This past weekend Russell and I went to the Newseum in Washington, D.C. He has been wanting to visit for a while, probably because he wanted to check out all of the USNews & World Report mentions. With a great tip from our friend Pammy of 1/2 price tickets in the month of January we set aside time from wedding planning and hopped on the metro to check out what the Newseum had to offer.
We enjoyed the many interactive and compelling exhibits the Newseum had to offer. Some of the top sections that we enjoyed were:
Athlete: photos from legendary sports photographer Walter Iooss
The largest glass elevators that take you to the top floor where they have a great view of the US Capitol and the Pennsylvania Avenue Terrace
News History Room where they had over 500 years of newspapers in glass drawers
The Internet, TV and Radio Exhibit
Today’s Front Page Gallery, where they have more than 80 newspapers from across the U.S. and around the World
Russell and I are out on the Pennsylvania Avenue Terrace with a great view of the U.S. Capitol in the background.
I was so amused by these artifacts at the Newseum!
The last thing we did at the museum (except check out the gift shop which is always a highlight) was go to the Interactive Newsroom and I actually had a chance to read a teleprompter and be a television reporter. If you ever have a chance to go to the Newseum, I highly recommend it. When you go you can choose from 6-8 different backdrops ranging in topics from sports, weather and even landing on the moon. I chose a prompt that was about the latest exhibits going on at the Newseum; I felt it was appropriate so I could remember the day. Russell wanted me to give a special shout out at the end, so take a look and see how I did.
The 4-year tradition of spending Thanksgiving at my parent’s house lives on. Every year Russell, his parents and other family members come over and spend thanksgiving at my parent’s house. My mom doesn’t mind as she loves to cook and I help her out as much as I can. Russell helps by eating!
My dad is finishing up bbq-ing some vegetables.
Russell and his mom were the first to dig in. We enjoyed turkey, spare ribs, marinated bison, egg rolls, cole slaw, corn bread, homemade corn tortillas, potato salad, veggies and cranberry sauce. Yum!
And everyone got their fare share of leftovers to take home and enjoy for the following week. It was a great Thanksgiving and I can’t wait until next year.
Last Saturday I picked out and purchased my wedding dress at Brides Against Breast Cancer. Brides Against Breast Cancer is a non-profit organization that sells discounted wedding dresses to benefit the Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation. I was able to not only find my wedding dress there, but I found a veil and tiara to match. I found out about the event in an article in The Washington Times which went on to explain “Brides Against Breast Cancer gowns typically sell for $400 to $800, a fraction of the retail price. Some gowns are worth as much as $8,000 … Many brides are looking for a deal, as well as a way to help someone. “ Finding my wedding dress is truly the icing on my wedding cake. Oh yeah cake … I still have a lot more planning to do!
This is just half of the dresses they brought to the event at The Westin Hotel in Arlington, VA.
This is my Mom getting my dress, veil and tiara! The man in the back is putting my dress in the protective cover! NO peeking!
I got my wedding dress and we helped Brides Against Breast Cancer! ( From Left to Right: Me, my Mom and Dad)
Ever since our engagement, or for about a year now, I have been on the internet searching and seeking wedding related ideas for our big day. During this process I have come across some very interesting finds that I felt were share-worthy.
A Brief Guide About Bridesmaids
For example, “A Brief Guide About Bridesmaids”is a super-cute animated video created by the Vancouver Film School. The video does a wonderful job at describing the duties and experiences of a typical bridesmaids and also describing the origins of bridesmaids in different cultures. “A Brief Guide About Bridesmaids” video is sponsored by The Dessy Group, an online store for bridesmaid clothing and bridal dresses.
Being Erica
The second video I have to share is from a bridesmaids point of view and how she feels about the planning and dress shopping process. The women in it is from the Canadian show Being Erica, and as a way to advertise the show they created a prequel where she video blogs. Most of her entries are hilarious but this one in particular is funny because I hope my bridesmaids never feel like this.
Even though it is a Canadian Show, Russell was able to download episodes for me. Or you can catch the show on SoapNet in the United States.
I hope you enjoyed these fun online videos about bridesmaids!
Next week will be the beginning of May, that means we will be a year away from our wedding date! I am so excited to get the ball rolling on vendors getting booked and plans figured out. With Russell and I being engaged a year now and us having our wedding date and venue secured since January we have had a lot of time pass by in regards to planning I hope within the next couple of months to have the major vendors researched, contacted and booked. With all this planning ahead of me a bride will absolutely need her bridesmaids by her side.
My bridesmaids have known before I got engaged that they would be in my wedding, duh! they are my best friends and I hang out with them all the time. These wonderful & beautiful girls have become my closest friends ever since being my roommates in college.
Even though they know they are in the wedding, I have waited until now to “ask” them to be my bridesmaids. If you are getting married and have read any wedding magazines or browsed theknot.com, brides are now formally asking their friends “will you be my bridesmaid?” and giving little gifts to commemorate the occasion. I think this is a great idea! There is a lot of commitment on the bridesmaid part: from planning and going to pre-wedding functions, paying for a dress, as well as being a big supporter to the bride. I also love the idea of presenting them with a token of appreciation before all the madness takes over as it gets closer to my wedding day.
I have been waiting until May to have a get-together type luncheon with all of the girls so I can formally kick off the process. I tried to think of a cute restaurant to have this Bridesmaid Luncheon and I came up with Mrs. K’s Tollhouse Resturant in Silver Spring, MD. I am hoping the weather is good because they have a beautiful garden in back to take pictures. Then after the luncheon we are all going to go over to the Strathmore Music Center to show them the venue. All of the girls have not seen Strathmore and showing them where the ceremony will take place, cocktail hour and the reception area is vital in order for them to picture the day. This will also help when I will need to plan and pick decor and get their opinion if it will go or look good in the venue.
The Luncheon is planned for Saturday May 2nd, 2009! I am super excited that all of them can make it. If you know me I love to craft and do hands on projects so this was a great excuse to make my own invitations (pictured below). I found these “Petal” cards in the clearance section of Paper Source in Georgetown. The cards were a plain pink inside so I added everything from the ribbon, pink and green paper, paper flowers and gems from past craft projects. I think they turned out amazing and Russell and I are thinking of incorporating a “Petal” packaging for our wedding invitations. This is how they turned out:
I am going to write another blog post discussing how the day went and to reveal some of my surprises! Shhh I can’t say now because I don’t want my bridesmaids to find out until our luncheon on May 2nd! Stay tuned.
