Rings, Rings, and More Rings

In case ya'll haven't noticed, I really love jewelry. When we took my ring in to be resized and dipped a few days ago, they told us it would take four or five days to get it back. My finger felt SO NAKED without my ring. My fiance thought I was crazy, but I needed a stand-in ring.

This is my promise ring from my fiance, which he presented to me right before I left for college, almost five years ago now. It's a blue topaz, which is my birthstone. Normally I would just wear this in place of my engagement ring, but we've been out of town on an extended vacation and I hadn't packed it.

Cue Walmart. Yes, Walmart. Does this girl look like she's about to drop hundreds of dollars on a temporary ring just to make my finger feel less naked? Nah.

I picked this up off the costume jewelry rack just to have something on my hand, and I kid you not, I have gotten loads of compliments on this ring. It almost makes me wish I had gone with a colored stone for my engagement ring! I guess people just notice them more because they see clear stones on left hands all the time. 

Do you wear a ring in place of your regular engagement ring or band?

Love, 

Linds

Bling, Bling, We Chose Rings!

My engagement ring has been snagging on my clothes lately, so I figured it was time to take it in to the jewelry store for an inspection.

The one bad thing about purchasing important pieces of jewelry from Etsy sellers, as we did, is that you are not getting any sort of protection plan with your purchase. Since my ring is white gold, I can expect to shell about between $40 and $60 every time it starts to get yellow and needs to be redipped, as well as for any repair work. I guess it's a small price to pay for a ring that you love, but definitely something to think about if you (or your groom!) haven't picked yours out yet.

Sure enough, my prongs needed to be retipped. Since Don was with me in the jewelry store, we decided to browse for wedding bands while we were there, and ended up finding bands we both love.

Don's is a 6 mm white gold band, and mine is a 2mm white gold and diamond ring wrap. For a lot of brides, it is way too thin, but I love small and delicate jewelry, and I loved the way it looked on my finger! We decided to go ahead and put our rings on layaway, so we'll have them in a few weeks! I can't wait. 

Sorry for the extreme close-up and blurry quality!

When I went back to the store yesterday, I got to pick up my newly pronged and dipped engagement ring, as well as try it on with the band. I DIED, ya'll, it just makes me melt to see them together on my finger. It was perfection. 

How did you pick a wedding band? 

Love, 

Linds

Vendor Love:

Rings - Fred Meyer Jewelers 

Hers

His

Things I Stressed About

When Mr. Blue Moon and I first got engaged, one of the things I was most nervous about was working out all the little details with my parents. There was never really a question that my parents would pay for a good portion of my wedding. We are Southerners, and it was something my mom's parents did for her, and we have always made jokes since I was a little girl about my dad footing the bill for this shindig. That said, the way this usually goes down in Southern families is that since the bride's parents are paying, the bride's parents want (and deserve!) a lot of input in the wedding. I have a great relationship with my parents, but we are also very different people. This is my list of all the things I was initially worried about dealing with, and how we are handling it...for better or worse!

1. Food: Mr. Blue Moon and I have been vegetarians for going on three years, and I never really imagined serving anything other than vegetarian food at the wedding. Many of our guests don't eat meat, but our families both do. The menu has been a source of contention between Mom and I from the get-go. She thinks it's bad-hostessing to not offer a meat option, but I think the reception menu should be a reflection of the couple. Either way, we both want to make sure all of our guests are happy and that no one leaves hungry, but we still haven't decided on a final menu. Thankfully, it's just as important to my mom to help me pick out a fabulous meal for our vegetarian and vegan friends to enjoy. I hate going to weddings where I can only nibble on the veggie display!

From My Big Fat Greek Wedding via Joy Runner

2. Booze: The majority of my family doesn't drink. Not a glass of champagne on the holidays, no wine at dinner, nothing. =This is the lifestyle I was raised in, and I've always been ok with it. I have never really questioned that I would be having a dry wedding due to my family's preferences, but my parents compromised on this one and agreed to allow us to serve it to please all our guests. Though I will always respect my parents for sticking to their guns as they were raising my brothers and I and trying to provide us the very best example they could, I'm glad that we will have different options for our wedding guests who choose to partake. At the end of the day, I want everyone to have a great time at our reception and be happy with both the alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverage options (I can make some rockin' mocktails). 

3. The Dress: Dress shopping was the part I was least excited about out of everything. I was worried that what my Mom likes and what I like on me were not the same thing, and since she graciously offered to buy my dress, I wanted something we both loved. I like lace and lean towards simpler looking gowns, probably because I have put on weight over the past two years and feel really self-conscious about anything that draws too much attention to me. My mom really likes bling and the wow factor and would encourage me to try anything on no matter how much I felt like it wouldn't flatter me. It's nice to have someone who always thinks I look like my best self. I guess that's what moms are for! Thankfully, this resolved itself because Mom and I both fell in love with the same dress. I was so glad I took her dress shopping with me and got to have that bridal moment with her. It was perfect!

How are you resolving differences between all the parties interested in your wedding? Has anything surprised you during the planning process with family members?

Asking My Bridesmaids

I love cutesy stuff. I really, really do. I love all the bridesmaids boxes I see on Pinterest, the custom wine and champagne bottle labels, the monogrammed tumblers and jewelry and robes. I wanted to put together something nice for asking my girls, and it had to fit with the wedding theme. I randomly found these Msaon-jar-looking travel cups at the store one day, and bought like ten. I did not know at the time what I would use them for, but I did know I liked them and could find some kind of wedding use for them.

Meanwhile, my best friend since kindergarten, MOH K, was coming to visit me in my college town so that we could attend a concert together. We are Nashville girls, and would pretty much follow Luke Bryan to the ends of the earth. ;) But in the midst of all the excitement over the concert, I was also considering the fact that I might not see MOH K again for several months, and I knew I didn't want to ask any of my other bridesmaids before I asked her to be my maid of honor.

Enter the Mason jar cups. I decided to stuff these babies full of wedding goodies and things in wedding colors. I picked out earrings for my bridesmaids, and included those. I put in fancy chocolates, and pretty make-up that will go with my wedding palette. I ended up ordering PDF files from Etsy to print off onto cardstock for my cards. They come with different hair colors for the girls, so of course I picked one that matched all of my bridesmaids hair. Because I am OCD about random stuff like that.

From April Heather Art via at Etsy.com

When I met with MOH K for brunch on the day before she left, I presented her with her stuffed travel mug and a sweet letter inside her card, both wrapped up in wedding color paper (our colors are lilac and mint).

She said YES!

It was the great end to a fun weekend, and I ended up repeating this process with my other girls. Receiving fun goodies is definitely a great way to hype everyone up for the wedding! 

How did you ask your bridesmaids to join you on your wedding day?

**All Personal Photos

In Which We Attempt to DIY: The Handfasting Cord

I don't know when I first learned about the tradition of handfasting in wedding ceremonies. It's a very old tradition that can be seen across many centuries and cultures all around the world. It involves literally "tying the knot," by binding the couples hands together during the wedding ceremony as an outward demonstration of commitment.I love this tradition, and for history buffs like Don and I, it will be a fun part of our wedding ceremony that incorporates some of our interests and who we are.

The question, of course, was what to use for the handfasting itself.

Photo from BBC via Cherish Ceremonies

Will and Kate used some satiny looking something for their handfasting, and it involved the priest merely folding it over their clasped hands. I have seen several handfasting cords and ribbons for sale, too, but nothing really spoke to me. 

Via Darby Smart

From InfinitielyEntwined via Etsy.com

Handfasting with a tartan looks beautiful, and would be a fun tie-in to my family's Scottish heritage, but as far as I know, the nearest ancestors who had their own tartan would be my maternal grandmother's family, and that seemed like a stretch. 

From Little Legs Baby Kilts via Etsy.com

Eventually, my mother-in-law and I decided to make the handfasting cord ourselves. Mr. Blue Moon and I picked spools of ribbon in the wedding colors, and I sat down at his parents house to work. This is the result of maybe an hour of testing different braids, knots, and twists.

Personal Photos

There's not a real science to my method.We ended up making two basic ribbon braids, and then intertwining those two braids together. The finished product, which is maybe a foot long, will be wrapped around our hands on the big day. The next decision will be to figure out what kind of vows we want to say, or what we would like to be read, immediately before  and during our handfasting.

Will your wedding ceremony include handfasting, or another interesting tradition?

We Search for the Church

Mr. Blue Moon and I have always known that we preferred a church ceremony. I was raised in a very religious Christian household, although my family has grown more relaxed over the years, and as a little girl, I always dreamed of walking down the aisle in my family's church.

Here's the current congregation in front of the church. Mom and Dad are standing in the back! // Via Franklin Church of Christ

However, the church is not what I had in mind on the outside, and the inside probably seats around 200 or 250 people. Since we are keeping our wedding to about 85 people, my family church would swallow us. I pictured a small, intimate, historic chapel.

Most gorgeous church of all time! // via Wikimedia Commons

That's Mr. Blue Moon's family's church near our town's square. His family has attended for a couple of generations. For several years before we got engaged, we talked about getting married in this church, but the inside is very grand and a little more formal than I envisioned for our small affair. Even though it really appealed to me because of the sentimental value attached, it just didn't feel exactly right. I had a vision in my head, and I needed to find it!

This Methodist church was another strong consideration. // via Wikipedia

We had briefly considered using this little white church just down the street from my parents. I have always wanted to get married in a white church, and I love that this one is maybe two or three minutes from the house where I grew up. However, I know a ton of brides that have gotten married there, so it was messing with my vision of what our wedding would look like. It's hard to plan when you're constantly comparing your wedding to everyone else's, and wondering which of your ideas are really yours!

Fantastic chapel in Brentwood, Tennessee // via All Things Marriage

The strongest contender before we found our church was Owen Chapel. It was built in the early 1800s, and I love that historic aspect. It is also a functioning church of Christ, which is the brand of Christianity I was raised in, and I knew I would be comfortable planning there and that it would make my family happy. The inside is completely beautiful. I love all the white and the light, airy feel of it. 

Photo by Evin Photography

I love the high ceilings, the pretty white pews, the light fixtures. And the lady who manages the weddings is a sweetheart and would be so fun to work with. However, my cousin had a beautiful wedding here in 2014, and as much as I loved everything about it, I wanted to give my family a change of scenery! I also really didn't like the idea of moving the wedding outside of our hometown of Franklin, Tennessee.

Via the Presbytery of Middle Tennessee

 TA-DA! :)

My maid of honor and I noticed this church while we were driving around in the country one day. It's another historic chapel, and has my white siding that I've always envisioned. We parked the car, got out to peek in the windows, and noticed that it had a center aisle. I was sold! Mr. Blue Moon got in touch with the pastor, and they put us down in their book. When we went to look around inside, we both knew that this would be the one. It felt right, and we could see ourselves getting married there. Seating 85, it's perfect for the size of our wedding! 

Doesn't Mr. Blue Moon look great walking around in here? // Personal Photos

 The ceilings have exposed wood beams throughout, really old chandeliers, and there are white clapboard walls. It also features heavy double doors into the sanctuary space, so I am already picturing how lovely it will be to swing them open for my entrance. Hey, a girl only gets to be a bride once! 

Sometimes we find the perfect things randomly, but I'm so happy my maid of honor noticed this building. It will make a beautiful wedding, and I can't wait to meet Mr. Blue Moon in here in just a few short months to say "I Do!"

How did you choose the perfect ceremony venue?



A Bridesmaid Bowed Out, and It Was Not a Catastrophe

We finally nailed down the wedding reception location, which I'll talk about soon in another post (yay!), so I posted it on the Facebook group I have set up for our wedding party. A few minutes after posting the updates about our wedding, one of my dearest friends messaged me and told me that she can't make it to the wedding because she has recently landed an amazing internship in South Africa. My heart dropped for just a second because I seriously love this girl, ya'll. I met her through my college debate team, as we were the only two women from my university to travel and compete nationally on a team full of men. We were always hotel roomies on our trips around the country, and we shared so many laughs and great times together.

Jaz would have made my wedding day so much more awesome than it will already be!

 

As disappointed as I am that I won't get to share the day with one of my best friends, I would never expect someone to give up an internship for one day, or even to purchase a ticket for an international flight for one wedding weekend. I'm so proud of my friend for landing an awesome internship!

 

Of course, we are now in a place where Don has five groomsmen and I am only at three bridesmaids, one of them a junior bridesmaid. I don't know if we'll leave the numbers like they are, or ask one more person to join us on our special day.

 

Love,

Linds