Honeymoon Travel Tips: Italy

Today’s post comes from one of the most sophisticated world travelers I know- my friend Phara!  Who, with her fiance Jeff, are planning to honeymoon in Italy!  Here are some of her favorite tips for planning a memorable and romantic Italian getaway!

1.  With any honeymoon, make sure you have a large enough memory card in your camera to cover this special vacation.  However, when traveling in Italy, be aware that most museums will not allow picture taking.  Even in the rare location that the museum you are visiting does allow cameras, flash photography is definitely frowned upon. 

2.  Many museums are closed one day a week, often on Monday.  Plan your itinerary accordingly. 

3.  Most churches are open from early morning until noon, when they close for three to four hours, before reopening again, and close at 6 p.m.  A few major churches, such as St. Peter’s in Rome, are open all day.

4.  If you’re traveling in the Amalfi Coast or Capri, make sure you adjust your itinerary based on the weather.  If you are planning on traveling to Positano or to visit the Blue Grotto, make sure to go on the first sunny day you have.  Ferries and boats will not run in the rain, and may not even run the day after rain. 

5.  It is best to travel with your own medication.  Aspirin is generally easy to find, but specifics like Motrin, Tylenol and Advil are not.  Pharmacies are generally open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m., plus a few hours on Saturdays. 

6.  Pickpockets and purse-snatchers are common in any large city.  Be alert and exercise caution, especially when traveling on the trains.  Try to avoid carrying passports, credit cards, travel tickets and cash together in handbags or pockets.  Only carry with you what you need for the day.  Your hotel will have a safety deposit facility that you can use (but do not leave valuables in your hotel room).  You may also want to make use of a money pouch that can hang around your neck, and tucked inside your shirt.  Watch your luggage, as well. 

7.  Make a copies of your passport before you leave.  Leave one at home with a family member or friend, and keep the other copy with you.  This way, in case your passport is stolen, you have the information you need.

8.  It’s best to drink bottled water or mineral, as Italian tap water is sometimes heavily chlorinated.  The “table wines” in Italy are fantastic.  They are often served in jugs or pitchers, and will be just as good, if not better, than most bottles. 

9.  Try to book a hotel that includes breakfast, especially when traveling to the Italian countryside.  In the cities, it will not be difficult to find a quick breakfast, though it may take you out of the way of your sight-seeing.  Smaller hotels in the countryside will charge an exorbitant rate for breakfast, sometimes upwards of 35 Euros per person.  It’s best to know that your breakfast is taken care of, even if that means paying a little bit more per night. 

10.  Don’t wait for the check at an Italian restaurant; you must ask for it. 

11.  Tipping is usually done with cash, even if you’re paying your bill with a credit card.  However, be sure to check if “servizio” or “mancia” is included on your bill.  A service charge is usually included.   

12.  Both lunch and dinner are usually several courses.  A restaurant may think it is strange if you do not order at least two courses (not including dessert).  Pasta usually takes the place of an appetizer, not an entree.   

13.  Do not be surprised if your entrees are not served together.  Many restaurants will serve each dish as it comes out of the kitchen. 

14.  Rent a car for travel in the countryside (i.e., Tuscany), but definitely not in the cities.  Be extremely careful if renting a car in the Amalfi coast.  The roads are notoriously difficult to drive, especially if you’re not accustomed to such twisty, narrow roads.  You will also be surrounded by Italians driving very fast and honking at you.  You’re better off taking a taxi than risking it yourself.  (Plus, Italian traffic police can charge on-the-spot fees for infractions – meaning you need cash on hand.)

15.  August is the worst month to travel to Italy because most of the country is on vacation.  It will be very difficult to shop and truly enjoy Italy this time of year.

16.  Train travel is a great way to get around Italy.  If possible, buy your train tickets online or in advance.  In the cities, you can also buy your tickets from a ticket agent.  However, be careful with ticket machines.  In Italy, as with many other countries in Europe, credit cards have a chip that American credit cards do not have.  It may not be possible for you to purchase your train tickets from a ticket machine, unless you have cash.  After you purchase your ticket, be sure to “validate” it before you board the train.  There should be a yellow box posted on the wall near train boarding.  Simply insert your ticket into this machine to validate your ticket before boarding.  After boarding, it is customary to greet your fellow passengers with a simply “buon giorno” when you sit down. 

17.  Taxis in Italy are metered (except for flat rates to and from airports).  It’s still a good idea to ask the cab driver for a fare estimate before you go, so you can have cash ready and to try to protect you from roundabout trips.

18.  Be sure your hotel is at least a 3 star.  You may be disappointed, as the European hotel rating system is different from the U.S.  Two-star hotels can be very questionable.  Try to request a room that does not face the street.  Lesser expensive hotels may not have air conditioning, so facing the street can be a noisy venture. 

19.  Every restaurant is required to give you a receipt.  (As a general note, you should keep all of your receipts from hotels, restaurants and stores.)  Be sure to carry your restaurant receipt with you when you leave the restaurant as an “Inland Revenue Official” can ask to see it to make sure you paid your bill.  This usually happens within a few meters of the restaurant, but you can be fined if you cannot produce your receipt. 

20.  Italians celebrate many holidays.  In addition to Christmas, New Year’s, and Easter, Italy celebrates Epiphany (January 6), Liberation Day (April 25), May Day (May 1), Festival of the Republic (June 2), Farragosto (November 1), All Saints Day (November 1), Immaculate Conception (December 8), and Feast of St. Stephen (December 26).  Feast days for saints are also common in local cities and towns.  If your honeymoon falls over one of these holidays, plan on relaxing that day as small cities and towns may come to an almost standstill. 

21.  Let your hotel know in advance that it’s your honeymoon.  Italy is a very romantic culture.  They may be more likely to upgrade you, or just to scatter rose petals or chocolate in your room before you arrive.

Honeymoon Travel Tips: Safari

Well everyone, this is it!  J. and I are officially off on our Honeymoon!  While we’re gone, I’ve taken the liberty of scheduling some fun, helpful and hilarious guest posts which I hope will provide you with hours a few minutes of entertainment, and help you plan your own potential getaway!  I may even check in with you all from Hawaii.  Gotta love modern technology!

So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to Heather.  Heather is my dear law school friend, who with her husband Greg, spent her honeymoon on an African Safari.  Heather has a variety of excellent tips to keep in mind if you too are planning such an adventure!

Honeymoon Travel Tips: Safari

Tip #1: Hot air balloons do not land gently.

 

More tips to know…

Don’t wear blue (it attracts tse tse flies).

Deet does not repel tse tse flies.

Tse tse flies bite through clothing, but you should wear long sleeves and long pants anyway.

Yes, your malaria medicine will make you have very vivid nightmares!

Don’t pet the hippos.  Don’t pet the elephants.  Actually, just keep your hands to yourself.

The “African Massage” (the car bumping along the dirt roads) is not relaxing.

The best dehydration salts (which you should be sure to bring) are made by the World Health Organization!

Lions do not roar very often, generally they make huffing noises, all night long, and that IS them outside your tent.

The “loo with a view” is generally a bucket.

Bring boots, there are snakes.

Pack a liver.  There are brunch drinks, drinks at lunch, drinks at the “bush bar” while on safari, sundowners, cocktail hour, drinks at dinner, and after-dinner drinks.

Put items that you don’t want messed with in the monkey box.  The monkeys will destroy whatever isn’t in there while you’re sleeping.

Bring long sleeves, long pants, and a headscarf so that you can be appropriately attired if going somewhere predominantly Muslim (like Zanzibar)- your “Everyone Loves a Jewish Girl” t-shirt should be left at home.

Keep in mind that you can pretty much wear whatever you want on safari, so pack clothing that is comfortable.

When a hotel says “laundry included” – this means everything except women’s underwear – pack accordingly.

Bring extra cameras and memory cards- we took 3300 photos and would have taken more.

Bring an SLR or DLSR if you want good animal photos.

Actually, bring everything you might need (including plenty of batteries and battery chargers) - there’s no Walgreens.

At the same time, don’t pack too much – they won’t let you on the small planes without a soft satchel that doesn’t weigh much.

Wildebeests do not necessarily cross the Mara River like National Geographic suggests.  They often stampede all the way to the waters’ edge, mill around for hours, think about crossing, and disperse.

No TV, no radio, no phone, no internet, no newspapers make for a very romantic vacation

If you like chess, checkers, monopoly and scrabble, you are in for a treat.  They are everywhere.

Your guide may think your name is VERY funny.  Everyone I met laughed and laughed when I introduced myself as “Heather.”  Eventually I got used to following that up with “like weather, but with an H.”

When you’re the only people on a plane its not because you’re flying privately.  It’s because you’re going to be on a cargo flight with a bazillion vegetables.

Despite being required to throw out tweezers and nail scissors, you WILL be allowed to bring a Masaai spear on the plane – ours was disassembled and wrapped in newspaper.  They make awesome souvenirs.

In whole foods, you can buy amazing coffee from Tanzania.  In Tanzania, however, there is no coffee (which, in retrospect makes sense).  Instead, enjoy your morning tea and cookies (the buttery sugary dutch kind)!

Practice Makes Perfect: The Rehearsal!

Alright friends, I have one last recap for you before I leave for my honeymoon, but I promise many more upon my return!  In the mean time I’ve lined up some wonderful guest bloggers who are sure to educate and entertain you in my absence.  Plus, I’m bringing my laptop to Hawaii (to watch movies and play YoVille of course) so I’ll try to check in with you while I’m there!  Keep reading and I’ll see you all again in two weeks!

. . .

Once checked in and settled, the ladies who stayed in my suite and I decided to start getting ready.  I was psyched to put on my crazy platform peeps (which the group affectionately called “hooker shoes”) and yes, they were harder to walk in than I expected.  We all wore hats, headbands, flowers or fascinators in honor of the occasion- below you can see that my little sister and MOH B. ended up wearing my hair flower, while I ended up wearing a headband belonging to bridesmaid C., and C. wore a sparkly headband I had purchased as “backup.”  After all that work on my hair flower, it just was not jiving with my dress.  But somehow it all worked out!  Of course, B. and I had to take a few goofy photos (our signature look) before we left the hotel!

Once we started for the church, it was like “Holy Traffic Batman!”  With all the traffic, of course I was the last person to get to the church.  Go figure.  I arrived flustered and worried, but the church coordinator Carol had already started getting everyone up to speed, parents and friends had made their introductions, so I got a few hugs and then hopped to!  Carol and the Reverend immediately went through the order of the ceremony.  Meanwhile, our ring bearer and flower girl sat quietly and absorbed the commotion.

After the first walk-through, we all recessed down the aisle.  I had encouraged everyone to work it down the aisle backwards (in the style of Juvenile’s Back That Azz Up) but nobody else thought that was a good idea so we just went normally.

And then we lined up and did it again!  This time I got an official walk down the aisle from my dad.

There were tiny blue stickers on the floor telling the bridal party where to stand.  They even received instructions on how and when to pivot toward the alter (which, if you’re wondering, should be done when the bride and groom walk up the stairs and start their vows).  The parents were also instructed on how to present us for marriage, at which point my father started laughing and said “well buddy, good luck with her!”

We even practiced the vows- thankfully the Reverendjust said “do you?  and do you?” which was helpful.  If he had gone through them, J. and I both might have cried.  J. claims he doesn’t cry but he’s actually a very sensitive dude; and me, I’m like water works when I get going.  We also practiced lighting our unity candle, at which point I remembered how much I loved my DIY unity candle (I have a short attention span).

After that, just one more recessional and we were done!

The final step was to sign our marriage license with our witnesses, and then we headed to the Cornerstone for the big dinner!

Up next, party time at the Rehearsal Dinner!

And how did we get here?  Checking In.

Time to Get to Gettin’

In the words of the famous Miss Niecy Nash, it is time to get to gettin!  What?  It’s recap time!

Today’s post: our arrival at the hotel.  We stayed at the lovely Pearl River Hilton, with all of our out-of-town guests, and it truly was a lovely location.  J. and I arrived on Friday afternoon, but we drove separately because we had so much stuff!  My mother and I had brought the dress the day before, so I had packed up everything else I could into my little Volkswagen Golf (which I swear to you is like a clown car, you can cram a lot into that little guy) and checked myself in!

The Hilton in the snow!

Doesn't it just look utterly bridal?

Now, one of the truly smart decisions I made when I booked the hotel, was to book their super-huge suite.  J. and I decided not to see each other on the wedding day, so he was in a Junior suite with his brother for night one and I got the big suite.  The big suite was incredible- a whole hotel room, plus a second enormous room that had a huge TV, a muphy bed, a kitchen, two closets, another bathroom, and tons of seating.  It became a perfect place for gatherings of people, especially the next day while getting ready.  My friend C. reserved the room adjacent to my suite, which meant we had a really nice amount of space for everyone.

Here I am with my mom and some maids, chilling after check in.

Once checked in, my mother immediately brought up my dress and we set to work laying out the train and the veil so any residual wrinkles could fall out.

Great place to spend the night, no?

And here's "the bride" getting ready for her debut.

Of course, I had also brought a few “extras” including bottles of water I had made for the OOT bags.  I loved these so much but I thought other people might just think I was a super nerd for making them.  Conversation with J. last September:

J:  What are those?

Me:  Oh I found this free template for personalized water bottle labels so I decided to make some.  Aren’t they awesome?

J:  *groan* Um are you serious?  Don’t you think you’re going overboard here?  I’m starting to worry about your mental health.  Maybe you should take a break from all this planning for a while.

Me: Yes, I’m totally serious and no I don’t think this is overboard (but even if it is, who cares).  They were free and we’re putting water in the OOT bags either way, right?  And I love them!!  Besides, nobody will think it is you who is going overboard, remember, these people know me!

J:  I can see you cannot be reasoned with.  I realize now that you are always right- would you like some flowers?

Ok that one last line may have been an invention of my imagination.

Our one-hit wonder water.

0% fear... just how I felt when making these labels!

Fast forward to December 18.  Guess what everyone was LOVING?  My water bottles!  They even ended up with their own nickname!  And even J. had to admit they were a fun touch!

Up next: rehearsal time!

Video Oh Oh!

Look what came today… our wedding video!!  This is just the short version of course- our videographer Luke, of True Love Photo and Video, is giving us all of the raw footage too- and J. has been itching to try his hand at editing, so we’ll have this to keep us smiling until we get that done. 

As an aside, I should mention that I cannot say enough good things about Luke.  I barely even noticed him there the whole day which was great for my nerves (who likes the feeling of being video taped?) and yet he got this amazing footage and captured the day in a way that looks so effortless.  He was also very good with the pre-wedding communication and super nice and fun to work with.  If you’re looking for a reasonably priced, fun, talented videographer for a wedding in the NY/NJ region, he’s definitely your guy!

Sarah and John, 12/19/09 from True Love Photo & Video on Vimeo.

PS- I hope this embedding works.   It’s my first time trying this feature!

Preserving Some Special Details

Ok opinion time.  I’m not a huge fan of doing too much decorating in one’s house with wedding stuff.  Going overboard with that kind of makes you look like you don’t have a life.  Sure, dry your bouquet and hang it in your bedroom, but please do it tastefully!  Nobody wants to see it collecting dust next to a pile of books.  And while I’m at it, I maintain that one really gorgeous framed wedding photo is so much better than 100 in bad frames (I’m not saying we all need to limit ourselves to just one, which I certainly won’t, but it doesn’t have to be 100- grandma and grandpa didn’t have 100 photos of their wedding out, and they were alright).  And for goodness sake, please don’t line up a whole bunch of wilted pieces of paper on a shelf.  You have to remember, nobody else loves this stuff as much as you do.

But.

I loooooove shadow boxes.  My MIL made one for my SIL after her wedding, using fabric from the dress, a program, bouquet flowers, etc.  It was an absolutely lovely and tasteful way of displaying those little mementos in a way that won’t collect dust- and allows the beauty of the objects to shine through!  So of course, making shadow boxes was exactly what I wanted to do with some of the goodies I had leftover from our wedding.  I’m also working on a scrapbook, but that could take years to complete, so in the mean time I have these to enjoy!

Our invitation, with roses, greenery and eucalyptus from the bouquets and one of the bridesmaids' birds!

Our program with more flowers and greenery, my grandmother's Irish linen handkerchief which had been wrapped around my bouquet, a cookie cutter favor (in the shape of a snowflake for obvious reasons) and an extra boutonniere. This one lent itself to a few more things!

Ok I admit, these photos don’t really do the shadowboxes justice.  But check this out:

Me: hey hon, what do you think of these here in the bedroom?

J: What?!  Why don’t you put them where people can see them?

Me:  Do you think people want to look at our wedding stuff, really?

J:  Are you kidding they are sweet.  You seriously should put them downstairs!

Me:  *speechless*

Yeah, that is right, my super manly man husband just insisted I put the shadowboxes out.  That means they must be good.  Oh and by the way, I got the frames at the Christmas Tree Shop for $5.99.  You can find bigger versions, or versions with different colored frames, at Pottery Barn and Michael’s but they won’t be $5.99.  Just another reason I’m proud of these little guys!

Furthermore, these were really, ridiculously easy to make.  The boxes come with push pins and have soft backing, so it is easy to pin the objects into the box for display.  You don’t even have to get out your hot glue gun!

The shadowboxes make their public debut!

What ideas do you have for preserving wedding mementos?

On Being a Big Girl

We are selling the townhouse.  Or at least, trying to sell it.  Yeah, about that…

One of the great things about getting married is that you get to go from “me” to “we.”  One of the most challenging things about getting married is that you have to go from “me” to “we.”  And if I had to make an educated guess, I would bet that for every year of life you have lived before you get married, this process is exponentially more challenging.  Take me for example.  I got married at 30.  So by the time I got married, I had put myself through school, I had established a “career” if that’s what you want to call it.  And perhaps most importantly for me, I had purchased my own home.

big girl fireplace

By way of background, I should say that growing up, I saw my parents go through serious financial difficulties after they got divorced, and the experience was pretty yuck for all involved.  It’s really un-fun to go to school with a bunch of bourgeois upper middle class wannabes with their Clinique compacts and their Coach purses when you only get one pair of sneakers (from Payless)- it wasn’t like we were destitute, but there were a few very rough years while my parents got back on their feet (which happened to coincide with my middle school years- my worst ever of my whole life, much to J.’s amusement).   Looking back, I honestly wouldn’t change any of it though because I learned some lessons which absolutely speak to the person I am and what I strive to become:

* No matter how hard my life gets now, I know just how much I can survive so long as I have my family.  That knowledge brings me great comfort.

* I also learned that hard work and a vision can take you far.  It may not get you exactly where you want to go (i.e., becoming a lawyer wasn’t exactly as awesome as I expected), but it will get you a lot further than you’d be without that plan (i.e., law school enabled me to build a new life for myself that I can be proud of, enabled me to support myself, to travel, to meet incredible people, etc.).

* People always say that money can’t buy happiness, and of course that is true.  But when you don’t have any money, it sure can feel like money is the solution.  It’s not.  Having spent more and more time with Manhattan’s upper crust, I am certain of this.  Nonetheless, financial independence is empowering.  Finding that place of “enough” is the hard part- the part I’m working on now.

* And perhaps most importantly, I learned that you always need to be able to stand on your own two feet.  You need to know you can take care of yourself no matter what happens, to know you do not need to be afraid, to know you’ll be ok no matter what.  Otherwise you absolutely cannot make real, meaningful decisions with any confidence.

big girl kitchen renovation (my proudest accomplishment to date, you should have seen the "before"!)

Now that you know these things about me, you may better understand why buying my own home was an important thing for me to accomplish on my “life list” before getting married.  Even though J. owned a darling two bedroom house when we met, something inside me told me I needed to buy my own place before we could do anything together.  My condo was a sort of culmination of milestones for me, and a chance for me to prove- to myself- my own independent woman status.  This is why my townhouse is affectionately known as my “big girl house.”  Of course, about three months after I bought it, J. and I decided to move in together and we found a tenant to live in his house.  And we’ve lived happily ever after so far!

big girl bedroom complete with my first big girl bed

But sadly, my big girl house is no longer right for my life.  In fact, it’s no longer my life, it’s now our life.  For a variety of reasons including home values and monthly cost of owning, we have decided it is in our best interest to sell the big girl house.  I am excited about this change and I embrace it fully.  At the same time, I am struggling to let go of my fierce need to be so independent.  And I am surprised by the level of affection I feel toward my home.  Then again, it makes sense.  I have redone the entire place from top to bottom (on a budget no less!) and turned it into what I consider to be perfection.  From my grandmother’s dining set to the photos on the staircase, this place is utterly me.  Which brings me back to point #1- marriage is about we.

my big girl corner on one of the two verandas

So last night sitting there in my condo living room typing this post, looking at the fireplace mantle that I personally installed by myself  like a big girl (with just a teenie bit of help from J.), I was thinking about the future and focusing on what comes next.  Because every time you say goodbye to a good memory it means you get to say hello to a new one.  I know, that sounds totally hackneyed and I apologize for it… but in all seriousness, I know in my heart that moving on is the right thing to do.  Just like buying this condo was.   Even though I might lose money selling it.  Even though I love my granite counter tops.  Because the decision to sell it has been made by us, with an eye toward a future that we are going to build together, and with the deep confidence that even if we make a mistake, it will somehow make us stronger and better.

Besides, I still have my “independent woman” Louis Vuitton bag (one of the last vestiges of my former life as a single gal, purchased to cheer myself up after a bad breakup and the best thing to have come from that relationship).  As long as that sucker has handles, you will see me carrying it!  Woot woot!

and a really big, big girl sofa!

Thank You Notes: Much Ado?

Here’s some of the contenders that I pondered (images link to their source):

(1) The trusty photo thank you note

Super sweet, no?

I love getting a photo of a bride and groom as part of their wedding thank you.  But lately, I’ve gotten quite a few thank you notes sans photos, often times really strikingly simple or elegant ones.  And J. and I used photos all over so many other wedding elements (the website, the save-the-date, the rehearsal dinner invitations, the guest book, even our first Christmas card) that another photo of us might be overkill.   So although we both love a solid photo thank-you note, we decided against them this time.

(2) The budget-friendly thank you note

These are from David's Bridal, but you get the idea.

I’ve seen basic, pretty sets of thank you notes running about $1 per package at Michael’s.  There is nothing wrong with them, and they certainly do the trick for a bride on a budget.  After all, saying thank you is the most important part.  But with such generous gift givers to thank, something about these made me feel, well, cheap.  Used.  Dirty.  I refused to go there.

 (3) The hand-embossed thank you note

Hello trusty monogram!

Remember how J. and I embossed our new monogram all over various wedding elements?  Well, I thought maybe we could emboss some cardstock and make our own, personalized stationary.  One problem: it is really, ridiculously tough to get the embossed image onto cardstock in a way that looks properly aligned.  And I’m a perfectionist.  Fail.

(4) The coordinate-with-the-invitation thank you note

Sigh, love.

I surely did love our wedding invitations so I considered revisiting My Gatsby for the thank you notes- but their online design tool kept malfunctioning so I couldn’t get a good preview of the note in action, and they actually weren’t terribly cost effective either- it would have been about $100 with shipping for 100 notes, and for that amount you can get higher quality.  Furthermore, while green and gold on cream cardstock were fun and festive for a Mid-October invitation to a December wedding, I questioned whether the same could be said if we sent these in February.   Naaah.

(5) The random “because I like it” thank you note

They go, but they weren't quite right.

Next I considered just choosing something random and green that spoke to me.  But after pursuing this angle, even looking on etsy, I realized I had a problem: nothing spoke to me.  Everything was too boring, too modern, too theme-focused, or too expensive.  There’s a lot out there, but I’m picky.  And the prices weren’t great- it was going to be $186 + shipping or so for 100 of the above.  Meh. 

(6) The brilliant “ah ha” thank you note

Hello my thank you note friend!

I made one final web-stop at one of my favorite stationers, The White Aisle, and to my surprise they were having a sale.  My bridesmaid H. used them for her own wedding so I’d seen the quality of the inks and papers already and knew them to be excellent.  Plus, I had desperately wanted letterpress for our invites but with the prices, it was out of the question at the time.  However, letterpressed thank you notes (on sale!!) were very much in our budget!  And when I saw this pretty palm tree, I was totally sold!  It has a vintage botanical feel (vintage vibe, check!), is in shades of soft brown and cream (goes with wedding colors, check!), reminds me of where we’re going on our honeymoon (Hawaiian reference, check!), and it is a high quality, beautiful card (something I can feel proud of, check!).  And for $1.25 per card, it was only a little bit pricier than My Gatsby’s option, but at a significantly higher quality (affordable, check!).  Even J. liked them- and if J. likes paper, you know its right.  The plan is to write these on our honeymoon airplane ride, slap some tropical looking stamps on them and send them when we get to Lihui for a totally Hawaiian thank you!!  

What kind of thank you notes do you like best?

Summer Citrus Inspiration!

Now that the excitement of the wedding and the holiday season are over, and the windchills of January have hit home, all I can think about is our upcoming Hawaiian honeymoon!  Fortunately for me, my stepsister S. is tying the knot in August and wants wedding colors in yellow and orange, so I can fantasize about warm weather and bright colors until it’s time for me to leave.  So for S., below is an inspiration board that uses citrus hues balanced with enough white for a peppy, flirty, preppy summer soiree!

JCrew Sascha gown, pom car decorations, Dandelion Dream invitation, clementine place card, Flower girl dress by Priscilla, citrus centerpiece, bouquet, rose petal aisle, lemony wedding cake,Paloma’s Nest ring bowl, Abington Arts Center, pom decorations, JCrew wedding suiting, Lyla printed peeps, Longing For Yellow dress.

Double Duty Deets

For about 7 wonderful years, I lived in tiny Manhattan apartments.  And if you’ve ever had the pleasure of living in a big city, you’ll agree: small spaces require that everything you own serve at least two purposes.  For instance, my coffee and end tables during this period were actually vintage steamer trunks, which served as hidden storage for Christmas decorations, an air mattress, and spare bedding.  You have to edit your belongings pretty often and plan your space thoughtfully if you want your space to work.  But somehow, even when I had no money, I always figured it out (one of the big benefits of a small space- less to furnish when short on cash)!

So when it came time to plan our wedding, a solid piece of advice I received from a fellow New Yorker rang 100% true:  if you’re going to spend money on something, see if you can find two uses for it!  For my friend/advisor at her own wedding, this meant taking those floral arrangements off the tables after cocktail hour and reusing them as centerpieces during dinner.  For me, it meant quite a few things were used twice! I love how this attitude is both economical AND earth-friendly.

So here’s a quick list of tips for all you event planners out there, for ways you too might be able to double dip!

(1) My aisle pomanders turned into lovely table decor! Remember when I made aisle pomanders for the ceremony?  Well, my brilliant day-of coordinator, Hollie Holmes, found new homes for them at the reception next to the escort card trees.  Who’d have thought it?  (And this is yet another reason why everyone should splurge on a day-of coordinator).

Before: Pew Poms (image by Jessica Morrisy)

After: Table time!

(2) The bridesmaids’ bouquets made for excellent decoration too! Ah yes, when you have 10 bridesmaids, it does give you lots to work with.  The maitre’d made sure ours got used not only for cocktail hour, but also at dinner for our sweetheart and cake tables!  Yesssssss.

Before: Maid's Bouquets (image by Jessica Morrisy)

After: Fancifying the Escort Cards

After-After: dressing up the sweetheart table

(3) The basket that held our programs… ended up being just what we needed to hold extra cards!  I don’t have a photo of this in action at the reception- at least not yet- but its easy enough to imagine.  My original mercury glass holder (which was too small) ended up with lovely candles inside, just next to the basket.  I didn’t even realize this would be so great until it happened- but it worked out perfectly!  And the best part?  The basket was part of a shower gift, decorated with leftover supplies.  Freebie love!

Remember this guy?

(4)My veil was actually my “something borrowed.” I only wore the veil for our ceremony and since my bridesmaid H. graciously offered to let me borrow hers (which I LOVE- its like a Barbie dream veil only better) I really couldn’t refuse.  Ok, so I didn’t use this twice myself, but it did get used twice, and it is still in perfect condition should another bride come along!

H. rocking the veil at her garden party soiree!

And here's me, loving the same veil at my holiday nuptuals! (image by Jessica Morrisy)

(5) And slightly less obvious but equally helpful, are all the things I’ll be recycling after the wedding! Those white pitchers which held the escort card trees have been saved- I know they’ll come in handy for shower centerpieces for one of the 5 upcoming weddings and 2 expected babies in my life!  The frames for our table numbers will be getting a makeover, and reappearing at my little brother’s wedding in October.  Leftover OOT boxes will be getting an entirely new look for stepsister S.’s yellow and orange wedding this August. The little collection of mercury glass objects I found are now part of my personal permanent Christmas decoration collection.  And all those ribbons and craft supplies?  Puhleeeze, you know I’ve got plans with so many showers ahead!

Did any of your wedding goodies do double duty?