Bio

I hope this bio is helpful and as much fun for you to read as it has been for me to organize and design! Please feel free to use any/all images for inspiration - however, when you take them, PLEASE right-click on the photo to save it to your computer, then re-upload it to your own photo hosting account. If your bio links directly to my images, it will be consuming my bandwidth (meaning that my quota will be rapidly used up and we will both end up with bios full of red Xs instead of photos!) Thanks! If just 1 of my anal-retentive finds is able to help another Bride shorten her endless search for the perfect "something" than this bio will have served its purpose!

Click on the icons for information on each detail!

:: Hello! :: Engagement Story :: Rings :: Bridal Party :: Design Ideas :: Engagement Party :: E-pics ::

:: The Venue :: Reception Menu :: My Dress :: Bridesmaids :: Tuxes :: Bridal Party Gifts :: STD's ::

:: Hair :: Veil Options :: Make-up :: Shoes & Accessories :: Day of Extras :: DOC :: Flowers & Décor ::

:: Invitations :: Videographer :: Photographer :: Wedding Cake :: Music :: Details :: Transportation ::

:: Favors :: Bridal Showers :: Bachelorette :: Rehearsal Dinner :: OOT Bags :: Honeymoon :: Knottie Love::

Hi ladies! We're having a June 7, 2008 wedding and originally began our search by looking at venues back around my home in Eastern PA. - however, FI and I are NYCers (have been for 4 years now) and quickly realized that this was not in our best interest - being so far away from our venue while planning - and have officially put our deposit down on a place here in NYC!! We are SO EXCITED to be getting married New York City!

A 4-month marker-card from FI - February 7, 2008 - I got to work, opened my laptop and there it was.

I'd like to introduce you all to the 2 men in my life:

My FI and our "son" Charles.

My philosophy
(a card I received in the mail from Knottie MrsSwirving!)

August 4, 2006

FI had been looking at engagement rings for some time and was having the toughest time finding what he was looking for. While I was on vacation Italy, FI had been planning to go home to visit his family out in Western PA. He decided to call ahead to a jeweler in the area to see if maybe he could get an idea of what was available back home. He placed his first call and described to the jeweler what he was looking for. In return, he received a plethora of choices via email. After a lengthy search, he found a setting that he was definitely interested in via e-mail but was wary of choosing simply by a photograph. So with customer service not yet dead in Western PA, the e-mailing jeweler snail-mailed the ring to a friend in NYC who met him on a lunch break in the city to appraise. He had the young lady put the ring on and as soon as she did, he called the jeweler to place the order. When he went home, he had the ring set.

FI and I had recently been talking about getting married, having been together 3.5 years as of June of 2006, so I did not find it out of the ordinary for him to ask me, while casually hanging out one evening in our apartment, “Will you marry me?”. Thinking nothing of it, I replied, “Of course I’m going to marry you – we talk about it all the time.” Not getting the message across, he repeated my response, “You will? You’ll marry me?” to which I stared blankly and reiterated, “Yes of course,” still not realizing the proposal. Sneaking a box out of his pocket, FI then followed up with, “Well then I have something for you...”

I caught on then.

I am the hardest person to surprise so FI had to really catch me off-guard, which he did! While it may not sound as romantic as most proposals, it meant a lot to be proposed to in our 1st little apartment together, just us, hanging out... did I mention I had just gotten out the shower and was in a towel? Hahahahaha...

OUR ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENT!
(it's the same picture and info in both the ones submitted in his hometown as well as mine)

Charles appraising the ring.

Here are the rings!

The 1st is my e-ring. The diamond in my setting is from my Grandmother's engagement ring which makes it all the more special. It's also a suspended/tension setting that is gorgeous from the side-view (which I cannot photograph clearly to save my life!). I. LOVE. IT.

The 2nd is my wedding band. Vintage 18kt white gold w/27 fine, full cut round diamonds - the diamonds are set pave-style along the edges of the ring and in the center. Originally I had gone w/a channel-set band but when I saw this, it was just so much more "me"... so we sold the channel-set ring and put the money toward this one! Since the band on my engagement ring is so thick, when I get married I'm going to wear my engagement ring on my right ring finger and my wedding band on my left because the wedding band is pretty thick as well.

FI's ring is the 3rd ring pictured - Men's Satin Finish Wedding Band in 14K White Gold with Polished Edge

Here's a fun collage of our bridal party - we're having 7 attendants each - FI chose to have a groomswoman in his party as well! She will wear a black dress to blend in with the tuxes.

Here's an inspiration board I made that reflects the direction we're going in for the wedding

I made the above color palette on DeGraeve.com where you can UL an image you like (or an inspiration board!) and the site extracts the colors from the image so you know what will be in your palette! For mine, I used a swatch of my BMs dresses. I'm not a terribly "matchy" Bride but the above color-matches will probably somehow be incorporated into overall décor.

I LOVE this picture! I found it on the internet in one of my many googling-escapades so unfortunately, I do not know if this Bride was a Knottie nor how to find/credit her - BUT I LOVE HER BP!! I love the hair, the jewelry, the dresses, the colors... all of it. Gorgeous.

For flowers, I am going w/more neutral tones - white/ivory/blush w/a lot of greens. Click here for examples.

June 9, 2007

We had a small Engagement/Wedding Planning Party at my parents home in Bucks County, PA. This party was my first "taste" of planning and coordinating. I have a thing for pink & green together and since FI was against pink as a wedding color, I went WILD at the Engagement Party!

This was the bar-area where I had the custom napkins I designed at ForYourParty.com. I ordered 50 luncheon size, key lime w/fuschia foil and 50 cocktail size, fuschia w/key lime foil for $50 plus shipping!

My plates were from PlumParty.com. I ordered both dinner and dessert plates, 3 sets of 8 - square white plates w/fuschia and key lime grosgrain ribbon boarder - all totaling $30 plus shipping. And the basket there held my favors, Lilly Pulitzer key fobs, made by moparlvr, a great eBay seller! They were SO well-made and went just perfectly w/the decor.

The girls planning away!

The boys... being boys!
That's my little brother in the yellow shirt!!

My Grandmother - you can see where I get my coordinating-gene from...

My Dad surprised everyone w/fireworks.

The boys have a "night cap".
L-R: Our BM (FI's best friend since Kindergarten), my brother (GM), my Dad, FI (lookin rough!), my youngest brother (GM) and GM, another childhood friend of FI.

October 8, 2007

We had them done at Gantry Plaza in Long Island City (Queens) and then out front of P.S. 1 at 5 Pointz which is this HUGE graffiti wall. Definitely not your average e-pics! Here are a select few for your viewing pleasure!

To see a slideshow of our all of our e-pics, click here!
(... mind the ones toward the end w/my leg up on a pole... we were being "artistic"... lol...)

The Metropolitan Building in Long Island City is an AMAZING raw, creative space w/great nighttime views of Queensboro Bridge and the Manhattan Skyline lit up at night! We are having both the ceremony and the reception here. There are 2 floors used for event space so we may do the cocktail hour in the 2nd floor space to reset the 4th floor space (which is what is pictured) for dinner. Since the above pictures are pretty RAW, here's an example of the same space decorated for a wedding:

It's sick. I'm so excited.

To read a great article on the building and its owner, Eleanor Ambos, click here.

Sealing the deal w/Eleanor in her office (pointing to my date!).

Passed Hors d’oeuvres
Artichoke and Gruyere Tartlets
Beef Tornado with Cognac Mayo
Cilantro Grilled Shrimp with Mojo
Lamb Keftas with Minty Yogurt
Mini Cubanos
Seared Tuna with Tomatoes and Olive Tapenade

Stationary Edibles
Assorted Cheese with Fresh Fruit and Baguettes
Mediterranean Dips with Stuffed Grape Leaves and Grilled Pita

First Course
Mixed Greens with Shaved Pecorino and Tomatoes with Champagne Vinaigrette

Main Course
Seared Salmon with Fresh Chive Puree
Herb Roasted Chicken with Shallots and White Wine Reduction
Roast New Potatoes with Garlic and Thyme
Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette
Pasta with Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes in a Creamy Ricotta Sauce
Dinner Rolls with Butter

Dessert
Wedding Cake
Petite Cookies
Coffee
Tea

These are my awesome table number/menu/donation cards that I am having screened by our stationer, Heather, and then will fashion together like this:

The cards will be screened on ivory and then mounted on white w/a sheer ribbon in-between. Then, I'll tie the ribbon into a bow:

Genuis.
(all Heather's idea)

Heather's printing in detail - she hand-painted the numbers in the font Mutlu Ornamental instead of creating a screen for each to save me money! What a doll...

August 4, 2007
1 year engagement anniversary!

Seems only fitting that...

...I bought my dress!

I can't even believe it - the above pictures are close to my dress, I can't find a picture of my ACTUAL dress. The designers of the above pics are Watters & Watters style #7086B on the left and Alfred Angelo style #1640 on the right... mine is Barbara Allin style # TBA... I don't have it on me right now. It look CRAZY-curvy in it - SO EXCITING! I never thought I would get something like this. Thanks to Adrienne's on the LES in Manhattan!! Really cute boutique: AdriennesNY.com

March 22, 2008
My 1st fitting!

The dress was too big (hence the clamps) so it's not yet "form fitting"... additionally this is NOT my veil (more on THAT topic below under "Bridal Hair") - I did surprisingly like it on though... much more impressive in person than in the above pictures. I also think I am going to alter the neckline into a very structured sweetheart like the pic below, left:

vs.

My face is hilarious in these shots man.

May 10, 2008
My 3rd fitting!

My friend Lola came w/me to learn how to tie my bustle and took some AMAZING pictures of my fitting and of the boutique! Isn't it so cute there?

My bustle!

Long ivory, silk chiffon dresses w/a floral pattern in blues and greys from BCBG Max Azria. I always knew I wanted to do patterned dresses for my Bridesmaids and this is IT! You can also click on the above dress to see it larger and in more detail.

... I couldn't help myself... I love it. J

I didn't require my girls to all have matching shoes but I would LOVE if they all had Luichiny-hearts on their soles!! We'll see what happens...

FI has chosen a Ralph Lauren Three-Button Super 100's Notch Lapel from Men's Wearhouse for the boys while his Groomswoman will be wearing Jim Hjelm Style #JH5521 in black - a dress she wore previously for a friend's wedding! You heard it here 1st folks - a Bridesmaid's dress that is ACTUALLY being WORN AGAIN!!

Geometric Two-Tone Tuxedo Vest Set - Ivory for FI, Champagne for the GM and Black for Dads.

For a step-by-step guide to folding pocket squares click here.

Um, heck YEA they come in black!!

Gift-bags for my girls! The Marc Jacobs tote bags, lipstick pens and compacts were brought to my attention by Knottie springchic and they will be perfect. In the totes will be these smoke-blue pashminas that they can wear w/their dresses, if needed, and the Tahitian black pearl jewelry I picked out to go w/their dresses.

I love my etsy.com! I found these paper-notes on there. The seller of the card made a set of 7 of them for me to write my personal thank-yous to each of my girls.

Gifts for the guys! FI, being the sneaker-head that he is, always knew that he would customize Nikes for his Groomsmen to wear at the Reception... and so that's what we're doing! That's them above - cream/grey/burgundy w/a maroon swoosh - I put a swatch from the BM dresses there next to them so you can see how they coordinate (click on the swatch to see the BM fabric up close). We're also going to have the I Y NY icon embroidered on tags that we'll have sewn onto the tongue. The name of the Groomsman will be sewn into the back so when the tags are folded over and stitched on, the names will be inside and right-side up. The record-cards were made by our stationer, Heather Jean Toupin, who is also designing our invitations! They're perfect for FI since he's a DJ and works for an indie hip hop label - he's so excited!

The shoes are done! They look AWESOME!! Custom tongue tags made by Shelli Moon of TheGarterMaker.net. FI can't stop taking his out of the box and looking at them... those are his above w/the nickname "Boss" inside the tongue.

I am so excited to give FI these locket cufflinks to wear on our wedding day. They are from Limogés Jewelry and will have pictures of his Grandparents inside. So far I have been able to scale down one of their actual wedding pictures (shown in the cuff above). I know he will love them.

I love this card I found in my online-travels by Kit Allen - it's SO PERFECT for FI. I emailed Kit and he sent the "zoned" card (shown above) in 1 week's time - and signed the back too! It's the perfect card to give to FI on our wedding day.

We're going to kill two birds w/one stone and double-up our STD's as our Holiday Cards! The shoe-shot is from our e-pic session (it's perfect considering the huge "shoe-people" that we are... it's hard to see here but on the cards you can see my red-soles!... and by now I'm sure you have picked-up my affinity for colored/decorated shoe-soles... hahaha) for the front of the 4x8 photocard. The back side is the 2nd section below w/our date-icon and wedding website address.

Cards made on VistaPrint.com

I am one of those people who believes that the stamp is equally as important as what's inside the envelope (I'm a Virgo... it's always the "little things" that matter to me!) so I stocked up on a bunch of the above Greta Garbo stamps on eBay.com. I also used eBay.com to purchase red envelopes to mail our STD's off in and will seal them w/e-pic envelope seals I made on Zazzle.com! Below is what they looked like completed and mailed - since I'm a Personal Assistant, I work out of my boss' home so I was so excited to see it come through the mail here I just had to scan it! What a dork...

I've also seen a lot of posts/questions about personal wedding websites. We chose to make one in lieu of having a gazillion invitation-inserts and used ewedding.com as our host. We are featuring the web-address on our STD's so guests can get a jump start on planning for the wedding weekend (travel recommendations, hotel information, etc.). Below are some screencaps of our site - click on them to view larger. I highly recommend ewedding.com - they have so many different layouts to choose from and are extremely user-friendly.

As of right now, the plan is to track down/stalk Katharine McPhee, shave her head and fashion the world's most perfect wig.

I had my 1st trial w/Stacy Pitt of Styles on B on February 11... she is a NYC freelance hairstylist who will be coming to us the day-of for all our up-do/down-do needs! Here are some pics she took of my "Kat-hair":

OMG I LOOK JUST LIKE HER!!!... lol... I will have extensions that will go about to chest/bra-strap length - much like Kat's pics above - that will also make the curls less "springy"/weigh them down a bit more... I'm also going to do a glaze about 1 week before the wedding just to bring out the deeper reds in my hair... I can't wait to see the final result on the day-of!

So I'm not really veil-person but lately I've been entertaining the idea of a birdcage-veil - very vintage, which I love - but I can't decide if I would wear my hair up or down w/it...? And then, of course, there is the drop-veil-option which was inspired by the above picture courtesy of Knottie srpro. I've never seen a veil look so elegant - almost ethereal... WHAT TO DO?!

Here's an example of what I'd do for an "up do", again similar to what Kat did above... swept-up w/a trigger pin so then after the ceremony, I'd remove the pin and then my hair would be down for the rest of the evening.

Now here's the kicker - FI wants my hair DOWN W/O A VEIL. I can't decide... if I went w/a birdcage veil, if it would still look good down or if it would be better up? I think if I went w/the drop-veil, it could go either way...

Please vote by clicking on the veil of your choice for me below... I need your help!!

What kind of veil should I go with?
Drop-veil --->
Birdcage --->
No Veil --->

Adriana Lomysh is my gorgeous and talented makeup artist for the day of my wedding. Our trial will not be until May but let's face it, she does fabulous work and has some of the most beautiful skin on a human being that I have ever seen. Case closed.

Make up trial May 3... I don't tend to wear much make up on a daily basis so I will certainly have to get used to it! Below are some pictures taken after I got home:

Make up trial June 2... MUCH more natural - LOVE IT:

Hello, my name is Laura Jean and I am addicted to shoes... ::Hiiii LJ!!::... I was originally determined to find the now-discontinued Nina Ettora and had even enlisted some of my fellow June Knotties to do some serious shoe-reconnaissance. While we did end up empty-handed, Knottie sigepndgwaytobe discovered that Dyeables made the EXACT SAME STYLE (saved!)... so then the plan was to dye them ivory and hand them over to my very resourceful and artsy cousin who was going to use her roommate's spray-paint-gun to make the soles blue (for my something blue!)...

My gorgeous earrings & bracelet from Etsy seller Nanda who is such a doll to work with. Fresh water pearl, Swarovski crystal and moonstone - there is not a picture I can take that shows how beautiful they truly are - so unique - a great find. Nanda also made the flower-clip on the far right for me, just for fun!

It has long been a tradition for a bride to carry a pretty handkerchief on her wedding day... and this is mine! A stunning vintage ladies wedding handkerchief I found on Nanalulu's Linen Closet has extra wide four inch deep lace trim surrounding a pale ivory center. The center is pure linen and measures about 6.75" square. This lovely vintage find still has its original label! The perfect "something old" and will truly be a beautiful piece to hand down.

My little day-of bag to keep at our sweetheart table to hold lipstick, tissues, etc. I found the wallet-part at a second hand store and just attached it to a white-beaded stretch bracelet. The buttons were a surprise wedding gift from Etsy seller Button Empire who I have purchased a few things from in this planning process - Boss & Feff are our nicknames from college.

My day-of hoodie w/the cutest kitchy-patch-find EVER from etsy seller chakrapennywhistle! Her patches are made from vintage tea-towels. I sewed it right onto the front overlapping one of the hearts... it came out PERFECT!!

Made all of the above on CustomGlamGirl.com. I'm thinking we'll wear them after the wedding, back at the hotel, and then on our HM flight the next day (considering our flight is at 6AM the following morning, I do not foresee us sleeping much!)... FI will love the I Y MY WIFE tee!

RE: the boyshorts, "maticulous" is FI's DJ name

My day-of ivory MJ tote to use while getting ready.

Christine Viola of Exquisite Affairs is AWESOME! She has received rave reviews all over TheKnot.com and NYCityWeddings.com - I have booked her for the wedding and she has already exceeded her asking-price in all of her help in researching and booking vendors and Rehearsal Dinner details... I can't say enough about her!

I "puffy-heart" her! (that's a Christine-ism!)

Christine is on the far left!

Jim Dimarino of Eventgarde Presents will be manning my floral design and décor. I love him because he IMs me to talk about planning during work and I love it. I mean, who's florist IMs them to gush?

Here are a few pics that emulate the kind of décor-look I'm going for - just very fresh, classic/contemporary and clean.

A cute little Pug pin for my bouquet!
(since Charles won't be there)

We used the INCREDIBLE Heather Jean Toupin for our wedding invitations. She and I connected on etsy.com (where else?) where she sells her custom screen printed stationary. To check out examples of her work, click here.

Here's the final product! She designed the invite and I did the RSVP card using the top right-hand flourish on the invite. Everything will be printed on ivory cardstock. The website cards (shown front and back) were ordered from VistaPrint.com w/free coupon...

Found the above ribbon on eBay.com to wrap around my invites & response cards/envelopes... thanks to Knottie MrsSwirving for the idea!!

Again, all stamps were collected over time from eBay.com and I think they really make the overall look.

My invite envelopes (on the left) were addressed by Michele Clark, wedding calligrapher extraordinaire! (thanks to a rec from Knottie Me And My Luv). Those are my completed envelopes above! They are ADORABLE!!! HJ then took an address sample from Michele for our RSVP and screened it onto the RSVP envelopes (on the right) - PERFECT!!

Michele's work up-close.

The finished product!!

I am SO thrilled that Ray of Timeless Treasures Films will be our wedding videographer. Make sure to visit his site to see amazing example-videos - I can't wait to see mine already!!

Angelica Glass! Angelica Glass! We're using Angelica Glass!!
Click the above link to check out her AMAZING work or you can click here to see Angelica's shots from Celebrity Wedding: Ana Ortiz & Noah Lebenzon in InStyle Weddings!

... OR revisit our engagement pics!

My grandparents on their wedding day!

BEHOLD!! My cousin, who is a chef, has a baker-friend who will be making our wedding cake so he and his wife brought a mock-up of 1-tier to Thanksgiving dinner! All white, simple (in an adorable criss-cross netting design that I LOVE!) w/a ridiculous layer combination of chocolate cake, chocolate mouse and creamy cheesecake. Seriously? Yes.

A cake platter and server that I have been obsessed w/for 3 years by Mariposa.com. I originally saw the set in a friend's wedding magazine (that's the ad above!) and immediately tore out the picture and have kept it all this time because it was definitely love at first site! I found a current website that carries them both and has an online registry option so I hope someone chooses to gift them as I LOVE THEM!

Our cute cake topper! Vintage Barbie & Ken!

FI on the 1-&-2's!!

Here are some of our music choices for our Ceremony & Reception:
:: Click on the track you want to hear! ::

Processional for family/BM's
"You & I" - Stevie Wonder

My Processional
"Sparks" - Coldplay

Recessional
"Sunshine of my Life" - Stevie Wonder

Bridal Party Introduction
"Billie Jean" & "The Way You Make Me Feel" - Michael Jackson
(we will loop the instrumental of "Billie Jean" and go into "The Way You Make Me Feel")

1st Dance
"House is Not a Home" - Luther Vandross

As we decide on more I will add them on!

Our awesome ceremony programs (screened above) designed by me, screened by (who else?) Heather Jean Toupin, etsy artist extraordinare!.. last names of the bridal party were omitted from the pictures for privacy but I assure you, they're on there.

I just love my cardbox - it was such a perfect find! Made by Wilton - even comes w/a little heart-shaped lock and key!

This is our guestbook of epics I made on Kodakgallery.com. I made sure to leave plenty of white-space throughout for signatures. It came out really vibrant and professional, I love it!

Our gorgeous memory candle from eBay seller grouppdsinc. The pictures don't even do it justice. I am so thrilled w/this seller and purchase - HIGHLY recommended!

Our Grandparents' wedding pics!! I've been collecting them for a while now - I have a couple of each! My Mom-mom & Pop-pop on the left will be in the ceremony along with my Mom-mom on the far right... my Pop-pop on far right and FI's Grandparents, in the middle, will be remembered in the ceremony as well. And below are pics of our Parents exchanging rings! My Mom & Dad on the left, FI's Mom & Stepfather on the right. All of these will be framed and placed on the same table as the guestbook and memory candle for the cocktail hour.

FYI: That's FI serving the wedding mass in the pic on the right! Note the early 90's "bowl-cut"... Aww...

MY ORB!!... to be used in lieu of a ring pillow. The inside reads "to have to hold".All credit goes to Knottie redshoegirl who featured the copper orb w/blue interior in her bio (as well as credit due to FI for FINDING the orb! AND HE WON'T TELL ME WHERE OR HOW!!). Ours is a blue orb w/lavender interior.

Where there's a camera, there's a Charles.

HOW HOT IS OUR 22 PASSENGER SHUTTLE BUS!! ::raising the roof!:: Hahaha...
We will have the shuttle for our guests to get them to and from the hotel and back. Our hotel and venue are w/in walking distance but since everything is up in Queens, and a lot of our guests are OOT, we wanted them to feel comfortable. Shuttle provided by US Coachways.

Animal Haven's Mission:
To carefully place cats and dogs in loving homes, as well as give lifetime care for those who cannot be placed.

Animal Haven fulfills their no-kill mission through adoption programs at their shelter in Queens, their Mobile Adoption Program, and their upcoming Adoption Center and Boutique in SoHo. And Animal Haven Acres Sanctuary and Rehabilitation Center, located in Delaware County, NY is where hard to place dogs and cats can live out their lives in a homelike setting.

FI and I both do a lot of charity work w/Animal Haven in SoHo - namely Lenny the Pug's Annual Birthday Benefit for Animal Haven. So we're going to make a monetary donation to Animal Haven on behalf of our guests.

Hiiiiii Charles.
(my Dad's feet, rockin' the sock-tan)

April 13, 2008
The Little Brown Jug
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Our 1st Shower in the city of STEEL!!

Gift baskets were given as prizes for our guests (the 2 shown here are "Italia" on the left and a Steelers gift basket on the right) who got the highest scores on our quiz "How Well do you know your Bride & Groom"? In the center, a table set up w/information on our favorite charity, Animal Haven - our hostesses decided to do a donation to the shelter in lieu of favors for the shower - and they didn't even know we were planning on doing the same thing for the wedding!! So thoughtful

April 19, 2008
Alba Vineyard
Milford, New Jersey

Our 2nd Shower at Alba Vineyard!

The above 3 pictures show the trivia game I had to play - after opening each gift, the gift giver had to ask me a trivia question about Matt (that he had already answered previously) and if I got it wrong, I had to chew gum. Like "Bubble Tape" gum. It was NOT sugarless. And I was pretty much 50/50 on the Q&A because they were HARD QUESTIONS!

Good cake-cutting practice!

Our shower favors were "LOVE" wine-markers w/a card reading "Cheers to Laura & Matt!"

April 19, 2008
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Hilarious mix CD made for me by 2 of my Bridesmaids reflecting on our HS days... the tracklisting is the best part - we were theater kids in HS as well as self-proclaimed bad-asses - so it's all gangsta rap and then, all of the sudden, "Les Mis" pops up followed by "The Rose" and "Guys and Dolls" (LOL!)... hilarious. My BM Sarah designed the cover/insert and the writing in the background was taken from my entry in her yearbook senior year! A treasured favorite.

Not to be outdone, my MOH was kind enough to go through old photos to find THIS jem for a bachelorette soundtrack... especially funny since I'm a NON-SMOKER... awesome soundtrack too - notice all the duplicate tracks between the 2 CDs? LOL.

June 6, 2008

"Jackson Avenue Steakhouse, where nostalgic lodgey bric-a-brac adorns the livelier front dining room and bar, while the dim, non-smoking back room is decorated with stained glass and modern, Mission-style chairs. Service is almost overwhelmingly attentive." [Excerpt from NYCitySearch.com]

Designed and ordered my invites from VistaPrint.com for free! Love those coupons! The back reads:

"When you realize you want to spend
the rest of your life with somebody,
you want the rest of your life
to start as soon as possible."

- When Harry Met Sally

My white lace dress for the evening by Tracy Reese & mint green heels by Irregular Choice, my favorite shoe brand!
(I'm an outfit-in-advance planner... I can't help it!)

Cute little Bride & Groom pins for my bag from my Etsy-girl Button Empire.

For our OOT Hotel Gift Bags we chose canvas tote bags, purchased wholesale from InGreetings.com, rather than paper so that they could be reused. The NY Skyline tags, from etsy.com, will be attached to the outside of the bags w/a little personal welcome-note on the other side. The red folders, bought in bulk from eBay.com, will have the I NY sticker on the outside w/all pertinent information regarding hotel-shuttle-times, ceremony/reception information as well as NYC maps inside for our guests. I made the I NY stickers on iPrint.com - FYI: if you sign up for their newsletter you'll get frequent discount codes for their products!

We also plan on including 2 small water bottles, snack sized pretzel bags and some sort of sweet-treat. Oh and these ADORABLE travel sewing kits from NuptialKnickKnacks.com!

Here are our folder-inserts I made on Word using free internet clip art and fonts from dafont.com. I cut them in 3 different heights so the titles would pop out one over the other in the folders.

And here's the final product!

June 8 - June 15, 2008

Bávaro Princess All Suites Resort & Spa in Punta Cana! Massage-table here I come!!

Honeymoon Suite Package: King bed with living area, jacuzzi & step up bedroom. Private check in/out, fruit basket, bottle of Rum & flowers upon arrival. 24 hr room service, 20 minute massage, 1 gourmet dinner at Licey, 1 Breakfast in bed and 1 dinner on the beach... don't mind if I do!

This is my thank you" section if you will (and I will...) to fellow Knotties who have inspired me and enriched my Knotting-experience by their creativity and often astounding graphic presentation and organization. Please click on each to experience the loveliness that so moved me to add this section to my bio.

Also, a big SHOUT OUT to my June 2008 Knotties - the BEST BOARD EVER!!... and a special thank you to Knottie Kim&Dan for organizing both a Secret Santa Gift Exchange as well as an online Bridal Shower for our board via Elfster.com - check out my great gifts!

SECRET SANTA EXCHANGE, CHRISTMAS 2007
Secret Santa: Knottie Mareski:

Lolita Love My Wine Glass in "Princess" and a plethora of dark chocolate!!... awesome!

ONLINE BRIDAL SHOWER, SPRING 2008
Knottie Leah88:

My 1st Shower Gift! My gorgeous Savina Serving Bowl from Crate & Barrel!!

A surprise Valentine's Day t-shirt from Knottie KarenC17PSU just because she loves me. And my Pug.The bottom of the t-shirt says "Pugs & Kisses"!
(FYI: I don't wear make up OR do my hair for work - ah yes, the life of a Personal Assistant!)

A shout-out to my favorite bridal blog "Classic Bride" where Sarah, the site's author, shares the daily details her journey through wedding-planning! She and I connected on a mutual obsession w/vintage stamps and she ended up interviewing me for her readers! Click here to read all about it.

More to come! Stay tuned!!

ljkconnell@gmail.com