ties!

The dudes are going to need ties, and when they do: bam. Green ties abound.

more purchases

I spent $25 on 480 feet of white Christmas lights. Actually I used a Wal-Mart gift card I received for Christmas. So... I think it's safe to say that the probably 20 x 60 foot tent that we're probably going to rent is probably going to be sufficiently lit.

I also bought ribbon, and safety pins for decorating purposes and attaching the pins to the back of the bouttonieres because they're made of wood and corsage pins are a bitch anyway.

hair

Speaking of my hair, this is how I want it to look. Long, with big, loose curls; one side clipped back with the aforementioned flower.

That's right, it's Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember. I've known for awhile that's how I want my hair to look, and then I saw this movie on TBS today and was like "YES! That is my wedding hair."

purchases

I bought my wedding ring today. I realize I didn't need to do so this early, but I didn't want it to go out of stock again. Besides, it was 30% off AND expedited shipping was free. Win.

I made some other wedding purchases last night, too. I bought this flower clip for my hair:

...and something secret for my maids of honor and personal attendant. All the money I got for Christmas went in the wedding fund and is already getting put to good use. Go me!

printing

Another option for printing.

And another.

Excellent.

vacation

Okay, so it's not likely that we'll be able to afford a honeymoon ourselves, but I'm looking at places just in case. Because even if we don't get a honeymoon right away, we'll go on vacations in the future.

Perhaps to this lovely resort in Riviere Nayarit, Mexico. Although August is part of the rainy season. Hmph.

Maybe we could rent an apartment in Puerto Rico.

Maybe Amsterdam.

Or London.

Hmm.

groomy

Tie & vest set for Darren? Convenient. Zazzy. Inexpensive. Maybe he'll want black. Either way- nice.

postage nonsense, guest book, etc.

I think instead of paying the extra money to design our own stamps, we'll just use these standard wedding ones or something from the USPS. I'm having a hard time finding postcard stamps (28 cents) for our Save the Dates. The only ones I can find have polar bears on them... so maybe I just won't have wedding-themed stamps on the Save the Dates. Nothin' wrong with polar bears!

Another idea I had recently was, instead of a guest book, to make something like this - a card box where people can write messages on their own card. I could just order green card stock and decorate it. Then, when we got our pictures back after the wedding, I could make a scrapbook using our pictures and the messages from everyone.

Yes, I know. Brilliant.

Wedinator

My Google Reader recommended this website to me. It's it full of LOLz.

Dressy goodness

The more I look at this dress the more I think it might be the one. I'm not going to buy it until like may and before that I plan on finding one similar in style (which should be easy) and trying it on just to make sure. Halters can be hit or miss with me, but since I've been working out they're working better than they used to. I have broad shoulders, you see. I'm going to be wearing my hair down though, which helps.

Anyway, to smooth out any lumps or chub I may still have come next summer (hopefully it's gone, but you never know), I'mma buy a bustier like this one or this one. That plus some sort of slip or petticoat to keep the dress from clinging to my hips and it'll be good to go.

Party

Houston, we have a wedding party. Members can be seen here in all their awesome glory.

I am psyched.

Ack!

Let's hope the wedding ring I want is back in stock by the time I need to order it :(

Edit: I emailed the company and they told me it'd be in stock after Christmas. Pip! And since the cash I'm getting for Christmas is going in the wedding fund anyway, I'll probably just buy the ring right away. It'll be okay hanging out in my jewelry box for eight months.

Edit 2: It's already back! I can't afford to buy it right this second what with Christmas shopping and all but I'm going to keep a close eye on it and if they start running low I'll make it happen. Blarslharjkahdvgshhrgh

I created a whole big kerfuffle when I posted something on Twitter about Christmas lights.
1: I should have made it clear that i was referring to my wedding, not Christmas decorating
2: Several people did not read the post very well (I was talking about the cost of renting them versus the free-ness of borrowing them and everyone started talking about buying them)

I remembered later (at the gym, of course) that my mom told me just the other day that I still have a gift card sitting at my parents' house from last Christmas. It's a (presumably) $25 Wal-Mart card from my cousin. I assume, since she drew my name again this year, that I'll be getting the same thing. So I'll have $50 worth of gift card goodness so I can in fact purchase cheap-ass lights the day after Christmas (as well as ribbon and a glue gun!) without spending any of my own actual money. I was opposed to purchasing them until I realized that.

The one lighting-thing I will rent is a 40 foot string of larger lights (10, to be exact) to run down the middle of the tent. I'll also rent draping (hopefully. I still have to get a price quote on that) and fancily drape the fabric with the lights and some flower garlands I'm going to make. It'll be lovely, I promise.

It's decided: when it comes time for my ladies of honor to acquire their dresses, I'm going to the "Little black dress" section at target.com and picking my favorite. Because really, a cute black dress is a cute black dress. Why ask someone to spend an exorbitant amount of money on it?

I met with my graphic designer last night. Which is really a fancy way of saying Eric came over and we discussed Save-the-Date designs a little bit while watching A Christmas Story and talking smack about the crazy people we know.

Oh, and I almost forgot - Darren has an uncle who is apparently an amazing photographer and has shot weddings before. I'd prefer to see some samples first, but hey- we might get our photography done for freeeeez! If Darren agrees. I think he probably will. There are some things he has strong opinions about, like food, but other things like Save-the-Dates where he really doesn't care all that much.

Also, I guess a lot of Darren's family goes to the same church up near the farm and he mom said we might be able to borrow tables and chairs from the church. Or rent them. If we can borrow them or if the rental cost is cheaper than the rental place we'll probably end up using for some stuff, I'm all in. And if the chairs are ugly I'll find a place to rent reasonable-priced chair covers.

If we end up being able to borrow tables & chairs at not cost, renting chair covers (if necessary) will still save us money.

Blah blah blah, this is me putting all the stuff in my head down on paper the screen to make room for all the other crap I have to think about.

moo?

So many posts today.

I'm thinking that instead of wedding favors for the guests, we make a donation in their honor to Heifer International. It's such a cool charity and I'd say it's pretty appropriate for a wedding on a farm. Plus, considering animals are going to be killed in our honor, it's only fair to donate animals for non-eating purposes. Then we could print business cards to put at each place setting indicating that the donation had been made.

In other news, our second usher agreed to the position. Pip!

I'm thinking way in advance here, but I was looking for possible wedding party gifts and ways to package them. I created (or am creating. Clearly it's a work in progress) a list of ideas for gifts for each party member, and I think when it comes time to purchase and "wrap" each gift I'm going to create gift baskets for each of them.

The key then will be finding baskets that are smaller and inexpensive. And I totally found some.

I can't decide what to get for the guys. Maybe mini bottles of liquor (which I can also find at a liquor store) and shot glasses. I don't know.

Whatever, I am so awesome.

And I emailed my mom asking her to get some family addresses for me. Darren's mom is working on doing the same. I need to email various friends for theirs as well... and find out what Eric needs from me so we can get the Save the Dates designed and printed before mid-January.

We have most of our wedding party, save for one usher and a personal attendant or two. Yay!

food!

So the wedding will be in August, either the 7th or 14th. I'd prefer the 14th but it depends on how early Darren's sisters have to be back in South Carolina for school.

AND! Since we're getting married on the farm, they're going to buy whatever livestock we want in February, raise it, and then we'll eat it for the wedding feast. My friend Eric says the food will taste even better knowing it was killed on our honor. I hope he's right. :P

My future mother-in-law is starting to get into the whole wedding thing. I haven't actually talked to her myself yet, but Darren has. I guess she has questions for me. I guess we should really get going on this thing.

One decision = made!

It's official- the flower scheme I outlined a couple posts ago is what we're going with. Yay! One less thing to deal with (until I actually have to buy them).