A Venue Crossroads

I must have jinxed it . . .

When I tell you the story, you won't believe it. I feel as though I'm in a wedding version of Groundhog's Day. Every morning I wake up and we're no closer to booking a venue.

The long and short of it is that we were in negotiations to secure room openings at the Cavalier on the Hill. Not only did they decline the deal, they rescinded their original offer to open the rooms in the old building at all.

Now you answer me this - would you continue to discuss options with them? or would you just call it a day and find another venue even though you're sick and tired of venue shopping?

I think I'm set on having the ceremony at our church, but now may also consider the Harrison Opera House

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and the Chrysler Museum

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as possible reception locations.

Our heroine makes a choice

You may remember that I left our heroine under a spell of self-doubt and inability to make a choice. I am obliged to tell you that there is a happy ending.

Our heroine built her courage and returned the darling pearl shoes, setting her heart on the gorgeous shoes.



She is happy to report that her J. Crew Mary Janes were bought on eBay and with shipping cost a mere $34.94. The attached shoe clips, which make all the difference, were purchased on Etsy for a total of $12.00, bringing the grand total to a magical price of $46.94. Not too shabby!

Sadly, there is a twist of fate in her fairy tale, the story is not yet over. The lovely vintage dress she envisioned wearing to her rehearsal dinner has been snatched up and she must trudge on in her endeavors.

Have you been facing resolutions on one front, just to turn around and face more challanges?

Vintage Rehearsal Dinner Outfit

I have about 20 pages of "favorited" items in my Etsy account. As I was browsing through them (I do daily to purge those items that have been sold or expired), I pieced together a wonderfully vintage outfit.

I liked it so much, and it seemed so wedding-y, that I thought it would work beautifully for a casual or courthouse wedding. Then I thought, "Why couldn't it work for a rehearsal dinner?" Since my wedding is in the winter, the sleeves would be appropriate and I think it's just so classy! Without further ado, here is my vintage outfit find:



The gorgeous vintage dress is from Glory by Jeannie Lee. It's a 60's mini and just about my measurements.

The chic shoes are flats from Moonula. They're my size!

The glamorous earrings are from Stacy's Designs 88. They're made from vintage chandelier crystals and I think would be the finishing touch!

Budget Break Down:

Dress: 75 + 10 S&H = 85
Shoes: 25 + 6 S&H = 31
Earrings: 75 + 4 S&H = 79
Grand total: $195

I'm not sure if I wanted to spend any money on the rehearsal dinner outfit, but I bet I could wear this same outfit to holiday parties this winter as well. I have a few hesitations though.

1. The dress won't fit and I'll have to try to resell it which is always more hassle.
2. The dress will almost fit, but cost some more to tailor.
3. If I buy the dress first to see how it fits, the other pieces may be bought up.
4. If I wait even one minute more, one of the pieces may be bought up.

I think I'm going to sleep on it. I'd hate to pass up such lovely vintage pieces all for the sake of being an online shopping wuss.

Did you ever pass up a buy to only wish you had gone with your initial gut feeling? Where did you find your rehearsal dinner outfit?

Bridal Plaigerism

Have you ever had an inspiration or thought, only find out that others have already blogged about it?

I was all set to write a nice post about Etsy's featured seller Bonzie. I was going to tell you how romantic her boleros were,

how delicious the fabric looked in piles of ruffles like whipped cream,

how I had found not only a grogeous winter wrap, but an inspiring FEATHER bouquet,

but then, Miss Beagle beat me to it!

I'm sorry I have to commit this act of blog bridal plaigerism, but Bonzie's boleros really are worth another look today!

Do you hop on blog bandwagons and perpetuate items you love throughout the blogosphere? Or do you just think to yourself, "Oh rats! It's been done, no need to keep kicking that dead horse"?

Going to the Chapel

Though I firmly believe that God is present everywhere, and I was quite happy with my thoughts on a small intimate wedding ceremony on the beach, planning my ceremony at our church has quickly becomes one of my favorite aspects of our wedding.

I am one of those poor pathetic girls who has visited churches since I've been dating the future Mr. Palindrome, and I would think to myself, "This would be a lovely backdrop for wedding pictures." Hello! This is a house of the Lord! Not a prop for my wedding!

I'm glad to say that this church means a lot more to me than my previous shallow thoughts. This church is the church where Jason and I first visited together. This church is the church where we decided to go together. This church is the church where we became members together, had our pre-engagement counseling done, have served in the nursery, and have prepared food for the congregation. This church is full of the "my people" that Ruth talks about in her pledge: "Your people will be my people, and your God, my God."

I wasn't able to find many pictures of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Norfolk - the building that houses "my people" :) - but the brick exterior and the ivory columns are indeed going to provide for lovely architectural details in the pictures.

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But more so, I'm glad that it's going to provide us with the spirital love and support and that we'll need as the Palindromes become one.

Hehehehehe, become one. That's a whole other post!

Was the ceremony location important to you? Was it for religious reasons? Sentimental reasons? Other?

My momento of commitment and love

but sometimes, I also call it my bling.

I was not 100% set on a diamond engagement ring. I said several times that it wasn't the ring that mattered to me. However, I knew that the future Mr. Palindrome likes to follow tradition and that his impeccable jewelry taste would probably be bestowed upon me in the form of an engagement ring.

One winter, 7 of our friends/acquaintances, got engaged in the span of about 5 weeks. Seeing all of the rings, one right after another, was an excellent impromptu crash course in engagement ring buying and styles. I learned the future Mr. Palindrome wasn't a fan of pave settings, or any other stones around the middle stone. He learned that I liked princess and round cuts.

I actually had very little to do with choosing the ring. We went to one jewelry store together and browsed for a little over 2 hours. About 10 weeks later, he proposed.



It may sound cliche, but it's everything I hoped it would be, and more. The future Mr. Palindrome exerted the same, if not more, effort that he would put into buying any form of electronics or home goods - months of careful research. I think the ring really shows how much care he put into its purchase.



I love the way that the solitaire makes a statement and says, "I own this ring." I love that the white gold is delicate and light weight. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that the future Mr. Palindrome arranged to have the band etched in an antique wheat pattern.



Oh! and one more thing I love. The stone is set in a cathedral setting, to make sure there's plenty of room for my wedding band to sit flush. Let me repeat: my wedding band!

Holy moly! I'm going to be wearing a wedding band - I'm getting married! Wooooooo hooooooooooooooooo! I'm having a "Holy wedding band, Batman! I"m going to be getting married!" moment!

Don't Worry, Be Happy - Another Aspect

So yesterday, I focused on the happy part. Today, let me tell you about another source of worry.

This is my checklist from The Knot as it currently stands.

See all those exclamation marks, next to really big pieces of the wedding planning like food and walls? To that list, I say: "Don't make me laugh!" with that deep voice and an accent. Is that voice from an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie? Or is it SNL? Anybody?

Anyexclamation, it seems like I'm gloriously behind. This would tend to cause me to worry. A lot. But about 3 months ago, I hired someone to worry about this sort of thing. My Planner, Miss P, has some sort of list where she's tracking it all too. I haven't looked at this Knot list until this morning as I was getting ready to write this post.

This is a Worry, that has turned into a Happy for me. I delegated the worry (or rather, paid for a worry service) and until Miss P gets worried about the excalmation marks, I'm going to be blissful and ignorant of the big item to do's. Instead, I'm going to worry my pretty little head about feathers and bouts and vintage shoe clips.

I can almost hear the calypso band and smell the sea salt of worry free living now!

Don't worry, be happy

Interestingly enough, being happy is sometimes the exact source of my worry. Call it first child syndrome, people pleasing, or a personality flaw, but whatever you call it, I have it. In my immense desire to please people, especially authority figures, I sacrifice what I think will make me happy.

In my own mind, this sacrifice ultimately will make me happy because I think that my source of happiness will stem from pleasing that person. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, congratulations! You may be a youngest born, or just not give a crap about what anybody else thinks. I truly wonder how free that must feel!

*tap, tap, tap*

Excuse, Miss Palindrome? This is a wedding blog about rainbows and butterflies and love being enough!

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Well, dear reader, I never would have believed it before going through it myself, but weddings are not all they're cracked up to be. Now just gather around and let me tell you a little wedding story.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who believed that every girl would feel like Cinderella on her wedding day and that she would have lovely glass slippers to wear. This little girl grew up and fell in love with a man an inch tall than her.

So she decided that she would buy a pair of ballet flats.

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She also couldn't stop browsing Ebay and found a gorgeous pair of high heels. Prince Charming encouraged her to wear what she wanted to wear. Then the well meaning mother, whom the girl adored, sang the praises of the ballet flats. She tried them both on with her dress and knew that she felt glamorous and like a movie star in the high heels. But the well meaning mother made a long list of reasons not to wear them.


The girl couldn't sleep at night. Mother loved the pretty ballet shoes. And everyone knows that: "If Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." All of the lovely maids by the girl's side also whispered in her dreams. They said, "You should feel glamorous in your shoes!" The girl entertained all sorts of compromises, wearing the movie star shoes and then wearing the ballet shoes later. And vice versa.

Unable to make a choice, a sad and conflicted spell was cast upon the girl and she could not sleep again until she made the choice to make herself happy, or make others happy.

The End.

Are you easily influenced by your desire to please others? Did you ever commit to a wedding item that someone else liked, only to regret it later?

Boutonniere Bounty

For whatever reason, boutonniers are on of the wedding items that I'm most excited about. I love looking at them, I love thinking about cute bouts for different themes, and I'm quite happy that I get to make one for my groom, for his 5 groomsmen, our fathers, our grandfaters, and our ushers - that's 14 total! And they'll each be slightly different.

Until I can get my act together and write up a tutorial for the ones I've created, I wanted to share this amazing Etsian and her work. Elle F Designs has been featured on quite a few sites, including in the hive, for her cake toppers. Now she does bouts as well.

Click here for her shop link.

And check out these beaut bouts!

I don't want to jinx it . . .

because the contract hasn't been signed yet . . . but here's a sneak peek at our reception location :)

(hehehehehe, can you tell I'm a little giddy and keep acting like I'm all powerful by giving you "sneak peeks"? It just seems like what everyone else is doing on their wedding websites.)

The venue selection process has been a much longer and more complicated process than I ever imagined. T-minus 235 days until the wedding, well, just wait one second. 235 seems like a lot of days. Ok, T-minus 8 months and no contract is making me a little nervous. I keep reminding myself of everyone I know who has pulled off a wedding in less than 6 months. I'm still easy, breezy and just fine on my timeline!

Is there an aspect of your wedding that took longer than you thought to finalize? Did you feel rushed even though you still had a respectable amount of time left to plan it?

Busy Bee

I've made like a bee and been busy! Now that I've crossed GRADUATE from my Life To-Do-List, I've succumbed to all of my crafting desires. I've made two mock bouts, have grouped 2 more that are ready for taping, finished about 3/4 of one of the bridesmaids bouqets, and secured the adornments for the unity candle set.

Here's a sneak peek at my "wedding studio" (aka my former roommate's room that I took over for the last few weeks of the lease!):


Ironing my church yard sale find material!


Clearing off my desk to make room for my awesome self-healing mat to use with my rotary cutter (50% off at Joanns.com, thankyouverymuch!)


A sneak peek at the bouts! They got the thumbs up from the future Mr. Palindrome and Mother Palindrome, so I'll be forging full force ahead with a tutorial in the coming days!

(Excuse the picture quality - all pics were taken with my new Blackberry Curve - I can't imagine my life without it now!)

Has the craft bug bitten you recently? Have you made any crafting purchases that have reinvigorated your wedding DIY inspiration?

ATTN: Brides on the Cheap, err, I mean Chic

One of my friends has a great blog about being a domestic goddess. The Part-Time Happy Homemaker gives great tips, recipes, and some how-to's.

I routinely catch up on the site on Mondays and today, I think I hit a wedding jackpot! Check out this post and tell me you didn't just think "WEDDING!"

Now, don't go buying them out, I want to get two, one for me and one for mom. But seriously, can't you envision the lemons and limes for an awesome summer tablescape? Piled on a white milk glass centerpiece? Or what about awesome little pumpkins for the fall?

Are you going with a fruit centerpiece? Were you thinking of incorporating candles as well?

Ring Rockability

I follow Offbeat Bride. And deep down, in my secret subconscious, I wish I had the guts to be more daring like many of the brides featured there.

In absence of my courage, I live vicariously and randomly bookmark rockable wedding items, just in case I throw this whole big traditional thing out the window.

Here's a sampling of rings I have in my favorites on Etsy:

Sea Babe Jewelry's Rough Diamond Set



Hawaii Titanium's Ring Style W1F:


And last but not least, my current favorite - 51 Degrees North's Wedding Bands:


Have you thought about incorporating daring items into your wedding? Or is your whole wedding daring?

Check it.

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I am a list maker and planner extraordinaire. You know, one of those neurotic ones that add things to my do list that I’ve already done – just so I get the satisfaction of placing the check mark beside it. It’s sad, call the hotline for me.

However, it kinda comes in handy when you’re planning and coordinating a wedding. But wait, you say, “Didn’t you hire someone to do that?” Yepperoo, I did. But Miss P CAN’T HANDLE my checklists (Anyone a Pioneer Woman reader???).

I’m sure that Miss P will handle plenty of lists, but I’ve also opted to handle a few details myself. Therefore, I’ve made some of my own lists. Here are some items on my DIY list:

- Ask the Future Mr. Palindrome what he thinks of the mock up bouts I made
- Take pictures of the two pairs of shoes I have and blog about them
- Iron the material for the bridesmaid bouquets
- Buy a pillar candle and two tapers from the dollar store

Another kind of list that Miss P won’t be handling is my overall LIFE list. Here’s a sample of that:

- Graduate
- Find 6 month lease in VA
- Buy house in NC
- Move to new apt. in VA
- Move most stuff to house in NC
- Plan Wedding
- Get Married
- Go on honeymoon
- Don’t go crazy
- Live happily ever after
- Convince the future Mr. Palindrome we need a puppy

See why I need a lists?????? I’ve got a crapola lot of stuff of which to keep track. I’m especially putting a lot of effort into the last item on the life list. The future Mr. Palindrome would probably answer that with: “You CAN’T HANDLE the poop!” That is, if he read Pioneer Woman. But he doesn’t, and he wouldn’t – the bovine medical procedures that she often features . . . well let’s just say, he CAN’T HANDLE the cow guts!

I know that a lot of people use some sort of technology to keep track of their tasks, but is anyone old fashioned like me? Do you have pen and paper variety lists?

Faux-quets

I'm not a choosy flower person. I love me some grocery store bouquets. I love the country song about picking wild flowers.


Spending money on really expensive floral arrangements, when carnations and baby's breath tickle me pink, did not appeal to my practical side. I hadn't thought much about flowers for the wedding, other than casually looking at what is in season for January. I might have written down in my little blue wedding notebook about Williamsburg Christmas influenced centerpieces with fresh greens and fruit.

Then . . . (I love the turning points in stories!)I was just browsing Etsy like I do every day and I came across this:

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Amanda, from Design Whimsy, creates these gorgeous bouquets from vintage finds. Now this is an idea I could get into! It can be done well in advance, it won't die, and I'll be able to admire it after the honeymoon and beyond!

Look at how lovely the lace details on this one are:

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I also found this absolutely divine (and outside of my budget) bouquet from Lost My Kitty's Etsy shop:

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I was drawn to the feathers in the previous designs and decided to search for feather bouquets. Check out this couture candy!

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The more non-fresh flower alternatives I found, the more I became convinced that this was the look that I wanted to capture for my bouquet. In a fit of excited and crafty rage, I spent over an hour in Michael's utilizing a 25% off your entire purchase (That's right!!!! These coupons are printed in some bridal magazines!) and bought myself some supplies.

Now I have a box of supplies sitting in my room looking at me longingly, asking me to make them into a treasured faux-quet. Shush up supplies! I've got to graduate this weekend!

Are you considering fresh-flower alternatives? What inspired you to look to other materials?

Inspirational Vintage Sessions

Since I was in elementary school, I've been drawn to the first half of the 20th century. I liked that part of history best, I wrote papers about swing dancing, I researched the likes of Amelia Earhart and Nelly Blye, and I memorized poetry by Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. Sometime I think that I was born in the wrong era, or that I have an "old soul."

I think these leanings have had a huge influence on my wedding planning. It should come as no surprise then that I follow the Vintage Glam Wedding Blog. Recently, there has been a spate of wonderfully vintage e-session photography.

Check out this amazing WWII (and Casablanca!) feeling session from Dustin Todd:


Or what about this one by Jen Stewart Photography?


I've also been blog stalking a girl that I knew growing up (down the street from me actually!). Lydia Jane Photography has got a more mod or 70's feel to her portfolio. Seriously, doesn't it remind you of Super 8 film???



Which photographers do you think have a vintage aesthetic? Are you looking for a photographer to impart a vintage feel? Or are you going more modern?

To be a summer bride . . .

99% of the time I'm quite happy to be a winter bride. Otherwise, I wouldn't be getting married on a palindrome and I'd be fighting the other 100 billion brides for florists in June.

But 1% of the time, I see shoes like these and wish, and sigh. Oh, to be a summer bride . . .

Avignon silk peep toes
J. Crew Sale $179.99
For a daring bridal shoe or fabulous rehearsal dinner shoes

Clara satin espadrilles
J. Crew Sale $79.99
Bridesmaids shoes - wouldn't these be adorable for a beach wedding with the groomsmen wearing searsucker????

Avignon patterned peep toes
J. Crew Sale $149.99
Again, either daring bridal shoes, or awesome with a solid flowy chiffon dress for the dress rehearsal!

Metallic midheel sandals with crystal ball
J. Crew Sale $149.99
Holy moly! Picture these bad boys with a short dress! Seriously, I could tear up the dance floor with these.

Catalina jeweled printed ballet flats
J. Crew Sale $249.99
I still may call this highway robbery, but J. Crew calls it a sale. In any event, these would be awesome for a springy shower, the dress rehearsal, even a great mother of the bride shoe!

Jacquelyn patent heels
J. Crew Sale $249.99
Now these . . . if I were going to spend over 200 on a pair of shoes, these just might be worth it - and I think they could work for a winter wedding.

For you summer gals, enjoy! Are there any looks that you wish you could do, but just aren't right for your season?