We did it!
Wedding Event I went off without a hitch! Everything went according to plan, and everybody got along wonderfully. We had people who met for the first time at the wedding and the energy was good. There were chatting and laughter. The food was good. Our officiant and best man did a superb job, as did my cousin who was my point person. My daughters were great as my bridesmaids. We got so much help from everybody! it made us feel very well loved.
Some pics taken by our best man:
Our tables:

I made the center pieces and my Lucille and Robin put it together the morning of.

The bride and groom:

There are tons more pictures floating around; We hafta go through them and figure things out. And then pro pics will be ready in about a month.
Now onto Wedding Event II
And I'll write a full-fledged post soon!
Yay!

Tomorrow!

Wedding Event I is tomorrow!
Today was kind of nuts, and we now have a full house, but it's all going alright.
I tried to take a nap but was interrupted four times, by phone calls and doorbells, before giving up on it.
We had a dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's, introducing all the out of towners who are here, to all those who live here. Alon and Karah law did a phenomenal job! There was lots of good food and lots of good conversation, and the kids all got along very well, the soon-to-be cousins.
Now I am showered and ready for bed.
Hopefully I can get some sleep before the big day.

2 days to go!

This morning, an hour before my alarm was set to go off, my eyes popped open, and refused to close again.

We have 2 days until Wedding Event I, and now I am getting nervous.
Everything's actually going ok (knock on wood, etc.), but I'm still nervous.
We still have a bunch of little things, and not so little things to do. Thankfully, I do not have to go to work tomorrow.

I know they'll all get done, though, and we have people stepping up to help us.
That's helping, and you know what else? I've decided to take tonight off! That's right, I am going out. I am putting on my stompy boots and going out to an industrial music club in San Francisco.

Stompstompstomp!

Wheee!

Getting close

The caterer came by today, to drop off "a few things" and have taken over my livingroom! There are so many things in there, in boxes, crates, baskets, all over the floor!

Our wonderful friends and family's gifts to us are arriving and the pile of boxes is growing.

Also today, the Kilts and accessories came. We unpacked a big box with kilts, sporrans, jackets, etc. then had to find a place to put them all.

Earlier that day, uncle Ian put all the drinks in the fridge to chill. More room on the counter; less room in the fridge! We still need some space for cakes in there...Fridge tetris!

Also, since our house guests have started arriving, the house is busier, and fuller. We are having to juggle space, and also our time. Soon-to-be and I are both working this week and so I constantly have to tell folks I need to get back to the computer, or the office. I WANT to spend time with them, but can't really.

Tomorrow our officiant and best man are arriving and we'll do a run through of the theatrics.

Tonight (right after I grade these papers) I will finalize my vows. Soon-to-be and I decided we want to surprise each other, but we'd still like to make sure they are of roughly the same style/length. Rahel will read them both and let us know what she thinks. This was Shira's idea and it is a damn good one!

In other news-AJ's mother, my two daughters and I all went to get a manicure today. The pampering continues!
I got sparkly silver polish! Since my outfit is darker colors I figured this would be a good contrast. Shira got teal, Rahel got a french manicure, and Lucille got a pretty coppery color.

3 days to go!

Mah outfit, let me show you it!

Actually this is only partial outfit. It lacks the boots and my accessories, and the shrug, but, well, it's what I got right now.

The colors look a bit wonky, because it was in artificial light, but you all know the color of the corset, and that gives yo a good idea about the rest.
Not included: boots, shrug, hair fascinator and little crystals strewn through my hair. If I put the whole thing on again before the wedding (4 more days!!), I'll take pictures.

I am so very excited about this!

In related news: In-laws are here. I had a previous agreement to go with my parents to dinner tonight. AJ decided, unbeknownst to me, to take his parents to dinner tonight, at the same place. Impromptu meeting of the in-laws! We only found out about the plans 30 minutes before dinner. It went well!

In further related news: my cousin, who's a close friend and my designated helper, also arrived in town today. She is staying with my parents. We are meeting for tea tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow, officiant and best man arrive in town. The next day: everybody else. That night my sis-in-law and mom are throwing a dinner for all who will be in town and the next day....wheee! mawwige!

Corset! I has it!

Yesterday I drove up the state to pick up my corset. My (extremely talented) friend made it for me. We needed to do some last minute hand sewing to get the straps where we wanted them, and we chatted for a bit while that was going on.
Then, proud artist that she is, she had my put it on again and took picatures:

There will be, ahem, less shelf action at the wedding. This picture shows me in the skirt I wore to work that day. The actual skirt is the same color blue with an overlay of sheer black fabric.
Anyway, here are some close ups of the crazy beautiful detail:
Front:

Back:

it is blue satin with black lace overlay.

As soon as I came home AJ wanted to put me right back in it (and I need his help for this), and I took pictures of the whole outfit (minus the shoes), which I will post as soon as I've uploaded them to the computer.

4 days to go!

Getting close

5 days to go!
We took a chunk of the weekend off from wedding planning. We attended a friend's wedding and my nephew's 4th Birthday Party. Lots of fun with kids, babies, laughing with new friends and old.

Then we came back and back to it we went.

First house guests arrive tomorrow!

This afternoon I am driving an hour plus to pick up my corset! SO excited. A friend is making it for me as a gift and it turned out more complicated than we thought. Which accounts for the delay. But now it's ready and I am going to get it, right after work!

This means my outfit for Wedding Event I is complete.

So, of course, I have to start second guessing. Do I want to wear the boots I bought for the wedding, which are really (really) pretty, but also higher heels and thus less comfortable (even though I've been practicing), or wear my kick ass platform stompy boots, which are comfy and kick ass, but not special for the wedding?

These are the things occupying my mind this morning, instead of the work I should be doing...

On Pampering

We are a week away from Wedding Event I. This time next week I will be....hopefully NOT running around setting up but gently delegating and trying not to muss up my hair/make up/clothes.
This week has been busy, what with finalizing with vendors, and guests, trying to finish up the little details still left, and, you know, regular work/life stuff.
The things that stand out most in my mind about this week, however, are the new experiences I had, and they fall under the heading of "pampering".

I am not a girlie-girl. I'm just not.

So having the make-up and hair trials this week was novel, and exciting for me.

I went with my friend H, who's also my hair stylist, to the make up store for a consultation. The first 10 minutes, were rough. The make up guy was disappointed in my moisturizing habits, and the fact that Ido not pluck my eye brows for example. But after that it was great. He wandered the store and came up with all sorts of things to make me look like me, but a notch or two fancier. He was patient and explained things well, letting me see the progress every few minutes as H was taking notes so she could reproduce the effect. She will be doing my hair and make up for both Events I and II as her wedding present (very generous of her!). At the end we bought some stuff and off we went. I came out pleased with the way I looked and overwhelmed with the sensation of pampering.

A few days later I met H, at her salon to do my hair trial. First we did the usual (I dye my hair black and, right now, have teal extensions in it as highlights). Then she brought out all sorts of styling things, and did my hair. She did an updo, with curls down the back (my hair's curly and down to the middle of my back). She also clipped little crystal beads into my hair and put the fascinator I made out of my grandmother's brooch in there. It all works well together and with the jewelry Rahel made for me to wear. Again, I felt very pampered.

I'm not used to being worked on like this. Not used to having professional beauty industry people use their time/expertise/style, to make me look pretty.
It feels nice.

I, of course, did not bring my camera, so I don't have pron to post yet, but H, did take a couple of pictures and will email them to me.

And now I have a pretty good image in my mind of how I will look on at the wedding. This time next week in fact!
Yay!

Quick update

We are 9 days away from Wedding Event I

This week has been spent on details, nuts and bolts, and minor freak outs.

Things we’ve done:

Finished the girls’ outfits.
Rahel’s finished the jewelry
Shira’s finished the card box (well, that was last week)
Center pieces are finished
Guest book stuff is finished
AJ hung fairy lights in the trees
My dad’s finished the planting and beautifying the yard
We’ve given last payments to the caterer, the cake lady, the rental people for Event I and the venue for Event II
Went to get make-up consultation with the lady who’s doing my hair and make up (her wedding gift to us)
Finished the ceremony text
Almost finished the vows.
Made manicure appointment for my girls, AJ’s mom and me.
Prenup draft is done!
Seating arrangement for Event II

Things still to do:

Finish the vows
Pay the photographer’s last payment
Get drinks for Event I
Order cheese cake for Event I (and one non cheese cake as per Shira’s request)
Decorate the yard (Abbey will help me with this)
Go over ceremony with our officiant.
Sign the prenup and get it notarized
Put together favors
Make disk of music for Event I in case ipod doesn’t work out.
Make and distribute flyers to the neighbors telling them Event I is happening.
Clean the house (some at least) and get it ready.
Other things I am forgetting now
Remember to eat right, sleep enough and breathe.

The minor freakout was handled by making lists, doing some stuff, and going out to a movie.

16 days!

Wowee! We have 16 days left before Wedding Event I!
We just returned from Burning Man and so now wedding planning is getting into high gear again (oh, and of course, catching up on work, email, etc. dealing with kids, groceries, lifestuff and such. Must remember to sleep!).
The big pieces are done and now we are on to the many many littler details we still need to finish. Last night I realized I am running myself ragged listing things mentally to myself, over and over. The result? An actual list, with a time line!
Things left to do include
Finishing the favors
finishing the center pieces
Finish getting the kids outfits together
Finish prettifying the yard (my dad's helping with that and doing a great job of it)
Get beverages
Finish setting up lighting in the yard
Make seating chart for Wedding Event II
Finalize ceremony text
Finalize Vows (oh yeah...)
Finalize things with photographer
Do the corset handover with the lovely lady who's making them for me

I'm sure there are more, but yeah, that's what I remember (the actual list is at home, I'm at work. eh)
Wheee!