Say "Cheese"!

What a weekend! Friday evening one of my best friends in the world, Bridesmaid Tami, made the trek into Atlanta from North Carolina. Tami didn't get in until quite late (1:30am!) and by the time we got the Little Man, Elijah, settled we managed to only stay up til about 2:30 before succumbing to exhaustion.

Apparently kids get up early regardless of what time they went to bed, so bright and early Saturday morning Elijah was up and running around. So we danced to Elmo and ate some breakfast before heading out for the afternoon. First stop for Tami and I? David's Bridal. This was easy enough. Tami put on the dress, loves the dress, and then we were off to Bridesmaid Lindsay's parents estate (I'd say house, but the kitchen looks to be about the square footage of the houses Bryan and I have been looking at, so the word house doesn't really do it justice - speaking of which, I realized yesterday that I would be willing to live in that kitchen. Just set up a cot, wake up and be in heaven there, pure cooking and cabinet-space HEAVEN).

On another tangent, I found out yesterday that David's Bridal didn't actually record anyone's sizes when the other Bridesmaids and I had made our previous visits. I'm sorry, wasn't that the point of going to GET SIZED? The company will actually be hearing from me this week because the place as a whole makes my head want to explode. "Well, your girls should know their sizes," I was told. "OK, but sometimes the size you usually wear isn't the size you need depending on the dress," I rebutted. It IS a dress store, right?!? I'd also like this to be a heads up that if, for some reason the lovely ladies in my bridal party end up in different color dresses or dresses that are too long or too short or something of that nature, they will look great regardless, but at least this won't be a surprise for all of the wonderful people attending the wedding.

At 2:30 yesterday, Tami, Elijah, Emily (who we stopped to get along the way in the most dramatic fashion!), and I pulled up to the gorgeous home complete with wedding bell balloons tied to the mailbox and gold and white balloons at the entrance. Walking in everyone looked beautiful, relaxed, and happy...ok, and buzzed. Apparently the good times were a-rollin' prior to my arrival - which is exactly what I wanted! I immediately was led to a lovely Sauvignon Blanc and chatted a bit with each guest before we were whisked into the Music Room (that's what I'm calling the room that was near the foyer with a baby grand and a fireplace) for a round of Bridal Bingo!

One of the things that was so great about Bridesmaid Tatum and her hubby Eric throwing us that Engagement Party in February was that friends that didn't previously know each other (or whose paths had crossed only once or twice) were able to meet and mingle. Bridal Bingo took getting-to-know-you to a new level with each of us running around the room asking each other, "Have you been married more than once?" "Did you have more than three bridesmaids stand up in your wedding" "Do you use your parents marriage as an example of a good marriage?" That last one, of course, I was easy target for.

Basically the object of the game was to find people who could answer yes to these and other different questions. The questions were laid out on a Bingo-like card. So if I approached Tatum and asked, "Have you been in more than three weddings?" because the answer is Yes, she would initial my card. It was really fun and surprisingly harder than it sounded. But it got us all talking, laughing, mingling, and in some cases (well, in my case) yelling. Yes, I was pissed I couldn't finish my line across because I couldn't find anyone who knows a couple who's marriage broke up on their wedding day. So competitive :-)

After Bridal Bingo, we were moved to the dining room where we all had assigned seats. We were able to fill our plates with tons of goodies...veggies, breads, grapes, peppered crackers with fig jam. The cards that held our seat assignments had lines for us to fill in or boxes for us to check that corresponded with the wine tasting. We did white wines first, then reds. Maid of Honor Nicole served us as Bridesmaid Lindsay read the description of each wine. Our assignment was to guess which type of wine each was and then, furthermore, guess which white wine and which red wine was the most/least expensive. In between the serving of each, we had some wine trivia going on, courtesy of Lindsay. This was really fun and somewhat surprising (my favorite wines of the day were a Pinot Gris - ok, that one's not surprising - and a Merlot?? This one was a huge surprise). What I learned: in both cases, of the white and the red wine, the wines I thought were the most expensive were the least expensive!! I'm by no means a connoisseur, but I can drink some wine! What this means: Apparently I do like Merlot and cheap ones at that! And I'm not as expensive a date as I pretend to be. This is fabulous news (especially for when I take myself out)!

Following this part of the shower, we moved into the kitchen where there were four wine-and-cheese pairing stations. A Riesling (which I usually don't like, but LOVED!) and a delicious Gouda (this might've been my favorite), a Cabernet and Gorgonzola (this also was up there for me), and although I tasted all four, because I spent so much time with the pairings I just mentioned, I can't remember the exact ones that remained. One was Parmesan cheese and...I think a Chardonnay? And the other was Gruyere that was paired with, I think, a Pinot Noir. At this point I was drunk and stalking the Gouda and Gorgonzola pairings.

After all this, I still had to open presents!!! Little Elijah was a big help on this! No matter how many showers or parties there are during this engagement, I will never stop being touched by how generous our friends and families are. We got so many fabulous gifts yesterday!! (If you are wondering, the Crock Pot was not there yesterday which means the suspense continues!!!) On my to-do list is to write thank you cards that, somehow, never seem like enough. But I always try my best. Following presents, this delicious-looking, amazing chocolate cake was brought out. And I think us girls did a pretty good job on it!!!

Needless to say, the shower ended with Lindsay nearly needing to escort us all out (it was getting late and in an hour, Bryan and I were supposed to be downtown for his birthday dinner)! On the way out, our amazing hostesses Lindsay and Nicole gave us gift bags with little bottles of wine, a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese, a bottle of water (probably for us to sober up with on the way home!), and a box of Hershey's Kisses! It was so great!!! Every aspect of the shower was absolutely perfect. I also thought the smaller size of it allowed people really to get to know each other better and I loved that I was able spend time with each guest and chat (sometimes time gets away from me and I don't get to see everyone)!

The only thing I didn't do at the Shower that I would've wanted to do was to give a toast. Why didn't I do this? The conversations just kept flowing! I would think, "Oh, I can do my toast now to tell everyone how wonderful they are" and I'd just end up right back in a conversation. I think this is a credit to how engaging and amazing my friends are. What I would've said is this: Seven years ago, when I moved to Atlanta, I never thought that in 2010 I'd still be living here and starting a family here. In addition to the family I am starting with Bryan, I also have an extended family - A toast to our hostesses, Nicole and Lindsay. Phenomenal people, two of the best, most beautiful friends and bridesmaids a girl could ever ask for in her life. And to everyone who was there (in body or in spirit!), each of you is part of the reason that life in Atlanta is so blissfully wonderful and fulfilling.

An amazing weekend! Don't forget to check in next week - I'm road-tripping it home with Maggie starting on Sunday and also have a very special announcement. Wish me luck arguing with David's and if you haven't booked your hotel already, just a reminder that the website for reservations is up and running!
http://homewoodsuites.hilton.com/en/hw/groups/personalized/ATLHWHW-GTZ-20101013/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG
For other info on the wedding: www.theknot.com/ourwedding/BryanHoey&StephanieGutzler2010