erin mcdermott

since mr. uva and i moved to charlottesville, we have met some awesome people. one night, last year, i was over at my friend erin's house. that night, erin so kindly introduced me to meg runion (our engagement session photographer) and the three of us got to chatting. wouldn't it be great if we started our own wedding planning company with a la carte services. meg would be the photographer and crafter extraordinaire, i would be the logistics planner, and the lovely erin mcdermott would be the creative side and jeweler. i do still dream about this plan and how fun it would be to work with these ladies...


erin moved to charlotte, nc over the summer to live with her fiance (a fellow bride-to-be) and design her jewelry full-time and has been designing up a storm making awesome custom pieces for brides and bridesmaids. what a great bridesmaid gift idea! i'm a little jealous of all of these ladies who get to work with erin. she really is fabulous!

she sells some awesome everyday pieces as well as her custom wedding delights. my little sister wears one of erin's charm necklaces that was a birthday gift almost everyday.

new concept?

in my regular cycle of blog searching that i do each night, i checked out poppytalk and found an awesome type personality analyzer.

courtesy of poppytalk…"Spending seven years researching typefaces and personalities, twenty-three academics from Pentagram created What type are you?. A four question test that analyzes your character and recommends what type is perfect for you."

wouldn’t it be a great idea to use this type analyzer to design wedding invitations? like a combo of you and your honey’s type personalities on one invitation….

i am Pistilli Roman: “disciplined form with an emotional geometry” and my honey is Perpetua Titling Light: “if you’re a quiet old-fashioned sort of person who would secretly prefer a shoe’d stability to bare-footed liberty” – love it!

the save the dates...

...are in the mail!












yikes!

i told mr. uva, "there's no backing out now"!

i'll post more soon about the guest list process and about our lovely invitations that arrived last week!

Engagement Session with Meg Runion

One of my good friends, a wedding photographer here in Charlottesville, called the other month and asked if she could use me and my Mr. as subjects for an engagement session. We were thrilled! I met Meg while working at a local preschool when she came to take pictures of the children for the school yearbook. The pictures were awesome! Meg was able to capture the little ones while they were playing on the playground and I couldn't stop staring at their cute little faces and the beautiful way that Meg captured their spirit.

Recently, Meg had been working with another photographer and decided it was time to start her own business. In her own words - "After 5 years I had so many dreams, thoughts, and ideas and decided to launch my own business to fit the more creative, personal, and customer service oriented business I was looking for and since founded Meg Runion Studios." Since leaving her previous business, she is in the process of rebuilding her portfolio and Mr. UVA and I were happy to help! :)

The photos are beautiful! It was such a fun day spending time with Meg and watching her work. She was so laid back and confident and you could see her mind working as she evaluated the light and the surroundings in order to get the best picture. She even brought her Grandmother's antique chair for us to use as a prop after hoisting it over fence at Ashlawn.
Meg is currently accepting wedding and family inquiries for 2010. So if you're still looking for a photographer, check out her blog (http://megrunionstudios.wordpress.com/) and get in touch!

dilemmas and resolutions

As we roll into 2010, I'm realizing that all those months of planning have set me ahead of the game in many respects, but we do still have some things to figure out. My two biggest wedding resolutions/to-dos for 2010 include:

1. seriously finalizing our guest list - I have about a week to finish this before our save the dates go out and there are a lot of emotions surrounding the guest list - who knew?!

2. figuring out what we're doing about our registry - our save the dates have the link to our wedding website (thus registry information) and I have already been fielding questions from inquiring relatives about our registry. Mr. UVA and I have been living together for several years now and our house is pretty well set up. The wishlist we have compiled for our house doesn't play very well with gift registries. Seriously, what do you do in this case? Why doesn't Anthropologie have a gift registry? Can you register for cash dolla dolla bills, a down payment on a house, tuition for a masters program? Can you register for big pieces of furniture or artwork? How do people do this and not end up with things you don't need or want? Registries are tough man!

Can't wait for another year with the future hubby though - he's pretty wonderful!

Happy New Year everyone!

senor boddington

ooooh! i’m so excited about our invitations! we just sent the final proof in yesterday and the whole suite should be in by the beginning of next month. just in time to send our save the dates. originally, i had planned to make our save the dates (on the purchased and used once gocco) but i just couldn’t resist mr. boddington and my discount from working at the paper store (rockpaperscissors in charlottesville).

there are so many awesome invitations out there and it was really difficult for me to choose just one. fortunately (or not so for some), we still need programs, rehearsal dinner invites, and escort cards so i can play a little more with paper options.

Cutting out Pictures

i decided to go through and edit all the pictures on my laptop that i have pulled from the many many blogs i have been getting lost in during the days since mr. uva popped the question. there were many. it's crazy to me that so many of the pictures i pulled toward the beginning of my research don't even appeal to me any more and then some still make my heart pitter-pat just as they did when i found them.

i printed the ones i still love and taped them into my notes notebook - unexpectedly, i have my own sort of inspiration board and my vision for the wedding has now landed perfectly on the pages of my notebook.

mr. uva looked at the notebook and said "oh, i get it".

what an awesome feeling to know that we really are on the same page and i really do have a clear vision for the wedding.

i highly recommend it.

tight pants

we decided against tuxes because our ceremony is outdoors and somehow the wedding has taken a turn for the more summer-y and casual. one of the wedding colors is grey and what better way to pull it in than with the suits? mr. uva will be wearing a three piece modern cut suit and the other three men will be wearing two piece suits.

on our trip to hong kong, we decided to check out the tailors in kow loon and get groomsmen suits made for the gents in the wedding. mr. uva is super skinny and has a lot of trouble finding suits that fit him so he was in definite need of a custom suit but the other men didn't want to be left out.

these things fit like a glove. mr. uva's suit is tiny (and i'm slightly nervous he will look thinner than i do!). the material is phenomenal and the quality is perfect. they really are awesome suits. the tailor we found has made sutis for several us presidents, prince charles, head of state, everyone. he apparently is the go-to-guy in hong kong. mr. uva had 3 different fittings to get the suit to fit just right. in other words he cannot gain a pound. we only had the measurements for the groomsmen so their suits will need some quick tweaking right before the wedding.

my mom was a little concerned that we were doing a flat front pant as pleating is more traditional. we also opted for no cuffs at the pant hem (apparently another break with tradition). i am an emily post fan but am opting for looks rather than tradition....i think the suits look awesome and hope that we wont offend any of our more traditional guests.

i love it!

the return

i'm sorry i have been mia recently. my entire family just returned from a 2 week romp through southeast asia. with only one case of malaria and another case of the swine flu (seriously), we had a lot of fun and we're all back in one piece.

i spent 7 years of my childhood in remote places like liberia and the philippines and then later nigeria and indonesia and i guess, took advantage of it. mr. uva had never traveled anywhere that needed a passport. this had never really been an issue for me. i've sort of morphed into a home-body and gave up on thoughts that i too would be shipping my future children to the ends of the earth every three or four years.

my older sister has the travel bug and needed her husband to understand that piece of her. this meant that poor brother-in-law was to be headed for nigeria for summer vacation. i guess it didn't scare him away because since then, the two have lived in argentina, costa rica, and now hong kong.

mr. uva may be a changed man after this trip. he loved it. he also spent a serious stretch of time with my whole family - parents and siblings combined and has some new views on the serious craziness (i mean crazyyy) that runs through our genes.

i might not be able to lock away the passport again for a while. i may have created a monster - mr. uva is raring to go (as soon as we have some money) and the honeymoon plans may be getting a little more exciting.

what do you think:
a. beach for a relaxing week
b. backpacking around europe
c. safari in south africa

(maybe all three!)

Our Venue

Mr. UVA and I started our search in the DC area. The initial idea was actually Union Station. Last summer, Mr. UVA and I were enjoying National Train Day and a free Sara Bareilles show and realized how beautiful the station is. Both of our families live in Northern Virginia and we were stoked about the possibility of having the reception downtown with a rehearsal dinner at my parent’s house. Union Station quickly fell from the realm of possibilities when we looked at pricing. So we expanded our search. We looked at the DAR building, Woodend Sanctuary, Woodlawn, Meadowlark, the Carnegie Institute, and a couple other places.
Being from Vienna, Meadowlark Gardens is a hugely popular venue – but it just didn’t fit the feel we were looking for. Carnegie Institute didn’t work for us logistically with having the ceremony and reception near each other. My father can’t get over his distaste for Maryland (who knows?)– so Woodend was out. And a reception at Woodlawn would be hindered by construction on the main road in front of the venue. DAR was perfect and I was set on it – but quickly realized we were not going to be able to get our guest list down to 140 (their limit). We found Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg – which is beautiful. Before even looking at it seriously as an option, we realized it would be a little bit of a hike for our families and maybe wasn’t the most convenient location in terms of hotels and transportation. The logic was if we were getting as far away from Vienna as Leesburg – why not make the full transition to Charlottesville? We would just steer clear of vineyards so not to step on my older sister’s toes (she got married at King Family Vineyards in June 2008 - It was beautiful). So we found Clifton Inn. I had heard awesome things about it and it seemed to allow for the full family reunion feel my mom was hoping for.

Clifton is perfect! We have free rein of the property from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon so our family and friends can come and hang out throughout the weekend. They have a pool, a lake, tennis courts, hiking trails, games, fishing poles, and it’s beautiful. We fell in love with it – but not so much the price. I knew it was what we were looking for, so I started negotiating. We ended up getting an awesome deal on the rental fee and the food (which they prepare onsite to rave reviews). Everything started to fall into place. Clifton provides the food and cake, which helps our planning immensely. We’re having our ceremony outside on their croquet lawn and then the reception in the main house.

{from cliftoninn.net}

Even though we signed the contract in February, we just took Mr. UVA’s mom to see it and she loved it. My parents just saw it for the first time this past weekend and I think everyone is really going to enjoy relaxing at the beautiful estate and being able to invite their families for some casual fun before the formal wedding festivities.

Our venue is not new to DCNearlyWeds. Check out:
Miss Capital Hill 2007



Speaking of beautiful venues - is anyone getting married in Louisiana? I saw this place on "Ace of Cakes" on TLC. The trees hurt my heart they are so awesome! Seriously stunning.


<3 miss uva

my "style"

...So at the florist, I had to laugh at Karen1 talking about my style. She looked at all my pictures – the dress, the venue, the floral ideas – and was so excited that I had balanced my yin and my yang (I had no idea) - she especially loved my modern wedding dress mixed with an old-fashioned venue. So now we have to translate that into flowers.

Embarrassingly enough, I took a facebook quiz asking which era I belong in. apparently I am straight out of the 1950s. While talking with Karen1 about the flowers on Tuesday, she came up with “you're from the 50's. Let’s think 1950s for you”. crazy?

The fun part is that I get to start my search for fun flower vases and bowls. I am going to start hitting up flea markets and vintage shops for 1950s glassware (maybe ebay?). anyone have any good places I should check out?

<3 miss uva

the florist

I met with our potential florists today. I had pulled a bunch of pictures of centerpieces and bouquets that I like and we talked about what will/wont work within our limited budget.

{source}
{i forgot to tag the second pic when i found it - if you know the source, let me know so i can update!}

The original thought was that my mom and I could do the centerpieces to save some money but I'm so worried about the stress level that would come with that. My mom is a fabulous gardener and has won some Garden Club awards for her arrangements - but the point is we have to get the flowers down to Charlottesville in tact and then find the time to arrange the 15 centerpieces without losing our minds (or killing each other).

Karen and Karen, the two florists of Hedge are awesome. Karen 1 is a riot. She is super passionate and creative and talks a mile a minute. Karen 2 is the perfect balance. She is quiet, calm, and more business like. I can't wait to see what they have in store. We talked about collecting vintage glasses, vases, and bowls so we could add some fun to our long tables we are using and Karen 1 was all about adding kale, asparagus, and maybe even peaches just for some fun. I'm all over it!

I'm now waiting for the estimate!

<3>

the binder

Just out of college, I worked for a couple years as a Meeting Planner. This job allowed me to indulge all of my organizational OCD tendencies, including attempting perfectly organized binders and notebooks. I was so excited to put that knowledge to work again now that I was engaged. What better way to organize the quickly mounting amount of paper and inspirational pages than a binder?

I started pulling checklists from various websites (make sure to check out: Russell+Hazel and Real Simple) and made tabs for each section. Any images or ideas I liked that I found in magazines or one websites went into the binder and it very quickly started to grow. As we've moved on in the planning process, the images and inspirational pics that didn't make the cut have been pulled and we've added the contracts that we have so far. It also came in handy to have important questions to ask all the vendors typed up in the binder. I got some of my questions from "The Bride's Book of Lists", by Amy Nebens.

There is a very detailed budget section that is constantly updated (we're really trying not to go over) and where all the payments are coming from and how they have been paid.

Here is the binder now:

When I talk to and meet with vendors, it is so helpful to have everything in one place (I just used it today during my meeting with the florist).
I have no problem finding anything I need in terms of planning and hopefully it will come in handy closer to and on our wedding day when my brain is flying out the window.

<3 miss uva

the one year mark

we made it!

we just hit the "one year to the wedding date" mark. for some reason, july 3rd this year made the wedding seem a little more daunting/real. not that it wasn't real before - but now i feel like we really have to get a move on and start booking things.

so far we have the venue, caterer, cake, and photographers.

mr. uva is in charge of the hotel room blocks, the music (anyone know of a good dj or strings around charlottesville?), and the honeymoon - hint, hint - get a move on mr. uva!

and i have to get a move on the officiant, florist, invitations, and the non-stop battle that is the search for bridesmaid's dresses.

i have a meeting with the florist tomorrow - so i'll keep you posted!

<3 miss uva

he popped the question!

The last year Mr. UVA and I lived in DC, I was working as an Instructional Assistant in special education classrooms during the day and nannying in the evenings. Some nights I would come home and collapse on the floor with exhaustion. This night was no exception. I think I got home around 9 or 9:30 and Mr. UVA had kindly waited to eat dinner until I got home (he had also kindly cooked dinner – lucky me!). I was not a pleasant lady that evening. I had baby food caked onto the front of my shirt and the rest of my appearance was less than stellar. After a rushed dinner, I had to catch up on emails I had been avoiding for the past couple of weeks and was fully focused on the laptop in front of me. Mr. UVA sweetly said, “I love you” in my ear to which I rudely responded “I know” and continued with the task at hand. Unfortunately I missed the rest of the message Mr. UVA had prepared (i.e. the proposal) and only turned around in time to see him wrestling under the couch cushion for my engagement ring. He was on his knees by the time I realized what was happening. Crying and shaking my head no, (in disbelief that I had just missed the proposal) I asked him to repeat the whole thing.

The Ring

I don’t remember when Mr. UVA and I started talking about getting engaged and rings. I think at a certain point in the relationship, we knew it would happen. What Mr. UVA did not know was the amount of information and pressure that comes with choosing a diamond.
Let me give you some background on Mr. UVA and jewelry purchases. Mr. UVA does research for a living and jewelry is no exception. At one point in the early stages of our relationship, Mr. UVA asked me what kind of jewelry I would like as a gift. I had been wearing the same earrings for about 4 years and rarely wore anything else. But, I had always wanted a simple jade bracelet. Mr. UVA – being the doll that he is – started his research. No exaggeration – about a year and a half later, I received a jade bracelet. I will admit - it is fabulous! When I went to Thailand with my family, women on the street would stop me and ask me where I got it. But the point is that it took a year and a half to pick a jade bracelet.
I had an idea of what type of ring I wanted and what type I didn’t want. I had been sneaking peeks in magazines and on the internet and had sent some images to Mr. UVA to steer him in right direction. He wanted to choose the ring without any additional help from me. He enlisted the help of his brother and a friend of his mom who used to work in the Diamond District of New York City (not a bad friend to have!) and bought a beautiful loose stone. We still had a setting to choose. We had heard of friends going with their boyfriends to choose a ring and had mixed feelings about it. It is a piece of jewelry that you will hopefully be wearing for the rest of your life so you want to make sure you love it but there is the surprise factor of soon-to-be fiancé on one knee with a ring he has chosen for you. Mr. UVA broke down and asked me if I would come with him to look at settings. I’m really glad we chose this route. Some of the rings I had been dreaming of looked totally awkward on my finger and I would have found out the hard way had I not gone with him.





So here is the ring:








{personal photo courtesy of apple's photo booth}

Picking the Date - July 3, 2010

Mr. UVA proposed in March of 2008. Of course, being the planner that I am, we started talking timelines right away. But, let me tell you, a lot of work went in to picking the date (and opinions).

I wanted to get married in spring if only for the flowers - peonies, tulips, ranunculus, anemones...but spring 2009 just seemed too soon. My older sister (a UVA grad) was married last June and we figured that my parents would probably appreciate a little time to recoup. Mr. UVA would just be finishing his first year, and planning a wedding during that would be way too much stress and pressure. And one of the groomsmen (the friend who introduced us and secretly warned Mr. UVA against getting too serious with troublemaker little me) was scheduled to be overseas with the PeaceCorps until this winter and we wanted to wait until he came back. We had a lot going against us getting married in the spring of 2009...so we figured, "why not wait another year?".

Problem solved - spring of 2010....but my little sister graduates from high school next spring. So, without knowing the date of her graduation, spring was out...so we moved into summer. Conveniently enough, the rates for the venue that we chose go down quite a bit between June and July (*tip for all you other soon-to-be's: check out other months than the peak spring months for venue discounts).

While I'm a little sad about the lack of spring flowers on our big day we are really happy with our date. So save it - July 3, 2010.

Talk to you soon!
<3 miss uva

Stoked!

I am stoked to join all of the lovely DCNearlywed ladies as "Miss UVA"!

It's funny...I don't feel like a nearlywed at all. Mr. UVA and I have been engaged since last March (that was 15 months ago) and we still have 13 more to go. But I'm sure it will be here before we know it.

Mr. UVA and I met each other at the University of Delaware almost 7 years ago through a mutual friend of ours. I will state for-the-record that I did not like Mr. UVA all that much when I first met him. He intrigued me - maybe. But somehow, towards the beginning of our sophomore year, Mr. UVA got to me and fast forward a few years, we are the the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. UVA.

Mr. UVA and I are both originally from northern Virginia and after graduating from Delaware ended up back in the area. We lived in Woodley Park for a little while before Mr. UVA decided his brain needed a little stimulation - try a 5 year PhD program in Economics. Now we live in Charlottesville, VA with our munchkin of a dog in a house the color of a key lime pie. While Mr. UVA expands his brain with theorems, proofs, and numbers, I get to have fun crafting and planning our July wedding in Charlottesville.

I can't wait to share all of our exciting, stressful, and fun adventures as we plan our big day.

<3 miss uva