More ways to cut costs

Studio Blue photography is offering 20% off packages booked now, starting at $992 for six hours of coverage.

Ajalon Printing and Design, which I discovered via elefantitas alegras, has an *amazing* letterpress special:

100 invitations, enclosure cards, and envelopes for $398!

What a deal!

Quick: they've got to be ordered by June 30, 2009.

If our invitations were not already well under way, I'd totally be going for something like this:


Or this


More reasons to love it: They're based in Sonoma County, the heart of California wine country, where they print on 100% recycled cotton paper (tree-free) and use soy-based inks.



Green and gorgeous.

Blindfolded and dizzy

What a way to begin married life!

Remember the wedding cake piñata?

Look what shiny happy wedding directed me to:

here

We're not allowed to afix anything to the ceiling at the reception location, but there's always outdoors...

Beat it... but not so soon!

source

So sorry to see you go, MJ.

You'll be in heavy rotation at our wedding.

Two childhood icons gone in one day -- so long, Farrah of the dream hair. The end of an era.

Don't hate me, un-bride

You wanna know the real reason I haven't gone to SF for the first fitting of my wedding dress?

I'm worried that it will be too small.

See, I was between sizes when I ordered it. A size up would have needed significant alterations to fit, while the size ordered was just a little bit snug. The consultant encouraged me to order the smaller size and just "lose 5 to 8 pounds." Not much. I assured her (and myself) that I was at my winter weight, and a few weeks of salads and daily workouts would have me fighting trim.

Ah, but we didn't figure in the stress munchies that join at my computer each day. And we didn't count on me spending 8-10 solid hours in front of the computer, all day, every day.

I'm maybe two pounds lighter than when I ordered the dress in January. My fitting is in three weeks. Goodbye alcohol, laziness, and bread.

I welcome any other (sane, healthy, and vegetarian) ideas to help me fit into my dress.

(I can't believe I am capitulating to Shrinking Bride Syndrome. $)@$#^*&#@ ego. and Wedding Industrial Complex.)

Take a hike... to your dining table

Oh, we love to hike! This seating plan, from here, found via Bride on Purpose, would be perfect in our national park setting.

I wonder if we could make one ourselves... using photos and maps of places we've been, and the poster printers on campus. I bet someone who is craftier that I am could pull it off easily. Just what I need: another project.

Mr. Barefoot love to ski... this is super cute.



And for an urban wedding, you can an NYC subway map, or Paris metro. What, no BART? That's where all of our best city dates begin!




All images from Conrad Design Weddings. (Budget warning: design like this does not come cheap.)

I am humbled

No more complaining about the difficulty of planning a wedding and finishing my dissertation at the same time.

This girl graduated fourth in her class, and got accepted to Harvard (and 19 other top-flight colleges and universities), while being homeless and attending 12 schools in 12 years.

Pure grit, and totally inspirational. Go read her story.

Floroptimist

I came across small stump + studio choo, just down the coast in Pacifica, via shiny happy weddings. Loving these slightly wild, organic-looking arrangements, using locally grown seasonal flowers. Check out the goodies in their shop, too.