Countdown: 17 Days - Modge's Wedding

Wait. What? 17 Days?! That's NOTHING! Where have the last 16 months gone? I've had all the time in the world to prepare for this and now, BOOM, it's here. I just can't believe a week from Friday I will be headed home to get MARRIED. Fun!

There have been a lot of  milestones since our engagement that I've used to help me count down the days until the wedding. We passed one of the last ones this weekend with our friends' wedding. Katye and Sean were married here in Chicago on Saturday, and we had a blast celebrating with them all weekend. Their wedding has always been "three weeks before ours" and now that's come and gone which means our wedding is now less than three weeks away.

Instead of boring you to tears with my anxiety, I'd like to share a few photos from the weekend. Katye was a stunning bride and was so calm, cool and collected all day (I could learn a thing or two from her). Sharing the entire day with her (literally, I spent the night w/ her before the wedding day and she couldn't sleep and was up before the sun!) was such a great experience - one I will remember forever!

Here are just a few pics from the day:


Getting Ready!

My last walk down an aisle before the big one!

 

  

Congratulations to the McDrowski's! ;)



Countdown: 39 Days – Eagan Family Shower Weekend

St. Patrick’s Day has always been a big deal for by big Irish family. We haven’t missed a St. Patrick’s Day parade for as long as I can remember, but this year may have been the best yet!

Matt and I were in St. Louis for the weekend for a family shower on Sunday – at least that’s what we thought. When we arrived at the parade on Saturday, this is what we saw:

That’s right, a float in our honor! Complete with a wedding chapel and even an Irish-colored sombrero (I’m half Irish, half Mexican, btw)! I was shocked! I’m glad I had my sunglasses on b/c I even teared up a little. I just couldn’t believe all the work the whole family had done for us. From my Aunts coordinating the parade to my cousin designing special t-shirts, everyone pitched in. I mean, my Honorary Uncle made the sombrero out of paper mache and my Uncle actually built that chapel in his garage!! Amazing.

The day was so much fun and I was reminded once again just how lucky we are to have the families that we do. Truly blessed!

Thank you to everyone who helped to plan and execute this awesome day.

Here are some other photos from the day:

Countdown: 45 Days - Invitations

There's no turning back now - the invitations are out!

I'm obsessed with our invitation suite! We worked with Courtney Callahan again (she did our save the dates) and they're exactly what I was going for: simple and traditional with a little flair :)

We kept the actual invitation pretty traditional:

And had a little fun with the details cards:

I think this is my favorite part of the whole suite! Love little touches like this:



I told my Mom that we will need regularly scheduled calls to go through the responses she receives since they are addressed to their house. Guess which one is the "yes" pile...

Countdown: 59 Days – Wedding Weekend Attire

We’re officially under the two month mark! Where is the time going?! We have a jam packed schedule coming up so I’m sure the rest of the time is going to fly by. Yikes/Yay!

With the Big Day quickly approaching, my thoughts are pretty much consumed with all the last minute details we need to start thinking about. Like, for example, wedding weekend attire! I need outfits for the Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner on Thursday, as well as a Welcome Party on Friday. Neither will be too dressy, but I’ll definitely wear a dress to both. And, ideally, I’d get to wear white to both events – why not?!

I’ve been scouring the stores and have come across a few options. Here are some top contenders:



Max and Cleo



Sam & Lavi



Cynthia Steffe



GUESS

 

BCBGeneration



Max and Cleo



Max and Cleo



Max and Cleo

Countdown: 64 Days – Bienvenido a Miami

As Will Smith so eloquently put it – Party in the city where the heat is on, all night on the beach til the break of dawn. I’m going to Miami. Welcome to Miami.

A group of my sorority sisters celebrated the upcoming nuptials of myself and two others in Miami over President’s Day Weekend. We had such an awesome weekend full of lying by the pool and beachside, eating at amazing restaurants (and stolen ham sandwiches) and hitting the town.

We kicked off the weekend on the rooftop hotel pool and with a super fun dinner on Ocean Drive followed by showing off our amazing dance moves at The Clevelander.



View of the beach from the Gansevoort



The official bachelorette party took place on Saturday night starting with a fun little shower, dinner at STK, hotel room dance party and a night of “clubbing.”



Where's Victor?



April, May, June!

We wrapped up the weekend with a delicious dinner at Cecconi’s (with Russell Simmons!) and one last night cap and great people watching at the Fontainebleau Hotel.

I was totally exhausted for days after I got back, but it was so worth it! I am so thankful for all you lovely ladies and for all the planning and time spent on making our bachelorette weekend so fun! I’m so excited about seeing you all for the many events coming up!  

I will leave you with this:

Countdown: 68 Days - Welcome Caroline!

Meet our newest niece and flower girl, Caroline! Matt's brother and sister-in-law welcomed their little bundle of joy last week and we went to Ft. Wayne this weekend to meet her. She's such a good baby, and we had a wonderful weekend of holding, feeding and watching/staring at her!

Zebra! A fan favorite.



Uncle Matt!



Cousin Jeezy.



Aunt Lauren!

Countdown: 73 Days - Congrats!

Congratulations to my cousin (and bridesmaid!) Katie on her recent engagement!! I am so happy for you and Paul, and excited to be a part of your special day!

Countdown: 88 Days - Flower & Tabletop Preview!

When we were in St. Louis for Christmas, I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the flowers and linens that will be used at the reception.

I LOVE the florist we’re working with – Barb Wehking/Bloomin’ Buckets (check out their new blog!). When my Mom and I left after our first meeting with Mrs. Wehking, she said – you two were really on the same wavelength in there! I always knew they did great work and hoped that I'd get to work with them for my wedding one day. Plus, we've known the Wehking family since I was in 2nd grade with their daughter KC!

We had only one meeting prior to this and had talked about what I was going for, but it was like she read my mind and could see exactly what I was envisioning! The centerpieces will be fuller on the actual day, but I love them already!

Our wedding coordinator, Elizabeth from Cosmopolitan Events, was also on-hand to show us some table linen options. I wanted to go with a shade of grey for the tables but was worried that with 30ish tables, it would be too dark in the room. I think we came up with some great options – including some really fun linens for the cocktail and cake tables. Here’s a sneak peek at some of our ideas:

  

 

I’m so excited to see everything come together in May!