SPF 55

Happy (almost) Memorial Day!! The official kick-off to a much deserved summer of warm weather & hopefully lots of sunshine :)

Starting this weekend, I will be spending most weekends between now & September poolside (and most likely) bridal-magazine in hand.  And this got me thinking about bathing suits (I always like starting off the summer with 1 or 2 cute new suits!)...and then I started thinking about being tan...and then...BATHING SUIT TAN LINES.  I get tan (thanks, Dad!), but I'm not so good about being evenly tan, which means I get bathing suit tan lines bad.  Like, I still have my tan lines from LAST SUMMER (ok ok, and from Puerto Rico).  So I think I need to strategically plan my bikini buying for the next 12 months, because I'm pretty positive I'll be wearing a strapless white dress next May, and bathing suit tan lines are not invited to the wedding!

Another challenge I have, is that even though I get super dark, I still burn.  And my burns then turn into realllllly dark tans.  Again, not lookin' good for my tan lines. ARGH!

So here's my summer strategy: 

(source)

• SPF 30 for arms, legs, torso (ALL summer), and SPF 55 for my face + hat

• Bandeau bikini's non-stop (or at least, a majority of the time! How cute is this one on sale at Jcrew?)

And other than that, just try not to get toooo many tan lines!  I hope you have a great holiday weekend!!

[the top pic was taken at Pawley's Island last summer, one of my happy places!]

Navigating ETSY

By now I feel like most people have figured out what Etsy is: a really awesome site full of really awesome homemade things made by really awesome people.  The tricky part (at least for me!) is that I get to Etsy and have no idea where to start, because really, the possibilities are endless!  Through some of the other blogs & wedding sites I follow, I KNOW fellow brides-to-be have used Etsy for everything from Save The Dates and table signs to flower girl dress and bridal head pieces!  They even have a section on the site dedicated to all things Wedding!  But where to start?

One idea I am grooving right now is buying a "listing" (I think this means rights to a design, help any law school friends?!) for a STD (save the date abbrev.) or custom thank you notes.  Some people out there have been blessed with the freaking coolest handwriting! 

We'll see what I end up using from Etsy, but I'd be a fool not to spend time searching through all of the possibilities! 

Photographers

One thing I know for sure - the world does not have a shortage of awesome photographers! Wow. Just WOW.  The styles!  The different options!  Do we want an engagement shoot ("e-shoot")?  Do we want a photobooth (we're thinking yes)?  How many hours? Do we even know what style we want? Omgosh.

Here are the photographers I am currently crushing on.  Their styles are all so different (...or at least I think they are?), and they all have different pricing/packages/offerings.  THIS.IS.GOING.TO.BE.DIFFICULT.  At the end of all this, it'll be the photos we keep going back to to remember the day! So we don't want to mess this up :)

• Patricia Lyons: She is a master and I am literally drooling over her stuff. We've already contacted, and I'm not sure she's in our budget (crying real tears).
• Jack Looney: A Charlottesville boy!  His stuff rocks.  He comes highly recommended from a few of our friends, so we know he's a gem to work with. 
• Dominique Attaway:  I really like this lady!  She's French, likes cowboy boots, and lives in Cville!  She actually does some work with Jack Looney (fun!), and has won some local Cville photography awards.
• Michelle Lindsey:  She came recommended from another photographer we chatted with.  She looks like she could be one of our friends :) I really like her style!

...and many many more!

I love that each of these photographers has their own blog/sites!  I have spent hours on them.  Pouring through other people's wedding albums (that's not creepy, right?! I'm considering it homework...and inspiration!)  They all seem so wonderful, it really will be hard to choose someone.  But, amiright in thinking we can't go wrong with any of these choices? :)


Photo from Patricia Lyons and it is from a totally swoon worthy wedding
*don't you dare hire one of these guys for your wedding next year if it is on May 7, 2011 ;) We'll pick ours soon, promise!

Progress!

After our great meeting this weekend between the two sets of parents, I felt like we had a lot left to do and plan.  But Adam and I (with some super help from my mom, sis, and one of our BM's) made some some progress today!

First - we have our rehearsal dinner location!!! It has a special place in our hearts, it's on the University's Lawn, and super convenient for all of our guests.  I've been to a few receptions and cocktail parties here before and it works out perfectly! Weeee! So excited!

Second - we've started our band search and reached out to booking agents!  I know this doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but it feels good to get that ball rolling.

Third - I think we've found places for all of our families to stay for the wedding weekend.  Now, nothing is set in stone, but this was something that had been nagging all of us! 

Phew.  Do you feel more accomplished now, too? :)

Planning The Rehearsal Dinner: Part 1

This weekend, my FFIL and FMIL were in town on their way back from a long weekend on the Jersey Shore.  They made a pit-stop in the DC area so that our two families could get together to discuss the progress of the BIG DAY.  Our major topic of discussion: the rehearsal dinner.

It's pretty tricky planning for a rehearsal dinner when we've never been to one (!).  What do we want to include? What do we NOT want to include?  Should it be a sit down, formal dinner? Should everyone be able to make a toast if they want to?  Do we want music and dancing? AHHH!  Mere has been to 2 R-Dinners, and she said both were totally different.  One was massive (100+ people!), and all of them said something about the couple.  The other was much smaller and more intimate, and only the "designated" people gave toasts (side note to me: find out who said-designated people are!!).

I need to do some serious soul-searching (ok, I guess it's not really soul-searching) to figure out what I we want our R-Dinner to be like!  We do have an idea of where we'd like it to be held...that's a start, right?! ;)

One more for today...

Here are a few pics from Puerto Rico (hint! It's where we got engaged :) ), and from our "unofficial engagement party" Mere put together! Hearts and stars!

Where do I even begin?!

It has been a whirlwind of an engagement thus far! It has been exactly 47 days (whoa, already?!), and we have several things already accomplished:

• Date! (5/7/11!)
• Reception Venue
• Bridal Party (although not all of the party have  been officially asked yet!)
• Bridesmaid dresses (and potentially one color we'll be using, yay!)
• Hotel blocks
• Transportation to & from reception
• Caterer (99% certain on this one!)
• Ceremony (99% certain on this one!)

Things in progress:

• Short list of bands
• Where the heck me + Family will stay
• "Get Away" car
• Short list of photographers
• "THE" Dress shopping
• Wedding Website
• Rehearsal Dinner location

Wow, I'm not sure if writing it down makes me feel really accomplished, or really behind!

Mere (and MOH), and my mom have been PRICELESS. Actually, you'd think my mom was born ready for this gig :)

In the next few posts I'll write about the proposal (it was pretty darn cute), our unofficial engagement party (thanks Mere!), how we chose the venue, our ceremony crisis, our Foxfield Get Together, bridesmaid dress shopping, how I asked the b'maids, and much more!

Stick around! I hope you'll like it :)

Negative 1 Year Anniversary!

In exactly one year from now I'll be walking down the aisle to become a MRS. (!!!!!)

So excited! So much to do! So much to blog & share!!

365 days from now...ahhh! :)