Another Pair of Nearlywed Shoes!

Miss Gallery Place made me want to share my shoes too! I bought them awhile ago, but between a missing memory card for the camera and a dead computer...it was tough to share! But Santa (aka Mr. Fairfax) fixed me up for Christmas!

So here are my shoes!

Bandolino "Soiree"

I decided to go with brown shoes because it's one of the main colors of our wedding decor and the color of the bridesmaids dresses. Most of the bridal shoes and dyeables I saw online, I wasn't crazy about so I expanded my search to any color shoes. When I saw these in Bandolino right before Thanksgiving, I snapped them, perhaps a little too hastily--they're almost 40% off right now! I was pretty sure I wouldn't see anything better, so I went ahead and got them. No buyer's remorse so far...knock on wood. at at $70 full price, they acceptably within the budget.

I'm just a few inches shorter than my lovely husband to so I was hoping to go with flats in order to maximize the height difference, but these have three inch heel. But with the extra height, I can skip getting my dress hemmed.

I've worn them around the house a couple times and did a little dancing in them on New Year's Eve. The comfort report is good so far!


I can't seem to find them online, but definitely check out the Bandolino (brick & mortar) stores. They're always having great sales.

Wedding Innovators welcomes Wedding Podcast Network

Wow, you guys are quick! one post and the tickets started flying! Can't wait for the Wedding Innovators to get here and show off! Just added as a sponsor is the Wedding Podcast Network. If you haven't been over to see the resources available at this site, boy have you been missing out!
Head on over there now and tell 'em Mrs. Nearlywed sent you.
Make sure you're at the Wedding Innovators Challenge on Feb 21, 2009 at the Liaison Capitol Hill and you can get yourself on air!! Listeners everywhere will be able to hear what you think about this whole wedding planning thing!

The Shoe that fits...

Ladies, I'm sorry I've been MIA for so incredibly long. I took a much needed wedding hiatus. Our save the dates are simply waiting to be assembled (and have been since the beginning of December), and I just kind of...went into holiday mode. Getting out Christmas cards, traveling, hosting our annual holiday shindig...it was a bit...much.

But I'm back. My dress is IN (YAY!), but most importantly, the mission that has been taking over much of my days is over.

I found my shoes.

It was a tough decision, there were a few contestants but nothing I truly drop dead fell in love over. A friend of mine had sent me these a few times over, and I had hemmed and hawed over them, thinking well...maybe. But last week, I took a long lunch and popped into the Nordstrom at Pentagon City to see what there was to see. The shoes were there. In my size. They fit pretty well. The heel was not too high. Too bad they didn't have my color there.

I got back to the office, searched online, could only find them at Nordstrom and they were out of my color! I called them up, the customer service was IMPECCABLE and low and behold the man on the other end of the phone found a pair at a Nordstrom in who knows what town that are being shipped to me! Hooray! I should have them by the end of this week!

The winners?
These bad boys - Addison by Glint for $90 at Nordstrom. Under my $100 budget for shoes!

Now to find a veil and ah-hem a strapless bra for the dress before the fitting (which is still not yet scheduled)! Hoorah!

Among other things on my to do list for the wedding this month? Blog more regularly, find a veil, schedule fitting, keep my mother off my back (now that time is ticking she's been bugging me more), pick out bridesmaids dresses before my trip to Boston next month to see 3 of my girls, make room block at Hotel (tbd), send out save the dates before we leave town for MLK weekend, pick up bow ties from Vineyard Vines for the groomsmen (at the Outlet in NY!!) and send out my bridesmaid newsletter which is still just a file on my work computer *sigh* Now that we're just short of 8 months out...I suppose I should get on this all. Right?

What are your big to do's this month?

Bridesmaids Makeup

I've got a dilemma. I've got a wonderful makeup artist that I'm contracting for my April wedding in Richmond. She's great at what she does. She is professionally trained, works for MAC as has done my makeup in the past, for engagement pictures and for a previous wedding that I was in. Some of my BMs have used her before also. She's very professional. We've got a great rapport, and most importantly, I trust her with my face. I met with her a few weeks ago and did a makeup trial for myself and to select the bridesmaids makeup looks. Afterwards, I received her quote. Since I've used her before, I was familiar and comfortable with her fee. One thing that I underestimated is her travel fee to come to Glen Allen. The mileage rate quoted is $1.75/mile for the nearly 250-mile round trip between Columbia and Richmond. This makes the total cost 20% more than my original estimate, which was based upon past experience. I included a buffer for travel fees, but clearly not enough.

I initially hoped to pay for all makeup (I did not communicate this to my bridal party.), but travel costs so much, that I am having to reconsider that. I now intend to pay for the travel fee and my own makeup and have the ladies pay the $65 each for their makeup. In the last wedding I was in, BMs each paid for their own makeup, and I didn't have a problem with it.

For my wedding, my BMs have only to purchase their dresses and shoes. I don't require any special hairdo. I only ask that hair be professionally done in whatever style they're comfortable with by whatever stylist they like. I am also gifting to the ladies all of their accessories, including jewelry (cultured freshwater pearls).

My questions are:

• Is it wrong to have the bridesmaids pay for their own makeup?
• Are travel fees a negotiable factor for something like makeup?
• What have your experiences been?

Wedding Innovators Challenge and Bridal Show

Wedding planning season is upon us!!! I get so excited this time of year, all of the new engagements and the renewed feelings of expectancy of brides who have just turned the corner and now their weddings are THIS YEAR!!

We are hosting the biggest event of the year along with My Day Wedding Magazine and it will kick off right here in Washington, DC!! The Wedding Innovators Challenge is a three prong event the likes of which DC has yet to see!

Saturday February 21, 2009 at
The Liaison Capitol Hill
415 New Jersey Avenue, NW Washington, DC
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
www.weddinginnovators.com

There will be a hot and heavy design challenge by the DC Area's hottest wedding and special event producers. They will be going head to head to create jaw dropping works of "weddingdry" (is that a word??) for brides to drool over. (Still need ceremony and reception design ideas....?)
I can't wait to see who will be judged Top Design Team.

Our panel of judges is incredible!! Let me not overwhelm you but just to give you an idea of the star power on tap... Los Angeles based celebrity wedding and event producer Diann Valentine
will be leading the pack. If you don't know her, you know her work and you definitely know her clients... Can you say Usher? Toni Braxton? Lela Rochon? Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men? Can you say the NBA Allstar Weekend?? Joining her will be Andre Wells of Events by Andre Wells, by far DC's hottest event producer bar none, and Sherry Moeller editor in chief of Capitol File Magazine, the epitome of chicness and the source of all the best the District has to offer. That's just for starters!!!

The event will feature a full scale bridal show with many of the vendors reviewed here by the DCNearlyweds!!! The highest caliber of product and service offerings. They will have their latest offering on full preview for you.

Lastly and most exciting there will be a silent auction to benefit our National charity, Brides Against Breast Cancer. There will be loads of wedding related products and services all up for AUCTION!!! Talk about a steal!!! All bids are starting 50% off of the stated retail value!! And all the proceeds will benefit a fantastic charity. Talk about a win-win! Stay tuned for the Auction Listing!!

So you know you have to be there!!! Tickets are on sale NOW only $20 each. Mention the codeword TIX and receive $5 off each ticket you purchase before the event. Join our page on Facebook, I'd love to have you as a fan. well... What are you waiting for!!!

Trying to figure out the Save the Dates

Since we have a small guest list, we initially thought we wouldn't send out save the dates. We figured most people would hear about the date beforehand anyway, and we'd just send the invitations a little early. Once we found out that the 34th Annual Marine Corp Marathon is scheduled the same weekend as our wedding, we thought we better send out some advance notice (with hotel information) if we wanted anyone to make it to our wedding and have a bed to sleep in!

So for the last couple months I've been thinking of ideas and running them past Mr. Fairfax. We're building our decor around the photo below, so we wanted to tie the tree and/or apple theme in to the save the dates (and eventually into the invitations).

source

So after many hours perusing the internets for ideas, I've got a few to share with you:

1) Simple black and white with a great picture taken by a friend of mine.

I'm not sure how we'd print it out, either on glossy photo paper or on white paper with a black backing.

Here's the other option:

2) For this version we'd print it up on brown ink on off-white paper. I did the little heart graphic myself in Microsoft Paint, but if we decide to go with this design, I'd get a pro to make it a little more polished for me (ps--it's supposed to be like a heart carved into a tree with initials to tie in the whole tree/apple theme).

So tell me what you think!

Best Wishes and Hearty Congratualtions...

...To everyone who became engaged over the holiday season! I'm sure many of you have noticed the trends in you own social circles of few weddings taking place in November and December, but many many engagements occurring! There's a great New York Times article from Christmas 2005 on the very topic of why it's so popular.

And if there something every new bride-to-be needs it's some unsolicited advice from a self-proclaimed expert, right? If I could share one piece of advice I could share with newly engaged couples it would be this:

Relax. Enjoy. Don't rush (or let others make you feel rushed) to make plans.

Friends and loved ones will immediately begin asking if you've set a date, where you'll get married, etc. etc. Learn this little phrase in response: Oh, we haven't discussed yet, we're just really enjoying the moment right now! Learn it and then live it!

We were on vacation clear across the country with no Internet access when we got engaged, so I was kind of forced to take it slow. Of course we called friends and family to share the wonderful news, but then we got to just bask in the glow of it all. Don't forget to savor the moment and what a unique time in your live this is before you jump into making a Knot page and picking the bridal party. :)

Just my two cents on the subject. What would your one piece of advice be?

It's Personal....

So first of all, I want to give a HUGE congratulations to my future brother in law and his brand new fiance, on their recent engagement! I am so excited to have them in my life, and wish them all the luck and happiness in the world!!! Congrats Drew and Dia! Congrats to all the other recently engaged couples too, I know at least 3 couples that got engaged last week, so love is in the air!!!

Anyways, I wanted so discuss personalizing your wedding. Its very difficult to make your wedding stand out, and to also make sure it represents you, your relationship and the your family. For our wedding, Mr. CP and I wanted to add some fun details.
The first, and possibly most exciting thing we did was rent a photobooth. We paid a bit extra for the guestbook, and attendants too, so the booth will print doubles and one copy will go to the guests. We used an affordable local vendor, Posh Booth. We worked with Neil, who was very helpful in explaining the options and a pleasure to work with. We can't wait to see all the fun people have with this extra! Best of all, the price for the photobooth is reasonable and totally worth it!

source

We also wanted to incorporate Mr. CP's love for baseball, which is almost equal to his love for me...seriously. Were thinking about having the bartenders wear SF Giants baseball hats to represent Eric's love, but at the same time, I am not totally sold on it. One baseball-theme we are definitely doing is our cake topper. I found a website that makes personalized bobblehead cake toppers! How fun is that! You actually send pictures in!

source

What ideas do you have for personalizing your wedding? Everyone needs ideas, so please share!

Tiara

Ok, so I may have previously mentioned a wedding tiara I was purchasing for a great price on Ebay. It arrived. It's beautiful, It would go well with my dress, but there's one problem. The decorated part of it is just not wide enough, not that I have a huge noggin or anything, but I just want anyone looking to be able to catch a bit of the tiara's bling from all angles. On my Ebay tiara, the bling is only in the front. Ah well! I knew what I was getting into when I decided to purchase from Ebay. That's 20 bucks I'll never see again! lol!

Recently, I found Tiara #2 on the web at a site called EverAfterBridalVeils.com. I really think it's gorgeous. The previous tiara is also pretty, the its detail is only about 6 inches wide. Tiara #2's detail is 8 inches wide, offering both front and side bling. I ordered it a few days ago, and I hope I love it as much as I think I will.

Wedding Day Must!

There is one thing I absolutely know I will be doing on my wedding day (besides getting married) and it's not what you're thinking: getting make-up done, taking first look pictures, putting a garter on. Though I'll certainly be doing all of that. The one thing I really don't want to forget and is my wedding day must is...ordering in lunch!

If there's no time for a sit-down lunch the day of, eating seems to be one little detail that is forgotton on the wedding day! In fact, I just read on a friends recap on her wedding blog about running around in Safeway between her hair and make-up appointments "scavenging for food!" I can be a less than pleasant individual when I'm hungry...don't want to be a grumpy bride!

I think having some sandwiches and drinks delivered for the girls to the Hendry House about noon sounds delicious. Any suggestions for some good carry-out in Arlington?