my bachelorette BIKE TOUR...

    time to talk about one of my favorite past times...bike riding!! i had the idea to do a bike tour bachelorette party pretty early on.  i wasn't sure it would work out or that everyone would be into it, but then i remembered who my friends are...they're awesome & up for anything!  this beautiful day in october was no exception!

(VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED)

the day started off early at my friend Retta's apartment in Hoboken.  the girls were told to wear black, i was wearing white.  it didn't take long to start the party.  we had a panty line- (each friend brings a NEW pair of undies for the bride and she has to guess which one is from which friend) there were some greasy snacks to soak up the day, fake tattoos, and COCKtails of course!
After a quick photo shoot, we were off...

We didn't all have bikes so some traveled on foot, or by scooter...

& don't forget your heels & helmuts...safety first!

Our first stop was the Hoboken Beer Garden.  We rode up and walked in and pretty much walked right out! they were not really loving us there.  

one fast photo and onto City Bistro's Roof Top.  it REALLY was the most beautiful day.  it's funny because i never wanted to have an outdoor wedding because there's no way to control the weather and it's such a crap shoot, but i really lucked out with every wedding related activity that i planned.

Once we were here we started playing one of our very favorite drinking games, 11!

We left there and headed to Onieals! This was where a few us had to split up.  But for those of us on wheels...it had to be one of the best rides of our lives!  we rode down Washington street, Hoboken's main drag, honking our horns & ringing our bike bells!  everyone was pointing and laughing at us, we made such a scene!  i've never laughed so hard, i was nearly in tears.  it will continue to be one of the best memories of my life!
Onieals was on the list because one of my good friends Mandi works there.  Unfortunately she had plans and couldn't make it.  But we went there all the same.  And thank god we did, it was the perfect place to re-fuel with some french fries and fried mozzarella, followed by the surprise cake that Mandi had ordered specially for me!!
It was HOBNAIL!! i started collecting hobnail last year, and i love it.  the cake was seriously so cute as you can see!
After a while things started getting a little nutty here, more friends met up, there were piggy back rides and i'm pretty sure the bartenders hated us...

we traveled to the next spot, Northern Soul.  there's a dance style juke box there and i think that was originally our plan, but we really just sat in the corner and did some photo shoots, and thank god for the photo proof because some of us didn't remember even going there!
 
After that those on foot ventured to Lousie & Jerry's (L&Js) but Retta, Heather & i knew we needed to stop by the Wilton House for one shot.  this is a total old man bar in Hoboken where we sometimes used to stop on our way to go out in the city to warm up and have a shot!

one shot and we crossed that off the itinerary and rode up to L&Js horns honking & met the rest of the girls!  L&Js will always hold a special place in my Hoboken heart.  many a night after work we'd hang out there, great juke box, pool table and some of my favorite bartenders!

There was only one more stop before the finish line. Those on foot went ahead, but us bike girls, Retta, myself & Heather headed to Helmers for a 'dirty ho'... 

Last on the list but certainly not least was Maxwell's, my Hoboken home, where i worked for over 6 years, where i had met most of the girls who were with me that night who had become close friends, some of my very best guy friends, some of my favorite memories, and the place i met my future husband! There was no better spot to end such a fun day/night than there with my 'family' at our reserved VIP section by the juke box!
i have the best friends a girl could ask for...

& at the end of the night i went home with this guy! what could be better?!

wedding accessories...

i LOVE accessories!! some women love shoes, others coats, you'll always find me in the accessories section!  i feel naked without earrings, i literally can't leave the house without them, it ruins my day.  i have a necklace collection that keeps growing.  i knew that the accessories for my wedding would be one of my favorite parts of the planning!

early on i decided that i didn't want real flowers...anywhere at the wedding.  i'm not a huge flower person and i just felt it would save money and also be really fun to buy fake ones myself.  i went to one of my favorite crafty store in NYC, B&Q i got a ton of silk, satin, suede, and lace flowers of all the colors i wanted to incorporate into the wedding.  at the time, i didn't have the bridesmaids dresses that i ended up using.  but luckily what i was about to make tied everything together.

i had never made bouquets before but i figured if i bought styrofoam balls and attached them to styrofoam cones it would be pretty easy to get the right shape.

first i made the two for my bridesmaids.  with a hot glue gun i placed each flower onto the ball.  for the stem i used twigs to cover the cone.  i accented them with baby's breath and tied them with scraps left over from my grandmothers wedding dress.

Next it was time for mine.  i had saved my favorite part of my grandmother's dress for something, i just didn't know what...then it came to me to cover my bouquet stem with it.

it is by far one of my favorite pieces that i created for the wedding.

after that it was onto the boys boutineers...i stayed with the same idea, fake flowers.  for my brothers & my father i used the same flowers for each but in different ways.

The ones i made for my grandparents were also extra special...i used scraps of her dress again, and bought red and black flowers to match what i knew they'd be wearing.  Aside from just being 2 of the best people on the planet they would be playing key roles at the wedding.  my grandmother was going to sing while i danced with my grandfather.   it was a dream come true.  
Then it was onto the groom...i made John a few different things.  of course he needed a great boutineer, but i also wanted to get him some groom gifts.  on etsy i found the perfect cufflinks that they monogrammed for me.  it went well with our whole theme.  i knew he was wearing an old tie of his fathers so i took it and stitched a felt heart that read "i love you" on the back.  i also found an old embroidery picture at our favorite thrift shop that totally reminded me of us.  it said something dumb, so i used some old scrabble tiles (john loves words with friends) to spell out our wedding song title.



Also at the thrift store i found some old lace curtains.  i bought a pillow case dress pattern and made two dresses for my flower girls.   i made their headbands with just ordinary plastic headbands, but i glued a ruffle type flowers to them to make a crown.



i loved them so much that they inspired my own headpiece.  using a white plastic headband and the same type of ruffle flowers i made mine.  i thinned the flowers out a bit and added some beads and sparkle to jazz it up.  i'm the bride after all.


last but not least came the ring 'pillow.'  i bought a wicker birds nest and stuffed it with scraps from my grandmother's wedding dress.  later i added ribbon and 2 fake birds.  (birds tied into what became the pattern for the bridesmaids dresses from Anthropologie)

you're probably wondering when you're going to get to see all of the finished products...soon, one blog at a time!

my Mad Hatter Tea Party bridal shower...

as i started to say before, since i live so far away from home i had to have 2 showers.  lucky girl!
for the one in Hoboken i told my 2 best girlfriends & my 2 future sister-in-laws my requests... i wanted to have a Mad Hatter Alice in Wonderland type tea party.  i wanted it to be cute and in my friend Retta's back yard. after those suggestions they kicked me off the email chain and took matters into their own hands.  what it turned into was one of the coolest showers that anyone had ever been to!

When i received the invitation i was super excited! i've been an Alice in Wonderland fan since high school, which is when i met my 2 best girlfriends so they were well aware.  they also know how much i love theme parties and dressing up so this was going to be a dream come true.

"Hats were encouraged," so right away i started crafting mine.  I wasn't sure everyone would wear one, but i WAS sure that my friend Retta would do her best to insist on it!
It's hard for me to blog about the work and the details that went into the planning of this beautiful day because i'm sure it was more work than i can imagine.  i know it started with cleaning out Retta's backyard which ended up never looking better.  The girls collected a variety of chairs and 30 + sets of tea cups and matching saucers. They made pretty bunting decorations and the most incredible paper flowers.  My future mother-in-law Lois, wrote a lovely poem that was placed on everyones assigned seat.
I arrived to what was truly a magical enchanted garden tea party!  i knew it was my shower, but you can tell by the look on my face that i was shocked and surprised at how amazing it all was!  it beat anything i had ever thought up or seen on pinterest when it came to tea parties!  & EVERYONE was wearing a hat!!

It was the perfect weather and the perfect space.  we sipped special punches from our fancy tea cups and ate adorable finger sandwiches.

future Mr. & Mrs. Foti

 my friends totally embraced the theme.  & when john showed up he joined in the fun!

Kate, Lois, Lauren, Jess (me and my future family)

me and my two best gals Retta & April

i'll never forget the wonderful time we had that day in Retta's backyard.  I remember everyone didn't think we would fit or that it was the right space.  But it was...and sadly it was the last time we were all together there.  Retta's apartment was flooded by hurricane Sandy.  Retta, one of the strongest people i know, pulled herself together and moved on & up...she is now living in THE WEST VILLAGE where she's always wanted to be & couldn't be happier!

i have the greatest friends!