project: backyard party !

the plan for our rehearsal dinner has once again changed direction. we originally wanted to throw a backyard party, an ultra-casual gathering at our neighbors house. then i noticed our lovely tree. and our cute fence. and i decided we had the time and resources to get our (rented) backyard nice and cleaned up before the wedding. we are now looking at a scaled down version of a rehearsal dinner, in our tiny backyard. still super casual, still in a yard, just smaller and a bit more personal. hopefully, this will be the last change, i want to send out invites by the end of the month!

in preparation for the event we have been working hard to get our landscaping sorted out. when we moved into our house (a year ago this month!) our landlord promised some yard work come springtime. we are well into summer and that work never happened. now i get to decide.. do i call him up and bother him about his promise? or just go ahead and lay down some rocks and pathways myself? he said we can do whatever we want to the space while we are waiting for him.. and we have been waiting a long time.

we spent the last two weekends raking, pulling weeds, and planting. we started a small garden, and i turned half of my hanging lanterns into hanging planters.

the begining of our small garden. basil, peppers, chives. also, our many baby succulents for other wedding purposes!

votive candle lanterns and hanging planters. next weekend we plan to have the entire length of fence finished.

baby succulents!

lovely lovely hanging planter from ikea. a great deal at $10 (marked down from $30) we plan to pick up a few more this week.

photos: the sunday wedding !

the sunday wedding was great fun, great drinks and a few new friends. seriously, the mojitos really are as good as people say. the fiance and i had to leave the party early in order to get back in time for work and school on monday, but we are going to try to head back to the ace as much as humanly possible, since we completely fell head over heels in love with the hotel.

all week we have been fantasizing about hopping in the car and going back for some more sun and relaxation, especially since los angeles has had a weird mix of weather this week. ok enough talk, check out the amazing photos that the lovely sarah yates took:

photo: sarah yates photography

photo: sarah yates photography

photo: sarah yates photography

photo: sarah yates photography

the rest of the pictures can be seen on sarah's blog + the flashdance. you will notice that i couldn't stand it and wore my rehearsal dinner dress a wee bit early. and i plan on wearing it all summer long. oops! a dress that cute shouldn't have to sit in my closet for three more months, right?

project: weddingroom !

about a month into our engagement (that would be january 2009 for those of you who don't have our engagement date memorized) i decided to start saving all of the jars that come through our kitchen. first i saw a tutorial on how to make jars into hanging laneterns, just like martha. then i saw some lovely drip candles in amber colored bottles, so i started saving those as well. i rinse them all, take off the loose labels, and stick them in the "weddingroom" which is an "out of sight, out of mind" type of place that holds all things wedding and was a complete disaster.

the jars will be used to hold fresh herbs, thin bread sticks and tea lights at the wedding. the rest will be turned into hanging lanterns for the outdoor rehearsal dinner. they still need to be soaked and washed and scrubbed and de-labeled and wired and hung, but that won't happen for a few months.

last weekend i decided it was time to really start working on invitations, so the wedding mess was all cleared up and it is now a wedding workshop. and the invitation project is running smoothly!

five months worth of jarred eating!

i really should take some "after" photos to prove that the space really is clean and workable, but you will just have to trust me.

also, it would appear that we eat a lot of jarred food. you would be correct in assuming that from the above photo. in my defense, there are a lot of applesauce-for-the-preschoolers jars in there. and we really, really like the garlic chipotle salsa from trader joes. and marinara sauce. and rogue stout! don't judge!

project: rehearsal dinner !

planning the rehearsal dinner has been so easy and fun. we are still hosting it in our neighbor's backyard, both to keep it casual and keep costs down. and we have a color scheme (i couldn't help it, i had to use the red/aqua combo somewhere). i have bought almost everything we will need but the foods and drinks. we aren't sure about the dinner part yet, but dessert will be a make-your-own-vegan-sundae-bar, and i will personally make sure everyone eats one.

so far:

tea lights, lava rocks

napkins (to be gocco-ed), vases, cups

tablecloths, paper lanterns

lanterns, to be transformed

party lights (a free donation from a friend!)

glass terrariums

i am wondering about hiring a photographer for a few hours at the rehearsal. total unnecessary indulgence or a good idea? maybe i will just load up on polaroid film on ebay, break out the actual film cameras, and take some photos myself.

project: wearables !

gina was in town this weekend and i found a dress for the rehearsal dinner. now i just have to wait five months to wear it (although, i am itching to wear it to annette's bar birthday bash this wednesday..)

photo: anthropologie

isn't it lovely? the fitting room attendant actually said, "these are selling like hotcakes, they just look great on everyone!" and i have to agree.

my mom was in town last week and we bought two wedding dresses. details and photos to come.

words: rehearsal/rehearsal dinner

my first thoughts on the idea of a rehearsal and dinner were along the lines of: no. no, no. no! why? no way! we don't need one!!?!?!

originally, we were not going to have a wedding party at all (other than a best person or two), but i warmed to the idea of a flower girl and ring boy. which means we are actually at a point where we could have something to rehearse, if our venue allowed it.

a few days ago i heard from loop (our site manager and all around helpful guy) that we could pencil in a one hour rehearsal at the marvimon. it wouldn't be set in stone and we won't know until the week before if we have the space, but it's better than nothing. and there is no charge from marvimon for this use, which made me happy.

so i went about mulling over the whole escapade and decided we might as well go for it! if we have fifty or so guests flying in from around the country, it will be nice to be able to spend friday evening with them as well.

to keep costs down, and stress to a minimum, we are having the dinner in my neighbors' large backyard. we are thinking israeli or indian food buffet style.. some summery drinks, minimum decor. small personal details to make the night memorable.

ike totally agrees.