Just Hangin'

Making Sure the Tables Are Covered

I had been wanting to get all our linens ordered for a while, and finally just got around to it. Mainly because I knew what I want, and I knew Matt wouldn't like it, so I didn't want to ask. I mentioned having pink tablecloths to him once, and he thought the entire room would look TOO pink. He wanted white tablecloths.

White is fine, I guess, but without some kind of overlay or gigantic bright centerpieces, to me it just looks so ... sterile.

via Wedding Chicks / Photo by Mike Larson Inc.

via Wedding Chicks / Photo by Linda Chaja Photography

I was hoping that we wouldn't have to pay for tablecloths AND an overlay, but if we end up going with white, I'm afraid it would be necessary. Our centerpieces are not very big, and I don't want just a big expanse of white stretching across the room.

But pink cloths ... ohhhhhh pink cloths!

via Style Me Pretty / Photo by James Christianson Photography / Event Design by RSVP Shindig

via The UnBride / Photo by Zoe Lonergan / Cake by Sharon Robinson Wedding Cakes

They're BEAUTIFUL! I LOVE them! They make me type in CAPITAL LETTERS!

I went to the Web site for a local rental company to see their color options for tablecloths, and here are some of the colors we could use:

via Party Time Rentals

On the top left we have white and ivory; in the middle we've got magenta and "pink balloon," and down in the bottom right, that super dark color is "burgundy." I'm going to nix the burgundy right now. Too dark. I don't want the wedding to be too white, but I also don't want it to look like a vampire hideaway.

I finally got up the courage to inquire about pink tablecloths again, and Matt finally agreed to it if they weren't ALL pink. So we compromised with pink and ivory. Here's a mockup of what it might look like:

Downtown 202 image by me / Centerpiece images by me / Tablecloth image via The UnBride and modified by me

Since we'll have an even number of tables, and an even number of centerpieces, we can put the pink flower pots on the ivory tables with hot pink faux rose petals scattered around them, and on the pink tables we'll have the green pots with pale green rose petals.

What do you think? Can we pull off two cloth colors? What color tablecloths are you using?

Extravaganza!

Back in November, three of my bridesmaids and I flew out to Las Vegas for my bachelorette extravaganza and some much-needed vacation time!

Lest you think I've forgotten, I knew the wedding was still six months away. But with bridesmaids literally all over the world, I'll take 'em when I can get 'em! We were in Vegas for five days, but I'm only going to talk about the bachelorette night here, because you need to go visit for yourself. It's amazing. Go now. Bring me back some souvenirs.

This post is not entirely safe for work, but I did try to keep it tame. (What? My family reads this!) Onward!

In which I am really proud of myself for being cheap

Okay, so I promised you a cost breakdown for my faux flower pretties. Let me preface by saying, I used several items for multiple floral projects, and I did not count those prices twice, unless it was something easy, like two rolls of ribbon or something (not confusing at all, eh!). Also, I am kind of math stupid and didn't keep the best track of breaking down receipts, so this is absolutely to the best of my ability, but it may still be slightly off. Now, let's get to it!

Bride's bouquet: $70.93 (includes flowers, floral tape, berry filler)

Bridesmaid bouquets (4): $75.48 (includes flowers, ribbon, pearl stickers) = $18.87 apiece

Corsages and Boutonnieres: $44.76 (includes flowers, berry filler, baby's breath) = approximately $3.20 apiece for 5 corsages and 9 boutonnieres

Centerpieces (8): $121.81 (includes floral foam, flower pots, flowers) = approximately $15.23 apiece

Altar Flowers (4): $49.68 (includes floral foam, stands, flower pots, flowers) = $12.42 apiece

Toss Bouquet: $7.55

TOTAL SPENT: $347.75

Oh boo. I realize if you add up the numbers I over-accounted by about $20 somewhere in there. Regardless, I know for a fact that I've only spent my final total. (It's likely that the cost comes out of the centerpieces and altar flowers.)

I also mentioned previously that Mom Hyena thought our altar decorations were too small, so we came up with a solution that requires no work on my part (yesssss). Mom Hyena went on her own search, and found these pre-made arrangements at one of the craft stores!

She offered to have two of them made for us, with the white gladiolas on the top and brighter pink hydrangeas than the ones pictured. We will use the original altar flowers to decorate the lobby outside the sanctuary, so they won't go to waste!

Anyway, to make a long story short ... I'm really proud of this. I think we ended up with some really cute real-flower alternatives, and I'm excited to display them at the wedding. I am also THRILLED by the cost savings, and the fact that I can continue to use these around the house after the wedding, or give them to guests if they want them.

What's your best money-saving tip?

One Thing I'll Miss

I mentioned ages ago that we're going to be rocking an iPod reception. I've been working on playlists, and am having a lot of fun doing it. But I had totally forgotten about something that I'd always really, really loved about weddings: the anniversary dance.

I don't know if this is a regional thing or not, but in case anyone doesn't know, the DJ will call all married couples out to the dance floor, and they usually play a song like this:

Then, the DJ starts eliminating people from the dance floor. First, people who have been married less than a day (bye, bride and groom!), then less than a year, less than five years, less than 10 ... up until there's only one couple left on the floor, the one that has been married for the longest. At the end of the dance, that couple gives the newlyweds their advice for a happy and lasting marriage.

I love love love this tradition. It's so cute and I love to hear the different advice given.

What I didn't put much thought into was that this may be difficult with an iPod wedding. Sure, we could play "Remember When" (even though everyone uses it, Mr. H and I danced to it at our senior prom so I have some attachment to it), but without an emcee I wasn't sure how it would work. Bridesmaid A is manning the music, but she is also married, and I didn't want her to miss out on the anniversary dance just so she could emcee it.

Thank goodness for FSIL Hyena, though, who volunteered to emcee for this song. I would have been really sad if we didn't get to take part in this.

Are you having an anniversary dance? How about any other special dances?

Bier & Vino

When we thought about previous weddings we've attended, very few have had a full bar. Most of them have served just beer and wine. That ended up working great for us, since most people in our families really only drink beer and wine.

Honestly, I don't know much about alcohol. I know I like red wine. I know I like cosmopolitans. I know I usually enjoy shots with inappropriate names. Aaaand that's about the extent of my drinking knowledge. Since Mr. Hyena's family is German, and he actually knows things about beer, I left that particular beverage in his capable hands.

For ummm, RESEARCH! YEAH! we took a little trip to Shiner, Texas, to visit the Spoetzl Brewery, and yummmm. Mr. H suggested serving Shiner Bock as our beer. Sounds good to me!

I approve. If you like touring breweries, this was a fun tour and you got to taste several varieties of Shiner!

Various beer coasters we've collected. Some we picked up in Shiner, some taken from local bars, and some from Germany when Mr. Hyena visited last summer!

We stumbled upon our wine by accident. You see, I have this wine rack, and when I moved to College Station I wanted to decorate it. As a great wine connoisseur, I went to Wal-Mart and picked all the bottles that were under $10 and had cute labels. I proceeded to drink none of them. Until ...

The day after we got engaged, a friend of mine was hosting a Texas Wine Night, and we were all required to bring a Texas wine that cost less than $10. I went to my wine rack to see if I had anything that fit the bill, and discovered that one of the wines I had picked up at Wal-Mart was Llano Estacado's Sweet Red. (The winery is in Lubbock.) We brought it. It was freaking delicious.

via Llano Estacado Winery

On separate occasions, we tasted their Blush and Chenin Blanc wines as well, and I was pretty impressed. I'm not a huge fan of white wine in general, but both Mr. Hyena and I liked the Chenin Blanc. Nice and light and fruity. I think these will go well with our hors d'oeuvres. Even though it was good, we're not going to serve Blush (do a lot of people like Blush?).

So there you have it! We've got our alcohol! Local and delish.

What are you serving at your wedding?

My Chandler Bing Moment

"If you're calling before Saturday, you've reached Monica and Chandler, but if you're calling after Saturday, you've reached Mr. and Mrs. Bing! Please leave a message for the Bings!"

~Friends, "The One With Monica and Chandler's Wedding"

(From that same episode. I took a picture of my TV since I couldn't find it anywhere. ^_^)

I was not expecting this. No sirree. In fact, I've talked about changing my name on here before. It's cool.

But we are not married yet. So when I saw that someone from the church had e-mailed out a contact list with "Firstname Newlast" instead of "Firstname Currentlast," I had my own loosen-the-tie moment. (You know. If I'd been wearing one.)

Look, I don't think my name defines me. I know eventually I'll change my name. It's important to Mr. Hyena, so it's important to me. Maybe it is the fact that all these huge life changes will be happening at the same time. Maybe it was seeing someone else acknowledge the change. But it was too much. So I curled up next to my soon-to-be hubby, and let him hold me and reassure me that it will be all right. And it will be.

I love that man.

Have you had any "Chandler Bing moments"? Isn't it crazy how a show that ended 10 years ago is still so relevant?! :)