This is why we plan weddings...

                                                                                  
From Jose Villa

The best wedding checklist ever

Have you checked out the Offbeat Bride's wedding checklist?  It is truly amazing.  There are checklists on other websites that make me slightly about-to-have-a-wedding-breakdown crazy, but this one keeps me organized and makes me happy.  For instance, there is a "as soon as you know what you're doing" category that is extremely helpful.

Here are some of my favorite, slightly offbeat items on the list:
-tell your partner you love them at least once a day as things get increasingly crazy
-if you're doing an iPod recpetion, work on your playlist.  If not, work on a list of "must-play" (and "must-not play") songs for your DJ or band.  Back up your music and the rest of your hard drive while you're at it.
-Harass guests who haven't RSVP'd for the wedding and rehearsal dinner
-Make extra sure that everyone who's helping you with the wedding gets a special, pointed thank you.
-Procure sedatives for night before wedding.  Give them a trial run.
-Prepare a wedding day frekout kit (aspirin, makeup, safety pins, mints, Cliff bar, etc).
-Set aside special time during the day to step aside and breath for a few seconds. (on the wedding day)
-Take a moment to thankyou family and tell them you love them

The list is full of other, really helpful and insightful tasks as well.  Check it out!

Do you have any other checklists/organizers that you recommend?

My own personal Al Roker

The weather in Wisconsin is fickle.  Heck, the weather in the Midwest is fickle.  Growing up in Michigan, I remember wearing shorts one day, and the next day waking up to snow.  It's crazy.  You just can't predict it.  Or can you....

I've found the best tool ever on Weather.com.  All you have to do is create a log-in, provide your wedding date and location, and they give you this:

Typical Weather for May Here are average weather conditions for the month of your wedding:  7-9 days  8-9 days  14-15 days < Previous Month  Next Month >

Typical Weather for May -- Here are average weather conditions for the day of your wedding:

Average High Temp:75°F Record High Temp:92°F (1991) Average Low Temp: 49°F Record Low Temp: 29°F (1984)

Past Weather for May -- Here's a look at past weather in your area for the past three years. Year Weather Hi/Lo (°F) Rain (in.) Details 2009 AM Clouds/PM Sun 72/52 0.05 Hour-by-Hour 2008 Showers 60/42 0.54 Hour-by-Hour 2007 Mostly Cloudy 87/63 0.00 Hour-by-Hour

Isn't that amazing?  Now I just have to hope the weather for our date is sooo 2009 and NOT soooo 2008 (or 2000 and LATE, for you Fergie lovers).

I know I can't predict the weather or control it, but this little tool makes me so happy!  Now I promise not to check it again until April.  Promise.

Making our photography dreams come true (part 3 - the finale!)

The morning of the giveaway, I woke up really early (which was impressive, given that I was working nights at a restaurant and prepping for our move to NOLA) and proceeded to check Kara Layne's blog every 2 minutes. (And yes, I realized that Kara is in Mountain Standard Time, and it was an hour EARLIER there.  But I just couldn't wait!)  Finally, right before I was about to give up and take my poor dog for a walk, I saw this on her blog:



Ummmm, yeah that's us!  WE WON!  Are you kidding me?!?!?! I have NEVER won anything in my life.  And I have entered tons of contests!

All we have to do is pay for her travel and accommodation costs, which really is nothing compared to what she is giving us.  We are both incredibly excited and grateful for her generosity.  So thanks to Kara, we will be able to have amazing pictures like this:

Kara Layne Photography

...and still stay in our budget.  Thank you Kara!

Making our photography dreams come true (part 2)

So less than a week after I sent in our entry, I received an email from Kara Layne!  She loved our story, thought we were a beautiful couple, and wanted us to know we were one of her four finalists!  I literally jumped out of my seat and danced around my room, scaring my poor dog into running and hiding under my roommate's desk.  I checked her blog later that day and found this:

TOP 4 FINALISTS-CONGRATS!
(and underneath)

_______and_________/GETTING MARRIED MAY 29, 2010 in MADISON WISCONSIN
"____and_____ were destined to be together from the start.  Both in similar fields, they met on the bus on the way to their training as Teach For America teachers.  ____proposed at the end of March this year and two months later they both graduated from the same masters program.  They are currently working in New Orleans as part of the educational reform happening there.  Their story and their love are fabulous in every way."

That's about us!  I proceeded to email everyone I knew with the link to the blog, and then had to wait for 2 days until she randomly selected the finalists.

Here is the picture we sent in to Kara:

Please choose us!  PLEASE!

Next up, find out if we won! (I know, I am really drawin' this out, but this is BIG.)

Making our photography dreams come true (part 1)

Remember my obsession with ridiculously beautiful wedding photography that is WAY out of our budget?  Yeah, I remember it too.  I continued my search for affordable photographers in the Wisconsin area, but none of them had the asthetic that I was looking for.  And then I had an idea:

Photography contests!!! 

In all of my blog searching I read about a couple of amazing photography contests.  Unfortunately, by the time I had this idea Feather Love Photography's contest had long since ended, and Chennergy Weddings had already decided on who their "rent weddings" would go to for 2010 (If you don't know about this, check out their site, or read about Mrs. Meatball's (from Weddingbee) experience with them at her wedding.  Simply amazing.)  But have no fear, I began putting the google machine to work and searched high and low for "photography giveaways" and "photography contests".  I found a few contests that were already over, a couple of contests with photographers that were just not my style, and then I found Kara Layne. 

Here is the image I stumbled upon announcing her giveaway:

Kara is a photographer out of Phoenix, AZ who is quickly making a name for herself in the industry.  I love her personality, style, and approach.  She is a photographer who just gets it.  Here are a couple of my favorite images on her blog:

I love the absolute joy she captured here.

I'm a sucker for pictures of toasts.

There was a week left before the giveaway deadline.  I took a deep breath and wrote an incredibly honest email that listed all of the reasons why photography was important to us, why we loved her work, and the many personal reasons why we couldn't afford to pay for amazing photography on our own.  And then I waited.

To be continued...

Amazing inspiration board

Carly, of Inspiring Brides, made this wonderful inspiration board for me. I gave her some color details (sage, white, navy as our dark color, and touches of pink and gold) and some of our wedding details (bluegrass, the parade, no matchy-matchy bridesmaids, etc) and she created this board:

I am loving the bridesmaid dresses and the cocktail hour inspiration in this board. 
If you are interested, check out Carly's blog and contact her with your details.  She makes custom inspiration boards for brides out of the goodness of her heart. How cool is that?

Using our resources

While Wisconsin may not have sandy beaches, it does have a couple of perks for P and I in regards to wedding planning. And they are HUGE perks.

1. P has a florist in his family. (Feel free to cue hallelujah music.) That's right, a florist. And because they are incredibly generous human beings, they are giving us our flowers for our wedding present. When they told us this, I almost wept. This is amazing for me because when I was cutting expense categories, I was finding it easy to give up many things, but I could not bring myself to skimp on flowers. Now I am not going to take advantage of their kindness by having a floral explosion, but I do have plans for some lovely flowers.

(I adore this bouquet!)

2. The restaurant I worked at during grad school (aka, my second home) is going to shut down for our reception. We are going to get a ridiculous deal on some of the most amazing food I've ever had. I will personally know the talented chefs making our food and the servers working the event. Pretty cool.

Check out how beautiful this restaurant is:

http://www.harvest-restaurant.com/

(did I mention it has a view of the capitol? And that the linens and tableware in general is beyond what we could hope for? Ummmm, yeah.)

Are you having your wedding somewhere because of your connections/resources there?