What's This All A--Bout?

First, an apology to our neighbors to the north. I just couldn't resist. I'm so weak.

Methinks I won’t be going with boutonnieres for the gents.  While they have their charms:

Pictures from the knot

Ceremony Readings.. Part Deux

I love words. I love these words.

I will probably include something from the e.e. cummings file. If not the one from the previous post then perhaps this one. We could read it to each other. You know alternating the lines. I kind of only like the parts I italicized though.

i love you much(most beautiful darling)

i love you much(most beautiful darling)

more than anyone on the earth and i
like you better than everything in the sky

-sunlight and singing welcome your coming

although winter may be everywhere

with such a silence and such a darkness

noone can quite begin to guess

(except my life)the true time of year-

and if what calls itself a world should have

the luck to hear such singing(or glimpse such

sunlight as will leap higher than high

through gayer than gayest someone’s heart at your each

nearness)everyone certainly would(my

most beautiful darling)believe in nothing but love

Oh dear! It wouldn't be at all right to chop up the poem. Alas.

On to the next.. on on to the next one. . .

Ceremony Readings

I've been buried in pictures of flowers and vases for the past couple of days. I hope to meet with florists before the end of this month. While perusing my wedding folder I came across some possible readings for the ceremony. How do you like these words?

If the Shoe Fits (Behind the Scenes)

I realized I failed to mention that I had to be in Times Square at 4am for that little adventure. I also failed to mention that I woke up in my bed (not located in Times Square) at 4:19am. Whoops! In any event I did mange to show up and participate. Here are some pictures of us before the main event. Pictures from Zimbio.

The Guest Experience

Yes, yes, yes, it’s my day. But any good hostess has to care about their guests. To that end there are some things I’m hoping will enhance the guest experience.

1) Bathroom baskets – A nicely appointed bathroom basket might not be used by everyone but the one person who finds the item they lack will think it’s a godsend.

Source

What goes in the basket you ask? Here's a pretty comprehensive list.

2) Dressing up the loo – A little attention to detail goes a long way in these spaces. Perhaps one of those Febreze Luminaries, a bit of potpourri and a dainty flower arrangement.

3) Flip flops for the dance floor – us girls are notorious and we never learn so this trend is a welcomed one. I personally don’t like flip flops but many of my female guests do. And though it pains me to say this…it’s not just about me.

Source

4) Depending on the weather forecast we might try to have umbrellas on hand as well. I checked out the venue in the evening hours and it was nice and toasty on the inside. I don’t think I’ll need to provide any cover-ups for the ladies.

I have a few other things up my sleeve that are surprises but I’ll let you in on one of them. There’s a lot of talk about a send off for the bride and groom but I want to do a little whooping and hollering to welcome my guests. Let’s see what I come up with.

Are you doing anything special to enhance your guests' experience? 

What things did you really appreciate at any wedding you've attended? 

If the Shoe Fits. . .

So remember when I told you about that wedding contest a week or so before? Well I finally have some pictures to share so I can tell you the whole story.

Once upon a time a wee maid (me) signed up for promotional stunt / wedding contest. It was sponsored by Wedding Central and the wee maid was thrilled to be participating. She received a message from the organizers asking her to confirm her participation ASAP. Being the excited maiden she was, she rang them up right away. Alas, she only got their voicemail.

Miscellany Flowers of Interest

Along with the flowers I picked as the main ones for each part of the wedding I have some miscellanies that I would also like to include throughout.

One of those happens to be . . .

Send in the Carnations

Source

“Aren’t carnations the ones they use at funerals?” “Carnations at weddings? Tacky!”

Blah. Blah. Blah.

I. Love. Carnations.

Because. . .

Hydrangea in the House

Since we've decide to dedicate a bloom per room the trick here is giving each space a distinctive vibe. The ceremony space is tasked with being romantic, hence the roses. The cocktail hour is a different beast. It's everybody’s favorite part of the wedding. Here’s why:

Let There Be Flowers

Source

I have a love/hate relationship with flowers. I hate that they make me sneeze and my eyes run but they are sooo pretty. To make things a bit more interesting for me and to keep me focused I’ve decided to dedicate each part of the wedding to a particular bloom. Let's start with the ceremony, shall we?

What’s an AIW themed affair without roses? Gotta have em! Roses symbolize love, happiness, friendship (depending on the color). These are excellent sentiments for the ceremony.

Plus they are featured rather prominently in the AIW stories.

Sooo. . .the flower theme for the ceremony will be roses. I’m not fully committed to the colors yet but I would like to have some combo of purple and white/ivory roses.

Source

Source

In honor of the famous “painting the roses red” scene we will be rigging something up in the hallway that leads from the ceremony to the reception.

Source

We have a few ideas. Think hallway lined with roses in shades of white to red. Maybe throw in some greenery. Hedges maybe? Topiary rabbits? Can you tell I haven’t met with any florists yet?

Source

Aren't they cute? This may turn into a DIY project.

Venue Stalking

So we did a little informal venue walkthrough yester-eve. It was Lil Sis, Sister, Mumsie and me. Here are some pictures (as taken by Lil Sis).

The ceremony space is the front lobby area of the museum.

We haven't decided how to orient the seats yet. We also haven't decided how the bridal party should enter. So many things to consider. Gracious me! This probably won't happen until we get closer to the date since they like to move around the statues and installations in this area.


The cocktail hour will be in the ambulatories surrounding the reception space.

It's nice because we won't have to dress it up too much. There's art on the wall for people to look at and talk about. Instant conversation starters.

Since the reception space is right there we were thinking about draping or screening to close it off so there's a reveal. Or we could just leave it open and dark which might be interesting. Once the lighting is up the space would come to life. We have to play around with that concept. My only concern is people trying to enter the space before it was time. Hmmm...

This is the reception space. Yums!!!

I'm hoping to make an appointment for later this month to do another walkthrough and talk to the new catering director. Sister took tons of notes during our informal visit and we have tons of questions. Given the past drama I'm a little apprehensive about the new person but I'll try to stay positive.

Eleven Eleven

Woo hoo! It’s officially a year to the day till the fancy par-tay! You know what I did to celebrate? I bought me a wedding dress that’s what. Yes sireee! Sorry to disappoint but I won’t be posting any pictures. A girl has to keep some mystery. What I can tell you is that I’m a Cymbeline bride.

The other way I celebrated was to visit the venue. Since they are now open late on Thursdays we wanted to get a feel for the space during the evening hours.

Any 11.11.11 brides want to share how they spent the day?

Checking In

Oh The Times I’ve Had

I entered a wedding contest. Not so surprising. I got picked to be a contestant. Huh, that’s new. I got unpicked. That’s more like it. I got re-picked. Say what now?!? Exactly. Holy hell muffins!

To be continued. . .

-=-=--=--=-=-=-

In other news:

Last week’s check-in?

Yeah, about that. . .

I went to the gym on Monday like usual but it just went downhill from there. Plus, there was all this leftover Halloween candy... You can see where this is going.

I'm officially calling a mulligan on week 4.

Week 5 so far? Gyming it up two days in a row! Holler!!

If you're just joining us. . .

Here's what you missed on "Hearts & Whimsy"

Venue reviews & pricing breakdown

Photographer reviews & pricing breakdown

Venue drama -- parts 1, 2 & 3

Dress shopping: Bridal Garden, Designer Loft, Gabriella,  RK Bridal

The Man With The Diamonds

My jeweler. How awesome is that?!? I feel like a rock star. Anywho, our next stop was Mr. Edward Lee. In a nondescript building on a nondescript street somewhere in the diamond district is the man who created “my precious”.

Diamond District

A girl gets tired of pining for diamonds, face pressed up against the computer screen. A girl wants to feel the metal wrapped around her delicate digits and watch it sparkle under fluorescent lights.  Woo hoo!!! Field trip!!!

The Diamond District

A friend of ours recommended a jeweler with offices in the diamond district. So off we went. We were a bit on the early side for our appointment so we wandered into Michael C. Fina. What a happy accident that was!

Ground Beef Don’t Bleed*

This past weekend I had a…how should I put this? I had an interesting experience. Last week I received a message saying that I’d been specially selected for a free gift. I know what you’re thinking. I thought it too but sometimes I get curious. Naturally, I called them back and the young woman, let’s call her Jessie (cause that’s her name) informed me that I had won a free vacation (3 days, 2 nights) plus $1000 in coupons. Well, la di da! And all I have to do is listen to a presentation on cookware? No obligation to buy? I get a free meal? I’m there!

Cut to Saturday evening at the Marriott Marquis in Midtown Manhattan.

Rings & Things

Where’s the first place you look if you’re ring shopping? Why the interweb, of course.

My two favorite websites:

Blue Nile – Great place to explore diamonds and check pricing.  They are an excellent resource for  researching diamonds. The guides are super informative and easy to understand.

James Allen – Awesome 3D ring images. You can see images of the actual diamond being purchased. Plus the build a ring is pretty cool.

I spent quite a bit of time on these websites over several months. These are the types of rings I really liked:

Aren’t they sexy?

Next up:  A Trip to The Diamond District

Proposal Part I

After Mr. H and I had the “talk” I started surfing around that world wide web looking for rings. To be honest I was looking at rings before the “talk”.

For those curious souls this is how the talk went down:

Me: Okay, Buddy boy! What are we doing here?

(real romantic I know)

Hello November So Happy To See You

Source

 

It’s officially 12 months till my wedding month. Hot Diggity!!! Look who’s crazy now. You want goals for this month? I’ve got plenty. 

(1) Formally invite my bridal party. Mr. H. already invited his groomsmen. Overachiever!