This is princessofdenial's Blue Wedding!

A current trend in wedding ceremonies is for the bride and groom to be facing their guests with the officiant off to the side. What do you think? I like the idea but then again I may be even more nervous looking at all the people watching us!

Sometime ago dd977chic posted a slew of vintage hairstyles and since I'm thinking about going vintage I found a slew of my own. I'm leaning toward the 1st Irene Dunne or the Vivian Leigh with a birdcage veil.

Found this dress and Julius Bridal and I just LOVE it. My problem though is the whole ordering it with out trying it on deal. I'm not even sure if I would be able to find a dress even remotely similar to try on to see if it works with my body type.

I'm working on my menu layout and want to make it sound a bit fancier then it is. Here's what we are having:

Appetizers
Vegetable & Pita w/ hummus

Salad
Tossed Salad

Entree
Roast Beef
Chicken & Dumplings

Hot Side Dishes
Broccoli Casserole
Macaroni and Cheese

Cold Side Dishes
Potato Salad

Bread
Corn Bread
Buttermilk Biscuits

Dessert
Mini Pecan Pies
Divinity


Any suggestions on how to make it sound a bit more appealing?

I made the decision yesterday to add another good friend to the wedding party. She will be my Matron of Honor. Now I need to find another guy for Rich's side!

Erica
We met gosh about 8 years ago now, I was her boss! We became very good friends until some silly nonsense got in the way but we're back together and more in love now then ever, hehe! Isn't she gorgeous!

We would like to have 2 people do readings at our ceremony but we are not sure who to ask. Some of the people we were thinking were the MOH and Best Man or my mom and his mom, or my oldest brother and FH's cousin. Are there any guidelines as to who should and shouldn't do readings?

Here are some of the readings we are considering:

From "Gift From The Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
When you love someone, you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships. We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity - in freedom, in the sense that the dancers are free, barely touching as they pass, but partners in the same pattern.

The only real security is not in owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what was in nostalgia, nor forward to what it might be in dread or anticipation, but living in the present relationship and accepting it as it is now. Relationships must be like islands, one must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits - islands, surrounded and interrupted by the sea, and continually visited and abandoned by the tides.

From "The Irrational Season" by Madeleine L'Engle
But ultimately there comes a moment when a decision must be made. Ultimately two people who love each other must ask themselves how much they hope for as their love grows and deepens, and how much risk they are willing to take…It is indeed a fearful gamble…Because it is the nature of love to create, a marriage itself is something which has to be created, so that, together we become a new creature.

To marry is the biggest risk in human relations that a person can take…If we commit ourselves to one person for life this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession, but participation…It takes a lifetime to learn another person…When love is not possession, but participation, then it is part of that co-creation which is our human calling, and which implies such risk that it is often rejected.

From A Year With C.S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works "Being in Love"
If the old fairy-tale ending "They lived happily ever after" is taken to mean "They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married," then it says what probably never was nor ever would be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships? But, of course, ceasing to be "in love" need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense-love as distinct from "being in love"—is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be "in love" with someone else. "Being in love" first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.

I'm sure most of the other DIY brides like myself have found this site already but I figured I'd share just in case. If you become a member you can access downloads and message boards. It's a really great site, check it out!

DIY Bride

My shoes came today, brand new in the box as promised. The white ones are ADORABLE the blue ones however do not fit! Damn my wide feet. Thankfully I can send them back. If anyone else is looking for different/original shoes check out Metronomeshoes on ebay.

I was at Hobby Lobby and found a stamp I really liked and decided to have a go at hand stamping and then embossing. I think both FH and I agree that this one is the best. I have decided to go with the Kaleidoscope embossing powder, adds just the right amount of shimmer! I'm excited!

My father and I do not have the best of relationships. I have seen my father a total of one time in the past 15 years. I used to call him weekly to exchange pleasantries and then it became bi-weekly and now it's whenever. Since he married my step mother he has become an awful father to be quite honest. She controls everything from when we (my 2 brothers and I) are "allowed" to visit (how bout NEVER) to what kinds of gifts he can give us (which is always NONE). The core of my brothers and my disdain of the whole thing is that she dictates how every penny is spent despite my father being the sole bread winner. My oldest brother has stopped talking to him over financial issues, my middle brother talks to him only when he has to b/c my dad co-signed on his student loan and he is constantly harping on him about the payments. I have NEVER asked my father for anything, never a cent and he has NEVER offered me a cent except maybe a secret X-mas card with a $50 in it that says "Don't tell your step-mother." I love my dad don't get me wrong but my step-mother is a greedy bitch. So greedy that we are not even sure that they will even be at my wedding.

So Sunday I was on the phone with him and my step-mother (who is ALWAYS on the phone for all our conversations) and I mentioned us discussing having the wedding at Mountain Harbor Inn. What do they say "Ohhh... so how is Collin?" I mean WTF? I don't know if they just don't care about my wedding or if they are worried that if we talk about it I will ask them for money or what. So in my pissed off irritation I emailed them the link to the Inn and wrote this:
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Hi yah!
So what do you guys think of the place? We're going to go see it in August while we are there. I'll send more pictures then. It looks just wonderful from the website though and we get the whole place! If we decide to go with the Inn we'll be offering rooms for $75 a night to the first 12 people that would like them. Thankfully Reva is working to help us pay for it and mom and Markie are going to cater it which will save us a lot of money. I'm so excited! Less then a year!

Also forgot to ask you guys if you have thought about the guest list yet? I'm going to mail the Save-the-Date cards in August so I need the names and addresses of anyone you would like us to invite by then. Even if you don't think they will come I'd like to send an invite to at least announce that we're FINALLY getting married! Ok love yahs!
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Yes I'm very passive aggressive when it comes to dealing with my father!

FH said I was digging a little deep but you know what I'm pissed. I also intend on charging them for a room while my mom, FH's mom, and the wedding party will not be charged. I don't want him to walk me down the aisle, he "gave me away" when I was 13. I don't want a father daughter dance unless it's to a song that says how much he has hurt me in my life. Ughhh I'm so angry/disappointed/bitter/hurt and all those things a soon-to-be bride SHOULD NOT be!

Ok so I start a new job tomorrow and I am not sure how much spare time I will have so I spent today playing with invite ideas. Here are a few I came up with. They are all 4x6 and embossed w/ Kaleidoscope embossing powder. Which one do you like the best? Or do you like the previous version?

I'm loving this! Upon ogling the summer edition of Martha Stewart Weddings (I'm a Martha ADDICT) I was reading about a new feature they've added to the wedding planning site. It's a seating chart! How fun! More ways for me to avoid studying. Thanks Martha and co.!

Become a member and check it out!

As the days pass I'm finding I have more and more things to organize from crafting supplies to pre-wedding purchases to papers. So what I'm wondering is how is everyone else staying organized?

If you were invited to a wedding at the beautiful B&B on the left (Mountain Harbor Inn) and asked to pay $50-$75 per-night (possibly for only one night) would you? Now given it will be 8-10 hours away from your home and you will need to secure other accommodation's if you choose to stay in town longer.

Because all of our guests will be coming from OOT FH and I have been trying to decide on what food items to put in the welcome baskets and I think we have finally figured it out. When I was young my mother used to always make English Muffin Loaf (yup it's just like an English Muffin but in loaf form) so I thought it would be cute to give each guest a mini English Muffin Loaf, a small jar of homemade strawberry preserves and a couple packets of coffee. FH liked the idea to and best of all I can make the both the loaves and the preserves ahead of time and freeze them.

FH just bought me both pairs of shoes to the left! Yippie yay! Good thing too, going to have to learn how to walk in the heels!

Got my monthly edition of Lowe's Creative Ideas today and saw a few cute ideas that I thought I would share. They are pictures of pictures so please excuse the quality. The first picture are bath caddies. They used aluminum buckets and covered them with wallpaper borders and then filled with bath goodies. Maybe a cute idea for the maids. The second is a picture of silverware wrapped in bandannas and put in painted flower pots. Cute idea for upscale picnic. And the last is a bamboo flower vase holder. Instructions are online as well as in this months magazine.

I like the idea of getting my girls a tote filled with goodies both for the wedding day and after but I also want to make sure they stay well nourished on the actual wedding day so I'm getting the tote bags from Lands End (thanks junieya) and these cute polka dot lunch boxes from Hoohobbers. Not sure yet what I'm going to fill the totes with but I'll most likely end up filling the lunch boxes with water, white grapes, mini sandwiches and mini cookies. Do you think the groomsmen would like something like that? I mean minus the pretty little polka dot lunch boxes *lol*!

Do you ever just look around at other bride’s blogs who are getting married around the same time as you and think “OMG, I’m so far behind!” I’m constantly doing that. Today marks a year, one year until the wedding and we haven’t even picked a venue yet. I see other brides who have venues booked, wedding dress ordered, invites in progress and so forth and here's me without a venue! We have until the end of August to get the big details figured out and booked. Two months to get it all done, I can do this right?!?!

Had another try at my DIY invites. This time I used a 16lb vellum that I got from Office Max (50 sheets for $2.99). I also used a glittery embossing powder and brown ribbon. FH and I both like this version a lot more. I used scrapbooking tape to adhere the sheets but it is still visible through the vellum.

Looking for more cute flats. I love the first pair but the 4th pair (sneakers) would totally be me! I also think the turquoise Chuck Taylors would make for a cute photo op!

Everyone seems to be talking about shoes lately which has really got me thinking that I need some super cute heels at least for pictures.

I’m all about the co-ed wedding shower but I’m not sure how I feel about the co-ed bachelor/bachelorette party. On one hand it would be fun for someone like my FH who is a work-aholic and doesn’t have many friends and who’s bestman’s wife isn’t really about him going out for a night on the town past 9pm. It would also be fun to do something like a wine and cheese party together and then head out for a night on the town separately. I’m sure my girls will want to dress me up with plastic penises and embarrass the life out of me so I’m not sure FH would want to be a part of that craziness!

FH's mother and my MOH are throwing us a wedding shower locally but my mother and bridesmaid will also be throwing me just a girly bridal shower in New York where most of my family is located. I love Tupperware and I can NEVER have enough containers I also love Pampered Chef and can't get enough of their kitchen gadgets and gizmo's so I think I may ask my mom to make my 2nd bridal shower a Tupperware or Pampered Chef party, how fun! Anyone else doing something similar?

I never heard of this before today but I think it's a wonderful idea: Brides Against Breast Cancer. They have charity dress sales and a "wedding" shop. All the proceeds from the dress sales go right to the cause not sure about the favor sales. Wish they were having a dress sale in my area but maybe I will donate my dress when I'm through with it.

Tons of categories with tons of items. Some are only available in New York shops but other are available online. What Fun!

If your like me and not entirely happy with your body and are working on losing a few pounds or just toning up before your big day this article is pretty helpful. Time is a major issue in my life so knowing I can get a stellar workout in 20-30 mins makes it more of a reality that I will work out.

Burn More Calories in Less Time
Posted Tue, Jun 17, 2008, 1:51 am PDT

The way to shape up fast is no secret. Weight training will sculpt and build lean muscle, which (unlike fat) burns calories on its own; cardio (brisk walking, biking, jogging, etc.) will shed the fat hiding those defined muscles. I'm a cardio fan from way back (I love how it feels to get my heart rate up), but who wants to slog away on a treadmill in a dull gym, going nowhere fast (or slow, as the case may be)? Not me! Especially when you can spend less time and get better results.

The secret is intervals. Study subjects who spent just 20 minutes mixing sprints with jogging lost three times the fat off their legs and butt in 15 weeks, compared to those who jogged steadily for 40 minutes, research from the University of New South Wales in Sydney finds. Intervals may spark fat-mobilizing hormones, and they amp your cardio capacity so your future runs will actually feel easier.

I like relaxing runs, but if you do the same slog every day, you can suffer from what's sometimes called "postman's syndrome"—named for those who do the same walk every day and yet their bodies never change. Your muscles become so efficient at a movement over time that if you do it day after day and eat the same way, you never overtax your system and burn more calories to lose weight.

The answer is to mix up your cardio either by changing your workout around or adding speedy bursts—meaning intervals. Intervals can be fun if you approach them right. Each one represents a mini goal—finish the 1-minute sprint, complete the 2-minute cooldown, and so on. I feel more pumped up doing this and never get bored. Check out Self.com's workout archives for tons of cool cardio plans.

I've never heard of NOT having a rehearsal but 2 of the potential locations we are looking at we may not be able to have a rehearsal. I'd really like to have one but not sure if it would be a make or break it type thing.

ETA: By rehearsal I am referring to the brief run through of the wedding ceremony with the wedding party, people doing the readings and officiant. We're going to have the dinner which traditionally follows the rehearsal to present gifts and what have you just not sure if we will be able to have the actual rehearsal at the locations.

Because we're having a destination wedding I was wondering when I should send out the Save-the-Dates. 1 year, 6months, 4months?

Can't seem to find any chocolate brown suits or tuxes we like so I think we're going to go with this suit for FH and the dress pants for the groomsmen with white shirts and ties.