Elegantly Navigating Family Issues: Semantics

When a bride and a groom from divorced families decide to tie the knot, there are A LOT of issues that come up during wedding planning that I absolutely did not expect.   I think that this is something that a lot of brides and grooms deal with, and need advice on. 

The first small issue that came up was invitation wording.  P's mother has been married to his stepdad (who P is incredibly close with) for years.  P's dad is not remarried, but has been with the same woman for many years, and she happens to be our florist-friendor!  My mother has been remarried for a couple of years to a man I am not very close with, and then we have my father, who is remarried, and who probably won't come.  Add all that to the fact that the groom's family will be paying for a large portion of the costs, we will be paying a portion, and the bride's mother will be paying a portion.  Is your head spinning yet?  Mine hurts.  Here is what I imagine our invitation will look like (in my worst nightmare):

Mrs. and Mr. Bride's mother

and

Mr. and Mrs. Bride's father (who probably won't show up)

invite you to join them in the celebration of love as their daughter,

Bride-whose-head-is-hurting

is united in marriage to

Groom-who-thinks-the-solution-is-to-send-an-evite

son of Mrs. Groom's mom and Stepdad

and Groom's dad and partner (who won't like being at the end of the invite)

Woa.  OK, I know that would never happen but OMG. 

Then I began to search the blogs and saw the perfect wedding invitation wording:

Together with their families

The Bride

and

The Groom

would like you to come party with us! (or something like that)

Ahhhh.  Simplicity.  Perfect.

So what is the lesson we've learned today?  Keep it simple.

Have you had to elegantly navigate any family issues?  How have you handled it?

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...

Bridal Bouquet

When I first began thinking of what my bouquet would look like, I envisioned something all white and very simple. 

A beautifully simple boquet of calla lilies:

But as my vision evolved, I became more and more drawn towards romantic bouquets with soft texture and touches of soft pink and/or green.  Here are some of my favorites:

Credits: Meg Baisden Photography

I am really looking forward to meeting with our florist/friendor over the holidays when we are in Wisconsin.  I am definitely open to her suggestions, but I am going to be armed with inspiration.  Now I just need to begin thinking about the florals for the reception.

Photographers I adore, and cannot even begin to afford

Before P asked me to marry him, I had absolutely no idea how amazing wedding photography could be.  Most wedding pictures I've seen have been pretty standard, posed portrait types of photos.  I've never been a big fan of posed photographs anyway, and this was an area I really was not too interested in.  And then I found the wonderful world of wedding blogs and was introduced to:

Our Labor of Love

Allyson Magda

Feather Love Photography

Photos and photographers like these made me realize how important photography is, especially photography that tells such a beautiful story.  (I swear I cried when I looked at the pictures on Our Labor of Love's site.)

The problem is these photographers, and most photographers like them are WAY out of our budget.  We are talking ten times our budget, people.

But a girl can dream...