a button wedding

so I may have mentioned before that I'm incorporating antique buttons into our wedding. it started with a crazyyyy idea to just have button bouquets (inspired by something like this) and no fresh flowers at all. and then I woke up and realized I LOVE flowers, how could I even consider not having flowers at the wedding?? So I thought I would compromise and do fresh flower bouquets and then button bouquet centerpieces.
...and then I got frickin tired of making button flowers. I mean I didn't even make that many, it was more the idea of making that many of the darn things that exhausted me just thinking about it. so we're doing fresh flower bouquets AND fresh flower centerpieces.
...but I already had a gajillion old buttons (and ideas for the cake and favors already involved button-shaped candy), so I wanted to do something with them. My solution I just recently came up with: button flower pens, for the guest book. For the guest book we're not actually doing a real book, we're using this awesome recipe box my sister got for me, and asking people to write notes to us on index cards and then file them in the box by last name. So I thought we could put an index card at each place setting, and put a few of these button flower pens at each table, maybe with some crayons too so people can draw us pictures as well as write notes! I know the few kids there would have fun with that, and more than a handful of my friends and family will enjoy doodling a bit too. The pictures aren't great because I'm no pro photog but you should get the idea..
I'm really excited about how they're turning out, these little individual pens are a whole lot easier than making full bouquets.. Do you have a theme for your wedding that you thought of early on and then felt a bit, well, married to? Did you stick to it or scrap it? I'm glad I'm sticking to this one but I'm really glad I scaled it back a bit.

Mr & Miss Fairfax: Licensed to Wed

On the way back from the courthouse this afternoon, Mr. Fairfax said, "We are licensed to wed," in a sort of James Bond voice, and I knew I had a great blog post title! haha.

SO yeah we've got our marriage license!! I'M SO FRICKIN EXCITED. Sorry for the all-caps but we are 22 days away and it's all getting very real and awesome!!

If anyone's curious about marriage license deets for Virginia, here's a few points:

• license is $30, best paid in cash because they charge a 4% service charge for a credit card payment;
• both parties must be present, with photo ID;
• you can go to any courthouse in any VA county for a marriage license that is valid for a wedding anywhere in Virginia;
• license is valid for 60 days;
• if you go to the courthouse in Arlington (I'm guessing most courthouses in VA and elsewhere, not sure though), do not try to bring your cell phone or cameras or any other kind of recording device! We walked there from our apartment (a couple miles, in the incredibly blustery winds - yay car free lifestyle! *note extreme sarcasm*), so of course we had all this stuff on us (I was kinda hoping to document the whole process for the blog, so blame them for my one pic taken at home!), so we had to go across to the Detention Facility where they have little storage lockers you can use for 25 cents (or 50 cents, or 75 cents, depending on how much space you need). Not that big a deal but if you drive there, leave that stuff in the car!

The security guard was really nice, it was awesome when he said, "You two going to the 6th floor?" and pointed us in the direction of the elevators. I guess when you see young couples coming in with grins on their faces, you kinda know where they're headed. :)

Dance Factory: A Review

I got a request to do a post after we did our next private lesson - but since I've been a bit flaky about posting lately, I'll tell you about our other Dance Factory experience first! If we do go back for another lesson, I'll update. :)

[image from dancefactory.com]

Mr. Fairfax and I enjoy going out "dancing." And that just means grooving any which way on a dance floor, nothing actually organized or coordinated. I've always wanted to learn to dance for real, so I was excited at the prospect of taking official lessons - in particular I was hoping someone would teach me how to not try to lead all the time!

Well I'm happy to report that it's not that hard to not try to lead - as long as your partner pays attention to what he's doing, which I think Mr. Fairfax did a very good job of doing. Our instructor was Nadia, which is not helpful to you since she announced at our last lesson that she would not be teaching there anymore.. But she was great!

A couple things to know about these dance lessons:

• each section of the beginner level of classes covers the basics of 3 different dances - we did tango/foxtrot/waltz, another section covers foxtrot/triple-swing/rumba, and the third section covers waltz/single-swing/rumba. Now don't ask me what single- vs. triple-swing even means! We didn't take that section.. They do recommend that you take all three sections of Ballroom I, and I have to say I agree because I sure would have loved to learn all those other dances. You can enroll in one class at a time (so, one night a week for 4 weeks), or all three classes at once - see the prices and schedule online.


• you don't need to go with a date, but if you do, be prepared to dance with many other people! It can be awkward but I have to admit, it does help you work on being able to dance with anyone, not just your partner. and you do generally get the chance to go back to your date several times in a lesson.

We also did one private lesson - they offered one free 30-min private lesson for new students, I think they offer it all the time, but it may have been a special going on last month, not sure! If you go and they offer a free lesson, go for it! It was great getting some one-on-one (well, one-on-two) attention and instruction. The only thing I would do differently would be to know the dance you want to do at your wedding before going to a private lesson. We went early on in the month just to get some basic dancing help but I wish we had gone in with our song in hand so they could tell us which dance to do! As it is, we'll probably need to go back for another private session.

All in all, I definitely recommend Dance Factory! Let me know if you go, or have gone. Mr. Fairfax hated waltz, which I thought was funny, because it came most naturally to me of all the dances. He prefers foxtrot, which comes the Least naturally to me! But in the end I do think we'll go with foxtrot, it's the most versatile. I was talking to a friend of mine who went with her then-fiance, and turns out He hated waltz too! Maybe it's a guy thing, I don't know!

hair: follow up

ok ladies, a bit delayed but I'm finally following up on my post about my hair trial.

The woman's name is Diane, she has her own shop called Hair by Diane, right in Old Town Alexandria. She is really sweet and great to work with.

My appointment was at 11am on the day of my bridal shower, I had forgotten to print out any of my inspiration ideas, or a photo of my dress, or anything! I also was in need of a haircut, told her I'd get one before the next trial, and she offered to cut it for me right then! She also let me use her computer to look up my dress online, so she could see what kind of style I was going for. So she's really flexible and helpful and awesome - and speedy! She had me shampooed and cut, put me in rollers, and then did Three (3!) hairstyles for me, in 2 hours. Actually just under 2 hours. So here are some of my pics:

#1 - way too big in the back for my big head! but it had nice volume in front

#2 - you can't see the back but it's a nice bunch of curls, smaller than the photo above, and positioned lower on my head. I like the front on this one ok but I will ask her to play around with more styles next time (like the Natalie Portman look from my last hair post.

And, #3 - you can't really tell in this photo but the bun or whatever is off-center so it's closer to my right ear than my left - I really liked that. I think I would just want more going on in front, and this could be a great style for me. I ended up wearing this hairdo to my bridal shower that day, and my bachelorette party that night, and the 'do held up great!

This trial was mostly for her to get a feel for my hair and style. We learned a bit from each hairstyle and next appointment, I'll take my veil and combs and whatnot, and we'll work out the final hairstyle.

Did I mention Diane is coming to my hotel room the day of the wedding to do my hair, and my bridesmaids, and my mom? It's $190 for me, $65 for each of my bridesmaids and $50 for my mom. I definitely have not found a more reasonably priced stylist!

28 Days!

Ladies, we are coming down to the wire. I'm getting really excited! Mr. Fairfax and I are planning to go get our marriage license sometime next week (I'm playing hooky from work, shhh), and then we're meeting with our officiant, Georgiana, the following weekend, March 6. Big bananas!

We've got the big stuff basically out of the way so now it's just all these little details lying around we need to get in order. Here's my (somewhat abridged) list:

Out-of-towner Welcome Bags. Not thinking of anything huge, just a little bag with a Welcome note, some touristy things to do in the area, and then some little token local item. Right now I'm really liking the idea of a sample-size soap from Union Street Soapworks. The guy's at the Clarendon and Columbia Pike farmers markets (among others), I've bought his soap before, it's awesome. The sample size soaps are like $1. Easy!

Parent & Reader Gifts. We really want to do something nice to give back to our parents. My mom is doing the flowers and a bunch of other stuff, and then Mr. Fairfax's parents are really going all out. In addition to contributing financially to the event (plus our honeymoon!) and helping us out in a lot of other ways, they let us have their anniversary date! I'm so far at a loss as to what to do for them. They will probably feel uncomfortable if we try getting them something expensive.. And then of course we have two very special ladies doing readings for us during the ceremony and it would be nice to give them some kind of thank-you gift.. Any ideas??

First Dance?! We still have not decided what we're doing for our first dance. If anyone is familiar with these things, can you tell me, can you do the foxtrot to the song "I've Just Seen a Face," by the Beatles? I keep going back to that song, I'd really love to go with that one, but we have limited time to learn new dances.. We may sign up for one private lesson at the Dance Factory to try to do some light choreography..

Week-of and Day-of Schedules. When are various key people getting to town? What needs to be done which day? When can I get a mani-pedi?? Who's getting the flowers from the studio to the venue? Who's delivering the beer/wine to the venue? ETC. I'm meeting with my day-of coordinator this coming Monday, a lot of these questions should be answered then.

I think I could go on but you guys get the picture. We're in the final month and it's getting awesome and intense, but I'm still calm. Give me a couple more weeks, we'll see how it gets... ;)

hair help!

Alright ladies, I've got my first hair trial tomorrow. Now what the heck do I want her to do with my hair??

I am notoriously bad at talking to hair stylists. I mean I just never have any idea what I want, I'm not good at knowing what works for my face or my hair type. I do know I cannot have a style that pulls my hair back flat from my face, it makes my face/head look huge and I have to say, fat. So I know I need some texture on top. Beyond that, here are some ideas I've found around the Internetz.

Back idea #1

Back idea #2

Back idea #3

And then here are some side/front shots (source photo1 and source photo2):

Any favorites? How did you figure out your wedding hairstyle? Or if you haven't yet, where are you going to look for ideas?

OH P.S. anybody have any idea how much to tip for a hair trial? The price she's charging is $190, including two hair trials, and she'll come to my hotel room to do my hair on the day of the wedding. I'll be paying a 50% deposit at the first hair trial, would I just tip 15 - 20% of the deposit, and then tip on the remaining balance the day of? Or just a standard tip for each trial and then the whatever 15 or 20% of the total on the day of? HALP MEEEE I'm so clueless.

Real Simple's "What to Ask Your Caterer" List

Along with Miss Glen Echo, I am also a huge fan of Real Simple magazine, especially their wedding issues. I have a meeting on Monday with my caterer (The Purple Onion - ask for Bernadette, she's awesome!) and thought I should prepare myself by looking into what Real Simple thinks I should be sure to ask. Some of these questions were covered in our initial meeting, and some of them don't apply to our wedding, but I thought I'd share them with you all anyway since they're generally good advice. (image: Debra McClinton via RealSimple.com)

1. How will you handle last-minute requests? It happens to the most careful couples: A whole family who didn’t RSVP on time shows up anyway. Or the opposite: A handful of guests are MIA. Is your caterer prepared to adjust the food and the table setup accordingly?

• This is a great question for us because it's a near definite possibility that there will be a few unexpected guests at our wedding. Also you just never know, sometimes people have last-minute emergencies that keep them from attending.

2. Will you be there? You want the point person you’ve dealt with to be present from start to finish.

• I really love the woman I've been working with so I would be disappointed if she wasn't going to be there!

3. What’s your waitstaff-to-table ratio? The most elegant service is one or more servers per table. The fewer you have, the more erratic or slow the food service will be. Find out how many staff members are included in the per person cost and how much extra staff might cost.

• This isn't actually relevant for us because we're doing a buffet, we don't need as many staff per table. Also I've already got the staff requirements listed out from them, so I know exactly how many staff will be there.

4. What’s included in your per-person price? Is it just the food and beverages, with things like linens, waitstaff, and coat-room attendants separate?

• Again we've already worked this out with our caterer, I made sure to ask at the beginning for the full cost including the food/service/rentals/taxes/etc.

5. What’s the difference between a gratuity and a service charge? Many catering facilities tack on a service charge of 20 percent, and couples think that this covers the staff tips, but it doesn’t. It is often used to cover things like fuel costs, overhead, and wear and tear. You’ll probably have to bring a stash of cash to tip the staff. Most brides tip 15 to 20 percent of the total bill and give that amount, in cash, to the maître d’ or the wedding planner, who will then distribute it.

• Definitely good to know! Our caterer explained this to us, and advised us on the amount that is generally recommended for the gratuity - she also said the 15 - 20 percent rule, but she was sure to emphasize that it's dependent on the service we actually receive.

6. What happens to leftover food? Health-department rules vary, but most on-site caterers cannot allow food to be taken off the premises. If this is allowed, arrange for the food to be donated to a local soup kitchen or charity.

• Hadn't occurred to me to ask this! I would definitely like to arrange to have the food donated, if that's possible.

7. How often do you renovate your facility? You may fall in love with the decor of the room you book a year in advance. Are they at all likely to change the carpet? Replace the chandeliers you admired? Ask the venue to put it in writing that the decor won’t change.

• This isn't relevant to us for the caterer, since they are independent of the venue. Would be a good question to ask the venue - I don't think we have to worry about that, since it's a historic building they probably won't be changing it too much.

8. How often do you clean your facility? The venue should be cleaned every three to six months (otherwise the carpets will start to smell).

• Probably a good question to ask your venue, not something I would ever really bother asking. Unless there is something apparent when you view the space that seems unclean, to me it seems like you'd risk insulting the staff if you asked them something like that. Although certainly it is reasonable to want to be sure that the space will be clean for your wedding, alienating them from the beginning is not the best idea.

9. Can we tour the kitchen? A facility might look gorgeous enough to win you over, but any cracks in the organization or the cleanliness of a place will show in the kitchen.

• This is another one that is probably a great thing to do but didn't occur to me and I don't mind that I didn't ask. I suppose I still could ask to tour our caterer's kitchen but I know I don't feel like trekking out to Centreville just for that, and I trust them.

10. Have you worked at our location before? If you’re having the reception off-site, you’ll want to know how familiar your caterer is with the venue―and what he needs to know if he’s never been there. (How big is the kitchen? When can deliveries be dropped off?) Once you’ve settled on a caterer, put him or her in touch with the site’s manager so they can work out the details without using you as a middleman.

• This is definitely a good question, although I already know our caterer has worked at Old Town Hall before because she recommended the venue to me!

11. How does your staff dress? Find out if they will dress in a specific way if you ask them to―say, in Hawaiian shirts for a luau wedding.

• Great question - although we're not really doing a theme so I don't care what they wear, as long as it's professional looking (and clean!).

12. Can we see the banquet event order? This is a list of all the information the caterer has gone over with you about your party. It’s given to the person who orders the food; the chef who’ll cook the food; the person responsible for setting up the room at the venue; and the director of the waitstaff. Review the details carefully so you know that, say, your request to have a separate table for two is on the list.

• I will put this on my list to ask - I definitely want to make sure the venue, caterer and I are all on the same page about room set-ups, menu, time table, etc.

What do you think? Did they leave anything out? Are you all on the same page with your caterers?

Invitations are in the mail...

Kapow! I dropped the invitations in the mail yesterday morning - cross your fingers that they're correctly postaged and addressed and people actually receive them. I keep feeling this dread that I forgot someone! I guess that's natural.

I can't believe it but I forgot to take any pictures of my invites. Gahh! I'm sorry I'm a bad blogger. I think I did share a picture of the linen invite with the paperbag-type envelope? Here's our final product, if I hadn't shared it already.

Then for inserts we just included this homemade RSVP postcard (made over at OvernightPrints.com).

And then we included a plain little notecard with hotel and travel info on one side, and then directions from the hotel to the venue on the other side. I just set it up in InDesign and printed 4 to a page on some recycled card stock I had left over from my christmas card making (I got ambitious this year, doesn't usually happen!).. Of course I don't have a big paper cutter so I just eyeballed it and they're all a tiny bit crooked! I guess that's part of the charm.

Then we took one of these babies and rounded the corners to make the directions card and the rsvp postcard a bit more official looking. We actually didn't have that exact corner rounder but I love Impress, I'm sure that one's good too!

For the addresses, we did not budget for any kind of big-time calligraphy job, and my handwriting is sorta inconsistent, so we decided to go with envelope wraps. You know something like this. Well it seemed like such a great idea and not too difficult, especially with handy templates like you can get from that site I just linked to. But it would be a heck of a lot easier if someone actually sold pre-cut labels of that size! I had planned to go to FedEx Office and have them cut down to size but then I got impatient, I wanted it done Now, so I just printed them at home and eyeballed them with plain old scissors.. Since I forgot to take pictures, I can't show you how they turned out but, yeah, croooked. Of course Mr. Fairfax insisted they were perfect and awesome and nobody would care if they even noticed anything was uneven (he's so nice to me).

In the end our invites weren't terribly fancy or well put together but I'm pleased! And soooper excited that they're out of my hands! Now we just wait for the rsvps to start rolling in..

ack crazy family!

So my mom just let me know that one of my aunts has started inviting other people to our wedding. Ok just one person. And actually I'm happy to have him, but still.

She's inviting people to the wedding!! gaaahhh.

I should start by telling you she actually began with inviting herself to the wedding. Initially we weren't even sure we could invite any of my mom's siblings due to budget/space concerns, but they were in town visiting sometime last spring, not too long after the engagement, and as soon as she saw me, she said how thrilled and excited they were to come to the wedding, and they would definitely be there. I had hoped to bring it up gently by saying we were considering a very small wedding and may not be able to invite the extended family. But she just led right off with that statement and I do love her to death, how could I then say Sorry you're not invited actually! At the time I sort of made non-commital noises, and after a while we determined that we could in fact afford to invite them..

Today (umm 9 weeks before the wedding??), she just sort of nonchallantly mentioned to my mother that my great uncle was returning to the country (after decades of missionary work in Brazil - literally decades, he's close to 100 years old), and coming straight to their place in Florida, so they decided they would just bring him along to the wedding because wouldn't that be nice?

Of course it's nice. I'm really actually happy to see him and we would have made room for him anyway, had we been told he was coming back to the states and could probably make it. But am I alone in being incredulous that she would just tell us she's bringing him along?? Without even one of those "yikes I'm sorry to have presumed but he's coming back to the states around that time and supposed to be staying with us, I hope it's ok if we bring him along?"

Deep breath. I'm not really that upset about it, because as I said I do want him there. I just... had to share this with you all. I'm a little worried about who else she may have extended an invitation to, and just hasn't gotten around to letting us know to expect them.

Neato Table Number Idea

Good morning and happy Monday.

Just saw this neat table number project via DIY Bride and thought I'd pass it along. You can find the full tutorial over at Firefly Bachelor & Bachelorette Parties. I always love a great idea for reusing plastic bags!

Although I'm still not sold on the whole table numbering thang.. There are great arguments on both sides, I really can't decide which way is best for us to do it. It makes a lot of sense just to have a few tables reserved so the grandparents have a good table and you know, the bride & groom have a good table, and then the rest can fend for themselves.. BUT I still like the idea of assigning tables for everyone. GAH decisions...

Being that we're in The Season, any new readers out there newly engaged? I'm coming up on the anniversary of our engagement, very strange how fast the year went by. Last February it seemed like 2010 would never arrive..

Happy Friday!

It's been a good first week back at work after the holidays. Well, mainly because it was only a 3-day week for me haha, I was out from last Thursday till this Wednesday, on vacation in Maine. But in this first week I've got a lot done:

• basically fixed the whole wedding band problem (just have to send back the ones that didn't work, the new ones have been ordered)
• signed us up for dance lessons! We're going with Dance Factory near Virginia Square metro. We're living on the edge and just doing the basic course and then we'll probably just wing it for the first dance - guess we'd better pick a song you can do an easy waltz to! Anyone going all out for a big choreographed number?
• signed us up for a wine-making session! next Thursday. I will be sure to report back on that whole experience, I'm really excited about it.
• may have found a hair stylist. Anyone heard of Hair by Diane? She's based in Alexandria and does wedding hair on site in the metro area. Her prices seem pretty reasonable - $190 for the bride (includes 2 trials), and $65 for the bridesmaids. Hopefully her hair styling is not as outdated as her website haha, looks right out of the 90s.. (will have to do a post soon to chat about possible hairstyles - anyone have any good sites for browsing updos?)
• just today my bridesmaids all received their dresses in the mail from Miss Brache! I'm so excited to hear how they turned out. Maybeee I can get them to bring the dresses along when they come to town for the shower/bachelorette later this month??

One bad thing this week was discovering what WeddingWire has done to their guest list management system on their website. UGH. Maybe it's really an improvement and I'm just not used to it yet but it was really giving me a headache yesterday. Is anyone tracking their guestlist on WeddingWire? I am using it to accept online RSVPs so I've gotta figure this out.

This weekend we are hopefully finallyyyy booking our rehearsal dinner venue, and then we're meeting with our DJ to talk ceremony & reception music/logistics.. But tonight, Mr. Fairfax and I are just going to be on the couch, with some sparkling wine and a movie. weee Friday!

10 weeks out??

WHAT. I was just emailing someone to set up a wedding-related appointment and mentioned my wedding date - and they replied saying something about how our wedding is a mere 10 weeks away. How did we get to the "10 weeks" mark without my knowing?? Somehow I was still in the "oh it's a few months out" mode and all of a sudden it feels like it's coming up very very soon (I know, just yesterday I was posting about how close we're getting - well now it feels even closer haha).

Incidentally the people I was emailing were the folks at Carafe Wine Makers in Old Town Alexandria, because Mr. Fairfax and I want to go in and make a wine for our wedding - I got a LivingSocial deal a while back for make-your-own 30 bottles with custom labels for like $175 or something crazy cheap like that. The price per bottle combined with the romantic idea of crafting our very own wine for our guests?? I feel a little guilty that I didn't post this idea on the blog back when they were offering that deal! Even so it's worth looking into, there are several different packages you can get, I think it starts at $99. I think if you're really a wine person, it could be a spectacular idea for a bachelorette party, to gather the girls for wine tasting and grape crushing and wine making! eh?

**Just fyi, the process takes 4 - 6 weeks at minimum after you go in for the wine making before you get to go back in for labeling. We actually waited a bit too long, there's not really enough time to make a red and let it mature enough to serve at the wedding, so we'll do some kind of white. But if you're interested, even if your wedding is a ways off, definitely contact them asap to find out the best time to come in!

and it begins..

..the post-holiday wedding frenzy, I mean. I've been imagining all this time that once the holidays went by, that's when I'd really start feeling the pressure - and it's pretty true! No huge stress yet but it's getting to be that time where things I've been putting off for another day simply cannot be put off any longer. Like booking the rehearsal dinner! I imagined I'd get that done around November, maybe December. Uhh woops.

Also I've been having the darndest time with the wedding bands. Mr. Fairfax picked out a great titanium one on etsy (the one pictured is 9mm, we got it 5mm and it's awesome), and had his finger sized (at Macy's), so I went ahead and ordered it with engraving (knowing full well that I could not exchange it for a different size if I had it engraved)..... and it's too big. Just by a little bit but it flops all around on his finger, I'm sure that's not ideal. Sooooo we have to buy a new one! And we'll save the one that's a bit too big for when he fleshes out a bit in his old age. ;)

That by itself didn't bother me too much. My own hunt for the perfect ring just isn't going even as well as that. Originally I imagined that I would like a little sparkle on my wedding band and it would be easy to pick it out, I just wanted something like this. But then I tried something like that on in a store and it didn't look quite right. So then I went for something entirely different and tried this one. And it looks Ridiculous with my ring. Looks great by itself but I want to continue wearing my engagement ring so now I have to return that one. Then I found this one on etsy and thought it would be perfect -

(seababejewelry)

and then it arrived and it's wayyy too thin and looks wonky (my engagement ring is just under 2mm thick, this one is I think just under 1mm thick, so it just makes my engagement ring look kind of clunky). SO.

I didn't expect the wedding band search to stress me out at all, but it's actually really upsetting me. The wedding band is important. Maybe more important than the engagement ring, for the symbolism it represents. Is anyone else having a hard time with this? Totally should have just picked out a set instead of the engagement ring by itself!

UPDATE: The folks at seababejewelry are giving me a 100% credit if I return the ring, and they're making one exactly to my specifications that should only cost a bit more than the original one I bought. So that's good news. Also, titaniumknights, who made mr. fairfax's ring, is giving me the engraving for free on the redo. Sooo that's something too. If you're ever unhappy with something you've ordered on etsy, always ask them (nicely) if they'll fix it! Usually what I order is exactly what I wanted, but every time it hasn't been quite right, the vendor always works hard to make exactly what I want.

the veil: update

haha soooo I had been talking before about how I wanted to make my own veil - because how hard can it be to make a birdcage veil really? well, it's hard. especially if you have absolutely zero experience with anything like that.

so after (kinda) flipping out on my mom for trying to take over the project, I ended up scrapping the DIY veil and turning to my dear reliable etsy. I found this simple small birdcage veil fromAnnLeslie and it's exactly what I wanted and even though it's more expensive than the half yard of netting would have been, it was still very reasonably priced and totally worth it for my sanity.

(source)

The picture actually shows the veil in ivory, but I ordered it in champagne. The difference is shown below, in a photo Ann sent to me to help me decide which one I wanted. I chose the champagne at the time because I thought it would go better with my (then) dress - I think the ivory could have worked with my new dress but the champagne will work great too, it's got a nice "natural" color to it which is what my raw silk gown has going on.

(photo credit: Ann Leslie)

I'm really pleased. I just also bought these little clips from Cultivar (photos below credited to said shop) and I'm playing around with it. I may give the purply/blue clips to one of my bridesmaids and just wear the ivory ones.. or who knows. I love both sets.

What are you doing for your headpiece? Or maybe you're skipping it altogether? Here is a greatcollection of posts on the topic over at APW.

talking it out

Right now, just over 3 months from the wedding (holy what?), the main thing I'm focusing on is hammering out the scheduling for the week-of and day-of. Maybe a little far in advance but since I'm having family members do some of the big stuff (flowers, cake), and places people are staying are kind of spread out (Herndon, Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria), I really want to make sure we're thinking of everything in advance so we're moving efficiently leading up to the wedding.

It's a good thing I'm doing this now because I had been planning to have the bachelorette party the Thursday before the wedding, but after going through all the logistics I've realized that is just not possible, so we're going to have the bachelorette the evening of the day of the shower (end of next month). At first when I thought about it, seemed a little anti-climactic to have it that far in advance but it will still be way fun and I would much rather do it then, than be stressed out trying to make it happen the week of the wedding. When are you all doing your bachelorette parties?

Also! My MOH and I are trying to think of semi-non traditional ideas for what to do for the bachelorette. Someone suggested a sexy-themed scavenger hunt in an art gallery (finding all the nudes I guess??) which sounds like a cool idea but I'm not sure that's what I want to do exactly. But new ideas like that are what I'm looking for.

Other kinds of talking it out going on right now is the pre-marital counseling discussion. Mr. Fairfax and I have been on the fence about hiring a pro, figuring we could go through the list of things usually discussed in formal counseling and sort of do it on our own - however, after Meg's post the other day, we are way more convinced we should go ahead and find a pro to work with. Really want to make sure we're doing this the smart way, and probably going to this kind of counseling now when we're happy and there's nothing wrong, may help us feel more comfortable seeing a counselor in the future if we find ourselves in a rough spot (in addition to the obvious benefit of having these kinds of discussions facilitated by a pro).

I <3 Miss Brache

Ok we're about to order the bridesmaid dresses from MissBrache aka Diane. She is a dream to work with. We haven't even put the order in yet but she's been so helpful! She'll work with you to design basically any kind of dress you want (I've only been talking dresses with her but she does all kinds of awesome clothing) and she's great with fabric suggestions, etc. All my bridesmaids (the ones in dresses anyway) have chosen this dress:

(source)

..but instead of the big red petticoat we are having Diane make simpler tulle ones (much cheaper). I put together this little mock-up of what my girls are going to look like, given the fabrics they've chosen (though the belts are not included in the order so they will not look like that exactly; also all of them will have petticoats). I'm really pleased.

And I've just found the perfect necklaces (I think), from FreshyFig. I'm hoping the little birdy is speckled enough that it would go with a number of different blues..?? And I think it would look great with that yellow too?

(source)

I'm still debating what to do for my MOH who's wearing a suit and wouldn't probably like this necklace. Somebody recommended cufflinks (was it you Miss Glen Echo? I can't remember), and I am strongly considering getting her these:

(source)

weee! every time we check another item off the list it all feels a little bit closer to happening.. not that this is even checked off yet but we're close! :)

Rehearsal Dinner Venues

When I set a goal of booking the rehearsal dinner venue by November that seemed so far away.. Can't believe it's now, and it's almost past now. Guess we need to get in gear on this!

So I'm thinking.. even though I'd really like to do a dinner in Arlington, it probably makes the most sense to do something semi-near the venue. We'll probably have 30 guests - just wedding party and their dates, our parents, some other important types.. So yeah 25 or 30.

Right now we're looking at these spots: Villa Mozart, Courtside Thai, and Bollywood Bistro. I've actually talked to Villa Mozart and Courtside Thai and they would definitely host our dinner, have never been to or talked with anyone at Bollywood Bistro - I just found it on yelp, it has good reviews and it's right in downtown Fairfax.

We are still debating whether we want something more formal (like Mozart) or less formal/maybe more exotic than Italian (like Thai or Indian).

I still think a lobster feed at Foster's Clambake would be amazing, it would bring in my Maine heritage, but it seems prohibitively complicated to either get everyone there (National Harbor) or find a venue to have them come and cater.. Also I just checked their yelp review, doesn't look good - I've been to their location in Maine and it was awesome, it's too bad they can't make it work better in DC... It is just one review, maybe they had a bad day.. Still probably too complicated to even worry about.

Anyone been to any of these places? Anyone know of any other great places right in downtown that could host 30 people? I'd like to avoid the nearby strip malls if at all possible.

oh goodness another 2 dress bride

weeee I'm so excited!! ok I've mentioned this before but to sum up, I bought a dress in March that was beautiful and cheap and made my mom cry - but it didn't make me swoon. I bought it because I liked it well enough and it was an amazing deal (priscilla of boston dress for under $200? Yes please). I had done some other dress shopping and fell in love with a couple different ones but they were way out of my price range.

Enter preownedweddingdresses.com. I've been randomly trolling the used/sample dress resale sites for a long time, hoping hoping hoping I would see one of the 2 dresses that made me swoon in the beginning. The Jim Hjelm one is often up for sale, almost never deeply discounted because honestly, they don't have to. It's gorgeous and popular. The Sarah Danielle dress is not so common, I almost never see it for sale used or in a sample sale. Until last week! I did another google search for "sarah danielle sample sale" and up popped a new preownedweddingdresses listing - it was the dress. it was $400. and it was close enough to my size that alterations would be easy. The girl says she bought it as a sample but ended up wearing a different dress for her wedding so this one has never been worn or altered, and it has absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I just paid for it via escrow.com (recommended over paypal by all the wedding dress resale sites) and it should be on its way to me tomorrowwwwwww!

I would post pictures here except Mr. Fairfax follows this blog - but here's a link to it (mr. fairfax verboten!!). weeeeee!

Any other 2-dress brides? Anyone else have a dress they're not crazy about? My advice is to keep looking. I was gonna be fine with wearing the dress I bought - it really is quite pretty - but now that I'm getting this one.... Now I get what all the fuss is about.

bridesmaid gifts

It might be early for me to be worrying so much about this but.. I've been doing a lot of looking around online for bridesmaid gifts and I'm having some trouble figuring out what to do! First let me just describe my bridal party:

MOH: tall, masculine lesbian, wearing a suit in the wedding. does not do girly. cannot buy her a cute clutch or feminine jewelry or anything like that.

Attendant#2: oldest sister, kind of a hippy/tomboy, straight but not into much of anything girly. outdoorsy, all about being eco-conscious (she takes her own mason jar to coffee shops ok. not even one of those normal reusable plastic or metal to-go mugs. a glass mason jar with a screw-top lid. ok.).

Attendant#3: other older sister, totally opposite in terms of personality from oldest sister. Girly type things ok for her, but nothing Too girly.

Attendant #4: old college roommate. completely different from any of the above, this girl is the definition of feminine class. Never leaves the house undone up. A place for everything and everything in its place kind of a girl. Could totally do the traditional bridesmaid gifts for her, or I could do a more personalized thing.

Sooo HALP. Clearly the Sugared Lemon Clutch (pictured above) from eclu would not work as a gift for all of them, as much as I love it. So I've been trying to find a way to get Something that's basically the same to give to all of them (like a bag or a neato In Touch Clutch), and then maybe something else that's personal. But I don't have a huuuge budget for this.

I could of course just find a necklace that would suit the three more feminine bridesmaids (like THIS? LOVE), and then some kind of nice accessory for my MOH (personalized belt? pricey but awesomely androgynous ring?). I just want to do more than that. But I can't be spending $100 on each girl so I've got to narrow down my ideas.

What are you all thinking about doing for your attendants/bridesmaids/whatever-you're-calling-them?

Ceremony musings plus: random DIY tip

I'm enjoying this lull in planning right now. I feel like I could get some things done and out of the way but I don't have to, and that's very pleasant. Probably once we get past the holidays I will enter the urgent-oh-crap mode but for now I'm enjoying just focusing on whatever I want, for however long I want.

Random I WANT: Gruyere and Black Pepper Gougeres. Found on Etsy - they're sold out but I just bet you can convo them for a new order. I've been looking for an idea for a "pre-ceremony finger food type thing,"I think this would be perfect.. (source)

Last night Mr. Fairfax and I had a really great little ceremony planning session. We went through the vows and ring exchange wording sent to us by our officiant, changed 'em up a little to our liking, and then went over the other pieces we'd come across that we'd like to work in.. it's very exciting. A couple times we said things out loud just to make sure they sounded ok and a little thrill went through me, like Wow. This is what we're going to say to each other. Weee! It's very exciting. Just need to figure out who we'll ask to read the special pieces we've picked out. Do you have special readings you'll ask friends/family to read during the ceremony? How did you go about choosing the readings/who would read them?

We've also decided we're totally stealing the Jewish wedding tradition of the yichud. I first heard about it on A Practical Wedding and it just seemed so darn perfect, I can't believe all wedding traditions don't include this. It might be the 15 minutes I'm most looking forward to.

This weekend I also set my mom on her projects - hand-painting our aluminum tins we'll use for favors, and designing a hand drawn map that we'll give to the guests in their welcome bags in their hotel rooms (she won't have to hand draw each one, I'll have them printed from her design). It's great having an artist mom! So glad I'm able to include her in these things so I don't have to feel bad for shooting down her veil ideas.. :)

Random tip: if you are doing any DIY paper pieces (program, invites, table signs, etc.), and you have not heard about Impress, go check it out! I heard about it a long time ago but only recently re-discovered it and immediately bought a bunch of stuff. I can't wait till it arrives so I can start stamping and punching every scrap of paper I have lying around..

new from Martha Stewart..

Fall 2009 Martha Stewart Weddings is out! I don't know why I get so excited about her magazine but I do. This issue is definitely geared toward Fall weddings and a lot of it doesn't really apply to my spring wedding but I still just love it. The Carolina Herrera dress on the front cover (below) looks amazing! This pic is one I found on Martha's site, it actually doesn't look as cool as it does on the cover but.. still think it's neato.

Poll: If the groom looks clean and crisp like James Bond, would it be strange to have the bride looking more.. antique? I think we're mixing a few genres with our wedding and part of me is going, uh ohhh is this going to work? and part of me is like This is awesome!

cool (and functional!) table number idea

Just saw this photo spread over on Green Wedding Shoes, love the table number idea - big number painted on a carafe! I've been collecting milk bottles to use as water jugs for the tables, and then also looking for ideas for table numbers.. ideas = married.

Just found these carafes for sale - pretty cheap! We might still want to use milk bottles, but this is a good back up. [photo courtesy of Mission Restaurant Supply]

If you're looking for milk bottles and have some time before you need them, we've been getting our milk in old-timey glass bottles from Whole Foods - comes from a creamery in Virginia, can't remember the name! It's not cheap, like $4.50/bottle, but you can return the bottles for a $2 refund. So if we go ahead and collect enough to use at the wedding, we'll be able to turn them back in next March for a nice little bit of cash. Also.. the milk is delicious!

that loving feeling

If there's one photo I've seen the past few days that encapsulates the feeling I want for my wedding, it's this one, by Simply Bloom, via Design*Sponge.

deep breath, sigh. It just says "grounded, earthy, fun, real" to me. Even though, ok, it's not actually real because this was just a photo shoot, not even a real wedding. Also this was a "summer" wedding photo shoot and mine will be in spring. but it doesn't matter. it's got that loving feeling.

Have you come across That One Photo that sums up your wedding ideals?

cool DIY idea

I was just hanging out over at Design*Sponge and can I just say where the heck have I been? I've seen the site referenced before but never really took a look at it - so many awesome projects! I know they appeal to the better-at-thinking-about-doing-it-than-doing-it side of my personality but honestly there are at least a few projects in there that I might. actually. do.

Like this one, from photojojo. uh! talk about a perfect solution to the how-to-display-baby-pics-without-putting-together-a-slide-show dilemma..

(source)

I'm in love with this site. Just wanted to share! :)

photographer: check

So it sounds like I'm not alone in the wedding planning slump, the NearlyWeds have been quiet lately. I know Miss Charleston is in the final stretch, less than 2 weeks! I am le jealous.

Good news though - we have booked our photographer! Thanks everyone who responded to my previous posts on the topic - we've gone with Bisou Photography. Our photographer's name is Bong Lee, you can find him on Wedding Wire. His style is simple, not exactly Our Labor of Love or anything like that, but we really enjoyed meeting him and we're excited to have him. Honestly, not gonna lie, biggest factor was his pricing. Right now he just does this on the weekends as a second job, once he gets into it full time his prices will probably go up. I'm thrilled that we get to help him build his portfolio.

My mom and I had a good talk about that whole veil drama, I think she gets where I'm coming from and all is well. She still has opinions about Everything but she seems ok with the fact that I will not agree with her most of the time. She ended up making a quick sketch of the veil she had in mind for me... glad I nipped it in the bud. Not my style. Speaking of my veil though, it's coming along! I think I'm getting a feel for the way the netting behaves..

Random update on the marathon training: ugh! I'm sick right now and haven't been getting my runs in during the week. Supposed to do my 20-mile training run this weekend --> not. gonna. happen. Last long run was 16.5 miles, 2 weekends ago. :-o

Next on the to-do list: book DJ. And then a lot of those other items Miss Glen Echo listed off...

Productive weekend plus event alert!

I'm pleased to report that we had a fairly productive Labor Day wedding planning weekend. No new vendors booked BUT we sent out our Save the Date email! woop woop. And for the few who don't do email, we made a postcard from the JPG. Ever since we put it together I've been bouncing to get it out, but we were waiting on finalizing the wedding website to include pictures of the groomsmen. So we got that done, and sent out the email. We're really committed to that guest list now, we basically sent the thing to everyone on our lists.. So much for "B-listing" people.. There are maybe 3 or 4 people who didn't get the Save the Date. Whatever! I'm pleased with the way we've done things.

Also, spent some time going over DJs and photographers - found a photog that sounds promising, anybody heard of them? Photo Bisou - found them on Craigslist originally, then looked them up on WeddingWire and was pleasantly surprised to find 6 very positive reviews. So I've sent an inquiry, we'll see.

Event Alert! Got an email from Crate & Barrel announcing their upcoming "wedding parties" coming up at the Clarendon location (and probably other local ones) on Sept 13, Oct 4 and Oct 18 - we've already done that but wanted to pass it along to any newly engaged couples who don't know about these. They're amazing - you go in on a Sunday before they open and they serve you pancakes and coffee and all kinds of other goodies, and you and your betrothed go around with the zapper and scan in everything you want on your registry. So. Much. Fun. Honestly anything with free food = awesome, but this was 10 times better because it was about me and Mr. Fairfax getting married. Which naturally = bananas. Big bananas.

Invites are in!

Haha yes I jumped the gun in a big way and ordered our invites already. I was just so excited I couldn't wait. I can't recommend Artful Beginnings enough!! Kati is great to work with and the product is amazing and a nice way to do something a little different, if that's what you're looking for.

So we're below the 200 days mark, pretty crazy. My recently married friend told me the 100 days mark is pretty exciting, and then the 30-day mark is terrifying. haha.

I was reading some of my old posts and realized I have already gotten behind on my goals - I had said I wanted to have all my vendors booked by the end of August! woops. Still need a photog and a DJ, but we're sort of stalled on that. Not for lack of options, we just sort of... stopped working on it. Which is fine I think, but now I really do want to get these squared away. Mr. Fairfax and I are sitting down This Weekend to look at our options and set up appointments. It's going to happen.

Wedding dreams have gotten worse! Still the same theme for the most part, preparations not done before the day - but a recent one featured my dad showing up in white and yellow polka-dotted pants! No idea where that came from.

the veil

So I've finally got my hands on some french netting, and so farrrrr - birdcage veils are a lot more difficult than they look. It's kind of fun playing around with it but at the same time incredibly frustrating because I haven't yet been able to get it to do what I've been picturing in my head. Here are a couple pictures of my efforts.. just haven't quite got the hang of making it behave how I want. But, I've got several months to get it right so I'm not too worried yet.


Here's another piece I was playing with, thought I'd try working in these fabric flowers, they weave easily into the comb (one is weaved in already, looks promising). I'm thinking some of those little blue roses with some pearl and crystal accents? maybe a couple Feathers for good measure? we'll see.
For you DIYers, do you find it's hard to find Space for your projects? Mr. Fairfax and I are in a one-bedroom apartment and my "workshop" is basically the dining room, I've just taken over a wall and started stacking things. It's not easy to work up the motivation to go drag everything out to play with it, especially when I realize all the crazy ideas floating around in my head are well, crazy, and I don't have half the materials I'd need to accomplish everything I want to. Anyway here's a glimpse of my sad corner (sorry it's off kilter; on the left it looks like maybe the recycle bin but no! it's my growing collection of glass jars we'll be cleaning up and using as vases for the tables).

RSVP conundrum - figured out!

So. I can't remember if I'd mentioned any of this before or not but, we are asking our guests to RSVP online (unless they're not computer savvy, we'll send them a reply card). Way back when, I found the WeddingWire.com wedding website, which allows you to add an RSVP page that pulls directly from the guest list you've uploaded to the site - so the guests go to that page and it asks them to enter their name, and if they're on the list they get prompted to RSVP for themselves and whatever guests we've specified, for ceremony/reception/shower/etc (whatever event(s) you want to add in there).

If they're not on the list.. They don't get to RSVP. I loved that because we're not planning to do inner envelopes and all that so I was worried there might be some confusion about who gets to bring a guest.

HOWever. I was not crazy about the look of the rest of the site as built by WeddingWire. So I went over to Google Sites and built one (we splurged and paid $10 for own domain), which I like a Lot better, but I couldn't recreate the fabulous RSVP function.

Well I just finally found the solution, which probably shouldn't have taken me this long to figure out. What I did was deactivated all the regular pages from the WeddingWire wedding site EXCEPT the Welcome screen and the RSVP page, and just renamed it our "online RSVP site." So then all it took was adding an RSVP page on our real website which links right over to the WeddingWire site.

Is this making any sense?? It might sound more complicated than it is - believe me, I am no tech junky! I do not know html or dreamweaver or any other kind of site building software (I don't even know if that's the right vocabulary). If you're not happy with your wedding website and think you might want to try to make your own - I highly recommend Google Sites!

Local flowers

I stumbled upon a great local flower vendor last week at the Clarendon Farmer's Market (Wednesday evenings).

Wollam Gardens - Specialty Cut Flowers. Located in Jeffersonton, VA (kinda near Warrenton), they deliver to DC area farmer's markets and florists and they do special events too.

I had pretty much given up on the idea of getting locally grown flowers since our wedding is in early spring, and none of the flower vendors at farmers markets I've encountered so far start selling until May. So when I approached this vendor I didn't have much hope - but the woman I spoke to said for the first time this year they plan to grow through the winter! I'm still not sure what all will be available, but it sounds promising.

They sent me a packet of their services - they range from totally DIY, where you just put in your order and go pick it up, to full service, where they help you design your arrangements and they deliver and set up for you. The pricing seemed reasonable for the services, but I haven't seen their pricing for the flowers themselves.

I'm thinking since my mom works for a local florist, she will help me decide what to order and how much, and help set it all up correctly on the day. Anyone else know of other local flower farms that offer early spring flowers?

almost save-the-date time!

Mr. Fairfax and I are getting ready to send save-the-dates and it's very exciting slash terrifying. Well not terrifying, but a little scary just because once we send that out, I feel like the drama will increase. We are still narrowing down the guest list and people are going to be left out no matter what we do. My mother's family is just so darn big! Even excluding my dad's entire side of the family (he's not going to be there and I'm not super close with any of his sisters sooo yeah), I'm still having trouble keeping down the numbers of my mom's family. I'm not sure how many will even show up, but there's a chance they all could so we're going to have to gamble a little (and of course if more are planning to come than not, that provides more incentive for the ones who would otherwise not bother).

Anyway the thing is ready to go as soon as we figure out who it's going to. We're just sending it via email to most people, but we'll turn it into a postcard for those few who don't really Do email.

Here it is - finally got Blogger to upload! Thank you Miss Gallery Place!

I might have a ring bearer!

Originally Mr. Fairfax and I weren't going to have flower girls or a ring bearer. I have some small cousins but I'm not even sure if they're going to make it to the wedding and I just didn't really want to mess with it.

There is, however, a very special little dude in my maid of honor's family who I love to itty bitty pieces and I just found out I might actually get to have him as my ring bearer!

He had some teeth problems so they pulled his front teeth out - so now sometimes his tongue just sticks out randomly!! So frickin cute.

I asked my contact at Old Town Hall if they would allow this little guy in the building and she said generally they only allow service dogs but they have made exceptions for this kind of thing as long as he doesn't stay for the reception. So someone would need to take him back to the hotel, which may or may not work out. So it's still up in the air! But I'm excited it's actually possible, I kind of just assumed they wouldn't allow dogs at all. :) :)

wedding dreams (and nightmares)

Seems early for this to be happening but I am definitely at the point where I am having dreams about the wedding. I mean I've been having dreams about the wedding since before we got engaged! But until a month ago they were always very happy dreams.

Now I've gotten into new territory. At least once a week, sometimes more often, I've been having dreams that are never the same exactly but always follow the same theme: the wedding happens before everything is in order. I lose track of time on the day of and all of a sudden it's go time so I end up walking down the aisle in jeans and a t-shirt. Or we've forgotten to let the officiant know what day the wedding is so there's nobody there to marry us. Or we haven't set a schedule for the day at all so we end up walking into the crowded room together, not even in our formal attire (for some random dream reason), and our officiant starts the ceremony but people are just milling around and not paying attention.

Luckily for now, the dreams for the most part have a light tone, even when things are obviously not going as planned we still end up married at the end of them and we're happy. I'm pretty sure if I'm having these kinds of dreams this far in advance, 7 months from now they will be full-blown nightmares haha.

How about you ladies? Does the wedding planning creep into your dreams? Does it get worse closer to your wedding??

assigned seats: like 'em or leave 'em?

Obviously you have to do seating charts if you're doing a plated meal. We are doing a buffet so I've been thinking this whole time that we don't have to worry about assigning seats. But do you think it's necessary anyway? When I think back on it, the plated meal weddings had assigned seating, and the buffet meal weddings did not. But my caterer suggested we assign seats anyway just because.

From one angle it seems like it would be nice to just let people sit with whomever they want. But then I do remember the weddings I've been to where I have my very own place card and I get to meet some of the guests I might not have otherwise had a chance to talk to.. And there's so much inspiration on the blogs for creative ways to do place cards and seating charts and all that.

I know I could get away with not seating people. But what do you think? Are you doing buffet or plated meal (or dessert buffet or anything else)? For those of you doing buffet, are you assigning seats? It just seems like one more thing I'm not sure I want to worry about..

longest day ever?

is it just me or is this day/week crawling by?? wow.

I am so giddy about booking the officiant. She's on vacation right now but she'll be back next week and will email us our "homework" - a packet for us to go through to help us narrow down our ideas for the ceremony. I'll share it with you when I see it!

I've always been for traditional vows but this post gives a compelling argument for writing your own. And some other great advice! I still think I'll never be able to express myself well enough but that seems like a common concern and in the end, for some, the words just come out right.

Thanks Miss National Harbor for bringing up the matching-ring issue. I have a white gold engagement ring but I've fallen for a palladium wedding band.. I'm not sure yet if I care if they're slightly mismatched.. No idea yet what Mr. Fairfax will choose, could be something like this, or maybe like this, or who knows.

where does the time go??

One of my co-workers had a baby last week, and I just remember the day she came and told me she was pregnant, it doesn't seem that long ago! And the time between then and now was eight months, about the same amount of time between now and the wedding, and I just can't imagine March 20th will ever get here! But at the same time I can't believe it's almost August, we've been engaged for almost six months.. eep!

I am excited to report that we have reserved our room block at the Hampton Inn - we're getting the $79/night rate, and I didn't even have to negotiate to make sure we won't be held responsible if the block isn't filled. So I'm pleased. ..now we just have to figure out who we're going to invite to FILL these rooms... guest list. sigh.

Also we seem like we're pretty settled on our officiant! We haven't officially told her we're in, but I think we will soon. Her name is Georgiana Atkins-Havill - she had a bunch of 5-star reviews on WeddingWire, and she's been featured in the Washington Post and other places. I spoke to her on the phone and she sounds lovely. She operates a little differently from other officiants/celebrants I've looked into - there's no contract, no set fee. We'll be discussing different ceremony options via email, and then 2 weeks in advance of the wedding (so her impressions of us will be fresh for the ceremony) we'll meet with her and finalize all the details, she'll do a run-through with us, of the vows and the ring exchange (but not everything - she likes to shoot from the hip a little so it doesn't sound rehearsed and stale, I liked that), and then after the ceremony we just pay her the amount we feel is appropriate and comfortable for us. She says she's never been underpaid, more often she's overpaid, because that's how happy people are with her work. So we feel pretty good about working with her. She seems to have a real passion for this. And that's a good thing! *martha stewart smile*

I was able to stop in at the REFRESH at FRESH event yesterday, got to hang out with our lovely Miss Not Yet Wed and her assistant Angela - didn't get to buy anything but it was a lot of fun! Anything with free champagne and cupcakes..! I'm there. Unfortunately it was so Hot, I didn't feel comfortable trying anything on since I was a sweaty hot mess. I will definitely have to go back though, they had some cute stuff.

programs

I know it's a bit early to worry too much about them, but I keep going back to my program design ideas. I've considered just not doing programs, some people don't, I think we could not do them and people would survive. Also I'm pretty sure most of the time they get left behind or thrown away, I'd keep one for posterity but keep it in a box somewhere and not look at it much. STILL I feel drawn to the project, I'm at least going to keep fiddling with them, and when it comes down to it - we'll just see. Here are some things that are inspiring me.

Photo via MintDesignBlog

Photo by Union Photo via Once Wed

I've played around in InDesign a little here and there, can't quite settle on a concept just yet. I love the typewriter look, but also the more traditional. I love the idea of having programs that are not all the same, but go together. and then I also love the look of that yellow program, with the big blocky date on the front and the handwritten first page.. I ended up getting into linoleum block printing because I wanted to try to do something similar - man it's time consuming! A lot of fun though. I'll post some of my practice ones when I've put together a few samples.

fun new resource

I just wanted to share this new site I came across recently, Utterly Engaged.. It's no Once Wed but they have what looks like a fun e-zine, some DIY tips, some Real Wedding porn.. I just found it so I have looked around too much but it's kinda fun. I think it has potential.

After reading East Side Bride's latest post "your wedding is not a photo shoot," I feel a little better about our as-yet-undecided photography plans. whatever those end up being. Whatever we decide to do, the wedding is a Wedding and as long as we have a good time and we have some photos that capture our joy at the end of it.. We're going to be happy. having said that--! I'm going to continue to swoon over all the Real Weddings out there that are so dazzling and magical..

Also if I could have a photo like this from our wedding.. that would make it all worth it. LOL

in search of a DJ

Well Mr. Fairfax and I didn't quite get to the narrowing down the DJ conversation.. Anyone have any recommendations for an affordable DJ? We are hoping to find someone who will provide the option to include a little karaoke at some point during the evening. eee! I love karaoke so hard. I'm already trying to think of the best song for me to sing haha.

So far I'm liking the sound of Big T's Entertainment. They quoted me 4 hours for $650, and then $50 extra if we wanted karaoke. Sounds reasonable to me, especially considering MyDeeJay.com would be minimum $900, no karaoke. I also liked DJ Max Powers, his website is pretty lo-tech but I liked his answers on his FAQ page, and he quoted me $500 for the reception, or $575 if I wanted him to do the ceremony too. That sounds promising (but sigh, no karaoke).

Are you all doing a DJ, or a live band? Anyone skipping the dancing thing altogether?

We have started the ball rolling on the hotel room blocks - we're going with the Hampton Inn, on route 50 in Fairfax. Only a mile from our venue and we really liked the look of it when we visited. It's totally non-smoking, free wifi, and we should be able to get a $79/night rate for the Thurs - Sun time frame. I will keep you posted on that!

happy friday

I just found this photo booth via Snippet & Ink. oh my word I need to steal that idea! I've been trying to think of ways to display old family wedding photos, And I was thinking of having photo frames as props for the DIY photo booth I'm hoping to do, so this just combines everything. I just need to figure out how to rig up a camera with a remote clicker.. anybody know how to do that? Is it something I can rig any old digital camera up to do? I need to replace my old camera anyway so I might upgrade and make sure it's compatible with that kind of thing..

We're still in the grips of our photography dilemma. We thought we had a friend who could do it and budgeted accordingly - and then that friend moved away, and other things happened, and well we're back to square one, without room in the budget to splurge on a pro. Half the time I feel like throwing up my hands and saying I Don't Need Fancy Pants Photographers, just make sure as many of my shutterfly friends have their cameras ready and assign shots to different people so we make sure not to miss great moments, let's not worry about perfect lighting and focus.. And then I spend all day on Once Wed and Style Me Pretty and all the rest and I just can't imagine not having amazing photos like that of our day.. I do have a photographer friend of my mother's who may be interested in doing our wedding, we'll find out next month. If he doesn't want to/isn't available.. well we'll just see.

This weekend Mr. Fairfax and I will be sitting down to do some serious wedding brainstorming. :) Hopefully will narrow down the DJ options, start the ball rolling on the hotel room blocks, and talk about ideas for the ceremony. Have a great weekend everyone :)

back from the beach

aahhhh just got back from a few days in Rehoboth with Mr. Fairfax's parents, feeling refreshed and excited to start thinking about the wedding again! I really tried to not think about work or wedding planning (except when it came up a couple times with the future-in-laws). Now that the break's over I'm somehow ten times more excited about getting married than I was just last week. I sort of flit between wanting to focus on the little details vs. the big picture vs. the Ever After vs. etcetera. I'm just feeling happy in love today.

I don't even have much to report right now, but I was thrilled to come back to see 17 NearlyWed posts waiting in my Google reader - everyone's been chatty this week! I'm excited to see that I'm not the only one contemplating just taking up caligraphy. I'm still not 100% on that idea but I've definitely toyed with it. Our envelopes are going to be brown (like a paper bag - see photo, courtesy of Artful Beginnings, the brilliant etsy seller who's doing my invites) so I'm still figuring out the best way to work with those. Will black ink stand out well enough against it? Or should I get labels? I've seen the wrap-around kind where the addressee is on the front and the label wraps around to the back and that's where the return address is.. Here's an example of what I mean (and a free template if you're interested!) but I would do something non-damask..

Speaking of addressing envelopes - just in case people aren't reading all the comments, I wanted to echo tealengthtulle (who commented on Miss Chevy Chase's question about etiquette) with the suggestion that you check out A Practical Wedding for a great post about this. Even if you don't identify yourself as a feminist, I think you will like it. Personally I would rather take advice about this kind of thing from a fellow bride than a person who makes a living off of very formal invitations.. Yes she is experienced and knows what she's talking about (and she has a point; I'm sure people appreciate formality and feeling special) - but at the same time, it is in her best interest to convince you that your invitations are so incredibly sacred that you need to pay her to letter them. Sooo I tend to be wary of that kind of thing. But I'm probably too cynical.

In other news.. I booked my day-of coordinator! woop woop. Well nothing's been signed yet but after a little negotiation, I said "we're in!" Anyone else getting some day-of help? I was a bit worried about having to deal with this stuff myself on my wedding day, or asking a guest to help coordinate and clean up. Now I can rest easy knowing that someone else will be there to think of everything.