Dressing the Women Folk: Flower girl

via igoyougo



via myhautewedding, photo by Cameron Ingalls.



via Style Me Pretty, photo by Erin Hearts Court

Tell me that your heart did not just melt into a giant puddle of goo. I cannot get over how freaken adorable these little flower girls are in their tutus!

I forget how this idea first crossed my mind, but I have to admit that I let it escape. Around Easter, I started looking at Easter and First Communion dresses for our flower girl. I had read somewhere that you can score a cute dress on clearance after the holiday passes. Unfortunately, we could not find anything that a) was what we were looking for, b) in her size, or c) at the right price point.

While perusing photos of our flower girl on Facebook, I learned that she had started ballet classes. After some research, I found that getting her a tutu was very, VERY reasonable (try under $20). BINGO! After checking with her mom, to make sure that she would love it. I contacted Etsy seller TutuRocks and got the tutu train going (haha, I made a funny).

Here is our tutu:

via TutuRocks

I cannot wait for M to wear it!

P.S. I confess that I thought about making it myself for a split second. Purchasing was by far one of the best decisions I have made this whole process.

57 days.

2 months

58 days just does not seem like enough time. Then again, I sat on the sofa and watched TV all day Sunday. What? I deserve a break now and then. Don't judge =P

Let's revisit the wedding timeline checklist thingamajigy I have kind of been following:

4 Months before the wedding

 - Book your florist - Well, she has not officially been booked, but we have been working with a florist. Nothing has been set in stone, mostly because Jake and I have completely different tastes when it comes to floral arrangements. We have been around the world in term of designs. Hopefully we will peg something down real SOON.
 - Shop for your wedding bands - DONE. I finally have them in my grubby hands. I owe you guys photos. 
 - Visit your physician. Get your physical examinations and blood tests if required to obtain a marriage license in your state. - Yea, I do not think this applies.

3 Months before the wedding
 - Send out your invitations - DONE! I think most people have received them. We have heard from folks in MA, CO, CA, TX, and WA. Strange that we have not heard a peep out of folks in OR and CT. Oh, we got our first RSVP yesterday!
 - Select tuxedos - Done and done. We (I) decided to go with suits. The groomsman suits are all in and half delivered. Jake finally purchased his suit over the weekend and will be headed into the store today to meet with the tailor.
 - Arrange for rental of items needed for your ceremony and reception - Leaving this in the hands of our planners.
 - Discuss finalized menu options and costs with your caterer - I think there is plenty of time to make changes.
 - Arrange transportation/ limousine service for the wedding party to the ceremony and reception - We are cheap and do not care about "arriving in style". The party will get there via our own cars. But we do need transportation for the guests to and from the reception. We want to make sure they take full advantage of the open bar.
 - Order wedding favors - HA. You people think you are getting favors.
 - Shop for bridal party gifts - Easy, peasy. For the ladies, we are gifting hair and make-up. For the gents, we are gifting their suits. I feel bad as the women do not have something tangible they can keep. I'll probably come up with something small and personalized. 
 - Begin any necessary counseling sessions with your wedding officiant - I doubt that our officiant is qualified to counsel us. But we should start planning the ceremony.  

2 Months before the wedding
 - Choose your wedding music and share your selections with your Band or DJ- Yeah...I need to get on this. 
 - Select a location for your rehearsal dinner and make the necessary reservations & deposits - DONE! I'm already drooling over the menu we picked out.
 - Confirm with formal wear shop that they have received all measurements of every male attendant - See suits comment above. The men will have to take care of the tailoring on their own. 
 - Schedule your alterations and final fitting for the gown - One should probably call and schedule fittings well before the 2 month mark. I have had my fittings scheduled since March. 
 - Schedule fittings for the bridesmaids and flower girl - Psh, they can do this on their own. I ain't their mamma.  
 - Make arrangements for your "Bridesmaid Luncheon" and other "Pre-Wedding Parties" -  Meh.
 - Order address labels with you & your future husband's new name & new address - Move and plan a wedding? No thank you.
 - Confirm your order with the florist - Yea...I need to get on this, too.

1 Month before the wedding
 - Design your wedding programs - Already thinking about this. I have a pretty good idea and it will be awesome.
 - Apply for your marriage license - I will give this task to Jake. If he forgets, I guess we won't be really married then ;)
 - Have a final gown fitting - Scheduled
 - Choose all of your wedding accessories - Um, in this day in age, I am most certain that brides have their accessories all picked out MONTHS before.
 - Visit your hair stylist, work on a style with your veil - Already had this taken care of back in May.
 - Visit your make-up artist the same day - see line above.
 - Hair & make-up done, have your formal bridal portraits done - Uh, sorry, I ain't a Southern belle.
 - Discuss and finalize details with wedding service providers - TBD.

Now for the personal to-do list:

• Menus need to be designed, printed, and assembled.
• Cardbox - I told myself by the end of the month....I have 8 days...
• Chair signage - do we even need signage? seriously?
• Welcome packages for out of town guests -I mean what welcome packages? No one is getting anything.
• Communicate with our photog and cinematog what photos/moments MUST be captured.
• Table numbers
• Seating chart - I had post-it notes with last names when making the invitations, now I can just use those to help arrange everyone.
• Super secret wedding stuff -  We have been doing a lot of things behind the scenes that we refuse to share with anyone, including our parents and wedding party members. We want EVERYONE to be surprised, enjoy themselves, and have a great time.
• Ring bearer pillow - so close to being finished
• Flower basket - also so very very close
• Signage for guestbook and other things.
• Escort cards

Countdown:
3 months
4 months

5 months

Meltdown at 5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

11 months

12 months

13 months

Invitations: Go Bye-bye!

The invitations have been completed AND sent out! Technically, they were 2 days late out of the gate. But, USPS was so fast getting them to you guys that it does not matter. Seriously, USPS rocked it. We dropped these off around 5pm on Wednesday, June 15. Some of you had them the very next day!

So we showed up at the post office with our box of 79 invites. (If you are counting, we made 85. 4 were hand delivered, 1 we kept for ourselves, and 1 is an extra). I asked the clerk if we could hand cancel them ourselves. He took one look at the box and asked his colleague for the "bullseye" (aka the stamp). Yay for hand cancelling our own invitations.

Here's Jake meticulously stamping each one and making sure the ink is bold red and the stamp very visible:

Here I go with my LEAN manufacturing training, assembly line style. Spread out a bunch of them and then give them all a quick stamp: If your stamp is pink and/or not entirely legible, then you got one of my stamp jobs ;) 

 

We got back in line, gave them back their stamp and just as I was getting ready to take a photo of Jake handing them all over, the 3rd clerk yells at me. It went something like this:

Clerk: No

Me: *gives her puzzled looked*

Clerk: No...no...

Me: Uh?

Clerk: No photos. No photos in government buildings.

Me: Oh! I thought you were telling us that we couldn't bring these [invitations] to the counter.

As a consulation, I made Jake pose next to the sign with the empty box.

60 days

Recovering

I know you are all dying for photos and stories from Vegas, but I need a few more days to recover before I can sift through all the photos.

In the mean time, I came across this photo. It is a picture of a food blogger's setup. I am currently in the market for a tripod. Not just any tripod, I want one from either the Giotto MT93 or MTL93 line. Why? Because they have an AWESOME 4th "leg" that can be placed parellel to the ground (and adjusted at additional angles in reference to the ground). The 4th leg allows for pictures to be taken from above.

Right now, most of my photos are either taken on my kitchen counter or on the kitchen table (most the table since it is right next to the window). I have not done a lot of overhead shots like this mostly because I do not have the setup. If I want an overhead shot, I have made like a monkey and climbed on chairs and the table.

 

via taylor takes a taste



via taylor takes a taste

Maybe I can register for one of these...

65 days.

Hootenanny, shenanigans, and debachury

Hootenanny. Dontcha just love that word? I do.

Tomorrow morning, I will be on a plane bound for Las Vegas, Nevada. I am 30 years old and this will be my first time in Vegas, ever. It probably sounds super cliche to say, "hey, I'm having my bachelorette party in Vegas." but that's how I'm rollin'. Other than the chairs we picked out for our reception, I have never been more sure of something in this whole wedding planning process (except maybe my wedding band, the photographer, the videographer, the planner, ok I maybe I have been really sure of a couple of things). My girls are spread out all over the country, well mostly they are in Oregon with a few scattered in Washington, Colorado, and Massachusetts. But I figured if someone has to travel, everyone should travel. What better adult play ground than Vegas? 

I am super excited to take a vacation. As I mentioned yesterday, I have not had one in over a year. Traveling for weddings last year was not a vacation. I had a great time at each event and took a little time to see some sites, but it wasn't a sit back, relax, and be carefree type of trips. Also, if you know me, you know that I am super type A and like to know what is going on and like to have a plan. I have been sooo layed back on this trip you would swear that I have been taken over by aliens. It is actually kind of nice to sit back and let others take care of things. I won't lie, it feels weird, but oh so good not to have to stress out.

I am super excited to not only see my girls, but also to be able to spend time with them. I won't get to see all of them, but I'll take some over none any day. I haven't taken a vaca with my maid of honor since Cancun in 2007. Oh what stories we have ;)

And lastly, I am super excited to finally be reunited with my wedding band! I think I mentioned that I found it in Oregon. I kicked myself for not purchasing it right there on the spot. But I was able to purchased it later and had my maid of honor pick it up for me. Yay.

 

Sorry, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Although, I think there is going to
be a major surplus of cameras on this trip between all the budding photographers.

I am surprised by my ability to contain my excitement. 72 days.



Crazy Productive

Last weekend was crazy productive. I mean CRAZY PRODUCTIVE. Here's a quick recap:

Friday -

On a whim, I checked the Macy's site to see if they were having any good sales on men's suits. Seeing that Father's day is right around the corner, I thought maybe they would have something. I was so right. The suits we had picked out were on sale (same sale price as when we had spotted them 2 weeks or so ago). They were having a Private Men's Sale (25% off purchases over $100) on top of the sale price. And if that isn't enough to make you weak in the knees, they give an additional 15% off for opening a store charge card. So for the price of a tux rental, I got the boys suits, suits that they get to keep.

I was able to purchase 4 of 8 suits. We technically only need 5, but I figured my brothers are of an age where they should probably have a good suit in their closet. And that the suit my dad had custom made in Hong Kong or China back in 2005 isn't really black. Well it turns out that the male members of my family are far too small to fit into the smallest size that is available (go ahead and giggle, we did), so that is that.

Also, I found a couple of ties that we had previously picked out for the guys. Unfortunately, there was not enough of them at a single store, so I store hopped (hit 3 in one night), but still do not have all of them. Speaking of store hopping, I had to do it in order to pick up one of the jackets. One of the guys has a strange size, 38L. It was not available for order, but one of the stores just happened physically have it. Good thing I remembered seeing it. The sales rep did not believe me when I said that I thought I had seen it there the weekend before.

Saturday -
First item of the day was to drop my shoes off at the cobblers. Yes, I just said cobbler. I took my shoes to someone who had REAL experience with shoe repair. My red heels have rubber soles, which are great for walking, but horrible for dancing. Instead of spinning, I would be doing wierd jerky motions. Probably would not look too smooth, and definitely not the look I am going for. The cobbler will be putting suede leather on just the soles. For my dancing shoes, (I don't remember if I told you, I caved and will be wearing 3 pairs of shoes) the soles are too thin, so the cobbler will be adding a rubber sole to them. He mentioned that it was a great way to keep the integrity of the original soles and I could just replace the rubber as they became worn.

Because my 15% off pass was only good until the end of the day Saturday, I pulled the trigger and ordered the last suit blind. I did not have the last groomsmans measurements, but I figured, hey, lock it in at the fantastic price, and worry about exchanging for the correct size later. AND it did not dawn on me that I could just ship one of the suits directly to the bridesman (as opposed to having it shipped to me, and then me having to ship it to him). Done and done!

Our friends S and D came over to hang out and help craft late in the day. As you have probably figured out, I am not good at asking for help. In fact, I am down right horrible. Maybe it is pride. Maybe it is the fear that others won't do it my way. Well let me tell you. Extra set of hands are THE BEST. We blew through 3 projects between the 4 of us. Three!!! One of the projects being the big ticket item, our invitations. Great food, great company, fantastic time had by all. What more can a girl ask for?

Sunday -

I. FINISHED. THE. INVITATIONS! It has been my goal all along to finish them before my trip to Vegas and then to send them out when I get back. I was beginning to think they I would not make my personal deadline, but I was actually OK with that. Thanks to S and D, they were finished on time and look pretty amazing. In fact, they look exactly like my design. Also, they were finished 1 day before the expiration date on my trial copy of Adobe Illustrator. Whoohoo!

See what I mean about being crazy productive? I rewarded myself by sitting on the couch last night and not doing a single thing for the wedding. It felt great. I cannot wait until this weekend, 4 days completely removed from any form of crafting or planning. It will be the best only vacation I have had since...Ogunquit.

73 days.

So over inspiration sources

I have been flipping through magazines, T.V. shows, websites, and blogs for almost two years now. I have developed a new talent. OK, maybe it isn't a talent, I consider it creepy more than anything.

I don't have any urges to collect or pick up bridal magazines because a) they show the same thing in all of them and b) they are freaken expensive. I was in the doctors office last week and there was a Boston Brides magazine taunting me "pick me up, flip through me." Instead I scoffed at it and surfed the web on my phone instead.

I used to LOVE watching crazy bridal shows like Bridezillas, Platinum Weddings, and Say Yes To The Dress before we were engaged. But after being engaged for a year, I was over it. Bridezillas was just people acting to get on TV and to get a free honeymoon. Platinum Weddings was just depressing how much money these couples could spend on their weddings. They were beautiful, but also gaudy. SYTTD, I got to the point that I could name the designers and after awhile you just see them pulling the same dresses over and over.

I follow a couple of different blogs (Style Me Pretty, Weddingbee, just to name a couple of the 20+), but I'll be honest, I have wanted to just completely remove all of them from my Google Reader for months now. but I just cannot being myself to pull the trigger. Like the aforementioned medias, they too get all repetitive. I see the same trends over and over. It got to the point that I could identify designers for wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, and shoes. I started being able to identify photographers based on their style (some are heavily featered and favored on specific blogs). And today, I was able to identify the designer for an engagement ring. It went something like this: "Damn, nice ring. I bet it's a Tacori. It looks like a Tacori." I scrolled around the post looking for mention of it (I no longer read, I just look at photos), then finally found it in the photo caption. Yeup, Tacori. WOW. How freaken sad is that?

via icanhascheezburger.

74 days.