Wedding Word Wednesday: The Nest

This definitely is not what I was planning on posting today, but I can’t help it!  So I thought for Wedding Word Wednesday I would head back to TheKnot.com for some inspiration.  Well… when I clicked into the sight it redirected me {here}.  Apparently they know I am married now and have no business scouring their site for wedding pictures anymore, ha!

So this new site, TheNest, is insanely entertaining!  I suppose it’s geared toward NewlyWeds, but I promise there is something for everyone.  There are recipes and work out plans, home decorating and budgeting tools.  I even found a BMI calculator!  OOOoo and my favorite article “6 Places to Go Before You Have Kids” ( I love vacay ideas with or without little ones).  Ya’ll know what I’m going to be doing the rest of the day (besides working)!

Wedding Word Wednesday: Invitations

Invitations are actually one of the more costly parts of a wedding.  There are so many components.  You have the invitation, the outer and inner envelopes, the enclosures like directions and/or reception information along with the RSVP card, the RSVP envelope, stamps for the invitation and stamps for the RSVP cards, Whew!  Oh, and one more thing... the calligraphy. 

So instead of ordering invitations from a high-end boutique or even from online resources, I found invitations like these at William Arthur from Vera Wang’s collection and used them to inspire my own design.  That’s right, I designed my OWN invitations.  I took them to a local commercial print shop and instead of spending over $5 an invitation, I only spent 63 cents!  Did you hear me… 63 cents per invite that included all the envelopes, enclosures, etc!



Here's mine (minus some names and places I took out for protection, but you get the idea!)

Wedding Word Wednesday: Anniversary

So I thought I would get back to my Wedding Word Wednesdays, I mean who doesn’t like weddings, right??  Today’s word:  Anniversary.  Yes, read it and weep, look where NWH is taking me for our 1 year!!!  We're going to one of the top destinations in the world, the Dominican Republic!!!

 

 

Can I interrupt this by saying, NWH and I have known each other since the 7^th grade, we started exchanging emails and instant messages (AOL, baby)  in the 8^th, saved each other lunch seats in the 10^th and have been dating since the 11^th and well… the sound of “Our One Year Anniversary” just doesn’t give us enough credit! 

Wedding Word Wednesday: The Proposal

Our proposal story actually began in December of 2008, about three months before we got engaged. NWH and I had been in TN for the holidays visiting MIL (mother-in-law) and J-Man (father-in-law).   One day on our trip we decided to swing by J-Man’s new office. While there I noticed hanging on the wall, a beautifully framed photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge. I commented on the amazing picture and J-Man said that he had taken the photo himself. Raving about the view, I said, “I have to see that!”

After that little remark, J-Man, MIL and NWH booked a trip to visit San Francisco in March for Spring Break.

With months of anticipation behind us, NWH and I, along with J-Man and MIL headed west to the great state of California. We had an early night the Friday we arrived, but woke up Saturday morning refreshed and ready to go.

After coffee at the local Starbucks, the guys split from MIL and me. We girls were ready to do some San Fran shopping while the guys were going to pick up the rental car and check out possible restaurants for the week, (at least that is what they TOLD me.)

After a full day, we all met back at the hotel to freshen up for the evening. NWH and J-May told us they had made dinner reservations at The Spinnaker, a classy spot across the bay. We jumped in the car and were on our way.

The Spinnaker is located in Sausalito, a town that sits adjacent to the city of San Francisco. You can imagine my excitement as we drove; it was my first time across the famous Golden Gate and seeing the grand Pacific Ocean.

Once we were over the bridge, J-Man mentioned that we were a few minutes early for our reservations and suggested that we re-visit the spot where the photograph in his office was taken. Of course I burst with excitement, and we began making our way up the steep coast line.

On top of the hills, J-Man and MIL moseyed off, and NWH walked me to an isolated spot cut out with beautiful shrubs and flowers. I felt like I was standing on top of the world. The magnificent Golden Gate was to my left framing the city of San Francisco while the mighty Pacific waved to my right welcoming in the sunset.

Standing in his arms, NWH began to tell me how much he loved me and how he hoped this trip would be memorable. He said he wanted to bring me to a place that we could return to in future years, a place that would always be. And just like that place would never disappear neither would his love for me.

He then reached in his coat pocket, pulled out a box and got down on his knee. Now at this point I always imagined I would cry; but instead of tears, I SCREAMED! I jumped and shouted, “I’m engaged, I’m engaged!”

(J-Man, MIL, NWH, and Me)

Not only did we have a wonderful candle lit dinner overlooking the sparkling bay, NWH concluded our evening with dancing and celebrating at The Top of the Mark, San Francisco’s legendary 19th floor sky lounge.

How could there be a more perfect proposal!

Wedding Word Wednesdays: Websites (the wedding kind of course!)

One of the first things I did after my NWH proposed was create a wedding website.  It’s kind of the modern-day thing to do in the wedding world, right? 

I researched and research and even got my NWH to study different website options.  The one thing I didn’t want to do was PAY!  There are so many costly things a wedding requires and a website was simply not in the budget. (There are some sites out there that charge over $100 for a year’s subscription, Whoa!).

I started a web page at the knot and began looking at other couple’s pages for inspiration.   That’s when I stumbled upon a little secret I like to call…. http://www.mywedding.com/.  It offers free wedding websites and also provides planning and organizational tools.  It was by far the best free website option that I found.

Mywedding.com allowed me to add pictures, slide shows, maps, music, links, even videos (although I never did that one).  My site had a wedding day countdown and a place for people to send private or public messages.  It even had an RSVP section.  (I could have blogged on the website as well…but the blog bug hadn’t bitten yet).  This website had all the services that the pricey ones had but for FREE.

With so many friends and family members at long distances, the website really proved helpful in keeping everyone connected with all the festivities.  It also gave us a place to share our engagement story and OUR STORY.  After all, there were a FEW people on the guest list whom I’d never met.  This lets people get to know you without meeting! Hahaha, how great it that!!  As for those who know and love you, well..they can read the stories over and over as many times as they like.

After so many requests, I uploaded pictures taken at our rehearsal and wedding as well as honeymoon.  Our wedding website is still online if you’d like to check it out.  The address is www.mywedding.com/teliaandzach

A wedding website is something I would recommend to anyone getting married.  It may require a little more time out of the busy bride schedule, but your friends and family will love you for it!  Please pass the valuable information on to any brides that you know.  They'll be glad you did!  (or your could always point them over this way).

Wedding Word Wednesday: Showers

Okay, since most of my followers (all 7 of you, hahahahaha) probably don’t care about hearing about Wedding *stuff* all week long, I think I’m going to reserve Wednesday’s for Wedding talk and the other 6 days of the week for everything else in life, sound good?

So today’s Wedding Word was inspired by the great Preppy Pink Crocodile. (Shout out to you PPC, and everyone else she has a great blog, so check her out!)

The word is……………………Showers

You know those “so-called” parties where you get the presents you registered for AND the presents you never-would-in-a-million-years register for. I swear to you, you will get something that makes you think “What….. in the WORLD….. where they THINKING!!??’

Anyway, PPC posted about Super Baby, a 1 year old b-day party she attended when someone (an adult) opened the cutely-wrapped gift that she brought (and made). It wasn’t the mom and it sure wasn’t the baby. She was furious, and I don’t blame her!


But I have a confession….. a BIG confession….. an AWFUL confession…..



This happened at one of my wedding showers.


Now, let me explain. The first shower came, and I was SOOOO excited. Mostly I couldn’t wait to see friends and family. When the shower began, I was sitting front and center of a huge circle. There were about 30 people there and it felt like 130! Their eyes felt like lasers piercing through my face (okay, maybe that’s a little dramatic). One-by-one the presents came, every giver patiently waiting for their gift to be opened and wanting to witness the expression on my face.


I found myself repeating things like, “Oh my gosh, this is awesome!” “Wow, we’ll really enjoy this,” “This is beautiful,” “This is gorgeous,” “Thank you,” “Thank you,” “No, really, Thank you.”

OMG!!!! I was trying to be funny, trying to vary my words, trying not to sound fake, trying to make everyone feel like I L-O-V-ED their gift. It was over-whelming, awkward, and just about as fun as watching eggs boil! And don’t get me wrong, I am all for attention. I’ve been in pageants, plays, I sing, I’m an attention lover but NOT that kind!


So the next shower was given by my co-workers. I expressed my previous shower’s hilarious experience to my office manager (just thinking I was being funny) Next thing I know, I arrive at my shower and all of my friend’s presents are being confiscated at the door. In my defense, I had no idea this was happening.


You know what happens next..after food and conversation, my co-workers lead me to a back bedroom. My friend’s squeeze into the master suit only to see all of their beautiful gifts UN-WRAPPED and lying on a bed. I thought my mother was going to pass out.

(This is actually me, and those are actually the presents on the bed, gasp)

So in the end I didn’t have to unwrap the present, per say, but I still had to pick up each gift and gawk at it! I felt so bad for everyone. I could tell they were thinking (W@#). This is definitely NOT the way you want a shower to go…sorry friends and family of the co-worker shower!