The "Plus One" Worry

Since we've finished our STDs...I've had a little anxiety. When Trev and I created our guest list, we went through it with both of our Moms and said... "Ok. These people will come. These people won't come, but they'd probably like an invite. These people might come." We over estimated a bit...I have a ton of family in Germany (my Mother's entire side...) and Trev has a ton of family in Illinois.... we anticipate that some will make the trip, but don't expect everyone to. Traveling is expensive! Especially if you're coming from Germany...

Our Spreadsheet

The spreadsheet is huge. I love spreadsheets, don't get me wrong. I love organizing things into rows...creating formulas...color coding things. But this spreadsheet forces me to take Imodium every time I work on it. If every single person came to the wedding that we invited, including President Barak Obama and his family (lol), we'd have around 320 guests. This isn't a problem... our venue holds over 300 people for events that are open to the outdoors. The problem is.....is that we're shooting for about 200-220 guests. Thankfully, with our spreadsheet, we anticipate about 220 people to RSVP "yes"...and I think that it will be less than that.

We have already gone through and added "+1" for a bunch of our friends. We want people to have a great time - and have a buddy by their side while they're celebrating with us! My biggest fear is that the people who we didn't add "+1" to...will RSVP with a "+1."

How do we handle this? I guess we have a ton of time....we're just getting ready to send our our STDs and we'll be sending out international invites late winter and local invites in the spring.

I'm just anxious. I guess this is normal. Is this fear normal? .....where's my Imodium?!??!?

Marilyn Monroe was wrong.

I hate to say it. She was. SHOES are a girl's best friend....not diamonds. :) The ladies will be wearing gorgeous chocolate brown dresses at the wedding. I've been unsure about how we'll coordinate the shoes....up until now. I've decided that the ladies can wear whatever shoes they'd like, so long as they're in the gold/bronze/brown metallic family.

So today I've begun my research. This is the most important research project during wedding planning thus far. (Riiiggghhhtt.) Ahhhhh....shoes.

Most of these are out of my budget...but aren't they pretty?

Oscar de la Renta Jewel-Toe Platform Pump



Valentino Couture Peep-Toe Pump


Christian Louboutin Glitter Slingback Platform Pump

Tory Burch Peep-Toe Wedge

Manolo Blahnik Rhinestone Buckle d'Orsay

Christin Michaels Faithee Stuart Weitzman Popeye

Marry Monograms!!!

I've been posting a ton about our monograms that my coworker/friend, Sigrid, designed for Trev and I. I think that her service is deserving of a post. (This isn't a paid sponsor post, people. I just love my Siggy.) Check out Marry Monograms. For only $39.95 you can have your own monogram!!! It's a sweet deal. There's tons of options available...
...and they're all great. :) Here are ours again:



Just think of all the UH-MAZE-ING things you can do with a monogram?!?

• STDs
  
• Invitations
• Personalized labels
• Gift tags
• Address labels
• Wedding cake design
• Dance floor and lighting effects...
• Clothing...

So do it. Check out my friends at Marry Monograms. :)

Sankt Nikolaus

A little history...

My Mother was raised in Germany. My Father was born and raised in Seattle, but his Grandparents were born in Germany. My Mom and Dad met in Eckernförde, Germany...fell in love...and then my Mom moved to Seattle with my Dad.

With that, my two brothers and I have grown up with tons of German traditions. We all went to German language school when we were young, we sing German Christmas songs, we all took German in High School, and we've all traveled to Germany multiple times to see my Mom's 1/2 of the family.

Source

This Saturday night, Sankt Nikolaus is coming!!! If you didn't grow up in a German household, then this probably means nothing to you. In my family, this is one of the funnest days of the year.

Basically, on the 5th of December everyone writes up their letter to Santa. Children put their letters and lists in their shoes and leave them outside on the front porch. Sankt Nikolaus comes in the middle of the night, with Knecht Ruprecht, and picks up all the lists. If you were a good kid, Sankt Nikolaus leaves candies and other treats in your shoe. If you were a bad kid, Knecht Ruprecht leaves coal in your shoe.

A bit more history about this special day:

In the German-speaking countries December 6th is the most distinctive children's festival of the year. St. Nikolaus Eve is a time of festive stir, it is a time of whispers and giggles, and of heavy steps on the stairs. Shops are full of many-shaped biscuits, gilt gingerbreads, sometimes representing the saint, of sugar images, toys and other little gifts.

When evening comes, St. Nikolaus, a reverend gray-haired figure with flowing beard, bishop's raiment, gold embroidered cope, mitre and pastoral staff, will knock on doors and inquire about the behavior of the children. The custom of examining the children, where they will deliver a verse, sing, or otherwise show their skills, is still widespread in German- speaking countries.

Nikolaus traditions vary as widely from region to region as his guise and name. He appears as Ruhklas, Pelznickel, Klasbur, etc. He is afoot or astride a white horse, a mule, or even a goat. More diverse than those of the saintly Nikolaus are the many legends and traditions surrounding his often wild companions.

His best known companion is Knecht Ruprecht, "Knecht" meaning servant. Historically, Ruprecht was a dark and sinister figure clad in a tattered robe with a big sack on his back in which, legend has it, he will place all naughty children.

Don't forget to leave your list and shoe out on Saturday night!

DIY Project: Save the Dates

It's December. IT'S DECEMBER!!! I am so happy. I love December. I love Christmas music, trees, decorations....and I love Christmas cards! Trev and I do Christmas cards every year, and this year we're putting our Save the Dates in with our Christmas cards. My Matron of Honor, Tessa, and I got together late on Tuesday night to hammer out all of the Save the Dates. My friend and coworker, Sigrid, designed everything for us.... and I handled all of the printing. ...and I couldn't be happier with the end result!

About the STDs: I found some cards at Paper Zone that were 50% off a few months ago. I decided that, since they were such a great deal, I'd snatch them up. They weren't exactly what I had imagined for our STDs...but at half off, I couldn't be picky. I wanted the STDs to be cute AND functional - so I decided to create little stickers that guests can peel off the STD and put on their calendars at home, work, etc.

To start, I printed little stickers with our monogram and wedding date on round labels:

Then, I embossed the front of the card:
I printed our message on the inside of the card and Sigird was awesome and left room for the stickers: Tessa and I used AWESOME double sided tape like this: We put the tape on the back of the row of stickers... ...and adhered them to each card. 164 STDs later....and we're done! Now all Trev and I need to do is sign each Christmas card. I'll do all of the addressing. :) YAY!!!

Sometimes, during this process....

....all I wanna do is look at Trev and say:

FFFFOUND!

It's both exhausting and exhilarating planning a wedding. Everyone you encounter has an opinion. Everyone wants to put in their two cents. One thing I find myself thinking, while others are telling me what they did for their wedding, what they wish they had done, or what they plan to do when it's their big day... one thing I find myself thinking is:

Maybe we should have just gone on a fabulous
exotic vacation and gotten married someplace
where it's just us, God, and love.

But then I remember all of the cute projects I am working on and that thought instantly vaporizes.