i'm back, a little more positive this time

hey girls!!

sorry for the last post. lots of ups and downs lately. i am also sick with a nasty cold. :-(

bonnie wildwood has finished our save-the-date postcards so look for those in the mail soon! we'll be sending out the invites this summer.

finances have caused us to scale back the number of guests so it will be somewhere quite a bit less than 100. an intimate gathering actually sounds fun. it's about US after all not a huge party for people we feel we "have" to invite. i never wanted that. but i still want a pretty party!!

i'm not sure what i will need your all's help with yet, we are nailing down more details the first weekend in may when we meet with our wedding lady. we'll need you to be here friday oct. 11 for the rehearsal dinner.

 i need to know how you all feel about renting a house here on the shore for the weekend at a group rate as opposed to a hotel. when i get in touch with the realtor i will hopefully have a price estimate for you on that.

i think having the bridal shower/bacherlorette weekend the weekend before the wedding is a must for the benefit of Sarah and Marybeth, who will have to travel quite far to do it. since most of us are on the east/coast ct we should do something in or near CT. mary f and sarah k are putting the plan together, i think? i don't know how it works. i have no frame of reference :-) if you guys need my mom you can reach her at 860-223-6266. i'm assuming she helps with the bridal shower since family members are invited too as well as friends. i don't want anything corny for that just a nice lunch somewhere maybe. so maybe friday night for the bachelorette, then a brunch or something saturday and then we can all take some rest and then sunday for the bridal shower? let me know all of your ideas. we'll put together something VERY affordable and awesome.

that's all i have for now. oh, my flowers will probably be purple tulips and sunflowers :-)

ari, i'm hoping to get home this summer at some point. i'd still like you to knit me a pair of gloves if you are up for it. i will buy the yarn you need. i'm assuming you'd have to see my dress though.

also on that note, maybe i'll come up to CT for a weekend this summer and those of us that are around can get together, have fun, see the dress, and plan any details that need working out then.

i love you all!! xo

wedding schmedding??

Okay, girls.

I am feeling so down and bummed about wedding planning right now. I have NEVER had a close friend or family member get married (last wedding in my family i think i was 12). I know that seems crazy. I have no idea what I'm doing. We do have save-the-dates ready to send by the end of this month. We know our place, we are meeting with the lady who's coordinating our event in two weeks, we have all kinds of things "started" but I'm finding this really hard to do blind and with a job that keeps me very busy to boot. I am trying to keep it "simple" but really no event this huge is simple!! I'm trying not to freak out and just elope ;-)

I am also really bummed that I know we're probably not all going to be able to get together for a weekend before the wedding due to financial constraints and we don't all live in CT. I totally get it. I just wish there was some crazy idea we could devise that could work for all. If not I think we should pick one of the first two weekends in August as many of us are in education and need to get back to things during the second half of that month. I'm thinking in or near CT as that's where most of us are concentrated? I love Mary's idea of a combo bachelorette/bridal shower weekend. I love the idea of classy girly fun, maybe a winery or a show of some sort, a big sleepover. Something that doesn't cost a ton of money but all/most of us could be together and have a LOT of fun :-)

I miss you girls like crazy. I hate living far away during this important time, from all of you, I wish we could have strategic planning nights.

I know it will all work out in the end. Our wedding coordinator is going to help us Tremendously. With all the major stuff. It's this limbo phase that's driving me nuts. We don't meet with her and get the ball really rolling until the first weekend in May.

One thing I am working on is getting you girls a house to rent on the eastern shore rather than pay for hotel it will probably be a cheaper way to stay here for a couple days and you can all stay together.

I'm not even sure this blog is a good idea, most of you never seem to be online (I'm jealous!!). I tried Facebook and I'm trying this. I just don't know what to do.

The bridesmaids' dresses

check this beauty out

and this one

a dress like this would be adorable in royal purple

cute and simple/elegant

So that's just a few ideas. ....

dress color: "royal plum"

basically we are going for a vintage/classy look but something that will still look good with boots around the knee-high range. think mad men/1920s-1930s-1940s but not flapper. i haven't decided on the boots yet that is in keeping with the rustic/farm-y theme.

no cleavage/boob dresses ..... best length will be just above or at the knee (remember, the boots) so that just a bit of your tights or whatever are showing.

the dresses should be feminine but not super clingy

no super shiny satiny stuff.

just keep it CLASSY <3  <3 <3

you can do sleeveless or short sleeves.

if you can, don't spend more than $100! find something you'll wear again.

the yellows are for a button-down, long-sleeved cardigan to wear over the dress, any of the yellows are fine.

i hope this helps for now. i'll post more images as i find them.

when you find a dress, please come on here and post a picture of it!!

did you all order your hair feather? they're very cute.