shannonandshua

Hey party people! I'm Miss Candy Corn and I'm a self-proclaimed Weddingbee addict. During my lunch breaks I sit at my desk with my mouth gaping open, staring at how beautiful and witty all of the bees on here are. I never thought I'd be chosen to be part of such a rockin' hive! Consider me flattered beyond words! Since my boy and I are getting hitched in October, I figured candy corn was just the seasonal treat I was looking for! Plus, who doesn't love the waxy tri-colored wonder? Come to think of it, I suppose I do know a lot of people who don't appreciate the festive confection as much as I do (and I can't blame them).
( Read more... )

For those who aren't in-the-know, our wedding shower will be on Saturday, August 9th at 3pm, at Josh's parents' house in Holland, PA. It will be a couple shower, which means Josh and I will be there together to celebrate with our co-ed posse of friends and family!

Attention bridal peeps: Mark Friday, October 10th down on your calendar because it is going to be a fun time!

Us ladies will be gathering into a girly cluster and heading over to Old City's The Continental Restaurant & Martini Bar, Stephen Starr's first restaurant that opened in 1996 and is still as popular and as delicious as ever.





Meanwhile, the lads will be stuffing their faces at Dave & Busters, which is basically the grown-up version of Chuck E. Cheese, minus the questionable ball pit. The massive entertainment complex has a ginormous arcade and a spacious eatery serving pizza, pasta, burgers and finger food. Classic games like billiards, Skee-Ball and shuffleboard are balanced by electronic counterpoints.



After our secretive male & female bonding, the guys & girls will meet back up at North Bowl(all of these places are within a mile radius from each other), where we will get our bowling on. North Bowl is a one-time automotive garage that is now a 21,000-square-foot nightlife haven. From the retro furnishings and lighting fixtures of the '50s to the swanky bar and glass enclosed pod that overlooks the lanes from the lounge. Plus, I have heard they make a mean tater tot. Or several mean tater tots. What do I know, perhaps the tater tots there are very well-behaved. I guess we'll just have to see! Did I mention there's a photobooth? Cos there totally is.

Soooooooo, those shoes I posted the other day aren't available in the sizes we'd need them in (I should've checked that sooner, duh).

These are the only brown shoes I've found (other than super plain brown high-tops and low-tops) available in the sizes we need (9-11):

For the guys, part of their attendant gifts will be Chuck Taylors to wear at the wedding. Now we just have to figure out which ones the guys like...

There are these ($47):



There are also these low-top leather Chucks ($42):



These high-top "double-uppers" ($38), which would go with the bridesmaids' navy dresses:



And these high-top monochrome chucks ($30):



Keep in mind it will be going with this tux, with ivory shirts underneath instead of bright-ass white:

Considering the wedding band I had my hopes set on before doesn't seem to be for sale anymore, I think I have my heart set on this beauty. The ring is made in wax with single dandelion fluffs carefully pushed into the band. Cast in sterling silver and 4mm wide, this ring has a slight patina has been added to bring out the subtle textures. Plus it's affordable and makes me smile thinking about wearing it, which makes it a winner in my book!

Only six months to go...

Unfortunately for me (and fortunately for my fiance), I am an obsessive compulsive bride. I've pretty much tackled every aspect of this whole wedding shabang, but this week I realized that I never gave calligraphy a second thought. I always figured I'd be devoting several weeknights to mastering curlicues while clutching a bottle of Wite-Out. Then, I started obsessing.

I can't use Wite-Out if my envelopes are blue! What if I mess up and scribble on the envelope and I can't use Wite-Out and I run out of envelopes and someone gets an envelope that doesn't match the others and then finds out that theirs was different than all the others and gets totally offended and doesn't come!?

Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night. I shove those qualms about foreign affairs aside and devote my worries to handwritten invitations. Seriously. This has to be some sort of sickness.

I decided to give myself a little assignment. Since I also act as the administrative assistant at work, I would perfect my handwriting by practicing my cursive on any packages or letters that had to go out to clients. This lasted all of Monday, until I realized that I couldn't handle the pressure of having to have impeccable handwriting. I kept getting nervous and crossing my l's and dotting my o's and before I knew it, I was on Google researching calligraphers.

That's when I came across this gem, Betsy Dunlap. The totally affordable, down-to-earth calligrapher who declared me as her new best friend in our last e-mail correspondence. She is the bomb dizzle, if I ever saw one. And yes, I just used the phrase "bomb dizzle." I'm quite relieved to know that I won't have to stress myself out over misspelled addresses and non-matching envelopes in the near future!


(This is the style we've decided to go with)


We decided this one was a little too informal, but still love it.


Fiesty.


Gorrrrrrrrrgeous!

The always-hungry hubby-to-be!


The always-menopausal and slightly manic mama duck!


The always-babbling and seldom bashful (but caught in one of those rare moments) father of the bride!


The always-shy and muppettastic bride (aka me)!

Butlered hors d'oeuvres:

Seared baby lamb chops with mint pesto

Chili and lime cured salmon and cucumber pinwheels

Sesame crusted shrimp with a soy dipping sauce

Miniature crab cakes with remoulade sauce

Sauteed apple sliced with Roquefort cheese on French bread
Beef skewer with a cognac dipping sauce


Salad:

Empress salad with watercress, bok choy, julienne daikon root, water chestnuts and red peppers, with mandarin oranges and a lemon lime citrus dressing


Entrees:

Sesame almond coated chicken breast with an Asian black bean sauce

Vegetarian entree of mushroom, spinach and pine nuts in phyllo

Entrees accompanied by Chinese long beans and garlic mashed potatoes

Wedding cake:

To be determined. Optional, if cake is served, a scoop of vanilla ice cream is complimentary.

Alcoholic beverages:

Bottled house wine (Georges Deboeuf and Mondavi Woodbridge)
Bottled beer (Yuengling, Coors Lite, Corona)
Mixed drinks (Absolute, tanqueray, Dewars, Mt Gay brands)
Smirnoff Vodka
Gordons Gin
Bacardi Rum
Windsor Canadian Whiskey
Evan Williams Bourbon
Clan MacGregor Scotch

This is our O-tel (say it with a French accent, for it is Philly's only French O-tel), the Sofitel Philadelphia. I get mocking rights since the pop-in-law-to-be is French and will soon be family!

Located in the heart of the city, the Sofitel is the cornerstone of the new French Quarter, just steps from Rittenhouse Square. The former Philadelphia Stock Exchange Building, this hotel infuses French flavor with American style. Many of the staff are French, as is the cuisine in the hotel’s full-service restaurant, Chez Colette. With 300 rooms of unusually large proportions, averaging 400 square feet, it markets itself as a 4½ star hotel. Amenities include large desks, three phones in each room, high-speed Internet access and French chocolates on the pillow nightly.



Unforrrrrrrrrtunately, the hotel is having a conference the weekend of our wedding, so the option of blocking rooms for our guests is unavailable, but I plan to warn out-of-towners in advance so they don't end up having to dish out $300 to stay a million miles from us. The rates are about $200/night, which is still cheaper than most neighboring hotels WITH the discounted rates, PLUS this o-tel is totally our "style" and is rated the #1 hotel in Philadelphia on tripadvisor.com.



We will be staying in the Superior Room (king size) for four nights, which will include: two armchairs, landline high speed as well as wireless Internet (with a surcharge), a marble bathroom with a glass-enclosed shower and a separate bathtub.