Meet the Parents

Chad and my parent's met for the first time while we were home. we all ate tortilla soup and drank white hot chocolate. Chad's dad suggested we finish the napkin rings we bought with some vegetable oil instead of stain and my parents did the project last night and they allegedly look totally awesome. good work, moms and dads.

dresses dresses everywhere

dress drama was rampant over the last week or so. i bought two dresses on eBay, both vintage, both really pretty. one was twice as much as the other. the cheaper, less awesome of the two was shipped to my parent's house while i was home, so i tried it on. it didn't fit. not only did it not fit, it REALLY didn't fit. like, no way could i fit into it in a month fit. granted, it was christmas and i was stage 5-ing, so i was at the tip top of my regular weight range, but still. i was crushed. so, so sad. i had no recourse if the dresses didn't fit. i cried for a whole day.

my mom asked me to go and talk to a lady in her ward who makes wedding dresses, who could mock something up for me or have me rent one, but it was all still too raw. i didn't want another dress, i wanted the dress that was shipping to seattle that was perfect and vintage and awesome and way, awy too small for me. (the measurements were even smaller than the one i'd alreaady tried on)

so, i come back after christmas and begin shopping. addy told me that there was a big sale with lots of white dresses at nordstrom rack, so i went. after much digging, i decided to get this dress (from a no name italian designer, an unlined cotton dress that retailed for $800! insane) for about $50. i was going to add a tulle skirt for a bit of frill and to make it dressier)

note: it was freezing and snowy that day, so yes, i am wearing knee socks with under-armor.

as a whole, it's a little nurse-y, but i thought with a new skirt, it would do just fine.

then. the clouds part.

my other perfect dress comes in and i try it on for kicks. it's so so gorgeous. no cotton to be found, all chiffons and taffetas and silk. so i try it on. and what? it fits! i could still stand to lose a few so that it looks perfect, but it was awesome. so, so, so great. i, for one, couldn't be happier.

not, all i need it to add dozens of layers of tulle to the crinoline i got this weekend and bam! the perfect dress.

i spelled comparatively right on the first try. take THAT, college!

i am now the proud owner of two spectacular wedding dresses.

vintage? yep
cheap? comparatively
awesome? yes
exactly what i wanted? yes yes yes

too bad i showed chad the auctions, so he already knows what they look like. maybe i won't tell him which one i choose. awesome? awesome.

A.J. hey hey

Alex is my friend. Alex is the best. Alex is, among other things, a wildly talented artist. We wrote each other while he was missionning in Austria and Switzerland and his letters were always a really big deal. one of my favorite envelopes he sent was my name and address in huge, black (with yellowed edges) gothic type. it was so ornate and interesting and seemed so...european. anyway, alex offered (or agreed to, i'm not sure which) write out our wedding invitations. i love the look of handwritten invitations, but i don't want fantsy pantsy calligraphy, as i don't think it'll match our more informal atmosphere.

i like the looks of these styles of fonts alot. it's going to look awesome. i ordered the invitation supplies today and we're humming the tune of about $300, not including the screen printing kit, paint, and TONS of stamps. not bad for 200+ invitations.



(pictured- the former trampoline hole and me at our reception site. note the nervous nail biting. some things never change)

love that

i just spent 1/5 of our budget flying kristina and her husband out to shoot our wedding (that's a testament to how small our budget is, not how expensive it was). i feel so, so awesome about that decision. man, talk about a weight off.

party in AZ!

napkin rings acquired. they're really simple, which is good. are they boring? i'm not sure. do we need hot pink puff paint to spruce them up a bit? YES.

sort of wedding-y update

i just got a recrunkulous flower and some feathery goodness to tackle my veil, but i've got an entire quilt top to sew. add that to the fact that i'm exhausted and still sick and you've got a recipe for daunting projects being avoided in favor of watching the several Colbert Reports that are inexplicably saved on my parent's Tivo.

UPDATE: didn't touch my veil, but totally killed the quilt top. thanks, merm!

har char char

so my veil stuff came in the mail this week while i was here. the week of thanksgiving probably isn't the best time to get thick russian tulle in a house full of jokesters.

thank you, family, for saving the plastic turkey netting for me, just in case i needed any extra...

at just the right time.

wanna see how chad secretly flew to arizona and surprised me and asked me to marry him? go look on youtube HERE.

everyone was in on it. which explains why my mom wondered why i wasn't planning on ironing my dress, why my sister asked me that morning if i was going to shower or not and when my other sister asked me to do her makeup in the hopes that i would get carried away and do my own makeup as well.

it was perfect. life is so sweet.

updates

in a very fruitful two days, i've acquired the following:
veil material (now i just need to sew it. ahh!)
25 centerpiece vases
napkin fabric (50% of it at least)
photobooth backdrop fabric
120 place settings of silverware
120 glasses (plus 60 little ones for good measure)
8 glass containers fo our sweet-as-heck candy bar (all awesome!)

things i will do tomorrow:
return a few things to C&B, since i found the same things at *ahem* rossdressforless for, well, less.
take my entire cavalcade of a family into tiffany and co. so they can see the ring that is not on my finger yet. (before dec. 6th my darlings!)

what i have decidedly not done:
acquired plates (we're going to rent these as the options were not what we want)
gone to the venue to poke around (this weekend hopefully)
ordered a wedding dress
flower consultation
catering consult/order

oh yeah, i should note that i am not actually engaged. i would tell you the sad story of how i was going to be engaged last week but our esteemed jeweler messed it up real bad. no matter.

i love getting things done. so so good.

big news

i am BESIDE MYSELF to introduce to the blahg, my friend and killer photographer, Kristina! she's offered to fly down and shoot our wedding! everyone should go to her site and look at every photo here. this is awesome for a ton of reasons:

1. she's giving us a killer deal

2. i love love her photography (interesting and creative without being artsy for art's sake)

3. she and jared get to be at my wedding!!!

seriously, if you guys don't have tons of talented friends, i recommend getting some right away.

zapatos

i told chad today that i wanted to get fancy shoes for the wedding. i love these killer, bombastic, go-big-or-go-home Loubs. probably not worth 3x the cost of my wedding dress.

...or are they?

birdcages and froof

just bought stuff to make a veil and shipped it to mom's house. get ready for awesome.

pretty pretty princess

cat told me that i was so prepared for my wedding and totally planning ahead. truth be told, i'm only really excited about planing the cool parts. for example-
bridesmaid jewelry!

i want to make the jewelry. I think i'm going to use round green beads, so i'll have all of them decide the style they want and we'll all have different ones. i love the first one, lyd loves teh second and car loves the third. i'm excited to make them. now, earrings? awesome or too matchy match? i dont like wearing earings because my ears get huge and red and pussy no matter what type of metal it is. maybe i can do earrings for the moms.

thoughts?

starring robin williams i think

i think i love birdcage veils. the're so simple and unfussy. plus, they make for some sweet photos. i like the idea of having a ittle birdcage veil, that i can remove and jsut have some big fancypantsy feathery concoction on the side of my head.

except not either of these, obviously. another thing i think i can make myself, only to end up buying it all (enchiladas, anyone?)

baneful little things

looking into wooden bowls for centerpieces. they're all really expensive, especially since i'm not keen on keeping 12 wooden bowls (or even one, for that matter). found a couple of options at a location i am embarrassed to admit. i told chad today on the phone where i was going to look and he said, "aww, poor girl, did you just throw up a little bit in your mouth?" almost.

and then i think, are wooden bowls even cool? they seem a little bit teva-with-socks-and-bike-friday-hairy-legged-cargo-short-wearing-ecohippie lady to me. or maybe just boring.

maybe jsut stick to glass and hope that i'm awesome enough to make it look rad?

is there anythign really wrong with spring colors in february? february in arizona is peak summer in seattle. so yeah. yeah!

this could be the fiber talking

i'm 2/3 of the way through my second pomegranite in 18 hours. but i love these fruit bowls with the busted open pomegranites. except i think that's some nod to fertility, which would be weird.

plus, why have fruit at a candy filled wedding?

fruit is nature's candy though.

but then again, bark is nature's toilet paper, and that never works out.

see? i'm TORN.

and i dance dance dance till i dance dance dance

kittymeowkitty Cat sent me some pictures from other wedding blogs yesterday that i totally love. if, hypothetically, we move it up to late winter, i'd like to incorporate some earthier woodgrain into things. like this, for example. hypothetically.

wedding bliss

toppotdoughnutguy- how's your day been so far?

me- oh my gosh, so good. so i'm getting married in June...

toppotdoughnutguy- oh, congratulations!

me- thanks. i just found out that these family friends agreed to let me have my wedding in their backyard for free. i seriously just saved myself like $5,000.

toppotdoughnutguy- oh wow, that's awesome! i hope the rest of your day is that good.

me- thanks!

in closing, AHH! SO AWESOME!! imagine the above picture except really, really hot but totally awesome.

yes!

every short dress is a good short dress

found another short dress online today. i think i like it, though i have a feeling that i might only like it becuase it's short. i dont like the neckline (duh) or the embriodery around the waist. the extra ruffle on the bottom is strikes me, but it could be because it reminds me of a cabbage patch dress and i love playing dress up. what say you?

oh candy, you came and you gave without taking...

is there a grocery store in tucson that does bulk candy? there's one here, top foods that has like 100 different types of candy and nuts and such available for bulk purchase. it's like the Sweet Factory in the mall, except not terribly expensive and doesn't reek of middle school and not-so-disposable income.

speak up, Tucsonans, is there a place with something like this?

Bev-dog

Tina had the good idea to have a lemonade bar. raspberry, regular, etc. how about 3 or 4 of these bad boys lined up, all with different lemonade-y offerings? crazy cheap at target:

Location^3

after some very light internet stalking, i found the place that i talked to my parents about last night. it's a family that we're friends with, apparently they host parties and receptions all the time and are super awesome. behold:

thoughts? do we totally love this place?

more inspo

love this chocolate orange board LNML sent me. i like the envelopes and the flowerless centerpieces.

also, i just found out a potential venue for 100 people will be in the 4-5k arena. too much for me. i want to cook my own food and have an awesome, interesting venue. is this going to be more difficult than i anticipated? catered means no wiggle room with the guest list, seating arrangements...too much fuss.

that's what i'm realizing. i dont want a fussy affair.

hot for cool

how awesome is this dress? found via ritzybee. the more i think about it, the more i want a short dress. i raelly want something unfussy that i can dance dance dance and possibly double dutch in. i can't find this dress online anywhere. nothing even close. i love the lace, length, sleeves and v-neck. i'd adjust the sillouhette a tiny bit for a more swingy skirt, but maybe not. it looks pretty flawless to me. now how to get something like this...

Candy and such

Chad and I have decided that we really want to have a wedding that kids can have fun at. not to say there's going to be a ton of kids at it, but we all remember how boresville weddings were when you were a kid. so, imagine a half dozen jars, almost 2 feet tall, filled with candy. we can have bags with ribbon, so people can mix and match to personalize their favors, plus people will get more out of a bag of candy than a plastic bottle of bubbles. i love these:

to blahg or not to blahg

so i'm starting a blog to help navigate the world of online wedding crap. there's seriously so much. first things first, colors:



I love the gray accents. I want to add little touches of orange and pink (think grapefruit) to my scheme. lots of white, lots of bright, Airzona in June is no time for dark colors.