Almost there...
I am alive, promise!
Barely time really to do much other than run around like chicken and try to stay sane so I can enjoy my family :)
The wedding is this Saturday, and it's surreal that it's finally here!
Venue: The farm of course, 26 acres of wetlands and farm that finally was mowed yesterday (hurrah!)
Ceremony: Eric's brother in law will be our officiant. He is a writer and teacher at Columbia and has done several weddings for friends. He has an incredibly funny dry wit and will make it humorous and touching. Very excited! We will have 120 black wooden chairs facing us ampitheatre style, and will have a curved aisle marked with stumps topped with beautiful greenery pots (that are also hanging baskets for the reception). Another mom at school owns a nursery and they are donating to the school (through our wedding) about 10-12 larger plants for the backdrop. Some potentillia (sp?) that is mostly green with little yellow flowers, purple heather, white hydrangea, and some japanese maple. Since the rustic arbor wasn't built (hard to find the right kind of wood!) we are using bamboo and draping either a dyed silk or some linen over to make a little homemade arbor. My sunflowers actually haven't died yet, so we'll use those as well for spots of color :)
We are writing our own vows, which means I haven't written mine yet -- ack!!
Reception: We rented a 30x30 tent to use, and that will house a staging area for the caterers, the buffet and beverage tables, the bar, and the dessert table. Although we may move the bar to its own little tent area. On the rented tent, two sides will have walls, and two will be open to look out onto the rest of the area. We'll have some small globe lights strung, and the hanging plants will add color splashes. There are about 3 bistro tables that will be scattered there with a couple of the 60" square tables. More tables will be out in the open, and then we are building a 30x30 homemade tent out of bamboo and painters dropcloth. Which sounds funny, but the dropcloth has a distinct heavy linen look, and it is cheaper than buying even muslin. Under the homemade tent will be "couches" of haybales, which we'll cover with blankets and muslin, or more drop cloth so people don't get pokeys. There will be some log tables and should be a fun area. I have some twinkle lights that should work to brighten it up as well.
We'll have a band playing a bit later to liven things up (no dancing from us!) and all in all it should have a very laid back, fun party feel. We even hired a babysitter to watch the kids at a "kids area" so that parents could have some grown up time.
People: My dress is finished and looks very fun! It's white and brown, strapless and comes to just below my knees. Very farm and light and Eric likes it alot. I think my outfit cost about 300 - including shoes and underwear! Thankfully I have had an old acquaintance from a prior ward I was in come through for the hair, so it won't cost us an arm and two legs. I'm having my face de-haired today (heh) and although I'm currently sporting the biggest pimple I think I have ever had in my life - I'm trusting that it will disappear by Saturday (fingers and toes crossed). Cheri and I are utilizing the gals at Aveda Institute for uber-cheap and cute mani/pedis and we should be good to go. I don't understand people that spend upwards of $500 for one day on hair, makeup and all that jazz.
Cheri's dress is very cute, she bought it herself and so she'll be able to wear it multiple times. Jaime and Eric are wearing button-downs from Banana Republic, and Eric has been roped into wearing some great khaki/linen pants and shoes which he normally wouldn't ever buy - but they look awesome with his outfit. :)
We do have our rings; Eric got his as a steal from Zales because they were closing down a couple of stores. Mine is a bit more - we splurged at Kay's to have something with diamonds. It's technically an enhancer - because it has that little dip in the middle to go around a bridge, but because my ring has that wider bridge in the middle it looks much better than a simple round ring would.
All in all it's starting to come together. We'll both be happy for the day to actually arrive so that all this prep work can be done. I have another bit of sewing today to finish the 100 dinner napkins and edge the tablecloths. Eric and his dad are at the farm building the fence that will go around the ceremony to make it more a separate special area. I'll be going to print and cut programs later, and we'll finish buying the cloth and pipe for the tent.
Later we have haybales to move, cupcakes to bake with a friend of ours, and the place to decorate and then we'll get our party on!!
Barely time really to do much other than run around like chicken and try to stay sane so I can enjoy my family :)
The wedding is this Saturday, and it's surreal that it's finally here!
Venue: The farm of course, 26 acres of wetlands and farm that finally was mowed yesterday (hurrah!)
Ceremony: Eric's brother in law will be our officiant. He is a writer and teacher at Columbia and has done several weddings for friends. He has an incredibly funny dry wit and will make it humorous and touching. Very excited! We will have 120 black wooden chairs facing us ampitheatre style, and will have a curved aisle marked with stumps topped with beautiful greenery pots (that are also hanging baskets for the reception). Another mom at school owns a nursery and they are donating to the school (through our wedding) about 10-12 larger plants for the backdrop. Some potentillia (sp?) that is mostly green with little yellow flowers, purple heather, white hydrangea, and some japanese maple. Since the rustic arbor wasn't built (hard to find the right kind of wood!) we are using bamboo and draping either a dyed silk or some linen over to make a little homemade arbor. My sunflowers actually haven't died yet, so we'll use those as well for spots of color :)
We are writing our own vows, which means I haven't written mine yet -- ack!!
Reception: We rented a 30x30 tent to use, and that will house a staging area for the caterers, the buffet and beverage tables, the bar, and the dessert table. Although we may move the bar to its own little tent area. On the rented tent, two sides will have walls, and two will be open to look out onto the rest of the area. We'll have some small globe lights strung, and the hanging plants will add color splashes. There are about 3 bistro tables that will be scattered there with a couple of the 60" square tables. More tables will be out in the open, and then we are building a 30x30 homemade tent out of bamboo and painters dropcloth. Which sounds funny, but the dropcloth has a distinct heavy linen look, and it is cheaper than buying even muslin. Under the homemade tent will be "couches" of haybales, which we'll cover with blankets and muslin, or more drop cloth so people don't get pokeys. There will be some log tables and should be a fun area. I have some twinkle lights that should work to brighten it up as well.
We'll have a band playing a bit later to liven things up (no dancing from us!) and all in all it should have a very laid back, fun party feel. We even hired a babysitter to watch the kids at a "kids area" so that parents could have some grown up time.
People: My dress is finished and looks very fun! It's white and brown, strapless and comes to just below my knees. Very farm and light and Eric likes it alot. I think my outfit cost about 300 - including shoes and underwear! Thankfully I have had an old acquaintance from a prior ward I was in come through for the hair, so it won't cost us an arm and two legs. I'm having my face de-haired today (heh) and although I'm currently sporting the biggest pimple I think I have ever had in my life - I'm trusting that it will disappear by Saturday (fingers and toes crossed). Cheri and I are utilizing the gals at Aveda Institute for uber-cheap and cute mani/pedis and we should be good to go. I don't understand people that spend upwards of $500 for one day on hair, makeup and all that jazz.
Cheri's dress is very cute, she bought it herself and so she'll be able to wear it multiple times. Jaime and Eric are wearing button-downs from Banana Republic, and Eric has been roped into wearing some great khaki/linen pants and shoes which he normally wouldn't ever buy - but they look awesome with his outfit. :)
We do have our rings; Eric got his as a steal from Zales because they were closing down a couple of stores. Mine is a bit more - we splurged at Kay's to have something with diamonds. It's technically an enhancer - because it has that little dip in the middle to go around a bridge, but because my ring has that wider bridge in the middle it looks much better than a simple round ring would.
All in all it's starting to come together. We'll both be happy for the day to actually arrive so that all this prep work can be done. I have another bit of sewing today to finish the 100 dinner napkins and edge the tablecloths. Eric and his dad are at the farm building the fence that will go around the ceremony to make it more a separate special area. I'll be going to print and cut programs later, and we'll finish buying the cloth and pipe for the tent.
Later we have haybales to move, cupcakes to bake with a friend of ours, and the place to decorate and then we'll get our party on!!