We set a wedding date!

O.k. I guess it's about time I blogged about MY OWN wedding. Wow, it's weird saying that even for me. It is going to be October 4th this year. Since our engagement, we have had a lot of fun talking about all my (oops,) I mean, OUR ideas. We are sooooo excited about our reception location, the Sedgwick Theatre right in our neighborhood, Mt. Airy. It's an art deco style 1928 movie theatre. It has great tile and marble work and even the old chandelier, but it also has old charm where tile is falling apart, which is perfect for us. It has a dramatic flare but nostalgic ambiance too. A great place for a party and we love to do that! When I saw Shawn's face light up when we went through it, I knew it was our spot, no questions asked. To see him getting excited about all this is the best part! Here are some photos from the book "Images of America, Germantown, Mount Airy , and Chestnut Hill."

The actual seating area is not there anymore and the reception will take place in the front two intermission rooms, but even they are massive and have the same details. There is a stage too with a white wall behind it where I will be able to project photos of family and friends throughout the cocktail hour. We also want to project old black and white silent films. The front window has changing art shows by local artists, which is perfect.


We are having the ceremony with immediate family only in the Wissahickon woods near Rittenhouse town. I am going to pull up with my stepfather in his 1932 Ford pick up truck. He built it from pieces and is very proud of it. My mother never got to see it finished before she died and I know how proud of him she would of been. She was there when he bought it in pieces spread all over some one's front lawn at a garage sale. So I know it will be an emotional moment for both of us. I am excited to ride in the back too with Shawn for photos afterwards. I am still debating whether to throw the dogs in the back too for some photos.

Here's the ring! I can not keep staring at it all day long!

I love it's mounting and it has sooooo much sparkle! I am not really a diamond kind of girl but Shawn wanted me to pick out something I loved and I could not help my self to fall in love with this one. I had photographed them for so long now, I knew just what I wanted. His brother told me the day after we picked it out Shawn could not stop talking about this ring. They were sitting in the parking lot of a Flyers game and Shawn was telling his brother all about it!


So what got me excited about writing this blog post is that I tried on dresses today! I went to Nicole Miller in Manayunk and Sabrina Anne's in Ardmore. Nicole Miller had some really great dresses just my style but a little out of my price range. The sales woman was super nice there are helped me a lot. After seeing almost 10 years of weddings I am having a hard time wanting to spend a ton of money on a dress. You wear it once, but it is also the most exciting part!
I can not rave enough though about Sabrina Anne's store for the price conscious bride! Wow she has everything! She was sooo nice and helped me try on every dress. They are once worn and sample dresses from all different designers and there were tons to choose from. I really liked one of them but I am still deciding, it may be too fancy. I want something simple but with elegant lines with a vintage 1930's look. Even if I don't buy my dress there I am going to check back to get accessories, purse, veil, and all. I hope to take Shawn's niece there to get a flower girl dress too. I am also interested in ordering a veil online from Unveiled Bridal Designs One of my brides got her veil from there and my photos are on the site.

So most importantly I am trying to keep a perspective on all this wedding stuff that does not change me. It's a weird thing to say but I do not want to turn into that kind of girl that only can think about her wedding! I feel it happening, I am up a lot at night trying to get all the details and fun ideas straight in my head when I should be sleeping. It is exciting though, and I guess I deserve it after 14 years with Shawn. I want to make sure I can talk about other topics with friends that are not married yet and keep some sanity. The other night I was up looking at wedding related websites and realized I should be spending my time with Shawn instead of in front of a computer, which I do so much with my work anyway. Our time together is more valuable than all this planning, but it sure is fun! So for that reason, gotta go!