Like a Bird in a Cage

So, at the beginning of my wedding attire search I was adamantly opposed to wearing a veil. Veils seemed so fussy and "bride-y" and, besides, I wanted my veil-less state to show that FH and I are entering into this union with eyes wide open, without illusions or secrets.

However, I am slowly being sucked in by the allure of the birdcage veil. Just look at these lovely examples:

I just love the Vintage Hollywood feel ... sure, they're still a little bride-y, but I will be a bride ... and since I've already got the rest of the costume why not be a movie-star bride!?

Things are starting to happen!

Well, the wedding is less than 5 months away and things are really coming together. Some of our far-flung guests have made travel arrangements, hotel rooms are being booked, attendants are choosing attire, and bit-by-bit the invitations are getting printed!

The checklist/to-do list:

Done:

Date
Venue
Catering
Bar
Photographer
Officiant
Dress
Rings
Florist (DIY ... so, me!)
Hotel Blocks
Registry
Save-the-Dates (email/Christmas Card inserts)
Supplies purchased for ceremony and reception decor
Hair stylist booked

In progress:

Rehearsal Dinner
Cake
Invitation printing and assembly
Honeymoon
Attendant attire (ladies are choosing their own, guys wearing their own suits)

To Do:

FH's attire
Music Playlist for ceremony and reception (planning to iPod it)
Invitation Mailing (first few weeks of April)
Make/shop accessories (sash for dress, brooch, decorative hairpins or comb, amazing space-age undergarments, maybe shoes?)
Attendant gifts
Programs
Escort cards
Favors (we may just skip this ... we'll see)
Seating chart
probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting right now...


So, as you can see lots of these things can't even be done until much closer to the actual wedding date. Time to kick off our shoes and relax a little!!

Ringing in the New Year!

So, the aforementioned wedding rings have arrived and we are very pleased. We tried them on and they fit perfectly and look fabulous. Hooray!

Speaking of rings, I've been meaning to post a photo of my engagement ring. FH and I aren't terribly traditional people and when we started talking about rings I let him know I would really prefer a sapphire. Beyond that he wanted to figure it out on his own.

My ring! It's a star sapphire in a vintage 1950s, white gold setting. Each petal of the flower has a cut sapphire as well. Very us. Good job FH!

Imprinted!

After a few frustrating rounds with our poor, old, cheap little HP printer FH and I realized we would need to invest in a new printing device if we intended to print our own invitations on the great recycled cardstock we purchased. Determined to get a bargain, I've been scouring Craigslist for the last few days and today came upon a fabulous deal!
We are now the proud owners of a Epson CX7450 mulit-function device. It has a scanner, card-reader, and most importantly a printer that feeds paper from back to front (so it doesn't have to wind around inside and get stuck every frickin' time you try to print on cardstock!! $@%#@%!!!!!!) While it's still a little fussy with the paper (okay, it is very heavy paper), with a little prompting it prints great, lines up the double-sided printing perfectly, and is my new favorite electronic device. Sorry mp3 player, you're second for the day ...

Building blocks for 2009

FH and I are very excited to have recently ordered our wedding bands. They should arrive next week and we can't wait to try them on! We are really happy with what we've chosen as our everyday reminder of our commitment and both look forward to wearing them in less than 6 months.


Also, lest you think we only ponder our wedding day and not our marriage, I have more to share. In this time of resolutions and such I recently search out a new website, www.chorebuster.net. Ever since FH and I moved in together I've wanted to spend some time making a list of chore "assignments" and this program fits the bill perfectly. You sign up for an account, enter your household chores, along with an agreed upon point "value" (based on difficultly/undesireability) and a frequency, and the program assigns chores fairly and evenly between all available participants. You can set certain chores to be assigned only to certain people (hence I get out of cleaning the cat boxes and Bill gets out of cleaning the bathroom, our two most hated chores, respectively.) You can also set it so one person gets a higher or lower percentage of chores and schedule days with no chores (for those who enjoy a true Sunday day of rest.) Once set up the program will generate a printable weekly chart with chore assignments.

I have to say, it's only been a couple of days but it's already made a difference in the overall neatness of our household (let me confess, I am NO master housekeeper and a total clutterer by nature.) The key, I think, is that instead of having an overwhelming mountain of chores in front of me I now have 2 or 3 tasks that are simply.enough.for.today. And once I do them I'm done. Tomorrow I'll do a few more. And eventually things will be generally clean on a regular basis. Also, I now have a non-biased third party divying things up in a fair way and a nice little piece of paper on the fridge to reference if things are not done (easing my fears that I'm going to become some sterotypical harpie wife type.)

I try to avoid feeling that just because I'm going to be married I suddenly have to become this perfect homemaker, however, I am often frustrated by my own lack of motivation to keep my household organized. I now have hope that we've found a system that just might work!