Ring shots!

I will update soon, I promise -- lots of decisions are almost made -- but quickly -- I took some pictures of my ring and thought I'd post 'em. One of the primary bridal blogs I read, Weddingbee.com, was running advice on how to take pictures and also posting lots of reader-submitted shots... so... Unfortunately the picture is more focused on the feather than the ring (damn my complicated camera!) but you still get a good idea of the "steps" in the emerald cut.

Update: Wedding Bee posted one of my shots!! Click here...

Inspiration/Mood Board

So on a lot of wedding websites I've seen a lot of "mood" or "inspiration" board. I always wanted to make one but it was never really a priority until now, when we're meeting with florists and maybe picking out linens and stuff. Anyway, here's the mood board I made up... (you can click to enlarge it)...



I incorporated some stuff I'm using for inspiration -- a bouquet that I love, peacock blue/feathers (which are in the bouquet that I love, and may be a small part of the decor for the wedding), a New Yorker cover of a city... and then some stuff that is already part of the wedding, such as the chantilly lace from my dress, a picture of Manor House (where the ceremony & reception will take place), and our Save The Date, which I love (we designed it ourselves and printed it via Vista Print). Oh, and those are not my shoes (THOSE are apparently Manolos from the Sex in the City movie that cost $1100) but I like them, so I added them in -- they give the vibe I want. At the bottom is some more inspiration -- a photo of the Pleides, a star constellation; a painting by Magritte; and a painting Reg and I bought in Paris (it's of Notre Dame at night -- we kept walking home at like 3 in the morning past Notre Dame. Perhaps not the safest, but hey, we're still alive and have all our valuables, so life is good.)

I'm heading home to Cleveland this Friday night. Reg is coming home with me for Friday night, Saturday, and he has to leave on Sunday night. In that day and a half we were hoping to meet with officiants, caterers, photographers, and videographers. Instead we are meeting with 2 officiants, no caterers, no photographers, 1 videographer, and one cake tasting. Mom and I have 2 other caterer appointments in the days that follow... we also have appointments with 2 florists. After considering how many vacation days I'm going to use in 2009 for my honeymoon and stuff (we're thinking Bali at the moment) I realized there won't be a lot of time that I can take off after this, so I extended my stay in Cleveland to last through 12/30. (I had originally wanted to come back on 12/27 -- Reg and I missed each other too much during Thanskgiving!) But that'll hopefully let me at least get started on lighting, linens, florists, and possibly invitations (although that's a low priority since I could get them done from NYC). Gah, and registry.

LOTS and lots of things to do, but I'm enjoying all of it. Oh, and by the way, our "official" website is up and running -- please stop by and sign our guest book if you get a chance!

Ai yi yi!

We've spent the weekend addressing Save The Dates. We have to wait a bit to send them until we get the official wedding website set up -- can't have people getting all confused! -- but we're nearly there.

It's really funny -- as I think everyone who reads this blog knows, we is gonna have a SMALL wedding. Which I still have hesitations about -- but to me it was sort of like, ok, you either have a big wedding and invite everyone you know, OR you invite the core friends and family. Like, CORE core. I still toss and turn at night (and am actually thinking about writing to Miss Manners about it -- like, for people I haven't spoken to all year do I mention I'm engaged in my Christmas card to them? Do I not send a Christmas card? What do I do?) -- but it really hit home when we were addressing the Save The Dates. My pile of invitations is about 1/4 as big as my usual Christmas card pile.

Fact remains that a) we really were just a heartbeat away from eloping, so a small, intimate wedding is a nice compromise, and b) this is a rite -- it isn't a party. (I mean, it is, but it's a celebration the same way a graduation is a celebration.) I remember feeling offended that I wasn't invited to some people's weddings, but it was sort of in comparison -- like, how could X be invited but not me? But if and when the non-invitees ever see pictures of the wedding, they'll GET it. I dunno. I think ultimately we're happy with the wedding we're having.

And I can't wait to send out the Save The Dates -- Reg and I are quite fond of our design.

Also, for the website: I've been trying to do a specialized map of Cleveland with the various attractions and accommodations. Let's see how it looks in Blogger... The red marker on the far left is the airport. The cluster of blue and red markers is the hotel and various cultural institutions in Cleveland. The red marker to the far right is the farm where we'll be married.


View Larger Map

Check, check, and check.

1. Bought the dress. (And, accordingly, freaked out afterwards... but I'm sure it'll be fine. It doesn't arrive until mid-March, so I'll have a long time to settle into the idea of it!)

2. Ordered Save The Dates (known in the wedding society as STDs). (They're going to be magnets -- I wonder if I should buy a stamp (or have one made) for the envelopes to warn the post office and people that magnets are going to be enclosed. Hmmn. (And, in a slightly soothing but consistent way, I freaked out immediately after we purchased those also. But again, it'll be fine. Those don't arrive until the end of November.)

3. We also took advantage of a recent "free photobook" offer from Snapfish and put together a rather nice album of our relationship thus far, from meeting to engagement. We plan to display it at the reception. Reg and I spent a lot of time on it this weekend... we even walked around to take pictures of the bar where we met and the bar where we had our first date. I'm glad we did; it added a lot to the book. That won't arrive until mid-December. (No freaking out on that one.)

4. We're also talking to caterers -- we have a very definite idea of what we want for the wedding for cocktail hours and so forth. And photographers. And we still need to find a videographer and a florist. Lots and lots and LOTS of decisions still to be made. Egads. (And we still have to order official invitations also.) Again: egads.

Ok, just a taste of where the wedding will be:

Case Western - Manor House, originally uploaded by one_insider_2000.

Some decisions, finally!

OK. Announcement: I will be married on Saturday, May 30, 2009.

Be there or be square.

Where: Manor House (the old farm house)

Hotel info: Glidden House, where they're offering us $139 per night for a regular room, $215 per suite. This hotel is a great one (but for the annoying fact that they don't have shuttles to and from the airport) -- but Reg and I love the fact that it's more like a bed and breakfast (with an amazing breakfast buffet the next morning) and it's in walking distance to many of the great things that Cleveland has to offer: the Botanical Gardens, the Cleveland Art Museum, a ton of antique stores, Cleveland's Little Italy, etc.

We're trying to design a Save the Date myself -- I'll probably post it here first, but we'll send those out as soon as we can.

More decisions:
Cake: I think we picked out our cake when we were home in Cleveland, also. Cleveland had a famous bakery, for years, named Hough's ("Huffs") -- it unfortunately dissolved after the owner died (or there was some scandal with the owner's son changing the recipe and all the workers leaving to start their own bakery making Hough's cakes -- not entirely sure). But it was known for a slightly almond taste to the frosting. That is the taste of my YOUTH -- many birthday parties and other celebrations, we celebrated with a Hough's cake. Except for those times that Mom made me a Cookie Monster cake. (Thank you, Mommy!) Anyway, that is all I wanted for my cake -- it'll be very simple, white on white, with three tiers. I said: Lots of frosting. No fondant. Nothing too showy. We showed her some pictures and she sounded like she totally got it.

I'm inching towards a decision on the dress -- it totally caught me by surprise how long the delay is for a dress; really had no idea that most bridal stores only have one dress in stock at any given moment. I always heard that the main reasons weddings take so long for the planning is "because of the dress;" I always understood that to mean that women take forever to pick out their dress. NO, it is because there are people sewing and sewing and sewing in China. They could BIRTH a dress faster than this. Anyway, it's weird -- and I've told Reg this so I'll tell you also -- all of the dresses that I'm liking are very similar in the details: lace, fluid, sheath-like, simple. But the vibe is all over the place -- romantic to historical to Grandma-knit crochets to everything else. It's kind of taken me by surprise; have no idea what kind of bride I want to be.

News spreads of my weirdness: Hilariously, my grandmother is falling off her chair every time she hears the weird stuff I'm doing for my wedding. No priest? No BRIDESMAIDS?

Food: If anyone has any thoughts on food, please let me know -- that is the next thing I need to turn my attention to. I keep thinking that the filet mignon that I've had at galas at the Waldorf Astoria and Cipriani has been unmemorable, which makes me not want to try it for my wedding. I want, like, GOOD FOOD for my guests, but it's in a different place for my parents' and my budgetary priorities.

Is she kidding with this?

Who tries to coordinate outfits with your loved one so you look like a couple? [WSJ]

Updates, updates. We think we've decided on a venue: Manor House at Squirevue Valee Farm. (Alas, I remember it's spelled weird, but not the exact spelling.) I don't want to say a lot about it -- I want the guests to be kind of surprised and enjoy it -- but we think it's very us. The other places that we were considering sort of shook out this way: We love the location of Glidden House, and actually will probably suggest that our guests stay there. A nice room will be like $150 a night or less (I forget the exact amount, details to come) but it's absolutely perfect -- a beautiful bed and breakfast, within walking distance to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens, to the Cleveland Art Museum, Little Italy, Millionaire Row, and all sorts of cute antique stores and so forth. Oh, and the management building that Gehry just designed for Case Western. We were SO in love with Glidden as the hotel that we chose Manor House over O'Neill, the mansion we had been considering renting -- Manor House is pretty close to Glidden, whereas O'Neill was like a 35-40 minutes drive. (We're still going to have to have shuttle buses running between venues, but it won't be a 40-minute drive.)

In other news, Mom and I did dress shopping -- we totally did not find the dress, and instead had a sort of exhausting, disappointing experience at the store. Still don't have a caterer picked out... or a photographer... or a florist, or anything else we should have by this point. Eeek!