The Windy City

Sorry for being so quiet this week...but I'm in Chicago! :)

Anyone who has been here knows there is enough shopping to keep any blogger too busy to write. Or read for that matter. I opened my Google Reader today and I have 270 unread items. Yeesh.

So I'm camped out in Cosi with their free wireless, catching up a bit.

On the wedding front, I've been doing some shopping for some cute outfits for the honeymoon. I've already found a couple of maxi dresses, and a HOT pair of shoes that I am still trying to decide if I will actually wear more than once.

And I found some great gifts for the groomsmen at H&M. Love that store.

So stay tuned...the wedding is just over two weeks away!

A Sneak Peek...

...at our table numbers!

This is far from the finished product, but this is what Super Crafty Sister has come up with so far. I love them - what do you think??

I can't wait to show you the finished product - they are going to be spectacular! :)

Family

My fiance and I both have close families. And he especially has a HUGE family. But I don't think our family photos will compete with this family photo. Love it.

Source

Another Busy Weekend

Yes, it has been an incredibly busy weekend at home. From my make up trial, to assembling programs, to figuring out the seating chart...wow.

Sadly, I can't find the cord for my camera to upload photos. :(

Not that I took that many.

Sometimes I get so busy "doing" that I forget to "chronicle" the event!

We figured out the best system for the seating chart. I can't wait to show it to you. And the programs are awesome. Totally awesome. Make up was...okay. Loved my eyes and the foundation - could do without the rest.

We met with Pastor, our ceremony coordinator, and our reception coordinator. Everything is under control.

AND I got my cake topper today! Goodness. If I could just find that dang camera cord!

Just In Case You Haven't Seen It...

This seems to be everywhere on the Internet, but just in case you haven't seen it....enjoy. :)

Last Full Weekend at Home

I am getting married in my hometown, which is about an hour away from where I live now. Most of the weekends of the past nine months have been spent in my hometown, getting ready for the wedding.

This weekend? This is the last full weekend I will have at home before the wedding!

Next weekend I will be in Chicago. The next weekend I will be here, enjoying my Bachelorette Party. I may be able to spend a day or so in Venice, but not the full weekend.

So this weekend will be packed. Absolutely packed.

Our Saturday schedule?

8:45am - Meet with ceremony coordinator
10:00am - Meet with Pastor
1:00pm - Meet with reception coordinator
4:30pm - Make Up Trial

Not to mention all the other things we need to do - figure out seating arrangements, table numbers, place cards, etc etc!

Whew. It is going to be a busy weekend. :)

Cute as a Button

But actually, very elegant! (The gorgeous handwriting may have something to do with it too). :)

Check out these beautiful place card holders - made from two buttons sewed together, with another button glued on the bottom. Adorable!!

Source

Bridal Portraits?

Thanks for all your sweet words about my whiny post yesterday. :) We will be fine. I know it.

I have been hearing a lot about bridal portraits around the wedding blogs. I never really thought about having them done, but everytime I walk around the campus where I work, I get the idea in my head.

Why? The campus is BEAUTIFUL. It would be the perfect place for bridal portraits! Just look at how beautiful this architecture is.

And that's only a small taste. I feel like I may have missed my window of opportunity for bridal portraits...unless Super Crafty Sister feels like taking them after my make up trial on Saturday. :)

And no, it's not an option to have wedding portraits here - we will be getting married an hour away. Sigh.

Will you (or did you) do bridal portraits? Why or why not?

Work Shower : The Gifts!

I have been waiting for Super Crafty Sister to send the me the pictures she took at my bridal shower at work - but still no pics. :)

(Give her some slack - she just got back from an awesome vacation to Chicago!)

So here are a few shots of us opening our gifts, courtesy of my fantastic boss. (Yes, "he's fantastic!" clap clap clap - the commercial? anyone?)

We got some wonderful gifts!

And yes, that is the dress I wore to my other shower - I just added the little sweater to change it up a bit!

Have I mentioned that I love my job?? :)

Did anyone else have a bridal shower at work?

Sometimes Being a Grown Up is Hard

Like when it comes to money. And the lack of it.

It's been one of those days.

My fiance felt it yesterday. Today is my turn.

Could someone please just wave a magic wand and make my student loans go away?

That would be great. Thanks.

A Most Productive Weekend

This weekend has been...busy.

Hair trial? Check.

Rehearsal dinner dress? Check.

Programs? Check.

Dessert table? Check.

Cake? Check.

Table number holders? Check.

Favors? Check.

But you have to wait to see our decisions. With less than four weeks until the wedding, we have to keep some suprises! :)

Unplanned Beauty

I recently stumbled across these pictures. Stunning, no?

The best part? They didn't plan for it to look this way. The power went out in the church shortly before the wedding They gathered up all of the candles they could find to light the church.

Stunning. Absolutely stunning. See more at Gresham Photography.

Cake Panic

Picking out a cake design has been one of the hardest parts of this wedding planning process for me.

And tomorrow is the deadline. I MUST order a cake!

I have looked at so many pictures of cakes. I've talked before about how I learn visually. It is hard for me to imagine in my mind what something will look like. I think this is what makes the cake design so tough - I like pieces of different cakes, but have no idea how they will look together!

I know I want buttercream (or cream cheese) frosting. And I know what the flavors will be. But the rest is a mystery to me.

I pulled all the photos from my "cake inspiration" folder (once again with no sources - dangit). Can anyone make sense of all these and tell me what I want my cake to look like? Thanks.

:)

Time for the Hair Trial!

My hair trial is tomorrow.

Yikes!

Let me first confess - I am no hair fashionista. Oh no. I spend maybe 5 minutes on my hair. If that long. This is how my hair usually ends up. Lovely, no? :)



Second confession? I have issues with my profile. Yes. As in that my chin is not as big as I would like it to be. (Does that make sense?) Because of this, when I dress up, I tend to like my hair down. Maybe I think it hides it? And my groom likes my hair down too.

So when I started thinking about bridal hairstyles, these were the inspiration photos I found. (Sorry to be a bad blogger, but I have no idea where I found these! Most are probably from WeddingBee, Project Wedding, or The Knot.)

But...I am getting married in August. In Florida. Hot. And humid.

And my dress really looks better with my hair up.

So I started looking at hair styles with hair in a low bun (again - I apologize for having no idea where these came from, except Mrs. Cherry Pie's pictures from WeddingBee!)

And my latest hair inspiration has been from Elizabeth over at A Wedding Story. She has been doing her recaps and...wow. Classic beauty.

And there is something about this bride's hair that I really like.

Which version do you like best? Any suggestions for my hair trial experience?

Sticker Giveaway Winner!

And the winner of 250 custom stickers from Uprinting is...

Tiffany at Bride-on-Purpose!!

Congrats!!

Shoot me an email with your contact information.

Thanks to everyone for entering!!!

How FABULOUS Is This?!?!

This is the photobooth idea, taken to a whole new level!

The started with a piece of wood, some wallpaper, and frames...


Cut holes for the big frames, and put wedding pictures from their families in the other frames...



And voila! A fabulous photobooth!

I love this. Absolutely love it. Found here.

This is How My Fiance Feels About Chocolate Cake

Whenever I ask him about our wedding cake, he just says - "I want it to be chocolate."

That's it.

I saw this photo today on Gresham Photography (friends from college by the way!) and about laughed out loud. Too cute. :)

Now That We Found Love...

I love to dance. Absolutely love to dance.

I am a terrible dancer.

I make my fiance laugh all the time because of my terrible dance moves.

But it doesn't deter this dancer. Oh no.

You better believe I will be bustin' a move at the reception.

I love this movie scene - these people ain't got nothing on me! :)

Honeymoon Shower : The Fun!

Sorry for the delay in getting the pictures from the Honeymoon Shower to you - but here they are!

My friends have a fantastic backyard. The day started with some ladderball (such a fun game!)

My Hottie!

And then our friend Nathan fired up the grill...

As the rest of us lounged by the pool. :)

After we ate, we opened presents. This is where the hilarity began.

We started with some "normal" gifts...

And then got a funny gag gift (my friends' re-gifted this - can you believe someone bought this for them for their wedding??)

And then...we opened my Mom's present.

And this is where the hysterical facial expressions begin.

Yes - my Mom gave me lingerie to open in front of my friends at the Honeymoon Shower. Too funny. She actually gave me four nighties, and my fiance is fist-pumping in every picture that I'm holding them up for display. Haha.

And then...Super-Crafty Sister's gifts. Which will not be displayed here for fear that the pictures may come back to haunt me. But you can only imagine based on my facial expressions as I open the gifts.

Too funny.


And I love this last picture. This is one of the many reasons I am marrying this man. He makes me laugh like this.



Yes, I have quite the expressive face. And yes, when I get really good into a laugh, I throw my head back just like this. Nothing quite like a good laugh.

So there you have it...our Honeymoon Shower. Wonderful memories with wonderful friends.

Has anyone else out there had (or plan to have) a Honeymoon Shower?