Doing something "normal"

Today I had a pretty good day. Lately I have felt pretty stressed and run down. With 110 days left until the wedding my mind seems to be on one track, wedding mode. But today I did something non-wedding related and it felt really good. I did something that used to be part of my typical routine. It showed me that sometimes you have to take a step back from wedding obsessing and do something that feels "normal."


Today I went to my first audition of 2012. As I have mentioned before, I moved to New York to purse musical theater. After becoming engaged my auditioning and training kind of took a back seat. I had actor friends telling me, "I took a whole year off auditioning and acting when I was getting married. It's just too much stress." So I kind of cut myself some slack thinking it was perfectly justifiably for me to take a little break from auditioning. 


But today I decided it was time to get back into the game. I got up at 6:30, left my snoozing fiancé and arrived at the audition at 7:30. I waited in line until sign up started at 9 and then I auditioned at 10:10. It was a long morning but after I was done I felt amazing. It felt so refreshing to get back into something that was always part of my normal routine. Focusing my mind and energy on the audition was invigorating. It felt so right.

The point of my tale is that sometimes its nice to take a step back from wedding planning and do something that you have been neglecting in in lieu of nuptial preparations. Another example, I love to read but lately I can't bring myself to take the time to start a new book. Well I think I'm going to start a new book tonight. 

Image via en.paperblog.com

I want to be felling more like this in the next couple months, and I think taking time to do things I love will help me achieve that.

I don't want to look back on my year and four months of wedding planning and realize all I did was obsess about the wedding. I wish I would have realized this a little bit earlier. But it's better late than never.


Do you have any normal routines or activities you like to partake in instead of wedding planning? 

It's go time

We are back in NY after a thrilling holiday trip out in California. We did some wedding planning, saw lots of family, and had an amazing time with our friends. This trip will definitely be one that is always fondly remembered.

But before I get into specifics about our trip let me interrupt to say, we are now 5 months away from our wedding! Umm where did all our time go!? How is it already so close to our date!? Cue mini freak out.

Image via swimspot.com

Ok now that I've had a chance to breathe... I'm realizing that it's time to shift into gear and start making decisions. In other words, it's go time. I'm an indecisive person by nature. I always tend to weigh options and wait to make a decision until it feels "right". Well I'm just going to have to get over that because it's time to get things going! Invitations, decorations, guest book, favors, etc... it's time to make some decisions and do some serious planning! And try to do it all without having an anxiety attack...

Image via daughterdaughter.blogspot.com 

We did get a good amount accomplished in California. We met with our venue and chose our linens, menu and cake! Of course during our meeting we were starving so every food option sounded amazing, but I think we made some good choices. We also bought frames for our table numbers, and the biggest and most important in my opinion... we have a wedding officiant! If you read any of my other posts on the subject, you'll know we were having a hard time... But we made a decision we're happy with, and I'll fill you in on all the details next time!

Did everyone have a good holiday?  Anyone travel cross-country like us?

Under pressure

I'm having one of those days where I'm feeling really overwhelmed. Our wedding is under 9 months away (I would say 8 1/2 but that stresses me out to much) and I feel like I haven't gotten enough accomplished. For example: we still don't have a florist, or any idea who is going to marry us, we haven't even finalized our invite list... just to name a few.

I also all of the sudden have this feeling that I need to create this perfect wedding that is beautiful, trendy, and so dang amazing style me pretty will be begging me to feature it on their blog.

I really don't know where this came from. I've always thought of myself as a pretty laid back, less is more kind of girl. I didn't want to stress over too much for the wedding so I decided early on that I was going to keep everything simple and laid back...or so I thought.

I think maybe I've spent too much time "researching" and looking for inspiration on sites that now just have me confused. All these vintage inspired weddings look like they're using muted colors and we're using bright orange, maybe it's going to clash? Maybe my idea for ticket escort cards isn't cool enough, this person used vintage post cards, maybe my favor ideas suck. Doubt is creeping in!

And like I said before, I feel so behind, too far behind to be second guessing the ideas I am(was) happy with. I feel like I'm stuck in indecisive quicksand and I'm drowning in decisions that need to be made!

I got ready for bed feeling very stressed, my mind racing. My fiancé looked at me and said, "You look stressed." So I told him how I felt we haven't gotten enough done, blah blah blah. He suggested we make a list of things to do this month. I thought, yes that is a good idea but it doesn't make me feel any better. I didn't feel like we'll get any more accomplished with a list. I said, "I just feel like I have so much to do with work, auditioning, wedding planning, and I really have no time to do it." So he said in a sweet voice "Then don't do anything." I gave him a look like I could kill you but you're too cute, and he continued, "If you don't have time to do anything then just don't do anything."

This would have probably made some girls furious, but for me it made me laugh and got me out of my funk for the night. It just goes to show he's the one for me, he listens, he gives advice and then makes me laugh it off.

So I'm sitting here thinking I need to embrace what we have envisioned for this wedding. It might not be perfect, and it might not be some people's cup of tea, but it's our wedding and I shouldn't care. I love bright colors, so there will be bright colors. I love vintage elements, so there will be some of that too. I will try and not compare my wedding, that hasn't even taken place, with those I see online. I will also move forward and make more important decisions, like who's going to marry us! That's a big one!

And here's a pretty orange picture!

 Image via theknot.com

Do you ever feel like maybe your vision isn't "good" enough? Or am I just crazy.. Well I'll admit I can be a little crazy. What do you do to get yourself out of a funk? Does your fiancé help?

The death of a Mac Book Pro

There has been a sad loss in our household. Jeff's trusty five year old Mac Book Pro has bit the dust. And I feel especially bad because I was the last person to use it.... It was definitely on it's way out, but after I used it I asked, "should I turn it off or just close it?" Jeff told me to just close it and I really feel if I had just turned it off it might have lasted a little longer... I could have saved it!

Image from American Dad!

The death of his computer comes at a really bad time. Jeff is a graphic designer of sorts and uses his computer for work. We also were working on building our wedding website on his computer, plus our save the dates and invitations. Why can't we do that on my computer you ask? My poor computer practically predates the internet. I had my first AOL account on this computer. It simply doesn't have the computing power to support Photoshop and the other software Jeff uses.

The other major bummer is we can't really afford a new mac right now. When you're saving for wedding related things an added expense is never good news. But a lot of our wedding DIY projects were going to be accomplished on the now dead computer so a new computer is kind of wedding related... And the thought of having to wait to finish some of these projects are really stressing me out!

I think we are probably going to see if we can finance one and hope that works out. Jeff really needs a computer for work (and is kind of a nerd and definitely wants a new gadget), and our household needs a better computer than mine. So maybe it's time to pool our pre-marital finances on a computer that will hopefully carry us through our first several years of wedded bliss.

It may not be as beautiful or thrilling to me as wedding dresses and decor, but it is nonetheless a vital component to our wedding planning.

Image via apple.com

 
What about you? Any fun or tragic stories about unplanned setbacks leading up to your special day?

These are a few of my favorite things...

Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens....

video via youtube.com

I'll be honest I prefer the original, Julie Andrews version of this song...but I couldn't find it. So Lea Michele will do.

In the quest for planning the perfect wedding, there are things I come across that I just LOVE and drool over. Most of them I can't use for my own wedding, but still they have become some of my favorite things...

A guest book poster where people sign their name on "books". So cute.

 Image via Etsy.com, seller ssanchez

Or a puzzle guest book. If I was having a small wedding I would totally do this...

Image via Etsy.com seller BellaPuzzlesToo

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but I love turtles! I have been collecting them since I was about 8 and it has become the kind of thing where people say, I saw this turtle (pillow, doll, earnings, salt and pepper shaker, etc) and I thought of you. So a turtle cake topper could be really cute.

Image via Etsy.com, seller  Garden4Arts

But I like the idea of incorporating our kitties into our wedding as well! How cute would a little mini us with our kitties be topping our cake!

Image via Etsy.com, seller urastarhouse

I love cute signs like this for the sweetheart table

 Image via Etsy.com, seller sweetestmoments

And of course the "I do" stickers for the bottom of the shoes.  I love it!

Image via Etsy.com seller yourhappilyeverafter

As the song says, "these are a few of my favorite things..." I could make a 100 part post about my favorite things, but I chose these select few because these were the things that I found early in my wedding planning that stuck with me. 

What are some of your favorite things? 

From long distance relationship to long distance wedding planning

I filled you all in on how Mr. Castle and I met and started our romance. I also told you the story of our proposal, but I haven't said anything about the time in-between. And how it is relates to our wedding planning.

As you've probably guessed from the title of this post Mr. Castle and I had a long distance relationship. We started dating the year I graduated from college and Mr. Castle had one more year of school to complete. My plan was always to move to New York after graduating. I went to school for musical theater and if you want to do theater you move to New York! But I didn't know I was going to fall in love with the man of my dreams months before leaving!!!

Mr. Castle brought me to the airport when I left and it was the saddest thing I have experienced to date! We took forever to say goodbye, and when we finally did he told me that he put a special playlist on my IPod for me to listen to on the plane... Ugh my heart aches just thinking about it! He had put recordings of him singing songs from shows we had done together. The last song on the playlist was a song he wrote for me! The person next to me must have thought I was dying because I was uncontrollably sobbing. It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me.

Mr. Castle and I kept our relationship going strong. We talked everyday we were apart and saw each other about once a month. Being actors we both ended up traveling in touring shows and performing in different parts of the country. We would try and visit each other in the places we were performing. The timing was never right for Mr. Castle to come join me in New York, which at times was very frustrating. But he still had opportunities and things to accomplish in California before making his way east.

Personal Photo / Visiting Mr. Castle in Aspen, Colorado while he was there performing for the summer.

Personal Photo / The Castle's at DisneyWorld. I was in Florida on tour and he came and met me for a mini Disney vacation.

Finally after two years and eight months, (oh yeah I counted it) he finally moved out to NYC. We moved in together, adopted two kitties, bought furniture and made our home. We co habituated as if we had never been apart. And he's been the best roommate I've ever had.

Personal Photo / I made him a sign :) 

Mr. Castle has said to me that after moving in together and seeing how amazing it was, really finalized his decision that he was going to propose. So here we are living our dream in New York City in our one bedroom apartment with our kitties, engaged, happy as can be. Everything should be perfect shouldn't it?

Oh but now let's plan our perfect wedding to take place in California from New York... Should be easy right? People do it everyday...right?...right?

Well so far for me it's been really hard. Booking our venue, for example, my Mom had to go and sign our contract. I stupidly took the deposit check my Dad had written us back to New York, just to then have to overnight it back to my Mom. Finding a florist was difficult because most florists in the area we are getting married don't have websites. I use my iPad for most of my research, but every vendor uses flash and the iPad can't use flash! OK that last one was not really a distance related problem but it still frustrates me!

The distance brings a lot of complications. We won't be able to do a food tastings with our venue because they do group tastings twice a year and we couldn't go to either. I have to figure out how I am going to travel with my wedding dress from New York to LA. I'm still trying to decide if I should do my DIY projects here or in California. When we make trips out they are super busy and jam packed with wedding planning. We don't end up getting to spend much time with family and friends. We also have to figure out how to get any wedding gifts back to New York. The list goes on and on...

I find it very ironic that we came from being in a long distance relationship, CA to NY, to planning our wedding long distance, NY to CA.

In the end I have faith that everything WILL work out. I'm not the first bride to plan a wedding from across the country. So I guess I just need to take a deep breath and have faith. 

Anyone else planning their wedding long distance? Any tips that have helped you?

Where to say our I do's? Part 2!

I last left off in our story telling how we had visited three possible venues. All beautiful, but none stood out above the rest. So on we went to our fourth and final venue.

The Padua Hills Theater

The Padua Hills Theater was an actual working theater built in the 1920s. It was a Mexican dinner theater built to promote a relationship between the native Mexican people and new settlers.

Image via www.chantrellescatering.com

When Mr. Castle and I arrived we were greeted by one of the venues preferred photographers. I thought "Oh, what a coincidence, I wonder why he's here...?" It soon became clear after he spoke to us a bit, gave us his card and left, that he was there to meet us! That made us feel pretty special. We were then given a tour of the area outside the theater. We saw where the ceremony and cocktail hour would take place. It was very beautiful. They really set the mood with music playing out of speakers in the trees. It felt kind of like Disneyland... in a good way.

We then made our way inside and were brought into the theater, which has been converted into a banquet room. We walked into the room pictured below, minus the tables and chairs.

 Image via www.carolinetran.net/blog/ / Photography by Caroline Tran

This picture is beautiful but it doesn't even do it justice. We were floored. My eyes immediately began watering. I couldn't even speak I was so amazed at how breathtakingly beautiful this room was. And it used to be a theater! How perfect for Mr. Castle and I since theater is such a big part of our lives and what brought us together in the first place.

After we walked around the room a bit their preferred DJ, Entertainment Express, took over and gave us an awesome demo of what he could do with the venue's sound and lighting system. It once again took our breath away. They have a bubble machine for the first dance, spot lights for your grand entrance, and if you wanted they could make your reception look like you're in a club complete with lazers and strobe lights. 

We were there for about 2 hours, getting details and walking around. We left in a daze. We both obviously loved it, but it was way more expensive than the other venues. As we drove away I asked Mr. Castle what he was thinking. I expected his response to be, "Well it's great but for the price I don't know," or "Well if we win the lotto we can get married there." But surprisingly he said, "That's it. I mean, we have to get married there." I was shocked. I felt the same way but I didn't know if it was going to be possible.

So we went to talk to the man in charge, my Dad. He has amazingly offered to fund his only daughters wedding. We showed my him the info and prices we got from all the venues. We didn't push Padua, but we did tell him it was our favorite. We were very upfront and honest about the price differences. My Dad looked at us and said, "I think you should go with the place you love, you only get married once, hopefully," he laughed, "and I think you guys had a strong reaction to this place so go for it." 

So with his blessing and approval we made our choice! We can't wait to get married at the Padua Hills Theater!

Some more eye candy:

The Ceremony location

 

Image via www.chantrellescatering.com/ Photography by Enchanted Portraiture

Image via www.chantrellescatering.com/ Photography by Enchanted Portraiture

What it looks like at night!

Image via weddingchicks.com / Photography by Palos Studio

I'm so excited! I now see that if we had picked any of the other places, Padua would have always been in the back of our minds. Finding and finalizing our wedding venue was one of the most thrilling moments of this planning journey.


Any one else walk into your venue and get the feeling of, "Oh my gosh this is it!?" Did it work out for you?

Where to start?

I'll admit that before I was even engaged I did a little bit of wedding research. Nothing crazy, just browsing I would say. And now that I'm in the trawls of wedding planning I will say, I knew nothing about how many sites were out there devoted to helping you plan a wedding.

The first site I perused was theknot.com This site was great for inspirational pictures and helping me look up possible venues.

When I was ready to seriously  search for venues, these sites were my best friends:

Weddingwire.com

Herecomestheguide.com

Weddingcompass.com

I really liked wedding compass, because you could narrow down your search to specifics such as, outdoor, garden, or historical building. It also had some venues that none of the other sites had.

After our venue had been chosen, I had a new list of sites I visited on a regular basis.

image via Projectwedding.com

I really like this site, and they update pretty regularly. Their wedding dress search options are awesome as well, and much easier to browse than theknot in my opinion.

 

 image via OneWed.com

Their blog is great and features a lot of what I like to call, "hot off the presses" info, like designers new dresses and new design inspiration. They were the first that I saw to showcase the Kate Middleton inspired dresses. I follow them on facebook and they post links to their latest bog entries, so I get a little taste of their site everyday. Also I won a health food bag from them! Score!

 image via Stylemepretty.com

A jaw dropping beautiful blog featuring real weddings. A lot of great ideas on this site. Their look book of wedding dresses was great as well. Not as many designers as other sites, but I feel they really pick and chose who and what they want to be featured on their site. So you know they picked the best and their favorite.

Etsy.com

The wedding section... I could spend hours. Just go look at it...

And last but not least my favorite site

image via ravishingradish.com

Weddingbee.com consists of  a number of real brides blogging about their planning experiences. I have gotten so many ideas from this site. They also have a boards section where you can post a thread and get advice. The people who blog, post on this site are very nice and helpful. It's nice to talk to people who are going through the same experiences in the planning process. And like I said before, GREAT advice given on this site. And for the most part, everyone is very supportive and helpful.
 

There are SO MANY resources out there for brides. Thank goodness because I would be lost without them.

I'm also always looking for new sites so if you have a favorite that's different from mine, let me know!