Signed, Stamped & Sealed

There they all are...the invitations for our wedding :)  I spent most of last week & some of this week making them perfect.  I didn't really think about how much effort went into each individual one until I had to sit down & make like 100 of these little envelopes perfect.  The invitation, the tissue paper, the response card, the response envelope (with another stamp), the inner envelope (which, by the way you should never try to lick. Gross), & finally the outer envelope.  Those are just the pieces.  Then I had to do the calligraphy on them.  It's not perfect, but I'm pretty proud of myself, I have to say.  Especially since I did over half of them without realizing that there was a tool in the kit (below) for writing straight lines...whoops :)

  I also didn't realize that you can write a very light number in pencil on the inside of the response card, your "secret number," that tells who the invitation went to in case they forget to write their name on it.  Don't get excited if you find your number on yours, they aren't in any kind of "favorite" order...just the numbers down the line in my Excel spreadsheet in order that I typed them into the computer (AKA as I got the lists & addresses).  

After writing the addresses on all of them, I had to put a stamp on each outer envelope.  When I went to the post office to have one of the invitations weighed, it was too much for a regular stamp, but they sell $0.65 stamps (below) that look like they're pretty much made for wedding invitations, so I was able to get those instead of putting 2 stamps on each one, which ended up saving like $20 :)  Then I sealed the back of it with our awesome family stamp that Nicole gave my mom for Christmas one year.  

That was my favorite part...the stamping with our cool thing (above), not the licking of the envelope.  Ew.  Did you know that for every envelope you lick you actually eat 1/2 of a calorie?  Not to mention my tongue got kinda dried out & I cut it a couple of times :(

There is one of the finished products.  I'm still pretty set on keeping the insides a secret since not much else will be by the time the wedding gets here ;)  I also figured it was a pretty safe bet that no one would get their feelings hurt if I used my dad's invitation as an example because of course he is coming.  Haha!

In other news, we finally booked a bakery.  Well, I booked one for the wedding cake anyway...they will probably do the groom's cake too but just haven't gotten to that yet.  We went with Sugar Kneads in Loganville.  My mom went & bought a few cupcakes one day after work of flavors that I said I wanted to try but we didn't have time to go together.  I liked their cake (surprisingly enough, because I really don't like cake that much & I especially hate icing).  I was getting worried that we wouldn't find a bakery at all, but Anthony's mom gave me a great backup plan of getting a Krispy Kreme donut cake instead.  I don't like too many sweets, but donuts have a special place in my heart, especially if the "hot & fresh" sign is on ;)  Frankly, I might have actually done that if so many people hadn't reacted negatively to it.  Anyway, if I'm being perfectly honest SK wouldn't have been our first choice if we weren't so crunched for time at this point & if I hadn't hated the cake from the other bakery that we tried in Monroe.  Nicole had a really bad experience with them for her wedding (they were under a different owner & cancelled like two weeks before the wedding), they are a little...okay a lot over-priced & (still being perfectly honest) super rude when we were there.  But I couldn't stress about the cake for one more day, so we went ahead & booked them.  What can ya do?  The cake will be beautiful & taste good too.  

I just got the phone call (like five minutes ago) that my veil came in at Charme & I have to get out there & pick that up in the next couple of weeks.  That will mean that my dress & veil are both in (I made my fitting appointment for the second weekend in June earlier this week).  Plus, I asked while I had her on the phone & the bridesmaid dresses are due in the first week in June, so that's another relief :)  

Yesterday, I ordered bubbles for the reception from Oriental Trading & I'm excited about how cute they are.  I even made arrangements to have a violinist & cellist (recommended by Kera's roommate Sarah, a music student getting her master's at UGA) at the ceremony, which I'm so pumped about.  That was huge on my wish list, but I had no idea if it would be too expensive.  

Now I don't have much left to do besides making some of the DIY decorations & ordering napkins & programs.  Oh & find a house.  But we aren't going to talk about that because it's getting harder & more frustrating by the day.

We're getting close, y'all :)

P.S. One last thing before I go...I just finished reading this awesome book that I remembered one of the girls in my cohort last year recommending.  It's called "For Women Only" by Shaunti Feldhahn.  It's a book about all of the things women don't understand about men, helping them understand & change some of the things that they're doing so that they can have better, stronger, healthier & more loving relationships.  The best part is that it's based from a Godly perspective.  It was a fast & easy but also challenging read.  I would recommend it to anyone who is married, engaged or even seriously dating/considering marriage.  I will gladly loan you my copy if you want :)  Now, if I could just get Anthony to read "For Men Only." ;)

Journey to Middle Earth

Yesterday marked a year since Anthony proposed to me. May 19th, 2011.  What a perfect day that was.  I think that the day after, when we were running around telling people our exciting news & getting so many congratulations (from most everyone, at least), might have been even better for me.  I could say it's hard to believe that a year has passed already, but it's not.  We have done so much in the past & while it hasn't felt like that much time has passed, we have certainly done enough planning & work & school, etc. for at least a year if not more.

Writing this blog has been quite a challenge at times because I try to keep it mostly super positive about engagement & wedding planning.  The exact opposite is often the case, though, as I deal with ordinary & even ridiculous things throughout this process.  If something has made me upset, I usually try to wait at least a day or two before expressing my opinions online because I don't want to risk making people angry.  That seems to be the case, that at least one person is offended by a post, even when I have no qualms at all & am not writing with some sort of unresolved problem going on.  If I notice that my writing says something that might cause people to think I'm directing words at them, I edit it out.  If there is something in there that comes off as rude or harsh, I delete that.  Okay, with the exception of the baby/rude question comments...I have no problem making those people mad & they probably don't even see this.  If they don't, they ought to.  Today, though, it's time to just be completely & totally honest for once.  There is nothing wrong with telling it like it really is, especially if you aren't doing it to get a rise out of people.

Lately, I have felt so much like a character out of Lord of the Rings it isn't even funny.  It's like when Frodo & Sam are taking turns carrying the Ring (around their necks, no less, because it would be detrimental to actually slip it onto one of their fingers) on their travels to throw it into the molten parts of the Earth.  They share the burden & are each there to help the other along when they aren't physically carrying it.  I never could have imagined that this beautiful, sparkling, perfect diamond jewel would feel like that sometimes.  But it does.  Except I am Frodo AND Sam, because I am pretty much doing this on my own...& I wear it around my finger, not my neck.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a post knocking Anthony.  Don't go all "well he's supposed to be Sam, is that what you're saying?"  NO!!!  He has been great through all of this & exactly what a fiancé should be...but wedding planning isn't one of his many talents :)  The things that I'm stressed about, he can't take care of for me.  The truth is, neither of us can control most of the things that make me feel like that ring is a 10 pound weight.  Even when it feels like everything is going wrong at once (which trust me, it has lately) neither of us can do anything about it.  Like the ties earlier.  Like the mens' pants being back-ordered.  Like not having much help regarding planning, making, you name it, for the wedding.  Like the house situation being so complicated & difficult.  Like the attitudes & actions of other people.  Especially that last one.

I was saying to my mom the other day that I'm sick of this wedding already.  It's like Renee said on the series finale of Desperate Housewives, while she was planning her & Ben's wedding: "I'm busting my *** planning the happiest day of your life!"  Excuse the expression, but I couldn't help but include that because it rang so true for me.  I said that I'm tired of working so hard for one day that pretty much no one is going to care about besides me.  Or as much as me.  Now, before everyone gets like "well I care about your wedding!" I know you do...well, I know most of you do anyway.  Maybe it's just that I'm thinking that it seems like people who should care more don't.  It does help that I have some amazing friends who care much more than I could have ever expected, asked or hoped for :)

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the people who have told me how hard marriage will be (I mean the ones who did it do help strengthen our relationship, not the ones who said it out of spite or to try & talk us out of it).  I'm prepared for that.  Anthony & I were both ready to make that choice when we got engaged.  I just wish someone had told me how hard it is to be engaged.  We're still at this awkward, not quite a family yet, in-between state while we're dealing with so many other things. I often wonder if things would have been easier if we had chosen a shorter engagement.  Then I arrive at the conclusion "definitely not" because we would have needed to just as much in a shorter amount of time.  With both engagement & marriage, I know the work will be worth it.  I'm not sure that I can say the work for the wedding will be worth it, though.  We'll see.

The irony about this post is that when I reach my destination throughout this process (like Sam & Frodo's Middle Earth), I will not be destroying my ring.  Instead, I will be adding another one to my finger.  & Anthony will be doing the same.  We actually will be journeying pretty much to Middle Earth, or close to it, for our honeymoon since Aruba is practically at the Equator.  At least there will be SOME relief from the end of the engagement, where we will be taking a MUCH needed break from everything & EVERYONE.  No phone, no computer.  From the minute we get on the plane at Hartsfield-Jackson to the minute we touch back down in Atlanta...don't expect to hear a word from us.  But you can expect another post that is actually happy within the next few days :)

It's The Final Countdown!

I can't believe it, but we are at the 100 day mark!  In fact, we passed it 8 days ago.  I didn't even realize it until our photographer emailed me to remind me that our 90 day payment was coming up super soon.  Today is officially 3 months until our wedding.  Everything has just snuck up on me so quickly with how busy we have been with school & work & house-hunting (which I never imagined would be so difficult).  

A few updates on what's been going on lately:

We've been house-hunting like crazy.  And when we aren't going to look at them in person, we're digging to find everything online that we can.  The house from the last post fell through, which was okay because something didn't exactly feel right about it.  Somehow I think I knew that it wasn't going to work out.  But then, we found this awesome house really close to church & it was seriously perfect (I'm talking, garage in the back that would have fit Anthony's truck, perfect).  But as soon as we had seen it, our realtor Jen found out that it had been under contract for two days & the bank's realtor hadn't updated the FMLS listing...which is ridiculous (in fact, it still hasn't been removed & it's been off the market for a week now).  So we're back on the hunt.  We're going to look at like 10 houses this afternoon & are really hopeful about a few of them.  

Anthony got to walk in his graduation celebration at Georgia State on Tuesday, & I am so incredibly proud of him.  It is really crazy to look back & think about how much we made it through.  Anthony wrote this paper his freshman year for English about how young love really can work, & I guess we're living proof of that.  I can't believe I just remembered that assignment, but it's funny the way things work out perfectly.  Just gotta keep remembering that as we face so much uncertainty with so many things coming up.  Things are coming along, though.  There is a possibility for Anthony at the company that he already works out, so continue to pray over that situation.  & pray that we find a home sometime soon :)

On Wednesday, I found out that the ties that we selected for our wedding went out of production.  Insert panic-induced heart attack here.  The only reason that we even knew was because my dad went to order his suit & everything but couldn't find the ties online.  I thought maybe there was a problem with what I told him to type into the search box, but I went through the entire JC Penny website & they were nowhere to be found.  So, Kera & I went to the Athens mall to buy the two that they had, then we spent like an hour on our phones calling every mall that we could think of to get the rest of the ones that we needed.  7 ties from 4 different locations.  I got 3 more from the Mall of Georgia, my mom got one from Gwinnett Place Mall & Kera got one from the Macon mall.  Crisis averted!

Speaking of men's attire, I finally got all of the info out to the guys about what they need to wear for the wedding.  Now just have to leave it up to them to go out & get it :) 

Still need bridesmaids' shoes too...can't seem to find any that are cute & still reasonably priced.  If anyone happens by flat red shoes (preferably sandals) for a reasonable price...please let me know!  Maybe we should just wear glittery red TOMS like these & look like we belong in the Wizard of Oz :)

I picked up our invitations from Carmichael's yesterday...there is so much stuff!  They were in this really big, heavy box.  I was definitely not expecting all of that.  At least they're really pretty :)  Can't wait to address them & mail them out!  Paying for postage on the other hand...not so much.  

Also yesterday, Anthony helped move me out of my apartment.  I've spent most of the past two years there...lots of memories.  I had hoped that we would be moving me out & straight into a house, but everything happens for a reason.  Soon we'll have a house of our own & won't have to do any more moving for quite some time.  That will be a great day!

Today, I'm going to try on my wedding dress for the first time since I ordered it :)  I can't wait to put it on again...the way that I knew it was the one was that I didn't want to take it off.  I can't wait to see what it looks like all put together on the big day...might just have to take my jewelry & hair piece with me today so I can get a little preview!

Last thing...Ashley's shorts at iHop on the last day of class.  Aren't they perfect? :)