While single, you're always asked "why are you single?". When dating, you're always asked "when are you getting engaged?". When engaged, everyone wants to know "when is the wedding?" (and "am I invited?!"). When married, everyone asks "when are you going to have a baby?".
Why can't people just be allowed to do these things when they're physically/emotionally ready? And with the right person?
I have been married for just about 5 months, and I'm really sick of the "why aren't you pregnant?" question. I've tried to be polite, but I'm about at my breaking point. Even people who I've explained why I'm not, still ask me all the time. Guess what, it's not your business.
Some couples are waiting until they have a home big enough; others wait until they have some extra money (babies are expensive, yo!); some couples try and try and just can not get pregnant, or if they do, are having problems staying pregnant; and some couples just do not want to have children!
The decision to have a child is a personal one between both parents. It's not something that should be taken lightly or jumped into.
And if I do get pregnant, you don't need to ask, you will all know when Joe and I know there is a healthy baby growing inside of my belly.
*end rant*
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Bridal Party (Mug Shots)
My new husband is a Police Officer. We had an idea for photos, but weren't sure it would all pan out, so we kept it a secret just in case. After hitting our other photo spots, Joe called up his work to see if we would be able to swing by. Let me tell ya, the bridal party was definitely confused when we showed up at the Police Station. And what happened there was awesome:
The new Mr and Mrs!
bride- Maura
groom- Joe
Maid of Honor- Shannon
Best Man- Kevin
Bridesmaid: Julie
Groomsman- Dan
Bridesmaid- Laurel
Groomsman- Ryan
Bridesmaid- Julia
Groomsman- Dave
Bridesmaid- Molly
Groomsman- Michael
Bridesmaid- Becky
Groomsman- Brian
Monday, January 27, 2014
Vendors!
Need some ideas of good vendors in the Cleveland area? I loved (most of) mine!
Church: Saint Patrick's Catholic Church on Bridge Avenue in Ohio City, Cleveland. The church has so much history, and is unbelievably beautiful. And the Priest? He is the most adorable old man, EVER! He gives me high-fives every Sunday at mass, and that makes me very happy. I'm easy to impress.
Venue/Catering: The West Side Irish American Club in Olmsted Township. They have their own catering, on site, PT O'Malley Catering. Our families have been members of the club forever, and know the O'Malley's. They are easy to work with, and the food was SO good!
It even worked as a gorgeous place for pictures. We used the gazebo, the bridge over the lake, and the Irish Cottage on grounds for some awesome snaps.
Photographer: people thought I'd use Tamarie Photography, but I didn't (sometimes I wish I had). I didn't want Tami working the wedding, I wanted her joining me in the fun, so I invited her as a guest instead.
I used Jerry Clay, we found him at the Bridal Show at the IX Center. My mom liked him, his business card was on a poker chip, and he wasn't some in your face, obnoxious dude trying to upsell us on nonsense. He's been around for a long time, and doesn't mess around with unnecessary frills. On our wedding day, my bridesmaid Julie told me that Jerry was her Senior Portrait Photographer, and our Groomsmen Ryan said they had Jerry for their wedding. Later, I found out that 2 weeks prior, my friend Soledad had used him for her Wedding, too!
However, I am still waiting to hear from him about my 400 free prints I was supposed to receive for singing up at the Bridal Show, and for really any information on how to purchase the rights to my pictures.
Photobooth: I was going to go through Photobooth Cleveland, and that fell through, after getting uber weird vibes from the owner I had spoken with. He had also been pretty rude to me. I don't know that he is always like that and don't want to post bad things, but I decided to walk away. And I'm glad I did.
I found a way better deal with First Choice Photobooths. The owner Stefan always got back to me immediately, he sent me a ton of proofs of how the strips would be designed, and made adjustments to work with my pickiness with no problems. His staff member, Mike, who worked the wedding was friendly, the price was right, and we got a souvenir photo book with copies of all of the pictures.
Cake: As I mentioned before, Joe and I are not cake eaters. Or desserts in general. However, I'm a sucker for tradition and wanted to have a cake and do the cutting. I went to a Bridal Show and met Sue Becker, from Becker's Donuts. She had some mock cakes with her and books full of pictures. While browsing one of the books, I saw exactly what I had been picturing in my mind. I didn't do a tasting, I picked a simple cake, and had some sheet cakes in the back to serve.
Flowers: Flowers. We went back and forth on flowers for months. I mentioned to my mom how Costco has nice flowers for cheap, and how a friend of mine made her own bouquets for her maids. My mom decided that would be a great idea and would save some money. However, when we got down to the wire, there's so much you need to do, and we decided it was time to find a florist. However, we did still order Costco flowers and my mom put together the centerpieces the day of the wedding (which is one reason putting together bouquets would be just too much). So, with only 4 weeks until the wedding, we try to find somebody who will make 7 bouquets. We had a few people tell us no way, some becuase it was just too short notice, and one major shop said no because they had one other wedding that day. One other wedding?
We went to Silver Fox Florist in Westlake and they were more than accomodating. They had 6 weddings going on the day we stopped in to talk to them, and had no problems helping us out. The day of my wedding, they had 7 other weddings, they delivered on time, and the flowers were beautiful.
DJ: Before we were even engaged, Joe and I had decided we would have Gus, owner of Kidd Productions, DJ our wedding. Joe knows Gus socially from being around Westpark, and I have known him since 2004 when we were both servers at Alfonso's Tuscan Grille in Westpark. Gus has an energy like none other, he knows what to play to get people on the dance floor, and gets involved in order to keep people out there. Best of all, he kept reminding me that it was all about what Joe and Maura wanted, not anybody else. Some of you may remember me worrying that he wouldn't show because he didn't give us a contract, but trust me, he's legit and professional. I did get my contract and he did everything that was asked of him.
(picture from my DJ's birthday party January 2014)
.jpg)
Live Music: My nephew (who was 12 at the time) and a few of his friends he plays Traditional Irish Music with, decided to start a band. Let me tell you, they rock! Just yesterday, they were invited to be on a radio program, not too shabby for some teenagers loving their irish roots! The band is named The Roundabouts and they are available for booking, check out the facebook page I have linked. Joining the band for a few songs, were Joe's 2 brothers, and Mr Al O'Leary on accordian. They played cocktail hour, and my nephew played the voilin before the wedding ceremony.
Chair Covers: we used The Cover Girlz located out of Avon. They are familiar with my venue, they are easy to work with, and they had a lot of options.
Hair and Makeup: The day I got engaged, I facebook messaged my friend from all the way back in Junior High, Jessica Miller, and told her I'd be in need of her makeup services sometime in September. She was actually the first vendor booked! Jessica works for Bobbi Brown, and is a wedding makeup artist with Kajal by Kimberly.
All of the hair girls I know, work at salons, and wouldn't have a Saturday off to come do hair for 6 people, so I asked Jessica if she had any recommendations. She did! She suggested her friend and neighbor, Brittany Wise, who not long ago, started her wedding hair career.
This was awesome, because we didn't have to worry about making it to appointments and rushing around all morning. The bridesmaids came to my parents house, as well as Jessica and Brittany, and we all hung out, had mimosas, and got pampered!
Church: Saint Patrick's Catholic Church on Bridge Avenue in Ohio City, Cleveland. The church has so much history, and is unbelievably beautiful. And the Priest? He is the most adorable old man, EVER! He gives me high-fives every Sunday at mass, and that makes me very happy. I'm easy to impress.
Venue/Catering: The West Side Irish American Club in Olmsted Township. They have their own catering, on site, PT O'Malley Catering. Our families have been members of the club forever, and know the O'Malley's. They are easy to work with, and the food was SO good!
It even worked as a gorgeous place for pictures. We used the gazebo, the bridge over the lake, and the Irish Cottage on grounds for some awesome snaps.
Photographer: people thought I'd use Tamarie Photography, but I didn't (sometimes I wish I had). I didn't want Tami working the wedding, I wanted her joining me in the fun, so I invited her as a guest instead.
I used Jerry Clay, we found him at the Bridal Show at the IX Center. My mom liked him, his business card was on a poker chip, and he wasn't some in your face, obnoxious dude trying to upsell us on nonsense. He's been around for a long time, and doesn't mess around with unnecessary frills. On our wedding day, my bridesmaid Julie told me that Jerry was her Senior Portrait Photographer, and our Groomsmen Ryan said they had Jerry for their wedding. Later, I found out that 2 weeks prior, my friend Soledad had used him for her Wedding, too!
However, I am still waiting to hear from him about my 400 free prints I was supposed to receive for singing up at the Bridal Show, and for really any information on how to purchase the rights to my pictures.
Photobooth: I was going to go through Photobooth Cleveland, and that fell through, after getting uber weird vibes from the owner I had spoken with. He had also been pretty rude to me. I don't know that he is always like that and don't want to post bad things, but I decided to walk away. And I'm glad I did.
I found a way better deal with First Choice Photobooths. The owner Stefan always got back to me immediately, he sent me a ton of proofs of how the strips would be designed, and made adjustments to work with my pickiness with no problems. His staff member, Mike, who worked the wedding was friendly, the price was right, and we got a souvenir photo book with copies of all of the pictures.
Cake: As I mentioned before, Joe and I are not cake eaters. Or desserts in general. However, I'm a sucker for tradition and wanted to have a cake and do the cutting. I went to a Bridal Show and met Sue Becker, from Becker's Donuts. She had some mock cakes with her and books full of pictures. While browsing one of the books, I saw exactly what I had been picturing in my mind. I didn't do a tasting, I picked a simple cake, and had some sheet cakes in the back to serve.
Flowers: Flowers. We went back and forth on flowers for months. I mentioned to my mom how Costco has nice flowers for cheap, and how a friend of mine made her own bouquets for her maids. My mom decided that would be a great idea and would save some money. However, when we got down to the wire, there's so much you need to do, and we decided it was time to find a florist. However, we did still order Costco flowers and my mom put together the centerpieces the day of the wedding (which is one reason putting together bouquets would be just too much). So, with only 4 weeks until the wedding, we try to find somebody who will make 7 bouquets. We had a few people tell us no way, some becuase it was just too short notice, and one major shop said no because they had one other wedding that day. One other wedding?
We went to Silver Fox Florist in Westlake and they were more than accomodating. They had 6 weddings going on the day we stopped in to talk to them, and had no problems helping us out. The day of my wedding, they had 7 other weddings, they delivered on time, and the flowers were beautiful.
DJ: Before we were even engaged, Joe and I had decided we would have Gus, owner of Kidd Productions, DJ our wedding. Joe knows Gus socially from being around Westpark, and I have known him since 2004 when we were both servers at Alfonso's Tuscan Grille in Westpark. Gus has an energy like none other, he knows what to play to get people on the dance floor, and gets involved in order to keep people out there. Best of all, he kept reminding me that it was all about what Joe and Maura wanted, not anybody else. Some of you may remember me worrying that he wouldn't show because he didn't give us a contract, but trust me, he's legit and professional. I did get my contract and he did everything that was asked of him.
(picture from my DJ's birthday party January 2014)
.jpg)
Chair Covers: we used The Cover Girlz located out of Avon. They are familiar with my venue, they are easy to work with, and they had a lot of options.
Hair and Makeup: The day I got engaged, I facebook messaged my friend from all the way back in Junior High, Jessica Miller, and told her I'd be in need of her makeup services sometime in September. She was actually the first vendor booked! Jessica works for Bobbi Brown, and is a wedding makeup artist with Kajal by Kimberly.
All of the hair girls I know, work at salons, and wouldn't have a Saturday off to come do hair for 6 people, so I asked Jessica if she had any recommendations. She did! She suggested her friend and neighbor, Brittany Wise, who not long ago, started her wedding hair career.
This was awesome, because we didn't have to worry about making it to appointments and rushing around all morning. The bridesmaids came to my parents house, as well as Jessica and Brittany, and we all hung out, had mimosas, and got pampered!
Have any questions about my vendors? Ask away!
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Wedding Music
We have a lot of Irish Musicians in our families and friends. With an irish church and an Irish vneue, we obviously wanted some traditional irish music.
I asked 2 vocalists, but what are the odds, both had family weddings that day. So my mom suggested Katie Cooper. She sings at irish events, and it so good. She is also a friend of Joe's brother, who is not only an irish musician, but he teaches the Tin Whistle.
Joe's brother plays in an Irish Session at The Plank in Lakewood. An Irish Session is like a jam session. Anyone trained in any irish instrument can come and play along. Our vocalist goes, and sometimes my nephew and his band go. Yes, my nephew wasn't even quite 13 at the time of the wedding, but he is in a band, and they have paying gigs. We asked my nephew to play violin at the ceremony, while everyone was being seated. My nephew's band The Roundabouts played cocktail hour. During cocktail hour, some of the other musicans at the wedding joined in and turned it into a session, including my parents friend Al O'Leary on the accordion, and both of Joe's brothers, on the tin whistles.
The only thing that I know of that went wrong on the wedding day, was our bagpiper. At the end of the ceremony, after being announced husband and wife, the doors opened, and nobody was there. What a bummer! My family has bag pipes at every wedding and every funeral. The church organist was on the ball, she she played a wedding march for us to walk out to. Turns out the bagpiper (who is a great friend of the family), got in some car trouble in the boonies on the way home from Toledo that day, and had no car and no phone reception.
When we announced our parents and Joe's grandpa, we played "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys. It was Joe's pick. He really wanted it when we walked in, but I'm a jerk and made a switch.
When the bridal party walked in, we played "The Ditty" by Paperboy. It has nothing to do with weddings or friends, but we loved it and thought it would pump everyone up.
We walked in to "Marry You" by Bruno Mars. I love how upbeat it is. And, well, it just fit.
Joe and I danced to Jason Mraz "I Won't Give Up". We never had a "song" and we had a hard time finding one that fit. Until one day I was driving and heard it come up on the radio. I remembered how beautiful I thought it was, and really listening to the lyrics, I thought it would be perfect. I made Joe listen to it at the bar one day, and he immediately agreed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-4u9W-bns
My dad and I danced to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland. That song never fails to make me ugly cry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg8Z69B6RFQ
We had a few line dances, a few irish dances, and ended the party with "The Time (Dirty Bit)" by The Black Eyed Peas.
I asked 2 vocalists, but what are the odds, both had family weddings that day. So my mom suggested Katie Cooper. She sings at irish events, and it so good. She is also a friend of Joe's brother, who is not only an irish musician, but he teaches the Tin Whistle.
Joe's brother plays in an Irish Session at The Plank in Lakewood. An Irish Session is like a jam session. Anyone trained in any irish instrument can come and play along. Our vocalist goes, and sometimes my nephew and his band go. Yes, my nephew wasn't even quite 13 at the time of the wedding, but he is in a band, and they have paying gigs. We asked my nephew to play violin at the ceremony, while everyone was being seated. My nephew's band The Roundabouts played cocktail hour. During cocktail hour, some of the other musicans at the wedding joined in and turned it into a session, including my parents friend Al O'Leary on the accordion, and both of Joe's brothers, on the tin whistles.
The only thing that I know of that went wrong on the wedding day, was our bagpiper. At the end of the ceremony, after being announced husband and wife, the doors opened, and nobody was there. What a bummer! My family has bag pipes at every wedding and every funeral. The church organist was on the ball, she she played a wedding march for us to walk out to. Turns out the bagpiper (who is a great friend of the family), got in some car trouble in the boonies on the way home from Toledo that day, and had no car and no phone reception.
When we announced our parents and Joe's grandpa, we played "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys. It was Joe's pick. He really wanted it when we walked in, but I'm a jerk and made a switch.
When the bridal party walked in, we played "The Ditty" by Paperboy. It has nothing to do with weddings or friends, but we loved it and thought it would pump everyone up.
We walked in to "Marry You" by Bruno Mars. I love how upbeat it is. And, well, it just fit.
Joe and I danced to Jason Mraz "I Won't Give Up". We never had a "song" and we had a hard time finding one that fit. Until one day I was driving and heard it come up on the radio. I remembered how beautiful I thought it was, and really listening to the lyrics, I thought it would be perfect. I made Joe listen to it at the bar one day, and he immediately agreed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1-4u9W-bns
My dad and I danced to "I Loved Her First" by Heartland. That song never fails to make me ugly cry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg8Z69B6RFQ
We had a few line dances, a few irish dances, and ended the party with "The Time (Dirty Bit)" by The Black Eyed Peas.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Wedding bathroom emergency kit list!
I wanted to be sure everyone enjoyed themselves throughout the night. I didn't want anybody feeling less than fresh, breaking nails, or having bad breath, so I made emergency kits for the bathrooms!
women's room:
tampons
pantiliners
moist towelettes
ibuprofen
bandaids
purell
toothbrush whisps
antacid
bobbi pins
lotion
hair rubber bands
safety pins
sewing kit
tooth floss/picks
hair combs
nail files
clear nail polish
mints
gum
mouthwash (with clear plastic shot glasses)
q-tips
stain pen
hairspray
men's room:
combs
bandaids
purell
ibuprofen
antacid
stain pen
mouthwash (with clear plastic shot glasses)
gum
mints
bandaids
toothbrush whisps
tooth floss/picks
q-tips
I also made one for the bridal party, with most of the same stuff, plus:
jewelry repair tools
deoderant
body spray
perfume
shoe cushions for the ball of the foot
scissors
The baskets were a hit, people definitely used them throughout the night. And whatever was left? SCORE for me!
tampons
pantiliners
moist towelettes
ibuprofen
bandaids
purell
toothbrush whisps
antacid
bobbi pins
lotion
hair rubber bands
safety pins
sewing kit
tooth floss/picks
hair combs
nail files
clear nail polish
mints
gum
mouthwash (with clear plastic shot glasses)
q-tips
stain pen
hairspray
men's room:
combs
bandaids
purell
ibuprofen
antacid
stain pen
mouthwash (with clear plastic shot glasses)
gum
mints
bandaids
toothbrush whisps
tooth floss/picks
q-tips
I also made one for the bridal party, with most of the same stuff, plus:
jewelry repair tools
deoderant
body spray
perfume
shoe cushions for the ball of the foot
scissors
The baskets were a hit, people definitely used them throughout the night. And whatever was left? SCORE for me!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
more gifts!
and a few gifts for some others....
my groom got some new socks (how cute are these?!) to wear for the big day
and some WestPark/Cleveland cufflinks
socks are from somewhere in the UK and cufflinks are from China! I forget where. Just found them browsing the interwebs
mom and dad got some hankies
had these customized by https://www.etsy.com/shop/AVintageLook
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
bridal party gifts- DIY
For my bridal party, I wanted to give gifts that they could use on the wedding day, and after if they chose. I also wanted to make the gifts more personal, by doing them myself.
The girls got some new clutch purses (with their initials attached to the chain)
hangers, to keep their dresses beautiful while we got hair and makeup done
monogrammed shawls, in case it was a cold September day (luckily, it wasn't)
flip flops- for their dancing feet
and jewelry. I bought them all earrings, but made bracelets for the girls in the one-shoulder style dress, and necklaces for the strapless style dresses
The girls got some new clutch purses (with their initials attached to the chain)
hangers, to keep their dresses beautiful while we got hair and makeup done
monogrammed shawls, in case it was a cold September day (luckily, it wasn't)
flip flops- for their dancing feet
and jewelry. I bought them all earrings, but made bracelets for the girls in the one-shoulder style dress, and necklaces for the strapless style dresses
and my nieces got some tumblers for their help with the bubbles and programs
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
