Pocket Folders

For everyone who is attending the wedding, you should be receiving a "pocket folder" in the mail this week with all the pertinent information for the wedding weekend!

Our stationer, who is absolutely amazing (future blog to come!), showed them to us about a month ago when we were brainstorming ideas to get information to our guests and we had to have them. We hope you like them as much as we do. :-)

Please fill out the postcard included and put it back in the mail ASAP so we can coordinate the Saturday activities and the shuttle to the wedding/ceremony.

Included in the folder is a weekend itinerary, the Saturday activity descriptions, a contact list, a map, and the postcard. The "dress" for each event is included as well to help with packing.

8 weeks!

R + S

Bridal Shower

The idea for my upcoming bridal shower came from a 1955 Good Housekeeping Article I found on-line called "The Good Wives Guide". As I was reading it, an array of emotions came over me. Humor, disgust, anger, understanding, and pity. Mostly though I couldn't believe that in 50 years we had come from that to... well, this. I knew we had to do it.

Here is the advice given to women in the article on How to be a Good Wife:

1. Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on the time of his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favorite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

3. Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

4. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

5. Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc. and then run a dust cloth over the tables.

6. Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest, and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

7. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer of vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

8. Be happy to see him

9. Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

10. Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first- remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

11. Make the evening his. Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

12. Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order, and tranquility where your husband can renew his body and spirit.

13. Don’t greet him with complaints or problems.

14. Don’t complain if he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as a minor compared to what he may have gone through all day.

15. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

16. Arrange his pillow and offer to take his shoes off. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

17. Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgments or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

18. A good wife always knows her place.

Pretty crazy, right? It's hard to imagine reading this article and taking it seriously, let alone using it as a manual on how to behave. 

For those of you who got a bridal shower invitation and weren't quite sure what to make of it, know that it is all in good fun. An afternoon of looking back on what being a good wife used to mean (and what bridal showers used to be like!) and what it means today.  

As for the gifts, a few people have asked me what it all means. The idea is that everyone was given a different "time" of day or night on their invitation (mostly to try and prevent similar/duplicate gifts, and for fun) to match a gift to. The catch is, given the theme of the shower, that it is supposed to be a gift for a "lady." So take the modern version of whatever you would have gotten and try to imagine it 50 years ago, or perhaps today, if you lived in Manhattan and summer-ed in the Hamptons... :-)

Can't wait to see you all there! I know my mom and Jesseca are planning some hilarious games and preparing some delicious 1950's cuisine. 

S

Collosians 3:12-17

When we were searching for a Bible verse to incorporate into our wedding ceremony, we looked for something nontraditional. Something that really embodied the spirit of the weekend and the wedding.

When we found Collosians 3:12-17, we knew we had found the perfect verses.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humilty, gentleness, and patience. Bearing with one another and forgiving each other, just as the Lord forgave you.

And above all these things, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

These versus struck us for so many reasons. Mainly because they were about a community of people bearing with one and another and loving each other. That is what our wedding is all about. The few people in our lives who we hold most dear making a commitment with us as we make make one to each other that we will all bear together, forgive, and love each other as long as we all shall live. :-)

Between the 1000 other things going on for the wedding, I hadn't really thought much about the ceremony or the verse we had chosen. Then, last week, a giant box arrived in the mail. I opened it to discover it was a wedding gift from my parents. On the tag was a piece of this verse. Now that alone would have been enough of a sign for me, because I tend to be a big believer in signs, but combine it with the fact that no one knew we had chosen this verse and my mom has never sent me a Bible verse on any card, ever- and needless to say, I was kind of mind boggled.

I have an app on my phone that gives me a new Bible verse each day. I've had it for at least a year, and everyday the verse is different. Actually, there have been a few days I've gotten repeat verses, but never a verse from Collosians. The morning after I received the gift from my parents, my phone chimed. I picked it up to read my Bible verse for the day, and I bet you can guess, it was Collosians 3:12.

Choosing the verse and feeling so strongly about its message was enough for us. But I couldn't not share this story with everyone. It so cemented in our minds and hearts that the idea of the wedding and the feeling we have for all of you had also gotten God's "stamp of approval" so to speak. Pretty cool.

R + S

Hotel Update

Just to let everyone know, as of today, the Holiday Inn Express in Solvang is booked.

The Motel 6 still has rooms available and there are other options slightly farther away.

Let us know if you need help finding one. :-)

R + S

Hotels

Now that we are getting all the RSVP's in and making a more finalized head count for the wedding, we are realizing that there are some people who have RSVP'd yes who don't yet have a place to stay in California!

There are two options near the Marriott that, as of today, still has rooms available.

Here is the info. for both:

Motel 6 Buellton
333 McMurray Rd.
Buellton, CA 93427
(805) 638-7797
Rates: $113/night

Motel 6 is located right next door to The Marriott. It is definitely location-wise the best second option, but does not offer nearly as many amenities as the other hotels.

Holiday Inn Express
1455 Mission Dr.
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 688-2018
Rates: $159/night

The Holiday Inn Express is about 10 minutes away from the Marriott, so having a car is more a must if you plan on staying here. The amenities are the closest to the Marriott of any hotel in the area and it is right outside the historic dutch town of Solvang.

Please book your travel plans ASAP. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call or email us.

Happy Hotel Hunting!

R + S

RSVP Reminder

A reminder to everyone out there that RSVP's are due back in 2 weeks!

Knowing how many people are coming for sure is crucial in planning any wedding, but especially a destination wedding. Please send back your RSVP as soon as you can so we can put some more of the wedding puzzle pieces together!

If you are waiting to send back the RSVP because you aren't sure whether or not you will be able to make it, shoot one of us an email. We are happy to wait it out a little longer if it means that you might be able to come. :-)

Also, we still have people asking us about the lines on the RSVP postcard. They are there to write your name(s) and a little note. 

3 months and 11 days- can you believe it?!

R + S

Wedding Registry

First and foremost, please do not feel like you have to get us a wedding gift. Being at the wedding is the gift we really want from everyone we love.

If you would like to get us something, we have registered at the following webistes:

www.potterybarn.com
www.williams-sonoma.com
www.amazon.com

You can find our registry at all these websites by searching for either of our names. Some will prompt you for our state of residence (TN) or the location and month of the wedding (June 2011, CA). If you have any trouble finding it on any of these sites, let me know.

This is not a definitive list; feel free to get us something that isn't listed here. All of you know we love gift cards to Starbucks, iTunes, or Southwest (so we can come home and visit more!) And if you have any questions about things we already have, please don't hesitate to ask. These registries are mostly filled with "wish list" items or things we realized as we looked around our life that we just didn't have...

Please do not bring an actual gift to the wedding as we don't want you to have to travel with it or try to figure out how to ship them all back to TN!

4 months and 4 days! We can't wait!

R+S