This Thursday, March 11, the Rockford Squire will be publishing our engagement announcement. The Rockford Squire newspaper circulates in Rockford, Michigan.
Rockford Squire
Mar 9
Wedding Flowers
Mar 9
After visiting a few florists around town and pricing things out, we have settled on Park Avenue Florist located in Orange Park, FL. Since we are deciding to forgo any floral centerpieces at the reception, we figured picking a florist that is local to the church would be our best bet. I wanted to keep the flowers very subtle in color, so I chose mostly white flowers, and an offset of yellow roses (to compliment the navy blue bridesmaid dresses). Below are the flowers we have chosen and a picture show of the flowers:
Bride’s Bouquet – white hydrangea, white roses, and a few pink tipped lisianthus buds; stem wrapped in white ribbon with pearls
Bridesmaid Bouquets – white hydrangea, yellow roses; stem wrapped in white ribbon with pearls
Groom’s Boutonniere – white rose with a little hydrangea
Groomsmen Boutonnieres – yellow rose (to match the bridesmaids)
Mother Corsages – white dendrobium orchids with white ribbon
Father Boutonnieres – white dendrobium orchids (to match their wives)
Grandmother Corsages – white rose with white ribbon
Grandfather Boutonnieres – white rose
Three Sheets Poland
Feb 23
This show is one of our favorites, so we had to post an episode where the crew goes to a wedding in Poland. All I have to say is that I hope we have a guy with a basket full of Vodka bottles!
Engagement Photos
Feb 10
Jeremy and I are so excited to share our engagement photos that we had taken at the end of January. We had planned the date about a month in advance and were hoping that the weather would warm up just in time for our pictures. The morning of our session, we went for a jog on the riverwalk and were so excited to see the sun out and shining and the cool breeze. Unfortunately by the time we had our session at 3:30pm it was overcast, foggy, and cold (about 48 degrees). But I was determined on wearing what I had already picked out, no matter the temperature.
Since Jeremy and I live downtown, we really wanted pictures that reflected where we live and spend most of our time. Most people don’t think Jacksonville has much of a downtown, but I beg to differ. You would think these pictures were taken in a major downtown city! Jeremy and I had so much fun running around downtown! We even had a crowd of “locals” gathered around watching us! I put together a slideshow below of some of our favorites! Thanks again to S And R Photography for the pictures and for putting up with us running around downtown in the freezing/windy weather!!!
Michigan Wedding Cake
Jan 18
This pas week, Mrs. Czubko put me in contact with the wedding cake caterer that is going to make the wedding cake for the Michigan reception. She had gotten a recommendation from the Michigan photographer about Nancy Monson. I was really excited because Mrs. Czubko had directed her to our website to view the picture of the wedding cake that we are going to have at the Florida reception, and she sent me a few examples of wedding cakes she had made similiar to ours. The pictures she sent me are soooo beautiful! And it was so neat being able to see what the cake we had designed on paper really looks like! I am leaning towards having a chocolate/vanilla cake with cherry mouse as the filling. Yummy! I wanted to have a cake that represented Michigan and Jeremy and I love the cherries!!!!
We have a couple Kilwin’s fudge shops in Jacksonville and we indulge ourselves in the Traverse City Cherry ice cream whenever we get the chance! It is sooo good! (It’s so funny too that Kilwin’s fudge shops are prodimently found in Michigan and Florida!!) I have posted the pictures of the cake that Nancy sent me and they are soo beautiful! I dare you not to be hungry after you look at these!!
Gator Bowl Game
Jan 18
Jeremy and I had discussed for awhile that we were interested in going to the Gator Bowl game this year on New Years Day. They weren’t going to announce who was playing in the game until December 5th, so we kind of wanted to wait until then to get the tickets. Around mid November we heard the rumor that Bobby Bowden was going to be forced to retire and if he was, then a bowl game would be his last game. We jumped on buying the tickets for the Gator Bowl and got really great seats!!! Section 244 Row B (the first row of the middle bowl). Once they announced on December 5th, that FSU and West Virginia were going to play in the Gator Bowl (Bobby coached for both teams at one point), the game was sold out within 2 hours! We were lucky we got our tickets when we did, but wish we had gotten more.
Justin (our bestman) came to stay with us for the weekend of New Years and we had a great time! We went down to the Landing to see the fireworks which were spectacular! We woke up early around 6am on New Years Day and packed up the minivan (we borrowed from my parents) with all of our tailgating neccessities and headed to our tailgating spot. As soon as we got there and got out of the car, we realized just how COLD it was!!! We unpacked all of our stuff, starting setting up, and then it started raining…and pouring. We tried to make the best out of it…but we eventually decided to pack up, leave, and get breakfast at Metro Diner. We went back home, relaxed, and then took the river taxi over to the game. (The many benefits in living downtown!) Below are some pictures of our tailgate that we have entitled “the failgate”, and pictures of us at the game. It was such a great game!! Enjoy!!
Making Progress!
Jan 10
Now with some of the main wedding tasks out of the way, I am closing in on the some of the tasks left. In the next few weeks I plan to tackle the flowers, transportation, altering my dress, booking plan tickets to Michigan, etc. We have planned to take our engagement photos on January 23rd in downtown Jacksonville and cannot wait to share those pictures with you! I just hope the weather isn’t too cold like it has been lately!
Next Saturday we are attending our Precana classes from 9am-5:30pm! Everything is really starting to come together (which means our weekends are starting to get busier), but we couldn’t be more excited!
Hotel Room Block
Jan 10
Jeremy and I have reserved a hotel room block at two hotels in downtown Jacksonville for the wedding. Please mention the Fitzsimmons-Czubko Wedding to receive the special rate.
Crowne Plaza
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This hotel is directly next door to the University Club. The rates are as follows: $89 for a city view (not downtown) room, $109 for a river view (downtown) room. All rooms are either a king or 2 doubles. The parking is $10 per day in a covered parking garage. Free weekend lots are nearby. The rooms have free wifi. The phone number is 1-904-398-8800
Click here to visit the Crowne Plaza Website
Hampton Inn
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This hotel is 1 block from the University Club. The rate is $89 for either a king or 2 doubles. The parking is free! (uncovered) The rooms have free wifi. The phone number is 1-904-396-7770. Click here to visit the Hampton Inn Website
Merry Christmas
Dec 28
Jeremy and I celebrated Christmas in Florida this year with my family. The temperature outside was in the low 70’s with occasional rain….not the usual white Christmas that Jeremy is used to. We spent Christmas Eve playing board games, having some peppermint schnapps, and watching Die Hard (a classic Christmas movie!! haha). Christmas morning we had a delicious Southern breakfast which included: Cheese Grits, Toast, Bacon, Gouda Scrambled Eggs, and Coffee Cake! 
yummm!! We opened presents soon after, and boy we must have been good this year!
Last year was such a special Christmas indeed! Jeremy and I became engaged on Christmas Eve in Jackson, Michigan at his Grandpa & Grandma Czubko’s Christmas Eve dinner. I can’t believe a year has already passed!! This only means that the wedding is getting closer and I couldn’t be more excited! I posted some pictures below of our Christmas together this year. Enjoy!!
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- starting off Christmas right with 100 poof Peppermint Schnapps
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- decorated for the holidays!
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- let us not forgot that Jesus is the reason for the season!
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- Grandpa Krailo, Mom, Erin, and Kerry
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- Love the Soon To Be Mr. & Mrs.!!
Florida DJ Booked
Dec 28
Jeremy and I have booked our DJ for the Florida reception. We are having Milton McGee of McGee Entertainment as our DJ. http://www.mcgeeentertainment.com/ Jeremy and I have been having so much fun picking out our music playlist for the wedding! We promise that the music will suit everyone and we will have some polka tunes as well!