6 month FREAK out...oh and flowers

I got an email the other day from Project Wedding, a site I frequent as a DIY bride. They send daily emails on different topic and tell the number of days until your wedding. Well Dec 27 was officially the 6 month mark and I had a small panic attack at work....every possible acronym happened to me, ADD, OCD, ADHA, OCD again, all at the same time, activating a strong, urgent need to go to every blog I frequent, Weddingbee, 100 Layer Cake, Project Wedding, The Knot, One Wed, the list goes on, print out every picture I have on my work computer, contact every contact I have for each wedding decision left untended, complete the four registries we have, fill out my wedding book, finalize my guest list AND tell the caterer which cheese to buy. It was more than slightly overwhelming.

So with all this going on, I reactivated my wedding organizer for my after the holidays wedding rally...get it going!!! I made it myself and it is a little less helpful than when I started. I borrowed items and ideas from other sites and they just don't fit. So I am going to spend the New Years weekend reorganizing my binder and making sure that everything is more user friendly.

I also need to start paying more attention to this blog and using it as a tracking method. I get so jealous of the brides who have time to create an amazing monetized blog, with sponsors and readers and links and greatcontent. They must have a lot of time....which makes me reassert my need and desire to cut back on things that I am doing outside my own life, if that makes an sense. How do people juggle it all? I mean I am blogging at work about my wedding!! Thank goodness the boss is away, so I can play. :)

Jul and I have our first flower consultation today and I am feeling a little frazzled. I can see what I want in my head but I can't describe it in words. Simple, elegant, bursting with color and texture but not overwhelming.

Here are a few pictures of types of flowers I would like. I'm not sure the price of each but I think they are gorgeous.

Daisies

Hydrangea

Peonies

Ranunculus

Thanks for listening to my rant!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

So we have a photographer and we couldn't be happier...well we could if we were already married...and had a million bucks, well maybe not even then.

ANYWAY, Juliano and I have decided on Darren Pellegrino Photography help tell the story of our wedding day. We met with Darren and his wife Beth and were instantly smitten. There was no pretentiousness, no pressure, no hurry up and decide, in fact they talked us down from a higher priced package. They were both incredibly kind and I felt like I wanted to talk with them all evening.

Juliano and I had looked at a slew of wedding photography sites. In fact, I made J look at 4 sites without telling him prices or anything and he chose Darren's page. The pictures in color are glorious, the composition and angles are fascinating and interesting, the special moments have they captured are brief passing seconds, caught for a lifetime.

But the thing that sealed the deal is the fact that both Darren and Beth speak Portuguese and made an big effort to make Jul feel comfortable. It will be a big gift and enormous help for Juliano's family as well.

We are very lucky to have Darren and Beth agree to be part of our family for the day.

Check out the website at http://www.darrenpellegrino.com/ . Make sure you click on to the blog as well to see some of his other stuff.

YAY!!! Can't wait.

Two Maids Weigh In

Coleen likes #1 and Jess likes #2. I like them both but I also like #3 and #4. Maybe a trip to the bridal shop is in order. I like #4 with a small ribbon/sash around the waist.

Maid Dresses Galore...

So I think this is the easiest way, aside from actually shopping in a store - geesh who does that anymore - to see some of my ideas for bridesmaid's dresses. Just some ideas and nothing more. I love the colors though. EEEEE!!! as Coleen would say. I really like the first one but in a different color, obviously! Have at it ladies. These are all from David's Bridal but we don't necessarily need to go there. This is just to generate ideas. Thoughts?

What LUCK!!

So apparently I lucked out at Filene's Basement's Running of the Brides because I scored myself a Maggie Sottero Couture bridal gown for $250! Originally, I believe it is $2298.  Ummm that is an over $2000 savings! And for anyone who knows bridal fashion, Maggie Sottero is an innovator in the industry, one of the most recognized bridal gown manufacturers, a multi-award winning designer label offering brides the best fit in the industry, coupled with the highest quality fabrics and exquisite details. 

Holy cow. I am fully in love with my dress.  Needs very few alterations which makes the price tag even sweeter.

Here are some photos of 2009 Running of the Bride. We went in August.

Save the Date - DIY

So Juliano and I decided to do as much of our wedding as possible. After a few trials and errors and lots of backing and forthing about what we want, I finally came up with a design I just love.  

The SAVE THE DATE needed to incorporate number of wishes from both of us, set the theme for the wedding and show off our playful side. They don't send STD announcements in Brazil so the only Jul has ever seen in on my fridge, for my cousin Eric. So Jul def wanted a magnet. I wanted pictures, he wanted a photobooth looking magnet. I wanted it to be cheap but not look cheap.  

This is what I came up with....Jul helped with colors and font.

Underneath the picture of me with my ring, we stamped a flower in the color peony which is the same color as our names.  It is tres cute!

In order to satisfy the magnet part of our wants, I found magnet paper at Staples and then created a Welcome to Boston image with our names and the wedding date on it. We cut them with a paper cutter and then I purchased a tool to round the edges. It was 50% at Michael's...I love when good ideas are on sale!  We attached the magnet to the back with a glue dot and then wrote a personal message on the back of each.  On the back, I printed a copyright symbol with our wedding date and designed by m and j just to be cute.

Jul and I found some envelopes the same color as the blue on the card at a local stationary store.  I made our return address labels with regular address label with the same font and color as the STD. I then stamped a color of the image we are using for our invitations, the theme stamp for the wedding.  We also found this awesome wedding stamp which is super cute - a couple in the three stages of a relationship, date, engagement, wedding - and stamped that on the back of each envelope. I wrote the addresses by hand.

It was quite a project but one that feels very good to have done ourselves. The message on the back on the STD is personal which makes the whole thing less cookie cutter and more meaningful.

So DIY budget:

Photo cards I bought at Jobs Lots over a year ago - $2.50

Three packs of 20 envelopes for 2.29 a piece - $6.87

Magnet paper - $13.00

Stamp which is also being used elsewhere - $15

Printing and Labor - FREE

Personal, professional and Fun SAVE THE DATE - PRICELESS

Oh the stress of it...

Oh sweet Jesus, I am freaking out. I keep logging on the The Knot, My Wedding, Project Wedding, Wedding Wire, etc, etc and I just cannot get with it as other "knotties" have. Maybe I just don't have time. And then there are awesome blogs to give inspiration but do I have time to read them much less do my own. Who can forget Wedding Bee, 100 Layer Cake, A $10,000 Wedding blogs? I mean I really WANT to blog all about this and show you all my DIY creations but who the hell has time. Ugh.

Date? CHECK

Location? CHECK

Caterer? CHECK

Theme? CHECK

Dress? CHECK

Website? CHECK

Invitation? DON'T EVEN ASK ME

Save the Date? Ummm...still saving it

Colors are stressing me out cause everyone keeps saying well that isn't summer or festive enough. So then I change it and then everything has to change. And then I go on a buying rampage and what was supposed to be cheapish ends up being expensive-ish. Damnit! Make up your mind.

This is my inspiration picture. PERIOD. Magenta, Apricot, Caribbean blue. Does this work?

Bad blogger...bad.

I am a really bad blogger. Seriously....as hard as I try it never gets done. Ugh. Concentrate. Focus. Write. Sleep.

So I have been crazy busy with a political campaign, a wedding, a trip, work, a community organization I am active in, a winter formal party, friendships, a relationship and family ties to keep up. The doctor said my blood pressure is a tad high as is my cholesterol. When the hell do I have time to exercise or eat right. What does she want from me? :)

I drive to work everyday, much to the chagrin of my waistline and the environment. This is the way it has to be. For the past month or so, I have been watching this plant, what at first seemed to be a large weed, grow on this island near the round about going into Harvard Sq. It started off small and leafy, reaching up as hard and high as it could, hoping for a kiss from the sun. Its leaves started to spread out, covering its little plot of soil. It grew bigger and bigger as the summer went on, til one day it bloomed. It was a gorgeous and immense sunflower, head up , bent slightly under its own weight. How amazing! I had watched this flower grow all summer and suddenly there is was, yellow and alive, petal arching delicately with it seeds of life plump, chest out for the birds to come take away. Circle of life.

And then one day, it started drooping with age and time. I decided that my appreciation from afar needed to end and I walked during my lunch hour to pay my respects at the island. I took a few pictures, which don't do it justice, trying to capture the magnificence of its life. The day was sunny, the breeze was warm, the flower heavy with seed. It was an honor to stand in its presence.

I drove by the island today as I do everyday looking for the flower the came to symbolize a life struggle to me - claiming its small piece of earth, fighting to grow amidst the asphalt and fumes, people passing with no second thought, stretching to heights beyond its capability, yet still trying, bright yellow and green in the middle of the gray concrete jungle - only to find that it was gone, cut down, too weighty for its own good perhaps, too ugly for those who keep up the island. Now there simply stands the stalk and soon I can imagine it will be gone too.

What does it say about us...those who work too hard, those who stretch beyond our means despite being told we can't, hoping for a kiss from the sun, those trying to spread our wings and claim our little spot on this earth? Circle of life cannot be denied, I guess.

Creativity...can make you nuts!

I think I am getting ahead of myself with all this wedding planning. It is quite obsessive...I work, eat and sleep wedding invitations, save the date cards, favors! OY! I have dreams about colors and paper and ribbons.  I love all this stuff and being creative is very fulfilling to me....unfortunately it does not go well with my obsessive nature which wants me to have it all done immediately.  

I am currently working on invitations and save the date. I designed a save the date which is cute and Juliano loved - of course - but it is not exactly what I see in my head. I want to make sure it doesn't look cheap. At the same time, I want it to be cheap.

WEDDING PROJECTS

Paper - I think I am going to embark on a few wedding projects.  I want to make flower seed paper which we can use as favors... plant it and watch the love grow. I may also be able to use is as part of the invitation pieces. It will be a lot of work because of the sheer number of invitations that need to be made. Call it a labor of love I guess.

Veil - I really want to make my own veil and incorporate the veil my sister used in her wedding.  It was made from my grandmother's veil cap, which my aunt also wore and lace from my great grandmother's veil.  I may have two veils, one on top of the other. I found a great pattern for hand made veils.  I think it is a nice thing to have and pass on.

Invitations - We are putting together our invitations ourselves...not from a kit but by scratch. It is puzzling trying to put all the pieces together and find what goes with what but it is also gratifying.  I have found some interesting paper, pocket and envelope places online. I would highly recommend them if you are looking for decently prices pieces to put together a wedding stationary set.

Thats it for now. Off to build a mock invitation.

315 days to go.

Well, it is official

WE HAVE A DATE! WE HAVE A LOCATION!

After an extensive search and many site visits and budget wrangling, we have decided on June 27, 2010 at the Commander's Mansion in Watertown. It is a beautiful mansion with a tent and grape arbor. It is easy to get to and has the feel we are going for! We are all about ambience and we loved this place the moment we saw it. Our goal now it to tailor the vision for our day around it!

We are so happy that it is out of the way cause it was majorly stressful.

Glad we really like each other.

319 days left

Sangria it is!

Well we have decided on a theme of sorts...Sangria. On our first date, Juliano and I had a few pitchers full, we love the color, the taste and fruit. It seems a perfect match for us...it is a little sassy and vibrant with a little kick.

Here is a picture of sangria which looks luscious.

I envision a nice light blue glass pitcher, some oranges, lemons and limes thrown around for a nice fruity image. Light breezy and summer!

We like it.

Planning planning and more planning!

So we are in the stages of planning hell for the greatest day of our lives....ok not hell but similar. I am one who goes at something hard and quick and so I want all this done now. Why? So I can sit and wait and think about all the things that might go wrong. Its all true. Plus we want to do it all ourselves and have a hand it all the little pieces.

We have decided that our wedding gift registry will primarily include things for our honeymoon/trip. I am SO HAPPY Juliano asked me to marry him and I am very excited to be him wife. BUT it puts a slight kaibash on our plan to drive to Brazil so why not use one for the other? Between the two of us we have tons of things already. Plus, since we are planning a long trip and probably getting rid of much of our stuff, not sure how much sense it makes to get lots of new stuff. So by deduction, we will register for stuff we will really use.

This is what I say NOW, but my mom and sister say Get really good towels and sheets. And I want people to feel like they can give us whatever they feel that want to give or even nothing at all.

Damn, it IS all about everyone else. Crap.

Color, I want Color!!

I love how all the colors work together and create a very full visual image. The table looks alive and happy!!

We definitely want a tent cause the plan is for a June wedding and it will be hot inside.

Draping lends an ethereal, dreamy quality to a tent.  Here is an example of what we could do, with different colors of course.

All beginning to come together but these are some first thoughts. 

First action?? Find a place so we can use all these wonderful ideas! OY!

Engagement....

is a beautiful thing....wedding planning can make you crazy.  I am currently running circles in my head over ceremony/receptions sites, trying to find the one that matches us, works with our budget, doesn't feed the wedding machine and is actually memorable in a really personal way.

I think I am going to turn this blog into my wedding blog...it seems like a much easier way to keep track of everything. I mean I have the three ring binder, I have the zip drive and the bookmarks on each computer I have as well as a file on the desk top. I have books about lists, I have lists about books, I have magazine and blogs and website and pictures and ideas and man oh man....I love this stuff but it makes me crazy.

What we know:

We want outdoors

We want a tent

We want some nature

We do not want a heavy meal

We want live music

We will do the decoration, flowers, favors and invites ourselves.

We want simple

We want color

We want draped tent with an ethereal feel.

I originally wanted historical but now I want modern simplicity color and clean lines.

More later. 

I went out on a date.....

...with my boyfriend and came home engaged! Can I  even believe it? It happened quickly, I had no idea, he totally surprised me and lied to me...for like a month. 

So he lured up to the Bunker Hill Monument on date night - we like to go to the Warren Tavern for the best raspberry pie known to man, under the guise of taking evening pictures.  Come to find out it was in fact Bunker Hill day....but he said that was not the reason he was there.  I have no clue.... he starts to bend down on one knee and I thought Oh No! What's wrong? Did you hurt yourself?  Hello duh.... I had told myself earlier that there was no way he would propose. He is too calm....well, once again, he proved me wrong.

So he gave me a beautiful diamond ring, I said YES, smacked him on the arm as I choked on my own hair and tears. We called my mom and went and had pie. It was an awesome night.

When we got home, he had taped messages all over the room for me, had champagne and rose petals spread around. It was a perfect, perfect engagement proposal.

I have to say that being engaged is better than dating any day of the week....I encourage everyone to do it as much as possible.  Probably the best thing for me is that I have no doubts, no craziness in the head, no neurotic thoughts, just real surity that this is a good, good thing.

We are in the wedding planning stage, which takes a lot of energy, it is a ton of fun but lots of energy, conversation, really digging deep to discover what is right for us, lots of visiting, emailing, comparing, lists and lists and lists. I love it cause I love him and I love us.

So welcome to my wedding planning page with a little bit of my crazy, askew world throw in.

Thanks for stopping by and if you have any great wedding thoughts, send them my way!

Breaking up is hard to do...

I had to break up with that guy in my head, the one I created as a girl, the perfect man, the perfect mate, the one I have been searching in vain for all of my adult life and the one I will never find cause there is no way in hell he exists.  Yeah that one....I had to break up with him...and it is for good this time. He never calls. He never takes me out. I am always left unfulfilled and longing for more. He never compliments me. He never takes care of me, holds my hand when I cross the street. Can't remember the last time, if ever, he made me dinner or brought be fresh flowers. I am usually left talking to myself as I mull over our problems...he isn't much of a talker.  He has never met my nephew or my cats. I dress up for him, have my hair and nails done and he never seems to notice. What must I do to get his attention, to get a single glance my way, to have a word of kindness uttered in my direction, a simple recognition of my existence? So for this and so many other reason, I have to break up with the guy in my head. 

You see, I have found a man in real life who does all the thing Head Guy doesn't do. Real Life Man is not the guy in my head, he never will be, he will never be this figment of my imagination in a place where I can live and be happy in my head with my warped sense of what a relationship is supposed to be.  Come to find out I don't want him to be.  Head Guy can never ever give me what I want and as much as I love him in my head, in my awake life, he leaves me empty and hollow.  Real Life Man fills me full of life and love, sweet nothings, soft kisses, kind words and he holds my hand and my heart. He engages with me in conversation about movies, life, news, nothingness and the weather.  He is nothing like Head Guy yet everything that Head Guy was supposed to be.  Real Life Man is what every little girl hopes the guy in her head will turn out to be. I guess I am one of the lucky ones.

Saying good bye is hard to do....Head Guy has sustained me through lots of tough times.  He is what I know.  It is like giving up a really good bad habit or a defensive mechanism.  I let him go reluctantly yet happily.  Thanks for the memories.

Ha! i guess this posting from my phone thing does work. i am looking at my blog right now as i text. technology! Gotta love it! Stay tuned for updates from the Mountain!

getting ready 4 mountain jam. going with my best girl jess. have 2 say it is damn expensive 2 be a hippie! and i have so much left 2 do 2 get ready!

Welcome to my world

My name is Mellissa and I am a princess….except for the fact that I am a little neurotic, obsessive, overworking, underslept, addicted to coffee, cheese and music. I am dating my best friend’s – well maybe now ex best friend’s – ex boyfriend – to my credit it was three years ago for three months and she is now engaged. I have two cats, Sadie and Sasha, one sleeps on my head and the other is in love with my weird male roommate. Traitor. I have a therapist who I think helps me and an Al Anon meeting which I know helps me. I have a complicated family life, mothers, fathers and lots of sibs...and love, mostly love. I can’t have a relationship to save my life….until now. I sit at a desk all day and pretend to work. I am political and loud and very opinionated….all of which get me in trouble. I like to exercise but never do and somehow think I can be in shape and healthy. I have slightly elevated cholesterol and blood pressure. And I gained two pounds over the weekend. Damn it. I hate my nose and want a nose job, I need Botox for a furrow in my brow that comes from my retro-cringe.

On the other hand, I have awesome friends, an amazing nephew and an overabundance, overflowing amount of love and goodness in my life.

My name is Mellissa and I am a princess….a princess askew. Welcome to my world.