Save-the-date magnets

John and I ordered our save-the-dates magnets (finally) and we will send them out as soon as they arrive. I am hoping to get them out by the beginning of January. I really liked the idea of a magnet because it's something people will actually put on their fridges and remember, rather than a card or postcard that could get easily lost. Here is the proof they sent me of the magnet, if you'd like a sneak peek.

P.S. There is not a whole lot on the website right now. I'm in the process of fixing that before we send out the magnets. :)

Bridesmaid shoes

For shoes, any style of black heels will do. Whatever shoes you have or would like to wear will be fine. As for the reception, you can wear black flip flops or flats if you'd like.

Photographer

I had originally wanted Kate's mom to do our wedding photography, because I thought that would be a special connection to the wedding and us. Unfortunately, she is unavailable in June due to a possible surgery. My mom and I met with a representative from Birch Photographers on Monday to discuss different options. We were able to choose from a few different portfolios to select a photographer we liked. Ultimately, we chose a photographer named Sarah. I didn't think we would be able to find a better value for wedding photography, so we decided to choose Sarah and Birch Photography to be there on the wedding day. A few weeks before the wedding, we will discuss our photography needs and wishes with Sarah so she will be prepared for the wedding day.

Pre-Cana counseling

I know John and I have been wavering about having the ceremony in a Catholic church. For a number of reasons, we have decided to keep the ceremony at Our Lady of Visitation, as originally planned. We are also pursuing online pre-cana classes to fulfill our requirement of marriage counseling with the church before getting married.

Transportation

The transportation between the ceremony and the reception will be provided through "A Savannah Nite" limo company. We reserved a white SUV limo that seats 22 people. Click for more information about the limo. We will have the limo after the ceremony until we arrive at the reception hall. Other transportation details will be worked out closer to the date.

Videographer

On Monday, I booked a videographer for the wedding. His name is Jeff Hill, and he and a female will be recording the wedding.

My mom and I got to see some sample weddings he has shot, which were really nice. He even found a wedding from the summer from Visi (one of the Sullivan triplets) to show us to give us an idea of what it would look like at the church. Plus, he has a quick turnaround time for returning videos - about two weeks.

For more information about him and the company, visit www.jeffhillvideo.com

Florist: Petals 'n Glass

We have a florist booked for the wedding. On Monday, November 7, I had a second meeting with Julie from Petals 'n Glass, a floral shop in Price Hill. From this meeting, I have five silk sample bouquets to decide which style and type of flowers to use in them. She also showed me samples of what the centerpieces could look like. I can post pictures of the bouquets at a later date, though they probably won't photograph well or true to color. Once we have the bridal and bridesmaids dresses in, it will be easier to choose the bouquets.

Engagement photos

John and I had engagement photos taken by Kate's mom, Patty, at Devou Park in northern Kentucky on September 18. It was a bit rainy that day, but we lucked out with a bit of sunshine at the end of the evening. To view the photos, go to: http://pcook.photobiz.com/viewing/?slideshowID=230531

The password to view the slideshow is love. Enjoy!

John and I will be taking some indoor pictures this weekend as well, so more pictures to come!

How to order your bridesmaid dress

It sounds like it will be best to order the dresses from the website at the end of September. I will send everyone that is ordering a reminder on Thursday, September 29 to order their dresses. Once the first dress is ordered, I will receive a call from the store to get the names of each bridesmaid so they will know how many to wait for before placing the order.

The information you will need to know to place an order:
- color: eggplant (both dress color and trim)
- no extra length or rush delivery needed
- size: if you don't remember, just follow the guidelines to measure yourself
- wedding party name: Alexx McCoy
- bride's phone number...hope you all know this! 502 4632 with a cinci area code
- wedding date: 6/23/2012
- choose the option to wait for others

THE Bridesmaid Dress

After picking through a number of bridesmaids dresses at Wendy's Bridal, we found a very cute dress!  I think the dress is adorable, and I really like the style. After we left the store, Jessica was able to find the style dress on the designer's website, and we can find it cheaper online than in the store, even with the discount.  The dress is style #60012 from DaVinci bridesmaid dresses. I found the dress for a good price at the Wedding Accessory Superstore Online.  The dress will be in the color eggplant.  The shipping will be $10.50 per dress, making it $155.04 for the dress. 

I would like to order these dresses within a few months, but I understand that is still months before the wedding.  Before we order any dresses, I need to figure out who would be able to pay for their dress now (i.e., order it directly from the website) and who would need more time before paying for the dress.  For those, I can place the order for the dresses, and then when it is possible, you can pay me back.  Think about if you would be able to spend that money soon.  I will talk to everyone individually and figure it out before we place any orders.

Also, with ordering online, you need to make sure you remember your size, or remeasure yourself to find the correct size.  The website has some good tips on doing measurements, if you need to do them or redo them. I would read over them.

Bridesmaids Weekend

Hello ladies,

I would like to take some time on Saturday, July 30 to go dress shopping in Cincinnati for bridesmaid dresses. I would like to start at Wendy's Bridal around 10 or 10:30 in the morning, mostly because it will be less crowded in the morning. From there, we can go to David's Bridal and look at the dresses there. Since I bought my dress at Wendy's Bridal, we can get 10% off the bridesmaid dresses. I fogured we could all get lunch together afterwards. For those that are out of town, you can spend Friday and Saturday night at my parent's house with me.

We can carpool together to the bridal stores for those that are nearby, or want to meet in the morning at my parent's house in the morning. I am thinking LaRosa's for lunch after, but we could go whereever.

Rachel and Aimee also suggested going out together on Friday night, possibly to the Hofbrau House. We could make dinner at my parent's house and then go out from there.

I hope everyone can make it for the dress shopping amd the extra fun! You can text me or call me if you have any questions or concerns!

Found theses dresses on Overstock.com...

I came across these similar dresses on Overstock.com

http://www.overstock.com/Clothing-Shoes/Connected-Apparel-Goddess-inspired-Chiffon-Party-Dress/5213570/product.html?rcmndsrc=2

and

http://www.overstock.com/Clothing-Shoes/Connected-Apparel-Womens-V-neck-Chiffon-Dress/5213589/product.html?rcmndsrc=2

There is also a third dress that is similar to these two, but it has a weird keyhole opening in the back that I think will look awkward.
















 

I am tempted by these dresses because they are the color I am looking for, and they are only $60.  I would be afraid that they may not fit right, and this could involve ordering a number of dresses that may have to be returned.  It appears that Overstock will pay for the return shipping by giving you a label to affix to a box to send back, but I'm not sure about the policy.  Also, I don't know if they consider "trying on a dress" to be "using" it, therefore, making it unreturnable. 

Also, they are tea length dresses.  They may be a bit long on some of the bridesmaids. But maybe not.

Would it be worthwhile to order some of these dresses to try on? Or would this be too much of a hassle?  If enough people like these dresses, I may order the sizes necessary in a bulk order and we can all try them on.  The last concern I had was that the amethyst color is not available online.  I don't know if I can call and place a special order, or if I just have to wait for it to come in.

So, give a shout out if you like these dresses enough to pursue them.  Or, these could become an alternate if we cannot find any dresses when we go shopping (eventually).

Transportation Ideas

I was thinking about transportation for the wedding today.  We will need some sort of transportation from the church to pictures to the reception site.  Since it is a big party, I think a limo would be too small, and I'm not too fond of the SUV limo.  A party bus could work, but I started thinking about possibly renting a trolley for the transportation.  (Rachel, do you remember when a group did this for prom or one of the dances? I think it might be the same company.)  Here is the information about the trolleys.  It says that they comfortably fit 32 people, which is more than enough.  What do you think about having a trolley?  Would you like a party bus instead?  Let me know what you think!  I will have to call to get more information about the trolley, but I just wanted to see what everyone thought!

More Bridesmaid Dresses

#13: Alfred Angelo 7172

#14: Alfred Angelo 7008

#15: DaVinci 9329

Bridesmaid Gowns

I have started to look at some different bridesmaid dresses.  I don't have much in mind for the dress, other than the color.  I want the color to be a deep violet color (more of a true purple than a burgundy).  Since it will be in June, I am also looking at short dresses that will compliment everyone involved.  The dresses don't necessarily have to be the same style, but I would like the same color.  This can get tricky because each designer has a slightly different color for this purple/eggplant/bordeaux/lapis (some of the names for this deep purple color from different dress designers). 

Here are some of the dresses I like so far.  I tried to match the color, but some pictures don't allow for different color options.  Feel free to look for dresses and make suggestions.  I want you girls to be comfortable and feel beautiful in these dresses!

#1: B2 style B3032

#2. Alfred Angelo style 7103

#3: Alfred Angelo 7041S

#4: Mori Lee style 284
I know this is a long dress but I really like the silhouette.

#5: B2 style B2050

#6: AriaDress style 107

#7: Impressions 1754

#8: Impressions 1765

#9 and 10: Impressions 1590 and 1591

#11: B2 B3083

#12: B2 B3089

Bridal Gown

Over winter break, Jessica and I went shopping for bridal dresses in the Reading Wedding District in Cincinnati.  We went to European Bridal, Wendy's Bridal, and David's Bridal, and narrowed the choices down to a few different options.  On the second Saturday in January, my parents and I went back in the morning to visit the two shops in Reading (along with Kate).  I decided to purchase one of the dresses at Wendy's Bridal, along with a veil.  The veil is a simple one-layered veil with white piping along the edge.  These two pictures are from the first time there with just Jessica; I thought they were better quality pictures of the gown. 

Also, since I purchased the gown at Wendy's Bridal, there is a 10% discount on bridesmaid dresses there, so that will probably end up being the place we look for the bridesmaid dresses.

Wedding Party

John and I have each figured out the bridal party.  There will be 7 bridesmaids and groomsmen (14 total) and a flower girl and ring bearer.  We do not have escorts paired up yet, but here is the list of the bridal party:

Bridesmaids:
Jessica McCoy (maid of honor) - sister of bride
Kate Cook - college friend of bride
Anna Frey - cousin of bride
Marjory Johnson - college friend of bride
Aimee Kathman - childhood friend of bride
Rachel Kramer - childhood friend of bride
Amanda Smith (so weird to write Smith instead of Lawrence!) - college friend of bride

Groomsmen:
Matt Long (best man) - college friend of groom
Aaron Coker - college friend of groom
Greg Cook - cousin of groom
Jafary Fafara - college friend of groom
Juan Garcia - college friend of groom
Carl Henderson - college friend of groom
Ray Young - childhood friend of groom

Flower Girl:
Olivia: first cousin once removed of bride (cousin's daughter)

Ring Bearer:
Ian: cousin of bride

DJ: Big Daddy Walker Productions

Last weekend, I also booked the DJ for the reception.  The DJ is Big Daddy Walker Productions.  I met the couple at a bridal show and enjoyed the energy of the husband, who DJs the events.  I know he will do a great job.  

He asked me what I would like to do for each of the main events at the reception, and I don't have a lot planned out.  I have a special surprise planned for the first dance, and some songs in mind for the father-daughter dance, but I don't have plans for the rest.  What would you like to do for the bridal party entrance?  One song? Would each escort couple like their own song to enter to?  Give me any input you have about music, including songs you would like to hear.  John and I can create a custom music list through their website.

I thought it would be fun to have a song specifically for 80's night, since it's probably my favorite night out in BG. (Even though I am an old fart teacher and don't go anymore) But I thought about playing either "Like a Prayer" or "I Would Walk 500 Miles" and inviting those that know it to come do the dances along with them.  Which one is your favorite song/dance? Any other suggestions?

Their website has lists of popular requests if you would like to look at them.

Reception Hall: The Gardens of Park Hills

Last weekend, my mother and I booked the reception hall for the wedding.  The reception will be the Vista Room at The Gardens of Park Hills in northern Kentucky.  John and I had originally decided on June 30, 2012 as the wedding date, but that date was already booked at the hall.  So, we went with a week earlier on June 23, which was another date we had discussed.

The hall is located in Park Hills/Covington, Kentucky, just a few exits into Kentucky down I-75. It will probably be a 25-30 minute drive from the church.  I am planning the ceremony for the church I attended growing up: Our Lady of Visitation.  I still need to call and book the church, but hopefully I can get this done soon.

The Layout:
This is a simple drawing I created of the reception hall.  The dimensions are not at all accurate, but I wanted to give you an idea of what the space looks like.  The empty space is where the tables will be, but I didn't want to draw them all out!

The hall has a very pretty and muted color scheme - with pale golden walls, warm carpet tones, and stone-gray chandeliers hanging throughout.  The foyer area has two glass top tables as well as a stained-glass window on the slanted wall.  I really wanted the entrance of the hall to be nice and set the tone for the reception, and I'm very happy with entrance to the Vista Room.

There is a staircase leading down to the other reception room, surrounded by a railing and decorative tulle and lighting.  The staircase is completely closed off and not used during the reception.  There is room in front and behind of the staircase to place a table for the cake.  Since John wants a chocolate fountain, we talked about having two tables: the cake in front and the chocolate fountain behind the staircase.

The buffet area is along the back of the room, along with the bar.  The event planner mentioned that they would probably place a second buffet line on the dance floor to speed up dinner.  If you would like to view the menu options, they are listed on McHale's website.  We would probably choose the 4-star buffet menu.

There is also a sunroom area that the hors d'oeurve will probably be placed.  There are some high tables in the middle and lower tables surrounding the area, including a semicircle table placed in front of a large mirror.  There is a garden window there with a number of plants in that area as well.

The head table will probably be located on the far right side, near the dance floor.  It won't be a sweetheart table, but all the attendants.  So, I think the table will probably be a U-shape to accommodate all 16 people.  Any comments about where you would put the head table?

The reception site is reserved for 5 hours, and the event will probably be from 7:30-12:30.  The church ceremony will most likely be at 6 p.m., since the church has a 4 o-clock mass on Saturday, and we will have to get everything set up after 5 p.m.

Leave any comments you have! :)