Admit it, you're totally singing Madonna's Holiday in your head now. At least, that was my intention.
With the holidays arriving, there wasn't much done in wedding country. BUT, I did stay at my MOH's house one night and she tried on her dress for me! I actually don't think she'll have to have it altered at all which is a relief because I seriously have guilt trips over the amount of money we're asking people to spend. My SIL who is smaller than small, as in, David's Bridal doesn't make dresses small enough to fit her will by paying almost as much in alterations as she is for the dress. And yes, we're getting outside, private alterations.
I also tried on my wedding dress for my mom and I think I almost took her breath away. She LOVED it, which was a huge relief to me. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if she hadn't, but I'd like us to be on the same page for things.
With this wedding now under 5 months away it's reality time. It's time to get in the gym because when I tried on my dress I found that I did not have a single inch to spare in the torso. So it's time to get serious and drop just a couple pounds (nothing crazy, about 15lbs is my goal) and feel phenomenal in that dress.
I also need to buy some spanx and my damn shoes because it's fitting time!
Now that these holidays and food fest 2010 are all done, save 2 family parties, I hope to be able to post more and put the details and plans into place.
Happy New Year!!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Going Public
I'm torn between opening this blog to the entire world (meaning my Facebook friends & family) and haven't yet done so. I'm torn for 2 reasons. One, if I want to complain about something, I will have no worries of any people the complaint involves reading the horrible things I said. (let's get real, I don't really write horrible things about people. It'd be about hurting their feelings in any way.) And two, while I have a HUGE desire to share all the cool things about our wedding, I still want people to be surprised!
When I worked at Ford, we used to call certain features "surprise and delight" features. This was because the customer was not expecting said feature and would be surprised and delighted to find it in their new car. Like the compass when it was first added, or heated seats. You buy a car to get from A to B, but what a surprise and delight to find out you've got a built in GPS! You certainly don't NEED it (unless you're my future MIL) but isn't it great?!
So I want to have surprise and delight features at our wedding. You go to a wedding to watch 2 people get married, eat some food and dance and drink. But what a surprise to find out that not only is there a photo booth, but you can dress up like a pirate too!
I want to shout to the world that I found mustaches, glasses, hats, eye patches, animal masks, dry-erase speech bubbles, mardi gras masks, feather boas, etc for the photobooth, but won't it be fun to let people find them on their own and use them? If you were a guest, would you want to know ahead of time?
When I worked at Ford, we used to call certain features "surprise and delight" features. This was because the customer was not expecting said feature and would be surprised and delighted to find it in their new car. Like the compass when it was first added, or heated seats. You buy a car to get from A to B, but what a surprise and delight to find out you've got a built in GPS! You certainly don't NEED it (unless you're my future MIL) but isn't it great?!
So I want to have surprise and delight features at our wedding. You go to a wedding to watch 2 people get married, eat some food and dance and drink. But what a surprise to find out that not only is there a photo booth, but you can dress up like a pirate too!
I want to shout to the world that I found mustaches, glasses, hats, eye patches, animal masks, dry-erase speech bubbles, mardi gras masks, feather boas, etc for the photobooth, but won't it be fun to let people find them on their own and use them? If you were a guest, would you want to know ahead of time?
Monday, December 20, 2010
Deck the Bride
I'm trying SO hard not to become one of those brides who's only topic of conversation is the wedding. I guess that's part of why I created this blog. There's only a few people would would listen to wedding talk non-stop and like I said, I'm trying to be at least 2 dimensional...
There wasn't a ton of wedding progress made this weekend unless you count addressing a TON of Save the Dates (STDs). I really, really want to get those suckers in the mail before we leave for our Christmas vacation. Sending those out also means updating our wedding website and stalking our registry even more! But I really want people to have them as they start the new year so they know exactly when our wedding is and where and can plan for it.
Another thing I did this weekend was buy my wedding jewelry while I was out Christmas shopping, whoops! But I've been admiring these earrings online for probably a month now and I finally got to see them in person and decided they were exactly what I was looking for. Plus, they were 60% off and then my SIL had a 30% off coupon so I got both pieces (necklace and earrings) for less than 2/3 of the price of one!
Curious to see what they look like? Here. I love they way they'll look with my hair up and compliment the blue of my sash. The necklace matches and I'm going to get a slightly shorter chain for it so it doesn't interfere with my neckline and then I'll be done.
The only thing I'm torn about is that my mom offered to dig out my grandmother's pearls (she passed away when I was about 10) for me to wear as an heirloom piece. I suppose I'll see how they look with the dress but I'm wondering if I can wrap them around my bouquet instead.
So I consider myself almost done, save for shoes and undergarments. I'll probably get some Spanx and I know what shoes I want, I'm just having a hard time pulling the trigger on them. I thought I wanted 3-in heels for some reason (because I don't want to be able to walk the next day?) but the ones I found are about 2 1/4. I will order them anyway and see what I think.
That's about all from Wedding Land today! Thanks for sticking with me all this time!
There wasn't a ton of wedding progress made this weekend unless you count addressing a TON of Save the Dates (STDs). I really, really want to get those suckers in the mail before we leave for our Christmas vacation. Sending those out also means updating our wedding website and stalking our registry even more! But I really want people to have them as they start the new year so they know exactly when our wedding is and where and can plan for it.
Another thing I did this weekend was buy my wedding jewelry while I was out Christmas shopping, whoops! But I've been admiring these earrings online for probably a month now and I finally got to see them in person and decided they were exactly what I was looking for. Plus, they were 60% off and then my SIL had a 30% off coupon so I got both pieces (necklace and earrings) for less than 2/3 of the price of one!
Curious to see what they look like? Here. I love they way they'll look with my hair up and compliment the blue of my sash. The necklace matches and I'm going to get a slightly shorter chain for it so it doesn't interfere with my neckline and then I'll be done.
The only thing I'm torn about is that my mom offered to dig out my grandmother's pearls (she passed away when I was about 10) for me to wear as an heirloom piece. I suppose I'll see how they look with the dress but I'm wondering if I can wrap them around my bouquet instead.
So I consider myself almost done, save for shoes and undergarments. I'll probably get some Spanx and I know what shoes I want, I'm just having a hard time pulling the trigger on them. I thought I wanted 3-in heels for some reason (because I don't want to be able to walk the next day?) but the ones I found are about 2 1/4. I will order them anyway and see what I think.
That's about all from Wedding Land today! Thanks for sticking with me all this time!
Friday, December 17, 2010
My Vision
Sometimes I worry what people will think of our wedding. When they see all the details will they wrinkle up their noses? Will they think I've gone overboard? Should I even care?
The truth is that I've put so much of myself into this wedding, trying to make it a reflection of who C & I are as a couple as well as a celebration. I think I'd be really hurt if I found out that people were looking down on the things that I chose or created.
I'm not so worried about my friends as I am about our families and our older guests. I think that for a very long time weddings were so cookie-cutter that you didn't stray much from the formula. While I want us to have a traditional wedding, I want to put our touches on it. We're not going crazy, but the nerdy details and my colored shoes and the songs we'll pick might not fit with the traditional pattern.
BUT, I think the important thing to remember is that this day is going to look the way I want it to look. That it will be a celebration of Love in the way that I want to celebrate.
The reason I'm thinking of all this is because I'm trying to come up with something to do as a Unity ritual during our ceremony and I hate everything I've heard of. The traditional way is to do the Unity Candle, but what do you do with the candle when you're done? A guy at work told me his dog ate his, what is that?
There also things like a sand ceremony (again, what do you do with the sand), a Rose ceremony (you take flowers from your moms to become one bouquet?), a wine ceremony (you mix wines and both drink), and even planting a tree together. None of those things speak to me. I thought we'd be resigned to the candle and I'd have to be ok with it.
But then I heard of the wine box. The concept is fairly simple, you place a bottle of wine and a letter you've each written in a box to be sealed for a period of time. The letters are supposed to talk about why you're getting married, why you fell in love with eachother, what you're feeling at that time. The idea is that if your marriage is ever in jeopardy you are supposed to open the box, drink the wine, read the letters and remember why you did this crazy thing in the first place.
It's been modified by couples to be opened every 5 years, to include letters from their parents, to nail the box shut during the ceremony among other things. I even heard of one couple that had guests contribute things with a certain year on them (4th year, 10th year) for the couple to open on that anniversary.
Finally, the wine box speaks to me. Something I can see us doing for the rest of our marriage. I'd like to seal the box for one year and then celebrate our first year of marriage by opening the box. Then reseal it with new letter and new wine for another year and on and on.
What a great way to celebrate, don't you think?
The truth is that I've put so much of myself into this wedding, trying to make it a reflection of who C & I are as a couple as well as a celebration. I think I'd be really hurt if I found out that people were looking down on the things that I chose or created.
I'm not so worried about my friends as I am about our families and our older guests. I think that for a very long time weddings were so cookie-cutter that you didn't stray much from the formula. While I want us to have a traditional wedding, I want to put our touches on it. We're not going crazy, but the nerdy details and my colored shoes and the songs we'll pick might not fit with the traditional pattern.
BUT, I think the important thing to remember is that this day is going to look the way I want it to look. That it will be a celebration of Love in the way that I want to celebrate.
The reason I'm thinking of all this is because I'm trying to come up with something to do as a Unity ritual during our ceremony and I hate everything I've heard of. The traditional way is to do the Unity Candle, but what do you do with the candle when you're done? A guy at work told me his dog ate his, what is that?
There also things like a sand ceremony (again, what do you do with the sand), a Rose ceremony (you take flowers from your moms to become one bouquet?), a wine ceremony (you mix wines and both drink), and even planting a tree together. None of those things speak to me. I thought we'd be resigned to the candle and I'd have to be ok with it.
But then I heard of the wine box. The concept is fairly simple, you place a bottle of wine and a letter you've each written in a box to be sealed for a period of time. The letters are supposed to talk about why you're getting married, why you fell in love with eachother, what you're feeling at that time. The idea is that if your marriage is ever in jeopardy you are supposed to open the box, drink the wine, read the letters and remember why you did this crazy thing in the first place.
It's been modified by couples to be opened every 5 years, to include letters from their parents, to nail the box shut during the ceremony among other things. I even heard of one couple that had guests contribute things with a certain year on them (4th year, 10th year) for the couple to open on that anniversary.
Finally, the wine box speaks to me. Something I can see us doing for the rest of our marriage. I'd like to seal the box for one year and then celebrate our first year of marriage by opening the box. Then reseal it with new letter and new wine for another year and on and on.
What a great way to celebrate, don't you think?
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Etsy is my Best Friend
I can not tell you how many amazing things I've found at etsy.com. It's an AMAZING resource for any occasion, but especially wedding planning.
Things I've found on etsy: invitations, cake topper, wax seal stamper and wax, possible wedding day gift for C, wine box (I may talk about this later), and tons of possible presents for my bridesmaids.
When I need to buy a present for someone, I almost always scour etsy for something amazing for just that person. And I can usually find something that will work. I have a friend who recently got married so I used Nella Designs to create an original silhouette piece of art based on one of their wedding photos.
I found cufflinks for C (which I won't be buying because how often will he really wear cufflinks) that could have map images on them. Say, one of Chicago for the wedding, and perhaps one of Detroit where we met, or one of Columbus where he dreams of living some day?
I also just found this adorable print which if you checked out the cake topper you'll kind of see the connection. I love it SO much, I am dying to find way to use it in our wedding! If we hadn't done save the dates already I would be tempted to use that sketch instead. Oops, I just remembered that I never showed you the STDs (yes, that's really how they're referred to in the wedding world). I'll try to remember to do that soon.
I've been searching etsy for jewelry for the big day as well as a headband since that one broke. I've looked at little clutches for my BM gifts and potential jewelry for them too. The possibilities are endless.
Anyway, here's another fan blog. I love a ton of things to do with our wedding (as it should be) so expect a lot of these!
Things I've found on etsy: invitations, cake topper, wax seal stamper and wax, possible wedding day gift for C, wine box (I may talk about this later), and tons of possible presents for my bridesmaids.
When I need to buy a present for someone, I almost always scour etsy for something amazing for just that person. And I can usually find something that will work. I have a friend who recently got married so I used Nella Designs to create an original silhouette piece of art based on one of their wedding photos.
I found cufflinks for C (which I won't be buying because how often will he really wear cufflinks) that could have map images on them. Say, one of Chicago for the wedding, and perhaps one of Detroit where we met, or one of Columbus where he dreams of living some day?
I also just found this adorable print which if you checked out the cake topper you'll kind of see the connection. I love it SO much, I am dying to find way to use it in our wedding! If we hadn't done save the dates already I would be tempted to use that sketch instead. Oops, I just remembered that I never showed you the STDs (yes, that's really how they're referred to in the wedding world). I'll try to remember to do that soon.
I've been searching etsy for jewelry for the big day as well as a headband since that one broke. I've looked at little clutches for my BM gifts and potential jewelry for them too. The possibilities are endless.
Anyway, here's another fan blog. I love a ton of things to do with our wedding (as it should be) so expect a lot of these!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
I wonder what will happen one day when I don't have an update. Well, that's not today! Today I sent the official contract to our DJ and to my hair/make up artist (MUA). So they are pretty much booked. I just need to send the deposit to the MUA and that's all set.
I also need to print out the photographer's contract and send that with the deposit and we'll be good to go there too.
I love being able to cross things off my list! I got a quote for chairs for our ceremony so as soon as I approve it and send a deposit, that will be done too!
In 1 week, C & I are having coffee with a local photographer to set up an informal engagement shoot. I had this idea (that I stole) to create a guest book with engagement photos in it so guests could sign next to our pictures. Otherwise, what do you do with the engagement photos? You have so many wedding pictures that the engagement ones probably end up taking a back seat. So why not combine them with a guest book, which is normally boring anyway.
So I'll be figuring out what I want to wear for this photo shoot. We'll be both indoor and out so if I wear a dress I'll probably put tights underneath it. I'm not super crazy about that look but maybe I can put something together. I'd also love to do a preppy/cozy look with corduroys & a cozy sweater but I don't currently own corduroys and C might kill me if I shop for myself any more...
We're also going to do some family pictures to get Addy in. We haven't done a family photo shoot for over a year and she changes SO much! She'll need something super cute to wear too. Hmmm, guess I'm perusing the internets today!
Monday, December 13, 2010
You Oughta be in Pictures
We found a wonderful photographer over the weekend and we're *thisclose* to signing the contract so she is ours. We had a phone conversation with her on Saturday night and she is so sweet and works really hard to make sure her brides and grooms are happy that I just know she's going to deliver the things I want.
We originally had found a photographer, a girl I went to High School with, and made an e-mail agreement that she would shoot our wedding for an agreed upon fee. She sent me an e-mail with a list of shots for me to edit and said she'd be sending a contract along for us to review and sign. But months went by and no contract. I sent her an e-mail about 3 weeks ago asking her if there was an issue and never got a reply so that left me open to find another photographer.
At first I was angry because May is a popular wedding month and I felt like we were scrambling. I was mad that I hadn't even put photographer on the to-do list because I thought we were done there. But then I started looking around and found some options including Cathleen and I'm actually much happier now that we've found her. I think she'll be better in every way over our original girl.
Cathleen has made us a very generous offer that includes 2 shooters, a CD with all our images for us to use as we wish, and a trash the dress OR boudoir shoot for me (or for Corey depending on how you look at it). I will probably take her up on the boudoir shoot and give it to C on our first anniversary, the paper one. Makes sense to me, plus he'll love it. I want to do it right around wedding time when I'll hopefully be in my best shape so booking it and keeping it a surprise will be a challenge, but I'm willing to take that on.
I also bought our cake topper this weekend and I am SO excited about it!! It's something that's perfect for us and it took a lot of work to find something that would represent us in the way I wanted to. You can see it here! It's SO AWESOME!
This wedding train just keeps chugging along!!
We originally had found a photographer, a girl I went to High School with, and made an e-mail agreement that she would shoot our wedding for an agreed upon fee. She sent me an e-mail with a list of shots for me to edit and said she'd be sending a contract along for us to review and sign. But months went by and no contract. I sent her an e-mail about 3 weeks ago asking her if there was an issue and never got a reply so that left me open to find another photographer.
At first I was angry because May is a popular wedding month and I felt like we were scrambling. I was mad that I hadn't even put photographer on the to-do list because I thought we were done there. But then I started looking around and found some options including Cathleen and I'm actually much happier now that we've found her. I think she'll be better in every way over our original girl.
Cathleen has made us a very generous offer that includes 2 shooters, a CD with all our images for us to use as we wish, and a trash the dress OR boudoir shoot for me (or for Corey depending on how you look at it). I will probably take her up on the boudoir shoot and give it to C on our first anniversary, the paper one. Makes sense to me, plus he'll love it. I want to do it right around wedding time when I'll hopefully be in my best shape so booking it and keeping it a surprise will be a challenge, but I'm willing to take that on.
I also bought our cake topper this weekend and I am SO excited about it!! It's something that's perfect for us and it took a lot of work to find something that would represent us in the way I wanted to. You can see it here! It's SO AWESOME!
This wedding train just keeps chugging along!!
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