Wedding Website/Invites are Go!

Good morning!

The weekend is over. And I am sad to see it go! I finished season 3 of Game of Thrones and fleetingly made it to the flea market, but a lot of my favorite vendors were absent (what gives??). After all the crazy spoils I've been making at off-the-radar estate sales, though, I really shouldn't complain. On Friday, we met with Katie-the-caterer, and oh my GOODNESS the food she prepared for our first menu tasting. It's 80% vegan, and 110% awesome. I still have 8,000,000 things left to do, but my friend Kelsey is keeping me sane and grounded in spite of a couple planning snafus (cue me cussing right down to my socks about the sudden unavailability of the eshakti dress that was going to look beautiful on all three of my girls...we will persevere, however!).

What's good to keep in mind? Some things are already done!

First, the final invitation!

I hate to blow my own horn so emphatically--and yet, I just L-O-V-E the way this turned out in the end. I did some handwringing over whether or not it was too cluttered, but I think the finished product is so "me". We've got some ochre yellow envelopes, all already addressed in this chicken scrawl I call "print legible", awaiting postage on the return cards and the invites themselves so that they can be stuffed and sent off to their respective recipients.

Second, some screen shots from the wedding website:

I tried AS HARD AS I COULD to find a website host that was a) free (sorry folks, I am not paying any amount of money more than I already have to for this to-do), and b) as little pre-styled as possible. Do you know what I mean about a lot of free websites having this built-in, this-is-your-wedding style? After having as much freedom as I've had designing this blog, I felt very constrained by ugly black-and-white-brocade or rust-colored or deep purple dominated websites. What I ended up with was the LEAST. DESIGNED. website template on Wedding Wire, and I tried to spruce it up as much as the site would allow with my own photos and collages.

I think the "About Me" section might be my favorite. I've never tried my hand at writing little biographical sketches, so it was all kinds of fun to describe Matthew and me "in a formal setting".

Act like I did not also take advantage of the "photo album" tab to add even more photos of us. That shot of me and Matthew and Slimer might be my favorite of the bunch.

I am still completely baffled by what to put on my registry. We need NOTHING. We need NOT ONE THING more in our house! I put a rice cooker and a coffeemaker and some nice towels on the site, along with a hopeful entry for a New Yorker subscription and some cookbooks, but I'm totally drawing a blank on what else I need. Can YOU think of anything that's a "must-do" on a wedding registry? What will I regret not putting on it when the dust settles?

When I voiced the concern "What if no one comments on the website?" back when I was initially building it in May, Sus surprised me with this totally kind message. Now I don't even care if there are more comments! This is the best one!

I have to get back to work (and by work, I mean maniacally paging through bridesmaids dress candidates hither and yon on the internet), but I'd love any advice you might have on a) where to buy ochre yellow bridesmaids dresses b) what to put on a registry c) any other final-hour wedding planning tips you might be able to shoot my way!

Have a fabulous Monday (or at least a less frazzled one than mine!) and I'll see you tomorrow! Til then.