The Bridal Party Attire is Set!

Lon and I were finally able to finalize the bridal attire today, as the sample of the Calvin Klein gray tux was in! To my merriment, it looked fantastic! After some slight urging (read insisting) I had him fit again and ordered the tux in a smaller size. I understand their training, but the saleswomen kept insisting the jacket be as long as Lon's hand outstretched. This meant he needed an extra long - which made his legs look quite short. Last time we went, I tried to argue my point, but lost. Then I came home, did some research and found I was right - contemporary fashion shows tuxes to be as long as the mid thumb (see picture below). So he'll wear this with ivory vest and tie to match my dress.

For the groomsmen and fathers, black two-button Calvin Klein suits with gray vests and ties to match Lon. (please excuse the model's head!)


The bridesmaids will still wear these yummy watermellon J Crew dresses as posted before....
I am so exited about the contrast between the bridal party and Lon and me. It's really going to be gorgeous! This contrast, paired with that in the flowers - pinks and spring colors for me; white, pale pinks and blue thistle for everyone else - should really pop!

Bridal Shower and Fun in MN

We had an absolutely great time in Minnesota. I'll post more on it later, but for now here are some of my favorite pics!

Visiting Granny

Boys back from snowmobiling

Cousin Party - Lon and Chad singing Karaoke

Lon reading to Adam and Bella

Head on over to my web album to see the rest. I'll work with Janet to get more pics from the bridal shower as well!

Thanks to everyone who spent time with us in MN!

99 Days

That's less than 100 days until our wedding!

Things we've checked off our list recently:

1) Florist
2) DJ
3) Wedding Bands
4) Registry
5) Hotel
6) Tuxes
7) Invitations (sending Save the Date soon)

Upcoming tasks:

1) Have Dress altered - must tone-up a bit more first
2) Finalize Lon's tux selection

Of course there a lot more things to check of our long list, but nothing pressing or super stressful! We're finally to the place where I can clear my head and think creatively about all the details... yay!

Sparkly 2.0

Lon and I checked off two more items on our list today - wedding bands and tuxes.

Choosing our wedding bands was my favorite part - clearly! Lon has always had his eye on rose gold, while I wanted the band that matched my ring. Until we got to the store!

We put the matching band next to my ring and it was sparkly! I liked it but there was some character lacking, it just seemed too perfect. Then I saw one similar to the one above. It has this great vintage feel and is so pretty and delicate! After we left the store, I kept thinking of how great it is and how it stood out next to my ring, while complimenting it so well. It also looked great alone!

Lon chose a rose gold milgrain band that will have to be special ordered - it's going to look great on him and I cant wait to see it. We'll have to go back and order it all in a few months so I'll post more pics later.

The tuxes: After an atrocious experience at another shop last week, we tried out the Men's Warehouse. Originally, I had hoped to purchase Lon's suit so we could get the tailored look that I love. Sadly, you cant rent suits and Lon would look strange in a suit standing next to his groomsmen in tuxes. On the bright side, I actually liked their selection of tuxes and was happy with our choices. We're hoping to have Lon in a Calvin Klein gray tux, while his groomsmen and our fathers are in black tuxes with dark gray vests and ties. Something like this for Lon....


Now all we have left is to select our flowers on Wednesday and secure a DJ (of the big ticket items that is).

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!!!