The Food

I'm a really picky eater. I always say I have the pallet of a 5 year old. I don't eat a lot of veggies and I detest fruits that parade around as veggies (such as tomatoes and cucumbers). So I guess it makes sense that I'd like buffets in terms of wedding food, there wouldn't be anything on my plate that I didn't choose. Truth be told, I don't think I've been to a wedding reception that had a sit down dinner. The most recent wedding I went to, my cousin Jaina's, had build your own burgers and salads. The two before that were receptions for my cousins Josh and David, each with a buffet of home made salads and meat and cheese platters. Perhaps it's my picky pallet or the lack of experience with a sit down dinner but I've always wanted a buffet at my wedding.

After much thought and a book from the library titled Cater Your Own Wedding. I decided that was the way to go, as long as we kept it simple. I had a very simple plan and menu. Store bought, or even home made, platters, meat and cheese, veggies, and fruit, with a build your own green salad and several other salads (macaroni, pasta, fruit, potato) made by various family members (those family members reading this, be prepared to be solicited for help in about a year, maybe sooner). Of course, this was all in my head and when I wrote it down and showed it to Lawrence, he made a change. Instead of meat and cheese (effectively sandwiches), Lawrence wants barbequed meats. Not the end of the world, and we know someone who makes good barbeque.

To drink, I figured we'd serve Thomas Kemper (or other brand) soda, lemonade and water. I'm still not sure about alcohol. A large part of the guest list won't be drinking for various reason (Mormons, children, recovering alcoholics). So I'm stuck with the dilemma of whether or not to serve alcohol for the other portion of the guest list that does drink. I'm a little worried that some people won't get out on the dance floor without a little liquid courage but maybe I'm wrong. When I told my bridesmaids I was thinking about having a dry wedding, both Jessica and Kat were incredulous. I keep wondering how tacky it would be to say (not anywhere official) BYOB or perhaps we will end up buying a couple bottles of wine and a case of beer or have a rum punch of some sort.

The Girls

What's the bridal experience without an entourage? I've actually got a tiny one, consisting of three gals.
Jessica, my little sister.
Rebbecca: coworker and good friend.
Kat: again, coworker and friend.
Each lady brings a different skill set. My sister knows my history. Rebecca has experience, already being married and planning her own wedding. Kat brings playfulness, the other day she had an epiphany that we should have bubbles at the wedding and she would be in charge of procuring them.
A couple of weeks ago, we all got together for lunch. You'd figure we'd just chat and throw out ideas. Nope, not with me around. By the end of lunch, each of my ladies had picked out their dresses. Each gal is a different body type so I didn't want to throw them all in the same dress. I also knew the price of "bridesmaid's" dresses but still wanted a cohesive look. What I decided was to have the ladies pick out patterns. So by the end of our first bridesmaid's get together, their dresses had been picked out. After lunch, Jessica, Rebecca and I went to our local Jo Ann Fabric store to browse fabrics. As the three of us walked up and down the aisles of fabric, I kept pointing out the color of blue I wanted them in, and Jessica and Rebecca kept saying it was too bright (though Jessi also kept saying it was my wedding and she'd wear whatever I wanted her to wear). I was then faced with a tough decision. Either stick to my guns and put them in a color they'd never wear again or compromise on the brightness of the color. I really didn't want to do either so I came up with a middle ground; they'd all be in black with the bright turquoise as an accent somewhere. Jessi's dress has a yolk that will be turquoise, Rebecca's a bow in the back, and Kat's a sash.
By the way, here are their dresses.

Kat's dress (she's as skinny as a stick)

Rebecca's dress which I absolutely love

Jessica's dress, it has pockets.

I've got three gals I can count on in the next year and a half and who I can't wait to have stand up for me when I say me vows. Now to start planning our next outing.

The Dress

I'll be honest, I had the dress picked out way before Lawrence and I became official. It all started with my weekly wedding night. Every Friday, TLC would (and still does) airs wedding shows, including Say Yes to The Dress. As I watched other women pick out their dresses, I started wondering what I might wear when Lawrence and I tied the knot. I checked out the selection of the salon featured on Say Yes to the Dress and found that I no longer wanted a ball gown. Perhaps it's because I didn't see my wedding as being a ball gown occasion. From there, I started to look for alternatives. I checked out a vintage inspired collection and, even though there were a lot of dresses, I knew where my dress had to come from. I fell in love with a Vintage Vogue pattern. It's a really pretty a-line dress with a full skirt and tea length hem. I plan on making the main color white (of course) with the neck, hem and belt turquoise. And without further ado, here's the dress.

The Wedding

So now that we've had the salad course, it's on to the main course of this blog, the wedding. Here are the basics:
Date: Saturday, August 11th, 2012
Place: We're still looking for a ceremony site but we're have our reception in a family friend's home in Steilacoom, WA
Size: The ceremony has a tiny guest list, only immediate family, my grandparents, our wedding party and their significant others. The guest list for the reception is at 85 though.
Colors: Turquoise and other shades of blue
Formality: dressy casual, I don't want to see jeans but I'm not wearing a ball gown or anything
Theme: playful, if you could call that a theme

The other big thing to know about this wedding is the amount of things I'm making myself or a friend or family member is providing.
The list includes:

• My dress
• At least one of the bridesmaid's dresses
• The flowers
• The invitations
• The food, including the cake
• The photobooth (the pictures will be the favors)
• Probably the decorations
• All the music
• The photography

So as you read on you'll learn about each element of the wedding then follow me through the next 16 months of planning. Right now, the wedding seems so very far away but I know with all the things I'm doing myself, I need all this time to create and practice. Wish me luck!

Amy and Lawrence

Lawrence and I met at a mutual friend's birthday party. Though our story began the previous summer when our mutual friend, Richard, wanted to invite Lawrence to a party I was co-hosting in an attempt to set us up. Sadly, Lawrence couldn't make it to that party but he was at one in November '09, invited by Richard. At the November party, despite not hitting it off right away (he berated me for invading his personal space), we ended up staying up all night talking. That night, we both knew that we had found our perfect mate. Lawrence didn't even balk at my questions about what kind of wedding he wanted or what to name our kids. At the time, I was living in Portland and had come up to Tacoma special for the party. In our talking, Lawrence and I agreed we would try a long distance relationship because we thought it was worth it but when it was time for me to go back to Portland, I just couldn't. There wasn't anything in Portland for me except a one bedroom apartment (the guy I moved there for dumped me and I had yet to find a job). With the lease up on my apartment the next month, I didn't see the point. After getting my things, Lawrence and I were inseparable. Even in those first weeks, we talked about running off to the courthouse and getting married. A year and a half later, we are just as in love as we were in the beginning. Though the proposal wasn't extremely romantic (“We should really get you a ring” “Is this one ok?” “Yup”), both Lawrence and I are looking forward to our life together and I', really looking forward to our wedding!

Amy

I've wanted to get married since I was in diapers. Maybe it was the dress. Maybe the glamor. Who knows. As a kid, I staged at least three weddings that we have proof of, with the neighborhood kids as my groom and attendants. I was always the bride. In high school, I was wedding obsessed. I read the bridal magazines and books. I even had plans of turning my obsession into a career by becoming a wedding planner (a plan which I thankfully did not follow). When I started dating, I dated seriously. I was looking for my soul mate, my life partner, my groom. And with each guy I dated, came a fantasy wedding. I imagined marrying Scott, my high school sweetheart, in our school's auditorium, surround by our friends. Max and my wedding was to take place in a garden, me in a big gown. Christoph and I were to wed at the Blue Mouse Theater, the $5 theater that plays the Rocky Horror Picture Show where he and I had met. I was going to walk down the isle to a remix of Pachabelle's Cannon and wear a beautiful ball gown with a sweetheart neck, cap sleeves, and black details. Even the Portland guy (so named because he lived in Portland causing me to move there), Chris, conjured wedding fantasies, even though we dated for a total of three months. But when Mr. Right came along, there were no wedding fantasies. Sure, I knew he was the one right from the start but I was more interested in our life together than the way would kick it off. Perhaps that's how I knew he was “the one.”