Hair and such

People I do not know very well seem to think that asking how I'm going to wear my hair for the wedding is a good question to ask me. Personally, I can think of much more exciting questions about the wedding to ask, but to each his own.

Anyway, I don't want it completely up because I don't like the way my jawline looks when I have it up (which is funny b/c I'm all for wearing it up when I'm lazy). But, I didn't want it completely down either. So, half up, half down seems like the best choice for me. But I still don't know the specifics. I like the one below because it has most of the elements I like such as the curls in the back and the sweep stuff in the front, plus a good spot for the tiara. However, I think the poof is a bit too poofy.
This one I liked for awhile, but then I decided I didn't like the front. Nor did I think it would work well with my tiara. I just thought it was too flat.
And then I found this picture of it where it looks too mulletish from the back. So it got nixed.
But, I think this one is the one i like the most:

It's curly, it works with the tiara and it's got the sweepy things but doesn't look like a mullet from the back. Then again, I could change my mind. It doesn't help that my hairdresser doesn't do wedding hair because she said she's just not good at it. So, now I have to find someone (although she did give me names) to go to for trials. I hate having people I don't know work on my hair. One guy I freaked out because I tensed up as soon as he touched me.

Anyway, I've been trying to post at least one idea up a week. However, don't expect any for the next few weeks because I start my new job as a teacher next week. And it's going to be hellish because I have to be at school early in the morning and go to the old job at night. So basically I'll be working and sleeping with no time to get anything wedding related accomplished, which I honestly haven't done since sometime in June (well, minus some invites). Next up on the list are save the dates (since those have to be sent out in a few months I figure I should think about working on them and I do have a basic idea; I've just got to design them), DJ and starting on ceremony stuff (I do know Matt will be playing "In My Life" on his guitar and we'll be walking out to the "Star Wars" theme).

Gimme more than a week, and I'll change my mind

So I've always been pretty deadset on daisies for the bridesmaids. Then I found this photo the other night:
It's callas with some flower in the middle (either stephanotis, lilacs or something like that). I'm not so crazy about the super long stems, but that could be easily remedied. It's not what I'd want for my bouquet because it's just not exactly what I want. But I like it because it's different. I still might stay with the regular daisies. Or I might just come up with something different.

Say cheese

I've never really understood the point of the regular guestbook because I knew it would be something that I'd end up throwing on a closet shelf and never look at it again after the wedding. So I was really happy when I found out about the Polaroid guestbook (thanks, Missy!).

This means that all of our lovely guests will get to have their picture taken, too, and there will be more space to leave a message instead of just the names. But, this way we'll have another album of the day, which I'll be more likely to look at in the future.

But, instead of buying a bunch of the pricier ones that are made by Poloroid, I'm going to get a scrapbook from Michaels and make my own. Luckily, this will be one of the easier DIY projects because I'll just have to put photo corners on the pages. It will kinda look like this, if things go according to plan:

The invite making is going more smoothly than I thought. The biggest pain is scoring the paper, but once the pocketfolds are actually made, it's a very easy process. And, by some miracle, I've even managed not to get cat hairs stuck on the glue dots.

Here they are

Here's my first attempt at the invites, and it was actually close enought that had I used the correct measurments (I seriously cannot do simple math), I could have used it for the actual invite.

Anyway, this is what the front will kinda look like. However, the little card will not be pink and tan. It should be tan and black and will be less squarish.

Here's the inside. The enclosures will also all be tan, and the pink backing will go all the way around the worded portion of it -- another example of my stellar math skills. The little pocketfold also has some pretty sweet scoring on it, which actually makes cutting the triangle a little easier.
Here's a close up of the wording, although it really isn't what we're using. It's got the places and times right (well, and the names -- who would have ever thought I'd willingly use Elizabeth?), but other than that, it was me blindly typing away at the computer -- and just trying to get three lines per "section" (the OCD has taken over on these things.).

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. I've got 53 of the pocketfolds done, only about 100 more to go. Wee hoo.

Martha ain't got nothing on me

I got the large sheets of paper Thursday morning to start working on the pocketfolds. And after a short, minor freakout about the paper's thickness -- I thought I got the 80# paper, but I got 70#. So, I wasn't convinced that it would be heavy enough, but it works fine -- and after a trip to Michaels, I started making some lovely invites.

I originally decided we'd do a 6x6 (Jeremy said he liked the square ones better, and 6x6s seemed to be a logical size). Then, after some measurement issues (it was another example that I cannot do simple math), I decided 6.5 x 6.5 would work better. I'd post a picture of my mock-up, but of course, I forgot to borrow the digital camera from work (and one day, I swear we'll have one of our own).

The process is a lot easier than I thought it was going to be, and it's gone a lot quicker with a yardstick. And one "flub up" turned out to add a cool element to the actual pocketv--vscoring ends up looking pretty cool if you don't fold it, and it made Jeremy happy b/c it kinda looks like pinstriping.

It's still a little odd, however, that I of all people have pink in some of the wedding stuff. Like I read on another wedding blog, this planning stuff just does wierd stuff to you.

Flowers, pebls and paper

There has never been any question that the main flower for my wedding would be daisies. Although I did toy with the idea of tulips, but I also know that April tends to be a little bit too early for them to be in season (I guess living near Pella "We're not in the Netherlands, but you'd never guess it" actually did teach me something). But, I am perfectly happy with a daisy/rose combo. So here are some ideas for the bridesmaids' bouquets and mine.

This is basically what I'd like for the bridesmaids. However, I do not like The little bow thing they have going on, so I'm going to find something different for that. But, I would like the brighter pink gerberas for them. However, I realized that a pale pink dress on Lois would completely wash her out, so she has a few color choices for her dress. So, she might get the lighter pink gerberas instead.

I have no clue what the bouts will be yet. Jeremy did make a request to have "the flower that looks like a shot glass," which I somehow determined to be a calla lily. So, he'll have some type of calla. Of course he admitted he didn't really care, but I figure it's one of those things I can let him have.

In my original wedding plans that have been going on in my head for years, I had just wanted a bouquet of daisies. But then I saw this picture on a Knot bio and decided roses had to be added in.
I'm not sure if I like the ribbon wrap on this one either, and I would like mine to be a little bigger, but it gives the basic idea of what I want. I do think I would prefer more of the lighter pink roses instead of darker ones.

In other items, I now have another "something blue" -- my cell phone. So it won't exactly be with me all day, but I have seen plenty of other crazy, crazy ideas for something blue (including stuff at the reception). And I just really love this phone. Jeremy's phone died this weekend, so we got to reup our contracts, and I picked the blue PEBL. I figure after placing second in the FSNE headline contest, I deserved something. And it's cute. And Jeremy's been playing with it more than his new BlackBerry, and that gives me some sick satisfaction.

Also, I ordered some paper to try out our pocketfold idea for the invitations. They appear to be labor intensive, so I figured I should a. try them to make sure I want to make 100+ of them and b. get a head start because I know how I can procrastinate. So I should know early next week how much work I'm going to be putting into our invites. And since the pocketfolds were more of Jeremy's idea, there could be a lot of grumbling at him next week.

I ougtta be in pictures

So by some minor feat, the photographer search was not a headache. I did my research last week and managed to find a REALLY, REALLY good one in fewer than 24 hours that wasn't even booked for my date. So I booked her today.

I can't post any of her pictures up here, but check out her Web site: www.raeleytham.com. She also has a blog with some of her favorite photos: www.photosbyrae.blogspot.com.

She'll also be doing some engagement photos later on -- she and I decided it'd be a good idea to wait until it wasn't oppressively hot outside.

Now I've only got one big thing left: the DJ. But that I'm not as worried about because as long as they can play music, I'll be happy. And if worse comes to worse, we've got 2,000-plus albums at home, so we can just recruit someone to play 'em.

Shoes, how I love shoes

I think I've actually put more thought into my shoes than almost anything else. And, no, I am not wearing the white Birkenstocks I swore for years I would wear. I said that before I learned to wear heels, and I like being taller any way I can. Of course, they had to meet a lot of qualifications: be cute, meet my heighth standards (I have no heels under 2 inches, and I did not plan on lowering that for my wedding -- especially with Jeremy being almost a foot taller than me), be comfy, be cute, be white, not blend in with my other shoes and did I mention be cute?

So, first I found the top shoe, except in white. However, there was just something about it that I did not like. I think it was the fact that they were closed toe. But, I was also leery of getting something that was strappy because they have a tendency to cut into my feet alot, which didn't fit the comfy stipulation. But these also worried me because I tend to take my shoes off when my toes get cramped.

But, today, I was wandering through Dillard's when I found the bottom shoe. I was still leery about the peek toe because I've had bad experiences from those in the past. But, I tried them on and fell in love. They are so comfy and just perfect. And they were a lot cheaper than the first pair, which also made me happy. So, I might not have to get pair of shoes for the reception. Although, I could always use an excuse to get a new pair of shoes:)

Big accomplishment

So, after I excitedly spent the day traipsing around town looking for the latest bridal magazine issues, I curled up with a few of them and made a great discovery.

I found the elusive bridesmaid dress.

I was really thinking about just picking a color, length and material and letting the girls just pick their own because I wanted them to wear something that would flatter each of their body shapes. But, I think this one will solve the problem.

It's not the champagne color I was looking for -- instead it's a pale pink. If anyone had ever told me I'd be picking a pale pink dress for my bridesmaids, I would have laughed. But I did. And, I think it will look beautiful on all of them.

At least it's not seafoam green with poofy sleeves:)

Now for the most important part

I am most excited about the cake. Of course, I'm a little sad that Jeremy only likes white or yellow cake with white frosting (although he has kinda agreed to try buttercream frosting ... mmm, buttercream). But still, it's cake, and I will be happy.
I've kinda let Jeremy take the reins on this part. Of course, part of it was by accident, but he got excited about it so I said OK.
We do know that we'll go with J's for the cake because it's the only place's cake Jeremy will eat (and this is why I won't make him cake or cupcakes anymore.). And, Jeremy even somehow managed to pick the look he liked while I was perusing some bio on The Knot. He liked it because it looks like a present. I really hadn't given much thought to what the cake looked like because I'm more concerned with what it tastes like.
Then, there was the question of a cake topper. I had liked the idea of having a "K" as one, but then, I got an even better idea while dusting last week.
As another nod to Jeremy's love of "Star Wars," we're going with Han Solo and Princess Leia figurines. The nice part about this one is that we just have to get the Han one, which I just found on eBay, because we already have Leia.
We may be geeks, but at least we're both geeks so we understand each other:)

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.

More bling

I never thought I'd be buying a tiara, but I did. I'm claiming it's more of a headband than a tiara though.

The description said the "flowers" are supposed to be daisies (I think it's actually called the Princess of Daisy tiara), but now that I have it, they don't really look like anything. But it was the look I was going for, so I'm happy with it. Plus it was far cheaper than anything I'd found anywhere else. They claimed the crystals are Swarovoski, but I don't know if I'm buying it.

Anyway, here's what it looks like:

Jeremy is now "important"

In totally unrelated wedding news, Jeremy is officially an important person at the paper. He won the publisher's ring today (even though I still claim he should have won it last year.).

So, afterward, I told him that he now has his wedding band. I got an eye roll.

Of course, I don't blame him; it is an ugly ring.

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.

Possible date change

Booking a reception hall is harder than it seems. But to make it a little easier on myself, there's a chance this shindig could be moved up a week to April 14. I won't know for sure until next week, and I'm not going to talk about it much so I don't jinx it. I have to wait until Tuesday to find out if the church can move it, then I don't go and talk to the reception hall until Thursday. And if the space is open, they're getting their deposit check that day.

If it is moved up, I am taking a break from the planning for a week starting next Thursday.

I will, however, say that don't plan on having a reception (or any type of soirée) at the Pensacola Beach Hilton Garden Inn unless you (and your guests because you HAVE to have at least 70 rooms filled the night of your event and the rooms ain't so cheap anymore) have a bottomless pocketbook. I'd say they'd nickel and dime you, but you'd have to have 10,000 dimes to even start to cover their extra costs.

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.

Our monogram

So, I decided to start this so I don't have to clog up anyone's e-mail boxes with wedding ideas. Ya'll can just check here when you feel like and sound off on the comments.

After spending waaaaaaaay too much time looking at The Knot's wedding bios, I realized that a lot of people were having people make their monogram. My brilliant thought was "Hey, I'm a designer, I can do this." So I started on one.

I chose courier for the font because for some reason it's Jeremy's favorite font, and it is in one of my tatoos. Plus, it's got the typewriter feel, which kinda fits in with the newspaper stuff. But, here's what I came up with. It's nothing fancy, but I like it -- and Jeremy didn't complain too much about it so it's what we went with.

It'll probably go on the front of the programs and the unity candle (DIY is a big theme for this shindig so we can have the big reception). And now I think I can justify at least part of my college major.