Blog Wordle

So, there's this really cool website out there that creates an image from text that you enter or from a URL that you enter: Wordle.

Here's what this blog created:

Wedding Planning Machine

That's me! Although, I just had a vague flashback to Kindergarten Cop when the little boy says, "My mom thinks that my dead is a real . . . " You get the point.

Anyway... here's all the stuff I got done this past week (not including what I already posted about):

• Scheduled another meeting with Mike at Country Squire to pick out fabric for chair covers
• Helped reschedule Atlanta bridal shower
• Followed up with hotel manager (left somewhat nasty message because of lack of response)
• Finalized (again) invitation wording and asked for mock-ups for final approval for invitations, response cards, and thank you cards.
• Bought embosser for the return addresses on the invitations and other wedding-related mailings (so cute! and cheaper than having the stationery company do them)
• Designed and bought the stickers for the top of the favors!
• Bought the tins for the favors.
• Scheduled dance lessons for Erik & me the week of the wedding!
• Looked into runners for the ceremony
• Called & requested information from Mario Tricoci hair salon for wedding day beauty stuff.
• Finalized guest list for Rehearsal dinner.
• Delegated items to Groom including looking into Tech Topics wedding announcement procedure, favor making duties over the summer, direction/ hotel info inserts for the invitations, and 2nd wedding night (Sunday) accommodations.
  
• Set up deadline/ timeline with officiant.

Whew! And that list doesn't include all the research I've done for my hair style and colored envelopes for the invitations (we decided to just go with the white linen for the response and thank you cards). Not to mention the studying I've been doing since it is Spring Break, which, in law, school is code for "getting your sh*t together."

Writing all this down makes me feel less depressed about not having a super-productive break. Looks pretty productive to me (maybe just not in terms of schoolwork)!

Fitting # 11

Yes, I'm on a roll this SB. Really, I just can't bring myself to pull away from it. I'm starting to get freaked out that I won't get everything done in time. I want it all to be as perfect as possible and I'm just concerned something's going to slip through the cracks!

Anyway, yesterday Bmaid Jess & I went to my 11th fitting. And this time, the SKIRT was started!! It's muslin right now—to give Tina lines to work with. Hopefully, at the fitting next week, it will be made out of taffeta! Tina seemed to intimate that the hardest part (and most tedious part) is over with the bodice really coming together. For me, it still looks like a long way to go but she knows best!

So, updates since last fitting: Bodice starting to look more finished. Skirt started in muslin. Determined length of train and discussed fullness at the bottom of the skirt.

Funny story from the fitting: Tina asked me how long I envisioned my train... I was, like, "whatever you think works best with the dress." She was somewhat surprised. Apparently, brides have actual opinions about trains... Not this one! I have no idea what I would want. In fact, while looking for wedding dresses the thought didn't even cross my mind to look at the length of the train. All I thought was: Outdoor wedding = chapel length train!

I also figured something important out about my wedding shoes. After having to put the shoes on and off at these fittings, I'm beginning to realize that they may need some "tweaking." I'm going to take them to a cobbler in town and have the stationery strap replaced with a snap button. They are just too difficult to get on and off!

Here are the Groom-approved photos (it's so cute he wants to be surprised) from the fitting:

We started working with the ruching at the top of the skirt. This is out of muslin and won't be this white when it's completed. This is probably as long of a train as we'll do.

Bodice with the skirt. I can't wait to see it finished! You can really see the difference between bright white and the natural silk.

We did take photos from the front but I can't put those online for the surprise issue. When the wedding is over and done with, I'll post a series of front shots so you can see the progression! Only 143 more days!

Update

Last weekend was a busy wedding planning weekend indeed. My Note was due Friday so Saturday and Sunday (and Monday) were spent catching up on wedding stuff that I have either avoided or neglected the past few weeks. Here's the update:

• MiG dress: Picked out and bought! We (Barb & I) found the perfect dress at Lord & Taylor. I won't give it away because I'm sure she would like it to be a surprise. I'll just say that she looks absolutely fabulous in it! It's very flattering and just sexy enough to be suitable for wedding attire. And it matches the wedding colors (no fuschia!).
• Menu: Finalized! On Sunday, Erik & I went to The Country Squire to finalize the menu and passed hors d'oeurves as well as pay the second deposit. Mike also let us taste the wine we'll be serving because I'm very paranoid about having bad wine at my wedding. For whatever reason, it's a HUGE deal to me and I've been obsessing. So, we have a very nice Merlot and Chardonnay and then White Zin for you lightweights out there (yes, that's for you Steph).
• Rehearsal Dinner: We scheduled the rehearsal for 3pm on the 14th, which will give all plenty of time to freshen up afterwards before the rehearsal bbq that Erik's dad is so kindly hosting at his place. We want to invite all the out of town guests but that number is currently 91 (!!!) so we may have to re-think that. I mean, our wedding has 150 guests so 2/3 of that at the rehearsal is a bit much! We may have to do a cut off of a x-number-of-miles-traveled or something to make it more reasonable. Sorry guys!
• Rehearsal Dinner Invitations: Barb & I also picked out rehearsal dinner invitations! I think they are going to be super cute! We're doing BBQ themed ones to let the guests know that it's supposed to be casual. Of course, I already have my dress for the party and it's not casual, but I'm the bride and that's my perogative!
• Ushers/ Wedding Assts.: Erik & I decided on the people we want to help out with the wedding the day of that aren't in the bridal party. They all haven't been asked but I hope that they will say yes!
• Return of the Chair Covers: After going back and forth on this (twice), we have decided that we want chair covers at the reception. Now, this should actually read Erik wants chair covers, and I wasn't going to mention it to be nice, but I'm annoyed about the chair covers and am not feeling very gracious. ;) At any rate, we have to now go back to TCS and pick out the colors, which we'll be doing Easter weekend. I'm thinking navy with light blue bows... Thoughts?

Those are the big ones. Still have to find a place to do my hair and makeup! Maybe Easter Monday since I'll be up there for the chair covers and Easter anyway. Stay tuned for pictures and updates from Fitting #11, which took place this morning.

Does It Ever End?

So, this past week was a very very busy week at law school. Not only did I have class but I also had all this LR stuff to do. Now, I'm not complaining, but I found it hard to actually do the wedding stuff that needed to be done this week on top of everything else! And there was wedding stuff to do. I had to confirm the appointment with the site manager for Sunday, and then found out that he hadn't talked to the hotel like he said he would! Then I had to call the hotel manager, and she would only confirm me 15 rooms. 15 rooms?! Right... too bad we need like 70.

So here's my reaction to this situation and my friend's response:

Me: Dear Wedding, I have a Note due and Articles to read and class work to do. Please take a few days off. Thanks, MB.

Gchat Friend: Dear MB: Sure, no problem. But you know when I come off my "vacation", I'll make it such that 16 guests will want to change their dining preference, 11 will have left six messages each asking where you're registered, two bridesmaids will want to know whether they can wear red and white striped stockings, your dress will need another fitting, the organist will have come down with the flu (six months out), and a partridge in a pear tree. Just to prove I still love you. Thanks, Wedding.

So true, so true.

5 Months!

Okay, so it's one day less than 5 months. I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday because E & I were on the road for 6 hours! We drove up and back to his family's to celebrate Auntie Rose's 90th birthday. It was like a family reunion—I think there were 80ish people there. He has such an enormous family that it's overwhelming at times. Fortunately, there were name tags provided so I didn't offend anyone by forgetting their name. :P

I just have to say that going to the party yesterday (despite the fact it took ALL DAY) really made me more excited about getting married to Erik. His family is pretty much awesome. Also, being at the party made me realize how attached I've become to his family. We watched a video in Rose's honor and it just made me think about how much I don't want Erik's grandmother or mother to get older. I would miss them both so much! It just never dawned on me before that I think of all of his family as my family and care about them in just the same way as I do my blood relations. I guess that's what getting married is all about, but it was pretty cool to come to that realization yesterday. I mean, we've been together almost 7.5 years so it was bound to happen at some point!

I think that Erik's mother is pretty excited about how well I get along with the family. She was so sweet telling everyone how happy she is to be getting a daughter and how lucky she is. It was very touching if not a little uncomfortable for me since I'm not used to that much affection. As a side note, I think having her come to visit was a perfect thing to do—I have to say I enjoyed her bragging about my hostess skills. Damn right! (I thank B and Emily Post for this success). I really think that I'm the lucky one in terms of MiLs. Yes, we have our disagreements but on the whole we love each other very much.

As a final comment, I can't believe we only have 5 months to go! So much more to get done . . .

Fitting #10

I know the Groom has requested that spoiler photos not be posted, but that does not mean that I can't post about the fitting and put pictures up that don't give anything away!

The dress still only consists of a top part. It is killing me that the skirt hasn't been started yet! Tina says soon enough. She keeps promising it and then things take her longer. I'm not complaining—I'm just getting antsy. I have a fitting over break to finish up with the bodice (fingers crossed) that the bmaids are not coming to because it'll just be the same as this fitting. The goal is to get it done by the week after finals so it should start coming together pretty quickly!

Another good note: Tina is letting me do a fitting the Monday after I finish my summer associate position in NYC, which will be 12 days before the wedding! Hopefully nothing major will need to be done! It makes me feel better though because I was worried about when that would happen. Fortunately or unfortunately, my firm cut the summer program to 10 weeks so now I'll have 2 weeks before the wedding to be at home. I'm actually a little relieved.

Now, back to the dress! The ruching is being finalized and finessed on the bodice. I finally have armholes now - no more tent dress! The bodice is fitting a little big in areas that aren't very flattering at the moment, but Tina would rather have too much fabric at this stage. She's going to sew it together for the fitting during SB.

Here are the pictures (that don't reveal much!):

The bodice is starting to actually look like a wedding dress! This may be the last picture I post of this. This is the best picture of it—once it was off the form it collapsed and didn't look quite as perfect.

It looks messy but this is the back of the dress. The weird ruffles down the center will be gone on the final version.



We did the fitting with my shoes on this time to see if I liked the fullness of the skirt/ petticoat thing, which I did not. Tina said we can discuss that more later. What's going on in this picture? you may be wondering. Since nothing is sewn yet and since there isn't a zipper, Tina has to pin the bodice on me on the sides.

Stephanie, Me, Jess, & Heather

One more note: Heather brought her bmaid dress to the fitting so that we could see it on her. And, get this, it looked great WITHOUT alterations! Tina pinned the back like she has for the other dresses and it looked better but it certainly wasn't necessary if Heather doesn't want it. I told her it was up to her and she decided to wait until May when the other girls are getting theirs done.

Invitations Designed!

This past week (okay, yesterday!) we finalized our invitations with our graphic design expert Chris! This is very exciting—especially since it only took 2 iterations! Well, technically 5 because he sent me 4 designs (all of which were very cool) and edited of one them, which we actually chose.

I would post it, but I feel like I want people to be surprised when they get them. Somethings should be kept secret I suppose. After the invitations get sent in May, I will be sure to post a picture so that people who follow the blog who aren't invited (sorry!) can see the invitation.

Some little details about the invitations:

• We decided to go with 5X7 size invitations. I had thought about doing "tea size" invitations (they look like regular envelope size) but decided that traditional size would be best. That being said, the invites are landscape not portrait in orientation.
• Paper: The invitations will be printed on white linen paper. We had toyed around with less expensive paper options and even pearlized paper (Erik's idea) but after seeing many many samples (thanks Chris for repeatedly sending us paper samples!) we decided on just plain jane white linen. It looks very classy, in my opinion, and the texture feels very nice on the hands!
• Thermography: We also decided to go with thermography as opposed to engraving (super expensive) or laser printing (just not formal enough). Thermography creates a raised print on the invitation, which will also look clean and classy.
• Envelopes: Now, I know that traditionally envelopes are white and there are two—an inner and outer envelope—but we are branching out from this mold! Our envelopes are going to be light blue (to match hydrangea blue and the blue in the monogram). The jury's still out whether the envelopes will also be linen—have to hear back from Chris as to the writing/printing ease before I decide. We also dispensed with the inner envelope for the invitations. Really, is it necessary? I say "no." Sorry to the traditionalists out there. As a side note: Emily Post (I consult her wedding guide on everything) said it was okay.
• Wording: Since our wedding is outdoors we decided to again part with traditional wording on the invitation. Our invitations will read "pleasure of your company" instead of "honour of your presence." Again, Emily Post said this was okay given the nature of the ceremony. I like it not only because it seems less stuffy but also because it gets rid of the British spelling of "honor."

So, those are the highlights and probably much more detail than you ever needed to know! Now, Chris has started working on the response cards. Updates later.

Monogram Update

Here is the official monogram. We made the "N" be on the top of the monogram and the outer ring a little wider. It's perfect!

This is an update to the 1st Monogram Post.

Bmaid Dresses Have Arrived!

The bmaid dresses arrived about a month ago! I'm a little behind in posting on this. And it's a Friday afternoon and the weather is nice and I just can't bring myself to do work at this moment. So, I'm blogging!

We received a nice email from Bella Bridesmaid letting us know of their arrival:

Subject: Your Dresses are IN!!!

Hello Ladies,

I'm very pleased to tell you that your dresses for Meaghan's wedding
are in the store looking fabulous - and available for pick up and
shipment!

- - -

My very best, and have a great time at the wedding!! Meaghan,
congratulations to you again! Enjoy your day!! :)

Kind regards,

Erin and Kathleen Casey, Owners
Bella Bridesmaid

Half the girls had theirs shipped to them and the other half had theirs wait at the store in Chicago. Heather so kindly picked everyone's up when she went to Chi-town to visit her man. Thanks, Heather! Bella Bridesmaid has been great and every time I call the girls are SUPER-SWEET! They have high-end bmaid dresses but they are totally worth the price! THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL!!

The only issue with the dresses is the same issue that every bmaid has—they need alterations! Basically, all my bmaids could be 4 months pregnant and still wear the dress. I suppose that's the problem with empire waist dresses... Tina has some ideas on how to remedy this problem. Here are some pictures of Stephanie in the dress (while it gets altered):

Stephanie modeling the horribly large dress. She is just so tiny! Nice biceps, Steph!



Jess & Stephanie modeling for the camera.

The photos are from Fitting #8.

Fitting # 9

Last weekend I had another fitting. I know what you are thinking: "How is it possible to have yet another fitting?" Well, it just is! We've been making a TON of progress between these last fittings though. The hard part (getting the boning in the bodice situated) is over. Now it's on to the fun stuff!

Barb (MiL) was able to come to this fitting which was really special for me! I have so much fun sharing these wedding planning experiences with her. She doesn't have a daughter (well, technically until 8/15/09!) and I don't have a mother-figure in my life, so it works out perfectly for both of us!

Now, I just want to post a "head's up." This will be the last blog post with full-on shots of me in the wedding dress. The Groom has requested that no more photos be shown to him (or posted online because he'll see them). I guess he's just traditional like that. I, personally, don't care, but I will honor my future husband's wishes. Nevertheless, I will be posting pictures of the dress—just from strategic angles that don't give it away (Jess & Steph, you have your work cut out for you at the upcoming fittings!).

Without further ado:

This is the back of Tina's draping on the bodyform. She is still trying to figure out what to do with the arm-holes so there isn't a seam on the pretty sleeve.

Because there are no arm-holes, this looks pretty much like a tent! It vaguely reminds of Sleeping Beauty where the fairy godmothers are making the dress . . . Not sure why . . .

Here's Tina and me getting down to business. We are trying to figure out how much room I need to move around as well as how think the straps are going to be. My answer: As thin as possible! I am very anti-capsleeve!

Draping in the front on me. Last picture that will be posted like this.

Back draping. It will be much more dramatic later when it all comes together. There may be more pictures like this. We'll see.

Barb, Jess & Me. The funny story behind this picture is that when I got up to give the camera to Tina to take it, Barb sat in the middle of the couch. She wanted to be in the middle. I had to pull a bridezilla move and say, "I'm the bride. I sit in the middle!" I know, I know. I have my moments . . .