2011/12 Blogging Brides

Hello! As I suspected, practically 100% of you said that you think Chris and I should sit together during the ceremony. Some also gave me some fantastic different ideas and options to consider trying out at our rehearsal. Thanks so much for giving me your thoughts and ideas!

Tomorrow I am having my second hair trial. As you may remember, I settled on a french twist style at my first hair and makeup trial back in November

However, I have some other ideas and styles I'd like to try out now that my hair is so much longer, and I just want peace of mind that it really is the style I want to go with.

Other than that, I have a laundry list of other errands and projects to work on this weekend...two more weekends before the big day!! Today I'm going to re-post my 2011/12 Blogging Brides Page. There has been a TON of new additions since I last posted this, and it was such a hit I made it a page at the top of the blog. Definitely check out some of the amazing bloggers listed here.

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2011

February
          2/19: Laura @ Wine and Cheese, Please

March
          3/5: City Girl Bride
          3/24: Heidi @ The Sweet Life

April
           4/10: First Comes Loves
           4/10: Victoria @ Little Miss Mac (to be)
           4/16:  Orange Juice in my Cheerios  
           4/17: Justine @ A Knot Editor Gets Married
           4/19: Two Hearts, One Beach Wedding          
           4/??:  Sara @ Butterfly Cottage
           4/23: Kayleigh @ The Knottie Bride
           4/23: The Future Mrs
           4/30: Nicole-Lynn @ Seaside Smitten
           4/30: Melissa @ The Best is Yet to Come (My scarf swap pal!)
         
May 
          5/1: Beth @ The Goodlaff Bride
          5/1: Katie @ Koala Chique
          5/6: Mrs. Vid To Be
          5/21: Laura @ Saying "I do"
          5/21: Anne @ The Fit Bridesmaid
          5/21: Heather @ He Asked, I said Yes
          5/27: Lauren @ Eat Drink and Be Married 
          5/28: Jessica @ A Little bit of Everything
          5/29: 5K Becomes a Bride

June
          6/9: Miss Tattoo @ Tattoos and Lace
          6/10: HillJo @ Daisy to Sunflower
          6/10: Erin @ The Long Distance Bride         
          6/11: Miss Puppy Love
          6/11: It's a Love Story
          6/11: Natasha @ A Day in the Life 
          6/16: Steph @ You're the Cheese to My Macaroni
          6/18: Kassi @ Truly Lovely
          6/19: Always Wright @ Wedding Day and Beyond         
          6/19: Vicki @ Crowning Victoria 
          6/22: Jessica @ Happily Ever After
          6/24: Kamie @ True Love Story's Never Have Endings
          6/25: Becca @ Countdown to June 24, 2011
          6/25: Chelsea @ Chelsea Gets Married
          6/25: Kelly @ The IKEA Bride
          6/26: Holly @ June 26, 2011

July
          7/2: Lexi @ $15K and 1,000 Miles Away
          7/9: Miss Margarita
          7/10: Leana @ Enginner + Geek Tie the Knot
          7/16: Jasmine @ Jasmine and Sean
          7/22: Shana at Whimsy Wedding Day         
          7/30: Natalie @ Semi-Homemade Wedding
          7/??: Robin @ HitchDied

August
          8/1: The Oceanside Bride
          8/6: Annie @ WinkingAnnie
          8/6: Lisa @ It's the Same but Different
          8/10: Miss D @ And Something Pink         
          8/13: Jill @ Strawberry Blonde Bride
          8/15: Miss Cuddlefish @ All the Lacy Details
          8/20: Tiffany @ To Be Wed 
          8/20: Dee @ LittleBirddee
          8/27: Donnica @ Fighting Bridezillas
          8/27:  Lauren at The Bride Side of Life
          8/29: Amanda @ Twoninenine and Ever After         
          8/??: Cheap Chic Bride
          8/??: Terra @ Adirondack Jersey Girl

September
          9/3: Cheryl @ Sweet Disposition         
          9/??: Sarah @ A Wedding with a View
          9/??: Wannabe DIY Bride
          9/9: Amanda @ From Thee to We
          9/10: Manda @ Wouldn't Change it for the World..
          9/10: Jenny @ Our Day In the Making
          9/17: Jenn @ A Sweet September Wedding 
          9/18: Future Mrs. Brake
          9/23: Heather @ Hangry Pants 
          9/24: Margie and Drew @ Margie and Drew's Southern Wedding Blog

October 
          10/1: Confessions of a Grad School Bride
          10/7: Miss Doxie @ My Journey from Miss to Mrs.
          10/8: Mallory @ That's what she said is getting hitched!
          10/13: Melinda @ Wedding Stuffz
          10/15: Allison and Steve   
          10/15: Miss Coffeebean @ What This Heart Wants
          10/15: Tara @ Diva Gone Domestic          
          10/22: Jenny @ Jenny Busy Bee
          10/??: Ms. Lemon Puppy @ The Lemon Puppy

November
         11/5:  Kristin @ Busy Bee
         11/12: Danielle @ Sealed with a Kiss
         11/??: Hearts and Whimsy
         11/25: Ashley @ Eleven Twenty Five Eleven

December
          12/3: Stephanie @ The Vintage Modern Bride

2012 Brides:
April
4/14/12: Mel @ Adventures in Wedding Planning
4/21/12: Imperfect Obsession
4/21/12: "I do" on the Bayou

May
5/5/12: Karen @ The Adventure Begins

June
6/2/12: Tracy @ B and T Wedding

September
9/1/12: Building Life Through Love


October
10/13/12: Sandy Toes Bride

Wish to be added to this list, or make a change? Email me at info@lauraandchristopher.com, or leave a comment below.

Product Review: Tights Please

A number of us wedding bloggers have been trying out the amazing products at Tights Please over the past few weeks. I was contacted by Lauren who wanted to know if I cared to try out any of their products. I poured over their extensive selection of Tights, Hold Up's, Stockings, Shapewear and much, much, more! They also have an extensive selection of Bridal Hosiery!

http://www.tightsplease.co.uk/

http://www.tightsplease.co.uk/

I didn't plan on wearing stockings with my dress annnd I already have my garter, so in the end I chose to try out their selection of leggings. I can always use more leggings and figured they'd be fantastic to wear on our honeymoon in Italy! The Tightsplease Leggings were very lightweight and perfect to wear under dresses for the Spring/Summer season.

http://www.tightsplease.co.uk/

The thermal leggings are amazzzzingly comfortable and sooo warm. The inner lining is very soft, it feels like fleece(??)and...well....I kind of want it to be winter now so I can wear them every day!

This is the ONLY forgiving angle I could take!

If you're interested in trying out any of TightsPlease's products, Lexi is offering an amazing giveaway at Long Distance Bride right now for $80 worth of Tights Please products! Definitely head over there and enter the giveaway, which ends this Sunday!

Wednesday's Wedding Poll: Ceremony Seating

Today's poll is to get your opinion on what you would do if you were faced with the same ceremony seating situation as I am. I've never seen a set-up like our church before and so I was a little taken aback when I was told my options when we met with the priest a few weeks ago. Let me explain:

When we walked through the church, he explained to us that whoever designed the raised section of the church that holds the altar, wasn't thinking about the fact that weddings would be taking place there.

There is very little space on the platform between the steps and the altar, really only allowing enough space for the priest, and then just enough space for us to stand comfortably. But, since our ceremony involves sitting and standing, they will not put chairs in front of the priest because the chair legs would be too close to the edge of the steps. Here's a little sketch of how our platform and altar look.

As you can see, the space between the altar and stairs is really limited, so they put two chairs in the corner on either side. Our priest explained to us that some couples have the Bride and Maid-of-Honor sit on the left and the Groom and Best Man on the right, then the Bride and Groom come together and meet in the middle at the end of the ceremony for the exchange of rings. On one hand, I think that's a really sweet idea: We are apart until the end and finally come together as one at the exchanging of the rings.

On the other hand....I never even imagined NOT sitting/standing next to Chris during our entire ceremony. I would walk down the aisle and see him for the first time, then separate and go sit on opposite sides of the altar? I think I would feel sad to leave him at that point after finally meeting up, and therefore would prefer to sit like this:

The priest said that many couples choose to do it this way as well. It sounded like the couples that get married there are split somewhat 50/50 on doing both set-ups.

I think both are viable options, and we might get there for the rehearsal and come up with a different solution, or change our minds altogether, but because I've never seen this before, I'm curious: What would you do in this situation? 

Bachelorette Party!

I have a problem:

I'm afraid my wedding isn't going to be as much fun as my bachelorette party. 

I guess that's a good problem to have...right?

I had the BEST weekend in Atlantic City with a fantastic group of friends! My weekend began on Friday after work when Kate treated me to martinis and a manicure/pedicure at Dashing Diva! It was great to catch up with her here because we knew we wouldn't get a whole lot of personal catch up time in Atlantic City.

I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning because I was so excited to get going to Atlantic City. Maria, Kerry, and Corinne met up at my place at 10:30. We had planned on eating bagels and hitting the road, but while I was getting ready downstairs....Chris had run out to the store to get some food and had decided to make us breakfast! James (who was there to drop Maria off) and him ended up making us eggs and bacon, it was such a nice treat!

 Then we packed Corinne's car to the brim. Luckily, the guys helped again!

I said goodbye to my man for the weekend...

and we were off!!

We arrived at the Borgata Hotel a little before 3:00pm. We couldn't check in until 4:00 so we left all our stuff (and there was a LOT of stuff) with the bellhop while we went to go eat some lunch.

The whole gang with Mr. Bellhop Man!

After lunch we were able to check into our room so we headed upstairs to the glorious-ness that is the Fiore Suite at the Borgata! This was the view:

We (read: my friends) all got right to work unpacking, organizing, and situating our room so that it was the ultimate bachelorette pad! We had a quick toast to our evening and then I was placed in a chair while I opened some lovely giffties:

Sexy Little Bride

After that, we had a few more hours before we had to get ready for dinner so we played some games, and really just talked, laughed, and took lots of pictures!

Sisters!

I was having so much fun just hanging out in the room, I honestly didn't even want to leave to go to dinner...but you know...eating, blah blah blah.... I think we waited until the last possible minute to start getting ready because we lost track of time! Luckily, I had my own personal makeup artist...Bridesmaid Mandy!

And then Smith curled my hair for me, (after I burned myself on Maria's crazy, awesome curling iron!) We were a little rushed, but we still left the hotel room on time, and all looking fabulous! We ate at Seablue restaurant.

After dinner we headed to the nightclub MIXX where we had VIP bottle service set up for us. This was soooooooo worth it. We had our own sectioned off area, with a guard to make sure that no one entered our area, we overlooked the dance floor, and we never had to leave to go over to the bar.

Our section-guard Erik!

Bottle service!

 The club had an aerialist performing over the dance floor!

 

I really don't have much else to say about the night except that it was a fantastic, amazingly fun night...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

With Bridesmaid Smith!

Mandy and Kate!

Maria and Kerry

Maria, Ben and Mandy

Sisters!

We got back into the room around 4:30am. Some went to bed, some stayed up, I smashed a pinata Mandy had given me earlier (and a tootsie roll hit my sister in the head while she was sleeping), and our only true casualty was Christina, who stubbed her toe so hard it may be broken!! Never a dull moment with us...

The next morning we had about an hour and half to clean up, change, and pack up our stuff before we had to check-out. There are zero pictures of the next day due to the fact we all pretty much were exhausted annnd I was given strict orders NOT to take any pictures. Yea..being friends with me, you know that sometimes I need to be told not to take pictures. I left very sad that the weekend was over, but I am so so so happy and it will be a night that I'll always remember!

Thank you so much to my friends who made me feel so special this weekend!
I still can't believe I've had my bachelorette party!! Next up: WEDDING!

Marriage License

Hey guys! I had the BEST time at my bachelorette party this weekend!! I can't wait to share all the details of the weekend with you tomorrow!

Friday morning I got up at 4:50 to watch the royal wedding and boy am I happy I got up to watch it. I loved every minute of it, and was so excited to be watching the whole ceremony live. Even more exciting for me that morning was that as soon as William and Catherine shared their first kiss on the balcony, Chris and I left to go get our marriage license!

We showed up at 9:00 and had to wait in a short line outside. It was a beautiful day out!!

The building was gorgeous and the cherry blossom trees were in full bloom! The whole process to get our paperwork was very quick. We had filled out the application online earlier that week, and just had to show up in person to sign and confirm all our information. Now, we can officially marry in New York!

19 days!!!

Bachelorette Party

Happy Royal Wedding Day!! I've been up since 4:50 am live tweeting my way through the wedding @lwoodsny. I'm so glad I got up to watch it, history in the making, and it was so beautiful!

However, this weekend also marks a very special occasion that hasn't gotten as much media attention:

  MY BACHELORETTE PARTY!!!!

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Melissa (MOH and sister) and my friends have done a fabulous job so far of planning my Bachelorette Party.

This weekend's players are (and you will see lots of on the blog next week):

                      Melissa, Mandy, Lauren, Ben, Kerry, Maria, Corinne, Christina, Kate, and me!

We are all carpooling or getting ourselves there on our own to meet in Atlantic City around 2:00. I'm driving with Kerry, Corinne, and Maria and I may or may not have been promised dirty car games. ;) When we arrive at the Borgata, we're going to walk around and grab some lunch. Then, when we're able to check into our room we have one giant suite at the Borgata for the ten of us!

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We are having dinner at Seablue Restaurant in the Borgata (This was where I saw Michael Phelps last year at Mandy's Bachelorette Party! That party was ridiculously awesome and hilarious so if you have a chance, read about it here)

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Then starting at 10:30, we have VIP bottle service set up at Mixx nightclub! We have our own designated area and don't have to fight to get drinks at the bar, a huge plus!

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I have a fabulous group of friends going and I cannot wait to dance the night away with them! I got my dress a few weeks ago at a place called Foxes on Long Island:

JessicaSimpson.com

I just have to figure out my accessories and shoes!!
I'll report back on Monday with how it all goes! Hope you all have great weekends!

Join in on the discussion!

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Happy Royal Wedding! Join in the discussion with me and others!We will be tweeting using the hashtag #royalweddingWZ. Right after the wedding Chris and I are off to get our marriage license!!