Who's Ready to (Bachelorette) Party?

We sure were, that's who! I had the best, best, BEST weekend! My BFF (literally, I've known her my ENTIRE life) flew out to Austin from San Francisco to spend the weekend partying it up and celebrating bachelorette style. On top of that, my other closest and most amazing friend, Basil, threw my bachelorette party at the W Hotel's Wet Deck pool, complete with a large cabana, bottle service, and non-stop fun! It was literally the best day ever!

Here are some pictures from Katy's first day and a half in town, before the bachelorette celebrations really got underway and started to wipe our memories - hehe!

Picking Katy up from the airport:





Shopping at the Domain (round one - we went back the next day for more!):




Boot shopping at Allen's on South Congress:





Ava joined us for as long as she could hold out, but there is only so much wedding dress fitting, venue checking-out, shopping and Mexican food eating that one two-year-old can stand, so after we ate a delish lunch at Guero's on South Congress, David took A home while Katy and I continued our shopping and then went to get tanned for the bachelorette festivities. There is so much to do to get ready for this wedding, I could have definitely benefited from training for pmp certification!

Once I was bronzed all over, we headed back to the Domain for an amazing Italian dinner at NoRTH (though why I wanted to eat a bowl of pasta and drink a bottle of wine the day before I was to be photographed and seen in a bikini is BEYOND me!) :P

Here are some blog-appropriate shots from the bachelorette festivities. Again, such an AMAZING time!

My best friend Baz (and my man of honor!)!

So. Much. Fun.

Oh brother...

Me and Katy!

Things may have gotten a bit blurry here (check the hat!)!
What? You don't frequently play Pin the Macho on the Man?!

I may or may not have been a dancing machine to Madonna's new album...
Me and Ava's godfather and his partner - two of the best guys I know!

Post-Vivo dinner:

Prom style picture with Erik


One of the best weekends ever! Now, all we have left is to actually tie the knot!!!

To Register, or Not to Register.

As most of you know, we're doing a pretty low-key wedding. Instead of devoting the eleven months between when we became engaged to our actual wedding going crazy and spending my annual salary, we've decided to be financially responsible adults and have a small, family-only ceremony, followed by a small, family-only luncheon reception afterwards. Because of this, we've really debated whether or not to bother registering. I mean, we've been in our house for several years, so we're pretty set on a lot of things, and it just seemed wrong to register when we're having such a small shindig.

After much discussion, though, with my mom's group, it seems we're probably going to anyhow. People have been asking about our registry and certain family members will still obviously want to send us gifts, and my friends made a good point in that, if they're going to send you gifts regardless, shouldn't you at least get something you might use? Long story short, I'm currently in the process of trying to throw together a registry.

LIke I said, I bought this house five years ago now, and, knowing my way around a kitchen, have managed to collect quite a few of the normal registry items. Instead, we're looking at registering for things like china (I hosted Thanksgiving this year on our regular plates, which was fine, but still - some china would be a nice touch) and other decorative plates for holidays and display, as well as other holiday helpers such as a nice knife set, etc.

My question to all of you, then, is what you had/will have on your registry list, and what was one of the more surprisingly useful items you received?

An Exciting Announcement!

Remember how I recently said the wedding was off, and that we'd be eloping to an island somewhere the three of us?

Well, after much perusal and discussion, we just couldn't get into it. A lot of the places that did destination elopements seemed generic and manufactured, and that's the last thing you want for your wedding, right? We explored New York City in detail, as a piece of my heart remains there and I'm dying to share it with David and Ava, but passed on it due to the sheer expense of a hotel for a handful of days. Having found the loveliest woman alive to marry us in New York City, though, I started thinking. Perhaps there was an Austin counterpart to the NYC woman who married people wherever they'd like - be in in Central Park (my choice, obvs!), the Brooklyn Bridge, or any place of your choosing. And, as it turns out, there is!

So, here's the big news. The wedding? It's on, baby. We're combining the best of both worlds: we'll be married in my ideal location in Austin, Texas, our true home and somewhere we felt a bit odd not being married at, considering our true love for and history here. After talking to the City, we're able to do a ceremony on a first-come, first-serve basis, and are choosing to do it on a weekday afternoon, so we'll have free run of the park. And as such? We won't have to pay any rental fees for the venue. We're just paying a nominal fee for the officiant, and even such, it's extremely reasonable!!!!

The best part? Our families will be there. My family (including mom, dad, sisters, aunt & uncle and four cousins and grandparents) will fly in from California for a few days, and we'll do it up bridal party style with pedicures and a hair appointment. David's family will come up as well, though it's only the three of them. And, understandable to anyone who knows me, the D's and the girls will be in attendance as well <3. Perfection. Afterwards, we'll do a reception with lunch, cake and champagne at a local restaurant in a private party room. And Ava? She'll be our flower girl in her gorgeous dress.

Friends, I could NOT be happier. I'm sure we'll have some friends who are disappointed, as we're doing a no friends ceremony (none at all, mainly because if you invite even one, suddenly you're listening to a plethora of "why them and not me?" complaints and it's just DRAMA). But to me? My little family of three joined eternally in front of our families (including the D's) in a most beautiful Central Austin location? Seriously, perfect!

As for my dress....oy. That's the only part of this nonsense I had originally figured out, and now it's the only part left hanging. So, not to sound all bridezilla, I've decided I don't like my original dress. Actually, I decided that almost immediately, but only just have decided that if I am getting to have the wedding I want, I should have the dress I want too. So the search continues. As for my ordered dress, since I obvs can't cancel it, if you know anyone who wants to buy a size 4 gown with a lace-up back, beaded bodice, ruched skirt and long train, let me know (haha. seriously, though!).

The Wedding is Off.

Okay, okay, so maybe that was a dramatic post title...

To clarify, the wedding is not off in its entirety. We're still getting married. We've just opted - likely to the chagrin of our family and friends - to forgo an enormous, money-hounding ceremony and reception for an intimate affair just the three of us.

I'd thought about this before. Long before we got engaged, I seriously kicked around the idea of running off the three of us to the islands or some similarly beautiful locale to tie the knot in peace. Lord knows weddings are expensive. Just HOW expensive, however, I had no clue about! I mean, several grand? Sure. Twenty to thirty grand? You crazy!

Another friend of ours is getting married. Actually, several, but one in particular got engaged around the same time and is planning a wedding around the same time. She's referred to her "budget" and stress in the same sentence a lot, which is understandable, except her parents gave her a LARGE chunk of money to spend on the wedding. While I don't begrudge her that, it's hard to hear considering that the total contribution both of our sets of parents have made is the astronomical sum of...$0.

Ouch.

Whomp whomp.

I always knew this would be the case, but it still super sucks. And while we've managed to put money into savings, I cannot justify depleting it for the sole purpose of one days worth of memories. Sure, a fancy wedding would be lovely, but I'm not that type of girl who is going to care that much when all is said and done. If someone else was paying, I'd love it. The reality, however, is that they're not, and I cannot justify taking out a chunk of our savings that should be put towards Ava's college fund, her own wedding so she isn't screwed over by our poor choices in the future, or towards the terrifying possibility that one of us could lose our income. It's just not worth it to me.

So, we'll be forgoing a wedding. I know it's disappointing, but know this. There will still be a ceremony. I'll still wear a beautiful and fancy white dress - and it will not be dumbed down per our intimate and likely informal ceremony. It's magnificent, let me tell you. We'll likely skip town for either the islands or some tropical beach, and after saying our vows, we'll sit on the beach as an official family of three, two of us sipping champagne and all of us nomming on delicious (vegan for A) cake and basking in the glow of post-wedding bliss.

And, to me, that sounds perfect.

Wedding Planning = STRESS.

Here's the deal. I vow not to go all bridezilla on anyone, but even still, wedding planning is stressful. Particularly when we're paying for the entire wedding, reception and all the fixins entirely on our own. Whomp whomp.

Nonetheless, it's not all bad. In fact, aside from the financial woes implicit with wedding planning, I'm actually finding it quite fun and exciting. Here's where we stand:

My dress: I found it!!!!!! Saturday, my best friend Basil and I headed out to the extremely accomodating Balina Bridal and, ten gowns later, I knew I had found my dress. I would love to post a picture here, but out of sheer concern that David would see it somehow, I'm going to refrain :( I'd love some opinions, though, if anyone wants me to email them a picture? I'll give you this much - it's strapless, and it's fancy :) I've always loved me some lengthy train, and I took that into consideration when I was shopping. It also won't come back until September because it had to be ordered in my size, but I hear that's the norm!

Wedding party: It's a bit comical that I've found my dress, and yet we have decided zilch for certain regarding the wedding. We're oscillating between two very opposite ends of the spectrum: to head for the islands/the keys/somewhere beachside and romantic just the three of us to tie the knot, or to have a wedding with our friends and family here in Austin/surrounding areas. The latter would be ideal, but weddings are COSTLY. Holy cow! Anyhow, until we decide on a locale/wedding style, we can't really name many attendants, since we don't know if/how many we'll have. But, in the case that we have a ceremony in Austin, I knew that I wanted my "honor attendant" to be the very same friend who went dress shopping with me, and so I asked him to be my Man of Honor over post-wedding dress shopping celebratory drinks. He said yes :)

The only other attendant(s) we have set is my flower girl, which will obviously be Ava. Duh. AND...she has a gown!

Check it:


The best part? It was a steal! Like, seriously cheap! I've paid twice that for outfits! WOOHOO!

As for the other flower girls, I'm seriously considering asking the two girls I nanny for. While that seems obvious, here's why it is something I have to debate. I have three sisters. Three LITTLE sisters. Like, next summer (we're shooting for the date to fall within July or August), they'll be 12, 11 and 8.5. And I fear that their feelings will be hurt if I ask S & P. BUT....they're a bit old for flower girls, right? And, not only is it an additional expense on my family (who'll already be traveling from California, including their own five plane tickets and a hotel...$$$), but they're also only going to be here for a handful of days, aka making fittings/rehearsals/etc a total pain. And, sad as it is, Ava would follow S & P anywhere, which is the entire point of having additional flower girls. My sisters (her aunts), she's met once :(

So, my question is:

-What do you think of the flower girl dress?
and...
-Am I being an a**hole?