heading towards the wedding

Back in the day, when my wedding countdown was at like 655 days, I used to wonder what I'd be thinking right before I got married.  Would I be nervous?  Would I be prepared?  Would I be freaking out?

Well here I am, just days before the big day and here's what I'm thinking:

1. Will I be able to eat in that dress???  On one hand, I hear you rarely get to eat at your own wedding.  On the other hand, I know myself.  You know how some people lose weight when they're sick because they lose their appetite?  Yeah, that's not me.  I eat MORE because I'm sitting in my pajamas watching Maury.  There's no question of my eating.  I'm just worried because my wedding dress is just a bit tighter than my tshirt and sweatpants.
2. Will I be able to walk in that dress???  Without the petticoat, it has about 5 layers of tulle.  With petticoat, it has about 15.  I couldn't even fit through the dressing room door and now I'm supposed to walk down an aisle.  Next to another person. I'm slightly nervous I'll sideswipe people on the way down.
3. Will I cry?  Right now I cry thinking about my father handing me off to a man who might not realize that I am useless when it comes to checking the air in my tires.  I cry thinking about our first dance.  But the real question is whether or not I'll cry when it's actually happening.  Who knows.  Maybe I'll be too busy thinking about tires.
4. Will I have fun?  I know it sounds like a silly question but from what I hear, you don't get to eat, you don't have time to dance and you don't get to talk to your friends.  That doesn't sound very fun to me at all.
5. Will anyone notice the details?  Well, will they????  I've spent the past two years designing, cutting, adhering, addressing, hole punching, and assembling.  All for details that people will glance at and either leave in the pew or toss in the trash.  But I guess they'll be too busy having fun eating, dancing and talking to their friends so I can't really blame them.

And last but not least, the big question of the week is:

What, in Heaven's name, am I going to do when it's all over?!

snow stressed out

So this is it!!  My final week of being single!  For the last month, I've been in DIY Hell.  Between the placecards and programs and menus, wedding planning has become my second shift of work.

Now I knew when I planned a January wedding that the weather would need to be closely watched.  And while my wedding day is looking pretty clear, my rehearsal dinner is not faring as well.

According to Accuweather, my area is potentially receiving 6 to 10 inches of snow from Tuesday night into Wednesday afternoon.  With my rehearsal dinner starting at 7pm on Wednesday, I've decided to change the date to Thursday instead.

As if this week wasn't going to be stressful enough!  Don't get me wrong - I am very grateful that my wedding day will not have snow falling but at least with the wedding I wouldn't have the stress of deciding whether or not I should cancel it!  

So, on top of worrying about moving my stuff into our new place and making sure all the loose ends are tied up, I am now dealing with changing the rehearsal with the church, moving the date with the restaurant and notifying all of our guests. 

Okay, just needed to vent.  I promised myself and my fiance that I would not stress myself out too much this week.  Instead, I plan on fitting in a few pre-marital blogs before I walk down the aisle!

the d.o.c.

No, not the Department of Corrections, but close!

My sister got married last week and after seeing just how hectic the wedding day really is, I'm even more convinced in my decision to have my good friend serve as my Day of Coordinator.  

I don't need her to wear a headset like J-Lo or to come dressed in black.  I just need someone I trust to have the day run smoothly and nothing be forgotten.  I know I'm crazier than most but I think that's even more reason for a bride to have someone there to have everything executed exactly as the bride would like.

Most bridal mags and Web sites encourage using wedding planners, or at the very least, day of coordinators.  And while it seems like it's just ANOTHER wedding expense that the bridal industry wants you to tack on to your budget, I really believe it's worth it, especially during the bridal preparation time.

Here's why.

1. All the other people you trust will be just a little bit busy that day.  Your mother.  Your sister. Your best friend from Girl Scouts.  If you love them that much, they are probably in the Bridal Party or helping you get dressed.  They will be by your side taking pictures or riding in the limo.  They will not be able to make sure all the other little things are perfect.  As organized as I was with my sister's wedding schedule, I was still having trouble balancing between being my sister's planner and being her sister.  In the end, I had to do the job I was technically ASKED to do and focus on being the maid of honor.
2. Time is of the essence.  Between making sure you get to the church on time to having all the bridesmaids board the limo, a day of coordinator's main focus is to follow the schedule you put together.  Otherwise, people run late and extra costs are incurred.
3. No stress in the dress.  You will NOT want to deal with problems and questions while dressed in your gorgeous gown and wearing your expensive makeup.  You just won't.  Let someone else handle the delivery guy at the door or the photographer's question about where the bathroom is located.
4. Good Bride, Bad DOC. It's so much better to have someone else working as your megaphone.  If you're upset or concerned about something, tell the DOC and she'll take care of it.  Are the bridesmaids wandering around?  Have the DOC rein them all in.  Are your family members getting in the way of the photographer's shots?  Let the DOC move everyone out of the way.  Let her be Bossy McBride, NOT you.  

 The DOC doesn't need to be some fancy wedding planner from "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?" She doesn't need to have any prior wedding-day experience.  Your day-of should just be someone you feel comfortable putting in charge of YOUR wedding vision.  Someone you know will make sure that everything goes just the way you want it.

You've done all the planning.  Now let someone else help you to enjoy your day!

you are cordially invited...

So I survived the craziness of work and was rewarded with the relief of FINALLY sending my invitations out!  After all the months of planning and designing and gluing and addressing, I sealed them up and brought them to the post office.

For all of you who are curious about my calligraphy, below is an example of how the envelopes look:

For someone who has never done calligraphy before in her life, I think I did a pretty good job of inking 150 addresses AND return addresses.  Go me!

And now here's a picture of the actual invitation, all made and assembled by yours truly.  As I've mentioned in earlier posts, I had the design printed by Cards and Pockets on pre-cut cardstock.  I then used a Martha Stewart snowflake hole punch on the invitation and then mounted it on "Sparkling Sapphire" panel cards.  I wrapped a silver belly band around the entire invitation and "sealed" it with a snowflake.  All of the items used to create the invitation were purchased by Cards and Pockets as well. I highly recommend them!

Here's

The most important characteristic about my invitations is that it matches all the other stationery I am creating for the wedding.  I didn't DIY the invitations because I thought it would save me money; it took me a lot of time and dedication to get these babies finished.  I made them myself because I wanted everything to fit together.

I can't believe the invitations are finally out!  What a relief! 

Now onto the RSVPS!

panic! about the wedding

So I probably should work on the things I'm panicking about instead of blogging about the panic but expressing my thoughts seems to calm me down.

We are now down to W-3.5 months, which is about 15 weeks until the wedding.  And while I thought I was super prepared and crazy organized, I'm starting to realize that 15 weeks does not leave me much time to get everything I wanted done.

I know what you're thinking:

"Why, Ms. Nicole, you started your planning so early!  How could you STILL have things left to do?!"

Well, since you asked...

• Finalize dinner menu
• Print dinner menu
• Assemble dinner menu
• Finalize program
• Print program
• Assemble program
• Book hairdresser
• Book hotel shuttle
• Make out of town bags
• Wrap wedding favors
• Reserve rehearsal
• Reserve rehearsal dinner
• Shop for wedding bands
• Dress fittings
• Choose wedding cake
• Finish addressing envelopes
• Finish assembling invitations
• Mail invitations
• Order guys' tuxes
• Work on seating arrangements
• Print placecards

I could probably go on but I really don't want to bore you.  The above list was more for my reference than for your interest :)

And maybe 15 weeks in normal time wouldn't be so bad.  But for the next 5 weeks, I am pretty busy at work. Not to mention, there are 3 major holidays within that time span.

So how do I calm myself down AND get everything done that I need to do?  Do all brides go through this, no matter how prepared they are?

making up my mind (and face)

We are now down to t minus 4 months.  WTF.  My engagement has been so long that I kept thinking I had time to do so many things and now my time is almost up and I haven't finished accomplishing everything yet!

One Sprint item I recently checked off my list (yes, I'm still doing the sprints and they are working out really well for me!) was scheduling my makeup trial.  I met with and booked Gina Brozon, a really nice and friendly woman who did an awesome job with my makeup.  

However, after meeting with Gina, I began to wonder if having a trial does more bad than good!

On one hand, I am really glad I got to experiment a little before the wedding day.  I was pretty sure I wanted to go with a dark, smokey look like the ones below.  Looks like Kim Kardashian is my inspiration!

Gina totally achieved the look and even added some false eyelashes to give my wimpy ones a boost.  But after looking at it a couple of hours later, I decided I didn't want as many falsies as I thought.  Better to know now than on the wedding day!

On the other hand, however, getting my makeup done so professionally on a rainy Thursday night in September kinda freaked me out!  Wearing all that makeup on a regular day made me nervous that it was TOO much makeup.  Gina kept reminding me that it doesn't look like a lot when I'm wearing my big dress and my hair is formally done, but it still worried me that I won't look like myself.  

I know this is probably the same reaction every bride gives during the trial but I'm unsure as to how/if I should do my makeup differently on the big day.

Anyone have any suggestions, comments or experience?  I could really use some!

shower of style - part one

I'm a little slow on blogging but I knew this entry would be a lot!

My sister's bridal shower was last week and while I am certainly biased (I'm the Maid of Honor), it was really a spectacular shower.  Momzilla and I, along with my sister's future sisters-in-law and future mother-in-law, put a lot of hard work and effort into it and it certainly paid off.

Sister Bride is quite the fashionista.  She's always loved clothes and jewelry and the high life.  She currently works as a manager at a very well-known and high-end retail store.  She has more designer bags than I have underwear.  So it was only natural that we plan a shower around her love of fashion.

First, we ordered the invitations from Tickled Pink Design and I penned an original saying that catered to the theme.

Next, we ordered favors.  We wanted to give guests something that was relevant to shopping but was still useful.  So I searched high and low until I found a great deal on these adorable purse valets from Sincerely Ann Marie.  Since the party, we've received a lot of compliments on them!

The restaurant was already giving us a wishing well but I had something else in mind.  I envisioned a large "shopping bag" in which guests could throw their little gifts.   

I bought a presentation display board from Staples and covered it in brown mailing paper (also purchased at Staples).  Then I glued a twine-looking wire around the top of the board that I bought from Michaels.  And last but not least, Lyndsey's future sister-in-law used her nifty Cricut to cut out large letters to glue on the front of the board.  It wasn't perfect Bloomingdale font, but came out really cute!  Then we surrounded the presentation board around a hamper in which people could put their wishing well presents.

This was the final product:

For the centerpieces, we collected small to medium-sized black shopping bags from high-end retail stores like Sephora or Guess.  We then stuffed them with hot pink tissue paper and wrapped a tag around them that indicated table number.

Here's some of them lined up:

And then one of the most creative things we did for the party was the placecards.  People are still talking about them!

I am in no way a graphic designer but I took an image of an American Express credit card and played around with it in GIMP, a free photo editing program.  I found a font that looked similar to the fonts on credit cards and added everyone's names and table numbers to the credit card.  Then I printed, laminated and cut them to look like real cards.  We stuck them in mini shopping bags with hot pink paper and set them out on the table.

They came out really adorable!!

So not to overwhelm you with an extremely long entry (which I'm sure it already is), I will dedicate my next entry to revealing what sorts of games we played and just how cute everything looked at the shower.

Stay tuned!