The ladies get pretty, the guys sleep in.

So the morning of the wedding I woke up without the aid of an alarm clock, I was just too pumped up to sleep anymore. I took a shower, blew my hair dry and threw on my white hoodie and some jeans to wear to the salon (it was a large V-neck hoodie which easily fit over my head and hairstyle), meanwhile my sisters also got ready and chatted with me. I remember that I was eerily calm, like it was a regular day, not my wedding day, but there were moments when I had surges of overwhelming happiness and joy. It was a weird feeling to go about my business as usual and have those moments of "Oh my goodness, I am getting married today!" I think it was because my morning routine at the apartment wasn't that different from a typical day for me so it was easy to stay calm and collected. Once all the girls were semi-ready, as in, ready enough to hit the salon we hit the road.

First stop was to Tim Horton's for an assortment of Tim Bits and some coffee (of course) then we had to hit up Meijer for some unknown reason, I really cannot for the life of me remember what we stopped there for but I do know we had to stop there. Sisters A and E what did we stop there for? Do you remember? Anywho, we then finally made it to K.D Alexander's where fabulous hair stylists were waiting for us. We did get there a tad early but it turned out to be a good thing because that made us early to everything else we did that day. I have to say everyone at the salon was so nice and it was such a relaxing time, they were completely fabulous. I don't have any pictures of us at the salon because I told Jackie our photographer to just meet us at the house where we were doing our make-up and getting dressed. I regret that I don't have pictures of all of us getting our hair done but it meant that Jackie could stay later at the reception. My sisters and I went first, since we were the first to arrive, my mom, momma Tal and sis-in-law were all arriving separately since their appointments were a little bit after ours. It seemed like our hair appointments were over in a flash and we were off to PeTEAte Parlour in Pemberville just a block away from the opera house aka our ceremony location.

Once we arrived we got everything laid out and hung up and all the girls started doing make-up and getting dressed.

 

All of our stuff laid out/hung up for us!

Top pic: Me getting the eye shadow on! Bottom: Sis-in-Law prettying herself up

 Sister E smiling for the camera, Sister A getting her make-up done by Mom

Some hair shots!

Mom helping me get ready. It was at this point that I only had a little bit until I got to see Andy and this is when I started to get nervous!

My all time favorite picture of myself from my wedding day! There is just something so peaceful and calming about this picture!

Finally all put together before the first look!

Up next: The Bride and Groom get a sneak peak!

The most boring sleepover ever

Ha, ha, ha! I didn't forget about this blog. I swear. I'm just having a hard time with the recaps and admitting it's all over. Anyway, I left off we had just finished our rehearsal dinner and were headed back to the hall to do some last minute set up. I mentioned in an earlier post that our table runners didn't arrive until that afternoon, after set up had already taken place. So basically we had to run back to the hall to place all the table runners, but it was also the perfect excuse to look over every little detail and make sure it was perfect. It was!

After dancing around a bit and a few "Oh my goodness, this is really happening!" we all decided to call it a night and head to our respective places to spend the night. Mr. Tal and I decided to go with tradition and spend the night apart. In his place my sisters spend the night at our apartment with me so I wouldn't be lonely and I wouldn't freak out. I had a great night planned out, we were going to watch a movie and have some popcorn and chocolate and talk and giggle like when we were little. However, by the time we got back to my apartment and settled it was already around 10 o'clock at night. We had to be up by 7AM to all shower and get dressed to go to our hair appointment. So we chatted a little bit and one sister took her shower that night so it wouldn't be so hectic in the morning. By 10:30 I took a Xanax (hey, don't judge, I needed sleep) and we all crawled into our beds and fell asleep. So much for my grand sleepover plans.

I do remember that I slept surprisingly well that night, which is unusual for me when I am excited/nervous about something.

Next up: The girls get pretty!

Recaps are hard

Recaping the wedding is really hard for me, tho I'm not really sure why. Perhaps because there are hundreds of pictures to go through, or because there are moments that I want to describe but don't have pictures to accompany them, or because I got burned out on wedding stuff and just needed the distance and now I'm so far out after the wedding that it seems silly. Whatever the reason, I am having trouble finding witty ways to share my wedding recaps with you.

In non-related news, Mr. Tal and I have officially relocated to Columbus and we are now living in a house, we have a new puppy, and I have been at my new job for over a month (umm, what?). You can read all about it over at Tales from the SalTals. I promise to get organized and start talking about the wedding soon.

Tune in again soon.

"The Best Buns in Town"

(I know I know, I said I wouldn't be posting for a while, what can I say? I found some time)

Are at this place right here!

I couldn't agree more! Initially, Mr. Tal and I wanted our rehearsal dinner to be really laid back, we're talking pizza and beer at our apartment complex's community center. Then it occured to Mr. Tal that we could incorporate a little of our hometown into our wedding by holding the rehearsal dinner at Packo's. It ended up being a really great idea because all of our family and friends LOVE Packo's. It is scrumptious. So after our rehearsal we headed to downtown Toledo to Packo's at the Park, this location won over the originally because it offered a better room for our event..

They had the whole room ready for us and our family and friends ordered some drinks and food and we ended up having a good ol' time. I would like to elaborate more but we didn't really do much at dinner. We all hung out and talked. Oh yeah, and we handed out presents.

Our bridesmaids and groomsmen each got their gifts, along with our parents. Each one of my girls got a tote bag with their name on it, printed in their favorite color. Inside the bags were a bunch of goodies, lightweight hoodies to wear while getting ready, handmade pearls with matching earrings to wear the day of the wedding, a bridesmaid survival kit, some snacks, a pashmina, their clutch purses with flowers to carry down the aisle, and last but not least each girl got a necklace from dogeared.com that suited their personality. I know that it seems like a lot and I'll admit I went a little overboard but I did get a really good deal on everything I bought/made for the girls. The groomsmen each got a pair of handmade cufflinks with the Redwings symbol and a pair of Converse sneakers in maroon to wear to the reception. As for our parents, we got Momma Tal a beautiful digital picture frame that we pre-loaded with some pictures of the whole family. My dad got a frame which we had engraved with our invitation wording and my mom got a new purse with a bottle of wine and a necklace from dogeared.com.

Mr. Tal also took this time to speak for both of us, because I probably would have got too emotional, to personally thank everyone for helping us out and let them know that we could have never done it without them.

After dinner was over and the presents unwrapped we had to head back to the hall and finish decorating. But more on that at another time.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Postings on Pause

I didn't want anyone to think that I was not going to finish my recaps. I am I promise. I just have a lot to do. See, Mr. Tal and I both got new jobs, in a new city, which means we are in the process of relocating. If that wasn't enough of a reason to be light on posting, I start my job next week. Yeah, so I am freaking out just a little bit, we are trying to find a place to live, make sure I have a temporary place to stay, pack up our apartment and do as much as humanly possible before next week. It's crazy and exciting and you'll be able to read all about it over at Tales from the SalTals. It should be fairly interesting and entertaining to say the least. So bear with me through the next couple weeks, I'll try to post the rest of the rehearsal and start on the actual wedding day by next week, but if I don't, you can see I have good reasons.

Stay tuned for more tales from a DIY bride.

The Rehearsal

Ha, it's been long enough but my dear sister has been on my butt lately to blog the last few days of the wedding, so I thought I'd get to it. I don't know why I'm so hesitant to do it, I think if I blog those days it's really over for me, which makes me a little sad.

When I last left off Andy and I were getting ready for our rehearsal at the Pemberville Opera House with dinner following at the famous Tony Packo's (if you are ever in the Toledo area, stop by it is delish). It was kind of nice to have that little bit of time alone in our apartment before the marathon started. We weren't very bright about gettign ready for the rehearsal, we both got dressed up and then realized that the truck needed to be loaded with decor for the site. Ooops. Luckily, there wasn't that much to load so we didn't get too gross in the process.

So we headed down to Pemberville a little early to get some of the set up done. One of our groomsmen was early as well so Andy had some help unloading and I could just start hanging our pew cones. Meanwhile, some of our guests started to arrive. We opened up our rehearsal to my grandparents and my aunt and uncle who had come from out of town, so there weren't many people there but just enough that it was a little crazy. You have to forgive the fact that I have no pictures from the rehearsal, it all got a little insane. I do have some videos that my sisters gave me, so I can load those in at the appropriate spots.

As soon as everyone got there it was like chaos had ensued. We had our pastor, wedding planner, my parents, momma Tal, four groomsmen, three bridesmaids, my grandparents, and a family friend. Everyone was jabber-jawing and I had no idea what to do to get things started. This is where Melissa, our day-of coordinator, started her miracle working. She started speaking over everyone, clapping her hands and lining people up. She was so authorative, it was great. I don't think we would have got started as soon as we did if we didn't have her. So we we walked through our ceremony, did some sound checks, played through the music and in what felt like a snap of the fingers our rehearsal was done. It then hit me, oh my goodnes, we are getting married tomorrow. I kept getting moments like that for the rest of the night and all through the next day. Moments of pure adreneline, where reality hit hard, then just as quick as it came it would subside and I would keep going.

So that was our rehearsal, next up our rehearsal dinner.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Happy Friday!

I don't have much time to post as I run around throwing things into a bag and showering to head down for my brother-in-law's graduation. I just wanted to be a good blogger and post something. So Happy Friday! Here's some of my favorite shots of wedding-y goodness to get you through until Monday.

The Day Before

The day before the wedding was kind of crazy. In hindsight, we probably could have been better organized, gave ourselves more times, and asked for a little more help. However, I was so specific about every detail, that I probably wouldn't have accepted any more help than we had. Mr. Tal and I spent the morning finishing a few last minute details and loading them into the truck and heading over to the reception site. There we spent about 4 hours on set up. We weren't smart enough to take pictures of the hall before and after set up but I have some beautiful detail shots.

(All Photos by J Wagler Photography)

All this was a joint effort between Mr. Tal, myself, Momma and Daddy Sal and Momma Tal. To start, we had to set up all the tables, literally. We had to take all the chairs off the tables and any that we weren't using we had to stack in the back. We had to move them into the place and put on the table clothes and set up the chairs. Once all the tables were into place we had to actually set them up to look all pretty. We decided to set up the smaller tables first, like the guest book table, the place "card"(aka the wooden disks) table, and the cake and gift tables. Once those smaller tables were set up, we moved on to the guest tables (without the runners because they hadn't arrived yet, haha, long story), first up centerpieces.

We had no choice but to assemble our centerpieces at the site because the manzanita branches in the pots would have been too high to transport and more than likely the pots would have fell over en route. So in our own little assembly line, Mr. Tal and Momma Sal filled the pots with litter (yes, we used cat litter, it was the most economical choice), then the branches were stuck into some floral foam and more litter added on top, after that the spanish moss and little birds were added by myself and Momma Tal, then the finished product was taken to the tables by Daddy Sal. After all those were in place we had to go around and add the strings of beads (cut up garland with wire added), and paper lanterns with battery-operated tea lights. Voila! Centerpieces were up and looking fabulous, in my humble opinion. After centerpieces came the wooden silverware wraps at every place, along with the bagged cookie favors and our table letters. Once we were done our hall looked transformed, and that was without chair covers, which were being delievered later that afternoon.

We all went our seperate ways early that afternoon to get ready for our rehearsal.

Next up, our rehearsal or why my day-of coordinator is worth her weight in gold.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Guilty.

You know I read Weddingbee religiously and I fall in love with these bloggers and their weddings and then they get married and it's like poof, they disappear. I get so upset because want all the yummy details, I want to see how the entire wedding ended up turning out and I was always thought to myself, is it really that hard to do a recap? Now I'm looking a little sheepish because as you may have noticed,  I'm totally guilty of the disappearing act as well. It's weird because prior to the wedding I could usually manage a post at least every other day, yet post-wedding I feel like I struggle to get one out every two weeks. It's been crazy, job hunting, speeding tickets, graduations, hospitilizations, just trying to enjoy married life and stuggling to figure out our future (we'll discuss that more over at Tales from the SalTals our newlywed blog which is in constuction right now). But I have some time now and I have my beautiful pictures from Jackie so I can share my wedding in detail with you.

Where did I last leave off? Oh, that's right it was coming up on Wedding Week. The Monday and Tuesday of wedding week (April 12th and 13th) were final project days. Printing programs, wrapping favors, and getting everything packed up and ready to haul over to our ceremony and reception sites. It was pure craziness.

Monday, Mr. Tal was working furiously to make our wedding canopy work while I was fighting with my compter and printer to make the ceremony programs come out just right. Let me tell you our apartment is not big, so Mr. Tal putting up a 5x7 canopy in our living room while I am printing and assembling programs in the same room would have been a little comical, but adding the freaked out dog and two cats it was downright hysterical. Let's just say the canopy fell a time or two and not just because of inadequet structural support and my programs (and the ribbons that tied them together) got attacked by some kitty paws. I would have found it funny if I wasn't so stressed out.

Tuesday, I spent most of the day assembling programs, packing and cleaning since we were going to have some guest come over that night. Mr. Tal spent the day at work pretending to work while really figuring out how to make the canopy work. That night he ended up buying bigger bases, paint and gravel to finish up that project. Meanwhile, I asked demanded my friends Miss A and Mrs C to help put together our cookie bag favors while we watched American Idol. In return they got to eat any leftover cookies, so I think it was a win win.

Wednesday was my pamper day. Momma Sal had given me a card for my shower with Mr. Tal's family that requested that we get manicures and facials two days before the wedding. The facials didn't work out because I know that breakouts often happen in the week or so after the facials so we ended up getting mani/pedis and going out to a nice lunch together. It was heaven after all the stress of the last few weeks. It was really nice to spend some alone time with my mom before the big day. That night Mr. Tal and I packed up all of our wedding supplies (oh, how much bigger the apartment seemed) in his truck in preparation for the next day which was set-up and rehearsal.

I promise there won't be too big of a gap in between this post and the next.

Please tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Good News!!!

I know I have been remiss in my blogging but I really don't have a lot to say. I have the week of the wedding, the actual wedding and the honeymoon to cover but I honestly don't expect much more than 10 posts to come out of that, which means my bridal blogging days are numbered. I'm sure that I will go back and explain some of the DIY projects that were major successes (centerpieces, place cards, etc) and I'll occasionally pop over here to list some cool bridal news. Other than that, Mr. Tal and I are working on starting up a newlywed/family blog so that I don't have to leave you completely. Besides dreading the end of my bridal blogging, I also didn't have any pictures from the wedding week or the wedding to go along with my tales. However, I recieved word today that our proofing gallery is almost ready! That means soon my recaps can begin. So look for my posts to come soon!

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Weekend!

Happy Friday everyone and have a good weekend, I'll be back next week to continue wedding recaps! I've seen a few of the pro pics so hopefully by next week we'll get around to the main event!

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

The SalTal Wedding: 10 to 7 days before

When I left off yesterday I was telling you about the Monday from H-E-double hockey sticks. That Monday set the tone for the rest of week.

Tuesday, Mr. Tal and I were in full DIY mode but things weren't turning out as planned, our ceremony decor needed a complete overhaul, we still didn't have everything we needed, and the stress was causing a lot of pointless bickering between us. At the time I was furious with Mr. Tal for waiting until the last minute to do the projects he was in charge of and he was furious with me for being a stressed out nut case (So sorry sweetie, I'm better now). There was a lot of stress and tension in our household that week.

Tuesday wasn't really that bad but bickering, as I'm sure many of you can attest, can nearly break already frayed nerves. Then came Wednesday, oh Wednesday, you were the mother of all bad days. Wednesday day wasn't too bad, but it was Wednesday night that was the end all and be all of our week. See Tuesday night Mr. Tal had brought home a roast chicken from the store for dinner since we needed to eat quickly. I threw that in the trash Wednesday morning while cleaning. This is important, I left the trash in the house thinking Mr. Tal would take it out when he got home. Well he had decided that we should meet after work to sign up for a few tanning sessions. I waited in the parking lot at the tanning place, I called him to let him know that traffic was being re-routed only to find out that Mr. Tal had gotten rear-ended...yeah totally not cool. Mr. Tal, the truck and the other people were fine, but it still stopped my heart for a minute.

After we tanned, we decided to run to the store quick and then went home. When walking in, I noticed that Pepper was doing the I-did-something-bad butt wag. I went around the corner and saw that the trash was dumped over, I picked it up and noticed there was no chicken. Do you see where this is going? Mr. Tal and I searched the entire apartment, there was no chicken anywhere. This was an entire roast chicken with just a few pieces cut off. We called the vet and ran in as quickly as possible, an x-ray confirmed that Pepper had indeed eaten an entire roast chicken. The doctor suggested we go home and feed her mashed potatos every few hours to help the bones pass. So Mr. Tal and I alternated getting up every few hours to feed the dog and make sure she wasn't in any pain. We returned to the vet over the course of the next two days to ensure all of the bones had passed and we were out of crisis mode. Although I would never want to repeat that event, I can look back and find it funny that our dog ate an entire roast chicken, bones and all.

That crisis was good for both of us because it ended the bickering and reminded us what is really important, don't sweat the small stuff and all that jazz. We remembered that at the end of the following week the only thing that would matter is that we would be married. Although that week was horrible and it stressed both of us out I wouldn't trade it because we remembered how well we work together through the bad times. Plus I do believe that all of our bad luck really allowed for us to have a wonderful week of the wedding.

Next up: The SalTal Wedding Week

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

The SalTal Wedding: The week before, 11 days before the wedding

I don't have any pictures yet but I figured it has been long enough that I can talk about the week before the wedding without breaking down in tears. (We are talking about April 5-9 and days 11-7  in the wedding countdown not the week of the wedding). This is pretty important as far as recaps go, because this week literally had me chewing on my hair rocking back and forth in the corner. During this time I really felt like the wedding wasn't going to happen. It's only recently that I have enough perspective to find the events a little humorous.

Day 11 in Wedding Countdown (aka April 5)

I remember this day crystal clear because I had a lot to do, I was going to run some errands and come home and finish some DIY projects before Mr. Tal got home from work, then we were going to print programs all night. It all started out well enough, I ran to Target and Michaels to get some last minute project items. Then I had to run to the bank to deposit some checks from our parents, this is where things started to go down hill.

What should have been a two minute errand turned into me standing with the teller for twenty minutes trying to figure out what to do. See these checks were our parents gifts/help for the wedding so they weren't small. There were multiple checks that totaled in the thousands, the smaller checks could be cashed and deposited but when I tried to deposit the larger checks they said that the funds would need to be held for ten days. Umm, yeah that won't work, see that's the day before my wedding, this is to help pay for the wedding, most payments are due this week. So the only solution that the teller (who was a doll, honestly) could come up with was for me to go directly to the bank that the checks were written from and get them cashed. Okay, I could do that for some but not all, the closest bank was about an hour away in my home town.

At this point I was just irritated my day and schedule were just interupted but I could handle it. I called my mom, who works for the bank we have our accounts with and she confirmed that cashing the check at the home bank was my best option. So I headed to Fremont (not my home town, trust me it's important) to get the check cashed and then I was going to see my mom at her branch so she could deposit everything for me. Usually I take the turnpike everywhere, it's faster and easier, but today I hadn't planned on a trip so I had no cash. I had to take the other main road to Fremont. Can you guess what happens next? On the road I needed to take there happens to be a couple small towns, in the middle of one I got a call from the bank, one of the smaller checks we had couldn't be run through for the amount it said because it wasn't made out correctly. Next thing I see is flashing lights in my rear view. Great. The next thing I know, the cop is telling me I was doing 38 in a 25 (I don't think so, but whateves), he takes my license and comes back 10 minutes later with my ticket. I had the decency to wait until he walked away to start sobbing.

I think it was the combination of events topped off with the amount of stress I was under that caused this breakdown, I literally sobbed for about 10 minutes before I pulled away from the side of the road. Eventually, I made my way to Fremont, got the check cashed and my mom deposited the total amount into our account then she took me to lunch for some comfort food.

Let me just say this was just a taste for the rest of the week. It was a bad week but it has a happy ending, I promise.  I'll tell you more tomorrow.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Being enviromental

I miss blogging, I really do, but I couldn't in good onscious just sit on my backside writing my musings while there was literally no room to walk in our apartment. It took over 4 days and I'm still not completely done, but I finally have our place into some semblance of order. Here's how it went down, all of our shower gifts and gifts from the wedding, we haven't been using until thank you notes were at least written, kind of a reward system. Therefore all of those gifts have been sitting in a pile taking up space in my dining room. Combine those gifts with all the wedding crafty stuff, along with pillows, blankets and a myriad of stuff from the sleepover the night before the wedding and you have zero visible floor space in our tiny apartment. So I spent the last four days writing thank you notes and cleaning and organizing this place which I finally got to be a livable space again.

I have to say that I fancy myself a bit of an environmentalist, I turn off all lights when they aren't in use, we use the compact fluorescent light bulbs, I try to recycle and I try to find a use for something before I throw it away. It's not big level of environmentalism but I like to think it helps. This is where all of our old crap comes into play, see we had pots and pans, a blender, glasses etc. We had all that stuff but it's cheap-ola items from when I first moved out and from (gulp) Mr. Tal's college days, so most of our gifts were to replace those items. While cleaning I had a rather large pile of stuff that I couldn't really see throwing out because even if it is cheap-o a lot of it is still usable. It happens to be quite a lucky coinkidink that little sisters A and E are getting an apartment this summer! So all our old items can be re-used in their apartment, which makes me quite happy, A and E can save a bit of moolah and I don't have to throw away anything (tho, admittedly I probably would have donated most of it to Good Will).

I promise that I will start my recaps of the wedding shenanigans soon, we got our sneak peak picture from our photographer today so I anticipate having the rest of our wedding photos soon.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

I'm back...

...and a Mrs. I can't even begin to describe what an awesome feeling is to be married, mostly because I don't think all the feelings have hit yet. Today is our first day back to reality, Mr. Tal goes to work and Mrs. Tal (that's ME!!!) starts looking for a job and organizing the apartment. I'm a little sad that our honeymoon is over, it was amazing and so was the wedding, the recaps of both will be written when I have more time and more pictures from the wedding. Right now I really need to get the apartment organized, we have wedding gifts and stuff all over, it's a mess. So blogging will probably be light for the rest of the week while I attempt to get the apartment livable again.

Stay tuned for more tales from a DIY bride.

It's here.

Well folks, it's finally here, my wedding  day. Oddly it seems like any other day, except my sisters are sleeping in my living room and in just a few hours I will be sitting in a salon getting my hair done. It's taken a lot to get to this day, blood, sweat and tears literally. I had hoped and prayed for it's quick delievery but now that it is here I'm a little sad, because I know this day is going to speed past me like a bullet train. I just know I will have to try to savor every moment.

Mr. Tal-
You are the love of my life and today we get to declare that love in front of family and friends. We have come a long way in the last two and a half years but through it all we have combated life, both the good and the bad, as a partnership. You have been my best friend, my rock, my everything. I can't express how much I love you, but I can tell you how very grateful I am everyday for your presence in my life. I am so honored and humbled God saw it fit for us to meet one another, that He allowed us the beautiful journey of falling in love and brought us to this day. You are truly everything I could have hoped for in a partner and I am so happy our lives are are going to be joined starting today.
I love you, forever and always.
Dibsy

It's almost here...

I'm up early to go decorate the hall and ceremony site, I did not sleep well last night, I was up almost every hour, so I know now that I am a little nervous. My apartment looks weird, oddly empty, we loaded up the truck last night full of the projects that have filled the past few months. I feel a little sad, all this work, all these projects, all the stress, it's going to be over on Saturday. I have fallen in love with the crafting, the work, so for me the wedding has really been a changing point. I have plans for after the wedding, I think it will be a good thing, but I'm not going to make an announcement until it is official. I'm excited, I'm nervous, I'm thrilled, and I'm sad. It's a big bundle of wacky emotions running through me. I don't think I have fully realized that come tomorrow night I will be married. I think it will hit tonight when we are at rehearsal. I can't wait. I'm sure I will try to post tomorrow morning before all the hubbub.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Tying up loose ends...

...do they make that much string?

This past weekend has been crazy. We have been e-mailing all the vendors, finishing last minute projects, buying last minute purchases. The weird thing is that I am eerily calm, so is Mr. Tal. I'm not freaking out, I'm not stressed, I'm oddly calm and making lists. Like today, I have to work out, tan, run to about 5 different stores, and pack up bridesmaids gifts. I'm not sure when it is going to hit, the reality of it all, I mean my wedding day is four days away and I just can't picture it. Speaking of pictures (haha, like that segway) our engagement session has been blogged, take a look. Meanwhile, I'm going to actually go do everything on my to-do list and hopefully get it all done before Mr. Tal gets home from work

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Murphy's Law

Anyone familiar with this? "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
Another favorite of mine is, "If you want to hear God laugh just tell him your plans."

I have a feeling that these sayings might ring true the day of the wedding.

Luckily, we have contigency plans. Well, we have Melissa. She is our day of coordinator. She is my wedding day savior. When Mr. Tal and I first started wedding planning, I figured a DOC was not necessary, someone could step up and take charge. Then came wedding blogs and the realization that that is a lot of stress for my mom to handle, so I looked into a DOC and found my shining star. She has been amazing so far, always answering my questions when I e-mail, in our meetings (unlimited before the wedding) she is the one to list off things she needs to know, always including things I would have forgot. I can't wait to see her in action next week and I am so grateful for the peace of mind she will be giving me the day before and the day off the wedding.

What are your feelings on DOC's, are they necessary or a splurge?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

NOOOOOOOOO!!!

Our 10 day forcast is officially allowing us a peek at the weather on our wedding day. It's going to be 70 with at 50% chance for rain. I like the 70 part warm but not too warm and I know that superperstition says that rain on the wedding day is good luck, but I don't want it. Sad face. I know there is time for it to change and that is m one bright shiny hope. We will have to wait and see.

On a sidenote, I am incredibly proud of the work we are getting done every day. It's frustrating that we have all this work to do and we aren't really having time to relax so close to the wedding. However, my goal is to have most of our work done by next Wednesday so that we will have the two days before the wedding to really just savor it. Wow, in 9 days I will be married. Craziness.

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Bad blogger...

No cookie! Last weeks events threw me into a bit of a tailspin, so I took a little break from all things wedding, including blogging (minus the one little entry to explain the goings on). This week is all hands on deck as we are almost into the single digits until the wedding. Zoinks!

This week we have a boat load of projects to finish: centerpieces, table numbers, place cards, music, picture scanning...the list is ever expanding. Mr. Tal and I are working every night,  plus I am shopping every day, trying to scrounge up the last bits and pieces we need. It's an exciting time, I'm actually glad to have so much to do because it is keeping me distracted from the fact that I am getting married in just days.

Did you keep busy with projects in the days leading up to the wedding? Was it a good idea or bad?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

No Foolin'

I had been debating writing this post and had ultimately decided not to, but I think it is important for future and current brides-to-be to know they aren't alone in dealing with this. This week I lost not just a bridesmaid but also a friend. I will not get into the nitty gritty of the situation but I will say that it was almost a snowball effect (one thing led to another and another, so on and so forth). During this sad time I have had an almost over-abundance of emotional support from my family and friends. While it has been a trying time, it is also inspiring to know I have so many wonderful people in my life. I would go into further detail but I don't think that I can put it quite as eloquently as Miss Taco over at Weddingbee in this post.

My absolute favorite line is the following:

"So, do weddings push us to the edge? Funny that: weddings, the target of plenty of mockery, have an amazing ability to bring out both the best and worst in anyone involved in one." - Miss Taco

I took that statement and ran with it. While I am sad and hurt, I do see the silver lining in this whole situation; I know for certain who my friends really are and who truly care about me and at the end of my wedding day (and every day) that is who I want to be surrounded by.

How about you my former and current bride readers, did your wedding bring out the best or worst of your nearest and dearest?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Gone by in a flash

Saturday was my second shower with Mr. Tal's family up in Michigan, and it was a blast. I have some pictures some where but Mr. Tal had my camera last and I am not sure where he put it, so a more detailed run down of the event will have to wait until later today or tomorrow. In the mean time I thought I would talk about how fast the lead up to and whole shower went.

Here's the thing, this shower has been in the back of my mind for some time because it was the last event before the wedding, almost exactly 3 weeks before the big day. So to have it come and gone has kind of impacted me in a big way. We got home and after the gifts were unloaded and my mom and sisters headed home, Mr. Tal said something that nearly had me in tears, "Your bridal showers are over. You'll never have one again." He said it in a joking way, so don't think he was being malicious. I sat there for a minute and thought about how fast everything had gone by, even though I had been wishing for it to be here, I was sad to see it come and go. This actually lead to a very good conversation about the wedding, in which Mr. Tal and I talked about how we can savor our wedding day. I don't want it to feel like it did on Saturday, like it was over in a flash, so Mr. Tal and I discussed ways we can slow it down a little bit. We are scheduling several moments that we're going to disappear or take a time out from the festivities to just have a reality check. I am happy that we are trying to savor the entire day.

Did you or are you going to try to have moments during the day to keep yourselves in the moment?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Shower time!

My second shower with Mr. Tal's family up in Michigan is tomorrow and our engagement shoot is Sunday.  I'm pretty darn excited about both. I can't wait to see everyone and I am looking forward to working more closely with our photographer. Hopefully I will have some pretty snazzy pictures to share come Monday morning. Hope you all have a good weekend and happy Friday!

Swoon.

I know, two post in one day, wha???

I just got home from a day out with my mom to find a box stuffed under my welcome mat. After I giggled at sight of the silliness, I mean seriously, it's a box shoved under the mat, like that's really going to stop someone? I thought, "Oh hey, that must be my cake topper!" I was giddy. You see I ordered my cake topper in December from Red Light Studio on etsy.com, so I was excited to see them. They turned out SO GOOD. It was so worth the wait. I had to have my own personal photoshoot:

SO CUTE!!! I swoon.

I'm a hot mess...

...and it is all my fault. Seriously, it is. This is going to get down and dirty honest, real quick.

Let me preface by saying that I am a control freak, a perfectionist, and basically the quintessential first child. I find birthorder facinating and if I were to ever go back to school I would love to study it more in depth. It doesn't apply to everyone, but I find it astounding how well it applies to me and my sisters. The following list is from http://www.birthorderandpersonality.com/, this is what it says about first born children, first borns can be one of either two types Compliant or Agressive, but I found that I have traits in both areas, those bolded I see easily in myself:

Compliant Traits

• People Pleasers
• Crave Approval
• Nurturers
• Caregivers
• Reliable
• Concientious
• Cooperative
• Team Players
• "Grin and bear it" mentality

Agressive Traits

• Movers and shakers
• Natural Leaders
• Perfectionists
• Driven
• Conventional
• Always have things under control
• Assertive
• Want things their way

All of this combines with the fact that I don't open up to anyone unless I have to. What does all this have to do with the wedding? Well, let me tell you. Basically, I have been a ball of stressful nerves because I have not let anyone help with this wedding. I thought I delegated,  I thought I opened up and talked, but I wasn't and I didn't. I learned this the hard way. 3 weeks out and I was am a hot mess. There is so much going on and so many thoughts running through my head and I tried to keep it all in. Bestie K and my Mom set me straight yesterday, it was hard to hear it but they both were right. I don't talk to anyone, I keep everything to myself, I try to handle it all and do it all and I can't. That was one of the hardest things in the world for me to admit, but it's true. I'm glad that I called Bestie, I'm glad that Mr. Tal in his worry for me called my mom. I'm glad that they both had the nerve to tell me how it is because hopefully, even though it is late in the game, I can delgate, I can open up and talk to my friends and my family, hopefully I can actually enjoy my own wedding.

Are you a first, middle, or youngest child? Does it affect your wedding planning?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

"I gotta find a sound. I gotta find a sound."

(Quote from GG, season 4 episode 4, as said by Zach)

I know I have been remiss in blogging. Cut me a little slack, my wedding is in 3 weeks and I'm starting to freak out a little. Kthxbi. Moving on.

Music is the center of our relationship. We rock out in the car while running errands. We dance in the living room with the record player on while cleaning. We met while we were singing karaoke. It's a big deal. Same goes for the wedding, music is kind of a big deal there too.

Songs to walk down the aisle to, songs for the processional, songs for the recessional, enterance music, first dance, parent's dance. It is a lot of music. It is hard. What makes it harder is that Mr. Tal and I have slightly different taste in music...well, Mr. Tal is kind of a music snob. Okay, not so much anymore, he used to detest country and pop and now he tolerates it and even will sing along to a few songs. I don't think he's really into my indie/alt rock tastes, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I digress.

 It's been a challenge finding songs that seem to gel with both of our tastes and not being traditional. Example A: I'm not walking down the aisle to "Here Comes the Bride", I could say that it is because of the openly anti-Smite feelings of the Wagner, but really I just want to be different. I really dig classical pieces, honestly, but I wanted a more modern feel to our ceremony. See, not so easy. Don't worry, I found a song, a couple actually (yest I'm still deciding), it's just been a trial.

Example B: Our first dance song...gah, forgetaboutit absolute nightmare. There are so many songs that are part of our history that it wasn't until last Monday that we actually had the courage (read: had to due to meeting the DJ on Tuesday) to sit down and discuss it. Literally had about a dozen songs that fit us. Slowly wittled it down to 4, then 2, then we chose one, but I kind of want to do the other one. Hahaha. Yay indecision!

Has anyone else had problems with music decisions, how did you pick a good song?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Chilly Feet

It's official I am nervous, but not for the reason you think. I am totally ready to marry Mr. Tal. It's just I am looking around and seeing all this stuff and thinking, "Really, I still have all this to do? This is all going to come together to look like how I imagined it in my head? A hundred people are gonna be looking at me? Gah, what if I have a zit?" That's just a tiny portion of the thoughts going 'round in there.

My feet are a little cold, in the non-traditional sense, but then I have never been one for tradition. I am more nervous for how the day is going to go, how things are going to look, and oh yeah, being the center of attention. All that kind of makes me want to crawl into bed and tell Mr. Tal I changed my mind and what's wrong with Vegas? The rational part of me knows that everyone is going to have a good time, things will look pretty even if they aren't perfect (and who even will know what it is suppose to look like besides me), and I will be so focused on Mr. Tal I won't notice all eyes on me. That's the rational part of me. It is the emotional part of me that asks all those questions. I just have to learn to listen to the rational more than the emotional, or I need to get some thicker socks.

Anyone else have some chilly feet? What caused the chill?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.

Alohomora!

(Yes, I am a geek)

Before I get this party started, I have to note that today marks the big countdown. That's right people we are officially one month out from our wedding. Sweet chocolate candy, marshmallow, jelly bean! Srsly, when did that happen? People were asking me at all the weekend festivities if I am getting nervous, well, I wasn't until last night...gulp! I know all this stuff will get done it's just daunting. Anywho, let's move on.

So Friday, ummm, yeah Friday. I am proud to say that I made it through Friday like a champ. We hit up Longhorn for dinner, had a nice meal, chit chatted, then headed to the bar. This is where the strawberry margarita came into play:

So yummy! I promised myself that I wasn't going to do shots at the bar but my friends had different ideas. I only had two and never was I crazy drunk. We had a great time, did a little dancing, a lot of drinking and just a general crazy night. Some pictures:

                                

Friend A and her beer!

Co-worker T, Friend C, and Co-worker C

Bestie and MOH K

Me throwing down the kissy face and peace sign...note, I do this almost everytime I am drunk.

Friends A and C!

Mr. Tal came and picked us up around 1AM, K and I went home and had some food and more to drink. I don't think that I went to sleep until 3AM and we all slept until noon the next day.

Saturday was a day of recovery, then Sunday was my Harry Potter Shower!!!

This shower was for my side of the family and it was a lot of fun. Take a look at my cake:

                                 

                                

Yes that is the sorting hat with a veil, and there are wands behind it. When we got there we were sorted into houses and everyone sat at seperate house tables. We had some yummy food (shredded chicken, veggies, ballreich chips, and baked beans), played some games:

                                        

A few rounds of bingo and a timed word search. And Mr. Tal came and helped me open gifts! My sisters did a great job with my shower and it was a lot of fun. I'm trying to let go of the fact that there were a few people that didn't bother to call and tell my sisters that they weren't coming. But I can't do anything about it and if they hadn't had told me then I wouldn't have known, and really since I didn't plan it, I shouldn't know. Those of us that did show up had a lot of fun and I'm grateful that they did come and help me celebrate.

Tell me about your bachelorette parties and showers!

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride.