Three Women Wearing the Same Dress

You know what's hard about picking a bridesmaid dress?

Everything.

I keep looking and looking for dresses for our sisters to wear, and I don't seem to like anything. I can't figure out if I don't like anything because I'm picky or because I don't really care that much. I want them to look nice of course, but there are a billion bridesmaid dresses out there for all different prices and colors and cuts and so on . . .

The whole bridesmaid dress concept is kind of weird. I mean, women are always trying to not duplicate clothes, right? We all remember how Brenda and Kelly almost got into a catfight when they wore the same dress for the spring dance! So why are brides supposed to dress the select women that they love in the SAME DRESS.

Stay tuned -- eventually I'll find an affordable and cute dress for our sisters. (I promise!)

I am selling Facebook wedding applications!

My friend Su works on Wall Street, so she likes to describe liking or disliking things in terms of the market: she's a "buyer" of the original 90210 (so she likes it), and she's a "seller" of camping (so she doesn't like it).

Today I'd like to use her term and say that I'm a seller of wedding applications in Facebook.

Protect my wedding portfolio and make sure I never become a buyer of wedding applications! Reneging on this one would be like me deciding I need a Vera Wang wedding gown -- a downright breach of my character. (Next thing you know I'll want those "Just Married" flip-flops.)

What do those applications do besides remind at least 200 of your Facebook friends that they are not invited to your wedding? It gives Facebook the green light to hand over your profile info to wedding vendors (see "people who want to rip me off") so they can further inundate you with ads!

If I add a wedding application to my profile, I'm not just drunk on wedding Kool-Aid, I am full blown addicted and need rehab pronto.

"My fiance and I got the STD..."

This isn't related to planning but I've learned some new meanings to old acronyms, thanks to TheKnot and other such weddings sites.

To me, a GM was a good ole American car. In wedding world, it's a Groomsman.

I thought a BM was something that happens after some fiber. In wedding world, it's a Bridesmaid.

I thought a MOB was an unruly crowd. In wedding world, it's the Mother Of the Bride.

Thanks to Seventeen magazine and New Jersey's health class requirements, I thought I was quite clear on the meaning of STD. In wedding world, it's a Save The Date card.

"Is THAT a wedding dress?"

On Saturday, Matt came with me to Stamford Bridal Suite so I could show him three dresses I liked for my reception dress. (I'm hoping/planning to do the Hollywood thing and change dresses!) My ceremony dress is pretty straight and a little serious, so I want my reception dress to be the opposite -- fun and a bit poofy! (Think the kind of dress that a little girl wears and spins around in it.)

First of all, Matt and I were bucking tradition just by Matt being IN the bridal shop. (Matt is fine with knowing what I'm wearing for the reception, but we both want the ceremony dress to be a surprise.) I came out in dress #1 and kind of bounced around grinning and showing off for him. Meanwhile, another bride-to-be and small army of bridesmaids-to-be were there, trying on dresses. Apparently, the bride-to-be mouthed to her army, "Is THAT a wedding dress?"

Matt, being the prince that he is, swooped in and explained, that yes, yes it was. It would be my reception dress and I had a different one for the ceremony. Suddenly the army changed their tunes, and were all, "oh! what a great idea! I never would've thought of that!"

Ha ha!

But, if I may point out, by the very definition, I'll be a bride, so whatever I'm wearing is indeed bridal. So if I want to get hitched in my favorite sweatshirt, then yes, THAT is a wedding sweatshirt! (Don't worry, Mom, I'm not really going to wear a sweatshirt.)

First Things First -- The Story of the Proposal

You can't have a wedding without a proposal (though supposedly my dad never actually proposed to my mom, but that's a different story), so here's the e-mail I wrote to Stacey, Melanie, and Margo the morning after Matt popped the question:

June 21, 2008
Hello my dear friends in Europe --
Well, since I can't call you guys, i have to tell you over e-mail.

Matt and I broke up.

JUST KIDDING! We're getting married!!!!! Ahh!

He proposed to me last night in NYC and I said yes (obviously). Oh my gosh I can't believe I'm even writing this! :-D

I know you want the story, so I'll write it out for ya.

I suggested last week to make Friday night a date night because as usual, I have a ton of plans the next few weeks, so I wanted some quality time with matt. So on wednesday, he starts making suggestions, like cooking me dinner, maybe taking a picnic to my favorite park, etc. Then Thursday night, I'd nodded off on the couch and he wakes me up and tells me we're taking a 6:30 train on Friday, and everything else is a surprise.

As we're getting ready to go, matt insisted on bringing a backpack to put jackets in. Hmm... a backpack... what else could be in there?! I admit to having moments of suspicion during the course of all this. :)

So we go into NYC and have a drink at Cipriani in Grand Central. Then we walked to a restaurant on the upper east side called Candle 79. Turns out it's supposed to be one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the city. Even better though -- it was all organic AND vegan! I was in heaven. Matt said it was because whenever we go out to dinner, i have to scrounge the menu to find something to eat, so he wanted to take me somewhere that i had a whole menu of choices for me. At the end of the meal, he said the night wasn't over yet -- he had bought 2 tickets for the last elevator up to Top of the Rock in Rockefellar Center. we went there for my b'day a year and a half ago, and matt said he wanted to take me at night -- he said "i know you love sparkly things, and the nyc skyline is the biggest sparkly thing i could think of." Now... i admit... i start to wonder again.

We go up to Top of the Rock and the views were of course gorgeous. Lightning came, which was very cool to watch, and people started to clear out. matt seemed a little antsy about picking a spot to sit. Then his eyes were getting shifty, checking to see if people were around. He kept wanting to go outside, but the rain was starting. Finally he said to come outside... he had one more surprise. Yup, you guessed it -- he got down on one knee outside -- a little rain, a perfect view of the empire state building -- and pulled out the little box. I have attached a picture of us about 3 minutes after i said yes. :-D

I had said that i just wanted a proposal story that would be fun to tell people now, but cool to tell our kids. This is the perfect story!

lots of love,
Kathleen

Going to the Chapel

As I have learned from watching The Bachelor, apparently a lot of women grow up dreaming of their wedding day. Now maybe I'm weird, but I not only never thought about my wedding day, I didn't even picture myself married.

But as Matt and I got more serious, I really could picture myself married -- to him. Matt and I are getting married on October 24, 2009! Woohoo! I am so excited!!

So anyway, I thought I'd keep track of what happens with this whole wedding thing over the next year. I'm not really into all this wedding craziness at the moment, but I wonder how and if I will change my opinions. I hear it's really easy to get wrapped up in the momentum of the planning, and I should probably assume I'm just as vulnerable as the next bride-to-be. Here are some of my current thoughts on weddings:

• All that we REALLY need to have a wedding is me, Matt, and someone who can legally marry us. Everything else is can be considered added bonuses. (I can't imagine this opinion ever changing!)
• Wedding dresses are a rip off. All brides look pretty because they're HAPPY. And even if they don't look all that great, everyone will them they're beautiful because, you know, she's the bride!
• Flowers smell nice and are pretty. I hear they're very pricey.
• Cocktail hour is the best part of the reception. Do it up!
• Getting married in a church is intimidating me.
• Photography and food are splurge worthy. Flowers, chair covers, and invitations are not. "Just Married" flip-flops are just plain strange.
• Vendors are ready to rip off anyone who uses words like "bridal" or "wedding."

So let's see... will I drink (and maybe get intoxicated from) the Wedding Kool Aid? or will I resist its charm?

Disclaimer: This blog reflects my own opinions and I'm certainly not dissing anyone else's choices. I don't judge anyone who does get really into the wedding stuff. To each her own!