bellevue gets engaged

on saturday, craig and i attended bellevue gets engaged with our parents, my sister (the maid-of-honor) and my cousin (and bridesmaid).  craig and i were so excited to attend, since it was hosted at our wedding venue (hyatt at the bellevue in philadelphia).  it was completely fabulous - and completely unlike the other wedding expo craig and i attended a few months back.

champagne on ice @ xix's bar

the majority of the festivities were on the 19th floor - where our ceremony room (the cliveden room) and reception space (xix restaurant) are both located.  we started in the cliveden room, a.k.a. the cake room.  omg.  amazing.  there were several cake vendors all with gorgeous displays and lots and lots of sweets to sample.  yay!  we even got to try some cake from our cake maker - classic cake - which was a real treat.  along one wall, coffee, tea and hot chocolate were available for anyone who so desired with an array of toppings - whipped cream, dark chocolate shavings, white chocolate curls and more!  and gourmet truffles galore from teuscher chocolates were available for the taking : )

mini cake samples from classic cake

after the cake room, we ventured into the promenade space where we were greeted with tons of hors d'oeuvres, appetizers as well as champagne and cocktails.  wow.  the food was phenomenal - and it was all the more fun because they will be catering the food for our wedding.  one of our favorites was the mediterranean food station with gourmet cheeses, breads and this outrageous roasted tomato tapenade.  it was heaven.

chandelier in lobby of the hyatt

nicole miller bridal fashion show

another highlight?  the chambord vodka cocktails.  pale pink and garnished with a rock candy sugar stick.  very fun.  after our visit to the promenade, we headed over to xix (our reception room).  there were vendors from tiffany's, theknot.com and also williams sonoma.  and they had on display a special signature wedding cake - the xix cake.  designed exclusively for the xix restaurant.  it was gorgeous.  classically elegant with a subtle shimmer and pearl design.  just lovely.  (perhaps, we'll request they recreate it for our wedding in november...)

signature xix cake!

me & craig on xix's balcony

after we had our fill of food and drinks (and more food and drinks), we previewed some hyatt guest rooms, visited our after-party venue (tavern on broad), scoped out a potential rehearsal dinner restaurant and did some research about a potential day-after brunch spot.  then...we went to el vez for dinner. 

cheers!  margaritas at el vez

el vez is a mexican extravaganza!  the decor is over-the-top, and the food is delicious.  we had a blast enjoying lots of guacamole (you have to try the one with goat cheese!), a huge platter of nacho mamma and a (large) pitcher of margaritas.  it was the perfect conclusion to a wonderful day.  yay for wedding fun!

city hall at night

question: do you believe in luck? what is your lucky charm??

and a big congratulations to katherine from buckhead betty...on a budget for winning the fabulous spiral style earring giveaway!!!

.

what i wish i'd known...

picture credit {here}

craig and i attended a wedding expo this past weekend. think temporary home depot style one-stop-shop for wedding vendors. very cool. a little overwhelming. needless to say, we got a ton of business cards, brochures and info from a ton of different people. the top of our list at the moment is finding a dj, so that took precedence and gave us focus. we signed up for 5 or 6 free honeymoon giveaways and sampled some caterers’ dishes…even though we have our caterer set since they came with our venue…

picture credit {here}

after walking away from the wedding expo with literally a bag full of takeaways, i have a few other general wedding “takeaways” to keep you extra organized…because at the moment, my organization is lacking…

1. create a wedding email account. so, after signing up for info from dozens of different vendors (using my personal email account), i turned to craig and said, in a moment of hindsight brilliance, “why didn’t we create a wedding email account?!”. that way all those emails (and spam) would be filtered into a separate account and not fill up our personal inboxes. smart idea. but too late for me. save yourself.

2. organize articles. the minute you get engaged, you become a magnet for bridal magazines. you treat yourself to them, your mom buys them for you and your future-mother-in-law just can’t help but pick up one or two for you. and you love every minute of it…until you realize you have the leaning tower of pisa on your night stand. you don’t want to throw them, but you don’t want them taking over your life (and desk space) either. solution? once a week or month (whatever is necessary for your case) go through and rip out the tagged or dog-eared pages. if you’re afraid that you’ll lose something vital, go through each one once more to make sure you didn’t miss anything and then recycle. you’ll be left with only the elements of them that will serve as true inspiration for your wedding and you’ll regain your sanity and surfaces in the meantime.

picture credit {here}

3. include your man. at the expo almost every vendor reminded craig and it’s all about the girl and commended him on putting up with attending. in reality it was craig’s idea to go and he’s been involved every step of the way. as much as us girls fantasize about our special day – long before we meet mr. right – it’s still so important to remember that there are two of you getting married. be sure to ask his opinion or at least explain why certain choices seem like the right ones to you. also, it’s a great way to balance the responsibilities and capitalize on strengths. craig is an excel pro and loves to work on the budget and keeping track of expenses…i, on the other hand, not so much. believe me, i was perfectly content to hand the reins to him…

picture credit {here}

alrighty, so that’s all the sage advice i have at the moment. i’m sure i’ll have a few more “ahha” moments along the way. hopefully they’ll come before it’s too late (…i’m going to get wedding spam from now until forever…).

what's in store?

2011 is here.  can you believe it?  another new year filled with countless possibilities & endless opportunities lies before us.  with every new year, i find myself asking what i want from this new year, this fresh start.  i feel overwhelmed (in a good way) with the unknowns that lie before me and sense that i'm on the cusp of something fresh, new and magical.

what will 2011 bring me?  i know a few of the wonderful things that are in store already: a trip to california with friends to visit another friend, a dear friend's wedding, a cousins' vacation to north carolina, our wedding & honeymoon, to name just a few.  for my business?  a recently acquired staff writer job at a marketing firm, finishing and hopefully publishing my next book, new clients.

my new book, the champagne season

i'm not a huge proponent of "new year's resolutions" in the traditional sense.  though i revel in the fresh start and naturally feel an urge to revamp and refocus, i think that hard-and-fast resolutions often set us up for disappointment.  instead, i like to focus on what is already good in my life (that i want to continue doing or enjoying) and what i could include (or change) to bring me more true happiness.


if the act of making resolutions has failed you in the past, perhaps the only "resolution" you need is to be resolute (adjective. admirably purposeful, determined and unwavering).

picture credit {here}

to help you focus for 2011:


1. be grateful for what is already good in your life
2. aim for small changes that are sustainable (and enjoyable)
3. write down your wishes or create a vision board to visually remind you of your hopes & aspirations
4. be true to yourself


happy wonderfully fabulous new year : )  what's in store for you?.

picture perfect

so...drum roll please...we got the preview picts from our engagement photo shoot!  yay!!!  i can't copy and paste the images from their blog, so click {here} to view some picts from our special day in philly this past saturday.  our photographers, melissa & michael, are completely awesome, and (i think) they did a fabulous job photographing craig & me.  they made us completely comfortable and were totally open to our ideas for the shoot.  i cannot wait to see how they "capture" our wedding next november : )

.