Stumbling Down the Aisle

Tomorrow is the big day.

2008-10-31T06:56:00.000-07:00

I'm sick.

Wednesday I came down with a bad cold which I have been fighting full force. Here it is Friday and I'm still pretty sick. I look sick. This was not what I envisioned the day before my wedding to be. I'm walking around the house in pajamas that are 3 sizes too big, face covered with an acne mask. I always break out when I get sick and this time it did it in a big way. My lips also got so dry they split open and bled. That should be fantastic for the wedding photos.

My hair is kind of thrown into a ponytail...I'm too tired to fix it proper. All I need now are two kleenex jammed into each nostril to complete the package.

Today was supposed to be the day I ran all my errands, bought all the food, and it looks like I'm going to have to do that all in slow motion. I swear that I won't breathe on the cheese ball.

I hope everything gets done that I'd like to get done...if not c'est la vie!

Everything will fall into place somehow right??

I can't wait to see everyone tomorrow. I'm so nervous. I hope I'm feeling well enough to actually enjoy the day. I'm now going to hop in the shower and try to make myself resemble a human being.

The show must go on!

xoxo,

Lisa

Two Weeks

2008-10-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

In just over two weeks Lisa will be making me the happiest and most fortunate man in the world. I'm so excited and can't wait!

After counting the RSVP's that we've received it looks like our wedding will be just as we had hoped it would be; intimate, cozy and graced with people that we love and admire.

Thanks again to all attending and for those of you who can't be with us, we'll certainly be thinking of you!

Brian

We're getting there...

2008-10-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Brian and I (pictured left) got our marriage license on Wednesday afternoon. Brian seriously was so excited. It was really cute. He about skipped into the county clerks office, even though he'll deny it.

Planning this wedding has been a lot more difficult than I originally anticipated. I'm a perfectionist and what that means is a loose a lot of sleep thinking about details.

Krissie was trying to convince me the other night that all the little things I was obsessing over don't matter in the grand scheme of things. She's right. I know that but still I lie in bed wondering how many table cloths I will need for the food tables vs. the actual seated tables. I know that no one at my wedding would even care what the table cloths looked like or if there were even table cloths on the tables.

I've been a little sad the last couple weeks. I don't think any of my family will be able to make it. I hadn't received an RSVP card back from my brother and was getting worried. I emailed him yesterday and he said he was unable to get the time off from work. My Mom is looking into flights but with high gas prices and an economic crash it seems flights are way more expensive than they should be.

I feel really stupid admitting this but I am scared to walk down the aisle. I'm not afraid of getting married it's just the physical act of walking down the aisle. I'm not the type of girl that has an "all eyes on me" attitude. My father passed away years ago and I'll miss having him there to hold my hand. I have some mixed emotions going on right now. I'm so happy to be getting married to Brian but knowing that some people I love won't be there makes me very sad.

I've always been very independent, ever since I was a little girl. I guess I have to do it alone. I'll be fine. Time to put on my big girl pants and deal with it.

It looks like it's going to be an even smaller wedding than I originally thought. It's almost the deadline for rsvp cards to come back to us and we've gotten very few back. The ones that we did receive were marked yes but there were only about 5 cards returned. We haven't had any declining yet. I need to figure out how much food I need to account for and we also need to tell the venue how many tables and chairs we need. So if you are unable to come please let me know that as well. Thanks!

You can always email me to confirm as well. I know Brian's Mother sent her rsvp back to us but we never received it. So either people aren't sending them back or every single rsvp but 5 were lost in the mail.

Otherwise I've been spending my free time watching Bridezillas.

I'm using it as a "what not to do" guide.

I'm about to go wake Brian up and convince him that he wants an Einsteins bagel.

xoxo,

Lisa

2008-09-29T21:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks so much to everyone who has dropped their RSVP cards in the mail! This will make it so much easier for Lisa and I to determine how many tables and chairs we need to request from the Travis County Parks department and how much food we need to prepare. We're definitely keeping it simple and "snacky" because we want to spend as much time as we can visiting with everyone. The less time we keep everybody anchored to a "place setting" is more time that we can "circulate" and enjoy hugging and shaking hands!

One of the things that we're both excited about is that our wedding is going to be a small gathering of immediate family and friends. You are the most special people in our lives and we're thrilled and honored that you want to join us on the day that we're married.

Thanks Again,

Brian

Clarification

2008-09-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

Invitations have started to get to where they are supposed to go. We've received one RSVP back in the mail today. That was surreal. I flipped the envelope over a few times and finally was like "Yep, that's for us"

I'm writing a quick post to clarify the "Number of adults attending" phrase on the rsvp cards.

We are asking that only adults come to the wedding. It's going to help cut costs for us immensely and also keep the day a little more sane. We struggled with this back and forth and certainly didn't want to offend anyone but this is going to be a very small wedding with a few close friends and family.

We also figure this may give you folks out there some time to be away from your children and have a nice evening to reconnect with one another.

You know now that I think of it weddings happen to make some couples feel a little "amorous"

You may want to hire the sitter for the whole night.

xoxo,

Lisa

Invitations...

2008-09-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

The invitations are finally done. (Thanks, Nisha.)

So now the tricky part is getting everyone's address to get these bad boys out. I know they're a little late but we're planning an ultra small ceremony anyway. It's just going to be really close friends and some family. I'm thinking 30 people maximum.

We'll probably work on invitations today. These will be mailed in the next couple days. I figure this is more of a formality than anything.

I'm really happy with the invitations I choose. They fit the theme really well and I didn't go broke buying them. There was an invitation that I saw online that I really loved but when I emailed the company to get a quote on them it came up close to $600. I am not even kidding. I've always had champagne tastes on a Boone's Farm budget.

I've managed to work with it.

-Lisa

2008-09-16T09:10:00.001-07:00

I think I may have actually managed to find an officiant. Lisa and I wanted a ceremony that was strictly secular and I'm hoping I've found someone who can provide that.

I can't decide what I'm going to wear. This is an amazingly special day for me so I don't want to dress too casually but considering that ours will be a less than traditional wedding I don't want to dress too formally, either. I suppose I should take advantage of the internet and consider my options.

I *just* finished the text for the invitations, RSVP cards and directions to the venue and emailed them to Lisa. If they meet with her approval then folks should start receiving their invitations next week!

Brian

Low budget meets high style?

2008-08-17T13:21:00.000-07:00

I'm finding that a low budget wedding takes work and a lot of creativity. I feel fortunate that I have a friend who is keeping her eye out for me when she's out and about. Thanks, Nisha!

I don't think we're going to hire a photographer. It's really expensive and I'm trying to keep this low cost. I still have a house to pay off and a kid to send to college down the road. I do think it's a really important aspect of the wedding but I'm going to cross my fingers and hope plenty of people will bring a digital camera, have a pretty good eye for photography, and be willing to e-mail some copies my way. I'm looking at you, Amy.

Brian found this fantastic website online where you can publish your own books and we're going to do one after the wedding is done instead of a traditional wedding album. I'll probably make an extra so that Alex can have one when he gets older. So point of the story is I need some really great pictures.

Brian and I have been going back and forth on cake ideas. We finally agreed upon a nice but low cost cake idea. We're going to do a cupcake tower, which was our original idea but we were unsure of flavors, costs, etc. Today I talked to the baker at HEB (local grocery store for you folks back home) and asked how much I could customize their cupcakes. She automatically tried to sell me a traditional white tiered wedding cake. I explained what I wanted and the fact that we didn't want to go traditional and she got really excited about doing something different. We liked the price we were quoted so we've got that end of it covered.

We now have to contact the parks department to see when we can get into the building so I can get a better idea of how I'll decorate, how many tables and chairs are available, and what size they are. The building is brand new and they will not allow any tacks, nails, etc in their walls. There is no way that I would pound a bunch of nails into there walls anyway but not even a tiny thumb tack??? This girl needs a plan. I think that means that all of my decorations will have to be on the table or floor. My main means of decoration is candles. They can make anything look better.

My next big project is figuring out music. I have a pretty spiffy IPOD that Brian bought for me awhile back and it's filled with music. I think I have plenty of songs, and I bought a great big band swing CD that is perfect. My question is how do I get my IPOD to belt out enough sound to fill up a mid sized venue? I need some tech help here.

On a semi-related side note I'm considering walking down the aisle to a Pogues song, simply because it's my wedding and I can....it's either that or Iggy Pop. I told you I don't want to go too traditional.

Okay so that's what I got for the moment. I think the next post will have plenty of pictures.

xoxo,

Lisa

P.S. My parents are the above photo on their wedding day.

2008-08-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

November 1st seems to be a perfect date for Lisa and I to be married.

Lisa is a Vermonter and common consensus is that there is simply no place in America more beautiful in Autumn than Vermont. I'm looking forward to the day that Lisa can show me around Burlington, Stowe and other towns in her home state when the fall colors are at their most vibrant. It's truly one of the most wonder inspiring places I've ever visited and I'm eager to return. Thank you, Vermont, for your breathtaking beauty and for the woman that I love.

I'm a Native Texan and Dia de los Muertos is an occasion of profound reverence among Latinos in my home state. It is a day when families take the time to gather and remember their family members who have made the transition from this life to the next, celebrate the lives of the departed, and reflect upon the impact that those who have passed on have had on those of us who remain in this world. This is a particularly important aspect of our wedding because our respective Fathers, Jack Yates and Loyal Ploof, have transcended this life but will both certainly be with us on our special day.

While it will be represented subtly, the significance of Halloween in our choice for the date of our wedding is undeniable. Lisa and I *love* Halloween and we embrace the "camp" of the night. Because we're marrying the weekend of Halloween there are two important words in our reception: Candy Bar!

See you on November 1st!

Brian

I finally gave in...

2008-08-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

Brian and I have set a date. November 1st of this year. He finally won.

It's coming up fast and I have so much to do. I thought that since a lot of our friends and family are out of town, state, and maybe even the country that I would start this blog to chronicle the process of getting ready for a wedding, especially one with such a time crunch.

I'm not sure how much Brian will post online because he's a man and they inherently don't care about special occasions unless there is a keg present. Okay he's really not the typical man. He was quite excited to see the shoes I bought to go with my dress today. Oh I didn't mention...I got my dress. That was pretty much the catalyst for the chaos that is now my life. I eat, sleep, and dream wedding details.

We knew we wanted a fall wedding. Brian said he didn't want to wait another year. I let him have it. This has been a pretty long engagement, I'll admit.

I'm getting way off track. So we set the date of November 1st(Dia De Los Muertos).

We knew we wanted a fall wedding, or maybe that was just me? We both love Halloween and Dia de los muertos. We're certainly not the most traditional couple ever but we do know how to have fun and that is what we want out of this experience.

I know that fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. Being Vermont born and raised Autumn was just a magical time for me. I loved everything about it. I loved the smell in the air, I loved watching the leaves change colors, I loved brisk fall walks, and I especially loved everything you could possibly create with pumpkin.

I'm so far away from home in a sense that I needed this day to have that connection with home. I'm going to attempt to create the feel of back home so I can share it all with my guests. It's really important to me to get that vibe across.

So that's all I have for my first official post. It's getting late and I need to get ready for bed...you know so I can lie in bed and think about flower arrangements.

xoxo,

Lisa