Losing My Wedding Mojo

Hive, I've been feeling a little off lately, and I'm hoping you can help me. I was once the most enthusiastic of all brides to be. I spent most of my free time researching wedding related paraphernalia. I was the queen of wasting my time doing unsuccessful DIY projects.

Lately, though, I've lost that spark. I can't bring myself to make a decision about anything wedding related. I have a list of things to do a mile long but can't seem to get anything on it done. I have nightmares that I get to the wedding only to realize I never had a final meeting with the florist and she uses only calla lilies (the one flower I asked her not to use), or that I never finished writing our ceremony, or that I didn't make sure our officiant is actually licensed, etc. etc. etc. Even after one of those nightmares, when I wake up sweating and freaking out, I still can't bring myself to get stuff accomplished.

So hive, I'm asking for your help. Get me out of this funk!


Have you had the wedding blahs? If so, how did you cure them?

Fun With Fonts

I was browsing Dafont.com the other day when I realized just how many amazingly fun fonts there are! Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a use for most of them, but decided to download a bunch just for funsies. (PS there is most definitely a Harry Potter font that I now have downloaded- totally using it for invitations to a HP themed party!) Anyhoo, I got to screwing around and after a few minutes I had created this cute little story about me and Mr Elk.



Now my question for you, hive, is what the frick do I use this for, if I use it at all? Is it too cutesy? I was thinking I could put it in the out of town bags (which I will hopefully be discussing soon-just waiting for them to arrive in the mail) as part of a packet with info about the area/day after brunch. Any other ideas?

Have you created a project just because you had the resources? And is anyone else addicted to dafont.com?

PS- in case you are wondering, here is a list of the fonts I used in order of their appearance:
1)Dawning of A New Day
2)Universal College Draft
3)Cocktail Bubbly
4) Batman Beat The Hell Outta Me
5)KG Heart Doodle
6)Skyline
7)Doggart
8)Before The Rain
9)Janda Fabulous

Costa Rica Dreaming

As the weather in Syracuse seems to have finally decided that it is in fact winter, I can't help but dream wildly about the amazing time that awaits us in a short 132 days on our warm honeymoon! Since I'm dreaming about it all day and night, I figured I should let you in on the details.

So last we talked about the honeymoon I explained that while we had always thought we'd go to Greece, we just didn't think it could reasonably happen. After many back and forth conversations that didn't lead anywhere, we FINALLY agreed on Costa Rica! The decision was helped by a number of Bees before me who have gone and only had amazing things to say.

Originally I was dead set on staying at Oxygen Jungle Villas- the place where Mrs Brooch and Mrs Lox both honeymooned. Their recaps looked out of this world, and the resort looks to die for!

photo by Mrs Lox

While researching OJV, I came across another little resort in the same area of Costa Rica. TikiVillas Rainforest lodge is a small resort with just 5 Balinese style raised bungalows in the heart of the jungle overlooking the ocean. It has been open for just over a year and has gotten some great reviews on tripadvisor.

This photo of TikiVillas Rainforest Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

This photo of TikiVillas Rainforest Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor


This photo of TikiVillas Rainforest Lodge is courtesy of TripAdvisor

So why did we ultimately decide on TikiVillas instead of the originally planned OJV? Honestly, it came down to price. Me and (especially) Mr Elk- we're cheap. The price of OJV was 30 dollars more a night. Moreover, TikiVillas price includes a daily freshly prepared breakfast. Even though that only comes out to saving us about 250 dollars (when 5 dollars for breakfast per day is included), that 250 bucks could be used to go on 2-3 fun outings in Costa Rica!

Overall, I'm super excited and can't wait for our romantic, exotic, fun filled vacay!

Have you planned your honeymoon? How much did cost factor into your decisions?

Musaq

Before we get into the juice of this post, I have to tell you that we've had a DJ booked for quite some time. We looked into having a live band, but just could not justify the (at least) $3000 extra that would be spent. I was quite honestly a little bummed, because every wedding I've been to with live music has definitely had that extra umph. Anyway, DJ booked.

So when I started talking to Mr. Elk about what music he wanted to walk down the aisle to, he agreed that Beatles songs and other classics would do the trick. I've never pictured myself walking to here comes the bride or Canon in D, and Mr Elk is big into music, especially from the 60's, so it was easy for us to be on the same page on this front. Mr Elk didn't seem thrilled, though, that we would be walking to radio versions of songs. Please note that this conversation happened at least 6 months ago. He seemed to think that this wouldn't be special enough for such a big day. Even the Vitamin String Quartet version of songs wouldn't do it for him. At that point I was a little peeved that he hadn't said something sooner, but fine, no biggie. If he wanted real strings to make the ceremony more special that was fine. But since I couldn't care less about this, it was totally and completely up to him! I gave him the contact for 2 reputable string ensembles in the area and told him it was his responsibility to make it happen. Fast forward till about 3 weeks ago, and he STILL hadn't contacted anyone. I was pretty convinced he had decided he didn't care either, as I had reminded him every month. But no, he finally got his act together and we now officially have a string duo for our ceremony.

So what are we planning on walking down the aisle to? Well Mr. Elk is still deciding what he wants playing while he is walking, but I'm pretty certain it will be something from The Beatles. As for my walk, I think I've made up my mind: God Only Knows by The Beach Boys

I like that it is upbeat but not too fast, sounds happy, and I happen to love the song. I also find it pretty obnoxious that Mr Elk and I are pretty serious about not including any religion in our wedding, but I am walking down the aisle to a song with god in the title.

As for the recessional, I had my heart set on Great Balls Of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis, which is our song.

Unfortunately, I don't think it will translate well into strings, so I'm going to save it for our entrance into the reception. Instead, I think we will use When I'm 64 by the Beatles.

I think it is fast, upbeat, and a fun song in general. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with our musical choices. I know that these songs represent us as a couple, and they are songs that we will truly enjoy walking down the aisle to.

How did you decide on your processional and recessional songs? What did you decide on- traditional/classic or popular?

The Poochasaur Part Two

A while ago I told you how I wanted our dog involved in the wedding without actually being in attendance. Well, I think I found a way! A while ago while browsing (aka stalking) my favorite wedding websites, I saw something that made me look twice! This adorable picture:

via Style Me Pretty/Photo by Shutterbird PhotographyAn

What you can't see is the adorable caption that goes along with those stylish doggies in the photo, which says "What do you mean we can't come?" I saw this, and immediately thought I should do something similar. I therefore grabbed a bow tie and a camera and started snapping. I figured I too could display an adorable photo, add some sad words about not being allowed to go, and maybe have some paw print chocolate lollipops as a favor. Look how cute the pooch looks in a bow tie! (personal photos ahead)

And then I saw this post by Miss Unicycle about Vistaprint business cards and using them for photosharing cards. I had always planned on having photosharing cards at the wedding since I'm super impatient and want to see any photos ASAP, but wasn't planning on making them so delectable! So, I completely copied her (imitation is the best form of flattery), and here is what I came up with:
And here's a snapshot of my newly arrived business cards! For seven dollars (shipping included!) I can't really complain that they are a bit grainy and darker than the original photo.



Anyhoo, I still may display a larger photo of the pooch in his black tie garb at the reception, and I'm torn about the chocolate lollipops; while I think they are cute I'm not sure they are worth the time/effort I will be putting in to make them. Plus, I've never worked with chocolate before. And moreover I'm not the biggest proponent of favors- most of the time I can take em or leave em.

Anyway, what dya think hive; is this enough pooch for the wedding? And what are your thoughts on favors? A must do or a don't bother?

Beauitfying my Hands

Hive, I have to tell you that I have never for a minute cared about my nails. Sure, I've gotten some manicures in my life for special events! But on a daily basis, my nails are not treated with respect. If I'm being 100% honest, I'm a nail picker. I say this because I don't really bite my nails (although I will if they are breaking). Instead I pick at the cuticles (I know, gross). It's a bad habit that got started during stressful schooling.

So I don't know what has happened to me lately, but I have become completely and utterly obsessed with my nails! Like, I have literally acquired about 7 new nail polish colors in the past 2 months. And not only have I been playing with color, but I've been playing with techniques as well!

Thanks to my obsession with Pinterest, I have discovered crazy techniques to make your nails over the top ridiculous, like water marbling (as you can see modeled on my hands above).

Currently, my favorite color has become Mink Muffs by Essie (shout out to Miss Mink!). It's the perfect combination of darkness for the winter with a hint of taupy lightness.

via Simply Said

All of this unexpected nail obsessioness has created a positive outcome- longer, thicker, beautiful nails! You see, everytime I do my nails (which is becoming a biweekly event) I use Rejuvacote nail growth system as my bottom and top coat. I know many hive members are true to Nailtiques, but Mama Elk used Nailtiques for a decade and now swears by this.

via Amazon.com

Now that I have beautiful nails, I can't help but think- what the frick will I do with them for the wedding? I know most brides pick a pale pink color that is almost natural, and I'm definitely leaning towards the natural route. But every time I think I've decided, I get blindsided with a gorgeous picture of a bride with bright nails! I mean blue? how awesome are those?

photo by Project Duo Photography

And have a look at these stunners. Ummm can you say GORGEOUS? Honestly, I adore this!

photo by Gladys Jem Photography

So now, I am utterly confused! I don't really think a dark color would suit my more pastelly color scheme, but I can't help but be intrigued by a bright splash of color. As a reminder, this is my bouquet inspiration:

via Flora Fauna

And here are just 2 of the colors I've been considering

Essie Island Hopping:

via The Beauty of Life

OPI Samoan Sand

via Everere

What do you think? Brighter is better or almost nude for the win? What will you be doing? Oh, and do you have any color suggestions?

Wedding Curmudgeon

Although I love weddings, there are some things about weddings that I'm not the biggest fan of, and therefore will not include at my own nuptials. I thought I'd share my thoughts about those traditions that will not be making an appearance at my own wedding:

1. Cake Toppers

"The Love Pinch" via All Wedding AZ

While this is probably my favorite cake topper out there, I'm still not having one. It's not that I don't like cake toppers. I think most are adorable, especially with all of the options there are these days. It's more that I don't understand their purpose. Like why is there a little bride and groom on top of a cake? It doesn't make ANY sense to me! Therefore, I don't feel like wasting money/DIY time and energy to have one.

2. Sand Ceremony- While I like the idea behind this ceremony, I just can't get over the nagging feeling that I am a second grader making those sand bears at a birthday party.

via The Craft Shop Online

3. Line dancing- I always feel like a line dance song comes on, people get excited and start doing it. But then, the song lasts WAY longer than necessary, and people feel like they have to keep doing the dance.....until they just don't want to do it anymore. They lose all enthusiasm! Therefore, there will be no songs played that dictate a very specific dance. (definitely no ChaCha Slide, which I just can't seem to like even though every one does).

4. Something Old, Something New- While I'm sure I'll have one of each of these items at the wedding, I'm not really going out of my way to make sure. I'm not quite sure why exactly I don't care about this tradition, but I'm just not.

5. Bouquet/Garter Belt Toss- This is quite possibly my least favorite tradition of weddings. I can honestly say that I've only been to one wedding (out of 6) where these were done, and it was super awkward- which may be why I don't want to do it myself. I have always just felt like its kind of strange that girls should be fighting over who will be getting married next. It seems to add to that sense of competition that already exists in the minds of women that they should be living the best life out of their friends.

As for the garter belt toss, I also find it super awkward when the groom is like all up in the bride's crotch. I'm just not that open in front of my family. And then, the worst case scenario is ALWAYS that some young kid catches the garter and has to put the garter on some 30 year old woman's leg. I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it!

photo by Dinofa

Which traditions are you skipping at your wedding if any? Why?

Making Our Officiant Official (AKA a plea for help!!!)

It took quite a while to decide who would marry us. We knew it wouldn't be anyone affiliated with a religion, as we want a secular ceremony. Once we had made that decision, I completely stopped caring about this (extremely important) detail for months.

Finally, a friend mentioned how awesome it would be if someone we knew married us, since we had no other requirements of our officiant. I realized this would be amazing. We could have a truly personal ceremony, led by someone who has known us our entire relationship.

Thrilled with the idea, I talked it over with Mr. Elk who also seemed excited (though a little apprehensive at first). Mama Elk was a whole other story. For whatever reason, even though Mr Elk and I are mature enough to be GETTING MARRIED, our friends are not mature enough to marry us. Yes, there is no logic in this at all, I understand. Mama Elk really preferred a Justice of the Peace, and even threw out the idea of having one of her best friends marry us (who has never met Mr Elk).

Mr Elk and I were frustrated- we both felt like it was OUR wedding ceremony, and we wanted it to be personal for us, not her. Finally, after numerous arguments and frustrated phone calls, she agreed. And so we have our officiant! Mr J, as he will be forevermore known, is a friend we met at college during our freshman year. He is very personable, a great speaker, and is wholeheartedly excited about this job! He is taking it so seriously that he even wrote an email to our parents introducing himself and asking that they go to him with any concerns/ideas for the ceremony.

And now, my plea for help. Mr J is not licensed to be a wedding officiant. He is trying to go the civil route, but has met a ton of roadblocks. Nobody he has called so far seems to know anything about what this entails. He plans on talking to the town mayor, and the state of NY! Things are really getting out of control, and I hate knowing he is putting in so much effort and hitting so many roadblocks.

Has anyone done this/known someone who has done this? How did they do it? Who did they contact? If you know anything about this, please let me know!!!

It Takes Two

I can't type those words without thinking of this song!


PS that is Matthew Morrison (of Glee) who was in the original cast of Broadway's Hairspray (which I got to see when I was 16 with that original cast!! Wow, that was almost 10 years ago. I'm old :( )

OK, back to the point of this post. It takes two people to get married, but I've found it takes two to plan the wedding as well. And no, my partner in planning is not Mr Elk. (Personal Photos)

Us in an ever flattering Alfred Angelo dress

Admiring each other in gorgeous Watters gowns

Long before I found Weddingbee, I was lucky enough to have a friend who actually cared about little dumb details of a wedding, because she too was getting married! Bridesmaid K and I met during our first year of medical school. We studied together and became fast friends after she hit me in the head with a cadaver's arm in anatomy lab (she claims it was accidental, but she laughed hysterically).

Anyhoo, since then we have experienced a lot of life's big moments together. We got engaged about a month apart (and we each played a part in each others proposals in strange ways). We went dress shopping together (numerous times!) as you can see above. We are in each others weddings only 2 weeks apart. And we will stand together a week before my wedding to both become doctors at our graduation.

It is a little overwhelming to think about all we have to do wedding wise for not only our own weddings but each others as well. Our bachelorette parties are just a week apart and will take place 5 hours away, and with our weddings 2 weeks apart it makes for interesting honeymoon planning. Some brides may be upset to have another wedding so close to theirs, but I can honestly say that I am SO EXCITED!

Do you have a partner in crime when it comes to wedding planning? Has Weddingbee helped when your friends or family don't really care about all those little details brides seem to freak out about?

Honeymooning Heartache Turned To Happiness

Before we even got engaged, Mr Elk and I were totally 100% on the same page about where we would be taking our honeymoon.

photo by Peter Phipp/ Available here for purchase as print

Oh Santorini, how I would love to bathe in the glory of your beauty! I fell in love with a Greek honeymoon after watching The Sisterhood of the traveling Pants one too many times, and for some reason Mr Elk agreed with me that Greece was the perfect place to relax after our nuptials. But then money woes struck the nation, and we began seeing visions of mobs and hearing stories of transportation strikes. It was all a little too much for us, plus we realized how expensive it was going to be. So I said goodbye to my dream honeymoon and started thinking of other places we could go.

While brainstorming new places, it gave me some time to reminisce about my previous travels. I'm lucky enough to be able to say that I've gotten to travel the world quite a bit. My first major journey happened in college, when I was accepted to go on Birth Right. For all of you wondering what the hell that is, it is a free trip to Israel for people who are Jewish. I jumped on the opportunity for a free trip! Here, me and bridesmaid J are floating in the dead sea:

My next big trip came after college graduation. I had always promised myself I would backpack through Europe if I got accepted into medical school, and I kept good on my promise. This was also the first major trip Mr. Elk and I took together, and it was a MONTH long. And we visited his relatives in Ireland. And did I mention we did it all on a really tight budget? Phew, glad we made it out alive and still like eachother!

Here we are in Paris- these are two of my favorite pictures of the two of us! In this first one we were laying out on the grasses outside of the Louvre drinking wine, waiting for the time when it was free admission for people <24 (because we are cheap! This is an important point).

We next hit up Barcelona, and then made our way to Italy. here we are in Rome:
we also made our way to Florence and Venice before heading north to Berlin. here we are looking like pigs:

Our trip through Europe was amazing!!! But I started to remember how much planning went into it. How I researched where to stay tirelessly, how I spent oodles of hours researching low cost airlines and hostels. How I decided which attractions we would spend money to see and which we would pass up (we didn't go up the Eiffel Tower- 5 Euros was just too much!)

A year after our European adventure, I found myself making another dream come true! I had always wanted to go to Africa, and decided to go through my medical school. Here I am in the town of Mole in Ghana, in front of an Elephant!! This was by no means a luxurious vacation.



Finally, my latest travels were to Japan. Mr Elk, myself, and two friends from college traveled through the country and visited our friend who has been teaching English there since we graduated. This trip was basically a repeat of Europe. We were stingy, staying in hostels, and always looking for a way to save a few bucks

So what did my reminiscing teach me? Well, first of all, The Elks are CHEAP. We do not like spending money, and are very cautious when we do. Secondly, we have never had a truly relaxing vacation. They all consist of traveling from city to city, never forming a travel homebase. Thirdly, our vacations are not what you would call romantic. Staying in a hostel with 10 other people in the room snoring loudly is fine and dandy when you want to see the world on the cheaps, but I just don't think it fits the bill for our honeymoon!!

And so I came up with a few guidelines for what I wanted in our honeymoon:
1)I don't want to go somewhere I have already been. The world is so big, and I want to see as much of it as possible.
2) I do not want to spend our honeymoon traveling from one hotel to another
3)I want to stay in a place that looks romantic enough to be considered a honeymoon spot
4)I want warmth!
5)I want other options besides the beach, because pasty white Irish men don't fair well sitting on the beach all day, and I get BORED easily!
6)I don't want to spend a fortune to get numbers 1-5.

I'm pleased to say that after countless days where I didn't think we would ever find a suitable location, Mr Elk and I have finally agreed on a honeymoon spot! The Elks are going to Costa Rica!!!!

Are you a stingy traveler? Are you letting it affect your honeymoon plans? Oh and if you've been to Costa Rica, I want to hear all the awesome things we should do!!!!!