A Bridal Affair on Fountain Square

Amy and I went to a bridal show tonight down on fountain square. It was a fun event and they had gorgeous weather.

We tried out some food and desserts, most of which were pretty good. I don't need a caterer because Receptions does their own catering, but it was nice to taste!

We visited the Cincinnati Bride booth because that is where I purchased my wedding dress and plan to find my bridesmaid dresses. Amy is also getting her bridesmaid dresses from there. They gave us a coupon for 20% off the bridesmaid dresses, we were pretty excited!

I looked around at different DJ's and transportation options. People have given me references for DJ's, but I haven't really had the time to check any out to see what the prices are or anything.

As we walked around, we signed up to win different things like a free bridal bouquet, a free bachelorette party and a trip to pebble beach. Hopefully, one of us will win something!

It was a fun night out, but I think that is the only bridal show I'll be attending as a bride!

Junior Bridesmaid

Miss Nina Williams is my cousin's daughter and one of my favorite girls in the world!

She's almost 9 years old and in the 4th grade. Billy and I love going to watch her play soccer and just hang out with her during family parties. We knew we wanted her to be part of the wedding and we though she'd be perfect as a junior bridesmaid!

We went to her soccer game today and asked her to be in the wedding as well! I don't think she really knew how to react, but she seemed excited!

We love you, Nina!

Bridesmaid Dresses

All along, I thought I'd get my bridesmaid dresses from David's Bridal. They havr a nice selection of dresses and colors. I actually had a few picked out that I wanted to go look at to make a final decision. But, then I started looking at a designer that Cincinnati Bride carries and my mind was changed instantly!

I found the designer Liz Fields on the Cincinnati Bride (where I got my dress) website. I decided to take a quick look. Twenty minutes later, I think I had about 5 dresses written down that I really liked. I had narrowed it down to 4 and started sending the link to some of my bridesmaids. I REALLY liked 2 of the dresses and when I started getting responses, those were the 2 dresses that were talked about the most. These dresses looked great in all of colors listed. I'm still not sure of my color scheme yet. I really like the dresses in eggplant, dark magenta, black, sky, rosy brown and lilac. I'll post the links below of the 2 favorites, you can click on the color swatches to change the dress color.

http://www.lizfields.com/Product/Bridesmaid-Dresses/Short-Empire-Style-230/


http://www.lizfields.com/Product/Bridesmaid-Dresses/Short-Square-Neckline-Style-239/

I'm hoping to go with Kate and Karianne soon to look at the color swatches and hopefully the dresses in person. This is a tough decision!

Ring Sizing

Billy knew when he ordered my ring, that is was probably a little big. He did it that way because he wanted to be able to put it on my finger when he proposed rather than it getting stuck at my knuckle. I appreciate this, but after a few weeks of worrying if it was going to fall off my finger, we decided to take it to the jeweler to get it sized. We drove up there this morning to drop it off. I was hoping they'd be able to get it sized in one day, so I didn't have to be without it for long. Unfortunately, when we got there I found out I was going to have to be without it until Monday. : ( I know that's not very long since it's already Saturday, but I feel so weird without it on now. It'll be nice to have it fit better though.

Since I didn't have my ring, I knew I was going to disappoint a few people that hadn't seen it yet. My family was in town from Michigan and I was bummed I couldn't show it to them, because I don't see them that often. We went down to Newport with them this afternoon and rode the ducks. It was fun, the weather was beautiful and company was wonderful! Later in the day, we went to a party at Sean and Karianne's house and we saw some friends we hadn't seen since we got engaged and I wasn't able to show them either. The party was a good time though, it's always nice hanging out with all of our friends!

Some Things are Meant to Be...

I've been struggling with how many girls I want as bridesmaids. I had a friend I wanted to ask, but didn't know how she'd feel about it. My friend from Corryville, Amy (who got engaged 2 days before me), and I became fast friends last year when she became the 1st grade teacher. we saw each other through a lot last year and I found by the end of the school year she had become one of my closest friends! We hung out a lot over the summer, mostly sitting by the pool and our topic of discussion was almost always wedding/engagement related. We also hung out a few times with Billy and Shawn and it was nice to see they could get along too! I always knew she planned to have a small bridal party and mine was going to be a little bit bigger. I was really wanting to ask her and Billy even suggested asking her to be a bridesmaid. I just had to find a good time to talk to her.


Today was the first day back after the long weekend. I stopped by Amy's room in the morning for our morning chat. : ) She had a lot going on over the weekend and was filling me in on all the details. For her sake, I'm not going to divulge the information, but she surprised me when she asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding! I was so excited and honored and proceeded to ask her to be one of my bridesmaids, it worked out perfectly! Our weddings are 2 weeks apart, it's going to be a little hectic but so much fun! We knew the year was going to be fun always talking about wedding plans, but now it's extra special because we're part of each others big day! I can't wait to be your bridesmaid Amy and I'm so happy you are going to be a bridesmaid for me! You're a wonderful friend and I admire you so much as a person! Thank you for everything!

It was such a happy day at school. I had been wanting to get over to my cousin's house because I wanted to ask her in person to be a bridesmaid. I realized me schedule was not going to let that happen for some time, so I decided I needed to call her. I started the conversation like I was just calling to catch up. Then, I told her I had been trying to go and see her but it just wasn't working out. I also told her there was something important I wanted to ask her. So I asked and she seemed happy and said yes. I was so happy! I had talked to all of my bridesmaids and they all agreed to be a part of the special day! Melissa, I'm so glad we've gotten closer over the years. I love hanging out with you! Thank you for all you've done for me and thank you for agreeing to be my bridesmaid! Love you!

More Bridesmaids!

Today we went down to Louisville to help Ty (Billy's nephew) celebrate his 2nd birthday, which is actually tomorrow. It was at a place called Puzzles Fundome and all of the kids (even the grown up ones) had a great time.


Since I didn't know when I'd see Billy's sister Lisa again (she lives out of town) and Lisa and Michelle were both there, I decided that today would be a good day to ask them to be bridesmaids. Michelle and Lisa have been wonderful to me ever since I started dating Billy. They might not know it, but they've helped me through a lot and helped me understand Billy a little bit better. Being an only child, there was a part of me that always wanted sisters, I'm so lucky to get 2 wonderful ladies as my sisters! Thank you both for all you've done for me and thank you for agreeing to stand up there with us on our wedding day!

And the Reception Hall we chose is...

Receptions Eastgate!!!

It was a tough decision, since all of the places had many great things about them. The Madison was ruled out early because of the number they could hold. A Touch of Elegance was had a lot to offer and was different than a normal reception hall. We really liked the bar there and Billy really enjoyed the fact that you could bring in different beers for the tap. It also had a nice garden/atrium area and that is not something you see at a lot of reception halls. We talked about our number though and thought it might be a little cramped, especially with the way the hall is set up. Also, there are some areas that I feel are totally closed off from other areas and I didn't like that. If we were inviting less people, I think this would've been the place for us.

We booked the Union room at Receptions Eastgate. We really like the way the room is set up. We put a deposit down today. Another big sigh of relief for me. Billy can't wait for a food tasting, we're looking forward to picking the menu for our reception. I'm still having trouble believing I'm planning my wedding! I can't wait for the day to be here, especially now that I have a church and a reception hall!

The Church and Third Reception hall

I called St. Rose today as soon as I could to see if July 2nd was available. After verifying that I was a parishoner and the date was open, we were put down in the book for July 2, 2011! We are very excited! That is one sigh of relief I can now breathe.


Also, this evening we went and looked at The Madison in Covington, KY. I was most excited to look at this hall because I think all of the rooms are beautiful. The Grande Ballroom is my favorite, because you walk down steps to enter the ballroom. We talked with Emily and she was great. Unfortunately, both of the halls that would accomodate the number we plan to invite are already booked. There is one ballroom left if we could cut our number down by at least 30 people. I just don't think it's possible. I'm bummed because I really like The Madison. We now have some things to discuss, but I'm hoping to book a hall by tomorrow! Hopefully, choosing the right place will come easily.

The Dress!

Over the weekend, my mom and I decided we should go dress shopping today and I have been excited ever since! I just wanted to get the school day overwith so we could drive up to the Bridal district in Reading and start looking. We went to a shop called Cincinnati Bride. As soon as I walked in I saw a gorgeous dress on a mannequin and made a comment to my mom about how pretty it was. We were meeting with Sally (a family friend recommended her) and she began asking the questions to which I knew I wasn't going to have answers. I had no idea what kind of dress I wanted. I had seen plenty that I thought ver very pretty, but didn't know how they'd look on me. I let her know about the dress I saw when I walked in and she took it off the mannequin. She told me if I had that reaction, I had to try it on. I picked about 7 or 8 other dresses and we and headed back to the dressing room. The first dress I tried on was the one I saw when I walked in the store. As soon as it was on me, I knew it was going to be hard to find a better dress for me. I just pictured myself on my wedding day in that dress. I tried on all the other dresses I had picked out, but none of them gave me the same reaction as the first dress did. I didn't think it was possible to find a dress this easily. As soon as I made the final decision, I had my headpiece and veil on as well and we were able to take pictures. I know Sally thought I made the right decision and I hope my mom felt the same way too. It was such a fun experience to share with my mom and a day I'll remember forever! Sally was a huge help and wonderful to work with! I can't wait to go back and pick out the bridesmaid dresses! As you can I imagine, I will not be posting any pictures from this experience for many reasons. I hope to surprise many of you on my wedding day!

Also, we received out letters from St. Rose letting us know we are officially parishoners! I'll be calling tomorrow and hoping our date is available!