Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
No, I’m not married yet. But I did get an important change to my name this weekend. And no, I didn’t change my last name. It’s even better. This weekend, I went from Miss Blue Whale to Dr. Blue Whale!!
Seriously, it feels amazing!! Everyone said I was crazy for planning a wedding while finishing my dissertation, but let me tell you, it’s so nice to know that graduate school will not be hanging over my head during the wedding. (Okay, yes I do have revisions to make which will take several weeks…but I passed the defense, and that’s what matters!)
Plus, my parents and my aunt came into town to attend the ceremony, and it was soooo nice to see them one more time before the actual wedding. (I haven’t seen them in a couple of months.)
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
Recently, you may have thought, “Gosh, that Blue Whale has been awfully emotionallately. Can we see some pretty pictures or something?”
I have been a bit stressed. I can’t lie. But I managed to fit in just a couple more DIY projects at the last minute, so I’ve got some pretty picture for you! Hopefully I’ll find some time to snap pictures of the others, but my favorite project by far has been my painted shoes.
This is a project I’ve been thinking about since we first got engaged! I can’t believe I saved it right up until the last minute. So how did go down?
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
Let me ask you a question. What do you actually need in order to get married? You need two people who want to marry each other and a person who will perform the ceremony. And in most cases in the US, you need rings. We have all those things.
But…when we bought the rings, we didn’t have them resized because it was winter. (Do you see where this is going?)
Cut to Wednesday. Mr. Whale and I have been meaning to go get our rings resized for a few weeks now. But we didn’t think it was a big deal, because we thought it would just take a few hours to get it done, a few days maximum. (This does happen, right? I’ve known plenty of people who got their ring resized right in the shop!) So we had big plans to go see Iron Man 3, and we were going take our rings in before the movie. In order to decide on a movie time, I called up Zales and asked how long it usually takes to get a ring resized. The response? Two weeks.
We don’t have two weeks. Cue panic. My ring is currently a size 7. It needs to be a size 4.5…
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
Planning a wedding teaches you a lot about your personality. Are you a planner, like Miss Palm Tree? Or are you a do-er? Are you super laid back? Or are you a perfectionist? Do you rise to the challenge? Or do you shut down in the wake of mounting stress?
How I sometimes feel when I think of what I need to do for the wedding.
I have no idea exactly how to classify myself neatly, but I do know that planning my wedding has taught me that I’m some strange combination of perfectionist, planning-obsessed, laid back about details, and ridiculously crazy anxious.
Some days, I’m not sure what possessed me to think that I would be okay with planning a big wedding. Don’t get me wrong. I reeeeeeally want a big super fun wedding. I just don’t want to be in charge of making it super fun. Mr. Whale could tell you that I get a little panicky when we have people over at our apartment. It’s much easier now that Mr. Whale and I live together. But when it was just me, I would never have people over. And that’s not because I don’t like people. I just feel panicked at the idea of keeping them entertained.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
Last time I told you that, despite my childhood fantasies of an epic wedding cake, we just couldn’t fit it into the budget. So instead, we decided to jump on the cupcake bandwagon.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
In case you all haven’t noticed, I love sugar. Like, when people claim to not want the frosting from their slice of birthday cake (Are they being serious? I have to assume that they’re just using that as an excuse to not eat ridiculously unhealthy icing.), I gladly volunteer to eat it. All of it. No matter how much there is. Frosting is just too amazing to not eat.
OK, now that I’m done fantasizing about icing, I think I’m ready to talk about frosting’s companion: cake! I have conjured up some pretty amazing cakes in my imagination. Many girls have that “thing” that they dream about for their wedding. It’s the thing you dream about when you’re a little girl, and that’s what you see as wedding. For me, it was the dress. And the cake!
To me, this cake is pretty dang close to perfection. I would probably modify some colors, but it’s just so “me.” In fact, my MOH sent it to me in an email way back in 2008 with the subject line “Your Future Wedding Cake.” She knows what’s up.
Now, I know that some of you are thinking, “Good God! That cake is hideous!” Yeah, I know it’s not for everyone. But I’m not marrying you. I’m marrying Mr. Whale. He shares my affinity for all things sugar and likes my whimsical style.
So this cake has been in the back of my mind for ages, but once we got engaged, I realized the world of cakes has so much to offer!
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
I had several requests about what products I used to do my makeup in my last post. So at the request of the people, here they are!
In case you forgot what I looked like…here I am again!
Prepping the Face
Moisturizer: Neutrogena Healthy Defense Liquid Moisturizer SPF 50. I swear by this stuff. I have dreams of having incredibly flawless porcelain skin (read: the pastiest of pasty white). If you put this on, you will not get sun. At all.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
I spent a while trying to come up with a creative title, but…I couldn’t. At least you now know what I’m about to talk about.
My wedding make-up. J/k. But I wish this look was appropriate for something in my life. (Image from Style Indeed)
I spent a while debating whether I would get my make-up professionally done for the big day. You can’t spend much time browsing the wedding sections of the internet without seeing the praises of airbrushed make-up. I don’t think there is a soul who will tell you that they regret making the decision to go that route. But, as the title told you, I ultimately decided against it. Why?
For one, that stuff is EXPENSIVE!! I am not prepared to shell out over a hundred dollars for my wedding day make-up.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
It’s so exciting to have the RSVPs rolling in. I do a little happy dance whenever I get a “yes” from someone that I know will be on the dance floor.
Why didn’t we have a funny RSVP card like this? Oh well. (Image from Smile Invitations)
But there is definitely a part of the wedding process involved with the RSVPs that I was not prepared for. And that part is how you feel when someone you really thought would be there says they aren’t coming.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
It’s no secret that I love the ’80s. Has anyone else in the last decade packed four pairs of leg warmers in their suitcase when they went home for spring break? Yeah, I didn’t think so. So you can imagine my delight when I found this sparkly amazingness behind my bridal shower invitation few weeks back.
So after my awesome shower, we loaded up the car and headed out on a journey to the middle of nowhere. But first, some of us changed into our ’80s gear.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
I’ve found myself doing many silly things lately. And while I probably should be embarrassed and keep them to myself, I’ve decided to post them on the internet instead. So, without further ado…You know you’re getting married soon if…
10. You are giddy with the thought of possibly owning a brand new vacuum cleaner! Or maybe even (gasp!) plates that match!
9. Everywhere you go, you can’t help but point out your wedding colors. ”Look at that flower! It’s the exact right shade of pink!” “Check out this brochure about filing your taxes! I love that shade of blue!” “Tazo passion tea is such a beautiful color. It’s the pink in our wedding color!”
8. The Farmer’s Almanac suddenly seems like a reliable source of weather forecasts. It’s going to be partly cloudy three months from today? Excellent.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
Just a few short weeks ago, I made my last trip to my hometown before the big day. And since it was my last time in town, my amazing bridesmaids decided to throw me a shower. I got this lovely sparkly invitation in the mail a few weeks prior.
I know you’re jealous of my mad Paint skillz. And seriously, this is the worst picture ever. But trust me, it’s glitter-tastic.
I was so pumped. Honestly, I didn’t really care at all about the gifts. I was just so excited to see all of my favorite friends and family and family friends. I carefully picked a dress that would fit over my cast. And the morning of the big day, I set out a couple of hours early to have my hair beautifully styled. (Normally, I would just do my hair myself, but the only styles I’ve accomplished with the broken wrist are the ponytail and a bun…Not acceptable for my one and only bridal shower.)
When I arrived, I was greeted first by so many hugs! Then, by this delicious spread!
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
Last time, I shared with you our invitations. (Eeeee! They still make me excited.) Today, I want to talk about the behind-the-scenes work that brought them to life.
The first star of the show is Natacha, who runs the Etsy store WeddingSundae. I saw this picture on her page and fell in love with the invitations:
We ordered the digital files, and I cannot say enough good things about how fantastic Natacha was to work with. She advertises that she will work with you until the file is right, and she means it. We sent probably eight or ten messages back and forth with me asking to see something one way, then asking her to switch it back, and she was always happy to comply. You’ll notice that I had her change several fonts and sizes. I also had her remove the dotted lines from the RSVP card. And the “I Do” BBQ card was completely custom-made. They looked great, and she didn’t charge extra for a custom design! Fantastic!
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
The invitations are out, and the RSVPs are pouring in!
I’m thrilled to share our invitation design with you. After trying and failing multiple times to find the perfect invitation, I FINALLY came across Natacha, who designs and sells beautiful invitations at her Etsy store WeddingSundae.
So without further ado…the Blue Whale invitations! (Note: All the cards are two-sided, so the left is the front, and the right is the back!)
We’re also inviting everyone to a fun barbeque, since a lot of folks are from out of town:
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MDAge and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: March 10, 2012Wedding Date: May 2013Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GAAbout Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
Okay, actually it’s the story of buying Mr. Whale’s wedding attire. But somehow we ended up acting silly in the store and discussing how hilariously awesome it would be if our first dance was to “Suddenly Seymour” (Mr. Whale loves Little Shop of Horrors. I mean, really, who doesn’t?)
But I digress. With our wedding less than two months away, we decided that maybe it was time to pick out a suit for Mr. Whale. You may recall that he originally had this great idea to wear a white suit…I’m happy to report that that phase didn’t last long. I really didn’t bring it up again, but I did show him some pictures of some nice gray suits, and I guess he forgot about the white one.
He shares my affinity for all things sugar and likes my whimsical style.
