Check! Check! Check!

"Becoming Bailey" is finally up and running! I know I've been promising it for awhile now, and I've been quite tardy. I'm usually a once-a-weeker when it comes to blogging but my mind and time has been kind of preoccupied as I'm sure you can imagine...if you can't here's the rundown on my life (or lack there of - haha!)

1. Full time job selling Bone Growth Stimulators.
2. Planning a wedding in just 6 and a half months!!!
3. Moving my fiance out of his apartment complex within a month...
4. Selling my furniture, painting my walls and carpeting my floors to make my house our future home :-)
5. Following the Steelers and now also the Titans!!!

Yes, Maggie is a busy girl to say the least. But, this is a once-in-a-lifetime exciting time in my life so I want to make sure I am documenting it. Things may seem stressful now, but when it's all said and done I want to have something to look back upon to remember the fun times! So I'm getting by on very little sleep and Advil (one of the best engagement gifts I've gotten - lol!)

So, I've been engaged for 16 days now and already I have my date set, the church, the choir, the venue, my videographer, my colors, my bridal party and my dress! Gosh, even I'm impressed! I may be in the wrong career! I think I have a nitch for this kind of thing! So now I'll walk ya'll through it and try not to give it all away...I have to have something for everyone to look forward to! So please excuse me for being a little more generic then I usually am. I'm usually a big details girl but mum's the word when it comes to my big day!

Speaking of the big day, the date is March 19th, 2011. Or "Three-Nineteen" as I like to say :-) I'm saying my prayers now (feel free to add to them) that the weather will be nice then. In Pittsburgh anything could happen at that time of the year!!! We could have a snow storm, or it could be sunshining. Heck, it could be pouring rain already! I'm a little scared of this unknown but ultimately, I'm marrying the man of my dreams and nothing will be able to rain on my parade! I've dreamed of this day since I can remember and I know it will turn out perfect, yes, even if the sky is spitting out some sort of precipitation :-)

Our nuptials will take place at 2:00 p.m. sharp at St. Cyril of Alexandria Church in Brighton Heights - so if you're coming don't be late! I wouldn't want ya'll to miss my grand entrance when my dad, Fred, walks me down the aisle and gives me away. Music will be provided by the fabulous Mazzai Choir. My wonderful Godmother booked them for me! They will be the perfect addition to my already special day! I CANNOT wait to walk down the aisle to them...absolute dream come true!

Following the wedding our guests will attend a reception at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association AKA The P.A.A. After searching high and low I finally found my venue! I checked out dozens prior but there was always something missing. Everything just felt right and the P.A.A. and I'm so excited about it! The decor is totally my style - I love it!

It wasn't easy finding my venue. It took me three nights to do so. I felt like Goldilocks...something was always wrong, but I knew somewhere "just right" was out there so I kept trying things. After loads of research I was able to cross a bunch of places off of my list which was a good head start. I then started on my visits...

1. William Penn Hotel - Grand Ball Room taken...only secondary ball room was open and it was kind of dark and dreary in there. If the Grand Ball Room hadn't been taken this may have been my place!

2. Hyatt at the Airport - HIDEOUS carpets...seriously...

3. Jay Verno - Too modern for my style and would just fit our magic number

4. Grand Concourse - Beautiful but would have to pay for alcohol by the drink...really, do I look like a millionaire?!

5. Springwood - Loved, loved, loved this place but kinda out of my way and it was a tad too small. Loved the glass atrium!

6. The Renaissance Hotel - Odd shaped room (it was long not wide) and it was $165/person and parking wasn't included...yeah, no! But very beautiful inside!

7. Shakesphere's - Beautiful modern day castle with delicious food but Katie put it best when she said "I feel like I drove to New Jersey and back" lol - too far away!

8. Pittsburgh Athletic Association - My "just right"! Beautiful room! Awesome food! Parking is included! We'll take it!

Somewhere in between I found our Videographer. A friend of the family, Robb Duty, of Flashpoint Digital Media is doing it for us. Robb shot my sisters wedding and her video turned out beautiful! I just watched it to refresh myself and I was so impressed with his thought-process throughout it! Robb is providing us beautiful quality for a reasonable price...who could ask for more?!

Last Tuesday and Wednesday Patrick and I spent the nights asking our closest friends and family to take part in our special day. Well, at least I finished my task...I know Patrick still has a few phone calls to make. We decided on 8 groomsmen/bridesmaids, 4 flower girls and 2 ring bears...24 person bridal party! Can we get an award for this??? Gosh and it was so hard to pick just 8 people - for Patrick and I alike. We both had a ninth person we wanted to ask but I was adamant about staying with an even number. It's never easy to pick things like this - but it's necessary...and I'm sure everyone understands that to some extent. All in all we got a great group of supportive friends and family members who I know will do us proud on March 19th! We thank ya'll from the bottom of our hearts for accepting to be a part of the big day!

I hosted a little Bridesmaid meeting last week to get the ball rolling on dress ideas from my girls. I am going to go with whatever the consensus says they like and feel best in. We will be starting up that process in the very near future!! Also to show my appreciation I got each girl a little Bridesmaid-Care-Package...complete with a purse pen (that is shaped like lipstick, how cute is that?!) notebook, nail file, polish, and aspirin!! I figure I'll give them at least one headache throughout this process so it's my way of trying to make up for it - lol!

Last but certainly not least, I got my dress!!! It's a Rina di Montella that I walked out the door with from One Enchanted Evening in Wexford!! I can say this safely because there is no trace of my gown at the store nor on the Internet (believe it or not!!). I only went to one store and only tried on about a dozen dresses before finding "the one". The saleswoman helping me picked it out and I'm so grateful she did! I will say no more then it's stunning and I can't wait to wear it for my future husband!

The dress process was EMOTIONAL!!! Gosh, I was bawling my eyes out, my mom was bawling...we were a mess! It was a beautiful mess though :-) Once I got that feeling I decided there was no use in trying anything else on. I said to myself  "Why waste the time? And why cloud your mind?!". This whole wedding process I've just been following my feelings and so far I feel confident they have lead me in the right direction! The last thing I want to find myself doing is second-guessing myself. I don't have time to do that!!! So if it feels right, I'm doing it!

It was funny I called Patrick after and left a message telling him I found my dress. I was totally cool, calm and collected when I made the call but bust into tears mid-way through! When I hung up my mom said "He's going to think you are CRAZY!" I said "He already knows I'm CRAZY!" lol It was a memory I won't soon forget.

This past weekend I attended my first Bailey family wedding andddd my first Tennessee Titans game! Sorry to put a cliff-hanger on here but ya'll will have to wait for the next blog for pics and details!!! (Sorry I meant to post this before the weekend but never got around to putting the pics in and now I just want it up so I can start the next one!!!) I'll tell you this much, my work is cut out for me to try and top this weekends Bailey wedding! 1.) Kaity looked STUNNING! and 2.) There was so much thought put into every detail! I already warned them they may be seeing some of those same ideas again in March lol! Until next time!
XOXO