Mrs.

Photo by Pat and Jen

I'm a "Mrs" now...

The wedding went perfectly! All the details and planning came together. It was even better than I had envisioned it! It was great to share such a special day with so many loving friends and family. I thought I would post a picture as a sneak peek. As the official photos come in I will write a few more posts about the ceremony, reception, and our "mini-moon." For now, Mike and I are off to the beach!

It is Really Happening

As some of you know, I started graduate school this month. I am so glad that I planned my wedding far in advance. I have been very busy adjusting to life as a student. There has not been a whole lot of time for wedding planning. To be honest, I haven't even been thinking about my wedding until this week. I keep remembering that it's coming. I keep trying to get ahead on assignments for school (as to not have to do homework on my wedding weekend). And I keep having to remind myself that the days are ticking away.

Then this week, it really hit me how few days there are left. It is really happening. I can't wait! But with the last minute prep and the mountains of homework, I will not be posting again until after the wedding. Look for a post wedding recap and pictures when they are ready!

See you on the other side!

Weeks not Months

The other day, a friend ended an email with: "See you in a few weeks." I thought, "What's in a few weeks?" Then it hit me, my wedding is in a few weeks. It is no longer a count down of however many months until the wedding, it's here. And to be honest, I am feeling pretty ready. All the little details that I talked about in my last blog post are coming together. I've been working away at the seating chart and fine-tuning details for the day.

As someone who loves organizational puzzles, making the seating chart has actually been a lot of fun. It's a bit stressful because I want to make sure that everyone has a good time and is sitting with people they like. I think Mike and I have a good plan, though. This task has been made a lot easier by my friends and family who almost all RSVPed by the suggested date! I kept hearing about brides who had to call long lists of unresponsive guests and were stressed out over how many people to expect. So, thank you!! Knowing who is coming has definitely made it easier to plan accordingly.

While I was on a little pre-grad school trip, Mike offered to help out and bought all the pots for our centerpieces. They are sitting in our house, waiting for the flowers! I guess in just a few weeks we'll be putting that all together.

The flower pots plus one of the placemats the flowers will be arranged on.

What's left?

With two months left until my wedding, it's the beginning of crunch time. Or so I'm told. It is the point in the wedding planning process when people start asking "So, what's left to do?" I keep feeling like there is a mountain of tasks to finish before my wedding, but whenever anyone asks, my mind goes blank. Sitting down with my time lines and to do lists, I realized, there isn't a whole lot left. So this post is for those of you who asked and got answers like: "There's plenty of stuff to do... I think..."

The good thing about having two years to plan my wedding is that all the contracts and vendors were taken care of months ago. What is left is organizing all those parties into one big event. I've got my day of time line almost set, but this is what I haven't done yet:

-Get wedding rings engraved
-Finalize ceremony readings and most other ceremony details
-Review play list, important names, and responsibilities with the band
-Decide on jewelry to wear with my wedding dress
-Order the flowers for the center pieces and pot them
-Finish the gift registry
-Get the marriage licence
-Make the seating chart
-Get a hair cut
-Do final dress fittings
-Check in with vendors on arrival times
-Delegate day of responsibilities to the bridal party

Doesn't sound so bad right? My mom and future mother-in-law have offered to help out with some details too, like the seating cards, table numbers, rehearsal dinner, and getting the alcohol.

So maybe now, when someone asks "What's left?" I'll remember some of the things on this list!

No post would be complete without a photo, so here is my wedding ring! I found it on etsy.com

Photo and ring by CJ McKay

Invitations and Replies

I sent out about 80 invitations in mid June. I honestly wasn't sure how many to expect back right away. I also did not expect receiving RSVPs to be so much fun! People have put notes, pictures, and jokes on them. For the first couple weeks, every day Mike and I would have a pile waiting for us after work. We would excitedly open up the cards to see who had written back. Though the stream of cards has slowed down, we still get a few every now and then. We are waiting on 31 more RSVPs, not so bad.

If you remember, my invitations were handmade by my bridesmaids and I. Everyone came into town for a weekend in March and we sat down for some serious cutting, pasting, addressing, and assembling. For a reminder on that awesome weekend check out my previous post.

Now that all my guests have received them, here are my invitations!
My reply cards:
And a few of my favorite replies:

Party Time: Part 2

It's funny when you think about a wedding as a big party, because how many parties have a whole series of other parties leading up to them? I had my invitation making party, my bachelorette party, and now my bridal shower. I am by no means complaining. I am always up for a good party, especially when it means time with girlfriends and family.

My future mother-in-law, me, and my mom (I am holding the ribbon bouquet my future sister-in-law made as I opened all my gift, it turned out really well!)

My bridal shower, this weekend, continued the trend of excellent events. I had not been to a bridal shower since I was 13, so I had no idea what to expect. I had heard stories about playing silly games or receiving embarrassing gifts (like scandalous lingerie), but I should have known not to worry. My shower was hosted by two of my fiance's aunts. They definitely know how to throw a party. The shower was full of yummy food, really nice gifts, and great people! I appreciate so much all the wonderful presents and the opportunity to see so many friends and family members. My parents came down to stay with us for the weekend, so my mom got to meet more of my fiance's family and some of my friends. It's always a delight when people from different parts of my life come together and get along.

Me with my friends and my future sister-in-law

On another note, I also went to a friend's wedding in early June. It was fun to attend a wedding while in the planning stages of my own. My friend's ceremony and reception were beautiful, as was she! It was especially enjoyable to be seated with all of my friends from high school.

Me with my bridesmaids "D" and "S" at the wedding this June.

My summer of parties is far from over! I'm sure there will be more stories to come.

In the Mail

On Friday I took a reusable grocery bag full of invitations to the post office and mailed them! What a relief! I have spent the past couple weeks hunting down the last minute address changes, double checking all the envelopes, and sealing them up. Now they are out in the mail system. I think some have even arrived! Once I am sure everyone has received their invites I will post some pictures of what they look like on the blog. But for now, here is the big stack before I packed them up.