What's the proper etiquette here?

So the Save the Dates went out - check. We have heard from 3 couples that they will not be able to make it (wheew, we way over booked that flight!). Here's my question: do I still send them invitations?

I don't want it to seem like I am now just asking for a gift but I didn't know if for some reason it is rude not to send the invite now?


Oh yeah, and Happy Halloween! I am working from home today and just realized that I have NO candy. Eeek!

Tagged!

Oh man, I have been tagged again! This time by East Coast Wedding and Peony: Love . I am still a little on the fence about being tagged. I don't think I like to play but I also love to be invited and thought of! Its definitely the chain letter of the blogosphere.
So here goes
6 things I value:
1.future husband 2.family 3.friends 4.career 5.reality tv 6.wedding planning

6 things I do not value:
1. wedding planning (its a love hate thing) 2. Laziness 3. head colds 4. candy corn 5. traffic 6. being late

Six Quirks-
1. I lose everything 2. I hate scented lotions 3. I despise buying anything before its first markdown 4. I am a meal time purist: I could never eat pizza for breakfast or eggs for dinner 5. I prefer blue pen and hate to write in black 6.I keep a million windows open on my computer at the same time. Rows of them.

Fancy Find #7: A Find for Him!

I found these great cuff links on Thistle and Bee. Now, they are a little expensive (OK, I think really expensive) but that is why they are a fancy find, not for your everyday shopping. These fun guys range from $195 to $295 for the enamel animal ones but I thought they would be fun as a groom's gift, or maybe for the best man or even for your dad. There are tons more on the site with everything from fox to frogs, different color patterns and your classic silver monogrammed ones.

Just like I think every woman deserves at least one piece of knock your socks off fancy jewelry, I think guys should at least have one pair of nice cuff links.

Poem, By the Seaside

I was looking around for some classic poems or passages to put in our program (looooong Catholic ceremony, I'd like to give people something to read :)) and came across this beautiful poem. I think it is perfect since our church is across the street from the beach. We're not getting married on the sand (this is PERFECT for anyone who is) but we're close enough and our pics will be on the beach.

By the Seaside
As we stand beside the ocean tide,
may our love always be as constant and unchanging
as these never-ending waves that pour beneath our feet,
flowing endlessly from the depths of the sea;
your love came softly upon my heart,
just as the foam comes softly upon the sand,
and just as there will never be a morning
without the ocean's flow,
so there will never be a day
without my love for you.
I pledge myself to you this day.
Our love will be as unchanging
and dependable as the tide;
as these waters nourish the earth
and sustain life, may my constant devotion
nourish and sustain you
until the end of time.

I'm wondering if there are other uses I can come up with other than in the program. Thoughts?

The Church's Approval

We finally are booked for our pre-cana schtuff. We elected to go to an all day conference instead of committing to a certain night of the week for 6 weeks. With our schedules at work, that would never do. Besides I think we are more of the rip the band-aid off type people. Both FH and I are Catholic and went to Catholic schools our whole lives so we are not strangers to this sort of thing but spending a full day at a Conference for the Engaged sounds like torture. On a positive note, they let us in. I have to say I was a little worried about that (we live together, FH has a son, we're not long time members of the parish and are not even getting married in the diocese) but in good church fashion, when the donation is big enough, your sins are absolved.

I hate to sound so negative. I actually love the priest that is marrying us and it was really important to me to get married in my hometown church. He was the first calming factor after the engagement and the first person who was able to get me to take a breath and realize what the whole thing was about, our marriage, not the big party on the perfect date with the perfect venue and the right colors.

Any one have good experiences at pre-cana? I really have heard only stories of how boring it is and out of touch. Or, has anyone not passed? Whoa, never even thought about that!

Make Mine a Mojito- Jewelry Giveaway

Hey, I love a good blog giveaway!
Make Mine a Mojito (could you think of a more fun blog name?) is having a giveaway for her 100th Post. I signed up, you should too!
Enter here

Smarty Had a Party

Don't you just love the name? Smarty Had a Party is a website I stumbled upon that sells disposable plates, platters, etc. I was thinking this would be great if you were having a casual rehearsal dinner or day after brunch. If these events are going to be at a house the day before or after a wedding, who wants to clean dishes? I get that you can rent them but thought this was another good option. Heck, even if you were having a casual wedding. Some of this stuff is really chic and would look great at any type of affair.

For shrimp cocktail or an amuse bouche?



How about a trendy triangle plate for the entrees?


Coffee and saucer?

Domestic Goddess in Training

I had visions of me being this fantastic wife who could whip up some chocolate chip cookies on a whim. The sticky looking solid deflated mess you see here is me attempting to do just that!!!! Good thing I have a paying career to fall back on!!!


In my defense I did make a blackberry-apple crumble on Sunday night that could be entered into a contest, but the cookies, well, I'll definitely have to work on those!

Fancy Find #6 Porcelain Ring Bowl and more!

While surfing through Etsy on a road trip this past week I came upon these lovely little porcelain dishes. I can't really nail down what it is I love about them, I think just their simplicity makes them beautiful and makes the words just that more important. This one here says "Love conquers all" in Latin.


There are tons of things you can get from Paloma's Nest on Etsy but it was this personalized ring dish that jumped out at me and made me explore her store further.



At some point, I am going to purchase something from here, just not sure what yet! I think they would make a really nice gift for someone.

Real Wedding: Real Fun, Real Fab Part 2: Place settings, etc

OK, here are some of those details that in my mind, really bring it all together. But, they also maybe the type of stuff that only a wedding obsessed person would appreciate. (Like would FH actually tell his friends how nice their menu and place settings were? I think not)

Either way- looked fantastic to me and I certainly appreciate it all. Actually, while FH may not remember all of the details, I think the likes of him remembers that they were there and how lovely everything really was. OK, he would probably say "Cool" or "top notch" definitely NOT lovely, but you get it.



Let me tell you, I ate that macaroni and cheese like a champion. I was actually embaressed that others could see how much I had on my plate but I couldn't help myself!
How delightful! Love and good fortune to you guys too!

Bad Blogger

Ok, bad, bad blogger. I know, I have been absent, its that little thing I call a job that's been keeping me busy and given the market these days I'd like to keep the one I have! I have a lot of halfway done posts and some fun updates I will share this week. I'll be back!

Real Wedding - REAL FUN, REAL FAB (Flowers)

So yesterday I went to a fantastic wedding of great friends, Nick and Sara. Nick and FH work together and we became fast friends. I'll start off by saying that these pictures are taken by me and I barely know how to use my new camera! Also, I have like NO pics of the bride and her gorgeous dress. Mostly because every time I saw her I was too excited that I forgot to shove a camera in her face.

First off - her flowers were great and she had little touches of feathers - how fun!!!

this was outside the church doors - so pretty! I love how she didn't go to overboard with the fall colors. I love rich fall colors but I don't feel like you have to be a slave to your season, I also don't feel that you should totally deny it either. This was perfect!

Here's some more -
This stunning arrangement/s looked fantastic at the altar and again as decor for the cocktail hour flanking the arched courtyard entryway. And- she's a crafty one - it was again repurposed as decor for the buffett line! GREAT JOB!!! And, of course, only someone planning her own wedding would notice the repurposing, to the average eye they were gorgeous arrangements seen everywhere! It was done very much on the sly which I loved.





The reception flowers were a fantastic complement without being exactly the same - I loved it. There was a mix of high centerpieces and low ones. The high ones were set on the outside of the room and the low ones in close, this was great - you never had to worry about a blocked view! How smart! Oh- don't you love those peacock feathers!!??




Things I don't have - the bridesmaids or the brides boo-k or the really fun boots the boys wore - feathers!

So, more to come, I even have some video, I just have to figure out how to get it on here.

Garter - to wear or not to wear?

So under no circumstances am I going to have FH take my garter off on the middle of the dancefloor. I'm not against kitchsy wedding things; we are going to cut the cake, be announced and have our first dance - I just have NO desire to have my father watch my FH run his legs up my thigh - NO THANK YOU.

Shoot me for being a non-conformist but I am not tossing my boo-k either. Having dated FH for nearly 7 years before getting engaged - I was the victim of the boo-k toss many times. My one friend threw hers at me like a spiral football, I panicked and ducked! It made a scene and I was red with embarrassment- lol, I told her not to throw it at me! I was actually hiding when they called the ladies up and the waited and searched for me!
You know what happened to the girl that ultimately caught it?
Yep, they got married next, they also got divorced! Glad I ducked now, right?

Now, I am in my 30s and 99.9% of my friends are married. Why am I going to single out my 3 single friends, who are also in their 30s, and point out to everyone that they are single? They are happily single too! Its not like they are sitting around hoping they will catch a boo-k and one day, they too can plan an overbudget, over crowded wedding!

Back to my question- the garter. Should I still wear one? Why? Is there a tradition assigned to it that I don't know about? Does it itch? Its not like it is going to be holding up my pantyhose, which I don't plan on wearing either. Also -I don't think it is going to be flattering cinched around my thigh, doesn't it have to be relatively tight to stay on all day even through dancing? I am not conjuring up a cute image here -

If I were to wear one, I think the first place I would look would be Etsy. (Funny side thought: I don't know why I am in love with Etsy, I just am. I have NEVER been a fan of anything crafty or homemade but it just seems like there are such awesome finds on here with funky styles!) Here's some beautiful ones I have found there.

(both from seller GarterLady)

But again, why would I wear one? Help a bride out...

Rehearsal Dinner - Setting the Tone

When it came time to think about the location of the rehearsal dinner, one very convenient place came to mind. Let’s call it Vinny Gumbatz’s or VG’s. VG’s is around the corner from the church, has a parking lot (important in the small parking spot limited beach town), good food, well priced and a private room. What more could you want?

Well, atmosphere.

This place is a local establishment that serves traditional Italian and has no shortage of three piece suit wearing men who all want you to think they are “connected” when really, their only connection is that they may have once served the nephew of Gotti some ziti. FH loved it! He thought it would be great to see his family’s reaction to the kissing Eye-talians as they hug and kiss the men and women and serve you cheap wine out of a jug. Thinking of our rehearsal here, I was somewhat nervous. But, like I said above, it had all the criteria!

The private room…


The private room was decorated with mirrors, marble, rope lighting and fake flowers which hung from the ceiling. Oh! And there was a dance floor made out of marble tiles glued to the floor. Think about that, tiles glued to a carpeted floor.

Enter the voice of all things local and reason…

My cousin's husband sat my FH down and said, VG’s is a great place. A great place to get a good plate of macaroni and gravy; but this is not the place to set the tone for your wedding weekend. He pointed out that the rehearsal dinner really sets a tone for the rest of the weekend, and when I thought about it, I agreed. And after thought, FH agreed too. My cousin and her husband had an amazing wedding in Cape May a few years ago and they are right, their awesome but casual rehearsal dinner definitely set the tone for the weekend - a tone of laid back fun, good music, good people, good fun, and which fab touches of class. The dinner doesn't need to be fancy but there needs to be an element of class. VG’s has everything needed logistically, but, no element of class or anything that matches the "feeling" of the wedding.

We have now booked our rehearsal dinner, and since the contract was signed and deposit delivered today, I can talk about it! I could not be more excited and my gratitude towards the future in-laws runs deep. This will not be the cheapest thing but they have a lot of people from out of town and they wanted to do it right. Kudos to them!

We booked our dinner at the new posh hotel where are guests are staying. And we got the rooftop lounge! I don’t think we’ll get the massive amounts of food that we would at Vinny G’s but we’ll have enough and it will be trendy and great. We are having stations with salads made to serve, tapas, carving station, pasta made to order and kabobs. I think it will be great! And, the best part, it will be on the rooftop deck over looking the ocean.

The place isn’t finished yet but here’s a rendering:


This the view of the Atlantic we will have:

The dinner will be for invited guests from 7-9 and then at 9 we are inviting all guests that came to town for cocktails on the roof. I think it will be perfect! It is very different from the wedding’s dinner at a mansion but still has the same level of style and sass!

Here’s what I have to think of now, let me know your thoughts…What to wear? (We’ve had this rehearsal dinner dress discussion already)
Do I need centerpieces or any decor? (a good friend that I trust with this stuff told me not to waste the time, money or headache, I am starting to lean her way but was thinking of some sand filled hurricane glasses with pillar candles?)
Do favors come to play at a rehearsal dinner?
Anything else I need to think about for the rehearsal?

Do tell, I've been focused on the wedding and since most of those logistics are booked, I am thinking about all of the little details that bring the whole weekend together and focusing on how to make it special for everyone!

Fancy Find #5 - Monogrammed Table Runner

Ok, here's something that I can categorize as a fancy thing I never knew I needed (You're right- I still don't NEED), wanted, or every really knew it existed! I love the idea of having a beautiful cake table with this table runner as a centerpiece of the wedding reception room. And one of the things I love most is that this is something you can probably repurpose, maybe use on an armoir, or make into a pillow?
I found this "Find" on Etsy - you know Etsy, right? Its from Etsy seller ArtfulBeginnings and she has lots of fun stuff on there and can help you coordinate your colors, monograms, etc.
I really love the idea of buying things off of Etsy and supporting small craft businesses. it just seems so much more personal for some reason.


Here's another cake table runner from Filigree Monogram Designs:

Vote for me!

Hey guys! While spending the weekend forced to watch football I entered an inspiration board contest over at Creative Odd's and Ends!

Take a moment, head over there and vote for me! (ok, only vote for me if you think mine is the better one, which is Inspiration Board #1)

Vote for #1 Here

It was fun to create the board and put together something really unique and totally different from my wedding.

The task was to take this picture:


And create an inspiration board around it. Here's what I came up with. Don't you want to go to a wedding like this? I feel like there would be mulled wine and osso buco there, and that's something I would enjoy!








Happy Monday- I hope to have lots of fun posts this week, its just been a little crazy!!!

EEEEEEEEEKK!!!! The Dress is IN!

I got the best call yesterday afternoon. MY DRESS IS IN!!!!!
I had no idea I would be so excited! I mean, the dress has been delivered to Saks in NYC, I live in VA , I really don't know why I am so excited. I think maybe I was worried that something would happen and I would end up having to find another dress, I don't know, something dramatic. But, no, it is in! And check this out, this is why buying your dress at a department store ROCKS. I paid for half of the dress when I ordered it. Then the rest now. But, the woman in the bridal department said she would charge my card this weekend because they are having a double points weekend. All in all, I am getting a ton of points and a $375 gift card!!!! Can you say Manolos? Wait, let me help you MA - NO - LOS. Yes, it rolls so nicely off my tongue.

One thing that hit after I got the call- HOLY COW- get movin on that diet girl!!!

There's been a ton of progess this week, I don;t know how it all happened but things have been moving along nicely. I'll post more updates shortly - things have been a little crazy in my work world, wedding planning world, and just overall - but all is good!