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Sunday, September 26, 2010

Love Is A Beautiful Thing

I though, in the interest of laziness, I would post another set of lyrics from a song I absolutely love and will 100% be incorporating into the wedding somehow....as of yet I'm not sure on that front, so I'm open to ideas!!!

Every time I hear this song, I get choked up.  It's lovely and sweet and still full of life and joy.

"Love Is A Beautiful Thing" by Phil Vassar

Video.

Lyrics:



Looks like everybody’s here
Had to put some foldin’ chairs in the vestibule
Yeah, it’s gettin’ full
Even old Aunt Ruby came
Her first time on an airplane
It’s her sister’s girl
She wouldn’t miss it for the world
And all them kids jumpin’ in the pews
And Mr. Charlie in his lime-green suit
‘Is a handsome man’
Remarks Widow Callahan
Uncle Joe and Uncle Jake
Haven’t spoken since ’98
Just said, ‘Hello’
It’s a good day to let it go
Chorus
So let the angels gather
Let the music play
Let the preacher get to preachin’ all the “do you take”‘s
Love is a beautiful thing
Throw the rice in the air
Let the church bells ring
Tie the cans to the back of that limousine
Love is a beautiful thing
Daddy’s waitin’ with the bride
Yeah, she helps him with his tie
She sees a tear
He says, ‘Man, it’s hot in here’ hhmm
He hugs his little girl and asks,
‘How did you grow up so fast?
God, I wish your Momma could be here for this’
And everybody stands and smiles
As she goes walkin’ down the aisle
In her Mamma’s gown
And Daddy breaks on down
Gran and Gramps in the second row
Stood right there fifty years ago
And said their vows
Yeah, I guess it’s workin’ out
Chorus
A little table full’a gifts
Catering’s covered dish
And the wedding band
Well, that’s on her hand
And Tommy’s teasin’ Lorelei
He pushed her down and made her cry
And neither one knows
A day will come
When the angels gather
And the music plays
And the preacher gets to preachin’ all the do you takes
Love is a beautiful thing
Throw the rice in the air
Let the church bells ring
Tie the cans to the back of that limousine
Love
Two people in love is a beautiful thing

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Stamp!

I'm definitely late on posting about this, since it happened several weeks ago, but that's what happens when I'm consumed by dissertation work and working on my application for internships for next year.

As you know if you've read my other post, I had Chris create a custom logo for us/our wedding soon after we got engaged.  And then, I found Rubber Stamp Champ.com -- among other things they will make a custom stamp for you from an image you send them.  So I, of course, ordered a custom stamp of our logo for use in ostensibly many different ways!  

When, a few weeks after I placed the $15 order (yeah, way less expensive than I thought it would be!!), the stamp arrived in the mail.  Obviously, I went directly to Michael's to get ink pads, other stamps, and blank notecards to test out my pretty new custom stamp. 

Pics:
The custom stamp in many different colors.  It's  little bit difficult to see the silver and white ink on these colors, but I'm super happy with how it turned out!

The assortment of items that I simply had to purchase at Michael's.  The blank ink will apparently stay on any surface once you let it dry.  Might be a good choice for some slippery surfaces.



A sample stamped Thank You card - some of which we sent out after the engagement party.  I'm not sure that I'm in love with the design, and next time we'll get smaller cards because the stamps are rather dwarfed by the size here.

Another view of the cards: front and interior.

We also recently got bags in that we'll use for the candy buffet (more about that another time, I'm sure), and we'll definitely be stamping those!!

I'm certainly not the craftiest person in the world, but this is the kind of thing that I really enjoy.  I feel like things like this are what will make our wedding personal and a reflection of us.  Also, the crafting supplies can be used for more than just the wedding.


Monday, September 13, 2010

Then

A song just came on my Pandora as I'm working on my dissertation and applications for next year's internship.
I couldn't help but get dragged out of my productivity mode and into feeling choked up and so incredibly fortunate and in love:


"Then" by Brad Paisley
on YouTube


Lyrics:


I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerizedAnd three weeks later, in the front porch light
taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight
I hadn't told you yet
but I thought I loved you then

Chorus:
And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea, 
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

And i remember, taking you back to right where I first met you,
You were so surprised
There were people around, but I didn't care
Got down on one knee right there once again,
I thought I loved you then

Chorus:
And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea, 
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then

I could just see you, with a baby on the way
And I could just see you, when your hair is turning gray
What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more
But I've said that before

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in
And I'll look at you and say
And I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then





Like in the song, I can't imagine loving him more than I do at this moment...but I know that it will happen as we hit our milestones together and spend our lives side by side.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Now I Lay Me Down

So who knew that finding a place for our myriad out-of-town guests to stay for a reasonable price was so difficult?!??!
I certainly didn't, until now.

Chris and I went to visit the Hampton Inn & Suites in Suisun City (a scant 4 miles to our venue) to view all the rooms, check out the premises, and make a decision about whether or not to commit to having our guests stay there.
That part went fine; the hotel is very new (not even open a year yet) and modern.  The amenities are good (pool, free wireless, free breakfast, and a fitness room) and the service personnel were friendly.

The problem came when we got down to some numbers.
And it wasn't entirely a 'problem' it was just....confusing.
See, I'm not a business person.
I'm not an event planner.
I'm not a hotelier.
I'm a clinical psychology graduate student.

We sat down to hammer out additional questions and I'm trying to keep my cool and see what we can do to make sure we're getting the absolute best price and deal possible since everything I read tells me all about how much people gouge brides and grooms when they're planning things for weddings.
Hard as I tried, I had difficulty understanding what exactly their policies are regarding reserving blocks of rooms.  I want to have enough rooms that everyone who needs one gets one, but I don't want to overbook by so much that I end up having to shell out my own hard-earned cash for rooms that will sit empty.

They wanted me to tell them how many rooms I wanted, and of what type they were.  That's a toughie.  We've got a 150-person guest list.  About 75% are out of towners, which means about 100 people who'll need a place to stay.  Well, how many people will put 4 in a room?  And how many people will stay with a friend? And how many non-out-of-towners will want to stay here anyways so that they don't have to deal with driving the hour+ home depending on where, generally, they live in the Bay Area.  How many family people who are military service members might want to stay on nearby Travis Air Force Base at a much lower rate?
And to qualify for the group rate, people must book 2 months before the wedding...which means we need to send our invitations much earlier than previously planned.

These questions and more made my head spin.
Then comes the questions I actually asked and got no satisfactory response to: (1) How much room do I have to change my mind/numbers after the contract is signed? [The contract must be signed in the next 6 weeks, btw.], (2) Why can't I get the meeting room for the rehearsal dinner comp'd if half the people in the hotel are solely there because of me?, (3) Do I have to split it up according to room type?, (4) What's the deal with people using their military rate?

I kept getting all these caveats and some "poor me" business from the lady who showed us everything, playing up how this is as low as she can go and how I'm getting such a good deal.

I'm not so sure I'm impressed by the deal, but it's hard to tell.

I just want a place for Chris and I to stay the night of the wedding and a place for our guests to stay that is close to the wedding and reasonably priced.

I do not want to get taken for a ride just because we're a wedding and not a family reunion.3

This is the kind of wedding chore I do NOT enjoy.  Blech.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Conscious Bride

I am finishing the last few pages of a book that was recommended to me by a colleague: The Conscious Bride: Women Unveil Their True Feelings About Getting Hitched (Women Talk About).
The book is all about the process of going from girlfriend to fiancĂ© to bride to wife - not planning-wise or functionally, but emotionally and psychologically.  

I resisted ordering this book initially because I know myself to be a do-er rather than a be-er and this book seemed to be about the being rather than doing.  That is, I schedule things, and make to-do lists, and organize.  I do not spend copious amounts of time in reflection, contemplation, or processing.  Certainly a weakness of mine  an area in which I could do with some growth overall.  
So, obviously, I put off ordering it.  
Then I put off reading it.  
And then I have been putting off finishing it.

Now, I am quite close to finishing it and I have to say that I love this book.  I highly, highly recommend that any woman who is engaged - or planning to be engaged soon, or recently married - read it.  Now.  Certainly, there are times that I disagreed with the author, but overwhelmingly, the book spoke to me and how I have been feeling.

I feel torn between explaining now the entirety of the book and the idea that I might make writing about the book a multi-part post, since there is so much to get into and one post might be overwhelming.  I think the latter is most appropriate, but I do want to provide more of a sense of the book's basic premise.

The author's bottom-line philosophy is this:
(1) Getting married is an inherently huge transitional experience.
(2) All transitional experiences are painful, stressful, and difficult.
(3) Our society tells us that getting married should be the happiest time of her life.
(4) The combination of these have led to getting married being a cycle of feeling badly and then feeling badly about feeling badly -- so on and so forth.

That's the best overall summary I can give of the author's estimation of the 'problem' at hand.
There are six different chapters, all of which address different topics and ideas.

I am enamored of this book right now, and I reaffirm my recommendation to read this book.  

Link below to purchase.