Getting the Party Started

As you know, one crucial element of the reception that I have been putting off recently, is hiring a DJ. Well, my procrastination is over because we finally made a decision and hired Entertainment Plus! I feel relieved just to have this task taken care of - but I also feel really good about Darin (and the cost was so reasonable!).  The DJ really does play a starring role in the success of the reception and so I feel very confident in Darin's years and years of DJ experience. Keeping the party going and the reception schedule running smoothly is pretty important to me and Darin is the right guy for that job!


Phew, now the reception is pretty much taken care of. All the major decisions for the wedding have been made and I can move on to details. By the way, have you realized there is only a little over 6 months till the wedding?! 6 months! I know I said this before, but I have never been as grateful for such a long engagement as I am now. I feel so relaxed  heading into our last 6 months only because I've had so much time to figure everything out. I'd likely be tearing my hair out if my entire engagement was only 6 months long! I remember how fast the first 6 months of our engagement flew by, so I'm hanging on for the ride! Its going to be a seriously fun 6 months.

Updates!

Its been awhile since my last wedding update! Not too much is new though - school seems to be taking the priority right now and I've never been so thankful for our long engagement! Certainly a blessing right about now.

We have our honeymoon flights and hotel booked! As if I could have been more excited for our wedding, I now have a relaxing vacation on white sandy beaches to look forward to. As a mentioned before, we signed up for a honeymoon registry through Traveler's Joy to help out with the costs of our 5 day stay in Barbados, but thanks to the generosity of my parents, frequent flier miles covered both our flights and so Nate and I just had to book our hotel! We chose a cute little hotel right on the beach, with a small kitchen in the room so that we can buy food from the grocery store near by and save on some food costs. Its close to the nightlife and the major shopping areas. I seriously cannot wait to lay in the hot Barbados sun for 5 days with my new hubby! Bring on the sunglasses and rum punch!

On a recent trip back to Yakima, I took my wedding dress, veil, and reception dress into Coralie's Alterations to start that whole process. Since I purchased the right off the rack sample of my wedding gown, it needs a few alterations. My reception dress is a tad too big and I am also having my Aunts veil altered slightly so that it looks a little more 2012. With all three of those alterations, I figured the more time I gave Coralie, the better. I love that she is going to alter my gown in steps, having me come in every so often to try it back on and then move on to another alteration. I have complete confidence that my two dresses and veil will be just perfect by June!

I met with a local designer to start the process of making our wedding invitations. Just like everything else with our wedding (and in life, really), it was important that we make our invitations reflect both our personalities. I just figured going the custom route was the way to go so that we get exactly what we both want. We hired la Happy (and here is her wedding on Style Me Pretty!) and I could not be more excited!! I am going the DIY route and Sally was so great about giving me as much control over the assembly as I wanted. My guess is that I will have lots more for her to help me with as the wedding gets closer. (Did you see her amazing calligraphy?!) I will definitely post pictures on here once we get some invitations all put together.

Next on my to-do list? I need to hire a DJ! I'm having a hard time picking one...and I'm sort of putting it off. I wish I could just snap my fingers and the perfect DJ (with the perfect price) would just fall into my lap! So far it hasn't been any easy decision. A DJ wasn't on our list of top priorities, so we unfortunately didn't allocate a ton of money for one. But a DJ can definitely make or break a reception, so its fairly important not to just go with the cheapest option. What to do? Do any of you have any stellar recommendations? I could use the help!

The Ladies

After we got engaged, the first decision I made was who my bridesmaids were going to be. I asked most of my favorite ladies the day we got engaged! I was just too excited. So naturally, I started the bridesmaids dress hunt pretty early as well. I knew roughly what I was looking for - chiffon, raspberry pink, long length, sweetheart neckline. Lucky/unlucky for me, there are plenty of options and designs that fit that description. How can I narrow all my choices down when they were all what I wanted? So many dresses looked perfect!

I was able to rule out the more expensive options (like the dreamy chiffon dresses by Amsale at Nordstroms) and found a wonderful boutique in Bellevue that carried a lot of options, without the shocking price tag. Moms, Maids, and More in Bellevue is a dreamy bridal party salon. They are so good at fitting in appointments on short notice and answering any questions I  have over the phone. They offer a 10% discount on larger bridal parties (which at 7 bridesmaids, we definitely are) and that helped offset the cost of full length bridesmaids dresses. I ended up choosing a B2 dress that I really think will be flattering on all of my different aged, sized, and shaped bridesmaids. It is important to me that everyone feel comfortable and look pretty! I feel pretty confident that the B2 dress will accomplish that. I'm so excited to see all the dresses together! They are definitely one of my favorite details so far. I'm obsessed with full length chiffon bridesmaids dresses!

Some other little ladies that I can't forget to mention are our three flowergirls and Jr. bridesmaid. Our little flowergirls will be wearing tutus' (love love love their outfits!) and I picked up a fun summer dress in pink for our Jr. bridesmaid. Yay!

Did you have a hard time picking your bridesmaids dresses? How did you decide which one would be perfect?

What's for dinner?

One of the biggest decisions we were recently faced with was catering. What to eat? Who to hire? How do I get the most food for my money? I don't consider myself a foodie but I definitely had some opinions of what I like and don't like - especially when it comes to wedding food! For instance, I have a serious aversion to eating warm pasta outside in the summer. (weird? Probably). We also don't have an unlimited food budget, so I needed to find someone who could stretch our money.

So I met with/emailed a couple of local caterers with my  No Pasta! rule. After all my research, I finally met with a caterer who helped me jump way outside the "traditional wedding food" box - within budget-  and we are both so excited! I'm not going to reveal the exact menu (lets leave some surprises!) but I can tell you, its going to be so scrumptious!

So drum roll... who is the caterer? We have chosen A Midsummer Night catering! I really feel like we are getting a lot for our money by hiring Betsy and her staff. I love that we will be having a cocktail hour (included in her catering packages) and how on board she is with our unique menu.

With our catering decision, I'm really feeling like the wedding is coming together! I've got almost all the big pieces in place and I'm feeling so excited! Less than 9 months to go folks!

How did you choose a caterer? Did you think outside the box?

Setting up House

One To-Do I have been looking forward to for awhile, is setting up our registries. It feels like shopping, but I'm not spending any money... its perfect! I've been really looking forward to setting up a registry at Crate & Barrel (my all time favorite) and we also added a few things at Target (for the Yakima locals).

But we were feeling torn - we have been living on our own for quite a few years but we are definitely still in housing limbo. Renting apartments and moving around a lot, we don't really need fancy dishes and decorations at this point in our life. Plus, I'm sure some of our guests would much rather gift us with an hour of snorkeling with sea turtles to a set of new bath towels. Solution? We set up a honeymoon registry in addition to our more traditional ones!

"Skip the blender. Create lifelong memories with your honeymoon registry. Our service is similar to a traditional wedding registry, but rather than offer gifts such as housewares and fine china, Traveler’s Joy helps you register for the honeymoon of your dreams."

After researching a bit, I decided I liked Travelers Joy the best for our registry. But there are a lot of good options! I'm sure you remember Kadee set up her honeymoon registry with HoneyFund. Honeymoon registries are becoming more and more popular and guests really seem to appreciate being offered a choice of gift options. I think the key is to set up a traditional housewares registry in addition to a honeymoon registry, give your guests choices!

According to Travelers Joy, a honeymoon registry is similar to a traditional wedding registry, in which you sign up for the gifts you would like to receive for your wedding. With Traveler's Joy, you build a registry with your anticipated honeymoon activities and experiences. Guests contribute monetary gifts towards your dream honeymoon activities and experiences listed on your registry page.

So what do you think? What are you doing for your registry? Traditional? Or spicing it up with a honeymoon registry?

Working on my Fitness

I've been very blessed in that I can pretty much maintain my weight without too much effort. But lets clarify - being slender does not equal being in shape. So although I don't have a need to loose lots of weight before the wedding, I do feel like there is no time like the present to get my booty in shape finally. Plus, I figured regular exercise would definitely help my stress level as the wedding gets closer.

I've been itching to learn how to run over the past few years and decided now was the time! I did some research and ended up buying an app for my phone called "Couch to 5k" (the program is available online too, so don't fret if you're Android/iPhone-less!). Its a 9 week running program, three days a week, and by the end of the program, I should be running 30 minutes straight (a little over 3 miles = 5k). So far, I have been really pleased with the program! I feel like I can handle the workouts, and as you may know, learning how to run and getting into shape is sometimes a very mental process. I feel like I am accomplishing my goal and I feel good about my progress. Success!

As added motivation, I signed myself up for a 5k run here in Seattle on September 11th. I'm going to be really excited when I run that whole race!

To me, getting in shape right now is more than just fitting into/looking good in a wedding dress (although, that is definitely a factor!) - I want to do this for myself, to feel good about the progress I've made, and the fitness goals I can accomplish. I want to be able to run! And with the wedding coming up, it is a perfect excuse to finally get going!

What have you been doing fitness-wise to prepare for your upcoming wedding?

Remember me?

Hi Blog! I disappeared for a bit but I'm baaaaaack!

Wedding planning has taken a really fun turn recently. Now that we are under a year until the wedding, I actually have tasks that need to be done. I have planning to do! Yay! Its actually been really fun and has made the wedding feel a bit more real. I'm finally counting in months (not a year + months)!

Let me catch you all up -

1. Save the Dates go out in less than a month! I can't wait to show you all what they look like. It makes the wedding feel so close knowing I'm sending them out soon.
2. We have made a decision about catering! I am really excited about this too. We really thought outside the box and I seriously love it. We found the perfect caterer who is just as excited about our unique menu and plan as we are. (I will write more about that later too!)
3. On a trip home to Yakima this month, my mom and I headed out to buy local strawberries and raspberries...and then we canned almost all of our jam favors! I can say first hand, they taste delicious. Our wedding favors will look so stinking cute all tied with bakers twine and kraft hang tags. Fun project! I'm so glad my mom was on board and helped me make jam favors a reality. (Thanks Mom!)
4. We also started our gift registries - which was definitely more fun for me than Nate. :-)
5. I've ditched the veil I bought in February for a much better option... my Aunts wedding veil! Its incredible, I'm still speechless at how gorgeous it is. Its cathedral length with a stunning lace around all the edges. So its like my old lace mantilla veil, but a different length - and way more jaw dropping beautiful! It means a lot to me that I can wear my aunts wedding veil (41 years later!) and I'm in awe at how perfect it is.

I think that is all that is going on currently. I'm just putting finishing touches on our wedding website, sending out our Save the Dates, and finalizing more of our catering information.

What are all of you up to? What kind of projects are you working on? 

Side note: have you all gone out and gotten the new issue of the Yakima Bride magazine?? Do it!

Welcome Willkommen Bienvenidos

In preparation for our Save the Dates to be mailed out, I've been working on our wedding website. Its not finished yet (so you'll have to wait to see it) but the reason brides have been making websites is really for the convenience of the wedding guests. Its important to just take a moment to recognize the special effort made by those guests who will be arriving by planes, trains, and automobiles in the days preceding the main event. The wedding website holds all sorts of information - like directions to the ceremony and reception, registry information, weather, local attractions, and really importantly, information about hotel accommodations.

You can start making your guests feel appreciated even before they arrive in town by reserving a block of rooms at a local hotel (or two).  A hotel room block is a group of hotel rooms that have been temporarily held for the convenience of wedding guest. Many hotels offer reduced group rates, and since you know the area better than out-of-towners, booking accommodations in advance is an all-around great idea. A room block is arranged by a contract between the engaged couple and the hotel then guests book and pay for the rooms themselves. Unreserved rooms are released back to the public after a specified date, such as one month prior to the wedding. Hotel blocks are also nice because then guests stay in one location, making it easier for them to socialize and making transportation and other issues easier.

We are wanting our wedding to feel kind of like a family reunion and so we are encouraging family and friends to come into down a couple days before the wedding - lets all have some fun together! Its important to us that our guests have a great all around experience in Yakima, not just at the wedding. So, I just recently called and arranged our hotel blocks and we decided the Hilton Garden Inn!  The Hilton hotel is right downtown Yakima, close to wine tasting, restaurants, and shopping. They gave us discounted rates per night and have reserved 10 room blocks (but will add more rooms if/when all 10 rooms are booked). I feel really good about the hotel, the area of Yakima it is in, the discounted per night rate, and the Hilton offers personalized websites so that guests can book their rooms directly through that site. We want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to be able to come!

Want to know what else is fantastic about the Hilton Garden Inn? Their customer service. I have spoken to two different ladies and they both were so helpful, easy to work with, and friendly! So if you're undecided about where you want your guests to stay the weekend of the wedding - do yourself a favor and call Alysia Cantu, their Group Sales Manager. She is fantastic to work with!

Another way to make guest feel really appreciated is to have Welcome Bags. The front desk may distribute OOT Welcome bags to guests in the room block. Welcome gifts are a wonderful way to extend a special thank-you to those guests who have traveled long distances to join you on your big day, and there are lots of options to choose from beyond the standard fruit basket. With a little extra time and energy, you'll not only be able to help your guests find comfortable lodging, but pull together a present that brings a smile to your travelers' faces (without placing a sizable dent in your wallet). Whether you opt for humorous, helpful, or just plain delicious, you will ensure that your friends and family remember the wonderful time they had at your wedding, not the stress and aggravation of the preceding journey.

Here is my list of things to include in our Welcome Bags : 

1. A Welcome note.  Include important phone numbers and addresses.

2. Water bottles.

3. A map (they’re often free). Also, directions from the hotel to the venue and information on shuttles.

4. Mints and snacks.

5. Decent coffee (or tea). The Starbucks Via coffee comes in small packets of 3 and there’s also a pack of 48 for $34.95 on their website.

6. A weekend timeline if OOT guests are invited to rehearsal dinner and/or other wedding events.

7. Advil or Tylenol (for the morning after the wedding)

Other cute additions I thought of - 

1. A bottle of wine from a local winery 

2. A couple little bottles of 5 hour energy

3. Homemade treats - like a couple cookies or brownies

4. Coupons/gift certificates for restaurants or spas within walking distance of the hotel. 

5. Shout wipes and a list of local dry cleaners (accidents happen!)

6. A list of local shopping malls (for the guest who forgot some article of clothing)

Did you reserve hotel blocks? Did you make OOT Welcome bags?

Paper straws, Matchbooks, and Other frivolous things

Oh hey! Hi! Sorry I'm a day late this week - I'm making a few changes in my personal life and its been a little consuming these last couple of weeks, trying to fit everything together in a perfect little puzzle. Its been sort of like a tennis match, I hit the ball on the "wedding" side of the court and it travels back over to my "school/job" side of the court... and then back again. Right now with no huge looming wedding tasks, school/job have the ball.  My brain can only really focus on one major task at a time, unfortunately.

(I've got a lot on my plate right now. Get it??)

But, you know me, even when I don't have big wedding tasks to accomplish, I manage to still do something. Like ordering little custom matchbooks for our reception cigar bar and paper straws for our drinks bar! 

Raspberry Sherbet striped paper straws - It's love at first sight

And I need to rant about square envelopes. Remember how I mentioned that our Save the Dates are square? Well when I took one into the post office to assess the stamp situation - I learned that they are a tad oversize and are considered a package. Now, I knew I was getting into something a bit more expensive with these square envelopes... but I didn't know these tiny, 6in x 6in square envelopes would cost me .88cents per invite to mail. Thats right, TWO STAMPS! Ugh. So I left the post office $130 poorer, cursing square envelopes under my breath. The good news is that since each envelope requires two stamps, I purchased the King and Queen of Hearts stamps and every envelope will have one of each. Cute, right? 

As our "One Year Until" mark approaches quickly, I am definitely getting more and more excited. This time next year I will be one week away from my wedding - oh boy am I ready for that day! I can't wait to see everything come together and to be married finally.

Did you find it hard to juggle wedding planning with the rest of your hectic life sometimes?

Decisions, Decisions

Wedding planning can be so fun and exciting while being overwhelming and kind of stressful at the same time. Right now I'm feeling a little bit in limbo. On my master "To-Do" list, I've broken the tasks into three month segments and June means two things - 1) It's our one year until the wedding date! and 2) it means a whole new set of tasks are ready to get checked off the list.  I have a lot of wedding decisions on my horizon!

Guess what?! We ordered our save the dates! I'm so pumped about this. I won't give too much away until I mail them (no spoiler alerts here!) - but we ordered them from Minted and we will get them sometime next week. Yay! But this means we are now trying to finish our guest list and then gather all those addresses. And since I am wedding detail oriented and our save the dates are square (which means they require extra postage) I'm on the hunt for the perfect combination of stamps for the envelopes. I can't wait to mail them out in August!

A sneak peek at our envelopes and wrap around labels, woop woop!

But before we mail them I need to reserve blocks of hotel rooms for out of town guests and finish our wedding website. Whew! Who knew save the dates were so much work??

More to-do's and decisions on my wedding horizon? Registering (also known as setting up house) and booking a caterer! But more on those later.

Whats on your to-do list?

UPDATE:

Help! 

I need help deciding which method we should use to address our Save the Date envelopes - printing directly on the envelopes, using clear sticky address labels, or handwriting them. 

What do you think??

(official poll is on the right hand side of the blog) 

April Showers

You know the saying, April showers bring May flowers - but it also brought be right into Melia's office one late April Saturday to chitty chat about wedding flowers. I don't think I honestly considered having anyone else be our wedding florist - I have been following Melia's work since way before I got engaged, so I knew when the time came, I'd insist she was our florist.

That was Melia's work! (insert jaw drop)

April showers bring May flowers - but more importantly, they bring peonies. That’s right, marrying in June makes me lucky enough to have peonies for my wedding flowers. Perfect pinks and classic whites, these ruffly blooms pack a lot of pretty, feminine power in a short blooming season. And guess what? I'm obsessed. Truth be told, I insisted on a spring wedding just so that I could carry these drop dead gorgeous blooms. 

We decided that I will carry a bouquet of the dark pink/fuchsia peonies, my two maids of honor/sisters will carry a mix of white and light pink peonies, my 5 bridesmaids will carry all white peony bouquets, and finally my junior bridesmaid will carry a small bouquet of three white peonies. 

Boutonniere inspiration

See how those white peonies have hints of dark pink in them? We will be using those for our centerpieces and  we may have a couple floating peony centerpieces too. 

Melia is so super fun to work with and her prices are very reasonable - for all our bouquets, 32 centerpieces, church flowers, boutonnieres, corsages, etc her quote came in a whole $35 under budget! :-) If thats not perfect, I just don't know what is. 

How did you pick your wedding flowers? Did you pick by color or by type of flower? 

Eat Dessert First!

Thats what every email from Christie is signed with. "Eat Dessert First!" I had a meeting with her on Saturday to finalize our cake flavors and design (we put our deposit down back in January at the After the Rock wedding show), and let me just say, if I had cake lying around that tasted as good as hers, I'd definitely eat that first! I'm talking before breakfast, lunch, and dinner! (here I come obesity!)

Remember how I wanted a simple two tiered cutting cake? Well as soon as I tasted Christie's cake samples Saturday, I knew I'd have to add on another tier. No joke! Its just that yummy. And her prices are so affordable (starting at only $2 a serving!) adding another tier still didn't break the bank. I just know as soon as my wedding guests discover how yummy our cake is, there will be a stampede towards the dessert table!

We decided on two flavors - the top and bottom layer will be vanilla bean cake with raspberry filling while the middle layer will be lemon poppyseed cake with lemon curd filling. With of course, her to-die-for yummy, light as air, whipped buttercream frosting. (I'm drooling on my keyboard).

Topping the whole delicious cake off will be a couple big peony blooms. Swoon. Its going to be so gorgeous.

What will you be doing for your wedding cake? Make sure you first check out Christie at Christie's Cakes!

What comes next?

So, I've bought my dress. Big check mark! So what comes next?? What else do I need to make myself look as fantastic as as can be?

Shoes and a veil! Of course! 

First, let’s talk about veils. Or headpieces. Or flowers. Or fascinators. Or hats. Or headbands. Or any other type of adornment that you wear on your cranium the day of your wedding.

When I first started thinking about veils, I had in mind the huge, long, traditional cathedral-length veil. You know, like the one Princess Diana wore that basically stretched around the church. These veils are super formal and just so dang elegant.

 But then! I discovered mantilla lace veils. It was love at first sight. 

The wonderful thing is that since I didn't end up buying a lace gown, I could get a lace veil! Yippee! So I got online and ordered this beautiful veil - and I'd be lying if I said I haven't tried it on at least once a day since I got it in the mail, just to wear it around my house. I'm smitten! 

Now, onto shoes. Sticking with this "look" ...

I am set on wearing colored wedding shoes - ie pink! - but since these Christian Louboutin shoes are a little out of budget... the hunt was on for the perfect, pink, peep toe, preferably slingback, wedding shoe! And guess what I found on Zappos.com? 

THESE! 

Holy wedding shoes, Batman! They're perfect! The ideal color, with a girly bow, peep toe, and slingback, plus they are high, but not high enough to make me look the same height as Nate (which is the case with one pair of skyhigh heels that I own). 

My look is coming together, piece by piece. Now, jewelery - I have no idea what earrings and bracelet and/or necklace I will wear. I'm leaning towards classic pearls - Any suggestions?  

How did you choose your veil and shoes? Are you going for colored shoes or traditional white? Heels or flats?

Spread the Love

You know, there are probably a few things on my wedding To-Do list that may be negotiable. One item that is not normally a must - but I'm not budging on - is favors. More specifically - homemade jam favors. You heard me right! My mom and I will be making homemade jam this summer and then giving them away as favors at the wedding. So far the only kind I am set on is raspberry, but I'm also thinking strawberry (or strawberry rhubarb!).  I bought the cutest bakers twine from Annes Paper Boutique and some hang tags from Kats Paper Trail (both on etsy), then stamped "Thank You!" on all the hang tags.

The project will eventually look a little something like this...

I love the idea of homemade jam as wedding favors for so many reasons - 1) By getting all our berries at local u-pick farms and farmers markets, we are supporting Yakima 2) I've always thought that edible wedding favors are the way to go. Honestly, who doesn't want homemade jam?? 3) One of the wedding colors will be raspberry/deep fuchsia pink. Our favors match the wedding? Score! 4) I like that it will be homemade. Canning all our jam will be a fun project for my mom and I this summer and 5) I will get to make a cute sign that says "Spread the Love"!

Are you planning on having favors at your wedding? What kind?

Update: What do you think about using fabric to show what flavor the jam is?? (WeddingBee)

The Wedding Party Draft

Who are your MVP's?

 While some agree that a good rule of thumb is to have one groomsman and one corresponding bridesmaid for every 50 guests, it’s definitely not a mathematical formula. Loosely, all it means is that a large wedding party fits in better at a large, formal wedding. So if you’re planning a small, intimate gathering, you should opt for a smaller bridal party. Bridal parties can range anywhere from a single maid or matron of honor to more than a dozen attendants. Think about how many guests you’re expecting and the formality of the event. We both have large families and coincidentally I also have a large bridal party (I'm talking 7 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid, and 3 flowergirls)!

But, more isn’t always merrier. The more bridesmaids you have, the greater the potential for complications. You’ll need to get more people to agree on a dress, decide on a shower date, and coordinate all the other joys of bridal party-dom. If you’re on a limited budget, think about who has to pay for all those bridesmaids bouquets. That’s right—you.

Blood is thicker than water. If you’re close to your sister and future sister-in-law, the thought of not including them in your wedding party, probably never even occurred to you. I am having both my sisters, all three of Nates sisters, and my cousin... phew, thats a lot of family! 

No, you don’t have to return the invitation. Just because someone asked you to be in her wedding doesn’t mean that you must have her in yours. This isn’t a dinner party invitation that you need to reciprocate. Don’t ask the college roommate you haven’t spoken to in years just to return the favor. Weddings are no time for quid pro quo.

You can have two maids of honor (I will!). There’s no reason or rule that says you can’t. If these are the two women you feel closest to (or if you have two sisters like me), of course you want them both by your side on your wedding day. Just be aware that they may squabble over honor attendant duties: who gets to hold the ring, the bouquet, stand right next to you, sign the license, and so on. Just tell them both what you specifically want each to do. 

Life will go on if you have uneven numbers of groomsmen and bridesmaids. There’s no law of symmetry when in comes to wedding parties—no planned out Lord-of-the-Dance routine that requires everyone to have a partner. If you’re afraid of hurting someone’s feelings, remember that, as cliché as it sounds, any true friend will understand whatever decision you ultimately make. As it stands right now, I have 7 bridesmaids while Nate is only sure about 6 groomsmen. 

In my case, I think of it as the girls that are standing up there by side are not only my friends but they will be Aunts to my children, they will make an effort to stay in touch and be connected (I call them "forever friends"), but most of all they will be there to support my marriage through the good and the bad. By their presence they are not only saying that they love and want to be there for you on your big day but also they are making their own commitment to be the cheerleaders for your marriage. You need to remember that this is your wedding day, so you need to think about what is important to you and make sure you will not have any regrets with the girls you choose.

How did you pick your bridal party? Did you ask them any special way? Was it a tough decision?

Our Guest Tree

I kind of yawn when I see a guest book. I’m not sure why anyone needs a book full of congratulations and I certainly don’t think couples frequent this book more than once or twice in their lives. I know several people who have made photo books (from sites like blurb!) and a couple people who used photo signing mats (like this one)... but I wanted something still a bit more creative.

According to Hudson Valley Weddings, the guestbook originally served a legal purpose. Historically, every guest at a wedding was considered an official witness to the marriage, and guests left their names and addresses on the marriage certificate because they were legally required to do so.*

Though an actual book is the most traditional form of guestbook, recently brides and grooms have been getting more and more creative (yay!). After all, a guest book is simply a place for guests to leave their names and good wishes for the bride and groom at the wedding... so, that could be anything, right?

 Luckily, the trend of wedding guest "trees" was showing up everywhere on wedding blogs, so I was really excited when we decided that a guest tree would be our form of a guest book for our wedding.

Not sure what I'm talking about?

A wedding tree is a drawn picture of a tree with no leaves (ours is poster size) - and guests "leaf" their thumbprint on your tree then sign their name next to it. 

Wanna see??

Pictures found here, here, and here. 

We ordered ours from the Etsy shop Lovli Day - I opted for the printable pdf, then my dad had it locally printed in Yakima, and I'm still on the hunt for the perfect brown poster frame for it. I love how it fits our reception theme and its way more representative of our personalities than a typical guest book. Plus I'm super excited to hang it in our house after the wedding!

Here's ours! 

Want your own wedding tree? What you'll need  :

1. Image of a tree with no leaves. Make sure its a big enough tree for all your leaves (aka guests!) - Lovli Day recommends : 11x14 : under 50 guests, 16x20 : 50-100 guests, 18x24 : 100-199 guests, 24x36 : over 200 guests. Make sure you put your names and wedding date at the bottom! Etsy is a great resource for wedding trees.

2. Various ink pads. Choose the colors of your wedding or traditional leaf colors. I purchased three different shades of green ink pads for our thumbprints

3. A fine tip sharpie marker for guests to sign their names

4. Instructions for guests. I think its especially cute to use the play on words "Leaf your thumbprint"

5. Last but not least, baby wipes! No one wants to spend your whole wedding with a green thumb, give them something to wipe the ink off with. 

* For the record, I can't promise you that the history of the guest book according to HVW is 100% correct, but its the only explanation I could find on how the tradition of the guest book started. 

First comes love, then comes dessert

Lets say you and your groom aren't wild about cake - and certianly not wild about wedding cake with fondant at $4.75 a slice. Solution : opt for a smaller, simple cake and provide lots of different homemade cakes, pies, chessecakes, cupcakes, cookies, you name it... and it becomes a dessert table!

I've loved the look of dessert tables for quite awhile now. I especially love when there is a small, two or three tier cutting cake right smack in the middle. I like the tradition and meaning of having a wedding cake - the joint task of the bride and groom cutting the cake is meant to symbolize their first joint task in married life and the gesture of feeding cake to one another is a symbol of the commitment the bride and groom are making. Plus, it is typically the last "item on the agenda" at your wedding reception and so some of your older guests will wait to leave until after the cake is cut.

I love the DIY route you can take with dessert tables too. Feature that delicious cheesecake that only your Aunt can make or get you bridesmaids together and have a baking party two days before the wedding. Is there a special dessert recipe in your family? Pick desserts that sound delicious to you and then make (or buy) them!

Some tips for creating a memorable dessert table:

1. Create visual levels. What this means is to use different heights to display the desserts on the table. Try to make the heights varying so the lower elements are not being blocked by something just barely taller than it. This creates windows of space so everything has a place and is equally visual weight. Try using different serving trays to help create the heights and also distinguish each dessert from one another. 
2. Customize your paper goods. A great detail to add to your table is personalized tags, signage, cupcake toppers, favor bags, etc. This way you can tie in the theme of your wedding, along with the color scheme you've selected, and also let people know what it is that they are having the pleasure of eating!  
3. Also remember to keep your theme in mind. If you are having an event with a really romantic feel, you probably wouldn't want to have a really whimsical decoration style on your table.

So I bet you're wondering... will we be doing a dessert table? ...You betcha!! With help, I made my own cake stands of varying heights, booked the oh so delicious Christie's Cakes to make us a fabulous two tiered cutting cake (with an incredible tasting buttercream rough frost like the one below, obviously!), and have asked a few bridesmaids, cousins, and even my Dad (!) to make various desserts (like cupcakes, cheesecake, and cookies). I can't wait to see our dessert table come to life at our reception - its one of the details I am most excited for!

What are you doing for your wedding dessert? Sticking to cake for everyone? How about a candy buffet? 

Or are you a dessert table fanatic now??