Macaron Bride

Macaron Making

2009-03-08T12:37:00.005-06:00

Few photos from my last macarons experiments. I am taking a break on baking them as for a while I did 4 batches a day... but I will resume soon as I have some egg whites waiting for me in the fridge.

Honey and Pollen (french meringue)

Rose (french meringue)

Pistachio (italian meringue)

I have the right consistency, but they are lopsided with my italian meringue, and all are hollow inside with either recipe. I will figure out what is going on... :)

Back to Halloween...

2008-11-16T17:40:00.006-07:00

I know I should have posted about our Halloween party a while back, but my job search has been taking most of my free time lately with no success, but I at least have some good news.

On October 31st at 8:00am, Rich and I had our appointment with USCIS. The officer was really nice, and approved us!! For those who don't know what it means: I was going to receive my Green Card within the next 3 weeks. Last week, I GOT IT in the mail! My Green Card, which isn't green at all, is called Permanent Resident Card (or something similar) and authorizes me to stay in the US and work for the next 2 years. As we haven't been married for 2 years, my Green Card is temporary, and in 2 years we will have to apply for a permanent one... then it is road to double citizenship. Even though the lawyer's fees were enormous, it was worth it. If you can afford it, we recommend it.

Review: married legally in March, paperwork sent in April, 3 requests for additional evidence, interview in October, Green card in November.... = 6/7 months total!

Back to Halloween:

First, the greatest pumpkin patch I had even been to.

We usually get our pumpkins the weekend before halloween (about a week before), and it always seemed to be a little late. Most people came a lot earlier, so there aren't that many choices, the left overs are rotten... or full of bugs.

This year I found on the Denver Post a list of pumpkin patches in Denver. I chose one one close to Denver... in Broomfield about 25 min away:

ROCK CREEK FARM

2005 South 112th Street

Broomfield, CO 80020

smiller@rockcreekfarm.com

And it was the BEST ONE I had EVER been to! First, we noticed that we weren't the only ones going (there were cops doing circulation just for that pumpkin patch). Then, we were greeted with pruning shears because the pumpkins were still on the vine - fresher. We drove forever in pumpkin patches and could stop anywhere to get a pumpkin. Then you load it up, and you just go pay for what you got. It is a fixed price per pumpkin, doesn't matter the size.

You can see in the pictures there were pumpkins to the horizon all around. We got 1 great green pumpkin (didn't want orange), and we drove out to pay. There, there were huge buckets of specialty pumpkins even cheaper than the one we got in the field.

We got:

- 1 field pumpkin (green, but now after a month totally orange)

- 2 light green gourds

- 2 grey greenish pumpkin

We now look forward to eating them!

Our green pumpkin (now orange and totally ripped)

1 of each (pumpkin from the field, gourd, grey pumpkin)

Both gourds

Next, planning the party and baking the food...

Wedding Podcast Network

2008-11-15T17:28:00.004-07:00

It's been a while since I last wrote, but I have some news. During the wedding planning, I found out about the Wedding Podcast Network, and ended up listening to every single podcast that came out. One day, Holli asked to email them our story, which I did. We kept in contact until August, time at which we got married.... and when we came back in September, Rich and I were interviewed for the Newlywedcast. It was a lot of fun, and Holli is just so nice to talk to.

Today, the podcast just came out! After much apprehension, Rich and I listened to it. It sounded a lot better than we were expecting (dramatic scenarios of a pathetic interview were going through our mind from recording till today)... Although I would warn that my accent still shocks me!

Ok, I know I have a french accent, but when I talk, I just don't hear it. So of course when I hear my "horrible" french accent, it is totally unexpected and sounds so odd!

I am sure most of you will think that it is exotic and so cute, but I am still not over listening to myself. Maybe i'll get over it someday, or maybe it will get better, who knows... please also, excuse my english mistakes (I know there are plenty), and my nervous giggling.

Anyway, enjoy the podcast!... Because we enjoyed sharing our story!...

Halloween Invites

2008-10-06T10:05:00.013-06:00

As I am a little bored right now, I decided to host a nice halloween party at the end of the month... on the 31st of course. First off, I had to do the invites as I wanted to give everyone enough time to answer. After browsing a LOT of ideas I decided to go with a Bat theme

... and a Black, Grey/Silver, White party.

I chose those colors because I wanted something chic/elegant and would work great for Halloween. Orange and Black being a little too common, I decided to choose Silver. Then, I was off to design the invites... on PPT because it is really easy and I still have to learn

Illustrator. Thankfully I had a cool font on my mac: Lucinda Blackletter.

And here is the almost finished product...

After designing the perfect invites, I wanted to get some special paper. We didn't get anything fancy for the wedding, but noticed that a nicer paper makes the difference. So to add the Silver touch, we picked some silver stationary (cards + envelopes) at Michaels.

We printed the invite on the paper and I added silver glitters (Martha Stewart) to the H in Halloween and one of the bats.

And here you go... (I had to use an ancient digital camera, so the quality is not great, and on top of it I took those pictures at night).

I took the first picture with Flash so we could at least see the Silver card.

And Silver envelope

The card has a final touch... Bailey's paw ($1 at Michaels)

Now, I just have to come up with the food, beverages... and a costume!

Waiting patiently for a phone call...

2008-09-30T09:52:00.003-06:00

I have now been back to Denver for a month, Richard and I moved to a new apartment (a lot more space), we got a dog - Bailey, and I am still looking for a job.

I have been applying to some place, but am having a hard time finding job openings in my field. About 2 weeks ago now, I called one of the places I applied to (Accenture) to see what was going on... because once you send your application you don't actually have a clue is someone

even read it. And I wasn't considered for the job because of my grades (most plausible reason for an entry level job)... yea my grades... I guess a 4.0 in Grad school just wasn't enough for them... made me realize that maybe they weren't right for me.

So now I just look for jobs as a full time job and babysit our new puppy. In the meanwhile I try not to get too bored so I cook a lot. I have made tons of soups, lunches for Rich, deserts.. and my favorite: macarons!

My first try was almost good, but the oven was too hot (cracked the macaron) and I had mixed the mixture too much (didn't develop a nice foot)...

So 2 days ago I decided to try again. My eggs whites were in the fridge and old, and I

had received my almond powder (because almond powder happened to be impossible to get in Colorado) from OhNuts.com.

And here is the result! I am really proud, the foot formed, the top is smooth (even if it doesn't look like it in the pictures).. and it tasted awesome.

Macarons filled with chocolate ganache topped with cocoa powder

End of the night..

2008-09-08T15:11:00.005-06:00

I noticed that in the US, reception halls don't allow to stay past 10 or 11pm. That was something Horrible for french people. We need more time as dinner ends around 10 to 11pm! So no need to have an After Party. We were allowed to stay until 2am, time at which we had to leave the room, but could stay outside if we wanted. But somehow, the DJ didn't stop playing until 3am, which means that we probably didn't leave before 3:20am and some guests maybe 3:30 (I doubt people stayed any longer). Anyway, this is absolutely impossible in most American Hotels (unless you pay good money), and it is totally customary in France. Also, there is no Send Off or things like that, so we don't have to leave before our guests do... we can stay as long as we want!

We had such a blast... eating till 10pm, dancing until 3am with Champagne and macarons... heaven!

Rich's Only Requirement

2008-09-08T15:01:00.003-06:00

The Groom helped a LOT in the wedding planning. You can't believe how lucky I was. He helped with all of the stationary, designing, printing, cutting, sticking... he also took me for all my fittings, fabric shopping, choosing my veil, helping with the music, choosing the readings for the ceremony, carrying flowers... and the list goes on.

There was only 1 thing he really wanted: CUBAN CIGARS. France doesn't have an embargo against Cuba, so we could find Cuban cigars pretty easily. That was his main quest the morning of the wedding. He got some nice cigars for 1.10 euros... and you can't believe how happy he was.

France is now starting to ban smoking in bars, clubs, reception halls (started in February) but it is still permitted to smoke outside (without the 10/20 feet away sign). As the room was connected with outside, Rich took all the guys (and some girls) to smoke the traditional cigar.

Dancing all night

2008-09-08T14:51:00.004-06:00

We could actually stay at the reception site until 2am... way enough time to enjoy the party and dance all night!

As crazy as it sounds, Rich started it!

Ok, I didn't do a Do NOT play list... and we ended up with the Macarena, which happened be have been asked by one of the guests... oh well... people seemed to have enjoyed it, as long as they were happy and dancing!

Then came ANOTHER cake!

2008-09-05T14:00:00.005-06:00

Yep.. midway into the dancing... another delicacy came in... Can you guess what it was?

It was a:

TOWER OF MACARONS

The best treat EVER. Those macarons had been made by the chef, and were the best I had ever tasted. The flavors were amazing, the colors spectacular. To enjoy those sweets, my dad had bought some champagne. So we had bottles of champagne on every table, and a huge macaron tower to devour.

MMM... so good

First Dance...

2008-09-05T13:05:00.009-06:00

After desert, came coffee... here is where the reception people messed up. We were supposed to have coffee in another room for them to have time to move the 3 tables as we had decided on earlier... to make room for the dance floor. But they forgot! We never left for coffee, they served coffee at the table.

That confusion meant that they weren't able to remove the 3 tables as planned, but only 1. Meaning that instead of having a rectangle to dance in (we had asked that because earlier that week, we went there and tried a couple moves to see how much room was needed)... we ended up with a T shape! Try to do a foxtrot in a T!!! Impossible. The moves are done on straight lines, not in corners! So we had to go practice a little and reorganize our first dance.

We started of all right, but then we forgot our plan, and Rich had to think of what to do next in the little room we had. Poor him, I felt bad. But we managed (no one saw what we did wrong)... people were impressed, and we enjoyed it.

We didn't want to be the center of attention for 4 full minutes, so after a couple minutes, we asked our parents and family to join in.

On top of having a first dance, we ended up having 2 first dances. At some point, there was no one on the dance floor, and I didn't want that to happen. So I dragged Rich for a West Coast Swing... and instead of motivating people to join us, they just looked at us dancing... 2nd first dance!

Then the dancing started, and it was a lot of fun.

Cake Time

2008-09-05T12:51:00.005-06:00

After the speeches, I had asked the reception hall to bring out the cake (the cake was displayed before dinner, and they put it back in the fridge because of the buttercream)... so we could cut it. We decided to do it then, because it is after dinner (didn't want to cut the cake before, cake is desert, not appetizers!) and the cooks were going to cut everyone a slice and put it in the desert plate. It is an american tradition which I thought would be nice for the french guests to see.

No cake in the face.. that was the rule. (Also, French guests did't know about the feed each other custom, and we didn't want to teach them the smashing custom!)

After cutting the cake, the wedding party had made a slideshow of pictures of us since we were little. Really cute! We both discovered a lot of pictures of each other we had never seen before!

Dessert: Fraises de Plougastel, tuile, et glace vanille + my cake which looked and tasted awesome!

Time to enjoy

2008-09-05T12:02:00.004-06:00

We had a small wedding, so with 57 guests you can actually go and talk to everyone, which was really nice, and you can enjoy each other's company a lot.

Speeches

2008-09-05T11:33:00.006-06:00

My dad made his speech before dinner. He wanted to start to welcome everyone. He did his speech both in French and English.

Then it was Rich's dad's speech after the cheese and before the desert. The reception hall didn't want any speeches to be done between hot courses because it was hard for them to know when to fire up the dish and keep it warm. So we were allowed for a break before the meal, then once we started we couldn't interrupt dinner until cheese was served. My sister was the "official" translator for the French part of Rich's dad speech.

Then the Best man and the maid of honor followed both helped by my mom for the French part.

Time for food!!!

2008-09-05T11:28:00.003-06:00

Entree: Foie Gras

Plat Principal: Duo de Fillet Mignon

Fromage

For Dessert, you will have to wait a little... now it time for toasts and speeches!

Dinner starts...

2008-09-05T10:49:00.005-06:00

After cocktail, the guests all settled down at their tables.

Here the room all ready before the guests came in...

The table of honor, ours ;-)

The ladies don't eat with their hats on, so when they came in there were coat hangers to hang their hats for dinner, which made a pretty arrangement of colors and shapes.

Rich and I had to wait a little bit before coming in, so we walked around the cocktail area patiently... before it was time.

No announcement, no special song, we wanted it simple (and that's what is done in France): the guests stood up and clapped!

Cocktail time

2008-09-05T10:31:00.004-06:00

We had outdoors and indoors portions which was nice for the guests, as the grand parents preferred sitting and relaxing inside, while others could walk around outside.

With friends

My mother and my grand mother

My grand mother, and Rich's grand mother

Cocktail... Group Picture Time

2008-09-05T10:16:00.004-06:00

All our Friends

My sister and I

All the hats ;-)

All the guys

And Family...

This one is great, it is all the guests (even though some are missing which is a little frustrating)

Cocktail... Couple Picture Time

2008-09-05T09:52:00.003-06:00

We did take about 2 couple pictures with the photographer during the cocktail, but I ended up liking pictures of our guests.

Reception... Details

2008-09-05T09:22:00.007-06:00

Some hors d'oeuvres and drinks

Guestbook and "Place cards"

Table Setting with Name, Favor (recipes), Upload pics tag & Menu

Centerpieces & Table "Number"

To the reception site... Tomorrow

2008-09-04T13:37:00.003-06:00

I have been back for a week today, and we have been doing a couple of things. When I made it last week, it was the end of the DNC, so Denver was chaotic. Then all a sudden on friday it calmed down. Then on sunday we found a new place (a little bigger for all the gifts we received ;-) )... and I applied for a job yesterday.

We are starting to move in a week, and I am checking my emails daily to see if I will at least be asked to come in for an interview.

Once Outside the Church

2008-09-04T11:48:00.007-06:00

Guests did use our bells! They understood what to do with them even though they asked my sister to make sure.

I don't know if you realized while reading the previous post that the priest never asked us to Kiss! Yep, we didn't even realize either, but ended up doing it anyway.

Then the family picture with the parents

Just my parents and I

The Groom's parents

Grand parents, parents, and us as well as the priest

The wedding party and my sister's friend. Funny that the colors were purple and green... everyone was wearing pink :-), but is looked really nice.

Brother and sister

My sister and us

The gorgeous ladies with hats: Fleur, Fiona, Aude, Mom, Marie Elizabeth, Dominique

My mom and her best friend

In the car

Once we left the church, we were supposed to go around to the parking lot and wait for my dad to lead us there. But we waited and waited, and he didn't come. We ended up loosing the driver who was looking for my dad, and we arrived late to the reception site! But we took pictures!

Ceremony... The exit

2008-09-04T11:34:00.008-06:00

Exiting the church... I wanted the guests to exit first, followed by us, and the wedding party because churches in France don't have an area where you can just wait without being seen. So if you go first, you come out of the church and no one is outside cheering! But when the priest told us we could go, no one went! So Rich and I got stuck there for a bit, and still no one. We ended up going and we had to figure out what to do once outside!

The Bride's dad with the Groom's mom

The bride's mom with the groom's dad

The grand parents

The witnesses (best man and maid of honor)

Everyone else

We solved problem with going outside of the church first: we waited at the back of the church and improvised a receiving line just the both of us. So we had time to say hello to the guests and then they made their way outside.

Ceremony... The Signatures

2008-09-04T11:15:00.005-06:00

Rich and I following the priest to sign the register

The maid of honor/witness

The best man/witness

Next the rings

The couple's prayer

Prayer of the faithful: Aude singing, Mike and Anthony reading

One of my mom's english student... she was so cute! She distributed the programs and the bells... her brother was the altar boy

And the ceremony started...

2008-09-04T10:42:00.007-06:00

The priest as I mentioned before is a good family friend. He married my parents and baptized me...

My friend Aude was leading the singing.. here the entrance song

The programs... I had asked my sister to put down programs on the seats of all the people in the wedding party, and on Rich's and mine. Well, seemed like she forgot because when we got down the aisle, we didn't have programs, neither did my parents. I had to borrow one from my grand parents and my parents had to share the other one. Disaster! I spent so much time making them!

Rich's grand pa doing the first reading

Rich's parents

The 3 girls singing the meditation song (after the first reading)... Aude, Fiona, Fleur

The psalm then The gospel

Homily

Exchange of vows

My grand ma and my sister singing after the exchange of vows, but before the rings...

The witnesses a.k.a. best man and maid of honor with us

Ceremony... Getting in the Church

2008-09-04T09:41:00.006-06:00

The processional was the hardest part to figure out.

The traditional french way: the groom goes first with his mom (on his left), then the father of the groom with the mother of the bride, the witnesses, the grand parents, brothers and sisters. Then the Bride with her father followed by the "enfants d'honneur" (bridesmaids?)

The traditional American way: Grandmothers of the groom seated by an usher, followed by their husbands, then same for the grandmothers of the bride. The mother of the groom, then mother of the bride escorted by ushers... Then the officiant and the groom walk in from the side, followed by the attendants down the aisle. The flower girl and ring bearer walk in, and finally the bride and her father.

This is what we decided on doing:

Me and my father waiting to walk down the aisle

The Groom and his mother first (french tradition)

The officiant greeting the processional

The grand parents, first the grand parents of the groom then the grand parents of the bride.

Then the father of the groom with the mother of the bride

The brother and sister (groomsmen and bridesmaid)

Best man and maid of honor

The groom waiting at the front of the church

The officiant greets my dad and I and walks in front of us down the aisle

I know I didn't pick the nicest photo of my dad and I, but I chose that one to make a point. While walking down the aisle, I noticed that you couldn't even see people's faces... just cameras. It was really strange to not even be able to identify who was there, because every single one of the guests were taking pictures. Digital cameras are great, everyone wants a picture, but I would have loved seeing people, not only flashes.

Waiting for people to get in the church!

2008-09-04T09:33:00.003-06:00

Yep, when I arrived at the church with my dad, people weren't seated! So we had to wait outside and make signs to my mom to get people in the church. It was past 4, and people were still talking outside! That was a little frustrating, but I got nice pictures with my dad out of it.

Meanwhile at church...

2008-09-03T16:38:00.005-06:00

The "photographer" - Carolyn, took pictures of the ones missing, here is my sister.

With her best friend, Fleur...

The Groom's brother

The Groom and his brother

And everyone practicing, here my sister and a good friend of mine, Aude...

The Organist and a lady singing who did a magnificent performance while we signed the register.

Pictures while taking pictures

2008-09-03T16:30:00.003-06:00

We did hire a photographer but I definitely wasn't happy with him, so I canceled the couple pictures, and we asked a good friend of ours to take the pictures for us... no pressure... She did a great job, and we definitely felt comfortable with her and our friends around. We loves the result, the pictures look great, and on top of all we have ALL the pictures she took, original format and size!

Running away?

2008-09-03T16:21:00.004-06:00

Waiting patiently for the driver and the wedding party to go home... it was 3:30.. the ceremony was at 4:00 and I wanted to go home beforehand to relax a little.

The park we took the pictures in was right next to the church... the parking lot in which we parked was basically the same one our guests had to park at. So when we got ready to go, I turned around and saw the guests from far. I got scared because they weren't supposed to see me and the car was close to them... So I started running!! With my wedding dress!

And our photographer decided to take a trillion pictures of me running away!

I think 1 person saw me.. but I tried my best to be discreet. Then we got home,didn't relaxed much, we were so late.. and ran out of the door to get married.

In the park... part 3

2008-09-03T15:55:00.006-06:00

My favorite

Rich's favorite :-)

In the corner, the best man.. his fiance was taking our pictures... see next post

Finally done with pictures... on the way to the ceremony!

In the park... part 2

2008-09-03T15:13:00.007-06:00

Together in the park

Groom and his best man...

The bridal party... missing our siblings, they were at the singing practice.

In the park...

2008-09-03T14:33:00.006-06:00

Unconditional couple with the dog picture!

On the way to the park, the girls in the car...

The guys had to walk...

Made it to the park

Take advantage of waiting for the guys to take a couple girl pictures...

With the Maid of Honor... and the wind picked up

The hat made it hard to get close for the picture

Here you go, the guys made it!

Seeing each other for the first time all dressed up!

2008-09-03T14:08:00.006-06:00

Our friend "photographer" had really cute ideas of what to make us do, one of which was to take pictures of us seeing each other for the first time in my back yard before going to a park nearby.

The best man is ready.

My grand ma with her hat ready to go sining and practice with my sister, Rich's brother, and friends at the church 1 hour before the ceremony.

Coming back

2008-08-27T10:21:00.005-06:00

After an eventful time in France, I am heading back to the States tomorrow. I am leaving Rennes at 6:30am France time, then Paris at 10:30am... arriving in Detroit... where hopefully I will have no problems with my travel document... then leaving Detroit back to Denver.

I will arrive in Denver at 8:50pm US Mountain time after a long exhausting trip of 23 hours!

Anyway, when I arrive, depending on how I feel, Rich got me a credential to go to the Pepsi Center. I know Obama will be at the Bronco's Stadium, but I don't care, I am happy I get a chance to see the "new" Pepsi Center after the DNC. We will see at what time we make it home from the airport with all the craziness in Denver...

I will update more about the wedding once back to the States, where I will have time to pack the apartment for a future move, find a job, and of course post millions of pictures.

Getting ready

2008-08-24T11:54:00.005-06:00

The morning started... the groom and wedding party left for the market. He didn't need to stay and get ready as early as we girls, and we thought that the wedding party would enjoy the Rennes' market. It is really nice, huge, and we love it so we wanted to share that with them.

In the meanwhile, I went to get my hair done at 11:30am till about 12:45. I ate something while watching the olympics, I think it was fencing. Everyone came back, and the girls went to get ready while I was relaxing. I decided to put my own makeup on as I was confident I could do a good job... and I was really happy with the end result!

My maid of honor helping me put on my dress, trying not to smudge makeup all over it, and not to destroy my hairdo (no worries, there were thousands of pins and tons of hair spray).

Voila!

Then my mom went to fetch my bouquet and Rich's boutonniere.. we decided not to get flowers for anyone else. I wanted peonies, the florist said it was possible. The tuesday before the wedding she called me and told me it wasn't anymore. I had to pick another flower. I didn't want roses, but ended up going with it... I just needed a bouquet and to this point who cared about the flower as long as it was nice. But it was beautiful!!! Notice the cameo, and the "ribbon" was the fabric of my dress. It all came great together!

My mom putting my veil on. I wanted a birdcage, but went with a Chapel length. I didn't have a train and though it would be nice to walk down the aisle with something flowing behind me.

Maid of honor helping the groom get ready.

We are all ready now, and I went to see my groom waiting for me in the back yard (actually I waited for him, I was ready way before he was!)

Next: Couple photos before the ceremony...

Morning of the Big Day

2008-08-15T07:58:00.004-06:00

On Saturday 9th, 2008, we woke up to that:Brittany is known to be rainy and horrible (see previous pictures in Around the Town... see the sweaters, rain, grey sky a week before!)... and we got:

AMAZING SUNSHINE, BLUE SKY, NOT A CLOUD!

Reception Site getting dressed

2008-08-15T07:50:00.004-06:00

We went to the reception site on friday afternoon to drop off some last minute things: the cake, the M&MS, the guestbook...

And this is what we saw:

The head table (seating 12)

The room with all the tables

Another round table (seating 8)

Our purple runners look amazing and classy against the white tablecloths and napkins... just a nice touch of color. The rest was going to be set that evening. It was nicely coming together, the room looked amazing.

Setting up the church

2008-08-15T07:04:00.006-06:00

We were allowed to go to church on friday at 6pm to set up the flowers if there weren't any funerals on saturday morning. Fortunately there were no funerals planned, and we had time to set up the church, take pictures, and do a mini rehearsal. Our priest was coming from far, so we couldn't ask him to come a day early just to rehearse. So I tried to tell people what to do when, and how... hopefully they all understood, because some stuff wasn't clear to me either. Anyway, we got an opportunity to take plenty of pictures.

My mom setting our 2 hydrangea plants (ordered from 1 place in white, order got canceled a week before the wedding, went to another plant shop, no white... went to a 3rd, nothing... went back to the 2nd and got the nicest blue pinkish ones).

Most amazing hydrangeas from my grand ma's garden. We were not going to have any at first, but my dad drove to my grand parents 2 days before to get my grand parent's car... it worked out so nice! They were the most amazing flowers ever... as all that got decided 2 days before the wedding, one of the options was stealing the neighbors flowers at night!

Garden's ivy as Pew Decoration, home made those friday.

Mini rehearsal

Procession order... I was so confused... it was so hard to mix both traditions!

Cake Part 2

2008-08-15T06:50:00.004-06:00

And finally on friday I finished it. I frosted it in the morning, and stacked it in the afternoon. After my 12" disaster, I decided not to include it. After all, the bigger cake is the "foundation" and I couldn't have a broken foundation to support my 2 other cakes. I hoped the cake would still look good, and I hoped I would still have enough for our 60 guests... and if I didn't... we would just cut it and display it... period... The stacking went really well, and it was my first time. Putting the dowels in was easy... and stacking was a piece of cake :-).

Trial cake to get an idea of how to decorate it

Final Result! Only 2 layers, but it looked and tasted awesome!

Around the town

2008-08-14T09:32:00.004-06:00

I wasn't fond of our photographer, so I tried my best to lower our contract to the minimum: church and group pictures during the cocktail hour. So for our couple pictures, we asked a friend to take them for us. She is not a professional photographer, but has a really good camera and we trusted her. We figured we would feel more comfortable with her than the photographer. So before she arrived, we decided to go around town and look at places we liked to take pictures.

Rehearsal Dinner

2008-08-14T09:06:00.004-06:00

The rehearsal dinner is not a french tradition, but to please our american side, we decided to do one. We wanted it low key, good food, casual, familial. We did an evening moules frites and plateau de fruit de mer (mussels, fries and seafood platter).

1st, cleaning the mussels

2nd, setting up the table for 15

3rd, enjoying everyone's company

4th, eating well!

Church

2008-08-14T09:00:00.001-06:00

Finally some nice pictures of the church.

Cake making Part 1

2008-08-14T08:40:00.004-06:00

Making your wedding cake you have to be organized.

I baked the 12" on tuesday, the 8 and 6" on wednesday. I cut them and made the ganache on thursday, then made the buttercream and frosted them on friday. I stacked them friday afternoon and brought it over to the reception site!

Of course there were a couple glitches: my 12" cake wasn't 3" thick so I could only cut it in 2 layers.... so I had to make the decision to only do 1 filling: the ganache. Then I didn't cut the 12" cake right... it was crooked (my first time with such a big cake). Then my ganache wasn't hard enough so I managed as best as I could. My 12" top layer broke in 7 pieces when I tried to put it on top of the ganache. The next day I tried to frost my 12" cake to cover the broken pieces. A disaster. I had to convince myself that a 8" and 6" would be enough.

Hair Trial

2008-08-14T08:18:00.005-06:00

What I was aiming for:

This is what I got for my trial, and I am happy with it. During the wedding, I wasn't

the happiest at first, but with the outfit it was more than perfect, and held until 3am.

Reception Site - Dinner

2008-08-14T08:13:00.003-06:00

We booked the room Louis XVI. It is really cute and small. At first we were scared it would be too small, but once people sat we realized it was a perfect size for our wedding (60 people). It has so much character!

Passing the details on to the reception site's coordinator

Little outside winter garden... perfect to cool off during the party! It was SO cute.

Reception Site - Cocktail

2008-08-14T08:07:00.002-06:00

On tuesday 5th (4 days before the wedding), we went to the reception site (first time since New Years Eve 1 and a half year ago). Finally we could see where the wedding was going to take place, drop off the accessories, and explain how we wanted things.

First cocktail was going to be set on 3 levels. 1st level is the entrance, then up the stairs, then outside. If it rains we will settle inside, but otherwise we will go outside.... It is a nice space, we didn't need more.

Cake Topper

2008-08-14T07:51:00.005-06:00

My birds! I found some really cute, but expensive birds on etsy. I couldn't settle for something else. So I decided to do my own from scratch. I looked at the birds I liked, made a pattern. Scan
ned it and got the size I needed. Did a paper example... cut the fabric, and my mom hand-sewed them. I stuffed them with cotton... did the accessories, and added legs!

The tie:

The veil:

Dressing up our centerpieces

2008-08-14T07:46:00.003-06:00

We bought square vases for the hydrangeas... but had to use them with the plants we bought. We had to cover the sides of the vases because of the brown pots. Rich got some 3" ribbon that we glued to the vases. And because we got 16 plants, we got 8 more round vases (cheaper)...

Square vases

Round vases

Flower replacement

2008-08-14T07:34:00.003-06:00

My poor mom had to deal with all of the "flower" problems. I wanted hydrangeas, but my mom couldn't find anyone doing those flowers (even though they are Everywhere in Brittany). Our florist dropped us about a month before the wedding. So we decided to go DIY on the flowers too. My mom decided to go and see flower producers. She was happy. When I arrived, I went with my dad and looked at the flowers. They were nice, but not any close to the idea I had with the hydrangeas.... something round, white, green, and purples (pink to blue). They had Lilies and Gerberas... just not it.

At home, my mom and I decided to steel our neighbors hydrangeas if we couldn't find anything else.

Then we went to Jardiland, a french plant shop. We were going to look at hydrangeas "plants" for the church and found those:

Here are our centerpieces. They are green, small, cute and perfect!

Wedding beauty

2008-08-14T07:29:00.003-06:00

My 2 weeks back home before the wedding were hectic. I had tons to do and tried to get as much done on my shopping trips. That day I got underwear, earrings, and make up. I wasn't planning on finding anything, and couldn't decide. I knew I wanted hanging earrings, and maybe pearls. We found those.... but I wasn't set on the grey pearl... We got them, and I am SO happy. They are gorgeous, and go perfect with my dress.

Ring

2008-08-14T07:20:00.004-06:00

Finished products for the end of the ceremony. As I mentioned before, we are not throwing anything, but ringing bells. Took us a little bit to finish them, but I am really happy with the finished product.

More candy

2008-08-14T07:17:00.004-06:00

My future (not future anymore) mother in law wanted to bring some M&Ms from the States. We picked the colors about a month before the wedding, and Rich brought them over in his suitcases. We also bought a "vase" and an appetizer spoon to serve them, and decided to display them on the cake table.

Something old

2008-08-14T07:13:00.002-06:00

1 more item for the wedding: my grand ma's, then mom's cameo for my bouquet.

Ceremony Programs

2008-08-14T07:09:00.003-06:00

That was a last minute thing we did before I left the US, and I was cutting them the day before I left. Once in France, my dad folded them all.. and here you go:

Originally we wanted to use a thicker paper to stick to the front and back of the programs, but decided not to do it as most people throw them away after the ceremony anyway.

Program holder from the Mac Beth Collection... love it.

Guestbook

2008-08-14T07:03:00.005-06:00

That is something I really didn't want originally, but my parents made it for us as a surprise. It was the most gorgeous guestbook I had ever seen. My mom knows a lady who makes albums, books, anything... she is really talented. The fabric outside the book is beautiful, and there are cute little sayings and pictures of us inside. After the notes from our guests, we will use it as our wedding album. A nice memory...

I am organized

2008-08-14T06:57:00.002-06:00

I loved doing all the details for the wedding, but I was the only one who understood what goes where and how. But on the tuesday before the wedding I had to pass it on to the reception hall's coordinator. I decided to organize everything by table with all the details needed in envelopes:

Going on the table...

2008-08-14T06:53:00.004-06:00

Going on the table are:

The table "numbers" and holders (hand made)

The menus

The favors (recipes), green ribbon means english, purple ribbon french

The place cards going around the napkin

The sign with our website to upload and download pictures

Candles

2008-08-14T06:50:00.002-06:00

First discovery once back home. My mom did the votives for the wedding. It is classy and nice... simple... Times 50...

Back Online

2008-08-14T06:13:00.004-06:00

Its been almost a month and I haven't posted anything. I feel really guilty.

First, I didn't have a camera to keep track of all the details before the wedding, then our internet got cut a week before the wedding and just came back on yesterday. Then, I had to relax a little :)... and go through the thousands of pictures of the big day.

Now that I am back to a semi-normal schedule, I will catch up on before wedding preparations, wedding day, and after wedding advices. Be prepared to read dozens of posts a day!

Crossing the Atlantic

2008-07-21T16:11:00.005-06:00

I am sorry I haven't posted much lately, but I have been a little busy packing. On top of the normal packing, I have to do wedding packing! And it is not easy. I had to pack normal cloths, wedding clothes, wedding papers, immigration papers, wedding ribbons/ bells/ menus/ maps/ favors... and the list goes on and on.

I managed to pack everything in 1 big suitcase, 1 small suitcase, 1 backpack, and 1 special bag for my dress and Rich's suit.

Leaving tomorrow at 10:50am arriving wednesday at 11:30am in Rennes. Talk to you from the other side of the pond!

Veggies in your centerpieces

2008-07-17T21:34:00.004-06:00

I love the idea of mixing food and flowers. I found these pictures on epicurious and love the ideas of adding asparagus and grapes.

Another Hat

2008-07-17T21:25:00.003-06:00

My sister dragged her feet on getting a hat, but she finally did. She got a lovely pink hat which I am sure will be awesome with her outfit.

Look

More cake!

2008-07-17T21:01:00.004-06:00

Really like the design of those cakes:

Laying out on the table...

2008-07-17T20:56:00.004-06:00

Our work of the past months. We are missing a couple of things, but most of it is here! I have decided to put most of it in my carry on in case they loose my suitcases.

Craft discovery

2008-07-16T14:58:00.004-06:00

I am a good baker, like doing stuff myself, but I am still discovering craft stores...

Last week end, we got some stamps to personalize all our paper goods. We used the M&R and heart on either the menus, phrase books, ceremony booklets, contact sheet... and we will use the different letter for the place cards.

Then we got a corner rounder.. after doing all the favors with a pair of scissors there was no way I was going to do that for everything else.

More shoes

2008-07-16T14:53:00.003-06:00

Here is a piece of advice:

Ballroom dancing shoes are the most comfortable, light shoes ever! I will probably switch from my wedding shoes to my dancing shoes once we start dinner... I wear those shoes for dancing, my feet never hurt, I don't loose them, they are really light, and closed toes! Yes, closed toes is a good thing to get if you are a beginner... and if he is too!

Stupid machine

2008-07-16T14:45:00.003-06:00

We bought fabric a while back to make runners for the tables, but I didn't have a sewing machine. My FMIL did, so one day we went down to Colorado Springs to get it. For a little bit now I have been trying to use it, but even after asking my dressmaker for advice, I was stuck. The machine hasn't been used for over 10 years, needs to be serviced and has tension problems. Unfortunately I couldn't deal with all that at the time, so I gave up. I will hopefully do the runner once I am home on my mom's machine.

Registry Gifts

2008-07-16T14:36:00.003-06:00

We have been receiving gifts for over a month now, and have been keeping them in a pile in the hallway waiting for the wedding and maybe moving. But there was one we had been looking at with "hungry" eyes. So one day we decided to go ahead, open it... and make a fondue!

Groom Fashion

2008-07-16T14:27:00.005-06:00

We decided to buy him a really nice suit, because he could keep it and renting was too hard (3 days wasn't enough as he is staying in France for 3 weeks)... now I am really happy of our choice because I saw some rented tuxes at other weddings and you could see it was rented, not a really nice quality, and not well fitted. For the tie and inside vest we asked my dress maker to make them. We picked the fabric for the tie together, and for the vest my mom told us to use my dress's fabric as we had plenty extra. I am really happy how it came out, it is gorgeous.

Fabric for the tie and vest:

Tie and vest:

All together:

A little souvenir from the dressmaker:

Public Transportation

2008-07-14T16:26:00.006-06:00

As public transportation seems to be a total novelty to our guests from the midwest, we will add to the welcome package maps of different bus and metro lines...

Ceremony Booklet... taking a little longer than planned.

2008-07-14T15:47:00.004-06:00

We are having problems with our organist. My mom called him last week to tell him our songs (following the church's advice), and he was more than rude. He couldn't do anything we had picked... and even though we didn't mind and asked what he could do, he said that he had a repertoire... but didn't tell us what it consisted of. My parents have been trying to get someone else... cross fingers, hopefully this week.
This is what has been delaying the printing of our Ceremony Booklets. In the meanwhile here is what will go IN the booklet:

Prêtre/Officiant
Père Jean B

Parents de la mariée/Parents of the Bride
Georgina & Michel L

Parents du marié/Parents of the Groom
Susan & George Jr. M

Grand parents de la mariée/Grandparents of the Bride
Marcelle Bax
Denise & Eugène L

Grand parents du marié/Grandparents of the Groom
Dorothy Beavers
Theresa & George Sr. M

Témoins/Maid of Honor & Bridesmaid
Elizabeth L
Fiona L

Témoins/Best Man & Groomsman
Anthony B
Michael M

Presents en pensées/Present in thoughts
Dorothy B
Alex B

Prélude & Procession

Chant d’Entrée - Entrance Song (French)
Debout resplendis - Standing Glowing

Première Lecture - First Reading (English)
By George M Sr.
Reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians 12:31- 13:8
If I am without love, it will do me no good whatever

Chant de Méditation - Meditation Song (French)
Je n'ai d'autre désir - I don't have any other desire

Psaume 23 - Psalm 23 (English & French)
By Elizabeth L & Fiona L

Alléluia (French)

Evangile - Gospel (French)

By Pere Jean B
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 17, 20-26

May they be completely one

Célébration du Sacrement - Vows and Ring Ceremony (French & English)
By the couple

Chant de Louange - Hymn of Praise (French)

By Marcelle B & Fiona L
Devant Jésus - In front of Jesus

Prière des Epoux - Prayer of the Couple (English & French)

By the couple

Prière Universelle - Prayer of the Faithful (English)
By Anthony B & Michael M

Notre Père - Our Father (French)
By Assembly

Lord’s Prayer (English)
By Michael M

Ave Maria (music only)

Chant d’Envoi - Exit Song (French)

By Assembly

Couronnée d’étoiles - Crowned with stars

First trip to the US

2008-07-14T15:11:00.003-06:00

That was me 20 years ago at the Miami Airport - first trip to the US.. we went to Disney World and visited Florida. Who would have guessed that 20 years later I would marry an American? To make my parents happy I posed in front of a taxi and a police car...

Cake disaster

2008-07-14T14:48:00.006-06:00

I had promised to bring a cake to our dance studio on monday, and I was also planning on bringing one to the office as tomorrow is my last day. I planned on doing a 6" and 8" on friday, and frost them on sunday....

I took friday off, and started cooking. I opened my brand new Wilton 6" springform, removed the wrapping.. and as it didn't seem connected too well, I put the form in water... LEAKING all over!
We went shopping on saturday morning, didn't find another 6" 3" springform so I gave up and decided to do 2 big cakes.. the 8 and 9". We went home and I started baking.
The recipe was going to make 17 cups of batter... no need to mention that it is WAY too much for my kitchenaid mixer, but I did it anyway.... how stupid am I.
I put it all in the oven... and it soon start to smell burnt. I opened the oven, my cakes were overflowing in the oven.. GREAT. I put something under it and left it in the oven.
After half the cooking time, it really smelled burnt. Open the oven.. it was still overflowing, I had cake in the whole oven as well as on the filament. I got really worried, open the windows, open the oven and turned it off... I heard a beeping noise in the apartment.. God, the alarm of the buiding is going to go off and the firefighters are gonna come.. what a disaster.

The alarm didn't ring, but it was really close... My oven was a mess, I wasted tons of products, the apartment still smells like burnt, and I had still promised cake!! I ended up redoing one on sunday... finished it around midnight... gosh what a week end.. and all of that because of a springform and mistaking teaspoons for tablespoons of baking powder+soda.

Another accomplishment!

2008-07-14T14:29:00.005-06:00

Yep, we were really really productive this week end :). We also finished everything needed on the tables, meaning: place cards, table numbers, and a paper for each table with every guests seating on that table. They look awesome... each table is represented by a different rooster of a different color, so we don't really have table numbers or names... just roosters.

First, listing the guests seating at that table (I will handwrite our guests' names), next to it is the table "number":

Table "Flower Rooster":

Table "Married Couple Roosters" (our table):

Table "Gift Rooster":

Table "Family Rooster":

Table "Chef Rooster":

Table "Wine Rooster":

Table "Simple Rooster":

Then the placecards: we are going to wrap this strip around the napkin.. and I am going to handwrite our guests' names on it:

Not too bad for a week end!

Welcome package

2008-07-14T13:34:00.005-06:00

One good thing done during the week end! We really did do a lot this week end as I am leaving next tuesday. We finished the welcome packages, and just have to round up the corners and stick the covers of the phrasebooks and welcome booklets to the "bodies". I am really proud of our accomplishment, it definitely feels good to have something totally done. Here it is:

Welcome Booklet - printed on white paper... accordeon style:

Front:

Inside - a welcome note that we both signed, information about Brittany and things to visit, and information about the different means of transportation and the bus system:

Map - printed on white paper, folded in half:

Front:

Inside - general on top, zoomed in on the bottom (done with PPT):

Timeline - printed on light green paper:Contacts - printed on brighter green paper, size of a business card:Phrasebook - printed on white paper...accordeon style:

Front:

Inside - general sayings, how to buy things, food, numbers, time, places... anything english speakers would need to go about Brittany.

I heart maps

2008-07-11T17:12:00.004-06:00

I found those hearts on etsy from the seller Bombus. I still have to find a way to include them in the wedding. I was thinking maybe putting them in the envelopes when I will send pictures of the wedding to people who couldn't make it... or maybe in the welcome package ... or include them with the maps???

Hair dilemma

2008-07-11T16:57:00.004-06:00

I change my mind every new picture I see, so I decided not to pick a hairdo until the last minute. But here is what I collected so far.

The headbands are from Jennifer Behr... I love them, especially the last one. If only it could fit with my outfit. Oh well...

Champagne Fun

2008-07-11T16:55:00.002-06:00

Just a couple ideas to bring a little fun in your champagne.

Alternative if I hadn't decided on a dress...

2008-07-10T15:43:00.005-06:00

I love this Oscar de la Renta's gown because it is simple yet sophisticated. I particularily love the details at the bottom as usually the beading is on the top of the dress. Just love it.. if only it wasn't out of my price range.

Just for fun

2008-07-10T15:06:00.004-06:00

I am done with my thesis, the visa, almost done with my internship... so I am a little bored... yes I am bored with the wedding coming up in a month. By the way, today we are 30 days away!

1st flowers:

Then hairdo ideas... but I won't decide until the last min because I just can't make up my mind:

this one I love, but won't do it:

Then church pews ideas:

Then cake and drink just for fun:

The Dress

2008-07-10T15:01:00.004-06:00

Finally, here are pictures of my dress. I am really happy the way it turned out, and it fits me perfectly. I am sorry, but had to crop my face out of those pictures because somehow I ended up doing horrible faces...

Enjoy :-) !

Immigration... again

2008-07-09T13:45:00.000-06:00

Great news... look!!!

Seating Plan

2008-07-09T11:31:00.002-06:00

Martha Stewart Wedding is offering some new planning tools. I had all my stuff originally on the Knot, but ended up switching over because MSW's tools were a little more user friendly.. AND because of this awesome seating plan tool:
You can arrange the room the way you want, the size of the tables, the number of people on each table... I am also very visual, so spreadsheets just didn't cut it. I haven't finished my seating plan yet because I have to get some info from my mom (like the size of the room and how will tables be arranged around the room), but I am getting there.

Cocktail Decorations

2008-07-08T20:01:00.004-06:00

Here is how I am planning on decorating the outside garden for cocktail. I don't know yet if it will take too long, but I will try and see. I was also thinking of doing some small ones for the pews at church as we still are thinking of something economical and easy.... Of course we will follow the color palette: purples and white (no green this time).

The Reception Site is a Hotel too

2008-07-08T17:07:00.005-06:00

We decided to stay at the hotel we are having the reception at. It is convenient because the reception is supposed to end at 2am, and we really like the place... so we are pretty happy. Here is the room "Champetre" to give you an idea of what they have... nothing huge, just right and cozy.

Good News

2008-07-08T16:46:00.003-06:00

The appointment went well! After explaining our case (we actually got to explain our case :-) ), the guy was really nice and called the National Benefit Center to get our I131 processed faster. Our case officer agreed to accelerate the process and was supposed to take care of it TODAY! So we will probably get my travel document in the mail within the next week... meaning:

I can come back in the US
We won't have to refile and pay another $2000 to immigration services
We can look forward to our future together as a newly married couple and look for another appartment... it feels good to be able to plan an after wedding together.

Thesis

2008-07-08T08:56:00.003-06:00

On Thursday, I will present my Master's thesis. Yes, this month is crazy... my internship ends in a week, I am leaving the country in 2 weeks, I have an immigration appointment today, my thesis in 2 days, and the wedding in a month (not forgetting that I have to pack boxes before I leave because we are moving when we come back). Just a little hectic...

Immigration Services

2008-07-08T08:47:00.004-06:00

Today is our interview with immigration services for our emergency travel document. In short, I need this document to leave the country, otherwise all our efforts (and money) for my green card will be cancelled, and I won't be able to come back to the States. We still have a chance to get our travel document the normal way, but leaving in only 2 weeks we made this emergency appointment. Touch on wood, we need this document really bad.

Planning tools

2008-07-07T14:13:00.003-06:00

Russell + Hasel offer tons of planning worksheets that fit in their wedding organizer. If only I knew that before I started!

Cake ideas

2008-07-03T15:44:00.001-06:00

Here are some ideas for my cake. Of course it will be a simplified version, and I might change my mind before the wedding anyway.

Ceremony Programs

2008-07-03T15:08:00.004-06:00

Being a Catholic Ceremony, and a lot of people are either not catholic or just don't ever go to church, we are giving a detailed program to people can follow what is going on. Here is what we are looking at doing:

I decided not to have a translator because I didn't like it. Our priest being really understanding of the situation, we will do half of the readings in french and half in english (with both languages in the booklet), and the sining will be in French as we have more french speaking guests. More to come soon, as we almost figured it out (singing, readings, who, what...)

Favors

2008-07-03T14:14:00.006-06:00

After looking at many ideas for favors, we finally found something we really liked. I realized that most weddings I went to, they weren't any favors, and although I realize it now because I am planning my wedding, I didn't at the time. I wanted something affordable and different. Candy buffets are fun, but will end up being too expensive with our "expensive tastes" in candy. The traditional almonds.. why not.. not really. Cookies are great, but again I won't have enough time to bake tons of cookies + a cake. So that is what we came up with:

Sharing our family recipes! We asked Rich's mom, my mom, my 2 grand mothers, and Rich's grand mothers = total of 6 great recipies.

Georgina's Orange Pork Roast
Sue's Mango Tomato and Pineapple Salsas
Grand ma H's Datte Cookie
Grand ma M's Hawaiian Banana Nut Bread
Grand ma B's Madras Curry
Mamie's Brittany Scallops

On the front are the recipe's name, the ingredients, the cooking/preping times, and the servings. On the back you can find the steps... Of course, all recipes are translated in English and French.

Need Paper to Finish Favors

2008-07-03T13:22:00.004-06:00

Rich and I are doing our own invitations, thank you notes, favors, menus, tables numbers, welcome booklets, timeline, maps, phrasebook... which means we need a lot of Paper. We found Donahue Paper Emporium, where we ended up buying all our supplies. But yesterday, after printing all the invitations, menus, and thank you cards, we ran out of paper... so we had to load up on colored paper, and a needed block of 250 sheets of white thick paper.

Fabric

2008-07-02T15:26:00.006-06:00

As my dress is being custom made, I had to go shopping for fabric, and what I though would be pretty hard ended up really easy. We went to 3 places:

Denver Fabric, Elfriede's Fine Fabrics, and to Allyn's Fabric & Bridal Supplies.

The first one was Elfriede's (a really nice old german lady owns the store). We spotted a fabric we really liked, but being the first store, we didn't dare buying it. Then we went to Allyn's, where we asked for swatches. They wanted us to pay for a little square of fabric, which put us off as Elfriede had given us a huge one for nothing... we left. Finally, Denver Fabric is quite big, discount prices, but you either find your dream fabric or don't... we just didn't. We realized that the first fabric we saw was the best (ladies, you will know it is it when you see it). Elfriede remembered us and had loved the design of my dress. We asked for 5 yards, and she gave us the whole roll! We ended up with around 8 yards for the same price!Go to Elfriede's Fine Fabric, 2425 Canyon Boulder, CO 80302, Phone:303 447-0132.

Wedding Shower

2008-07-02T14:45:00.003-06:00

I knew about wedding showers, but our bridal party living in another state, and my parents living abroad, we figured we wouldn't get one. But one night, one of my professors from grad school, emailed Rich and asked him if it would be approriate for her to throw us a shower. How sweet! It was the best offer so far. I was so grateful, and don't know how to thank her enough.

She organized it all at her house: a Mexican Brunch on June 7th! Her son made all the food which was amazing: ceviche, guacamole/salsa/chips, breakfast burritos, questadillas... and even some M&Ms where was written Marina & Richard and Ole! It was a wonderful day, great food, great people. I am still so thankful she did all that for us, knowing that she was flying to Georgia (the country) the following week. We really hope she can come to the wedding!

Old, new, borrowed, blue

2008-07-02T14:02:00.004-06:00

I still haven't figured it all out, but here is what I have so far:

New: the dress of course
Old: My pearl earrings

Blue: many options... don't know yet

Borrowed: I figured this one out about 2 days ago. My mom has a lovely cameo, and I will steal it for a day!

Cake Toppers

2008-07-02T13:52:00.002-06:00

I love those birds from Cottonbirddesigns on etsy. I would totally love to use them as cake toppers, and because of our rooster theme it would work perfect.

Shoes

2008-07-02T13:45:00.005-06:00

While going to Macy's one day to figure stuff out for our registry, I decided to look around in the shoe department in case I found something.. and I did. I wanted simple white leather, but not totally plain. I wanted something I would wear again, which meant no glitters/pearls/shiny shoes. Here it is: Arthuro Chiang Arieli Pump.

Throwing rice, blowing bubbles...

2008-07-01T13:45:00.001-06:00

There are so many options for when you get out of church, and we definitely considered a lot of them. The top choices were:
1. Stealing my mom's hydrageas in the garden, and removing each flowers to throw
2. Bubbles were my future mother in law's idea
3. Ribbon Wands....
Hydrageas were the best idea, but as we are DIYing a lot of the wedding, I don't know who would have had time for an extra project. Then I found this (on MarthaStewart.com):That was it, and finally bought all the supplies: tags, bells, & ribbons

Why a tag would you ask? So people know to RING and NOT THROW the bells. I know it sounds dumb, but my mom asked me: "What are we supposed to do with that? Throw it at you?" That scared me, so I decided to put a note: RING... no confusion.

New Best Friend

2008-07-01T13:44:00.003-06:00

I bought my new best friend this week end, a.k.a. a Cake Leveler! I can't seem to cut my cake straight enough, and being a prefectionist it had to be straight. Second cake trial this week end, and helpfully I will have time to do 2 cakes to stack them!