so, i didn't quite make it...

...to the bridal fair on sunday. i made to the location but then didn't have the $5 to get in or the atm pin to get the $5. pathetic, i know. there is another one this saturday. danny's mom is going to come with me, so i'll have one more chance to win something. fingers crossed!

mood board

i put together images i've noted throughout my wedding browsing to create a mood board. it sums up the colors and the vibe that i want for the wedding. danny's totally in love with the tie in the upper right.



you might notice a resemblance to the colors of this blog...

bridal gala

caso, the bridal fair was kind of a bust although i did get to have a few snacks of ruth chris steak appetizers (yum!). it didn't have as many vendors as i was expecting. pretty much only one caterer; i emailed them when i got home. yam and i looked through a few invitations books, tried some cake, looked at some dresses, and registered for prizes (didn't win anything, of course).

there was one invitation style that i thought was cool. it's called seal and send. i hadn't seen it before. it's everything in one. the invitation folds up, so no envelope required & the bottom tears off to be the response card. neat idea. below is an example.



cake was pretty good. it was by lucy the cake lady. i sent her an email to get more info.

i went by the artist market at lowe mill after the fair this afternoon and remembered that tina's cantina does catering. i've never eaten there, but everything i've seen or heard about sounds really good. tina's does all kinds of homecooking & it's organic. they also do vegetarian and vegan dishes & everything comes from local meat and vegetable vendors which i like. i sent an email to get more info about their catering menu, prices, etc. we'd be buying local which is great. i think it's a good option. we'll see what they say.

so, i guess i might go to the bridal fair that's going on tomorrow. there's also another one next saturday. bridal fairs everywhere! maybe if i go to the one tomorrow, i'll actually win a prize. that'd be nice.

cabins!

i just called and blocked off all 14 cabins on monte sano (well, all except for one, b/c that one has already been booked by danny's parents; they're on top of things). yam convinced me the other night that it was a good idea to go ahead and block them off before someone else grabbed them. guests can stay in the cabins for a reasonable rate and be within walking distance of the lodge.

for anyone interested in staying in one, when you call to book it, tell them that you are with the pullen-gold wedding & that i called and reserved them all for wedding guests.

don't worry, there are other options if cabins aren't your thing. still need to call to find out about blocking off rooms at those places...

i want more than just a signature

gone are the days of guest books with simply signatures. couples have come up with lots of different ideas. my favorite involves a photo album and a polaroid camera. this one was done by the now mrs. lime from weddingbee.com



you place a polaroid camera next to the album so guests can shoot pics of themselves, insert into the pages, then pen messages right next to their pictures (bet you get some fun messages if you wait until late in the reception to put it out ;). you can buy one on theknot.com, but it's not big enough. i found a post where a bride made her own by inserting the photo corners into a regular album.





this is another really cool guest book idea from a wedding featured on theknot.com...



but i love pictures too much, so i think i'll have to go with the first one. might need to start on it...sticking those little corners on every page might take a while...

a wedding story

now, we all know that "a wedding story" doesn't really the best wedding examples...but this episode had a couple things that i don't think i've ever seen before.

#1 - the bridesmaids wore white cardigan sets with a long skirt. cardigans?? white cardigans with long red skirts. the bride could have at least put them in dresses with sleeves.

#2 - the bride wore gloves. that's bad enough, right? but when the groom went to put the ring on her finger, the finger of the glove pulled down, so 9 gloved fingers & 1 bare one with a ring on it. AND she wore them like that the rest of the wedding and reception.

bizarre.

and the wedding planning has begun

i can't believe we've already been engaged for 3 months now. even though time has passed, it still feels new, and in my mind i perpetually have a year before the wedding to plan...so it freaked me out a little when i got my email from theknot.com that told me i had 9 months to go...uh oh...

we have gotten a few major things off the list:

1. we have a date! september 13, 2008. that's pretty huge. we knew we wanted september...it was the month we started dating & the month we got engaged AND hopefully it will have started to cool off a bit and won't be 105 degrees in alabama. also, the 13th of june is danny's birthday, so i'm hoping that sharing the same number (13) will make it easy for him to remember.
2. we have a venue! monte sano lodge. it's in huntsville on top of the "mountain" where we go mountain biking. i think it really fits us. we're going to have both the ceremony and the reception there. the ceremony will be outside, and if it rains, there's space to have it inside. for the reception, i'm picturing it very open with people flowing inside and outside. the view from the bluff behind the lodge - which will be the backdrop for the ceremony - is gorgeous.
3. we have a photographer! allison jansen. i fell in love with her work long before we got engaged. i think she takes great pictures. she's a bit pricey, but i think she's worth it & after meeting with her, danny thought so too. her time at the wedding is unlimited, so she'll be with us all day. we're also going to do some engagement pictures with her at some point before the wedding.
4. we have maids & men! nat, yamini, amanda, scott, dave, & jimmy. danny and i each have 3 people standing with us, but what makes it really special is that they really cross both sides. the 3 men standing next to danny are just as much my best men & the ladies standing next to me are just as much danny's maids of honor. they are all 6 our best friends.
5. we have an officiant! mr. terry wayne. it was important to us that we have a relationship with whoever it was officiating over the wedding ceremony. i didn't want some random person that i had never met before playing such an important role in the wedding. wayne was really the obvious choice.

wow, that list made me feel some what accomplished. 5 things is pretty good, right? the next big thing on the list is finding a caterer.yamini and i are going to go to a bridal fair on saturday, so hopefully, we'll meet some potential candidates.