A Blog to Call My Own

I spend hours reading wedding blogs. And this is in no way an exaggeration. I happen to be a very fortunate person who has way to much free time and I spend the bulk of this time reading wonderful blogs and collecting some pretty amazing ideas. When we first got engaged I had this plan to become one of those bloggers. I wanted to inspire people with ideas and organize my own at the same time. Slowly I've come to terms with the inspiration aspect of my blog because let's be honest the world of wedding blogging is filled with so many talented and inspiring people at this moment that I cannot compete. And also I believe my readership consists of myself and videographers who threaten to sue me (see post below). However, I do believe that I need this blog to organize myself. I have been planning this wedding since before we were engaged :). But I have put very few ideas to paper (or to blog). But now with 177 days to go I am determined to take the many ideas I have encountered on others' blogs and organize them to make the best darn wedding I've ever been to!

I am planning on using the wonderful checklists from the knot and real simple to organize myself and my posts. While my vendors are booked and all the big things are done, it is the details that I find so important that I have yet to truly organize.

Vendors: Love Mine... Loathe Others!

I am picky. I will be the first to admit that I am extremely picky. And when it comes to my wedding I am going to spend the time before my wedding nit picking every detail so that on the day of my wedding I can focus on nothing but that handsome man in the suit waiting for me at the end of the aisle.

I am also picky about those who I hire to help me with my big day. Thus far I have experienced nothing but greatness from my vendors. They may not have given me everything I asked for but they have been flexible and they have tried. If I could review MY vendors right now they would all get an A+ for putting up with my pickiness.

That being said, I do not believe that every wedding vendor is excellent. I believe that MANY (and one in particular) exploits couples. Offering services that in the end they do not provide or do not provide to the level promised. Every business should expect criticism. And in the age of the internet every business should expect that when a job is done poorly that criticism will be posted on the internet for all to see. And YES you may lose business. And to be extremely blunt that is the purpose of our negative reviews. They are not meant as a personal attack. They are meant to save others from losing thousands of dollars and to prevent others from losing the memories they hoped to capture.

This post is directed at one individual who may or may not read this. But I will not tolerate being harassed with threats of a lawsuit or allow you to harass my wonderful wedding vendors. In the mean time I suggest you stop exploiting brides and grooms and find a new career because obviously you just plain stink at this one.

And as a word for all wedding vendors. Please realize that while you may just believe that what you do is a job to the couple you are working with this is no doubt one of the most important days of their lives. A day girls dream about when their hair is still in ribbons and bows. The day that begins the rest of their lives. Please do not work in the wedding world for the money. Please do so because you have a passion and because you want to be part of a magical day.

It's all in the adjectives...

I have nothing new to report in the world of planning.  In leu of actual wedding planning, I have been spending countless hours each day sifting through the wedding blogs searching for inspiration and dreaming of our vision for the big day.  I have saved actual planning for after graduation, when I have more time, and instead use the inevitable procrastination time that accompanies impending graduation to gather ideas.  

I have yet to come up with a "theme" for our wedding but rather have decided on some adjectives that I would love to hear from our guests' mouths... fun, whimsical, memorable, unique, personal... I have seen some items that I would love to incorporate into the overall scheme and would love to share some bits with you... (all inspiration boards from the lovely and always inspirational snippet & ink)

Gatsby... sigh... I remember reading about the parties in The Great Gatsby and wishing that I could be a part of the fun, the glamour, the bright lights.  While the actual style is not what we are going for, I want our guests to walk to the room and think, "wow... this is a party I want to be at!" just like I felt when I was reading the book.  I want to look back at our wedding photos and think to myself that the wedding we designed was as beautiful and fun as the parties F. Scott Fitzgerald described in his book. :)

I love all the color of this board.  While I have decided on greens and brown, I still hope to capture the brightness of this board.  I love love love the pom-pom stirs.  I used to love making pom-poms and believe that I have to have these at our happy hour!  I also love the sucker number escort cards and was hoping to somehow incorporate lolli-pops into our escort cards one way or another.

First of all, this board stood out because of the button... I will most definitely be wanting to smooch my nerdy husband more than anything come April 3rd.  I also love how modern this board feels.  The white with the bright colors seems so clean yet the whole thing seems so fun (a very important adjective).

Our wedding will not be a Mexican fiesta (although that would definitely be great), but I do think we will be incorporating some of these traditional Mexican items into our wedding weekend.  Because the boy is half Mexican, I want to honor his heritage, especially for his grandmother.  The invites are must haves for our rehearsal dinner, which will be held at a Mexican restaurant.  I am also in love with the papel picado (fiesta banners) and would like to incorporate these somehow.  I think they would make a lovely and delicate addition.  Aside from the look of this board, I love what it represents as far as the feel of the atmosphere.  A Mexican fiesta is bright, lively, and fun!

By now you are probably seeing a trend... BRIGHT!... and this board portrays that.  I am hoping to string lanterns in the room and patio for the happy hour and these lanterns are our wedding colors!  The wheatgrass that is in this board is also something I would like to use.  The color is perfect for our wedding, and I love that it would bring spring into the ballroom.  The "handwritten" invite reminds me of the note the boy gave me for our proposal.  I have a new found obsession for macaroons.  I have never tasted one, but the look of them are simply fantastic.  The punch bowls would make a great addition to the happy hour.  I was concerned about how guests would get served quickly enough by the single bar, and I think this would be a fun way to cut back on the line.  We could have both alcoholic and non-alcoholic punches, sangrias, etc.  The cake is also great... I want to incorporate the circles from the "chandeliers" in the ballroom and I love me some polka-dots!

The circus = fun... enough said!  While we both agree that we don't want our wedding to be a circus, we will be having some secret circus elements in our wedding ;).  Again, I love the lanterns.  Tulips will be making a big appearance at our wedding.  I have never imagined my wedding without large bouquets of tulips and would love to recreate this bunch in white or green.  The invites are cute, fun, and fancy... which I love.  I would also like to have a ferris wheel especially to recreate this picture (but am assuming this is WAY out of the question and budget :) ).

I plan on writing more and more as I keep collecting more ideas, but I feel that these boards give a great impression of what we are going for.  

Did you have a theme for your weddings?  Or did you simply stick with adjectives?

Buff Bride

Show me a bride-to-be that says she doesn't want to lose weight before her wedding and I have a feeling you are showing me a liar.  I for one am not a liar and am planning on getting in the best shape I ever.  Unfortunately, this might be a bit difficult.  Because the wedding is still more than a year away, I have decided that I need to start now with little steps.  Here is a list of the few things I am going to do now to get my butt in gear:

1.  Complete and continue the one hundred push up challenge.

2.  When I am craving a snack, drink a full glass of water and wait 10 minutes.  If I am still craving a snack, grab something small and healthy.

3.  Drink more water period and cut down on other drinks.

4.  Eat more small meals throughout the day and avoid unhealthy, high calorie foods (including my weakness... Hostess cherry pies!)

5.  Take the pup for daily walks longer than 30 minutes (on warm days)

Now that this is on the world wide web for all to read, I am forced to stick to my plan!

Sweet Success!

A few weeks ago I had my first "major" wedding freakout.  Happily, this crisis has been everted.  Shortly after the post about my wedding nightmare, T and I had our first meeting with our wedding consultant, Stacey of Savvy Expressions.  Our meeting was entirely reassuring and made us realize that in all actuality there was only one place in the Champaign-Urbana area that fit the image we have in our heads for our wedding.  After a quick lunch at our favorite Mexican spot (and hopefully the location of our rehearsal dinner), it was off to check out The I Hotel.

Image from Elite Entertainment

The I Hotel is C-U's new modern, upscale hotel and convention center.  The location had many of the details we were looking for... combined ceremony/reception site, hotel, great food, great staff, flexibility, and an opening for April 3, 2010.  The decor of both the hotel and convention center fit the modern feel that I am hoping to go for with our wedding.  After a quick tour and discussion of the details, we decided to book!   This was the first and ONLY location we scoped out and I must say there was some anxiety on my part that night, the following morning, and the days following.  But as I think more and more about the details I am ecstatic that we get to have our wedding in the town that helped form our relationship!

Wedding Nightmare!

Photo courtesy of thriller-reviews.com

We have been engaged exactly 8 days and I am already having wedding nightmares!  This may stem from the countless magazines and wedding blogs I read throughout the day, but I think it also may stem from the uncertainty of a Champaign wedding.  After waking up in a sweaty panic this morning, I have e-mail a potential wedding coordinator and am making an appointment to scope out some venues.  I am extremely excited to officially start the planning process!

On the bright side, my dream was a good indication of things I do and do not want for my wedding:

• I do not want to wear an undershirt as part of my bridal attire.
• I do want to remember to make musical selections prior to the ceremony.
• I do not want to see my groom-to-be even a second before I hit that aisle.
• I do want to remember to ask my closest friends to stand with me on my wedding day.

Beginning of the Beginning: Engaged!