Point of Clarification - Year

There has been a lot of miscommunications about when the wedding is.  Since we are still working on the wedding website, please let us clarify this specific point now: 

Rattazzi-Davidson Wedding

2011

Dear Wedding Photographers,

I started looking through some photographers' websites the other day to see if any jumped out for the wedding.  All of the photographers listed on Sundara's website got ruled out in less than 5 minutes.  Why?  Well, an Offbeat Bride contributor posted the rant for me and the comments pulled in the full picture: http://offbeatbride.com/2010/07/dear-wedding-photographers 

Indoor vs Outdoor

We, as a culture, trend toward spending more time indoors than we prefer to do.  The corporate/working culture has a lot to do with it.  When I started thinking about the type of wedding I'd like, I kept ending up at "outdoors".  I wanted fresh grass with pretty trees in the background and fresh air.  Only recently did I snap back into reality in realizing what time of year we're planning to get married (I really like our date) and what that means for the grass, trees, temperatures, and hours of daylight.  Now I am 100% on-board with an all indoor wedding.

One of the biggest concerns I had with speculating on an outdoor wedding was having a backup plan for bad weather.  Would tents be enough?  What if the ground gets muddy?  Would we need to pay for a backup whether it was at the same venue or a different one?  How much would that cost?  Oy!


I feel very comfortable with the decision to go indoors.  It takes out a lot of variables that I could see myself getting worked up over during the week leading up to the wedding.  (Former softball teammates may recall my obsession with the Weather Channel)  The decision to go indoors may also help cut down on a lot of the rental expenses: tents, chairs, tables, etc.  Some places do provide these thing as part of their cost, but that's one of many reasons they're $$$. 

It only took a few minutes of pondering what was more important to me: the date or the landscape.  As I mentioned before, I really like our date.  I would be unhappy if we had to move the date since it seems so right.  So date: 1, landscape: 0. 

Since I feel like I keep teasing you about the date, I will give you a wedsite update.  We have all of the pictures for the wedding party and are now just finalizing our write ups.

Vacancy Variety

VACANCY

After a pleasant wedding conversation with the MOG today, Doug and I are curious to hear from you folks who have already planned your weddings for some perspective.

The topic: Hotel(s) for guests

Do you reserve rooms at one hotel where the wedding party/bride/groom will be

OR

Do you reserve rooms at two hotels (one pricey, one less pricey)

OR

Do you provide several (3 or more) options

So, dear readers, please join our conversation.  What options did you provide your guests and what was your thought process/reasoning for that decision.

Wonder Woman Update

To close the book on Mom's story, I am pleased to update that her biopsy results gave her a clean bill of health!  The extra mass was not cancerous so there is nothing extra to worry about.  She is cancer free!

You Could Be My Flamingo

'cause pink is the new kind of lingo.

Douglas will be happy I'm throwing some Aerosmith in my post.

So this past Sunday was our engagement party that wasn't an engagement party. (Special thanks to Sharon and Jane)  It was also a chance to celebrate both Douglas and Louis (FBIL#1) achieving their masters degrees.  A bunch of Doug's Charlotte friends from high school were in town for a wedding so it made it really easy to get that group together to hang out.  A few other out of town folks were able to make it (shout outs to Monika, Carla, and Liz!)

As you read in my previous post, I was looking to wear pink to play into the theme.  I soon found out that everyone attempted to have some pink on their person.

 
 So LOTS of pink at the party!

As you can see, I didn't go full pink (you never go full pink).  I decided to go with a purple tank instead of my pink Coheed t-shirt just to break things up and make it more me.

Mmmmmm, Sharon cake.  (Sharon makes great cakes)  The green and pink is a graduation cap for the Masters.  Check out the detail on the tassel!

This pink beauty had white trim, yellow Superman/Supergirl emblems, and a huge glowing pink ring in the middle. 

 Speaking of rings, you can probably spy the actual engagement ring on the table.  I actually had 3 rings that day!

Oh la la. 

As usual, you see my focus is on the delicious desserts (can you blame me?).  It was great hanging out with everyone on a very toasty Sunday.  Half of the group got to watch the finale of the World Cup while the rest caught up.  Pups provided entertainment - including Kaylee chasing bubbles.  So, as Jon Stewart says "and here it is, your moment of zen."

An Engagement Party That's Anything But...

Tomorrow there is an engagement party, that's not an engagement party, being thrown for us.  It will also celebrate Douglas and Louis (FBIL#1) getting their masters degrees.  So why is this not really an engagement party?

Supposedly, at some point, someone overheard Douglas utter the words "we don't want an engagement party" and thus, the idea of having a non-engagement party was born.  The party was penciled in for this weekend because a ton of folks were going to already be in town for a wedding today.

How is this a non-engagement party, again?
This is as much as I know at the moment:

• Pink cake (Sharon needed to use up the rest of her pink fondant)
• Pink utensils
• Pink napkins
• No veil
• No bridey or groomy or wedding-y stuff

Now, I can already hear some of you going "why pink?  I thought Crystal hated pink."  Welcome to the "non" part...as in non-Crystal.  Since this party is all being done in a very light-hearted and fun manner, I decided to play into it and go non-Crystal.  With all of my travels lately, I didn't make much time to actually go shopping for my party outfit.  That left me an hour or so today to run out and shop.

Since most folks who will be at the party tomorrow are A) at a wedding tonight or B) probably won't read this until later in the week, I feel I can share with you my dress trials at Marshalls.

First, this little dandy I came across in Goodwill earlier today.  It was a size 2.  Uh....no.  (btw, it's a skirt.  Douglas thought it was a leg of pants)

Ok, dress time.  Dress #1 - a light pink summery number.

Did not like.

Dress #2 was a long hot pink number that was pretty much just a curtain.

It looked nice on the hanger.  Rule #1: never judge an outfit on how it looks on the hanger.  Ok, dress #3 with a little accessory the girls found for me (the girls being Monika and her friend Carla who I ran into while they were on a separate shopping expedition).

Now, the top is slightly too big so I am going to end up pulling my dress up all day.  That's what I get for waiting until the last minute and not giving myself time to turn it into a halter top or add simple straps.  So now there is one question left...how will I do my hair?!

UPDATE: after getting home after a fun night and retrying stuff on, I've decided to go with the backup skirt (not shown) and either my pink Coheed shirt or another cool top (it's gonna be a hot one tomorrow).  So, pictures to come in the next few days.

I Love CakeWrecks

This post seemed fitting to share on this blog.  I love CakeWrecks.com and read it every day.  Today's post was about wedding wrecks.  As you will read, these are real cakes, done by real professionals, that real brides really paid for to have served at their weddings (really).

Who You Callin' 'Pro'?

And if that wasn't enough:

When Brides Have No Budget (Or Taste)

Enjoy!