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Our Second Chance

Missed us? As (almost) all of you know, I had quite a health dilemma this past year. Very long story short, I'm now 6 months in remission and back to enjoying life in the city.

A TON has changed since my last post. The wedding date is now May 17, 2014 and we're back in planning mode. We've settled into our first apartment in the financial district and absolutely loving it (pictures soon!).

The biggest change? The Chance Man.

Chance is a beagle-pekingese mix who's a little over 6 months old. We're totally in love with him. He makes our apartment feel like home, and Charlie couldn't be happier he finally gave in to my pleading.

And now, picture overload:

The first night!

My favorite picture, even though he's grown so much since this.

The boys napping together.

Most current picture, casually snacking on the cashmere blanket.

I'll be back soon to share some more of our recent updates, but I figured this was a good first thing to share!

What is the saying? Puppies are the best medicine. Couldn't be more true.

Location, Location, Location

Getting married in New York City offers you a TON of options for your reception location alone. From sleek, modern lofts to rooftops with amazing views to legendary hotels like The Plaza. Each one offers its own amazing benefits and styles.

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If you know me well, you'll know I'm a fan of anything classic. Unlike my parent's more modern style, I was never drawn to the modern loft/empty space look. I like warm colors, texture and things like columns.

On a couple different weekends last fall, we sneaked into a few of the hotels, including The Plaza, The Palace, The Waldorf and The Carlyle. We felt like they were either too gaudy, too small or just missing something.

We then set up appointments at the event halls like Gotham Hall. These were getting closer to what we were looking for. They still had that grandness, but were warm and had a more simple design.

During each of these first visits, I kept Cipriani 42nd Street in the back of my head. While never having actually been in the space, I walk past it twice a day to and from work and Grand Central. I squinted past the doors a couple days and saw huge chandeliers, big, beautiful columns and warm marble colors.

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Once we finished our appointment there with my family, we knew this was where we wanted to have our reception. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE ROOM. It has a unique history, as it used to be a bank, grandness and texture, while avoiding the "gaudy" we saw in the older hotels. My favorite part is the balance of the dark walls against the bright creams and whites of the decorations.

Then came another decision: do we have the ceremony there, too?

Pluses: Avoiding NYC traveling between venues, convenience, a cocktail room to the side to switch the main room over, and did I mention that it is GORGEOUS? The ceremony photos in the venue's packet were unbelievable.

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Negatives: I always pictured getting married in a church, less traditional, and you can't have heavy decorations for either the ceremony or the reception, as they need to be switched out quickly.

We honestly leaned toward having both the ceremony and the reception at Cipriani for a few months. We love the space so much, and we hadn't joined a Church up here yet. To make the final decision, Charlie and I visited Christ Church, that is both in our denomination and only twenty blocks uptown from Cipriani (yes, I admit this played a role in choosing our church. I'm honest.)

After our first service, we immediately felt comfortable. So comfortable that, in fact, we ended up joining the church after only a few months and new member classes later. This made us revisit the ceremony decision, which we ended up going with the church. Getting married in a church is not only more in line with our backgrounds/families, but it will also be so worth it to be able to come back and visit without having to ask the doorman permission (like we would if we went with a Cipriani ceremony).

Also, did I mention the church is ALSO AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL!? We're spoiled up here in NYC.

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Now, a few months later, we're really glad we went with the decision we made. To us, it just feels so much more like a wedding if it is in a church. And it just gives us another excuse to roll up in our vintage car we just booked as well!

On another note, exactly two weeks ago we had our engagement shoot! It was such a fun day. Promise to share more about our photographer and the shoot when we get the photos (which will hopefully be any day now!).

Engagement Party

W&L Friends at our Engagement Party

Another month, another post. I will post again sooner, I will post again sooner...

Back in October, my parents hosted our engagement party at our home in Virginia. I seriously couldn't have asked for a better time with our family and closest friends. 

While we were planning it, we figured we would follow an autumn theme and color palette, since our wedding will be in the spring. Having it at the end of October fit as many people's schedules as we could, and being in VA, it is still pretty warm then. Well, usually...

Pretty clear-roofed tent, right?

Of course this particular weekend was freezing, forcing us to add walls to the clear tent. The above picture is looking into the tent from above in my parents' room the night before. The next day, however, it only got worse. In fact, it snowed first the first time I can remember in October in VA.

Thankfully, the snow just ended up making the night even more special. Everyone was able to get to our house, still, and it actually made the yard even prettier. So what if all the flowers my mom planted weren't seen once?

Makes you want to go swimming.

My parents had an amazing caterer pass delicious hors d'oeuvres and desserts the entire night. We also had a DJ in the tent that was great, despite his interesting YouTube video use. (At one point, I came out to the tent to the friends watching the DJ's laptop from the dance floor, following the moves to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." 'Cause why not?)

The entire evening went by in a complete blur. I feel like I saw everyone and talked to no one the whole night. It was just so great, though, to have everyone together, from family to friends from HS to W&L. It made us SO EXCITED for our actual wedding (which is in just over a year! EEK!).

Below are just some of my favorite pictures from the night. Looking back at these, what, 6 months later, makes this party seem like so long ago!

My bridesmaids (that could make it!) and me

Charlie and some of the North Carolina boys

HIGHPOINT!

Cutting the cake!

Our beautiful guestbook that was gifted to us.

 

Bridesmaid Dolls

So I'm currently averaging a pitiful post a month. Promise to get better about this starting now.

I wanted to share how I asked my bridesmaids to be in the party! While Googling for ideas, I came across this blog post on Once Wed and I was obsessed. The package includes a card with a note and a paper doll chain with the entire bridal party, held together with a personalized paper band. Every other cute option, such as this funny card or this edible option didn't come close anymore.

I knew I could do something similar myself, but knew it wouldn't be nearly as adorable. Also, my NYC apartment doesn't have a kitchen table, making crafts a bit more difficult. I contacted the vendor who made the invitations for the blog, but they said they made it simply for the post and couldn't be hired to do so again.

This gave me my mission. I may have emailed every crafty paper store/invitation designer/anyone who had a business involving paper in the NYC metro area. At least ten either said no or gave me an outrageous price quote, but then the FABULOUS Minhee from Paper+Cup Design responded with a completely reasonable price.

She and I worked together to make the example I had seen online better for us. For example, I loved how each doll had a haircut to match the actual girl, but we took it a step further and gave the girls the right hair color. I also thought to put each girl's doll on the front of their specific card, so when they opened the package, they saw their name on top.

We were (and still are!) not positive of the style or color of the bridesmaid dresses, so we kept the example's pink dresses to make them girly. We changed the envelope and band, though, to match the color scheme and brown hair paper better.

I absolutely adore these cards and was so excited when the girls all got them. Thankfully, all of them agreed to be in the wedding, so I know I have the best party I could ever imagine!

Groomsmen Cards

Like I said before, Charlie is the creative one. I like to think I am too, but he can actually bring things from an idea to reality. This is exactly how his groomsmen invitations got to be so fabulous.

We have a relatively big party - 9 bridesmaids and groomsmen each. All the books we read said to wait until a little closer to the wedding to decide on the party, but we were 100% positive on the friends we wanted in ours. And, since this fall we had so long until the wedding, it gave us something to do then!

Charlie went with the Goodfellas theme for a few reasons. One, he's totally a movie buff. Two, it takes place in the NYC area, and that's definitely a semi- "theme" of the wedding. Finally, he said one quote from the movie reminds him of his friends (it's on the front of the book in the picture to the left).

The invites consisted of a poster he Photoshopped based on the movie's poster (I think they're hilarious!), a book with the quote, name of each groomsman and some details of the day, and personalized address and return labels.

Thankfully, the invites were a hit with the guys. I know the extras we kept will be a keepsake from the planning. Next I'll be showing off my bridesmaid cards!

The Beginning

Thanks to this three day weekend, we're finally able to start this! This blog has been a long time coming, and I'm excited to be able to show you all what we've been up to since Lexington, VA, getting our jobs and getting engaged.

A little about us:

I'm Alex, and I've been working in healthcare public relations since June, when I graduated from Washington and Lee University. It's finally starting to dawn on me that I'm not going back to school, so it's a good thing we have our wedding to distract me from that!

I get to marry Charlie next May, in 2013. Charlie also went to Washington and Lee and now works in advertising. On top of that, he also designs websites and Photoshops in his free time, so he's a pretty busy guy.

We met in school at a frat house (so romantic!) my sophomore year. After leaving, one of my best friends texted me saying, "Someone here thinks you're cute." When I asked who, he responded, "All I'm saying is that I'm your childrens' sports agent." (Charlie is 6'4", I'm 6'1"2"-ish). Been together ever since!

Charlie proposed July 4th, 2011 in my old apartment. Without giving away too many details, I adored the pictures, music, and the fact that it was just us two.

We're looking forward to sharing not only the planning, but what else we do in our (little) time outside of work!

Love,
A&C