Under Pressure... sing it Queen

as my FI and i flew back from our Wedding Open House in SLC, we spent time discussing our 10 mile long to-do list.... which by the way we have 18 days or 2.5 weeks left!

 time to really buckle down.

the past 4 days wass the most time we've consecutively spent together maybe since our trip to Jackson Hole last summer when we got engaged! so, we used most of this past weekend to catch up on all of the "things" we've been meaning to talk about or forget to bring up - in relation to the wedding.

after talking and interupting each other mid thought so we wouldn't lose our own train of thought - it hit us that not only are we rapidly approaching our wedding date (duh!), we still have so many miles to cover on the journey to Aug 2nd.... not to mention we are trying to set up shop for our married lives together after that date... so it's wedding and marriage planning all rolled into one large rolling snowball. (i like visual imagery)

here's a brilliant yet totally lame idea i came up with to help keep me on track - rather than just a huge to-do list i made 3 to work from and i'm filling them in according to the week.

here's an example of a few things per week:

this week (before the bachelor party)

- get keys to apartment/ paint/ get utilities transfered

- get final hotel guest list for OOT Bags & order Bags

- go hunting for OOT goodies

- prep for crazy wedding workshop this weekend

next week (before my bachelorette party):

- finish bridal party gifts (since i'm such a DIY lady)

- make sure all my time off from work is taken care of

- empty my bank account - ie. pay all bills due while we are on our honeymoon

- finalize music & wedding weekend/ day of timeline and distribute to all vendors & bridal party members

week of wedding:

- no more DIY projects! must be complete before leaving for Vegas

- finish HM packing

- get floating rafts for HM =) so cheesy

- go crazy!  jk

it helped me to lay out the weeks this way... and now i'm starting to break down these lists into smaller ones i can use each day of those weeks.  for example the night before i have a game plan of what errands need to be run before or after work, so the next day i can not only conserve gas, but my time and sanity - which could be better used for another task!

do i sound insane or has anyone previously or is anyone currently in the state i am (not quite panic but on the verge)?  sorry for the ramblings of this tired lady, i'm cutting myself off and going to bed.... g'night

refreshments

since i am the queen of arriving to an event on what is called california time, we are helping guests out by telling them to arrive just a smidge earlier than they really need to be at the ceremony, that way the ceremony can start at the "secret" scheduled time! wink... while the guests are waiting and chatting we thought it would be nice to provide refreshments since it will be August in CA and about 90 degrees!  above is a photo i found while scouring many wedding photog's blogs in the early planning stages.  

when i started looking for dispensers for our pre-ceremony refreshments, i came across this online company, who had this dispenser featured in Redbook magazine.

these are made by infusion jars

above is the style i'm thinking about ordering, it's called the Messina Jar

when i do finally decide which one to order, i'm getting 2 jars, my mom said after the wedding it'll be one for me, one for her! =)

i also think i'll be switching out the spigot and upgrading to this user friendly chrome one.

i also haven't decided if the dispensers need a stand to sit up off the table, or if it's not necessary.

i do know that my new gocco'd cocktail napkins will be on the table with the beverages... more on the napkins later....

now what to fill the dispensers with...???

i was thinking ice water in one with slices of lemon, lime, and orange wedges,

the other, maybe some sort of blueberry lemonade with blueberries and sliced lemons.

now i just need to find a good recipe for the lemonade!

is anyone else concerned about their guest' pre-ceremony experience? and if you could help me get my hands on some lemonade/ with blueberry recipes, i would be ever so grateful!

image sources: 1 - 2 - 5 

sunset... an important time of day

source

today i spoke with our photog Michael about the timing of our wedding ceremony. after meeting with our planner at the venue she suggested we have our photog view the site given the guests and photos of our ceremony will be take almost due west.  

he has a handy little tool i'd like to share with you... it was very helpful in planning the time for our e pics just before sunset this past november and it also has helped us determine our ceremony start time too!

Sun and Moon Data for One Day

here's what our wedding daylight looks like

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

i hope this can be a helpful tool for anyone else 

making their outdoor wedding day plans work around sunset as well!

also, fyi, if you have a really good photographer like us, he or she can still shoot no matter if the sun happens to be setting as you exchange your vows.  we will actually be having a 5:45 or 6pm ceremony, and hope to avoid blinding many of our guests.

Is your groom-to-be giving you trouble?

while flipping through one of the many wedding mags littered around my bedroom, i found this hand dandy "grooms" calendar accompanying the wedding to do lists that come in every wedding mag.  i quickly ripped it out thinking my oh-so-busy, law school studying, fiance might be in need of a wedding schedule... and as the semester progressed, and the clock started ticking, and it became more and more difficult to coordinate our schedules to accomplish our necessary wedding tasks.

needless to say this was driving me nuts, seeing how i'm mildly obsessive about my wedding timetable, and sticking to it!  well... it was time to search my wedding binder for that tear out that was stored someplace between it's covers. 

if you are like me, paranoid about falling behind on your wedding to do's, and would like some help from you fiance, know this ahead of time...  girls he CANNOT READ YOUR MIND, you'd think i would've known this ahead of time, but no, i've been learning this the hard way and becoming frustrated.  give him a little help this way he knows what you're expecting of him on a monthly basis... he can keep himself on track according to the general guidelines of most wedding planning to do lists.

hope this is a helpful tool to your groom-to-be!

The Wedding Planning Process

so, right after my fiance and i got engaged, i just like many other giddy girls who have just been proposed to, went into wedding planning mode instantly!  these days a bride-to-be needs to be organized and armed for al her vendor appointments with pictures, notes, and ideas.  well, knowing this, i was at Barnes & Noble one day, searching for the perfect wedding binder, one that would organize what would soon become the wedding insanity.  i randomly picked up this pink, 6x10 inch notepad and hoped for the best.  i couldn't wait to get home and tear off the shrink wrap, to my amazement it was everything i imagined it to be... not only have i used it for all my appointments with vendors, i've recommended it to my recently engaged girlfriends.

what's it called?

Bride Ideas: a creative wedding journal and list maker by Chronicle Books. here's the description from the publisher:

The ultimate creative and practical planning tool for a wedding, Bride Ideas captures all the bride's inspirations, ideas, lists, and to-dos.  A fold-out Master List keeps plans on track, friendly prompts insure important details are not overlooked, and the peel-and-stick tabs allow the bride to customize for quick references.  Fabulously flexible, Bride Ideas is a must-have wedding planner.

there you have it folks... i honestly can't tell you how much i love that this little book fits in my purse, it's a whole lot easier than lugging around my heavy duty 3 ring binder with all my magazine tear outs flying everywhere!  it's a cheap investment at $12, i'm glad that i picked it up on a whim that day.  my life sure has been more organized since then.  it has been a great central place for my wedding thoughts, sketches, pros & cons lists, guest list planning, gift tracking, shopping lists, honeymoon packing, flower inspirations, bridesmaids' favors... ok so i think you get the point and understand my excitement ... =)