First Anniversary Festivities

One year ago we were being introduced to our families and friends as Mr. and Mrs. Joe and Laura Scola. We were listening to speeches made by our closest friends and toasting our marriage alongside our brothers and sisters.
This year we're spending our anniversary at home, sharing in some of our favorite activities.
This morning we took a drive out to the bakery (with Dio on my lap) to pick up our anniversary cake.


On the way home we stopped at the grocery store to get some filets for dinner. I went to work for a few hours and when I got home, we drove out to the farmstand to pick up some pumpkins for carving.
To prepare for dinner, I got out the toasting flutes Ma Scola got us as an engagement present and the fabulous Kate Spade Library Lane china that was bestowed on us by so many of our lovely family members last year. I set the table while Joe fixed dinner.



Last night we went out with both sets of parents where, among other gifts, we received a bottle of the family staple, Cooks champagne.


Time to eat!



XOXO
Lola

The Dress

I just realized that tomorrow is our one year anniversary and I never even posted anything about my dress! Well, I posted that I had found one, but I never put pictures up or talked specifically about it.
I first found it on the Knot. It's a Justin Alexander Couture dress. The tag-line on the site reads: Modern Interpretations of Traditional Silhouettes.
Well... here it is...I knew I wouldn't look good in bright white so I wanted ivory. I loved the flowers all over the dress and the way they looked like they were crawling up from the floor. I did not want strapless or sleeveless but that was nearly impossible to find. When I saw this dress... I knew!Buttons all up the back of the dress. The top part is a jacket that had buttons to match so it looked like one fluid piece. Everyone was surprised when I took off the jacket later in the evening. Some people thought it was a completely different dress!
And here is me in it...

Light in the Darkness

Light fixtures at St. Isidore's in Bloomingdale, Illinois

Holy Moly Mums!

Huge football mums, white roses and stephanotis. I had asked for white gardenias in the top, but my flower expert was afraid they'd turn brown too fast. I understood.
This thing weighed A TON! I loved having such a huge, cascading bouquet, but my arm was sore the next day. Small price to pay for such gorgeous flowers.

Shoes

Picked these up at DSW. They looked perfect with my dress and I love a good peep-toe. I wore them around the house to make sure they were comfy for the wedding. Unfortunately, once you add a thirty pound dress to your body, nothing is comfortable. I can honestly say, though, that I didn't feel a thing once I walked into the church. I was floating...

Bridesmaid Bouquets

Lots of pink carnations, tightly wrapped bouquets. The perfect color pink.

Little Girl, Big Door

Late Night Snack

On a trip to Arizona to visit my brother and my future sister-in-law (they're now married), I had decided to pick up an issue of The Knot magazine. I'm a member of the Web site but I'd never checked out the mag before. Not only was there a picture of the gown I had my eye on, but I found an ultimate inspiration! Everyone around here serves the "late night snack" at their weddings. We've seen Gene & Jude's hot dogs, McDonald's cheeseburgers, candy bars (as in tables full of colorful candy) and numerous other snacks and treats that make their way to the masses after the sweet table.

We had been wondering what we would do. Should we do cheeseburgers? Should we do hot dogs? There were all kinds of justifications for all kinds of snacks we could entertain our guests' taste buds with. But none fit quite like what I found in the magazine that day. None fit so perfectly as popcorn. Not only my favorite snack, but also a staple of the movie-goer's experience. So what better to top off an event meant to reflect the glitz and glamor of Hollywood than yummy gourmet popcorn for our friends and family.

This is the picture I saw in the magazine that day.

I loved the look of the jars. The different kinds of popcorn inside. The labels dangling from the lids. The scoops, so cute and the bags, so precious. I wanted this exact set up, only in our colors. Well, we can't always get what we want, but sometimes... that's right, we get what we need. Now maybe the powers that be didn't quite understand the purpose of the popcorn, but what we ended up with worked extremely well and we got lots of complements on it. The truth is that apothecary jars like this do not come in a size appropriate for inserting a scoop worthy of collecting popcorn and placing it into a popcorn bag. What we were able to get was a collection of giant tins of popcorn. Each had the words, "Thank You" written on the sides in a purpley-pink color and came with large scoops and tons of cute popcorn bags. The gourmet flavors we ordered from Garret's Popcorn were plain, buttered, cheddar cheese, white cheddar, caramel and pecan praline.
I was so pleased with the turn out of the popcorn table.

The Flower Girls

Ava and Annie

Could we have found a cuter pair? Never! Wearing dresses that were handmade by my mom and sashes with giant bows in the same color as the bridesmaid's dresses (found at David's Bridal), Ava and Annie made their way down the aisle in style.
Mini pearl necklaces and bracelets were their gift from me for being in the wedding and their hairbows were made by my friend Laura, Annie's mom. They wore white tights and black mary janes. The flowers they carried were balls of pink carnations with roses stuck in the tops of them that hung from brown ribbon. Ava's mom, Lara, a friend since I was Ava's age, made sure the two knew when to start walking and where to go. Annie was sure to guide Ava down the aisle too. What a couple of sweet peas!