The Story of My Ring...

You may or may not know that Nick asked for my help picking out my engagement ring.   He wanted to make sure I loved it.  Anyway, I thought I would share the story of when we went ring shopping with you all, well, because its funny.

It was a chilly Wednesday night in early January.  I was taking a bath, like I do almost every night in the winter.  Nick came in, sat on the toilet, and asked me if I would go ring shopping with him.  I think I said something like 'of course', while inside I was super excited.   So I tried to play it cool and waited a whole week before making a plan to go shopping.  I spent the week looking at rings online.  Who am I kidding, I'd been looking for ages.  So, I knew exactly where I wanted to go, Ive heard the commercials on the radio since I was a kid.  "The Shane Company, one half mile east of I-25 on Emporia Street, " Sorry, that makes sense if you live in Denver.  Anyway, shopping day rolled around and I thought it would be a good idea to take Nick to get a drink or two before we went, you know to calm him down a bit.  So after a pitcher of beer and something called a tackle box, we drove across the street to the jewelry store.                                                                            

We walked into The Shane Co and this very sweet lady, Carol, asks if she can help us.  I froze.  Yup, froze, I stopped walking and no words came out of my mouth.  I sure wasn't expecting that to happen.  Nick poked his head out from behind me and said 'We're here to look at engagement rings.'  I think I smiled, and the lady led us to the counter, and asked if I had something in mind.  I opened my purse and pulled out a printout of what I liked.  She was excited that I knew what I wanted to look at first, since they have like 800 settings.  It took me 10 minutes to start talking, I think I had the setting on my hand when she asked what our budget was for the diamond, before I said a word.  The top picture is the first picture I took of my ring, I wish I had dainty fingers so it would have fit from the beginning.

I think I tried on one other setting, it was plain, with no diamonds, and Nick turned his nose up.  So this was it, I knew it, and now he knew it.  I tried on the band, and boy oh boy was it a lot of bling.  It was way more than I ever thought I would want.  Here it is with the band, that same night.

After admiring the ring for a few minutes, Carol handed me one more band to try on, so there would be one on both sides of my engagement ring.  I wasn't so sure it was something I wanted.  As soon as I put it on, Nick's eye's got big and he started nodding like a little kid.  He really liked it with both bands.  We decided because of price that maybe the second band could be a first anniversary gift.  He agreed. 

So that's the story of my ring, and how it came to be.  I'll tell the story of the proposal another time. 

More Flower Stuff

I took my mock-up centerpiece to work yesterday to get some opinions.  They all loved it.  I explained my symmetrical issue to one of my co-workers, and she said 'Get out of your head Jess, it looks great!"   Ok, Ok, I think that sums it up.  I like it.  I think I'm going to tweak some things (ribbon, filler etc) , but the idea is going to stay the same....I think.  :)   

On that same note, the Michael's store called today to tell me the flowers are there, ready for pickup.  Faster than I thought, no transfer fees and I didn't have to pay for them in advance. (So, if I change my mind, no harm, no foul)  Nice customer service Michael's. 

I have also decided I don't really like the blue hydrangeas I bought for my bouquet.  I think I'm spending all this time and energy trying to find the most realistic looking white hydrangeas for my MOH and centerpieces, and mine look fake. I think they're beautiful, but they aren't real looking. So back to the drawing board.  I did see some light blue hydrangeas that I liked, so we'll see.

Update:  I picked up the rest of the flowers.  I now own 46 stems of white hydrangeas.  I'm so happy I found enough.  I had to put them in the top of our wine holder to get them off the floor.

Centerpiece Mockup

Ok ok, so after stressing about getting enough flowers yesterday, I sat down and made a centerpiece tonight. It took some time, cutting the length of the flowers, over and over again, but I think I got it. Then I used the leaves off the stems to wrap the inside of the 4 1/2 in cube vase, so you cant see the stems. Then I realized I had some leftover ribbon from my DIY Necklaces, and so I wrapped some around the vase. I think its pretty close to my inspiration picture.

I think I like them...I need some opinions. Anyone?

My MOH's Bouquet Flowers

Here are my MOH's bouquet flowers, I think they look pretty real and will definitely pop against her chocolate brown dress.

I Had To Pick Flowers That Are Impossible To Find

Ok, after thinking about it last night, I decided that I want to try to make a centerpiece mock-up, just to see if I even like it. Who knows if what is in my brain will actually look right. I really like the white hydrangeas I got for my MOH's bouquet. They look great and as close as Ive ever seen to real.

At lunch today I ran to the Michael's to buy 4 more stems of the white hydrangea and a vase. Apparently they don't have any more, they wont be getting anymore, they cant order them, and the lady I talked to asked me if I was going to hire her to 'do my wedding?' What? I just asked for the stupid flowers. The bottom line is I have to call all the Michael's stores in my city to see if anyone has anymore. I called 12 stores....they're on sale and have been out on the shelves for months, so most stores don't have any. NONE! nada, zip, zilch. I managed to find 8 at the store closest to my house, and 12 at the store 18 miles north of the city. I started to panic. What if I cant find enough? Luckily, I called a store in Colorado Springs, tada, they have 26 of them. They offered to ship them to a store closer to me. Yippee, I should have enough for all my centerpieces. If I choose to make them. HA!

After work, I ran my sweet piece of crap car all over the city picking these stupid things up. Here they are in the floorboard of my car...

Lets Talk Flowers...

and the universal bridal debate of real vs. fake.

My mom and I grabbed a bite to eat today, then ran off to our local Michael's to look around. We wandered into the floral section. To my surprise there were a few hydrangea flowers that looked surprisingly real. I never considered fake flowers.  I always assumed they would be real, until I realized how expensive they are.  Anyway, after an hour and a half of walking in circles, I think I've decided on two different colors. One for my bouquet and one for my MOH. I love the white hydrangea's I picked out for my MOH so much that I'm thinking of buying more and using them for our centerpieces. (but that's another post) Anyway, here is the thing. I like the dark blue hydrangea's I picked for my bouquet because they will definitely pop against my dress, but I'm not 100% sure about them. Ugh, why cant I just make a decision and stick with it when it comes to these flowers? I had no problem picking a location or a dress, but this is blowing my mind.

The picture on the left is a better indication of what they look like in person. The one on the right is what they look like photographed outside. See why I'm torn? Help!!

One Step Closer!!

I called the wedding coordinator at our chosen location today. Her name is Rhonda, she talks almost as fast as I do. :) She was excited to hear that we had chosen their location and penciled us in on our chosen date. She said she would call me sometime next week to set up a contract meeting. That will probably be the weekend of the 29th since they have their first wedding of the season next weekend. I cant wait to sit down, ask all my 400 questions, and put the deposit down. I want to be one step closer to having it set in stone.

First DIY Project Complete

I've been lurking on The Knot for quite some time and I came across these DIY necklaces and thought they were super cute. My MOH Christa loves pearls and I thought they would be great for her. I decided to make them today. I say them because I couldnt decide between the white beads and the cream ones. So, when in doubt, buy both. Luckily, theyre only $2 each at Walmart.. I got the stringing wire, crimp beads, jump rings and ribbon at Michaels. I had leftover beads, so I made her a matching bracelet, I alternated the white and cream beads, so she can wear it with either necklace. I love the way they turned out, I cant wait to see them with Christa's BM dress.

Location, Location, Location...and a Date!

Nick and I had a chat tonight and I told him I didnt want to look at any more locations.(Since I was the one doing most of the looking) We decided that we like the first location we visited best. We're going with Saddleback Golf Club in Firestone, CO on 09-10-11. It's beautiful and it has everything we wanted. Luckily, the date we want is still available, or it was a week ago.
I can't wait to put down a deposit so we can tell everyone we have a date and location!
(Ceremony Gazebo on left - with awesome views and Reception Pavilion on the right)

Monogram Hell

Our laptop died last week, so after buying this one with 'wedding money,' and my moms help, I realized that it has powerpoint on it. Its awesome because thats what all my fellow knotties use. So anyway, I started making monograms today...geez, why shouldnt I just pay someone else to do this? It's not that its difficult, it's that I cant make a decision. I like them all. Its just going to get harder the more I make, but I CANT STOP making them. Here are a few so far...

More Location Visits

My mom and I decided to check out a couple more locations today while Nick was at work. We started at Heritage Todd Creek Golf Club in Thornton, Colorado, about 45 minutes north of Denver. We decided to check it out because I met with the representative at the Bridal Show and she assured me they could work with my budget. She sent me a quote for their patio instead of the ballroom, which I thought was a great idea until we looked at it. It wasnt covered at all, so all our poor guests would be sitting in the sun all day. Plus, because its a fairly new golf course there were no trees. Lets just say we moved on.

Next was the location that Nick and I visited a couple weeks ago, Saddleback Golf Club. My mom hadnt seen it and it was only another 20 minutes from where we were. I still love it, and luckily so did my mom. We were also lucky enough to meet with Rhonda, the catering manager. She's great, and my mom pointed out that theyre so eager to help. They also mentioned that theyre going to be doing some renovations on the pavilion sometime this year. They want to glass in the pavilion and build bathrooms and a bridal suite onto the back. I kinda hope they dont glass it in, but bathrooms would be nice! :)

Since I had a couple more location on the list we moved on to Boulder Country Club which is about an hour north and west of Denver. First of all its impossible to find, and secondly, its SO outdated. It was a definite no.

Then we drove an hour the other direction to Green Valley Ranch Golf Club, it's also about an hour outside of Denver, but to the north and east. I was pleasantly surprised. I liked the clubhouse and pavilion. Unfortunately I dont know the site fees yet, so we'll see.

It's going to be tough to beat Saddleback at this point. I love so much about it. The views, the staff, the pavilion, the gazebo, the fact that its a golf course, and so on. So, if I have any free time, I'm on the internet searching for ideas, ideas and more ideas. I'm really enjoying the process, but I think if I dont stop looking soon, Im going to end up with more ideas than I can handle. LOL!

Anyway, today I got the idea that I wanted Nick to wear a different tie than his groomsmen and the fathers. I started my search, and to my surprise I found the perfect one in about 3 minutes. :) I showed it to Nick and luckily he loved it too. Woo hoo! I can't wait to order it.