all the things i thought i knew

Things have been quiet on the wedding front, but work is still getting done (read: money is still being spent!). Mom spent the last week visiting her parents in Oklahoma and finished Lindy's dress:Today we fit Bethany for hers. They are going to be so pretty!

Mom also made a few French memo boards for us to display pictures, as we vetoed the idea of a slideshow:


Also, inspired by this post on Vintage Glam Blog, I bought 30-something vintage hankies on Ebay this morning:

Definitely not a necessity, but a totally cute (and cheap!) idea nonetheless.

Last week I bought a ring bowl from Paloma's Nest on Etsy (my new favorite wedding accessory destination - so much great handmade stuff! I am working with a jewelry maker there to design necklaces for the bridesmaids). Since we aren't having a ring-bearer, I thought we could put the rings in the bowl and have them sitting at the front of the ceremony. Then, we can use the bowl as a keepsake/ornament later. I had it printed with:

i carry your heart
(i carry it in my heart)
26 july 2009

And finally, Brian picked a wedding band today! This may not seem like a big deal, but the selection of this ring has caused numerous disagreements for the past three weeks because Brian couldn't make up his mind and finally set his heart on a $2,000 ring we found at a jeweler in Davis, which after seeing he refused to even look at anything else. I finally convinced him to consider how much my ring cost before adding the diamond and he realized that maybe the Davis ring was a little bit of a rip-off. He ended up getting a really nice white/yellow gold band that is classic but still a little "different" and cost $600 and we both are much happier.

Mom says my next job is to design the programs and order my bouquet and the boutonnieres. We are making the bridesmaid's bouquets and all of the table arrangements, but since I want cymbidium orchids in my bouquet and for the boutonnieres, we are going to let the professionals deal with those.


Only 155 days to go!

here comes my girl

Yesterday, Brian and I looked for wedding bands (for him, I will have to have mine custom-made) and finally picked out tuxes for the guys. I have been super-opposed to the guys wearing tuxes from the beginning because I thought all of the men in black tuxes would look way too formal and prom-ish for our super-casual outdoor wedding. I just wanted all the guys to wear suits. The problem? None of the guys own suits. Not even our dads! I griped and moaned in the Men's Wearhouse in December until a salesguy took pity on me (or got annoyed) and pulled out next season's "Look Book," because he remembered that they would be getting in a super-light, super-casual grey tux in March 09. Bingo!

Brian and the groomsmen will wear the Calvin Klein grey tuxedo:

(disregard the super cheesy 90s hair)

Brian will wear an eggplant vest and tie (to match the girls' dresses):

and the rest of the boys will wear navy:

Our dads will wear traditional black tuxes with platinum vests and ties:

The best part of the whole ordeal? Brian made all the decisions while I wandered around the store, wondering how cruel of a women would I have to be to make all of the guys in our wedding wear Watermelon, Candy Pink, Fuschia, or Iris. Of course, I mean no offense to any girl out there who has chosen one of these shades as a wedding color, but just put your guys in Silver and spare them the embarassment, right? I even felt bad picking that eggplant as one of our colors and told Brian he absolutely did not have to wear it and could just wear blue with the rest of the guys, but he said he wanted to look different and since they didn't have our green in the style we wanted, he was willing to wear the purple. But still.

In other wedding news, I wrote the ceremony script this weekend and am so excited about it! We are doing a "Boo on Prop 8" shout-out, sure to offend several in attendance, as well as a family lei exchange and are including readings from Shakespeare, the Apaches, and Khalil Gibran. Brian and I are also writing vows "to the world" as well as vows to one another. It is super multi-cultural and hippie-ish and is so beautiful I just want to read it all the time.

My next DIY project will be programs, since the invites and favor boxes are all done. We are also making French boards in the wedding colors to frame and stand on the guest book table in leui of doing a slideshow.

Wedding in 167 days! Engagment pics in 47! I've lost 3 pounds already just running with my soccer team. Time to start lifitng weights soon!