Hello Stranger

Hello Long Lost Friends. It has been awhile, I know. The past 8 months I have been focused on living life versus blogging about it. Also now that the wedding is over and so is my sister's the focus on weddings has dimmed. I still love all things wedding but it is no longer my life's focus. Thus I will continue to blog when I find great ideas or the inspiration hits. I appreciate those of you who have checked back regularly!

If you would like to follow me more regularly you can find me over at Presidential Living.

Pictures

I finally have added in Tiffany's shower photos and a few others to older posts that I had been promising pictures for. I am such a slacker when it comes to loading the pictures from my camera to the computer.

Slow Week

This week is a slow week in my blogging because I don't have anything new to report and other items in my life is taking precedence. My Dad is currently visiting to help us with a few house projects and I am preparing for Tiffany's shower. Starting tomorrow I am going to be cooking up a storm to get ready. Other than that we are just waiting to get our pictures. I hope everyone else's week is going well!

ONE WEEK!

I can't believe it but I am one week away from my wedding! WOOHOO!

Ceremony Walk Through

Yesterday we did the final ceremony walk through. It was fun to go through the steps with the minister in the sanctuary. The process made it all seem very real. Both of us were smiling and giddy like little kids. Despite the stress of tying up all the loose ends the walk through put everything into perspective again.

Today I spent hours on the phone confirming details with the DJ and putting in our final numbers, meal choices, seating arrangements and such with the reception hall. I never in a million years thought that confirming all the details with all of my different vendors would eat up as much time as it has.

I also picked up the program covers and escort cards I designed. When they are all finished I will post pictures but it was a big step to get those things back, I feel like the end is in sight!

Fallen By the Wayside

I have had a few projects fall by the wayside as we grow nearer. One being the photo sharing cards. While I created a group account on photobucket for our guests to share their wedding pictures with us and others I dropped the ball on the cards. I have a design ready to go but it's just to late to order the cards. I could order them and pay ridiculous amounts to have them rushed but at this point it's just not worth it. I might just print slips and put them in thank you cards.

Another project that might get dropped is making myself a bracelet. I bought the materials months ago but just was plain lazy and haven't done it yet. Now I might not have time, I guess we will just see. oops.

Excited, Elated, Nervous and Sad

The above words are all the feelings I am currently experiencing at once. I am excited and elated that the wedding is almost here! It feels very surreal that everything is actually happening. I am also excited and elated that soon I will get to go back to normal life as a married woman and just relax and be me again. As I tell people, "Just humor me I will regain my brain in less than 2 weeks."

I am nervous about getting all the loose ends taken care of in time. I am nervous about everything coming together smoothly. I am not at all nervous about getting married but I am nervous about walking down the aisle and having everyone stare at me.

I am sad because soon it's all going to be over. Over a year of planning, thinking and preparing for the big day. But in one day after a day of bliss poof it will be gone I am also sad that there is no more dreaming about what I could do or might do. No more picking up bridal magazines and looking through the pages for new ideas to incorporate. At this point what has been planned will get executed but we can't add anything else.

How it's possible to feel excited, elated, nervous and sad about the same exact thing, I'm not really sure.

We are Legal!

We picked up our marriage license today! It was extremely easy since we did the online application first. From the time we got out of the car, walked in, signed the papers and walked out it only took 15 minutes. Now we can legally get married!

Weekend Progress

Over the weekend we made good wedding progress. We completed the seating arrangements on our way to Lucy's wedding. This actually wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. We did however unfortuneatly have to break up a couple of groups to fit them within our table layout but I know everyone is sitting with someone who they will be able to socialize with and have a good time.

I completed the bridesmaid jewelry for their gifts. Also I was able to make a program mock up and realized the ribbon I have stocked up is not going to work because it is too thick.

Each girl is getting a set like this. Sorry the picture isn't great, I have had the hardest time taking clear pictures of crystals. All the jewelry is pearls and swarovski crystals.

Lucy's wedding this weekend was this weekend. Lucy and I have been emailing back and forth all year talking about our weddings and helping each other with details. It was fun to see everything we had talked about and all the details come together! Her wedding was so much fun and all of the hard work definitely paid off!

More Calm

Today I am feeling more calm about my wedding to do list. For a couple months I have been slacking in the wedding department getting ready to move and focusing on other life events. So when I recently restarted the wedding projects I was feeling completely inundated. However this past weekend and yesterday I had a couple meetings at The Madison, our reception hall. After those two meeting we got a lot of the details squared away, was given enough info to be able to make outstanding decisions, created the room layout and such. Today is going to be another wedding errand day and I am feeling good that items are getting checked off the list. We are soon on our way to the altar!

License

You know that your wedding is getting really close when you fill out the online application for a wedding license. Now we just have to wait to hear back that we can go in together to pick it up and sign some papers. YAY!

1 Month To Go!

I'm back finally after a long hiatus to work on our new home we just moved into. While there are plenty of things to still be done I finally feel like I am not living amid boxes and chaos so I can get back to the wedding stuff.

Today is exactly one month from our wedding. I am pumped and stressed! Because I have been focused on the house for so long all the small projects have crept up on me. But I also can't wait for the wedding to get here.

While I was gone we did do a few things wedding wise. I had my alterations appointment. I am anxious to see the dress because it is going to have to be taken in 2 dress sizes, but I am positive it will look great. Andy picked out his final tux details. Everyone is wearing a 2 button black tux. The only difference is Andy will have a silver tie/vest, groomsmen purple tie/vest, and my dad black tie/vest. Lastly we had our final cake tasting and decided on a design, the cake details will be coming to you tomorrow!

Moving

Just wanted to give an update for those who have been regularly checking the blog. Over the weekend we moved into our new house. The move went smoothly and was extremely more productive than I ever could have imagined because of all the wonderful help we recieved! However unpacking and organizing is going to take a bit longer so unfortuneatly I am taking a break from blogging in order to get our lives organized.

I am having my first fitting this evening and will let you all know how it went late this week or early next.

Two Post Day

Today is a two post day because Andy and I had an exciting landmark in our lives. We closed on our home and are officially home owners! I know this isn't directly related to the wedding but we are thrilled and I had to share.

Our new home sweet home!

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope that everyone had a great 3 day weekend. It's been a week since my last post but with being sick and trying to keep up with daily life I didn't find time for blogging. This past weekend we went to a wedding up in Wisconsin. It was nice to get away for a few days and visit old friends. The wedding was held in a very unique location, an art school. The ceremony was in the gallery of the school, dinner outside in a tent and then dancing resumed back in the gallery.

Since we were visiting and spending time with friends I completely forgot to take pictures of anything: the ceremony, centerpieces, programs, cake. I got nothing, sorry. But one of the best details of the wedding was the jar of homemade cherry jam at each place setting. The couple used local cherries and made jam for all of their guests to take home, and I can tell you it is very yummy.

Out of Commission

This weekend was my only weekend open and free for weeks. I had full intentions of working on many projects however life had a different plan for me and I have been out of comission, sick.

Today I did get a chance to go to one of my maid of honor's fittings, klenex box in hand. And I have to report back that the dress looks 10 times better from the last fitting with the changes we discussed. I am now confident that the dresses will look great on them all. On Wednesday we have fittings for the other two and I know it will go just as smoothly.

**Today is 2 months until the wedding, I can't believe it is sneaking up so fast!

Detail Woes

Lately I have been feeling the pinches of a smaller budget. Most people who know me, know that I am all about the details. I enjoy taking the time to make sure all the details are thoughtfully done. But with a smaller budget some of the details have to be axed and I am not thrilled about this.

I have been wracking my brain about some details we could add that wouldn't cost much but still would add something extra. If anyone has any great ideas, I would love them!

Yikes

I recently realized that on our wedding day I am going to have lots of people staring at me, especially when walking down the aisle. I cringe at that type of attention. Don't get me wrong I like small doses of attention but not 200 people staring at me attention.

Today I was looking at pictures on different photography blogs and noticed that in so many getting ready pictures the brides had TONS of people fawing over her. I would feel suffocated if I were some of those girls. Granted I don't want to get ready by myself but is it really necessary to have 15 people watching my every move as I apply more mascara?

If I was this girl I would be thinking YIKES people give me some breathing room. It looks like I am going to have to deal and get over this very soon.

Shower

Over the weekend was my shower. It was a success, everyone seemed to have a great time. It was wonderful visiting with everyone, but also overwhelming to have so many people there to see me and not being able to socialize the way I would have liked to. I can only imagine that is a preview of what the wedding is going to be like since there will be about 5 to 6 times more people.

But I had a wonderful time and I wish it could have lasted longer. I am blessed with so many wonderful people to share in our joy. However some of my relatives probably think we drink too much based on the amount of wine glasses and wine gadgets we got :)

Letting Go

Currently I am in the process of learning how to let go. I am a detail oriented, high strung, perfectionist. So this whole letting go thing hasn't been easy but I am really trying.

Most recently I let go of having envelope liners. I fully intended to do this all along but I never could quite find what I wanted and now have run out of time. Additionally I let go of picking out flower girl dresses. Actually I was happy to hand this task off to Andy's sister-in-law and mother of our flower girls, it took another item off my plate that I didn't have to worry about.

The newest item I am learning to let go of is the calligraphy on our invitation envelopes. My mother is completing them and doing a great job. But she isn't a professional and they aren't perfect. The perfectionist in me is having a difficult time with this.

It is so easy in the beginning of the planning process to create a vision and to get so focused on that vision you can't see beyond it. But now we are in the last three months and it is time to either get it done or not do it at all.

The reality is I don't have the time to do it all myself or the money to hire people. And while it can be disappointing to sweep some things off my list at the end of the day it won't matter. Because despite if the flowers never make it, or the cake flavors are wrong, I will still be getting married. That's really all that's important. Life will move on and no one will remember if the details were perfect and it won't matter, not even to me. So I'm learning to let go and I'm happy to do so.