Tom and Amy's Wedding

(Christa and Matt were supposed to come to town this weekend, but Christa got pulled away for a work trade show. Bummer. We'll have to try to schedule something else soon.)

I'm actually getting a little tired of dress shopping. It seems like wherever I go, I find dresses I like, but don't LOVE. Until today.

Reri and I started out at David's Bridal. I quickly discovered that all the dresses I liked on the website have very little embroidery other than at the bodice, which is why they're so darn cheap (relatively). There were 2 I really liked, one of which I can't find a picture of, and the other one is a Monique Luo design, so just as expensive as any other designer gown (on the left - click here to see the bottom of the skirt which is the most beautiful part!) The attendant told me it doesn't come in any larger size than the one I tried on, which was about 4 inches too small across the back. I was pretty bummed out until I looked at the catalog they gave me, which said that dress does come in W sizes! I'm right on the line between the 2 sets of sizes, which can be frustrating. Guess she doesn't know her inventory that well...

Next stop was at Bay Area Bridal (also known as New Things West for prom dresses), this time on my own since Reri had plans and we both had narrowed down the style I was looking for. This place is huge! It's at Vallco Mall (for those that are in Spokane, this would be like U-City Mall - way past its prime) so they must have a great deal on rent. My attendant was Sandy, and she was super helpful. I showed her my scrapbook of dresses plus some I had pulled from their binder, and I must have tried on at least 10 gowns, each more gorgeous than the next. Now I really can't decide!! They carry a ton of Maggie dresses, including the ones from Bella Mia and Bride & Joy, so we don't have to go there to try on 2 dresses. I did find a couple others from other designers too, so I have a list of about 8 gowns that will be set aside for me at the next appointment. I'm moving more toward the more romantic look of the organza overlay with embroidery rather than the more sophisticated satin gowns from the first few shops.

They also have bridesmaid dresses from B2 (although I didn't find the one we're looking for) and some beautiful dresses for Mom/Danna too, so this could really be the only stop we'll need to make. They even have a tux rental! I'm really excited now - I'm really looking forward to the input and getting the dress chosen, so I can start focusing on other things.

Reri and I spent a good part of Saturday dress shopping. We started at Bride & Joy which had a nice selection of Maggie Sottero gowns. I tried Felicity on again (the second dress from Bella Mia) and still loved it, and also found Dion. We decided Dion was more elegant as it has some heavy lines of beading across the top of the dress and down the back into the train, with lighter beading on the bodice and in the panel on the left side of the gown, and is a little more slimming in that there's a vertical line from waist to hem instead of a diagonal line. Felicity was more romantic in that it has floral embroidery and less embroidery on the train. Dion also has a more dramatic back and train, which of course sold Reri!

Reri tried on several bridesmaid dresses, and she likes the one all the maids have voted on so far. They only had it in the full length dress, so it was narrower than it would be at knee length, but in the right colors. And the dress should be in the right price range! I'll talk to the maids separately and we'll decide...

After lunch we went to the Wedding Gown SuperStore in Fremont. That place is a zoo - I'm really glad I'd been to some real wedding shops first, since this is pretty-much DIY. Scout 3 dresses from the racks, try them on by yourself (thank god for Reri, who practiced her corset lacing), and check yourself out in the mirror. No help from the staff unless you're ready to order or buy off the rack. This meant I reached through the top of the dress to find the right layer, then stick my arms up through the dress and basically threw it over my head and on. There was one funny moment when I hadn't completely unhooked the back and got stuck with my arms over my head - Reri had to unhook me to get out as we laughed and laughed.

I found a dress similar to others I'd been looking at, but softer with an organza overlay. The one I tried on was too small and had buttons in the back, but I really loved how it looked. I wished it was a corset back though! I did a little digging and I found this dress which is really similar - and has the corset back, and is inexpensive, and the spaghetti straps are completely pointless, therefore removeable... hmmmmm..... I can order online or there's a shop in Santa Rosa that carries this line, but I don't know if they'd have this dress, and I want to try it on first. So obviously I haven't found the dress just yet, but I'm getting much pickier so this is a good development.

Monday I was browsing dresses on davidsbridal.com, and made a whole list of dresses I liked. I also clicked on their "make an appointment" button and filled in my info to have someone call me and make an appointment.

Tuesday my dress list was gone, and I had to recreate it. At least that one hasn't disappeared.

It's now Thursday, and nobody called me to set up an appointment. So I called today at my lunch hour, and surprise! Both stores near me are booked solid on Saturday! I guess I shouldn't be too surprised since they've been advertising a big sale. But still. Urg. Not so good customer service. I guess I'll try them in February, since I can't go next weekend because my cousin Christa and her hubby Matt are coming into town. Yaay, that will be very fun. (hi Christa!)

Reri and I are going around for another wave of dress try-ons this Saturday, so I did get an appointment at the cheezily-named Bride&Joy in San Leandro (they have Maggie Sottero dresses), and we'll go to the Fremont Wedding Gown Superstore, even though I heard some bad reviews, because they don't need an appointment. We can fight our way through the crowds! I have sharp elbows and Reri is tiny enough to sneak under people's arms when they're not looking. Hee hee!

PS: I drank all my water yesterday and did a FitTV workout (thanks Shannon and Elspeth for the tip!). Today at work, someone brings in Drumsticks! @$%^$@$!! Glad I'm in the back office and can't see them...

I'm trying to get in better shape before September. I've been eating much better lately, and going to the gym a lot. I got a great MP3 player with birthday money from my parents and grandparents, and I've been burning thru the batteries (I guess I should get some rechargeables). I've found a number of podcasts (like blogs, but audio) that I like to download and listen to when I'm cleaning house or at the gym, including the NPR nightly news, a few knitting podcasts, and I've found a couple that are gym routines. I haven't tried them yet but am looking forward to seeing if they're any good or not.

For the New Year, my gym had an offer of 5 training sessions for $99, so I signed up. I had my first session with Debbie last night, and I'm feeling it today. We did ab work and cardio, and my lower back wasn't happy with the lower ab work, so I need to work on getting both my lower back and lower abs stronger so they'll support each other. She also put me on the EVIL stairmaster, the kind with the actual stairs? On Level 5, on a hill! It was too much for me... I'll do it again, but at a somewhat easier pace. I don't mind the elipticals or the treadmill.

My goal for this week is to drink 96oz of water (only have 42 oz left) and get to the gym at least 4 times for at least a half hour before next Wednesday, when I meet her again.

The ultimate goal is to drop a couple regular dress sizes and 1 bridal dress size before the wedding. I'll keep ya posted.

PS: Oh, and it doesn't help when people in the office run over to Safeway and buy ice cream, cookies and candy in one afternoon. I kept myself to 1 package of 100-calorie Chips Ahoy thin crisps and 1 cookie, which is amazing in itself as I am an ice cream fiend.

Not much on the wedding front this weekend, other than I'm getting stressed about the money, which makes me cranky, which isn't fun on the weekend since it's one of the few times Tom and I have together. We ran a preliminary budget this weekend, and it's more than I thought. *sigh* Of course there's lots of variables yet which could help the price go down, or could even cost us more *shudder* but at least we know what ballpark we're in.

Today I priced photographers, based on info I picked up at last weekend's bridal faire. I absolutely don't want to skimp on the photographer, since the photo are all that will remain of our wedding day, but I can't spend as much on the photographer as the reception! We talked about what's important for each of us, and that's high-quality photos, some black and white, for at least 7 hours, a few portraits for family, mom's albums, a nice album of our own, and the negatives/CD. We don't need a photo montage DVD, lots of 8x10s, an engagement session, etc. (our engagement photo is at the top of the page on the right).

Have you seen the albums in the last few years? They're amazing magazine-style printed pages where the photographer can collage lots of images for a really stunning result. I'm a bit of a traditionalist in that I want to have a regular photo album too, which we can do with shots from the photographer plus 1-time cameras on tables.

Do you have a great recommendation for a photographer that's in our budget (2-3K) for the kinds of things we described above? Keelyn recommended her sister's photographer, but at 5K we can't afford her. I also don't want to go the super-cheap route and just have a photographer take our pictures and give us the negatives. I know I'll never get the album done (I still haven't done the album of our cruise 3 years ago)! Please comment or send me an email (link is on the right under Web Stuff).

Misc:

I'm generally going to post on weekdays, when my schedule is more regular, but if there's exciting wedding news, I'll want to share it with you right away.

I read all of your comments, and would love to get more. Tell me what you think about a dress, for example, or ask questions about what's in the works. That way I know people are reading and I feel like I'm planning with a bunch of nosy, opinionated, helpful friends. (That's a good thing!) I may also find out that I've missed something entirely or hadn't thought enough about it, which will help my planning process.

My first day of dress shopping was fun, and a little frustrating at the same time. I chose to go to Bella Mia because of the trunk show and thought they'd have all the designer's dresses, but they didn't have Rebecca and I only got to try on 2 of that desinger's dresses. I know she was also trying to help me figure out what I liked, but I tried on 6 dresses, and only liked the 2 Maggies.

The first dress was a V-neck sleeveless dress with a defined waistline and lots of beading on the bodice. I didn't like all the beading, the defined waist, and, it turns out, I didn't like the V neck either.

This is the second dress I tried on. I loved the cap sleeves, which are removable, and the embroidery on the bodice, the skirt, and the amazing train. Reri fell in LOVE with the train embroidery, because it starts alongside the corset lacing in the back, all down the back, and then pools out at the bottom. The overbustle was gorgeous. I was just a little concerned that the embroidery was a little too much, big and scroll-y, and the overskirt/underskirt felt almost too stiff, but overall I really loved it. It was even a size too big for me so she couldn't lace it any tighter. What a nice feeling to be too small for a gorgeous dress like this!

This was the third dress I tried on. I loved this one even more than the last one. When I first put it on I was concerned that it was too sparkly in the embroidery, but when I went out into the main room it didn't seem like too much. I liked the side-sweeping skirt better than the open-down-the-front skirt, and the embroidery was more dainty, more me. Reri still loved the other train embroidery, but this one was really nice. It started about 3/4 down the back of the train, so an underbustle didn't lose any of the embroidery. The cap sleeves, again removable, are very beaded, almost too much so. This one was 2 sizes smaller than the previous dress, so she laced up the corset back nice and tight, and I felt surprisingly comfortable in it! If I were to buy my dress today and be this size for the wedding, I'd buy the size in-between. However, I'm planning to lose some weight so I'll probably buy this size dress.

I tried on another v-neck, a halter, and an off-the shoulder. They were all too small, and they just weren't right.

So after my first day of dress shopping, here's a few things I learned:
1. I need to buy my own strapless bra. 'nuff said.
2. I can definitely do a strapless dress without fear of falling down (or falling out!).
3. Halter tops make me look even more broad-shouldered than I already am.
4. Cap sleeves can be nice for the ceremony if I need them for the church (not sure on that one), but I'll be more comfortable dancing without them.
5. Off-white is called Diamond White, which is more white than Ivory. I like both Diamond White and Ivory for my skin tone.
6. Corset backs won't need any tailoring after they arrive, because they can be laced to exactly the right size. I can lace it up nice and tight for the ceremony, and then let it out a little so I can eat and dance at the reception.
7. It costs an extra $100 to get a shorter dress when it's ordered. Huh. I pay more for less material! But I guess it's cheaper than getting it fixed afterwards by a seamstress.
8. I know myself pretty well. The 2 dresses I thought I'd like were the only ones I really did like.
9. I might look better when trying on dresses with more makeup on, so I get a better idea of how the whole look goes together.

I know some of you know this story, but many don't, and it's a sweet story, so when I don't have other things to blog about I'll tell the tale.

In September 2002, I had finally ended a too-long relationship, and to clear my head, spent a week driving cross-country with Suzi from Spokane to the East Coast to help move her to Philly for grad school. When I got back to town, I signed up with Match.com to see who was out there.

It made sense to me, since I live in a very populated area, that my chances of meeting Mr. Right were pretty slim at the grocery store or bookstore, I didn't want to do the bar scene, and this way I'd know something about the person beforehand.

I signed up for a free account on Friday evening as "CurlyGal", which let me put up a profile and photo, and respond to any emails I received, but I couldn't initiate conversation. That was just fine with me. The picture I posted wasn't all that great since I took it myself, but it was good enough. I wasn't looking to meet someone who was only interested in my looks.

I got some pretty strange emails, but some nice ones, too, including one in my inbox that Monday morning. I looked up his profile and my first thought was, what a cute guy with a great smile! His handle was "NdAHikingPartner". We emailed back and forth for most of the day, then logged onto instant messenger and continued to chat thru Tuesday.

We ended up talking about the movie Signs, which had just come out. It seemed everyone but me had seen it, so Tom suggested we go see it. "Today, tomorrow, next week, next month..." "Well, how about tomorrow? It's the first anniversary of September 11, and I really don't want to be home getting depressed in front of the news..."

So our first date was on September 11, 2002. A friend commented that it would sure make a strange anniversary. But how likely was that?

We met at Pedro's, a Mexican place halfway between our 2 offices. I was surprised how tall he was, 6ft, and as cute in person as in his photo. (He thinks I look better than my photo! Whattaguy!) He gave me a big hug when I came in the restaurant, which I would generally not be so enthusiastic about, but for some reason it just seemed to fit since we'd been talking so much already. We had a very nice friendly dinner, with lots of laughter and easy conversation.

We then went to see Signs at the nearby movie theater. Smart guy - it's a scary jumpy movie and I'm a jumpy kind of person, so I almost ended up in his lap a couple times. We were just about the only people in the theater, so we could talk and have fun and not annoy anyone.

After the movie, we went for coffee at the Starbucks next door. What I didn't know at the time is that this was Tom's first week back at work after an emergency appendectomy, and he was exhausted - but something told him to invite me for coffee after, even though it was at least 10pm and he had to be at work at 7.

All in all, it was a lovely first date, and definitely different from any of the other dates I'd go on in the next few weeks on through Match.com, which were mostly lunch or coffee dates. This was a full-on dinner-movie date, and something just clicked.

Reri and I are hitting the dress shops starting this Friday, by going to a Maggie Sottero trunk show after work. Her designs suit my style, especially this one, called Rebecca. My plan is to try a few on in the coming weeks so I know what works for me.

Colors available: White, White/Silver, Ivory, Ivory/Silver, Light Gold/Champagne & Pewter.

If only I were that skinny!!! I'm thinking ivory or champagne instead of white though. NOT Pewter. bleh.

Then, on President's weekend, the women invade our apartment! Mom and Yuan are flying in, Reri will meet up with us, and Danna (Tom's mom) and Liz (Tom's sis) will join us for part of the time, and we will be on the dress hunt, for me, for the 'maids, and for the moms, too. Much fun will be had by all, except maybe poor Tom who has to put up with all of us...

Meet our attendants!

Maid of Honor: Yuan Li
Yuan is Amy's best friend from college. They were roommates Sophomore year, and dormmates every year but Senior Year, when they were each RAs. Yuan lives in the LA area.

Matron of Honor: Reri Fujimura
Reri is Amy's best friend from high school. She moved to New York for college and met her husband Cendru there. They moved to the Bay Area a couple years ago, got married, and now live in Fremont.

Best Man: Alex Mack
Tom and Alex have been best friends since they were 7 and 8. They grew up playing football in the Sunset District of San Francisco and went to Sacred Heart High School together. Alex married Sandra a couple years ago and have an adorable son Dillon. They live in Redwood City.

Bridesmaids: Carrie and Suzi McMullen
Of course, these are Amy's sisters. Carrie lives in Juneau, AK and works for the State in the Drinking Water Program, making sure everyone has fresh water to drink. She is almost done building a house with her fiance, John. They got engaged on Christmas Day and are getting married in Spring 07.

Suzi lives in Philadelphia, PA where she is in her 3rd 4th year of her 6-year graduate program, getting a joint PsyD in Psychology and JD (law degree) at Widener University. Her boyfriend Jeff is also in the law program.

Groomsmen: Jason Dunham, Allen Brown, and James Deignan
Jason, James, and Tom have all been roomates with each other over the years out of college. Jason and Tom worked at Safeway together, then moved in with James in Daly City until James married Jennifer and kicked them out (they now live in Fremont). Jason married Catherine last year and they now live in Hayward. They all play fantasy football in a few leagues together.

Allen and Tom have been friends since they met in Mrs. Wagner's Biology class Sophomore year at Sacred Heart. They were roommates in Redwood City, and Allen now lives in San Jose. He is an amazing guitarist and composer.

Hi everyone! This is the place to get the latest scoop on Tom and Amy's wedding! This first post is just to get the blog started. I'll be posting in the next few days with ideas and plans, so check back here often for the latest news and information.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this lovely photo, courtesy of the Sears Photo Studio.