New old treasure

Last summer we went home to visit for the first time in two years.  Rediscovering all of the cold-weather clothes I'd left behind in my closet and all of my possessions waiting for me in Minnesota was so exciting.  I didn't want to wear any of the clothes in my suitcase, just the sweaters and jeans from my closet.  (Which, for the most part, I was able to because I was freezing!)  It was new again and I loved it all.

I'm hoping for a similar experience when I return this summer and get to see everything for the wedding.  The vases and fabrics we bought for the reception are waiting for us and my dress has come in at the shop where it is waiting for me to come and try it on.  I'm more than hopeful that I will see these things and love them all over again.  Some things I'll be seeing for the first time, like my bridesmaid's dresses.  Thank goodness I decided to go for the mismatched look because coordinating colors and designs from across the globe...well, there's only so much you can do.

Mike's mom just pulled out the fabric to work on (and some of my girlfriends here are planning a shower - it's all starting to become real!) which prompted me to revisit this photo I took.  Thank goodness I took this photo to remember!  This was probably the fastest wedding errand yet, even though we visited 3 stores, owning to the fact that I dragged Mike along with me.  He's not much of a shopper and prefers the speed shopping method.  Despite the fast decision making (to which I certainly am not accustomed) I love our picks!

I'm excited to see these scattered about the room along with all of the other decor and surprises we have up our sleeves.  I don't know which is my favorite.  How about you?

Dandelion love

Well over a year and a half into this engagement, wedding planning has morphed into something entirely different.  In the beginning it was all about inspiration and ideas.  And I filled my head with a lot of those.  But now it is becoming much more real, and I have moved past that in many ways.  In part it is due to necessity.  There is no more time to sit and daydream.  Decisions are being made and I'm behind on the to-do list.  It's like when you write giant research paper and you have to spend hours on the front end finding quality research, reading it, collecting data, etc.  And then finally it's time to write and you just have to hunker down and focus on your paper.
Also, my brain is full.  Most of the images that fill my google reader start to look the same.  Fabric bunting?  Seen that before.  Bride in Manolo Blahniks?  Next!  But every once in awhile I come across something I absolutely adore.

If I had a flower girl, I would send her down the aisle with dandelions, just like this.  I mean, seriously, how perfect would that be?  How charming would it be for her to reach the front and blow all of the seeds to the wind?  So much more natural than rose petals or a fancy floral arrangement.  Love.

We wove a web in childhood, a web of sunny air.
[Charlotte Bronte]

Photo from ::here::

Save the dates ready for print

Our save the dates have been edited, scrutinized, uploaded, and ordered!  It feels so good that it is (temporarily, at least) out of our hands and onto the printing press.
This has been a big hurdle and it is a big giant check on the to-do list.  There was a fair amount of stress, disappointment, and frustration involved.  More on that later, perhaps.

But, for now, I am pleased, relieved, and excited to see the finished product and get this real wedding stuff going!

And until I have more time on my hands, just a peak.

Goodnight, island!  Goodnight, world wide web!

Priorities

Mike is finally home!  Now that we're together again, we can make some progress on the wedding front.  Except that all I want to work on right now are non-time-sensitive projects, like ceremony fan designs and reception factoids, not pressing to-dos like save the dates (now quite late) and invitations and such.

<sigh>

The world wide wedding web

*Warning*

This post is 100% wedding-planning-induced rant.

Dear wedding vendors,

I’m a little frustrated with planning right now, so please bear with me.  I just have a little request that I’d like to put out there.

Please, for my sake and yours, get a decent website!!!

Actually, for some of you we may need to start with get a website, period.  You don’t even exist on the internet!  But I’m prettymuch ignoring all of you anyway, because you make life too difficult.  Good luck having someone else find and hire you for their wedding.

So back to those of you with crappy sites.  Maybe this is just me, trying to plan a wedding from the other side of the globe through a 15 hour difference and a job that does not allow me to even go to the bathroom, none-the-less make a call during working hours, but I like/have to do a lot of my research, planning, decision making, and purchasing online.  I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one.  Sure, looking through actual invitation examples in person might be nice.  But that’s not going to happen.  And there are a lot of other people who are home bodies, out of towners, or just lazy.  Or just busy.  Who do not want to come in to talk to a sales representative.

About that website.  Just because you have flash doesn’t mean your website is helpful.  Modern websites with sleek designs are nice, but I have been to many that still fail to meet my basic needs.  Show me what you have.  Not just one very pretty angle.  Tell me what it costs, or at least an idea.  If you bait me in and don’t tell me until later that it costs a million dollars, guess what?  I’m not going to give in and take out a loan.  I’m going to not buy it and I’m going to be pissed and harbor negative feelings toward your brand forever.  Yes, I’m that stubborn.  Provide clear descriptions.  If there are options, make those clear.  If there are not, make that clear.  If you can choose from colors and fonts and paper and frostings and fillings and ribbons and such—tell me and let me see my choices!

This website is so wonderful that I want to hug it!  It’s an invitation site that lets you customize designs and purchase the PDF or have it printed.  Handy.  Cute designs.  You can actually change the text and colors and see what your invitation would look like with different designs/colors/fonts.  And the pricing is clearly outlined.  I am this close from throwing my other invitation plans to the wind and going this route, I just love them that much for their great website!

Okay, that’s all.  A website with organized, useful information.  Is this really an outlandish request in 2010?

I’m going to go make some tea.

Images from ::here & here::

Check and check

We have a photographer!  And a DJ!  More on this later.  I just wanted to note the occasion.  Progress has been made!

Time

It’s 2010.  Holy canoli.  Where did the time go?

Our engagement has been on the longer side.  (Six days short of two years.)  I’ve had nothing but time on my hands but now the wedding is in less than 7 months.  SEVEN MONTHS!  All of a sudden, I’m not only on the wedding checklist timeline, I’m behind!

It’s time to get a move on with this wedding business.  Decision making time.

Eek.

Other important milestones:

We celebrated our six year anniversary on January 16.  :)  In less than seven months, we’ll have a new anniversary to celebrate!

Picture from :: here ::

Yellow dresses

The search is on for yellow bridesmaids dresses.  I asked all of my girls to choose a yellow dress, roughly knee-length.  So they are the ones choosing.  And actually, I don't know that anyone except for my sister (MOH) is actively looking yet.  Which might worry me if I weren't way the heck over here on the other side of the world and completely detached from wedding planning at the moment.  But it is fun to browse!  I found a bunch of goodies on sale from J. Crew.  I think my sister has ordered a couple to try, so the first decision could be made soon!  Unfortunately, they've disappeared from the website after selling out and I didn't snag the pictures early enough.

I do have some goodies to share, though, have no fear!  Yesterday I stumbled upon Mod Cloth.  They have a lot of interesting clothing at pretty good prices.  I have never ordered anything from there, nor do I know anyone who has, so I can't vouch for the place.  But here's what they offer in yellow:

Yay?  Nay?  I think it's worth bookmarking and tossing it into the ideas pile.

Centerpieces...check!

While we were home this summer, we did check a couple of things off of the wedding list.  I went to IKEA three times.  That store is so much more wonderful after living on a remote tropical island for two years.  Let's just say our apartment is not very homey here.  Because selection is terrible and prices are outrageous, we get by with just essentials (i.e. not aesthetics) for the most part.  If we had an IKEA on island, that would change in a hurry.  Ahh cheap chic-ness.

Oh, right...back to the wedding.

With the decision making assistance of my mom, fiance, and two bridesmaids (college roomie and future sister-in-law), we decided on the above and below.  Some tables will have three ceramic vases.  Others will have an collection of glass ones.  The mismatched theme fits right in with the mismatched fabric, frames and, of course, the bridesmaid's dresses.  Inside the vases will be daisies.  Maybe some wildflowers, too.  We'll see what's around.

Everything (except for the Coca Cola bottle) from IKEA.

Canning lemonade

How come I've never seen lemonade served in mason jars with the lid on before?

Perfect!

Photo from ::here::

Planning a wedding is like teaching first grade

Hear me out on this one.

All the wedding mags and websites like to point out the average person’s inability to plan a party as large as a wedding. Because most people don’t have experience planning and carrying out huge shindigs, they need to hire a wedding planner to do it for them. That way they can just say “yes” and “no” and leave the details to someone else. I see the point. Some people just don’t think of all the details, and there are a lot of details involved in a wedding. And many people just don’t want to. But there’s no way on earth that I will be hiring a wedding planner to do everything because a.) I don’t have the money for that and b.) I am a huge perfectionist and cannot relinquish that sort of control.

I really do think, however, that I have a huge advantage as a first grade teacher. As a teacher, I think about ridiculously trivial details every day. How am I going to distribute these papers? What will be most efficient? How can I keep them occupied? What will this group be doing while I am working with the other group? How do I make my directions simple and clear? How do I maximize space yet still allow space for traffic flow? How can I involve them in this lesson? What jobs can they perform?

My brain does not overlook much when in teacher mode. When I think about the wedding, I see so many of these details. My mind focuses on the guests’ needs and comfort more than getting my make-up done or posing for photos. In reality, I’ve spent the past year o.d.-ing on details. My sister told me “I don’t really have anything to share…you’ve already thought of everything.”

I’m not trying to bill myself as a professional wedding planner. Just sharing my thoughts. Hopefully my theory pans out and I won’t be thinking of the things I missed after the wedding.  Now if only we were having kids at our wedding (no little ones in either families) ... I would be able to plan a cute kids table!  Darn that generational gap.

Photo from ::here::

Overwhelmed

The word of the day today is overwhelmed. As in overwhelm. You know…

o · ver · whelm

1. to overcome completely in mind or feeling: overwhelmed by stress.
2. to overpower or overcome, esp. with superior forces; destroy; crush: the independent and distant budget wedding planner was overwhelmed by the stalwart wedding industry.
3. to cover or bury beneath a mass of something: wedding magazines, ceremony scripts, and other items in the wedding pile have completely overwhelmed the coffee table.
4. to load, heap, treat, or address with an overpowering or excessive amount of anything: she was overwhelmed by the hundreds of wedding blog posts amassed in her Google Reader.

I have been a very bad blogger. But, as blogging excuses go, well…life just got in the way. I went home to Minnesota this summer for the first time in two years. Blogging was not my top priority. The wedding was pretty high up there, though. I returned to my island only to leave again within the week for a soccer tournament in Taiwan. The internet in our hotel was slow so I didn’t even get to read wedding blogs. And when I got back, school started. I have entered the black hole of the school year, when time is no longer my own and every day of the week is burdened by my classroom to-do list. So, you see, it wasn’t until yesterday that I even had the heart to open up my Google Reader.

I feel so behind and so far away. This summer, wedding planning was real. We actually got to walk through the ballroom and picture everything. I bought fabric and frames and centerpieces in person. Mike even started to get involved. But now I’m back to long-distance planning. Which was okay when I was just brainstorming ideas last year. But now it’s go time. And choosing paper, apparel, and a photographer from thousands of miles away…sucks!

Photo from ::here::

Choices, choices!

You'd think that with all these weeks of being home, I'd have something to show for it on the wedding front.  Alas, nada.  For the past year, I've floated along in a sea of excess time.  Things were too far out to really plan and I had all the time in the world.  I perused blogs and websites for hours discovering every wedding-related idea on earth and gathering inspiration.  On one hand this did help me to develop themes and ideas of what I want.  But not really.

Here in Minnesota, I've found myself awash in choices.  For everything, really.  Limitless brands of salad dressing.  An entire aisle devoted to facewash.  This plethora of options has not been present in my life over the past two years.  On my little island I'm lucky to find facewash at all!

And so it is with wedding planning as well.  It's decision time and I'm reluctant to pull the trigger.  The dress.  The invitations.  The centerpieces.  I have less than two weeks until I'm back on-island so I don't have much more time to dwell.

Next on the list is meeting with our reception venue.  Unlike many places, they don't have set menu options.  This is kind of nice, since they would probably be open to any ideas I have.  In reality, though, it's just more stressful!  I don't know which way to go with the food.  Do I fill out the menu with memory-eliciting comfort food?  Go for laid-back picinic fare?  Add some fun with hotdogs?  Or should I just try to have a nice, elegant menu?  Beats me.  At this point, I just want someone to tell me what to do!

:: links ::

mac & cheese : hot dog : burger : boxed meal : pasta salad : lemonade

Sweet home Minnesota

I know I've been MIA lately, but I promise I have a lot of good excuses!

But let's just get to the point.  I am currently blogging from the other side of the globe.  That's right, I'm home in Minnesota!  We flew back last weekend to see family and, of course, get some wedding planning in.  I'm going to be dress shopping, meeting with the ballroom folks, cake testing (just because), and any other miscellaneous bits of planning I can squeeze in, since the next time I'll be here will be <2 months before the wedding!

I'll try to post as progress is made but my internet connection is less-than-desirable, so we shall see.

For now, I'm signing-off to celebrate the 4th with my family!  I hope it warms up!  I'll leave you with my first inspiration board for tabletops at the reception.

:: links ::

thread tealight directions here : wax votive luminaries directions here : buttons from here

Non-matching bridesmaids

Before I was engaged I loved this idea.  In fact, for the past six years since planning my sister's wedding I knew I wanted my bridesmaids to wear something different.  Not different colors entirely, and not different models of the same color dress, but unique styles in the same color spectrum.

I love this.  I would like for my bridesmaids to wear something in yellow - hopefully not in that traditional bridesmaid satin fabric.  I'm thinking cotton, chiffon, or something more along those lines.  Casual, summery, cute and fun.

A few more examples...

Sources: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3, photo 4, photo 5, photo 6

Ties

I'm sure many brides-to-be do their planning a bit more systematically than me.  I do not have a one-track mind.  I follow tangents.  And so, my wedding planning and inspiration gathering has led me to ponder more-or-less every single detail of the wedding.  One example: ties.  I don't know what the men in the wedding will be wearing, but I've seen a few ties that have really caught my eye.  I tried looking for a good tie source and had no luck.  I found some places for cheap ties but didn't like the designs.  I found some good designs that I was unwilling to pay for.  The other day, though, I came across these ties from The Tie Bar.  Each one is $15 and they have a pretty nice selection.

All ties from ::here::

The first purchase

My first official purchase for our wedding was a vintage, free-standing, old-school chalkboard.

I scored it for $30 off of Craigslist.  Luckily, my awesome sister and helpful parents were willing to make it happen, seeing as I'm seven thousand odd miles away and unable to pick up, haul, or store said chalkboard.  I'm so excited to use it!  And, being the nerdy teacher that I am (I actually own my own overhead projector...but that's another story), I am excited to use it post-wedding in my classroom, as well!

As for how I plan to use it in our wedding, check out my inspiration:

I definitely want a photo guestbook!  I'm not a big fan of traditional guestbooks or the big "have the guests sign their names on a photo mat" trend.  I think fun pictures make it a whole lot more enjoyable to look at and a better memento.  We still have to figure out exactly how we'll work out the photo portion, but we have a few ideas and Mike is willing to pitch in on that since it involves technology.  :)

Real wedding chalkboard inspiration from ::here::

Yellow it is.

Once we decided on the location, my vision for our wedding started evolving.  I should note, this process of planning our wedding has really made me aware of how much I have changed these past two years.  Living on this teeny tropical island has removed me from fashion trends and most of pop culture.  I find that my tastes have changed and I am able to choose things I like without even being aware of current trends.

So I have more-or-less decided on yellow as our wedding color.  Believe me, I shocked myself.  Coincidentally, this was actually the color my parents chose in their wedding.

Of course, we're going to skip the canary yellow tuxes.  (Mike occasionally voices an opinion and he put his foot down on that one.)

I think there will already be enough blue between the lake and the sky.  And the grass, trees, and other plants called first dibs on green.  Yellow seems like the perfect sunny addition.  Classic, casual, cheerful yellow.  Just perfect for our wedding.

It's all in the location

Mike and I got engaged last August.  We knew we wanted to have the wedding in Minnesota so we could have all of our friends and family there.  Unfortunately, we are currently living a long ways away from Minnesota.  Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my tendency toward perfectionism.  Full-boar perfectionism.

And so our wedding date was set for August 14, 2010.  We would have two years to plan (and wait!) with one visit back to Minnesota (this summer) to get our ducks in a row.

I guess we'll see how that works out.

That settled, we moved on to the next big decisions...location(s), colors, themes, etc.
Idea overload.  I am a visual person.  I like nice-looking things.  I like to make nice-looking things.  And weddings (and thus wedding-related magazines, blogs and the like) offer up a lot of pretty.  I had powerpoints with color combinations and flower varieties.  And there were so many pleasing options.  How to choose?

Mike and I agreed that we would love to have a lakeside location.  We're really drawn to water (our Aquarius nature, I guess?) and likewise uncomfortable in churches.  With over 11,000 lakes in the state of Minnesota, you'd be surprised how ridiculously hard it is to find a lakeside location.

I scoured the internet and found a handful of places.  Most were in northern Minnesota, far away from our family and friends.  One seemingly perfect site in the twin cities was rejected after a bad review from my sister.  It seemed hopeless and it was looking as if we'd have to settle.

After awhile, a small, quiet spark of an idea began gnawing at me.  An idea I had pushed aside but started to like.  And then it became an idea I loved.  I (er, we) decided to have the wedding in my parent's yard and the reception at the Lakeside Ballroom just down the street.  Perfectly imperfect.