She's Crafty*

Let the DIY race officially begin! Last week, I made the ring pillow, based off of this one I found on Once Wed. The problem with me and DIY is that I'm a pretty harsh critic of my own work, so I'm rarely satisfied with anything I make. I think it looks OK...not great, but OK.

I also started our escort card tree, based off of this one that I originally saw on Style Me Pretty.

First, I hit up a major chain craft store for supplies. Then I headed over to San Diego's wholesale flower market, and found the supplies I needed for MUCH cheaper.

This coming weekend, I'll be visiting my mother-in-law-to-be. She generously offered to help me sew the table runners. Here's the fabric we'll be using, nestled alongside the 150 mason jars currently residing in our guest bedroom.

I've also enlisted a friend to make the flower girl baskets, plus there's still the photo booth supplies, guest welcome baskets, and a banner for the rehearsal dinner. And I'm sure I'm forgetting something else...so much to do, so few hours in each day!

*You may be upset to learn that, for the record, I don't really like the Beastie Boys. Sorry.

Popular Culture No Longer Applies to Me

I promise to return next week with wedding related blog posts, but in the meantime, I'm focusing on that other part of my life that has nothing to do with being a bride: music photography.

This weekend, I'm shooting Street Scene 2009. So for now, here's a snapshot from day one. I guess I am officially old, because I cannot for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to wear this:

But even when I was younger, I had an extreme distaste for American Apparel once they abandoned promoting themselves as "sweatshop free" and decided that it was more important to market themselves as the official outfitters of 70s soft core. That and the fact that every band t-shirt I've bought that was an American Apparel shirt immediately shrank and changed color upon washing. But I digress.

Shooting bands seems to have snapped me out of the funk I've been feeling all week, which is a very, very good thing. Be sure to watch for my upcoming shots on Jambase.

Guest Blog: A Taste of Toast

*I'm pleased to present another guest blog by Laura! I didn't go through the whole caterer search, since I knew that I wanted to have my reception at a restaurant. However, because of my day job, I was pretty familiar with all the big caterers in town. It's great to see this smaller catering group provide brides with such a great, creative option!

After my fiancé and I chose our awesome venue, the next logical step was food. We started the search based on a list of “preferred caterers” our venue recommended. On the list was Toast Catering. Just hours after I’d emailed Toast my inquiry, I got a call back from Sam, the chef. He immediately made a great impression. He asked what our favorite restaurants were and if there were any special things to consider. There were. My fiancé and I are vegetarian, so we wanted an all veg menu. Also, our budget was on the modest side.

Just a couple days later, I received an email from Sam that contained the menu choices and our proposal. Everything looked good - AND was in our budget! Hooray! I decided on what our menu would be for our tasting and we scheduled a date.

The tasting was really cool. Sam and his wife, Kim, are the owners of Toast. They share a commercial kitchen in La Mesa and for events, like our tasting, they book the kitchen and use it to prepare food. They also bring an oven/stove to the event site on the day of and make food there so everything is fresh! Sam handles all of the cooking and Kim helps with the “front of house” activities like tables, etc.

After introductions and some preliminary questions about our wedding came the food. My fiancé and I loved it. The menu included vegetarian twists on typical meat dishes, like vegetable wellington:

And mini tomato burgers:

Plus falafel, stuffed peppers and more! It was amazingly wonderful. For each course, Sam and Kim explained what it was and left so we could eat and talk about the food. Both Sam and Kim were amazing. They were polite and not at all pushy.

After a totally opposite tasting with a second caterer the next day, my fiancé and I knew that we were sold on Toast. Sam and Kim are really nice and genuine people and the food was by far the best. Now we’ve signed on with them and are looking forward to moving onto the next step – linen colors.

I Just Know That Something Good is Gonna Happen

Yes, dear reader, you already know how important a role music will play in our wedding. Our string trio, Caprice Strings, is specially arranging two songs for playing during our ceremony (not going to spill the beans just yet on what those two are!). Our reception, much to the dismay of cheesy wedding DJs everywhere, will be DJd by an ipod. JT's already taking a crack at composing the playlist. We've selected the songs, and now he is painstakingly editing transitions, adjusting levels, etc. Frankly, I can't imagine not using an ipod...how could you relinquish control over your playlist like that?

I'm not going to give it all away, but here are some teasers:

Whiskeytown - Don't Wanna Know Why
The Misfits - Astro Zombies
Kate Bush - Cloudbusting
Wilco - California Stars
The Delays - Long Time Coming
Broken Social Scene - Almost Crimes
Sleater-Kinney - Modern Girl
Elliott Smith - Pretty (Ugly Before)
Wolf Parade - I'll Believe in Anything

Some we chose because they are just fun, some we chose because of the meaning or sentiment, and some we chose just because of a special connection to the song. Plus, we've picked out a great song for our first dance...one that I hope will have a special meaning for our families. You'll just have to wait to see why!

¡Dios Mio!

Check out this gorgeous shot from our wedding photographer Aaron Thompson. He snapped it at a recent wedding reception at Casa Guadalajara in Old Town's Bazaar del Mundo. How fun does this look?

And just imagine all the fun ways you could play off the setting. Loteria card-inspired invitations (the photo below is of Loteria-inspired table place cards, via Style Me Pretty).

Plus, it'd be a great place to break out this cake topper by Skull Queen. JT and I loved the idea of using this cake topper, back when we were considering this venue as a possible reception site.

They don't post their full catering information online, but based on the prices at the restaurant itself, you could probably have a pretty festive yet cost effective shindig at Casa Guadalajara.

Dress Rehearsal

The one thing that's a little sad about choosing your wedding attire is knowing that that's it -- you only get one outfit, one "look" for your wedding day. I know some women are jumping on the bandwagon of having two dresses, one for the ceremony and one for the reception, but unless you are loaded or your second dress was super cheap, it's just not practical.

Don't get me wrong -- I LOVE my ensemble and my look. Trust me, when you see the photos after the event, you will too. But I can't help but be smitten by all the other cute fashion statements I could be making, especially when it comes to the little things like hair accessories. When searching for wedding makeup tips, I read a feature on Martha Stewart Weddings some time back that said something to the effect of "you want to look like yourself on your wedding day, but why not try out a new or bold look at your rehearsal dinner?" Sounds like fun, right?

Check out these cute hair options. The other day I asked JT if it would be weird to wear a veil on the day of the rehearsal. I mean, how many opportunities in your life do you have to wear a veil anyway?

The clip above from Baroque and Roll has a hint of veil, and this headband below from Be Something New has even more veil, without actually being a veil. I think it'd be perfect for a rehearsal dinner!

Or, this other cute headband from Be Something New would be a fun choice. No veil, but it still has a hint of bride to it, yet it's understated enough to be worn on a non-wedding occasion. Maybe I'll need two: one for the rehearsal and one for the shower. I'm basically using all wedding week activities as an excuse to purchase fabulous accessories.

Ring Around the Budget

As I've hinted in the past couple of posts, we've had some unexpected and major expenses crop up lately, and we've been looking for areas to trim from the budget. One area that JT brilliantly saw that could be downsized was his ring. I had been anticipating that he would want a plain brushed platinum band. Simple, classic, and...expensive. But after doing a bit of research, JT found two other metal options that he really likes that also happen to be much cheaper than platinum: titanium and palladium.

Palladium is in the platinum family, so it's similar in hardness, color, etc. But it's not quite the darling of the jewelry industry the way that its sister metal is, so it's more cost effective. JT found this ring by DragonsBreath on Etsy that he really likes:

I really like it, too. I love the natural look of the hammered finish.

Titanium is an even more affordable option. It looks very "manly," so it's become quite popular in men's rings, and it's not hard to find titanium rings at major jewelry retailers these days. The downside to titanium is that it's so strong, it can't be resized once it's cast. So if JT gains or loses any weight, he'd have to get a new ring. But, as he put it, the cost of a titanium ring is so cheap, that it wouldn't be a very big deal to get it replaced. These two are from TitaniumKnights:

Both great, and at less than $100 each, he's right -- it wouldn't be a big deal to replace it if in a few years it no longer fit. Though that does seem slightly unsentimental, but is sentiment worth the extra money? Sometimes you just have to be practical. I won't love him any less with an inexpensive ring.