P.S - Engagement Photo Shoot

Priscilla & Sean (P.S) took their engagement photos and I couldn't help but tag along and make a video for them :)

Priscilla & Sean's Engagement Photo Shoot from Caroline Pinal on Vimeo.

April 3rd and 30th

Choosing dates for important events like the bachelorette party and the bridal shower was pretty much just a shot in the dark. Not everyone's going to be able to make it no matter what date I chose, so I figured April 3rd and April 30th are easy to remember, so I went with it...

April 3rd -- Priscilla's Bridal Shower! Not being a fan of baby/bridal showers myself, I thought it would be challenging to get excited about this. But all I needed was a cool and creative theme and now I'm stoked! Can't wait to decorate, can't wait to play games, and most importantly, can't wait to booze it up with all the classy ladies. It's going to be madness!

April 30th -- Men of Santa Barbara beware because Priscilla's bachelorette party will be in town! Haven't worked out all the details yet, but there will be cheese, wine and a few other surprises:) My hope is that someone gets arrested so I can bring it up during my maid of honor speech. I need material!!!

So there you have it, April 3rd and 30th. Be there or be square.

Save the Dates!

It was a Tuesday night, around midnight... I found myself standing against a table full of envelopes, stamps and stickers. My neck was sore from staring down too long, my eyes were heavy, and I realized, I am a damn good maid of honor.

One by one, my sister and I cut, folded, cut again, glued and meticulously assembled those glorious little save the dates of hers. We thought we had completed the first official save the date. But hours later, we realized that the return envelope didn't have a stamp on it, so the glory of our first completed save the date was gone.

But on the upside, I managed to eat a tasty burrito while assembling them, so if you received your save the date and thought you saw a smudge of beans or tapatio sauce, you are probably correct :)

I did learn a couple things from this experience. If you're a maid of honor and you don't live close enough to help the bride with projects like assembling the save the dates, then you're probably going to be a sucky maid of honor. Which leads me to the second rule of being a badass maid of honor:

Rule #2: Consider moving closer to the bride... or do what I did and move in with her. That way you can be there for every little project that she might need help with.

I have also decided that for my wedding I will only be sending e-vites.

My Sister is the Coolest Bride Ever! (For September)

September's Bride of the Month is Priscilla! The wedding will take place at sunset in beautiful Puerto Vallarta with about 60 of our closest family and friends. We're both entertainers, he's a drummer and I'm a dancer so we're currently brainstorming for the perfect reception time routine (we're hoping to give the aisle dance wedding a run for their money!) I'm most excited about sharing our special day with all the people who've enriched our lives. I can't even begin to explain how lucky I feel to be marrying my best friend and the love of my life!  Thanks for sharing your story, Priscilla! If you'd like to be featured as our Bride of the Month please submit your name, a brief description and a photo to:news@bravobride.com

The Venue

<---A venue has been chosen! The Villa Amor in Sayulita! (I'll give you the link at the end of this)

I can't wait! I can't wait! I can't wait! 

The joint is gorgeous! And everything seems so real now! Deposits have been made, flights are being booked, a wedding will happen  on May 22, 2010 

 

<--- SEE! That's them, telling you to save the date!

So now all the fun stuff gets to happen, figuring out how long we stay, when to arrive, and when to leave. She gets to choose flowers, decorations, their cake (keeping my fingers crossed for chocolate). I need to get a move on planning a bachelorette party and a wedding shower. Ahhh!! Too much good stuff!! 

Even though, of course all these thoughts have gone through my head before, but now, it's a whole rush of them all over again. I need to have a cyber meeting with all the bridesmaids! I need to book a flight for my boyfriend and I (keeping my fingers crossed that it lasts until then). Just kidding! Love you Dustin! I need to finish reading the book I bought on how to be a Maid of Honor! I need to figure out how to get John Mayer to perform at her reception!!!! *sigh* So many things... 

The thought of all our family & friends packing up and headed for Puerto Vallarta reminds me of the scene from Home Alone when they're all running through the airport, and for sure someone or something really important will be left behind on accident. But right now, I am just so happy that they found the perfect place to have their wedding. The last thing I wanted was for her to feel like she is "settling" on a venue. She's thrilled, and that makes me happy :)

Ok, here's the link to the Villa Amor

Dress Shopping

I tried to keep my cool when my sister called asking me to come along for her dress appointments. But really, I was super excited and giddy about the whole thing; I couldn't wait for THAT moment. The moment she puts on the dress that she will eventually wear as she walks down the aisle, The dress she'll wear for her romantic photos with her new husband, and the one she'll wear while dancing the night away!

I had this whole vision of how dress shopping would be JUST like the movies, and we were going to sip champagne, laugh, cry, and bust through glass double doors with two bags in each of our hands...

However, due to my kickball game, followed by the bar and the ufc fight, and then my aunt coercing me into staying out later, I turned out to be very drunk the night before.

Rule #1:
Try not to get wasted the night before dress shopping day.

10 minutes into the drive to the first appointment we were pulled over on the freeway and I was throwing up the french toast I had eaten at Denny's 6 hours prior (I've never seen that happen in a movie). On top of that great start to the day, I couldn't even share a a flute of champagne with my mom and sister, because the mere thought of it made my stomach quiver. But despite these two teeny setbacks, we had an amazing day that made me miss the days my mom would take us shopping together.

I can't explain the look on my sisters face the moment she stepped up on the platform and saw herself in every mirror in the room. It was like everything disappeared to her, and all she could see was herself in her dress at her wedding. Looking at her eyes, I couldn't tell if there were a thousand things running through her mind, or just one. Was she trying to imagine what the dress would look like throughout the night, or just what her fiance would think the moment he saw it? I'm not sure, but I didn't know what to do. Do I take a picture? Is that bad luck? Do I say anything at all? I didn't want to ruin her moment. So I just handed her some fake flowers that were on the table, in case she wanted a better visual :) I watched my mom help her fix the straps, the train, look at it closely, then from far away. I listened to the great comments the lady that worked there was making and I wished I had thought of them first. She looked gorgeous in everything she tried on, making it hard to think of new things to say besides how beautiful she looked in everything. 

She eventually narrowed her choices down to two dresses. The very first and the very last one she put on. But the last dress is the one that brought tears to her eyes and mine too, but I sucked it in pretty quickly. She had THAT moment and I was so happy that it happened since I ruined the sipping champagne moment. I think she'll go with the last dress of the day, but we shall see... And although the champagne we were supposed to drink is still sitting in my fridge, I've realized not everything is supposed to happen like it does in the movies. She will make her own unique memories, traditions and stories. And I will find another special and unique moment to sip champagne with her :)

The bride & groom

Introducing... Priscilla & Sean! She is my sister and also the most amazing person in the world. He is my future brother-in-law who can charm the pants off an old man. Together, they can pretty much rule the world. I can't go too far into my feelings for these love bugs, because then I won't have anything left for my speech :)

But let's just say, they both mean the world to me and I am going to try my hardest to make all their wedding dreams come true! 

Let's get to the wedding... They were originally planning on having it in Pasadena...

But after seeing a couple places and having a couple discussions, they've decided that we're packing up and heading to one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen... Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!!!!

The first thought through my head after hearing this great news was, "I do NOT do well in humidity." However, I reminded myself that this is not about me. Something I think I will have to continue to remind myself for the next 8 months.