Fine Line

In my mere five weeks of engagement, I've already learned quite a bit about the "fine lines" of wedding planning. Apologies upfront for a slightly lengthy post with no pictures... but here's my top 4 -

1. The fine line of being a calm, cool, collected bride... or a bridezilla
While I will call my dream wedding "laid-back" and "natural/organic/not super matchy" until I'm blue in the face, the truth is that I still have a vision of quite literally every single detail of my big day... and I am prepared (and honestly quite ecstatic) to do whatever it takes to make that vision a reality. So, in an effort to stay true to that, I've done things that aren't always "the norm" - like letting my bridesmaids pick their own dress style (in a matching color, fabric and length). But, what happens when I suddenly see their choices side by side and don't really love how it goes? What happens when one girl loves a 2-piece style but it's not available in my color? Or another chooses one I'm not insanely crazy about? Thankfully, I have amazing bridesmaids who will buy their 2nd choice for a dress because I like it better than their first, and so on. But, by having them do so, aren't I completely defeating the idea of letting them pick what they want? And, if I sway them the way I prefer am I just being a typical bride - or am I becoming a borderline bridezilla?

2. The fine line of registering for things we want and need... or appearing greedy
We've begun registries at a couple of the standard retailers, and have spent several hours in store and online having in-depth conversations about everything from the best vacuum cleaner for our household to our thoughts about flatware costing more than I could have ever imagined. After nearly 2 hours in Bed, Bath and Beyond last night and scanning practically everything I saw, I asked our helpful registry expert for her thoughts on how many things we actually need to pick out for our estimated 175 guests. Saying I was shocked at her response would be a drastic understatement - Apparently, we should register for 2-3 items PER expected guest... for a grand total of 400-500 wine glasses, vases, wooden spoons and more. She followed this up by telling us that after our extensive time in the store, we had scanned a whopping 51 things. Seriously? In talking to friends at work that are recently married, I've learned one new trick - look up their registries online for ideas and inspiration :). I've also learned that I need to get over my fear of looking greedy and just scan things! The worst thing that can happen? We don't get something we wanted and we buy it on our own later.

3. The fine line of chatty planning conversation... and oversharing
In my opinion, this revolves around the simple fact that outside of my mom, bridesmaids, and a few select others... nobody really cares to hear every single tiny little detail of what I'm planning for the big day. In reading wedding magazines I've also learned that telling everyone about everything you're planning kind of ruins any element of surprise for your guests when they get to the reception. What fun is it if they already know what your cake, centerpieces and decorations are all going to look like?

The part that I didn't realize (that I have not experienced yet but read about in more than a couple of places) is that the more you yap, the more likely it is that someone is going to copy your brilliant plan. And, then what happens when that person ends up walking down the aisle before you do? While I'd like to think I would be more flattered than annoyed if I saw my ideas elsewhere, I can't say I believe that's really how I would react. But, it's also important to remember that very few of my ideas are completely my own in the first place - I'm working with the wedding world at my fingertips thanks to all the inspiration available on the web! I'm not sure exactly how I'm supposed to run this dream wedding blog of mine if I'm trying to keep the details hidden, and knowing how much I love to talk in general I'm sure this may get tough... but I'll manage.

4. The fine line of staying on a budget... and not cutting corners that will negatively effect me/my wedding day
Everyone knows that we're on a tight budget for our wedding, and quite honestly, even if we weren't I couldn't imagine NOT looking for the most cost-effective way to execute everything. But, the integrity of our special day still needs to be made a priority, and there's certain things we're just not willing to scrimp on (such as our photographers, noted before!).

I had an experience yesterday that falls under that same "forget the budget, I'm doing this the right way" umbrella -
As expected, my ebay dress needs some extensive altering up top, and I mentioned before that the seamstress I went to estimated that all of her work would come in around $250-300. Always looking to see if there's a cheaper route, I took my dress to David's Bridal yesterday to see about having it altered there instead (the dress is originally from David's, or I wouldn't have been able to have it done there regardless). While I loved the chance to wear my dress for a little while and show it to some of my bridesmaids, I nearly lost it when the lady pinning up the straps pricked her finger, didn't notice, and then got 3 teeny bright red dots of  blood ON MY WEDDING DRESS. After I pointed it out she apologized, got the stain out and put on a bandaid right away, but not before I texted my mom from the fitting room and rushed her in to get the dress back in the garment bag and ready to get out of that store. The alterations quote, while significantly lower than the seamstress, was promptly thrown out when I left. I'll pay the extra money to insure the most important article of clothing I'll ever wear is taken care of and ready for me - spotless - on my wedding day.

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I'm sure as we continue to plan I'll also continue to learn. While I do still want to share some detail planning on this blog, I think I'll also focus on what I'm learning and experiencing personally!

236 days to go! :)

Brilliant

I knew that similar flowers in all different jars and vases could look good. I just knew it.

Consider this image just what I needed to solidify moving forward with my idea of thrifting vases and buying gorgeous simple flowers at the Farmer's Market. 

(Spotted on Style Me Pretty)

The Ebay Dress

I've found myself saying "Maybe at some point I'll care, but for right now I just don't" about a lot of things wedding-related. Things like whether or not my 5 bridesmaids will all have identical dresses or identical shoes, or the fact that our reception space has an area where the floor tiles make up a shuffleboard game and it's a bit ugly. But while I may not be the girliest girl in the world, I DO care about my dress - of course!

I have had a dream wedding dress for much longer than I have been engaged (don't judge), thanks to the unhealthy amount of time my girlfriends and I used to spend browsing wedding websites and drooling over rings, centerpieces and dresses. Unfortunately, although the dress design is "SO yesterday" - or 5 years old to be exact - it still retails in the wonderful world of bridal fashion at around $700... which is, oh, about $500 above what I wanted to spend.

Regardless of it being too expensive, I jumped online just days after getting engaged to show my cousin the beauty. A quick little google search of the style number left me with pictures of every bride that's every worn the dress... and an Ebay listing for the dress, brand new, tags still on, in my size, returnable if necessary, for $200.

Um. What?

After emailing the seller to confirm the too good to be true posting and a few days of contemplating, I finally bit the bullet and placed a bid. Thanks to most brides wanting to buy their dress in a STORE, I was the only bidder and a few hours later the dream dress was mine for $200 flat plus shipping.

Cue squealing!!

Now, not wanting to completely miss out on the thrill of trying on wedding dresses, and knowing that I'd never actually seen the Ebay dress in person and therefore had no clue what it would look like ON me, I went dress shopping that weekend with my mom, grandma, sister and one bridesmaid to try on other styles.

Here's the rundown:

Exhibit A: I look ridiculous in a "princess" style dress.

Exhibit B: Cleavage was needed for this dress. Moving on.

Exhibit C: The first strapless item I've put on in my life and LOVED. If I hadn't had a dress in the mail on it's way to me I likely would have purchased this one. But, then I probably would have spent a lot of time regretting my super plain choice.

(There were other dresses, but I couldn't find pictures of the exact styles)

Just my luck, I was in the middle of battling a flu when the Ebay dress arrived... but I went to my grandma's to try it on right away anyways and let me tell you, if my fever hadn't already broke, it did right then the minute I put on that dress. It is perfect in every way and although I was in my grandma's bedroom and not on TV I felt just like the girls in "Say Yes to the Dress" when they put on THE dress and immediately know it's the one they're going to get married in.

Also just my luck, the top of the dress needs some serious altering to fit teeny tiny me, so my $200 steal will now be more like a $400-500 decent deal. But, I'll still walk away spending way less than most girls, and I'll be the proud owner of a "I bought my wedding dress on Ebay" story that I'm sure I'll be telling for years to come!

Blooms

In the spirit of at least attempting to stick to a (small) budget, I have big plans of starting off my wedding morning with a casual trip to the Farmer's Market for bunches of flowers that my bridesmaids and I can tie with pretty ribbons for DIY bouquets with a natural, organic feel. My personal involvement in this plan will at least partially depend on what my hair stylist says about appointment timing and all, but I'm confident I'll be able to pass the task to someone else if I'm in more of a frenzy than I hope I'll be. Either way, I just can't imagine dropping hundreds and hundreds of dollars on flowers that are (unfortunately) just going to die days later. In fact, regardless of budget, flowers are low on my priority list overall due to a general lack of interest in them. I've always been more of a "If you want to spend money on me, take me out for a delicious seafood dinner or buy me something sparkly" kind of girl than the type that expects a dozen roses for every passing occasion.

So, while the Farmer's Market plan is one option, I've recently started to throw around the idea of a completely DIY option - paper flowers.

Now, I am what you can call... slightly obsessed with paper. I love the way it looks, the way it feels, the thousands of different kinds, colors and finishes. This infatuation with paper makes me think that flowers made out of some of my favorites would be perfectly fitting for our wedding! But, I don't exactly know how to make flowers out of paper, so we'll see. For now, a few inspiration images from a site that I'm sure will be a new favorite if I do in fact decide to go this route - Handmade Paper Flowers!

Tell me those aren't gorgeous bouquets?!? And, do I spy a paper flower in the hair of the last image above? I'm in love.

The Photogs

Well, this whole wedding thing is starting to get really... real. I have my dress (!!! - more about that later), we're booked at church, we had an incredible engagement party last night full of family and friends, and we made our first deposit - to the photographers!

Now anyone that knows me knows that I've gone into this wedding thing a little bit differently than the norm - My approach since day one has been to have the date and the overall budget revolve around one thing - my photographers. I've already heard plenty of "Uhh... aren't you supposed to pick the date based on when the church is available?" to know that not everyone necessarily agrees with my photographers-first plans, but for me, it's without a doubt my number one priority.

Maybe if you knew the photographers, you'd agree. In fact, I'm pretty sure you would. Because they are THAT good. For real.

My friends, meet Ben and Mindy Peterson, the insanely fun, obnoxiously talented, ridiculously nice all around incredible husband and wife team of Studio 6.23. Oh, how I love them... I am seriously giddy just THINKING about (finally) having these two take our pictures!

Readers of my precious 9-oh-6 may recall me gushing about Ben and Mindy quite awhile ago, when I originally met them and work friends Tom and Lauren booked them for their wedding. After listening to me talk about them for about a year Dan finally got to meet the duo at said wedding, and (as expected) he loved them just as much as I did. (I had no idea Ben and Dan had so much in common, but it was a pleasant surprise).

Outside of their impeccable eye for perfect shots, Ben and Mindy are quite honestly two of the nicest, funniest people I have ever met. Based on how nervous I've already been in our initial planning, I can already tell that having someone like Mindy around while I'm getting dressed and ready for the big walk down the aisle will be a HUGE comfort. And, Ben has already been an incredible help in answering my constant questions, both via phone and email. Considering I've reached out to all kinds of vendors already and had several that I flat out never heard back from (or heard back from a week later!), there's something to be said for someone like Ben who answers every one of my frantic emails nearly immediately and ends every note with "Let us know if you need ANYTHING!"

So, I encourage everyone that needs a photographer or just wants to check out some incredible work to head over to the Studio 6.23 blog and look around. While you're at it, I'm just gonna go squeal a little more that they'll be there on my wedding day celebrating with us and capturing it all!

Something Blue

Even before settling 100% on a reception venue, it was important to me that I ask the girls I'm closest to if they would stand up with me on our wedding day as bridesmaids! I knew I didn't want to just ASK them (although that was the case with my maid of honor, who lives out of town), so I decided to cure my baking itch and make sugar cookies.

I had a dress shaped cookie cutter that I used to make white dresses for my MOH's bridal shower, and I tried my hand at royal icing (which I learned is exactly as difficult as people say it is for first-timers). I've known for years that I would want my girls in a deep saturated turquoise, and although I couldn't get the icing color quite right, it got the point across and the girls loved the finished product!

Clearly, I need to learn to use my camera better if I want to be taking decent pictures for blogging, but trust me - the cookies were cute!

(Tags read: Will you be my bridesmaid? I promise not to make you wear an ugly dress.)

We're Planning a WEDDING!

My dream has come true. I am officially a wedding blogger.

Oh, and I also got engaged. To the perfect guy. Who got me the perfect ring. And proposed at the perfect time. That was also a dream come true. But everyone already knew that, right?

I already gushed about our engagement story on my other blog, so I won't type all of that here, but I will kick this off by saying how excited I am to blog about all of my ideas and progress as we plan our totally DIY major-budget perfect day!

We're 99% set on September 24th of THIS YEAR, so I clearly have my work cut out for me. Thankfully, we are blessed with incredible friends and families that have already been huge resources and a great help in our initial planning, and I can't wait to celebrate with all of them at our wedding!