Invitation Redux

We still have not ordered our invitations. Why? Because I am indecisive and we'll make a decision and the next morning I wake up less than enthusiastic about it. I know, its just a piece of paper people will throw away. But, I want it to be pretty. We already decided that we don't need a reception card--we are just going to put "reception to follow" on the invitation. Information and directions are on our website and we'll probably also add directions from the Church to the reception location in the program for good measure. Last night I think we decided to skip the response card as well and just advise people to "kindly reply" online at our website. This will save us money and allow us to get the very pretty invitations I have wanted all along. And it's good for the environment becuase we are using less paper that will just be discarded. Thoughts? Is the concept of sending invitations with no (zip, zero, zilch) enclosures insane?! Have we lost our mind?

P.S. I promise that my next invitation post will be titled "Invitations: Ordered!" (because otherwise I think I may have a very grouchy fiance on my hands--even his patience must wear thin at some point)

Nifty Wedding Gift

Oooh - just saw this on Green Wedding Shoes. What a great wedding gift these would make. I like this serving bowl (and the dessert sets are pretty neat, too!)

* Photo from Jessica Rust Designs

Bridesmaid Dress

Still trying to decide on Bridesmaid dresses.

This should be good for a laugh

Or maybe I'm the only one who finds it funny. The fiance started a wiki for us (using PBwiki) to organize our world travel plans and ideas. We also started using it to organize our wedding to do list (does this make us REALLY BIG nerds?). It has worked really well to divide wedding task responsibility and maintain communication over the distance. Plus we see what the other has done and it keeps us motivated. So, I sent my sweetie an e-mail with some of the thoughts in my post yesterday. For some reason, despite reading this sentiment again and again, it finally sunk in: we need to stop obsessing about this being our "wedding." We just needed to let that go and plan a party--except with a lot more guests and a big poofy white dress (okay, maybe not big and poofy). This thought was like an epiphany to me. I have been trying to figure out how to do "weddingy" stuff, but in our own unique way. Whatever that means!! It is so much easier to just drop the pressure, stress, and associations that come when you use the word "wedding" (even when you are just talking to yourself). Anyway, the fiance was totally on board with this and even added a "mission statement" to our wiki page with our wedding to do list. He made up this slogan for us: "Ask yourself WWWRND ("What Would We Really Normally Do?")." And that folks, I think is good for a laugh! (Or maybe you are just laughing because we use a wiki to track our wedding to do list).

Love and Weddings

I apologize for my lack of posting lately. It is a direct result of trying to be more focused at work and spending less time reading blogs, finding inspiration, and posting about my thoughts. My evenings have also been more busy because I am trying to get into some kind of work out routine. It's also because we haven't made very many wedding decisions lately--we picked out our invitations (the ones via Paper Source I discussed below), but still no dress or bridesmaid dresses. And, it's also because, in light of my friends' sad tragedy, it has been difficult to get excited about the superficial details. Let's face it, I haven't been much into the details to begin with (see, e.g., the steak knives) and now they just seem to pale in comparison to the really important stuff--love, family, and friends. I feel indulgent and shallow spending time and energy on what is, at the end of the day, a party for me (and my beloved). Then I rationalize: a wedding is important (eloping has never been a serious option for us because (a) getting married in a Church is important to me, (b) community is an important part of a marriage--through marriage we assume a different status in our community and ask our community to support us on our marraige journey, and (c) celebrating life and love is a really good thing) and there are decisions that need to be made, even if they are superficial, because people need to eat and they need to drink and they need to have somewhere to sit or stand... and the list goes on. So, there we are. We are getting married. We are having a wedding. And we need to figure out the "stuff." Meg wrote a great post the other day on details. She said that if "we strive to create a wedding that reflects who we are and what we value, we will, without trying, create details that will form an indelible impression in our guests minds, details that will be a gift." Great!* But how do I figure out who we are and what we value? It just doesn't seem so simple. I cannot for the life of me figure out what "details" we have inadvertantly created. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. As a hostess I go WAY WAY overboard (I have admitted to being a perfectionist before, right?). And we simply cannot afford go overboard for our wedding (not enough time or money or energy). So, it is nearly impossible to reflect my (and our) method of entertaining--too much yummy homemade food and beverages--at our wedding. Or can we....

* And I really do mean great despite my subsequent whining. Meg's posts are insightful and honest and I totally agree with the sentiment and the concept, but just needed to voice my frustration in the context of my (our) individual journey to create a wedding that... feels good to us in spite of it being a giant money pit

Sweet Snacks

My wedding is less than five months away. Eek!! My to do list is huge! I am planning to head to Chicago over Memorial Day weekend and stay through Wednesday to get some wedding stuff done. We have schedule our tasting and will, hopefully, pick out a bakery to order our desserts from. Our plan is to NOT have a giant wedding cake, but a variety of cakes and other sweets. At one time I thought that I could make these (along with some assistance from family and friends) and while I haven't ruled that option out yet, I feel like there will be enough things to do as the wedding approaches. Especially because, ahem, I don't even have a dress yet!

* Photo from Alliance Bakery

Reasons why families are important...

My friends lost their dear sweet baby boy this weekend. Today, my thoughts and prayers are with them and their families. If you are reading this, please say a little prayer for them or just send some good thoughts their way.

Back to Wedding Thoughts

After spending a couple days contemplating this new decision/ opportunity, I am trying to re-focus on the wedding planning. The wedding is more imminent than any traveling we decide to do and desperately requires my attention (and me to make some decisions!). While in Chicago for Easter this past weekend I tried on a dress that I thought might be the one, but even on a second look it still wasn't "right," so we're back to the drawing board on that front.

We also visited Paper Source (my first time ever-gasp!, I know). I think we are going the Paper Source route and getting our invitations letterpressed and our response cards flat printed. This seemed like the most economical compromise for us and I really like how you can customize everything, but keep consistent shades and colors. We are deciding between two options:

This invitation (in dark blue, I forget the exact color name):

Colonial Stencil Invitation

Or just going with plain lettering (no design) and adding a stamp. Here are a couple that I found at Terbearco's shop on Etsy that could work:

Thinking on it...

From here

As it turns out, I will not be starting my new job in October or November, but in January or March... or next fall (with a paid stipend). So, what do I do? This decision seems so full of opportunity and possibility and it scares me. It's also frustrating because it delays our plan to get married and begin our new settled married life together. Today wedding planning is being shoved to the backburner and I am working and creating a wish list of things I would like to do with this time off. If you had the opportunity to make a small, but manageable salary (without going to work) for six months or a year, how would you use that time?

Yes, please!!

Image from here via A Cup of Jo

So, did I mention that we are planning to stop in the South of France on our honeymoon. And paddling in the Dordogne looks like it might be a must-do activity.

Seriously!?

photo by darwin bell via mint

I definitely want paper lanterns for our reception--hanging from the porch and maybe also from the trees; probably in white maybe in pale green. So, when I saw that Luna Bazaar is offering Mint readers 20% off, I figured I should head over there and complete my lantern purchase. I mean, I am desperate for things I can actually GET DONE. But then I realized that I had no idea what size or type I needed. And because I live oh 500 miles from my reception location, I can't just pop over and check it out and measure the space between the columns or stare at the trees and figure out whether I want lanterns to hang from the trees and, if so, how many. Do I want simple ("no frills") ones or fancier ones? What's the difference? Do I want plain white or a mix of white and green? Or white, green, and blue? Seriously!? Is it really this hard to pick out lanterns? One more thing not checked off the list. (But, hey, at least I know where I'm ordering them from--that's progress, right?)

P.S. Are you using paper lanterns? What size? What type? Does it matter?

Bridal Shower

from here

So, my sisters (my two Maids of Honor) are getting together this weekend and are planning my bridal shower. My sister sent me this question: what do you envision your shower to be like? Her suggestions were a quiant tea party, a spa gathering, a party at a chinese restaurant, a lingerie shower, a wine tasting. My answer: I have no frickin idea. What did you do for a shower? Or how was a shower that you attended and liked done?

Also, how did you handle inviting your fiance's family? Did you do a couple's shower? Did you have two showers? One for ladies and one with more family?

P.S. I know this picture has NOTHING to do with a bridal shower, but it is a bride (and her maids) ready for a (rain) shower, so I found it appropriate.

Bridesmaid Dress?

Available at Anthropologie

For $310, this Unique Recycled Vintage Wedding Dress could be yours!

Lulu Dress by Hay-Lo Designs

I think this dress is fantastic and would have purchased it and been done with my wedding dress shopping, except -- it's an empire-waist which doesn't do much for my hourglass figure and I am not sure I want to go the strapless route. But, I think that it is beautiful and the flowing skirt is "both romantic and fun." This dress fits like an 8 (36-29-full). Hay-lo is offering 60% off until April 30th, so go check it out!

Reading Wedding Blogs may Improve your Work Productivity!

I know I am not the only one who feels... guilty... for spending time reading wedding blogs while I should be working. That's why I had to post a link to One Barefoot Bride's post on an Austrailian University study that concludes that Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing ("WILB") may actually increase productivity!! So, here's to guilt-free blog-reading (at least if you keep it to 20% or less of your workday).

Flowers Beautiful

Beautiful bouquet by Flower Wild

A beautiful flower bouquet by Flower Wild in honor of the beautiful flowers my sweetie dropped off on his way out of town this weekend. We did not get much wedding stuff done this visit, just tried to enjoy each other and get used to seeing each other for more than two days at a time. This week it's back to normal.

I heart this table

Lisel of the Jewels of New York's table via Design*Sponge by Lorimer Workshop

Honeymoon II

After doing further research, we realized that, indeed, going to Thailand for our honeymoon would put us smack-dab in the middle of monsoon season. Thus, we decided that perhaps we should do that trip when the weather was cooperating. As a result, we are now planning to go to Europe for our honeymoon. I know this doesn't narrow things down much. We are thinking perhaps going to the South of France, Italy, and then sailing around Croatia or Greece. If we focus more on Eastern Europe, we figure we can save some money. The picture above is from Cinque Terre in Italy--isn't it beautiful. I think this is a definite stop on our honeymoon, we just aren't sure how much time we'll be spending there. A night? A week? It's so hard to decide whether to plan a leisurely trip (spending a week somewhere and doing day trips from that spot and then moving on) or to do a more touristy approach and just spend a night or two in each spot.

Thursday is Here

I apologize for the lack of interesting or informative posts this week. My honey has been in town visiting (yay!), so we have been playing and relaxing and trying not to make ourselves crazy doing wedding stuff. That, plus I feel like I am stuck. I have three major items on my to do list right now, which despite spending hours on the internet and looking at zillions of options, I haven't been able to decide on: (1) a wedding gown and (2) invitations. That and we need to book our caterer (which I have just been avoiding because... gulp... they are so darn expensive and I keep hoping that I will have an epiphany or a little elf will whisper a wonderful cost-saving idea into my ear before we sign on the dotted line, alas, that hasn't happened yet). So, because I have just been spinning my wheels on the same things (and been distracted by my honey), my posting has been a little lackluster.

I heart this dress

by Elizabeth Dye via {frolic!}