The Pre-versary (366 Days to Go)

I can't believe that tomorrow will be what Jeff has now dubbed our "Pre-versary": exactly one year before we say our "I do"s.  Yikes!  My blog title will officially be true as of midnight tonight.

Trust me, it's not wedding jitters or cold feet that make me slightly anxious about hitting the one year to go marker.  It's the fact that I feel like there are a billion small details to organize in that time.  And now I'm going to be not just a bridesmaid for my friend Becca this coming December, but a co-MOH for my BFF Sara in her Fall 2012 wedding, a mere three months after my own.  For someone who never played a bigger role in a wedding than guest, I certainly have a lot to do and learn over the next year (+3 months) in order to pull of my first "wedding season" without too many [more] fiascos.

We are celebrating our pre-versary--sort of.  We're acknowledging it to start with.  It won't be a big date night or anything like that.  We had one last night anyway.  (X-Men: First Class was amazing by the way and if you're a history buff, action fan, or comic book fan you have to go see it.)  Actually, one of my bridesmaids, Kim is going to be in town so we're going to have dinner out to catch up.  She too is also planning a wedding that is in theory within a few weeks of mine.  Add another yikes to the coming year of weddings.

I'm at a loss for a proper segue, partly due to taking some time off from writing, but on our way back from Memorial Day weekend, my FMIL's car broke down.  She had all of our bikes hooked up to her hitch and so, on the towed ride back, my bike which happend to be the backmost one, got crunched to say the least.  Nobody told me about it until two days later.

Now, while we'd been on the trip, Jeff and I talked about how it would be fun to conquer the Montour Trail/Great Allegheny Passage/C&O Canal Towpath since it starts in our little town and goes all the way to D.C.  We acknowledged we'd need a ton of camping gear, but hey, isn't that part of why we want to register at REI?  However, in addition to needing gear, trailers, etc. for the trip, I'd also need a bike that wouldn't freak out when it had to run over old train tracks instead of pavement.

So, the way that I found out that my old bike got twisted like a modern art project is that I came home from work and found a new bike sitting in the scuba shop's back room.  Since we'd set the projected date for our 300+ mile bike ride for a little over a year from our wedding date, he figured I needed the trail bike sooner rather than later.  It was my pre-versary present from him.

So since then, I've been racking my brain as to what to get him for a gift.  Since I'm so far covering most of the expense of the wedding out of pocket, I don't have as much money on hand.  I was actually a teensy bit irked he spent so much on me but was also appreciative of the thought to replace my bike now so that we could ride together this summer.  However, I finally came up with the perfect idea.  Sorry for the teaser, but just in case, I don't want to say too much here and now.

Luckily though, considering that tomorrow marks the official start of my last 365 Days as Ms., I have a lot done.  I'm grateful.  I've got my caterer, my venue, my photographer and most importantly, my fantastic fiance.  I love you, babe.

Possible Bridesmaids Gifts (425 Days to Go)

Frenzy Shark

So as I mentioned yesterday, I had contemplated giving each of my bridesmaids a silver pendant from a jewelry line carried in my fiance's store.  Well, I'm still contemplating different options.  Even though I can really see my one MOH, Kansas, loving that I'd give her the shark.

Pretty in Pink, Absolut-ly

There are also other options that are a tiny bit overused but still quite amusing.  Such as pink hip flasks.  This would be a fantastic idea as a little toss in gift to be included with something else, except for the fact that two of my bridesmaids would be anything but amused.  One doesn't drink hardly ever and the other one is actually allergic to alcohol.  Other used and abused ideas are monogrammed tote bags and luggage pieces and heart pendant jewelry.  I'd like to get away from trite if at all possible but I would also like for my gift to not scream "I got his from Jeff and Alyssa's wedding."  So how does a bride find the perfect gift for her six bridesmaid (and one junior bridesmaid) without breaking her bank and without it looking like I bought the first thing I saw on mybridesmaidsgift.com?  Why yes, there really is a site called that.

The other day when I was cruising the internet and the various wedding websites, I cannot remember who it was that featured this particular handbag designer, but Sara Lloyd makes beautiful clutches and is apparently becoming quite popular for bridesmaid gifts.  And why not?  She offers to work with a bride in order to customize the colors and patterns in order to coordinate the set to the wedding colors and also to the individual tastes of the bridesmaids.  And each clutch is accented with a beautiful brooch.  Sara collects all of her materials from markets and through refurbishing materials in order to guarantee that the bag you buy from her is a one of a kind piece of art that won't be found anywhere else.  For now, they only places you can find her bags are on her website and also in a small boutique in Athens, GA near where Sara grew up.  But for now, all of the bags are made by Sara's own hands out of her NYC apartment as she works to build the reputation of her label.

Well, after seeing Sara's bags, I was reminded of a brand that my mother carries in her store.  Offhand Designs is a cooperative out of Oakland, California and all of the bags are handmade in order to ensure the uniqueness of each piece.  The materials are always luscious: velvets, brocades, and now leathers.  Larisa Snydal does a fantastic job of creating designs that are functional for the average woman but also for the avid knitter.  It's great to be able to take a purse and reorganize it into a knitting bag on the fly and in the reverse too.

Mom has always had a good relationship with the company and so I've contemplated bringing up the idea to her to see if we could get a set of them specially ordered in colors and materials that would suit the wedding and  my girls.  I'll have to keep this idea on the backburner of my brain for now.  But for those of you interested in seeing these bags in person, there are many distributors spread out across the country and you can find them here.