Here Comes the Blog

The final chapter and a new beginning

2010-12-26T15:39:00.003-05:00

The wedding has been planned, executed, and recapped. It's a little bittersweet to write this final post and officially close this chapter of my life. In reality though, this chapter ended a while ago, and I'm just a little behind.

I promised a summary of things I was glad we did and those I would recommend other couples do differently.

The best decisions

-Budgeting high for a great photographer. We ended up with nearly 850 images for our uninhibited use. Since then, we've made countless prints, shared them on here and Facebook, and most recently, created an album on Blurb for ourselves and Christmas gifts for the parents. To view it, jump over to Blurb here.

Will + Christina by August 21, 2010 | Make Your Own Book

-Budgeting low for a dress. My dress cost less than $700 and came from David's Bridal. I know different people have different priorities on wearing designers, but this is one decision I don't regret one bit.
-Shopping around and negotiating our reception contract. The Crystal City Marriott was fabulous to work with, our meal was delicious, and they gave us perk after perk for hosting our reception there.
-Using a grocery store for our flowers. We got our flowers from Wegman's, an east coast grocer chain. They were half the price of traditional florists, and their work was fabulous.

Things I might tell others to reconsider

-Booking the cheapest option isn't always the best idea. Both our shuttle service and cake were a bit of a let down. However, they were also low on our priority list. Bottom line: you get what you pay for.
-Using an iPod for your reception music. Our playlist ended up out of order, and I had to keep running to it to change the song. However, with only the minimal charge of renting the speakers, and the fact that no one else noticed, it was probably worth it.
-No matter how cute your shoes are, if you wear 4" heels for more than an hour, they will probably hurt. I don't remember a good bit of the ceremony because I was so focused on being hot and my feet being in pain. I wish I would have just worn my reception shoes the entire time. Wedges or flats are your best friends.
-If you're getting married in the heat of the summer, have water available at all times. Lots of water. Everyone will thank you later.

Most of all what I learned was that you should have a wedding that reflects who you are not what others think you should do. Our wedding had lots of elements of our personality. We played 80s rock but had a nice sit-down meal. Luckily, I had a great support system who was behind all of my decisions, so it was never a case of someone trying to insert their own idea of our wedding. Be true to who you are, and everyone will have fun.

When I started this blog, we were newly engaged and I was Christina Marie Lexa. We've now been married for a third of a year, and I'm Christina Lexa McNally. While our wedding was really fun, I have no doubt that our greatest adventures are to come.

If you care to keep up with us as we navigate married life, I'm moving back to my old blog, now retitled: Married with Beagles.

Thank you for your support, encouragement, and love through this journey.
-Christina

Wedding Recap: Reception - Part, The Fourth

2010-12-17T10:45:00.000-05:00

This is it. We've come to the end (finally). I absolutely had to post pictures of a couple of dances that the photographer was no longer around to capture, but luckily, my mother always has her camera attached to her hand.

I snuck in "Enter Sandman" for Will, and as such, had to play the Iowa fight song and victory song. We stood and sang, and then we twirled each other around. It was so fun.

The music playlist ended up getting all sorts of out of order. Our original "last song" was going to be "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. However, it got played earlier in the night. We ended up playing "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. Which was just as good.

I have no idea whose idea the conga line was (I've heard conflicting reports), but it was awesome. We literally had a train of almost every guest left going all the way around the room.

Nearing the end of the conga line, we all started high-fiving as the line passed.

By this point, the bustle in my dress was completely torn out from people stepping on it dancing. Whatev. Not like I'm gonna wear it again. I'm pretty sure that's what Kristen and Megan were discussing here.

And after the conga line broke up, a Hora broke out (minus the chairs). I fought it off for a while after they already had Will in the air. But finally, I gave up and let them hoist me up too.

After I got over the initial fear of being dropped the night before we're supposed to go on a ten day European honeymoon, it was seriously fun.

And that's how our night ended. Wedding recap in the books. As a final post to wrap up this wedding blog, I'm going to post on the things I was glad we did and things I would change in retrospect (or would offer advice to other brides to avoid). I wouldn't change our wedding day, but there are things that could definitely go smoother for others knowing what I do now.

Wedding Recap: Reception - Part, The Third

2010-12-16T20:54:00.000-05:00

I know, I have dragged this wedding recap out for nearly a third of the first year of our marriage. Pretty much the only person left reading is now my mother (hi, Mom!). I think part of the reason why am having such a hard time getting through the recaps is that the wedding was so much work, that I was just ready to be done with it all afterwards. But I do love my photos, so I want to share all of those, obviously.

We did a lot of dancing. A lot. of dancing. Thank goodness I switched shoes. Seriously, my yellow espadrilles were the key to being able to stay on my feet for the rest of the night. We began the dancing with an "anniversary dance" where they counted up the number of years of marriage until there was one couple still dancing.

These wonderful people, Ms. Ann and Mr. Joe are old family friends and made the trip all the way to DC for our wedding. The day of our wedding was their 40th anniversary. They almost won the dance.

But it was these two who won. Those are my grandparents, and I don't think I have ever seen them look happier than when Pepaw was swinging Memaw around the dance floor that night. I hope that we look like this in 50-something years.

From there... it was time to boogie. I have hundreds of dancing pictures, and I've only posted my favorites here because, well, they're all good.

My cousin, Nathan, doing the can-can with my college friends.

And then they broke out into "Thriller".

Will's dad had one request for the entire day. That we play "Shout" at the reception. We did, and he got down. Literally.

At one point, I looked around and saw my friend Kishore start to dance with my cousin. Who is 15. I jumped in quickly and saved my aunt's sanity. (Sorry, Aunt Sheri.) And Kishore's head. So he swung me around the dance floor instead.

It's not a real party without the air guitars.

Will let me play one group dance song (in fairness, I vetoed quite a few... he was allowed). We did the Cupid Suffle, and as you can see, it was very popular. And yes, that's our four star general/uncle doing it right up front!

I knew up front cake was not a big deal. Therefore, we didn't pay a whole lot for it. And it's true what they say, you get what you pay for. We paid way less than $500 for our cake, and that was evident when I saw it. The yellow and blue weren't the right colors and worse, they had bled together and smudged on the buttercream to turn part of the cake green. Oh well. From the one bite I had, I remembered thinking it was tasty. I suppose we'll see in another 8 months...

Yum, cake. Yum, marriage.

The last formal event we had was my bouquet toss. And boy, was it eventful.

The single ladies gather (to Single Ladies, obvi). I size up the group.I remember thinking to myself, don't throw it too high.

I don't self-coach well.

Bouquet hits the light fixture. Bouquet falls to the floor. Everyone stands around like bouquet has rabies.

I hang my head in shame.

Thankfully, my friend Mary comes to the rescue. Barefoot and wine-in-hand, she retosses the bouquet.

It lands right in Maggie's hands! And there was great rejoicing...

This concludes the professional photo portion of the wedding recap. I have to do one more post to cover the last song of the night and conclude the blog. Plus, by now, you're sick of reading about the wedding anyway. :)

Wedding Recap: Reception - Part, The Second

2010-12-09T07:04:00.000-05:00

After we'd been toasted, we continued trying to make our rounds through the tables. It was a lot more difficult to move quickly than I thought it would be. I figured with only 112 guests, we'd be fine to say hi to all our tables. We made it to about half.

During dinner, we also did our father/daughter and mother/son dances. I mentioned before, choosing the song for this dance was really easy. I've known for a long time that I wanted to dance to "Forever Young" by Rod Stewart (noticing a trend in music selections?). I was afraid I'd cry through the song. Instead, Mitch made me laugh through it. Will and his mom danced to "My Wish" by Rascall Flatts.

Then it was time for my big surprise. I knew I wanted to sing a song to Will during our wedding since before we were engaged. The ceremony didn't seem the right place to burst into song, so I decided that while everyone was still sitting during dinner would be perfect. Only my mom and one bridesmaid knew about it. Not only was it a surprise to Will, but it was a surprise to most of the guests.

Unfortunately, I'd been battling bronchitis during the week leading up to our wedding (perfect timing, right?). Being critical of my own performance, I know I could have sounded better... but oh well. It was a fun tribute to my new husband.

I sang "Love You I Do" from the Dreamgirls soundtrack.

Up next, let the dancing begin!

Wedding Recap: Reception - Part, The First

2010-12-01T20:37:00.000-05:00

Once we were released from the holding cell, it was time for the grand entrance. We both really liked the Hall and Oates song, "You Make My Dreams Come True" (of 500 Days of Summer fame) and decided it would be a great entrance song. After our bridal party was announced, it was our turn...

...which went right into our first dance. I hadn't thought far enough in advance to realize that once I walked in with my bouquet, I would probably want to put it down before we started our dance. Thanks, Anna, for guarding it on short notice. :)

As recounted here, we danced to Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are." I loved it. It was perfect. I can't wait to hear this song randomly come on some time and think back to our first dance.

You'll note, I decided to ditch the veil after the ceremony. Not that I had the foresight to know this, but a veil gets your head yanked back just about every time someone hugs you. I was really glad I found this alternative. I found it at a bridal store on clearance. I believe it was probably meant to be sewn onto a dress or sash, but I hot glued a pin on the back of it and made it a hair accessory instead.

The paparazzi.

Lu leading the glass clinking.

Mitch giving the blessing before dinner.

Best Man Colin giving the toast. He worked our babies into the speech. It was sweet and funny and perfect.

Maid of Honor Erin giving her speech. When we were in high school, we watched the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts maybe 25 times. We loved it. We knew all the words from it. And in her speech, she quoted it. It was so awesome.

Here begins the constant eat a few bites, get up and chat, eat a few bites, get up and chat routine that we continued through the rest of dinner. We weren't able to make it around to all the tables during dinner (I don't know how people with big weddings talk to half of their guests), but I feel like I danced with most of the rest of the room I didn't talk to during dinner.

Next up: more reception including father/daughter and mother/son dances.

Wedding Recap: Let's Get It Started

2010-11-16T17:30:00.000-05:00

Immediately following our wedding ceremony was a cocktail hour at the hotel. It was held in the lobby outside of the main ballroom where the reception would follow. We had a few pictures done afterwards, and after my bustle was done, shoes were changed, and veil switched to a fake flower, I didn't really see much of it. We gathered with the wedding party well before 6PM to arrange everyone for the grand entrance, but here are some shots of our lovely guests enjoying the set-up.

When I was little, my grandparents would hug me like this and called it a "Christi sandwich." They really wanted to do it again on our wedding day.

Will being greeted by family.

Mackenna with her Grandma Deanie. Isn't she a doll?

My lovely parents!

Best Man Colin, Maggie and friends.

Dempsey siblings mingling during cocktail hour.

Bridesmaid Kate and her husband Brett mingling with other guests.

Bridesmaids Amanda and Jordan hanging out with Mary.

Kayla and Uncle Shane. I think his tie was crooked.

My pretty Aunt Sheri.

Most things during our wedding day went according to plan. I've already mentioned the fainting bridesmaid, but the other good story (other than of course our lifelong profession of dedication to each other, I suppose) from our wedding day happened at cocktail hour.

As we were walking back to the "holding room" where the bridal party gathered prior to the big introductions, Will says to me, "Don't get upset, because it's already been taken care of..." (good set-up, right?) Turns out, we had a wedding crasher. An invited guest had brought an uninvited person to our reception. Will had asked a friend to kindly ask that person to leave. Ended up not being a big deal, but just funny to say we had a wedding crasher.

Wedding Recap: Ceremony Aftermath and Family Portraits

2010-11-13T18:43:00.000-05:00

So, I lied on the last post. This will not be about the reception. That comes next (for serious now).

Immediately following our ceremony, we took a few immediate (and grandparent) family photos. Both of us have rather large extended families, so the thought of taking group photos of EVERYONE made us all cringe. We opted just for just the small groups.

The photogs also captured the crowd outside of the church immediately after the ceremony.

Former Iowa roommates gathered from around the country just for me. :)

My brother-in-law's pretty girlfriend and Grandma Sarah.

My now future-sister-in-law and family.

Dempsey family.

Will's side of the family.

My side of the family.

Love outside the church.

With my handsome new husband.

At this point, I was relieved to be heading to the reception. I thought our busyness was done, and it would all be fun and mingling from now on. Clearly, I'd never gotten married before!

Wedding Recap: The Ceremony

2010-11-11T18:08:00.000-05:00

We arrived at St. George's Episcopal Church about a half an hour prior to the ceremony. I had spies and guards usher me to and from the bathroom (so to conceal myself from guests) and bring me water (oh, how I should have insisted everyone do this). I mostly tried to sit, because at this point, I was regretting my super cute 4 inch heels.

Our ceremony began on time (I think... clearly wasn't wearing a watch).

My handsom cousin, dutifully handing out programs and ushering in guests.

Groom's parents.

Nathan ushering in my mom. (PS - doesn't her dress rock? It took forever to find, but I loved it!)

My beautiful cousin Brett (our acolyte), Rev. Wiehe, and the boys.

Me looking happy, Mitch looking nervous.

I only remember thinking that my face hurt from smiling and that it was weird that everyone was staring at me.

Mom told me she was nervous the photographers wouldn't be able to get a good picture because of kids in the aisles. I absolutely adore this picture of Kayla watching us though.

Rev. Wiehe was in the process of handing out the hymn lyrics to the bridal party. I don't remember what we thought was funny, but I love this picture.

As mentioned here, our grandfathers were the readers in our ceremony. Here, Grandpa McNally reading Mark 10: 6-9. The readers actually went out of order - the Old Testament reading was supposed to be before the Gospel reading. Probably no one but the two of us and Rev. Wiehe realized what happened unless they were following their programs closely.

Here, my Pepaw reading Ruth 1:16-17, the same reading that was in his and my parents' weddings.

Exchanging rings.

Kneeling during the prayers. I don't remember a lot of the ceremony because all I could think about was how hot I was and how bad my feet hurt. I know that's terrible, but it's true. Thank goodness for video. At this point, I was very thankful to be kneeling.

For those of you who did not attend the wedding, you might look at this photo and say, "Oh, those yellow roses look pretty. The flower girl did her job well." We did not have any children in the wedding. We did, however, have one fainting bridesmaid who left her mark on the end of the ceremony by a few scattered bouquet flowers. Don't worry, she was fine. And I hope she realizes still that it did not ruin/impede/detract from the ceremony in any fashion.

And for those of you who actually attended the wedding and asked me if we kissed, here's your proof. :)

Processing out. Huge regret: not staying farther behind Brett so the photog could get a clear shot of us leaving. Oh well. Not that we don't have a billion other photos of us from the day.

There you have it, a photographic journey through our ceremony. The other piece of paraphenalia you may be interested in are the programs. These were crafted and printed by yours truly. (Sorry for the poor quality... I had to print screen and save as .png files to get them here.)

Next up: the party begins.

Wedding Recap: Photo Shoot

2010-11-01T20:43:00.000-04:00

When we last left off (err... more than two weeks ago, my bad), I showed you the "first look" that our photographers captured. Now, on to the photo shoot with us and our bridal party at the Crystal City Water Park and the Marine Corps Memorial (Iwo Jima)/Netherlands Carillon. I have hundreds that I could post, so I'm trying to only select my favorites. It's hard.

I chose the two locations for specific reasons. The Crystal City Water Park was just a block and a half away from the hotel, making it a great starting location. Plus, I'd had dreams about walking with my wedding party in an urban setting.

The Marine Corps Memorial/Netherlands Carillon, I'd wanted specifically for its view overlooking DC. Since our wedding was set just outside DC, I really wanted something that represented this area. What I didn't want was the headache of trying to take pictures on the National Mall and fight the hoardes of invading tourists. So, we were able to get a backdrop of the city as well as one of the most recognizable memorials in America in our photos for nearly no logistical pain.

The photographers hid it beautifully, but the Water Park was completely filled with people. We showed up at just about the same time as a Quinceanera party there to do the exact same thing. Additionally, there were dozens of people hanging out around the park. I felt like a princess though when the girls in the Quinceanera told me I was pretty and the bystanders gawked at our photo shoot.

The photos at the Carillon are some of my absolute favorites from the entire day. What a cool backdrop. Also, I have beautiful girlfriends. I suppose the guys aren't so bad either.

I could narrate each of these photos. How awkward it was when the photog wanted everyone to watch us kiss. How bad my feet hurt by the end of it (my cute shoes were definitely not comfortable in a ten pound dress). How feeling sweat drip down your back right before you get hitched does not make you feel sexy or pretty. But really, it was such a fun experience.

We had our best friends with us, taking pictures from an awesome photographer. Not to mention, the shots came back BEAUTIFULLY.

Wedding Recap: The First Look

2010-10-11T17:15:00.000-04:00

We decided early on that we were actually going to break tradition on something and see each other before the ceremony. The primary goal of this is that it would allow us to take our photos beforehand and eliminate missing part of the reception or causing a lag between the ceremony and the party. Therefore, our photographer staged a "first look" at the hotel.

The first part involved me staring at a wall for what seemed like eternity. Especially when I could hear commotion behind me.

This was the only time during our wedding day when I cried. I'm not even totally sure why. Best guess is just that I was so happy it was finally here. The preparation had all been done and now it was time to enjoy the day.

This is one of my absolute favorite shots from the entire day. I love the candid happiness on both of our faces.

We had a whole crew of onlookers as well.

First look pictures taken and tears shed, we were off to the first of our group photo shoot locations. Up next, bridal party modeling!

Wedding Recap: The Final Touches

2010-10-07T20:53:00.000-04:00

You saw the dress, but that wasn't the last of the girls' getting ready. It was a real party complete with 90s dance tunes. Sorry for the delay - I guess wedding blogging lost some of the urgency after we were married. I'm just enjoying my new husband. :)

In a wedding gown, it's pretty difficult to put on and buckle your own shoes. Thank goodness for bridesmaids! I have no idea what was so funny, but I love this picture. It perfectly summarizes what fun, amazing friends I have and what a good time we had that morning.

Adding jewelry. Earrings, introduced here, and the bracelet that also came from J. Crew. I got tons of compliments on the bracelet as it apparently caught the light in the church really well. No one believed I got it on clearance for $10.

Beautiful bridesmaids.

90s music. As mentioned.

Complete with a dancing bride.

Heading down with the girls to prepare to see my groom.

Next up, the first look!

Wedding Recap: Boys Getting Ready

2010-09-30T20:15:00.000-04:00

I can't really add any commentary to these photos as clearly, I wasn't there. However, I think they got some great shots of the handsome men, and I wanted to share them. The hotel was nice enough to comp us another room for the guys to get ready in which made meeting up later super easy.

My handsome groom.

Having beers waiting for the girls to be ready.

Cheers.

Will and his groomsmen.

Wedding Recap: The "Something" Tradition

2010-09-27T20:41:00.000-04:00

I knew early on that I would do the "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Blue" tradition. It wasn't until the week of the wedding, however, that I finalized all of the pieces.

Something Old
This one was fairly easy. I'd acquired a handkercheif from my grandmother when I was really small. I hung onto it all these years, and carried it with me down the aisle, wrapped around my bouquet.

Something New
This could have really been one of many things I was wearing: dress, shoes, earrings, bracelet - take your pick.

Something Borrowed
I struggled with this one for a long time. Then in the process of trying to clean the house for my parents' impending arrival the week of the wedding, I stumbled back across a box of pins that my mother-in-law had given me to peruse for this specific purpose, oh, six months before. I'd forgotten all about it. In that box was a Claddagh pin that I wore pinned underneath the "tails" of my dress during the ceremony and then pinned them up once my dress was bustled.

Something Blue

On my 18th birthday, my mom gave me a star sapphire ring that my dad had given her on her 18th birthday. It seemed a fitting way to complete the tradition and include his memory in the day.

Wedding Recap: The Dress

2010-09-26T17:58:00.001-04:00

Since I didn't want Will to see my dress prior to our wedding day, I had to keep this a big secret from the blog since he reads it. I bought my dress in November just a few short weeks after we got engaged. I knew early on what I wanted and also what I didn't want. I also knew where the dress fell in terms of my priorities.

When my parents were here to visit shortly after our engagement, Mom and I went to several bridal shops to try dresses on. It was sort of helpful in that it confirmed what I wanted - a simple dress with straps and no beading or lace. It wasn't helpful in that all the dresses were out of the price range I'd established for myself.

A few weeks later, I went shopping with two of my bridesmaids, and hit up David's Bridal. Now, admittedly, I had a bit of a stigma about buying my dress from the mass retailer. But the first dress I tried on that day ended up being the one I wore down the aisle.

A self-shot iPhone pic that day in the store. I wonder if I should cut my hair again...

I had no magic moment where I realized it was "the one." There were no tears, and to tell the truth, my friends pretty much talked me into it. I wondered several times after I'd bought it if I'd made a mistake and I would find a better one elsewhere. Each time I went for a fitting though, I put on that dress and I fell in love. It might not have been love at first sight with this dress, but I definitely loved it.

Mom tries to steam the last of the wrinkles out before putting it on.

Mom and Jordan helping me into the dress.

My absolute favorite thing about the dress was the back. In the original, it had a bow and two "tails" that extended the length of the train. During alterations, I had them remove the loops because they just hung there and looked sad. The dress was also altered to have a French bustle which turned out beautifully.

There's clearly a story behind this photo, and I'll get to it, but this was the best "bustle" photo I had.

I got so many compliments on the dress by our guests. Thank you all for making me feel beautiful.

If we had a larger budget or if we'd alotted more towards the dress, would I have bought a more expensive one? Possibly. I tried on an Augusta Jones that was absolutely stunning. But I am perfectly happy knowing my dress came in well under $1000, and it felt and looked beautiful on. I do not regret the decision for one second.

PS- If you're wondering about the possibly inordinate amount of photos included, I just can't help myself. I love them all. There are so many more that I love that I can't post. That's what happens when you have a fabulous photographer who gives you 848 images!

PPS- I'll try to pick up the pace on the recaps!

Wedding Recap: Gettin' Pretty

2010-09-21T22:23:00.000-04:00

It's not purposefully that on our one month anniversary I begin the wedding recap. It wasn't intentional - I just got the picture files today! I'm going to try to remember as much as I can and recall what I was feeling that day. I hope the month hasn't dulled it...

My alarm started singing at 7. Maid of Honor Erin had stayed with me in the suite the night before for one last slumber party. My eyes opened, and I thought, "It's here!" It seemed so surreal that after 10 months of engagement and another year or so before that knowing the day was coming, that it was actually happening.

The ladies (me, bridesmaids, and moms) began the day at 8 with breakfast at a nearby Corner Bakery. After our order was delivered incorrectly about 10 times, we finally were able to chow a little. We ate, poked fun at each other, and laughed. It was the perfect way to begin the wedding day. Then, on to Bang Salon for our hair appointments.

I ended up in the chair for longer than I thought I'd be. I loved what my hair ended up looking like, but it took a while to get it there. One or two redos were required to get it to the place where I was pleased. I'm typically not the type to really speak my mind over hair (even if I'm not 100% with a haircut, I'll let it go), but I'm really glad I stood up for what I wanted. It ended up being perfect, and I'm glad that it did, even if it took a while.

Meanwhile... the girls were also getting pretty...

After the girls were done the lovely moms got dolled up, and then we rolled back out. And braced ourselves for an eventful ride home.

We did arrive back safely though it wasn't for the cabbie trying otherwise. Next up... Gettin' Pretty Part II.

The pictures are here! (sort of...)

2010-09-16T08:13:00.000-04:00

Our photog released our pictures onto web galleries yesterday. I spent hours drooling over all 848 pictures. I'm so excited to get the discs and start posting, printing, and sharing them. Stay tuned for the wedding day recap (seriously coming soon...) with pictures.

The party before the party

2010-09-12T18:52:00.000-04:00

After we'd rehearsed, my fabulous in-laws hosted our rehearsal dinner at the very same hotel where our reception would be the next night. After the rehearsal dinner stand-bys of food, speeches, and giving of gifts, we followed one of Will's family traditions and sang karaoke for the rest of the night.

The rehearsal dinner was the one of only two times during the entire weekend in which I cried. I couldn't make it through my speech to my family and Will without choking up. Plus, they were all crying which just exacerbated the problem. By the end of the night, everyone was telling me they quit watching Memaw. I wasn't the only one apparently she was making cry.

Normally, I would have been SO excited for karaoke. And I was, sort of. However, if I haven't mentioned it before, I was battling bronchitis still on Friday night and was struggling to just talk without coughing. I didn't want to cause myself to lose my voice the day before the wedding too. Of course, I couldn't actually resist karaoke.

Will and I kicked off the night by doing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - a song we'd sung for karaoke several times going back since before we were even dating.

Big hits of the night included my Aunt Susie singing both "At Last" (which those at our table swore sounded just like Etta James) and "Guitarzan," the bridesmaids singing and dancing to "Single Ladies,"

the groomsmen singing "Party in the USA," and Will and his brother Colin singing, "Dream On."

I couldn't let a night of karaoke of karaoke go by without letting loose with a little Madonna.

It was a really fun night, and I think everyone enjoyed the karaoke. It wasn't surprising with you have two super fun families and great friends all willing to make a little bit of a fool of themselves. By 10 it was time to hit the sack for one last night of sleep as a single woman. Luckily, I had good company as my best friend, maid of honor Erin was camping out with me for a little girls' slumber party.

Thanks again, parents-in-law for the awesome party. We had so much fun!

Rehearsal Day

2010-09-12T11:35:00.000-04:00

So, I've been dragging my feet a little on posting. One, we've been hard at work around the house trying to get all of the wedding stuff put away or sold and finally getting rid of the clutter and mess that accumulated over the last several months. I'm also waiting for my pro pictures to come back before doing any recaps of the big day. But here's the recap of the day before and all of the rehearsal madness.

I began the day before our wedding by cashing in a spa gift certificate that my fabulous bridesmaids gifted me at my first shower. I had an hour long massage, pedicure, manicure, and my makeup done. It was fabulous, and so relaxing.

Once I stepped out of the spa, it was go-go-go time. I ran back to the house to gather up everything that needed to go to the hotel and bridesmaid Kate. We lunched and then headed to the hotel where guests were arriving quickly and directions needed to be given on how to display the four boxes of stuff I delivered. Thank goodness for my mom who spent most of the day running errands for me and making the reception accessories look beautiful. (She Windexed and lint rolled all 13 of the table number frames.) See where I get my perfectionist gene from?

Directions given, hotel room checked-into, and one last trip home to retrieve the forgotten bridesmaids gifts with cousin Brett, I had approximately half an hour to get ready for the rehearsal. Luckily, Red Door did my makeup earlier in the day, so I just needed to fix the hair and throw on the dress.

We arrived at St. George's and were promptly coralled by coordinator Anna and Rev. Wiehe in the 85 degree church heat. (Not kidding. Not good.)

After we'd been given our positions and directions for the next day, we were dismissed to head off to the party. And boy, what a party it was.

Stay tuned to see how our families and friends mixed and mingled and really got down with karaoke at the rehearsal dinner.

Bridezilla moment

2010-09-05T16:59:00.000-04:00

Thursday morning I woke up and went to work on the remaining tasks. Yet to be done: printing the place cards and taking care of final details.

I had done two of the thirteen tables when all of the sudden my computer crashes. And will not reboot. And I lose it. On that computer was every piece of wedding related data I had. Guest responses, meal choices, addresses, gift lists, and every self-desinged piece of wedding paper we had.

First I called Will, semi-hysterical. Then I frantically text my parents for the use of their laptop as a potential replacement. Finally, I dial up tech support for my laptop. After an hour of the tech trying to get the problem solved, he concluded that Dell would need to replace the motherboard. And that would take at least 24 hours. 24 hours that I didn't have.

So I called Will crying again, and my saint of a (then) fiance came home to help his poor bride. We found an old file of the guest list that had been emailed and rebuilt everything from there. It was a little tedious, but we mostly completed all of the planned DIY projects (the shuttle bus tickets got scrapped). I shed a few tears, and probably snapped at a few people, but we recovered without too much damage. However, when Will picked up the first of my arriving bridesmaids at the airport later that afternoon, she said he greeted her with, "I'm glad you're here." Perhaps I was a little worse than I thought.

What's in a name?

2010-09-04T11:04:00.000-04:00

A lot apparently. Recently, a lot of women have turned away of the age-old tradition of taking their husband's last name. The feminist movement is probably a large driver of this. There are now hyphens, new names created, old names retained, and a slew of decisions to make.

I always knew I would take Will's name. I'm pretty traditional, and I viewed taking Will's name as a committment of forming our own family. Those who advocate for women keeping their own names sometimes cite a woman changing her name to take on that of her new husband as barbaric - as if the woman were a possession of the man's. I think that's a little silly. I think the real question that feminism raises is the choice that a woman has over what to do with her name after marriage. And for me, the choice to change mine made sense for me and Will. To note, Will told me he would have been fine if I'd decided to keep my own name as well.

So, that decision was simple, yes. As I got to thinking about the reality of no longer being a Lexa though, I grew sad. That name did represent a huge part of who I am and ties with it the memory of my dad. Therefore, after consultation with Mom to ensure no feelings were going to be hurt over the decision, I decided I would retain my maiden name as my new middles name and drop my birth-given middle name altogether. I identify much more with Lexa than I ever did with Marie.

At about 3:00 yesterday afternoon, I visited the local Social Security office and officially changed my name. I am legally Christina Lexa McNally.

Now to go practice my new signature...

DIY madness, the scramble to finish

2010-09-04T09:02:00.000-04:00

DIY projects. We had a few. We probably would have had a few more had I had a functional computer for a few hours longer. No matter. The ones we had, I was very pleased with.

As mentioned, after a hunt with bridesmaid Jordan, all paper was acquired from Papersource. A new printer was acquired from Best Buy. Yours truly scraped together any creativity buried below the analytical front to design everything myself. I acquired little favor boxes, ribbon, and a special candy mint from my hometown of Paris, TN. I packed all the supplies, my mom, and the beagles in the car, and we headed to Will's parents' to begin wedding DIY assembly.

On the docket: assemble menus, fold programs, assemble favors, make table markers.

Five hours of folding, gluing, sticking, cutting, and spray painting later, we finished. Of course, I forgot my camera and don't have any pictures of the process, but luckily Mom got one of the table on her camera during the reception. More pics to come of the details when the pro pics come back (hopefully soon!), but for now, here's a gander at what our hard work produced.

You can see the menu tucked into the napkin. The menus had the signature "M" that was on everything including invitations, programs, favor boxes, and clearly, menus. Below that, the evening's meal was laid out including a description of the favor.

Table numbers were done using a stamp of yellow ink on navy paper and put inside picture frames I spray painted white.

Each assembled favor box contained a few mints and was wrapped in yellow ribbon with an "M" sticker finishing them off.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with the way everything turned out after our crafting blitz. Retrospective timeline: t-minus three days.

Blogs coming....

2010-09-02T09:44:00.000-04:00

We're married!!

So, it's been a quiet two weeks around these parts. I intended to post up until the wedding, but things got kinda crazy with last minute wedding tasks, and then two days before the wedding, my computer up and completely died on me. While I was in the middle of printing final wedding things. Minor break down ensued...

Coming up, I'll have recaps on more events leading up to the big day as well as a full run down of the wedding itself and the honeymoon that followed.

Stay tuned!

A guest post from the groom - Tips for future grooms

2010-08-17T21:28:00.000-04:00

Like a lot of other people, I've been reading Christina's blog as we've been planning this wedding. And I think it could be a great tool for people planning weddings in the future. As we've been going through this process, we've come across a lot of things that we hadn't initially anticipated. This is the first time we've had to plan a wedding, so this is all new to us. I would have been especially helpless. As you'll see by this post, I would have been in big trouble without Christina.........

Ten aspects of wedding planning I wouldn't have thought of without Christina:

1. Picking wedding colors. Our wedding colors are navy and yellow. I'm still not sure what that means exactly since neither of us will be wearing navy or yellow on Saturday. I can however, tell you what a 1-3-1 zone defense is, or show you how to throw a spiral.
2. A shuttle to and from the church. Sorry out of town people. If it weren't for Christina you would have been taking the metro to and from the Ceremony. I'm sure that would have been fun in the middle of the afternoon heat in August.
3. A Day-Of Planner. I did not even know this exisited. But it seems to be very useful, as it will take a lot of stress off of Christina (and therefore, myself) on the day of the wedding.
4. Place cards. It would have been an all-out scramble with general seating. I would have made a seating chart (come on, I'm not a total idiot), but forgotten to do something to let people know where they are supposed to be sitting. Oh well, maybe the Day-Of Planner that I FORGOT TO HIRE would be able to coordinate things last minute.
5. A gift registry. Ok, I probably would have eventually done one of these on my own. But it would have been last minute, and it wouldn't have had anything practical on it. We used Crate and Barrel, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and Target. Christina's ideas account for about 95% of the registry. This is good, because it makes for a practical registry. Mine would have had ridiculous things that we don't need like a life-sized standup of Eli Manning or another Beagle.
6. A Guest Book. We actually didn't have one of these until the last week or so. If the wedding planning responsibilities were left to me, we still wouldn't. It's not like I haven't been to 10-15 other weddings that ALL had guest books.
7. Programs. I guess I assumed the church handled this one because they already do it every Sunday?
8. Apply for a marriage license. I was actually reminded of this one by the Good Reverend Wiehe. I guess I thought when he said, "I now pronounce you.......", that everything was taken care of legally. This would have made for an interesting tax return when I filed for a bigger return with a huge grin because I filed jointly. The IRS might not have found this so amusing. At least now we'll be legally wed.
9. Ushers. There is a reason I asked people to be groomsmen many, many months ago, and didn't do the same for an usher until somewhat recently (I FORGOT).
10. This is probably the most embarassing one. I had no idea that I needed to buy Christina another ring (her wedding band) for the ceremony. I was under the impression that the engagement ring I bought last October served as her "wedding ring" after we were married.

Honestly though, the best advice I can give any guy going through wedding planning is to offer to help whenever possible, even if you know it is about something that is more important to the bride than to the groom (flowers, for example). And if you're marrying the right person like I am, everything else will come together nicely.

The parents are coming! The parents are coming!

2010-08-17T11:57:00.000-04:00

Today marks the arrival of the wedding's first official out of town guests, my parents!This morning, I found this status update on Facebook:

Mitch Hobby: heading out to Arlington this morning. I get to walk my daughter down the aisle this Saturday, place her hand in the hand of a fine young man and grow our family by one. I'm gonna practice walking slowly with my chest puffed out the rest of the week. I am truly blessed.

I responded with, "Don't make me cry yet!!" I truly could not ask for better parents and a better example of a loving marriage. So excited for them (and all of the other impending arrivals) to get here!

The art of seating

2010-08-16T20:25:00.000-04:00

Once you know your final number of attendees (which is a lot more difficult than it would seem...), you can tackle the job of seating everyone. Some people choose to have open receptions where everyone just picks a seat. Others choose to assign individual seats. We're taking the middle road and assigning tables only.

I've heard arguments for all ways of seating folks. Something that stuck with me about at least assigning tables was that it removes some confusion for guests. If you at least tell them which table to go to, they aren't left with the daunting task of trying to pick one of the thirteen tables at which to seat themselves. I figured that was a good enough reason to assign tables. When it came to assigning seats, I figure guests can choose between the eight or ten present.

With some advice from an experienced bride, bridesmaid Kate, I set up our tables in the formation they'd be in the reception room on a poster board and begun writing and cutting Post-Its for each person. I began color coding depending on the person's relationship to us (Will's family, my family, etc.), and then half way through, I forgot. And said, screw it. I'm not rewriting 30 stickies.

A half an hour or so later, this is what shook out. Our now 118 guests will be seated at tables with between 7-10 people per table. I tried to make it a little more even, but it was just too difficult to split up natural groups.

There you have it. The art of seating is all about the color coded Post-Its.

The long awaited craft projects

2010-08-15T20:10:00.000-04:00

So, with the wedding being sort of soon (hah!), I figured I'd probably better wrap up a craft project or two if I intended to use them at the wedding.

Several months ago I picked up these hat boxes in Ross with the broad idea that I would somehow make them pretty and turn them into a card box for the reception.

A little faux-silk, a little ribbon, and little glue, and voila:

I had a little trouble working some of the folds to get a super clean look, but I think it's not bad for the amount of effort and cost that it caused me.

The Final Count(down)

2010-08-13T18:50:00.000-04:00

As of this afternoon, we finally have an official count for the attendance at the wedding. And the magic number is....

120.

We originally went into this thinking we'd end up with about 130, but aren't really upset that the count ended up being even smaller. We really wanted an intimate affair with our closest friends and family, and that is indeed what we have.

I think we were a little surprised at how much effort it took to finally get final answers from all invitees. Some responded right away. Others never responded and had to be tracked down. Yet others changed their mind (both ways). We're definitely disappointed there are some folks who can't attend, but that's why we have a photographer!

One week from now we'll be beginning the rehearsal dinner and gearing up for karaoke.

8 days.

The 10 Day Forecast

2010-08-12T22:23:00.000-04:00

Today is the first day that our wedding day showed up on the 10-day forecast at weather.com.

Partly cloudy and 86? Um, yes please! For those of you that don't know, "August in DC" usually means, 99 degrees with 99% humidity. An 86 degree day would feel practically breezy.

Not that it really matters if it's sunny or rainy because all of our activities are held indoors. However, no bride hopes for rain on her wedding day. There's a saying that rain on your wedding day means good luck. I think that was just created to make the brides who got rained on feel better.

Nine days!

Winning the in-law lottery

2010-08-11T20:55:00.000-04:00

When it comes to the family I'm marrying into, I feel so incredibly lucky. I know they read the blog (Hi, Susan! Hi, Bill!), and I'm not just saying this to earn in-law kudos. I could simply stay mum about the topic, but since this whole process should be more about the marriage and less about the wedding, I think they deserve their 15 seconds of fame. (If you consider fame having appeared on this blog. Which most wouldn't. Completely understandable.)

From the first time I met Will's parents, I felt welcomed. It didn't take long to actually feel like I was part of the family.They're the type of people who would bend over backwards to make your life just a little easier. They've also been nothing but supportive of our relationship. And they love their granddogs - but, I mean... who wouldn't?

In addition to having wonderful parents-in-law, I'm also getting a new brother. I remember a text exchange with Colin shortly after we got engaged, and now I think how lucky I am that not only do I get another brother, but also a friend.

And the extended family? Well, they're pretty fabulous too. I've been lucky to have had the chance to spend time with them as well. Will's grandparents couldn't be sweeter, his aunts and uncles couldn't be more loving, and his cousins couldn't be more fun.

I have heard plenty of horror stories about in-laws. We're not even married yet (10 days!!), but I can say confidently that I'll never have any.

Are you ready yet?

2010-08-10T22:19:00.000-04:00

I can't even count the times I've been asked that question in the last few weeks. The answer is no. Not yet. But we will be.

The joy/headache of wedding planning is that there are certain details that just can't be taken care of until the last minute. Seating, for example. Meal choices. Guest counts. Most things paper related (or maybe that's just me).

And then there are those things you just put off. Umm... guilty? Not to worry, I've taken the entire next week off and will be focusing on relaxing and making sure we have everything taken care of so that certain dreams do not come true. Dreams will come true (oooohhh... foreshadowing!), but not those.

We do have most things done though. Dress is fitted - and oh, is it pretty. Will's outfit is complete. I know who we owe money to when. Family begins arriving in one week.

It's a little surreal that it's actually this close. But in a week, we'll be in full wedding frenzy.

We will dance

2010-08-06T23:25:00.000-04:00

Not that I didn't already think Will would make a fabulous husband - I mean, I wouldn't be marrying him if I didn't. But here's another reason why he's so great.

He lets me get what I want.

After 9 months of debating our first dance, song, we finally have one. And we'll be dancing to "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel, my original choice.

I am in love with this song. The words are perfect, and in 20 years, we may still hear this one on the radio.

Don't go changing, to try and please me

You never let me down before

Don't imagine you're too familiar

And I don't see you anymore

I would not leave you in times of trouble

We never could have come this far

I took the good times, I'll take the bad times

I'll take you just the way you are

I don't want clever conversation

I never want to work that hard

I just want someone that I can talk to

I want you just the way you are.

I need to know that you will always be

The same old someone that I knew

What will it take till you believe in me

The way that I believe in you.

I said I love you and that's forever

And this I promise from the heart

I could not love you any better

I love you just the way you are.

License to Wed

2010-08-05T17:21:00.000-04:00

Today Will and I managed to peel ourselves away from our jobs during the day long enough to pop over to the Arlington County Courthouse for our marriage license. Other than finding the right building, the process was extremely easy. We walked in, filled out an online application, verified info in said application, took an oath stating we weren't lying on said application, and $30 later, walked out with our license and certificate.

Must now keep it away from the dogs and remember to take this to the church!

Deadlines

2010-08-01T19:42:00.000-04:00

The RSVP deadline was yesterday, and we officially have 31 outstanding RSVP cards. A good 75% of them are from my family. I knew there would be some stragglers, and we may be still getting our cards back in the next few days. Luckily, we set the deadline far enough in advance of our final count that we'd have plenty of time to track down all of the responses.

And Mom finally got a job that I was willing to hand over. :)

Made Up

2010-07-26T22:17:00.001-04:00

Editor's note: Thank you to bridesmaid and ongoing beauty consultant, Jordan, or helping sort through the thousands of products at Sephora!

I typically don't wear much makeup. Once I got past the awkward acne stage in high school, there really just wasn't much need for it. Plus, I value my sleep and would rather spend ten extra minutes in bed in the morning. That wasn't going to cut it for the wedding. Professional photographs meant I should probably put it on in higher quantities than I normally did.

I knew one thing, however. I wanted to do it myself, and I wanted to look like myself. I went ahead and bought heavy duty stuff and have been doing make-up trials for my everyday wear. This ensures two things: 1) I will definitely know how to do it well on the big day, and 2) I will definitely look like myself if I'm willing to wear it to work on a daily basis.

Here's the product line up:

Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Concealer

...for those dark circles that are definitely not going away...

Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover Foundation

MAC Bronzing Powder

Cargo Blush in a discontinued Champs de Elysee

Stila Eye Shadow Trio in Gold Glow

Smashbox Limitless Eye Liner in Java

Dior DiorShow Mascara in Black

Covergirl Outlast All Day Lipcolor in Natual Blush

So far, I'm extremely pleased with the choices. I think it will come out beautiful in pictures. Here's a picture from last weekend of Will and I at his cousin's wedding, and the makeup trial. A little far away, but perhaps it comes across...

The Tired Bride

2010-07-22T22:36:00.000-04:00

I now understand why people pay wedding planners thousands of dollars to go out and just make a wedding happen (other than having money to burn) - it is exhausting while having a full time job. Especially when your full time job creeps into your personal time. Or stomps all over the toes of your personal time. Either one.

We are now 30 days out. Holy crap. There are a lot of little details that have to be taken care of in the final hours. Like seating charts. And figuring out how all of my day-of paper (programs, menus, seating cards, etc.) are actually going to get printed given my printer is about 739 years old.

I wrote once upon a time early on in the life of this little blog (I tried to find a link but gave up without much effort, my b) about craft projects that I had going for the wedding. Well, there are several actually, and most of them are about half done with no real idea of how they will be incorporated at this point. When I think about all the things I have to do between now and the wedding (not just wedding stuff, mind you), I can't help but think, "I don't have time for you, silly craft project."

And Mom, I know you're going to read this and feel bad, and please don't. It's really all little stuff that I need to do because I've gotten it in my head that I want to do it, and if someone else does it for me I will only want to change everything about it and in that case, it doesn't really help a whole lot to have had someone else start it, right? (If that sentence doesn't show you the current state of my mind, well, then I'm speechless.) But the favor boxes are all yours. I'm not even going to open that box that's currently sitting on the futon until you get here. And you can probably help me fold programs and seating cards to your hearts content. And I promise I will try to think of other things to help with. Just having an ear to vent to is helpful enough right now. :)

So, if posts get infrequent for the next few weeks it's because work is stepping all over my toes and the rest of the time is spent trying to make sure that guests aren't sitting on the floor when they arrive to the reception.*

*Statement added for effect. Reception will definitely have chairs. Marriott is not that cheap.

Tried and True

2010-07-20T20:57:00.000-04:00

Last Friday I made the jaunt downtown for my hair trial. After years of flipping stylists, I finally found one last year who I trust with my hair. Not only does she cut mine on a regular basis, but she'll be the one making me pretty for the big day.

Like most things (minus the shoes) with my appearance, I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted when it came to my hair. Sleek, timeless, and pulled back.I wanted something where the veil could easily be tucked underneath and then slipped out without too much hassle.

She first whipped up what I wanted and then asked if she could try something she had in mind. She put curls all over and pinned it back. It was very pretty. And two minutes later it started falling out. And she conceived that I knew my hair best and curls were probably a bad idea.

So here it is (the general idea at least).

I'm pretty sure it will stand up to the August humidity and stay looking nice all day. What do you think?

Things that are not helpful:

2010-07-15T21:40:00.000-04:00

Tradition

2010-07-13T20:50:00.000-04:00

Our wedding will be fairly traditional. I think there's something powerful about doing things the same way they've been done by millions of people over hundreds of years. That, and I don't want to look back on my pictures in 40 years and say, "What was I thinking?" We're having a traditional church wedding and saying the traditional vows. I'm wearing a fairly traditional dress and will be doing the "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."

In the ceremony we've also included several family traditions as well. Will's grandpa has done a reading in all his grandchildren's weddings. And he will be doing a reading in ours. We decided to stick with the grandpa theme for the other reading, and my Pepaw will be doing the other.

Last weekend I was in Tennessee visiting my family one last time as a single woman. The Fourth of July has always been a big holiday for my mom's family. Pepaw was born on the Fourth, and it's always a big celebrationg of food, family, and fireworks. The first night I was there, Mom and I went to visit Memaw and Pepaw for a bit, and I asked if he'd do a reading for us. Specifically, I asked if he'd read Ruth 1:16-17, a reading that had been used in my parents' wedding and Memaw and Pepaw's wedding. He gladly accepted.

Then Memaw came into the kitchen where we were talking. I told her I'd asked Pepaw to do the reading and which reading it would be. She looked at me, then looked at him, then started to cry. She hugged him and looked at me, and said, "You can always be sweethearts."

I hope in 58 years (how long they've been married), we still think of each other as sweethearts.

Timeline of a Party

2010-07-12T23:17:00.000-04:00

Tonight one of my big goals was to work on the "checklist" our event manager at the hotel sent. Included was information they needed (vendors names, times, etc.), but also the beginnings of what would be our timeline for the reception.

Now, let me ask all you non-married or long-time married folks, do you know when all the elements of a reception happen? Other than "near the end" would you know when the bouquet toss was supposed to happen? What about the cake cutting? And father/daughter or mother/son dances? Yeah, me either.

Luckily for me, I enlisted the help of the more than day of coordinators, and our package comes with three months pre-event consultation. So, I fired an email off saying... "Uh... help?" And they did. With their guidance in mind, I set off arranging the events of our reception. After moving things here and there and consulting with Will on an item or two, I felt good about the order in which I had everything. I fired it back to our Marriott event manager and felt pleased with my accomplishment.

I went to bed. Then I lied in bed and started thinking about it. And how certain things might work better in another order. And I pulled my computer back out and decided it needed to be changed because, well, my mind was going a mile a minute, and I wasn't going to actually fall asleep anyway. Hopefully this doesn't become a trend. Else you all will definitely be noticing the dark circles that have not waned with expensive product use.

The Count

2010-07-12T09:44:00.000-04:00

40 days to go. RSVP cards arriving daily.

Current count:

195 invited
61 "yes"es
11 "no"s

Days remaining until RSVP deadline: 19

Fishing

2010-07-06T21:40:00.001-04:00

No, not the kind with a pole and a hook. Fishing for free stuff.

Somewhere along the line, I stumbled upon some information that if you send wedding invitations to certain people/organizations, they send you things back. We have several left-over invitations, so I thought I'd give it a go. Tomorrow I'll be mailing invitations to six organizations and leaders, none of whom I actually expect to come to our wedding. Soon, the Washington Capitals, New York Giants, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees, President and First Lady, and Governor and First Lady of Virginia will be receiving invitations to our wedding.

Invitations to the President and First Lady as well as the Washington Capitals.

Let's hope for our sakes that all of these invitees don't show up. It'd be really hard to try to figure out where to sit four professional sports teams.

I'll report back if we actually get anything in return.

Showered with love, part the second

2010-07-05T19:32:00.000-04:00

I was down in Tennessee for the long holiday weekend visiting family for one last time as a single woman. The Fourth has always been a big holiday for our family as it's also my grandpas birthday. And my uncles and brother are pyromaniacs. Unbeknownst to me, there was also something else going on that weekend.

My mom organized a second surprise shower for me. In addition to lots of family (we're southern), she'd gotten some of my oldest friends and sweet people from my old church to attend.

Old friends. The boys since kindergarten, the girls since sixth grade.

Opening presents with my cousins helping.

Cousin shower tradition - the bow/tissue paper hat.

It was so wonderful having family and old friends come out and support me like that. And once again, I was completely surprised even though everyone thought I'd figured out that something was up. Clearly, if I'd known something was going on, I'd probably have dressed a little nicer.

Thanks, Mom. :)

The final countdown

2010-06-30T21:49:00.001-04:00

I may have crossed into crazy. A week or so ago, an old work buddy of mine IMed me and asked, "So how many days until the wedding?" I responded, "Oh, I don't know... like 80 or something." To which he said, "Ok, good. You're not keeping a countdown so you haven't gone crazy." Well...

The countdown began about 10 days ago. This used to be a picture frame. Then I broke the glass, and painted the back with chalkboard paint. It sits on the kitchen counter and used to say "Remember, I love you," (Written by me.) and "VT." (Written by Will.) Now every morning as I make the coffee, I change the number one more day.

Oh, and beagle drawn by Best Man Colin.

Let's hear it for the girls

2010-06-30T21:44:00.000-04:00

Last weekend my fabulous friends threw me a bachelorette party. It was awesome. My friend and bridesmaid, Kristen, hosted us at her family's beach house in Sea Isle City, NJ. Yes, we hung out at the Jersey Shore.

I'm not a big fan of the "traditional" bachelorette party. I told my friends all I wanted was to hang out with them and maybe sip a fruity drink. They threw the perfect party.

The awesome party gifts - a beach towel embroidered with the weekend, flip flops in my wedding colors, and a personalized wine glass.

The weather was perfect for the weekend. We spent all day on the beach working on our tans and chatting. Then we cleaned up and headed out for dinner.

Don't I have gorgeous friends?? Single boys... several are single...

You can't go to the beach without eating seafod. Here, post dinner.

It was wonderful hanging out with some of my besties. Only two were local to me. The group represented Virginia, DC, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Michigan, New York, and Boston. They must be really great to travel so far just to be with me. Not to mention, they got me some pretty awesome gifts.

Ladies, thank you so much for a wonderful weekend. I really have the best friends ever!

If you invite them, they will come

2010-06-24T16:11:00.000-04:00

THE FIRST RESPONSE CARDS ARRIVED TODAY! HOLY CRAP.

Will walked through the door a few minutes ago, and said, "We got some interesting mail today." I nearly jumped him to get the response cards. Then I jumped around the condo for a few minutes. I mean. I acted composed and adult-like.

We got ten responses, only one of which declined. Yay! Thank you for sending your responses! Look forward to getting more back!

The Invitations

2010-06-23T20:27:00.002-04:00

Now that I've received confirmation that our invitation which had the furthest distance to travel (to my college roommate, Rachael, and her husband in San Diego), I can do the big reveal online. I hadn't wanted to ruin the surprise of opening the envelope - I love the suspense of peeling back the envelope to reveal the choices the couple made.

As I mentioned here and here, our wedding invitation search was not the easiest. Will has mostly let me make the decisions and hasn't had a ton of preference for many of the wedding items, but he definitely had opinions when it came to the invitations. We struggled finding something we both liked. So getting these things finally done and off to the recipients felt like a huge win.

And here they are... our invitation beauties:

The folder, belly band, and my future monogram!

I love monograms.

Open the folder up and there it is! I still have a fear that I'll notice a misspelling or inaccuracy. I think we're ok.

Instead of sticking a bunch of different inserts in the invitations which would 1) kill more trees, 2) cost us more money, and 3) probably get lost anyway, we decided to just put this one card directing everyone to the website which had any and all information that guests would need. Hopefully they actually use it...

And then the response card. Dear wedding guests, please return these! Otherwise, you will all be eating chicken.

I'm really pleased with the way they turned out, especially given the price we paid for them. The company is Monogram Wedding. If ordering from there, make sure to order the sample pack - you get a discount on your overall order once you do, and the price for the sample pack isn't much!

Now I'm just waiting and eagerly watching the mailbox for the response cards to start returning.

Eyes on the Prize

2010-06-21T18:39:00.000-04:00

When I first started this blog, I had a couple of goals through this whole process:

Share wedding planning with family and friends across the country
Log the activities as a journal of sorts for myself to look back to
Remember to stay sane.

That last one gets tested sometimes throughout this process. Florists want to charge you $10 per stem. Magazines try to tell you what a "good" wedding looks like. You're fielding calls and questions every few days on logistics and where/when/why. Your event coordinator at the reception site changes twice within a month.

Yes. That happened. About a month ago, our coordinator at Marriott called to tell me she was taking a leave of absence and wouldn't be there for our wedding. I was disappointed because I really liked her and was comfortable that she could make everything happen. But, that's life. People have personal matters outside of work, and I wasn't going to get angry about it. Plus, I was going to get her boss as the new coordinator. An even more experienced coordinator for the same price? Score!

Until she called me last week saying she'd accepted a new position at another Marriott and wouldn't be there for our wedding.

Now, here's the point that I could have lost it. Gotten angry with her and angry at the hotel management. Stressed myself out about a situation beyond my control. But I can't do anything to change it, so why stress myself out?

There will be hundreds of things in the next two months (two months!!) that will cause me to stress. Delayed flights, late vendors, a stained dress. I'm just hoping that I can continue to take everything in stride. At the end of the day, we're going to be married, and even if a few things go wrong, we're still going to have a great party.

Father's Day

2010-06-20T11:56:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Will and I don't have children yet and aren't really planning to for several years. We do, however, have beagle kids. And I couldn't have a better father for my beagles.

I have no doubt that some day he'll make a wonderful father to our human children.

And they're off!

2010-06-17T20:20:00.000-04:00

Cue William Tell Overture.

This morning, I dropped off all 111 invitations at the Post Office for the beginning of their journey to our wedding guests. I had a hard time not telling everyone in line that I was mailing my wedding invitations. Not going to lie, I was slightly disappointed when the disgruntled USPS employee didn't ask me when the wedding was or say congratulations.

Oh well.

Wedding guests, watch your mailbox!

It's getting real

2010-06-16T21:52:00.000-04:00

About 9 this morning an email popped up from the condo. A package had arrived! I was expecting one, but not from that carrier. Then about a half an hour later, another email from the condo. Another package! I came home a few minutes early simply because I was so eager to see what had been delivered.

I tore open the envelope from FedEx first to find a sweet (and sassy) card from my bridesmaid Amanda along with a fun yellow clip fabric flower from J.Crew. Love! Then I opened the box of which I already knew the contents - the rehearsal dinner invitations.

The rehearsal dinner invitations represented the last piece to come together before the invitations could go out. Which means... the invitations will be mailed tomorrow! I'm so excited to start getting response cards back in the mail!

It's getting real...

Wedding Attire, Men's Edition

2010-06-16T13:38:00.000-04:00

They say one of the most common dreams brides have in the months leading up to their wedding is that they show up to the church, walk down the aisle, and suddenly realize they forgot to put on their dress. I have not had this dream yet. However, until the other day, the men's portion of the bridal party was probably going to show up in boxers and tshirts (well, jeans and college sweatshirts is probably more likely).

On Sunday, Will and several of the groomsmen ordered their suits. The Macy's website is not cooperating to let me borrow a picture, but you can click here to see what my handsome husband-to-be and his merry men will be wearing.

I think the gray will look great against the girls' navy! Now to find ties...

The Stamps, In Practice

2010-06-13T20:53:00.001-04:00

Remember back in December when I was still relatively new to this whole wedding planning thing? Remember how I set an alarm for the middle of the night in order to get up and buy stamps? Well, the time has come to actually employ the 200 stamps I ordered back then.

If you recall, I listed three possible problems with this purchase. I wasn't sure that the color would turn out correct, but they are indeed navy. I was worried the cost of a first class stamp might rise. As of yet, that has not happened. The third thing, the cost of postage for our invitations would be greater than a first class stamp.

Turns out, my fears for number three were warranted. I took a completed invitation to the post office to have them weighed, just to be safe, and they were 1.3 ounces. I am .3 ounces over the weight limit of using my cute, personalized stamps.

Therefore, I purchased the 61 cent stamps which will cover the full cost of our postage. They're pretty cute and clearly designed for the bride.

The original Zazzle stamp purchase is not in vain, however. There will be plenty of thank you notes which need first class stamps! Those beauties will grace the outside of all our thank you envelopes.

Giddy

2010-06-09T21:44:00.000-04:00

I posted last night more about our pre-marital counseling and the actual process. I left out most of how I actually felt yesterday.

The whole time - picking our readings and talking about their significance, doing a "dry run" of the ceremony, talking logistics, even talking about 24 with our officiant (I said he was quirky!) - I couldn't stop smiling and giggling. I felt like a kid. For the first time everything seemed so real and so close.

We're nearing in on the two-month mark. That's not a whole lot of time left. Between out of town travel and other weekend plans, this time is going to go really fast. Yesterday I was really overcome with how excited I am to be married.

Yes the party will be fun, and I'm really excited to have all of our family and friends in one place, but I'm really excited to be married. That, and the beagles will no longer be illegitimate children.

73 days...

[One] Stamp of Approval

2010-06-08T21:59:00.000-04:00

I've mentioned before, we're doing premarital counseling with the pastor who is marrying us as well as a priest. I've actually really enjoyed most of the time we've spent there during the last six or so months. It was a lot less working through potential problems we might have (which I thought was the point at the beginning) and a lot more talking about and asking questions which we'll face in the future.

When will we start having kids?

How will we arrange our lives once that happens?

How do we deal with conflict?

Are we going to have a joint checking account?

It forced us to start talking about how our lives would work day-to-day starting August 22nd. It helped us set the foundation with skills that would help us navigate our marriage even on days when it was tough. Really tough.

This afternoon, we had our final premarital counseling session with Rev. Wiehe, our officiating pastor. He's a hilarious old man with lots of quirks who often forgot what he was saying in the middle of his story. He is wonderful, and I'm so glad we found him and have had this opportunity to learn from him. Today we walked through some ceremony logistics and then he actually blocked the ceremony for us and went over a few details we'd need before the rehearsal.

Then he turned us loose and said he'd see us on August 20th. He told us (in not as many words) that he agreed to marry us.

You see, when we first started with him, he told us that we would meet several times, ending a couple months before our scheduled wedding. If at that time, he didn't think we should go ahead with the marriage, he would prescribe professional therapy and would not marry us until we completed it. Today we passed that test.

Just because we've completed one of our premarital counseling series doesn't mean we've got a perfect relationship or that our marriage will be flawless. It's comforting to know that someone else, who has seen countless marriages formed, thinks that we can make it. And he's right. We can. We will.

Putting Pen to Paper

2010-06-07T17:13:00.000-04:00

The invitations have been in for over a month now. We've been periodically assembling different pieces of them, and this weekend I began the semi-daunting task of addressing all 111 of them.The process was actually a lot easier than I'd initially thought.

Above you can see the almost finished stack (minus a few pending official full names).

Here's the setup. Open spreadsheet, stack of completed envelopes and the one I'm working on in front. After finishing all but three, I only ended up making mistakes on five envelopes. Not bad.

Some people hire calligraphers who can charge $2-$5 per invitation. While calligraphy is gorgeous, it didn't make sense to spend that sort of money for lettering on paper which wouldn't last two minutes after its receipt. Instead, I tried to take my time and write as nice as I possibly could, taking care to line up the different lines and making it as pretty as possible.

Now it's time to stuff and stamp in order to get them in the mail the last week of this month. It's hard to believe it's finally time to send our invitations. Wow.

Completing the Outfit

2010-06-05T23:00:00.000-04:00

Aside from having incredible indecision on a pair of shoes, the rest of my bridal outfit was made complete today. I had a dress fitting today, and the lady who runs the shop also sells some wedding dresses and accessories.

After she was satisfied with all the pinning and pulling on the dress, she asked if I had a veil. When I told her I hadn't found one I liked yet, she quickly ran out of the room and came back with an armful for me to try on.

No. No. No.

YES.

It's an elbow-length, layered tulle veil in the ivory that matches my dress exactly. It's edged with a thin line of stitching to create distinction. It's simple, and it's beautiful.

The Checklist

2010-05-31T20:31:00.000-04:00

Every major wedding website has a checklist to help you "keep track" of the things you should do before your wedding day. My checklist on TheKnot has 364 items left undone. Don't worry, I haven't actually been using this. I'm much farther along than it would seem to be.

I did check the mass wedding website checklists out in the beginning. I quickly got overwhelmed by the sheer number of things to do, a number of which didn't even apply to our wedding including lighting, professional videographers, and chair rentals. Instead, I've just kept a running list along with the deadline dates mostly in my head.

This afternoon, I officially signed our florist contract. Welcome aboard the Lexa-McNally (or McNally-Lexa... not sure which way it should be) wedding team, Wegman's! Check another big thing off the list. We will have beautiful flowers, and I am totally ok with the price we are paying for them.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm moving on to the other things still on "the list". Here's a somewhat complete picture of the things that still need to be done:

-Assemble, address, and mail invitations
-Pick out and buy wedding bands
-Boys pick out suits
-Arrange transportation for bridal party and guests
-Find a veil
-Finish programs, place cards, and other wedding day paper and arrange for printing
-Find hair style
-Do hair trial
-Organize replies
-Make table arrangements
-Pick out first dance song
-Have food tasting
-Select readings and songs
-Make a final decision on shoes
-Finish dress fittings
-Pick out attendant gifts
-Apply for marriage license
-Get married!

These are the things that float to the top of my mind in my mental checklist tonight. We're down to 82 days (at least TheKnot is good for something...). Holy moly.

The MIA bride

2010-05-24T08:35:00.000-04:00

Yes, I disappeared for a bit. When work gets crazy, and life gets crazy trying to still do all the normal things you would do while not planning a wedding, well... wedding planning doesn't so much happen. I do have a couple updates on the progress of this whole shindig.

Got a florist quote from Wegmans (a fancy grocery store for those not familiar), that was $1,100 cheaper than the cheapest traditional florist. For the same stuff. Thank you, LRo for the tip! Sanity and budget saved.

We started assembling invitations. Ours come with several pieces that have to be "put together" in addition to the standard addressing.

We're at the beach this week with friends enjoying some time off and hopefully good weather once this subtropical storm passes. I'll try to give specific updates more this week!

100 Days.

2010-05-13T15:40:00.000-04:00

In 100 days, I will wear a really fancy gown for the first and probably last time in my life.

In 100 days, I will be surrounded by my closest family and friends from all around the country.

In 100 days, I will giggle with my girlfriends as we get ready in a big, fancy suite.

In 100 days, I will hopefully get a chance to eat a little bit of the three-course meal.

In 100 days, I will dance with Mitch and probably cry bittersweet tears and then dance with friends and family and laugh from sheer joy.

In 100 days, I will walk down the aisle and make a promise for life.

In 100 days, I will marry my best friend and the best man that I know.

Wedding? Check. Reception? Check. Honeymoon? Czech.

2010-05-12T19:33:00.001-04:00

First we thought we'd go to Italy. Then we got lured into the appeal of Greece. We found a great package and were ready to book it. Then the markets crashed. And the natives rioted. We decided Greece was probably a bad idea, even if it might be ok in three months (side note: holy crap! It's getting close...).

After getting my hopes up for Greece, I was frustrated about having to start all over. We decided to open up our search parameters a little bit and found this gem.

We'll be spending five nights in Prague.

And four nights in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

I could not be more excited.

We've talked to several people who've been to these destinations, and no one has said a bad thing. I've already purchased Frommers books for each place, and can forsee several more travel books in my future.

Here's to having one big thing checked off of our list!

Wedding Season

2010-05-09T19:21:00.000-04:00

Not only am I getting hitched this year, but a lot of other friends and family are as well! I was invited to three weddings each of the next three weekends. Unfortunately, I'm only able to attend two of those.

It's a little exciting to sit back and be on the other end of the wedding for a while. I've attended plenty of weddings already for a 25 year-old, but now I'll pay a bit more attention to the details and appreciate just how much work it took for all of them to fall into place. Oh, and I might just steal an idea or two for ours.

Given the busy month of May, at the end of it, we'll have less than three months to go until our own. Crunch time is on, people. I'm getting a bit more nervous about pulling it all together. After all, I don't want the bad dreams to come true for having not been prepared.

I'll be attending three weddings this summer - not counting my own. What's the max you've done in a year?

The Crazy Beagle Lady

2010-05-03T08:23:00.000-04:00

In the recap of my surprise shower, I mentioned that I got some pretty sweet gifts from my friend Caroline. While I'm already loving my new dishes and coffee pot (ok, I'm really loving the new coffee pot), this little guy below just makes me super happy.

Yes, I do <3 my beagles.

She also got me a really nice recipe card box which says "From the kitchen of Christina McNally" on it and personalized recipe cards inside. It's really fun already seeing my future last name on something.

The next day, Colin, Will's brother, gave us another gift. For Christmas, he'd drawn this great picture of Jack.

Then he went and outdid himself.

Oh.my.gosh. How cute are they?? Isn't that awesome?

Now we have a full on beagle shrine happening next to the laundry room.

After all of this happened, Will said to me, "So, all I have to do to make you happy is get you a gift with a beagle on it?" To which I replied, "No, I don't want to become the crazy beagle lady."

The engagement - making the announcement

2010-04-23T21:39:00.001-04:00

It's Friday night, and I'm at home at my desk writing thank you notes for the shower and looking at pictures of yellow bouquets online. The boys are in the next room watching playoff hockey (go Caps!). It's a really exciting Friday around these parts! I thought I'd provide a little flashback...

I've shared the details of Will's actually proposal, but I've never mentioned how we went about sharing the details with our friends and family. After the proposal, we hung out for a bit (I don't actually remember how long) just soaking it in. Then we went to separate parts of the house to make our announcement calls to family and close friends. After I'd explained that I did, in fact, say "yes" when Will proposed (never state things in ambiguous terms to my family) and given them as many details as I had at that point, Will and I regrouped.

We already had plans with friends already that night before this whole engagement thing happened. We were meeting a group of friends for karaoke for our friend Brian's birthday. Will said he didn't want to steal Brian's thunder by announcing our engagement to everyone. I agreed, but I told him I would not take off my ring. (I was way too mesmerized with the bling still at that point!)

So we get to the karaoke bar, and I try to act as normal as possible. Do you have any idea how hard it is to try to act normal an hour after having been proposed to? Yeah. Anyone who knows me, knows I do a good bit of talking with my hands. So as we're carrying on a normal conversation, our friend Jenny stops me mid-sentence and practically yells, "I'm sorry. What is that!?!" and points to my ring. At which point, I looked at Will, and said, "Well, I guess we should tell them."

The look of shock on everyone's (especially birthday boy Brian) faces was pretty priceless, and it was admittedly a pretty fun way to spread the word. Plus we were already out to celebrate, and it just gave us another reason to do so with friends.

Sticker shock

2010-04-21T08:25:00.000-04:00

It's no news to me anymore that anything associated with weddings means lots of dollars. Yesterday, I got my first quote on flowers for the wedding. It was disheartening.

I'd met with the florist on Monday night, and thought I'd made some selections that would help to minimize the cost. I guess I was wrong. Seeing the quote put a bit of a damper on the evening, and even Glee couldn't bring me out of the funk.

It's not that we couldn't afford them if we really wanted to, but I just can't make peace with spending that much money on something that will not last more than a few days. That money could go towards a down payment on Jack and Abby's future yard, or lots of fun on the honeymoon, or decreasing the amount of my student loan debt.

I guess it's sort of the conundrum of most things wedding. Brides are inundated with pictures of really expensive weddings in the magazines and popular blogs, and you think it's normal. It's then hard to not be disappointed with some of the choices you're presented with when trying to stay within a reasonable budget.

So I'm going embark on a major research project on cheaper flowers and working to find a florist who can do things for less money.

Deep breath.

Invitations have arrived!

2010-04-20T21:15:00.000-04:00

More fun mail today! The much anticipated invitations have finally arrived! The box came with a lovely little thank you note from the company, and for now, this is all you guys get to see. Have to leave a little surprise for guest mailboxes...

Let the assembling, stuffing, addressing, and stamping begin!

Showered with love

2010-04-19T21:02:00.000-04:00

Mom was in town this weekend. We did a lot while she was here, but one thing that was specifically on the agenda was to get together with Will's family for dinner (that's lunch to you non-Southerners) on Sunday. Mom, Will, and I went to church yesterday morning. Then we packed up the dogs and began the trek to Will's parent's house.

When we got there, I was concerned about making sure we walked the dogs one last time to prevent accidents (which later proved to be a warranted concern). I kept telling Will that I thought we should take them for a quick spin, but he insisted that we go in first and then we'd take them right out. I finally caved, and we walked in.

I was preoccupied with the dogs and trying to remove leashes when people yelled, "SURPRISE!" I turned, jumped, proceeded to look shocked (maybe not in that order), and there were my friends, a couple bridesmaids, Will's extended family, and family friends standing in their living room. His mom had orchestrated a complete surprise shower for me (us, I suppose) while all along I thought we'd just be having a nice, quiet meal with our immediate families.

I was so shocked and happy I nearly stared crying (this is not a good foreshadowing for wedding makeup making it all the way through the day unstreaked). There were hugs and introductions, since it was Mom's first time meeting a lot of my friends and Will's extended family.

Then the pieces started to come together. My friend and bridesmaid Kristen just happened to be in town from Philly for the weekend even though she just visited a few weeks ago. Things had been disappearing from the registries. Will discouraged me from making anything to bring to his parent's. Mom reminded me 15 times to bring my camera to the McNally's (she forgot hers).

Me, Jordan and Kristen - the bridesmaids who were able to make it.

We ate and socialized for a bit. I was crowned "bride" with my first (and only current) veil. We played some bridal party games which the Dempsey women rigged, apparently! :)

Then I opened presents. Lots of presents.

Classic Christmas present opening pose. I've had 18+ years of practice for this. In the background, Kristen hard at work assembling my rehearsal bow bouquet. Jenny, your sausage dip is imminent.

Our family and friends were so generous already! With gifts, like with kids and dogs, you don't necessarily want to have a favorite. Most of our gifts came from the registry, so obviously we like those. However, Caroline, my former roommate, gave me some great personalized gifts (photos to come - they deserve their own post).

My sweet bridesmaids, even the ones who couldn't make it, creatively signed a card and generously gifted me a little spa getaway to relieve wedding stress. Again, had to stop reading the card because I nearly started crying. Ladies, pack your Kleenex in August. I'm going to need it.

Jack thought Mom could use some help opening gifts (he learned so well from his cousin... err, aunt? Chloe). Kristen, still diligently working on the bouquet.

You certainly can't have fun accessories without sharing them with the dogs. Here, Abby the bride.

Then it was time for the obligatory family photos that mark these types of occasions.

Mom with Will and me.

The McNallys and the boys' significant others.

Yesterday was one of the happiest days of my life. I felt so incredibly loved by my current (thanks, Mom) and future families as well as my wonderful friends who could make it. It wasn't about the gifts (even those are great!) but the effort that everyone made to meet up and keep the secret to surprise me. Thank you to everyone who came and for those who sent gifts but couldn't make it. Thank you for helping to make this season of life even more special than it already is.

The subject that I almost don't want to touch (again)

2010-04-16T09:26:00.000-04:00

I almost didn't write this. Then I almost didn't publish this. Frankly, I don't want to be viewed as crazy. But I recognize that this is kinda ridiculous, so I suppose that makes it ok.

It's safe to say that I love shoes. I mean, I really looove shoes. I have lots. Ask Will. And my mom. They are the perfect accessory to an outfit, and the best thing about them is they always fit. So, all that to say:

I ordered another pair of wedding shoes.

Proceed with the shocked gasps and eye rolls. It's fine.

It started last Friday. I was a little bored early in the evening. I was in the closet and caught a glimpse of the big bag holding my wedding dress. And I decided I hadn't seen it in a while, so I opened it up. And then I decided I wanted to put it on. So I did (thank goodness it still fit!). I proceeded to prance around the bedroom for a bit feeling pretty and getting excited to actually wear it in August. Then I thought, I should put on the weddings shoes! I did and pranced around some more. Then I started to feel silly and put it all away.

I was meeting friends out for dinner that night and decided I was going to take the wedding shoes for a spin. One wear wouldn't kill them, afterall. They probably needed to be broken in anyway.

Holy foot pain. These shoes hurt. After a couple hours (and not much walking) later, I knew we had to do something about this. There was no way I could chance these shoes all day on the Big Day.

I'd still been keeping my eye out for pretty yellow shoes that might do the job better, so after this incident, I rushed on over to Zappos and hit order. I'd been eyeing these fun yellow Nina shoes, but the heel seemed kinda high and the yellow kinda bright.

They arrived on Tuesday. Of course I had to check them out. So, I rolled up my pajama pants and decided I'd do a little fashion show. For myself.

They are super cute and not that uncomfortable. I did only have them on for five minutes though. The heel is high. I have a full 365 days to return them to Zappos for a full refund, so these will at least stick around for a while. Until I find the next iteration of the wedding shoes.

Feeling Loved

2010-04-15T07:57:00.000-04:00

These showed up at my office unannounced yesterday from my best friend and maid of honor, Erin. She sent them just because, and I was super excited. Not to mention, it makes my drab, gray cube a little cheerier. Surround yourself with good people and good things happen!

Tradition and deciding our way forward

2010-04-13T08:57:00.000-04:00

Because Will and I represent different parts of Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism, respectively), we're going through marriage preparations with the church we'll be married in as well as the Catholic church. We've already had a couple meetings with each, but last Saturday, we attended the Catholic Conference for the Engaged with 100 other couples.

For me, it was very interesting and informative. We listened to a series of seminars from different speakers, married couples, and a priest. I think we got a lot of practical information on communication and tips for building a solid marriage.

It was particularly interesting to me as I'm mostly unfamiliar with Catholic traditions and beliefs. We attended a special session for "mixed marriages" (those with one spouse Catholic, the other not). The priest himself was the result of a Catholic/Lutheran union and had a lot of interesting perspectives. He recommended several resources to understand more, and I've already cashed in a birthday gift certificate from my brother on Amazon to get it.

I know our marriage has probably been questioned by a person or two regarding this topic. How do you make it work? Does one give in? Do you agree to disagree? What about the kids? We haven't figured it all out yet. We're working through it and committed to each other in the process. What I am learning is that there's a lot of misunderstanding on both sides about the other.

Recently I've heard talk of trying to develop Christian unity for the who-knows-how-many denominations and traditions and Christianity to lay down the trivial differences in belief and love each other. It's kind of like two speed skaters from the same country (the Olympics are still fresh in my mind, so this is the best metaphor I can come up with) fighting for first place. In the process, one clips the other, and they both fall losing not only first place but any medal at all for their country. It isn't about coming in first place, but those skaters could have worked together to win the prize. Instead, the rest of the world looked on with pity and confusion at the tragedy that resulted.

Ok, so not a perfect metaphor, but perhaps you get where I'm going. What I think it comes down to though is that I don't really think we're that different after all.

Validation

2010-04-11T17:36:00.000-04:00

When I met with the wedding planners on Wednesday, they went through a series of questions in order to understand what they were getting themselves into. They asked all the typicals- location, size, what vendors we'd already chosen. And then they asked our colors.

When I responded, "Navy and dark yellow," they looked at each other and said, "Oooh!" When you can impress wedding planners, you've done something right.

On knowing when to ask for help

2010-04-09T09:50:00.000-04:00

Wedding planners. Now that everyone has a picture of J.Lo being daringly saved from an oncoming car by dreamy Matthew McConaughey, let's discuss the topic.

I met with two on Wednesday night. They were brides back in '07 and decided afterward, they wanted to start doing wedding planning on the side. They now own their own business and mostly serve to help tie up loose ends and secure details in the last few months leading up to a wedding as well as coordinate all moving pieces on the actually day of the wedding.

One of the first pieces of advice my dear friend and bridesmaid, Kristen, gave me when we got engaged was to hire a day-of-coordinator. She's done a bit of it herself and said it would make the day much easier for everyone. As we are now getting closer, and I'm realizing just how many moving pieces there will be, I absolutely agree that I'd like someone there (who is not me) to make sure everything is in place. I also don't want that responsibility to fall to my mom or Will's mom or one of my bridesmaids. They are the ones I'm closest to, and I want them to enjoy the day as much as I will.

Today I'm mailing back our signed contract and deposit to secure their services for our wedding. Welcome, Graceful Weddings, to the team! And THANK YOU for making my life (and wedding day) easier!

Check another of the list

2010-04-01T21:15:00.000-04:00

We're done with registries! We walked in and out of Bed, Bath & Beyond in about an hour. We scanned about 24 things, and I've since gone back and added a few more.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. So, there are no pictures.

Highlights (for me) on the registry:

A new coffee pot
A crock pot with a lid that snaps on! Brilliant!
On the advice of several friends, I went for a Dyson. That's a lot of vacuum.

To see the whole list, check the link on the sidebar. So now I just need to keep an eye on it and see if we need to add more as time goes on. 142 days to go!

Wedding Registry, Round Two

2010-03-30T11:02:00.000-04:00

Tonight we're tackling another hot-spot for engaged couples, Bed, Bath & Beyond. If you remember, we already set up our first registry at Crate & Barrel where people are apparently already buying us stuff! While I love C&B, they didn't quite have everything that we need to make our home lovely, more inviting for guests, and a little more grown up.

Things I'll be on the lookout for tonight:

A new coffee maker - this one is completely for me and any guests we have as Will doesn't so much as enjoy the smell of coffee.
A new crock pot - at some point in the last year, I dropped the $25 version I bought back in college and broke one of the handles. Trying to haul it around to various tailgates/parties has been difficult ever since. Not to mention it has two settings: High and I WILL BURN YOUR FOOD IN TWO MINUTES.
Towels/washcloths - something soft, absorbent, and matching. I think we'll probably go with a nice boring white.
A nice vacuum - suggested by my lovely future mother-in-law, I think it's a fabulous idea. Seeing as we now have two dogs to shed all over the place, something with some real suction power would be much appreciated around Casa McNally.

I'm sure we'll zap a few extra things here and there, but those are my goals. Any final suggestions for the registry, readers?

Wedding Day Beauty: Setting the Foundation

2010-03-29T10:58:00.000-04:00

As of today, we are 145 days away from the BIG DAY. (No, I didn't take the time to figure out the number of days left. Thank you theknot.com for doing the calculations for me). That still seems like a pretty long way off, but it's starting to sneak up faster than I would think.

I've already decided that I'll be doing my own makeup on the wedding day. I want to look mostly like I do everyday, albeit a little bit fancier. I don't want to cake on makeup and forever look back at pictures and think... why did I do that to myself? Over the next few months, I'll be experimenting with which makeup I want to go with, colors, and ideas. In the meantime, I have to prep my skin to be its best.

I've had dark circles under my eyes for as long as I can remember. No amount of additional sleep makes them go away, so I mostly stick with daily concealer to hide them. Yesterday at Sephora, I picked up this to actually attempt to rid myself of them (or at least diminish their appearance).

I'll still be wearing concealer, but I'd really love to not look like a walking zombie when I wake up every day. If this doesn't seem to do anything in a few months, perhaps I'll switch to one of the 120 other dark circle combatants that Sephora peddles.

Pretty Paper

2010-03-28T21:47:00.000-04:00

Not long ago, I posted about the frustrations I was having with the invitation search. Well, a few more Google searches, and we found a site where we both liked many of the options and the price point was right. We ordered a sample pack to make sure the quality checked out ok. They were beautiful. After a week of tweaking things here and there with the wording and design, I finally hit the "submit" button tonight.

Our wedding invitations are officially ordered. After the proofs are approved, we'll have them in about a week. Good thing Mom is coming out in a few weeks to help with all the addressing!

Wedding Trends

2010-03-26T17:31:00.000-04:00

When it comes to planning this shin-dig, I'd say I have had a pretty good idea of what I wanted the overall feel to be from the get-go: chic, and modern but timeless. Over the course of several months, perusing several bridal/wedding blogs daily, I've noticed certain trends that seem to be pervasive - at least throughout the wedding media. Let me say from the beginning that I do not view all of these as bad ideas, they are just widely used.

The photo booth - My good friend and bridesmaid, Kate, had one of these at her wedding last year. We had an absolute blast with it.
Fake moustaches - This one I don't understand. Why?

(Image from Intimate Weddings)

Vintage everything - Old bikes, old vases, old everything.
Candy bar - Considering this. Only real problem here is you're looking at $$$ to get ahold of all of the different jars you would need.

(Image from geoffwhite.com)

Choreographed entrance and first dances - And not the ballroom type either.

One of the main reasons I don't want to add too many trendy elements to our wedding is that I want to look back in 50 years and still think what a beautiful day it was, not wonder why in the world I made the decision to date the wedding with the trends of a specific era.

Other brides out there, what big trends am I missing?

I peeked

2010-03-23T14:24:00.000-04:00

Wedding registries now-a-days are great. They are extremely easy to set up and manage. We had a good time (or at least I did, you can ask Will if he agrees) creating our Crate and Barrel registry. After that, I kinda forgot about it except for some helpful comments from a friend (thanks, KSteph!) that the link wasn't working. Oops. Things work better when you turn them on.

The other day I happened to pop over to our registry on C&B because I was thinking about adding a knife set. We think the kitchen shears may have met an untimely death in the garbage over the weekend due to some serious home improvement. And I looooved those things. Anyway. I happen to scroll through, and lo and behold, people have bought stuff already! Whoa! I yelled into the other room to tell Will and continued to scroll down to see what else had been snatched up.

Then I sort of felt like an 8 year old snooping for Christmas presents and shut the browser quickly. No, I don't know who bought those items up off of the registry, but I'm assuming I will come August. So, readers, if one of you happens to be the purchaser of said gifts, I apologize for peeking. But thanks in advance!

Dear everyone,

2010-03-15T22:08:00.001-04:00

You're invited.

Don't make me look at any more invitations.

-Christina

Shoe Conundrum

2010-03-15T19:21:00.000-04:00

One of my first posts introduced you to a pair of J.Crew peep toe pumps I claimed to be my wedding shoes. Well, I tried them on and kept examining the color and came to a couple conclusions: 1) The color was just not right. What looked like a darker yellow satin in the picture really turned out to be more olivey, and 2) those things hurt like a bear with its foot in a trap.

They got returned to J.Crew.

I've been on the prowl for a new set of shoes. Ever week or so I'd check Endless, Piperlime, Zappos, J.Crew and others to see what the latest selection of yellow shoes was. As it got closer to spring the number of yellow shoes available increased but the problem I was finding was that they were all either flats or 4" tall. I wanted something that would be mostly comfortable for the entire day, and a pair of sky-high heels was not going to do it. But I wanted a little heel - flats just don't make me feel as poised or lady-like.

Today I stopped by the mall to return some things and wandered through Macy's shoe department. I passed the BCBG display and stopped. I saw these. Unfortunately, I can't find a link that shows the yellow one right away, so you'll have to go and click on the "Ocra" color.

They are perfect. They are about 2.5" high, have a peep toe and cute detailing, and the color is wonderful. Best of all, I know what they'll feel like because I've owned several pairs from this brand.

So, everyone. Now meet my real wedding shoes.

Mother of the Bride

2010-03-05T15:51:00.000-05:00

I know my mom is one of my most dedicated readers (and commenters... thanks, Mom!). Today, I'd like to take time to share a little bit about the wonderful woman who I get to call "mom".

I was born in the middle of a Colorado winter to a mother who was younger than I am currently old. She was an Air Force wife excited for her first baby. I was going to be Charles if I was a boy. Lucky for Will, I turned out to be Christina.

Mom stayed home with us (me and my younger bro, Steven) when we were young. I remember playing out back on the swing set and naps on my big red pillow in front of Gilligan's Island. During those naps, mom would clean the kitchen floor by hand because she said the mop wasn't good enough for her babies. She sang me to sleep with "Rock-a-bye Christi" (her variation of the traditional) and "You are My Sunshine." I remember going to visit her at her work at McDonald's occasionally when I was still pre-K. She worked in the coolest McDonald's ever - seriously, it was two stories and had a chandelier.

My dad first got sick when I was three. I remember visits to the hospital and spending time with our grandparents in Tennessee while he was really sick. Then I remember the day when she came home and told us he had died.

It seemed like a whirlwind after that until I started kindergarten just a few weeks later. She packed us up and took us to Disney World. Very fitting that she took us to "The Happiest Place on Earth" only days after we lost our dad. Then we moved to Tennessee to be next door neighbors to my grandparents.

Mom started college the same year that I started kindergarten, and we proudly watched her graduate when I was in fourth grade. I remember thinking around my junior year of college that there was no way that I could ever be a full time student and care for two children under the age of 10. It made me appreciate all the more the effort that she put in (and no doubt the countless amount of coffee she had in order to study after we went to bed so that we never felt neglected).

Mom attended probably 97% of all the concerts, recitals, and games I had growing up. I didn't know what it was like to not have a fan there for me.

During orientation at Iowa, they used to have a program where the parents could write a letter to their kids that they'd get the first week they started classes their freshman year. I remember calling Mom to thank her for the letter and to tell her that I cried the entire time I read it. She told me, "It's ok. I cried the entire time I wrote it." Some of my favorite college memories are the days when Mom didn't have to work and would drive the 50 minutes to Iowa City just to have lunch with me. We'd frequent Olive Garden for soup, salad, and breadsticks. I loved those days.

Even though I'm now half a country away, I still cherish our phone calls, text messages, and the visits we share. As I grow older, I find that I'm becoming more and more like her. Mitch always tells me I'm like her because we're both stubborn, but I'm now seeing it in other ways too.

It's always been my fear that I'll somehow disappoint her because I feel like I have so much to live up to. (I'm sure she'll comment that I never disappoint her, but still.) If I am half of the mother she is one day, I will consider it a success.

Why do I bring this all up today? As I type this, she's en route to Miami with a final destination of Port Au Prince, Haiti. She's a nurse, and has volunteered to travel there with a surgical team for a week to help tend to those in need of medical care. I could not be more proud to be her daughter.

I post this here because I wish she were able to share more with me in terms of wedding planning. That's one of the difficult things about being so far away and one of the main reasons I started this blog. Mom, I hope you're as excited as I am for August 21st. I can't wait to share that day with you.

I love you, Mom.

Unfortunately, or fortunately for me perhaps, I don't have any pictures during my awkward phase from about 6-13. Sorry!

Newest obsession

2010-03-04T11:24:00.000-05:00

Besides the beagles of course. If you haven't seen them. They're adorable. Really. See?

We've had Jack (left) since August and we just adopted Abby (right) a few weeks ago. They're adorable (except when they do bad things occasionally) and sweet. We couldn't have dogs any more loving than the two of them. I digress. Our beagles were not the point of this post. But they're so cute! Right, grandmas?

I stumbled across this site when perusing a local bridal forum that I check out. I've found it's extremely helpful to see other brides recommendations on vendors and to ask questions about what worked for them. Plus, they have great ideas like this.

I'd checked out another make-your-own-book vendor before, but had gotten so wrapped up in the confusing interface, I kinda gave up. MyPublisher has been extremely easy to use so far. Plus, if you notice the top corner of the website, it's free until the end of the month. Uh, yes please?

Now the plan is to put the photos of us through our years together in this book along with quotes of meaningful song lyrics and leave some blank space for our guests to sign as a guestbook. So much better than blank pieces of paper, right? It will make a lovely coffee table book that I'm sure we'll look back on with fondness for years to come.

Want one of your own? Check it out soon to nab your free copy!

Crate and Barrel has us on the list

2010-03-01T11:03:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday marked our first registry experience. We headed to Crate and Barrel for a "Registry Party" and walked away an hour later with several hundred dollars worth of kitchen and dining pieces next to our names. After we grabbed pastries and orange juice as fuel, we began the expedition around the huge C&B store.

Will manned the "gun" while I navigated and checked off items on our list. We were in search of a few specific things (dishes, silverware, cookware) and added others as they caught our eyes from the shelves.

Will shooting our silverware.

I love Crate and Barrel. Their modern design and practical pieces fit right in with my style. I often wander through this store just to browse and get ideas. They also have a sweet after-Christmas sale.

After we found a rhythm of finding things we were looking for, debating quantity and pattern, and making a decision, the process moved fairly quickly. They had food/drink demos set up around the store, so we stopped every now and then to refuel. Sidenote: Who knew that carrot apple ginger juice was good?

At one point, Will started to laugh. He told me some guy across the store just made eye contact with him and proceeded to roll his eyes and give him an exacerbated look. All I can say is I hope I wasn't as bad as the girl that guy was with.

On the escalator after finding everything we wanted. Will, taking the "gun" very seriously.

It was a fun experience and exciting to have another thing checked off the list. We will go to one more place to register for things like towels, linens, and miscellaneous home things.

Reader poll, all four of you

2010-02-25T14:07:00.000-05:00

I've found in the wedding planning process, I tend to get "stuck" on certain things and can't really move on to other things until I get that issue figured out. Right now, it's our first dance song.

I've known which song I wanted used for my father/daughter dance song since before I had a groom. See this post for a preview. We've had a relatively easy time picking other music. We know what we'll be walking into the reception to, and we have great dinner and dancing music.

But we're stuck on this song.

Will and I have "a song." It's "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait. The first time I ever heard the song, it was the summer of 2008. We were on our way back from a river rafting trip with friends. I was driving, and Will was sitting co-pilot and acting as DJ for the car. He specifically said I needed to hear this song. Then he played it three more times before we got home. We'd not long before started using the "L" word, and the lyrics fit us perfectly. He was/is my best friend.

I love "our song." That's not the issue. The issue is it isn't a dancing song. It's an awkward tempo between fast and slow and would only accentuate our white person dancing. We've collectively decided we'd use another for our first dance. We're just having a problem agreeing what to use.

I suggested "Just the Way You Are" by Billy Joel. Will shot it down. He suggested "Can't Take My Eyes off of You" by Frankie Vallie, and I shot that down. (I'm still secretly holding out hope for Billy...)

So, anyway... we're looking for this song. We both like classic rock (70s/80s), 80s/90s pop and stuff like Jason Mraz (clearly). And here's my question for you. Friends, family, future family, lurkers, complete strangers. Please leave comments suggesting songs! Nothing is off the table. I promise to pass along each and consider them with Will.

Thanks for helping me figure this out. I have other wedding decisions that need to be made.

Let them eat cake

2010-02-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

Ask me a few weeks ago and I probably would have told you we were going to just get sheet cakes from Costco. And I was serious. However, after a significant amount of online research, I found Linda.

Linda has baked cakes out of her home for 30+ years, and has recently won several awards for her wedding cakes. Her prices were the most reasonable I'd seen, but the real kicker - she was advertising 20% off if you booked a cake by March 1st. I'm not one likely to turn down a sale.

So, tonight, Will and I headed over to her house to do a little cake tasting and decoration picking. I'll leave the actual design for a surprise, but we will be having a two-flavored cake (chocolate and white almond) with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting. I have a strong dislike for fondant. I don't care if the cake looks pretty if it's inedible.

That's Will with the remnants of our tasting.

Thanks Linda for the 20% off. Otherwise, my guests would have been stuck with wholesaler sheet cake.

Wedding Nightmares

2010-02-17T15:02:00.000-05:00

I had my second wedding nightmare last night. As in the dream kind... not the have a huge problem kind.

Basically the dream centered around the Marriott double booking its space and demanding that I hold my reception at 10:30PM. The real kicker was that they didn't tell us this until we showed up at the time we thought the reception was, 5:00PM. No one would answer my questions as to why there were all these other people floating around, one of my bridesmaids got sick and had to miss the entire wedding, and our parents suddenly went MIA.

I had gone Bridezilla on everyone around me.

The only good thing in the dream was that Will handmade very nice and thoughtful wedding programs.

Not quite sure what all this means. Perhaps I should get back to planning to ensure these nightmares don't become reality!

No turning back.

2010-02-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

Not that we were going to anyway. But, you know, this kinda makes it official. Or something.

That's me getting ready to drop our save-the-date postcards in the mail. Will was behind the camera and might have rolled his eyes a little when I asked if he could take a picture of the event. Before they were off to postage neverland, I stuck my hand down in the mailbox, still gripping the cards, looked at Will, and asked, "Are you sure about this?"

Don't worry. He told me to go ahead. So, I dropped them all down in the big, blue mailbox, and on Tuesday (Government holiday on Monday and all...), they'll be off to our wedding guests. So excited!

Burning question: What's on the registry?

2010-02-11T11:36:00.000-05:00

Next weekend Will and I will create our first gift registry at Crate & Barrel. I'm excited because I 1) love C&B and 2) get an opportunity to get nice kitchen stuff (among other things). However, we're a little perplexed as to what will actually go on the list.

Having lived on our own for several years now, we've amassed quite a bit of house stuff. I've acquired a lot of kitchen related things and Will, well, has acquired a lot of sports memorabilia. There are already certain things I just don't need which couples would typically add to their registries. Like the KitchenAid stand mixer my mom gifted me for Christmas my first year out of college.

She said wisely then that no kitchen should be without one of these. She was SO right. I love this thing. She's had hers for 20+ years, and I will surely have mine for just as long. Best.gift.ever. (Thanks, Mom!)

Couple our already mostly furnished space with the fact that Will's condo is not very big. The kitchen storage in particular leaves a lot to be desired. We'll have to think carefully about the new things we acquire and artfully about where those things go once they're here.

So, here's my question for all my married, engaged, or older and wiser friends and family: What things did you put on your registries that you couldn't live without? What things do you have in your home now that you just love and think we would too? And answer me this one as well, how did you go about choosing your dishes from ALL of the patterns out there? Please, comment. I need advice!

The Sunday Edition: Why the Wedding Industry Loves Us - The Unnecessaries

2010-02-10T18:04:00.000-05:00

Yes, I realize this is a few days late for the Sunday Edition. However, we've been dealing with this.

When you peruse websites like The Knot, Brides, Project Wedding, etc., they will provide you recommendations on everything. I mean everything. A lot of those recommendations are helpful. To be honest, starting to plan a wedding is very overwhelming. Therefore, it's nice to have a comprehensive list that someone else has already compiled.

However. There are a whole host of things that some would say are "musts" in order to "make" the day. On the Knot, I can find vendor lists for lighting professionals, professional videographers, and calligraphers. They all have hearty businesses kept in the black by my fellow brides. We are having none of the above.

Some could say that most things in a wedding are unnecessary. You can walk to the courthouse in jeans and a t-shirt with just a friend or two and be married. Sure, the flowers and the cake and the save-the-dates are nice to haves as well. But those are just common elements that I want to have to be able to make the day lovely. When we looked at our wedding celebration, we wanted to be able to throw a huge party for our closest family and friends to kick off our marriage by their showing of support. We wanted to thank them for what they've been to us in the past and hopefully the love and support they'll give us in the future.

Even on the "necessaries" we are making decisions to try to cut monetary corners while still having a wonderful, lovely day. So, sorry wedding singers. You aren't getting any of our money either.

Pretty Church

2010-02-07T12:32:00.000-05:00

I snapped these as we left church this morning. Granted, our wedding day will look much different in late August, but it was too pretty not to capture!

Mail Time!

2010-02-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before, the mail that shows up these days is pretty fun. Mostly. I still get the credit card bills that come from paying from the fun stuff. But, minor details.

This box contained the earrings for the big day. Which, if you ask me, this box seems like overkill for one pair of earrings. But I love J.Crew. Seriously. Love. Love. Love.

These guys were actually the second jewelry purchase I've made. I happened to be wandering J.Crew one day and picked up a pearl and rhinestone bracelet with similar styling to these earrings that I really loved. Plus it was on sale for $15! I've yet to try them on, but I think they'll be great. They're enough that a decision not to wear a necklace can be justified.

Our faces are about to go Postal

2010-02-04T23:10:00.000-05:00

The assembly line: addressing, stamping, stacking.

The Sunday Edition: Why the Wedding Industry Loves Us - Bridal Showcases

2010-02-01T21:55:00.000-05:00

Yes, I realize it's Monday, and this was supposed to be posted yesterday. My apologies. You see, we were here over the weekend. After three straight days of hard skiing and a four and a half our drive home, I was exhausted. So I went to bed and hoped my faithful readers (all four of you) would forgive me.

Anywho. Back to the Sunday Edition.

Bridal Showcases. Having been a DC bride-to-be for three and a half months now, I've already been invited to several of these things. I've attended zero, for several reasons. First of all, several cost a hefty sum to attend. I got invited to one at the Mandarin Oriental a few weeks ago where the entrance fee of $50. I've also managed to find a lot of my vendors on my own. I don't really need to be presented with many options for everything we need for the wedding. However, I think the most convincing reason not to attend one of these events is the image I have of other brides - the crazy, wedding-obsessed bridezillas that I imagine out there. The thought of being surrounded by those type of people stresses me out. Hence, I stay away.

There is an upcoming showcase at our reception location that I'll probably check out to see what the place looks like first hand when it's all gussied up.

I love when the mail comes these days

2010-01-25T21:14:00.000-05:00

For all the crafts and projects and wedding related items that I'm buying these days, the mail is extra fun. More often than normal I'm getting packages rather than bills and junk mail.

Today was no exception.

Not only is tomorrow my birthday which means I had a couple cards in the mail (thanks, Erin and Lauren!), but a rather thick envelope from Zazzle arrived as well.

That is my save the date card on my refrigerator! Eeeee!!!

The Sunday Edition: Why the Wedding Industry Loves Us - Bridal TV

2010-01-24T19:03:00.000-05:00

If you've flipped through the "women's networks" (Lifetime, We, TLC, etc.) at one point or another, you've come across the various wedding related programming that exists. Until Thanksgiving, I'd only heard of these and never actually watched any episodes. Now, I will admit, I do watch a few every now and then.

Like the wedding magazines, there are different tiers of wedding shows. I do enjoy watching "Say Yes to the Dress." It's even earned a spot on my DVR for something to watch when I'm bored and there isn't anything else on. However, there are a number of other shows that simply make me roll my eyes and change the channel.

BridesTelevision produces 18 shows, some of which I didn't even know existed. For instance, they produce a show called "My Big Redneck Wedding" that "follows country couples as they plan their shin-digs and pull them off". Reeeeally?

Then you have the more popular shows like "Bridezillas" and "Platinum Weddings." The first I can't stand to watch because they are they epitomize the type of bride I strive not to be. They are bossy and insistent that everything revolves around them for the wedding. Not only is the wedding not all about the bride, but it's not just about the bride and groom either. It's about every single person who is there celebrating with you.

"Platinum Weddings" focuses on weddings where budget isn't a word ever used in the planning, and hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on this singular event. It perpetuates the idea permeating the bridal industry that you have to spend lots of money on everything for your wedding to be perfect.

All these shows generate advertising revenue and continue to fuel the fire of bridal spending by planting ideas in future brides heads about the things their weddings "should" entail. Additionally, they capture viewing audiences who aren't even in the process of planning their wedding. I know a number of people who watch these shows who aren't engaged.

Please, America. I beg of you. Please stop watching this awful TV. Put on something entertaining and uplifting. Like Glee. :)

What $280 will buy on Craigslist...

2010-01-21T10:47:00.000-05:00

20 picture frames of varying size and color for table numbers and other decorations

35 glass vases in varying sizes for centerpieces

I think I scored a fantastic deal for my table/reception decor. Plus I helped someone clean out their post-wedding stuff. Currently my back seat is still out of service because those vases are waiting for transport to Will's condo for storage.

DIY project up coming on how I turned those frames from eh to aww.

We're no longer just throwing a really expensive party

2010-01-19T19:08:00.000-05:00

We've found a church! Woooo hoooo!

This afternoon, Will and I met with Rev. Wiehe of St. George's Episcopal Church here in Arlington. We both really like him. He's very friendly, and he seems like a great source of wisdom, encouragement, and guidance as we go through premarital counseling and the ceremony itself.

Tomorrow we are meeting with a Catholic priest to see if we will be able to have him co-officiate at the church. I'm holding out hope that he will be willing, and we can really have a unique ceremony that makes both of our families feel included and loved.

I'm just really excited because now it seems really real. We're actually having a wedding now.

Two Years Ago...

2010-01-18T17:36:00.000-05:00

January 17, 2008 marked the start of our relationship. We didn't know then that a couple years later we'd be in the middle of planning our wedding. I remember thinking it hard to believe that I was actually dating Will. He was (and is) so handsome and cool.

He must have seen something in me then as well. I didn't yet have Jack, so even if he is marrying me for my dog (kidding... well, sort of), he didn't start out dating me for him.

Thanks for taking a chance on me and on us, Will. I love you.

Save the date.

2010-01-17T19:48:00.000-05:00

Ordered and on their way to my house.

The Sunday Edition: Why the Wedding Industry Loves Us - Wedding Magazines

2010-01-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

As I enter my third month of wedding planning (side note: holy cow, this is going a lot faster than I thought it would...), I've become an acute observer of the things specifically sold to those about to wed. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for a lot of them. Check back every Sunday on a different aspect of the wedding industry as I examine the ever growing cash-monster that it is. First up this week: wedding magazines.

I admit that buying a wedding magazine was one of the first things I did when I got engaged. Ok, confession, I may have picked one up in an airport the weekend before we got engaged sensing the upcoming occasion. To date, I have purchased or been given nine different magazines each ranging between $4 and $10 a pop.

Last night, I did what every normal 24 year old bride-to-be does on a Saturday night. I went to Harris Teeter, picked up a gallon of milk, a half gallon of the ice cream that looked best (Edy's Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, if you were curious), and this shimmering beauty from the magazine rack:

Then I headed home to work on designing our invitations (that's a post for another day). Wait... you mean spending a Saturday night at home with your dog playing on the computer isn't normal? Well... I digress.

Anyway, back to the above mentioned magazine. I have found that all wedding magazines are not created equal. You have the Real Simples and the Martha Stewarts, and then you have the Brides and Modern Brides, etc., and then you have the local mags or publications which you've never heard of before you spotted them on the shelf at the grocery store. I've purchased from all three categories. But last night I picked up the newest Martha Stewart Weddings.

I love Martha Stewart. Don't judge. Her magazines, as well as her websites, are full of beautiful, do-it-yourself, practical advice. If there is anything needed in wedding planning it is practicality. Trust me. I've cut out pages and book marked sites already with projects that I have planned for the coming months. There are of course advertisements, but they are tailored and relevant and beautiful. Martha got $5.95 from me for this one, and I will gladly shell another six bucks out again when the next edition comes out in a few months.

The other magazines may be a little cheaper, but they come filled with page after page of ugly, over-the-top wedding dresses and scantily clad bridesmaids. You pay for about fourteen pages of content in a two hundred page magazine. At least in most cases I got a 50% off coupon for Michael's.

But these babies will continue to fly off the shelves churning the wedding industry cash cow. At least now I've got my focus when shelling out my hard-earned moolah.

Craigslist, my new BFF

2010-01-14T13:44:00.000-05:00

As you saw in the previous post, I'm going to need lots of glass vases for my centerpieces. I've begun to stalk Craigslist in hopes of catching a steal from another bride with leftovers from her own big day. After all, it's just a glass vase... why NOT get a used one?

There are several other things I'm keeping my eyes open for as well. I'm looking for picture frames (thinking for table numbers and displaying family photos) to spray paint white or silver, votives, votive holders, as well as a couple other things that I've got in the works.

I've found that I can score some of these things at a significant discount because after the wedding is over, who really needs 156 votive holders (a recent posting on the DC Craigslist) laying around the house? So all in all it works out well. I can help someone clean out there garage, and I can get everything I need without paying full price.