Dresses....

Just a few dresses I really love. I've heard a lot about having a dress custom made, but I am unaware of anyone here who does that or if it's even a good idea...

Emerald and Aqua

Recently, a color palette in Martha Stewart's January Wedding issue inspired me - emerald and aqua. The bold contrasting colors caught my eye and became sort of an iconic image for our wedding. I love the idea of taking these colors and working within their spectrum. Adding a touch of pink or fuchsia makes it the perfect trio.

Wedding Looks

I just saw Tribeza's wedding looks for this Spring - LOVE!

Hair and make-up:
























I really like the contrasting colors in this look. Perhaps a different color combination, but this would be really fun....

Tribeza's wedding event is next month at the Stephen F. Austin. Hopefully it will be less crazy than the mammoth wedding expo I attended with Jenny and Charlotte earlier this month....

NYE

Lon and I had a blast on New Year's. We started the night off with dinner at Sushi Sake with his parents, sister Kate and her boyfriend Ryan. The food was delish! We scooted from there to a party way out near Lake Travis at my co-worker Claudette's fabulous house - the view from their back porch was fantastic! We could see the UT Tower and lights from downtown. Upon driving home, Lon and I both commented that we'd like that set up one day...

Finally we ended up at the main event of the night, a sock-hop at Scoot Inn. Most of our friends planned to meet us there so it was to be a blast - and was! Unfortunately, the music was different than usual and pretty tough to dance too but I made the best of it ;) When the clock struck midnight no countdown was announced, so we did two ourselves! All in all it was great to see all of our friends at one place and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Here are some pictures of our silly night (which ended with a trip to yummy Kirby Lane).

31 Flavors

As many of you might now, I've got a lot of ideas as to what I like and want. Usually, this leads to me change my mind about things a few times (or more).

That said, Lon and I have changed our minds completely as to the location and date of the wedding. We love Austin so much we decided to move the location back to the city. After researching locations, we've settled on Zilker Clubhouse.

Located west of the famous Zilker Park, the Hilltop ranch-style lodge owned by the City of Austin and offers panoramic views of downtown a clubhouse and adjoining patio and seems like the perfect location -- I've also heard plenty of stories of amazing weddings my friends have attended there. Rental also includes tables and chairs for 150, which is a nice savings. I think it will be incredibly beautiful and romantic.

Renting the clubhouse is the only tricky part. We have to submit a letter entering a lottery for its use. April and October are the busiest months of our year, so we think November (1, 8 or 15th) is a nice compromise. The leaves will be changing then so I anticipate an amazing view of Austin trees in red, orange and yellow.

I also spoke with my friend Lauren of LD Design and will likely use her services for decor. Lauren designs sustainable planters in modern gorgeous styles. Lon and I simply love her work, so are excited to see what she will do with the space (on a limited budget!). Her roommate Erin does graphic design, and they offered to give us a quote for both decor and save-the-dates/invitations. I'm really excited about this as they understand my style and budget. Erin actually gave me a great perspective to have on the wedding. As she put it, I'm really just throwing a big party so a budget of 5-10K should get me a great party. A sample of Erin's work: check out www.designld.com!


Speaking of perspectives, I read a story lately on how best to save money in planning. The biggest and most meaningful lesson was to stop calling items you purchase/rent "wedding" items. As soon as a seller hears wedding they think $$$. I want them to hear "party" and think $. In this case, I'll be ordering a party cake, which will then be adorned with fresh flowers by Lauren. My dress will likely be a evening gown. I absolutely love the bottom of this one, but Lon and I agree the top is too informal. I'm more concerned with having something completely unexpected and fun. Something I can wear again if I choose and not be obvious.


So there it is, our plans have changed and will continue to as we move forward in planning. It's so exciting to work on!

Sparkly!

Lon gave me my engagement ring last night! On our way to dinner, he admitted getting down on one knee at the restaurant wasn't his thing (nor mine) and did it right in his dining room. We both laughed a little as it was the second time around, but I stopped laughing once I saw it.

It's more beautiful than I imagined! On a white gold band, you'll find a gorgeous electric blue sapphire surrounded on each side by three round diamonds. It's so sparkly and bright, I cant stop staring at it.

We picked out the setting together last week and I have been waiting patiently for it to be ready (er, sorta patiently, okay not at all but whatever) . Originally, I thought I wanted an antique setting for the sapphire, but once we looked at this band I knew it was the one! That and the matching wedding band is equally gorgeous with six-seven diamonds of the same size and makes the engagement ring shine even more.

Lon's parents went with him to pick it out and Janet chronicled it with her camera--pics I'm ready to see. They chose from four sapphires the brightest and most color consistent of them all, even going outside to see the stone in natural light.

After he proposed we went to our favorite restaurant for dinner and stared at it on and off throughout. Then Jenny met us for a drink so she could see it. I think we exhausted her with our excitement, haha.

My coworkers called it "striking" and "really beautiful" (I'm having a hard time not holding it up to everyone I see!)

Update: Here's a pic Janet took of my ring this weekend!

Yummy Yummy BBQ

Last night Lon and I went to Chisholm Trail Icehouse & BBQ to meet with Randy the owner. I found their website online sometime ago and emailed him about catering our wedding. He invited me to bring Lon in for a tasting and what a tasting it was!

After anticipating much slower traffic and making a few u-turns--this place is tiny, we arrived about an hour early. I finally just drove through a strip mall and hidden among some big-box stores was Chisholm Trail.

Randy was fantastic. As a fifth generation Austinite and the owner of Chisholm Trail for the past 5 years, he knew Texas bbq. He poured us each a beer and proceeded to give us an abundance of information on his services, food (with vegetarian options), wedding advice, and personal connections we could call. Then he brought us samples of his food.

We tried turkey, jalapeño sausage, pork ribs, and brisket in lean and moist. For sides we had cole slaw, potato salad, beans, and a roasted potato. Everything was delicious. The sauces were fantastic--we both preferred the non-spicy over spicy sauce. I can't begin to tell you how good it was. I don't know if it was the beer or Randy's talk that made it so special, but we both agreed it was arguably the best bbq in Austin, rivaling only the Salt Lick. After filling up to the brim, we asked Randy to email us a pricing list and he agreed to check in with us in February regarding the date and time of the wedding.

We both agreed to check other catering options, but are fairly sure this will be it. Not only was it delicious, Randy seems like a stand up guy and the prices are perfect. I just hope the rest of our planning is this fun!