Well...Have You Sent Yours Yet?

Once out in the world, our RSVPs started steadily pouring in, between 2 to 4 each day for the past 10 days. I suppose the natural progression is to get a lot right away, then nothing for a while, then many more right around the RSVP deadline. Since we didn't have any in the mail yesterday or today, I think we've hit that mid-point lull.

This is our RSVP card clothesline. Is your card hanging there? Don't assume "Oh, they know I'm coming, so I don't need to send it!" Even if we know you'll be there, we still want your beautiful response gracing this line, so drop it in the mail! We've only received about 30 responses from the nearly 100 people that we've invited, so send yours in and you can feel good knowing that you are helping alleviate my fears that no one will come!

Weekend Update

Now begins the crunch -- just 40 days to go! Both JT and I knew that after this past week, it was gonna be nothing but appointments and errands, so we had scheduled this weekend to be filled with only fun stuff. Like a sailing trip around San Diego Bay with JT's parents. Little did I know that much more had been planned for me.

My two friends at work had warned me about a special surprise on Saturday, though they gave me very little indication of what that surprise would be. They simply told me to be ready at my house at 11 a.m., at which point they picked me up and whisked me away for an afternoon at the spa! It was pretty darn awesome, and exactly what I needed after a stressful summer. After a massage, a eucalyptus steam, and some poolside cocktails, they dropped me off at home.

But the fun didn't end there. Later that night, JT and I showed up for what I thought was going to be quiet night at our friends' house only to find a surprise party waiting for me. While the guys hung out at home, the girls whisked me out the door and down the street to Lips, a drag dinner theater in North Park. Much hilarity ensued. I told my friend Laura that she could take pictures so long as they didn't end up on the internet. Of course, here I am now sharing a few with you...but only a few.

I'm not a big fan of tiaras...so they got me a really tiny one!

These shots tasted terrible, by the way.

Come Sunday, we hit the seas with JT's folks for a gorgeous sail around the bay. After all the excitement of the previous day, it was a fantastic way to finish off the weekend.

Now...off to the races! Figuratively, of course, since racing season is over.

In Which I Publically Vent My Fears

Six weeks this Saturday -- that's how long we have until the big day. With it so close, I'm starting to get overwhelmed by fear. Not of marriage or any of that, but of the many things that could go wrong. My biggest fear was that my sister wouldn't be able to attend my wedding. Now that it seems that won't be the case (thankfully!), my brain is being held hostage by lots of tiny little fears. So in the interest "maybe if I share them, they won't happen," here's my current list of wedding fears:

-No one will come.
-Those who do come won't have a good time.
-The Ipod or PA won't work at the reception.
-The chairs or flowers or cake or whatever won't be set up on time.
-Our wedding party or families won't be ready on time.
-I won't be ready on time.
-We'll forget some small but important detail, like chalk for the chalkboards.
-It will be really hot on the day of the wedding (interestingly, I am less concerned about rain. I find rain to be fun).
-Our "first look" won't get timed right and will be spoiled.
-We won't get the processional cues right with the musicians.
-There won't be enough room to dance at the reception.
-There will be so many pre-wedding activities during the week that by the time Saturday rolls around, I'll be really exhausted.
-I won't be able to properly pack for the honeymoon, because I won't have any time to do laundry and won't have any clean clothes to pack (yes, I'm serious!).

And the biggest one weighing on me right now: my dress, which is already very tight, will not zip up. Or will be so tight that I'll be majorly uncomfortable all day.

There's probably more, but for now, let's deal with the dress. I'm picking it up on Saturday from the seamstress. Think good zipper thoughts for me.

Hey, Let's Cross the Sea

A few years ago, JT and I made a pact that we would take one trip out of the country every year. It started with France. The next year, since France had been a pretty pricey trip, we played it a little closer to home and went to Canada. Last year, we went to Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles.

For our honeymoon, we're hitting up two countries in one trip: Spain and France. We'll be spending 4 days in Barcelona and 3 days in Cannes. The combination of cities basically came from indecision about what kind of honeymoon we wanted to have: did we want a cosmopolitan, urban honeymoon filled with shopping and fine dining, or did we want a relaxing beachside week? I'd never thought of myself as a beach vacation kind of girl, and I'm generally not the kind of person that can lie around doing nothing for very long, but Curacao changed my mind. We had a fantastic time, and I realized that I do enjoy beach vacations...just not the tequila fueled Cabo Spring-Breaky kind.

Usually, for our out of the country excursions, I like to come up with loose itineraries. I don't want every minute planned, but I like to come up with general outlines of what I'd like to see (and eat!). Barcelona obviously has no shortage of great food options. Since I don't speak any Spanish, I'm a little nervous about looking like a giant idiot trying to get around. Especially because I prefer to hit up the un-touristy restaurants where menus are unlikely to have English translations. And eating is one of the most important parts of the trip -- in case you didn't already know, I'm a major foodie.

While I'll probably have a good list of restaurants and attractions to hit while in Barcelona, I'm keeping the schedule for Cannes very unstructured. The Cannes half of the week is meant to be the decompression time. Just wandering wherever the day takes us, and sitting by the beach whenever it's not too cold.

Man, I am really looking forward to this. Time to get some new luggage.

Makeup Dilemma Finally Solved

The third time was definitely the charm.

The first time was too dramatic. The second was too natural. I was really holding out hope that my third makeup trial would leave me with an easy decision about whether or not to do my makeup myself, and it did.

When I got to the counter, the makeup area was buzzing with people. It was Saturday, and there were plenty of people shopping, not to mention other brides getting their wedding makeup done at the surrounding counters. One woman at a neighboring counter was wearing a rhinestoned "Bride" tank top and had a tiara in her hair.

While the first artist I tried at Laura Mercier was talented, she didn't do onsite makeup and recommended her colleague Catrina. As Catrina worked, she told me about how she will only work with brides that are relaxed and aren't giving off a "stressed" vibe. She patiently worked with me, creating a look that I thought was a perfect balance between that old-school glamor and natural. I was really, really happy with the result. It was the look I wanted, and executed much better than I could do myself. What sealed the deal? A reasonable rate to boot.

I had also done my hair trial earlier that day (like my feathers?), so the look you're seeing is pretty darn close to my look for the big day.

Across the way, the princess bride was finishing her appointment when a passerby asked her if she was getting ready to go to the prom. Catrina whispered "I would never want to be mistaken for going to the prom on my wedding day!" And I knew she was the artist for me.

By the way, a big thanks to my good friend Laura Coburn for being my personal photojournalist documenting the process with these beautiful shots!

Check Your Mail

There is a lot of space in wedding blog land devoted to showcasing amazing wedding invites. Over the past six months, I've seen so many beautiful invitations featured on other blogs. But I'm happy to say that creating our invitations was one of the easiest things to take care of. We had a designer in mind from the start, and she did awesome work from start to finish, with very minimum direction from us (I love working with people who just "get" us!).

So a big thanks to Tere Mendez at Inkfancy! Our invites are breathtaking (at least in my humble opinion). And also, my apologies, Tere, that the color on these photos isn't great. I snapped them super quick trying to get this post done before heading to bed.

We've had so many ups and downs, especially recently, with the wedding planning, there were times I wondered if we'd ever get to this stage. But here we are, with invites in the mail. And it feels wonderful.

Makeup, DIY Style

My search for someone to do my makeup has been complicated for two reasons: 1. I'm very self conscious about my skin and the appearance of my face, as the result of having acne for many years. This usually means that I'm unhappy with my makeup when anyone other than myself does it. 2. Money seems to be flying out the door, and paying for professional makeup seems like a great waste if I'm not 100% in love with the results.

Looking at the photos of my first two trials, I have mixed feelings. While the first one did create the "look" that I thought I wanted, in person, it was just way too heavy. The second looked more natural and more appropriate to daytime, but was it any better than something I could do myself? I'm pretty good with makeup, so I decided to have an at-home-trial day.

I did my best to create the first look -- red lips, black eyeliner, a "classic glam" -- just more toned down than this version. In person, I thought it looked OK. It looked pretty heavy but not TOO heavy.

I think it's OK, though not anywhere near perfect, which is what we all hope to look like on our wedding day, right? Also, when JT snapped this photo of me, what looked moderately heavy now looked almost nonexistent. Clearly balancing what looks good in person and on film is going to be difficult. I just didn't feel like my eyes popped enough -- maybe what was missing was some false eyelashes.

I've got another professional trial this weekend. I'm hoping that it will go amazingly well and my problem will have a clear solution. But if it doesn't, should I plan on doing it myself? Would this be acceptable wedding makeup? And am I simply being much too hard on both myself and the professionals by thinking that the results so far aren't that great?