Don't Show Them the Dress!

A few weeks ago my wedding dress arrived (SQUEEEE!!!) and Momma Coyote, Bridesmaid P and I popped over to the dress shop to retrieve it. It's been hiding out in my parents' closet until I take it in for alterations, but last weekend MOH D stopped by. It was the perfect excuse for me to try it on again and model it for her. A few hours later some family friends stopped in as well and I was encouraged (without much prodding) to show off the dress and try it on again. As I carefully tread down the stairs for a second time that day MOH D whispered in my ear, "Now don't go showing it to anyone else, it has to be a surprise!"

I have to say, I quickly protested. There are so many other people I would love to show my dress off to before the wedding day. First of all, I'm happy to try it on again for any of my bridesmaids that want a sneak peak as well as FMIL Coyote. I would also really love to show my grandmother. She bought the dress for me and I know it would mean the world to her if she could see me in it before the wedding day.

Honestly, I'm not really sure why the dress needs to be a big surprise to anyone other than Mr. Coyote. And while Mr. C won't be seeing me in the dress before the wedding day, this could also be debated. How many times have I witnessed a groom make an appearance on Say Yes to the Dress? I mean, come on, it really doesn't get any sweeter than this. 

Although the dress is arguably the most central and important part of a bride's attire, it's not the only part. Let me tell you Hive, even though I was wearing a beautiful white gown, as I stood there with my frizzy hair and glasses on and without my shoes and veil, I have to admit that I didn't feel (or look) very bridal.
 
Maybe because I am an over-sharer of information by nature (hell-ooooo, I'm a blogger for goodness sake!) it just doesn't seem that important to me to "hide" the dress from everyone. With a guest list of over 180, I don't see the harm in showing some of my closer friends and family members my wedding dress before the big day. I have a feeling that when I put the dress on for realz, with my hair and face all done up and all of my accessories on, anyone who saw me in the dress beforehand will be just as wowed at how freakin' amazeballs I look (Oh come on, I wouldn't be a true blogger if I wasn't a bit of a narcissist too):

Video via YouTube

So let's chat Hive. Has your significant other seen you in your wedding dress? How about your bridal party? Your family and friends? Do you think it should be kept a surprise from all of your guests or do you think it's okay to show some of the VIPs in your life?

Cake & Champagne

As soon as I arrived at my parents' house last weekend I was greeted by a small pile of packages. Because I'm so far from our venue I find myself sending certain packages to my apartment and certain items up to my parents' house. Our cake topper for example, was sent to my apartment because I wanted to make a veil and bow tie for my little figurines. All things shower related and anything that doesn't need to be immediately opened by me is sent to my parents' house. And so, a small mound of packages have started to accumulate in my old bedroom.

One of those packages was the wine box for our wine box ceremony. I'm so, so happy with it, but not quite ready to share it with the Hive yet. Sorry to be a tease! ;)

I did find something else that I do want to share with you though:

To be honest, I hadn't given much though to things like cake servers or toasting glasses, but Momma Coyote dug up the cake server from her wedding and I think it's beautiful. Mr. Coyote and I have decided to borrow it for our wedding day. Although as I am writing this I realize that we don't have a cake knife. Just the server. Hmmm...

As far as toasting glasses, well, I apologize that I never mentioned this to you Hive! Waaaay back in November of 2010 my parents threw us an engagement party (holy shizz, was that really a year and a half ago?!). If you remember, I had a total breakdown at the end of the night because I was so floored by the generosity of our guests and Mr. Coyote's parents were no exception to this.

I still remember my voice catching in my throat when I pulled out the box:

His parents had gifted us our toasting glasses:

They are so absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to break them in on our wedding day! ;) By this point I had gotten through most of the packages in my room. But there was one last (completely not wedding related) package left to open. And it might be my favorite one so far. It was nothing but a bag full of delicious, delicious candies that my uncle brought back from his most recent trip to Brazil (we have some family members there).

Ohhhh, sweet, sweet Sonho de Valsa. These are literally the most amazing freakin' chocolates I have ever had and I CANNOT find them anywhere in the US. Every time my uncle makes a trip to Brazil I beg him to bring back the "Brazilian candy" (I know, I'm so cultured) and then, like the true addict I am, I lock myself in the bathroom and refuse to share them with anyone else. Actually, if you can't tell, in this particular photo the bag is laying on my blanket. Yes, I cuddled with them last night and then hid them under my pillow so Mr. Coyote couldn't steal one. Believe me, you would too if you knew how good these things were. 

Have your purchased your cake server and toasting glasses yet? Did you receive them as gifts or are you perhaps borrowing someone else's? And does anyone want to send me more Sonho de Valsa?! My stash is running low!

Expectations: Not Met

A few weeks ago we scheduled our rehearsal with our venue and immediately began to hunt for rehearsal dinner locations. We thought about hosting it at my parents' home for a hot second, but decided that it would be too much work for them the night before the wedding. Plus, most of the wedding party will be staying at the hotel next to the venue and the drive to our parents' place would be pretty far for the out of towners. It just made more sense to keep it close to our venue. Of course, for us this meant relying on restaurant websites and Yelp reviews, but we did find a few locations that seemed suitable. We eventually narrowed it down to a seemingly nice Italian restaurant just a few blocks from our venue.

Since Momma Coyote and I happened to be in the area this weekend we decided to take a quick detour and check out the rehearsal dinner location in person. I have to say, I'm glad we decided to drive by because the place was not at all what we were expecting:

Well hello there weird sketchy restaurant with an awning that hasn't been cleaned since 1908. Momma Coyote clearly does not approve. Unfortunately, they don't open until 5 pm on Saturdays so we weren't even able to pop in and have a looksy at the inside, but our first impression was severe disappointment.

This place is seriously an enigma to me because they have rave reviews and even come recommended by our venue. I'm not really sure what to think. I've always been told not to judge a book by its cover so we're considering stopping in and having dinner there next weekend, but I'm not holding my breath.

So what you think about our potentially shade-tastic rehearsal dinner location? Should we give them the benefit of the doubt or should we cut our losses and start the search again? How was your hunt for a rehearsal dinner location?

Wedding Planning Whirlwind

This past weekend was one of many upcoming wedding whirlwind weekends. Living three hours from our venue and the rest of our vendors means that a majority of our decisions are made on weekends when we travel to my parents' house. This weekend was no exception. Mr. Coyote was unable to make the trip, but I was able to spend lots of time with Momma Coyote, so it all worked out perfectly.

Our first stop was a visit to our fabulous venue, Franklin Plaza, to finalize some deets. While most of the meeting consisted of Momma C and I passing on info to our coordinator (ceremony timeline, menu choices, etc) we were also filled in on some new information.

For example, our coordinator explained to us that they would to able to handle our cocktail hour music if we wanted them to. Apparently they have their own sound system in that room and a soundtrack that includes artists like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Or, if we're picky, the coordinator told us that we are welcome to bring in our own music. I have to say, I am more than happy to pass this task on to our venue, so Franklin Plaza cocktail hour music it is! 

We also popped back into the cocktail hour room for a bit and our coordinator showed us the connecting "Board Room" that has a few different purposes for our wedding. First, the wedding party is ushered into the room for a few minutes while our guests leave the ceremony space and enter the cocktail hour room. Then our photographers can sneak out and snag any family members we want for our formal portraits. It's a gorgeous room for photos:

(Personal Photo) / I absolutely love the fireplace at the far end of the room.

After we are done with our formals we can either shut the door and have some quiet time to relax with our wedding party or we can open the room up to the rest of the cocktail hour and mingle with our guests. I love the flexibility we have for our cocktail hour!

We were pretty much done with our meeting, but I was feeling picture happy and so I wandered around, snapping a few shots of our venue. I managed to get a sneak peak of the card box that our venue provides. A beautiful wooden birdcage that I am so in love with: 

(Personal Photo)

I swear every time I visit our venue I find new reasons to fall in love with it. They recently installed a new lighting system that somehow makes the room look even more gorgeous than it already was:

(Personal Photo)

I know I've mentioned it before, but our venue was built in 1887 and was originally home to various financial institutions. The building has changed hands over the years, but when it was renovated to become the Franklin Plaza Ballroom a number of the building's historical nuances were kept intact. One of them is this absolutely stunning bank vault (that is now curiously used as a coat check):

 (Personal Photo)

Yep, definitely still in love with this place!

After our visit, Momma C and I hopped in the car and were ready to take off when I told her to wait for a minute. I looked around and once again soaked in the convenience of our wedding location. Directly in front of us was Franklin Plaza:

 (Personal Photo)

As my mother went to pull out of the parking lot she turned the car to the right and we were instantly greeted by the hotel where my ladies and I will be getting ready on the morning of our wedding day and where Mr. C and I (and all of our guests) will be crashing on the night of our wedding.

(Personal Photo)

(Personal Photo)

Finally, I took a quick glance out the passenger side window and saw, just a few blocks away, the bar where we'll be hosting our after-after-after party. The only way this whole shebang could be any more convenient is if we had decided to hold our wedding inside a hotel. Honestly, when we booked with Franklin Plaza I certainly wasn't thinking about where we'd get ready, an after party, or even hotels for our guests, but I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with how it all seemed to fall into place!

How did you choose locations for all of your wedding related parties and activities? 

Triple Threat

I've mentioned a few times that I will be having two maids of honor. I think I always knew I was going to have two, even before Mr. Coyote was in the picture.

I don't have any sisters, but I can say that MOH A and MOH D come pretty damn close. I met BM D in 5th grade and BM A a few years later. For all of middle school and high school we were completely inseparable. Sleepovers, movies, trips to the mall, even vacations... Whatever it was we did it together. We were the epitome of BFFs.

 Toddler Coyote and friends circa 2000.

Of course after graduation we went our separate ways, but we kept in touch and made sure to visit each other as often as possible.

 Right before our high school graduation in 2004.

We all still live in New York state, but it's amazing how large the state actually is:

Map of New York State via Geology.com / Personal photos

I am the first in my little trio to be getting married and I have to say that it's been quite an adjustment for me. My girls are more than happy for me and love Mr. Coyote almost as much as they love me (sorry buddy, but I always come first when it comes to these ladies!). Even so, it's definitely been a transition to move from single girl friend to engaged woman and eventually to that old married lady that goes to bed at 8 PM and never hangs out anymore (just kidding, that's never gonna happen).

And so, in honor of my two very best friends and of losing my singledom, I am planning the ultimate sleepover party.

Mr. Coyote and I have already decided that we will spend the night before the wedding apart so I booked one of the amazing suites at our venue's hotel and invited the girls to stay with me. I know I will be a bundle of nerves and honestly... No one knows me better than these ladies do. I couldn't ask for anything better than to have my two besties spend the night with me; drink some wine with me, make me laugh and cuddle with me until my wedding day.

Yes, we cuddle. No shame here!

I may not have been blessed with sisters, but I definitely scored the next best thing. My life is way better when these girls are in it.

How will you be spending the night before your wedding? Are you spending it with your significant other? Alone? With family or friends?