Etsy Wins For Details

I have just found so much success on Etsy for details for our wedding.I wanted a wedding hanger for my dress... found it on Etsy.

I liked the history behind the wedding dress label... found it on Etsy.

Here's that history: In the 20’s and 30’s, couture gown designers starting designing personalized labels for their clients, and attaching them inside the gowns. Now brides can use this special touch to make wedding gowns truly their own. When the tradition of labels for wedding gowns started, it was seen as the last time a bride would use her maiden name. So the bride’s full maiden name and wedding date was sewn into the gown. More recently, brides began choosing to put their name and the groom’s name on the label with the wedding date. Today, anything goes—from nicknames, monograms, or symbols—whatever the bride feels has the most meaning for her.These labels are sewn into your wedding gowns lining at the hem, or inside the top of the gown, where a typical clothing label would go. They can be sewn in any color, but are most commonly done in blue for the traditional “Something Blue.” They can even be sewn as a pocket to hold something special, like a good luck charm, or other precious item that you want to have with you on your wedding day. After the wedding, the label becomes a memento for future generations to have the name and date from the day the dress was worn. This is a special touch for a dress that will be handed down. And if you decide not to keep the dress, the label can be removed, and kept as a memento of the gown-perhaps to be placed in your wedding scrapbook, next to a picture of the dress.

I wanted belt for the reception but couldn't afford the one from the veil designer... found it on Etsy.

Right now, Etsy is my best friend!

Ketubah!

We did it! Whew! Pulled the trigger on the not only the ketubah but on the language as well. Harder than I thought it would be.Think about it. You have to buy a piece of art, that is going to hang on your wall forever, that will extol your love for each other (in a non-cheesy way) but that meets the legal requirements of Jewish law so if we ever move to Israel, they believe we are legally married.That's a lot of pressure on one little piece of art!After hours of looking, we chose a paper cut ketubah from Etsy. The Terrace Ketuba by Melanie Dankowicz is beautiful. I would have never thought that I would go for a paper cut ketubah but I love it! Here's an image of it from her shop:

I think it is stunning and beautiful! Something that I won't be embarrassed to have on my wall 30 years from now and I don't think it will fade either. I hope our kids think it's cool too. :)

As for the language, there are so many different versions. Even if you say "I'm going to be strict and only use the Orthodox version..." The translations into English are very different! The traditional ketubah is written in Aramaic, not Hebrew. I thought that was kinda cool but in the end, we used the orthodox version as a template and added in pieces that fulfilled our vision of Judaism and our relationship. I will share our language with you after the wedding (have to keep somethings a secret!) but I am very happy with it. I accurately describes our roles in our marriage. :)

Check out Melanie's site on Etsy for more paper cuts and AMAZING art work! Click here - MelanieCuts

We Found THE Band!

Whew! Checking things off the list like it is our jobs! We finally put a deposit down on the band. We think they are pretty cool and they have a great repertoire! They can do jazz and more modern stuff too!They are called The Fever and they are from Boulder. We met with Michelle, the manager, and loved loved loved chatting with her. They are super versatile, passionate musicians and we are excited to have them rock out at our wedding!It's coming together!

Even More Pictures!

We were fortunate enough to get to spend an afternoon with our wedding photographers. We are SO excited about them. They are a very nice young couple who shoot amazing pictures! They are totally in our style and totally in our budget. :) Check them out at DoxPhoto.comHere are a few pictures they shared with us... There are more here on their blog or click here for even more! :) 

Kippot Have Arrived!

We just got the kippot for the wedding! It was so exciting to get a huge, heavy box filled hundreds of kippot! This is just one piece we will be giving our guests at the wedding.

I was a voracious wedding/bar/bat mitzvah kippah collector when I was younger. We had every color, shape, and material you could imagine. In fact... For my bat mitzvah my grandpa Milton so graciously paid for the kippot as a gift to me... he wanted me to have everything I wanted... even if that meant alternating satin panels of teal and rose... yes, your eyes are not deceiving you... my bat mitzvah kippot were TEAL AND PINK! Oy. My only defense is that it was the early 90's...

Anywho, I shopped around online for the perfect kippah. I found them at A1 Skullcap! Since our colors are navy and yellow, we went with a navy suede with gold imprint... I never dreamed I would do a gold imprint... I seriously dislike gold but... it works! I love them! And I highly doubt our children will tease me for these as badly as they will tease me for my bat mitzvah ones...

Can't wait to share them with our guests.

Dan's Wedding Gift

So there is a tradition, which evidently a lot of people haven't heard about. I always knew that the bride and groom get each other gifts on their wedding day. Jewelry, cufflinks, flask, etc...I have been planning, nearly from the minute we started planning this wedding, to get Dan special cufflinks for the wedding. I knew exactly how I wanted them designed and how I wanted them to look... no, I will not tell you, it is a surprise!But of course, they do not exist. Even though the design is not that unique, not one person (that I can find online) has made them as cufflinks.Darn!But I don't give up that easily.So I Googled and Googled.Still nothing.You see, I had hit the trifecta of hard to find. I wanted:

1. Fixed back
2. Hebrew
3. Unique design

Chirp, chirp, chirp... nothing on the internet. I was starting to worry... would I have to settle for less than perfect here?In the final stages of my despair, I started Googling anything I could. Then this image of beautiful custom Hebrew monogram cufflinks popped up.

I knew I must find this designer. Immediately. I googled his name, Gabriel Prero and found his website - www.prero.com and his ShapeWays storefront - CuffJunk.

I immediately contacted him and we are working together to create the perfect gift for Dan... I can't wait to give them to him... or rather, to have my brother Ronin give them to him. :)

I. GOT. THE. DRESS!

I can't believe it's here. I got my wedding dress. The white one, you know, the one I am going to wear when I marry my beshert, my soul mate, in 60 days!!!It was an incredible feeling to put on the dress that so closely fits me versus the one with clamps and clips that I tried on at Little White Dress. The staff (particularly Christine) at LWD was AMAZING. They were so helpful and kind. I ended up getting my veil from a local designer called Love Veils (well, her name is Cori and she is the cutest thing on earth but her company is Love Veils).So I called Donna Savoy, seamstress extraordinaire, to do my alterations. She was recommended by LWD and she has worked on my dress before. And thank goodness! We need to shorten the dress and it's lace at the bottom (and you get no more hints until the wedding... can't ruin the surprise for Dan). While my alterations cost a little more than her usual, I know she is going to do an amazing job and I already love the feel of my dress. We popped the veil on and I nearly started crying! I looked like a bride! :)One more fitting this month then I go in the week before the wedding to do the final touches.AND yesterday, I got the shoes. Oh wow. My groom does spoil me... he bought me a beautiful pair of navy patent Manolo Blahniks as my wedding gift. I'll tell you a little bit about his wedding gift in a later post.This sucker is actually coming together!!!

61 Days Until The Wedding!

I just can't believe how fast time is moving! We are two months away from the wedding and we are trucking!Last week, we booked our photographer. They look amazing! Very nice husband and wife couple who run the business Dox Photo. You should check out their blog here - www.doxphoto.com/blog. We are so excited to have them shoot our wedding day. It was a nerve wracking experience to choose a photographer. These are possibly the most important pictures of my life! It was very reassuring when Khala (the wife) told us about her wedding photographer... she mentioned that it wasn't the best experience and that the woman missed most of the details of the day. Subsequently, she makes an extra effort to catch everything that she wishes she had from her own wedding! While I totally feel for her, I am so thankful that she is committed to the details.We also have contracted with our florist. I have had two meetings with Paula at Newberry Brothers about our flowers. She is a delight to work with, very creative, and understands our budget restraints. Since our colors are navy blue and yellow, we have some really fun options for our flowers. I don't want to give it all away but expect to see yellow roses (Talia's favorite flower since she was little), some tulips, blue hyacinths, and other fun flowers. She is also bringing the chuppah for us. It's made from grape vines which is a nice tie in for us.All in all, we are going for an indoor garden party feel. We know, we need to get those invitations out ASAP and we promise we will but we just want to head over to the Grand Hyatt for a tasting of the meal. They are not hosting our guests but will be providing catering at our wedding venue. They do amazing work and Marta is an invaluable resource.Just so everyone knows, because this is a Jewish event, we had to make some choices regarding the Kosher status of the food. We have decided that our special day will be all dairy and fish, allowing more of our friends and family to eat the meal and we will have special Glatt Kosher meals provided to those who need them. Please let us know when you send back the RSVP card that you need a Glatt Kosher meal. The event will be Kosher-style and all dairy. But this means we will have a dairy wedding cake and who doesn't prefer butter-cream frosting to some margarine imposter? :)We are this ___ close to booking a band and then, I think, all the major details are done! We can't wait to celebrate with you on March 10 but more than anything, we can't wait to start our new lives as husband and wife and celebrate every day with all of our friends and family, beyond the wedding guest list!

The Wedding Challenge

It is the most amazing time of your life. It really is. You are planning the day when you marry your soul mate, your Beshert.When you get engaged, it's all so exciting and happy... then you start planning. I have been told, by recently married friends, that the bickering and fights that happen during this time are the worst... oh boy!I am fortunate that my dear fiance isn't picky and has only reserved veto power in this process but it doesn't mean that we haven't had our challenges. From the band or DJ conversation to which photographer to the hours spent looking at wedding rings for both of us, everything takes time and thought. However, the hardest part of wedding planning (at least so far)... and frankly some of the hardest conversations and decisions I have ever had to make have centered around our guest list.How do you encapsulate two peoples' lives into a guest list? Not only this but we have both led rich and full lives. When my parents got married, you invited the entire extended family and some friends. But that just doesn't fly here. Our families do not live within blocks of each other. I have people in my family tree that I haven't seen or spoken to since my Bat Mitzvah. How can I not invite my best friends from college but invite these people? Dan and I each made our lists. His with the heavy input from his parents (they had a cheat sheet, his sister got married a couple of years ago) and mine was mainly done by me. I took some input from my parents, adding in some of their 1st cousins and representatives from each branch or sibling (oy! Our family tree can be so complicated!) but it was important to me that my dear and closest friends from different stages of my life be included. There were negotiations... "You can add them, but you have to take someone else off" and debates, "Are we inviting kids? Can we afford that? Family kids only?" And I know we have insulted and upset people with some of the decisions we made. But I have to say this...No decision was without debate and long thought. No decision was made ignorant of the repercussions to us... the couple getting married. And frankly it sucks to be the bride and be worried about hurting people's feelings... not like it's MY wedding or anything.In the end, we did the best we could. We don't have an endless budget, we don't have a million dollars to feed every person we ever met or were friendly with and their spouse and kids. We had to make decisions.And we hope that people don't take it as a personal affront. I don't know any couple that could invite every person they wanted to, to their wedding. We still like and enjoy the company of the people we didn't invite. But I cannot think of any harder thing than paring down a wedding guest list.Anyone have any good stories? Horror stories about this?

Food is expensive... Heck... A wedding is expensive!

I know I am not telling anyone anything new here but... man! We just started talking to caterers and florists... and wow! Things can really add up. Dan and I are both pretty money conscious so it hit us hard when we saw the first catering proposal. Wow.Here's the thing... normal weddings are expensive... our wedding will be even more so because it has to be kosher. Thus, we have to pay for a person to be onsite the whole time to supervise the kashrut and we have to pay for special dishes and silverware... Kosher meat is 2 to 3 times as expensive as non-kosher meat... oy! What we do for our beliefs... but that's the point, right?I (Talia) believe that kashrut, keeping kosher, and a lot of Jewish halacha (law) is about being mindful. I can't just eat in any restaurant or any place. I have to be mindful.So ... Judaism is keeping us mindful at our wedding too. :) Unfortunately, it's not all good mindfulness. We had to cut down our guest list for the final time the other night... oy... that was hard. There are definitely people that I would love to come to the wedding but I just don't have the space. I hope everyone understands... making my wedding guest list was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life!We are sending out save-the-dates soon and many of you have been contacted by us with the password to the wedding details section.Anyway, wedding is trucking along!