i'm gonna marry you someday

special somethings

2010-11-23T11:52:00.000-08:00

i'm a sentimental girl compounded by a love for antiques ( hence the draw to have our wedding in a barn filled with antiques) so choosing my something old and borrowed were not difficult tasks. we had many treasures with family history incorporated into our day.

the cake topper on our cake was the cake topper my great grandmother had on her wedding cake, it was passed down to my mother only a year or so ago and the family was thrilled to have one more wedding in the generation to reuse it.

my mom is also an antiquer. when i was little i used to love looking through her boxes of vintage broaches. when i was pondering what to do with my hair, add a flower? a little veil? i revisited her box of broaches and picked one that i thought could be used as a fascinator for flower or what have you. in the end it was used to secure my lace detail, i love how personal the embellishment was, how unique to me and special to my mom.

the bone rose earrings i wore were my moms, and i also used the same purse that she used on her wedding day AND my sister used on hers.

and my something blue? my shoes of course, from Nina, i loved them...

(all photos rise photography, please do not reproduce with out proper credit)

the smallest members of our party...

2010-11-18T13:20:00.001-08:00

the little ones always steal the show don't they? they are just so cute everyone wants to be around them, they add joy to joy.

my niece is almost one and a half and she was such a good little "flower girl." she is my first and only niece, i watched her 4 days a week the first year of her life and i am just in love with her. i wasn't even sure if she'd be able to walk for our wedding but i wanted to put her in a little white dress and let her be a part of the party.

we were very lax about it. if she was in the mood and got down the aisle then fine - if not no biggie. we thought maybe my sister would carry her, we just wanted to play it by ear. we didnt waste money on flowers or petals or anything and decided that if anything she could carry icculus, our stuffed sock monkey with her or at least play with him.

well with her mom leading the way she strutted down the aisle like a champ with the monkey as a force field and the crowd LOVED it. i mean, how cute? she even stayed awake long enough to boogie with us, we were very very impressed.

ok, here is some monkey explanation. why the hell do mike and i have a sock monkey? and why do we love it enough to make him a bow tie and invite him to our wedding? i mean a wedding is a pretty grown up event right? and we seem kinda normal as far as you can tell?

well, a few years ago now mike was the victim of a random act of violence, he was attacked by two bikers with a ball peen hammer on our way home from a bar one night. it was horrible, one of the worst nights of our life, but it helped make us solid as a couple...(apparently he started to look for engagement rings the following week.) well, when i picked up his prescriptions the following morning i also picked up this sock monkey to be his "helper monkey" to help him get well, and make him smile. in the years that have followed the monkey has become a symbol of our love for each other, in times when we were living different schedules and mike was asleep before i got home from school i would come home to the monkey doing ridiculous things on my side of the bed - he became our device to say i was thinking about you while you weren't here - just look what this crazy monkey got into this time. silly i know, but it's us. all of our friends now know about him, he comes on vacation with us, friends ask if he can come out with them, and he even has a facebook page.

the florals

2010-11-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

today i got to spend some time with our florist, keith of floral concepts, who is using an image from our wedding for a bridal show this weekend and thought it appropriate to show you guys what he did to bring our day to life.

what are those amazing dangling things around the center poles of the tent? it was a combination of birch trees and hops - yep hops. when our florist found out mike brewed his own beer he had the idea and it was just perfect. it was whimsical, unique, perfectly us, and even fragrant. our guests got a kick out of it.

these gorgeous wreaths were used as decorations on the windows of the restaurant at our out of town dinner the night before, and then worked perfectly on the barn doors. a combination of hops, hydrangea, persimmons ( they looked like green tomatoes) and pine cones. the wreaths, now dried out are still as beautiful and decorate the entry way and pub of mike's family's hotel.

i dont have any great photos of the girl's bouquets yet but i do have a story for you about mine. they were a combination of dahlias, mums, various pods, eucalyptus leaves, and the peach peony looking flowers are actually a type of rose - aren't they gorgeous?

anywho. someone took my bridal bouquet. we had used the bouquets to decorate the buffet table and forgot to take them with us in the craziness of the end of the evening. when we returned the next day to do some cleaning and pick up the remaining decorations and flowers the bridesmaids bouquets were both there but mine was nowhere to be seen. mom hadn't seen it. mike's uncle hadn't seen it. no one at the hotel had seen it. as i walked the place the tent stood the night before and tried to be reasonable..."it's only flowers, not a big deal, you weren't gonna keep them forever, you have a million mementos from the day, etc. etc." i remembered seeing a photo of one of my girlfriends (crazy girlfriends) on facebook with my bouquet earlier in the morning. feeling a little accusatory and bitchy i gave her a call just to see if she had seen it. what do you know? she took it. she thought it was part of the "you can feel free to take a centerpiece home" deal. i know, i know. luckily she had left it in her hotel room, in water and i was able to retrieve it, sans hankie sadly, but at least i was able to dry some of my flowers as a momento.

and for kicks here is what keith is using at the show, with a copy of an email i sent him after the wedding.

all photos rise photography, please do not reproduce without proper credit.

a magical place

2010-11-06T17:33:00.000-07:00

(all photos rise photography, please no reproduction without permission)

mike's uncles' farm is beautiful, perfectly beautiful and on our wedding day it glowed with picturesque perfection. in the days leading up to the wedding mike's uncles pulled out all of the stops to get their home and grounds in order for our celebration, tending to landscaping and even replanting some of the garden that would be our altar so that it was at optimal beauty for the wedding. for the two of us who thought it was perfect as it was, we were completely touched by how hard everyone pulled together and went above an beyond to make sure we had a great day.

i loved watching guests arrive to the farm from my perch hidden away in the house. watching my friends and family take in the magic of the place for the first time was a treat, we worked hard to create a wonderful experience for our guests and the pay off was in their faces every step of the way.

pro pics are in!

2010-11-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

our pro pics have started rolling in from rise photography and we are more than tickled...we have become crazy narcissistic animals that can't stop staring at the beautiful version of ourselves that the oh so talented sophie managed to capture.

here is a taste of some of the portraits before i finally jump into some real recaps.

getting ready

2010-10-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

i had such a perfect quiet wedding morning.

my hairdresser came to the suite to pretty us up around 11 am so i had plenty of time to get myself up and ready for the day before she arrived. it was just my sister, my mother, my best friend andrea (also my make up artist) and myself. it was intimate, peaceful, and such fun girl time. i also love that my mom and sister got to spend some time with andrea, she is an LA friend and doesnt get a lot of exposure to my family so seeing the three of them chit chatting and playing with hair and makeup together made me such a happy girl.

andrea works in fashion, she brought me a piece of lace trim from her show room to add some bridal-ness to my hair and i used one of my mom's antique broaches with a clip on it as a fascinator. i love how it came out. it was soft and romantic without being over the top, just enough of something special to make me feel like a bride.

i love this last photo of us in my dad's car en route to the farm for the wedding. i love our matching robes, the three blondes squeezed in the back like kids, and the down to earthness of us all piled in the back of my dad's car. it kept the day real and me here on earth rather than in never never big production bride land.

rehearsal and out of town dinner

2010-10-13T12:49:00.000-07:00

the party before the party was really almost fantastic as the wedding, it was over the top, full of love and FOOD.

as i mentioned before, we had a swarm of guests and family members flying in from out of town so for all extensive purposes this was a destination wedding. my family came in from wisconsin and we had friends from los angeles, dublin, seattle, new york and even new zealand converging on a small vacation town in southern maine.

friday morning a small group of us got up early and got to work setting up the farm. by the time i got back to the hotel for a bite to eat and a shower before the rehearsal the hotel pub was full of family i hadn't seen in years, my parents and siblings, and friends from around the globe. i remember being so pumped full of adrenaline i was buzzing like a telephone wire. i ordered a beer and a sandwich i couldn't eat ( and not only because i wanted to jump up and hug every person who came through the door) i think my body decided to stop digesting, it was too busy keeping tabs on all of the other physical phenomena occurring.

seeing peoples faces when they arrived at the farm was one of my favorite parts of the wedding. it's such a magical beautiful place that any preparation or description really didn't do it justice. and if i do say so myself the hodge podge of seating that we put together looked fantastic.

(ps. isn't my niece the cutest little girl you've ever seen?)

once we got the house keeping out of the way it was on to dinner which was literally a feast. mike's dad was our host, as he runs the hotel we all stayed at, and because he knew we had so many people flying in to maine from afar he decided he HAD to do a family style lobster dinner. it was decadent, over the top, and such a crowd pleaser. friends and family were laughing all over the room teaching each other to crack open lobsters, all in their bibs, it was amazing.

our florist also decorated the rehearsal dinner. the small bottles and vases with wild flowers were moved into the barn the following day to decorate the surfaces, and the 4 gorgeous wreathes that were in the windows were hung on the barn doors.

after everyone was pleasantly stuffed, a few cocktails in, and we had made our speeches and delivered our gifts, we headed to the hotel pub for a special treat from my sister. she made a slide show of mike and i's childhood photos and then photos of the two of us together. it may sound cheesy but it was a true tear jerker. not only is it overwhelming to see your life flash before you but i had never seen any of mike's baby photos. they are the subject of much grief due to divorce and it was just the sweetest thing i'd ever seen...he was so cute!!

(mike copping a feel, getting as much as he can before we retire to separate rooms)

"photobooth" photos

2010-10-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

the "photobooth" was an element that we practically scrapped, there was just too much else to do in the days before. BUT one of our lovely ushers and my groom decided to get it up and running just hours before the wedding and it really did get us some great photos from the cocktail hour which we didnt get to participate in...i love them!

little extras - waste of money or totally worth it?

2010-10-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

i dont really know where to begin the recaps so i thought i would start small and talk about some of the little details while we await the professional photographs...

favors and escort cards were some of the details we included in our wedding that some cautioned were a waste of money - they would be left on tables and we would have a stock pile of wedding extras to deal with once we returned from the honeymoon. lucky for us this was not the case.

maybe it was knowing our audience? maybe it was how we incorporated the items into the overall vibe of the event? i dunno but we were thrilled that everyone took home the cd's we painstakingly* created and the keys we designated as escort cards. (in fact, we were a little disappointed because we were hoping to have some left over to hang on to as mementos ourselves.)

we have heard countless times, via phone, text and facebook since the wedding that our guests are listening to the cd we created on repeat in their cars re-living the weekend. how could we not smile proudly? even my mom who doesn't always compliment took the time to tell me yesterday that she knows it by heart now, that she loves how it tells the story of our relationship, and that she thinks i should start a business making wedding cd's for people ( not fully understanding that part of why it was a success is because it was so honestly us, but hey...)

on our way home from hawaii we stopped over in LA for a few days to see friends and family before returning to reality and we saw 3 keys in seperate households on display, and were told by one amazing guest how she already went out to find the perfect chain to turn her key into a new necklace. how cool is that?

in short i hope you can see that for us, it was worth it. i can understand that it might not be for everyone. whether it be money or time (because lets face it, if you dont have one you are going to make up for it with plenty of the other) i for one love to throw myself into a crafty project - and as the wedding approached i found comfort in the distractions that they provided. the fact that our guests responded so well was what we hoped for but with something creative you never really do know do you?

* the cds were a true labor of love, from hunting for vendors to supply the raw materials i envisioned, to the learning curve that came with teaching myself to silkscreen, to the monotonous labor involved in folding and glueing the cases. even stamping the thank you tags and donation info was a project but i was lucky to have a partner in crime ready to lend a hand and spend an evening in front of the tv with a bottle of wine and a bottle of rubber cement.

there are no words...

2010-09-21T07:21:00.001-07:00

...not yet at least. we are home for a few days before we jet off to maui but i wanted to say thank you for the well wishes and blog love! it was all we ever could have asked for and more. here is a taste that our photographer sent to us giddy at 2am after the wedding...

here it comes

2010-09-14T21:45:00.001-07:00

the out of town guests have begun arriving.

the shopping lists are complete.

nails and waxing happens tomorrow.

the seating cards are complete.

the favors are complete.

the vendors are confirmed.

the checks have been written.

the shoes are broken in.

the mother in law to be is here.

the grandma's land in the morning.

in three says we get married and i'm buzzing - i dont know how i'm expected to sleep between now and then - there is so much and so many people to be up for.

10 days to go

2010-09-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

as most of you have have gone through this already know that this time is just nuts. we're on the phone all the time, we're emailing lists, we're making trips to drop off furniture and props and buying insane quantities of booze from across state lines where there isn't sales tax (woohoo!) and just exhausted in general.

some things are going wrong, some problems are bigger than others, and some stresses are bigger than others. we've found ourselves drinking much more than normal - which i can only assume is to be expected after these long crazy days to relax with a bottle of wine together - we laugh and wonder if all wedding planning couples go through wine like we do, we like to assume they do.

today, i am focusing on the fact that we already have our marriage license, we got it a few weeks ago, so if all else fails we will still be getting married in 10 days. here is our photo from city hall.

exhale.

east coast bachelorette party pics

2010-08-28T19:24:00.000-07:00

did you love your bachelorette party? i loved mine - it was wrought with disaster, what started as 10 girls ended up being only 6 for various levels of unfortunate events, but it was much needed, my sister and the girls who could make it went out of their way to make sure i had a good time - and i did....oh and i won $140 on a nickel slot machine too - may sound like small pennies to you but for this wedding planning unemployed girl it was the jackpot!

the girls left a tiger in my bathroom a la the hangover...i much preferred him to the other traditional bachelorette props...i even gave him a leash.

i also got flaming bottles of vodka - i mean - fireworks and grey goose - how could a girl not feel special?!

how-to: recycled newspaper bags

2010-08-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

here is my promised how-to for my newspaper out of town bags. i have to say, one of the biggest issues with this project for the purpose i intend on using them is the content of the newspapers i was using. if you live in a big city and have any free entertainment newspapers like the boston phoenix or the la weekly you know that the back pages usually list a specific set of services that may not be grandma appropriate - so just remember to look first!

... thats such a stress to me

2010-08-16T18:57:00.000-07:00

i found myself overwhelmed - just at my limit today. and for some reason i kept thinking of that 12 days of christmas spoof that the jokester radio stations sometimes play around the holidays...(you know...stringing up the lights, annnd finding a chriiistmass treee...) while trying to sort out exactly what it was that was stressing me out and realized it was just lots of things swirling at once, so if you don't mind the vent...ehem.

on 12th day til wedding (ok its 30 but still) thats such a pain to me...

ALL OUT OF ROOOOOMS,

UNINVITED GUESTS,

LATE WEDDING DRESS,

GENERAL FAMILY STRESS,

CHANGING DINNER TIMES,

A WHITE SHIRT WILL BE JUST FINE,

WHERE ARE OUR RIIIINGS??!!!!,

FRIENDS NEED TO ACT LIKE GROWN UPS,

I DONT CARE WHAT NIGHT YOU COME UP,

A LITTLE THING CALLED PRENUP,

ANNNNND PLEASE SEND BACK YOUR RSVPPPPP.

thanks ladies i needed that.

i'm looking so forward to my bachelorette party this weekend and laying by the pool with margarita - after margarita - after margarita.

for the girls

2010-08-13T07:57:00.001-07:00

i'm so excited about the gifts i found for my bridesmaids...you might remember i got them each a necklace to wear during the wedding but wanted to get them something special and just for them as well (meaning not a self serving wedding necessity that seconds as a gift.)

i kept thinking about getting them some sort of sexy or silky robe and then i stumbled upon etsy seller plumprettysugar and my dreams were answered. i was able to get each girl (and myself) a different beautiful short summer robe. the patterns of the soft cotton fabrics are just beautiful and so unique. i received them in the mail yesterday and have to admit i'm wearing mine already. i hope they like them as much as i do!

now to figure out what to get the guys. we are having such a hard time trying to think of something thats not a throw away gift to give them. any suggestions? what did you get your guys?

favorite songs to boogie down to at a wedding

2010-08-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

so...we're working on our song lists for our dj and i kinda want to ask our friends which songs they would like to hear but i don't want to open that can of worms...so i thought i'd ask you guys. what are your favorite songs to dance to at a wedding?

BeatTrain wedding mix

2010-08-10T08:52:00.000-07:00

as we're less than 5 weeks out from our d-day mike and i have been doing a lot of final meetings with vendors and drawing up schedules and contact lists, you know the fun stuff...

luckily we love all of our vendors so the process is going rather smoothly and we are getting really excited. we met with our dj, ari rosenfield of beat train productions, last week for a friendly dinner and to get down to business and discuss the sequence of events, the vibe we're going for, and to start discussing our play lists (though we love ari and his taste in music so we want to give him lots of freedom to let loose and take the party where he wants.)

ari spins at clubs and functions around new england in addition to weddings and has some fantastic dance party ready mixes on his website that really showcase his abilities and his diverse range, (i'm partial to the shake a tail feather mix.)

well, he made a new mix just for me (an you guys of course!) of some jazzy, loungy tunes that he might play during dinner or a cocktail hour for a wedding. i thought some of you might enjoy it either for inspiration or to go directly on your i-pods if you're planning on providing tunes yourself. enjoy!

beattrain dinner mix (follow link to download mp3)

Into The Blue by Karminsky Experience Inc.
Le temps de l'amour by April March
Comment te dire adieu by Francoise Hardy
Chez Les Ye-Ye by Serge Gainsbourg
House of Bamboo by Andy Williams
Spooky - Dusty Springfield
Humdrum Blues by Elaine Delmar
Why Don't You Do Right by Cleo Jones
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) by Nancy Sinatra
Hi-Heel Sneakers by Jose Feliciano

Thirteen Men by Ann Margret
Swingin On the Moon by Mel Torme
Hit That Jive, Jack! by Diana Krall
Box Cars by Ken Jenson
Trav'lin' Light by Billie Holiday
Hold On by Dodo Greene
Pneumonia by Joe Tex

beattrainnyc.com

beattrainproductions.com

no cost recycled out of town bags

2010-08-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

ok, let me preface this post by saying - i've been unemployed for a long long time now. so long i passed stir crazy weeks ago and have just today moved into the "act like an insane person when your fiance goes to work because you can't stand another day of nothing to do" phase. after apologizing for above referenced behavior i decided that today i was going to put on some records, finish a little gift i've been thinking about for a while and take a stab at making my own paper bags for no other reason than i needed a task to keep me busy.

since we have such a large number of guests flying in from California, Wisconsin, and well all over the world (Dublin and New Zealand!), we've made an effort to take good care of them in exchange for them spending their hard earned cash on attending our wedding. we've transformed the traditional rehearsal dinner into an out-of-towners feast and we want to provide our guests with at least a little something in their rooms to make them smile when they land if possible.

the thing is, the out of town bags keep moving down the priority list and the financial allotment list. what started as a dream to make fabulous one of a kind silk screened cloth bags started to look much more like a packet of useful info, a bottle of water, and a map.

somewhere in my online or design school classes someone mentioned making bags out of newspapers and i've been thinking about it ever since. mostly thinking about it in ways like -man i'd be insane to make 50 bags by hand... seems like a lot of effort to save a measly couple of bucks... people are just gonna throw them away... it's not greener than buying new if i buy bags made with recycled paper...who has the time for that really?

well today i came to terms with the fact that i have the time. so i took an old LA Weekly out of my stack of newspapers and magazines that i use for art projects and gave it a whirl. i watched a couple of different online tutorials and ended up using a hybrid of sorts using only the papers and two pieces of tape each.

i love the way they came out. i love that some have bright crazy bansky graffiti art on them while others have concert listings, one even has a huge flight of the concords poster on it, i just love them. the best part is, the LA Weekly was free to begin with and something i had and intended to use for art projects of some sort. it's a perfect size and i made about 15 double ply bags out of one paper. i'll be using the boston pheonix to finish out the lot i think...

aren't they cute? i really don't think i'll ever buy a gift bag ever again. are any of you interested in a how to??

crafty goodness

2010-08-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

i've been a bad updater lately i know...but i have been a very good crafter. ( i kinda hate the term DIY kinda like STD i dunno why? but anyway...)

in addition to settling on a playlist and burning cd's for favors (with mikey's help of course) I've been making trolley tickets, designing cd covers, and welcome packets with important times and directions for our out of town guests - i've been playing around and making some of the fun stuff.

i've aged the key tags (stained with one morning's left over coffee) for our seating cards so that i was able to add names as the rsvp's came in. they were just a little too crisp and clean as they were...

after searching for a cheap collection of vintage slate chalk boards for table numbers without too much luck i found these cheap little wood frames at michael's (like 59 cents) that were actually a better size to not overpower our water pitcher centerpieces as well. so i got myself some chalkboard paint and stain to age a bit and made my own...

i'm not sure if i've ever mentioned this to you guys before, but our old landlord bequeathed the mother load of old ball jars, milk jars, and old medicine bottles to mike and i before she sold her house, she even gave them to us in a stack of amazing old wooden wine and milk crates. needless to say they will be a part of our decor. we decided to make a bunch of the old jars into candles (fearing that tea lights might not last all night and not wanting to mess with rocks or sand or any of that stuff to hold up the mini pillar candles) and the rest will be used as extra vases for the bars, cake table, gift table etc...

with the help of my mother and sister we made almost 70 candles for the price of the bulk wax (and the hours of pouring and patience needed to tie off wicks without pulling of the bottom)

i have to admit some of the jars are so cool i couldn't bring myself to make candles out of them at first, but then i had a pep talk with myself, they've been sitting in our basement for well over a year, if we didn't use them for our wedding would they just sit there forever? i decided it was a good life for the pretties...and the really really fragile looking ones (or the ones that had formed bubbles in the glass) i saved to use as vases instead.

so things are trucking along, and it feels really good to have these crafts done and in boxes ready for transport rather than hanging out on the to-do list.

you guys are driving me crazy...

2010-07-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

i mentioned before that the whole guy's suit situation was one of the points causing me some major stress in this wedding planning affair. once we got mike his suit and decided what we were going to get the guys ( my brother, his brother and his best friend) i felt a lot better about the whole thing for a while, we had even stumbled upon a fantastic tie, below for those who might not remember.

the plan was for mike to pick up the other 3 ties, just like his, when he went to pick up his suit after it had been tailored. road block. the store was out of that tie. not just the harvard square store but all of the stores in all locations, the tie was completely sold out and unattainable. cut to bride spewing profanities - why on earth did we not get all 4 ties when we were there a month before? and if the ties are selling out we have to get these boys to buy their suits asap because i may have a break down if god forbid a similar situation happens with them. yeah i know - it's not good for my health to stress out about these small things but adding extra steps at this point in the game just equals stress to me.

stress. a mad search commenced for suitable replacement ties that could coordinate with mike's tie but not match exactly. i like the idea of him being a little different anyway and nothing else in this wedding is going to be matchy matchy so whats the big deal. oh yeah and we need to get something for the dad's too. am i really running around stressing over ties? oh boy it's time to get married already...

after a fruitless search for an easy order replacement i stumbled upon etsy seller hand made by emy who makes custom ties for wedding parties and has a really nice selection of fabrics. after contacting her to pick her brain about some fabrics that might mix in with our orange and blue madras design it was clear we were in good hands. i choose an orange gingham, a little bit country, a little bit casual, and a little bit funky i think for the 3 boys. i just received them in the mail today and they are beautiful. they are so well made, beautifully lined, and even wrapped in perfect little packages...oh and did i mention extremely affordable? emy really saved my day and i very highly recommend her.

we ended up ordering black and white piccolo gingham for the dads from j.crew, the orange seemed a little too young for them, and now that i have them all here i think it makes a pretty nice picture.

i have to say i do feel relieved to have one more piece of the puzzle accounted for, less than 2 months out my check lists are running long and every item taken off the table is like oxygen to me.

we now have all but one of the guys ( ehem...) suited up but it wasnt without a little extra leg work. as i had feared i went to an express to check on the vests and slacks and they did not carry the gray any longer - they were switching it out for black - the fall lines were coming in, i almost lost it. luckily we found a store in the area that still had them and walked mike's brother - his best man - in to buy it immediately. they look super cute on and i'm a happy girl - well i will be once the 3rd guy gets his but i'm on my way.

the final huge road block was the off white dress shirts. are you guys encountering any of this? since my dress is an antiqued white everyone is telling us the guys need to be in ivory or off white otherwise my dress will look dirty. great, another search. have you tried to google an ivory dress shirt? or an off white dress shirt? or even eggshell or ecru? the results are few and far between, i checked retailers, designers, even wedding message boards and forums for advice. i was pulling my hair out and about to say - screw this a white shirt is a white shirt when at express on our suiting excursion we found a perfect solution, beautiful off white shirts - called "stone" - that work perfectly.

so yeah, i can't count the times "why didnt we just rent tuxes" whispered through the back of my mind.* this part has really been a lot of work and energy for me. anyone else having any suiting troubles? the saving grace is that they do look darn cute but really, there needs to be a place that does suit rentals for the modern groom already, they could make a fortune.

* i have a friend who is getting married this weekend and when the guys went to mens wearhouse to pick up their tuxes a few days ago they all had gray jackets and black pants, so i know that a rental wouldn't necessarily mean less stress.

my fair wedding

2010-07-19T12:31:00.001-07:00

ok, so i'm coming clean. while mike work's on sunday nights i have settled into a routine of doing homework while watching wedding shows. i feel like a bit of a closet drug addict, not wanting to admit it to the outside world - i even draw my shades so the neighbors can't see me indulging...but this week on my fair wedding david tutera designed a cowgirl wedding and the ceremony is fantastic inspiration for my own wedding. well, maybe not inspiration, lets face it i'm counting down the weeks not months now so there won't be too many changes, but last week when we took a trip to the farm where our celebration will be we found a seating option that really excited us.

originally we thought we'd rent one set of garden chairs to be used for the ceremony and reception with the caterers redressing while the cocktail hour happened. well, when we visited last week we noticed that Jon and Randy have countless old beat up farm benches, big enough to fit between 6 and 10 guests on each. if we use these in conjunction with some of the other mismatched antique furniture that already lives in the barn it could be a very cute ceremony seating set up, the benches almost like pews, and a lot less work (and worry, i've been stressing about making sure all of the chairs are moved in a timely manner.) so what does this have to do with this wedding tv? well, a similar effect was created for this wedding and i think it looks just darling..that's all! a clip from the venue below shows off some of the set up.

mad men bridal shower

2010-07-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

my sisters and mother threw me my shower today, a mad men, 60's housewife themed brunch. though there were some minor hiccups- like my mom being on crutches the result of a minor bike accident - it was a really fun day. it was at my parents house and since a lot of the guests were the women in mike's family i thought it was really nice, there is something almost old fashioned about inviting my new family into my mother's home, the home i grew up in.

the girls out did themselves offering and belini's and mimosa's in vintage glassware, and a goodie bag full of vintage candy classics like wax bottles, necco wafers, lemonheads and candy cigarettes.

there was the perfect balance of games (just the toilet paper bride and a age guessing game with childhood photos of me) food, chit chat, and of course sitting around the bride to be while she opens mountains of gifts...i do not exaggerate...mountains. we received such thoughtful gifts and nice things for our home, and only one instance of tears. my sister gave me an engraved locket like the one i gave her for her shower, i wanted her to have something special to pass down through the generations and she returned the favor, we're such saps!

i had super cute outfit as well but i dont have any pictures yet - will be sure to post when i do!

(ps. my sister designed the invite's too - isn't she talented?!)

landmarks and milestones...

2010-06-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

today i turn 30. yep, as if i didnt have enough to celebrate i am surrounded by friends and family intent on making me feel special this week and i couldn't be more grateful.

30 is a big one, and i thought i could feel it - like the way i felt 16, in my soul and in my bones from the moment i woke up. i remember turning 16 so clearly and feeling like i was transitioning to something - though it could have been the cape cod summer romance induced butterflies i was really feeling - but still, i felt something. i didnt wake up feeling any different today but i did wake up feeling loved.

as i snuck out of the house before 7 am i almost tripped on a package for me with the name in the return field belonging to of one of my best childhood friends. a friend i havent celebrated a birthday with for more than 10 years. i loved giving and getting gifts from sue when i was a kid, she always knew just what to get me even though i may not have even realized it. since sue now lives in ireland it seemed like magic that a package from her arrived on my doorstep at 6 am on my 30th birthday and i think it was. i felt so so loved and the rest of the day has seemed followed suit. thank you susie!

birthdays are always a time of reflection, of all of the days of our lives they are one that we can nail down and use as a barometer - one year ago i was, two years ago i was, 15 years ago i was. it's bitter sweet nostalgia as don draper so eloquently described, but this year i'm happy to be looking forward, i have great things on the horizon, a husband, the beginnings of a new family unit, and countless birthdays to look forward to knowing at least that one person will always be there to celebrate with me.

to watch the mad men kodak carousel pitch and think about nostalgia click here.

out of our hands...

2010-06-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

after months of designing and procrastinating, weeks of printing, days of cutting, stuffing and tying, and hours of hand addressing ... our invitations are out the door!

i'm a very happy bride to be today

secret of how we actually got them done? why are they not still sitting half finished in boxes? we had to live for 6 hours without power today while electricians rewired the apartment. no movies, no laptops, no music, just me and my guy stuffing envelopes - i couldn't have planned a better way to get them done.

more of why i preemptively love our photographer...

2010-06-23T17:55:00.000-07:00

the details shots, creative use of her surroundings, and images with just a piece of the subject playing with the frame...

all photographs courtesy of rise photography

wedding 3 of 4 before our big day...

2010-06-22T17:15:00.000-07:00

this weekend's wedding was a big one in our summer of weddings for a few reasons. first - i was in the wedding party which we all know means dress, hair, and a myriad of duties on and around the wedding. second - it was mike's sister's wedding.

mike's sister and i have been planning weddings simultaneously for the last year plus. at first i thought it would be a huge emotional issue - you know; two parties all the same people so close together; competition; sharing spotlights - all that good stuff... but the process was actually pretty great. we couldn't be two more different brides and ally also lives and works up in maine where we are having our celebration so she has been an amazing help throughout the vendor selection process and the planning in general.

well, ally worked her butt off planning and organizing a perfect day, so much so that we worried she may not be able to relax and actually enjoy her day - but boy was i wrong. it couldnt have been more perfect, she was STUNNING, the day was beautiful (a touch on the hot side but no complaints except from the boys in the monkey suits,) and everything went off without a hitch resulting in a fabulous wedding from start to finish.

one of the interesting things, as i am about to become a member of this family, is that i felt for the first time like i was at a wedding in my own family. i found comfort and so so much fun in actually knowing all of the guests, dancing with future uncle-in-laws and father-in-laws and cousin-in-laws.

as the event coincided with our 3 months to go mark and the time when we can actually celebrate without feeling like we are stepping on toes or stealing thunder i couldnt be happier - i am elated about the family i am inheriting, all of the smiling faces so excited to watch us wed in 3 months and accept me as a part of the family while i was celebrating the day along side them. what really made me warm and fuzzy inside is the fact that i truly bonded with my future sister-in-law over the last few days. between riding along as she made all of the final checks the day before, helping to entertain family, documenting the preparation process and being so intimately involved in making sure the brides day, photos, hair, feet, lip gloss, dress, and bathroom breaks were tended too i dont know how i couldnt feel close to her. i was so happy to be there for her and to know that i helped to make her dream wedding go perfectly in some small ways.

oh yeah - and aside from all the gushy family and emotional stuff we also learned and saw a lot this weekend because of the said overlap.

we are renting the same tent for our reception - it's amazing! i never thought i'd get excited about a tent but it's so bright and clean and elegant i'm really excited.

our florist created the florals and tablescape for the rehearsal dinner - also gorgeous and now i'm even more excited to work with him!

we will be having the same officiant, and it was just nice to spend more time with her before our wedding, she doesn't feel like such a stranger any more which is really great.

a few things that we know we need to work on after this weekend:

transportation - we have only rented one trolley and after riding in them this weekend we learned they carry fewer passengers than we thought (sitting at least) so we will have to suck it up and get a second one.

bugs - i was eaten alive at the reception and luckily we will be on private property so a bug bomb the day of is not out of the question.

ceremony seating - mike was an usher and as the job description states had the duty of showing all of the guests their seats. well, since the first rows that were designated for family were not marked or roped off he had to ask frail old great aunt edith to move back a row so the mother of the bride could sit which isn't ideal - we'll be putting some place cards on VIP seats or roping off the first few rows i think to prevent any shuffle.

head table - we already knew we didnt want one but this just reconfirmed it. the table was empty most of the night as we hovered over the friends or dates we really wanted to be with.

there is more but those are the biggies, and now we're off to really get this wedding planned! invitations are half stuffed and ready to go pictures to come soon!

i love you like a song

2010-06-15T15:59:00.001-07:00

i'm working on a special wedding gift for one of my friends inspired by moulin rouge, so i've had song medleys running through my head all day....

"the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return..."

summer of weddings two of four

2010-06-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

this weekend my dear friend karina (you may remember her from our joint LA bachelorette weekend) was married in new york. without bias or exaggeration it is probably the most beautiful wedding i will ever attend. the wedding was held at the tribeca rooftop. the ceremony and cocktail hour were on the actual roof of the building over looking the hudson river on one side and the manhattan skyline on the other.

the day was overcast and drizzly but magically the skies cleared just before the ceremony, it was gorgeous.

i loved the simple elegance that was infused into the day, it goes to show that more does not equal more beautiful. the aisle was lined with simple glass cylinders, a white runner and some orchid lined branches as the alter. karina, her sister and mother each carried bouquets of pink peonies.

one of the most exciting things for me was the traditional chinese tea ceremony that was performed after the western ceremony. the couple presented the elders from both families with tea and in return were presented with gifts. not only was it a beautiful event to watch but as a bride to be i love that they got to spend some time with all of their families one on one to receive congratulations and to thank them for their support and attendance - does that sound a lot better than spending your entire dinner going from table to table with your groom?

the cocktail hour to follow was extravagant and delicious! raw bars, sushi bars, martini bars and comfort food stations, really no one had to wait in line for a drink or a snack and it was all delicious.

the reception only continued on the same high, the band was phenomenal, interactive, modern, and totally personalized. they made a sit down meal everything but stifling with dancing breaks between courses and toasts keeping the momentum up and the crown moving and mingling.

one of the sweet things that the couples did was present the bride's father with a cake since it was his birthday, it was super sweet and that transitioned into the father and daughter dance (which impressively was a waltz, she did so good!)

i could go on and on, he fathers speech, the gorgeous red gown she changed into at the end of the evening (another chinese tradition) but i think i'll just share a few more photos of the beautiful bride...i mean, really? breath taking.

all photos from Bill Wang, who was everywhere and somehow managed to already have photos of the wedding up for us to re-li ve.

why i preemptively love our photographer part 2 of many...

2010-06-02T16:12:00.001-07:00

i love sophie's ability to spot beautiful light and use it - so refreshing to see when i feel like so many wedding photographers are all flash!flash!flash! which leaves photos looking flat rather than full of life...

(all photos courtesy of rise photography)

why i preemptively love our photographer part 1 of many...

2010-06-01T17:48:00.000-07:00

so... i studied film and photography in school, and whether i am any good or not i think i have pretty high standards for visual imagery (maybe i'm a snob - but whatever,) so when we started looking for photographers i was in heaven looking through all of the gorgeous pictures - but shortly redirected to the hell that is the lack of a budget friendly happy medium when it comes to wedding photographers.

i found that the first number of photographers i inquired about were way out of our price range - like more than half of my entire budget out of my price range - i had no idea. especially now a days when everything is shot digitally so you aren't even factoring the price of film - i was just shocked that $5,000 seemed to be the low end of the spectrum, really? before getting too discouraged i made some appointments with the associate photographers of some of the fancy shmancy studios i was drawn too... except they were still out of my budget and that didnt even include rights to digital files or anything - ridiculous! since photography is something that is really for us and not part of making sure our guests enjoy themselves we were not willing to sacrifice food or any other of the major expenses so we could have a $6,000 photo on our mantel 30 years from now.

so i went back to the hunt and found some more photographers that did fit in our budget, but after meeting with them and going through their books i found myself even more upset. how do some of these people manage to have careers? i've started to seriously consider upgrading my camera and starting to shoot some weddings myself! i was just so frustrated that there was no middle ground...

but then my internet search and blog obsession skills brought me to Sophie of Rise Photography in Portland Maine. a year later i really couldn't tell you how exactly i came across her, perhaps from a local caterer or florists vendor recommendations? i'm really just guessing. well i had a hunch she was the one after checking out the work on her website and seeing that she is not only a wedding photographer but she is a portrait photographer, a fine art photographer, and a gallery owner that brings together local artisans.

what first caught my eye were her gorgeous landscapes. after seeing the cheesy thoughtless line-em-up-shoot-em-down portfolios in my price range i felt like if we could find someone who had the skill to create a beautiful landscape at our sprawling farm location and place us in it i would be a happy girl. well, then we met Sophie and i instantly wanted to just hang out with her, she was easy going, professional, stylish, surrounded by art - really - she couldnt be more perfect. she was the first of our fabulous team of vendors we've come to assemble and i just can't wait to show her our location and have her play around the farm with us. i want to show off some more of her photos so i have broken them up into groups based on what we were looking for in a photographer...so first up, are some more landscapes from some of her recent weddings...

(all photos courtesy of rise photography)

something blue

2010-06-01T15:32:00.001-07:00

i finally got my blue shoes! hooray! after a bit of a struggle to find the perfect teal peep-toe my new dress actually helped dictate a little different shade for my footwear. since the gown is a little more muted this navy with a hint of gray from Nina is perfect - they got here today and they are sooo pretty!!!

i am so torn between not wanting to take them off because i love them and not wanting to take them out of the box to keep them shiny and new. oh the joys of being a girl!

wardrobe for my groom

2010-05-25T18:09:00.001-07:00

the process of getting mike to look for and choose a suit was a huge struggle for me. i knew he wanted to wear a gray suit, and possibly a vest. after visiting men's warehouse over a year ago and being seriously unimpressed by the selection and even a little annoyed by the pushy demeanor of the sales associates (no, just because you don't have a modern cut gray suit does not mean we are going to change our minds and rent tuxes - thanks though!) mike lost interest and stamina in the hunt.

at first we were just so frustrated that no one rented suits since the modern man seems to be trending this way for special events -million dollar idea - why doesn't this exist?!

i found myself shopping for him online and holding onto my research until it had been long enough since the last suit nag (yes rationing my nagging - a great start to a marriage). we looked at zara, we looked at h&m, we looked at banana republic, express, and j.crew. the problem was this; we needed something affordable enough so that we could ask the guys to buy their own suits without putting them out too much. i was pushing express hard (they have these cute vested suits, and we still might go that route for the guys) and getting the guys their suits was one of the last giant check marks on our wedding to do list.

a little more than a week ago we went to express to try it in person - and it was cute - really cute - i thought we should walk out of the store with it and when we didn't mike finally said something that made me feel like an idiot and just embarrassed for not being more sensitive. he said that he wanted to marry me in something special. what a self absorbed bride? i have the balls to buy TWO dresses to feel and look good but i want him to settle so i can get it over with? how narrow minded of me. he wants to look like don draper. he wants to feel put together, sophisticated and sexy, and of course i want him to feel all of those things too.

the magic in this story is that the following day we went to check out j.press in harvard square - a coworker had recommended it to him after her husband found his suit there.

we enter j.press - a sea of ties, nautical themed belts, blazers with customizable harvard details and actual authentic nantucket reds. the boutique shop has been around for over a hundred years and dressed countless presidents while in office or still in their studies at the university. with very little information - color, time of year - the associate walks to a rack at the back of the store and pulls

out the perfect suit. modern, beautifully made, a gray that is not too dark and still not too summer for our september wedding, and trousers with a flat front. we finally feel like we are being taken care of by someone who knows what they are doing. as soon as the jacket went on, even over his green tootsie pop owl t-shirt i knew it was the one for him. i could tell he felt good in it and he felt like it was special enough to marry me in, a universe away from the others we had tried in the last year.

while the tailor fit him i checked out the accessories and found a tie that is just too perfect for our color scheme and overall aesthetic and mike loved it too. it has our orange, the blue to balance it, and even the cream to match my gown. we just bought one but i think we are going to go ahead and buy them for the other 3 guys as well. and now that my groom is squared away we are thinking that to save costs for the groomsmen we are going to have them just get a vest and slacks (possibly the express option above,) i think it will look cute for our rustic outdoor wedding - i love a guy in a vest with his shirt sleeves rolled up!

did any of you have a tough time finding the suiting for your grooms? if so how did you solve the problem?

summer of weddings, one down four to go

2010-05-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

this weekend we attended the first of 4 weddings that are this summer besides our own. we actually have 3 in five weeks to attend or be a part of - pretty nutty. i'm sure you've all gone through some of this, being a bride-to-be attending a wedding is a very different experience.

First of all i find myself being overly emotional - seeing the bride for the first time pausing in the doorway on her father's arm the tears started flowing. not only was this bride incredibly beautiful but i couldn't help but think about being in her shoes since i am so close myself. the combination of emotion was overwhelming to me - i cried like a baby while mike laughed at me and jabbed me with his elbow (i secretly think he made fun because he was going through the same thing, with his eye on his childhood friend, the groom, as he paced around the church greeting his guests and awaiting his soon to be wife.)

The second thing unfortunately involved in attending a wedding as a bride-to-be is the critical eye. i couldnt help but critique the decisions the couple made and compare them to what i would do, the bridesmaids looked fantastic in grey gowns all wearing different fuchsia pumps to coordinate with the hot pink gerber daisy's and roses in the otherwise green bouquets; the traditional catholic ceremony, though long, was really nice and for a moment a questioned the sacrifice that may be the weight of the moment for our relaxed set up - will it loose some of the emotion that the seriousness of a church setting holds?

both the bride and groom come from big families and paid for the party themselves which meant a few sacrifices - the open bar ended very early, even knowing their situation it still becomes a topic of conversation when you are told you need to start paying for your drinks, especially if you arent prepared for it. the sit down dinner made me feel confident about our decision to go the buffet route. i personally feel like you get trapped at your table for a long time as you wait for the courses to come out and i felt like before we knew it the night was over and i was just tasting the dessert. one thing they did that i thought was smart though, was not have a cake! we all got a piece of delicious cheese cake (cinnamon graham cracker crust - yummm) and i never even noticed until i was eating it that there was no cake in the room for display and cutting - and i dont think anyone else noticed either - a great way to cut some corners and save some cash i thought.

the other big enlightenment came at the after party. a small number of friends went back to the suite of rooms that the bridal party had been staying in for some relaxed budlights while the girls changed out of their dresses, the guys took off their ties, and we all took our heels off. it's so nice to get to actually spend some time with the bride and groom when they are done being "on" and the major saving grace - foood! it doesnt seem possible after just eating a big meal that you would be hungry again but five hours of drinking and socializing brings out the munchies. the group had trays of italian food - meatball sandwiches, lasagna - left over from the rehearsal dinner and it was a life saver. since we are also planning an after party in the hotel pub after our reception we had thought of making sure there was food available, but we didnt realize how much we needed or how important it was. now we're planning on ordering some trays of sub sandwiches and a stack of pizzas to be safe (especially with the way mike's guy friends can eat!)

are you ladies attending other weddings this summer besides yours? how are you handling it? any revelations?

get up for my girls

2010-05-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

we are having a small wedding party to keep a simple feel to the day, keep the organization of all the bodies simple, and in all honesty keep the choosing between friends simple. we decided to basically just have our siblings stand by our sides when we say i do. my sister, his sister, my sister in law, my brother, his brother, and his boyhood friend. pretty easy.

since we have such small parties i thought i would pick a color range on J.Crew for the girls and let them decide which dresses they want since i'm not into matchy-matchy so much and the hodgepodge look would support the relaxed feel we are trying to create for our day. well, turns out when everyone is trying to be polite no one makes a move or at least thats what happened with us, so we ordered a few dresses for my sister to try on (matron of honor) and decided we liked one - done. had the girls order, they all seem to be cool with it, they weren't a fortune, and they dont need alterations! hooray!

this is what they are wearing, the much fallen back upon by brides throughout the blogosphere - the silk chiffon juliette from j.crew.

so, now that they all have the same dress i decided i was going to use jewelry to add a pop of color to the blank palette and use it as an opportunity to give them each something a little different. through three separate vendors on etsy i found three necklaces that are all very similar, have a vintage and handmade feel, but are all different.

from esty vendors sora designs, botanical bird, and aphrodite888. nice huh? i am really happy with each of them, i think the one with the blue will go to my sister to set her apart a little. the overall image is starting to come together now isn't it? very exciting stuff.

now i need to decide what else to get them. i was thinking about different cardigans since it will be september, or wraps, and then there is purses, but maybe i shouldnt give them another "wedding thing" what do you think? what are you giving your girls for gifts? are you giving them wedding accessories as a part of their gift? is that mean? should i give them something completely for them? i feel like when i have participated in weddings in the past i have had a mix, undies/cami sets, jewelry, nips, eye masks and pj's - i guess i'm just kinda stuck. i'd love to hear what you all are doing for some ideas!

selling the dress

2010-05-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

well...it wasn't the easiest thing i've ever done, but i have put my original gown up for sale on preownedweddingdresses.com. though I'm over the moon about my new dress I did live with this gown for a long time and it IS beautiful, it will be bittersweet to see it go (but i hope it goes!)

if any onlookers know someone it might be fitting for please help pass the listing along! thanks!

...and songs

2010-05-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

can you tell i've been hashing out the ceremony details lately? i'm telling you it's from removing the dress remorse road block!

well, i knew what i wanted to walk down the aisle too for a long time, and mike chose what he wanted for the recessional months ago, but we didnt know what to do for when the girls and moms walked down the aisle. i thought we didnt need to pick anything at all and that our pre-processional mix could just fade into my song, but we've been thinking about having a bit more control lately (could just be another symptom of being engaged FOREVER.)

there are so many sappy love songs we have on the long list to sort through, Forever from Ben Harper, Do You Remember from Jack Johnson, Grow Old Along with Me from John and Yoko, but this week it hit me (ok maybe it was on the drive home while on my dress high). i dont want a sappy tear jerker of a love song as an entrance to my marriage i want a celebration of love and happiness, because that is how i feel when i think about marrying mike. i think about shouting from the top of Mullholand Drive, spinning with my arms out looking at the stars and laughing so hard i end up in a ball on the floor, overflowing with joy. which is why i am starting to lean towards All You Need is Love rather than any in the current pile.

am i going overboard with the "special songs?" have you chosen all of your songs?

readings

2010-05-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

mike and i knew we were not going to have the most traditional wedding ceremony with it being in a field rather than a church, not to mention it just not being very us, we felt we were freed up from sticking to the Corinthians (though i do love it) for one of our readings. and really, after walking down the aisle to a whiter shade of pale a passage from John just didnt seem to fit.

that being said some of the moments i am most excited about are the readings we chose to include in our ceremony. the first one we knew we wanted right away, though we thought it was hair brained, but were so excited when our officiant supported us without hesitation.

since mike and i met in film school, are suckers for romantic comedies, and were friends for over 8 years before we started dating, we couldn't imagine not including that special passage from when harry met sally in our wedding.

Harry: I've been doing a lot of thinking. And the

thing is, I love you.

Sally: What?

Harry: I love you.

Sally: How do you expect me to respond to this?

Harry: How about you love me too?

Sally: How about I'm leaving.

Harry: Doesn't what I said mean anything to you?

Sally: I'm sorry Harry, I know it's New Years Eve, I know

you're feeling lonely, but you just can't show up here, tell me

you love me and expect that to make everything alright.

It doesn't work this way.

Harry: Well how does it work?

Sally: I don't know but not this way.

Harry: Well how about this way. I love that you get

cold when it's seventy one degrees out, I love that it takes you an hour

and a half to order a sandwich, I love that you get a little crinkle

above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts, I love that

after I spend a day with you I can still smell your perfume on my clothes

and I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go

to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because

it's New Years Eve. I came here tonight because when you realise you want

to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of the

life to start as soon as possible.

Sally: You see, that is just like you Harry. You say

things like that and you make it impossible for me to hate you.

And I hate you Harry... I really hate you. I hate you.

(They kiss and make up.)

the second reading came to us as the perfect solution to our first dance song debate. mike discovered through his own channels how played out the song he had been attached to was in the hipster community and let is go. the compromise that i had been mulling over for some time was that the song could work really well as a poem - as a song it's almost a love letter - and we could include it in our day as a part of our ceremony. it will be read by a friend who is very dear to us.

Bright Eyes "first day of my life"

This is the first day of my life

I swear I was born right in the doorway

I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed

They're spreading blankets on the beach

Yours is the first face that I saw

I think I was blind before I met you

Now I don’t know where I am

I don’t know where I’ve been

But I know where I want to go

And so I thought I’d let you know

That these things take forever

I especially am slow

But I realize that I need you

And I wondered if I could come home

Remember the time you drove all night

Just to meet me in the morning

And I thought it was strange you said everything changed

You felt as if you'd just woke up

And you said “this is the first day of my life

I’m glad I didn’t die before I met you

But now I don’t care I could go anywhere with you

And I’d probably be happy”

So if you want to be with me

With these things there’s no telling

We just have to wait and see

But I’d rather be working for a paycheck

Than waiting to win the lottery

Besides maybe this time is different

I mean I really think you like me

a tale of serendipity and persuasion

2010-05-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

do I have a story to tell...

this weekend my girlfriend andrea who lives in LA was in New York and it happened to be her 30th birthday so i made the trip into the city to see her and attend her party saturday night.

well, saturday morning before i hopped in the car for the 4 hour drive i caught up on my wedding blogs and while doing so stopped by Green Wedding Shoes as I hadn't been there all week. well, when i saw this post about the new bridal boutique called Lovely in new york that carries some of the most drool worthy designers of the web and etsy i found myself back at designer Elizabeth Dye's blog longing for a dress i have been trying not to think about for months now.

I reread the comment i posted in january on the persuasion dress (see link for photo, not posting to save mike from peeking!) while meditating on the fact that i still feel the same way about my gown and this dress.

cut to a 4 hour car ride alone to new york. i keep thinking about this dress. "forget it, i should just order it, i wont not like it will i? but no, it's a lot of money to send out over the internet because of a pretty picture and i already have a dress that is just fine. but wait, i am actually on my way to new york at the moment, new york where less than 3 weeks ago a boutique that might have the dress in the store opened."

i call mike. "sweetie, i think i might buy a new dress." i thought you have a dress. "i do but i've been thinking about this one dress and i really love it and it's simpler and more natural and more handmade feeling than the dress i have and there is a store in new york that might have it so i might be able to try it on tomorrow before i come home." can you afford it "well it's more than the dress i have but it's affordable" well go try it on and see honey, do what you want.

ok. im going to see where the store is, if it's in brooklyn or something that i can't get to easily i'll forget it but if it's close i'll stop by. i wonder what andrea is doing tomorrow?

when i get to the city and the place i am crashing in soho i break the news to andrea who is available to shop on sunday and helps me find out where the store is, is it open? is it near by? do they have the gown in store? can i walk in? it's only blocks away - holy cow. it's open - holy cow. i call and leave a message to see if they have the gown and i can walk in - no return phone call.

after an amazing roof top patio birthday celebration and a morning after hangover brunch in the meat packing district andrea and i walk the 4 blocks (yes only 4 blocks, in a city as big as new york how is it possible it's only 4 blocks away!) to Lovely.

we walk into the darling enchanted garden level storefront into an oasis of handmade bridal bliss and are greeted by Lanie, the owner. i tell her that i don't have an appointment but i'm only in town for the day and just want to try on one gown. she had received my message and tried to return my call but got the number wrong and with a smile brings me only feet to see my persuasion hanging peacefully from the exposed pipe fixture that is the quaint and stylish garment rack. in front of it hangs so many of the other beauties i had seen only on webpages, sarah seven gowns, oh my - they are even more beautiful in person.

with a smile Lanie brings us up to get me into the gown as i retell my story of the gown i've been questioning, the trip to new york and the notion of being compelled to try the dress to either get it out of my mind or confirm that it might be the one for me. vintage luggage and birch branches complete the perfect ambiance of the space and i'm glowing just being there.

the dress is on and its perfect. all of those opinions i had about "the one" not existing when it comes to a piece of clothing disappear, it was all because the dress i had already was not the one. i feel like myself but beautiful, i look tall and thin and pretty. my girlfriend karina is en route so Lanie lets us hang out while she measures me and i make a phone call to my mom. i was afraid of hurting her feelings, afraid she would think i'm nuts or spoiled - and she probably does - and afraid about spending the money, but she says all of the things i could only hope for - it's your day, you're the bride, you should have what you want, my feelings aren't hurt we got the other dress because you loved it not me. i tell her that the dress is similar to the one i have but without the embellishment and without the fullness in the skirt, i feel like myself in a beautiful dress and in the other one i feel like i am dressing up in a bride costume. i have the ok as karina walks into the room.

Lanie comes back and celebrates with me about the understanding of my mom - she is so genuine. dress comes back on, karina and andrea agree it's perfect. i mention a flower in my hair and Lanie magically produces beautiful accessories from lo boheme and ban.do for me to try - again - these puppies are more beautiful in person. the quality of each is really impressive - they are all over the web for a reason and i can't get over the concept of this magical place i'm in where all of these digital dreams materialize.

so that's it - long long long story short - i have a new dress. two of my closest girlfriends got to be there with me for the experience. and i am revitalized and so excited to get married again, i didnt realize it but the anxiety about my gown was wearing on my whole bridal experience - the anticipation had turned into anxiety and i had thoughts such as "oh well, if i dont look good at least no one will tell me to my face because i'm the bride" i feel like i've exhaled. and i can't help but RAVE about Lovely anyone in new england who has ever thought about one of the designers they have but was hesitant because of not being able to see it in person - pack up the car and make the journey it is absolutely worth seeing these beautiful pieces in person.

here she is for those who'd like to see MIKE NO PEEKING: http://elizabethdye.blogspot.com/2009/12/no-4-persuasion.html

April Showers

2010-04-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend is my soon to be sister in law's surprise shower and i am so excited! I could have never guessed a year ago that i would be so excited to celebrate my friend's and loved one's pending marriages but i really am. At this point I'm a little relieved to be able to duck having the wedding questions directed at me and enjoy being a guest and bridesmaid and listen to their stories and stresses and join in their excitement. I'm also excited to have a ladies day with Mike's family, there are a lot of great women that i really don't get to see enough, and because i have a small family the big italian get-togethers are a lot of fun to me.

But, I'm a bit neurotic too. I love wrapping gifts, it's always been a big thing in my family, and in the last year or so i really havent veered too far from brown kraft paper wrapping for all occasions. So why on earth am i worried that my soon to be in laws might think i'm nuts or a cheapo for bringing a craft paper gift instead of one in shiny bridal paper? If it was any other girlfriend of mine, (especially the crafty or earth conscious ones) i wouldnt think twice about it. But here under the fear of judgement by my soon to be family i keep questioning myself, i mean - really Kristy - do you think anyone will even remember what you brought let alone what it was wrapped in? Sheesh the world does not revolve around you!

The maid of honor has been a rock star setting up this shower, she has included so many special touches, photo books, recipes, a mother flown in from the west coast AND has managed to keep it all a surprise. I can't wait to see the brides reaction!

advice

2010-04-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

when i was in LA i made a point to have lunch with a certain dear friend of mine who happens to have been married to his high school sweetheart for 7 years now, so i had to ask if he had any advice to pass on to us...

he had three things to say.

1- the seven year itch does exist (may be hard to hear but at least he's honest with me)

2- that advice about not going to bed mad is not just a cliche it's something to live by

3 - read the book his needs, her needs. though an affair is not a concern of theirs he feels that the book is right on. so much so that he read it and then said to his wife, "i'm not sure about the her needs stuff but the his needs are spot on" - his wife after reading had the reverse to say, they have since referred to the book as a reminder not only to know what the other needs to but actively work on it at all times.

Marriage works only when each spouse takes the time to consider the other's needs and strives to meet them. In His Needs, Her Needs, Willard Harley identifies the ten most vital needs of men and women and shows husbands and wives how to satisfy those needs in their spouses.

LA bachelorette weekend

2010-04-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

i'm back from my jam packed weekend of fun and girls in los angeles and i'm missing them all so much already it hurts!

being the first real bridal events of my engagement it really seems like the ball is rolling, the summer of weddings is underway - and my life as a mrs. is just around the corner. i had so much fun celebrating with my girlfriend karina - our friend andrea was a master planner and

host making it possible for the herd of ladies to get it all in and still have smiles on their faces.

we started with a sushi dinner on friday night once all of the other travelers landed from new york and seattle at izakaya followed by cocktails at the village idiot.

saturday morning started bright and early with our lingerie brunch at tart (highly recommended by the way, the ambiance is really darling, the service was fantastic, the food was delicious and the prices were unbelievable.)

after the storm of nighties was tamed we made our way to the lounge spa. again, for any girls in the LA area looking to do a spa party i give the lounge spa a big thumbs up. we had our own private little lounge, complete with spread of snacks and drinks (compliments of andrea) to hang out together while two by two girls were whisked away to their appointments, it was a great way to spend time relaxing together in smaller groups, we got to catch up on the gossip from our far away friends, have our tarot cards read and be pampered.

we traded our white robes black dresses and headed off to the hollywood men. the giggles of anxiety and anticipation started early and only became magnified when one we realized that one of our friends sprung for a seat right up front and another let the words "on stage" slip. it was so much fun, we laughed so hard, the boys were cute and the girls were crazy, it felt like a legitimate bachelorette party. part of me is still embarrassed but i think thats part of the point, when else do you subject yourself to such a thing? men dressed in firefighter costumes or like soldiers with back street boy routines? too funny.

looks like a whirlwind? it was! though i somehow also managed to get some great shopping in while i was there ...more on that later!

map II...etc

2010-04-05T20:10:00.001-07:00

thanks for the feedback ladies - I'm very happy with the results, check it out:

I realize i've been a little m.i.a. lately but it's because of anticipation and preparation, there is lots in the works...

...on wednesday i go to LA for my first official bridal celebrations, (hooray!) shoe shopping, and dress shopping for the rehearsal dinner and the 4 other weddings we are attending this summer. i will also be spending time with my future mother in law in the OC to check out her dress and spend some qt with her before the whirl wind of events commences (she has a daughter and a son getting married this summer after all.)

i have also recently ordered all of the supplies to make candles out of my vintage mason jars ( a project my sister is helping with on her spring break in a few weeks), designed all of the invitations (still procrastinating printing,) and started buying shower gifts for the aforementioned additional celebrations. i promise to share stories and photos from the shower and girlie activities this weekend and i'm sure with all of these new projects and hurdles will come lots more questions, sharing, and discussions...i'm going to think of this time as not having been m.i.a. but rather the ebb before high tide comes in and transitions into hurricane season!

map

2010-03-26T03:42:00.000-07:00

i'm a proud bride to be today because i just finished drawing the map insert for our invitations. yes i'm still procrastinating designing the meat of them but it's all got to get done regardless of the order right? progress is progress.

i was inspired by these map tote bags, and though my design fell a little short i'm pretty happy with the results. i think they are a good functional mix of hand drawn lines and legibility, which is what a map is really all about right, getting where you need to go? the size of the invitation insert is about 5" x 4" so too much info would just be a jumble for the small application. i think i may add a Maine title a la the tote bags but i'm still debating...thoughts?

the dress

2010-03-25T13:47:00.001-07:00

i finally took some photos of myself in the dress so i could share them with my LA girlfriend and shopping buddy. she is going to help me on my shoe hunt. i was afraid to share with her but did so i thought i'd suck it up and share with you all as well.

since i've had such dress anxiety i'm a little terrified about putting it out there, like if it's not good and i dont show anyone until the day of the wedding they wont have any way to tell me they dont like it until after when it wont matter anymore. crazy i know.

that being said, i'd love to hear what you think...( but really only if you think it's pretty and i'm nuts, i can't handle any negative feedback!)

they are hidden here:

MIKE NO PEEKING

goodbye evite - hello paperless post

2010-03-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

as my los angeles girls weekend of fun approaches the emails and invitations have begun to circulate and i just had to share the company i am using to send e-invitations out for our lingerie brunch. it's called paperless post and it is like evite for the design minded girl.

they have a limited selection of patterns (they are still in beta so i hope that means more to come) but they are all very classy and give you great color control, they also have some photo options for those who wish to really personalize. the have really elegant font choices, type size, line spacing, and justification control. the kicker is that the invitation looks and acts like a paper invitation, a beautiful envelope - fully lined flips over and opens to reveal the details - it was perfect for a last minute, not super formal party which we would have sent paper invites for if we had thought it through better. i highly suggest checking them out if you have been thinking about going the digital route for any of your events ( and i'm not being paid by them i swear!) the one downside - BEWARE of the pay for extras.

thats news to me

2010-03-17T09:52:00.000-07:00

i just got a new piece of "wedding etiquette" that i was unaware of, and might i say have no interest in being concerned about, but i thought it worth mentioning just to see if you all have ever heard of such a thing.

did you know that the mother of the bride is to buy her dress first and then all of the other mothers are to match her in fabric choice and length? who knew? since mike's sister is also planning a wedding this is one of the tidbits we discovered together as there are two mothers on their side that are in both weddings. apparently the step mother and mother of the groom went dress shopping and the bridal boutique insisted they have a photo of the mother of the brides gown before proceeding even though they knew the color. again. who knew? the cooridination goes as far as if the MOB is wearing a bolero all should wear a bolero, really?

this led to lots of polite 'just let us know when your mom picks a gown so we can start shopping' talk, which is nice but i say - screw it! wear what you want, don't look like a bride or a bridesmaid, and dress appropriate for the formality of the event and you'll be all set, am i wrong? let's discuss.

sketching it out

2010-03-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

look at me all motivated and getting things done today! i owe it all to the sun finally coming out over the streets of boston.

i finally scanned some of the sketches i have been sitting on, i don't know what it is but i hate scanning - i always always procrastinate doing it until the last possible moment - if it wasn't for a homework assignment these little scratches might have stayed in my notebook forever.

the first is just a doodle i made waiting for mike to get off of work late one night at his bar. i was early on in the inspiration design phase and i had to get my ideas out to take a look, even if only on the back of a receipt. i dont know why but i really like this little mess so i've held onto it.

thanks to the paper source for the heads up on their new kraft paper lines (finally!) i spent this afternoon purchasing a lot of the stock for our invitations, even though i dont have the designs completely finished it feels so good to have the paper purchased - out of the planning phase and moving into the making stages and one less thing i need to get done at some point.

i'm sorry i dont have any actual designs to share with you for feedback yet but i do have my initial sketches for you and i have pretty much stuck to it. i decided on (i admit with the help of a paper source staffer) kraft paper envelopes for the invitation and the response cards, ivory enclosure; invitation (with perhaps a kraft backing;) and response card stock, all to be tied up with some natural twine or raffia. it sounds bland when i write it out but with gray type and orange/peach accents i think it will be neutral and natural looking and hopefully not bland at all.

...next up i am going to take a stab at drawing that map...

a very long engagement

2010-03-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

this week marks a full year since mike proposed to me... and i have to say it's been a long year, and im a bit worn out with all this wedding stuff, its begining to feel like a very very long engagement.

when we were first engaged we knew we wanted to be married in september but werent sure which year, 2009 or 2010. a 2009 wedding would mean a rather quick engagement and a wedding in a month where both of our siblings already had 3 of the 4 weekends booked up in addition to our fear that some of our dear friends might not make the party because of time needed for them to manage their travel or days away from work ( remember a lot of our friends live in los angeles.) we decided to wait.

i got a lot of grief from my parents about waiting so long, they couldnt understand what the complications were and why we would want to wait. in the end i am happy with our decision but a lot has happened in a year that has left me thinking about what might have been different if we had just gone for it.

the first hiccups are totally selfish bratty challenges that, at times i admit really got to me, but in general and in retrospect, have not been too much of a pain. since we have been engaged we have had 4 sets of friends (one set being mike's sister) get engaged - all of which are getting married before us. i couldnt help but feel like my thunder was stolen time and time again, i had only a few short weeks to feel special before i was going to engagement parties for my future sister in law with hardly the opportunity to slide in where appropriate that i was getting married too. it's been 10 months of celebrating others engagements and planning their weddings while i blog about my adventures in the privacy of my own home.

the second set of life changes are a little bigger. when we were engaged a year ago mike and i both had stable, 50 hour a week jobs and paychecks. since then we were both laid off, he has since taken up waiting tables and bartending while i am still waiting for the unemployment to kick in. looking back i feel like part of why we thought we were prepared to be married was that our professional lives were chugging along nicely like proper adults which since has changed. now mike and i find ourselves wondering how we became the degenerates of our families over cheap beer at the end of the day rather than looking at real estate.

the final changes are really the hardest to handle. as you know mike and i lost a dear friend a few weeks ago that was to read at our wedding, it hurts me to think that if we had the wedding last september he would have still been with us... but thats not the only health related complication. my father has since been diagnosed with a heart condition that requires him to have open heart surgery. we find out next week when the surgery will be, (we're thinking may so that he has time to heal) but it has left the family reluctant to book hotel rooms or flights for grandmothers until the surgery is over and we know he is okay. i have been trying my hardest not to have morbid thoughts because i know he will be fine, but it is definitely a hurdle that we are currently confronted with that has become a bit of a wall. finally mike's paternal grandfather is 96 years old and has been told that he has an aneurism that will end his life and he has decided not to have the procedure to try and prevent it which makes us feel like the clock is ticking and we might lose him any day.

(vintage paint by numbers that make me think of what the farm will look like in september)

im not going to say that i have regrets, or that my folks were right. i know we are going to have a fabulous party, almost all of our friends are going to be there with us, and i will have a full 2 months to celebrate without sharing my spotlight once the other weddings have come and gone. i no longer have to worry about missing work for the wedding or honeymoon, and with all this new free time i have lots of energy to devote to the design of our invitations and reception decor, but it feels good to admit that i have thought - what if? and, boy did we make a mistake?

how are all of you feeling about your engagement periods? way to long? not enough time? any regrets? are they all a mixed bag?

hair hmmm...

2010-02-23T15:46:00.001-08:00

boy, it feels good to do a post about something that hasn't been a struggle or cost us an arm and a leg. I'm starting to think about my hair.

I always thought i would wear my hair down in natural looking waves with some sort of flower or hippie headband accessory to denote myself as the bride.

(green wedding shoes)

but. today i saw a photo from when i bought my dress taken of the back with my hair up and i though - geez - do i want to cover that up? my gown is strapless and an exposed back is pretty beautiful as far as i'm concerned. (my mother always told me to accentuate your assets and hide your flaws so the back and shoulders can take over for my hips any day!)

anyway. i started to rethink, could i do some sort of loose messy looking updo instead of loose locks?

and then i saw this bride on once wed today and thought that it was meant to be. what a good combo of showing off the length and sweeping the hair off the back at the same time with this messy side braid of sorts (more photos here.)

(once wed)

what do you girls think? have you decided how you're doing your do yet?

wild flower wedding

2010-02-20T19:57:00.000-08:00

so. i met with a florist today. as much as i felt pushed into hiring a pro by a mother that simply had no faith that i could do it myself and really just didnt want to help, i am so relieved i did. i LOOOVE him.

keith of floral concepts in ogunquit maine not only totally understands my vision, he added some great elements, endless ideas, and is even letting me go with him to the flower market before the event to pick out the flowers together. i mean, for a girl that really wants to DIY but doesnt want a melt down on her wedding morning over table arrangements i dont know if it gets much better, someone is taking charge yet i am still totally involved. it's a great feeling. i owe a lot to sue and her great florist experience for the ability to let go of a little control.

here is what i brought with me to help illustrate my vision. (I'm sorry I've been collecting for so long i have no idea where the images came from originally)

here are some of the great ideas keith threw out there:

- there is a local vendor that will fill my vintage ball jars and milk jars with wax and wicks in the color of my choosing so that i can add color with my candle light and have the jars be heavy enough to not have to deal with adding sand or stones - genius? it's basically custom candles

- edible flowers and herbs for centerpieces and the buffet table, and possibly the cake...mmmm chamomile

- a ceremony aisle sprinkled with fragrant orange marigold heads rather than rose petals

- birch trees wrapped with white light bound to the supports of the tent for atmosphere and light

i mean really.

(p.s. that's not my dress but it does look very very very similar)

our anniversary

2010-02-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

yep, we have (until the wedding of course) a valentine's day anniversary.

mike and i had been friends for years but always happened to have the timing wrong, he had a girlfriend or i had a boyfriend - we always had an eye open for the other but we just couldn't get it right. well, a little more than 4 years ago i was dumped by the guy we (myself and my friends) thought was going to be the one.

mike invited me to go to a friendly weeknight movie, neither of us quite sure if it was a date or just polite friendly companionship until it ended with a kiss. he told me that he thought he had missed his chance and that he would do whatever he had to do to make sure that when i was ready to love again he would be there.

well, mike proceeded to sweep me off my feet, asking if i would be his valentine (of course! i dont think anyone had ever asked me that, even when i did have a boyfriend.) he pulled out all of the stops, a gorgeous bouquet of orange, red and gold gerber daisies delivered to my work (also a first) wrapped in luxurious brown kraft paper (he had me pinned) and then he picked me up for a romantic get away. there was a cd he made just for me playing on the stereo and a bottle of wine to enjoy (i know not legal but it was so romantic) as we drove up the pacific coast highway to the sunset restaurant in malibu, a little spot perched on the water with glass windows for 360 degrees so the moonlight sparkling off the crashing waves was our ambience. we took an after dinner stroll on the beach and eventually made our home to the soundtrack of a different even more romantic cd he made.

today, four years later we have postponed valentines day until tomorrow because mike has to work tonight. we spent the morning running errands and now he sits next to me as i type playing blackbird on the guitar, today's soundtrack, and i couldn't ask for anything more.

it just keeps raining...waiting for the rainbows

2010-02-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

ok, i know that this is supposed to be an outlet for wedding planning and sharing this common experience we are all going through, but i can't help but share what has been going on in my life that has put the focus of wedding planning into perspective.

as you may have guessed by this post, we lost a very dear friend a week or so ago. one of mike's best friends, someone that i have been so close with for the last 11 years, someone that was to do a reading at our wedding (i guess i'm still compelled to put it into that context for you) that we will now have to find a way to honor respectfully without turning our celebration into another memorial. it's a very sad time but we have a lot of great friends that we are able to mourn with and heal with and remember with, therefore we are blessed.

with this wound still so raw i was laid off yesterday, without notice, after working for the company for 5 years and with no severance package to speak of.

none of this is good, but it shines a light on the good stuff i have in my partner in life. every bump along the road brings us closer together and i am just so grateful to have him, to take care of him, to let him take care of me, and for the two of us to buck up together and continue to take on what the world dishes out. there are good things on the horizon, i am free of a life where i struggled to get out of bed in the morning, now we can begin creating our happily every after.

i predict that i may go a little DIY crazy with all this free time, so i hope it means i will have lots of great things to share with you all! thanks for listening, xoxo

...back to decorating

2010-02-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

after a brief hiatus to let life happen i am back to wedding planning and am very excited about my last totally unnecessary (can we say shop therapy) decorative accent.

i've purchase a few lots of vintage hankies in oranges and yellows to add a punch of color under our vintage pewter water pitchers. we've chosen to go with plain ivory table linens and napkins to keep things simple and i had been debating a few different ideas to add some color or texture to the blank canvas and ground the centerpieces. after looking at different linen, burlap, and doily options i decided to go with these vintage floral hankies. i love the whimsy, the variety of patterns, the lack of sewing involved, and the overall feeling of vintage farm house which is what i hope comes through from our overall look. i thought they might be too girlie for mike but he totally approves (goes to show you no matter how well you think you know someone they can still surprise you.)

i bought more handkerchiefs than there are tables. i like the idea of having some extra to add as accents in other areas, to the bar, mason jar candles, bread baskets, and i don't even know yet...i also like the idea that i can send them home with some special friends or family as treats at the end of the night or take them home with me to make pillow covers or quilts (if i get adventurous and learn to use a sewing machine!) as useful momentos of the day.

The Big Chill

2010-02-03T15:53:00.000-08:00

For the worst of reasons we are living in The Big Chill this week. I hope for new memories from these familiar faces to mix in with the tears, story telling - and really good tunes.

a little checkmark

2010-01-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

but a checkmark none the less. after seeing Chocolate Lovers list and hyperventilating quietly to myself about all of the unchecked items i still have on my long long list (but i have time, i have time, i have time don't i?) i'm proud to say that as we speak mike is returning from a meeting with our linen, table top, bar ware, etc. rental company - and it looks like we are close to locking that up (hooray!) and we just booked our transportation.

since we are being married at a family farm that is a bit in the boonies, and because we dont want any of our precious family or friends driving after their celebretaory beverages, we've chartered a trolley to transport guests from the hotel to the farm and back. it was quite affordable, holds more than 30 ppl per trip, and it's darn cute! check it out from the ogunquit trolley company.

now to find out how i'm going to sneak away to get some photos on it without mike or the guests seeing me, maybe I can talk them in to hanging around until after the ceremony...or maybe i wont care at all...but it is cute isnt it?

it makes me think of Mr. Rogers - ding ding!

i love LA

2010-01-21T12:41:00.000-08:00

a little kristy backstory for you ladies...

i moved to LA to finish film school and start working in the business back in 2001. my school kinda pushed us all out there - into the deep end, but with a pair of half deflated water wings on. anywho - the great thing was when i got to LA i had a lot of friends from college there already and more came every year (including mike) which was a big safety net when being 3,000 miles away from home.

i stayed in LA for almost 6 years. when i left it was with mike on the heels of faith and love and starting our life together back east, but i left a lot of friends behind and a city that i truly loved. it was good to me - it gave me great life experience and filled my 20's with volumes of stories, parties, dating adventures, and broken hearts in Hollywood.

why am i bringing it up? well i had unhappily come to terms with the fact that i wouldnt get to LA this year because all of my vacation time was taken up with the wedding/honeymoon this fall. i was also coming to terms with the fact that i wouldnt get to have a shower or a bachelorette or any sort of girl celebration with my LA girlfriends. i kept telling myself that them flying out for the wedding was more than enough to ask for, and i know it is.

(photo taken on the way to get my nails done the last time i was in LA, later known as the day i got engaged)

well- i changed my mind. i decided screw it - my boss can decide not to pay me if i take more than 10 days off this year i don't care. i want to go to LA. i want to see my friends, i want to go shopping, i want to go to the flea markets and wear flip flops.

in talking through the plans to come with my best LA girlfriend i started chatting with another friend who is getting married this summer who has since moved to New York. She was having the same feelings i was about being away from the girls, not being excited at the idea of a shower with only aunts and grandmothers and feeling like skipping it all together - so we're going together!

i am so excited to have all of the girls back together, to spend a day at the korean spa, to eat a huge brunch, and to hit up Crossroads and Jet Rag - oh I love LA! i'm sure it will be bitter sweet, and no it's not the most responsible decision i've ever made - but it has made me so so happy and that is worth a lot - isn't it?

more music

2010-01-14T10:35:00.000-08:00

my parents song, so urban cowboy and of the moment when they were married in the late 70s, but as far as i'm concerned it's withstood the test of time pretty well.

i love it, it makes me love them and their love so much, it always is a little window into who they were before they were "mom and dad" when i see them dance to it, a must play at our wedding - for sure.

wishing on a star

2010-01-13T08:10:00.000-08:00

one of the light hearted debates mike and i are dealing with is "our song." (i'm taking a break from dealing with or thinking about all things stressful, tent, transportation, or guest list related) we both really love music, and after being together for years and many many a mix cd for the other person we have a TON of songs that remind us of each other, or falling in love, or being in love, or driving across the country, or of waiting patiently for each other, you get the point - and im sure many of you can relate.

as we're boiling it down we find ourselves in a debate between two songs. one of the songs is a classic, well known love song that i love because mike put it on a mix cd for our first official date - valentines day, for our drive to the sunset restaurant in mailbu. it was probably the most romantic night of my life, and he had planned everything out to a T, incorporating a cd for the drive up, and a different, more romantic cd for the drive home. not only was the song part of the evening but it also tells a story of loving someone from afar for a long time before you are actually given permission to love them, something that we relate to since we knew each other for 8 years and loved each other from afar before we became romantically involved.

sounds pretty good right? well, the hitch is that we (mike) fears that it is too cliche for a first song, something heaps of other couples use, and he wants something more unique to us. (oh! i forgot! it's also one of my favorite songs that mike plays/sings probably part of why it means a lot to me - i more often than not hear it directly from him)

the second song is one i shared with mike more recently because it's honest and romantic in a very modern way. i love the song, he loves the song, and it's about your life not really "starting" until the other person became a part of it. it's heart wrenching, it is, but my fear is that it won't last the test of time. will we look back on it and think? oh yeah i forgot about that song?

this idea was reinforced on christmas when we visited one of mike's relatives. his aunt and uncle were married on the same day we will be married. they are such a fantastic couple and are still obviously so in love after all these years and are really something that we aspire to be. we want to make sure to acknowledge their anniversary during our wedding and the first thing that came to mind was - we should surprise them play their song for them. so at christmas, when they were asking about our planning etc i casually asked what their song was, thinking it would be quick and easy and sneaky - except they couldn't remember it. after asking all of the other relatives in the room someone finally remembered - Rose Royce Wishing on a Star.

i couldn't help but think, how sad will i be with myself if i forget? i know now it seems impossible but after 35 years of life and family and children and work, will i forget?

it could be that the first song has been a part of our story for longer that i feel like it will be impossible to forget, but then again, if the second song is "our song" it will become a much bigger part of our story and hopefully unforgettable.

at the moment we are at a stand still, i know we will find a meaningful way to incorporate both songs in some way, but i thought i'd share some of my thought process with you all. what are you doing for your song? is it something incredibly personal to you? perhaps it just tells your story, or is a timeless love song, or all out fun?

please forgive me while i faux pas...

2010-01-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

...and talk about - gasp! - my registry. i couldn't help it, i just got the new crate and barrell catalog and i think these little juice glasses are just the cutest thing i've ever seen.

yes, i'm aware it may have something to do with the fact that i just studied back to back semesters of typography but i think the design is adorable.

do you miss it?

2010-01-04T07:08:00.000-08:00

this holiday season, filled with a few new engagements close to us, and the new year - filled with reflection - had me thinking about where i was at this point last year, as im sure most do.

last christmas mike and i went on a sailing trip with some friends to the british virgin islands. one of the first nights, (after jumping off the willy t,) mike asked me to take a walk with him on the beach away from our friends. the moon and the christmas lights lining the masts of the sailboats in the cove were the only lights we saw - i was sure - this is it. my heart beat out of my chest as we reached the end of the beach hand in hand, live reggae in the distance. we paused, took in our surroundings, shared a kiss, and then - walked back. that's it?

this time a year ago the suspense was killing me! this was one of many moments i thought we're going to be the big one where he popped the question. everytime we had a date night dinner, i secretly looked extra nice just in case, found myself primping a little more than often, and keeping my eyes open for clues.

the anticipation of a proposal was so intense that i have to say, as i reminisced this new years, i kinda miss that time. the excitement of knowing it was coming but not when, the guess work, the girl talk the surrounded it. am i nuts? maybe just a glutton for punishment? do any of you bride to be's miss it?

love is a battlefield

2009-12-28T12:33:00.000-08:00

maybe not, but why does wedding planning seem like a war sometimes? you win over one territory but before you have time to celebrate the opposition has stolen all of your provisions. at least that's how i'm feeling today. we're deep into the not so fun parts of planning at the moment, meaning we're working on the items that we need just to have the party function, but they aren't necessarily fun or pretty or personal items.

(images via Sperry)

today we finalized our tent decision, the long, arduous tent decision. this has been one of the biggest hurdles for us for a few reasons - the cost, the vendor, and the flooring. some of our original tent quotes were more than half of our entire wedding budget, and to add to it we need to pay to have a full floor installed (not on the top of my list, but a must have item for one of our parents, considering we're getting married in a field, women in heels, etc etc.)

"but we can't afford that" "well thats how much it costs" "but i'm the third of 3 to get married and i have a certain budget" "well it's going to cost more" "but we dont have more" "well thats what it costs"

this entire process has contributed to more than a few tears im ashamed to admit, and this conversation of we can't afford it but we have to pay it has happened on far too many occassions. eventually we found a vendor with an option in our price range, but the floor was either green rubber or carpet and INSANELY expensive and labor intensive (especially when considering forfeiting aesthetics.)

(images via Sperry)

to our delight planning a wedding at the same time as my future sister in law has worked to our advantage in a big way. after putting them in the not-in-our-wildest-dreams pile Sperry Tent contacted us to let us know that they would like to do our wedding and keep it in the family (since they are doing the other wedding) and that they would make it work for us and our budgetary constraints. with some cross family support and the help of the amazing staff at Sperry we will be having a gorgeous sail cloth tent with a full floor at our wedding. though i'd love to go alfresco - these tents really are gorgeous, the poles are an elegant teak, and the light in the sails really glow when the sun goes down.

success? yes. then whats the problem?

well,in working through this item the topic of restrooms came up.we have reserved 2 'executive portapottys' (portapotties with running water) for what we feel is a bargain, an essential, and something we know we need to have. a few hundred bucks for 2 and we put it in our past - so we thought.

now our decision is being challenged in favor of a bathroom trailer with electricity but for an extra almost $1500. can it really be worth it? what do you ladies think? i dont know if we can find the money for it in the first place, but even if we could - doesnt that seem like a lot for a potty? or is it worth it to make sure our guests are comfortable through out the event? i keep thinking my friends won't care, but will my grandma? i hate to admit it but she might.

winter wedding inspiration from NYC

2009-12-23T13:03:00.000-08:00

i just posted about holiday window displays on my other blog, twoifbysee, and i couldn't help but think there might be some winter brides out there that would find these Lord and Taylor decorations drool worthy. can you imagine a winter- woodland- white wedding? i usually not interested in crystal or bling of any kind but i think this is just beautiful.

stuck in design land

2009-12-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

i've been super busy the last week or so finishing up all of my projects for school, ( i'm currently studying graphic design at night.) i haven't done much wedding thinking at all - which isn't really a bad thing. it's been refreshing to bury myself in something else, and something not so personal for a while.

to bridge the design-wedding gap i wanted to share a treat i made for sue and neil's wedding. I have to say, I'm proud of how it turned out and even more proud that they liked how it turned out, and actually incorporated it into their celebration.

make your own holiday

2009-12-09T12:22:00.001-08:00

splitting up the holidays is one of the hardest things about being in a relationship and starting a "new" family. since mike and i have moved home (back to boston from LA) we thought it would make our divvying up of the holidays easier since most of the family is within a few hours of each other, but it really hasn't and i think this is something we all have to adjust to. Between us there are three sets of parents (one set in california) and on top of that siblings with husbands, wives ,and children, with their own balancing act going on to help dictate who will be where when.

lucky for us my family celebrates christmas on christmas eve (a remnant from my parents' generation balancing act getting us kids to both grandmothers on christmas day) so it frees up christmas day for visiting mike's family. the wrench? the years in california. in the past i've been a brat about it and flown by myself on christmas morning to meet mike at his mom's so i can still have my family christmas, but i know that can't last forever, it breaks up the newest family, ours - and i think sets a bad president for when our children come. Trading off years is only fair to everyone, ( though i may not always be mature enough to see it!)

another issue we have been dealing with is that we miss hosting a holiday tradition. when we lived in LA i used to throw a big thanksgiving party for all of our misfit friends - and i loved it! we're entertainers and we miss it!

this year we decided to start a new tradition of our own to get all of the families together and to have a chance to host the event, by throwing a pre-christmas party. this saturday we are having both full families over (plus a few close friends) and we're really excited about it. we also just learned that my brother and sister-in-law will be spending christmas with her family this year which makes the idea of us all being together this weekend that much nicer. the tree is up, the egg nog has been purchased and the chex mix is in the oven as we speak - it's really starting to feel like the holidays in our little home.

how have you all been doing with the family holiday shuffle? have you found yourself having a hard time sharing or letting go of past traditions? have you started any new traditions of your own?

flower trials

2009-12-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

yesterday my sister, mother and i played with flowers from Blooms by the Box, 1 - to check out the quality of the product from Blooms by the Box, 2 - to do a trial, make sure we're up for doing the flowers ourselves and happy with the results, and 3 - to gauge how much we will need to order come the big day. (did i really just write a numbered list to introduce a post about flower arranging?)

well, i think this photo (hopefully) shows that the flowers were beautiful, and even prettier today than yesterday.

all in all it was a successful trial. we discovered that we don't love the tone of orange mum that we got, (good to know,) now to decide if we use less orange all together or find a replacement. I always liked the idea of orange ranunculus but i'm not sure if it will be in season, i think it might be a nice contrast to the texture of the mums.

we also discovered that we love the spider mums, while the football mums are rich and dense and amazing - they are almost too preppy for the farm-rustic-hand-tied feel i'm going for. using a combination of sizes and textures really worked the best - i really loved the contrast between he standard pom poms and one or two giant spider mums.

(trial bouquet)

the one comment from both my mom, and mike - was that they feel they are a little plain. I am going for simple and rustic and earthy but not exactly plain. I'm thinking of adding in some willow stems for a contrasting texture and have been looking at (said) ranunculus, maybe some little orange roses -i'm even thinking about some acorns to be a contrasting texture. what do you think?

(trial center piece in one of the vintage silver pitchers)

though it's not done yet, i have to say i'm excited to see the vision start to materialize!

any tips, pointers, and suggestions are of course welcome and appreciated!

more vegas wedding treats

2009-12-01T10:23:00.000-08:00

remember my friend's Vegas wedding i mentioned a little while back? Well sue, the bride has posted some more photos - showcasing her amazing Whirlingturban dress - go see!via postcards from a concrete garden

window shopping inspiration

2009-11-30T09:05:00.000-08:00

while i braved the mall crowds with my mom this weekend (the goal to find her a dress for our wedding) i couldn't help but be drawn into the Anthropology storefront. yes, i do love poking around in anthropology regardless, and their window displays are always amazing, but in my wedding planning state of mind i was totally wowed by what looked like Martha Stewart tissue paper pom poms on steroids.

i talked to one of the sales clerks and she explained that the artist built a wire armature of sorts and then proceeded to attach the pom poms, made of different weights of paper and plastic trash bags - (yes plastic bags!) to the mold with wires. she also mentioned that the idea is for the sculpture to continue to grow into the store and outside of the storefront into the mall itself. so cool. I thought this would be a great way to incorporate the pom pom concept into your wedding in a slightly different way. wouldn't a wall of this amazing texture be a great ceremony backdrop? or photobooth backdrop?

I was also pleasantly surprised to see this fun take on vintage keys as decorations (looks like my escort cards, doesn't it?!) it made me so excited about the possibilities of my final key card product, so cute.

with this ring, i thee blog

2009-11-30T07:50:00.000-08:00

hooray! I've been featured by Miss Mojito as an inspirational blogger today! Head over and check out the Q&A if you'd like to learn some more about me and how "i'm gonna marry you someday" came to be. thanks so much Miss Mojito!

signs of obsession

2009-11-25T13:38:00.001-08:00

...yep. I see them, and it's not about anything important at all. it's shoes. boy it seems even more shameful to say it out loud - but we're all being honest here, right?

here's the thing. i love blue shoes. i had this amazing pair of vintage blue peep toe pumps that i literally wore out through my twenties in LA. i still mourn them, so much so they are at this very moment sitting, unwearable, in my childhood closet at my parents house. i know, i know. i'll move on - but i need a replacement first.

needless to say, they are my model for the perfect wedding shoe, something i adore, something very me, and something that i can wear with jeans and a tank top out on the town long after my "big day" has passed.

well, after lots of hunting i found them, the color is a little different, perfect for my off white gown and rustic farm location, the embellishment is feminine and pretty enough for a wedding but not too foofy or bedazzled for every day wear AND they are on sale.

they are called 'reservations for two' sweet right? well, to my frustration this shoe was a 2008 model and i can't find it in my size anywhere! i've even contacted the manufacturer. so sad. but, at least i have a basis of comparison.

so, here comes the obsession. i find myself spending down time during the day alternating between searching for blue or teal pumps, peep-toes, shoes, and every other variation of terminology i can think to put into the browser to find a replacement or the illusive 'reservations for two.' Have any of you caught yourself doing this? Maybe for a dress or some other detail that has a hold on you?

well, today i found something that i think might work as an alternative, even from the same manufacturer (yes, maybe i was looking for the other shoe when i found it, so what!?)

what do you think? do i dare hold out and risk missing my chance to get a hold of this runner up? or will it always feel like a runner up? or really - who cares? i guess i need to stop caring, and hope in some small way getting this out to the blogosphere will help me rest.

oh, harold... that's wonderful. go and love some more.

2009-11-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

Harold and Maude has been one of my favorite movies since i was about 15 years old. i even have a daisy tattoo as a friendly reminder to pay attention to my own imperfections and uniqueness and to not think of myself as just one of many lost in the field...and to remember that the opportunity to love is always worth a potentially broken heart.

Maude: I should like to change into a sunflower most of all. They're so tall and simple. What flower would you like to be?
Harold: I don't know. One of these, maybe.
Maude: Why do you say that?
Harold: Because they're all alike.
Maude: Oooh, but they're *not*. Look. See, some are smaller, some are fatter, some grow to the left, some to the right, some even have lost some petals. All *kinds* of observable differences. You see, Harold, I feel that much of the world's sorrow comes from people who are *this*,
[she points to a daisy]
Maude: yet allow themselves be treated as *that*.
[she gestures to a field of daisies]

i heart rifle design

2009-11-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

being a design student i'm pretty set on making our invitations myself but if i could have my way - i would be able to make something as whimsical, folk art inspired, personal, and handmade as the work of Rifle Design.some of the techniques i am going to borrow from Rifle are incorporating my own handwriting into the design and not being afraid to use color. i love the use of turquoise, peaches, and browns that Anna frequently incorporates and the idea that not everything has to be on a white background, sometimes i feel like that is easy to forget!
...and - how great is this idea for a frame-able guestbook of sorts?
feel like you've heard a lot about Rifle lately? It's because the online shop opened today! go look, yes all of the stationary is going on my christmas list.

location location location

2009-11-19T13:48:00.000-08:00

i thought i'd share a bit about the place where mike and i are getting married to help fill out the big picture of our day.

we're having the wedding at mike's uncles' home, an historic farm in wells, maine-once the oliver west farm. the wedding will be in the yard somewhere close to the house, cocktails in the barn and reception in a tent by the pond. (lawn games and bon fire in various places!)

(pond just beyond the stone wall)

every august a big hoedown is held at the farm (see photos), the decor is a little different then what we'll have - but really - not too far off. mike's uncle is an antique dealer and the barn is full of eclectic treasures and nooks with seating areas full of vintage furniture. really it's a dream to me, i couldnt pay thousands of dollars and get anything more perfect for my wedding.
i have to admit, as much as i am in love with this location i was a little torn at first. the wedding won't be on my family's "turf" and i thought that might hurt my parents' feelings but as soon as we took them up to see it my father looked at me and said, "oh belles, it's perfect" and that's all it took. i was so happy to see they saw why i loved the place, and that it had nothing to do with turf or his side or my side, just that it's a beautiful place and the perfect place for OUR celebration.

vegas wedding

2009-11-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

i've been dying to talk about my dear friend susie's recent vegas wedding that we attended a few weeks back. the newlyweds have returned from paradise and sue is finally starting to share details from her amazing, vintage-cowboy-mexican-vegas wedding.
she was so beautiful, i kept calling her vintage wedding barbie (her waist seriously looked like it was 12 inches around in her fabulous one of a kind dress.) the two of them were so happy and the party was soooo much fun. sue has photos from the polaroid table up on her blog - you must go see!

with a picture of you, holding a picture of me in the pocket of my blue jeans

2009-11-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

couldn't help but share this love song. mike plays and sings, one of the first times he played in public he sang this song - i just think it's lovely.

color inspiration - the starting point

2009-11-13T13:44:00.001-08:00

at some point last year i stumbled upon this look book from denim brand current/elliot and fell in love with the washed out denim, sun burnt weeds and faded blacktop pallet.

when we first began talking about having a fall wedding at the farm in Maine i had visions of flowy hippie gowns, yellowed grass, and baby's breath and queen ann's lace as far as the eye could see. I've since tweaked my vision, but i do still wish i could pop into the world of these images and hang out for an afternoon.

diy wedding bands

2009-11-13T05:33:00.000-08:00

last night in class my friend and classmate TJ was sitting next to me playing with his wedding ring. at a break in the conversation he said to me, knowing i'm in the midst of wedding planning while holding the ring out in his hand, i made this out of a quarter. what?! yeah i made my ring and my wife's ring out of quarters. tell me more! how? did you melt them? you're not going to believe the love and dedication he put into these hand made circles of commitment.

TJ went on to explain to me that quarters made before 1964 are pure silver and therefore mailable. by standing the quarter on its side and hitting it with the back side of a spoon, repeatedly, while spinning the ridges eventually smooth out and start to spread the quarter as it flattens. For three years, before he asked his now wife to marry him he worked on the rings in his spare time. once the quarters were flattened to the size of the ring finger he took them to a jeweler to have the center cut out properly without jeopardizing the hours of tedious work he had put into them. when he finally proposed he had the two handmade rings to show in support of his love and commitment. amazing, right?
photo credit: dum spiro spero

when i asked TJ how he heard that such a thing could be done he said he heard a story once of a vietnam soldier who, while at war and missing his girl, used the same technique to return home to his sweetheart with wedding rings in hand.

one of the coolest things about the actual ring (aside from all of the obvious love, time, and work) is that you can actually see some of the writing of the quarter on the inside. amazing.

key to your heart?

2009-11-12T12:56:00.001-08:00

or maybe it's more like the key to a happy marriage. ever since i saw this beautiful rustic barn wedding featured on 100 layer cake i have known that i wanted to steal the vintage key/escort card idea for our own rustic maine barn wedding. Mike came into the room this afternoon with a puzzled look on his face and a 20lb bag of keys that i won on ebay. here are some of my favorites.

everything from vegas motel room key to roller skate key is accounted for in the lot - we're already having a fun matching up the special keys with their wedding guest counterpart.
thanks to 100 layer cake for the inspiration!

super 8 guestbook

2009-11-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

one of my girlfriends, (after receiving our save the date) sent me this darling guestbook. soooo cute. we were thinking of going with the makeshift polaroid photobooth but there really is something amazing about living breathing moving memories, isn't there? and of course the super 8 film has an amazing aesthetic.

Keira & Dan's Hello Guest Book from Hello Super 8 on Vimeo.

gushing!

2009-11-09T21:56:00.000-08:00

i'm honored to have been thought of by Miss Chocolate Lover for a blog award!this one comes from brazil, translated "your blog is super cute!" - how cute is that?

i gladly pass the love on to these super cute blogs:
you can't take it with you
with this ring i thee blog
buhdoop
daydreams in lace
99+forever
thoughts of the all consumed bride
girl with a ring
our day by design
postcards from a concrete garden

AND i've been honored by Stacy at You Can't Take it With You with this FAB award! so cute, Stacy has been so sweet to me - she even gave me a blush worthy shout out in her interview over on Miss Mojito's Blog. Stacy if you are in Boston for the marathon this year we better meet for a cocktail!

I don't have any more friends to spread the love to yet - but i will save it up and send it on when i do....

I do have many many obsessions though.

1. I'm obsessed with records, yep big old round things that play music.
2. I'm obsessed with mid century modern furniture, glassware and knick-knacks.
3. I'm obsessed with design, printing, and places like Hatch Show Print.
4. I'm work in advertising and therefore am currently obsessed with Mad Men.
5. I'm obsessed with Tim Burton, Baz Lhurman, and stop motion animation.

holy cow another one! It has been a very well decorated week! thanks to Jenn from Love, Life, and Laughter for this lovely blog award! I am supposed to pass it on to 7 more ladies, but i think I'll hold onto this one for a little while too, spread out the blog love.

thank you to all of my new friends, readers, and wedding empathizers!

love a girl who holds the world in a paper cup

2009-11-09T10:08:00.000-08:00

i'm in total romance land today thinking about love songs and romantic movies. I know this song was written for a son, but that doesn't mean its not about love.

Love the girl who holds the world in a paper cup.
Drink it up.
Love her and she'll bring you luck.
And if you find she helps your mind, better take her home.
Don't you live alone.
Try to earn what lovers own.

And even though we ain't got money,
I'm so in love with you, honey,
And everything will bring a chain of love.
And in the morning, when I rise,
You bring a tear of joy to my eyes
And tell me everything is gonna be alright.

one big check mark

2009-11-08T18:40:00.000-08:00

this weekend in addition to finding a bridesmaid dress for my future sister-in-law's wedding mike and i finally met with our tent/rental company (insert tears of frustration about having to shell out thousands of dollars for a stupid tent) and our officiant.

as it should be, meeting Julie (said officiant) made it all feel so so real. more real than bringing home the dress and more real than dropping off the save the dates, in such a good way. as we drove up to maine super early saturday morning i read some of the options for blessings, readings, prayers, and ring ceremonies she had sent us out loud to mike. there was something really sweet about reading a portion and knowing that mike loved it just as much as i did, or pausing to talk about which friends would be perfect to read something we had just heard, it just filled me with such warm rich love and excitement.

our officiant expelled positive energy and we're both so excited to have our marriage in her hands. in the midst of the stressful organizational and budgetary tasks and fun decorating tasks that we have been spending a lot of our planning time and energy dealing with, it was really grounding to spend some time focusing on what we want to say about our love and the life we are going to spend together.

something i really like about Julie is that she gave us sheets and sheets of options for every single part of the ceremony. some super traditional, some not so traditional, some short and to the point and some really poetic. she even included this excerpt from the velveteen rabbit:

“What is real?” asked the velveteen rabbit one day, when he and the toy skin horse were lying side by side in the nursery. “Real isn’t how you’re made.” said the toy skin horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When someone really loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with but really loves you, then you become real.” “Does it hurt?’ asked the rabbit. “Sometimes,” said the skin horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are real you don’t mind being hurt.” “Does it happen all at once, like being wound up?” he asked, “Or bit by bit?” “It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the skin horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or have to be carefully kept. Once you are real, you can’t become unreal again.”

I think it's kinda great and has really got us thinking out of the box about some of the readings we might want to include. since we are both film buffs - having met in film school - we're even thinking movie quotes. Have you guys started choosing readings? Are you going traditional? I'd love to hear what you have decided to include!

bad bridesmaid dresses

2009-11-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

I'm in a bit of a goofy mood, and i happen to be bridesmaid dress shopping for Mike's sister's wedding tomorrow morning so i thought, let's enjoy some of the worst of the worst.

I have to say I've been lucky in the bridesmaid dress department for the most part (aside from wearing butter yellow, it wasn't the dress it was a color anyone would have struggled to pull off, especially a blondie with translucent skin like me.) So here's to making it through the wedding years without too many bad bridesmaid dresses.
My mom's girls wore something very close to the blue one on the left, floppy hat and all, though it's vintage enough I kinda like it again.

This one could be Kelly Kapowski's prom dress.
shiny+ crinkly= amazing

how do you solve a problem like maria?

thanks to uglydress.com for the inspiration and the laughs.

save the dates have landed

2009-11-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

yep...mike and i have butterflies in our stomachs as the calls and emails of friends and family receiving their save the dates start to roll in - exciting! can't we just get married already?!

one thing that i have to admit we did, though i feel a little guilty about it, is hold back a few announcements. we have a handful of possible guests on a b-list that we are still on the fence about and decided not to send them save the dates. Is this cruel? The good news is they are all rather local so if/when they get the invitation they will have plenty of notice about the party - but what if they find out they were b-listers? i'm so afraid of hurting feelings but at the same time i am a bride on a budget and a big headcount is one thing that will for sure raise our prices.

have any of you dealt with this? any remorse? any backlash?

obsessing over the details or just super cute?

2009-11-02T07:32:00.001-08:00

I have no perspective anymore, but i had to specially order these darling king and queen of hearts stamps for our save the dates and invites...aren't they cute? am i obsessive for worrying about what stamps i use? should i be picking out vows instead? probably but i couldnt help myself!i'm also secretly hoping we might need some additional postage so i can use some of these puppies.

blog love

2009-10-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

guess what? I was sent an award from wedding blog friend Stacy! Who knew a girl could be so happy to have blog friends?!I'm to pass it on to 10 bloggers and tell you all 10 things about me. Is this the blogger's chain letter? You betcha!

here are my blog friends (shucks I don't yet have 10 and they all seem to have the award already!)

Postcards from Concrete
A Chocolate Lover's Confessions
Buhdoop
You Can't Take it With You

and some daily reads

A Practical Wedding
The Broke-Ass Bride
A Cup of Jo
Accordions and Lace
Earth Friendly Weddings
Broken*Saucer

ten things with no particular importance or order

1. I'm currently in school for graphic design while working full time
2. I love antiques, thrift stores, and consignments shops
3. My family is from Wisconsin so any time I see someone wearing a Wisconsin jersey of any kind i say "Go Pack Go!" with a smile as I walk by
4. One of my best friends got married in Vegas last weekend - amazing.
5. I'm obsessed with my new niece, Kate
6. I moved back to Boston with Mike after living in LA for 6 years and miss our LA friends every day
7. I work from home and sport a uniform of yoga pants and a hoodie on most days
8. I used to design and build movie sets, and loved it
9. I collect old cameras (among other things)
10. Mike used to tell me he was gonna marry me someday after too many drinks long before we started dating

dress dilemma

2009-10-20T15:21:00.000-07:00

im sure im not the first, but i am having some major post purchase dress stress. like wake up in the morning and think "did i really just have a dream about a wedding dress?" stress. i really dont think im a bridezilla, and im not a fashionista or a clothes hound or anything. im a pretty normal jeans and t-shirt wearing girl.

so, when i started dress shopping i did what most blog obsessed bride to be's do. I found the dresses i've been drooling over on line in a few boutiques, tried them on and quickly discovered that the ones i thought i loved didn't work for me. with that out of the way i could try on freely without any expectations. I discovered early on that, one - all bridal gowns are beautiful and therefore look beautiful on, and two - there is a lot more bling on everything than it looks like through the computer monitor.

Anywho after a few boutiques, lots of dresses, and very few in the maybe pile Mom and I headed to David's to make some major progress in the hunt. I tried on at least a dozen, and in the midst it happened. A dress that I pulled from a section other than the one i was searching in, just because i likes the detail, made me feel beautiful. I found myself dancing up and down the corridor of mirrors, imagining the flowy gown against the green fields of the farm where our wedding is going to be. It wasn't what i was looking for, it isnt what i expected and I don't have any idea if it is "me."

It's a preview gown so I can't find any photos to obsess over on the web, and to top it all off i feel like i am being constantly judged by other friends who are getting married with unlimited budgets and are having couture one of a kind gowns made just for them. It makes me want to cry, it makes me feel like David's is a dirty word,and more than anything, second guess my dress.

Is it just because it isn't what i expected? Why am i having such a hard time with this? Whenever i put it on i'm a happy girl- does everyone second guess?

engaged

2009-10-16T09:38:00.000-07:00

Inspired by new blog friend Stacy of You Can't Take it With You, I thought i would share the images from the event that started us off on this journey. Mike and I both lived in Los Angeles for 5 or 6 years and we share groups of friends because we went to college together and were friends for a long time before we dated. This March we visited LA for the first time together since we moved home to Boston. We planned a big dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, El Cholo (let's be honest Mexican food on the East Coast just doesn't compare.) We had 14 of our dearest around us and the night was fabulous and memorable and a celebration as it was.

Mike has a tradition of making speaches at big dinners like these, usually after a few cocktails of course, finding a way to say something about everyone at the table with humor and sentimentality. When he stood up for his speech this time he was a little more nervous than usual, he stumbled over his words a bit, and said something along the lines of "...there is still something missing, and what is missing is that Kristy is not my wife." Apparently all of our friends were aware of the events because they had cameras at the ready and the documentation is something i cherish so much today that i can't imagine how valuable the images will become with time.

pulling the trigger

2009-10-13T16:13:00.000-07:00

i had a very productive wedding planning weekend. i gocco'd our save the dates with only a few tears for fear of inadequacy...i'm pretty proud of them and more importantly mike likes them a lot. what i fear might be viewed as amateur he thinks is authentic, and really handmade is exactly what the initial goal was way back when. for all first time gocco users, be prepared to freak out and think you did it wrong and then burn a second screen and think you did it wrong again until you try to print it and realize it was fine in the first place. at least that was my experience. the original paper stuck to the screen in some places and the ink from the photocopy hung on much more than i expected - but don't freak out. It probably worked, and remember if you wanted it to look perfect you would have used your inkjet printer in the first place.

here they are, thoughts? (if you say anything other than they are great i will of course cry)

ps. i also did flowers arrangement trials this weekend, i know holy productive, i'll talk about that some more when i get a hold of the photos.