The Registry

I had mixed feelings about registries. I was nervous about choosing items and then asking people to buy them for us — it just seemed like a weird and unnatural thing to do. That is until I read somewhere not to think of it as material items but rather the things that will help us build a life together. So every time I use a bowl that someone got me, I could think of that person as being a part of the life I'm building with my husband. (My future mother-in-law still has a strainer she received as a wedding gift almost 30 years ago and it remains her favorite!) Thought it was a cute and thoughtful way of looking at it :) But it still didn't make it any easier! Though registries aren't done at all in Poland, this is another tradition that we've picked up from American culture and decided to incorporate. It turned out we started on the registry game kind of late (I had seen people with registries a year before their weddings! Umm definitely not us!) As we walked hesitantly to the registry counter at our local Bed, Bath & Beyond we had no idea what to expect. What came next was a bombardment of checklists, information, long-winded explanations and a dramatic entrance into the world of registries. We learned the difference between fine china and casual china, or rather that there even is such a thing. We learned about cookware, bakeware, serverware, dinnerware and any other -ware you can think of. We learned that you should register for gifts with different price points and a wide variety for your guests to choose from, etc, etc, etc. It turned out to be quite the learning experience! (And I'm sure quite the torture for Patryk lol)

Our consultant was very helpful and listened to all our registry-novice questions. Not doing too much research beforehand (I didn't set up anything online prior to going to the store) left us feeling completely exhausted after the first whirlwind trip. I was surprised to find that we were literally physically tired from the process. Needless to say, it turned out to be a good thing that we got so much done that first day because our attempts at registering after that were always halfhearted at best. There was such an overwhelming amount of choices we didn't know where to begin! Not knowing where we'd be living post-wedding also made it difficult to narrow down many things.

All in all, after much hard work and thought we have pretty much finalized our registries. After being unsure about them from the get-go I realized that they can be very helpful for two people just beginning their new lives together. We currently have about three plates and two bowls to our name so it will be nice to add some to the mix :)  Another benefit that ultimately sold me on the registry process was the post-wedding discounts you get! Most stores host special sales for all the registry items that you didn't receive so you can purchase whatever else you'd like on your own. Another plus? You would be surprised how much you learn about your significant other and their style and aesthetic preferences in an aisle full of fancy plates. But that is a whole other story :)

Image via YumSugar

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 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

Tips For The Lazy, Unorganized Bride

So I'm not the most organized person. Sure, I like to keep things clean in my home but when it comes to organizing stuff like documents and bills, hmm not so much. Which probably explains why planning a wedding has been so damn hard for me. It's all about organizing. You have to remember which vendor you paid, which you didn't, who all your vendors are, contact info, timelines, etc, etc, etc. You get my drift. Needless to say here's a few tips I've gathered for my fellow lazy, unorganized, not talented at planning brides.

1) Set up a separate email to handle all wedding inquiries. I don't know what your inbox looks like, but mine is a hot mess. I made a lame attempt at folders on my gmail to try to separate things out but those only work if you remember to label them. Oops. Needless to say, now when I have to find a wedding-related email, I frantically search with keywords through my email. Not the best plan. Oh and to top it off, I started using my other email for wedding stuff thinking it would help to have some things separated. Umm, it does not. Now I have to search through two emails instead of one when trying to find something. Bottom line, if you suck at keeping your inbox clean, set up a new email. Yea, it's kind of cheesy but whatever, name it something easy and send all your wedding-related info there. You'll be thankful you did.

2) Try to do things right away. This may sound obvious but if remembering small details isn't one of your strong suits then make sure as soon as things come up, you take care of them in a fairly timely manner. Failing that, remind yourself in highlighted & bold font, email, text and maybe even set up a voice reminder for yourself to do these things. I spaced on following up with some vendors and they ended up falling through because they'd already booked with someone else. Not doing things fairly fast simply adds to the big pile of crap that you already have, therein, try to tackle the small & big stuff.

3) Pawn things off on the fiancé whenever possible. Enough said here. Simply bribe, sweet talk or simply force your partner to take care of crap when you can't take care of it or simply don't feel like doing it.

4) Hire a pro. If you can afford it, hire someone to do all this for you!! (Sigh) If that doesn't fit in your budget, make a beeline to the most organized person in your life. (Don't we all wish Monica from Friends existed in real life?) Beg and plead for their help. Then pray they accept your plea.

5) If all else fails, elope. No wedding to plan=nothing to organize. Get the deed done and you're off the hook. 


Photo Credit: William Eggleston, Untitled (1975) via Art Blart 
 

The Must-Have Ingredients for a Big Fat Polish Wedding

I couldn't have a blog with this title and not have a post on the topic now could I? After a very extensive, scientific poll (i.e. a status on Facebook) I have gathered a guideline for the inquisitive Polish engaged couple on how to have a Polish wesele (wedding) of epic proportions. Here are the basics:

1) Vodka

2) Ceremony that will last at least 1.5 hrs in a Roman Catholic Church because clearly the longer the mass, the more legitimized this union will be.

3) Vodka

4) An abundance of disco polo songs as well as ubiquitous tunes like Budka Suflera's "Takie Tango" and the Kayah favorite "Prawy do Lewego." 
5) More disco polo. Think "Jestes Szalona" "Mydelko Fa" and you're on the right track.

6) Bread, salt and wine ceremony. The couples parents present them with rye bread (of course! don't you dare even think about using Wonder Bread or some other poor substitute), representing hope that they'll never go hungry, salt as a reminder that life together will have its difficult moments and wine so they never go thirsty and their lives be filled with health and happiness.

7) Vodka

8) This one is so good I have to quote it directly: "a non Polish, but Polish looking enough guy with a hyphenated Polish last name suffix added on. Ex. Larsonowski." Apply this to all guests who don't have the good fortune of a -ski,-ska, -cz, -sz, -yk, -ak, -ch, -ik, -ko, -ek or some variety of consonant-filled ending in their last names. 

9) Vodka

10) The "money dance." The bride dances with guests while they pin money on her dress to "buy" a dance from her.

11) A slideshow featuring embarrassing photos from your childhood, specifically those of you in your native folklore attire (see above photo, faces have been obscured to protect the identity of my unsuspecting siblings). 
12) Endurance and lots of stamina. This one is very important as guests will be expected to drink, dance and drink some more into the wee hours of the night. By wee hours I mean 6 or 7 am and then do it all again the next day for the poprawiny, the post-wedding celebrations.

Obviously there are many other traditional Polish elements that you can include but I figure this was a pretty good start. And I realize that some of these things are not as prevalent as they once were, but whatever you do, absolutely do not skimp out on numbers 1, 3, 7, and 9!