Bride Junk

This post was going to be all about the vases I spray painted last weekend, but unfortunately, my camera’s SD card broke and I’m still trying to extract the pictures off of it (this also means I lost the Philly Bee Meet pics, sorry ladies!).

So instead, I thought I’d share some of the other projects I’ve been taking on lately that haven’t involved my camera!

First up is our little logo people:

Now that I’m looking at it, the text is a little off center, but you get the idea!  This little logo will be featured on our out-of-town boxes, our guide to Philly, and a few other paper pieces.  I got this image from istockphoto and edited in Illustrator.  Easy peasy!

Our thank-you card design (simple, but effective):

Our menu cards (the food is subject to change–we have a tasting next week!)

Our little wine coasters/tags that we’ll make for each wine we choose to serve:

It may be a $12 bottle, but it’s delicious to me!

Our programs:

This is the outside of the program (will be folded) and to the left, we’ll sign each program.

This is the inside, but we’ll let our guests know everyone’s names

It’s still a work in progress!

The Philly Guide we’ll be putting in our OOT boxes:

(side 1)

(side 2)

Hopefully this wonderful little map that I found on VisitPhilly.com and edited to include our favorite spots will help everyone navigate their way around the city!

Our table numbers (nothing ground breaking or exciting, but still!)

I’ll spare you from listing all 12 of the numbers…you get the idea.

So there you have it!  There are other pieces I’m still chipping away at, but it feels good to be able to cross so many off of my list.  It’s been a faster-going process than I thought it would be since I’ve kept the same basic design for each piece.  And believe it or not, I’m still in love with my colors and I’m not sick of them yet!

Are you designing your paper products to match each other?  Have you found it easier to get them all out of the way at once or chip away slowly and steadily?

No?  That’s not how it goes?

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Coulda fooled me.  I’d like to think of my wedding mantra as:

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Or, in my case…cry a lot.  At least as of late.

We are 17 days from our civil ceremony and 37 days from our big wedding.  Yeah.  I think it’s safe to say that Mr. Socks and I are feeling the pressure.  Snapping a little at each other, me bursting into tears at any given moment (Usually after saying something like “why can’t people just be NICE to me??”), Mr. Socks freaking out every Sunday about all of the things we should have done the previous week…

We’re two big messes.

RSVP’s are supposed to be in soon and we’re missing quite a few.  Like…the difference between having 45 people at the wedding and 75 people at the wedding.  I know many brides can relate to this frustration!  We aren’t sure how many of these people will actually come, either.  It’s much more nerve-wracking to not even be able to guess who is coming and who won’t be able to make it!

Many of our cute RSVP’s that ARE coming in are rather…blank.  I know, right?? Who wouldn’t want to fill it out?

Even the front where we left room for a happy little note?  Blank.

Come on, people!!  I know that it’s a little different/untraditional, that you’re busy (or devoid of a personality in some cases), but seriously??  I’d even be happy with a “Congratulations!” but no such luck.  We’ve gotten a few great responses, but more often than not…they’re coming in blank.  It makes me feel like no one will appreciate any other details in the wedding, and honestly, my feelings are quite hurt over this.

I know that people like safe and traditional things, but are most of our guests so unwilling to roll with the punches and have fun?  It’s not an exceedingly difficult questionnaire that would take more than three minutes to fill out!  It’s not like these are distant relatives we sent them to, either!  These are our closest blood relatives.  I’ve shed more tears over this than I’d really like to admit, and it’s gotten me pretty down.

I’m trying to focus on positive things, but still…I’m getting that naggy voice in the back of my head that keeps whispering “nobody cares…nobody cares” every time I think of a detail I might love and that others won’t notice or appreciate.  I’m spending way too much time and money on these details to only have them be appreciated by you guys, my wonderful blog readers, right?

I love my family.  Mr. Socks loves his family.  But right now, we’re pretty bummed about their reaction to our RSVPs.

Did a cute idea you love backfire with your relatives?  How did you handle it?

Just in case you missed the last post or have been undecided on coming, I wanted to shoot a reminder to all Philly area Bees that we’re meeting this Saturday, August 28th @ 1:00pm at Max Brenner at 1500 Walnut St. (15th St. between Walnut and Locust).  Check their website out at www.maxbrenner.com.

I must finalize our count today for our reservation, so please RSVP by sending me a PM or by responding with a definite yes on this thread on the Boards.

Trust me, you don’t wanna miss this!

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Can’t wait to meet you guys!

I’ve already indicated how incredibly happy we are with our engagement photos, so I wanted to lend a little insight to how we got the results that we wanted!

1. Don’t be afraid to use props

I have to admit, I felt REALLY silly telling people that I was bringing a white shag carpet to a vineyard for some photos.  I was even afraid of what our photographer would think of all of my props–will he think that it’s an annoyance, that it’ll take away from the photos?  That maybe they’ll get in the way?  I was very nervous about it being “weird” because, you know, not everyone looks at wedding blogs all day like I do.

Luckily, Georgi was very open to using the props and we had so much fun with them!  I think that they made for some of our favorite shots and that our engagement photos just wouldn’t be the same without them.

2. Bring a friend or two

Since we were using so many props, I thought that having a “propmaster” on hand would be helpful.  Boy am I glad BM Jess and her boyfriend Chris came along!

They were fantastic to have on hand!  They set up our picnic while we were taking shots in the vineyard, which saved us time.  Jess told me when my clothes were bunched up or when my hair looked funky, and Chris…oh sweet, wonderful, tall Chris!  Chris helped Georgi with many of the shots once the sun started setting by holding up lights or reflectors to get the right amount of light on our faces!  He was so willing to help, and honestly, many of our sunset shots wouldn’t have been what they are without Chris holding up a white umbrella and a flash in the background.

Chris also ran a long way back to Mr. Socks’ car to get his guitar when we forgot it!

Here’s Chris making the journey back to our picnic site.  We’re glad he got the guitar since it led to my all-time favorite pic of us!

We were so thankful to have both of them on hand.  We took them out to dinner that night to thank them for their help, and it was so much fun to have them there with us to make us laugh!  Thanks Jess and Chris!

3. If you can spring for it, get your make-up and hair done

I have a confession to make.  One of the reasons I put off our engagement shoot so long was because I was afraid I’d look terrible in the photos.  I can be pretty self conscious sometimes and I was just terrified of hating every photo with me in it.  I went to Bernard’s Salon and Spa in Cherry Hill, NJ and got a blow-out and a makeup application.  I walked out of there feeling much more confident and beautiful than I ever thought I would!  And the results?

Some of the best photos of me I’ve ever seen!  I loved my eye makeup and I loved how natural my face looked!  I definitely recommend going in for professional beautification just to put a little extra confidence behind your smile.

4. Plan, plan, plan!

I took this photo session pretty seriously–Mr. Socks and I don’t take a lot of photos of ourselves, and I thought this would be the best opportunity to get some high quality photos to share to friends and family and to really have something to be proud of!

Mr. Socks and I tried on all of our possible outfits the night before, picked out what looked good together, and spent wayyyy too long looking at ourselves in the mirror while posing.

We also got all of our props ready the night before so we wouldn’t forget anything.

5. Over Prepare

We brought a fourth change of clothes, extra blankets, we brought a tarp if it rained (for our butts to stay dry), a cute umbrella, shoe shine, extra headbands and jewelry, extra props that we never used, a Tide pen, and a million and a half other little things that gave me peace of mind to know were backups!

6. Ask for what you want

It helped that Georgi was so laid back and fun to work with, but if I was dying to get a particular shot, I would ask for it.  The week before our shoot, I sent Georgi some links to the engagement photos I was inspired by and told him that they were the “feel” we were going for with our pictures.  He understood exactly what we wanted and delivered way beyond our expectations!

Sigh…yes.  Georgi definitely delivered beyond our expectations!!

All photos from Georgi Anastasov!

Do you have any engagement photo tips you’d like to share?

The next batch of photos are some of my favorites from our shoot!  I was so glad we decided to bring the props we did–they made for fun, interesting photos and mostly cut down on general photo awkwardness since we had something other than the camera to focus on!  If you’re nervous around the camera, I highly recommend using different props–it made the experience much more fun and Mr. Socks and I felt much more comfortable during these photos.

Awesome picnic setup courtesy of BM Jess and her boyfriend Chris who came along to help!

Miss Socks: “More.  More.  A little more.”

(ps–see his little flower?  you’ll see more posts on this soon!)

Mr. Socks: “I think I love you more than wine.  I think.”

Miss Socks: “Oh, honey!  You’re so sweet!”

Mr. Socks: “I must impress you with my wine knowledge!”

Miss Socks: “I didn’t know you could read!  This is the first time I’ve seen you with a book!”

It may appear that our noses have fused together here, but we do, in fact, have separate ones.

See?

This may be my favorite photo of us of all time.  ALL TIME!  Serenade me, Mr. Socks!

A perfect…pear?

Yes, I had to go there.

Sun flare is my bff.

Mr. Socks: “This could totally be  a Citizen Watch ad.  Totally.”

Mr. Socks: “I’m glad I’m super secure with my masculinity right now.”

Miss Socks: “Ooooh pretty!”

Miss Socks: “There’s grass up my skirt.  It itches.”

Mr. Socks: “You deserve it after making me throw pink petals in the air.”

Miss Socks: “I really hope the sky looks cool right now because this pose is uncomfortable.”

Miss Socks: “Holy Moly, could we really be cool enough to do a silhouette shot?”

Mr. Socks: “I wish I had a cowboy hat right now.  Doesn’t this feel like a photo where I need a cowboy hat?”

All photos courtesy of Georgi Anastasov.

So there you have some of my fave pics!  We are so incredibly happy with all of the photos–there are over 250 photos from our session with Georgi!  I highly recommend him to any Philly area bride!

Did you use props during your engagement shoot?  Did they help you relax and be yourself?

Wow, does our photographer Georgi work FAST!  Mr. Socks and I had our engagement shoot eleven days ago and Georgi posted photos to his blog already!  We are so, so happy with them and we can’t wait to work with him on our wedding day!

Heritage Station Winery was the place we ended up taking our photos.  They were super accommodating and let us run all around the vineyard to get the best shots possible.  Heritage Station has vineyards, farm animals, pumpkin patches and other pick-your-own produce patches.  We went on a Friday evening when there weren’t many people around and it worked out wonderfully!   Heritage Station does tented weddings and has some pretty decent wine, so if you’re in the Philly/NJ area, go to Mullica Hill, NJ to check them out!

On to the photos!

Mr. Socks: “Miss Socks made too many bouquets!  What do I do with them?”

Though it looks like a sea creature is living in my flowers, it is not.  I just thought those tentacle flowers were fun!

Why, hello yellow wedding shoes!  I’m so glad I got more use out of you!

I was slightly afraid this pose would be too “prom” but I loved the way it turned out!

“Miss Socks, why did you make me wear pink to match you?”

Mr. Socks: “I don’t know what to do with my hands so I’ll give the air a handshake”

“This purple fuzzy thing looks tasty.  After this photo is taken I might eat it.  Nom nom”

Miss Socks: “Girls are supposed to do the foot pop, right?”

Mr. Socks: “You look ridiculous.”

Then we got to do some vineyard frolicking with a change of clothes and setting!

Miss Socks: “I love your Burberry tie”

Mr. Socks: “I think you have an obsession with matching”

Definitely an obsession with matching.

Running full speed with flowers through a vineyard?  It’s what I was made to do.

Mr. Socks: “Please don’t let your sea creature bouquet eat me”

Miss Socks: “Hush up and kiss me!”

All photos are by the wonderfully talented Georgi Anastasov!  We had so much fun during the whole shoot at Heritage Station!

Next up will be our vineyard picnic and the sun finally peeked out!

Did you have fun during your engagement pictures?

Attention Philly Area Bees!!!!

We will have a meetup this Saturday, August 28th @ 1:00pm at Max Brenner at 1500 Walnut St. (15th St. between Walnut and Locust).  Check their website out at www.maxbrenner.com.

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Come prepared to eat, drink and generally stuff your face with their delicious food and chocolate!

Please RSVP by sending me a PM or by responding with a definite yes on this thread on the Boards.

Hope to see you there!

Mr. Socks and I get asked that a lot.  Our wedding day is in October (10/10/10) but our actual, legal marriage day is going to be in mid-September at three o’clock in the afternoon on a Saturday, performed by the mayor of Haddonfield, NJ.

Why, you ask?

Okay.  Here’s the deal:  I don’t want a stranger to stand up in front of us, our friends and family, and talk to us, a young random couple they don’t know from Jack & Jill, about our marriage.  Our wedding day is so intensely personal to me and Mr. Socks that we just thought it would be…weird.  If we were religious and there was a particular priest or minister that we loved, knew and trusted, this would have been a super easy call.  But since we aren’t religious, we kind of just thought…well, we know ourselves and our wants and needs for our marriage better than anyone…why not DIY the ceremony too?

The thought of who would deliver the ceremony then became our next question.  We didn’t have to ponder long–we have six wonderful people who love and care about us enough to stand by our side on our wedding day…maybe they’d even be willing to speak at our ceremony as well!

I didn’t want to make any or all of them get a marriage license though since I’ve heard horror stories of some friends “marrying” a couple only for it to be invalid!  I wanted to make sure we had all of our legal ducks in a row in regards to our marriage status according to the State of New Jersey.  A civil ceremony was just the answer.

We will be inviting our parents and our bridal party (our siblings unfortunately will not be able to make it).  If our bridal party would like to come to the ceremony, they are more than welcome to come, but to us, it’s really the 10/10/10 ceremony that will matter to us.  That will be the day that we declare our love and commitment for each other on our own terms in front of our family and friends, and that means the world to me.  The civil ceremony is simply a legal formality in order to get there.

I don’t think this makes a lot of sense to some people, but that’s okay.  I don’t mind if people don’t consider our October wedding to be our “real” wedding since the only thing that matters is that we view it to be our “real” wedding.

I am excited for both ceremonies though!  I have a wonderful dress for the civil ceremony (this one I WON’T be revealing–you’ll see it soon enough!).  My dress for the civil ceremony is very much the opposite of any dress I looked at for our October wedding–it’s flowy and a very Grecian style that I’ve never worn before, and I love it!

Are you having a civil ceremony before a larger wedding?  How did your friends and family react to your decision?

This past weekend, Mr. Socks and I got together with most of our bridal party and their significant others (we have three bridesmaids and three groomsmen) at our wedding venue, Ladder 15!

From left to right:  Lauren, Groomsman TJ, Mr. Socks, Groomsman Jay, Jill, Chris, and Bridesmaid Jess! (We missed you BM Lea, GM Matt, Sister Socks and BIL Socks!)

Some of them hadn’t seen the space yet, so it was wonderful to show it off to them!  Seriously, I can’t even tell you how much I love Ladder 15.  It’s so nice to be able to visit our venue any time we want, grab some grub and drinks and get ourselves SO pumped up for the wedding.  The staff is always so kind to us, they really make us feel welcome, and they’re excited for our wedding as well.  It’s a very good feeling–and so valuable to have people like that to work with!

Not only did we get to chow on delicious food and sip some yummy craft beers, it was so nice to get everyone together to fill them in on the upcoming events before the wedding.

I asked if everyone in our bridal party would feel comfortable each speaking in our ceremony.  I don’t know how much I’ve gone into this decision yet with the Hive, so I’ll get down to the nitty gritty soon, but in lieu of an officiant on our wedding day, we wanted each member of our bridal party to deliver our ceremony since they know and care about us the most–more than any officiant we could round up would.

Our bridal party is completely on board with the idea and are so kind to be willing to speak at our wedding!  We will be putting the ceremony together ourselves, borrowing heavily from Mrs. Cherry Pie’s ceremony, as well as snippets from a few other places and from our hearts, of course.

Mr. Socks and I WILL be getting legally married though via a small civil ceremony, so don’t worry!  More on that later!

Will your bridal party be participating in your ceremony more than average?  Were they on board with your wishes?

On Friday afternoon, as I was driving to Heritage Station Winery where we were going to take our engagement photos, it was raining.  The whole way there.

I contemplated cancelling or pushing the session back, but kept on driving with the hope the little rain cloud wouldn’t follow.

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Oh, Bother.

But as soon as I got to Heritage Station, it stopped raining and it was wonderfully (miraculously) mid-seventies without an ounce of humidity weighing down my newly blown-out hair!  It was overcast, but again…with Georgi Anastasov as our photographer, I wasn’t too concerned:

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So we took most of our photos under the overcast skies, but as the sun was setting, it peeked out from the clouds and I got the sunset pictures I was DYING to get!  Wanna see a sneak peek that bridesmaid Jess took with my phone while we were in a peach tree?

I cannot WAIT to get Georgi’s photos back–he said we’ll get them in about two weeks and I couldn’t be more excited!

Did the weather affect your photos?  Did you have a back-up or did you reschedule?