The Lovebirds Project

This is just an update on our wedding progress...


So instead of getting married in August of '11, we've decided to get married in June of '12. (Which makes me kinda happy, because I can now sing this song and mean it from the bottom of my heart:

Yesssssssss.

Anyway. This is our plan: I'm going over there on the 24th of May, and staying about six months. I'll come back to the states for about 2 months (November-January-ish.) When I get back, I'll apply for a fiance visa, which takes up to about 8 weeks. Then we'll have 6 months to get married after I go back to the UK, so June it is! Still no set date, but we're pretty certain about this now. 

Rich and I are going to be trying to raise money for my visa and our wedding by selling handmade goodies  on etsy! We're having a LOT of fun brainstorming. I knitted a scarf yesterday! It's really pretty, if I do say so myself. I know I've asked a lot of you for ideas already, and I've gotten a lot of good feedback already! 

It'll be really nice for me to have something to do, too, while I'm in England and can't work.

In other news, I ordered a GREAT dress from J.Crew--$80 wedding dress? Heck yeah! I just hope it fits. 

Rich and I want a bird themed wedding. We've been scouring the internets for birdy things.

Well. More later.

Time for bed. Every night I think to myself...it's been _____ number of days since I've seen Rich, and it'll be _____ number of days until I'll see him. Today those numbers are 103 and 32. Gosh, those numbers are looking so good right now. One more month! 

Goodnight,

Laura

Laura Hood: Wedding Planner.

PART I

Okay. Temporary change of plans for the blog. At this point in my life I've got bigger fish to fry than Art History research (sorry, lost Caravaggio, I'll be back soon.)

You know how I'm getting married? (Maybe you don't know. I'm getting married.) 

Well, I admit it. It's taking over my life.

"GASP," you say? "Laura, you must be the first bride-to-be who has ever been consumed by thoughts of dresses and receptions and venues and budgets," you say?

Okay, okay. So you probably aren't shocked by my admission.

But, like every other bride on the planet, I'm SPECIAL!

Seriously, though. My situation is pretty unique. See, I'm trying to plan a seemingly impossible wedding, by myself, for under $4,000. Oh, and also internationally. That's right. I'm getting married in England. I am not in England.

So...included in my budget of $4K (which converts to around £2,500) is my £800 marriage visa. which leaves me with about £1,700 or roughly $2,775. For a whole wedding. A WHOLE WEDDING! Reception, venue, dress, rings, the whole shebang.

Can I do it? Ha. Of course I can. In fact, I welcome the challenge. If there were a more clearly defined "challenger" I'd give a cocky laugh right in his/her/its face. There are two things that bother me a lot more than the betroth-ment budget. The first is the paperwork. Rich and I obviously can't afford an immigration lawyer and so Rich is trying to muddle through link after link after phone call after e-mail detailing how it is that an international love affair can turn into a marriage ceremony. Lots of boring details that I can throw in here, but I'll spare you. You're welcome. All I'll say is that I think that we finally have it figured out.

The second thing that bothers me is that a lot of my friends can't be there, maybe even none of you can be there. I totally understand that, it's unavoidable, but it still bums me out that the American side can't be in on this. 

I can fix it a little bit, though....this wedding is going to be an adventure for Richie and me, and I can do little things here and there to let you know what we're up to. We'll be shopping for a lot of used items, I can share our finds with you! We'll also be gathering ideas and hand-making a LOT of our decorations and do-dads, and I can show you our process and our finished products! 

Every couple of days I'll post some photos, vocalize some ideas, and ask for input! Suggestions will ALWAYS be welcome. Keep in mind that I've never even been to a wedding, unless you count my uncle Jim's wedding in 1991, the year I turned five. It might have been '92, but I think I've made my point.

This was an explanatory post, my future posts will be much less wordy, and will contain many more photos.

Oh, and two disclaimers: 

One: I'm really limited as to what I can do until I move to the UK, so this blog might be a bit of a snooze 'til then.

Two: I have no camera, nor do I have a camera phone. Both were sacrificed to provide me with part of lofty wedding budget. So right now I'm largely using my mac's iSight, meaning low quality everything. Pixilation, color, lighting, you name it. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [I N T E R L U D E]  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART II

I spent a few days trying to figure out how to make invitations, because I've got tons of unused paper here in Georgia, and therefore I can basically make these for free. I found an old abandoned journal (one of about thirteen) and I cut out its pages. This is what I made:

I cut out 45 of these along with inserts and ordered 50 clearance envelopes from Paper Source at a rate of about .34/envelope with tax and shipping! These are FAR from done, Rich and I are going to write them out and jazz them up once I get to the UK, but I thought I'd get them started. I'm really relieved that all I have to pay for is postage and the envelopes! Be watching for the final product!

Today, I spent the day cutting up another journal! This is what I made:

You can't really tell from the photo but they're made from very pulpy, fibrous paper. I'll try to scan a few to show the graininess. I have a few ideas of how to use these tags at our reception...I'm still thinking, though. But surely they'll be stylish and useful! I also bought some baker's twine at ArtFire.com.

I bought 30 yards at .12/yard after shipping and taxes. I think that's going to be enough. If not I can always spring the $3.75 for another spool later. 

Anyway, I'll post more as I have more to say. Again, until I'm in the UK it might not be altogether that interesting, but I'll keep posting anyway. I'd like to give my friends the option of a vicarious experience. 

Love you guys! More soon.

Laura

Baby's first blog post.

Hi, world.

(I assume that for at least the first few weeks of this blog's existence the "world" to which I refer is rather limited. To say the least. Probably limited to...only my sister. Nevertheless....Hi, limited world.)

I'm not really sure what shape this blog is going to take. I am only sure of one thing; I need something to do. For the first time in years I have no agenda, and no obligations. College took the better part of six years, thanks to six straight semesters of aimless wandering between not only majors, but colleges and even U.S. states. For six years, I always took a full class load and managed to work (waiting tables) for anywhere between 32 and 60 hours per week.

In an effort to remain seemingly gracious, I will only go so far as to say that waiting tables was not my dream job. It was a means to an end...but, what was the end?

This is where I give you a brief introduction to myself, and what events in my life have brought me to this point.

I was in England over christmas, taking a much-needed three week break from work, when it suddenly occurred to me that I had overshot the end part of "means to an end." For 4 years (the duration of my time in Grand Rapids, Michigan) I had repeated that phrase to myself every time I served a difficult table or was left with a undeservedly terrible tip, this job is a means to an end. I was sitting on my boyfriend's red couch in Essex, England eating mince pies (homemade by yours truly and yours truly's boyfriend) when I realized that I had always known that my undesirable career choice was a necessary evil--the kind of necessary evil that one puts up with when one needs to put oneself through college. I realized that the college and waitressing career ends were supposed to be congruent. I realized that I hadn't made that happen. When it came down to it, I walked away from college with a BS in Art History, and in the seven months that followed I never managed to walk away from my putting-myself-through-college job.

The truth is, I had already been planning to move to the UK since last June (2010). The plan had been to move THIS June (2011). So there I was, in my boyfriend's living room, soon to be MY living room, about four days from being plopped back into the middle of the blizzard that they call January in Michigan. Four days from asking, "Is diet Pepsi okay?," when a business man orders a diet Coke. Four days from being a member of a wait-staff for another half-a-year.

I decided to do something rash. I opened up my pretentious computer (Macbook Pro, whaddup?) and I sent forth a proverbial BATMOM signal, in the form of an e-mail to my mother.

"Can I come home?" I asked. Home, as in Georgia. Sunny, warm, humid, snowless. Jobless.

The next morning, I received my reply.

"You're welcome home anytime."

So I went back to Michigan for as long as it would take me to sell everything I owned, whittling down my possessions to just what I could fit in my pretentious car (VW Jetta, whaddup?)

And now I'm in Georgia. Tan, scantily clad, sweaty, barefoot. Jobless. And likely to remain so for the next 8-12 months, until I can marry that crazy, wonderful Englishman. Until I have that visa, I can't work. Until I have citizenship, which won't be until our fourth wedding anniversary, I can't afford to further my education.


I am one month into not having a job, with 7-11 months to go. I am one year into not being in school, with at least 4-1/2 years to go. I am bored, and I have a long road of boredom ahead.

I have one marketable skill, and that is research. I'm DARN good at research. Unfortunately, I don't have the level of education that is required for a job in the field of research in art history. Until the day comes where I can waltz into a musée d'arte, armed with my masters or doctorate or both, and demand a low-paying, highly-rewarding job-of-my-dreams, I'm going to practice for that future.

I want to be a researcher. So I'm going to research. And that's about all I can say for sure in regards to this blog.

Good-bye, world. Good-bye, sister. I hope to be heard by you soon.

Laura