The Final Countdown

In exactly one month B and I will be married!  At this time on May 12th we will be hitting up the dance floor with our closest friends and our family.  It's funny because all of a sudden I feel less stressed.  There's still a gazillion things to finalize and do, but somehow there's this calm.  It's like I'm allowing myself to actually visualize it and get excited.  What a nice relief.

With A Little Help From My Friends

I thought being able to keep up with a blog would be super easy.  Boy, was I wrong!  The closer you get to your wedding, the more it seems you have to do.  Surprisingly, we are on point, but it seems almost overwhelming.

What's also overwhelming is the amount of help I am getting from everyone.  Yes, the Bride has so much to do, but the amount of people willing and wanting to get involved is a pleasant surprise.  Just recently my aunt offered to pay for our wedding favors, of which B and I were going to pay for ourselves.  Almost $200 saved for us, and we are very thankful.  We decided to use cookies local to her area in New York.  They are a beach theme, just like the wedding, and very fun!  We are having a mix of surfboards, palm trees, and suns.  I can't wait to see (and taste!) them.

My mom's cousin has stepped in to help my beautiful bridesmaids with the bridal shower.  I have no idea what is going on, but from the little I've been able to gather, it's been a huge help to the girls.  I have word that the food will be "exquisite", and she has asked for measurements and pictures of the house.  I can't wait to see what she and the girls have planned!

My FMIL offered to do our wedding programs for us, which is saving us time and money!  She gave us B's sister's program to have an example, and now just needs the information from us.  I really like her taste; I can only sum it up as classic elegance.  Again, I am very excited to see what she comes up with!

My Matron of Honor has planned out the Bachelorette Party, complete with an awesome venue and a limo.  Of course that's not all she's done; she and my mom helped put together the invitations and have come over to help me decide the whole look of the wedding.  They both have also kept me sane throughout this whole process, which is definitely needed help!  Love you both!!

Speaking of invitations, I am so lucky to have such a good friend and bridesmaid in my girl A.  She lives abroad, but found time in her busy schedule of owning/running a store to personally design all the stationary.  She designed the invitations, rsvps, wedding cards, envelopes, and directions of my invitation suite.  Once I figure out how to blur the personal text I will post pics of her beautiful design.  I have been told by everyone who has received the invitations how gorgeous they are!  Thank you, A!!

My other two bridesmaids have been super helpful, too.  N and S both live in different states, but we are able to keep up through email, chat, Facebook, and the phone.  N is another one who keeps me sane.  She somehow talks me into staying grounded, which is a big feat sometimes!

 And of course I can't forget B, whose help has been such a relief.  It's so nice to have your guy help you out when you need it.  I try to never forget that it's his wedding too, and I really want that to shine.  Just tonight he sat very patiently while we went over readings for the ceremony.  He, (and my stepfather), have also been helping me research honeymoon spots almost everyday.  (We might be slightly behind on that task). 

One word of advice on this post for anyone newly engaged, or just in the process: If people in your life offer to help, let them!  They are excited and happy for you and want to be a part of your special day.  It feels good to know that those you care about care about you and your day so much!

Til next time!

Let the Show Go On!

When you get married, you get engulfed in this temporary culture of engaged couples and the industry that caters to them.  Everyone knows getting married is expensive, just mentioning you're getting married ups the price on (whatever chosen product here).  And there are no limits to vendors that offer said products.

That said, it is in my opinion, ESPECIALLY if you are getting married somewhere you aren't familiar with, that it is very worthwhile to attend a bridal show.  They are nationwide and seasonal, so you're guaranteed to have one within driving distance while you are engaged.  If you are having a shotgun wedding, the likelihood goes down pretty significantly though.

Why are bridal shows so great?  First off, everyone is vying for your attention and business.  There's free food and drinks, lots of chocolate, random fun freebies, even free subscriptions.  There's giveaways, (I won $100 off jewelry at one!), fashion shows, and almost everyone is in a great mood.  The vendors can cover all of your needs - in one place!  Venues, photographers, DJs, bands, caterers, you name it.  Don't get me wrong, it can be annoying seeing all of those vendors, but on the one hand it gives you a good price point, different options, and lots of times the vendors will give you great deals on their services or products.  This can be crucial to getting what you want and staying within budget.  You know those insurance companies that brag about being able to compare all other insurance companies rates on their site?  It's kinda the same thing.
Another great thing?  You don't need to pay to get in.  If you are a member of Wedding Wire, they send you emails to get free tickets.  A free show with free food and fun stuff with vendors hooking up discounts?  Who isn't into that?

Two Months to Go!

That's right - two months to go!  Two months and a million things to get done.  But, one day at a time.

B and I went down South and did a lot.  After a day of traveling we were able to get our engagement pictures taken, and they came out great.  Our photographer used to be a landscape photographer, so he was able to capture the trees just as we'd hoped.  We were tired, a little nervous, and did not take my own advise about having a drink.  That probably would have been the best thing we could have done to relax just a bit!

We also got to check out a musician I was interested in hiring for the ceremony.  We went out to this restaurant by the beach and posted up outside even though it was an unseasonably cold day.  It was worth it though, because he was awesome.  I can't wait to hear him play on our wedding day.  My biggest regret is that we won't get to hear him play at the cocktail hour, but I know that our guests will love it.

One thing I was very disappointed with was our florist.  She was very nice, and showed us the array of vases we are using, but she didn't have a sample of the bouquet.  Ladies, if you are planning your wedding, let me tell you to make sure you have a sample included in your contract!  The last thing you want to do is worry that the flowers won't be what you want.  If you don't care much about the flowers, then don't worry about it.  But if you're like most brides you'll want to see them.  If nothing else to get you excited about them!

Overall it was a very productive trip, and we have been just as productive after we got back.  As these crazy months fly by, I will be sure to keep you updated with the ins and outs.

XOXO

Visionary

Do you want to know my favorite part of wedding planning is?  (Besides marrying B, of course!!)  It’s the décor.  100 percent the décor.  There is so much you can do to a space to make it look beautiful and convey your personality.  So much fun!

Most couples, B and I included, have to make concessions of some kind with our space.  Instead of a blank space that is the ideal to work with, we have a room at a hotel.  Our concession for that was a private beachfront ceremony and a private reception; our room is in a separate building.  So what we have is a ghastly floor, tiled ceilings, and pictures on the wall.  What we also have though is mirrored columns, floor to ceiling windows, and a smaller room off the main room.

First, I am covering the tiling on the ceiling with twinkle light fabric.  Nothing conveys coziness and romance to me like the ambiance made from low lighting.

We are leaving the mirrored columns and windows alone. The windows will make the space look bigger, while also allowing the guests to feel connected to nature.  This is important to me since I originally wanted an outside reception.  We will also be draping the wall behind the sweetheart table in white fabric to cover the standard hotel pictures they place on the walls.

As you may remember, I posted about linens not too long ago.  So much can change in such a short amount of time!  I have edited myself and gone for an elegant, yet modern look.  (Translation = not so busy.)  I am keeping a colored cloth for the table and upgrading the chairs.  This will make the centerpieces stand out and allow the table to look cohesive instead of over decorated.  

Finally, we will have uplighting in the main room around the columns.  The color will be an accent blue color so that the room isn’t monochromatic.  Though using shades of the same color is a very pretty look, I like a tasteful fusion of differing colors.  The uplighting will continue to the small connected room, provided we don’t need to use it for the ceremony in case of bad weather.   Oh - and one of the best parts of having a room like this?  The mirrored columns.  Want to make candles and lights twinkle all the more, just add mirrors!

I’m in love with the picture in my head and I can’t wait to see it!  

What were your concessions/ideas for your wedding and how did they turn out?

We're Engaged!

Next week B and I go down to Florida to finalize all of our wedding plans.  We worked it out so most of what we have to do takes place during the first two days we are down there and we can relax the last three, if all goes well.  

We fly in on Thursday, drive across the state, and go pretty much right to our engagement photo shoot.  Initially I didn’t want one, but now I am really excited about it!  Not only does it give us a chance to have more casual professional photos taken, but we get the opportunity to get to know our photographer better.  It’s really a great thing because I am not very comfortable in front of the camera.  I really hope that it relaxes the both of us so when the wedding comes we won’t feel uncomfortable.

But good pictures don’t happen without planning, as I’ve found out recently.  

The photographer will do his/her magic, but you need to prepare.  Close-ups will be taken of faces, so eyebrows need to be groomed, as well as any facial hair (that goes for either party!).  

Chances are that the engagement ring and therefore your hands will be featured, so make sure to get manicures.  No, he isn’t metro if he gets that done.  

Hire a makeup and hair person because they’ll know how to get the coloring and styling right for the camera.  Worth the cost!

Wear complementary colors and make sure the style is the same.  If he’s in a tee and you’re in a formal dress that’s just going to look weird.

Pay attention to accessories but don’t over accessorize.  The focus will be on both of you, not what you’re wearing.  

Sleep the night before!  We all know why.

Lastly, drink.  A good drink or two before the shoot will loosen you up and make the pictures look more natural.  If you don’t drink or don’t want to, do something else to relax you.  A calm attitude shows.

Hopefully I can keep all of my own advice and the pictures come out great!  I’ve seen the photographer’s work and he’s awesome so the rest is up to us to make sure we are ready. 

Do you have any advice you’d like to add?  Leave a comment below!

Let Them Eat Cake!

One of the really fun parts about a wedding are the options for the cake!  There are so many pretty options and wonderful bakers, not to mention delicious recipes.  Just a selection to get the creative juices flowing today.  Yum!

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

I’m not talking about invitations.  I’m not even talking about programs or save the dates.  What I’m talking about is much more interactive, though no more or less creative.  I’m talking the Guestbook!

Anyone who knows me knows that I like the eclectic – but I like it my way.  I also have a hard time deciding until that pang hits me when I know.  So right now I’ve been Googling the heck out of guestbooks, trying to get ideas of my own.  Of course whatever I choose will have my little twist to it, but right now I’m down to my favorite four.

Polaroid Guest Book

I love this idea!  My friends love taking pictures of themselves and I can see this as a great way to let their personalities come through.  I can just imagine showing my grandchildren when I’m old and laughing until my dentures fall out!

Plus the pictures are very personal and spontaneous, two things which I love!

Message in a Bottle

Since we are getting married at the beach I thought this would go along with the theme and be something a little different.  I like that this can be private; guests can roll up the paper and slide it in the bottle.  I also like that B and I wouldn’t be able to read all of them right away.  If we did this then I’d want to pull out a couple each year on our anniversary.

Fill in the Blanks

This one is the least formal, but one of the most fun!  There is an area for the guest to draw a picture of B and I, write their wishes, and say how they know us.  I know this would be a lot of fun and that it would be so much fun to read.  It’s something that feels very childlike and I like keeping some form of amusement to a party.

Postcards

One of my best friends is obsessed with postcards, and she loves to see which cards the sender picks.  She could not only help me find some great ones, but I like the idea of seeing which cards each person chose.  I have seen some ideas online of having the mom save them and send them every month during the first year of marriage.  How fun would that be?!

 

 

I love opinions and ideas, so leave a comment and tell me yours if you feel like it!

Mother of the Bride

This Friday was my mom’s birthday.  At 51 she is still so beautiful.  I hope (and B too for that matter!) that it’s good genes, but I also wonder if it has to do with her sunny personality, early bedtime, and lack of soda drinking.  Either way nobody who has met her will dispute how ravishing she is and that she looks a lot younger than her age.  

For her birthday, I was so excited to go to the bookstore and get her a mother of the bride book.  She seems to be so excited about the wedding, and since I am her only daughter this is the only time she gets to go through this side of things.  (I’m sure she’s also very happy about it seeing as how much time and expense goes into it).  A mother of the bride book would be one of those gifts that really signifies the year, and I thought finding the perfect one may not be easy, but it definitely wouldn’t be hard.

Guess what?  There were absolutely no books in the entire bookstore that spoke to or for the mother of the bride.  None.  A quick Google search returns just three on the first page.  I didn’t let that get me down; I just found a mom book and journal that were absolutely perfect for her!  But I also found a gap in the market.  Hey mom, I see a project for us to work on together!  What do you say?

I can’t wait to help my mother of the bride pick out her dress, decide on jewelry and shoes, get manis and pedis together.  I’m lucky that I don’t have an overbearing mom, one who wants everything her way.  She has always allowed me to be as creative as I want, and I think she respects my ideals and aesthetic.  I respect hers too; she ultimately picked out our venue.  I found it but she scouted it and I took her word before ever seeing it in person, and it’s perfect!

 Our relationship is one of long term friends, as well as mother and daughter.  This wedding really lets this aspect of our relationship flourish.  I’m grateful for all that she is, my beautiful, sweet, funny, charming mother of the bride.

Flower Power

How important is a good florist?

Most of you would say it is absolutely 100% important to find a good florist.  I have to wonder then, what constitutes a good florist?  Is it their attitude, their reputation, how high the price tag is, or their creativity?  Maybe a little bit of everything.

We all know how hard it is to find the perfect anything!  It took us this long to find our perfect match after all.  But really, how do you pick?

B and I went down south to scope out our venue and meet with vendors over the summer.  It was a crazy whirlwind of wedding planners, cake vendors, photographers, DJs, and of course, florists. 

I met with two of the venue recommended florists and they were ok at best.  They both were very nice, very reputable, very pricey, but not very personal.  What I mean by that is that I didn’t feel that we were on the same page, or that they really cared.  I can’t say that if I was in a business that met with women all the time I would care about each one, but I would at least be able to fake it!  Plus, I would really want the business and would want my work to showcase beautifully.  I didn’t get that vibe from these women.
 

Then I met Ms. Eccentric, the local small mom and pop florist.  She was wonderful!  She knew exactly what I was looking for, gave me photos to take with me, and was excited!  She made me excited, too.  I left feeling great and couldn’t wait to work with her.  That was August.  My how things change.

It’s January and I haven’t heard from her but once.  I had questions and ideas and wanted to sign a contract.  Nothing.  My mind started to wonder about her and so I looked up the reviews.  The reviews were not good.  One girl told her story about how Ms. Eccentric didn’t talk to her until the day of her wedding?  Um, excuse me?  I decided to give up the fight.  You know how they say if someone wants to be in your life they’ll make sure they are?  Same with if they want your business.

Anyway my mom found this florist in the area with great reviews and a beautiful website.  We had a consultation on Monday and the lady was so sweet and very receptive.  Once again I felt good and got excited.  This is how it should feel.  I got the proposal today and it’s a little higher than Ms. Eccentric, but only but a couple hundred dollars, (which I know sometimes can be a deal breaker).  We had it in the budget though and so we are going with the more trustworthy florist.
Moral of the story?  It’s totally worth it to do your homework.  Yes, reading reviews is boring and tedious, and you might not want to believe the bad reviews.  Try to take it all with a grain of salt, but remember they are there for a reason. 

Something Borrowed

Ever since I heard Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow I knew it would be the song I would walk at my wedding to.  Granted this hasn’t been since I was a little girl, but it has been quite a few years.  I guess this isn’t the kind of thing you really talk about with your friends either, or at least in my case it isn’t.  If it was I might have known that a friend of mine wanted to use that song too.  And she did at her wedding in September 2010. 

I remember being surprised since the wedding was at a botanical garden and not a beach, and I remember whispering to my best friend that this was the same song I wanted to use.  At that time I wasn’t engaged though, so it didn’t seem like a problem.

Fast forward to February 2011, and I’m engaged!  The issue here is that B, my fiancé, is her cousin.  (Long story short – she has been a friend for years and B and I sort of met through her).  When starting to think about the songs I remembered she had used the song and texted her to ask if that was the song or did I (hopefully!) remember wrong?  I heard right.  Damn.

Even though she said she didn’t mind if I used the song too, I felt like it would be too weird.  Since we will have the same extended family and have the same group of friends, it would be like a repeat.  So I’ve been on my quest to find a replacement.

Now it’s 4 months before the wedding and I haven’t found anything.  I could use Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles because I love that song, but it doesn’t have the same effect.  When I hear Somewhere Over the Rainbow it’s magical.  It’s exactly what I want be playing when I’m walking down the sandy isle.  It’s what the little girl inside of me wistfully dreams of.  And I don’t usually let that little girl take control of me, so I know this is important.

What to do, what to do?  Use a song somewhat borrowed or end up feeling blue?

Oh the Weather Outside is... Frightful?

It’s all about location, location, location!  Whether you are getting married on the beach, in a garden, or in a backyard, you just know it’s going to be amazing!  The weather is going to be perfect and everyone is going to have a blast!

In a perfect world – yes.  And I really hope most of us have that perfect weather day.  But days like this remind me that you can never be too sure about the weather.  The forecasters called for rain this morning, just another dreary Monday.  Wait, what is this?  It’s snowing!  And not the snow that just comes and goes, it’s been snowing for hours!

So… what if it rains on your wedding day?  Or snows?  Or the humidity is so bad that even the straightest of straight hair is a frizz ball?  You gotta prepare.  That means having a backup.

When you choose your venue, make sure they include a backup.  I decided to go with a hotel on the beach, so we have the option of (cringe) getting married inside and not on the beach if the weather decides to be uncooperative.  (Knocking on wood!!!)  If things work out the way I hope though, that area will be filled with high top tables with an almost loungey feel.  Here’s to crossing my fingers!

But why let this snow go to waste?  To all my lovely winter wonderland brides, get your pretty bootys up here and take advantage of the scenery!