Big Mouth Bride

Officially Hitched: For The Love of Neil

2011-11-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

So you've seen our First Dance (and the disaster that preceded it) followed by our lovey-dovey sunset photo shoot...which leads us to the end of the night when everyone really took to the dance floor to get.down.

For the record, I had no idea my husband could do that. Proud wife moment.

Mouth open...yet again. Look familiar?

Yep, I know...I know.

And then...moment of all moments, Neil graced us with his presence. I touched briefly on this during our brush with fame in Brides Magazine, but allow me to provide a refresher.

Our group of friends has developed a tradition at weddings. At each wedding, we play Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline. As soon as the song begins to play, the group gathers around the couple and everyone sings along at the top of their lungs...and tends to act out the song as well ("touching me, touching youuuuuuuuuu" - you'll see below). I have to say, this was hands down one of our favorite moments of the day.

"Handssssss....Touching Handssssss"

"Reaching Out"

"Touching Meeeee"

"Touching Youuuuu"

"SWEET CAROLINE"

"BAH BAH BAH...Good Times Never Felt So Good [So Good, So Good, So Good!]"

Clearly we had NO fun at the reception.

Do you have any traditions with your friends at weddings?

Officially Hitched: And we danced

2011-11-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

After we finished our first dance as husband and wife, it was time to welcome everyone to the dance floor and drop it like it's hot. Yeah, I just said that.

Mouth open - unfortunately this is a pretty classic move of mine. Yes, it's very bridal.

As much as I'm sure you'd love for me to walk you through each song that was played and the subsequent dance moves that followed...I'm thinking I'll just share a few photos of the dance floor heating up.

And then just as a classic Justin Timberlake song came on (cue desperation to hit my face...I was definitely ready to get down to that), our photographers stole the bridal party away for some quick shots before the sun set behind the mountains. After seeing the shots, I'm glad they grabbed us.

Obligatory boy jump shot

Then it was time for some tender moments with my new hubby...

Following our impromptu sunset photo shoot it was back to the dance floor to tear it up!

Do you have plans for a sunset photo shoot?

Officially Hitched: Our First Dance

2011-11-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

So you know how you look through recaps and think - wow, their wedding was clearly perfect. Yeah...I'm about to blow that thought right out of the water.

And to be fully honest, I've been dreading this part. It's the one moment during our wedding that made me sad...and humiliated...and a lot of other emotions that I'm not sure I have the words for.

Okay, like a band-aid.

So after we enjoyed our delicious mini-pies, it was time for our first dance. As I'm sure all of you know, this is the point when typically the DJ introduces the couple under their new married name and invites everyone to watch as they have their moment on the dance floor. This is the time when everyone stops what they are doing, turns toward us and listens as the DJ begins to speak.

To make sure everyone is up-to-speed, my name is Melanie (as seen on our pie flags...I'm not worried about you all knowing my name). :) Please keep in mind my name when reading the next part.

As I'm standing there, holding my new husband's hand and loving life more than I thought possible...the DJ says "And now, if I can have everyone's attention. The bride and groom will have their first dance as husband and wife. I'm pleased to announce Frogger and Melissa NewLastName."

Yes, you read that correctly - he called me Melissa. Melissa NewLastName.

There was an audible gasp that swept through the entire group as all eyes were on us. It was humiliating and embarrassing and I literally wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. I realize this sounds a bit dramatic but honestly, I had been waiting to hear this introduction and to be announced with a completely different name, it was like I was just hit by a MACK truck.

The situation was made worse by the reactions all around us. Some looked on in shock, others yelled out my actual name and well, there were even a couple of chuckles. I don't hold it against anyone...well, anyone except the DJ.

After hearing my actual name being yelled out, the DJ corrected himself and immediately played our first dance song to help move things along. At the time, as a defense mechanism, I pretended to not even hear it - looking around at people saying "what? what happened?" but yeah, I heard it loud and clear and yeah, it cut pretty deep.

At that point, Frogger was leading me out to the dance floor and my options were to stand there and have a meltdown or take the moment in stride and focus on what mattered - that moment I was going to have my first dance with my husband. I chose the latter.

Once I made the decision to live in that moment with him and soak up our first dance, I felt so much better in his arms, listening to the song and allowing myself to let it go. Looking back through those pictures, I'm so glad I made that conscious choice. I'll never get to change the outcome of that moment but I did get to change my reaction and even now, I have to remind myself of that. While writing this, I'm still a bit torn up about it but I know that it's a very small thing to have gone wrong in the big scheme and I couldn't feel more lucky to have had so many of the moments before and after go so well.

Thank you all for making me feel comfortable enough to share this humiliating moment with you. I could have easily brushed past it but after sharing my journey with you and all of my trials and tribulations, I feel like it's only right to share everything with you.

Officially Hitched: Mmm...Pie

2011-11-10T20:28:00.000-08:00

After the incredible toasts and the delicious dinner (that unlike many couples, we actually ATE), it was on to the tradition of "cutting the cake" - only we didn't have cake. Nope...no cake. Need a refresher on why? Click here.

Enter the land of mini-pies.

Spoiler - our "cutting" pie is in view at the top there.

Hello mini-pies, I love you.

So to preserve the tradition of "cutting the cake" we decided to get a larger, normal-sized pie for us to "cut" and give our guests mini-pies to enjoy. We chose five flavors and I created little pie flags so you could tell what kind you were selecting. Oh how I loved those little flags.

Let the pie fun begin...

Following our pie moment, we were surprised with a song that Mama Frog had recorded for us as a gift for our special day. Quick background: Mama Frog has been a singer all her life and has quite a bit of professional experience under her belt so we were thrilled with such a personal and sentimental gift. Oh and for the record...that incredible gift of hers...yeah, this little froggie didn't inherit it.

Hi Mama Frog and Grammie Frog...I just love this shot.

Are you having something other than cake? Do tell...! I love hearing all the creative alternatives.

Officially Hitched: Reception Begins...

2011-11-08T19:28:00.000-08:00

So following our gorgeous ceremony, I ducked away for a quick change. Thanks to my uber talented Mom and my very generous Aunt, I was able to subtly change up my look for the reception. I'm a very lucky girl.

Enter slightly-more-glammed-up-Mrs. Frog:

Behold...hair up and new sash...faaaaancy

At this point, I didn't know anyone was around other than Mr. Frog. We hadn't planned a formal entrance to the reception, we just hoped to kinda slip in quietly and make the rounds. Typing that now, I realize how ridiculous that sounds...oh yeah, we'll just slip in, nobody will EVER notice. Bride brain at its finest, folks.

It was such a great feeling to take the hand of my new husband and enter our reception.

And it was almost as good as the impromptu applause and cheering as we made our entrance. Even now, thinking back, that moment makes me smile - I'm so glad it was captured on film...especially the shock on my face. Mind you, this is also when I was able to see the reception set-up in its entirety for the first time. Gor-geous.

We got some love from our guests and then made our way to our seats for dinner and ~~roasts~~ toasts.

The toasts were all things they should be - sweet, sentimental and hilarious. We loved every one of them!

How do you picture your reception? Are your friends the type to crack you up during toasts like ours?

Officially Hitched: Reception Details

2011-10-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

Our wedding day view

Okay, I confess, I'm into details. I'm a perfectionist, I'm detail-oriented and I pay attention to all those little things that most people overlook. I'm that ~~guy~~ girl. So that's right, you're getting not one but TWO details posts (does that remind you of an informercial? me too -- if you send me $19.95, I'll throw in a BONUS day-after shoot recap...ooo aah).

Prepare for reception detailed goodness:

Table centerpieces that are so perfect, I almost cried - literally better for our setting than my inspiration

Garden-chic chandelier - a dream piece, I must say

Delicious passed hors d'oeuvres...that we never tasted.

Yummy sparkling raspberry lemonade...and let me tell you, it was just as good as it looks.

The yummy spread...now THIS we tasted, or more like devoured. Yep, I'm a bride who ate at her wedding...and loved every second.

Hello mini pies, I love you.

Mini pie goodness - table using an old door on top of wine barrels, swoon.

Next up, toasts, pie-cutting and the reception really gets going! Tell me I'm not alone, are you a details person too?

Officially Hitched: Formals

2011-10-15T21:48:00.000-07:00

So after we danced our way back down the aisle, we gathered our families and the wedding party for some quick formals. Typically I'm not a big fan of posed shots but looking back, I'm really glad we have them. Usually formals aren't too exciting but there were some moments that I just had to highlight.

My side of our family...all very dignified and behaved.

Followed by Frogger's side of the family - adorable little thunder-stealer. :)

Three generations

Mother/daughter moment...

...resulting in tears, per usual.

Tender moments with my husband

Next up...we head to the reception! What are you planning for your formal shots?

Officially Hitched: I do, I do

2011-10-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

As I floated up toward my future husband, everything around me disappeared. It really is like people say - all that exists is the two of you.

We were lucky enough to have one of our best friends serve as our officiant so he was able to take the outline we wanted for the ceremony and inject his personal stories about us. We had no idea!

And of course, there were tender moments...

And the moment we exchanged rings...

You may now kiss the bride!

May I present for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Frog!

And to the surprise of everyone...including our wedding party - that was the moment the instrumental version of "SexyBack" came on and we proceeded to dance our way down the aisle together. Much to our own surprise...our wedding party (including our officiant) followed suit! Yet another reason why we love them!

Next up...we ROCK the reception.

Do you have any surprises planned for your wedding party?

Officially Hitched: Down the Aisle

2011-10-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

After our intimate moment together, it was time to head back up to the Manor and prepare for our walk down the aisle.

Our guests got seated and patiently waited for us to make our appearance.

Meanwhile, I shared a moment with my Grammie - this photo was captured by the Best Man on his phone and I honestly couldn't be more grateful. I vividly remember this moment and had no idea until after the wedding that he managed to freeze it in time. By far one of my favorite images of the day.

So as I flustered inside, my handsome husband-to-be walked his Mom down the aisle.

Followed by our wedding party...although sadly not all were captured as they lead the way.

And then it was time for me.

And just as I began to feel the moment of "wow...I'm walking down the aisle" - I was reminded of the reality of Murphy's Law.

Yep...that's right, dear hive...my veil caught on the walkway and the bushes and was clear pulled off. I guess I'm sorta grateful for the fact that there aren't any photos documenting that lovely bridal moment of my head being pulled backwards while my veil (still attached to my head) was desperately trying to escape behind me. My Mom worked to put it back in place but after a while, I was just ready to leave it behind...actually I believe the -very bridal- conversation went as such:

Me "Oh my GOD - did that just happen??"
Mom "We'll fix it, we'll fix it!!" (veil now sorta fastened-ish)
Me "It's gonna come out again...it feels loose"
Mom "Okay, let me try again..."
Me "It's fine, let's just go"
Mom "No I think I have it now" (still loose)
Me "I don't CARE - I just want to get married!"
Mom "Okay, I GOT IT!"

And the resulting image:

Luckily the last try worked and the veil stayed on...nothing like a little reality check! Only me...

Now we resume our scheduled walking:

I'm getting married!

Next up...we finally get to say "I do!"

Have you had any "Murphy's Law" moments along your wedding journey?

Officially Hitched: Ceremony Details

2011-10-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

You know, it's amazing how much goes into the details of the day. The amount of phone calls and emails and research - the saved photos of inspiration ideas, the notes spread throughout the house...and yet, it never quite prepares you for what you see on that day. The way it all comes together - you know in your head what you want to see but it really never seems as though it will ever come to be.

And then, the day arrives.

And the details all fall into place...the world around you becomes fuzzy and that day is all that exists.

The details are in place...looks like it's time to get Officially Hitched! Don't worry, you're invited.

What kinds of details are you working on for your big day?

Officially Hitched: Love Letters

2011-10-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

After taking in the moment and enjoying our first look, my husband-to-be took my hand and led me to a beautiful, secluded area to share our love letters that we had written to each other.

Watch your step...

I can't even tell you how special this moment was. To look into one another's eyes and share our deepest feelings and emotions...it's impossible to describe how much that meant to each of us. Words you know the person you love feels for you but words that probably aren't said often or sometimes ever, in that way.

The things he said to me, the words he chose, I'll never forget the emotions that flooded over me and how grateful I was to have found him and to be moments away from calling him my husband. To be moments away from spending the rest of our lives together.

Are you sharing love letters or writing your own vows?

Officially Hitched: First Look

2011-10-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Now that my dress was on and my sash (thanks Mom!) was secure, it was time to see my groom.

Hello Handsome!

Luckily our photographers were seasoned veterans and walked us through this whole sneaky surprise. Frogger waited patiently while I mastered the art of being quiet...let me tell you, not a natural trait for me. Ahem.

Mr. ~~Nervous~~ Serious

Surprise!

What do you think?

I'm pretty sure at this moment I was thinking - can this day possibly get any better? Boy was I in for a ride...best.day.ever.

For those who are on the fence with a first look, I'll throw in my two cents. For us, it was by far one of the best decisions we made. Not only did it ease our nerves to see one another and provide a special moment that we could share on our own, it really helped the flow of the day. We were able to take the majority of the "required" photos prior to the ceremony, allowing for after-ceremony shots to be with our families and a few of the two of us in different spots throughout the grounds.

Obviously it's not for everybody and there are advantages to both ways of handling it but for us...it couldn't have been more perfect. You'll see another reason why in the next post. Yes, I'm a tease, I own it.

Do you plan on having a first look before your ceremony?

Frogs in Brides Magazine!

2011-09-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

We interrupt these recaps for a breaking news brief...

Anyone recognize this magazine? Yep...that's the October 2011 issue of Brides Magazine!

Let's press the rewind button for a moment, shall we?

Shortly after our wedding last summer, I saw a query from Brides Magazine calling for brides to submit a quote about a song that was a "must play" at their wedding reception. This immediately struck a chord with me because our group of friends has a tradition with one specific song that is played at every wedding. When this song comes on, we all circle around the bride and groom...and then, we sing along at the top of our lungs. It's quite a sight (*hint - you'll be seeing this fabulous display of insanity when I get to that part of the recaps). Needless to say, I had to at least give it a shot and submit.

I was SHOCKED that we were one of the couples chosen! They asked for a selection of photos and that was that. I then waited MONTHS for this issue to finally come out...and behold, here it is! Eeeep!

Let's go in for a close-up...

Sorry it's so grainy...but you get the idea. :) I just had to share this with all of you since I know the hive understands how much fun this is!

Do you have a "must play" song for your reception?

Officially Hitched: Pretty White Dress

2011-09-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

So as much as I enjoyed wearing my comfy LOVE t-shirt and yoga pants...it was definitely time to step into that gorgeous white dress that had been waiting for me for weeks. Yes...WEEKS. Side story - because I got my dress in NYC, I had to fly there for my fittings three weeks before the wedding and then cross my fingers, hope and pray, and wish upon a shooting star that I didn't gain or lose an ounce for those three weeks. No sweat, right? Not like I have any pressure or nerves during that time...easy peasy.

What do you mean I look nervous?

And looking at the photo above makes me laugh because remember how I went to NYC to get my dress? Well...I flew that baby back with me to Arizona (the airline loved me for that)....and carried it through two airports including the security line. It just so happened that while going through security at JFK, I had a celeb run-in.

source

Jay Mohr was in line right behind me and laughed as I struggled to put my dress through the x-ray machine. We had a brief conversation and I left with his blessing on my impending nuptials...score! I then kept my white mistress hidden away in our house until it was time to fly to Seattle for the wedding...are we sensing a trend?

By this point (in the photo above) I was very much done with holding up that hanger...but boy did it make for a great arm workout. Take note, future brides. Holding up wedding dress in various locales = buff arms.

Digress much? Wow. Okay let's get me dressed already!

Suck in...please fit, please fit, please fit

Riddle me this...how many bridesmaids does it take to put on a wedding dress?

So bossy...

Finishing touches

All smiles!

Next up - I finally get to see Frogger...

PS - did you see the cameo of Mrs. Tiramisu's bracelet? I count myself very lucky to be the 5th Bee to wear it, I was thrilled to have it as my "something borrowed."

Officially Hitched: Boudoir gift

2011-09-20T17:48:00.000-07:00

So - in case you didn't read my last post, I left off as I was about to discuss my gift for my husband-to-be.

Being incredibly modest, this gift was a pretty big leap for me. And it's thanks to Weddingbee that I even knew what a boudoir session was!

Ha - right...

My first step was finding out if my photographer would be able to do this for me. There was no mention of it in her service list...luckily, she was willing to give it a shot. On one hand, being the guinea pig was exciting because we were able to make up the rules as we went along. On the other hand, it was a bit intimidating since there was no example to follow and well, I'd be in my skivvies.

After a long conversation with my photographer, I was feeling better about the whole idea. We talked about different things I could wear that would create the sexy vibe without giving away the farm (don't I know how to take the sexy out of that statement?). I wouldn't say I was at ease necessarily although definitely feeling more comfortable. But (there's always a but)...she made a point to mention that it would be a very good idea to have my makeup done professionally for the shoot.

Say what?!

This was news I was not expecting. Now, don't get me wrong - if I could have someone else do my makeup professionally everyday before I left the house, I'd be happy as a clam but in this case, I hadn't really budgeted for this detail. Enter the incredibly talented Susie Chhuor!

I found Susie and not only was she super accommodating - squeezing me in during a time when she was moving to a new studio space - but she was friendly and very warm. She was just the person I needed to help me feel my best before this incredibly awkward experience I was going to put myself through. And let me just say...the girl works miracles. I have NEVER looked better. If I had been able to, I would have flown her to my wedding site - she was THAT good.

Now I know you all want to see the finished product...and as I said earlier, I'm pretty modest. But (see, there's that but again), I also understand how important photos are. So because I just love this hive, I'm going to share a few. Friends and family - can you please look away? I feel awkward thinking about all of you seeing these. Speaking of, is that strange that I would rather have people I've never met see this photos instead of people I know well? In my head that is a perfectly normal thought...yes, I realize that makes me weird.

Okay - you've waited long enough...here you go - deep breath...

Oh and did I mention that Susie did my hair too? Seriously, this girl is amazing!

And breezing past the awkward feelings that have creeped in around me, I'm going to cut right to Frogger opening his gift. *Images blurred for my sanity.

Do you think he liked it? Yeah, me too.

Are you planning to do a boudoir session for your groom? Are you as embarrassed as I am, having posted photos like these on the internets?

Officially Hitched: Getting Ready

2011-09-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

Waking up on the morning of your wedding day is pretty surreal. The idea that you are actually getting married, that after the months and months of planning, the day has finally arrived...it's just incredibly emotional - in the best possible way.

Hello lovely! PS - did you see the cameo of my DIY hanger?

Being that everyone was visiting from out of town, we had rented houses and condos for everyone to stay in. To start my day, I headed over to my Mom's house so my Aunt (also known as the hair miracle worker) could do my 'do. The woman has a way with hair and considering it's her career, I felt extremely confident (and very lucky) having her tackle my tresses...even though we didn't do any sort of trial-run. Now THAT my friends, is trust.

Pre-makeup...clearly I'm having a brave moment as I post this for the world to see.

After my hair was just right, we piled into the cars and headed over to the Manor to finish getting ready before the boys arrived.

And just as I was putting on the final touches to my makeup...in walked my photographer with a gift from Frogger. As you may remember, I mentioned that he and I really enjoy cooking and creating recipes. I just adore his accompanying drawings.

As I sat there trying to guess what it might be, I couldn't believe my eyes as I opened the package. I was overwhelmed by the gift he created - he managed to sneak out with our little notebook filled with our delicious creations, took those treasured pages and made a cookbook complete with a bookmark engraved with my new initials. Aaaand cue makeup meltdown...

Meanwhile...Frogger was busy opening his gift from me. That requires a post all its own!

Are you planning to exchange gifts on your wedding day? Anyone else experience a makeup meltdown?

Officially Hitched: The Rehearsal Party

2011-08-31T20:34:00.000-07:00

Choosing to throw a Rehearsal Party was one of the best decisions we made. Not only was it mega-fun...it gave us an opportunity to spend as much time as possible with our guests - guests that had traveled very far to be there in support of us.

Do you see that face I'm making up there? I'd say that's a level 7 party face...we'll continue to monitor this trend as we move through the weekend.

So the party...my fantastic in-laws volunteered their lakehouse for the affair and we couldn't have loved that more. We had a local winery cater the event - their BBQ is AMAZING - and we looooove their wine.

As the evening continued, we all enjoyed watching the sun dip down to the mountains above the lake...it really could not have been a better night. Good wine, tasty food, incredible company - I can only hope everyone gets an experience like that.

Catching those last few moments of sun, Frogger and I had a little impromptu photo sesh on the dock with our photographers...

And just so you all realize that we are nowhere near as charming and lovely as these photos would lead you to believe...

No you're not hallucinating

2011-08-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

It's true - your eyes are not playing tricks on you...I'm back! As much as I wish time hadn't passed as much as it has since I was posting and prepping for recaps, it has completely flown by. I'll definitely fill you in on my adventures but first I owe you all an apology. In order to not make you suffer any further, I'll forgo a video of myself singing this and allow a professional to take the lead - you can thank me later. Sing it Brenda Lee!

So dear hive, please accept my apology. I'll do my absolute best to stay close moving forward and deliver the best damn recaps I possibly can!

Before I begin filling you in on the details of my favorite day ever - I'll give you a brief run down of what I've been up to while I've been away.

Getting any hints?

Following the wedding and our fantastic honeymoon in the Caribbean, we made the life-changing decision to uproot ourselves completely and move from Phoenix to Seattle! Frogger grew up there and after our wedding, it just seemed like the right place to be. I interviewed over Christmas, received the offer and we had less than 3 weeks to pack up our entire lives and drive 1500 miles to our new home...mind you, a home we had never laid eyes on.

Clearly the kitties are excited...who wouldn't love 3 days on the road?!

Since then we've been settling into our life here in the Emerald City (trying desperately to track down the wizard) and enjoying this new change of pace and scenery!

Now...onto the good stuff. Because our location was somewhat remote (Washington wine country), we decided it would be the most fun for everyone if we opened up the rehearsal dinner to be a rehearsal party including everyone who was in town for the wedding. My future in-laws were nice enough to host the event at their lakehouse and we couldn't have been more thrilled with how the day turned out.

We began with the rehearsal at the wedding location...which as we learned the next day, would be of no help as we moved the ceremony to face a different direction for photographers to get the best lighting...don't you love last minute changes? :)

Following our ceremony rehearsal, we piled into the cars and headed to the lakehouse for the rehearsal par-tay.

Running the risk of ending up back in the doghouse...I'm going to leave you hanging just a bit. But - did anyone else have a rehearsal party as opposed to a wedding-party-only rehearsal dinner? And while I'm seeking company in my planning process - did anyone run into switch-ups for their ceremony location? Or perhaps the best question of all, do you forgive me?!

PS - SO glad to be back. xoxo

Making my dress my own

2010-10-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

So as of my last post, it looks like most of you are leaning toward covering the wedding lovefest first. Before I can get to that, it's only right that I share with you the details of how Mama Frog and I were able to personalize my dress for the big day (and by Mama Frog and I, I mean Mama Frog - she's got skillz).

From here on out, I hand over the reigns and let her take you through the steps of how to make a silk sash and chiffon ribbon flower...go for it, Mom!

Hello hive - I'm thrilled to be here! I hope you enjoy the tutorial as much as I enjoyed creating it for you.

To Make the Silk Sash:

You will need 1/3 yard of silk shantung. Make sure that you have a straight edge when they cut the fabric at the store.

Cut (3) - three inch strips across the width of the silk fabric (If you don’t have good, sharp sewing shears, Michael's has shears by Martha Stewart for about $20.00).

Fray the edge on each side of the fabric strip by separating a thread and pulling it across (gently). I find it easiest to fray by holding the center of the strip while standing and letting the ends hang down. Carefully separate a single strand (of thread) and pull it out away from the strip. It should easily pull away to each end. Continue fraying until you have about a ¼ inch on each side of the strip. You will need to cut off the extra thread at each end.

I used a French seam to join the 3 strips together. To make a French seam –

1. Cut ½” off of the ends of each strip, making sure to cut a straight line.

2. Determine which side of the fabric is the right side (the side that you want to show). It should have more sheen to it.

3. Pin 2 wrong sides together (see photo below) and sew a ¼” seam. Trim the seam to 1/8”.

4. Fold the right sides together along the seam line and pin together.

5. Sew a ½” seam.

6. Press the seam to one side, pin and stitch in place near the outside edge - you will need to remove the pins as you sew this seam to prevent puckering.

Note – You can skip the last step and just press the seam to one side, if this is too difficult and you will still have a finished look.

---

To Make the Chiffon Ribbon Flower:

You’ll need-

40” of 3” chiffon ribbon (without wire)

1” square of netting (for backing)

6 rhinestones for the center of the flower (sew or glue on)

Fabric glue for rhinestones (unless you are sewing on)

½” flat button to glue the rhinestones to (optional)

1. Lay out your ribbon and divide the ribbon into 4 equal sections. Place a mark at each section.

2. Starting at one end, sew a basting stitch (by hand) leaving 12” of thread at the beginning point for pulling later. Sew down the end, round the corner and sew across the bottom until you get to the end of your first section mark.

3. Continue basting back up to the top of the ribbon and then immediately back down again. Continue this process across the ribbon – ending with the basting going to the top of the end side (leave 12” of thread at this end also).

4. You should end of up with 4 sections.

5. Grab hold of the thread at each end and (very gently) pull, gathering the ribbon as you pull. It will start to take on the shape of 4 flower petals. Get your gathering as even as possible and gently shape the flower with your hands. When you are happy with it, tie off the thread ends together.

6. Take your 1” piece of netting and sew it onto the center of the back of the flower by hand.

7. Now you need to finish the center of the right side of the flower. You can sew rhinestones on or you can glue them on using fabric glue. It also works to use a flat button and sew the button onto the center of the flower and then glue the rhinestones to the button. (Make sure that you lay out the rhinestones on the button first to make sure that the button will be covered.

8. Now you can sew the chiffon flower onto the silk sash or attach a pin clasp to the back of the flower and pin it to the sash.

Ta-da!

---

And there you have it my dear hive! Thanks Mom for the step-by-step tutorial, I have no idea how your sewing skills skipped a generation but I sure am glad that I was able to benefit from all of your hard work. :) Oh and get this, she actually made me a second sash for the reception which I'll show you later...it's very blingy. I keep telling her she should go into business, maybe this will be a fun jumping off point?

Also, can I just say...it was one of the most special parts of the wedding to be able to wear a piece that my Mom made for me. I will always treasure it - not only did it make my dress 100% unique, it was a symbol of the love and support she has given me throughout my life.

Are you planning to wear something that was handmade for you? Anyone planning to use the Frog tutorial to create your own sash or flower?

Amazing but true

2010-10-18T12:41:00.001-07:00

Yes, I’m alive. Call off the search party and tell the neighbors to stop looking in our windows.

Wouldn’t it be so impressive if I had this incredible excuse for my absence? Like, I was cast in a big budget movie and haven’t had a moment away from the cameras…or…I won the lottery and have been very busy deciding what to do with my new-found fortune? Yeah, it would be great if that were the case.

What I can tell you is that I have gotten lost in domestic bliss – sorting through the mountains of crap we need to give away, sell at a garage sale or just plain throw out, trying out new recipes with all of the fun registry gifts we received from our loved ones, starting to write thank you cards and not finishing even one because we are lazy (incredibly grateful…but lazy), discussing how to split our time with family during the holidays…oh….and….

Going on our HONEYMOON!

Beach hair in all its glory.

It’s wonderful to be back and I can’t wait to fill you in on all of the honeymoon fun! But we have some decisions to make – which to cover first, the wedding lovefest or honeymoon hilarity? Tell me dear friends, which do you think should come next?

One Month

2010-08-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

Tap…tap…this thing on?

Hey friends – sorry to be a bit MIA, married life has been blissful so I took a couple of weeks to enjoy. And can you believe it, yesterday was exactly one month since Laid Back Groom and I got hitched?! In that time, there’s been a flurry of activity in our happy lives:

We spent a few days enjoying time on the lake as a sort of mini-moon after the wedding.

I flew back to Seattle from Arizona to stand beside a childhood friend as she married her darling man. Doesn’t she look gorgeous?

(source)

I’ve been working on a variety of side projects both inside the wedding world and outside – I’m very excited to share the wedding related ones with you but we need a bit more time to work out the kinks…hold please :)

We resized Laid Back Groom’s wedding band (it was just a tad too big) – we want that thing permanently attached to his finger…okay me, I want it permanently attached…what, why are you making that face?

We…okay, I have obsessively checked our photographers’ blog multiple times daily every few days or so to check for a sneak peek of our professional photos, no such luck so far. Hi Stephanie and Isaac! :)

We have surrounded ourselves in boxes as we open the incredibly generous gifts we have received from our guests.

We have spent fun nights in together, enjoying a warm meal and a glass of wine.

As soon as I receive the pro pics, I’ll be able to start some fun recaps…until then we are in honeymoon countdown. Looks like the nights of wine and cheese may need to head back into hiding for another month or so…hmm.

And because I couldn’t just leave you hanging without some sort of wedding photo goodness, I’ll include a few of my favorite shots from guests. Thank you Facebook and iRave, you are a bride’s best friend when she’s fiending for photos.

Can’t wait to show you more!

Details on the dress

2010-07-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

So I know what you’re thinking…I totally left you hanging. And you’re right. I’m sorry friends, I had to wait until after the wedding to post the details on my dress – too many of our guests were reading the blog and I really wanted them to be surprised. Forgive me?

(source)

Last we left off, I told you about my shopping trip to NYC and my brushes with fame! From there, Mama Frog and I headed to Designer Loft. The space is great and if you are looking for certain designers (I found a lot of Jenny Packham for example), this is a great spot to hit up. Unfortunately, I tried on quite a few dresses there and none really fit what I had been looking for.

We moved on to The Bridal Garden (a nonprofit that I had high hopes for) and once there, we realized that it would be extremely difficult to find a dress there. I really love the idea of buying from a nonprofit but unfortunately these dresses were pretty beat up…it would take a lot of alterations and a full cleaning to get them back to anywhere near ready for a wedding. Ultimately, not a good fit.

Next up, RK Bridal – a warehouse of sorts. They have rounds and racks throughout the store filled with gowns. You are to search through the dresses, find the ones you want and write your name on the list. They will call you when they are ready and off you go. It’s very different in that you get to walk around freely to look for dresses on your own. Personally I didn’t find anything there but I did see one bride have her “moment” while I was there and it was really fun to watch from the sidelines!

Lastly, and really on a whim, Mama Frog suggested we try to see if the Saks bridal salon had any openings. Saks…why hadn’t I thought of that during my crazy, type A, appointment scheduling madness? We called while on our way to lunch and found that they had an opening that afternoon – yippee! With a nice full belly (perfect for trying on dresses and getting half naked in front of a stranger), we headed to 5th Avenue!

(source)

We arrived and were greeted by our salesperson, Melina. She is WONDERFUL and anyone interested in buying there should definitely ask for her – seriously the best salesperson we found in all of our shopping in the city. Melina lead us back to our fitting room and began asking about what I was envisioning, styles I liked, etc. She left the room and brought back the who’s who of bridal gowns. We’re talking Monique Lhuillier, Amsale, Carolina Herrera, Vera Wang, Reem Acra and Oscar de la Renta. I immediately felt very under dressed.

(source)

One by one, the dresses missed the mark. I was starting to get very discouraged. Melina said she had a few more she wanted to bring in so I gave her free reign to pull what she thought would work. She brought back three dresses.

The first, an Amsale, was beautiful but too heavy for my occasion – I liked it but I knew it would be way too hot for an outdoor, summer wedding.

The second, a Monique, was Mama Frog’s favorite. As soon as it was clamped into place, she began to tear up. It was beautiful but I knew right away that this was not my dress. Our conversation was as follows:

Mom: Oh sweetie…. (tears welling up)

Me: Yeah it’s really pretty.

Mom: Oh…oh…(big sigh, hand on chest)

Me: Okay mom, I know you are loving this one but you need to put those tears away…this isn’t my dress.

Mom: Are you sure?? (shock and concern on her face)

Me: Yes, I’m sure. I know it’s what you have probably always envisioned but…it’s not my dress.

After explaining that it was just not what I had been searching for, however beautiful it was, she understood and we moved on to the final dress. Melina explained that she saved this one for last because it was her pick for me. I asked her how often she ends up picking dresses for her brides, all she did was smile. Hmm, I thought – this should be interesting. She showed me the dress on the hanger and I recognized it immediately. We had passed this dress on a mannequin as we walked into the bridal salon, it was a Vera. It was pretty but I really didn’t think much of it.

Then I tried it on.

Does anyone else look at this photo and look at my arms and think “I’ve got no strings to hold me down, to make me laugh or make me frown…” from Pinocchio? No? Just me?

It was the first time I was quiet the entire day. I didn’t know what the feeling of “the one” was supposed to feel like but I knew this one was unlike any others and I definitely felt something. After looking at it in the mirror in the room, then out in the big gallery area, then back in the fitting room. At this point, I knew this dress was a major contender…but the pressure to make a decision was just too much and I needed to sleep on it. Melina understood and let us know that her offer was good for the weekend.

That night Mama Frog was up with allergies and had a hard time sleeping. She began thinking about our day of shopping and her mind kept circling back to the Vera dress. Meanwhile, I was happily sleeping and dreaming of the very same dress. The next morning over breakfast I shared my dream with her and she told me of her thoughts in the middle of the night – it seemed as though this dress had chosen me just as much as I had chosen it. At that point, we called Saks, Melina was nice enough to squeeze us in during her lunch break (she’s amazing), she clamped me back into the dress and then, I just knew – this was my dress!

I can’t tell you how much I absolutely LOVED my dress. It’s classic and timeless yet chic and very fitting for our garden wedding. I felt more beautiful than I’ve ever felt on my wedding day and I can’t imagine having any other dress.

How did you choose your dress? Or did your dress choose you?

Surprise wedding video

2010-07-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

While I patiently wait for the pro pics (Hi Stephanie!), I wanted to share with you one of the most special gifts we have received since the wedding.

I longed to have the budget to include a videographer for our big day but it just wasn’t in the cards. I knew that many family members would be videotaping various parts of the ceremony and reception and decided that would just have to be good enough.

Enter Cousin J.

Cousin J and I are just one year apart and are more siblings than cousins. He’s one of my best friends and as a groomsman in our wedding, I was thrilled he was able to make the trip up from Texas – add to that the fact that he was the best man in a friend’s wedding the following weekend in Michigan. He was a total jetsetter for a good two weeks. :)

When he arrived, he had the new iPhone 4. He worked for Apple for a while so he’s very up on all of the latest with their products. Little did I know, he had a program (similar to iMovie) on his phone and he began taping little segments throughout the weekend.

(source)

At the family brunch on Sunday that my Mom lovingly set-up for us, Cousin J secretly filmed some final segments for the video and casually said to me, “Hey – check this out” then handed me his fancy phone. The awesomeness that he created is below, there are hardly words for how incredible it truly is (PS – spoiler alert as my dress makes its debut):

I can’t even tell you how much I absolutely love this. Not only is it incredibly impressive that he literally threw this together on his phone, but it’s inspired me to collect as much video from everyone as possible to see what kind of fun iMovie I can create with additional wedding footage. Thank you Cousin J for your love and support – the day would not have been the same without you.

What are you planning to do for videography?

Let's play the waiting game

2010-07-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Since I’m obsessively checking every 5 minutes waiting patiently for my pro pics, this is a great time to revisit some of the last minute projects I tackled just days before the wedding…and in some cases, literally at the eleventh hour.

Thanks to the genius that is Mrs. Lemon, I discovered iRave and knew I had to add it to my never-ending list of projects. In the early morning hours before our flight to Seattle, I quickly laid out the little photo cards in Photoshop. Because I’m extremely creative (read: brain dead from lack of sleep and too many last minute wedding projects), I blatantly copied Mrs. Lemon’s fab little directions for using the site. I tried my best to create a design the tied to our theme, it’s sad, but it was the best I could manage on 3 hours of sleep. :)

I also decided in my sleep deprived state that creating cute little Mr. and Mrs. signs for our chairs would be a nice touch…luckily those were very simple to do:

In my fit of Photoshop projects, I also realized that I had yet to create the sign for our “guestbook” – the fantastic wine bottle that we got from Frogger’s family antique shop (did I mention that we had access to as many cool antiques as we wanted? Yeah, it was awe.some). Below is the sign we created – you’ll have to wait to see the bottle in all its glory.

And of course, after seeing Mrs. Cola’s post about crafts, I realized I hadn’t created a sign for our guest shuttle bus…add that to the list! I’m sure I could have gone on and on (and well, I did create the welcome letter for our out-of-town bags and a sticker for the bags but they were scraped after I reached my zen state of “nobody will ever know the difference” – this became a mantra for me as the wedding grew closer and projects loomed, just being real here).

Did you fall victim to crazy-must-add-more-projects-to-the-list bridal insanity and tackle craft projects at the last minute? Did “nobody will ever know the difference” become a mantra for you at all during the wedding planning process? Tell me I’m not alone…

I'm a MRS!

2010-07-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

So I got so carried away with the preparation of the day that my final Miss post got lost in the moments that went flashing by! I can't tell you how much the hive has meant to me and how incredible the experience of being a Bee has been.

I married my best friend yesterday. It was the best day of my life. Frogger, you make me happier than I ever thought I could be, thank you for making me complete. Forever has never sounded so good.

Thank you to the hive for your support throughout this journey to the altar - it wouldn't have been the same without all of the readers, comments, ideas and unconditional support.

I cannot wait to share the day with you...until then - the only photo I have, a teaser from my wonderful cousin who snapped this just after our first look!

Lots of love,

Officially MRS. Frog :)

Our talented guests continue to impress

2010-07-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

A while back I shared some of the RSVPs we received back from our guests. After waiting for all of the stragglers, I have a second installment for your viewing pleasure. I have to say, this might be one of my favorite ideas – it’s been highly entertaining!

Oh and before I get to the RSVPs, did I mention we received a letter back from The White House? That was very fun!

Now, without further ado…

From our Matron of Honor Banannie and her hubby – a very talented artist!

From my very creative aunt, uncle and cousin

From my dear friend in NYC

From my fantastic step-sister

From one of Frogger’s good friends – he also happened to teach me how to wakeboard back in the day so this one is very fitting!

From Bridesmaid Berk and her soon-to-be hubby

From my aunt, uncle and two adorable cousins – a family of many talents!

I saved my favorite for last…

From my extremely talented and creative Mama Frog – isn’t she the best?

These have been so much fun to receive, we can’t wait to see all of our talented guests and thank them in person!

For the kiddies

2010-07-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

We don’t have a lot of kids coming to the wedding but it was important to us to recognize our pint-sized family members in at least a small way.

A while back I came across a posting on Martha Stewart Weddings where they had created a version of I Spy as a conversation starter for a wedding. I just loved the idea so I decided to create my own version for the kids.

Martha’s version

Since I basically went into Photoshop, came up with fun photo opps and then used fun fonts, there’s not much of a DIY here. I used the same design as our invitation suite and some of the other paper elements for the wedding. Wanna see?

We came up with a very simple rhyme for the introduction and we will be supplying each child with their own disposable camera. We’re excited to see what shots they come up with and I’m particularly interested in the angle since they are a good 2-3 feet shorter than most of our guests. :)

Did you do anything fun for the little ones at your wedding?

Easy as pie

2010-07-10T12:10:00.000-07:00

Way back when, I shared our dirty, little secret – we don’t like cake. After going through all of our options, the most logical choice was pies made fresh with all of the local berries and fruit that are available in Washington in the summer. We found this adorable little bakery called, get this, Sure To Rise – how cute is that?

We settled on 3 large pies and 80 mini pies in varying flavors (blueberry, strawberry rhubarb, apple, peach and triple berry). Because I wanted the pies to be displayed sporadically on the pie table, I knew I needed a way to identify the flavors for our guests. Enter pie flags.

Pie chart…ha, get it?! I’m funny.

Since we are using a large pie for our “cake cutting” I needed some sort of topper for people to recognize that this pie was significant. For the record, we’re going with blueberry – lord help me if I get it down the front of my dress. To match the mini flags, I made larger versions that I’m planning to group together to create a topper for our pie:

Front

Back

Although they were a tiny bit labor intensive, overall they were pretty easy to put together. I loved coming up with different ways to design them and in the end, I think they will be really helpful for our guests come dessert time.

What are you doing for your dessert?

Phoenix Bee Meetup

2010-07-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the local Phoenix bees that decided to arrange a quaint bee meetup through the local boards. Clearly I’m slacking on my bee duties! :)

We had a great time at Kokopelli Wine Bistro in Chandler – enjoyed some tasty appetizers, delicious wine and great company.

lemondrop, az2wa, azwinelover and moi

And super huge shout-out to azwinelover for the too-adorable-for-words bee cake pops! Check out the cuteness:

Bee pops a bloomin’

Before the AZ sun got the best of them…

And the heat has set in.

Thanks girls for a fun afternoon – looking forward to our next one!

Gifts for my girls

2010-07-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hello friends. I’m so sorry to have been absent for a bit. I found out just a couple of weeks ago (nearly a month before my wedding) that I was being laid off from my job. It was a very big surprise as the company had not informed us that they were in any sort of trouble. Sparing you of the many details, I will say that I needed that couple of weeks to sort out my job situation and find a solution. I promise to fill you in on some of the exciting developments that are happening but first, I need to get back on track – there’s so much to tell you all about!!

Now that we are getting so close to the wedding, I am pulling together the last few bits of the gifts I’ve created for my maids.

These five girls have celebrated Frogger and I as a couple, supported me, kept me sane and there’s no way I would have been able to survive all of the wedding planning ups and downs without them.

Girls – you know you shouldn’t be reading this…so get lost. Kisses.

(source)

———

Are they gone? Okay, good.

So first off I knew I wanted to do something that would celebrate how individual they all are. I’m having them all wear different dresses in the same color family and so it only made sense to continue that idea through to their gifts.

First, I searched through etsy (of course) and found some great handmade clutches. After looking through multiple designers, I knew I wanted to be able to customize them completely so they could really speak to each girl.

I found ModDotTextiles and couldn’t have been more thrilled with what she was able to do for me. She helped me find the fabrics for the bags, offered suggestions for the inner lining colors so they would coordinate and was genuinely interested in my thoughts for each bag. So…you wanna see them?

Ta da!

I decided there were certain little things that I wanted to give them all in preparation for the wedding day. Behold the inner contents:

Please disregard the chipped nail polish and cat hair covered pillow…classy.

Roll call: Nivea lip gloss (my favorite), blotting papers and SoleMates, holla!

I’m planning to wrap them up in tissue and tie with baker’s twine or possibly rafia. They will also be getting the hangers I created for their dresses as part of their gift as well. And of course, each girl will get a hand written note from me, telling them how very much they mean to me and how special it is to have them there on this most important day.

How did you decide what to give your maids?

The boy and his bling

2010-07-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

I’ve already talked about my bling…now it’s time for Frogger to have his moment. This past weekend, we went to our jeweler (our locally-owned shop that we absolutely love – for those in Phoenix, go see Marc at Burland Jewelry Center) and looked through wedding bands for the boy.

I knew we would have a challenge on our hands when we began driving over. Our conversation:

Me: Soooo, are you excited?

Him: Yeah…but I don’t really know what I’m going to like.

Me: I know but I think you’ll feel differently when you get there and can try some on.

Him: …I don’t know.

Me: What’s the matter?

Him: I don’t really wear any rings and it’s not like I go around looking at guys’ wedding bands. I just don’t know what I’m going to like.

Me: Well, I think you need to just take your time, try on a bunch and don’t settle until you find one that you love.

Him: What if I don’t know what I love…what if I like a few of them? Just make sure that you give me your honest opinion.

Me: Has that ever been an issue of mine? Don’t answer that. I will give you my honest opinion but not until you give yours. I don’t want to decide on the ring for you, I want you to love it and I’m happy to weigh in but ultimately, you need to love this – it’s your ring.

Him: But I want your opinion, I trust your judgment and I don’t really know what I want.

Ugh.

Please tell me someone else had this same discussion? Are those crickets I’m hearing?

Luckily this story ends happily.

We arrived at the jeweler and began looking through the bands. There are a LOT of men’s bands. Plain or ornate, bling or no bling, multiple metal types, millimeter width, etc. I thought chicks had a lot of options…good grief.

(source)

After trying on quite a few, he began to find a style that he seemed to gravitate toward. He wanted simple and classic but not plain. Did we nail it?

Obligatory wedding band glamour shot

And here are our rings together – don’t they just look so happy?

Shout out to Frogger for the photo set-up, good job stud

Did you have a roller coaster ride when you picked out your love’s wedding band?

Generations

2010-06-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

I realized the other day that I have yet to share my personal approach to the ceremony and how I’ve decided to walk down the aisle.

I won’t delve too far in but my parents divorced when I was young and my dad moved out to Arizona while I grew up with my mom in Michigan. My mom and I are extremely close – she was an incredible mother, example and support and now she’s an advisor, rock and more than anything, best friend. I’m so blessed to have the relationship that I do with her and I am grateful everyday that I had her to look up to while I was growing up. The sacrifices she made, gave me the best life possible.

With my dad living so far away, I would fly out to visit a few times a year and eventually when I graduated high school, I saw it as an opportunity to move out west, spend more time with my dad and go to Arizona State. So, that’s exactly what I did.

(source)

This may sound odd, but with the relationship that I had with my mom, I had always pictured her walking me down the aisle. I know that traditionally it’s supposed to be the father but it really never seemed like the right fit. Unfortunately, that decision was made for me. Just a few days before I graduated ASU my dad passed away. It was a very big shock and he was far too young to have gone so soon. The sadness has eased slightly with time but it’s never easy to lose someone you love.

I’ve been blessed with an incredible mother and she was blessed with an incredible mother – my Grammie. I’m extremely close to my grandmother, I have spent more nights than I can remember at her house. We go there for every holiday, birthday and special occasion. She is the heart of our family and one of the most important people in my life. She is strong, funny, independent, stubborn, enjoys cooking/entertaining and loves to dance. If I didn’t know that I was describing her, I’d think it was me.

As I’ve gone through the wedding process, I’ve realized how my initial gut feeling of having my mom walk me down the aisle has continually rang true and it lead me to the decision that I wanted nothing more than to have the two women who have shown me the best example of who I could be, to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day. I also plan to have a memorial for my dad (along with other loved ones who have passed).

My biggest concern is how emotional it will be to have both of them on my arm and even now, I’m tearing up thinking about looking into their eyes when we arrive at the end of the aisle. Their support has always meant the world to me and this day wouldn’t be complete without this special moment with them.

Could they be any more fun?

So, Mom, Grammie, I love you both more than I can possibly say. Thank you for all that you have done to support me and for the unconditional love you have given me.

Are you planning an unconventional approach to your walk down the aisle?

A little something extra

2010-06-24T05:19:00.000-07:00

So after deciding that nudity is not allowed at the wedding, we finally decided on linens for the tables – as I discussed here.

After looking at a mock-up and knowing that we will have clear plastic plates (albeit very nice ones…but clear plastic all the same) I knew I wanted to have something to dress up the table a bit more. And so began the hunt for silver chargers.

(source)

At the end of my linen post, I posed a question about finding chargers and wouldn’t you know it…a superfab WB reader came to my rescue (thanks azwinelover)! My little charger angel was located right here in Phoenix and happened to have chargers sitting in storage from her wedding last year. The catch? They were bronze.

And then my new friend presented me with the brilliant idea she had when she first got them. You see, when she got them, they were gold. She needed bronze – so this little smarty pants decided to try spray painting them. Ah ha! Seriously, how did I not think of that? Hello bride brain, great to see you again.

She offered to let me take one and give it a try, if it worked I could take them all for a great price and if not, she’d take it back, no big deal. Have I mentioned that she’s my charger angel? Did I also mention that she suggested we meet at Total Wine because she was running an errand there…I’m pretty sure that our shared love of wine isn’t hurting this situation.

So off to Home Depot I went, in search of silver spray paint. I picked up both primer and paint then headed home to give it a whirl.

I set up a box (thanks Crate & Barrel registry) to use as a back to prop up the charger (otherwise the spray paint wouldn’t come out easily if pointed down) and got to work.

First I primed that sucker, I moved slowly back and forth – being sure to start the spray on the box then move over the charger and end on the box. I learned that if you don’t do this, you end up with way too much extra on the sides because you are doubling up as you move back the other direction.

I let the primer sit for one hour, then I sprayed with the silver paint. I let it sit for 30 minutes and did a second coat. Normally that was enough…it was only in instances where I didn’t follow my own advice and had too much build up on the sides where I had to do a third coat to even it all out.

Overall I was thrilled with the result. I’m planning to start a big assembly line to complete the rest and it should be done in no time.

Were there any “ah ha” moments during your planning process?

Setting the mood

2010-06-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

Usually when you think about music for the wedding, you immediately think of the reception. You know, your uncle doing the white man’s overbite, your drunk friend waving her arms and shaking her rump (yep, I said it…hello 1994) and who can overlook the ambitious family friend starting an infamous dance circle.

And all of those things are fine and good…but before there can be a reception, there must be a ceremony. So let’s talk ceremony music.

For the most part, Frogger left the processional music up to me. He definitely wanted to hear it and have a final say but he trusted my judgment to come up with ideas that would fit for the mood of our big day. One thing we both wanted was for the songs to have meaning, either words that said what we felt or songs that reminded us of moments we’ve shared together.

First up – the music for the maids and men.

This song speaks to us in that way where it says the words you are always thinking when you look in the eyes of the one you love. You can’t help but feel love when listening to this song and the piano version is simply lovely.

Next – my big entrance.

Not only is this song beautiful both musically and lyrically, it holds special meaning for us as a couple. Warning, flashback ahead:

When Frogger and I first started dating, my birthday was just a few weeks after we made things “official.” At the time, I was the last person on the planet without a DVD player so he gave me one for my birthday – he’s such a catch. Along with the DVD player, he gave me a movie that he knew I loved. Don’t judge…Flashdance.

Now seeing as how he’s a dude and this really isn’t a dude movie, it became old fast that the only movie I could offer when he came over was this one. So, we quickly decided we needed another movie for those nights when we just wanted to cuddle up and watch a flick. We (okay, mostly I) decided to get How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. I can’t even come close to telling you how many times we watched that movie during those first few months together.

There is a scene in that movie when you see them start to actually fall in love and the song that’s playing is the song above. It’s a beautiful song and one that has major meaning for us as a couple since it spans back 7 years to when we were just two kids in like….on the road to in love. I love the fact that it will be the song I come down the aisle to and it will be the song that he remembers hearing when he sees me.

Now moving beyond the mush, our announcement song for when we walk back up the aisle.

We wanted to choose a song that was fun, lighthearted and allowed us to show a little personality, dancing our way back up the aisle and helping to send the message that the party can begin! We can’t wait to see our bridal party in action as we all break it down.

How did you come up with the songs for your ceremony? Do they have special meaning in your relationship?

The dress hunt

2010-06-17T10:40:00.000-07:00

My dress hunt began in New York City.

I was lucky to have been traveling there for work back in May of last year and having been somewhat newly engaged, I thought it could be great timing to take a look around for a dress. I mentioned the idea to my mom and she loved it…she loved it so much that she booked a ticket to come out at the end of my trip so I could stay a few extra days and we could do my dress shopping together!

I made quite a few appointments with some big bridal giants and after a grueling few days of work, I was excited to scour the city to find my dress.

First appointment, home to TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress,” the one and only Kleinfeld.

(source)

If you watch the show, my appointment was with Camille. She’s very nice but kinda scary in person – very intimidating looking. We talked about what I was looking for and the type of wedding I was having and she left to grab some dresses. She came back with a few that were…eh. After trying on a few more that weren’t really my style, she brought me back into the back room and there were HUNDREDS of dresses everywhere. Talk about intimidating. We looked through the racks for a bit, pulled a few and headed back to the fitting room. After those were a bust, she brought in the big guns. Yes, that’s right ladies…I got to meet the Randy Fenoli.

(source)

He is just darling in person and he really does have a gift. Out of all the dresses I tried on at Kleinfeld, he brought in the only one that I liked. And he literally only brought one dress. He talked to me, found out what my style is and what I was looking for and brought in Amsale’s Serena:

(source)

Although it wasn’t my dress, it was beautiful and I loved the crumb catcher top. I also loved the new bridal lingo I learned along the way.

Then it was on to Wedding Atelier.

(tiny online picture source)

It was there that I had my second brush with a fashion celeb. My appointment was with a girl named Carol. Come to find out months later that it was Carol Hannah of Project Runway fame! At the time that we met, the show hadn’t aired yet so I didn’t know who she was…other than a really great stylist. I was thrilled to route her on when the show debuted and I’m still a huge fan of her designs. She gave me many beautiful dresses to try on (including my two runner-up options) and out of all of the places we went in NY, this was by FAR the best experience overall. When you arrive they ask you to remove your shoes and give you slippers to keep the floors clean. They also give you hand wipes so the dresses stay clean. They handle all of the dresses for you and it’s a very comfortable experience. I loved it there.

I had yet to find my dress…but the hunt continued.

Where do you think I headed next? Any ideas as to where I finally got my dress at?

Getting my hair did

2010-06-14T22:31:00.000-07:00

Since I got myself a little haircut today, I figured it was the perfect time to talk about wedding day hair. Can I just say, a haircut on a Monday morning – seriously such a great way to start a new week. Cue cheesy music.

Oh and I should clarify…haircut = trim. I’m one of many brides that’s growing out the mane for the wedding. Will I do a PWC (post-wedding chop), you ask? Only time will tell my friends…

For now, I’m thinking about options for wedding day hair. I think I’ve narrowed it down to two. Let’s explore, shall we?

(source)

I have to say that I love the look of loose waves. If I could wear my hair everyday like those lovely ladies above, I totally would. I also love that this hair lends itself to the environment – lake, summertime, vineyards – it feels very natural. My other thought on this style is that I typically wear my hair down and on my wedding day, I want to look like a glammed up version of myself so wearing it down seems like a very good option. up, might not be the most ideal choice if I’m wanting to look and feel like myself…hmm.

(source)

Chignon. Not only is it fun to say, it’s lovely to look at too. I love the simple, classic feel and if done somewhat loose, it will still have that natural look I’m going for. I feel like these really work with my “garden chic” theme. Not to mention that it would keep me cool since it would be off of my neck…and with summer heat, that’s definitely noteworthy.

Sooooo…thoughts my friends? Should I go down or up? What are you planning to do?

Over the moon

2010-06-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

*Happy Anniversary Frogger. I love you more than words can say and I can't wait to marry you.*

A while back I wrote about our favorite type of vacation, need a refresher?

So I'm sure it will come as no surprise that Frogger and I ultimately decided to take a cruise for our honeymoon.

(source)

Sorry about that, Frogger and I have decided to start watching the show Lost now that it's completely over, we're freaks. And almost every episode does a flashback to remind you of what was on the previous episode - that gets pretty old when you are watching multiple episodes in a row. Yeah, we're totally lame and are doing nothing after dinner but watching a show that is no longer on the air.

Digress much? Okay back to the good stuff...like this:

(source) Can I please go here...now?

We knew we wanted to go somewhere we had never been. And we are most definitely beach people so it needed to be warm with lots of opportunities for lounging in the sun - preferably with cocktails. What? I'm just keeping it real.

We had already done cruises to all over Mexico - go figure, huh? And when we got engaged, we visited both Belize and Guatemala. So that narrowed things down to either the Caribbean or Hawaii. Luckily that decision was made pretty easily because good friends of ours are getting married in February in Hawaii. Second honeymoon anyone?

So to the Caribbean we go. We knew we wanted to go for longer than 7 days because this might be the only time we are able to justify taking that much time away from work. My awesome bosses gave me an extra week of vacation time so I'm thrilled we will actually be able to take a long, relaxing honeymoon.

After searching all of the usual sites in our cruising arsenal, we reached out to a travel agent to see if she was able to find anything better. Ultimately, we found the absolute best deal through the cruiseline directly, if you can believe it. But we like to work the system so after booking it through the cruiseline website, we passed all of our information off to our travel agent and she was able to secure us onboard credits - yippee!

I've done quite a bit of talking here...how about the details?

Here's our cruise ship. Ahoy!

Did I really just type "ahoy" up there? Yikes. So yes, that is our lovely ship. We will be spending 10 glorious nights in a balcony room - in the past the nicest we have had is an ocean view room so we are stoked. Wanna see where we are going? I thought you might.

Antigua

Barbados

St. Thomas

The cruiseline's private island in the Bahamas

St. Kitts

And I saved my favorite for last - my one request of a Caribbean cruise was that we had to stop in.....

St. Lucia!

I can hardly take it. We feel so lucky to have been able to book a honeymoon that we will love.

We have yet to book any excursions but I will say, there is one that we are pretty sure is a must:

It's called BOSS - Breathing Observation Submersible Scooter

Has anyone done this? I'm dying to try it! Note to self, bring underwater camera.

Anyone else taking a cruise for their honeymoon? Any suggestions for additional excursions if you've been to these islands?

Please don't keep us in suspense

2010-06-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

So we’re at that time…the time when we should be having floods of RSVPs arriving in our cute, little mailbox. Did you see how I said should? Yeah.

We’re a week away from our RSVP deadline and we are still waiting on over half of our RSVPs to come back. Nervous? No…no, I always look like this.

(source)

And here’s the kicker: our own family members are dragging their feet. Granted, I pretty much know who of them is coming and isn’t coming but still, that’s not the point. Same goes for the bridal party – hear that everyone? Ahem. We didn’t design and print up those adorable little RSVP cards, then secretly number them with the spy pen and stamp them for them to not be sent back. Not to mention that we have that great little space on the back for people to write well wishes or draw us pictures.

Speaking of…would you like to see some of the fantastic “artists” that will be attending our wedding? I thought you might. If there is anything that has made the waiting on RSVPs easier, it’s knowing that when one arrives in our mailbox, there’s a good chance we will have major entertainment inside that little envelope.

Behold the skillz:

Froggie kitty sign of approval

From my talented cousin and groomsman.

From our good friends in Seattle – this is actually part of a joke from their wedding, we loved it.

Although this one is labeled as from Frogger’s brother, we’re pretty sure this is the brilliant work of his lovely wife. Clearly she has us pegged. Hey, don’t laugh.

From our friends in Florida, we are thrilled they are going to be able to fly up to celebrate with us.

From our fellow wedding planners, these two are tying the knot in Hawaii in Feb – can’t wait! PS – this is what the majority of our time is like when we are in Chelan, I couldn’t have drawn it better. Drew it better? Yeah, I blame any grammar issues on bride brain.

From Frogger’s cousins who just had a baby, we can’t wait to see them.

From another of Frogger’s cousins – personally I love the stick figures since that’s on par with my skills and we are so excited they can come. They live in Nashville so I will finally get the chance to meet them.

I will say, after going through the RSVPs and looking back at the fantastic responses we have received, I definitely feel better about the situation. In addition to drawings (which we have received quite a few, I couldn’t include them all here), we have also gotten so many wonderful well wishes – we feel very loved.

So my question is this…with the deadline looming, am I right to be a little concerned about the low number we have received thus far? How many have/did you receive when you were about a week out from your deadline? Do I need to start throwing elbows?

That lovely wedding day glow

2010-06-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

Aside from the expected inner glow I’ll have on my wedding day (squeee!), I started thinking about my outer glow…i.e. to tan or not to tan? It actually started a while back when bridesmaid Creeker and I were discussing one of the things she learned from her wedding – beware of invisible tan lines.

I know it sounds crazy since I live in the desert but most people here don’t really spend much time laying out, hanging by the pool, etc. Then again, that could be a different story if we had a pool…no, I’m not bitter, why do you ask? At the moment, I have visible tan lines that have taken up residence for months now and despite my best efforts to get rid of them, they seem to have become one with my skin.

(source) Gorgeous bride wearing a beautiful dress that unfortunately shows off her tan lines quite well.

I’m less than two months away from the wedding and I’m weighing my options. PS – can I also add how irritating it is that boys don’t have to worry about this?

(source) Let's just pretend that we have beaches like this in Arizona...a girl can dream.

Option 1: Chance it and try desperately to even out the tan between now and then.

(source) Am I the only one that thinks of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when looking at this photo?

Option 2: Fork out extra cash that’s not in the budget to experiment with spray tan.

(source) Anyone remember this scene from Bride Wars?

Option 3: Find a tan-in-a-bottle that won’t turn me orange.

Knowing that I will be spending the days before the wedding (hopefully) on the boat with our friends, I did have the foresight to purchase a bathing suit that is suitable for sunning in relation to my dress.

(source) Thanks for the discount Vicky, you’re a peach.

Although it’s not helping the bottom line, I’m leaning toward the spray tan option. My real concern is that I’ve never done it before so I’ll need to give it a try somewhat soon to make sure it agrees with my skin and I don’t have some sort of crazy allergic reaction….which is quite possible knowing my skin.

Has anyone tried spray tan before or have a good recommendation for tan-in-a-bottle? What option would you go with?

Who gets to wear white?

2010-06-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

In my opinion…that color dress is reserved for the bride.

(source)

I’ve had multiple discussions about this with friends, family and within the online wedding world. It’s definitely a heated topic, depending on who you talk to. Personally, I live in the camp that respects the tradition of the bride being the only person in a white dress on the wedding day. I know some people probably think that’s kinda bitchy but as a soon-to-be-bride, I have waited a long time to wear a beautiful white wedding gown and can only hope that guests will understand and respect that.

Have you ever been to a wedding where a woman other than the bride is wearing a white dress?

I have.

Personal photo from the wedding I attended – see the bride in the background?

I won’t name names to protect the innocent (and the guilty) but I was not the only person who noticed this white dress guest and I heard many a murmur during the cocktail hour. It was surprising how much of a stir it caused – head shakes, eye rolls…nobody really knows if she meant to wear it on purpose or if she just wasn’t up on typical wedding protocol. I will say, in her defense, that if you haven’t been married/been in weddings/planning a wedding, etc. then there is a chance you aren’t familiar with this faux pas…and in her case, she was around 24 years old, never been married and dating a cousin of the groom. I like to think it was an accident but I really can’t help but wonder if she was interested in getting attention.

I guess, for me, ultimately it comes down to this thought: You know what the bride will be wearing – most likely a white dress – so wouldn’t you automatically pick something else, anything else? Honestly, every other color is on the menu…take your pick, just don’t pick white. And really – how many cute white dresses are out there and out of the options in someone’s closet, why choose the white one?

And since I’ve seen this conversation get heated in the past, let’s keep in mind that we are all entitled to our own opinion. What do you think? Are you with me in the white-only-for-the-bride camp or are you in the laid back, eh…who really cares camp?

We can't have naked tables

2010-05-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

Naked should be reserved for the wedding night…sorry Mom….and Grammie. Moving on.

Although we knew early on what our centerpiece inspiration was, we really had no clue what we were going to do about linens. Or even if we were going to spring for linen rentals. Our venue offered white linens, albeit they weren’t floor length…but they were our favorite wedding word: free.

(source)

Enter Mama Frog.

As luck would have it, Mama Frog and Step-dad Frog were due to attend a work conference in Phoenix just a couple of weeks ago. It was perfect timing to check out linens! And lucky for Frogger, these wedding errands occurred over the weekend that he happened to be out of town for his bachelor party. It worked out great for us both – since he didn’t have a preference on linens, he was able to skip that errand and I had a welcomed distraction over the weekend while he was off gallivanting. He’s such a gallivanter. Yes, that’s a word.

I still wasn’t really sold on the idea of paying for linens when we had some that were perfectly fine being offered for free. They wouldn’t be my first choice but they were fine. Well, that’s what I thought until I began looking through photos of tablescapes, take a look at these lovelies:

(source, source, source, source, source)

After discussing our color scheme and showing a photo of our centerpiece inspiration, our very helpful salesperson pulled a few fabrics and began dressing a table.

Centerpiece reminder

It was at this point I knew there was no going back. I had been sucked into the luxury linen world and well, it felt good. After visions of Shantung, Lamour, Bengaline, Twist, Pintuck…there was no way I could go along with short white linens on the tables, not after seeing the lovlies that were laid out before me. It was as if I’d been inducted into this new club with words that were entirely too difficult for me to pronounce and fabrics that I didn’t feel old enough to touch without my mom present.

We tried a variety of different fabrics, with overlays and without, with chair wraps and without, with colored napkins or plain white. It was so much more fun that I could have imagined. Yes, I’m a big nerd. A big, linen-obsessed nerd.

We are keeping our options with the “Silver Dahlia” overlay for some of the occasion tables like the guestbook table, etc.

Ultimately we decided that the “Purple Smoke Bengaline” was the best fit for our centerpieces. Topped with a crisp, white napkin and our gorgeous (rental-that-I-couldn’t-pass-up) chiavari chairs – the look is almost complete!

Did you see how I said almost? Yeah…I’ve now become obsessed with the idea of silver charger plates. The saga never ends. Both of the rental companies in town don’t carry them so I’m desperately hunting for a deal with under two months to go.

Anyone have any brilliant ideas for that one? I’m all ears!

PS - Happy Birthday MOM!!

OMG Shoes...

2010-05-25T21:30:00.000-07:00

Has anyone seen that ridiculous YouTube video that I’m referring to in my post title? If you haven’t, you may want to avoid it…I promise you, it will be in your head for the rest of the day…and every day for the rest of your life. You’ve been warned.

(source)

So initially I really loved the idea of the colored shoe trend. With my colors being purple, blue and gray, I thought a pop of purple or blue would be a great choice for shoes. Then fate stepped in…

Let me rewind. I will assume everyone is familiar with Nordstrom, yes? And most will be familiar with their discount store called The Rack. But…how many of you know of…Last Chance? Oh, I have your attention? Yes, I thought that might happen.

(source)

Unless you live in Phoenix or have friends/relatives here, most likely you haven’t heard of it. Well friends, let me be the temporary shoe angel – Last Chance is the discounted-discount-Nordstrom. Once items are no longer a fit for Nordstrom (past season, return, irregular, etc.) they are sent to The Rack. Last Chance is the final destination for clothing, shoes and purses, getting items from both Nordstrom and The Rack. For example, you can find a pair of Jimmy Choos that were originally priced at $300+ for $30. I’ve gotten BCBG dresses that were originally $200 for $25, it’s an endless amount of great finds, if you’re willing to put in the time.

See…it’s a big mish mosh:

(source)

So you really have to be willing to search…but if you are willing, treasures can be found. Which brings us to my shoe find. Months ago I found a pair of Stuart Weitzmans that I loved and immediately bought (for $20 no less), knowing that I would definitely get a ton of use out of them…perhaps it was also in the back of my mind that they would be a good fit for a wedding shoe being that one of my colors is gray (and my maids are wearing gray dresses with silver shoes).

My hesitation is that they are suede. The wedding is in July and well, suede isn’t the first thing you think of when you think of a summer wedding. I need your honest opinions my dear friends…thoughts?

They are super comfy, fit my color scheme and girly but not too girly. Personally I love them but I'm still wondering if a blue or purple shoe would make more of an impact. I'm also concerned people will think I've completely lost it if I show up with suede shoes in 80+ degree heat.

Truth time…are these a yes…or a no?

My latest obsession

2010-05-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

I’m going to assume that during every bride’s planning process she comes to this point. You know what I’m talking about…the moment when she first lays eyes on her invitations in all their glory.

I wouldn’t say that I’m particularly a big paper person but…I’m telling you, I about passed out from the excitement of opening the box when they arrived on our doorstep. And I am most definitely a paper obsessed convert now…whoa nelly. Yes, I just said whoa nelly, I'm sorry.

We were lucky enough to find our fantastic wedding invitation designer through none other than Etsy. As soon as we found Melissa at Design Circus, I knew it would be a perfect fit. We wanted something chic but not formal, friendly but not overly casual and no matter what, we needed personality. We asked, she delivered:

It's painful to have to blur these out.

The element of the invite we created ourselves – our wedding map…we’re in love with it. I honestly can't even tell you how accomplished we felt when we finished it.

The bottom says: "Please use the back of this card to write your wishes and blessings for Miss Frog and Frogger or better yet, draw a picture of them."

We’re hoping for some fun drawings and notes on the backs of these for our wedding scrapbook.

Then came time to put it all together – self healing mat, ruler, razor blade, bone folder, hole punch, baker’s twine and super secret spy pen.

And the final package – we numbered the RSVPs with the spy pen, wrapped each invitation suite in vellum, tied with baker’s twine and included a tag on the front with our website information. They were a labor of love but completely worth it!

We placed these lovey little packages in gray envelopes with side wrap-around labels (sorry no picture of that, I’m such a good blogger). I then tucked them into a Trader Joe’s paper bag (reusing makes me feel good) and carefully carried them to our local post office. Not only did they equal out to exactly a 61 cent stamp…but get this…the 61 cent stamp is none other than a wedding cake!

It was totally meant to be. Our lovely postal woman even helped me stamp them and allowed me to hand cancel each one. I couldn’t have asked for a better invitation experience.

Are you obsessed with your invitations? Are you a paper person or a new convert like me?

Is a wrong to have a crush on a vendor when you are getting married?

2010-05-24T04:13:00.000-07:00

So that’s the longest post title ever. But really, I have a crush and I’m not one to be dishonest so I have no choice…it’s time to spill.

You may have noticed that of all the vendors I’ve talked about, I have yet to share my photographer. Truth is…she’s just too good to be true. I think I was almost afraid I would jinx it. Does that sound crazy? Don’t answer that.

Let me give you a little tease here first:

*all photos courtesy of Stephanie Williams Photography

Are you drooling yet? It’s okay, you’re in good company. This is the incredible work of my dream photographer, Stephanie Williams. I have a total girl crush on her. It’s okay, she knows…maybe not to this extent but that’s another issue.

We were lucky enough to book her and her adorable husband Isaac (they shoot together) for not only our wedding itself but for our rehearsal party as well! I honestly cannot wait to see the shots they get – it’s going to be incredible. They are beyond talented.

If you enjoy the feeling of drool down your chin, feel free to click over to her site for more photo goodness. Don’t say I didn’t warn you – you may need someone to surgically remove the mouse from your hand…just saying.

Do you have a crush on a vendor? Please tell me I’m not alone.

Not so happy holidays

2010-05-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

I always get so jealous of my friends who live in the same city as both of their sets of parents. Frogger and I are the complete opposite. We live here in Arizona, my parents live in Michigan and his live in Seattle.

Behold my fancy map skills….don’t laugh.

Now that we are very close to the wedding, we have started the dreaded conversations about how to split our time with our families during the holidays. How lucky for us that not only do our parents live in different states…they are about as far apart as you can get.

We came up with a variety of ways to try to decide:

Do the every other year thing so it’s evenly split.
Flip a coin and go with whatever the results may be.
Try to have one family celebrate early or late so we can hit both celebrations each year.
Do Christmas with one and NYE with the other.
Not travel at all and have them come to us (highly unlikely).
Some yet to be discovered, dream-come-true solution…I’m hearing crickets, this isn’t a good sign.

We have yet to really decide how to make this work. Both of our families have traditions that we want to be a part of and both of our families want us to be there to celebrate with them. We feel very loved but very torn.

Anyone else run into this challenge with family holidays/events? Please tell me one of you is smarter than we are and can provide some guidance…we’re desperate for a good solution.

Showered with love

2010-05-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

I know everyone says this…but my shower was the BEST! I had few requests – they were: wine, bacon (classy, right?) and no toilet paper bride game. My girls listened, it was a wine themed shower – I couldn’t have asked for more! My words just won’t do it justice…this is a must for a photo tour. Shall we?

Enjoying my first glass of wine for the day…in one of two bridal wine glasses! Request number one, check!

Mama Frog pouring some much enjoyed mimosas for the girls. And there on the left is bridal glass number two with the light blue dots.

Speaking of, she also supplied those fantastic favors – blackberry scented bath bombs from Lush!

Check out that yummy spread of food!

Bridesmaid Belle hosted and set out those darling framed photos of Frogger and I while MOH Banannie and Bridesmaid Creeker made the delicious food – it was definitely a team effort!

Do you see request number two in the back there…BACON. Helloooooo lover.

Me and my lovely hosts for the day: Creeker, Banannie and Belle

One game of the day – how cheap of a date are you? Okay…that’s not the name but it’s fitting for this crowd. The basic idea was that there were four bottles of wine available for tasting. Upon tasting, you were to decide which price category each fell into. It was highly entertaining!

And we feasted! That’s Frogger’s Mom on the left in the front and my Mom on the right – I just loved that they both could be there to celebrate with me.

We can’t overlook dessert – how cute are these cupcakes? Creeker made them herself and Banannie supplied the adorable bride decorations.

Aaaaand…nom nom nom…monkeybread! Thanks Banannie. :) This, by the way, did nothing to help with my pre-wedding eating regimen.

And no shower recap would be complete without a rehearsal bouquet – Bridesmaid Belle is the expert of our friends in making these puppies and I must say, I absolutely loved it!

It was the perfect day – I really couldn’t have asked for more. A huge thank you to my girls and my Mom for all of the thoughtful touches, I felt oh so loved!

Was your bridal shower everything you hoped for and more?

I hope we have a lot of criers

2010-05-21T04:39:00.000-07:00

Okay let me break it down for you. I’m a crier. In general, I’m a big emotional pile of mush and when I go to a wedding, forget it. And well…I don’t think it would be the worst thing in the world to have a few criers in the audience. Okay I’m totally lying – I want to see tears. I want people watching our ceremony to get all balled up inside and squeeze out a few in our honor. I have issues, I know.

In the hope that we have a few tears, I made some very easy tissue packets for the ceremony. There are quite a few different versions out there that I’ve come across so I decided to make some of my own.

front and back…or back and front – depending on how you look at it…I’ve clearly lost my Type A edge

This was honestly really easy. All it took was a little time, so Frogger and I hunkered down after dinner and cranked these puppies out while watching The Office. Here’s my super simple DIY tears of joy packets:

First I gathered all of the supplies I could possibly need.

Then I grabbed some old return address labels and designed them in Word according to the template size.

Then I began to assemble, first mini vellum envelopes. And for the record, I find that a glass of wine makes DIY projects that much better…scientifically speaking.

Luckily I had help from Frogger, he was nice enough to measure out my baker’s twine. And of course he had to have his Seahawks towel in the background.

And here Frogger is modeling the correct way to stuff the tissue into the tiny envelope…oooh….aaahh. Is it crazy that I happen to love seeing him stuff tiny tissues into tiny envelopes?

After trying ribbon (which was in my supplies photo above) I quickly saw that it wasn’t creating the look I wanted so I tried baker’s twine and found it was a much better fit for what I envisioned. I laid the twine on the table, placed the envelope (flap side down) over the twine and then crossed the twine to create a cross.

I then flipped the envelope over and tied the twine into a bow.

I flipped it over and placed the label over the crossed twine on the other side and ta da! You now have a tissue packet to entice your friends and family to get all teary eyed on your big day.

Repeat and eventually you have a nice little stack!

I know they look a little simple right now since they are low on color but I’m planning to place them in a basket of some sort with some purple fabric to help them pop. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out…especially considering how little time, effort and money went into them.

Hopefully this will give our guests a little push toward some tears. Is that wrong? :)

Did you have any DIY projects that turned out to be much easier and cheaper than you expected?

Matchy matchy?

2010-05-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

When I first thought about bridesmaid dresses I came up with an idea that I never shared…with anyone. I guess I just thought that everyone would think I was a sandwich short of a picnic. I just love that phrase. Ahem, anyway. It was one of those things that seemed too different from what friends and relatives had done in the past that I had a feeling it would be difficult to convince people that it could actually look good. Soooo I wrote it off as crazy bride brain and moved on (we’ll revisit so hang tight).

I’m pretty classic in my taste so I knew I wanted the girls to wear a dress in a color that they could get use out of in the future and a color that would look great on everyone. With our colors being gray, lavender and blue, I chose gray for the bridesmaid dresses and I was met with a happy response. In order to make things affordable, I decided to go the JCrew route. After searching, I narrowed it down to:

(source)

I told the girls that they could choose the dress that appealed most to them…they were the same color, same fabric and same company so I knew they would work well together.

After ordering a few and having some of the girls try them on, I knew that this was going to be much more difficult than I thought. My girls are all different shapes, sizes and heights – they were just not the most flattering dresses on everyone. At that point I knew we had to make a change, my top priority was that all of them felt beautiful and comfortable – I wanted everyone to feel a great as I will so we are all free to have fun and make some incredible memories!

One weekend, I finally gave into my original idea and decided to do some real research to see if I could find photos of what I wanted to do where it was accomplished successfully. And voila…the internets delivered. Behold:

(source)

You guessed it friends…I’m talking about coordinating, not matching dresses. For the longest time I thought about this idea and how much I loved the fact that they would compliment each other but not actually match. When I ran the idea past my maids, I was SO relieved when they all responded positively!

Since we are still finalizing ideas and getting dresses ordered, I don’t have the actual dress compilation just yet…but I will be sure to share with all of you as soon as we have the dresses so you can tell me – for real – what you think. I need outside opinions to ensure I’m not suffering, once again, from crazy bride brain. :)

How did you come to decide on bridesmaid dresses? Did you go with matching or coordinating or something completely different?

Bride brain

2010-05-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

As you get older, you have more and more friends who get married and eventually start families. From those friends, I’ve become familiar with the term “pregnancy brain” – are you all seeing where I’m going with this?

Just like “pregnancy brain,” I believe there is similarly “bride brain.” Some uncontrolled combination of internal and external forces that cause a normally level-headed, fully functioning woman to become forgetful, clumsy and just plain ditsy.

I’m telling you, I’m not a clumsy girl – I don’t trip or fall, I don’t knock things over, I don’t forget things easily…but so help me, since getting engaged, bride brain has completely set in.

(source)

As of now, my tally is up to:

Two broken glasses
One broken vase
One broken olive oil bottle (my favorite cooking bottle…this still makes me sad and not to mention the mess it created)
Multiple cooking/baking burns (in one instance I grabbed a scorching hot pan handle with my bare hand – not even 30 seconds after pulling it out of a 400 degree oven with an oven mitt…I’m smart)
Multiple instances of walking into a room only to forget what I walked in there for
Multiple bruises from bumping into furniture that has never moved
Forgotten my laptop power cord at my office at least twice
And this last one…yikes…I completely spaced on placing stamps on the RSVP envelopes, which I didn’t realize until Frogger pointed out the mistake after being already half-way through the invitation stack – oh and did I mention that they were wrapped in velum and tied with baker’s twine? Yeah…awesome.

And in the effort of being completely transparent...Frogger had to help me with this post by reminding me of the many things that I’ve dropped, tipped over, grabbed, bumped into, forgotten, etc… It’s beyond sad.

Please tell me I’m not the only one suffering from this ridiculous syndrome. And yes, I’m dubbing it a syndrome, I dare any doctor to tell me otherwise.

When I grow up

2010-05-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

This weekend Frogger and I were out on our back patio grilling for lunch and enjoying a lazy day when we started talking about the future. You know, the real future…like, hey – we’re getting married, what do we see for our future together? Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had this conversation many times in the past but this time, more realizations started to surface for me. We’re just a couple of months from our wedding, perhaps that has something to do with it?

And it hit me. I’m going to be 30 this year. THIRTY. Remembering back when I was a kid, 30 seemed so old. Time has somehow disappeared and shoved me into this unknown realm of “old” age. I started thinking about what I thought my life would be like when I was 30 – would I be married, what would I do for a living, would I have kids, where would I live?

(source)

It’s funny, I was always the one of my friends and even in my family who knew I wouldn’t be married first. My parents divorced when I was very young. They were married for 17 years and tried very hard to make it work but ultimately they weren’t the best fit for one another. Everyone has their own feelings about marriage and divorce and in my case, I wholeheartedly believe that it was the absolute best decision for my well-being as their child. And had they stayed together “for my sake,” I think it would have been a big mistake. Seeing them both happy and in healthy, loving relationships was crucial to building an example for my future.

Because of this trend in their generation to marry young, I came to the decision that I wanted to wait to get married. I can’t remember the exact quote but I remember seeing a movie where the younger woman got advice from the older woman and the gist was: “You are a total idiot throughout your twenties just trying to figure out who you are. That’s hard enough without attaching yourself to another total idiot.” Somehow that really sank in for me, I totally got the idea of what she was saying and it really did make sense. You change so much throughout your twenties, it would be very hard to know whether the person you are with will grow with you together or if you will grow apart...happily and sadly, I've seen both.

My cousin (one of our groomsmen) and I grew up a year apart and I’ve always thought of him like a brother. I’m the older one but we always used to joke that he would definitely be married and have kids before I did. We just somehow knew that he was a "marry now" and I was a "marry later"…and wouldn’t you know, he was married in 2007 and he and his lovely wife now have an adorable little boy – while I’m just getting married this year with very distant plans for a family…hear that Mom? Just making sure.

I remember on one of my very first dates with Frogger, I asked him how old he wanted to be when he got married. It was one of those moments that I knew if I didn’t ask right away, when we were first starting out, I wouldn’t be able to ask without it becoming an awkward moment. I was honestly curious to see if he was a “marry now” or “marry later” kind of guy. As luck would have it, he was a “marry later” like me. This was just one of the many things we discovered that night that we had in common in terms of our thoughts for our futures…and here we are with our futures about to be officially merged.

(During our first summer together…can I please get that tan back?)

Even though I have been working full time (supporting myself) for eight years, Frogger and I have been dating for almost seven years, we’ve been engaged for more than a year and are getting married in July…it’s still hard to believe that I’m a grown up sometimes. Am I alone on that? Do you ever look around and wonder where time went and how you came to have all of this responsibility?

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love my life and am beyond happy but seriously…where did the time go? :) Did you know early on if you were a “marry now” or a “marry later” – was that the path you ended up traveling?

Pretty it up

2010-05-19T05:13:00.000-07:00

Centerpieces, tents and tables, oh my! No no, don’t go – I promise to try to refrain from future cheesiness.

So after gushing about all of the fun centerpiece ideas I found, I finally hit the motherload and cannot wait to see the interpretation my florist comes up with. Have I mentioned my kick ass florist? Well, allow me to make proper introductions.

Meet Lynn with Fleur de lis. Not only is she crazy talented, we connected so well between in person and email/phone conversations that I’ve come to think of her like a favorite aunt. I just adore her. She gets it…better yet, she gets me. I write with ideas, she comes back with encouragement and ways to build on those ideas. It’s a wonderful collaboration.

When I found my dreamboat centerpiece inspiration, I about flipped. I was scared to even show anyone for fear that they wouldn’t love it like I do. Is that strange? Probably. Luckily for me, Lynn loved it and was thrilled to have the opportunity to recreate a version for me. Did I mention how much I love her? Oh, you want to see it? Ohhhh, right, of course. I’m such a tease.

Without further ado…

(source)

Are you dying? I’m dying. Birch – check. Succulents – check. Romance – check. Organic – check. Garden - check. Chic – check.

Can I be honest? After writing that portion and posting the photo, I’ve sat here just staring and swooning, it’s a little ridiculous. I just love it.

Wipe.drool.from.chin.

Moving on, since I had determined the centerpieces, I needed to find additional decor for the reception. After searching through many ideas and images online, I had decided that I really wanted to do pomanders for the tent. Something similar to this:

(source)

But after careful consideration, I realized that the poms weren’t going to really create the garden-chic vibe we were going for. They are very pretty and totally wedding appropriate but I was looking for something a little more rustic. Something that would complement the birch centerpieces.

Then I was on my favorite site etsy and found the perfect inspiration shot:

(source)

I loved that it was rustic and made from intertwined grapevines, moss, etc. I figured that if the candles were changed out to fit our colors and we used a more rustic looking rope, this could be the perfect piece to hang in the center of the tent over the tables.

And even though the poms were nixed, I found that I really liked the draped fabric covering the poles of the tent in the photo above. I searched a bit and found a fantastic deal at Ikea for sheer drapery panels…get this, only$4.99/pair! Our budget did an immediate happy dance.

(source)

Are you starting to see it? I can’t even tell you how excited I am to see everything coming together. Now I just need to decide…linens. One step at a time friends.

Did it take you a while to determine your reception decor? Did you have any moments where you found something and thought it was right, only to change your mind completely?

DIY...or not

2010-05-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

A while back I bought a a little something with grand plans for wedding DIY projects. After feeling the pressure to perform, I finally gave in, opened the box and decided it was time to at least give it a shot. Can I tell you that I was a bit frightened with the prospect of tackling this project? For months now I’ve found reasons to avoid it.

(source) The ever elusive bottle cutter

Yes folks, it’s the bottle cutter. I talked a big game back when I bought it and now I’m here to tell the good, the bad and the ugly about this larger than life project I decided to take on.

First I read through the directions and researched the crap out of it online. Then I made a list of additional stuff I would need (WD-40, extra newspapers, candle, ice cubes) and created a little workspace out on the patio in our backyard.

Before I could really get to the adventure, I had quite a bit of prep to do. After drinking large quantities a bottle or two of wine, I needed to clean them out thoroughly and get the labels off. This sounds simple enough and eventually I got the hang of it but it does take time…and I’m not the most patient. The best system I found was:

Fill a large bowl with hot tap water and a few drops of dish soap. Fill the clean wine bottle about half way with hot water (to keep it from floating). Place the wine bottle label-side down in the water and soak for 15-25 minutes. And if you could have multiple empty bottles in the background that would be great for my self esteem.

Meanwhile, set-up a towel nearby with a bottle of rubbing alcohol (anything with a high amount of isopropyl alcohol), a scrap rag – preferably a dirty looking one like mine and a razor blade.

Scrape off as much of the label as possible. The longer the bottle soaks, the easier it will be to remove the label. I may or may not have learned this the hard way…

Once you reach the point of label stick-grossness, use the scrap rag to dab with rubbing alcohol and rub over the areas with label. You shouldn’t have to scrub very hard, I found it to be fairly easy. After you have everything off, make sure you wash with soap to remove any residue from the rubbing alcohol and you are set to go.

Now position your bottle cutter on the edge of the table and place the etching tool at the height you want on the bottle. Do your best to not give up and go lay in the hammock.

Take a blurry picture of your etching in action. And as a note, the directions say that it needs very little pressure…they are dirty liars. I pushed pretty hard and it still proved to be difficult to get a proper etch. Once you have made your way around the entire bottle, you are ready to move onto the next phase – a little hot and cold. Light a candle and hold the bottle over the flame rotating slowly to heat the etch. Once you feel like the etch is pretty hot, grab an ice cube and rub along the etch line to shock the bottle into submission. You will most likely need to do this cycle multiple times – it was 2-3 for me. But then…

Pretend that this is the same bottle I’ve been showing the whole time, kthanks. And let me just say, the bottle will literally just separate over the flame – you will be amazed. After you have your glass, you need to sand down the edges so it’s not sharp for when you drink out of it. I didn’t have any carbide polishing powder (which is recommended) so I just used sandpaper (which the kit came with) and it worked well enough:

Technically you should use something a bit more sturdy than a flimsy little plastic paint tray but that’s all I had…anyway, fill the bottom of the tray with about 1/8 inch of water to slightly wet the sand paper. Place the glass on top of the sand paper and rotate in circles to smooth the edges. It helps if your fiance volunteers for this part – loved that.

After just a minute or so of sanding, we have nice smooth edges.

After all is said and done, I would definitely try this again…however, it’s much more complicated and time consuming than I had ever thought it would be. At one point I had thought this could be a fun element for our favors or as gifts for bridal party members but I now realize that I would have had to have started this project a year ago to have the time to perfect it (being the admitted type A that I am).

So for now I’ll just toss this project up to the DIY Gods and hopefully find time in the future to work on it and perhaps I’ll figure it out in time for the holidays. That’s right, friends and family, you know what you’re getting in your stockings this year. If they are ugly as all get out, prepare your fake smiles.

Do you have any DIY projects that turned out to be a lot more work than you had anticipated? Any DIYs that you decided weren’t going to be a fit for the wedding after all?

www.-we're-getting-married.com

2010-05-18T04:52:00.000-07:00

Ok so that’s not our actual wedding website address but you won’t be surprised to know that this post is all about our wedding website. After deciding on the date and location and then determining our venue, it was the perfect opportunity to find our internet home base.

We knew we wanted something simple but it needed to have at least one of our colors and preferably…be (our favorite wedding word, which coincidentally is also our favorite four letter word - mind out of the gutter people) free.

I searched through all of the usual suspects (allow LMGTFY to help, click here) and ultimately found that mywedding.com was the best choice for our needs. Not only do they have a variety of unique templates but they offer customization options and it’s all….ding, ding, ding – FREE. Cue the choir of angels.

Behold our welcome page

What I loved most about mywedding.com is the amount of pages you can have within the site. In case anyone is taking notes, here are all of the pages that come with your site:

Home page (welcome page)
Our Story
Wedding Party
Wedding Events
Accommodations
Attractions
RSVP
Photo Galleries
Guestbook
Registries
Contact Us
Blog
Music

Add to that the 6 customizable pages and you’ve got one heck of a free site. I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to find this and how easy it has been to use. We just plug in our information, upload pictures and let it do the work.

One of the wedding weekend events – our rehearsal party!

The only drawback we found is that mywedding.com will give you a predesigned web address (such as http://www.mywedding.com/MissFrogandMrFrog) that takes you through their hosting and can be quite long to include on invitations, etc. and it’s even more difficult for guests to remember when trying to find your site.

We decided it was worth the $9 to go ahead and purchase a domain that was easy to remember. We then just did a simple redirection of the web address and “cloaked” it so that our guests would only see the simple site name that we purchased and not the long one we were provided by mywedding.com. It was easy, inexpensive and allowed us to personalize the experience without having to pay a fortune. Aside from the research and content for the site itself, it’s been a cinch! And I have to admit, it’s really fun to log-in and find new RSVPs for our rehearsal party while our site visit counter continues to go up.

Our RSVP page for the rehearsal party

We are thrilled with how it turned out. We’ve even had friends and relatives ask us if we hired someone to create it – they all thought it looked very professional. Did you create a wedding website? How did you narrow down the many site options available?

Par-tay

2010-05-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

Since we are doing a destination wedding, we knew we wanted to make the most of the weekend with so many people having to travel to be there with us. And really, who doesn’t love a weekend-long party?

Once we determined our venue, we needed to decide on what to do for our rehearsal dinner. We loved the idea of incorporating Frogger’s family lake house so it only made sense that our rehearsal dinner be there. And since our wedding is a destination for the majority of our guests, we thought it would be a great idea to open our rehearsal dinner up to everyone and make it more of a rehearsal party.

Can I tell you how much I love the fact that we have a full weekend of wedding festivities? All of our favorite people hanging out together in our favorite place…I just can’t wait!

On tap for the evening:

Delicious grub from our favorite winery who runs an incredible BBQ on site courtesy of Frogger’s mom. We’re talking fall-off-the-bone ribs, fresh Pacific salmon, coleslaw, baked beans and cornbread. I’m just going to wipe my drool…carry on.

A variety of great tunes to create a laid back, fun vibe of background music.

Activities like volleyball, croquet, bocce ball and Frogger’s favorite – home run derby.

Good conversation, gorgeous weather and all with the backdrop of the sun setting against the mountains over the lake.

I have a feeling this will be the perfect way to start the celebration. Everyone will have had a day or two to explore the area and enjoy the lake, we’ll have the rehearsal party Friday night and the wedding Saturday night.

Then following the wedding on Sunday morning, my mom has graciously offered to host brunch at their place for anyone who is interested. I love that we will be able to see everyone one more time and recount the events of the weekend before they have to head out to the airport. Doesn’t get much better than this!

Are you opening up any wedding events to all of your guests? Anyone else planning a full weekend of wedding events for their guests?

It's all about give and take

2010-05-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

What would wedding planning be without some twists and turns? Like every couple, the Frogs have experienced their fair share during the planning process.

(source) Twists and turns…get it? I crack myself up.

When Frogger and I first got engaged, one of the things I wanted most for our wedding was to write our own vows. The idea of hearing him pour out his heart and share his feelings for me during a time when we pledge to spend our lives together – it just makes me sigh and go googly eyed. When I first put this idea on the table, he reluctantly agreed letting me know that he loved the idea of sharing our feelings but doing it in front of others would make him nervous. I figured that was expected as I would be nervous too but the good kind of nervous. Him…not so much.

Fast forward many months later to this past weekend and I come to find out, he is more than just a little nervous. Every time he thought about the wedding, this feeling would cloud any joy and excitement because he couldn’t get past the nerves of our impending, very public vows. Although this conversation came up in a round about way, eventually he shared with me his true feelings. Honestly, I had no idea. And after hearing how it was making him feel, I couldn’t possibly push for the original plan.

He told me that although it was something that would be difficult and nerve-wracking for him, he was so focused on making me happy, he was willing to do anything I asked. It meant so much to me to hear him say that and reminded me yet again of one of the many reasons I'm planning to spend the rest of my life with him. Did I mention that I love this man?

Immediately I decided that it was much more important to me to have him happy and excited leading up to and on our wedding day than to have him nervous and stressed…even if it meant that the personally written vows were out.

(source)

In order to salvage the concept, I came up with a new idea so that I could still get the feeling I was after yet it would only involve the two of us…resulting in zero pressure on him. I asked if he would be interested in writing each other a love letter that we could read to one another during our first look before the ceremony. It provided me with the heartfelt words I wanted to hear on my wedding day and it allowed him to tell me the things in his heart without the audience. With the beautiful, lush trees creating a canopy over the ceremony lawn, I can just picture us seeing each other for the first time and having this special moment together. We love that it’s something that is just for the two of us to share, a calm and tender moment away from the whirlwind of the day.

We both decided this was the best possible choice for us both to be happy and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that we both get what we want.

And I also have to say, he’s been so much more interested in helping with wedding details than before because now, he actually feels like he can be relaxed and excited as we get closer and closer. I’ve always thought we had good communication as a couple and although it took a bit longer for this to come to the surface, I’m so happy with the way we were able to work it out. And though I didn’t think it was possible, my love for him grows more each day.

So in love

Did you have any big changes occur during your planning process? Anything you had to bend on to ensure you both were happy leading up to the big day?

DIY for my maids

2010-05-12T14:10:00.000-07:00

Since I had the materials on hand (thanks to my killer Michael’s trip…yes, I just referred to a shopping experience at Michael’s as killer – I know you understand), I dove right into my first project.

At this point, dear bridesmaids - read no further! These are little treats for you and I'd like them to be a surprise. Mmkay?

********

I had become completely inspired when I saw these sweet DIY hangers – thanks Mrs. Gloss and MrsPaetz!)

(source) My inspiration shot

First off, I needed to find a font that I liked. I knew I had to turn to my favorite font site – Fonts for Peas! If you haven’t been to that site, prepare for cuteness overload. Ultimately I decided on Pea Stacy.

And let the DIY begin!

I started by printing out each letter – to determine the right size, I just printed multiple sizes on one sheet and cut out the one that fit best.

Then I turned the letter over and shaded it with a pencil.

Here you can see better how I shaded the back side…and please take note that our laundry is on standby – it will make me feel better if you also avoid housekeeping duties while working on DIY projects. Thanks.

I taped the sheet with the shaded side against the hanger. I used a regular pen to go over the letter a la elementary school style.

And voila!

I used the pencil marks as a guide to create the bling. BLING!

Once I got the hang of it, things moved along pretty quickly and before I knew it…I was done!

Ta-da! I did one for each of my bridesmaids and one for me in blue. I can’t tell you how much I adore these – it was such a fun and easy project. I know the girls will love them!

What do you think? Have you discovered any DIY projects that reinforced your confidence in crafting?

Let them eat...pie

2010-05-12T14:09:00.000-07:00

So I've begun the DIY wedding journey. One of my slated projects is below - these cuter than cute little flags.

As you can see, the example I found has them being used in cupcakes however, as I’ve discussed, I’m not big into cake and neither is Frogger.

Back when we went on a long weekend trip to Chelan, we stopped at an adorable little bakery in a tiny town nearby. We wanted to get some pie samples to see if we could find a fit for our wedding. Upon walking into the homey, delicious smelling store, I was blown away by the amount of choices that were available. They had pies of every flavor you can imagine and even better…they had mini pies.

Behold the mini pie goodness

And not to be overlooked, they also had full size pies:

Yummy

Personally, one of the things I loved most was the fact that not only do they taste delicious and are made-from-scratch, they actually look homemade.

We decided to take 6 of the mini pies with us (much to the delight of our friends who we were staying with that weekend) and did a little tasting. Even after sitting in the garage refrigerator for several hours…they were still damn tasty!

Roll call: Apple, Peach, Triple Berry, Pumpkin, Blueberry and Strawberry Rhubarb

As a group, we decided our favorite was the blueberry…followed closely by strawberry rhubarb, triple berry and apple. We may throw a few more in for good measure when we place the order but those will definitely be the majority.

I must say, the thing I love most is that they use different symbols to identify the pies once they are cooked – each one is different: a star, heart, two lines, three lines, circle, etc. Too cute.

(source)

We are envisioning a pie table with a few of the full size pies surrounded by mini pies that will be served to each guest. By having some bigger pies, we will still be able to do a traditional “cutting and serving” as bride and groom but we get to do it with a dessert that we both love.

Now that you see the pie set-up, can you just imagine those cute little flags sticking up out of the pies? I can't wait!

Staying with our garden-chic vibe and continuing to incorporate local flavors, we also decided on our favors! As soon as I saw this on…where else – Martha Stewart Weddings – I knew it was perfect for our wedding. I’ll need to tweak a bit to fit our colors but you get the idea:

(source) Washington cherries anyone?

I’m thinking since our colors are gray, purple and blue – perhaps I should find a gray box to hold them? I was also thinking it could be charming to use a rustic cherry box or a wooden wine box – thoughts?

(source)

If I went the more rustic route, I could dress it up by using a ribbon in our colors or line the bottom with colored fabric. I’m still pretty torn on the presentation of these. What do you think?

Center of attention

2010-05-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

You’d think by the title of this post that I’d be talking about myself and Frogger…but you’ve been foiled again, dear friends! Do you like how I use exclamation points for no reason? Me too.

The center of attention that I’m talking about is centerpieces. I can’t get enough of that gorgeous eye candy and once we determined our venue, I knew that centerpieces were going to be one of the next things on my list. My real challenge was to find something that would complement the overall surroundings. With our colors being blue, gray and purple – I knew I needed a good combination of those colors to create the look I was going for. That’s not difficult at all…gray flowers are super common.

Here are some of the ideas I found that I was drawn to:

(source) I love the mod look of this but unfortunately we have round tables and I just don’t feel like this is the right fit for our overall feel.

(source) I love the chic yet casual feel of this one and the color combination but again those rectangular tables…le sigh.

Now for some more delicious options…and by delicious, I mean edible:

(source) Loving the limes and hydrangea combination

(source) Green apples, hydrangea, orchids…lovely.

(source) lemons, limes and gardeny goodness. See how you don’t even notice the chairs? Love that.

(source) Have you ever seen artichokes and asparagus look this pretty?

As much as I love the edible options, I also wanted to explore some more traditional ideas. So I pressed on. Here are some that I thought really started to create a look that felt right to me.

(source) Okay now we’re talking, loving the purple accents and the idea of using succulents – swoon!

(source) More succulent love…

(source) As much as I don’t think a modern look is what I’m going for, this is just…wow.

(source) I love the garden feel of the birdcages but this one got a veto from the male helping to plan this wedding – shocking.

(source) Loving the casual, garden feel of this one

(source) Okay, sold – LOVE the birch…must-find-way-to-incorporate

And just for fun, a couple that I found to be super innovative:

(source) Not only is it sustainable but using the right vessels, it could have such a fun theme – science, wine, etc.

(source) Seriously?! If I were anywhere near crafty enough, I would totally try to pull this off…note to crafty bees, go forth and conquer.

As you can see, I had quite a few different ideas that I was trying to pull together. As I continued my search, I became more confused as to how to make my vision come to reality.

Let’s play “how well do you know this Froggie?” Which direction do you think I went in?

A bride's recreational activity

2010-05-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

Clearly I’m talking about shopping.

As a fun distraction from some of the complications that come from the planning process, I often enjoy a little web window shopping. There’s nothing wrong with looking…am I right?

My subject of this most recent binge…rehearsal dinner dress. There are so many cute options out there right now. Let us examine some of the front runners. I decided to include a variety since I sometimes pretend that my rehearsal dinner is being held in multiple locations – this is for your benefit, my dear readers. I do all of this research for you.

Now for the goodies:

I'm currently swooning over this lovely. I love the soft, subtle colors and the classic fit.

What about this great little tie-neck dress? I'm really digging that color.

I love the whole look of this fab little jacquard dress from BCBG. Swoon city.

Or this adorable sweetheart dress from Ruche. There will be quite a few from Ruche because I’m slightly obsessed with their site and in awe of how reasonably priced everything is.

One shoulder goodness - and polka dots? I die.

More ruffled goodness. And can I just say, I absolutely L O V E the color combination of deep purple and navy – it’s so elegant and classy. This might be one of my top runners…doesn’t hurt that Ruche has it priced at just $49.99!

Another FAB Ruche find – I’m loving the idea of having white as part of the dress (feels bridal) and yet there’s still a touch of color to keep it fun and relaxed. Not to mention it has probably the cutest name ever “Raspberry Parfait” – I die. This adorableness will set you back $48.99.

I’m beyond words for this dress. It’s not cheap ($110) but I could find a way to wear this pretty much everyday, which would mean that I could get my money out of it in no time. Do you like my logic? Yeah, so do my credit cards. Just gonna put it out there in case Frogger anyone needs ideas for gifts for me. Just saying.

If you were to choose, which would you pick? Does the type of wedding or location dictate what your rehearsal dinner dress will look like?