Friday is Relaxation Station (Well, almost)

The Friday before the wedding was meant to be nothing but relaxation, rehearsing and eating. It was all of those things to some extent, but before any of that could begin we had to drop off the items to Three Village Inn. Janette and I hurried up to Stony Brook from Holbrook to meet with Kim, the catering and sales manager. Kim looked slightly overwhelmed by all the stuff we were bringing in, which surprised me a little bit. Don’t other brides show up the day before the wedding with a big part of the wedding party in tow, boxes of centerpieces, favors, ribbon and wine bottles?
Anyway, after that fiasco, it was time for our reflexology appointment. I must, at this juncture, mention that we changed this appointment about three times during the course of the morning.

When we (Janette, Samia, Eugenia, Adrienne and I) arrived at the Relaxing Foot Station, I definitely needed an hour of a stranger voraciously kneeding my muscles. The room was dark, long and quiet. Massage chair upon massage chair lined the store. In assembly line fashion, each masseuse (refloxologist?) was assigned a patron. First, they sit you on a stool facing the big chair and put up your hair and work on your back for about twenty minutes. Then you sit in the chair and they cover you with towels. The rest of the time is spent working on your legs and feet. During our session, I suddenly heard a familiar voice say, “Hi. Is Andrea Podgarsky here”? This was quickly followed by a lot of “ssssshhhh’s.” It was my friend, Gabi. It made look up and chuckle, but then go right back to being pampered (or pummeled? Is there a difference?).

When our appointment was over and my friends yelled at me for not telling the reflexologist to go lighter, the bunch of us when out for pizza. It was really a nice, impromptu meal with friends. In fact, the whole day was exactly what every bride should have in the hours leading up to her wedding. I felt loved, appreciated and exactly where I wanted to be at that moment.



Next, it was time for our nail appointments. My cousin Sarah, the flower girl, and her mother, my aunt Judy met us there for a little pre-wedding pampering. It was Sarah’s first time getting her nails done and I think she really enjoyed it all!



She's well on her way to being one of the girls!


Aroma Nail Salon was lovely. It had a lovely amosphere. We had the run of the place.



Unfortunately, I smudged a toenail. Fortunately, I didn't care all that much.

Next up: Rehearsal Dinner.

A Very Belated Wedding Weekend Recap Part I - DYI Madness

I know. I know. I have been incredibly lax with the upkeep of this blog. My apologies to those who had been reading it. (Does anybody actually read it?)

Anyway, Arthur and I just celebrated our two month anniversary. Who'd have thought we would have made it this far? Yeah us!

I am going to start from the very beginning or at least where I left off.

The Thursday and Friday before the wedding is somewhat a blur because it was so hectic. There were labels to be made, programs to be printed, dresses to be picked up from the dry cleaners, underwear to buy, and finishing touches to be put on so many things. My mother and I were having a hard time getting along. Now, it all seems somewhat foolish, but we were both incredibly stressed out. I acknowledge that most, if not all, of the snarkiness was probably my fault. It reminds me of those moments during high school right before the dinner dances and the prom. I would be very nervous and want everything to be perfect and so the one person I always felt most inclined to be angry with was my mother. Daughters, I ask you, who more can you be snippy with than your mothers?
In any event, now that the festivities are all over, I no longer need to keep the details a secret.

At first, as I have probably mentioned before, I was very anti having favors. Favors now-a-days seem to fall into two categories: the uber tacky or the uber trendy. The first category consists of knick knacks with the couples names on them that the guests will never use, but will feel too guilty to away. The second category is usually a donation to a charity. Don't get me wrong, I think the concept of a mass donation in lieu of unnecessary material items is fantastic. However, we had already chosen to register at Target and use the IDO foundation because they give back to charity. I just wasn't comfortable with either choice.
When my aunt Terry mentioned making chocolate for our post-wedding brunch, it somehow ballooned into her making chocolate for favors. Now, homemade chocolate was definitely something with which I could live. Why? 1) It was homemade 2) People could EAT it. 3) It didn't cost a fortune 4) CHOCOLATE!

Of course, we couldn't just throw pieces of the yummy, creamy goodness on the table - no matter how pretty they were (mixes of milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate covered pretzels, nut cups, leaves and crispy leaves). This is the packaging we came up with:



We bought the little white boxes at the dollar store. We purchased the cellophane bags to hold the chocolate, the golden homemade sticker, kiwi colored ribbon and mini-red roses at the craft store. My friends came over a few weeks before the wedding. See "The Little Things Post." to help put it all together. Of course, we had run out of ribbon and so mom and I had to finish them on October 1st - the Thursday before the wedding.

We also had to finish up the hotel gifts. Instead of creating gift bags, we decided upon a bottle of local, seasonal wine for each hotel guest - Pindar's Autumn Gold.



I fell in love with them and the way they looked. However, I freaked out on Thursday, thinking that we did not have enough (there were some guest RSVP’s at the last minute). So my mom and I ran around on Thursday buying a few bottles (at a higher price) and then later sending out my aunt and my friend for others! It turns out we didn't end up using the extras, of course. I was still pleased with outcome and from all accounts the wine was pretty good. We never did try it ourselves.

The finishing touches for the wedding cake also needed to be dealt with. I know I should have figured it out earlier, but it was just one of those things that kept falling to the bottom of the pile. No sweat! We solved the dilemma using the same method with which we solved many other wedding DYI dilemmas. Another crazed trip to the crafts store! I picked out three sizes of ribbon and my mom threw together some beautiful silk flowers for the topper. She really has a great eye. Results? Artistic confectionary wonder! Judge for yourself:

Thankfully, my mother had completed the centerpieces ahead of time. They turned out great, giving the reception room at Three Village Inn a warm, cozy glow and setting the tone for the evening.




She had not, however, completed the bouquets. She stayed up late Thursday night finishing them up. This probably didn't help our crankiness with each other, I’d imagine! It was worth it in the end, though. The bouquets, corsages and boutonnières were absolute perfection. My mom is very talented.





Perhaps the biggest headache of the days leading up to the wedding were the programs. I mentioned this in a previous blog entry and things did not improve. One of my best women, Janette, kindly took over the reins of this seemingly impossible task, much to my relief. She did a fabulous job and in the end, they looked amazing.





So that was Thursday.

The Big Questions

I have found that whenever anyone whom I am not particularly close with sees or talks to me since I have been engaged, they ask one of three questions:

1) "Are you excited?" "Are you getting excited?" "Is Arthur excited?" "Is Arthur getting excited?" This question and its various incarnations has been posed to me for quite a while. I would say that since my shower at the end of June, it is the first thing asked. At first, I would reply with the assumptive, "yes." and leave it at that. Hey, they were the ones to ask the close-ended questions. When prompted to add details, I would. Yet, my response was inevitably followed by a glazed look in the eyes of the inquirer.

2) Similar to above, there is the "What is there left to do?" Or "Are you ready?" The isinterest quickly becomes apparant and I regret even answering. This angers me because since I do take a bit of an anti-bride stance, I do my best not to talk about the wedding at every turn. I never wanted to be that bride-to-be that has no other conversational topic in her arsenal in the months leading up to the nuptials. But THEY asked ME! Ok, lesson learned. So now, if asked, I just say a hearty, "yup" or "not too much!"

3) The above awkwardness has lately been replaced with, "are you nervous?" How is one meant to answer this question? What am I meant to be nervous about? The preparations? The ceremony? Marrying my enfianced? It gets a woman to thinking. Why don't I feel nervous? Shoud I be nervous? Now, I am just nervous about everyone asking me whether I am nervous.

It all leads me to understand that there are definite prescribed dialogues surrounding weddings. When one deters from it or tries to bend or change it, it becomes uncomfortable. At least, that's how I felt at times. Maybe I'm the one making it that way?

Two days to go!

The Little Things

Have I mentioned how lucky I am? I have never thought that I was a particuarly crafty or creative person. Sure, I can put a bouquet together to bring to a friend's party. I can pick out a nice pair of earrings to go with a particular outfit. I can cook pretty well. But I don't necessarily have the patience or the coordination to manufacture the items that people "oooh" and "aaah" over. Hence, my short-lived career in jewelry making.

That's why I am so very fortunate to have crafty, creative and patient family and friends.

On Sunday, several of my lovely wedding ladies, as well as my mother and aunt came over to help me put together favors and guest gifts. One my aunt's had already generously put in a great deal of time in the creation of the favors. My mother and I had been shopping around town for months for the little bits to tie it altogether. I didn't particularly care about the angle of this or the amount of that and that's why I am lucky. My friends took charge and I just gave the nod of approval and before you knew it (after much food - we never do small amounts of food in my family - and a little bit of wine), they were almost all assembled. They also look adorable and they are exactly what I envisioned.



After a week of feeling uber stressed about work, apartment issues and the lack of time to get everything done, an afternoon with some of my closest was exactly what I needed. A few hours of laughing and being surrounded by love and support was just what the wedding planner ordered.

And by wedding planner, I mean me.

Do We Really Need Them?

So despite having heard a myriad of horror stories from various friends and acquaintances regarding the printing and assembling of their wedding programs, we very wisely chose to print and assemble our programs ourselves. On Friday night, Arthur and I penned what I believe to be a very cute, very appropriate, very us wording for the programs. We even found graphics, etc. to go with the theme. I was not a little pleased with our efforts. And then? And then we started the printing process. We began the attempt at roughly 10 PM on Friday. It is now Sunday evening and still the demon cardstock remains as pristine as when first purchased. Damn Martha Stewart and her "living." Damn the craft store that had those blasted things on clearance. And damn my own attempts at being frugal.




And you know you are in trouble when in the FAQ section, we have the following: Q: How do I know if my programs will print correctly? A: You should test it out to see if it will print correctly. End of story.

Sigh.

I won't be broken by these things. Good will triumph over evil. The righteous will conquer the unworthy. I will prevail.


Or we won't have programs. Perhaps, a herald or two instead?

Pineapple Martini Night

AKA My Bachelorette Party.

Well, my friends truly out did themselves in the planning my bachelorette party. Without giving away all the details, I am going to summarize what was one of the best night's of my life.

4:30 PM. I arrive at Samia's apartment (two buildings from mine) for a glass of wine and some cheese and pate (yummy-o).

5:15 PM. Janette arrives. More wine.

5:30 PM. We jump in a cab headed downtown. Janette and Samia decide they want to tell me what the night we be and then make a lot of stuff up. I don't buy it.

5:50 PM. We arrive at Central Bar. There is a table area reserved for us. I drink two extra dirty martinis.

6:45 PM. It is revealed to me that the DVD montage that Arthur created for me is not going to be shown due to technical difficulties. Very graciously, the hostes at offers us free shots to soften the blow. Then some magical Irishman gets it working. We still have the shots. The DVD is awesome. I laughed a lot and Arthur, as always, did a wonderful job.

7:00 PM?. We big our walk over to Lafayette street. I still have no clue what is going on.

7:15 PM. We arrive at the New York School of Burlesque where we are greeted by Gal Friday. She hands out long gloves and boas and teaches us several moves. She is fabulous. We are all excellent at it and decide to create our own burlesque club. Ok, that's not true. We do put tassles on our ta-tas and learn how to shake them. I am a pro already.

8:30 PM. Another cab. We get out at DBGB. I spot Tiki Barber in the very crowded dining room. We are shown to a private seating area. The hostess tells us we are their first bachelorette party. I am pretty sure this was our cue to take off our clothes or go find a stripper. We did neither. I feel that we disappointed her. In any event, we had a prix-fixe meal and the menu read, "Andrea's Bachelorette Party." The food was delicious and we all drank a lot of wine. We were also able to dock our own ipod, which was fun. The women all went around telling their first/favorite memory of me. It was so sweet and I, once again, realize how lucky I am.

I also get a tour of the kitchen, which was super cool. I still dream about the ice cream sundae....

11:00???PM: We take another cab to the Fat Black Pussy Cat. I am immediately accosted by a very drunk young man with very tight fitting clothing. He dances me around the room several times.

Then I order a pineapple martini. A bachelor party arrives. I am asked if one of the party can give me a lap dance. I say why not. He's embarassed, but it is funny. Some one of their party offers to buy me a drink. I ask for a pineapple martini. We dance a lot more. The boa continuously comes into play. Two more bachelorette parties show up. I don't like it. Not one bit. I dance go-go style on the table with some extra large gentlemen. More boa.


At one point, Janette, Eugenia and I go up to the bar and do about three shots because someone buys them for us. Then I get another pineapple martini. We dance a lot more. Another gentleman asks me to borrow my sash. I say ok, but then want it back. He buys me another pineapple martini. More dancing. More boa.

3:00???AM, I arrive home. I decide that since I hear Arthur move that he is awake. I perform my burlseque for him. Then, I pass out.

Altogether fabulous.

RSVP = Respondez Vous S'il Vous Plait (LET US KNOW IF YOU ARE COMING OR NOT!)

I have hear a lot of stories from various friends and acquaintances with regards to their wedding guests showing up/not showing up/bringing extra people/bringing uninvited children, etc.

I am not sure about what will actually happen on the day of the wedding yet (I'm hoping someone won't just show up or that friend x won't bring her five children - we actually don't know anybody with five children, but I like to use exaageration to my comedic advantage), but I do know that I find some guests lack of clarity as to their attendance very strange indeed. My response to their responses or absence there of:

A) Save the Dates were sent out in March
B) Wedding invitations were sent out at the end of July
C) RSVP date was clearly September 1st.
D) There was a response card on which one only had to check off attendance or regrets and write their name.
E) There was a stamp on the outside envelope of the response card (all you have to do is put it in the mailbox. You don't even need to seal it really. It isn't a secret).
F) After I have asked you about it 4 or 5 times, maybe you could come up with an answer.
G) No, I will not make your hotel reservations for you.
H) Yes, there are taxis in Long Island (we've had 'em here since 'round-a-bouts 1995, I s'pose).
I) Please don't be surprised that there is no vacancy at the place I explained only has 25 guest rooms six months ago.
j) At this point, you would have had to make dinner reservations for October 3, let alone respond to a wedding.

Ok. Glad to have gotten that out of my system.