things i learned this weekend

1. probably no matter what, I am going to cry at my wedding

2. something is probably going to go wrong at my wedding and that is okay

3. our wedding is probably going to be really great

4. i was a pretty stinkin cute kid

(I am rockin that hoodie! Ha ha. I am in the midst of exploring old photos for some super secret thank you gift ideas)

Now to elaborate:

The wedding yesterday was awesome. Completely awesome. The bride looked amazing in a short white dress and bolero with super cool vintage orange jewelry. It started to rain so the whole thing ended up taking place inside this amazing restaurant. After the rain there was a great rainbow! Oh, and did I mention the bride made fantastic paper flowers? And not paper punch flowers, painstakingly hand cut ones?!?! And did I mention how to-die-for the food was?!??!? So ridiculously tasty. Also, we sat with some fun recently engaged couples and did the whole "how did you meet?" and "how did they propose?" business so that was fun, especially after some wine. The readers made me weep (Ryan did a great reading and I even had a shout out in it!). The officiant even wore a bow tie he had found on a trip during college with the groom. He had promised him that when he got married, he would wear it to his wedding. how great is that?!

also, bought some tissue paper to make poms. E-mailed camp, bartender. Bought a new dress for wedding 3 next weekend. Borrowed some jewelry from my momma to hopefully wear to the wedding. got last parts of out of town gift bags. not feeling super productive but feeling okay about it.

did i mention i found out many people at the wedding (by many I mean under 5) have read my blog??? how exciting!

this could be our little secret....

Anyone else know this song? It is stuck in my head like crazy! Also, I have been replacing 'higher' with 'ryan' and serenading him. It is definitely on our wedding playlist.

Anyways....

Today we went to an awesome rehearsal cookout for our officiant. I am really excited for their wedding tomorrow. It is at an orchard/vineyard with 50 guests (I feel so honored to be part of the 50!). Anyways, anyone still looking for rehearsal dinner ideas, I highly recommend a cookout and/or place with a pool (I suppose this goes mostly for hot weather weddings unless you want to do a polar bear plunge theme). It was cool and delicious and relaxed (her sister made gazpacho shooters! I would have eaten them all but didn't want to be piggish. like I always say, I would weigh 5 lbs if I always had to eat in front of people I am meeting for the first time/ really skinny people). I am also excited about the gift we got them but I think she reads my blog so I will not post about it until after tomorrow. Speaking of gifts we need to discuss how amazing the handmade gifts are that she got. In addition to a wonderful hand-stitched phoenix (arizona reference, they lived there) and a wonderful painting, her stepdad made this:



Can you even deal with how amazing this is?!? 'Cause I can't. He handcarved all the chess pieces and made the board and everything! The pieces are all musical instruments because the bride and groom met at a band camp when they were younger. I almost wept when I saw this.

Seeing as this post is already all other the place, let me briefly go off an a tangent then we can circle back to gifts. Is this alright with everyone? Good! So I've been thinking about karma and how awesome life can be when you have amazing people all around you. I'm not just talking friends and family (they are amazing but this is understood). I'm talking the guy who pumps my gas, the people behind me in line, the people who let me go in traffic, amazing bloggers who I adore reading and who are going to be sending me prizes! And little things like snuggling with cats and awkwardly hilarious sunburns and playing songs on repeat (I guess this has to do with the top part of this post, it all circles back!). Whenever I get ridiculously stressed out about the wedding, I really just need to stop and think about how great things really are, remember these sweet little moments and think about how INCREDIBLY lucky I am that I get to marry, live with and have babies with the best guy around.

Alright, last topic: gifts. I need/want to get gifts for everyone helping me out. I am thinking small tokens of appreciation (already done with bridesmaids, my dad and know what I'm getting my mom). Suggestions? I have a few ideas but always like your input!

Tomorrow: wedding 2! Then wedding 3 next weekend, then (gulp) our wedding is wedding 4 in just a couple weeks! weeeee!

have a good weekend everyone! thanks for listening to me ramble!

giveaway?

I am no longer in need of the ring pillow I made (a combo of a shy 3 soon to be 4 year old and some steep steps!)



Any takers? If more than 1 person wants it, let's do this thing old school. I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 50. First person who guesses, wins!

wedding prep as an infomercial...

Do you ever try to make garlands? Do you try to sew them and find the fabric is too thick or the needle too thin and resort to hot glueing them together instead (don't you judge me!)? Do you finally get around to making several strands then simply throw them in a pile so you can go watch a movie with your super sweet fiance? Do you then spend the entire next morning (hours, people) untangling massive piles of string? Well have I got the solution for you!

Introducing.... A PAPER TOWEL ROLL!

Simply cut slits in the top and bottom of the roll and wrap around!* No more tangled mess!

(If I was truly dedicated there would be before and after pictures of me and of course it would all be black and white)

*can't take credit for this. Think I saw it on Oh, Happy Day a while ago

more signs!

Today I met with my aunt aka florist about the flowers and vases. I am very excited because I think it is going to be very colorful and fun. Then I came home and worked on lists (what needs to be done day of, contact numbers, what to pack and bring, etc). I am going to type up checklists to streamline the process. Also, I made these signs:


this is my favorite for sure...


I'm going to fold these in half and put them on tables. I don't think I need to put them on benches because we are going to have people helping seat the guests. What do you think? Should I use them there too just in case?


This makes me laugh. I'm probably overtired.

Time to work on the #$@% garland!

summary of a weekend (so far)

*woke up late

*cleaned

*did not even bother to shower until almost noon (I know I am such a rebel!!! without a cause too!)

*watered the plants/picked some veggies (I am so psyched about my vegetable garden! I know this is not wedding related AT ALL but I have been picked (and eaten): radishes, eggplants, tomatoes and cukes so far! I also have tons of herbs growing, some strawberries, beets and various bush beans. I also have a kiwi and lemon tree (the kiwi apparently is some kind which actually grows in the northeast? I'm dubious but only spent $3 on it) I even have the cukes sitting in pickle brine as we speak. The tomatoes I am gobbling up like a good Italian girl. Also, anyone have any good eggplant recipes? Mine are growing like crazy and I have 1 good curry recipe that is wearing out its welcome at this point.)

* added matchbooks to favors. Realized I am about 10 short. Have to go back to dollar store. (No biggie, I also have to make some belts to go with some dresses I plant to wear to upcoming weddings. They are a bit too billowy for me and I found a great tutorial on making an easy classy belt)

* finished paper pinwheel garlands

* made paper cones for flags and made a garland out of the cones! I think this will be fun outside where we are doing the ceremony. It will be part of the ceremony and decor at the same time. Hooray!

*got a couple more rsvps for yes (actually had a couple reversals from no to yes to...anyone have these?!)

* one of the funnest parts of the weekend so far? Eating sundaes with Ry and working on our playlist. Then singing really loud in the car (They Might Be Giants' cds are excellent driving music). Then singing and rocking out some more this morning. This is going to be fun.

* grilling some lunch (by which I mean having lunch grilled for me)

*found old fun suitcase upstairs to bring to have people put cards/gifts in (we said 'no gifts' but if I know our families.....)

* talked to high school friend about name change process (a MUCH better resource than a website. also less scary)

* started lists like: what to bring on day off (I'm thinking typing and printing this will prevent forgetfulness), what to pack, what decorations are needed, where they go, etc.

* updated wedding website with wedding weekend events, pictures

* ate a whole bag of green grapes and watched a marathon of 'Dateline: Real Life Mysteries'

still to do:

*finish cake "topper" (oh yeah. remember that thing? well now I know what Ryan is wearing so I can finish that)

* string fabric flower garland

* buy more matchbooks

* stop eating so many grapes

hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! (and managing to stay cool!)

1 month

Woot, woot. I am marrying that guy I love in 30 freakin days. (Okay, breathe. You'll get everything done you need to. Anything you don't, not important, right? RIGHT?!?!? Okay, breathe). Because I love me some lists, here are the last minute things I'm worrying about/need to finish/start:

1- finish favors

2- finish stringing garland (soooo easy! why am I putting this off like a mofo? what is wrong with me? I know what it is! Its bad tv and couch potatoe-ing needing my full attention. If only they wouldn't play marathons of 'I'm Pregnant and....' and I didn't hobble together a dinner of handfuls of chips, some low fat pudding, a few bites of a bad frozen dinner and few sips of awful soup.....If all that didn't happen, then I would be productive...or not)

3- make final signs- one greeting guests at entrance, signs for bathroom, reserved seat signs (since we are not having a seating chart, we just want to make sure immediate family/bridal & groom parties are near us)

4- speaking of seating charts, one thing I saw and loved at the beginning of this 'inspiration' process was a chart bride has at her wedding that explained who everyone was . I would looove to do this but not sure how feasible it will be. We'll see.

5- actually type of events of that weekend, events of the day

6- give caterer final # (our caterer and cupcake girls are very relaxed and don't want any deposits)

7- thinking of good dance-y songs that aren't 'We are Family' (nothing wrong with that song! Just not for us...I'm thinking more like 'Dr. Feelgood and any Journey song except 'Open Arms'... I want people dancing and I think people dance less to songs they don't know, right?)

8- finish buying gifts for anyone ever who is helping us with the wedding (eeek!)

9- buy a badass pinata for the bachlorette fiesta

10- change my name (and shift current last to my new middle name. also, no idea where my social security card is...oops!)

11- type up what I need help with on day of (mostly decorating, probably should include pictures/drawings)

Phew. That's it (for now). How are you guys dealing with the stress/last minute things? Heavy drinking? Heavy Ben & Jerry eating? Give me tips.