Bridal Shower #1

About two weeks ago, we had our first wedding shower.  My mom hosted the event, with some help from my dad, and it was spectacular!  I don't know that I had a preconceived idea about what it should be like that day, but it was just what I would have planned for myself!  It was held at Old Oak Country Club in Homer Glen, which is very near to where my parents live, and also happens to be where my dad works as a golf ranger during the summer.  My parents let me have a say in the food for the afternoon, not because I am a picky eater, but so that I could have just what I wanted.  The menu included cream of chicken soup (my favorite!) and a salad that was enormous and had fruit, candied nuts, large grilled shrimp, veggies, and much more that I can't even remember.  It was so huge that a common theme was to eat "all the good stuff" and leave the lettuce once we each realized we were barely making a dent into what was on our plates.  For dessert, we had vanilla ice cream with warm blueberries and whipped cream.  Oh, and the beverage of choice was a delicious punch, which if I could, I would have packaged up what was left and brought it home with me!

The room we were in had floor to ceiling windows with a view out on to the course, and thankfully, we had a beautiful day so it was nice and sunny!  The Banquet Manager, Juan, put out purple napkins for each place setting, since we told him that was the theme color.  And then at each seat, my mom had a purple gift bag with a bunch of my favorite candies from when I was a kid, along with a split of champagne for each guest.  There was a balloon attached to each bag to add some festiveness to the room and then there were purple and yellow flowers in the middle of each table.  My parents did an AMAZING JOB! 

When guests started arriving, my dad made sure to get pictures of each guest with me before they even had a chance to put down their purse.  I felt really special to have all of these people come and celebrate this day with me.  I had relatives I do not get to see too often and a friend I haven't seen in years!  And I felt so honored that in addition to all the planning my parents have done for the wedding and all the effort they have been going to, that they would add planning and hosting a wedding shower to their list.  That is the kind of people my parents are though - they go the extra mile and do all they can to make things special. 

After everyone was done eating, we moved on to a game where people had to form as many words out of "Sobczak Minster" as they could, but each word could be no less than 4 letters.  After people had time to think and write and write some more, we found our two winners and awarded the prizes.  We then moved on to Jack and I opening gifts and I was just completely overwhelmed and excited.  I have heard some people say that it is tough to be excited about getting towels, but every time I opened anything I was thrilled!  I thought, "one less thing for us to have to buy!" and I could start to picture setting up house in our new condo.  I was imaging how so many of these things would look and I started to picture us eating dinner using the utensils from the Nayder family, the plates from my Aunt Leah and the knives from my parents. 

We are so very grateful for all the gifts, but more importantly, it was just great to have everyone there that day.  It kind of prepped me for what it would be like at our wedding -- getting used to the idea that as much as you'd like to, you can't spend as long talking to people as you'd like, but realizing that everyone there is just excited to be there and share in the day.  Thank you to all who could attend.  Thank you to Gina & Kristen (two of my bridesmaids) for keeping things straight with all the gifts.  More importantly, thank you again to my parents for going above and beyond to give their little girl a day she will always remember!

We're Legal!

Mary and I went first thing this morning down to City Hall to apply for our marriage license.  It was a little surprising to see so many people there.  The office of Vital Records is only open on Saturdays for marriage licenses and ceremonies.  Although it wasn't a long line for marriage licenses, there were several couples in front of us when we arrived.  I wasn't totally sure what to expect.  I knew the basic requirements, but I didn't expect to be asked for my parents' names and places of birth, my occupation, or if I liked green eggs and ham.  Ok, so they didn't ask that.

Anyway, the entire process only took about 10 minutes after waiting in line for about 15-20 minutes.  Not bad.  So, like I said, we're legally allowed to get married!  It was also interesting to see several couples and their families dressed up in formal wedding attire to have civil ceremonies as well as a military couple in which the groom was dressed in full uniform.  Additionally, there was a freelance photographer standing outside City Hall for the recently married couples that may not have booked one.  That's smart business!

A Little More Bling

Needless to say, I have been slacking on my blog posts lately.  We have gotten so much done lately, that it has been hard to keep up with writing about everything, but I hope to post a bunch of new things in the coming week.  To start, about two weeks ago, Jack and I accomplished one very important task - we finally picked our wedding bands.  We had shopped around at a couple different stores and although it seemed like Jack could find a ring he liked at just about every place we went, I never loved any of the rings I was seeing for me. 

I should start by saying, I originally thought about just getting a plain white gold band.  However, when I tried one on at the first store we went to, it got completely lost behind the higher setting of my engagement ring.  Now don't get me wrong, I love my engagement ring, but the wedding band is the "important" one.  It is a gift we give to one another on our first day as husband and wife; it is a symbol of the commitment we will make that day.  The last thing I want is for the symbol of our marriage to be hard to see.  So then I started to look at rings with diamonds part of the way around the band in different settings.  It seemed that at all the stores we visited, they all showed me the same 2 or 3 settings.  After visiting 6 other shops, we finally ended up back at the jeweler where Jack bought my engagement ring.  What a different experience!  Instead of showing me one ring at a time, they took out a number of trays full of rings and told me to take my time and look at as many as I liked.  The woman who helped us pick out our rings and complete the order was really helpful and definitely knew what she was doing.  She was quick to say also that if there is a setting that you like but the size of the stones was not right, that they custom make each ring, so whatever we saw could be adapted to what we want.  After trying out a number of rings, I finally put one on that I got really excited about.  It did not get lost behind my engagement ring and it looked great on its own or with my ring.  It was not what I expected to pick, but I love it and Jack said that he liked the way it looked with my ring too.  I can't wait to get to wear it!

After picking mine, we moved on to look at men's rings.  Jack decided he wanted white gold too so that we would have rings made out of the same material.  After trying on a few different styles, he found a ring he really liked as well.  After taking a quick break to go outside the shop to discuss all this, we went back in and placed the order.  I can see why Jack felt comfortable at this jeweler when picking my engagement ring.  We both felt really good about our choices and felt very relieved to check this important item off our list.

Condo Update

We heard from our mortgage officer a few days with some good news.  Our loan was approved!  We weren't worried too much about it, but getting the final word certainly helps us breathe a little easier.  Mary already started packing, I suppose I should probably do the same :)

The Bridal Shower: A Modern Groom's Perspective

Mary had her first of two bridal showers last Sunday at Old Oak Country Club for her side of the family and her friends.  It came with some standard accoutrements: favors, mimosas, a light lunch, and of course, shower gifts.  All along, I knew that my attendance was expected.  To be honest, I was looking forward to it.  I expected it to be one of the more fun and easy-going events leading up to our wedding.  I expected this because I knew it wouldn't be an overdone or overly elaborate event.  It was a time for many of the women in Mary's life, of all ages, to celebrate our upcoming wedding with just her.

For many grooms, I'm sure they dread having to attend the bridal shower.  Having to be up in front of female friends and family and pretend to be excited about measuring spoons and vacuum cleaners is certainly something I wouldn't rate at the top of my list of fun activities.  Chit-chatting with the girls is also probably not a groom's favorite Sunday afternoon activity.

For me, however, I really did enjoy having a chance to talk to some of Mary's friends and family that I don't normally see.  While I felt I was mostly there in a support capacity for my bride - pulling out her chair, getting her mimosas, loading up the gifts - it was a nice warm-up for our actual wedding.  I made some introductions, was introduced myself, had a chance to catch up with important people, and also got to celebrate our upcoming nuptials.  As a broad generalization, since women tend to be more social than men, being surrounded by women helped get me into the wedding-mingling mode!

I think that since I had already resolved that I would enjoy myself, I found it much easier to do just that.  I was relaxed and comfortable, and truly did enjoy the socializing.  Mary also looked great in her nice white summer dress!  As far as the gift-opening is concerned, just think about how excited you'll be when you open your brand new wine tool set and beer pilsners.