License to Marry

We're down to two weeks.

Yesterday Carl and I decided we should probably get our marriage license. Did you know that it costs $105.00 just to apply for the license?! Thank you government for finding yet another way to take our money. You know what I say to them, "Pish Posh!"

So I went online to figure out what we needed...all the basics:

1. Birth Certificate
2. License
3. Proof of Residence (mail)
4. Social Security Card

All good...except for Carl didn't have his SS card. So he had to apply for a new one and luckily they gave him a temporary certificate. Otherwise - who knows how long it'd take to receive. Then you all would be coming to a party with some weirdos dressed in a white dress and nice suit instead of an actual wedding! :)

I had never been to the courthouse - when we pulled up it was pretty impressive. Granted, if I were pulling up for different reasons, I'd probably have had an extremely different reaction.

So we arrived to the courthouse, walked through security and headed upstairs. Basically they have you fill out a form that looks like a basic job application. It was a fairly sterile process for sure.

Once the form is completed - we had to take it to the main desk which looked like a hospital office counter. The woman helping us kept chuckling. I finally said, "Whaaaat?!!" I'm sure she probably just thought we were clearly the coolest future newlyweds she's ever met. #duh



Anyways, I didn't know we were going to have to raise our right hands and "solemnly swear" already! We even had to say "I do." It was kind of cool and I felt a little emotion rising into my throat - great, just great. What does that mean for me on October 27th?!

So it's official. We signed the marriage license application & will pick up the actual license next week!

Becoming a W. (in a word cloud)

I found this cool web site that creates word clouds, check out the Becoming a W. word cloud:

Here's the web site: http://www.wordle.net/. Try it!

Can't Do It Alone...

In case you didn't know, we are just under three weeks away from introducing a new Mrs. Wierer to the world. (that's me, in case you were wondering!)

The nine months since we were first engaged, we have encountered a ton of event vendors. Some good, some really weird and some just plain idiotic. I really feel like we landed on some great peeps to help make our wedding day go as planned.

Oh and if weren't yet aware...wedding's are expensive - even when you're doing it on the "cheap"!



Take a look!

Hair
I've been going to Capricio Salon & Spa for 1.5 years now and love it! If you're looking for a kick-ass stylist - try Kim. She seriously is one of maaaaaybe two stylists in my lifetime that left me loving my hair every time I leave.

I'm excited to have her style my hair for the wedding day and have no doubt it'll look great!

Venue
As I wrote in a previous blog: 3 Essentials of Life, we are super excited about having the wedding at Swig in Milwaukee's downtown Third Ward area.

Check out the menu -

-- WARNING: Do not read with an empty stomach --

House Salad w/Fresh Bread
Sauteed Veggies
Baked Mac 'N Cheese
Peppercorn Encrusted Tuna
Beef Tenderloin w/Two-Potato Mash
Backed Stuffed Chicken w/Fettucini

Vanilla Cheesecake
Red Velvet Cake
And then a special dessert I worked with the chef on...in memory of my grandparents.

So good. Oh, there's hors d'oerves too. Stuffed mushrooms and more. Yummo.

Erin's been great to work with so far. I'll report back after the wedding to let you know how the space turned out!

DJ
We are super pumped for Double Platinum DJ.

He's been so easy to work with and we are very confident in his making the night run smoothly. We actually have our last meeting with him Monday night. So awesome. Here's the services we selected to use:

Uplighting
Music (unlimited)
Time-lapse video of the entire day from guest arrival to ceremony to late night dancing
Monogram Wall Light
MC responsibilities

And he's offered us great advice on how the evening could run. He had ideas we are using that I would've never thought of - we really did get way more than just a DJ from them. So far...we highly recommend Double Platinum DJ.

Manscaping
After a little convincing, I was able to get Carl to agree to a manicure for the day of the wedding. My dad will be joining him as well for a professional head shave. Their appointments are at a local men's salon: Groom.

It's a salon targeting men so I believe most of the stylists are women.I've known a few people that have gone there and liked it. I told my dad and Carl "No funny business with the hot chickies!" I have no doubt it'll be a good experience for both of them.

Photographer
Our photographer, Mark Hines, is a friend of ours and a great local photographer. We are excited to have him use his creative eye to capture real emotion from the day. He'll fit in great with our guests!

Flowers
Bah humbug. So, thinking I was a money-saving genius, I decided to DIY the wedding flowers.

Well, they looked nice enough on the kitchen table...but eventually I overdid the DIY (as I typically do) and they became a big 'ole mess. I decided to march around the house carrying the "done" bouquets and flinging my arms around. Let's just say, the bouquets didn't survive.







BUT WAIT! There is a silver lining.

Carl and I met with The Flower Lady and Loreen is creating seriously gorgeous yet simple flowers. I can't wait. My brain decided to forget about the DIY mess and lost $$. These flowers are going to be really nice. We even ordered two white balloons for our flower girls to carry. Got that idea from pinterest :)






I'll give you all updates after the wedding to let you know how the final things ended up with the vendors. No mincing words - I promise :) Funny - I suppose, if you know me - then you already know I won't hold anything back...