Registration Station

Let me get this out of the way - I hate receiving gifts. It makes me feel really awkward and I don't usually react well, even when it is something I genuinely love.  I am getting married, though, and getting gifts is just something about the experience I need to get over.  Hey, at least we probably won't have to open our gifts in front of our guests, aside from maybe my bridal shower.  I do not expect anyone to give us a gift - especially since everyone has to travel for our wedding - but if our friends and family decide to be extra generous, I wanted to make sure they have some direction of what we can use.

I knew I wanted one nice-ish store and one everyday store, in addition to a honeymoon registry.  The everyday store was a no-brainer - Target!  There is one in almost every town and they have great values.  The higher end store wasn't quite as easy but we eventually narrowed it down to Williams-Sonoma or Crate & Barrel.  We ended up picking C&B because we liked their options the best and they just introduced a great flat-rate shipping policy. 

We've had a list going for a while of what we wanted to register for in order to avoid picking things because they caught our eye (although that did happen!) or missing things we didn't think of.  At C&B we are registered for a lot of our basics. 

Aspen Salad Plate / Image via Crate & Barrel

Aspen Bowl / Image via Crate & Barrel

Voletta 5-Pice Placesetting / Image via Crate & Barrel

I originally intended to register for run-of-the-mill pots and pans but when I saw Mrs. Wallaby's post about her registry, all of a sudden my kitchen would feel neglected without some Le Creuset beauty.  We are currently registered for the following:

Le Creuset In 5-Piece Cookwear Set / Image via Crate & Barrel

 

 (5-Piece Le Creuset® Ink Cookware Set: 1.25 qt. precision pour saucepan with lid, 5.5 qt. round french oven with lid and 10" skillet)

Le Creuset 10.5" Oblong Ink Grill Pan / Image via Crate & Barrel

Le Creuset 3.5 qt. Wide Round Ink French Oven w/ Lid / Image via Crate & Barrel

We don't have a whole lot on the Target list, the main item being:

The ultimate registry item / Kitchen Aid Artisan 5 qt. Stand Mixer / Image via Target

We also have lots of random kitchen gadgets and fancy ice cube trays (they really do make a difference!) but we don't have a ton of stuff since we already live in a fully functioning home.  We are using this experience to upgrade some items that have seen better days and acquire items I've been lusting after but haven't bought myself.  Great example - we are currently using the dishes Mr. B got for his first wedding.  I am super excited about replacing those. 

In addition to the registries above, we also plan on doing a honeymoon registry.  I know some people think this is tacky but as a guest at many weddings, I find it really fun and helpful.  I prefer buying someone an upgrade at their hotel over writing them a check for the equivalent amount.  Our honeymoon destination isn't completely settled yet (soon, hopefully!) but once it is I will get going on setting up this registry.  I know there are a lot out there - Honeyfund, Honeymoon Wishes, and HoneyLuna, just to name a few. 

So now for a lot of questions:  Am I missing anything?  What item did you register for that you think every couple needs?  Should I take any of these items away?  Any good recommendations and/or tips for a honeymoon registry?  Is Le Creuset really as amazing as it seems?

A Roaring Good Time

You guys, I have some of the best friends in the world.  In January four of my local bridesmaids (Lemon, Nole, BOC, and Danger) banded together to throw us a seriously amazing engagement party.  A speakeasy has recently opened in Tallahassee and Mr. B and I love to go when we have a free night (and can get a reservation!).  Our bridesmaids took this and ran with it.

Personal Photo

They set up a special gmail account and google phone number so people could RSVP and receive the password.

Photo by Bridesmaid Lemon

By telling you the password, I am going to reveal a very strange fact about myself.  The password was "manatee."  I am completely terrified of manatees.  Yes, I am aware of how irrational this fear is but it is something I have been battling for quite a few years now.  I think it stems from the fact that we didn't have them where I grew up and when I started doing triathlons I would practice my open water swimming in a river that is full of them.  The thought of running into one while swimming seriously strikes fear in me.  Yes, I am crazy.  Moving on...

Danger, BOC, Miss Bycicle, Lemon, Nole (Personal Photo)

 They decorated every corner of Lemon's house and it looked amazing.

Photos by Bridesmaid Lemon

They even set up a faux-to booth, complete with props and "Flapper Flair" for your hair! 

Photos by Bridesmaid Lemon

The food and drinks were amazing as well.  They had our favorites - bruschetta, dips, and cupcakes.

Photos by Bridesmaid Lemon

In addition to beer and wine, there was also a signature drink, "The Bee's Knees."

Photo by Bridesmaid Lemon

It is one thing to have a theme party where the food and drink match the style.  It takes it to a whole different level when the people get into it, too!

Bridesmaid Danger, Friends DC and RJ // Friend Christmas, Bridesmaid Nole (Photos by Bridesmaid Lemon)

Friend Delt, Mr. Bicycle, Miss Bicycle // Miss Bicycle, MOH/Sister NYC (Personal photos)

Groomsman Godfather & his wife, Mr. Bicycle, Miss Bicycle (Personal photo)

One of our friends gave us these fabulous Mr. & Mrs. glasses, complete with a mustache and lipstick kiss.  And yes, I do drink champagne out of my glass on a regular basis - wouldn't you?

Personal photos

We loved having most of the important people in our lives together for the evening.  It was a great opportunity for everyone to meet and enjoy good food and drinks.  Of course as the night came to an end we did what we always end up doing - epic dance party!

Bridesmaid Danger & Miss Bicycle (Personal photo)

I know everyone thinks they have the best bridesmaids but as you can see, mine really are the best!  I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends and I can't wait to celebrate with everyone in October. Did you have a themed engagement party?  Or an engagement party at all?

In case you are wondering, the dress I am wearing is Badgley Mischka "Sparkle in the Sky" from Rent the Runway.)

Going to the Chapel

Another long distance bride problem - where will we get married and who will marry us?  We knew we did not want to get married by a stranger but we really didn't have an obvious option for a non-stranger.  First things first, we decided we needed to finalize where we would get married before settling on who would marry us. 

Savannah is known for a lot of things, but most notable is its plethora of beautiful squares.  You can't go more than a few blocks without stumbling into a park - some are grand and fancy, some are just beautiful trees and a few benches.  These parks are a favorite place to get married and I will show you why:

The famous Forsyth Park / Photo by Greg Ceo

Whitefield Square / Photo by Greg Ceo

Columbia Square / Photo by Greg Ceo

Aren't those pictures just gorgeous?  If I could guarantee perfect weather and no creepy onlookers, I would absolutely get married in one of these beautiful squares.  Unfortunately, though, rain does tend to come on your wedding day - and that is a risk I am not willing to take!  Yes, umbrella pictures are so cute!  No, I do not want the added stress of trying to control the weather on my wedding day.  An outdoor ceremony was crossed off the list so quickly it may not have even made it on to begin with.  (I am hopeful for good weather for pictures, though!)

The first venue I seriously considered was The Cathedral of Saint John The Baptist.  You guys, even just typing this makes me a little upset.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love where we are getting married, but we aren't getting married at the first place I fell in love with.  Mr. B and I randomly stumbled in here one day after breakfast during our first anniversary trip and I immediately wanted to get married here.  The outside is nothing special but the inside - oooooh, the inside. 

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

Personal Photo

This place is seriously a work of art.  Can people get married inside a work of art?  Yes.  Yes, they can...

Photo by Greg Ceo

Photo by Greg Ceo

Photo by Greg Ceo

Now, I am Catholic but Mr. B is not - I should have stopped this journey before it even began.  Bridesmaid Runner isn't Catholic but she got married in a cathedral so we could make it work, too, right?!  Wrong.  They only allow parishoners of the church to be married there.  Womp, womp. :(

Not to fear!  Savannah is a historic city and it is brimming with beautiful old churches!  Well...  Sort of...  I found only one option I liked, Whitefield Chapel at Bathesda Academy.    It has beautiful brick floors and it is a sweet, intimate space.  The problem?  It is about 15 minutes from downtown Savannah.  Was I willing to sacrifice the "walkable wedding" plan I had for this space?  Not so fast...

So now what?  I looked up every wedding photographer in Savannah and looked at every wedding they shot.  The best way to see if you want to get married somewhere is to see someone else's wedding there, right?  About 30 minutes into this project I found it - Trinity United Methodist Church. 



Image via The Savannah Wedding Studio

 

Image via The Savannah Wedding Studio

Image by Greg Ceo

This beautiful church was built in 1848 and it is simply breathtaking.  Even more beautiful than the building are the people there!  Mr. B and I went to a service there the last time we were in Savannah and we were overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness showed by everyone we met.  In fact - we liked the people so much that we decided to ask the pastor to marry us!  This was definitely not our original plan since I did not want to be married by a "stranger," but his sermon was so powerful and he was so kind.  We plan on visiting with him a few times before the wedding so he can get to know us better - hopefully he won't be too much of a stranger by the big day!

I am so grateful we found this wonderful church and I cannot wait to start our new life there.  Other destination brides - how did you choose a church and officiant?  Did anyone else give up a gorgeous outdoor wedding because of weather fears?

A Pin-teresting, Pin-spired Wedding

Serious question here: How did people plan weddings before Pinterest?  It has been such a useful resource for me - I keep all of my inspiration on my wedding board, everything from flowers to jewelry to cookies to sparkler exits.  It is all right there in one neat, easily accessible spot.  A look at my boards:

Personal Screen Shot/Photo

Yes, my friends and I have a shared board called "Bloody Good," which is dedicated to Bloody Marys.  What of it?  I also have a whole board dedicated to baby animals and one for New Orleans.  These are all essential in my book.  For today, though, lets focus on my "Wedding!" board.  (Side note:  all of my wedding-related folders have an exclamation point and some even go as far as a smiley face.)

A few snapshots of my inspiration:

Personal Screen Shot/Photo

My favorite ideas from above both have to do with wine.  The first is asking the bartender to save the corks from your wedding reception for you to use later, to make a monogram or other project for the home.  I love this!  The second is using corks as table number holders, which we definitely plan on doing.  You may not be able to see the conversation below it so I will repeat here:

Friend RJ:  We used these, too!  They were from Etsy and we got them with no ribbon.  Turned out great!
Miss Bicycle:  Did you plan your whole wedding on Etsy? :) Mr. B and I have decided to dedicate our efforts to consuming enough wine during our engagement to make these ourselves.  It will be a lot of work but we are willing to make the sacrifice.

And we really are trying our hardest!  I would love to have all of those memories at our reception - and if you think about it, that's what a wine cork symbolizes.  A celebratory dinner, a relaxing night by the fire, the joy of hearing the un-corking sound after a particularly tough day...

Personal Screen Shot/Photo

My favorite from above is the sign that reads: "Today, two families become one.  So pick a seat, not a side."  This seems to be popping up all over Pinterest and I don't care how trendy it is - I like the sentiment.  Also, Martha Stewart's tips for addressing invitations is clutch. 

In addition to my own board I also have a shared board where my friends (not just bridesmaids) pin suggestions.  It has been so much fun seeing what they come up with.

Personal Screen Shot/Photo

Personal Screen Shot/Photo

You'll see two Etsy suggestions from Friend RJ here, which explains the Etsy comment during our conversation above.  Also, I just noticed Bridesmaid Danger's pin is described as "Champagne diets."  I guess I am on this diet and didn't even realize it!

Personal Screen Shot/Photo

I highly suggest doing a shared board with your friends if you are in the planning process.  Or if you love Bloody Marys, as it is just as helpful for that, too. 

Does anyone else rely as heavily on Pinterest as I do?  Does anyone wish this was around when they were planning?  If you didn't use it, how did you keep everything together?

The Cutest Flower Girl In History

You may remember that we weren't planning on having a flower girl.  Well, in an effort to have the biggest bridal party known to man, we actually are having one!  I have thought for a while that this would happen, I guess I was just in denial.

Mr. B has two sisters and a brother.  One of his sisters has a daughter and a son.  Her daughter, let's call her Pad, is five and she is my best friend.  Seriously.  Well, OK - Mr. B is my best friend but Pad is a close second.  Don't believe me?  A few weeks ago I came home to this:


Personal photo

Yes, she sent me a picture of us from when I was visiting her in Albuquerque at Thanksgiving.  My heart almost melted.  Here is a real picture of that day:


Personal Photo

Her personality is even more adorable than her cute little face.  Although they live on the other side of the country, we have an amazing time when we are together.  Want another cute picture of her?  OK!


Nap time with Tabasco, Christmas 2011 / Personal Photo

The main reason we didn't ask her to be our flower girl to begin with was we didn't know if her mom was planning on bringing the kids to the wedding.  We felt bad "forcing" her to bring them by having one of them in the wedding.  Flying from Albuquerque to Savannah will be expensive enough and we did not want to pressure her to bring the kids, adding expense and stress.  Pad and her family came to Florida for spring break and we took the opportunity to figure out what we would do.  Mr. B's sister said bringing the kids wasn't even a question - they would kill her if she didn't bring them!  We asked her if we could ask Pad to be our flower girl and she was so touched and of course said we could.

The next day I took Pad for her very first mani/pedi, a perfect opportunity to ask!  She was ready for our big day, that's for sure:


Personal Photo

I casually asked her on the way to the salon and she was so excited!  What would she wear?  Could she wear heels?  How would she do her hair?  Could she wear lipstick? 


Personal Photo

Although the details of her wedding day look are still being ironed out, I think I will have my mom make her dress (again - I do not like most dresses made for girls in weddings).  Our church does not allow for real petals to be dropped on the ground so I will either buy fake ones or simply have her carry one of those flower balls down the aisle. 



Image via Rebecca's Silver Rose / Photo by Trawick Images

We will be OK having a flower girl without a ring bearer, right?  Does anyone have suggestions to alternatives to real flower petals?

Oh, and in case you're wondering - first mani/pedi was a major success!

Personal Photo

The Bling!

I got so many sweet compliments on my ring so I thought everyone might appreciate hearing the story of how it ended up on my hand.

FYI, polish color is OPI "Mod About You" / Personal Photo

About a year before we got engaged, a friend of mine asked if I would go ring shopping with her.  She and her boyfriend had been together a few years and Mr. B and I were getting pretty serious so I agreed.   We thought each guy would most likely ask us what their girlfriend liked in a ring, so it would be helpful if we knew what we liked.

We went to a local jewelry store and were immediately treated like royalty, wine in hand.  We looked at all sorts of designs but both of us were pretty much in love with the same thing - a cushion cut with a halo. The store took our information and what we liked/didn't like so that our boyfriends could come in and know what we wanted.   I told Mr. B what we did that day and what I liked, knowing a proposal was not in the near future.

Photo courtesy of Bridesmaid Lemon

Well, it turns out Mr. B went to that same store, hoping to use my file as guidance.  They somehow no longer had a record of my visit but Mr. B knew the two most important things - cushion cut and a halo.  He said it was the most expensive 15 minutes of his life. :)

The kids were with him when he went back to pick it up and he kept it in his son's closet until that early morning at the airport.  He did such a great job and I am in love with it!

Photo courtesy of Bridesmaid Lemon

We took a trip to the jewelry store to have it cleaned and we decided to take a look at wedding bands for me.  I looked at a milgrain eternity band, which matched the band on my e-ring perfectly.  The associate made either a huge mistake or an amazing suggestion, depending on your perspective.  She suggested putting a band on each side of my e-ring, creating a huge chunk of diamond on my finger.  It.  Looked.  Amazing.  Mr. B didn't seem as excited as I was, suggesting a second band would be a good idea for a major anniversary.  OK, OK.  I already have the ring of my dreams - I don't need two wedding bands.

So that's the story of my ring.  Tell me yours!  Did anyone else look before a proposal was even a possibility?

Choosing a Photographer

Who will photograph our wedding?  This question was answered before it was even asked!  We booked Ashley Daniell Photography pretty quickly and I am so excited to work with her (again!) on our big day.

Ashley and I met years ago through work.  Although she has a "day job," her real passion is photography.  Bridesmaid Runner hired Ashley for her July 2011 wedding and I decided pretty much then and there that Ashley would shoot my wedding (whenever that would happen!).  She was such a pleasure to work with and she even made the best of the horrible rain that showed up on Runner's wedding day.  

Photo Courtesy of Ashley Daniell Photography

 Although the rain cleared up by the time the wedding started, it stuck around long enough to (mostly) ruin the portraits.  Well, Ashley was not about to let that happen - so she did another session with the bride and groom the next day!

Photo Courtesy of Ashley Daniell Photography

Their photos from the next day are some of my favorites, probably because they are more relaxed.  The sun is shining, they are already married, and these are just bonus photos. 

A few months later Ashley offered mini portrait sessions, which is basically a 30 minute session and you get 15 or so images to use as you like.  I decided to take Mr. B's kids to a session so we could take some photos for what would eventually be a Christmas present.  Ashley made the kids feel at ease and we got some amazing photos.  Mr. B was blown away!  At the end of the blog post she did of the session, she wrote:

They were so sweet to each other!! It was awesome! And I had an amazing time with them! Until next time . . .  :-)

She knew what she meant.  I knew what she meant.  And a year later we made it official and booked her as our photographer!  I did not need any more convincing than the first-hand experiences I had with her, but just for fun here are some of my favorite images of hers.

Photos Courtesy of Ashley Daniell Photography

Photos Courtesy of Ashley Daniell Photography

Photo Courtesy of Ashley Daniell Photography

Photo Courtesy of Ashley Daniell Photography

Photo courtesy of Ashley Daniell Photography

That was probably the easiest decision we made!  I know she will make us feel at ease on the big day and I can't wait to see what beautiful moments she captures.

How did you decide on a photographer?  Were there any vendors you knew you would use, even before the proposal?