Now that the Holidays are over and 2009 has begun we can begin to focus once again on our wedding.
Of course it doesn’t help the nerves that now that it is 2009, everything is going in super fast-forward. Or so it seems. Does it feel that way to anyone else? Before the Holidays, I always felt there was a cushion there, a safety net. Tthen they came and went. And now it’s T-minus 4 months and counting and I’m growing a tad overwhelmed and panicky, albeit below the surface. Just below it.
*deep breath*
Things ARE getting done.
Remember how I’d said once our guests have received the Save-the-Dates that YOU’D get to see them? Well here they are:
Ta-da! Save-the-Date magnets from www.vistaprint.com. $1 each. Oh yeah.
You see how it says “invitation to follow” on the bottom there? Well that brings me to my next item of discussion: Invitations!
Adrian and I decided on the style, colors, fonts, and words for our invitations from Twisted Limb Paperworks last week and sent everything in. We should be getting to see the first draft today or tomorrow. I, for one, am SO EXCITED! Seeing our names, our words, our date & location all spelled out on an invitation makes it REALLY real! It’s concrete once it’s on an invitation. No going back! 
And that makes me happy.
Of course for pictures of these, you’re really going to have to wait. We won’t be sending them out until mid-March.
Next on the list:
- Decide upon a place to hold our Rehearsal Dinner. So far we’ve got FARM, Finch’s Brasserie, and DeAngelo’s in the running. We’re leaning toward DeAngelo’s.
- Meet with Jon C. to go over ceremony stuff.
- Start writing our vows!
- Plan a little something special for our out-of-town guests.
- Actually HEAR BACK FROM OUR CATERER! and book all that.
I suppose it’s all moving right along and I need to take more deep breaths. More to come as updates continue!
Thanks for reading!
Jenny the Bride
Filed under: ceremony, officiant, organizing, photographer, planning, the dress
We got our engagement pictures back a couple of weeks ago! They’re awesome and we are in LOVE with them! Jason rocks my socks! Here’s a sneak peek:
To see more & order prints, click here!
Now, on to the “& more” section of this post….
The list further dwindles! To date we have now:
- Created & ordered our save-the-dates (using one of our engagement pictures)! I’ll post a photo of the finished design (created by me and approved by Adrian) once I’m sure most of our guests have received them.
- Chosen our invitations (will order in January). We’re going with tree-free paper with embedded wildflower seeds from Twisted Limb Paperworks! Again, no peeking at the design until they’ve been received!
- Our friend, Jon C., got ordained online! Not sure which site he used, but it’s legit!
- My wedding & rehearsal dresses have been fitted! And believe it or not, I performed the operations myself (eek!)! But it worked! Of course, were they not rather simple in design (no boning or the like), I would NOT have even dreamt of touching the dresses with a needle & thread, but thankfully it IS and I have enough experience to have fitted it myself, saving a load of cash! YAY! My mantra has been since we started planning (heck, since we purchased our own house): Why pay someone else to do it if I can do it myself? Of course, if you follow such words of wisdom, be realistic! Sometimes it is better to trust the professionals!
- In the same vein, I have also almost completely finished adding my own personal design aspects to my wedding gown. I’ve added quite a bit here and there and changed some things about the design, but I am LOVING it more each and every time I touch that thing. Which is a good sign, because I have been known to not leave well enough alone. Thankfully with my own wedding gown I’ve done a good job of Keeping It Simple (SILLY)!
- We’ve just about compiled all of our guests’ mailing addresses. Actually, as of now, we’re just waiting on ONE. (you know who you are!)
- Decided on a ring holder! We’re going to order a custom ring bowl from Paloma’s Nest! I’m so excited because I have been wanting one of these for our wedding since I first saw them! They’re so cute, so unique, and so reusable (another mantra: reduce, reuse, and….you know the rest!)! We’re going to engrave it with “Adrian & Jenny / May 16, 2009″ and tie a ribbon in one of our colors through the holes at the top. After the wedding, we’ll use it as an ornament on our tree every year OR hang it on the wall next to a wedding photo. Kai will now be carring our rings (he wanted–and deserved–an extra, important job), so now he’ll just carry the bowl with the rings!
- I’ve ordered and received all of my rehearsal & wedding day jewelry (all from Etsy. Yes, you remember, I’m the Etsy Freak Bride.).
- I’ve received my headpiece from myrakim (SO pretty!!!)! It’s made with feathers I gathered from my family’s farm in Michigan City, so it’s extra personal!
- booked a ceremony musician! We’ll have a solo violinist, a student from IU Music School. I’m looking forward to this as well because those students?!? AMAZING!!!
- worked out the timeline/style of our ceremony. Not the words yet, but the way things are going to go. We’re doing things a little differently. More on this later.
- Aaaand last but NOT least, I ordered the oft-raved-about work-the-hell-out-of-you workout DVD: Jillian Michaels–30-Day Shred. Yes, that’s Jillian Michaels from “Biggest Loser” TV fame. Yes, she’s called the “toughest trainer”. That’s right. I’m getting in the absolute best shape of my life for our wedding!
Now, let me explore this tangent a little more, do you mind? I’m not in bad shape. I’m a vegetarian, I eat well, I had kept up a pretty decent jogging routine in the warmer months for the past year. When I wasn’t jogging, I was dancing. This is the embarrassing part. I have ANOTHER workout DVD for *ahem* hip-hop dancing *shifty eyes*. It worked me out, though, and it was fun!
Then I got this DVD.
I apparently didn’t know what working out was.
Ho. Ly. Crap (I’ll keep this kid-friendly).
The workouts (there are three levels) are only 20 minutes long. But, it’s Jillian, and Jillian does NOT mess around! It’s true, if you want results from ONLY 20 min a day, you’ve got to WORK IT GIRLFRIEND and WORK IT HARD! No breather allowed! No mercy! I’ve only done this once, just started today (in fact only an hour ago) and I can barely even type! I thought I was in shape and BOY I must have been w-r-o-n-g!
All this is to say, if you want results, if you want your ass kicked hardcore in the comfort of your own home, GET THIS DVD.
OK I think that about covers it for now! Be back once more is checked off the list!
Thanks for reading.
Jenny the Bride
Filed under: officiant, organizing, photographer, planning, registries | Tags: engagement session, wedding checklist, wedding registries
I am happy to say the list is dwindling.
Over the past week, we:
1) Blocked hotel rooms for our out-of-town guests at the Days Inn & Hilton Garden Inn in Bloomington.
2) Started our registries! We actually had fun doing this! We went to Bed Bath & Beyond and were able to use the scanning gun to choose our registry items. This was TOO FUN. Adrian personally really enjoyed choosing the cutlery & cookware We also registered at Lowe’s and created an online registry at Wishpot.com.
3) Met with our dear friend, Jon C., and asked him to marry us. He graciously accepted (even said we gave him goosebumps!) and is really looking forward to the “honor”, as he said. We are THRILLED! Jon has been a close friend of Adrian’s since high school and they lived together when Adrian and I started dating. So he’s been there from the very, VERY beginnings of “us”. He was there when Adrian first mentioned me as the “girl at work” he was interested in. He was there when I used to come over, “as friends”, and help Adrian with our art homework. He was there when we would all sit on the couch together (after Adrian and I started dating) and watch old “Friends” episodes on DVD (can’t hide from the truth, boys). He was always supportive, always fun, always a wonderful friend, and we are so excited he’ll be the one to lead the ceremony. He should be getting ordained online anytime now. (Speaking of, anyone know which are the legitimate get-ordained-online sites?)
4) Met with our photographer and close friend, Jason, to go over some details and have our engagement photos taken! It was great to see Jason again. He brought his 9-year-old son Jaden with him, much to Kai’s enjoyment, and while we walked the campus taking pictures, Jaden & Kai ran, jumped, danced, and laughed around us. We are very excited to see the pictures
That’s it for now! We’re moving right along at a steady pace, and things are getting done!
I’m going up to Michigan City to see my family this weekend. I’m going to bring my wedding dress so they can see it. I’m so excited to show it off! There are some things I want to do to it before my trip, though, so I’ve got to get started!
Till next time!
Jenny the Bride
Filed under: DJ, ceremony, organizing, photographer, planning, reception, the dress | Tags: amanda archer, bloomingfoods, dance machine, etsy wedding dress, harvest moon, master rental, Neal-Marshall, rose well house, silvertree photographics, tom marshalek, twisted limb, wedding
IS IN!!!!!!!!!!!
Mr. Postman dropped off a rectangular box this past Friday. I went out to meet him because I couldn’t wait.
I squealed. I ran inside. I promptly told the dogs that this was my dress and made them go stay in the kitchen so it didn’t get dog hair and paw prints on it.
I tore it open. Inside was an opaque vinyl garment bag (how nice of Amanda to send it this way!) and a thank-you card inside (how nice again!).
i quickly zipped the bag open, squealing again, and put it on.
hmm…it’s beautiful, it’s MY DRESS, without a doubt, but it needs some alterations. So I pulled it tight to get a better idea, put the accessories on and voila!
I was a BRIDE! But I was ME! And it was AWESOME! It was everything I ever wanted AND it’s reusable. The way it’s designed, after the wedding I’ll be able to hem it to the knee and it’ll make a cozy, beautiful sun dress Wow, I’m such a recycling hippie.
But seriously, I am so relieved. Every bride, from what I hear has 2nd thoughts and the more I thought about the dress (before it arrived) the more I doubted my decision. Don’t ask me why. I was doing exactly what I wanted to do. I was having my dress made out of the fabric I wanted, into the style I wanted, by a ridiculously talented dressmaker. But still, the doubts came, but disappeard completely once I put the whole ensemble together. I mean, completely. I am in LOVE with my gown. It’s so ME and it’s SO beautiful!! I can’t wait to wear it to become Adrian’s wife
In other news, checks we have done so far:
- Ceremony site (Rose Well House on IU campus)
- Reception site (Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Grand Hall)
- DJ (Tom Marshalek from The Dance Machine)
- Flowers (Harvest Moon Flower Farm)
- Rentals (Master Rental)
- dress (Amanda Archer handmade creation)
- Caterer (Bloomingfoods Co-Op)
- Photographer (Jason Miller with Silvertree Photographics)
- Officiant
- registry
- block hotel rooms for guests
- check out Twisted Limb Paperworks for invitations
Filed under: ceremony, organizing, planning, reception | Tags: ceremony sites, eagle pointe, officiant, reception locations, ULC.net, wedding, weddings
Well, we have our first appointment to view a possible ceremony site! Tomorrow at 10am Adrian and I are going to have a guided tour at Deer Park Manor. We are set on an outdoor ceremony (with a backup plan of course in case of inclement weather!) and could go either way for the reception (indoor/outdoor). I’ve photographed two weddings at Deer Park and love the grounds. It’s a beautiful 40-acre nature preserve with a gorgeous limestone mansion. And the entire estate would be ours for the weekend if we do decide to go with them.
BUT–it’s only ONE of our options right now.
We also love the idea of a reception at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Grand Hall on IU’s campus. I have photographed two receptions there and it’s just loooovely! Hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows! And extremely budget-friendly ($75 per four hour period). If we do the reception here, though, we’re not sure yet on where to hold the outdoor ceremony. Adrian doesn’t like the idea of an on-campus ceremony and I’m not in any way stuck on the idea either. Eagle Pointe Golf Resort here has some pretty options and I’m currently in communications with Jake King, the director. We will likely set something up with him to view our options soon. The only issue with Eagle Pointe is that it’s pretty far from Neal-Marshall, so we’d have to keep that in mind. The Terrace at Eagle Pointe is a great place to have a reception, too, so we could do both there. So see, we have lots of options to look into. At least we have one appointment made!
As for a ceremony officiant, we are looking into the idea of getting one of our friends ordained online at ULC.net as one of the options. All in all, we want our ceremony to be really personal and reflect us as a couple, and all of us as a family. We’re still looking into officiants who do this as a living, Justices of the Peace, judges, county clerks, or even our Mayor. With all that in mind, the idea of a close friend of ours officiating the ceremony still sounds like the most personal option. And yes, it’s legal.
I’ll let you know how tomorrow’s appointment goes! I’ll bring my camera.
Jenny
The Bride
Filed under: organizing, planning | Tags: diy, real simple weddings, wedding organizing
Today I found a very helpful site for those of us building our own wedding organizers:
I was able to find all the really helpful forms in those (rather overpriced) wedding organizers you find at bookstores, print them off on my own (recycled) paper, and place them in my now-well-stocked DIY wedding notebook! It looks so official now I can’t help but be proud!
In other news, the wedding date is coming along nicely. The Husband-in-Training and I had a great conversation today about a May 2009 wedding and we are getting pretty excited!
Well it’s after midnight now and I’ve got a little more to get done (with someone else’s wedding–you know, my recently-neglected job) before bed.
Goodnight!
Jenny
