Fall Bouquet

I have been busy this week and it finally caught up to me so now I am sick. Because of this I haven't been posting much but wanted to leave you with this gorgeous bouquet.

Of course I love this bouquet for two reasons because it is fall inspired and it incorporates purple and orange.

I DID IT!

I finally did it and bought my wedding dress! After a few months of contemplation and not willing to commit I finally bit the bullet and bought the dress. It was the second dress I tried on but I was determined to try on many more just to make sure. I thought the whole process of finding a dress was going to be unbearably painful but it really wasn't bad at all in fact I had fun! I can't post any pictures since Andy reads the blog so unfortuneatly you will all just have to wait for the wedding just like him.

Love It!

Gotta love those cool, fall wedding pictures.

Photo taken from Olivia Leigh Photography

Table Cloths

Would this table setting look good with white chair covers or does it need to have black chair covers?

Our reception venue provides white chair covers free of charge. The tables have black table cloths with white overlays and we get to choose whatever color napkin we would like. The drapes in the room are also black with white curtains. I was hoping to remove the white overlay and have just the black table cloth. Black chair covers aren't an option because well they cost a good deal more. But I am just not sure the white chair covers would look good with a black linen without the white overlay. What do you think?

Crazy Theories

This week I stopped by Barnes and Noble and flipped through the new Brides magazine. They have an article about how your lipstick can predict the kind of marriage you will have. Their claim is that the shape of the lipstick in the tube from how you put it on can be very telling. The article has pictures of lipstick shapes and what that says about your marriage. I am quite positive that the way I put on my lipstick has nothing to do with my relationship. Last time I checked a relationship had everything to do with the two people and not beauty products. I am wondering if the ladies at Brides are completely crazy?

Andy's Honeymoon Perspective

Tuesday after our engagement pictures we went out for dinner and made it a date night in the middle of the week. We were driving home and normally I start most wedding conversations but Andy just opens up with,"I have been thinking about the honeymoon. All I care about is that we go somewhere that we can be entertained, we aren't on a schedule, and we are able to have nice meals." I have to laugh a bit because of course from a guy's perspective the food is on the top of the list. Although he doesn't mean down-home, good ole country cooking but upscale five star dining. But I also totally get it. He wants to wine and dine and spend some quality time together. The big glitzy honeymoon is nice and part of me still wants it but at the same time going somewhere where we can just enjoy being married is the most important of all. If only we could find this magical place within all of our picky constraints.

Engagement Pictures, Check

Yesterday we took our engagement pictures and it was wonderful! We ended up with a sunny day and blue skies which was all we could ask for. It was a bit chilly but nothing unbearable and I was willing to freeze my butt off for good pictures. We actually were up for doing anything for the pictures because we were having fun! I was afraid Andy would think it was kinda stupid to have engagement pictures and wouldn't understand why we were doing it, but he loved it just as much as me.

Geri is an amazing photographer! Not only is she talented but she was just fun to be with. We get along really well and enjoyed spending close to two hours with her which is great since she will be spending our entire wedding day with us. In fact we probably could have just sat down with her to chat over a cup of coffee but that whole pesky taking pictures thing got in the way. We obviously can't tell you how the pictures look just yet but I have no doubts about them.

The only disappointment out of the whole experience was that there weren't any brilliant colored leaves on any trees which I was hoping for. But you can't control mother nature. Oh yeah and we were out there so long that it got too dark to take any more pictures otherwise we could have kept going. Maybe Geri will let us do this again before the wedding?

Invitation Styles

Since we aren't going to do a pocketfold we need to pick another style before getting started on designing anything. Here are the options I am considering:

The first style opens like a regular card but with a ribbon/paper band holding all of the inserts.

This style is just a flat card invite with inserts on top and all piece held together with a belly band.

This last style is a gate fold which has the two side flaps to fold down over the invite. All inserts are put inside on top of the invite and when the flaps are closed a belly band holds all the pieces together.

Getting Excited!

Yesterday I spent a good part of my day shopping for clothes for our engagement pictures. And I have to say I am getting excited, its like the feeling a kid gets on Christmas morning. I am still not sure what I am going to wear but my sister is coming over tomorrow to go through all the options I bought and it will turn out fine. In my excitement I visited my photographers blog as I do regularly to look at some of the engagement pictures she has taken in the past. Here are a few I could get my hand on:

Photos taken from Ciulla Photography

I should have this figured out by now

Tuesday we are having our engagement pictures. We should have already taken care of this by now but we have no idea what we are going to wear. I have seen hundreds of engagement pictures and some people dress up, some people dress down and some do both with multiple wardrobe changes. I am now worried about picking out one outfit and wondering if two outfits is really necessary. The point of the pictures is to get some shots of us in regular clothes so that we have some nice pictures other than those of us on our wedding day. I am just wondering is it really worth all the fuss?

Possibilities

Yesterday my sister and I finally gave in and officially went bridesmaid dress shopping. We want a cocktail or tea length dress that is flattering for all the girls. Mainly we seem to be leaning towards v-neck dresses. The main problem is finding a flattering style in a purple that I like. We found two possibilities which are within a reasonable price range and the style should work. The problem is that they only come in the colors eggplant or concord which in person seem a bit too dark for me. I am hoping for something more vibrant but will settle for a wearable style over color. We are going to keep looking but will keep these as viable options.

This dress is from After Six and I couldn't get a picture in the correct color. The other dress I couldn't find a picture to post but you can see it if you go here.

NYC?

We are considering to scrap the whole beach honeymoon idea and instead do something within driving distance. My favorite place in the entire world is New York City. I love love love the city. Every time I go I don't want to leave and I never have enough time to do everything I want. Originally I shot down the idea of an NYC honeymoon because I want to do something relaxing and felt in New York we would be on the go too much. But then when we were realizing that flying to a tropical location might be out I thought maybe we could just spend a week exploring the city at our leisure, dine out, and just enjoy being there without rushing around. I am not at all sure if driving there is a reality or not since it is somewhere around 10-11 hours. I was thinking there might be some sort of detour we could take on the way there and back that might cut up the drive into two parts, but who knows.

Continued Obsession

Most of you know from previous posts I have been diligently watching the weather and changing leaves since our engagement pictures are a week from today. Based on last week I would say we are on track for great Fall weather/foliage. The forecast for now is 63 degrees and partly cloudy which I can definitely deal with. What do you think will it be perfect Fall weather?

Anti Pocketfold

Those who know me also know that I try to be super organized and I like everything to have its own place. So knowing this most would probably assume that I would really want pocketfold invitations since it keeps all the inserts neatly organized. But I have decided that I really don't want pocketfolds. I actually don't want all those inserts because having too many inserts can make everything more complicated to keep track of them all. Having pocketfold increases the price since you have to pay for all the inserts and then for added weight in postage. Pocketfolds have become very trendy and I am ready to move on from this trend.

Procrastinating

So I have been completely procrastinating on buying my wedding dress. I have it picked out and I really love it. It was the second dress I tried on and I compared every other dress after that to it. But I am just not ready to commit. This is one of those things that you think about and envision years before you get engaged. So buying the dress is an experience that has been hyped up because this is THE dress you will wear on your wedding. There is no more wondering, envisioning or possibilities, this is it. I'm just not ready to commit. I am indecisive and hyper critical and afraid that two months from now I will regret my decision. I am at the benchmark point where I need to order my dress to give enough time for the dress to come in and then for alterations. But for now I am procrastinating until I absolutely must order it and finally have to buck up and make the final decision.

Photo taken from Ciulla Photography

Wouldn't It Be Nice

Wouldn't it be nice to have such luxe invitations that they come in a satin box with a brooch? Since the invitations have been plaguing me I decided I better start sifting through different ideas and came across this picture. Invitations set the tone to the event and are essentially a preview of what to expect. I can only dream about what the rest of the wedding was like and will enjoy doing so.

Obsessed

I am currently obsessed with monitoring the changing color of the leaves. We are having our engagement pictures October 21st and I picked this date based on when the fall foilage would be at its peak. I have been enjoying watching the leaves change color but also stressing if I picked a date too late or too early to have good color in the background of our pictures. Obviously even if our date coincides with the peak season it doesn't necessarily mean we will have beautifully colored leaves at the exact spot where we are taking our pictures, but I do hope it means there will be a few around. I recently found that weather.com has a great map that they update daily to allow you to watch the progress of the changing leaves and you can bet I have been checking it daily.

Key West?

Key West might be a great honeymoon destination for us. This is still a location here in the United States but with more of a tropical feel. I have spent a few hours there before as a stop on a cruise on I was on. I remember thinking the island was cute and would definitely want to go back someday. Maybe going back for a honeymoon is the right solution. We are definitely going to be looking into airfare and accomodation options.

DIY Anxiety

We have gotten all the vendors booked and have started to take care of some of the small details such as centerpieces. One bigger detail that is still on my plate to tackle is invitations. I have decided to do these on my own because spending hundreds of dollars on paper that is going to get thrown away is just crazy in the scheme of our budget. But at the same time I want something nice which is why were are going to go the DIY route. I am excited about the project but things in life have been getting busy and now I am getting anxious that I have bitten off more than I can chew. I still have plenty of time but the invitations are ominously hanging over my head right now until I figure out a plan of action.

Tulle Overdone

Here comes more of my wedding cynicism. Tulle is not always overdone but most of the time I feel like someone went a little overboard when decorating with tulle draping it from the pews, pulpit, candelabras and yes the ceiling. A simple tulle veil is beautiful but a big pouffe veil is overdone. Small accents of tulle can really add an element however huge pouffe pew bows are overkill. Most of the time when I see tulle it makes me think of weddings from the 80s with the big shoulder pads, hair as high as the ceiling and just all over fluff. Being that we are going for a more understated, classic feel tulle isn't part of my picture.

What the h*** was she thinking?

I realize every bride has different tastes and styles so obviously we all aren't going to like the same thing. But this one takes the cake. I regularly peruse certain photographer's blogs since I absolutely love photography. This bride's hairstyle is beyond me. I mean it looks like they forgot to finish her hair. The part that really bewilders me is that the photographer posted that she is a hair designer and wanted a really "fabulous do." The pictures of the wedding were beautiful but the hair is questionable. I actually feel really bad for her because I am sure at some point in time she is going to look back at these and think: What was I doing? Unfortuneatly for her I feel she will be asking herself that sooner rather than later.

Taking a cue from Glamour magazine and using the black box to block out the eyes in hopes of maintaining her identity since I really do feel for her.

Travel Decisions

One of the current decisions we need to be making is where to go on our Honeymoon. At first Andy was dead set on Hawaii. Then we realized that might be a bit much so then it was St. Lucia, Mexico or somewhere in the carribean. Now we are thinking about downscaling it to something stateside. Either way I just want to do something fun and relaxing together!