…and other recent adventures :) On Friday evening we packed up both of our cars and hit the road. Yahoo!! Three suitcases, three large cardboard boxes, two Rubbermaid tubs, ten cake stands, four tote bags, three oversize frames, and about eight billion other unnamed wedding supplies. Oh yes, and two cats. And one bride, and one groom. This was my car – John’s held the cats and his golf clubs :) We spent the night in Virginia, then set off for New England the next morning with my Dad joining our party. The cats were angels! Nary a peep from the backseat, and smooth sailing all through DC, NYC, and CT. This was us crossing from Delaware into New Jersey. My Mom’s birthday was on Sunday, so my Dad and I made dinner + dessert to celebrate. I also set to unpacking in earnest, and this was the result midway through. Yikes! We packed up all the silver and drove it over to our florist this morning. I snapped this little beauty next to her shop. I’ve grown to love the South, but it’s good to be back in picturesque New England :) More soon!

Just typing that post title gives me butterflies – less than 10 days to go?! I’m feeling good, though!! Kate Murphy via Once Wed Since my last update: — My wedding gown has arrived in CT! The wonderful ladies at my bridal salon agreed to ship it post-alterations. — We finally decided on a song for our first dance! — I finished a whole heap of signage: our large menu board, our station menu boards, tented cards for passed trays, dessert signage, boutonniere cards, and reserved table signs, as well as various little flags and food pick thingies. WHEW! — We finalized details with our bandleader — I wrote my personal vows, and John is currently working on his — We invited guests to brunch on Sunday — I had my final call with our day-of coordinator (love her!) — Meanwhile, Marget made an AMAZING graphic for our rehearsal dinner favors, and my Mom has been a busy bee overseeing house improvements, locating boxwood bushes, polishing silver, and tracking down easels! A few of the tasks still on the list for the remainder of the week: — Write notes to go along with gifts — Finish slideshow — Confirm final details with caterer and send final balance — Finish bar menus after confirming with caterer — Compile lists of all guests/vendors for wedding and rehearsal and send to USCGA base security — Confirm details with rehearsal dinner location — PACK — Write our toast – planning to do this on the drive up to CT! There are still a few things on the to do list for this weekend, so I expect to be back with a final update post a week from today! In between, I’m hoping to share my second bridal shower and bachelorette adventure!

Surf City In retrospect I sounded a bit frazzled in my last post (which, admittedly, I was), but I just wanted to pop in and let y’all know I’m feeling much more on top of things these days! My to do list for this week only has 22 items on it (which may sound like a lot, but most of them are pretty simple, like “buy Cheerwine,” and some are just things like paying final balances to vendors!). Plus, we spent Saturday at the beach and yesterday at church and then out to dinner with friends (in between wedding tasks, of course), both of which helped to clear our minds. I’m excited to finish out this week strong, and then spend the one after it relaxing and celebrating! I’ll be back with a post on our registry tomorrow, and a planning update on Wednesday! xo

Oh my. This has been a rough week in terms of wedding planning – the most to do, and seemingly not much time to do it. We did get a few things done, but I’m hoping to finish the week strong so that next week can be all about organizing and packing. Another task we completed this week — mapping out a wedding day car schedule, so our 16 bridal party + family members can get around in five cars on 10 different legs… without leaving anyone behind Since my last update: — I finished scanning all our slideshow photos and we’ve loaded them into the program – now just need to add finishing touches — We finalized our wedding day schedule (we also timed out our ceremony to make sure our estimate was accurate!) — We chose songs for all important moments (except first dance – still trying to decide on that one!) — We made the final selections for our bar — I printed the wrappers for our favors — I sent the ceremony programs, welcome bag inserts, and maps out to be printed — I’ve painted a first coat on our remaining large reception signage — I mapped out our menu board and bought the additional paper needed for the rest of our signage (oh signage…) — We sent final payments to several of our vendors – exciting! — My veil arrived! — I wrapped gifts for my bridesmaids and our greeters, readers, and pianist A few of the tasks still on the list for the remainder of the week: — Finalize details with our bandleader — Finish the slideshow — Write our toast — Finalize our personal vows (eep!) — Invite guests to Sunday brunch — Finish the bar menu signage — Assemble our menu board