15 days!

By the time you realize (and come to terms with the fact) that you're only fifteen days away from your wedding, everyone else seems to realize it, too. In the last two days alone I have received close to a dozen e-mails from our vendors, confirming details, setting up final meetings, gathering information. I LOVE that our vendors are so organized, efficient, and prompt with answering our questions! I've said it before, but seriously - work with experienced vendors! It has made wedding planning a complete breeze knowing that we will be in such good hands at the wedding.

Terry and I have tried to balance wedding with non-wedding to keep ourselves from getting: a) overwhelmed, b) stressed, c) exhausted, or d) too excited! Last week I had a Diet Coke and then couldn't sleep, so soda is out until the big day. Apparently I'm just too hyped up! So this week, we enjoyed a great dinner with Terry's family, visited the Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA, and even squeezed in a few new recipes. We're also getting into great running shape, which helps me relax, feel good, and energize as we get close to the big day. (Of course, I'm also hoping it'll help me look all pretty in my dress!)

I've mentioned before that we're down to the last few projects, but I realized I never posted about the day we got our marriage license. And it was such a fun day! However long ago, on a quick visit to Santa Barbara, Terry and I wandered through the Santa Barbara Courthouse, which is simply stunning. They host weddings all the time, and the gates around the property remind me of The Sound of Music when Maria goes through the gates to get married. So while we knew a Santa Barbara wedding would not fly, I asked my wonderful fiance if we could at least do the marriage license thing there. True to his word, Terry made sure we found a day to do it.

Getting a marriage license in California is ridiculously easy. You go online to whatever county's website, find the Clerk-Recorder's page, and fill out the online application. They ask for very little information, and they don't even require blood tests in our state. Then you show up (in our case, no appointment was necessary), hand over your ID, and pledge an oath. Did you know you have to pledge an oath? We felt a little silly, but you literally raise your right hand and read off a note card. And then you sign a few papers, pay a fee (around $85-$95, depending on the county), and get your license! One of the most frequently asked questions, according to our clerk, is, "So...are we married now?" Maybe a silly question, but obviously a common one. The officiant still has to marry you, and then he or she signs the license after the ceremony and sends it in to the courthouse. After they process the license, you can get a certified copy (again, for a fee).

After we got the license, we found a stranger to take this single picture.

One cool aspect of applying for a license is that you can change your name through the license if you so choose. I will be taking Terry's name, and I'll also change my middle name to my last name. That was a big decision for me. I really love my name, Julie Michelle, and I love that I have the same initials as my mom. But since I'll be changing my last name anyway, I like the idea of keeping Lanier connected to me. My family has a lot of history in which I've grown increasingly interested throughout the last several years, so keeping my name while still taking Terry's felt like the perfect solution. So after we get back from the honeymoon, I'll begin the process of shifting from Julie Michelle Lanier to Julie Lanier Heinrich. Yay!

Old, new, borrowed, blue

You know the old tradition, but I looked up the origin just for fun. The best explanation I found was from Yahoo! Answers:

The next line of this old saying actually hints at its origin. The complete phrase is:

Something old, something new
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in her shoe.

A sixpence is a coin that was minted in Britain from 1551 to 1967. It was made of silver and worth six pennies. So this wedding tradition is definitely English, and many sources say that it began in the Victorian era.

Each item in this poem represents a good-luck token for the bride. If she carries all of them on her wedding day, her marriage will be happy. "Something old" symbolizes continuity with the bride's family and the past. "Something new" means optimism and hope for the bride's new life ahead. "Something borrowed" is usually an item from a happily married friend or family member, whose good fortune in marriage is supposed to carry over to the new bride. The borrowed item also reminds the bride that she can depend on her friends and family.

As for the colorful item, blue has been connected to weddings for centuries. In ancient Rome, brides wore blue to symbolize love, modesty, and fidelity. Christianity has long dressed the Virgin Mary in blue, so purity was associated with the color. Before the late 19th century, blue was a popular color for wedding gowns, as evidenced in proverbs like, "Marry in blue, lover be true."

And finally, a silver sixpence in the bride's shoe represents wealth and financial security. It may date back to a Scottish custom of a groom putting a silver coin under his foot for good luck. For optimum fortune, the sixpence should be in the left shoe. These days, a dime or a copper penny is sometimes substituted.

How fun! Here are my items for the wedding:

Something old: As you might remember from a previous post, my aunt Dawn Lynn gave Terry the diamond for my ring. The diamond is from my great-grandmother, so we think that's old enough. :-) Plus, the "something old" is supposed to connect the bride and groom to the bride's family and past, which this diamond does perfectly!

Something new: Pretty much everything I'm wearing - dress, shoes, veil, earrings.

Something borrowed: I'm supposed to borrow something from a happily married woman, so I will be wearing my mom's tennis bracelet.

Something blue: I love the origin of the "something blue" part. The fact that the color blue has been an important part of weddings since ancient times gets me all giddy. So my blue, like most brides, is in my garter. I'm attempting to make my own, and we'll see how that goes, but no matter what I'll have blue in my garter.

I hadn't heard of the "silver sixpence in the bride's shoe" part of the rhyme, but I like it! I'll have to see if we can find a sixpence in the next three weeks!

Ceremony Readings

We have two readers for our ceremony. Our pastor helped us find some unique passages that we both really love. I'm really looking forward to hearing Pastor Frank's reflection on these passages during the ceremony.

Colossians 3:12-17

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Philippians 2:1-5

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

Our readers are two of our closest family friends, Alan Byard and Diane Johnson. Terry has known Alan as long as he can remember; Alan was one of Terry's mom's students when she taught high school history. Alan then became like a big brother to Terry and Kevin, babysitting them, playing video games, even coaching them in swimming. Despite his allegiance to U$C, we've stayed close to Alan and always enjoy a good tailgate or sporting event.

I have known Diane since I was five years old and playing Little League with her younger son, Matt. Our families have grown incredibly close, and Diane is my "second mom." She is my mom's best friend and has always been so supportive of Terry's and my relationship. I feel so honored that she will be speaking in our ceremony - it wouldn't be complete without the "Awesomes" making an appearance!

DIY Invitations

My favorite part of our wedding projects so far, the invitations, started as a generic idea and evolved into a fun product of our teamwork. We knew from the beginning we would go through Paper Source, because their colors actually helped us determine our wedding colors. We made a total of 115 invitations, all 100% in our own home. So, here goes:

Materials to make one invitation

For the invitation card

• A7 Flat card (moss) - this was our backing
• Half-Moon/Pocket Enclosure flat card (luxe cream) - this was the actual card we printed on

For the information card

• 8 1/2" x 11" text paper (beet) - this was our backing
• A6 Flat card (luxe cream)

For the reply card & reply envelope

• A7 Flat card (luxe cream) - cut in half
• 4 Bar envelope (moss)

For the outer envelope and lining

• A7 envelope (moss)
• 8 1/2" x 11" text paper (beet)
• Envelope liner templates from Paper Source

Other Materials

• printer and ink
• paper cutter (thanks, Heidi and Ed!)
• ink pad from Paper Source (boysenberry)
• grape rubber stamp from Paper Source
• double-sided tape (I preferred Scotch Scrapbooking Tape, but suddenly none of the Targets I went to carried it anymore, so the other stuff worked fine)
• scissors
• a ruler
• Adobe Illustrator or other design software

Process

Terry designed all of the materials on his own using Adobe Illustrator. We used traditional invitation wording and kept the invite card simple. Most pieces of our stationary had our "signature" bunch of grapes, sometimes with a vine attached. Again, Terry designed all that. To keep the colors consistent, we printed out several color samples and compared them to the green and/or purple paper. The printing was a chore at first, but Terry finally got the paper running through the printer smoothly.

All the pieces of our invitations.

For the reply cards, we chose to keep everything super simple with a clean border and the basics. Since we're doing family style, we didn't even need to include meal requests. The reply envelope was stamped with a custom rubber stamp (to save my hand) with my parents' address and a "love" stamp. We also included our grape stamp on the back flap of the envelope.

Reply card envelopes - address stamp and grape stamp.

For assembly, I first had to cut each of our printed pieces down to size. The half-moon/pocket enclosure flat cards needed 1/4" cut off in order to fit evenly on the backing (the A7 cards). For the info cards, I had to cut the A6 cards down to almost a square, and I had to trim the 8 1/2" x 11" text paper down to 1/4" larger than the newly-sized info cards. I only needed to cut the reply cards in half.

The trimming process.

Once trimming was finished, I got a little crazy with measuring each piece of double-sided tape so that it fit almost exactly along the edges of the flat cards that we were mounting. I used a ruler and scissors to cut the tape, but a less crazy person may have just estimated. Once I got the hang of it, though, I think the ruler helped save me time, because then I never had to go back to fix any mistakes. Actually placing the cards on their respective backings proved tricky; it was nearly impossible to ensure that each one would be exactly centered, but I did my best! One friend mentioned that hers was crooked, but then she knew we made them ourselves - so I guess that's something!

The finished invite!

The envelope lining was time-consuming but totally worth it. I can't tell you how many compliments we've gotten on the lining of the envelope - of all things! Paper Source made it super easy - I just used their envelope liner template kit to trace each liner, then cut the paper, stuck it in the envelope, and taped it down using my new favorite tool - double-sided tape. Again, I probably made the process lengthier than necessary by first using a ruler to crease the paper and then taping it down to attach the envelope. We also stamped a grape stamp to the back flap of the envelope to tie in more of our grape theme. The outer envelope also includes our return address labels - custom ordered from Vista Print - and our wedding cake stamps from the good ol' USPS.

The outer envelope and lining.

The envelopes - all ready to go!

Assembly was easy after all that - invitation card in the back, then the info card, then the reply card (tucked in the reply envelope). We made sure to number each reply card - we've heard stories of people forgetting to write their names on the response cards. Then I addressed each envelope by hand - another time-consuming but worth-it process. Finally, we sealed everything up and sent 'em off! The whole process was a blast, in spite of the 50+ hours it took to get it all done.

The complete contents - success!

Bridal Shower and Bachelorette!

Last weekend, my incredible bridesmaids threw me the most phenomenal bridal shower and bachelorette party! The most touching part of the day was that everyone chipped in to help - I felt so honored that all the girls worked together to create such an amazing weekend.

After watching my amazing fiance graduate from his Master's program, Jenn drove me out to the shower. Heidi hosted at her condo in Simi Valley, and ALL of my bridesmaids plus a few very close friends joined for a wonderful afternoon. The girls put out a delicious spread, and Heidi got the most delightful cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes (get it?!?!) - chocolate chocolate chip with cream cheese frosting...delightful, indeed! We ate and caught up a bit before Winnie hosted a few games. I've been lucky not to suffer through any cheesy games, and this shower was no exception. Winnie had contacted Terry ahead of time to ask him some trivia questions, which I then also had to answer. Overall, I answered most questions correctly, but I was pleasantly surprised by some of the sweet answers responses Terry provided. Winnie also set up a game where the girls had to write one thing they hope Terry and I will do, see, or accomplish in our first year of marriage - and one "bedroom" (?) thing they hope we will do in the same amount of time. The answers were hilarious - I loved the game! For this shower, my girls focused on ensuring that Terry really enjoys the honeymoon. They did a great job, and I know he will be quite appreciative! One of my favorite moments of the day? Fay's gift - not a nightie but a turkey roaster. Super sexy indeed!

After the shower, we all headed over to Universal City to check into our hotel and dress up for the evening festivities. Special thanks to Arcadia for providing the soundtrack that got us all pumped up - good ol' Britney does it every time! We waltzed over to City Walk in our unrealistically high heels for a Buca di Beppo dinner, where a few more girls joined us. Then it was off to the main event - Howl at the Moon! I LOVE piano bars, and the girls indulged me with a whole night of singing along, dancing, and laughing way too much. We eventually all got pulled on stage because we were obviously having a blast.

After all the insanity, we hobbled back to the hotel and soaked our poor feet. It was an awesome girls' night out, and I can't thank my bridesmaids enough for organizing everything. From the shower to the night out, I had a perfect bachelorette weekend! Pictures to come...maybe. :-)

Bridal Shower and Dress Fitting

This weekend I flew up north for the final time before the wedding. Terry stayed home to work on his final paper, so I spent some quality time with my parents on Friday night. Saturday we woke up early for a workout, and then Mom and I finally found my earrings for the wedding at Nordstrom! The jewelry line is Nadri - I love them!

Next we headed to Monika's Alterations in Pleasanton, where, I'm convinced, the world's greatest seamstress makes magic happen. I got to try on my newly-altered dress, and it fits great! Monika only had a few changes to make, but they made a huge difference. Plus, she added a bustle, which looks really great with the dress. I even got to try the dress with my shoes, and I can walk and everything! My mom also brought in her dress for alterations, and I am so excited - she looks simply gorgeous in her dress. Now both mothers have their dresses, and the dads have their tuxedos - everyone is going to look incredible!

One fun part of the "small town" feel of Pleasanton/Livermore valley is that we often get a chance to meet other couples getting married at the Palm Event Center. Yesterday, at the fitting, I got to meet the bride getting married the night before us at the Palm! She looked stunning in her dress, and it was so fun to meet and share the excitement of our upcoming weddings.

After the fitting, we headed up to Lafayette for a bridal shower at my Aunt Dawn Lynn's house. Dawn Lynn did such a beautiful job, and the day was just so special. She had awesome snacks, GREAT wine, and a fun game. It was so great to spend a day with all the ladies, including my mom, my "second mom" Diane, my aunt Sue, Terry's mom, Terry's close family friend, my brother's fiancee, my cousins, my maid of honor, and one of my mom's friends. I know everyone had a great time, thanks to my aunt! Check out some pictures from the day:

Amazing little touches everywhere!

We made the "countdown plate"!

My mom and future sister-in-law (my brother's fiancee, Ashley).

My aunt Sue, me, my aunt (and the hostess) Dawn Lynn, and maid of honor Winnie.

My beautiful cousins.

Dad loading the gifts and rehearsal "bow-quet" into the car.

An amazing weekend, and now, as my uncle informed me, we're only five weeks from the wedding! Here we go...