The Wed-Site

I'm on top of this wedding-planning shit, as long as I can do it from my couch on my laptop.  So one thing that's been accomplished is setting up a weddding website.  There are several templates availible online, but we went with mywedding.com since it had a design we liked. 

Take a look: Paul and Ellen's Wedding

While I get that there are still some people who won't be visiting the site (hi Grandma!), I'm hoping this will be useful to at least a few guests.  Especially the out-of-town, staying-all-weekend guests. 

Please give me some feedback! 

Bridesmaids Dresses

THE BRIDESMAIDS DRESS

Emily is on the left, Lindsay on the right.  These dresses are cotton/sateen, so they're not shiny like a typical dress. 

Lindsay liked the green one better, and since the colors are green and blue, I was like, sure, go for it.  Emily is showing her opinion of the green color. 

I wanted the dresses to be something that they might wear again.  These are casual enough to wear as a cute summer dress but still fancy enough for a wedding. 

Oh, and they have pockets!



Table Runner Fabrics

So Pilgrim Center will rent white table linens for us, and include them in the overall bill. I like this plan because it means I don't have to do anything.  However, a room full of white table linens might look a little boring.  So I need table runners...like this:

only in blues and greens.  I like the idea of them not matching; every table will have a different style of fabric for a table runner.  I can't take credit for this idea, but I also can't remember who came up with it first (one of my crafty aunts, most likely!).  So after dress shopping, we stopped by the fabric store and took pictures of different fabrics.  These are my favorite:

I like paisleys, polka dots, and embroidery.  I also like the idea that after the wedding, I (or someone more talented) could make a quilt out of all the different fabrics as a wedding souvenir. 

Camp Tour

We visited Pilgrim Center this morning, just to get a basic feel for the place and have discussions about food, lodging, and schedules.  Poor Paul was stuck with myself, my Mom, and two aunts, all wandering around talking about centerpieces, buffet vs sit-down food, and flower arrangements for the alter.  I am eternally grateful to all those people who willingly take on a wedding task, because this thing is going to go off so much better with all your help. 

For those of you unfamiliar with PC, here are some pictures:

This is the chapel, where the ceremony will be held.  Who wouldn't want to get married in front of that view?

The reception will be in the dining hall.  

Picture this with tons of white Christmas lights and paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling.  Plus, you can't beat the view:

"Venue" is a go.  It's a big check mark off the list.  It does, however, add a few more items, such as picking a menu and finalizing a guest list.  





Thanksgiving Planning Extravaganza

Paul and I will be back in Wisconsin for Thanksgivng weekend.  We're actually flying in on Thanksgiving, because it's almost $300 cheaper than the day before or after.  Also, I have to work Thanksgiving morning. 

We're hoping to get a few things checked off the list, especially those that require a physical presence in the state to accomplish. 

Here's the tenative schedule:
Visit the camp. Finalize food and sign the contract.
Possible cake tasting in Oshkosh
Dress shopping at David's Bridal in Milwaukee
Meeting up with Paul's sister and brother in Chicago, to hang out and to see what she's got in her brilliant mind for my dress. 
Possible coffee date with the photographer
See the invitations that my aunt put together

This is in between hanging out with family, eating too much food, and trying to squeeze in seeing some midwestern friends.  I'll need a vacation from vacation. 

See you all then!

Photographer

We now have a photographer! 

Thanks to generous family members, we've booked Ann Oleinik Photography for the wedding.  She and her husband will both be there all day on Saturday to take nifty pictures.  I love her style, as it is more candid and journalistic than formal, posed wedding photography.  I don't need pictures of all of us standing around smiling awkwardly.  I want pictures of us having a good time!

Ann is truely a professional photographer.  She's based out of Chicago.  And she's pricey.  Not incredibly so, but enough that I struggled with the idea of paying someone that much money, even for something I really wanted.  In the end, though, the only thing left after the wedding day is a spouse and a ton of pictures.  And I want those pictures to be awesome and a true representation of the day. 

Photobooth Props and Post-Halloween Sales

Ever since I knew the wedding photobooth was a "thing", I've wanted one.  I love all the formal shots of weddings, but I also know that my family and friends aren't going to be captured appropriately unless there's some hardcore goofball going on.  So in our photography package, we swapped out the engagement shoot for a photobooth! 

I have no idea if this is what our photobooth will actually look like.  This is just a generic idea off of Google Images.  The photos themselves might  look something like this:

Which means...props!  A post on Off Beat Bride reminded me that post-Halloween sales would be a great time to get weird stuff for super cheap.  So I visited Target and Halloween City, where all their Halloween swag was 50% off.  I got a ton of fun stuff for the photobooth.  It was also my first "real" wedding purchase, which I find appropriate. 

This is literally maybe a third of the stuff I got.  Now I just have to figure out how it's getting to Wisconsin.

Dress Ideas

So, my future SIL Erin will be making my dress for me. She is a professional seamstress, costume designer, and has her own company, Erin Rose Designs.  I've been researching ideas to point her in the right direction.  Here is a dress that literally made me gasp when I saw it:

I love the colors, and the back, and the one-shoulder colored strap.  I like how you can tell it's a wedding dress, but it doesn't look like just another wedding dress. 

If you want to see more of my wedding dress inspirations, go here.  

A Tentative Schedule

We're having the wedding at a summer camp.  This means that (hopefully) many of the out-of-town guests will be able to stay for the whole weekend, as accomidations are going to be much cheaper than a traditional hotel block.  And I really like the idea of having a "wedding weekend."  Not so much because I want all attention on us for 48 hours instead of 12, but because I want our families to really get a chance to know each other.  Paul's family will be traveling from all over the country, and mine is pretty much centralized in Wisconsin.  There won't be a ton of future opportunites for the families to get together ever again.  Plus, I don't want to feel like I've missed spending time with anyone if all we get is the wedding reception.  We also get the camp for the entire weekend, so might as well use it. 

So here is a tenative schedule for the weekend.  Subject to change whenever I feel like it.

Friday Afternoon: Rehersal. Only pertinant people need to be there.  Other guests can check in, get a room, wander down to the lake, etc. 

Friday Night: Welcome BBQ.  Main meal provided by PC but also potluck. Followed by a bonfire, possibly with live music. 

Saturday Morning/Early Afternoon: Guests on own for breakfast/lunch (maybe have coffee/bagels/muffins for snacking).  Plan is to have the lakefront open so people can swim or canoe.  Possible lawn-game tourney for those who don't want to do water stuff. 

Saturday Afternoon: Wedding at 4?5?  Drinks/snackies after while we finish up pictures.  Dinner at 6?7?. 

Saturday Night: Reception.  Dinner, more drinks, dancing, cake-cutting, etc.  We may have to cut the festivities short because the camp has neighbors and I don't want to get anyone in trouble. 

Late Saturday Night: 10pm-?? Hangin' at my mom's house for those who want to keep partying. 

Sunday Morning: Late brunch and present opening for those who want to attend that.  We don't have to vacate camp until later that afternoon. 

Thoughts on my timeline?  Suggestions? Concerns?

Wedding planning...I'm finally starting to get excited

The more in-depth we get into planning, the more excited I'm getting. When we first got engaged, I didn't automatically have that "wee!" moment. I mean, I did about getting married, but not about the actual wedding.  I actually was going through the motions whenever anyone asked me about wedding details.  I'm afraid I came off as a bit grumpy about the whole thing.  I want to get married, and I want to have a celebration, but I didn't have a vision and couldn't muster much enthusiasm. 

It's taken me a few months of idea-collecting to really get a good idea of what this celebration could be.  I've gone from reluctant wedding-planner to excited wedding planner.  Paul thinks I'm crazy every time I try to show him something neat I've found on the interwebs.  I try to tell him that this is normal, and he's actually pretty damn lucky because it could be much, much worse.  As in, I could be not sharing anything with him because I could be one of those girls that doesn't actually care what her fiance thinks.  Can't wait till I try to convince him we absolutely NEED to make 200 things and he's the lucky sumbitch who gets to stick stickers or lick envelopes.  Joy.

 I've been heavily perusing OffBeatBride.com, and have even become a Tribe member.  It's a wedding site similar in function to The Knot, but much more tailored to a bride like me; someone who hasn't been planning their wedding since they were five.  Someone who may be dispensing with certain traditions and has no desire to do anything if the only reason is "that just how weddings go".  The brides on Off Beat Bride have royal blue wedding dresses with rainbow crinoline.  They wear fairy wings or require the guests to wear Renaissance clothing.  They geek out over Futurama cake toppers and are generally obsessed with robots.  I've found a wedding home. 

Having a venue has also been helpful in deciding a theme for the wedding.  This has two purposes.  The first is to narrow down my obsessive internet searches.  The second is that I'm finally starting to see how this wedding could go.  It's becoming more real, and as a result, more fun. 

Lets just hope I don't go off the deep end. 

Bridesmaid Manifesto

This is a post for my bridesmaids.  I really want to emphasize that I am going into this expecting nothing but support and good times.  But I have a feeling lots of brides feel that way when they pick their wedding attendants.  Something about weddings brings out weirdness in people, so I thought my expectations should be outlined clearly.  And humorously.  Because, you know, that's what I do. 

Bridesmaid Manifesto

Welcome to our wedding. I have chosen you all specifically because I love you, and because you are all classy, opinionated, and fun. In order to get us all through this process together, here is what I need from you:

1. For the love of all that is holy, talk to me about other things besides the wedding. Yes, it's going to consume much of my time and sanity, and yes I will need your opinions and help to pull this off. But that doesn't mean I want to be left out of your lives. I love gossip, and I need to know the world does not revolve around my wedding. Because I will forget, at least once.

2. Give me your opinions. If you think something is going to be cheesy, or not fun, or just plain ugly, please let me know. I'm dealing with a lot of ideas right now, and at some point I'll need to pare them down from “ooh shiny” to “alright lets make 200 DIY things!” Because you will be helping me make the DIY things, and if you think they are dumb, no amount of whiskey will make that better.

3. Yes, you will be helping me make things. I promise whiskey. Just maybe, you know, after the DIYing instead of during.

4. As a caveat to number 2: I'm going to make decisions that you wouldn't make, if you were planning your own wedding. The plan is to solicit opinions on most of the important decisions. But once that solicitation phase is over and the decision has been made, I will ask that you kindly zip it. Like, completely. Unless you are willing to take on the added responsibility, be it financial or otherwise.

5. You do not have to throw me a shower. Showers, as far as I'm concerned, are family things. Plus, with all the people you would invite to a shower scattered all over the country, it's just not really something you need to worry about. I do, however, secretly covet a kick-ass bachelorette party. And I have the unreasonable desire to call it a “hen party” in a snooty English accent.

6. There are a slew of reasons that I picked you specifically to be my bridesmaids. And one of those is your ability to organize and tell other people what to do. This is an asset. My job as the bride is to plan the wedding down to the last detail. There may even be a wedding battle plan involved. What I need you to do is take over team leadership on the wedding day. Another bride called it “honey-badgering”. Be prepared to get bossy. My family will be briefed to listen to your marching orders.

7. If, for whatever reason, you feel like you can't do this bridesmaid thing anymore, please let me know. I don't want my wedding to be something that makes your life less fun and more hard.

Love you all and excited to do this wedding thing with you!

E~

Wedding Venue and Wedding Date

We're getting married at ....

*drumroll*

Pilgrim Center! 

It's a UCC church camp that I worked at for several summers in college.  They  have a fantastic new chapel that overlooks Green Lake.  They've got a sweet lodge for overnight guests.  They've also got killer food.  In one location, we've got a rehearsal dinner site, wedding site, reception site, and Sunday brunch site.  Plus, its about five minutes from my mom's house.

This also means we've got a wedding date.  The date was contingent on when PC was available, so we're now set for September 15th, 2012.  Really, its going to be a "wedding weekend" of the 14th - 16th. The weather in Wisconsin in mid-September will hopefully be the best that fall has to offer.  That being said, we probably will be planning on indoor festivities, at least for the dinner portion. 

Wedding Party Update

Three more people have been added to the wedding party!

Groomsmen: Kelly Paul - Paul's friend from high school
                      Scott Riley - Paul's friend from college.

Bridesmaid: Emily Merola - Ellen's friend from work.

And yes, if you're keeping track, that's two Emilys in the wedding party.  All of these people were on the short list to begin with, it was just a matter of deciding how many we wanted on each side and officially asking them to join us.  I can't say for sure that this is where we'll stay, but at least this much is confirmed. 

Wedding Weight Loss

So, tonight I joined 24 Hour Fitness.  The zoo actually partially reimburses employees for gym memberships, so I should have done it sooner.  I've balked at spending the money, since I work at a pool and can swim laps for free.  The only problem is that the swim teams make it hard to find a lane.  OK, there's also that whole self-discipline thing.  As in, I have none.  At least not when it comes to eating well and working out.  So left to my own devices, I can talk myself out of swimming laps pretty easily. 

It's not so much the wedding that kicked my butt into gear, it's the wedding pictures.  I will be IMMORTAL in those pictures, and I want to be in the best shape possible.  I'm comfortable with my body in general, but I have gained a little too much weight in the last year.  And yes, it is about getting rid of this sneaky underarm flab that has ninja'd it's way onto my body, but it's also about just getting healthier and stronger in general.  When I first started at the zoo, I was down to a size 14.

So today, I weighed myself and am at 240 lbs at 6' tall.  Some times I feel OK with my body:

See?  Not terrible.  I'm lucky I'm so tall.  Then, there's this picture:

Uh...ew.  So, it's to the gym I go. 

And both of these pictures were taken about a week ago at the AAZK conference. 

I don't want to loose weight too quickly for two reasons.  One, I want to do it the right way, by forming new habits.  And two, because I don't want to do all this hard work and still have six months to go, meaning I have to stress about maintaining the loss to fit into my dress. 

Luckily, I've got two friends who are already good about going to the gym. Part of the reason I joined 24 Hour Fitness was so that I can be guilt-tripped into working out more, and because I am a social person.  Working out is more fun and satisfying if someone else is there to see you do it.  





Favor Ideas

I've never been a huge fan of the wedding favor.  For a wedding guest, most favors are just crap.  Who needs an engraved champagne flute? 

Besides the fact that favors can get expensive, most of the time they aren't very practical.  Edibles are OK, I guess, and something totally wacky gets points for creativity, such as these home made crayons.  And it seems to me, from watching shows like Bridezilla, that favors can be one of those stress-points for brides.  If you're DIYing, you've got 150 ribbons to tie onto 150 boxes that you had to fold yourself.  Ulg. 

But, in the interest of exploring my options, I did some searches for 'green' wedding favors.  And I found some ideas that I actually like.  Not only because of the color green, which is a front-runner in the wedding color contest, but because if I do have wedding favors, I want them to be useful to the recipient and/or good for the environment.  So, a list of ideas for my wedding favors:

Seed Paper: Print programs or menus on it.  Guests take it home and plant the whole thing, which is embedded with flower seeds. 

Herb Pots: If green is going to be a wedding color, these could double as centerpieces.  Paint the pot in the other color themes, and people get to take home fresh herbs.  Plus, two wedding expenses and projects have become one, and I don't have to worry about what to do with the centerpieces when the wedding is over.

Baby Trees: Again, a centerpiece/favor duo.  Planting trees is good for the environment. The only disadvantage I've found is that all the seedlings are usually conifers (read, pine trees), which I'm less visually attracted to. 

And hey, look!  I can even give you guys some engraved champagne flutes too!

Wedding Party

To me, one of the most important decisions in planning a wedding is who you ask to stand up with you.  You want people who support you as a couple.  I want people who are happy to celebrate with us, and who can be bribed with wine (or, in certain cases, whiskey) to help me put together favors and or address invitations.  I'm also conscious of conventions, in that I'm probably not going to follow them.  Our wedding party is only partially complete, and some of the decisions we have to make are influenced by questions such as "How many people do we want, total?"  "Do we have to have an even number of chicks and dudes?"  "Can the sexes be intermingled, or do we have to keep a boys' side and girls' side?"  While I'm not into doing anything just because you're supposed to, it does pose some interesting conundrums.  Is my best guy friend (who also happens to be 6' 4") going to feel awkward standing amidst a group of girls?  How will that look in pictures? 

So this is what we've got so far:
Officient: Gwen Sefrhans - A mutual friend of ours from college who also happens to be an ordained Lutheran minister.
Maid of Honor: Emily Heck - mutual friend from college.
Bridesmaid: Lindsay Renner - my best friend from work. 
Best Man: Dan Gallagher - Paul's brother. 

Everything else is still in decision mode.  It's also hard to ask people to be in a wedding that does not yet have a date.  We have a time-frame, but it's based on the availability of our venue.  So many decisions depend on first making other decisions. 

But no matter who ends up being in the final wedding party, I promise copious amounts of wine or whiskey to get us all through it!

Pinterest

I'm in the phase of wedding planning where I get to surf wedding sites, blogs, and Google image searches and just collect ideas.  Nothing is solidified except the groom.  It's kind of intimidating to decide what kind of people we are, and how much our wedding has to reflect our personality as a couple.  Are we people who's bridesmaid's dresses don't match?  Pop-tunes-played-on-the-cello-for-processional-march people?  Should we have sushi for dinner?  The options are really overwhelming.  Some things that we wanted have already been crossed off the list due to budget constraints, such as having our reception at the Milwaukee Public Museum ($40 a plate appetizers, without the bar?  Yeah, right.)  But as far as colors, music, food, favors...we've got options.   I've been spending a lot of time on OffbeatBride.com, and these ladies have some really crazy/awesome ideas, which only adds to the gigantic pile of thoughts filed under "wedding things".  I needed some way to wrestle all this stuff into a workable idea-box. 

Enter Pinterest.

Pinterest is a website in which you can take ideas from the interwebs and "pin" them onto different "boards", sort of an online cork board.  You add a button to your browser toolbar, and surf away.  Find an image, a poem or other awesomeness and simply "pin it".  The nice part is that it always links back to the original site, so in six months I decide, yes, THOSE are the shoes I want, I don't have to search for that website I found them on in the first place.  This is so much cooler than the file folder I had started on my desktop. 

Here's the link to my Pinterest account.  http://pinterest.com/evee/

The thing I also love about this is that, unlike this blog, my Pinterest account will probably have a life after the wedding. You could use it for house remodeling, fashion, work stuff...anything for which you need a place to collect your brainstorm ideas and organize them into something you can work with.

So, if anyone has some stellar ideas for wedding stuff, email me and I'll pin it!

So This Is A Wedding Blog

We're planning a wedding. 

HOLY SHIT WE'RE GETTING MARRIED! 

This is a blog about planning the wedding.  We will have a regular wedding website for information.  But this is where I go "Hey, look at this cool thing I found!" or "If I have to fold another wedding program I'm going to origami it into a shiv and stab your eye out."  It's a place for me to talk about this wedding without driving those who couldn't give a shit absolutely crazy, and keeping those who are really, really excited about it in the loop. 

There will be swearing.  There will be honesty.  I'm going to try as hard as I can to be fair, sane, and cheerful.  But I have a feeling that it won't all be sunshine and unicorn farts.  I'm hoping I won't turn into a bridezilla.

Cheers!