Real Planned Weddings

My friend Megan got married in March. In my haze of wedding planning, I forgot to post pictures. She got roped into having her wedding on HGTV. I can't remember the show, but something about landscaping. So, all they had to pay for was their clothing, the food and the alcohol. HG TV paid for everything else. I was jealous until she told me they had to do all of these interviews about how they met, picked a wedding planning and all the other things that make for good TV.

I haven’t seen the show, but the wedding was really pretty.

Flowers

Looking from the cake back to the "alter" and the pool.

Austin

I meant to post this right after our trip to Austin, but never got around to it since I was deathly ill (and no one in Austin got sick!!). After rooting for the Longhorns in the NCAA championships, I feel it only fitting that I comment on their fair city.

Shock. Yes, I am in shock. I like a part of Texas. As a former Coloradoan, this is akin to saying I am in love with my brother. It's just wrong.

Austin is everything that people hype it to be. Great people, fun places, easy to get around. I’d been before but in the whirlwind of a wedding. I didn't remember the river running though it, which I loved. It was hot and humid, and people were all over the water like little bugs skimming on top. I felt like crap, or else I would have joined them.

We scarfed down greasy, Tex-Mex, which tasted delicious, but I still prefer Cal-Mex (don’t forget my health watch). I sampled queso. I like cheese in most forms, and queso fit the bill. Cheese and chips? I’m sold! Thank god that isn’t part of Cal-Mex or I’d be the size of a house. And there were a lot of people of the large variety there, but they didn’t stop me from ordering the deep-dish apple pie for dessert at dinner.

It was awesome to see my friend, meet her son and spend time with her husband, who I swear I’ve only hung out with at weddings. I loved their parenting style and their adorable son. They took us to a barbeque at their friend’s house, and guess what?! Their friends were nice, too!

I could almost see myself living there. I started to picture it. But the fiancé still loves the ocean so it looks like we’ll stay within walking distance of it for awhile. But believe the hype about Austin. It’s in Texas, but it isn’t really Texas. It’s Austin.

The River in the middle of the city!!! Picture paddling a boat on it... Ahhh.... summer.... Clearly, someone has a sense of humor.

And don't forget. Austin is the state capital.

The Story of the Ring (con't)

A ring. A symbol of love. The symbol of an everlasting circle. The diamond ring. A symbol of just how much he loves you. A broken diamond ring. A symbol of just how much a pain it is to get one of these things right. The ring, not the relationship. He’s still very much the right one.

In the big picture, the search for the ring is a cakewalk compared to finding the giver of the ring, but seriously, is there a bride out there who has had as many issues with her ring as I have?

Let me recap. I stupidly decided I HAD to choose my ring. Just HAD to. Then I realized that there is a reason brides don’t do this. Guilt. When I saw those price tags, I envisioned a new car. And a car is much, much bigger than a ring. Then I had to have an organic looking ring made by an independent jeweler. Of course the jeweler I picked is in CANADA so we paid FedEx TWICE to look at the ring. And FedEx to Canada isn’t cheap. Then, in a moment of clarity, I found the setting I wanted just two miles from home. We bought it, and sent it off to New York to have a diamond from a dealer set in it. My brother flew it out here (I’m skipping about a million steps in between like my friend taking it out to Brooklyn so my brother could bring it to me), and Ta-DA! I had a gorgeous ring with a stunning diamond. I was ecstatic. I FINALLY felt like a bride and had a shiny ring to show off.

Then, TRAGEDY. I was doing extreme power lounging on the couch last night while watching bad reality television. In a power lounging readjustment I felt the weight on my hand change. I looked down, expecting to see a loose diamond freed from the shackles of an engagement ring setting. But no, I saw the WHOLE SETTING broken off of the ring. BROKEN. SNAPPED. NO LONGER WEARABLE.

My sweet, concerned fiancé noted that I shouldn’t have put all my weight on it when I changed positions. I AM ON A COUCH ON PILLOWS. I BRUSHED MY HAND ACROSS A PILLOW. A PILLOW!!!! And the bloody thing broke. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t this ring supposed to last me until I DIE? Clearly, I’m going to do a lot more than lay on the couch before I die.

Why does this have to happen three days before I fly to Colorado for my friends’ wedding and showing off my ring? Really, WHY??? At least it didn’t happen three days before OUR wedding. A small glimmer of light.

Look, girls! Check out my fancy ring!

Behold the Power of the Prune!

For anyone keeping track or wondering, I started coughing and making stupid health decisions prior to Memorial Day. Today is the first day of summer (officially) and the damn illness is hanging on by a thread. I’ve tried battling it with everything: antibiotics, acupuncture, herbs, vitamins, cough syrup (2 kinds of OTC, herbal and hard-core-prescription), ginger tea, lemon and honey tea, nasal spray, sleep and more sleep. And one of all or the combo bound me up like nobody’s business.

So, I battled that with lots and lots of water, which did nothing. Then my grandmother suggested prune juice. Yes, prune juice. Like old folks drink to stay regular. Like my grandma drinks because her medications bind her up, too. Like, yuck. It's brown.

Let me tell you. Those old folks know something. I drank two small glasses of that the other night, and bam! My tummy gurgled and hurt half the night as it worked its way through my system and I continued to woo my fiancé with wondrous sounds released from my backside. Sounds I hadn’t heard in oh, about 2 weeks. Luckily, he thinks it’s funny. Then, in the morning, sweet release.

So, all praise the power of the prune! Part of me is working again!

As for the rest of my hellish sickness, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. My energy is returning slowly and I can sort of sleep on my back again. Sort of. I still wake up coughing. Now, if grandma can only suggest something as fabulous for coughing….

Southern Charms

In my quest for wedding ideas, I’ve stumbled across a few things that I’ve thought were a little crazy. Over the top floral arrangements, horse drawn, rose-covered carriages. Things that bring to mind, “They are spending way too much on one day.” Then there are things that I just wonder about. Like ice sculptures. I like ice sculptures as much as the next person. You know, in that cheesy sort of cool way. So, in a moment of boredom, I flipped through the pages of an ice sculpture company in North Carolina. Apparently, ice doesn’t always have to be boring. Now I’m trying to figure out how I can incorporate this into our wedding weekend.

I mean, nothing says a good time like a penis shooter.

May the Force be with us

The invitations are out!

Luckily for us, the postage rate changed just before we decided to mail our invitations. FYI: if postage rates are going to change around when you send out an important mailing like, oh say, wedding invitations, you might want to buy stamps ahead of time or make your own online. When I went to the post office I had a choice of:
- American Flags
- Liberty Bells
- Star Wars

I think our invitations might be the first stamped with Darth Vader and Darth Maul. Neither of whom really conjure up images of sweet, wedded bliss. I really like the Han Solo and Chewy ones, and the Princess Leiah and R2D2 ones are pretty cool, too. I thought the Millennium Falcon was pretty ambiguous as was the Death Star, but I HAVE THE DEATH STAR ON MY WEDDING INVITATIONS!! What does that say about our marriage??

On the bright side, Star Wars was a huge part of the 70s childhood so I feel okay using them. Yoda and Storm Troopers… all cool. Of course, the Darth Vader stamp is HUGE and unless the recipient is blind will they miss it, and last I checked, all of our guests are seeing.

Secretly, I think it’s kind of cool that we have Star Wars stamps on our invitations because I have to admit, I was sick of all the love bird stamps.

It's in the details

It’s almost official. People know we are getting married. We sent out save the date cards. We (okay, I) added to the list (the dreaded invitation list), but no one is OFFICIALLY invited YET. That is, until early next week. Or so I hope.

I picked-up our invitations at the post office yesterday. I had them hand-silk-screened in Providence because that makes so much sense (I love the internet). I can’t remember how I found Heather, but I am sure it was somehow related to Design Sponge. She has the best links to things.

The bottom line is that I LOVE our invitations. I never thought a little ink and some paper could make me so happy. I’m sure we could have cut corners on this one and printed them ourselves. But really, how many corners can one cut? There have to be some things that make my heart sing.

As anyone knows who’s read along for a little bit, I am a reluctant wedding spender. I really don’t want to get caught up in all the frills and crazy details that no one remembers. Few people will probably remember our invitations, but they make me happy. Is that what the “crazy” details are to others? Just things that make them happy? Hmmm….something to think about.

Check out Heather’s things here.