#26: Macaron Mania (i loves them. i must haves them.)

#25: DIY Project #3: Parisian Macarons

I actually experimented a little around Christmas, and it wasn't too bad a start! I made just "plain ole macaron" cookies and filled them with some salted caramel that I made a few days prior. I've read and heard so much about how difficult they are and... I think that's what they tell people so they can charge so much. Ha. It really is kind of a science-project-meets-kitchen-implements exercise, I'll give them that. And PERFECTING the macaron... another story all together. But I started where I always start... with Martha Stewart.

#24: DIY Project #2: Photo Booth

#23: DIY Project #1: Poms - DECOR

Sources:
The Factory Direct Craft Blog
The Wedding Paper Divas
My DIY Chat

#22: Wedding DIY Projects

And now for my new section - DIY projects! ;)

In the spirit of moving onward and planning this wedding (likely to drop off again when the semester starts - You've. Been. Warned.), I'm going to start trying to post all the little projects I intend to conquer for this hitchfest in the late spring.

This should be a pretty extensive DIY journey, as it includes decor, design, baking, photography, and maybe even a little building, who knows! I have carefully sculpted the trajectory of my spring semester as to allow for relative freedom around the end of the semester (I hope) and a little extra time to get things done. This is what I keep telling myself at least. I CAN DO EET!

Let the DIY commence...

#21: Wedding Madness: New Developments and Moving Onwards!

It's been a long time away, but I needed to take some time and get my head together before returning to the blogosphere...

Since my last blog entry a lot of things have changed. After visiting and loving a property in The Sticks in Nowhere, Virginia, the owner heard the word "wedding" and upped her rental fee by over a thousand dollars, adding in clauses for port-a-potty rentals and various asunders. So you know what? Charlie and I decided enough was enough! That's thousands of dollars we'd rather spend traversing and eating our way through Europe this summer, thank you very much! We're re-imagining this whole wedding concept and getting on with our lives.

Bold words aside, we have really decided to focus on how we want to celebrate our commitment to each other, in a way that feels honest and real to us. Somehow I doubt that we'll be writing love poems for public recitation or having anyone sing a song about our feelings. I also doubt that you will see me in a ball gown. Ever. ;)

Why are we even having a wedding? is the first question that pops into my mind. What I dislike about many weddings is that they can end up being kind of impersonal and rigid, as well as being terribly expensive. (According to my homie Martha Stewart, the average "budget wedding" costs $12,000!!! That's TWELVE. THOUSAND. DOLLARS.)

The number one reason to have a wedding rather than eloping somewhere fun and foreign (topping even "I'm a total detail obsessive who needs to minutely organize and obsess over all possible opportunities to throw a good party") is that our families are scattered all over the globe and this may be the One and Only opportunity for them to meet one-another. Really. Just having a "surprise we're married!" party ain't gonna cut it: People need ceremony and circumstance to fully commit to long-distance travel. We want our core group of people to be able to get to know one-another in an intimate and comfortable situation. We both love many many people but that party is for another day.

And we're not spending twelve thousand bucks. nope.

There are a lot of expectations that come with the modern concept of a marriage. We're supposed to register for a bunch of stuff. We're supposed to invite everyone we've ever met, and then everyone our parents have ever met. I've watched hundreds of episodes of My Fair Wedding, Whose Wedding is it Anyways?, Martha Stewart Green Weddings, My Big Friggin Wedding, Rich Bride Poor Bride, Platinum Wedding, Bridezillas... and every one of those weddings followed a pretty standard structure, there was cake and the tossing of bouquets to the "unfortunate single women," and so on.

What does the term wedding mean to us as a couple? Welllll.... It might be easier to talk about what it doesn't mean to us. We're not getting a band or a dj, having a cake cutting or garter/bouquet toss, and when I say SMALL, I mean absolutely that. Because we're having it at our house now. We don't want to offend or leave anyone out, but we just can't possibly fit more than a small, set number of people into our back yard (or inside, if it rains).

And in order for an intimate and personal back yard affair to meet my detail obsessive needs, it's going to have to be whittled down enough to obsess over and execute in the amount of time left after graduate school and its various outlets this spring (and I'm directing a show too! Augh!).

Deep breath.

Charlie and I will be getting hitched in Richmond somewhere outside sometime in the later afternoon at an exact location that will be revealed at a later date. We will then commence to our back yard, which will be tented in the event of rain, for eating, drinking, and merriment. Bringing umbrellas and rain boots just in case will be encouraged. We won't let the weather WET our appetites, heh heh.

Additionally, we cannot possibly invite everyone we like or love, for reasons stated earlier. Please help us out by being understanding (we'll post photos!). It breaks our hearts not to include the many who have touched our lives over the years... But we'll be happy to attend a slew of parties/bar outings/picnics if people want to celebrate.

So on with the planning, now that's all cleared up! :)

#20: Checking out a new place today...

Grand View Manor...

#19: Shrug It Off

#18: Back from Thanksgiving Break

After a week off of school and HitchBlog I'm back with some new information! How's that for rewarding a wait?

We went to visit the beach house while my parents were here and it was nice but not exactly what we were hoping for... The neighbors are really close, the yard is overgrown, and I think we can do a little better. So - STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING - if you're trying to make reservations for a place to stay! I think we'll try to keep in that same general area and are hoping to look at an alternate location on Friday when Charlie is off work... We hope to have a replacement lined up in the next week or two. In which case, of course, if you're interested in renting our original site I can give you the information. But that's neither here nor there at the moment. Keep your fingers crossed and I'll let you know when we get it nailed down. Umkhay? =)

As far as everything else is coming along... I needed to take last week off to stop and evaluate some of my choices (ahem invitations ahem), and am going to make a few changes before charging forward with this fantastical event. I'm feeling good about things, though, and I'm ready to get on with the planning! Lots to do! Plenty of time! Don't freak out! (mantra)

We've decided to abandon the amazon registry and go for a more universal online registry, which we'll probably get around to padding with designer kitchen towels in a few weeks or so. Charlie's working long hours at the photo studio and I'm slaving away at graduate school (okay, maybe not that drastic but I'm a little busy) so I expect to start getting a lot done when Christmas break rolls around. For now, I'm obsessing about shrugs. Also, tulle. (oh lord)

#17: Thanksgiving BlogBreak

Just wanted everyone to know that I'm taking a little planning/blogcation until after Thanksgiving weekend. My folks are flying in from Germany, my older sister is driving down from DC, and our USMC buddy Henry is staying with us as well, so we'll be pretty busy for the rest of the week (and somewhere in there I need to write my play Zombie Oedipus, no pressure!)... Everything's been moving so fast and I was feeling pressured into getting announcements and invitations ordered and now they're here I'm not really wild about them... *lonesome teardrop* Ah well. I'm sure all the practical people would say that they're just going to get thrown away or something. Anyways, I'm going to just stop everything and try to visit the beach house this week to get a solid, and then go from there! Recoup! Advance! Etc.

I hope everyone has a great holiday, wherever you may be...

Here are links to a few of my favorite wedding blogs in the interim:

Ruffled

Lovely Bride

Rock N'Roll Bride

#16: Putting colors to good use...

#15: Color Scheme

Color Scheme

#14: Color Scheme

Color Scheme

#13: A note about HitchBlog FAQ and updates...

We're trying to cover every possible question/issue, so if you have any that aren't already included in the FAQ, post a comment, Facebook me, email me, call me, etc and I'll answer it on the FAQ for everyone to see! Don't be shy - everyone has the same questions and we'll *all* be travelling to get to this blessed event, so let's streamline the process and keep everyone on the same page... The Stage Manager in me is happily finger-twiddling at this prospect...

I'll post the link update on Facebook every time I adjust the FAQ. You can also click on "Follow" on the right hand side of the page and you'll get updates (I think) when something changes or something new is posted.

#12: A Whimsical Wedding Party