Who says trash can't be class?

Today was the infamous running of the brides at Filene's basement. I had every intention of going in search of a trash the gown until I unexpectedly found one that I loved 2 weeks ago. In honor of today's event, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about trash the dress shoots.

But then I saw this awesome trash the dress session by Rodolfo Arpia and I said to my self, "What could I possibly say, these pictures speak for themself!". Rodolfo Arpia is a super talented photographer and I'm mesmorized by his skill to capture great moments! I urge everyone to check out his website and blog, but for right now just look at this awesome photo shoot:

All Images Courtesy Of: Roldolfo Arpia Photographer

I can not WAIT to trash my dress! Congrats to all the brides who found their gown at today's running of the brides event!

Show & Tell

I got a call yesterday from Mr.Golden. It went something like this:

Me: Hey, what's up?

Mr.Golden: Babe, do you love me?

Me: What! Of course I love you. What's going on?

Mr.Golden: How much you love me?

Me: What kind of question is that? I love you, you know I love you. I wouldn't be getting married to you if I didn't. Where are you?

Mr.Golden: I'll be there in 2.5 minutes.

Weirdness! I knew something was up, but I didn't know what. After going upstairs and settling in, he asked me to help me take off his shirt. Aside from two new tattoos being on his arm and back, there was this on his chest:

Was I shocked? Yes. Flattered? Yes. Ahh, he never ceases to surprise me. Now, in no way do I think this measures a persons' love and devotion, nor does he. But it's definitely some nice eye candy! ;-)

The First Man To Ever Love Me...

I'm far from being a daddy's girl. My father and I have been to hell and back, but we're at a good place now and I appreciate all the tribulations that have brought us here.

One thing that can be said is that he has always been in my life. He's a great provider to my mother and my siblings, and he means well- even when he makes his mouth up to say things I don't neccessarily want to hear. I could never hate him, because as I've grown into a woman, I realized that I am him.

I love my dad. I may not show it as much as I should, but he was the first man to ever love me. I can't wait for him to walk me down the aisle. He jokes around that he can't wait to "give me away", but I'll never be away from him. He will always hold a special place in my heart.

Look at how the father in this picture looked at his "little girl". My dad is not the msuhy type of guy, but we'll see if he tears up when he sees me for the first time on my wedding day.

Photo Credit: Alain Martinez Photography

Here's me and my dad:

Armed & Dangerous!

photo credit: flickr

I have been getting the bridal registry itch badly! I am ready to do some scanning damage in the stores. I didn't think that I would register until later this year, but something tells me I won't be waiting that much longer.

People usually don't reigster until approximately 6-9 months before the wedding. For the people who do it earlier, it's usually because they're planning an engagement party or people want to buy them engagement gifts-

or they're just crazy like me and need to be overly organized with an inventory of all the things Mr. Golden and I will need for our very first place!

My only dilema is that I'm not sure whether to register at one or two places.

Bed Bath & Beyond will be my primary place. I feel like I can get the bulk of my registry needs done there. Plus, I love their return/exchange policy and their coupons never expire!

If I were to add a second place, my contenders would be: {in order of preference}
Macys
Crate & Barrel
JC Penny
Bloomingdales

There's pros and cons with all my runner ups, but I'll save that for another post!

The BIG Reveal

I've mentioned before that I'm seeing Mr. Golden before the ceremony. It was a no brainer decision for us because:

1) I know I will probably be a mess. I get so frazzled before huge events in my life. Even when Mr. Golden graduated from the police academy, I was a mess and it wasn't even my day! It's imperative that I see him because I know he will be able to tame my nerves.

2) I want to get all the formal pictures out of the way so that I can focus all my time and attention after the ceremony to just enjoying myself. I don't have a huge gap inbetween things and I've been already stressing over the fact of wanting an extra hour. In my book, there's no time to waste!

Anyway, nestled in the back among the 6 acres of garden at Westbury Manor, is a gazebo. And that is where Mr. Golden and I will have our big reveal. It will just be the two of us {along with the photographer & videographer}. I can't wait!

Check out these two great reveal moments:

Photos Courtesy Of: Rodolfo Arpia

Photo Courtesy Of: Alain Martinez Photography

A Walk Deferred

Take a look at these two weddings and tell me what they have in common:

Wedding #1:

Wedding #2:

Photos Courtesy Of: Rodolfo Arpia

Besides them both being really beautiful weddings, the thing that both brides have in common is that they had one heck of a walk down the aisle! When I look at these weddings I can just imagine how much each bride was able to relish in her big moment while the music played softly in the background.

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Unfortunately for me, my ceremony aisle is all of about 45 ft. long. This is one of the things that slightly irritates me about my wedding venue. Now I know that some people don't enjoy all eyes being on them and they would rather run down the aisle, but not me!

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The song I'm walking down the aisle to is around 2 minutes long and I'm really going to make the most of it. I plan to walk in slow motion down the aisle and I'll tell my father to pull back my veil ever so slowly. I have no intentions of having my song faded out. I want to hear the whole thing because it's very sentimental to Mr. Golden and me. I will stall for time if need be!

Sizing Up Newlyweds :-)

Mr. Golden and I have a tradition of looking through the latest Jet Magazine and flipping to the wedding section to size up the brides and grooms. We've done this even before we were engaged. Little does he know is that I've been sizing him up all these years to see what his taste in wedding gowns is.

I know he's going to love my dress {no worries there}. But the other day he called me up and said, "Hey babe, did you hear Ruben Studdard got married. His wife is pretty, I liked her dress."

Of course you know I had to drop what I was doing and google her dress! She did make a gorgeous bride! I don't know if Mr.Golden was trying to drop a hint or what, and I refuse to say if he is warm or cold in terms of if it resembles my dream gown! But anyway, I figured I share the pics from their wedding. Enjoy!

Images Courtesy Of: Essence Magazine

Congrats to the newlyweds!

Diva Etiquette

Last Friday my mother and I attended the Anita Baker concert. She is one my favorite singers, but I have a bone to pick with Ms. Baker. The concert was supposed to start at 8p.m. She did not come on the stage until 9:02p.m.

Needless to say I was pissed off, and although she gave a GREAT show, I couldn't relax and enjoy it the way I should have because my mind was focused on the time constraint & the arrangements I made in advance for after the concert. As I sat there looking at the drawn down curtain on the stage, I couldn't help but think of how much it related to weddings.

As much as us brides would like to think that the wedding is about us only, the reality is that it isn't. Just as much as we have spent preparing and anticipating our big day, so have our guests. Some people have taken the time to travel from far away, others have left their children at the babysitter, and some people may have even taken a day off of work to share in our joy.

The important lesson I learned is to put away the Diva antics on the day of the wedding, or at least wait until the reception. Most importantly: be on time, it's only fair to us and our guests!

Loving Me Some Lenox!

I don't know what I was thinking about in my post here about toasting flutes and cake serving sets. It must have been temporary insanity because I absolutely hate that set now, even the cake server which didn't seem so bad at first.

My new love is for the Lenox Jubilee toasting flutes and cake server set. Check it out:

It's not a question of whether or not these will be at the wedding, because they most definitely will. Lol. The real question is do I register for them and hope that somebody buys them for my shower, or just go ahead and get them myself?

Pssst...Take a look in my head

There's a war in my head and it has been weighing down on me physically and mentally. If it weren't for my faithful readers, I don't even think I would have the strength to post. I have been on an emotional roller coaster this whole past week and haven't been the best company to those in my presence.

Anyway, I have been struggling with the issue over wedding wants vs. post wedding reality (i.e., rent, bills, funiture, light, gas, etc). Mr. Golden and I both live at home still. We'll come into this marriage with basically our clothes and a pet chinchilla. We need everything.

I ration whether it's more important to have uplighting or a living room set. Do I absolutely need to have plasma t.v.'s with zap shots at the reception, or should I really purchase them for our home to enjoy longer than 4 hours? Do I pay for an extra hour to party at our venue & relish in the joy that I spent over 2 years preparing for and over 6 years dreaming about, or do I call it a night after 4 hours and pray that the hands of time slow down on my day?

Ugh, I just needed to vent. Mr. Golden has some vacation days in March and I think I need to take a few days off as well. It's time to get back to the basics. He and I. Long walks, hand in hand reminding us what July 22, 2010 really signifies.


Currently Listening To: "Halo" by Beyonce

for you Mr. Golden ;-)

BIG NEWS!!!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Valentines day and long weekend. Since I've neglected my readers for a few days, I hope today's post won't dissapoint!

Today I took a trip to David's Bridal with two friends and set out on a trash the dress gown {TTD}. I talked about my vision for a TTD gown in this post, and I thought I would find my dream TTD gown at this crazy event. However, being impatient paid off. Take a look at what I bought!






It was the very first dress I tried on and I just knew it was the one. With all the worrying I've been doing over money lately, I should feel guilty. But right now, I'm loving my second dress and can't wait to trash it!

What makes it even better is that I had the experience of going to a store to try on dresses and get a feeling of finding "the one" since my real wedding gown is being custom made.

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Excuse me for not posting since Wednesday. All is well with me, but I've been a little busy and had a gazillion things on my mind this week. I hope my faithful readers {and lurkers} have missed me as much as I missed them. I've always believed that a little distance only makes the heart grow fonder, so on that note, I'll be back on Monday with more golden moments!

Happy Valentines Day!

Sacred Moments

Whether it's before or after the ceremony, I think it's very important to steal a few sacred moments with your significant other. When something big is happening to me, usually my nerves are shot. This is one of the reasons why I need to see Mr.Golden before the ceremony.

All photos courtesy of: Aaron Almendral