Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Siobhan, featured here, & I wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Handmade St. Patrick's Day card of 2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

On behalf of Koru Wedding Shoppe, I wish you . . .

Good luck
Good health
& Good cheer!

For Japan With Love

Koru Wedding Shoppe is participating in the Bloggers Day of Silence for Japan on Friday, March 18th. This blog will be silent- no posts in honor & respect for what has happened in Japan. It's a small but powerful gesture.

Another small but powerful gesture can be made by visiting & donating to For Japan With Love. All donations support ShelterBox, an organization with their volunteers already helping in Japan. ShelterBox provides emergency shelter & lifesaving supplies for families who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster, typically containing a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage & purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, children’s activity pack & other vital items. Please be know that your donations are being put to good use!

Whatever you can contribute is appreciated. Every little bit helps!

Sending our love & prayers to Japan!!!

Ready, Set, GO!

Our sweet boy Bailey before he was sent to doggie day care

Red roses from my fiance!

My wedding dress: I wish I could wear it again & again!

Me & My Gorgeous Bridesmaids

I'm going to the chapel & I'm going to get married!
(Above photos were taken by friends)

The night before our wedding, my cousin/bridesmaid & I stayed up until 4am packing up the wedding items, cleaning the condo, finishing DIY projects & gossiping. It was a little crazy & I wouldn't recommend it to everyone but it enabled me to wake up on our wedding day without a single care or worry. Everything was done! I noted the sunshine & blue skies & immediately text RZ to say, "It is our beautiful wedding day!" From that moment on, I was on Cloud Nine.

My getting ready crew consisted of my fabulous bridesmaids, my lovely Mom & RZ's great Mom, plus the make-up artist, the hair stylist, the wedding planner & the photographers. Our condo quickly transformed into a dressing room. I had an open house policy so my crew showed up throughout the morning in various stages of hair, make-up & dress. My heart warmed at the sight of each girl's bright, happy, shiny face.

I have to say, I did little more than relax in the hours before our ceremony. My biggest task was walking Bailey & taking him to his doggie daycare/hotel. Then I was able to chill & eat (seriously, Brides-to-be- eating is important!!) while everyone buzzed around me. The hair stylist & make-up artist worked their magic. The beautiful flowers were delivered. Red roses & a sweet note from my fiance arrived. Candid photos were snapped. Girls dashed here & there. It was shaping up to be a wonderful wedding day!

Of course, I was the last lady to get ready. The bridesmaids & Moms were dressed & they looked stunning!! I had my "Classic Bride" make-up done, then had my side chignon styled & my chiffon flower placed. At last, it was time to put on my wedding dress!!! I had waited for this moment for so long & I savored every second. The gorgeous dress. The simple veil. The sparkly shoes. The pearl earrings & the pearl/rhinestone bracelet. The calla lily bouquet. I had carefully chosen every last detail to transform me into my ideal version of a Bride. I've never felt more beautiful!!

Before we left for the church, we had an almond champagne toast & it was my very favorite part of getting ready. Here I was with my favorite women in the world. We looked beautiful & we were pumped: we were on the brink of my marriage ceremony! It doesn't get more special than this (a true understatement). We huddled in the living room & cheered the wedding day. Cheers!

Me, The Bride

Me, The Bride
(Friend's Photograph)

I'm the behind-the-scenes girl at weddings, coordinating this, fixing that & managing the event. I wear black to fade into the background & I avoid the camera like it's the plague. I like it that way. It's where I belong, where I find true happiness.

So how did it feel to step into the spotlight, wear a white dress & be the Bride? I won't lie, I stressed about being the center of attention & about letting go of the control in the days leading to our wedding. I shouldn't have worried. On our wedding day, I was the Bride. And it felt fabulous!

I was so honored to walk down the aisle & marry RZ surrounded by our beloved family & friends. Nothing else, not one little thing, mattered. I could feel the love & happiness pulsing through me & I could see it everywhere I looked. I floated through our wedding on the high of marrying the love of my life. This was our wedding day, our new beginning. I wasn't just a Bride. I was RZ's Bride & that was a very, very special. More than I could ever hope to describe.

P.S. Being his wife is even better!

St. Patrick's Day Crafting #2

Green, green & more green!

A little green sparkle never hurt anyone!

Just like last year, I'm making my St. Patrick's Day cards for my family & friends. I may soon be losing my Irish last name but I will always be an Irish girl!! I love sending cards for the holidays & I love making the cards even more. Crafting is a time to unplug & unwind- I cherish every moment!

I had a clear design vision for my cards &, unlike last year, the cards turned out exactly as I'd planned. What didn't go as planned (there's always something!) was the actual crafting. Since I already had a shamrock punch & green pens, I only needed green paper & green ribbon. Yup, lots of green. I was excited to find sparkly, glitter green paper at AC Moore- jackpot! I came home & happily punched tons of cute, tiny shamrocks before taking a short break.

Beagle Bailey ate half of my shamrocks during this break!

Soooo . . . I had no green paper left & less shamrocks than I wanted. I soldiered on & I suppose the luck of the Irish was with me because I had the perfect amount of shamrocks for my cards & for Bailey's snack. The cards are so cute & I can't wait to show them to you!

Tune in on St. Patrick's Day to see my finished product!!

Last Night as a Bride-to-be

Bride & Groom Thank You Speech
The windows behind us overlook downtown NYC & Statue of Liberty

Me & My Bridesmaids
These ladies rock!

Bride & Groom with my Uncles
They walked me down the aisle :-)

True story: we were one hour late to our rehearsal dinner. Only us! Minus that little detail, my last evening as a Bride-to-be was perfect.

RZ & I were greeted by the applause of our family & friends who had gathered to celebrate with us. Maybe they were simply glad we showed up but I prefer to think they were cheering for us, for our love, for our future. I could feel the love in the room & I will remember it forever.

The evening was fun & casual, just as we'd hoped. Everything was simple with hotel-supplied cocktail tables, black linens, votive candles & house music. The buffet & open seating allowed our guests to eat, mix & mingle as they pleased. Conversations & laughter floated in the air. I ate my fair share of funnel cake, I chatted with our guests & I posed for plenty of photos. Looking back now, I'm very grateful for this extra time to spend with our guests because the wedding went so quickly!

This was our golden opportunity to thank our bridal party, families & friends for their presence, support & love during our engagement, at our wedding & always. I'm not a good public speaker & RZ doesn't love it either. We kept the speech short & sweet, then handed out our thank you gifts. I'm not sure we could ever thank everyone enough but we tried.

The next thing I knew, it was time to say good-night after a wonderful rehearsal diner. RZ would be spending the night in the cushy hotel suite while I would be returning to the comforts of our home. Lots of couples talk about sad tears & heartfelt talks as they separate for the night. Not us! RZ was excited to watch tv & relax in the suite & I had a few things on my to-do list to tackle. But there was no mistaking our happiness: the next time we saw each other, I would be walking down the aisle!

Planning Nightmare

My exact sentiment about planning our rehearsal dinner
Print available on Etsy in breedingfancy's shop

Okay, I wanted to share the story of our rehearsal dinner with you today but I can hardly talk about the dinner without mentioning the planning of the dinner . . .

The planning of our rehearsal dinner was one of our biggest challenges. It took us five months, not to mention plenty of blood, sweat & tears. The premise seemed so simple: a casual dinner to celebrate with our bridal party, families & out-of-town guests. Sounds easy, right? Nope, not in Hoboken. I started out focusing on our favorite restaurants, then tried anything & everything. Most restaurants are too small for private parties & the few that can accommodate large parties charge a fortune. Frustrating.

After getting nowhere fast, we decided to host our rehearsal dinner at the Hyatt on the Hudson to keep things easy for ourselves & our guests. The Hyatt offered us the Harborside Room, a good-sized room with pretty views of the Statue of Liberty. We were on the right track! But it wasn't as easy as we hoped. We didn't like any of the plated or buffet dinner options because they were too formal, very similar to our wedding menu. We wanted the rehearsal dinner & wedding to be vastly different especially now that the venue was essentially the same. I began to wonder if McDonald's would mind a party of 50.

The Hyatt sent me their complete corporate & private catering menu in what I can only guess was sheer desperation. I stumbled upon a "themed snack break" of soft pretzels, french fries & funnel cake. My stomach growled at the mere thought of my favorite foods. We were on to something! With the easy additions of salads, 3 choices of pizza & 3 choices of sliders, we were set. We sent out easy, cute invitations from Pingg & called it a day. At last, we had managed to create the fun, casual rehearsal dinner of our dreams!

Check in tomorrow for the scoop on my last dinner as a Soon-to-Be Mrs.!