Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
Now that I have finished the wish tags, it is time that I construct myself a tree. I went on a search to try and find manzanita branches. I came across the website Blooms and Branches who had all kinds of different manzanita branch options. Although I really like the look of the natural manzanita branch, I was worried they might shed and make a mess. I decided to place an order for 2 of their 24″ sandblasted manzanita branches. The sandblasting basically removes the outer layer of the branch to create a clean ivory branch.
The only downside that I found was that shipping costs nearly as much as the branches. I understand though, I mean…they are shipping a fragile object that could easily break.
{Who else when seeing a FRAGILE label quotes the leg lamp scene from A Christmas Story? FRA-GEE-LEE. I’m not the only one, am I?}
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
If you haven’t noticed by now, my hair is of the curly variety. I am incredibly worried about my hair on my wedding day. For good reason, too. Let me give you some background information so you can fully understand my concern. Today I present to you the trials and tribulations of this Doe’s hair. Or, in other words, my fur.
Might I add that this was difficult posting a few of these photos. They are by no means flattering photos of me. However, I have learned to laugh at myself. Therefore, in the name of blogging, I proudly and humbly present to you the story of my hair—hang on tight.
1. The adorable years started when I was just a little fawn. I had what some considered to be hair reminiscent of Shirley Temple (who I love, by the way).
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
I thought I would update you all on that appointment we had to meet with a potential videographer. The one that I was super excited about because he did not require my firstborn child and/or my life savings in order to book him?
Yeah, total fail. That meeting did not go as I had hoped. First, he emailed me about an hour before our appointment to ask if we could push back the appointment by 30 minutes. OK, no big deal. Thank goodness I checked my email before leaving. I consider this to be sign numero uno.
Things started off fairly well while he was explaining the different pricing options. Again, he was the most affordable videographer that I could fine. Things took a slight turn when he continued to call Mr. Buck by the wrong name of James. Not just once, but approximately five times. After every time he would correct himself, so he did know his correct name. OK, the first time is an honest mistake. Second time, he is still trying to figure this out. Third, fourth, fifth time? I’m starting to think Mr. Buck’s real name is James…ridiculous.
He showed us two videos, and they seemed nice. Nothing special, but again he is affordable and I kept telling myself this. To top it all off at the very end he said, “I don’t really choose to do weddings anymore because they take up my weekends. I only do them when people find me.” Wow, thanks. Because we aren’t going to be paying you a crap load of money or anything. (Yes he is affordable, but it still costs money.) I was not really interested in paying someone for a service who does not actually want to be there. As Stephanie Tanner would say:
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
I recently had a phone date with one of my really good friends who I grew up with. She now lives in Washington so we don’t see each other often, which means we try to keep our phone dates fairly regular. Over the past year our conversations have turned to wedding discussions because we are both getting married one month apart.
{I know you are wondering if we finished that sundae…heck yes we did!}
We started the conversation with the normal exciting wedding jibber jabber. The vendors we had booked, the registry, dress, and so on. The conversation took a slight turn when things started to get real. Basically we had fun talking about all the pretty fun stuff, but then we started to dig deep into the side most people don’t talk about as far as weddings go. The stuff that is not exactly fun to talk about with the general population because they just don’t understand. However, I feel many brides go through this and it is something we all can relate to.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
Early in our engagement I made the bold proclamation that videography was not necessary. I did not see the point…I figured nobody actually watches their video, do they?
I did some research to try and convince myself that maybe videography is important. I came across a website that details a few reasons why you should hire a videographer. Here is the general outline:
You forget things over the years, and video helps you to remember.
Video gives you the opportunity to see things you missed.
You spend lots of money on a wedding, and video gives you the chance to capture all that magic.
Photography is important, but video captures movement and sound, which is nice to have for things like toasts and the first dance.
Remember when Aunt Bethany video taped your family reunion? Then you go back to try and watch the video but instead you get motion sickness? A professional videographer helps avoid that.
Video gives the opportunity for your kids and grandkids to experience what your wedding was like. They will probably make fun of you, but isn’t that worth it?
Should we decide we want to sit down and watch the video, we would at least have that option.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
I last left off at eagerly awaiting Florist A’s quote. I was really hoping that she would be within reason, because she was definitely my favorite florist between the two. Well I am happy to say that her prices were within our budget and we booked her. My chosen florist is Blooms by Martha Andrews. Let me give you a little peek into some of the incredible work she has done.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
I had mentioned previously that our venue is semi-all-inclusive. Part of what is included in the cost is floral centerpieces for all of the tables. What is not included is bridal-party flowers and decoration for the arbor at the ceremony area. Which means I needed to find a super-awesome florist, because flowers are very important to me. I am THAT girl, the one that dreamed of flowers everywhere at my wedding. Now our budget does not exactly dream that same dream…but I think we came to a nice little compromise.
I set up appointments to meet with two florists on the same day. I came prepared with inspiration of bouquets that caught my eye.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
For some reason I put off the search for an officiant for quite a long time, until it hit me that I was missing one of the most important vendors—the one involved in the reason that the entire wedding is taking place. We needed someone to marry us—but not just anyone.
Mr. Buck and I are both Christians, so it is very important to both of us to have a religious ceremony focused on our beliefs. Unfortunately, where we are getting married there were not many options. Our venue mainly had recommendations for judges, but we were looking for someone of faith to marry us. There are various pastors within the area, but I wanted something more than that. I was looking for someone that we could easily connect to.
In came the football coach.
I come from a town where high school football is huge. Think Kenny Chesney’s song, Boys of Fall.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
I wanted to use a heart hole punch instead of a plain circle one to make holes in our wish tags. The search for a heart shaped hole punch has proven to be less than fruitful. Most punches I found punched the heart upside-down, so I returned those. I came across another heart shaped hole punch made by Martha Stewart that looked as though it would be perfect. I scoped it out in the store and it did indeed punch the right side up.
You are thinking this is going to have a happy ending, right? That would be a big N-O. Unfortunately it punches an abnormally large heart. Who needs one that big?! Read more…
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
I have heard from many of our guests that they received our save the dates, so I think it is time to do the big reveal.
I tell ya what: when you get engaged one of the things you definitely don’t plan on is taking forever to make a decision on how to address the envelopes. It took me nearly a week to decide on whether we should hand write, label, or print on the envelopes. I finally made a pros and cons list to try and figure this out. Ridiculous, but it worked. The final ruling was to print straight on the envelopes, and I think they turned out quite nice. Granted, I had to do them one by one, so it took a few episodes of True Blood and Breaking Bad to finally finish them. I decided to use Monterey BT font, which is the cheaper (as in free) cousin to the very beautiful Feel Script font.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
We chose to have a seventeen month long engagement. People questioned us on this decision over and over again like a broken record. The constant “why are you waiting so long” question got old real quick. When I ran into people they would ask me what I have planned so far, and I would follow up with a laundry list of what I have done. At the end of every conversation they would answer back with a snarky tone and say, “isn’t it a little early for that?”
This made me constantly second guess myself as to whether I was in fact planning too early. I would receive email updates from wedding websites and it would say I am 360 days out from the wedding and at this point I should start researching venues. I would sit there and think hmm, I did that six months ago. Was that bad? No, it is not.
We chose to give ourselves the precious gift of time. Read more…
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
As of two weeks ago, here was my thought on suits for the guys: eh, we will deal with it around two months before the wedding. Well that all changed when Mr. Buck was a groomsman in a wedding last week. While we were at the tux shop getting him fitted I was casually chatting with the lady working there. She mentioned to me that if we order the suits for our wedding by the end of this year, we will ensure this year’s prices and not have to pay when prices go up in January. Say what? That changed everything for me, plus, I am not one to shy away from planning ahead and booking early. Now all of a sudden I have to make a decision on what kind of suit the guys should wear. They have no interest in choosing; if I left it to them this is what they would all show up in:
Not going to happen. I have a super powerful title called Bride which means I am allowed to say no to these types of things. We did compromise though, and decided the guys can all wear camouflage socks.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
Finding a DJ was something I wanted to do very early on in the planning process. It was among one of the most important vendors to me to book. They are basically responsible for keeping everything flowing smoothly, from ceremony to reception. I was preparing myself for the search to be difficult. You see, my taste in music is quite eclectic. My iPod is fairly interesting to browse through because the bulk of it is this:
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
I know what you are thinking. Oh, how embarrassing—poor Miss Doe has a typo in her title. Right?
Wrong. I deliberately put that question mark there because I never intended for there to be a part three. I am actually quite surprised I am writing a part three for these wish tags, but I am so glad I am. Remember how I ended my last post with wanting to tweak the color palette of the wish tags? I ran out to Michaels, again, last night to find some new supplies that would add some color to this project. By the way, I asked Mr. Buck what his guess is as to how many times I will go to Michaels before the wedding. His guess? Seventy-seven times. That seems somewhat high and dramatic, but I guess we will see when it is all said and done.
Well, I kind of did more than just tweak the color palette. More like completely change the entire thing. I thought that I should use our colors for the wedding. If I use sage-colored tags with light pink embossing, then maybe the wish tags would look like little leaves on the tree. I ended up buying large squares of card stock and then cutting them down into 4″ x 6″ squares. This was much cheaper than using the pre-cut tags, and I was able to make them bigger to give our guests more room for writing.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
I think I might have an addiction—to embossing, that is. I recently taught myself how to emboss, and now I want to emboss everything in my house because it is so dang fun. I wonder how Mr. Buck would react if I embossed his fishing license? Yeeeah, probably shouldn’t go there.
Now that we have the wish tags printed we can begin embossing the other side of the tags.
1. I was really hoping that I could find sparkly black embossing powder. Unfortunately, I could not find any, so I opted to buy black and sparkly embossing powder separately. I then mixed them together to obtain the look I was trying to achieve.
Miss Doe, Northern CaliforniaAge and Occupation: 24, Real Estate AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 23, Recycling ManagerEngagement Date: December 25, 2010Wedding Date: May 2012Venue: Monte Verde InnAbout Me: I’m a Rat Pack fan and a Christmas nut that loves to read, good wine, cheesy ’80s movies and ’90s sitcoms. My wiener dog with an attitude problem and lazy basset hound are my constant source of entertainment. He's a hunter and I like cooking so it's not rare to see wild game on our dinner menu. Both of us were born and raised in a small historic farming town where our feet are still firmly planted. We have been together for nearly a decade and have shared many life experiences together, including birthdays that are only one day apart. We are two old souls that are creating our long-awaited wedding with loads of tradition that blends our two styles into rustic elegance in the foothills of Northern California.
Unique Wedding Favors
