My Mother had a brilliant thought the other day...

With all of our bridesmaids travelling from out of town, it is highly probable that they will show up with wrinkled dresses. My own dress is also likely to need some touching up by then. So she decided purchasing a fabric steamer would be a worthy investment! That way no one needs to stress over carrying garment bags on their flights, and the last minute touch-ups will be a breeze compared to ironing (which could destroy delicate fabric).

There are so many little thing like this you hardly even think of, so I just had to share!

PS: Wedding countdown is just under 2 months away, ahhhh!

Vegetarians: AVERT YOUR EYES

It’s been a struggle for my future hub to come up with a good groomsmen gift. Many of his good guy friends have been married over the past few years, so he feels like the flasks, beer mugs, and other manly drinking and sports gear has already been done. When we were browsing our registry at Williams-Sonoma we came across these meat branders and instantly loved them! They are personalized with their initials and completely unique. The guys are all into BBQ-ing, so this really works well! We are going to give them with a side of some BBQ sauce, and if we’re ambitious enough we might personalize the bottle labels (stay-tuned).

( PS - the price is also right!)

Take a quick 3 minute break at your desk and watch this classic throwback music video (wedding related, of course!).

And who knows, maybe you'll help revive some of these awesome early 90's trends...(I'm really diggin' the oversized blazers on the groomsmen)

BRIDECHILLA's YOUTUBE PICK OF THE DAY

While women are no longer required to give the groom’s family a dowry in order to complete the wedding transaction, the Bridal Shower tradition is still going strong. With my own wedding approaching, and my best friend also getting married this summer, Shower planning has recently been at the top of my “To Do” list. Of course you can quickly find all the proper etiquette and rules on Google, but as with weddings these days, pretty much anything goes. However, if you have the bachelorette party to get swanky or uncouth, the wedding to be classy or over the top, then why not go all out on the traditional girly-girlness?Of course, this always depends on your personality…

Traditionally, the Shower involves some sort of brunch or lunch. But what about a BBQ with a pink theme? Or a garden party that incorporates your personality in the decorations and food choices (for some reason this makes me think of Ashlee Simpson: rock meets glam). Bridal Showers really don’t have to be the same-old.

Now, about the games. As much as you object and friends might groan at the idea, games are unique to Bridal Showers, and are a great way to get Aunt Phillis and your Maid of Honor interacting. Plus, the girls will be bored out of their mind if they have to sit there and watch you open presents for an hour. Therefore, having entertaining games while you unwrap are probably the most crucial.

*A great one is “Gift Bingo” where the Bingo board has common Shower gifts (China, frying pan, wine glasses) instead of numbers (look online for variations of this). As you open gifts, they mark off…first to BINGO wins!

*One that my bridesmaids thought of at our “Bridal Shower Planning Meeting” was very cute. When the ladies arrive they’ll pick a card out of a vase with a totally random question about me and my man (like “Where will D & J be in 10 years?). They’ll have until gift time to fill it out. Then, in between each gift, one of the bridesmaids will read the Q & A’s aloud. You can imagine how funny or crazy some of the answers will get. An extra twist might be letting the crowd guess who answered each one, and the correct answer gets a prize.

*I also think a “wedding cake decorating contest” could be a hit. Your bridesmaids can pre-make a couple plain cakes the day before (those “just add water and 1 egg” mixes are so easy), have some colored frosting, various sprinkles, even a bunch of tacky cake toppers, and have the guests split up into teams of people they might not know as well. Then the bride can judge the best wedding cake at the end, and the winning team gets a prize!

Prizes = positive reinforcement. They don’t have to be anything fancy, but you’ll be amazed at how a set of pink spatulas wrapped in a bow, or a $10 Starbuck’s card can motivate even the rolliest of eye-rollers.

Needless to say, I’m actually excited for my Bridal Shower(s). And it’s not because I dream of finally cooking with All Clad and Le Creuset. I genuinely am looking forward to getting all the ladies in my life together in one spot for a good time and pre-wedding bonding!

Our Save-The-Dates were about to hit our guests mailboxes, so future hubster and I wanted to be sure our wedding website info (hotel/travel suggestions, registries, etc) were all set in place. As predicted, the number of hits to our wedding website increased exponentially (that's a really steep increase for the non-statistically inclined). So it was comforting to know that our guests were reading actual helpful information rather than "TBA" or "COMING SOON" like our website has said for the past year. And although I figured some people would start browsing our wedding registries (since we had links from our website), what I DID NOT expect was that people would already start purchasing gifts! Let me remind you, our wedding is in AUGUST! YAAAY! BUT word to the wise...make sure you have your registries good to go when you start advertising your wedding via Save-The-Dates or whatnot...otherwise you might start getting stuff you were planning on deleting or replacing with something else. (Give yourself plenty of time...you'll be surprised how difficult it might get to make these sort of decisions.)

Meanwhile...we'll certainly enjoy our new featherbed. (Ok, we PROMISE we won't open the rest of the gifts until AFTER the wedding...just this one!).

♥If you have out-of-town guests, one thing to be extra sensitive about is TRANSPORTATION. Even if you think the majority will be renting cars, providing some sort of shuttle for the ceremony or reception will save them a lot of stress navigating and parking in a city they aren't familiar with. It also keeps guests from driving late-night after one-too-many champagne toasts. If it's just not in the budget, at the very least provide detailed directions and describe the parking situation/fees and local taxi numbers.

Our guests are staying downtown Seattle, at or close to the reception location. The ceremony, however, is about 15 minutes away. It's close, but not walk-able, and I certainly don't want to bank on there being a massive fleet of taxis with nothing to do on a touristy summer weekend. So this is my last big box to check off. I don't have an exact number of people yet, but I know I only want to it make 1 trip. If the first trip gets stuck in any sort of traffic, then the 2^nd group would be late to the wedding, and we can't have that. So, a stretch SUV or van is out (just too small). Here is the breakdown of my findings from the search for guest transportation.... 

1. The Mega-Bus. Literally point A to point B. They usually seat anywhere from 40-60 passengers and often come with lengthy hour-minimums on the weekends. Pro: May have a toilet. Con: May have a toilet.



2. The Mini-Coach ("Short Bus"). These appear a little more "shuttle-esque" if you're ok with the loss of passenger capacity. They're probably more appropriate for busy city driving and fit anywhere from 20-32 people.



3. The Party Bus ("Limo Bus"). For the love of Pete, if elderly relatives are utilizing your transportation, puh-lease do not hire a Party Bus with a stripper pole. Some consider this fun for the wedding party, and you can stock it with booze. These are pricier than the other options, but if you're into disco balls and flashy lighting then I suppose it's totally worth it! Wooo!



4. The School Bus. You can actually make this work. If you or the fiancé is a teacher, or even if you just like the old-school throw-back, school busses are 100% the most economical way to go. Throw a "Just Married" sign on the back. I call back row!

   

5. The Trolley. Not all cities have these available, but these make an otherwise mundane trip much more exciting. There is a lot of decorating potential, and people will definitely be talking about this later. Travelling at night? How cute would white lights be! Old-school wooden seats might not be too comfortable for the older crowd if it's a longer journey.



6. The Duck Boats. Yes, I'm talking about the quacking tours you see everywhere in major cities. They are available for personal charters, although at a pretty penny. If you have time to waste in between ceremony and reception, why not give your guests a mini tour of the area?

*TIP: If you talk to someone over the phone, ask about any upcoming promotions or discounts...they might just give you one on the spot! The economy is hurting and 10% off to get your business might be totally worth it. Or try taking off the fuel sur-charge, which is reasonable since gas is no longer $4/gallon.

♥Our return labels for the Save the Dates just came! I love that we could choose the font, text color, and add our own pic! We chose the runner-up photo from the Save the Dates which worked out nicely since our faces were close together...check 'dem ouuuut!

*One regret was having our last names...only because any leftovers will be pretty useless after the wedding. I think I ordered the right amount, but keep that in mind if you order mucho bulk amounts! (PS. 150 labels was less than $10 including shipping, so totally not a splurge to get these!)

Save the Dates are ordered! I feel like I'm already behind on this, even though the wedding isn't until August! So many people have been asking about hotels, flights, etc, or saying they've already received Save the Dates for OCTOBER weddings! Well if you're in that super-ahead-of-time camp, I'm envious of your time-line diligence! So I panicked, thinking that people will be starting to wonder whether or not they're invited, or worse, book something else that weekend! Plus, with so many out-of-town guests, we need to get our website address to them so they can check out our recommended hotels! I know they say 6-8 months ahead for save the dates, but with so many travelling cross-country in the summer, I definitely should have stuck to the further end of that suggested time frame. Oops.

So without further ado, here is our lovely magnet design! Ready to greet our friends and family and remind them how in cheesy we are, first thing in the morning as they hit up the refrigerator, hehe.

(Quick Rant: Not a fan of the "STD" abbreviation, I prefer to spell out the 9 extra letters to avoid any confusion with...well, you know)

♥ We/I met with the florist when we were back in Seattle for Christmas! It was great to see another vendor face-to-face (so rare planning this far away!). She was about 99 months pregnant but sat with us for 3 hours to figure everything out. What a saint! Also, we shared an equal demise for "baby's breath", so she is a good fit. My colors are mauve and taupe. (Apparently I have a thing for colors with "AU" in the spelling?) Here are some sample photos of the flowers, although I couldn't find any good matches of them all together - click on the pics for the credited link! (P.S. flowers are freakin expensive!)

Bride Boquet: Pale pink peonies, Lavender roses (they look totally mauve), Pale pink lisianthus, Pink Cymbidium orchids

Bridesmaid Boquets: Pale pink hydrangea, Lavender roses, Pale pink lisianthus (+Cymbidium orchids in Maid of Honor Boquet)

PEONIES:

ROSES:

LISIANTHUS:

CYMBIDIUM ORCHIDS:

Centerpieces: Ivory hydrangea, Mauve tulips, Curley willow

TULIPS:

CURLEY WILLOW/IVORY HYDRANGEA:

The latest in ultimate chick flick books, the "Something Borrowed" series is awesome, can't put it down! Future Hub gave me a few early Christmas presents, one of which was this hot new series. If you have some girlfriends you still need to Holiday shop for, I highly recommend it. I'll be honest, I've only started the first book so far, but it's a fun read. It's not at all a mushy love story that ends in a gorgeous wedding of your dreams. It's actually quite the opposite, which makes it a great read for ladies of any "plus-one" status. Currently the series is 4 books total. Check them out! (OH yeah, and also could be a cute wedding-related 'thank you', like a Shower Gift for the hostess or even a bridesmaid gift for the avid reader)