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I continue to wonder what became of 2008.  Where did it go? What did I even do this year?  Well I can ponder all I want but that will do me no good when it comes to getting my OOT bags squared away and ready to go!

When thinking about what I wanted to do for my OOT’s I took a cue from Dana and copied her idea to use canvas/reusable bags as way to “go green” in my own small way.  Dana, they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery.  I decided to go with a sort of nostalgic/cheesy Chicago themed bag for the design, which I had screen printed at Strange Cargo here in town.

I hemmed and hawed about which design to choose, but I am really glad with my final choice.  The “ink” is actually a deep blue which works with our color scheme, and the bags are quite sturdy.

Now we all know it’s what’s on the inside that really counts.  Here are a few of the items which have been stuffed so far:

What we have in each bag is a variety of goodies from peanut butter crackers, nuts (cashews, peanuts or honey roasted peanuts), a Nutri-Grain bar (blueberry, strawberry or apple), granola bars (peanut butter, roasted almond or pecan crunch), and bottled water (2 or more per bag).  I realize the plastic bottles are not very green at all, however I have heard from folks they are very useful for OOT guests.  Hopefully people will recycle them!

I have not actually put the oh so lovely Laura Hooper map in the bags yet.  I am waiting to get folders to put them in along with our contact numbers, event schedule, and other important info.  However I cannot stop staring at them as they are too cute for words.  Check it out:

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I have been engaged for almost ten months, during which time I have had five wedding showers. Yes I think this is more than usual. I am not sure what the national average for wedding showers is, but should someone have a figure I woudl be happy to see it! I credit this shower surplus to two factors:

1) My fiance and I are not from the same hometowns (me: Louisville, him: Baltimore)
2) We both reside in Chicago

Therefore we have multiple home bases with folks who want to help us celebrate. We have been very lucky.

I had Kitchen Shower in both Louisville and Baltimore (well, Ocean City to be exact…)

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From the onset of my wedding planning I have tried my darndest not to be very low key about the whole shabang.  And to be honest I occasionally pat myself on the back for maintaining a very chill demeanor even as I pass over the “two month mark.”

However a few months back the type-A, controlling side of me reered her ugly head, all in regards to the bridesmaids dresses.

I have always loved when maids where the same color and fabric but different styles of dresses.  I like this for two reasons 1) I think it provides the gals with a chance to find a silhouette that truly flatters them and 2) I personally enjoy the variety from a visual standpoint.  I made the mistake of only telling my bridesmaids reason #1.  A decision I would regret later on.

Coincidentally I picked six different styles and have six bridesmaids.  Now I had anticipated having some double up, and I was ok with that.  However I had not anticipated nearly every maid (save one!) leaning towards the same dress.  Here I have six gals all with different figures going for the same look, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid.  Thus putting my in the conundrum of “do I be ‘that bride’ and tell my friends what they can and cannot do.” I was very pulled because the people pleaser in me didn’t want to offend anyone, while on the other hand having all the girls in the same dress is not what I wanted for the look of my wedding.

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There is no doubt this in an intense time of year for all across the nation. With the future president to be decided in a few days, everyone is on edge, myself included.

However, when you are also two months out from your personal “big day” there are other debates to be had. For me it has been “to assign or not assign.” This my friends is the big question.

From the beginning of this crazy wedding planning journey I have known I did not want to have a sit down, plated dinner reception. I wanted to have several “action stations” providing us the opportunity to serve our guests many different cuisines. It served my “wannabe foodies” status quite nicely. This decision also lended itself to not assigning seats. Having grown up in the south I had been used to this methodology and never found it to be a problem. People can get their food, pull up a chair, and repeat this action as many times as they want. I felt it encouraged mingling and wasn’t as “structured.” However I began to read in various bridal publications that it wasn’t polite to leave your guests without a seating assignment, and people appreciated having a space to call their own. Thus began many months of wavering about assigning and not assigning. I polled friends, many of whom said they would appreciate and assignment. However the top voter, my mom, was adamantly against it. I fell somewhere in between.

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So sorry I have been MIA for the past two weeks. I have been out of town a bunch and have not had enough blogging time. However, I am thrilled to share a sampling of my recent engagement session photos with you. My fiance and I had a blast and are so happy with the way they turned out. After two bad weather days Mother Nature finally smiled down on us with blue skies and light breezes. Here are just a few. Some good, some goofy.

We found these cool iron structures while on our way to a 4th of July party. They are fun to play in.

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Throughout this planning process I have touted myself as a “fast decision maker.” I haven’t agonized over details and “go with you gut” has been my modus operandi.

However the one cog in my wheel has been the bridesmaid’s gifts. I had no idea what to get them. They are not wearing matching dresses so I didn’t want to get them matching jewelry, plus they all have very different styles and opinions about jewelry. I thought about pretty engraved Tiffany key chains, but those didn’t seem quite right. Maybe a massage gift certificate? No, I am not crazy about gift cards. What’s a gift giving bride to do?

Praise be to the blog world for I stumbled upon the blog of The Unbride. A delightful site which pointed me to the oh so cute, funky and unique Beegee Bags. My heart stopped.

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They say success is in the details. I have to agree. While the major decisions of a wedding (who you will marry, when in will happen, where it will take place etc) are certainly the most important, it’s the little things that can truly make the day your own. As I go through this planning process I am realizing how important it is to let inspiration guide you when it comes to choosing these fine details. You can draw inspiration from all sorts of places. It’s helpful to flip through magazines and cut out images that strike you, think of your favorite colors and perhaps to try and incorporate them into the day, even the time of year could inspire your decision making process. I have tried my best to think of each element as a continuation of another, rather than separate entities. For example the invitations use the same color palette as our reception décor. I carry around a swatch of the bridesmaid’s dresses so the florist can match ribbons we use to their color. In the end I hope it will create for a cohesive “look” and a very thought filled event. Allowing inspiration to guide me has made this planning process a lot easier and way more fun.

Our initial source of inspiration came from the Chicago History Museum.

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Flowers die.

This is my first thought when considering how important I want the flowers to be during the wedding and reception. Clearly I am not placing a lot of importance on the flora and fauna. Again I go back to the value of prioritizing. Our church is so stunning and our reception site is so elegant that neither Jurg nor I felt the need to overdo it on the flowers. However,
after calling several florists I learned that clearly there were people who place a great deal of importance on the budding beauties. Some of the minimums these places had were insane in my opinion. Did I mention flowers die? Luckily we met up with Rachel at an adorable flower shop in Lincoln Park, steps away from our church. I actually lived above this flower shop for two years in college so it excites me to have a small personal connection with the place.

Now, let’s be clear even though I do not put flowers way up on my priority list that does not mean I do not have opinions about them.

I have always loved Calla Lilly’s

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When I was sixteen years old I spent my summer working at a florist in Louisville called Creative Illusions. They are no longer in business and I may have something to do with that, one will never know I suppose. The owner was a lovely woman named Marci who was much more of a “creative person” than a “business person.” The latter comes in handy when you, um, own a business. Oftentimes I would be left to my own devices for hours on end with no guidance or complete knowledge of how to operate the cash register. Many of the items in the store would mysteriously be devoid of price tags, and with no log or catalog of prices to be found I had to use my keen sense of intuition to make up a price….on the spot. A favorite memory of mine was a lovely summer day when one of the “ladies who lunched” stopped in and inquired on the price of a nice sized hanging fern.

“Ten dollars.” I said, with a slight hint of concern

“TEN dollars!” she gasped, her eyes popping out from the shadow of her visor.

“Um, seven…” I choked.

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Hello! My name is Blair and I am excited to be a new guest blogger for EAD.  I thought it might be best to introduce myself by letting you all in on the story of how my fiance and I met (from my POV).  You can read his version of the story on our website: www.blairandjurgen.com

March 11th 2007: I love to go to the theatre. I love to go see good theatre. I love to see good theatre that I do not have to pay for. Well it was my lucky day because one of my favorite stage mangers gave me two comp tickets to a preview performance of Rabbit Hole at the Goodman Theatre. My good friend Jenn was to be my date for the evening as she too shares my desire to see good theatre for free. Halfway through the first act I was taken by the performance of a young, dark haired actor who I had never met or seen onstage before. I turned to Jenn and said, “Who is he? He is fantastic.”  The entire production was deeply moving and I could not imagine leaving before I had a chance to profusely my stage manager for his generosity. While I waited for him to emerge from the underground of the Goodman, Jenn informed me that she needed to get some water. Alden found me, I thanked him profusely and I proceeded to wait patiently for Jenn to return victorious from her water seeking mission. This mission must have been fraught with peril because it took quite some time. I stood by the lobby door, taking in the theatergoers,  when lo and behold the talented dark haired actor walked out of the stage door. Thus began the internal conflict which goes something like this:

“Should I say something?” (beat) “No that would be annoying.” (beat) “But don’t you love and appreciate it when people take the time to tell you how incredibly gifted an amazing you are?” “OF COURSE!” “Okay I am going to say something.”

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