My first dress fitting

Yesterday I had my first dress fitting. My mother and my cousin, Ayee, went with me. Well, to tell you the truth it wasn't as exciting as the first time I tried this dress on. The last time I tried on the dress. It looked great. Please don't get scared. It still looks great but not on me. That is because it was way too large for me. I was swimming in it. It was pretty funny. It is a strapless dress and since it was too big, the front top of the dress was way out there as if I was a double D. I felt I was in a costume. I thought that I would be depressed because I didn't lose the weight that I wanted but when I got into this dress I realized that I wasn't too bad because I could have been worse with my weight.

One of the staff came in and saw me in the dress and asked if I had lost weight. The tailor saw me and said the same thing. Funny thing was that the tailor was the one who suggested that I get this big size, a size 18 when I first came in because the staff who measured me didn't remember what size I was to place the order. So, Jeffrey, the tailor, said let us go with size 18 because it is better to go bigger and then alter, then have something too small. He also said that most brides gain weight anyway due to the stress of wedding preparation. Well, once I reminded him of this comment, Jeffrey stated, "Why didn't you hit me over the head with something when I said that."

So, in the middle of October, I will be coming back for my next fitting. Hopefully, it will be a little closer to my size. If not, I guess I don't have to worry about dieting anymore and I can actually eat deserts again so that I can fit my wedding dress. Wouldn't that be ironic?

The bridal showers (part I)

This weekend held my first bridal shower (for those who don't know I have two showers- one planned by my bridal party and one by my sponsors - in the Filipino tradition sponsors act like godparents of the newlyweds). At first this bridal shower was supposed to be a surprise and I love surprises. I knew that I was going to get one but I didn't want to know when I was going to get it. Some of the bridesmaids thought this was quite troublesome because they knew that I had expected a bridal shower and they had to work around me to plan for it. In fact, one of my bridesmaid (and you know who you are) made a few slips around the planning of the party. Well,I acting on my Nancy Drew instincts figured out when the party was being held due to a few hints and clues from family and friends (such as when my cousin was coming in from the Philippines and when the date of the other bridal shower was being held). So, to relieve my bridesmaids from the burden of tiptoeing around me, I told them that I knew the date. It just made it easier for them and I still got to have a party : ) At least I could be surprised at which guests came and what gifts I would received.

Well, it was a swell party and all the credit goes to my lovely bridesmaids, especially the head organizer, Jennifer Malone. Thank you, ladies. I couldn't asked for a better party. The food was great at Palazzo Restaurant. It was so delicious. Even my mother wants to return again to eat there. Yes, Maribel, we will go there again after this wedding business is over ; ) The favors, the tea bags, were a nice touch and I loved the theme of entertainment. I can't wait to go to Video Blockbuster to buy our favorite movies. I am such a coach potato.

There were friends from all areas of my life there: grammar school, high school, college, work (past and present) and of course, family (present and future, the Ferraros). It meant so much to be surrounded by people I care about and love. I gave the waiters a hard time as they tried to tie me down to one place to serve my food while I tried to talk and catch up with everyone.
I don't think there was enough time to spend with everyone. I especially have to apologize to my old grammar and high school friends for the little time I spent with them. I do appreciate all of the people who came to celebrate with me. It means so much!!!

Of course, there were the gifts. I have some great things to make my place a home. I got a blender, a crock pot, silverware, glassware, and serving dishes. I also got a lot of barware. Family and friends probably think that Vin and I are alcoholics with all the gifts we got related to drinking. I am not into drinking as much as entertaining. I can't wait to use these gifts to hold dinner parties and cocktail parties. I hope to invite all my guests to a party real soon. I aspire to be a Filipino Martha Stewart or at least a Filipino Betty Crocker.

I can't ask for a better bridal party. It is hard for me to believe that I will be having another one. This party will be a different crowd - more family than friends but I am blessed either way. It is always good to be surrounded by people who care about you and surrounded with good food to eat ; ) So watch out for the next blog on that party. Also watch out for pictures from that party. They will be posted on the website or on this blog later this week.

pppsssttttt... don't tell cheryl, but....

there's only 50 days until the big day. this means only 49 days of getting things done. (actually, 48 1/2 days because today's almost done.)

RSVPs

I didn't think that it would happen so quickly but I forget that some people are not like me. They are some who do not procrastinate. Last Tuesday I mailed out the invitations. I got the first RSVPs by Saturday. Boy, was I surprised. Now I can't wait until the end of the day when I get home to see what other RSVPs I have received. I have received a few RSVPS with kind words that were well received and appreciated.

Every night I tell Vin who responded and it appears that his family are pretty on much on the ball. They promptly send their replies. So, if wedding happened today, it would mostly be his family. Funny thing is most of the guest list is my family. We joke about the guest list being 40% his and 60% mine. I guess my procrastination is inherited trait. Just joking. It has only been one week since I sent it out. I guess that I can give my family a bit of a break.

An update on the church, I called Campus Ministry about when all the reconstruction will be done. They said that they have a wedding next weekend so it should be done by this week. I sure hope so. I would feel bad for that couple if it wasn't. Yet, maybe I will stop by later on the month just to make sure that the reconstruction is done. All I need is one more thing to worry about.

At last, the invitations are out!!!

Finally, the invitations are out. Some of you might already know this since I have heard from a few of you that you received it already. (You have to love the United States Post Office. They are mighty quick. I just dropped the invites yesterday.)

The invitations went out but there were a couple of hiccups along the way. Vin and I were all ready to stuff and seal the invitations on Sunday. Yet, Vin being the acute observer that he is noticed a major typo. So, guess what that meant. We had to print up a little over 40 pages of directions again. That sounds simple but it took 4 hours since I only have an inkjet printer and the pages had major graphics on it. So, we had to leave the reassembly and stuffing of the envelopes for the next day. Fortunately, we were able to recruit a couple of lovely and generous assistants by the name of Maribel Custodio and Christina Ortiz to help us. I want to give my props to them for their time and labor in helping Vin and me. We were able to finish up the invitations in less than an hour.

So, now all we have to do is wait for the RSVPs. Remember you can RSVP on line at our website if you don't have the time to find a mailbox. We will be waiting with bated breathes for your replies.

going to the chapel....

and you'll never guess what we saw?!

so cheryl and i went to the chapel at seton hall university so i could finally get a look at the place and to figure out where we would be able to take some pictures and the like.

as we walk over to the chapel we see this:



and this:



and this:



this was and still is the first time i felt a little nervous about all this. it's a nice chapel (from what i saw) and it has a really big space in the front that would be great for pictures. but not if it looks like this.

cheryl said that they are probably just cleaning it up for the hundred-and-something anniversary party the university is having in october and that it should be finished by then.

i thought about it and i guess she's right. if not, what the hell, there are other places we can take pictures, like the cafeteria, bookshop, one of the dorms....