35 Days until our Big Day!!!!

Dear Family & Friends,

We hope you are all well and enjoying this beautiful 4th of July weekend!! Matt is on his bachelor weekend to Las Vegas with his boys...yes I am jealous :) However, I already enjoyed my bachelorette weekend with my amazing girls friends in early June!! We spent the day in Rockport, MA. on the north shore, dressed in cowgirl hats and boots (of course). The girls and I went to the jewelry store, Beadles, to design our own jewelry, then went to dinner at Roy Moore's Fish Shack. Next, we walked around the beautiful alleys of Rockport- decorated with artwork, antique shops, icecream shops & bakery's, and of course the ocean views. Catching up and sharing old stories completed the night, as all the girls joined around my dining room table on Pheasant Lane...good times girls!!

To say the months of May & June have been busy for us, would be an understatement. With our baseball and lacrosse seasons concluding in late May, we were ready to finalize the details of our wedding in June. However, June proved to be busier than ever - with report cards, end of the year school activities and beginning a 2nd Masters program (Reading & Language) for Lisa, and beginning the coaching of an intercity college (summer) baseball team and weekend trips for Matt!

In June, we also had 2 beautiful wedding showers (actually 4 if you include our work showers that our school's gave us)! Lisa's family provided a "Alice and Wonderland" themed wedding shower in Burlington, MA. No little detail or "moment" as L & L describe, went unnoticed. From Nana's tea cup centerpieces, "Eat Me" and "Drink Me" mini-signs, personalized books & frames, giant cupcakes, and the delicious home-made lunch buffet and desserts - it was amazing!! Toward the end of June, we had our "RI Shower" that Matt's family gave us, centered on the Sunflower theme, loved it! From Mackenzie's sunflower cookies, Michelle's delicious lunch spread, sunflowers decor, and personalized chocolate bars - this was a very special day! Thank you everyone for your wonderful gifts - they all are put away neatly and organized (lol) and have helped make our new house a home for us to cherish!

Having our wedding as the focal point to our Summer 2011, has been the driving force behind our motivation to see our Big Day come together! We have been engaged for almost 2 years, and dating for over 10 years - it seems as though our wedding day was in the far distance when we began the planning process. However, everyone was right!! This summer came fast! As we are winding around the final twists and turns of our planning, we are enjoying every minute. Even, the moments of "I can't make another decision!", "What is a chiavari chair?", "We mailed them an invitation right?",...did I mention my lists, and wedding binder, lol?! We have finalized several big To-Do items, such as:

- Mailed Invitations
- Picked up our Wedding Bands
- Finalized our 10 Day Honeymoon to Aruba
- Card box, ring bearer pillow (if Zachary is up for it - age 2), guest book
- Bridal party gifts :)
- Dress Fitting #1
- Veil, Shoes, Jewerly for Lisa
- Tuxes for Matt and the guys
- Florist
- DJ & Songs Lists
- Photographer

* In the works items: Thank you Cards for the shower(s), RSVP cards, Seating Chart, Favors

Thanks for joining us on our ride to planning our Big Day!!

I attached a few pics from June!

~ "Wedding" Productive April Vacation ~

Ch. 5

Dear Family & Friends,

Matt and I are well on our way to planning our big day. Which is 105 days away, but whose really counting anways?! During April vacation, Matt and I were busy being the Head Coaches of high school Baseball and Lacrosse teams. Matt coaches in Reading, and I coach in Watertown. However, we did get a lot of our big Wedding "To-Do" items completed!

With high recommendations from my dear friends Jill, Tanya and colleagues from work - we decided on Aruba as our tropical honeymoon destination. What's not to love about a beachfront resort, swim up pool bar, resort casino, horse back riding on the beach, shopping, and restaurants? This much-needed vacation gives us both something amazing to look forward to after a very busy Spring and early summer!

Matt, Lela, Shin and I traveled down memory lane last Saturday, April 16th. Where Matt and my story began over 10 years ago, at a small college campus, overlooking the north shore, on Hale St. in Beverly, Ma... Endicott College! As sophomores in college (2001), Matt and I were introduced to each other through a mutual friend. The rest is history right? Shin kindly offered to take our Engagement Photos, and Lela was a wonderful assistant that carried my wardrobe bag, fixed by wild hair from the windy day, lip gloss touch ups, and gave pose suggestions. The campus was very quiet, sky was grey, air was chilly, and wind was blowing. Our first stop on the photo shoot was Tupper Hall, my freshman dorm. This dorm is just outside the main campus. At Tupper Hall, I had an enormous 2nd floor dorm room, 3 other roommates, and a fire place (that was quickly adorned with family & friends picture frames). Lela had a triple dorm room here as well, on the 3rd floor. As a freshman, Matt lived in a small dorm on the main campus. Since our graduation in 2003, our Field Hockey field in front of Tupper Hall has been renovated and updated with a beautiful water fountain, benches, and new dorms/ alumni center around it. Our Photo shoot also involved driving to the Main Campus and walking around the grounds, stopping at bridges, Endicott College signs, benches, and ocean view look outs. Matt & I had a great time that day, and it was practice for our big day when the "paparazzi" (photographer) follows us around for 8 hours. The above 5 pictures are from our Engagement Photo session :)

For our Wedding Bands, we returned to the family owned jewerly store that Matt first picked my beautiful white gold, princess cut ring. Matt works with the owners wife in Arlington Public Schools. Matt quickly chose the perfect band for him, it was probably the 2nd one he tried on! It is a two-tone silver band with gold edging, simple and durable for his active lifestyle. Me on the other hand, would have purchased every band I tried on if I could have. They were all beautiful in their own way! What is a girl to do? I slowly narrowed my choices down to a white gold band with diamonds in a channel seting... and chose a beautiful band that compliments my ring perfectly. I'm learning a lot about jewelry from this experience that's for sure.

• Book our honeymoon to Riu Palace Resort in Aruba - Check
• Engagement Photos - Check (* A special thank you to Shin & Lela for taking them!)
• Purchasing our wedding bands - Check (Love them!)


• Lucille also bought the most beautiful Mother-of-the-Bride dress in early April, in a summery violet color. While Mario is busy looking for the perfect tie to match our wedding colors.

We wish you a wonderful Easter Sunday ahead! Hope to see everyone soon!

XoXo, Lisa & Matt

Slide Show

CH. 4
Dear Family & Friends,

We hope all is well! Click on the link (or Copy & Paste it into a search bar) below to view a slide show of our wonderful family & friends. I couldn't find current pictures of everyone, but I wanted to share what we have so far!

We are well on our way to planning our big day, and I was more than excited to cross the following items off our very extensive Wedding To-Do List: Photographer, DJ, Hair & Makeup, Dresses/ Accessories for the Bridal Party. Our almost completed items are: Choosing our Wedding Ceremony Readings & Songs, Purchasing our Wedding Bands, and Booking our Honeymoon to Aruba!

The slide show plays music - if you have speakers...sit back~ relax~ and enjoy the show!

XoXo, Lisa & Matt

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d6a4d304f546b784d54413d0d0a&blogview=true