Hair Pieces: Whimsical or Romantic

I have so many projects to do today, including pick up our wedding rings, but I woke up early and started researching hair pieces. I've already researched this some when I was preparing for my hair practice appointment with Daphne, but it's crunch time and I need to pick something. I plan on wearing it half up, curled, and pulled to the side. Now I just need to find the right ornament. Thoughts? Our wedding is Mediterranean-Tropical themed, so I kinda like the orchids, but I originally love the look of the first picture.

Source: Etsy

I plan for my hair to look like the gal's above. And I also love the way her makeup looks, too. A little dramatic, but still elegant.

Source: Etsy

Source: Etsy

Source: Etsy


Source: Etsy

Source: Etsy

Thoughts? Love or hate any of them?

Invitations - Lessons Learned

Our invitations are here! It has been a stressful couple of weeks as we didn't know when our invitations would arrive. We decided to get them from Peculiar Pear Press and worked with Dandelion Patch in Vienna in picking them out and ordering. If possible, I definitely recommend going there on an "off" day, which I would consider only the week days. Stationery stores are super packed on the weekends. I checked out Paper Source in Georgeotown, Papyrus in Pentagon City, Rock Paper Scissors in Charlottesville, and The Paper Store in Clarendon, as well as Smashing Cards (we didn't really think any of their semi-custom made were "us"), and finally D*Lish Design based in California. The invitations we eventually picked out my mother and I had initially seen in Charlottesville at Rock Paper Scissors, but it was a little early in early March and I hadn't seen enough invites yet. We would have gone with them, but Signor Keswick needed to see them and we certainly couldn't drive back to Charlottesville just to see the invitations. Luckily, I found them again at Dandelion Patch, which was my last hope (mainly because they're in Vienna and we're in Arlington, but I'd heard wonderful things about them). We were initially in love with invitations by D*Lish Design, but when we received the samples, we were a little underwhelmed. They looked great in the magazine and beautiful online, but they didn't really cut it in person. Lesson #1: see invitations first hand!

I did like working with Dandelion Patch, Wendy and Debbie there were wonderful. It was Peculiar Pear Press that was a little difficult - as far as I could tell, as they wouldn't return Dandelion Patch's phone calls as to what ink colors were available or when they expected to ship the invitations. This resulted in a much longer process than we had anticipated in the proofing process. Lesson #2: Research in advance what you want your wording to be. It was difficult for us to find wording we were happy with because it's a Catholic ceremony, requiring us to use the terms "holy sacrament" and because it's a sacrament that we administer to ourselves, we can't say "to" (as in at the "marriage of their daughter X to Y").

Then, once we saw it in print, it didn't look right the way the words were spaced out, so we had to enlarge our parents' names and separate them with an "and", etc., etc. Be sure to pay attention to ink colors AND have several people look at the proofs. My mother caught different ink colors being used when I didn't. Lesson #3: Allow for plenty of time for the proofing process. Ours took THREE WEEKS. Part of it was because I didn't know Dandelion Patch still needed information from us in the very beginning of the process (I had actually already discussed this when we were there in person, but they may have misplaced the notes from the meeting), resulting in a delay of a week and a half.

Finally, now that we have the invitations in hand, the ink is still a little different from the colors we saw in the proofs, but it's a digital proof, and you have to expect that. I thought ours were going to be a little more pinkish-berryish, but they turned out more purple/grape. In the end, I'm okay with it because they look less girly and I haven't emasculated my fiance with our invitations, but still not what I expected. Lesson #4: Digital proofs are not the same as printed proofs.

On the positive side, we sent our final approval to Dandelion Patch on May 14 (sooo late according to my timeline) and they shipped the invitations One-Day via UPS on June 8. So we basically received our order of 100 LETTERPRESS invitations in THREE WEEKS instead of the usual five to six weeks. Perhaps it was because there were fewer (they actually gave us 115 instead of 100), so that's awesome. So, even though the proofing process took a bit, their production time was awesome. Maybe because I was a pest. Who knows, but I'm super grateful. Lesson #5: Miracles can happen.

I'll share pictures of the invitations in the next week or so once we have them calligraphed, assembled, and stamped. PS - I looooove the new wedding stamps! Way better than the Celtic looking hearts. No offense, they just didn't do it for me.

Photo Guest Book

On my list (it has been forever) is our wedding guest book. For the longest time I wanted to do a photo book and I almost used Shutterfly's because they were having a sale. BUT I misunderstood the sale and it didn't matter. Now that I've had more time to research it, I've narrowed it down between MixBook and Picaboo. I really wanted to use a photobook for a guest book because I wanted to take advantage of the engagement photo shoot we had. We love our pictures but after the wedding, I'm afraid that everyone will be oohing and ahhing over the wedding photos and forget about our engagement pictures. Of course, the wedding is probably more important, but our engagement photos were shot where we first met almost 9 years ago and also where Mr. Keswick proposed, so they're very special to us. Plus, I feel like the guest book will be more interesting for the guests. They even made some of my friends and family cry, so I think that's a step up above the usual blank lines and spaces. (Mr. Keswick was opposed to our guests signing a matted photo that we would hang. Not sure why, but I was fine with it.)

Has anyone had any luck with these? I like how neither make you download special software. I don't want to spend more than $50 on a guestbook and these are great professional options.

Save the Dates

They've landed! I've been waiting to write this post so that no one would get a sneak peak at the Save the Dates until our future guests had received them. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do something like a map or picture that was representative of us but make a picture of us be the focal point of the Save the Date. I'm totally fine if I receive something like that from someone else, but my fiance and I weren't keen on the idea of our faces looking out from a refrigerator at our future guests reminding them about our wedding - just not our style. Also, we wanted something simpler so we didn't have to worry about envelopes and licking and gluing and all that mess.

I, too, love Laura Hooper's work, but alas she was not in the budget. So, I turned to the best alternative, my wonderful sister and Maid of Honor. It was actually really fun to work on them with my sister and now we have a very special keepsake for our wedding with my sister's signature on it, literally. All the way across the ocean in London, she work on different sketches and the font and would send me pictures of what she'd dreamed up. It was always so exciting for me to receive her emails with pictures of her ideas.

Here she is making her drafts and practice sketches over the winter holidays.Also, I wanted them to be hand-addressed, so I undertook the task of addressing them myself. I totally loved it, too, but I love writing stuff out. So found a font that I liked and practiced it several times before trying it out on our postcards. It killed me to cut stuff out, but it was necessary (below is our Photographer's Save the Date).Below, our personalized stamps with a photo from our engagement session, courtesy of our awesome photographer, Robert Holley of Robert Holley Photography. This still keeps with our refusal to look out from the fridge at our future wedding guests, but still allowed us to use a picture because we love them so much.
The Save the Dates en masse:And the front of the Save the Dates:
Oh how I love paper.

A cakery with a sour taste

About 2 weeks ago I started contacting Charlottesville cakeries with the hope of scheduling a tasting this coming weekend. My fiance starts his Spring Break this weekend, so the timing was right and I'll be completely absorbed by work next month as it's the month right before my work event (and May just seemed like it was getting much too close to the wedding...*stifling mild scream of anxiety*). I contacted Cakes Unlimited LLC, True Confections by Carlotta, and Albemarle Baking Co. as they were the vendors recommended by Keswick. The first two were wonderful in responding, being open, welcoming, and helpful. We are so excited to meet with them next week. However my experience with Albemarle Baking Co. was very disappointing. ABC said that they had an opening at 8AM or 8:30AM. I asked if they had an opening later in the day as we were driving from 2 hours away and my mother was driving from 3.5 hours away. (And a cake tasting at the crack of dawn just did not sound appetizing at all.) Her response:

Since we start early in the morning, 8:30AM is my last appointment. If you are serious about meeting that day, I can come back to the bakery later that day to meet you around 2PM. Will that work for you?

I was very surprised by her response but gave her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she was having a bad morning, even though it seemed very inappropriate to me. My response:
Good afternoon X,

I am definitely seriously considering Albemarle Baking Company for our wedding cake, that is, if you are not yet booked for August 2, 2009.

I have confirmed with my mother and fiance and you are still available, 2 pm would be a great time to meet. I'm afraid that 8:30 AM would be too early for us to taste the cake and I wouldn't want the early time to affect how we receive it. However, if you much prefer to meet with us on another day, I can let you know when we will be returning to Charlottesville. It will most likely not be until mid-May as I also work events and the last 3 weekends in April are booked for me. . .

I can send you an email later this week with more specifics as to what we are looking for in the cake. Right now, we prefer the square tiers over round and some exotic flavors, like mango, passion fruit, and coffee (but not in the same layer!). . .

ABC responded that they could meet at 2PM but there would be no cake to taste at the bakery. (What kind of bakery doesn't have cake on hand?) BUT, if I wanted to order a cake to sample, it would cost $20-$30. I understand that it's quite expensive to put together a tasting. However, the tone of her response and the overall manner in which she treated me left me with a very sour taste in my mouth. In the end, a hair and makeup artist I'd contacted said she was available to meet at 1:00PM, so we ended up taking her appointment. I let ABC know that our plans had changed, but if we were still looking for cake bakers in mid-May, perhaps I would contact her when our schedules better align.

Hopefully things will work out this weekend . . . but now I have minor cake another minor crisis to tend to. . .

Conference for the Engaged

What a weekend! Yesterday from 8am-4pm Sig. Keswick and I were in Vienna for the Arlington Diocese's Conference for the Engaged. As part of our Pre-Cana preparation, we are supposed to attend a conference such as this or meet one-on-one with a married couple for several times in addition to meeting with our priest. We chose this option as it was easiest to schedule between my work and his school projects, etc. Honestly, it was a very positive experience! We were curious and a little anxious on the drive in the wee hours of the morning but we enjoyed it (or at least most of it). It helped us learn more and understand the Catholic church's perspective on the sanctity of marriage and really reminded me how spiritually significant and important of an undertaking we will be making in less than six months - and I liked that. Sometimes you get caught up having the perfect wedding (however you define it) and it was a nice reminder how the marriage will last long after the cake, the flowers, the favors, even the photographs and memories.

We also sat a table with 3 other couples and they were really great to get to know. One couple even goes to the same church as us AND the bride's Filipino, so I felt an automatic connection from her from the beginning - especially since I feel like I know nothing about Filipino weddings but am dying to learn more but don't know where to look. The other two couples were also really nice and all 3 brides and I exchanged contact info so we can hopefully get together to talk about our experiences, good and bad. Especially with all my far flung bridesmaids, I really hope it will help me stay motivated and excited to be able to share the excitement and frustrations with someone else that's going through the same thing and that can empathize. (Although one of my girlfriends from school just got engaged this weekend and I am more than elated for her and her fiance *eeek* so crazy to say that! And I can't wait to share all my knowledge with her so that she doesn't experience the same confusion or stress that I did, or at least help her avoid doing so.)

Even if you're not Catholic or religious, I strongly encourage everyone to undergo some kind of marital preparation. There are so many *important* things to know/learn/ remember after the honeymoon phase that will help a marriage last, like communication and sacrifice, that we often forget in this fast-paced life.

Bridesmaids Dress Quest: Part 5 of 5

Yay!! After several months of searching, we have our bridesmaids dresses - and they're ordered and paid for. I went to the Amsale Bridesmaids Dress Buying Party at Hitched a week ago eeeearly (5 PM) - yes, I actually left work 30 minutes early just to make sure I got there on time. Kati and I went straight to the chiffon dresses (new for Spring 2009). We / she tried on all the beauties I first spied online and we fell in love with them all over again. They were so flattering, forgiving, and I loooooove the dresses in Cerise.


And now, for our lovelies:
Amsale 456c (shown in Cerise, crinkled chiffon)Amsale 454c
Amsale 455c

Amsale 450cAmsale 451c
I decided to pick out 5 dresses so the girls could choose the dress that's most flattering on their figure and they felt most comfortable getting and they will all be wearing the same color in Cerise, which is my favorite color of all time. Seriously.

It was kind of a tedious process to order them as I was seeing them for the first time during the trunk show and then had to decide that night if we were going to get them to take advantage of the 15% discount. So we tried on dresses, I looked for wifi at 2 different internet cafes to email the girls the pictures, couldn't find one, and just called all 7 of them. They were all on board if I thought they were a good choice, and Kati and I definitely loved them. Some were concerned if they would have to wear a strapless bra under all of them, I assured them that was not the case with Amsale 454 (the halter top with ruffles) - it's definitely thick enough at the top at the neck to wear with a converted strapless/halter bra. Some were a little concerned about the color, too, but Kati and I have very different coloring (she's more fair and porcelain colored and I'm more olive toned) and we both thought they still looked good on both of us. I didn't necessarily have to convince the girls, but I definitely wanted them to feel comfortable in trusting me. My sister, the Maid of Honor, will likely go with a longer, tea length option rather than the cocktail dress to look a little different from the rest.

I do hope they turn out well. I just love them so much and really have high hopes that the girls will like them too and that they'll look as stunning as I think they will.

Did you have any specifications or goals during your bridesmaids dress search? Was it difficult? Did the girls seem receptive?

Free Shutterfly Photo Book!

Hi all. I've been trying to think of a good keepsake to take the place of the traditional guest book: Signed wedding barrel stave to use as a lazy susan, signed matted picture, and of course a photo book. Sig. Keswick isn't a big fan of the signed matted picture, so my choices were narrowed slightly last night. And then, this morning, lo and behold, in my Inbox was an email from Shutterfly: Free 8x8 Photobook until March 10! Just visit their website and get started :) I've already begun mine.

Photo: Courtesy of Shutterfly

Love paper

Browsing this morning and discovered the wonderful work of Tracy K, aka Adnagam on Etsy. According to her shop announcement, "I'm like the In-n-Out of paper. They only sell burgers and I only sell envelopes (and sometimes notecards.) I feel like the art of handwriting notes is escaping us, so send a friendly note and make someone's day! "

I saw these beautiful sheet music envelopes and had to share. They're so bright and fun yet simple and elegant. She's also on Twitter! Happy Valentine's Day!

Save the Date Handkerchiefs

We're busy finishing our Save the Dates to mail out on Monday. But, since we're on the subject of Save the Dates, I thought I'd post a couple that I'm almost sad we didn't think of (almost because I still love mine and how well they tie in with our wedding).

These finds are thanks to Lucky Luxe Couture Correspondence via Elizabeth Anne Designs and Victoria with Roses.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Goin' to the Chapel

This weekend Signor Keswick took his LSAT (yaaay!!!) and then we drove down to Charlottesville to meet the priest of the church where we will be marrying (and see the church for the first time ever!!) and also meet with the florist (more on that in a coming post). The drive down was marvelous. It was warm and sunny and we were giddy from Mike's recent liberation. We (almost) got lost because of the GPS when we were almost to the church. Rural Virginia is no place for GPS, even if you're 20 miles from Charlottesville. However, we arrived with 7 minutes to spare before mass. I'd seen pictures of the inside from a former bride on The Knot but I was so excited to see it firsthand. I don't think I've ever been that excited while sitting in church. I was just taking everything in. My fiance would attest: I was giddy. However, when I went up to communion, I had the hotel's phone number on my hand and was so embarrassed when I held my hand up to receive the host - from the priest!

Anyways, the church where our future wedding will be is so cute, even in the doldrums of February and the priest was very nice. I wanted to take more pictures, but Sig. Keswick wouldn't let me. So I'll leave this with you. It's a bit more modern, and not what you would typicall think of as a "quaint wedding chapel" but it's lovely on the inside and actually feels like a holy place, which was important to me. I didn't want to get married in a place that I didn't feel "Catholic."

Bridesmaids Dresses: Part 4 of 5 (Hopefully)

As promised, here is the report from our visit to Hitched in Georgetown last week. (Don't forget about their Bridesmaids Dress Buying Party this Thursday!) Below are the stand-outs:
Callie by Thread: Elijah by Thread (not sure why it's a guy's name):

And Kiki by Thread. We also loved these dresses by Simple Silhouettes:

A-Line: def sans sash, but that's just me. I'm trying to go for the "not bridesmaid" look.

Empire: This was much cuter and very flattering on my friend.

There was also a strapped cocktail option that my friends both liked, but it's not online. These are more traditional and in the $250-$275 range.

Comparisons: My friends loved the quality and feel of the Threads dresses, but they're significantly more expensive -$350 oto $375. They also thought they were the most flattering, but they're not as fun and the colors are okay (bright-ish pink but with an orange "tinge" in the silk shantung) for what I'm looking for. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Melissa Sweets from my previous post, some Amsale dresses, and the Threads dresses, based on color, dress type, and price. The Threads dresses come in an awesome color they call "Popsickle." It's kinda bright, but lots of fun, however, not sure if all my girls will be 100% pleased about it, I'm guessing maybe 85%.

With so many choices, it's rather difficult to pick just a few! I had decided to give my girls options between at least 2 dresses, but it'll probably be around 3 as some have requested a dress that didn't require a strapless bra - oh for the "blessed" among us. Did you find it difficult to choose? What swayed you?

Rebuffed: Bridesmaids Dress Search Part 2

Two weekends ago I visited Richmond to see some friends and go bridesmaids dress shopping. We visited 2 different stores and had 2 very different experiences. The first was Jingles. I had called them 3 days prior to our visit to see if we needed an appointment to look at dresses (they were fully booked for appointments because of a trunk show). My friend had tried to prepare us as she had researched them prior to our visit and reported that she'd read comments online that the shop can be a little snobby, even though they have some nice dresses.

The woman who answered told me no, only if I wanted my girls to be measured for their dresses. When we arrived, the first woman who greeted us asked if we had an appointment. I told them about my phone conversation. This first woman was very nice and even apologetic that their dressing rooms were all in use, but she may be able to squeeze us in after a group of girls was finished. I thanked her and we began our browsing. A second woman asked us if we had an appointment, ready to record my answer on her trusy clipboard. I told her the same and she was very rude and said, "Well, we you need an appointment. We're very busy today, with the trunk show and all." I told her we understood and we would be okay just browsing if if need be. A THIRD woman asked us the same question (mind you, the shop is very small and the section with the bridesmaids dresses is right in front of the front desk, so even if you wanted to have a quiet conversation with a potential client, you would still only be standing a maximum of 10 feet away from anyone else in the store! Well, the first one was able to get us into a dressing room 15 minutes before her 2:30 appointment. Between the 3 of us, we were able to try on 7 different dresses in less than 10 minutes. On our way out, we said thank you and let them know that the dressing room was available. We will not be returning.

Paying tribute

Last fall I asked my maternal grandmother, my last living grandparent, to send me something that I could keep with me on my wedding day in case she wasn't able to travel from the Philippines. I wanted her to know that she was very special and her presence at my wedding was very important to me. Within a few weeks, I had received a card and a letter scrawled with her signature and a few keepsakes of hers: 1) a rosary because Catholicism is very important to her and 2) a handerkerchief because she's always warm and 3) a fan because she has a strong Spanish heritage and because she always had either a fan or a handkerchief with her. I was very touched when she sent me all three, along with her card.

Unfortunately, Lola Rose (Lola = "grandmother" in Tagalog) passed away early last Wednesday morning. My family, including my sister in London, flew to California to say our last goodbyes to her before they sent her to the Philippines. Her death was and probably will be for some time, especially difficult for my mother, sister, and me because we were closest with her and we all looked up to her. She was the model wife and mother to us, ever loving, selfless, and kind. She was intelligent, witty, and funny and always knew the right thing to say when you came to her with your problems.

Now I struggle with the best way to remember her at our wedding. I know she'll be with us in spirit, but I still want to recognize her . However, will it seem inconsiderate and rude if I don't recognize my other 3 grandparents? I thought about having their wedding pictures displayed somewhere. I also thought about having a rose in the front row in memory of her, but will I need 6 roses (both pairs of my grandparents and one set of Signor Keswick's)? That may seem excessive and lose its meaning. I definitely think simpler is better, but finding something appropriate and fitting for such a great woman is a tall order. However, all my grandparents were wonderful people, so I may just do something for both sets and my fiance's as well.

Engagement Party Madness: Secondo Parte

As relaxed and intimate was my parents' engagement party, the engagement party Sig. Keswick's parents threw for us was out of this world. His parents covered all the bases and hit quite a few homeruns in the process. These are the wonderful details my future family thought of:

It was at their home in Rochester, so they bought a propane heater for the back deck to expand the gathering space (even though we TOTALLY lucked out with the unseasonal 50 degree weather). They hired a professional pianist, bar tender, and caterer that made delicious, delicious food.


They rented small bistro tables and had ADORABLE centerpieces (with little mini-engagement rings from Michael's).

My future mother-in-law made a small album of us to share with the guests.
m&ms AND chocolates with our names and the wedding date on them (i'd show you but . . . they have our names on them), and a two-tiered cake perfect for a wedding. (Sorry I don't have a better one of the cake. ) Isn't the little present cute? For any Rochester Brides, let me know if you want to know the caterer and the baker. The cake was a moist sour cream cake with caramel & hazelnut praline filling.


Wedding Tradition Tip: When cutting one's engagement party cake, the bride makes the first cut on one side and the groom makes the second cut to complete it, rather than the two holding the knife at the same time.

And then during the toast, Sig. Keswick's parents almost made me cry with their sweet sentiments. Then they presented a watercolor of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the location where Mike proposed to me. His mother actually saw it the day after we became engaged, which was the same 8 years later that we first sat there with our when we met.

I felt so special during that evening and my family felt so welcomed and assured that their daughter was marrying into a wonderfully loving and caring family. I don't think I could name one favorite detail from the whole night, but if I had to, it would have to be the strong sense of family that permeated everywhere.

Engagement Party Madness, Primo Parte

Over the holidays, my family and future family squeezed in their respective engagement parties because that was the only time both my sister (maid of honor)and father were going to be in the country until this summer (sister is dancing in London and father is at our ranch and farm in the Philippines). Needless to say, it was a bit hectic, but what are the holidays for?
Signor Keswick, my sister and I arrived at 4 AM Sunday morning from DC after picking her up from Dulles and driving all the way to Southwest Va. Because we knew we couldn't have a traditional cocktail party, Mom and I got creative and had our friends over for a proper afternoon tea. My sister brought marmalade and proper tea (English breakfast, Mango, and Vanilla) from England and we hired a caterer for finger sandwiches, scones, dessert, etc.

At 2:15, I'm getting ready for the party and ask my mom what time the caterer is supposed to arrive. 2:00. She calls. At 2:20PM, he's still THIRTY minutes late! I almost had a meltdown (well, everyone else says I did. I don't think it was that bad, but to each their own). The caterer arrived 10 minutes after our contract's "event time" and he didn't even apologize! I was very disappointed with their professionalism (or lack thereof) and will not be using them again. Luckily, we were able to plate everything as the guests were arriving. As an events person, it was actually very difficult for me to stay out of the kitchen and greet and mingle with the guests when I knew there was a minor emergency happening "backstage."

It was a small gathering (30ish), but it was all the people I really wanted present to share this special time. Sig. Keswick put on the game for some of the husbands and I visited with the ladies. We tried to stay together during the party as the celebrants, but it was harder for him because he barely knew them and he was very new to this. I knew everyone, and I knew which guests would probably know fewer people, etc. All in all, it was a good dress rehearsal for my future mother-in-law's engagement party, which was going to have over twice as many guests. We had good practice juggling all the guests and we had really great quality time with all of them.

Housing Crisis (not the economic kind)

So, I'm starting to get a little anxious with our housing block. I contacted the Hilton Garden Inn in Charlottesville in November 11 regarding a housing block. I received a proposal and we liked it, so I went ahead and asked her to send me the housing contract. I never received anything, so I followed up again early December. I thought I'd give them sometime over the Thanksgiving holiday. The Director of Sales responded within an hour and said she'd "send" it that afternoon. Still nothing. I emailed this weekend and called today. Nothing. Does anyone have any advice or thoughts? I'm getting worried it's taking this long to get a contract, especially given the economic climate. We wanted to go with the Hilton Garden Inn because the hotel's super close to our reception venue. Thanks for any insight or advice!

How to NOT begin a bachelorette party

Thanks to NY Magazine's Grub Street, I found this article on one girl's experience in throwing a bachelorette party pretty funny:

I organized a bachelorette party at the Clover Club a couple of weeks ago. The celebrant wanted no fanfare but I decided to bring a couple of accessories, to make the occasion feel slightly more special than a girls-night-out. I brought four white balloons, not shaped like penises, and a banana cream pie from a fancy bakery. I was wearing a pretty suit. When I met a group of 5 women there, we attempted to tape our white, non-sexual balloons up to mark our table for our arriving guests. When he noticed this, the host, a poor-man's Michael Stipe, descended on us and asked if we got clearance from the owner to modify our space. He explained that the owner had taken meticulous measures to design the bar just-so and that our four white balloons were interfering with her vision. He didn't make us remove the balloons, but he warned us that there might be retribution if the owner stopped by that night. We stared blankly at him for a moment, exchanged a few confused words among ourselves quietly, as a reality check, and proceeded to order stuff.

He turned us over to our waiter, who was very pleasant and seemed to turn a blind eye to the banana cream pie, which I would have been nervous about by that time had I not called ahead to get permission to bring it. Shortly thereafter, the owner showed and, as predicted, threw some Miranda Priestly shade our way. Our group was 10 by then. The waiter "noticed" the banana cream pie suddenly, became uptight and advised us that we should have called ahead to get their policies on such things. I told her that I had indeed done that but that I could not remember the name of the woman who had taken my call. Maybe I was supposed to complete an online application or something to bring a pie to this bar. The owner walked over and looked at the pie and me like I was Jed Clampett bringing a tin of vittles to dinner at the White House. She offered to "plate" our pie in the basement, and return it to us, waiving the $25 plating fee. We politely declined, on principle, and made a little mess. But not before the waiter confiscated our paper plates (white chinette) because the owner felt they were "trashy." She actually said "trashy" to my face. Oppressive. Power back to the people.

For the full Grub Street article: Clover Club Cracks Down on Balloon-Happy Bachelorettes. I'm not sure I can fairly comment as I have not been to Clover Club and don't know what kind of ambiance the place has. I may be okay with a simple balloon maybe for the celebrant, but many balloons and you get close to tacky. I might have also left the pie at home or waited to eat that in the limo later in the night.

I actually would much rather a relaxing day at the spa with massages and lunch with my girls, but I know not everyone shares my tastes. What do you have in mind for your bachelorette party? Any special requests?

Photo Credit Melissa Horn via NY Mag

What to wear . . . for the Bridesmaids

Early last week I made myself check out J.Crew because of the bombardment of coupons and sales they had been sending to my inbox. At most times of the year I try to resist the temptation, but it was the holidays and I had felt bad about neglecting my bridesmaids and their search for dresses. Lo and behold, the dresses I had loved early this fall were on sale AND they had a lot of sizes AND they were in the colors I wanted!

So I refined my list of prospects and sent them quickly to my girls for comment. They have been so sweet and willing to wear whatever I asked the, but I still wanted them to have a choice in their dress cut and color so that they would have something that brought out their best features.

One of them said to me tonight online (while we waited for J. Crew.com to come back online . . . and we're still waiting): p.s. thank you thank you thank you for not making us get a certain kind of shoes (like a specific pair)...i appreciate that SO much! i think it looks silly when it is all matchy matchy. i knew you wouldn't do that but still!

I'm not saying my way is the only way to do it, but I really wanted the girls to be able to choose a dress style and color (they're picking between 2 colors and 3 dresses) that also made them happy to wear. Another one told me tonight that this is the first dress that she has bought as a bridesmaid that she'll actually get to wear again. Both of these comments meant so much to because they were exactly the end result I wanted to achieve.

I would show you their choices, but because J. Crew.com is being crappy, I'll have to update you with them later. However, knowing that they're all ordering their dresses and who's going to wear what makes me SO EXCITED all over again! It's one thing to pick them out, but to know they've ordered them and who's wearing what at the wedding in 9 months, it's completely different. I can't wait to see them on some of the girls when I go home next week!

Zola Wine and Kitchen Now Open

Recently Star Restaurant Group, (one of D.C.'s leading restaurant development firms who also brought you Indigo Landing) Zola Wine and Kitchen. According to this Washington Business Journals article, it will be the site of a chef's test kitchen as well as a wine shop that will sell 6,000 wines. They will also be offering cooking classes during lunch!

I think this would be a really fun place to visit with out-of-town family or a fun activity for you and your bridal party. If you get to go, let me know how your visit went!