Wedding Wednesday

This way for the people who could care less about wedding stuff...you can skip Wednesdays :-)

The planning is FINALLY starting to be fun. I am starting to make some progress and that seems to be a bit helpful.

Hair and Makeup- I made my appointments while I was at the salon getting my hair done on Friday. My hair dresser told me to go ahead and do it...I think that our wedding is near proms here and I think that she probably just wanted me to make sure I got a time that I wanted because she has regulars that book up her Saturdays. I felt like it was a little premature but then again, I know I am going to have it done so why not. I was shocked when she said that I would need to do it at 11am as the LATEST. Ugh, I thought with a later wedding I would sleep in and enjoy my morning coffee...not so much. I am pretty sure that I want to wear my hair down but pulled back from my face and curled. She said I needed to wait until I got my dress cause what if it would look ridiculous with the dress...I guess I can't see how that it possible...maybe one of you could explain. I also was a little annoyed because she was engaged for 2 years and then broke off the wedding like 2 months before she was supposed to get married. She also bought a wedding dress about 1.5 before her wedding and then didn't like it (and couldn't fit into it anymore). Not exactly the person I want advice from. Oh well, I think I know the style I want so we will see...I can't imagine how my hair would look "ridiculous" just curled and pulled back no matter what dress I got.

For the makeup I was going to go with regular but she really encouraged me to do the airbrush (just foundation and blush). She said that it would look amazing in pictures. After some research it seems like everyone loves it so I might do that...has anyone done it before?

Venue - I finally got the lady to get back in touch with me (she ignored me it seemed after the contract was signed but she is back) and we are going to be allowed to get in 2hrs before the wedding...YAY. This means that we will be able to get the awesome pictures that our photographer wants to get. He was really concerned with us only being able to get in an hour before because he said people will start to trickle in around 45 mins before (not me, I am normally getting there like 10 mins before but whatever).

Dessert - We decided a while back not to do a cake. Neither of us really loves cake so it is just an extra expense that we didn't really want (buy the cake, pay to have it cut and served, etc) so I think that we are going to have the local custard (like ice cream only way better) come and do sundaes :-) Custard is pretty famous in Wisconsin as the birthplace (think this depends on who you talk to) and since Craig is from there and we LOVE custard, I thought it was would be a lot more appropriate...plus we only pay per sundae eaten (not that this was the deciding factor). I am pretty excited about this ...yes, I am a dork.

Music - this is the part that I am most concerned about at the moment. Craig is beyond picky about music and he doesn't seem to want any fun songs played at the wedding (and I am not even talking about the electric slide or the chicken dance (which will NOT be played)). He says that the music is the most important part for him (other than the marrying part) and I am trying to be really respectful of that but while his musical taste is really good, it is not appropriate for a wedding unless we want people sleeping. We chose to have a later ceremony time because we wanted the party to go to midnight...you have to keep people awake. He has a really good friend that is a DJ (or was one) and he is going to talk to him tonight at trivia and I am hoping that will help him realize that at a party/wedding you have to play what other people know and like. I know it will work itself out but it seems to be a tough thing right now...

Invitations - I am not crazy and ordering them now or anything but I was trying to find what direction we wanted to go in so I started looking around. I found some that I liked and then had to show them to C...he is the type that likes to see ideas and then let them roll around and think about them so you have to start early with him. I was so glad that when I showed them to him he liked them. He said that he doesn't want any "script or fancy" writing on them. I think that is about right...if we made them look fancy it would make the wedding look fancy and I don't think that is the case. Anyway, here are some pictures of ones that I like...what do you guys think? I think that one with the Y on it in the top right is my fav...I just don't know if it would look as good with our colors....oh, and C doesn't like the ones with borders...he says they look like certificates :-) HA!

Hair Pictures

I am not really sure you can tell and I don't have a lot of pictures of myself recently with the blonde hair but I found this one from our trip...to me it seems really different but I am not sure if other people will really notice. I am trying to grow out my hair a little bit and she cuts it a lot when I go and with the blonde I have to go every 8 weeks, hoping that with this color I can really stretch it out. I don't wash my hair daily and I don't use heat or product that much (hair dryer) so it doesn't really get damaged and need an inch and a half off every 8 weeks.

Summertime

I can't believe that it is already the last weekend in June!! Where did the time go?? This was the weekend that Craig and I were supposed to do the century (100miles) bike ride but since it literally rained EVERY DAY of April we got really behind on our training and didn't think it was the kind of thing we could just wing (pretty sure it would be the equivalent of just running a marathon with no training). Tomorrow is supposed to be gorgeous though so I am hoping we can do a really long ride and make up for the fact that we can't do the century ride. Other than that, I am going to start working on some blurb books on Sunday when it is supposed to rain because I have Groupons that I need to use. I bought two and I am a little worried that I won't get two books done so if anyone needs one, let me know and we can work it out.

I have been doing the whole exercising and eating right thing...trying to drink all my water and eat all my veggies. I can definitely tell a difference in the running. I really need to start training for my first half marathon of the season :-) I have 4 (!!!) scheduled between now and the wedding. If doing that doesn't get me in shape, I am not sure anything could. HA! I guess I actually have to train for them though, huh! Maybe I will try to get in a long run this weekend. I have been running more in my neighborhood (which is really hilly) so I think that is helping me to get faster when I run on the flat places...

Today I went and got my hair done. I was a little bored with the blonde...feel like I have had it forever and I didn't like the way it was growing out because it just looked yucky. I wanted to go dark, Craig wasn't really a fan but I think it is just cause he can't picture things. All my OH friends were all on board. I went today and she said it would take too long (longer than our appt was scheduled for) to dye it all one color and then do some highlights so she gave me the option of coming back another day for color or just putting in low lights instead of highlights and then touching up the highlights on the top of my head. I went the second route since it was more economical :-) I really like the outcome. It is more like my natural color but a little bit warmer and there are still blonde highlights but they are actually highlights and not just blonde all over...I think it is a nice change because it isn't really dramatic but it still feels different to me (pretty sure no one else will notice).

Wedding planning is coming along...it still feels a little overwhelming at times but I got the hotel blocked out and I am working on the colors and music and other stuff. Drena and Morgan have been sending me little ideas and it is so fun because they know me so well that literally they send me the exact ideas I was thinking of...ah, warm fuzzies. I think that in order to not only talk about wedding stuff (since I am sure some of you could really care less), I am going to just sum it all up on Wednesdays and have Wedding Wednesdays...how fun :-)

I have a new little craft project that I need to share with you guys...it is super cute and has been EXTREMELY popular here in Ohio!! They are little headbands for exercising (or running errands) that are nonslip and made of ribbons...you can seem them in my Etsy Shop HERE. The girls that ran the Flying Pig with me and I bought some for that race (we all had pink ones in different patterns) and then I figured out how to make them so I started making them for my friends here (all runners and all play soccer) and their teammates starting asking for them and they really just took off...highly recommend them if you exercise or just want a cute way to wear your hair while running errands (I wear them on some of the days when I don't wash my hair). I even recommend them even if you buy them from another person on Etsy...they are just awesome!

That is about it for me lately...work is starting to get crazy so I am going to try to relax this weekend and just chill.

Hamvention

What is hamvention you ask?? Well, here is link for you. Also, it has completely booked up and sold out the hotel that we were planning on blocking rooms at for our wedding. I just happened to decide to check that off the list since there are two hotels that are within walking distance of the venue...no driving...yay! I figured since it was something I knew I was going to do, I might as well get it done since pretty much all of our guests are from out of town. I am really sad about the hotel being booked up because it was such a good price ($89 a night) and it was where C and I had one of our "dates" when I was here on business...thought it would be fun to stay there again when we got married...no such luck. I guess I will go ahead and block out the other place that is downtown (since there are only two). It isn't like it is ridiculous or anything, only $115 but still, it just makes me sad...oh well.

Other than that, not much else has been decided...my mom and sister are coming in August to look at dresses and we are going to try to look at bridesmaid dresses then too to get some color ideas :-)

Wedding Plans...Help!!

So, to start with, the above picture is of me after Warrior Dash...I am completely covered in mud and this is after the rinse out...that shirt was a pretty pink color before the race...ewww
. It did some clean!

Now for some pictures of the wedding/reception site for Craig and I...I need help with deciding on some colors. There are a few colors in play already and I don't necessarily have to match them but I also don't want to pick out something that will completely stick out and look bad. My sisters and I were discussing light blues and yellows. There are just so many great places to take pictures there so I don't want to miss out on that...


These are the doors that the guests will come in and the main entrance way...outside those doors are the columns that are on the front of the building. I LOVE these doors, they are so tall and full of detail (on the other side).

If you turned directly around you would be facing this staircase and these walls are really more yellow than they are showing up on the computer for me but I am not sure how they are showing up for you...the photographer has some amazing pictures of some of his clients on these stairs...
As you can see in the picture above, if you keep walking you will be in the room where we will be getting married and have the reception. For the ceremony everyone will be sitting at their tables and the aisle will be the dance floor after the ceremony...it was a little weird to me at first but I got over it. So, you can see that there is a yellow and blueish/greenish/grayish color on the walls...the carpet is dark green with a pattern on it (and a seal in the middle of the room...you can see a better pic of it down below). There is also a balcony above and a big rotunda. The bench is permanent so it will be staying. We have the option to cover it with a drape in front of it but I am thinking we will either just leave it or put something on the front (not on it but like fabric or lights that are hanging down in loops...omg, I am bad at describing). The rotunda is the next picture with the same colors.


This last picture is the room where the buffet will be for everyone (bar will be at the bottom of the stairs). This carpet is the same as the other room and you can see the yellow on the walls a little better here too.
So, who is good at all this and can help me...we aren't going for super formal or anything...it will be under 100 people (still working that out from 50) and it will later in the evening because we want the party to go late but it will not be formal just because it is late so we want to sort of keep that less formal theme. Less formal doesn't mean it shouldn't be nice though :-) I will probably do my own centerpieces so I have a couple ideas there but I think that I want some suggestions on colors...will the yellows and light blues work?? What won't work??

Craig said that I am planning way too much in advance and he is probably right but my work schedule is about to get out of control and I will not have time for anything so I think that I am trying to get a head start on it all so I won't be stressed about it later...I know I will have all boring, cold winter to do stuff too, but I can't help it...it is fun now that we have a place and everything :-)

Date, Place, and Photographer

I feel like I might jinx myself a little bit because I haven't signed a contract with the location and I haven't actually talked to the photographer because he had weddings all weekend but hopefully if both places were busy that means that no one else could book either :-) I am so excited about the place and the photographer!!!

The place is called the Old Courthouse and here is a link to it. It is a Greek revival courthouse that is located right downtown. The inside is gorgeous!! It means we will have to stick to a small wedding but we were sort of planning on that anyway. I love all the fantastic places to take pictures. It is also located about a block from a couple different hotels so all out of town people will be within walking distance if they stay at one of those hotels...and why wouldn't they when it is under $100 a night :-) I also love that it is only a block from the paper's old building where we met at work...it has an awesome front and even though the paper has moved, there is still a sign that says Dayton Daily News so I want some pictures there...I think that is cute.

Photographer will be Mark Garber. He showed me a whole album of beautiful pictures that he took at the courthouse and he was the one who recommended it to me when I was telling him that I was looking for :-)

I feel so relieved to have all of that done! There are a couple more things for day of...like the DJ and Caterer but at least the courthouse provides the alcohol so worst case scenario is that we will have drinks and no food. HA!

I took a break from all the wedding stuff this weekend and did Warrior Dash and then went on a bike ride with Ali today. It is so nice to have the hard parts done and get to relax a little bit!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Let me know if the links don't work because I am on my iPad and still learning how to do the links :-)

Locations, Part 2

So after you guys responded yesterday I was feeling better about the farm (by the way, there is a barn but it is a working barn, as in animals in it, so there is no wedding in the barn). There is also not really air conditioning but we could have window units that she will provide if it gets hot in the house...other than that it would be an all outdoor wedding with a later ceremony so the sun is not beating down on people (though not black tie or anything, just later to work with the light and heat and blah, blah, blah). Here is the link to the website for it. There aren't that many pictures of it and I am actually thinking of offering to go to her farm a couple times this summer and take pictures for her (maybe she will give me a discount, maybe not) because I think that it would help her and I think that I would like to see some of the different ways she sets it up. Anyway, I was feeling good about it and then when I came home last night and talked to C, he was a little iffy on it...UGH. He said he wasn't sure it was as refined as he wants...what???? This is the boy that didn't want anything fancy. I think he is doing it to drive me insane...every time I decide on something he changes his mind :-)

Before I was at peace with the farm yesterday I sent a few more emails and made some phone calls so we will see if I hear back from them.

I did get one response yesterday and I like the place...I thought it would be way more expensive than it was so now it has entered the race :-) We are going to see it tomorrow. Here is the link to them. It is an old car dealership from the 1900s :-) They only have the 26th available so we would have to do it Memorial Day weekend.

I talked to my Dayton girls last night and they said the photographer I was meeting with tomorrow is the shit! I know he is going to be expensive but that is where I want to splurge on the extra money. Plus, one of my friends here used to date his son so I am going to see if mentioning that will help me out at all...I doubt it but it can't hurt. Here is his website...AMAZING!!

Thanks for listening to all my rants...it is a little harder when it is just Craig and...it is much more fun to talk to your girlfriends about stuff like this.