i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)

In the Course of a Year

2009-01-11T12:56:00.014-05:00

On this day, one year ago, Mr. Magnolia and I said “I do” in front of 185 of our closest friends and family.

Tonight, we will celebrate with just our pup, Knowshon, and the bottle of Dom Perignon that Mr. Mags’ aunt gave us as a wedding gift. What a year it has been.

It’s inevitable that as you prepare to get married and begin your wedded life, you’ll hear people say that the first year of marriage is the most difficult. In our case, I’m going to have to agree wholeheartedly, but not for the reasons you might think.

I think in a lot of instances, a relationship can go through a tremendous amount of strain in the first year due to financial issues, family problems, and just general disagreements about how you both move forward with your everyday lives. Even if a couple lives together before tying the knot, it seems to me that making the relationship legal can add a level of complexity that puts you in a pressure cooker. For me personally, it was quite an adjustment to shift my thinking from “me” to “we” – it’s something that I continue to work on every day, because I can think of nothing that I want more than to ensure that my relationship with Mr. Mags lasts forever.

That’s not what I wanted to write about, though. Mr. Mags and I have had quite a first year, but I truly think that our relationship has been the easiest part. Life is going to continue to throw us curveballs, but given what we’ve tackled this year alone, I know that we’ll be able to get through it all together.

We’ve dealt with some serious health problems in our immediate families, particularly involving an issue this past spring with Mr. Mags’ dad, and then my mom’s diagnosis of breast cancer this summer.

Thankfully, they’re both doing very well. My mom had a lumpectomy in August, and she completed seven weeks of radiation right before Thanksgiving. She's now cancer-free!

At the end of September, I lost my job. It was unexpected and fairly upsetting, but I was hopeful that I’d find something even better. As of today, I’m still job hunting. I do have a few prospects – I have a lot of contacts in my field, and I’ve been interviewing regularly, but so far nothing has stuck.

Regardless, we have had fun! We spent a week this summer at the beach…

We cheered our beloved Georgia Bulldogs to another ten-win season…

And we spoiled Knowshon rotten at every opportunity.

Finally, we sent 2008 out in style, happy to see a crazy year go and looking forward to the wonderful things that 2009 would bring…

…but whatever it does bring, we’ll face it together. Yes, it was a tough year, but I am thankful every day for the amazing man that I married. Mr. Mags, I love you. Happy Anniversary.

Save the Date, Spanx-Style

2008-08-01T13:01:00.005-05:00

Atlanta resident (and undergarment savior to ladies everywhere) Sara Blakely is getting married! Per an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this morning, the Spanx founder is engaged to be married to Jesse Itzler, co-founder of Marquis Jets (and former rapper). The pair have rented out an entire resort in Boca Grande, FL for their October wedding, which I'm sure will be no small affair!

Stationery absolutely helps to set the tone for your wedding, and given that Save the Dates are generally the first formal contact that you have with your guests - how do we feel about this amazing creation?

I apologize for the poor quality of this picture - I snagged it off the AJC website, and I assume that this is a scanned version of the original!

The front of this 12-page bound booklet features sheet music for the song, "At Last" and an original image of the couple on a bicycle. Look closely, and you'll see - the bride's rockin' some Spanx under her gown, of course!

I can only assume that the wealth of information available within this Save the Date includes much of the same info that other brides might include as invitation enclosures, or even on a wedding website: travel and lodging information, how to keep yourself busy while visiting Boca Grande, a schedule of events, etc.

The only clue we're given to the contents, however, is this nugget from Blakely herself: "A friend just called me to say, 'Your save the date card is a little like reading The Catcher in the Rye!"

So, WB readers...what do you think? Is a 12-page booklet just a bit over-the-top for a Save the Date, or is it the perfect way to kick off what will surely be an extravagant affair to celebrate the union between two extremely successful people?

An Alaskan Engagement

2008-06-25T15:20:00.006-05:00

We've been best friends since we were fifteen. And just in case anyone out there is counting, that's almost half of our lives.

In high school, we'd show up for first period in the same outfit. She'd look at me and say, "I knew you were going to wear that."

We lived together all through college...and we not only survived, we're still as close as ever.

She's the most inadvertently funny person I know. She has a great sense of humor, but most of the time she's making people laugh without actually meaning to.

She used to have a dog named Taco and a bird named Potato. I don't know why that's important, but it always cracked me up, and as far as I'm concerned, it speaks volumes about her completely original personality and spirit.

She's amazingly kind, and exceedingly thoughtful.

When I married Mr. Magnolia in January, she was my Maid of Honor. That day, I gained a sister-in-law, and I couldn't be happier about that. But the thing is, I already kind of had a sister, albeit not a biological one. She knows me better than just about anyone else out there, and her happiness is incredibly important to me.

Last week, I got the most exciting phone call ever. While on vacation in Alaska for her boyfriend's birthday, he got down on one knee and gave her this:

If you look closely, you'll see a fleur-de-lis on the side of the setting. They live in New Orleans, and he had this ring specially designed for her in honor of their city.

And now I get to be Matron of Honor, and I can't wait to use this time to celebrate my best friend, my constant cheerleader, my partner in crime - sometimes literally ;). She deserves every bit of happiness available to her, and I know that her fiance is her perfect match. I'm so, so happy for them.

And as an added bonus, once next May rolls around and they say their "I dos," we'll have the same married last name. Sisters, essentially - we're marrying (or have married!) boys with the same last name. :)

Magnolia Wedding, Part 13: These are the Moments

2008-05-21T18:57:00.023-05:00

Like just about every other bride out there, I have to say that our wedding went by way too quickly. However, one decision we made, which I can honestly say that we never regretted, was not to hire a videographer. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I truly felt that if our photographer did a good job "capturing moments," that we wouldn't need a video to remember the evening - or even to see the things that we weren't able to witness.

After seeing our pictures, I feel that we made the right decision for us. Some of my favorite moments, as captured by the fabulous 35 Atlanta, are below:

The dancing was out of control...

My aunt's boyfriend put our votives to good use during our band's rendition of "Ring of Fire," by Johnny Cash.

...the hugs were plentiful...

...the laughter was infectious...

...and sometimes the groom just looked like he was ready to hit the road!

This, my dear Bee Friends, is my adorable Mother in Law, giving the middle finger to one of our good friends. And the man looking down at her with the faintly disapproving grimace? He's a preacher. Yeah, I know. :)

At the end of the night, the room with the buffet finally cleared out, and I spotted the oyster shooters that I was so excited about. Luckily, they were still cold because the caterers had been refreshing them all night. I literally dashed over the table and grabbed a shot, prepared to wolf it down, when I heard, "Wait! Stop! Turn around!"

(Thanks Ray, for grabbing this picture. It's one of my favorites!)

Like I said, our decision not to hire a videographer was one that worked out really well for us, but it may not have for many other brides. Even more so than most of our portraits, I truly believe that these pictures are the ones that I will cherish years from now. What do you guys think? Is still photography enough?

All photos by 35 Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 12: To The Magnolias!

2008-05-21T18:56:00.012-05:00

Immediately after our first dance, we rushed to the foyer for our toast/cake cutting. The only toast on our agenda was by Mr. Mags' brother, his Best Man.

Basically, his toast was all about how he knew that I was the one for Mr. Mags when I stepped up and took care of him after he had about twelve too many drinks at a UGA football tailgate. I gave up our tickets and took Mr. Mags back to his brother's house, where I promptly ordered pizza and brought him cold washcloths in the bathroom. True love, y'all...true love.

And then we sliced into our amazing cake!

No smashing for us!

All photos by 35 Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 11: Dance With Me

2008-05-21T18:56:00.007-05:00

Hey hey! The Magnolias are here!

Y'all. We weren't introduced at our reception until after 10:00 pm. It was so late, and we truly had no idea. I felt really bad - we actually missed people who had to get home to their babysitters - yikes.

(I love that Mr. Magnolia looks so surprised here, like "Hey! What's everyone doing here?!?"

Our amazing band, Kingsized, learned both our first dance song, God Only Knows by the Beach Boys, and our Father-Daughter dance song. We selected God Only Knows for a few reasons:

1. We love the tv show Big Love, and it's the theme song.
2. The night we got engaged, we heard that song no less than five times on an ebay commercial.
3. Well, it's just a really sweet song.

Mr. Magnolia truly hates any form of attention, so he was dreading the first dance with every fiber of his being. Therefore, we opted for the "middle school stand and sway" rather than take dance lessons and actually prepare something.

But then! That crafty guy, he surprised me with a dip!

My dad and I danced to Little Miss Magic by Jimmy Buffett. My dad, a stoic, conservative businessman, has been a Parrothead for as long as I can remember. Jimmy Buffett has a daughter who's exactly one month older than me, and he wrote Little Miss Magic for her when she was a baby. My dad used to sing it to me when I was a little girl, so it was a foregone conclusion that this would be our song.

...while my mom sang along. "Your mother is the only other woman for me...little miss magic, what you gonna be?"

Clearly, something was funny...

...and also, very emotional.

All photos by 35 Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 10: The Happy Couple

2008-05-21T18:55:00.011-05:00

I don't think y'all will mind, but I've decided to skip over the necessary-but-incredibly-boring family formal pictures that we took immediately after the ceremony. My parents and brother refused to smile for whatever reason, instead choosing the tight-lipped half-wince, while Mr. Mags' family looked joyous and stunning. Seriously, you'd think my half of the aisle wasn't thrilled by the union (they totally were, by the way!).

So if it's okay with the hive, I'd like to move on to more fun pictures - namely, the portraits that the Mister and I took while running around downtown Atlanta before we were introduced at our reception.

It was right about this moment that I started to feel like Scarlett O'Hara. Ball gown? Check. Peachtree Street in downtown Atlanta, Georgia? Check. Handsome, dashing man? CHECK!

Wait...they're following us!

We paused on the corner for a smooch, and we found...an audience! As soon as passers-by spotted the big white dress, they started hooting and hollering - much to Mr. Mags' extreme embarrassment!

What do you mean, everyone doesn't dance in the middle of Peachtree Street on their wedding night?

And.....dip!

This picture is one of the few times I've been happy with the results of a fish-eye lens. Usually, they simply don't do it for me, but when capturing me in a large poufy skirt and also attempting to show the scale of the buildings around us - it definitely works! (Since the picture's kind of small, I'll just tell you - the street sign we're leaning against is Peachtree Street - OF COURSE.)

Look out reception, here we come!

All photos by the super-fab 35 Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 9: We Did!

2008-05-21T18:54:00.005-05:00

After the ceremony, our photographers captured several shots that I truly wasn't even aware of. I was so happy and so excited that we were married, I just wanted to hug everyone! The wedding party and immediate families congregated in the Parish Hall while we waited for formal portraits.

Officially Mr. and Mrs. Magnolia! Okay, so maybe I was aware of this one. :)

I got hugs from my best friends...my Matron of Honor:

And my Maid of Honor:

"The most beautiful discovery that true friends can make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." - Elizabeth Foley

These ladies have been my best friends for eleven years and fourteen years, respectively. They are wonderful, talented, beautiful women, and even though we're all very different, we've remained extremely close.

A hug from my mom:

And a hug from my new father-in-law. I LOVE this picture. It's kind of amazing to me how welcoming, loving, and supportive my in-laws are. I know that a lot of people struggle with their in-laws, but that has never been an issue for me. I'm a lucky Magnolia, to have not only a wonderful husband, but also a new extended family who, quite simply, adores me...and trust me, the feeling is mutual!

And finally, signing the Catholic marriage certificate. Unlike our legal marriage license/certificate, this one is ceremonial, but binding in the eyes of the church.

All photos by 35Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 8: We Do!

2008-05-21T18:44:00.011-05:00

Okay, so you saw me start down the aisle with my dad...and here we are at the end! I'm kind of amazed by the reflection in the floor. Up close, it looked completely matte!

We decided to have a full mass because we wanted to receive communion, but we kept the service under an hour by limiting the music and selecting shorter readings. Our friends were taking bets as to how long the ceremony would actually last, and Mr. Mags' friend who selected 51 minutes came in right on the money!

During the readings, we sat down and pretended to pay attention. Mr. Mags got caught in the act sneaking a peek at the crowd!

Christ the King is truly an amazing church. And in the evening, it's just incredibly dramatic.

The vows!

The rings!

The preparation of the gifts/communion:

You may now kiss the bride!

(The new Mrs. Mags) Oh my God, we just did this!

(Mr. Mags) Yeah, we did! Now let's go...

(The new Mrs. Mags) Hey, look Mr. Mags! Our paparazzi awaits!

Woo hoo! Married people, hey!

All photos by 35Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 7: Let's Get This Show on the Road!

2008-05-21T17:54:00.006-05:00

Once our separate formal portraits were completed, it was just about that time - let's do this thing!

The Best Man, BIL Magnolia, walking his mom down the aisle. Isn't she adorable?

...and my brother walking my gorgeous mother down the aisle.

I just love the floor at Christ the King. It's almost like it's pointing you toward the altar!

Father Byrd and Mr. Magnolia waiting. On the far right, you can just barely see our altar server, Maggie. She was just darling, and she wrote us the sweetest thank you note after the wedding!

We had the bridesmaids process alone from the back of the church, but the groomsmen met them halfway to escort them to the altar.

(Plus, this is a great shot of the back of the girls' dresses!)

The Best Man taking the arm of my Maid of Honor...

The entire bridal party, waiting for me!

Here I come!!!

Up next - the ceremony!

Photos by 35Atlanta.

It's All in the Details (part three)

2008-05-21T17:09:00.007-05:00

I have to interrupt my chronological wedding-day posting to insert gratuitous cake shots, per Miss Pineapple's request...

A few days ago, Miss Pineapple wrote a great post about the cake designs that she was considering – and her first inspiration was the following:

Coincidentally enough, that is the exact same picture that I brought to show my bakery. The only thing is, though…I didn’t have any other options. I found this picture in the very first wedding magazine I bought after Mr. Mags and I got engaged, and I never considered anything else. Swiss dots, satin ribbon - it was perfect.

Our reception venue contracts with a local bakery, so our wedding cake was included in our total reception package. Even better, the bakery that they use, The Frosted Pumpkin, has an incredible reputation in the Atlanta area. Last fall, my FMIL and I went out to the suburbs (Alpharetta/Cumming to be exact) for the obligatory cake tasting, and we decided on two flavors – chocolate with chocolate fudge filling and white cake with lemon and raspberry fillings.

And then, I whipped out the picture, and Jeff – the business guy behind The Frosted Pumpkin – laughed and turned to his computer. It turns out, they had created that exact cake just a couple of weeks before! I told him that I wasn’t sold on the flowers, and that I’d actually prefer a fourth cake layer. ‘No problem,’ he responded, which is exactly the kind of response I like to hear from vendors!

And, that was that. Wedding cake decided. I gave it little to no thought from that moment on, until I saw the cake at the reception. And at that moment, I was blown away.

It was huge. And beautiful, and amazing, and absolutely perfect. Oh, and it tasted delicious, to boot.

My favorite picture of the cake is this one:

…and now, the groom’s cake. Mr. Mags and I were torn on whether or not to have one – unlike the actual wedding cake, this would not be included in our reception package. Being the huge Georgia football fans that we are, something UGA-related was the only way to go, if we did decide to have one.

FMIL and I touched on the subject with Jeff, and he showed us an option that we both fell in love with. In fact, although we didn’t decide on a groom’s cake that night, FMIL decided that (1) we had to have that cake, and (2) she was going to pay for it. (I adore my in-laws, I really do!)

So what did we decide on? A cake which recreated the UGA football field, where Mr. Mags and I took our engagement pictures. The real selling point for this cake was the hedges – a point of pride for any Georgia football fan. Playing “between the hedges” is a long-standing tradition for the Dawgs, so much so that they didn’t even let the 1996 Olympics get in the way. That summer, the soccer competitions were set to take place at Sanford Stadium, UGA’s football field, and the hedges had to be taken out. Although the actual location of the hedges during this period was kept highly secret (rival teams are always suspected of potential sabotage!), rumor has it that they were planted in the state of Florida, and we actually moved Georgia soil as well so as not to “taint” the hedges with the nutrients of our neighbor to the south. Seriously – the hedges are a big deal. And our cake had them!

The UGA cake topper was a stocking stuffer from my mom – we got engaged on December 1, 2006, and she found this for us just a few weeks later. It was a bit too cutesy for our elegant wedding cake, but I think it went perfectly with the groom’s cake, and it received a ton of compliments.

We had zero debate about our cakes, and we couldn't have been more thrilled with the results. Were you as decisive as we were about your cake designs?

All photos by 35Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 6: Portraits of a Ham

2008-05-19T21:50:00.005-05:00

Unlike my adorable husband, I don't mind being in front of a camera. So when it came time for my solo portraits, I was not only completely comfortable, but also a bit of a ham!

They ask for sassy, they get sassy...

Just outside the Brides Room at Christ the King are these amazing Angel Gates:

...and then, my parents appeared. They were a little confused as to why I was sitting on the ground, but that was the first time my dad saw me. Needless to say, he got a little choked up...

Stay tuned for the ceremony!

Photos by 35Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 5: Mr. Mags

2008-05-19T17:57:00.008-05:00

Although he fought it at every turn, Mr. Magnolia eventually gave in to some formal shots as a groom-to-be. More than likely, it was just that he knew how pissed off I would be if I got our pictures back and found zero of him...

He's so dapper, isn't he? :)

And yet, so uncomfortable. I do feel a little bit bad, having subjected my husband-to-be to a photo session, which he's so vocal about hating...but really, consider the alternative. No pictures? Not an option!

...and finally, our photographers' favorite. Capturing the cab in the background was great!

All pictures by 35Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 4: The Girls Take Flight

2008-05-14T19:16:00.006-05:00

Since the boys snapped up all of the sunlight for their group shots (greedy beasts...), my bridesmaids and I suffered through our photograph session by artificial light.

I kid, I kid. 35Atlanta did an amazing job of lighting the courtyard at Christ the King, and I'm truly thrilled with how our group pictures turned out!

Ray and Erica, our photographers, told us to link arms, start walking, and laugh hysterically. Hey, nobody ever said that we couldn't follow directions!

Hey now, you guys are too slow!

Our moms (who had been peeking out the window for the last twenty minutes) decided that they may as well just come downstairs and witness the photo session up close...

Mama Magnolia on the left, MIL Magnolia on the right.

And now for the big finish! Ray suggested the ever-popular jumping picture, but we decided to kick it up a notch. My bridesmaids kicked off their shoes and we all climbed up on the short stone wall in the middle of the courtyard.

Should we?

Hells yeah, we should! The girls pretty much just stepped off the wall, but not me! I jumped straight up in the air!

(What you don't see in this picture is our landing on the slate courtyard. OUCH!!!)

All photos by 35Atlanta.

Magnolia Wedding, Part 3: Where the Boys Are

2008-05-14T18:38:00.003-05:00

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, a Weddingbee Blogger named Mrs. Magnolia started posting her wedding pictures...

...and then she stopped, because life intervened, and she started traveling like a madwoman, and all of her free time was devoted to cleaning and gardening and raising a puppy, and OH YEAH - being a newlywed and spending quality time with her wonderful husband.

But she's back, and ready to post more wedding day photos, so hear goes nothing!

With our wedding scheduled for 7:30 pm in January, nighttime pictures were a given from the start, especially since Mr. Mags and I decided not to see one another before the ceremony. I wasn't worried about it, because I really do love the ambiance of evening pictures. In fact, I was looking forward to seeing what my photographers came up with.

Anyway, with that said, the boys did get their group shots in before the sun set completely, and I just love how the "city at dusk" lighting came out!

Mr. Magnolia and his Best Man, BIL Magnolia:

(In these pictures, BIL Magnolia looks IDENTICAL to his father on his wedding day...right down to the haircut. It's kind of scary.)

My handsome guy:

Hey, hey, the gang's all here... since the boys got ready at the Four Seasons in Midtown Atlanta, they literally just stepped outside the front doors of the hotel to take pictures.

One of my favorites...even though Mr. Mags hates having his picture taken, clearly he had a little bit of fun that day!

Normally, I'm not a big fan of the fisheye lens, but to capture the Midtown highrises (Symphony Tower on the left, Four Seasons on the right), it totally worked!

This one was taken a little later, at the church...I like to call it "STRONG LIKE BULL!"

All pictures by 35Atlanta.

China Options on eBay!

2008-04-15T13:01:00.009-05:00

I have got to say, we have had a TIME trying to complete our everyday china since the wedding. We received approximately four bread and butter plates, forty-seven salad plates, twenty-one dinner plates, one soup bowl, a sugar bowl, and a notification that a mug has been on backorder since Christmas. Thanks a million, Macy's and Bloomie's. We selected Wedgwood's Night and Day pattern, and while it doesn't seem to be heading into retirement anytime soon...well, it's also not the *easiest* pattern to find. I do take partial blame, since I insisted that we not register for the five-piece place setting. While that would have been easier, I couldn't be less interested in a cup/saucer combo. Bring on the soup bowls on mugs! Anyway, I've suggested to Mr. Magnolia that we supplement our everyday china with some plain white pieces (hello, Martha!), but he's surprisingly adamant about keeping our stuff very "matchy-matchy."

I do love the contrasting fluted/checkerboard patterns on this china. I just wish we could collect all of it! [Image courtesy of wedgwoodusa.com.]

The other day, I was reading a fellow bridal blog, and I came upon a fantastic suggestion! Honestly, it really never occurred to me to look for our china pattern (formal OR everyday) on eBay. Not only did I find various pieces that we're missing, (and a Replacements store!) but there are other sellers which feature items that I never even knew about! My personal favorite is the vinegar jug:

[Image courtesy of eBay seller DOGWOODS.]

And how about these? It looks like they simply attached a salad plate and a dinner plate to silver handles, but I think they're cute!

[Images courtesy of eBay seller myTableware.]

Has anyone else dealt with registry completion pains? How did you work around it? Did you find additional pieces to complement your existing items?

Magnolia Wedding, Part 2: The Boys Get Ready

2008-03-30T15:27:00.009-05:00

See part one here.

While we were primping for literally hours at our house about four and a half miles away, Mr. Magnolia and his groomsmen walked around Piedmont Park, toured the Coke Museum, and eventually made their way back to the hotel roughly fifteen minutes before they were due to start taking pictures. Our photographer, Ray, actually sat around at the Four Seasons for a couple of hours, waiting for boys. At one point, he was approached by a security team and questioned about his photography equipment - it turns out, the Chicago Bulls were in town to play the Atlanta Hawks, and they were staying at the Four Seasons as well. Security was afraid he might be paparazzi! (Well, he was - but for ME, not them!) :)

But hey, he got this great shot:

We rented tuxedos from Black Tie by Lori in Sandy Springs:

I love this picture of my husband-to-be. He was pretty nervous all day, but he looks perfectly relaxed here!

Mr. Mags with his groomsmen (minus one):

The engraved julep cups that he gave to his groomsmen as gifts:

Okay, guys....enough stalling! It's actually time to get dressed!

The missing groomsman (my brother) finally shows up for pictures:

Well, getting dressed took all of 3.2 minutes. Now what?

(To be continued...)

Photography: 35Atlanta

Tuxedos: Black Tie by Lori

Magnolia Wedding, Part I: The Girls Get Ready

2008-03-29T12:38:00.016-05:00

Okay, here we go! I've shown y'all some details, and you've seen some non-pro pics, but it's now that time to really start posting our professional wedding pictures by the fabulous 35Atlanta.

So here we go - pictures of me and my girls getting ready!

We didn't actually start getting ready until about 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon. Since our ceremony was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., we actually had other things going on that day. I ran a 5K that morning, and my mother-in-law's best friend threw us a perfectly lovely bridesmaids luncheon at the perfectly-Atlanta Swan Coach House. We were a little rushed leaving lunch, and we headed back to my house to begin getting ready as quickly as we could.

Things were pretty hectic - at one point, we had one bride, six bridesmaids, three beauty professionals, two friends, one mom, one cousin, and two photographers in our little 1200 sq. ft. house, but I wouldn't have changed our setup for the world. I was kind of frazzled, rarely sitting down and constantly coming up with "one more thing" that needed to be done, but someone was always one step behind me, taking the dustpan out of my hand, cleaning up the wine glasses from the coffee table, and steaming the bridesmaids dresses and sashes.

Cortney, the wife of one of Mr. Magnolia's cousins has a side business doing wedding and prom hair, so she came by to do updos for me and my MOH. While she was busy curling MOH's hair...

...she had me put my hair up in rollers so that the curling iron process would take less time:

A little wine was a must-have to calm the nerves - note that I'm already wearing my e-ring on my right hand!

My mom's stylist, Misty (who also did my hair in high school and college), provided blowouts to all of the girls except my MOH. Here she is with Mr. Magnolia's sister:

And some of the girls groomed each other!

Meanwhile, my fabulous cousin Chad from Three Custom Color was hard at work on makeup for the girls:

At the last minute, I found a hair inspiration that was significantly different than the one I used for my hair trial. And this was what we decided to go with:

Cortney figuring out where to place the silk flower in my hair:

And attaching my cathedral-length veil:

Chad hard at work on my mom:

And finally, Chad begins the makeup process on me:

Hold that thought, Chad! I have to make one more phone call to see how Mr. Mags is holding up...

(To be continued...)

Photography: 35Atlanta

Hair: Misty King and Cortney Nelms

Makeup: Chad Hayduk, Three Custom Color

Accessories: Silk flower purchased at LaRaine's Boutique, Veil ordered from obridal.com

It's All in the Details (Part Two)

2008-03-19T17:34:00.002-05:00

See part one (favors) here.

Flowers are a detail that just about every bride worries about, right? Well, I was no exception. Choosing a florist proved to be one of the most difficult wedding-related decisions I had to make. (And truly, this was a decision that I had to make, because Mr. Mags wanted no part of it!)

I interviewed several florists, but I just didn't get a feel that anyone was going to take my requests based on my (very) limited knowledge of flowers and run with it. I didn't want someone who was going to execute exactly what I asked for, because I had very little idea what I was actually talking about!

Enter desperation mode. At a staff meeting one Friday morning, one of our managers asked if anyone had any additional business, and I blurted out, "Does anyone happen to know a good florist?!" Smooth move, Mags.

Luckily, a colleague took pity on me and slipped me a piece of paper with the name and number of my savior on it: Bettina McDowell, with Riverdale's Floral Boutique. Not only did Bettina and I immediately hit it off, but I absolutely felt that she would be able to capture my ideas and expand on them. Mission accomplished, Bettina!

My bridal bouquets:

Yes, there were two of them. The day before the wedding, Bettina called me while I was getting my nails done. She said that she wanted to run something by me...so my stomach flipped over, I braced myself for the worst, and I said, "Okay..."

"I'm afraid that the hydrangeas in your bridal bouquet may wilt during pictures, so I'm going to make two so that you are sure to have a fresh one to walk down the aisle. Is that okay?"

Bless her. Seriously, she rocks. (Warning: this emotion may be repeated a lot during this post...)

Corsages for the mothers:

Previously blogged here, our mothers attached these beauties to their clutches before walking down the aisle. (yes, they are both in that picture...)

A close up on the bridesmaids bouquets:

And Mr. Magnolia's boutonniere (I hope that's spelled correctly):

So, centerpieces. For whatever reason, I wasn't content to just have one kind of centerpiece, or even the popular "high and low" pairing. No, I had to opt for FIVE different kinds of centerpieces. Bless Bettina. She rocks.

The tall centerpieces on our buffet table:

First centerpiece for our high top tables:

Another centerpiece for the high top tables:

LOVE the coffee bean detail shot:

First centerpiece for larger tables:

This picture (although not a close up) also shows off our table runners, made by my MIL and her sister.

And the final centerpiece for the larger tables...hydrangea and rose petals floating in water in glass cylinders.

Whew. Well, that's that. One last thought, because it simply can't be said enough? Bettina rocks, y'all!

All photos by 35Atlanta.

NASCAR Weddings

2008-03-09T20:51:00.006-05:00

NASCAR came to Atlanta this weekend, and this article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution totally cracked me up:

Atlanta NASCAR Fans Start Race with "I Do"

Excerpts from the article include:

The start and finish line of a racetrack could be the most appropriate place to start a marriage. The sport is a lot like a being wed — hours of monotony in which participants try and keep everything together until crossing the finish line, punctuated by wrecks, drama and occasional public spectacles of embarrassment.

On Sunday, five couples vowed to find out if the metaphor applies to them when they said "I do" on the black-and-white checkered line at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton— two hours before 43 drivers thundered across it for 325 laps at the Kobalt Tools 500.

There were signs of potential marital trouble ahead as brides — and grooms — advertised their loyalty to another man, donning numbers like "88," code for Dale Earnhardt Jr., or the name "Jeff Gordon" brazenly spread across a blouse.

But the newlyweds said men like Gordon and Earnhardt or even Kyle Busch would never come between them. In fact, at least four of the lovebirds credited NASCAR and the speedway for getting them officially hitched.
Mark Wampole and Nicole Sarge said the Sunday event jump-started their own
wedding plans. Engaged for five years, the Rome couple spotted the speedway's promotional stunt when Wampole, 33, checked the track's Web site for traffic information.

"It required no planning, because we already had tickets," said Sarge, 28. "He's a Junior fan and I'm a Gordon fan and they're starting first and second, so that is pretty good."

Sarge wore a blouse patterned after the black-and-white checkered flag. She said she had hoped to wear a wedding gown in the same pattern, but track rules prohibited dresses and open-toe shoes on the speedway.
Instead, brides and grooms came decked out in their NASCAR wear. Some even toted coolers.
The newlyweds focused on the words of the track chaplain, the Rev. Bill Brannon. He talked of racing flags — yellow for caution, green for "Go!" and red for stopping because of something bad. "Avoid the red flag," Brannon said. And he warned against nonchalance even after the white flag signaled the last lap. "Stay focused. Never take each other for granted."

Brannon, a Baptist minister, said he has performed about 20 weddings of NASCAR diehards at the speedway over the years, but Sunday's was his first public ceremony, and the first on the track itself. Brannon allowed that the track offered a setting for ministry, but for nuptials, he preferred a more traditional sanctuary. "It's always better," he said. Then he smiled. "I get paid a lot more."

So, I would say that this could only happen in Georgia, but I also know that NASCAR is the second most popular sport in the U.S. Personally it's not for me, but I do think that getting married at the speedway is pretty hilarious. Anyone want to try for next year?!

It's All in the Details (part one)

2008-03-09T17:23:00.014-05:00

Technically, I guess my post on oliviamoon's pendants was my first in the "detail" series, but since I didn't number it as such, we'll just start this one as one, shall we?

Mr. Magnolia and I didn't spend a whole lot of time thinking about favors. We basically figured that if I great idea came to us that wouldn't break the bank, then we would have them...but if nothing came to mind, we just wouldn't worry about it. Initially we considered hiring The Varsity Catering truck to show up at midnight and serve chili dogs, onion rings, and F.O.s (Frosted Orange drinks), because there's very little that's more "Atlanta" than the Varsity. Plus, I was hoping they'd give us a discount since our reception was pretty much around the corner from the restaurant. Ultimately, we decided that it was out of our budget, plus there was the issue of the catering department not being particularly responsive...something I have a serious problem with. Anyway, eventually I decided on another course of action in the favor department - something that was definitely still intricately linked to the city of Atlanta...

Coca-Cola!

I have to disclose that I do, in fact, have a connection to the company that allowed me a significant discount on nine cases of the special edition holiday bottles (a glass, non-contour design, circa the mid-1890s).

I would suggest, if you decide to purchase Coca-Cola bottles as favors, that you check out your local Costco, Sam's Club, or other bulk merchandiser. Buying the six-packs retail can add up quickly!

I also purchased favor tags from etsy seller paperfarrago - mostly in shades of blue and brown, both with and without yarn or ribbon attached. On one side of each favor tag, I wrote a thank you message to our guests. I say "one side," because some of the tags were made of one-sided paper, while others were two-sided. In those cases, I simply wrote on the lighter side.

Paperfarrago was a great etsy seller who responded quickly, shipped the tags promptly, and I would definitely consider ordering from again!

Overall, our favors were a big hit with our guests, and I'm truly pleased that we were able to come up with an affordable way to represent us as well as honor the city we love.

Is anyone else planning to do favors that are related to their wedding location?

All photos (except the first one) by 35Atlanta.

But you're married!

2008-03-03T21:41:00.001-05:00

Lately, I've noticed a strange kind of reasoning coming from my husband. I'm a girl, I struggle with my weight, I break out from time to time...basically, I have the same superficial concerns that you'll find in many young women - single, engaged, or married.

Except now, when I whine to Mr. Magnolia about my favorite jeans being too tight, his response is, "But you're married..." On our trip to Wal-Mart this weekend, I snatched up some ever-helpful Oxy 10, and he asked, "What do you need that for?"

"To help clear up my skin," I replied. You can guess his response:

"But you're married..."

I don't know about you guys, but I don't look at a wedding ring on my finger as a reason to "let myself go." First of all, I have a corporate job that really prefers me to look put together, and second of all, it's not really about looking a certain way for other people. I like it when I know I look good. And yes, I like to look good for Mr. Mags as well! I didn't start running to "catch a husband," and I don't plan to stop now that I have one! Similarly, I would prefer to keep my skin clear, because it kind of grosses me out when I'm overtaken with pimples.

Be honest - is there anyone out there who thinks she just might (even if inadvertently) "let herself go" after the wedding? Or do you think your husband has/will do so? Anyone who thinks MY husband will do so? :)

*Please excuse any errors in this post...I've typed it on my blackberry while stranded at the DC airport.*

The Story of the Chicken Pitcher

2008-02-28T16:22:00.008-05:00

I think it’s just because Atlanta is in the middle of (what I hope is) the last big cold snap of the year, but I am just dying for spring to be here. Seriously, y’all...I bought a tube top yesterday. And if you know anything at all about Mrs. Magnolia, it’s that she’s not usually a tube top-type of girl. So you know the mid/late winter cabin fever must really be getting to me.

Last week, Mr. Magnolia and I were thrilled to see that a couple of bulbs had appeared in the flower bed in our front yard. A few days later, we had seven gorgeous daffodils (or as my adorable Mister calls them, jonquils) blooming…and just in time for another frost to hit. So I ran outside and cut my beautiful signs of spring before the temperature dive took them all out anyway.

So then I faced the quandary of how to display my seven beautiful daffodils, and I had a brainstorm about an image from this month’s issues of Southern Living (yes, I read Southern Living…). I can’t find a good picture online, but they featured some gorgeous spring tulips in a chicken pitcher…and we just happen to have a chicken pitcher!

When Mr. Magnolia and I first got engaged, we received an engagement gift from a good friend of his who was living in Italy with her husband, a naval dentist. It was this adorable chicken pitcher, and a description of its history:

During the early Renaissance period, families generally came to power by
overthrowing one another via assassination. When Lorenzo and Giuliano Medici
were in power, they were known for throwing lavish festivals in the villages for
the peasants. At one point, the rival family – the Pazzis – had someone suggest
that Guiliano hold a festival in the small village of Gallina, where one had
never been held before.

They figured that Guiliano would drink too much and be passed out
and vulnerable, but they failed to take into account that Gallina is a village
of chicken farming. While attempting to sneak up to Guiliano’s tent, they
inadvertently stumbled upon a large chicken yard, and the chickens began to
cackle frantically. Guiliano and his guards woke up, and the assassins were
caught and executed.

Giuliano was so thrilled that the chickens had saved him that he threw
another festival the following night, and he had his artisans create ceramic
chickens to be used as wine pitchers. He gave these pitchers out to the peasants
and their friends for good luck in warding off evil. It is now an Italian
tradition to give chicken pitchers to a friend, ideally as a housewarming
gift.

It was truly a lovely engagement gift to receive from overseas, and I'm so excited about my first spring decor item of the year!

Charmed, I'm Sure!

2008-02-24T11:26:00.014-05:00

When I started thinking about my bridesmaids and the things that I wanted to give to them on our wedding day, of course I took into account my experiences as a bridesmaid in the past. What would I change about being a bridesmaid, if I could? I did come up with one very small idea that was a huge hit with them...and this is the detail that I've received the most compliments on since getting our pictures back.

Having been a bridesmaid three times, the thing that drives me up the wall is getting to the reception, putting down my bouquet by the cake, and not knowing which one is mine at the end of the night. Call me anal, or even overly sentimental, but when a bride hands me a bouquet, that's the one that I want to stick with for the rest of the day/evening. It's the one I want to take home with me and put in a cylinder to display for the next week or so.

I've seen brides put rhinestone initial charms on thier bouquets as well as those of their bridesmaids, but that's not the route I decided to take. Instead, I found etsy seller oliviamoon, who just happens to be based out of my hometown of Greenville, SC! I purchased several of her initial charms, printed on light blue and white paper in various fonts. Not only were they absolutely beautiful, but the back featured a mirror...perfect for a last-minute lipstick check before you walk down the aisle!

Pre-styled Miss Magnolia, attaching each girl's charm to a length of light blue ribbon:

Ready to be tied to our bouquets:

They really looked beautiful, and they definitely added something to the bouquets!

(My bouquet featured two charms...J and T, for my married initials.)

I would definitely highly recommend oliviamoon's charms. She responded very quickly to my request for custom charms, happily created exactly what I asked for, and had the order to me within days!

Photos by 35Atlanta.

Blogged by 35Atlanta!

2008-02-18T15:18:00.004-05:00

Last Friday, I met up with our amazing photographers, Ray and Erica Tisdale of 35Atlanta, to pick up our wedding pictures...all 992 of them!

I'll be blogging about the entire wedding day in the near future, but in the meantime, I'd like to brag on Ray and Erica for a minute. We interviewed a few different photographers, and they were clearly the best option in our price range. We opted for a package which included unlimited coverage, unlimited locations, all images fully edited and presented in an album/archival box, an online gallery, and all digital images on disk.

It was pretty much a given that Mr. Magnolia was going to be completely uncomfortable in front of the camera, so my goal was to find someone who would be able to ease his mind just a bit, and I truly think Ray and Erica were the best people for the job. They were absolutely wonderful for our engagement pictures last April, and they were even better for the day/evening of our wedding in January.

I highly recommend 35Atlanta for any Atlanta brides out there - and to anyone else as well who is interested in their editorial style. They do travel for clients!

Plus, they take fabulous pictures....

Mr. and Mrs. Magnolia on the 35Atlanta Blog!

image by 35Atlanta

Shannon Britt

2008-02-15T15:49:00.009-05:00

For months, it seemed, I drooled over the shoes at Shannon Britt. Why I didn't just suck it up and buy her blue and gold Olivia flats like Mrs. Lemon, I have no idea. I'm thrilled with the shoes that I eventually wore on my wedding day, but every once in a while, I go back to the Shannon Britt site and just....drool.

I hadn't visited the site in a while, and today I was thrilled to see that it was updated! Check out some of these amazing shoes...

Olivia, this time with feathers!

Jen

Mia

Shelby

Jane

Gorgeous, no? :)

Rehearse...and then Chow Down!

2008-02-12T10:35:00.009-05:00

Hey y'all, Mrs. Magnolia here...still sick, and still waiting on professional pics. Our photographers told me on Monday that the pics were at the lab, so I should have them by the end of the week! Man, I can't wait. Just yesterday, my Matron of Honor sent me a link to the pictures from her little brother's wedding...which was two weeks after ours!

In the meantime, we're going to talk about our rehearsal dinner. My in-laws decided to plan a seated dinner, since we would be having a buffet at the wedding reception. After debating several venues, including the Piedmont Room and Ansley Golf Club, they settled on 103 West.

103 West is a private event facility in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, managed by an upscale restaurant group. Both Mr. Magnolia and I had attended several work-related functions there, so we had no doubt that the food was fantastic. Initially, though...I had some reservations about the decor. Maybe it's just because I tend to be more traditional, but the upstairs of 103 West has never appealed to me:

I know that a lot of people really love it, but personally, I think that the draping on the walls matched with the red furniture is just a bit much. However, I had never seen the grand ballroom, and I was pleasantly surprised:

Not only is it downstairs, which is where the restrooms are located, but it has a private entrance. Score!

From what I understand, Mr. Magnolia and his mom both ran into a couple of communication issues with the staff, but overall we were very pleased with the event. The food was fantastic, the service was great, and the room looked beautiful. Truly, we did very little to it, but everyone was raving about how lovely and elegant everything was.

It was a laid back dinner, with the first thirty minutes devoted to cocktail hour, and then a three course meal with a ceasar salad, filet/chicken combo main course, and pumpkin cheesecake dessert. My father-in-law gave a lovely toast, thanking Mr. Magnolia for being a wonderful son and brother, and wishing us both the best. Seriously, y'all - a wedding weekend is just a big love-fest! :)

Anyway, since we were opting for all-white linens, my mother-in-law decided to go with all-white flowers...and they were absolutely beautiful! This is Brother Magnolia, peeking out from behind a gorgeous (though cut off) centerpiece of white hydrangeas, roses, and lilies.

Most of the pictures I have are people-centric. My aunt snagged a camera and went to town, taking pictures of just about everyone there...except Mr. Magnolia! :(

This is me with my cousin. She did a reading at the wedding the next night.

...and, because they're just too cute, my great aunt and uncle. Of all of the guests we had come to the wedding, I think these two were the happiest to be there!

One last picture, just because it cracks me up. This is my Matron of Honor with her husband, who is hilarious and maybe a little ridiculous. Oh - and she had just consumed three pieces of pumpkin cheesecake.

Take Your Vitamins.

2008-02-08T16:09:00.000-05:00

If I had one piece of advice for brides-to-be, that would be it. Take your vitamins.

(At least, that would be my advice right now. Next week, it could very well be something different.)

Clearly, the stress leading up to the wedding took a bit out of me. But the thing is that I was running on such adrenaline, for so long, that I simply didn't have time to notice. However, now that the whole production is over? My immune system is shot.

I've been married for exactly a month (tomorrow!), and I've been sick twice since we got home from our honeymoon. With this round, I got knocked over by what appears to be the resurgent flu...a flu which all of the newscasters in the area are telling me has taken a toll on school attendance in the Atlanta area. That's great, except that I'm the only adult I know who has succumbed to this miserable sickness so far. I'll know what it is for sure in a couple of days, once the doctor has gotten the flu test back. I do know that it's not strep, which is good, but not actually having a name for this phlemmy, chokey, pins in my throat, half-nauseous mess is no fun either. Just tell me what's wrong so that I can fix it.

And then I promise I'll start taking a multivitamin. And hey, you guys start doing so too (if you haven't already). We don't need any more sick newlyweds on our hands, okay?

No gift, but still a big thank you!

2008-02-01T13:50:00.001-05:00

Like just about every other bride out there, I have a big ol' list of thank you notes to write. After being married three weeks, I've barely made a dent in that list.

However, earlier this week, I did sit down to write notes to several people who didn't actually give us a gift...vendors. I have vendor reviews coming soon, but I can preface those by saying that I truly believe that I worked with some of the most talented people in Atlanta for our wedding. I didn't hire a wedding planner, partially because I had this ridiculous need to be in control of every aspect of the planning, and partially because I had complete faith in every single person that I hired.

Mr. Magnolia thinks I'm a little crazy for writing thank you notes to our vendors after they've been paid in full (and in some cases tipped), but I think of it as a personal gesture of appreciation....as opposed to the very impersonal check. And as a friend of mine said yesterday, it kind of closes the loop on the relationship in a nice way, you know?

So our first thank you notes are out the door:

1. To the catering manager at the club where we held our reception. I dropped everything at the club on the Thursday before, and I never gave another thought as to whether or not everything would be in place. I just knew that it would, because that's how fantastic she is.

2. To our florist. I'm convinced she lost money on us. This amazing lady called me on Friday afternoon (when I was mid-pedicure) to tell me that she was nervous that the hydrangeas in my bouquet would wilt before I got down the aisle, so she had decided to make me two bridal bouquets - one for pictures and one for the actual ceremony. I LOVE HER.

3. Our hair stylists, Mr. Magnolia's cousin's wife and my mom's hairdresser. Both gave up their afternoons to make my maids and me look gorgeous and put up with The Bride Who Wouldn't Sit Down. They're saints, both of them.

4. My cousin, the super-fab makeup artist. He's talented, he's fast, and he's fun. If I may be so bold, my ladies and I were smokin' hot that night.

5. The bakery. Our cake was included in our reception food package, so I have no idea what it cost. I met with them, tasted some flavors, told them the exact design that I wanted, and then I let it go. Not only did they execute the design flawlessly, but the cake was HUGE. And it tasted incredible, too.

6. The sales manager at the hotel where we blocked rooms. Wow. This girl was a lifesaver, in ever sense of the word. I think I emailed her every single day between Nov. 15th and Dec. 15th to ask for an updated list of guests. She could not have been more gracious and accommodating, plus she arranged to have Mr. Magnolia and me upgraded to a suite for our wedding night. I kind of hav a girlcrush on her.

So I guess this post turned into a mini-list of vendor reviews, but really I just wanted to express how thankful I am to have worked with such wonderful people. I hope that they all know how much I enjoyed being on the receiving end of their services, and I am looking forward to continuing relationships with all of them.

Were there certain vendors that you felt deserved extra recognition? How did you thank them or otherwise show your appreciation?

Test

2008-01-30T21:53:00.000-05:00

Hello, Lover!

2008-01-30T13:08:00.001-05:00

So I thought this was kind of cute...

We have some Sex & the City fans on Weddingbee, don't we? We have to! Who's excited about the movie coming out this spring? Whee!!!

Okay, topic. Just a little while ago, I received an email from the HBO online store - they're running a Valentine's special (free shipping), and they have new items in their "Hello, Lover" shop. Remember that scene, in the episode where Miranda has baby Brady, and Carrie falls for a gorgeous pair of Christian Louboutins? I can't find the actual picture, but...

Just before spotting the shoes...

...and wearing them home from the hospital/Big's apartment.

ANYWAY, that scene/those shoes inspired the Hello, Lover shop. And how cute would this be for a honeymoon ensemble?

I'm smitten, but what do y'all think? Would you buy something like this for your honeymoon? Would your guys even get the joke?

To tide you (and me!) over...

2008-01-28T15:45:00.000-05:00

I'm patiently waiting on my pro pics (two or three more weeks to go!), but until then, I wanted to post some of the guest pics I've received over the last few weeks. I love how even my guests were able to capture some fabulous moments that I otherwise might have missed...

Cutting our fab cake. Seriously, it turned out even more beautiful than I ever thought it could!

Posing with our Supper Club group...they were so funny. As soon as we finished cutting the cake, they made a mad dash for us and yelled, "Supper Club picture!" Flash, flash, flash, and they all ran away!

Chatting with my wonderful makeup artist/cousin and his partner.

This picture cracks me up. That's three (yes, three) of my bridesmaids huddled on the right, trying to stay warm as they wait for Mr. Magnolia and me to exit. You'd think it was frigid out there, except that their husbands/boyfriends are on the left, sleeves rolled up like it's springtime! Our photographers find this all very humorous...

Sparkler exit! Yay!

(See the navy and white ribbon tied to the sparkler stem? I single-handedly tied 210 of those suckers...)

I love this - after Mr. Magnolia and I depart in the limo, someone captured my parents walking back into the club alone. So cute!

I know, it's not much. But it's all I've got for now! Enjoy!

The boxes...oh, the boxes!

2008-01-22T18:11:00.001-05:00

Given that I am a proud owner of Emily Post's Etiquette (the new one, by her great-granddaughter-in-law Peggy Post), I was insistent that Mr. Magnolia and I not use the vast majority of our wedding gifts before the wedding. There were a slight few that we put to good use - Home Depot gift cards which were invaluable after we closed on our house, and the super-fab Cuisinart Griddler, which Mrs. Onion has already sung the praises of. The Griddler was a gift from my mom, so I felt that the traditional mandate that one must not use the gifts so that they can be returned if the wedding, God forbid, were to be called off...well, it didn't really apply.

Therefore, our engagement gifts, shower gifts, and ultimately wedding gifts piled up in an unsightly mound in our dining room.

I was actually trying to take a picture of Knowshon here, but he's kind of camera-shy, and I ended up getting our super-stack of C&B boxes.

We did open gifts as we got them, in order to write thank you notes, but then they went promptly back into their boxes and were added to THE PILE. The day after the wedding, we came home and opened everything we had just received, and we promptly left for our honeymoon.

So, last Saturday we came home to this:

See Knowshon's crate in the middle of the chaos? The poor puppy actually had to spend a few nights like that. I know, we're bad parents...

Our dining room from another angle.

So, we put away all of our fabulous new stuff, but we were left with a gajillion boxes...what to do? We have one friend who's moving, so we pulled aside 8-10 boxes for her, but we still had a ton to get rid of, not to mention the massive amount of packing peanuts so kindly provided by Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

(We've filled up our big, outdoor garbage can with packing peanuts on more than one occasion. Our trash guys HATE us...and they let us know that by dumping have of the can's contents in our front yard.)

Then, Mr. Magnolia had a brilliant idea. We have a fire pit in our backyard, courtesy of the previous owners, and we have only had a couple of other occasions to use it. Why not burn our boxes (in a very controlled manner, of course)?

First things first: Having a fire extinguisher nearby is a necessity.

Bye bye, boxes!

Mr. Mags would kill me if he knew I posted a picture that included his fleece pajama pants...yes, we burned our boxes while in our pajamas. Hey, what can you do?

This was about when my Nervous Nelly Nature kicked in...

Mr. Magnolia, I thought we said, "CONTROLLED BURN!!!"

Turns out, I was worried over nothing, and in just about an hour, that ridiculous pile of boxes was reduced to a smoky pit of ash:

It continued to smoke until the next morning, I might add...

And Knowshon's corner of our dining room was (mostly) clear! Yay!

How did you/will you get rid of your boxes of wedding gifts? All at once or as you receive them?

Yes, I did!

2008-01-20T11:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, I married Mr. Magnolia just over a week ago. But I also did something else that day!

I ran the Around Peachtree Battle 5K with one of my bridesmaids and one of my cousins! And yes, I wore a veil while I ran.

I removed the veil from the tiara that I wore for my bachelorette party and attached it under my hat. People definitely noticed! I walked up to the registration table to pick up my number, and the guy behind the table said, "Hey, nice veil! Are you getting married?"

"Yes," I replied, grinning like a fool.

"When?" he asked, clearly thinking this was a bachelorette party deal or something.

"Oh, tonight." I told him, at which point, everyone around me started cheering.

(Fueling up with Powerade Option - my favorite!)

It was a beautiful day, clear but chilly. And the neighborhood vibe of the race was so much fun - people were there with strollers and dogs, and most of the runners seemed to know one another. Everyone lined up behind the start line, and the dude with the bullhorn started shouting instructions....follow the cones, turns are marked, etc, etc. Right before he yelled 'GO,' he said, "Oh, one more thing...we want to congratulate the BRIDE we have running with us! She's getting married TONIGHT!"

I started blushing like crazy as my bridesmaid grabbed my arm and waved it around in the air. Everyone started cheering for me and yelling congratulations - it was pretty awesome, I have to say!

Running this race was such a great experience. Everyone was congratulating me as I ran by them or they ran by me. Kids were turning to their parents and yelling, "There goes the bride!" It was just so very cool.

(Finishing the race between my cousin and my bridesmaid. They're the best for running with me!)

The other best part? Three more of my bridesmaids were waiting at the finish line with mimosas!

I am so so so glad that I ran the 5K on the morning of the wedding. It gave me some much-needed time to think about and appreciate everything that was about to happen. Our day was crazy, and taking time to do something that I love was a great decision.

And the best part is, I didn't fall down and scrape my face!

The Magnolias are home!

2008-01-19T14:17:00.000-05:00

...and married!

We just got home from a fabulous week in the North Carolina mountains, and we were greeted by...snow in Atlanta! It's so beautiful, but at the same time, I'm glad we didn't schedule our wedding for this weekend!

I'm busily sorting through guest pics before I get our professional pics, but I wanted to post at least this to let you all know that the Magnolias are home, happy, and MARRIED!

Leave a Message

2008-01-04T11:56:00.000-05:00

My initial plan (way back last summer when I still had all the time in the world!) was to create a photobook for our guestbook, using our fabulous engagement pictures. And then all of a sudden it was December, and certain things had to fall by the wayside, photo guestbook included.

There was, however, one thing that I did know for sure: I was not interested in purchasing a plain, lined book for people to simply sign their names. No offense to any brides out there who may do so, but line after line of signatures just doesn't do anything for me. Instead, I purchased a navy blue Newport Kolo album. I found mine for $20 at Sam Flax here in Atlanta. Insert engagement picture, and ta da!

(Please excuse the sub-par picture quality. Our computer completely died last week, so I've been taking pictures with my blackberry!)

Then, I took a lovely picture frame inlaid with mother-of-pearl, which we received as an engagement gift, and I printed up the following, using an image from our invitations:

(It reads, Please leave a message for the bride and groom.)

Our florist is also preparing a silver footed bowl with white roses/hydrangea, and that will be our guestbook table! Now I just need to find a couple of good pens...

Izzie's McWedding

2008-01-02T16:26:00.000-05:00

Earlier today, I stumbled across a couple of pictures of Katherine Heigl's December 23rd wedding, which will be published in this week's edition of OK! magazine.

In my opinion, she pretty much always looks stunning, and her wedding day style was no exception:

If I had seen this dress in a shop, the ruffles probably would have turned me off, but she looks simply fantastic! And the birdcage veil is a great accessory, I have to say.

I love this picture. She's so relaxed and glowy - all brides should look this at ease on their wedding day! And you've got to love the simple decorations on the gold chiavari chairs - yeah, I bet this wedding was fab.

Franklin Covey would NOT approve!

2007-12-31T12:53:00.000-05:00

I'm generally a pretty organized person. My day planner may as well be attached to my hand, because I always have it with me, and I'm the queen of lists. However, planning our wedding is most definitely putting my organizational skills to the test!

We're getting really close to the big day, so I'm down to finishing up the final details (writing notes on favor tags, tying ribbons around sparkler stems) and confirming with vendors...and I've found myself wondering, 'how in the world am I supposed to keep everything organized?'

Honestly, I'm kind of ashamed of myself. Here's my last-minute organization method:

Yes, that's loose paper, a hand-written list, various notes scribbed in the margins, and items checked or crossed off as accomplished.

My OCD, organization-loving self is so ashamed...

How did you guys manage your to do list in the final days? I'll take all of the advice I can get!

A Merry Magnolia Christmas!

2007-12-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, I know...I'm two days late. But I have an excuse - look what Mr. Magnolia got me for Christmas!

Meet Knowshon Magnolia,

the cutest little scottie dog on the block!

(named after this guy, the UGA running back who was named SEC Freshman of the Year)

Okay, wedding related? We got our marriage license this morning, so now both the church and the state of Georgia say that it's okay for us to say "i do!" Woo hoo!

Remembering Poppy

2007-12-21T10:26:00.000-05:00

I think it must be just because it's the holidays, and probably also because we're getting so close to the wedding, but I've been thinking a lot about my grandfather in the last few days. I wrote this shortly before I became a bee:

My grandfather passed away last week. He was my Poppy -- a big guy with a roar of a laugh and a beautiful head of white hair. He was a plane navigator (or
"radio man") with the 38th Bomb Group in World War II, flying in the Pacific.

He was born and raised in New Haven, Irish through and through, with the temper to prove it. He wrote down poems and quotations that he liked, and he frequently composed his own.

Poppy was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1992, but you would never have known it. He traveled extensively, and he was very popular with the ladies. (My grandmother passed away in 1986.) Almost two years ago, his kidneys stopped functioning as they should, and he was hospitalized for several weeks. The strain on his body from the cancer and everything else was more than enough to kill him, but it didn't. He was placed on home hospice care, and he had a nurse named Mike visit him several times a week. They became very good friends in their two years together.
Last month, Poppy's oncologist told him that he was taking him off chemotherapy because there was nothing more that he could do for him. After that, Poppy started deteriorating rapidly. He was such a fighter, but hearing that this was it seemed to be too much for him. My parents and my aunt organized round the clock nurse care, and he always had a family member with him as well. Thursday morning, my mom called and said, "Do what you can to wrap up work. You need to come to Connecticut this weekend." So I did. I had no idea how long I would be gone, and I am so thankful that my boss let me leave with so little information.
Poppy left the world five minutes before midnight on Wednesday, August 15th. It was 55 minutes after our favorite nurse arrived to help him through the night. It was 24 hours after my dad, an incredibly unemotional man, teared up and told his father, "It's okay to go. I'll take care of everyone and everything." It was exactly 20 years and 10 months after his wife passed away.
I got to spend my grandfather's last days with my entire family -- people who I rarely see, and I wouldn't have seen until my wedding, if even then. It was emotional and draining, lovely and distressing. I participated in Last Rites, I performed a reading at his funeral, and I flinched when the guns went off at the military burial.
Mr. Magnolia was by my side, and I could not be more thankful for that. I am strong, but I need support, and he was there to provide it.
Small things are hitting me today....I had to delete Poppy from my cell phone. I have to remove his name from our wedding guest list. I have to tell the florist that we need one less boutinnere. He won't be at our rehearsal dinner, which was chosen in part for its wheelchair access. He won't see his granddaughter get married. These are just the small ways that his death is affecting me right now, and I know it's because it's still raw. I feel selfish thinking about these small things, wedding-related things, but I know he'd be okay with it.
He'd grab me by my double chin (proudly inherited from him), and say, "Ah, Jennifer. Go on with it. You're going to have a beautiful wedding." And we will.
Dad Magnolia, Aunt Magnolia, Poppy, and Miss Magnolia.

Mourning a loved one in the middle of planning a wedding is a strange thing. At his visitation, several people came up to hug me and offer condolences, which were immediately followed by, "But we can't wait to celebrate with you in January." It was somewhat calming, because it gave us all something to look forward to and another reason to see one another very soon.

While I was in Connecticut for those ten days, I actually grew much closer to Poppy's brother, my Uncle Billy. He and his family absolutely would have been invited to the wedding, regardless. However, I'm not sure if they would have made the trip if not for the time that we all spent together in August. A trip from New Haven to Atlanta (in the middle of January, no less) is no easy feat for an 80-year old man. But they are coming, and I can't wait to see them.

And although initially I did tell my florist that we would need one less boutenniere, my mom had a wonderful idea that I think will be a lovely way to honor Poppy. We've re-ordered the boutenniere, and it will be worn by Uncle Billy. I think Poppy would have liked that.

Am I crazy?

2007-12-12T14:03:00.000-05:00

So, how exactly does one spend the morning of one's wedding?

Our wedding ceremony isn't until 7:30 p.m. My bridesmaids luncheon is at noon, and the rest of the afternoon will be taken up with getting everyone beautified. But what am I going to do with myself between the crack of dawn (when I'm sure to be wide awake, restless energy and excitement simply getting the better of me) and noon?

I'm a runner, and I absolutely love road races. I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2006, I've done two different half-marathons here in Atlanta, and I've completed more 5Ks and 10Ks than I could possibly count. So I had been planning to go for a casual run on the morning of the wedding - what a great way to burn some energy, right?

With colleagues after completeing the Silver Comet Half-Marathon - I'm second from the right.

But this morning, I stumbled across some information that I found to be very interesting. There's a 5K road race, on the morning of our wedding, that starts less than a mile from my house. Race time is 9:00 am, and given my recent finishing times, I should cross the finish line by 9:27 at the latest.

Am I crazy? Or should I make our wedding day a race day as well?

Music to Be Married By

2007-12-11T13:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, I had a fun wedding-related errand. Mr. Magnolia is out of town, so I went on my own to meet with the music coordinator at the Cathedral where we will be married. He's a lovely man, and I truly enjoyed talking with him about which songs/hymns we would like to have played during our ceremony.

When we selected our readings last month, we were given a booklet by our celebrant from which we could pick and choose to design our ceremony. I figured that the music selection would go much the same way.

However, when I showed up for my meeting, the music coordinator handed me a "Run of Nupital Mass" with no options listed. And here's the thing: I haven't exactly been a regular church attendee over the last several years. There are very few hymns/appropriate songs that I could name off the top of my head, and those which I can are more likely to be played at a funeral rather than a wedding (Amazing Grace, anyone?). Plus, when I did go to church regularly, I generally just perused the hymnal for the Christmas songs, since they were my favorites!

But then I had a happy surprise...the music coordinator sat down at the organ and began to play options for me. It only took us about twenty minutes to select all of the music for the ceremony, and I really think that it's going to be simply lovely!

Here's what we selected:

Seating of Mothers - Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring/Bach

Processional - Canon in D/Pachelbel

Bridal Processional - Trumpet Voluntary/Clarke

Presentation of Gifts - Love Divine, All Loves Excelling/Prichard

Communion - Arioso/Bach

Recessional - Ode to Joy/Beethoven

Ode to Joy was the one piece of music that I insisted on, and I knew that I wanted it to be played for our recessional. First of all, it was one of the first pieces of music that I learned to play on my clarinet in elementary school. And second of all, the University of Georgia Redcoat Band always plays it when the Bulldogs win...and that's one of Mr. Magnolia's favorite parts of a winning football game. So it's only fitting, really!

So now I think I have everything I need to start working on programs, which is very exciting!

How did you all choose the music for your ceremony? If you were limited in your selections, were you still able to feature pieces of music that were meaningful to you and your fiance?

Wedding Brain

2007-12-07T16:24:00.000-05:00

You guys have heard of Baby Brain, right? The way I understand it, it’s a condition that one may find oneself in while pregnant. Basically, you might become absentminded, spacey, and just generally out of it.

I think I’ve developed Wedding Brain. We’re five weeks out, and my head’s all over the place. I can’t focus – on wedding-related issues or otherwise, and it’s driving me (and Mr. Magnolia!) up the wall. (And no, I’m not pregnant…I’m sure of that!)

Yesterday afternoon I had a five minute conversation with our friend David about how he was hoping that I might puppy-sit for a few hours. This wasn’t a problem at all, so after work I ran over to his house to pick up the dog. I was a little distracted while I was there, because I was on the phone with my Maid of Honor, but I gathered Millie and her leash and had her tinkle before loading her into the car. Then I happily headed back toward my house, thinking about how we were going to run around in the backyard and play in the leaves. (I’m dying for a dog of my own, if you can’t tell…)

Halfway home, the dog started whining….which was when I realized that I could not, for the life of me, remember if David had asked me to feed her or not. Seriously, I know that we talked for at least five minutes, but all I remember from our conversation was, “get Millie.”

I turned around to go back to his house and get Millie’s food and dish, simply because I figured it was better to do that then to let her go hungry for the evening. It turns out, David did forget to ask me to feed her (I don’t know what his excuse is!), but still. I could not believe how completely out of it I was!

Has anyone else noticed an increase in absent-minded behavior as they near their weddings? Because I need to know if this is going to get worse – I’ll have to start transcribing every conversation I have!

The Big Hostess Gift Decision

2007-12-06T10:09:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much to everyone who made suggestions about what to put in the bowls I purchased for our hostesses Saturday night! Ultimately, I decided to go with the holiday theme, and I filled the bowls with garlands, ornaments, and candy. They were a big hit with all four hostesses!

The empty bowl:

The contents:

In the bowl:

Wrapped in cellophane:

...and finished off with an initial ornament!

All ornaments, decorations, and candy were purchased at Target. When I added up the cost of the bowls + the filler, it came to right at $25/hostess, which I don't think is too bad!

And now for a semi-related question...next week, my colleagues are throwing us a shower/luncheon. Only a few people from my office are invited to the wedding, because adding everyone (plus spouses) to our guest list would seriously make it out of control. It's wonderful of them to still want to participate in something congratulating us, and we're so grateful for that.

So, do I purchase a host/hostess gift for this party? If yes, I would get something for my boss -- the "official" host -- and also for our admin, who has done the bulk of the planning for the luncheon. My instinct says no to host gifts, but I'm just kind of torn. What do you guys think?

Ta Da!

2007-11-30T15:34:00.000-05:00

Here they are! The Magnolia Invitations!

They went out in the mail the Monday before Thanksgiving, and we actually had two responses when we got home on Friday, which was so very exciting! The response cards have continued to roll in since then, and checking the mail has become Mr. Magnolia's favorite part of the day. It's very cute, really -- he calls me every afternoon with an RSVP update!

Our invitations were created by the lovely Lisa Hladish of Paper Daisies. Lisa is a former art teacher who got into the invitation design business after she wasn't particularly happy with anything that she found for her own wedding. At our first meeting, I showed her pictures of inviations that I liked, and I told her all about my obsession with all things paisley, and she ultimately presented me with two different options - a modified pocketfold, and a 4x9. I loved both equally, so we left the final decision up to the Mr., who selected the 4x9.

The text is printed in chocolate brown ink on watercolor paper and matted on navy linen paper. I couldn't be more thrilled with how it turned out!

Here is the front of our response postcard:

And the back (sorry it's so blurry!):

We also included a directions/accommodations insert:

Which flips open to reveal our hotel information and directions to all wedding-related events:

As I mentioned in a previous post, we had have the hiccup of a typo (which was on the proof that I approved), but I thought that Lisa handled it in the best way possible, rushing my reprint and only charging me for the cost of ink and paper.

We've gotten glowing reviews on the invitations, and I would highly recommend Lisa to any bride-to-be in the Atlanta area! She also does thank you notes, programs, menu cards, etc...but I'm kind of looking forward to tackling some of those projects on my own.

Wait, I only have six weeks left....

I need help!

2007-11-29T10:07:00.000-05:00

Okay, Weddingbee readers...I have a request.

Mr. Magnolia and I are lucky enough to be having a holiday-themed couples shower this Saturday night, hosted by four of our fabulous friends. We're so looking forward to it -- I know that they've gone all out with the planning, and we're anticipating a great crowd and a fantastic time!

Here's my dilemma: hostess gifts. I've purchased four damask serving bowls from Target...

...this is the same pattern, but for whatever reason, Target doesn't sell the serving bowl online! It's a round, deep bowl, about eight inches in diameter. What I'm trying to figure out is what to put in the bowls! I don't want to spend too much money, since I have to put together four of these things. Ideally, I'd like to stay under $20 per person.

Here are the options I've come up with:

Fruit

Wine/cheese/etc

Bath/Body products

Ornaments/holiday accents

Since the shower is two days away, online purchases aren't really an option, so I need suggestions that I'm going to be able to find pretty easily in Atlanta...Michael's, Ikea, Target, WalMart, World Market, etc.

What do you think? How should I fill these bowls to provide a super-fab hostess gift?

Pictures of the Magnolias (at someone else's wedding!)

2007-11-26T10:48:00.000-05:00

Back in August, Mr. Magnolia and I attended the Athens, GA wedding of some of our very good friends. Just the other day, the fabulous bride (now wife!) sent me a few pictures that her photographers (the wonderful ZoomWorks) captured of Mr. Magnolia and me at the reception.

Even though I clearly needed to spend a little bit more time on my hair that day, I love the emotion that her photographers captured in these shots!

Mr. and Miss Magnolia chatting...and no, I don't think he's mad at me!

Me dancing with our friend Allen (maybe this was why Mr. Magnolia looks mad!) - I'm laughing because Allen kept telling me to "Stop trying to lead!"

Aw, look. We kissed and made up!

I just love pictures of us laughing...

What to wear for your dry run?

2007-11-20T11:53:00.000-05:00

Although it hasn't exactly been a priority, I have been keeping in the back of my mind the idea that in addition to my fabulous wedding dress, I'm going to also need a rockin' dress for the night before.

Nordstrom.com has become my favorite place to check out fabulous cocktail dresses, and several weeks ago, this one by Maggy London caught my eye:

And by the way, I felt like I was really savvy and trendy when that same dress was featured on Something Old, Something New roughly two weeks after I flagged it for myself!

Last week, I stopped at Nordstrom to try the dress on...but they didn't have it. In fact, the stores don't actually carry most of the dresses that they feature online! Who knew? Okay, most people probably knew that, but I didn't! They were incredibly nice and offered to order it for me, and also let me know that if I ordered it myself and it didn't fit, that they would be happy to take it back in the store. So that's good - I may still order it online.

But while I was there, I also spotted this dress:

(So sorry for the poor quality - I cannot find a picture online to save my life!)

It doesn't look like much on the hanger, but it's by BCBG MaxAzria, and it's adorable. For whatever reason, BCBG dresses always fit me well, and I think the navy/black color combo is very sophisticated. Plus, my bridesmaids will be wearing navy the next day, so it even works with the wedding colors!

Here's the dress on me:

The angle's not great, because Mr. Magnolia took the picture while sitting on the couch...oh well. Trust me - it's actually very flattering!

How did you choose your rehearsal dinner dress? Were you on the hunt for something in particular, or did you stumble upon it and just know that it was perfect?

A "Fit"-ful Sunday

2007-11-20T11:35:00.000-05:00

*Mr. Magnolia, this post is not for you to see!

On Sunday, I snagged a couple of girlfriends and headed over to LaRaine's Boutique for my second dress fitting. At my first fitting, Topher the Super-Fab Tailor did a few things: He took some measurements to take in the dress a little bit, he checked out how best to add a simple bustle, and he measured and planned the re-make of the gown's bodice. This was the part I was most excited about, because I truly feel like we're personalizing my gown.

Here's a picture of the bodice as it was when I received it:

Straight across in the front, and with gorgeous satin ribbon detail. When I try to describe the bodice to people, I ultimately end up calling it "geometric," and I get crazy looks in return.

"Um, your wedding dress is....geometric?"

As you can see, it's not really, but it's the only word I can come up with to describe the criss-crossing of the satin ribbon.

After trying on a bunch of wedding dresses, I knew that I really liked a sweetheart neckline, and Topher the Super-Fab Tailor promised that he could create one for this dress. He ordered some extra ribbon when we ordered the dress, and I have been anxiously awaiting the outcome...

And...it's perfect! Unfortunately, I didn't get any close-up pictures, but trust me - you would never know that the dress didn't actually come with a sweetheart neckline!

Here's the back of the dress:

(Is my waist really that itty-bitty?)

And the "draft" bustle, which obviously will be much cleaner, and it will have two more points added before he's done:

I truly couldn't be more thrilled! I love the dress, I love the dress on me, and I love the changes that we've made. How have you customized your wedding dress to make it your own?

Invitation Sneak Peek

2007-11-20T11:28:00.000-05:00

The Magnolia invitations were sent out on Monday!

You may recall that we had a small glitch about a week and a half ago that delayed our mail date -- but honestly, it didn't delay us too much! My mom received the revised invitations on Friday morning, and on Saturday she completed the calligraphy and invited some friends over for a "stuffing session." First thing Monday morning, she was at the post office to send them on their merry way.

Thanks a million to Mama Magnolia, who was an amazing help to me through this process! She's the best!

And now, here's a sneak peek of what our wedding guests will be receiving over the next week or so...

(Don't worry, I'll post more pictures and a glowing vendor review after I know our guests have received them!)

Work It Out

2007-11-15T11:43:00.000-05:00

As a busy bride-to-be, I hate to admit it, but the first thing to go from my crazy schedule is my daily workout. I have a trainer, but since we moved into our new house, it’s become more difficult for me to get over to the gym, so I’ve cancelled…several appointments. (I know, I know!)

If we hadn’t just switched back over to Standard time I would be okay, because I love to run outside after work. However, it gets dark way too early now, and I don’t feel safe doing so. Running in the mornings is an option, but I’m not really a morning person, so the idea of getting out of my nice warm bed to run 3-4 miles doesn’t exactly sound appealing to me.

Here’s the thing – the wedding is less than two months away, and I’d like to tone a bit before then. What to do, what to do?

The other day, I had a brilliant idea – the On Demand service offered by my cable provider! They have a module titled “Exercise TV,” which includes workouts and fitness programs any time you want to access them! So, this morning I got up and went out to the living to browse through some of the offerings. I settled on two segments: a thirty-minute Carmen Electra Cardio Striptease, and a ten-minute butt and thighs blast.

I have to say, I absolutely loved the Cardio Striptease, which surprised me! I’m even thinking about purchasing a DVD or two!

Next on my On Demand list will probably be either a belly dancing workout or one of the ballet-inspired segments, since I danced for ten years when I was a kid. Speaking of which, I’ve been eyeing this NYC ballet DVD for a while...

What creative ways do you get around your busy schedules to fit in workouts? Have you used workout videos before? If so, which ones are your favorites?

A Word of Advice...

2007-11-12T09:32:00.000-05:00

I was out of town all last week for work, and coming home on Friday, I had a lot of things to look forward to:

1. Sleeping in my own bed
2. UGA taking on Auburn on Saturday
3. Checking out Mr. Magnolia's home improvement projects (he painted our living room!)
4. Picking up our invitations!!!!

Friday afternoon, I stopped by our invitation designer's home and was absolutely thrilled by what I saw. 150 perfectly done invitations, reply cards, and directions/accommodations inserts neatly packaged just for me! (The envelopes had already been sent to my mom, who is sweet enough to be doing the calligraphy for me.)

I met up with Mr. Magnolia and some friends of ours for lunch, and they all loved the invitation. I braved the late Friday afternoon crowds at the post office to buy postcard stamps for the reply cards, and I headed home to diligently apply all 150 and prepare the invites for the drop-off at my parents house. I was absolutely giddy!

And then I noticed something...and my heart sank.

Our beautiful, printed on expensive watercolor paper and then matted invitations have a typo.

The date we're getting married is misspelled. And two weeks ago, I approved the proof with the misspelling.

First, Mr. Magnolia talked me off the ledge. "These things happen, you're in the driver's seat, just call and see what our designer can do, blah blah blah..."

Luckily, I have a fabulous invitation designer who reaffirmed that these things happen all the time, and she's reprinting them for me, for pick up on Wednesday. I'm only paying for two hours labor and the cost of the paper, which is a massive relief.

So, here's my word of advice for all brides-to-be:

When you get your invitation proof, check it. Then check it again. Then check it for a third time. THEN, send it to your fiance, or your mother, or your maid of honor, or all three. Then, check it again. And just when everyone has signed off on it, and you're ready to give the thumbs up, CHECK IT AGAIN.

Trust me on this one.

Leave it to the Magnolias...

2007-11-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

Mr. Magnolia and I had a shower on Saturday morning...a tailgate shower. We're football season-ticket holders for the University of Georgia, so we really don't have "free weekends" during the fall...and neither do most of our friends! My fabulous bridesmaids decided that the best way to get everyone together in celebration of the Magnolias was to bring the party to us! We set up at our typical tailgate spot on the beautiful UGA North Campus, and they took care of everything else!

They sent out a terrific invitation incorporating one of our engagement pictures...

...and there was enough food for an army, including two breakfast casseroles, homemade salsa, fried chicken, and pastries brought fresh from New Orleans! There also *may* have been a brief instance where a couple of my friends reverted back to the crazy college mindset and attempted keg stands.

Yes, I know. Moving on...

We also came up with a solution to the problem of lugging shower gifts onto/off of campus (parking close by can be quite a feat!). Gift cards! The Mr. and I recently bought a new house, and so the requested gift for Saturday was a Home Depot gift card! Can I just say that we made out like bandits? We have so many projects that we want to tackle at the house, and the generosity of our friends and family will go a long way toward helping us out!

All in all, we had a fantastic time...plus, the Dawgs won! Woo hoo!

Mr. Magnolia, our good friend Dave, and Miss Magnolia enjoying a perfect Saturday!

Miss Magnolia's Hair Trial

2007-10-31T10:10:00.000-05:00

Monday night, Mr. Magnolia and I headed over to his cousin's house for dinner...and a hair styling session. See, Cousin's wife used to be a stylist, and she maintains a small side business doing wedding and prom hair. I love the idea of keeping wedding day beauty "all in the family" (as I mentioned before, my cousin will be doing my makeup), so I asked her if she would be willing to do my updo and that of any bridesmaids who want their hair up.

I'm going for a loose curly updo...kind of a challenge with my stick straight hair, which is very resistant to holding any type of curl. (Seriously, I got a perm when I was ten, and I woke up the next morning with straight hair. It was ridiculous.)

Here's one of the pictures I gave her for inspiration:

And here's the final product!

From the side:

From the top:

I thought she did a great job, and I can't wait to see it on the big day! What do you think?

LaRaine's Boutique

2007-10-29T13:59:00.000-05:00

I mentioned LaRaine's when I wrote about my dress hunt, and I have to say - my love for this shop continues to grow!

Sunday afternoon I packed up my dress, my crinoline, my shoes, and a strapless bra (of course I forgot my camera...), and I headed over to LaRaine's for my first fitting. Everything went well -- I was happy to see that my dress is still a little big for me and needs to be taken in an inch or two. In addition, Topher (the alterations guru) is going to remake the neckline for me. While it's currently straight across, he's going to make it into a sweetheart neckline. He's putting in a three-point bustle, and that's about it. No hemming necessary!

And now for the really good news...LaRaine's is relocating! They've outgrown their current store on St. Charles Avenue (across the street from Neighbor's), and they've bought a building about two blocks down. For those Atlanta brides familiar with Virginia-Highland, they're moving to the building that used to house Harvest restaurant, right next to the CVS on North Highland Avenue. They hope to move the week of Thanksgiving, just in time to be ready for all of the new brides-to-be that get engaged over the holidays. Hey, I was one! Mr. Magnolia and I got engaged on December 1st of last year!

Also, the store is taking on two new designers...

Essense of Australia

and Kirstie Kelly for Disney.

Now, I didn't know quite what to expect when I first heard that Disney was developing a line of wedding gowns...but after seeing their designs in several wedding magazines, I have to say that I'm very impressed. In fact, if Mr. Magnolia and I had decided on a destination wedding, I
think this "Jasmine" dress would have been high on my list of must see dresses!

So like I said, LaRaine's is fabulous, and it's absolutely worth a visit if you're dress hunting in Atlanta!

I do have one quick side note - please keep in your thoughts the victims and the families of the victims from the beach house fire in Ocean Isle, NC on Sunday morning. I found out earlier today that not only did several of the victims attend my high school, but my brother was friendly with some of the boys, and I actually used to babysit for one of the girls who was killed. When something this tragic hits so close to home, it's pretty unsettling, and it's definitely put some things in perspective today...

Michael's Peacock Collection

2007-10-29T10:13:00.001-05:00

Mr. Magnolia and I love to spend our Sundays pouring over the newspaper. By mid-afternoon, it's inevitable that the various sections will be strewn about the living room in complete disarray.

This Sunday, after we both devoured everything we could about a particular football victory, I moved on to the advertisements. Pre-wedding, I always went straight for Target, Best Buy, Cost Plus World Market, and the much-anticipated seasonal Ikea booklet. I still browse those weekly circulars, but now I've added craft stores like JoAnn's and Michael's to the mix.

About halfway through the Michael's ad was the following picture:

Now, I am absolutely not ready to start decorating for Christmas...but the peacock wreath piqued my interest.

I think feathers are a fabulous and unexpected addition to wedding decor, as seen here:

(from jessicaclaire.net)

Fab, right?

Here's the thing - I can totally see a couple of these wreaths adorning the front doors of a church for a sophisticated, elegant setting.

You'd have to be careful, because I think a peacock theme could go overboard quickly and veer toward slightly tacky. But if you've got bridesmaids in emerald green or dark teal, and maybe a thank you card like this:

(from weddingpaperdivas.com)

...well, that just might work!

What do you guys think? Feathers...yay or nay?

Deals from the Macbeth Collection

2007-10-25T15:05:00.000-05:00

I fell in love with the products offered by the Macbeth Collection back in June, when Mrs. Strawberry blogged about them. Just a little while ago, I got this (very welcome) email in my inbox!

First of all, they're offering new fall/winter designs! Check them out here.

Second, you can use the coupon code NOTEP8D at checkout to get a free small notepad when you purchase a clipboard and two notepads (one of these must be small).

Finally, use the coupon code PRTYBK3T at checkout to get 15% off any bucket purchases! Yay! This is the one I'm most excited about -- I've been looking for a good reason to buy some of these, and now I have one!

Enjoy!

Rain, rain...don't go away!

2007-10-22T15:48:00.000-05:00

Like Miss Peony, I have to apologize for not blogging lately. Mr. Magnolia and I just sold my condo and bought a house (forthcoming: a very exciting blog about purchasing a home in the middle of a mortgage crisis!), and we've been moving, unpacking, organizing, and making multiple trips to Home Depot. Add to that a recent promotion at work (yay! :) ) and some futile attempts on my part to focus on wedding planning, and....well, things have been nuts.

But I do have topic to address today...weather!

This was the scene in Atlanta this morning:

(photo courtesy ajc.com)

This kind of weather is the worst nightmare some brides could have, right? Particuarly if we're talking about those who have planned (or are planning) a beautiful outdoor ceremony or reception...

Honestly, I couldn't tell you the last time a Saturday bride in Atlanta had to worry about rain on her wedding day. Every weekend as far back as I can recall has been picture-perfect. So what's the problem?

(photo courtesy ajc.com...yes, that is a dock in what used to be a lake.)

Drought. North Georgia is in the middle of an unprecedented drought, so the rain today is a welcome change from the beautiful (but increasingly dangerous) weather we've been having lately. I love clear skies and 75 degrees as much as the next guy, but when state officials are saying that we have less than three months worth of water left...well, it's kind of scary.

When Mr. Magnolia and I decided to schedule our wedding for January, we acknowledged that we are going to be at the mercy of Mother Nature. We're planning an evening, winter wedding. It's going to be cold. It may very well be wet. I can hope that we don't have an ice storm, but there's nothing to be done about it if we do. Plus, any negative feelings about rain pretty much make me feel like a horrible person. How can I hope for a clear day when we're looking at the possibility of a major city just flat out running out of water?

And I have to admit, I love wedding pictures with adorable umbrellas. I think it's still kind of unexpected, and the photos end up absolutely beautiful.

So, keep the rain coming! I'll gladly take a downpour on our wedding day (Just, please...no ice!)

...to the tips of my toes.

2007-10-16T08:35:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, my mom and I took care of all kinds of wedding-related activities, including posting an engagement announcement in my hometown paper, ordering a veil, ordering a crinoline, and....buying shoes!

I'm 5'9", and Mr. Magnolia is 5'10". He absolutely does not care whether I wear flats or 4" heels, but for our wedding day (and yes, the sake of the pictures) I want to be my actual height.

(image courtesy of people.com. Seriously, y'all? She's totally squatting in this picture.)

So began the search for the perfect flat wedding shoe. I've been looking at pictures online for what feels like forever, and I had decided on a few criteria:

1. No white

2. No ballet flat with the little bow

3. Peep toe, if possible

My mom decided early on that if I wasn't going to purchase white ballet slippers, like she wore for my parents' wedding over 30 years ago, then my shoes needed to be silver. End of story. I was open to other colors, but every one I picked up garnered an odd, scrunched-nose look. So, no big deal. I like silver.

I did quickly realize that peep toe flats do absolutely nothing to flatter my Size 9 feet. Every pair I tried on made me look like this:

(Cute, for a clown....but not what I'm going for on the big day!)

We did find several options of the closed toe variety, and these were the favorites:

(Gianni Bini's Dorothy)

My mom absolutely loved these, which I tried on at Dillard's. They were very cute, but they reminded me of slippers, which wasn't exactly the look I was going for.

And then, we found these at Belk:

(Calvin Klein's Suri)

I love these shoes. And yes, they're the ones we ended up purchasing. They're a little bit glam, very comfortable, and I can definitely wear them with jeans after the wedding. Score!

Just Not a Corsage Type of Mom

2007-10-12T14:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I headed over to our reception venue for the long-awaited meeting between my venue's coordinator, my florist, and most importantly -- my mom! I knew these ladies would all hit it off famously, and I was absolutely right. We spent far too long wandering from room to room, deciding which tables would go where, which centerpieces would look right in which room, on which table, with which linens...and also, figuring out how to get it all to fit within my budget!

I adore my florist, Bettina. She came very highly recommended by several people that I work with, and she did not disappoint. Seriously, I kind of want her to be my new best friend. (That is, in addition to the other best friends who just sent out an adorable shower invitation for me and Mr. Magnolia, but that's another story!) She's fun and engaging, creative and talented. And I can't wait to see what she does for the flowers at our wedding.

So, after she chatted about bouquets with my mom and me for a few minutes, Bettina looked pensive for a moment. She sat back in her chair, took a deep breath (this is where I started to get nervous, thinking I'd blown my budget!), and said, "Miss Magnolia, here's the thing...now that I've met your mom, I've got to tell you...

She's just not a corsage type of mom."

(Insert sigh of relief here)

"She looks more like your sister than your mom (Mama Magnolia is completely won over at this point), and a corsage would just be far too matronly, in my opinion."

Well, I wasn't going to disagree, because I'm not a big fan of pin-on corsages in general. But I also think that they're better than wrist corsages...so what other option did we have?

Bettina to the rescue! She suggested that Mama Magnolia (as well as FMIL Magnolia) carry a clutch, and we could pin the corsage onto that.

I? LOVED that idea.

Mama Magnolia's dress is champagne, so I totally picture her carrying something like this:

(Image courtesy of Target.com)

...with something similar to this attached:

...although maybe a bit simpler.

I think the idea of attaching a fresh flower corsage to our mom's clutches is a totally fun and modern way to go about this.

Because really, isn't this lovely?

(Image courtesy of designerexposure.com)

Registry Duplication

2007-10-08T14:10:00.000-05:00

Well, the parties have started, and the gifts are arriving. You know, they really weren't kidding when they decided to call them showers, were they? After my first bridal shower on Saturday afternoon, I'm completely overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family. This is just unreal!

Oh, and I will post pictures from the shower later this week. Mr. Magnolia and I are in the process of purchasing/moving into our new house (!!!), so the computer isn't hooked up for me to upload my pictures to!

Anyway, Mr. Magnolia and I registered last spring at Crate & Barrel and Bloomingdale's. We chose those two stores because they both happened to be having Registry 101 events on the same day, and we liked the items that they offered. Easy enough, right? It works for our friends and Mr. Mag's family in Atlanta, it works for my extended family in New York/New England, and it works for our friends who are internet-savvy. But you know who it doesn't work so well for? Our friends and family in Greenville, SC -- where my parents live. Greenville doesn't have a Bloomingdale's OR a Crate & Barrel.

So my mom and I talked about it while we wandered through Macy's yesterday afternoon, and we made a decision. I'm going to create an online registry at Macy's, which will duplicate some of the items on our Bloomingdale's registry. More than likely, I'll add our fine china, our casual glasses, our pots and pans, and maybe our casual china.

The purpose is not to get duplicate gifts and return them, but rather to give more people the option of actually going to a store and purchasing items off our registry. I'll keep up with both online, and as items are purchased, I will delete them from the other store. Does that make sense? I don't want it to seem like we've actually registered for 24 5-piece place settings. But rather, if someone purchases a set from Bloomingdale's, I'll also delete a set from Macy's. It probably would have been easier for a lot of our guests if we had registered at Macy's from the start...but we didn't. And the thing is, we've had fantastic customer service at our Bloomingdale's, so I want to keep that one as well.

So here's my question - has anyone else created duplicate registries to accommodate their guests? How did it turn out for you? Was it difficult to keep up with? Did you have to make that many more returns?

Glasses Galore!

2007-10-01T12:36:00.000-05:00

As of today, Mr. Magnolia and I have been engaged for ten months. We registered back in March (gotta love those Crate & Barrel registry events!), and I have to say -- every time I come home to see one of those big black and white boxes on the doormat, I let out a little squeal!

Over the last couple of weeks, I've noticed that several more items have been purchased off our C&B registry (I'm not a stalker...just an...observer!), which is very exciting since my first shower is this weekend. And it seems like our friends and family know us (well, me) pretty well, since the first category to be bought out was our stemware!

It's pretty funny, actually. We don't have a single piece of formal or everyday china, and nobody has dared purchase any flatware, but everyone wants to make sure that we don't go thirsty!

I wonder what that says about our friends and family? :)

Has anyone else noticed a pattern in the gifts that are purchased off your registries? Do you think there's any rhyme or reason to the items that go first?

Off the Cuff

2007-09-27T15:38:00.001-05:00

While searching innocently for something that may or may not end up being a wedding gift from me to Mr. Magnolia, I stumbled across the following:

(All images courtesy of cufflinks.com)

"Just Married" cuff links

Bride and groom cuff links:

"Ball and chain" cuff links:

...and my personal favorite, because I think they're pretty clever,

"Eye do" cuff links:

While I don't see myself purchasing any of the above for Mr. Magnolia, I'm definitely considering gifting him some kind of special touch to add to his ensemble for our wedding day. Has anyone else considered a gift along these lines?

The Hunt for the Perfect Dress: The Grand Finale!

2007-09-25T15:05:00.000-05:00

...continued from here and here.

(Mr. Magnolia, you don't want to read this one!)

Bright and early the next morning, my Maid of Honor joined us for the last two stops on my list.

LaRaine's Boutique is in the Virginia-Highland area of Atlanta, which is one of my favorite spots in the city. In terms of store setup, LaRaine's almost a complete 180 from Saks and Priscilla of Boston -- it's packed full of dresses from many different designers, there's not really much order to the vast selection, and I would describe the general vibe as more casual than sophisticated. However, the people who work there have a very welcoming attitude, and the shop reflects that. I immediately hit it off with my salesperson, Brooke, and we began to pull out dresses in every style imaginable for me to try on.

I noticed my MOH scrunching her nose as I pulled one dress in particular off the rack. "I know, I know," I told her. "I normally wouldn't pick it out either, but it kind of reminds me of one that I really liked yesterday." (I was talking about the Melissa Sweet dress.)

And predictably, that was the dress that ended up being my favorite from LaRaine's:

(Moonlight Couture, as pictured on the LaRaine's website)

No lace, no sash, not even an a-line shape...this dress was all ball gown, and I couldn't figure out exactly why I liked it as much as I did. The store sample fit me perfectly, and all I knew was that I didn't want to take it off.

***

However, we had one more store to visit, so we headed off to Kelly's Closet in Candler Park. Kelly's Closet is a lovely little boutique that carries designers that most other shops don't, like Claire Pettibone and Amy Michelson.

I tried on some beautiful dresses that were completely different than anything else I had seen, but my experience with the staff was a little off. The salesperson that was helping me seemed to be great - she was very friendly and answered any questions that I had. But every time she clipped me into a dress, the owner of the shop would come up behind her and re-clip it. Each time she did this, she apologized to me, telling me that the girl who was helping me was new, and that she was still learning how to fit the dresses. Honestly, I thought she was doing a great job, and I made a point to say so.

This dress, by Renella DeFina, is the one I fell for at Kelly's:

(See the lace? And the sash? I was all over this one as soon as I saw it!)

***

We left Kelly's Closet and headed over to a Mexican restaurant to debrief and make some decisions -- keep looking? Go back and see one (or more?) of these amazing dresses?

One round of margaritas down, and the decision was clear...

Back to LaRaine's we went to see the Moonlight dress. It was the opposite of everything that I thought I wanted, but it was the one that looked the best on me. It was the one that I didn't want to take off. It was the one that made me feel like a bride.

Per Mama Magnolia's recommendation, we ordered it in white, put down the deposit that afternoon, and took some crappy camera phone pictures...

(a headless Miss Magnolia in the ivory sample - this dress definitely needs a big ol' crinoline!)

(a terrible picture of the fabulous train)

I placed the order in February, the dress arrived in May, and I start my fittings next month with LaRaine's in-house tailor, Topher...and I can't wait!

Even though I had something completely different in mind when I started shopping, I kept an open mind and on my second day of searching, I found a beautiful dress that looks great on me. I truly think that I would have been happy in any of the four dresses I highlighted, but I think I made the best decision for me, style-wise and budget-wise. I know that compared to a lot of other brides, I had it easy...to find the dress on the first weekend you start looking is almost unheard of, but somehow I managed it, and I've never doubted my decision.

My advice is essentially an echo of what you would hear from just about every other bride out there -- try on all kinds of different styles to see what looks good on you, keep an open mind, bring friends/family who you know will be honest with you. Despite my earlier hesitation, dress shopping ended up being a lot of fun...in fact, I would consider it to be one of my favorite parts of planning so far!

Thanks so much for reading these posts -- and stay tuned for fitting pics in early November!

The Hunt for the Perfect Dress, Part Two

2007-09-25T08:35:00.000-05:00

…continued from here.

Saks Fifth Avenue at Phipps Plaza was our first stop, and they were having an Amsale trunk show. I had spoken to the salesperson, Mary Munday (yes, that’s her first name) a few days earlier, and she was just lovely over the phone. I was glad to hear such a friendly voice to help ease me into the dress-buying process! Once we got to the store, my mom and I were both seriously overwhelmed. Nobody was in sight to help us just yet, and we weren’t sure where to begin.

Several minutes later, the Amsale rep appeared and offered to start helping me into gowns. This made me a little nervous, because I definitely wanted to try on gowns other than Amsale, Kenneth Pool, and Christos, but I wasn’t sure how receptive she would be to that. We pulled several into the dressing room, and so it began.

My earlier apprehension regarding sizing disappeared almost immediately. Even though the dresses were “straight off the runway” (or so the rep said…), I was able to get them on, and in most cases, zipped! Woo hoo!

I tried on various Amsale and Christos gowns (and we even snuck in a Monique Lhullier, much to the dismay of the Amsale rep!), and I really liked this one, from Christos:

It had almost all of my requirements – strapless, a-line, and lace…plus, a sash could be added very easily!

The dress cost a lot more than I intended to spend, particularly since it would need extra length (I’m 5’9”, by the way!). The 10% discount for purchase during a trunk show would immediately have to be added back in for the extra length charge, which was kind of disappointing. So we wrote down the dress information, got Mary Munday’s card, and moved on to Priscilla of Boston.
The Priscilla of Boston shop in Atlanta is amazing. When POB purchased the Melissa Sweet line about two years ago, they took over her flagship store on Peachtree Street, and it’s absolutely beautiful – very serene, not overwhelming, and the service is fantastic. In fact, I wish I remembered the name of the salesperson who helped us – she was just lovely, and not pushy at all (I love that!).

I tried on a bunch of POB and Melissa Sweet dresses, but this one was clearly the favorite:

(Melissa Sweet’s Paulina, as worn by the divine knottie gwinnettbride, at her wedding in June 2007)

I know what you’re thinking – ‘Miss Magnolia, what’s the deal? Where’s the lace? And the sash? This dress exhibits none of your previous requirements!’

Well, with this dress I learned the lesson that 95% (my rough estimation) of brides realize upon dress shopping – what you initially think you want is probably not what you end up liking/buying. This dress looked great on me, and I loved wearing it. Again, though…it was at the top of my price range.

The Hunt for the Perfect Dress...Part One

2007-09-24T10:18:00.000-05:00

Unlike most brides I know, the absolute last thing I wanted to do was start wedding dress shopping. I was convinced that the store samples would be far too small for me, nothing would look right, I would never have the *aha* moment that everyone describes. I had worn bridesmaids dresses before, so I knew going into it that these things ran small, and I guess I just didn’t want to deal with feeling like a cow when I’m supposed to be feeling beautiful.

Regardless of my apprehension to actually try anything on, I knew exactly what I wanted in a dress – a-line, strapless, lace, with a sash. Sure, I was willing to try on other dresses, but I knew without a doubt that my wedding dress would have that very description. Those were the dresses I tore out of magazines, the ones that I bookmarked on the Knot, the ones I drooled over as I perused Knottie bios.

So, Mama Magnolia made plans to come to Atlanta in early February to begin the dress hunt. I did some research on dress shops in the area, and I came up with a plan of action, which basically was this – go to the super-expensive places first, then hit up the shops where we were more likely to get a dress at a reasonable price. Given this plan, I knew very well that I ran the risk of falling in love with a dress with an astronomical price tag. But I was willing to take that risk, because I know my bargain-loving self would find a way (if it came to that)!

Our schedule looked like this:

Friday (Mama and Miss Magnolia)

3:00 p.m. Saks Fifth Avenue (Amsale trunk show)

5:00 p.m. Priscilla of Boston

Saturday (enter my maid of honor to help with the search)

10:30 a.m. LaRaine’s Boutique

12:30 p.m. Kelly’s Closet

Each store/boutique was completely different, and all of them have absolutely stunning gowns.

So what did I find? Did I have a nervous breakdown? Stay tuned!

Judge Not...

2007-09-18T15:34:00.000-05:00

Saturday night, I had an unfortunate encounter with an extremely unpleasant person. I didn’t immediately realize just how inconsiderate he was – but the more I think about it, the more upset I am about the entire situation.

Mr. Magnolia and I were invited over to a friend’s house to watch college football (surprise) as well as the Yankees-Red Sox game. We had a fantastic, relaxing day, which was much needed, with everything that’s going on in our lives at the moment.

However, shortly before we left to go home, the evening took a turn for the worse. I was carrying on a conversation with our friend’s neighbor – it was nothing more than small talk, really – when the subject of my and Mr. Magnolia’s wedding came up. The guy I was talking to was really only vaguely interested in the wedding (no surprise there), but he did want to know how long we had been together.

“Well,” I replied, “We’ve been engaged for nine months, but we’ve been a couple for just over two years.”

“Two years?!?!” he exclaimed. “That’s nothing! You can’t possibly know each other well enough to know that you want to get married after two years!”

We went back and forth for a few minutes, and he revealed that he dated his wife for seven years before he proposed, and he thinks that that is the absolute minimum that a couple should be together before deciding to get married.

Finally, I told him that in my opinion, every relationship is different, and he shouldn’t judge mine simply based on his own relationship experience – and then I walked away. And I fumed. And I seethed. And I wondered why I didn’t blow up at him and tell him exactly where he can go, and in what kind of basket.

Because really, whose business is it how long Mr. Magnolia and I have been together? I know that a lot of people marry a high school/college sweetheart, which tends to prolong the time that they date before getting engaged and eventually married.

But what about those of us who didn’t meet our significant others until later? Mr. Magnolia and I met when we were both 26. If we got engaged seven years later and had a year-long engagement, we would be 34 before we actually tied the knot. I cannot wait to begin my life with Mr. Magnolia as a married couple, and I can’t imagine not doing so for another six years!

I think that as people mature, they have a better idea of what they are looking for in a partner. Both Mr. Magnolia and I dated a pretty good bit throughout high school, college, and the several years after college, but nothing stuck. When we met, we knew pretty quickly that this was it – this was different than all of our other relationships, and we were both in it for the long haul. He proposed just over fifteen months after our first date. I know that to some people, that’s not a lot of time. But we know exactly what we’re getting into, and the fact that a complete stranger thinks it’s okay to criticize the pace of our relationship infuriates me.

Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? Do you find that people think you’re rushing into things (or conversely, taking too long)? How do you handle it with grace? My instinct was to walk away from the conversation, but I really would have loved to put him in his place while not being outright rude. What do you think?

The Magnolias’ Magnificent Menu!

2007-09-14T12:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Mr. Magnolia and I took the opportunity to head over to our reception venue for a menu tasting. At a previous meeting, I went over some of our options with the event manager, and I think we made some pretty good decisions about what we wanted to try. In fact, we ended up selecting just about everything that we tasted yesterday! Who says we’re not decisive Magnolias? :)

So here’s the preliminary menu…we didn’t necessarily intend to have a Southern food theme, but it did work out that way. Mr. Magnolia and I both love good, homestyle comfort food, so it makes sense that those are the dishes that we would gravitate toward The reception is buffet-style, primarily because our guests won’t be arriving until 8:15 or 8:30, and who wants to sit down for a full meal at or after 9:00 p.m.?

********************************

Passed Appetizers:

California Sushi Rolls

Southern Spring Rolls (Cajun-style, with blackened chicken and pepper jack cheese)

Hot Butternut Squash Soup

…a few sips of soup served in demitasse cups. Mr. Magnolia was very on the fence about this dish when we showed up for the tasting, but as soon as he tried it, he was completely on board! I’m convinced that this will be a huge hit, particularly since it will be cold outside!

********************************

Action Stations:

Carving Station featuring a Roasted Entrecote of Beef

Small Plate Station featuring Crab Cake on a Bed of Hoppin’ John

I LOVE this dish. Rather than ride the tidal wave of popularity that is the mashed potato/shrimp and grits/mac and cheese martini station, we opted for something a little different. Basically, a chef will be preparing small plates of the club’s signature crab cake (which is to die for) served on top of hoppin’ john, which just happens to be one of my favorite foods. You know those rainy winter weekends when you just want to stay home, make comfort food, and watch movies all day long? Just me? Well, on those days I always make hoppin’ john.

**********************************

Cold Displays:

Assorted Breads and Dips

Antipasti Display

Oyster Shooters/Mexican Cocktails

I wasn’t sure that the oyster shooters and Mexican shrimp cocktails were going to fit into our budget, but they did! The presentation is fantastic – a large tray of ice, with tall thin shot glasses featuring (1) a raw oyster with cocktail sauce and a slice of lemon, or (2) a large shrimp and pico de gallo. Yum!

**********************************

Hot Displays:

Baked Fruited Brie en Croute

Fried Green Tomatoes

Pulled Pork on Silver Dollar Rolls

I like barbecue just fine, but I never imagined that we might serve pulled pork barbecue at our wedding reception. The event manager convinced me to at least try it yesterday, and I’m so glad she did! It was fantastic, and the silver dollar size is just so cute – like a slider!

*********************************

So that’s the Magnolia Menu -- Southern comfort food with style!

How did you choose your menu? Did you select foods that you and your fiancé particularly enjoy, or dishes that are generally crowd pleasers? Do you have a running theme for the food, or is it all over the map?

Vera Outlet Sale!

2007-09-11T09:12:00.000-05:00

Okay, my apologies - this is only for the Atlanta ladies. I know that a lot of people subscribe to Daily Candy, so you may have already seen this, but...

This weekend, there's a Vera Bradley Outlet Sale in Atlanta!

(See? I told you I was preppy...)

Anyway, it's at the Cobb Galleria on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (the 13th, 14th, and 15th) -- or until they sell out. They're offering up to 75% off retired styles and seconds handbags and accessories.

I'm thinking that this will be the perfect opportunity to pick up some bridesmaids gifts, or even hostess gifts for anyone that has showers coming up! Lucky for me, my office is about three minutes from the Galleria, so rather than eating lunch on Thursday, I'll be sorting through Vera bags!

Happy shopping!

Paisley, Paisley, Paisley!

2007-09-10T08:24:00.000-05:00

“Paisley print is an easily recognized pattern that resembles a crooked tear
drop or half of a yin-yang. A very popular print on all sorts of clothing and
fashion accessories during the 1960s, paisley print is commonly found today on
men’s ties and handkerchiefs. It has also recently resurfaced on women’s skirts
and handbags. Though paisley print became popular when it appeared in the shops
of London’s Carnaby Street during the mod fashion frenzy, its origin can be
traced back to India.”

Courtesy WiseGeek.com

Somewhat inexplicably, I’ve lately been drawn to all things paisley. I’ve never been a big fan of paisley in the past, at least not more so than any other prints out there. But then Mr. Magnolia and I began the registry process, and everything changed.

When we were picking out china, we knew that wanted something simple yet distinctive, something that will be complementary to a lot of colors, but not boring. Ultimately, we decided on Kate Spade’s Bonnabel Place.
And so, the obsession with paisley began.

I’ve downloaded paisley dingbats (is that not the funniest name for an electronic picture, by the way?), I’ve purchased paisley stamps and ribbons, I’ve researched paisley-accented stationary…you name it, I’ve looked it up. I know that it’s easy to go over the top with a theme/motif, so I’m definitely trying to avoid doing just that.

But look! KenzieKate does a fabulous invitation with paisley…so I must not be the only one who appreciates the design.

AND, Abby Jean from Style Me Pretty featured a gorgeous paisley invitation from Demby & Solomon just last week.

I was a bit bothered by my new fascination at first, because even though the above reference calls paisley “mod,” it always seemed very preppy to me…but then I realized that Mr. Magnolia and I are kind of preppy, so I guess it works.

Are you planning to incorporate a motif throughout your wedding? Does it suit your personality as a couple, or is it just something you like? At what point does a motif become overkill?

You can call me Mags...

2007-09-05T13:07:00.000-05:00

Hello, all! I’m Miss Magnolia, the new bee in the neighborhood!

I’m so excited to be a part of this fantastic wedding community! I’ve been reading this site regularly since I got engaged, and I’ve gotten so many great ideas from it – and now I can’t wait to start sharing some of my ideas with you!

So who are the Magnolias? Well, I didn’t start out as a Southerner, believe it or not (I know, it’s blasphemy!). I’ve lived in several east coast states, and I finally settled in Atlanta after college. However, Mr. Magnolia is a native Atlantan, which is tough to find in this city of transplants!

We should have met about 800 times before we actually did. We had at least one class together and lived in the same apartment complex in college, and we lived across the street from one another after we graduated. We also work in the same field and have a similar group of friends. Seriously, how we evaded each other for so long, I'll never know. We were finally introduced during the summer of 2005, and we started dating very soon after that.

We got engaged on December 1st of last year, and we’re planning an evening wedding for January of 2008. Why January? Let’s just say we have our reasons, the most important being that it’s after college football season, and as every good Southern girl knows, you simply don’t get married during football season (at least, not if you want anyone to show up)!

Planning has been great so far, and we can’t wait to celebrate with our wonderful friends and family on the day we become Mr. and Mrs. Magnolia ! Thanks for reading!

Makeup with Me

2007-09-04T11:09:00.000-05:00

Very early in our engagement, people started asking me about how I was going to wear my hair for the wedding. This always cracked me up, particularly when I didn’t even have a gown yet! Eventually I did make the decision that I would wear my hair up, in a low chignon with my veil tucked in underneath.

So obviously, thinking about wedding day beauty started early, but there was one decision that I didn’t even have to think about: wedding day makeup. See, I’m a lucky bride-to-be. Quite possibly the luckiest, in fact!

Why, you ask? Well, I have a cousin who is co-owner of a cosmetics company. And since he’ll be at the wedding anyway, he may as well provide his services to make me look extra-beautiful, right? Honestly, we’ve asked that this be his wedding gift to us – to provide me and my bridesmaids with day-of makeup. Normally, he charges a pretty good amount of money for this service, so it will be a huge favor to me to help out with our makeup.

So, who is this super-fabulous guy? He’s Chad, with Three Custom Color Specialists.

Chad and his business partners launched Three ten years ago, custom blending lipsticks and glosses in the tiny galley kitchen of their Hell’s Kitchen apartment. They were one of the first companies to offer custom blending services, particularly catering to clients who found that their favorite, sometimes signature lipstick was being discontinued by another company. If you sent in a sample (usually scraped out of the bottom of an old lipstick tube), they would happily re-create the color and send you back two, brand new replicas of the lipstick. Fab, right?

Now, in addition to custom blending, Three has a ton of what they call “Ready to Wear” products. And trust me, everything they have is fantastic. Personally, I’m a huge fan of their cream concealer,

their cream to powder blush,

their lip palettes,

their eye shadow,

and their brow gel.

So that’s one less thing to worry about for the wedding day, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I know that there are a lot of great makeup artists in Atlanta, but the fact that I get to spend the afternoon of my wedding with my cousin, while he makes me a glowing beautiful bride just makes me so happy.

And even though he doesn’t know it yet, I’m going to ask if he can do a trial application before the rehearsal dinner. Hey, it can’t hurt to look lovely and bridal the night before, too….right?

The Ring Saga

2007-08-30T16:19:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week, I promised an explanation of the extremely complicated matter of our wedding rings. Honestly, it really shouldn't be that hard. I'm not picky, Jared's not picky, and while I love the symbolism of the wedding band, I'm not entirely convinced that he's actually going to wear one. He's just not a jewelry kind of guy, which is no big deal. My dad hasn't worn a wedding ring since he lost his (before I was born), and my parents have been happily married for 31 years.

My engagement ring is absolutely beautiful. It's a solitaire, Asscher-cut diamond in a platinum, four-prong setting. When he ordered the ring, the jeweler told him not to "ruin" it with baguettes. It's a phenomenal stone, and I get compliments all the time!

(photo courtesy of 35Atlanta...please excuse Jared's very short fingernails!)

Originally, I didn't think much of the wedding band, because I just figured that I would get a simple platinum band (or even white gold, for that matter). But then my mom proposed a different option...

My grandmother passed away when I was six, and she left behind her engagement and wedding bands, and a cocktail ring. As my mom told the story, my grandmother intended for the wedding set to go to my cousin Lindsay, and for the cocktail ring to go to me. After her death, her husband packed everything away, including the rings. They've been in his safety deposit box for over 20 years.

My mom always described the ring to me as gaudy, and way too big. "It looks like a cruise ship!" she would exclaim, "Definitely not your style. You'll be able to do something with it, though."

Last December, Jared and I got engaged, and a few months later, my mom brought up the cocktail ring. It contains something ridiculous like 55 diamonds, which could easily be placed into an eternity band. All of a sudden, visions of a glorious, glitzy, bling-a-licious wedding band started dancing through my head. Sugarplums? Pshaw! I was all about the diamonds!

By June, my grandfather's health had deteriorated significantly, and my aunt went to clean out his safety deposity box. She brought the cocktail ring to my mom's house, and my mother promptly fell head over heels in love with a ring she hadn't seen in 20 years.

(The ring is similar to this one, but with even more diamonds, if you can believe it...)

She decided that it's no longer gaudy, but instead absolutely beautiful, and she plans to wear it for special occasions over the next several months, perhaps longer.

Wait, what?

What happened to the plan of incorporating my grandmother's diamonds into a piece of jewelry that I will wear every day? A piece of jewelry that's a symbol of my relationship with my soon-to-be husband? Well, my mom came up with a million reasons why I shouldn't use it for that purpose. (Did I mention that my grandmother is my dad's mother? I'm still not entirely sure why my mom has laid claim to the ring. Oh well.)

(Again, similar...but not exactly the same.)

So, here we are, four and a half months from the wedding, and Jared and I are ready to purchase our wedding bands. I hope that my mom and I can come to an agreement on this issue, because I absolutely love the idea of incorporating the diamonds from the cocktail ring into my wedding band -- in honor of my grandparents' long and happy marriage. My idea is that we take maybe half of them for an eternity band. The rest my mother can use to make into another cocktail ring, or maybe we can save them for my brother to use when he gets engaged. Either way, I don't think of it as destroying a family heirloom, but rather updating a piece of our family history. That's not a bad thing, right?

Dress you up in my love

2007-08-30T09:53:00.000-05:00

While I was in Connecticut, I made several trips (seriously, it was practically a daily event) to a brand new Marshall's. Because the store was newly opened, their stock was fantastic. Coming from triple digits in Atlanta, I had not prepared for August in New England (which can be unpredictably chilly), so I was on a hunt for hoodies and long sleeves. In addition to several casual finds (including some great pieces by Vineyard Vines!), I also stumbled across a couple of adorable dresses by Max Studio, on sale for $39.99.

I can definitely wear these babydoll-style dresses to showers this fall. I wore this one to my 10-year high school reunion this past Saturday, with my favorite navy peep-toe heels:

From the front, me and Jared at the reunion. I love this dress! Can't wait to wear it again....

Edited to add:

Here's the dress as it appears on the Max Studio website. I prefer it without the silly belt, however. Anyway, it's on sale for $58, which isn't bad! Seriously, it's a very cute, very flattering, and very comfortable dress!

P.S. It's no-wrinkle too, so it travels well! Hello, honeymoon!

Color Inspiration

2007-08-29T14:56:00.001-05:00

Lately, I've really been struggling with our wedding colors. I know that blue and brown are good together, but most of the time we're talking about light blue and brown. I'm trying to pull together navy and chocolate brown with accent colors of light blue and champagne. When I tell people this, they usually cock their heads to the side and look at me funny.

Is it too much? Are my colors too dark, even for an evening, winter wedding?

The bridesmaids will be in navy. Our flowers will be all white, with a little bit of light blue. We're looking at all white linens with chocolate runners. The chairs at the reception are a dark wood with a taupe fabric. Honestly, I love it all in bits and pieces, but I've had a hard time picturing it coming together.

Until today. Today Abby at Style Me Pretty linked over to Big Huge Lab's Palette Generator. I looked through my saved pictures, trying to figure out which one best epitomized by color scheme for the wedding. Here's what I came up with:

The Atlanta skyline at night. I like to think that's what the city will look like on the evening of January 12, 2008. So what did the palette generator come up with, based on this picture?

It's perfect. That's my color inspiration, in palette form. Yay!

Ma Jules

2007-08-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

Slowly but surely, I'm accumulating my wedding day accoutrement.

The veil and the shoes are still in the works, but...

Dress? Check!

Unmentionables? Check!

Brooch? Check!

I purchased the brooch off ebay for under $10. It's small, and I'll most likely use it where I fasten my very simple bustle.

Earrings? Check!

My mom purchased these and gave them to me for my birthday. I love the simplicity -- they're exactly what I was going for!

And now, my most recent purchase -- my bracelet. Check!

I found this on sale at Macy's when I was in Connecticut, and I fell in love with it. It's much more sparkly than these pictures show -- the metal isn't nearly as dark. It will go perfectly with my gown, which is so very exciting. So I think I'm finished so far as jewelry goes -- on to the other accessories!

ETA: I also need to find a crinoline. Cripes.

Save the Dates, Magnolia-Style

2007-08-28T07:57:00.000-05:00

We sent out our Save the Dates in early August, but I only recently got around to taking pictures of them. Forgive me?

Anyway, Mr. Magnolia and I (well, actually only I) agonized over how to best create our first wedding communication. After all, this would set the tone for our entire celebration!

Yes, I fully acknowledge that I may have taken this task way too seriously. I worked on the magnet design for well over a month, and the research that went into my paper selections? Well, let's just say that my boss would not be very pleased with how I used a significant amount of company time.

I like that I had total control over this project, and although it wasn't exactly cheap ($420 total for 150 Save the Dates), I do think that the production ended up being very high quality.

First I bought the envelopes - size A9 - from paper.com. I printed the return address on the back flap, primarily because I didn't want to write it over and over (and over) again. I did print the addresses on the front, though. I don't have particularly pretty handwriting, but it's neat, and I figured that for the Save the Dates, that would be just fine.

Then I purchased some Stardream cover weight paper in Lapis Lazuli from Envelope Mall. The print shop that I use for work-related projects agreed to cut the 8.5x11 paper in half to 5.5x8.5, and they printed the following on medium white cardstock:

I designed these pages, which were cut down to 5x8, on Photoshop Elements. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have done them in Power Point. It's just text, right? Oh well - lesson learned!

And...the magnets. This was all kinds of drama from the start. I knew exactly what I wanted, and I had some doubts about handing over the job to an online service, or even to a printing/production company here in Atlanta. I knew that there had to be a way to do this myself, and finally I figured it out.

First, I ordered 150 (3.5x5 photo size) adhesive magnets from Magnet Valley. They're medium weight, and although I originally thought I wanted heavier magnets, from a cost standpoint, these made the most sense. And actually, I'm very glad I chose these, because heavy magnets definitely would have affected my postage rates!

Then, I went to a local Wolf Camera shop and had them print 150 copies of our picture (in 3.5x5 size, of course). It would have been cheaper to order prints online, but I had a ridiculously hard time finding an online photo shop that would print that size. And really, we were in and out in less than 30 minutes, which worked wonders for my peace of mind!

Jared and I spent an afternoon assembling the Save the Dates. We used a heavy-duty spray adhesive from 3M to stick the three pieces of cardstock together, and a roll-on removable adhesive to stick the magnet to the card. It's basically similar to the adhesive used to stick credit cards to the paper they come on, although lighter weight. For our purposes, it was perfect. We wanted something that would stick long enough to get to our guests, but not leave a mark on the card.

So, that's it! As much as I fretted and stressed, they turned out beautifully, and I couldn't be more pleased. We've gotten innumerable compliments on them!

And now, I get to move on to invitations! Although I'll have some professional help for those...thankfully!

Not wedding related...

2007-08-27T12:40:00.000-05:00

...just the best deal ever.

Seriously - season one of Friday Night Lights comes out on DVD tomorrow.

...and it's only $19.99 on Amazon. Go order it now - you'll love it.

What's Next?

2007-08-27T11:54:00.000-05:00

138 days. That's all Jared and I have left until we become "smug marrieds." It really doesn't sound like a lot of time, but I know that we'll be able to get everything done.

So, what's next on the to-do list, which I have been neglecting (with good reason) over the last several weeks?

1. Tuxedos - We had an appointment to figure this out a few weeks ago, but I had to cancel it when my unexpected trip to Connecticut came up. Maybe the shop will be open on Labor Day, and we can go take care of this then.

2. Wedding rings - Hm. I'm going to have to draft a completely separate post to go into the drama of our wedding rings, but let's just say for now that Jared and I are moving forward with simple, white gold bands. While this may not have been our first choice (particularly as it relates to my ring), we'll make it work.

3. Invitations - I've written a preliminary email to an invitation designer who came very highly recommended by a friend, and I'm hoping to meet with her sometime in the next week or so. She seems lovely over email, so we'll see how that works out!

4. Reception - I have an appointment tomorrow morning with the event/catering manager at the club where our reception will be held so that we can start going over details/menu options, etc. I can't wait for this - I'm ready to plan the party!

Selfish

2007-08-22T15:25:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I haven't updated in a good long while. I know. But I have a good excuse, I promise.

My grandfather passed away last week. He was my Poppy -- a big guy with a roar of a laugh and a beautiful head of white hair. He was a plane navigator (or "radio man") with the 38th Bomb Group in World War II, flying in the Pacific. He was born and raised in New Haven, Irish through and through, with the temper to prove it. He wrote down poems and quotations that he liked, and he frequently composed his own...here's one he wrote about his sister-in-law:

"God is very good to us,
And yet we still complain.
But He really blessed our family
When He gave us Sweet Lorraine."

Poppy was disgnosed with prostate cancer in 1992, but you would never have known it. He traveled extensively, and he was very popular with the ladies. (My grandmother passed away in 1986). Almost two years ago, his kidneys stopped functioning as they should, and he was hospitalized for several weeks. The strain on his body from the cancer and everything else was more than enough to kill him, but it didn't. He was placed on hospice care, and he had a nurse named Mike visit him several times a week. They became very good friends in their two years together.

Last month, Poppy's oncologist told him that he was taking him off chemotherapy because there was nothing more that he could do for him. After that, Poppy started deteriorating rapidly. He was such a fighter, but hearing that this was it seemed to be too much for him. My parents and my aunt organized round the clock nurse care, and he always had a family member with him as well. Thursday morning (the 9th), my mom called and said, "Do what you can to wrap up work. You need to come to Connecticut this weekend." So I did. I had no idea how long I would be gone, and I am so thankful that my boss let me leave with so little information.

He left the world five minutes before midnight on Wednesday, August 15th. It was 55 minutes after our favorite nurse arrived to help him through the night. It was 24 hours after my dad, an incredibly unemotional man, teared up and told his father, "It's okay to go. I'll take care of everyone and everything." It was exactly 20 years and 10 months after his wife passed away.

I got to spend my grandfather's last days with my entire family -- people who I rarely see, and I wouldn't have seen until my wedding, if even then. It was emotional and draining, lovely and distressing. I participated in Last Rites, I performed a reading at his funeral, and I flinched when the guns went off at the military burial.

Jared was by my side, and I could not be more thankful for that. I am strong, but I need support, and he was there to provide it.

I titled this entry "selfish," because small things have been hitting me today...I have to delete Poppy from my cell phone. I have to remove his name from our wedding guest list. I have to tell the florist that we need one less boutinnere. He won't be at our rehearsal dinner, which was chosen in part for its wheelchair access. He won't see his granddaughter get married. These are just the small ways that his death is affecting me right now, and I know it's because it's still raw. I feel selfish thinking about these small things, wedding-related things, but I know he'd be okay with it.

He'd grab me by my double chin (inherited from him), and say, "Ah, Jennifer. Go on with it. You're going to have a beautiful wedding." And we will, because of him.

Found!

2007-08-07T14:37:00.000-05:00

Oh, I have a bridesmaid that will absolutely LOVE this --

from wrapables.com

Sneak Peek

2007-08-07T08:17:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I haven't been able to get myself together and actually take pictures of our Save the Dates -- trust me, you don't want me to go into everything that's going on!

But here's what I can give you:

Our magnet!

I'm sorry for the poor image quality -- trust me when I say that it printed beautifully!

Jared and I are both huge University of Georgia football fans, so when it came time to take engagement pictures, there was no question that we would do so in Athens, at the University. However, the challenge soon became, "So....how about we try to take some pictures inside Sanford Stadium?" Luckily, I know some people (friends in high places come in awfully handy!), and I made some calls. After much (trust me, much) begging and pleading on my part, and promises on the part of our photographers not to use any stadium images in their advertising, we persuaded the right person to get us in. Success!

So, back in April we met our photographers in Athens and headed over to the Athletic Department. We were met by my contact and headed over to the stadium. With a swipe of an access card, he opens the gate that leads underneath (where the team buses go), and we follow him down a hill and...onto the field! Well, you know...right next to the field. Then, he tells us that he's leaving, he's *pretty sure* that the field alarm is off, and we are to go ahead and jump the fence onto the actual football field. If the alarm is still on, we'll figure it out pretty quickly, but "oh, here's my card...just tell the police you're with me." Wha....?

What else can we do? He leaves and we jump onto the field. No alarms, no swat teams, not even a campus police officer!

We got some great pictures, if I do say so myself, and we found the perfect one for our Save the Date magnet. Jared had the brilliant idea to combine our magnet with a UGA football schedule, and I agreed immediately -- how can you say no to fabulous and functional? And so far, we've gotten rave reviews.

In fact, our friend Allen made my week when he left Jared a voicemail saying that in all of his years going to weddings, our Save the Date was the most creative, ingenious one he's seen. Woo hoo!

Delayed

2007-08-06T12:08:00.001-05:00

Ah, the honeymoon. I've been so looking forward to a week of unwinding, drink in hand, by the pool/beach/whatever. Just get me there, and all will be well.

From the start, our honeymoon planning was kind of rocky. We were referred to a great travel agent who promptly got our hopes up by sending us the information to a positively gorgeous resort in Mexico. Then we found out that his quote (which was right in our price range) was mistakenly for the cost of one person instead of two. It's a honeymoon. Hence, the need for two.

We finally settled on another resort, this one in the Dominican Republic. However, as ever, life intervenes. Deposits are due now, and the balance would be due in November. While having everything paid off would be a great way to head into the honeymoon, it's just not do-able. And we're not willing to put the whole thing on a credit card. Basically, we're in the process of buying a house in an environment that is incredibly mortgage-unfriendly. Our finances are under intense scrutiny, and we just can't justify the cost of a week-long resort honeymoon right now.

So, we'll have to delay.

We'll still plan to do a getaway for a couple of days (probably to the mountains somewhere), but the full on beach trip will have to wait until next summer. Yes, I'm a little disappointed. But I also know that this is the right decision for us, financially. More than we want a vacation, we want to have a great house and be settled and happy. So that's that. No super fabulous post-wedding honeymoon for us. It's just going to have to wait. :)

They're finished!

2007-07-30T14:19:00.000-05:00

So, that laundry list I posted on Friday afternoon? You know, the one having to do with finishing my Save the Dates? (It's just below this entry, so don't look too far.)

Well, let's just say that I am a very proud bride-to-be! That list is virtually complete! Adhesive bought, magnets printed, cardstock assembled, magnets adhered, envelopes stuffed, postage purchased! The only thing I have to do tonight is put the stamps on the envelopes and drop them at the post office tomorrow. I kind of can't believe that Jared and I knocked it all out this weekend. Assembling everything yesterday afternoon took about three hours, which really wasn't bad at all. Granted, I had prepared the envelopes earlier, which cut down on our assembly time significantly, but still --

Woo hoo! As of tomorrow morning, our Save the Dates are on the way!

So now I just have to take some pictures so you all can see what I'm talking about....

STD Update

2007-07-27T14:45:00.000-05:00

I'm off to the print shop to pick up my completed card stock for our Save the Dates!

Now all we have left to do is:

resize picture for magnet
print picture for magnet
purchase adhesive
assemble
purchase postage
mail!

Ugh. When I look at it like that, it looks like there's still a ton left to do. Hopefully we can get the bulk of it finished this weekend!

Plastic Surgery

2007-07-27T11:07:00.001-05:00

So, I've performed a minor facelift on my inspiration board in order to submit it to Style Me Pretty's contest.

What do you think?

Gorgeous Vases

2007-07-25T15:21:00.000-05:00

From the House Beautiful website:

If I had lots and lots of money,

I would totally use this one for the wedding.

Several of these would be gorgeous decorating our bar area!

Here's what happened late night -

2007-07-23T14:56:00.001-05:00

I think this story tells itself...

And we toast!

2007-07-23T12:38:00.000-05:00

About an hour or so into our engagement party Saturday night, my mom approached my matron of honor, Meredith, to let her know that it was time to get ready for her toast. Until this moment, I had no idea that she would be doing so, but apparently she had had some time to prepare. In addition, my maid of honor (who could not be there, unfortunately) sent a few words for Meredith to read on her behalf.

So Meredith takes a deep breath and immediately begins shaking like a leaf. Now, Meredith is not a shy girl. She actually works in the media -- she's a television news anchor. And yet, she usually has a teleprompter to read off of, and she usually has a camera to look into -- not 75 faces. Despite being nervous, she did a wonderful job, and Jared and I truly appreciate her kind and supportive toast.

Here's what my maid of honor (Rebecca) sent for Meredith to read:

I wish I could be there to celebrate Jennifer and Jared's engagement and to be
able to wish them happiness face to face. However, since I can't be there, I
wanted to recognize what a great couple they are.

Jennifer and I have been friends for a long time. In fact, Jennifer is my oldest friend. While we first met in middle school during our wonderfully fascinating confirmation classes with Sister Camelita, we became friends our freshman year of high school when Jennifer would drive me and Helen to school in her big white conversion van (I loved that van). It's been a long time since freshman year of high school (yikes - a very long time), and since then, Jennifer's friendship has been a constant in my life.

More than being my oldest friend, Jennifer is my best friend. She knows me better than anyone else and has always been there for me with an open heart and without judgment. Honest, selfless friendship like that is very hard to find, and I am lucky and honored to have it.

Jennifer has a truly good heart and deserves true happiness in life, and it is plain to see that she has found such happiness with Jared. it's obvious in the way that they look at each other and how they care for each other. I couldn't pick a more perfect husband for Jennifer - simply put, they just "fit."

Jennifer, I'm honored to be able to stand up for you as your maid of honor when you marry Jared. I love you both, and I wish you love and happiness. (Meredith, at this point, you must sing "Love and Happiness" by Al Green...in a heartfelt manner.)

I do have a pair of absolutely fabulous best friends -- here we are at Meredith's wedding three years ago:

You know it's a rockin' party when...

2007-07-23T09:37:00.000-05:00

...someone ends up in the pool. Oh yeah, I said it.

I fully expect to be receiving more pictures from friends as the week goes on, but for now -- here are some pictures from our engagement party taken by my mom's lovely friend Adele:

The evening begins --
check out the crowd around the bar area!

Jared's brother, Jared's sister,
Jared's cousin and his wife:

Me chatting with friends:

Friends from Atlanta:

Table set up before food
is set out:

Dinner is served!

Me chatting with friends
from Atlanta:

The bride-to-be needs a refill!
The margarita machine was an awesome idea!

Me and my mom by the bar:

Max is fairly unimpressed
by the entire event:

Champagne time!

My brother and a friend passing
out champagne at toast time:

Meredith begins her toast...
Max insists on being in the middle of everything!

Jared and me listening to Mere's toast:

Cheers!

My Maid of Honor's mom, me, my mom, and my Maid of Honor's dad.
She couldn't make it, but her parents could!

Two groomsmen, Jared's dad,
Jared's brother, and Jared himself:

Jared's cousin, Jared's mom,
Jared's aunt, my aunt, my mom:

...and someone's in the pool.
At this point, I think my bridesmaids
have just pushed Jared in - poor guy!

No, Mom.

2007-07-19T09:08:00.001-05:00

My mom has really only been a little bit of a nightmare as far as wedding planning goes. We had a bit of an issue regarding my wedding party, and we're currently doing battle over my grandmother's cocktail ring (my dad's mom), which I would like to make into my wedding band. The problem is, my mom has decided that she wants to wear it for a few months. So, let's hope I prevail there.

Anyway, my extremely generous parents are hosting what I'm sure will be a fabulous engagement party this weekend (I'll post pictures for sure!). Mom has been cooking for weeks, she's stocking a full bar (including margarita machine - Jared's request), she's stocked up on candles, her best friend is doing floral arrangements, and she's quickly slipping into panic mode. The woman thinks that this is a mini-wedding. It's insane.

But I think she reached the tipping point last night. As Jared and I headed into the Viking Culinary Center for cooking classes (my birthday present!), my mom called to make a suggestion:

Mom: Jenn, what would you think about me getting some of those sticky things for people to
write their names on for Saturday? It would make things a lot easier, don't you think?

Jenn: Mom, do you mean nametags?

Mom: Yeah, great idea -- right?

Jenn: No.

Mom: But I really think it will ease conversation. For instance, Dee Dee's could read,
"Dee Dee -- Jenn's aunt"

Jenn: No. I'm sorry, but I think that's a terrible idea.

Jared (background, shouting): Nametags? Are you kidding me?

Mom: Well, I just thought it might be a good idea...

Jenn: No. Absolutely not.

Mom: Fine then. You and Jared will just have to be available for a lot of introductions.

Jenn: That's fine. No nametags.

Mom (obviously annoyed but giving in): Fine.

Success!

For the Girls

2007-07-19T08:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've been a big fan of Etsy for a while now. It's so easy to just get lost on that site, jumping from vendor to vendor, perusing the wares. It's a bit like a virtual craft show, you know?

I've been thinking a lot lately about my bridesmaids gifts. My six girls are all very different, and each is fabulous in her own way. For that very reason, I don't want to get them each the same gift or collection of gifts. I definitely want to find them each a meaningful book of some kind, because I love books, and reading is a big part of my life. I have a fantastic half-price old/new bookstore near me that will be the perfect place to hunt for these!

But I also want to give them each something that they will truly love and use again. (I'm not trying to pretend that they're going to wear their dresses again, so I figure that they have to get something reuseable out of this wedding deal!)

I absolutely don't want to give them wedding day jewelry, because I want them all to be able to accessorize as they choose for wedding -- even though they'll be in the same dresses, I want them to look like them, not like clones. But some kind of keepsake jewelry item is an idea, and that's why I love this etsy store: oliviamoon. She has some gorgeous vintage pendants that remind me of my girls, and I can't wait surprise them with something heartfelt like this.

I also love the idea of a bouquet charm or pendant, and that's why this item caught my eye:

Fabulous, no? :)

Guest List Woes

2007-07-18T08:03:00.000-05:00

I know, every bride has them. I've been lucky until now, I guess.

So, Jared and I set our guest list months ago. My mom keeps adding people (mostly those who she thinks won't attend, but she thinks they need a courtesy invite - whatever), but I figure she can, since she and my dad are taking on the bulk of the cost of the wedding.

Jared is still compiling some addresses, but in the meantime, I'm moving forward with addressing our Save the Dates. I'm printing the return address on the back of the envelopes and hand-writing the front. And my printer at work keeps "eating" envelopes, so I'm hopeful that I end up having enough to work with.

Anyway, last night I'm at home diligently addressing envelopes, and I ask Jared about the envelope I have just addressed -- for his aunt and cousin.

"Oh, you mean Kristy and Katie?" he asks.

"What? Who's Katie?" I am very confused that this point because my guest list says, quite clearly, AMY.

"Katie's my cousin. I don't have a cousin Amy."

"Then WHY did you write Amy on the guest list?"

"I don't know. But if you sent it to Amy, it wouldn't be a big deal. They totally wouldn't care."

(At this point, I'm so frustrated, I can do nothing but rip the envelope in half and move forward...)

Nervous

2007-07-17T13:53:00.000-05:00

The first major project that I could potentially screw up is at hand.

Also known as, My Save the Dates are underway.

There are several components to the Save the Dates, and every part makes me nervous. For example, navy Stardream cardstock must be cut in half. I've given that task to my printers, Alphagraphics. They are also printing the white cardstock that will be adhered to the navy Stardream. I just picked out an ink color, but I'm still jittery that printing could go awry.

I have received 250 A9 envelopes at my office, and in between tasks, I'm printing the return address on the back flap. I've already burned through about fifteen mishaps, between trial and error envelopes for placement and those that have gotten stuck in my somewhat archaic printer. Luckily I'm only going to need about 150, but still. What if?!?

Finally, the magnet. It's designed and ready to go, I just have to find someone to print it. It needs to be larger than business-card size, and I don't want to pay through the roof. Any suggestions? I'm starting to get desperate...

Switcheroo

2007-07-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

Maybe it's just the fact that it's almost 5:00 pm on Friday, but I am tickled to tears by the fact that I just ordered envelopes from paper.com and paper from envelopemall.com

Hey, can I help it if that's where I found the best prices? :)

Bad Catholic

2007-07-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

So, marriage prep. As a Catholic, who's marrying a Catholic boy, and getting married in a Catholic cathedral, it's inevitable. And even if Jared and I weren't entrenched in Catholicism, I'm sure we would go through some kind of pre-marital counseling. It just makes sense to bring in a third party in order to raise issues that you two may not have thought to discuss...or those issues that you may be nervous to bring up... :)

We went to a general marriage prep class on Monday night, and it was boring, but really not so bad. We took the FOCCUS test -- which isn't really a test, but I can't think of another word to explain it, so we'll just use that one -- and I'm anxious to see how my answers compared to Jared's. There were a few questions where I sat back and said, "You know, that's a good point. This something that we haven't discussed, and I have no idea where he would stand on it." So it will be a great exercise to go through some of those things and talk them out.

However, the Deacon who conducted the class was quite possibly the slowest talker I have ever encountered. He liked to tell roundabout stories to make his point, which really had no purpose except to make me drowsy. Also, he spent a good 20 minutes expressing the belief that living together before marriage is WRONG. Period. And if you do happen to live together (God forbid!), then you need to find a way to live separately for at least six months before the wedding. Because if you're together at home the Thursday before the wedding, and you're together at home the Sunday after the wedding, then what's changed?

Well, in my mind a lot of things change. Jared and I do already live together, which was a big decision for both of us that basically came down to financial justification. And we really don't feel bad about it, because it was the right decision for us. We contemplated just *not mentioning it* to the church, but my guilty conscience overruled, and we're going to tell all. I'm not looking forward to the judgmental looks, but you know -- there is absolutely nothing to do about it.

So, following the class, we were told that that within two weeks we would hear from a priest (who will most likely perform our ceremony) to meet with and begin our counseling. Dude, a priest emailed me two days later! It was kind of bizarre to see a message in my inbox from Father Thomas B____. Call me a believer in stereotypes, but priests just don't strike me as internet-savvy. Whatever, though. We have a meeting with him next Wednesday -- here we go!

Tell me a story

2007-07-10T12:47:00.000-05:00

So, I finally did it. I created a storyboard. I've been playing with ideas for one for the last month or so (all of the fabulous ones I've seen on weddingbee and Style Me Pretty are such inspiration!), and I finally pulled the trigger.

After a couple of months of having a very blase attitude toward the wedding and the planning process in general, the realization that I only have six months left has reinvigorated my creativity. I've been searching Etsy for bridesmaids gifts (and I definitely have some fantastic ideas for that department!), I've been researching ribbon and fabric and paper, and we're working on finalizing our Save the Date!

Oh, we also went to marriage prep class last night, but I'll do another post about that!

So, without further adieu, here is my storyboard!

The band? The band!

2007-07-02T15:59:00.000-05:00

We're hopefully in the final stages of deciding on the band for our reception.

And it looks like we're going to be able to go with the band I mentioned here as the group we wanted so badly! It turns out that the annual show that they do in January is going to be the week before our wedding, and we've gotten them down to a manageable amount of money. So now I just get to call my dad and tell him exactly how much this is going to cost -- and the bad news is that it's going to put us a bit over budget.

The thing is, Jared is really passionate about getting these people for our reception, and I want to back him up. If that means that we take on more of the wedding expenses, so be it. Our wedding will be beautiful and fun no matter what, but this group will most definitely add a whole other layer to that -- they'll make it a fabulous party!

Five Down, One to Go

2007-06-20T16:16:00.000-05:00

We're ordering our bridesmaids dresses from Pearls Place, in New Orleans. Originally, I thought that this would be a fabulous idea because my Maid of Honor moved to The Big Easy in April. Therefore, she could just run over to the store and place the order in person rather than over the phone, which I'm somewhat hesitant about doing.

Unfortunately, that plan just isn't going to work out, because Pearl's Place will not give me the discounted price in the store -- only over the phone. Yeah, I haven't figured that one out either. Regardless, I'll just call and place one big order and have the girls pay me back. It all just seems pretty easy that way...and I'm sure they do this all the time.

In the meantime, the girls are getting their measurements and/or finding a store local to them that has a sample they can try on. They've actually been fantastic about getting back to me, and I'm just waiting on one more of them to give me a dress size. I'll cut her some slack, since she has a three month old baby! :)

Here's the dress (although these colors are ridiculous...imagine it in midnight, with an ivory sash) -- I love it, and I think all of my bridesmaids will look simply fabulous in it!

Maxim - Call me!

2007-06-14T08:58:00.000-05:00

Last night, a friend and I traveled just north of Atlanta to meet up with a photographer. Now, obviously I've already chosen my wedding photographer, because I have engagement pictures. And my friend is getting married next month, so she most definitely has a photographer lined up as well. So why were we meeting with someone new?

Well, this particular person is becoming very well known for her fabulous and gorgeous boudoir pictures, and we have scheduled a shoot with her for November. Mine will be a wedding gift for Jared, and my friend will most likely give them to her husband for Christmas.

If you look around The Knot, it appears that this is the next big trend in gifts for grooms, and I'm hopeful that it's something that Jared will enjoy. He's had a subscription to Playboy for years (and fully admits that he likes the articles and the pictures!), so I see this as a way for me to give him a personalized Playboy.

Our shoot will be very tastefully done -- we're not into raunchy! But I think it will be an interesting experience, and something fairly unique for Jared to have.

Also, here's a sample photo from a shoot done by our photographer. I love it!