Marriage License Fun

Hello!

It has been a while since I posted anything, and I do apologize for my negligence. However, if you knew how busy I am these days, you'd totally understand. There has been so much planning and finishing up with details that blogging has been (unfortunately) way down at the bottom of my very long to-do list.

But, I did want to post something Mike and I did just this past Friday that makes our wedding that much more official -- we got our marriage license!! It probably took longer to find the correct building the Register of Deeds was in than the time it took to actually get the license. We did fill out the necessary form on-line the week before, but even that didn't take too long. After a few signatures here and a declaration -- with right hand raised -- there, we have a bona fide marriage license to show off!

Now, it just needs to be signed by Father Joel, who will be marrying us, and our two witnesses!

We are very happy, if you couldn't tell already! :)

What to do about place cards...?

So, as we get closer and closer to our wedding -- only 1 month and 4 days away!, there are little details that now have to be thought out and decided. One of these small details are place cards. You may think this aspect of a wedding could be overwhelmingly boring, but actually, I've seen some pretty innovative ways to display place cards for guests. Here are some of my favorites...

I like how simple this is -- and fun! All you'd need is some twine, clothespins, and printed cards. The font and color of the cards really make them stand out. I'm usually not a huge fan of yellow, but it's bright and happy when hanging on the clothesline.

It may be a bit difficult to see in this picture, but these place cards direct guests to specific places they've named their tables after -- like Michigan Avenue or Paris. It would be extra special if the tables were named after all the places the bride and groom had visited together over the years.

This would be the perfect idea for a wedding that was in a barn or on a farm. Even if there weren't any horses!

I can't get enough of this lovely vintage-inspired idea. You could make a fun game out of collecting as many keys as you could find in places like antique shops, thrift stores, yard sales....The ribbon really softens the display of the keys. Very pretty and romantic too!

A very artsy take on place cards -- they look like they'd be great bookmarks too! It works because all the shades are in the same color family, yet slightly different. So even though they're a bit haphazard looking, it's done in a uniquely unified way.

How cute is this?! Perfect for an outside summer wedding when guests need a chance to cool off. If you love this idea but are having a winter wedding, you could have some hot cider ready for guests to enjoy...Or some hot cocoa! Yum.

Love this idea -- place cards and favors all in one! Plus the succulent plants are a beautiful, natural touch.

I'm digging this creative idea -- especially since our wedding is all about the rustic elegance theme! These place cards stuck into tiny little tree trunks are so cute with just the right touch of imagination, not to mention aesthetically pleasing. If I were a guest, I would use the trunk as a paper weight in my home office!

As someone who is a writer, this is right up my alley! Vintage typewriter keys are used as table numbers which are attached to place cards -- of course, typed from the real thing. Very innovative.

Really, anything goes when putting place cards together. There are so many other ideas out there that it would have taken hours to post all that I liked. Who knew place cards could be so compelling!

New Love = Pinterest

The other day, my lovely bride-to-be bridesmaid, Rachel, introduced me to the wonderful world of Pinterest! At first, it was a bit overwhelming, what with all the pages and people you can "follow," however using it is so easy, even I gave it a couple more minutes to sink into my brain!

I really loved how simple it was -- no profile to create or photos to upload, as it just links up to your Facebook or Twitter account. I first devoted some time to renaming my "boards," and in doing so, really got excited about creating whole new worlds within each one. And you can create a bazillion of them! Really, I can see how people can literally spend hours just searching the web with this new tool, because with each new thing that makes an impression on you, you can "pin it" and immediately have it saved onto one of many different boards. No longer are the days when you get lost in the interconnected links that is the internet, only to wonder where it was you saw that gorgeous bouquet of flowers or those awesomely cool pants! I know, I should be a salesperson for this thing.

I really wish I had joined 11 months ago when I was first starting to plan a wedding, and I do have a vague sense of someone else telling me about it... but, there's no time like the present to make up for lost time! So, if you're reading this and are even the slightest bit curious about Pinterest, here is the link to check it out: http://pinterest.com/

Become a follower of my Pinterest boards, and in return, I will follow you!!! Happy pinning, everyone!

My Lovely, Lavender-Inspired Bridal Shower!!

Today, one of my Maids of Honor, Jennifer, posted photos of the AMAZING bridal shower she and Jessie threw me last weekend! To see the "behind the scenes" ideas, thoughts, and photos as well as the "after" photos, check it out here: tidbitsnpieces.blogspot.com

I had some of my own photos of the lovely decor, so I thought I'd share some, too!

Tried to get a wide-angle shot...It's all coming together!

The lovely lavender decorations -- they know it's my favorite color! :)

Such a beautiful table -- before the yummy food!!

I would like to point out many of the talented crafty ideas in the photo above -- first, the paper flower in the back. So creative and absolutely adorable! (A lot of fun to make, I might add!) Also, Jenn and Jess framed our wedding invitation in a classic white frame that really adds a nice detail to the table. The cute little note cards detailing what was in the bowls and on the platters added to the sophisticated look -- and everyone knew what they were piling their plates with!

Mmmmmmm...

The Advice Table

This table was designated as the "Advice Table" where guests wrote little nuggets of valuable advice...however before I could get my hands on some of the cards, Jennifer plucked them away, saying that she was saving them for a later date! So, I guess we will have to wait and see! (She's so gosh darn cute!)

The party favors!!

These adorable little favors were a hit! Everyone had fun picking their favorite to take home. I even got to keep one!! It's actually the middle one in the front row.

The homemade flowers, accompanied by mason jar tea-light candles and jars of dried lavender!

More lavender and tea-lights in mason jars!

The little bunches of dried lavender and the mason jars harboring tea-lights were some of my favorite details! So delicate -- it was like having a garden party in my dining room!

More tea cozies and lavender...notice one of our engagement shots in the background! :)

It was a wonderful bridal shower, filled with tons of love and creativity!! Thank you so much, Jennifer and Jessie, for hosting such a lovely time.

Let them eat cake!

A couple of weeks ago, Mike and I met with Deerpark Restaurant to discuss our menu for the reception. They brought out different samples of canapes, appetizers, entrees, and sides we had chosen to try from their menu, and we got to eat our fill! It was all so delicious, that it was pretty difficult to choose which dishes we liked best, but what was most difficult was figuring out which cake we favored the most.

There were samples of white cake, chocolate cake, almond cake...cake with strawberry filling, ganache filling, raspberry filling. Cake with fondant and buttercream. The choices were pretty limitless, what with all the possible combinations! After the first round of cakes, we were lucky enough to get to try more combos, and after much deliberation, and with the help of Rachel and her fiance Patrick, we finally came to a decision. I'm not a huge fan of fondant -- it's just too sticky and waxy-tasting to me, so a rich, buttercream icing was a no-brainer. However, it's surprisingly difficult to choose between a variety of cakes and fillings. With all the tasting, your palette can get a bit confused. Not to mention, your stomach starts filling up soon after even a few bites of the sweet samples -- at least for me! But, we eventually decided on two types: chocolate cake with ganache filling and buttercream icing, because after all, who doesn't like chocolate? Or ganache for that matter? And the second: almond cake with raspberry filling and buttercream icing. A heavenly combination!

With the tasting of the cakes aside (sniff), it was time to think of a design for the cake itself. This was a bit tougher. I never had premonitions of cakes floating through my head, so I had to go out in search of cake designs I really liked. Even though the design will be more or less undecipherable once it has been cut into many pieces, the cake will be sitting out for all to see during the reception dinner, with everyone's eyes gravitating towards it in anticipation of a mouthful. So, I did a little research, and found some cakes I really enjoyed. (Hint, I saved my favorite for last!)

I like the vine-like decorations spiraling down from the last tier...ever-so-haphazardly pretty!

I love how the cake seems to have an uneven texture about it -- it's slightly rough, but I like the un-perfect look. Plus, the strawberries give a refreshing contrast to the white cake.

Not sure if these are real flowers or not, but I sure do find them pretty. I like how they're kind of cascading down the side. I definitely want some flowers incorporated into our cake.

This pattern is a bit too prim and proper for my taste, but I love the old-fashioned black and white design....very vintage yet placed as a border makes it look more modern.

A little too uniform, however I do like the swirly vines in the lavender color.

Very simple, yet elegant. And again, I like the texture to the cake.

I just love this set-up! It's so unique. It's the perfect balance of rustic elegance. May just have to steal this idea!

I love how the viny branches wrap around the tiers here.

This last photo is very similar to what I envision our cake to look like. I like the square cakes rather than the traditional circular style, and instead of being stacked perfectly symmetrical, I want our tiers to be slightly turned with each new cake tier, so there is a bit of a fluid motion.

All this talk about cake, I may just have to scour the kitchen in search of a sweet treat!!

Destination: Los Cabos

This past spring, Mike and I were thinking of where we would like to honeymoon after the Big Day. While I was pining away for a trip to Italy or Greece, we were both in agreement about one thing -- that we needed to be at a beach, in total relaxation mode. As we started researching, Mike's super-generous mom, Ellen, suggested we use her Hilton points for a hotel room during our stay...wherever that may be -- as well as her Delta Airlines points for First Class plane tickets! Aaahhh!! We graciously took her advice -- after many, many thank-you's -- and began looking at all the Hiltons there are in different areas of the world. And there are quite a few. More than I expected.

And while I was unsure of the whole "resort" feel -- I wanted our honeymoon beach locale to be at least a little ways away from civilization -- how could we pass up a free stay at a hotel thousands of miles away, while flying First Class to get there? We looked at the coast of Spain, Fiji (which we were beginning to think seriously about until we saw how long the flight would be...nearly 2 days!), Costa Rica, Jamaica, Italy, and beyond.

Some of the resorts we looked at were a little dingy looking, some even unkempt. But the location that really caught our eye was the secluded beach of Los Cabos on the coast of Mexico.As soon as we saw it, we both knew this was the place we had to be after our wedding. And since it's in Mexico, it wouldn't take as long to get there, as say, Europe. Located at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, it's right in the midst of the Pacific Ocean. If you're geographically challenged as I am, here is a map that might give you a better idea of its exact location...

I have a pretty good feeling there will be plenty of seclusion to be had! The beach is gorgeous, and the rock formations are truly breathtaking. I will be sure to take plenty of photos! They're the kind of rocks where you feel a cave is somewhere in your midst. Spelunking anyone? Here are some snapshots of those very rocks:

So many gracious thanks to my FMIL Ellen Reed! We are so excited to sunbathe and go snorkeling in that blue water!! Speaking of activities, Mike and I are definitely interested in going hiking, scuba diving, sea kayaking, (maybe even sky diving!!), and of course lounging in the pool and on the beach with a hefty margarita in hand. Can you tell I'm excited?!!!! I can hardly wait to dig my toes in the sand and breathe in that salty air. 

Los Cabos, here we come!

Wedding band time!

Today, Mike and I picked up our wedding bands! We went shopping for them a couple weeks ago, going to maybe around 5 or 6 jewelry shops around town. But it was the first shop we visited where we really found our favorites. Of course, when you have an excuse to go shopping for rings, why not really take a good look at what's available, right?!

For me, I really wanted a plain white gold band that matched the width of my engagement ring. It is simple yet elegant, and it looks really beautiful matched with my engagement ring. I'm not much of a yellow gold kind of gal, so I got lucky when Mike picked out a ring that was white gold -- which looks silver. So, finding a wedding band for me was fairly simple.

But for Mike, it was a bit more tricky. There were so many men's wedding bands out there! I didn't know there was such a selection. He didn't want to go the plain gold band route either, and instead wanted to find something a bit more original. He ended up finding one that has quite a bit of character. It's a silver/dark gray (it almost looks black) tungsten band that really stands out! Tungsten is a scratch-resistant metal, so it's a very durable ring that he can wear all the time (for the rest of his life...heh heh heh...) No, but seriously, he really liked it. And while at first I thought it looked a little too on the dark side, I liked it so much better when I saw him put it on!

Here are photos of each:

Here's mine!

And Mike's! Very different -- I love the mix of silver and dark gray.

I love how they look together!