The Real Trial - Part 2

So I really loved the make-up but I think we'll have to make a few very minor changes. The hair? Sold as is. No changes needed. I love, love, love it. It's a little messy, a little structured and really cute. Ashley did an awesome job.

Back

Front

The great thing about doing the trial on Saturday was that I could test out my look at a party Saturday night. My eye make-up looked more natural in bright place or darker light. No dim lighting for us. I didn't even notice the really light shadow below my eyebrows though I do think they just need a little more blending. The airbrushing was flawless. It didn't get shiny or feel thick and it looked really great.

The hair did great as well. I think we'll need a little something to keep the few strays down, but nothing crazy. Some of the piece of hair that got pinned under came undone, but it didn't look bad. I think they were just a little shorter than the rest and a few more months of growing my hair out will fix that.

I really liked doing the trial and then going out because it helped get a feel for everything. I know what little details we'll try to change and what really worked. I also learned that I will need to make sure I provide a power stripe for Ashley and possibly a good lamp. I don't want her to have to hunt for multiple outlets or plug and unplug things over and over again.

Also, the trial gave me a good sense of how much time to budget for hair and make-up on the big day. It took us a little over an hour to do the whole trial. That includes the time setting up the lighting, deciding on a hair style, getting used to the fragile flare lashes I bought and deciding on shadow color.

What "ah-ha" moments did you have during or after your trial?

P.S. Check out my new (and final) hair piece. I think it looks great with the 'do.

The Real Trial - part 1

The amazing Ashley came over on Saturday to do our real hair and make-up trial. We did one previously, but I didn't know what I really wanted. She was great. She used my inspiration pictures to come up with the perfect hair and make-up combo.

So this is me on a normal day. I don't wear much make-up. Blush, eyeliner (mostly on the bottom) and mascara. That's it. I used wear more but traveling has forced me to simplify.

This is my fancy face. A little tinted moisturizer, more eyeliner and a little shadow. I don't usually wear lip color. My lips would look HUGE. I'm lip salve kind of girl.

Here is Ashley's handy work.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the airbrushing. It was so light; it didn’t feel like I had make-up on. Overall, I really like the make-up. I'm not a huge fan of the really light shadow (based) right below my eyebrows. Maybe something a tinsy bit closer to my skin color? What do you think of the shimmery shadow? I really like it but I was also thinking something a little more pink? I really would love to do a green or yellow but I'm not sure it would go with the borrowed sari.

I do think we need to go with longer lashes. We did medium length flares, just 3 on each side. I think they made my lashes fuller but not any longer. I played with the longer lashes a bit on Sunday and I don't think they look too crazy especially since she'd place them on the out corner only.

Thoughts ladies?

The Final Flower

After months of back and forth going from vendor to vendor, I finally found a hair piece I like. When last we left the hair piece saga, I was choosing between two gorgeous numbers. Most bees liked option 2. Classic with a little color. I liked it too but I also really like craziness of option 1.

Jessica and I traded emails about how we could merge option 1 and 2 and finally Jessica took the reigns and came up with a entirely different piece. As soon as I saw it I was sold. May I present my final, final, FINAL(!) hair piece.

I love it and it looks great with my bridal do. You'll just have to stay tuned to see it in action! What element of your wedding accessories did you go back and forth on until it was perfect?

I Really, REALLY Heart Craigslist!

Worn out and frustrated with our search for a rehearsal site venue had me grasping at straws. I had the Baguette Box idea but FIL Joeys we're jumping up and down crazy about it. They really liked it but they worried that not having a place for everyone to sit would be a problem. Hmm…I see their point. I was just about to give up for then night when I thought, "maybe Craigslist? What could it hurt?" So I wrote a small ad:

We're looking for someone to cater and host (in their space) our rehearsal dinner on xx around 6pm. We'd like to spend $25 per person for food not including tax or tip. We have 35 people in our party. We'd love to bring our own booze but are open to purchasing it from you. Interested parties, please email us the location of your space, link to pictures (if possible) and a sample menu.

I didn’t expect much from the ad but it was worth a shot. I had been lucky with my invitation printer, photographer and hair/make-up artist. Why not role the dice again?

I got the usual weirdoes. My favorite was someone named the Captain who said for $24 extra, he'd throw in the parrot and "rev" could marry us that night. Yeah, I'm thinking I'll pass. 10 offers later and no luck until I got an email from Lynn at Lake Street Catering. She said they could work within our budget and that she had access to beautiful house we could use for free in Bellevue (across the lake from Seattle). I ignored the note at first. I had hoped to have the dinner in Seattle but then thought if the house was on the way to the chapel (which is on the same side of Lake Washington), then it wouldn't be so bad. I emailed Lynn and asked for the house address and MapQuest said it was right off the freeway; just after the 520 bridge and on the lake. Interesting…

I pitched the idea to Mr. Joey. The food sounded good, she had some good references (the mayor of Kirkland likes her), the house was on the way and the price was right. His thoughts? Get pictures of that house!

I asked for pictures and it's lovely. It's right on the lake with it's own dock. It has pool. Who has a pool in the Seattle area? And the patio around the pool looked like a nice place to have dinner. I asked Lynn if that was possible and she said they could bring in tables and chairs and set it up. They even had tents and all this was included in the price. I was sold! I forwarded the pictures on to my FILs and asked for their blessing to start talking tasting and menu with Lynn. They said it sounded like a wonderful option. Woot! Woot! And I'll add a Heck Yeah! And I forgot to say, we can bring our own wine!

Lynn is getting the final OK from her friend who owns the house but is 99% sure it's fine. The owner is spending the spring in New Zealand but is vacationing in France right now (must be nice). Lynn said that she has other venues we could use and we'd still stay on budget. We're 99% sure we're going with her and Lake Street Catering. We're going to do a tasting, check out the house, and get a final owner from the house's owner by the end of next week. We have some options on the back, back, back burner if this doesn't work out but I have a good feeling about this and Lynn, so I'll be happy when we can turn those burners off. I really, really want this to work!

I have to say, this has been the most stressful part of the planning thus far. Who knew? What item on your list were you the most relieved to be done with?

Mr. Joey, Is That You?

So I mentioned before that Mr.Joey was apparently inspired by the last wedding we attended. Never has he willingly wanted to discuss the ceremony apart from what music will be played. Now he talks of readings, personal touches and traditions we can add. I'm blown away.

And then I was blown away again. Last night I came down with another awful sinus headache after dinner and went straight to bed. This morning, when I checked my email, I saw one from Mr. Joey entitled "rings." I opened up to find that last night while I was asleep, he searched online for his wedding band. He'll do wedding research, but I have to ask him to do it. He researched rings all on his own. Um, hello? Is that really you Mr. Joey?

He not only looked up rings but he also asked married friends about their rings. After collecting all his data, this is the ring he decided on:

image

I think it is very him. Not flashy but has a little something special to it. His musician friends told him a Tungsten comfort ring is great for playing bass or guitar. They hardly notice it. His carpenter friend said it takes a beating and still looks great. I think he's sold and amazingly this ring is less than we budgeted for. Goodness!!

How did your FI or husband select his ring? Did he ask friends or did he just try some rings on?

Trying to find FOCCUS

Like Ms. Mascara and Mrs. Dumpling, various bees before me have blogged about doing Pre-Cana and taking the FOCCUS test. Like most men I know, Mr. Joey was not really interested in any type of pre-marital counseling. He's willing to spill the beans on our checking accounts with a financial planner but not discuss our relationship with counselor or other certified person. I totally understand. I'm not really comfortable talking about my feeling in front of a stranger either.

Since our chapel doesn't offer marriage prep classes, I set about trying to find somewhere else to take them. Engaged Encounter was out. Mr. Joey can't afford to lose his entire weekend at this point in the school year. Doing it in the summer would be fine, but our officiant said that would be cutting it too close. I called some local Catholic Churches but had no luck either. Classes already started or they only allowed parishioners to participate. I looked into private non-Catholic counseling but the price tag was hefty and Mr. Joey wasn't willing to shell out that kind of money for something he didn't think we needed.

I was about to give up and force Mr. Joey into taking the Engaged Encounter when my sister suggested I look at Seattle University. I had planned to get married in their chapel but the date that was available didn't work with our schedule and I had to give it up. I wasn't sure they'd let me take pre-cana there since I wasn't getting married in their chapel, but thought I'd try anyway.

I'm so glad I made that call. Kathy in the Campus Ministry department was happy to conduct our pre-cana and set us up with the FOCCUS test. She said she knew our priest and as long as I had attend Seattle U, it was fine. Lucky for me I did go to Seattle U for a few years and went to it's prep school. On top of that, when I emailed Kathy to confirm the price of the sessions, she happily told me they were free. FREE!? Awesome! Seattle University can expect a small donation or gift from Mr. and Mrs. Joey in the future.

We had our first session yesterday, and I'm soooo glad we ended up at Seattle University. I think because their campus ministry is pretty liberal and it's a college, Kathy was much easier to talk to. She didn't flinch when we told her that we "co-habitate" or that the main reason we're getting married in a Catholic Church was to please our parents. She was just so pleased that we had it together. I think most of the couples she sees are in their early to mid-twenties and haven't dated too long. She said it was rare to get a couple in who had a tested and stable work/home/relationship balance. Over 4 years together and almost 3 in a shared home -- we have it down. Thankfully, the test said the same thing. The Joeys are a perfect fit.

If you did pre-cana or other religious pre-marital counseling, did you feel comfortable being yourself and answering questions in a way you knew were not inline with your church (i.e. living together, birth control?)

Somebody, Please Take Our Money!

I thought finding a reception space was hard until FMIL asked me to look for a rehearsal dinner spot. The requirements? A place for 35 people to dine for about $25-30 a head (not including, tax, tip or beverages), serve wine and beer, have some vegetarian options and will serve family style (no pizza). Oh, on a Friday night around 6pm-ish. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong! I've dealt with 6 different restaurants, some leading me on while others flat out telling me that they were not willing to lose that Friday night business.

I'm not trying to arrange a budget dinner at a 5 star restaurant. All the places I looked had main courses that feed 2-3 people for $10-15 a piece. I'm (well, FILs) are willing to spend over $30 a head for a 2 hour dinner. I think the math says our group is more lucrative.

I have to say that I am really amazed that people don't want our money. Family style and we'll order 2 or 3 months ahead of time? Doesn't seem to complicated. I'll spare you the details about the restaurants that haven't worked. Let's just say some place lacked serious customer service skills.

Since finding a venue has been so hard, we've had to think outside the box, or rather in it. The first place that came to mind that was a little different was a sandwich shop called Baguette Box. They serve gourmet versions of Bahn Mi (Vietnamese Sandwiches). Their sandwiches are to die for. Crispy tofu braised in coconut juice? Yum! They also have very good sides and delicious truffle fries. The only thing about this place is that it closes at 5pm and doesn't serve alcohol.

I called, just to inquire if a private party was possible and the new wasn't bad. I have to say, I was so happy to get someone nice on the phone. The manager like the idea of holding the rehearsal dinner there. The place only seats 20, but we'd have the whole place to ourselves to mingle. I asked him if we could bring in our own wine if we purchase a banquet license and he said he would check. All I got at the end of the call was promise that the manager would call the owner and find out if my idea was an option, but that was enough for me. I hope it works out.

I told Mr. Joey the news when I got home and while he was also excited about the prospects of Baguette Box, he warned me not to get my hopes up. So we set about trying to come up with more options. Mr. Joey suggested we go back to our original catering/reception venue list and look at all the places that were way too small for our reception. Viola! We found 3 caterers we really liked who came in our price range and had their own space. I sent bid requests and I have my fingers crossed that something good will come out of it.

If I had my way, we'd do a BBQ or something at home. The Joey FILs want to avoid that since the wedding is so early the next day. They don't want people to spend a lot of time cooking and cleaning the day before. Makes sense.

Anyone else have so many problems coming up with a venue for their rehearsal dinner?