We found our Wedding Bands!

In the spirit of Scott and I doing everything a bit backwards when it comes to wedding planning, we decided to buy our wedding bands this week!

Gentlemen, listen up on this one, because if you're thinking about purchasing that special little piece of jewelry for your laaady this winter, keep an eye out for the Santa Bucks at Kay Jewelers. When Scott went shopping for the engagement ring this December, he got these fantastic little vouchers that allow you to save $100 for every $300 you spend on future purchases.

But yes, alas, there was a catch: we had to use the Santa Bucks by June 20 or else we'd lose them forever! Screw that! Hence our decision to buy the bands this week, exactly 480 days before the wedding (well, that's what my Facebook Wedding Countdown application told me anyways).

So without further adieu, I give you our wedding bands.

The sales associate was super friendly and helpful and humored me as I tried on two different bands, one after the other, at least 10 times each to determine whether or not it made my ring finger look chubby. I went with a ring to match the style of the band on my engagement ring, and Scott went with a band made of Tungsten Carbide, which is supposed to be considerably more durable and scratch resistant than titanium.

It was actually quite fun and cute watching Scott try on a dozen or so wedding bands, holding it up to the light, comparing and contrasting the different metals, and seeing him develop a slight appreciation of why after two years, I still have not found that one perfect wrist watch. I actually found this to be a much easier decision! As Scott narrowed down the decision and tried on favorite rings again, I quietly chanted Michael Squints Palledorous' infamous line from "The Sandlot": For-ev-er... For-ever-er... and gave he and the sales associate a good laugh. Could have been nervous laughter, but hey, at least he didn't break a sweat!

One thing that was good to learn as well, was that they offer a lifetime guarantee on their diamond jewelry -- I want to say it was like $84.95 -- and will replace any stone that becomes chipped or lost during normal wear. Such a relief to know that if something... knock on wood... ever happened to the ring, all is not lost. Phew! So much to take into consideration when making the purchase, but I definitely recommend Kay Jewelers if you're on the hunt for a ring or are a couple months away from the big day and still looking for bands.

Am I a slacker bride?

So... clearly, I haven't been devoting the time to blogging about the wedding than I originally anticipated or hoped for. And in 5 months of being engaged, have thus far only set the wedding date and booked the venue.

Why you ask? Well, frankly, I don't think I expected just how daunting the whole wedding planning process would be... and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I just might not be your "normal" bride...

I should have expected this, given that I, myself might not exactly be "normal" in general. I give you Sebastian the crab as Exhibit A below for reference.

Now what I can ascertain from this situation, and the fact that I...

• Would rather wear a cowboy hat the day of the wedding than a tiara (not actually doing this, but just as a basis of comparison)
• Cringe at the thought of wearing a 30 lb poofy ballgown wedding dres
• Am not a huge fan of flowers as decoration in general
• Am planning on hiring a party bus to bring everyone to the venue, instead of a limo, Bentley or horse-drawn carriage (that was really the "girliest" option I could think of)
• Do not want to be a "princess" on my wedding day
• Have yet to buy a bridal magazine for myself 

... leads me to believe that I have gone about this wedding planning process all the wrong way -- the "normal" way! 
Every wedding website I've visited gives you a timeline/checklist for each and every thing you are supposed to do leading up to the wedding... Book the venue 12+ months out; audition bands/DJs at 9-11 months; hire the photographer at 6 months... Ahhhh... so much to do!!

Well you know what? I'm officially canning the "to do" list and throwing wedding coordinator caution to the wind! We'll get it done, when and how we want to do it. Because at the end of the day, the wedding process shouldn't feel like being in a pressure cooker that just bursts open the day of the wedding, making you feel like "wow, I'm just glad it's done and over with!" It should be more like sailing -- where you're happy to reach your final destination, but you're glad that you got to enjoy the scenery on the way.

So sure, maybe that makes me a slacker bride, that I haven't been booking vendors left and right and would rather go out for a beer after work than do a cake testing. But you know what? I'm OK with that. I can have my cake -- (AND beer) -- and eat it too.

A Chair Rail for Easter

Scott and I had a busy little Easter weekend getting the house ready for Katie and Jason's visit last week, and decided it was about time to take the living room to Phase II of the remodeling process.

We enlisted the help of Scott Ludwig Sr. to build a chair rail for the living room, to help give the space a bit more character and to try and bring back some of the architectural details of the house (seeing as that it was first built in 1900, yet is currently a mish-mash of all different decades and styles).  

The entire room needed about 40 feet worth of chair rail -- you could buy the pieces of wood at Lowe's in 8 foot chunks, and depending on how elaborate the design you picked out, the price varied. The one Scott picked out was about $12 per 8 foot rail, so all in all the entire project cost less than $75, once you add in the white caulking you'll need for the corners and finishing off the trim -- not too bad considering what an improvement it makes! 

We also decided to give the living room a more organic, clean and relaxing feeling by picking out a medium green color for the top and crisp white for the bottom to match the trim. We  picked out a green eggshell paint called "Northern Glen" -- made by Valspar. The paint went on really well and was surprisingly affordable. We used a white satin paint on the bottom just to reflect a little light in the room and to make the space feel a bit bigger. The "before" and "after" photos are below!

Next up comes Phase III of the living room remodeling process... finding a new coffee table, end table and entertainment unit. That isn't made of plastic-y laminate wood... Trust me, it's harder than you'd think. That's what she said.

Poll: Choosing the Wedding Colors

One of the hardest choices I've had to make so far... picking the wedding colors. Especially a wedding in the Fall. When they have to coordinate with the invitations, tuxes, decorations, flowers, the cake... ay caramba!

I feel like I should be choosing reds, oranges or golds yet those just aren't really "me." Is it weird to have summer-ish colors in October? Blue is my favorite color, hands down -- but I also want to pick something that looks nice in the pictures, which will most likely have Fall foliage in the background! Decisions, decisions...

Then, once you pick the main color, where do you go from there? Blue and silver? Blue and white? Blue and green and white? Yikes!! I wish I had my super-sized Crayola crayon box (with sharpener, obvii) handy!

I want to hear your thoughts! Below are a few colors for bridesmaids' dresses from the "Shop By Color" section on DavidsBridal.com that I keep going back to... what do you think?

Potential Wedding Venue #3: White Cliffs Country Club

Round 3! Scott and I took a trip down to Plymouth, MA this weekend to check out the third on our list of potential wedding venues: White Cliffs County Club.

If you're looking for a place away from the fast-pace of the city with a beautiful water view for your ceremony/reception, this place is pretty hard to beat. Standing on top of a 200+ foot cliff, White Cliffs had a ridiculous view over Cape Cod Bay. Don't be deceived by the gray branches in the picture to the right, everything is green and in full bloom once Spring rolls around!

The event coordinator Linda told us that the grounds crew plants new flowers every season and keeps things in tip-top shape during wedding season. The photo albums we saw later had some unbelievable pictures of the bride and groom down on the beach below. The gazebo where they typically have the ceremony was really cute too (pic on the left) -- there was enough room to fit 160 chairs on either side of the path/aisle, and all of the pictures looked nice when the flowers and bushes around the gazebo were all in bloom.

As the view outside was awesome, we knew that the reception details would pretty much make or break our decision to go with White Cliffs. We met with Linda in the room where they'd have the dance floor and DJ (pic on the right) -- it had really nice high ceilings and big windows that looked out on Cape Cod Bay. It was what I'd consider to be a "classic" style, with chandeliers and more traditional-looking decor. The dance floor was well sized, but you couldn't really change the size or placement, like you could at Ipswich.

For the dinner/cocktail hour, they set up a tent over the back patio (pic to the left) that connects to the clubhouse (where the dance floor is). The tent holds up to 200 people, and they can set up stations in the corners if you'd prefer buffett over plated dinners. In October, we'd have to have heaters out in the tent in case it got chilly -- which it definitely could with the way the winds can whip off Cape Cod Bay.

I was, however, surprised to hear that the dance floor and DJ would be completely separate from the dining area. When I started thinking about the reception and having a great time dancing with family and friends, I realized how awkward it might be to have that big of a separation between the main clubhouse and tent. When "Don't Stop Believing" comes on, I want to be able to just reach out and grab Katie Traut or Ben Haber (after he's had a few raspberry beers) and bring them right in to the joy that is fist pumping! I told Scott I'd rather have the dance floor right in the middle of everything, so if my Grandpa or G-Ma want to sit and watch the "kids" dance and just chat with friends, they could still have a great time and not feel like they weren't a part of the celebration.

The menu had tons of options for all different tastes, although it was definitely more expensive than the other two venues. We ran the numbers and it was definitely a $$$ on a $$$ scale. White Cliffs didn't have a bridal suite but Linda said the girls could use the office if we needed to leave our stuff or touch-up makeup and whatnot. Scott and I asked about nearby accomodations since we have a lot of guests coming from out of town, but it didn't seem like there were many nearby options -- I realized that for an ocean view like that, you might have to compromise on a few things, like proximity to hotels. But then I said to myself... screw it! It's our wedding... compromise-shmompromise!

Did I mention that the bar must be closed by 10pm (5 hours after the start of the cocktail hour at 5pm)? Let's be serious people... we all know what the real dealbreaker is here.

My rating for White Cliffs Country Club: 3.5 out of 5