Rehearsal Dinner Location, Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Today Mr. J secured our spot for the rehearsal dinner. I'm excited. It's not a traditional space for a rehearsal dinner--but then again, we're not traditional. We are having it at the South Oxford Space in Fort Greene (just blocks away from where we first met). I've been to the space for dance/musical performances, they also host a number of creative events, luncheons, and cocktail parties, as well as rehearsal space for the art world.

We can't rehearse at Akwaaba because there is a wedding the evening before ours--so we needed to find a space with enough room to do a full rehearsal, but also sit down to have dinner. As you all know, New York City can be very expensive, especially to have 30 people for drinks and dinner. We looked at restaurants and it was a bit pricey--and we wouldn't be able to rehearse. Mr. J's mother is graciously paying for the rental of the space. We can go in and set up for an hour to make things look pretty, they've got tables and chairs, we'll bring in our own food and probably use sternos to keep it warm. We'll also bring in our own drinks. We'll do set-up from 6-6:45 p.m., rehearsal from 7-8 p.m., dinner, toasts, bridal party gifts from 8;10:30 p.m., and clean-up until 11 p.m.

source

source

Lounge Lizards

via Taylor Creative

via Taylor Creative

Originally I didn't want a wedding. I wanted to go to the courthouse and then throw a big party for our family and friends...but Mr. J wasn't hearing that. He wanted the wedding. Of course it didn't take much convincing, I said let's go for it. But I didn't want to have tables with assigned seating--I wanted a party. So, we have our cocktail reception. We're having 12 cocktail tables and two small lounge areas, much like the first picture I posted. We're renting with Taylor Creative Props in New York City and are setting it up very similarly, though instead of the square coffee table they have in the photo with the two white benches, we'll be using the round coffee tables from the bottom photo. I love how classy and simplistic this looks. Each coffee table will also have the same centerpiece as the cocktail tables. I like the idea of the bamboo rug below, it would totally match the bamboo mats that are part of our centerpieces, but it's not that serious and that is not in the budget.

The furniture rentals were more than we thought they'd be--but Taylor Creative was the least expensive place I found with the furniture we wanted. I can't wait to see it all put together!

Invitations are out!

Hooray! We got our invites out before the increase in stamps. The increase wouldn't make that much of a difference in our budget, but saving money is saving money. A couple of issues came up with the invitations:

• We printed them ourselves. Letterpress would have been much better for our invites because the ink would have stayed on the paper better. Ours didn't--don't worry everyone got invites they can read, haha--we just had to be really careful when making them so as not to rub the ink off. They still look cute, not awesome, but cute. I have pictures but I have to figure out to put a little black bar over our contact information. Once I figure that out, I will post them.

• Sealing our envelopes was a little weird. I didn't want to lick them all, but I tried the sponge method and it practically wiped off the adhesive. So, licking it was. I left a Facebook comment to all my friends saying I hope I don't die like Susan, George Costanza's fiancee who died from licking her invitation envelopes. Classic Seinfeld. We worked it out.

• We wrote the addresses out with a silver glitter pen. So, some of the envelopes got a little smudged. I even smudged the President's envelope a little.
  

And you know what? I don't even care. I'm just so excited that they are finally done and in the mail! It's all coming together. Hooray!

My Last 100 Days

There's all this talk about President Obama's first 100 days, but can we talk about ME and my last (less than 100 days)?

I feel like I should make some promises:

• I vow not to become a bridezilla as things get a bit more hectic in these coming months (like being in LA for two weeks for school at the end of June--hello that is vital wedding planning time!)
• I vow to exercise daily (for my 31st bday I promised myself to do an hour of cardio a day)
• I vow to eat right, but give myself rewards every now and again
• I vow to ask for help!!!!

Invitations go out this week before the post office raises the rates. Mr. J has to finish addressing his invites (we did it separately, even though I offered to address them all because I've got skillz). He says he'll finish them tonight. He better.

I found out three people from my side can't come--my cousins who live in Atlanta and my bridesmaid's girlfriend--these are all people we want to be there on that day, but understand the circumstances. I've had to switch out some envelopes, so it's a good thing we bought an extra box.

I'm curious as to how many people will actually be there to witness our day. I'm getting more excited about it, especially now that we are in the two-digit numbers.

Friday was my birthday! Hooray! Mr. J surprised me with sapphire earrings and a matching necklace :) Very pretty and they complement my engagement ring. Which reminds me I need to buy his wedding band. We're also going to a day spa for a full day of pampering. He said he had to step up his gifts from boyfriend gifts to husband gifts. I like his way of thinking :)

Black Love in the New York Times

I had to post this article here--not only is it a sweet story about a couple falling madly in love, it also features my friend/former co-worker. Ain't love grand?

Weddings/Celebrations

Wedding Day Waxing...

I know what you're thinking. I'm not talking about that kind of waxing. Although that kind of waxing will be taken care of...but I'm talking about my fingers. Yes, I have always been a hairy goonie goo goo. And I've always had hairy fingers, but they've never bothered me...and they still don't. However, when Mr. J and I went to pick out my wedding band, he took some extreme close up photos and when I showed the pictures around most of the comments were about my hairy fingers and how I should wax for the wedding. So, I've been peer pressured into it and I'm sure it will look way better in the photos. Here's my ring, please ignore the hairy fingers :P

Akwaaba means "Welcome," Come on in!

This is more of Akwaaba, which means "Welcome" in the Akan language of Ghana. We had our walk-through with the caterer and I took some more pictures.

Sun porch, I'm expecting all the old folks to hang here.

This is the courtyard--now imagine it decorated, it's pretty raw
right now except for the wonderful trees.

This picture is from the summer, so you'll see

how the trees bloom with leaves
providing full shade.