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Weddingbee Blog
I will admit something to you all… I don’t really get excited about flowers.
That isn’t completely accurate. I think flowers are pretty and lovely. But I am only really attracted to strange looking ones. I love lime green flowers like Bells of Ireland. I like it when Mr. Robin gets those for me because I know he really thought about what I love.
But the truth is, I just can’t see paying hundred of dollars for them for the wedding. I am mostly ambivalent about my bouquet and the other floral elements.
That is why I didn’t think that I could do flowers for the centerpieces during the reception. It just wouldn’t be me. But one thing I do love is early and mid-century glassware, so my idea was a mix of glassware in blues, greens and browns. Then, I began to worry I wouldn’t have time to gather that much glassware, so I bought 33 clear vases from Ikea with the intent to fill them will colored water and floating candles.
I have written in the past of my obsession and desire for custom Lynn Lugo dresses for my bridesmaids. And I also wrote of the complete impossibility of getting them given my time constraints. So I gave up that idea and hunted through hundreds of websites looking for something else I liked ready-made.
The reason that I really wanted the Lynn Lugo dresses is because I could not make up my mind when it came to bridesmaids’ dresses. I went back and forth between blue to green, back to blue and then to the brown dress below from Nordstom’s (because it was the safe choice). But I wasn’t really happy with that choice.
Our wedding is fairly elaborate for having only three months in the planning stages. And I will admit to being stressed (that is code word for going slightly crazy). However, I knew this was coming. From the moment we decided that our absolute maximum engagement length would be four months, I knew by the end I would be tired.
Which is why I have been standing my ground on my rehearsal dinner plan. I knew exactly what I wanted from day one… actually before that - I knew before Mr. Robin ever proposed.
Here is a vision of my perfect rehearsal dinner:
(center image from Banana Republic)
**Sorry Mr. Robin, skip this one too**
I had originally thought to have my aunt, who does costumes for theater, make the alterations and bustle on my dress. I began to have second thoughts when faced with my time crunch however. It is a beautiful thing to have friends and family do things for your wedding, and they can save you tons of money. In fact, we have personal relationships with our caterer, photographer, invitation designer and my hairstylist, but since I needed the alterations done quickly, having a business relationship only sounded nice. I am so much more comfortable being picky (and let’s face it, demanding) with someone who views me only as their client.
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This is only a burning question because I am wondering if these could be my “something blue.” Or do they only count as my something bluegreen?
These are not the exact sandals I have chosen, but the color and feel is the same. The style I purchased has a little more vintage styling, but I can’t seem to find a picture and my digital camera is lost forever in Mexico.
I am very sorry to have been absent from writing all week. There were two very different reasons for this.
One was that I have been feeling the pressure. With only a little more than a month left to go, I have had to really think about what it possible and what is probable in terms of projects. I have a million ideas for programs, guest book, centerpieces, etc. But I have had to face the hard truth that they may not all happen. Now that I have sorted what I think I can get done, the projects will be coming fast and furious.
The other reason is that I fell prey to something that I think is probably pretty common among women as busy as we are. I was burning the candle not only at both ends, but sometimes in the middle. I went to work, planned for the wedding, wrote a lot, taught jewelry making for Advent Conspiracy at my church, failed at reading a new book, tried to hang out with friends and spend meaningful time with Mr. Robin, then bake for Thanksgiving and on, and on. I was averaging about 4-5 hours of sleep per night, and eating terribly because I had no time to cook.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
Having decided that we were not participating in the usual Black Friday craziness this year, Mr. Robin and I instead launched ourselves into a road trip down the breathtaking Columbia Gorge under the guise of running some errands for the wedding - first drinks, both wine and beer, and then gathering intelligence for possible mini-moon places for the week after the wedding.
(the Gorge, Portland Ground)
I admit it, I was a gown novice.
It was soon after I started looking online that I realized I was a little out of my league, which was an odd feeling for someone who usually considers herself pretty stylish. I didn’t even know what the names of the styles referred to. When someone started discussing “girls with pick-ups,” I knew that the mental picture I had of a woman in a Ford F150 probably wasn’t right. I was going to need help, and fast.
*** Mr. Robin stop reading right here****
Well this part had a lot more actual invitations, and a lot more challenge if not disaster.
We were on a very tight time constraint for invitations, due to the fact that there was simply not very much time between beginning planning and the actual wedding date. Also, my roommate donated her time and talent to make these, and I did not really want her to lose sleep or become a crazy shut-in because she felt she had to meet some sort of extreme deadline. Therefore the invites took several weeks to complete, and finally last week they were proofed, checked and ready to print.
Sometime during the endless rounds of conversation about where we should register and for what, Mr. Robin came up with the idea of asking our guests to consider gifting to several charities that we either donate to, or are actually involved with. I loved this idea of giving more through our wedding, so we wrote the following note to accompany our invitations:
It is amazing to me how quickly things can spiral out of control. The invitation creation has easily been the most stressful part of wedding planning so far, and that’s silly because it was one of the pieces that I would have sworn I wasn’t so interested in.
We started with a simple concept for invitations, a brightly colored one sheet announcement with the all information and RSVP by phone or email, drawing inspiration from the fabulous invites of Unless Designs. Her designs have a cheerful poster-like feeling to them which I love - you can frame your invitation afterwards and hang it in the dining room.
(a cute Unless Designs piece)
The Story of a Practical Theme
You may of heard a little something about Portland, Oregon… it rains. According to our reputation, almost incessantly. It is my opinion that generally the city gets a bad rap, because the rain is fairly seasonal and the natural beauty it creates is breathtaking.
Suffice to say that, like any stereotype, there is a part to this one which is true - every winter there comes upon the city a rainstorm that begins in early December and keeps on going pretty much until the end of January. Our wedding date is smack in the middle of that.
I am serious. I didn’t realize it before now, but I don’t know many of my friends’ addresses. I know their personal e-mail addresses, their work e-mail addresses, and their cell phone numbers. I am their myspace friend, and their facebook friend (but I refuse to join friendster). I read their blogs, watch their videos online, and have long instant message conversations.
I have been to many, if not all, of their houses, but I don’t remember such things - I just plug the address in Google maps and go. Or know that they live four houses to the left of Hot Lips Pizza.
It is amazing in this world of instant, accessible communication, that you can be friends with someone and never know their precise location to mail them something as simple as a letter.
Mr. Robin has been on the phone for two days gathering addresses from friends and family alike! The guest list however, is finally almost done. Hooray!
Why pick only two wedding colors, when you could have three. And why stick to only three, when you could have three different colors and two shades of each of those.
At least that is my motto. I am a big fan of color, as anyone in my life would tell you. My shoe collection is such a rainbow that the other day I was bemoaning the fact I couldn’t find a pair of neutral (black or brown) flats to wear.
And if something is so much a part of your personality, then I say work it into your wedding day. So, as I stood in the Dutch Boy paint aisle of a local Fred Meyer’s I was torn. There were two different greens and two different blues that I was in love with, and I couldn’t choose. So I didn’t.
And here is the color palette in all its glory:
The only one that isn’t showing up well is the darker blue, it is much less turquoise than it appears.
Chalkboard Spray Paint.
I like to play with things. I admit it. I will buy paint, art supplies, and vintage furniture with no real idea how I will use them. I just like the idea of some things, and this is how I came to have a can of chalkboard spray paint.
I desperately want to find some element in the reception to which I could apply this chalkboard spray paint to. There has to be something at the reception upon where the ability to draw would bring great joy to the guests. What, I have no idea, because our wedding is very modern glam (with Asian influences), and I am not sure that the whole chalkboard thing would fit.
But here are some ideas I came up with:
1) A sandwich board at the door welcoming everyone. If I buy a permit (and it isn’t raining) I could even put it outside for those guests who might be confused by the whole wedding in a theater concept.
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