Return to Normal Programming

Our internet and television service is finally back in working order. On Friday morning we startled awake to an enormous KABLOOIE! and a blinding flash of light (we both swear something momentarily glowed bright orange from the bedroom ceiling). A typical spring Texas thunder storm was rolling through and decided to strike down our sinful cable service. Apparently lightning struck either our house or very close to it. We were grateful to find our attic lacking fire and our chimney apparently still sporting all of its bricks per usual.

We were, however, simultaneously horrified to find ourselves unable to access the internet. My software engineer fiance did every bit of magic computer mumbo jumbo in his arsenal to get it up and running, but alas, it soon became clear that some portion of the hardware was *fried*. In fact, just about every portion of the hardware relating to the cable & internet service was fried. Our cable provider finally made it out yesterday afternoon to replace the portions that were their responsibility. We had to replace the router ourselves - I guess they don't cover acts of God. I think they should. It was clearly their evil services that God was seeking to smite.
Harumph, I say. Harumph.

Despite the fact that we have internet service at home again, I'm actually writing this update while paying copious amounts of attention to my oh-so-enthralling 10 hours of Monday classes. I'm actually a ridonkulously good (and modest) student roughly 95% of the time. This semester is quickly fulfilling my 5% quota of bad study habits. I'd rant about the drudgery of my current classes, but I guess I should actually fulfill this entry's titled subject; our return to normal programming. Wedding stuff it is!

I've finished my homemade Save the Dates but I'm waiting on a few straggling addresses to be gathered. Until I've sent them all out, I'll refrain from giving you a proper look at them. I will give you a little taste though!

Shallow Depth of Field Teaser.

Since I introduced our "children" in the last proper entry, now seems as apt a time as any to introduce our wedding party. I'll start with my attendants, since y'know.. they're mine. And I'm just selfish like that.

First up, my Matron of Honor. I tend to still call her my maid of honor since I think "matron" sounds rather matronly (go figure) but Miss Manners tells me I'm wrong. Shove it, Miss Manners. How about Sister of Honor? Yeah, we can go with that.

Sister of Honor, Jessie.

We go way back. I've known her for a little over twenty years, since I came screaming into the world and stole her bedroom. I also ripped the flowers out of her dollhouse window boxes and various other unforgivable offences, but she set my lego man on fire and sometimes tried to mother me too much. Shall we call it even, sis? These days, she's one of my best friends although she lives way the heck across the country and we only get to see each other in person once, twice, or thrice a year. I was her Maid of Honor when I was about 15, although I was pretty terrible at it. I had no idea I was supposed to give a speech at the reception, and I sure as heck wasn't really involved in the planning of her shower and bachelorette party. Therefore she only has to write an embarassing or touching speech for us if she really really wants to, and she's already doing an awesome job in her other Honor-Person's duties.

A decidedly not-recent picture of the two of us. I'm a pretty pretty princess. She's.. my sister. =D

Next up, my bridesmaid Kelsey. We went to Middle School and High School together. We were apparently in the same Algebra class when I was in 7th grade and she was a big bad 8th grader.. but neither of us have any recollection of the other. Oh well. That was unfortunately the only class we ever had together but we're planning to take a community college summer class together this year. We met through a mutual friend when I was in 10th grade and she was in 11th. We were both in Badminton Club - we'd basically just whack a birdie back and forth without a net (or any rules) in the middle of the main hallway of the school, exactly where the color guard wanted to practice at the same time. Rebels, I know.

Aww. I'n't she puurty?

At first we just shared a close friend rather than really being close friends ourselves. Over time though, as our tight knit group split several ways, I've come to count her as one of my very closest friends, and I like to think it's mutual. Right, Kelsey? Right? [nudge nudge]

I believe this was my junior and her senior year. Party hardy. We were good little straight edge kids in high school.

I also have a male attendant. Or maybe a bridesman! Actually, Michael has no qualms about being called one of my bridesmaids. I think he takes great pride in bearing that title. Michael and I met in high school through the same mutual friend who introduced me to Kelsey. We've also grown much closer in the last year or two.

Michael solely represents the not-pasty-white contingent of our wedding party.

He's really adorable about the whole wedding planning process. When I put my veil on for him a week or two ago, he totally started tearing up. He also super adorably freaked out when I told him Opie and I had gone ring shopping, and also definitely when Opie actually popped the question. While he's certainly not more excited about our wedding than we are, he very well may be more vocal about it. Cutie pie. Just for the record, he digs girls. And Hugh Jackman. But mostly girls.

He is very insistent that I weigh absolutely nothing. A good ego booster to have around! =D

That wraps up for my attendants. I'll briefly introduce Opie's boys, but I'm not particularly qualified to do so. Opie's Best Man, for whom he was also Best Man, is his long-time friend Justin.

Probably not the most flattering picture ever of the boy, but his internet presence is basically nonexistant.

Justin and Opie are all kinds of trouble when they get together. They consider Justin's wife Christie and myself "keepers" because we'll put up with (or ignore) their often inappropriate behavior. They've been friends since High School and perhaps revert to that level of maturity when they're together, but that's perfectly okay. They have an ongoing contest to find the most disturbing/obnoxious/hilarious songs and videos in existence. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to enjoying the results of their search. Alas, I have no pictures of the two of them misbehaving together to include here. Opie, you must remedy this in the most safe-for-work way possible, please.

Opie's other groomsman is his friend Marshall. They've known each other even longer than he and Justin, I think. I could be completely wrong. Whatever. Opie's free to rewrite this portion. They lived together for a lot of years, both in Texas and California. Opie was the lone witness at Marshall's courthouse wedding a number of years ago.

Marshie-Bear, as Opie affectionately calls him. Marshie-Bear loves this monicker, I'm sure.

Marshall is also a software engineer (I think... something like that, anyway) and I guess they kind of honed their professional skills together growing up. They supported each other through layoffs and breakups and many life changing experiences. They're more like family than friends by now.

Marshall and Opie enjoying a little Saint Patty's very-underage drinking. They were not the straightedge children that my friends and I were.

For good measure, I'll conclude with a picture of Opie and me from Christmas of '08.

Aww.

Lo Siento

Alas, our internet & television went kaput at our house yesterday morning. The earliest we're able to have someone out to replace the hardware iiiis tomorrow. Poo. And now I have to go clock on at work. I'll catch y'all on the flip side.

A still sick Mary is a still whiney Mary, so waaah. I want my interwebz.

A Sick Mary is a Whiney Mary

Waahhhh. I'm currently waging war with the cold of doom and am thoroughly not enjoying myself. Wedding progress has been put on hold while I cough, sniffle and complain, so I don't have much of anything new to report. Naturally my illness coincides with a school week full of tests and other fun things, a work week where I was mistakenly scheduled for about twice my usual hours, aaaand my twentieth birthday. Yay! Don't feel too bad for me though. All sympathy should be directed toward Saint Opie who is currently on Ramen, Nyquil and "Go back to bed, stubborn girl!" duty.

I'll use this break in our scheduled programming to properly introduce the other 2 members of our little family. I'll introduce them in order of age rather than size, methinks.


First, the adorable, the ridiculous, the rather idiotic...


The Calypso!

Oh ho ho. This picture cracks me up everytime.

See? I toooold you she's adorable. Can I hear an "AWWWW"?

I did also mention ridiculous and idiotic, right? Yes, that is Calypso inside the leg of my jeans. Ohh, kitty. You are a silly one.

Calypso joined the family in Fall of '07, about 3 or 4 months into our relationship. We already knew we were in it for the long haul, bringing a baybeh kitteh into our life together. She came to us from a stray litter that my sister found abandoned in her carport in Washington state. Calypso and her brother Allister (who now resides with my parents) flew to Texas together, mewing pitifully the whole way.

After Calypso had settled in for about a year and had thoroughly decided that she ruled the roost, we decided to turn her world upside-down and adopt a puppy. Ohhh boy, was she less than pleased. But how could she resist Trajan's cute puppy face?

Trajan at 6 weeks. He came to us at 10 weeks & roughly 37 lbs.

Well, I guess maybe the fact that he weighed about 4 times her weight might have had something to do with it. Also, his puppy curiosity married to his gargantuan size put her in some rather uncomfortable positions. Sorry kitty!

Trajan is a blue Great Dane. He's currently 8 months old. He hasn't been weighed since he was 6.5 months old, when he weighed about 105 lbs of pure love and affection. He definitely outweighs me now.

Trajan at 6 months. This is the only piece of furniture he's allowed to sit on. He doesn't much like to share it.

7 months.

8 months. He says, "Gee mom. I'm not doin' anything mischievious at all! I swear!" It looks like they're getting along here. By their standards, they are, but Calypso is in fact growling and Trajan is sloooooowly sneaking closer so that he can very excitedly investigate her with his huge schnozz.

So, do you think the description in my profile of "an itty bitty kitty and a horse disguised as a puppy" is accurate? Just to give you a reference of just-how-big Trajan will get, his father weighs 185 lbs. His mother's back is 33 inches off the ground. He'll get most of his growth in the first year, but he'll gradually grow more for another year+. I love our larger-than-life pup!

Ceremonial Songs

I have 2 possibilities in mind for our ceremony music. The first would be to have a musically talented family member or friend play something for our processional and recessional. This would pretty much limit us to guitar or viola. No offense to my violist friend but I'm a violinist and really can't stand the sound of the viola even when played well. My cousin and my uncle both play guitar very well, as do a few mutual friends of ours so that's a viable option.

I didn't think my other idea was feasible on our budget. In fact, it's really not unless I manage to push some funds around and DIY more stuff. Therefore, I'd really written it off as an option, but mentioned in passing to my parents that, "Gee, it sure would be nice if we could afford a bagpiper for our ceremony." A few months passed from when I mentioned it, and then my mom suggested that she and my dad might be willing to cover the cost of hiring a piper. oooOOOOooo!

source

I can tell that I'm about 150% more excited about this possibility than my fiance. He hasn't gone so far as to say that he doesn't like the bagpipes (maybe that's just because he fears I might hit him) but he's said something along the lines that he thinks the music played on them is inappropriate in the setting of a wedding. I disagree! I think the pipes are wonderful for all sorts of occasions of great pomp & circumstance, whether it be weddings, funerals, parades, or what have you. I haven't given up on the idea yet despite his lack of enthusiasm, but I fear it might fall by the wayside yet since this is after all *our* wedding, not just mine.

I have requests for quotes out to a dozen or so local pipers. I've received price quotes back from about 4 of them, with $250 being the best rate so far. Even if it's not technically my own money being spent for the piper's services, I do admit that $250 seems pretty steep when I essentially only want them to play 2 songs.

Maybe I should look into local fiddlers while I'm at it. I think Opie would be much more gung ho about that idea and it'd still be a very nice nod to my own heritage and interests, seeing as I'm a fiddler and generally obsessed with Celtic music and crafts. I don't even want to think about the amount of time I'll spend obsesssing over the music to be played if we hire a fiddler. Egads. Does anyone around here play Cape Breton style? No? Maybe I should just play my own music to wed by.

source

DIY Wheat Bouquet

Since very early in the wedding planning process, I've planned to make myself a wheat bouquet. I believe I was originally inspired by this photo:

Today, one of my bridesmaids and I went to Garden Ridge (and Hobby Lobby due to Garden Ridge's veeery poor ribbon selection) to gather supplies for my bouquet! I had been putting it off until I cleaned out some room in my "wedding closet" (the guest bedroom closet in which I hide all of my wedding shtuff from our pets) for it. However, folks from my wedding party were in town to help me with wedding tasks this weekend and I have a bridal portrait shoot in less than 2 weeks. If I remain satisfied with today's product, I can use it in my wedding in October too!

I bought 3 bundles of blackbeard wheat at Garden Ridge for $2.99 each. I only wound up using 2 of the bundles, but I wasn't sure exactly how much I'd need and I can always use the rest for other projects later. Also, note the price tag. I can afford the extra bundle to play with, methinks.

Here are the two bundles prior to being combined. In some ways I prefer the type of wheat used in the inspiration photo, but they were out of it today at Garden Ridge and I actually think the contrast the blackbeard wheat will have against my dress will be nice.

We cut the rubber bands off the bundles and began sorting them, removing any that were broken, too short, an inconsistent color, or otherwise unusable. We also cut the tips shorter on some of the wheat to make them a little less full when put all together.

There were 3 or 4 of the out-of-stock wheat hiding in among my blackbeard wheat.

Once we had chosen all of the stems of a consistent length and quality, I held them tightly and bridesmaid Kelsey began wrapping floral tape around the stems to hold them together.

We started the tape slightly lower on the stems than I wanted the ribbon to start and really just kept wrapping until it felt sturdy.

I then tightly wrapped the chocolate brown ribbon I picked up at Hobby Lobby over the floral tape and held it in place with regularly spaced pearl-tipped corsage pins pushed in at an angle.

Ta dah! Apparently I need to figure out how to hold my bouquet less awkwardly, but I like it! Judging by this photo, I think I might cut a few inches off of the bottom but that should be easy enough.

I'd like to thank my helpers for today's project:

The lovely Bridesmaid Kelsey!

William Shatner!

Current Inspiration/Progress Board

[click to enlarge]

From top left to bottom right:
1. Baby's Breath bouquets for the bridesmaids. The bride's male attendant will probably have a baby's breath boutonniere.
2. The bridesmaids will be wearing solid chocolate brown tea/knee-length dresses of their own choosing.
3. The groomsmen will either be wearing boutonnieres of non-floral natural elements or the glass flowers that I blogged about for my fascinator.
4. The reception will be all about the candlelit ambiance.
5. Centerpieces will include candles sunk into coffee beans in homage to our meeting through Starbucks.
6. The Groom's Cake will probably be Carrot or Rum cake aaand delicious.
7. These are the earrings that the bride and bridesmaids will be wearing in 3 different finishes.
8. The bride (hey, that's me!) will be sporting finger waves.
9. This is me, in my dress, with my tattoo!
10. The groom and groomsmen will be wearing tuxedos, most likely in espresso brown or slate gray.
11. The Bride's "Cake" will be a pie buffet.
12. A contender for our wedding bands.
13. I'm considering getting a red parasol to match my shoes, although I'll be carrying a wheat bouquet in the ceremony.
14. I think a little handpainted sign like this would be a lovely way to guide folks from the parking lot down the path to our venue.
15. I'd love to include either family wedding pictures or pictures of us over the years somewhere, likely at the guestbook table.
16. These are my shoes! And I love them!
17. Our ceremony & reception venue.

Most of this is old news to anyone who has been reading my blog for a while, but I figure a little pictorial summary can't hurt.

Alterations

Well, I took my dress in to get altered today. All it really requires is hemming of the dress, lining, and front panel. Judging by the tailor's marks, it looks like about 4 inches are coming off. I must say, that begs the question, "How tall was the girl who previously owned this dress?!" I mean, really. It fits my 5'6", 110 lb self like a dream except for the length. Was she 5'10" with my same body type? Dang.

When she asked what the dress was for, I said it was for a college dance, which could definitely be the truth (I actually suspect that it was originally marketed as a prom or similar dress). I don't know that she'd bump up the price over the word "wedding", but I certainly wouldn't be the first to encounter inflation over that one little word. I figured a little lie certainly wouldn't hurt anything. As it is, she quoted me $40, pointing out the slippery fabric, draped back, and several layers. I have no idea how that compares to other local prices, but either way, it seems reasonable enough to me, and she did a beautiful job on a jacket that my dad brought to her so I thiiink I'm in good hands.

Since I have bridal portraits scheduled for the 23rd of this month, my dress should be back in my hands by the 22nd. The tailor said that'd be fine. Nevertheless, I have this irrational fear that they'll go out of business (despite the great abundance of orders hung on racks in the store) and I'll never get my dress back! Gah! I don't know how you brides do it when you special-order your dress. I couldn't imagine having it out of your possession for 8 months. 2 weeks is more than enough for me, thanks.

One of my currently in-progress DIY wedding projects is my fascinator.

fas⋅ci⋅na⋅tor

   /ˈfæsəˌneɪtər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [fas-uh-ney-ter] –noun

1.	a person or thing that fascinates.

2.	a scarf of crochet work, lace, or the like, narrowing toward the ends, worn as a head covering by women.

For the record, mine is not a scarf of crochet work, lace or the like, but I love the word fascinator, so that's what it shall be called. I think it's a thing that fascinates, so it still works, eh?

When I visited my matron of honor/sister last month, we happened across some gorgeous glass flowers dying to be turned into fascinators. We couldn't decide between 3 of them, so all 3 came home with me. That's a rare splurge in my planning process - I blame my sister, but really, I thank her, since she insisted on buying 2 of them for me (I practically had to force her to let me pay for 1 of them). After I bought my red shoes, I decided to use the red ones to bring in the same pop of color somewhere else in my "ensemble".

Seeeee?

My only concern is their weight. Being glass, they're not heavy per se, but they're also not exactly light. I need to find a clip or comb to wire it to that will stay in my hair really well to support their weight.

Since my mother has her doubts (and I begrudgingly admit I do too), I went ahead and arranged a back-up plan. While browsing on Craig's List, I saw someone listing their wedding dress and accessories. I spied a pretty hair flower a la Twigs & Honey in her listing, so I asked if she'd take $10 for it. In person, it's maybe slightly larger than I'd find ideal but a) it was $10, b) I can maybe remove some of the outer petals to make it smaller and c) it's really very pretty as is and complements my dress color perfectly.

My camera battery currently needs to be recharged, so I don't have any photos of it yet, but it looks a lot like this one, but with some center petals more toward a yellow hue, and minus the feathers.

source
It also has some pearls and crystals in the center. Pretty, pretty. Also, this was apparently the bride's backup fascinator that she bought new, so it's never been worn.

I do really hope I can get the glass flowers to work, but I'd be happy with this option too. What do you think?