SURPRISE spa day with the girls

If I have not mentioned it before, I seriously have THE GREATEST girlfriends in the world! Several weeks ago, Ashley called me and asked me to reserve the afternoon of October 21 for her. She said she could not tell me what was going on and that I would find out the day of. So...yesterday, around 12 noon, Doug and I walked out of Church towards a black car that I TOTALLY did not recognize. Little did I know, it was my girlfriend, Kate, who works at THP with Doug. I was SOOOO confused!!! :)

We ended up driving down to the city where Ashley had made reservations at a spa for massages and facials. Unfortunately, we hit a TON of traffic and ended up being VERY late for our appointments. Ash worked her typical "ash magic" and rearranged the schedules. The spa was called Ettore and it is located inside the Marriott in Philadelphia. It looked SUPER cool and they just so happened to be having a big art exhibit with a local artist. The artist' work looked almost IDENTICAL to Dali's collection. Anyways...they had all of these hor's douvres being butlered and cheese stations set up. It was SUPER cool! The spa itself, was not the greatest. And, actually, I have never had such a bad facial in my life! BUT...it's all things that we laughed at and made fun! We were able to all have lunch together and look at the artwork while being pampered. We even got our picture taken to be placed in the Philadelphia magazine!

It was so cool to have such a nice surprise and have a bunch of my girlfriends all getting pampered and sipping champagne with me! Too bad everyday can't be a spa day!!!!!!! :)

Hair and makeup trial!

So, last Wednesday was the hair and makeup trial. I had had such a bad week last week that I decided to take a 1/2 day on Wednesday. I was SO glad that I did!!! It was so nice to have an afternoon to myself. I ran some MUCH NEEDED errands and then Mom and I had an early dinner at 3:00. By 4:00, we were on the road and entering some SERIOUS traffic in Philly. The place that I have chosen to go with is called Bella Angel and one of their biggest features is that they will come to the bride on the day of the wedding. So...this means that we will all be able to get ready at the Mansion (talk about a beautiful backdrop) instead of cramming into my house. So, since they come to you the day of, you have to go to them for the trial. They were located on Black Horse Pike in NJ. Well, if you know me at all...I am AWFUL with directions and can literally get lost in my own neighborhood (no lie!). We actually made pretty good time getting down there and ended up being a bit early. I was SUPER tired from fighting the traffic so Mom and I decided to try to find a Starbucks to grab a cup of coffee before the appointment. We drove past their location and went down about 10 miles until we finally came across a tiny Dunkin' Donuts. (NO STARBUCKS ANYWHERE!!! What's up, Jersey?!) We got our coffees and then ended up getting SEVERELY lost on the Atlantic City Expressway. We drove around and back-tracked for about 30 minutes until we finally found our way back. haha...should have NEVER gone for that coffee! :)
The place was very small and very un-pretentious! The girl that was working with me was very young and adorable! She graduated with a degree in Art so we had a lot to talk about! I showed her pictures of what I had wanted and we talked about ideas. She did my makeup first (which I was most apprehensive about) and I ended up LOVING it. We had to tweak a few things...and I'm still not 100% sure of the red lipstick...but I ended up liking it A LOT more than I thought I would!
My hair was AMAZING! I came in with a picture of a hairstyle that was so unique and that I absolute adored. The only way that I can describe it is to say a "weave." Basically, she took pieces of my hair and weaved them all together (kind of like a basket) and put it in the back. It was so beautiful and exactly what I had wanted!
My Mom was loving EVERY SECOND of it! They had a trial veil that they let me put on just to get the idea of everything all together. The second I put the veil on, my Mom started BAWLING! She was fine the whole time and then just lost it all of the sudden. It was really cute and really emotional!
After it was all said and done...It was almost 10:00 pm. I was so bummed to take it all out (which took me a good 30 minutes) and wash off all of my makeup. It was CRAZY to think that the next time I would be all done up would be on the wedding day. Crazy, good. Like...I CANNOT wait!!!!!!!!! :)

60 days and counting...

Well, today marks EXACTLY two months until I become Mrs. Douglas Shade!!! Actually, down to the minute. I will be walking down the aisle around 5:00 pm (as long as a certain Groom is not late). It's so crazy to think that there are only 2 months to go! I really cannot believe how quickly this month has flown by! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was walking into work trying to think up a creative way to show my ring to everyone. Now, there are only 8 weeks left. It has actually started to get a bit stressful. Okay, I am lying. A LOT stressful! We were fine up until we hit the 3 month mark (last month). Then...family started REALLY getting involved and REALLY trying to take control. It has been tough trying to set expectations and make everyone happy while at the same time, have our special day exactly like WE want it. It's such a fine balance. I can honestly say that I now understand why people want to elope! It does make it SO much easier and does eliminate a lot of stress and unwanted grief. BUT...I know that when our day comes, we will be so thankful that we pushed through it all and stuck with it. I just keep thinking of the words "I now pronounce you husband and wife" and it brings a smile to my face! I have waited so long to be Doug's wife and I can hardly contain the excitement as I imagine living together and being married!!!!
As far as the planning is concerned...we have pretty much everything done. Doug and I spent all day yesterday assembling and stuffing envelopes for the invites. (Actually, Doug ended up taking a nap and I stuffed) ;) It was actually kind of therapeutic to put all of the invites together. It's going to be crazy to start receiving everyones response cards. I imagine that they will pretty much all come at once and then there will be a few stragglers towards the end.
I have my hair and makeup trial on Wednesday night. I actually just requested to take a 1/2 day at work so that Mom and I can grab dinner before the trial. I'm so excited but a bit nervous that everything will work out. It's so scary booking your hair and makeup! Especially when you don't know anyone specific that has used them in the past. I guess that is what trials are for. I'll be sure to write an update on Thursday and let you all know how it went. I probably won't take pictures...some things need to be a surprise. :)

The Bridal Shower

Well, today was my amazingly beautiful bridal shower. I knew ahead of time that the bridal shower was taking place today...but the location was a secret. It was my last Saturday to sleep in before I had to start getting up early again to teach art classes. I was all set to sleep in until 9 or 10...wouldn't you know...I was up and WIDE AWAKE at 6:00 am!!! I was so excited that I could not fall back asleep.

Last night, as I was walking into the house and thinking about everything that today would bring, it hit me. It was finally my turn! I have been a part of planning so many bridal showers and have attended, as a guest, more than I can count. Now, I get to attend a bridal shower, thrown for me, as the BRIDE! And I wonder why I couldn't sleep in... :)

This morning, I decided to go get a manicure and pedicure in Skippack to help pass the time. Doug told me that I didn't need to be ready until about 3:30...so I had a lot of time to kill. I grabbed some lunch and then gave myself plenty of time to get ready.

I decided to wear a dress that I had ordered from J-Crew. My girlfriend, Rachel, and I were shopping their site one day at work and we saw a HUGE end-of-the-summer sale. I saw this dress marked down 75% and decided to take a chance. I guessed on my size and it ended up fitting perfectly. It is such a fun dress! The only problem is that it takes FOREVER to get into! There’s a built-in corset that needs to be hooked and then a zipper and then these tiny little cap buttons and then a bow in the back. VERY COMPLICATED! :)
So, Doug showed up at my house around 3:30 to take me to the location. He thought it would be a good idea to blindfold me so that I would really have NO CLUE where I was going. I put the blindfold on as soon as we got into the car. (For once, I wasn’t able to be a back-seat driver). We arrived at the location, and Doug escorted me through the door. I could hear everyone whispering and talking and I was DYING to take the blindfold off. When I did, I realized that we were at the Tea Room in Lederach, right outside of Skippack. My Mom and I go here quite often for breakfast and it is the cutest little place! It looked absolutely AMAZING inside!!! There was a big buffet table in the middle with rose petals and candles scattered all over. The food looked so yummy! They had little sandwiches filled with turkey, hummus, veggies, ham and tuna. There was also a HUGE bowl of grilled veggies and the best chocolate covered strawberries EVER! It was perfect!
After Doug and I both said hello to everyone, Doug went out with the boys and I sat down and started eating. My Aunt Kristin ended up running the show and had this fun game planned. She had contacted Doug a few weeks prior to the shower and asked him to fill out all of these questions. She asked him what he thought my favorite color was, when our first kiss was, what we like to do for fun…
Then, everyone had to answer the questions based on how they think DOUG answered. I ended up doing pretty well! (THANK GOD!)
We opened presents after the games and everyone was SO generous! Just about everything was from our registries and I even got a few pieces of lingerie (yay!) :)
I can’t believe how fast the day went! Thinking back on it is a blur and it is only a few hours after the event! I can only imagine how quickly our wedding day will go! This was the very first time that I was able to have everyone that I love and that means so much to me in one room together. It was really cool looking at everyone together…FOR ME!
I wish that I could do it all over again! Guess I’ll just have to wait until December!

~Only 3 months and 7 days left!!!!!!!

Tasting the cake-YUMMY!

Today, Doug and I went with my Mom to Bredenbeck’s Bakery to taste cakes. We were all looking forward to this appointment for a while, especially Doug! ;) It was a little bit of a drive and we got a bit turned around (contrary to what Doug will admit). The bakery is located on Germantown Ave in Chestnut Hill which is the CUTEST little street. There are a ton of very old shops and stores and they all have personalities of their own. We walked into the bakery and were told to help ourselves to coffee. We all got a giant cup of fresh brewed coffee and looked around at all of the home made tarts, pies and cakes. The smells were incredible and this tiny little bakery was swarming with activity! There were people constantly coming in and out, buying all kinds of treats. After a few minutes, we were escorted upstairs to a table with several different types of cake flavors and multiple flavors of icings. Doug and I knew we wanted something unique but we weren’t sure what. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted the design of the cake to look like outside: Black and white, with squared tiers. We tried several types of cake combinations and fillings. All of them were so yummy! I knew Doug and I would disagree slightly on the flavoring of the cake. I am a HUGE chocolate fan…and Doug……not so much. So…we decided on a 4-tiered cake with two different flavors so that we would both have what we liked. The first and third tier will be lemon cake with a raspberry filling and the second and fourth tier will be butter cream pound cake with a chocolate mouse filling. (My mouth is watering just writing about the chocolate filling!!!) I have attached a couple of pictures above for you to see what the cake will look like and what Germantown Ave is like. The cake that we picked will be slightly different than the one pictured above. It will have a black, satin ribbon going around the bottom of each tier instead of white piping and there will be a custom “S” design on the top of the cake.
Today was an AWESOME day and it is crazy to me how easy it was. We were in and out of the bakery in less than an hour and it is really awesome to see all of these little ideas starting to come together to form what will be the happiest day of my life.

Rehearsal dinner

This weekend Doug and I went to the Joseph Ambler Inn to book our rehearsal dinner and book the rooms that we will be staying in on our wedding night and the night after. Since we are not leaving for our honeymoon until Monday, we needed to add an extra night. Doug's Brother, Greg, was kind enough to book us our wedding night suite. The rooms are incredible there and all feature a jacuzzi in the room as well as a little patio (not that we would be using a patio in December) and amazing bathrooms. It was so cool being able to look at the rooms before booking them! We will be staying in the Thomas Wilson House.

We decided to book our rehearsal dinner at the Joseph Ambler Inn because it is not far from the Church that we will be getting married at and not too far of a distance from where most of the family lives. We are renting out the John Robert's House for the rehearsal dinner. The pictures above just do not do this location justice! When you walk in, there is a little lobby/foyer area where cocktails and drinks will be served. Then, you walk into a very intimate room with a HUGE, stone fireplace. The fireplace was the original fireplace that was used back in the day to cook and do wash. It could literally fit 5 people inside it comfortably! Surrounding the fireplace are little chairs and couches with TONS of windows. It is BEAUTIFUL! Then, directly adjacent to this room is the main dining room. This room is also very small, but perfect. There is another fireplace in this room, but this one is an electric fireplace. Not as quaint as the other one...but I'm sure it will give off just as much ambiance as the other. We have not decided on what will be served for dinner. We will need to sit down with Doug's family for that part.

We both think this place will be the perfect way to celebrate the night before we get married with our closest friends and family! http://www.josephamblerinn.com/

Our honeymoon

Today, Doug and I booked our honeymoon. YAY!!! :)

We have been going back and forth trying to decide where we wanted to go. Originally, I wanted to go to Tahiti or one of the Polynesian Islands. We researched SO many places and came to the realization that taking a honeymoon to Tahiti would be out of our budget. I was SO disappointed but we really wanted to do it right. So...we will just have to go there for a big anniversary down the line.

After a lot of research and working with our travel agent, we decided that we would go on our honeymoon to the Dominican Republic. We are going to be going to Punta Cana, which is on the East Coast of DR. Since we were not able to go to the extravagant Tahiti, we wanted to be sure we went all out in the DR. We decided on staying at the Majestic Colonial hotel and we booked a Colonial Junior suite that faces the Ocean. The resort is all inclusive and looks ABSOLUTELY amazing! (I included pictures above) Our room will have an extra jacuzzi out on the deck that overlooks the Ocean.

Doug and I were going back and forth on when we should depart for the honeymoon. We decided that since our reception will not be over until 12:00 midnight on Saturday, we would use Sunday as a rest day and fly out on Monday morning. We wanted to be as rested as possible before boarding a plane for several hours. So, we will leave on Monday, December 10 and return in Philadelphia on Sunday, December 23. Just in time for Christmas. :)

We are so excited to be away together for a nice long vacation!!! I look at pictures just about everyday on the website and can't believe that I will be Mrs. Shade on vacation with her husband in only 7 months! <3