A bit of a vent, and a bit of nerdiness

So, today marks 20 days until the BIG DAY! Wooooot Wooooot!

It also marks the date by which all of the RSVPs were supposed to be back. So far, we've had a response rate of 80% - which sounds good, but let me clarify. We did not receive 80% of our RSVPs back. Nope. It was probably closer to 50%. Quite a few people just relayed the message that they're going to make it. Ok, that's fine; it's a little annoying that I printed and put stamps on all these RSVPs for them not to be used, but it's better to know.

Please indulge me in a bit of a vent about what has been annoying me during this RSVP process:

• People who don't bother to send in an RSVP, call, text, facebook message... nothing. And surprisingly, quite a few people who fell into this group have been through the wedding process and know the importance of guests who RSVP! I just don't get it. 
• When we ask someone if they're coming, or if they sent in their RSVP, and they reply that they have to check the day. As if they haven't had 5+ weeks to check the day. (And the people who gave us this response don't work on the weekends or anything like that...) 
• But, what takes the proverbial cake is the freakin US Postal System. AGAIN. Some of the people I've talked to have mentioned that they sent in their RSVP weeks ago (and I believe them - these people are on top of things). I have about a dozen RSVP cards that must be floating around the post office somewhere. I've received some that are post marked a week before I receive them, and some where the stamp isn't cancelled at all. It's ridiculous and frustrating, and I'm going to feel like an idiot when we start making calls to people who haven't RSVPed, only to find out that they did and we never received it. It makes me feel unorganized. UGH.

Whew... thanks for letting me do that. I feel much better now.

Moving on to my nerdiness. I've got an Excel spreadsheet with all of the numbers, lists, people, and supplies for the wedding - not surpring, right? I think every bride does that. I also made pie graphs to see the make up of people attending our wedding, and the make up of who has already RSVPed. Please, take a gander at the fruition of my nerd skillz (and yes, I put a z on the end to further nerdify myself):

These may be a little skewed since I've been working on getting all of my family's responses in, and we haven't had a chance to talk to some of Josh's family yet.

Ditto for above - I spent a lot of time yesterday tracking down responses from my friends and family.

I'm excited for how the numbers are turning out! Right now, if everyone who's left responds the way we're expecting (which we know probably won't happen) we'll still be 6 people under capacity. Now, it might be a little crowded in there, but I prefer to think it will be cozy.

It seems like everything is coming together! I can't believe that I will be married in less than 3 weeks!

Do you need to vent about anything? Feel free :) Or, how do you like to express your nerdiness?

SHE put a ring on it!

Remember way back when, when I showed you the ring options Josh liked? (If you don't remember, click here.) Well, when I priced them out with our jeweler, I freaked out. They cost about three times the upper end of my budget for Josh's ring. (I guess I was completely out of the loop for what wedding bands cost? Or maybe my jeweler was really expensive? I'm not sure.) I told him that I would definitely buy the ring he wanted, and I would somehow make it work. He bought my ring with cash that he had saved for months, and I felt bad knowing I may not be able to get him the ring he wanted.

But Josh is much more practical than I am. He said it was stupid for me to spend that much money on his ring. We each had a budget in mind, and we hadn't even discussed it, but we were on the same page. He thought the price was ridiculous, too. So, he was thinking about getting a plain-jane band that was more affordable. I hated this idea because Josh is an architect - he  has a very geometric-modern style, and I thought his wedding band should reflect that.

So, long story short, I turned to my favorite place to buy things: Etsy. There, I found seller havalazar and their assortment of solid gold wedding bands with designs I know Josh would love.

So I made a purchase. And for the record, it was WAY under my budget! Josh loves it, and I feel a lot better knowing he has a band that reflects a bit of his style.

 

Photos via HavaLazar via Etsy

 I love it. I can't wait to see it in person when it's delivered next week!

What part of your wedding was more surprisingly more expensive than you originally thought? What did you do about it?

Remedying the Late Night Munchies

The last few weddings I’ve been to have had a late night snack brought out around 10:00. I love this idea and I planned on incorporating this into our wedding. We took a look at what the caterer offered and ultimately decided on some mini-sandwiches to help our guests *ahem* sober up a bit…

Then, about a month before our menu was due to the caterer, I checked out their page again. What I saw amazed me – We HAD to have it!

Weenie Wagon - photo courtesy of Adeline Leigh Catering

Yes. That would be a hot dog wagon, complete with two types of buns and a multitude of toppings: cheese, chili, onions, grated pickles, sauerkraut, ketchup, a few kinds of mustard, and more! I was immediately convinced that we needed this at our wedding, but Josh wasn’t so sure. He thought it was tacky, actually. So, I pushed the thought out of my head. Until a few weeks later. 

Fourth of July weekend we always go camping with Josh’s family, and this year was no exception. The only difference from previous years was that we decided to do a “Chicago Style” hot dog night. Each family provided a different topping, and we roasted big hot dogs over the campfire. It was a HIT! Everyone was raving about the combinations of toppings and about how delicious and fun dinner was. When I mentioned the possibility of a hot dog wagon at the wedding, everyone was completely on board with it. Luckily for me, that was enough to convince Josh that, even if it is tacky, people will love it.

We booked the hot dog wagon that week.

I might be more excited about the hot dog wagon than our actual dinner menu. And by “might” I mean “most definitely am.”

What did you HAVE to have at your wedding, regardless of what other people thought?

Pinning My Hair

Whewwwwie! I'm so glad it's finally cooled off out there! Have any of you spent multiple hours with 17 7th grade boys in a non-airconditioned room? Well, I can now say that I have, and it's not always a nice smelling place to be. Anywho, while I've been neglecting my little blog here, I've been obsessing over Pinterest - and I'm finally jumping on the bandwagon of posting my pins on my blog.

Today's Pinterest edition concerns my hair. I still haven't scheduled my trial run (note to self: do that ASAP), and I've been checking out lots and lots of hairstyles on Pinterest. Here are a few that may make an appearance on the top of my head:

Source: weddingbee.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I love all the curls here! However, I'm concerned with my hair and the humidity in August. Those curls might be flat within an hour. Hmmm...

Source: None via Ashley on Pinterest

Can't you just picture a peacock feather fascinator pinned in this oh-so-cute bun for the reception?

Source: weddingbee.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I like how this has some height on the top and the back is still nice and not too formal looking.

Source: etsy.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Beautiful. Low-key and sophisticated. Looooove.

Source: audrastarr.com via Ashley on Pinterest

This non-curly look would solve the problem of my curls falling flat...

If you haven't started pinning yet, don't do it. You'll become addicted and won't get anything else done. Just kidding. It's lots of fun - if you start, be sure to follow me at username amlr.

What have you pinned lately?

Oh - and I almost forgot! I'm linking up with Meg at Life of Meg for Mingle Monday! Stop by and find a few new blogs to add to your daily obsessions :)

Jumping the Gun...?

Tomorrow is the first day of summer school, and we're really focusing on reading and math. So, today I dug out a bunch of my books that are middle school appropriate, and put them in a tote to take with me tomorrow. I knew I had to label them with my name, but it seemed a little silly to put my current last name since I'll only have it for 34 (!!) more days. So, although it maybe be jumping the gun a little bit, I labeled them with my future last name.

It was strange.

But it was awesome at the same time :)

Bits and Pieces

I miss my blog. I know I haven't been around lately, and I'm sorry. But I won't go on and on about that... here are a few snippets of things that have been controlling my free time lately:

•  I start teaching summer school Monday. I just got my materials yesterday. For all you non-math people out there, that means I have approximately 3 days to get my shiz in order. Yesterday I also found out what room I'll be in, which means I've done nothing to get my room ready. It's a small source of stress right now. I thought teaching summer school would be a welcome change of non-wedding things to do, but I'm starting to think I bit off more than I can chew. Thankfully, we'll be done over a week before the wedding, so hopefully my sanity remains in tact.
• My weekend is full of fun stuff - which is super exciting to me - but considering the above point, I'm wondering when I'll have time to get stuff done. My second shower is today (YAY!), we were invited to a fireworks party tonight, and one of my ring bearers has a 5th birthday party tomorrow. Like I said, lots of fun!
• Bachelorette party invites are done! Now, they just have to be put in the mail. I'm hoping we have a good sized group of girls, but I'll be happy with whoever decides to come. (Don't worry, I'll be posting about this in the next week, hopefully). 
• We have had so So SO many issues with the post office. I didn't realize I had to do a ton of research to make sure we covered all of the post office's rules! When I worked in mortgages, we mailed "messages in a bottle" to our clients. Seriously, the post office will let a water bottle filled with sand go through the system, but charges more because my postcard is oriented "portrait" instead of "landscape." What is wrong with this picture? I found out three days ago that at least 3 of our bridal shower invites never made it to their intended addresses. The post office returned 33 out of the 48 invites we sent out, but some people received theirs just fine. Does that make sense? UGH it's so frustrating. (sorry for that mini-vent)
• Wedding music is picked out (I'll be posting about this, too), and none of it is traditional. This makes me happy. Added bonus: my cousins will be playing the music themselves. Squeeeee!! I'm so excited about this. They're working on finding all of the music right now, and I love that they're just as excited as I am (ok, maybe not quite that much, but still pretty excited). 
• Is anyone else a registry stalker? I love it. 
• 35 days (5 weeks) until the big day!! Weeee!!

What's been taking up your free time lately?

Put a Ring on it

This time, I'm not talking about a ring for me; it's a ring for Josh! I have yet to purchase a wedding band for Josh, which is just another thing that's starting to stress me out. I have no idea what to buy! He says he doesn't care, but I'm sure that he does, especially since he has to wear it for the rest of his life. So, I forced him to go to the jeweler with me and pick out some bands he likes. Here are the top 5 (in no particular order). Which one should I go with?

Four ridged line detail

Three ridged line detail

Square detail impressions

6.75mm with impressions in a diamond shape

Single line detail

So, which one do you like? I have one in mind, so I'll probably go order it this week, but I just had to see what everyone else thinks!

Come to our Wedding: The full reveal!

Close your eyes for a minute; we're going to do a visualization exercise: Let's pretend you're walking out to get your mail. It's a beautiful summer day with low humidity and a slight breeze wafting the scent of wildflowers. You open your mailbox, and amongst all the boring white envelopes holding bills and junk mail, you see this:

(You can open your eyes now :) )

Oooh, interesting. A square card! That's not something you see everyday! (And I can tell you why: The post office charges and additional $.20 to mail something that's square. Just because it's square. Yeah... I was a little miffed about that.)

 

 Close-up of the wrap around label :)

When you open the envelope, you see this charming green pocketfold with a cute little R medallion on it.

Wow... those Rs must have taken some time and energy to do!

Without wasting any time, you delicately open the pocketfold and see this lovely invitation suite. What a fun mix of fonts and colors, you think to yourself! [ok, I may have added that last little part]

When you pull out the inserts, you see this funny little RSVP postcard. How fun! An interactive invitation!

 Hotel information and a shameless plug for the blog on the Accommodations insert (blurred out to prevent Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn from attending... although that would be pretty badass)

And finally, info on the most important part: the food and party afterwards!

You replace the Accommodation and Reception inserts and gingerly close the pocketfold, sliding it back into it's envelope. Wow, you think, as you fill out your RSVP card. This is going to be a fun wedding!

Ok, so I may have taken a few liberties with that narration :) But there you have it!

Happy Vacation Weekend!

We celebrate Fourth of July by camping with Josh's entire extended family. Mmmm... S'mores, sparklers, and a big fat potluck on Sunday. What could be better? Especially with a view like this:

Happy 4th of July Everyone!