A Crazy Weekend, and Another Letdown

This past weekend, we traveled up to Maryland for our engagement party. My parents have been planning this thing for months! We flew up Friday night and pretty much went straight to bed. Saturday, we got up around 10 and ate a nice brunch (bagels and lox, YUM!). Then we helped my parents get the house set up for the party. At 2 pm, we met with one of the DJs that we were considering. He was kind of awkward at first, but I grew to like him more as the meeting went on. He left around 3, and we went upstairs and showered and got ready for the party, which started at 4.

The party was AWESOME! We ended up having about 75 people, and my parents' house was filled to the brim! They had tables set up in the living room, dining room, basement, and out on the back porch. My mom had prepared all the food herself, but she hired people to come in and man the grill, bartend, and actually cook the food (throw it in the oven, and serve it). It was delicious, of course. It was really cool that both of Marcus's parents, his grandfather (who is 95 years old), and all of his siblings and step-siblings were able to come up for the party! They got to meet a good chunk of my extended family, which went really well, and was very interesting to watch. I said beforehand that I thought the party was a good litmus test for the wedding in that way - just throw everyone in a room and see how they react to each other. Like I said, it went really well, so I consider it a success!

The one bad thing about the party, for me, was that while it was really nice to see everyone, I didn't feel like I really got to SEE anyone. Every time I tried to start having a conversation with someone, my mom would call me over to say hello to someone who had just arrived, or say goodbye to someone who was leaving. I literally ran back and forth between the door and wherever I was hanging out at the time the whole party.

The party was supposed to end at 9, but of course, we convinced a few people to hang around, and they got me and Marcus to open our presents! We got a lot of great stuff, and it was nice to have that extra time where we actually got to interact with some of our party guests. Everyone filtered out by around 10:30, and we were exhausted, so we went to bed.

Sunday morning, we got up early to go meet Marcus's dad & co. for breakfast. It was actually a very nice breakfast, and they said that they really enjoyed the party, and meeting my family! After breakfast, we went back to my parents' house, and at 11, we met with another potential DJ. He was much more outgoing and confident than the first one, but I had some concerns about his bragging and some of the comments he made, which were sort of culturally insensitive (not intentionally so, but still) and came off the wrong way. When he left, we still didn't have a decision about a DJ. Then at 12, we met with a photographer. We LOVED her (like my mom thought we would), so that was one check mark off the list. After she left, we talked for a little while about the DJs, and my mom said we could think on it and let her know in a couple of days. We flew back home Sunday evening.

We eventually decided to go with the second DJ, Chris Laich. We think that he will do a good job, and as for the personality stuff, at least I won't be the one dealing with him for the most part, and my mom really likes him, so she won't mind. One more check off the list!

Then, this morning, my mom called me. She said that things didn't work out with the photographer, apparently the contract she made up was not acceptable and she wasn't willing to negotiate. So now we have to find another photographer, and find some potential ones to meet with when we go back up to Maryland for 4th of July. A trip can never be just a trip anymore! Oh well.

That's My Final Answer

I haven't been doing much wedding-related stuff lately, mostly on account of general life craziness. We have had a steady stream of gifts arriving at our door, and now have a growing pile of boxes in the middle of our living room, because there is no storage space in our apartment! We're going up to Maryland for July 4th weekend, so we're hoping to take at least some if not all of this stuff up then to store at my parents' house temporarily.

Today I did my first wedding errand in a few weeks: I went to David's Bridal with Pearl (one of my awesome bridesmaids). My mom had gone to David's Bridal in Maryland with Cara (another bridesmaid) and her mom a couple of weeks ago, and called me telling me that I needed to go to David's Bridal and look at the color I had chosen for the bridesmaids' dresses, because it looked COMPLETELY different in person than it did on the website. Also, a couple of my bridesmaids had asked if I could get color swatches for them so they could search for dresses elsewhere, since DB is kind of expensive. So Pearl and I went, and had great success! First of all, the color looked EXACTLY the same in person as it did on the website, so I don't know what my mom was talking about. So Horizon blue is now my FINAL decision for bridesmaids dress color! I also picked up a couple of swatches (at $1 each, and they are big enough to cut into several pieces, so I only had to buy two of them), so that is taken care of.

This weekend we are going up to Maryland for our engagement party, and I will have lots of updates when we get back! In addition to the party itself (which will be ridiculous, my parents are really going all out for this!), we are also meeting with several potential photographers and DJs, so hopefully we will make a decision by the end of the weekend! My mom also called me today to let me know that they are signing the contract for the florist today, and she has also pretty much decided on a day-of coordinator to hire. The pieces are starting to fall into place!

The Groomie Party

Mimicking my lovely fiancée's post I will take this opportunity to introduce my cool Groomie PartyTM!

I, too, had spent some time early in our relationship thinking about who might serve a role in the Groomie PartyTM when we get married. I had not asked anybody hypothetically in advance, however.

Best Man
My choice for Best Man was made infinitely easier once Tara's sister agreed to be the Maid of Honor. Since she chose "a family member" I didn't have to choose between my friends, either! Elliot is the second oldest son in the Brodzki Clan. He is studying computer science and game design at WPI in Massachusetts. He expects to graduate in May 2011. His hobbies include computer and console gaming and he also enjoys building robots in his spare time. Elliot is 3.5 years younger than me and we shared a room for many years. We are foils of one another...and we like it that way.

Groomsmen
I have four groomsmen. They rock. 'Nuff said.

Mike and I met freshman year at Emory when we lived in McTyeire Hall and during our Junior year we lived together as suite-mates. Mike is/was a huge Lost fan. He earned a BA in Education Studies at Emory in 2008 and loves spending time with his fiancée Heather. He doesn't like lettuce.

Cliff is awesome (as are all of my Groomsmen). We all met through Alpha Phi Omega a co-ed, national service Fraternity during our years at Emory. He earned a BA in 2008 in History and Russian and East European Studies. He is (at time of writing) a 2L (second year law student) at the University of Georgia School of Law. He enjoys spending time with his girlfriend, cooking new things with basil, and being in nature. He also likes to eat matzah.

Eric was the first person from Emory that I met. We actually met in an online "admissions" chat for another university several months before meeting at Emory. We lived on the same freshman hall and forged a strong friendship. Eric earned a BA in Economics and Film Studies from Emory in 2008. He is a 2L at Hofstra University hoping to practice entertainment law upon his graduation. Eric enjoys going to the movies, eating at great restaurants and traveling.

Logan is my youngest sibling. He enjoys playing video games and is an avid reader. Logan tells the best jokes and he aspires to be an astrophysicist with NASA at Cape Canaveral. He will be a high school freshman in the fall.

I'm very happy these people all said yes to being in the Groomie PartyTM. I hope that they will enjoy the months that lay ahead and help ensure that our wedding day is both special and fun for everyone involved!

Thanks Groomie PartyTM.

And now...back to your regularly scheduled postings :-).

Meet the Bridal Party!

I want to take this opportunity to introduce my lovely bridal party! I'll let Marcus do a separate post about the groomsmen if he wants.

Choosing my bridal party was probably the easiest part of this whole planning process for me. I've had a working list for years! In fact, I had even asked my sister (hypothetically, of course) several months before we got engaged if she would want to be my maid of honor. The answer was a very enthusiastic YES, so that's where I'll start.

Maid of Honor
As I only have one sister, this was an obvious choice. What better way to honor the one person who has shared the entire "growing up" experience with me? And of course, by having my sister do it, there is the added benefit of no chance for any hurt feelings among my friends. My sister, Amy, is 23 years old (3 years younger than me), graduated from college last year, and lives in NYC with her boyfriend Andrew. She is an aspiring Broadway star (she's wanted to be on Broadway since she knew what it was), and a very talented singer. When she's not auditioning for shows, she currently works two part-time jobs, one with an internet startup company, and one at a feminist-friendly adult store (where she sometimes teaches seminars, too!). We may fight sometimes, but I love my sister very much, and I'm so glad that she has agreed to be my maid of honor!

Bridesmaids
I have four amazing bridesmaids, and I couldn't ask for a better group!

Michelle has been my best friend since we met in 7th grade P.E. class. In high school, we were pretty much inseparable, and although we now live in different states, we still maintain our close friendship. Michelle loves animals! She has two adorable kitties, Abby and Baci, and a horse named Cheyenne (she does endurance riding). She also loves roller coasters, Euro games, and reality tv shows.

Pearl is my best friend from college. We were suitemates our senior year, and forged a deep and lasting friendship. She has been there for me through some really hard times, when no one else was. I only hope that I have been as good a friend to her as she has to me! Pearl has an adorable puppy named Yoshi, who loves to play! She also has a cute car (a jeep with monster headlights!) named Princess, which was one of my favorite hangouts in college.

Cara is my BFF since preschool! We've never been able to see each other often, but every time we do, we pick up right where we left off, and never miss a beat. Cara is an amazing person, and I am so lucky to call her my friend. She has a hearing dog named Maya who is sweet and cuddly and SO smart! Cara is also a deep thinker and an amazing writer.

Ilana is Marcus's only sister. She just turned 16 and is enjoying being able to drive! As the only girl in a family with three brothers and three stepbrothers, she is constantly telling me how excited she is to finally be getting a sister! Ilana loves music, and also has stage ambitions (much like my sister!). She participates in her high school's musicals and chorus, and she also plays soccer.


When we got engaged, the FIRST thing I wanted to do was ask these amazing girls if they would do me the honor of being a part of our special day. I love them to death, and it is really important to me that they know that! I couldn't wait to give them this special honor to show them how much they mean to me, and how they will always share center stage in my life. I'm so happy that all of them agreed to do this, and I hope that I will never act bridezilla-ish towards any of them! Sharing this time and my wedding day with them is what makes the whole experience worthwhile and possible.

Save-the-Dates and Shoes!

A couple of weeks ago, we completed the most exciting task (for me, anyway) on our checklist so far: we mailed out our save-the-dates! As I may have mentioned in an earlier post, Marcus's dad and his wife own a printing company, so they are doing all of our paper items (save-the-dates, invitations, programs, thank you notes, etc.) for free. We are VERY thankful to them for doing this for us!

Anyway, after much back and forth emailing with Rochelle (Marcus's dad's wife), we finalized the design for our save-the-dates! We got magnets, because a) they are useful, b) they are right there on people's refrigerators, so they're less likely to be misplaced or forgotten, and c) magnets are fun! This is what our save-the-dates look like (I've blocked out our last names since this is the internet and I don't know who will see this):

Isn't it pretty?!?

My other big accomplishment last week was getting my shoes! Here there is a story that must be explained before I show you a picture of the shoes. When Joel and Shosh got married, Shosh told me all about how she was able to get away with wearing platform sneakers, and how it was amazing, because they were comfortable, and nobody could see them under her dress. I vowed right then that I was also going to wear sneakers to my wedding! So I asked Shosh where she got her shoes. She sent me a link to the EXACT shoes that she had! I noticed that they didn't have them in my size (I usually wear a 6.5 or 7, they had 6.5 but not 7). I searched a few other websites, and eventually found a size 7 on Amazon. But then I was reading the reviews people had posted about the shoes, and several of them mentioned that these shoes run small, so they recommended getting a half size bigger than usual. I asked Shosh if that was the case for her, and she didn't remember, but she thought that sounded about right. So I wasn't sure whether to get the size 7 or a 7.5. I asked my mom what she thought I should do, and she told me to buy both sizes so I could figure out which one fit me better, and we could return the other pair. I did a little more research, found a site that had both sizes in stock, and ordered the shoes!

They arrived on Friday, in all their sneaker-y splendor:

I get to wear sneakers at my wedding! I am SO EXCITED that my mom is not fighting me on this!!!

This weekend, I need to go to David's Bridal to look at the color I chose for the bridesmaids' dresses. My mom went dress shopping with Cara (one of my bridesmaids) and her mom last week, and apparently the color looks really different in person than it does on the website. So now I need to go make sure I really want that color, and if not, figure out which color I DO want. The saga never ends!