You Could Go Around The World...

...in the time we have left til our Texas wedding!

That's right, folks. We're eighty days away! [Kudos to myself on the 'Around the World in Eighty Days' reference!]

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We're a mere forty-four days away from the Seattle courthouse wedding. I've already booked my flight out there, courtesy of my dad's airline miles. I'm super stoked to fly out there, but we still have a lot to do before we can actually get married up there.

At least three days before I fly into Sea-Tac, Trenton has to take our marriage application to the courthouse. Plus, before that I have to fill out, sign and notarize my part of the application. Then send it to Trenton, who will then fill out his portion, sign and notarize the thing. We're good to go after that and a short three day waiting period. Once all plans are in place, I can call the courthouse to set up an appointment with a judge to marry us.

Then WE'LL BE LEGAL! And looming over us, ominously of course, will be the loads of paperwork that comes following our nuptials. Oh, the joys.

They. Are. So. Close.

The invitations. My nuptials included, but mostly... the invites! My invitations got the cutting and printing started tonight!

The only problem with it was that when I first started planning for invitations, I was doing a 4" x 6" invite, so I only bought enough paper to get 6 invites out of each sheet of paper. However, once I nixed the pocket fold invites I decided instead to do a flat card in 5" x 7".

Um, on a 12" square sheet of paper... you only get 4 5" x 7" cards. So, I didn't have enough paper. I will have to go to Hobby Lobby to get the rest of my paper. I had enough white paper and black paper, just my gorgeous pink paper. I'm sure Trenton wouldn't mind me losing the pink, but I still love it. I'm going to get some so I can get these suckers finished!

Want a teaser? Hmmmm?

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Also, why yes, that is a Blue Moon in the background. It was late, I was finishing them as I finished my delicious beer. Never fear, I'm of age. I bought that beer, and I have the identification to prove it!

[sigh] I'm glad I've finally gotten a small step accomplished with my invitations. There's still a lot to do, like assembling them, rounding the corners, layering them, gluing them, etc. Then I have to print the RSVP postcards, the directions, and decide if I'm going to include information to get people to our website.

So many decisions. But, at least one thing is done!

Why, Hello!

Sorry about the rampant disregard for blogging. Projects, school, work and generally being miserable have consumed my life the last few days. Wedding plans have been put on hold aside from planning my trip.

I'll start with the trip: I am going to Seattle in June to get married. Yes, that's right. You heard me.

You are all thinking to yourself, "But, Sara, you told me the wedding was in July?!" Never fear, my trusty followers. The July wedding is still on. However, we are getting legally married in June. A civil ceremony. Why, you ask?

Well, I'm not sure how much you know about military life, but as a civy (yeah, I'm hip and cool with military lingo-- that means civilian, non-military member, etc.) marrying into military life, I have a whole truckload of paperwork that comes due after getting married. Not only can we not get housing on base, but I can't get health insurance, access to base, etc, without being legally married.

Why June? Well, it's late enough that I can make it out there, but still a month or so before I move so we'll have time to get paperwork and housing before we actually make the long journey out there. Plus, if any of you are familiar with 'Gilmore Girls' will understand my love and excitement for a legal ceremony on June 3rd, our target date for said nuptials.

The important thing is, the Texas wedding will still go on. The ceremony there will be more about our families and us than just about getting paperwork done. We've actually agreed to not wear wedding bands (shocker!) until our July wedding out of respect for our families getting to see at least some vows taken before them. I love this idea, and the more I think about it, the better I feel about moving up there. I've already been stalking airfare and I've found an airline that has pretty good fares to Seattle from here. I'm excited.

On another note, it's been pretty hard trying to compile a playlist of songs for our wedding. I've had to think about what our first dance would be, but listening to "our songs" is too hard at this moment in life. I have just tried to compile it from memory, or choose songs that I like to dance (or awkwardly twitch) to. However, this moment in life has also gotten a LOT easier. I received these beautiful flowers this morning:

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This morning, I got a knock on the door at my mom's house. Awkwardly, I opened the door to a man holding these out to me. He says my name... stupidly I raise my hand like I'm back in grade school. I take the flowers in the house thinking maybe someone sent me some congratulatory flowers for the engagement? I don't know. I open the card, and they're from him. Tears well up, but do not drop. I am ecstatic that (1) he remembered my favorite flowers from oh-so-long-ago when I told him, (2) that he SENT me flowers! (3) he planned this before he left and got his mom to help figure out to what address they needed to be sent. A lot of effort went into getting me these flowers and I can't wait to hang on to them until they are moldy and dead.

I love flowers.

Quitting Cold Turkey

Dear Wedding Blogs,

That's right. Revoke my bride license! I'm through with you! Wedding blogs, you and I are breaking up.

I've had it with you and your crazy budgets. I'm tired of listening to people talk and complain about trying to feed, water and entertain one hundred people for twenty-three THOUSAND dollars. It's ridiculous and you make people like me, furious.

I love looking through your huge galleries of gorgeous weddings, getting great ideas and inspiration, and reading all of your touching stories. But, I'm also tired of reading about these thirty-somethings with their own tens of thousands of dollars to spend, or these twenty-somethings whose parents are footing the bill. Not all of us are like you. I'm really sorry to have to do this to you, but... we're just not on the same page. You live in a world of silver and china, and I live in the nickel-plated and plastic (reusable, not disposable) kind of world.

Some wedding blogs have great ideas for the more "budget-friendly" brides, and lots of great tips for how to stay sane and practical. But, a lot of that is a little too eccentric for me, or just a little too... "green". I love to recycle and use my resources wisely, but I do not want a burlap wedding dress held together with hemp. Nor do I plan on wearing black, fairy wings or being a nudist. You and I, remotely-sane-blogs, we're done too because you just can't fit in my lifestyle.

I'm sorry to do this to you, wedding blogs. You've been so great to me; but my last few months of planning... I want them to be mine. So, I bid you adieu and I will keep my own damn blog.

I promise it's you... not me.

Love,
Sara

Bridal Portraits--GO!

Thanks to one super awesome soon-to-be uncle-in-law, Mark, I got to do some bridal portraits this past weekend. He first told me of a "vision" of a bride in a street, parking lot, urban area, thing. After first being scared of ruining my dress, he explained the vision and told me what he was thinking. I was totally game!

The entire idea of professional photography terrifies me. I have no idea how to pose, how to stand, or quite frankly, be normal. I was sitting there awkwardly holding my elbow out, standing straight while still trying to maintain a "natural" face. How do those America's Next Top Model girls do it!?

For our shoot, Mark had scoped out a bunch of cool locations, some involving me draping my dress over concrete and standing on towels to protect my train. We started in downtown Dallas, in a residential area.

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The pictures would have the same out-of-focus backdrop with yours truly front and center. At this location, the weirdness started. I was completely awkward and had no idea what to do. My "sultry, come hither" look probably looked more maniacal than gorgeous. They tell me they got a good shot, so we moved on.

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Enter the Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas. Mark had me in the middle of the parking lot with the marquee in the background. Again, the awkwardness continued, but because this was no longer my novice run, I was a little better at keeping my mouth shut and focusing. We continued here for a while until the bar starting hopping and  we were run off by cars constantly coming into the parking lot.

Even though I couldn't figure out how to stand up straight, smile with my eyes, or keep a straight face, I'm really looking forward to seeing the pictures! I've never gotten my pictures professionally taken (outside of dorky school photos) so I can't say that this was too terrible for a first run.

Thankfully, Mark is a great photographer, so I probably could've been picking my nose and he would've made it look like art. We're lucky to also have him coming to our wedding, so I'm hoping he gets some great shots as a guest! 

Have you had bridal portraits? Did you keep them traditional or go a little edgy?

Once. Twice. Three Times a Lady.

I'd like to take a minute [just sit right there-- lame 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' reference] to talk about in-laws. 

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While you could have an experience of hate [roll film on Monster-In-Law], mine thankfully has been quite the opposite of that. I want to brag on my future mother-in-law. [Family-in-law, really. They're all pretty fantastic!] 

She has helped out so much with wedding planning. She has come along-- willingly!-- to so many appointments. Choosing the venue: She was there. Florist appointment? She recommended the florist! Cake tastings, she helped pick out flavors. The one part of wedding planning she wasn't there for was picking out my dress. As you all know, my dress hunt didn't go quite as planned. I had wanted my mom, my sister, my best friend, and of course, my future mother-in-law. I quickly rushed over with the dress right after we bought it, but still. It wasn't how I had planned.

I talk to her pretty frequently. Mostly about wedding stuff, but also occasionally about our common thread--the man. We're even Facebook friends! [Yeah, she's hip. She's with it!] The day I realized her side note on Facebook said she was a mother to three super boys and one future daughter-in-law [Hey! That's me!], I was beaming. I was so excited to see that. I knew I was a "future daughter-in-law" but I guess it didn't hit me til I saw it in writing.

We have gotten to do a lot of wedding stuff together, and I'm so glad that I've gotten the chance to hang out with her. Most FMILs aren't as great as mine, but I got lucky. She even stuck through the crazy registry lady at one of the infamous registry stores! Great lady? I think so.

Do you get along with your FMIL? Has it always been that way?

100 Days of Planning...

It's like 500 Days of Summer only a whole lot less cute.

Instead, it's painstakingly, horrifically, excruciatingly... close to being done!

That's right, I said it. We are [and really, I mean I am] almost done with plans for the wedding. My wedding to-do list is slowly being filled with strike-through and is quickly starting to look more accomplished. Much less overwhelming than it was about two weeks ago. It's amazing-- reading back through my blog, even just this month-- to see how much has gotten done. Flowers, cake, dresses, groomsmen attire, etc. Things are really starting to come to fruition. And a lot of that has been because of the amazing help I've had with my family and my future-in-laws.

We're at a mere 100 days from our Texas nuptials and I couldn't be more excited. The planning is coming to fruition. I still have a long time to go. One hundred days is still pretty long, but it's still a lot closer than we were when we got engaged. I am so ready to be married to the Mister. Sadly, a lot of wedding planning has happened without his input due to his commitments in the Navy. He's missed out on a lot of questions, planning, thoughts, and [to his delight, I'm sure] ridiculous freak-outs about crazy things!

Within those almost-two-digit-days, there's still a list of things to do; it's just considerably smaller now. I throw myself a little party every time I strike-through another item on my Word document "Wedding To-Do List".

How is your planning coming along? Does anyone else get really excited to knock out important wedding items?

Oh, the Joys...

If there were one reason I would NOT want to get married so young, it's college.

I'll be finishing my degree three weeks after the wedding, don't you worry. The degree will come to me. But, the bigger issue I have with college and wedding planning is the showers.

I would love to say that I'm excited for showers, and for the most part I am. However, most of my friends and bridesmaids will not be finishing school in July. Many still have another year left. And several are traveling abroad  in the weeks before the wedding. Of the important ladies who I am desperately trying to plan around:
1 will be in Russia May 13-21
1 will be in London June 6-? (She, sadly, is missing out on the wedding festivities as well.)
2 will be going to France from May 23-June 23
1 will be in France from May 23- July 8 (And, she's a bridesmaid!)
1 will be out of town May 17-22
1 has been in Turkey since February and won't be back til June

Not to mention, finals for most of my girls are May 10-14. Some of my friends don't know whether they'll be in Texas, be at school, or it doesn't matter and  they'll be here. Car, plane, train; they'll be at my shower.

Are we seeing how setting a date is difficult for a shower? My wonderful mother and FMIL are planning my shower for the "ladies" such as aunts, family friends, my friends' mothers, etc. That one doesn't depend on college finals and things like that. But, I want a shower with my friends! I want to get to hang out with them and do girly things. It's been weighing on my mind for some time now, and I cannot find ONE date that satisfies everyone. It's disappointing to know that someone will miss out, but at some point, I just have to bite the bullet.

Do you find yourself struggling to set dates for things? How did you handle it?

Dudes in Dresses

You heard me. Dudes in dresses. Only, we're talking dress clothes, not actual dresses.

Today, the future-mother-in-law, one of the groomsmen/future-brother-in-law and I went out looking for the dudes' wedding attire. We already knew that out of our four groomsmen and the one groom, we had two suits. Groomsman N and T both have black suits, and today we took care of the groom and Groomsman R.

I wish I could tell you that I have pictures to show you... but I don't. Epic fail at bride-dom blogging. I should've taken pictures, not only for you but also so that when the fiance comes back, we can show him pictures of the suit we bought him. We ended up buying two dark grey pinstriped suits for Trenton and Groomsman R. They're almost the exact same suit, but one is slightly darker.

Our (me and the FMIL) vision for the wedding party was light pink shirts with pink ties. We happened to get lucky and find EVERY shirt we needed in the right size and the exact same style. Plus, we quickly found five matching ties. I would have loved to have a chic non-matching ties wedding party, but that got complicated real quickly. Groomsman/FBIL R got final choice on ties, and we settled for a hot pink tie with small dark squares.

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With light pink shirts like that, they'll blend nicely with my dress and also look okay with the white rose boutonnières they will all be wearing. The hot pink ties, while it sounds like a whole lot of pink, really look good with the shirts. It's not overwhelmingly pink, but it still goes with the overall color scheme. I wish I could find a picture of the ties, but maybe I'll have a groomsman try the whole deal on so I can accost him with a camera.

Looking for these shirts and getting the suits for my fiance crosses one more item off my ever-growing to-do list. Do you ever feel like the to-do list for your wedding is overwhelming and multiplying like rabbits? 

Back in Black

Okay. I promised a post about the bridesmaids' dresses... so here it is:
They will be black.
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Oh, you wanted more? Sorry, let me indulge you. For most of my bridesmaids, dress picking was easy. My Maid of Honor B already owned a black, satin dress from a wedding she was in December of 2008. She will re-use that dress (savings to her!) and make it work. This is her dress:

(All photos courtesy of Davids Bridal)

Bridesmaid A has also chosen her dress, from David's Bridal. We went two weeks ago to pick out some dresses and look at how she looked. we tried three dresses on her, but we knew the first was right for her. Here's her dress...

Bridesmaid K has looked at a dress online, and actually went to a David's Bridal near her university to try it on with another good friend, who okay-ed the dress. K still wanted to make sure I liked it before she bought it, so since she's home on Spring Break--we're going to David's Bridal for her to show me the dress. K's dress:

We'll see if this is the dress K ends up with, but I'll update if this is not what she picks. I think it'll look great on her, and she's got great taste. The only bridesmaid left to dress is bridesmaid E, my fashionista bridesmaid. She has great style, and nothing at David's Bridal has really peaked her interest. I'm hoping over Easter she and I can go peruse another DB and possibly White House Black Market. They've got really great alternatives for bridesmaids dresses.

Oh, and if you were wondering, yes, my girls all do look like models and stand awkwardly chic for pictures. Hehe. They're all gorgeous and I'm completely flattered that they'll be standing next to me, even if they do put me to shame. I know I'll have some really gorgeous wedding party pictures.

Do you have a hard time finding dresses? What are some other places to get bridesmaids dresses?

It's Like a Marathon

We're rapidly approaching the 100 day mark in our wedding planning. Can you believe it!?

However, along with our impending nuptials, are all of my pending projects. Still left are... invitations, centerpieces, guestbook, table linens, food, drinks, dressing the guys, and programs. (All are going to be addressed in later posts! Never fear, I won't let you down!) And that's only what I can think of off the top of my head. It feels like the middle of a race, a marathon, that I will never finish.

Now, when I last left you, I was still considering pocketfold invitations. That has since changed. Upon looking into pocketfolds, ordering them pre-made online was just a little too expensive for me. I wanted to keep our invitations as a budget-friendly project. So, I thought about making them myself, but that would either require ordering larger paper (another costly thing) or re-sizing our pocketfolds to fit common scrapbook paper (12"x 12"). Neither of those options seemed like something I wanted to do, so I just decided to scrap the idea. I loved the look, but my goal in this wedding is to GET IT DONE.

So, now we're going with just a plain flat card invitation. We're still going to have a response postcard, directions to the venue, and I'll probably include a list of hotels in the area for our out-of-town guests. I want to wrap the invitation "suite" in a belly band. Yes, it sounds like something for a third trimester, but in reality it's just a simple piece of paper designed to hold everything in place. Just a strip wrapped around the middle (or "belly") of the stack to keep it together.

The rounded corners were an issue for several months. I love the look of them.

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But, for the longest time, my friends convinced me that it would be WAY to much work to round all of the corners, even with a corner rounder. After two months of debating my decision, I finally told myself that if I still wanted rounded corners this bad after so long, I should just do it. Yes, it's an extra step and added complication to the invitation suite, but I just love the look. It will make me feel better about sending them out.

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That, my friends, is a belly band. This one is taken apart, but imagine all those other papers stuck under the yellow strip of paper. Probably, this is where I'll use our monogram I told you about here. I can't really find another place to use it, so that's where it'll show up! I have to start working on invitations soon, as they have to go out in about 5 weeks. I have none of it done, and I still need to do envelopes and all of that. Lots and lots of cutting left to do. Can you say "invitation party"?!

What ways can you cut back on wedding invitations? E-vites are always good (for the environment and otherwise) but some think it's tacky. How do you feel about online invitations?

Let Them Eat Cake! And Flowers...

I am at a loss for words for the title. So much has happened, and yet so much has yet to be done. This weekend was another marathon wedding weekend.

This weekend started early, with a meeting with a florist early on. We ended up booking the florist, and thankfully, it was a pretty painless process. I brought in my "inspiration" pictures and he looked at them, discussed what I liked, and he made a plan from there. My bouquet will have Revel roses, gerbera daisies, tulips and hypercium berries.

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My bouquet will be mostly pink, in fact, I think we decided on ALL pink. No white flowers for me! I know some of the above pictures are white, but my girls will be carrying white flowers with a bit of pink, as mine is mostly pink with some (or no) white. And, the gerbera daisies are kinda reserved for me. They're my favorite flower and the florist suggested only using them in my bouquet since y'know... I'm the bride. :)

Then, after the florist, it was cake tasting at Market Street (quickly vetoed based on the flavors of cake) and then shopping at Target. I got a new floor lamp for the apartment with Trenton and a dish rack for the apartment with Trenton. My mom and I also showed my future MIL other things I registered for, but we couldn't find my shower curtain! I think they've decided to take it online only, so I may have to watch for it.

On to the cake! We tried lots of flavors, ordered the cake, and we're pretty excited! The cakes are going to be delicious. I can't wait to try it. Or to save my top tier for next July! We're doing a simple bridal cake with just white butter cream frosting and a simple ribbon trim around each tier. Then we'll also probably get some flowers from the florist to make a topper type... thing. 

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Think that without the Swiss dots. And... flowers only on the top. But, that's the basic look. It's going to be delicious and yummy. I think Trenton will have to hold me back from just... devouring the entire cake. No hands, just face.

No clues on the flavor of the bridal cake or the grooms cake. You'll just have to wait until the wedding to try what we've chosen!

Sticky Situation

You stalk photo blogs. You creep on wedding blogs like they're celebrities. There can't be enough wedding inspiration. Overload doesn't happen-- you just get more sucked in.

While this is fun and a good way to throw away your free time, the only problems are you start getting ideas. You start thinking, "Ooooh, I would love to have that. I wonder if that's possible." You forget for a moment that your venue is already set and gorgeous enough on it's own. You forget your budget and enter... Wedding World.

It's a scary place that can be a good place-- or a very, very bad place. For me, it varies. Some days, it's helpful for finding other inspiration and getting tutorials. I've learned a lot of really great stuff, and even found better advice on how to deal with etiquette, family, etc. 

The good: I've found great tutorials. I love reading the blogs of other brides to see what they're doing and how they're doing it. Some brides have unlimited (or very large) budgets, some have small budgets. While I err on the latter of the two, I am happy to be there. I may not get the letterpress invites, the huge centerpieces, or the $4,000 photographer-- but I am more than happy with what I do have and the interesting things I share with you guys.

The bad: Sometimes in looking at blogs, you start seeing the ideas, the formal invites and the price of other weddings. You think to yourself, "Oh, how I would love to have that." And, you think... "Am I doing my wedding right?" You get into a sticky situation based on other people's perceptions. Is there a right way to do a wedding? Is it okay for me to do a wedding that is styled after us? 

My answer is "NO! YES!" Any wedding planning, any aspect of this wedding reflects me and Trenton. You do weddings based on your own personal feelings, no right or wrong way. My wedding may not be formal, but I didn't want that to begin with. My wedding will be fun and "budget-friendly". My wedding will be full of love, friends, family and dancing. I want the alcohol, the delicious food, the laughter. I want it to be "us". I want for Trenton and I to be a huge part of the wedding (both aesthetically and physically).

If our response cards are rude, or our food is cold, we won't care. If the shades of the pink and green don't exactly match, it seems huge now, but it won't be a problem the day of the wedding. Everything in relation. What matters today, will not matter tomorrow.

My Bad

Wow, guys. Sorry for the lack of posting. I had a pretty crazy couple days. It's mid-terms here in Norman, which means lots of reading, studying and writing. I had three mid-terms, one was a paper, one was multiple choice and three short answers, and the last was all short answer with a few long answer essay questions. It's been nuts. But, it's over, it's Spring Break and I just have to work-- no school!

In other news, my dad got a job! I'm very excited for him as he's been doing this training program for a while now and he deserved to get his theater. I'm sad he'll be moving to El Paso, Texas this coming week, but I'm still just too excited he got a job. I'm so proud of him for sticking through the silly training (that he blew through, by the way-- my dad is just too awesome for his own good) and getting his theater. It's company policy that managers (which my dad is) do not get vacation time off between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Do we see the problem?! My wedding is right between those dates! But, don't worry. My dad's new boss in El Paso understands that his daughter is getting married and that my dad needs to come home. His new boss is really great and values family so he told my dad he would work it out with him. Sadly, it means my dad may get in the day before the wedding and leave the day after. I don't mind that as long as he gets to be there.

More news: the wedding planning is driving me a little crazy. In wedding planning, you start thinking about stuff that in every day "normal" world, you would never think twice about. You fret about fabrics, colors, flowers, matching all of the aforementioned items. You go a little berserk over things that in the grand scheme of things-- really don't matter. I found myself worried about colors, ties, jewelry and flowers this weekend. I'm worried how the guys' ties will look with my girls' jewelry. Something you would never worry about outside of Wedding World. I've finally decided to make life easy and go with something cute. And that I can make myself. Wanna know? Do ya? Huh huh?

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Pearl Ribbon Necklaces! I would use slightly smaller pearls because those are just a little... too giant. My ribbon would be pink or green depending on the boys' ties. I would probably have some girls wear their bows in the front (as shown here) if they're in strapless dresses like my sister. One of my 'maids is wearing a halter dress, so her bow would tie in the back to "accent" the bare back her dress gives her. Now, BM K is looking at a dress that is a "faux halter". This means the bare back of a halter is not actually there. From the front it looks almost the same, but it has more coverage in front and fabric covering the back too. Obviously wearing a necklace with such a neckline is a little silly, so for her, I would probably make her a bracelet instead.

I found a great tutorial here for how to make these pearl ribbon necklaces. It seems easy enough and not very time consuming. I'll probably try it out myself first before I get my heart set on these necklaces. To have a necklace like this custom made through Etsy it's around $30. I figure for that I can buy most of the necessary supplies for my three necklaces and one bracelet. Not too bad. And, they're cute enough that my girls can wear them again, which is all I really wanted.

More to come on bridesmaid dresses once I actually know what dress each BM is wearing.

Epic Day of Awesome

Okay. We have several topics today. One not-so-good, some REALLY great. We'll start with the bad.

Personal Photo

'Member him? Yeah, so, he's leaving to go under water for the next two to three months. He's on submarines so obviously, limited contact. The teensy-weensy glimmer of hope: he has access to VERY slow e-mail. That gets read and censored and all of that wonderful military stuff. At least there will maybe be some contact. He's leaving relatively soon (as was expected) but today I found out the actual date, and let's just say it is much, much sooner than I was hoping. I knew it was coming, but to actually have a set date... it just changes things.

Brighter notes: I had an advising appointment today for my final semester in college (WHAAAAT?!). In said appointment, I was told that not only am I on track to graduate in a mere nine months-- but I have a whole lot less credits I need than first thought. I was under the impression that I still had two more classes to take (about six credits) for my major, and about three or four more elective classes (about twelve to fifteen credits). My wonderful advisor informed me today that (wait for it...) I am done with my major coursework. That's right. DONE! I have NO MORE SCIENCE! I'm finished. Fin. Finito. 

This is great news for me-- and good news for Trenton too-- as now he will not have to deal with his new wife being absolutely crazy taking a full-time school schedule and a full-time job. I have thirteen hours left to graduate. In September, I get to apply to graduate, I get to walk in December, and I get to be done with college. As it's looking now, I can take one class in May Intersession here at OU (which was already planned), then two classes during the summer (again, I was already planning to do this as well) and then finishing my fall semester with a mere four hours. However, my Capstone (the required course here at OU to graduate) is only three hours. So I must find another three hour class to satisfy my one hour left to graduate. No big. I'm super excited that my final semester-- and first semester as a wife-- will be so light. My Capstone is pretty intense, but six hours rather than twelve is way okay with me. Graduation, here I come!

Personal Photo

That's me, my sister (MOH B) and my brother at my sister's college graduation from OU. It was so hot that day, but it was so great to see her graduate. We're actually graduating from the same college, but different degrees.

Other good news, my shoes came in today! I already put them on, and they are so comfortable! I can't believe what a great deal I got on them, and they are BRIGHT blue. So, I've at least got my "something blue" taken care of. I would post pictures, but I don't want to run the risk of the man seeing them, so sorry. If you leave me your e-mail I'll send them along. It's been a really great day so far. I had taken the day off of work to just... relax. Get my advising done, some homework and just generally be away from work. It's been nice. It was really good to get the day off, but it just kept getting better!

What? It's only Monday?!

So, I can't believe it's only Monday. I feel like the weekend flew by and I got nothing accomplished. Thankfully, my homework load was light and I didn't have a whole lot to do for classes or work. Just a bit or relaxing.

On to wedding business... I worked on our programs this weekend. I didn't make all of them, but I worked on the formatting and the mock-up. Plus, I printed one and put it together just so I can see exactly how I want it. It looks really good, and it's not very time intensive--which is just what I need. And, with the programs came ceremony music. I made some executive decisions and decided what I wanted to use. Trenton... he'll just have to deal. :P

Also, I think I found different shoes. I figured in the long run, I couldn't justify the $100 shoe purchase. I think these new ones are just as cute, have a wider heel (so I won't bite it on the dance floor, or Heaven forbid- the aisle!) and are just $40. And, because they aren't satin, they are a bit more re-wearable. They're blue, of course, and they're super cute. Take a look!

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Also, I really like the idea of the bamboo tableware, but I'm still not sure if we're doing a buffet dinner or just heavy hors d'oeuvres. No decision made yet. But, I have so many more deadline items to do rather than decide on food. That can wait.

Sigh. It's been a long few weeks with all this school stuff, the full-time job, and the wedding planning. It's starting to take a toll on my body, but you know what, in 136 days, it's going to be so worth it. :)

Whoops...

Totally meant to post. Well, there's not a ton to fill you in on, but still... I post to post. What has happened...

Well, I tried on the shoes. They're pretty comfortable, some extra padding may be necessary for all night dancing, but all in all, comfortable and easy to walk in despite the height. However, I'm not sure if I can justify spending almost as much on the shoes as I did the dress. I know I could find some other shoes I like for a better price, but I have a hard time discerning what I should and shouldn't spend money on. I would love the shoes, but at the same time my practical mind is telling me to find a different pair. What do you think?

Second thing, I saw a post recently on weddingbee.com and the post was for bamboo tableware. Knives, forks, spoons, plates. I mean, they're not terribly fancy but they're good for the environment and are pretty cheap. For $7.00 I can get 100 knives. Same price for 100 spoons and forks. So, for $21 I could get enough utensils for everyone and be helping the environment. They're not quite as cheap as plastic ware, but it looks better and it's green! :) I'm keeping it in mind as our entire venue has about the same color woodwork as the bamboo.

We're still in the talks about whether to do hors d'oeuvres or a buffet meal and we can't really decide. With the fiance basically out-of-touch, most decisions come down to me, and we all know how indecisive I can be. I can't even decide on a veil! For the longest time I said 'NO VEIL!' but... I don't know. I sorta feel like I should have one, but I don't want to mess with it, but it would look so good, but it would be hard to find one to complement my dress, etc. The inner conversation could go on forever.

Also, while I was planning on doing my pocketfold invitations myself, I found pre-cut postcards and needed to change around my measurements and it messed with the look of them. To save myself the time of cutting, scoring, folding, and making each pocketfold, I'm probably going to re-prioritize my time and just spend the extra money to buy pre-made, pre-assembled pocketfolds. All I would have to do is print my inserts and assemble. As my beloved reminded me, "Time is Money". Sometimes you just have to let go.

We have about 4 1/2 months left. Couldn't be more excited, but I look at my "To-Do" list and just... wow. Lots to do, but so worth it.

Wedding Weekend Pt. II

Seriously. That last post wasn't a joke. It just continued today! Wedding weekend has continued into a two parter. So, to continue...

Today, the mother, me, and the future-mother-in-law met the sister to look at a venue. I've stalked this venue online for what seems like ever. I just keep looking and looking and memorized the price chart, the capacity, etc. But, man. Seeing it for real, in person; actually getting to visualize how my wedding could look was just amazing. I really loved it. I liked everything about it. It doesn't look like much on the website, but really... it's a great site. Very versatile. I can do a lot with it and it's so gorgeous on its own that I won't even have to do much decorating. Super plus for me.


Main Room for the reception.

Deck for the outdoor ceremony.

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The picture doesn't do the venue justice. It's got a huge deck out to one side, a fabulous view all around it, nice lighting. Oh, it's going to be amazing. Plus, a really reasonable price, tables and chairs included, 6 hour rental, free set-up, a bridal room, a kitchen, bathrooms, and a small storage area where I can go drop off some decorations a few days before. Oh, and did I mention I get to bring in my own catering and alcohol?! Huge savings to me.

It's got a gorgeous outdoor stone pavilion in the front for some really great photo backgrounds, and because I'm renting the venue, I can take my bridals up there whenever I want, I just have to let the wonderful wedding coordinator know. So, after signing some papers, dropping a check and walking away a happy bride, we all left to go get lunch. The sister had things to do, so it was me and the moms! We left to eat delicious meals, I had a rather "wild" salad... too wild for me, but I had a delicious dessert thing. We discussed wedding plans, logistics, etc all lunch. Amazing. I already have the most amazing mom ever, but I'm so excited to be getting such an amazing (non-psychotic, as so many are) mother-in-law.

We then went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to finish my registry. We spent oh, Lord, probably two or three hours just doing registry. The bridal registry lady was IN-TENSE. She wanted me to register for TWELVE sets of towels. TWELVE! Who needs twelve sets of towels? Also, she suggested three sets of sheets and two sets of eight place settings for my table. I was like... uh, Lori... you're crazy. We had a blast though me, my mom, and my future M.I.L. We found everything else I would need and even found some stuff I liked better than what I found at Target. So, the registry= complete. All I gotta do now is kinda putz around with various things, taking of double registered items and such.

Even after the registry, my mom and I ran to DSW to see if we saw shoes we liked, Charming Charlie's (an accessories store here in Allen) and then home. We later ran to Hobby Lobby to buy some things for a mock-up hair piece for my wedding, also to Kohl's to get napkins- which we found! Then finally, after a day of productive wedding-ness, we went home. I also got some really, really excellent news from my amazing future-in-laws.

They are going to pay for our cakes and for us to get our flowers done. That means saving me time from having to do them before the wedding. Not having to spend the money, and they gave Trenton and I a huge gift that I could not be more thankful for. I have the best in-laws. I had definitely already found a way to do my cake and flowers on the cheap for my budget's sake, but this. Oh, this was huge. I almost cried when my future M.I.L. told me she wanted, not to pay for my bulk floral, but for someone to do them for me. I couldn't believe it. AMAZING! I could not be more thankful and I have such generous family and I can only hope that they have as much fun going on cake tastings and floral meeting business as I do. It was such a blessing to have that taken off my shoulders. Gah. I can't even tell you.

The wedding is almost done. I can't even believe it. Now I really need to send out my Save-The-Dates!

Wedding Weekend

I am not even kidding you, it's been wedding weekend in the life of Sara.
In one day, I got my gown and started my registry, plus tomorrow I'm going with my mom, sister and the fiance's mom to go look at possible venues.

My dress-capades: I went to a teeny-tiny bridal boutique in Addison to just browse, no buying, just looking. We looked around, rummaged through the clearance rack and picked out a good 8 or 9 dresses. I tried the first one on, and it was amazing. I then tried on a smorgasbord of dresses ranging from the very good to the very bad. Many my sister liked, but I hated; some my mom liked, but my sister didn't; there were even some we ALL vetoed. But, in the end, I slipped back into my magnificent, glorious first gown and looked. We all looked.

This dress. This stunning dress. It fit me like a glove. I wouldn't need alterations, the saleswoman told me. Throw on a pair of heels and I don't even have to mess with the hem. All that would need to happen was adding the strings for a bustle and a steam press before the wedding. No weight loss or mega alterations needed. A perfect dress. Made for me. Simple, elegant, and so... so ME!

We looked at this dress. I walked in the dress to see it in motion. I bent over to make sure nothing was going to fall out or rip. I looked at my mom. I looked at the sales woman... she told me it was on sale. From the clearance rack, and still on sale. Cheaper than the clearance rack?! How could this be?!

This gown, this unbelievable $750 gown... this 100% silk, gorgeous gown... was on clearance. Down to $300. But alas! the gown was even further discounted! And for what, a small, unnoticeable stain!? This dress was priced at an unbelievable $99 before taxes. I looked at my mom, quietly, questioningly, "Are we going to do it?" She looked back at me and said, "I think so." I turned to the wonderful sales woman and owner and I said, "Well, we're taking it!" She smiled, excited I had found my dress in her store and said she would take it downstairs to get it ready.

We followed quickly downstairs, she got our payment, got our paperwork and put my dress into that take-home dress bag. She carried it out to our car, hugged me and asked me to send pictures of the wedding. I jumped up and down a little with my sister and quickly started sending the text messages. I haven't have felt more like a bride than that.

I love my dress. Love it. Almost as much as the man I'm going to marry. I'm glad I have such an amazing dress to marry the man of my dreams. It's fantastic.

Besides the dress shopping this afternoon, I also got my registry started. What a fiasco. Holy cow. Trying to remember what I had and didn't have. Thinking about what Trenton would like that I like too. We hadn't chosen a color scheme for the bathroom or living room, so I just kinda went with something that I liked that wasn't too girly. There are no flowers in what I registered for. I'm hitting up another store tomorrow for bedding and some other miscellaneous stuff. It's rather stressful trying to decide what to register for and what is good for decorating, and what gadgets you need. It's insane. I don't think Hollywood realizes.

A Woman's Best Friend

Aside from diamonds (which I already have!), shoes are the next best thing. So, obviously I've started looking for some shoes to wear with my yet-to-be-seen wedding dress. I haven't gone shopping for a dress, but I figure shoes are shoes. I can kinda decide my shoes and bring them with when I go dress shopping.

I've thought about doing something like this...

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Going a little funky:

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Doing something classic...

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Being completely ridiculous:

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Or just going barefoot. We'll see.