Monkees and Widgets

… we have finally set a date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I am TOTALLY sold on a winter wedding. It’ll definitely make an easy way to remember when we got engaged/married. I suppose it’ll tie into my b-day but oh well!

Boxed Wine

So maybe Boxed wines are considered cheap. They may be affordable but I love the variations they come in! So much so that I would rather have boxed wine at the wedding. I want it arranged like this:

Silence!

So I feel as though without a date, there should be no planning involved. At least the big stuff. I don’t even want to think about it at this point b/c it’ll make me go into Project Overload. Thomas is like, “Why haven’t you planned some more?” and I’m like, “There’s no point! No contacts, no date, etc.”

On an amusing note though, these bridal conventions are like SHARKS!! I went to Bride’s Night Out in July w/Linda N. and signed up for some ‘stuff to win.’ Well, we didn’t win any raffles but about a month or so later, I get a call from CHILL salon and they are telling me to schedule an appointment for a FREE EUROPEAN facial!! How cool is that!!

Anyway, just to let you know, I do try to keep up appearances (i.e. look nice, decent) but am generally very low key. On my prom night, I paid someone to do my hair but never got a chance to put on makeup b/c I was helping my friends get ready and STILL to this day never got my nails done professionally. Prom night I had literally TWO toenails painted and we were off to dance the night away. Anyway, back to the beginning, I’ve never even had my nails done, much less a spa treatment so I go into the salon and the receptionist is like, have a seat. I wait and my technician comes out, leads me into this calming room w/a shower, tells me to replace my clothes with a towel, and lay down. At this point, I am literally thinking OMG someone is going to kill me with this towel on.  She says, “You know this will take about an hour?” HOLY CRAP! I thought I was going in for a fancy face wash but the experience was pretty cool. I didn’t know how to tip her at first b/c I didn’t know the prices but ended up giving her 25% without knowing b/c it would have costed about $60 retail + tip. Whew- I am in the good.

So I keep winning random things- Belk calls me to tell me I won champagne flute glasses ONLY if I attend their bridal show. Neh- I’ll buy them myself, thank you very much. Not to mention the flood of e-mails.

I’ll save bridal conventions until the real time comes. And then I just won’t use their resources. LOL

Thinking…

Pretty sweet signs, don’t you think? kind of dorky and relevant

Color Paletteschanging themes.. hmm….

why fight it? Embrace it! Marie Antoinette? As far as I’m concerned, her theme would be ideal and beautiful but hard to embrace with our budget and our land.

Alice in Wonderland! Much much better. bunnies, whimsy, random, fantasy- love it all! AND it takes place in the woods… or sort of.

Ok, that kind of sounds like Cinderella… but I love animals. I think I might have some bunnies roaming. white ones. the kind that Uncle Johnny raises on his farm and sends them off to Bunny Soup so I’ll save them to become Bunny Love.

tee hee! ELEGANT BRIDE sept 2007 issue- cool cool.

I definitely want to take some fashion-y styled pictures with my dress. I think almost all girls want to be sorta pretty in that industry, at least play it.

love new look!

MOOF!

I am now confused- there is more aspects about wedding planning than I thought. But hey, if I’m in the mindset that it is easy peasy and fun, then it will be all three! =D

Basically it is very basic formula. Every bride seems to want their unique wedding experience but like all rules, if you conform them to your standards, then they are merely a variation of the rule to begin with. Say one bride wants a super unique wedding using fruits and lights as centerpieces in lieu of flowers, pie as their wedding cake, and a short wedding dress instead of a long one- you are still getting centerpieces, a main wedding dessert, and a white fancy dress!

So in order to make an event truly unique, one must introduce new elements into their event. If one wants to turn the simple formula into a great event, then focus on making the party great within the boundaries. Personally, Thomas and I would like a humble but genuinely unique-within-some-formula event. Maybe instead of renting chairs, we’ll make the chairs out of tree stumps. HAHA!

On another note, I absolute fell in love with this dress- totally modern, architectural, yet form fitting and soft. Great as fashion, but perhaps not super “bridal.” HA! I wish there was a full-length pic of it but alas, there is not. It’s mermaid-styled btw and the bolero is separate.

Ivory English faille strapless trumpet dress with full skirt and rhinestone buttons, $3,990; matching trench bolero, $1,990, by Carolina Herrera

(HOLY MOLY!! $4Gs for the dress and $2Gs for that tiny piece of fabric of a bolero!!!)

Decor & Crafts Ideas

sweet English rose bouquetChop stick covers from Martha Stewart

So cute! I know, I know, the M.Stewart empire is the ruler of all things crafty. However, that dynasty has some amazing stuff and ideas. Quite cute & dainty.

Dress Ideas

Since January of 2007 (we got engaged Dec 31, 2006 @ Central Park in NYC), I knew what type of dress silhouette I wanted after looking through my first (and only) bridal magazine. It was a Maggie Sottero dress called the Catalina (or maybe it’s called the Perna now). It’s a mermaid silhouette with a sweetheart neckline. Gorgeous. Different. Very Hollywood-like and glamorous. Anyway, I found an Oleg Cassini dress at David’s Bridal that was similar in shape for $1000. It’s very figure flattering and to me, what other occasion do I get to wear something that flattering and formal! Also, once I’m preggars or decide to stop exercising and start eating a lot, I won’t be able to fit into something that looks great on the tall and skinny.

I am definitely not going to shell out $1k for a silly dress, no matter how exquisite unless some crazy person buys it for me out of the blue. I know exactly what I want in a dress and am willing to take the chance of ordering online because all dressed need some form of alteration anyway.

However, I also have more than a year to worry about it so it’s all good. Who knows, maybe my dream Maggie Sottero dress will pop back into the scene and into my I-will-not-pay-$1000-for-a-dress heart.

Pushed even further!

BRRRRR! I got a little frustrated when Thomas and I discussed the wedding date even further- Our top pick is April b/c that is when the Mountain Laurel will bloom and I wanted that flower as our wedding theme/flower! The property that we live on (100 acres) is pretty much a forest so when these bushels of flowers bloom, the whole place is breathtaking.

Anyway, back to what I was frustrated about. April of 09 would be great except that will give us only 9 months to prepare- fix the lake, build a road, GROW GRASS, and all the other stuff. However, August 09 is too darn hot, December 09 is winter sucky, so why not push it just 4 more months after Dec and make it April of ’10!

I was looking forward to being a little bride but in reality, I would rather have something unique and somewhat extravagant in 2010 that we can afford as opposed to “another cheesy outdoor wedding.”

*Sigh* I guess my mom is happy… that we’re waiting to get married!! Lame…. she wants me to graduate before the event but I don’t really care. I suppose theoretically I should be graduated by then. HA!

Wedding Date still tentative!

Thomas and I originally wanted the wedding date to be Sunday, August 9, 2009. However, considering we want the whole she-bang to be COMPLETELY outdoors in Molino, the humidity, hotness, and bugs may prevent us from doing so. Thus, we are seriously contemplating the month of December.

While I was reading my Bridal Bargains book(yes- Thomas and I are paying for the wedding ourselves) it listed that Florida’s top 3 months to marry were (in order) Dec, June, and April.. interesting! I never even considered a winter wedding! As much as I would love to have the wedding in spring, 1) people wouldn’t be able to make it and 2) spring 2009 may not be enough time to have the property in tip top shape (i.e. remodeling and fixing our lake, bulldozing some trees for more land, expanding the dock, growing the grass, etc etc etc!). Another thing is, Spring 2010 seems too far away!

I want a wedding and I want it now!!

I know one should be able to wait and in essence, a wedding celebration is really just an over the top, expensive elaborate party, but I would still like it to be “perfect”!

Now I need to know some input:

PROS & CONS of an August wedding vs. December wedding

AUGUST 2009

PROs

- It will be in the summer; full of sunshine and warmth!

- always wanted to get married in either Spring or Summer(April or August)

- can go canoeing in the lake!

CONS

- hot, humid weather

- possible food spoiliage- won’t be able to have a cheesecake wedding cake without proving ample accomidations

- will have to settle for a more casual-semi formal wedding b/c of the heat

- guys can’t wear tuxes!

- possibly more expensive to try to spray for bugs and provide tasteful and effective cooling accomidations

- land might not be ready yet

- more chances of sporadic rainstorm!!!

DECEMBER 2009

PROS

- In FL, it won’t be too cold but will still have ample sunshine

- less chance of sporadic rainstorms

- bugs will be mostly gone

- easier to warm up guests than provide some form of AC and more unique ideas (i.e. mini brick pits/ campfires) and those huge heating lamps

- will have the formal wedding that I really really want! Guys can wear the tuxes and it’ll be appropriate for me to wear the heavy formal wedding gown.

CONS

- my 2nd least favorite season =(

- grass may be brown due to frost

- might actually be too cold!

- hardly any flowers will be in season so very very expensive