Leave it to the English major...

I've been thinking a lot about the terms "bridesmaid," "groomsmen," and "maid of honor" and I've come to the conclusion that they are quite awful.

I mean, sure, I'd like the women in my bridal party to help out, but they aren't exactly intended to be my maids. Nor are most of them single. Matron sounds out-dated as well.

And, why is there no apostrophe in "groomsmen"? I'm confused.

But I've come-up with some alternatives! How about Bride's Belles and Groom's Men?
Belles of Honor?

What do you think?

Run, Run, Run...

Today I got back into my running regime. I took a week and a half break due to the crazy blisters that developed on my right foot. They finally went down and now I'm using Body Guide and a multitude of bandaids to help prevent them from developing again.

I had a decent run of 2.5 miles at 4.7/4.8 speed. Not great, but I'll do better tomorrow.

Also, Nutrisystem has been shipped and is on its way! I'm excited to get started.

This saturday we are hopefully going to check out the Hill Country Hyatt and new Mariott in San Antonio as possible wedding venues. We have another place in mind...we are mostly just rounding out other options to make sure.

I have a (tentative) wedding party list. It's BIG. Like 9 bridesmaids and 6 groomsmen big. But I don't want to cut it down!

Check this dress out

I found this exquisite dress in a bridal magazine. Like most of the other bridesmaid dresses it's from Alfred Angelo and comes in several colors- but I really like this "cafe" color.

Destination Wedding?

Yesterday we met with a travel agent at AJ Travel and discussed our ideas for a destination wedding. We were surprised to find out that the main places we were looking at are pretty much impossible to do on a moderate budget. Instead, she recommended other places we hadn't really thought about- Jamaica, Aruba, and Costa Rica!

I've since looked into the all-inclusives at each beautiful destination. And they do look spectacular. But, the real question is- is a destination wedding the right wedding for us? I do want people to be able to attend, and not have to pay an arm and a leg to be there. I want guests to have fun. To drink a lot. To celebrate. Warren wants the same thing.

So, now we're leaning away from doing an out-of-country wedding. And more towards something out of San Antonio, but not too far from home. We need to check out the last round of places, but I feel a decision fast approaching!

"Wedding Diary" assignment

The magazine asked me to create a "wedding diary" to be published in the future that shows my timeline of wedding planning.

This is what I have so far:

October 24th, 2009: Engaged!

Remainder of October 2009: celebrating engagement and recovering from shock of being engaged.

November 2009: decided to get married in Central Park next summer. Texted sister, mother, and fiance this idea. Sister loved it. Fiance was interested. Mother had concerns. Rethought initial idea and ruled it out due to money involved with a New York Wedding.

December 2009: decided to get married in San Antonio. Looked into every wedding venue in the city, including parks, hotels, The Majestic Theater, and museums. Visiting one venue that seemed to be promising. Left dissapointed. Couldn't find one that matched what we wanted for a reasonable price.

January 2010: attended a Wedding Fair. Had a great time but left more overwhelmed and confused than I went in. Let wedding plans rest for awhile.

February 2010: decided Austin would be the perfect wedding location! Decided that Vintage Villas (where we got engaged) might be an excellent possibility. Or The Oasis. Visited a hotel on Town Lake only to be dissapointed by crazy prices and ugly ballrooms. Still considering first two options.

March 2010: Spring Break trip to Horseshoe Bay, TX caused us to reconsider having a wedding at the Horseshoe Bay Resort. This is still one of our top options. Began considering the idea of a destination wedding more seriously. Will talk to a travel agent tomorrow.

*Current top wedding location ideas are*:
1. destination wedding (Cayman Islands or St. Lucia are in the lead)
2. Horseshoe Bay Resort wedding (it's fun and quite beautiful)
3. Vintage Villas (hey, it's where we got engaged. Right on Lake Austin).
4. The Oasis (great restaurant in Austin. Does ceremonies too).
5. Hill Country Hyatt, San Antonio (still need to check out this place- my Mom's idea).

Bridesmaid Dresses

I'm waiting until we secure a location and date for sure to formally ask a few special ladies to be my bridesmaids. But, in the mean time, I've already been searching for the perfect dress for them.

No matter where the location ends up being, I do like the idea of a knee-length cocktail dress that they could wear again if they want to. Here are a couple of my favorite options that I've seen so far. Each are between $100 and $200. The colors are negotiable in the first two pictures (lots of different options). What do you think?

Health Goals

Have you ever thought about how much harder it is to be "the bride" than it is to be "the groom"? There is so much pressure for the bride to look picture-perfect, thin, elegant, and incredible for the big day. The groom...well, he just needs to show up, in a tux and on time.

I'll save the sappy stories of my weight struggles because I know noone cares about that crap. Most people have weight to lose these days and it's usually hard.

I've decided to try Nutrisystem for a month to (hopefully) help me along in the right direction. What I've been doing on my own just isn't working.

Besides that, I've started exercising again recently, and am going to start doing it consistently. Running even! Imagine that. I'm hoping to run a 1/2 marathon in November. I actually kind of sort of like running for some weird reason. It's kind of addicting. Not as much as Rocky Road Ice-Cream, but it's still pretty good.

Location, Location, Location...

Since November I have been SEARCHING for the perfect location for our wedding. We need a place that offers a pretty outdoor ceremony site (less likely to faint outside), and an in-door reception that doesn't break the bank.

Long story short, we decided to have our wedding in San Antonio, and then couldn't find that perfect location. So we decided to have it in Austin. Still no luck...

Now we're thinking about a few more locations around here, including Horse Shoe Bay, TX. And also...the possibility of a destination wedding.

The picture is of St. Lucia. That's where The Batchelor Jake recently proposed if you watch that crazy show. It's beautiful. We're going to talk to a travel agent this weekend and see what possibilities are out there. Will keep you posted.

Taking on the title of "BRIDE"

A lot of girls dream up their weddings when they're little, and carry that vision with them all the way to the chapel. And then there's gals like me who realize it's unlikely that they should need to plan their own wedding someday, so they place that energy into something else...like (i don't know) school. I never took it for granted that I would find someone that I loved and that loved me so dearly that we would decide to spend our lives together. I really didn't.

You're definitely not going to see me on an upcoming episode of Bridezillas. I'm low maintainence. And quiet. And I have issues with fainting which is going to make my actual wedding ceremony reeeeallly interesting.

But, none-the-less, I'm a bride now and I'm on a mission:

Plan a simple, classic, low to moderately low budget wedding that our family and friends will enjoy and we will always want to remember.

I don't even remember saying 'Yes'! But I know I did...

We had a weekend-long proposal. I know everyone says that their proposal was amazing (and that's always the case, since it's such a special time), but mine really, really was incredible. Warren created a two-day venture through San Antonio, Austin, and surrounding area, in which we visited places that were significant to our memories together.

The most unusual part of the engagement was that it was inspired by a stuffed animal Lion named Lennie that Warren had given me some time ago. Lennie is an intricate part of our relationship. Lennie was very involved with our engagement journey, and sent me a plethora of text message clues to our destination location...

Vintage Villas in Austin, TX. Warren finally got down on one knee underneath a beautiful terrace after serenading me with his guitar. He said lots of beautiful, heartfelt things that I cannot remember (I was too excited when he said them), and the asked me to marry him. By that time it was too dark to even see the ring in the box that he was holding out, but I said "yes" and he fumbled to put it on my finger.

And that's how I became Warren's bride-to-be!

Wonderful Warren

Warren is wonderful. I have the best fiance in the entire world. He's a high school ESL teacher who has taught English Lit in the past as well. Here are just a few of the millions of reasons that contribute to Warren's wonderful nature:

Warren is wonderful because...

he cares about everyone. Literally everyone.

he knows his poetry and introduced me to one of my favorite poets (Naomi Shihab Nye).

he works towards social justice.

he is brilliant.

he is extremely handsome.

he isn't that messy.

he sees the bright side of everything.

he is a musical maniac.

he writes and performs songs for me.

he is spiritually in-tune with God and the world around him.

he always keeps things in perspective.

he makes the world brighter with his smile and the love he exudes.

he treats his mom well.

he is perfect (as far as I'm concerned).


That's my fiance in a nutshell.

Recap: Our First Date

It was a friday evening in October 2008. Having met recently at a poetry reading, Warren called me a week or so ago to set up our first actual date.

I asked him to pick the restaurant, and he narrowed it down to Matamoros over by UTSA. Having never been there, I secretly went to check out the place two days before the big night. I wanted to make sure that I could find the place and see what the atmosphere was.

When I walked into Matamoros a few members of the waitstaff approached me and asked me if I was there for lunch. Since I couldn't exactly say that I was there to scope out the place for a date on friday, I made up a little lie and said, "I just wanted to see your private banquet room. My family's planning a birthday party..."

The nice folks at Matamoros were more than willing to show me the banquet room. And ask me a hundred questions about the event we were planning. I was stuck there for a half hour, talking about a non-existent birthday party. But, I got to see the restaurant at least.

The next night I went shopping because I had absolutely nothing to wear to the date. I went to lots of places, and finally found some cute jeans from Kolhs and a flowery, satin top from Ann Taylor Loft. I was set.

Friday night I drove to Matamoros early (about a half hour). I don't know I wanted to be that early. I have issues with time. I waited in my car until it was five minutes 'till 7pm (when we were supposed to meet), got out, and walked in to look for him. Of course he still wasn't there so I waited in the front (hoping the waitstaff wouldn't remember me from our little impromtu meeting a few days back).

Warren walked in finally, looking all spiffed-up in a nice black collard shirt and jeans. He looked great. For some reason my confidence dissipated upon seeing him again, and I completely lost my bearing.

Our date from that point on would have made a nice sitcom episode. He talked, and talked...and tried to get me to talk. I fiddled with my glass of ice-tea and couldn't make direct eye contact with him. He was indimidating and I was (apparently) shy. It was a long, unusal dinner.

When the bill finally came and Warren took care of it (the gentleman that he is), I expected him to make a run for it. Much to my surprise, he said- "So, do you want to go get a drink? There's a bar around the corner?"

After a little rum and coke, I started opening up a little. But, just when I thought I was coming out of my shell, Warren looked at me and asked, "are you always this quiet?" I said no and returned to my drink.

We played some pool and decided to leave afterwards. As he walked me toward my car in the parking lot of Fox and the Hound, Warren jingled his keys and asked, "So, do you think you'd like to do this again sometime?"

I stopped, caught off-guard. Was he asking me out again? Or was he just trying to be polite after what must have been his worst date ever? I said "yeah, that'd be fun" not knowing if he was being genuine or not.

That night he sent me a quick e-mail saying he had a nice time.

And that was the beginning (although rocky). Our first date!

I had no idea that one year later we would return to that restaurant for our engagement party...

First Article I Ever Sold

*Here's the article I was talking about- the one that landed me the gig. For the record, I do enjoy being a bridesmaid though. This may or may not be written from my perspective (disclaimer).


Confessions of a Troubled Bridesmaid June 11, 2007
published on website of San Antonio Weddings magazine

We’ve all heard the saying ‘always the bridesmaid, never the bride’. I’m beginning to fit it quite well, with one slight alteration… ‘always the [single] bridesmaid’ seems more appropriate. I love weddings, really, I do. But, being a single bridesmaid (repeatedly) is rough. And while all bridesmaids are thrilled for the bride, and enjoy the celebration, I think it’s time to acknowledge the awkward experiences and trouble that the perpetually single bridesmaid knows all too well

The single bridesmaid is easy to spot, as she has no fiancé, husband, or even committed boyfriend to introduce to the three boyfriends, two husbands and one fiancé of the other bridesmaids in the wedding. At the reception, sitting to her left will be her cousin conversing with her husband, comparing the flower arrangements to the ones they had for their wedding. And, sitting to her right, is the boyfriend of another fellow bridesmaid. Their excessive flirting is enough to make anyone uncomfortable.

The single bridesmaid in this situation must maintain her self-respect and sanity, and search for someone with whom she can share some light conversation. Since she doesn’t have a partner to dance with, her only opportunity to dance is likely to be in the group dancing in which single women (mostly) come together and dance in a sort of circle. And when the slow songs come on, the single bridesmaid will return to the (empty) wedding party table, and watch the other couples enjoying one another’s company. She’ll probably even make it a Kodak moment and snap a few pictures of the happy couples.

The single bridesmaid will then wander to various tables of family members, and politely answer questions about how old she is now and whether she is still dating what’s-his-face (clearly she isn’t). She will answer these questions repeatedly, and will listen as her grandmother points out every single young man that happens to be at the wedding. The single bridesmaid will try to ignore the grim reality that her grandmother is now trying to set her up with guys

Luckily, She will momentarily be saved from this realization, because it’s time for the tossing of the bride’s bouquet. The bride will look back, make eye-contact with the single bridesmaid, and try to toss the bouquet in her direction. Unfortunately, (and inevitably), the single bridesmaid will just barely miss the bouquet.

Yet, all of these minor difficulties are nothing compared to the most significant difference that the single bridesmaid will experience. While she is extremely excited for the bride, she will also be struck by sadness, as someone dear to her is entering upon a whole new chapter of life that she cannot possibly understand. How can she understand the chapter…she doesn’t even own the book! She’ll feel a greater separation than the other bridesmaids, and fear that time will pull them apart, as they have less and less in common.

When all is said and done, the single bridesmaid will celebrate as everyone does, and will admire the bride even more than before she was ‘the bride’, and recognize her new courage, beauty, radiance, and passion. She will see how wonderful it is to be overwhelmed by love, and will be renewed by the assurance that such love still exists in this world. Perhaps one day, she’ll fall in love. And until then, she’ll continue being the single bridesmaid, knowing that next time (or sometime), it just might be her time to catch the bouquet

The Wedding Mag

Back in my senior year of college, I decided I wanted to be a journalist. On a whim, I began writing articles and sent them to every publication in San Antonio, Austin, and Waco hoping for some work. I happened to send a silly article about being a bridesmaid to San Antonio Wedding Magazine, and (much to my surprise) they liked it! They bought the article and enlisted me to write a few articles for the magazine each year.

I've written about chocolate cake toppers, bridal photography in front of abandoned warehouses, and naming signature drinks. I even interviewed the one and only "Margarita Man"! All this to say- I know a thing or two about weddings. Especially weddings in San Antonio. Or at least that what I used to think...