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 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!

days 140-151

so we got a fun surprise on a snow day last week --- a box of chocolates from burdick's (addressed to liana)! i of course said 'well you know i didn't send them' (which i later realized was rather not-so-nice). anyway, after we made some guesses who they might have been from, we were pleasantly surprised to see that ashley, our photographer, sent them to us! so excited to work with her!
jealous much?

oh and we also found a cool registry site where we can register for things other than the traditional registry items and include links to things/experiences that we know we'll use and love. the whole concept is still kind of strange to us, but people have asked about it, so that's the deal. it's very much a work in progress until we figure things out, but we both think this site may make the most sense for us.

what else? we're trying to figure out what to do about transportation the day of. i requested quotes on some school buses to use between the hotel (not that we've found any yet) and the venue. not sure if it's necessary, since we're in the city and things are all pretty T accessible, but we should at least consider the options, especially if we need to get a bunch of people from one hotel to the space. then again, it'd be kind of appropriate if we all took the T together (and i'm sure we'd have some fantastic photo ops)
any suggestions would be welcomed :)

so overall, still not too overwhelmed, but we do have a lot on the to-do list for each month. pretty excited to start figuring our our shoes and accessories though. my dress is pretty plain, so the plan is to find some bright colors and funky jewelry.

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.