This particular post might sound a bit like a "sponsored post", but since this blog gets about 10 hits, at most, I don't think that will EVER happen.
In any case, David and I found a pretty neat website called Wedpics that we'd love for you all to use to help us collect photos from our various events. Please don't feel obligated to use this site, but since we won't have an official photographer, we'd love to be able to collect all of the photos all of you take throughout the day to add to our albums. Plus, everyone's photos will be accessible to everyone else, so this could be an easy way for you to share photos from the day with other family and friends! Wedpics does require you to create an account, but it's free and they don't deluge you with obnoxious emails.
If you're interested, here's how you go about getting access to our Wedpics page via a computer:
1- Go to the Wedpics website.
2- Near the center of the page, find "Join a wedding".
3- Type our wedding ID (VanDeusmeister) into the box and click "Join wedding".
4- Create an account by either connecting through Facebook or registering via e-mail.
5- Once you're registered and logged in, start uploading photos!
And if you'd like to have the app on your smartphone (which would allow you to upload pictures directly from your phone):
1- Go to your phone's app store.
2- Search for "Wedpics" and download the app.
3- Near the center of the page, find "Join a wedding".
4- Type our wedding ID (VanDeusmeister) into the box and click "Join wedding".
5- Create an account by either connecting through Facebook or registering via e-mail.
6- Once you're registered and logged in, start uploading photos!
We can't wait to see the great photos that come out of this!
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Thursday, June 19, 2014
A rambling (wo)man...
I think this is my first blog post. Ever. Of the two of us, David is better at using his words to describe things and working out his thoughts so I usually leave the word-smithing to him. Even so, here I am.
I've had this week off of work. Don't get too jealous-- it's a result of having work an insane week last week while we welcomed the new corps members to Detroit. Since we're about a month out from the wedding (EEP!) I've used this precious time off to get caught up on quite a few wedding tasks. It's really funny how much stuff goes into a wedding, even with something small and a little non-traditional. It's even funnier how there are times that I've spent hours looking at inspiration boards, creating and looking at spreadsheets, and drafting things and yet, after all those hours of "work", I still can't cross anything off the list. On top of that, I feel like every time I cross something off the list, something else hops on it. Like filling out an application for and picking up our marriage license. Yeah, we forgot to add that to the master to-do list until today. Whoops.
Speaking of the master to-do list.... David and I made this beast of a list about 2 weeks ago after getting really overwhelmed by ALL OF THE THINGS that had yet to get done. If you know me at all you know I'm a bit OCD and am a list-maker by nature (as is David), so this shouldn't come as a surprise. What was surprising though, is when I finished tallying all those tasks, they added up to 115! Some of them were little tasks-- "call to book nail salon"-- but others, like "write ceremony" were...a bit more massive. YIKES! On the one hand, in wedding terms, it's my understanding that 115 things to do in 6 weeks doesn't seem like that much. But still, 115 things left to do. Whew.
So here we are, 2 weeks after the creation of the list and we're down to 77 tasks. 77 little (or not so little-- we still haven't written our ceremony) things to do and 35 days standing between us and our wedding. Part of me wants to just get those 77 things done right now, but I know that's not possible, nor will it make our wedding day come any sooner. Another part of me-- the more practical, rational part-- realizes that all this planning isn't just about crossing things off a list. It's about making sure we've thought through all of the parts of our wedding weekend to ensure all these people we love and are celebrating with us have a chance to do just that-- love us and celebrate with us in a way that fits us and our "vibe" and style.
Now, pardon me while I go attack a few more items on this list before the weekend.
I've had this week off of work. Don't get too jealous-- it's a result of having work an insane week last week while we welcomed the new corps members to Detroit. Since we're about a month out from the wedding (EEP!) I've used this precious time off to get caught up on quite a few wedding tasks. It's really funny how much stuff goes into a wedding, even with something small and a little non-traditional. It's even funnier how there are times that I've spent hours looking at inspiration boards, creating and looking at spreadsheets, and drafting things and yet, after all those hours of "work", I still can't cross anything off the list. On top of that, I feel like every time I cross something off the list, something else hops on it. Like filling out an application for and picking up our marriage license. Yeah, we forgot to add that to the master to-do list until today. Whoops.
Speaking of the master to-do list.... David and I made this beast of a list about 2 weeks ago after getting really overwhelmed by ALL OF THE THINGS that had yet to get done. If you know me at all you know I'm a bit OCD and am a list-maker by nature (as is David), so this shouldn't come as a surprise. What was surprising though, is when I finished tallying all those tasks, they added up to 115! Some of them were little tasks-- "call to book nail salon"-- but others, like "write ceremony" were...a bit more massive. YIKES! On the one hand, in wedding terms, it's my understanding that 115 things to do in 6 weeks doesn't seem like that much. But still, 115 things left to do. Whew.
So here we are, 2 weeks after the creation of the list and we're down to 77 tasks. 77 little (or not so little-- we still haven't written our ceremony) things to do and 35 days standing between us and our wedding. Part of me wants to just get those 77 things done right now, but I know that's not possible, nor will it make our wedding day come any sooner. Another part of me-- the more practical, rational part-- realizes that all this planning isn't just about crossing things off a list. It's about making sure we've thought through all of the parts of our wedding weekend to ensure all these people we love and are celebrating with us have a chance to do just that-- love us and celebrate with us in a way that fits us and our "vibe" and style.
Now, pardon me while I go attack a few more items on this list before the weekend.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Once More, With Feeling
It's hard to plan a wedding when you're doing a wedding and a reception, but you're not doing a wedding and reception. I find myself hesitating when restaurants ask what type of event I'm doing, mostly because when I saw a wedding reception, I clarify by telling everyone that we aren't doing dancing and table settings and things you might think of with a reception. Maybe I should tell them we're doing a rehearsal dinner?
When you say the word 'wedding' lots of things pop into my mind. Oddly enough, the first thing I see is a giant white gown and brilliant teeth from people smiling and posing in photos. I see dances and clinking glasses and people dressed up for celebration. Yet this isn't really what Janel and I wanted for our wedding. We didn't want to end the night having seen everyone in our life for 10 seconds each and waking up the next morning exhausted wondering who we saw and who we didn't.
When we started to plan our wedding we focused on one thing: the feeling. What did we want our wedding to feel like? We spent some time thinking up words to describe what we wanted the wedding to be like. Relaxed and comfortable, fun, enjoyable, jovial: these were all words we thought about and feelings we wanted to invoke. It is no coincidence that we aimed for something simple with our wedding celebration because we don't want people to be stressed or uncomfortable, we want things to be fun.
Coming up with words for the feel of a wedding are pretty easy when compared to figuring out what those feelings look like. Janel and I hope we have done that. But at the end of the day, we don't care so much about the flowers and the decorations and a theme for our wedding, but more about what everything feels like. Our family should be relaxed, our friends should be relaxed, and we should be relaxed. And happy. That's important. Oh, and married.
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Engagement Story
If you don't know about the engagement story or just want to relive the thrilling tale, you can read more about it here.
The same story can also be found on the About Us Page.
The same story can also be found on the About Us Page.
A Simple Wedding
When Janel and I started discussing our wedding, we had one thing in mind: it was not going to be a 'traditional' wedding. We didn't want hundreds of guests. We didn't want to be married in a church. We didn't want the bouquet toss and the head table and the hundreds and hundreds of photographs. None of these things are bad or wrong or the incorrect thing to do, we just didn't and don't want to do them.
Instead we decided we would do something simple. Something easy and uncomplicated. Something that didn't take very much to put together. We thought of it as a party for our family and friends that we would host, doing things we want to do and celebrating what we want to celebrate. We have utilized the blog and companion book 'A Practical Wedding' to hone in on the things we want.
Remarkably this has been difficult. And perhaps even more astounding to me are the number of choices that come with such a 'simple' wedding. Remember, we don't have a church booked, we don't have a reception hall, we don't need a DJ, we don't need to sample foods, we don't need to decide chair covers, and we don't need to think about seating charts. And yet, we have made tons of decisions and have over 100 things to do before the big day.
Two weekends ago Janel and I drove to a friends' wedding in New Jersey, just outside Philadelphia. The wedding was gorgeous, we had a wonderful time, and we danced the night away. In our 10 hour car ride home, we had a chance to reflect and think about our own wedding. It was during this car ride that I confessed to Janel that I felt that our way of doing a wedding might actually be harder to do than a traditional wedding. There is no guidebook to follow. There are thousands of places for inspiration, and you can bet that we are copying and stealing ideas from all kinds of sources, but there isn't really a checklist to go through. When the wedding you envision is a bit different from what is pumped out today, it becomes very hard to figure out how to do what you want.
What I told Janel then and what I'll tell you now is that I think at the end of the day, the work we're putting into it will make it worth it in the end. There have been countless times where I've had to reiterate to people the plan we have for our wedding weekend. People are confused and unsure because there aren't the usual clues for how to react and interact at a wedding. We don't even have a gift registry. After each conversation I have to stop and think about why we decided to do it the way we are. I always remind myself of what I told Janel: as long as the people we love are there, the rest of it doesn't really matter.
I certainly hope everyone has a good time. We're working hard on things that might not be at a typical wedding and frankly, they might be a bit weird and silly in execution. But honestly, Janel and I are a little weird and silly. Does this capture our entire relationship? Of course not. Does it inject our personality into a formal occasion? Absolutely. Even if what we end up doing doesn't go exactly how we envision, the camaraderie of family and friends will carry through the day. When the dust clears, three things should have happened: 1) I want to be married to Janel; 2) I want to have spent adequate and quality time with members of my family and friends; 3) I want people to leave with a smile on their face and warm feelings in their heart.
If that happens, its a success. And through all the choices, I always remember that this is what really counts.
Instead we decided we would do something simple. Something easy and uncomplicated. Something that didn't take very much to put together. We thought of it as a party for our family and friends that we would host, doing things we want to do and celebrating what we want to celebrate. We have utilized the blog and companion book 'A Practical Wedding' to hone in on the things we want.
Remarkably this has been difficult. And perhaps even more astounding to me are the number of choices that come with such a 'simple' wedding. Remember, we don't have a church booked, we don't have a reception hall, we don't need a DJ, we don't need to sample foods, we don't need to decide chair covers, and we don't need to think about seating charts. And yet, we have made tons of decisions and have over 100 things to do before the big day.
Two weekends ago Janel and I drove to a friends' wedding in New Jersey, just outside Philadelphia. The wedding was gorgeous, we had a wonderful time, and we danced the night away. In our 10 hour car ride home, we had a chance to reflect and think about our own wedding. It was during this car ride that I confessed to Janel that I felt that our way of doing a wedding might actually be harder to do than a traditional wedding. There is no guidebook to follow. There are thousands of places for inspiration, and you can bet that we are copying and stealing ideas from all kinds of sources, but there isn't really a checklist to go through. When the wedding you envision is a bit different from what is pumped out today, it becomes very hard to figure out how to do what you want.
What I told Janel then and what I'll tell you now is that I think at the end of the day, the work we're putting into it will make it worth it in the end. There have been countless times where I've had to reiterate to people the plan we have for our wedding weekend. People are confused and unsure because there aren't the usual clues for how to react and interact at a wedding. We don't even have a gift registry. After each conversation I have to stop and think about why we decided to do it the way we are. I always remind myself of what I told Janel: as long as the people we love are there, the rest of it doesn't really matter.
I certainly hope everyone has a good time. We're working hard on things that might not be at a typical wedding and frankly, they might be a bit weird and silly in execution. But honestly, Janel and I are a little weird and silly. Does this capture our entire relationship? Of course not. Does it inject our personality into a formal occasion? Absolutely. Even if what we end up doing doesn't go exactly how we envision, the camaraderie of family and friends will carry through the day. When the dust clears, three things should have happened: 1) I want to be married to Janel; 2) I want to have spent adequate and quality time with members of my family and friends; 3) I want people to leave with a smile on their face and warm feelings in their heart.
If that happens, its a success. And through all the choices, I always remember that this is what really counts.
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