6 Months to Go!

So, are we married yet? My goodness. And still six months more to go! And two WHOLE seasons left to experience. Time is a good thing, though, as we have a lot more to do.

March was a productive month. Chris and I accomplished quite a bit, from rings to music to cake to honeymoon to the registry. It's been busy, but we're proud at all we've done. Take a look:

• Rings. Chris' wedding band successfully made the trip from Ireland. It really is an amazingly cool ring, and very Chris.

• Registry. We registered at Sur La Table and Crate and Barrel.

• Cake design. We fell in love and selected our cake design.

• Stationary. We also fell in love with and ordered our wedding invitations, reply cards, envelopes, etc.

• Website. We drafted our wedding website--photos + all content (but the Chris & Ally page). We are still tinkering on the design, but we're getting there. If you have any suggestions, let us know! The purpose of the site is to provide all the information that guests might want to know, and that it's too expensive to print on our invitations.

• Favors. We booked Mom's Apple Pie Bakery to make our 4-inch pies as our favors!

• Favor boxes + materials. We explored a few options for how to box the pies: paper, wrapping, ribbon, labels. Still in progress.

• Musicians. We found another band (since our last one bailed on us!), and signed the contract. They've played the Kennedy Center and elsewhere in DC. The samples online aren't really reflective of what we're going for, since we're only opting for a violin, a mandolin, and a guitarist--more on the Irish side, less on the Celtic. Our singer hails from Ireland, though, which is awesome. More to come on the band!

• Reception decor (branches). We reserved ten lighted tree branches as decorations at the reception! We're currently exploring LED options + inverters to avoid having wires on the floor.

• Jen's dress. We found a dress that Jen loves, though I returned both on account of her big news! We'll hold off on buying a dress until her due date gets closer, so we can determine what size she'd be most comfortable in.

• Honeymoon. We booked our honeymoon vacation! Four days in a Shenandoah cabin!

• Wedding Night B&B. We booked our bed and breakfast in Leesburg (10 minutes from Oatlands) for the wedding night, next day, and Sunday night (two nights so we can catch our breath!)

Next Steps for April

• Bouquets: Book florist for bridal bouquet and/or Jen.
  
• Boutinneires: Explore flowers for men--do we make boutinneires or purchase them?
• Fresh cut flowers: Decide on local grocery store or florist for fresh cut reception flowers.
• Lighting logistics: Resolve lighting for tree branch decor--LED? Use lights on existing branches? Get an inverter? Buy strings of LED lights?
• Votives: Create eyelet votives for testing at Oatlands.
• Escort cards, table numbers: Continue brainstorming about how to make escort cards (stationary to include personal letters to guests) and how to display them--old door, clothesline, little pumpkins?
  
• Decorating: Continue to explore rustic wreath options, lanterns, garlands, and benches for Carriage House.
• Decor testing at Oatlands: Test out linen, flatware, etc. samples from We Party at Oatlands + any decor on hand + flowers, now that Oatlands is open to the public.
• Attire for the guys!: Begin looking at suit options for Chris, groomsmen, dad. Chris is going with a three-piece suit in black. More details to follow.
• Hairstyles, hair stylist: Book a stylist in Leesburg; consider hairstyles.
• Shoes: Find a pair!