Brandi's a Fine Girl

This week’s post is all about a little girl from Pittsburgh named Brandi.

· Brandi Jo Bonkowski was born at the Ohio Valley General Hospital, to proud parents Joe and Sue Bonkowski.

· Brandi has one younger sister named Jillian, who recently turned 21.

· In high school, Brandi was a majorette for the Montour Spartans marching band, which as she will tell you, was the cool thing to do at Montour.

· She is a diehard Pittsburgh sports fan – she even wears her Pirates hat to Cubs games (the Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball team, for those who weren’t sure if they had a team anymore).

· Brandi was a very busy girl in college, as she balanced planning social events for her beloved sorority, Chi Omega, with covering three sports for the WVU Sports Communications department. This is also where she met her super-stud fiancée.

· While working for the athletic department, both Brandi and Brady covered the WVU men’s and women’s tennis squads. To demonstrate their affinity for their teams, they decided to square off in a one-on-one tennis match in Morgantown. Brandi played valiantly but in the end, she couldn’t withstand the raw athleticism her future fiancée possessed. After losing the match, Brandi threatened never to date Brady again but, I think we all know how that turned out.

· Following her tenure at WVU, Brandi pulled a Benedict Arnold and took a full-year internship with the Virginia Tech Hokies.

· Brandi has been living and working in Chicago for four years, and has worked for the same public relations firm, Ketchum, for a total of five years (which equals about 25 years in the PR world).

· Miss Bonkowski has many favorite things in life, which include but are not limited to: her cats, Harry Potter, Hello Kitty, scrapbooking, blogging, wedding planning, reading and crafting.

· She dedicates a good amount of time into writing her blog, ShotofBrandi.blogspot.com, although she only has about 10 dedicated readers because she is shy about it. Her fiancée thinks that you should pass this blog along to your friends, so more people can read her insightful tips.

· She forms the second half of the legendary Guitar Hero band, “The Jag-offs” (named after an infamous Pittsburgh saying.


If you REALLY know Brandi, you know that:

· She has an uncanny ability to relate any statement into a full-fledged 5-minute story about something that she’s witnessed in her life. For example: You say – “Michael Phelps is cool.” Brandi would say – “Well, did you know that in high school, my friend Bubba … we’ve been best friends since kindergarten, he sat next to me ... well one time Bubba was at a party and he came out and told everyone he was Mark Spitz and dove into the pool wearing a speedo!”

· She spends hours each week perusing her Google Reader for the most recent trends on fashion, weddings, PR, etc.

· Her grandma Nun used to sneak her to McDonald’s against the wishes of her parents. And if you really know her, you’ve heard that story a minimum of 30 times.

· Brandi broke her finger while playing 16-inch softball – she was pitching and the umpire threw the ball back a little too hard after one pitch, jamming her finger and putting her out of commission for the rest of the season. She did, however, finish the entire rest of the game with her broken finger.

· If you threaten to whoop her butt, she will say, “I’ll tell my dad,” like a little 5-year-old.

· If there is a working jukebox in the bar or restaurant you’re attending with Brandi, there’s a 99.9% chance she will pick out and play at least 2-3 songs.

A Bunch About Brady

So now you know the two most basic components of our big day … the “when & where.”

Now it’s time to study up on the subjects of the wedding, the bride and groom. We’ll help you out the next couple weeks by giving you some fun facts about each other (in public relations, we like to call this a Fact Sheet).

Brandi is up first to tell you some fun facts about the groom, Mr. Brady Smith.

· Brady Michael Smith was born in the Frank Sinatra Wing of the Atlantic City Medical Center, to proud parents Mike and Debbie.

· The oldest of three, Brady has a younger brother (Ryan) and sister (Amanda).

· Growing up, Brady’s grandparents had a dog named Brandy and she was very, very cute (fate?)

· Brady attended grade school and high school with another Bradi Smith - and they were and remain great friends to this day.

· At Egg Harbor Township High School, Brady played football and baseball.

· Growing up outside of Atlantic City, the home of the Miss America Pageant must have rubbed off on Brady. His senior year, Brady competed in infamous Mr. EHT contest – which is basically a pageant of sorts for dudes (minus the swimwear). His friends all tell me that he was robbed and yes, I have been forced to watch this on home video.

· Before attending the #1 party school in the nation, West Virginia University, Brady spent his first three semesters of college “pre-gaming” at William Paterson, which is located just outside of New York.

· During his college summers, Brady worked for a local minor league baseball team, the Atlantic City Surf, where he was forced to dress as the mascot “Splash” on numerous occasions.

· At West Virginia, Brady was the media relations contact for the baseball, men’s tennis and swimming & diving teams.

· After college, Brady interned with the Denver Broncos for 10-months in Colorado.

· Since 2007, Brady has been living in Chicago where he dominates summer recreational sports like softball, beach volleyball and of course, dodgeball.

· The first time Brady met my parents in 2003, it was in my driveway at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. We then spent the remainder of the day tailgating at a Pitt vs. Virginia Tech game (I was working for the Hokies at the time).

· Brady has been taking guitar lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music for the last year.

Additional Random Facts about Brady:

· When he flies, he enjoys drinking Ginger Ale.

· Brady’s favorite number is 75 (an ode to those high school football days).

· A music lover, Brady’s favorite band is Phish.

· It’s true - Brady had the famous “ass crack” hair cut in high school.

· Brady is an impressive and “phenomenal” dancer and his signature move includes putting his hands on his hips and doing a little shake.

· One of Brady’s hidden “talents” is spotting B-list celebrities in Chicago. He’s pointed out William Shatner, Ty Pennington and Lisa Ling on the streets so far.

Over the next 11 months, I’m sure you’ll learn more about Brady, but this is a good start! Next week, it’s Brady’s turn to embarrass Brandi

'Burgh, Boat & Booze

So by now you know, we’ve set a date. Now you might be wonder where the festivities will take place.

The answer – Pittsburgh, PA.



I bet about half of our readers are waving their Terrible Towels in excitement. The other half are jealous that the Penguins and Steelers dominated Philadelphia in hockey and football in 2008-09. Yes, it’s an ongoing battle in our house too.

After we had a draft guest list in place, we realized that the Brandi & Brady wedding has over 120 out-of-town guests. So that was a huge factor in selecting our wedding site.

Reception
Our wedding celebration will take place at the Sheraton Station Square. This gives our visitors the chance to experience some Pittsburgh bars and eateries in walking distance from the hotel. There are also some awesome views of the beautiful Pittsburgh skyline.

Ceremony
With the reception site in place, we did some brainstorming on local churches, outdoor sites, etc. and then it hit us – The Gateway Clipper. With some smooth talking, Brandi convinced Brady to get married on a boat (shown below).

This is how it will work folks. The boat dock is a hop, skip and jump away from the hotel. Guests will board the boat at 2:00 p.m. and we will set sail on one of Pittsburgh three fine rivers to the point in which the three meet. There, we will exchange vowels (weather permitting, this will be outside on the top deck). One she says yes and he says heck yeah, the boat will sail around a little and then head back to the dock. After that, we’ll all head over to the Sheraton where we will party like it’s 1999.

(Photo Credits: Brandi's camera, Starwood Hotels, City of Pittsburgh)

Let The Countdown Begin!

Welcome to Brandi & Brady’s Wedding Blog!

Once a week, we will post a little tidbit related to us and our upcoming June 26, 2010 nuptials.

We know what you’re thinking: “Why did they create a wedding blog vs. one of those fancy Knot.com pages?”

Good question – and here’s why:

1. Brandi’s from “The City of Champions,” (Pittsburgh). Brady’s from the “Land of Awesomeness,” (South Jersey). We’ve lived in Chicago for over three years now and it’s hard for us to spend quality time in our respective hometowns together. So this is a good way for each of our families and friends to get to know the other half a little better.

2. We’ll be having our wedding in Pittsburgh and guest list version 1.0 includes roughly 150 out-of-town guests. This blog will serve as a place for travel and hotel details, along with fun things to do in Pittsburgh. To make sure you get the bang for your buck, we are going to do everything possible to ensure you have a fabulous time.

3. As public relations professionals, we both deal with social media, blogs, etc. for a living … so what did you expect??

Now we know what our less tech-savvy relatives/friends are thinking - what is a blog and how do I follow this?

It’s easy … just add this page to your list of “favorites” or write down the URL (www.BrandiAndBrady.blogspot.com) and visit it every few weeks for our updates.

Let the countdown begin - less than 1 year until the big day!