Wedding

A Wine Country, NY Bucket List

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This is a laid back Wine Country, NY Bucket List, focused on fun activities in the Finger Lakes Region of NY.

So if you didn’t know this already Chuck and I are tying the knot in approximately 12 days. It’s pretty exciting. What’s also exciting is the first full week off of work I have had since our trip to Ireland in 2012.

I’m doing a happy dance, yelling “woop, woop!” with my hands in the air right now just fyi.

I have been looking forward to this forreeeeeeeeeveeeeeeerrrrrr.

Seriously though this might be the better than the wedding just a week of Chuck and I, and maybe some Brody cuddles too. Since I can’t stop thinking about this I thought it might be fun to a bucket list of all the stuff I want to do while we are on our honeymoon. The first half of the week we will be in the Finger Lakes region of NY also known as wine country, the later half will be home, or the Adirondacks, we are leaving that part up in the air because why not?

Sleep late
Get a massage – we are already scheduled for Sunday night when we arrive !!!
Drink wine
Eat decadent, overpriced food
Howe Caverns – this one is a maybe, it might be more fun to save for when we have some little ones.
Watkins Glen – This is a must.
Cornell’s Botanical Gardens – I’ve actually already been, but if we are looking for something to do it would be worth another trip. It’s beautiful.
Waterfalls – I’ve already seen a few but this region is full of them so I’d like to check out a few more Cascadilla Gorge is one of them.
Do a Wine Trail
Hit up a farm/farmers market/stand – these are plentiful but since we will be there during the week I’ll take whatever we happen to come across

And there you have it a list of everything I would like to do while we are in wine country. This list is pretty laid back and negotiable since to me the most important thing is to relax and enjoy this time with Chuck.

Do you have any great wine country ideas? Let me know I’m definitely interested in more ideas!

Wedding To Do List (2 Months)

By Jessica

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The invitations are out! (barely) As are the thank yous from the shower. The floors of the new house are done and we are in! We won’t talk about the fact that we are still totally living out of boxes (kind of – we don’t really pack the traditional way with boxes, but you get the idea).

It has been one hell of a week to say the least.

I’m wiped.

Somehow Chuck is invigorated.

I think this week of craziness has pulled him out of the slump he’s been in since he got a desk job. I think he likes having projects and a purpose, and even though all I want to do is have a binge watching session with Netflix and my favorite Sunday, I’m so happy to see him so happy. I’m especially happy because I have a lot of changes that I would like to make to this place.

Even though we have a lot going on we still have a lot we have to do. The last time I did a to-do list for the wedding was 6 months ago! While it looks like a lot has been done, I’m realizing that there were a number of things missing from the list, so really it’s not any shorter.

What is left to be done:
Invitations designed. Ordered. And Sent.
Guest list finalized. Addresses found and organized.
Bridal party finalized.
Website designed & hashtag chosen. (Not sure this is really going to be finished up to my original vision, but it exsists, and does it’s job, so I’m calling it done.)
Dress Altered. And outfit details configured.
Men’s wear chosen.
Menu decided on.
Cake baker booked. My aunt & Miss Amy are making everything. Woo!
Hotel room booked (for us and a block selected for guests).
Centerpieces designed.
Ceremony & reception signage designed.
Guest book designed.
Favors created.
Wedding bands chosen

What I’m adding to the list

Meet with Snake about ceremony details
Figure out music, including ceremony & itinerary
Have a hair trial run
Seating Chart
Finish Guest Book
Get a crate from Momma Chuck for cards
Make a Thank You banner for pictures
Make/get outdoor games
Get a Marriage Licence

At this point we have just more than 2 months to go until the big day, and a lot of stuff happening in between. Fingers crossed that we can get it all done!

Wedding To Do List (6 Months)

By Jessica

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OK, so it’s a little less than 6 months from the wedding at this point. Obviously I’m a little behind. I’m not worried. The further into this whole thing I get the more easy going I feel about it all.

Below is the list from my previous to do list post almost 4 months ago now. Reading through this I am definitely missing a few things, transportation, wedding music, traditions to do and not do (that’s a whole other post), but I’m not too worried about those.

What is left to be done:

Invitations designed. Ordered. And Sent.

Guest list finalized. Addresses found and organized.

Bridal party finalized.

Website designed & hashtag chosen.

Dress Altered. And outfit details configured.

Men’s wear chosen.

Menu decided on.

Cake baker booked.

Hotel room booked (for us and a block selected for guests).

Centerpieces designed.

Ceremony & reception signage designed.

Guest book designed.

Favors created.

Clearly I haven’t checked very much off my list, but I’m getting there. I really wanted all of this done by the end of May (ha!). We will see if I can do it. I did however smarten up a bit and gave up on planning any kind of honeymoon. I figured the Chuck needed a job so it’s now his responsibility, which takes a whole big weight off my shoulders. Right now I’m focused on getting those invitations done, and scheduling a time to meet with the venue. If I can get those two big things off my list this month the rest should (hopefully) fall into place.

Save the Dates: Are they Really Necessary?

By Jessica

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I hemmed and hawed for a while about the whole save the date thing. It’s a cute idea really, and it makes a ton of sense, especially if you want everyone you invite to the wedding to be able to come. I’m going to sound like a total negative nancy here but I really don’t want everyone we invite to come.

Both Chuck and I come from huge families and some of the people in those families we rarely talk to. I know it’s all about celebrating the day, but when you start adding second cousins and friends of the family, who we haven’t seen in years it gets a little over the top. The people that are most important to us we talk to on a regular basis and already know the date of the wedding, so sending save the dates seems a bit redundant.

Another thing is the cost. Weddings these days cost so. much. money. Even with our super simple plans, it’s going to cost way more than we were originally thinking, so I thought that this would be an easy place to cut costs. Making up 200 save the dates, magnets or cards aren’t that expensive coming in anywhere between $0.75 to $2.00 each you could spend $150-400, but we haven’t even talked about shipping them to you, to then send out. Stamps these days cost $.049 or close to $100 for 200 people. Add it all adds up and you’re looking at $250 on the cheapest end, not including all the extra shipping, taxes and fees.

These are just the save the dates! We aren’t even started talking about the real invitations here. Though I did have a friend who only sent save the dates and directed people to her wedding website for RSVP and all other pertinent info, which isn’t a half bad idea if all of your guests are computer literate.

And since most people are quite computer literate I have also been playing with the idea of sending digital save the dates, companies like MailChimp, Facebook or another internet based notification could really be helpful with this. We are still trying to figure that part out right now.

For us, the best decision was to skip the save the dates and only do real, regular invitations. I want to note that we are planning on sending the save the dates a little early than you normally would so people who need to have enough time to book hotels & flights. After all, it is the invitation that has the hotel booking info.

I’m not saying this is for everyone, but for us, this worked best. Hey, we are being green!

Wedding to do list

By Jessica

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

As of this month I officially have 9 months until my wedding.
I remember over a year ago thinking that I had all the time in the world and
suddenly I feel overwhelmed with everything that I have to do. I thought it
might help me to get my head on straight if I wrote down all of my plans. Maybe
some of my beautiful bridesmaids will read this and decide to help out (hint,
hint). Though on second thought I should probably actually start asking them to
be my bridesmaids in the first place; I’ve kind of gotten behind on that one. Yeah
we should really get started on this train soon.

What we have done so far:

The Venue is booked.

The DJ is booked.

The photographer is booked.

The flowers are selected.

The dress is chosen.

The registry started.

Basically all the easy stuff is out of the way. I’m glad I
at least got that much done, and while I’m not looking forward to a lot of the
stuff left on the list, I am very much looking forward to getting crafty with
my girls.

What is left to be done:

Invitations designed. Ordered. And Sent.

Guest list finalized. Addresses found and organized.

Bridal party finalized (since we haven’t been good about
asking people officially).

Website designed & hashtag chosen (yeah it’s necessary).

Dress Altered. And outfit details configured.

Men’s wear chosen.

Menu decided on.

Cake baker booked.

Hotel room booked (for us and a block selected for guests).

Centerpieces designed.

Ceremony & reception signage designed.

Guest book designed.

Favors created.

With everything laid out nicely I feel like its doable,
though I wonder if I am taking on too much. I am custom designing a lot of the
details. Worst case scenario I give up and go the store bought route. I am ok
with it if that happens, but I suppose we will cross that bridge when it gets
here.

I am looking forward to crossing a few things off this list
in the coming months. I want a nice relaxed summer without a bunch of running
around, so I am hoping to get as much done as possible before the end of June.
Again we will see how that works out. It’s a lot to think about, and a lot to
do, but it’s definitely not impossible.

Wish me luck!

PS: Any suggestions for getting it all done without tearing
my hair out? They are greatly appreciated!

Wedding

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