.professional roll call.

With just about 4 months to go until the wedding, I figured that a Professional Roll Call is in order…. These are the folks who we are using for our wedding and those who we have personally selected- or- have been matched up with by our planner. They are truly, utterly, seriously the DREAM TEAM.

This also gets a JACKPOT label.... for the reason that we truly are hitting the wedding JACKPOT by using these fine wedding professionals!
In no particular order:

Venue: JW Marriott Resort & Spa

Photographer: Imagine Studios

Zillaz Dresses: Bella Bridesmaid

Hair: Hair by Andeen

Make Up: One Luv Bridal

Cake: Gimme Some Sugar

Cinematographer: Lighten Films

Floral: Enchanted Floral

DJ: DJs TO YOU

We are still working out a few other details.... and vendors...but for now, this is the solid dream team! Check them out- if you are in Vegas and getting married, these all come highly recommended by yours truly!

.results of my procrastination.

If I followed my checklists from various sites like Project Wedding, Wedding Wire, or The Knot, I would have completed this one task back in June. It is now October. What task is this? Finding an Officiant. Tisk-task.

I just figured that everyone would happen to be available on our wedding day at our wedding time. In April. On a Saturday. We attempted to make an appointment with one lovely option and she was booked. Yes, a "she". Her ceremony seemed fabu and her voice was soothing and calming. I could tell that the "she" part sent Mil into a tither but regardless, we are unable to book this lady.

My friend's father is a Rabbi with a great ceremony. No, I am not Jewish. Flo and I are both Catholic with weekly church going parents. I knew deep down that Flo really wanted a Catholic influenced ceremony. Me? Well I could take it or leave it. I want my ceremony outside and that is more important than having it be Catholic. More of my time is spent outside than in church. Or judjah as Ster and I would call it. ::Hi, Ster::

Anywho, Rabbi Craig reached out to several of his colleagues once he heard that we were both Catholic. As luck would have it, today, after I nearly had another- yes, another- breakdown he gave us the contact information of a former Priest who left the Priesthood for marriage. Wow- being married must be something fabu.

Our first appt with him is November 7th. Our initial convos were great and we are quite happy with this connection. Flo finally admitted that he wanted Catholicism to be a part of the ceremony to appease our parents. I can tell you that while, yes, this will make my parents happy, they never would have made mention of it being a non denominational ceremony performed by a Rabbi. This is one of those subjects that was more important to Flo and his family than to me and mine and is why I searched high and low to find something to closely resemble a religious ceremony! :) I knew that it was important to Flo without him having to say anything. Maybe my wifey sixth sense is already kicking in?!?

.a wish and a dream.

Our first “date” after meeting was on a Thursday nite/Friday morning, after Flo had gotten off of work. Who knew that within a year we’d be engaged and getting married right back where it all [almost] started?? Not us.

If you remember back to my post about finding a venue, you would know that I was in love with the aesthetics of the venue. If you remember my post about awful service, then you won’t be surprised to know that we cancelled that venue. Done. Over it. You provide AWFUL service and therefore, we won’t give you our money. Yes, we cancelled because of the “event coordinator” who is really more like a receptionist who was given added responsibility to save money. Big mistake on their part. Big.

When word got out to some industry friends, they were more than willing to help us achieve a dream wedding! I am not one to ever use the words, “dream, perfect or princess”, but I can’t help but use the words “dream and perfect” to describe our new venue and how we now feel about the wedding. It took about a month for us to get it worked out, but they were more than accommodating and more than willing to help us out and create a custom package to fit our desires. That is service. None of this crap where you won’t accommodate us after 4 pm.

Anyway, words can’t describe my excitement after giving the verbal “YES!!!” to the new venue and words can NOT ever describe how excited I was to send my “cancelling and give my deposit back” letter to our first venue. I hope that they take my words, read them very carefully and reevaluate the way that they treat their clients.

So why didn't we do this in the first place?? Well, with our original guest list...it was out of our budget. While it sucked, we had to make some trims here and there...We hacked about 50 people from our original list. This also included previous cuts... but that is the first way to stay within a budget.

I try not to be an emotional sap too much…but we get married where we had our first official date, our first smooch and where Flo first looked into my eyes and said that he has never seen green eyes and love them. He still says that to me every nite before we fall asleep.

The contract is in my hands, we are just going to review, sign and deliver on Tuesday when we do our walk through.

In the meantime, allow me to introduce you to our new venue, the JW Marriott

Here we are checking it out:



And here it is:




.above photos found here.





.above photos found here.

.who presents this bride.

Last nite Flo and I took MOB and FOB to our ceremony venue and having our own little walk through. According to our sales coordinator at Caesars, the new garden chapel is underway. Ground has been broken. So the chances of us getting married here are slim, but it was still fun.

.practicing the "who presents this bride?".

.we do.

.we can't wait.

Nine months and one week to go, it is getting super exciting. Tuesday is our reception walk thru. We actually got that worked out, if you read my previous blog about the service we were getting at our venue, you can rest easy knowing that they "accommodated" us, (begrudgingly) and that we are going there on Tuesday (at the time I first requested). Imagine that- taking your client when it's convenient for them. We will see how this one goes.... if we walk out of there without bucking horns, no more words will be written.

PS: I won $22 on one spin! Sweet!

.vacation recap.

Wow- two whole weeks away from home. I thought it would fly by; thought it was would drag and certainly thought that there would be enough time to blog. My last post was days before I left. Whoops.

Going home to see family is always a bevy of emotions. I am happy and excited to see them yet all I can think about is how dreadful it is to leave them. Even when I had 12 days with them, the thoughts of leaving would not escape my mind. This trip was different- I met my niece for the first time and saw my parents as grandparents and my sister as a mother.

I had a few days to myself at my parents where I visited with the family of now five and also spent time going through my childhood bedroom and cleaning it out to make room for the current grandbaby and any subsequent grandkids that may one day play red light/green light in the back yard just as my sister and I did as kids. This was an interesting trip down memory lane… there were boxes of things from my adolescence, my teens, my college years and post college life. While I wouldn’t change anything because I am happy with the woman I’ve become, the woman I’ve rescued my teen self from, some of the memories were less than pleasant to relive. I was an insecure kid, a teen with low self esteem who seems to have faked it though her years. It bothered me to remember how I felt about myself then but overjoyed me now to see how I’ve distanced myself from that. I made a mental promise to never let any young girls in my life look at themselves in a negative way. Daughters of friends, daughter of my sister, which is now my goal- to make sure that they are loving and strong.

When I began cleaning, I took one large garbage bag with me and when my dad asked if we would need to double bag it, I said no stating that there won’t be that much stuff and one bag is more than enough. Turns out that I had no only two bags full, but they both needed a double bagging! I got rid of every unpleasant memory, every pleasant memory that has no current place in my life. Yes, ex boyfriend, I loved your dog, but have no need to hold onto photos of him. Yes, former classmates, I enjoyed re-reading on your senior class photos, but they are in both the yearbook and now thanks to Facebook, I see you all the time. Gone are those photos. Yes, Europe when I was 17, I loved you more than any trip, but I really no longer need to hold onto the box which housed the Calvin Klein underwear I bought in Switzerland. Gone is the box. Yes, I remember when soda tabs were cool for something, but do not feel that at 31 there is any need for them right now. Gone are the soda tabs. Autograph books were fun, then. Notes were fun to write and read, then. All the stupid stuff that I could not picture taking into my home with my husband are gone. I did keep professional portraits from the dances; my niece will need something to laugh at in the future. I kept a few items to remind me of the good times, the good years and when I really was 22. Putting the bags out in the trash was a relief, even though the items still exist in a landfill somewhere, they no longer exist in my world.

On day #3 of my vacation, my fiancé flew in. And it was time to get our vacation started, we spent quality time with the family, showed him more of the area where I grew up, took him for lunch where it cost $11.75 for three people, took him to a restaurant where I ate as a single digit child, funny how the place hasn’t changed in 15 years! I like showing him this part of my world and life, thinking that he can picture a chubby, unibrowed little girl visiting these places.

On Thursday, we headed to NJ where we prepped for the wedding I was in on Saturday. He met one my BFFs and Zillaz for the first time, along with her now husband. While I knew that they would all get along, it was one of those “we’ve known each other forever” evenings and it was fabu. They were amazing hosts and we can’t wait to return the favor when they come out to Vegas.

Friday- the day before the wedding… we did girlie things like manicures, pedicures, drinking champagne and reminiscing about the years gone by. I was impressed by A-Zillaz ability to remain calm and collected. It was almost as if Saturday was an ordinary day.

And then Saturday it was. The Wedding Day. Up and at it by 6 am. Yup, well rested and ready to start the day. My mental notepad was ready to go! Things to blog about, things to remember for my wedding, things we forgot to remember and things we wish to forget. Luckily, we didn’t forget anything (I had a great e-kit checklist) and we didn’t wish to forget anything.
The morning started off like any other- in hair and makeup! I will admit to being nervous about having strangers work on the beauty aspect for me…. I asked for hair to do a “faux bob” and they looked at me like I said, “Bob Loblaw”. In the end, two painful hours in the chair later, the hair looked good. Make up was a-may-zing! The makeup was stellar and it lasted, all day. The only thing that mattered was how the bride looked. I don’t even know what word to use to describe her. I choose Grace Kelly-esque. She looked like classic royalty. I’m not sure that I have ever seen a woman look so stunning before. I don’t just say this because she is a BFF, I mean it. With her permission, I will one day post a photo!

I’ve never walked down an aisle before in a wedding and was terribly nervous. It showed, one of her other maids picked up on it. Let’s just say that I made it down the aisle without falling or crying like a gassy baby. I did cry. It was emotional to see someone so close to you marry and be so happy. Just a short hour later, it was party time! Woo!!!

But as the late afternoon approached, my body was starting to crash. After almost 12 waking hours, my nerves and anxiety going up and down, eating then not eating for a while, it was making my blood sugar go all over the charts. Being a diabetic is never conducive to all day long activities. I could slowly feel my body craving a break. This was where my mental notepad opened up and I made a note to be better rested and take a break and relax during the next big day.

The nite forged on and I spent most of it seated, enjoying the amazing band, the delectable foods and just all around great company. This wedding was five star, five diamond everything!! My hat is off to the amazing A-Zilla and her impeccable planning!
And in just a brief moment the day was over! It really does fly by and you really do need to savor each and every moment because in the blink of an eye, it will be over. The wedding is already 10 days ago….wow.

Flo and I continued our vacation for a few days longer. It was the perfect blend of R&R, travel, culture and time with my best friend.