Photo Fashion Dilemma

Our engagement photo session is coming up in two weeks and I have NO idea what to wear. I just want to be casual and comfortable and hope to achieve looking like our normal selves.

I was thinking maybe a cute sundress for me and a nice pair of khaki shorts and polo or button down for Groomzilla.

Would it be to "bride-ish" if I opted to wear a little white sundress as pictured here by Ann Taylor?

What did you wear for your engagement session? Any suggestions for Groomzilla and I?

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Happy Marriage

Tonight I figured out the secret to a happy marriage, and that secret is bribery. I sort of kind of bribed Groomzilla into accompanying me to Michaels tonight by offering to treat him to dinner after at one of our favorite wing houses which is on that side of town. I didn’t want to go alone and I needed Groomzilla to purchase something in a separate line with a coupon to save us some money (don’t you just love the Michaels coupons!). Groomzilla was more than happy to come along for the craft ride since he knew he was going to be rewarded.

Pics of a Happy Groomzilla eating wings..well pics of Groomzilla's wings..he didn't want his face in the pictures because he wasn't clean shaven.



Have you ever used a form of bribery to get what you want? I assume once we have kids bribery will become second nature.

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Non-Wedding Wednesday

I've got some summer picnic/pool days coming up soon and bringing the same old pasta salad is getting kinda old. Anyone have any new fresh and fun recipes to share?

This Fiesta Rice Salad looks yummy.


Fiesta Rice Salad Recipe
Bread salad, something I've never tried but looks amazing too.


Bread Salad Recipe
Pizza on the grill, that's one I never thought of! The great thing about making your own pizza is you can pick and choose your own ingredients and toppings. YUM.


Pizza on the Grill Recipe
What is your signature summer picnic recipe? Please share!!

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Groomzilla-Mares

Groomzilla woke up this morning and admitted that he's had dreams about our wedding for the past two nights. I thought I was the one who was supposed to have the pre-wedding nightmares of my dress getting stained pink at the cleaners or my flowers arriving to our venue completely wilted.

Are these just pre-wedding jitters or is my Groomzilla really turning into a full on GROOMZILLA?

For those of you that know Groomzilla, in his dream he probably requested a cake made out of shrimp rather than beer bottles.

I did find the perfect shirt for his bachy party.

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Tick Tock the Clock

Spent a beautiful day at the beach today with Groomzilla and some great friends. I came home with a weird sunburn on my back which is strange because I sat under the umbrella all day and slathered myself with sunscreen (obviously missed a few spots). Groomzilla of course told me I was fine every time I asked if I was protected by the umbrella. Gotta love em'.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!! Missing my family today...as always.

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Who Woulda Thunk??

Would you believe that I have been to every Joanne Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels in the Central Florida area searching high and low for a particular item in an exact color for our wedding and I happened to turn down the ribbon aisle at Walmart and Boom! there staring back at me in the face was what I have been searching for for the past month! I almost did a full on cartwheel right there in the ribbon aisle of Walmart. I didn't have my swatch with me because Groomzilla and I rode our bikes to Walmart (trying to save on gas where we can since prices have sky rocketed and we also get some exercise in so its a double bonus). I will go back tomorrow to make sure the color matches up exactly to my swatch and make the $3.24 purchase but wow! I couldn't believe I found it at Walmart of all places. I can't show pictures or tell exactly what it was that I found because I don't want Groomzilla to know. I am super pumped about this!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter and to all those that are traveling be sure to travel safe!

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Truckin Right Along

We had a good week as far as making headway with crossing items off on our to do list. Groomzilla has been a tremendous help this week with various projects and he took the lead on negotiating and blocking hotel rooms for our out of town guests. I was happy to delegate this task over to him. We should be signing, stamping, and dating the contract either today or tomorrow. We even booked OUR room for our first night as a married couple..WOW that felt fun to say!

Groomzilla also woke up extra early yesterday morning to go check on something on his way to work for one of my crazy DIY projects and may I just say "he done good" because the info he found out is just what I was looking for :)

AND...DRUM ROLL Please...we are 99.9% sure we are booking the band that I blogged about a few weeks ago. Groomzilla and I went out to see them play last night so that Groomzilla could hear them for the first time and he was quite impressed by what he heard. They have an amazing song variety, anything from Lady Gaga, to Katy Perry, to Aerosmith, Michael Jackson and my fav Journey!!

I was looking at my master to do list yesterday and felt so accomplished..we really have done so much so far!!

Next order of concentration..ceremony music, florist, and cake.

Its all coming together!!

Thanks Groomzilla...

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Non-Wedding Wednesday

Of course so much to talk about regarding the wedding on Non-Wedding Wednesday but I can't! We will get into all of that tomorrow and continue to stick with our theme.

Groomzilla and I went out to a club tonight on a task for the wedding and why is it that I always feel SOOO uncomfortable when I go into the ladies room and there is a bathroom attendant?? I just feel like they watch you like a hawk and expect a tip for handing you a paper towel, something I could very well do on my own. I ALWAYS feel so inclined to (and 99% of the time do) leave them a tip; but for what?

Tonight when I went to the bathroom for the first time I went into the bathroom and left my purse at the table for Groomzilla to watch unbeknownst to me that there was an attendant. I felt horrible having no money on me to leave in her tip jar.

Am I the only person who experiences this uncomfortableness when using the restroom with a bathroom attendant present??

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Weekend Round Up

What a wonderful weekend filled with love and tons of fun. We had two weddings to attend this weekend, one of which was very impromptu. The one we had planned for was so amazing and beautiful. So much love and happiness filled the entire weekend.

I always get a little depressed after spending a wonderful weekend with family and friends. I was especially depressed last night because for one, we couldn't get our dog until this morning and I severely missed him taking over my half of the bed last night. Plus, the aftermath of such a wonderful weekend after having looked so forward to for weeks had come to an end and the impending thought of having to return to the reality of work was upon us. There were so many laughs, good times, and love shared with friends this past weekend and I truly realize how lucky we are to be a part of it.

There are a few things about weddings that do make me a little sad. With being involved in a wedding by attending bachelorette parties and bridal showers, etc. you are able to meet and create a relationship with all these wonderful and fun people and then you never really get to see them once its over.

All in all the weekend was wonderful. We rented a gorgeous condo on the beach with about 8-10 of us with a few crashers along the way and it was amazing.

All Groomzilla kept saying at the wedding was that we are the next of the super friends to get married. We really are NEXT!! WOW!

The view from the condo. How come watching the ocean is so mesmerizing?



The little peeper in the chair was our resident funny man

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SHHHH..It's a Suprise!!

My apologies for the lack of posting a Non-Wedding Wednesday yesterday. Last night was my final for class and after we were done we headed across the street for a few celebratory drinks. What that means is SCHOOOLS. OUT. FOR. SUMMER!..cue Dazed and Confused soundtrack.

Just wanted to give a little heads up that Groomzilla and I are working on a little something special and we hope to roll that out coming up VERY soon. It's going to be very exciting and I think you will all really enjoy what we have up our sleeves. For now it will have to stay a secret because I really don't want Groomzilla to drop the ball on this one!

I doubt I will be able to post about it before the weekend since we are going out of town for a whole weekend of wedding fun. We will be staying and relaxing RIGHT on the beach and I CAN'T wait!

Until then and hope you all have a very happy weekend!

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Where to Register

We need to register for gifts coming up soon, but WHERE?? Do we have to make an appointment with the store? Already have an idea of what we want? Will Groomzilla go berserk with the registry gun??

Top picks right now:

Macy's
Crate and Barrel
Bed Bath & Beyond

Where and when did you register? Regrets? Feedback to offer on any stores?

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Exploring my Crafty Side

Months ago I blogged here about a ring pillow that tickled my fancy. Well as I was on my craft run this weekend (and I was disappointed to learn that the Michaels on my craft route (Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and Michaels) had gone out of business! I had to trek all the way across town to hit up another Michaels.) Any way so as I was just perusing the aisles scoping out ideas for the wedding a thought crossed my mind of attempting to make a ring bearer pillow myself. I purchased all the necessary items and Voila! in less than two hours a beautiful ring pillow was produced.

I am not the best at describing a tutorial step by step but I did take pictures along the way. It was VERY easy and fun too! Groomzilla was very impressed and told me I should sell them..as if I have time while planning a wedding to sell ring pillows.. :-p

Total cost of ring pillow:
1/2 yard of satin (I used taffeta because it was on sale and looked almost identical) $2.50
Stuffing - with 40% off coupon cost $2.50
Silk flower - on sale for $.99 cents
White ribbon I had in my sewing collection

All the ingredients


The flower head. I purchased a flower and then cut the head off with scissors and easily tied the ribbon around the center flower bud.


Stitched around the pillow inside out but left a small hole to stuff.


The finished product. The flower is slightly off centered but no one will notice. The hardest part was attaching the flower to the pillow.


"Mock up" Mine and Groomzilla's new favorite word around here. A mock up with my engagement ring and a silver band I had in my jewelry box.









I did search high and low for a navy flower but had much difficulty in finding anything that resembled anything I was happy with. I hope my ring bearers wont feel the pillow is too girly for them to carry.

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Successful Evening

Groomzilla and I headed out to the Bacchus Bash last night at the outlet mall to see the band Think Big that Groomzilla had already seen once. He wanted to get my opinion on what I thought of them. After cruising around to let Groomzilla check out the food selection and of course me popping into a few stores, we sat for a bit and listened to the band. I definitely think they would be a good fit for us and are exactly what we are looking for.

This does not mean we are ready to make a final decision just yet, we still have two more bands to see this month and we said we would make a final decision by the end of this month once we weigh out the deciding factors, cost, etc.

I know this band search seems to have become the never ending search but we will get there eventually and its actually been fun going out to see all these different bands!

Have a great weekend! I will be getting some crafting done and trying to soak up some sun so I don't scare the other fellow wedding guests next weekend with my pale skin!

That is me in the green.

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com

Non-Wedding Wednesday

This post was inspired by some recent hilarious status updates of a Facebook friend. What are your thoughts on women putting makeup on in the car on the way to work or straightening their hair in the office bathroom??

Sadly I admit that I have had to do my makeup only one time at work when I was running REALLY late. I have also touched my hair up a handful of times with my curling iron in the office bathroom at the end of the day before meeting friends for drinks.

If the Po-Po are enforcing the no talking while driving should they outlaw conducting hygiene while driving as well?

What crazy things do your co-workers do that drive you mad? Clip finger nails, unbearable BO, pick at blackheads, steal your half-eaten sandwich out of the community refrigerator?? (yes this last one has been known to happen at my office!)

Ever seen a note like this at your office? Do tell!

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Linen Mock Up

I wanted to do a test mock up of the linens at home before we made our final decision. I purchased a navy and ivory sheet from Walmart and dug out some white fabric I had in my sewing collection. I intended to purchase real pink and white flowers so we could really get the full effect but when I went to Publix the pickings were quite slim. I improvised with some artificial flowers I picked up at the dollar store.

Notice the center piece vase and candle votives which two friends at work so generously lent to us to use for our wedding. BIG thank you to them! We just need to remove the candles from the votives from the last girl who borrowed them and we are good to go!

Groomzilla said NO to ivory because he thinks it looks dirty. I'm afraid I had to agree with him and we made our decision to do white table cloths with navy napkins.

I know its a little difficult to differentiate the white versus ivory and I should have ironed my quasi table cloths for the photo shoot..whoops!

First two pictures are with the white, second two are with the ivory.

Do you think we made the right decision??



Ivory table cloth

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Panic Book Monday

WHAT A DAY and its only the first day of what is going to be the rest of a CRAAAZZY week. Sigh...

I didn't get as much done this past weekend as I had wanted to but I was able to cross a few things off of my to do list in which Groomzilla now refers to as my "panic book".

My panic book is filled with lists, ideas, thoughts, and weekly to do lists, and sadly enough it now accompanies me to work every day and remains locked up in my desk drawer with my purse, yes it has become that valuable.

It's such a sense of accomplishment to be able to cross items off a to do list. I am that person guilty of completing a task before I write it down and then write it down on my to do list only to cross it off. Am I the only person who does this?? There's just something so invigorating about looking at list of tasks you have completed.


I received a nice surprise text from my brother in law who is in town for a conference. Groomzilla and I will be meeting up with him for dinner and drinks. Always so great to see family!

Hope you all have a great night!

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I Want to do it Now

How soon is too soon to start on DIY crafting projects?? I feel like I should be doing/buying stuff for the wedding and when I am not valuable time is passing me by.

Only problem is, we really have no where to store it in our little apartment and by the time the wedding rolls around will things be dusty and dog-eared?

When did you start your DIY projects?

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I'd love to hear from you. Email questions, comments, or photos to blogzillabride@gmail.com