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 241 - 261

ready? set! here's the latest---
brimfield was a complete success! within 10 minutes of arriving we had made the 1st purchase and went back to the car with load #1. here are a few pics of our finds:

the copper tray above is used in traditional indian weddings and has a border of engraved acorns, a symbol of fertility and growth. cute, huh?! the step ladders on the right were some great bargains and perfect for the ceremony.


we were really excited to find this mirror. as you can see, it's getting some use now in the bedroom and will be displayed on a table with the tray and seltzer bottle. can you picture it yet?! excited yet?!

Liana received her etsy necklace and it is perfect with the dress!








And my purple peacock shoes arrived today too! and i think (or hope) i can totally rock them with the dress.

and then after having a blast at amy and dan's wedding in portsmouth last weekend, we came home and clearly had wedding stuff on the brain. we spent a few hours putting together a song list for our dj. we got a bit carried away and have over 100 songs to give him. it was hard describing the music we like when we have everything from  motley crue to tegan & sara to  rihanna on the list! :)

and the ceremony--- we've finally spent some time thinking about what we want. we had lunch with jess & christina (our wonderful friends who are visiting from berkeley this week- we are so lucky jess is also officiating our ceremony!) and started the conversation with them over the weekend. liana and i then went back to our local bar with laptop in tow and started jotting down ideas in appendix II of our notebook of lists.

we're really happy to be able to see christina and jess again this week to discuss more. they are both so great and helpful with thinking through all this. and jess has already done some preliminary research -- so excited to work with her to create the perfect ceremony for us.

we've got less than 4 months till the big day...i'm sure i'll be posting more often :)

Days 238 - 240

it was an incredibly productive weekend! i'm actually shocked we got so much done on the intimidating to-do list. there were even some appendices created to document the specifics we need to do for the ceremony and decor.
so for starters, we made our way to the boston flower market to see how overwhelming the store was. we're thinking about just doing our own flowers, and i was worried that this store and the ones next to it would be similar to a haymarket situation, but, no, it was totally fine. we even picked up a few bunches of flowers and 'tested out' the flower buckets and soda bottles (vases) at home...
and i think it will totally work. the lower photo is our attempt at mocking up the tables.  you get the picture, just imagine a lovely white table cloth and not a wrinkly fabric sheet.

and i ordered my shoes! purple peacock size 11's here i come! liana's etsy necklace arrived too, so once my shoes arrive, we'll be able to try on the full outfits -- fingers crossed that it all works together.

oh and then we wrote our our shopping (wish) list for the brimfield trip this weekend. let's just say that we'll be looking for everything from step stools to frames to lace to vintage boxes, crates, and bottles.

and finally, we sent out a mass email about hotels, etc to guests. and i figured out how to create a gmail group in my contacts - how excited was i?!  and yes mom, i'm sure the email was sent to all 70 people, not just you :) -  love the power of the bcc:

i am such a nerd. ok more later this week.

days 113 - 122

one of my 2011 resolutions is to post more often - and then i came down with a nasty 'sinus infection gone wrong' as my doctor said. so, i'm finally feeling better and am starting this resolution today and will try my very best-est to post at least once a week! i don't expect it to be too hard, since there's more happening the closer we get to sept.
so things that have been happening / need to happen...

• contract signed with PictureThis - the high tech photobooth. yeah!
• received invite for menu tasting -- this means that we need to pick out our top choices and send them in so we can schedule the tasting soon. i really hope that the saturday time slots are not filled up yet - fingers crossed!! stay tuned for menu selections
• updated the wedding spreadsheet this week -- of course, since i love data, i am tracking every dollar spent, what we expect to spend, where we spent it, as well as guest list details and notes
• found out that some save the dates never made it to the address...damn! at least we still have some left over, so i'd like to re-send soon and contact people who we haven't heard from to see if they received the post card or not...ugh
• spotted some cheap french flower buckets from a classified posting on weddingbee that were used in a wedding in florida and snagged them up. they should be arriving this week!
• added some dates to my google calendar. i'll have to play with it to see how it can be shared
• need to look at hotels and how the whole reserve-a block-of-rooms-thing actually works

well it's a snow day today, so hopefully i can be productive and get stuff done!

Days 64-75

ok so i realized that i started a post last sunday night and never actually posted it. i was doing way too many things at once i guess. so i'll give a brief update on the happenings of the week --

• super excited to sign the contract with our photographer ashley o'dell !! she is awesome and we both felt really comfortable with her. and she's from the midwest, which is a fun fact too!  as i may have mentioned, we're not doing a very traditional wedding, so having a photographer who gets that and will capture the moments is important. we're not going for the 'stand here, look this way, say cheese' images'. 
• we made our way up to NH on sunday and have acquired the chandelier!!! it is freakin' cool and  can actually be wired to use in a house. not that it will work in our small condo, but perhaps someday in some larger abode with a grand entrance way...

•  we also found these old bottles that are from the new england bottle company back in the day. we're planning to use these for the table centerpieces.
• save the dates are about done and will be mailed very soon. they look pretty cool too, i must say.
• the wedding website is up and running and will be listed on the save the dates. people can find wedding details there.

 ok well short and sweet today - more this weekend, i promise :)

Days 16-34

so it's been a hectic few weeks and i can't believe i haven't posted in so long! we've been super busy and traveling through new england a bit over the past few weeks. ok, so we made 2 trips to NY, but one of them included a drive from brooklyn to rochester for a wedding and then to montreal --technically we were in several states and did a lot of leaf peeping :)
the wedding was beautiful and very traditional, but did give us some great ideas (thanks nicole and jon!). in an effort to remind myself later of things --
to do:

• include a fun, low key night before the wedding with everyone you love at a local pub
• make personalized gift bags for out of town guests (ie. some people enjoy hiking, while others are more into shopping or photography museums)
• great food, drink, and music is a must
• make sure you talk to everyone and dance as much as possible
• day after brunch with everyone to get a chance to actually talk to people, relax, and talk about how awesome the previous day's activities were

now that we're back from our road trip adventures and i'm able to catch up on my blog stalking, check this idea out --

wheat grass - how cool is this?

wheatgrass DIY on ruffledok so i've never actually had wheat grass (as far as i know), but i do enjoy the concept of growing a tray of wheat grass and somehow incorporating it into the space. we're still not sure how to or if we want to do seating arrangements, but i'm sure we'll find a way to use it! maybe i'll buy a kit and practice growing it to see how it looks...

and i just found a wheatgrass centerpiece kit for sale! they have 10 in circles which may end up being cool and they are cheap too!

oh and by the way -- while in rochester, i got a call from JCrew that they found my dress somewhere in transit and it arrived yesterday and liana received her dress right before we left. of course it's still in the box, but, hopefully we'll get a chance to try them on this weekend and see if we really do like them together.