Flowers (A Rant)

I am so lucky to have such patient parents and a patient fiancé. While I was busy playing with kids, my dearest family was doing their best to help me juggle a very large return from Michaels Arts & Crafts. We had initially ordered 40 pink cherry blossom flowers to decorate our reception space. When the florals came in, we found ourselves with 20 pink and 20 purple cherry blossoms. I'm not entirely certain why anyone would want purple cherry blossoms, but this is what we received. When we tried to do an even exchange with Michaels to receive the style and color of flower we had initially ordered, they informed us that they could not guarantee we would receive the pink that we desired. Justin had to take off from work early to make sure things were settled as well as they could be. It was very annoying and slightly frustrating. I am glad, though, that we now have the 40 cherry blossom stems we had ordered.

Note to future large purchase of florals at Michaels brides: Double check your receipt when you check out and make sure it does not say pnk/pur or any variation of colors. Then! Call about a week after you make the purchase since Michaels employees tend to forget about their customers.

If we had not called around the time the florals were said to be in, we may not have received them. I was actually informed that Michaels had "forgotten" us when I called to find out. The florals had been there one whole week (a week after we ordered them), and they were about to be put out on the floor!

Help!!!!

My photographer asked me to send him a list of wedding shots/reception shots that I wanted taken at the wedding. Keeping in mind that he is going to be with Justin and I from the moment we start getting ready (at 10AM) to the moment we depart the reception site (tentatively at 8PM), what shots can you add to my list that you would want a) taken at your wedding when you get married, b) shots you wish had been taken at your wedding, or c) shots you think would be cool?

Here is my list so far:

Things
-bouquet
-wedding dress (all)
-wedding dress (details)
-bridesmaid dresses (w/ wedding dress... maybe hanging in trees? Something cute!)
-rings
-mismatched china
-florals around reception site

 Bridal Party
-flower girls having tea party (maybe w/ bride and bridesmaids?)
-bride w/ bridesmaids
-groom w/ groomsmen
-bride & groom w/ wedding party
-bride & groom w/ deacon

Family
-bride & groom w/ groom's family
-bride & groom w/ bride's family
-bride & groom w/ both families

Axioo Photography


 Friends
-groom w/ friends
-bride w/ her friends

Special Request Bride & Groom
-bride on vintage couch w/ flowers (remember the one we bought from way back when?)
-bride & groom at altar (duh)

Lists, Lists, and More Lists

In case you were wondering, as a bride-to-be that is how I stay organized. (Not to mention a separate wedding e-mail account.)

I am finding it so hard to believe that everything I have been working on and planning will be here in approximately a month (and some). If I think about it too long, it makes me nervous, so I simply will put those thoughts on the back burner as I finish out my year and so many months of planning. There is still much to be done.

Over the weekend, Justin and I found ourselves running random errands and talking with random vendors about our tasks at hand. The things we managed to take from the weekend include a wedding schedule (YAY!), feeling awesome about our many coordinators and how they will take our special day from "meh" to "WOW!", a gorgeous GORGEOUS ring, and some quality time together (YAY TIME!).

I now owe my coordinator, Jessie Patton at Wildflower Events, and our newest photographer, Darwin Young of a studio here in Lawrenceville MORE LISTS. Can we say thank goodness for the internet? I have so many google docs it is not even funny! (Did I mention I created a list of address for wedding shower invites tonight?)

I guess my point -- If you are getting married, expect to create lots of lists. (And write lots of e-mails. I'm not sure how I survived without my multi-tasking iphone. I totally write e-mails to people in the car while Justin and I go to meet with another vendor.)

Invitation images coming soon... ;)

It's Monday!

Justin and I got a lot done this weekend for the reception.

As you can see here, we've been thinking about how to handle the reception florals for quite a while. On Saturday we saw the prettiest cherry blossom stem at Michaels. I noticed a sign in the floral department about ordering more if they didn't have enough. We spoke with the store manager who ordered approximately 40 cherry blossoms for us and gave us a discount!!! They will be in at the end of the month.

Currently we are planning on using wine bottles painted white to dress up our reception space and to put the florals in. We think it will give our reception site a clean look while adding to the elegance of our reception site.

Along with painting these wine bottles, my parents are also helping by washing and pressing the reception linens! How exciting! :)

We also managed to find a super-awesome caterer Bleu House Café. The owner, Maureen, was awesome to work with and she gave us a fantastic deal on her services! She let us try bits and pieces of all of the food she will be serving at the wedding. There was more than enough to bring home and let our parents try some as well. Everyone seemed quite pleased with the food. The owner was even awesome enough to suggest meeting at the reception site to plan out how to serve the food! Soo exciting!

Then who could forget our talk about cupcakes?! Yum! :)

With only a little bit of time left before the big day, we are excited about how things are coming together! Hopefully it will continue this way...

Idea of the Day


Taken from Green Wedding Shoes and (Once Like a Spark) wedding photography, I loved the idea this couple, Brittany and Mark, had for huge wedding flowers when they spotted some at my favorite store, Anthropologie. The huge flowers thing really brings out the part of me that is in love with all things Claes Oldenburg!

Spoonbridge and Cherry (c) Claes Oldenburg and Coosje
Van Bruggen; Photo courtesy of Walker Art Center

It's COLD!

Finally the temperature has dropped here in Georgia... only to go back up toward the end of the week... Eh! I enjoy the cold for the hot drinks, but I'm not really getting the relaxation that one hopes for when it's cold. You know... curling up under a blanket with a good book near a fire? That sounds awesome right about now! :)

Instead I have spent the week with my future sister-in-law addressing invitations and getting all of the pieces put together. I never once realized exactly how long it would take! I keep thinking I am so close to being finished, but I still have to get my invitations printed, rubber cemented on their backing paper, and I have to weigh and stamp the envelopes! Ahh... invitations are exhausting!

... Did I mention we are still getting addresses together?!

I have been a stickler for etiquette and trying very hard to make the invitations as personal and professional as possible. I never knew there were soooo many rules!

Let me provide a few suggestions for other brides putting together their own wedding stationery:

1. Begin ASAP. I was looking for perfect inspiration, and this is why I am not finished. *shrugs* Put yourself on a strict timeline and maybe you will finish more quickly than I have.

2. It's awesome to win some stationery pieces to help you put together your suite. No you have not made every piece, but it is a heck of a lot cheaper and less time consuming than printing and doing it all yourself.

3. Have help. I could not have done any of this without help. From bouncing ideas off of Justin, having Marion's help with addressing or my mom's help with rubber cementing... It is ALL helpful!

4. Check, double check, and check again. THEN get somebody else to check. It is sooo easy to make mistakes. Just remember - if you spell someone's name wrong, you will be embarrassed. If you send something to Arlington, Georgia, you will confuse the post office and your mail will never find it's way to Virginia.

5. Read up on etiquette and then check again. You probably missed a rule. (Though this does not matter if you are not trying to follow etiquette.)

6. If you are addressing in pen, begin in pencil. It's easier to correct mistakes.

7. Finally -- QUIT ADDING ADDRESSES TO THE LIST! (You already had plenty.)

Anybody else have suggestions for stationery making?

One More day...

I am beyond excited to have had one more day of vacation with the lovely and awe inspiring maid of honor Marion. Unfortunately the day was fun-filled invitation creating and anxiety producing. Luckily we had my mom on rubber cement duty bringing my dreams of white and cream to life. Yay!

I know none of you know what the heck I am talking about since you have no idea what exactly it is we did today... other than the obvious (working on invitations). I can assure you, however, that you do not want to know what we did since it may very well stress you out as much as it has me. (Then again... maybe not.)

On a separately wonderful positive note, Justin and I managed to accomplish quite a bit last week on things that were not stationary related:

1. I ordered my reception dress from BHLDN, and it came in within 2 days! Fancy that!
2. Justin managed to finish one of the bridesmaids dresses, and it looks GORGEOUS! We are all super excited to see what the second dress will look like as I know Justin will do an AMAZING job!
3. I have been in contact with a photographer who is super-wonderful and may be able to work with Justin's and my budget. Most importantly, she is available on March 10th! Woo!
4. Along with the help from Justin's parents in looking for a caterer, another caterer contacted me today about an awesome deal for our reception food! Yay!

I would say BRING ON THIS WEEK, since last week I felt like we got a lot accomplished, but instead I will continue to stress over the invitations for the time being.

Happy midnight! (Since I missed New Years...)