Imaginiff.. we end up with pretty pictures

One of my favorite board games to play with friends is Imaginiff... have you heard of it?

Image via Board Game Geek

Basically, a different player becomes the subject of the question asked each turn, depending on where your game piece lands. Everyone secretly votes for their answer, including the subject of the question - the most popular answer "wins" the round, even if the most popular is different from what the subject put for his or herself.

Example: Imaginiff Miss Fox were a flying object. Which would she be?


1) Blimp
2) Biplane
3) Glider
4) Frisbee
5) Lear jet
6) Brick

It's basically a silly guessing game of how well you may (or may not) know a person, and it's always a hoot (especially when wine is involved). So what's the point of me sharing this with you?

Well, I ended up playing this about a year ago and being the subject a very appropriate question that went something along the lines of:

Imaginiff Miss Fox had a wedding day disaster. Which would be most devastating for her?

1) Torrential downpour

2) The officiant running late/not showing

3) A family tiff right before the wedding

4) Not having the pictures turn out

5) The cake falling on the floor

6) Running out of alcohol

Now any of these can be pretty bad, but wouldn't you know it that two of my bridesladies who were playing with me at the time guessed spot on with.. which would be most devastating for me, Miss Fox? That would be numero four: not having the pictures turn out.

The way I see it, all the other options can be easily fixed or worked around - it would be a pain, sure, but none would be as bad as ending up not having the professional pictures come out/have them get lost/what have you. I would simply be devastated. Of course you can't predict these things, no matter how good of a photographer you may have.. but it would still royally suck.

It's pretty easy to say that pictures are an important part of my life (as with most any blogger!). They have the ability to transport me back to any number of times, places, events - I'm an incredibly visual person, and having pictures of people and different things has become a part of how I remember them. My friends know me as the camera girl, knowing that if they happen to forget their camera for something, I'll always, always have mine. The best part of the good times is having a way to always look back and relive them!

Needless to say, when it came time to choose a photographer for the wedding, there was a lot of thought involved. We needed someone who has a photojournalistic style and would be able to capture all the happiness, the joy, the laughter, the tears.. you know how it goes. Oh, and we needed someone affordable.

"Affordable" for Foxy and I meant staying around $2000 at the absolute maximum. For those of you in the DC area, you may have noticed that photojournalistic and our version of affordable don't necessarily go hand in hand. Almost every photographer that I fell in love with had prices of $3000 and up for just a few hours of time. I wanted to cry. I actually did on a few occasions.

I then turned to Weddingbee and scoured every. single. thread. related to photographers in the DMV (DC/Maryland/Virginia) area. Search after search after search, I was coming up short. If I liked the photos, they were too expensive. If I found good prices, I hated the photo style.

I eventually stumbled upon Exclamation Imagery somewhere along the line; I clicked over to the website, and was cautiously optimistic. From what I gathered, this was a relatively small company based out of Virginia, primarily run by the lead photographer Laura, who specializes in photojournalism type pictures. I glanced through her portfolio, and quickly felt myself falling in love. There were no prices listed on the website, so I sent her a quick email asking if she had our date available and what her rates were.

To make what could be a super long story much shorter, she called me back (major points for that!) within 48 hours, told me her amazing (no, seriously.. amazing) prices, and we set up a meeting for the very next week. We booked her within 15 minutes of meeting her.

Want to see some of the goods?

All images via Exclamation Imagery

With pictures like these, Foxy and I are incredibly excited to have Laura (and an assistant photographer!) be documenting our wedding day - she'll be there from the morning hours when us girls are getting ready to the dancing in the evening hours. I researched for months before I found her, and I'm hopeful that all that searching will pay off come June. Two photographers, all day coverage, rights & retouched images, and a 12x12 album for a fabulous price? Sign us up. Now here's hoping nothing happens to those pictures. ;)

And now.. just for fun..

INSERT POLL

Imaginiff you had a wedding day disaster. Which would be most devastating?

1) Torrential downpour

2) The officiant running late/not showing

3) A family tiff right before the wedding

4) Not having the pictures turn out

5) The cake falling on the floor

6) Running out of alcohol

7) Other... explain below!!

Lush Lemonade

It started out with a cute little picture of a drink in a mason jar.

Image via The Wedding Chicks | Photo by Bradley James Photography

Then I became convinced that we needed to have a signature cocktail (rather than a champagne toast) at the wedding. The next step was to decide what the signature cocktail would actually be.

I debated something simple like a blueberry gimlet, or maybe something more unique like a blackberry basil lemonade. I asked for your opinions, scoured the internet, tested out different cocktails.

Then I noticed this fantastic looking pink concoction posted by our very own Miss Mink a while ago.

From Andrea Hubbell’s blog / Photo by Andrea Hubbell Photography

Apparently this is one of the drinks served at her venue, Pippin Hill, called "Pucker Up Punch". I figured, since it looks amazing, it has to taste amazing too, right?!

I gathered the necessary supplies:

Absolut Ruby Red, X Rated Fusion Liquor, lemonade (Crystal Light, yo!)

Now, I tend to have a heavy hand when it comes to mixing drinks, but it totally works with this tasty beverage - one shot Ruby Red, one shot of the liquor, then fill and mix with lemonade.

Of course I had to put it into a mason jar with a stripy straw to get the full effect. And guys? It was good. It doesn't taste like there's alcohol in it, which is both awesome and dangerous. I was afraid Foxy wouldn't like it - it has an incredibly soft hint of grapefruit (he hates grapefruit) - but he went bananas over it. Like.. has had multiple glasses this week. We had our friends try it out as well and there were thumbs up all around!

My only changes would be to make it with pink lemonade instead of regular, as it makes the color much more pink and much, much prettier; I also want to add some fresh raspberries or strawberries to spruce it up a bit.

We're still trying to come up with a good name, but for right now we're sticking with "Lush Lemonade". 'Cause that's exactly what it is. Lush. And orgasmic, but I don't think "Orgasmic Lemonade" would go over too well. Or maybe it would. ;)


The last step is to make sure our venue, the Vandiver Inn, can acquire all the proper ingredients (mainly the Rated X Fusion Liquor). Here's hoping!

Did you come up with your own signature cocktail (if you had one) or did you pull inspiration from elsewhere?

I love the mail, it never fails..

((..it makes me want to wag my tail and when it's here I want to wail MAILLLLL!)) (Blue's Clues anyone? Just me? Ok, I'm done.)

I had such an exciting mail day yesterday, hive!!

Not only did I get brideslady's M's fantaaaabulous wedding invitation (on the right), but.. you see that envelope on the left? Guess what that is?!

That's my shower/bachelorette invite!!

Apparently MOH Copper took the reins on this, and given our shared crafty history from our high school days, I knew it would be good. And the lady did not disappoint!

Even the packaging is amazing; I'm kind of in love with the envelope liner. And.. it will likely be better than my actual wedding invitations will be packaged, hah!

Anyway, this just got me ants in my pants giddy for some shower-y and bachelorette-y goodness. Word on the street is that I didn't get "the entire package", as MOH Copper is trying to keep some things a surprise. I can't decide if that makes me nervous or excited, but let's go with the latter!

Of course, I immediately called Foxy and relayed my giddiness upon receiving both this and brideslady M's wedding invite (which is beyond amazing as well, btw), thus leading to the following conversation:

Me: I'm sooo excited! I need to get a new dress!
Foxy: Wait.. you need a new dress for M's shower?
Me: No.. I already went to her shower and wore an old dress, thankyouverymuch. I need a new dress for MY shower.
Foxy: I thought you just bought a dress for that..?!
Me: No.. that one's for the bachelorette.
Foxy: Good lord, woman.

Oh Foxy, how little you understand about women. Yes, it's true - I recently ordered that little lace number from ASOS that I raved about a while back. Perfect for a bride-to-be's night out on the town.

Trust me, it's cuter in real life.

Not so much for a shower, though. I mean.. I don't need a new dress just for the shower. But hey, why the heck not? I'm only doing this whole marriage/wedding shindig once, and all these events provide perfect excuses to get some new frocks (that, and I hate everything I own). So the dress search will commence!

Were you just as surprised and excited by your shower and/or bachelorette invite? Did you end up getting a new outfit for one/both?

Need. Sleep. And a glass of wine.

The past few nights, I've woken up around 2:30am unbelievably anxious with this immense sensation of being incredibly overwhelmed. I'm already prone to anxiety - it's been pretty good for the past year and a half or so, but I feel it starting to take over my life again. It's like a panic attack in the middle of the night, for no reason whatsoever. I mean, sure.. my to do list seems to be ever expanding and I also volunteered to organize and plan brideslady M's bachelorette party coming up in two weeks.. but in my waking hours, I feel in control. Once I go to bed, it seems to be a whole different story.

The closer the wedding gets, the more I've realized I have to do. It's all stuff that I just sort of assumed would get done at some point, stuff that had to wait until closer to the wedding (think: programs, rehearsal dinner invites, favors, etc). Now that certain details have been settled on and I can actually get started on these things, I'm getting that overwhelmed sensation and I start panicking, especially at night when I'm in bed and have all these thoughts running through my mind.

Of course, money plays a part in all of this as well. Our original budget was for 110 people, but it looks we'll be closer to 130. There's at least a couple hundred. The due date for the remainder due for our photog, DJ, flowers, and cake is coming up in May. There's a couple thousand. Up until last I week I completely forgot that I'm getting my hair and nails done and paying for part of the girls hair, so there's another couple hundred. I still need things for our favors, the guestbook, reception decor, ceremony decor, etcetera. Omigod I'm panicking.

::Deep breath::

This is exactly why I have this tattooed on my forearm.

Photo by Ellen Silverman

Quick aside: my mom loves this tattoo so much that she made her wedding photog get about a dozen pictures of it with my flowers. She also keeps saying that she should have paid for it and written it off on her taxes because she thinks about it and my tattoo so frequently when it comes to work. I mean.. I'll take the money, mom. ;)


Anyway. Yes. I'm overwhelmed by it all. And I thank the heavens for days like today when I have a big chunk of time between clients at work so I can get some stuff done (and.. you know.. blog).

My current state of stress has also made me reconsider some of the projects and things on my to do list that are half done or still need to be done. Take our favors, for example - I know I haven't posted about them yet, but let's just say they were originally going to involve a lot more DIY than they actually will. Then there's the photobooth.. oh, I didn't tell you I want am dying for one of those? Since it wasn't in the budget, I had high hopes of doing a DIY one a la many bees before me, but I really don't see that getting done in the next few months. So that's probably out. And as for the videography thing.. I'm pretty sure we're just going to have someone record the ceremony and the parts of the reception that we want. Foxy got a nice new HD video camera not too long ago, and we're pretty sure we can make that work. It's cool, I'm over it. It's less money and another less vendor I need to deal with at this point.

I realize some of this sounds like I'm giving up on things, but I promise that's not the case. I just don't want to take so much on that nothing gets done right, you know? I'm pretty much forbidden by Foxy to add on any new projects, which is fair. I have more than enough on my plate right now. I know it's gotten bad when I need to make a list of the lists I need to make. True story.

On the flip side, I getting ants in my pants excited that we only have about three months left. I'm.. overwhelmingly excited? Excitedly overwhelmed? Something like that. The thing is, I just want to make the most of everything, because I love being engaged and I love planning our wedding, and I won't ever have this time in my life again. It's a whole bunch of mixed emotions rolled into one. I'm handling it the best I can, but I would really appreciate it if I could not wake up at 2:30am for two hours  anymore. Le sigh.

How did you/are you feeling three months out from your wedding? Did you have a mini freakout like I did(/currently am)?

A Floaty Guestbook Part 2 - Decision Time

When we last left off, I asked for your opinions on my hand drawn version of the UP house to use for our finger print guestbook. There were some marvelous suggestions and alternative ideas, but I knew I really wanted to try and use my hand drawn house in some way, shape, or form. Preferably a cleaned up version, but still the house in some essence.

Welp, I didn't have much time to mull over my options because hive member Miss.E messaged me later that very same day; apparently this awesome lady just voluntarily whipped up a vector image of my house using a program called Inkscape (I gather that it's like a free version of Illustrator!). When I opened up the attachment, I was stunned. She took this..

..and morphed it into this!

Do you SEE how amazing it looks?! I was instantly in love and knew that I could make this work. Yet another reason why Weddingbee and its community is the bee's knees! (Pun obviously intended.)

The next step was to spruce it up a bit by adding some color. Peachplum09, the smarty pants that she is, so keenly previously observed that the house looked a bit like our venue.

Image via Vandiver Inn

Since I wasn't about to go and trace the Vandiver itself (fantastic concept.. much too intricate for me, heh), I figured, why not color it in like the Vandiver?

It really is green in real life, promise!

Keep in mind the lines coming out of the chimney will be where the balloon fingerprints will eventually go. My only issue with using these colors is that I have no idea what colors we would do for the ink pads. As much as I love its likeness to our venue, I'm just not sure what colors would actually "go" with it, you know?

To give myself options, I also created a colored in version that mimicked the actual UP house.

 SO cute, right? I love the brightness and springy feel of it, and we could either use all sorts of colors or just turquoise and orange for the balloons and it would look fantastic either way. But.. it has no real "connection" to the wedding, other than the fact that we love UP. And that it's pretty looking.

To be honest, I like both of the colored in houses. Everyone I've asked agrees, and no one can decide which we should go with.

So I leave it up to the hive!! What do you think: option 1 a la the Vandiver, or option 2 a la UP?

INSERT POLL
Which house do we use for the guestbook?
Option 1 - Green like the Vandiver
Option 2 - Colorful like UP

5 Pretty Ladies, All In A Row

Not only has Foxy ordered his suit, but so have 80% of the groomsmen (that's 4 out of 5, right?). And, to top it all off, the ladies have all chosen their dresses and I'm super in love with all of them.

Pictures 1, 4, 5 personal

Pictures 2 and 3 via Dessy

You will need to use your imagination a bit - they will ultimately all be both short and oasis in color (a la pictures 2 and 3).

There's a good mix of styles going on, but I love how each dress really reflects each of the girls' personalities. Brideslady M (the picture farthest to the right) even mentioned she loves her pick so much that she's actually excited to wear it. Perhaps some of them really will wear it again....? Maybe...? Ehh maybe not, but at least they'll love it for a day.

I also asked the ladies to get any sort of ivory shoe; I don't think I'll be checking in on this one too much, seeing as they all clearly have such impeccable style. I trust 'em!

It's moments like these.. seeing all the brideslady dresses together.. that are making this wedding seem all so very real, now. As in, this is really happening. In 3 months, no less.

Did you have a "s@!t's getting real" moment at some point? What was it?

Digging Deep

I have to admit that I kind of love reading fellow Bee's posts about Precana (aka pre-wedding marriage counseling). I love how much of a variety there is - from a weekend "crash course" to several weekly sessions over a month or two to miscellaneous homework assignments. I always knew that I wanted to do something similar with Foxy in the months leading up to our own wedding; when we were still planning to be married by a pastor, it was mandatory. Once we changed paths and decided to go with a more secular approach, we still knew we wanted to do some form of pre-marriage counseling with an outside source. We needed to, actually.

I touched lightly upon our first week at couples therapy back in December, and I wanted to share just a bit more about it. We have been going pretty consistently for about 3 months now (at three to four times a month) and have really grown and learned so much more about each other in that short amount of time. Sure, we already knew the ins and outs of the other one (being together for 5 years will do that), but it desperately needed to be finessed.

I won't lie: Foxy and I ran into a pretty big hurdle in our relationship about a year ago now. It was something that really tested us, something that almost tore us apart. In the end, once we each got over the initial shock, anger, confusion of it all.. we decided that we were better than that. That we were too good to just give up on. That what we had was worth fighting for and worth fixing. It all boiled down to a lack of communication, which we were able to pinpoint after several days of talking, arguing, analyzing. We needed help to get past it, to help mend things, to help understand each other more and prevent it from happening in the future.

A good friend referred us to our counselor, Jack, who has quickly become one of my most favorite people in the world. We came to him with the request of couples counseling mixed with pre-marriage counseling, and he was more than happy to oblige. While we've definitely been dealing mostly with the counseling portion of it and are just now starting to broach the actual marriage part, I can already say that we've learned so much and have come so far. We all know that communication is key in any relationship, but I found that there is always room to improve that. At least for us, anyway. And there's no right or wrong.. there's just you and your partner. There's the mutual understanding and willingness to grow and take in each other's thoughts, feelings, emotions. There's an acceptance that you're different, an acceptance that you're both ridiculously stubborn, an acceptance that it can indeed work even if it gets tricky sometimes.

I never once doubted mine and Foxy's relationship. Even at its rockiest points - of which there have been a few - I still believed in us, and so did he. Yet, even with that in mind, talking and opening up to Jack has really been an eye opener for both of us. You think you can handle it all yourself and that you don't need "help", but sometimes that third party can really put things into perspective. Sometimes you don't realize what's right in front of you until someone else points it out. And, most importantly, you truly realize that you and your partner are forever changing, both personally and with each other.

I won't say Foxy and I are "fixed" because I don't believe we were every truly broken, but we're definitely better off now than we were four months ago. We're also going to continue seeing Jack right up until the wedding, and likely after that as well (albeit not three to four times a month anymore). As I mentioned earlier, while we felt we needed to see someone to help us with our particular situation, we still had intentions of going to couples therapy regardless. Even if we never had a specific reason to go other than for pre-marriage counseling, I know we still would have learned just as much about each other, ourselves, and our communication habits. It's a never ending journey, for sure.

And so, in the end, I definitely want to encourage you all to go to some form of pre-marriage counseling, Precana, whatever you want to call it, even if it's not required. If I thought Foxy and I were good before, we're platinum now. Sure, we'll need to be touched up and polished every now and again, but don't most things take a bit of maintenance to stay shiny? I sure think so.

Have you ever had a big hurdle in your relationship that you needed to overcome? Regardless of that, have you or will you do some sort of pre-marriage counseling?

Foxy suits up. Well, sort of.

So we went ahead and did it - we finally ordered Foxy's suit from Studio Suits. (We also promptly got called by the credit card company for making said transaction, seeing as it's located in India.)

I have to say, I'm rather impressed. The color, quality, and turn around time all exceeded my expectations.  The one thing I would change is that I would have had Foxy go to an actual tailor to get measured instead of doing it myself, the reason being that the shirt we ordered was wayyyyy too short. Way too short.

How thrilled does he look right now?

So we'll be getting a new one of those.

Foxy also requested that I reduce his waist measurement by few inches, since he plans on losing some weight before the wedding. Us brides know how that goes. So I sort-of-not-really listened and took it down one inch, causing the vest to currently bit just a bit tight. I don't doubt the mans ability to lose a few pounds in the next three months, but this definitely provides a bit more encouragement. #nopressure

Other than that, it fits like a charm! I can't wait to see it with the oasis paragon tie we'll be getting from Dessy (for both him and the groomsmen).

Image via Dessy

Oh Foxy, you sure are foxy.

Have you or your SO ordered your wedding day ensemble a bit smaller than recommended in hopes of losing a few pounds before the big day? How did it work out for you?

A Different Kind of Boudoir

When I first heard about boudoir photos, I got a bit confused. Then I thought they were genius. Then I forgot about them.

Then I went to Mexico with brideslady G, as I mentioned not too long ago. One day, when we were just lounging on the beach, a guy came up to us promoting his photography business; basically, we could each get some fun beachy pictures taken separately and/or together for free, along with the rights to 3 of the pictures for free. If we decided we wanted additional pictures, we'd have to pay something like $15 for each one. I know this might sound a bit sketch, but I promise it's legit.

Anyway, we figured there was no harm in having some cute pictures taken, especially when it was no cost to us. I mean, it's not like we'd end up wanting or getting more than the 3 free prints, right? So we did it, and it was actually kind of fun! Albeit a bit embarrassing when the photog had us pose on the beach in front of a bajillion other people. Supermodel, I am not.

We were able to see the prints the next day, and we were both pretty shocked at how, well, awesome they looked. It occurred to me that these just might be able to serve as a sort of alternative boudoir photoshoot that I could gift to Foxy, as Mrs. Button's had previously talked about. Which is how I ended up spending a healthy sum of money on about 20 or so pictures for the Mr. Those photogs are sneaky, yo. They know their stuff, and know how to make a girl look gooooood.

If anything, when I'm old and gray, these pictures will serve as proof that I used to look pretty decent at one point in my life.

FY to the I: possible not suitable for work photos ahead (are bikinis risqué...?).

You might have noticed that sweet red line down my leg in the last photo. That would be my sun poisoning. The poor photog did his best to edit it out, but there's just no hiding that shiz.

Now of course, I couldn't wait until closer to the wedding to gift these to Foxy. I gave him the CD of pictures the very night I got home, and he loved them. So much so that he even made the next picture his desktop at work.

To which his coworker, who didn't know that was me, asked, "so does she come with the hotel?"

To which Foxy replied "Uh.. no. That's my fiancé."

Buuuuuuuuurn.

Are you doing boudoir photos for your SO? If so, would you consider doing something a bit different, like a sassy beach shoot?

Do we get to eat?

Oh boy, I hope so.

The first thing you should know is that our invite design has been done for quite some time now thanks to a super awesome friendor.. I think we had the final product done by Christmas of 2010ish? Booya. I know it's pretty far in advance, but hey, it was one less thing that needed to be worried about!

On the bright side, I still love the design and am super excited to get them all assembled and DIY'd up in the next month. On the not so bright side, I realized that I left out a possible key bit of information: reception deets. As in, there is no mention of it on the invite whatsoever.

I fretted about this for a while but eventually had to let it go - the invites were done and there was not much I could do about it at that point. Not to mention the fact that I plan on including a website card with our invites, so I can just put the reception info on the website, right? Here's hoping people actually go to it.


Anyway, the answer is yes: there is indeed a reception and we will get to eat. Huzzah!

Personal photo. Nom.

And what, exactly, will we be eating? Well I don't really know yet, but I can tell you that we are planning on having an extended-cocktail-hour-style reception. Our whole evening will probably be equivalent to most people's cocktail hours, but that's kind of the point. Foxy and I always enjoy cocktail hour better anyway, and always manage to fill ourselves up and not have room for whatever dinner is later served. So there's that.

It's a bit interesting the way everything will be set up, but I'm kind of excited for it. There will be a "typical" cocktail hour immediately following the ceremony, but it will only consist of drinks and three passed hors d'oeuvres (and possibly a cheese and veggie tray.. Foxy won't quite give in on that yet. Tell him we need one, k?).

Food stations will then come into play during the actual reception. We will likely have one for pasta, one for meat, one for crepes (good for dinner AND dessert!), and a separate soup and salad bar. And before you ask, yes. There will be enough food. Just because we won't have piles and piles of every food you could ever imagine does not mean you will go hungry (and I say that because people have doubted us). It means that you will be able to munch and nosh on some delicious treats all evening long and not be confined to scheduled eating times.


Mmmm. I'm getting hungry now.

The other thing that might come as a surprise to some guests is that we won't technically have a table and chairs for everyone. We'll have four large rounds that can each hold about 10 people, and these will be reserved for family, older peeps, people with kids, etc. Maybe a bridal party table, as well. Then, pending we have beautiful weather (which we will), there will be tall cocktail tables spread throughout the pavilion and the area outside of it.

Personal photo

Personal photo

Images via Vandiver Inn

Extra chairs and seating areas will be aplenty, for sure, but there won't be "official" places to sit. Which I love, actually. It will ideally (hopefully) encourage people to mingle and shake their groove thang on the dance floor a bit more. Because if I want one thing, I want people to dance!

Now, if the weather happens to be craptastic, we do have a backup plan. We ditch all this stuff I just told you about and do a buffet (to save space in the pavilion, since those stations take up a lot of it), or stick with it and just use a combo of the pavilion and the inside of the inn itself, which is actually where cocktail hour will be. It's not my top choice, but hey. What will happen, will happen.

Are you going a bit nontraditional with your reception? Any tips for hosting a cocktail style one?

Oh Thank Heaven.

And no, not for 7-11. Even though a slurpee would be pretty awesome right now.

No.. this is a bit more personal than a delicious, cold, icy drink. Bedroom talk, if you will. Me-yow. So consider yourself warned.

Way back in 2010 sometime, I decided to count out the weeks until the wedding to see if I would end up having my "lady friend" on the day of. I'm counting on the fact that you've all done it or thought about it, too. I mean, no one wants that, right? Not just for sexy reasons, but because I'm pretty sure the last thing you want to worry about is your period and taking care of that whole situation down there in a nice white dress. Either way, this is definitely one of my favorite things about birth control: you can predict to the day when you will or won't have Aunt Flo in town. As such, according to my precise counting of every four weeks from 18+ months out, I landed on the conclusion that I will indeed have my period the day/week of our wedding. Well, that's no fun.

I kind of forgot about it since then (ignorance is bliss?), and figured that, the month of the wedding, I would likely just start a new pack of pills before my old one runs out. I've never tried it, but I've heard that this is a good way to stave off your period for another month with no side effects. The problem for me is that I seriously bloat in that week before my period arrives, and just starting a new pack may just make that worse. I'd much rather not be a bloaty mess for my wedding and pictures and following vacation, thankyouverymuch. So.. now what?

Well, just the other day, I remembered this whole predicament I put myself in. With a much shorter time frame ahead of me, I decided to recount the weeks until the wedding once more. This time, I concluded that I should have my lady friend the week before my wedding rather than the week(end) of, thus being in the clear! Not sure where I went wrong last time, but seriously: oh, thank heaven. One less thing to worry about!  ::crossing that one off the list::

Now that I've beyond crossed the TMI line and we've gotten a bit closer, I also want to lightly touch the subject of intimacy surrounding the wedding. The cliché is to have sexy time the night of the wedding, and I honestly always love seeing/reading the polls and threads on the WB boards about this subject: did you? didn't you? first time? etc.

I bring this part up because Foxy recently mentioned abstaining for a month before the wedding, and I couldn't really tell if he was serious or not. It came up kind of randomly, as we were talking about room assignments for the wedding and if we were sleeping in the same room on what will be officially referred to as Wedding Eve from here on in. These are honestly two things I haven't even considered, especially since we've lived together for almost four years now. Is this something I should be considering? Is it worth all the hype there seems to be around wedding night sexy time?

Ohhh the options. What did you/are you doing in terms of pre- and night of wedding? Were you obsessive like me to estimate when you would have your lady friend around the time of your wedding?

It may seem silly, but these little things matter, yo!