So we finally did it - the save the dates hit the mail box today! there are still a few more we need to finish up and verify addresses on, but whew! i can't believe the coffee and dining room tables are finally cleared off. for some reason the final steps to finish up the project were just too daunting and we kept postponing it. and now, since addresses are current and in 1 spreadsheet, i can send out the holiday cards that i bought last year and never opened. oops. so that's the goal this week - write those damn cards out!
what else? oh, i've started the part time job with locately and have been busy working on location analysis projects for them over the weekends. it's actually pretty interesting (and yes, i am a big nerd) i've already completed 1 project and received my 1st check! whoo hoo! i'm hoping this gig will pay for the photobooth that i really want, but we'll see.
Days 76 - 85
Days 64-75
- 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.
Day 63
i'm not sure where the weekend has gone.. it's sunday morning already and the save the dates are still in a pile on a table. i'm still hopeful that today will be productive. no chandelier today - i think we'll go out to NH next weekend to pick it up, and perhaps along with some mason jars too. i spent most of the morning yesterday updating our wedding website, it's actually kind of fun (and yes i am a nerd) and the website builder, wix, is actually pretty easy to use, but it is a time suck. i was also playing with my google picasa album and figured out a way to create a new page in the blog that links to my pics on picasa. if you can't see the pages on the left (links for 'extra ways to fund the fun' and 'pictures'), let me know as i think there may be a bug in the system. anyway, keep an eye on the pictures over time - i think the slide show will automatically link to my album and i may not need to post as many pics within each post. who knows though...
we also had a good talk about the ceremony last night and came up with some good ideas (thanks, rebecca!)
there are still lots of decisions to make as far as what type of person we want to officiating, what exactly we want for the ceremony, and how to involve the guests. at least we still have a bit of time - we're only at day 63 since starting the blog counting to 365 days...
Days 50-62
it's been a pretty busy week and we've made some good progress on things--
save the dates
we spent about 5 hrs or so last saturday on the living room floor figuring out how to use create the best water/gouache mixture, painting both sides of the post cards, stamping the front of the cards with both the blue and black ink stamps, and hoping that we'd have enough cards in total after screwing up a few of the stamps...take a look at some of the pics
meeting with coordinator
on thursday, we had our 1st meeting with ashley, our coordinator and it went very well! she totally gets our concept and we are ok with the logistics. she seems like a perfect fit with us! we can get all of our 'stuff' to them before the wedding and they will also hold everything for us after the wedding as well. whew! we were both getting nervous that things would not work out, that our ideas were crazy and would not come together, and that we were in over our heads. but, ashley and shane at AFH both seem to like our ideas and think we can definitely create a warm vibe with these vintage elements in the modern space. ahsley took lots of notes and will be sending us her spacial design once she draws it out in a CAD program - how cool?! they also said the chandelier is fine and so i'm emailing the woman to see if she still has it and then it's off to new hampshire tomorrow i think.
getting excited for more craigslist and antique fair adventures...
say cheese!
i think we're going with a photobooth! not a big red booth, but a simple, sleek touch screen from picture this. they have never done any events in the boston area, and i think we've cemented a deal with them :)
i figured that with all of the focus groups and research studies i'm doing, i'll be able to come up with the extra cash for this
Days 36 - 49
- we finally tried on our dresses and had a fashion show party with some talented ladies and we have official approval from both the little ones and jess. thanks for coming by and bringing the girls, great ideas for dress accessories and yummy cookies! i think we're keeping the dresses! i'm still not 100% sure, but i think i'm just shocked that we got 2 dresses for so cheap (mine was a shocking $59) and can't believe it worked out...
- i am officially obsessed with evernote and have spent the weekend mornings reading blogs and clipping the images i like into my evernote wedding notebook. seriously - everyone needs to use this for both work and other fun stuff.
- we finalized the save the date image with liana's cousin (thanks again, tina!) and have ordered custom stamps for the post cards. i was hoping to start this project over the weekend too, but that just didn't happen.
- i was on the for sale boards at wedding bee and found this chandelier for sale. we may go pick it up next weekend in NH.
- i started cleaning the shutters last weekend and at 30 minutes a shutter, i didn't get very far. we look like 'that house' with these random 17 dirty wooden old shutters scattered all over the back deck. good thing their in the back yard and not bringing the property values down OTB. so, the cleaning project will be continued today before the trick-or-treaters arrive. here's what we're going for with the shutters -they will be hinged together and used to separate the ceremony space from the rest of the massive room, hopefully creating a more intimate feeling for the ceremony. the plan is to move them after the ceremony and use as decor throughout the space.
- We have a meeting with our coordinator from russell morin next week and will be doing a walk through with her at the venue. I really hope that she'll tell us we're on an ok track and that these projects will work out for us. we're nervous about the logistics -- i mean we're talking about bringing in shutters, frames, maybe a large mirror, small tables and a huge chandelier to hang. and everything needs to be out of the building that night -- apparently people do this all the time, right?
Day 35
so we made an amazing pizza last night and i woke up this morning to find an email from the wedding channel about a new contest -- couples who cook
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
wheat grass - how cool is this?
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.
