Wedding (Version 2.0)

Wow - It's Over!

2011-07-22T08:03:00.000-04:00

First let me apologize. I had NO IDEA that in the months leading up to the wedding I would have absolutely zero time to blog!

Sadly, and happily, our wedding is over now, and I can honestly say that it was absolutely perfect! I will no longer be writing in this blog, as it doesn't seem appropriate any more. However, I have started a blog called Adirondack Love in which I will be sharing photos and links to help people get ideas for their own weddings - and I focus of course on an Adirondack theme.

If you'd like to see the end result of our beautiful day, you can check it out in a couple places: Tiffany Wayne's blog entries here and here. (The second link contains a video, too!)

Thank you to all my readers for sticking with me! Hopefully brides in the future will still be able to use some of the information I have shared in this blog!

Twitter Tag: Friday Favorite

2011-04-22T10:17:00.000-04:00

I decided to start a new Twitter hashtag today: #FridayFavorite

I'm going to use this every Friday to post something that I really liked from that week.

To start it off I posted:
"#FridayFavorite is this photo of Terrarium Series No 1 http://bit.ly/hSH9Dp"

What's your #FridayFavorite this week?

Terrarium Wedding Centerpieces

2011-04-20T15:56:00.001-04:00

I cannot even express how excited I am that I finally made the terrarium centerpieces today! I've been waiting for literally months, and even though the wedding is (eek!) just two months away, I am still scared that they might die before then. Alas, this is the ONLY time I have left between now and the wedding when I could actually make them, so they are made! I followed the directions from the Indie Bliss website and I will sort of explain my steps here and show pictures of each step along the way.

STEP 1: I filled the bottom of the 32-ounce mason jars with smooth river rocks. I wasn't sure if I was going to run out of stones, so I basically just put enough that they whole bottom of the jar was covered. In retrospect, I wish that I had put a thicker layer of stones so that they would show more, but I am still happy with the result.

STEP 2: I put in about 1/3 cup of horticultural charcoal. This helps with drainage and also helps remove yucky gases from the jars.

STEP 3: Added a good layer of potting soil. I made sure not to get any kind that had fertilizers in it, because I read that moss likes very simple dirt to grow in. I measured out about 3/4 cup of dirt.

STEP 4: Added the moss. I bought these adorable little dots of moss from silknparachute on Etsy and they were absolutely perfect for this job. They were mostly small enough to fit through the jar openings and the ones that weren't broke apart gently.

STEP 5: Miniature animals! Of course I had to use animals of the Northeast so they would fit with our wedding theme! The terrarium that will be featured on our sweetheart table has two special animals in it just for us.

STEP 6: Using twine, I added tags with care instructions so our guests will be able to take the terrariums home and keep them thriving!

Wedding Ring Engraving

2011-04-02T14:36:00.000-04:00

We took our beautiful McFarland Designs rings to a local jeweler to be engraved.

Our rings say, "KRISTEN/RYAN IS MY CONSTANT." Anyone who has watched the LOST series knows what that means. We really like how they turned out, even though my fingers are so tiny that the words inside my ring are also small.

Reception Tables: A bit of Adirondack inspiration

2011-03-24T14:18:00.000-04:00

moss table runners, birch candles, and tree slices with carved initials:
Bragging Bags

Wedding Favors: Tree Seedlings

2011-03-19T11:03:00.001-04:00

Weddings take away a lot of resources from the earth for a celebration that only lasts a few hours. It pained us to think about this, and when choosing what to give our guests as favors, we decided that we wanted to use this as an opportunity to give back to the earth for all that it has given us. I've been to several weddings where I received a favor that was cute, but not really useful, and not anything that was really meaningful. We want to avoid this, and so we have decided that for our favors we are going to give... tree seedlings!

We found a company right here in New York state called Tree Beginnings that offers a variety of different gifts for all types of occasions, all of which can be planted. Almost all of the items from this store come with free personalization in the form of little cards, slips that attach to the gifts, colors, and even packaging. We chose blue spruce seedlings wrapped in natural burlap with a green raffia bow. We figured that these fit the theme of our wedding best (the Adirondack woods) and had the lowest impact on the environment.

I was able to order one seedling as a sample just to make sure we liked them before ordering all 50 that we will need. I think this is a good idea for anyone who has to purchase mass quantities of something and isn't able to look at it first.

We realize that not everyone is able or will want to plant a tree after going home from our wedding, and we have a plan for that. We are going to put a little sign (in one of the picture frames we bought from Rustic Blend - see blog post here) on the table with the seedlings letting our guests know that if they do not want to take a tree and will not plant it, that it's ok to leave it on the table. We are also going to encourage any of our guests with larger property or a greater desire to take care of a tree to take more than one if there are some left over. Then, if all else fails, we will take the rest of the seedlings home and plant them ourselves in our own yard.

We are also going to use one of these seedlings during our vow renewal ceremony in which we have incorporated a tree planting ritual. I think this will be a really nice way to tie it all together and promote the idea that we are all on the same planet and our love is universal.

Wedding Reception Games

2011-03-13T15:06:00.000-04:00

We want our reception to feel very relaxed and have an atmosphere that mimics a happy family gathered at a campground. We decided to incorporate some games into the reception to make sure that everyone gets involved and isn't bored (especially the large number of people in our families who don't like to dance), but we are shying away from "traditional" reception games. Instead, we want to have games that families might play while camping!

So far we have decided that we want to play wedding Mad Libs and have fortune tellers (some people call them cootie catchers). I will write up the story for the Mad Libs game and we will have a contest and give prizes to the guest who writes the funniest story and the guest who rights the sweetest story. There is a great Etsy shop called Darling Girl Paper that make fortune tellers and I think they are adorable!

We've got those two games, but now we are are stuck! What other ideas do people out there in the world have for cute easy games that would remind people of camping with family? We need your help!

Wedding Cake

2011-03-05T10:06:00.001-05:00

One of the most challenging things about planning a wedding that isn't near your home, is finding trustworthy and quality vendors. Specifically, we needed to find vendors close to our ceremony and reception location for things like chair rentals, hair styling, and wedding cake. The internet has been a tremendous help in this search, especially the Adirondack Wedding Association, which is how I found our cake vendor - Stomach Cakes!

The website for this cake business showcases Laura's talent in creating uniquely beautiful cake designs, as well as her willingness to create an original and custom design. This drew me right in and I contacted her to find out about making the cake for our vow renewal.

We met for a tasting and to discuss design, and Ryan and I couldn't be more pleased with our choice. Laura is going to make a cake similar to the picture below, but not exactly the same. It will look like a birch tree, have fern embellishments, and have our initials "carved" into the side. It is so cute and fits with our theme perfectly! We tried our choice of two flavors at the tasting, Ryan wanted peanut butter cake and I wanted chocolate. We ended up totally loving both, but having a serious crush on the peanut butter cake, so we are going to layer both flavors in each tier. That way if some people don't like the peanut butter they can just eat around it (and we already know that we don't have any peanut allergies to worry about).

This is a cake we really liked when searching images on the internet to get ideas.

This is a similar cake that Laura has already created.

So far, this has been one of the most fun and least stressful aspects of the wedding planning, and we both highly recommend that any couple planning a wedding in the Adirondack region consider hiring Laura from Stomach Cakes to make your cake!

A note on the same: No, these cakes do not have stomachs in them! They are "cakes so good it aches"! Also, Laura used to be a school nurse, so you can put it all together!

Inky Livie: Wedding Invitations

2011-02-21T12:58:00.000-05:00

There are so many different types of wedding invitations out there that no matter what we chose it would have been the right choice, but we still felt overwhelmed. Once again, Etsy saved the day! We found adorable invitations from Inky Livie that totally fit with our wedding theme, and are casual enough that we are comfortable using them for the vow renewal. The weight of the trifold cards is substantial and the printing is spotless, plus Asa was great at communicating through Etsy conversations. They were printed on 30% recycled material paper from Waste Not Paper, so that helps us to limit our environmental impact as we celebrate. Check it out!

I love the little foxes!

We decided to let all of our guests choose a song to be played at the reception:

Instead of numbering our tables, we are naming them after our favorite campgrounds:

JJCraftworks: Custom Wedding Jewelry

2011-02-12T11:55:00.001-05:00

I thought finding jewelry for my wedding would be easy. I thought I would see exactly what I wanted and purchase it. I thought that my style and taste was common. I was wrong.

Thank goodness for Etsy! I decided to requisition custom jewelry from JJCraftworks. I knew that I wanted my necklace and earrings to have some green to complement my shoes, and I wanted five pearls to represent our five years of marriage (just like the five stones in my new wedding ring). I also wanted something that would tie in to our nature theme, but I wasn't quite sure what that would be.

I communicated all of this to Jenn and she sketched up some ideas.

I decided that I liked the "leaf link" design best, and chose the pearl color I wanted. Jenn asked me questions all along the way and kept me in the loop during her creation process. In the end I was provided with exactly what I wanted! My advice to brides looking for the perfect jewelry is to explore Etsy, find a shop that sells jewelry in a style that you like, and start a conversation with the owner. More often than not I have found that Etsy sellers jump at the chance to make a custom piece, and it never hurts to ask!

PS: Have I said yet how much I love my new camera?!

Rustic Blend: Birch Bark Frames

2011-02-03T19:50:00.002-05:00

In keeping with our rustic Adirondack theme we didn't want to forget about the table numbers. Many couples create table numbers that match the look of their invitations or escort cards, but we wanted to do something different. I found an amazing shop on Etsy called Rustic Blend that makes birch bark photo frames - and the best part is that the owner lives in the Adirondacks! This is just perfect for us, because not only are we able to keep with our visual theme, we are able to keep with our environmental theme by purchasing from a local craftsman!

I started a conversation with the owner, Faith, through Etsy and we came to the agreement that she could make us ten frames that all look slightly different but are the same size and made of the same materials. We intend to use most of them for table identification, two will have information about favors and escort cards, and the rest will have photos from our "I Love You" photo shoot. I say table identification instead of table numbers because we are actually going to name each of our tables after a favorite campground.

I love these frames! They are high quality, sturdy, and beautiful. Each frame holds a 4 x 6 photograph. They came with little dowels to be used as stands, and can rest vertically or horizontally based on our needs.

Faith even gave us a cute little ornament with our initials on it! ♥

Tuxedo or Suit?

2011-01-29T18:57:00.000-05:00

When deciding on menswear for the wedding, it is important to keep in mind a few things:

Formality - How formal is your wedding? If you want to keep things traditional, then a tuxedo is the way to go. If you are trying to keep it more casual, then perhaps a suit is the better option.
Overall Look - What is the look you are trying to achieve? How do you want the men to appear in photographs?
Price of Renting versus Buying - Renting a tuxedo is not super expensive, but it's a significant cost. Would you rather spend the extra money and own a suit that could be worn again in the future?

When considering all of those variables, and factoring in the fact that it is only Ryan and my father who need matching attire, we decided that suits were the best option for our wedding. We looked at some pictures online and liked the appearance of a vest and suit pants, with the jacket taken off. We also considered colors, and thought that brown would be our first choice, and gray our second choice.

Having made those decisions, we chose two stores to look at - the first was Macy's and the second was Men's Wearhouse. I have to say, I didn't think that choosing the menswear would be equal to or more stressful than choosing my wedding dress, but it was - and it was a lot less fun.

In both stores, as soon as we crossed the threshold salesmen were attacking us from all sides. Ryan really just wanted to look around a little bit and get his thoughts together before asking for help, but they wouldn't let this happen. We didn't even see anything that we liked at Macy's, because they only had one vested suit and it was the totally wrong fit for both Ryan and my father, so we spent a very short time there.

Hoping that Men's Wearhouse would give us a different sales experience, we went over there with high spirits, but were greeted with the same thing. When describing the look we wanted to the salesman, he was very discouraging and basically tried to tell us that "three-piece suits aren't really being made any more," even though I know that can't be true. Even though they are not as popular, we all knew that they are still being made, and he should have just showed us what he had. Instead, he showed us the "only two" vest separates that they had in the store, neither of which were what we were looking for.

At this point, we felt that the image we had in our minds wasn't going to work, and we needed some time to rethink what we wanted to do - alone... without a salesman breathing down our necks. Unfortunately, this wasn't going to happen. We explained to the salesman that we wanted a little time to just look around and think and that we would come get him when we were ready for help again, and he left us alone for a few minutes, but very shortly after a second salesman came over to see if we needed help. We politely declined, but in the amount of time it took us to turn around the original salesman was back again!

My father suggested that he and Ryan just try on a few things, and maybe the act of trying on suits would spark an idea. Once again my dad has proven that fathers really do know best! Great advice, Dad! We couldn't find a lot of brown suits that didn't look like potty colors, so we decided instead that a dark gray pinstripe would be nice. While pulling jackets off the rack for Ryan to try on, lo and behold, the salesman found a few gray pinstripe three-piece suits with vests! If he had just let us look at his stock of vested suits to begin with, the whole process would have been a lot easier! It even turned out that the first vested suit Ryan tried on was perfect and exactly what we were looking for, and they had it in sizes to fit both men!

Success!

Thankfully, picking out the rest of the ensemble was much easier than finding the suit itself. The salesman, Ryan, my colorblind father, and I pieced together a shirt and tie combination that is going to look amazing. We decided against a clean white dress shirt, since Ryan intends on wearing only the vest without the jacket, and if he stands next to me in my ivory dress wearing a bleached white shirt, I am going to look like dirty teeth. Instead, we chose an ecru color, which will make my dress seem brighter. They have quite a lot of ties to choose from at Men's Wearhouse, and we were easily able to choose a tie that complimented both the suit and shirt, and also had sublte touches of green to compliment my shoes and our wedding colors.

Although we had to deal with some pushy and not-always-helpful salesman today, Ryan and I both like Men's Wearhouse a lot. This is actually the third suit he has bought from that store, and they always have a really great selection of shirts and ties to fit his needs. The prices are great as well - today he got a deal that allowed him to buy a second suit for $100, which worked out great since we needed two suits. It didn't matter that one was for my dad and one was for Ryan, as long as they were paid for together. Overall we are very happy with the purchase and I look forward to seeing two of the three men I love most in the whole world look amazing on our wedding day!

(I'm sure my brother will look amazing, too!)

This blog is called: I Heart Mimi Phillips

2011-01-21T20:20:00.004-05:00

This evening our wedding officiant, Mimi Phillips, came over for a visit so we could discuss the progress we've made on our wedding ceremony. Wow, she's amazing! I don't think we could have found a sweeter more understanding person to marry us {again} if we'd looked for two more years. She remembered us on a such a personal level from only one meeting, and even wanted to know how our wine turned out - which we told her we were going to make several months ago.

Back in October when we met Mimi for the first time she loaned us a book called The Wedding Ceremony Planner and we've been reading through it for a couple of months. Aside from the fact that the author lives in the town next over from where Ryan grew up, I love this book because it breaks down every little part of the ceremony and has worksheets in the back (which appeals to the teacher in me). We picked out all the different wording that we wanted for the parts of the ceremony and wrote down our favorites on a photocopy of one of the worksheets. We even found a tree planting ritual in the book, which is absolutely perfect for us, and we are really excited to include this in our ceremony.

We found that, although this took a good chunk of time to do, it was really easy and very worth it. Thankfully, Ryan and I agreed almost unanimously on which wording was the best for us; however, we are still having trouble finding the right vows. We didn't really feel like any of the vows in this book fit our personalities, and we can't seem to find what we are looking for on the internet.

This is where Mimi comes in. She came over to our house and we all sat down together to look at what Ryan and I had been working on over the last several months. Mimi looked at our worksheet and copies from the book and then dove right in reading aloud the ceremony as we had planned it thus far. It was really nice to hear her read it aloud, since she will be the one reading it on the day of our ceremony, and it gave us a chance to edit as we went when we heard something that didn't seem right. Our next step, now that the three of us have combed through the wording, is for Mimi to type everything up and let us look at it, and then work together on finding or creating the vows that are perfect for us. She plans to practice reading our ceremony a few times and let us know how long it takes her to read. We are concerned about length, because it will be a July afternoon and could be very hot.

After we looked through the ceremony plans, Mimi stayed for a little while to chat. We talked about what we have planned so far, looked at pictures of the ceremony site, and ogled over our new wedding rings. This was especially important because we also had the opportunity to talk to Mimi about our lives on a more personal level and discuss things unrelated to the wedding. She helped us brainstorm some ideas for things we are having trouble with, and counseled us a little bit on how to deal with Ryan's divorced parents during the ceremony and reception. This was really important to us, because there are some things that we are going to need some outside perspective in figuring out how to handle, and she has probably seen just about every situation out there at this point in her officiating career!

Mimi is such a great person that we even recommended her to our close friends Erin and Mike, who are getting married in August. It may seem weird to some people, but I think it would be really cute for us to have the same officiant, and I know that we would really like to see Mimi again after our ceremony!

Guest Blogging and The Environment

2011-01-20T19:07:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week I was asked by Milena of There Is Always Room if I would like to be a guest blogger! As a professional organizer, this month her blog focuses on wedding planning. She was interested in my ideas about not using any live flowers (or flowers at all, for that matter) in our upcoming wedding. I was very honored to be asked to do this and I hope everyone will take some time to visit Milena's blog!

http://indiebliss.com/terrarium-centerpieces/

Reflecting on my post about not using flowers, I started to wonder if people actually knew the environmental costs of cutting live flowers for use as decoration. There are a variety of sources explaining the environmental and social costs of the cut flower industry, and when researching one has to be careful to make sure the source is reliable. A site that I particularly like is a blog called Reduce Footprints. They published an article in December 2008 explaining the negative impacts of cutting flowers, and also offers some ways to keep flowers around in a more environmentally conscious manner. Please take some time to learn more about the environmental impacts of the actions you take!

I've read the following environmentally conscious books and I highly recommend reading them (or watching the movie for the first one if you don't like to read... which hurts me to say, because I am English teacher):

Etsy Treasury

2011-01-19T15:35:00.000-05:00

Maybe I am behind the times, but I just discovered Etsy Treasury, and I love it! Treasuries are listings of 16 items that a person has chosen to group together for a specific reason, such as items of the same color, theme, or search word (and sometimes for no reason at all). An individual can create as many treasuries as she wants and then choose to share them with the public or keep them private.

I had a lot of fun playing around with it and I decided for my first treasury I would find items that reminded me of a woodland romance (just for fun). This is what I came up with:

Then I thought - why not create a treasury of items that I love from Etsy which fit my wedding theme? So I did! I chose many of the items that I have already purchased for the wedding from Etsy sellers, and I chose a few others that fit the theme and I loved. I wanted to embed the treasury into my blog, but Etsy does not have an embed code for treasuries, so they suggested that I add all of the items to my favorites list and share what is called an Etsy Mini. Have fun and create one yourself! I'd love to see what other people come up with!

Wedding Rings: Ethically Sourced and Environmentally Friendly

2011-01-17T10:32:00.001-05:00

When trying to plan a "green" wedding, it is easy to think about recycled paper and planting trees, but what many people forget is that wedding rings can be harmful to the earth as well.

Tamara McFarland, of McFarland Designs, creates jewelry made with recycled metals and conflict-free stones. She also donates a portion of her sales profits each month to a different charity in order to help make the planet healthier and happier. Because of her dedication to earth-friendly ideals, we chose her to create our custom wedding rings.

I feel it is important to share some excerpts from Tamara's website which explain some of the issues surrounding metals and gemstones and how she goes about trying to use these materials in conscious ways:

I use 100% recycled Harmony Metals and fair trade stones in my designs. I realize that the terms ‘ethical’ and ‘fair trade’ are somewhat subjective at this moment in time in the jewelry industry, as there are no established guidelines yet for fair trade metal and gemstone mining.

"All precious metals at Hoover & Strong are 100% recycled. When it is necessary to obtain metals from other sources, we buy metal from other earth-friendly refineries that, like us, only use recycled metal. We require any secondary refinery to provide in writing, full disclosure of their metal sources."

The situation with gemstones is a bit more complicated. Everyone has different ideas about what the best ways are to protect workers and the environment, and as with many other ethical conundrums, it can be tough to know what the right decision is. While I am always open to considering other perspectives, here’s what I’m comfortable with right now – (1) lab-created stones, (2) stones that are mined and cut in the US, and (3) stones obtained from outside the US through channels that can be verified to be promoting environmental health, worker safety, and local communities.

With all this transparency about Tamara's material sources, we decided that she was perfect for us. Although there are other jewelers out there who try to work in a similar fashion, we were sold on Tamara's honesty on her website, quality of previous work, and the ease with which we were able to communicate with her about what we wanted. After several emails back and forth discussing different options, Tamara created these beautiful rings for us out of recycled 14k white gold:

Initially we had tried to incorporate a diamond that we had been given by a family member, but it was difficult because I wasn't comfortable shipping it across the country, and the ring design I really wanted (which is what we ended up choosing) wasn't going to work with that stone. The ring that was designed for me has 5 stones - one for each year we will have been married at the time of our vow renewal. They are alternating moissanite and emerald, which are our birthstones (moissanite is a lab-created stone, similar to a diamond).

We love our rings so much, that I am considering having McFarland Designs create earrings and necklace for our wedding day as well.

For more information about diamond mining, check out this book:

A visit to the Copperfield Inn

2011-01-15T19:55:00.002-05:00

This afternoon, Ryan and I took a trip up to Copperfield to get another look at the ceremony and reception sites, meet with the sales manager, and finalize some plans. We are a little more than 5 months away from the wedding at this point, and I highly recommend that a couple about to be married make a second visit to their ceremony site at this point in the planning process. It was a wonderful chance for us to reconfirm that we love the areas we picked, and it put my mind at ease, as well as giving me some additional information which I needed in order to proceed with planning.

We arrived a bit early for our appointment, and since the property where we are holding the ceremony is a park across the street from the inn (called the Kellogg Property), we decided to take a walk over and check out the ceremony site again. Even though we had to traipse through half a foot of snow to get there, I am glad we did it. It allowed us to visualize where we want chairs, what direction we want people to face, where my father and I can hide before we are ready to walk down the aisle, and where people can park if they don't want to walk across the street from the inn. We rented chairs from Bullseye Party Rentals in Glens Falls. They are going to deliver, set up, and remove the chairs for us on the day of the ceremony. Today we tried to figure out exactly where we would like the chairs to be placed inside of the pavilion.

Life Lesson #1: If you are going to bring your camera to take pictures of something, make sure you didn't accidentally leave the memory card in your computer at home. I forgot to put my memory card back in my camera before we left, so I had to use my phone to take pictures today.

After our walk through the snow, we met with the sales manager to talk about some details. My first goal was to get rid of all the things that had previously been written as "To Be Determined" in our contract. At this point, I want everything to be set, and I don't want to leave anything up in the air. This meant that we decided on the time for the cocktail hour and reception, chose the cocktail hour location, and made sure that enough of our guests had booked rooms so that we wouldn't have to pay a fee. This was all really easy and put me at ease. Now that we know what time the reception is set to begin, I can order invitations! The sales manager also talked to us about the location of tables for gifts and place cards, and where we can have the DJ set up. She showed us some of the items the inn has available to us for use as decorations. This mostly consisted of hurricane lamps. They are bigger than the jars I purchased for the terrarium centerpieces, so I don't think I will use them on the main tables, but I might be able to utilize them for the gift and place card tables.

We looked at the linens, talked about the menu, and chit-chatted about how we might want to have the evening run - as far as dances, announcements, etc. We made sure that the doors to the patio could be opened during the reception - which is not only a beautiful option if the weather is nice, but important for our guests who need to go outside to smoke (yuck).

We will be having the cocktail hour in the front half of what is called the Great Room. (horrible picture to follow - stupid cell phone...)

And the reception will be held in the back half of the Great Room. This room has doors that open onto a stone patio, which is very lovely, but it was much too cold to go outside for a look today. The wall in the middle of the room folds open or closed as needed (and sort of reminds me of the cafe-gym-atorium that we had at my elementary school).

Since we don't have wedding attendants to help us with things, and we won't be having a florist, I had a concern about how to get the tables decorated and when and who would do this. The sales manager said that two things could be done - either we could set the tables up ourselves the evening before, or we could make a sample table in the morning and the inn staff could then copy what we had done. Since we are only going to need six tables, we decided that we would be most comfortable setting them up ourselves the night before. That way we don't have to worry that they are done right and we can set it aside and not have to think about it the next day.

To end our wonderful visit to North Creek, we chose to eat lunch at Trappers Tavern, which is located inside the inn itself. We have to get photos taken in here by Tiffany before our wedding is over. This place it so cool! If it were big enough, we would seriously have the reception right inside the tavern.

Life Lesson #2: If you think you took a picture on your phone, double check to make sure you actually clicked the button. I thought I took three or four pictures while we were eating lunch, but I apparently only took one...

We had such a nice time here today, that we decided to come here after our reception is over. The party could continue all night!

Now on to the next step - choosing the menu... !

Place Card Holders: Straight out of the woods

2011-01-13T20:56:00.000-05:00

"I got a box of wood in the mail today!"

In keeping with our wedding theme of the Adirondack woods, and our goal of having as many eco-friendly components to our wedding as possible, I went in search of place card holders. I looked at some websites and in some craft stores, but I couldn't really find anything I liked that really spoke to me. We discussed the idea of little Adirondack chairs, but all the ones I could find were white and looked like they belonged on a beach rather than at a cabin. Inevitably I turned to Etsy, because it seems that no matter how hard I try to look in other places first, I always end up back here. I'm glad I did, because I found the most awesome place card holders from This Fine Day.

They are sawed chunks of branches from a fallen tree, with slits carved in to hold the place cards. I don't think I could have found something more "Adirondack woods" or "eco-friendly" if I tried! I intend to make our place cards out of recycled card stock, and include a note on the back encouraging our guests to reuse the wood for something else in their home. We plan to use any extras that we have as photo holders around our house. If we have a lot left over, we might even let our gerbils chew on a few.

I wish computers had smell-o-vision,

because opening this box was like stepping into summer...

The Wedding Binder

2011-01-12T16:57:00.012-05:00

Among the many reasons why I am like Monica from Friends, this one I'd like to share with you today...

...the Wedding Binder (capitalized for importance)!

I know that many (maybe even most) women who are planning a wedding put together a binder to help keep track of what/who/when/where/and how many, but when I first started this thing I was clueless! I knew I needed to keep track of things, but I didn't really know yet which things were the most important. Throughout all of my research on the internet and magazines, any time I saw something I liked, it went straight in the binder. I had categories set up, but I learned pretty quickly that what I at first thought was important (hair) really needed to step aside for other things (budget). Now that I know better, I've narrowed down my binder to the following important categories:

1. Location (...location, location! <-- this is what happens to your brain after you buy a house) This means the ceremony location and the reception location (even if you think at first that they are going to be held in the same place). This section started off as a bunch of printouts from websites of venues that I had researched and liked and potentially wanted to visit. I ordered them front to back, with the ones I liked the best in the front. Then I made some appointments, we made some visits, and we pulled out the ones that we didn't like any more. Now that we have decided on a venue for the ceremony and the reception, those places are the only two that I left in this section of the binder. This section contains basic web printouts, notes we took on visits, drafts of our contracts, our actual contracts, and receipts for payment deposits. In the beginning I thought that I would want to keep even the information from places we didn't like, sort of like a souvenir of my research process, but I have recently come to realize that the only place of importance is our actual venue, and that's all I want to remember. (Copperfield)

2. Photographer In this section I am keeping contracts, paperwork, and ideas for photos that I like, as well as payment receipts. I also keep a few notes that our photographer wrote to us, because I love her so much and it makes me feel good to read them again! Just like the location section, this section started off with basic information about photographers I liked from the internet, and then it got smaller and smaller as we had interviews and chose our perfect match. (Tiffany Wayne)

3. Officiant I don't expect this section to be very large, but here is where I am keeping basic papers from our officiant, our contract, and copies of our receipts. I think that I will also use this section for the creation of our ceremony, since the officiant is the one who will be running it for us. We have borrowed a book from her about planning the ceremony, and I intend to photocopy specific pages and put those worksheets here. (Mimi Phillips)

4. Music & DJ In this section of my binder I can find anything that has to do with music. Our contract with the DJ, payment receipts (notice a trend here - keep track of your money!), and songs that we want to play. Our DJ also sent us a form where we can write down any traditional dances that we would like to include. Since our reception is going to include camping games, and I will need the DJ's help with this, those materials will kept in this section as we create them.

5. Guests Pretty straightforward. This is where we are keeping our guest list. As it gets closer, I will include spreadsheets with addresses, accommodations (for people who are staying at the inn), and RSVP's to invitations with meal choices. (this image is censored to protect the innocent)

6. Plan Everyone needs a plan! I am currently using one I found online, but they are all over the place on the internet and in wedding magazines. They are all pretty much the same (which is comforting) and I have been using mine like a checklist. I wrote down the month at the top of each section, and then I have a post it on my computer desktop with everything from the checklist that needs to be done that month. (wedding channel)

7. Budget Although this is one of the first things that a couple should create together, it is located at the back of my binder. I'd like to say that there is some highly intelligent reason why it's in the back, but there isn't. I just don't want to think about money (and how much this is all going to cost), so after we created the budget I just stuck it in the back. Once you figure it all out, you can pretty much remember how much you have to spend on the important aspects of the wedding.

8. Other This is where everything else goes (for now)! Here I can find inspirations for decorations, hairstyles, invitations, pretty much everything else that doesn't fit into the other categories. This is by far the most colorful section of my binder, and one of the most fun, since I pulled most of the pages from magazines.

Although this is the best way for me to organize my Wedding Binder, I do not know if it is the best way for everyone. What I do know, is that I have found this binder to be extremely helpful in my planning process. Weddings are overwhelming and there have been times when I felt as though I was lost and didn't know what I was supposed to be doing, but having this binder (and especially the planning checklist) brought me right back to reality and allowed me to focus on just one task at a time. I recommend that every couple who are planning a wedding have at least some sort of organizational system to keep track of things, something that even the most unorganized person could feel comfortable with. Find what works for you!

If you don't feel like creating your own binder, there are tons of great ones available to buy that are already organized and ready for you to use!

Maro Designs on Etsy

2011-01-10T19:35:00.001-05:00

After blogging about the items I wanted to add to my prop box for the photo booth, I had to go straight to Maro Designs on Etsy and get a few items that I just couldn't stop thinking about:

and my personal favorite...

the Mrs. Cyclops eye!

I love the creativity behind these props and especially the unique designs that Maro Designs offers. They are made of a very sturdy felt, and I have no worries at all about the props holding up and lasting throughout my entire reception - even if the little kids do start running around with them. My other favorite aspect of Maro Designs is how affordable these items were! I've looked at a lot of stores on Etsy that make similar items, and for the high quality, these were by far the best deal for my money.

I can't wait to use them!

Disclaimer: All images contained this blog post are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Maro Designs. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. You may not download material from Maro Designs on the Web for your personal or commercial use.

A friend's response to: Should we register for gifts?

2011-01-09T11:51:00.000-05:00

After reading my most recent blog post, where I questioned whether or not Ryan and I should register for gifts, my brother's girlfriend had the following response:

So I saw your blog about your debate over wedding registries and I can definitely see the dilemma. Jason and I know a couple who had a registry and got so much stuff they had to take it down and asked anyone else who wanted to get them a gift to donate to either Heifer International or the World Hunger something or other.

My opinion would be to maybe have one registry with only a few things you really want and then once those things are purchased, anyone else looking to purchase something you could ask for donations to a charity. This is what happened with Jason's friends, we saw their registry note in the invitation, but when we finally got to ordering, one registry didn't exist anymore and the other had everything already purchased. We ended up asking them about it and they asked us to make a donation to one of two charities of their choice.

...

I wouldn't be good at my job if I also didn't put it out there that The Pampered Chef does wedding registries. Everything will be set up online so people don't have to worry about something being "in stock" at their local Macy's or Target, etc.. They can have stuff shipped to them so they can give it to you at the wedding, or it can be shipped directly to you if they can't make it to the wedding. You will also get free products, discounted products, half-price products, 10% off anything for a year after your wedding and free shipping on your rewards order.

This is just a suggestion and please don't feel obligated to choose The Pampered Chef, but a lot of people don't know we also do wedding registries so I wanted to get you informed!

I think this is an excellent idea and we will most likely have a small registry of a few things that we need, and then from that point on ask people to donate to a charity. And I would be a good friend if I didn't link to Erica's Pampered Chef store!

To purchase from Erica's store, follow these simple steps:

1. click on "shop online" in the top right corner
2. option 2 is to place an order without being in a show, click on "place an order"
3. a little box will come up warning you that your order will not be on a show; click on "otherwise click here to continue"
4. choose the items you would like to purchase and pay with a credit/debit card.

Should we register for gifts?

2011-01-08T11:16:00.002-05:00

For a normal wedding, the answer to this is absolutely yes... but what about for a couple who is renewing their vows?

Earlier this week I was discussing our wedding planning with a close friend and colleague of mine, and she asked me if we were going to register for gifts. Up until that moment, we hadn't really given it any thought. We had sort of just assumed, since we kept our elopement secret for so long, that we didn't really deserve gifts and didn't have the right to ask for any, and therefore didn't need to register. After all, the reason we are having this ceremony is so that we can share our love for each other with our families and they can participate in our happiness, not so that we can load up on free stuff!

I explained all this to my friend, but she pointed out that some people (meaning herself) are going to insist upon getting us a gift, and that we really should at least have an idea of something that we want or could use, so that they don't get us something we hate. I started thinking about her point, but I still don't feel comfortable advertising to our family and friends that we are registered, because we don't want people to feel like they have to get us something. We truly just want to spend a fun celebratory day with them.

After some discussion, we came up with two ideas:
1. Register, but don't advertise that we have registered (meaning - we won't put a little note in with the invitations like I have seen some other people do). Then, if someone asks us we can tell them where we are registered, but people who weren't planning to get us a gift won't feel obligated or guilty if they see a little registration card.
2. Don't register, and then if people ask us about gifts, we could say that we don't need or want anything, and we would instead like it if they would donate to a charity of their choice.

We still have to make a decision about this, but one of the things I am quickly learning about planning a wedding, is that just when you thought you had it all under control, there will be something else to plan for!

Prop Box of Fun!

2010-12-29T09:33:00.001-05:00

It seems like one of the newest (and most fun) trends of weddings is the photo booth. A photo booth can be set up in a number of ways, but essentially it consists of a dedicated area (usually with a backdrop of some sort) where people can have their photo taken. Ranging from formal to goofy, the booth can be designed in any way that fits the bride and groom. During the wedding reception, it is almost guaranteed that if a person is dancing, his or her photo will be taken by the professional photographer. But what about people who don't dance? Often these guests are under-represented in the photographs which are taken throughout the event, and this is a sad thing to happen. The photo booth is a way to make sure that people who are absent from the height of action are still able to participate in ways that are less in the spotlight and can be involved in the wedding.

Although we haven't gotten all of the details of our own photo booth planned out yet, we do have some ideas. Our photographer, Tiffany Wayne, came up with the idea of hanging a wooden picture frame between the camera and the guests being photographed, which will give the illusion of our guests being a framed piece of artwork. We love this idea!

We have a lot of guests (and one groom) who really hate dancing, and with a small wedding of only 40-50 people, we wanted to make sure that everyone has fun. We are hoping to accomplish this through incorporating camping games such as Mad Libs, a scavenger hunt, and cootie catchers throughout the reception (this fits with our theme of the Adirondack Woods, which was inspired by our love of camping). We are also hoping to accomplish this sense of playfulness by having a box of props available at the photo booth, so that people can dress up, relax in front of the camera, and act silly. I, for one, am really looking forward to this, and my father mentioned that he thought it would be funny if the men had some sort of dress to wear and the women could wear some sort of tuxedo! I don't know yet if that is going to be possible, but I do have some other ideas which I would like to share.

When thinking about what we have collected over the years, we found that we already have the following items which are perfect for this use:

angel wings

(black because they are from Halloween)

rabbit ears

cat ears

feather boa

Hawaiian flower leis

We are also planning to get these items for the prop box, which we don't already have:

giant clown glasses

masks on sticks (etsy seller)

fake mustache on a stick

cyclops eye on a stick (etsy seller)

That seems like a lot of stuff, but we are still looking for more ideas! Perhaps some hats? Maybe some more camping themed items? Please leave a comment on this blog post if you have any suggestions!

A flowerless wedding...

2010-11-30T20:14:00.001-05:00

Can it be done?

Should it be done?

In our case, the answer is most definitely... yes! I have never been the type of girl who gushed over the idea of being sent roses. Instead, I would feel bad that flowers had to die just so I could look at them inside my house. Send me a potted plant that I can help to grow and enjoy for years and I'm yours! So, the thought of killing tons of flowers just for a wedding ceremony and reception really rubs me the wrong way, at least when it comes to my own wedding.

The theme of our wedding is the Adirondack woods, so we are going to try to keep the decor natural, without having to kill any plants. Our centerpieces (as I've discussed in an earlier blog post) are going to be living terrariums that people can take home with them, which will hopefully continue to live and grow for a long time. We are also intending to use pine cones and leaves in some way on the guest tables at the reception.

At first I tossed around the idea of possibly having a flower bouquet to carry down the aisle, but I was never really sold on the idea. Part of me felt like it was wrong for me not to carry one, but the other part of me rebelled against the idea of doing something just because everyone else does it, and the proverbial "they" say that I have to. In addition, flowers are expensive! Holy cow! Still, I didn't know what else to do, and I thought it would be weird to walk down the aisle empty handed. Where would I put my hands?

Eventually, after looking around on the internet for who knows how long, I fell back to my old friend etsy and stumbled across something that is perfect for me:

It's called a Rustic Firefly Lantern and is made by April Hiler Designs. This completely fits our wedding theme, is really cute, and nothing needed to die in order for it to be made! Better yet, it won't wilt a few hours after the wedding, and I'm sure I can find another use for it! Inside the basket is preserved sheet moss, dried grapevine, and faux fern fronds, along with a little string of LED lights.

It may not be customary or commonplace, but it wouldn't really be our wedding if we did things like everyone else, now would it!

Officiant Success!

2010-10-31T13:57:00.000-04:00

With the help our superhero photographer, we finally found an officiant!

This morning at our home we had the pleasure to meet with Miriam (Mimi) Phillips from Personally Spiritual Wedding Ceremonies. Before her visit, Mimi and I were in contact through email, where I gave her some basic information about our ceremony. While here, our conversation was able to flow very easily and smoothly and we were helped to realize that there are quite a few areas of planning that we had not considered before. Mimi asked us questions, let us tell her information that we wanted to share, and she gave us a lot of materials to look at when we have some time, including copies of ceremonies which she has performed in the past and also a book about planning wedding ceremonies. Mimi also provided us with documentation of her reverend status and explained the process she went through to be ordained.

We felt very comfortable with her and knew right away that we want to work with her. (Also, her fees are extremely reasonable, especially considering the costs we had been quoted from other officiants!) Our plan is to have a simple rehearsal, for which we are not being charged extra because it will only include three people or so.

One of the best things we liked about our meeting this morning is that Mimi did not push us at all to make a decision today, and even offered to provide us with references for other officiants if we felt that she was not right for us. She did not want us to sign a contract today and wanted us to think about it for a little while first. Ultimately, we spent about 30 seconds thinking about it after she left before we decided that she was perfect for us - which is probably not what she had in mind, but this is the way we work. I've learned throughout this planning process that we can almost always tell right away which vendors and professionals are right for us, usually within the first five minutes of meeting with them. Follow your gut has been our rule all along, and I think it is some very sound advice.

Overall, we are thrilled to have found Mimi and we could not be happier that she will be the officiant for our ceremony!

Help us win our wedding invitations!

2010-10-26T19:10:00.000-04:00

My Design Sensations Custom Handmade Stationery is giving away a $350 gift certificate for a couple who needs wedding invitations! Couples submit an engagement photo and then people are able to vote. The couple with the most votes at the end of November will win.

Right now we are in 4th place!

Please help us to reach the top! Our budget is extremely tight. If we were able to win our invitations, then we might have a little extra money leftover to add something nice to our reception.

All you have to do to vote is follow these simple steps:

Go to the My Design Sensations facebook page.
LIKE the company's page (at the top).
Go to our photo in the album entitled "Holiday Giveaway 2010." Ours is photo number 4 (Kristen & Ryan).
LIKE the photo.

That's it! Thank you!

photo by Tiffany Wayne

No one wants to (re)marry us...

2010-10-25T20:04:00.000-04:00

Of all the many steps involved with planning a wedding, I never thought finding the officiant would end up being the hardest part!

The first thing we did was try to contact the judge who married us the first time at the town court. After emailing and sending a written letter (because I didn't get an email response after a week), then waiting another week, we finally got the following response through email:

"Unfortunately Judge S******** in not available to do the ceremony next year. She can only perform civil ceremonies if there is a valid marriage license. Good luck."

[spelling error left in on purpose]

I had never heard of such a thing, but I didn't want to fight it, so I moved on. I googled "wedding officiant near North Creek, NY" and was directed to a few different places. I looked at several and picked three to show Ryan, then we narrowed it down to two that we wanted the contact.

The first people we contacted were the Reverends Mary and Denis Cole. Mary was extremely fast, courteous, and professional in her email response to me, but I was shocked to find out that they would charge us $400. This fee includes consultations, preparation, and the ceremony, but is way out of our budget. We aren't looking for anything extremely personalized, and we really felt that $400 was too much for 30-60 minutes worth of work, so we moved on...

The next was Victoria. We really liked her blog, especially one post where she described her joy at helping a married couple with their vow renewal ceremony. Again, she was quick, polite, and professional in her email, and again we were horrified at the fee. This time it was $650!

Are we wrong to think that a judge or minister for a simple vow renewal ceremony should not cost this much? We are stuck now and do not know what to do next. Does anyone out there on the web have an idea?

A Package in the Mail = Excitement!

2010-10-24T18:02:00.001-04:00

Everyone loves to get mail, but it is even more exciting to get a package in the mail... especially when you have been waiting for your pictures to arrive from a photo shoot! Even though I only had to wait less than two weeks, the anticipation was almost more than I could bear. I looked at Tiffany's blog almost every day to ogle over the scattering of photos she posted as a preview, because I just couldn't wait to see the rest. When I finally got the box it was even more fun than I imagined, because she packaged it so beautifully...

Even after I carefully slid off the ribbon and removed the lid, there were still more surprises...

chocolate!!!

For about an hour and a half's worth of time shooting pictures, we received a disc with 88 amazing photographs, with which we can now do whatever we please. This is really important to us, because it bothers me when photographers force people to order prints through them, instead of being able to print them out on their own. Here are a few of my favorites from the day (that I didn't already steal from Tiffany's website)!

You know your photographer's good when...

2010-10-11T17:37:00.002-04:00

...she posts a blog less than 24 hours after your photo shoot!
AND, you both look amazing!

Here are some of my favorite shots of both of us, just from what was posted on the blog. I had to make them smaller to fit my blog template. To see more, visit Tiffany Wayne's blog post about our "I Love You" shoot.

fooor-eeev-eeeer...

I Love You: A photo shoot with Tiffany Wayne

2010-10-11T10:24:00.002-04:00

What do you call an engagement photo session for people who are already married? You call it an "I Love You" shoot of course! That's what we did yesterday with our amazing photographer Tiffany Wayne.

In keeping with our obsession with being outdoors, Tiffany had the great idea to shoot us in an apple orchard at the peak of fall foliage in our area. After scouting around, she came up with Indian Ladder Farms. I had heard of it before, and I know a lot of people who enjoy picking their own apples here, so I figured it must be good... and it was! Although, I can honestly say that I have never before seen such a wide variety of people at a farm before (and I had never seen anyone wear a dress to go apple picking until yesterday)! In looking at past blogs I discovered that I have actually expressed my thoughts on this before! (see "Clothes Shopping")

We were a little nervous and a lot stiff when we first got started, but Tiffany gave us a lot of directions and made it really easy for us to loosen up. Right away we left the crowded area and found a quiet place to acclimate to our environment. Tiffany took some photos of things around us to get started, while we doodled things that were meaningful to us on a dry-erase board (which was later used as a prop in some of the photos). The doodling was a great idea, even if it wasn't going to be used as a prop, because it gave Ryan and I a few quiet minutes together to remember some of the things that brought us together and some of the things that we both share a love for.

We took shots all over the place on the farm for almost two hours and Tiffany allowed us to act like children (which is how we really are anyway), so we had a lot of fun... even when I got too close to a cow and it horned me in the hip bone! Apparently those signs that say "Watch Out For Horns" aren't joking! I can't wait to see the photos and I am really glad that we were able to have this photo shoot. It was definitely one of the things that I feel like we missed out on when we eloped, and I have a great feeling of satisfaction that we had such an awesome time. ♥

PS: This place even has Fainting Goats! Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs would love it!

photos from the Indian Ladder Farms page on Facebook

Guest List Woes

2010-09-08T20:10:00.001-04:00

I'm sure I am not the only bride who has ever felt like this, but boy the guest list is stressing me out! We have so many factors to consider when deciding who to invite and who to leave out, and it pains me every time we decide that we just can't invite one person or another for any reason. We have to consider money (why are catered meals so expensive?!), how close we are to certain people, who would be a loner and feel really awkward, etc. How many people should we invite from work? I teach, and I feel that I am friendly with a lot of my fellow teachers... but do I actually socialize with them outside of work? Should I invite my mother's friends from church who I haven't seen in several years, just because she wants me to? What about my relatives that live across the country in Hawaii and California? How about friends from across the state where we used to live, who we only contact through Facebook now, but who we still feel deep friendship for? Ultimately, I believe that every couple has to decide what is important to them. We would rather have an intimate occasion and share it with the people who are our absolute closest friends and relatives. Other couples might value having the biggest wedding in the world. I think sitting down and talking about these things can help put perspective on the whole thing and take away some of the guilt associated with leaving people off the guest list.

If you are still stuck, I recommend this really genius flowchart from the blog of wedding planner Emma-Carly Williams!

Bead Flora and Jewels

2010-08-30T16:46:00.001-04:00

While perusing posts on Brenda's Blog, I came across Bead Flora and Jewels by Fen Li. This shop had the perfect flower to wear in my hair for the wedding! I'd been searching all over the place, and I even posted an Etsy Alchemy request, but I could never quite find what I was looking for. Fen Li had created a gardenia out of velvet with a green stone in the center and green and blue feathers accenting the back - all attached to an alligator clip. Her work is the most creative that I have seen in a long time, and I had never before seen flowers intricately made out of beads. She even included a little beaded flower hair tie with my order, as a thank you for reading Brenda's Blog!

Extra little gift...

Apparently I'm an inspiration...

2010-08-25T20:10:00.003-04:00

I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, because my friend Erin started a blog and mentioned me in her very first post! We've been helping each other through wedding planning bliss and wedding planning hell, and I seriously think I would have gone insane if I didn't have her to bounce ideas off of and vent to. Even though we have some very similar tastes in style and aesthetic elements, Erin's wedding is very different from mine. Ryan and I are having our ceremony up in the Adirondacks, Erin and Mike are getting married downstate. Erin and Mike are also catering to the desires (demands) of their parents, while Ryan and I are independent - as we should be, since we've been living together for the last seven years, and married for the last four.

With that said, allow me to introduce the newest wedding blog on my bookmark list...

Wedding Obsessed!

Save the Date

2010-08-24T08:49:00.002-04:00

A short one today. I stumbled upon a printing company that had Save the Date cards to match our theme. They were so cute that we both fell in love with them right away. To make it even better, they are printed on 100% recycled paper and come with envelopes. When I made a user account, they sent me an email right away for 20% off my next purchase, which I was able to use on this order of cards because I hadn't finished completing the order yet! You can find the cards at VistaPrint. (That link is a friends reward link, so you will get extra savings if you click it.)

Clothes Shopping

2010-08-22T11:25:00.001-04:00

Since we are already married, but still want to have all of the things we missed out on when we eloped, we are going to have a photo shoot in October. Ordinarily this would be called an engagement session, but since we don't like to do things the way the rest of the world does (and we aren't engaged) we are going to call it an "I Love You" shoot. Our plan with our amazing photographer - Tiffany Wayne - is to shoot in an apple orchard (and doesn't everyone deserve new clothes when they are going to have professional photos taken?), so yesterday Ryan and I went clothes shopping! I went in with a bunch of ideas for specific items, but when I actually looked at them in the stores, we didn't like them and we had to decide on something different. I think we came up with some awesome choices that fit our personalities well! Tiffany suggested I use shoots posted on the Green Wedding Shoes blog to get inspiration, and I chose these as my favorites:

A Fun Camping Engagement Session
A Pillow Fight in a Field of Yellow Flowers
A Romantic Engagement Session with a Piano – in a Field

A Lovely Engagement Session with a Blanket

We started off wanting to really dress up, but after thinking about it for awhile, we decided that our shoot might actually turn out better if we are wearing clothes that we are completely comfortable in - so we bought these:

Who wears a dress to go apple picking anyway?

PS: I bought the same shoes in grey felt too, and I will actually wear those unless it is muddy.

Charlotte Russe

Old Navy

DSW

An Hour at Michael's

2010-08-17T20:33:00.001-04:00

I went to Michael's craft store today to browse and get some ideas for the wedding. My goals were:
1. Scope out the DIY invitation kits
2. See what kind of materials they had for making centerpieces
It's important that I make as many things for the wedding as I can, since we are on a budget, but I also want everything to look nice and fit with our theme.

I started with the invitations. There weren't as many as I had hoped for, but there were enough for me to get some ideas. Before going to the store I had looked online to see what I might like, and I set my eye on a bunch of eco-friendly materials they had. It's too bad that I looked online a few weeks ago and didn't check again before going to the store today, because Michael's no longer carries these products. Bummer! I thought it would be perfect to have eco-friendly paper since we are having an Adirondack theme to our wedding and giving tree seedlings as gifts. I may just have to look elsewhere to find these. I did find three invitation kits that I thought were interesting, though... (and I apologize for the poor photo quality - I took them with my phone).

I've listed them here in the order that we like them. The fern invitation on the right is good, but we aren't sure about the mint colored ribbon. The one in the middle is a nice brown (even though it looks black here), but it's a little too dull - we'd like more color. The green and brown one on the left seems really great and has both of our wedding colors, but it doesn't really seem to express our theme. We'll have to ask ourselves a couple questions before making our decision:

1. Are we dedicated to eco-friendly paper?

2. Are we willing to trade out our theme to have the right colors at a price we can afford?

The next task on my list was to check out centerpiece materials. We've decided that we really want to make living terrariums, and I am using these ones I found on the Indie Bliss blog for inspiration. This part was actually more fun for me, since I'm the kind of girl that would much rather play with dirt than frilly ribbons.

I found Ball Jars which I think would be really cool, and were sort of reminiscent of something I might find in a mountain lodge filled with fruit or something yummy. I also found these square containers which I didn't like as much as the Ball Jars, but would also work.

Michael's also has a relatively large selection of river rocks and moss - although I don't think moss bought in a bag is really alive any more. I will have to look into getting this from outside or a garden store.

I saved the most fun part for last - looking for the interesting detail pieces to make the terrariums awesome! Our first thoughts were to create miniature camping scenes (out of doll house pieces), or put small Adirondack chairs, but we are having a very difficult time finding those things. Our next option is to include little woodland animals - which Michael's actually had quite a few of!

First I found little feathery birds (although I'm not sure the feathers will work in the moist terrarium)...

Next I went to the kids' section where I found animals in tubes, aptly named Toob Animals, but they didn't really have the specific kind of animals I was looking for and they were also on clearance sale...

And my favorite was the little plastic moose and deer figurines, which remind me of toys I might have actually played with as a kid (in the dirt)...

I'm not sure that I will actually buy anything that I found at Michael's today, but all in all I found my trip to be very productive. I had a lot of vague ideas tumbling around in my head and browsing enabled me to obtain a visual grasp on what I it is that I would like my end products to look like. After seeing all this stuff I can't wait to get started!

Wedding Shoes: Dessy Ballet Flats

2010-08-14T16:53:00.001-04:00

My shoes for the wedding arrived! I got it in my head that I had to have green shoes for the wedding, but I had no idea how hard they would be to find! I searched in a ton of stores and online and finally my friend found these: Wedding Ballet Flats by The Dessy Group. I was a little nervous to buy shoes online, because I couldn't actually see the color or try them on, but for the price of these flats I decided it couldn't hurt to just buy them and see. If they weren't right for the wedding I could always just wear them to work. Thankfully they are just about perfect!

They fit great and are true to size; the outside is satin and the inside is soft leather with a little padding at the heel (nice for a day that I will be standing a lot), and a rubber sole with a little bit of tread (but not much). They have a scrunchy little elastic at the back, which I thought I wasn't going to like, but actually helps the shoes to stay on my feet more securely. The elastic stretches enough when I wear them that it isn't noticeable.

I purchased the shoes in "clover" and the only thing I have to say negative is that the color is not exactly the same as it appears on the website and is actually a duller green - which I don't really care about because I still think the color is pretty, but it should be noted. The color in the little box I had to click in order to select "clover" is actually truer to the actual color of the shoes than the photograph depicts. Dessy offers color and fabric swatches, but they cost half the price of the shoes, so I didn't feel it was worth it.

I wish I didn't have to wait a year to wear them, but I will get use out of them after the wedding, so I have that to look forward to at least!

I never win anything!

2010-08-12T12:55:00.001-04:00

I am so psyched that I won a copy of The Bubbly Bride: Your Ultimate Wedding Cocktail Guide by Natalie Bovis-Nelsen from a giveaway hosted by the Bridal Bubbly blog!

I love this blog because it is written by wedding planners who know what they are doing, and they post truly interesting and inspiring content almost daily. Check it out if you get some time!

Ryan and I can't wait to read this book! We've been discussing the idea of possibly having a signature drink at our reception, and I think this book might just be the answer we are looking for. We are especially looking for a special sort of martini blend - to remind of us of a martini bar we used to go to all the time (Cecelia's in Buffalo, NY). I think it will be really useful for entertaining guests at our home in the future, as well!

check it out on Amazon.com

second photographer interview: Turnquist Photography

2010-07-30T22:34:00.001-04:00

This may sound horrible, but I liked Tiffany so much yesterday that I really wanted to hate Rebecca and Jesse of Turnquist Photography - but I couldn't do it! (Look at their blog too - this is where they show pictures that are more like Tiffany's and more like what we want.)

They welcomed us into their beautiful home and offered us lemonade. They had a sample DVD running on their TV the whole time, and a coffee table filled with samples for us to touch and look at.

In all honesty, their packages and pricing were almost identical to Tiffany's, so I'm not going to discuss those in this blog entry. Although they were a little quieter and a bit more subdued in personality, we still felt that they understood our needs, cared about what we want, and would be able to produce beautiful images for us. We would definitely recommend them to other couples looking for wedding photographers.

first photographer interview: Tiffany Wayne

2010-07-29T21:18:00.001-04:00

I. Love. Her.

It's overwhelming searching the web for a good wedding photographer, but when you find one that's amazing you know right away. The shots on Tiffany Wayne's website are beyond fabulous for what I would expect from wedding photos. I first contacted Tiffany through the contact form on her website and she got back to me within a day and was ready to set up an appointment.

She came to our home so that we could meet with her, and she was a little bit late (less than 10 minutes), but I don't hold that against her at all because I think everyone gets lost when they come to our house for the first time - that's what happens when you live at on a dead end road at the end of a corn field with a crooked street sign. She was so concerned about being late, which is great, because who wants to hire a professional that doesn't care about punctuality! I was actually a little nervous about having someone come to my home for a meeting, but then I realized... If I'm not comfortable having this person in my house, then how will I ever be comfortable having her take my picture while I'm getting dressed? After that I was cool.

Tiffany is about our age, which always makes it easier to relate to someone, but she was so confident and cheery that I think pretty much anyone would like her (except for maybe my grumpy grandma Mildred). I also loved how she was dressed very professionally even though she was just coming over to our house for a half hour - no worries about having her show up to my wedding in jeans and a wife-beater!

I loved how instead of simply showing us all of the stuff we can buy from her, she began by talking to us about how we met and what we were like, and she really only produced things for us to look at when it came up naturally in the conversation. We were able to see a book of her photos and an example of a published wedding book. She also gave us a folder containing pricing and packages, an example contract, business card, and glossed up shiny postcards with her website and business information on them (and truly, who can help but love something shiny?).

When we got down to actually talking about photos, Tiffany made sure that she understood the styles, posing, colors, locations, etc. that we were looking for. Tiffany also suggested a way that we could alter one of the packages to better fit our needs, which was really helpful because we wouldn't have thought of that on our own; for example, we could substitute having a second photographer and instead have an engagement shoot (which we would call an "I love you shoot" - since we're not truly engaged). Tiffany also brought up the idea of a photobooth which is something I really want to do. I've seen other photographers mention that on their websites and they charge extra for it, but Tiffany included it in her package for us.

The thing I liked the most was how Tiffany's face lit up when I explained that we aren't looking for formal or traditional wedding photos - we are looking for creative and artisitc shots, something really unique. It was like I gave a 5-year-old a whopping chunk of chocolate cake. That moment convinced me that we wouldn't get some clichéd wedding portraits with people standing in a line - let's move beyond 1985, people!

My only cons (which aren't really cons) are two small things:
1. I wished that I was able to see her packages and pricing before our appointment - even though I told her my budget in the initial email and she let me know that she did have packages in that range.
2. After meeting with her, I wish that she had posted something on her website about being able to do photobooths. If I had known that she could do that, I might not have even made the appointment with the second photographer, because that's something I was really looking for.

However, based on our interview, I would recommend Tiffany Wayne 100% to anyone who asked. Although we haven't made our decision yet, because we have another appointment scheduled, we were very impressed with Tiffany and we think she would be an excellent fit for our needs.

the one that wasn't "the one"

2010-07-23T10:04:00.002-04:00

In another life, with a different budget, this would have been "the dress" for me...

Also, I love these handmade garters from The Garter Girl on Etsy!

ordered my dress!

2010-07-21T08:45:00.003-04:00

Last night was my turn to play dress-up at David's Bridal. I must say, the consultant who was helping me was fabulous - which leads me to believe that Erin's consultant last week was just bad at her job.

Tip #1: Research online before your appointment, and bring photos or magazine pages with you.

I arrived with Erin, and my parents came a few minutes later. We started the process by having me fill out a little form with my information and the groom's information, which they need because David's is affiliated with Men's Wearhouse. Right from the start my consultant was with us helping me pick out dresses. She asked me what I had in mind and I explained, as well as showed her pictures I had printed out from the David's website. I highly recommend doing this, since it seemed to make it easier for her to see what I was looking for, and she had style numbers right on the printouts to help her find exactly what I wanted. She let me pick out so many dresses to start with that we had to put most of them in a second dressing room! With two people in the room, only about three dresses can comfortably fit in there at once.

Tip #2: Try on dresses and accessories that you think you won't like, just to see.
Tip #3: Don't let the first dress you try on be the one that you think will be your favorite.
Tip #4: Only bring along people whose judgment you completely trust.

For a girl who doesn't like to shop, and really doesn't like to try on clothes, I have to admit that this was a lot of fun. Erin made me try on a bunch of dresses that she had picked out before letting me try on the dress that I loved from the magazine. I'm a good sport, so I just did whatever she told me to - of course, I trust her judgement. This turned out to be a great idea, because it made me appreciate the dresses that I knew I would like more than I maybe would have if I had started out with those. I also tried on a veil just for the heck of it, even though I knew I didn't want one. I even put on a fairy tale dress just for fun, and I actually loved it and didn't want to take it off - even though it was way too long for our venue, and even though it was four times the price of what I could afford. If I could have stolen it to play dress-up at home with, believe me I would have.

Tip #5: If you like a dress, bring it over to a window where you can see it in natural light.

It took me about an hour, I narrowed it down to three, then to two dresses, and my consultant was by my side the entire time. When I was trying to decide between the two (both Galina), she took me out into a naturally lit area, brought me different sashes to try with them, let me try on a bunch of different shoes, and mess with my hair for what felt like forever to me, but was probably not that much time. All of this really helped me, and the deciding factor was when I saw the dresses in the natural light. One sparkled much more in sunlight and that sold me on it.

Once I had made up my mind, our consultant continued to stay with us and help my mom try on dresses, even though she had to help another bride at that point as well, and she was just as helpful with my mom as she was with me. I wish that they'd had more plus size mothers' dresses for her to try on, but I am happy to say that we were able to find a nice dress relatively quickly, in a color that she likes, and they were willing to order it in her size for her (she bought it in "light mocha" and I don't know why it says "online only" on the website, because it's not).

In the end, I am totally pleased with my dress (but I will not show it on here until the ceremony, because I want it to be a surprise). I think that, even though many people have bad-mouthed David's Bridal, if you are a bride on a budget it is worth looking at with these tips in mind: browse one day on your own and observe the consultants to try to get a feel for which ones seem attentive and helpful, try to go during a weekday when there are less brides there, and make an appointment. Even if you don't find what you're looking for, it's an experience worth having.

Post-script: When we checked out they gave us a ton of coupons!

a unique perspective

2010-07-13T09:58:00.001-04:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Yesterday evening I went with a friend, Erin, to try on wedding dresses at David's Bridal - she is getting married in August 2011. Even though my own appointment for dress shopping isn't until next week, I think it's important to share my experience as a neutral friend (I'm less biased since I am not related to the bride, nor am I a member of the wedding party), and I'm sure it will be a very different experience when I am the bride.

Her appointment was at 6:00 PM, but we all arrived around 5:30 PM. The staff allowed Erin to begin trying on dresses early, and ultimately I feel that this may have been a poor decision - but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I don't know if it was because David's is in the midst of the famous "$99 sale" or if the store is always like this, but when I first walked in I was completely overwhelmed. There were racks and racks of bridal gowns to my right, 20 or more mirrors straight ahead of me, and tons of racks of bridesmaid dresses to my left. People were moving and bustling about everywhere. I saw Erin, her mother, and her sister and when I approached them she explained that the consultant helping her told her to go through the racks and pull 3 or so dresses that she wanted to begin with. At first we couldn't figure out where the sale racks were, we couldn't figure out where her size was, and it is extremely difficult to decide if you want to try on a dress when it is covered in a thick plastic garment bag. After we had been aimlessly milling around for a few minutes, a different consultant finally helped us find where we needed to be looking, and after several more minutes the four of us had found 6 or so dresses to begin with.

The next step was to stand at the end of the racks holding ridiculously heavy dresses and wait to be helped again. This time a third different consultant helped us get Erin into a changing room - where her own consultant finally began to help her. It turns out that her consultant was in the middle of helping another girl with dresses at the same time. I suspect that this may have been the result of allowing Erin to begin trying on her dresses before her actual appointment. I wish that she could have had the devoted attention of her consultant right from the beginning.

As time went on and more women left the store, Erin was given more attention, which significantly improved the experience. My favorite part was when Erin's consultant went on break and we had a different girl working with us for awhile. I can't even describe how much better she was than the first woman. At one point during the first consultant's break - when Erin, her mother, and her sister were all in dressing rooms and I was waiting for them to come out - the substitute consultant sat down next to me as I flipped though the catalog and discussed the dresses that I want to try on next week. It wasn't even my appointment right then and she took the time to talk to me while I was waiting alone. Now that is going above and beyond!

In the end, Erin found a beautiful dress in the David's Bridal collection and actually purchased it. None of us were sure if it was the right thing to do - buying a dress during the very first shopping trip - but it was clear that Erin was in love with the dress and she looked absolutely beautiful wearing it, so I don't really see how she could go wrong buying it. One more negative comment about Erin's consultant and that's it: She told Erin that this particular dress was being discontinued, and also that it used to cost twice the price that was currently on the tag - which put a lot of pressure on Erin to make a decision about buying it right then versus waiting a month and trying on more dresses. I did a little searching on the David's Bridal website afterward and found out that the consultant was full of baloney. The dress is marked "NEW!" in big red letters on the website, and she was right about it being on sale - but it's only on sale by $50, not half the price. I feel that was kind of a used-car-salesman action and I'm not too impressed by that move.

My final words...
While the disparity of skills between consultants at David's Bridal was glaringly obvious - almost to the point of being humorous - I can say that all of the dresses there were well made, excellent quality, and mostly affordable (if you stick with the David's Bridal collection and stay away from the major designers). I would recommend the store to brides at least in the beginning - for the experience of a big gown retailer, if nothing else - and I am looking forward to my own appointment next week.

Post-script...
To the random bridezilla who asked one of her bridesmaids, "Could you not wear that color nail polish on the day of the wedding?" - chill out!

station dining vs. buffet

2010-07-12T11:20:00.001-04:00

Copperfield offers, in addition to a variety of seated menus, something called "Station Dining." I assumed this was the same thing as buffet, but I was wrong. I asked on two forums what the differences are and here is what I learned:

Station Dining is basically different tables set up in corners of the room, each station with a different type of food. Sometimes there is a chef preparing, finishing, or slicing the food right at that table. The benefit to having stations instead of a buffet is that people don't get backed up in a long line.

References:

Yahoo! Answers

The Knot

complete success

2010-07-11T14:59:00.001-04:00

If yesterday had never happened, I do not think that I would have appreciated the ease of today as much as I did.

We had a brilliantly beautiful drive (starting at 6:45 AM) up to North Creek, where we had an appointment at The Copperfield Inn. The space is beautiful, the staff are extremely polite and friendly, and the location - while giving us quite a bit of privacy - is only about half an hour's drive from Lake George. We loved it. We were shown three different suites - a regular one, one with a jacuzzi, and a townhouse one that had a spiral staircase leading to a second level. On the wedding night we would be able to stay in a suite free of charge - and if we hold the ceremony at the inn then we won't have to pay a site fee. We were also shown three possible event rooms that we could choose from, as well as options outside. Since we'd like to have the ceremony outside, we would have to walk across the street where there are pavilions along a river. We were also impressed by how huge the fitness room is (even though that has nothing to do with the event).

After poking around for a bit on our own at Copperfield, we went to our next appointment at Cresthaven Lodges in Lake George. To be honest, we'd seen this place from a boat on the lake before, and driven past it on our way to camping, and we didn't really think it was that great - but, it is much nicer once we actually drove into the location itself. The cabins are really cute and it has a great view of the lake. The bottom portion of the restaurant is actually right over top of the lake, so the water sloshes around under the floor - which we thought was cool. We met with someone from the Boathouse Restaurant and discussed what our options would be. Since our party will only be about 40-50 people, we were told that they would only be able to close down half of the restaurant for us. We didn't really feel that this would give us the privacy that we desire, even though the space was very nice. We also would be restricted to having the wedding in the beginning or middle of June, or September or October - neither of which are really want we want. Because of this information, we decided not to bother looking at the lodging.

We were so smitten with Copperfield that we also decided to cancel our last appointment of the day - which would have been at the North Woods Inn. It was really too far of a distance for us and we didn't love the place based on the website.

We got back in the car and immediately called Copperfield to reserve our date there - July 3, 2011!

Now we have to pay the deposit, figure out how many people will be coming and want to stay at the inn so that they can block out some rooms, and sign the contracts. I'm not really sure how to go about doing this - it seems like we wouldn't really know how many people are coming and lodging until we send out the invitations a couple of months before the actual wedding. I am going to email our contact at the inn and find out what she suggests...

lessons of the day

2010-07-10T14:39:00.001-04:00

Here was today's plan:
Drive to Jimbo's Club at the Point for a 10:30 AM meeting with their wedding contact. Pick up some lunch at Lake George Village and maybe shop or sit by the lake to kill some time between appointments. Drive to Dunham's Bay Resort for a 3:00 PM meeting with their wedding contact. Go home and reflect. I had printed out all the maps and phone numbers we would need and I had even remembered to bring my wedding planning binder and my camera.

Here's what actually happened:
About two-thirds of the way to Jimbo's we got stuck behind two people from New Jersey driving pretty slow, which made us start to run late. Up until that point we had been on perfect time and even had a chance to stop for some iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts. We were driving on a beautiful road through glacial valleys with little streams and fantastic foliage, just enjoying the ride. However, I think these two cars from New Jersey were sent to us straight from hell with the sole purpose of throwing a wrench into my perfectly planned day. It was around mile 6 of following behind these people that I started to become nervous that we were going to be late. It was around mile 7 that my husband and I both realized we had bathroom emergencies and weren't going to make it. So, put yourself in our shoes for a moment (we've all been there at one time or another): we are running late, stuck behind really slow drivers, on a road that twists and bumps and continuously requires us to hit the brakes which puts pressure on our seatbelts - and we have to pee like it's our job. Eventually (but not soon enough) the people from New Jersey pulled off at a lookout - and we resolved our bathroom emergency (no one wants the details*). After taking care of business we were approximately 7 minutes late and according to the map we had about 5 more miles to go, so we booked it. I thought we could make it without being so late as to look like idiots.

Lesson #1: Double-check your internet map before you go... and don't trust the GPS either.

The map I had printed out from Google was totally wrong and the GPS is Google-powered so it was giving us the same directions. We drove around for another 15 minutes trying to find the place - turning around and going back and forth I can't even tell you how many times (we even stopped at a community building to ask for directions, but it was closed) before I realized the truth about our map. And all the while I was looking for a cell signal so that I could call our contact and let her know we were running late and couldn't find the place. The map had taken us to addresses in the 9000's on Route 8 and we needed to be in the 7000's. In a city this isn't such a big deal - but we're talking the Adirondacks here. Half an hour late, I thought we would get there quickly - we didn't. We finally arrived at our true location just to realized that it is a camp for girls. There were kids everywhere. I may have seen this on the website a month ago, but if so I forgot. *sigh* We pretty much knew that we had missed our meeting and wouldn't be able to be shown around the location, but figured it was worth a try anyway. Once we realized it was a camp we just did a quick drive through and waved goodbye. This was not the place for us. I never even managed to reach our contact person - so if she reads this... I'm sorry!

Back on the highway to Lake George Village. On the way I decided to call our second appointment to see if possibly we could have it earlier, since we'd had such a joyful morning.

Lesson #2: Confirm every appointment - even if it was scheduled over the phone.

The conversation went something like this:
Hello, this is ---- at Dunham's Bay Resort. How may I help you?
Hi, ----, my name is Kristen. I have an appointment today - I believe it's with you actually - at 3:00 to discuss wedding options.
*silence* Hmm... really? That's strange - I don't have any appointments today because I have a wedding at 3:00.
Um... oh... ok... *silence*
I'm not sure who you talked to when you set this up -- (*allow me to interrupt*)
I spoke to you actually.
Really?... *silence*
So, can I reschedule?
Yes, of course! Let me see...
Well, I'm actually in the car right now and I don't have my calendar, so I'll call you tomorrow.

Cue the crying. I had confirmed 4 out of the 5 appointments we had planned this weekend, except for that one because I scheduled it over the phone and all the others were scheduled through email.

We were so stressed at this point that we opted for McDonald's for lunch - which we never eat. Of course this couldn't be easy, either. The McDonald's didn't have a parking lot (have you ever heard of such a thing?) so we parked at the motel next door at the risk of getting towed, then brought our food back to the car and ate there. Not the lunch I had in mind. While eating we decided to drive up the east side of the lake and drive through Dunham's Bay anyway just to see it, and also see what was at the lake. Turns out we hated the place anyway, so in a way it was good.

I didn't even get to use my camera. Hopefully tomorrow will be more successful!

rubber address stamp

2010-07-08T19:52:00.002-04:00

http://www.emiliefriday.com/

Since I am going to make my own invitations (hopefully out of eco-friendly materials from Michael's) I thought it would be cool to have an address stamp. I saw a beautiful one in the Summer 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings and found the creator on Etsy. Bought it today and waiting for the proof!