Real Wedding- Brian and Jackie

A few weeks ago Michale and I were honored to attend the wedding of his old friend Brian to his lovely fiance Jackie.

All dolled up

Having previously been married in Texas, they were able to provide us a short but meanngful ceremony, then open up the night for lots of Jersey-style celebrating and fun!

Brian and his brother Jon, along with thier friends Dennis and Ryan, have been friends with Michael and each other since high school. They clearly enjoyed spending time together- and at the bar.

I LOVED that Jackie went with a short, adorable reception dress for her spring wedding. I snuck a shot in while she was busy chatting up her guests:

She looked gorgeous!

The reception was held at Jacques Recpetion Center in Middletown. The toasts were especially poignant and everyone had a great time. We can't wait to see so many of them again soon- first at Jon's destination wedding in Florida in November, and then at our wedding next June!

Congrats again Brian and Jackie!

Bridesmaid’s Luncheon- Girls Gone WINDY in Asbury Park

A Bridesmaid’s Luncheon is, in fact, a real thing. Originally, the bridesmaid’s luncheon was a tea that all the bridesmaids and often the women in the family attended, sort of a proper version of a bachelorette party. Now, I’m not proper, and I do intend to have a real bachelorette party. But part of me longed for a nice tea. I recently inherited some of my mother’s lovely heirloom china and imagined a genteel luncheon with wine and cucumber sandwiches, and perhaps a crafting party afterwards. It's kind of weird, how wedding planning makes me crave things I never thought I'd be interested in.

Alas, as I’ve mentioned, my bridesmaids are scattered across the U.S. and my proper tea wasn’t meant to be. But, I did finally get everyone together last month and what the hell, I’m going to call it a bridesmaid’s luncheon anyway!

The three of us met at McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park, which you may remember is one of the venues we’re considering. Michael spent the afternoon at his parents’ house but he offered to buy us a champagne toast in honor of the occasion. We were only too happy to accept.

My maid of honor (and sister) Stephanie gave a lovely, well-prepared toast. I don’t remember the exact wording but I think it went something along the lines of “Suzanne is wonderful and a great sister and will be The Best Bride Ever”. (Uh, whatever that even means.)

We picked the perfect day to go to the beach. We took a nice stroll in the drizzle and fought near-hurricane level winds to stop inside Convention Hall and then visit the Beach Bar. The Beach Bar is open air but the actual bar is indoors. We had an impromptu photo shoot amongst the storm scattered patio furniture and then decided to get a drink to weigh ourselves down. It was only prudent.

Not exaggerated!

(Psst- more on the Beach Bar to come… )

We swung by the Carousel House on our way out (more on THAT to come as well!) and saw a bride and groom pull up and hop out of a car for pictures!

We ended up staying out for several hours. So it wasn’t exactly high tea but it was a lovely day with drinks and friends and the beach!

Engagement Party

Mike’s mother and step-father offered to throw us an engagement party as soon as we got engaged. It was held last Saturday and we had a great time!


His parents chose Connolly Station in Belmar, NJ, where they had previously held an engagement party for one of Mike’s step-sisters and so already knew they would do a good job. His mother borrowed pretty lanterns from a generous friend who had them leftover from her daughter’s wedding; they looked lovely!

Our bridal party had already met one another at some point, but it was nice to have everyone in the same room for the first time!

The party gave us a taste of what the wedding would be like- specifically, trying to spend time with so many people in a short period. We tried! It’s hard when you genuinely want to spend time with so many people at one time!

I learned another lesson for the wedding- no stilettos! I bought a pair of shoes I loved and thought I’d try and be glamorous for one night in my little black cashmere Marc Jacobs dress (that I got for a song online, I can’t even front)- but they were 4 inch heels, and I never wear heels. I think I may have actually damaged my feet. I’m not kidding, they still hurt a little. My future step-sister-in-law (got that?) told me she brought slippers for herself and her bridesmaids to her wedding. So noted! Towards the end of the night I tried taking them off and was reprimanded by the bouncer. Oops.

{Did you know Connolly Station is a hot spot in NJ? After our party ended, a DJ moved in and so did a mob of people. AND it was featured on Jersey Shore- Sammy and Ronnie ate dinner there in Season 1! I'm happy to report there was no fist pumping.}

So here’s another piece of fashion that’s now been added to my wedding: flip flops. Maybe I’ll get pretty ones, or just use one of the 99 pairs of Old Navy flips that I rock daily May – October. (Like I said, I can’t front. $3 flip flops rule my world.)

Again, thank you to Mike’s parents for throwing this for us and thank you everyone who came out to celebrate with us! We really appreciate it and we had a great time!

siblings

cousins

cousins!

Pat, Mike and their dad- too tall for photos

Pat, Tim, Suzi, me and Mike

 

 

Jessie and Beef battle for the title of 'Best Pose/Expression'

Jonny wins!

Bridal Party Meeting and First Bridesmaid Dress Fitting (Sort of)

Michael and I first met because of our two mutual friends, bridal party members Jessica and Ryan. After the night we met, the four of us hung out together frequently. Over the last 3 ½ years, though, a lot has changed (Mike and I moved out of state, Jessica became a mom) and we don’t get together nearly as often as we’d like to. So on Saturday, we drove down to NJ for the express purpose of seeing our good friends, and having our first Bridal Party meeting!

Sure, it was only two members of our bridal party, but they are ‘special’ in that they introduced us. More on that in a minute- but first, Jessica and I met up for lunch and catching up, just the two of us. We had a casual lunch at which we talked more than ate. Then we hit up some of the President’s Day sales at the local Jersey outlet mall. I got some work-wardrobe staples at The Gap and J. Crew at 40% off- AND no sales in tax in NJ! Score!

The raspberry sangria she semi-accidentally made in 2008 changed my life. No joke.

 I had recently dipped my toe into the murky waters of choosing a bridesmaid dress. Yikes. Each of my bridesmaids has a very different shape and fashion sensibility than the next. Both style and fit were called into question, and I decided to put this task off until I was better emotionally prepared to deal with negotiations.

Although in the meantime, I did come to realize that one thing I would definitely need to consider is fit. The dresses I like best so far are only available online or in just a handful of salons across the country.(J. Crew’s Bridal Collection.) But Jessica and I realized as we walked past the J. Crew outlet that we could probably get a good idea of fit by trying on a similar dress from their ready to wear collection! Eureka!

Initially, I worried these dresses might not work. As I said, each of my girls is a different size and shape, Jessie’s best summed up as Va-Va-Voom. But she was game to hop right in, unprepared, and we experienced a Wedding Miracle- a similar dress to my current favorite not only fit- it fit her wonderfully TWO SIZES SMALLER than she had estimated! Hurray for Wedding Miracles! (Now if I magically fit into a dress two sizes smaller than anticipated when I go gown shopping, I might become religious.)

Here she is being all cute

And in model mode. I'm definitely going to work in the socks!

This is not the dress I had in mind, but it had a similar shape and cut, so I’m thrilled to know it’s an option, and that other dresses from the line could work as well.

Later that night she and I met up with Michael and Ryan at The Pour House, our old local dive-y hangout. (Best mozzarella sticks in the state, hands down. Must be enjoyed with ketchup, of course.) The plan was to start talking about the night we met, and how Jessica and Ryan might incorporate that story, as well as their unique vantage points of having been privy to details of our nascent relationship, into a special toast we’ve asked them to do. Unfortunately we were so busy catching up that we hardly touched the subject, but we’re looking forward to getting together again soon! Next time I’ve been instructed to put on my Bossy Bride hat and be sure to have a clear, typed agenda complete with action items and tasks to assign. Plus a gavel and laser pointer. You asked for it!