Planning Rush

Lon and I are both on vacation this week and are busy working to get everything done before the maddness of work and school resumes.

So far we've selected our registries at Macy's, Crate and Barrel and Breed and Company. Breed & Co. is a local shop that sells both hardware and kitchen ware - fine china! We went with Pickard, the American made the manufacturer whose clients include the Airforce, Whitehouse, all American embassies and fine hotels. We chose this pattern, with our monogram, DIL in the center:

(my mock-up)

Wedgewood Stemware in Barbara Barry:

Lenox Studio Flatware:
Today we're setting up a room block at La Quinta, finishing our registry at C&B and picking out Lon's tux.

Tomorrow we're turning off our phones and doing nothing! Nothing at all! (if that's even possible ;))

Getting Very Close

Last week was pretty crazy on the wedding planning front.
- My wedding dress arrived at the shop in Dallas (early yay). Lon gets to pick it up when he goes there for work in two weeks!

- We got the wedding invites finalized--will post after they mail--and are now in talks with a printer. Looks like I'll only pay less than $300 for him to print the entire job (addressing the envelopes and paper included). Nutz.

- I randomly checked out the bridesmaid dresses on JCrew and realized that they had gone on sale - exiting - er scary! I quickly contacted my girls to ensure I had the right sizes and got ready to buy them. Then I checked their homepage to see if I could score free shipping and found a coupon for an additional 30% of all sale items. Sweet! All said and done, I got the dresses for $95 with shipping and taxes.

Having those items checked off my list is such a relief. Now I can turn to other things that I've been slacking on. Primarily, finding a DJ. For a while I was entertaining the idea of just playing an IPOD and having my friends MC. Based my ridiculously picky nature with music, and my habit of changing songs mid-way during our parties, I think it best to hire a professional. But here's the prob - I dont want to hire a professional wedding DJ. Austin has so many talented DJs who play funk, soul, hip hop and etc that I should be able to find one that will keep our party going, and not play the chicken dance.

Anyhoo....we're decorating our Christmas tree today! Here's a pic of Lon in front of it. Notice the sweet holiday vest I made him two years ago, nice eh!

Paperwork

Things in the wedding planning area of my world are moving pretty slowly these days, so I haven't had too much to report - until now!

TMoline is working on our invitations and etc. and we absolutely LOVE them!

I'm dying to show you, but if I do, you'll have nothing to look forward to!

I can tell you that it incorporates one of my favorite pieces of his art(not the one above), is very colorful and romantic.

Exciting!!!

Bridal Shower I

We bought our tickets for the bridal shower in MN! After some thought, we decided to add a day to the trip. We'll be traveling from January 14th through the 18th, and staying with Aunt Sherrie and Uncle Tom. It's going to be snowy and cold - Yay!

We found the best priced tickets on Frontier Airlines - the only downfall being a 3 hour layover in Denver. I'm hoping we can take advantage of the time for a quick jaunt to the city (a place I love).

Is it possible to make a trip to the city and back in 3 hours?

Lon's parents plan to fly in that weekend as well. I am so excited for our families(extended) to meet and get to know each other. It's going to be a snow-filled blast!

On Shoes

I just saw these on J Crew and thought they'd be really cute with my dress. But, are they at all bohemian? I'm told my dress is a bit boho chic...

I could also do these lovely little things and match the dresses my bridesmaids will wear...

The Happs

Budget 2.0 has made things a lot easier on me, forcing me to narrow my focus and make some final decisions.

Last week, Jessica and I bought all of our centerpieces at Garden Ridge (including a lovely trip to the location in Shurtz, TX). These pics don't do the look justice, but as you can see, I'm going for a warm/romantic look.
I surrounded the candle holders with store-bought river pebbles and added rocks from the River House. We came up with this idea when my parents where here to visit in May. While they were here, we took a trip to the River House and collected rocks from the river in hopes of incorporating them into our decor. They seem to fit perfectly here and pay honor to a special part of Lon's family and now ours. As I noted here, our linen color will be similar to our kitchen table, but brighter. We've also considered adding colored glass or a sash to add dimension. But at this point, I am happy with how it looks.

I am also in talks with a friend about DJ'ing the wedding. She has an impressive repertoire of music, amazing taste and has similar experience working at weddings. I think she'd make a fantastic DJ and hope she will seriously consider accepting the task.

With the centerpieces done, and DJ in works, we're getting very close to the end. Next, I need to choose a tux for Lon and his groom's men and register at Crate and Barrel and Bed Bath & Beyond. Then all that will be left is execution of the invitations and other DIY projects. Everything's wrapping up so quickly now - it's exciting but scary!

Emerald and Aqua

Snippet and Ink must have read my mind today... this post brings be back to my original color palette - Emerald and Aqua...

Depression 2.0 = Simple Elegance

Lon and I had our first big budget talk since Depression 2.0 hit. It's become abundantly clear that our recent budget (which had busted our original one of just $10K), was not appropriate in this economic climate.

That said, our poor little burgeoning budget took a hit tonight. Yep, we made some cuts, and developed a new outlook on our wedding - simple elegance. It's been coming for awhile now, so it almost feels right to accept it and move on. Looks like we're not the only ones...

Things that got the axe:

Gone is our hired DJ - instead we'll ask a friend to MC when needed (announcing us to the reception and various toasts/dances) and use our Ipod.

Gone is the decor for our ceremony and most of our reception - I had considered flower arrangements for the tables briefly, but now think my original plan of using candles will work best--and be best for budget 2.0. We also talked with the florist about ceremony decor (after steadfastly saying no to it all along, citing our rustic preference for the ceremony) but cut it instead.

Gone is my hair and make-up artist. Yes, this seems silly, but it was one luxury I was looking forward to. Luckily, I enjoy doing make-up and am good at styling my hair, so I'm confident that I'll be happy without help. Instead of hiring someone, I think I'll have my make-up done at Neiman's before hand for ideas and buy a few new products.

Gone are the appetizers. I already cut these a few weeks back, but now realize I was preparing us for more cuts ahead.

Also on the chopping block:

- Our wine and beer selection will likely take a hit. Originally, we planned on serving Texas wine and beer. Clearly, we can find cheaper imports. I'm a big fan of Yellow Tail Shiraz/Granache, so we'll probably use that. Lon is also willing to settle for a mid-rank beer, instead of his higher- priced favorites.

- Helping our bridesmaids pay for their dresses. I really wanted to do this in an effort to help their budgets, while getting nicer dresses. We'll probably just give them a color palette to work with and have them spend what they are comfortable spending.

- How lux our save the dates and invitations will be. T. Moline is designing them now, and will be getting back to us on the cost of printing them. Hopefully, this wont be too much more than printing them on Lon's mom's printer, if so, we'll go back to printing on Janet's printer.

- Our invite list - I'm pretty sure this will self-edit with the costs of airfare and gas as high as they are and likely rising. Lon and I are getting used to the idea of a more intimate wedding. I hope seeing all my Minnesota family at my bridal shower in January will make it easier for them to decline attendance if necessary.

The most reassuring part? Lon and I both have good jobs, savings and a healthy outlook on all this. As he said during our discussion, "Either way we're getting hitched." I couldn't agree more.

Color Scheme

The idea of a two-color wedding has gone out the window. Gone are the simple aqua and emerald notes from this spring. I honestly can't nail down two colors (and don't really see the point in only having two). Instead, I now have aqua, fuscia, cream, emerald, and silver (with hints of lemon and orange). This post today on Snippet and Ink was so refreshing to see...

Descision time

After much hesitation, I've made lots of decisions recently!

The dress - I got my dress a few weeks ago at Lulu's Bridal in Dallas. On my sixth attempt, I found it - and for less than $1K. I'd recommend Lulu's over any bridal salon in Dallas - or Austin for that matter. The store is all about customer service. From the moment I walked in the door to when we left, I had an attendant by my side. She helped me pick dresses out, try them on, accessorize, and even helped seal the deal with a little bit of special-effect lighting. The details of the dress may be the only aspect of our wedding that I won't share - wait and see!

The groom - Lon will wear gray. This monochromatic look is nice, maybe we'll go all gray. (more on this later)

Bridesmaid Dresses - (and shoes from J Crew)
The florist: Parkcrest Floral. Martha was so enthusiastic and passionate about her work. We sat with her for nearly two hours. It was fantastic.

The baker: Rosanne DeMoss.

The invitations: Lon's mom Janet and I started some drafts and now we're collaborating with our friend, and local artist Terrence Moline on a design. He's a fantastic artist and recent transplant from NOLA. We met through his lovely wife Christine. I'm excited to share a piece of his work with you.

Now its on to music, registering, hair and makeup, and many more details!

Great Rehearsal Look

I absolutely love the way Debi Mazar looks here at the premier of The Women. I wonder how I can make this look work for the rehearsal dinner....

Time to Plan!

(do not want)

I read a wedding planning monthly to-do list recently, and learned that I am already behind. Reading that thing was a bad idea from the start! The list was full of details I am in no way interested in completing and was a major stresser. Up until that moment, I felt so organized and on top of things. But alas, as the mag was likely intending, I realized my long engagement is quickly coming to a halt and a I had a LOT to do. I had already gone from 18 months to 9!

Time to get planning.

Things we've crossed off the ever-expanding list

Bridal showers:
Austin- now to be hosted by my ever-helpful and gracious bridesmaid Jessica on February 28th. Tentative plans include light dinner and drinks at my favorite restaurant Vivo, followed by stops at one or two wine bars (no 6th street college bars!) If you've never heard of Vivo, go here for an idea of why Lon and I walk here at least once a week (see gigantic yummy margarita).
Minnesota bridal shower- Aunt Sherrie will host at her home on January 17th, and coordinate with my aunts, mom and sister Debi . Lon and I will fly in on Thursday January 15th and stay with Sherrie and Tom. The following day, I hope to visit with Rausches and Lon's aunt Mandy (his mother's sister). Saturday the 17th we'll have the bridal shower--girls only--in the afternoon while Lon and the guys go enjoy the snow (he'd better then, as I am no snow bunny, unless it involves sipping hot cocoa near a fire, see pics.).

Lon

Donna (inside sipping cocoa)

or outside sipping cocoa - minus the kiddos

Catering: We tasted our caterer's pasta menu today and loved it. The selection is super veggie friendly and lighter than bbq. We loved the basil cream sauce and oven-roasted veggies and chicken. While not the most sophisticated of meals, the pasta buffet will surly leave our guests satiated, if not happy.

Cupcakes: I got a great reference from our photog Mary Sledd for Roseanne DeMoss, a local baker. Lon and I will meet her next week at Starbucks to taste. I'm looking forward to this meeting! Hopefully, the little yummies will be as delightful as they look in this picture and we'll go for it!

Florist: We met with Beth at Exquisite Petals last week. We showed her our pics and were delighted to see how excited she was with the idea of complete freedom in her design. She seems right on track with what we are looking for--local business owner and relatively inexpensive--so we'll prolly go with her. But, for good measure, we'll meet with one or two more vendors. I also spoke with Central Market (like Whole Foods, but cheaper and less snobby) about flowers. They do a lot of weddings and definitely know their stuff. They're not a small business though, which is somewhat unappealing.

Dress: Next weekend I'll fly to D-Town to meet Mom, grandma and Debi for more dress shopping. Mom has a feeling we'll find "The One" and I'll just get it then. This does sound nice, but after my many trips, I've only found dresses in the $3-5K range that ranked close to "The One" status. I'm betting on finding a silhouette I love and continuing with the plan to have aunt Katherine make it.

That's all for now. This weekend I may work on the invites with Janet, but family members are in town, so it seems unlikely.

More updates soon!

Nie Nie Day

I read about the story of a Arizona couple who were severely burned in a private plane crash recently on Snippet and Ink. Stephanie (The Nie Nie Dialogues) is a blogger and in turn has inspired the blogging world to host a silent auction today in support of their recovery costs. I strongly encourage you to bid or donate whatever you can.

Read posts from her family here: http://blog.cjanerun.com/

See the auction items here on Design Mom.

Spring Inspiration

It's hot in Austin, I mean really hot. Too hot to go outside after 10am, let alone host a picnic. I've been thinking of how nice the weather will be in April and was inspired by this board on Snippet and Ink. Isn't it refreshing?

The Dress

This past weekend, Debi and I tried on dresses at Patsy's Bridal in Dallas. As I mentioned earlier, I had a specific dress in mind, the Freesia, by Claire Pettibone. After trying on nearly every Claire Pettibone they had, a very different dress (Lon no clicking that link!), the Etoile, was my absolute favorite. At last! From the moment I put it on it was Love. It is fun and flirty, and felt completely original and modern--fashion forward even. For my dress, I'll need to modify the bodice, reducing the plunging neckline to a more reasonable sweetheart. I'll also need to adjust the bottom - instead of the layers, the dress I tried on had the simple silk adorned with rosettes all the way down. I'm really looking forward to adding my perspective to the dress, who knows what it will end up looking like!

We'll try on more dresses next month, when Mom visits, so I anticipate finding yet another dress to love, but so far, this dress is the one I simply could not take off. If only it weren't $4,000!

Catering!

We met with the on-site caterer this weekend, Julie of Circle C Catering. From the start they've been on top of our list; they came highly recommended, have the best prices and the added benefit of being housed at the Wildflower Center's Cafe.

We tasted four different appetizers and bbq, all of which were totally delicious. We also discussed the layout of the ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. The on site location of the caterer showed its advantage as Julie explained the best way to lay out each area and how guests would actually use each. Finally, I picked out the linens after one glance at the color wheel. We'll have Sea Mist for the table cloths with Ivory napkins folded at each place setting. I loved how relaxing Sea Mist is, especially when paired with Ivory and white. It should go beautifully with the pop of glass vases filled with flowers and candles.

After the tasting, Lon and I discussed the dinner options and are now leaning toward serving the build-it-yourself pasta bar instead. The bbq was delicious but on the heavier side as all bbq is. With the event leaning more toward a garden-party theme, a pasta bar, featuring both pesto and tomato based sauces, two types of pasta, and chicken to add, seems more up our alley. I also liked the idea of serving salad and garlic bread. Now we'll just need to get back there for another taste.

In other news, I realized last week that August 18th brings us to the 9 month mark! I cannot believe how quickly the past 10 months have gone, and now see how soon we'll reach the big day. Scary and exciting!

Making it Official

Lon and I met with our officiant for lunch last week. His grandmother and family have been mentioning how great she was for the past 9 months, so we finally made it happen.

Lane Louis grew up in a neighborhood just north of where we live, and went to elementary school there, along with her husband and close friends. She's the quintessential Austinite; educated at UT, down to earth, quarky and positively gregarious - someone you want to spend Sunday afternoons chatting with. Top that off with a familial connection (she's Lon's father's cousin), and we're sold!

Her story on getting into officiating is really interesting and founded on the many requests she's received over the years to marry friends and relatives. As I've only heard it once, and know she'll tell it best, I'm going to leave the rest to her. I will say that she said she only does weddings for family and close friends, so we feel very lucky to have her.

We're not at a hyper religious point in our lives, so we agreed on a ceremony focused on the tenants of marriage, with a reading on love from a friend, and finally a blessing to close. I hope for a spiritual event focused on love and tradition. Jane seems to be on that same plane. She even mentioned that instead of my dad "giving me away," he and my mother could "celebrate" the union, or "present" me or something. Anything moving away from ownership makes me happy!

All in all, I am beyond excited by having Jane officiate the wedding and trust that it will be fantastic in her care.

I cant wait for you all to meet her and see for yourself how charming she really is!

Rustic Romance

This weekend, while at dinner at aunt Pat and uncle Steve's house, we chatted with his cousins (also getting married - Congrats Maggie and David!), and started tossing around themes. I hadn't considered the importance of one before, but according to Juliette, it was a necessity. After debating a few I came up with ours - Rustic Romance. It seems like the perfect descriptor of our location, mood and personal style. Here are a few flowers from Saipua found via Weddingbee. I absolutely love her earthy, free style approach. Sadly, Lon nixed having her flown out to do our wedding....
Another pretty bouquet from Weddingbee.

This is it!

This is what I had in mind for our cupcake display! Sadly this company is located in New Jersey, but I think I may be able to use this design for inspiration and DIY it! *Minus the butterflies and hearts! Something more like this:

Family Time

I had to post all of these shots from the reunion in Galveston, event though they are all so similar. I love the slight variation in each, and how they so clearly show Lon's family's dynamics. Though it is funny to note that Lon and Ross look pretty much the same in all of the pics - clearly kids of a photographer.

Note Lon's outfit, as previously mentioned. Unfortunately, the patterns aren't as prominent as in person.

Pretty Sweet Sunday

This morning I plopped down on our oh-so-comfy couch to check our RSVP status to the 4th of July BBQ on Evite, and had to check my google reader as normal. 45 mintues later, I'm really enjoying myself, sitting here drinking coffee, watching Wimbeldon (Federer is winning as usual) and eating the most delicious fresh figs I've ever had- a surprise gift from Lon's parents' trip to the Sun Valley Farmer's Market. Note to self: must get up early one Saturday and get over there for fresh produce.

After checking out my usual wedding and style blogs (listed to the right of this post). I realized that I could post more often if I used my free moments at work to do so, instead of checking out what's going on everywhere else. Alas, those free moments are used to free my cluttered mind and posting isn't always quick. Quite the conundrum.

I want to show you a picture of Lon from his recent family reunion on Galveston. I was so proud to see how he paired three different plaids to create an outfit deserving of a post on The Sartorialist. All of my fashion yapping must be setting in, because he's putting together very stylish outfits and commenting on fashion while we're out.

A note on our history: I always knew he had it in him! When we met, Lon did NOT care about his look. He wanted to be appropriate (even in worn out jeans), but that was all. I'd seen pictures of him pre-Airforce and noticed that he was stylish -- four years of wearing camos and black/brown t-shirts every day will set a tone. I've slowly encouraged him to make updates and he looks great! Seeing him put together that outfit was exciting.

We're working on catering and desert now. We've got one quote from Circle C Catering, and will request a few more before deciding. Meanwhile, cupcakes are on the mind.

I tasted the vanilla version of this little dream at a Tribeza happy hour last week and fell in love. Polkadots Cupcake Factory is owned by this charming little woman, and located on UT's campus. I chatted with the owner via email last week, and plan to visit for a taste next Saturday with Lon and his parents. Yum!

Yesterday we tried the cupcakes from Central Market, per a recommendation from the lovely Mrs. Moline. Sadly, they didn't hold up to other favorites and were dry, overly sugary and chemical tasting.

On the radar for future consideration: madCakes and Toot Sweet Cupcakes! This should be a tough one!

Lily of the Nile

I've been searching for the name of this flower for a couple of months now, ever since it started popping up in gardens around Austin. Agapanthus, aka Lily of the Nile, or African Lily. The varietal also comes in Buckingham Palace, Blue Brush, Black Pantha and Jacks Blue (final pic), to name a few.

I was initially attracted to their stand alone quality. I envisioned caring a single flower in lieu of a bouquet and this would do the trick. Pair that with the beautiful color and an appearance reminiscent of a firework mid-burst and you've got love. The price is pretty nice too.

Perhaps I'll try to grow some in my yard and use them for table decor...

Which color would look best with the dress?

Accessories

I saw these on my favorite accessories website Etsy. Luxe Deluxe http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=62605 has so many pieces which fit perfectly with my dress and the style of the wedding, that I have a hard time choosing which ones I like best. These seem like they would compliment the dress perfectly with out being a distraction...

My Dress!!!

Well I'm nearly there, as far as wedding dresses go. Today I found the website of Claire Pettibone http://www.clairepettibone.com/. It was love at first sight. Once the page loaded, I knew this was the style I was looking for - romantic, light and flowy and figure flattering!

I emailed my mom and she recommended I contact my aunt Katherine to see if she'd be interested in making a similar one for me. We chatted this evening, and got the ball rolling. My custom dress is in full swing! I envision a dress inspired by this one but my own and completely unique.

I feel so relieved. Choosing a dress has been on my mind ever since we got engaged last October. Katherine and I agreed that we'd do some preliminary research on my dress and its design, fabric, etc. and officially start on it this fall. I hope to have it in hand by February...so soon!

So, what do you think?