sweet somethings

I heard somewhere that it is sometimes customary to give the hostess of your shower a thank you gift. I don't know if this is Something You Have to Do or Something the Wedding Industry Wants You To Think You Have to Do, but either way I was really thankful and I really really like putting presents together.

I wanted to get a fun little something for Miss OH Ashley, since she planned the whole thing out and hosted it in her SUPER CUTE new apartment, but since bridesmaid Krystal and Mrs OH Jessie made a TON of food for the shower (the leftovers of which I am currently eating straight out of the tupperwear...classy) I got them a little something too.
All the girls got sweet notecards that looked like baked goods (and were vanilla scented!) some pink fancy bubble bath, scrub, and/or body butter, and kool aid lip gloss (because we're five). Ashley, as the actual hostess, also got a loaf of home made bread (no knead bread...best invention EVER!) and a cute little basket.
And then, because I was so excited that I got ready like three hours before my shower, I took a little extra time to make cute little thank you tags.

I scanned the image from a satirical etiquette book from the sixties that I got at a library book sale in like the fourth grade. The wedding etiquette chapter has this image of a bride running towards the aisle so fast that the little attendants are left flying...it's really cute and even way back then, I knew I wanted it involved in my eventual wedding somehow.
See how neat? I have no idea who the artist is but I want prints all over my house.

I changed the color not to be clever but because I'm out of black ink (eh) and then I used a pretty font on the bottom. The brownish hue and the unevenness of the color made it look like a rubber stamp. That also wasn't intentional, but made it look like I put more effort into it than I actually did. Score!

I think they turned out pretty well, since this, like the shower, was my "first time." I wanted to make sure that this present didn't have similar things as the actual bridesmaid gifts which have...um...secrets in them. SECRETS I SAY! (runs away)

bridal shower!

Saturday was My Very First Bridal Shower, and by very first, I mean that I...um...haven't gone to one before. Ever.

Greg made fun of me beforehand by saying I was "Always a bride, never a bridesmaid." Thanks.
i have a ton of pictures of just rooms of people milling around...what should one do with these things?

So I didn't know what to expect out of a shower, but it ended up being really fun! There was a nice mixture of college girls and married ladies, friends and family, and there were a bunch of foods that were based on either sugar, cheese, or meat...you can't go wrong, really. Cupcakes were also present, much to the delight of the bride to be and the flower girl to be (who ate part of my cupcake in addition to her own)

I was a little afraid that we would play Stupid Party Games, but we just did one game of Shannon and Greg trivia. It was funny, but I suspect that most bridal shower trivia games are a little...um...less weird.

Some of my favorite questions:

before they met in person, what was shannon's opinion of greg? --that he should date katie--

when greg assisted directed a uno show, he had to direct shannon in a scene in which she did what? --had sex with another dude.

(many people got this one right, and answers varied from 'kissed another boy' to 'humped jeff bell' and it was by far the one people were most enthusiastic about answering) shannon and greg once had a large shouting match in public. they were arguing about the best plan of defense in the face of what sort of attack? --zombies-- what is ruffles' favorite movie? Kate & Leopold

(this...um...has nothing to do with us as a couple about to be married. But somebody actually got it right!)

And of course, there were presents. I'm not going to lie...I was pretty excited about the presents.
The theme of the shower was...time? Clocks? I don't know exactly what you call it. Everyone got a specific time of day (8 a.m., midnight) and they were supposed to bring corresponding gifts. Luckily, I am in the kitchen like sixteen hours a day, because I wanted cooking stuff and boy brother, did I get it! Cookie sheets, muffin pans, mixing bowls, pyrex (in red! I didn't know they made red pyrex!), candles, towels, goblets from an honest to god ren fair, and all the awesome plates we registered for from CB2 (the commas from Katie M and the "mmm" from Katie C...Katies love CB2 I guess?) and a whole lot more. It was awesome, and everyone was so generous and you could tell with some presents that the people really thought about what Greg and I would most use and like.

Oh, and did I mention:




Ohhhhhhhhhh, lover.

Okay, I knew my mom was getting me the mixer because she told me. But she said she was giving it to me at the wedding. So when I opened it at the shower I made a lot of fluttery hand gestures and high pitched noises because it was MINE right then and there.
Which is a little Veruca Salt of me but whatevs.

I felt kinda bad flipping out like that. I liked everyone's presents equally it's just...you know...it's a stand mixer. Everything I have ever wanted in a kitchen. My mom had decided that she was bringing so much other junk up for the wedding week that she would just give it to me now to save space in her car...but she pointed out that this WAS IT. Shower, wedding, birthday, Christmas...and I'm like THAT IS FINE CAN I TAKE THIS OUT OF THE BOX NOW?

I can't wait to break that baby in. I think I will call her Nigella.

But, um, back to the shower...I really liked it, and I had a lot of fun. I already have my thank you cards done (I just have no stamps) and I put everything away that I could, minus things like the mixer and the really pretty mixing bowls, which I"m just going to display for a while.

I think I want someone else to get married so I can GO to a shower. I would even like to plan one someday, although I think at this point it'll probably be a baby shower instead. Whatevs. I like making cupcakes in all shapes and sizes.

dress fitted, mind changed, f bombs dropped

This post is FULL of profanity. I apologize.

I know I've been absent. Ironically enough, if you are actually doing wedding stuff, or your wedding is rapidly approaching (fifty seven days....shit) then you don't have time to blog about your wedding, what you've been planning, or how it's rapidly approaching.


But you all keep me accountable so...let's blog this thing.


First of all, I had a second Hastings super wedding weekend. This weekend was significantly less fun than the last weekend, mostly because people either reminded me at how far behind I am at this wedding thing (thanks) or made the wedding planning harder in various ways (again, appreciated) but I'm not going to let this get me down. I am a wedding planning machine, motherfuckers. You do not want to mess with this engaged lady. I have shit I need to do.
That is another reason why it took me so long to post.
But I digress. Obvs.

I had a dress fitting. Yay! I can't post pictures on here because I want to keep that at least SLIGHTLY under wraps, at least from Greg, but I can show you my face when I first put my dress on:
That is a look of joy and a deep love for pretty things that now belong to me.

Once I got over the initial giddiness of being in my Wedding Dress, I saw myself in the big mirror and it was...interesting. I love my dress, still. I just had one of those little diva moments when I looked at myself in a dress that was actually mine and freaked out a little when it didn't look like the dress I had tried on before...probably because this one was probably three sizes bigger. I needed a bigger dress because I am a big girl on top (not just big busted, but big waisted and big ribbed) but I'm pretty small in the hip area, so what had previously looked like a modified mermaid now looked like a big off-white tube and I was. Not. Happy. However once they got me all pinned up I was happily back into mermaid territory and that crisis was averted.

That crisis. Then we go to my hair piece. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
See those under eye circles? Those weren't there before they put that thing on my head. But it is very pretty, I will give you that.

So let's just break it down for a moment: I am with the design camp that is currently very popular that loves little birds and branches and leaves and deer and etc etc etc. So when we first went to the shop, in May, and I saw a pretty little headband that looked like the branch of a very sparkly tree that wrapped around the head, I thought "ooooooh pretty."
My sister also thought "ooooooh pretty" and I tried it on. We decided to order it as well when we ordered my dress. And then we drove away.
And the moment we drove away from the store I thought...do I want that headband, really?
And then I fretted over the damn thing for like four months.
First of all, they didn't let me take a picture of it, or give me the item number, so I was going strictly from memory about how the thing actually looked, which made trying to find co-ordinating jewelry a bitch. It was also gold, which made silver jewelry pretty much a no go. And it's very sparkly, which could lead to overkill of bling. It also eliminated the addition of feathers to my hair for the reception, which I had been toying around with and had really liked the idea. Also I worried about my hair, and how it would affect that.
'So I will say I was a little apprehensive. I thought that once I saw it and could try it on again things would get better. They didn't.
Look how happy I am. Oh no wait...this is my "flipping out on the inside" face. There were some issues with the headband.

First of all they didn't order me a head piece, they pulled it off the shelf. I am fine with sample items, but this one had been a-bused and was showing the wear and tear, and they had charged us full price. Some of the leaves and sparklies were hanging on by strings of hot glue. So that made me less than happy. Secondly, whenever it touched my hair it became instantly tangled, which would make it impossible to adjust any part of my hair style on the wedding day.

Finally I just didn't like the way it made me look. I couldn't make myself like it.

But I didn't let on that it wasn't working, because that's just not my style. I didn't want to disappoint my mom and sister, who had helped me pick it out. I didn't want the very nice ladies at the Bridal Isle to think I was being a diva bitch. I didn't want to put anyone out. Usually at this point I swallow my misgivings and just take one for the team.

Then I looked at myself in the mirror and thought "But it's MY WEDDING."

And that kicked it. I took the headband off. I found myself a big pair of earrings and I put them on and I said, this is what looks good on me. Big ass earrings. And everyone agreed. Even the lady who was supposed to sell me the hundred dollar headband.

But of course I'm still a pussy, so I was going to take the headband anyway, but my AMAZING SISTER earned her Mrs OH status in about five minutes by forcing me to speak up and getting them to give us a refund. I love that bitch sometimes.

So I guess the moral of this story is, in a world where the word "bridezilla" is thrown around a lot, sometimes you have to say "It's my special day, motherfucker! And I'm gonna do what I want!" As long as you say that part quietly to yourself. Outloud you say, "Excuse me? I don't think this is going to work out" and just say "motherfucker" with your eyes. It'll get you far, and it'll save you a hundred bucks.


SOooooo, any suggestions for huge ass earrings? My ears are now available.

unofficial sponsorship: etsy

Um...this is not a post really so much as a bunch of random thoughts and a deep love of the internets. Sorry. Real stuff to come, I promise! (Always with the promises, this one...)

I know that I've joked before about how this wedding is brought to you by Target (and really, if they wanted a corporate sponsorship, I would be willing...give me a call Big T, if you're interested!) but really, a very large amount of it is being brought to you by etsy.

If you couldn't tell from like every post ever. I mention them often.

I don't remember how I found this wonderful online flea market, but brother do I ever love it. Almost all the jewelry options I've given my 'maids or considered for myself are from etsy. Most of the birdcage veils I have bookmarked are from etsy. The amazing shrugs (which I must must must do a post about) that I am considering buying or (cough) "recreating on my own"...yeah, they're from etsy.

Also most of the rad christmas/birthday presents you have received from me in the last two years are from etsy.

My most recent etsy purchase was some fabric for our guestbook area...which I think I'm going to try to keep semi-secret for at least a little while longer. But here it is anyway...isn't it sweet?

My mind races with projects to use it for AFTER the wedding. It's actually a bit softer in person, but I think it will work well for our purposes. From fresh squeezed fabrics...I want all the fabric she has to offer.

And just as an update...my bridesmaids are amazing. They are constantly abuzz with planning and I could not be more thankful for them. They're more on the ball than me in many ways...planning their hair appointments, showers, many of them have their jewelry and I myself do not.

And just as another testiment to the POWER OF THE ETSY, my sister 'maid searched out and customed ordered her jewelry before my butt could even make the suggestions...and it is phenomenal!

from KristieGK. I've heard they're even better in person! The other girls are finding jewelry and shoes and I'm just...very...very...happy.

No, not just happy. I'm...excited?


OKAY GUYS I'M OFFICIALLY STARTING TO GET EXCITED!


Let's get married!

bridesmaid jewelry II: matching the dress

For those of you who wondered why I wasn't posting, allow me to continue present the massive research for bridesmaid jewelry. It is divided into sections, section one focusing on clear beads to match their hand-made bracelets, and this one to focus on beads that will match their dresses.

The dresses are purple and orange. Girls who are really into wedding color coordination can wear jewelry that matches their dress or they could wear the opposite color to show how sassy they are. And these are very pretty, vivid colors. Who wouldn't want orange and purple jewelry for their everyday life?

Now, most of these options are purple, but plenty of orange exists in the world, as well as ambers and warm rich yellows, any of which would look fantastic. If you find a style you like on etsy, lots of times they can re-create it in a color of your choosing. All of these are just suggestions of course. I have nothing but faith in these girls. Their style is immaculate.


from clopezdesigns

from a finishing touch

with matching earrings:
from fishers and reeth

from a finishing touch
from a finishing touch

from jenny trinh (yes, these are blue, but she says they're available in more colors, including deep purples and oranges and yellows)
from jenny trinh

from opheliax

from holly gems
(oh look! They come in purple as well! Perhaps the purple clusters would look a little too "grape-like" for some, but again, I think they're adorable and I lust after them)

Once again all jewelry found by etsy, the world of crafty art.

Up next, matching the theme!

bridesmaid jewelry I: matching the bracelet

This post goes out to my ladies! And anyone who might care about jewelry for my ladies! And people who like jewelry, who are probably ladies or open minded dudes!

And it is massive. I apologize. So massive that I'm splitting it into sections to save your poor, poor minds.

I am incredibly open to jewelry, the same as I am to shoes--wear what makes you feel pretty and comfortable! There are a couple of different ways they can go.

One, they can match the bracelets that my mom and I are making. I don't have pictures (yet) but they're made with clear crystal beads that are flat and long and the setting is silver. Any clear beads would probably look nice with them. Clear beads are also the most matchable (they match everything! They're clear!) and the most re-wearable (they match everything! They're clear!)

A great option for those of us who want lots of sparkle without going overboard.

from featherings

from emmommy

from shy siren (one of my favorites--I think these would match the bracelets perfectly)

from fischersandreeth

from lulidesigns

from carmen monique

from white iris studio

from kristen friesen

from ana ramon

from tztudio (another one of my favorites...so delicate and pretty!)

from handwired

from opheliax

from holly gems (adorable, fun and flirty, and not too terribly fancy. I just want these earrings for my life, if not my wedding.)

All earrings ever brought to you by etsy, the world of crafty art.

Up next, matching the dress!

one hundred days

The wedding countdown I saved on google, which I often forget/do not care enough to check, and only looked at today because we were talking to very-soon-to-be-married people, says one hundred days exactly. Which means in like forty-five minutes, this wedding will be in the double digits, i.e. 99 days away.

Ninety. Nine. DAYS. Not weeks. DAAAAAAAAAYS.


This is very frightening and very exciting at the same time.

I texted my family and members of my bridal party with this alarming fact and my sister replied "oh, then i guess i stop eating" and I was almost going to agree before I looked in my oven and dammit if I wasn't making a meatloaf. I kind of resent this milestone coming at me when I am suddenly finding it fun to make things for dinner, since I am hoping for Getting Married to equal Looking Skinny In Pictures which is, in my mind, equal with Not Eating Those Oatmeal Cookies You Made With Like Three Cups of Sugar.

But this is good. This will put a fire under my ass that I said was there in May...and January...and October. I can also start the Regimine of Moisturization and Exfoliation and Hair Care that will make me look like a very smooth and shiny version of myself.

Isn't it great that we get to share this crazy time together?

And also...let's try a post a day from now on, yeah? Even if it's stupid. It'll encourage me to at least think about weddings.


Oh, and Katie? I AM TOTALLY MAKING A PAPER CHAIN.

bridesmaids: soon to be ACHIEVED

Thanks for the bridesmaid dress input, both in the comments and in personal discussion. I have decided that we should go with the Alfred Angelo Separates, and, at the brilliant suggestion of the O.H's, bridesmaids will get to choose amongst the tops and the two skirts (because AA offers TWO tea lengths. Gotta love it.)
All I need to do tomorrow is check and make sure that I want his color "grape" over "eggplant"...because eggplant is a darker purple I thought that was where I was supposed to go, but on the internet eggplant looks almost navy. A quick trip to my local bridal shop will clear that up quickly and we can get these babies ordered!
I really like this idea because then there's some unity (all tea length with pleated tops) but they can choose either a fuller or more narrow skirt, and the three tops each have a very distinct look. They can choose what looks the best on them or what they may wear again...if they need a pleated orange top, of course.
(The collage above is just a guess of what it could be, but I'm sure it will look much cooler in real life...but check out the font. Pretty sweet, yeah?)

Bridesmaid Dresses

or, alternately:
SHIT.
or, third title option:
Bride Lesson: Stop Assuming Things Will Make Sense
and last but not least:
Please Help Me.

Let's go back that beautiful moment in Loomis when I realized that I was actually wearing the dress in which I would be married. It was a lovely moment. Things were in place. We decided while we were there that we should maybe look into bridesmaid dresses and have my sister (the Mrs-0-H) try on a few of the styles and colors I had been considering so we could see those colors next to my dress because, you know, it all goes around the dress.
Getting married is a very selfish endeavor.
Well it turns out I was once again wrong about what I wanted for this wedding. Or I suppose "Ignorant to the Beautiful Possibilities" is a nicer way to say it. I said I wanted a short, simple dress, and I end up with a long, elegant, pleated to within an inch of its life confection of dress perfectitude. I also thought I wanted plain brown dresses for the bridesmaids, possibly bought from an online source like jcrew, overstock.com, or even Target. I figured brown was a nice neutral safe ground and would maximize re-wearability.
But then I realized, when I actually had Jessie trying on dresses next to my dress, that I had forgotten that I have really beautiful bridesmaids with lots of personality, and that neither of those things were being represented by "brown." So I decided to shake things up a bit and go back to a color scheme that I had briefly considered: purple and orange. Or, as we later discovered, "Grape" and "Sienna." These colors are really gorgeous together, are Halloween and Fall themed without making one gag, and lucky for me, I have two bridesmaids that will look brilliant in burnt orange and three that will glow in dark purple. Once we got down to the swatches, clearly the perfect colors were made by Alexia designs. They didn't have any dresses that really thrilled me in the store, but they gave me a website address where I could view all their styles. I went, I looked, and I was unimpressed...until I chanced a click on their separates collection, where I found this:


I really love this dress. The pleating on the top hollas back to my dress while also offering a little tummy camouflage (I figure if my dress lets me stick it out all the way, why not theirs?) I also loved the idea of separates because my maids are all different sizes and I didn't want them to spend an arm, a leg, and a sleepless night over alterations. It seemed perfect!
Until I emailed for a quote and it turns out they don't make tea-length skirts for their separates.
THIS MAKES NO SENSE TO ME WHATSOEVER, especially since most of their bridesmaid dress styles are available in tea-length and it's like the most popular style at the moment.
So I had to look somewhere else, where the colors are not "Grape" and "Sienna." (which, not to have a total bride moment, but other colors of burnt orange and dark purple are not the same. Boo hoo hoo. Poor me.)

I remembered Jessie trying on an Alfred Angelo at the store. I liked their purple color better, but the orange was just a little more orangey than I liked. But I would rather have "slightly orangey" than no orange at all, and I found out he has a separate line WITH TEA-LENGTH SKIRTS. As one OUGHT TO HAVE. Suck it, Alexia.Their separate line has several super cute options that add pleats and visual interest:





The only problem I have with their line is that in the virtual simulator the skirt seems to be a slightly lighter color than the tops. I'm not sure if this actually bothers me or not. Probably not. There's also a dress or two, although I'm not entirely willing to give up on the separates:
So I thought, let's go with Alfred Angelo then. These are pretty cute!


But then I was reminded today by one of my fabulous fellow costumer friends that if I really liked the Alexia ones, the skirts could probably just be chopped off by a skilled seamstress and it wouldn't look to funky. So now I'm totally torn.

Alexia pros: The orange is a prettier, more sophisticated color, and I think Alexia is slightly cheaper than Alfred Angelo. It also has the most structured pleating, and the skirt seems to match colors almost perfectly. And, here's a big one, Alexia is carried by net bride, so girls who couldn't find a salon or wanted a discount could order online through them.

Alfred Angelo pros: We wouldn't have to worry about someone butchering the bottom skirt because it would be the proper length. Alfred Angelo is also a lot easier to find in salon if not on net bride. Also I think the pleats on the first top pictured above look the most like the ones on my dress.

Please give input, ESPECIALLY if you're one of the bridesmaids in question...this has to be decided SOON!

But just so you can see I'm not crazy, check out how pretty the colors will look together:

inspired yet?

Okay, this is NOT an inspiration board...this is just something I made up in about five minutes with sloppy Photoshop (sorry Paul, I know it's embarrassing) just to see if I could live with tan suits in my life...erm, I mean wedding. Because My Wedding Is Not My Life. It is a small, small part of my life. A small part of my life that could actually look SUPER cute.
I think you're all right. Tan suits will fix the "too much brown!" problem. But tan suits really mean my dress has to be super casual. Hm. Need to go dress shopping.
(Brown dress by J.Crew, shrug by Newport News [with an orange photoshop filter], wedding dress by -sigh- Stephanie James, suit by Men's Wearhouse)

ain't no party like a bridal party

Oh! And I DID manage to see the girl from Maine so our bridal party is official now!
The boys (which Greg can go into more detail with and find pictures of) are Roommate Ben as Best Man, Greg Brother Dave, Greg Brother Mike, Greg Brother Joel, and Shannon Brother Justin.

The girls are Roommate Ashley as Maid of Honor (who has tried on more wedding dresses than I have, and is learning to crochet, making her better at wedding than me. We also work at almost all the same jobs so it's kind of Co-worker Roommate Ashley. Which, as you can see in the pic, she is totally fine with )
Shannon Sister Jessie as Matron of Honor (cuz she married, yo! Although Matron does make her sound old...Married Lady of Honor? Big Sis of Honor? Whatevs. She also looks very enthused in this picture)
Shannon High School Friend Katie (the elusive "One from Maine" who I asked at Old Chicago because I'm super duper classy...Ashley did convince me to at least call Katie to our side of the table, as opposed to just shouting "Hey Katie! Wanna be in my wedding?" over the talking of the twenty other people who were there.)
Jacksies College Friend Krystal (Krystal has been in like a thousand weddings. She is doing me a favor and doing the bridesmaid thing AGAIN because she loves us and is awesome. We might really exploit that love and make her sing at the wedding. This picture, btw, is from a series that makes me laugh SO HARD when I see them that I almost pee. Every. Single. Time.)

Greg High School Friend Jessica (a Jessie and a Jessica! This will cause problems! Jessica is one of the hippest chicks I have ever met. She and Greg went on a road trip to Chicago and they brought a George Foreman Grill to make grilled cheese on the road. But she is also a vegetarian, which means bachelorette party bacon theme is out. Shoot. I will also probably exploit her singing and crochet skills)

(and yes, I just went to facebook and found whatever pictures of the girls made me laugh/happy.)

The bride and groom, well, they've been decided for a while now.
The ring bearer will either be Ruffles....or an actual Ring Bear. It depends on the venue, I guess.