Bouquet Blitz

What would I do without The Knot?  The never-ending compendium of all things wedding. Floral decision still looming. I'm heeding the advice to go with color instead of white - but now I need to decide which color.

Here are some delicious pictures to chew on...

Hydrangeas w/ ferns and maybe a few sweet peas tucked in?

More hydrangea - a la Martha

Purple - but no orchids for me, just not my wedding preference. Thinking of something a little more wild, a little bit more (appropriately) English garden.

Sweet Peas!

Brilliant blues

I love these hydrangea bridesmaids bouquets with little pops of rusty red

What about PINK??? Peonies, hydrangea, ranunculus and lilies?

Poppies - and other fun things (what are those?)

 A mix!

More MARTHA!!

How is she so good?

We'll let her have the last word... for now.

Decisions Decisions....

My to do list is rapidly becoming filled with the word "decide" in angry all-caps with excessive exclamation. The overwhelming amount of beautiful research in the form of blogs and wedding mags has resulted in a sort of paralysis due to too many options.

Take last week's shoe blogging (still undecided) or the new decision du jour: floral. I'll keep the reception decor quiet for now (it's all good) but in terms of bridal bouquet, bridesmaids, bouts and corsages, I'm in a quandry. I just love everything too much. 

I'm sure once one thing is decided, the rest will come easily. So the biggest question now is color, or white?

I love all colors. Sometimes when I go shopping and a shirt is displayed in a series of shades, I freeze up, unable to choose just one and go with black instead... or white... or gray. It's like I want all or nothing.

So now you understand why the wedding colors are black and white. I had to restrict myself or else the entire affair would turn into the pride parade. Rainbows...everywhere. (not that I have anything against people who have rainbow weddings)

The specific flowers that make up my bouquet have already been selected for sentimental reasons, representing my great-grandmother, grandmother and mom through their favorite blossoms, each different. Of course, these flowers lend themselves to certain color choices, but still leave me with options (too many).

This is just a small sampling of the inspirational imagery overflowing my desktop. I still have a little over a week to decide, so I will share more soon.

Hey Lady

And the shoe search continues - don't know if I can afford these from hey lady - but the Nasa shock-absorbent memory foam does make them extra tempting

And if those didn't induce a little drool, maybe these will?

And then there were these

Jeffrey Campbell - pic doesn't do them justice, I promise.

Well, looks like I'm back to high heels and neutral colors.... for now.

Something Blue....

I've known for a long time that I wouldn't wear white shoes to my wedding. No offense to those who choose them, but bridal shoes are blah and so limited in use. So I knew I'd opt for color and blue was the obvious choice. 

 I've been hunting the blue shoe for a while and although I am a girl who loves the high heel, the thought of six hours in stilettos is beyond my tolerance for pain. So I give you shoe options:

Apparently these should look familiar to you - why you ask? (I asked too) They are the cheap, dirty and low-heeled cousins of Carrie's wedding footwear in SATC. I prefer cheap, dirty and low-heeled and was pleased that the SATC reference was lost on me. 

 These Pour la Victoire 50's peep toes are sweet but the heel might feel like death around 11:30.

And JELLIES!! Oh the memories, not a good bridal choice, but what more could my 12-year-old self have wanted than blue opalescent jelly heels with princess baubles on the toes. Vivienne Westwood, you are genius.

Side note, does anyone remember hosing their jellies off because they got so gross. I remember when my white ones had to be pitched, they went so well with my tie-dye t-shirt.

Then there are the vintage options - 50's shoes from Etsy. 

 Later 50's/Early 60's on Ebay (they look like they need some love).

Unfortunately the 80's seems to be the most highly represented era of cobalt shoes - so the other option is vintage white with some fabulous shoe clips. (shoe clips = bows, sparkles or both)

So time to decide and order, right? Still, I'm racking up the blue items included in my ensemble so I'm hoping that something blue doesn't need to be a singular something.

Update

I've been a delinquent blogger - what's new? 

Well, actually, lots of stuff is new. What some would call massive progress has been made on the wedding front, as should be the case as we rapidly approach the one month to go marker.

One month. Can you believe it? I mean, not yet, not today, but pretty soon. Terrifying. and sad. I like planning weddings. I like planning my wedding. Now I don't know what excuse I'll have to obsess over fonts and layouts, menus and seating charts. My wedding is my hobby.

Well on to the goods - I mean we have some goods. The previous lengthy blog post on creating wedding invitations in the form of mini books has come to fruition. Books were designed, printed, collated, cut, stitched, stuffed and stamped and by now should be in the hands of wedding guests across the country.

We've already been called crazy. I'll accept that. The invitations are what some would call crazy.

I would happily share photos etc.. with you, but I've been so busy stuffing and stamping that I haven't taken a time out for a full photo shoot. For now you'll have to enjoy the envelope of two very high-profile guests.

I'm pretty positive they'll come. I mean, it's not like they'll be that busy in August anyways - recess, right?

I'll post more invite pictures later - but for now, that isn't our only update. We've also done an (almost) full overhaul on our wedding website which I am happy to share with you - although many of you may now be coming here from there and this will just create an endless feedback loop, but for those of you who have not feasted your eyes on the handiwork of my soon to be bro-in-law, Ben, please enjoy: abbeyanddan.com

We also hired a band that was the band that we wanted all along. Although they have partially relocated to NYC, it goes to show you that a little begging can go a long way. 

This weekend finds us back out in Denver for walk-thrus, showers and the like. We still have plenty of boxes to check out on the old to do list. I think Dan summed it up perfectly tonight when he told friends: "We have all the big things and now we're just down to the details. It turns out we are very detail-oriented people."

More to come - but a few last pics from a beautiful shower in DC thrown by world's best boss, LG.

Who Wrote the Book?

We did. We did/are.

Whose idea was it to DIY our wedding invitations? Furthermore, whose idea was it to make custom booklets instead of wedding invitations that require multiple elements all of which need to be designed printed and then assembled into a glorious whole?

Yeah... I think we know who's to blame. But, they're so pretty?

This is what started the ball rolling, incredible handmade books from Katie and Ben featured on Oh So Beautiful Paper - They are amazing. I love them

These are so well thought out and beautifully executed. And the consistent, clear sense of design is apparent (and something I personally lack). 

Not only are they filled with wonderful pages - they are custom-bound and delivered in a box. Their Save the Dates were also epic; posters in custom poster tubes. This couple has it going on.

Then there are these... watermarked and gilded, courtesy of uber high-end, Ceci New York - stationer to the stars, if there is such a thing. Unfortunately at upwards of $30 an invite, these won't be headed to our guests anytime soon. Maybe we could order just one, and then, like a chain letter, our guests would have to continue forwarding it on to the next person on the list, adding their RSVP's as they go.

These 14-page booklets have a similar feel to the first example and were designed by graphic artist Matt Muller  - I love his use of silhouettes and the mix of fonts is spot on.

So the result of all this wonderful inspiration is an all-consuming invitation design process that includes multiple elements ranging from cover stock to die cut labels. It might be a little short of 14 pages, and I might DIY myself to death, but.... I'm not sure what the but is. 

Onwards to book-making.

Smoky Chicken + Roasted Chickpeas

Another massive success from Bon Appetit. Make enough for leftovers - otherwise you'll be sorry when it's all gone.

 Photo by Lisa Hubbard (not me!)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika*
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
• 4 chicken breast halves with bones
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
• 1 12-ounce container cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Prep:

Preheat oven to 450°. Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Pour 1 teaspoon spiced oil mixture into small bowl; whisk in yogurt and set aside for sauce. Place chicken on large rimmed baking sheet. Rub 2 tablespoons spiced oil mixture over chicken. Add beans, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup cilantro to remaining spiced oil mixture; toss to coat. Pour bean mixture around chicken. Sprinkle everything generously with salt and pepper.

Roast until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cilantro. Transfer chicken to plates. Spoon bean mixture over. Serve with yogurt sauce.

Die of deliciousness.....

Save that Date!

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? We've been busy, had the fam in town and headed down to North Carolina to visit Ms. Moo for another extraordinary Elon performance.

I'm hard at work on all things wedding - but thought I'd drop by and post the final Save the Dates as most all of them have been dropped in the mail.

In other, much scarier news, the wedding is less than four months away.

Scream... I did.

Spring Fettuccine

Had the best dinner tonight - I could eat it again tomorrow. Delicious and easy.

Spring Fettuccine - From Bon Appetit Magazine

Ingredients

• 8 ounces thin asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch lengths
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 4 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 1/4-inch strips
• 8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 16 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 pound fettuccine
• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Preparation

• Cook asparagus in large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to bowl; set aside. Reserve water in pot.
• Melt butter in large skillet over medium-low heat. Add prosciutto and stir 1 minute. Add mushrooms and sauté until golden, about 3 minutes. Add asparagus, peas, and cream and simmer until cream is reduced by 1/3, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat. Mix in cherry tomatoes.
• Bring reserved water in pot to boil. Add pasta and cook until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Add pasta to skillet with sauce and toss to coat over low heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese. Transfer to large bowl; sprinkle with chives and serve.

We didn't bother with the chives (although I'm sure they're good!) and we used baby bella mushrooms instead of crimini. It was seriously delicious and will definitely be on our next dinner party menu. In other news, our Save the Dates went out! I know, I know it only took several months of staring at it on my to do list, but after the aforementioned stamp snafu and some mailing label issues, they have officially left the building. We also took several rounds of engagement pictures throughout DC, embracing our inner tourists and love for a remote shutter release.
 

That and our love for jumping. 

We also may have launched our wedding web site - but it's in a pretty skeletal state, so I am going to wait before sharing the link here in the hopes that I can amp up our content. Although the URL is a pretty simple guess and involves both of our names.

More to come, but first enjoy that pasta.