It's Four Days Until The Wedding...

And things are getting done! Very, very many things! With my clerkship ended, and Todd free in the mornings, we've been getting a lot of (necessary) tasks accomplished:

Exhibit 1: Bridesmaids' gifts! (contents to remain undisclosed... ;-)

Exhibit 2: Dress picked up!  This involved quite a lot of back and forth-ing.  When I first arrived at Persepolis, the alterations place, on Saturday afternoon, I was relieved to discover the dress fit like a glove.  Except Leila hadn't sewn in the cups.  Or drawn a picture of where the bustling points were.  So I said I'd be back on Tuesday.  When I arrived on Tuesday, the cups were in, but the drawing still wasn't done.  I waited patiently for her as she drew a really simple, rough sketch (it'll have to do) and then I took the dress, and left.  Only when I returned home did I realize she didn't give me back my wedding shoes or pearl necklace/earrings.  So this morning, we again drove the 35 minutes to the marina to pick those up.  I also made a quick stop at David's Bridal to get an appropriately opaque bag for the dress.  Phew!

Exhibit 3: Favors! Decidedly delicious stacks of three Ghirardelli chocolates in assorted flavors (like Vanilla Dreams and Dark Chocolate Espresso), each tied with a variety of blue and blue-patterned ribbons.

Exhibits 4 & 5: Out of town bags!  These were a labor of love.  We went to Costco on Sunday, loaded up our cart with some goodies, and then finished out what we planned to get at Target, where we found great deals on small bottles of sunscreen, tissue packs, and crystal light water bottle pouches.  The bags took a long time to assemble, but it was oddly enjoyable and relaxing just sitting on the floor surrounded by piles of brightly colored/ yummy things! I hope the bags are a good mix of practical and fun... We plan to distribute them at the rehearsal dinner :-)

Part Two coming up!

Odds and Ends

In an optimistic mood, last Saturday, Chrissie, Matt, and I headed downtown to the 1st Annual Renegade Craft Fair - held on the 13th floor of a nondescript building, and featuring crafters of all stripes (mostly in the Etsy aesthetic):

About seventeen hours later (ok, only six! but that's still a lot), we left with several great purchases (some of which are wedding-related gifts, and shall go unrevealed until then!) including these two fabulous silk flower fascinators:

They both have barrette backing.  I'm going to have Susie (hairstylist) attach the one on the left to the top of the comb that holds my veil.  The one on the right will be worn by Chrissie with her awesome navy blue J. Crew (married) maid-of-honor (because "matron-of-honor" sounds SO matronly) dress.  Best of all, they were 2 for $20, which I think was worth it.  They both have little coordinating beads sewn carefully in the center of the layers of silk - so pretty!

Next wedding-related task accomplished: Boudoir shoot, and photo album for Todd! Not as scary or embarrassing as I'd imagined (actually quite fun! and I think Todd will appreciate the gesture ;-)

(Don't worry, this is a VERY tame glimpse...)

USC blackmail pictures... now I've been caught making the "fight on" hand sign AND wearing a jersey.  But it's all for love, so it's okay :-)

We also finalized the programs (which are going to feature a Daisy Font, found for free on dafont.com!), menus, and found a leaf template to use for the placecards.

I got in touch with the few people who hadn't RSVP-ed (luckily, only like five!), and confirmed times, locations, services, and fees with the florist, officiant & videographer (wife and husband duo), photographer, and hairstylist/ makeup artist.

All in all, things are coming together quite well, but more than anything (and as much as I'm looking forward to my last few days at the FPD - they're throwing me a goodbye lunch at this awesome (!) establishment, only a stone's throw from the office: http://www.wurstkucherestaurant.com/ on Friday) I am just ready to see Todd again, at last, and for good.

WOW...

Our wedding is 11 (almost 10) days away! When I logged on to this blog a few minutes ago, I almost burst out laughing at the tagline: "musings in the next sixteen months leading up to our wedding" because, finally - finally - sixteen months has become a year, a year has become six months, six months has become three, and now the day is nearly here!

The fast approach of our wedding has galvanized me into getting lots of wedding things accomplished: to accept what I can't change, roll with the circumstances, and type up more Google Document Shared Lists than I feel comfortable admitting to... ;-)

Exhibit 1: Nail-biting.  I caved.  While quitting nail-biting is something that I desperately want to do - and there will always be excuses - a summer of a hectic, fast-paced job, and the stresses of wedding planning have not exactly lent themselves to the calm and strength of will required to beat this terrible habit.  So this past Sunday, I bit (haha) the bullet and (for the second time. the first was for our engagement shoot at the Arboretum), I got fake nails (though it sounds nicer to say "an acrylic set").  The manicurist respected my wish to keep the nails short, and I chose an appropriately "bridal" pink for the nail color.  

After three days of wearing them, they're not half as annoying as my first experience - and several people have complimented me on them! (I feel guilty when they do this and am the first to admit that I deserve none of the credit!) However, the new nails do complement my ring rather nicely... 

Exhibit 2: My ideal reception centerpieces. Classic, unusual, elegant. Three shades of ranunculus with greenery. So beautiful, but it was not meant to be...

My florist, Tricia, called yesterday and told me that her wholesaler had just received some ranunculus and they are disappointingly small (like tea biscuit-sized) and not that brilliantly colored.  Tricia was also concerned they wouldn't hold up in the heat on the way to Disneyland.  So we brainstormed back-up options: Zinnias, Dahlias, and Astrolemeria (Peruvian Lilies).  Tricia bought these flowers and made "mock up" centerpieces but none of them was conveying the sense of natural elegance that I had wanted. The dahlias looked kind of gaudy, the Astros looked too tropical, and the Zinnias didn't come in any of the colors I liked.  So finally, we settled on Plan C: 

(Sorry, I couldn't find a photo that was as close to this as what we'll be having): White and Yellow Tulips!  Granted, there won't be as much color variety, and I miss the "ferny" greenery feel of the ranunculus, but I do think that tulips are lovely and Tricia assured me that they're fairly hardy and the ones at her wholesaler would be perfect...

My motto from here on out is: don't worry about the small things.  It isn't worth it to beat myself over not stopping nail-biting, or panic about not having the exact flowers I wanted, because that detracts from the happiness and excitement I feel about getting to marry Todd, which is - without a question - about a billion times more important than any other aspect of the wedding!  :-)

Happy Fourth of July!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe Fourth of July! :-)

PS Don't fireworks kind of resemble sea anemones?

Marriage License - Check!

Yesterday (no work - hooray!), after Chrissie and Matt treated us to the most delicious high tea/ dessert experience ever at Jin Cafe on Abbot-Kinney in Venice, we headed over to the "Old Orange County Courthouse" - the only location in the OC where one can get a marriage license, and even have a ceremony (we passed on this option... ;-).  

After filling out an online application at a computer terminal in the office, we were called into the sunny light-filled marriage licensing room.  We sat in front of a clerk's desk, verified the information on the online app was correct, paid $61.50 for a public marriage license, and voila - we were done! 

The process was quick, easy and a bit anti-climactic, but I got really excited at seeing multiple brides - in all their finery - waiting for their ceremonies in the sweet little wood-panelled room next to the office.  They even had a photographer to take two commemorative photos of the bride & groom for only $10! I tried to convince Todd we needed to have them take photos of us just getting the license, but to no avail...So we snapped some photos on our own, and headed on our way! 

In front of the Courthouse

In the Marriage Licensing Room

This one *might* have been superfluous - oh well!

Todd in front of the Courthouse with the marriage license!

The two of us on the Courthouse steps

Hair/Makeup Trial!

The day started off beautifully. My appointment in Susie's studio in Culver City wasn't until 3pm, so I decided to explore Venice - wandering the canals, walking up the pier, and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the boardwalk all made for a lovely morning/afternoon.  I got to the appointment early and Susie's boyfriend was there.  He told me she was running late because of a wedding in which the bride had added a bunch of people to be done at the last minute (actually, it was Miss Glitter from WeddingBee!).  So I waited for almost an hour, then Susie called again and asked whether I could reschedule to Sunday or next week.  Already had plans with Chris for Sunday, 4th of July/birthday next weekend.  So she suggested that I come back to the studio at 8:30 pm that night.  

Already a bit weary from all the morning's tramping about, I went to Westwood, had a lovely picnic, and got thoroughly embroiled in Pillars of the Earth.  Finally, it was time for my appointment!

And it went fabulously!  I had e-mailed a bunch of inspiration photos to Susie, mostly of loose, wavy updos and when Susie asked me why I chose them, I said: "because I've always wanted masses of curly hair worn down for my wedding, and it's just not in the cards."  And Susie said "Don't be silly!" And proceeded to work miracles, with my fine, straight, generally unresponsive hair.

She listened and worked with me for two and a half hours getting the hair and makeup just right, and lo and behold, there is a way to "keep a curl" in my hair!  

The lighting in the studio was rather harsh, and the lighting in my bedroom was kind of dim, but here are some photos of the trial:

Side view:

Susie did the works on my face: discreet false eyelashes, gold shimmery eyeshadow, eyebrow shaping (never had that done before!), a medium coverage foundation, bronzer, and a pink lipstick that I loved...

Full side view, showing flowers attached in the back
At home, about an hour and a half after everything had been done:

I love it!
Susie waived the entire payment for the trial since she had to move the appointment, which was a nice bonus.

Other things that have been recently crossed off the wedding to-do list:

- Todd got fitted for his tux in NJ two weekends ago (and got snazzy new shoes)!

- Bridesmaids' surprises are finished!

- Ceremony readings/ readers have been finalized!

- Large Disney payment completed!

Time to Panic

Why?

Well, according to the tracker on Martha Stewart Weddings, our Big Day is only 38 (almost 37) days away - and the reason I haven't blogged about wedding-related projects in awhile is because I haven't been doing any!

I wish I could say that my lack of industriousness is due solely to work, but if I'm honest it's due to work + copious after-work socializing + abundant pleasure reading :-).

However, in this last month before our wedding, I plan to kick it into high-gear with the following projects (and a couple of surprises for Todd, which I can mention since he *never* reads this blog, supposedly because he doesn't want to accidentally stumble on pictures of me in my wedding dress!):

1) Programs - We already have the blank templates (we just decided to go with one fold, book-sized, gold-framed ones from Michael's) so now we need to really finalize the ceremony before we can type up and print the programs

--> in order to finalize the ceremony, we need to choose one additional reading

--> ask two people to be our readers

--> submit our music requests for the string trio to Disney (they've already been approved)

--> check in with our officiant about the order she plans to do everything in

2) Menus - We already have the paper (of a nice lilac, handmade sort), and we've already created the menu template with our monograms.  Now we just need to deal with the inevitable trials and tribulations of printing two correctly formatted menus to a sheet, cutting them, and adding ribbon.

3) Hair/Makeup Trial - This will be next weekend at 3 pm.  I need to get some "inspiration photos" together to show Susie.  I really hope the trial goes well, since it is too late to find and book another person...

4) Finish Bridesmaids' project - This is top secret...and currently half-completed. Must devote a solid evening or two to working on it.

5) Top Secret Surprises for Todd --> Boudoir photos.  I was of two minds about this, but ultimately decided that it would be a fun "groom's gift" for him, in addition to a membership in D23, Disney's first official fan club, which I know he's been wanting for awhile!  The boudoir session is scheduled for next week, and I'm kind of nervous - hope it goes well!

Once all the RSVPs are in:

6) Make seating chart

7) Make placecards

8) Talk to florist about number of centerpieces, payment, and setup

In Three Days At Home Before Wedding:

8) make favors

9) make out-of-town bags

10) assemble apple placecards

11) TRY ON and PICK UP wedding dress!

12) (hopefully) get all Zen

Phew! Maybe I should try to put some deadlines on completing some of these...

Miscellaneous additional projects include:

--> making rose cones for the petal toss at the ceremony

--> practicing first dance

--> keeping on top of thank-you note writing

--> figuring out which vendors are owed what and making envelopes to pay each of them

--> reconnecting with florist, officiant/ videographer (her son), and photographer

--> making little cards with our Flickr account on them so guests can upload their photos after the wedding

--> creating a wedding day timeline

--> planning a loose itinerary for our Paris/London honeymoon!

--> getting marriage license somewhere in the OC a couple of days before the wedding

--> encouraging Todd to get moving on groomsmens' tux fittings/ groomsmens' gifts

This weekend (starting with red-eye I'm taking from LAX to Newark tomorrow night), I plan to relax, spend some much-needed time with Todd, have fun at Suzi and James' wedding, and go to a great Fathers' Day picnic.

But starting on Monday, I'm going to hit the ground running on these projects!