The Decisive Bride

First Real DIY - Ring Bearer Pillow

2010-05-19T00:15:00.001-04:00

So we were sitting at home the other day, going over the list of things we have to do in 18(!!) days, and we realized we completely forgot about the ring bearer pillow! Our ring bearer is Thomas’ super-cute nephew, and he needed something equally cute to carry down the aisle. So off we went to Michaels/Hancocks to see what we could whip up. I followed this tutorial here -- kind of. Most of it I just ghetto-rigged until it looked alright!

First up - cutting out and pinning the fabric. Not too hard, because my mom actually did this part.

Then, it was time for the sewing.

I hadn’t really done this before, so it was intense. Make sure you leave a hole at the top so that you can stuff it!

After it’s stuffed to your satisfaction, sew up the hole. By hand.

Then, somehow attach all the ribbon and the buttons and the flower together using the most awkward, contrived stitching possible! Also, make sure you never ever show your face in a picture.

Finally, you have a ring-bearer pillow! (Mine is about 7.25x7.25)

And there’s my first DIY that will be actually used in the wedding!

... Hello.

2010-03-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

So, I have been a very bad blogger. I posted the first part of a two part entry and then fell off of the earth for oh, 5 months? I apologize for the long absence but life kind of got in the way and I ran out of things to talk about, so I didn’t.

Anyway, to finally finish the cliffhanger, we went with Caterer B - the less-expensive caterer with the amazing appetizers. In addition to being less expensive, I love their coordinator. She’s very responsive, very accepting of things I’d like, and we will actually have 4 entree choices - fish, beef, chicken, and a veggie meal! I’m really excited to have all the different options.

There’s actually a lot of stuff going on right now that I should share with you.. pictures of our invitations (arriving today! any minute now!), what we’re going to do with the inner envelopes (actually, I need to figure this out myself..), my final bridesmaid dress selection, my accessories.. so many things! I’m trying to get back on track so that all my long-distance bridesmaids can feel more in the loop, so that’s plenty of motivation for me. If I slack, feel free to call me out on it!

But what will we eat?

2009-10-07T18:01:00.000-04:00

We started our search for a caterer with the list of preferred caterer's from Cator Woolford - obviously, better to find a caterer on the list than to pay an extra $1,000 to bring in someone else! Being the dedicated bride/researcher that I am, I went to the websites of every single one, crossing out the ones that didn't really appeal to me. Then I sent the rest emails - and continued crossing people off based on their lack of response, very strange response, or any number of things. I tend to go with my gut in most cases - so even if I couldn't explain why I was crossing them off, I would. What can I say? Not all my reasons have to make sense! I'm a bride!

When it came down to it, we were left with 2 caterers. And after meeting with my DOC (the wonderful Daria of Circle of Love Weddings) and getting her recommendation, we had 1 more. That caterer wasn't on the list of preferred caterers.. but they were willing to split the cost with us 50/50.

Since I was trying to get all the major vendors booked before I left in August, and it was already July by this point, AND I was trying to let Thomas have the tasting experience as well, we scheduled to have all our tastings over a period of 2 days. Plus, I figured that we would definitely know who we liked best if we had them all in a row.

Disclaimer: My camera was stolen before I had uploaded the pictures from our catering meetings. So we have no pictures from the tastings, which is so sad I can hardly stand it. We experienced some really awesome presentations.

First up was Monday lunch at one of the more trendy caterers in the Atlanta area. Thomas and I went, along with my brother/man-of-honor. There's a group of vendors in the area that all seem to have a similar aesthetic appeal, and they work together on a lot of weddings. Their food is fantastic - they actually have a restaurant that we often eat at for brunch - but their prices definitely reflected the fact that they are an in-demand caterer. This was actually Thomas' favorite for the food, since their beef was really fantastic. However, the cake was not as good.. Though they gave us huge slices, it was kind of dry and crumbly, and they charged an extra fee to bring in your own cake. But it was definitely something we could work around in order to get some delicious dinner.

That evening, my mom, BM C, Thomas and I went to dinner at the caterer that Daria had recommended. It was not as trendy, and doesn't have quite the reputation as the first one, which meant they were also significantly cheaper. Also, their beef was not quite as good, a little on the tough side, but their chicken was much better than at the first caterer. Their prices were also significantly less, and I was absolutely in love with this appetizer they had.. watermelon and mozzarella with a balsamic vinaigrette. So good. But Thomas got food poisoning the next day.. and since no one else did, we weren't really sure where he got it, but he thinks it was this caterer.

(source)

My new favorite flavor combination!

The next day, my mom and I were supposed to go to the third caterer, but it ended up getting pushed back two days. When we went, their office had no air conditioning, but it certainly didn't detract from the overall experience. Their food was excellent, but definitely more on the traditional "wedding food" side of things. They were on the price point in between the first two. In addition, they had a lot of experience.. I think they said they had been catering in the Atlanta area over 20 years, so I knew they would have a lot of contacts with other vendors. However, when explaining some of my ideas for the wedding, they were a little more negative and less accommodating than the other two had seemed.

Time for a little House Hunters style question! Which caterer did I choose? A) The trendy, expensive caterer with delicious meat? B) The less-expensive caterer with the amazing appetizer that might have given Thomas food poisoning? or C) The more traditional, experienced caterer with delicious "wedding food" and a less-than-positive attitude?

Nosce Nuptialis

2009-10-01T22:15:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I don't really know latin. And that's probably not even correct.. it's a version of "temet nosce" which is itself a version of "nosce te ipsum" - know thyself. So my translation is supposed to read "know thy wedding." My cousin actually has this tattooed on her wrists, which is how it came to me so quickly when trying to describe the recent shift in my wedding outlook.

The past couple of weeks have been interesting, wedding-wise. We're trying to decide on a save-the-date design, and I'm unemployed so I have a lot of time to see wedding porn, and all of the inspiration has been slightly overwhelming. I was second-guessing everything - color palette, dress, invitation styles... you name it, I was probably losing sleep over it. Irrational, I know, but there are so many awesome weddings out there, it can be hard to really delineate what you actually want, and what fits you the best. And when kick-ass DIY (by a graphic designer) invitations show up in your mail, and they look SO good, and they're so minimal, and black and yellow in their text-only goodness, I was a little worried. Oh, and their website matches. And is also perfect. Our website? It's only a template! And it's not even filled out all the way! We're clearly not doing enough!

Obviously, I was kind of losing my mind. Then all of the sudden, I had this strange epiphany. This was my wedding. I had picked all these original things because I loved them. And I still love them. So, I will have my gorgeous dress, and my purple and grey (and pink! new addition) color scheme, my rectangular tables and christmas lights and my tent, and I will love it because these are all my favorite things.

(Made over at the stylecircle - visit to see all credits)

Did you ever feel like you were drowning in wedding inspiration, and that maybe you were doing everything all wrong? When did you have your wedding epiphany moment?

Kreativ Blogger Award!

2009-10-01T13:23:00.000-04:00

I was very surprised yesterday when I was looking through my google reader and saw that the wonderful Lauralou at soontobemrsf.blogspot.com had tagged me with a Kreativ Blogger Award!

Part of the deal with this award is that you have to post 7 facts about yourself, and then tag 7 bloggers. I'm really bad about tagging people, so I will probably skip that step, but I am more than happy to share 7 facts about me!

1. Ice cream is one of my most favorite things on the planet. It doesn't matter what flavor (as long as it's not coffee), but one of my all-time favorites is chocolate chip cookie dough - though the store brand oatmeal cookie dough ice cream is a very close second!

2. I spent my elementary school years living in Prague, in the Czech Republic. It was a really incredible experience, and I think it has influenced me in many different ways. I would love to give my children the opportunity to move around when they are younger, even if it's not overseas, because I think the process of making new friends and adjusting to changes really helps in overall development.

3. I have this inexplicable interest in all things zodiac. All of the descriptions of my star sign have always fit very well with my personality, and I love reading my horoscope. I recently found out that you also have a moon sign and a rising sign, and both of mine fit me really well also! It's totally bizarre but really interesting.

4. I really don't like calling people that I don't know. If it's for work I am fine with it, but for personal stuff for some reason I just avoid it. Which is hard when you're planning a wedding from far away... there's several calls I need to make but I keep finding other things to do instead!

5. My dad thinks that the character Bones on TV is a lot like me. I don't pick up on jokes very well, and I take things pretty seriously, but I also have a pretty dry sense of humor. I think the comparison is pretty accurate.

6. I just graduated with a degree in criminal justice, and then realized I can't think of any criminal justice job I would actually want. So I've applied to Teach for America, and hopefully by this time next year I'll be teaching !

7. I have slight OCD when it comes to things being straight. And being divisible by 5. Whenever I sit down at a dinner table, I automatically make sure that all my knives and forks are perfectly straight along the bottom. And I much prefer all numbers in my life to be divisible by five. It's just a weird thing.

There you have it! 7 things about me that you might not know otherwise. I know it wasn't really wedding related, but I have a couple wedding posts lined up so look for those soon!

Dresses for the 'Maids

2009-09-27T20:54:00.000-04:00

I have to admit, I'm pretty sure that I've looked at every single bridesmaid's dress that is currently in production. That may sound like an exaggeration, but I promise you it's not. See, I have a great group of 4 girls standing up with me as my bridesmaids.. but they are all very different shapes. One is pretty busty, one is super-petite, and the other two are fairly average. Also, I happen to love these girls a lot, and I wanted to make sure that they look really good at my wedding! Oh, and it had to be in a deep purple color, which was surprisingly hard to find at the point of my search.

The first real contender was Dessy dress #6553. Here it is on me (obviously not in the correct color):

I love how the top kind of mirrors the top of my dress (which I'm still figuring out how to show you!), and the waistband really nips in your waist. The dress also has pockets(!!!) and I think overall matches the formality level of the wedding pretty well. I love pockets. Unfortunately, it's strapless. And I was really looking for non-strapless for my super-busty bridesmaid. It does come with removable spaghetti straps, so it's still definitely a possibility. Another problem was that it was tea-length, when most people preferred knee-length and so it would have to be hemmed.

I came across the second dress kind of by accident, I was looking at someone's post on the WeddingBee boards and had to go to the David's Bridal website to look at her dress, and lo and behold there was a very cute printed dress with straps. And it was purple!

(source)

No real problems here, except that the more I think about it, the more I feel like it doesn't entirely fit the feel of the wedding. Perhaps it comes across as too casual? Or am I way overthinking this? I do love the print, and think that it does make it more wearable post-wedding.. I guess I'll just have to see how it looks like on all the girls and make a decision that way!

This decision is made all the harder by the fact that three of my girls are currently in Georgia, one is in Guam(!!) and I am in Kentucky. I am planning a trip down to Georgia soon, but it's also a matter of getting all the girls there together (oh, did I mention they're all in different cities too?). So we'll see how it all turns out. Obviously, I have some time to go before I have to make any hard and fast decisions.

What do you think? Which dress is your favorite?

Differing Allegiances

2009-09-26T19:55:00.000-04:00

Given that it is Gameday, I thought this was an appropriate topic! See, Thomas and I both love college football.. but we cheer for different teams in the same conference. ...Oops. And it's never more apparent than on Saturdays, when we have to decide which game to watch. I also feel like we have more than your average allegiance to our teams, since both of us actually played in the marching band for our respective teams. Any guesses as to our teams? I've alluded to several factors that could identify it..

Thomas is an ardent UK Cats supporter..

While I am 100% a UGA fan! (I'm the person on the second row on the right)

Needless to say, this creates an interesting smack talk dynamic. UK is not historically known as a football school, so I usually win those competitions.. But UGA's basketball program leaves a little bit to be desired, whereas UK is usually a basketball powerhouse. And while I have caved and bought a Kentucky shirt - I do live in Lexington, after all, and went to a game in person - he has yet to own any Georgia paraphernalia.

It's also interesting to see how we interact when one person's team wins and the other's loses. That happened the very first weekend of this season, when my beloved 'Dawgs couldn't pull it out against Oklahoma State, and I was pretty upset. Meanwhile, he was happy about the Cats win against Miami (Ohio). The winner has to both console and be celebratory at the same time - which is pretty hard to do! I can only imagine what will happen after we play each other later this season. We have successfully gotten through it before, so hopefully this time is no different. It does help that he cares a litttleee bit less than I do. However, we both respect that we will not alter our support of our alum.

Is there anything you and your FI will not agree on? Do you have any friendly competitions that add a little bit of fun to your relationship?

If the shoe fits..

2009-09-22T11:54:00.001-04:00

Hi, my name is Laura, and I have a shoe problem. As in, I really really like shoes of the high-heeled variety, and I own more pairs than anyone should really have.

To really prove my point, here's a picture of my heel collection (plus some flats and sandals) from when my shoe rack collapsed and I had to glue it back together - which meant putting all my shoes on the bathroom floor.

As a result of having all these wonderful shoes, I have developed a bit of a reputation as the girl who always has cute shoes. I don't think this is a bad reputation to have by any means, but I knew I had better have some pretty cute shoes for my wedding.

Even before seeing all the amazing images online of brides with brightly colored shoes, I knew that my shoes would probably not be white. I want to be able to wear these shoes over and over again - and maybe even before the wedding (blasphemy, I know!). Since we had already picked out the colors by the time I was looking at shoes, I knew I was looking for a pair of purple heels. I didn't really have any other qualifications - other than perhaps not too tall, and not a stiletto (hello ceremony on the grass) - so I was just open to whatever came my way.

One day, I was just browsing around on various shoe websites, not looking for wedding shoes, when I found them! They were the perfect shade of dark purple, had a peep-toe, and the knot on the top added a bit of interest. After price-checking on a couple different shoe websites, I found that they were in fact cheapest at the designers store. So - I bought them! They're actually in the picture above, though I won't be surprised if you can't see them, since the picture color is a little off.

Pictures, you say? Of course! I took my shoes for a little photoshoot around my apartment. Here they are in all their glory - the Nina Kyleen-LS in grape luster satin.

Inside, they weren't really looking like the right color, so I went outside for some natural light.

I love the knot detail on the front.

I'm so excited for the shots of me holding up my dress with the shoes showing! Obviously, finding the right shoes wasn't really a problem for me, since I just happened upon them. I like to think it was wedding fate.

Was finding your shoes a joy or a trial for you? Are you going the colored shoe route or sticking with a more bridal white?

Engagement Pictures!

2009-09-21T14:27:00.000-04:00

You know how they say that good things come to those who wait? Well, in the case of our engagement pictures, that was definitely true! We had our session at the beginning of July, and on Saturday we got our CD of pictures in the mail - you better believe I did a little jumping up and down right there at the mailbox. I was really glad we did them, because we were pretty awkward in front of the camera at first (mostly Thomas - I'm used to being in front since he's a photographer) but hopefully we will remember all the tricks at our wedding and just avoid the awkward part altogether.

It's definitely hard to pick just a few to show you, but I'm pretty sure no one else wants to see all 84 pictures, so I'll give it a shot.

One of the very first pictures we took, so we were getting used to being in front of the camera.

I'm pretty sure this is one of my favorite pictures. We just both look really happy.

On the roof! I was slightly terrified during this picture, since I was sitting up on a railing, but I don't think it shows.

In the stairwell. Thomas thinks he looks like he's not paying attention - I think it just makes us both like pretty awesome.

Outfit change. Love love love those red shoes.

My wonderful fiance :-)

Gratuitous portrait of myself. I have a bad habit of doing the head-turn, but Thomas thinks it actually kind of works in this picture.

Last one. I love the parking deck shot.

(all pictures by Nam Nguyen)

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I do! If it wasn't too ridiculous, I would probably have posted every picture - I love them all.

Did you have engagement pictures taken? Did you end up using them in some way for the wedding or just keep them for yourself?

Our Engagement Story

2009-09-20T18:52:00.000-04:00

I just realized, in all my forgetfulness, that I have also never posted how I actually came to be planning a wedding. With the recent engagement of two of my very good friends last night, I thought now would be a good time to share our engagement story.

(our friends who got engaged last night - we were the sneaky surprise photographers!)

We had been talking about marriage for a long time - think since we started dating in March of 2008. In December, we started talking about it a lot more seriously, and began looking at rings. Between December and February we made several trips to jewelry stores, and in early February I found the ring that I thought was perfect. Unbeknownst to me, Thomas actually called the store two days later (on a Monday) and asked them how soon they could have it ready. At this point, I still thought he was saving up or deciding between all the options or maybe just dragging his feet, so I was still very impatient.

The weekend of our one-year anniversary also happened to be the weekend of a major fraternity event, at which Thomas was running for office in his district. I went to be supportive, and also because I didn't want to spend our one-year anniversary sitting in Athens, GA while he had a fun weekend up in Toledo, OH. So I drove up to Kentucky on Thursday, and we drove to Ohio on Friday. That Saturday was our one-year anniversary, and we spent it in leadership classes and promoting his campaign. That day also happened to be our friends birthday, so that night all of us planned on going out to get pizza and drinks to celebrate. Since Thomas was still campaigning, we left a lot later than they did, and by that time it was very dark, and very cold. The restaurant was only a block away though, so off we walked.

Instead of turning right to go to the restaurant, Thomas decided that he wanted to go see the gazebo by the river that he had pointed out to me earlier in the day. I don't do very well with cold, or being late, so I was being a bit cranky, and kept point out the fact that the wind was probably blowing at least 40 miles per hour. We got to the gazebo, he set down his papers.. and they promptly started blowing away. I frantically tried to pick them all up, since they were all his campaign papers, and he was just trying to get me to focus on him.

He started telling me all about how he had ordered the ring, and had talked to my dad.. but my ring hadn't come in yet. I must have looked disappointed, so he said that maybe we could just take a picture out here in this gazebo thing. He had my camera in his jacket pocket, so he reached in and pulled out .. the ring box! I immediately asked him if he was serious, he asked if he should get down on one knee (uhm, yes!) and then he asked me to marry him. Clearly, I said yes :-)

Right after it happened. Here, you can see just how dark it really was!

I immediately began this strange combination of laughing and crying - evidenced by the mascara smudged all around my eyes.

We went back the next day to take some pictures in the place where it actually happened. This is the "gazebo" thing. It ended up being on the campus of a company that makes pink insulation.

A reenactment, and also one of my favorite pictures.

A close-up of the ring!

So, that's how we came to be engaged on the banks of the Ohio River, far away from where we met (Orlando, FL) where we had our first date (Atlanta) and where we currently live (Lexington, KY!)

A Place for the Rings

2009-09-17T22:26:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make.. Thomas and I kind of have a thing for pillows. Currently, there are 9 pillows on our bed, which excludes several other pillows we have around the apartment. Including one that he bought me for Christmas because I was in love with a pattern at Pottery Barn and couldn't afford it in the chair size :-)

(evidence of our slight pillow obsession)

Despite this clearly obvious preference for pillows, I was drawn in by the beautiful ring bowls I had seen on WeddingBee, in Martha Stewart Weddings Magazine.. everywhere. All made by Paloma's Nest.

(source - just in case you've missed out on seeing them)

They're so perfect. And you can get customized ones with whatever words you want. And they could serve as a ring-holding bowl pre- and post-wedding, which is something I actually kind of need.

Then my mom reminded me that, as cute and perfect as they are, our ring-bearer will be just over 2 years old by the time of the wedding. Even though he's very well-behaved, and looks a lot older than he is, he will still only be two. And even though it will be on grass, he could probably throw something like that hard enough to break it.

So I knew that I would be looking for a ring-bearer pillow at some point. I wasn't actively looking, but one WeddingBee board posting pointed me in the direction of Etsy seller KarenYee.

(source)

This one is gorgeous, and in our colors! I love the brooch, but it still seems a little too "ring-bearer" pillow to me.. So there's also..

(source)

This gorgeous pillow! Forget ring-conveyance, I just want this pillow in my house. I love the flowers, the little butterflies that hold the ribbons, the colors.. everything.

Just a couple more to show you how gorgeous these are. And they're pretty affordable too, at around $48 per pillow ($40 + $8 shipping). With all that amazing Indian silk, I'm sure they feel pretty incredible, too.

(source)

That last pillow makes me want to change my colors to pink! .. Which actually, I'm thinking about adding to the palette anyway (uhm, I love peonies, and they don't come in purple!) .. so maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all :-)

What are you using to bear your rings (fake or otherwise) down the aisle? Are you going traditional with the pillow or something else?

The Story of Dress #1

2009-09-16T19:21:00.003-04:00

So uhm... yes, I am a bad blogger. Somewhere right around the beginning, I had mentioned that I got a second dress, and the whole saga that went along with that. But I never actually mentioned or pictured my first dress! Ridiculous oversight on my part. I realized it about 2 days later but of course am just now getting around to it. Oops.

Anyway. At the very beginning of my engagement (and perhaps slightly before..) I had this vision of an outdoor garden wedding. Along with the outside-ness and flowery-ness, I had a certain image of what a garden wedding dress looked like. The only dresses I really looked at online or in magazines fit in this category of "garden dress" - which included a trumpet or a-line style dress and all lace, preferably with straps.

Actual page from my attempt at keeping an inspiration notebook.

Clearly, I had a vision. A very close-minded vision, one that left little room for variation, but a vision nonetheless.

One weekend a couple of weeks after I became engaged, Brides Against Breast Cancer was holding an event in Atlanta, so I drove down to go with my mom. I tried on a lot of different styles of dresses there, but since I was looking for a very specific style, I didn't find anything. On a whim, we decided to go to Priscilla of Boston and looked up their number in one of the bridal magazines we had in the car.

While there, I tried on another ton of dresses, saving the all-lace one for last. I mostly tried on trumpet-style gowns, and even though they were gorgeous, I felt like they looked more red-carpet than bridal. I did try on one ballgown dress, and it was the only contender against the dress I ended up buying..

(source)

The next day my father joined us, and I tried on the Maeve (above) and a few others but was convinced that the all-lace dress was THE dress for me. It didn't totally feel like me, and I wasn't quite sure about the fit, but I had this vision in my head of an all-lace dress at a garden wedding, and I can be quite stubborn when I want to be. So that day we put down the deposit and we bought..

(source)

Her name is Nora. That night I went home, excited but also a little nervous. Had I really found my dress? Why hadn't my parents made me look at any more dresses? For reassurance, I looked at all the pictures we had taken once we were finally allowed to.

I know it is a gorgeous dress. But in my mind I kept making up reasons as to why it wasn't perfect. It made me feel self-conscious about my hips. The top part was a little itchy. And so on.

I think that what was really the problem was that I am not-so-secretly in love with ballgowns, the bigger the better.

(exhibit A - my prom dress, otherwise known as my most favorite dress ever)

I would see other people's dresses posted on WeddingBee boards or on facebook and be more than a little bit jealous of their princess dresses. I tried to convince myself that a princess-dress wouldn't work in the gardens.. but ended up having a panic attack at my internship that convinced me I should try on other dresses. And you know how that ended up!

Did you question some of your major decisions? Were you blinded by a look that you thought you had to achieve? Do you have any ideas as to why I temporarily forgot that I want to be a princess?

Making Life Easier For Myself

2009-09-15T17:00:00.000-04:00

I have a confession to make.. I don't know how to work scissors. Usually this isn't a problem, as scissors don't make an appearance in my daily life all that often. However, with wedding planning and DIY projects to do, I've found myself having several encounters with scissors, none of which have ended up very well. See, I'm left-handed, and for some reason I never learned how to cut in a straight line. You might have noticed in the pictures in my previous post - none of my rectangles were actually very.. rectangular.

My least favorite part of that DIY project was the cutting out of the rectangles. It just seemed to take FOREVER for results that really weren't all that impressive. So I bit the bullet, acknowledged my weakness, and bought a paper cutter. And let me tell you, it is amazing! I can put in the huge sheets of tissue paper folded, and it still manages to cut through them. Then I just make a few more cuts, and all of the sudden I have tons of rectangles just waiting to be put together and folded! It also has this super-neat storage compartment thing where I can keep all of my cut out bits until I'm ready to actually assemble.

My Office Depot EdgePro 1210M

(to buy)

Look at those nice straight cuts! So pretty :)

Inside storage compartment - I bought the three extra blades (one perforates, one is wavy, and an extra straight one)

A top view of the whole thing.

Overall, I have to say that I'm kind of in love with this. It's so easy to cut, the edges stay straight, and I think I'll be able to use it a lot for future crafts as well. I actually am looking for things to cut around the house since it's so fun!

What has been your favorite crafting tool so far?

The Wedding is about the Marriage

2009-09-13T21:13:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a break from the regular wedding "look and feel" discussions to talk about something a little more serious.. but there might still be a picture or two!

When we met with the pastor who would be marrying us, he let us know that we would be having 2 or 3 sessions with him before getting married, as a kind of "pre-marriage counseling" sort of deal. Since we currently live about 5.5 hours from the pastor, so we can't just pop in anytime. He gave us some homework at the last meeting, which was to answer the following questions individually (and not share answers until we talked to him first):

"1. What do you love most about your partner?
2. Talk about your family.
3. What did you learn from your family about the following:
   a. Money
   b. Anger
   c. God
   d. Family
   e. Marriage
   f. Sex
   g. Children
4. What are your five-year goals?"

While I definitely appreciate the counseling that he is offering us, I am one of those people that likes to be prepared and do a LOT of research before I jump into something, so it should come as no surprise that I wanted more than just two or three sessions before getting married. I was tempted to do actual pre-marital counseling, but Thomas was a little wary and wanted to see how we could do on our own first. He told me that I could pick any relationship book I wanted, and we would buy two copies and read through it together.

I already had a book in mind, since Miss Duckling had written a series of recaps on this particular book. So off we went to Barnes & Noble, and since I had received a gift card for graduation we were able to get two copies for free (along with a copy of Dr. Zhivago - my favorite book)!

So which book is it? It's "The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work" by John Gottman. Along with hearing about it on Weddingbee, I had also actually heard of Gottman in my AP Psychology class in high school, so I knew that he was legit and I trusted that he was writing from a scientific basis. So far, I've already learned a lot, and I'm only on the second principle!

(source)

(I told you there would still be a picture!)

I'll be sharing more about what the actual principles are in future posts, but I think Miss Duckling did a pretty good job of recapping it herself. I'll focus more on how they affect actual day-to-day interaction between Thomas and I, which hopefully will highlight the books actual practical applications.

Did you prepare for your marriage beyond what was required by the officiant? Would you consider using a book like this (exercises and all) to help get ready for such a big change?

Even More Flowers!

2009-09-11T17:12:00.000-04:00

I know that I just wrote this post on how I know what I want, but I hadn't seen Mrs. Peep Toe's flowers yet! She just posted on the details during her recaps, and I absolutely love her flowers.. They're kind of whimsical, still very full and ruffly, and completely beautiful!

Just so you know what I'm talking about..

(All pictures taken by Amanda at Blueberry Photography; source)

How amazing are those! I love the grass in those centerpieces, and I think they would go well down the rectangular tables.. Then I could also have flowers like the other pictures I've already posted at various intervals.

Maybe this is part of my desire to actually be present at the florists meeting.. I don't actually know what I want, and want to be able to talk it over with someone! There's just way too many options out there, and flowers are all so amazing.. This is probably the most difficult decision making area, in my opinion.

What was the hardest decision for you to make?

Long Distance Planning

2009-09-10T22:34:00.000-04:00

Since I moved to Kentucky in August, I've been in kind of a planning lull. Over the summer I tried to get the majority of my vendors booked because I knew that it would be hard to do from 5.5 hours away. I like to be in control of major decisions, but somehow I didn't get to the florist before I left. This means I either make a trip down to Atlanta for a crazy vendor weekend, or I delegate to my mother and BM C who lives in Atlanta. Since I don't really know what questions to ask a florist anyway, this makes it hard to tell them what to ask. I know the look I'm going for...

(source)

Kind of fluffy, kind of organic.. I want peonies, ranunculus, faith roses, globe amaranthus, etc. And some dusty miller for the grey. Of course, I can send all those pictures, and create inspiration boards for my Mom and BM C to take, but how will I know if I like them? I realize that sounds ridiculous - I trust both my Mom and BM C to make that sort of judgement, but for some reason I'd really like to be a part of choosing my florist.

Did you have to delegate part of your wedding planning? What would you do in this situation? And do you have a list of questions you found crucial at your florist meetings?

Save Our Date!

2009-09-07T23:05:00.000-04:00

One of the next things that we have to do is send out save-the-dates. We're planning on sending them out around November 1st, so that means I finally get to decide which version I want to go with. Stationery is one of my favorite things, and I have had quite a few months to pick up inspiration from all around the internet. Unfortunately, this means I really have no idea which version to go with! I also haven't gotten my e-pics back yet (hopefully soon!) and that is also delaying my decision - I don't know if I want to put a picture on it or not. I really don't want to get these out any later than November 2nd.. an acquaintance who shares a lot of mutual friends is having her wedding on the same day, and I kind of want to have first dibs. Does that make me a bad person? I hope not!

I do like the concept of magnets, but Thomas can be kind of really picky and he hasn't seen any yet that really spark his interest. I am also interested in designing these ourselves, since we've already handed over the invitation design to someone else. Thomas is a graphic designer and fine arts student, so part of me really hopes that he'll help me design something :-)

(source)

I love the different font choices on this one. Thomas is big on typography and all of that, so it would be really fitting for our personalities as well. I also like that it's a fold open card for some reason.

(source)

I really like the simplicity of this one, and again the opportunity to use a lot of fonts. This is actually one I am capable of designing by myself, especially since I should have Adobe CreativeSuite 3 soon (just got a new MacBook Pro!)

(source)

I think this one is especially appropriate given how many cities it took for us to get to the point of being married! I think instead of having arrows, we would just do stars indicating the major cities involved in our relationship.

(source)

This is the STD of the very talented Mrs. Duckling! I showed this idea to Thomas and he liked it a lot. It is obviously the most labor-intensive of the different cards, but I don't have too much to do these days.. so a version of this is theoretically possible. We would definitely make a couple modifications, but the overall concept would remain the same.

Which is your favorite? Or do you have a different idea altogether?

Better Together

2009-09-07T20:33:00.000-04:00

After dating for about 4 months, Thomas and I both had come to the conclusion that this was definitely serious, and we were both in it for the long haul. At some point, he told his best friends that he believed I was "the one." From that point on, it was always "when we live together" or "when we're married", and a lot of our conversations were focused on the future. Since I was graduating first, at some point we decided that I would move to Lexington and live with him for his final year of college. While it is definitely a life-changing decision, I don't think there was ever a doubt in my mind that the plan was going to work out. Which is probably why I got engaged at the age that I did, at the time that I did, even though we had never really stayed together for longer than oh, a week.

Needless to say, there were times when I wondered if we were doing the right thing. I had made the request that we at least be engaged before we move in, proving that I do have a somewhat traditional bone in my body. We knew that we were going to find out things about each other and learn potentially annoying characteristics, ones that we would now be living with forever.

After one month of living together, I am happy to report that we're doing even better than I had imagined. If you have never been in a LDR, it's hard to describe how amazing it is to see the person you love every single day. While there are certainly times when we frustrate each other, overall our relationship is growing and we're becoming even closer.

(the dining room/reading nook - we recovered those chairs, at which point Thomas made me promise never to reupholster anything else ever again.)

(our bedroom - yes that's me!)

We went straight from a long-distance relationship to living together, which I know some might consider crazy. Did you take a non-traditional path towards marriage and living together?

Why I'm Glad I Have 9 Months to Go...

2009-09-02T02:30:00.000-04:00

From the beginning of the wedding planning process, I have wanted to make the tissue paper flowers and pomanders that are so popular these days. They seem really easy, which is good for a craft-phobe like me. This led to the decision that the poms would be used to line the aisle, since the decorations will really only be up and used for about 15 minutes - no need for fancy flowers! Besides, I made a couple in red and black for my graduation party, and one of them looked pretty good.

I know there are approximately 10 million tutorials for these things out there, but I thought I would share how I do them. There always seemed to be a couple missing steps in them, at least for me since I like literally every step to be documented. My crafting level is very low, so I really need the super-detailed instructions! I have also noticed that most tutorials proceed as if no problems ever happen in the crafting world.. which, uhm, never happens with me. Without any further ado....

1. Decide to make pomander flowers. Set out all necessary things on your coffee table to get "before" photograph and document your DIY-diva self. This is also a useful step even if you're not doing photo documentation, just to make sure you have everything you need and you don't have to get up again.

2. Find FI's camera since yours has been stolen. Realize that, although the camera is at the apartment, FI takes all the memory cards with him wherever he goes. Curse.

3. Wait.

(during this time, I watched Bones.)

4. Decide to start making flowers anyway, just to get a head-start. Get sidetracked by personality quiz that you have to do to apply for a job. Curse. Once FI gets home, realize that memory cards have been sitting on the desk the whole time.

5. Lay out your tissue paper in stacks of 4. I alternated a darker color purple and a lighter color purple, with the darkest on the bottom, just so there was some shade variance within each "flower".

6. Cut tissue paper into strips 5" by 10". It really doesn't matter if it's perfectly straight, so if you are scissor-inept like I am (they don't ever teach lefties how to use scissors) it doesn't really matter. Believe that it will all even out in the end.

7. Stack four 5"x10" rectangles together, then start folding them accordion style. Other tutorials recommend making each fold exactly 5/8", and making sure you stay perfectly straight, but I'm here to tell you that it really doesn't matter. Normal flowers don't have perfectly even petals! As long as they're all the same general size, they will turn out fine. I think.

8. Round the edges. You could also just make the edges pointy by cutting an arrow shape, but I prefer the rounded look.

9. Fold the folded-rectangles in half, so you can find the center point. Wrap floral wire/pipe cleaner around the middle section and then twist the ends together, making sure you leave a piece long enough to stick in to your Styrofoam ball.

10. Carefully pull apart the layers. I don't have a specific order I go in, I just kind of feel my way with each one. Sometimes I do all one side, sometimes I go layer by layer around the whole thing. If you tear one bit, don't worry, because once it's all fluffed up no one will notice.

11. If you're impatient like me, stick the flowers into the ball as you go. I use 3" balls, and they take approximately ____ flowers to fill out. So the next step is just to repeat steps 4-7 until you've filled up 15 balls (or however many you need)

11. After you've finished one ball, realize that it's lumpy and not at all what you had imagined. Contemplate what to do with over 1000 sheets of tissue paper.

Did you have grand DIY dreams that didn't quite turn out like you planned?

Decisions, Decisions...

2009-08-31T18:38:00.000-04:00

I am going to admit it - I am not a tiara girl. Nor am I a hair flower girl. I don't know why, I love how they look on other people (particularly the flowers) but I would be self-conscious and touching it all night. Plus, I have thin hair, and it would take a lot of effort to keep one in. And I have a small head, so I'm nervous about ordering head ornaments off of the internet, because I can't tell how they would look on me.

I've already decided to wear a veil for the ceremony. It will be long. It will be amazing. It might even potentially be my mothers veil, which is absolutely gorgeous, now that there wouldn't be two competing lace patterns (remember my 2 dress dilemma?). If it isn't my moms, it will have been made by my mom, which is also awesome. So the ceremony hair situation is pretty much under control.

The reception, however, is where I start to get confused. I know I want a headband, and I want it to sparkle. I particularly like oval shapes for some reason. Perhaps it's because I don't have to commit yet, but I'm having a really hard time finding something "perfect". I looked at 80 pages of "crystal headbands" on etsy yesterday, and looked at every single one that did not include a baby (side note: why so many baby headbands? did I miss out on a baby trend when I was little?). Literally, every single one. So here are a few of my favorites....

(source)

This is my least favorite one because there are no crystals or sparkle. But it's kind of the right size and I like the asymmetry of it. It's also the best price, at $20.

(source)

This one is my absolute favorites. It's basically perfect - I saw it and gasped. And then I looked over at the price and gasped again. $205 for this beauty!(source)

These two headbands are from the same seller, and I really like a lot of her things. I love the shapes and the asymmetry again, but they just aren't perfect like the one on top. But the price is also much better, at $60 for either of them. The seller also has some beautiful necklaces, including one that I am seriously considering buying. (source)

I thought this one was really delicate and pretty. More sparkle than the ones directly above, and still with some fun detail. And it's priced well, at $58. I'm just not in love with it though.. which is sad.
This last one is probably my second favorite. It has the soft ribbon headband of the super-expensive one, and is delicate and sparkly. It has the oval shapes I was initially looking for. I am a bit worried about it slipping in my hair, but I'm sure it's nothing that bobby pins can't handle. This seller also has tons of other choices in case this one sells out. It's only $40 too - which is pretty amazing. Of course, it is attached to a velvet ribbon, and there's something about the texture of velvet that kind of freaks me out.

Which one is your favorite? Have you seen any on sites other than etsy that I should look at? And what are you doing with your hair?

My favorite wedding planning tool.

2009-08-29T20:11:00.000-04:00

Throughout this process so far, I've been looking for ways to make it easier. The majority of my life is planned out online, and I expected that the wedding would be no different. Imagine my surprise when I found that the majority of people go the magazine/binder route, clipping out the pictures of things they liked. I wanted to have all my inspiration all in one place -- but I've been finding most of my inspiration online, where I find there's a) a lot more to choose from, and b) it's free!

So that left me with the problem of creating a central place where all the inspiration pictures/words could go. I have on occasion made inspiration boards to put in my binder - which is a post of its own - but I don't like to waste a lot of paper and ink. I was still kind of struggling when somehow I heard about this magical thing called... tumblr. It is kind of a weird concept, but is really an amazing, untapped resource for brides who want to make sure that all their inspiration gets the right credit.

Basically, tumblr is a site that collects bits and pieces you find around the internet. I have a "share on tumblr" button on my internet toolbar, and I use it all the time. When you click the button you have the option of posting text, a link, chat, video or (my personal favorite) a picture! It keeps the linked information, so you don't have to worry about writing where you got it in bookmarks or in the name of the picture. You can also "tag" each post, so that you can type in a different url and see only specific items. For example, I have a "bridesmaid" tag, and I type in www.tumblr.com/mysite/tagged/bridesmaid and all my bridesmaid inspiration pictures come up. It's really pretty fantastic, and I have no idea what I would do without it! It's also fun to look through at times and see the evolution of my wedding style.

Here's a quick screen shot of what my tumblr page looks like..

As you can see, I mostly post pictures, but I have also posted readings I like, different potential song choices for father/daughter and first dances, and links to DIY tutorials that I might use.

Mail Call!

2009-08-27T17:24:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things is getting mail. And for the past few days, I've been waiting on a very fun piece of mail to come to my mailbox - invitation samples! I saw on Snippet&Ink that an invitation company I had never heard of was having a letterpress special - 100 invites and reply cards for $398! Considering that most other letterpress places I was looking were in the $1000 or higher range, I was very excited. I had basically written letterpress out of my budget when I saw this special. I know you're probably just as excited as I am to hear about those prices, so head on over to Invitations by Ajalon to check it out! It only goes until the end of August, so go quickly.

Anyway, today I received the samples, and I was so excited. So here's a little photo documentation of my envelope-opening experience.

First, I opened the envelope and pulled out a folder..

Inside, there were tons of samples! There was 1 invitation, 1 business card, 4 or 5 RSVP cards, and a card with their 3 different paper colors on it.

Some had rounded edges, some were grey, some were purpleThis is the purple color we would probably use, it didn't photograph really well but it's called "grape".
Some of them had these very helpful cards taped on the back, letting me know which colors were used, which design it was, which paper was used, etc. One of my favorite RSVP cards used these symbols for the menu choices instead of just writing "beef", "fish", "vegetarian", etc.

The next picture isn't very exciting, but we would probably use the "pearl" paper - which is the one in the middle.
This is the RSVP postcard that goes with the invitation I like the most. I love that they do postcards - less envelopes = less money, and less waste!

Last picture -- these are my favorite invitations. It's called "baroque" and I just love the fonts and the border. I think it goes well with my unofficial (as of yet) "Secret Garden" theme, especially once it's in purple on whiter paper. The ecru and teal is a pretty combination though, too.. Sorry about getting a little artsy there, I had to use Thomas' fancy camera since mine is gone, and I wasn't entirely sure how to use it to it's full advantage.

What have you been strangely excited about during the wedding planning process?

Finding a Photographer, Part II

2009-08-27T16:35:00.000-04:00

At the end of the last post, we had visited with one photographer who we loved, but I personally couldn't stomach the price. So we continued our internet search, hoping to find someone who satisfied both Thomas' photographic needs and my budget needs.

At some point, I came across the Wedding Photojournalists Association (WPJA) website, which I really recommend if you're trying to find a photographer. They have listings by state, and you can see if any of their photographs have won the contests that the WPJA sponsors. There were a ton listed for Atlanta, so I got to work weeding out the ones that didn't match our style or our budget. Somewhere towards the end of the list, there was a posting for Nam Nguyen. At the time, he was part of BTO Photography, a collaboration between him and his friend. Looking through the pictures, I totally fell in love. Everyone just looked so happy in his pictures! He had also won three awards from the WPJA, and Thomas approved of his pictures on the site, so we were all set to have a meeting. He just recently switched to being his own business, so you can see his most recent stuff here

Nam lives in a town that is a little bit south of Atlanta, but we met at a Starbucks that was literally 5 minutes away from my house. We had a great meeting, and he found out that Thomas and I take rhetorical questions very seriously.. when he asked for our life story, he definitely got more than I think he bargained for. Thomas and Nam had already been sending emails back and forth about photographer stuff, so we were able to work a lot of things into our contract that usually is not really allowed. At the end of the meeting, Thomas and I were both really excited, so the next day we emailed him and asked him to send us a contract. He sent us one with all of our additional requests in place**, and he became our photographer! At the time, we also set up our engagement shoot for the first weekend in July, and we should be getting our pictures back any day now.

You'll have to go on over to his website to see shots of his, they're all great! I'm really looking forward to showing y'all our engagement pictures.

**if I can, I want to do a contract review at some point in the future. I've usually heard how much people spend on their blogs, but not exactly what they got for their money, which I think led me to have some misconceptions about how much things would cost. I'd like to avoid that in this blog if I can.

Finding a Photographer, Part I

2009-08-27T16:19:00.000-04:00

Aside from finding a venue, finding a photographer was really on the top of our list. You see, Thomas himself is actually a photographer, currently in the process of getting his degree in Fine Arts Studio - Photography. He has actually even shot a few weddings himself. Needless to say, this made our search for a photographer somewhat difficult. I would email him links to certain people who looked just fine to me, but he would respond with things like.. "The space under their faces is too dark" or "The angles just aren't right in a few of these pictures."

Yes. I'm being serious.

At some point right at the beginning of our engagement, my mom and I went to a Bridal Show just to see what it was like. It was free, so we figured we might as well. We didn't really find anything at the actual event, but looking through my giftbag later I discovered there were tons of business cards, including a few photographers. One of them was David Christensen Photography, and his was one of the few websites that Thomas really enjoyed. He had even taken pictures at our venue, which was really interesting to see.

We set up an appointment to meet them on a weekend Thomas was going to be in town. However, it was on a Friday night, so he had to drive like a maniac from Lexington all the way to Athens with no breaks! We had a really great meeting with them, and got to see several albums and full weddings. Albums were ~~one~~ another thing that Thomas was really picky about, and David really blew us away with his albums.

One thing I didn't really foresee? How expensive it was all going to be! I know that you get what you pay for, especially with photography, but I felt like we could get someone equally as good for at least a little less money. It was really kind of awkward, but as much as Thomas loved them, I just couldn't handle several things about the price, including how much our relatives would have to pay if they wanted prints. We had already planned on looking at other photographers anyway (isn't that what you're supposed to do?) and they knew we weren't planning on signing right then anyway, so we left feeling a little conflicted. They were great photographers, no doubt.. but I wanted to keep looking.

Coming up next, the second and best part of finding a photographer!

Date Day

2009-08-25T20:49:00.000-04:00

Today was the last day before Thomas starts his "victory lap" (as he calls it), otherwise known as his 5th-year of undergrad work. This also marks the last day of our honeymoon period, where we had 2 weeks to just hang out with each other in our new apartment before any real work had to be done. I was kind of hoping to have a job by this point, just to counteract what I'm sure will be boredom when he's at class all day.. but unfortunately that didn't happen.

I don't know if he did this because he knew that I was nervous about him leaving, or he just knew that I'd been wanting to have flowers in our apartment, but he showed up at the apartment with a dozen or so pink roses and 10 bunches of other flowers! He even helped to cut them and put them in some of the millions of vases we have. It was a great way to start out this period of time, which I know will be crazy. We also had made plans earlier to go see The Inglorious Basterds, so we went to that and had a "date day" since we saw it at 3:20. Not exactly a date movie, but it was a very good movie overall.

I don't know if you love flowers as much as I do, but I'm going to include pictures anyway!

Our combination of the bunches that he bought. One of his family friends recently gifted us with several vases as a house-warming gift, and I was glad to be able to finally put something in them! Usually they just sit on our mantle empty.
One of the bud vases we received. I think these are alstromeria, but I could just be making that up.

The roses! They are such a gorgeous hot pink color. I eventually want to get some sort of fake peonies or hydrangeas to fill that vase on a permanent basis, but this is making me think that roses wouldn't look too bad either.

What has your fiance done for you lately that reminds you of exactly why you want to marry him?

Style Inspiration

2009-08-24T21:03:00.000-04:00

Every now and then, I see a wedding that seems to capture everything I want to have on my wedding day. And the flowers in this wedding (featured on style me pretty) are everything I could ask for! I'll be sure to take this picture in to my florist meetings and see who feels the most comfortable doing something like this.. It just seems like it would fit perfectly in the Gardens, and it's already in my colors :-)

To make up for the lack of pictures in my last post, I'll put up a bunch of them now!

How perfect are the peonies? And that entirely purple arrangement is beautiful. I can't believe how many different purples there are in this arrangement.

I love the vintage teacups or whatever container is holding the flowers in the upper right picture. And the square table with the grey tablecloths is really perfect.

(source for all pictures)

What else can I say? It's just beautiful. Have you ever seen a wedding that emulated exactly what you wanted?

Wedding Weekend

2009-08-24T20:51:00.000-04:00

**since i first wrote the post, people posted pictures on facebook.. so I have two to share!**
Over this past weekend, Thomas and I drove down to Atlanta for the wedding of two of our fraternity brothers, and one of my first friends from college. It was my first wedding since getting engaged, and only second wedding ever, so you know that I was definitely paying attention to all the details! I had already been saving her shower invitations and actual invitations as a potential source of inspiration, and couldn't wait to see how everything came together. Also, they are just a very cute couple, and it was really beautiful to see them commit to each other.

(their reception venue - The Carl House)

It was so strange, but I was actually nervous for the two of them starting that morning when I woke up! And Thomas leaned over to me as the groom was waiting for the doors to open for his bride, and admitted that he was just a little scared.. hopefully he'll get over that by the time our wedding rolls around.

Overall, it was an amazing evening. They even hired a fiddler and guitarist to come and teach us how to do a few square dances for the first 45 minutes or so. I have to say, it was quite a workout, but it definitely helped get everyone out onto the dance floor. Even though my camera was stolen (why there's no pictures for this post :-/) it was still a really great time.

It was strange though.. after seeing so many amazing weddings online on Southern Weddings and Style Magazine, the whole event was very simple and un-designed. It was slightly refreshing, and reminded me that the whole point of the night is really just to celebrate your union with the ones you love most. And it totally fits with their couple personality.. they are very laid-back and the bride is kind of shy, and that was reflected in their ceremony. She was gorgeous, no doubt, and her dress would have people begging for the designers name.. but she couldn't even remember who had made her dress!

(the beautiful bride and BM J)

I guess that what I came away from the event realizing was that, while it really is primarily about the marriage and the ceremony and the joining together of two people, I'm just not the kind of person who could leave it at that. I love to plan, and I love putting together a coordinated event. I am always the one who wants to cook fun things for dinner parties and make beautiful cakes and put real flowers all over my apartment. I guess that's also why I'm blogging about this process.. I want to pull as much inspiration as possible and makes this the best event that I can, one that I will be proud of and happy with in the end.

Does this mean I'm overthinking this wedding thing? Potentially. But I know that it is a huge step in my life, and I can't wait until that moment when everything comes together to really celebrate that change.

I have wedding brain.

2009-08-21T21:53:00.001-04:00

I can't lie. I have wedding brain. I see wedding inspiration literally everywhere.. it's crazy. Case in point? Today we went to JCT Kitchen & Bar for dinner, and all I could think of was how this was someone's dream wedding! The color palette, flower choice, lighting, everything was perfect! I was particularly struck by, of all things, the bathroom, since it was totally gorgeous, but I can't find any pictures so you'll have to just trust me on it.

To set the tone for this wedding, you could totally use the fonts on all their signage/menus/etc. to create some really cool invitations. For example--

(source)

All of their written work looks very similar, and I think it sets a really fun and vintage-y vibe right away.

The color palette was amazing, with mint greens, crisp whites, and dark browns, with some yellow thrown in from the bright sunflowers that welcomed you when you walked in.

(via colourlovers.com)

The decor was also inspiring, with clean lines, huge flower arrangements, and these awesome huge pendant lamps that made a subtle statement. Also of note were the curtains that could have partitioned off the dining room if they were shut, but added a nice bit of color to an otherwise primarily white space.

(source)

The bathroom had this amazing oval mirror, with square in-counter sinks and a giant potted orchid. I also loved how the chairs were kind of mismatched, as some were painted white and others were left a dark brown color. In the wedding version, I see long rectangular tables, with some low arrangements, and lush bouquets of monochromatic flowers (hydrangeas?) on the bars and guest book/escort card tables.

Though my wedding doesn't fit into this modern/vintage (I know it's an oxymoron, but that's how it comes across to me!) clean-lined scenario, I'm kind of in love with it, and am thinking seriously about some awesome rehearsal dinner options!

A Moment of Indecision, Part II

2009-08-13T20:47:00.001-04:00

After looking around at some other Priscilla dresses, I still hadn't found anything that was really just perfect, or at least better than the one I had already purchased. So I made an appointment at Bridals by Lori, a bridal salon just around the corner from my house. And I have to say, it was a totally different experience from the single-vendor store of Priscilla. Just having that wide array of prices and styles was amazing. So I tried on a ton of dresses.. and unfortunately don't remember most of them! I've posted the few that I can remember the actual maker and could find the picture.

The Julianna by Christos (I'd seen Miss Cowboy Boot in it and thought it was beautiful)

Unfortunately, it just really wasn't me. And apparently it made my torso look a little.. wide. or puffy. Or something like that. Gorgeous on Miss Cowboy Boot, not so much on me.

I quickly realized that Marisa gowns seemed to fit me like a dream. Each one I put on just seemed to somehow fit with my normally too-long torso and more rectangular body shape, and made me look like I had a really thin waist. Needless to say, I was pretty sure one of her dresses would be the one. The saleswomen even asked me to model one that was new to the store (and seemingly new to the line overall - can't find a picture of it anywhere!) since they said I was the perfect model for her fit. I really wish I could find a picture - it was a beautiful dress, just kind of plain on top with a really full and layered skirt.

The primary competition for the one I eventually ended up getting was the Marisa 809. I can't find it on their website anywhere, but luckily someone on oncewed.com was selling it so I can show you some pictures!

It was totally different from anything else I tried on, and I actually cried once I had it on with the veil and everything.. so here it is..

Of course, not really the best pictures, but the best I could do for now. Coming up - if I can figure out how to do a link to hide the text of my post, you'll see pictures of the dress I ended up choosing!

A moment of indecision

2009-08-13T20:22:00.001-04:00

As the self-proclaimed "decisive bride," this is kind of a hard post to write. I never thought that I would be indecisive about such an important part of my wedding! But in the interest of full disclosure.. I am a two-dress bride.

One of the second decisions I made regarding the wedding was my dress. One day not too long after the proposal, my mom and I went to the Atlanta Brides Against Breast Cancer event (where we were unsuccessful) and then we went on a spur-of-the-moment trip to the Priscilla of Boston store. At the time, I was looking for something all-lace, not too poofy, and semi-mermaid style. I had seen it a lot in magazines and thought that it would be perfect for a garden wedding. So, while we were at the Priscilla of Boston store, I found a dress that fit all of those qualifications - and even had a cute removable sleeve option! The next day we went back with my dad, and bought the dress. That very same night, I questioned my decision... but I justified it by thinking that all brides probably go through that stage.

A couple of months later, two of my bridesmaids were due to be in town (they both live out of town) and I decided this would be the perfect time to show them both my dress. I called Priscilla and made my appointment just to come look at my dress. On the day of, I was sitting there at my internship, having a panic attack about how much I wasn't sure about my dress. After calling my mom from work, she assured me that we could go ahead and try on some other dresses when we were at the store. Well, I tried on my dress, and sure enough, it just didn't make me feel.. bridal.. or something. I was also questioning whether or not it was really the most flattering fit for me.

The following dress was my top contender from PoB, but it was even more expensive than the first dress, and BM C thought it reminded her of winter - not good for my June wedding!

Coming up, the exciting second day of shopping!

Cator Woolford, continued

2009-08-09T22:25:00.000-04:00

I realize it's been a while since my last post, in which I promised pictures, but I was a little bit busy graduating and going on a wonderful beach vacation with my family and Thomas. Anyway, it was also good that I held off on this post because in between the last time and now I found out that Cator Woolford actually has a blog! It's totally awesome because it's filled with pictures from other people's weddings, and I can get some actual venue inspiration. Here are a few pictures from their blog....

From W. Scott Chester

The altar set up and arrangement.. we want to have something blocking the view through the arch thing (they have put up white sheets) since the tent will be right behind there and we don't want to be able to see it.

The bamboo garden.. I hadn't even thought about it for picture opportunities!

We are also planning on setting up a tent in the courtyard like this couple did... we really want everyone to be able to sit together and not everyone would be able to fit under the tent that Cator Woolford provides.

This is an awesome picture of the bride leaving the bridal suite - the bridal party will all be getting dressed in there and I love the slate courtyard (which is where all the dancing will be)

From Kevin Nye..

I've usually seen the staircase used for some pretty dramatic bride/train shots, but I love this intimate close-up too.

and finally, from Climie+Co..

This couple had their first look on one of the bridges that connects the courtyard and tent area to an area they call the meadow. I think it's a really pretty location, especially when you can get the water running behind them.

Hopefully you've enjoyed these pictures as much as I have.. every time we go back to Cator Woolford (and yeah.. I've tended to swing by whenever possible since it's a public garden..) I am happier that this is where I'm getting married. I knew it was the place as soon as I saw it the first time, it's really just the picture perfect place to get married.

The Most Important Place

2009-07-30T21:31:00.000-04:00

When I was growing up, I didn't really dream about my wedding day the way I've heard some people do.. I didn't have visions of an elaborate cathedral wedding, or a relaxed beach wedding, or any preconceived notions at all. I had ideas about being married, and being a mom.. but the wedding part I always kind of skipped. So when it came time to pick the location where we would actually become husband and wife, I researched every. single. location. in the Atlanta area. No joke, I can now look at almost any wedding album shot in the Atlanta area and know where it was held.

Anyway, despite all the searching, I still hadn't find somewhere that just seemed perfect. We had decided we didn't want a hotel ballroom, or any sort of standard space, so that ruled out a lot of Atlanta places. I also wanted somewhere with parking for all our guests - that was crucial to me, and eliminated a lot of the places that otherwise looked great.

Somehow, I came across the website for Cator Woolford Gardens, a little-known space that is connected with The Frazer Center, a place that "provides exceptional services to infants, preschoolers and adults with physical and developmental disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida, Down syndrome, sickle cell anemia, autism spectrum disorders and other genetic anomalies" (www.thefrazercenter.org). In order to help fund their services, they rent out the gardens that were curated by the founder. Not only did they have such a great mission - they were also one of the most reasonably priced venues that I'd seen.

It sounded great on paper.. but could it really be the perfect place to get married? Coming up - the requisite pictures, and why I felt like it was "the one"!

"Of all the colors that you've shined.."

2009-07-22T14:10:00.000-04:00

I'll admit, I was not entirely decisive when it came to our color scheme. Or rather, I was decisive, but no one else liked my first choice! I was initially hoping to do something red and blue, like this..

(source)

Unfortunately for me, no one else seemed to like it. I believe my dad went so far as to say it would be ugly (granted, he hadn't seen all the gorgeous red and blue inspiration boards I'd seen).

So after that initial disappointment, I set about trying to find a color scheme that everyone could get behind. However, I didn't really want it to be a very common color scheme - you know, pink and green, tiffany blue and brown, etc. Not that they're not great color schemes.. I just figured that with a art studio ~~boyfriend~~ fiance, we should be able to come up with something unique and different. What I came up with was...

Purple and grey!

Of course, now grey is become a much more common color, but I was still excited when I saw that Bee Kim (of WeddingBee fame) mentioned that purple and grey were one of the new hot color schemes for the coming year in a magazine interview she did (because I'd picked it even before I'd heard that!)

And because I love snippet&ink inspiration boards, here's a few in our colors..

(source)

Once we had gotten the colors picked, I felt like I could really start looking around at invitations, dresses, etc. Up until that point, I'd be kind of wandering in the dark, but I think it was great to pick the color scheme first. After that, everything else either fits in it or it doesn't, so it's a lot easier to make decisions!

Behind the Name

2009-07-12T01:04:00.001-04:00

One of the hardest things for me to do is to pick fun, descriptive names for my online persona. I think at some point in my high school career, I registered over 5 names on AIM in less than 1 day. None of them lasted, and since my wild days of name experimentation in high school, I've kept it pretty standard with variations on my first and last name. When I decided to write a blog about my wedding process, I almost decided not to write a blog simply because I would have to come up with a name for it! However, my mom has been constantly suggesting that I write a blog about this whole planning process, and as I've had to make choices, a clear pattern has emerged - once I find what I like (whether after searching for 1 hour or several months) I pick it and don't look back. Hence, the decisive bride! It may not always seem that way, as I take my time making decisions on some things, but once I have the picture in my mind of what I want, I can find it and decide quickly with little thought given to other options. Hopefully this trait will continue to play out through the remainder of the planning process.. After all, I'm only about 3 months into a 14.5 month engagement!

Our Story

2009-07-07T21:27:00.000-04:00

In 2007, our band fraternity (Kappa Kappa Psi) held its biannual National Convention in Orlando. One of my friends at UGA, Katie, had worked at Bands of America for a couple of years, where she met Thomas. Katie introduced us at the National Convention, and our two chapters hung out the rest of the week. At the time, I was in a relationship, so I wasn't really looking for anything other than friendship. However, at the time, I remember thinking that he would be a great match for me - we had such similar interests and beliefs.

A few months later, UK played UGA in football. He traveled down with the pep band and several of my friends and I went to their hotel the night before the game to hang out and catch up. We ended up talking by ourselves (mostly about fraternity related things) for the rest of the night, and agreed to talk more online and maybe get a retreat set up for the spring semester with our two chapters.

In March of 2008, UK played UGA in the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament, so (now)BM Stephanie and I again went to visit with their chapter since it was in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. That was the same night that tornadoes hit Atlanta, and in particular the Georgia Dome that we were sitting in. My friend and I couldn't leave the city, since all the power was out, trees were knocked down, parts of buildings were in the street.. so we stayed in their hotel that night. My FI and I got to talking, and decided we should go on a date. The next day, I picked him up at the hotel and we went to Mellow Mushroom for some pizza. Once we realized how much we had in common, we decided to meet up at his hometown the next weekend. He told his mom that we were only meeting for "fraternity business" but she quickly realized that it was something more.

That Saturday in Madisonville, we decided that we had something that we couldn't ignore. Despite the 440 miles between Athens and Lexington, we had to give it a shot! We've been together since then, making almost biweekly trips in either direction, but it was obviously worth it.

Taken on our first "official" day, right before I left to go back to Athens.

Will You Be My Bridesmaid?

2009-07-02T12:19:00.000-04:00

Right from the start, I knew I wanted to ask my bridesmaids in a way slightly more special than just calling them. Since getting them all together would have been impossible, as three of the five live out of state, I knew I would probably be going the card route. While I found a lot of cute options on etsy, I wanted to ask them right away and decided I would just make them myself.

I started out on my first DIY project with zero online inspiration, no tutorials, nothing! So I went to Michaels with only the slightest idea of what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to make no-fold cards, and they had to have a dress of some sort on them. At that point, I hadn't chosen any colors, so I wasn't really concerned about making them true to life. The stickers that I ended up using are actually from a prom sticker set - all the wedding stuff was only wedding dresses, no bridesmaids dresses.

It really wasn't hard to make these cards, but they made a great impact, and everyone loves getting mail. My MOH even thought that I had bought them, not put them together myself!

To make them, I had to justify center vertically, and right horizontally. Then I picked a pink shade that was several shades darker than the cards. I had originally wanted to print them just a shade darker than the card and write over it by hand, but that ended up looking strange, so I just darkened the text color and printed them. Then I added the stickers, and put clear gems on the waists of the bridesmaids cards. I had to use a different dress for the maid of honor more out of necessity than anything else (they only had 4 sets of the black prom dresses). It took probably about 30 minutes, but that was mainly for adjusting the size of the font and color to get it perfect. ~~I anticipate it taking me another 10 minutes to figure out how to print the envelopes.~~ I ended up writing the address on myself.

After I had finished the fronts of all the cards, I wrote a note on the back of each card, reliving some memories and explaining why I wanted them to be my bridesmaids. While one friend had to decline since she will be in the Netherlands pursuing her Masters in Trombone Performance (and she will certainly be missed!), the other four girls were all so excited to get their cards! I'll be introducing them at some point later, just wanted to get this first post up and get this blog started!

The final product...

Card for MOH JCards for BM's C, Z, S and K

I would have loved to have them all out to lunch, and given them a small token or favor or something, but with all of them in different locations, it would have required way too much coordination. Were you able to ask your 'maids in person? If not, how did you do it?