where credit is due

The cats requested that I make sure to credit them for the wedding color palette inspiration.

it's a tasting, not a gorging

We finally were able to move forward with our food selections for the reception. It was seriously the most fun part of this wedding planning business.

All my wannabe foodie dreams came true that day- course upon course served by a personal wait staff, multiple wine parings, six kinds of desserts and a running consult from the executive chef throughout the meal. Way to bring it to the table Patina!

At one point I remember levitating over the table and simultaneously hallucinating that Julia Child was there cutting my food for me with a large golden knife. If you ever have the pleasure of attending one of these go slow. Keyword is tasting.

My first dress fitting is Friday. Signs point to "not good."

the (second) happiest day of my life

Invites are in the mail. Enjoy!

PS. Some of you have inquired- yes, that is actual hand rendered calligraphy. Anne Robin out of NYC penned each invite lovingly for us. She is my letter-spacing and line-spacing hero. Check out her work. It is amazing.

we practically own alaska airlines

We have been doing a ton of flying this year for wedding planning trips as well as general business travel for our respective employers. Nicholas and I have been at the airport every week or every two weeks since February. In fact, I am typing this from 36,000 feet right now. (The planets were aligned for a cross country, first class upgrade this time. The hot towel just came. Boo ya.)

Here is a photo I shot a few weeks ago while flying back from LA LA for our final vendor walk-throughs. Look for Rainier at the wedding- just in its alternate form...the beer.

who knew federal way was so beautiful

Two weekends ago we completed our final marriage preparatory requirement- a weekend retreat with Catholic Engaged Encounter. Here is a photo recap of our "engaging" weekend at the Palisades Retreat Center in WA.

fleurs de mariage

Stacy Martin, our amazing florist, has been featured in The Knot Best of Weddings 2008! Congrats to her and her design team. We have been working with Stacy for the past nine months and it has been a wonderful experience. Her client-centric meets industry expert approach has allowed us to flex our creative muscles with our florals.

I had pulled an initial concept from a publication and Stacy ran with it. Not only did she run with it, she knocked it out of the ballpark. When we arrived for our first meeting she had mocked up all three different arrangements. Being able to see the concept pieces early on in the process was huge in helping to set the look and feel of the day. She even let us take them home to photograph! I wish I could share them now, but I want to keep it a surprise for guests.

I am very much looking forward to seeing how all the arrangements turn out on the big day. I am SO sneaking a peek when we are taking photographs at the WDCH before the ceremony. I won’t be able to resist!

That's a pretty hot cake above ya?!

flower girl dresses anyone?

I don’t know about most brides, but I sure had trouble finding a good flower girl dress that wasn’t blah or that was actually age appropriate. On top of all that, most bridal salons want to charge you an exorbitant amount of money for a one-time dress that your flower girl is sure to grow out of. To make matters worse I dare you to find a dress in silver-gray and black. There must be some rule that says you can’t put a kid in my favorite non-color, color combos because it was almost impossible.

Then by the grace of the wedding gods, I found Pegeen. They are a brilliant little company that allows you to mix and match a huge amount of colors, styles, and add-ons such as bows and special details. Every dress is custom so it is easy to get exactly what you want and need. BUT, I can truly say they have one of the most challenging websites I have ever been on. It is so bad that I, Halli, I who works with the web for a living, couldn’t even figure it out. A phone order it was!

Although I must say I do love the “button realistic, panic button, button” that they have on their website. I am going to just go ahead and start recommending that to all my clients. Fantastic usability my friends! In all seriousness, we are super excited about seeing Logan in the dress. It’s going to be amazing.