Bridal Insomnia

For two weeks, my sleep has been uneasy. So uneasy, in fact, that I have become constantly tired. I will fall asleep, wake up around three or four, and then be awake until the alarm clock goes off, at which point I have to immediately begin my morning commute to work. Lately I've been skipping my early morning workouts because of this insomnia, and that makes me even more tired (workouts really give me energy for the day) And Can you take a guess at what the first thing I think about when my eyes open up so prematurely every morning? Oh, you'd better believe it is always wedding related. Last night it was invitations. Three nights before that, those darn favor boxes (no longer a worry), last week, centerpieces, two weeks ago, whether or not people will have fun at the wedding. I have been feeling lately that we have no time for anything, and there is so much more to accomplish. Three months, ONLY THREE MONTHS! I'm starting to freak out, and that nonsense needs to stop because a tired bride makes for a very crabby, unhappy, terrible noeybride to be around. I'm thinking: okay, we need invitations NOW. We need flowergirl dress NOW. We need to pick out centerpieces NOW. We need to meet with the priest NOW. There is so much to do, in fact, that I made a list of it all to calm myself down (I really enjoy checklists for some reason) . After I made the list, and I looked at how extensive it was, I went straight back into freak out mode. Russell and I both work all week, then on weekends we are usually visiting families or friends or what not, when is a person supposed to have time to do all of this stuff? I don't get home until 6:15 everyday, at which point I only have enough strength in me to eat a little dinner and pass out on the couch. I need another Miss Weddingbliss, stat!...or else I'll end up looking like this come our wedding day:

Corpse Bride....not the look I'm really going for. If anyone has any stress-relief tips, let me know...any advice is appreciated. I need sleep!!!!! : )

The Favor Fiasco

AHHHH!!!!! How is it possible, you ask, that something so small, like those pesky little wedding favors, become such a huge deal? I honestly have no clue, but they definitely got the better of me this past week. I ordered our favors almost immediately after we got engaged (back in February). I saw gift boxes I liked, so I bought them. Done. Finito. That's it. Right? Wrong. I guess I was a little too ambitious in my desire to buy because after receiving these little boxes (which I spent a couple hundred $$$ on), I realized the color just would not do at all. You see, I ordered these little puppies before I received the color swatch of the bridesmaid dresses so I was going purely on memory. My memory, as some of you know, is not what it used to be...I guess I'm older than I thought! In any case, I receive these little light blue boxes in the mail and to my dismay, they don't match anything the way I want them to.


Cute? Yes. Perfect for a wedding? Yes. Color go with anything in Noel and Russell's wedding? No! Computer screen fooled me again!



At first I thought, "Okay Noel, you're stuck with them, try to make due". My Mom even thought of creative ways to try to incorporate them so the colors would match. In the end, (and after assembling about 100 of these bad boys, which, let me assure you, is no easy task), I just couldn't bear it. I needed new favor boxes and that's that. If I hadn't ordered new ones, everytime I looked at a table on my wedding day and saw the light blue mess that was these gift boxes, I would have shuddered. A little dramatic? Maybe. They are pretty adorable. But I like my new ones so much better. Just perfect! I'm addicted to ivory! Oh and ignore the green ribbon and flower, those will be different.....

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I just love the embossed flower detail, too!



P.S. If you know anyone who has a use for 180 little blue boxes, let me know. : )

We Graduated!!!

As some of you know, Russell and I will be getting married in the Catholic Church. As most of you also know, there are many rules , regulations, and traditions in the Catholic Church, especially when a sacred sacrament is concerned (i.e.: marriage). Many of these rules we were not aware of. One of these rules was attending a "couple's counseling" session. That is really a bad way to describe it, but I have no other words for it, but it is something that must be done in order to walk down the aisle of a Catholic Church. I think other religions have programs similar to this as well...Every Catholic Diocese does things differently, but St. John's has host couples, which allow newly engaged couples to come into their homes, and talk about marriage, and what it is like, and differences that may occur throughout their lives and how to handle them, etc. etc. On the first meeting we took this thing called a Foccus Test. This was really exciting to me because I was always a fan of scantron tests with questions that couldn't be marked wrong....actually I suppose this is my first time doing that, except for the beginning parts of the ACT and SAT where you had to use the scantron to fill out your name and information and stuff...yeah, that was always my favorite part of those tests : ) The test consisted of about 170 questions, asking us about marriage, finances, kids, sexuality, religion, etc. You could only answer agree, disagree, or undecided. Now the tricky part here is even if you agree with your partner on an answer, it may still be "wrong" if you don't agree with the church. Now, after you take the test, the couple "grades it" to see how you fared, and you return in the subsequent weeks for a couple hours at a time to discuss any differences you may have had on the test. This was the fun part for us, and in the end it was a really good experience. Many things were brought up that were very important, but Russell and I just hadn't thought about discussing, like finances...wow we really missed the boat on all that (that was where we scored the lowest on the test..oops!) We definitely need work there, but otherwise everything went smoothly and we both felt as though the whole experience made our engagement and upcoming wedding more special. This was good for us, and last night was our final meeting. Yes, we did it. We passed our tests and graduated ..... one step closer to the special sacrament. Now we just have to meet with Fr. Slawek (our priest--he's awesome!) and figure out some music for the church ceremony and we're on our way....Heres a picture of St. John the Baptist from outside: This is also where I was baptized 25 years ago!



It's so pretty! We love how it is very traditional.

The Transcendent Tuxedo

Finding the perfect tux proved more difficult than I ever bargained far. In my mind, I always thought, "Oh, tuxedoes are easy...we can wait on those!" How wrong was I!?!?!? After many ongoing conversations between Russell and I, we decided that brown tuxedoes were the way to go. Not only is it yet another way to make our wedding unique (black is so overdone!) but after seeing one of these babies in person, they look plain fabulous. The problem: chocolate brown tuxedoes are almost impossible to find. On top of that, we also wanted chocolate brown bow ties and chocolate brown vests to suit. When you add those requests on, the hunt seemed endless! When we located a brown tux, they didn't have bow ties. When we located a brown vest & bow tie, they didn't have a brown suit. Why don't these people get their act together? Brown is IN, baby. Too bad the tuxedo joints don't realize this yet. Every turn in our tux search seemed to dead end, until one day, when we called Savvi Formalwear and heard the best news we've heard in weeks: yes to the tux, yes to the bowtie, and yes to the vest! I was sooo excited. Now we can check off "tuxedoes" on our to-do list. Yay! Now all we have to do is tell the other place we wont be needing their services anymore.....oops!....and get everyone measured and we'll be good to go. It will be okay though because we only got two guys measured so far, so they didn't work that hard for us. On top of that, after asking one of the salesman at our original tux store if they had chocolate brown vests, he took my number, told me he would call me within a couple days, and never did. Well, I'm sorry but you snooze you lose! Thanks to the nice people at Savvi our wedding party is going to look oh-so-fabulous! Check it out!

Registry Stalking

Everyday when I get to a computer, one of the first things I check is my registry. Now I know that it is very early for anyone to buy any gifts, but I still can't help myself and check every day to see if anyone has bought anything. Am I insane for doing this? I can't help it, it is like an addiction. A couple of weeks ago I noticed someone bought me a pitcher from Crate and Barrel and I got so excited I couldn't stand it! Ever since, I've been addicted. Sometimes I'll just look at the things I picked out and daydream about how cool everything will look in our new place. Sometimes I go in and change around things (I tend to change my mind on things a million times before it is just too late to change it back again). I already changed my dishes twice. Sorry to all of you who loved my Audrey dinnerware set (the blue dishes). I decided I just had to go with white. If I got the blue ones, I would be locking myself into a color for at least the next 5-10 years and that frightens me. I need to be able to change the colors of my kitchen as I please : )
I hope I don't sound like a crazy woman, but to those of you who know me well, shopping is my forte' and Crate and Barrel was a wonderful place to register. They made it really easy...which I suppose will benefit them A LOT because I picked out so many of their things! They just hand you this scanner and say "go crazy!" While I did most of my registry stuff on-line, I did go into the store to make sure that everything I picked out was what I really wanted (the computer can really distort some things!). I recommend this to anyone: make sure you go in and physically look and touch the things you pick out. I changed my mind on a lot of things by doing this. You can't always tell the size or real color of what you are picking until you go and see it in person. & it makes for a fun little trip...a great excuse to go to Crate and Barrel which happens to be my favorite store at the moment. We also picked Macy's due to their nice china and crystal. They carry Kate Spade, which happens to be my favorite designer. Everything she touches is so delicate, elegant...just gorgeous. We decided to pick out a couple of her crystal vases...something we can cherish forever. If I could have, I would have picked out Kate Spade everything, but as you will notice, the price tag is fairly high. But it's fun to look!

<-----I love polka dots!!!

This vase makes me smile------->

We also registered at Bed Bath and Beyond for some of our bath supplies and just random other things...one of the coolest items I saw was the two-person beach towel. Russell's cousin got one for his shower and I just thought it was the coolest....and perfect for our honeymoon! Check it out...

Yes, that's big enough for 2!!!!

Our fourth and final registry is at In Good Taste which is a small boutique/chocolate shop on the square in Taylorville. At first I was apprehensive about this store, but as soon as I walked in and saw everything they had to offer, I was so excited. They have something for all the senses here...I picked out a lot of nice things, everything completely unique. Thanks to Emily for the recommendation! Man, I love the square! They even had these cute little picnic baskets like the one below. We HAD to pick one out....

All in all, we've picked out so many beautiful things, and it is very exciting for us. Now we just need to find a home to keep it all in!! : )

Quid Pro Quo...???

Before I got engaged I never looked at other girl's fingers to see if they were, I never even looked for diamonds period. In fact, diamonds never meant that much to me. Now, that I have this nice little sparkler on my finger, THEY STILL DON'T MEAN A THING TO ME. The only reason I love this ring is because it means something. Not because of what it is made of. Ladies, please never get wrapped up in any of the "how big is your diamond" crap, or how pure is your diamond, or whatever. Don't let Kay's Jeweler tell you what makes you happy. I told Russell he could have cut a ring out of a piece of paper and taped it onto my finger. I would have said "yes" just as quickly. I saw this today and it made me smile. Enjoy. : )

Geek Chic?

Lately my thoughts have been consumed with ways to make our wedding different from the norm. Even if it is just subtle little differences, like the music, how to spice up our dance (which can be so boring esp. since we're terrible slow dancers), lighting, gifts, favors, everything. It is important for us to keep the wedding elegant and traditional, while at the same time adding a little bit of flair to it, so it is uniquely ours (thank you to Andy for the NIN idea...you got me thinking on that one). Stuff like that is what we need. While difficult to achieve this without being a complete spend-thrift, I found a couple neat things today while surfing the net:


The Groom's Cake (these are right up Russell's alley...)


Star Wars , Nintendo? I'm in...





















How about this one....







I don't know if this is something we could actually afford, but it gets the brain thinking outside the box!






Another cool idea came while I was searching for a company to print our wedding programs (you know, those pieces of paper someone forces you to take as you walk into the church, which you proceed to look through for a while during all the boring points of the ceremony, then leave at the pew after having made a paper airplane out of them?). Yeah, those things. Well, I found a cost-effective way to make these more special (and useful, too!). Since our wedding will be Sept. 1, a time of year that can be hotter than Mid-July, I thought these would be just perfect! What do you think?


















Pay no attention to the color or style of these (I'm not too much of a fan myself) HA! But just the idea. I'd go with something really simple, no stripes, pictures (see tackiness below) or crazy ribbons. Just a fan. Actually, I take that back, I do like the ribbons. : )

From Chaos to Composure

So I've been at my place of business all day long, "working" as hard as I am able to, all the while thinking that it is only a short four months away from one of the biggest days of my life. Since January, I've met with tons of vendors, discussed a million options of dinner entrees, decor, bridesmaid dress possibilities, liquor lists, tcochke items, the list goes on. It makes me wonder if anything can come easily when you are planning an event such as this. The answer is no, but one thing that helps me get through the day, even when I feel like the world's weight is on my shoulders, is knowing that it is not just this one big event that matters. In fact the wedding reception is what matters least. Lately I've been straying from daydreams about the ceremony/reception part of my upcoming marriage, and have been solely dreaming of the days I will be able to go home, and there will be Russell. That is what makes all this hoity toity, this and that, nit picking process of a wedding day worthwhile. After spending most of my day browsing wedding blogs and reading other girls freak out about all the stupid little things a wedding can involve, and worrying about whether or not the white linen backdrops at the reception hall will take away from my ivory dress and make it look "dirty" (god, it better not!), and BLAH BLAH BLAH, I was sitting here thinking, all this, just to make it home to Russell. And you know what? It is totally worth it!