The Endless To-Do List

My fiancé and I sat down to write a list of things we still need to get done for the wedding. Needless to say our "to-do" list quickly grew to over 50 things! As you can tell by the last item, we clearly have our priorities in order hehe ;) 

And yes, I keenly remember this post where I yelled to "burn that checklist' but not to worry, this did not come off any wedding website or magazine, this is our personal list of things we gotta get done. A few days later Patryk thought it would be funny to send this to me:

 According to the above list we are doing awesome. LoL.

Wedding Invitation Envy

Wow, is all I have to say after looking at these SELF-MADE, DIY wedding invites. That deserves all caps, I mean seriously?! And more importantly total cost was around $200. They are truly impressive. If I were having a destination wedding and was really, really, really ambitious I just might try to swing something like this. Instead, I will sit and weep. Find the exact details from the talented bride & groom that pulled this off here. And take a peek:

 

Images via weddingbee.com

Wedding World Lingo

Who knew that basically a whole other language exists out there in wedding world? Words like bustle, chapel length, tastings and registries quickly entered my vocabulary. It's amazing how many things you learn while wedding planning. I'd like to share a few words (and my hopefully humorous definitions of them) that I've learned along this journey.

boutineer — remember those things you gave to your date at prom? Well this impossibly hard to remember how to spell thing is the grown-up version of that. This could come in the form of flowers, buttons, twigs, etc.
chapel length — the length of your dress train and/or veil. according to quick internet search it's about three to five feet from the hem (bottom) of your dress. there is also cathedral length (the super long version) as well as elbow and finger tip length veils. 
chivari — a fancy looking chair that will cost you more than the regular ol' chairs.
centerpiece — the decorations for your reception tables.
deposits — the cash money you gotta pay up so said vendors can make the wedding happen.
letterpress — really expensive but pretty way to print your wedding invitations
registry — where you sign up to ask for a variety of gifts from kitchen utensils to home stuff and more. also where you get to play around with that scanner gun at the store ;)
response cards — the small but very important pieces of paper that let you know who is coming to your wedding and who isn't (if of course they send them!) i've heard horror stories of no responses, so keeping my fingers crossed for ours!
tasting — one of the fun parts! when you get to try the yummy food/desserts that you'll serve at your wedding. schedule a lot of these, I mean helloo free food and sweets!
vendor — the people who will make your wedding happen i.e. photographers, caterers, etc.

hmm, so this is all I could think of for now. This is just a small sampling of the lingo you'll hear tossed around when you're planning a wedding. It's a bit daunting at first, but you'll quickly get the hang of it. In fact, it may get to the point when you'll be having a conversation with someone who isn't currently planning a wedding and/or in the industry and they'll look at you like you have two heads when you bring some of this stuff up. But alas, their time will come ;)


Images via www.itmightbelove.com, www.celebrityweddings411.com, weddingchicks.com, stylemepretty.com

Low-Cost Save the Dates

Ahh Save the Dates. The lovely little reminders you send to your guests to let them know you're planning a big bash in a few months. I learned what save the dates are, along with many other wedding-related terms when I first got engaged. I learned even more about them when researching options. Who knew that these things can cost ya a pretty penny? After finding out the average costs, I was appalled. Who would want to spend that much money on something most people will probably throw away? Well, definitely not us! Once we settled on a Bay Area wedding I decided postcards were the way to go! I found some vintage-y looking ones highlighting various San Francisco landmarks and I thought it was a pretty novel idea. Apparently I was wrong. See below:

 

 

 

Turns out postcard save the dates where all the rage. Regardless I went ahead with my idea since it was a) cheaper and b) a little more fun and c) tied into our wedding since for many guests it will be a destination wedding hence travel and postcards :)
So it may not have been super original but for 9 bucks for a pack of 20 it was the most cost-effective option I could think of. Plus postage for postcards at just 29 cents a pop also saved us a couple bucks. Now, as much as I like the personalized options with photos of the couple it just wasn't for us. I felt a bit weird thinking of our faces on peoples fridges. We did personalize by ordering a custom stamp from Etsy from this awesome seller. Check out how it turned out below (in the late hours stamping away). 

The only downside to my idea was that since it was a postcard some guests missed it in their mail. Regardless, I'd still highly recommend this low-cost yet equally fun save the date idea!
Images in order of appearance via me, Ruffled, Wedding Chicks, The Vegas Wedding Planner

Happy Valentine's Day!

I may have left my heart in San Francisco, but luckily I moved so it would remain close to me  ♥

Engagement Photos: Yay or Nay?

From the very beginning of our wedding planning, I have stated how extremely important photography is to me. So it was no surprise that the decision whether or not to take engagement photos was a no-brainer! (All these lovely images you see here are courtesy of the crazy-talented husband and wife duo Jason & Anna Photography). I figured if we were going to spend money on anything it would be the photos.

I'm not quite sure when the whole engagement session thing started but it's safe to say that this portion of the wedding industry has significantly expanded in recent years. Every photographer I contacted when initially searching for our wedding photogs all suggested an engagement session. It's a great opportunity to get to know your photographer and most imporantly get comfortable in front of the camera. Trust me, it's a bit unsettling at first and takes a little while to get used to someone snapping away in front of you.

Naturally, it's not super surprising to hear that we'll be having two engagement sessions. Yea, I'm a little of a photo session diva what can I say? (Secretly, I'd love to be a photographer but considering I lack any talent in that area, for now I'll settle on someone else taking pretty pictures with me in 'em.) I initially contacted Jason & Anna to shoot our wedding but they were unfortunately unavailable on our wedding day. Regardless, I decided a photo shoot incorporating the Arizona desert where mine and my fiancé's relationship started would make for some good stories for the grandkids. (OK, I can't take full credit, it was my younger sister who made the very wise suggestion and I'm so glad she did, thanks to her we have some amazing pictures!) We also recently shot with Delbarr Moradi, the super-talented photographer that we are honored will be capturing our wedding day! Both sessions were super fun and really helped us get acclimated to being in front of the camera. I know that on our wedding day I won't be nearly as nervous, especially since I'm confident that the pictures will come out great :)

Everyone has their own opinion on the matter but to me, money spent on photography is quite simply money well spent. What better way to capture this exciting moment in your life than with some kick-ass photos? I mean we're only young once right? Might as well make use of our youthful looks while we still got em! ;)

 

Images courtesy of Jason & Anna Photography