Elsja Down Under

Wedding Mania November 18, 2009

When we first got engaged, I was the crazy obsessed bride. I assume this happens to most girls in the month following the proposal… at least that’s what I hear. I read blogs, checked out The Knot 50 times a day, researched photographers non-stop, called vendors and visited wedding forums. Then once I had planned a few things everything totally died down. I had done about as much as I could do from the other side of the world considering we still had a year until the wedding so I needed to chill out a bit. 

Well, once I got back to California, obsession took over again. I met with the caterer Friday and had a tasting. My mom filled in as my surrogate fiance (and as the designated beef taster) and I was really happy with the food. I’m pretty sure we’ll put a deposit on that in the next couple of weeks. I also was able to visit the residence where we’ll be having the wedding as well. I’ve been there a million times but it was nice to see it again with fresh wedding eyes. The DJ came and met me there so he could scope out the setting and determine the equipment he’ll need to bring. In person I am so happy with how I THINK it will turn out. If it ends up how I imagine, it will be beautiful.  

Lastly, I finally got to experience the most exciting bridal task of all – dress shopping!! I really struggled to find anything I liked at first but then I found two dresses I LOVE. They are both beautiful in different ways. They look NOTHING like each other so I really have to decide what type of look and feel I want to go for. I found them Saturday when  I went shopping with my mom, sister and perfect little niece. I was so torn between the two that I went back tonight with my best friend Jen. Yeah, the 2nd trip didn’t make it much easier. I’m still so torn although I am thinking one is starting to take a slight lead over the other. I  know so many girls try on a dress and just KNOW that it’s the right one. Well I got that feeling, but with 2 dresses. How do I pick one without wondering for the next 9 months if I made the right decision??  

I seriously love planning our big day. I will be so happy to marry Andrew yet so sad when the day is over. Kinda like the day after Christmas when you know you have a whole year before you get to celebrate another one. That’s how I’ll feel times 10 because I’ll never get to plan a wonderful wedding where I get to marry my wonderful love ever again. Then what will I have to look forward to?? Please don’t say babies. Waking up 6 times a night to a screaming, pooping baby is not nearly as fun as deciding on centerpieces.

Registry Events October 14, 2009

Andrew and I most likely will not be registering for gifts for the wedding. You see we have this challenge… if we register in the US, we have to find a way to get all the gifts back to Australia. If we register in Australia, no one in the US will be able to order the gifts online because ONLINE SHOPPING SUCKS HERE!

This makes me oh so sad. For years I’ve dreamed of walking around my favorites home good stores with one of those scanner guns selecting everything I’ve ever wanted! Anyone who knows me knows that I’d MUCH rather go on a shopping spree in Crate and Barrel or Pottery Barn than Nordstroms or the Gap. But no… no registry for us.

Lately I’ve discovered yet another reason to be bummed about this… REGISTRY PARTIES! OMG I can’t tell you how many emails I’ve received from Macy’s, Crate and Barrel and Bloomingdales all asking me to join them for these awesome registry events. My most recent invite states “Scan your registry, sip wine, sample savory hors d’ouevres and indulge your sweet tooth with cake tastings. Take in bridal fashion and take home a fabulous gift bag. No purchase necessary.”

Um… yes please.

A night eating, drinking and shopping for housewares without spending a penny? It’s like my dream come true. Even if I don’t expect to get any gifts off of a registry, can I still just show up to these events and enjoy free food all while creating my dream registry? I could just scout out every event for the next year and every time I’m back in CA I’ll show up at the store using a different alias and createa new regsitry. It could be so fun, but it could also be quite depressing when I realize I won’t actually be getting any of the stuff I register for. At least there would be free wine.

Wedding Update September 7, 2009

Ok so I try not to make this blog all about wedding stuff. People would probably just get really bored reading about that all the time; however, by attempting to avoid the wedding talk, all I’m doing is avoiding blogging all together- and that’s no fun!

So screw it… I’m going to update everyone on our wedding plans! Here’s what we’ve (i.e. I’ve) done to date…

1. Set the date- Aug 28th, 2010!!

2. Picked the venue (a.k.a. our awesome family friends’ home)

3. Created the guest list

4. Picked the color scheme

5. Found bridesmaid dresses that I love

6. Booked the DJ

7. Booked the photographers (I’m so excited that these guys will be our photographers. I LOVE their artsy style)

8. Got some catering quotes

9. Planned ideas for flowers and talked to a florist

10. Gathered up all my crafty, creative and artsy friends to help design invitations, centerpieces and other decor

11. Pretty much have the favors all sorted out

Wow… I’m going to run out of stuff to do. Does anyone else need my help with planning their wedding? Evidently I’m really good at it!

A Few Updates August 18, 2009

My life has suddenly become so exciting, and yet so boring at the same time. Exciting because I have all this wedding stuff swimming around in my brain and it’s exciting to plan and organize and browse websites looking for ideas. It’s boring, because other than that- I fee like I have hardly anything else to discuss!! So… I’ll just give a tiny brief wedding update and then I’ll try to find something else to talk about

• We’re 95% set on the location- just need to figure out a few logistics, but hopefully we’ll know for sure by Wednesday
• This means we’re also 95% sure on the date… if all goes well it will be 8.28.10
• I decided on a color scheme and hopefully bridesmaids dresses as well
• We’re pretty set on our guest list

Now on to other news…

This weekend was spectacular in terms of weather! Here’s what we did on Sunday:

Andrew, our friend Ben and I went down to Balmoral and had an impromptu picnic. It was such nice weather- we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sit in the sun for a bit. The beach was packed and we didn’t feel like getting sandy so we sat on the grass and ate our little picnic lunch. Sinead met us down there as well and it was great to catch up. Not bad for a winter’s day!!

Lastly I decided to finally update my 101 list seeing as how I haven’t updated it in FOREVER. Here are a few things I’ve accomplished over the last few weeks:

#20- Get engaged… YAY!!

#11- Got 5 people to create a 101 list

Here are a few of them but I apologize that I cannot remember them all – Daisy , Laura, Natasha (no more blog?), Ruthann and there’s one more… someone please remind me who you are

#76- create a signature cocktail… remember my Grapelberry Fizz? That counts, right?

#93- get renter’s insurance- FINALLY! Only took us nearly 2 years of living here!!

I’m well on my way with a few other tasks as well… so hopefully I should have a few more to cross off in the coming months!