Our Wedding Colors

Did I say our wedding colors were brown and pink? What I meant to say was that our wedding colors were purple and pink. Last weekend when "Little Lauren" was here visiting, I took a picture of her next to her brother (Nathan). Lauren was wearing the honor attendant dress and Nathan was wearing a brown t-shirt. Next to his brown t-shirt, Lauren's dress looked very purple. :( I'm afraid that our pictures will have the truffle colored dresses that I picked out showing up as plum colored instead, especially in pictures next to other brown dresses (such as the ones our moms will be wearing). I guess this is one of those unforseeable minor disappointments that you just have to laugh about. I'm just trying to imagine my scrapbook pages with brown and pink accents clashing with the purple dresses in the pictures! Oh, well.

So Many Little Details

There are so many little details to think about when planning a wedding. Here are a couple that have weighed on my mind so far this week:
-what pens to have the guests sign the guest book with
-not to forget to get lighters to the candle lighters before the ceremony
-how big the mirrors are for the centerpieces so I know how big to make the brown squares that will go underneath them
-whether or not to send envelopes in the invitations for guests to put the response cards in
-bowls, bowls, bowls- how many are enough? (for the centerpieces)
-jewelry for the attendants (the girls, that is)???
-transportation for Nathan and I from the ceremony to the reception
-what to have happening in the ceremony as people are being seated (music, slide show)?
and I'm sure there are a thousand more details that I haven't even thought of yet!

Two Months from Today!!

Wow- exactly two months to go! It's so exciting! :)

I had a dress fitting today. Bonnie had the first version of my dress made in muslin and it's already pretty! But I can't say anything else. Nathan is already disappointed that he knows as much as he does about the wedding dress. (And he really doesn't know much.)

More invitation work at my house tonight! Luckily I have a slow week at school (for a change) so I should be able to make some progress on them.

Flowery Weekend

This weekend Nathan's sister, Lauren, came to visit. Not only is Lauren Nathan's honor attendant, she is also "in charge" of the flowers. She has a great reputation for preparing flowers for her friend's weddings and so we have recruited her for the job. This weekend we chose the flowers for the wedding- roses and stargazer lilies. The flowers with be light pink and white, with greenery of course. We also spent some time at the church thinking about how we will be decorating it. It was exciting to consider the decorating possibilities! Lauren will come out again in late September.

On Wednesday, Nathan and I had our first pre-marital counseling session with our pastor. This session was spent primarily on the ceremony details. So, we have the ceremony pretty much figured out. Our pastor says that the ceremony (with what we are including in it right now) will last about 20-25 minutes. Of course, this is subject to change if we think of other things we want to include later.

Tomorrow I am going to Bonnie's for my third wedding dress fitting. So far, the dress is still made of muslin. She makes one of muslin before she makes the real thing, I guess. It has been amazing to see the process of making something as important and complicated as a wedding dress. It is so much work!

Finally, I am continuing to work on the invitations. I checked my wedding planner today and realized that I had planned (based on that calendar) to mail them out tomorrow. That's not going to happen. My goal- and I am writing this on the blog so I feel some accountability- is to send them out next Monday. That means this will be a busy week!:)

The Church That Dan Built

This is the church that Dan built.

This is the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

These are the donuts
That sit with the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

These are the people
Who ate the donuts
And drank the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

These are the children from all over town
Who worried the people
Who ate the donuts
And drank the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

This is the maiden, in a white gown
Who taught the children from all over town
Who worried the people
Who ate the donuts
And drank the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

This is the boy who likes rock 'n' roll
That kissed the maiden in a white gown
Who taught the children from all over town
Who worried the people
Who ate the donuts
And drank the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

This is the pastor who saves our soul
Who married the boy who likes rock 'n' roll
To the maiden in a white gown
Who taught the children from all over town
Who worried the people
Who ate the donuts
And drank the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

This is the congregation, old and young
Who attended the wedding with excitement and song
Led by the pastor who saves our soul
Who married the boy who likes rock 'n' roll
To the maiden in a white gown
Who taught the children from all over town
Who worried the people
Who ate the donuts
And drank the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

This is the love, beautiful and pure
Filling the church, strong and sure
In the hearts of the congregation, old and young
Attending the wedding with excitement and song
Led by the pastor who saves our soul
Who married the boy who likes rock 'n' roll
To the maiden in a white gown
Who taught the children from all over town
Who worried the people
Who ate the donuts
And drank the coffee
That is served in the church that Dan built.

The Wedding Cake

We decided on our cake for the wedding. Anybody who knows me well knows that I don't care much for cake, but I am pretty happy with what we chose. Tammy had recommended Boonjaaizers Dutch Bakery. Then, we were lucky enough to attend a wedding a couple of weekends ago at which cake from that bakery was served, and Nathan was quite pleased with it. Lucky for them, they have DELICIOUS cake, because at our appointment yesterday, the lady who worked with us was a grump. When we told her that we would prefer a smaller wedding cake and two sheetcakes (a recommendation from Creative Cakes that we thought made a lot of sense considering the size of the wedding), she informed us that she had "never ever in my life been to a wedding where there was a small wedding cake and sheetcakes to the side." Luckily she left us alone to sample the cake. It was tasty! Once she realized that we were "sold" on the cake (so to speak), she warmed up to us and became much more pleasant. Anyway, even though not a single person on my poll voted for cake as the best part of a wedding, we put out a pretty penny for it and so this cake better be delightfully delicious! :)

Cooking Dinner

As I drove home tonight I was wondering about my lack of enthusiasm for cooking. Normally I love to cook but lately I have not felt like doing any cooking at all. I think about what to make for dinner every day and yet when it comes time to go through the process, I just don't muster up the energy. I can't figure out if it is the stress of a new job and wedding planning, the heat with no air conditioning, or if it has to do with the new kitchen. It is kind of inconvenient that the cupboards in the kitchen are so high and I hate it that our dishwasher is broken. We also don't have enough counter space and the kitchen just isn't very big. Whatever the reason, eating out is becoming a bad habit!

Update

Nathan and I have been focusing a half hour every night on the wedding plans. I have spent my time for the last four days working on invitations. I plan to have them finished and ready to mail out by the end of the month, but there is still a lot to do! Nathan has worked on something different every day. Right now he is making a list of songs for the wedding cd we will pass out to guests as wedding favors.

This weekend is going to be a "power wedding weekend!" We have an appointment to try more cake from Boonzaajier's- the place who made Tammy and Paul's cake. We had some cake from that place at a wedding two weekends ago and Nathan really liked it. Tammy has also recommended it. We are also going to look at suits and maybe shop for wedding bands. I need to find more bowls for the center pieces and we should try to find a guest book for people to sign. We are planning on taking pictures of couples, families, and groups that arrive together as they enter the church (so be prepared!). This is an idea that was shared with me by Raquel who said she knew of somebody who did this. The couple had pictures of people as they arrived, freshly made up and well put together and they could compare them to pictures from later in the evening! :) Anyway, we want to put pictures next to guest's signatures in the guest book so we have to find a book that can accommodate signatures AND pictures.

About the poll... it looks like most people like weddings for socializing. A few also enjoy the dancing and food. But, those three far outweighed any others. Thanks to those who contributed. It was fun to try!

Finally, check out the quote from "King" Cass on the left!

One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding

Nathan and I have been reading this book while we go through this process of planning a wedding. Of course, we read it knowing full well that, to some extent, we both have resigned ourselves to the idea that we have been sold on having the typical commercialized American wedding. But, I like the book because I think it helps put a little perspective on the purpose for having a wedding and the reason we think we need to do it a certain way. We came across this quote as we were reading last night.

"...when it comes to society at large, the American wedding-in all its excess and sentimentality-tells us what principles we are all married to."

How's that for making you feel like your principles will be on display for all to think about at your wedding!

The Ceremony

Okay, I know I am asking for a lot of advice today, but Nathan and I just finished our half hour and we planned out the ceremony. It might be more accurate to say that we made a list of what we wanted to include in the ceremony. So, now I am curious... if you are married, what was the most special or meaningful part of your own wedding ceremony? Or... what have you seen other couples do in their wedding ceremonies that you thought was significant?

Suits

The groomsmen at the wedding are going to be wearing suits, not tuxes, at the wedding. Since the colors of the wedding are brown and pink (or truffle and desert rose, as Nathan and I like to joke!) I am trying to decide what color the suits should be. The girls are wearing dresses that are a dark brown color and I don't know if it would look better to put the guys in black suits with ties that match or if they should wear brown suits with ties that match. I think brown suits could be tricky. They would have to be just the right color of brown to work. What do you think? I would love to hear advice about the color of the groomsmen's suits!

On another note, Nathan and I were feeling a little behind on the planning stages (according to theknot.com, we have only completed 50 of the to-do's and have 134 left- 38 of which are OVERdue!) We have decided to focus on wedding planning for 30 minutes every day until we have a better handle on things. I hope it works and we can feel "caught up"!

Poll

I added a poll to the blog today. I just thought it would be fun so I quickly thought of a question to try. Your answer is anonymous so feel free to participate! I'm interested to hear what people think. (The cake choice is for Nathan!)