Top this!

This is our cake topper!  YAY!  I love it.  I ordered it from a seller on Etsy named oilpainta.  She custom made the topper to incorporate our wedding colors, interests, and even replicating our wedding attire.  The domed building is the Duomo in Florence, Italy.  Sam and I first shared a glass of wine and began to get to know each other.  The mountains are the Alps.  We met on a hike in Austria during our post-graduation Europe Trip Extravaganza.   I'm so very excited about the topper and I hope some of my friends use oilpanta when they get married!

Sam's Band

I've been a really bad blogger! We have been really busy with wedding, work, and traveling. We just got back from a wonderful weekend with our family and friends in Knoxville. I wish we could have spent more time with everyone!  

We did a little important wedding shopping today.  Sam's wedding band!  Yay!!  Very exciting!  Isn't it pretty?  I think he picked a great ring for himself!  What do you think?

macys.com

Dear Readers,

I want to preface this post: I am not a very critical person.  I am understanding and I tend to let a lot of things, that initially upset me, slide before I deal with the person or thing causing the problem.  However, this needs to be said.   I will NEVER order from Macys.com again!

Let's back track.  We order the first batch of GM ties from Ralph Lauren and I found the exact same tie in a beautiful shade of blue online at Macys.  I was so excited!  (This was before our orange/pink ties actually arrived)  So, I ordered two of the St. James Spots tie in blue for my dad and my FFIL.  We anxiously awaited both shipments arrival.  

One night while I was in class I received a text from my FI saying "Macy's ties are here!".  Then as I'm driving home another text, "Don't be mad...they are the wrong ties."  I thought to myself "Well crude, I'll have to exchange them for the correct ties.  That's not too big of a deal."  When I walked in the house my FI was speaking to customer service about the issue.  He wanted to confirm we would receive our initial discount again.  

I should also state here that I had to call when making the first purchase because this discount did not work.  I do not five dollars to a wildlife preservation organization through Macy's and was supposed to automatically receive 20% off my purchase.  Didn't work...there was no code to enter, so I had to call then as well.  

The customer service representative had to speak to me since the purchase was in my name.  She assured me that I would receive the discount again and apologized for the mix-up.  Mistakes happen, I understand.  I have in fact worked in retail for a long, long time so I tend to be very understanding about these sorts of things. 

Well the story isn't over.  After sending the wrong ties back and waiting and waiting.  I checked my credit card statement online and noticed I was being charged again by Macy's for an amount that did not equal the cost of the ties.  Also, my first purchase had not be refunded.  So, I called again and expressed my concerns.  The customer service rep. was very apologetic again.  Told me she would check with the warehouse as to why I was being charged and refunded my credit card for that strange amount.  

Then the ties finally arrived again.  Guess what...wrong again!  Not only were they wrong, but they were the exact same incorrect ties as before.  Also, my invoice indicated that I order four ties in pink, not blue.  It was all messed up.  So, I returned the order and received a full refund.  However, several weeks later a third charge was placed on my credit card by Macy's for a different amount again.  After I phone call, I was refunded this money as well.  I politely asked them to lose my credit card number and that I would not shop with them again.  

I have never had problems shopping online or returning items!  I can't believe how unorganized Macy's was.  Though the customer service reps. were always polite, I don't think one should have to call at least four times over an order for two mens neckties.  

Strike 1, Strike 2...

Nothing has been as difficult to locate as ties for our GM, dads, and usher!  Here's the picture that inspire much of our color scene for the wedding: 

Image from The Knot

Grey suits: Check

Mini Flame Calla Lilies: Check

Burnt Orange Ties:  ummm....no luck!

We have been searching for ties since December and have had zero luck.  The first place I ordered ties from was Ralph Lauren.  They were slightly out of our budget for ties, but I thought they would be great gifts for our guys. 

Image from Ralph Lauren

I was very excited to receive these!  They showed up on your doorstep while three of our groomsmen were here celebrating the end of the school year with my FI.  I rushed to open the box and pull one out.  Then I heard, "Are those pink?!"  "No, they are orange...I think..."  Not the reaction I was looking for, but I absolutely agreed.  They weren't burnt orange like this picture would led you to believe, they were bright orange and looked rather pink.  They were returned after we took them to several suit stores and they looked terrible!  Also, we ordered this tie in blue for our dads but it never arrived (more on this later). 

The next place we found possible contenders was Jos. A. Bank.  The day we went suit shopping we found these ties.  

Please ignore the glare...sorry!

We thought these were perfect.  They were much more reasonably priced.  The orange tie has two shades of blue in it that are very similar to the BM dresses.  Also, the blue tie (for our dads and usher) has small orange dots in it!  Perfect, right?! 

 

Well our friend who works at Jos. A. Bank cannot locate enough of either of them for us.  So, it's back to the drawing board and I'm feeling very discouraged!   Here are some possible contenders:

Images from Brooks Brothers

What do you think of these ties?  Are stripes too business casual for a wedding?  HELP!

Happy Father's Day!

In honor of today, I have been thinking about the important role our dads play on our wedding day.  The first time our guests see us, whose arm are we on?  Not our future husbands, our fathers.

Images from bobbi + mike

What about one of the tenderest, most emotional moments: the Father Daughter dance!

Images from bobbi + mike

Happy Father's Day DAD...I can't wait to share these moments with you!

A Hidden Treasure

One of my favorite things is when two people you love become engaged!  I don't think anyone would disagree.  Hearing this news is one of the most exciting conversations you have with your friends and family.  According to my FI, I perhaps become too excited when I hear "I'm engaged". Case in point: on the season finale of the The Office before Jim narrowly missed the opportunity to propose to Pam (dang it Andy!) my heart rate was through the roof with nervous excitement.  Umm...they aren't really people!?!  

So, you can imagine my excitement when people I just adore (in real life) get engaged! 

Meet Mimi and Blake:

Ok, don't lie...they are two of the cutest people you've ever seen right?!  Well I certainly think so!  Blake is in school with my FI and Mimi will be an elementary school teacher very soon.  Not only do we feel like we have a ton in common but I don't think we could get along any better.  I love them both so much.  

Imagine my excitement when last month, Blake got down on one knee and asked Mimi to marry him!   YAY!  They waited to tell us in person, at a restaurant where I'm pretty sure I screamed very loudly and jumped up and down.  Since the engagement, they have set a date and begun planning. 

Of course, it's not smooth sailing though.  With busy schedules and year around optometry school they were really confined to one weekend in May 2009 to get married.  

Church: Check

Minister: Check

Reception Venue: Come to find out it, also happens to be a weekend during which Knoxville will be invaded by some conference of some sort.  So, I searched and searched for ideas trying to help Mims find a place.  One after another were booked or not large enough to hold more than 150 guests.  What's a girl to do?  

Persevere, that's what she does!  My advice to other brides is to do what Mimi did:  Ask local vendors in the wedding business for help and suggestions.  Mimi asked a local photographer for suggestions and look what she found: 

Hunter Valley Farm

Look at the view!

They told Mimi that in the fall they will be enclosing the space with glass where all the opening areas are and installing air conditioning and heat to make it a year around venue.  Also, they will be putting in a dock where tables can be set up and beautiful photographs will be taken!  Awesome find Mims!  I can't wait till May 2009. 

Hunter Valley Farm

9111 Hunter Valley Lane

Knoxville, Tennessee 37922

(865) 691-8225

Should I? Should I not?

A couple months ago I discovered Weddingbee! An amazing resource for brides-to-be planning their weddings.  Oh the ideas it's given me!  Foremost, the things I could do with a Gocco.  

Image from Wikipedia

You may think to yourself "What the heck is a Gocco?".  Well it's the single most wonderful invention I have discovered since becoming engaged.  The Gocco is a self-contained, high quality colored printer.  It's the pinnacle of DIY tools for brides interested in printing their own wedding stationary and so on.  AND I really want one!!  

I was concerned about learning how to use the machine, but I found this amazing How-To video on Etsy (another new obsession, more on that later).  It doesn't seem too hard and with some extensive practice, I think I could create some wonderful pieces. 

So....should I buy one?  We are having our official invitations letterpressed, but I think I could do so many things: bridesmaids mani/pedi outing and luncheon invitations, groom's golf outing, thank you cards, address announcements, invitations for events for my engaged friends...so many others!

What should I do?!  

Save the Dates

I will back track a bit so that I can catch everyone up on what we have been doing.  

The first project we did for the wedding was save the dates.  Since we have many, many out of town guests it was really important to us to get the word out about our wedding.  Save the dates were the perfect solutions.  However, the thought of putting a lot of time and money into these only to have them thrown away made me a little nauseous.  I really wanted something that our guests would keep and use.  After a little deliberation, we decided we wanted to send everyone magnets with our picture on them, the date of our wedding, and our wedding website. 

I searched and searched the web, comparing different vendors costs and quality until I found MagnetStreet Weddings.  Great vendor!!  After some initial inquiry, they sent me a booklet of information about their products and different samples of what they sell.  I loved what I saw when the samples arrived! 

No engagement pictures had been taken yet so we begged a friend to take some shots of us.  I think he did a pretty good and he was free! 

We chose a design and placed our order online.  Their website is very user friendly and the customer service representatives are really helpful.  In the notes portion of our order we asked to have the colors changed to more closely match our wedding colors.  They sent us a digital proof only four days later.  We changed the colors around several times, each time receiving a proof less than 24 hours later.  They did not charge us for these changes.  I really felt that they wanted us to be happy with the finished product. 

They are 3.5 x 4 inches.

The colors weren't a perfect match to the wedding colors but they turned out really well!

Did I mention they were a steal?!

Cost Breakdown

$155.15 for 150 magnets and lined envelopes were included

$61.50 for 150 $0.41 heart stamps

______________

$216.65 total for 150 Save the Date magnets

$1.44 per Save the Date

Great Success!

Beautiful Bridesmaids All in a Row

Since I extensively posted on the groomsmen's attire, I thought I should give the ladies some attention too!  Here we are on dress shopping day:

Back Row: Momma, Aunt Jill, and Laurie (Step-Mom)

Front Row: Bridesmaid Annie (little sister), Me, MOH Sarah, and Bridesmaid Rebecca

I have yet to find a blog with much information on wedding planning in Cincinnati, Ohio or Tennessee.  We're planning a Knoxville wedding, but since most of my girls live in Ohio we went dress shopping in Cincinnati.  It was one busy, busy day but we had two wonderful and one not so great experience.  

I wanted to find bridesmaids' dresses that the girls would love and that they could wear again.  This was most important to me.  Since the groomsmen are wearing suits, I wanted the girls to wear tea-length dresses.  The first place I looked was J.Crew.  I love J.Crew!  There I found several styles I liked and thought the girls could pick which ones they wanted to wear.  

Pretty, pretty...I like this color scheme too!

I spoke to the customer service people at J.Crew several times!  They are fabulous!!  They sent me swatches several times, advised me about fits and sizes, and informed me about styles being releases soon.  I would highly recommend J.Crew, A+.  

However, we could not order from them because they do not carry sizes small enough for my sister.  She's 11 and altering a women's petite 0 for her made me really nervous.  Also, I wanted the girls to be able to try on dresses so we could figure out what fit them best.  So, in Cincinnati we went to a boutique called Carrie Karibo Bridesmaids.  We had a great experience there!  Carrie and her mom were working that Saturday and they were incredibly helpful.  They had the girls try on all different styles and designers so we could figure out what worked best for each of them.  They pinned dresses and made suggestions.  They helped us to find exactly what I had envisioned in my head.  We chose dresses designed by Charsa:

These are a few of the styles they chose.  Love 'em!

I let each girl choose which style they wanted so they would be comfortable and happy.  I would highly suggest letting your bridesmaids try on dresses.  The styles I would have picked did not look the way I thought they would at all.  We ordered the dresses in a cerulean blue with ocean blue sashes.  All of the dresses are considered knee length and have the sashes sewn into the seam.  Now to decide...tie in the front or back? 

 I highly recommend Carrie Karibo (in Cincinnati) and Charsa, as well as J.Crew! 

I'm back!

Ok, I was a bad girl in May (no posts). But, I'm back and it is four months until the big day. I'm so excited! We have lots to do...LOTS TO DO!

So, our current project is outfitting the groom and the groomsmen. I've seen several posts on blogs and the Weddingbee Boards about this topic. Primarily, they discussed their experiences with Men's Wearhouse. We looked there, however I think I have found a great alternative.

Let me rewind a bit. The decisions on what the men of our wedding will wear have been made by my fiance. I firmly believe that if he has to wear it, then he should get to choose. Much to the chagrin of his mother, he chose to wear a suit and asked his groomsmen to purchase new suits as well. We did this upfront so that everyone was aware of the cost.

Sam chose to wear suits because he felt they would be more accommodating to a variety of physiques. Also, the thought of getting married in clothes that don't belong to you really weirded him out. The more I thought about that the more I agreed.

So, last week we went suit shopping. We left the house all excited, with skips in our steps! There were two things that were important to us. 1.) Keep the cost down and 2.) Find suits that fit well

The first place we went was MW. Before our actual experience, MW was appealing because it is nationwide and has a huge selection as well as a good price range. Now, I know most of the negative experiences I've been reading about were because of tux shopping. However, word of warning....suit shopping was not much better. The minute we walked in the door, I felt accosted. Three sales people jumped on us and each offered differing opinions on style, color, sizes...all that. I was overwhelmed to say the least. So, poor customer service is my first complaint. My selection complaint was their selection. There are a few suits that they sell as a 2 for something rate, which would be great as far as cost goes. However, most of these suits did not come in my fiance's size or some of our groomsmen's sizes. (To clarify, my fiance is not the tallest of men and we have some groomsmen well over 6 feet in our wedding. We are trying to accommodate a wide variety of people.) So this narrowed down our choices to a few options, none of which grabbed either of us. After some pressure from the sales associates, we slunk out of the store with our heads hanging feeling really discouraged.

Once back in the safety of our car, I turned to Sam with a pout. Not what we had expected at all. Ever the optimist, he said "Let's try somewhere else! How about Jos. A. Bank?" So down the street we drove to JAB. We had quite the opposite experience there. The sales person was highly knowledgeable, she listened to our concerns and criteria. Then, she provided us with a few suggestions and let us shop by ourselves for a bit. This gave us time to feel comfortable and to think about what we really wanted. My fiance actually got to try on jackets so we could choose colors and styles based on what actually looks good on him. The BEST thing about JAB is they sell suit separates! What a great idea. Jackets and pants sold separately so things will actually fit everyone well. And they are affordable, cheaper than any options we were shown at MW. HOORAY! They have lots of fabrics and colors to choose from as well.

Sam chose the Business Express Suit Separates in a cambridge grey. It's a lightweight, comfortable fabric that can be worn year around. We really wanted our guys to be able to wear their suits again. We allowed them to choose between two-button or three-button jackets. That worked out perfectly because half of our groomsmen chose two-button and the other half chose three-button. Everyone is getting flat front pants.

This is the two-button jacket in Navy.

This is the three-button jacket also in Navy.

Hugh sigh of relief!  I give MW a C overall: poor customer service and lack of selection.  I give Jos. A. Bank an A: great, knowledgeable customer service; large selection of styles, sizes, and fabrics; and good prices.  

It seems that a lot of people are choosing less traditional formal wear.  What is your groom and groomsmen wearing?  Has anyone used Jos. A. Bank for their wedding party? 

Shoe lusting!

Is anyone else having a hard time finding shoes that makes their heart beat a little quicker?  I sure am.  I have some shoe criteria:

1. Low heel height: for comfort and my FI is not much taller than me.  Though he does not mind me wearing heels, I don't want to tower over him at the wedding.

2. Color:  I'm looking for a burst of color.  There's nothing more boring than a dye white satin kitten heel bridal shoe.  I've looked and looked, I cannot find one I like.  (HELP!)

3. Cute!: I want something sexy and cute.  Is that too much to ask for a lower heeled shoe?!  

I've found one that I like.  They fit into our color schemes and the heels aren't too high.  Here they are: 

This one is Nine West in the burnt orange color, 2 1/2 inch heel height.

I don't know.  What do you think?  Are you having trouble finding shoes that make you happy?

Dishes, Glasses, and Forks...OH MY! (part III)

Riedel Ouverture

Wine! Wine! Wine!  I love these glasses.  We registered for several styles of wine glasses by Riedel.  The glasses with stems are the Ouverture style.  The glasses without stems are O Riedel.  We registered for several types of glasses for different kinds of wine.  I'm really excited about these glasses, I hope we get many of them!    

O Riedel

For our stemware, we chose Ricci Argentieri's Rivets.  We really liked this style because it is unique and went really well with our place settings and glasses.  

Ricci Argentieri Rivets

What do you think?!  I'm so excited about all of this!  YAY!

Dishes, Glasses, and Forks...OH MY! (part II)

After we chose our everyday ware, then Becky helped us choose our everyday glasses. So many choices, what to pick...what to pick...hrmm. This was really difficult because we wanted something different than the standard glass. Also, I really wanted them to go with our dishes. After much looking around, we decided on Miller Rogaska Weston tumblers, iced beverage glasses, and goblets. I think they go really well with our plates, because they are fun and unique looking. I also liked that they are heavier on the bottom because I am slightly clumsy and tend to spill once and a while. What do you think? Was this a hard choice for anyone else?

Dishes, Glasses, and Forks...OH MY! (part I)

This weekend we began our registry! I love it. So many choices, I thought we'd never make a decision. Good thing he is decisive because sometimes I just cannot be! First, we chose our everyday ware. We narrowed the choices down to Juliska, Casafina, and Frances Palmer.

Juliska

Casafina

The Juliska and Casafina are very popular according to Becky at Glass Bazaar. We know a few people who have the Juliska and love it. However, we chose the Frances Palmer.

Frances Palmer

The Frances Palmer Collection is designed by an artist so that no two are exactly the same. They are very whimsical! We love the variety of shapes and styles that the dinner plates and salad plates come in! They are beautiful. We chose to get a combination of two different dinner plates, two different salad plates, dessert plates, cereal bowls, salad bowls (which I am in love with), and mugs in the white and blue. Look at the cake plate!

Frances Palmer

So, what do you think?
We decided not to register for fine china. I'm not sure how everyone feels about this. But, Sam and I decided that it was something we just do not need right now. We think that someday if we need it, we will be able to buy our own. Beside, I'm going to want to show off my beautiful everyday dishes! Are other people having difficulty making the same decision?

Off to Big Orange Country

This week has been hectic! We got very little done as far as the wedding is concerned. However, I eliminated several school projects off of my list of things to do, which is a relief. Save-the-Dates have not gone out yet. Trying to figure out the hotel situation for our out-of-town guests is taking longer than I had anticipated. We heard that some of the hotels were featured on the Knoxville News for some not so good reasons. So, we've decided to investigate several places in person while we are home this weekend. Has anyone else had hotel troubles for out-of-town guests?

The one wedding related thing I did this week was to get my ears pierced. I know, I know...24 year old without pierced ears, rarely heard of. I just never really cared before now. After seeing these from I knew I had to.  They are from Abaloria:: Hand Crafted Jewelry.  They have so many pretty things on this site.  I almost can't help myself, I want it all! 

Introductions, please!

Hi, my name is Lea. I am a 24 year-old graduate student who is madly in love with her fiance, Sam. We have 187 days until our wedding, just shy of the six month mark. I'll be honest, I'm an organized person who loves making to-do lists and completing tasks. You would think I am calm, cool, and collected...nope! To do, to do, to do...it's all I think about. My hope is that once my spring semester is over, I can start my DIY projects (I love crafting) and enjoy the rest of my wedding planning.

First of all, the biggest dilemma I have had is choosing a color scheme. I love color...all colors. There are no favorites here. So after months of deliberating we settled on burnt orange (because we love the flame calla lilies) and shades of blue.





These are the swatches of the bridesmaids dresses and a picture of the flowers that inspired me! What do you think?

My current project is our Save-the-Dates. The colors aren't exactly what I had hoped for and the picture is a little dark. However, they are fun and cute! Hopefully I will have them out in the mail with an accommodations card in a week. I'm giving myself 7 days because we are going to Knoxville this weekend for a wedding! Yay! Also, meeting with the cake lady and starting out registry. I'm very excited!