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dressed in white

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From the beginning of wedding planning I didn’t want a long wedding dress. I wanted a cute short dress that looked fun and playful. I prefer a simple classic style in almost all of my clothes. J.Crew, Banana Republic and Kate Spade are my go-to’s for inspiration. I think this comes from my mothers wardrobe and belief that if you buy classic pieces you will never look out of style. My mother has never looked out of style or flashy a day in her life. When I started looking for dresses I gravitated towards vintage style boutiques because a lot of the big places don’t sell tea length dresses and the ones they do are too short. I stumbled upon a designer named Fancy out of New York. Their dresses are beautiful. They have a variety of styles and all look very classy and timeless.

Next challenge was to find a place in Indiana that carried the designer. Dress shopping happened in Indiana because my best friend and my mom live there and it was more cost effective for me to go there and shop than two of them to come to me. Plus we were headed there to check out the first Super Bowl in Indianapolis. This made the timing extremely tight. I would be shopping for the dress the first week of February for a wedding in mid-May. If the dress would need to be ordered it was going to be down to the wire to get it.

I was lucky and found a place in my hometown that carried the designer. A small shop in a strip mall. When I called to see if they had any of the dresses the young girl that answered my call said no they didn’t carry that. Hopes dashed. Well didn’t matter this was the trip and this was going to have to do. We would just have to see what we could find and enjoy the experience of trying on my first wedding dress together even if it didn’t end up being the one.

At the shop we saw the one rack with tea length dresses. All 12 of them. I saw a few with promise and went in for a closer look. Jackpot they were Fancy dresses. Then I hit the powerball…they were on sale. I tried on a few and two came out promising. One was cute but a size small so it would need to be ordered. One was a size too big but tailoring is expected. I wasn’t positive so we went to the big box store and tried on some others just to see what was out there. Turns out in my style there is was nothing out there. I didn’t love any of them. I did find the fascinator that I wanted so it wasn’t a complete bust. We drove back to the first shop tried them on again and agreed that the one that was a little too big was the one. I walked out of the store with my dress in hand for about 75% off the original price.

I love that dress. It has pockets! One of my favorite features on any dress is pockets in the seam. The tailor did an amazing job with the adjustments. I had it brought up a few inches because it showed the tattoos better. No joke. The original length almost went to my ankle and I wanted mid-calf.

Yes, I totally cropped my husband out of that photo. This is about the dress after all. I put him back in for the next shot.

Anyone found a place where you can wear your dress again? Maybe it will always be my Halloween costume.

Come back Friday to see my Mother’s day post and then DIY May-nia starts on Monday!

my yellow slippers

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I have never had an unexplained love for shoes. I like the idea of cute shoes but they always seem to create not so cute blisters. For this reason I stick to fairly practical shoes and if I find a comfortable pair I wear them into the ground.
When I was deciding on shoes for the wedding it was completely different. I wanted the perfect pair and was prepared to search. I started out with your traditional white shoe. Then a friend suggested yellow shoes and I was hooked on the idea and never let it go. I took her with me through all the major department stores in San Francisco looking for the perfect pair for my wedding day. I also had a friend searching online to help me track down options and of course there was pinterest to keep it all straight.

I didn’t have many criteria really just that they couldnt’ be too high since I don’t normally walk in heels. I knew I would be walking on grass and was going to have to deal with either sinking in or find something to walk on. In the end the heels I were taller than I expected at almost 3 inches and I almost lost one in the grass as I walked up the aisle with my dad. I couldn’t decide on the shoes so I ended up with two styles of Nina shoes. I bought them from Zappos so I could return them when I made my decision. I still have the other pair. Which seems a little silly. Though they may come in handy for our anniversary because I have yet to figure out how to clean the pair that go stuck in the ground. The wedding shoes are the ones with the bows.

Tom on the other hand likes nice shoes. I wouldn’t say it is excessive but he knows the good brands and is excited to find them on sale or at the Nordstrom Rack. His shoe vision didn’t come together as quickly. It was more of a third times a charm search for shoes.
The first pair were the yellow wing tips from Cole Haan. The thought that we would have matching yellow shoes was pretty cute. Upon getting them home we realized they were much more green than yellow. Those were returned and home came the blue suede shoes. They are bananas. What exactly does that mean you ask? Let me explain. He was at the Cole Haan store and another guy was trying on the same style of shoes. He told Tom, “Man these shoes are so light, they are bananas.” That man preceded to buy them in multiple colors. I wish I had the money to buy that many Cole Haan shoes at once.

Those didn’t look quite right. Partially because they just didn’t seem dressy enough. Which is an odd statement for a picnic wedding. They just didn’t fit the part. He does love the shoes and wears them with a lot of other things. But it was back to the drawing board. Third times a charm, he ended up with a traditional looking brown leather shoes from Nordstrom.

All the work we put into shopping for those shoes and we wore them for about 45 minutes during the ceremony and 30 minutes of picture taking. After that we switched into a surprise gift Tom had made for us. Custom made wedding shoes. Converse in our wedding colors of blue and yellow. The best part is he had our wedding date sewn on them. So we ended up with matching yellow shoes and I didn’t break my ankle at the reception. Everybody won. The Converse are by far my favorite of all the wedding shoes.

Last week when I was home sick two packages arrived at the house and to my surprise I had new anniversary shoes. Our wedding colors again but this time blue with yellow and our 1st anniversary date sewn on the side.

Do you love shoes? What did you wear on your wedding day?

Don’t forget about DIY May-nia starting in a week

location location location

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For months before we got engaged I envisioned an outdoor wedding with a short dress, Tom in a seersucker suit and a picnic reception. It sounded fun and casual, very relaxed and laid back. Neither of us are very showy people. So an extravagant affair with a tux and beaded dress really never was part of my plan. With that in mind I thought of every possible place in the bay area. The early runner was the General’s Residence on Fort Mason.
Beautiful isn’t it? I love the look it has as you drive up. It would make for some great pictures.
photo from fort mason
Even more I loved that this window looks out on to a huge lawn that looks right over the spot we got engaged. Which if you read the engagement post you know is also a spot from our first date. I thought it would be really cute to get married here and tie balloons on the pier where we got engaged. While this place had the ideal view it was a little rundown and not the ideal price tag. So we kept looking.
photo from fort mason
We looked into the presido which has a handful of venues you can use for weddings. This log cabin was one option. I was drawn to it because I saw pictures of other wedding here and they were really pretty.
Plus this outdoor area would be great for lawn games. Tom was never sold. It was too rustic and didn’t look very nice on the inside. Plus the backdrop of the lawn was freeway construction. You can’t tell from this photo but it was there. This location is also extremely far away from everything and since the majority of the guests would be coming from out of town it wasn’t really going to convenient. Not to mention that while this place was cheaper than Fort Mason it wasn’t by a lot.
With the idea of an outdoor wedding starting to come together for both of us we started talking about the idea of leaving the bay area for the wedding. San Francisco has a couple major draw backs as a wedding location. The first is what you get for the money isn’t a lot. The second, you can’t count on the weather. It might be nice and sunny or it might be socked in with fog and freezing. Since I am always cold that sounded horrible and certainly not the right setting for a fun outdoor wedding. So we headed to San Diego.
We considered a couple places but only looked at one. When we pulled into San Dieguito park and saw the wedding gazebo in person we were happy and ready to commit.
We went and looked at the park then went and got Jersey Mike’s Subs and came back to have a picnic on the lawn. As we pulled out of the parking lot on our way to Michael’s to buy a stamp for the save the date postcards I booked the gazebo and the picnic area for May 19, 2012. The park is near Del Mar which is a beautiful beach area of southern California. You can almost count on the fact that the weather will be beautiful in San Diego during May.
For an idea on what the pricing is like in the bay area:
Our whole wedding cost just a little more than the rental of the General’s residence.
The combined cost of the caterer, park and chair rental was equal to the log cabin
The wedding gazebo and picnic area were under $1,000

We ended up with a destination wedding. The day we booked the park was in the middle of January. 130 days before our big day. The location turned out beautiful and the weather couldn’t have been better. We really made the right choice and had the perfect location for the wedding we wanted to have.

Next week is the big announcement and details on DIY May-nia.

brought to you by myself, Ashley from The HumberHome Project, Kelly from Corner of Main, and Melanie from Mailbox Journey. More details next Monday!

can we do it all over again?

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This time last year I was in the final stretch before the wedding. This year I have new things planned for May and we are going to Hawaii to celebrate our anniversary but I kind of wish we were doing the wedding again. It was such a great week. A new friend Melanie at Mailbox Journey just got engaged and reading her posts makes me want to do it all again as well. If you check out her site on Monday I bet she will announce her venue and you will be able to follow along as she plans out her big day.

So here is what I am thinking…
1. Most of you weren’t around last year
2. I wasn’t blogging as much and didn’t really elaborate on how I did some of my DIY projects
3. I want to relive it all again minus the stress of which there was really very little. Oh and maybe this will give me a reason to put the dress on again. I love that dress.

There are 5 weeks until our anniversary so each week I will post twice about different aspects of the wedding. That schedule might be stressful enough. I hope you enjoy this as much as I know I am going to.

In the coming five weeks here are some of the post topics you have to look forward to:

  • flowers
  • location
  • music
  • shoes/dress/suits
  • centerpieces
  • favors

Let’s start out with the engagement and the ring for now shall we…

On our first date we took a walk through San Francisco. We walked through Chinatown and down on the water in front of Ghirardelli Square. With the Golden Gate Bridge as a back drop he stopped and kissed me. Right there on that pier. It was sunny on our date. It was a typically beautiful October day. If you want to visit SF I highly recommend September and October. It rarely looks like this during those months.

It was a very special day and we have been by each others sides ever since. We both knew very early on that we would get married. The first time we really talked about it was during the UCLA vs USC football game in 2010. That is a long story but I saved all the text messages from that conversation. Modern day love letters I guess you could call them.

We moved in together in April of 2011. In the end of October we took our first vacation together, Disneyland and the Ritz in Laguna Nigel to celebrate our birthdays, which are only 2 days apart. During that trip Tom said “I think we should get married sooner rather than later.” That was all it took to get the ball rolling quickly. We picked out the ring together. I knew it had arrived and that Tom had picked it up but wasn’t sure when to expect it. I knew he was planning to call my dad and ask for permission but I didn’t know if that was done yet. My dad is an excellent secret keeper so there weren’t going to be any leaks on his end. On one of our days off we went out for a walk and Tom suggested going to where we had our first date. That and the bulging ring box in his pocket were the tell tale signs that would be the day. I was really excited the proposal spot might be right there on the pier and when it was I was very excited. Even with it kind of figured out I was so excited and nervous before he asked me.

We got home and I called my parents. My mom answered the phone. When I told her she screamed and laughed, which is probably because she was trying not to cry, and then turned to my dad who was apparently wearing his “shit grin”, as she calls it, which means he is in on the secret or he really enjoyed what just happened. She couldn’t believe he didn’t tell her. I think she knew he never would. I knew he would never spoil that moment for us. We made a few more phone calls and there was a little more screaming from Lori and Annie. We sent some texts and then put it on facebook and the world officially knew.

Did you know engagement rings have super powers? You can learn about that and the other things my engagement ring taught me the first two weeks I had it in this post here.

This photo is from the wedding but it is the best photo I have of the ring. It is an emerald cut diamond. My favorite part is the arch of six diamonds just underneath the solitaire. The wedding band matches the diamonds around the engagement ring. Looking at my ring still makes me smile almost a year later.

project let down

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Have you planned a wedding or a big party? Have you taken on a big challenge that had a deadline? Attempted something that had a lot of build up and a very exciting climax? After it was all over did you feel a little lost and without purpose?

I used to work as an event planner and this would always happen the Monday after an event. The same thing happened after our wedding I was so busy planning for 4 months that when it was over I didn’t know what to do with myself. I refer to it as project let down.

I am suffering from project let down. I just worked on a fun project that needed to be in the mail today. I made it, got it completed and in the mail. I am super proud of it and spent a portion of the morning vocalizing this to my husband and texting it to friends. I spent the rest of the day thinking about which project should be next. I have at least a dozen things I could focus on but honestly none of them seem as interesting as the one I just finished.

This must be what adrenaline junkies feel like after a big rush. They savor it and then are off to find the next one. In between they just talk a lot about the last one. Wonder what you would call me? Craft junkie? DIY Junkie? Maybe it is more of an -itis. Like if you have bronchitis the doctor gives you antibiotics. I have Martha Stewart-itis can get a project over here?

Finishing a project always seems to have me reflecting on how I ever found the time to do the project. How did I get that done while working 50 hours, cooking dinner, sleeping and spending time with my husband?I think I will continue to take the night off from projects and work on the post about the project I was so proud of today or just kill some time on Pinterest looking for inspiration. No matter what I do tonight the project I finished today will be up on the blog Monday when I am sure it has gotten to where it is going. If you have followed me on Instagram you have already seen some sneak peaks. If you don’t but have read my DIY project list for the year this is the felt project.

Hopefully tomorrow brings a refreshed view on this and a renewed purpose and drive to get started on the next thing!

thankful captured on film

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Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on what is important to you and what makes you feel grateful. Yesterday I wrote a post about a four of the most important people in my life and our combined love of football. That post doesn’t really do justice for all that I am thankful for in my life. This year has given me even more to be thankful for than any other. Not all people I am thankful for are pictured but all are included in one way or another. Let’s get started…

I am thankful for the many people that came to support Tom and I as we became husband and wife and for those that wanted to make it but were unable for one reason or another. As well as those that sent us their congratulations in many different ways.
The friends that helped set up our DIY wedding and the youth that are already strong enough to be themselves.
Old friends that I can call after months and it is like we have never been apart.

My longest friend that loves me even in my ugly moments

The best roommates

The amazing group of women I get to be a part of because of marriage

Great people I have met at work

Especially the ones that I took the time to give me a little bridal shower
One of the people I am most thankful for is the man that introduced me to Tom.

I am also thankful to everyone that has taken the time to read the blog. I hope that you have enjoyed the increased posts. I will be back to recipes and crafts later this week.

All the details

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A visual look at the wedding and some extra details for those that can’t get enough or happen to be planning your own wedding. We took on most of the planning and creating ourselves. Thanks to all the friends and family that pitched in to make this happen.

Garden hooks from the dollar store. Tin cans from a demo at work. Peeled all the labels off and then had to chip the glue off before tying the cans with blue and yellow ribbon. I bought mixed bouquets at Trader Joe’s. Friday night my friends and family broke down the bouquets and filled 85 cans with flowers. Because of wind at the reception we bought a large bag of rocks, typically used in aquariums, at the pet store and filled the tin cans.

It is official we are Mr and Mrs. Fassnacht. Will be a little more official when I finally get my butt to the Social Security office and change my name legally. Luckily, my mom convinced me to put garland on the gazebo. It wouldn’t have looked as cute without the garland. Big thanks to my dad and Kelly for attaching it the morning of the wedding. Also on that note a big thanks to my brother for getting things set up when the chairs were late and Tom had to head back to get ready.
Tom wore a seersucker suit by Ralph Lauren and my dress is from Fancy NY. Shoes are by Nina.

Centerpieces for the tables were the tin cans with flowers and these glass jars. I wrapped the jars in crochet yarn which was thin and laid flat against the jar. I used one piece of double side tape on the jar and wrapped the 20 jars while watching television. We filled each jar with a kids toy and game pieces. The wind kept blowing them over though so they had to be weighted down a little. We used burlap for the runners. I bought a 100yd roll online for about $80. It was enough to cover everything and then some.

The drinking glasses and favors. Kelly painted all the @ on the jars with Martha Stewart paint that I got at Michael’s. It works on glass and you can either let it sit for 21 days or bake so the paint will hold up to washing. Why the @? For Christmas my mom gave us a metal @ from Anthropologie. I never got it, Tom figured it out and my mom filled in all the details. It is an A and T and the T is wrapped around the A like Tom is giving you a hug. We thought it was so sweet we used it at the wedding.

And then there were the pinwheels. All 185 of the pinwheels. After a lot of practice I can now make 30 pinwheels in 2 hours. This project was a lot of paper shopping, cutting and hammering. Surprisingly I didn’t hit my dumb as much as I thought I would. At this point, I can’t remember how I decided pinwheels would be a good idea. I am sure it was Pinterest. I am glad I did though they were the perfect addition of color to the decorations.
A complete picture of the table decorations, favors and my beautiful bouquet.

The shoes were one of my favorite things. They were one of Tom’s many contributions to the day. I came home from work one day and Tom was very excited to show me something. He pulled up a web site with a drawing of these shoes. He did a special order of converse in our wedding colors, with our wedding day embroidered on them.

These days we don’t get much exciting mail. While we were waiting for RSVP cards we loved guessing how many yellow envelopes would be waiting for us. I wish we had invited more people just so I could open the mail. We had some leftover envelopes and I found some cute recipe cards and had a last minute idea to add this to the game and guestbook table. We have received a few back so far and hope to have the surprise of some more yellow envelopes.
Some of the games we put out for people to play. The whiffle ball and horseshoes were two of the favorites.
The food we had catered from Zov’s in Southern California.

my bouquet had white peonies, yellow ranunculus, yellow roses and some blue flowers I can’t remember. Green Fresh Florals in San Diego did and excellent job.

One of Tom’s other great ideas. We ended up with a very playful theme for the wedding. So when Tom suggested a football as our guest book it was perfect.

We skipped most of the traditional reception events. There was no first dance, no bouquet toss, etc. We replaced all of that with some rented games. Ping pong, shuffleboard, and pinball.

It was such a great day. After this picture was taken we went to a sandwich shop and surprisingly they asked if we were going to prom.

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