Pre-Cana and Ring Resizing

I dropped off my ring at Kay's about two and a half weeks ago, and I am just now getting it back. They did a terrible job the first time around resizing it, and I nearly broke down into tears. I insisted that they send it back, add more gold, and get the misshapen-ness of it OUT. Well, I'm happy to say that I have it back and everything is well. My fingers are a little small from the persistent cold of winter, but I don't feel like having to size from a 3 3/4 to a 4 every equinox, so I'll just live with it being slightly larger than I would like during winter. At least it doesn't slip off my finger anymore.

Yesterday, Matt and I met with Fr. Rick from campus ministries after my last class. He's a really nice guy, and was excited to prepare us, even though we're getting married back at CGS. He outlined the Pre-Cana process: First, we take a test known as FOCCUS which asks us a variety of questions about the other person and/or our views on things, and we discuss what we didn't answer the same way. Then, after we get back from Angers (assuming we go, that is) we have the choice of a weekend Pre-Cana retreat or a series of Pre-Cana meetings over a few weeks that the Diocese of Austin mandates. I'm cool either way, but the retreat costs $$ so, we'll probably go the more inconvenient but cheaper route. The upside is that this program is approved by Twogether in Texas and it waives the $60 state fee for a marriage license and the 3 day waiting period. Still, the certificate is only valid for a year, so getting it out of the way now means we'd have to repeat it later. Marriage licenses are only valid for 30 days, so we'd have to wait until we graduate to get our license at the county clerk or wherever.

Still, I have more information and that is how I like to be. Hate being in the dark, must know what is going on.

Now if only that program in Angers would get enough people so we could go!

A Trip Home

This weekend I roadtripped to my hometown, Spring, for a look-see around four different reception sites with my main squeezes - Bethany and Pamela.

It's not that I don't love Julia, but she's at school in Dayton Ohio, and much less wedding-inclined than the other two. Basically I need to point out a dress and tell her when to be at the church. All the other details along the way are incidental to her. Still, I get that she LOVES basketball, and baseball, and most sports. She was in Crew up at Dayton for awhile, and was pretty good at it from what I hear, but her new passion is that she's going to Rome this summer for a study abroad and I am jealous jealous jealous! Matt and I are trying to go to Angers, France (pronounced AHN-jay) for the Fall semester, but we won't know until March 6th if the program is going to make. We have finished our applications and are waiting to submit them to Nora in a week or two.

Back to the post at hand, Pamela, Bethany and I traveled to Spring in a separate car from David and Matt (David is Pamela's boyfriend, and his parents agreed to host the five of us - again - for the weekend. I love them so much!) and on the way stopped at Chateau Polonez for an open house. Pam ooohed and ahhhed over the bacon-wrapped shrimp and we loved the beauty of the Chateau at night. Definitely "French Elegance!"

In the morning, I had tried to get us into The Fontenot Grand Mansion, (WARNING: poor quality music at that site) but they were at a bridal show, and so we proceeded to Ashton Gardens. Their chapel is simply beautiful, but since I'm using my home parish, CGS, that doesn't really matter to me. A look around the ballroom revealed a very odd dance floor and almost a division of one side of the room from the other. Their prices were decent, but overall I thought the flow of the room left a lot to be desired.

We moved on to Northgate Country Club. I had been to a wedding reception held here for Tati & Jeff's wedding in May of 2007, but at the time I remember thinking "gee this place is 80's-tastic" and my dad wasn't too keen on the food. I thought it was alright. But Bethany insisted on giving it another shot so we did a walking tour, and boy have they revamped the place. It's beautiful now, like a mini-Petit Trianon. I can't speak to the food, but this is definitely an option.

Then we zipped over to Shirley Acres, fighting Kuykendahl traffic all the way, and found the owner, Bob Shirley, to be a delightfully nice man. He did our first itemized price quote of the day, and explained how pricing works there after a tour of the facilities. I would definately pick "The Garden Room" over "The Pavilion," since the latter inspires massive throwbacks to CGS' Beginning Retreat, but the timing doesn't quite work with the Garden Room since it isn't available until 6:30 at the earliest, and Mass will probably end around 4pm. Hmm... I talked to dad about it and though we agreed that The Lodge, located next door, had awesome food and great pricing was to be had at Shirley Acres, he said he didn't want to see me go for the lowest price and that I should go with what feels right. Well, Shirley Acres just doesn't seem like the elegant touch I want, so I suppose not.

After that, we went and got Pamela a haircut at the always wonderful Texas Hair Team with a girl that Bethany trusts, and then we splurged on pedicures for each of us. Overall it was a good time - though I think there will be problems if we have another "wedding-intense" weekend like this anytime soon. Overall, good stuff was found.

David's Bridal vs. Alfred Angelo

I will spare you all the bridal dress pics from the try-ons today. Mostly because I don't want Matt seeing me in them before the wedding.

It came down to two. Pops of Color or French Elegance. Those are my two primary themes, and my Moroccan Fête is more of a pipe dream.

Overall, I would have to say I liked Alfred Angelo better. For similar pricing, their product was much more elegant and well constructed and the service at the store made David's Bridal pale.

Then came the fun. Here are my two ladies trying on hideous gowns to "break the ice" on terrible dresses so that anything I stick them in is better. *crosses fingers*

That said, here are some attractive Alfred Angelo ideas for my Navy & Champagne "French Elegance" scheme:
It's a range, and I haven't decided between floor length and knee length. The former seems more "elegant" but the latter is definitely more kind in a Texas summer!

A Bridal Extravaganza, Bride Wars, and Bosoms

Well, if there's one thing I knew from the get-go, it was who I wanted my bridesmaids to be. Sadly, that list was 5 long and Matt's list of guys was 3 long, so I went ahead and asked three of my five best friends to stand by me. Maybe I can cajole Matt to dig up two more guy friends or cousins or whatever, but my other two understand what's going on and know that I Love Them dearly as well.

My Maid of Honor is Pamela, and she is awesome. How can you not be awesome when you have an entire song about bacon and a love affair with juice? Here she is with me at the Austin Bridal Extravaganza earlier today:
Modeling some super cute Gerber Daisies as part of my "Pops of Color" theme. Right now I have three different "themes" in my head, but not in an over the top Disney way... maybe I should call them schemes instead...

So besides talking to about fifty photographers I probably won't use because I'd have to pay for travel and there are a ton of them in Houston anyway, and trying free cake like mad, and getting a free latte from an awesome coffee company, there was a fashion show and this:
They (being Pamela and Bethany, my lovable bridesmaid who also lives in Austin) made me play a super silly quiz show style game, which I lost, and I wasn't happy about. Hence the picture.

Then we went and saw Bride Wars, which was okay but I would have preferred watching 27 dresses again for sheer planning value. My third bridesmaid extraordinaire is Julia, who along with Bethany, is a Bosom Buddy of mine. The Bosom Buddies is a group of girls who, in a very sex in the city like fashion, would meet up after high school once a week and grab mexican food and gab about pretty much everything. Ample bosoms were a requirement to get in. Don't know if you've noticed, but I don't quite qualify as "ample," yet after tagging along a few times the subject of my membership came up and everyone agreed I was well endowed, for a twig. So I'm a Bosom too, and I love my Bosoms to death.

P.S. - note for those just starting out: only go to Bridal Shows in your area. I found out a lot about Austin weddings, but I'm getting married in my hometown in Houston. Now I keep getting shitons of calls from people trying to book me in Austin. Huge mistake.

My Vietnamese Priest

So, at my Church we have four deacons and two priests. What's that? You want a full mass at your wedding? Ok, you have the choice between Fr. John and Fr. Joe. I like both of them, really, but Fr. Joe is absolutely adorable and so joyous whenever I see him. After listening to a few of his homilies, I convinced Matt that he should be our priest and he agreed.

Today we met with Fr. Joe for the first time as one of "his" couples, and mostly just talked about how we met and what our relationship has been like so far. He gave us some books to read and meditate over as we prepare for marriage and we closed with a prayer.

Fr. Joe is just so nice and sincere - I'm kinda sad that we'll be doing the bulk of our preparations at St. Edward's (where we go to school), but it doesn't make sense to drive back to Houston just for prep.

Getting the Church on time

So, today was our first meeting with Deacon Pat (the elder) to get the ball rolling on marriage prep. After a bit of discussion, Matt agreed to June 5 as the tentative date. Here's my rationale:

• Originally, I wanted to get married on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, 2010 because I'm considerate of my friends and family's time. Then I decided I didn't want to wait until the end of summer after Matt and I graduate so I moved it to...
• Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, 2010. Yay! Much earlier! But then I found out my lovely home parish doesn't do weddings on Sunday. Nevermind that I could get married at 5pm because there's no Mass, or that Sundays are a way more inexpensive time to throw a wedding.
• So I had to chose between a week earlier or later. This narrowed it down to May 22 and June 4, since I didn't want it too soon after graduation or too close to my birthday. (We're within a month here, and that's kind of something I didn't want. *sigh*) So, considering my younger cousins schedules and everyone who is in school in general that would have to travel to my wedding, I figured the 5th of June is a pretty good date, oh and it's a Saturday.

So we're at the church and we're asked to be penciled in for a date. I blurt out "June 5, 2010!" and Deacon Pat looks at me like I'm possessed. He very measuredly tells me that I can't have that date just yet - they won't make the 2010 calendar until April. Well, sheesh, I was told to come to the church before doing anything wedding related and all of a sudden I have to wait until April? So there will just be "soft" planning from here, no commitments until we get our date.

Liturgically speaking, May 22nd would coincide with Pentecost weekend, and June 4th is the first weekend of Ordinary Time. My faaaavorite liturgical time is that right after Easter, because the whole place is draped in white and gold, but all that goes away on May 15th - two weeks after my graduation and the very same weekend as Texas A&M's Graduation. Well, two of Matt's men standing up next to him are 2010 Aggies, so that's just too much to ask.

Ordinary time it is. Next up: Meet with Fr. Joe Bui

The Rationale & Proposal

I suppose I've journaled since the sixth grade - my intermediate and high school years are all really well documented - and I tried the blogging thing for a few months at a stretch throughout high school, but I totally fell flat on my promise of a blog for my study abroad in Morocco. I suppose a wedding is a pretty valid end point for such a blog, so maybe I can pull this one through...

Well, now I'm engaged to my darling Matt. I created this little montage to the right using poladroid and a random picture I found in the Wedding Blogging Complex somewhere. Sorry for the lack of credit - if I find it again, I promise I'll attribute. Anyway, the photos of Matt and I were taken on New Year's Eve by my MoH Pamela at her boyfriend's parent's house were we all celebrated. The little sparkler heart is courtesy of David, and the hospitality his family showed us was incredible! I love staying with his parents because they are the sweetest, most inviting people.

Finally, on New Year's Day, Matt took me on a date in the Woodlands. Did I know it was going to be the night? Yes. Haha, I know it's supposed to be a suprise but somehow matt and I just don't work like that. So we went to the Waterway and were going to have dinner at the Goose's Acre but they didn't open until 7pm. Enjoying my brand new camera (a sony t77) that was gifted to my by my Daddy on christmas, I suggested a walk along the waterway for some pictures of pretty pretty lights in trees. Well, as we reached the end of our trek to the point where the Waterway taxis turn around, I snapped this picture and said "you know, I don't really think I'd like to live in the suburbs with a big yard to mow and what not. I really like the idea of urban condos, or just condos in particular. Still, it's really hard to know where we'll be after we graduate what with the State Department vs. D.C. or just back to Houston..." and I turned to snap a picture of some lighted "snowflakes" in trees and Matt is at my side, on one knee, holding his proudly purchased ring box with my mothers diamond in a setting we had picked out and he said "I don't know where we will be either. I just know I want to be there with you, no matter what. Mely, I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

And I said yes.