Wedding Update: 5 Months To Go!

The Big Day is only 5 months away and it seems that my To-Do List is getting longer instead of shorter.  The more I think about it the more it seems to grow. The good thing is that we have most of the big things completed and booked, so it really just comes down to the details now.

Here's the update on what we have done, what we are in the process of planning, and what we still need to do.  Hopefully, next month, we will be able to move a few more items to the "Done" category.  But, I am sure that I will have more things to add to the "Need To Do" category as well.

Done:

Booked the Church - Assumption Church, Emerson, NJ
Ceremony Officiant - My Uncle Al : )

Booked the Venue - The Estate at Florentine Gardens, RiverVale, NJ

Booked our Photographer - Milton Gil Photographers

Engagement Pictures (I will share these soon...)
Ordered my Wedding Gown - Shhh!

Ordered the Bridesmaid Dresses - Bill Levkoff

Ordered the Groomesmen Tuxedos - Men's Wearhouse

Booked our Videographer - Florentine Gardens In-House

Booked the DJ - Florentine Gardens In-House

Booked our Ceremony Musicians

Booked our Florist - Floral Expressions

Send out Save The Dates (See pic above)
Ordered Invitations

Hotel Room Block for Guests - Park Ridge Marriott

Reserve shuttle service between hotel and wedding site
Chosen our First Dance Song - Shhh!

Created our Wedding Website 

Created our Wedding Registries - Bed, Bath & Beyond, Crate & Barrell, Pottery Barm 

In Progress:

Booking Hair & Makeup Trials & Appointments

Honeymoon: Booked hotels, now just need to book flights

Location for Rehearsal Dinner

Bridesmaid gifts: Purchased part of their gifts! So excited to give these to them. 

Need to Do:

Pre-Cana - Scheduled for June 1st

Book Limos

Choose Menu - going to Florentine on June 15th to do this!

Cake Tasting

Menu Tasting

Choose Bridesmaid Accessories

Wedding Gown Alterations - Scheduled

Wedding Bands

Favors

Hotel Welcome Bags

Groomsmen Gifts

Gifts for Our Parents
Day-of Timelines

Ceremony Song List

Reception Song List

Seating Plans

Table Numbers

Guestbook

Ceremony Programs and Menu

Seating Cards

Marriage License

Renew Passport

If any of you have any advise, ideas or info to help us in our wedding planning, we would greatly appreciate it!

House Demo - Weekend One

 After weeks of driving by our soon-to-be house, there were a few changes that we knew we wanted to make right away.  So, Joel did not waste any time getting started. 

First thing to go were the weird, broken, folding doors on the front step, which were pretty much falling off anywyay.

Before (Or In Process)

After

The next thing to go were the yellow and brown awnings that were over every window.  We actually tried to rip them down right after we got the keys, but they were on there a little better than we thought.

Before

After

Picture Coming Soon...

After that my mom, sister and I started working on cleaning up the windows in the back room.  They were disgusting and we wanted to get some air ventilating in the house.  So, we removed the large glass panels and were thrilled to find dozens of dried up bee’s nests in the corners of the frames.  It took us all day to clean up the frames and panels.  But, honestly it made such a difference.

Before

After

While we were working on the back room, Joel decided that he was ready to start knocking down some walls.  Joel and Vinnie (my sister's fiance) started with the one between the kitchen and bedroom (soon to be Dining Room).  The first step was removing the make-shift closet/pantry that was created in the doorway between the two rooms.  Then, came the kitchen cabinets.  I made him take these down carefully and very slowly because we were thinking of reusing them for our laundry room, but after discussing further we decided to just get rid of them.  (He was not very happy with me about that because I made him waste so much time being careful with them.)  Then, finally, all that was left was the sledgehammer!  It was so much fun, we all got to take a few swings, but it was much heavier than I expected!

Before (from the bedroom side)

After (from the kitchen side)

Check out some of the beatiful wall paper that was revealed behind the cabinets:

We also removed all of the wallpaper in the living room, which just ripped right off of the walls to reveal more ugly plasterboard walls. Can't wait to knock them all down.

Before

After

And took down the beautifully patterned wall boards in the hallway.  Revealing some really nice holes in the walls.  So happy that we are replacing them all.

Before

After

So, after Weekend One, we were really able to see how much work actually needs to be done, before we can even start rebuilding the house we are planning, but we are loving every second of it (right now).

Until next weekend...

House Tour

Before we begin, let me tell you that our new house needs alot of work, but this is the reason why we chose it.  We love the potential of the house and the fact that we are going to be able to makeover the entire house just how we want to.

Throughout the entire house searching process, we came across so many houses that we really liked, but there was always one or two things that we did not want to settle for.  If you know me at all, you know that I can be extremely picky, and would probably never be happy living in a house that I wasn't able to change.  So after a little help from my family to see past the clutter and envisioning what the house could be one day, we decided to jump at the opportunity.

So, let's start...

(And by the way, alot of these pics are pre-closing and not our furniture or STUFF)

Here is the house from the street...

 The living room from the front entrance...

  Did I tell you how much clutter there was... Can you even tell that there is a fireplace?

The other half of the Living Room/Dining Room...

 

 The kitchen...

On the left, you can see the corner of the Washing Machine and when we pulled out the dishwasher, it is just a big empty whole! Lovelyyyy...

And the other wall of the kitchen...

  Refrigerator works!!! 

 

Now, here is the hallway...

Hardwood floor, not bad...

But, the beautifully panelled walls have got to go.

Here is the bathroom...

Two of my favorite colors, but this is a little much.

 

Sorry, the first one is a little blurry...

And yes, that is wallpaper on the back of the door.

Master Bedroom...

Has potential??
 



And the closet...

Hopefully we can make this work... 

 

Bedroom #2

 

I told you about the clutter right???



Bedroom #3

 

Maybe Dining Room or Eat-In-Kitchen?  Do you see that doorway on the left, well that is actually a small closet in the kitchen, veryyy interestinggg...

 



Now, for one of my favorite features of the house, the Three Season Room.

 

Yes, it needs some work, but I can really see us spending alot of time out here!



And, here is the back of the house and probably the most attractive quality of all, the hugeeee yard.  I mean the front is big, but we love this backyard.

So, there it is, Our First House. 

 

Not much to look at right now, but we have so many ideas and are soooo excited to get started!!!

 

We will keep you filled in on our progress, so stay tuned...

Our First Home!

It’s official!  On Tuesday, April 30^th, Joel and I made the big, scary, grown-up step of buying a house! We are officially homeowners!

We are so excited to have found a house that we love.  It is in the same town that I grew up in, but on the opposite side of town from where my parents live.  Hopefully, that means that we are far enough away that we don't start having any “Everybody Loves Raymond” moments.  Nevertheless, there is a lot of work that needs to be done before we even think about moving in, so we are very lucky that they are close enough that we are able to continue living with them while we update the house. 

Joel and I are so excited to start on this new adventure together and so happy that we can share it will all of you here.

Pictures of the House to Follow Soon….

My 2012 Emmy's Best Dressed List

 There were so many amazing dresses at tonight's Emmy Awards, but my absolute favorite was Julie Bowen in this beautiful Monique Lhuillier gown. This picture does not even do it justice, it looked amazing on tv, and I only wish that I could have seen it in person.  Absolutely stunning!!!

Julie Bowen in Monique Lhuillier

 

Here are a few more of my favorites, who was yours???

 

Zooey Deschanel in Reem Acra

 

Tina Fey in Vivienne Westwood

Jane Levy in Pamella Roland

 

Padma Lakshmi in Monique Lhuillier

 

Emily VanCamp in J. Mendel

 

Kerry Washington in Vivienne Westwood

 

Kat Dennings in J. Mendel

Friday Link Love

via

Friday Link Love

I have been looking for a recipe for Champagne Vinaigrette!

Cannot wait to try making these DIY Mercury Glass Votive Candleholders

Beer-garita, YUM!

Passionfruit Lemon Tart, Sounds delicious!

Tiki Tropical Bridal Shower

So a couple of weeks ago, I posted pictures from an LA Bachelorette Party for Amanda of 100 Layer Cake, well the pics from her Awesome Tiki Tropical Bridal Shower are up and I had to share them with you all as well because they are sooo cute!

So, here is the inspiration board that she posted on 100 Layer Cake prior to the party...

{patio chair, Numero Tokyo, flamingo, flamingo sign, pineapple, earrings, rum dispenser, flamingo stir stick, diy gilded bottles, umbrella girl (know the credit?), tiki grass umbrella, Beverly Hills Hotel}

All via 100 Layer Cake

And here are some of my favorite pics from the party, but you can check them all out at 100 Layer Cake... 

Great decor...

Guests were invited to "Pick A (handmade) Lei"...

Treated To A Tropical Flower Arranging Lesson...

And Served Mai Tai's in Coconuts...

Can't wait to hopefully see pics from the wedding...

Flowers: The Little Branch  / Photos: Jen of Birds of a Feather / Dip-dyed aprons: Meesch / Cupcakes: Frosted Cupcakery /  Venue: Audrey’s backyard / Bar & Lounge furniture rentals: Love Shake / Jillian & Amanda’s dresses: Rent the Runway / photo sharing: Capsule

All via 100 Layer Cake