Ciao!

I am going on a girlfriends' getaway through Monday. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!


Photo credit http://www.astrophoto.ca/. I hope to have some of my own to share soon!

Note to Self (Literally)...

On weddingbee today, Mrs. Pinot Noir posted about her out of town bags. In them, she placed pre-stamped post cards from the region her wedding was held, along with a note to guests to send one (that was pre-addressed) to the happy couple after the wedding describing their favorite memory from the weekend; the other was for guests themselves or for a friend. I love the idea, and found 200 post cards for $40.00 :http://shop.rockymountainreflections.com/. It's a bit too early to order them now, but I definitely plan on it as the wedding draws closer.

It's Amazing and Free!

This is the best (FREE-gasp!)wedding idea ever! Simply enter the email addresses your friends who will be attending your wedding and The Wedding Lens will email them and remind them to bring their cameras to the wedding. After the wedding, guests will receive an email requesting that they upload their pictures into an online album for sharing. What a great way to have all of your photos in one place and to get some pictures from your wedding while you are waiting for those pro pics (not to mention a variety of photos that you may bot have seen otherwise).

Visit www.theweddinglens.com for more details.

I Need This, Right?

It's only $50, matches our wedding colors/flowers and would be a cute item to have around the house as a non-creepy memento of our wedding...right? Right? Should I buy it?

By the way, this amazing clay floral arrangement is from Etsy Seller DK Designs http://www.dkdesignshawaii.com/. You have to check out her website and her gorgeous work!

Shhh...We Don't Live Together Yet!

The most controversial wedding decision that Andrew and I have yet to make is one that we are not making. Simply put, we've decided not to live together before we get married.

Here are some stats I gathered on this topic:

There are 9.7 million Americans living with an unmarried different-sex partner and 1.2 million American living with a same-sex partner. 11% of unmarried partners are same-sex couples.- U.S. Census Bureau, 2000

41% of American women ages 15-44 have cohabited (lived with an unmarried different-sex partner) at some point. This includes 9% of women ages 15-19, 38% of women ages 20-24, 49% of women ages 25-29, 51% of women ages 30-34, 50% of women ages 35-39, and 43% of women ages 40-44. - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the United States." Vital Health and Statistics Series 23, Number 22, Department of Health and Human Services, 2002.

The number of unmarried couples living together increased 72% between 1990 and 2000.- U.S. Census Bureau, 2000

55% of different-sex cohabitors get married within 5 years of moving in together. 40% break up within that same time period. About 10% remain in an unmarried relationship five years or longer.- Smock, Pamela (2000). "Cohabitation in the United States." Annual Review of Sociology.
All of this information has been gathered courtesy of http://www.unmarried.org/statistics.html.

Why am I not joining the 49% of women in my age bracket who live with their partners before marriage? There are a few reasons and I am happy to share them. The first is that I relish being single. Don't get me wrong, I can not wait to marry Andrew, but in the meantime, I want to treasure nights snuggled up in my bed, face mask on and Godiva Ice Cream in tow reading trashy novels without judgement, long conversations with my girlfriends without an audience, painting my toenails while I watch "Grey's Anatomy", and all other "Secret Single" (a la Carrie Bradshaw) behavior that Andrew loathes before I make the move to move in with my boy. The next reason is because I do my best (though I do not always succeed) to follow the tenants of my religious faith. I don't mean to say that those who live with their significant others are somehow wrong, immoral or "sinners", but simply to say that this was not the right choice for me based on my personal beliefs. The final reason is pretty cut and dry. My parents are making a generous contribution to the wedding and have threatened not to if we live together; as a city school employee, suffice to say that I would have a hard time paying for the wedding of my dreams on my own...

That being said, I can understand the many reasons why people do live together before marriage (and am more than occasionally jealous of those who do). Bills are pretty expensive, especially in this economy, and it would be nice to have someone to split them with. Over half of these relationships end in marriage, but some do not; perhaps those who live together first avoid what could have potentially been disastrous marriages. That, and I can definitely understand the desire to have your loved one near. It makes perfect sense to me, and I judge not. We all have to make the choices that are right for us.

What bothers me, I guess, is how much I have been called upon to defend my beliefs on this matter. I usually just give people the last reason (about the parental wedding support) and it seems to nip the conversation in the bud. However, it would be best not to have to defend my position at all. As Rodney King once replied in a much more urgent situation, "Can't we all just get along?". After all, aren't weddings supposed to be about love?

What do you think? What did you decide about living together before marriage and why did you make that choice?

Letter Your Legacy Lust

I would love to spell out our married name and hang one of these pieces from Letter Your Legacy in our master bedroom. In the meantime, I will settle for ordering them for others (my parents and grandparents) for Christmas.

What creative gifts or objects of lust have you found during your wedding browsing?

Products/photo credits http://www.letteryourlagacy.com/.

Picking a Pretty Palette...The Decorating Continues.

Now that we had linens and furniture, we need to get the guest bedroom painted.We will also be painting the master to get ready for its future makeover. Here are the colors we chose:

Master (We will paint one wall the darker grey as an accent, and the other three walls a lighter grey.):
Guestroom (The light brown will be the primary color on all of the walls, the dark brown will be the trim and the cream will be for the ceiling):

The accent color for the guest room will be chartreuse, and the accent colors for the master will be chartreuse, burnt orange and robin's egg blue. I'd love to use the wedding colors (pink and brown) but A was not so into the idea-he he he!

How did you pick the colors for your nest? Did you start with the paint or with the linens/decorations?

Paint colors/swatches from http://www.myperfectcolor.com (Benjamin Moore).