I'm Just Sayin

Nothing earth-shattering tonight.  Just wanted ya'll to read this:  http://www.weddingbee.com/2011/10/17/because-i-want-to-thats-why-2/

Couldn't have said that better myself, or relate to it more fully right now.

Red String of Fate

...or how I love doing something meaningful for cheap.

When Beau and I were talking about the feel/theme/etc of our wedding back in the day, we both agreed that we wanted to incorporate Japan into the day.  I feel like this is hard to do when you're both a couple of white kids from Midwestern America...I always picture the cheesy trinkets and black and red and it really kinda makes me think of this SNL sketch...

(I'm sure a not-recorded-from-a-phone version is here).

So we set out to capture some of the things we love about Japan without going overboard.  I searched for Japanese wedding traditions and found a thread on Weddingbee that related and was super simple to carry out.   A Japanese contributor said that "The Japanese believe that the gods tie an invisible red string around the ankles of men and women who are destined to be soul mates and will one day marry each other.  But when you watch or see many modern day Japanese interpretations they usually show the red string attached to a pinky or finger."  If you remember, the events of December 2010 convinced us there was a reason we kept finding each other over the last 7 years, and so I e-mailed Beau the idea to see what he thought of it.  He agreed and loved it, and it was probably one of the first inspiration building blocks of our wedding.

Fast forward roughly a year and picture me walking through Daiso (or a very nice dollar store) and stumbling across this:

 It's a spool of that silky red cord, exactly what I was hoping to find to tie around our fingers/hands.  For only 105 yen!  It's a little more than one dollar...maybe like $1.25ish.  It's a small part of the ceremony, and not even an active part.  We'll just tie them on, and include an explanation in the program...because otherwise I'm sure most will wonder why the hell we have red string on.  I don't want to answer those questions...I want to eat instead!  It's really the simple things that make me happy...

One Year

One year ago today, I legally wedded my Beau.  Happy legal anniversary!!!
An oh-so-romantic excerpt from our Skype convo last night (J is in Utah for work):  


[12:27:26 AM] Shelley Rae: sounds good
[12:28:54 AM] Shelley Rae: btw...happy legal anniversary :]
[12:32:06 AM] Jason: not yet!  it's still the 23rd here!
[12:32:12 AM] Shelley Rae: eh
[12:32:17 AM] Jason: but yeah... back at ya gorgeous
[12:32:17 AM] Shelley Rae: same same
[12:32:20 AM] Shelley Rae: ;]
[12:32:31 AM] Jason: love you, glad i made that decision

Awwww  *blush*

Lace...It's Like a Weed

Originally (like, pre-engaged originally), I had zero interest in doing any lace for my bridal look.  Then this happened...

image via PARADE

Ahhhh yes, the new princess story of my generation.  At first, I wasn't a big fan of the dress...but then the sleeves just wouldn't leave my brain!  I loved them too much.  But I still didn't want that much lace for my dress.  Skip forward a few months, and I see this dress on WeddingBee:

Image via Miss Fox on WeddingBee

Which just so happens to be the exact dress I wanted for our rehearsal dinner.  I just didn't know it existed!  I had decided that I would keep most of the lace in the rehearsal dinner dress.  I bought it...more on it later.  Then, I bought my dress (limited lace) and started looking at veils and cover ups and garters...oh my.  Let's start with the cover up I'm about to purchase....Beau, probably a good time to quit reading!!!  

OMG Shoes

Yes Natalie & Sara, this is for you, and what I think every time I go shoe shopping now!

I puffy-paint heart shoes.  I have a whole rack of heels that I don't really wear because I live in THE MOST CASUAL CITY EVER.  But I have to have them.  Even Jason won't even let me get rid of them!  So of course, shoes were a huge deal in the "accessories"  department of wedding shopping.  Originally, I figured I'd have something blingy, like these:

image via Zappos

But as we progressed, "blingy" just wasn't something that worked with our overall theme of "somewhat rustic Japanese-garden-ish."  So then, of course, I wanted colored shoes.  From the get-go, I wanted orange.  HOW AMAZING would they look under my dress with orange flowers and green BM dresses?  AHHHHH-MAZING, that's how amazing.  But I didn't look for any.  You see, wedding shoe shopping is a lot like finding your husband...you are NEVER looking for them when they just stroll into your life.  I was trying to figure out our invitation wording (yes, that'll be another post) when I stumbled across this article  on one of my favorite blogs, Offbeat Bride.  And wouldn't you know, there's a not-super-fancy pair of orange heels on that list!  For cheap-ish!  Yaaay!   I ordered almost immediately.  And got them about a week later. 

Do you know how excited Zappos boxes make me???  Personal photos.

oooo...aaaahhhhh....

Not super high, not super shiny, got to me fast....juuuuuust right!  I heart you Zappos!!!

Putting A Ring on HIM!

At this point in our planning, we're supposed to have our wedding rings ordered.  This kinda snuck up on us somehow...probably because we just got my engagement ring all re-ordered and whatnot.  But I wasn't too concerned, because Beau is a laid back guy anyways, and he didn't have many demands for his ring.  He really likes the technology behind the Titanium rings, so he didn't want gold or any other metal that could bend around his finger.  He will have to take his ring off a lot anyways, but he liked the idea of the ring not bending or breaking if something atrocious happened to his left hand.  For a hot minute, he was worried about what would happen if his finger were to swell up or some other emergency, but we asked his friend Nick, an EMT, if it would be an issue.  He assured us it wasn't, so I started looking for rings.  He gave me a little bit of input (wider band, silver color) and off I went.  It didn't take long.  In fact, I've had his ring picked out since before I left Korea.

Beau....stop reading now love.  You don't get to see this yet.

Not to Bee

It's time for confession again.  You see, I started this blog partially to document our whole relationship and wedding planning...but also because I wanted to write for WeddingBee.  The problem is, the website is insanely popular and has tons of applicants.  I thought my writing was distinct enough and my situation unique enough that they'd take me, but I was wrong.  At least for the first try.  On May 11th, I got a rejection e-mail.  I kinda understood...there were some entries that weren't great, but I was getting there.  Still sucked though.  So my entries kinda trailed for a little bit while I fixed other posts and decided what I wanted to do.  A few days ago, I got another rejection.  It was a mistake, but wow...did I have to be rejected twice???  Ah well.  Yesterday I spent most of my day reworking, and while I'm happy with the resulting posts, I also decided I don't think I'm going to apply again.  Reasons include:
1.  I have a wedding planner who makes a lot of this easy on me, so I probably don't have the backstory that some girls do.
2.  Being in Japan prevents me from getting as handsy as I'd like, and I think I'd have better stories if I did.
3.  I just don't think my writing compares to girls like Miss Fox or Miss Potion.
4.  I read this Real Weddings Post yesterday...Real Weddings was an option they gave me in my rejections letter, but I hadn't seen one yet.  I figure if this lady was rejected too...then I really don't stand a chance!
5.  I sound kinda down, and I am, but I got a lot of positive feedback from my friends about my blog, so maybe that's all I do it for.  I intend to keep writing regardless.  So maybe I just do it for me/my crowd.

Who knows.  Other Bees wrote about being rejected the first time, but accepted the second time.  But for right now, I think I'll just admire from afar.