The fiance had a craving for chocolate chip cookies and had the brilliant idea of making them instead of buying them from Whole Foods like we normally do! So we found a chocolate chip cookie recipe from Food Network, noticed that we had all the ingredients and it was listed as "easy," so why not! This also gave us a chance to bust out our new registry gifts that we accumulated from our wedding shower! I did the mixing (thanks Carl & Charisma for the mixer), so that I wouldn't get my hands dirty. Can't mess up the manicure (I know, so girly right?!) I left the messy work to Jeff, he molded the dough and placed them on our new Calphalon cookie sheets (thanks Joyce & Paul)!
It only took about 12 minutes and they were done! The whole house smelt of sweet heaven! The cookies were calling my name as they sat on the new cookie rack (thanks again Joyce & Paul)!
After cooling off, Jeff and I indulged in a couple of cookie goodness! YUMMY! Baking together was actually fun, but not the cleaning up part!
Did you use your wedding gifts prior to your wedding?
A couple of weeks ago, my mom called to let me know that she received our rings! My mom's BFF is a jeweler, so we purchased our bands through her! Jeff got his white gold milgrain band and I got TWO pave diamond bands to match my e-ring! Little did I know, she'd be giving us a HUGE discount! We only had to pay a third of the original costs and she said she would just "GIFT" us the difference! OMG...that saves us lots of money, we are so grateful for it, THANKS AUNTIE MARIA!
We can't wait to sport our new bling! Jeff says I have to wait until our one year anniversary to get the second band! SHUCKS! I was hoping to get one for our church ceremony and the other for our beach ceremony! Doesn't that sound like a better idea? Who's with me?!
Where would we be without these wonderful women in our lives!! Meet our Mamas, mine is on the left and Jeff's mother on the right! We owe them so much more than we can ever give back! Thanks moms for always being there for us when we need you ladies! You've always been that supportive rock in our lives and without you both, we wouldn't have grown up to be the loving, caring, successful people we are today! You both have been so wonderful during our wedding planning and we are so thankful that you have helped us along the way, with no stress I might add! Thanks Mom for throwing us a beautiful wedding shower, your hard work didn't go unnoticed! We enjoyed every minute of it! Thanks Mama Josie for preparing an at-home reception for us in June! We know it'll be fun and fabulous! You ladies have gone above and beyond anything we could have asked for! Thanks for everything you do and for your continuing love and support! We love you both so very much!!
We know that Mother's Day is coming up, so to all you ladies (and gents), don't forget to show your mamas some appreciation and love! They deserve it, EVERYDAY, not just on Mother's Day! So what will you do for your Mom to show your love?!
Trivia cards! My fiance is gonna kill me, but maybe I might try to pull this one out! I was thinking about doing some sort of ice breaker game for our guests at our Welcome Dinner and perusing through Wedding Bee today, I found this... Created by Mrs. Kitten Wouldn't that be fun!? I can create questions based on the fiance, myself, and our relationship. It'll be kind of like our Wedding Shower game, "Who knows the Bride the Best!" We could just place the cards on the tables during the Welcome Dinner so guests can get to talking and get to know each other. Mrs. Kitten also put their engagement picture on the other side, sort of a business card type created by Moo. But instead of having them made (I'm a little inpatient), I can just create it myself, another DIY project! I was thinking of maybe printing out wallet size engagement pictures and mounting cardstock on the back, what do you think?! Yea or nay!? Well I'll see what my DIY list looks like now and maybe I can pull this off, if not, I hope it was an inspiration to you too!
Not only has it been a busy year planning a wedding for Jeff and myself, but it's been a busy year for all of our closest friends! It's been one wedding after another for our RIC FAM (our Richmond Family-a family away from home). First it started with my BFF, Jen and Kipp, who had a winter white wedding in February in Virginia Beach.
photo taken by my talented Fiance
Next were my dearest friends, LB and Mandy, who had their nuptials at a Charlottesville Bed & Breakfast in March!
And just last weekend, our friends Ed & Abby had their Big Day in Virginia Beach as well!
photo taken by my talented Fiance
So as you can see, its been a big year for all of us, but its nice to know that we'll all be sharing the same wedding year! So in the years to come we'll be celebrating one anniversary after another! source
So can you guess who's next?! I'll give you a hint...the wedding will be NEXT MONTH in ARUBA!!!
During our Engaged Encounter weekend, one of our last assignments was to write a Betrothal Pledge for our significant other. You might wonder what a betrothal is (I know I was), in our booklet it was defined as, "...a public pledge of love and commitment to take practical, concrete steps to prepare for the Sacrament of Marriage. Betrothal is a deeper part of engagement, one that focuses on your own relationship and how it relates to God, Church, and family." After reading the meaning, I clearly understood what it meant and I knew exactly what I wanted to write in my betrothal to Jeff. So now I share it with you all, a public pledge of my commitment to the Love of my Life!
"Because I love you, I plan to work on deepening our relationship between now and our wedding day by always standing by your side and being the listening ear that you need. I'll also be the supportive fiance you've continued to love. Know that I am always here for you even when you fear failure because in my eyes you can never fail. You have not failed me once, because I believe you are a strong person who is highly motivated. I see you differently than you see yourself, you are a kindhearted, loving person and I will continue to remind you that everyday from now and until the many days of our married life together.
We will deepen our relationship with each other and God by being thankful to Him in prayer and service. Without God in our lives you and I wouldn't be as strong as we are now and will continue to be in our life ahead. I have a deeper love for God and our faith because of you. You have helped me to be more life giving by making the Catholic Church prominent in our lives, so thank you for that! I'm glad that He has brought you into my life at this time because timing is everything and you couldn't have come at a better time, you and I are now more mature and ready to take on the task of being husband and wife (or mom and dad hopefully soon)! So that is why I thank God frequently! I am a firm believer in 'Everything happens for a reason,' and if God brought you into my life at this late stage in our life it's because he knew we were ready to take the next step in our lives together as ONE! I love you Bubba with all my heart and I promise to be the loving person and soon-to-be wife that you deserve!"
So there it is folks, my promise I made to my loving fiance during our EE retreat. Let it be known that while I read this to him, I cried like a baby, it just goes to show my love for that man and I can't wait to take on the role as his wife! How did you publicly display your love and promise to your hubby?
For our wedding shower the girls came up with clever, fun games for all the guests to participate in! Walking in the door, there was a display of necklaces with rings attached to them. To play this game, each guests wore a necklace, but if someone said "Jerrhelyn", "Jeff", or "Aruba," the necklace would be taken away! They can steal the necklace back (or steal someone elses) by catching them saying either one of those 3 words! The person who had the most necklaces by the end of the party was the winner! My 10 year old niece proudly won this game!
Another fun game was "Who knows the Bride the best!" The questionnaire consisted of 15 questions, such as my favorite ice cream flavor, my occupation, my first car, how many countries I've visited, etc, etc. Everyone participated, even my soon to be father in law!
My cousin (also my bridesmaid) and niece had fun with it too! That's me in the corner, Yes I did it too, how else would they get the answers!
And there's sissy giving it a shot, too!
Once everyone was done, the girls asked Jeff the questions which he answered aloud! I must say, he did a good job! Which he should, since we are getting married! In the end, my former roommate, who I like to call my "lil sis" won!
The next game got the crowd laughing! The goal of this game was for each couple to make a bridesmaid dress from toilet paper! Not very "green" but a lot of fun!
And the winner goes to Abe and Rachel for their halter slim fit bridesmaid dress! Beautiful isn't it!?
The last game was even more funny! Notice the blindfolds? We had no clue what it was for until the BFF busted out trays of cupcakes! Yikes, now that's a real messy situation, literally! I just knew I wasn't going to be the one eating it! The goal of the game was to see who could eat it the fastest blindfolded with no hands!
This is my mom and Alex, but notice Carl in the back, the one with he's hands up....he won! The man at the cupcake in ONE BITE!! Now that's scary!
It's always fun having a COUPLE SHOWER instead of just a bridal! More family and friends to participate in games, which always leads to more FUN and LAUGHS!!! GOOD TIMES...thanks everyone!!
Our wedding shower was Easter Weekend and we couldn't have asked for a more LOVE filled weekend! Jeff and I are so blessed with wonderful friends and family and we are so grateful for all their love and support!
A thousand thanks goes out to my wonderful mother, the party planner! She did such a wonderful job getting it together with the help of her friends and my BMs! So thanks to everyone that participated in getting ready for our celebration, it meant so much to Jeff and myself!
Let's get this party started...so let's EAT! Most of the food was prepared by loving family friends! If you love filipino food, this is the place to be! Thanks to all the chefs!
My wonderful BM's and friends adorned the tables with these cute centerpieces! I love the simplicity! We appreciate all the effort that went into this party! I especially appreciate it since I didn't have to worry about a thing, I knew you girls had it under control!
The favors...fresh baked chocolate chip cookies! They were so yummy, thanks Marie for making 200 of them!
"Friends are the Chocolate Chips in the Cookie of Life!"
And the cake...mocha flavored! Even more yummy, thanks Mom, Kelly, & Zoe!! We love you all!
We can't thank you all enough for being a part of our wedding shower! Jeff and I had a great time and we hope you all did too! Thanks for helping, attending, participating, and showering us with much LOVE!
I was just asked the question, "What would you like us, as the guests to wear at your wedding?" I knew this question was gonna come up sooner or later. I don't think very many of our friends and family have been to a destination wedding or a beach wedding for that matter. So in my head I was thinking "Beach Casual," but that sounds too dress down for what the finace and I will be wearing and for what I was envisioning, then I started thinking "Beach Formal," but does that even exist? After I googled "beach wedding guest attire," I came across this excerpt from TheKnot, it's a wedding guest attire cheat sheet:
The invite says: "Beach Formal"
This suggests an elegant beach wedding -- so dress to impress, but also dress for the elements (sun, sand, and water). Anything you'd wear to a nice restaurant on a summer day is appropriate.
He should wear: A summer suit with a linen shirt (no ties required), linen pants or khakis, and sandals.
She should wear: A formal summer sundress at tea- or knee-length with flat sandals. Makeup and hair can be natural and everyday.
That sounds perfect and its exactly what I was envisioning! So in our "Bon Voyage" letter to our guests, I'll be sure to add this excerpt, just in case our family and friends are stumped on how to dress for this exciting event! Check out my inspiration board in the "My Inspiration" section of our website!
Did you let your guests know how to dress for your wedding or did you leave it up to them?
Remember my post about my obsession with airplanes? Well I finally got the stamp I was looking for, for FREE!! I found it on Addicted to Rubber Stamps for $1.29, found a coupon code online and got the stamp for free (I just had to pay for shipping)! I hand made all the cards and then stamped away! Before the image dried I embossed it and I love the way it turned out. I then added the heart in the center to give it a little more flavor! The "Bon Vonyage" was made from my Cricut and I just added embellishments from my scrapbook supplies. Here are all four cards that I made for each 'maid! I'll be mailing this to them in a box with their passport covers and luggage tags that I purchased from Michael's! This was just another way to get the girls excited about their trip! What do you think? Would you be excited to receive this in the mail too!?
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