A Weekend of Bridal Bliss and Bachelorette Bonding

What a weekend! I’m not even sure where to begin…and I apologize, in advance, for how long this post will be….

This past weekend turned out to be one of the best in recent history. My Bachelorette Party had been planned months before, and my bridesmaids and friends were working tirelessly to ensure a special weekend for me. Well, they definitely succeeded! Here’s a weekend recap for those who missed it:

Friday Evening:

Friday afternoon, my very generous boss excused me from work early so I would have time for a mani / pedi before going home to get ready for the festivities. After a lovely time at the nail salon, I hurried home to pack. Then three of my friends who had arrived in New York specifically for the party joined me and Tim as we headed out to my parents’ house in New Jersey. We had a lovely dinner with Tim’s parents and mine and then went home to hang out, catch up, and drink a few glasses of wine. Eventually, we all crammed into my room for a high school-style slumber party.

Saturday Morning:

The next morning, I was anxious to get the day rolling. I thought a few more friends would be coming over to hang by the pool and eat lunch before heading into the City for our Girls’ Night Out. I went for a very rewarding run and enjoyed a lovely breakfast with the girls. I was then ushered into the shower and told to throw on comfy clothes so we could run a few errands. My mother, a few days earlier, had mentioned that our florist was doing a wedding at the club by our house and was designing an arrangement similar to what he’d be doing for us and she thought it would be a good idea for me to go over and take a look.

Saturday Afternoon:

We arrived at the club at 11:45am (as we were told we’d need to be out of there by noon) expecting to see the florist, and upon entering the front doors I found myself surrounded by family and friends yelling “Surprise!”

Turns out, this was my Surprise Bridal Shower….so fun!

The room was outfitted in beautiful aquamarine table cloths with crystal centerpieces, and cream hydrangeas. At the front of the room were two massive tables displaying a sea of gifts with a chair placed regally at the center.

As I made my way through the crowd, I grew more and more excited by each new face I encountered. There were neighbors and cousins; college friends I hadn’t seen in years and grandparents. Finally, I turned to my left, and towering over the crowd, I saw my uncle from Australia – he was definitely the biggest surprise of all! Due to the obvious geographic obstacle, we rarely see him and he had flown in and surprised everyone! It was so special to have him and his girlfriend there.

Once the commotion had settled, I was handed a mimosa and told that they had a new dress waiting for me in the ladies’ room. Accompanied by my sister-in-law and my friends (many of whom also had to make costume changes, as they’d left the house in shorts and old t-shirts to throw me off), I made my way to the ladies’ lounge and was zipped into a beautiful ice blue satin party dress complete with jewelry, shoes, and make-up!

The party was fantastic – the food, the champagne, the cake, the presents, and all the shining faces that surrounded me. It was such a special experience.

Once we’d finished what was a tiresome effort of opening, displaying and cataloguing gifts, we made our way back home to relax before our big night.

Saturday Night:

Around 5:30, we all piled into 4 cars and caravanned into Manhattan to the Empire Hotel – across from Lincoln Center. There, in our two bedroom suite, we drank cocktails and got ready to go out, just like we did when we were in college.

We played a game of “I don’t feel sexy without my….” and placed a tiara on my head. From there, we cabbed it downtown to the Lower East Side for dinner, drinks and dancing at The Stanton Social.

The place was bumpin’! We had reserved the back half of the lounge and took over. We indulged in tapas and girly cocktails and had a wonderful time. My mom, ODH’s mom, and my Australian Uncle’s girlfriend even joined us for part of the evening. What a blast!

Sometime after midnight, we returned to the Empire to partake in what has come to be a scandalous tradition in my family. Each girl brought a lingerie gift for me; I then performed a little fashion show, while my friends came up with clever names for each piece. This list of names will be given to ODH before the honeymoon and from simply seeing the titles he’ll choose which pieces I’ll pack for the honeymoon….fun!

Early Sunday Morning:

We rounded out the night by crawling into bed around 3am and waking with cravings for diner food the next day.

All-in-all, I can say that it was one of my most memorable nights out with the girls. It was so special to see my friends, many of whom had never met, all mixing and mingling and getting along. I feel so blessed to have these women in my life and I really couldn’t have imagined a more perfect evening to celebrate the end to my life as a single gal and the exciting step I’m taking into a new chapter of life.

Note: Photos by amanda joy photography

Be Careful What You Wish For

So as the days between now and the wedding quickly dwindle, so does the opportunity for me to slim down to my ideal bridal size.

Unfortunately, I often cannot concentrate on losing weight and toning up until panic mode sets in. I need a swift kick in the butt to get going -- and it came a few weeks ago at the wedding of a dear friend of mine.

Though I've always thought of her as having the perfect body, she looked so incredible in her wedding gown that I just had to ask her how she'd gotten her arms so perfectly toned. She simply replied, "Pilates". That's what did it.

Since then, the gym has become my second home. I take Pilates twice per week and I've been running like Jackie Joyner Kersee (well, almost). I'm pretty proud of myself and I'm really starting to see results, both on the scale and in the mirror {ODH has a tendency to remind me as well!}.

I'll admit, I'm still a sucker for an occasional serving of French Fries, but as the days roll on, the severity of the situation starts to outweigh my craving for junk food.

And, as with every great undertaking, this fitness project has several important check points that allow me to track my progress.

The first of these came in the form of my first dress fitting. As the day approached, I remember thinking to myself how disappointed I'd be if the dress simply fit perfectly without any need to really take it in. I thought, for sure, that would be a sign of failure in my efforts to shrink (for lack of a better word).

Well, ladies....Be careful what you wish for!

Upon arriving at the bridal salon, I shuffled down the hall into the dressing room eager to step into my dress. I hadn't seen it since February, and even then it was a sample. This dress was mine and I couldn't wait to be in it.

I stepped into the dress and experienced a flood of emotion from several angles.

First, I was thrilled at how incredibly gorgeous it was! I loved it even more than I did when I purchased it and I literally squealed with excitement.

Second, I was struck with how unbelievably large the garment was -- at least three sizes too big. {Oh no!}

The size issue was the result of their ordering the dress up a size (possibly two) for some reason, coupled with my losing a fairly significant amount of weight (or inches, to be precise).

While I tried to remain composed, the seamstress, the attendants, and the salon owner assured me that they would do everything in their power to ensure that it would fit perfectly on the wedding day.

The salon owner quickly called the designer to see if we could get a new dress in the right size in time for the wedding. No such luck.

The seamstress, the attendant, and the head of the alterations department then took my new measurements and plotted a course of action for the coming weeks to ensure dress perfection.

Between now and the end of September they will work to essentially take apart the dress and re-stitch it down to my size. I will then come back for another fitting (and I guarantee I'll be even smaller than I was at the first). Between the end of September and October 30th, they will continue to alter the dress down as I likely continue to lose weight, and I'll come back for two more fittings.

Hopefully, in the end, the dress will be perfect and I'll feel my very best....here's hopin'!