Bride's Wedding Ring: √ (check) !

My fiancé is wonderful (I knew that already). He surprised me yesterday with the wedding ring I've been eyeing for weeks now. I stopped into an Albany jewelry store (Roman Jewels) last month to ask about rhodium-plating my engagement ring. While I was there, I asked if they had any affordable (under $200), carved, white gold wedding bands. They showed me some rings they had in their 'estate jewelry' case in the back of the store. There was the perfect ring in our price range. It fit perfectly (size 6), and was in great condition. It is circa 1900, white gold, and hand-carved. Mike bought it for me and placed it on my ring-holder without me knowing. When I went to put on my engagement ring Friday morning, there it was sitting there. Surprise! I love it. Only 91 more days until I can wear it!

Rosettes - Taking the Plunge

Due to my recent love of 'anything containing rosettes', I've decided to try and make my own for my wedding shoes. You've probably seen some of my older blog posts with photos of shoes containing rosettes. However, I couldn't find any shoes containing rosettes in ivory, only white. In order to have the "perfect" pair of wedding shoes, I've decided to purchase a simple pair of shoes (probably fancy flip-flops, yet TBD) and add my own handmade satin/silk, ivory rosettes. I've ordered a used book from Amazon.com called "The Artful Ribbon: Beauties in Bloom" by Candace Kling. I'm hoping this book will provide inspiration and detailed instructions for making ribbon rosettes/flowers. I will let you know. If interested, check out Hometown Girl's blog post on homemade rosettes.

Invitation Preview

Envelopper Inc.

Match.com & Our First Date

Michael and I met through match.com. Michael's screen name was "Mike1807" and his 'dating headline' was "Why wonder when you can know for sure." My screen name was "camp_n_fun" and my 'dating headline' was "Adventurous gal seeks guy to challenge limits". He first e-mailed me in January 2007. I was able to read his e-mail, but couldn't respond since I wasn't a paying member at the time. A month later he tried again. I happily read his email and set it aside for when I would be able to respond. On Valentine's Day night, (after a few cocktails) I was finally convinced by my Aunt to suck-up the $25 and join so that I could respond to Michael's emails. I did and the rest is history. Mike and my first date was on March 6, 2007 at the Albany Pump Station. We first met at the bar for a drink (I guess just in case one of us wanted to bail out before any significant time commitment). Well, we both knew right away we would sit down for dinner. After dinner we lingered at our table while the waitstaff started cleaning up around us (they were closing). We knew we needed to go someplace else or the night would end. I suggested Mahar's (beer bar in Albany) and Mike agreed to follow in his truck. We stayed at Mahar's until they closed around 1 AM. It was an awesome first date. We fell in love shortly thereafter and now we're getting married. Yay!

Preview: Engagement Photos

Our talented Photographer, Keira Lemonis, posted these on her blog today. Check out her blog for more of us and Keira's other work.

All photos by Keira Lemonis

Engagement Photos

Yesterday Michael and I had our engagement photo session with our Wedding Photographer, Keira Lemonis. We chose Catskill Point Park as our location. She used the commerce building and beautiful waterfront as a backdrop for numerous pictures. In just a few weeks and the shots will be ready and we can chose one to send to the newspapers for our engagement announcement.
The wedding invitation paper arrived. It's really pretty.
I found a beautiful, antique wedding band at a jewelry store in Albany. It's within my price range (under $200) and quite lovely. It's 18 kt gold, hand engraved, and circa 1900. We'll see...

Invitation Paper

I finally "pulled the trigger" and ordered paper for the invitations. I purchased pre-cut cardstock/envelopes in varying sizes from Envelopper Inc. in the three colors: Stardream Flame, Stardream Gold, and Crest Solar White. The Stardream paper has a metallic shimmer. The website offers free shipping and no sales tax. Now all I have to do is figure out the wording, font, times, and meal selections. Ah!