Getting Hitched (Hairy Situation)

Hello Bloggers,

I got the call.  My dress is in!!  Yah!  (and the slip...and all the other things boys don't know that we also need with the dress).

I'm still undecided about the veil.  I bought one, but am not 100% that I will use it.  I'm thinking I want my hair down.

I like these:

The Hippy Braid

Braids & Side Do's

Relaxed Hippy Braid

A little Crazy Hippy Braid

 

I want something relaxed, fun & pretty.  Any suggestions?
-NB

Getting Hitched (OK, I'm Ready to Rock This!)

Hello Bloggers!

My Save The Dates have arrived - cute little magnets with bees on them saying "Meant to Bee."  :)  Super excited.  The dress has arrived & I'm procrastinating picking it up (the safest place for a dress is at the shop right?).

I have been slowly doing things in the background & have found a few good sites on wedding favors.  I will share this tidbit with you all - I LOVE ARTS & CRAFTS!  So I'm thinking of making my own favors.  I found some really cute daisy seed packets, but then found a DIY (do it yourself) project on how to make them even cheaper!  Then I found some soap & candle making tutorials which I may attempt as well.  So much cheaper than buying off etsy or some other wedding site.  I'm trying to find some cheap jars of honey to round off the bee theme.  Another other garden or bee items that will support the theme?  The other option is mini pots with plants, but doing that myself - I may just be asking for trouble.

NB

Getting Hitched (A Return of the Planner!)

Hello Readers,

I have returned from a refreshing vacation & have a renewed sense of approach!  How did it happen?  Was there an exact moment?  (I'm sure you are all asking.)  As a matter of fact it was a moment in time that caused this shift in direction.  I was watching Kim Kardashian's wedding special & her husband (then fiance) wanted to be really involved in the planning.  I realized I hadn't ever really straight out asked HTB (Hubs to Be) if he wants to be involved in the daily details or not.

To no surprise to me, he graciously said he trusts me with all planning, but to just keep him in the loop.  Works for me!!  Now my creative juices can fly!

My dress arrived a week ago as well & I have about 4 months to lose around 10 lbs (before alterations).  Luckily soccer is starting back up as well & I'm playing on two teams, so this should help.

I also have some other great news!  One of my sisters agreed to sing to HTB playing the guitar for the father-daughter dance!  She has a beautiful voice & always sang in middle school/highschool  :)  And, my other sister is doing my wedding invitations.  She is an artist!

My main focus right now is on Save The Dates.  Since a large segment of our attendees will be coming from out of state, Save The Dates (one of my sisters requested I never refer to Save The Dates as an acronym) are necessary.    I think I found the perfect Save The Date template, let me know what you think: Cute Save The Dates!  Of course I'll not have bday info on it, but I liked the theme & non-formal-ness of it.

NB

Getting Hitched (Feeling Blah)

Hello Bloggers -

Is it normal to just get bored of the planning??  I truthfully haven't thought about it much in the last week or so unless someone has asked me about it.  I have roughly 7 months and HTB (Hubby to Be) still thinks we can wait until just a few weeks before to really decide everything.  We have a vacation planned where we will be road tripping....so I'm hoping this will invigorate my energy.

-NB

Getting Hitched (What Is My Name?) 218 days

Hello Bloggers,

I'm going to touch upon a tricky subject that seems to offend some folks.  In fact I've had a few people straight up ask me why I am being so disrespectful to the HTB (Hubby to be).  I have selected to keep my own last name.  HTB does not care & has joked that he will change his last name.  Then we thought of combining our 2 last names into some Frankenstein last name, which just made us laugh.  I've also thought about the hyphen.  Granted any children that come along will take HTB's last name, I don't feel it is necessary for me to change my last name.  It could be that I'm just lazy & would have to change a lot of paperwork, e-work, forms, etc.  Or it could be...........ok, it's probably the lazy factor.

So yes world....I am going to keep my last name & when the officiant announces us it will still be us as our same names, but as husband & wife.

-NB

Getting Hitched (Superstitions - Madness or Fun?) 219 days

Hello Bloggers,

Some superstitions are just plain insane, but I'm considering following a few that may be fun.

1. Something borrowed, something blue, something old & something new - this is something I'll probably plan on doing because it's like a challenge almost (& I'm very competitive)
2. Groom carries bride over the threshold - I've seen too many bloopers on TV of this not being successful & it seems the bride always gets the bad end.  Before this is even considered, we will have to practice.  It's not that I don't trust HTB (Hubby To Be)...but where I work we are taught "trust but verify".
3. Rain on your wedding day is good luck - well since we are getting married in AZ, I'm going to look forward to bad luck.  I'll take any lemons life hands me & make a cocktail!
4. Throwing something after you are married...blowing bubbles, throwing rice or in some countries throwing peas (hopefully those peas aren't cooked).  Bubbles might be ok...but maybe we can release a swarm of bees & it can spell out JUST MARRIED in the air (sometimes I live in a cartoon world).
5. Smooshing cake in each other's faces.  I don't even know how to address this one.  A little dab of frosting will be OK....cake or frosting in my hair is NOT OK.
6. If the bride & groom see each other before the wedding it's bad luck.  This one I plan on breaking.  We plan on having our photos taken before the ceremony.  Plan is to capture a few photos of when we see each other for the first time. 

What superstitions did you follow on your wedding or what other strange rules have you seen?

-NB

Getting Hitched (Music to My Ears) 220 days

Hello Blog-Readers,

Music is important to both HTB & I.  HTB is an avid guitarist & currently he has his own guitar room with about 7 guitars & more amps than one should have unless you are a band roadie.  I'm not musically artistic, but I LOVE dancing.  I have been caught more than once at my desk at work (it's a sit-stand desk...so I alternate sitting & standing while working on my computer) dancing to some tunes.

We have a DJ...her name is Wendy...yes, it's a female (I was surprised too!).  She seems super perky & outgoing...I'm guessing those are requirements to be a DJ.  She sent a questionnaire about all the "social" dances you can do.  I am declaring this - THE CHICKEN DANCE WILL NOT BE PLAYED.  I'm sorry...but as I wrote that it got stuck in my head.  Nope, sorry...noway!  There are lots of others...Macarena, YMCA, Electric Slide...is it weird that those dances scare me  Should I feel obligated to have them played?

Wedding party music, my stroll down the aisle music, the father/daughter dance are all still up in the air.  We have decided on our first dance.  And we plan to have HTB record it...guitar rendition of a Rolling Stones song.  Can you guess which Rolling Stones song I allowed to be our first dance?  Although HTB has repeatedly asked for Honkey Tonk Women, I'm afraid that is not it!

For the Father/Daughter dance I'm leaning towards 10,000 Maniacs How You've Grown played live on guitar by HTB.  I asked one of my sisters (waiting for the other sister to agree) to sing the song live, while HTB plays.  I'm the last of the 3 sisters to get married & they are both my bridal colony aka party.  They will be my bees of honor (matrons of honor). 

What do you think about this song?  

How You've Grown by 10,000 Maniacs

For walking down the aisle...I've joked about hiring this guy.  Ok....I'm a little obsessed with bumble bees.  Any ideas on what to walk down the aisle to?  I'm not traditional in any sense of the word...we'll go into that later.

-NB

Getting Hitched (Some Details) 221 days

Hello Bloggers,

Since the HTB (Hubs to Be) and I got engaged 6 months ago, we do have some details hashed out such as vendors that will be used & what not, but we don't have the exacts worked out.  The HTB is being as involved as he can stand...I can't blame him for not wanting to be more involved, it's our personalities.  He likes to do things on the whim, where I like to plan.  In fact when I started planning the wedding he actually asked "can't we just get up one morning & say....today is our wedding day?"  Of course my mouth dropped, my eyes stared through him & steam may have come out of my ears at first....then I realized he was joking & gave him a pity laugh.  (That is another thing about us...our sense of humor is very different.)

A little about our sense of humor:
ME: I'm goofy, silly & can make anyone under the age of 10 laugh and anyone over 10 roll their eyes.  I constantly make jokes at work & at times my powerpoint presentations for updates in a high level meeting may contain cartoons or funny captions.  It's just how I work.

HTB: He is very intelligent in his jokes....witty.  His jokes force you to think and although it may not get a knee-slapping laugh, the jokes always force you to chortle a bit.

I love that our senses of humor are complimentary.

Now that we have had a few months to plan there are some things that have already been decided.  We have selected a photographer, a venue & a date.  The great thing about the venue is that it was a package deal (food, beverages, flowers & cake) all came with it.....but we still need to pick said food, flowers, cake, etc.

DATE: 4/21/20012 or April 21st, 2012 or for folks across the "pond" 21/4/2012 (I'm working with some folks from Ireland, Scotland, Spain...so I see that quite a bit)

VENUE: A garden venue, in Phoenix AZ  (Most of my family is in Washington state, but both HTB & I have lived in AZ for the last 10 years.  HTB was originally from Washington as well, but has also lived in California & New Mexico.)*

OK, I guess I lied.  I also have a dress selected & on order.  After trying on what seemed like 50 dresses with my sisters, mom, niece & grandma, it came down to 2 contenders.  One was very flattering in that it hugged all the right areas, it was sparkly in all the right places and it was elegant.  The other dress was more simple, just a little bit of sparkles & very relaxed & comfortable.  For anyone that knows me...comfort is typically #1.  So with that and the council of a dear friend (N) a dress was chosen.  Can you guess which one was selected??

Extras:
Photographer: http://www.dwightsmithphoto.com/
I enjoyed his eye for the right angle, that he not only just took the photo but really captured a moment, a feeling.  HTB & I enjoy photography, so it was important.
We need to schedule our engagement photos shortly...any ideas on cute or clever feel??

The wedding is to be simple with focus on fun, friends, family, dancing and laughter, with a flair of bumble bees (I love them) & of course a touch of The Rolling Stones (HTB's favorite band).

-NB

Getting Hitched (Once Upon A Time) 222 days

Hello Blog-readers -

I decided to start a blog mostly to catalog & document planning my wedding.  Yes...that's right, I'm getting hitched!  I met the hubs to be (HTB) about 10 years ago.  We met at work (ok....ok....not the ideal place to meet people, but there are positives to it which I'll get into later).

It's funny when I first met him, he scared me.  I was a new engineer & he had been in the work force for at least 10 yrs already & let's just say my goofy ways, and inability to be serious in a technical setting may have rubbed him the wrong way.  Or maybe it was the fact that he is 12 yrs older than I am or it could have been he was being over worked.  For whatever reason, he didn't respond to my perky, recent college grad spirit in the way I had expected.  I didn't let it phase me & I would say "hi" to him when I saw him in the hallways over the next year or so we worked together.  Our paths didn't really cross again for another 8 years (we both had taken different jobs all within the same company) & by then I'd dated a few (too many) toads & he'd gotten divorced (yes....he was married when we first met).

We ended up working in the same group & he ended up being my trainer.  I was coming out of a relationship where my self-confidence was lower than it should have been (this toad was labeled as the perfectionist...as in I could not be good enough for him....ever).  HTB (that is the nickname I will refer to the fiance for the purposes of this blog) was kind, patient, caring & sweet.  I got really sick one week & he actually came to my house with soup, fruit, juice and crackers.  I guess I should mention the positives of us working for the same company:

1) If I forget my wallet or credit card, he can pay for lunch!
2) We can carpool & get "rock star" parking spaces
3) Sometimes if the work load gets heavy we must work in the evenings & we both understand

After about 2 years of dating, he proposed a few months ago & now I am in the process of planning my...oops our wedding!

I have a TON of stuff to do & hope to maybe get some feedback, advice, etc on decisions.  Next post will be more focused on the actually wedding details.
NB (Nerdy Bee)