Our Wedding Blog

2007-12-07T14:08:00.000-05:00

Our First Year Together

2007-12-07T10:18:00.000-05:00

Our First Year- Part 1

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Our First Year Part 2

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Our First Year Part 3

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Our First Year - Part 4

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Our First Year Part 5

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One Final Thank You

2007-08-26T18:25:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to thank everyone again for everything you guys did for us during the wedding:

Being a part of the wedding party
Handing out programs and bubbles
Watching the children
Singing at the church
Videotaping
Taking pictures (you have no idea how important they turned out to be!)
Volunteering to be chauffeurs
Opening up your homes to our friends and loved ones
Creating an entire wedding album from scratch
Holding a bachelor and bachelorette party
Creating a video of the wedding and our dating history
Creating bookmarks
Going shopping for various things that apparently AC Moore doesn't carry anymore and probably only discontinued because I wanted it
Creating "Smurfs"
Creating our wedding invitation
Shopping for things to entertain the children
Fixing my hair the day of the wedding before I had a breakdown!
Helping me pee in that gigantic dress (and take a picture while I'm doing it)

...And countless other things that I'm probably forget and will always be in debt to you guys for doing for us.

I know everyone has already seen this picture from the thank you cards, but it seemed like the right photo for one final thank you. Now there is only one thing left for me to do, direct you to the next Wedding Blog http://www.tif-jack.blogspot.com/

Honeymoon

2007-06-10T22:38:00.000-04:00

Since we got married in the middle of November and since Thanksgiving was that Thursday, we only did a small Honeymoon to New Hope, PA.

While we were there we went to South Street Philly, the Franklin Institute and saw an exhibit on Darwin, Dave and Buster's, Doylestown, The Mercer Museum, the Michener Art Museum, King of Prussia and saw Nightmare Before Christmas, and Peddler's Village.

Unfortunately, the digital camera died during our honeymoon, so we don't have a lot of pictures, but here are the few we do have.

We stayed at Barley Sheaf Bed and Breakfast in New Hope. We did a couples massage on our last day, it was very cool. I love this place, someday, we are so going back!

Outside the B&B

Peddler's Village

Where we ate the last night of our Honeymoon

In May we actually did our big honeymoon to Virginia. We did Virginia Beach, Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, Busch Gardens, and a few smaller things too. It was a blast. We were there for about a week, and we stayed at a B& B as well. We have tons of pictures from that trip, maybe someday I'll start a new blog and post those pictures.

After Party!

2007-05-05T19:03:00.000-04:00

So finally we have come to the end of the evening, after everyone left the reception, Mikey invited everyone back to his room for the After Party... Here are some random pictures of the event, along with some ending reception pictures.

Goodnight from the Pedone/Clarke Wedding!

The car! They put 400ft of bubble wrap around it(they could have used 600ft), the bows from the church, beer and arazona iced tea cans, a teddy bear, oh....and a unicorn horn!

Party in Mikey's Room!

Singing outside the Water Gap Country Club (Lucky police did not show up)

Random Group Shots

2007-04-22T20:36:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the invention of the "Table Camera" we got tons of great shots at the tables!

Here are some random friensds groups shots we took along the way too!

Random Dancing Shots!

2007-04-22T20:13:00.000-04:00

As you can see we did the chicken dance and Lawrence and Mike were "The Chicken Kings." We did a conga line, which I had to lead unfortunately!

I also danced with my siblings during "Through the Years" and apparently my parents danced with Tiff during that song as well. I think they like her better then us, why do you think?

The Winners!

2007-03-16T16:47:00.000-04:00

So Sandy and Robert won the garter and bouquet toss and Robert had to do his sexy dance over to Sandy to the song "Let's Get it On." I stuck a dollar bill down his shirt, which I thought was funny. But not nearly as funny as the nosey little girl who snuck over to watch Robert grinding on Sandy! After Ryan carried a confused Caity safely back to my father we continued with the garter.

Garter/Bouquet Toss

2007-03-04T23:31:00.000-05:00

Finally, after Ryan's guitar solo we did the garter and bouquet toss. Ryan had to dance towards me to "I'm too Sexy." You can see Ryan really got into it, and so did Alana, she ran over and stuck a dollar bill in his shirt!
Sandy won the bouquet toss, though I still think she cheated since she is engaged and I was aiming for Tiffany! Sandy's fiance, Robert won the garter toss, and if you look closely you can see Lawrence blocking Brian from catching the garter.

Guitar Solo

2007-02-08T11:56:00.000-05:00

So after the second Father/Daughter dance, I see a chair in the middle of the dance floor, I assume it was time for the garter toss. But no, Ryan was actually secretly taking guitar lessons for a few months prior to the wedding and he surprised me by sing "In My Life" by the Beatles. I believe the only people who knew were Sandy, Sheila, and Brian. Here are some pictures.

Cake!

2007-02-01T14:13:00.000-05:00

After the first father/daughter dance and the mother/son dance, it was time to cut the cake! The DJ played "When I'm 64" cause that's when my father told me I could start dating. We did the whole traditional feeding each other thing, but we were nice and did throw it in each other's faces. Although Ryan did put a little on my cheek.

Father/Daughter Dances and Mother/Son Dance

2007-01-29T14:13:00.000-05:00

So my dad actually danced with me to two songs (he couldn't make up his mind). Lawrence says I should be happy it was only two. The first song was "Tough Little Boys" and the second one was "I Loved Her First" We did space them apart so people wouldn't be to bored.

Ryan and his mom danced to "Wonderful World." She said it always reminds her of Ryan because when he was younger her chorus group sang on Good Morning America and they played tht going to commercial.

I'm not really sure which picture is which of us dancing

Caity had to make an appearance in the picture!

Speech!

2007-01-22T14:05:00.000-05:00

Actually the title should have been "Speeches" because not only did Kevin, the best man, do a speech, but Robin, the maid of honor, and both fathers did a speech as well. We must be really loved! Take a look at some of the pictures.

Kevin's speech was about 8 minutes long! In fairness he did warn us!

The speech was also very funny!

Robin mentioned how she tried to teach me to "fetch" her shoes, Love you too Rob!

Father's speech 1

Father's speech 2

Entrance and Our First Dance

2007-01-11T12:21:00.000-05:00

After the cocktail hour we did the entrance. Ryan and I walked in to "The Adventure" by Angels and Airwaves and our first dance was to "Somebody" by the Depeche Mode." Here are the pictures of us coming in, along with our first dance and when everyone joined in.

Parent's Entrance (they walked into "Remember When"

Bridal Party Entering and Us!

Our First Dance, how cute!

Random shots during the first dance.

Cocktail Hour!

2007-01-08T12:39:00.000-05:00

Time to move on to the reception and my first embarrassment of the evening. As I was walking into the Water Gap Country Club my giant slip fell off! I needed the limo guy "The Todd" to help me out of it. I rushed into the bathroom and my mom and Alicia helped me get it back on and busseled the back of my dress, but first I actually got to use the bathroom! Afterwards Ryan and I and the rest of the bridal party got our own private hors D' oeuvres and champagne in our suite. We also walked around among the guests for a little while.

Walking in to the Water Gap Country Club

Erin had to help us with the champagne

Collette loved the King sized bed, and asked if Ryan and I lived there now

Random cocktail hour shots

Some Group Shots

2007-01-04T13:54:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the group shots from the wedding. We didn't get the "professional" pictures yet, so I will be adding more later, like the siblings and the parents shots, but for now here are a few and feel free to check back again later for the remaining pictures.

Bridesmaids and Flower Girls

Groomsmen

Wedding Party without the Flower Girls and Ring Bearer

Wedding Party, children getting ready for their pictures!

Wedding Party, or small chorus group? You decide!

The Wedding

2006-12-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

So we finally got to the church after all the prep time and pictures. The cermony started around 1:30 and it lasted an hour, maybe a little better then an hour. Here are some of the MANY church pictures.

Sarah and Jeremy actually handed out the programs and bubbles for us, thanks guys!

The HUGE wedding party, including all the flower girls

Here we go!

Uncle Joe and Sr. Ellen doing the readings

Holy Crap! We're Married, and we STILL look in shock!

Parents pictures!

House Pictures

2006-12-18T16:02:00.000-05:00

After I was finally dressed; the cowgirl dance and the hair crisis over, it was time for some group shots. While everyone took shots, I asked Alicia to take the most, since we didn't ask a professional to come over to the house. (Have I thank you enough yet, Alicia?)

A few of my kids, aren't they cute....

This was our interpretation of professional poses...

My family, aren't we an attractive group?!?!

Bridesmaids and the Dudes!

My friends, I love you guys!

On our way, here we go!

Getting Ready

2006-12-15T16:43:00.000-05:00

We got the hair dressers very early on November 18th, I think around 8AM. They worked on Alicia, my mom and me. As you can see we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, about an hour after I got home, my hair was falling apart and lost its curl. Alicia, however, managed to fix it and it actually stayed to whole night. Thank you Alicia, I think I would have gone completely crazy if you weren't there that day!

Our trip to the hairdresser.

My Chance got dressed for the occasion as well

Make up time and Alicia and Chrissy playing damage control

My cowgirl dance and my mom putting the garter belt on

Alicia doing some last minute finishing touches

Okay I think I'm ready for some real pictures now.

Rehearsal Dinner

2006-12-13T12:44:00.000-05:00

The Rehearsal Dinner was of course, after the rehearsal at the church on November 17th. It was at Gaetano's in Bath at around 8:30. It was really nice, I think I was to afraid of the reality of everything to really enjoy it! But everyone had fun. We gave out all our bridal party gifts after dinner, which I hope everyone likes, we tried hard to get something that was a little practical or at the very least a nice keepsake. In any event here are the pictures from that evening

This is a sample of the bookmark's that Kevin made for everyone. The top 10 reasons were made right from the suggestions everyone gave us on the blog!!! My sister also made a DVD for everyone as well.

Random table pictures!

Aww....Friends Pictures

The kids ran around like crazy after dinner was over!

Ryan's last picture as a free man, look how happy he is!!!

The Rehearsal

2006-12-08T13:20:00.000-05:00

The rehearsal was obviously the night before the wedding, November 17th at 6:30. I actually got there a little early so I could set up the church with the bows. When we got there Mike Erickson was showing off to the organist!! It sounded great, by the way!! Chrissy and Alicia helped out with the bows, thankfully because I was to nervous to really tie a knot!

Considering the size of the bridal party, I'd say it went rather smoothly.

Our Last Night of Freedom

2006-12-05T11:26:00.000-05:00

Our Last Night of Freedom party was for the most part, rained out. But we did manage to make it to Sarah Street Grill (about 2 hours later then originally planned) and Dunkin Donuts!! Unfortunately,a lot of people who planned on going, Erin, Alicia, Jack, Tiffany, and Sarah, couldn't make it on a count of the hurricane like rain and wind!! But thank you everyone who did come and here are a few of the pictures I took with my camera that night.

The Wedding!!!

2006-11-28T14:41:00.000-05:00

I don't have many pictures right now, but here are some of the first ones I've gotten from Sarah! If anyone has any pictures or videos please e-mail them to me.

I will post again with more pictures from Our Last Night of Freedom, the Reherasal Dinner, The Wedding, The After Party, and our Honeymoon once I get a look at everything!

Bachelor Party

2006-11-10T11:00:00.000-05:00

So the guys went to a restaurant called The Classic Rock and Roll Cafe. They were planning on going to Croc Rock but I guess when they found out Ciara was playing there they opted not to go (while Ciara is cool and everything, it just not Ryan's kind of music). Anyway, instead they went to The Stering Hotel and saw our buddies Rid Of Waste!!!! I'm sure they were shock to see Ryan as well.

Apparently The Sterling Hotel and Banana Joe's does this Angels and Devils thing for Halloween, one club you dress as devils and the other club you dress as angels. Can you guess when the Sterling Hotel was?!?

After the club, everyone chilled in Kevin's hotel room for the evening, I'm sure he appreciated that! Thanks Kevin, for letting them crash with you!

Group Shots from The Rock n' Roll Cafe and The Sterling Hotel

Random People Ryan posed with

Shane and Kathy, who do you think makes the better Devil?
(BTW, nice shoes Kathy!)

They are so drunk!

Bachelorette Party

2006-11-03T14:00:00.000-05:00

We did the Bachelorette Party and the Bachelor Party on the same night, October 28th. Since there are so many pictures here are the first set from the Bachelorette Party. I'll post the pictures from Ryan's Party next week.

The girls went to Sarah's Street Grill for dinner, in our own private room! We tried to go to Dansbury Depot to drink, but unforunately it was closed. So we just went back to the hotel and drank and talked the rest of the night. We played a few games as well!

Thank you to everyone who came and took part in planning the event, you guys did exactly what I wanted, a quiet evening with a few good friends, just talking and having a few drinks. A special thanks to Sarah who stepped up and planned the whole thing for me after she realized Robin couldn't do it. You have no idea how much it meant to me, thank you so much, I hope I can return the favor some day!

Pin the fire hose on the fireman

At the Sarah Street Grill

Back at the Hotel (The Pictures I can Show!)

The Rehearsal Dinner

2006-10-28T13:16:00.000-04:00

As I'm sure everyone who is in the wedding party knows by now, the invitations for the rehearsal dinner have gone out! Anyone who did not get an invitation, but knows you are in the wedding party, therefore should be going to the rehearsal dinner, please let me know, maybe I got your address wrong or maybe something happened in the mail. Here is a picture of what they look like, in case you are not in the wedding party. If you have not responded as of yet please put them in the mail this weekend, the response date is November 1st.

Also, we actually got our marriage license this week! Looks like the last thing we need is for it to be signed! Since I'm pretty sure it would be a bad idea to post that on the web, you're just going to have to imagine what it looks like (it's very Pennsylvania Dutch, if that helps!)

Hello Danny!

2006-10-18T20:59:00.000-04:00

Meet Daniel Matthew Lamb, the littlest ring bearer! He was born on October 11th and weighted 9 lb! He is a big boy! Ryan, Lawrence, and I went to Albany on Sunday to see his homecoming. Everyone is doing well, it's crazy at the house right now, but I'm sure that will change once Danny has a routine. For those of you who won't be at the Baptism you will get to meet him at the wedding.

Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties and Our Last Night of Freedom!

2006-10-10T10:44:00.000-04:00

Okay, I think everyone knows, but In case some people don't, the bachelor party and the bachelorette party will both be on October 28th. We thought it would be better for everyone if we did it all on the same day, so that couples wouldn't have to give up two weekends for us. I know a bunch of ideas have been thrown out on both sides, but I just wanted to make sure everyone marked the date on the calendars who wants to come. Kevin or Jack should be contacting the guys and Sarah should be contacting the girls with more details.

One last thing, Ryan and I would also like to invite everyone to come along with us on Thursday, November 16th (in the evening) as we celebrate Our Last Night of Freedom. We thought it would be nice to do a co-ed party and to bid farewell to the single life together, since that's how we spent most of our single life anyway. We were thinking it will probably be at this bar in Phillipsburg, Delahanty's Tavern on the Square or Red Robin's in Easton. Both places are non-smoking, so they would be the best choice, but if anyone has a better idea, please feel free to share it.

Smurfs!

2006-09-28T16:08:00.000-04:00

Okay guess what the picture is! If you know already don't guess till the very end, please! Here are a few hints for everyone:

1. It is wedding related

2. Alana had it at her wedding

Okay start guessing!

One other thing. I'm pretty sure I e-mail everyone about this, but one more time, in case I missed someone. The rehearsal for the wedding will be on Friday, November 17th at 6:30. It's obviously at the church. The directions to the church are included in the invitations. There will be invitations to the dinner going out to everyone who is apart of the rehearsal. The dinner will be after the rehearsal. Let me know if there are any problems.

Flower Girls!

2006-09-19T12:11:00.000-04:00

After Alicia's uphill battle with the company, she finally get the flower girl dress for Collette and Lizzy. All of these girls are really going to steal the show. They look adorable! Thanks guys for everything!

Invitations!

2006-09-13T11:37:00.000-04:00

As many of you already know, after a long uphill battle, the invitations finally went out! For those of you who didn't get invitations, you probably weren't invited to the social event of the year:) Seriously though, for those of you who didn't get invitations, but KNOW you are invited, please contact me, maybe I got your address wrong or maybe something happened in the mail.

I know it's early, and you all still have a little less then a month so take your time, but please, please, please send back the response card whether or not you are coming. I'm actually checking the mailbox every day for them, pathetic I know, but it's exciting.

Let me know if everything stayed together okay. We actually cut the ribbon, hot glued it on, and then put the rings on, all by hand, so I'm curious if it got to it's destination as good looking as when it left!

Newspaper Bride

2006-09-05T18:18:00.000-04:00

I worked a "Teen Lock In" on August 11th . About 40 teenagers locked in the library overnight. Not one of them slept! It was actually a lot of fun, a lot of work, but still fun. Around 4AM we did "Graduation ceremonies" for the kids who are moving on to college this year. But I guess we were short a person, so the YA Librarian, MaryAnn, told the kids about my up coming wedding and they decided to do a "Wedding ceremony" as well. They dresses me in newspaper and I even had a flower girl and ring bearer and I walked down the aisle to "Here comes the bride" on kazoo.

Bridal Shower

2006-08-29T11:42:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, August 20th, my mom and sister surprised me with my bridal shower! Robin told me she had an appointment with Bridal's by Sandra to get her dress cleaned and midway through our trip down there she told me they had to push back the time. She asked if we could go to the Water Gap Country club because she had never seen it. Once we got there she basically pushed me into the room. I didn't want to go in because I thought something must have been going on since the door was closed Obviously, something was going on.

I had a great time, I hope everyone else did. Thank you all for coming and for all your help ahead of time, you really did surprise me! I loved seeing everyone again and I can't wait to see you all again at the wedding in November.

Here are some pictures from the day. Add your comments as you see appropriate! If you have any other pictures from the day, please e-mail them to me; I'd love to see them.

Tuxedo Fitting

2006-08-22T21:39:00.000-04:00

After Chris and Alana's Wedding everyone got together on Sunday, August 6th to get fitted for the tuxedos. The Ushers all got theirs and the father's picked out theirs as well. Since Mikey couldn't make it on Sunday, Ryan made a special trip with him that Monday. Looks like we are almost set for the wedding!

Updates and Reminders

2006-08-14T12:44:00.000-04:00

First, I wanted to mention this last week, but I forgot. Currently, all the rooms at the Water Gap Country Club are available for November 18th. Cost of the rooms are very cheap, around $60-$80 a night. If you are interested in booking a room there, I suggest making the reservation now, even though this is a golf resort, it still the week before Thanksgiving, rooms could fill up.

Ryan and I went on a search for wedding party gifts. I guess I'm not suppose to tell everyone what they are. But we will be ordering them in the near future!

A minor mishap has a occurred with the invitation. Unforunately, they have to all be redone. I'm excited about that! No matter what they will be going out by the end of this month.

Finally, for all bridesmaids! Ryan went to go pick up Robin's dress on Saturday. When we looked at it on Sunday, we noticed some marks on the stole, it's not to bad, but please everyone---check the dresses carefully before leaving the store and signing anything. Here is a picture of the dress and my very pregnant sister.

A Few Other Weddings

2006-08-08T17:56:00.000-04:00

I guess Ryan and I were just eager to jump on the wedding bandwagon, here are a few pictures of some other wedding's we have been to recently.

Charlie and Lori July 1, 2006

Chris and Alana August 5, 2006

Caity was actually a flower girl

Alana and my brother are best friends.

Caity and Emmy in their Dresses

2006-07-27T14:58:00.000-04:00

Caity and Emmy's dresses came in this week, here are some pictures of them. Don't they look adorable!?! I think they look so sweet. I can't wait to see the four of them together in the dresses walking down the aisle. They are going to steal the show.

Robin also picked up an outfit for "Nuppy" to match his big sisters.

Our Rings

2006-07-17T16:03:00.000-04:00

Well we went to James Diamond in Mount Pocono on Friday (the same place Ryan brought my engagement ring at) and we went looking for our wedding bands. We had both wanted kind of a Celtic ring but they were a little more expensive, so instead we went a little more traditional.

As usual I tried on three rings and picked the first ring I tried on. It a band with crushed diamonds on the front of the band. Ryan however tried on about ten rings, we were in the store for over an hour while he decided! His ring is very cool looking plain band, unlike the picture here though, his ring will be white gold.

Flower Girl Dresses

2006-07-13T14:13:00.000-04:00

After searching forever for the perfect flower girl I finally narrowed it down. I was in search for a cheaper Alicia and Robin have a few choices to choose from and I don't care if they match as long as the colors match. So here they are:

For Emmy and Lizzie they have these two to choices and the color is baby blue:

For Caity and Collette they have these three choices and the color is Ivory:

Once the dresses come in I will make sure we get a few pictures of all the girls with their dresses on before the wedding.

More Tuxedos

2006-07-05T18:56:00.000-04:00

Kevin and Carl came in from California this past weekend for Lori's wedding (a cousin). While his brother was here Ryan thought it would be nice to get the Clarke men together to at least start looking at tuxedos (Don't worry the original date of August 6th, still stands, Kevin's just trying to help move the process along).

Here is Kevin and Brian when they first got to After Hours.

This is my personal favorite. Ryan is wearing what the Usher's would actually wear. His would be the same, but in gray.

Love the jeans, baby!

Here is another choice, a little more traditional.

Tuxedos

2006-06-24T15:09:00.000-04:00

Finally, Ryan has set a date for the guys to go for their tuxedos! Here it is the moment everyone was waiting for---Sunday, August 6th; in the afternoon sometime. He figured that will be right after Alana and Chris' Wedding so Matt will still be here, plus by doing it in the afternoon it will give Jack some time to sober up. It is also far enough in advance that anyone who wants to come, but has to travel, ask for off, or both, can plan for it.

I don't know where he is going for the tuxedos yet, I would imagine probably After Hours or some chain like that. That way anyone who can't make it that day, can just call in their measurements to the store.

Let me or Ryan know if their is a problem with that day (or post it in the comments). We will do everything we can to make sure anyone who wants to go, can go that day.

Hair and a Few Other Things

2006-06-13T19:10:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I finally went to get my hair cut and I talked with the lady who will probably be doing my hair for the wedding. She told me to bring in the veil and that we could do a few different things to it to see what is best. I've narrowed it down to two, one is this Princess Leia kind of thing the other is a down look. Since I'm not really sure of the rules though, I'm not going to post the pictures, so instead here is a picture of Princess Leia!

Also on Sunday we went for our second Pre-Cana class. Only one more to go!

Finally, my mom and I are in search of the perfect bra for the wedding. My dress has a low back and a regular bra will not cut it, but because my boobs (sorry) are big I can't get a bra built into the dress. If anyone has any suggestions as all please help! We tried Victoria Secret and the Crossings and so far both are coming up short.

One more thing, Ryan will have a date for the guys to go for their tuxedos in the next few days, I will let you know by the next post.

Pre-Cana

2006-06-06T17:15:00.000-04:00

We had our first Pre-Cana meeting on Sunday. It was interesting. They made us take a scantron test. They separated guys on one side of the room, girls on another and then you had to answer all these questions (156) about each other. I guess after the sessions we go to the priest and then he evaluates us together. It's weird, I know.

There are three topics for discussion. The first week was Communication, the second week is Sexuality, and the final week is Finances.

There is a workbook and everything (no homework, thankfully). We go next Sunday again, then we get a week off for Father's Day, and then we go the last Sunday in June. After that I'm not sure when we talk to the priest.

The Littlest Ring Bearer

2006-05-31T20:11:00.000-04:00

For all those who do not know yet---- Robin is pregnant again! Everything is great, she when for the sonogram today and found out, it's a boy! she is due October 19, 2006 (yes, a month before the wedding!) So, looks like Ryan and I may actually have the youngest ring bearer ever in a wedding! It's so exciting. He is absolutely adorable already, just get a load of him!

Caity seemed a little apprehensive as first; apparently she thought she would have to trade Emmy in for another baby, but after Robin and Matt explained that they are keeping Emmy and adding another baby, she seemed a bit more relaxed. She does however want to name the baby Nuppy, which I don't believe will actually happen.

So say hello to the latest edition to the wedding party!

The Flowers

2006-05-23T15:54:00.000-04:00

After playing tag for two weeks we finally went for the flowers on Monday (actually me and my mom went). She was very helpful and very patient considering I haven't put much thought into the flowers, other then the color I wanted.

We ended up going with blue hydrangeas for the bridemaids, the ushers, and the flowers girls. My bouquet will have the blue hydrangeas as well, with yellow roses in it. I also got a small bouquet for tossing at the reception. Ryan will just have the yellow rose in his jacket. For the parents, we left it up in the air since the moms haven't gotten their dresses yet. Of course, everything is artificial because of my allergies and the fact that I don't want to die on my wedding day!

For the bridesmaids: If you have any extra material at the bottom of your dress, please save it and give it to me, we are going to need it for various reasons.

Here is a picture of the bridemaids bouquet and kind of a rough idea of what mine will look like. Plus, Melanie's Florals website.

Melanie's Floral

Cleaning Up

2006-05-16T13:50:00.000-04:00

We were suppose to go to the florist this morning and I was going to write about that today. But I had this huge migraine last night and even though I tried, I couldn't sleep until 4AM. So Ryan rescheduled the appointment for Monday 11AM, so now you know what next week will be about.

I felt guilty not writing anything this week, since last week was finals, and I didn't do anything except study Physics (By the way, rocked the final!).

Anyway, on Saturday, Ryan and my dad moved the entertainment center and the couch into the apartment. After that everyone cleaned. The place looks great, so here are some pictures before and after. We still have a bunch of stuff to move (like a bed) but that's not coming till August! So expect one more post on this topic with the finished results!

My Veil

2006-05-02T18:17:00.000-04:00

My mom and I went veil shopping at Bridal's By Sandra last Friday.

I don't know why, but I was completely unprepared to put my dress on again, I guess it makes sense to try on your veil with your dress, to get the full picture and all.

For some reason, picking out the veil was actually harder then picking out my dress. I tried on a few and looked through a magazine. Eventually, I picked out a very long plain veil (No crown, just one of those pick thingys to attach to my head!) It has a separate thingy to cover my face when I walk down the aisle. I like it.

I'm not sure what the rules are about the groom seeing the veil before the wedding, so to play it safe, here are just some generic pictures of veils. If you are really curious, e-mail me and I'll send you a picture.

Our First Place

2006-04-24T13:11:00.000-04:00

We went apartment hunting again last Wednesday. We looked at four places, one in East-burg, one in Mt. Pocono, one in Canadensis, and one in Cresco.

We drove up to the one in Cresco and I saw the chandelier and the huge porch with the lawn and I told Ryan, unless this place is a complete mess inside, this is the place. Great location, secure building, and it actually looks cute.

We absolutely loved it, so on Sunday we brought the parents to take a look at it. All 4 agreed that this was a great place. So we took it! It's a little sooner then we wanted a place (I was hoping to get a place by the end of August) but this place was just to good to pass up.

The guy was actually painting and stuff when we were there, but you can get a feel for the way it looks (look beyond the paint cans and rags on the floor!) The place will be ready at the latest, Monday, May 1st. We may actually be able to get in this coming weekend, or even by Tuesday!

Pocono Record

2006-04-17T20:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks everyone for the great comments. It's been two weeks so I thought I should post again, but keep adding to the Top 10 List as you come up with ideas!

Well, recently I've become a mini-celebrate in the Poconos (yes, I am going to toot my own horn a little!). Since starting at Clymer I've had three articles published in the Pocono Record on the library's behalf. The first about arts & crafts; the second was about the proposed increase in library funds being offered by the state; and the last was about weight lose and low carb diets. This article got so much attention, that some guy in South Carolina actually blogged about it on his web site! Unforunately, the Pocono record keeps screwing up my title, so the title is wrong on this person's blog but it's still a cool article. Check it out:

Pennsylvania Librarian Likes Low-Carb Books

Anyway, back to the wedding. After all that I thought we should actually send in our engagement announcement to the Pocono Record. So it was published in the Sunday edition of the Pocono Record, April 9th. In usual Pocono Record style they goof again and said that me and Ryan were both graduates from ESU. I apparently have fictitious degree in Library Science (not even offered at ESU) and Ryan has a fictitious degree in General Studies (that's right a bachelors Degree in General Studies). But check it out any way:

Pocono Record Milestones April 9th, 2006

Top 10 List Bookmark

2006-04-04T17:48:00.000-04:00

Okay, time for everyone to break out of hibernation for this post! Kevin (Ryan's brother, Kevin) has offered to make us bookmarks for the wedding as little favors for everyone. So Ryan and I thought it would be cool to do the Top 10 Reasons We are Getting Married in a bookmark.

For this one I thought it would be nice if everyone help out. So post your Reasons Why We are Getting Married in the comment section. You don't have to post 10 whole reasons, just one or two. Whatever you feel like doing.

Here is the invitation we were considering (we are not actually going with this invitation so feel free to plagiarize a little), maybe that will help for some ideas:

Top 10 Reasons We're Getting Married:

10. The Psychic Hotline said we would

9. My schedule was open and I needed a new dress

8. We want to start our own web site together

7. We need a vacation

6. There's nothing else to do now that Melrose Place is canceled

5. We want His and Hers cellular phones

4. We haven't seen our family or friends in a while

3. My toaster is broken

2. We've got a major craving for wedding cake

But here's the number one reason we're getting married: We're in Love: of course

The Pros Wine and Cheese Reception

2006-03-28T17:40:00.000-05:00

On March 15 The Pros had a demo in Allentown. We knew we were going to go with them, but we figured free food is always nice, plus by booking that night we actually saved a little money. So it was worth going. We mingled with a few photographers and then the DJ's did a little demo for us. Ryan was chosen to get up and dance with the DJ's, they gave him a maraca and a sailors hat (I wish I hadn't forgotten the camera!)

When one of the photographers asked me what time everything started I had to call my mom and ask her what time the wedding and the reception started, I bet that's a first for these people!

After the demo we got to pick the photographer and the DJ we wanted. We got our second choice for DJ- a guy named Tony Zonca and our third choice for photographer- a guy named Tom Malerba. We found out that our photographer lives around the corner from Ryan, and his son went to school with Ryan and he owns a photography studio in Easton. I don't know much about the DJ, but his performance was really good and he had hair like Jack!

The Invitations

2006-03-17T21:13:00.000-05:00

Caity and Collette finally got together the other day to draw a picture of a bride and groom for the invitations.

They drew a few different things on one paper and I thought we could do something with it. But unforunately, I don't think the pictures came out as well as we hoped. I guess I was expecting a bit much. Oh, well, at least we got some cute pictures!

We finally decided to go with the popeye picture, and Robin is making the invitations for us. We were just going to do it on the photography paper, even though it wasn't traditional it looked pretty cool, but Robin saw some invitation paper in Target that I really like. So I ended up buying it tonight and now all we need to do is start printing the invitations! One more thing to cross off the list!

The Centerpiece

2006-03-07T11:42:00.000-05:00

Robin, Matt, Ryan, the kids, and I went to the Crossings to look for centerpieces on Sunday. I had something in mind, which I've posted before, but it seemed a little to expensive. We decided that anything would be good, as long as we could both agree. We looked at Mikasa, Lenox, and a bunch of other stores but nothing really hit us.

After Robin, Matt, and the kids headed for home, Ryan and I decided to look in the Candle Factory before we met up with them again. After looking for probably about an hour or two we found this. The cylinder and the candles we got at the Candle Factory, the rocks are from the Dollar Store. (Ryan was annoyed that he spent $5.00 on rocks, but I think it was worth it!)

I bought one extra candle and had it float for about 5 1/2 hours just to make sure it will last too.

The Cake

2006-02-27T21:36:00.000-05:00

We made an appointment for our cake before anything happened with Dave. Which, if anyone is interested in doing something in his memory, his family has asked, that everyone make a donation to VH1's Save the Music Foundation. Shane's band, Rid of Waste, did a concert at The Sterling Hotel the night of the funeral to raise money for the foundation in Dave's name. I think they raised a decent amount, but I'm not sure how much was raised.

So, on Sunday Ryan, Robin,and I went to Bangor (insert joke here), to see what kind of a cake we could get. When we got to Donna Race Freeby's house (the cake lady), she had a collage of the different cakes she has made and we all got a plate with the flavors she has to offer.

We eventually decided on an Almond and Chocolate cake with almond filling (which BTW, if you are allergic to nuts, or know someone who is, let me know and we will change the flavor). The cake will look similar to the cake to the left, with the pillars and the champagne glasses in the middle, but it will also have the snowflake design to the right, but the snowflakes will be a light blue color.

Our Friend

2006-02-20T14:08:00.000-05:00

Ryan came up Saturday night and told me Erin had called but his phone needed to be charged and he couldn't listen to the message she had left. It was late and we figured she was probably calling to ask to hang out and since Ryan was in the Poconos already we knew it was too late.

Sunday morning he call her up, she told him that our friend Dave had died in his sleep on Friday night. He was at a bar that night with a few friends, he came home, and just never woke up. He's just turned 33 (Rolling Rock, in his words.) They are doing an autopsy on him today. I'm not sure about funeral stuff yet, when I know I'll post it in the comment section, in case anyone would like to go.

Sorry for not posting wedding stuff, we just weren't much in the mood this week, and it didn't seem right.

Here is a picture from a happy time, last year at Ripper's in Bethlehem.

Hola!

2006-02-07T18:22:00.000-05:00

With Robin's surgery this week (check out her blog to hear how the hospital messed that up) we didn't do a whole lot of wedding stuff this week. Although after her surgery, Robin has been busy putting together the perfect wedding invitation for us, even though she is in pain. Thank you Robin!

Personally, my favorite of the ones she's done so far has this as the art work, but Robin thinks its not going to come out right, oh well.

Also, we did put a bid on the house on Saturday. We haven't heard anything back from her yet. I don't know if that is good or bad. It took about two hours of inital here, sign here stuff. We got the disclosure statement from the people who currently own the house. It said that the house has asbestos siding. Apparently, this was used in a lot of houses before the 1980's. Jack is saying to withdraw the bid, but Matt doesn't think it's a big deal. Ryan and I kind of feel the best case scenario, it will be VERY hard to sell. Worst case scenario, we could go into huge debt replacing the siding. I love the house, but I'm not sure I want to deal with that.

My Dress!

2006-01-30T12:26:00.000-05:00

Even though I was sick all week, I had an appointment to try on my wedding dress on Saturday and decide if I wanted that one or if I wanted to go with something else.

So Robin came up from Albany, with her surgery only days away; Alicia left her sick children (plus she was sick as well!); Tiffany put the brakes on house hunting with Jack; and my mom organized every thing so we could all have a girl's afternoon together and pick out my dress.

Thank you guys!

Here I am just getting there, if you look closely you can actually see my red nose and yellow phlegm!

And here is a picture of the outside of the store. Sorry no more pictures inside the store! I don't want Ryan looking at my dress and even though I tried on two other that I didn't buy, I don't think it's right to post them. Sorry, it's a really pretty dress though, trust me :)

Here we are on our way to lunch at Panara Bread. I put a down payment on my dress and my first fitting will be in August. But before that I have to find my head piece, shoes, and figure out how I want my hair.

The DJ, Pre-Cana, a House, and Center Pieces

2006-01-17T19:15:00.000-05:00

Well, school started today, (well for Ryan it did, I get a reprieve till Thursday). On Sunday my parents and I looked at three house Ryan and I looked at previously. From those three we narrowed it down to 1. Ryan's parents are going to look at it this coming Sunday and if they like it we will then be calling Eric Price (he's a home inspector, not because we just randomly picked Eric to look at the house before we buy it!) If he thinks it's good, then we will put our bid in probably by the end of the month. If you are curious, you can go to Century 21's web site or you can go to the Mt Pocono site and type in the MLS#- 05-8363. Take the virtual tour! Here is a picture of the outside.

Also, we contacted a DJ that Jack knows. He was a lot cheaper then the Pros, so we thought we should hear what he has to say. He seemed very nice but the only thing that concerns me about him is that he has nothing coming up that we can hear him and see how he performs. I'm not comfortable with that and since I really don't want to be worry about whether or not he owns only 8 tracks from now until the day we get married, we told him no. Ryan then called the Pros and we set up an appointment with them for February and they also do expos which we are invited to for February or March.

Finally, we book the Pre-Cana class for June 4th, 11th, and 25th. We were going to do it for April, but everyone knows Pocono weather in April, one minute snow the next it's 80 degrees! May was so close to finals and giving up three Sundays would have been a lot for both of us. So, we figured by doing it in June we could give it the full attention we need to.

Now since Robin needs something to do in March while she's here I thought she might like to look for our florist and our center pieces (and maybe think of an environmental friendly think to throw outside of the church!) Here are pictures ofthe ones we're interested in for the center pieces.

Too Much to Do and No Time to Do it

2006-01-07T16:17:00.000-05:00

Since school starts again in two weeks, we are trying to squeeze looking at house and booking the rest of of the wedding within these next two weeks. So far we are failing miserably. There are to many options, and just not enough time! I'll be happy if we could at least figure out which people we want to book and then book them during the semester.

First, as far as house go (and since I see a lot of people do not want to talk about real estate, looking at last weeks posts, I will keep it short). We have probably looked at over 10 houses since January 2. I hate realtors, is really the only conclusion I have drawn. Also, we started looking into apartments as well. Apartments are a little easier to manage then a house, and while we like the idea of owning something, we want to explore every option.

Second, those stuipd invitations keep haunting me! We finally got all four samples in the mail and we didn't like the way any of them looked close up. I really did like the "drawn to each other" one except that close up it looks like a 4 year old drew it on construction paper. So we ordered these two invitations from a more expensive company plus the "drawn to each other" one from the same company. We are hoping that with more expensive paper maybe it will look better. If we don't like any of these, we have one other option that we could go with, but I will let you know about that after I talk to the option.

Alicia in her Dress and Houses!

2005-12-30T14:31:00.001-05:00

So Alicia, Erin, and I when for the bridesmaid dresses on Saturday Dec. 17th. I managed to get a picture of Alicia in the dress, but Erin was a bit fast for me. While I was outside the changing room with Alicia, Erin managed to get the dress on and off. I'll have to catch her at the first fitting!!!

Also, Ryan and I had our first appointment with a realtor on Thursday. We were less then impressed with him. We told him we didn't want anything in Pocono Country Place and all he kept showing us was Pocono Country Place.

When we got home I looked through my Realtor.com account and found three house that we liked. 2 of them are in Indian Mountain Lakes and the other is in Emerald Lake. So we made a few appointments for Monday to get a walk through and they also e-mail us a bunch of other houses in our price range. So I think we are off to a good start with house hunting!

Invitations

2005-12-21T20:42:00.000-05:00

Robin was nice enough to order about 20 catalogs with invitations in them for me to look over. She told me the process would go smoother if I didn't have Ryan involved too much, but against her advice I did have Ryan look at them (sorry)! But I think he may have actually found the invitation we are going with, so it actually worked out well. We narrowed it down to 4 choices and I ordered a free sample of all of them. Here they are, let me know your opinions and don't forget to vote on your favorite one in the wedding poll!

Top 10 Reasons We're Getting Married (there are too many words here for me to write down the whole thing, but it's very funny).

When Ryan and Amanda met; They were drawn to each other.

She Loves Me. He Loves Me.

This day I will marry my friend, the one I laugh with, live for, dream with, love.

One last thing, I do have pictures from our latest trip to Brides by Sandra; but I must ask my editor to fix them before I post them, so expect those pictures real soon.

The Limo, The Photographer, and a Reminder

2005-12-14T13:53:00.000-05:00

Well, we did get a few things accomplished this past week, even though Christmas is coming so fast. On Saturday I called Limos 4 Less in Stroudsburg to get all my information on the Limo. They usually do 3 hours of service, but I think we will need an extra hour since we are going from Monroe County to Easton and back. Also, they only had black limos, but I actually think I'd prefer the black, but would that be weird? If nothing else I could look into Pocono Limos.

Now with the photographer, help would be greatly appreciated! I'm leaning towards The Pros, but since we are on a limited budget we would probably go for the Classic Package, which includes 60 prints and an album of 36 pictures. But if anyone knows of a photographer that might be cheaper (but is still good) let me know.

The Pro's Classic Package

Finally, one last reminder for the bridesmaids- Alicia and I are going for a fitting at Brides by Sandra on Saturday, 12/17 at 11:30 AM. Anyone who has not gotten fitted for the dress yet is welcome to meet us there. The dresses need to be ordered by January 31 and this will probably be the last time I can go with you guys, since I will be starting classes in January.

Our Registries

2005-12-06T17:18:00.000-05:00

Robin had suggested that we do our registry a little early so people could buy us Christmas and birthday presents from it, and we can get the things we desperately need. So we thought about it and talked it over with a few people, and decided that the best places to register were JC Penney (for the more expensive items) and Target (for the cheaper everyday items). So here are the two links if anyone wants to look, (There is also a link to the registries on the right hand side of this page, right before the polls.)

Target's Registry

JC Penney's Registry

We had lots of fun shooting things with the gun! I think I hogged it most of the time, from Ryan! I think we also realized we have two complete different tastes. I like things a little more wild and with a few different colors and Ryan likes things a little more plain and simple. But I think we compromised well and found a lot of happy mediums.

We obviously have never registered before so if you see something on there that is completely out there or something we might need but forgot to put it on, just write a comment on the blog about it and we can fix it.

The Bridesmaids Dresses!

2005-11-26T14:52:00.000-05:00

Robin and I orginally went shopping for the bridesmaids dresses at David's Bridal right after the Engagement Party two weeks ago. I wanted to have all the bridesmaids in the same color dress but I thought it would be better if they picked out whatever style they wanted. When we got to David's Bridal however the sales lady didn't really pay attention to us and really kind of ignored us, I think she wrote us off after she discover I wasn't buying my dress there.

So yesterday Robin, Tiffany, and I went to Bridals by Sandra to look for dresses. Tiffany was our model, I think she enjoyed have the sales lady undress her and then dress her again. We were there probably about an hour or two and Tiffany tried on about 7 or 8 dresses and we finally picked a dress, which also happened to be the first dress we saw.

Since both Robin and Tiffany liked the dress I thought it would look better if everyone wore the same one, instead of have two people wearing the same dress and everyone else in something completely different. The top part will be an Off White and the bottom part is going to be a Navy Blue.

For all the bridemaids- You need to go the Bridals by Sandra before the end of January to get fitted for the dress ( if you need directions just call). They are automatically ordered at the end of January and will take 6 months for the dress to come in, so everyone needs to go down there as soon as they can.

The Engagement Party (Part 1)

2005-11-14T20:53:00.000-05:00

On November 12, 2005 my parents threw Ryan and I an engagement party (for anyone who wasn't there please don't be insulted, the party was with just with the immediate family). It went well, everyone had a good time I think. I had to break the pictures up into two different posts, here is the first group of pictures.

It says Congratulations, unforunately it's a little blurry, sorry :(

The Food!!

My mom made Baked Zita, Meatballs and Italian Chicken. My dad made the Bar-B-Que Chicken, and Matt made the Sausage and Peppers

My parents dancing in the kitchen before the party started.

Here is a picture of the dinner plates, my mom and I bought napkins to match as well.

Caity and Emmy at the beginning of the night, before everyone arrived. On Friday night Caity helped me make a cheesecake for the party. Unforunately, she fell asleep before she had a chance to eat it on Saturday.

My dad with Bobbi Jo, his little black poodle.

The Engagement Party (Part 2)

2005-11-14T19:38:00.000-05:00

This is the second group of picures from the party on Saturday.

A picture of some of the family just chillin' on the couch and talking.

This is the cake Ryan's parents brought over for the party. There were blue and green flowers on it and had whipped cream icing with raspberry filling.

These are the cake napkins, the boy on his knee reminds my mom of Ryan.

Here we are cutting the cake. I hated cutting the cake, it looked so pretty. The two dads gave a short speech right before we cut it.

Ryan and I opening up some of the gifts and cards we received.

Matt with Missy (AKA Hannibal Lector) after the party

And the Reception Site is..........

2005-11-04T20:48:00.000-05:00

After about two months of searching for a place and asking for help from anyone who would listen we finally decided on a reception hall.

Two weeks ago we checked out Mountaintop Lodge, and as much as I love the place and the owners, it would have been way to expensive to have the reception there. Not only do you pay per person, but you also have to pay for every room at the lodge. It just didn't seem feasible.

Then we checked out the Sterling Inn, I love this place too. However, they could only do an afternoon reception, and since we are getting married at 1 o'clock and we want to do the reception around 4 o'clock, this really wasn't feasible either.

Have you figured out where the reception is going to be yet?

So, last week Ryan called up the Water Gap Country Club, and said we were interested in having the reception there, we asked about the time, and they are able to do that, it’s in our price range, and I love it! So, I called and put a deposit down on the place and we meet with Carlton last Sunday to discuss the meals and exactly what we wanted, plus we had brunch!

We are having the reception from 4:30 to 9:30; I think that's plenty of time to get from the church to the reception.

The colors are going to be blue and white; but we have plenty of time to change our minds if the bridesmaid’s dresses don't end up matching for what every reason.

The meals are going to be Stuffed Chicken Breast with Wild Rice and Prime Rib. Plus, a whole bunch of hor’doeuvres, the salad, an appetizer, and cake with an ice cream station!

We were going to have the whole wedding party sit together, but I think since the wedding party is a little on the large side; Ryan and I will have our own table and there will be two separate tables for the wedding party and there significant others.

In case anyone is curious here is a picture of the reception hall from the inside. This is the upstairs, where the reception will be, but there is also a whole dining room area on the main level.

Wedding Bands

2005-10-25T17:06:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, Ryan and I went shopping for wedding bands. I was told to get an early start on this by the lady at Bridal's by Sandra, plus since Ryan wants a Celtic wedding band and I kind of like the way they look too, I figure it doesn't hurt to start looking. So, we went to Donegal Square in Bethlehem to check them out and they are very expensive, then we went to Kay Jewelers to look at the regular bands, we signed up for a credit card while we were there, but we didn't see anything too amazing. Ryan suggested going back to the place we got the engagement ring, James' Diamonds. He did a great job with my ring, plus, I'm pretty sure he does a lot of custom made jewelery, so he might be able to make a replica of a Celtic wedding band for a little cheaper. So, if any one has any ideas for a place we might want to check out, to get a Celtic wedding band, let me know.

This is kind of what I like for me, it's simple, but very pretty:

Ryan likes this one, it's not the exact ring he liked, but it's close:

The Newest Flower Girl and Honeymoon Stuff

2005-10-17T19:39:00.000-04:00

First off, welcome Elizabeth Shea Hensel (The newest flower girl!) She was born on October 11, 2005 at 7:30 AM. Isn't she beautiful? Alicia, Matt, and Collette are all doing great and are at home.

Second, Ryan and I have been disagreeing on the honeymoon for a while now; so on Sunday we decided to do a little research. We went to Barnes and Nobles, sat on the floor and looked through Frommer's, Fodor's and any other guidebooks we could find, trying to decided on a place. I want Disney, he likes Williamsburg, I like Niagara Falls, he likes Montreal

So, after a lot of thought I think I came up with a good solution. I think we should put off the honeymoon until around August and go to Williamsburg. This way, I could go to Busch Garden's, he could do his history stuff, and we both love the beach, so we could do Virginia Beach and also maybe see the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on the way to Virginia. I figure the weekend of the wedding we could do like a Caesar’s or that Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park thing as a mini honeymoon so that way we feel like we went somewhere right after the wedding.

So that’s my thought. If anyone has any other ideas for places or if you think this idea is completely stupid let me know. One thing, I am a little afraid of flying but wouldn’t be against it, if it was some place cool and cheap. Remember, we are trying to do a low key honeymoon because we are also trying to buy a house, so some place like Hawaii is probably out, unfortunately.

Mountaintop Lodge and Dress Shopping Again

2005-10-06T18:49:00.000-04:00

So, with all the talk of receptions and The Sterling Inn vs. The Water Gap Country Club, Ryan and I completely forgot about the Mountaintop Lodge. For everyone that doesn't know, The Mountaintop Lodge is owned by my ex-boss Colin McKay and his wife. It is this cute Bed and Breakfast about a mile from my house. I don't have prices or anything on this place, but I e-mailed Colin and asked him for some information, plus I think Ryan and I are going to met with him next Sunday, to see if it's even a doable thing. Even though I was swinging towards the Sterling Inn, I just want to know if there is anyway to do it at Mountaintop. Believe it or not, I had wanted to do the reception there since I left Lake Naomi 3 years ago, I don't know how we forgot about it.

Mountaintop Lodge

http://www.mttoplodge.com/index.html

Also, my mom and I tried wedding dress shopping one more time last Saturday. We went to Bridals by Sandra in Nazarth. This lady was so much nicer then the lady in Stroudsburg. I showed her the dress I was interested in and she measured me for it and ordered it for me to just try on. It will be in in January. If I try it on and I like it, it's mine, if not, it will go on a discount rack and I can try on a new dress. I hope I like the one I picked though :)

Here is the address of Bridal's by Sandra, in case your curious.

http://www.bridalsbysandra.com/

Reception Sites

2005-09-28T19:30:00.000-04:00

Now that we have the church, we need a reception site. This is where we are having problems. There are two possible places and we like both, The Sterling Inn and The Water Gap Country Club.

Both have Pros and Cons

-The Water Gap Country Club does receptions for 4 hours; Sterling Inn does receptions for 5 hours

-The Sterling Inn has very pretty surroundings, but I think the surroundings at Water Gap Country Club are nicer.

-Both are comparable in price.

So any help is greatly appreciated. If you've been to one or the other, or even heard anything one way or another about either place please comment to us and let us know.

The Sterling Inn

http://www.thesterlinginn.com/home.html

The Water Gap Country Club
http://www.watergapcountryclub.com/page/250-10120.htm

St. Bernard's Church

2005-09-23T13:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, September 22, 2005, Ryan and I went to the church to set the date and it’s official! We are getting married at 1 PM, November 18, 2006 at St. Bernard’s Church in Easton. It’s a beautiful church, which you can see by the picture.

We talked to Monsignor Campbell, and I have to admit I was a little nervous going in; I think Ryan was too, even though he won’t admit it! But, the Monsignor was so laid back and funny it was hard to stay nervous very long. Now we need to sign up for the Pre-Cana classes, which are three classes, usually once a week. We were think the best time would probably be in January or February, so as soon as we get that schedule we will be signing up.

Dress Shopping

2005-09-20T18:22:00.000-04:00

Robin and I went wedding dress shopping on Friday 9/16/05. There is this dress from this one company that I absolutely loved and they supposedly carried it in Stroudsburg. Even though I can’t show the dress because Ryan is looking/writing on here too, here is the website so you can look at some of the dress and get a basic idea.

http://www.edenbridals.com/index.php

Anyway, we get to the shop and the woman is being nasty to me from the very beginning. She said that they didn’t have the dress in the shop, but if I wanted I could buy it and try on a similar dress. Robin told her no and we started to walk out when suddenly she told us she could order the dress for me to just try on (not buy). She asked me what color I wanted it in, and I told her white, and she said “Oh, really, white?” I think she assumed Caity (who I was holding, was mine, even though I said she wasn’t). Besides that, even if she was mine, what business is it of hers! Needless to say I will not be buying my dress from her.

Engaged!

2005-09-19T21:32:00.000-04:00

Amanda Pedone and Ryan Clarke's Wedding Blog

Well, after almost seven years together, me and Ryan are actually getting married. I'm setting up this blog to kind of document all the stuff we will be going through from now till the actual wedding in November of 2006. Kind of an internet scrapbook.

We got in engaged on August 20, 2005 on Sunset Beach in Cape May. We were down there for the weekend visiting Mikey with Lawrence and Chrissy, and they were actually all there when he asked me.

Mikey knew someone who would make an announcement over the loud speaker on the beach, so Ryan told the women to say I was beautiful and that my hand looked like it was meant to be held (cheesey line from our first date). Then, Ryan got down on one knee and asked. Lawrence actually videotaped the whole thing! They were planning this the whole weekend. I like to joke how my whole vacation was a lie!

About two weeks later Ryan, Mikey, Lawrence, and I went to the Feast of San Gennaro's on Long Island to ask my cousin, who is a priest, if he would perform the ceremony (and to get some real Italian food!) He said yes, so now we made an appointment to talk to the priest at Ryan's church and confirm our date and start really planning this thing.