The Search Continues

I apologize for my blog laziness the last couple of days....I am not feeling so hot. The last two days have been brutal, but I think this darn cold is passing because I'm feeling significantly better this morning, though it may just be the DayQuil and coffee combo.I don't know how I got sick...I didn't share my Boone's Farm with ANYONE last weekend!

Tuesday afternoon my mom and I continued to tour reception sites. But, it wasn't easy. Make way for a side story. So, our townhouse complex is having the streets re-paved or as they call it "resealed." So we get this lovely blue sheet in our door explaining when and where we can and cannot park while this "resealing" is taking place. The sheet says the "resealing" will take place Tuesday morning from 6am-9:30am and to not park in the parking lot or outdoor parking spaces. J parks in our outdoor space, so there was no problem because he gone long before 6am on Tuesdays. So it's 11:15am and I am getting ready to leave...I need to bring Bailey to J's dad's so that she isn't home alone for 7 hours, then I NEED my large soy iced chai from Coffee Buzz, then I need to be at the Hilton in Bloomington for a 12:30 appointment. I walk outside and they're still "resealing." Fine. No big deal. I go in to the garage and get in my car and the garage door doesn't open. So I open the side door and grab the "resealers" attention. "Um, I need to get out." The resealer guys are pretty nice so they say they'll move their truck so I can get out...I just have to drive carefully. At this point they've only resealed the outer parts of the street, so I can still drive on it. Well, the damn garage still doesn't open. So I call the office. Keep in mind my head is throbbing, I can't swallow because my through hurts so bad and my nose is on fire from blowing it every 35 seconds. Plus, my body ached and Bailey was freaking out because she had no idea what was going on. Anyways, I call the office and the idiot of a man they have manning the place (seriously, this isn't my first run-in with whatever-his-name-is....he's not bright) tells me he'll send maintenance down to the garage. So I sit there for 10 minutes. Once again, I get out of my car and go back upstairs to call the office. I don't get service in the garage so each time I call the office or call J screaming I have to get out of my car and go upstairs. They tell me maintenance is coming. Maintenance dude gets down to the garage and opens the door, GREAT I'M FREE! Wrong! Now the stupid resealers have completely "resealed" the street, so I can't get out. I lose it. I start telling maintenance guy that I have a business meeting I need to get to and no where on the precious blue sheet did it say I couldn't park in the garage or that I would be trapped in the garage! I said those exact words, yes, "precious blue sheet" left my lips. He calls his "manager" who says that if I drive on it I will have to pay to fix the damage it causes. So naturally I say, "Well when I lose my job are you going to pay my salary?" OK, I realize it's my day off and I realize I was exaggerating the truth but I really didn't feel well and I really needed to get out of the garage. Thankfully, my fiance loves me and he convinced his little brother to come pick me up, bring Bailey back to his house and let me drive his car for the day! He's a saint....future-brother-in-law....I owe you!


I made it to the appointment on time, which is really the point of this post. My mom and I looked at four more reception spaces on Tuesday, meaning we have now looked at eight spots. I'm realizing that no place is perfect. Every spot has their positives and negatives. For some reason, I just thought I would have have this "aha" moment and this decision would be super easy. Well, I mentioned in this post that I really liked these two locations, both of which are now out of the running. Five is great, but the style of wedding we would have had to have just wasn't us. And, St. Anthony Main is still my number one but after a lot of tweaking we just can't get it to fit our budget unless we sacrifice A LOT, for example cutting 45 people off our guest list, having a Friday wedding instead of Saturday and having a 5 hour reception instead of a 6. Those are three things I'm just not willing to do. So, I've moved on. Tuesday we looked at the Hilton in Bloomington, the Science Museum in St. Paul, the Hyatt Regency downtown Minneapolis and International Market Square. I liked all four of these places a lot. All of them would be great for different reasons. I think I have narrowed it down to the Hilton Bloomington and International Market Square.

The Hilton is a brand new hotel (built in 2008) and has a great ballroom.
Positives:
It's a hotel....so everything is right there. Guests just go upstairs to their rooms. Everything is included...J and I get a free room for the wedding night. We also get a complimentary room to get ready in and to use for a gift opening/breakfast the next morning.

Negatives:
It's a hotel....I feel like hotel weddings can get to be so "cookie cutter." I want our wedding to be a night everyone remembers and says, "Gosh, that was the best wedding!" It's also in Bloomington which is a suburb of Minneapolis. So our reception wouldn't be right in the city like I wanted. Also, hotel wedding food can be not-so-good, I don't want to assume anything about this hotel's food....but typically this is the case.

International Market Square
(Here's the little write up from the website:)
In the heart of Minneapolis stands a historic structure revitalized as a Design Center and Home Furnishings mart. Where once Munsingwear set the style in undergarments, International Market Square now showcases the latest trends in furnishings and accessories from around the world and could become the location for your next special event! The focal point of International Market Square is the Atrium, a soaring, sun washed event space lined with ivy accented balconies. Its peak glass roof rises 72 feet above the tiered Italian tile floor punctuated by live trees and newly added subtle glowing light fixtures.

Positives:
Definitely not cookie cutter, it's a very unique and beautiful space. D'amico caters, so the food will be outstanding! It's right outside of downtown Minneapolis so the location is perfect!

Nagatives:
We'll have to rent linens because what they offer is not-so-good. We'll have to find a hotel for guests to say and find a safe and reliable way for them to get to the hotel. There isn't much included in the cost so we'll have to make sure we can get all that we want but still keep it within the budget.

So what do you think? Hotel? Event Center? Alternative? Have you been to great hotel weddings? Not-so-great hotel weddings? What did you or what are you willing to sacrifice or not sacrifice? What is most important? Location? Food? HELP ME!

Sister Friends

During the football season I am back on campus at my alma mater, the University of Minnesota, almost every weekend. Each year I get more and more nostalgic about the good 'ol days." I miss living on campus, I miss the late night adventures and I miss the amazing friends I made. I've maintained really good friendships with a pretty good portion of my college friends, but it's not the same. We don't live together anymore. We don't see each other every day and go out every weekend. One of the best decisions I ever made was joining Alpha Omicron Pi my freshman year of college.

I went to the U of M and instantly hated it. I hated living in the dorms, so I moved home and commuted to  school. I thought the campus was too big and there were too many people. How was I ever going to make friends? My Aunt was in a sorority at the 'U' so she and my grandma were pushing me to rush. I had absolutely no interest in sororitys. I thought they were stupid, I had heard all the stereotypes. One of my roommates (for the short time I was in the dorms) decided to rush and so did my very best friend, Libby. Turns out, both of them joined the same house. I would hear their stories and I began to get jealous and curious. Through open recruitment I went bowling with a bunch of the A-O-Pi's. When I think back to the girls that were bowling that day, I laugh, because now half of them are some of my best friends. I ended up signing a bid card three days later and I never looked back.

 All the women I joined with, our senior year during Sweetheart Week

A-O-Pi not only introduced me to some amazing women within the sorority but I also met incredible people who were not in my house. As I mentioned last Thursday, I spent a lot of my time at Delta Chi fraternity. Some of these boys will be my close friends forever and some of their girlfriends (at the time) are and always will be my closest friends.

My non-A-O-Pi girlfriends that I never would have met without A-O-Pi

A-O-Pi gave me a community within the gigantic U of M. I made so many wonderful friends within the Greek community that the school no longer seemed so big. It also gave me a way to get involved and get the most out of college. Plus, my social schedule was so jam packed with fun that college just flew by...which I guess is good and bad. I loved that no matter what I was in the mood to do there was always someone who was in the mood to do it too. I always had a shopping buddy, a date to a movie, or a pal to get drinks. 

I have been missing A-O-Pi so much lately that I have decided to join the Alumnae Advisor Counsel. It's a group of "old" A-O-Pi's and we meet once a month and basically advise the collegiate members. I am going to be the Social Advisor (could not be more excited about that) so I will be the go-to-gal for the chapter's social chair. I will help her with whatever planning/rules/approval she needs to organize formals and exchanges. I will also chaperone and/or find chaperones for the events. I am so excited to get re-involved! Plus, a couple of my really close friends are on the AAC which means I get to see them at least once a month no matter what, which is a definite bonus!

If any of you wonderfully crazy sister friends are reading this....I love you. I miss you. And thanks for some of the best memories that I will never forget!

Lovliness

I think I have told this story before but on the very first day that Coffee Buzz was open a man came in and announced "Hi, my name is Bruce and you don't know it yet but I'm going to be your favorite regular! I'm not buying anything but I'll be back later." We all cracked up laughing and were sure we'd never see this man again, but sure enough about an hour and a half later Bruce was back and he was right....he's our favorite regular.

Over the past six months, J and I have gotten to know and become friends with Bruce and his lovely wife Cheryl. It's people like Bruce and Cheryl that make the early mornings and the long hours totally worth it. Last night, Bruce and Cheryl were kind enough to invite J and I over for dinner.

For months, Bruce has been telling us about his Big Green Egg, which is this crazy green, ceramic, egg shaped grill and smoker. (Seriously, click on that link and check out all the stuff this thing can do!) J and I were really excited to check this thing out and try some food cooked on the Egg. Well, let me tell you....it was amazing! Bruce grilled some delicious BBQ chicken and it was exactly how I liked it cooked. It was nice and tender and juicy but the skin was nice and crispy with that delicious grilled flavor. I brought over some baby red potatoes with onions, garlic and oregano which turned out decently well, they could have been a little more flavorful. Finally, we had a nice fresh salad with this amazing dressing that Cheryl made, which I am definitely going to have to steal. We had such a lovely evening just chatting and getting to know each other better. We finished the night with some Rocky Road ice cream and decaf espresso. Everything was so delicious! Bruce and Cheryl have an adorable home not far from Coffee Buzz and I feel so honored and grateful that they opened their up home and shared a fabulous evening with us.

Please excuse the terrible camera phone pictures:
 

 The Big Green Egg

Bruce showing off the Egg

 Amazing dinner

Delicious after dinner espresso

Thoughtless Thursday

I wasn't going to blog today because it's a very gloomy Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis and I really didn't have anything that excited me enough to write about, until my BB reminded me that it's Thoughtless Thursday over at Katie's blog. I started sorting through some old pictures and came across a couple that reminded me of one of my favorite nights from college.

Throughout the five years that I lived on the University of Minnesota campus I spent about 90% of my time at the Delta Chi fraternity house. Those boys were and still are some of my best friends and we had a blast! My Lil Sis, Jenny and one of the Delta Chi's, Vince, got in to a sort of war. Vince hacked in to Jenny's facebook and changed all her info to really annoying, disgusting stuff that only a boy would think is funny. Clearly, the obvious thing to do was plot revenge. So...me, Jenny and my friend Clara came up with a great plan. With some help from one of the other boys we figured out when Vince would be gone and once he left we snuck in to his room and stole all his clothes! And I mean we stole ALL HIS CLOTHES. We took everything out of the closet and his dresser, stuffed it all in garbage bags and brought it back to our house. We were pretty proud of ourselves but we wanted to find a way to let Vince know we had his clothes and also publicize what  we had done. So, we dumped all his clothes out on the floor and all choose an outfit to wear and then we took pictures of ourselves in his clothes while laying on the pile of his clothes. Then, we obviously posted the pictures on Facebook in an album titled "Take this ya son of a bitch" and tagged Vince in all of the pictures. (Funny side note, when I found these pics I noticed Vince is still tagged in them!) These are my favorites from that night.

The war continued after this prank but this night will always be in my memory as a really random, really fun night with good friends. A great "college" story.

If your lacking blog inspiration like me, head on over to Life in the Fulmer Lane and play along with Thoughtless Thursday!

Yesterday...

…was awesome! I started my day with a delicious sugar free raspberry soy latte from Coffee Buzz made by the cutest boy I know. Then I met my mom at her house and we were off to go venue shopping!

We went to four different places! We had appointments for six but one we knew was just too far out of the budget and the other we were left waiting for 20 minutes in a hideous hotel entry way….we both agreed it just wasn’t right so we bailed. We also took a lunch break halfway through at my favorite U of M restaurant, Burrito Loco. I hadn’t been there in years and it was just as delicious as I remembered (great call on that pit stop, mom!) Two of the places I absolutely loved and am planning to bring J back to.  Here are some pictures and info from their websites….let me know what you think!

St. Anthony Main Event Center

Throughout its 115 years, St. Anthony Main has played a significant role in the life and history of Minneapolis. Like proud grandparents, St. Anthony Main has embraced generation upon generation. And, although it has at times undergone extensive remodeling, St. Anthony Main still recounts memories of its distinguished past.  Today, the area is a prime and versatile location for artistic fairs, international shopping, and fine dining with exquisite views of the Minneapolis skyline.

The Event Centre itself occupies three levels of St. Anthony Main’s southern-most section, which was originally the Salisbury-Satterlee Mattress Factory. It offers a total capacity of 550 guests for a seated event or 1,000 guests for a non-seated social event. Weather permitting, the outside deck provides additional space off the main level and overlooks Historic Main Street and the Mississippi River.  St. Anthony Main Event Centre is rich with historical features, including its unique location on the Mississippi Riverfront.  Its rustic brick and exposed wood are extremely open for almost any vision you may have.

Five Event Center
Built in the late 1800s, the historic Minneapolis Fifth Precinct is now the home of FIVE Event Center. FIVE blends New York inspired contemporary design with rich colors and bold textures to create an unforgettable event.

 

Both of these venues are fantastic, but they are completely different and would host two completely different receptions. If we did St. Anthony Main it would be a little more formal with a plated sit down dinner. Five we would do heavy hor dourves or meal stations with a more casual cocktail party style set up. Decisions, decisions, decisions!

After a long day of perusing venues I met up with one of my best college girlfriends, Courtney, for dinner. We went to this new restaurant Sauce, which was awesome. It’s kind of a pimped out Noodles & Co. You place your order at the register and then they serve it to you, but they have pizzas, pastas, paninis and most importantly a good beer and wine menu. It was so great to catch up with Court over some delicious food and wine too!

My day ended just how every great day should end. With the premiers of GLEE and THE BIGGEST LOSER!

What an absolutely great day!!! Thanks for all your comments about looking at venues, they were super helpful! I’ll keep you posted on what we do!

Venue Shopping

 

One thing I know is going to be difficult during this wedding planning process is our schedules. Basically, if I'm not at work J is and vice-versa. Thankfully, my little mama lives in town and is willing to help. My mom and I are going to check out a bunch of venues and then the ones we like I will try to find a time to take J to so we can make a final decision together. My mom and I have 5 appointments today and plans to pop in to two others and I am so excited! I've read you're supposed to research and contact venues but then only visit three, but that seems so silly to me. I am a very visual person and I NEED to see these places in person. Plus, I think it's really helpful to meet the people you'll be working with face-to-face. You want to make sure these people are organized, know what they're doing and are going to make your big day as stress-free as possible.  Here are some questions to ask and some tips to consider when looking for a wedding venue:

• What's the decor like? Does it fit your style and wedding colors? Will you have to spend a lot of money on flowers and decorations to make it beautiful?
• Do they have an in-house caterer, and do you like that food? Do they have a limitation on which outside caterers you can use?
• Do they have adequate coat check and bathroom facilities? Make sure you ask to see the bathrooms!
• Is there a charge for the room rental? Is there a food and beverage minimum?
• What's the cancellation policy?
• Is there a payment schedule? What kind of deposits are required?
• Are there any hidden costs? (Before you sign the contract, read it carefully.)
• How long do you have the space? What are the overtime charges?
• Do they have a liquor license?
• Will they allow you to bring your own liquor? If so, what is the corkage fee?
• Is there room in the wedding venue for a band and/or dancing?
• Does the wedding venue already own a sound system with adequate speakers or will that need to be rented?
• Is there a space for the bride and groom to change and/or relax?
• Where will you take photographs? Is there a park nearby, or do the coordinators have recommended spots on the grounds?
• Who will be supervising and troubleshooting before the day of your wedding? Who will be supervising and troubleshooting on the day of your wedding? Can you meet them now?
• Where can your guests park? Are there extra fees for parking? Do they have valet parking?
• Especially in museums or private clubs, are there limitations on decorations? Do they limit food and drinks to only certain areas of the wedding venue?
• Are candles or other open flames allowed?
• If its an outdoor location, do they have any backup plans for rain or other inclement weather? If not, is there a place that you can put up a tent? 
• How far is it from the ceremony location?
• Do the two places have the same level of formality and a coordinating style?
• Can both locations accommodate the same number of guests?
• Does the reception venue have any experience with weddings from your ceremony location?

What do you think? Is there anything I'm missing? What did/do you love or dislike about your venue? What do you wish you would have known? What did you look for in your venue? Help me out! I love hearing your ideas and advice!

Another Glorious Weekend

It's Monday morning and another jam packed weekend has come and gone. Friday afternoon I met my mom and my BB at Mary Kay's Bridal (the dress shop up the street from Coffee Buzz) for the Impressions Bridal Trunk Show! I went to help my BB try on/pick out dresses but knew there was a really good chance I'd end up in a dress or two. Carolyn found an absolutely beautiful dress that is just perfect for her! She wasn't quite ready to pull the trigger but I know she loves it and I hope it ends up being "the one!" I too tried on a few dresses, one of which I really liked. I wasn't there in the mindset that I was shopping for wedding dresses, so when I put them on it freaked me out a little! I knew I wouldn't be buying a dress that day no matter what happened, but it was so much fun to start trying them on and figuring out what I like/don't like and want and don't want. I've learned I DO NOT like tulle and am not a huge fan of lace.

My mom, My BB, Me and my friend Ashley whose mom own the shop!

After dress shopping Carolyn, Ashley and I went to a restaurant/bar not far from us for dinner and drinks. It was a blast, we had really good old fashioned girl talk. No subject was taboo and we all just spilled our guts on all kinds of topics. It was awesome to just let loose, talk about anything and everything with two amazing girls who are not only in the exact same stage of life as me but who are very similar in their opinions, ideas and personalities. It was so refreshing and so fun! So much so that Carolyn talked on the phone the whole way home about how great it was.

Saturday morning J and I opened Coffee Buzz and were quickly relieved by our beloved employee Sara. We went directly from work to check out a church!!! I knew when my mom got married at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church that it was adorable and had so much charm but I didn't really look at it from a "I could get married here" stand point. The second J and I walked in I knew it was perfect! It's a smaller church so with our guest list it will be packed! I love the idea of walking down the aisle with the entire church filled. I am so excited to check this off our to-do list AND this means we're about 98% sure we have a date...I've got wait until we're 100% to share. 

Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church...where we'll be married!!!

From the church we went straight to the tailgating lot to start our Gopher Game festivities. It was another beautiful day for tailgating and I got to see a lot of great friends I haven't seen in a while. The Gopher's lost but we played USC so we weren't expecting to win. I was actually pretty pleased with how we did, I was expecting to lose by 50 and we only lost by 11!

Jen and Kelly...some long lost sorority sisters. They were seniors when I was a freshman, so good to see them!

My dad will grill anything...two turkey burgers and a banana.

Our friends Hutch & Andrea!

Showing off my navy blue manicure....I was a little worried because I'm more of a purple girl, but I'm kind of obsessing over this color!

Me, my dad and my brother

After the game we went downtown to get some food and then my darling brother brought me, J, our friend Jake and J's little brother Travis to the bars in Uptown. Well, Nate was driving us in my car and then was going to park it at my mom's house and J and I would cab home and get the car in the morning. Good plan, right? Well we get home in the cab and I realize I don't have my keys. I'm freaking out thinking I lost them somewhere when it hits me.....Nate has the keys to my car/house in my car which is at my mom's. Brilliant! Thank God J's dad lives less than five minutes from us. So, we got back in to the cab and went to their house where we all slept on the couches. And, to add to the awesomeness of this story both me and J's phones die and when we call my brother from the house phone....his phone is dead! Finally, at like 9:30am I get a hold of my mom who of course isn't home to wake up my brother. Nate arrives at J's parents at 11:45 with my keys! Hallelujah. So we all head out....the car isn't there. Nate had to drop the keys on his way back to school so wasn't able to bring the car. We got a ride home from J's brother and eventually we were all home and all had cars but boy was it a process. I think getting a spare key to our place to give to J's parents would be really, REALLY smart.

Ain't No Party Like A Guest List Party

Last night, the future hub and I had a little in-home date night. I made dinner, we watched Parenthood and we made our guest list! I have been stressing about making this guest list…we have a crap ton of family and a massive amount of friends. I thought for sure the list would be 800 people long when I really want to keep our wedding at or under 200 guests. I thought it was going to take hours and I had visions of us fighting and arguing over who to cut and who to invite. I will say, the way we went about it was very civilized, organized and worked really well.

We started by listing our parents, it may sound stupid but when you have eight parents you need to make sure you don’t forget anyone. Next we listed all of our siblings, again may seem silly but we have ten siblings between the two of us! After that, we listed all the grandparents, then the aunts and uncles and finally made a list of our cousins. It worked really well to list everything with a bride column and a groom column and then to sort and list by family. So by the end of it we had a nice list of our entire family. After that we individually made a list of our friends. We decided, to start, we would just write down everyone we would consider inviting. We figured it’s easier to edit the list later than to add on to it. We both did a great job! We were almost even in the number of friends we wanted there and neither one of us went out of control, we both had very respectable lists. Finally we made a list of friend’s family and family friends. We gave each of our parents (by couple, not individual) 6 guests or three couples that they could invite. Then, we listed our friend’s families that we are close with an want to be there on the big day! The not-so-fun part is then counting all these people, which was scary because I still thought the list was going to be way too long….I was pleasantly surprised when our list rounded out at about 220 people! Yes, that’s 20 more than we want BUT this is our very first draft of the list, and a common wedding tip is to invite 10% more guests than what you actually want to attend because there are always going to be people who can’t make it. So, in short, I’m thrilled! It was painless, took less than an hour and there was no fighting, arguing or crying. Now we just need to find a church, a venue and a date….no big deal, right?

On another note, have you ever dreamt about what would happen if a taco, lasagna and a casserole had a dance party? Well, I think about that a lot and decided to find out. Last night I created my own super random recipe that turned out really well. Here’s the low down:

Kristin's Sassy Taco Lasagna Casserole

(shout out to the future mother-in-law who helped me think of the name)

INGREDIENTS:

-1 pound Extra Lean Ground Turkey

-Whole Wheat Egg Noodles (I used about half a bag)

-1 onion

-garlic to taste

-1 can refried beans

-1 package Low Sodium Taco Seasoning

-1 can tomato sauce

-1 6oz can tomato paste

-1 bottle Ortega Taco Sauce

-Tabasco sauce (if you like spicy)

-16oz container Low Fat Ricotta Cheese

-1 ½ cups shredded Mexican Cheese blend

-1 egg

-1 can sliced Black Olives

-Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees

-Start by cooking the noodles 

MEAT LAYER: 

-The saute garlic and chopped onion in olive oil

 -Once onions are soft add ground turkey and brown

-Add taco seasoning to meat and onions following directions on the package

-Finally add and blend in refried beans

CHEESE LAYER:

-Combine container of ricotta, 1 cup of shredded cheese, egg and black olives.

-Mix really well

SAUCE:

-Combine tomato sauce, tomato paste, taco sauce and tobasco sauce

-Whisk together

-Grease a 13x9 baking dish

-Layer the noodles

half the meat mix

half the cheese mix

then  half the sauce

AND REPEAT

-Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top

-Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes

-Let the casserole cool for about 10 minutes, slice up and serve! 

It was really yummy and pretty impressive for random made up recipe. Next time I make it there are probably a couple things I would add or do differently....1. It needed more sauce, at least in my opinion. I love a lot of sauce, so I will probably do 2 bottles of taco sauce next time to give it more flavor and sauciness. 2. It needed some crunch...tacos are crunchy and all the flavors were there just not the noise. I think next time I'll crush up some tortilla chips to create a crust on top. 3. It would be really yummy with a dollop of sour cream on top....maybe not if you're trying to look good in a wedding dress in the near future, but otherwise, sour cream would be money!

I hope you all have a great weekend! I have a super jam packed, super exciting weekend coming up and I can't wait to share it with you on Monday!

The Day My Mom Got Married

On Friday, August 6th 2010 my mom and (now) step-dad were married in a cute little church on a lake in Minneapolis. With only their children and parents in attendance the day was personal, heartfelt and emotional. After exchanging their vows and shedding some tears of joy Paula and Steve treated their family to a delicious dinner at renowned Twin Cities restaurant Capital Grille. To complete the night, the new family celebrated in a private area of downtown Minneapolis' best kept bar secret, Prohibition. The following pictures, courtesy of Katherine J. Photography, are a perfect recount of the beautiful day (oh, and there's a lot of them).

My mom and I getting ready

 The dress!

 The shoes!

The Maid of Honor

The Groom!

Step-dad helping brother tie his tie

Three Musketeers

Champagne!

The Church!

Getting her in the dress

 "Here comes the bride," "I Do" and "I now pronounce you"

My gorgeous bouquet

Steve with his daughters

My mom and her kids

Love this pic!

Bride, Groom and their kids

All the guests

My date :)

Me and my mama

Mom and brother 

My brother and his gf

Bride and Groom!!!

And now, we PARTY.....