Laying it all out

My aunt and Godmother came down to visit (I’m still in the habit of saying “down” even though she currently resides in Texas… used to be Washington and they have a house in Oregon so…) and we got to show her all the wedding goodies that we’ve been collecting over the past few months! I hadn’t yet seen everything side by side, all laid out in my room until I put it all out on display for her. I couldn’t believe how much stuff we had! I’m happy that all of the colors have been coordinating and I haven’t lost sight of what I see in my imagination when I envision what everything will look like in the decor. So far we have:

Cupcake stands– combo of DIY and purchased

Vintage green glass vases

2 large empty picture frames

White metal tin

Lots of old hardcover books– 8 with colorful, patterned colors

Spools of colorful ribbon

Assorted silk flowers

Circuit boards from computers

Metal plates and trays

Chalkboard and easel

Smaller window-box chalkboard

Paper flowers and pinwheels

Assorted picture frames

Dried petals from engagement bouquet

Vintage school bells

2 vintage mint julep cups

Vintage white cream pitchers

2 old white windows with panes missing

Several (maybe 12) round silver tablecloths

One white embroidered banquet tablecloth

It felt like laying out my clothes before the first day of school– that “ooooohhh” of excitement that just hits you and makes you giddy with joy! Thank you, Pinterest for all of the amazing DIY ideas! I already love thrift shopping so all of my projects have given me an excuse to hit up the local shops on my way home from work. My aunt loved all of my ideas and I am so happy to have her approval! We headed out to our reception venue to check out what the place looks like at night, and I was surprised to see that the hall, not just the gazebo, has exterior twinkle lights. Fantastic! After dinner at the Hamburger Factory restaurant next to the park, we tested the acoustics in the gazebo by having my mom stand in the center and belt out some Karen Carpenter songs. It was such a fun, silly time and I had forgotten what a beautiful voice my mom has. I’m glad my aunt loved everything– I can’t wait until next year when it all becomes a reality!

On a more serious note, she and I also had a chance to discuss the weighty aspect of marriage: the fact that you are choosing to be with this person for the REST of your LIFE and once you say “I Do” there’s no easy cop-out. I know that it took my family some time to become 100% happy about Ryan and me going out in the beginning of our relationship, and that their hesitation was mainly due to the fact that he is not as “Catholic” as they are, I think he has shown me that he is willing to do anything to make me happy, even go through the time-consuming process of getting married in the church, with a full mass and everything. I know that I love him no matter WHAT happens and that I honestly can’t see myself loving anyone more. Talking with my aunt and reassuring her that I am positive he is The One for me gave me a sense of calm that reinforced in my heart this whole decision to get married. I am SO ready to be his Mrs. and I know our love for each other, as well as our faith, will only continue to grow as we move further along in these processes of marriage prep and married life.

Venue, Venue

One of the biggest hurdles in wedding planning is deciding where the big event should take place! For Ryan and me, we looked into doing a church wedding and a reception at a different location. This process meant that we had to coordinate the date for each site as well as meet with separate groups of people– more work, but a huge relief when we finally settled on both places!

Our ceremony location will be in a beautiful catholic church. I had always envisioned a garden setting for my wedding, and this church offers just that aesthetic! The altar is gorgeous with a full window backdrop of the outdoor rose garden. There is so much space and natural light; I imagine the photography will be breathtaking. The baptismal font adds the effect of a trickling stream, which is awesome. I can’t wait to walk down the aisle!

The steps we had to take in order to book the church were confusing but we figured it out. For other catholic couples who are looking to marry outside their home parish, here’s some advice! Once we had gone to the church and saw that it offered the most beautiful setting imaginable, I emailed their wedding coordinator and asked about their process. The first step was to find a priest who would marry us and meet with him to fill out the initial paperwork. Fortunately, the priest at this church is an old acquaintance of my parents and grandparents, so he agreed to meet with us. The forms that we had to complete included Affidavits as well as pre-cana registration. If you are getting married in the catholic church, you can expect to be filling out a lot of paperwork! We decided to do an engagement retreat, which we signed up for online, as well as a pre-cana day. Both of those components will complete our marriage preparation requirement, which you need to do before you can be married. After we met with the priest, we booked an appointment to meet with the wedding coordinator again and sign the contract for the church. I had asked very, very nicely if she wouldn’t mind holding our date before we even met with Father (there were other interested couples and June is an incredibly popular month) and she was extremely sweet to pencil us in until we could meet with her. Once we signed the contract, we had our church! We paid a deposit (church weddings are NOT cheap!) and received a packet of regulations for the ceremony. Now we just have to do our marriage prep and continue to fill out paperwork… but it is such a relief to have our location, date, and time locked in!

After we booked the church, we had to wait until June 14, 2013 to book our reception location. Because residents are able to reserve a city facility up to a year in advance, we couldn’t make any reservation before our wedding date in THIS year. The poor employees at the city office must have grown sick of my incessant questions, but hey, it paid off! The reservations work on a first come-first served basis. I was so nervous that there may be another bride trying to reserve the park before me! Ryan thought I was crazy for getting to the city office at 5am on June 14, given that the office didn’t even open until 8am. I just wanted to be safe and make sure we were there FIRST! His mom, my mom, his brother, his sister-in-law, his sister, and his nephew ended up waiting with me, which made it a party! We were all so eager to book the beautiful location that would be absolutely ideal for our reception. It has enough space, is only 10 minutes from the church, and has the garden appeal and historic elegance for what we want. Plus, the residency price cannot be beat! Ryan’s brother brought bagels and coffee and we all enjoyed hanging out until the doors opened and we marched up to the desk to fill out MORE paper work and pay the deposit. The whole thing took about 10 minutes, but it was such an amazing feeling to know we were DONE with venue bookings! We were all so excited that we headed over to the park to see it (again.)

I’m so glad that we were able to stay within our venue budget (approx. $1,000 for each location– $2,000 total) and have this step in our wedding planning process completed!

The date is officially set– June 14, 2014!

Engagement Pictures!

I have looked forward to the photography-involved aspects of engagement for YEARS! I’m one of those people who always has her camera charged, who sees things in terms of “framing” and “composition,” and who keeps an eye out for those “Kodak moments.” When our friend Heather Winters of Heather Winters Phography offered to do our wedding pictures, we couldn’t wait to book an engagement session with her. She takes such beautiful pictures that capture the genuine spirit of her subjects and knows her way around the most perfect local settings.

We had a blast with Heather walking around our beloved Dos Picos Park in Ramona, posing at different spots for unique pictures. I couldn’t believe it when our photo CD contained over 80 shots that were all gorgeous! I wanted a casual, easygoing feel for our session, and I love that she captured this essence in our poses. Ryan even got into it more than I thought he would– I love the ones of him kissing my forehead. 🙂 I had made my own flower crown out of a few blooms from my graduation bouquets, and I love the bohemian flair that it gave several of our pictures.

Not only does booking an engagement session with your wedding photographer allow you to see their work and how they feature YOU, but it lets you enjoy time as a couple and spend an hour or so in a lovely place. I can’t wait to design our Save the Date cards, which we will be sending out to select family and friends in order to save on postage costs.

Has anyone done an online Save the Date card? I’m worried that it might get sent to people we may not invite!

To all the newly engaged, I hope you enjoy taking your pictures as much as we did!

Tiers over Tears

Ah, what’s a bride to do when it comes to the cake? Or, more importantly, how to showcase it?

I have always pictured a wedding full of CUPCAKES! I love the look of cupcakes in tiered wedding cake style. When I got a gorgeous white ceramic cake stand with green ribbon detail for my birthday, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into the wedding cupcake display. I remembered seeing smaller stands that looked otherwise identical to it at Home Goods (which was where my mom got the large stand) and that they were displayed in a stacked tier formation. PERFECT! I eagerly went to Home Goods in order to locate the rest of the set and purchase them for my cupcake display.

Um, that didn’t work out as planned…

In spite of how cute the tiers looked all stacked together, the space between the top and base of each tier was TOO SMALL to fit a cupcake! I was shocked and confused as to WHY someone would design pieces that obviously go together with stands too short to house a ring of cupcakes? I felt a bit of the Bridezilla bug as tears threatened to stab at my eyes. My vision was ruined!

I had to get over my disappointment FAST. How could I fix this problem? I took a deep breath and walked around Home Goods with my mom. I remembered seeing a great idea on Pinterest that showed china plates glued to candlesticks in order to make cake stands at different heights. The candlestick aisle offered tons of options for this possibility, and we grabbed two tall shabby-chic wooden candlesticks to “play with,” along with two white china plates.

On an empty table, we set them up, along with a beautiful green metal stand and the original white china stand with the green ribbon. I fell in love with the look of all four pieces together– the different heights made the arrangement balanced and unique, while the variety of styles gave it the mismatched-yet-coordinating look that I craved for the wedding decor. It was perfect! In another display of originality, I decided to put the bride-and-groom topper (which will be Han and Leia as per mine and Ryan’s relationship) on the LOWEST “tier” of the arrangement– on the original cake stand that I got for my birthday. The rest will hold cupcakes. I can’t wait to see how the whole thing will look at the reception!

Advice from this experience?

DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP! Disappointment is dry fuel for the Bridezilla fire!

BE FLEXIBLE AND CREATIVE! Look for unique uses for items and alternative ways to achieve the “look” you imagine.

BE ORIGINAL! So what if you aren’t being “traditional” with your decor? Celebrate what looks good to YOU!

Finding “The Dress”

On Friday, June 7, I searched for and purchased my wedding dress! After watching about 1,000 episodes of Say Yes to the Dress, I thought I had a good idea of what I should expect from the shopping excursion. I followed a few tips that the show’s consultants have shared in the past:

 

1. Don’t bring an entourage of opinions to your dress-hunting experience. I brought my little sister (MOH), my mom, my grandma (seamstress expert) and my future mother-in-law. My future nephew (7 months old) also came along for the day, which made it extra fun! I enjoyed showing the dresses to them and their comments were very helpful as I made my decision. All of them made it clear that I should pick whatever dress I liked, in spite of what they thought.

 

1. Don’t try on dresses outside of your budget. After discussing budget with my parents, researching the right bridal shops that I could afford, and browsing dress styles within my price range, I had narrowed the possibilities of my dress selection to several favorites that I wanted to try on. For brides on a budget (like myself!) I found David’s Bridal to be once again the best option for wedding apparel. I was even able to have my sister try on the bridesmaid dress (which we purchased from David’s Bridal) while I was there! The wedding dress consultant was extremely personable and sweet. She took me on a tour of the store and was tactful enough to sweep me right past the $1,000 + dresses and right to the collection with gorgeous dresses in the 300-500 dollar range. Together, we selected several styles to take to the dressing room and she was patient as I tried on each one. She helped find a $350 dollar dress that I LOVED– the price point was ideal so I could splurge a little on the veil! Narrowing the price range was no problem since David’s Bridal has hundreds of lovely styles at affordable prices. There was no heartbreak over falling in love with a dress that was just “out of my league.”  I found a dress I loved at a price I could manage!

 

1. Try on a variety of styles. In my list of possible dresses, I had included a few different styles that went against my “ideal” wedding dress design. I was looking for something fitted on top, with a simple skirt that had little to no “poof.” I wanted mostly a plain design with no fuss or frills. In the dressing room, however, I ended up trying on a dress that had a poofy, textured skirt and one that had extra flair in its design– allover lace with a huge keyhole back. I also tried on a mermaid-style dress just for the heck of it. I think it’s important to try on at least a couple of styles that are different from what you expect yourself to like. For me, it confirmed that I DID NOT like poofy dresses AT ALL and that the sexy, slinky look of the lacy dress was too much for my petite body. The mermaid dress looked ridiculous and I couldn’t move my legs enough to dance! The dress I ended up selecting was in my second choice of silhouette: fitted through the hip rather than empire waist. The empire waist dress that I tried on did little for my figure. I thought that dresses that were fitted through the hip would be unflattering because I have shorter legs, but in fact I loved the hourglass shape it gave me! You never know how you will like a style until you try it on 🙂

 

In spite of these tips, I had to learn a little lesson about wedding dress shopping for myself. I was expecting to feel immediately “bridal” in all of the dresses that I tried on. However, that butterfly-stomach excitement and regal poise eluded me for the first few dresses that I tried. I sort of felt that if I was trying on more elaborate, expensive dresses I would have felt that from the start; however, my budget dictated that I would try and try again until I finally felt “beautiful” in a dress. I actually teared up and so did my  grandma! They always show people crying on wedding dress shows, and if you truly feel emotional as you stand there in a dress, picturing yourself walking down the aisle, then you just “know” it’s right. I felt the same feeling that I got when Ryan proposed to me in the park: excited, nervous, and extremely happy. My personal tip would be to keep trying even if you don’t feel “special” in the first dresses you try. It can take a while to find “the one,” just like hunting for your future groom!

In addition, Just like when you commit to your fiance, you should commit to the dress you purchase. (Mine was final sale, so no going back!) I stopped browsing online for dresses– I only looked at pictures of myself in the one I bought. The more I looked at it, the more I loved it! I would never cheat on Ryan, so I didn’t want to cheat on my wedding dress either. If you feel second thoughts about the dress from the moment you buy it, then it might be worth a reconsideration. If you are having second thoughts about the person you will be walking down the aisle toward, that is also worth reconsidering!! You should love both, and feel excited as you picture the moment they see you– knowing that you look amazing and are about to marry the one you love more than anything in the world!

To all the brides shopping for dresses, happy hunting! 🙂