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?