Tay and Adam

We have a wedding website!  Check it out!
mywedding.com/tayandadam

*Did you notice that it's mywedding/tayandadam?  Apparently, taylorandadam was taken already... I wonder who they are?

~the green/green bride

Cards of Wood

While researching wedding invitations I found Cards of Wood.
These invitations are beautiful.  And, as the website states, all of the cards and invitations on the site are made from sustainably harvested American trees.  The outcome is a product that is as unique and gorgeous as it is environmentally responsible.

cardsofwood.com

cardsofwood.com

cardsofwood.com

Because Adam and I are having a very small wedding, we are inviting a very small amount of people.  And because we'll be sending just one invitation per household, we will need a very, very small amount of invitations.  That information, compiled with the fact that I really want invitations that can be kept as mementos allows me to justify the idea of cutting down trees to relay news that I could just as easily relay via the internet.
So there.
~ the green/green bride

Letterpress Girl in a Digital World

An example of a letterpress wedding invitation from Minted.

Letterpress is lovely, but it is expensive.  Really expensive.  Like one-fifth of my budget expensive.  Luckily, we live is a modern world that offers digital printing which is affordable.  Really affordable.  Like one-twenty-fifth of my budget.
So... digital it is!
Now the only choice is which invite design to go with....

A digital wedding invitation, also from Minted.

~ the green/green bride

Petals for Paper

Floral Pomanders
mydiyweddingday.com

I love my venue, but it comes with a challenge.  We have only three hours to decorate, perform the ceremony, take pictures and grab our stuff before our time is up.  Since we won't have access to the property before our booked time (4:00pm to 7:00pm), we'll have to move fast.  And since I have a teeny, tiny budget for decor, we'll have to think simple.  Luckily, the venue is adorable, so it needs little work. Still, I want to add my stamp.

Tissue Pomanders
chocolatebrides.com

Floral pomanders are great because they can be made in advance, and placed in the blink of an eye.  Since I can't afford real flowers, I'd like to swap petals for paper. The do-it-yourself pomanders I found at Chocolate Brides are right up my alley. The only trouble is, they aren't exactly eco-friendly.  The tissue paper is recyclable, but the styrofoam balls the tissue is attached to is certainly not good for the earth. They could, however, be donated to a school and re-used for an art or science project.  I know plenty of teachers who would take them... I hope.
My plan is to do a sample pomander this weekend to see if it's worth the money, the time and the styrofoam.  I'll keep you posted.
~ green/green bride

One Golden Proposal

Let me just say that my proposal was awesome, because it was mine, and because my fiance is the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful man in the world.
That said, thanks to The Kathy Lee and Hoda Show, I saw one of the most amazing proposals ever today.  And thanks to You Tube, you can see it too... if you already haven't already.

*Note: this video is about five minutes long, so if you want to save time you can start at the '2:40' mark and go straight to the goods.  Either way, it's a must see.
~ the green/green bride

Food and Trucks

Pork Taco from the Border Grill Truck
en.petitchef.com

Adam and I have an $1800 budget for both food and drinks on our wedding night.  It sounds like a lot, at least to me.  But once you take away at least three hundred bucks for alcohol (a staple at any fun and/or funny wedding), you end up with $1500.

Check out that math!
I did that in my head... not trying to brag, just sayin'.

The point is, after you divide fifty-five (our tentative guest number) into fifteen hundred (our teeny tiny food budget) you end up with a "per person" figure of about $27 dollars.  Which is not too bad, until you figure the cost of good food, labor, rentals, tax and gratuity.  Yikes!  Are we fooling ourselves?




Wait for it...




No!  We aren't fooling ourselves, because we are totally into food trucks.  They're modern, innovative, trend setting and delicious.  Best of all, they're affordable!  Especially when compared to the average wedding caterer.
As of right now, Adam and I are leaning towards the Border Grill Truck.  We love their food, and for our "per head" price tag, we can afford a pretty impressive spread.  Some of our other favorite trucks are Kogi, Chef Che, The Flying Pig, Buttermilk, The Grilled Cheese Truck, The Green Truck, Willoughby Road and India Jones.  Yeah, we eat at mobile eateries way too much.  I know.
Damn.  Now I'm hungry for something cheap, fast and yummy.
~ the green/green bride

Buerge Chapel

Adam and I signed our first wedding-related contract today.  Our ceremony will now take place at the Buerge Chapel, a super cute barn-like building in the Pacific Palisades that has a large and beautiful fig tree in the front.

The Chapel
buergechapel.org

The Chapel with its side doors open for an outdoor ceremony.
buergechapel.org

The Fig Tree
buergechapel.org

Booking the chapel changed a lot of my once set in stone plans.  It meant changing the date from the 22nd of October to the 17th of September.  And because the only available time slot was the '4pm to 7pm' slot, it means that we'll have to serve dinner at the reception instead of going with our original idea of having a drinks-and-desserts reception.  Which means re-doing the budget to allow for the ceremony venue cost, as well as the cost of dinner.  But it's worth it... at least, I think it will be worth it.  I just couldn't resist that big, gorgeous tree.
Check out the new budget list.  It's challenging, but not impossible.  Such is life!
~ the green/green bride