The date and the venue are set but now I am having trouble with a timeline. I have always pictured an evening wedding. On August 4th (the wedding date), the sun will set at 9:35pm. At the reception site, because it is East facing, there actually isn't any sun hitting the property at around 4, but it is still light enough to eat until around 9. It would be a logistical nightmare to properly light everything for a late night party, which is why I have been thinking ceremony around 3:30 and dinner at 5:15. It would be light enough for everything. For some reason however, FH seems to think that we should have the ceremony at 11 or 12 noon and eat at 1:00.
As I said before, I have always pictured a dinner reception. I mean if you have a lunch reception it doesn't seem as celebratory. And no one wants to dance at 3 in the afternoon. FH has been set on having a pig roast which I am all for. I love the idea, but we're going to serve everyone a big lunch and then what?
What I would like to know is: What does everyone go do at 4:00 when the party is over? Do we just say, okay see you later then! Go find something to eat. And I just put in 3 hours of getting ready, only to take down my updo and go swimming? I don't think so. That would seem just so anticlimactic.
With my plan the time line would be roughly as follows:
3:30 Ceremony
4:15 Cocktail hour begins
5:15 Dinner Served
6:00 Toasts
6:30 Cake Cutting
7:00 First Dance - starting to get darker
9:00 - pretty much dark out - Start bonfire
10:00 - go back to hotel with hubby
I really was losing sleep over this but after talking with my FH and his parents, they did see the reasoning behind why I wanted an evening reception so now it is settled.
But really am I the only one who was stressed about this? Anyone who's already married, and had a morning or noon reception, what did you do afterward? My thinking was that people would want to continue hanging out and we would end up having to serve two meals.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
***SPOILER ALERT**** BRIDESMAID GIFTS
IF YOU ARE ONE OF MY BRIDESMAIDS DO NOT READ THIS!!!!!! Or I will be sad. :(
After perusing Etsy.com for a lonnnnggggg time for bridesmaid gifts, I found a lot of great ones. Mostly personalized jewelry that I thought was cute. The down side was the cost. While $35 for a personalized sterling bracelet isn't much, it is once you multiply it by four. And since my bridesmaids have vastly different styles I wasn't sure they would all be happy with their gift.
As I was thinking of ways to cut cost, I remembered that I am a sewing fiend. I love to sew. My mom used to sew all my costumes growing up. I decided to put my skill to good use and sew my bridesmaids a gift. It wasn't until I found this picture down below that I knew what though. So I'm sewing one for each of my attendants in a color that they love. Mauve for Miss A, Peach for SEC, Pink for SL, and light Sage for E. It's polyester Charmeuse which is more than likely what the silky lingerie robe you have is made from. It's similar to satin but much lighter.
As I was thinking of ways to cut cost, I remembered that I am a sewing fiend. I love to sew. My mom used to sew all my costumes growing up. I decided to put my skill to good use and sew my bridesmaids a gift. It wasn't until I found this picture down below that I knew what though. So I'm sewing one for each of my attendants in a color that they love. Mauve for Miss A, Peach for SEC, Pink for SL, and light Sage for E. It's polyester Charmeuse which is more than likely what the silky lingerie robe you have is made from. It's similar to satin but much lighter.
These are all colors that they unknowingly told me they loved. I'm hoping they love them. I will hand them out at the rehearsal dinner and have them wear them while we get ready so we can do cute pictures like the ones above. I'm making myself an ivory one to match. I also plan on embroidering their names on the pockets to make them personalized. I ordered the fabric today so this should give me something to do for awhile.
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| Mauve for A |
Miss A - My little (2 years younger) sister. She is spunky, outgoing and way cute. She somehow got the boob gene that I lack. She hasn't had her natural hair color since she was about 15. She always looks so pretty. Sadly by the time the wedding rolls around, I won't have seen her for 2 years!
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| Peach for SEC |
Miss SEC - Her full name is 30 letters long!?! She is my sorority sister and honorary big sis. She is about as funny as they come and we became fast friends as soon as we met. While we don't keep in contact as much as we should, I always love talking to her and I am so freakin excited to see her. She is tall and blonde.
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| Pink for SL |
Miss SL- FH little sister, she's not little, she's a year older than I. She is an awesome skiier and is actually a ski instructor at a luxury resort in Colorado. She is also blonde with blue eyes.
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| Light Sage for E |
Miss E - One of my best friends from high school, she is so freaking smart! She was third in our graduating class and has been applying to some awesome grad schools lately. She will actually be getting married only a few weeks before I so she will be Mrs. E W at the wedding. She is tall, well taller than me and so pretty. She is going to be such a gorgeous bride.
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| Courtesy enfianced.com http://www.enfianced.com/casa-del-mar-wedding-by-lane-dittoe/ |
I mean how cute are those!
Thumbnails from onlinefabricstore.net
Addendum:
The fabric came in yesterday. It's so pretty! But guess what... I ordered too little. I have enough for everything but the sleeves, pretty crucial 'cause I'm not going for the redneck cutoff sleeves look. So I am ordering more. Luckily it was less than $4 a yard! Ah I love bargains.
Addendum:
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| Personal Photo |
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Stationary
Being fairly artistic (I was an art major in college) as well as pretty computer savvy, it only makes sense for me to do my own invitations. As with everything else wedding related, I have been plotting my invitations for waaaaay longer than FH(future hubby) and I have been engaged. But of course, my decisions change with the days of the week. I am going to have some help with my Save-The-Dates, as they will primarily be emailed STD's except for my grandma and other relatives who aren't too hip on the internet yet. I am getting help from my Fiance's Brother's Wife's Mother (did you follow?) who is a graphic designer. The STD's are vintage-y with 5 different pretty fonts. It will be modeled after an STD from weddingpaperdivas.com, one of my favorite sites. Other sites I peruse for stationary ideas are minted.com and crane.com. I'm not too attached to the STD's to be honest.
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| From http://papermadedesign.com/ Custom Design |
I'm more excited about the invitations. I've been in love with the ombre trend so I will try to incorporate ombre watercolor look into them and I found an absolutely fabulous font!
It's called "shipped Goods" from dafont.com. http://www.dafont.com/shipped-goods.font
Unfortunately, it is pretty difficult to read. I can read it fine of course, because I wrote it, but my FH, bridesmaid, and friends at work weren't able to read the first line. I have to get a different font for the pertinent details and do maybe a mismatched font thing.
The invitation itself is pretty simple. Flat 5x7 card with a 3.5x5 RSVP card with a 4 bar envelope, all enclosed in a Lee Bar (5.25x7.25) envelope. I will most likely be getting the paper and envelopes from paper-source.com. They have all the sizes I need and seem to come in really pretty paper.
I'm going to print them at home, I have a pretty nice printer (that I got on black friday for $40!) and can buy good paper. If that doesn't work however, I may go to fedex or staples to have them printed.
Anyone have any luck or misfortune with printing their own invitations? How about with using Fedex or Staples? Any quick tips for either?
Also specifically what is the paper like from paper-source.com? They seem to have lots of different papers but I can't tell the difference on my monitor from the PS paper and the Luxe or Stardream papers.
Monday, January 9, 2012
The Budget
I am taking the approach to budgeting that Miss Boa Constrictor is taking. Zero budget and then finding the cheapest option for each thing I want and making that the budget. Honestly this has been working great for me. I basically stole my dress (for the record, I didn't, but I did only pay 11% the original price), I'm making a ton of stuff (i.e. table runners).
Another way I have found to save money: buying the table linens from smartyhadaparty.com instead of renting them. The tableclothes will cost $12.50 whether I rent them or purchase them. BUT, I can sell them afterward, even if I get only 100 for all 12 after it's all over ($8 a piece), I still only spend $4 per tablecloth.
I have expensive floral tastes, but I'm hoping my obsessive internet research will pay off in the long run. I love the look of peonies. I am so in love with peonies but they are expensive and unfortunatly, they don't bloom during my chosen date (August 4th). I am going instead to uses garden roses which have a similar look to peonies. I am also going to use carnations, no not red white and blue stupid fake walmart carnations, but ruffly, blush carnations. They can look good when mixed in. At farmers market last summer, my Future Mother in Law, bought me a bouquet from one of the stands (she is just a nice lady like that). The stand was called Bee Haven Farms. They had so many gorgeous flowers, and they also do weddings. They do have the option to do your whole wedding but they also have a cool a la carte option. They will do the hard stuff, making the bouquets and boutonnieres, but then they will sell me flowers in my colors by the bucket for my centerpieces. Which will be perfect, since I am doing long tables (one table is 4 8' tables stuck end to end) I am doing long centerpieces of different vintage bottles and bud vases strewn down burlap table runners.
Other DIY things will be the seating chart and menus done on old window panes. This will be fairly easy and since I have been doing calligraphy for years, it should turn out fairly well.
On the subject of centerpieces, my biggest obstacle has been the jars in which to hold my flowers and candles. I love the look of real vintage ball jars, but at $8.50-10 a piece at antique stores, they are way out of my price range (remember I need 12-17 jars each table, and I have 10 tables). I did find a whole basket of 20 little medicine jars for $30, which I will be buying. For the past few months, I've been saving any glass jars we use. Olives, olive oil, mustard, capers, vermouth, etc., you name it, I peel the label off and save it (as you can see, I am a dirty martini fan). I have amassed quite a collection. My biggest bottle collection, however comes from doing something I do all the time anyway: Drinking Starbucks. Instead of stopping by on my way to work every morning, I buy a pack of the 4 frappachinos from the grocery store, drink one down every morning, wash them, peel the label off and store them away. I have about 40 of the short ones and 20 of the tall ones. They are actually going to be perfect for the look I am going for.
The moral of this story is, you don't nesscarily need to have a budget set in stone, as long as you have a ballpark. I'm shooting for $2,000 and may actually beat my budget, but doing extensive price comparing.
Anyone else have any super secret saving tips?
photos credit theknot.com, starbucks.com
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Engagement Session
It's nice to get some time to blog this weekend. Usually I do my blogging during the week.
FH and I had our engagment shoot yesterday. It was so much fun! Now that I am on the other side, I have a few tips for your engagement session. More pictures to come but these are the ones she has given me so far.
Some tips for the engagment shoot:
1. Be aware that you will be uncomfortable for the first half hour. Be sure to let your photographer know if there is anything that is off limits. (kissing on camera, etc.) The best thing to do is to just go for it, you will loosen up after you go through some different poses and try different things.
2. Work with a good photographer! Tanyia was so fun to work with because of how energetic she was. As she put it, she's the lady who yells "BANANA" and makes animal noises to get her babies to laugh during pictures. A good photographer is going to make you feel at ease and capture those little shots of awkwardness and make them beautiful.
3. Wear comfortable weather-appropriate clothes. After having nightmares and spending a good 3 hours trying on different outfits, I settled on jeans, t-shirt and a red sweater. FH wore a button down, Navy sweater and jeans. We were both comfy. Warm however, we were not. It was about 36 degrees during our shoot and we were laying on the ground for some shots. I didn't wear long johns because I think they make me look fat, but in hind sight, I probably should have worn them.
4. Pick a good place to shoot and then go for it. Ask your photographer where they would like to shoot. Tanyia picked out our spot and we ended up really loving it. The ranch dog, Buster, even made it into our pictures. Isn't he cute! There were the obvious places to shoot, the porches of the lodge and cabins, but then there were the unexpected spots, a winding road through trees, a vintage tractor, a clearing in the forest.
5. Work with a good photographer! I say this again for a different reason. Tanyia was very excited for our shoot. It wasn't just work for her. She couldn't wait to go home and edit the photos. I was emailing her like mad for 2 weeks before the shoot giving examples of engagement shots I loved from online wedding blogs. She emailed me back with things she loved. We have a great working relationship. Find a photographer that you like as a person, not just like their shots. It will matter in the photos!
6. Have fun. This should go without saying but even though your fiance may be less than enthused about going and getting his picture taken, remind him that it can be fun. These pictures are ones that you will show your kids and look at for years to come. Many couples complain that they wished they had more photos from their engagement.
Photography by Tanyia Oulman, tanyiaoulmanphotography.com
Some tips for the engagment shoot:1. Be aware that you will be uncomfortable for the first half hour. Be sure to let your photographer know if there is anything that is off limits. (kissing on camera, etc.) The best thing to do is to just go for it, you will loosen up after you go through some different poses and try different things.
2. Work with a good photographer! Tanyia was so fun to work with because of how energetic she was. As she put it, she's the lady who yells "BANANA" and makes animal noises to get her babies to laugh during pictures. A good photographer is going to make you feel at ease and capture those little shots of awkwardness and make them beautiful.
3. Wear comfortable weather-appropriate clothes. After having nightmares and spending a good 3 hours trying on different outfits, I settled on jeans, t-shirt and a red sweater. FH wore a button down, Navy sweater and jeans. We were both comfy. Warm however, we were not. It was about 36 degrees during our shoot and we were laying on the ground for some shots. I didn't wear long johns because I think they make me look fat, but in hind sight, I probably should have worn them.
4. Pick a good place to shoot and then go for it. Ask your photographer where they would like to shoot. Tanyia picked out our spot and we ended up really loving it. The ranch dog, Buster, even made it into our pictures. Isn't he cute! There were the obvious places to shoot, the porches of the lodge and cabins, but then there were the unexpected spots, a winding road through trees, a vintage tractor, a clearing in the forest.
5. Work with a good photographer! I say this again for a different reason. Tanyia was very excited for our shoot. It wasn't just work for her. She couldn't wait to go home and edit the photos. I was emailing her like mad for 2 weeks before the shoot giving examples of engagement shots I loved from online wedding blogs. She emailed me back with things she loved. We have a great working relationship. Find a photographer that you like as a person, not just like their shots. It will matter in the photos!6. Have fun. This should go without saying but even though your fiance may be less than enthused about going and getting his picture taken, remind him that it can be fun. These pictures are ones that you will show your kids and look at for years to come. Many couples complain that they wished they had more photos from their engagement.
Photography by Tanyia Oulman, tanyiaoulmanphotography.com
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Groomology
I bought the book Groomology by Michael Essany, from Barnes and Noble after reading a few excerpts on Amazon.com. I bought it because the author was funny and I hoped that it would make FH become enthused about the wedding planning process. It's not that he is opposed to it, he just thinks that 7 months is too long to start planning (Ah! The little knot.com wedding planning timeline devil on my shoulder is dying!). The book is funny and concise. I read it all the day we got it in the mail. I strategically left it on the coffee table for FH to pick up but as they say, you can lead a horse to water...
Tomorrow, we are going to get engagement photos taken and I am surprised to see that FH is excited. He went to get a haircut today while I was working. He asked me what to wear, and he seems like he will be having fun. I am really hoping he enjoys being engaged as much as I do.
I've been slowly working on getting him more and more involved. There are definitely certain things he cares about, such as the menu (he is dead set on a whole roast pig) but I'm trying to help him see that it is fun to be involved. I've been doing this by only talking about the wedding when I am giving him a back rub. He always listens then, or having the kitchen spotless promptly after dinner for a week leading up to the engagement shoot. Of course, he knows it makes me happy so he usually "gets coordinated" as he calls it, without a fuss.
I'm wondering what other tactics might work. I was hoping he would read the Groomology book because it does include a lot of tips about enjoying the process, as well as treating your stressed out fiance (me).
Has anyone else read the Groomology book? Are there any special tricks that you've used to persuade a reluctant groom? How did they work?
Tomorrow, we are going to get engagement photos taken and I am surprised to see that FH is excited. He went to get a haircut today while I was working. He asked me what to wear, and he seems like he will be having fun. I am really hoping he enjoys being engaged as much as I do.
I've been slowly working on getting him more and more involved. There are definitely certain things he cares about, such as the menu (he is dead set on a whole roast pig) but I'm trying to help him see that it is fun to be involved. I've been doing this by only talking about the wedding when I am giving him a back rub. He always listens then, or having the kitchen spotless promptly after dinner for a week leading up to the engagement shoot. Of course, he knows it makes me happy so he usually "gets coordinated" as he calls it, without a fuss.
I'm wondering what other tactics might work. I was hoping he would read the Groomology book because it does include a lot of tips about enjoying the process, as well as treating your stressed out fiance (me).
Has anyone else read the Groomology book? Are there any special tricks that you've used to persuade a reluctant groom? How did they work?
Wedding Nightmares
The wedding is in 7 months as of yesterday and I have been having wedding nightmares for at least a month now. Most of them I'm in California by a pool in a city on a hot sunny day and it's the day of my wedding (definitely not me). I realize it's not where my wedding is supposed to be. My colors are wrong, all the outfits are wrong and I don't know any of the guests. Then I go to the closet to put on my dress and there are 15 dresses that all look kind of like my dress but have weird beading or are pink or are short and they are all wrong. I dig to the back of the closet but I still dont' find my dress in the sea of tulle and chiffon.
Last night my dream was about the Engagement session we have tomorrow. I spent the entire dream trying to figure out what to wear, nothing looked right and I was stressed out of my mind. I kept trying on ugly outfits and changing and wasnt' able to find the elusive item of clothing. Of course I still don't know what I'll wear tomorrow for the session. I will probably be modeling for my uncooperative FH (future husband) for a few hours tonight.
Yesterday, while perusing wedding blogs and generally obsessing about every detail of weddings (like usual), I saw a post about elopements and it showed a bride and groom sitting in a row boat looking happy as could be. Ah, elopement. That sounds so nice, easy, stylish and CHEAP. I'm so sick of looking at a favor or a centerpiece I would like then realizing I have to mulitply the cost by 70 and then getting disheartented. I had done so much planning for my wedding even before we got engaged that I thought it would be easy to just tie off the loose ends and then relax. I had already rented all the wedding related books from the library over four months ago. I've already read all the etiquette guides, subscribed to the magazines, found my "look". It should be easy now. Instead I find myself to be stressed even more because now that I am actually trying to recreat my vision, the budget isn't fitting. It sucks not having any money because I know I am going to have to wait until the 11th hour to buy wedding things. I'm just spinning my wheels now and driving myself crazy thinking about all the possibilities.
Because I was a wedding planner and have dealt with brides frequently, I sort of knew what I didn't want to be like. So for that my dear bridesmaids should thank me. I work very hard on not discussing the wedding everytime we talk. I try to know what is going on in their lives. My co-workers however, get the full brunt of my bridezilla-ness. I talk about it a lot at work. I rationalize it because people ask me about it all the time at work. I am trying to be a good bride but I am stressed. Of course, it's probably just getting to that time of the month, honestly.
The biggest thing I am worried about is not being able to just hang out with FH on our wedding day. That's all I want to do. I want to wear my pretty dress and hang out with FH. I really don't care about anything else but I feel as though I should. I'm so scared that the day will fly by and I won't have gotten to enjoy it because I was so worried about getting this picture and that picture and saying hi to this long lost relative and rushing to the next even. I just want to have fun.
With this I am going to attempt to take the weekend off of wedding planning. This is a huge step. I would say month but I know I can't do it. Of course I sound commited now, but Say Yes to the Dress is all new on Friday...
Have you hit walls in your wedding planning where you feel like eloping? How did you overcome those? Anyone who is married, were you able to enjoy your wedding day and your husband? Any tips for doing so?
Also any funny wedding nightmares? My married friend said even her fiance (now hubby) had nightmares!
Last night my dream was about the Engagement session we have tomorrow. I spent the entire dream trying to figure out what to wear, nothing looked right and I was stressed out of my mind. I kept trying on ugly outfits and changing and wasnt' able to find the elusive item of clothing. Of course I still don't know what I'll wear tomorrow for the session. I will probably be modeling for my uncooperative FH (future husband) for a few hours tonight.
Yesterday, while perusing wedding blogs and generally obsessing about every detail of weddings (like usual), I saw a post about elopements and it showed a bride and groom sitting in a row boat looking happy as could be. Ah, elopement. That sounds so nice, easy, stylish and CHEAP. I'm so sick of looking at a favor or a centerpiece I would like then realizing I have to mulitply the cost by 70 and then getting disheartented. I had done so much planning for my wedding even before we got engaged that I thought it would be easy to just tie off the loose ends and then relax. I had already rented all the wedding related books from the library over four months ago. I've already read all the etiquette guides, subscribed to the magazines, found my "look". It should be easy now. Instead I find myself to be stressed even more because now that I am actually trying to recreat my vision, the budget isn't fitting. It sucks not having any money because I know I am going to have to wait until the 11th hour to buy wedding things. I'm just spinning my wheels now and driving myself crazy thinking about all the possibilities.
Because I was a wedding planner and have dealt with brides frequently, I sort of knew what I didn't want to be like. So for that my dear bridesmaids should thank me. I work very hard on not discussing the wedding everytime we talk. I try to know what is going on in their lives. My co-workers however, get the full brunt of my bridezilla-ness. I talk about it a lot at work. I rationalize it because people ask me about it all the time at work. I am trying to be a good bride but I am stressed. Of course, it's probably just getting to that time of the month, honestly.
The biggest thing I am worried about is not being able to just hang out with FH on our wedding day. That's all I want to do. I want to wear my pretty dress and hang out with FH. I really don't care about anything else but I feel as though I should. I'm so scared that the day will fly by and I won't have gotten to enjoy it because I was so worried about getting this picture and that picture and saying hi to this long lost relative and rushing to the next even. I just want to have fun.
With this I am going to attempt to take the weekend off of wedding planning. This is a huge step. I would say month but I know I can't do it. Of course I sound commited now, but Say Yes to the Dress is all new on Friday...
Have you hit walls in your wedding planning where you feel like eloping? How did you overcome those? Anyone who is married, were you able to enjoy your wedding day and your husband? Any tips for doing so?
Also any funny wedding nightmares? My married friend said even her fiance (now hubby) had nightmares!
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