life according to my iphone lately…
hey, at least one of us is happy…
You could say that Frank is a fan of the dog park.
wedding dress hanger
Sunday morning cuddles
Sunday afternoon cuddles…we like to cuddle
quick weekend trip to celebrate the bride and mama to be!
the beautiful bride and mama to be
and so it begins…
five days until wedding dress fitting = green juice time!
After eight months of insane focus on wedding planning, I hit a wall. For the last month I have done nothing towards the wedding. My therapist recently told me that she thinks I am an “all or nothing” kinda gal. I couldn’t really argue with her. Either I’m on a crazy five-day juice cleanse or I’m eating frozen yogurt for dinner every night. Either I’m going to yoga every day or I don’t go for a month. Either I’m writing for hours on end or avoiding my computer like the plague. I think I may need to work on finding a bit more of a balance, huh?
So true to form, I obsessed about all things wedding for eight months straight and then I didn’t want to think or talk about it for a few weeks. Thankfully, I don’t think taking the month off put us too far behind because of all the work I got done during my eight month obsessive period.
Things we have-
+a venue– Obviously this was one of the first things I checked off the list. Still very happy with our choice of the Smog Shoppe!
+a wedding planner– I met my wedding planner, Lina, for coffee once and knew she was the one. She has a very calm way about her and that is very important to me on the big day. Anything to keep me calm.
+a wedding dress- After trying on a bunch of different styles from a million different shops (and having one panic attack in a store packed with dresses. Really, I think anyone would have felt claustrophobic), I settled on a dress that makes me feel like the very best version of myself. I seriously can’t wait to marry Brian in it.
+flowers– I had a very clear image early on of what I wanted the flowers to look like- dahlias, peonies & ranunculus! I wanted them to be bright, playful and whimsical. After meeting with Heather from Twig & Twine I knew she could make my vision come to life. Flowers are so important!
+music- At first we thought we wanted a twelve piece band but then we learned how much they cost and we changed our minds to a DJ. Ha. Music was/is Brian’s job to handle. One because he really needed a wedding job, two he cares more about music than I do and three because he has better taste in music than I do. I even sent him to meet with the potential DJ alone. He said he felt like he was going on a blind date. Ha. Poor boy. But he came home with a smile on his face and we had ourselves a DJ!
+a caterer – I had a very clear image of what I wanted the dinner to feel like too- amazing food served family style on long wooden tables. I want it to feel very warm and intimate. So I looked for a caterer who could create that.
+photographer– This was also a job perfectly suited for Brian considering he is a talented photographer himself! I knew he would find the right person to shoot our big day and he did. The photographer he chose has such a fun and playful style.
+make-up artist– I love my make-up artist. She has such a fun energy and she made me look like this for our engagement shoot- so I hired her.
+a cake – we are having two cakes! Because one is never enough, right?? A decadent chocolate cake and an Almond Orangutan cake with orange scented buttercream and Kumquat preserves- YUM.
Things we still need to tackle-
+groomsmen attire – this has been such a fun topic to discuss! not
+ liquor – again I would be happy if we only served buttery chardonnay but I realize that would be unfair to my guests. So Brian is on this job as well. Full bar here we come!
+ wedding rings – Just give me more diamonds and I’m happy but Brian has never worn jewelry before so he has no idea what he wants. Although he knows he doesn’t want gold. He feels very strongly about gold.
+ vows – Does anybody have any brilliant ideas for the vows? We’ve decided to write our own which both excites me and terrifies me.
+ honeymoon – I’m thinking Bali! Bali! Bali!
+ photo booth – Every wedding needs a photo booth, right?
+ and allllll the million other little details from seating cards to parting gifts.
T minus 5 months!!!!!!! I can’t believe it’s so soon.
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Our “save the dates” went out this weekend! When we dropped them in the mail I looked at Brian and jokingly said, “Well, there’s no turning back now”. There is something rather final about telling 170 people to mark their calendars with your wedding date, don’t you think? The pressure is on.
We went back and forth on whether we were even going to send “save the dates” at all. We wondered if it was just an added expense that we could skip, let it instead get around via telephone or something.
But in the end I decided that it would be polite to inform our out-of-town guests so they could make travel arrangements. When I told Brian I thought we should send them out he said, “Can we just send out an evite?” I laughed and when he didn’t join in I realized he was being serious. He wanted to send out an evite for our wedding save the dates. Ha.
I informed him that considering it was our WEDDING and not a fourth of July BBQ we would not be using evite. He then tried to argue his point by saying that is would be “greener” of us if we did. He was thinking exceptionally quick, even I was impressed!
I said NO, end of story. I mean, we were already getting married at a venue called the Smog Shoppe at least let my grandmother who doesn’t even know how to work a computer get a save the date in the mail.
When he realized this battle would not be won, we moved on to the next step…finding a save the date that felt “like us”. That sounded rather precious of me to say, huh? We wanted to find a save the date the “felt like us”, but it’s true. It’s the first impression people get of your wedding and I wanted it to be playful instead of uptight. Much like I hope our wedding is.
So we ended up narrowing it down to three options and then finally one. I will say I kind of picked the winner. Brian actually liked another one better but realized this wasn’t something he really cared enough about to make it a battle. Now the booze at our wedding is a different story. I really only drink wine and usually just chardonnay, so I would be happy if it was a night filled with buttery chardonnay. But Brain feels strongly that we need a full bar. So I let him run with it. Compromise at its finest.
I’ve discovered in four short months that this is how the wedding planning goes. It’s all about compromise. It’s a great starter for marriage. So I happily took the lead with the “save the dates” and picked the one with the heart because well, I thought it was sweet and playful. Then I moved on to ordering them.
When they arrived in the mail, I giddily tore open the box with excitement. Brian took one look at the massive stack of “save the dates” and asked me how many I had ordered. I proudly said 190, 20 more than the 170 we are inviting just in case we messed any up. Aren’t I smart?!
It was quickly explained to me that I probably only needed half of that considering most families and couples live together. I’ve never claimed to be good at math.
So now we have a shitload of “save the dates” to keep as mementos. Brian has taken to using them as drink coasters.
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Hello Friday!! So happy you’re here! Other than shooting engagement pictures on Saturday with Rachel, Brian and I have no plans. YAY! I honestly can’t tell you how excited this makes me. I’m going to sleep in, write, read, cook and watch movies. I may even stay in my pajamas all day on Sunday. Just because I can. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
what inspired me this week?
I’ve started reading “Gone Girl” and I’m loving it. The writing is so good.
My friend Katie who’s traveling through Vietnam all by herself! I just love that. I’ve never traveled to a foreign land by myself but she’s inspiring me to start thinking about it!
Looking through all my road trip pictures from driving across the usa last year. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have had such great experiences. Expect a post about it next week!
what am I grateful for this week?
Rachel…we had a beautiful afternoon talking about life and drinking wine- on a wednesday! So naughty of us. So grateful for her friendship, love and support.
Taline for being such a good maid on honor. She has so many great ideas!
Acupuncture and chinese herbs
what surprised me this week?
That 365 til 30 was named top 100 self-help blogs!
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“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck” – Dalai Lama
Apologies for not blogging much the last week, I have been all over the place since getting engaged. I’ve literally lost my mind. Considering I am not much of a girlie girl I have surprised even myself (and everyone around me) with my sudden and obsessive appreciation of all things wedding. It’s only been a week and I’ve created a pinterest board, made my mom talk about the bridesmaids dresses at nauseum, forced Brian talk about wedding venues and I even bought two bridal magazines. GASP. Who is this wedding monster that I have become?? She’s my worst nightmare! Also, for a girl who doesn’t normally care much for jewelry, I’ve learned I LOVE diamonds.
The big question right now is where to get married. The endless options both excite me and overwhelm me. I would love to hear any words of advice, tips or stories from your wedding planning and/or weddings! Please share below!
365til30.com 