Wedding Wednesday: Trends

Soap box time, blog readers. And to my friends who have already had weddings and I was there, this is not a slam on any of you or your weddings. I love you and I loved your wedding. 

I have been in and attended quite a few weddings over the past five years. In fact, I’ve been in seven and been to nearly 20. And each time, I have loved what the bride couple has done with regard to décor, theme, fashion, etc. However, now that I am planning my own wedding, I am constantly reading blogs, checking Pinterest, and scouring magazines for ideas. And I am running into a lot of bridal trends that I’m just not loving anymore. And that is because they are SO overdone. Damn you, Pinterest for being so awesome and yet also so annoying.

My friends who are married did some of these things years ago and I’m still seeing them on blogs as “new, creative ideas for…” Um, hello?! Hey bloggers – get some new ideas! Or read the archives of other wedding blogs and you will see your so-called “new idea” has been around for years.

Don't get me wrong - there are lots of trends I love and plan to use at my wedding: one-shouldered gown, outdoor ceremony, tented reception, and a "first-look" to name a few. But sometimes, it's time for trends to be just that - a trend - and not become "the norm."

Here are my top three wedding trends I wish would go into retirement. After all, if my friends did these a year or five ago, then they are not so new anymore.

Rustic and Vintage
If I hear or read these words one more time, I may rip my hair out. Hey brides - just because you’re planning an outdoor ceremony or reception does NOT mean you have to have a wedding labeled vintage or rustic. Also, just because you incorporate burlap does not mean your wedding is vintage or rustic.

Honestly, I think I'm probably on my own on this one, as I have seen SO many blog posts about the bride who wanted the “vintage and rustic” wedding. They all have the same stuff – antique typewriters on an aged dresser, birdcages, and throwback glass Coca-Cola bottles – for their ceremony and reception. I hope a new theme catches on soon…

Mason Jars
I loved when my friend Steph utilized mason jars last fall as décor and favors. I thought it was so cute and quite honestly, original. In fact, my friend Kristen and I even tied this idea into her bridal shower. Fast-forward 10 months and I see this trend everywhere. Stop claiming this is an original idea, people! I saw it first hand nearly a year ago and I follow you on Pinterest; I saw all your pins about these. Bright side – Steph must feel very flattered, as she was ahead of the times :-)

The Basket of Flip Flops for “Dancing Shoes.” 
I’ll admit – every time this is an option at a wedding, I get excited because it is SO nice to have this option. My feet are usually ready for a break from my heels so grabbing some Old Navy flips flops and throwing them on feels like heaven. But this is not a new trend. Michael’s mom thought this was “the greatest thing ever” at his cousin’s wedding in Oct. I told her I’ve been to three weddings that have done this, and the first was in 2007. As much as I want this to retire, I have a feeling that Michael’s mom may just do this herself for our wedding because she wants it so badly. And I’ll probably be thankful when my feet are ready for a breather.

What other wedding trends you are seeing that you wish would go into retirement? Or are there some trends you wish would come back OUT of retirement? Let me know so I make sure I do or do not have them at my wedding.

101 days!

Best. Monday. Ever.

I rarely say that I have a good day on Monday, but yesterday was the best Monday ever. Of course, it helped that Michael and I both had the day off but it was so nice to have a "bonus day" to ourselves.

We spent the weekend at the cabin, working hard on wedding prep stuff. This weekend involved more painting, taking down several trees, planting and gardening, and putting in the boat and jet ski. Maybe some weekend we'll actually go for a boat ride now...

But yesterday was the perfect day. We came home on Sunday night so we slept in in our nice, big, comfy bed, and then made breakfast. Then it was off on a 15 mile bike ride around the lakes. We had a picnic halfway through and read and relaxed in the shade. The weather was perfect! The afternoon brought some more relaxing, reading, napping and baking. We caught up on some DVR stuff and before we knew it, it was 10pm and our usual "Sunday Night Blues" appeared.

I wish we had more Mondays off. I need to remember to take them instead of Fridays. Fridays are much easier to push through than Mondays. And having days off with Michael is much more fun than when I have days off and he doesn't. I can't wait until the Fourth of July!

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to the long weekend. That extra day is SOOOOO needed for us.

Sunshine to several mornings of sculpt this week. I can see and feel a difference. Hope I can keep this up.

Creep to not running as much as I should be. It’s hard to get out of bed more than three days a week at 5:05am, and then we have so much after work that I haven’t run in 10 days.

Sunshine to getting our wedding invitations this week. LOVE THEM (and Garon for designing them) and cannot wait to send them out next month.

Sunshine to dropping off the invitation envelopes to Michael’s step-grandma, who is doing the calligraphy for us as a wedding gift. She said to me “I don’t do traditional calligraphy” and I said to her “I don’t care what you do. I know it will better than my handwriting.” And those of you who know me well know that is SO true.

Sunshine to getting all my shower dates on the calendar and guest lists sent off. I am so blessed to have such giving people in my life.

Creep to caffeine headaches. I am totally addicted.

Sunshine to heading to the cabin this weekend. The forecast is iffy but I just love being there.

Creep to hardly spending any one on one time with Michael over the past two weeks. We’ve both been so busy with work that we’ve hardly seen each other.

Sunshine to picking my niece’s flower girl dress with my sister. It’s so damn cute.

Creep to two really sad events happening in the past few weeks: a sorority sister lost her child during birth and a beloved teacher (I never had her but everyone who did loved her) from my high school in Minot passed away. Life is way too short.

Sunshine to getting married in 106 days. Almost double digits!

Wedding Wednesday: Hair

I have learned over the past 5 months of wedding planning that there are a lot of things that I know I DON'T want for my wedding vs. things I DO want - dress, decor, etc. The same is true for my wedding day hairstyle.

Here are my hair no nos: side bun (done it), down (what if it's windy), half up (see down), tiara or headband (they pitch my head and give me a headache), flowers (I am wearing a veil), tight bun (looks like I'm a ballerina), straight (not as pretty), curls stack on the top of my head (too prom-y), and I could go on and on.

Based on all my no nos, here's what I've learned I do want:

• All pinned up
• Curled
• Side part
• Something I can easily slide my veil into and take out
• A little but not too much volume or "pouf"

I am lucky to have a hairstylist who will travel to the cabin to do my hair and makeup for the big day. We are planning a trial for later this summer. Here are some my pictures of hair inspiration.

Like the curls but looks like it would fall out

Pretty weave but is it too plain?

Can't see much - too much like the one just above it?

Probably my favorite one but I'm not sure how my veil would work for this

I actually wore my hair in this style for my GF's wedding in November and loved it.
But I don't want to do the exact same thing.

I'll keep looking and hopefully the stylist and I can come to a decision together.

108 days!!!!!!!!

Getting older

I've been thinking about this for awhile, but it really hit me about a month ago, when I got my engagement photos back. Are those crows feet next to my eyes? Yes. Do I always have that crease in my forehead? Yes. Now I know I'm just feeling it anymore - I'm looking it too. I am getting older!

Now, I'm not saying I'm old. I'm just saying I've been noticing things over the past year or so, but seeing the photos really brought me to the realization that I am almost 30. The thought of going to an amusement park make me nauseous. I can't eat anything I want anymore without stepping on the scale and seeing it rise. My lack of energy and endurance in workouts and runs is saddening compared to what it used to be. If I don't work out for a day, I can tell the next day when I put on my clothes. And my God, why is it so hard to sleep straight through the night anymore without waking up for no reason (or waking up because I have to pee)? Seriously, I hate that.

Of course, being older than Michael by several years doesn't help, since when I was his age, I was in the best shape of my life. He still has energy and the ability to work off that cheeseburger and fries easily (however, he also sucks at sleeping so that makes me feel a little better sometimes).

I broke down a few weeks ago and bought my first anti-aging facial moisturizer. Michael told me I was being crazy, but I needed it to make me feel better. Have I noticed a difference yet? Sort of. Honestly, I think I want to see a difference so badly that I am telling myself I do. I've also been trying hard to lose some weight before the wedding, which is a lot tougher now than it ever was for me before. Since all my magazines tell me to lift weights, I've been making myself do that too, even though I hate it. That's going ok, but the pounds aren't falling the way they used to and that's annoying. I guess that whole mantra "You are what you eat" is true because that's the next thing that needs to change. I have to accept the fact that I can't eat like I used to.

Earlier this month, Michael and I went to a Twins game that was rain-delayed for two hours. Our seats enabled us to get free food the whole game. So at 11pm, it was only the 5ht inning so I ate a hotdog. Well, I tried. About halfway through, I threw it away. It made me nauseous to be eating so late. I do not need to eat that late, and if I am eating, it should NOT be a hotdog. Bad Jenni! Plus, I felt awful after that. My body cannot handle "4th meals" anymore.

I'm not saying that I don't want to age. I am actually really excited for the next 10 years of my life. I just hope I age gracefully, like my mom. I'm not quite 30 yet but I definitely feel like I'm in my 30s. Gone are the days of not washing my face before bed, bar nights until 1am and greasy breakfast aftewards, sleeping until 10am, and not wearing sunscreen everyday (you should see my skin right now - it's Taylor Swift pale. No more tanning beds ever for this girl!). And you know what - I am TOTALLY ok with that. Because since those days are gone, they've been replaced with things like this: planning the future with the love of my life, eating dinner on our deck every night, yard work on our house and waving to our neighbors as they walk by, reading by the lake under a shaded tree, and loads of other  things. Yeah, the getting older thing can suck sometimes, but I wouldn't trade what I have now for anything.

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

Sunshine to my work event last night. I've been working on it since December and it went awesome!

Creep to the total lack of other work I've done this week because of my event last night. Lots to catch up on.

Creep to the total exhaustion I feel right now. So freakin' tired...

Sunshine to the early morning workouts this week, including a run with Michael. I hope we can drag ourselves out of bed more often at 5:10 for a run.

Creep to the weather forecast for this week. No storms!

Sunshine to all the wedding stuff I need to do this weekend. We're into the details now and even though it's overwhelming at times, it's also fun.

Sunshine to potentially having a florist for the wedding.

Sunshine to seeing my parents on Sunday - love their visits!

Creep to being a sucky blogger this week. Work was busy...

Sunshine to dance lessons this week, and signing up for more private lessons. Michael and I are loving (and quite good at) the Tango. Don't plan on dancing the Tango at the wedding, but it's fun to learn together.

Wedding Wednesday - Officiant

A big question for Michael and I early on in the planning process was "Who is going to marry us?" We wanted someone who knew at least one of us, if not both of us, and we didn't want an overly religious ceremony. Don't get me wrong - we love God, but we wanted to focus more on the idea of love and family. We also wanted someone who let us help him/her come up with what is said (our own individual vows to one another), do (and also "repeat after me" vow), not said ("I now pronounce you man and wife") and not do (unity candle).

We are really excited that a family friend of Micheal's family is going to marry us. She is a Minnesota Court of Appeals judge and just an awesome person. Seriously, I hope I am as classy as she is later in life. She shared with us a template for the ceremony last week and when I read it (on my iPhone at a Twins game), I got excited. REALLY excited! I turned to Michael with a big smile on my face and he said "What? Why are you so happy?" And I said "Because I just cannot wait to marry you." Reading the words that we'll say to each other and that will be said in front of our families and friends just overwhelmed me with happiness.

Only 115 days!

And just for fun, here's the vows scene from my favorite movie of all time :-)

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to another set of free tickets to tonight's Twins game. Yes, I know they suck but I'm not passing up seats right behind home plate in the Champion's Club. Leather seats, valet parking, free food - sounds good to me!

Creep to working tomorrow night. The School puts on a spring art party and somehow, my office gets roped into doing all the work. It's from 6 to midnight :-(

Sunshine to our site visit tomorrow morning with our rental vendor and caterer. So excited!

Sunshine to working out in the mornings for the past two weeks. Sculpt at 6am is tough (well, it's always tough) but I can already tell a difference.

Sunshine to catching up with Michelle last night and setting a date to get together. I miss her!

Sunshine to our dance lesson last night - we learned the Tango.

Creep to having to reschedule with my aunt for our lunch date to talk about the shower. At least we've established a date!

Sunshine to planting flowers and plants in our flower beds. Creep that some of them already look dead.

Creep to a super busy week and weekend. Dance lessons twice, engagement counseling session, running at the lake, Twins game tonight, trip to cabin and working tomorrow and Mother's Day on Sunday. Exhausting!

Sunshine to booking my plane ticket to go to ND for a weekend in June.

Sunshine to my coworkers for offering to throw me a shower.

Wedding Wednesday: Shoes

Since I am tall (5'10"), I rarely wear heels. And if I do wear heels, they tend to be 2" or less (the exception to that are all my pageant shoes, which are 4" or more - I haven't worn any of those in 5 years).

I have known from the get-go that I wanted to wear flats or small wedges for the wedding. We are getting married outside and the reception is in a tent outside so wear stilettos would just be dumb. I would be stuck in the ground all day long. Plus, with Michael being 6'2", wearing a flat or small wedge would make us appear (in my mind) more symmetrical as a couple.

I also knew this was one of those things that I didn't care about for the wedding. No one is going to see my shoes. I could wear Old Navy White Flip Flops and no one would know. My photographer will probably take a photo of them, but that's about it. There is no reason for me to get a pair of Jimmy Choos, Christian Louboutins, or Manolos. I'd rather spend that money on food.

I ordered the pair of flats below a few weeks ago, but sent them back after they didn't fit.

Nine West

Then I decided to see if I could find some white wedges. I found two pairs and have ordered both.

Cole Haan

Nine West

I'm also thinking that I could have my shoes be the "Something Blue," something I've seen several of my friends do. I just haven't been able to find any shoes that I like.

Anyone have any thoughts about where I should look for shoes (I've looked at Macy's, Nordstrom, Zappos, PiperLime, and Nine West).

Yesterday was the 4 month mark - only 121 days to go!

Peacock

On our way to the cabin last weekend, Michael and I saw a peacock. It was so random to see (near Buffalo, MN on County Rd 14) so we took a quick video. I've never actually seen a peacock in person until now. I tink the thing that surprised me the most was how long it was.

Sunshines and Creeps

Woohoo - it's Friday!

Sunshine to going to Yoga Sculpt at 6am this morning. I forgot how much I love working out before work.

Sunshine to still being the first person my office this morning, even though I was 30 minutes later than usual.

Sunshine to leaving work early today.

Creep to not walking or running last night. Happy hour got in the way.

Creep sleeping really poorly Wed night, which prevented me from dragging my butt out of bed to work out.

Creep to missing my fam. Can't wait to see them next month!

Sunshine to going to the cabin this weekend. On the to-do list this weekend: build a retaining wall.

Sunshine to a lunch date with my aunt this Monday to talk about the bridal shower she's hosting for me.

Creep to going to Target and thinking I just needed a basket. What was I thinking?! I somehow crammed $70 worth of groceries in it, and it was not fun to carry around the store.

Creep to the busy-ness that is about to start consuming my life starting Monday.

Sunshine to my future hubby. He's just so awesome and I am so lucky.

Wedding Wednesday: Honeymoon

Though it took us some time to finally decide where to go (namely, how much money we wanted to spend), Michael and I are pretty excited about our honeymoon.

Originally, Michael and I dreamed of going to St. Lucia. Specifically, to Jade Mountain. Warning: do not click on this link unless you are ready to fall in love with a beautiful resort. We fell in love with it instantly. Not only do you have a room with only three walls overlooking the sea and your own plunge pool or Jacuzzi, the thing that appealed the most to us is that we wouldn’t have to see other people. Now if you went on a honeymoon to an adults-only resort and made friends with other couples, great. But that’s just not us. We wanted seclusion, privacy, and to lay by a pool uninterrupted.

www.jademountain.com

www.jademountain.com

www.jademountain.com

We bookmarked it in our heads so when it came time to start planning our honeymoon, we were fairly certain we knew where we wanted to go: Jade Mountain. But as we started planning, we realized that the money we’d spend on this dream vacation could go a lot further at home, namely to the housing renovations we plan to start next spring. We decided that Jade Mountain was just not in the cards for us at this point in our lives.

When we first started talking about our honeymoon, Michael’s dad suggested we go to California’s wine country because we love wine so much. When we ruled out Jade Mountain, we both immediately agreed that heading to California would be a great honeymoon destination. We LOVE wine. Red wine, and Pinot Noir to be exact. Sonoma County, CA is home of the best Pinot Noir producers in the US so we after lots of research, we booked our tickets!

We will spend four days there, drinking as much as we can and staying at a gorgeous bed and breakfast called The Farmhouse Inn. Seriously, take a few minutes and check out this awesome website. Here are a few pics of our room.

www.farmhouseinn.com

www.farmhouseinn.com

www.farmhouseinn.com

We are SO excited! I think one of the things we are most excited about is our dinner reservation at the Inn’s restaurant, which has the most sought-after Pinot Noir in the country on their menu. We’ve been dying to try it for over a year and we cannot wait to have it with a delicious dinner.

We knew we wanted to take more than four days for our honeymoon, but we were also trying to be fiscally smart about our plans. So after Sonoma, we'll hop on a plane and spend a few days relaxing in our of our favorite places: Scottsdale, AZ. This is where we took our first vacation together as a couple, so it seems fitting that we'll spend part of our first vacation as a married couple there too. We’ll stay at Michael’s parents house, who have a great (and private) pool, so we’ll still get to the seclusion, privacy, and laying by a pool uninterrupted thing we wanted with Jade Mountain (in my case, it will be laying in the shade!). Our agenda is “there is no agenda” and we cannot wait for that. Who knows - we still might be recovering from all the wine we drank in CA.

Due to both of our jobs pretty hectic around our wedding (good timing, right?), we're taking our honeymoon in late October. It will be nice to have some time to recover post wedding and something so exciting to look forward to!

129 days!!!!!!

Goals - May 2012

May is here! Ah, I'm already hating this month and it's only the first day. April was actually pretty quiet, with regard to work and personal things, but now it’s May and it’s like BAM! We have SOOOOO much stuff going on this month. We’ll be at the cabin every weekend but one, and we have tons of after-work things for work or personal stuff. I’m already overwhelmed. Sorry my personal goals are mostly wedding-related. Only 30 more days until June.

Purple Bold = completeBlack Bold = incomplete

Professional Goals – April 2012

Finalize Reunion Volunteers. Almost done.

Establish half of class party locations. I’m half of halfway done.

Start working on big reunion events. Need to block off time to do this.

Send something to my volunteers since April is National Volunteer Month. Done. And I received great feedback from people (one alum even called my boss’ boss’ boss – the Head of School – to tell him how awesome I am J)

Do an informational interview. Didn’t happen. Boo.

Keep searching. Looking but not that hard.

Stay positive. Trying.

Personal Goals – April 2012

Yoga twice a week (more if possible!). I did this. Yay me!

Cardio three times a week. I did this too.

Decide if we are going to do the Tri this summer. Unfortunately, I don’t think this is going to happen.

Get our yard cleaned up. Done!

Plant grass seed. Done.

Go to the cabin at least one weekend. We went twice.

Site visit at the cabin with some of our vendors. Happening in May.

Register for wedding gifts. Just have Target left.

Begin to work on ceremony script. I have the outline done.

Think about ceremony music. Not yet.

Meet with florists. Still putting this off, though I have some ideas.

Finalize invitation. Done!

Select invitation stationary. Done!

Sign contract and pay deposit for catering. Doing at site visit.

Update wedding budget. Done!

Go to Men’s Wearhouse and update men’s vests (changing colors). Done!

Finalize cake design. Not done.

Order engagement photos for us and parents. Done!

Research wedding night transportation. Not done.

Select and purchase my wedding band. Not done, but we know what we want.

Professional Goals – May 2012

Finalize Reunion Volunteers.

Establish ¾ of the class party locations.

Block of time to work on big reunion events.

Execute a successful Award Dinner.

Update website with pictures.

Start working on golf event.

Do an informational interview.

Keep searching.

Stay positive.

Personal Goals – May 2012

Yoga Sculpt twice a week.

Cardio three times a week.

Finish basement bedroom.

Plant flowers in our flower beds.

Spend at least one weekend at home. Go to the cabin all other weekends.

Complete Target registry.

Start dance lessons.

Site visit at the cabin with some of our vendors.

Sign contract and pay deposit for catering.

Meet with officiant to work on ceremony.

Finish engagement counseling.

Think about ceremony music.

Meet with florists.

Finalize shower dates.

Start working on other graphic design needs.

Finalize centerpiece design.

Finalize cake design.

Frame engagement photos.

Research wedding night transportation.

Design and purchase my wedding band.

129 days!