads from brutally honest emails to just plain old not speaking to each other and look at us now…we all have matching slippers.

To K-Zilla and M-Zilla, thank you from the bottom of my Bride-Zilla heart for all that you have done for me, to me and bring to my life!

.the bad and the ugly.

Ok, yes, I am a blogging slacker… I get it. Let’s hope that this makes up for my slacking. As of today, we are 101 days away and it can’t get here quickly enough. I know that we should enjoy this special time, I won’t be a fiancé again and I won’t plan my wedding own wedding again (vow renewal, anyone?!?) but it is sucking the life out of me. For serious.

Lately, I am feeling defeated. This is the ugly side of wedding planning that I will share with you. Of all the blogs I read, this subject hasn’t come up often, but I am not the only bride who wants to just quit, go to the courthouse and get it done. If we didn’t already pay half of our event to our venue, that would be an option.

Planning a wedding could seriously be its own job and that is why there are wedding planners- it is their job. How many weddings a year do they plan? That is their fulltime job. Me? I have a full time job and am planning a wedding, so it is becoming a bit much.

While most of the details are worked out, there are logistics to handle. So… I will go ahead and post all of the things that aren’t going right, at this point.

1. The dress. I haven’t tried it on in months. SO it may fit. I haven’t lost any weight since it arrived, months ago. I’ve been working out like a fiend, which I am loving. (More on my workouts another time)
2. I need undergarments and furnishings for this dress that I am praying fits.
3. My shower, while I am VERY appreciative that anyone invests any amount of time or money into me, it has become chaotic. My sister is trying to plan it from 2,500 miles away. I have two Zillaz here who want to step in and help more. Maybe my sis wants to be a good sis and plan it all. But we ran into some snafu’s…
4. The invites weren’t done in time. So with 4 weeks until the shower, they weren’t approved or even created. I am not sure what happened and don’t want to know.
5. My wedding invites are going out now and I don’t want to crowd the mail box with a shower invite and a wedding invite. Nothing screams “GIFT” more than two invites in one day.
6. One Zilla replied to an email and CC’d me on it. It was the email with all of the shower details and a gift idea that the girls thought of for me. So of course, I read it…. I could have NOT read it. But I now I know everything.
7. Bachelorette party. A-Zilla has offered to help plan this since she is on modified bed rest. This is a GREAT thing…but then I feel badly when the cost of anything comes up. But it is part of being in a wedding; these are things that need to be paid for and not by the bride, right? I will have a stash of cash anyway.
8. My list keeps growing
9. One of the mothers still doesn’t have a dress. And when I offered to go shopping with her, she said that it was too early. Now she wants to go next month and I am slammed with work, wedding planning and staying healthy.
10. My health. In case you didn’t know, I am a Type 1 diabetic who has been doing a decent job of maintaining good blood sugar numbers. The wedding hasn’t been stressing me out too much. Well that is starting to change. My numbers are fluctuating all over the place. The other nite, I woke up with an extreme low. So even with the working out, the healthy eating, it is my life right now that is taking me all over the numbers map.

I’ve asked Mr. Nearlywed to help keep me as stress-free as possible over the next three months. Stress free and weddings don’t normally fit in the same sentence but we can see how it works out.

Ok, there ya have it. Weddings seem like fun, but they can be insane. And there is a piece of my insanity that I’ve shared with you.

.happy 2010.

Happy New Year! This is the year in which I will be married. Yippeeee! While it seems that it can’t get here fast enough, it is really right around the corner.

The planning is ho-hum, but not wanting to start the New Year with an ugly blog, I will focus on the good. The bad and ugly will come tomorrow.

With 103days until the wedding, we have:
1. Started our pre-marital sessions (another blog will elaborate!)
2. Are starting our dance lessons tonite. I am white. I can’t dance.
3. Our invites are going SOON! Yes, it is three months early, but we have a TON of OOT guests and they are getting their invites soon, it will also make for hunting down people for RSVPs a TON easier.
4. My shower is in one month.
5. Make up is booked, yay!
6. My candy buffet has been reconfirmed.
7. We are meeting with our vendors slowly and surely to wrap up details.
8. Next week I meet with someone about creating a head/hair piece for me!
9. Mr. Nearlywed and I are really working well together as a team
10. I AM GETTING MARRIED!

There are many more good things, but that is what is making me happy right now, while I am in the middle of wedding chaos. Again, that post is scheduled for tomorrow.

Yes, I still owe you more on flowers, our invites, our DJ and videographer…. Stay tuned.

I wish you ALL a HAPPY NEW YEAR! And Happy wedding year, a happy engagement year, a happy dating year, a happy year of being in your BFFs wedding because it means the world to her, trust me, I know this.

.one zilla down.

Yes, folks, that is right. I am down a Zilla. Not because I am a Zilla….although I was called one TWICE last week. TWICE! Me?!!? Psh.

It was in early August when I sent out an email to my Zillaz asking them some things about the wedding. Shortly thereafter, I get a BBM from A-Zilla: “Hey- we need to have a phone date soon!” I was one of those things you just know—like when your man is the one and when your wedding dress is perfect for you. I just knew that she was calling to tell me some fabulous news. It couldn’t wait- on my end- until the weekend. I told her that I’d call her right after my meeting. Not that I could concentrate on that meeting, but I tried. Before jumping to too many conclusions, although I texted what I knew it to be…

Giving away no clues, I had to suffer through a meeting while dreaming of the call that awaited me. When I was able to finally call her, I just waited for her to spew it out, “You are going to be an auntie!” YAY!!! One of my Bffs was pregnant!!! And can’t come to the wedding! Yippee…. What is so yippee about that? Well….we are in our 30s, there are never any guarantees when you are eager to start your family.

When I asked A-Zilla to be in my wedding, she had asked if I’d be upset if she was pregnant at my wedding. Maybe if I were under the age of 25 and thought the world truly did revolve around me, I would have been, but after 30 eh….you are just happy to be alive. I didn’t care if she would be preggo! She didn’t expect it to happen so quickly…turns out she is due 3 weeks before the wedding. Whether the baby arrives early or late, she won’t be flying 2,500 miles with a new born, a husband and a bridesmaid dress. I almost wished she found out after we ordered the dresses because I kind of want one for myself now.

Anyway, we don’t know the baby’s gender or a name…. so don’t ask. And I will say this again: Flo and I could not be any happier for our dear friends. We will truly miss them and the fun that they bring to any gathering. I can’t wait to meet baby Zilla one day and be there for his/her wedding too!



So what does this mean for The Nearlyweds wedding? Well, we are four on one side and five on the other. One of the lucky ladies will be escorted by two gents.

.kreativ blogger award.

YAY! Hooray! My first blog award…. It is an honor to just be nom, er… I mean just to have a reader! Just kidding, my following is growing and I am thrilled to give you some entertainment! Moving along…

The dearest, sweet, adorable, fun, knowledgeable and all around great girl Ashley tagged me as a Kreativ Blogger! Yippeee!!! So now you have to endure 7-10 things about me and then, I pass the Kreativ torch onto other bloggers! I "know" Ashley though our coveted wedding forum site and am honored that she reads my blog and then gave me a Kreativ Blogger Award! So thank you, Ashley, for this honor:


1. Ok, I will get this out in the open because if I don’t, then my sister just may do it for me. I watched Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood up until I was about 9 years old. It was fun- who wouldn’t want to visit The Land of Make Believe? Won’t you be my neighbor??

2. I love even numbers. My favorite number is 22 because not only is 2 and even number, but 22 is two #2’s.

3. I’ve been told- from a tarot card reader- that I have a little bit of psychic ability. And I believe her. When my last boyfriend and I broke up, during one of our heated “I can do better than you” arguments, he said, “You are probably going to run off and find some suit and tie wearing guy.” To which I replied, “Yea, and I’ll probably meet him at the dog park.” And I did- both. Everything happens for a reason. So thank you for putting that out into the Universe for me.

4. I love sports. I love the Steelers. And the Yankees. There are other teams I follow as a here and there fan, but if it is live sports, count me in to spectate. However, I have ZERO athletic ability. None. The adage, “You blank like a girl”, that is me. I run, throw, kick, etc. like a girl.

5. I HATE feet. HATE. THEM. Hate looking at them, anything. My feet are quite ugly so it has to stem from that. If you run after me and try to touch me with your feet, I scream and probably cry if you succeed.

6. I am petrified of the dark. There always had to be a light on in the house. If I am going to bed, I have to go and turn on the bedroom light, then come back into the hallway and turn off that light. It started when I was in Italy and went to the beach, it was dark. The ocean scares me because it is so vast and full of deadly creatures.

7. I been both a T2 and a T1 diabetic already in my life. How? Well, I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 29. My idiot endo- who I’d love to share the name with you and if anyone reco’s her to you, RUN FAR AWAY- looked at my and said, “No you are a T2.” She did that by looking at my 29 year old body, all 5 ft., 7 inches and 138 lbs of me. Turns out, the only way you can tell is by an antibody test, which I failed. I am a T1…or 1.5 (Latent Autoimmune/Adult Onset). So now, I am kept alive by a piece of plastic called an Omnipod. So when you have a hang nail or a bad day, just remember, I am kept alive by a piece of plastic.


Here are the procedures connected with the Kreativ Blogger Award:

1. Copy the award to your site.

2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.

3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.

4. Link to those sites on your blog.

5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.- I may just send them an email!



My nominees for this Kreativ Blogger Award go to:

1. Jenny. We've never met but I consider her a friend- she is humorous, always gives great advice and is a great supporter. She generously donated to the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes! Read her blog here.


2. Kelly. My friend and Zilla. When it comes to friends, everyone needs a Kelly. She is the slap that you need when you really want to be hugged. She is the truth when you want to look in the mirror and lie. But when you want to cry, she will have a tissue and bottle of Merlot ready and waiting. Read her blog here


3. Sarah. My friend and fellow bride, She is hilarious and keeps me entertained via email and Twitter all day long. Read her blog here.


4. Kari. The Crazy Baykah. There is nothing crazy about her, but her energy is contagious. And her cupcakes....even better. Words like addictive and can't have just one come to mind. Read about the good, the bad, the ugly and sweet of being a crazy baykah.


5. TweetMyWedding. This is both an award and a shameless plug. TMW was one of the first places to accept my application as a blogger. What is TweetMyWedding? Well just head on over there and find out. You will be glad that you did.

6. BrideOnBudget. Two words that typically don't fit harmoniously into one sentence. but somehow, Ashley makes it work!! BrideOnBudget is having a fabu wedding without breaking her bank- and she shows you how every step of the way!

7. Becca. Another fellow bride who is also getting married in Vegas. I've been trying my best to help her out and am pretty sure that I am responsible for her bakery selection. Who is it? See above, #4.

.cheers and jeers.

Whew…. There are things that you know about wedding planning via checklists in all of the magazines, advice from your friends, shows on WeTV and more. What no one tells you is that you will want to elope several times. You will reconsider every decision you ever made. Your fiancé will drive you nuts about something minor like the font of a DIY sign. You will have high blood sugar from cake tastings. Friends will be offended that they aren’t in your wedding or providing you a wedding service. Everyone will offer a piece of unsolicited advice to you. People will let you down, you will let yourself down. You will re-reconsider your choices, again. Your other will hurt your feelings; your future mother-in-law will hurt your feelings. You will hurt someone’s feelings. Your bridesmaids will drive each other crazy. They will drive you a little bit crazy and forget to order their dress.

There isn’t a guide or magazine to help you deal with these things. It is called life. Life teaches you how to handle setbacks and disappointments.

I think of this today when I look at my phone and realized that not one friend texted me today. What is so bad about that? Well, today is the annual HUGE food festival in Las Vegas. An event that I haven’t missed in years! My dear M-Zilla works for the title sponsor and is at this event every year, all day long. Up until I got lazy, I was looking forward to finding her and having a drink and some eats with her. This was one of the first places that I met her- when I was just a mere fan of hers. Since then our relationship has grown into something special enough for her to be standing up with me at our wedding. We’ve been all of the above to each other and in the end; it has made our friendship grow into what it is now! Too bad i am lazy.... but it is also 90* and parking is a biotch there. And I had a cake tasting today and my sugar is high. Shocking.

But today, none of my usual suspects ever reached out to see if flo and I were going to this Festival. And why it bothers me is because I am generally the planner. K-Zilla and I are usually the planners. Last year I was at this festival with a group of 10-15 friends. K-Zilla waas not one of them because, as diabetics, this is a difficult place to watch ourselves! She has already informed me that she will pass this year too. And today, not-a-one messages or texted to see if we were going. Some of these friends pull the “I never see you anymore” woe-is-me with me and this makes me question why?? Is it because they rely on me/us to plan and keep us together or is it because they generally could give a crap less and just sit back and wait for me to take action.

In my world of being a bride, a blogger, an aunt, a fiancé, a daughter, an employee, a friend and a diabetic, being the planner is an added stress to my life.

Cheers to those who I can connect with here and there all randomly and then it feels like we saw each other yesty! Cheers to those who are on the guest list because they care and they genuinely keep in touch and ask about me- not just the wedding but how I am. Jeers to those who don’t. We may just have to reevaluate our guest list. Again.

It just goes to show you that in this world, you have yourself. I am blessed enough to have myself, my family and friends who are my family. Remember to put your wedding & wedding planning in perspective—life is short, enjoy the moments. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

.progress in the fashion area.

We made some progress in the fashion department over the past few weeks:

1. I bought my dad a tie. This compliments both the wedding and my mom's dress. I had originally found this on The Tie Bar and thought, "oh we have PLENTY of time"....well when I went to buy it.... it was gone. At J. Crew, I had seen one there and after finally making it to the local J. Crew Outlet, they had one left. One left in two colors: an olivey green and a brighter green. It looks like the tie below...except without the white. But now that I see the white...hmmmm.....

2. Flo bought some ties at the Tie Bar as well. We bought two green ties and matching pocket squares. Am loving the The Tie Bar, for serious. We haven't.... He hasn't decided on which tie her prefers. That will be his choice. He is fashion aware, as I like to call him and will give him that decision to make.

3. We are ordering the Zillaz dresses! Yay! M-Zilla and K-Zilla were able to try on the dress and both gave it three snaps up and a Z formation. So we moved forward with the order forms. I am hoping that the Zillaz all get them in and ordered by October 1. I had emailed all four of my Zillaz and heard back from one that she got it and has ordered her dress. But I have faith that all will be ordered on time. I know, it is me being crazy...but a "hey I got it." Or, "Hey I ordered it" would calm my neuroses.

4. We are ordering coordinating ties for our guys! We are going with the Dessy Group Satin ties and Pocket Squares in concord. They will coordinate with the Zillaz. So Groomsmaids and Zillaz are all set, for the most part.

5. MOB ordered her dress, had it shortened like I suggested (yay! It was optional, but it will look way cuter for the "theme"). She is going with a sassy navy dress. I haven't a clue what MIL will be wearing which is making me mildly nervous....but I can't control every detail. We haven't revisited her outfitting since showing me something white she'd like to wear. Again, my neuroses...

6. I ordered shoes. Yup. Finally. They are NOT the Louboutin's that I had dreamt about... but we DID change our venue and add quite a bit of $$$ to our budget for that. It's all good because I do love these.... and bought them for a great price. I actually love challenging myself to see what I can find for the lowest price. They are the "Giselle" by Liz Rene. Still debating on dyeing them to match Flo's tie tho....

.we picked a zillaz dress.

Last Saturday, K-Zilla and I ventured to the other side of town to check out the Zillaz dress. I loved it already, so this was a nail biting trip. M-Zilla went the week prior to check it out and she loved it as well. Well, at least I think that they love it. Maybe they are lying but I doubt it. So far the count is 2 yay and 0 nay. I am guessing that my other Zillaz won’t be able to try on the dress—no because they won’t, but it is a hard sample to come across.

Jamie at Bella Bridesmaid was kind enough to order a sample and even better—she ordered samples in colors that I was considering. After seeing the color “Concord”, I decided that was THE ONE. Originally, I wanted different colors for the Zillaz, but with Concord being the only color I truly like, we are sticking with one color but will wrap the dress different ways.

I love this dress so much that I’ve considered buying my own. A word to the wise: This dress runs BIG. And in sizes XS-S-M-L, which is great for those who don’t want to get measured!

In case you haven’t read my post on wanting my aisle to look more like a runway, read my post here.

We will be ordering the dresses within the next few weeks! Check that off of the list!

.the cost of being in the know.

It is no secret that being in a wedding is both an honor and expense! That was one of the reasons why it took me so long to finalize and ask my bridal party. I actually knew who I wanted to ask long before I asked them; however, knowing the costs of being in a wedding, I hesitated. As a recent bridesmaid, I know how much they cost and how much I am asking of that person to stand with me on one of the biggest days of my life. Let’s be honest—I would spend anything to be there for a friend.

In my first bridal experience, I knew that it would be “expensive” but was never quite sure until the plans started to finalize. The wedding was out of town for me and there was NO WAY that I was missing the shower. So there is one plane ticket. Then, obviously, I am going to the wedding along with my significant other (who was still my boyfriend at the time of asking, not yet my fiancé). At the time of asking, Flo and I had only been dating about six months, so I assumed that I would be paying for his trip to go as my guest. Luckily (whew!) by the time the wedding came around, we were engaged and my money is now our money. When A-Zilla had asked me to be in the wedding, the first thing that she said was that she understands how costly they could be (speaking from her experience) and if anyone can’t be in it, she understood. And she meant it; however, there is no way, no how I personally would miss this for a BFF of mine. So I buckled down and started to budget. I never kept record of my costs, but I can give you my estimate between travel, hotel, gifts, attire, spending money it was about $1500. However, the money was spread out over time so it was not one big, huge hit at one time.

With all of this in mind, I am doing my darndest to cut back on expenses for the Zillaz. I will be forever grateful for A-Zilla to let Flo and I crash at the fabu Hoboken pad before the wedding and while they were on their honeymoon! Don’t worry, we cleaned up and left them some wine for their post honeymoon return! Their kindness saved us like $500 in additional hotel nites! Sweet.

It has become my goal to alleviate as much of the Zillaz cost as possible, from dress to hair & makeup to bachelorette party to showers…. I am trying to be easy on their wallets during this “economic time”.

On Bridelines, they posted this great article told through the minds of Zillaz (not my Zillaz…yet!) and I keep this information top of mind when making any wedding decisions. Heck, it will probably cost ME more to have Zillaz IN the wedding than it will for the Zillaz TO be a part of the wedding! To view the whole article, click here.

Dollars aside, I would never trade the experience of being a part of something so special for a friend and would do whatever I can to have my Zillaz be a part of our wedding.

I hope that they still lurve me after the wedding!

.checking things off of the list.

Whew! My, oh my…. Where have I been? Yikes! Well, I went on vacation, had my sister come out to visit me and just have not been able to catch up on blogging!

To update, my vacation was very productive, the following were accomplished:

1. My mother found an MOB dress, but just needs to order it. I wanted to go looking for dresses with her just to get an idea of what feels comfortable for her, what style looks good on her shape and what colors she likes. Well we more than accomplished that! Sweet… she lurves it, I lurve it and she is going to be one sassy MOB! No photos of this will post.

2. We found dresses for the Zillaz. Sort of. My sister, my niece and I trekked to several bridal stores in New Jersey. While Ster Zilla fed the lovely baby, I tried on the dresses! In all honesty… I think that I enjoy the dress shopping and trying experience so much that I offered to try them on! For S-Zilla and I to shop, we don’t mess around. In, put dress on, do you like –yes or no, circle one- ok, dress off and next. We fell in lurve with a matte jersey material from both Alfred Angelo and the Dessy Group. The matte jersey is light, flowy and comfy. So no fidgeting, no hugging or squeezing, these dresses should last comfortably all nite long! The Dessy dress is a wrap style that can be worn several ways. I like this idea the most because everyone can wear the dress in a style they like the most. For example, A-Zilla has awesome shoulders and upper body, so I pictured her wrapping to accentuate and I was right- she loves the one shoulder wrap. All we are doing is waiting for a sample to come into one store so that we can actually try that dress on and see how difficult (or easy, I hope) it is to wrap these dresses. I can only imagine us on the morning of trying to get this done and we end up Hollywood Taping everything together. Welcome to my world. The Zillaz lurved the dresses, too! That was most important. Wait, they said they lurved them…. Oh well. They truly can be re worn. The material can be dressed up for the wedding and worn with cute flats or strappy sandals and worn to brunch or church.

**NOTE: Another great wrap is is by twobirds bridesmaid...check it out. A little more expensive than the Dessy, but stunning.**

Dress by Alfred Angelo, Style 6588

Dress by The Dessy Group, Style Twist1

3. I bought a dress!!! YAYYYYYY! This is a HUGE relief. I haven’t quite yet posted all of dress debacle posts because I wasn’t sure how much attention I wanted to call to the negatives of dress shopping. Maybe I will forget all of that and just move forward. The dress is amazing, no, I won’t post photos. But it will knock your socks off! Now… I just have to get into a shape, something other than round. But don’t worry- I already started this process, I have a phone number to a trainer, who I will call while I gorge on Doritos. Ha-ha, take that healthy trainer lady! Just kidding…. My goal is to start a program around August or September. An actual training program, more than just my infrequent visits to the gym.

Here is a photo of a rejected dress... I have to be careful with what I post in case I change my mind! Ha!

4. We tasted our favors…. And sorry guests, there are none left for you! Just kidding. Spoiler Alert: I am going to talk about my wedding favors here. My dad makes wine as a hobby and it was only fitting to ask him to make wine for the wedding favors. He is making two flavors, which I will keep secret, and we were able to try one flavor and it was G-O-O-DDDDDDDD. YUM! I can’t wait for the guests to receive this favor and hopefully drink it. It is meaningful and made with love, for sure. We just need to commish Ellie Hey to do my labels. She has already agreed….so that part is checked off. We just need to come up with a design and a cute saying on the bottles so that everyone knows where they were made, etc. Any ideas? Please email them to me at TheNearlyweds@rocketmail.com

.ohhhh....what can it be hiding under than bag? the next step is to bottle and voila they are done.

.this is called a "wine thief" so that you can taste without contaminating the wine in progress.

.tasting the fruits of my dad's labor. yum is all i can say.

5. Save the Dates. Once again, the truly talented Ellie came through with a design that blew us away! I think that we went through only 3 revisions…but if you ask her, it was probably more like 33. Anyway, she sent us the approved design while we were in PA, sampling our favors. Blame it on the alcohol?? Anyway, they are two-sided, 5”x7” beauties. The personal information is blacked out, but this is what they look like:

They were printed on a glossy stock and we picked matching shadow grey envelopes. I am currently hand addressing them! UGH. My handwriting is mediocre, but I write faster than I think and have messed up three so far. Maybe the recipients of the STDs will become a shorter list and I continue writing. I can’t wait for them to be mailed, which means that I am finished with hand addressing envelopes.

**NOTE: We are only mailing to immediate family and far away friends (and bridal party!) so if you are a local friend…and don’t get one, you don’t necessarily have to be offended. We just speak to you on a regular basis and you know when the wedding will be and you should know if you will be invited or not!**

6. My insane checklist. I created a spreadsheet as my checklist. It is a crazillion tabs. Each tab is dedicated to a subject: Attire, Accessories, catering, Décor, DIY, Transportation, To Do, etc. It is helping to keep me organized, for now….

7. My binder. Is another out of control item. I am creating a secondary one for inspirational ideas since that is what is keeping my binder overflowing. And I guess that I can move the losing choices for a bridal gown and Zillaz dress to the older folder. I don’t want to get rid of anything because I think that in a few years I want to look back and see where my thoughts were and what I would have changed, etc.

So I leave you with this really long blog. We are just under 10 months now and the planning is going into full swing! We meet with our wedding planner today and I will be sure to blog again after that! Cheers!

.once a bridesmaid.

It slips my mind if I’ve written about A-Zilla’s wedding or not… For now, she will be called A-Zilla until I assign Blog Names to each of my Zillaz. This is my first time to walk down the aisle, in a wedding, because First Holy Communion doesn’t quite count. But I do remember how much fun that day was, a party…in my honor.

.a-zilla and i in april 2005.

Anyway, today, we are nine days away from her wedding! I remember getting the call last June from her, oddly, on a Friday evening, while she was on vacation with her boyfriend. I was busy scrambling to get stuff done and wasn’t able to take the call. The next day, it hit me like a ton of bricks that she was calling to tell me that he was no longer her boyfriend. He is now her fiancé. Upon A-Zillaz return from vacation, she rang me one morning was I was still being lazy and trying to sleep late. It was the call I had been waiting for! My dear friend is now engaged to be married!! With my then boyfriend next to me, it had turned into quite the awkward moment as we gushed like grade school girls about rings, how it happened, what she did, when the wedding is, etc. Like the champ he is, Flo listened intently and was equally excited for my friend.

As luck would have it, I follow Flo to NYC about a week later. You see, his trip was planned, I decided to forego the family vacation and save my money. But once he texted me from the epicenter of my being, New York City, I just had to follow. So I booked a ticket and called my friend and said, “Hey, I am flying in tomorrow, want to hang out.” And of course, see the ring!!

The timing was impeccable that I was able to hug her and share in the joy within a week of the engagement. It was awesome. She was glowing and gorgeous, the ring also, but no comparison to the love glow she exuded. We, once again, gushed like girls about any wedding details that she may have had. All we knew was that it would be huge! It is the combining of two large Italian families and it was known that this would be a celebration of big, fat Italian wedding proportions. Low and behold, she asked me to be a part of it!! YAY! My first wedding. Ever. My first dress fitting, my first bridal shower, while I’ve been to a bachelorette party before, this would be one in which I play a role. Over the next few months, her plans slowly unfolded… the date, the venue, an opinion on a dress, what to buy her for the bridal show, when is the bridal shower, booking airline tickets, dress fittings, shoe shopping, hair and make up appointments….

In March, when I visited for her bridal shower, it was the first time that we were together as two engaged ladies who won the man lottery and are marrying amazing men. We’ve gone from just-out-of-college friends to women who are about to become wives. It was surreal to think back over the years of our friendship and see what we’ve evolved into as women. We are now more mature (sometimes); we’ve decorated homes of our own, are standing up in each other’s weddings and creating another chapter in our book of friendship.

When I think about the wedding next week, I almost always get teary eyed. It this was years ago, the tears wouldn’t fall, but as I’ve grown up, I’ve become softer too. There is more room for love in my heart and more emotion behind my eyes. I think about walking down the aisle with 300+ plus guests, looking at her groom as he anxiously awaits the most beautiful woman in white to approach him. I get emotional thinking about her father giving away his only daughter and her mother finally having her day as Mother of the Bride.

No doubt there will be lots of tears, starting when we arrive in NJ on Thursday. There will be tears as we reminisce about Dunkin’ Donuts, Fire Island, the beach, our jobs and our current lives. It is going to be an amazing weekend that I want to hurry up and get here, yet, I want to slow it down and savor each second and emotion. This is something we will never go through again, together. The next wedding we are in together, she will be an “old, married woman” who can share advice with me on “the first year”, she can share her lessons learned from the wedding day, the honeymoon and those first few months as husband and wife.

My level of excitement could not go any higher right now…well maybe it can just a little bit once I get closer to the my departure time.

A-Zilla and her Groom will make an amazing couple and accomplish many, many great things together. I wish them nothing but a million lifetimes of happiness, a ton of special memories and a life they call their own.

Tanti Aguiri

The countdown clock slowly begins

Today, I received my first alert that we have “TWELVE MONTHS TO GO”, it was like a bullhorn shouting through my Crackberry. Seriously. This is what it looked like:

Jennifer, your wedding date is: 4/24/2010

While I’m still in procrastination mode, it is slowly becoming more real. The May/June timeframe is incredibly busy for Flo and I—we are becoming an Aunt and Uncle for the first time and I am also a Bridesmaid for the first time!! May 27 is target date for Aunt and Uncle-hood, June 6 is the date for Bridesmaid duties. Since both the mother-to-be and the June bride-to-be are in my wedding, I feel like it is unfair to them if I start bogging anyone down with my wedding details when we are over twelve months out! Right? They have bigger fish to fry right now. Once we get back from that East Coast trip, we are ten months out and are going to hit the ground running.

At that point, I pinky promise to post more photos of my inspirations, ideas, experiences of planning (dress shopping, cake tasting, even trying to get in shape- ugh!). As of now, this blog has been more about my thoughts than planning, but it is better than having each and every detail worked out before I ever even said, “YES!” Right?? I wasn’t a “just-add-groom” type of bride before getting engaged.

In reviewing my “things to write about” list, there are several items that have yet to be posted. Shame on me, but stay tuned… they are coming! Matter of fact, they will be written and posted this week.

--The Entourage, The Players. Who is in our wedding and why??
--Las Vegas Bride: if you haven’t picked up a copy you should or

visit them on line for invaluable wedding planning information
--The Nearlywed Report: What on earth is that, you ask?

Stay tuned folks and I will personally introduce you to this columnist

Being engaged is fun, if I can do it all the time, to the same man, I would be happy!

A few words from two of the Zillaz

Once I had confirmed the members of The Dream Team, I told the other two bloggers to feel free to write on their respective blogs or to be a guest blogger on my blog. They are both fantastically funny and wonderful writers. I told you that I had The Dream Team. Anyway, they both posted their blogs and I am floored, again, by my emotions in reading what they had written.

Everyday when I wake up next to Flo, I realize and feel how lucky and blessed my life truly is. When I hear from my friends, cousin and sister, whether it is a text, email, facebook message or letter, I realize how lucky and blessed my life is. After reading their blogs, I wonder what I did to deserve such wonderful people in my life!! On with the blog...

Just to give you insight: One of my Bridesmaids says that she will be a Bridesmaidzilla and if anyone trys to not make this wedding how we/I want it, she is going to go zilla on them. So the bridesmaids are my Zillaz. For life. It provides humor. Trust me, though... we aren't Zillaz....

Visit here to read her blog about my asking her to be in the wedding.
Here is a photo of her reading her card.



For the blog of my other Zillaz, please click here and be sure to the blog entitled "Bridal Wave".
Here is a picture of her opening her card:

The Dream Team

This is just too exciting to NOT blog right now, because I may soon forget what this feeling feels like and I don’t want to not capture it. My Dream Team has officially been assembled, as of yesterday. I call them a Dream Team because that is what they are, to me. A formal intro to the Dream Teams (this includes Flo’s) will follow…but it includes family and friends, near and far, new and old. It was challenging because I had to remind myself that the wedding is about Me and Flo. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about who is asked or what they think if they aren’t asked. There were some times I wanted to ask people I have known longer or may see more often, but I received some great advice—Ask those who are responsible, who will be there for you and have your best interest at heart. With that advice, I quickly assembled my bridesmaid asking gifts (bribery, as I called it) and wrote out their cards with messages from the heart. Everyone in my party has seen me through many stages of my life and it gives me great joy to know that it continues into my marriage. The person who gave that advice, well, she was asked to be in my party.

Now that the party is complete, it is a huge sigh of relief and I really do, for some reason, feel complete. It’s uncanny, I wasn’t expecting to feel this way. What I also wasn’t expecting was the feelings I got before, during and after the asking. Nerves took over before each asking…even with my sister! Then while they were reading their cards, it was nerves/excitement/anticipation! Are they going to say yes?? Then seeing them smile, cry, laugh and sigh was the monogram on top of the cake! It was awesome, even today, I am still flying high.

I have pictures of everyone opening their gifts, except one, who I was not able to ask in person. It was really meaningful to me to be able to ask in person, which is why it took so long for me to reach everyone. But the gifts are given, the responses are yes and we now can let the fun and games begin!!!

A previous post showed you my thought process on the gifts- allow me to introduce you to the gifts:

They were custom made at Sugar&Spice Signature Cards and Gifts Dallisa, who is truly amazing, put together a decorative box with our initials on them, inside was a retro/pin up looking mug with one of three sayings on them, a variety pack of her handmade signature cards, a ring pop, Hershey’s kisses and a candle from the S&S line of gifts.

Bribery, as I called it, for the girls. My bridesmaidzillaz. It's only cool if we use a "z" at the end.

So to S, F, A, K, M this is gonna be one heckuva party! Thank you.

Foreward to Pre-Planning

Let’s face it- I would be a complete and total liar if my blog boasted about how simple wedding planning really is. I am here to tell you that it is not. But it also does not have to be all-consuming and eat you alive. I am an event planner by profession, also a former wedding coordinator, and it overwhelms me at times, even though I though my cool and composure would be kept at all times.

My own personal rule #1:
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE. What is this day about? It is about marrying the love of your life, your best friend and committing to each other for life, not for one day, so don’t make the event about one day. Things can and will go wrong. You can make those moments a little less stressful by being prepared (you did ask your A-team to be bridesmaids for a reason, right??) and by staying focused on what this day means. It will not define your marriage or your life if one small thing goes wrong. Even if a major catastrophe crops up, it does not define you or your marriage. By keeping your eye on the prize (your new husband or wife) these minor jolts in the day will seem miniscule. Laugh about it on your five or ten year anniversary….

My most overwhelming ditty right now?? The guest list! I asked the parents for an A-list and a B-list. D-listers, beware! It pretty much looks like an A-lister wedding all the way! We are 50+ over where we had hoped to be, luckily, the invites aren’t going out tomorrow. The daunting part for me? Do you know how many people are going to enter into our lives or come out of the woodwork over the next several months? It is time to put a cap on the list, this goes for me too…. I keep adding people. Shhhh…don’t tell on me.

My least overwhelming ditty? My vendors. Most of them are already verbally secured, thank you to my career in events and weddings. Hey, when isn’t “You ARE doing my wedding, I can’t have an event without you!” not considered secure?

As I finish my story on Las Vegas Bride, more planning information will come forth. In the blog queue right now: a blog on dress shopping in NYC, “The Entourage” where we introduce you to the members of our wedding entourage and soon it will be time to dig deep into the details with photos and ideas! Stay tuned….

Cheers!