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As we oh so quickly approach two full months since the wedding, I wanted to share the few photos we’ve gotten to date with many promises for so much more to come in upcoming weeks. (I also have a ton of DIY projects to share and I swear I’m working on getting those together. Newlywed life has turned out to be quite busy so far!) Without further ado, here’s a little glimpse inside our wedding weekend…

Fastening my sister’s necklace, the one I made for all my lovely ladies. This photo looks so posed, but it really wasn’t - is that a good photographer or what?

My dear dear friend, Brian, made for a very handsome bridesman. He wore the same classic black tux and champagne tie as M and the groomsmen.

I love this series…even though I hate the hair pin that managed to ruin these photos. (Luckily, we apprehended this little rebel of a hairpin so it could ruin no more photos shortly after these were snapped.)

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At long last, I am finally going to share with you our beautiful letterpress wedding invitations from the one and only Bella Figura. When you’re surrounded by incredible letterpress invitations every day (because I work at Bella Figura, for those who do not know) deciding on your own becomes incredibly difficult. After a couple of months worth of debate, literally, we decided on Keswick, a 7″ square size, in mediterranean and pale gray inks with mediterranean envelope liners. The entire process was incredibly exciting - including hanging out with our printer, Carrie, as she set up the press check - but nothing topped the day I finally got to hold them in my hands. I love love love how they turned out and we will certainly be having a set framed soon.

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There was a time in the wedding planning process that videography was no where on my radar. I didn’t want to spend the money and I didn’t want to be left with a cheesy wedding video of a style circa 1992. You know what I’m talking about. But then, the more I became immersed in my happy wedding blog haven, the more I fell deeply and madly in love with modern wedding cinematography and from that point forward, everything changed for me. A few months ago, I shared my excitement at having stumbled upon the supremely talented Luke Walker and his then fiancée now wife (congrats, guys!) Alisha Clark by way of a series of random coincidences and ultimately booking them for our wedding videography. I can say with confidence that may just be one of the best decisions I made while planning our wedding.

Last Friday, I was stunned into teary-eyed silence when I got to see our wedding video trailer. I immediately shared it with E and as many people as I could. Just two weeks after our wedding, things are already starting to get fuzzy so I’ve been anxiously awaiting photos and our video trailer. What I felt as I watched it was nothing short of glee. It’s amazing how a video (or photos) can catch little moments, looks shared, tears shed and emotions that you’re so busy experiencing you don’t necessarily notice when in the moment.

Without further ado, I’ll let the video speak for itself…

Cyd and Mike [Video Trailer] by Clark Walker Studio

Working with Alisha and Luke has been spectacular. They are both supremely talented and incredibly fun, an absolute true joy to work with and to know. I thank you both with my sincerest and and warmest gratitude. I can’t imagine not having this stunning treasure to remember our wedding.

Try though I did, the tail end of last week ran away from me and I never did manage to post again before the wedding and now it’s official - we’re married!!! The weekend was incredible. Things popped up out of nowhere, plans changed, rain clouds came and went, and much merriment was had. I can honestly say, I wouldn’t change a thing. M and I may just be the luckiest and most loved people in the world, or so it seems today in the afterglow of the warm embrace of so many beloved friends and family.

Thank you thank you thank you to everyone for your support and friendship in the last months and especially in the last several weeks. We have already seen some incredible photos from our photographer and I can’t wait to share them with you! For now, this behind the scene glimpse will have to suffice…

{Photo by a family friend}

Tomorrow morning we’re off to Bar Harbor, Maine for the week - I’ll be back soon with lots of goodness to share! xoxo

Remember when I was pretty convinced I wouldn’t have a cake…and then ordered a cake? Well, I wasn’t planning on having a cake topper, either. I know, the gall of going sans topper to my cake! (Our baker basically thinks I’m crazy for this one, let me tell ya!) As it turns out, there will be a cake topper after all, because I stumbled upon Quitesparkly on Etsy and fell in love with these paper roses she crafts by hand from the pages of old romance novels. Romance novel roses for the book-loving bride and her English teacher groom? It’s absolute perfection at a price that could not be beat. I think they will be absolutely divine stuck in a cluster atop our delicious cake - a little bit vintage, a little bit unexpected, a little bit sensational. Now, everyone cross your fingers that they get here in time from Australia! Are you using a cake topper or another element you found in an unexpected place?

[Paper roses by Quitesparkly]

I’m not entirely sure when I decided I “needed” to Gocco some personalized cocktail napkins, but it was quite some time ago…months ago, in fact. And just when I had decided the cocktail napkins could be pushed to the back burner, Heather (who is my wedding day twin!) posted photos of her awesome cocktail napkins and I immediately knew personalized napkins were once again on the agenda. Heather scored her napkins on sale at Party City, but I picked mine up from The WEBstaurant Store, in the dove gray color, for about $13 with shipping and they arrived just a few days later. I spent about an hour this evening printing all 250 napkins and I have to say, this might just be among the most satisfying $13 and 60 minutes I’ve invested in the wedding to date. I am so glad I decided not to skip out on the napkins - I totally love how they turned out!

Is anyone else planning to DIY personalized napkins? Make sure to share if you do!

In early May, my bridesmaids hosted an incredible bridal shower for me. While I’ve been getting increasingly more excited for the wedding in recent months, excitement really started to mount with the shower the girls hosted for me and all of my family and friends. They put so much effort into making it a wonderful day and it truly was just that.

I will admit that it was a bit awkward for me to be banished from helping with shower preparations. I am very much hands on when it comes to social occasions and being on board to help with baking, cooking and logistics, but this time I wasn’t allowed to know anything aside from where and when to be. Upon arriving a few minutes before the other guests, the first thing I noticed were huge trays of cupcakes and tons of white roses. Two of my favorite things in life? Cupcakes and white roses. I knew right then and there it was going to be a great day.

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We’re a month out from the wedding. I should be excited, right? And I am. At least 50% excited at any rate. The other 50%? Stressed as all hell despite all of my best efforts to keep things in perspective. I know it’s just one day (well, one weekend in our case) and that I can’t allow that to eclipse the excitement of marrying the most incredible person I know. But I have to admit, at this point I’m just ready for the whole thing to be over and for us to be lying around our little oceanfront cabin in Maine, totally blissed out and done with the whole wedding thing.

I have a lot of projects I’m working on, a lot left to do, but a lot accomplished so far. I think we’re in really good shape on that front, so those sorts of ultimately insignificant details aren’t concerning me. With or without them, we’re getting married - in a month! No no, rather it’s the logistics of pulling everything together largely on my own. I live 45 minutes from my closest bridesmaid, an hour from all of my family, and while he’d love to be helpful (and he does try!), M is largely unable to offer me much assistance. I’m the natural born planner, the organizer so I delegate what I can, but he truly does rely on me to steer the ship, especially given his incredibly busy schedule as of late. I can’t help but feel like the planning process would be much more fun at this stage in the game if I were tucked snuggly in a little envelope of excitement and contribution from the people in my life whom I love. Sadly, that’s not really happening at this point. Ultimately, again, it’s not a life threatening scenario, but it makes it a bit more ho hum.

And, regretfully, our wedding has become much more political than I had ever dreamed. Suddenly, my grandmother cares that I’m not getting married in a traditional Catholic Mass. Suddenly, my father cares about things like invitation wording. Suddenly, we’re risking losing some of our guests due to two-night minimums at all of the local hotels (typical of any resort town in summer, right?) despite the fact that it’s something outside of our control. And I can’t tell you how upsetting I find that, especially when it involves family unbelievably near and dear to my heart. Suddenly, I’m stressed, tired and getting headaches far more frequently. I’m ready for a big glass of wine and a long nap.

I know I can’t be alone in my feelings so rather than keeping them to myself, I decided to turn to you for your thoughts. Any suggestions on how I can coast through these next few weeks without a breakdown? Is anyone else ready to just throw in the towel on wedding planning and just start being married? I’ll love you forever if you tell me I’m not alone.

How do girls getting married in just over a month spend their weekend? Crafting, of course! I’ve been working on a lot of easy but time consuming projects this weekend. Table name signs, escort cards, M’s wedding gift, and a mock up of our ceremony programs so I can start trimming down the stock for the covers and laying out pages in InDesign. Am I the only one who gets really really excited to see something working out as planned? Consider me really excited right now. I’m in love with how this mock up program turned out!

Pretty blue cover stock, kraft paper pages and blue-striped baker’s twine? Heaven! This is also going to prove a useful tool when laying out the pages. I can see the hardest part involving figuring out how to ensure the fronts and backs of the pages line up so they print nice and aligned, but for now I am trying not to worry about that one. In the meantime, here’s what I am planning for pages and content -

{front cover} some sort of Gocco magic going on
{page 1} a title page of sorts with our names, wedding date, etc.
{page 2} a welcome message
{page 3} order of events
{page 4}  bridesmaids/bridesman introductions
{page 5}  groomsmen introductions
{page 6}  thank you note and directions to the champagne reception after the ceremony
{page 7}  recognition of loved ones who can’t be with us
{page 8}  recognition of our belief in gay marriage rights and hope for all men and women to soon be able to marry the person of their choice
{back cover}  some more Gocco magic

Is anyone else working on a program project right now? Let me know if you have any tips for printing book layouts front to back so the pages work properly when assembled.

On Tuesday evening, M and I went out and got his ring size determined by a couple of jewelers. (Naturally, I forced him into two places to double check the first size was correct - totally normal, right?) I told you we were considering going with Etsy for his wedding band, and after some further consideration, I decided to go for it! I love Etsy, I love supporting independent artisans and the price could not be beat. Really - $45 for a wedding band, no tax nor shipping? Now that is a language I can speak. Fluently.

So we got home that night and I took one last look through the many styles offered by Titanium Knights and ultimately decided on a domed ring with cut grooves on either side. It’s 6mm wide with a combination of a brushed finish in the center and polished bands on the outside. It’s classic but with a bit of detail while still remaining simple. And truthfully, it’s perfect for him.

[Ring by Titanium Knights]

Titanium Knights have super quick turn around times (2 - 3 days production time before shipping) so I should have it in my possession soon and I’ll be sure to let you know what we think of the quality and share additional photos. They have great feedback on Etsy so I’m confident it’s going to be perfect, but in the event it’s not I figure we’ll just upgrade his band for our first anniversary. I’m really super happy with this decision and can’t wait to see his ring! It was a lot of fun to pick it out and it’s one of those little things that makes this whole getting married thing feel a lot more real.

Thanks for all of your feedback before on whether or not to give Etsy a whirl - has anyone else decided to go the handmade route, too?