With the location, dresses and hair under way, we had a very important detail to plan. The license to wed, as well as the person who would marry us. Just a little bit of research on the internet and a call to a friend, and I soon realized that I did not have enough time to have a family member ordained and approved by the state of NH. So the decision had to be made to sign the documents at city hall and have a pretend ceremony or hire a JP. I asked a friend if she would be my pretend JP, and she referred me to a real one. He is her very good friends father, after a not so quick call to him, he was hired.
I met with my official unpaid wedding planner and we sorted out what I had done, needed to do, needed to think about and the decorative details. She had already studied my pinterest boards and knew what I was looking for. She was able to ask the right questions to help me sort out what would be just right for our wedding. She had never been to my venue and hated that she didn't know the space or layout we were working with, but... I did my best drawing to help her understand.
Oh and the license. This required my prince and I to make it to city hall before 5pm. Thank you snow day! We drove to city hall with what we were hoping was the proper documentation. The kind ladies at the city clerks office informed us... no. YIKES, C needed a certified document declaring that his previous marriage has been dissolved. The paperwork we had was not certified, no raised seal and all... GGGRRR. My dear sweet man had to trek to CT to get this paper, and then we had to get back to city hall. However, they did inform me that the neighboring town had later hours on Thursday, so we could head there once we had the paper. This is exactly what we did on Valentine's day! With his sweet girls in tow we had a romantic evening signing the papers to declare our intention to wed. A perfect way to celebrate the day for lovers.
Thanks to the electronic invitations, the RSVP's were coming in daily. People were so excited for us and were trying to make arrangements to get here. It was all so exiting! With just a little over a week left, I felt as if there wasn't much left to do. Oh yeah SHOES!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Week 1, got to get it done.
Monday morning back to work. I leave the house before 7 am and return after 4 pm, which only leaves so many hours for wedding planning. My commute is about 45 minutes, which means I had one hour and thirty minutes 5 times a week to touch base with my very helpful friends and family. As a bride, people you know are always offering their help. Take them up on it! If you have a friend who is crafty, take her up on when she offers to help. If you have a friend with some spare time, ask her to make a call or two, or research something on line for you. Any of the little things that can be lifted off your plate. I have so very many people to thank for helping us with the little things. My daily commute allowed for time to chat with those that could help.
I have a very good friend who is a bit of a party nazi. She has an incredible attention for detail and although she is a teacher her dream job would be party planner. I recruited her as my official (unpaid) wedding planner. I told her that she had to make sure I was thinking of everything, and that she did. She went to my pinterest wedding board and began asking all the right questions. I know you really liked this and this and what about that? We sorted out the details and had a direction to go in. I knew I loved the tree rounds with beautiful sayings burnt into them and the tree trunk with our initials carved into it. But where could I get that wood... that's when I remembered the lady putting a sign out in front of her house. I will have to see if that pile is still there.
My dad's airfare was booked, now C had to talk to his best man to see if he would be able to hop on a plane and fly north for the weekend. His best man is a bit of a challenge to get in touch with. He works his tail off and has 3 children to care for. It actually took 2 weeks before he returned the call when we got engaged, so this was a bit of a worry.
Hair, dresses for the flower girls, shoes why does everyone worry about the dang shoes.. all details I had to sort out, but I knew it could get done. The week ahead was quite productive.
I sent my prince to the house down the street and he found the tree for our initials and enough branches to make tree rounds just the way I wanted. He cut the branches and chiseled the heart in the tree. Everything was coming together.
I went to the local Burlington Coat Factory and found 2 beautiful communion dresses for the girls. I knew with a sash/splash of their favorite color the dresses would be perfect. For $44 dollars each I scooped the dresses up and asked my mom to make the sashes.
My neighbor is a hair stylist and offered to do my hair before the wedding. I met with her and discussed what I wanted my hair to look like as well as the girls. Speaking of hair... I had just cancelled my color appointment. I needed to reschedule that, and my waxing appointment need to be booked. Ugh winter has attacked my beautiful finger nails. My groom has a mop on his head... It's just a wreck.. All things I needed to take care of! And in a few days time I would..
I have a very good friend who is a bit of a party nazi. She has an incredible attention for detail and although she is a teacher her dream job would be party planner. I recruited her as my official (unpaid) wedding planner. I told her that she had to make sure I was thinking of everything, and that she did. She went to my pinterest wedding board and began asking all the right questions. I know you really liked this and this and what about that? We sorted out the details and had a direction to go in. I knew I loved the tree rounds with beautiful sayings burnt into them and the tree trunk with our initials carved into it. But where could I get that wood... that's when I remembered the lady putting a sign out in front of her house. I will have to see if that pile is still there.
My dad's airfare was booked, now C had to talk to his best man to see if he would be able to hop on a plane and fly north for the weekend. His best man is a bit of a challenge to get in touch with. He works his tail off and has 3 children to care for. It actually took 2 weeks before he returned the call when we got engaged, so this was a bit of a worry.
Hair, dresses for the flower girls, shoes why does everyone worry about the dang shoes.. all details I had to sort out, but I knew it could get done. The week ahead was quite productive.
I sent my prince to the house down the street and he found the tree for our initials and enough branches to make tree rounds just the way I wanted. He cut the branches and chiseled the heart in the tree. Everything was coming together.I went to the local Burlington Coat Factory and found 2 beautiful communion dresses for the girls. I knew with a sash/splash of their favorite color the dresses would be perfect. For $44 dollars each I scooped the dresses up and asked my mom to make the sashes.
Super Bowl Sunday
So, It is 36 hours after my crazy proposal to tie the knot in 3 weeks time. We have decided on the place, but I had not yet contacted the venue to secure the date (not that I was worried they were going to book another reception). I had the dress, but what about my MOH and MOB. So we headed out to the mall to search for more dresses. Having only one attendant, I told my MOH she could wear any color she felt most comfortable in. She could wear any style she felt comfortable in. My one request, which I knew she would honor... don't spend too much money, she may never wear the dress again. My mother on the other hand, if she looked good in the dress and she liked it, then she should buy it. I would avoid looking at the price tag. My mom found a few dresses to try on and one looked quite lovely on her. With 20 days until the wedding the Mother of the Bride has a dress. Now, I really should book the restaurant.
I sat in Macy's outside the ladies room, while my MOH "powdered her nose" and I called the venue. I spoke with the hostess leaving a message that our Feb 23rd wedding was a go! I would email the owners when I returned home to arrange a time to pay the deposit and discuss the details. WOW!! It is really happening!
With the venue and 2 dresses secured there was still a lot of work to do. My MOH and I checked out a few more stores for her dress, and dresses for my future step daughters/flower girls. Why on earth is everyone worried about my shoes? Don't they understand that I can wear my cowgirl boots... no one is going to see my shoes in that dress. But we had to look at shoes.
I am VERY ungirlie when it comes to shoes. I hate buying shoes. I do think some shoes are cute, but if they cost too much or are not comfortable, then there is no point in me owning them. With this said my darling prince is just about the same height as me, so I wanted flats or a very minimal heel. Shoe styles are currently all high heels, or casual flats. At this point I really did not want to deal with shoes.
It is of course Super Bowl Sunday and although my team wasn't playing I wanted to be home to watch the game. It was now about 4:30 and I had been up since 4 am. It was time to trek home.
I did not have the energy in me to be social while the game was on. I watched the game and commercials while finalizing the online invitation and guest list. I sent out emails to those family members that I had contact info for and attempted to gain emails for those that needed to be invited. The game ended and I hit send on Punchbowl to the first round of guests to be invited.
I sat in Macy's outside the ladies room, while my MOH "powdered her nose" and I called the venue. I spoke with the hostess leaving a message that our Feb 23rd wedding was a go! I would email the owners when I returned home to arrange a time to pay the deposit and discuss the details. WOW!! It is really happening!
With the venue and 2 dresses secured there was still a lot of work to do. My MOH and I checked out a few more stores for her dress, and dresses for my future step daughters/flower girls. Why on earth is everyone worried about my shoes? Don't they understand that I can wear my cowgirl boots... no one is going to see my shoes in that dress. But we had to look at shoes.
I am VERY ungirlie when it comes to shoes. I hate buying shoes. I do think some shoes are cute, but if they cost too much or are not comfortable, then there is no point in me owning them. With this said my darling prince is just about the same height as me, so I wanted flats or a very minimal heel. Shoe styles are currently all high heels, or casual flats. At this point I really did not want to deal with shoes.
It is of course Super Bowl Sunday and although my team wasn't playing I wanted to be home to watch the game. It was now about 4:30 and I had been up since 4 am. It was time to trek home.
I did not have the energy in me to be social while the game was on. I watched the game and commercials while finalizing the online invitation and guest list. I sent out emails to those family members that I had contact info for and attempted to gain emails for those that needed to be invited. The game ended and I hit send on Punchbowl to the first round of guests to be invited.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Finding THE Dress
Sunday morning I awoke to a million thoughts, If this is going to happen, how do I invite everyone, who do we invite, who we regretfully have to leave off the list. How do I pull it ALL off in 3 weeks? Can we get the girls (c's daughters) here, because I will NOT get married without them!
I sat down that morning with my coffee and my lap top. I do believe I woke up at 4 am and started working on invitations. I knew there was NO way to create print and mail invites with enough time to get RSVP's before the reception site would want our final count. So the obvious answer was to send out e-vites. It was against everything Miss Manners would say was etiquette. But I was left with only this and personal phone call invitations (which would take TOO much precious time). So I searched evite and punchbowl for the invite that was free and closest to what I thought our wedding would look like. I prepared the invitiations the best I could and saved the draft until I actually committed to the wedding in what was then 20 days and counting.
That morning after coffee and a shower, I jumped in my car and ventured to RI, to check out this dress my sister thought was beautiful. The pictures she sent were fabulous, but what would the dress look like. I drove down the road and saw a lady hanging a cardboard sign on her tree. The sign said free cut wood, I made a mental note and proceeded to drive to RI. On the way, I had to call C's mother and sister and check with each of them that they were available on the 23rd for what could possibly be our wedding. I spent the entire commute on the telephone... little did I know, I would be on the phone every moment while traveling for the next 3 weeks. His mother and sister were able to make their schedules free for our big day.
After an hour and half of driving and chatting I arrived at the consignment shop with my bestie in tow. I proceeded to try on the dress, my sister saw and it was beautiful... but squished my ta-tas. I was starting to feel overwhelmed again, but in a different way. The owner of the shop (It is sad I do not know the name of the shop) was fabulous and oh so patient. She encouraged me to try on all of the dresses, even the one we expected to be too big. She undressed the mannequin in the front window and brought the final dress up to the changing room. I tried on all 5 dresses the shop had to offer and I loved 4 of them. 4 VERY different dresses and I loved them all. I had to try them on again before I eliminated 2. I eliminated the dress my sister suggested in the first place. Despite it's absolute beauty, it was not the most perfect dress for me. I tried on the final 2 dresses, they were very different dresses. Different styles all together! I tried them both on, and went into the fitting room to make my final decision. I walked out with the dress I was going to purchase. My mother and sisters were delighted. They say I looked fabulous in both, and I did love them both, however I could see in their eyes the dress they really like the most, and that is the one I chose.
I sat down that morning with my coffee and my lap top. I do believe I woke up at 4 am and started working on invitations. I knew there was NO way to create print and mail invites with enough time to get RSVP's before the reception site would want our final count. So the obvious answer was to send out e-vites. It was against everything Miss Manners would say was etiquette. But I was left with only this and personal phone call invitations (which would take TOO much precious time). So I searched evite and punchbowl for the invite that was free and closest to what I thought our wedding would look like. I prepared the invitiations the best I could and saved the draft until I actually committed to the wedding in what was then 20 days and counting.
That morning after coffee and a shower, I jumped in my car and ventured to RI, to check out this dress my sister thought was beautiful. The pictures she sent were fabulous, but what would the dress look like. I drove down the road and saw a lady hanging a cardboard sign on her tree. The sign said free cut wood, I made a mental note and proceeded to drive to RI. On the way, I had to call C's mother and sister and check with each of them that they were available on the 23rd for what could possibly be our wedding. I spent the entire commute on the telephone... little did I know, I would be on the phone every moment while traveling for the next 3 weeks. His mother and sister were able to make their schedules free for our big day.
Finding THE Place
I arrived home from work excited that we would soon be sealing the deal, getting hitched, tying the knot, however I wanted to make certain that C was really on board with my crazy idea. I am sure those who know me (who really know me) understand that I have never been much of a planner, I like to have a plan. I like to know what is going to happen, but to plan an event 6 or more months down the road has NEVER happened in my life. So Friday night, I must have asked C 50+ times if he was really okay with getting married in 3 weeks. He was.
Saturday morning, I awoke and began planning. I started emailing places that I had pinned and contacted previously. I made calls to find out if anyone was willing to make a deal. I was going to get married in 3 weeks, did they want the extra revenue or not? Some places were happy to chat, some places must take the weekend off because they didn't get back to me until Monday and by then I had already booked a place and sent out invites... but I am getting ahead of myself. I spoke with one place, that I knew I really did not want to get married there, but if they could make a good deal, I would sacrifice the look I wanted for a great price. They were willing to waive the ceremony fee. When I asked what the fee covered the woman on the other end of the phone said "well in your case, it would be an arch inside". I replied with "You are charging a fee for an arch I don't even want?" Well needless to say I ended that conversation quite quickly. I was emailing with one of the owners of The Mile Away in a nearby town. He was also willing to waive a single fee. However their wedding package includes the wedding cake, made by an award winning local bakery. The restaurant has been one of my favorite places for many years. It already has the rustic feel that I wanted to for our wedding. It shouts casual, comfortable, elegant, and US. The Mile Away is a historic farm house/barn. It is absolutely beautiful. The post and beam , wood walls. The wagon wheel chandelier. It is all so rustic and elegant. It has what I envisioned as their usual decor...
My darling prince has never been to The Mile Away, so I made reservations for dinner that evening so he could see the place for himself and let me know if it was everything I envisioned he and I would want. We went to dinner that evening and enjoyed a very delicious dinner by the fire.
My darling prince has never been to The Mile Away, so I made reservations for dinner that evening so he could see the place for himself and let me know if it was everything I envisioned he and I would want. We went to dinner that evening and enjoyed a very delicious dinner by the fire.
As we dined, I must have asked him at least a dozen times if he thought the place was right and if we should "really do this". He loved the place, and he loves me.
As the night progressed (at a bar with our fantastic neighbors), I was still wondering was this right? I knew in my heart all I really wanted was to actually be married to the man I loved. My sister was calling asking if she should book airfare for my father to fly home from Florida for the big day. I was 90% certain it would happen, but wasn't quite sure. She also had sent me photos of a dress she saw at a consignment shop near her home (about 1 1/2 hours from here). I had finally agreed to drive down the next day and take a look at it... still not certain I was going to be go through with this full wedding in 3 weeks.
There was a part of me that just wanted to sign the paperwork and be done with it all. But I also wanted the wedding, the party, my parents walking me towards my groom, THE KISS, the dance with my dad, the dance with my groom, etc. etc. I wanted the party, but I wanted the marriage. So I went to bed Saturday night knowing it was most certainly going to happen, but I had to book the restaurant before it was carved in stone.
Our Wedding....
C & I met 12 years ago, but our lives were in very different places. As the years went by the paths that each of us walked in life changed (as life does for so many). He was married when we met, and he and his wife were expecting their first born. As the years past his family grew and went through some devastating heart breaks. His marriage survived the first storm and it appear to make it through the second, however he eventually found out the truth, and although he tried to mend their marriage, it just wasn't meant to be. I was in a long term relationship which ended. I fell in love again and devoted myself to that relationship as well, which was not meant to be. It was November 2010, when our paths crossed again. He was so surprised to learn that I was single. I could not believe how handsome he was, I did not remember him looking so attractive (I guess one does not look at a married man in that way anyhow). It took some time for us to reconnect, we would text and call one another from time to time, however it was not until late January 2011 that we met for a night out with one another.
I laid it all out on the line from day 1. I let him know that marriage and a family were my plans for life, and if those were not something he would ever consider again, then we needed to part ways early on, being in my mid 30's, I wasn't going through another 7 year relationship. He kept me around and wanted to make all of my dreams come true.
He sees things in me, that I just don't understand. He loves me in a way that no man has ever loved me before. He is so kind and good to me, I often feel as if I do not do enough to show him my love and thanks... but he feels the same way towards me.
My dear sweet man surprised... no SHOCKED me on Christmas Eve. Surrounded by his fun and loving family. My prince got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.
I spent the next week (my holiday from school) searching Pinterest for what I wanted our wedding to look like. I knew from the start, it needed to be just like us, FUN, BEAUTIFUL, SIMPLY ELEGANT, and most all SMART! In other words, I wanted a celebration of our marriage that did not break the bank. This is after all only a five hour affair. Why on earth should it cost so bloody much! By the 3rd weekend in January I had a few ideas and was set to go for my first attempt at a dress. I brought along my bestie, mom sissies and a niece. We went to David's Bridal (the chain of all chain stores for wedding gowns) on a weekend afternoon. They were so busy, and I tried on at least 40 dresses (or so it seemed). It was all too overwhelming. I actually was not looking forward to buying a dress. I had no idea when we would get married and the place I seemed to love the most, was not winning over my family. Although they only wanted the best for me and whatever I wanted was going to be perfect.
Life's path took another turn for my prince. I couldn't see planning out this wedding with what we were now facing. I knew I loved him and he me, and again was made aware of the fact that it is our marriage that really matters. I wanted the wedding, and it was going to happen, but why drag out the process when all I really wanted it to be married. So on February 1st, I asked him if we could have our wedding on my next school vacation. Saturday February 23rd seemed like the perfect date. He agreed.
The next day I started the actual planning for what would be Our Wedding, which would occur in only 3 weeks.
I laid it all out on the line from day 1. I let him know that marriage and a family were my plans for life, and if those were not something he would ever consider again, then we needed to part ways early on, being in my mid 30's, I wasn't going through another 7 year relationship. He kept me around and wanted to make all of my dreams come true.
He sees things in me, that I just don't understand. He loves me in a way that no man has ever loved me before. He is so kind and good to me, I often feel as if I do not do enough to show him my love and thanks... but he feels the same way towards me.
My dear sweet man surprised... no SHOCKED me on Christmas Eve. Surrounded by his fun and loving family. My prince got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife.
I spent the next week (my holiday from school) searching Pinterest for what I wanted our wedding to look like. I knew from the start, it needed to be just like us, FUN, BEAUTIFUL, SIMPLY ELEGANT, and most all SMART! In other words, I wanted a celebration of our marriage that did not break the bank. This is after all only a five hour affair. Why on earth should it cost so bloody much! By the 3rd weekend in January I had a few ideas and was set to go for my first attempt at a dress. I brought along my bestie, mom sissies and a niece. We went to David's Bridal (the chain of all chain stores for wedding gowns) on a weekend afternoon. They were so busy, and I tried on at least 40 dresses (or so it seemed). It was all too overwhelming. I actually was not looking forward to buying a dress. I had no idea when we would get married and the place I seemed to love the most, was not winning over my family. Although they only wanted the best for me and whatever I wanted was going to be perfect.
Life's path took another turn for my prince. I couldn't see planning out this wedding with what we were now facing. I knew I loved him and he me, and again was made aware of the fact that it is our marriage that really matters. I wanted the wedding, and it was going to happen, but why drag out the process when all I really wanted it to be married. So on February 1st, I asked him if we could have our wedding on my next school vacation. Saturday February 23rd seemed like the perfect date. He agreed.
The next day I started the actual planning for what would be Our Wedding, which would occur in only 3 weeks.
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