It's the Final Countdown!

Guess what, folks? We are officiallly 1 year (365 days because it's not a leap year) away from the wedding of the millenium!!! FINALLY! I can't tell you how stoked I am. Tons of things to get accomplished, but I feel like now I can say when my wedding is and people won't say, "wow, that's a long ass time from now."

I'm in Charleston this weekend visiting the groom, and I have to say that the weather is freaking me out. While it's sunny here, I definitely drove through hail on the way down. And it's only 55 degrees. So much for weather.com averages. Fortunately, Boone Hall ha a big fireplace, but I'm terrified that people will be freezing. Everyone needs to do a weather dance and sacrifice some goats so that we have perfect weather. Start now.... we need all the help we can get.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I know, I know.  I haven't posted in forever.  A lot of things have been going on over here.  I may just make one giant post later on.  I've picked out my bridesmaids dresses, and they're faboosh.  More on that later on.

I just won an online contest from Sienna Stationary -- I am now the proud holder of a $75 gift certificate.  WOO.  Stationary is super expensive.  I was going to make my own invites, you all know that, and I'm pretty sure I'm still going to.  I'm not sure if the invites they have available are my style, and I think they're a little too girly for Christopher.

Now I'm tossing around the idea of them making the rest of the paper goods, or maybe my thank you notes.  I love these from the bride/from the groom thank you notes -- aren't they so me?

The company that made these lovelies is no longer around, so it may be possible to get a version of this created.  I have an idea of how I'd like it changed slightly.

Sienna Press does have a 50% off special if you order the complete suite from them, so I would be getting double the benefit.  It really just depends on if they can create something a little more in line with what I want. I may have to send them some pictures of what I like.  If I'm limited to what they've got already designed, I probably won't get invites from them.

What do you guys think?

Bridesmaids Gifts?

H ow ridiculously fierce are these feather clutches?

They're £25.00, or about $42.00 from ASOS.  They could be awesome bridesmaid's gifts.  I love feathers.

Amaze-balls

How hot are these shoes?

The blue version of this shoe was created specifically for Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie for the Sex in the City movie (Manolo named it "Something Blue") and it seriously is THE shoe for wedding. I see it all the time in blogs.  I think in part because it is blue and because Carrie wore it.  They are hot, and they are being knocked off all over the place.  They are almost $1000, though.  I'm not sure if I can pay more for my shoes than for my dress.  Although, maybe I should spend more on my shoes because I'll wear them more than once??  Wouldn't that be awesome??

I love this color, though.  The colors for the wedding are sorta in flux right now as Chris and I hash out the details.  Maybe I could find a way of including Tiffany blue!  I think Chris at one point mentioned Tiffany blue, so maybe it won't be as hard of a sell.

Hat tip: Thanks to Ali, who knows me all too well.

Dyeables be Damned!

How killer are these?

And at $47.39 a pair, they're pretty reasonable.  Plus, they go down in price the more you order.  That peach and yellow go with the new color scheme.  Kinda cute!

Changes in Colors

So, I think I may be changing my color palette.  I was swayed by a picture in Martha Stewart's magazine.  I'm pretty sure that this may be met with a lot of nay-sayers since it's a little unexpected, but that's why I like it.

I love the shades of taupes, creams, and linens, and then the contrast of the lancaster blue, with the pops of peaches and yellows.  The shades of linen-y colors would also be great at my venue.  It's super Charleston-y.

I think this is still something I'll like in my pictures 30 years from now, and part of me thinks the lavender, blue and fuchsia is borrrrinnnng.  Bridesmaids will still be in the navy (albiet a slightly different navy).

Not this dress, but this color.

Their bouquets would be those apricots and yellows, and then some neutral strappy sandals.

I know Katherine hates wedges, but this is just an idea.  And then the shoe can either go casual or I can do a metallic shoe if I wanted to be dressier.  Not as fancy as fuschia pumps, but could still be cute.  I could wear these.  They're still a neutral, right?

 

Big news on the home front

Hello Bloggy Fans!  Two things to update on:

1.  Had my first wedding nightmare.  It involved Professor Callahan from Legally Blonde, reading a legal treatise in one night, and my wedding dress.

I'm not sure if that means it's a wedding-related nightmare or a law school nightmare.  Either way, it definitely demonstrates problems with my mental health.  I need vodka and a cupcake, STAT!

2.  I'm likely moving to D.C. next year.  This is my official bloggy announcement.  Yesterday, I got an offer from an Atlanta-based firm for a position in their D.C. office.  I have to fly up there to meet with everyone and do a pseudo interview sometime in the next few weeks.  If things go relatively well, I'll be in D.C. by the beginning of 2012, but probably sooner.  The word on the street is that the start date is October 2011, which sucks because it's a month before the wedding.  I was really hoping for a January 2012 start date like it's been in the past.  Who knows what it really is, though.  I'm a little freaked out, because I wasn't expecting this at all.  Make that whiskey and two cupcakes, STAT!

Other things I clearly need

to add to my list of things I need for my registry:

 StanleyCupCakes!!!  Anyone know where I can get mini Stanley Cups?  I totally need, particularly since Robin and I are going to the Hockey Hall of Fame tomorrow.  YAY!

As a future lawyer (hopefully), I need to warn my party guests

An "Anti-Hooting" law was just passed in Charleston.  No lie.  Well, a suburb of Charleston called Sullivan's Island.  Not too far from Mount Pleasant, so please keep the hooting to a minimum.  It is now officially illegal to hoot, yell, shout, whistle and/or sing at any time "so as to annoy or disturb the comfort or repose of persons" on Sullivan's Island.

Not if you want a $500 fine.

Read about it here.

Need

TEACUPCAKES ($17.95/set of 4 at heliotrope)

Preferably to go with these:

This is what happens when your friends know you too well

and know you're up for anything for your wedding...

You get sent text messages of rubber ducky bride and grooms and seriously consider making it your cake topper.  I've always been known for having loads of class.

Hat tip: Sarah McClellan

90+ degree weather = lots of wedding stuff gets done

Today was way too hot to do much of anything, so I basked in the air conditioning and got some things done.  Two days in a row of wedding-related work!

First, I sent Mel the Wedding Planner off on a hunt to locate hotels for all you friendly folks :)  Mount Pleasant, where the reception is located, is way less expensive than downtown Charleston.  It's also only about a 5-15 minute drive depending on where you are.  A lot of my family are coming in from Canada, and I'm sure some of you are flying in from who knows where.  I figured the sooner you could book up, the better.  I'm not sure if you can book this far in advance, but better earlier rather than later.

She's finding two to three good hotels and then also looking up group rates at the Cottages on Charleston Harbor.  A few months ago Southern Living magazine did this whole thing on Charleston.  Clearly I bought that magazine.  In the back in a tiny little paragraph, it talked about these cool cottages:

I asked Mel about them and she said they were "AWESOME!"  According to her, they're about 10-15 minutes away from the venue and about 5 minutes across the bridge into downtown Charleston.  According to Southern Living magazine, they start at $229/night.  Kinda steep, but maybe groups could organize staying together and split the cost.  I'm sure that 4 people splitting the cost would be less than individual rooms.

I'm having Mel figure out if group rates are an option, particularly since November is the off-season in Charleston.  Anyone interested?  Maybe I'll get one for the bridesmaids.  Chris can use his house for the groomsmen (who cares about them anyway), and the girls can wake up to this in the morning:

Robin is putting together our wedding website, so I'll have her post it on there as I find out what's going on.

My mother is also being super annoying, as usual.  For all of you getting married in the somewhat foreseeable future, I will talk you down from a ledge after dealing with your mother. While we've only been planning this wedding for 7 months, I have become ridiculously good at (1) ignoring my mother, and (2) placating my mother.  This week's topic is getting married in a church.  When I told her that we were thinking of having the ceremony at the garden behind the house at Boone Hall, she clearly found something to be negative about.  Mothers have a good habit about finding something negative about everything.  She was like, "You mean you're not getting married in a church?" [insert disdainful tone here].  I spun some story about getting married outside in the glory of God.  She was unimpressed.  I told her that getting married in a church costs money.  We've already paid for this venue, which, by the way she thought was too much even though the price I told her was 1/3 of what it actually was.  Basically, my mother wants this whole wedding to be free or something.

Long story short, I'm having Mel look into beautiful Episcopalian churches nearby the venue.  My only stipulation was that it had to be pretty at least from the inside.  If my mother is willing to fork over the cash in order to have the ceremony there (plus all the necessary acoutrements like extra flowers and transportation costs), then I will concede to having it at a church.  As long as I'm married at the end of the day, I really couldn't care less.  If she doesn't want to pay for it, then at the plantation it is!  This way, she can't say anything either way.  I feel like this is a great solution!  Chris and I are paying for everything ourselves precisely to avoid my Momzilla's opinions.

I know this will add onto the timeline of the day, but you guys can just show up to the par-tay if you want.  I don't mind :)  Either that, or come to the ceremony, and provide an extra body shield between me and my mother.

Last, I FINISHED THE RSVPs!  As you know, I'm designing all of the paper goods myself.  The invites are super-secret and almost finished.  The RSVPs are done and could essentially be printed now if I wanted.  They are interactive and suh-weet.  My aunt, like my mother, has an opinion about everything, and I bet both of them won't like it too much.  But I don't really care.  Just remember, folks, when you recieve these invites remember how much effort and creative juices went into them.  I expect the same amount of effort and creative juices when you reply back.

What have I been doing all day?

This:

I have just spent the last 3 hours cutting 3 yards of felt in to 3 inch sqaures and then turning those into thousands of circles.

I did it while watching loads of My Fair Wedding with David Tutera to get me into a sufficiently wedding mood.

All finished!

Thank god for my Sizzix Machine.  Do you know how long that would have taken otherwise?  Forever.  Why did I waste 3 hours of my last summer vacation ever (ACK!)?  I'm using these circles to make a wreath or two.  Something like this, but maybe with a rad twist.

So now it's up to you, internet friends, to make some other decisions.  I will put it up to a super-secret vote via Survey Monkey.

1.  Should the wreath be a circle, a square, or a quatrefoil?  This is a quatrefoil.  I assume you know what a circle and square are.

2.  Should I keep the wreath white or dye the circles lavender (one of my colors) so that it looks water-colory and ombre like this:

White may show up better, but the ombre may look pretty cool if all of the circles aren't dyed consistently one shade.  I'm not sure if the polyester felt will accept dye, so by default the wreath may be white.

Click here to take survey

WOOOOOO!

This is a destination post.  I'm currently blogging from a beach chair at Virginia Beach.  Chris had 4 days off, so I drove (9 hours. ugh.) up to see him.  We took a 2 day trip out to Washington D.C. to see the sights and for me to get my wedding dress.  Just one word:

Love.

Bought it on the spot.  The matching jewelry is enh.  Probably won't be wearing that.  The veil matches, but I may replace that as well.  We'll see.  It's ridiculously long on me and will need massive alterations, but that was to be expected.  I'll use the money I saved to make this dress perfect.

Random trivia:  it was originally bought at the bridal salon where I tried on the dress in the first place in Peachtree City.  This dress has been getting around, but ultimately returned back here at a fraction of the cost.  It's in the back of my car right now and will be temporarily stored at Katherine's place until I make it back to Athens.  My mother doesn't know I bought a dress, so there is a necessary ruse going on.  We'll see how that one plays out.

Ring: check.  Venue: check.  Dress: check.  Rad 80s Cover Band: on deck.

Name our rabbits!

Chris and I got two new rabbits.  We are arguing over the names.  They are jersey woolys

We have gone through:

King and Kong

King Kong and Godzilla

Cap'n Slappy and Ol' Chumbucket (Slappy and Chum for short)

Flip and Flop

Dee and Dum

Michael and Tito (too soon?)

Votes?  Do you have names we think we should call them?  This is of great importance.  They're both boys.

Omigod You Guys

This post shall be a musical post, comparing my experience with wedding dress shopping with Elle's experience engagement dress shopping.  There will be heavy lyric quoting.  Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with:



Get it? Got it? Good.  Let's continue.

So, after Katherine and my dress adventure last weekend, I about had a heart attack when I saw the price tags on these dresses.  I mean, I KNEW that it was going to be ridonculous, but even I (who has  never been known to be frugal) was having a bit of sticker shock.  But not just any dress will do, either.  In the words of Elle Woods, the musical edition:

This dress needs to seal the deal,

make a grown man kneel,

but it can't come right out and say "bride."

(See minute 3:30 above).

Actually though, it does need to come right out and say "bride," and bride doesn't need to be implied.  This is a wedding, after all.  But there was no way I am going to spend that much on a dress. 

And I had that awful experience at Bridals by Lori, who, like the sales ladies in Elle's dress shop, were just trying to make a sweet commission off of me:

[Brides] make commission SO easy.

Excuse me, miss.  Have you seen this?

It just came in.

It's perfect for a [bride].

Um. Lady.  Look and listen.  How many times do I need to tell you that my budget is not $50,000 and I don't need a dress that makes me look like a wedding cake topper.  Thanks:

It may be perfect for a [bride],

But I'm not that [bride].

I may be in love,

But I'm not stupid, lady. I've got eyes.

Amen, sister!  Sing it!  This is basically how I felt all weekend.  I just can't imagine all common sense going out the window just because you stick me in white silk satin.  No ma'am.  Not this kid.

As you may remember, I really liked two dresses.  I will not show those dresses here.  I want there to be some surprises.  Here's a picture of a puppy instead:

I seriously contemplated getting a dress made, but hadn't really looked into that option much.  Even if Elle does say:

So, [Katherine,] help me dress for my fairy tale,

Can't wear something I bought on sale.
Love is , like, forever.

This is no time to economize
omigod, you guys 

I would actually be more than thrilled to buy something on sale. And while love is forever, I'd rather if my debt were not.  I have no qualms for not spending the equivalent of a Lexus on a dress I will be wearing for 8 hours.  And then, enter from stage left: fate.  I got this random e-mail from a website that I had looked at ages ago as an option-- http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/.  Basically, this website is like ebay for preowned dresses.  Some are brides trying to sell their dresses that are gently worn.  Some are brand new because they bought a dress and didn't like it or the wedding fell through or something.  Others are sample dresses from salons which are trying to get rid of their inventory.  Either way, you can get Vera Wangs for 90%.  Seriously.  If you are looking at getting a dress, I recommend going to this site.

You can even search by region in case you want to find a dress near you so that you can try it on.  I was lucky because I had already tried my dresses on in a store.  So, I did a search for the two dresses that I really liked.  One of the dresses is a pretty old design, but I thought it may be possible.  Guess what, BOTH dresses were on there and BOTH were in sizes bigger than me.  This is good news, because it's easier to take a dress in than out.

They were both at the top end of my budget, but still within range.  One of the dresses, was up there for awhile.  You can sort by how recent the dress was listed and this one was pretty far down the list.  I hoped that this meant that my bridal counterpart would be willing to negotiate in order to get rid of the dress.  I asked, and she said she was absolutely flexible on the price.  I decided to shoot low.  I was thinking she would never give me my asking price, because it was sooooo much lower than her list price.  GUESS WHAT? SHE SAID SURE!!!!!!!

What did this mean?  I am getting my dress for 80% off.  That's right, folks.  It's not a fake, it's a designer dress, it's never been worn, and I am about the same as I would have at David's Bridal.  She may even throw in a free veil if I'm lucky.  Even with the amount I will doubtless have to spend on alterations (adding straps, taking it in and up, etc.), I think I will still be on budget.  I had no idea that I would have a dress right now.  I was in browse mode.  But I am absolutely positive that this is My Dress.  It's in Washington, DC, but I'm going up to Norfolk in a month.  I'll have nothing to do during the day while Chris is at work, so I'm thinking about just driving over and picking it up, even if it is a 3 hour drive.

Omigod! Omigod you guys!

This one's perfect, and it's just my size!

See dreams really do come true you never have to comprimise.

Omigod!

Just for you guys

I came in early today so I could blog before I got weighed down by work.  I wanted to update you on the dress shopping.  Most important thing I learned this weekend -- THOSE DRESSES ARE HOT UNDER THERE!  I seriously need like a fan sewn into the bustle or something.

Katherine and I started off our day going to J. Andrews Bridal in Peachtree City.  After being ridiculously late picking her up, made even later by an essential stop for gas, we drove all the way to PTC.  We were actually right on time, so that's good.  When we got there, Katherine and I looked at each other.  The place was really small and was not very impressive from the outside.  However, when we walked in, it was awesome!  The staff was incredibly friendly and our lady (can't remember her name.  Susan maybe?) was great.  She said that she knew that it was basically my first time out, except for that one study break Sarah and I had 1L year.  She also said not to feel pressured to buy anything, it was really difficult on day 1 to do that, but we'd have a good time figuring out what I liked and what looked best on me. Seriously?  YAY!  Katherine and I had this whole system we worked out in the car ride.  I wasn't going to say which dress I liked, but I would play with my bracelet or something if I really liked one dress.  That all went out the window.  How quickly I forget.  There was also another bride there with her mother, sister and aunt, and they were hilarious.  Their bride and I were looking at completely different styles of dresses, but we were gushing and giving each other advice.  It was really fun.

Anyway, I found 2-3 dresses that I loved.  I really surprised myself, because one of my fave dresses wasn't AT ALL what I was looking for.  I'm trying to decide whether or not to post pictures of the dresses I like.  Katherine took pictures with her camera phone (suprisingly, they let us!!!  We were shocked).  I think we're going to put those on facebook and block Chris from the album.  Sorry, honey.  I could cut and paste pictures of the 5'10 size 0 models in them.  What do you guys think?  Want to see them?

After eating at Chick fil-A (mmmmmmmm), we went to Bridals by Lori.  They were having a Lazaro trunk show, and Lazaro was there!  Haha.  Katherine and I didn't know it was him and I mistakenly thought he was a random employee and asked him what to do.  He was like, "I don't know" and just stared me down.  WHOOPS!  Oh well.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that I actually did not at all enjoy my experience there. Incredibly disappointed.   They have thousands of dresses.  It's just like Kleinfeld's in NYC.  So clearly I don't have time to go through all their dresses and I don't know what they have.  I told our consultant, Marta, what I was looking for and picked out a few dresses myself.  I had originally gotten swayed by this trumpet gown with loads of ruffles and pleats at the bottom.  It was really pretty.  I had it on, and the consultant was like, I have a better one! and she did, in fact, give me a better one.  I told her, though, that I really wanted to try on lace trumpet dresses.  I liked the ruffles, but it wasn't really what I was looking for. SHE JUST WOULDN'T LISTEN TO ME! It was really frustrating.  She kept bringing me back to the ruffle dress, and I kept telling her that I liked it, but I wanted to see other dresses.  UGH! and I also kept telling her NO STRAPLESS.  This store had like 6 total non-strapless dresses.  I know that straps can be added, but I really wanted to see non-strapless. And she kept telling me that I looked much better in strapless.  At that point, I knew that she was lying because I definitely do not look good in strapless.  Katherine gave me this funny look and rolled her eyes.  Please, woman.  I work in retail.  I know how to sell people shit that looks terrible on them, and I refuse to do it.  Don't play your stupid games with me.

Katherine and I wondered if maybe brides out there are not that bright?  Or maybe when you get an engagement ring on your IQ drops 30 points?  It's entirely possible.  I just don't understand how smart women suddenly become crazy when someone sticks a white dress on them.  No, Bridals by Lori, I will NOT plunk down $4000 on a dress after 30 minutes.  No, Bridals by Lori, I will not be swayed by the promise of a 12.5% discount that will end tomorrow if I don't buy.  No, Bridals by Lori, I will not be pushed into a dress that I don't like because you say that it looks good on me when I know that it is completely unflattering to my figure.  The bridal industry is a racket and it begins and ends at the bridal salon.

Katherine is hilarious and she was trying to take pictures here too, and we got told that we couldn't unless we bought the gown.  So Katherine kept sending Marta off on these bizarre missions ("Can you find a piece of fabric we can use to get an idea what straps might look like?"  "Hmm.... I need to see it with a belt.') so that she could serruptitiously snap some photographs.  I kept worrying that Marta would come back, but we got left alone so much that it was probably fine.  I don't know what she was doing, but sometimes it would take her forever.  Almost like those movies where the guy has two dates going on at one time and has to change in the bathroom.  Or was that the Hannah Montana movie?

I have decided to do some serious research into having a gown made.  The problem with these dresses is that I'm also really really short.  Alterations will cost a fortune.  Bringing up a gown is not the same as hemming a pant because there are so many things going on down there at the hem.  Also, I'm really short waisted, so the middle part of those dresses are never cut for me.  You know when  you get a funny crease along your waist?  That's because the torso of the dress is cut too long for you.  So that's an expensive alteration.  These dresses don't come in petite to alleviate that problem.  Yet another scam from the wedding dress industry.

OH! and you know what else?!  Okay, I know I'm not a size 2.  But I'm not THAT fat!  I feel like I'm more or less average, especially in light of the current obesity epidemic.  None of those sample dresses fit me.  It was ridiculous.  Some of the Lazaro dresses they were having me cram into were bridal size 4s.  That's like a street size 0.  For real?  How do you expect to sell a wedding dress if people can't try it on??  I could literally not even get into them.  I'm sure more of these dresses would have peaked my interest if I could actually slide them down my big butt.  You know what we had to do?  Hold it up to my body.  This is ridiculous.  Isn't it much better to get a big size and then clip me into it?  UGHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

So anyway, that wraps up my Saturday.  Kind of a boring post.  Please forgive.

4 things or thereabouts

1.  This week I have billed 55 hours so far.  To calculate how many hours you have to be here in order to bill those hours, multiply by pi.  That's a rough guestimate.  That's what pi is used for, right?

2.  TGIF.

3.  I brought donuts to work thinking it would be easy to get rid of them.  It has been a ridiculous challenge.  I blame the health food movement.

4. I'M GOING DRESS SHOPPING THIS WEEKEND!  I have yet to take a day off from work, and so I'm treating myself.  Working really gets in the way of planning a wedding.  Evidence: how little I've blogged.  I know you guys miss me.

Note that dress shopping does not equal dress buying.  I'm going to play dress up.  Haha.  I know, I know.  Consultants hate it when you do that, but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.  I refuse to be pressured into buying a dress on the spot, just because it might not be there later.  Whatever.  I'll handle it.  You don't buy cars or houses without comparison shopping, and although a dress doesn't cost (or maybe it might...) the same as a car or a house, it's still a big chunk of change.  Not happenin' sista.

So Katherine and I are visiting two bridal salons.  One is having a trunk show for my fave designer, Jim Hjelm:

The other is for Katherine's favorite, Lazaro:

They're really the same designer (different lines), but no matter.  No, Katherine is not getting married.  She is living vicariously through me.  I don't mind.  We are going to try to covertly take pictures.  :)  I will upload them if I can!

You know what sucks?

Having already put in almost 30 hours of work this week AND it's only Wednesday AND we had Monday off AND I'm still in the office.

You know what else also sucks?  Not having time to actualy send an e-mail longer than 10 words to my awesome wedding planner who is trying to get me to start thinking about important things like flowers.  Do you know how expensive flowers are?  REALLY expensive.  I really want to do my own flowers because:

(1) It's more economical.  By a long shot.
(2) I want to be able to tell people after they "ooh" and "ahh" over the beautiful arrangements that I did them myself.

But you've heard all this before.  And I've already thought about the time-value-of-money (or is it the money-value-of-time?  Whatever).  Part of me still really, really wants to do this.  I'm crafty and I have a hard time farming things out when I can do it myself.  And I want my personal stamp on everything.  I think I also am swayed by all those brides on my blogs who do their own flowers, and I think, "If they can do it, so can I!"  I want to be featured in a blog with them saying, "and the bride did all her own florals."

So anyway, my planner sent me a link to her favorite florists old website (her new one is being made as we speak and is down).  She knows I keep talking about doing my own flowers; I think she's sending me a hint that this is a bad idea.  She says that this florist books up fast, but my weekend is still available.

http://www.dahliadesignsflowers.com/dahlia/home.html

Her fave venue is also the Cotton Dock.  WOO! THAT'S ME!

Anyway, Chris is like, "GET A FLORIST!"  He's pretty adamant and he's probably right.  He says that doing crafts all along, while ambitious, is not unreasonable.  However, it is not okay to be doing something the week of the wedding, particularly since, "we have to deal with our parents."  Deal with-- his words, not mine.  It does take a lot to deal with our family, though.

 Anyone know what a reasonable floral budget is?  Like I don't know if it's $1000 or $5000.  Anyone, anyone?  I have to admit that although I am pretty well-researched on everything else in the wedding world, I know nothing about the cost of actually hiring a professional florist.

I've decided, though, that if we do (shudder) hire a florist, I do not want this costing an arm and a leg.  We will  have to get down to some serious negotiations in order to get a great look without things costing an inordinate amount.  Seriously.  If this is going to cost us ridiculous amounts of money, then I will figure out a way to do it myself.  She can (maybe) make the bridal party bouquets, and then I'll do the rest.

I have never been known for being practical.

Whoops!

I know, I know.  I have failed in my bloggerly duties.  I haven't blogged in almost 6 weeks.  With finals and the start of my New Job, I haven't been able to get online and keep you stalkers aware of my goings-on.  And. Well.  Nothing's really been going on.  We're in a holding pattern for a bit, I think.  I was going to buy a wedding dress or at least look for wedding dresses this summer, but they feed you really, really well here at the firm (massive lunches every day + drinks, etc. after work), and I'd rather not try on dresses when I'm fat.  I'm doing my best to work out 4-5 days a week in order to mitigate the damage a bit, but I feel like it's a losing battle.  Kinda like pumping mud into BP's oil rig.

My coworker friend, Ross happens to be a really solid amateur photographer.  He apprenticed for a wedding photographer and is now taking a whole bunch of P.R. photos for Emory University here in Atlanta.  We got to talking one day and I found out this shocking story about him.  He has a really, really nice camera.  Way nicer even than the camera I'm going to be buying this summer with my first paycheck.  So all you folks who were like, "YOU NEED ENGAGEMENT PICTURES!", I think I'll get them!  Ross said he'd take engagement photos for Chris and I, and I may even pay him to do our rehearsal dinner/wedding week in Charleston.  Although he said that he'd do it for free.  I'll just pay for his expenses, then.

http://www.rossandre.com/wedding/

Since he was the backup photographer in these weddings, his job was to take pictures of the details rather than those big moments (like the first kiss, etc.).  I think he's really solid.  Plus, I enjoy those detail picutes.  They make for really nice art on the walls that remind you of your wedding, without being a random shot of the bridesmaids.  Subtle.  I like subtle.  Like when I have a few random quatrefoil things hanging around for subtle Phi Mu.  WE know it's Phi Mu, but we don't have to wear our letters.

Anyhoo -- it's good to have contacts :)

I also have a really solid idea planned for the rehearsal dinner.  Everyone's probably coming in from out of town, so a ton of people will probably be at the rehearsal dinner (is that the way these things work? unsure).  I feel like my rehearsal dinner is just going to be pre-gaming for the wedding.  Anyway, at work as a team builder we had this Amazing Race-style scavenger hunt around Atlanta.  It was awesome and incredibly fun.  I'm not just saying that because we won.  Because we did.  We smoked the other teams.  It wasn't even close. I thought it would be fun for those who wanted to participate to do the same thing around Charleston in order for you kids to get to know the lay of the land better.

I can see this look on your face right now:

Stick with me here, folks.  It'll be GREAT!  What did I tell you about my wedding being the wedding of the century?  I want everyone to remember it.  Maybe instead of Rehearsal Dinner, we can make it like a Thursday Night thing in order to make it to a bar that night.

This just means that you must take off the entire week leading up to November 5, 2011.  We have lots of things planned including a trip to the Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka distillery and a Ghost Walk.  Details are a little hazy right now, but we want to make things fun and give you a little bit of the things Chris and I like to do when we're together.  We're also trying to see if it's feasible to do mystery dinner theater or something that week.

This also means that all you folks who are taking off work for The Wedding of the Century will have to get your crafty hats on and help me tie up some last minute details.  YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!

Speaking of crafty hats, who's in town and wants to help a bit this summer?  Anyone need something to do?

ah miss manners... you would not get along with me

So I was in the library* picking out a new book on tape for my bad self,** and on the way through the shelves, I stumbled upon the etiquette section.  Is that ever a depressing section to be in.  All the things you do wrong to make you look uncouth and backwoods.

Flipped open a Miss Manners guide (Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior) and it was on responding to invitations.  Apparently Miss Manners has some pretty strong feelings about R.S.V.P. etiquette:

Wow!  Harsh!  RSVP cards are an "abomination" and you should foul up my system?!  I'm hoping that this is only for formal invitations.  Mine is hardly formal.  However, I feel as if Miss Manners would probably say that all invitations should be formal, or at the very least that all replies should be personal.

Don't worry, dear friends, your RSVP will be personal.  I have taken care of that.***  I will not require you to have personal letterhead and beautiful penmanship.  I"m sure Miss Manners would be upset with me.

But what say you, bloggy fans?  Is Miss Manners unrealistic?  Any choice words for her?


*for those of you who are unfamiliar, it's like Blockbuster for books
** I'm a busy law student!  I like to multi-task when I'm driving.
*** I'm such a tease.

New idea

Ha.  So my crafty self has clearly had invitations on the brain for a really really really long time.  I've had all sorts of crazy ideas with DIY screenprinting.  I think it could be amazingly awesome if it works, or epic fail if it doesn't.  I don't want to send the paper through my printer.  Not so good.  I like that screenprinting would create raised type and texture by virtue of the ink.  I think it would be cool.

Miss Manners and Martha would say that the only way to go with invitations is via engraving.  This is super formal and ridiculously expensive too.  It involves carving the image or type into a plate, inking it, and putting it through a press.  The result is that the paper is forced into those little grooves under tons of pressure.  They type is raised off the paper.

What I would really love is letterpress. It's essentially the opposite of engraving.  It's also a a very old fashioned method of printing which embosses the paper as it prints.  It was the method of printing for a long time.  Old vintage broadsides were made using letterpress as was Guttenberg's first Bible.  Basically it involves making plates or type, which usually looks like rubber stamps.  Originally they were made out of metal, but now they're made out of all sorts of materials.  Then the plate is inked and sent through a giant press which presses the raised type into the paper.  "Blind" pressing means that no ink is put on the plate. Instead the design is debossed into the paper.  It looks really cool as a border and such.

Both engraving and letterpress are extremely cost prohibitive, particularly if you want a custom design.  We're talking as much as $1000 for 100 invitations.  Woah.  My budget is not that big.  As you've heard before, I have designed my own invitation and it's a very bizarre size.  Hence my journey to find a new way of "printing invitations."  And then I really started thinking.  And thinking hard.

I own a Sizzix BigKick machine which is a home die cut machine.  I bought it because I needed to cut thousands of circles out of felt and this was the easiest way to do it.  Essentially a big metal die is pressed into fabric or paper or whatever and it cuts it out like a really powerful cookie cutter.
It also comes with various plates so that you can emboss paper.  Hmmm.... Wouldn't it be cool if I could make my own plate to pass through there?  It could essentially a little mini letterpress machine.  I did some research, and apparently people have done stuff like this before using the embossing plates that you can buy for the machine:

Fake letterpress paper!  I think it looks really good too!  This crafter used just regular old rubber stamp ink.  The bonus of this means that it dries quickly, unlike the ink used for screenprinting which is essentially paint.

But what about the cost of the plates.  How I love the internet tubez.  Boxcar Press makes custom letterpress plates.  I thought it would be way out of my price range.  Um how about not.  For what I need, the cost will be between $65-$85 plus FREE SHIPPING!  This is about the same as the whole screenprinting idea and I don't think it'll take nearly as much time or cause nearly as many headaches.  Plus an ink pad is way cheaper than screenprinting ink.

In the end, I'll probably be paying more than standard invitations that most people who aren't Martha would pay (maybe), but definitely less than having these invitations professionally printed.  I think with the cost of paper (I'm using watercolor paper), ink (with a Michael's 40% off coupon), envelopes (way more expensive than you think they would be), RSVP cards and other enclosures (printed on a home printer.  This isn't worth the letterpress), and postage (omg. omg. omg.  too bad the post office doesn't have coupons!!  So expensive!!), I think the invitation suite will cost about $2 each.

And yes, I will test this out first using rubber stamps.

Photographer Woes Update!

So I drove back down to Charleston to view one last photographer with Chris.  I pinned all my hopes on Heather Forsythe.  I have been stressed about the photographer decision ALL WEEK.  I was so close to telling Planner Mel to get us appointments with different photographers.

Turns out that I really like Heather.  Phew.

She's about comparable in price to Dreamland images who Chris liked.  I like her pictures better.  They're a lot "brighter" for lack of a better word.  Chris thinks her personality is not as good as Daniel from Dreamland (he thinks she's slightly too peppy), but at least she HAS a personality unlike some other photographers we looked at.  Although nothing is really included in her package price, I'm willing to give up the engagement and bridal session, which I didn't really want anyway, and put that money towards her fee for the wedding day.  I think Chris and I will probably go with her.  I'll keep everyone updated.  We have to work out some pricing.

Here's some pictures from a wedding at Boone Hall.

Alternative Wedding Boutonnières

I feel like boutonnieres are an often overlooked accessory when it comes to a groom's wedding day style, but I think a lot of personality can be packed in a little space! I really want to make some nifty boutonnieres for the boys.  I have been saving pics for awhile now.  There are these cutsey ones as well that I heart.  They're a little more traditional, but again very playful:

I love the slightly preppy quality to them.


There's also these from Martha.  I love the tweed fabric she used as a basis for real flowers.  Kinda masculine, but still pretty classic and just a bit of the unexpected.

I think Chris is really going to go for these, though.  The Bespoke Boutonnieres by Fritts Rosenow. No traditional flowers here, these boutonnieres are strictly for the playful and quirky.  Sounds a lot like us!

I am absolutely positive that I can make these myself.  Do some hunting in the miniatures/doll section of Hobby Lobby and Michaels and some toy stores and look for things that represent the groomsmen, some hot glue gunning later, and I could have some fabulously cool boutonnières.  The bridesmaids shouldn't have all the fun!

I just really hope Chris doesn't want a Yoda one (shudder).

More screenprinting love

'Member my obsession with Gocco and StencilPro for sreenprinting?  And I said that I thought it would be difficult for me to line everything up in order to print my own invitations.

SOLUTION FOUND!

I love blogs.

This blogger/designer uses StencilPro in her Gocco machine, but I think I can use this concept without the Gocco machine.  I just have to be more careful.  She uses framing mats!

What a fantastic idea!  She simply tapes the exposed screens to the mats in order to make her framed screens.

My invitations are a funny size, but I can get that interior window cut to be the exact size of the invitations, then slip the invitation in so it doesn't move around, screen away.  I'll need to adapt the process a bit to make it work without a Gocco, but I think this is absolutely doable.  I'm so excited!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to hate myself after this idea.  Printing 200 of my own invitations sounds like one of those good-idea/bad-ideas where it's a great idea initially, but a terrible idea after about 50.  Maybe I'll do a little at a time over the course of a month?  I don't have enough space to be able to do 200 at once since they need time and space to dry.

Anyone want to be enlisted to help?