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.

Days 282 - 302

well the invites have been sent! and we've planted one as  test run but unfortunately I think we forgot to water it few times and so we may have missed out on wild flowers sprouting out of them....oh well. Hopefully others have better luck than we seem to be having.

we've also crossed more stuff off of the to-do list, which feels pretty good. I mean, the invites were top priority, but we also accomplished a few other things over the past 2 weeks --
We booked our mini-honeymoon! The plan is to go to Italy next spring, but we really wanted to do a smaller trip after the wedding. We found a cute bed and breakfast in Portland, Maine that got great reviews, so we booked our reservation. And we can take the train from Boston to Portland for pretty cheap - perfect!
We also found potential hair pieces (and by hair pieces, I do not mean toupees) -

Here's one of the ones we're thinking of getting. We also made hair appointments for Sept -- can't believe it's getting so close! Sept will be here before I know it!

Oh and here' s one of the dresses that the flower girls will wear. Ava and Layla will totally rock these!

Oh and we talked a little bit more about ceremony and have decided on who walks in/out when, using which aisle, with whom, and to which music! Pretty excited, I think it's totally going to work! Crazy how much you have to think about when you're making up the rules as you go :)

And finally the decor. We've been getting a bit nervous about the shutters.
While our 2nd bedroom is packed to the gills with wedding stuff, the venue is HUGE and we're really hoping that we have enough shutters and other stuff. But there's that fine line between 'we have a small selection of cool things but not enough to establish a theme' and 'wow there's way too much crap in here and it's taking away from the space'.  It'll be fine, I'm sure, but I think we just need to take some measurements and possibly go on another random adventure for more shutters....stay tuned.


And we're off to Michigan later this week for a long weekend! Looking forward to getting some time to spend with family and friends before the wedding!