I know it's been forever, but I'm baaack!!!!
Ian's family (mom and sister) came up from Virginia for site-seeing, lake life and of course... wedding planning!!!!
First Stop: Bridesmaid dresses
After watching countless movies and episodes of
Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids, I was a little nervous about trying to find dresses for 5 out of 7 of my bridesmaids. It was also Sam's first time meeting everyone, while I love everyone dearly I kept picturing those nightmare bridesmaids of the show and going NOOOOOOO!!!!!
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| My BA Bridesmaids! |
Finding 5 dresses that look absolutely amazing on my bridesmaids... easy as pie. I think it was pretty easy because I had already done my research and knew which color (wine), fabric (satin) and styles (short) I wanted to give the girls to
choose from. So, when we got there the consultant took them to a wall and they each picked out 3-4 dresses that they liked and wanted to try on. After a flurry of trying on and sharing dresses, the girls all found the dress that fit them perfectly! The great thing about them is that you do not have to shorten them to wear them again!!! :)
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| Me and my girls in their dresses (all will be in the wine color) |
Second Stop: Finding Alice's Dress
After the girls found their dresses we convinced Ian's mom to try on dresses. Okay, in reality we just had to say "It's happening" and she was int he dressing room. If I was impressed by our consultant's ability to remember everyone's style, name (kinda), and size, I was blown away by her suggestions. It only took three dresses to find the PERFECT dress! I don't have the pictures but it may or may not look like this dress
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| Complete with ADORABLE shoes! |
Step Three: The Guys
Since we were in the plaza,
it only made sense to run over to Men's Warehouse and pick out tuxes for Ian, the Groomsmen, and our dads. It's not nearly as much fun to go tux shopping, we just got to look at the mannequins and dress them up with various jackets, vests and the ties. The guys will be wearing Vera Wang (yup... Vera Wang) and looking oh so fly. Another item checked off the list!
Step Four: The Guest List
This step is pretty self-explanatory, but it's DONE!! We all finally sat down and went over who was coming, who would get plus ones, and who we might need to apologize to later on. We ended up with 150 people to invite, which means we have a little wiggle room for adding people later or maybe giving plus ones. Looking over the list, it's going to be an amazing crowd and I cannot wait to see everyone tearing up the dance floor of Church Landing!
Step Five: Getting the Mount for the Rehearsal Dinner
When we first started looking for venues, we took at look at the
Mount Washington, THE boat on the lake. My mom loved this boat, and would point it out to us whenever it drove by the cove, we even went on a few cruises. So figuring out a way to incorporate it into the wedding would mean so much to my family and I, since we would be honoring my mom in some way.
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| Mom with my sisters and the Bickfords on the Mount |
Anyways, Since we couldn't make it work for the wedding (not enough time), I got creative and thought...
rehearsal dinner! It's perfect, the 40ish people who will be at the rehearsal will be downstairs and any guests who are coming up on Saturday (majority of the guests) can join us for a 2.5 hour dancing and dinner cruise around the gorgeous lake.
So we all drove up to the lake for the day Saturday to show Alice and Sam Church Landing (loved it), tour the mount and
enjoy lake life. The instant Alice saw the room she said "I'll take it" and I almost cried, I am so happy it's insane.
Having our rehearsal dinner on the Mount is just going to be an amazing experience for all involved, it's perfect!
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| The Mount Cruising Along |
Step Six: Enjoy Lake Life
Okay, so it's not really wedding planning in terms of my check list. It was amazing to take Alice and Sam around the lake and watch them fall in love with it. There is something special about being up there, you need to experience it to understand how truly special and wonderful it is.
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| The Stricklers soaking up the sun |
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| Sam driving the boat, Ian pouting in the back |
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| Gorgeous Sunset before heading home |
Step Seven: Skin Care & Accessorizing
Ian had to work Sunday and so us girls decided it was time for some shopping and pampering. First stop, Target where we found adorable outfits, books galore, some home/dorm furnishings and of course... shoes. Not only did Sam and Alice find the perfect shoes for their dresses, they were on sale. I consider that a huge success.
From there, we went to get some facials a la Mary Kaye Cosmetics. It was so much fun to sit around the table with a bunch of women and learn how to apply foundation (a skill I lack), which moisturizer to use and the proper way to remove eye make-up. I'm not having them do my make-up for the wedding, but my skin is silky-smooth today!
Step Eight: Pat yourself on the back for a job well done
After a busy weekend, we all sat down to watch a movie and enjoy some Mike's Pastries. Mmm, this is the high-life!!!
