Borderline Crazy

yes, I'm certain that I am, but that's not what this post is about. This post is about...OUR BAND!

On the way to NC to celebrate bridesmaid Jess' bday (and Lindsey's and Sandy's even though Sandy wasn't there) Javs and I stopped in Norfolk to check out Borderline Crazy, a band that had been recommended to us by another band we wanted for the wedding, but wasn't available.

We left work early on Friday (leaving work early is the best feeling in the world - so much better than playing hooky from school) and headed down 95 to the 757. We picked up the FOB in Williamsburg and continued our southward journey to the glowing lights of the waterside. After a lovely dinner - our trio headed to Jack Quinn's, a quaint Irish pub on Granby St., to judge the musical stylings of the Crazies.

I was immediately pleased upon seeing the sign outside of Jack's announcing the band. (And that there was no cover - cause I, per usual, had no cash....) So we stepped in and found three stools at the bar.

Now - our concerns going in: 1) We wanted to make sure the band played a good variety. Neither Javs nor I are particularly enamoured with modern music. We listen some times (read: when we're in other people's cars) and could certainly sing a long to some popular choruses (read: I know when to say 'mazel tov' in that song that I'm fairly certain isn't even popular anymore because it was over played times a bajillion when it first came out). In addition, we have a variety of generations that will be attending the reception that may want to do some grooving on the dance floor (particularly my dad's fraternity brothers and -based on Mame's wedding - most of Javs' aunts and uncles). So we were looking for variety - particularly because I felt the song list on their website favored more modern stuff (Adele, Katy Perry, Gaga, etc).

2) We wanted them to sound good. We got advice early on that listening to your potential band live is crucial to ensure they really are going to have a good sound quality at the reception. I'd scoured youtube to find videos of them performing, but wind/bad video quality made it difficult to hear how they actually sounded.

The song they were playing when we walked in was Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. Good start on the variety! Which they followed with Nancy Sinatra's These Boots were Made for Walking. We really enjoyed their first set. Dad kept recognizing songs and the few he didn't know - Javs and I did (some quality 90s music including Third Eye Blind's Semi-Charmed Kinda Life). They also sounded great. We commented that the music wasn't too loud (although it did seem to get louder the longer we stayed). Even though our reception is in an open pavilion - I think bands that blast their music sometimes lose out on quality. Michele (lead singer) and Diego (who sings male vocals when necessary) were both great and Ernie (the drummer) kept smiling and bobbing his head (the appropriate look for a quality drummer, Dad informed us).

When they took a break - Javs and I walked up to introduce ourselves as the couple inquiring about their services for an October wedding in Charlottesville. Both Michele and Diego (who I called Michael at first b/c I swear the contract said Michael and not Michele - but he laughed it off and introduced me to Michele) were both super nice. They said they loved doing weddings and obviously had an even wider variety that they would play for us on the day! They pointed out a couple (sitting at what could only be described as their Groupies table) that were married last year and had the band perform at their wedding. In addition, Michele met my Dad who asked a little bit about the country music they play - since I and many of our guests are fans. She mentioned that they definitely did some country and had started their first set with some Sugarland (we had just missed it). We let her know that we wouldn't be staying for the next full set cause we had to head back to Williamsburg, but that we loved the band and were excited to have them at the wedding.

We stayed for the first couple songs of the next set (which were country songs - super nice of her to play since we had inquired!) and left as Michele belted out some Adele. We were super happy! I had cared way more about having a band (over a DJ) than Javs, but we both ended up being happy with this group and their price! YAY! Reception music - check

Go Hoos! Beat those Terps!

While this chant could be heard coming from any devoted wahoo's mouth, on any given day if asked about their rivalry with Maryland - it will be the battle cry of some 60,000+ UVA fans piling into Scott's Stadium this October 13th, 2012. That's right - the ACC finally announced the schedule for this coming fall and UVA does have a home game on our wedding day.

I am incredibly disappointed.
Yesterday I was heart broken. Today I'm incredibly disappointed. Maybe by Friday I'll just be bummed, but for now I'm content wallowing in my disappointment.

Let me say all these things first: I know it will all be okay. I know that its not the end of the world. I know that everything will work out. I know that Javier and I will have a wonderful and joy filled day despite the game. I know that the most important thing is that I get to marry the most amazing man in the world and this silly football does not affect that. I know all these things.

Now - wallowing.

I think I'm going to blame society (everyone else does - so why can't I?). This sounds silly, but there is a lot of pressure on brides to be extremely happy. The wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of our lives (and I still think it will be), but there seems to be an expectation that this joy oozes out onto everything wedding related prior to the big day. That you will be super excited about every flower in your bouquet. And I will fully admit that I got totally wrapped up in it too. I knew going in that planning would be stressful at times - but I'm realizing now, that I also thought that after making those hard decisions, everything would be sunshine and rainbows regarding that aspect of the wedding. That while the decision was hard - it of course would end up being exactly what I always wanted.

But every option is not within budget. And vendors book up. Certain foods or flowers aren't in season on your day. Stuff happens. So you stress a bit and then make a new decision - but more often than not- that decision then affects another decision you have to make and maybe even another. And its true that sometimes that third decision down the line is no where close to what you originally wanted. And that's disappointing.

Now - I totally agree that it doesn't mean that things won't work out, that I won't be super happy and that everything will totally come together at the end. I'm sure there are many brides who would say that its the unplanned 3rd decision that ended up being one of the things they were most happy with on the day. But there is a Cinderella-esque illusion that comes with a wedding that everything is going to be perfect. Or that everything is going to be exactly what you wanted. And I guess I fell for it a bit.

Javier and I picked Cville for our wedding spot. It was always what we wanted. For us, the fall was the season - never a consideration that there was another time we would want to celebrate our wedding. And I knew that making these decisions meant that I would be gambling on something I would have no control over, but I think in the back of my mind I thought 'but its our wedding so of course it'll work out. Of course there won't be a game.' (There really is a level of narcissism that comes with this Cinderella complex.) So even though I knew there might be a game - I think I had completely convinced myself that the wedding gods just wouldn't allow my wedding to be affected with a game. I guess the football gods were stronger than the wedding gods in this case....

**Advice Alert** Brides - go in understanding that there will be some aspects of your wedding that you are just not super excited about. Often these things are uncontrollable or the result of two other decisions you made, but maybe going in to the planning knowing that they're coming will make it less shocking when they appear and you have to regroup.

**Advice Alert** Society - don't put pressure on brides to be jumping for joy over every decision they make. (Maybe they're not in love with their DJ, but he had the right price and the day available and in the end that meant he was the winner.) If something isn't working out the way they dreamed, allow them to be sad for a bit.

**Advice Alert** Brides - you're allowed to wallow in the disappointments that you're bound to run into during planning, but only for a set amount of time. (I think I requested 24 hours for this disappointment which means I have roughly 2.5 more hours to wallow.) But then you have to get over it and embrace the next thing. Because all the people saying the 'everything is going to work out' and 'its really the people and the joy that make the day so special' and 'you still get to marry the most amazing man in the world' - are really right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pNyKHs93Ko

I was slightly apprehensive about registering. I know. Silly right? But I had heard some horror stories (and by heard I mean read) about couples' registry experiences being disasters.

'The sales people were too pushy. (so we registered for ridiculously expensive things)'
'We couldn't agree on anything.'
'It was exhausting and stressful.'
'We couldn't make decisions.'
'We were overwhelmed.'
And the list goes on.

So with some apprehension, Javs and I headed to Crate & Barrel for our first registry experience. I peppered Javs with lots of 'lets try to make this fun' and 'lets go into this with good attitudes' on the way. But I'll tell you now, we had a blast and even ended up with some items on our registry! Here is Javs, armed with the scanner and ready to start.

Now I have to pause here to tell a little tale on my fiance. I had been warned by brides that had gone before me that putting that scanner in the hands of the groom could be somewhat dangerous. For a variety of reasons, but one main one that kept appearing on my blogs that I hadn't even thought of: they scan you. That's right - grooms with toy scanners apparently enjoy running that red laser up and down their future wives. Many of my blogs had warned about it, but I thought - how silly - Javs won't do that, so I didn't even mention it. And since my groom is a man never short on opinions (or words) I thought allowing him to control the scanner would ensure we were listening to each other and picking out items we wanted.
Seven seconds after the kind sales lady left us to our own devices with the scanner - Javs turned to me and went 'beep,' activating the red laser and moving it up and down my arm.
I had to laugh out loud. What could I do? He had scanned me. Just as I had been warned he would. I had to tell him about the warning I had received (and ignored). I couldn't believe that he had so quickly acted in the way so many grooms apparently do. He played. Oh well! At least it started us off in good spirits :)

Despite his initial faux pas, we decided Javs should keep the scanner and we proceeded to the China to officially start our registry :) I think Javier and I have fairly similar styles. We both tend to be drawn to more classic looks (lets face it - neither of us are too trendy) especially when it came to China. We were both attracted to the same pattern and BOOM before we knew it we were registered for ten 5-piece settings! I'll spare you the play by play, but provide some highlights for you.
Decision making was hard. Well sometimes it was. Other times, I was shocked by how easily we agreed on the best choice for us. Take flatware. Please look at all that silverware. How can one decide? Well we started in one corner with 4 options and played the Staples classic 'pick your favorite.' Then we took our favorite and compared it to the next set of 4 options. I was amazed at how fast one (or both of us) would eliminate possible contenders with a previous favorite until we had reviewed the whole table and had it down to two options. (Javs complained that I kept liking the baby silverware - he'd pick up a knife I held comfortably in my hand and dwarf it: covering up half the blade with his gargantuan paw.) But in the end we found a set that seemed to fit both our handles and BOOM - scanned.

I really enjoyed walking around the store and talking with Javs about the different kitchenware we could include on our list. We talked about fun events where we'd use each item and laughed at items we thought were silly. We debated longest over wine glasses. Javs was focusing on the thickness of each stem (with some concern after breaking several of our current wine glasses by their skinny stems) while I focused on the shape and size of each globe. In the end we decided we didn't love any of them and since we have some additional stores where we would like to register, we figure we can wait to check out other merchandise. We left with 40+ items on our list and a free thank you gift from Crate and Barrel for registering with them :) (it was an adorable little square vase that now holds the tulips Mrs Cabezas gave me for V-day)

**Advice Alert** Don't stress at the store. Stop when its not fun anymore.
1) Don't stress at the store. Because we live in this amazing age where everything can be done online. (Some brides and grooms aren't even walking into stores anymore to register. They are doing it in the comfort of their own home via the internet!) Javs and I know (and kept mentioning as we scanned) that we can go back and 'fix' things later (delete, add, change around, etc). So have fun in the store, look at stuff that is important to choose based on look and know that you can go online and adjust as needed!
2) Stop when its not fun anymore. Cause that probably means you've been debating that sugar bowl too long or that you both have looked at entirely too many sugar bowls in a 30 minute time span (the brain can only process but so many options). We walked around for about an hour and a half. It seemed perfect. We got some good stuff, but didn't reach the point of pulling hair out. (Okay maybe a little with the wine glasses, but thats why we walked away!)

I said, 'YES!'

To a wedding dress that is :) Last weekend, while my rents were in town - I found and bought my wedding dress. And I. Am. Pumped!

I'll go ahead and tell you up front that I'm not going to post any pictures of the dress on the blog. Javs is an avid editor and writer (although we hasn't posted in a while) and I don't want to take that chance that he'll see it!

A few things to talk about wedding dress wise:

Wedding trend - First Look

This is a current wedding trend that we will not be including on our big day. (To everyone who isn't familiar - the 'First Look' is a staged meeting of the bride and groom before their ceremony. A lot of couples like it because 1) you get a special moment alone together before the ceremony 2) you can get some really fun pictures of the groom getting that first glance at his hot, soon-to-be-wife in her awesome dress (example right) and 3) it means you can take wedding party pics pre-wedding and enjoy your cocktail hour with your guests) I go back and forth on the first look. I think its a great idea (for all of the reasons stated above) but also see the fun of a the traditional 'walk down the aisle reveal.' Javs however felt very strongly about the first look idea. He is a no go. Since he felt so strongly about wanting to wait to see me and the dress until that big moment, I was happy to concede and wait for the aisle to see him on that day.

I think I was a super lucky bride as far as shopping goes. I got to go several times, I never had any entourage issues during my sessions aaaannnnddd I ended up buying my dress just as I hit that frustration point.

**Advice Alert** I think its not the number of folks you bring with you but who you bring with you.

Don't get me wrong - I certainly wouldn't suggest bringing a gaggle of folks with you when you go shopping. The most I ever had along for the ride on my shopping excursions was 5 (two bridesmaids, MOH and parent 1 & 2). (That's right - my Dad went shopping with me and it was awesome and he totally rocked out some good opinions!) Now I've seen some horrific episodes of Say Yes to the Dress where 12 bridesmaids are yelling or shaking their heads or, worse, laughing at brides as they come out of the dressing room. You want to cry for the bride because she can't even get a word in edge wise - let alone block out the wave of opinions crashing over her. My group must have seen and felt for these brides too because they stayed heavily on the other side of the spectrum. They of course reacted to some gorgeous dresses with the appropriate 'ooooos' and 'aaaaaahs' - but it was really only when I asked, 'Did you like this one or that one better?' or 'What do you think about this one?' before anyone spoke up with real opinions.

I, of course, wanted their opinions because its a big decision - but also because (like most 'wedding' events I'm learning) its kind of overwhelming. There is a lot to think about and consider and at the same time you're desperately trying to soak up that holycrapi'mwearingaweddingdress! feeling. So its nice to have people 1) you trust and 2) who love you (this is an important part of the 'who' that you invite) there to shed some perspective on the dresses. The perfect example came when I was talking to Jess about two dresses I really liked - I told her that I remembered they were very similar on the bottom. She remembered that one had far more tulle than the other - making it more poofy. Oh yeah.....I had completely forgotten and/or not noticed in the excitement of liking a dress. Glad she was there. Glad she remembered. So that I could take that into consideration :)

If you bring the right people with you = the people who care most about your happiness, then I think you'll be okay. In the end, I knew it was me that was going to have to pick my dress. And I knew that it would probably mean picking one that wasn't everyone's favorite. But I think that would probably be true no matter how many people you brought. So bring people that you think will give you insightful opinions and understand when you don't share theirs.

How I found the dress in a nutshell:
I was lucky enough to have all my bridesmaids and both parents with me when I went shopping for the first time. The first dress I tried on I called a Scarlet O'Hara dress. It had a huge hoop skirt with scalloped layers of lace fabric covering the whole thing. It. was. awesome. But so not my wedding dress and so not me. But super fun to try on and definitely a WOW. These two ideas were the ones I kept battling between when I found dresses I liked. 1) I knew I wanted a WOW dress - which to me equated to something different and 2) I wanted to still feel like me when I was wearing it. (I know that sounds a little funny - cause I so rarely wear wedding dresses these days, but you'd be surprised how it feels and how easily I felt like me or didn't in some dresses) We left the first shop with two favorites - both super different and both Romona Keveza designs. I have to point out that we couldn't help but feel a connection to Romona after my consultant said her last name quickly: 'Keveza' and we all heard 'Cabezas' (or something close to it - that Javs...he's apart of this too). It felt like it was a good sign. (That and the woman knows how to make a wedding dress let me tell you.)

I'll spare you the details in the middle, but several shops and dresses later - we had it down to two at Ellie's in Alexandria and the two Romona Kevezas at Hannelore's. Now, there was a two month span between our first shopping trip and the one where we found the two winners at Ellie's - so we decided it was important to go back and try on Keveza's to see if we really loved them or if we had simply been swept up in first time excitment. After my consultant, Katherine, remarked at her surprise to see us after 2 months - she started pulling my dresses to re-try, but slipped in that they had received some new Romona Kevezas since I had been in. With some hestiation I did a quick scan of the new stuff (I was trying to narrow down at this point - not expand my options) but, of course, one new dress caught my eye and I asked to bring it into the dressing room as well. She suggested we try the new one on first. She zipped it up and I think I all but yelled 'oh my god.' And then I walked out to mom and dad and they (having heard my 'OMG') responded with a, 'WOW.'

It was different. It was beautiful. It was me. I think Javs is going to love it. It was my dress!! I didn't cry, but I did jump up and down for joy. It was the first dress I was super excited about and one that I didn't have to analyze in the mirror for several minutes to explain to myself what I liked about it. I just loved it. Period. Dot. Done. We bought it on the spot and I think Katherine was equally excited as all of us (she'd closed a 2 month sale!). We ended up right back where we started, happy and with a Keveza! I'm sure it won't be everyone else's favorite dress and there might even be a few who strongly dislike it - but like so many other wedding details- it fit for me and for our wedding so I'm pumped to mark another check off the list :)

Engagement Session - Aud's favs :)

Hopefully you interested parties had the chance to check out Andrea's post on me and Javs' engagement session. Some of her favorites were definitely our favorites too - but we picked some to 'remember' that she didn't - so I thought I'd share just a few with you guys here :)

That and, I learned a lot from the session. (Don't worry I won't give you a play by play, but maybe some final thoughts if I can pull them together at the end of the post!)

*WARNING - this post is picture heavy*

Left A good one of us being us. (its funny - even with them just following us around and snapping shots, I can definitely still tell when we look unnatural vs when they caught us in a really natural moment)
Center Neither of us ever realized just how high I'm looking up to give this man smooches - but I like this one because the angle caught the Studio Theater sign. Feels right that Javs and I would be smooching outside of this theater :)
Right- We're back home - right in our doorway. A bit rosy from the cold, but smiling at each other.I think Javier is looking good. And I'm looking intent. Its just kind of cute.

Left - I think we both look super genuine - also I like that its more of a close up and the bright colors
Center- Don't you just love this pic of Javs? I can't wait to frame it and put it on my desk. I'm gonna marry him.
Right- Another one of our real moments - this picture was the end of a simply, ridiculous series. It started with Andrea suggesting that we almost kiss - you know, you've seen those kind of sultry looking shots of the couples so close - well I just started cracking up cause I - apparently - can't by sultry. After I laughed out loud Javs pulled me in for the real thing ;)
Outside one of our favorite Logan Circle spots: Studio Theater. We just look happy.
Left- One of the only shots we got with my fun signs :) I like it though - just us on the sofa (more of those shots to come)
Center- We really gave Andrea a hard time about putting us in this door frame. Since we were going for the whole 'us' thing (selecting our apt as our location, etc etc) we were laughing at how un-often we pause in that door frame. These ended up some of my favorite shots from the day! (maybe we should hang out in that door frame more often...)
Right- There weren't too many of the two of us both looking at the camera, but this was one we both really liked :)

I love this picture. Its us. On our sofa. (Which is where we are a lot of the time.)And I think this is the winner from the whole shoot. Its just the us I wanted captured.

**Advice Alert** If you can, do. (have an engagement session with your photographers that is.)

I totally understand that its not always in the budget. We were lucky and it was included in the package we got with Andrea and Brian ('included' is so funny to me because we really probably ended up paying for it in the package, but it also wasn't something we could remove and pay less for - funny how that works out in sales sometimes, but that's another post...) N-E-way, I think it was beneficial mostly for the a) time we got to spend with Andrea and Brian and b)being able to actually see some results. 1) It let us understand their style a bit more while they were getting to know us a bit more too. I think this makes everyone more comfortable, but will also help them as far as what will and won't work for you guys as a couple. 2) Being able to see some pictures, how they actually turned out, really helped us have a better understanding for what we want on the day of. Andrea has suggested we tell her our favorite 10 pictures from the engagement session and why. She said that will help her focus on the big day - and make sure she gets shots we want.

I've also already been able to admit to her that I've changed what I thought I wanted a bit. (that's confusing, I know) But I stressed so much that we wanted 'natural' shots that she and Brian really shied away from giving us direction during the engagement session. Now I'm seeing that we probably missed out on some (yes - slightly posed) but really cute shots. (glad I learned now!) So I've already been able to chat with her about it - and feel comforted knowing that they'll direct us a bit more day of. It was awesome to find all this out before getting my wedding pictures back and thinking 'I wish...'

Now, if its not in the budget and you can't do it - I totally understand. I've seen other bloggers suggest going through your photographers portfolio and picking out the shots that you like (organizing them by time i.e. ceremony, reception, etc or by style i.e. lighting, angles, etc) and sharing them with your photographers at a meeting before your wedding. I think this helps accomplish a lot of what I described above - they'll get to know your style/what you like and you can provide them with clear examples of what you're looking for day of!

**Advice Alert** You guys have to know what you want. Oh - and tell your vendors!

Sounds so simple doesn't it. But I'm amazed at how much I've struggled with this. The engagement session is a great example. I wrote that lovely post all about my DIY signs and how excited I was to use them and then....we didn't use them. Yes, we got a few pictures with them, but I didn't make it clear to Andrea and Brian that this was something I really wanted to try. I totally do not blame them - I never spoke up. I think I said something like 'these are some signs I made if we decide we want to use them' and that was it. No wonder we didn't end up using them! And its not because I'm shy (exactly - you guys know I'm not) its just that in these 'wedding' moments - its easy to get caught up (remember I told you guys on day 250 that I'm trying to savor them) well I'm getting caught up in the savoring and I'm forgetting that I probably have stuff I'm supposed to be doing. (like telling our photographers to bring those signs when we head outside cause I want them in my pictures!) Again - glad its a lesson I've learned now (and not later). For me I think it means we need to 1) do more thinking ahead of time and 2) write stuff down. I've kind of laughed at brides I read about the come prepared with the 'must have pictures' list - but now I understand. If I had thought more about what I wanted (a good picture of the two of us looking at the camera) and told Andrea/written it down and handed it to her - then you're sure that your vendor knows! (and you're much more likely to get what you want!

I really am happy with so many of our pictures (don't think this was a failed engagement session) but - I'm equally appreciative of what I learned from the whole experience - it means I know our wedding pictures are going to be AWESOME :)

...I fill you up - lets have a party!

I really don't like that song.

But Javs does - oh boy.

Happy Valentine's Day <3

It feels like wedding stuff is happening so quickly these days! (read: we're behind on our posts!) And this weekend was a particularly fun and exciting wedding weekend :) Jess and Kels threw us an engagement party!! Our VA friends mosied over to Clarendon to celebrate the fact that we're getting hitched - wooohooo :)

Javs and I had been left all but completely in the dark about the party. We had learned only that the girls decided to embrace the Valentine's theme since our available weekend ended up falling so close to V-day. The girls did such an amazing job with everything - I just have to share some of the fun details with all of you :) We walked in and were immediately greeted with a 'Congrats aud and javs' banner. It fit the casual and red/black/white theme they had going in the room just perfectly! And a spread of food that made my stomach growl :)

Probably my favorite details - they had set up two adorable stations to allow our guests to get in on the creative action. (1) A valentine making station (picture left) (2) Supplies for our guests to write me and Javs little Valentine's notes (picture right). I was so happy that so many of our guests jumped in on the fun and made some sweet Valentine's to take home :) And now Javs and I have a pile of adorable cards to read whenever wedding planning gets a bit stressful. (Okay - I'll admit that we already opened two because we were too excited to wait. I can tell already that the madlibs cards that were provided are sure to bring a resounding amount of laughter when read. Zach - yours we found particularly creative and hilarious ;)

Included in the decor were some adorable pomanders. I didn't get to hear about the full trauma that was creating these fluffy balls - but the rumors were that they were a bit of a challenge so I felt it was important to show the sucess they turned out to be :) And - so fun - the ladies had prepared a collage of pictures of me and javs. I never realized we took so many pictures togethers - but apparently we do! There were some really fun ones they included: sydney pics, the lincoln/ursula halloween, crab picking and dumbo :) Our guests (I hope) seemed to really enjoy looking at our silly shenanigans and we had a great time telling stories about what each picture was from. (The Lost party seemed to throw a lot of people off!)

In addition to all the fun decorations and activities - the food and drink were superb :) Fun Star Hill beer to get our guests excited for that Charlottesville wedding and a homemade menu to boot. While I won't make you hungry by sharing all of the delightful options - I will tell you that Kolaches made a special appearance at the party! My mom has been diligently working on her Kolache skills and was kind enough to bring a recent batch for our guests to sample. They were delish (and fit the V-day theme perfectly). Many of you recognized the treats and commented about how excited you were to try them :) It was super fun to hear some of my friends talking about a dessert that means so much to me. It made me all the more excited to give them out as a favor for all of our wedding guests :) Thanks again, Mom, for working so hard on them (and the meatballs that everyone ooo-ed and ahh-ed over)! I think the practice is really paying off :)

Javier and I both thought that it was such a wonderful party. We had a great time visiting and celebrating with friends. In the end, it really was the people that made everything come together - so a huge thank you to each of you that attended. We love you! And look forward to an equally enjoyable time at the wedding!

Andrea's Engagement Session blog!

now I know you have all be stalking Andrea's blog since my post yesterday....waiting with bated breath for the full post from our photographers on our engagement session...no? just me?

well either way - here it is! Click the link to see Andrea's post and some of her favorite shots! Javs and I are going to scour the 100+ photos she sent us from the session to share some of our favorites with you soon!

http://www.andreahubbell.com/blog/2012/2/8/audrey-javier-a-washington-dc-engagement.html

maybe we can convince Javs to do a post on his perspective of the engagement session experience :)

Sneak Peak --- > Engagement Session

Friends! Andrea posted a sneak peak of our engagement session on her blog last night :)

http://www.andreahubbell.com/blog/2012/2/6/audrey-javier.html

I hope that means she is almost done editing them and will send us more soon! Then we can share any awkwardness with you guys.

You can kind of see the awkwardness in the one on the left....I'm more smiling and laughing than kissing Javs back - but what can you do....

250 days to go!

Time is flying by already! Today marks only 250 days left until D-day :) - I know, it sounds like a lot, but trust me - its gonna fly by! I think we've certainly made some good progress so far:

- Venue = Ash Lawn Highlands check
- Photographer = Andrea Hubbell check
- Caterer = Harvest Moon check
- Bridesmaids = Isabel, Jessica, Kelsey check
- Groomsmen = Scott, Felipe check
- Wedding favors = kolace check
- Engagement Session = check

We absolutely still have some things to do. And some things in the not-so-distant-future, like:

- Music - finding some for our reception
- Florist - so that we'll have flowers
- Save the Date - design, ordering, printing, & sending
- Dress - apparently I need one - lot of decisions to be made about this...

and a multitude of other things plaguing my to do list....

So what have I learned so far? Whats my grand, and now experienced, bride advice?
- two things stick out so I guess I'll share those
*with the caveat that I am not a professional advice giver and have no idea if I'm going about this planning experience the way that you or anyone else should

**Advice Alert** Set aside 'wedding' time for you and the future better half.
Whats funny to me about this one, is that I thought we'd need to do the opposite back in October. I briefly mentioned to Javs right after we got engaged that we might want to think about setting 'wedding free' nights where we didn't talk about the wedding and just had a regular ole 'us' night. But now that we're a few months in, I'm learning that doing the opposite might help us keep wedding planning 1) less stressful and 2) extremely productive. What I'm finding is that we're so much more likely to fall into the 'regular ole us' routine each night of the week rather than talking/researching/discussing wedding planning. In some ways, I'm sure thats great! We're still us - The wedding hasn't taken over our lives = good things. But it does mean that we're often un(wedding)productive when we're together. We'd rather be hanging out, talking, cooking dinner, etc than researching invitation sites. I'm usually good at calling off a list of 'wedding to dos' for the evening right when I get home from work, but distractions quickly re-route us. I'm sure we would get a lot more done if we set aside one night a week or even every two weeks to really focus on wedding and check off some items from The list.

**Advice Alert** Savor every minute.
I'm sure this one isn't news to you and I'm certainly not its originator. Every bride tells you how fast the wedding day slips by, urging future brides to savor all the hugs and dances and moments. But what they don't remind you is to savor all the fun stuff that leads up to the big day. (Maybe they assume you remember the transitive property from school and therefore can make the connection on your own, but - hey - not all of us can make the jump.) I'm shocked at how quickly (in some ways) this planning time is going by. There are a lot of cool activities that brides get to participate in before the big day and I'm realizing that they're slipping by faster than I had hoped.
Like catering...I'll fully admit that picking a caterer was one of the more stressful aspects of planning so far. Its probably the biggest chunk of change we're dishing out to one vendor and because of how Ash Lawn works - they'll be supplying us with most of our equipment for the day. Needless to say, I was anxious to get a caterer on the books and once we did - I felt a huge relief! But then I also realized - it meant the end of tastings for us. How often do you get to go check out good food - prepared completely for your pleasure and for free! Both of our tastings were so fun and I've since realized that - the catering part of planning is now over...no more tastings.
Same deal with our engagement session. It went by so fast! and was so much fun! Now when I look at other engagement photos on blogs - I realize that - that part is already over for us. So while its sometimes stressful, and always exciting to check off the 'to dos' - enjoy the 'to dos' too because they're all part of the experience! I mean how often do you get to pick out chairs? So I'd say - sit down. Wriggle your bottom around for a bit. Take pictures. Take pictures of you in the chairs. Of the chairs without you. Debate color options only until the moment that its still fun and then quickly decide and don't think about it again because really its just a chair and you're the only one who is sweating the color. And if nothing else - enjoy that you've been graced with the opportunity to pick out chairs for your wedding- because it won't happen again.