we're legal...

We did it! After inclement weather cancelled the town clerk's evening session on Wednesday night, we decided to go in this morning and get it taken care of. About ten minutes after entering the clerk's office, we walked back out with our marriage license...it's all legal!
Yesterday was a happy mail day - part of the bidesmaids gifts arrived, as well as our personalized napkins ordered from the knot shop. How cute are they? They are a very pale blue and we'll alternate them with plain apple green napkins to incorporate both of our colors.
Our cake topper is coming along, courtesy of FI. I ordered the custom letter from Crafty Eddy and purchased the 3mm, flat back clear rhinestones at a local craft store. I had planned on doing it myself but, FI volunteered and he's been doing a great job!
A close-up. He painted both sides with metallic silver acrylic paint before starting in on the stones. This photo was taken the first night and he finished tonight (pics to come)! As for the guest list, I think we finally have it down (with the exception of the still missing response from our priest and his wife) and will be able to start working on seating soon. I think I may just go with the February knotties suggestions of using an online chart so that we can easily move people around on screen. Wish us luck!!!

Lastly, I have been truly struggling to find the perfect wedding gift for FI. He says he wants a watch but isn't specific about what type (not helpful), has shot down other thoughts I had (custom Steelers jersey) but, by fate, tonight I came across anthoer knottie's bio that gave me an idea. FI is a bridge engineer and is, well, obsessed with bridges. She had these in her bio with a link to the etsy seller - a silk tie screen printed with an image of the G.W. Bridge: I just convo'ed the seller and and hoping that they get back to me telling me a custom print job is possible before the wedding. Now, that doesn't solve the whole gift issue but, it's a start!

*UPDATE* They can get the tie to me, on time! Wheeeeee :-)

showered with love...

This Saturday, my wonderful sister (MOH) threw me a beautiful bridal shower/luncheon with over 40 family members and friends. The whole day was beyond anything I could have imagined and was just amazing in every way. From eight hours away, she planned the shower over the phone, sight-unseen and not one detail was left out.

I went into the shower in a state of disbelief (how could it be here already? is this all really for me?) and was determined to keep my composure. But, in that beautiful room, surrounded by so much love and generosity, I fell apart during my thank you speech and it made the enormity of all that is to come in the next six weeks really hit home. Here are just a few photos and highlights of the day.

Me and my beautiful sister, Corine:

The table set up. My mom and sister handmade the flower arrangements and even painted the flowerpots so that everything matched our wedding colors:

The favors. Hershey bars in customized wrappers. The back is even more adorable, listing the "ingredients" and well wishes. I'll take a pic to post as soon as I can:

The cake. Beautiful AND delicious!

My amazing bridal party - Jess, Diane, Aurie and Corine (MOH):

My mom and grandma:

FMIL and FI's aunt:

Our koumbara (marriage sponsor) and her daughter (FI's cousins):Cutting the first slice of cake for good luck!

Afghan from a friend, personalized with our names and wedding date:

My god-daughter, Sophie "helping" me open my cake service set:Coffeemaker from a group of my friends:
I couldn't choose a favorite part of the day if I tried. There was so much love and laughter in that room. FI and my sister did a great job of mixing both sides of the guest lists at the tables and, from the sounds of conversation and all of the laughing, I think we are going to have an incredibly fun and lively wedding reception!

Now, my sister has flown home, the gifts are a) put away in cabinets, drawers and put to immediate use, b) in storage at FMIL's house until we have more space of our own or, c) still sitting in boxes in out dining room awaiting placement after we clear our home of all of the rest of the wedding stuff!

Our mother's shocked me by, together, gifting us ALL twelve place settings of our china. There was not one gift that I didn't love and not one duplicate. Most people used the registry, some did something more unique and showed how much they really know us.

A few of my favorite gifts? Our china (Mikasa Chelsea Platinum), SEVEN brand-new All-Clad pans, and these two gorgeous pieces - Kate Spade demitasse cups and saucers and matching pedestal footed cake plate. LOVE them:

we need to register for HOW many gifts?

We set out this morning determined to finalize our two registries. We had started them early on in our engagement and have added one or two things here and there. With the holidays approaching, and with them more time commitments, we knew we needed to just finish up or it would be difficult to get to it in time for my bridal shower (January 17th).

When you go in to register, the Bridal Registry Consultant will often tell you how many items you should register for based on your total guest list. We were advised to register for at least 200 items at each store for our 140 guests. What??? Madness. We do NOT NEED 400 things. Heck, we don't even need 50 things at this point. We are both in our thirties and just finished merging two complete households this summer.

Not only do we NOT NEED any more stuff we are, in fact, bursting at the seems with stuff.

But, it is stuff we've registered for. Lots and lots of stuff. Mind you, we really do like it all. Mainly things we gotten by without up to this point (rice cooker, wicker hampers) or things that we figured could use an upgrade (glassware, matching luggage). Some things, such as a lot of silver photo frames, are in anticipation of pictures to come and the dream of one day having a lovely wall of family photos. And then, there is the Kitchen Aid mixer. In red. Because, really, it's not a true registry without a Kitchen Aid mixer. Seriously. When searching for a google image of the particular model we covet, I even came across a blog post entitled "kitchen aid color harmony" that put together inspiration boards for brides suggesting kitchen accents that will coordinate with their shiny, new culinary treasure. here is ours:

As if I needed further evidence that wedding planning is utter madness.

Still, the cloth napkins would be pretty cute at a dinner party. Just change the embroidered initial to "B"...hmmm...