invites and STDs

We have been getting so much accomplished! I have always sort of turned up my nose regarding wedding planning because it seemed so frivolous and unneccessary, but I've actually been having a lot of fun.

Let's talk stationary. I think it's pretty ridiculous to pay 100s of dollars for paper, so I have known from the beginning that I would be designing and printing my own invitation suite. My mom recieved a gorgeous new printer for Christmas, so we have been itching to do some fun printing. When I came home from Sacramento, my mom and I went into Michaels looking for a fern or orchid stamp to use as a general motif to guide our design process and came out with DIY wedding stationary kits - everything we need for invites, response cards, and save the dates for under $50! We are using the Anna Griffin Wedding Studio Invitation Kit in green:We have also ordered two beautiful stamps from Stampin' Up and ink pads in kiwi to adorn the stationary:

Today I have been working on designing the save the dates (have you noticed how on all the wedding blogs, they shorten "save the dates" to "STDs?" Maybe it's just because I work with hormonally-driven teenagers, but that just really makes me uncomfortable...). I was originally going to just do a basic text save the date with the stamp as decoration, but then I started getting creative. Here is the leading design this evening:

After we print them, we will then circle the number 25 by hand in ink.

Next up, bridesmaid dresses!

clever rhymes

Jessica sent me the sweetest engagement gift today!


I know what Mom and I will be doing when I get home on Saturday.

Other wedding books that I might be sort of interested in, just in case you were thinking of buying me a wedding-related Christmas gift (seriously? When did I become so interested in weddings?):

• Anti-Bride Guide: Tying the Knot Outside of the Box, Gerin & Rosenbaum
• Offbeat Bride: Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides, Stallings
  
• The DIY Bride, Cochran
• Eco-Chic Weddings: Simple Tips to Plan an Earth-Friendly, Socially Responsible, Affordable Green Wedding, Anderson

And I'm buying this for Brian. :)

engagement time!

With the busy-ness and excitement that the last few weeks of school brings, I sort of forgot about this blog. Oops.

Oh yeah, and I got engaged.

For real.

Over Thanksgiving holiday, Brian and I visited both sets of parents. He asked my dad for permission to marry me. My dad cried. Not once, not twice, but three times. It was adorable. When we went to Santa Cruz to hang with the Ellis family, Brian took me down to the beach. We walked past a dead seal (very romantic!), he recited a haiku he wrote for me (yep), then got down on one knee (I said, "Seriously? Do you have to do that?") and gave me my ring. It was not terribly surprising, since, you know, I was there when we bought the ring and when he talked to Pops. What was surprising? Alex and Erica hiding behind an umbrella taking pictures of the whole proposal!


We then got an impromptu photo shoot. Here are but a sampling of the 250 pictures Alex took (most of which feature at least one of us with our eyes all squinty, or me doing my ridiculous open mouth-closed eye laugh. Look out, wedding photogs, you've got a difficult couple on your hands...):


Consider this blog officially back in action, especially since Brian has limited patience for wedding-talk, since he just started a new job. And since it's only taken me.... 3 weeks to blog about the actual engagement, I'm sure this will just be a hot-bed of wedding planning updates!

back in the day

So. Things have progressed a little faster than anticipated.

May I present to you

(drumroll please...)


MY RING!


Long story incredibly short:

Yesterday morning Brian and I walked to breakfast and over too many cups of coffee decided that when we finished grading we would go to the mall to look at rings so he would have an idea of what I liked and we could see what certain rings would look like on my tiny fingers.

We got there. We tried this one on. We both fell in love with it. I now have an engagement ring!

That I'm not allowed to wear.

Brian wants to officially ask my dad and then still wants to plan a proposal that is more special than, "Do you like this one? OK, I'll buy it."

Things just got a whole lot more interesting.

dress you up

all via J.Crew Weddings

a perfect circle

I am a modern girl, and I require a modern ring (well, I don't really require anything, to be honest). Two designs I've been considering (Brian is being very patient with me).

Diamond Ideals Stardust Active

Brilliant Earth (conflict-free!) Seacrest Ring with Diamond Accents

picture perfect

I WANT A PHOTOBOOTH!

via 321photobooth.com

I've seen a lot of DIY photobooths, which would be a far less expensive (but still totally awesome) alternative. I really like the idea of a Polaroid photobooth, but Polaroid cameras and film are hard to come by... I'll keep thinking...

SO CUTE with the picture frames! Mini white boards would be fun too.
via Flickr