After FINALLLLY setting up our registry...we headed to Chevy's to celebrate.

  

[ Our Story ]

it all started over 6 years ago, one starry night at the sunset place movie theatre - over a steaming tub of popcorn...

ha. just kidding. maybe i should be a novelist!

well we met while i was in highschool and after he had just graduated. our first date was somewhere in july of 2001 (it’s been a few years...neither of us remembers the exact date). and our official we’re-together-and-we-made-it-official day was august 17, 2001. and the magic began and we’re still hocus pocus for each other!

we’ve been through a lot of together - both happy and sad, easy and challenging - and we’ve both had the opportunity to grow each as a person and together as a couple.

in december of 2003 our first furbaby was born and we adopted him in january of 2004 - igor.
and in december of 2004, our furbaby number 2 was born. homer came home with us that january.
our next family member is donatella/o our red-eared slider turtle with gender identity issues. she joined us june 2005.

and so our entire family was there when he proposed on 12.24.07 - homer igor and donatella. and i said yes!

...and a few weeks later we started planning for a wedding!

"life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments."
- rose kennedy

 

The Basics

 

[ THE DRESS ]

Ok I totally went to David's Bridal with my MOH, Jackie, expecting to look around and get an idea for ::ahem:: budget, but I ended trying on a few dresses...and voila! After getting a second opinion from the elders (mom and aunt) and my other BM Gisela on the next trip, I bought my dress. It was perfect. I haven't needed any alterations yet (yay!) except for the bustle which came out awesome because it looks like its part of the dress. I'll try to post some pics of me in it soon...but it's at my mom's for safe-keeping from the furbabies - homer and igor.

Donald finds the amount of time i spend on theknot.com ridiculous...so i'm sure he won't be lurking!

 My Dress!

On the above link, you can see the dress and the detail more closely (even though it does it NO justice). i'm wearing the strap during the ceremony, but they're going to hang down a little bit for a more romantic lok ;) - my veil is the same as above but i'm still looking for a headpiece (i want a hair comb or band - no tiara).

 

[ THE SHOE ]

 

Above are the shoes that I'm gonna wear with my dress. I initially though I'd change in to flip flops, but I have to say I recently got the real shoes...and they are mighty comfy for being dress shoes. Oh, and pardon the crappy pictures compared to the professional one lol.

  

[ CEREMONY/RECEPTION: THE RUSTY PELICAN ]

 

This is us at our tasting on 9/25...we thought the food was so good we kind of forgot to take pictures of the dishes, lol. We tried the Biscayne and Pelican salads and the Chicken Florentine and Filet Mignon and Salmon.

THE WINNERS: Biscayne Salad + Filet Mignon and Salmon = Hands down!

Ceremony is on the lower terrace with the firepits, while the reception is upstairs in the Pelican Ballroom (the smaller of the two, on the left).

 

 We haven't decided the placement of the chairs, but another knottie, melissainabq has some pics in her married bio and the chairs are wooden and with linen pads. Not these icky iron ones. Also, they provide a trellis or an arch and we're doing to large arrangements on the side.

Above is the exact spot we'll be saying I do, which is between the 2nd and 3rd fire down on the first pics. It allows for a much roomier aisle.

 

 Beautiful view of the bay from the restaurant.

This is the half of the upstairs (Pelican ballroom) which we'll be using - it's perfect because you can see the sun set from up there and the city lights too.

Another angle - can you tell I took a zillion pictures?

This is the cocktail area in the front of the ballrooms - and the bar is on the right (it will be moved further to the left of the wall it's currently on and that corner where it is now will be for placecards and guest sign in). And that's Karla talking to Lauren in the background lol!

 

[ CAKE ]

 

This is the design of the cake, but ours would be in green instead - and probably with some calla lillies or roses or hydrangeas on top. It's from Edible Creations (Lily rocks! and so do Melissainabq for giving me the heads up about them lol)

 

 

[ PHOTOGRAPHY ]

Our pics are being done by Greg from Gregory Paul Photography, with the help of his awesome wife, Heidi (which has been a huge help throughout the planning process!). I loved his website...and FI and I knew he would be perfect! We're doing e-pics soon, too.

 

[ BM DRESSES & JEWELRY  ]

BM dresses are from David's Bridal, too. I wanted something simple and affordable for my bridesmaids and I found the perfect color there, Clover.

 MOH Dress - Jackie also picked out a peek-a-boo slip in a light green to help her stand out a little bit. The other girls are wearing the same skirt but with different tops (Gise - Halter, Perla - Strapless).

Above are the pearl necklace and earrings set I bought for my girls at JCPenney - FutureMrsDinnitto metioned there was a sale and I was there like a care bear. These were originally priced at 60 - they're cult freshwater pearls and silver clasp - and I got them for 16 each (after they were 1/2, further reduced, and my 20% coupon, yay for bargain hunting!).

 

 

General Inspiration and Ideas

 

 i l-o-v-e callas - and want all mini callas for my bridal bouquet.

 

for the BM...callas, cream roses and hypericum berries.

 

these are a sample of our invites/stationery. we bought them at target (all of it - 100 invites, 100 TY cards, 36 STDs) for about $80) i'm going the DIY for alllllllll the paper stuff. to help tie in the rest of the stuff (like menu's and placecards, i'm buying a dandelion stamp from paper-source.com.

you can't see it very well...but it's there ;) about the size of a quarter.

Inspiration for programs from Kel & Erp, ours will be on ivory cardstock - but our names on a top sheet of vellum with the basic info (ie: date, place, time) and then the rest of the actual ceremony info on the cardstock. The back of the cardstock will have a quote, but I'm on decided.

Above is the cardbox that Jessie720 made. I bought the same round box at Michael's and will cover it in either a pretty brown fabric or paint and then it'll have an ivory ribbon around it. Maybe with some pearl accents?

 

 borrowed this idea for CD favors from zerogrl311. ours will be in ivory petal envelopes and i will prob. order some green personalized labels to close them up.

 

This is a DIY Unity Candle. Credit goes to RoseWhite for the idea. This is her take on the whole thing: 'Just print your design on vellum paper, add some ribbon, some tags to secure it and voila! ... you just saved your self some money! :)

Our Unity Candle will have an excerpt from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte:

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."

I second THAT idea! savin' some moolah.

Yet another idea from Mrs. Rosewhite...a rock guestbook. She put her rocks in a vase in the family room. I'm between this and a photo guestbook of our e-pics. But the photoguest book sounds like a lot of work.

This is the bowl we bought at Target for the rock guestbook - turns out i'm gonna do both - the rocks and the photo gb simply because

 

 

 DIY Projects

 

all my paper stuff is DIY. i've already done the STD's and have to put a pic up. this is a pic of my invitation draft. the invites were from target and they came with the dandelion design.

the STD's that went out in July. Yay!!!

The Monograms I've been playing around with... (I know traditionally the girl's initial is first, but our initials come out to HD which sounds like Home Depot to FI, which is where he works and which is not on his top ten list of things he loves lol).

 

My Mr. and Mrs. letters for the sweetheart table and the Wishes letters for the table where the rocks wishing vase and guestbook are gonna be:

 

These are the taper holders I got from RedEnvelope.com for like $20 plus shipping. The came engraved and with a set of tea lights and tapers. Like my photographic prowess? Those are our placemats in the background lol.

My Unity Candle materials are bought and stored to be made soon....I'm probably gonna put the candle in a clear hurricane vase - since our ceremony's outside we don't want the flame blowing out. Continuously. NOT a good omen, lol.

 

The unity candle! It's done!

Ignore the paper, I didn't want the wax to get on the bookcase.

The final CD favors

 

The Furbabies

and the repto-baby, too.

okay so we take way too many pictures of homer and igor. i know. the mom's know not to hold their breath for human babies any time soon lol.

Top: Igor and Homer watching TV with Dad.

Left: Igor looking sexy by the driveway at X-mas. Middle: Homer looking bored. Right: Donatella the turtle on the prowl.

 

 

Vendor Reviews

 

[ Ceremony and Reception: The Rusty Pelican ]

 

[ The Dresses: David's Bridal ]

 

[ Photography: Gregory Paul ]

 

[ Flowers: Nevot ]

 

[ Reception Music: DJ Brit ]

 

[ Ceremony Music: Marcelo ]

 

[ Cake: Edible Creations ]

 

[ Linens: AB Cover Designs ]

 

[ Hair and Make-up: TBD ]

 

[ Stationary, Favors, Etc: Me, Me, Me! ]

 

[ Day of Coordinator: Karla Blanco from Stylish Events ]