The All Important First Dance Song...

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We owe our music selections to our DJ pretty soon (like yesterday) and we cannot decide on a first dance song! (Among other things :) ) I feel like there is SO much pressure for this song to be perfect -

Right now my front runner is 'You are the Best Thing' by Ray LaMontagne.

We both like 'Into the Mystic' by Van Morrison, but I'm concerned its overdone.

Also in the running:
'We are Man and Wife' by Michelle Featherstone
'The Way I Am' by Ingrid Michaelson
'By the Way they Dance' by Jump Little Children
and 'Look After You' by The Fray

I must be forgetting some great ones - what will your first dance be to?

its overtaking our apartment!

Who knew weddings had so much STUFF? napkins, lanterns, batteries, glasses, gifts, decorations, and the list goes on.
As our date gets nearer and nearer our apartment is getting overwhelmed with wedding paraphernalia and gifts.
There is no longer any point in 'cleaning up' the weddingness when people come over - there is NO WHERE for it to go - I have already taken over the guest room (which you can barely walk through right now). There are no pictures of the room because it is that much of a disaster! The back of my car is filled with Cranberry Daquari mixers due to a spur of the moment shopping spree at Williams and Sonoma this weekend and we have numerous packages scheduled to arrive this week!! Some of the stuff has already made its trek up to Maine (vases, water bottles, jam jars, syrup bottles, some of the alcohol) and the rest will go up in July. I cannot wait to have it out of here!

I know wedding planning commonly takes over your life as the date nears, but is it taking over your home too?!

SNACKRIFICE...

Let me introduce you to the newest wedding related word in my vocabulary -
Snackrifice - giving up snacks to fit into that perfect (yet unforgiving) white dress

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I've been trying to cut back on the snacking habits as of late but I'm SO bad at it. I have little to no willpower. Crackers and cheese are my weakest point. Rapidly followed by anything with sugar. I've tried, I swear.
I've done the brush your teeth a lot so nothing will taste very good and you wont eat trick. I learned I like things minty.
I've done the drink a glass of water before you eat so you will feel fuller trick. I haven't quite figured out the timing on this one, too soon and I don't get the effects of the fullness until I'm done eating. If I wait too long, I just have to pee.
I've tried not buying 'the bad things' .... but that really just makes me want them that much more.
I've thought about getting my jaw wired shut, but I REALLY like smoothies and it turns out smoothies with a banana base (which are the ones I like) have like 600 calories.....figures.

Anyone else have any snackrifice tips? Or are you just as bad at snackrifice as I am?

the grand exit...

Maggie: What's your favorite thing you ever wore?

Dora: Ever?

Maggie: Yeah. In your whole life.

Dora: My going-away suit from my wedding. Black and white checks, very fitted. I felt like Jackie Kennedy in that suit.

I want that feeling.

I want to rush out of the doors wearing the perfect outfit, timeless and chic, to guests cheering our names and tossing rice. My new husband's arm will be locked with mine as we dash into the getaway car and drive off to our relaxing and exotic honeymoon location.

But then there is the other side........I don't want to leave the party!!

1. I've been planning this event for over a year now and want to fully enjoy all the hard work and long nights I've put in.

2. Our guests are traveling great distances (some which I don't get to see that often) and I want to spend as much time with them as possible!

3. I could absolutely see wanting to leave the reception early if we had never played twister before - because that would totally be worth ditching all our guests :) But that is not the case.

So anyways, there will be no amazing get-away pictures and we will probably be there until they make us leave (even though we got an amazing room).

Are you planning a fabulous get-away with a classic outfit? or are you going to stay until they kick you out?

Bonus Points if you can name the movie :)

An Event & A Confession...

The Event:
We got our first wedding gift in the mail last week! It was SO exciting, and made everything feel so much more real!


We got all our new glasses and a tablecloth with matching napkins (don't worry we haven't used them yet!)......Thanks Auntie L!

So now comes the confession.....Yes, that would be a screen shot of my registry above and I was able to capture it because I can't NOT visit.....everyday.....multiple times.

Confession :
I am a full-blown registry stalker.

Any other addicts out there? Should we make a support group? :)

Wine Tasting and Wii

Over the weekend we had a few friends over for wine tasting and wii to determine what types of vino we should buy for the wedding. Eight bottles later, we really only remembered what the first two tasted like.....but we tried :)

We had selected wines by Robert Mondavi since this was one of our favorite vineyards when Mr. Gloss and I were in Napa Valley last year. We love the 'Private Selection' label, but he also has a 'Woodbridge' label which is a few $$ less per bottle. Saving $4 bottle when you are buying in bulk adds up pretty fast, so we wanted to make sure there was a true difference between the two bottles.

The first we tested/tasted were the two Pinot Grigios and there was an overwhelming response for the cheaper bottle! (yesss!)
Next up : Chardonay - We liked the more expensive bottle of Chardonay, but not better than the Pinot. We may only buy one white and one red to make things easier, but we haven't quite decided yet.

Then we moved to the reds. The two merlots were first, and the decision was split - (ugh!)
The Woodbridge line does not have a Pinot Noir varietal (and both Mr. Gloss and I are big fans of the Pinot Noir) so we tested this against a Cabernet Savignon. The Pinot won....I think....

There was only 1 wine glass casualty, unfortunately it was one of the $30 crystal ones and not one of the ones I picked up at the Dollar Store (only likely huh?).


So hive, what should we buy?
a) The Best White and The Best Red
b) Two Reds and Two Whites
c) The Best White and Two Reds

Work In Progress : Welcome Wordsearch

As our date gets nearer and nearer, its time to get all the projects I've had floating around in my head for a year into a physical (rather than imaginary) form.
So this weekend I started a chalkboard welcome word search for the entrance to the tent.


Obviously, its not quite done yet, the end needs to be trimmed since it was a little longer than I had planned on. I need to find (or make) a nice frame to go around the outside. And circle the words highlighted in red to start the fun!

Total Project Cost: under $30
Chalkboard Paint ~ $11
Primer ~ $6
Paint Roller ~ $6
MDF Board ~ $2 (found a good piece in the 'throwaway area' @ home depot! and cut down to 3'x4')
Xyron Permenant Adhesive ~$6
Posterboard for Letters ~ $1.50


First, I primed (2) and painted (3) the board. I put on a second coat of the chalkboard paint after 4 hours. I used a high-density foam paint roller to ensure a super smooth finish-


I blocked out a 2.75" grid with string (I was going to draw a grid on the board, but then I realized I would have to erase it after!), then started arranging letters I had cut out using a laser cutter. I think you could use a Xyron Personal Cutting System or Cricut to get the letters cut out as well. After I had them all laid out according to a word seach I had created in excel earlier (below), I ran them through the Xyron to get them to adhere to the board and we were good to go!


The letters in red spell words we felt described our big day - the remainder of the black letters I just filled in randomly.
We chose:
David
Chelsey
Welcome (these three will be already circled when people arrive, I haven't circled them yet since the paint instructions suggest waiting 3 days before you use chalk on the board)
Party
Promise
Wedding
Ring
Husband
Wife
Greenville (the town we are getting married in)
Friends
Family
Union
Celebrate
August
Cherish
Gift
Marriage
Pledge
and maybe a few others!

I plan on listing these words next to the chalkboard since I realized I had accidentally made some other words with the random letters that I don't want people circling (like snob) - o'well!

I can't wait to hang this in our home to remind us of the day we got married!

the Receiving Line...

I’ve been thinking about our timeline lately and how I see the day progressing.
This has, in turn, brought up the debate about the Receiving Line.

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Traditionally, you would greet all your guests as they exit the church after the ceremony, it takes a while, but it’s a great way to thank all your friends and family for being there to celebrate with you and be sure not to miss anyone.

The other common option is to visit all the tables and chat with your guests during dinner. Here’s the thing with that option – this girl likes her food :), and as much as I want to thank all my guests, I also really want to eat. So this is a mediocre option at best.

Since we are having the majority of our photos done prior to the ceremony we should have time to ‘enjoy’ our cocktail hour (less a few rounds of family pics) and I think this would be the perfect time to meet and greet all our guests (with a glass of celebratory champagne in hand of course)! This way our guests don’t have to ‘wait’ in line to talk to us and can go grab a cool beverage and enjoy the boat and lake while we make our rounds.

What do you think? Are you doing a traditional receiving line?

Magic Wedding Fairies?

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There is a strong disconnect with the reality of time in the Gloss household.

We are coming up on the two month mark…..THE TWO MONTH MARK!! I get all nervous and flustered when I hear it, while an ever expanding to do list races through my head.
I casually mentioned to Mr. Gloss the other night that the two-month mark is rapidly approaching and that we should really:

1. Talk with the Caterer about Food Options
2. Figure out Music for the Reception and Cocktail Hour
3. Find a location for the Rehearsal Dinner (and figure out who’s coming)
4. Figure out what readings we are doing (and other program relevant information)

And his response was – well, we have TWO WHOLE MONTHS! (Like that is a lot of time or something?!) Maybe he doesn’t grasp the vastness of the “To-Do” List or maybe he thinks magic wedding fairies just come and put everything together?
All I can say is that is becoming very frustrating to be the only one who wants to check things off the list NOW and not wait until the last minute.

Do you all have super helpful grooms? (or magic wedding fairies?)

Barbie's Daddy Must Have a Black AmEx...

How else could she afford all these fabulous dresses?

by the lovely Vera Wang

the talented Reem Acra

a swoon-worthy Monique Lhuillier

a classic Carolina Herrera

and a bejeweled Badgley Mischka

I love the Carolina Herrara.....
and Vera....
and Monique..
Which would you choose?

images: from here, and here

Long Weekend Vendor Bender...

We took advantage of the long weekend and made the trek up to Maine for a 'vendor bender'. Unfortunately, it was prom weekend, so the florists and salons were pretty busy!

We revisited our venue (Mr. Gloss had never actually been on the boat) and checked out where the tent would be located, bathroom/kitchen situation, etc.


They are cleaning up the boat for the season so there was 'stuff' everywhere - Maybe a little cute get-away gazebo to steal a private moment or two?

We also found a florist. We haven't signed a contract yet (awaiting quotes) but I have a good feeling about it!
We hired a bartender - (Cost: $20/hr.) Score!
I found someone to do my hair. She seems knowledgeable - I will definitely schedule a trial before the big day. (Cost: $25 for day of!!! not just the trial!! I was S H O C K E D)

Finally some people who don't charge you an arm and a leg to get married! Let me just say it was a nice change of pace :)

Have you been pleasantly surprised by any of your wedding costs?

Giving Up Control...

I did it! I gave up control…..of our honeymoon!! (very difficult for me and my OCDness)
I have no idea where we are going and I love it. I posted previously about not knowing where to go on our honeymoon here, here and then again here. I got so frustrated with the amount of choices and my desire for it to be absolutely perfect it was overwhelming. Add that on top of wedding planning and I was getting seriously stressed out.

So Mr. Gloss took over, with a few suggestions from myself of things I was hoping for-
My criteria: Someplace warm, where somebody will put a drink in my hand (preferably a margarita) and I won’t have to do anything all day long….unless I want to and in that case I want there to be a lot of options of things to do :)
My parents have offered to pay for our flights- so between my mom, Mr. Gloss and the travel agent I’m pretty sure they can come up with something wonderful. I get a few questions every so often about my ‘travel preferences’ from Mr. Gloss, like – ‘Are you planning on working out when we are there (ie do you want a nice gym)?’ or ‘Do you want there to be a TV in our room?’ And more logistical questions from my mom – ‘Should we book tickets in your new name?’

I’m packing a floppy hat, large sunglasses, and warm weather clothes no matter what.
I refuse to be told where we are going until we check-in at the airport, at which point I would like a travel guide for our location to read on the plane (*Hint Hint*).
I can’t handle surprises, I ALWAYS want to know what is going on, but for this one I am so excited!! and as of yesterday we are officially booked!!

Have you given up control over any part of your wedding and found it completely exhilarating?

Don't Forget!!

Hey Ladies!
Don't forget tonight is the Boston Meet-Up!!
We are meeting at Radius [8 High Street | Boston, MA 02110] at 6PM and from the sounds of things we should have a pretty good crowd!



The restaurant said we didn't really need a reservation for a Tuesday night :) so we'll probably just take over a corner of the bar -
Can't wait to see you all there!