This Blog Goes to Eleven!!

Okay so we all know what I'd do if I had a million dollars, but what are we really doing in the way of tunes? Remember our venue's 3 options?

1) The Traditional DJ/Classical Guitarist

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2) Classical Musicians

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3) Or The Token Mariachi Band

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Well this led to the Karaoke Debacle of 2010 (which was really more of a discussion  than a debacle)  in which my fiancé and FSIL said that although I ♥ Karaoke (more than ice cream and buffalo wings) that others may want to dance. Darnit! No badly sung Karaoke, no Richard Cheese. So I promptly forgot all about this and lived in my own little dream world for about 2 weeks. I then sat down with fiancé again...

We ultimately decided on the highly recommended (slightly over priced) DJ. Because his FAQs say it all...

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No disrespect to iPods, but he's right. We already have a family photographer (FSIL 1) and a family DOC (FSIL 2)... why force someone to be in charge of the iPod too?

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What was your musical journey like? A Spinal Tap or was it Easy Like Sunday Morning?

Dealing with Bloggers Block

Let's get one thing straight- I love blogging. Like on an ice cream level- that's how much I love blogging. [Grumble as to how the Wedding Workout Regime has taken my precious nom nom from me] But occasionally I can get down on myself for the *weirdest* reasons, and it can hinder my creative juices and cause a freakishly long time between posts [read 1 to 2 days]. It sounds like a short break, but just like my workout routine I only like 1 day off a week.

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Did I mention I was a Type A Personality?

Yah, so I decided to take you on a journey into the real world, behind blog-doors so to speak, about my creative process. When I get a mental block I let it go for exactly 24 hours... this is the hard part because unlike Jack Bauer you're NOT DOING ANYTHING [Blog Related].

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and those 24 hours... feel more like this...

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After that though, I'm more relaxed. I crank some tunes on the Pandora App on my Crackberry and and power list on my lunch hour. You heard me - power list....

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WOW, can you see the number of blogs I can get about ONE singular train of thought?! About 3 good posts from 1 chain of events. And if all else fails, it's always on our "To Do" list....

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BTW the Brush Teeth refers to our Dog... we don't need to be reminded of normal necessary hygiene.

What's your secret weapon? How do you keep your creativity flowing?

Mini Me...

Ok, remember how I won $150 to Pose Prints? Well originally I wanted to order Magnets for my graduation... well except for the fact that I don't want people to BE at my graduation... I'll have enough people staring at me 2 weeks later at the wedding. Enter the OOT Folders...

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Well I wanted to display our contact information in a cute way....

And behold... Pose Prints also does customizable cards! Sooooo we decided to make a cute version of us with our contact information for our guests...

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The only bad word I have to say about Pose Prints was a lack of Red Hair selections. We ended up making Mr. AZ dirty blonde- which he is not. He's got nice auburn hair and there were two red options- Fire Truck Red and Orange.

And yes the real version does have our phone number and email address, but it's not for readers eyes...

Adorable no? And pocket sized in case of emergency. I know I'm super paranoid but my fiancé did have his appendix taken out whilst attending an out of state wedding last year.... emergencies happen regardless of it "being our big day."

ANYWAY, back onto Pose Prints... I had some leftover gift certificate to spend and went ahead and got these...

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Personalized stationary  sans veil... because as MOH says "one day you will be over veils." A sad thought but an altogether true one. 

So do you have "wedding caricatures?" How are you using your mini-mes?

PSA: Emergencies Happen...

I would like to take a brief pause from sunshine, rainbows, unicorns, and all the happy things related to weddings to bring you this public service announcement....

Emergencies Happen.... 

even at Weddings.

There I said it... but why?

This past July my fiancé and I flew from Arizona to upstate New York for the nuptials of my friend....

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About 1 hour into the flight the fiancé started having what was described as "an upset stomach." No problem, we thought,  we're lactose intolerant- stomach aches happen.  It continued to progress, and the symptom became more severe. By the time we landed it was apparent I would need to drive. So he took pain killers and I drove us to the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at...when we got there it was nearly 10pm. That is when the pain started to localize to his right side, he became feverish and broke out into a cold sweat.

Uh-oh! Appendicitis!

Yup for a male in otherwise good health that is the absolutely ONLY diagnosis for his type of symptoms. We broke out the handy dandy GPS, which I never leave the state without (because... emergencies happen), and followed the hospital signs....

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So it's nearly 11pm the night before my friend's wedding... and where were we?

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The Cayuga Medical Center... which for your knowledge has wonderful physicians, nurses, and overlooks one of the fingerlakes. And my fiancé was seen and scheduled for surgery at 8am.

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His appendix was removed and we missed the wedding. But we did get snapshots, doesn't my friend R look beautiful?

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Anyway it was this very experience (and the fact that 100% of our guests are from out of town) that led us to put the following information into our OOT folders...

Medical Facilities 

Although we hope you will not need to use this information, we thought it best to include in case of emergency. We learned the hard way that knowing where the closest medical facility is, even when at an out-of-town wedding, is very important. Dirk had his appendix out at just such an occasion this year.

Verde Valley Medical Center- Sedona Campus

(928)204-3000 or 911 in case of emergency
3700 W. State Route 89A, Sedona, AZ

Sedona Urgent Care

(928) 203-4813

2530 W Highway 89A # A, Sedona, AZ

Are you a worrier? Will you be including any medical information in any form for your guests? Do you have an "emergency plan" for your wedding?

The Subtleties of Registering

OR no one is going to buy you a trashcan....

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One of the advantages of going IN store to register are the helpful tips from the person in charge of that store's registries. I will share with you, what we learned on that fateful day....

 
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1. Choose "Giftable" items- This means no one will be likely to buy you a trashcan, a plunger, or a toilet brush. Because these aren't "gifts" these are practical items people don't talk about. 
2. Choose Fillers- Some people go into your registry wanting to spend $200, not a penny less. So they find a comforter you like, but say its $10 or $20 shy of their internal target... make sure you have knick knacks like candles and picture frames there to help them to get to their goal. If you do not pick your own frames or candles THEY WILL... let that be enough to scare you.
3. No one will buy your a trashcan, but someone will buy you a Vaccum- Why, the store associate didn't know, but he speculates that it is largely due to the exasperation some people have with their vaccums. But they are one of the first "big ticket items" taken immediately. 
4. Register for the Expensive Towels- Because people will understand that this is a wishlist, if they don't like it they don't have to buy it.
5. People WILL complain about things on your Registry- Because your taste is different than theirs, end of story. They will think your frames are atrocious and will probably have something to say about a lot of things on your list. Who cares, it's not their registry!
   

I hope this helps you with registering! What are some things you learned from your store associate about the fine art of the wedding registry?

Registering in Living Color

Ok, so half of me really wanted to just be uber cool and techie and do our entire registry online. Because we're savvy people, and most of our family follows suit. I love the Universal Registry and Wishpot. But I also know the older people in our family might be baffled by the new fangled technology. We hmmmed and hawed over this decision but ended up confronting ourselves more than our less than techie family.

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We were feelers... we love to touch towels, to really run our hands against linens, and see colors live and in person. And until the interwebs gets some more senses we decided to register live and in person. So now the question was.... well we have a FULL SET of China, Crystal, and Silverware ... what else do we get?

It is now I should also note that we have 3 full sets of everyday plates/bowls/etc and a full set of regular old silverware (of the non-real silver variety). Yeesh! Now we're stuck between a rock and a hard place right? So we did what any logical couple would do... we consulted the Weddingbee Boards. Don't bee-lieve me?

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Yup I went there. And we got some great suggestions. So I printed the list, and we headed out to Williams - Sonomoa and Bed Bath and Beyond (BBB for short). Here are the highlights of our touchy-feely experience.

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The most beautiful, delightful feeling towels.... we have ever touched. Ok, so they're $40 a pop, but they're WONDERFUL and plush. We also registered for towels at a less obscene price point of $20. (Towels for our guest bath- mwhahaaha)

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We registered for 2 amazing, zen-feeling, lamps for our bedroom.

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A plush bathroom mat and a gel mat for the kitchen, because Mr. AZ does a lot of cooking and his feet could use one of these beauties. Okay, so we were doing okay, we had registered for a down comforter but that was the biggest ticket item so far... that is until we wandered into Williams-Sonoma...

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We registered for amazing pots- seriously these babies would last us a life time! But they had a sticker price to match. And then we did... we registered for the item on everyone's registry...

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Oh yes, the Kitchenaid mixer!

After we left the stores we felt like we had spent an awful lot of money, but in reality we hadn't... but we were feeling guilty that our families might... but then we reviewed our lists and realized how much we LOVED everything on it. How did you handle the registry? Did you do it online or in store? What are your most loved items?

Hair, There, and Everywhere...

As sung to the tune of the Beatles.... anyway! Let's take a look take a look through time at my ever changing hair... and then discuss what the HECK I'm going to do with this mane for the wedding...

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Let's analyze shall we...

85- Nothing I could really do about it at that point, but look at that amazing flip I've got going on...
86- When was my hair curly?!
90- Long with weird bangs and a bad smile.

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This is what I like to call my experimental years...

02- Yes I did think I was Josie ala Josie and the Pussycats. I remember going home at lunch to RE-CURL my hair.... oh yes I did.
05- A very cute bob with some rockin' side bangs that really don't do what they're supposed to, ever.
06- Just for a change of pace can I see my jet black hair BLONDE?! What the heck was I thinking...

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Ah, graduate school how you really made up for the last 10 or so years...

06- Wow I'm trying some weird layered thing that makes my chubby face look chubbier... not a good look.

07- I cleaned up good for the white coat ceremony... but you can totally see the reminents of previous highlights.

08- Ok that is my hair with ridiculous levels of hairspray and teasing, does it look big? Sadly, no.

09-10- A beautiful do that's simple and really elongates my chubby face. I hope everyone agrees with this.

Ok so now the conundrum comes in... how fast does hair grow- because I want to wear my hair down and long ala Mrs. Champagne

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Well the lady at the salon told me about 1/2 an inch a month.... which means with 7 months to go I'm only gaining 3 and a half inches.... cross your fingers ladies that I too have a mane of Mrs. Champagne's portions.

Are you doing the big wedding-grow-out? How are you rocking your 'do when you say "I Do"?