Questions, Questions

Sorry for the brief hiatus, but it turns out that when you get engaged, everyone suddenly wants to hang out with you! Shocking, I know. It has been really nice to see so many friends and talk about the details of the wedding that I thought no one would be interested in. Since I had been secretly planning this wedding since October, I had lost a lot of steam by the time we got engaged. I already felt like I was over it. But the genuine happiness and excitement shown by our friends and family blew me away and rekindled my own excitement. Yay!

The most popular question so far has been about the wedding colors. Go figure. It was pretty easy for us to settle on the main color, which is purple. Austin loves his alma mater (Northwestern) and wears Wildcat purple whenever the occasion calls for it. On game days he can be seen sporting a purple hat, purple shirt, purple shoes, and yes, even purple jeans which he bought in Japan. (In full game-day gear Austin is known to refer to himself as Grimace's anorexic brother.) I also love me some purple, hence my purple glasses, so that was a given. But what about the secondary colors? I know that grays and yellows are quite popular in the wedding scene this year, and though I'm not usually one to jump on the trend wagon, I quite like how they look with purple. So they were also chosen. All together, this is our color palette in all its glory:

The *second* most popular question has been regarding the bridesmaid dresses. I once heard someone say that the style nerve runs through a woman's ring finger, since whenever women get engaged all sense of style seems to fly out of the window. I have always been determined never to be That Bride. 

I was fortunate enough to have heard a completely unabashed rundown on bridesmaid dresses from one of my bridesmaids before Austin and I had announced our engagement. She had to find a dress for her sister's wedding and the only instruction she had was that it had to be blue. My 'maid was frustrated by the lack of direction, and didn't want to have to end up at David's Bridal, the thought of which brings shudders to bridesmaids nationwide. In talking with her, I learned a lot. For example, bridesmaids like to have choice but need direction. They are also over strapless dresses, want something that is actually flattering, and, most important, want a dress they can actually wear again. So where on earth could I find the holy grail of dress shops for the most important women in my life? 

Etsy.

That's right, etsy came to the rescue. After looking through dozens of clothing websites and bridal magazines and nixing everything, I ended up finding a the perfect dress shop (Heart My Closet) on etsy. Now all my 'maids can choose between 2 dozen classy, flattering dresses and have it made in the exact same color of purple. Some examples:

And the third most popular question? Whether our dog, Biggles, is going to be in the wedding. 

While he *does* have a purple tie (see above), we think we'll let him stay at home with a sitter. As much as we love our dog, we figured that have him marking his territory on all of the church pews would not endear us to the pastor much. He can be a pretty excitable little fellow in crowds, and though it would be adorable to have Austin's little nephew walk Biggles down the aisle, the image of Biggles bolting and children flying through the air keeps running through my mind. So no, Biggles is not coming to the wedding, but he'll be happy at home with a rope toy and many doggy treats, knowing somewhere in his little doggy brain that mommy and daddy are getting married and making him a legitimate child once and for all.