What I did this weekend, in photos

We got a lot done. I'm exhausted. I'm also so, so very glad that I only live 70 miles away from home now- it's so much easier to plan a wedding with a 1.25hr drive, compared to a 2.5-3hr drive, like last year.

I finished all of the paper.

Programs (100)- a group effort.

Table number cards
Menus are completely done (132 of them)Thank you notes for our parents (I was doing all this paper crafting, it made sense to throw in a couple cards)


Favors/placecards (but this was all mom- the only thing I did was choose and buy the favors, and figure out how to best attach the placecards)
We also baked the groom's cake, a traditional fruitcake recipe. It smelled heavenly, it was kind of cruel to have to smell it and know we couldn't eat it.
Not pictured, but completed:
wedding rings are at home, ready to go.
Garden is making progress
Nearly finished making/stuffing goodie bags for OOT guests- still lack water and cookies.

Next:
finish veil
call most of the vendors to double check things
bake cookies for OOT guest goodie bags
finish cold feet socks for Clint
write out detailed timeline for wedding weekend, including necessary items- then gather items, and forward itnerary to those who need it.
buy water
buy mixers for bar (about 1/3 left till to get- club soda, tonic, lemons and limes, etc)
buy cheeses for reception hors d'ouerves
beer tasting
pick up wine

I think in to-do list form these days.

It's getting there! It's so weird and surreal, though.

DIY update

I've posted the save the date cards before, as well as the jewelry for the bridesmaids. Recently I've started working on the menus (about half done or so currently) and my wedding shawl (done!).

Menus:these menus are printed in Bernhard Script, which was what Clint used when he letterpress-printed our invitations. We had to buy the font ($50, but worth it for this- everything for the wedding is in this font, my mom even copied it to do the calligraphy to address the invitations). The menus list the entire contents of the buffet, but don't include all the hors d'ouerves (too many to include). They're printed on a really pretty stripe-textured ivory cardstock-ish paper I got from Michael's and AC Moore, but after doing these two, and finding that this paper prints with much difficulty, and it's also 29 cents per sheet (2 menus per sheet), I began to look into other papers. And found that Staples has 67lb paper, 125 sheets for $10! So we got that, it's the same ivory as this paper, and prints much, much easier- we printed 70 sheets in about 10 minutes. Currently cutting all the menus and tonight will start backing them on this gold paper. I may also add a new, additional back of navy- I think this gold is a little too yello, and I don't want everyone to think yellow is the wedding color.

I finished my shawl last week!I brought the shawl to my 2nd dress fitting, partly to show my seamstress, who told me 3 weeks before that she wants to learn to knit after wedding season is over, and also to see how it looks with the dress. It's a couple shades darker, but here looks good, and is also nearly the exact same shade as my shoes- so that works. This picture shows neither the shawl nor the dress well, but don't worry, there will be more pictures of both! This dress fitting turned into the final fitting- I'd had one scheduled for next Saturday, 8 days before the wedding, but 2 days ago at the pictured fitting, the dress was perfect, so we don't need to. I'm bumping my calorie intake up, because the dress, if anything, is a tad big (awesome! I never get to say that), and since it's strapless, too big is not good. But I've heard from other brides that getting a little puffy/swollen on the wedding day is common (heat and stress and adrenaline), which will probably make it a perfect fit.

We also finally decided on flowers, and placed the order (which will be added to today). Originally we were going to get some from a florist in Southwick, MA (trying to keep everything local) we know, and from Stop and Shop (for roses, glads, etc- less seasonal stuff). But I really liked the flowers Lenita from Blossoming Acres (in Southwick) has, so we're going with:
me: white lisianthus, snow on the mountain (a variety of Euphorbia, has really cool white and light green leaves), white status for shape, and maybe some white roses, and a sprig of a philodendren (I think) that was carried in my grandmother's wedding in 1946 and sprouted and maintained for 53 years by her bridesmaid, who gave it to my mom 10 years ago.
MOH: carmine (mauve, the color of the BM dresses) lisianthus and purple-pinky zinnias, mauve asters, mini daisies (the non-stinky kind)
BMs: carmine lisianthus and lighter pink zinnias, mauve asters, mini daisies
centerpieces: a variety of all the above, plus roses and daisies- all white with greenery.
Boutennieres and corsages: carmine lisianthus with some greenery filler, and white lisianthus for the groom.
The flowers and our indecision about them has been getting to me. I'm SO relieved to figure it out, and be excited. Mom's doing a mock-up of the centerpiece today, just to see about how many stems per centerpiece we need.

Tonight/tomorrow's tasks:
-finish the menus
-finalize the program text, format everything and begin to print the pages
-start the program cover (sheet of stripe-textured cardstock with a smaller square printed "Catherine & Clint"
-finalize all the songs with the DJ
-shower thank you notes
-start making lists to pack for the honeymoon
-lists of what I need to bring to CT for the wedding (overnight bag for the wedding night, rehearsal dinner attire, all the gifts, etc etc)
-sleep
-try not to bark at people who ask stupid questions
-get a better picture of my shawl
-finalize seating chart (nearly there!)