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| My Community Bio | ||
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| Knot Name: RubyTue | ||
| Wedding Role: Bride | ||
| Wedding Date: October 23, 2005 | ||
| Location: Virginia | ||
| Age: 30 | ||
| What I do when I'm not on The Knot (occupation): engineering psychologist | ||
| About our wedding: A Few Professional Pictures Standard disclaimer with professional pictures: Do not copy or use without permission. I tried to watermark them all, but failed. Suffice to say, ask before you take anything. Getting ready Ceremony (more at bottom of bio) The Kiss (In)Formal Pictures Details Clowning around when the DJ put on the wrong song First Dance Combinded Father/Daughter/Mother/Son Dance BBQ Buffet – I don’t care what anyone says about BBQ and a wedding, we did it and loved it! Things from the Kids bags Table visiting Dancing fun Dancing with our ring bearer Cutting our Rice Krispy Cake Our real cake Look Ma, no smashing! It’s a frat thing My bridesmaid’s face after my surprise bouquet toss She came after me! Near the Captiol, post recpetion Photos and Ideas He proposed while we were on vacation in the Florida Keys. We were at Little Palm Island for dinner at sunset. Here is a picture shortly before dinner. He proposed between dinner and dessert. And our dessert plates And a couple more pictures of us. I took both of these using a tripod and remote. Thank goodness the hair is coming back in. 
Front Bridesmaids Dresses:Cakes - Our cake will look something like this one, minus stuff on top. Flowergirl dress:Here is my cute niece-to-be modeling her flower girl dress from eBay. I love it!Ringbearer Tux:I don't have a picture of my future nephew modeling it, but here is the tux.Guy ClothesWe went looking for tuxes, and at every stop, he picked the most plain tux with the least amount of satin. So, we decided to go with suits. The places around here wanted $135+ for the total rental, and I didn't want to ask the guys to pay that much for a rental. So we told them to wear a dark suit with a white shirt, and suggested if they don't have one, to wait for the $99 sale or even hit a nice thrift store. The ties will be part of their gifts. I made FI model it all one night. He is torn between a white or silver tie. SilverDIY Projects Grapevine Wreath Initial Cake Topper Guest Book Favors Invitations Out of Town Bags Table Numbers Funkins Wreath I wanted to replicate the Martha Stewart letters hanging from the door by ribbon. H & K proved to be difficult to hang with ribbon, so I decided to put them on a wreath. I picked up the wreath with a 40% off coupon ($3.60), the letters were $2.50 each, and the leaves came from some fall garland I bought at Michael's last fall for 75% off ($0.99 per garland, used about 1/4 of the garland). The stain was leftover from a old project. So this afternoon I stained the letters, then used my hot glue gun to attach the leaves and letters. I will be getting some fancy ribbon for hanging from my uncle (who is a ribbon distributor), but here is a picture of the finished wreath. The door was not quite perpendicular to me, so the letters look more crooked than they really are, but they are slightly angled. Took about 3 hours total (including waiting for the stain to dry, trips to the attic, digging out the hot glue gun, etc). DIY Tips I did so, so many DIY projects. Here are some things I learned along the way. Some are particularly of use to NoVA and DC area brides.
Obligatory Kitty Pictures Links List of all knot specialty bios My Blog \ Non-Professional Pictures It was a PERFECT fall day! Considering it was in the 50s and rainy the day before and the day after, I got so, so lucky!
Vendors Save the Dates: Ofoto.com B+ I use ofoto for all my digital printing, and in general I give them an A. However, the first attempt at the Save the Date got cropped wrong by ofoto. Partially my fault, for not getting the ratios right. I only marked them down b/c it was not clear that something was wrong - usually when an image isn't going to crop right they tell you. Dress: eBay seller levinchy_bridal A+ Can't beat the price! The dresses are "inspired" by Maggie Sottero. I was very impressed with the quality. Very nice materials, the beading was well done. All in all, this is a great seller! Venue: The Lodge at Little Seneca Creek A We really liked the lodge feel, and it was the only place in the metro area we found that had the mountain feel we wanted. And it rents for under $1500 on a Sunday. There was a slight mix up with the rehearsal time (I was told 1-2pm, they told the lady to open the place for us from 12:30-1:30.), but we got it all done in time. We loved the lodge, and the Montgomery County folks were easy to work with. Shoes: In order (see below) Zappos.com, DSW, eBay, TJMax, and Solestruck.comA I ended up wearing the Chinese Laundry shoes from Solestruck. I had never used them before, but the order went off without a hitch. Honeymoon: Holland America 10-day Eastern Carribean cruise leaving out of Norfolk, VA. We booked through the AAA Travel Office in Old Town. A+ for AAA Travel. B- for Holland America The cruise was very nice and very relaxing. But there were some things that could have been better, some beyond the control of anyone. The week before our cruise, the ship was struck with the "cruise virus." They implemented some sanitation programs, and while they were better than getting sick, they were annoying. Things like no hot tubs or saunas, and no serve yourself buffets. The employees had to serve everything, which made for long lines and not nearly the over the top presentation I had expected. I had heard that the Holland America line, in general, tends to attract an older crowd, and that was VERY true on our cruise. Average age was probably around 70, with a couple dozen couples under 50, and 6 couples under 35. We talked to all of them. I would cruise again, and I would suggest Holland America to my parents, but not for anyone under 40. Photographer: Kerry A The week before the wedding, I told Kerry that I hadn't been in contact much because I trusted my vendors. The morning of, I had a list of formal pictures to be taken, but that was about all I actually talked about. So that said, I take 99% of responsibility for the pictures I didn't get. For example, about 5 hours after the wedding, I decided I wanted pictures of each table. LOL And I didn't actually tell her that the pianist was an aunt, not a vendor. It would have been nice to have pictures of her playing, but that's my own fault (as is not having table pictures). However, during the reception, it would have been nice to have her outside on the deck where most of the folks were hanging out, and her assistant was sick that day and didn't make it. But, she came with us after the wedding to a spot downtown to take some pictures near the capitol. Even though the limo driver got us there very late (after sunset when I planned to be about 20 minutes before sunset), the pictures turned out AWSOME!! So that makes us for everything :) And b/c of the limo snafu, we kept her about 30 minutes overtime. And she is just so sweet and friendly. Caterer: Rockland's BBQ A Another vendor I gave little guidance too, and they were better than I expected. We really wanted to serve BBQ, and Rocklands had the best BBQ we could find in the area. People raved about the BBQ (and especially the cornbread!). We had some issues trying to get together some sort of vegetarian option besides salad, but (see praise for coordinator) ended up with something that was acceptable. BBQ doesn't lend itself to pleasing vegetarians, but hopefully it was something tolerable. We went with 3 meats (chicken, brisket, and chopped pork), along with salad, baked beans, pasta salad, and maybe something else. They supplied a bartender and ice tea and lemonade, while we provided all the other beverages (beer, wine, and soda). We also ended up getting our ceremony chairs through them. I looked into renting separately, but delivery fees on a Sunday jacked the cost up so much. I was able to get the white folding chairs I really wanted all along for less than a rental company could have provided ugly chairs. That said, their tablecloth rental price is incredibly high. It was cheaper for us to rent white tablescloths and purchase burgundy overlays than to rent tablecloths through them. Day Of Coordinator: Laura of Soiree Special Events A+ Laura was awesome! She made sure we had nothing to worry about the day of the wedding, and took care of orchestrating all the setup and cleanup. Very worthwhile investment! I wish I had hired her to start earlier, because I learned during the planning that I suck at dealing with all aspects of dealing with vendors. I'm truly horrible at it. But she was able to get the caterer to bring a hot pasta salad that they had been refusing when I asked. So that was very good. Hair: Kara A+ Disclaimer - I hate my hair! After 30 years of having long hair, I finished chemo 10 months before the wedding. I hated everything about my hair. I got Kara's contact info from someone on the Knot 10 days before the wedding, and emailed her in a panic. She not only was available, but fit in a trial before hand too. She was on time early on a Sunday morning, and made my hair look awsome! (see pictures below). She did a french twist with 5 inches of fine hair, with some curls on top. I originally planned to hide my hair behind my veil, but I loved it so much I didn't even need to! Limo: American Eagle Limo C I've never seen a good grade for a limo company on the knot, so this shouldn't be too surprising. Hence them getting a "average" grade of C. Standard stuff - limo driver with bad directions (my realtor has a on-board navigation system - why on earth don't limos?!?!), getting lost, therefore getting us downtown late, we missed the sunset for pictures, etc. DJ: Kim - DJPGee A+ I found her on craigslist. She is just starting up in the wedding business and is VERY reasonable. We had a hard time justifying DC DJ prices when we aren't having an all night, heavy dancing party. We wanted low key, doesn't talk, doesn't feel the need to "get the party going," etc. She is exactly what we wanted. And did I mention she is VERY reasonable! She ended up being almost exactly what we needed. She allowed us to give her a very long list of songs and played exactly what we asked. She even found my obscure Willy Porter! And when we got back from the honeymoon, she had sent us a pretty keepsake version of our playlist :) My only slight complaint was that it was a bit too loud inside the lodge. I think this is because people moved outside because it was such a beautiful day (and the bar was outside), but left it a little oloud inside. I would highly recommend her if you are looking for a low-key DJ to play mix and mingle and socialize music, or to play exactly what you want. However, because our event was mid-afternoon on a Sunday and not dancing intensive, I cannot say if she would be good for a Saturday evening event where you want to dance all night. Flowers: "People Flowers" from The Flower Box in Woodbridge A. I found the Flower Box 6 weeks before the wedding at the Patriot Center bridal show. I fell in love with "Barbara the designer's" sunflower bouquet, and she was one of 2 florists at the show that didn't laugh when I said my wedding was in 6 weeks. I actually met with her the next day (she even came in on her day off to meet with me!). The flowers were perfect and I loved my bouquet. I even took it on the cruise with me (better than having it die while I was gone), and it lasted well over a week. Centerpieces were potted mums. Cake: Bread & Chocolate. I don't really want to rate them because I worked with a good friend of mine who works for them, she fixed a couple of "problems" that sprang up, and she did the final decorating. And she told me it ended up being not the flavors I ordered, but it was still very yummy!! Bridesmaids dresses: Camille La Vie in Springfield Mall. A+ We found the dresses on clearance, and on President's Day clearance special for an additional 50% off. We needed two 12s and an 18. They had the MOH dress in a 12 and the BM tops in a 12 and a 14. But our salesperson (Klare) was AWSOME and called around to all the other stores. She found the top in a 16. Since they were only $20 we are buying both the 14 and the 16 and looking for an awsome seamstress to put the two together. When you count all the pieces and parts we bought to put together 3 outfits, its only going to run about $150 for 1 dress, 3 tops, and 5 skirts. We spent $116 there, and one more top and skirt will be shipped. Awsome all around! We are going to take the total and split it evenly so no one gets dinged for not having the exact size :-) Flowergirl dress & Ringbearer Suit: My future SIL bought it from eBay. I'm pretty sure it came from eBay seller dress1958. She was very happy with the dress and the price. I bought the suit for my future nephew from eBay seller CuteClothesForKids. The suit was so adorable, and he looks awesome in it. Unfortunately, when he modeled it, FMIL took pictures using a Polaroid not digital, so I don't have pictures. The suit fit perfectly and looks awsome! Suits: We decided to go with black suits instead of tuxes. Its fits with our frugal-ness. He got his at Men's Warehouse. I thought the salesperson was awfully pushy, but he got exactly what he wanted. I really disliked the service though. I hate being rushed into a decision. The ring bearer's little tux was from eBay seller Cute Clothes for Kids. The cost was reasonable, and shipping was quick. A+. He is only 4, so I'm hoping for the pants, the shirt, the vest, and maybe the tie. He is also going to wear a cape also purchased from eBay. When we asked him to be a ring bearer, he asked want it was and upon learning Frodo was a ring bearer, was over the top excited. So we are running with that. Favors: Bookmarks from Oriental Trading Company and printed champagne glasses from FavorFavor. A+ for FavorFavor. These were a last minute decision, and I emailed them 22 days before the wedding asking if they could get some here in time. They said yes, and didn't charge extra for a rush order. My Ring: eBay seller Platinum Guy. A+ Obviously, I'm a eBay junky, but they were great. They responded to my question right away, and shipped very quickly. Overall, great service, and about 1/3 less than the next best price I found online. His Ring: eBay seller Buy 4 Less. A+ He wanted a titanium ring because they are lightweight and don't scratch easily. I just got lucky because they are cheap. I purchased it on Sunday it and arrived, including engraving, on Friday. Cake server and toasting glasses: Ebay seller JujuBeauty. A++++++ I wanted something different, not the standard glasses and server with bells, hearts, tulle, or something too "bridal." I wanted the type of thing we could use for years without it feeling out of place. I found Jujubeauty on eBay and loved her product! At the time, she wasn't listing matched sets, so I asked her to make glasses to match the server I bought. She asked what colors I wanted, and then made everything to match. There are some pictures in the bottom of my bio under the table numbers. Walking the Seasons Ceremony We added a portion of a ceremony that comes from a Druid wedding ceremony called “Walking the seasons.” I instructed each group to select something “nature based” that fits with their season, but was small enough to carry around and give us at the ceremony. My intention was to put the four items in a shadow box, but my instructions were not specific enough as we ended up with an ecosphere, a candle, a small picture, and snowflake cookie cutters. [Couple: We will.] (Walk together to Groom’s Parents) Groom’s parents: Through times of uncertainty, through winds of change, will your love survive the clear light of day and be nourished with the vitality of Spring Couple: It will Groom’s parents: Then accept this token as a reminder of your words. May your marriage be reborn with each new dawn. (Couple walk together to Bride’s Parents) Bride’s Parents: Will your love survive the fires of change? Will it grow strong in the warmth of Summer? Couple: It will Bride’s Parents: Then accept this token as a reminder of your words. May your life together be filled with the warmth of love. (Couple walk together to the Bridesmaids) Bridesmaids: When the fires burn low, will your love survive? Will it remain steady in the storms of Autumn? Couple: It will Bridesmaids: Then accept this token as a reminder of your words. May together you weave and blend your desires. (Couple walk together to the Groomsmen) Groomsmen: Through times of restriction, when problems seem immovable, will your love survive the times of stillness and restriction? Will it survive the frosts of Winter? Couple: It will Groomsmen: Then accept this token of Winter as a reminder of your words. May together you dance the road of courage and vitality. May your home be filled with warmth. (Couple walk together to the center to face Celebrant again) Celebrant: All things in life are circular – night becomes day, day becomes night and night becomes day again. The moon waxes, wanes and waxes again. The year flows from Spring to Summer to Autumn to Winter and back to Spring once more. Will your love continue flow through these cycles? Couple: It will | ||