For Mr. Apple and I music is key. We love to listen to a broad list of music genres from alternative, jazz, country, blues, hard rock, r & b, pop, and classic rock. We’re working on a list right now and have a nice array of selected slow songs but am having difficult finding fast dance songs. His parents are quite conservative so no “shake your romp” songs would be appropriate. I think Mr. Apple informed me his aunts like to “cha cha” so we’re using Michael Buble’s “Sway” as an alternative song. We also have a couple of jazz musician friends (trumpet) who are helping with our wedding song list.

Does anyone have any suggestions on great fast dance songs that are ? HELP!

Here is a few of our songs on our wedding ipod list. Click to listen. -)

I wasn’t 100% pleased with my first hair trial. I had envisioned a particular “hair look” for myself but couldn’t seem to relay the same vision to my hairstylist. She got pretty close but I just didn’t feel….she was the right one. So one month point five months left before the big day and I had my second hair trial with Miriam E Azary in Plano. I found her by searching online reviews and rating and she got a 9.6 out of 10.

I really wanted a romantic, whispy, soft look (similar to my first trial) and with a low bun but i didn’t like the front at all. I felt I was all face. So, here’s a photo of my second trial. Different. I like it! Higher set and she actually created a little bit of volume by adding these odd squishy rollers into my hair. She would then pin them and smooth it out. I’ve never seen this before but it worked.

Side by side photo. Which do you like better? High or Low? ( I have black whiskers popping out of the high bun because of my hair pin on the other side)

I received a phone call from my friend “Paul the baker” last week letting me know that he no longer could be my cake baker. He has this huge project/start up (non baking related) that he needs to concentrate on and wrap up around the time of my wedding. I was disappointed to say the least…ok I was peeved that he would do this only 1.5 months away from the wedding day. But thinking back it’ll probably work out better for us in the end.

So, amazingly “I was calm about it” says Mr. Apple. (high five high five) After discussing it with Mr. Apple we agreed that we would hire someone who is experienced and confident that they can do the job without fail. I searched different bakeries within the area but nothing stood out. I remember last year stopping by Bridal Portfolio to look for wedding dresses and they had this ginourmous cake laid out for us to try. I think there was a bride who won a $5000 wedding dress. Lucky girl.

So I tried some of the cake. Oh man oh man, it was good. I’m not too picky when it comes to cake. I am a carb lover. But when cake is good, and you know when cake taste good when you eat 2-3 servings of it. That’s what I did. -)

The cake was made by “Taste of Europe” (www.opulentcakes.com) in Fort Worth. We made an appointment with Donna today and she was fab. She’s had over 30 years of baking experience and has been managing Taste of Europe for over 7-8 years. So we know she knows how to run a well run business and keep her clients happy. She was great at giving us her culinary advice but also at the same time open to any ideas we would like to incorporate into the wedding cake.

Mr. Apple mentioned to me a couple of days ago that he sometimes feels like whenever he wants to spend some money on something for the wedding, I always veto it and that I basically control the whole process of wedding planning and get whatever I want. -( I felt bad so this time, at the bakery cake tasting, I let Mr. Apple decide which cake to get. I had some cake photo print outs for Donna to see but once I saw Mr. Apple’s face light up when he saw this cake I could NOT say no. (Sorry for the blurry photo, i took a photo of a photo)

He said, “Wow, I really like the colors and style of this cake.” I think it fit our personalities well – young, playful, and fun. It resembles the “Mad Hatter” wedding cakes that you often see these days but not quite with the hefty slant. So we agreed on something like this but with a few changes with the color and piping of the cake. The silk hydreganas work perfectly since we will be using the same color hydregenas in our floral centerpeice. She offered us 6 different flavors – kahlua with chocolate, orange grand mariner, pina colada, raspberry mousse, white chocolate, and amarette with almonds. We couldn’t decide on 3 of our favorite flavors so she will make three tiers with three different flavors. Top tier will be the amaretto, middle tier will be kahlua with chocolate, and bottom tier the orange grand mariner.

She had beautiful cakes inside her baking studio but one of them stood out. I couldn’t stop staring at this beauty. Look at the details of the flowers! This reminds me of a design I saw in “W” wedding magazine last year. Gorgeous. She’ll be incorporating these flowers into our cake design too.

As for the price per slice of the cake. We have 160 adults and 40 kids so we agreed to order 175 person serving at $5.00/slice (incude tax and delivery charge). Overall, we walked out of there pleased and confident that she will do a great job.

One year ago yesterday Mr. Apple proposed to me. If it weren’t for it being on Easter Sunday, I would have completely forgotten. Mr. Apple forgot too. I don’t mind really. We’re both pretty bad remembering our anniversary or proposal dates. We just passed our 4 year anniversary last month. No celebration. No biggie. I think we’re the kind of couple who accepts one another as is – no frills. Don’t get me wrong, i’m still a girl and would like a nice dinner once in awhile. But if he decides not to do it for reasons than I definitely won’t be throwing tantrums.

I think we’ll start “appreciating” the date more after we’re married. It also will fall on a holiday (Memorial Weekend) so there is no excuse for both of us to forget. -)

I found this cute proposal story on youtube.com. Look at the amount of work he put into the card!

As for the proposal. Completely unromantic – no dinner, no flowers, no scavenger hunts. But again that’s not Mr. Apple. I would probably start giving him weird looks if he did. -) I give him points for spontaneity. So our story goes, as a crack addict walks by our car he……

Was your proposal story what you envisioned? Second question, did he propose on bended knee?

For those brides who don’t feel comfortable in a poofy white wedding dress these maybe some great alternatives. I would so rock this outfit if I were a few years older. These could also work for Mother of the Bride dresses.

Nanette Lepore

Barry Pace

 

I know a few people who would find this t shirt amusing. -)

For a unique spin off of table names – here are some that work great in pairs.

Tom and Jerry (kids table)

(via Google image)

Gin and Tonic (for those 20 something crowd)
Popeye and Olive OYL
Calvin and Hobbes (comic strip characters)
Bert & Ernie (roommates)
Cheech & Chong (colleagues, entertainers)
Lilo & Stitch (cartoon characters)
Lewis & Clark (famous explorers)
Lucy & Desi (colleagues, couple/rivals)
Laverne & Shirley (famous TV Show)
Luke & Leia (Star Wars)
Mario & Luigi
Meat & Potatoes (food)
Nuts & Bolts (complmentary)
Oil & Vinegar (complemntary)
PB & Jelly (complementary)

Any other great pairs?

I found these vintage photo scrolled French wire stand set on ebay. Very cute for reception tables or maybe even at the guest log in table. A little pricey for me but maybe it will work for you! They are $21.99 for a set.

Here are a few more photos of our kick ass time pole dancing (www.exoticdancecentral.com).

Our instructor who was amazing on the pole. She made it look so easy.

Me desperately trying to replicate the same move above but failing miserably. (see how she has her legs parallel)

MOH pinning on my veil (they gave the brides a free veil and garter to wear)

Everyone picked stage names, I was “Flash” and Becky was “Mercades” instructed to “caress our body”.

Tiger and I forgot Susan’s stage name.

We also learned how to do lap dances – as you can tell from my face I was a little uncomfortable having Mercades look at my butt cheeks. I couldn’t reach all the way down.

Post lap dance from Susan – I think Mercades enjoyed it.

Tiger “grrrrr” really enjoying herself.

Mercades on the floor.

Mercades giving a lap dance.

Learning how to spin on the pole.

Continuation of the lap dance.

Group Photo

It really was a work out. I was sore the day after but even more sore the following 2 days (esp my biceps and thighs).

I am a product of divorced parents. I think mine is a little unusual because they just recently (5 years ago) divorced over 40 years of marriage. For a few years it was rough for both sides but we managed to work it out and have since moved on. I think they’re much happier now. Since it was an arranged marriage, I guess they felt somewhat pushed to love one another. Mr. Apple and I both agree that an unhappy marriage should never be together for the sake of children.

My question is how have you managed to work your wedding magic by including both of them into your special day?

I have decided to not include my father in the wedding. I won’t have a father/daughter dance, he will not be walking me down the aisle and giving me away, no sentimental speeches from him. At first it would bring tears to my eyes (sometimes still do) but i know some sacrfice needs to be done somewhere. As hard as it is, i think it would be best since I’ve already spoken to him on a few occasions about this and he agrees that it would be too awkward for everyone. He says he would love to take Mr. Apple and I out for a nice intimiate dinner to celebrate. -)

With the the unfortunate high divorce rate, I know lots of brides are going through a similar situation. How are you coping?