We're Registered!

We did it!

And we had fun!

It took 2 days, and some wine tasting in between to get us through, but we are officially registered at four places:

For fine china and crystal:

For bedding and bath:





For basic kitchen stuff, plus silver and glassware:

For pots & pans and "fancy" kitchen stuff:

I am pretty sure we registered for more items than any bride and groom ever - we went nuts! We even registered for some furniture so that we can get a discount after the wedding. 

Here's a sneak peak at a few items for which we registered...

Our china, which is Herend "Queen Victoria":

This bedding:

These super fun accessories:

B was a master with the scanner and all-in-all it was pretty painless :)  I think what I've decided about all the wedding stuff is that if I wasn't so busy at work, I would be having a LOT more fun with it all. I was able to take a break from work for *most* of the weekend and it really made the wedding stuff a lot more enjoyable!

More updates soon!

Scheduled: First Dress Fitting

It's official: I have my first dress fitting scheduled for early March! That seems right around the corner, and it is - I just checked and it's only four weeks away.

I'm supposed to have my exact pair of shoes at my first fitting. The store emphasizes exact, as in the pair I will wear when I walk down the aisle (chills).  I guess they've had brides bring in a pair in the right style but wrong color only to have them come back with the right pair and realize the shoe was a 1/4" taller in the other color. Who knew shoes had such big discrepancies?

All of this means I'm officially on the hunt for fun wedding shoes. I need something that has a very low heel, or no heel at all, which really sucks because all the fun shoes have 4" heels. But, fun shoes are not worth being taller than B in all of our pics, so low heels it is.

I'm wearing rhinestone/crystal necklace with my dress, so I need shoes that are white, silver or some bright color. I'm really not big on white, though - so I'm mainly considering white styles because they'd be dyable (any advice related to dyables is welcome, I've actually never had this done).

So far I've seen a few styles I like, including:

These are totally cute, totally re-wearable...but too wintery? They are adorable though...

via

LOVING these, but I think they might be too tall!

via

These are similar - also Kate Spade:

via

These are too businessy for me, I think, but they're still cute! They also might be too tall :(

via

Thinking I could possibly dye these? A little too boring though?

via

Also cute, also Kate Spade, also possibly dyable?

I still have a lot of searching to do - all of these I found in about 30 minutes after looking on just two sites. That said, I'm VERY encouraged by what I found, which is good!  I was worried that I'd have to find shoes before all of the cute spring/summer styles come out, which is probably still going to be true. I'm over worrying about that though; I'll probably be happiest in a classic style any way, so as long as I have a fun color and some fun detail I will be very happy!  I hope to do some more searching this weekend and then order a few pairs so I have time to try them on for size (and put the heel height to the test against B in his tux shoes). Will keep you posted!  Any if anyone sees any cute shoes, let me know!

Weddings by Anthropologie

Super exciting news: the folks behind Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters are launching a new bridal collection, BHLDN.

From an article on The Street:

"BHLDN's first collection is scheduled for February 14, 2011 through its online boutique, www.bhldn.com . It will bring together a curated collection of heirloom quality wedding gowns, bridesmaid frocks, party dresses, assorted jewelry, headpieces, footwear, and lingerie."

Here are a few grabs from the temporary site:

 

Deliciously gorgeous. Great spot to find a rehearsal dinner dress, perhaps? Yes please!

Can't wait for Feb 14!

Thinking About: Wedding Cakes

Since we have our first cake tasting scheduled, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about cakes.

We're planning to have a cupcakes & candy bar, in addition to wedding cake, which means we don't need a huge, multi-tiered cake. Still, I would like a pretty cake that looks like a traditional wedding cake!  So far I seem to be draw to structural, simple cakes with floral details.

Here are a few of my favorites, the first being my very favorite :)

 

Shot by my lovely wedding photographers

And, just for fun, a sneak peak at B's groom's cake:

NOT!

Yall have a good night :)  

Note: all images from Martha Stewart Weddings, The Knot and Weddings Unveiled

Where Does the Time Go (aka - we have 5 months!)

Got the friendly reminder email from the Knot.com today: Only 5 months left!

Excuse my language here, but shit!  We have a lot to do!

Crazy work schedules, combined with the holidays and being out of town every weekend except one since Christmas have left little time for wedding stuff.  So we're a bit behind.  Or at least feeling that way. That said, we're suddenly feeling very motivated and have gotten quite a few things accomplished in the last week or so:

• We booked a florist - woohoo!
• We scheduled tastings with our caterer
• We scheduled a tasting with a potential baker
• I scheduled my first dress fitting (and am now doing double time at the gym!)
• I scheduled my bridal portraits
• We tentatively scheduled our engagement shoot (finally!)
• I picked a weekend for my bachelorette party (hello, Austin!)
• We've picked a place for the rehearsal dinner & after party

I still have a long laundry list, but feel a LOT better having knocked a few things off our originally much longer list.

In the next couple of weeks we'll also knock out:

Loving this calligraphy...

• Booking a calligrapher
• Working on invitations
• Finalizing lighting and the overall floor plan
• Booking a baker
• Schedule our required pre-marital church counseling
• Plan the bridesmaids luncheon (or at least reserve the space)

I think know both B and I wish we could just fast forward to June 25th. However, if things keep moving at a lightening fast pace, like the past few months, our wedding really will be here before we know it. Let's hope!

The Ingredients: Caterer!

One more big decision finalized:  we selected our caterer.

I am BEYOND excited about this, since we'll be using Carpe Diem, which is also one of the best restaurants in Charlotte.  I've loved Carpe Diem since I was in high school, maybe even before.  The food is always delicious and they are wonderful people!

I know a lot of people get nervous about using a restaurant for their caterer, since it's really hard to be good at both.  Often a company is great at catering, but struggles to run a restaurant; or a restaurant servers awesome food but isn't very good at catering.  Carpe Diem, in all their awesomeness, manages to be good at both.  They catered one of my good friend's weddings and it was to die for.

We're setting up our first wedding menu tasting for early February.  I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, here's a link to their website and menu.  YUM.

A New Trend In Wedding Dresses?

Recently I've seen a lot of weddings where the bride pairs a black sash with her white dress.  Is this a winter thing?  A New Years wedding thing?

Here are two pics I saw on Facebook:

I saw this today on With This Ring:

Even the celebrities are doing it:

I think I'm too much of a traditionalist to appreciate this trend. I can see how some brides might like the idea of adding a modern, or even rock 'n roll element to their dress. I can see the New Years Eve, too, since black is a traditional NYE color.  Regardless of the reason, I'm not sure this is for me.

What do you think?