Nick & Allie’s Wedding ~ June 6, 2009

I had completely forgotten about this but have seen other blogs where brides do “the bling post” and thought I should show you our rings. Nick picked my ring out (with the help of his mom) and I must say, he did a great job. It’s gorgeous! You don’t see the wedding band in this picture, but it slides in the middle of the two bands and looks just like the other two bands with little pave diamonds all around. Its hard to tell from the picture but it is a brilliant cut pear shaped diamond. Its got an antique vibe to it and is very unique.  Love it!

And Nick’s ring is really unique as well. He wanted a tungsten carbide ring- which is an unbreakable steel, similar to titanium. The down-side of titanium is that it cannot be cut off in an emergency, but tungsten can be shattered and has the look of titanium. Tungsten carbide is four times harder than titanium, twice as hard as steel, and is virtually scratch resistant. He wanted some sort of design on the ring and was glad to find this celtic cross ring here.

So, our plans were to go to Playa del Carmen and stay at the beautiful Royal Playa del Carmen for 6 nights and 7 days. We had round trip first class seats with an all-inclusive beach front view for a great price. But then the swine flu outbreak struck and scared the heck out of me. I didn’t want to risk anything so we made a move. We are now going the Domincan Republic to stay at the all inclusive resort- Excellence Punta Cana. We had to pay a little bit more and don’t have first class seats or a beach front room, but I think it will still be fabulous. I have heard wonderful things about Punta Cana and also the resort that we will be staying in. They offer many activities such as kayaking, wind surfing, archery, horseback riding, dancing lessons, cooking lessons, yoga, and lots more. There are 10 bars, 8 restaurants,  2 huge pools, and 2 outdoor jaccuzzi’s. Since it is our honeymoon, they welcome us with a basket of fresh fruit, a bottle of sparkling wine, & rose petals in the room. The also offer us one special romantic dinner, a champagne breakfast in bed, and 15% off all spa treatments. Oh how nice! I just cannot wait to get there and RELAX.

I am so excited about our rehearsal dinner! It will be the night before the wedding at Maggiano’s Little Italy. I just love their food and their service is amazing. We have been to two rehearsal dinners there in the past and the service is so great. The food is endless, so I don’t doubt that I will be gaining 5-10 pounds that night. I better watch it if I want to fit into my dress the next day!

YUM!

The dress I selected for the rehearsal dinner is much dressier that the tone of our overall wedding weekend. I wanted one opportunity to dress  up in a cocktail dress and satin shoes and this is the perfect chance for that.

My dress is a Maggie London mesh tiered dress from Macy’s.

How cute!

And the shoe, which I haven’t decided if I am going to wear this or keep looking, is a bright purple satin shoe from Dillards:

Kind of sassy, right?

The food for the evening is going to be AMAZING. We are going with the following menu:

Appetizers: Calamari Fritte & Stuffed Mushrooms

Salads: Maggiano & my favorite- Tomato Caprese

Pastas: Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli & Penne with Marinara

Entrees: Pork Tenderloin & Lemon Herb Salmon

Desserts: I cant remember which ones we got but OH MY they all sound so good. Take a look at this listing:

Chocolate Zuccotto Cake
Chocolate cake layered with Sambucca chocolate mousse; iced with chocolate frosting and dusted with cocoa powder.

Creme Brulee
Rich and creamy vanilla custard with a hint of citrus, caramelized sugar crust, topped with fresh strawberries.

Homemade Profiteroles
Pastry shell filled with vanilla bean ice cream and topped with our own hot fudge and fresh whipped cream; dusted with cocoa powder and powdered sugar.

Maggiano’s Signature Spumoni
Maggiano’s signature spumoni made especially for us. A blend of pistachio, chocolate and cherry ice cream.

N.Y. Style Cheesecake, Seasonal Fruit
New York style ricotta cheesecake topped with fresh berries and whipped cream.

Nonna’s Pound Cake, Caramelized Bananas
Pound cake toasted and served with caramelized bananas and our own hot fudge sauce. Vanilla bean ice cream available upon request.

Tiramisu
Ladyfinger cookies soaked in espresso and coffee liquer layered with mascarpone cheese;dusted with cocoa powder and served with chocolate

Vera’s Lemon Cookies
Crescent shaped lemon cookies glazed with lemon frosting.

Apple Crostada, Caramel Sauce
Warm apple filling of Granny Smith apples, sugar, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, baked in a pastry crust dipped in cream and crystallized sugar. Served with caramel sauce and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Garnished with mint.