I’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone on numerous occasions, learned some practical skills in the kitchen (Chris, my soon to be husband will thank you later!), joined in several new adventurous activities that I wouldn’t have sought out and participated in some in-depth stimulating discussions regarding marriage/divorce/expectations/money/kids/sex.

I feel a need to thank several people in my life for their encouragement and support as I’ve been a contestant on this show. First, I’d like to thank both of my parents – Gail and Stanely. You have both given me an immeasurable amount of love and strength over the years. Thank you to the best friends that any woman could ask for – I will forever appreciate your words of wisdom, silly voice messages and quirky senses of humor. Thank you to my colleagues at Veristat for your genuine encouragement to participate on Iron brides and for covering my clinical projects/daily responsibilities when I’ve been out of the office. Thank you also to George, Joann and Chrissy. I hope that you all know how much you’ve helped to positively shape our marriages and to give us the skills to be successful in life. I will forever be grateful for all that you have poured into us. And lastly, thank you to my fiance Chris. Without your support, patience and unwaivering love I would not have survived the intense film schedule, and various Iron Bride tasks. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise this time commitment to Iron Brides will make us stronger in the coming years and has enriched my life.

As you may be aware, each of us contestants must journal daily and blog weekly. I thought I would share one of my journal entries, dated July 22, 2009.
“…I’m not as excited about getting married as I think most women are. I don’t have a storybook in mind and this elaborate idea of what living together will be like or how amazing each day of the rest of my adult married life will be. Instead, I feel grounded, like I have my eyes wide open, like I’ve seen who the other options are. I’ve really spent a lot of effort to get to know myself over the years. Explored my insecurities, stepped outside and sometimes way outside of my comfort zone. I feel as though I know myself extremely well. I know my strengths, my weaknesses, my vulnerabilities, my depth and sometimes my limit. I truly do love myself and feel like not only am I good person but that I attract good people. This automatically brings Christopher Andrew Frye to mind. The moment that I saw him I could tell that there was something special and wonderful about him and I instantly wanted to get to know him better. He was cute, sweet, warm, genuine and totally unassuming. He was the guy that shared my passions (travel, science, family) and who I could talk to for hours and that I couldn’t get enough of. He’s fun to cuddle with, hike with, watch a good football game and have a beer together. He is so smart, grounded and witty. He has an adorable smile and an infectious laugh. When we hold hands I instantly feel connected and like I could run away with him and be happy for the rest of my life or I could close my eyes and get butterflies – feel gitty and instantly feel like a teenager. I trust Chris. He’s dependable, reliable and likable. I feel proud to bring him anywhere and thankful that we both mutually respect $ and that we totally crave retirement. Chris is an amazing man and I’m so glad that we both scoooped each other up. I truly didn’t know that I would be blessed to be marrying a man of Chris’s caliber….”

I’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone on numerous occasions, learned some practical skills in the kitchen (Chris, my soon to be husband will thank you later!), joined in several new adventurous activities that I wouldn’t have sought out and participated in some in-depth stimulating discussions regarding marriage/divorce/expectations/money/kids/sex.

I feel a need to thank several people in my life for their encouragement and support as I’ve been a contestant on this show. First, I’d like to thank both of my parents – Gail and Stanely. You have both given me an immeasurable amount of love and strength over the years. Thank you to the best friends that any woman could ask for – I will forever appreciate your words of wisdom, silly voice messages and quirky senses of humor. Thank you to my colleagues at Veristat for your genuine encouragement to participate on Iron brides and for covering my clinical projects/daily responsibilities when I’ve been out of the office. Thank you also to George, Joann and Chrissy. I hope that you all know how much you’ve helped to positively shape our marriages and to give us the skills to be successful in life. I will forever be grateful for all that you have poured into us. And lastly, thank you to my fiance Chris. Without your support, patience and unwaivering love I would not have survived the intense film schedule, and various Iron Bride tasks. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I promise this time commitment to Iron Brides will make us stronger in the coming years and has enriched my life.

As you may be aware, each of us contestants must journal daily and blog weekly. I thought I would share one of my journal entries, dated July 22, 2009.
“…I’m not as excited about getting married as I think most women are. I don’t have a storybook in mind and this elaborate idea of what living together will be like or how amazing each day of the rest of my adult married life will be. Instead, I feel grounded, like I have my eyes wide open, like I’ve seen who the other options are. I’ve really spent a lot of effort to get to know myself over the years. Explored my insecurities, stepped outside and sometimes way outside of my comfort zone. I feel as though I know myself extremely well. I know my strengths, my weaknesses, my vulnerabilities, my depth and sometimes my limit. I truly do love myself and feel like not only am I good person but that I attract good people. This automatically brings Christopher Andrew Frye to mind. The moment that I saw him I could tell that there was something special and wonderful about him and I instantly wanted to get to know him better. He was cute, sweet, warm, genuine and totally unassuming. He was the guy that shared my passions (travel, science, family) and who I could talk to for hours and that I couldn’t get enough of. He’s fun to cuddle with, hike with, watch a good football game and have a beer together. He is so smart, grounded and witty. He has an adorable smile and an infectious laugh. When we hold hands I instantly feel connected and like I could run away with him and be happy for the rest of my life or I could close my eyes and get butterflies – feel gitty and instantly feel like a teenager. I trust Chris. He’s dependable, reliable and likable. I feel proud to bring him anywhere and thankful that we both mutually respect $ and that we totally crave retirement. Chris is an amazing man and I’m so glad that we both scoooped each other up. I truly didn’t know that I would be blessed to be marrying a man of Chris’s caliber….”

In general I don’t have that much personal experience baking or making desserts. Fortunately for me, I have an aunt, Michelle Bohigian who creates amazing cakes for a living. My aunts business is called Something sweet by Michelle and if you are interested in a wedding cake, birthday cake, or simply a celebration cake, she’s the one to see! www.somethingsweetbymichelle.com

Chris and I went to visit my aunt’s bakery in the Worcester area and my aunt Michelle designed a custom wedding cake during our visit that we fell in love with. We also had our tasting together. It was a blast! Chris typically doesn’t like cake but he thought that my aunts cake was “scrumptious”! I agree. It was flavorful, moist and tasted fresh. The flavor combinations and styles of wedding cakes that are available is almost overwhelming!

The specific design for our wedding cake is unique but it can also be thought of as somewhat classic. I can’t wait to see it one month from today!

My aunt’s cakes have been featured on the cover of Elegant Bride Magazine and she has also made appearances on the Today Show. I’m flattered that my aunt not only made former GE president Jack Welsh’s cake but that she’s also going to make ours!

One of my good friends was recently married and she is very active in environmental causes and one of those ‘do it yourself kind of gals’. She decided that it would be better for the environment and easier on the wallet if she grew wildflowers for her wedding instead of using an expensive florist that imports their flowers from Hawaii and other exotic locations. My friend planted an elaborate garden of wildflowers, when she should have been getting her nails and hair done, but instead she was outside and on her hands and knees picking flowers. It turned out my friend didn’t have enough flowers in her garden, so she requested that her bridesmaids pick wildflowers to help fill the centerpieces on the tables but the prettiest flowers in town were in the middle of the interstate. I wish there was a happy ending to this green story, but the reality is that her bridesmaides picked many beautiful wildflowers including goldenrod, ragweed and other flowers that caused several guests to tear up and have coughing fits during the reception. Talk about a lessons learned!

Rather than take this approach my fiance and I are trying to be green without causing allergic fits among our guests. We checked out our venue earlier this spring. We are getting married at a historic mansion on cape cod. We went in during the off season to meet with the owner and to see if we could get some ideas from previous weddings. The owner, Bob, allowed us to go into his storage area and peruse the various items that were left over from previous weddings. There were some truly awful decorations in the storage area, ranging from model lighthouses (which were somewhat cool) to model dollhouses (not so cool). Chris ended up picking a variety of decorations that had been used in previous weddings. The decorations included storm lanterns filled with sand, sea grass, candles and sea shells which we are considering for our centerpieces for our beach themed wedding. In addition, we found some beautiful decorations such as huge starfish and scallop shells which were used for a very 80’s under the sea themed party. By combining these shells with some colored ribbon we were able to create beautiful decorations that can be hung above the picture windows in the reception hall and will accent the cape cod view and create a truly enchanting beach atmosphere.

By re-using different decorations from previous celebrations and weddings, and combinging them with our own imagination and style, we have been able to create an environment for our wedding that is both green and helps us to save a lot of green.