Our Online RSVP Works!

I was a bit nervous when I first sent out our invitations with a couple not-so-traditional RSVP options:

I didn't know if people would be offended that I didn't provide a response card or if they wouldn't understand how to use the online option, but it has been a great success so far!

A big part of my decision to go with mywedding.com for my website hosting was (other than it being FREE) the fact that they had a great system for doing online RSVPs. This is what the guest sees when they check in:

I love that the site forces the guests to skip the more common mistakes that RSVP cards cause such as missing names and missing yes/ no responses. Even better, it forces them to include an email address so that I can follow up if I have any questions and makes them include the names of their guests and number of people in each party:

I did get one +1 guest response of First Name: "don't know," Last Name: "yet."

When I log in, I have an easy to navigate list of names and responses (that will export to Excel!). Most of my guests have even left nice comments for me to read in the comment form.

Oh, and... yes... we already have 22 yeses (original wedding goal was 50-75) and 0 noes in less than a week from sending invites out!!

His Suit

I want to start by saying that Nate is 100% in charge when it comes to his wardrobe. He has some sort of vision and I've just been sticking around to make sure he gets everything together in time and sticks to a reasonable budget. Here's how we went about buying his suit:

1. Buying made more sense than renting. Nate has one of those jobs that actually requires suits on a regular basis and this purchase would definitely pay for itself. A tux, although I love them, wasn't even in the running for our Sunday morning event (in JULY).

2. He wanted grey. I wanted him to go for a more youthful modern or slim fit. So... modern grey suit it was.

3. After doing a little online research, I found that Macy's is a favorite among budget-savvy suit buyers. Men's Warehouse has great sales as well, but they tend to benefit men that choose to buy more than one suit at a time. Places like JCrew and Express also popped up on wedding forum lists, but we decided that a department store might have a better selection of styles and sizes so checked out Macy's first...

4. And we found a perfect suit.... that was too short! Not only was the "perfect" suit too short, but almost every suit in the entire store was too short. He literally had one tan suit to try on out of the hundreds available (and it was awful)! I like to tell Nate that he has a runway model body. He's the same chest and waist size as the mannequin above, just stretched a bit taller. After getting his size measured at the store, I went home and Googled away searching for something he could possibly wear. The pickings were really slim (JCrew doesn't even carry his size at all!) and the few suits in his size that we could find were either the wrong color or "old man..." until I gave Macys.com a chance... and found a suit that sold in separates in his sizes! Thanks to our in-store trip, I knew to wait until that Wednesday to use a friends and family discount to bring the total to 50% off.

And, for a total of $232, Nate's new wedding/ work suit:

Yes, I *forced* him to take a picture in it before heading off to work.

While Nate will be picking out his own tie (he made sure I made a point to say that), I'm wondering if we can help him along in the decision-making process. Here are a few Photoshopped color options based off of our "watermelon sunny day" color scheme:

I went ahead and added in a darker blue for some non-Easter-egg variety.

Which color direction would you tell him to go in?

Things I Learned While Making Wedding Invitations

In a specific order:

5. Hugo apparently likes to eat important, hard to replace envelopes.

4. Nobody keeps 7.5x7.5 envelopes in stock.
3. I have intense pen-on-envelope anxiety. On normal paper, I can write in cursive with ease... but somehow my straights turn to squiggles and my B's turn into R's on envelopes :(.
2. We're inviting way too many people. It has gotten really serious... like double the guest list serious... like if these people actually show up we won't have room at our venue SERIOUS.

(The mess in our house for the past two weeks.) 

1. There's a reason why wedding bloggers get all excited and post pictures of the invites going into the mail... I honestly thought that those posts were really boring and redundant until now, but I wouldn't be surprised if you see one here eventually.

On a positive note, I've already started to give some out and I've learned how to tie one mean bow. I'll come back with a budget breakdown once I actually stop spending money on them... *prays that Hugo stays away from the rest of the envelopes, that the printer stops smearing ink on the cardstock, and that we don't find any more people to invite!!!*

On an unrelated note, I'm beyond excited to go see Bridesmaids tomorrow. I've suddenly gotten cravings for all wedding-related movies (and I kinda-sorta think Hangover 2 counts).

Back to the Hair (Plus Makeup)

I'm sure that you could imagine that the thoughts of DIY hair and makeup went through my mind early on in the wedding planning process... for about a millisecond. As much as it might pain me to throw down a couple hundred on a one day look, I know that it will be worth it in having pictures that I won't hate and a look that doesn't become undone throughout the afternoon. 

The thing I'm struggling with at the moment is whether or not to double up on my expenses by doing trials on both hair and makeup (the people I'm looking at charge the same prices for trials). Here's a reminder of the look I'll be going for:

Oh, but I'm going to skip LC's intense makeup in favor of a  more natural bridal look like Katherine's:

hopefully Nate won't look like he has makeup on as well...

I'm leaning towards doing a hair trial ($125) because I know that my hair is hard to work with and it might be worth practicing. On the other hand, I think I'd be okay skipping the makeup trial ($75) since I don't really have any usual skin problems and I'm sure a professional that has done hundreds of weddings could figure out how to give me the popular natural bridal look that I want.

Okay, your turn to stop me from making a bad decision...

Would it be okay to skip the makeup trial (or both)?