Engagement Announcements - A How-To

Emily post is probably rolling over in her grave right now with me writing my own engagement announcement. Traditionally the mother of the brides writes the engagement announcement but Mama  Meerkat has enough going on she doesn't need to have one more thing on her plate. So I wrote ours:

I really had no idea what I was doing when I started but after a bit of research I found out there was four main parts.

1. Introduction

This part is very similar to the start of a wedding invitation. There are a few different ways to do this. The brides parents can announce, grooms parents can announce, bride and groom can announce or family member of bride or groom can announce.

2. About the bride

Typically you list your educational background but this can be omitted if you have been out of school for a long time. List your occupation and/or employer. You can include any other information that is relative about you.

3. About the groom

Same as #2 but about the groom.

4. Wedding Information

Most of the time just a date is listed. You can list location and time too but just remember that you might have some unexpected guests show up.

Not all papers will have you write your own. We submitted a total of three and only one of the papers had us write it. The other papers just collected the information above on a form so they could write it. I am really curios though if anyone else had to write their own engagement announcement?

Project Self Improvement

I am using our wedding as the motivation to do a little Meerkat self improvement.

I told you about how I learned to put on makeup (which I wrote about here and here). I did a little hair therapy to bring my hair back to its normally healthy self. I also started dieting and exercising which by the way is going fabulously!

But for my biggest (and longest) self improvement project, I had to get some professional help:

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Yep I got me a set of braces. I knew from an early age that my teeth were too large for my jaw size and I would need braces. No matter how many times the dentist told my parents I needed braces I refused to get them. There was no medical reason then to have them done (just cosmetic) and even as a kid I knew I wouldn't feel right letting my family pay that much for something as superficial as a straight smile (read: no dental insurance).

Fast forward to a couple years ago when we got engaged. I had pretty good insurance through work and the crowding of my teeth had become much worse with four impacted wisdom teeth so I set up a consultation to see an orthodontist. BEST. DECISION. EVER.

Now I am not going to lie and say that braces as an adult were all fun and games but you know what, it wasn't really all that bad. First I ended up having to have two oral surgeries to remove my wisdom teeth and four other teeth to make room in my mouth. In all honestly the oral surgeries were a piece of cake. I never took a single pain killer except Tylenol.

Next I had the braces put on my teeth. Easiest part of the whole process. Every couple weeks they would replace the wire with a different size to "twist" any teeth that were currently twisted the wrong way. After that they put these niffy rubber band chain things on to close any gaps (like where they removed teeth from) and also to pull in my overbite.

And thats it! Really it was that simple. It took 1.5 years and was worth every second. Did it ever hurt? Kind-of. The little pain I did have happened for about 24 hours after each appointment where they did an adjustment. My gums/teeth would be a bit sore but a couple advil or motrain took care of it.

Want to see the final result?

All the time and money were completely worth it to have a carefree smile on my wedding day. Any of you have or are getting braces as an adult?

Showered With Love: Day of the Dead Style!

Halloween weekend was FREAKIN' AWESOME!

Bridesmaid K and Sister Meerkat decided to throw me a untraditional bridal shower that totally suits my personality. They themed everything around Día de los Muertos which translated means Day of the Dead. Contrary to how the name sounds it is a VERY joyous celebration in Mexico where loved ones who have passed away are remembered with lots of great food and celebrating.

There were really only two things that Bridesmaid K and Sister Meerkat incorporated that were not part of a traditional Day of the Dead celebration; Halloween costumes and a piñata.

Here is Bridesmaids K as the cop, me as a hippie and 

Sisiter-In-Law Meerkat as one of the pink ladies from Grease. 

Intrigued yet? Keep reading your going to love this.

So first off that darn fail blogger bride struck again cause she forgot to get photos of the Mexican food, the place mats Sister Meerkat made explaining day of the dead or the games we played for the first 1/2 of the shower (which included a prize for best costume). The one thing I am really sad I didn't get was a photo of Mama Meerkat & Mama-In-Law Meerkat showing us their best Mexican hat dance.

I did get my little blogging butt in gear though and passed the camera off to Sister-In-Law Meerkat before we headed out to beat the stuffing out of a piñata.

Ignore the shorts sticking out for under my costume. I added some layers to keep warm.

One thing Sister Meerkat and Bridesmads K didn't think about was that I am a softball player. That poor piñata didn't stand a chance:

Then we all proceeded to collect the candy I had bashed out of the poor piñata. Sister Meerkat gathered the most candy of any of us. (She really is as much fun as she looks in this picture.) 

Some of the candy didn't survive my assault:

Then we headed inside for some cake and to open presents. Everything started out very light hearted like the rest of the party:

I must have been really excited about that garlic press.

But then I got to Mama Meerkat's gift and she went for all out pull on the heart string shower gift. I should have know something was up when I opened the card and she signed it mom AND dad. I opened the bag to find a framed photo of her and Father Meerkat with a poem in it called At Our Daughters Side:

Tomorrow is a lifetime away, now suddenly its here
How did it happen so quickly? The wedding drawing near.
How can we act so happy? On this most glorious day?
When soon is just a short time, we'll give out daughter away!
We wish we could grasp a moment and make the clock stand still
So we could let our hearts catch up but we know they never will.
All of the worries of being a parent, all of the battles won
No one warned us of the day our job would be finished and done.
Yet, there is another side, where our heart is not as sad. 
When we look in our daughter's eyes, we can't help but be joyful and glad. 
This day she has dreamt about, for just about all her life. 
She's going to be such a beautiful bride and a loving, caring wife. 
We'll clasp out hands tightly and manage to smile
With tears full of joy at the bride in the aisle
And we will think of the girl we were blessed to watch grow...
This beautiful young woman that we both love so
And whenever she needs us we will be there with pride
As always with love at our daughters side.

Seriously I couldn't even get through the first couple lines without crying. Bridesmaids K took over and read it for everyone.

After everyone ohh and aw'ed over the poem, the party got back to the fun, joyful atmosphere it was before. (The margaritas helped too I am sure!).

Well there you have it. A quick look at my Day of the Dead bridal shower. Anyone else deviate from the norm for their bridal shower?

World of Tech: Uber To-Do List

I may have kept this a secret until now but I am super anal-retentive organised when it comes to this wedding. I am not sure I could function from 3k miles away otherwise. So one of the first things I did was put my uber techy geek skills to work and leveraged excel to help make my planning easier. I created a to-do list with auto calculating dates and automatic color coded tasks:

The dates in row 6 at the top auto calculate for me based off the date listed in cell A5 (an no that isn't our wedding date, just an example).  Also the blue color coding of each unfinished task is automated based off the fact if a item is marked as complete with a little diamond. I did this so that those things that needed to be done would really stand out. I also used a either a red or black diamond to denote if I was late finishing it or was on time. This should help me to see how off my estimates were and tweak how I do this for our at home reception.

But I didn't stop there. Probably 1/4 of the things on our to-do list were items that were DIY and I had to make sure I was getting things done or I was at least delegating out the task. So I opened another tab in the excel sheet and did a quick DIY version of the to-do list. 

I split each item into the design portion and the actual construction portion. A lot of the time I would design something, leave it for a few weeks and then go back to make sure I still liked the design. There you have it. That is how I keep my life organized from 3k mile away. 

And now to spread the love! If you want a copy to edit for yourself you can download it here:  Uber To-Do List

What tools are you using to keep tasks organized and on schedule?

Trash the dress (TTD) in a cenote

When I first heard the words trash the dress I have to admit I was shocked at the concept. I mean the first though in my mind wasn't 'hey I just payed the cost of our house payment for my dress so why not trash it!'.  But like any good open minded bride I had to know what this trash the dress thing was all about. I used my google-fu and soon found some amazing images at trashthedress.com. What I quickly found out was that trash the dress didn’t actually mean to trash it (well most of the time). It really is about a relaxed environment to get photos taken in your wedding attire. As soon as I saw an example of a cenote TTD I knew that was it. I HAD to do it. It was one of those things I knew I would regret not doing. 

What's a cenote you ask? In very basic terms its a fresh water sink hole. Sounds glamorous I know but just look at how beautiful they are:

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Of course I was sold on having a trash the dress session almost instantly. What I thought for sure was going to stop me was Mr. Traditional (aka Mr. Meerkat). I was so sure that he was going to think it was another one of my crazy ideas. To my surprise, he was on board the moment he saw some of the images. I think he might actually be more excited about the TTD session than I am (but just barely). We both quickly agreed we loved the water shots and rugged terrain shots and that a cenote TTD was the way we wanted to go. *happy dance*

Once again the Meerkat luck kicked in at just the right time. We happen to be looking to book a TTD at the same time that our photographer, Del Sol, was starting a sister company called La Luna Photography. I will save you having to read all the boring details. In the end we booked a package with an amazing photographer from La Luna, Rachel, that also included full video coverage of our TTD by Playa Weddings.

I know your dying to see an example so here is a video of a TTD that Playa Weddings shot in a variety of locations.


Stephanie and Michael TTD from PlayaWeddings on Vimeo.

I can't even begin to put into words how excited I am about this! Have you thought about doing a TTD shoot? Where are you doing yours at?

Boobs, Bustles and Crinoline

This past weekend we had our very first dress fitting with Mama-In-Law Meerkat's friend L. who is an amazing seamstress!

First thing Seamstress L. did was take a look at the pattern we got for the bridesmaids dresses and the material we brought. Truthfully I was biting my nails with worry that I had got the wrong stuff but she said what we picked was perfect and the pattern was very simple. (Yay score one for the Meerkats!)

Ten minutes later both Sister-In-Law Meerkat and Bridesmaids K were finished being measured and it was time to work on my dress.

There was really only three things I needed to have added to it; some boobs, a bustle and crinoline. I got really lucky because I didn't have to have anything let out or taken in. Plus the petite cut we bought was just the right length for my short little body so no hemming. YAY!

First thing was first. I needed to have a set of boobs installed into the dress. My tiny little set just wasn't filling out the dress very well. Don't worry I didn't go all crazy or anything with the cups. We added in my normal size and it gave it just a little extra to finish filling the dress out:

Seamstress L. even had me bend over to make sure there was nothing showing or falling out.

I also asked Seamstress L. to add a bustle to the dress. She is going to put one hook in and if the material is too heavy then she will add two more on the sides of the first to help hold it better:

The last thing I wanted was to make the bottom of the skirt fuller. I had tried on a mermaid slip at Davids Bridal but it didn't fill it out enough. What I really wanted was more like this:

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I love how the model's dress  looks full at the bottom but still sleek on the top and middle of the skirt. So Seamstress L. told us the secret the designers use. They add a triple thick layer of crinoline to the bottom eight inches of the slip. So that is what she is going to do for me. We have a follow up appointment at the end of the month so hopefully all my alterations will be done and I can take my dress home!

Hair Therapy for Thin, Limp Hair

When Mr. Meerkat and I moved into our house and started to use city water, I noticed a change in my hair. My hair was always baby fine but it was usually soft and healthy looking. After we moved into our house my hair started to look dull and limp.

At first I thought it was a build up of chemicals from drug store type shampoos and conditioners. So I went on the hunt for silicone and sulfate free products since they don't weigh hair down. I started out trying organic products like Avalon clarifying. The shampoo worked well but the conditioner left a wax like coating on my hair that really didn't help the problem.

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Next I tried Renpure products. They worked really well for the first few times but soon caused a buildup like the Avalon shampoo.

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It took me a little while to figure out that the real problem was the minerals in our water. So I gave Neutrogena anti-reside shampoo a try.

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And it worked like a champ!! The directions said you could substitute this instead of your usual shampoo and conditioner once a week but my hair stylist told me I could use it up to every other day if I used a good conditioner with it. I have been doing it once to twice a week with L'oreal Everpure conditioner and my hair is back to what it was before we moved. (The key to using the condition is to only put it on the part of your hair that would stick out the back of a pony tail, not near your scalp.)

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Now that my hair was back to its normal, soft self I needed to give it a bit of volume. I tried some different mouses from Garnier and L'oreal but it once again was weighing my hair down so I spent an extra couple dollars and gave Thermal Volume by Nexxus a try. Totally worth the extra money. Gave me great volume yet left my hair soft and clean looking.

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Thanks to Mrs. Hot Wing I now know to hold my head upside down while drying and if I need a little extra umph do a little hairspray on the underside. 

Anyone else run into thin, limp hair? What product are you using to combat it?