More wedding stuff....

I know, my blog is boring lately, but I might want to remember these days many years from now, and Lord knows I'm not going to write in a journal. Joe and I have been making some headway on theknot.com's massive to-do list...

This is my beautiful sister, Devyn, modeling the bridesmaids dress I chose. My original plan was to have all three girls wear different styles of brown dresses, but Kara and Devyn both fell in love with the same dress, so now Stephany is stuck with it, too. That's what she gets for moving to Houston. Joe's amazing-seamstress-of-a-mother is going to replace the sashes with green ones (spinach party taffeta, to be exact). To keep things from being too cookie-cutter, the girls are going to choose their own shoes, jewelry, and hairdo's.

Joe's mom is also making us a ring pillow like this, but with a green ribbon. And I have the cutest ring bearer, ever -- my little brother, Cayden.
I'm proud to announce that we officially have an Officiant! Judge Sharon McCully is a Third District Juvenile Court Judge. I've had many abuse and neglect cases with families in her courtroom over the years. I figured who better to put a new family together than someone whose lifelong career has been focused on helping families be happy and healthy? Judge McCully is getting back from vacation the day before our wedding and leaving again the following week, so we got very lucky that she agreed to squeeze us in. And, rather than charging us a fee, she suggested that we make a donation to The Children's Center in her name. How cool is that?
The second I got engaged, even before she congratulated me, my best friend Kara said, "I get to go cake taste-testing with you!" We're going to do that this Friday. My old boss's wife is going to make my cake (she is amazing!) but Kara and I figured why not take advantage of all the bakeries in town by tasting their cakes? I want my cake similar to the one pictured here, but with green instead of orange frosting, and probaby more elegant patterns than the dots and swirls. I just like the idea of the off-center tiers with different patterns and flavors in each.

Joe is so damn picky. He wanted a ring with these three qualities:

1. Joe-speak = "black metal"
Jeweler-speak = tungsten

2. Joe-speak = "flat"
Jeweler-speak = brushed
(he said he's "too dull" for high-polish)

3. Joe-speak = "rough edges"
Jeweler-speak = faceted

Once we got this all translated, we found a ring that he loved with one exception -- it was high-polished all over. The jeweler said, "No problem! We'll just send it to our after-marker jeweler to have it brushed for ya!" Well, little did he (or we) know, but tungsten is the hardest metal known to man, and it can't be brushed. The only way to get it brushed is if the actual mold has a brushed pattern. And no manufacturer makes an all-brush ring. Many have A LOT of brushing, but there is always an area of high-polishing. So basically, the ring Joe wanted is a physical impossibility.

Old ring

We returned that ring and started the search over from square one. Luckily he found this one that has just a tiny bit of polishing. It's hardly noticeable in the crevices. God forbid that he stand out. It actually worked out for the best because he likes this ring way more than the first one. And it was half the price (not like that matters, since, like Joe was quick to point out, we could get 40 of his rings for the price of mine.)

New ring