Scheming about color

Ok, I love color. I've been known to wear a lot of black in the winter, and/or when living on the east coast, and/or when I'm depressed. Fortunately, none of those things are happening right now. I usually have some red or blue or green or purple or even orange in just about every outfit.

But the question of a color scheme for the wedding has been stressing me out. My brother and super-stylish sister-in-law had a spectacular wedding without dictating a color scheme. All the family members showed up in shades of pink/ red/ grey, just through intuition, and looked amazing.

How to pick a few colors? How to dictate what others wear? I know the photos will look better if we put a little thought into this... but really? A color scheme???

Then I saw these the other day at Brooklyn Bride. They're bold, hip, sophisticated, not pastel. They do give a unified feeling to the proceedings. Maybe we can develop a color scheme. Cobalt, pomegranate, persimmon... these colors speak to me.... Maybe Chrissy over at the Perfect Palette can help me convert these musings into concrete ideas.

Just the thing for the stressed out Bride (me!)

source

Spa Week, April 13-19 (the perfect reward for completing your taxes!), in which you get pampered with luscious spa treatment for just 50 bucks.

Just enter your zip code into the handy-dandy service locator, and they hook you up!

Yeah, I know, this is how they get you... just $50 now, and pretty soon, you're going every month, then every week.

But, boy, I really need a massage...

Well, I guess that settles it

that's our site!

Mercurio Brothers, the wizards of affordable letterpress, are right here in Berkeley!

I could probably even pick up my order (on my bike!) to save on shipping. When you think about it, that's really more sustainable than ordering invitations from NY that have to be shipped all the way across the country, even if that press is powered by wind from Native Energy.

Mom and Stepdad agree that letterpress is the way to go (having apparently read Miss Manners - as Bride in Exile did - and learned that the only proper way to issue a formal invitation is via a handwritten note or an engraved invitation*), and kicked down some funds to support it (yay!). Next step is figuring out the proper wording to reflect the participation of all the sponsors of this party.

* according to pg. 390-1 of Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior:

"In a perfect world, people would handwrite all of their formal invitations. But as we live in a world in which people wish to marry before of hundreds of their closest friends, and they claim to have more urgent tasks than copying out hundreds of invitations in their own dear handwriting, we substitute engraving.... The world is full of nasty people who examine backs of wedding invitations and run fingernails over the front in order to tell whether the thing was properly engraved. Miss Manners is one of them. Handwriting and engraving are equally correct; fake engraving and computer generated fonts are imposters."

Things I didn't know I needed #1

Since at least 20 of our guests (out of 100-125) will be under the age of 10, activity books, like these adorable one that I just saw at We Met in a Bar, would probably help the kiddos enjoy the proceedings more.

(source)

Ah, that reminds me that we need to track down a babysitter/ entertainer for the cocktail hour!

The Flower Boy will be giving everyone origami lessons, too.

The flower boy's gift

Very much the sort of feeling I'd like our wedding to have (via Once Wed.)

When I first got engaged, I did absolutely nothing. I didn't call my parents right away. I didn't celebrate with friends (other than Mr. Barefoot). I didn't show anyone the ring at first. In fact, I stayed home for a couple of days. I just needed to sit with the idea and get used to it. I felt weird about not telling everyone right away, but getting married is such a big decision, it takes some time to sink in.

When I finally felt ready to start telling people, I rang up my best friend, and she immediately invited me over for Champagne. (That's what best friends do!) Her two kids, whom I've known since they were born, were busily working on art projects. I told the kids that I would be marrying Mr. Barefoot, and that I wanted them to dress up and carry flowers in the wedding. They immediately agreed, and the 7-year-old boy announced that he would make hundreds of origami peace cranes to decorate the wedding site.

Little did I know that, in addition to being a math prodigy, he is a wedding design prodigy. Origami cranes are everywhere! They're perfect for weddings because they symbolize honor, long life, and loyalty.

This is a particularly beautiful example, via Once Wed.

I'd rather be here...

Frank Pinckers for The New York Times

Bali!

After seeing the breath-taking pictures in T Travel.

The rice fields are so green they make my teeth hurt.

Indonesia.com

Travel details...

Date Night to Save the Planet: Candlelight Earth Hour

You know you need time with your sweetie to put aside the wedding planning mania and reconnect.

You know everyone looks better by candlelight.

You know that it's sometimes overwhelming to plan another event while you're busy planning your wedding.

So here's what you do:

• Tell your sweetie you need at least an hour together on Sat. night.
• Gather up some candles, some matches or a lighter, a couple glasses, maybe some chocolates.
• Open a bottle of wine.
• At 8:30 pm, light the candles, and switch off the lights and TV.
• Gaze longingly into each other's eyes...

Congratulations, you're doing something nice for the Earth, by participating in Earth Hour!

Wasn't it easy Being Green?