More things to cross off that stupid list

What's this a picture of?

My DIY bustle.

I first attempted to do a one-point over bustle and then I got impatient with it and said screw it. So, now it is a bastardized version of an underbustle. Point is, it serves its purpose and isn't too hard to put up. Sorry the photo is not so great; this is what happens when Jeremy has the digital camera at work and I'm at home.

It reminded me how much I detest sewing. But, thankfully my grandmother attempted several times to teach me how to quilt, so I can do the basics every once in awhile.

I did find a favor box kit at Michael's, and it's going to be easy to put together. So Jeremy's going to be recruited to help put these together. The hardest part will be me trying to not kill the printer for the labels, which will just have a big "k" on them.

I also found a hairstyle I like. It won't be what I'm doing for my bridals on Friday, but I do want something similar for the actual day. This picture doesn't show it, but the tiara goes before the "bump" and part of it is under the part that's pulled back. The veil goes behind the "bump." I liked it because it was a little different but is still curly and is partially pulled back.

More stuff done, I am on a roll

After the realization that this thing is actually happening and is happening really quickly and that I still had a lot of things to do, I managed to get some things done this week.

I've been putting off figuring out who was going to do my hair. My normal girl isn't good with updos, so I couldn't use her. I have never liked going to a new person (yes, it was very traumatic when I moved here). I've only had 3 hairstylists my entire life, and I'm very thankful I've found the one I have now too, otherwise I'd seriously be figuring out a way to see Shirley in Iowa 3 or 4 times a year. Anyway, I digress. I decided to just go ahead and call Experience Spa to set up an appointment. I've got my trial run on March 31 and an appointment for the morning of the 14th with Bridgette. Woo hoo. I also remembered to make an appointment for that Wednesday to get my nails and toes done, as well as an eyebrow was. Jeremy even wanted an appointment to get a manicure, and now I've been told he wants a pedicure too. So, we're having those done together.

Tonight, I decided it was time to sit down and figure out what to do for favors. Luckily, The Knot (how I love that site) had mini Hershey's bars on sale that could be personalized. So they are on the way. Now I just have to find something to put them in, and we are good to go.

So now my list is down to 64 things. And a lot of those really aren't major things. One of them is to actually go to the trial run, and since I've got it scheduled, I feel pretty OK with it. This thing might actually get fully planned before April 14:)

A roller-coaster week

This has been one emotionally crazy week.

Last weekend I realized that my dress was supposed to be done at the end of January. Being that it was a month later, and I hadn't heard from the alterations lady, I was a bit nervous.

Monday, I called. All I got was: You have wrong number.

I was scared out of my mind. Being six weeks away from the wedding, there was NO way I could order a new one and have it get here on time. In my panic, I started looking online for a back-up plan. Luckily, J. Crew had one that was very similar, even though it was twice the price of mine. Jeremy was nice enough to offer to pay for it if I did have to get a new one.

Tuesday, I rushed to Gulf Breeze to check on it. It was there; it was OK; it just wasn't done. She told me it would be another week. Rational thought returned to my brain. I celebrated by buying a new pair of Birkenstocks for my rehearsal dinner dress (although I did seriously contemplate buying a pair of black Rainbows for it).

Wednesday, I met with the reception hall people and set up the menu (chicken and pasta with sugar snap peas and a salad), so that was taken care of and was extremely easy and painless.

Friday, I realized I had a voice mail after school. My dress was done! I rushed back to Gulf Breeze, got it, rushed home, tried it on, and it's perfect! IT doesn't have a bustle yet because she doesn't ever do wedding dresses but did mine because it was plain and only needed hemmed. However, I have figured out a way to do it myself either involving a safety pin on the inside with the existing ribbon or sewing in another ribbon to tie it together. This wedding is really making me into Martha Stewart. But considering I will pay less than $60 for alterations and the bustle, which usually costs people about the cost of my dress, I'm quite OK with that.

Today I had my first run-in with using a new last name. We were at Barnes & Noble, and Jeremy decided that pre-ordering the last Harry Potter online wasn't going to work. So, as I started filling out the form, I realized that when it comes out in July, I will no longer be Beth Evans. Writing Beth Knipper felt really odd. It's going to take some getting used to ...

Another thing to mark off

The first dance song has not been an easy task. I didn't want one that was commonly used, couldn't be too long, and too mushy was also out. It didn't help that we don't have a song, nor do we have music in common that would be appropriate (while I love the Rza, he's not exactly the first choice for a wedding song). I also didn't want another Beatles' song since one will be played during the ceremony and a collection of their songs will most likely be the pre-ceremony music.

I have a feeling that this choice was only made more difficult by the fact that we do have more than 2,000 albums, and I was bound and determined to find the perfect one.

So, tonight I spent 90 minutes on Indiebride trying to find hints for a nontraditional song, and the winner is: Bob Dylan's If Not for You.

At two and a half minutes, it's the perfect length, the lyrics are fitting (both of us have issues sleeping if the other one isn't there, and Jeremy does have issues finding things if I'm not around), and it isn't super slow.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

The laptop is back up, which means I once again have complete access to all my wedding planning stuff -- which could mean I might get things accomplished. Or not ...

But, I do have most of the stuff for the centerpieces. The boxes are now sitting in what has become the "wedding closet," which Jeremy isn't allowed into since my dress is in there. And, I now have ALL my paper products. Well, except for the paper for the programs, but that just means a trip to a store to get a ream of some off-white paper (yes, Lois, I'm totally stealing your program idea for them:))

Having the laptop back means I also have the Save The Date file back, so that design just might get finished soon. Of course, I also have to convince the boy to do the wedding info site. Or, I might just go with an easy one and then have him revamp it later because he decides its not up to his standards.

Anyway, here is the link to a bio of a recent bride with my dress that even has the champagne sash. Of course, she opted to use the free white sash for the ceremony and the colored one for the reception. I'm not doing that. That's too much work.

And, if you want to see more photos of the church on the inside, go to photosbyrae.blogspot.com and then click on "view proofs." Go to Sarah & Steven 8-5 wedding, and in the midst of those photos is the church.

At least something's getting done

So today I kept up with my habit of doing things that I have plenty of time to do and ignored what I need to get done ASAP.

I saw a dress a few weeks ago that I thought would be great for the rehearsal dinner, but I didn't get it because I told myself I should wait. Well, I saw it online again and decided I had to have it. So Jeremy and I headed to the mall today, and I now have my rehearsal dinner dress. I love it. And there's a high chance I might wear it before then too. If it's decent enough weather, it might be what I wear for our engagement pictures. Of course when I told Jeremy I now need a new pair of shoes for the dress, he looked at me like I'm nuts. He just doesn't understand that one pair of black shoes just doesn't always cut it.

And, Jeremy has actually contacted a few people to DJ the rehearsal. We decided on one, and then I found out that he failed to ask them if they were actually available for April 14. So, now we're just waiting to hear back about that. If they are, we've got a DJ. If they're not, I've learned my lesson and will give a list of questions Jeremy needs to make sure he asks when making requests.

I now have all the paper cut for the pocketfolds for the invites. It's great having a monster paper cutter at work:)

Progress and more progress

I am happy to say that teaching has lit a fire under me, and I have gotten several things accomplished in only one day off so far this weekend.

Last night, I sat down and found the silk flowers needed for the centerpieces as well as the bud vases (for less than a buck, no less) so they're ordered and on their way. And, I've even been pointed toward some placemats at Target, so I might have all the stuff for them by the end of the month.

Today I cut all the ribbon for the band on the invites. If I counted right, I should have done 150 pieces. So now my hands are a little shiny from the hairspray I used to prevent the ends from fraying, which I don't think they would have because it's a meshy ribbon -- but I wanted to be safe.

I'm also happy to say I managed to get about half of the pocketfolds done. And that even includes putting the pink backing sheet on them too. I also sat down last night and did the math to figure out how many sheets of paper I needed for the invite wording and the inserts. So that paper - along with envelopes - is on its way. Of course, I realized today I forgot to order cardstock for the save the dates. However, I think I might just go to Michael's and get a pack of their cardstock in off white/ivory or something to that effect. I'm planning on cutting the pieces of paper for the fronts of the invites for the names so I can get a head start on writing those. I'm also going to start addressing the envelopes when I get them just so I don't have to do it all at once. I would just send them through the printer, but it gets fussy if the paper isn't 8 x 11, so that might just be a pipe dream. And I know I'm not letting Jeremy address them; no one would be able to read them.

Too bad my sixth graders don't have decent handwriting ....

And we have centerpieces!

The latest bane of my wedding planning has been centerpieces. I thought I knew what I wanted, then I realized I didn't and the one I thought I really liked I realized would make it difficult for guests to see across the table.

So, now that I seemingly have more time to work on wedding planning (I do believe my hiatus is over), I spent time this morning (I actually woke up before 10 a.m. by myself; that's a first in YEARS) looking for centerpiece ideas. And then I found this one:
Of course, I won't be using a green mat; it'll either be pink or beige. And, I'll use three gerbera stems (I'm thinking I'll just use silk ones) in light pink, hot pink and white. And, I'll probably also group three candles around the bud vase.

And, I'm also happy to say that I have almost all of the save-the-date envelopes addressed. Of course, I still have to actually design them, order the card stock for them and have a certain fiance make the info Web site so I can have the address to put on them. But, the addressing was going to take the longest, and it hasn't been that bad. So, at least I got the worst part out of the way.

Two down, and just mine to go

A certain matron-
of-honor got married this past weekend, and it was a beautiful ceremony. I couldn't imagine that her special day could be any less perfect (believe it or not, her mother and sister made her dress -- it was the perfect Lois dress, too -- I teared up just a little when I first saw her in it).
Being Lois, she decided that now that her wedding is over, it's time to go into "real" planning for mine.
And, if you notice in the picture, my hair's a lot shorter -- like four inches. I had planned to get it cut up to my shoulders right before Jeremy popped the question, but figured since I needed to keep it long for the wedding (I'm thinking half up/half down with lots o' curls), I shouldn't cut it. However, after last week's trip to my stylist, we decided it was feasible to chop it. And now I kinda like it shorter. So who knows what I'll actually end up doing.
This was the second wedding of a close friend that I went to. It's a little odd to think that we're all getting married within 15 months of each other -- especially since we were the three that insisted in high school and for a good portion of college that we weren't going to get married (Lois and I had great plans to become the crazy cat ladies on the corner). But, I think the three of us did a pretty good job of finding suitable mates.
As long as I look as happy as she did, I'll be happy with whatever happens that day.
And who knows? We might even try to deviate from our standard picture pose. But don't count on it. We go with what works.

Reception hall

Technically, we now have a reception hall. We visited it today, got a written, itemized list of costs and now I just have to go back in Monday and give them a deposit check. It honestly felt like a huge load fell off my shoulders when she said "Yes, you have half the ballroom (the American/British side) reserved." Now maybe the nightmares of smashing 150 people into my house and making mashed potatoes while wearing my dress will end.

And, this does mean that the date is now April 14, 2007. And now it really shouldn't change. I promise.

Our toasting flutes

Here's our toasting flute.
They're from the Waterford Nocturne Eclipse collections, which is now discontinued.
Granny bought these for me several years ago because she was convinced that she wouldn't be alive for my wedding, so they've been hanging out in a coupboard since I got them from her (which was soon after my mom died, I think).
They're very simple for Waterford, but I like simple. I doubt if I put a ribbon or anything around them. I'll just let the "Waterfordness" speak for itself.