Sunshine and umbrella drinks, here I come

My honeymoon is booked! Woohoo!

And I have no idea where we're going!

No, MOH K, it's not that scary! Mr. SB will have done a great job!

Part of me is terrified. Part is thrilled. Mostly thrilled. Mr. SB does all of our vacation planning because I am wayyyyyyyyy too easily overwhelmed and distracted by pricing/reviews/options/days/times. We'll both be "looking up options" and thirty minutes later, I'll be in serious internet la-la-land, while he has 3 viable and exciting options.

When I asked him to be in charge of the honeymoon, he readily agreed. And I readily handed the task to him.

We discussed the following issues:

• We're beach people. Seriously. Together we've been to Jamaica (twice), Hawai'i, Puerto Vallarta, Cancun, San Diego, Santa Monica, and of course Ocean Beach in SF. (*Smirk at the last one.)

Lanikai Beach, Hawai'i two years ago.
Prettttty typical of all of our vacation shots.

• All inclusive is niiiiiiiiice.
• Not more than one day of travel to and from.
• The beach/resort/spa is key. Field trips are not.
• We were less interested in Hawaii, for some reason.
• My passport will be valid.
  

And that's all I know, folks! I can't waaaaaaaaait to see where we end up. :)

Would the surprise drive you crazy? Or would it be a welcome change from all the decision making of the wedding process?

Two of these things are not like each other...

Mr. SB and I are pretty different. We don't look alike, we weren't raised alike. Our families are nothing alike.

He dug the snake. I'm terrified.

I was pretty inspired by a post from Mrs. Swan to think about it in the following way...

Miss SB:
Oldest of eight children
Parents married 31 years
Large (!) extended family
Grew up in the deep South (GA, NC, AR, TN)
Moved around a ton growing up
Very conservative, Catholic family
White (Belgian/German/Irish, if that makes me sound cooler)
I want a papillon (and have asked for one as a post-wedding present/hobby)

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Mr. SB:
Only child
Single mother
No extended family in the US
Grew up in CA
Actually has a "hometown"
Very liberal, non-religious family
Half hispanic/half asian
He wants a German Shepherd (and has insisted that we get one when we buy a home with a large enough yard)


But you know what?

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I bet you thought I was going to say "Opposites attract," but Hah! I fooled you!

Somehow, despite how we got there, Mr. SB and I ended up in very similar places. We like the same activities (being lazy together, playing our stupid online video game, wine tasting, travel to warm and sunny places), have similar views on future family & monetary matters, and agree ~90% of the time on politics/social issues (and the other 10% is discussed respectfully).

So technically, we are an inter-racial couple and an inter-faith couple. What does that mean? Nothing in the eyes of our families or each other. Nothing in how I envision my future with my husband. It DOES however, mean that planning a wedding ceremony appropriate for both families will be challenging. This topic is still a very active work in progress and certainly will be a discussion for another day. Or multiple days, let's be honest.

How similar/different are the backgrounds of you and your honey?

So. Many. Choices.

I have been pretty bogged down by the completely ridiculous number of decisions I've been making the past few days. Where to even begin...?

I mean... even deciding on a question mark image for this post has 1 gajillion choices!?!
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To be fair: Yes....... it's wonderful to be able to totally customize your day. And yes........ I'm lucky that I have a budget and the support/opportunity to really make these decisions myself. But whew!

This example is from the music guys, aka the entertainment company I've hired for our live music & DJ. But it's pretty representative of evvvvvvverything I've been doing lately.

• How long before the ceremony would you like music played? (Er, 30 mins?)
• What type of music? (Um, it's a classical guitarist... whatever he does?)
• Do you want to be introduced at the reception? (Yes.)
• To what music? (No clue.)
• Do you want your party introduced? (Er, yes.)
• To what music? (No clue.)
• Together or separately? (Uh, separately.)
• In what order? (Eh, no clue.)
• Will there be a toast or a blessing? (Erm, a blessing.)
• Said by who? (Uh, my dad. After I get around to asking him.)
• What kind of music do you want during dinner? (Normal dinner music?)
• Will you be cutting the cake? (Yes.)
• What music? (Seriously, you choose cake cutting music.......!)
• What is the overall theme of the music you'd like for the dancing? (Um, slow and fast? Mostly modern? *Mr. SB you are in so much trouble for not being here with me!)
• What is a group both of you really enjoy dancing to? (Er, JayZ is an inappropriate answer and I'm mostly drawing a blank on any other music group in existence.)
• Do you want to end the evening on a high/fast or low/slow note? (Wait, I'm supposed to choose the END of my wedding... right now?!)

Ok, please stop!! Bride is overwhelmed.........

And with no exaggeration, that is ~15% of what they asked me.

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It's time to take a deep breath, remember each decision is not absolutely critical, life-or-death, make-or-break a wedding choice. I'll answer each one: honestly, thoughtfully, and in time.

Did you ever feel like there were wayyyyyyyyy too many questions to answer??

I am not a flower snob.

I am not picky about the specific type of flower I want for my wedding.

Ok, maybe not this flower. Har har.
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When Mr. SB and I first started cooking & grocery shopping together (from our separate dorm rooms in grad school), whenever it was "his week" to pay, he'd get a bouquet or two of flowers for me from Safeway. And they were beautiful in their sincerity and simplicity.

I loved loved loved the movie "You've Got Mail" back in the day. (Side note: I brought a picture of tiny pixie Meg Ryan to my hairdresser with the request to look like her. I have thick, frizzy, dark hair and a round face. NOooooooooot a good match.) Anyway, her comment in YGM that "Daisies are the happiest flowers" has always been a little comment that made me smile. If we can work daisies (or gerbera daisies) into my day, all the better.

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My reception site is gorgeous as is. One of the first things our site director said was, "Don't spend a ton on flowers. The room doesn't need it." I will not be importing anything from any country in the Southern Hemisphere. I will shed no tears if peonies are (most likely) out of my budget. I like white wedding flowers with texture and a certain "look," but how we get to that look... I'm going to trust my florist.

What am I hoping to get with my modest budget? Happy flowers. Simple flowers. Flowers that can go from cones into centerpiece vases naturally. Flowers that reflect the clean, simple, natural environment that we are in.

My very mostest favoritest bouquet I've seen. From the Better Homes and Garden's Wedding Flowers magazine, scanned.
(I couldn't find an electronic version.)

A whole pile of peonies. Again, from BHG.

Mrs. Penguin, from Weddingbee. Mr. SB actually put in a vote for orchids, so I'll try and incorporate at least some into the day.

Centerpiece from TheKnot.


Tulips are also in season and there are some beautiful examples of centerpieces using them. (This one might be a tad too structured, but close to the right idea.)
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I haven't yet met with a florist, but that's up next on the ol' to-do list. I'm only moderately dreading it, because I have no doubt I'll stand firm if they try to press too much on me.

Did you bring specific ideas or a more general feel to your first meeting with your florist?

Ribbons and vintage and lace, oh my!

As happy as I am with the clean, simple aesthetic for our wedding... every so often, the frilly romantic in me comes out.

I'll be honest, I love Taylor Swift. And she can rock the romantic look like no other.

love story by ♥♫MaDiSoN♫♥ back@school :( on Polyvore.com

Normally, I don't dig the details/overall look of frilly weddings (and Mr. SB sure wouldn't be into loads of pink and lace and girly details). But! Drooool...... over this one from StyleMePretty.

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If I had the opportunity to do a second wedding (to the same wonderful fella, natch), it would look a little something like that. Or exactly like that.

If you got multiple takes of your wedding, would it look the same... or completely different?

Green, green everywhere...

I thought that having only one bridesmaid/MOH would make choosing bridesmaid's dresses a piece of cake. And it seemed like it was.

However.........

My mom called the other day to ask what my five other sisters should wear. I'll be honest, I hadn't given that one lick of thought yet. I started thinking and realized that the non-matchy matchy mixed bridesmaids dress look might be perfect for the rest of the fam.

The SB siblings rocking the not-exactly-matching
blue theme, two Christmases ago.

Really cute example of non-matching green from offbeatbride.
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And another from Martha.
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MOH K's dress is pretty formal, and it's important to me that she have some designation as being an attendant. But there are some cute green dresses out there that I think would blend into a beautiful, cohesive, interesting look for our family shots. I also like the idea that it will be readily apparent who is an SB sister, because I'm guessing not a lot of our guests will be wearing green dresses. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), most are on sale in the fall (when I'm looking for them) so sizing & color options are limited.

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Some of our options. Thanks J. Crew sale!

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The more I think about it... the more I like the idea that our family will have a unified look (Dad & brother/ring bearer will have green ties). I'm excited that they get to be part of the day/look/planning, even though they are not officially part of the bridal party.

Did you coordinate any other people's outfits with that of your bridal party?

Mu-zak