biting the bullet.

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Recently I had my first real wedding planning meltdown.  On Wednesday, my mom, Mr. Spin and I met with a potential cake baker, after my decision to ditch the "three grocery store cakes on stands" idea for a real wedding cake.  I got annoyed during the meeting because when it was all done, I felt like my mom and Mr. Spin shouldn't have even come- every time the lady asked a question they looked at me.  I don't even like cake, I just care that it's pretty!  I wanted them to speak up and be vocal.  I wanted someone else to make the decisions for me.

Meanwhile, my MOH was driving me crazy with constant text messages, phone calls, and e-mails.  She's never been a bridesmaid before at all, and having to plan a shower and bachelorette party is stressing her out.  However, isn't one of the reasons a bride HAS a maid of honor is so she doesn't have to plan her own parties?  Whatever she does, I will love, but I don't think she believes that, so I've basically had to plan both parties in addition to planning the wedding and planning the talent show at work (which is Monday - I'll be glad when it's over).

Maybe I'm getting planned out.  I'm also stressing out about money and not having a set place to live after the wedding.  Mr. Spin has not called any leasing agents, so it looks like I'm going to have to find us an apartment myself as well.  I've had to spend a ton of money lately- ordering flowers, favors, and supplies for crafts.  I *hate* the idea of being in debt, but I've had to make an agreement with myself that it is OKAY to charge things and not totally pay my credit card off for the next few months.  That's how credit cards work- that's why they have a minimum payment AND a balance.  Hence, the title of this post- sometimes you've got to bite the bullet and make a purchase.

Also stressing about my appearance.  I've met my weight goal, but now my skin is freaking out.  I started using Mary Kay Timewise products and I don't think they agree with me.  I have at least one new pimple every day.  But that could also just be stress and hormones.

Finally, apparently people don't understand the point of response cards or the fact that we paid for a stamp for them to use, because a ton of people have been RSVPing over Facebook or just telling me they're coming.  SEND THE CARD, SEND THE CARD, SEND THE CARD!  Then there are the people who come up to me and say, "I should have written this on the card, we're bringing our 2-year-old" or "I meant to tell you I'm not staying for the reception."  These are all married people who I'm sure once had to make seating charts themselves, why don't they understand my stress?

When did you have your wedding planning freak-out, and what caused it?

Sunday Simplicity #21

Cassidy Duhon via Wish Special Events

Fabulous Dessert Table

Dessert Table on Pinterest

This dessert table is amazing.  It never occurred to me that books could be used to elevate cake stands- what an awesome idea if you're going for a tiered look!  Filing this idea away in my personal vault for sure :)

The Spin Invites

Two weeks ago, Mr. Spin arrived at my house with a lovely gift bag complete with blue tissue paper and purple ribbons...

Our invitations had arrived!  Since all of our guests have had plenty of time to see them, I'm ready to share them with the blog world.  But first, I'll take you through how obsessive compulsive I was about these things.  I'm an English teacher, aspiring writer, scrapbooker, and snail mail pen pal- paper goods are A BIG DEAL to me.  I'm also a believer in the idea that an invitation can set the tone for a whole wedding- it's the first thing your guests see and that picture and image get connected to your big day.  I keep every invitation, and I get excited when I see how the invitation "matches" the wedding- the poppies on my friend C's invite matching her bright bridesmaids dresses, my friend T's invitation matching the place cards and the icing decorations on her cake, my friend K's table numbers utilizing the same navy stardream paper as her invitation envelopes and the bridesmaid's pashminas matching the embossed pink flowers.  This is what happens when you're wedding obsessed, folks.

Finding "the perfect invitation" for a simple, elegant, Southern wedding wasn't easy.  Some of the contenders:

Dogwood Branch by Wedding Paper Divas... my venue has some dogwood accents, and it would've been nice to use a dogwood motif on paper since the real thing will be gone by the wedding day, but I didn't think it was obvious enough that these flowers *are* dogwoods.

Royal Cascade by Wedding Paper Divas... beautiful, but the colors weren't quite what I was looking for.

Verbena by Wedding Paper Divas... I was lovin' the purple and blue hydrangea-esque flowers, but not digging the modern fonts.

Hydrangea by Paperwhites Press... great, but completely over budget for the Spins, and I wanted more than one color on my invitations after the Verbena almost won me over.

So here it is, our invitation suite designed by Mr. Spin's talented cousin who owns her own invitation shop.

The materials and art are by Envelopments.  I knew that I wanted floral invitations and our main wedding flowers are hydrangeas.  We wanted to incorporate our wedding colors, periwinkle and purple.  Mr. Spin got really excited when he found Envelopment's shiny "Zircon" cardstock.  Mr. Spin's cousin suggested the matching envelope liners and I think they make a huge difference, especially since we didn't use inner envelopes.  The font used for our names and "Please Respond" is called Lily Wang and can be purchased from MyFonts- it's on sale now for 12.95, which makes me kind of sad that I paid the regular price two weeks ago.

Mr. Spin was also happy to find stamps in one of our wedding colors, and I enjoy seeing those purple pansies when the response cards land in my mailbox!  I also made a directions/additional information card using ivory cover stock, my own inkjet printer, and a Fiskars paper cutter.

So far we have 27 guests who can come and 3 who can't make it.  I've also been amused by the comments some of our friends have written on the cards- including some full-fledged letters on the backs!  After five years of dating, everyone is ready for this wedding, I guess.

Venue Twins

My new hobby as I count RSVPs and contemplate seating charts and rental items: stalking my venue's Facebook photo albums. Here are some photos from receptions at my venue.  Some of them have been sources of inspiration have made me even more confused.

1.  White tablecloths or colored tablecloths?

There's also the option of a white tablecloth with a colored overlay...

Source

Or pintuck linens...

Source

2.  Chair covers or no chair covers?  In other words, which is uglier, the venue's chairs, or the venues chairs covered with what is basically a big pillowcase?

If I won the lottery right now, I'd rent Chiavari chairs for the wedding.  Look at these photos.  The fancy chairs do make a difference.  I'd also rent a man in a chef's hat.

3.  Where to locate the buffet, cake table, etc.

I like this setup, with the cake being spotlighted against the green wall (we'll be projecting a monogram, too) and the food on a serpentine table (which is really just two curved tables).

Another option for food setup... obviously (unfortunately?) there will be no palm trees at my wedding.

Honeymoon Plans?

Our honeymoon is very much dictated by our budget.  Our criteria for the honeymoon location were that it should have a beach and be somewhere we'd never traveled.

States I've visited are highlighted in green.  That's a lot of America left to discover.  I've also been to the airport in Puerto Rico :)

In college, I did a January Term course in Ireland.  We spent one week in Galway and one in Dublin.  I'd love to go back there someday, but international travel would be WAY over budget for us right now.

Mr. Spin and I traveled to St. Lucia last year for a friend's destination wedding at the Sandals Regency La Toc, which is in Castries.  It was an amazing trip, but since we've done the all-inclusive-tropical-resort thing (which I recommend 100%) we wanted to do something completely different!

So where are we going on our honeymoon? 

Memorial Day - Red, White and Blue Cookout-Inspired picks

Striped bunting from Etsy seller Betty and Barclay

Geranium boutonniere from Once Wed

Strawberry-trimmed buttercream cake from the Knot

Red wagon geranium arrangement from Real Simple

Peanut butter cup s'mores from Delia Creates

I hope that all of you have a relaxing Memorial Day, whether you're spending time with family, or, like me and many other teachers, doing all of the grading you put off until today :)

Sunday Simplicity #20 - It's My Birthday!

Once Wed

Today I'm going to see 1964.