Engagement Photos!

Kimberly's cousins Tim and Debbie came with us to a tasting this week. Tim is a professional photographer, and he took advantage of our being at a beautiful venue to snap some engagement photos for us! Tim will also be taking our wedding photos, and as you can guess from the pics he shot for us, we are very excited to have him! These are a few of our favorites. The whole gallery is available here.

Liz Marden Bakery

When it comes to wedding confections Liz Marden takes the cake! She's the ideal baker, the sweetest woman you'll ever meet. She was kind enough to squeeze us in for a consultation and tasting during the holiday season, one of the busiest times of year for any baker. When we arrived at her bakery in Hockessin, she stopped her preparations in the "cold room" to sit with us and show us a slideshow of her work. She assured us that no wedding was too big or too small for her and that she always draws her inspiration for the cake from her bride and groom. The way she talks about her cakes, you can tell that she truly loves what she does. I was confident that any cake that she makes is made with love and all her work was exquisitely beautiful. At the end of the session, she brought out a box full of 5 different kinds of cake for us to take home and try. They almost looked too lovely to eat! When we got home, we brewed some tea and mom, dad, grandma, andrew and myself gathered around to enjoy the best cakes I have ever had. Most of the time when it comes to cakes, I have to push the icing aside because it's too sweet. While Liz's icings varies in sweetness between the buttercream and mousse icings, it manages to hit the right notes. Overall, the big winner for everyone was Liz's signature White Chocolate Mousse cake. It contains moist layers of vanilla and chocolate covered with a smooth and tasty white chocolate mousse icing. The layers of vanilla have a Swiss raspberry jam on top of them that adds the perfect touch. It's a delectable treat; I can't stop thinking about the taste! 

Dresses

I'm on a roll with the wedding planning process. Believe it or not, my first full day in Delaware I went wedding dress hunting with my parents and we found the dress. What's it look like you ask? Well instead of traditional white, I decided to go with a light pink Cinderella-like ballroom gown with silver accents. Just kidding. You know I can't tell you on here...Andrew might SEE! And we couldn't have that happen. What I can tell you about are the bridesmaids dresses I've picked out already! Yes, you saw that right...I've already found my bridesmaids dresses more than a year in advance and within only a few days of being in DE. I had my sister and my little niece try them on and I think they look lovely with my dress. They are elegant and classy. See below. I'm thinking of going with a gold champagne color and a light ivory for the top. Also, the dress comes with optional straps that match the light ivory part of the dress in case the girls want to wear them instead of going strapless.

Save the Date

Here is the first draft of our email "Save The Date" cards. We will also be mailing some conventional cards in a couple months, but we want to give some folks some advance advance warning. The design may change before it goes out online, we'll see.

Wedding Date!

So Andrew and I have decided on a wedding date after much deliberation. Our official date is (drum roll)....January 17th, 2010! It's the Sunday of a 3 day weekend, Monday being MLK day, which will hopefully make it more convenient for our out of town guests. With almost a year away and with the challenge of being a bride that's getting married on the east coast but lives on the west coast, the planning frenzy has begun! I arrived in Delaware on the night of December 16th and my days have been filled with scoping out venues and dresses. My parents bought me a white tank and hoodie with a crown that says "bride" on it so I can plan in style. :)