Saying Yes to the Dress

We've been engaged for two weeks and we're on a roll! Date: September 7th, check. Location: check. Desserts: check. Cake: check. DJ: check. Photographer: pretty much check, just need to make it final. And dress? CHECK. Well, I have to go back and make the official purchase, but I can't stop thinking about the winning dress (I was torn between two), so I'm taking that as a sign that it's the one. Plus, it's the one that made my Mom cry, so that's gotta say something. And boy, it's so hard to not tell Joe anything about it! I just keep telling him it's bright pink with poofy sleeves :)

Now just a few more logistics and details and then I'm hoping the rest is smooth sailing. I'll just enjoy the company of my lovely fiancé and all of the family and friend time that engagement brings!

P.S. I'm not holding the winning dress - just a photo that Stephers snapped as I was browsing!

Lianna and Matt Tied the Knot

On Saturday, we celebrated Lianna and Matt as they took the plunge to become husband and wife. I am pretty sure that Lianna had a smile on her face the entire time, which naturally put a smile on my face. These two are perfect for each other.

The wedding was at Pravda Studios, which was filled with candles and classic wedding white. It was simply gorgeous, as was the bride! Gorgeous. Top it off with catering by Veraci Pizza, some awesome dance floor moves, catching up with old friends and late night burgers from Dick's - it was a great time!

P.S. This was our third wedding at Pravda - first Carol, then Meredith!

Li and her Dad :)

Husband and Wife

Another weekend of toasts and singing! This weekend we celebrated Brette's marriage to the love of her life, Wiley Coffin. Brette is one of my oldest friends - for years, we were living parallel lives. From starting dance together at 3 to joining the same sorority in college, we've always seemed to have a place in each other's lives. And I'm so happy that we did. Unfortunately, she moved across the country to D.C., but I am crossing my fingers that I am sent back east for work again. Brette, you better believe I'll be visiting!

The wedding was fantastic. Gorgeous day. Glowing bride. A perma-smile on the groom. Great food. Great friends. Amazing view. I don't think they could have asked for anything better. Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Wiley and Brette Coffin!

The Burlington ladies, Steph, Sarah and me.
Best wedding date ever.

Come and knock on our door... We've been waiting for you...

The beautiful bride.

The Chi Omega ladies. The door chant squat turned into...

Singing Brette a door chant :)

A Recipe for a Perfect Wedding

An amazingly fun wedding party. (Not sure what we're doing here, but I think it captured a nice moment.)

A beautiful bride in her mother's wedding dress at the rehearsal dinner.

A fun night of pre-wedding festivities with a stylish group of ladies.

A spectacular view from the cabin we stayed at over the weekend.

A makeup master.

A bride that could not hold in her excitement.

A bridesmaid that was honored to stand by her side on one of the most important days of her life. (Isn't she a vision?!)

An adorable cake made with love (and delicious lemon filling!) by Erin. And a Norwegian wedding cake for the Hellings. And homemade cookies and ice cream too!

A pitch-perfect toast by the one-and-only Karen Clegg.

A multi-generational Chi Omega tradition, singing Shades. (Look how adorable her grandma is!)

A first dance.

A lot of moving and shaking.

A handsome dancing partner.

Add it all together and you have yourself a grand ol' time.

Autumn and Ryan, I'm so incredibly happy for you both. You each deserve the best and I'm sure that's why you found each other. I love you!

Who's that lady?

Who's that lay-day? That lady is Pippa Middleton. And I must admit, while she didn't outshine the bride (Kate was ravishing!), I think she gave her a run for her money. I could gush and gush about how amazing the wedding looked (no, I didn't get up at 3am like some of you!), but instead I'm going to focus my energies on Kate's sister and maid of honor. I thought she looked absolutely stunning! Don't you think? But her dress begs a question, did Kate give her permission to wear white on her wedding? :)

I'm also throwing this picture into the mix because I think it's a special moment - the moment her father gives her away. Well, Mr. Middleton, you raised your daughter well. She's your future queen. What do you think about that?

pics via Vogue, Flickr and maybe another - sorry for not citing all of them!

Wedding dress

Last night, Maddie and I went wedding dress shopping at I Do Bridal with Autumn (again, we can't get enough) and it was so much fun. They had the dress she tried on in Bend, and once again we were swooning over how beautiful she looked. But then, when she came out in The Dress, it was like the clouds parted, the sun shone right down on her and you could hear Miley Cyrus singing (we can't get enough Miley jokes). Basically, it was perfect. It was Autumn. Every little detail about it. She's going to look stunning on her wedding day.

pic via Style Me Pretty

Friendmania

Overall, fantastic weekend! I was able to spend time with so many different groups of friends and enjoy the crazy, nice weather we've been having. The order of events went a little like this:

• Pre-poker Starbucks and chatting at the lake with Steph.
  
• Poker night at the 304 with pretty much the usual crew: Steph, Holden (who recently googled himself in vain and came across PetesSpeaks... unbeknownst to him, I've posted on the world wide web about him more than once, but good thing I deleted that one post before he found it!), Phil, Jaison, JJ, James, Justin and me. I lost, JJ won. We hit up Teddy's for some ping pong and pool after the game. Classic poker night.


• Wedding dress shopping with Christina and Olita on Saturday. Christina is going to be a beautiful bride!


• Viking-themed Beer Pong Tournament for Nick's 26th! (Ironically, my 2nd beer pong birthday bash of the summer.) It was fun to see all of the guys we hung out with in college... but I'm disappointed at the lack of Kelly Clarkson tunes. It was a great tradition. Ben didn't even get the chance to punch a hole in the wall while going crazy to "Since U Been Gone"

Nickybutt

• More beer at the Ballard Bar & Grill where Maddie, James and I discovered the best game ever: Big Buck Hunter.


• BBQ and lakeside fun on Mercer Island at Ryan and Tyson's place. A lot of sitting in tubes, eating BBQ, drinking beers and even tubing!! And if you know me well enough, you know I love me some tubing! Now my legs (but only the front) are burnt to a crisp, almost as red as this.

Sarah and me

Tronics and me

• Ultimate Frisbee at Greenlake with Maddie, Holden (2 mentions in 1 post - aren't you excited?!), James, JJ and Kenny. It was awesome, but extremely hot.

Is it bad that I'm already gearing up for this Friday when it's only Monday?!