Jennifervaldez46’s Weblog

He hasn’t officially come home yet, but he’s already made his way into our hearts. We are adopting an ex-racing greyhound from Adopt a Greyhound Atlanta. We went to visit 2 weekends ago to see if adopting such a big dog was going to be a good fit for us. Once I saw them…I feel in love. They are the sweetest, most gentle, affectionate, nice, calm, and low-key dogs I’ve ever met. ..AND THEY ARE ALL LIKE THAT! I couldn’t believe it! My husband fell in love with the biggest one there, his racing name is “Bolo Whiskey”. We had him on the show today, and here are some pictures from his visit on Better Mornings Atlanta.

So…the tides turned a couple of weeks ago and I got to see life (again) as a bridesmaid. This time, for my brother’s wedding in Hollywood, FL. The wedding was beautiful! It was outside overlooking the beach and crystal blue waters of South Florida. After the short 20 minute ceremony, we went inside to cool off and enjoy the reception. Here are pictures of my brother Max, his beautiful bride Erika, and me with some bridesmaids/guests.

It must be the year of weddings!  Of course, my wedding was in April… and  I have 5 others this year! One of the biggest was  my brothers! He got married last weekend in Hollywood (Miami area) Florida and  I get to see life on the other side…as a bridesmaid. I had another wedding in Late June that was of a dear friend and sorority sister of mine. She lives in Atlanta, and her wedding was here in the city. My next wedding will be in August…in my hometown of Orlando.   I now realize how much work goes in to them all and how expensive it can be for all the guests who have to travel for the big day. I also realize how important it is to send those reply cards in on time!

The wedding is now over…and I can’t believe it went by SO fast! We had a great time, and everything turned out wonderfly.  The cake, music, flowers…it was all perfect.  Here are some pictures from my fabulous photographer, Jeff Hawkins. 

Now that I’ve gotten (most of) the reply cards back…I must start working on my seating chart.  Oh boy oh boy…is this harder than I thought it would be! I’m planning on having 12 tables, with 8 people to a table.  The first problem I’ve encountered is that I’m not getting back as many replies as I thought I would have. The deadline for people to reply is April 1st…and I still have about 30 to 40 percent of people who have not replied yet.  I have a feeling I’m going to be sending a lot of e-mails later this week! My second problem is figuring out who I should sit with who.  Also, should I have a singles table…or should I mix the single people up with couples? So many questions!! If you have any advice, I’d love to hear it! I Need help!

Here is the floorplan for my reception:

My Bridal shower was in Orlando this weekend…and it was great! My sister organized the lunch, and my maid of honor took care of all of the games. One of my favorites, was when she asked Derek (My fiance) questions about himself…and then I had to answer the same questions in front of everyone at the shower. Every time I got an answer wrong, I had to put a big piece of gum in my mouth. I didn’t do very well at the game, so I ended it with a huge wad of strawberry gum sticking out of my mouth. The best part of the entire shower, was seeing all of my college friends. They all live in different parts of the country, so I don’t get to see them very much. Here is a picture of me with some of them.

The day was followed with my Bachelorette Party later that night. We had a great time! I won’t go into specifics, but I will admit that it was pretty tame.

Until next time,

Jennifer

So, I’ve gotten a few e-mails about my programs. So glad everyone likes them! Here is the website I used to order them.

http://www.programsandbulletins.com/

I also used them to order my dinner menus, and they turned out fantastic! I talked about the food that will be served on this weeks Wedding Wednesday, so I thought I should elaborate. Here is my wedding’s dinner menu!

Dinner Menu

Wine Selection

Grand Bohemian Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, California

Grand Bohemian Reserve Chardonnay, California

Grand Bohemian Reserve Merlot, Columbia Valley, Washington

Salad

Wedge of Iceberg

Herb Ranch Dressing, Crumbled Blue Cheese, Bacon Lardoons,

Candied Walnuts, Bermuda Onions

Entrée

Grilled Filet Mignon

Cabernet and Black Pepper Butter,

Truffle Demiglace, Roquefort Corostini

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Asparagus and Baby Carrots

Assorted Rolls and Butter

Dessert

Vanilla Poached Pear with White Chocolate Mousse,

Crystallized Fruit Relish

Wedding Cake

Freshly Brewed Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee,

and a Selection of Gourmet Tea

Do I have your mouth watering yet??

Stay tuned for more!

Jennifer

The past couple of weeks I’ve been working on my wedding programs and my dinner menus.  Since the wedding is in Florida, I figured the easiest thing to do was order them both. So, I was surfing the internet I found a website that had some really cute programs. They do everything for you…even tie on the bows…so I went for it. I had them delivered directly to my mom’s house, so I won’t get to see them until I go home for my Bridal Shower later this month.  Here is the design I choose:

The only difference is my font is black and my accent colors are Fuschia. What do you think??

Jennifer

I got a call yesterday from the place I ordered my wedding dress…and they told me its finally in! I’m excited but a little nervous to go pick it up! It’s been so long since I’ve seen it. What if it’s not like I remember? Or what If I don’t like it as much? The other big “what if”….What if it doesn’t fit! You may remember, I ordered my dress a little small. I was inbetween sizes, so I decided on getting it a little too small than getting it too big. That’s a big reason for all the work outs you’ve seen on Better Mornings Atlanta. I’ve been working on getting wedding dress ready and fitting into my dress!

I’m going later today to try it on…I’ll let you know how it goes! 

On a seperate note, did you watch the story on my wedding singer? Spencer Rush is extremely talented and I’m so glad he’s traveling all the way to Florida to play at my wedding.

 I’ve gotten a couple e-mails about him…and a lot of you wanted to know more about him to play at your wedding. Here is a link to his webpage and all his information. You can hear some of his songs and see where he’s playing next.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=3179992

That’s  all for now. Hope all is wonderful in your world!

Jen