Maids and colors and styles, oh my!

Thus far in my wedding planning, bridesmaids' attire has been at the bottom of my list, something I didn't want to think about or deal with. Honestly, I just didn't care what they wore, as long as it was attractive/pretty and wedding-appropriate. I told my sister/MOH to take the reins and to leave me mostly out of it. And, as she is much more of a fashionista than I, she kindly obliged. We discussed finding dresses off-the-rack, as my sister refused to wear/buy a hideous bridesmaid dress (she was in a wedding for which the dresses were so bad that she threw hers out in an airport trashcan on her way home!).

I'm not really a fan of traditional BM attire, where all the maids where the same dress in the same color. For me, that's just too formal/posed, and of course, different styles fit different bodies. I was inspired by Miss Powder Puff's maids, who all wore different dresses in coordinating colors:

(photo from her photog, Shutter Sam)

My sister spent an August weekend at the beach outside of Charleston, SC, and she went shopping on King Street one day where she popped into LulaKate, a small boutique that carries its own line of BM and ready-to-wear attire. And she loved the BM dresses! LulaKate has about 20 styles (3 skirt styles - A-line, full, and party, in a few lengths; a dozen or more bodice styles) and dozens of colors in 3 different fabrics. So over Labor Day weekend, when I was at the beach, I stopped by LulaKate too. And I'm relieved/excited to say that I found my BM dresses! I'm still going to have different colors/styles, but all in silk dupioni fabric and complementary/similar colors:

(images from LulaKate's website and compiled by me in PowerPoint)

Unfortunately, the colors on the website are not nearly as bright or vibrant as the fabric swatches, so the image makes my dresses look a little bland, but hopefully you all get the idea. I've chosen a bunch of colors that all look good together, so each maid can wear a different color in her style of choice, and no one has to get stuck with last pick (I have more colors than maids). My plan is to ask the girls to rank the colors in order of preference, and hopefully I can assign the colors so everyone is happy and gets first or second choice. At least, that's the plan ... and according to the Fashion Queen (my sister) the dresses are very re-wearable. Coming from her, that's saying something.

The only LulaKate location is in Charleston, but the dresses are carried by Bella Bridesmaid shops (there's one in Baltimore if any DC brides want to check out LulaKate), and there's a Bella Bridesmaid shop in the home city of most of my Bridesmaid (not the one in Benin, but that's a story for another time).

Are any of you opting for non-traditional BM dresses? How are you going about it?

Start your day with some eye candy!

At long last, I get to brag about my amazingly talented photographer, Mary Kate McKenna. I've been trying to post these for a while, but we all know Blogger was being difficult. All images are from her blog - I suggest you check it out if you haven't chosen your photographer yet. She has a bunch of packages that you can tailor to your individual needs. I love the way she captures the joy of the moment. The couples all look so happy and beautiful! I'm banking on her skill, since the Chevy Chases are not particularly photogenic! The first three images are from Woodend (our venue) and really sold me on Mary Kate!

Well, hopefully I've brightened up your day!

Obsessive UPS Tracking?

So I've never tracked anything from FedEx or UPS before. I always figured my orders would come when they come. Until now. Here is the status of my postcard STDs:

Location	Date	Local Time	Description
GREENSBORO , NC , US	08/17/2009	1:06 P.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
LOUISVILLE , KY , US	08/17/2009	3:02 A.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
LOUISVILLE , KY , US	08/14/2009	11:07 P.M.	ARRIVAL SCAN
	08/14/2009	10:56 P.M.	DEPARTURE SCAN
	08/14/2009	7:04 P.M.	ORIGIN SCAN
US	08/13/2009	8:54 P.M.	BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Tracking results provided by UPS: 08/17/2009 4:19 P.M. ET

They were printed and shipped much faster than I had expected, but all weekend they just sat in Louisville!!! Now they are so close (Greensboro is less than an hour from me) but I won't get them until tomorrow according to UPS. Maybe they'll be delivered by mid-morning, in which case I can look at them on my way back to lab from an off-campus meeting. Cross your fingers everyone!

I'm really excited because the STDs are the first concrete "thing" since my e-ring. The prospect of sending them out and officially publicizing the date make it all seem so much more real. Unlike my dress, which I've ordered but won't receive until next year some time, or the flowers which I won't see until wedding day, or the invitations which are a blur of ideas in my head, the STDs are complete (yay, I can finally check something off my to-do list. Almost.) and I will have them in hand by tomorrow. I just hope I didn't make some major typo that none of my proofers caught.

What one event/item made your marriage seem more of a reality, and less of a far-off dream? Was there something that made it hit home?

The order is in ...

for the STDs. Finally. A seemingly small task, but one that has taken months. And, of course, blogger doesn't seem to want to let me upload the images to show you. Hmm ... has anyone else had problems uploading images? I'm at school where the internet connection is very fast, so I don't think that's the problem. Anyway, I've managed to upload one of the three images - the final back of the postcard (well, the final version didn't have the return address or website blurred out).

As I mentioned, this week I decided to totally redesign the back of the postcard. The front has essentially been finished since I first wrote about it in early July. I think the reason it took me so long to finish is that I never really liked my old design for the back. I showed the design to my friend, whom I've decided to call Oski (I suspect you'll be hearing a lot more of her) and we both loved the little pig I'd found to signify the BBQ rehearsal dinner, but didn't really like the rest of the old design. Then Oski had the brilliant idea of using the Metro Map and putting little icons on it for the different events/locations. I went to the DC Metro website, downloaded a PDF of the map, opened it in Illustrator, deleted most of the text, added my pig, cake, Doubletree icon, and text, and voila!

(click on the image for a readable version; the colors are all weird for some reason; on the actual image, the red line is actually red, not blue as it looks on my computer, and the Potomac is blue, not orange! but you get the idea)

Hopefully the postcards will come next week so I can get them in the mail!

What projects have tripped you up and taken much longer than you'd expected?

I'm BACK!!!! Night terrors and STDs and All

Hi ladies! Remember me? The delinquent Nearlywed who hasn't posted in a few weeks? I've been away at two conferences the past two weeks, but I'm home now and nearly caught up on life, and I have a whole bunch of posts coming your way. To start out, in response to Miss Fairfax's post on wedding dreams and nightmares, I thought I'd share a NIGHT TERROR I had on Monday morning, in between alarms.

All of a sudden, it was time to get married, I hadn't finished getting everything done, there wasn't enough time, and I had only minutes to get ready for my wedding.  I had wanted this day to be so perfect, and all of a sudden it was upon me and it was all wrong and I would never have the chance to do it again.  I was getting ready for the ceremony, and I had no one to do hair or makeup, had to throw on a dress that wasn't right, and rushed down the aisle. Only a few people were there, and the wedding must have been at 4 pm on a weekday or something because a few people had rushed from work and were in casual clothes. The ceremony was all wrong - I realized as I was walking down the aisle that we had never had time to discuss with the officiant/my FFIL what we wanted in the ceremony, and none of the Jewish elements were incorporated. I realized AFTER the ceremony that we hadn't taken any pictures, and then I realized the photographer wasn't even there and that maybe she didn't know about the wedding (even though we've already paid the deposit and everything). I wondered how I had made it through the ceremony without even realizing we weren't taking any pictures!  So I called her and left a voicemail saying that I hoped if she wasn't busy she could come take some pictures at the reception the NEXT DAY (weird, huh?). Then at the reception, there was a buffet instead of a plated dinner, all these people showed up who weren't invited like it was a college party or something, and the colors and decor were nothing I had chosen. They were generic hotel decorations or something. Then,  my dad announces that he's gotten a special guest to stop by and sing a song in between sets at the concert next door (or something equally strange). And out walks Kenny Chesney! (I think one of his songs was playing on the radio and permeated my dream). Except he was old and ugly! Mercifully, the radio then pulled me out of my dream and the night terror was over. I woke up, tense, sweating, and maybe even crying a little about the disaster that I thought my wedding was. And Mr. Chevy Chase had already left for the hospital, so he couldn't comfort me. I had to shake it off and get through a day of work, although images of the nightmare kept coming back to me all through the day. And still haunt me.

In retrospect, I think the nightmare was a reflection of how worried I am about getting out the STDs, since that's the only thing I'm working on right now, and I had planned to have them out in June. Remember my first STD post on July 9th? Well, I'm STILL working on the back of the postcard. In fact, I just totally redesigned it today. I'm being a bit anal-retentive and can't seem to let myself just be satisfied with them and place the order. But I have a coupon that expires in a few days, and so I'm absolutely-positively-without-a-doubt going to place the order before then. I'll share with you the various versions later this week.

Self-taught calligraphy?

I have decided to try to teach myself calligraphy, or at the very least, to write neatly enough to address my own invitations. Overly ambitious? Maybe.  A useless skill that I’ll never use again after my wedding? Hopefully not.  A fun challenge? Definitely!

I had thought about taking a calligraphy course at the local tech college, but then I saw Miss Star’s post on weddingbee, and she inspired me to order this book from Amazon:

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It came in the mail on Tuesday, and I was so excited to start learning that all I could think about yesterday was getting out of work so I could rush to Michael’s to buy nibs and paper.  I purchased this cheap starter kit and some parchment with a 20% off coupon that I tore out of one of my bride magazines:

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I also plan to watch some of the lessons on the IAMPETH website (International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting; they have guide sheets you can print out too) and to recruit help from a friend who has taken a calligraphy class.

I have 310 days until my wedding, so I plan to have invitations ready for mailing in 220 days.  I figure I have about 100 invitations to address, so if I can perfect my skills and design my invites in the next 120 days, then I only have to do one envelope/day – now that doesn’t sound so bad, does it?

I’ll keep you all updated on my progress over the coming weeks and will entertain you with before and after pictures – let’s hope you can tell the difference!

Who else has tried to learn calligraphy or another skill for her wedding?

Invitation Etiquette???

In preparation for sending out my STDs, I’ve been collecting addresses, filling out spreadsheets, trying to decide how to address my guests, and reading Miss Woodley Park’s post on calligraphy.  And I’m wondering just how much traditional etiquette really matters.

For example – since I don’t intend to pay for calligraphy (there goes etiquette right there!), do I need to hand-write the addresses, or can I print them? Do I need inner envelopes? If I do use inner envelopes, do I have to refer to my married doctor friends as “The Doctors Doe,” or can I use “John and Jane”? The latter feels more personal to me, while the former feels pretentious. I don’t think I want people at my wedding who are offended that I addressed them by first name on a formal envelope. But then, maybe my friends will be touched by a bit of formality in an otherwise casual, abbreviated written world. (Idk what 2 do!)

For the last few weeks, I’ve had this plan in my head (I haven’t shared it with anyone, even Mr. CC – it’s been fairly abstract): use formal etiquette on the outer envelope. Instead of an inner envelope, use a label on a belly band or pocket fold (invitations are not yet designed) and address my guests casually, by first name or nickname.  That way, I can make clear who is invited (+/- guest) without wasting paper/$/postage on an inner envelope. But then yesterday, a recently-married friend directed me to this guide (a very helpful resource!), published by a calligrapher, which suggests that guests always appreciate the formal touch:

“A RECENT TREND:  Using just first names on inner envelopes: “Sally and Tom.”  What’s up with this?  This is the equivalent of wearing your running shoes with your elegant wedding gown.  An inner envelope, in and of itself, indicates a formal event and calls for traditional wording.  I’ve worked with brides who claim that addressing the inner envelopes with “Ms. Johnson” instead of “Sarah” sounds stuffy.  Let me reassure you: when your recipients open a traditionally addressed invitation, they will not think of you as stuffy at all!  They will feel special and value your good taste. VERY IMPORTANT:  Traditional addressing reflects the formality of the EVENT – not the level of formality of a friendship.”

Hmm … that comment was basically directed right at me … I know that I can forgo the etiquette and ignore this woman’s experience and advice, but do I want to?

The Chevy Chases Save the Date

So, now that we are approaching the 10-month mark, it's time that I finally make a decision on our STDs and get them in the mail. I've been looking online and messing around with ideas since February, but now I think I've designed one I really like. I was messing around in Illustrator one day trying to design a monogram, and I happened to glance up at the bulletin board behind my computer where I spotted this (personal photo):

Since we have decided to send STDs only to the out-of-town friends of me and Mr. CC, I thought a fare card might be a fun idea to incorporate DC. Here is what I came up with for the front:

We plan to order 4x6 postcards from overnightprints.com (I've heard great things about them, their prices are good, the samples they sent me were good, and they constantly have sales). I'm still tweaking it a little and have yet to design the back, but I plan to get them out later this month.  For the back, should I stick to the farecard theme and modify this (personal photo):

I'm not sure how I'd modify it exactly, but I'm sure I could come up with something ... or I could just have a standard postcard back, where I list the important info and our website list on the left and put the recipient's address on the right. Thoughts?

The Chevy Chases find a venue: Part II

I apologize for the long delay since Part I.  I've been busy the past few weeks and spending every free moment in the evenings catching up on the day’s Wimbledon matches.

So, a quick recap: We had penciled in a date at the National Museum of Women in the Arts – a gorgeous marble hall. But, it was expensive and we didn’t have a good option for the ceremony, other than having it at the museum. So, when we finally got engaged 4 months after wehad stopped our venue search, we opened it up again.

We had initially rejected any sites that required a tent because we didn’t want to worry about it being too hot/cold, since May weather in DC can be unpredictable. But I had always imagined that I would have an outdodor wedding, and all of a sudden, we couldn’t figure out why we’d refused to consider venues with tents.

After extensive online research, we came up with two places: George Washington’s River Farm in Alexandria, and Woodend Nature Sanctuary in Chevy Chase.

The River Farm has an amazing setting on the banks of the Potomac, with a wildflower meadow and large lawns. There’s a tented patio in the back of the house, right off the ballroom. Of course, I saw the place in February just after the snow melted, but it was still pretty and didn’t take much imagination to realize how stunning it would be come spring.

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Woodend has a similar setup, with a tented patio off the ballroom. I liked how at Woodend, the patio and ballroom are connected by french doors that enable the space to feel more continuous. The patio was also a little bit bigger than at the River Farm. For the ceremony, there are a few outdoor options. Most people hold their ceremony in the grove – a flat grassy area surrounded by hemlock trees.  If it’s been raining, another option is the south lawn, which is elevated a bit and has better drainage. If it rains and we have to have the ceremony in the tent, we’d hold it facing the south lawn so that our guests are looking out at the woods. So, we were happy with the different options.  For the cocktail hour, there’s a covered portico where we can set up a bar so that guests can enjoy the outdoor evening and maybe even spot some deer (I saw one when I was checking out the place!).

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In the end, we went with Woodend, both because it felt “right” to us, and because the River Farm no longer had our date available.  There are lots of hotel options in Bethesda (all of which are metro accessible), and we’re close to the city, where many of our guests live.  We are really happy that we reconsidered our venue to find a place that was more “us” – not a formal ballroom but a beautiful setting where we can bring in our own style through flowers and décor.

And that, ladies (and the occasional gentleman?) is how we became the Chevy Chases.

How have you all let your venue reflect who you are as a couple?

Et voilà: Miss Chevy Chase

Hi everyone! It’s time to introduce yet another new DC nearlywed.

A quick about-me: I am 27, grew up in Arlington, went to college in Boston, took time off to travel in South East Asia, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, then started a MD/PhD joint degree program at UNC-Chapel Hill. I’m 4 years into my program and have 4 to go (yikes!). I’m currently doing psychopharmacology research to get my PhD in pharmacology.  I speak French and love everything french; play on several soccer teams; and love food, wine, and travel (especially to France).

My fiancé and I met in the fall of 2005 when we started medical school at UNC together.  Although we were in the same small social medicine class, neither of us had any interest in the other, and apparently he actually thought I was “kind of awful.”  By chance, in January 2006 we sat next to each other at a UNC men’s basketball game against Davidson, his alma mater.  Since we were rooting for different teams, we started a little friendly banter, chatted throughout the whole game, and arranged to attend the next game together.  He must have decided I wasn’t so bad after all, because within a week we were inseparable.

He proposed this past February, after three years together. We had picked out the diamond and chosen the setting together, so it wasn’t a surprise at all (I had figured out the exact day he was going to propose), but it was sweet. He bought me flowers (which our cats ate before he could give them to me) and made me dinner, importantly followed by Godiva chocolate cheesecake!

Our wedding will be May 22, 2010 at Woodend Sanctuary in Chevy Chase (hence the pseudonym).  That’s 348 days from now! We are planning the wedding with the help of my mom and sister/MOH/corporate event planner, both of whom are in the DC area.  Since we have plenty of time to pull it all together, it’s been fun … so far.  I’m sure the stress will come later!  To date, we’ve booked venue, caterer, photographer, and band. We’ve also met with a few florists. I found my dress in North Carolina, which will make fittings much easier than having them done in DC. And that’s as far as we’ve gotten. Up next is a wedding website and STDs. I’ve been teaching myself to use Adobe Illustrator so that I can design these. I had thought I’d be a very hands-off bride and would let my mom and sister take the reins, but that’s definitely not been the case.  Planning is much more fun that I had thought! I’ve become blog-obsessed (and I never read blogs before the engagement) so I’m happy to be able to start contributing to one!