I feel pretty

I've been wanting to try a shellac/solar/uv manicure for some time now. I've known that for the wedding I needed something durable but didn't want fake nails/tips of any sort.

I wanted to try it out before the wedding and the shower seemed like the perfect opportunity. I went to my normal hair salon, His or Hers, in Midlothian, VA and saw Cookie. She was fun and very meticulous. On fact, one of the other manicurists didn't have a customer at the time of my appointment and was admiring Cookie's work.

First she did the normal shaping, etc. of a typical manicure. There was no lotion or oils and after shaping and buffing, she had me rinse (no soap) my hands/nails. Base coat, hands under UV light, pink translucent color, UV light, very meticulous application of French manicure white, UV light, top coat, UV light. Perfectly manicured nails, completely dry and no chipping! It was very strange to be able to get my debit card out immediately after my nails were done, get my keys out, buckle my seat belt and not worry about ruining my nails!

Two weeks later, it still looks great. There are a couple of edges that are starting to peel but you can't tell until you're up close. The real reason I took the polish off is because my nails are getting too long and driving me crazy. It's hard to type!! I will definitely have my manicurist file my nails short next time so they won't grow so long and drive me nuts. At $38 vs. a normal $25 French manicure that I tend to mess up within approximately a day, I'd say it was well worth it, despite my decision to take the polish off sooner than it really needed to come off.


Shellac polish does not come off with your typical grocery store nail polish remover. I consulted the all trusty Google and found a blog post on Pamper Parties Pittsburgh explaining how to remove Shellac polish. I took a trip to Sally Beauty Supply and picked up some pure acetone (again, typical nail polish remover WILL NOT work), some orange sticks and a new file/buffing block. I filled up a cotton ball for each nail with acetone, placed it on my nail and wrapped it in aluminum foil.

Because I'm not coordinated enough to wrap one hand while the other hand is wrapped up, I did one hand at a time. After ten minutes of soaking, my nails looked like this:

I ended up scraping the polish off with my finger nails, which was much easier to me than using any sort of tool and it was easier to tell if I was scraping the polish or my nail itself. My nails don't feel as weak as I expected, which is good, but I'm not sure I'd run right back out and do it again without letting my nails be free for a little while. Since I'm not planning on doing it again until a few days before the wedding, I think I'm good to go. I would recommend a shellac manicure, however, I did read did read an article in Good Housekeeping (since apparently I've become an adult and I subscribe to it!) that suggests that they might not be the safest thing in the world. So, as anything in life, it's important to do your research!

Lucky girl

This time two months from now, I will be a married woman. The time is tickin' and the days are flying by!!

Source: Kelly's Kindergarten

I'm still coming off the pre-wedding festivities high that comes with bridal showers and bachelorette parties. It was so fantastic to be with all of my female friends and family (and dad, brother, and "other brother" and "other dad" who crashed the party) and it just makes me more and more excited about THE day. My MOH put together decorations, activities, and food that were all so perfectly me and on Saturday all day she reminded me that it was Princess Day. I am forever grateful that I have found such amazing friends to surround myself with. 

Sister-in-law photo

I was truly showered in gifts on Saturday and then I arrived home on Sunday and was flabbergasted (and I don't even know if I've ever been flabbergasted before) to find that our best man and Joel's father had gotten together and gifted us with an iPad. Joel's dad told him that he wanted to help out with the honeymoon but Joel had the cruise and flights taken care of already so they decided to go another route. I must say I am very ok with this route. Joel and I had joked about putting an iPad on the registry but we never did and I never expected to get one. 

I will be completely honest, I know it's supposed bad luck to use shower gifts before the wedding, but Joel set up our new DVD player about as soon as I walked in the door and tonight I used a few things in the kitchen for dinner tonight :) After this weekend, I don't know that I believe in bad luck anymore!!

One fish, two fish....

... bride fish, groom fish?

 Source: Cowboy Santa

Last weekend, Joel and I were enjoying a relaxing (it was spring break, it was all pretty relaxing) backyard fire in our fire-pit. After we made some delicious s'mores, I pulled out my iPhone and started researching wedding ceremonies. You see, when you ask your brother to hop online and get ordained, they don't often write your ceremony for you so we're pretty much DIYing those, too.

Obviously, it's going to take more than an evening around the fire to write our ceremony/vows, but just in case we don't get around to it, I did find some Seuss-inspired vows on about.com in case.

Pastor: Will you answer me right now
These questions, as your wedding vow?

Groom: Yes, I will answer right now
Your questions as my wedding vow.

Pastor: Will you take her as your wife?
Will you love her all your life?

Groom: Yes, I take her as my wife,
Yes, I'll love her all my life.

Pastor: Will you have, and also hold
Just as you have at this time told?

Groom: Yes, I will have, and I will hold,
Just as I have at this time told,
Yes, I will love her all my life
As I now take her as my wife.

Pastor: Will you love through good and bad?
Whether you're happy or sad?

Groom: Yes, I'll love through good and bad,
Whether we're happy or sad,
Yes, I will have and I will hold
Just as I have already told,
Yes, I will love her all my life,
Yes, I will take her as my wife!

Pastor: Will you love her if you're rich?
Or if you're poor, and in a ditch?

Groom: Yes, I'll love her if we're rich,
And I will love her in a ditch,
I'll love her through good times and bad,
Whether we are happy or sad,
Yes, I will have, and I will hold
(I could have sworn this has been told!)
I promise to love all my life
This woman, as my lawful wife!

Pastor: Will you love her when you're fit,
And also when you're feeling sick?

Groom: Yes, I'll love her when we're fit,
And when we're hurt, and when we're sick,
And I will love her when we're rich
And I will love her in a ditch
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold
Ten years from now a thousandfold,
Yes, I will love for my whole life
This lovely woman as my wife!

Pastor: Will you love with all your heart?
Will you love till death you part?

Groom: Yes, I'll love with all my heart
From now until death do us part,
And I will love her when we're rich,
And when we're broke and in a ditch,
And when we're fit, and when we're sick,
(Oh, CAN'T we get this finished quick?)
And I will love through good and bad,
And I will love when glad or sad,
And I will have, and I will hold,
And if I might now be so bold,
I'll love her my entire life,
Yes, I WILL take her as my wife!

Pastor: Then if you'll take her as your wife,
And if you'll love her all your life,
And if you'll have, and if you'll hold,
From now until the stars grow cold,
And if you'll love through good and bad,
And whether you're happy or sad,
And love in sickness, and in health,
And when you're poor, and when in wealth,
And if you'll love with all your heart,
From now until death do you part,
Yes, if you'll love her through and through,
Please answer with these words:

Pastor and Groom: I DO!

Pastor: You're married now! So kiss the bride,
But please, do keep it dignified.

Source: http://weddings.about.com/od/yourweddingceremony/a/SeussFunnyVows.htm

Engag-iversary

One year ago today in the city known for quickie weddings and pre-wedding shenanigans, Joel got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.

Personal photo, taken by some random passerby

Now, we are almost exactly two months pre-wedding and I can't wait to grin like a crazy person, as shown above, in all our wedding photos!!

Another decision made!

After learning about as many children's stores as possible and searching many a'websites (as well as being disappointed when things weren't the right size or
sold out), I finally found what our flower girl will don on our wedding day.

 Source: JCPenney

I was on the search for non-printed pink dresses, preferably dark/bright pink. I finally found one that's non-printed. Although it is fairly light pink itself, it's still a bit more saturated in color than the bridesmaid dresses so I think it will be fine. I know the little princess will look fantastic!
This particular dress is from an old standby, JCPenney and I am proud to say that we saved some serious dough by not buying a dress specifically labeled as a flower girl dress.

Tying up loose ends

In my first post about ties, I lamented a bit about how making the decision about Joel's tie was rougher than I first thought it would be.

I saw a vendor blog post on Offbeat Bride from a company called Cyberoptix that I'd heard of before. They have some really great unique ties to offer and when I restumbled on it, I headed over for a perusal. I found this one ... our colors and really cool. Who knew that caviar was so cool looking? It's a not so obvious nod to sea life (well ... sea life that lends itself to salty goodness!!) as we get married on the beach.

Source: Cyberoptix

The company was fabulous to work with. Joel decided that he would rather switch up the colors to make orange the background and the ink color to be pink. I emailed the company -- on a Sunday -- and got a response within 15 minutes about how to place a custom order! Custom orders cost no more than regular orders and they made and shipped the tie fairly quickly. I am very happy about the quality of the tie and although it probably won't be worn often -- it's a pink and orange tie, how many occasions does one really have -- I'm excited that he will have a special piece of attire to remind him of our wedding day.

Personal photo

Feelin' the love

In one day, I had one of the ladies in my department at school come to me and check to see if a date was alright for a shower/party "in honor of my upcoming nuptials" as she put it AND came home to an invitation to my very own bridal shower. My MOH, bridesmaid, and bridesmaid's mom (here on out AKA "other mother") are throwing me a shower at my other mother's lake house.

My MOH did a great job on invites, they are super cute! She's going with our pink and orange color scheme and throwing in a beachy vibe, which I'm very excited about, it'll get us in the mood for actual wedding. The invites she made are just perfect.

On the outside.. 

... inside left ...

Of course, it looks even cuter with my full name and all the details, but I don't want the whole world to show up to what is sure to be the best bridal shower ever! 

Getting ready for showers makes this whole thing feel infinitely more real. This weekend we're going to meet up at the lake house to figure out the logistics of the shower since my MOH and I have never been there as my other mother and fam just bought it a little under a year ago. I am such a lucky girl to be so loved and get not one, but two chances to spend time with the ladies in my life to celebrate my upcoming marriage!

Pocket full of posies

Apparently I took an inadvertent week off from blogging. The good news is, that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking/talking/doing things wedding.

The biggest thing in the last week is that I ordered our wedding invitations. I'm not going to show them off all over the internet until they get sent out to our guests so they won't have seen them first on the blog. That would ruin the fun!

Another decision that's been in the making for a bit and has now been made is flowers. I spoke about my break-up with peonies and I have officially made a decision both on type of flowers and who will be doing them.

I decided that to make things easy, I would stick to one type of flower, and that flower is the calla lily. We will do at least a pink and an orange, depending on what's available to our florist, there may be more than one shade of each.

Source: Style Me Pretty

Source: Flower Arrangement Advisor

Source: Style Me Pretty

I will be getting our bouquets and boutonnieres from a very well-reviewed florist named Maggi. Many Outer Banks brides before me have gotten Maggi to do their wedding flowers for them. The awesome part about her is that she happens to work at Harris Teeter and because they are a grocery store and are not strictly a wedding florist, prices are much nicer. I will also be ordering calla lilies in bulk in order to create centerpieces. I love that they are substantial enough that I will only need one or a few stems in order to create the look we're going for. 

Boutonnieres

Usually I try to think of a interesting or clever title, but after trying several different spellings of the word and getting no suggestion from blogspot about how to actually spell the word and then having to rely on google to figure out what I was trying to write, and then verifying the spelling by going to Merriam - Webster's online dictionary, I was out of creative juices. No word should be that difficult to spell!! I might start referring to them as flower pins. Sounds super manly, no?

As I've written before, we're having a wedding at the beach, but not a beach-themed wedding, so that cuts out some cute ideas for non-flower alternatives.

 Source: Southern Weddings Magazine

I do love the look of billyballs, they're so fun and they don't look super feminine like some fluffy florals can tend to look.

Source: Cori Cook Floral Design

However, our colors are orange and pink and I've only seen orange billy balls in one place. This leads me to believe one of three things: they're not popular, they're rare, or they're dyed orange. Not really very good selling points. 

I'm currently in talks with a florist, but have not made any for sure decisions about whether we're even going with a florist or DIYing or what flowers we're using. I am, however, almost over my grief for my precious peonies and my eyes are currently being drawn to calla lilies. If I can commit to callas, then we're currently looking at designs like the following to grace J and his GM's lapels, um, shirts.

Source: Wedding Channel

Source: Project Wedding

Holy four months, Batman!

Today marks four months until we tie the knot. All my sources' checklists are slightly different (yikes!?), so I figure if I look at a couple, I can get a good idea where we stand in planning our wedding. So as I feel like Santa with my never ending checklist, here we go ...

 Source: Quick Bookkeeper

From Brides Magazine:

- Give the final guest list and the invitation envelopes to your calligrapher -- well, my mom is going to address them, however, they haven't gotten ordered yet. They shall be ordered soon, my parents are working on wording. I gave them that task because I feel like they are paying so they should have final say on how the invitation is worded.
- Talk to your fiance about what he and the guys will wear. -- Check! Talked with, made a decision with, and he's ask the guys to order their shirts and pants. J already has his pants and flip flops, we just need to find the shirt and tie.
- Schedule the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner -- it's been discussed but no final decision has been made re: dinner. Since our wedding is at the beach house and actually on the public beach, we don't have to verify with anyone that we can do the rehearsal at a certain time.
- Have the bridesmaids order their dresses. -- Four of six have ordered their dresses so far.

From The Knot: (this one is 4-5 months)

- Decide on formalwear -- woohoo, this one overlaps, also it appears in varying forms four times on The Knot's 4 to 5 months list.
- Finalize your rental list -- done!
- Finalize honeymoon travel reservations -- J is in charge. He has paid for the honeymoon itself, but not the flight, yet.
- Sign up for professional dance lessons -- that just isn't gonna happen.

From the wiki on Weddingbee: (2-4 months)

- Purchase favors -- no solid decision made on this one, yet. Definitely one that we need to get on, especially regarding whether it will require DIY time.
- Purchase wedding rings -- my engagement and wedding rings came as a set so that was one was done long ago. J's is on layaway at Kay's because I did not want to open a credit account. I have the payment this month and then will pay the balance and pick it up in March!
- Order wedding cake -- we are doing a cake buffet and already have several friends/family members who have committed to helping us out by donating a cake. I will be making a few on my own and in order to help that process, we are on the lookout for a chest freezer on Craigslist so we can freeze the layers ahead of time.
- Book honeymoon -- see ahead
- Book transportation -- bride and groom are getting ready, having the ceremony, pictures, and reception all in one location. We are not providing transportation at the end of the night since guests are staying at a variety of hotels, house, etc. throughout the OBX.
- Mail invites -- will occur ASAP. As above, we have chosen the invitations, just waiting on a decision on wording.
- Have dress fittings -- I will need to get a bustle put in, but besides that, it fits!
- Rent or purchase groom's attire -- ok, gotcha wedding lists. Are they trying to give us incentive to nag? Geez.
- Rent men's formal wear -- GM are buying khakis and a white linen shirt so no renting will occur.

Well those lists make me feel pretty good. They don't include the making table decor and 150 napkins and any other DIY projects that I haven't yet decided on. At least we seem to be on track with the things that require a vendor or relying on other people.