(Snapshot from my camera, probably taken by a bridesmaid.)

We’re married! (To each other, as DJ likes to clarify.) It was absolutely wonderful, I wouldn’t change a thing.

I’ll be back soon to tell you all about it!

At 9:30 in the morning the FedEx guy wished me a happy marriage. He left three boxes; two deceptively narrow, one the size of a small coffin.

Thirteen hours later…

(There are a few more pieces, including one big mama of a bouquet for me.) I’ll tell you all about it in a week or so. I’m off to get married! I have had such a good time at EAD, getting advice about veils and family struggles and enjoying all of your ideas. After 21 months of I have an idea and I think I could make that, it’s all happening!

Although, at the moment I am most excited about handing my bouquet to Katie so I can hold DJ’s hands. Walking back down the aisle together. Sneaking glances at his hand with a ring on it. Doing the stand-and-sway to a sappy song. Celebrating a life ten years in the making, and worth every minute.

There was another bride at the salon for my hair trial - she was with her mom and bridesmaids. They were sipping mimosas and enjoying bagels with the stylists, taking turns having their hair done. The bride had a pretty veil and really cute short hair, super shiny and full of volume. There she is in the corner behind me - bride and bride-in-training.

I really liked how my hair turned out for the test run. But it didn’t stay “up” very well, partly because I have a ton of unruly hair, partly because it had been messed with too much, and partly because it needed better pins. Those pins shaped like a U never work for me - do they for anyone? I need the grippy ones you have to pry open, and an entire can of hairspray.

And here’s the last of the difficult questions. Hairstyle chosen, menu approved, timeline set, song list delivered. But what color will I paint my fingernails?

Dear Future Julia,

Please stop buying neutral nail polishes. You have too many, and you are not very good with minor decisions.

xoxo,
Julia

Tomorrow is the big day!

When I told my brother that my dress needed a bustle, he thought we were talking about this:

Boys! Love them to pieces.

I scheduled my dress fittings as close to the wedding as possible. I like to live dangerously - but really, three weeks seemed like plenty of time.

I asked the seamstress to replicate this bustle. It looks to me like little waves lapping around the hem of her dress.

(Tania Lezak via >Style Me Pretty)

I think the train on my dress must be a bit longer than hers, because I ended up with more volume. Still pretty, but different. DJ’s mom came with me to the fitting, and she was super-concerned that DJ not see the dress until the big day. So if you would like a sneak peek (and are not DJ), click here.

What sort of bustle are you going for?

Once we had all the RSVP’s in, DJ’s mom helped me finish this project. She has pretty, scripty handwriting, much better than my ugly scrawl.

The bronze rectangles are mini envelopes, each with a couple or guest’s name written on the back. Inside each is a picture of a book cover corresponding to their table assignment. Like Memory! for adults with wine in hand.

The board above is not the same as the one in my previous post. Yep, I screwed up. The other one wasn’t big enough for all the cards, so I had to start over. But it all worked out for the best - the too-small board recently became part of a different project!

Right after I snapped that picture DJ helped me wrap the whole thing in plastic. Hopefully Elizabeth will appreciate at least one project with minimal setup required!

DJ has been watching me do crazy things for months now. Like covering books in kraft paper. In a bit of kismet, I found this bit of validation just as I finished faux-titling my set.

(Neither Snow)

Except my writing with a paint pen was a little more haphazard than these.

I am the girl with all of the projects. I haven’t even told you about some of them yet because I was afraid. We have friends and family to help, but I wasn’t sure how smoothly that would run without some serious planning from me. I’ve actually ranked them so that some could be jettisoned from the plan, if necessary.

A few weeks ago DJ’s mom (who early on volunteered to coordinate the day) admitted that she was worried. Worried that she wouldn’t be able to see the ceremony from inside the barn. Our ceremony is (knock on wood) outdoors. DJ’s mom. This was not okay! Our wedding was turning into a Cindermama situation, which is a lousy way to start with the in-laws.

Fortunately I’d been talking to Elizabeth of Anticipation Events in Chicago. The first thing I knew about her was that she writes a really friendly, professional e-mail. The second thing was that her resume is impressive. I mean, really impressive. Don’t take my word for it, go look. I’m sure it’s true, she also gave me references. References. She’s done some big stuff, my little wedding is not going to be any challenge. (Although I did send her a five page document of instructions. I was honestly surprised to hear from her after that, but I did - less than a day later.)

She made the haul out to see the Barn on a Saturday, to take notes and ask astute questions, and I feel so much better now. I mentioned lemons, she said to bring a knife and she’d chop them. I mentioned candles, she asked if I knew the burn time. Love that. It took her a matter of minutes to charm the socks off the Barn’s manager, who tends to be… not charming.

I’ve held off on talking about most of my vendors until I see how it goes. I’d rather not mention them if it goes badly, you know. But Elizabeth already did half of her job - I feel relaxed and excited. Full of anticipation, like the name says.

Anyway, I’d like to do something nice for Elizabeth. If you were my day of coordinator, what sort of gesture of appreciation would make you forget the five-page e-mail?

About a month ago I made thank you cards. Lots and lots of them. With lined envelopes, of course. I love sending paper cards. Writing them feels a little decadent, and opening the mailbox to a pretty envelope makes my day. Some of my friends send wonderful mail, so I have a set standard already.

I again used the pewter design from our invitations, and a calligraphed “Thank You” drawn by my talented friend Amy. Then it occurred to me to snag our return address from our keepsake invitation envelope.

There’s two easy steps to that kind of piracy: 1) ask your calligrapher for their permission first 2) once you have their blessing, take a high-quality digital photo, as straight-on as you can. Then use any photo editing software to up the contrast and brightness until you have a clean image of the text.

A few Gocco screens and much embossing powder later, I was very excited about writing notes. Which made it easier to knock the shower ones out right away. There’s a small trick to the embossing, too. Right after a Gocco press, shake embossing powder over the wet ink. Flick off the extra, and set it aside. When you run out of table space, fire up the embossing gun for the whole batch.

What did you do for thank you notes? Do you think it’s impolite to print Thank You on the front? Some people do. You can say so, I don’t mind - I’m still blissed over the calligraphy.

We had to change a small piece of the plan this week. A while ago DJ asked our caterer if she could put together an iced tea and lemonade table to have out before the ceremony. We were thinking that in September (even late September) you never know what you’ll get for weather, so a cold beverage might be nice. She’s fantastic, always quick on the yes. So, yes. We can have a table of drinks, and she’d be happy to coordinate the rentals.

This is what I was thinking:

(shoestring home)

Or possibly this:

(style me pretty)

But! This is the type of container available for rent:

Full bride stop. Oh no, I said to DJ. That will never do. I’m such a snob lately. But really, I wouldn’t want these for a party at my house either. Does that make it any better? Probably not. At any rate, we’re working on a new, less insulated plan.

I put together a little thank you for each of my bridal shower hostesses. They wouldn’t let me help with anything at all, so I went shopping.

Each bag had Philosophy Red Velvet Cake shower gel, pink pomegranate soap, and two fancy chocolate bars. I wrote a note on paper left over from printing wedding invitations: Thank you for the sweet shower… Enjoy these sweets with your next shower!

I know, not original. And cheesy. But like I’m always saying while shamelessly copying, the classics are the classics for a reason. Also, I think I’m addicted to lining envelopes. Is there a support group for this?

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