I Have Been Tagged....the 4's

I have been tagged by Tayia. In this tag we are playing the 4's. Well here it goes...

1. 4 Things I Did Today

- Went and worked out.
- Worked my second job.
- Fiance and I went and picked out our wedding bands.
- Did laundry.

2. 4 Things on My To Do List.

- Need to call the DJ.
- Need to contact the seamstress.
- Upload songs to my Ipod.
- Call DirectTV and add Showtime so that I can watch Dexter.

3. 4 Guiltiest Pleasures

- Love shoes. I have never found a shoe that I did not like.
- I like to treat myself to a Coach purse every few months.
- Enjoying a massage every few months.
- Shopping!!!

4. 4 Random Facts About Me

- I record almost every wedding show on the air.
- I like to blog nightly.
- I pack my lunch everyday to work.
- I can fall asleep anywhere.

I am going to tag...
Pure Bliss
Just Fabulous
Budget Savvy Bride
Becoming Mrs. Jones

I can not wait to see their response.

Planning Saturday: Part II

After selecting wedding rings, we went to look for suits for the men for the wedding. We decided a while back that we did not want to make the grooms attendances rent tuxedos when they could probably purchase a nice suit for about the same price as a rental. Besides, one of my fiance's fraternity colors is chocolate brown, which also one of our wedding colors, so we thought that they would be about wear the suits again for fraternity events. We went to the store that I visited in July, and he began to try so the suits on. There are so many different colors of brown, I had to pull out the fabric swatches that I had to make sure the color matched up. The salesperson helping was really trying to assist us with having BJG (Broomjumpinggroom) try on differ suit jackets to find the fit that he wanted. After we selected a suit, we began looking for a tie. I had envisioned the men being in a brown suit with a white or cream shirt with a teal tie. The salesperson had something else in mind, while my BJG just kinda stood there and took it all in. The salesperson proceed to tell me that since the brown was an earth tone and the teal was a cool color that they really did not go together. Who is he? Hasn't he read the latest wedding magazines that brown is the new black. Whatever. I proceed to let him know that I was not changing my mind, especially since my bridesmaids had already ordered their dresses. He began to see things my way and instead offering his opinion some more, he began to offer more suggestions about what tie would work and even offered different vendors when I could possible obtain them from. In the end everything worked out well and I even obtained some more wedding resources. Thanks James. Now all the BJG needs to do is have all of his attendants give him their sizing. Well, should I say one more task for me. HA HA!!!

Planning Saturday

Yesterday the Broomjumpinggroom and I went to purchase our wedding ring. I was so excited. I was like a kid in a candy store. All the glitter and gilts in the store. My eyes were all over the place and wanted to try on everything in the store. Due to the cut of my ring, which is what I wanted, and the setting, which my fiance chose, some of the bands did not look as good with my engagement ring. I also did not want an ordinary wedding band, but I did want something that was blingy and kinda of went around my engagement ring. I had my heart set on having a wedding band that had my birthstone, aquamarine, and diamonds in it. When I was looking, I did not see anything like that.When talking to the jeweler, he stated that anything in the store could be made to fit my specifications. That sounded great, but I was not sure of the cost. After sitting with him a little bit more, we can up with some that was within our budget and was uniquely all mine. Just imagine a band with an arch that wraps around the top and the bottom of the ring.It is basically a ring wrap. It is going to have diamonds and aquamarine stones alternating in each arch. I do not think that I am explaining it right, but trust me it is pretty together. I will post pictures when I get it.

Above is a picture of the Broomjumpinggrooms ring. He wanted a titanium or tungsten metal. These metals are do not bend like other metals do. He wanted this since he likes to work on cars and does lots of handy work around the house and did not want to risk scratching his ring. He tried on several and I even saw some that I liked that had diamonds in them, but he decided on something a little more plainer. Actually when making these types of rings they cut the metal to the exact ring size. These rings can not the stretched or cut to be resized, so they have to get it right the first time.

I think that it was a productive trip, we even looked at what we both wanted as gifts from each other for the wedding. Both of our rings are being custom made and will not be in for several week. I can wait to see them. Even better, I can not wait to wear my ring. I was thinking about putting a saying inside of my fiance's ring, but I have to think about what I want in there. Are you engraving anything inside of your wedding rings?

I Am Feeding My Shoe Fetish

I am feeding my love of shoes. These shoes would be great for any bride or bridesmaid. Every time I find some more shoes that I like, it makes me want to purchase another pair for the wedding. I guess we will just have to wait and see what shoes I actually wear for my big day.

Moschino $380.00

Laundry $ 200.00

Payless $ 30.00

Giuseppe Zanotti Designs $ 795.00

Dyeables $69.00

Hale Bob $ 110.00

Flippa Scott $ 350.00

Oscar De La Renta $ 695.00

Flower Girl Hairstyles

Today's flower girls can have a style of their own. From how their hair is styled to what hair accessories that she wears. I am not sure what I am going to get my flower girl to wear in her hair, maybe some special hair barrettes that she can wear again. When assessing what type hair style that your flower girl will wear remember that she is a little girl and not one of your bridesmaids. Are you doing any special hair accessory for your flower girl? Make your flower girl feel special and give her some special hair accessory to wear for your special day and for days to come.

Flower Baskets

Every flower girl needs to have a beautiful basket to carry for her big moment down the aisle. Today's baskets vary from actual baskets to pomanders. I have not decided yet on what I am going to have my flower girl carry yet. I am not sure how important it is to me to have petals on my aisle runner. What is your flower girl carrying?

( all photos from here)

Wedding Tip of the Week: Flower Girl

Everyone loves a flower girl. She is pretty, cute and sometimes crying in the back of the church when she is suppose to be walking down the aisle. The flower girl is usually a young girl between the ages of 3-8 who scatters flower petals down the aisle prior to the bride coming down the aisle. Even though the flower girl traditionally throws flower petals, the more modern flower girl can blow bubbles, hold a single flower, carry a pomander or ring a bell. Here are a few more tips for your flower girl...

• Give your flower girl a buddy. Instead of having just one flower have two or three. Also instead of having more than one flower girl, have your flower girl be escorted down the aisle by your ring bearer. Either one will double your cuteness and also give the children confidence to walk down the aisle with all eyes on them.


• Make sure that you have your flower girl at your rehearsal dinner so that she can get comfortable with the space.


• Allow your flower girl's personality to shine through her clothing. Your flower girl does not have to be carbon copy of your bridesmaids. Allow her to pick her dress (with an adult of course) within your wedding color palette.


• Just like the ring bearer seat the flower girls parents near the front so that if she starts to have issues during the wedding they will be there to assist.

Most of all remember that if the flower girl, cries, resist going down the aisle or tries to steal the show, she will be the cutest young lady in the room and your guest will think that she is precious no matter what she does.

More Monograms

A few postings ago I showed some of my monogram creations. I love this one. I emailed by best friend and MOH Kelly's husband Mike to work on what I had started. Mike has a degree in computer graphics and is always on line doing web pages. He is still working on the one with our names on it. He made what I started much more cleaner and sophisticated. Thanks Mike..I can not wait to see what you come up with next.

They Are Here!!!

They're hereeeeeeee!!! Anyone else remember this from the movie Poltergeists. Well, I am not speaking of ghost, but about the vases for my tables at the wedding reception. I talked about them in previous posting. I bought these on the Bride to Bride Boutique website from a woman named Jill, who used them for her wedding. Jill was nice enough to bring them to me and drop them off at my home instead of me paying for shipping. I am sure shipping would have been more than what I bought the vases for. I got them for a great price.My basement is starting to get full with all of the goodies I have purchased for the wedding. If you are still in need of stuff check out the Bride to Bride Boutique website, you might find something that you are looking for as well.

Engagement Pictures: Part III

We did it!!! We took our engagement pictures yesterday. It was not without a few hang ups. We were a little late and this time it was not my fault ( I tend to run on my own time) but the Broomjumpinggrooms'. We were suppose to meet the photographer at 7:00 pm and my fiance thought I said 7:30pm. We got dressed and rushed down there and made it by 7:25pm before the sun totally set. We took our pictures by this beautiful arch in the arena district of Columbus. The arch use to be an old train station. It was nice setting and I think that we will really have some good shots.

I wore a brown linen dress ( I know in the picture it looks like it is black) with the this necklace. I was going to wear some brown linen wedge sandals, but opted for my brown thong sandals that were flat. They were much more me since I love flip flops and I did not want our pictures to be to formal since we are casual people.

The Broomjumpinggroom wore this shirt. It is brown with olive, black and cream stripes. He wore it with a pair of jeans ( one of the pairs that I like on him) and his brown boots. It he wore anything else..it would not look at him.

I can not wait to see the proofs and select the picture for our save the date cards I am making for the wedding. We might have been a hard couple to work with since we kept cracking up at each other. I wonder if we will do that on our wedding day. I really appreciate Sarah taking time out to do this last minute photo shoot before she goes into labor. Did I say I was excited to see the photos?(smile). Well, one more thing off of the to do list.

Engagement Pictures:Part II

I am going to try it again. In a previous post I talked about how my photographer was pregnant and on bed rest. Well she is off of bed rest and ready to roll. So we are going to try to take our pictures later on today. We are going to the take the pictures in downtown Columbus. There is so many great places for us to take pictures. The only question is what to wear. I had bought a dress, but now I am not sure if I like. I will definitely have to pick out another outfit as a back up. I will post later how the shoot went. I hope that Mina (my photographers soon to be daughter) can hold off for just another 24 hours.

The Top 50

According to The Knot..here is the list of the Top 50 first dance songs. The list is as follows:

1. "A Whole New World" (Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle)

2. "As Time Goes By" (from Casablanca)

3. "At Last" (Etta James)

4. "Because You Loved Me" (Celine Dion)

5. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (Elton John)

6. "Can't Help Falling In Love" (Elvis Presley)

7. "Chances Are" (Johnny Mathis)

8. "Close To You" (The Carpenters)

9. "Could I Have This Dance?" (Anne Murray)

10. "Dream A Little Dream" (Mamas & the Papas)

11. "Embraceable You" (Nat King Cole)

12. "Endless Love" (Diana Ross & Lionel Richie)

13. "Fascination" (Jane Morgan)

14. "Fever" (Peggy Lee)

15. "Forever and Ever, Amen" (Randy Travis)

16. "Forever" (Kenny Loggins)

17. "From This Moment" (Shania Twain & Brian White)

18. "Grow Old With Me" (Mary Chapin Carpenter)

19. "Here And Now" (Luther Vandross)

20. "I Finally Found Someone" (Barbra Streisand & Bryan Adams)

21. "I Only Have Eyes For You" (The Flamingos)

22. "I Will" (The Beatles)

23. "If I Loved You" (from Carousel)

24. "In My Life" (The Beatles)

25. "It Had To Be You" (Harry Connick, Jr.)

26. "Lady In Red" (Chris DeBurgh)

27. "Love Theme To Romeo & Juliet" (from Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet)

28. "Marry Me" (Neil Diamond & Buffy Lawson)

29. "One Moment In Time" (Whitney Houston)

30. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" (Billie Holiday)

31. "So This Is Love" (James Ingram)

32. "Some Enchanted Evening" (from South Pacific)

33. "Something" (The Beatles)

34. "Somewhere" (from West Side Story)

35. "The Best Is Yet To Come" (Frank Sinatra)

36. "The Rose" (Bette Midler)

37. "Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You" (Roberta Flack & Peabo Bryson)

38. "True" (Spandau Ballet)

39. "Unforgettable" (Nat King Cole)

40. "Up Where We Belong" (Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warrens)

41. "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" (Captain & Tennille)

42. "Wedding Song (There is Love)" (Petula Clark)

43. "We've Got Tonight" (Bob Seger)

44. "We've Only Just Begun" (The Carpenters)

45. "When I Fall In Love" (Nat King Cole)

46. "Will You Marry Me?" (Vonda Shepard)

47. "Woman" (John Lennon)

48. "Wonderful World" (Louis Armstrong)

49. "You Are So Beautiful" (Joe Cocker)

50. "Your Song" (Elton John)

Are you using any of these songs? If not, what song are you considering? Only one on the list that we considered was "At Last" by Etta James. We are also looking at " No Ordinary Love" by Sade, the Broomjumpinggrooms favorite singer.(Trust me if we dance to this song he will be probably be singing with her instead of dancing with me.) We have not finalize a song yet...let you know when we do.

Ring Pillows

Since I talked about the ring bearer yesterday..here are some ring pillow inspirations.

(Photos from The Knot)

Wedding Tip of the Week: Ring Bearer

The ring bearer is a young boy (but now a days it can be a girl) between the ages of 4 to 8 that walks down the aisle before the flower girl (or boy). They carry a pillow with the bride and grooms wedding rings on it. If you are not the trusting sort, you can tie fake rings to the pillow and give your maid or matron of honor or the best man the real wedding rings.

When choosing a ring bearer, look for a young family member or a close friend of the family to serve. Make sure that this child is comfortable with people looking at them. To ease them into this, make sure that they are at the rehearsal dinner so that they can give walking down the aisle by themselves a try.

As an added tip, you might want to have a special designated chair for the ring bearers parents, close family member or sibling that will be able to assist if the ring bearer starts to become entertainment during your ceremony. The ring bearer in my wedding, is one of my close friends son's who is also one of my bridesmaids, so if he starts to need assistance he can go and stand with his mom.

If you do not have young relative or a friend of the family..you can also use your family pet. There is a current trend in having a pet be the ring bearer. If using a pet, please make sure that you have trained them on what to do and have someone at the wedding to care for the pet during the ceremony.

When choosing a ring bearer just be sure that you will be upset with the child or the pet does not do exactly what you want them to do...it would not be a wedding if they did everything right.

Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend

Diamonds are definitely a girls best friend. When looking on the blog Car Crazy, I saw this car. If you want a blingy wedding, this car would definitely satisfy your need. This Mercedes-Benz is totally covered in diamonds. According to the blog...you can touch the car for $1000.00. I can not imagine how much the car would be to rent. If you arrived in this car at your wedding, your guest would totally say that you arrived in style.

The Dingbats's Agenda Giveway

The Dingbat's Agenda is giving away a full wedding suite. Click the link to see more details and how to enter the contest. Contest ends at midnight on 9/19. Winner will be announced on 9/20. Good luck to all ..... I hope that I win.

Where in the World are D & C?

This is honeymoon planning part two. I would like to thank all of you out there who gave me suggestions for our no boat, no airplane honeymoon. I went to visit my local travel agent to get some more ideas for a our honeymoon since we needed to go by car. I spent an hour with her discussing some of the things that would like to do during our honeymoon and what we did not want to do during our honeymoon. After talking to her and looking over the literature that she gave me to review here are the front runners;

• The Poconos


• South Carolina (Newport Beach)

We are still reviewing books that she gave me so that I can go back and talk to her within a week or so. I really want to have this settled before the end of the month so that we can put a deposit on the trip and begin making payments on it. Even better the travel agent has a bridal registry that our guest who would like to pay on our trip for us instead of getting us a gift can. Does anyone else have any suggestions for a relaxing road trip?

Letter to the Editor

I have been getting alot of traffic to my blog since I was a "Blog of Note", and have received alot of interesting and positive feedback. I read this comment my blog the other day:



"Don't concentrate too much on the wedding day but concentrate more on the rest of your lives. There is so much that is said in the bible about man and wife, I did not see any quotes biblical on your blog. The only way for a marriage to survive is with Jesus at the head because it is very hard to try and love someone unconditionally when we as humans are so stuck on yourselves. I wish you Godspeed on your marital journey."



When I first read this is was really offended. This fellow blogger, who would not allow me to access their blog to respond back to them personally so I am responding here. This person does not know me or my religious beliefs. My blog is a blog about my wedding planning process and not about my marriage. I may talk about my marriage once I am married. I am not saying if I agree or disagree with the comment, but this person just assumes that I believe in God, which I do believe in Jesus Christ. What if I were a Buddhist or Muslim? I have purposely not added alot about religion or my religious beliefs, because there are many different types of people that read my blog and did not want to offend any of them. My blog is meant to be light hearted and fun. The fun stuff for me is talking about all the pretty things that take place in a wedding and finding wedding inspiration to share with other brides. I feel that it is really personal to talk about how my fiance' and I are going to handle our marriage. We are not even married yet nor have had counseling with my pastor. I am not in la, la land and I know that marriage takes work. My fiance and I both know that our marriage will need to be strong spiritually, emotionally and physically for both of us to be happy.



I think that I am going to take the advice that was given to me when a fellow blogger read this message:



"I don't know what religion you are, and j*********? might have good intentions, but your marriage is between you and your husband. Not some other person.Best Wishes."

7 Months To Go

Well, let's see where I am on my wedding checklist. It does not seem like I have not gotten alot done. I have lots of ideas running through my head, but for some reason I do not have alot accomplished on my list. Here is goes:

• Put engagement announcement in the paper-- This is still not done since I do not have an engagement picture yet. I guess this will be done before the end of the November.


• Finalize guest list-- Working on it.


• Book reception band or DJ-- I have talked to the potential DJ after talking to the Broomjumpinggroom about his selection and stating to him that I was not comfortable with his friend being the DJ.


• Start registering for gifts--I think that we might want to start doing this in November. We need to decide which stores to go to. I am definitely going to Target, Walmart (damn you Walmart for low prices) and probably Crate and Barrel and Macy's. I wonder if you can register at Lowe's or Home Depot we want to do some home improvements to our home. I will have to check that out.


• Reserve a block of room for out town guest--Working on it.


• Purchase save the dates-- I think that I am making Christmas cards for my save the dates and I have to wait until I get my engagement pictures done first before I start designing these.


• Plan rehearsal dinner-- I am having my rehearsal dinner at the same location where I am having my wedding since I will be there all day setting up. We are going to have the dinner in another room in the same building. I was trying to think of a theme for the evening, to make it a little more fun. We love Mexican and Italian, so that will probably be one of the food choices. Have any ideas?


• Start working on and finalize invitation wording-- Since I am making my own invitations I have started playing with designs and wording.


• Finalize menu with caterer--I have an idea for the wedding menu and have briefly discussed it with the caterer.


• Research and purchases wedding insurance--I need to research what wedding insurance is first before I add an additional expense. Is anyone out there purchasing this?

According to My Knot, I have 30 days to get most of this done. Some of this looks like the same stuff that I needed to do at the 8 month mark. I got somethings to do. How about you?

Guess Who is Coming to the Wedding?

At this point..I really do not not know. I have a preliminary guest list that I need to review. Since time seems to be speeding up towards my wedding day and so many other things need to be finalized, but they are all based off of one thing..the guest list. I know that I can not invite everyone that I know, but how do you determine who stays and who goes?My mom has broken down the list to church folks, friends and family. I know that everyone who is invited will not show up or I will have persons who RSVP and do not show up, but I have to be prepared if they do. Which means I need seating for guest, tables for reception, linens, favors, and on and on and on. Whatever I do I have to have it figured out before the end of the month so that other deposits and plans can be made. How are you going to finalize your guest list?

Blog of Note

Thanks, Blogger. I am listed as a blog of note today. It definitely draws people to your blog which is great. Thanks Blogger for feeling that I am note worthy.

Wedding Slide Show

From one of the photographers that I enjoy looking at their pictures is Ross Oscar Knight Photographer. I have blogged about his pictures before. He has some new wedding slide shows on his blog. Click here to view them. They may give you some inspiration.

Shoes Glorious Shoes: Part II

I love shoes. I have already purchased my shoes for the wedding, but I am always on the look out for more. Here are a few sites that you can find some shoes for yourself or your bridal party.

• Quality Bridal Shoes


• On-line Wedding Shoes


• House of Brides


• Shop for Bridal

I have not used any of these sites, but I look often to see what it out there. If you can not find anything there you might want to check out eBay. Below are a few styles that I like.