Wedding Expert?

When I first got engaged a year ago, I had already been reading wedding blogs for quite awhile.  I was obsessed with weddings and ready to dive in.  Though, really, I just waded in slowly, and appreciated our long engagement.  But I also still felt a lot more lost than I expected.

I'm going to throw in some photos of bouquets to break up the text!

 Love the colors and textures in this bouquet.  Image via RebeccasSilverRose.com

Most brides are planning their first wedding.  Though some have been married before, and some may work in the industry, a lot haven't planned a big party like this before.  Especially not a party full of loaded emotions and expectations like a wedding.  So many vendors and magazines and blogs are telling them what to do and what to like, and it can be hard to find yourself and navigate the waters effectively and easily.  It's pretty stressful.

Lots of dahlias!  And the yellow is kind of fun and bright.  Image via SpringWellGardens.blogspot.com

It took us awhile to figure out what we wanted our wedding to be like.  Dino and I had slightly different ideas, pertaining to formality and such, but we discussed that and started making decisions.  I started making spreadsheets, which is the only way I know to feel like I'm organized and on top of things.  I still felt like I was floundering, and just making decisions on whims occasionally.

This is what I plan to do - mix brooches with real flowers.  Image via FancyPantsWeddings.com

But I think that is okay.  I saved myself stress by making decisions quickly on the venue, photographer, dj, and even the caterer.  They might not have been the best deal in each instance, but I believe they were good decisions.  And now I have some more insight into the wedding planning process.

Another example of the mixed medium bouquet that I like.  Image via TrishaDean.blogspot.com

Over the past few months, SO MANY of my friends have gotten engaged!  It is fantastic.  But since I've been engaged for awhile, I'm starting to feel like the aged, wise, near-expert in weddings.  I think I've gotten a little cocky.  But it is crazy how in just one year I've learned so much!

I like the looser look of this bouquet quite a bit, it is a little more free and natural looking.  Image via AzaleaFloralDesign.blogspot.com

At the wedding I attended last summer, both my cousin who had been married for about 6 months and my new cousin-in-law were telling me they wanted to help out if they could, and how much they missed wedding planning already.  I thought they were just saying that, but I think it might be true.  I would LOVE to be a resource for my newly engaged friends, and anyone else who needs help.  I plan to post my spreadsheets online after my wedding, so others can use my resources.

The Thing about Traditions...

I think traditions exist for a reason.  I mean, they probably came from something crazy and superstitious, but there has to be a reason we keep them up, other than just for the sake of "tradition."

When we first started wedding planning, I was ready to throw all the traditions out the window!  No, I don't want to be walked down the aisle by my father.  No I don't want to do a father/daughter mother/son dance.  No I don't want to throw a bouquet or garter.  Etc. etc.  But now I'm starting to change my mind.

My dad and me, waaaay back in the day.  Personal Photo

I've never really been a daddy's girl, always kind of kept my distance somehow.  My mom and I are fairly close, but still probably not best friends or anything.  But I love my parents, and want to make these memories with them.  I want to look back on the pictures and see their smiles and see their hugs and everything.  I don't really believe my dad will be giving me away at the ceremony, but I think it is important to honor both him and my mom in the work they did to raise me.

At a friend's bachelorette party, we all wore sparkly rings!  Personal Photo

As far as the bouquet and garter tosses, I'm still not 100% decided.  They won't really show who will be getting married next, of course, but they can be fun!  I've always enjoyed trying to catch the bouquet, even though it can be a little awkward (as in, don't try too hard, or else you might freak out your boyfriend!).  And the garter shenanigans can be a little uncomfortable, since I'm not really keen on my family seeing my new husband groping around up my skirt.  But it can be fun to have a little competition, a little break in the dancing.  Another thing to do at the wedding, rather than just eat and dance.  I don't want people to get bored, and these traditions would provide a little entertainment.

Such a cute cake!  I've had this pinned for ages...  Image via TheFauxMartha.com

The cake cutting is one tradition I have always known we would have to keep.  I believe it is supposed to show you working together, but the most important part of this tradition to me is that you get to eat cake!  I love cake too much to skip this!  It also provides a little entertainment for the crowd, a little "will he smash it in her face?  Will she smash it in his?" uncertainty.  Plus we're going to be spending a chunk of money on this cake, so I want everyone to look at it and let it have it's moment in the spotlight before it is devoured!

I feel like I have barely scratched the surface regarding all the traditions involved in weddings, but these are pretty big ones.  I am slowly changing my mind about some traditions, including more than I expected.  But as much as I want to be different and a unique snowflake, weddings are a good time to show people you love them, and make special memories.  I think that is the most important.

Did you surprise yourself by wanting to keep, or even get rid of, certain traditions?

What's in a Name?

Oh changing names.  Such a hot topic these days, it seems.  Is it feminist to keep your name?  To change your name?  Or just to make a decision based on what is best for you?  I believe that everyone's situation is different, and you should decide based on what works for you.

The other night, my future mother-in-law was booking flights for a trip for a few months after the wedding, and called to verify what my name would be at that time.  It was so weird.  I have a flight confirmation for my future name now!  I just have to make sure I get everything changed quickly after the wedding, but I have a couple months.  Also, how lucky are we that we get to get married, go on a honeymoon, and then go on another vacation just a couple months later?!

I've always known I would change my last name.  I mean, yeah, I grew up with this name, and it is fairly short and easy to spell and pronounce, but it isn't that important for me to keep it.  My current name is somewhat common, and there is a less than desirable movie character that shares the name.  In fact, my grandparents shortened their original last name to make the one I have today, and the only people I am related to with the name are my grandparents and immediate family.  So the name is kind of fake, and I get lots of facebook messages asking if we're related, so I won't be sad to see that go.

My future name is pretty common too.  There is another last name that is more common and very similar with just an extra letter in the middle.  I already see how often the name gets mispronounced and misspelled, and I am not looking forward to having two confusing names like that (my first name is always either misspelled or mispronounced.  It isn't hard!).  Plus the new name is a little longer.  When I went to reserve my new email address, because it is so common I had to add not only my first name but also my middle initial!  It is a freaking long email address...

Speaking of middle names, I am keeping my current one.  My mom dropped her middle name and her maiden name is now her middle name, but she didn't like her middle name.  I love my middle name!  Especially with my first name.  I even include it in my signature.

Okay, I'm no Elizabeth Bennet, but I might look somehting like this when I practice my new signature!  Image from Pride and Prejudice, via flurtsite.com

The last thing I've been thinking about is changing my signature.  Currently, my signature is a quick scribble, not even close to legible.  Should I work on making my new signature readable?  It is still crazy unnatural to sign the new last name, but I suppose it'll just take time.

So my reasons for changing aren't really that big or important, but I just feel like it is the right thing for me.  I am excited to start our family with us both sharing the same name.  It will definitely be weird for awhile, though, but I'm trying to work on getting used to it now.

Save this Date!!! Part 2: The Reveal

Oh yes, I am finally ready to show off my save the dates.  Although, saying that makes it sound like I labored over them for ages, when in reality I just kind of whipped them up, one after another, tweaking things as I went.  And I made like, 4 different versions one night, showed them to Dino, he liked this one best but had suggestions, so I made adjustments a couple of times and voila!  Our Save The Dates!

The blurring looks AWFUL, but I promise it looks quite nice in real life!  Personal Images

So I actually probably spent no more than, like 2 hours of my time on these, and Dino spent maybe an hour as well.

We ordered them through Vistaprint (thank you Groupon!  We actually didn't use the whole amount on the postcards alone so we got a big poster of one of our engagement photos too), and I was impatient so we went for quicker shipping.  Note: they required a signature for the shipment, so I had them shipped to my office.  Of course, the Friday they were delivered, I stayed home sick, so I didn't even get to see them until the next Monday!  But we did eventually get them.

Then we printed address labels onto clear label stickers, which ended up being too big for the postcard, so we had to cut the ends off.  But it worked, and didn't look terrible.  And we slapped those and some stamps on, and we were ready to go!

Like a nerd, I had to document sending the STDs!  How gross is the mailbox at my work, though?  Personal Photos

We had a few to send internationally, hence the envelopes in the back of the stack, but most people seemed to get theirs the very next day!  I am amazed at how quickly the postal service works sometimes.

The only thing I wasn't 100% happy about was how the cards were cut.  On the top, I kind of ignored Vistaprint's warning about anything outside the dashed line being cut, and the date at the top was touching the dashed line.  On half of the cards, it was perfect with a small gap at the top.  The other half are cut right on the edge of the date, but it still works.  

Overall, it was such a relief to get those out!  Especially with the myriad other weddings popping up right before ours, I was getting nervous.  At least now everyone should know to save our date!!

Love and Romance

Today, being Valentine's Day, everyone's minds seem to be on love and romantic gestures.  Cute cards, flowers, dinner out, the whole shebang.  I've never been a huge Valentine's Day person, mostly because I never really had boyfriends to celebrate with.  In college, my roommate (now MOH!) and I would celebrate SAD: Singles Awareness Day, by going out to dinner with a bunch of single people.  It was great fun, and we didn't really miss the romance aspect of the holiday.

But this year I was reminded how nice this holiday can be.  Dino sent me flowers at work!  That is a first, let me tell you.

They are much prettier than my cell phone can photograph...  Personal Photo

Apparently his big romantic gestures are surprises, because he went to lengths to make sure I didn't find out! Sounds a bit like a proposal I experienced as well, and I LOVE IT.  I know a lot of people don't like surprises, but I love them so so much; nothing makes me happier than a good surprise.

This week in general is a very important one now: two days ago was our "Engage-a-versary!"

Hard to believe this was a whole year ago.  Personal Photo

We've been engaged for over a year.  On the radio this morning they were talking about how long they were all engaged; most under 6 months, all under a year.  Times have changed!  But now we only have 6 more months to go, and I am getting so excited!  However, our engage-a-versary was a little lackluster, in that we had chicken at home and watched TV together.  Nice, but nothing too special.

So anyway, we might not go all out and have a fancy dinner out for our romantic celebrations, but I got more than I expected already.  And tonight we'll make a nice dinner at home, some salmon, and just enjoy each other's company.  I might even clean off the dining table and put the tablecloth on it to feel fancy.

How do you celebrate Valentine's Day?  I love the non-traditional traditions, and tried to suggest we get Pizza and Fro-yo for dinner this year, but Dino was not as excited about that idea!  And what is the appropriate way to celebrate an engage-a-versary?

On Pins and Needles

Back in the day, like, almost two years ago, a magical website started.  One where you had to request to join, but the wait was worth it.  A site where you could post visual links to all sorts of different ideas, recipes, craft projects, home design, and of course, wedding ideas.  Yep, that would be Pinterest.

I joined Pinterest as soon as I possibly could.  I loved it!  I read lots of blogs, and found myself bookmarking so many random things and never revisiting them, so the idea of "pinning" them to a virtual bulletin board was very appealing.  Not long after I joined, I noticed more and more wedding relating pins popping up.  But, of course I wasn't actually engaged, so I had no reason to repin them, right?

Wrong!  I mean, I had been reading wedding blogs since my friend got engaged in, oh, 2010, so I had so many ideas swirling around in my head.  It was just natural that I would eventually start a wedding board!  And I did, awhile before we got engaged.

Once we did get engaged, I went full force.  One of my friends commented that it was exciting that I'd finally get to use the ideas I'd pinned!

A screenshot of my wedding board.  This isn't even like, 1/5 of it all!  Screenshot via Pinterest.com

Now I'm running into an issue, though.  I would suggest when you first start pinning wedding related things, you should make several boards for different aspects!  If I want to see all the cakes I've pinned, for example, I have to scroll through pages and pages of other stuff.  And moving things around on Pinterest isn't exactly what I'd call user-friendly.  It takes ages.  At the beginning, though, I wasn't actually planning anything, so I didn't need more organization.

But I absolutely love using Pinterest!  I've also found that because I have several friends who "follow" my pins who will be attending the wedding, I've tried to not pin anything exact - no pictures of my actual dress, no final Save the Date shots, nothing.  I did create a private board to pin all the chevron inspiration I could find, both to kind of hide the theme and to not inundate people with a million images of chevron invitations!  Pinterest is a fairly public place, though, and I want some surprises on the wedding day!

So there you have it.  How very Pinteresting.

And then there were 4...

Holy cow, apparently this summer is THE TIME to get married!  Who knew?  (Okay, in the Pacific Northwest, Late July through August really is the best weather, so it kind of makes sense...)

I wrote earlier about how we will have two other weddings to go to in the weeks before our wedding, and that recently grew to three!  This is just crazy!  And the timing is perfect - the weekend before our wedding, the weekend before that, and the weekend before that.  So literally, for 4 weekends straight we will be celebrating love and commitment!

This is crazy awesome, and I'm so so happy for all my friends and family that are tying the knot, but it is stressing me out.  I really really really need to get cracking on all the details!  I would love to have everything done and ready for our day before we attend the first wedding, but we'll see...  The first two weddings are out of town, so those weekends are basically spoken for now.

My to-do list is looking mighty long and daunting, but I wouldn't miss these weddings for anything.  And to think, last year I only attended one wedding, and it was as a last minute sub for my mom!

Save This Date!!

It is nearing one whole year that we've been engaged, and we're closing in on 6 months to the wedding...  it is high time we sent out some notice to our guests that we want them to come celebrate with us!  Yes, I mean Save the Dates.  A lot of people already knew the date, but it is a great excuse to use our engagement photos!

I decided early on that I wanted to design our paper products.  I worked on both the yearbook and newspaper in high school and college, and have some experience with layouts, design, and design programs. However, I am in no way a graphic designer, but I felt like being able to put my heart and work into the paper products would be more rewarding than just paying someone to do it for me.  Plus everything gets thrown away, right?

So I started out with an idea for our Save the Dates.  There was a design in my head that I just couldn't get out.  I put together a rough one, and it looked like this:

All Photos by Jenny GG, Design by me (with extra blurring!)

I loved the look of the words coming off of the bottom section, and being on top of the photo.  Dino, however, found that it was lacking... something.  What?  I have no idea.  So, I scrapped it.  And we both tried our hands at making some other designs.

This was one of Dino's designs, but I preferred the photo bleed off the page.  Chevron looks funky when it is a border...

I started trying out different photos altogether, to see if that was the issue.

And trying new shapes and just starting from scratch several times...  

I finally gave up on horizontal layouts, and came up with this.

That last one was when we realized we liked the vertical look a lot better.  Unfortunately, we were planning on sending these out as postcards, though, so a vertical front side and a horizontal back would potentially be a little confusing and weird...

However, none of these are our final Save the Date!  They were delivered today, though, so I will be sending them out VERY soon!!!  And then I will share!  

With this Ring

Well, I already have a snazzy engagement ring on my finger, but it will be getting a friend in a few short months!

Just to remind you what my beautiful ring looks like!  Personal Photo

Dino and I took an excursion to the jewelry store recently to get an idea for what we want for our rings.  He had determined he wanted something fairly simple, fairly plain, and not too big.  He has funny shaped fingers, with huge knuckles and tiny fingers in between, and the web between his fingers is really big!  So I'm really worried about finding him something comfortable.  Plus he works in an industry that deals with manufacturing and testing things, which means he visits a lab with lots of heavy machinery and lots of opportunity for accidents, so he wants something that won't cause an issue.

Dino was liking something kind of like this...  Simple, thin, classy.  Image via ShaneCo.com

With that, we ruled out those super hard metals, like Tungsten, since those could be dangerous for him.  He really liked a Cobalt ring they had, and the fact that you could brush the finish or have it polished, and the jewelry store would do that for free (as often as you like!  So if you changed your mind you could have it brushed one year, polished the next, and back and forth!).  But then he did some research and found conflicting information about possible allergies related to cobalt, and hardness issues.

I think we need to go back sometime and talk with the jewelry store some more about our options.  It's also tough to decide since the one at the store was almost $400, but you can get something similar on Amazon for about $25.

I took a solo trip to the jewelry store the other day as well, to scout out rings when it was less busy (apparently right before Valentine's Day is not the ideal time to be just looking at a jewelry store...).  While there, I found one I really really like!  It is simple, straight across, and matches the pave stones on my engagement ring.

Pretty!  Image via ShaneCo.com

I really like it, and I like that because it isn't curved, I will be able to wear it alone if I so choose.  It was tough, though, because the curved band did look pretty nice against my ring, but this one didn't look too weird.  On the inside of my hand, though, there will be a gap if I want the rings to sit flush on the back of my finger.  My engagement ring is like 3 times wider on the back of my hand than on the inside, which I love and is so comfortable, but they don't exactly make wedding bands to fit that.

I also had liked the look of some twisted bands online, so I want to see if I can see them in store against my ring sometime as well.

This one is quite pretty too, and I like that it mimics the intertwined-ness of my engagement ring.  Image via ShaneCo.com

Next step will be to head back to the jewelry store, both of us, to have another look!  Probably after the Valentine's Day madness is over, though...

Anyone else have a hard time finding a wedding band that would go with their engagement ring?  So many people already think my ring is basically a wedding ring (it does kind of look like it could be two...), would it be strange to just not get another ring?  Or maybe just a separate ring that I could wear instead of this one?

My Finger Bling

So waaaaay back, I'm talking about a year ago, Dino and I were on the tropical island of Hawaii (with his family), when he asked me a very important question and gave me the most important piece of jewelry I've ever owned.  Yep, that's when he proposed, and I put my ring on for the very first time!

An "artsy" photo by Dino, showing the original setting for my ring.  Personal Photo

Another shot of the ring, simple and pretty!  Personal Photo

Dino picked out the ring by himself, without consulting anyone at all!  Okay, that is a lie.  The sneaky boy knew that I had created a little slideshow on my Google Drive of various rings that I liked, with lots of pictures of sparkly things, so I could send it to my best friend in case he ever asked.  Well, since he knew this slideshow existed, he logged onto my computer and swiped the slideshow one day when I was out!  So sneaky!  But other than that, he went to the jewelry stores alone and picked out a beautiful half carat emerald cut diamond, which he had set in a "presentation setting."

Now, I know not every place might not have this available, but the presentation setting was ingenious!  With it, Dino was able to propose with an actual ring, and with the actual stone, but then I got the chance to be involved in picking out the setting.  It was awesome.

Actually picking out the setting, though, was a little overwhelming.  I have giant man hands, apparently, so my size 8.5 ring finger wouldn't fit any of the settings in store, but I got the gist.  On probably our third trip, I had my choices narrowed down to a halo setting and a different, unique setting.  I liked the halo, but since my stone is rectangular, I thought it looked ever so slightly weird in the round halo (but surprisingly not as bad as I expected).  The other setting was beautiful, delicate, but still had a good size so it wouldn't be lost on my giant hands.  The downside to this one was that I was afraid the sides kind of sort of looked like the Jesus fish.

In the end, I decided the unique factor of the Jesus fish ring trumped the trendy halo ring, which I worried would appear outdated at some point (although maybe not!  Who knows!).  I am soooo so glad I made that decision, as my ring just looks right, not like a Jesus fish anymore.  It is just me.

My beautiful ring on my hand!  Personal Photo

An artsy picture of my beautiful Jesus Fish ring :)  Personal Photo

Funny story, my ring really isn't nearly as unique as I thought it was: a couple months ago on my photographer's blog, she posted a photo she took of one of her brides' rings, and it was nearly identical to mine!  Same setting, emerald cut stone, the only difference was that the stone was a bit bigger than mine...  Oh well!

Honeymoon part 2

So awhile ago I mentioned that we've started researching our honeymoon trip!  The long and arduous search for the ideal destination has continued on...

Dino has been doing most of the legwork (bless him), and has basically decided that Jamaica is the place to go.  Lots of options for resorts, and decent prices.

The potential Island we'll honeymoon on!  Image via old.wordtravels.com

He had basically settled on one resort in particular, located near Negril on the west side of the island.  Now, it looks lovely and all, but I had one major concern: getting there from the airport in Montego Bay.  I made him Google the directions to find out how long of a drive it would be, and it would be an HOUR AND A HALF.  I don't want to be stuck in a car for that long!  Yes, it isn't forever, but I dread the idea.

My main issue with the drive is that about a year ago, I started getting motion sickness-y when I wasn't the one driving.  I don't know what happened, I never had issues before.  In fact, I'm kind of wondering if it is anxiety related, and maybe I've developed anxiety.  Anyway, no matter, I have a tough time being a passenger in a car for short drives even, so the idea of being in the hotel's shuttle from the airport, along the wind-y seafront roads, for an hour and a half, well...  I freaked out!  Poor Dino.

So he has been wonderful and awesome and started looking up other resorts in Montego Bay that are much closer to the airport.  None of these seem to have quite the amazing, long stretches of beaches, though, and he really had his heart set on the other resort.  I've also been trying to get him to consider other islands, smaller ones where even the furthest resorts from the airport would be less than an hour away.  I'm also wondering if maybe taking a motion sickness pill would help me as a passenger, so I might test out that theory.

I feel so silly to be so concerned about 3 measly hours of my life, but I want to enjoy every second of our honeymoon.  Tell me I'm not alone in not wanting to be driven along a coast for an hour and a half each way...  Has anyone actually been to Negril?  How is the drive?