Wading Through Wedding Stuff

If you happen to be in the midst of the month of your wedding and you're home on a Friday night, this could happen to you.



And yes, even if you are neurotically clean, the wedding will still find a way to take over your house.

(for the record I was packing up vases to send to our florist and candles to go to our venue)

(I have also found that the Olympics are perfect for keeping you company during these evening tasks! How about those opening ceremony uniforms for Team USA?)

Lessons in Calligraphy: Part III

So here is my last post on calligraphy, then we can get on to the invitations!

If you are working with a calligrapher, you'll be sending her your invitation list as well as your box of envelopes (be sure to include extras!). Do not underestimate the time it will take to get this list together! You'll think, "I already have my guest list, it's been made for months." However, in addition to names and addresses, you will need formal titles as well direction for the inner envelopes (if you are having them) for the calligrapher. It is best to be as specific as possible.

I consulted the Blue Book for most of my questions. There is also great information to be found here.

Here are the rules that I used the most when making my list...

Married Couple
Outside Envelope

Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cruise
Inside Envelope

Mr. and Mrs. Cruise
With Children Under the Age of 18 (if you are inviting children)

Mr. and Mrs. Cruise
Suri

Unmarried Couple Living Together
Outside Envelope

Ms. Angelina Jolie
Mr. Brad Pitt
Inside Envelope

Ms. Jolie
Mr. Pitt

Single Person Invited with a Guest
Outside Envelope

Ms. Cameron Diaz
Inside Envelope

Ms. Diaz and Guest

You will run into all sorts of situations when you making your list, whether it be addressing a doctor, a judge or a married woman who has kept her maiden name. I recommend having a reference book on hand and a lot of patience!

Lessons in Calligraphy: Part II

I first heard about Michele Clark calligraphy over on WeddingBee. The bees were raving about her gorgeous calligraphy that was extremely affordable. Every glowing review mentioned how prompt and responsive she was.

I immediately emailed her (she doesn't have a website) and she had one week available in our timeframe to do our invitations (I told you calligraphers book up early!).

Now here comes another lesson for brides - if you are doing calligraphy and still deciding on or designing your invitations, I suggest ordering your envelopes first. If you know the color and size of the invitations you are looking for, place the order for the outer envelopes. That way you will have plenty of time to get them to your calligrapher without stressing and frantically tracking UPS packages. I was so happy that I did this. It gave me more time to work on my invitation design and I was able to ship the envelopes and calligraphy list to Michele ahead of schedule (something that has rarely happened during all of this planning).

And here are the lovely results in Michele's fine-flourished script:

Perfectly Lettered: Lessons in Calligraphy Part 1

I recently made a very special trip to the post office. Seriously, I have never been so happy to enter the doors of a post office! Now that the invitations are out, I can share my journey through the "paper trail" with you.

Before we had even started to think about invitations, I began researching calligraphers. I knew I wanted our envelopes to have the extra touch of luxe, thick, swirly handwriting.

Whimsical calligraphy by Betsy Dunlap

Pretty white-on-navy by Maybelle Calligraphy

Classic and beautiful calligraphy by Laura Hooper who designed our save-the-date map.

Next up: the Bliss' invitation envelopes and why you should order your envelopes early.

Pretty Pomanders

These are a must for our two little flower girls.









We are meeting with our florist next weekend to finalize everything. I can't wait to see how it all comes together!

The Early Bird...Gets a Little Sleepy at 3pm

This is the time that I woke up today for fitness bootcamp.

And this is the "contract" that I signed during enrollment.



I enrolled for a 3 week/3 days per week commitment. Most of the women in the camp are returnees and vouch for the fact that it can be entirely addicting. I feel great this morning and it's really nice to to be outside so early on a calm summer day, but I have a feeling that when August is here and I am down to the last-minute wedding to-do list, I will appreciate less crunches and more sleep.

p.s. there's a pretty obvious honeymoon clue in the first photo!

A Sweet Shower for Christa

As I've mentioned before, one of my bestest friends is getting married next month, a few weeks before the Bliss nuptials. We share a very close circle of girlfriends who are in both wedding parties. The past few weeks have been a blast with bachelorette parties and bridal showers. We normally try to see each other every few months (we all live states away), but through June and July we are getting together almost every other weekend. Hurray for the "Summer of Love" (as we've affectionately begun to call it)!

I've blogged about Christa's shower invitations before. We decided to go with a cooking theme, since the bride loves to cook. We asked each guest to bring their favorite recipe to the shower for the bride. We had so much fun going through the recipes after the shower. The groom's grandmother had the best - a recipe for a great marriage!


(isn't that black and white pic of the bride cooking when she was younger too cute?)

Christa's maid of honor and mother made gorgeous centerpieces with asparagus wraps. It's hard to believe these ladies don't work with flowers for a living!




(the asparagus spears are wrapped around a coffee can that is holding the flowers)



We made menu cards that featured food-related trivia about the bride on the front. This one reads: Christa's cookbook she couldn't live without is The Joy of Cooking and Martha's Comfort Food.



Favors were cute wedding cake-shaped cookie cutters accompanied with a recipe card. We asked Christa's Mom for her favorite cookie recipe to feature on the card.



The shower was a display shower. I had never heard of this before, but it quite popular in Pennsylvania. Guests bring the gifts to the shower unwrapped. While we were enjoying cocktails in the garden at the beginning of the shower, two very talented woman were busy creating beautiful displays out of all of the gifts. Not only were the displays gorgeous, but hours of gift unwrapping didn't have to be endured by the guests. Instead, the bride went to each table and said something about each display, thanking each person for their gift.


(those little herb pots were also used as door prizes)



To go along with the cooking theme, we bridesmaids ordered Christa an apron with her new initials, as well as a recipe binder to store all those new recipes. Both are available at Williams-Sonoma and make great shower gifts!



Here's the glowing bride-to-be enjoying a strawberry fizz cocktail (so yummy)!



And here's Christa with her bridal party (minus one) practicing posing (and squinting in the sunlight). l to r: Ms. Bliss, Jenn, Christa, Alicia (Maid of Honor and Christa's friend since childhood) and Becca.

We hope you had a wonderful afternoon, Christa! We have more fun in store for your bachelorette party this weekend!

Martha to the Rescue!

Have you seen the new online wedding tools from Martha Stewart?



Just thinking about tackling our seating chart is enough to make me break into a cold sweat. Martha's seating chart tool has a drag-and-drop capability, allowing you to quickly organize (and reorganize) the seating arrangements for your reception. This will save me a lot of Post-Its!

S'Mores!

Wedding blogs tempt me daily with photos of beautiful candy and cookie bars at weddings. Here are just a few that you will have you craving sugary sweets in pretty canisters.

And while I'm known for my love of all things sweet, I just wasn't into creating a candy/cookie bar for my own wedding.

Until a few days ago.

Mr. Bliss and I were talking about camping (we sadly have no time to go this summer). Camping, of course, led me to think about s'mores. S'mores! A favorite childhood treat. So fun and simple. And a perfect complement to our Adirondack wedding venue. So we are planning on treating our guests to a s'mores bar at the wedding, similar to the one below featured on the Knot.

Accoutrements - Check!

After another late night phone call with Christa, we both decided it was time to start really checking things off our lists. No more browsing, thinking about it, shopping around - we have weddings to plan and a summer to enjoy! To that end, I had a very successful online shopping spree last night.



dancing shoes from http://www.myglassslipper.com/


satin clutch from http://www.jcrew.com/



pretty dangly earrings from http://www.perfectdetails.com/

The only other thing left on my accessory list is a flower for my hair. I'm planning on hanging up my veil after the ceremony and have always, always loved photos of brides with a beautiful flower tucked into their hair.



I can't decide if I should work with my florist to get a real flower or buy a beautiful flower from etsy seller Mikiye Creations.



Miss Tiramisu from WeddingBee recently posted about buying a Mikiye peony for her wedding. No worries about wilting edges, a forgotten flower or delicate petals falling to the dance floor. But is the same if the flower doesn't smell? I'll give myself until the end of the week to decide on this one!