Thursday, July 31, 2008

Only 100 Days!

So, the other day, I mentioned that I had received the most adorable of envelopes from MOH Jennifer, yet it specifically said on the envelope that I could not open the darn thing until July 31st.  I suspected that it maybe had something to do with our "Fun Time" trip.  Well, I was wrong - but definitely not disappointed.  Man oh man, how adorable is THIS:


I'm 100% positive that I have the best friends in the world.  Of course, I have been watching the countdown myself and saw that today was the 100 day mark.  This little card is definitely going in the scrapbook!  Well, if I had a scrapbook.  Until then, I shall display it happily!

Monday, July 28, 2008

The Wedding Nightmare


Well, it's officially the season of wedding nightmares.  I'm not sure exactly when the not sleeping started...well, perhaps that's untrue.  When we first got engaged, I stopped sleeping for a good four to five days.  I just couldn't believe that I was ENGAGED, and I would pretend to sleep while trying to catch a glimpse of my ring in the moonlight.  Then, I instantly became overwhelmed with the wedding details - place, time, dress - and then I would pretend to sleep while my mind was going a million miles per hour.  I eventually calmed down, maybe mid-March (!), and began to sleep again.  I thought to myself, phew!  I am calm once again!

Not true.  I have recently began having a series of wedding-related nightmares.  I can't tell you exactly what they are about, but I wake up, petrified that I am already married, something terrible happened, and I barely remember anything.  I remember that one time, I accidentally married my ex instead, and that he got drunk at the reception and acted terribly - and I was scared to death that this had, somehow, occurred when I awoke.  Thankfully, just a dream.  I've also been having a lot of random nightmares - I don't think they are wedding related, but I wonder if they started because I am getting a little stressed out?  

Now that we're getting much closer to the wedding (The Knot says I only have 103 days!), I have started waking up in the middle of the night again.  I'm not sure if it's the wedding, or our upcoming cross-country move to Bloomington, Indiana, but I am just having a tough time sleeping.  Any suggestions for how to relax and get a good night of sleep?  Besides Tylenol PM and/or Nyquill?  

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Fun Time Update

Remember how I told you about the "Fun Time" trip my amazing bridesmaids have been planning?  Well, I just received a mysterious envelope in the mail from super-MOH, Jenn.  I received it yesterday, July 26th.  The envelope says I cannot open it until JULY THIRTY FIRST.  Thursday.  This is agonizing.  I suspect that it contains information about our "Fun Time," but clearly I won't know for four more days.

As a sidenote...if I had ever sent something like this to Jenn, there's no way she wouldn't have been able to open it.  I know her.  

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Love!

Another beautiful and fabulous Etsy find!  I have been trying to decide whether or not to have a little clutch bag on the day of the wedding.  Then, I fell in love with this baby:Check out that gorgeous silk dupioni lining!  Sadly, it's $95 and I don't think I want to spend that kind of money right now.  And to be honest, I'm not really sure that it would look right with my dress.  But...maybe for the rehearsal dinner?  Unique and beautifully made!  You can check out the designer's Etsy store right here.  She really has the most gorgeous little bags!  



Ring Pillows, Part Deux

So, lately I have seen in multiple locations - bridal magazines, WeddingBee, etc, this adorable and unique alternative to a ring pillow:

(Images from Paloma's Nest Etsy shop)

How adorable is that?  Plus, you can customize it to say whatever you want...perhaps our names and the wedding date?  Afterwards, it can be used as a Christmas ornament.  It suddenly seems much more useful than a pillow that will never be used again.  What do you think?  I'm loving it...

Monday, July 21, 2008

Checklist Update

Exciting news about The Checklist!  On July 9th, I wrote that I had only completed 70 items on my Knot checklist and still had a whopping 184 to go.  Well, after completing a few more items (I'm all the way to 76, now!) I realized that it still says "184 To-Dos on List."  I have realized that this is the TOTAL number of items on the checklist, rather than the remaining things I need to accomplish.

Phew!

Out of curiosity, I went through a checklist on the Martha Stewart Weddings website as well.  Martha only suggests 118 total items for the checklist (I've completed 54 of them!), which leads me to believe that either The Knot is horrendously thorough, or Martha is forgetting something.  It's just so hard to imagine Martha missing anything important, especially concerning a wedding.  Favorites from the Martha Checklist:  Book your hair and makeup vender.  Start the guest list.  Search for a band.  You see, it's very cut and dry, nothing confusing like on The Knot:  Make sure your Maid of Honor and Best Man know what's expected of them - providing a list of their duties will help.

I'm so sorry, Jennifer, if you're reading this, that I never provided you with a list of duties.  Here they are:
1.  Please look fabulous on the wedding day
2. Please have fun on the wedding day
3. Please have your hair done in a fun and different way so we can ooh and aah over it
4. Please make sure you hold my bouquet at the appropriate times during the ceremony
5. Please fluff out my train when absolutely necessary (ceremony only)
6. Please listen while I talk about all the fun wedding stuff I'm doing, and squeal with excitement when it's something really good (eeeee!)

Well, I guess that's it.  I'm so sorry I didn't do this sooner.  Oh, Checklist.

The First Thank You Note

Well, I did it.  I have written my very first wedding thank-you note.  It seemed so...official!  Like, we're actually getting married!  Although I'll be really excited when we're actually married and I'll be able to purchase this custom rubber stamp that I have been lusting after:
I mean, how adorable is that?  When we're married, I can stamp that baby on the back flap of all the envelopes and it will be sooo adorable.  Maybe in a little gold ink?  Or something else fall-y and earth-y.  We shall see.

So anyway, the first note is done.  I can't imagine writing note after note after note.  I was so nervous about this one sounding stupid that I wrote it out ahead of time in a notebook.  How nerdy is that?  Oh well, at least that I way I got to figure out what I wanted to say ahead of time without any cross-outs.  Because a cross-out would have been pretty crappy looking.

Also enjoyable was updating my "wedding gift" list on my Martha Stewart Weddings guest list took page thingy.  If anyone out there reading this is getting married, immediately drop what you're doing and go to the Martha Stewart Weddings website.  Start using her wedding tools!  They are absolutely amazing.  I have my entire guest list there, plus you can even play around with floorplans for the reception.  It's pretty awesome.  So, that's my plug for the day!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Fun Time

I realized the other day that I never mentioned how my most fabulous bridesmaids are taking me on a surprise trip in October!  It is a pseudo-bachelorette trip.  But, seeing as how "bachelorette party" seems to connote all sorts of indiscretions that we will clearly not be partaking in, my bridesmaid ringleaders Lisa and Jennifer have called it my "Fun Time" trip.  

I am thrilled!  I have no idea what they have up their sleeves - although I hear they have been busy scheming for some time - and they've even consulted Matt in the planning stages.  No matter what we do, no matter where we go, I cannot wait to spend a weekend with my fab girlfriends!  

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Holy Wedding Excitement

Wow - today was so exciting I almost can't stand it.  First of all - I have my wedding dress!!!!!  It's hanging in what appears to be a very sturdy garment bag (?) on my closet door.  It is heavy.  And it's mine!  It fits perfectly - I will barely need any alterations at all, which is fabulous.  No hemming necessary, just some really minor details - and the french bustle.  The real deal looks so much more amazing than the sample - it is mind boggling!  I am on wedding-cloud nine!

Secondly - I came home to discover that we received our first wedding gift!!!!!!!  I could not believe it!  And what a fabulous gift, too - two place settings of our beautiful kate spade Cypress Point china!  
It is gorgeous - the photo does not do it justice.  Lots of texture and subtle detailing.  I am just thrilled!  Also freaking out a little bit because I haven't ordered my official thank you notes yet.  I ran out to the Paper Source and picked up a small box of nice thank you notes to hold me over until I have the real deal.

So much wedding excitement...I think I'm starting to realize that this is all really happening!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Ring Pillows


I'm having a really hard time figuring out what to do for a ring pillow.  I think that part of the problem is that I have found this super, duper, really amazing one made by British artist Anna Whitford  and I have just become obsessed with it.  Isn't it amazing?  She uses metallic leather and silk dupioni.  The problem is that it's insanely expensive.  According to her website, the ring pillow is priced at 49 British pounds, which - according to today's currency conversion, is equal to $98.2334.  And that doesn't include the cost to get it here from England.  This seems like an awful, awful lot of money to pay for a ring pillow that will only be used once.  

But - check out this adorable little change purse that she makes, also!  Bridesmaids, if you're out there - I really wanted to purchase these for you as one of your bridesmaid gifts, but...I can't afford them.  I'm sorry.  So take a peek here, and see what you're missing.  I think they are to die for!!!  

Anyway - I guess I still haven't solved the problem of a ring pillow.  I have actually found several beautiful ones on Etsy, which doesn't surprise me - what a fabulous place to find, well, everything!  Matt claims that if I give him $100, he can make me a ring pillow that looks just like Anna Whitford's, using a regular pillow, some Christmas ribbon, and a pair of scissors.  But somehow, I'm just not buying it...

Countdown to Excitement

And no, I'm not talking about the wedding.  I'm talking about picking up my wedding dress!  Thursday night, 7:00pm.  I get to try on my dress!  And then take it home!  Which is freaking me out a little bit, because it will just be hanging around in a garment bag until we move, and I can find a good alterations place.  I asked the nice lady at Ellie's Bridal what kind of bag it will come in...she replied that they will sell me a white garment bag for $15.  You'd think that when you spend $2000 on a dress, they would throw in the garment bag for free.  

You'd be wrong.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Gocco Fever

I've gotta fever...and the only prescription is a Gocco.  I have only recently come across the wondrous Gocco, and to be honest, I still don't completely understand exactly what it is, or how it works.  All I know is that...it's amazing.  Exhibit A, to the left, is a very confusing photo of the Print Gocco, and it's assorted pieces, inks, screens, etc.  What I have figured out - after hours of research (blogs, wikipedia, ebay, etc) is that the glorious Gocco is a tiny little screen printer!  You can make your own little screen prints - right at home!  Or, on the go!  Really, anywhere!  It involves a complicated process of using super duper light bulbs that burn your image onto a screen, and then somehow you slather some ink onto the screen (I think?  This is a little hazy) and then close it down onto your card, and...voila!  You have your print!  
This most likely sounds very confusing, but can I please draw your attention to Exhibit B, a huge collection of someone's holiday cards that they were able to mass produce using their trusty Gocco.  Is anyone as amazed by this as I am?  I have read about brides designing and printing their own wedding invitation suites on their Goccos.  I have clearly missed the boat on this, seeing as how I don't even own one.  The kicker?  They are manufactured in Japan, by a company that apparently has stopped making them.  I found them for sale on the Paper Source website, but are currently out of stock...also several up for bids on Ebay.  I want, I need, I've got to have one of these.  Once I figure out how to use the darn thing.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Color Palette of the Day

This is a good one, people...

Obviously a bit more summery than I'm going for, but I'm loving some of these details.  I actually cut out this photo of the boutenniere in the middle/left (how in the heck do you spell that?  I misspell it every time!) from an old Martha Stewart Weddings and have it in my own wedding binder under the "Flowers" tab.  When it surfaced in this color palette, I was thrilled!  I'm also loving the orange boutenniere in the top/right - although Matt thinks it looks like a puff ball on a stick.  Oh well.  Other things I love:  the candle thingy and the homemade pies.  I really wanted to do this for our wedding - and we were planning on having pies for our dessert instead of wedding cake at first - but our reception site didn't allow it.  Oh well.  

Exciting!

Oh my goodness!  My wedding dress is in!  I am incredibly excited.  Between this and the fact that I've been working hard on the invitations with my incredible invitation designer all week (don't worry, I'll devote a plug post to her later!), all this wedding stuff is starting to feel pretty real now!  

Cannot wait to try on MY dress!  Not the sample!  Every time I go back to see the sample, it has a few more years on it....a missing button here or there, and most recently, a few blood spatters on it from a pinning-gone-wrong, I can only assume.  Putting on MY dress...wow!  Exciting!  

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Awkward


I have come across these awkward and, well, confusing cake toppers on multiple wedding blogs.  I have been informed that I can buy them on Etsy, one of my favorite websites.  

Will someone please explain them to me?  Because I don't understand what they are, exactly.  At all.  And to be honest, they kind of creep me out.  I let Matt take a look at these bad boys, but...he seemed just as puzzled as I was.  So, I guess I'll label these as "weird wedding item of the week."  Yeah.  That sounds good.  

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Wedding Photo of the Day

This gorgeous photo of the day features none other than my beautiful matron of honor, Jennifer, and her husband Ryan - Matt's co-best man.  Jenn and Ryan were married on April 12th, 2008.  This is one of my favorite photos from their big day.

Hey, nice veil!  Jenn's veil is my "something borrowed" - look for it on November 8th!  

Don't worry - you'll see several more photos of Jenn and Ryan's amazing wedding in the weeks ahead.

Color Palette of the Day

I have become completely obsessed with several of the color palettes featured on wedding blogs such as Style Me Pretty (my absolute favorite!) and the Bride's Guide.  I've found a few that have really pinpointed the vibe I'm going for with our wedding.  Without further ado, here is the color palette of the day:


Love, love, love the muted fall shades and - especially - browns.  And - do you recognize that chic bridesmaid dress?  That will be modeled by my lovely Matron of Honor, Jennifer!  Surprisingly, I'm loving the brown suits, although Matt and his boys will be sticking to charcoal or black for the big day.  All in all - gorgeous palette.  

The Checklist

Every day, I go on TheKnot.com to look at my checklist.  Thanks to the fine people at The Knot (which is a fabulous wedding resource, FYI), I have an absolutely mind-boggling checklist of everything I am supposed to be completing for the wedding.  This checklist is organized in monthly increments up to my wedding date.  Each time I reach the next month (i.e., today, as the 9th to the 8th of the following month is considered my "wedding month increment"), more items on my checklist magically appear.  I find this both challenging and daunting.  

I love checking things off the list.  When I do this, they disappear.  They're gone.  According to The Knot, I have completed 70 items on my checklist.  Sadly, I still have 184 left.  The thing is...I just don't find all of them valid.  Some of these items are innocuous enough, like..."finalize menu and service details with caterer."  Well, that's pretty black and white.  Others are a little more complex:  "Brides:  experiment with your beauty routine, self-tanners, and facials."  ??  I suppose I should just go ahead and check this one off the list.  I feel like it's probably best to not do any experimenting with only four months left until the wedding.  And...self-tanners?  I don't think so.  

The other beauty of the checklist is that it tells me how many days are left until the wedding.  Today, it informs me that there are 122 days remaining until I become Mrs. Smith.  It also tells me that I'm behind on a few items - namely, booking our hotel room for the wedding night.  This is notated by a purple exclamation mark next to the checklist item.  Other items I am overdue on:  ordering invitations (I'm working on this, Checklist, I swear!), and deciding on a floral scheme with specific flowers.  

Oh well.  I'm pretty sure I'm on top of things, and while I'll continue to use my Knot Checklist purely for the joy of watching tasks disappear, I won't let it get the better of me!  And for now, my own internal checklist has informed my that I'm overdue for walking my dog.  

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Blog, day one....or, will anyone besides Lisa read this?

This title won over Lisa's favorite, "Scared Smithless."  I'll have to use that for something else - it really is a great play on words.  I've never blogged before but, since I have become an avid wedding blogaholic in the past few months, I thought I would give it a try.  

Matt and I are getting married four months from today on November 8th, and there's still a ton to do.  The big stuff - place, dress, etc. - has been done for ages, but we're getting into all the details now.  I think that this is the fun stuff!  But it really takes some time and creativity to pull it all together.  I want the wedding to be unique, creative, and  different - I don't want there to be anything cookie-cutter about it.  

Since this is my first post, I better provide some background information.  Our wedding is in November.  I'm thinking...a chic fall vibe.  A little eclectic, perhaps.  I have a bit of a leaf theme going on, and I'm also going with a variation on some cider mill themes - i.e., hot spiked cider at cocktail hour.  There's more to that theme, but I have to keep some surprises for the wedding day!  I'm My four wonderful, beautiful bridesmaids are wearing these fabulous dresses from J.Crew:


I love all of these dresses, and think that they will look as unique and beautiful as the girls wearing them.  I almost wish that I got to pick out a beautiful brown J.Crew dress, too!  Of course, then I remember that I get to wear an incredible wedding dress, and...well, I can't get into the details here, but...it's a real knock out.  

I think I'll wrap this up for tonight - I'll get into more details tomorrow.  Time to get cracking on the fun stuff!

xoxo,
Shaina