Paid In Full

16 days

We got the check from my gramma to finish paying the chapel and dj! I'm going to deposit it tomorrow and then send out checks to the two people as soon as it's in the account!

Tomorrow our bachelorette and bachelor weekends begin! I'm really excited! I'll be sure to post a lot of pictures!!

Fa La La La La

We've decided on the DJ and now we have a list of the songs that we want to use for the wedding traditions! Here's the list:
First dance: I Can't Wait by Runner Runner
Father/daughter dance: Butterfly Kisses by Bob Carlisle
Mother/son dance: Unforgettable by Nat "King" Cole
Cake cutting: Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's
Bouquet toss: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper
Garter toss: Tush by ZZ Top
Last dance: No One's Gonna Love You by Band of Horses

We also asked our DJ if we'd be able to do different clips of songs for our wedding party intros in the reception and he said of course! So here's the list of those songs:
Bride's parents: Colour My World by Chicago
Groom's parents: The Rainbow Collection by Sarah McLachlan
Cole & Olivia: Pink Cadillac by Natalie Cole
Devon & Hannah: Purple Rain by Prince
Rich & Nicole: Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis
Lars & Shannon: Green Light by John Legend
Nick C & Cristina: Yellow Mellow by Donovan
Ryan & Jessica: Orange Colored Sky by Nat "King" Cole
Nick T & Juliana: Little Red Corvette by Prince
Bride & Groom: Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole

It's Never Too Late

Apparently I have decided to really venture into blogging.

My fiance, Matt, and I got engaged in March of this year and we have already started planning the wedding. I think I'm driving most everyone around me (especially Matt) nuts with the planning details. So to get them out, I'll post to the entire world. Not only that, but I'm hoping that I can help future brides with their planning. (I've been contemplating becoming a wedding planner...after my wedding.)

Here's a rundown of the wedding so far:

• We picked our ceremony and reception venues (not the same place): St. Dominic Chapel at Providence College for the ceremony and the Providence Biltmore for the reception. As to picking a college's chapel: Matt graduated from PC in 2009 and he absolutely loves the school. He was their mascot (the Friar) for two years and has held basketball season tickets for since he was a freshman. We live in Rhode Island now and plan on staying here and I wanted to include some aspect of PC in the wedding. (I refused to let the Friar attend the wedding.) In addition, we don't belong to a church here and we want a Catholic ceremony. Thus, we agreed on St. Dominic Chapel. As for the Biltmore, we spent our first anniversary there and I absolutely love the hotel. It's a vintage, 1920s hotel with a penthouse level ballroom that has exquisite views of the city. It was a given...and love at first sight.
• We decided on wedding colors, well I decided on them and Matt agreed. We are doing mainly black and white with rainbow accents. Sound tacky? It's not, I promise. The bridesmaids will wear black dresses and each will have an accent color (my maid of honor with have red, the next bridesmaid will have orange, etc. down to my flower girl in pink) and the groomsmen will wear corresponding vests and ties. However, most of the decor will be black and white.
• We have recruited our wedding party! Here's the final roll call:
• Maid of Honor: Juliana, my friend and roommate from college
• Bridesmaids:
• Jess, a former coworker and close friend
• Cristina, another friend and roommate from college
• Margaret, a friend from high school
• Junior Bridesmaids:
• Nicole, Matt's 15-year-old sister
• Hannah, my 10-year-old sister
• Flower Girl: Olivia, my 5-year-old sister
• Best Man: Nick T, Matt's friend and roommate from college
• Groomsmen:
• Ryan, another of Matt's friends from college
• Nick C, a mutual friend that I went to college with
• Lars, a mutual friend that I went to high school with
• Rich, another mutual friend that I went to college with
• Junior Groomsman: Devon, my soon-to-be 13-year-old brother
• Ring Bearer: Cole, my 5-year-old cousin
• We have sent out our save-the-dates! We are doing all of our stationary through Vistaprint. They are AMAZING, especially for those brides (like myself) not willing to spend thousands of dollars on invitations and the like.
• We have found our photographer, dj, and officiant (the college doesn't provide one)!
• Jess Warzoha, a friend from college, is doing our photography! She does a great job and has already had some great offers (including shooting Drake's CD release)! I'm so excited to work with her, starting next Saturday with our engagement photos!
• We're using Living Reel Productions for our music at the wedding! Eric is very professional, cooperative, and helpful! He's already done a great job and, an added bonus, doesn't cost an arm and a leg!
• Our officiant is one of Matt's former professors from PC (they're a Catholic school), Father Albino Barrera. We've had an initial meeting with him and I really like him! He's easy to listen to so our guests won't fall asleep, hopefully!
• My parents have planned an engagement party for Matt and I next Saturday at their house! Most of the wedding party will be attending as well as close friends and family from both sides. Of course all of these people are also invited to the wedding, so no hard feelings yet!
• Our guest list has been started and agreed upon! A HUGE part of the planning, and a huge headache for many couples, we got an early start. We started by listing our family and friends that we both wanted, then asked our parents for additional guests. Luckily, our parents are all easy-going so it wasn't very dramatic or painful.

I think that's all that has been done so far that's finalized. I will update my completed list as the months race by!

I am so excited about marrying Matt! I'm just hoping I don't drive everyone around me crazy with the details.

Some pictures!

St. Dominic Chapel

The Providence Biltmore

Our save-the-dates (with our last names blacked out)