We're married!

Thanks to everyone who came to the wedding last night in the pouring rain! It was so great to see you all!

We're off to Barcelona tonight and then flying straight to Boston on the 30th.

We'll try our best to post pictures of our adventures! Take care, everyone!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the big day! I can't believe it's finally here. After an entire year of planning, I can finally say that it's only one day away. It's really surreal!

We had a great time at our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner tonight, meeting new people, seeing old friends and eating truly amazing food! I guess the rehearsal is pretty important - not just because you need to practice what you're gonna do and say, but also to practice being in a big group, mingling, and being completely overwhelmed by...everything!

People ask me if I'm going crazy right now, but I'm really not. Just like how a traumatic memory gets repressed, I feel like my consciousness is protecting me from the crazy rollercoaster emotions I imagine I would be feeling by now. I think if I truly felt everything I should be feeling, I'd be rolling around on the ground crying and laughing. :)

But the one thing I know for sure is that getting a wedding planner was the best decision we've made in our planning. It's saved us money, time and stress, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's getting married!

Alright, everyone. See you tomorrow! Then wish us bon voyage as we head to Barcelona on Sunday! :)

Thunderstorms

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I do not like this picture. Apparently both weather.com and accuweather.com are both calling for some kind of thunderstorm (PM, isolated, scattered) for the next 3-4 days, and the difference between 3 and 4 makes a huuuuge difference!

But I'm not too worried because our rain plan is still pretty good.

Guess what happened exactly one year ago today??


That's right! Cyrus proposed! :D

It seems like such a long time ago...


It was the most romantic evening and it was especially great to be able to celebrate with friends that night AND the night after!


Look how excited I am to be a bride! And look how short my hair was! Thank goodness it grew out fast. :)

So it turns out that our engagement will be exactly 52 weeks! How 'bout that?

Happy one-year! :)

Boo on you, Harbor Fest

I just found out that there's going to be a huge concert right between the hotel and our wedding site on the day of our wedding, which I'm sure is going to wreak havoc on traffic in the area.

But I'm not going to stress...

(8 days left!)

Packed & unpacked

Cyrus and I drove up to Boston last week, and we took up as many things as we could so we could set up our apartment.

We were surprised at how much space was still left after packing his things and mine.



Setting up the apartment was pretty successful, but we hit a dead end when there were items in the apartment that we didn't know what to do with. But still, we're so glad that we did the hard part (cleaning!) before the wedding!

I'm back home in Maryland now, and Cyrus is up in Boston and we will reunite late next week. Could this be the last long-distance period ever??

Two weeks left

There are exactly two weeks left before our wedding! Here are our plans for today:

- open gifts that have arrived
- transport gifts from Cyrus's mom's to our apartment
- get rid of old stuff in the apartment
- clean apartment
- come back to Cyrus's mom's for dinner with lots of family!

I wish I had some pictures to show you, but I didn't bring my camera cable! :(

Name change

Has anyone used MissNowMrs.com to change a name before?

I'm filling out paperwork for my new job, considering getting a MA driver's license, and a lot more fun stuff, and I'm wondering when I should change my name and how.

They say that for $30, using the website saves you an average of 13 hours of research.

Road trip!

This morning, Cyrus and I are headed on our second road trip to Boston to start setting up our apartment!

"When did you take your first road trip up there together?" you ask?

Let's turn back the clock to April 2007, only a few short months after we started dating.

Cyrus drove the entire way without getting sleepy or needing a break!


We stopped by in Philly for some of Jim's cheesesteaks.


I think we got onto the 93 bridge by accident, but got some cool pictures anyway...


And we met up with some friends!


Can you imagine how different that trip will be from this one? :)

Please wish us a safe and productive trip!

Our engagement session!

Please check out Laura Kay's blog to see our engagement photos!

Here's a little taste...

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500 Days

We finally saw the movie tonight, and it was worth the wait! Very good movie for the patient and mature movie goer. Seeing Summer's strange dating behavior through a guy's perspective kinda got me thinking...

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Are girls really that hard to figure out?

I didn't think so, but according to Cyrus, even I gave Cyrus some pulling-out-my-hair moments after we began dating!

But I'm glad all of the drama is over and neither of us will ever have to look back and see how things went wrong. :)

Be aggressive

One thing I've learned during this wedding planning process is how important it is to be vigilant and aggressive when it comes to getting what we want.

I realized this last week when we were working with our hotel contact to make sure we reserve our complimentary bridal suite.

Way back in the winter/spring, we were cranking out our hotel room block contract with Hampton Inn, going back and forth with edits and more things we wanted to include. I confess - I thought Cyrus was being a bit anal when it came to including ALL of the spoken and unspoken things we discussed with the sales manager such as getting a complimentary room, making sure there are no penalties for not filling our entire room block reservation, etc.

But check out this email exchange...

Ina:

Our room block contract says that my fiance and I will be able to reserve a room on Saturday night (August 22) at no cost. How do we go about reserving that room?

Bruna @ Hampton Inn:

We can definitely reserve that room for you, provided that the room block you had on the contract is filled.

Ina:

We talked about reserving our complimentary bridal suite, which is in our contract, and you said that we'll need to fill the majority of our room block for that to happen. Our contract also says that there will be no penalty for rooms not filled by the cut-off date.

Bruna:

We usually do not give a complimentary room to anyone that reserves less than 20 rooms because by providing them with a complimentary suite we would show our appreciation for them sending us that many rooms. Because that was not included into your contract, I will go ahead and make your reservation for you. I will need a Credit Card number for the incidentals so as soon as I receive that, I will go ahead and make your room reservation for 1 night.

BAM! Free room, thanks to Cyrus's vigilance with including EVERYTHING in the contract!

2.5

I can't forget to mention - today is August 2, which means that Cyrus and I started dating exactly two and a half years ago!

Soon we'll have a new date to celebrate! :)

We went to Medieval Times earlier this evening to celebrate another very special event (happy birthday, Ray & Chris!).


I'm pretty proud of that carnation in my mouth - the gallant green knight threw it my way and I caught it! In the dark!

Medieval Times is ridiculous... :D

Bridal shower

This post is long overdue! My bridesmaids, Jenny, Olivia and Sarah, threw me the greatest bridal shower - way more awesome than I could've imagined!

They put so much thought into every detail, and made sure to incorporate elements that they thought I would love. For example, a lot of it took place outside (I looove eating outside and doing things outside), seafood (the mussels & clams in that broth was amazing!), etc., etc.!

Check it out...

The party favors were so cute. I especially LOVE the "hello" stamp! I'm thinking about using these bags as inspiration for the welcome packages in our guests' hotel rooms...


They strung pictures all around like a clothesline - so cute!


I have to say, the gift opening part was my favorite! :)


Here we are a little later in the evening at the Westin Hotel in the National Harbor. We had two adjoining rooms with harbor views, and it was awesome! The beds were so comfortable and the DOUBLE shower heads were to die for! (Please excuse my fobbiness...)


We braved the pouring rain to walk up the block to Bobby McKey's piano bar! The guy on the left was probably the best singer out of all of them. He was amazing. The best songs of the night had to be Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer," Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" and Bryan Adams' "Everything I Do (I Do It For You)." Please do not post videos, ladies... :)


Here are the girls that stuck with us all evening long!


Thanks so much for a truly unforgettable celebration! You guys are so amazing!!

All pictures by Olivia.

DIY: "reserved" signs

I had so much fun putting together our "reserved" signs for our dinner tables. Check it out!

Start with 4x6 picture frames:


Cut out some cardboard:


Go outside with your chalkboard spray paint! This stuff is awesome. It turns any surface into a chalkboard, and it's available in the spray paint section at Home Depot!


Spray. The label recommends two coats:


Phew! It was a hot day!


Wait 24 hours for the paint to fully dry. Then use chalk to write whatever you like:


Put your cardboard into your beautiful picture frames, et voila!


Fun for the whole family!