4 months later...


i can't believe it's been almost 4 months since the wedding. crazy. and the thank you post cards are just about complete (whew!).  we really can't thank our amazing friends and family enough -  the help and support is so very appreciated. let's just say we have some rockstar peeps! so, to see how it all turned out, check out the amazing images from the Wedding!! We were also featured on the The Loveliest Day and A Bicycle Built for Two  -- which is also super exciting! the day was pretty damn perfect :)


anyway, i guess it's time that we start getting rid of all of the beloved items we've collected for over a year. if you know anyone in the market for some fabulous shutters or soda bottles, check out the 'it's gotta go' page (on the right of this page). 

Days 359 - 367 (ok 9 days to go!)

life is good! we're 9 days out from the wedding. i can't believe we've been planning for this day for over a year already. and yes, i'm a bit nervous that i won't have such a fun thing to plan for...but no fear, liana is convinced that i'll find myself a new project. it will be sad though that i won't be able to keep justifying purchases we make -- 'but it's for the wedding and we'll use it afterwards too...'
speaking of new stuff-- here are a few things we recently acquired --
bottles for flowers
frames for pictures, obviously :)
painting/frame for a chalkboard sign
earrings 
forks and wine glasses for our table
and here's a sneak peak from my picasa album of  a few things

bottles for the remaining table center pieces and some for flowers in the courtyard

could not resist these forks!

a preview of the girls in their amazing dresses!

my co-workers threw me a 'surprise' shower on friday. while it was awkward and i was super uncomfortable with like 40 people staring at me when i walked into the room, it was incredibly sweet. i work with some fantastic people and good friends!

"Surprise" shower at work for Jess

ceremony prep is going well and what jess wrote gave us both the chills when reading it. after we work with her over the weekend and make a few edits, we'll be good to go.
And we're featured on a blog! that's fun, huh?!
Ok that's all for now -- more soon.

Days 348 - 358 (holy moly 19 days to go!)

it's sept! now this countdown is for real. like really for real. while i can't believe we're getting married in 19 days, i'm actually feeling good about where we're at with the process and planning. we plowed through the to-do list this week -
here's the recap --

• finally made it to meet the elusive Vikki (former bride selling her stuff) on route 1 for her chalkboard sign frames! she threw in her chalkboard spray paint and a paint marker too, so we're all set to make us some new signs (and 1st need to figure out what the heck we need to write)
• we ordered some engagement pics to display in the courtyard during the reception and have started going through old pics to frame as well. as we're not doing a slide show, we now need to parse through the stacks of old pics and just select a few for display. this is harder than one might think.
• oh and we went to grey's fabric and found this amazing reproduced vintage feed sack pattern for the photobooth wall backdrop. i like to describe this feature as a de-constructed photobooth. it's going to be cool but just not the small red box that one typically thinks of for a photobooth. anyway, here's the fabric --

•  oh and the shutters...we did it! they are finally hinged together! what a relief to know that this crazy project may actually work as a room divider and they look really cool. just need to clean the remaining 3 shutters and hinge those bad boys together too! check out the handy work...(and to go on the record, liana did in fact help with the hinging as the trusty assistant who handed me the screws and hardware :)

cool, right?!

i feel like we've done more this week (a reason i should be posting more often i guess). last night we were able to check off so much from the last version of the to-do list that a new one has been created and there's really not that much left to do. this is crazy.

Days 330 - 347

so we're close. like really close. and of course we recently realized that we had to mail in the application for a one day officiant at least 6 weeks in advance...good thing we got that mailed in right under the wire! whew!
and now that we've reached the 30 day mark, we can go do the get a marriage license thing now. oh man.

this past weekend we had a small soiree of sorts that started off with some yummy cupcakes and bubbly  and perhaps some temporary tattoos with our initials (thanks again Shannon for hosting!)

 

and then we headed to dinner at scollay square and concluded the evening with a cover band 

all in all a great time. thanks so much to everyone who made it out on Sat! it was great to get excited with everyone!
and the weekend ahead promises to be completely the opposite....
on the menu this weekend we have --

• finalize the menu and floor plan
• figure out what i get to search for at....wait for it....brimfield! in just a few short weeks
• get hinges and hinge those damn shutters (thanks to Dan for the tip on the best hinging technique)
• order /  print photos for frames
• get some fabric for the photobooth backdrop
• deal with some clothes pins
• test out DIY flower bouquets
• see a girl about some frames in saugus (finally!)
• avoid the hurricane 
• work more on ceremony 
• homework (um, ya, i'm starting school today and already have homework due on monday)

whew. i'm tired already. more soon.

Days 324 - 329

i cannot believe it's already sunday again. the weeks are zooming by way too fast! fairly busy week in wedding planning i suppose...here's the rundown --

• we received the ring vessel! that order was super speedy and it's beautiful! so excited for everyone to see it!
• the rsvp's have started to roll in-- it's really happening! and really soon! getting more excited by the day.
• my new dress from boden arrived and i think it will be the rehearsal dinner/ night out dress.and it fits perfectly and was on sale. could not be happier finding a cute dress for under $30!

•  the chalkboard paint was also out and the frames are looking cool. i love being able to re-purpose old things! it just makes me happy.
•  and i found more shutters!! $20 for 3 shutters just a few towns over (a nice change from most of my crazy craigslist adventures!). now i think i'm finally ok with what we have. though i really enjoy the hunt!
• we attempted to head out to saugus, ma to see a girl about some frames, but she cancelled on me. hopefully i'll be able to snag the cool frames she used in her wedding this week sometime.
• oh and we hung one of the windows frames on the wall today -- it's looks really cool, especially after painting 1 of the walls a lovely shade of goldenrod. of course it'll look even better once it's filled with colorful pics. i also get really excited to use the wedding decor purchases in our house, in case that wasn't obvious already :)

  

lots to do this week - on the list so far--

• try on dresses with jewelry to make see if everything works
• fill up our frames! which means ordering engagement pics and printing out old family/childhood pictures
• make a final decision / call for reservations for the night before shin-dig
• more ceremony stuff
• order liana's ring
• figure out photo booth stuff
• figure out a signature cocktail that is served over ice and with straws...we welcome suggestions!

Days 320 - 323

Monday, Monday, Monday...

so the weekend was super productive! friday was awesome -- got up early and made liana measure the shutters with me (before she even had coffee, which was pretty risky!). then we we spent a while at AFH scoping out the space with ashley and taking all kinds of measurements and really figuring out where things like the photo booth and bird bath will go. we also made some decisions around how to display our old photos and felling pretty good about stuff. we also snuck into the custom house observatory for an amazing view of the city! this is my new favorite place to take out of town guests! and then we went to a bar to see our DJ who had a gig that night. while it wasn't quite the music we're going for, he did a darn good job. now i just need to email him to make sure we didn't scare him away with our list of 100+ songs...

on saturday, we spent a few hours chatting and researching ceremony stuff and the 1st draft was sent to Jess for edits!

and on sunday i found another craigslist find and we made a quick trip out to rowley, ma for some vintage windows --
the plan is to add some pics to the panes as more decor.

oh and i may have found another guy selling shutters and may try to convince liana that we could use just a few more...stay tuned

Days 303 - 319

wow - so we're getting close. it's crazy.  things are going well -- lots of random etsy purchases over the last few weeks and the 1st packages are starting to arrive! here's the status update and recap --

• michigan trip was a success! it was so great to see everyone once before the wedding! however, i ate a ton and probably gained a few pounds. it's ok though, i made it to boxing class this week and need to kick-start that routine again.
• patrick's jacket is a bit loose, but fingers crossed it'll be ok after he tries it on with a button down instead of a solar t-shirt.
• i was in a wedding planning focus group. how perfect, huh?! $125 for 2 hrs and i didn't even have to lie once  :)
• i've discovered pinterest, according to them, it's a place organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. i am obsessed and i love it. so, lots of pinning  happening with new wedding ideas

and now, fun stuff we're acquiring--

• yep - that's a bird bath! can't wait to see that lovely addition in the courtyard area, can you?!

• paper straws.we're going old school here and are pretty excited to use these for drinks during cocktail hour!
• a beautiful vessel for the rings...sorry no pics, we're waiting for it to be created for us. and yes, i like the word vessel.
• burlap ribbon for our flowers. though we have 5 yards of it, so i'm sure we'll find more ways to use it too.
• and we're also looking into some photobooth props, but nothing ordered yet.

so, we're both off tomorrow and a long weekend of wedding planning is the agenda! we're going to the venue for another walk through in the afternoon with ashley and will be picking her brain and running our ideas by her. we'll have tape measures, notebooks, pictures, and diagrams in tow. and once we figure out how many more shutters, frames, etc we need, we'll be moving on to the ceremony. must figure this out soon. like really soon.
this is such a fun process! i'm going to have to find a new project after the wedding! someone else i know who just got married said that she hated everything about the planning process and that it was like studying for final exams and she couldn't wait for it to be over. man, that must suck.