Our Save the Date

Hi friends! It's been a while. Months, really. I've decided to blog about our wedding, engagement, invitations, etc. before moving on to what's currently going on in our Trotter family world, which is a lot! So, without further anticipation, let's get a move on with our fun Save the Date.

Jeff and I had discussed sending out paper STDs (I know, but it's getting annoying to type 'save the date'...STD it is) and we determined it'd be more affordable, more personal and more fun to make a video! Cue my bestie's husband, Jake Wright. He's a smart video guy with tons of knowledge and creativity.

I cut up tons of confetti (see the remains here?) and grabbed our fan and went nuts. Millie and Mabel (our awesome pups) were out of control - they were eating confetti and flailing around our old rent house like they had eaten 2lbs of crack. It was hilarious.

 Jeff and I wanted to share the vibe that "Hey guys, this wedding is going to be a massive party!" by the video alone. Of course, our regular wedding invitations would convey this as well, but this video would be the first thing our friends and family would see to announce our big day.  Now, enjoy this little jewel. I'm so proud with how it turned out - Jake did a stellar job and we're stoked we were able to play with confetti for a day. (PS - I wish confetti was thrown around me after a great day...it makes me so happy!)


Emily & Jeff - Save the Date from Jacob Wright on Vimeo.

So, there you have it. The first piece to our fun little wedding puzzle. Hooray!

Thoughtfulness.

Thoughtfulness for others, generosity, modesty, and self-respect are the qualities which make a real gentleman or lady. -Thomas H. Huxley

As the wedding quickly approaches (41 days!), I find it quite appropriate to write about thoughtfulness. Not just thoughtfulness for Jeff and I focusing on our upcoming nuptials, vows and commitment, but thoughtfulness on behalf of other people in our lives. Jeff and I are fortunate to have amazing, kind friends and family surrounding us leading to the most important event of our existence. People who selflessly give up part of their Saturday or Sunday, who write kind words in cards, who throw us wedding showers, who spend hours making something beautiful for our home, who offer advice to a long and happy marriage. It's hard to put into words how much it means to me when someone will give up their evening or afternoon to watch me rip into wrapping paper. (I've been on the other side watching the bride...it's ok...I know it's boring!) When I look back at the showers our friends and "families"* threw us, I get teary-eyed and completely enamored with how thoughtful these folks are. These families are who will lift us up when we have our struggles. They will remind us of the vows we took on our wedding day. They will also remind us how incredibly perfect we are for each other. They will watch us raise our own family. They will be our community, our sounding board, our hope. It's overwhelming the impact they will have on our marriage, and it's something Jeff and I can't live without.

*We have many families outside our biologicals. The OSU tailgate family, the Muskogee Golf family, the Eufaula Lake family, the best friend family, etc. These people have had influence on us beyond what we can even appreciate. We love our families with our whole hearts.

I'll be honest. When Jeff and I began the wedding planning last summer, we were almost completely set on having a teeny, tiny ceremony in my parent's backyard. We wanted a very intimate ceremony, and let's face it, I'm an emotional wreck, so I thought it best to limit the witnesses. Bridesmaids, groomsmen and immediate family only. This was the deal. We had it worked out. And then something happened. We began to make our list - "Well, we can't forget them, oh, or the so-and-so's...they have to be there!" and so on and so on. We started to realize all the impact our friends and family-friends had on us growing up. I'm not saying we just invited our whole dang hometowns, no...we invited the people we knew would support us and our vows. We invited those who have watched us grow into the adults we are, who have grown up with us and who will cheer us on with happy hearts. These families of ours mean more to me now than I've ever realized. It's funny how one little wedding can completely turn your heart into mush and overwhelming love. We are definitely feeling the warmth and we couldn't be happier!

This day will be the absolute pinnacle of my life, and I appreciate the thoughtfulness of all who have given me a hug, written me marriage advice, helped with wedding crafts, watched me try on dresses, listened to me talk about my dress, come to a shower, offered a kind word and offered to help. It shows your heart and that is something I will always, always remember you for.

Letterpress! Pressing Letters!

It’s 10:47 on a Friday night and we’re not out on the town, not at a concert, not at a basketball game…we’re doing something MUCH more exciting. (Well, I’m doing something more exciting…Jeff is watching the Thunder get their butts whooped.)  This is like wiggle around for 3 days exciting.

I have sent in a beautiful file to a wonderful company called Boxcar Press. This file will be made into a letterpress plate, which will get shipped back to me on Tuesday. I’ll be able to hand-make our very own letterpress wedding invitations! Oh gosh, this is going to be neat. 

(This is letterpress via OhHappyDay! – the design is pressed deep into thick, cotton paper, leaving a crisp, beautiful image. Ah, it’s so pretty.)

I’ll give you some background on why this process and product are so important to me – I am a very tactile person. I love getting/giving hugs, I love massages, my love language is touch, I feel my way through the store as I shop for clothes, I enjoy textured things, etc. Well, my sister, being the awesome lady she is, got me a littleDIY letterpress machine for Christmas 2010. I haven’t letterpressed anything too important so far…basically been practicing on scrap paper until I can get to our wedding invites. Since I don’t have too much experience, don’t judge too hard if your invitation has little imperfections. Consider them proof that I’m learning a new craft and someday I can make you neat stationery.

I won’t give any hints on the design because I want you to be surprised when you get your piece of mail, but know this…our wedding invitations are going to be really sweet, different, touchy, pretty and perfect for our shindig in May. I’m really excited to see them! Like, wiggle around excited! :)

Future.

Went to my second PRSA OKC chapter meeting this afternoon and got pretty inspired to make (pardon me) shit happen at work.  I'll be completely honest, after New Year's, I haven't been the most motivated, compelled or even excited to get to work in the mornings.  I would much rather scuff around the house in my robe, drinking a tasty hot tea.  I'm too young to be this boring. 

I think a good jolt of energy will come next Monday, when we're finally housed in our original location - a cool, old fire station.  Back in June, our offices got completely ruined by a crazy flood.  Crazy as in helicopter-people-rescues-crazy.  The flood day, the day of despair and tragedy for the Arts Council, was my first day of work.  Talk about a bad omen, huh?  "Turn baaaack!"  "Do not enterrrrr!"  Haha, I just imagine little ghosts flying around the old building yelling at me.

Here's a gorgeous photo of some flooded nastiness. 

So, back to this coming Monday.  We're moving into a freshly-renovated office space with all new Ikea furniture, great lighting, polished concrete floors, new paint, etc.  It might be just what I need to shake me up a bit so I don't get too far-removed from the duties of my job.  I really do enjoy it here - great folks, great events, even greater hours.  I'll be happy to have a 'new' home. 

Wedding Design Struggle

Out of everything involved in planning the coolest wedding in the world, the absolute hardest task for me is determining how to design our save the dates/invites/stationery.  Surprised?  Yeah, me too.  I've done plenty of wedding designs for friends, colleagues and even strangers.  I have about fifteen thousand ideas floating around in my head, but for some reason, I'm having a difficult time harnessing my thoughts and cranking out a great wedding suite.  Trust me, I am frustrated beyond my ends.  I even (gasp!) thought about asking a friend to do them so I'd quit racking my brain.  I think this comment from one of my design pals made me even more nervous!  (It honestly made me laugh/relax a bit...thank you, Jeff Clark.)

I had zero tough time figuring out my flowers, cake, dress (OK, maybe a little bit of searching!), the date, etc, etc, etc.  Finally, Mr. Level-Headed-Trotter said, "Em, whatever you make will be great.  You just need to sit down and actually get the save the dates done.  Then we'll work on the invitations."  Deal.

I've ordered our paper and envelopes, and, pat on our backs, they're made of 100% recycled materials.  Green is good, folks.  Then tonight I decided we needed a cute little return address stamp, which will be used long after the wedding is over.  And, friends, it's so much more affordable to order a stamp (think of all the fun colors!) than to print your return address on your envelopes.  The latter costs more because your print house has to run them through a special press - the cost could probably start at $55, maybe more.  Anyway, I love stamps and here's where I ordered ours.  I got 2 and my total was about $24.  Boom.

We're also giving away little treats at the end of the evening in sweet little bags, so we thought stamping on those could be neat, too.  While I won't show you the save the date design just yet, I will show you our two little stamps.  Simple, clean, yes.  At least my hamster wheel is turning...we'll see how it all turns out!  (Turns?  Get it???  Oh, nevermind.)