Winter Wedding

So, yeah, eventually I’ll post more recaps. I don’t feel like it right now. Plus, I don’t have access to my photos at the moment.

I made a winter wedding inspiration board. And I love it. So, now I must re-do my wedding. Even though I hate winter. I love this board.

Sources: Bridesmaid Dress (David’s Bridal), Bouquets (Petal Pushers, photo by Forever Photography), Shoes [J.Crew (this style no longer available)], Hot Chocolate image (Bon Appetit), Ornament image (www.bettyschristmashouse.com), all other images from TheKnot

Now, for my imaginary, re-do wedding, I would keep some elements from my real wedding the same – like pretty much all of the same vendors, but I’d choose a new venue for the reception:

The University Club

I’d rent floor length white satin linens for the tables, use navy linen napkins,  and tie dark blue chameleon taffeta sashes around the backs of the chairs.

 The centerpieces would be a mix of low arrangements of baby’s breath and tall vases with branches and white hydrangea. And lots of candles! And some blue up-lighting would be suh-weet!

Since the University Club is a little pricey and charges a lot of extra fees (in my opinion), I’d use the local grocery store for a caterer ($9.99 per person for a two-entree dinner!) and serve yummy homestyle favorites like turkey and mashed potatoes. I’d also want a hot chocolate bar with toppings on hand – like whipped cream and sprinkles!  Mmmm…it’s almost lunch time. Moving on….

I’d outfit the bridesmaids in floor-length navy dresses.  One of my bridesmaids actually tried that dress on at David’s…and she looked pretty smokin’, not gonna lie. I’d buy them white cardigans to wear during photos and the reception.  The groomsmen would wear classic black tuxes, black vests, and navy ties. I’d still pick the same wedding dress again! Or…maybe this one from Essense of Australia…even thought it was out of my price range…but I fell in love when [I made the stupid mistake of] trying it on and didn’t want to take it off:

Oh, the dress that never was….the sparklies….anywho. Moving on.

I don’t know what all is in those bouquets above, but they’re gorgeous, and I want them. Roses…maybe some hydrangea and ranunculous…and what’s that gray stuff? It’s perfect! I would have the BM’s bouquets tied with a navy ribbon and mine with an ivory ribbon.

The cake? White fondant, navy ribbons…and some bling. Maybe snowflakes, not sure. How about silver and blue ornaments strewn about the cake table for decoration? Ornaments as favors? That’s practical! People can hang them on their trees and it will remind them of your wedding!  Well…that’s if this is a December wedding. It might be in January…or even February.

The programs and invites would have blue covers and be tied with a ribbon…I like the accordion style in the picture in the board. Very scripty, elegant font.  And a sophisticated monogram. And glitter. Can I have sophistication and glitter together? No? How about rhinestones? Ok, rhinestones.

Now, similar to having a Friday wedding, I would think that’d I’d still be able to snag a lot of great deals from my vendors.  No one really gets married in winter around here.  On the local wedding website there is a section of  “weddings in the next 30 days”. In the summer…there are dozens!! In the winter…maybe 10 couples.  Granted, that doesn’t account for everyone, but still, it’s clear. Summer beats winter.  And naturally so. Winter provides a lot of extra worries. Like, what if there is a snow storm and people can’t make it? What will I wear over my dress to stay warm? Where will we take pictures – will we still do outdoor pictures? What if I slip on a patch of ice walking into the church before the ceremony and fall really hard on my arse?  But, maybe it’s all worth it to have a beautiful, glamorous, winter wonderland wedding!!

 

Tonight’s Gonna Be A Good Night: Getting Ready

I decided Tonight’s Gonna Be a Good Night by Black Eye Peas is our unofficial wedding day song because A) I heard that song on the radio a LOT in the weeks leading up to our wedding,  B) I did have a feeling it was going to be a good night, and C) I like Black Eyed Peas, and that song. 🙂

So, let the recaps begin!

This is how my wedding morning went down.  I woke up and ate cereal in my dad’s kitchen, just like I did every morning.  My dad wanted to go out to breakfast.  Silly male. Dad! I don’t have time for that! Sorry.

My roomie from college was with me all morning, because she stayed the night at my house.  We went to the new house to get some stuff because I had already moved all of my clothes there, but had forgotten to pack an outfit to wear while getting ready that day!  I also grabbed some earrings that reminded me of my late and beloved grandma to pin into my dress along with a pearl earring (yes, just one, the other broke) that was a gift from Po the same night I agreed to call him my boyfriend. 🙂

We went to the reception site to set-up.  Po’s friend, 3 of my bridesmaids, my mom, sister, Po’s parents, brother, and sister-in-law were all on hand to help out.  We knocked it out in about an hour.  The staff ladies were also very helpful.

After set-up, the girls went for coffee and I went home to go for my run.  This was finally the last day of my running streak!  I thought it would be a peaceful, reflective run. My last run as a single lady, down the streets of my childhood neighborhood. Um, no.  It was more like me running down the streets, grinning ear to ear, wanting to hop and skip and jump and yell at the passing cars, “I’m getting MARRIED today!”  I was breathless with excitement.  I was thrilled with the beautiful weather. I was rushed to get home and shower so I could go meet my girls for lunch!

We went to an Italian restaurant for a delicious lunch buffet.  Hell, yes. I am NOT that bride that goes her entire wedding day without eating.  Oh, no. I needed fuel!  It was another benefit of having a late evening ceremony. We had plenty of time to chill and eat lots of bread. We were having such a relaxed pleasant lunch, I almost forgot why we were all there. Oh yeah, my friends are all here having lunch with me because it’s my wedding day!

After lunch, it was off to Five Star Salon to get our hair did.  My stylist really worked with me and I ended up liking my hair much better than I did for the trial!  I felt so relaxed. It still wasn’t quite hitting me.

MOH was writing her toast in the waiting area. We’re procrastinators. I’ve done the same exact thing. That’s how we roll.

After we were all beautified, we went and set-up camp in our hotel suite.  MOH and I went to my dad’s to pick-up my dress and bring it to the hotel.  I had made a playlist of favorite songs to play as we got ready (including Black Eyed Peas, of course).  More of the girls joined us, and we had one big getting-ready party: curling hair, painting toenails, doing makeup, singing, laughing, dancing.  It was like a slumber party…only in the middle of the afternoon!

All of a sudden it was 4:00! I was supposed to be meeting Po and our photographer at 5:00!  Where did the time go?  MOH sat me down to begin makeup.

(Following  Photos by BM Jenna, unless otherwise noted)

The florist arrived at 4:30 with our bouquets which were beautiful!

(Photo by Usherette Bethany)

Then it was 4:45….and I still wasn’t in my dress! And I started to panic. How can this be happening? I was stressed I was going to have too much time! Now I don’t have enough?! I’m going to be late!  I’m going to miss out on my precious photography minutes! I didn’t want to be rushed! This is what I had wedding nightmares about! I’m not going to look as good as I wanted to! This isn’t how it was supposed to be!!!

Luckily, I had my amazing girls there. They got me into that dress fast.

They remembered my lip gloss.

They made me pose for a picture.

I looked out the window to see if I could see Po waiting for me. I couldn’t see him, but he was there.

 

 

I took one last stop to look in the mirror, and I started to tear up. I’m a bride! It’s finally hitting me! This is my wedding day! I do actually look pretty! I look so bride-like! Is it vain to be crying because I think I’m pretty?  Oh, well. It’s my wedding day. It’s OK.  Alright. Time to go.

 

Woohoo!

Well…I’m MARRIED!!!

It was a wonderful, wonderful day. Followed by an equally wonderful honeymoon. 🙂

I should be getting my pro-pics in about a week and a half, and then I can share all sorts of details about our special day.

And congrats to my dress twin, Nikki, married the weekend after us! Hope everything went great for you, too!

Until later…a teaser from our amazing photographer:

You are my sunshine

Now that our wedding countdown is down to EIGHT days, I have begun religiously checking weather.com for the 10-day forecast, and I have decided that the 10-day forecast is nothing but a cruel form of torture. Really. How can they predict the weather 10 days out? They can’t. So why do they post their guesses? To make us poor brides panic?  The forecast for my wedding has already changed at least 5 times. Rain. No rain. Rain, no rain.

It’s not like our wedding is outdoors, so it won’t really change any of our plans if it does rain. I just might not get the photos I want. Which would make me sad. And rainy days are depressing. And even though I don’t plan on being depressed on my wedding day, it’d be nice if the weather could reflect the happy occasion.

Currently, this is the forecast for Thursday, the day beforeour wedding: high of 72, sunny, 0% of chance. Does it GET any more perfect than that??  Friday doesn’t look too bad either. But there’s no point in getting excited about that. Because yesterday, the forecast said it was going to rain ALL week!  I need to stop checking. But I can’t.

Po is my sunshine, my only sunshine. He’ll make me happy if skies are gray. 🙂

Perfect Timing

We’re having an ice cream sundae bar at our rehearsal dinner.  We were going to have one at our reception, but it was going to be too expensive through our caterer.

I found this sundae bar from Eat Drink Chic today, via Once Wed.

How cute!!! I love it.

I had my dress fitting last night. Nothing was horribly wrong, but it left me in a bad mood, and I don’t feel like talking about it. So there.
But this ice cream happiness makes me feel a little better.

Two weeks!!!

Hubby Hubby

I heard about this on the radio this morning, and I thought, I wonder if Meg has heard this news, too. I wonder if she’ll write a post about it. Sure enough.

I think it’s pretty awesome that Ben & Jerry’s did that. 

And I really like ice cream.

Oh, and I can’t wait to call Po my husband/hubby/hubs!  In 16 days.

It’s finally hit me!

I think it’s different for every bride. Maybe some women get really excited like…6 months out. Maybe the reality of it all doesn’t hit some until the day-o,f when they’re stepping into their wedding gown. Well, for me, it appears to have taken place at the three-weeks-out mark. It finally feels real. It feels exciting. I’m giddy. I look at the calendar and smile instead of panic. (Well, maybe still a itty-bit of panic, but definitely not as bad as before.)

I think this past weekend helped me get excited because we got so much stuff crossed off our to-do list! We painted two rooms in our house, got new cell phones on a new family plan, bought a bed, bought candy for the candy buffet, got some little DIY projects finished…etc. So, now there is less to DO and more to get EXCITED about! The wedding is really coming!

We got our first official wedding gift in the mail!

The RSVP deadline is today…HA. Still missing QUITE a few postcards, but I’ll be passing along the list of names to call to other people, so I’m not stressed about it.

I only have 10 more full days of work left!

I bought some…”attire” for the honeymoon! Ha!

I’m just so excited now and it feels WONDERFUL! This is the emotion I’ve been waiting for! I can’t wait to marry my wonderful man and move into our cute little house together and begin this wonderful adventure of married life!

Let’s just hope I can stay on this high for another 18 days!

Lace/Ribbon Bouquet Wrap

I met with my florist again yesterday. I changed my mind about the bridesmaid bouquets. I wasn’t sold on the all-carnation look like I thought I was. I thought it’d look…boring.
So, she suggested some different flowers, and I said, “Sure.” I still don’t know if I’ll like them, but whatever. It’s too late to keep changing my mind.
HOWEVER,  I just found this awesome bouquet wrap and I am going to mail her this picture. And even if I don’t like the flowers, I think this adorable wrap will make up for it. 🙂

[Source]

23 days to go

Just a quick update:
The programs have been printed and cut. Printing was a pain, as usual. I’ve just come to expect it. The cutting was easy…because we paid someone else to do it! Kinko’s rocks. At least the one I go to does. Everything came out perfect. It was totally worth my $6.

I had a microdermabrasion treatment done for my back. I have a couple more scheduled. I don’t know if it’s actually going to make me look better in my strapless dress, but I figure it’s worth a shot. And doing it at the spa means I get a massage. So, whatever. I like going to the spa. I could get used to it. My bank account, not so much.

FMIL is trying to add another person to the guest list. Awesome.

RSVP cards are due on Monday and as of yesterday, we are still missing about 40% of the replies! Way to go, friends and family, way to go. I better be getting a lot of mail this week!

We had our consultation with our photographer last night. I think we have all of the logistics figured out. We’ll be doing our “first look” on a path by our reception place. Then the two of us will walk around the riverwalk and downtown area to get some more shots. The bridal party will meet up with us for group shots, then we will all head to the church for family portraits. Luckily our church and reception are only about a mile apart, because all of our photos have to happen in 2 hours. I really hope this doesn’t stress me out on the day of.

I met with our DJ. He is awesome and totally non-cheesy, which I like.

Our house is still empty! Hopefully we can get some stuff moved in and buy some furniture…really soon! If not, oh well. I told Po I’m fine with sleeping on an air mattress as long as we’re together. 🙂

So, I guess that’s the big stuff.
I have some stuff going on in my personal life that has been stressing me out, and it’s making it really hard for me to get excited for the wedding, which makes me really sad and even more stressed. Such a vicious cycle.
But, this wedding-thing is only going to happen once. So I need to snap out of it and get excited because everything is going to work out the wedding will be amazing and soon I get to be married to my best friend!

Yes, life will be good.

In the meantime, I need to get the song “Wake Me Up When September Ends” out of my head. That is not positive thinking.

Hair Trial

Here are some pics from my hair trial.  I don’t know how I feel about it.  Actually, as I was sitting in the chair at the salon, I almost started crying. I just didn’t feel pretty. I thought it would be some sort of magical transformation, but instead I felt…weird. I don’t know.  Something’s not right. I can’t afford another trial so hopefully I can figure out how to communicate with my stylist better.  Or else I’ll just have to accept the fact that I can’t look perfect on my wedding day.

And here it is seven hours later.  It was supposed to be “half-up” but she only used maybe 10 bobby pins!!  My hair is super thick. Whenever I have it done, I usually end up with about 60 bobby pins!  It was falling out and sticking out in weird places.

I dunno. Maybe if I’d remembered my stinkin veil I would have felt more bridal.  But it remains at the bridal store, a half hour drive away.  Oh, well. It’s just hair.  With the dress and the veil and the makeup and the groom (and a professional photographer)…I’m sure I’ll feel pretty enough.

But here’s a good tip.  Get your hair done the day of your shower or bachelorette party. It’s more fun having somewhere to go with your hair all did.