Groomsmen Gifts

What to get the wedding party as a thank you is a difficult decision. I blogged early on about the gifts for our bridesmaids, and now wanted to give the men a turn. Our groomsmen are Mr. Onion's best friend, father and brother.




We decided to help them with their attire and got them lovely ties and fun argyle socks to wear for the wedding. The purple, brown and green socks on the left are for Mr. Onion and the black, green and white pair on the right are for the groomsmen. They don't match the tie perfectly, but as Momma Onion says "It's close enough for government work!" I just wanted a cute sock photograph with all the guys. Plus if we didn't buy them socks they'd most likely forget to bring there own! I kid, but this way they're all set.

Now, Mr. Onion's best friend really went above and beyond and was very involved and excited about the wedding. His gift to us was he paid for a significant portion of Mr. Onion's wedding suit that we had custom made. He researched the custom tailor and came with us to almost every appointment/fitting. It was so much fun to have him be a part of the whole process.


Here they are together at the first fitting

So we wanted to do something extra to thank him. He's a fan of great gin, so we got him a bottle of Henderick's Gin (arguably the best gin out there) along with some of the most amazing tonic water we could find -- Fever Tree.




As you can see Fever Tree sells a number of beverages. We got a six pack of the lemonade, the tonic water and the ginger ale. Part II of the gift -- continuing with the gin theme, is the famous Pimms #1 to make a Pimms Cup with. I see that Miss Peppermint is planning on making Pimms Cup her signature drink.



We plan to bring all the ingredients for the Pimms Cup with us to Vermont and will present him with this gift on Thursday night before the wedding.



This way if Mr. Onion and his best friend wish to enjoy a drink in the beautiful solarium at the Inn they can. I think we hit a home run and I hope he enjoys and appreciates the gift.

Last minute decisions

No matter how much advanced planning you do, there are things that you can't plan for. While I was trying to nail down some of my last minute details things changed.

1) Ceremony Readings:

We asked my mother to read "My True Love" by Sir Phillip Sydney during the ceremony. See my post Wedding Planning Part II to read it. It's a lovely poem and very "us" but she wasn't comfortable with it. She decided she wanted to read "Tin Wedding Whistle" by Ogden Nash. This is a charming poem, and as it turns out, couplets from it were included on my parents wedding invitation. Nice connection.

2) GM attire:

When I first started planning I intended for the groomsmen to wear brown suits to match my bridesmaids Ann Taylor Brown Dresses. There was much searching for a brown rental suit -- high and lo in New York City, and nothing. So I decided to compromise and they rented black suits. So I had to do something about the ties so it felt more festive and complimented the bridesmaids dresses. So Mr. Onion and I went to Saks Fifth Avenue and found these lovely ties that were a Saks brand. These will act as our groomsmen gifts as they were not inexpensive.



3. Picking a recessional song:

We have been working with a very talented guitarist, and I also have to mention he's just the nicest guy. When you pick your vendors don't just think about the quality of their work, think "Is this someone who I'm going to want around on my wedding day?!" Brendan Burns is one of those people for sure! He is based in Boston, but travels, so take a listen for yourself on his website.

Anyway, he called us last night and we had a "phone concert." We were deciding between two songs for our recessional (both of which he learned for us) -- "The Lucky One" by Allison Krauss and "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys. He played both arrangements over the phone and it was a difficult choice. We finally decided to go with the Beach Boys because it's so happy, upbeat and people will recognize it and smile! Thanks Brendan!

The list goes on, but those are the things I've been working on lately. More to come as the countdown continues!

Foot Petals...aahhh!

Think about your feet on your wedding day. You'll be glad you did. I am a shoe girl, but also hate being in pain. Because I'm a short dress bride and everyone will see my shoes it was important to me that they were fabulous shoes.

Here are my Cynthia Rowley Shoes that I got on www.zappos.com.



BUT, I don't want to have to take them off before we even get to the reception so I'm going to get a pair of Foot Petals "Killer Kushionz ." I got a pair of their "Tip Toes" in a gift bag over a year ago and I love them.


Killer Kushions

Tip Toes

They are pretty reasonably priced -- now I just have to find a way to get them here in time without paying $20+ for 2nd day shipping. I looked (ok, well I called) all over New York City to find a store that carried what I need to no avail. I think I'm just going to have to buy them anyway. I was also going to get the tip toes for my bridesmaids -- one pair for each of them and buy the "triple pack" and save the money that way. Happy feet = happy girls!

Coupon Code: Also found a 20% off coupon until September 8th (my wedding day -- yahoo). The code is: 498559. Enjoy walking on clouds -- ok, not quite, but it's better than nothing :)

painfree wax?

Doesn't sound possible does it? Well I'm skeptical, but I'm going to find out for myself. I decided to spend some serious money on "as painless as possible waxing" from Bliss Spa in New York City. I'm going to have my legs waxed (never done this before) as well as a bikini, eyebrow and lip wax to prepare for the wedding, but more importantly, the honeymoon! I hate shaving my legs and then getting into a saltwater ocean -- OUCH. So I hope this will do the trick for most of the trip anyway.



I asked what their secret was as I'd heard raves on my local knot.com board. They said they use "their own special bliss wax" (of course they do) and don't use cloth strips -- the wax actually adheres to the root of your hair and they then pull the wax off.

Here is their waxing menu with prices. It's not cheap ladies, but it is supposed to be "the best!" If you can't treat yourself before your wedding, when can you? I'll be sure to let you know how it goes -- my appointment is next week.

What last minute treatments are you or did you indulge in before your wedding?

Fast and furious...

Last night I had a very telling dream. I was in a car with my future in-laws, Mr. Onion and my FBIL's girlfriend. Mr. Onion's father was driving, mother in the passenger seat and the rest of us in back. We were on the highway and driving very fast!

All of a sudden Mr. Onion's father got up from the drivers seat (as if the car were big enough to do that all of a sudden) and walked into the back. I said "What are you doing?!" scared half to death as we were now flying down the highway with no one at the wheel. He said "Oh, this thing practically drives itself," then he laughed and walked to the "back" (somewhere different than were Mr. Onion and I were) and I woke up so nervous I had to take a few deep breaths to calm down.

Pfew. Inhale...exhale....and repeat. My FBIL and his girlfriend actually got us this great aromatherapy product that was in my shower gift that I took a few "hits" from this morning after I woke up from my dream.



OK now people -- what does it mean? I came to the conclusion that it's my fear of relinquishing control. That the speeding car [that is my wedding] will keep going with or without someone driving. I've been so nervous about all the little details. Not in the "Oh my god I don't have a seating chart" way, but the, "Have I followed up with everyone, will I have everything I need packed, will the pull in my dress get fixed before I pick it up in five days (yes you heard me -- something I've been remarkably calm about), when will I EVER print the menus, programs and OOT welcome booklets I've been saying I would do for the last two weeks, will my brother be on time, will my cousin (who is very sick) be well enough to attend..." way!

The funny thing is everyone keeps asking me and Mr. Onion the typical week before your wedding question -- "Are you nervous?!" I hate this questions. It's akin to the just engaged question, "So, have you set a date?" and I'm sure as soon as we're married it will be the just married question, "So, when are you guys going to have kids?" Well, no, the answer is no. I've never been so sure about something in my entire life as I am about being married to and sharing my life with Mr. Onion. So what is going on with the anxiety people? Any suggestions about how to come back to earth so I'm "all here" for my wedding?!

Calligraphy is for every bride

Ok, well it doesn't HAVE to be, but it can be thanks to the great work and reasonable prices of Michele Clark. She has been a dream to work with -- very responsive, willing to mix colors for you to match your invitations and take on any project you can dream up. She did our invitation envelopes, our place cards and even a project I took on for my bridesmaids (personalized note cards). Here is some of the work she did for us (sadly some of it is blurred for privacy).

Invitations:





Mini-Moo Cards (place cards):


Moo cards from www.moo.com. 100 cards for $19.99 + $5 shipping -- sooo worth it. They can be used for SO many things -- if you can dream it up you can use them. Engagement photos by Daria Bishop.

These will be tied to lavender bundles like there:



Bridesmaids Note Cards:




She did each of with a different font, color and embellishment. If you showed her a font you liked, she would make it happen! These pictures don't do it justice because I had to blur their names for privacy and the silver ink didn't show up because of the flash -- but trust me when I say A - Mazing.

She is based in New York, but we did everything via email and through the mail, so no matter where you live you can have this beautiful hand touch to your wedding at very little cost. Plus think about all the time you'll save addressing everything yourself?? She is best reached via email at calligraphybymichele@verizon.net. She does not have a website, but don't let this deter you -- she'll be glad to email you samples of her work.

A tip: Book her early. She books up so quickly all through referrals and is already booking time for 2008 brides, so get your place in line. You'll be so glad you did.

Tick tock.....

It's final crunch time -- I'm getting married in 10 days but we are leaving for Vermont in 8 days so I basically have a week left to nail down all the details. Here's what's on tap for me:

1) Finalizing our flower plan (just dropped Dana from Fresh Floral Design Studio an email). Because we are having 20+ less people than we'd invited/planned on we had some money left over for pew decorations like these:

From Martha Stewart Weddings

Galvanized Tins we'll be using

2) Finalize music for the ceremony (trying to decide on the recessional song with Brendan Burns). We're debating between "The Lucky One" by Alison Krauss a little more upbeat or "Wouldn't it be nice" by the Beach Boys. What to do, what to do??

3) Finalizing the menu and head count for our rehearsal dinner at Taste of Burlington

4) Same thing for our reception at Adrianas. Ooh, I just got our "mini-moo" cards back from our wonderful calligrapher (Michele Clark, more to come on her later) and they look great. Engagement photos (by Daria Bishop) on one side and guests name calligraphed (yes I knot that's not really a word, but it should be) on the back. Check it out:



5) Finalize our marzipan pear cake with Alison at Mirabelles.

I won't bore you with the rest of the details -- plus if I do I won't have time to do them :) Once all that is done we can print print print -- our menus, our programs and our welcome booklets for our OOT (out of town) guests -- which is all of them.

All the last minute details are coming together and I am feeling excited and fluttery -- I can't find a better word. Not nervous, just fluttery!

Miss Corn, how are you doing?? Any other brides getting married this weekend or next? How are you all holding up?

Honeymoon relaxation and fun!

Mrs. Poppy's honeymoon post reminded me I've only briefly mentioned my honeymoon in my post "Mr. Onion is the best!" We are staying for 11 days and 12 nights at the Avila Beach Hotel in Curacao (you know, Blue Curacao Rum)? Where the heck it that you ask?


Click to enlarge

It's a Dutch Colony that is part of the "ABC Islands" -- Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao -- it's right in the middle.



Planning your honeymoon is a long process for most -- first you dream about what kind of honeymoon you want -- relaxing, historic, adventurous. Then you consider where you might want to travel together, then you start thinking about a budget to make this dream come true.

We considered two different locations/styles of trip. Italy vs. Curacao is what it came down to. My mother's family were from Italy and I'd always wanted to travel there. But I know that I'd want to see "everything" and do "everything" and would be totally exhausted when we got home. We decided that we can do that on a subsequent vaction, but after my busiest season at work and all the wedding planning I just wanted to rest.

How did we pick Curacao you wonder? Well, Mr. Onion has never been to the Caribbean. I have been to many islands and three summer's ago Momma Onion and I took a holiday, just the two of us, to Curacao and just loved it. In fact we made friends with a family there (sweet couple and their 3 young boys) who I've been in close touch with since and they are flying to Vermont for our wedding next weekend!

It's a beautiful island that isn't too touristy (at least in the US it's not very well known) and in September it should be pretty "quiet." We are actually staying in the very same hotel I did three years ago in their brand new wing that was finished this winter/spring.

So here are more pictures of the beautiful place we'll spend our first 12 days as husband and wife:










They even host weddings if you're thinking about a destination wedding! Click HERE for more information on their wedding packages.

Memory "Scents"

So Miss Emerald's post, Ahead of the Curve, made me think about how strongly we associate a scent with an person/event/time in our lives. I had a very hard time finding a perfume I loved because many gave me a killer migraine. But then I found "Sugar" by a company called Fresh.



I love it -- they describe it as follows: "A vibrant fragrance incorporates sparkling citrus notes with delicately sweet heart and lingering warm base notes. Absolutely catching" And it it ever! I almost freaked out when I went to their website and didn't recognize the bottle. I hope this means that they have just changed the packaging because I adore the perfume! I've been wearing it since before Mr. Onion and I started dating so it really makes him think of me. Whenever I wear it and he gets near me he smiles, makes and "mmm" noise and has no choice but to hug and smooch me! It's the best reaction ever. So, of course, this is what I'll be wearing on our wedding day.



They also have a fantastic but insanely expensive lip gloss which I was given as a gift 2 years ago but couldn't afford to keep buying for myself because it's so soft it just dissappears and then you have to buy more! It's called, "Sugar Lip Treatment" and at a whomping $22.50 a stick I wouldn't get too hooked!

Any particular scent that brings back strong memories of a person or event for you??

Wedding day weather...

The weather on your wedding day...this is something all brides think about and some even obsess about. But it's the one thing you absolutely can not control. If you're having an outdoor ceremony be sure to have a rain back up plan -- a tent, an indoor option -- something!

My "rain plan" consists of a pair of cute Ann Taylor wellies and a matching umbrella!
Photo by Daria Bishop

Not enough you say? Pa'shaw. But seriously, our wedding ceremony is indoors and the reception is a short walk from there, so I'm not too concerned. I see it as a great photo opportunity in my cute boots and umbrella with my short wedding dress! Can't you just see it now?

But, for those of you who are getting closer to your wedding day (Miss Corn -- listen up), the Weather Channel hears ya! Check out their Wedding Weather. You tell it your first name, your wedding date and location and voila -- a personalized wedding weather tracker. Average highs and lows, a look back at the weather on your day for three previous years and even a countdown courtesy of theknot.com. Check it out! With my wedding 16 days away, I've made it my weather.com homepage.

Relationship Status Poll...

I found myself curious to know the "relationship status" of weddingbee readers. Are you single, in a relationship, engaged to be married or already married?? After I got this "oh so original idea", Mrs. Bee pointed out that she had the same idea almost a year ago! Great minds think alike I say. So here we go, it's poll time!

Are you...?

1) Dreaming about your wedding day -- Single
2) Just enjoying dating -- In a relationship
3) Planning a wedding -- Engaged to be married
4) Reminiscing about happy wedding planning days -- Already married

I wasn't one of those girls who dreamed about her wedding day long before it was in sight. I didn't start thinking about it until we got engaged, or at least were talking about getting married. I found weddingbee about three months into my planning and was hooked -- and we all know how that turned out ;)

Edible favors...mmmm

I went back and forth about favors. First I thought it was a waste of money, and then I decided it would be nice for our guests to have a little something to finish the evening with or take with them.

Because we are getting married in Vermont and because I LOVED them as a child, we have decided to buy soft maple sugar candies in bulk from Gift Baskets by Kim. We will package them in my brown favor boxes I got at Kate's Paperie at their blow-out sale this spring.



Maple Sugar Candies



Favor boxes on sale from Kate's Paperie



Will tie with sage green ribbon from Costco



And seal them with our monogram stickers from Creative Montage like these.


Our supplies: Clear tape, scissors, wax paper from costco, sage green ribbon from costco.

I figure our guests can either eat them on the spot or use them to sweeten their coffee the next morning! Either way -- it's a win win project.

Budget Breakdown:

Boxes from Kate's $0.62 (were $1.50 each)
(3) maple candies $1.20
Monogram stickers $0.46

Total per favor: $2.28

$2.28 x 52 = $118.56 for all of the favors

And here are my "DIY" favors in progress and then finished tonight!


Cutting the ribbons, prepping the wax paper and away we go!


I placed a sheet of wax paper in the box on top of the cotton that was included in the jewelery boxes so the candies didn't stick and stayed fresh -- then gently placed three candies in each box.


I secured the ribbon to the box with clear tape, then placed the monogram sticker from Creative Montage on top to finish it off! See Creative Montage's monograms HERE and her stickers/favors HERE.

This was one of the best things I did -- $15 for 5 monograms and they have really personalized and "dressed up" the wedding. I'd HIGHLY recommend Creative Montage. Tell Aimee (the owner/designer) that I sent you!


Both sticker options

And all the beauties together: