it's been awhile

It's been a little over 3 months since I've updated anything here. It feels like FOREVER!
So much has happened since then. Life has just gotten so busy, which isn't such a bad thing :)

I found the wonderful world of WeddingBee, Josh and I have started our garden, the weather is beautiful and I have begun designing wedding invitations! Whew. It makes me tired just typing that.

So much has happened concerning the wedding plans, too. Too much to even start talking about....
The biggest thing is we've decided to wait until October 2011. What a weight off the shoulders for now! I'm so excited to be able to enjoy this summer together without the added stress.
I feel so good about it all -- I've go so much on paper and planned out month by month that I'm not even worried about it. It will all fall into place. I am so far ahead at 17 months to go!

Last night, I got all the annual mums and some zinnias planted for the flower trial. I also ordered my perennial mums today and planted the sunflowers. I am SUPER excited to see how this turns out.
I have only planted a fraction of what I plan to plant next year if all goes well.

That's it for now :)

the reason

i discovered weddingbee this week. uh oh.

it has been incredibly addicting! how fun to find so many other wonderful women out there sharing thoughts and ideas.

so... i feel like i have been sleeping, eating, and breathing "wedding stuff" for the past few days.

i wanted to take the time to step back for a second and remember the why of all of this.
it's because i want to spend my life with this amazing man.
i am still 110% sure of us.
i know it's right when i can take a step back, look at our relationship from a 3rd person point of view and say yes, this is right. these two people go great together. our qualities compliment each other and i know i will appreciate them even more when we are getting gray.

my sweet cubs fan, i love you dearly.

venue decision?

first, a big THANK YOU to tia!

i posted an ad on craigslist in search of a barn for our wedding. she replied that she is having hers at Laury Barn at Kennekuk County Park in Danville.

after looking at the photos, i realized that on one of our random summer road trips, the dbf and i had actually been there already!

although he didn't particularly like it because it didn't have that "old, rustic" feeling, i don't think the deal can be beaten. (but i do feel very, very sad that he doesn't LOVE it... not sure that i can get over that).

it's $350 for all day, compared to $740 for Farm Lake. also, there are modern restrooms across the parking lot, whereas Farm Lake has port-a-potties.

although we really were pulling for Hodge Farm, i feel as though having it at a place where events and receptions are "supposed" to be held is a better idea. we'll have experienced personnel there to help. on top of that, we'd probably have to rent port-a-potties for Hodge Farm, which aren't too cheap.

the only downfall to this location is it's about a 40 minute drive from our home.
the upside is it's still a 2 hour drive from my hometown, so it wouldn't be any different than having it here.

it's a little unfortunate we won't be able to have the september wedding of our dreams, but our original (and i mean original, we decided on this and then against it quite some time ago) date is still open.

our options are august 21, september 4th (labor day weekend, good or bad idea??), or october 16th (the original date).

i do know we need to make a decision soon, though!

inspiration on the "big things"

read this post from A Practical Wedding

wow, it's everything i could want. how inspiring.

"Choose a color and soul that you want to have linger for years, and then LIVE there."

this is very similar to thoughts i was having while in bed last night (see previous post). i think a wedding is essentially a reflection of the the couple, especially the bride.
simple, but think about all the weddings you've been to. true or not?

hand cancelling invitations

i laid in bed for 2 hours last night. not sure why i couldn't sleep, but i had all kinds of thoughts running through my head!
from today's "to do" list to wedding invitations, to bills, to.... well the list is endless!

i remembered reading about having your invitations hand-canceled at the post office. it looks better and also prevents any damage that might occur to the invites while going through the auto-canceler.

then, i had a small epiphany... wouldn't it be fun to have them canceled in a town with a unique name?

whadda ya know? there's a Love, Illinois... 3 hours away! unfortunately, they don't have a post office of their own :(

Romance, Missouri is 7 hours away, but strike out again! no post office. (that would have been a fun trip to the ozarks!)

Love Lake, Missouri is only a 4.5 hour drive.... strike 3!

their post offices are all located in bigger towns nearby. damn.

okay, Loves Park, Illinois is 3 hours away and they DO have a post office. 4th time's a charm :)


Gourmet Invitations shows the difference between hand-canceled invitations and auto-canceled ones here.

the ring

the etsy ring is out. not a big deal, i was beginning to think it might look weird with a 1 carat stone anyway.
quite understandably, my dbf is concerned about sending a stone to someone we do not know. although etsy is 100% trustworthy, i can see where he is coming from.

he would also have to put his good faith in the USPS, which can be a let down (from experience!)

this is a ring we've both looked at on eBay, and the jeweler is just 2 hours away, so he could go see it in person, which is great! i think the experience of going, picking out, and such is really priceless. it's not quite the same when you order it from the 'net.

this one is also much more budget friendly, coming in at $749 versus the $1,079 for the Cartier inspired one from Moissanite Co.

we'll see :)(not sure why the picture turned weird at the bottom?)

a little rant

the "Wedding Industry" makes me SICK. seriously.
i can RENT table linens for a minimum of $5.50 each? uh, no thanks.

how about i head on over to ReStore and buy some beautiful, mismatched, vintagey ones for around $2 apeice?
that sounds better. much cheaper, much less cookie-cutter.

yes, everyone, i CAN have my cake and eat it, too!

we are pushed and prodded from every angle, as brides-to-be, to spend, spend, spend. this is "your" day, buy EVERYTHING!
you need the perfect linens to match the perfect centerpieces to match the $3,000 dress to match the blah, blah, blah.

i want our guests to walk away with a feeling of sincerity. with their souls a little softer and their hearts a little warmer... not thinking "wow, that must've cost a fortune!"
i want beautiful simplicity, not beautiful extravagance.

to me, it's not about that and it never will be.

font change {of heart}

i like this font with Burgues Script better than Mrs. Eaves.

Bodoni, it is!

food and fonts

for the first time, the dbf has gotten really excited about something. well, a couple of things, actually. not that he wasn't excited before about anything.. But i'm just a little "over the top" when it comes to all of this. i LOVE diy and i LOVE design. and like i said, this wedding is one giant, beautiful art/design project for me. so needless to say, i'm always super-pumped about all the little details and although he enjoys it, is not nearly as enthusiastic as myself :)

so, the first thing he got excited about was the prospect of roasting a hog at the reception. yep, a whole hog! we knew we wanted a laid back BBQ style reception, but we figured on doing chicken and brisket on a smoker. well, a whole hog is just so much cooler :)


there are quite a few details that need to be ironed out, such as (1) where will we get the rotisserie to roast it? (2) we don't know where the reception will be, so hopefully we can even have a fire (3) WHO will roast it, prepare it, etc? is that a "guy" thing my dad and grandpa can do on the day of the wedding?
unfortunately, the only place around here i've found thus far that will roast us a whole hog requires that you also purchase the side items with the package, which is $9.75/head... WAY above our price range!
they are a pretty small franchise (with about 5 restaurants), so maybe I can talk to them to see if they could work with us.

the second thing was (gasp) the FONT i am using! i LOVE fonts.. for him to really love this font meant the world to me. (is that geeky?) it's called Burgues Script. it was love at first sight!

i am using this to address the invitations, and also as a second font (along with Mrs. Eaves font) in the invitations and ceremony programs.

Burgues Script
Mrs. Eaves

i am totally inspired by Cynthia's stunning diy programs found here. WOW.

new ring idea.. am i getting obsessive? :)

i came across this beautiful, unique ring from etsy.com seller BendTheFish.

reasons i love this ring:

1. it is handmade
2. she can customize it with a simple matching wedding band
3. we can buy our own stone for her to use (1 carat moissanite on ebay is roughly $230-$250)
4. the total cost will be about $420
5. it is stunningly beautiful in its simplicity (maybe like me?!)

cooking and the stock market

oh, how i love my dbf!
i've been sick this entire week and he's cooked amazing meals for me. that is a quality in a man i didn't know i needed, but now could never live without.

tomorrow, we are going to take a gamble and invest about $100 into the stock market. an incredibly meager amount, i know. but hey, it's all we've got! we've saved up $50 in our change jar and are putting another $50 from our "save" drawer into it.

i have my fingers crossed that just maybe we can make a profit somehow. we're both very intelligent people and my middle name is "planner". so between the two of us, i believe we've made some wise decisions about several $1 and penny stocks we'll invest in.

at this point in time, any little bit helps. paying off those DEVIL credit cards is my number one priority! as soon as those are gone, we will be living more than comfortable :) one of these days.....

in the meanwhile, i'll take a risk on the stock market and wait (i'm trying to be patient!) for the ring to make it all "official".

wish us luck!

ten things

five things i want my wedding to be:

1. a giant art project
2. modern vintage
3. intimate
4. green/organic
5. unique

five things i do not want my wedding to be:

1. traditional
2. like everyone else's (cookie cutter)
3. religious
4. proper
5. lavish

the new year

i already know this year will bring many incredible things into our lives.

hopefully there will be many positive changes and hopefully many already great things will only get better.

i am so excited to see what it has in store for both of us!

here's to a beautiful 2010.

how i wish we lived in LA!

because we would be married here, at the Figueroa Mountain Farmhouse. absolutely breathtaking!

finding the dress

so... i called the 4 shops closest to me that carry the designer of the dress with no avail. it is a style from several years ago, so i figured it might be a hard dress to come by.

saturday, i awoke with an itch to just find this dress! i at least wanted to try it on, no matter how far we had to drive (well, within reason).
the first two places i called = SCORE! yesss. each are only a 2 hour drive.
now i have two options, and both can order the dress for about the same price, around $700.

this is sort of a win-lose situation.
i'm winning because $700 for the dress of my dreams is not at all bad, considering the price of most wedding gowns. i'm losing because that much money could buy us the cozy chair-and-a-half recliner we want so dearly.
i mean, i'll wear it once... it is SO hard for me to justify that purchase because $700 is A LOT of money to us right now.

but... it'll be the most special day of my life... what to do, what to do.

ive been checking oncewed.com every single day with my fingers crossed it'll pop up! now only if i knew my size.. dress sizes don't seem to be very true from what i've came across and tried on.

hodge farm

dear hodge family,

little do you know, we will soon be writing you a letter because your farm/barn is the most amazing thing we have ever laid eyes on. it is perfect in every way for our location. we will pay you well and take out an insurance policy!

the dbf was driving out in the country last week (there's a lot of "country" around here!) and found this amazing barn. it's truly everything we've been looking for! it's perfect for both the ceremony and reception. we are going to write a letter to the owners and i've got my fingers crossed it just might work. if not, we'll fall back on farm lake, so no biggie.

P.S. this picture doesn't do it justice! you should see the entrance and gorgeous (maybe oak?) tree.

the dress!

nothing was on tv last night, so i ended up watching 3 episodes of say yes to the dress after the dbf went to bed. it really put an itch in me :) i did some searching until about 2:30 this morning online.. i lost complete track of time! but... i found one that is truly everything i want... i think this one might be "it".
the dbf will be reading this, so i'll not post a photo. email me if you want to see it.

spur of the moment, i went today with my mom, grandma, aunt, and two cousins to try on dresses. it was just a fun, prelim girl trip to get some ideas. they didn't have the dress i wanted in stock, but i found one similar and liked how it looked on.

new ring idea

so... because of several reasons, we've decided against the herkimer diamond.
although a great thought, here's why:
1. we can't get it until april
2. it looks less like a gem and more like glass

although the new york trip would've been amazing, the big thing is we can't go until april.
sooo.... that led me googling once again for diamond alternatives. it also let me to this article and i am honestly appalled. as an advertising major myself, i know how incredibly powerful it can be. this seems to be one of america's greatest marketing scams of all time. we have been tricked into believing that diamonds equal love.

after looking at white topaz and white sapphire, i came across an incredible stone called moissanite.

this gem has both more brillance AND fire than diamonds! it is also almost as hard on the Mohs scale, so you can wear it everyday without worrying about damaging the stone. i've read that it takes a great jeweler to tell the difference between a moissanite and a diamond. it occurs naturally in tiny amounts and is now synthetically made by a company called Charles & Colvard, Ltd ... and the best part? it's 1/4 the price!!

take the time to read this very interesting personal article about diamonds and moissanites. it deifnitely convinced me!

i'm trying to stay around the $1,000 range... still a little more than we can afford, but very reasonable considering i will get a 1 carat stone. i've always wanted a square princess cut stone, but this stone shows less color when cut round.. so i think i'll go with round.

here are two i love that are about $1,000

and then.... the ring OF MY DREAMS! :)
this was a custom design, i'm sure it's $3,000+

farm lake

there's a barn about 1/4 mile away from our home. the woman who owns it hosts parties and other events there, mostly for the local university.

however, i spoke to her and she said there have been quite a few weddings there as well!

the cost of $740 includes a bonfire, hayrides, tables, and chairs! this is just waaaay more convenient for us. my family won't have to drive 4 hours and his family and friends are right here in town.

we won't have to rent restrooms, chairs, or tables! plus, it's cheaper to begin with. we will just save a ton of money doing it there.

the location is definitely not as romantic or dreamy, but the other things outweigh that, hands-down.

so, it's been awhile

i took a hiatus... a very LONG hiatus!

our table is done and absolutely BEAUTIFUL! all of our hard work paid off. it is stained a very, very dark mahogany and we used a vintage gray printed fabric to cover the

anyway..... i was getting a little too overwhelmed way too early. i took a step back and thought to myself... ya know, you'll have plenty of time to do this after the ring! just enjoy it for now :)

we had a conversation last night and decided it was a much better idea (and just "us") to take a trip out to New York and visit the Herkimer Diamond Mines. my ring will be made with one of these stones, which are actually quartz crystals! we both think that taking a trip to New York will be much more fun than spending money we don't need to on a several thousand dollar diamond ring.

it will mean more to us because it's "different" and the Herkimer Diamond story is such a unique one!! they are only found in this certain area of New York and in just a couple other places in the world. it is also used by "new agers" for healing and energy purposes, which is also very appealing to us.
we both are pretty humanitarian as well and the diamond trading/selling/mining scene is really, really sad. it will make both of us feel good to know we are not giving in to the "box" stores and consumerism.

unfortunately, the mines close each winter from the end of october until the middle of april. so, it looks like we'll be waiting awhile!

herkimer diamond ring at etsy.com
$350
by: Onestonenewyork