Vintage Tablecloths

The search continues for floral tablecloths for the backyard reception. Etsy seller Apt 222 has these cute ones...






But the best deals by far are on eBay. Sellers like prunestou and nouveauqueen sell vintage tablecloths for a fraction of the price, including shipping --the only downside I have found is the cheaper ones tend to have more imperfections. But really, they are minor and probably fixable with a bleach pen.




Also, we have a trip planned to the scene of the crime on Monday...meeting with the caterer, florist, hairstylist, and venue... I am excited, mostly because it will help my get out of my indecisive funk and force me to make some freaking decisions already!! I will update everyone on how successful that is.

I Apologize A Lot...

(photo courtesy of Rand(Om)Bites)


So, First, let me start by giving credit to Laurie for finding the awesome hankie pictures at poppytalk. I am normally SUPER sensitive about my acknowledgments, but I have obviously been a little off the beam lately. So silly of me, sorry!

Next, since it is the 1st of June, and the BD is in 109 days, I am in workout/weight loss compulsion mode. The working out has been easier to jump start than the D-I-E-T (ohhh crap) but we are making progress. My goal for June (or as long as I continue to be unemployed) is 12 workouts per week. So far, so good. I am combining running and mild weightlifting with hot yoga at a new studio by my house. It is different from the traditional Bikram that I'm used to, but it is better in a lot of ways as well. For one, it changes every class, which helps me stay interested and not bored. Also, the teachers are very different and I love their energy. Friday's class was heated vinyasa with 3 pound weights, ugh it was ridiculously hard but awesome. I am still constantly critiquing myself in the mirror (I doubt that obsession will ever go away) but my pants are fitting a bit better, and Mr. Right swears I have lost weight. Unfortunately, he only brings it up when I ask him 50 million times if I look like I have lost weight. It is a never ending cycle. One day I won't care as much and it will be easier on him, poor guy. :)

So, my plan for the next 90 days is to live by the quote:

'Not taking care of your body is like not paying rent;
you end up with no place to live.' Gayle Olinekova

I will let you all know how that goes...

Recycling Wedding Decor in Your Home

While I don't quite love the idea of making my home a post-wedding shrine where I might relive my one "glory day" until the end of time (or when we have kids)... I am totally into this.

We are decorating our reception site with vintage floral handkerchiefs (Similar to this photo from Style Me Pretty, So mom and I are compulsively looking for hankies on eBay.
So I was just forwarded this post on poppytalk, and I am totally going to do this with them after the wedding. Yay for not-tacky ways to commemorate our day!!!

Invitation update

Here are the envelopes... I think this has been one of the most fun projects. Who knew that I would end up completely obsessed with the paper?~ Invitations will go out in July, so I will post the whole enchilada then. And for the hundredth time, thank you to Kelley and Rachel for their help.






Next on the list, table cloth thrifting and writing our vows.
xoxo

UPDATE!

So I received this email from my mom yesterday...

"Re: Blog
you have not blogged since April 29...you are brilliant so i love reading what you have to say.
i thinkyou are astonishingly fab
xoxo mommers"

The good news is that there is really only one person who needs to feel that way about you and that is your mom. So I am motivated once more...

Today mom and I spent the afternoon "strategizing" about our remaining craft projects. Which led to listening to ceremony music and then, oh the tears started. I mean, seriously, if we can't get through a few bars of a song played over my iPhone in the kitchen, what the hell are we going to be like on the actual day?!? Crap.

My mom is "astonishingly fab" and makes wedding planning/dreaming/strategery more fun than I could ever have imagined. Three Cheers for MomS!

On the agenda this week; a visit to LA to find fabrics for cocktail table cloths, reception table runners, and pillows for the benches. More on that later.

Repost from Snippet and Ink...

lemonade stands... ice cream machines... little mustaches on sticks for photo shoots...bridesmaids carrying balloons... doggies in tuxes as ring bearers... "First Look" shoots...it is safe to say when my mother looks at all these ideas, she probably wants to faint. As weddings have become more and more liberal (the other meaning), the wedding ideas floating around the blog-o-sphere have become almost overwhelming. While it is so fabulous to live in an era where anything goes and weddings have become an expression of the couple's individuality, is it possible that it has become a little competitive and weird?

When we got engaged, I developed an addiction to all the underground wedding blogs (The "indie" wedding planning resources... if I only knew what "indie" really meant. I guess if I don't know what it means, I am definitely NOT whatever it is.) We (well, let's be honest here, I) wanted to get some ideas for the wedding of my dreams, so I have been compulsively reading every wedding blog I can get my paws on. I realized that I am on the hunt for originality, to the point where I come up with an idea, and then if I see it on a blog or here someone else has done it, then I scrap it from the list. This is silly.

I am so grateful for what was said on Snippet and Ink today. I read S&I nearly everyday (and then blog my own brand of crazy here) and I was so impressed with her post.

"Thinking about my own wedding can make blogging a little tricky, and being a wedding blogger has shaped my planning process. In lots of ways it's been amazing (I've made some really wonderful friends who have been such incredible resources and so supportive) and in other ways it's been overwhelming (I have so many ideas, yet nothing seems original because every clever wedding idea anyone ever had has been posted on a blog somewhere and then re-blogged a hundred times over). There's also this thing where everyone seems to think that because I blog about weddings, I should know exactly what I want my wedding to be. (People. I've been engaged since last May. Between then and August we changed the date twice, at three different venues, in two different states. And then we put things on hold. Does that sound like a person who knows exactly what she wants for her wedding?)"

It made me realize that I have been in neverneverland; constantly pondering how to have unique elements at our wedding that express who we are as a couple. It is so tricky when you want to have a party that is the essence of individuality, when, let's face it, it has ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE. Well, it certainly feels that way at least. There are rarely any completely original ideas. And really, who cares if it is "original"?!? If you love the idea of whoopie pies and a dessert bar, than you should just do it, regardless of whether or not it has been done before. For my wedding planning, the blogs have been a blessing and a curse, but after this post I am realizing something. If it is about your journey with your soul mate, and about sharing the inception of that journey with you family and friends, then it is completely original.
I am releasing myself from any future expectations about "originality" or "creativity"-- our wedding will be great because it is a party celebrating the first day of our marriage, which is the whole point.


(Photo courtesy of 100 Layer Cake)

One more thing...

I have been wanted to feature Verde Studio for a while now... so I thought I would add a short post while I have my head above water. (Actually, I am in a bis/gov class right now with a guest speaker lecturing on the global impact of US pharmaceutical policy. I am suffering from the F-its...)

Virginia loves stamps, a philatelist with a fabulous eye for color and attention to detail. I loved the idea of vintage stamps for our invitations, but it seemed like a mundane task and/or too expensive. But Verde Studio, an etsy seller, specializes in collecting vintage unused stamps, and can do amazing custom work.
Here are some of my current favorites...




Special thanks to Virginia at Verde Studio for the awesome stamps for our save the dates (and invitations... but more to come on that later!)