On Surviving "the Happiest" Time in Your Life

After years of watching romantic comedies and day dreaming about my future nuptials, I fell victim to the common misconception that I ought to be a euphoric bride-to-be from start to finish. Can I let you in on a secret, Hive?

...while being engaged and planning a wedding has been wondrous, it's been equally terrifying, and there have been many times when I felt like I was going crazy.


One of my first pangs of isolation came while chatting with a previously good friend of mine. I had a number of school-related deadlines coming up and I expressed that I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. The flippant response that shocked me to the core? "Why? You're engaged. You have nothing to be unhappy about." Tartlet Mistake #1: Believing this person (and others) who expressed similar sentiments. I thought something was terribly wrong with me because I wasn't always living in the in the world of sunshine and rainbows.

 Although, wouldn't it be great if everything was this delightful?

Things I Heart: Veils

In the beginning, I had no intention of wearing a veil. My sister didn't wear a veil at her wedding; therefore, I didn't need to wear a veil. Much to Mama Tartlet's chagrin, that about summed up my fool-proof logic. That is, until I went dress shopping and the bridal consultant slyly tucked that magical piece of fabric in my hair. I did a complete 180 and went from giving veils a cursory glance to drooling over the options. And, oh! To have photos like these:

Ryan Estes via Style Me Pretty

Saying Yes to a Twice Loved Dress

For weeks after dress shopping I was torn between the styles of ML's Monet and Sabine. I took the "look for less" approach and identified some alternatives that were within my budget and also kept tabs on the various online used wedding dress retailers. I prepared to make appointments at other bridal salons. Late one night as I suffered from a case of insomnia, I was restlessly browsing Once Wed and saw it. The right size. The right length. The right price. I stared at the listing. I drummed my fingers on the keyboard and furtively looked around my dark apartment.

*squee*

Tackling the Hotel Blocks

Even though we're tying the knot in our home state of Michigan, we're still having what some would consider a semi-destination wedding with roughly 70% of our guests coming from out-of-town (I smell welcome bags in their future!). Our contract with the Royal Park included a block of 10 rooms for our guests, but I'm a girl who likes options and flexibility especially when it comes to price points. Ideally, I would have liked to offer a hotel within walking distance of our venue. Reality?

Hotels near Rochester, MI courtesy of Google Maps

(A) is our venue. (B) is a local motel. That cluster off to the left is where all the hotels are, about 8 miles from our wedding. Well, you work with what you're given, right?

Eyelets and Wraparound Labels Made Easy

Mr. Tartlet and I absolutely wanted our guests to have a means of displaying our Save-the-Date cards once they were received, and ours were inspired by these adorable Save-the-Date luggage tags:

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At first, I was hesitant to adopt this idea because of countless stories describing sore fingers as a result of poor aim when hammering the eyelets into place. I'll try to explain: in their unaltered state, eyelets look like little hollow top hats that just sit loosely in a hole you punch in the paper. They have to be "set" or locked in place somehow so they don't fall out. Many tutorials suggest a hammer and a setting tool to squish the neck part of the eyelet flat, turning it into a bottom ring with the paper sandwiched in between it and the top ring.

DiY Project: Envelope Liners

If it isn't obvious already, I lurrrrrrve crafting and all the time-consuming details that come with it. I work in a field where you can spend months, even years on a research project and still not have a final, polished result. As such, the wedding-related projects we've tackled have given me a more immediate, gratifying sense of accomplishment. The DiY route certainly isn't for everyone and everything, though, and it's important to first determine whether it's worth your while to tackle a project.

 

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Save the Date!

It's a common question amongst the engaged: "My wedding is in [insert month here]! When do we send our Save the Dates?!?" The sheer number of guidelines made my head spin. Ultimately, I loosely interpreted a snippet from Emily Post that states: "Save-the-date cards are usually mailed from three to four months prior to the wedding [...] but may be sent earlier for a destination wedding at a distant location." The Tartlet translation? There is no set timing. Do what works best for you, your wedding, and your guests.

Since the majority of our guests are coming from out-of-town, Mr. Tartlet and I initially planned on mailing our STDs 6 months from the wedding. We were caught COMPLETELY off-guard when people started contacting us early in 2010 because they had to put in for their vacation days! The Tartlets found themselves in a bit of a pickle: we had grand plans to incorporate our engagement photos, but were running against the clock with a handful of people already notified via phone of our wedding date. We certainly didn't want these to be an afterthought, so we adapted to the change and rapidly produced these bitty bundles to drop in the mail a full year before the wedding:




Because all of our guests will carefully open the envelope at the point (wishful thinking, I know), they'll be greeted with this yummy looking liner and ribbon peeking out:

The Bucket List

Ever have that hamster-on-a-wheel sensation where you feel like you're going nowhere fast? Sometimes our lives read like an endless string of deadlines, all too often filled with items we have to do (rather than things we want to). As a means of putting our lives in a "bigger picture" perspective, Mr. Tartlet and I started compiling a list to answer a very important question:

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There are the big items (get married, become homeowners, start a family), but no less important are the small things (like making pasta from scratch). To give you a better idea of what I'm yammering on about, here's a sampling of items on our bucket list that range from our wildest dreams to things we could cross off tomorrow:

Crushing on Etsy

Etsy is an online community of artisans with a focus on the handmade and vintage. Think of it as a global art and craft fair that runs 24/7. This website has been a priceless resource, giving me access to unique items that I otherwise wouldn't have had access to like this alphabet rolling stamp that Mrs. Stripes also used.

I love the idea of being able to "support local," and I think these items will add a lot of personality to our overall look! Some other fabulous Etsy finds include custom illustrations by franceslovesyou, also known hereabouts as Mrs. Gummi Bear.

Our Color Palette: Pink Sugar

Pink can have so many personalities: sassy and bold like my last inspiration board, or delicate and sweet. We finally settled on a base of creamy ivory and gold for traditional elegance, but instead of pairing them with classic black we're incorporating touches of chocolate brown. Add some splashes of soft peachy-pinks and a hint of french blue to soften the palette, and voila! The perfect combination for bringing classic garden romance indoors! It's girly. It's frilly. It's fru-fru-fantastic!

(all color swatches from 100 Layer Cake)

Color Indecision

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I walked away from a childhood dream. We searched, and searched, and finally found our venue. With this decision made, we started to contemplate more specific details like our color palette. Before I had envisioned a black and white affair, but as I stood in our open, airy conservatory looking up at the Murano chandelier I started to get a different vibe.