I AM SO EXCITED!!!!
Now. What to wear???
...ok, real quick...
My one displaced bridesmaid was able to fly in for the weekend, so EV, my dear MOH, planned an extra special lingerie shower/bachelorette party for tonight. We didn't want to try to squeeze it into the craziness of wedding week, and tonight was the only time we could get everyone together...so it may be a little early, but tonight we're celebrating. And I have just one thing to say.
…reception-part three: the tables…
I keep thinking I'm going to be a good little blogger and blog some more….but I find myself spending my free time doing the most random of things. Scouring the internet for printing labels. Researching cardstock. Buying paint. You know…important things. I've been meaning to write more about our reception for quite some time, but I've been stalling because there are a handful of things I really need to take/find pictures of. However, in an effort to get at least one post in this week, we'll throw a little something together for now.
On to our reception… (If you'd like to catch up, parts one and two are here and here, respectively.)
So obviously, the tablescapes will make up much of the décor at our reception. We're starting with big long linear tables. (Lines make my heart so happy. J) You get the idea here in DG's rendering of the space. (Don't you love him?)
Next let's talk about linens. Or should I say lack thereof. It seems that renting linen is just one thing you can't easily get around. Because of the cleaning and all that's involved, it's pricey. We'd budgeted something like $400 for this purpose alone. I think that's a terribly large chunk of the $9,000 we're aspiring to overall. Seems foolish to spend almost 5% of the budget on glorified tablecloths. So, true to form, we're rebelling. One evening when we were sitting in the arena, dreaming up all these ideas, we got stumped by linens. Frustrated, DG looked at me and said, "You wanna just cover the tables in paper and pull out the crayons?" "Why, yes. Actually, I do," I said.
SO! Brown kraft paper will cover our tables. And thanks to Crayola, I was able to order a custom box of colors. I have four boxes of crayons at home full of a wide array of greens, purples, browns, and white. My mom tells me we need to learn to write our names upside-down, a la the wait staff at Macaroni Grill so that we can go around to each table and introduce ourselves. "Hi, I'm Racheal. I'll be your bride this evening." In keeping with the theme, our place cards and table numbers will be written/drawn in crayon. Just try not to be jealous.
We'll use a smaller 12" roll of white butcher paper down the center to serve as our runner and add a little contrast. And I'm pretty sure that will bring the grand total for "linen" to like $75. Yes, please. I've looked in a million places to find examples of where someone may have done this before, but to no avail. This was the best I could do, and I can't even remember where it came from. Lovely, no?
…trend setting…
Ok, maybe this makes me a total snob. I don't know. But I'm frustrated. Here's the thing. I don't really like to be a follower. Granted, I care about things like what's in fashion and keeping up with the times. Whatever. But I generally try to steer away from trends and aim for something more classic. Timeless. Usually with my own spin. I like to be creative. Do something different. Even if it's only subtly different. I don't like status quo or cookie cutter. If nothing else, I think we've made that clear.
So here's my problem. Apparently, in my attempt to be creative, I am really just two steps ahead of the crowd. I'm not trying to brag here. I find this to be terribly annoying.
It started with the lock and key thing. (I wrote all about why this idea inspired me here.) To me, this idea was not just a trend or some pretty motif. We chose it because it carried some symbolism for us. I can't really claim that the idea was completely my own. Vintage keys had already come in fashion thanks to Tiffany and Co...though now all the jewelry stores have manufactured their own version. But still. Do a Google search for antique keys and weddings, or any incarnation thereof, and you will find a veritable smorgasbord of wedding images using this theme. Do I regret that we've chosen this theme? No. Am I slightly irritated that it has not proven to be as unique as I'd hoped? YES.
Next was our color scheme. I fell in love with this sangria color at David's Bridal back in July when I first spotted my dress. Loved it. Changed our entire approach to color because of it. Not quite purple, not quite pink, not quite red. Rich and bold and not one of your typical wedding colors. The girls would look like perfection dressed in this vibrant shade, and I was sold. Little did I know that every department store God ever made would be carrying umpteen-million dresses in the same color. Ultimately I guess this worked in our favor, as each of our ladies got a fantastic dress in a version of this color for a fantastic price. (An idea I completely and totally stole from the wedding blogosphere. I'll admit it.)
This was the thing to take the cake, though. Of all the things I wanted to be all my own….something no one else would really want to recreate…it was my ring. DG knew I didn't care about a sparkly, too-expensive diamond. They're lovely. They really are. And to all of you ladies who have a giant, glowing diamond on your left hand, congrats! I mean it. I'm really happy for you. I'm sure your ring is exactly what you always dreamed of. You've got the highest symbol of his affections for you sitting right there on your finger. It's great. I just wanted mine to stand out. Not for being the clearest or the biggest or the heaviest….just for being mine. So we looked at stones in my favorite color and DG purchased the most perfect ring I could have hoped for. It is completely and perfectly me. And come May 1st, it will be accompanied by these two other bands to complete what DG calls "the diamond sandwich." Really, who doesn't love a diamond sandwich?
Be with me here... Imagine my dismay when I opened up the latest Brides magazine (which, by the way, I did not subscribe to on purpose but inadvertently have received every issue since I went to that crazy bridal show…along with a post card from every wedding vendor known to man), to discover this feature…
Seriously, people? I'm just gonna need everyone to get out of my head.
...our monogram...
So one might think that with three consecutive days of being snowed in, I may have written a post or two. Yeah, not so much...but DG and I did accomplish quite a bit on our wedding to do list. I have lots more to write about our various weekend projects, but I just thought I'd share our newest achievement. Utilizing the talent of our dear friend/graphic designer/groomsman, we designed this little guy. It is exactly what I had in mind...so I am quite pleased.
Lots more to tell about how we plan to use this monogram, including our invites, which are pretty much done and hopefully going out this week...but that's a story for another time.
...photos galore...
Our talented photographer is a good friend of DG's and has photographed the weddings of many, many close friends from college, including DG's younger sister's. He does fantastic work for an extremely competitive price, so you should check him out.
Here are a few favorites from our engagement photo shoot...
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