Coyote Invitation Reveal

Well we've already received about a third of our responses back so I'm going to go ahead and assume that all of our wedding invitations have safely arrived at their respective destinations.

We went semi-DIY with these bad boys and even though we hit some bumps in the road I absolutely love the final product. And so, without further ado... It's time for some Coyote invitation porn!

We ran all of the envelopes through the printer (shhhh... I know this is bad etiquette, but I have horrible handwriting and a calligrapher just wasn't in the budget). I went with the boring wedding cake stamps because nothing else really jumped out at me:

I sealed the outer envelope with an envelope moistener that I picked up from Staples for like a dollar. I gotta say, it was totally worth it to not lick 100 freakin' envelopes:

 I used three different types of scrapbook paper for the envelope liners:

And wrapped the whole thing up in a belly band:

It KILLS me to blur out so much of the invitation, but here is the main event:

There were lots of little pieces to our invitation suite and I promise to go into more detail in the next post, but for now, here is the whole set laid out:
 

Whew! Again, they were a ton of work (and I didn't even make them from scratch!), but I am so, so happy with the result. Did you make your own invitations? How did you do it without having a mental breakdown?!

The Tale of the Two Toasting Flute Sets

Way back when we had our engagement party we received an absolutely beautiful gift from Mr. Coyote's parents:

Gorgeous, right?

The problem is... Mr. Coyote and I kinda, sorta already have our own set. You see Mr. Coyote and I are really dorky and super into that whole medieval/fantasy thing so every year we try to make it to our local Renaissance Faire. We love browsing the shops and every year Mr. Coyote tells me that THIS is the year he will come home with sword. (Whatevs dude.) Anyways, a few years ago we stumbled upon the most beautiful flutes we had ever seen:

Now this was a long time ago, way before thoughts of engagements and marriage ever crossed our minds so we did not purchase them with the intention of one day using them at our wedding. It was kind of on a whim, but I absolutely love these glasses and now that we actually are getting married I really want to use them at our wedding.

Of course, the glasses Mr. Coyote's parents bought us are also beautiful and I'm sure they're expecting us to use them at our wedding. So what's a bride to do?! I have been thinking about using one set at our rehearsal dinner and the other set on our wedding day. Or possibly using one set during the speeches and then have our own little toast with the second set after we cut the cake. I'm still floating a few different possibilities around in my head, but now I'm reaching out to you!

How can we incorporate both sets of flutes into our wedding?
- One set at the rehearsal dinner, one at the wedding
- One set for speeches, one set for cake cutting
- Choose one set and stick with it for all wedding events
- Another more awesome idea which I will explain to you in the comments section

Mr. and Mrs. Fancypants

You'd think because Mr. Coyote and I are having a super long engagement (22 months, what?!) we'd be totally ahead of the curve on everything. Aaaand you'd be wrong. Sure, we got most of the big ticket items out of the way, but one thing we totally dropped the ball on was the tuxedos. I have no explanation for this, but for some reason we just kept putting it off and putting it off until it was almost too late. In fact, the consultant we (finally) met with this weekend even chided us a bit for procrastinating so long. Whoops!

If you remember, I shared my tuxedo vision with you a few weeks ago and am proud to say that the entire color scheme I had talked about is being tossed out the window. Mr. Coyote, lil bro Coyote, and even our consultant decided that the sangria vest/tie combo was "too girly" and was instantly vetoed. Silly men and their opinions. What do they know?! (Just kidding!) Actually, after discussing all of our options I have been converted and am completely on board with what they want.

Mr. Coyote will be donning a two-button notch lapel tuxedo with a silver vest and necktie. I fought long and hard for the bow tie, but eventually lost the battle. I thought that *maybe* if he tried it on he'd see how freakin' sexy he looks (I repeatedly told him that he looked like James Bond), but he was unconvinced. I did manage to snap a picture of him though it wasn't a total loss. I now have this photo to drool over for the rest of my life:

James Bond? Try Pee-wee Herman.

Sidenote: Do you think he'd be upset if I made a Mr. Coyote-sized cardboard cutout of this photo and carried it around with me on our wedding day? Because the more I think about it the more I realize that it needs to be done.

In reality, he'll be wearing something more like this:

Except it will be a bit darker (think of a silver color that falls in between the bow tie in the first photo and the neck tie in the second photo). Oh and his shirt will be a spread collar instead of a wing collar. Whatever. You guys get the point. I know so much about men's formalwear now that I'm just about ready to open my own damn tuxedo shop! Anywho, the groomsmen and fathers will wear the same tux and pattern, just with a black vest and tie. Simple, elegant, classic. Exactly what I was looking for. I'm glad the guys were able to convince me to drop the brightly colored vests cuz I think they are all going to look mighty fine in silver and black.

As soon as we finished up our appointment Mr. Coyote and I parted ways so I could head over to the seamstress and pick up my wedding dress! Even though we didn't plan it this way it was kind of awesome to see Mr. Coyote in his tuxedo and then immediately put on my dress. I was really able to visualize how freakin' awesome we are going to look together on the big day!

Did you help pick out the attire for your fiance/fiancee? How much of an input did you have on the final decision?

"I Like Like You"

While I'm stalling on the invitation reveal I figure it's time to share another Ted Mosby style story.

A long, long time ago when I was just a little baby blogger bee here at the Hive I told you the story of how we met. And I told you how we got to know each other over that summer way back in 2005. I was living on campus and spent most of my free time hanging out with a group of friends at the school's radio station. I know this sounds weird, but the station was outfitted with a few computers, a TV and even a couch. It was almost like a mini student lounge area. Almost. My group would hang out there all night long, often until the wee hours in the morning, watching movies and goofing off.

Mr. Coyote was part of this group and as the days went by I found myself developing a little crush on him. I started to wonder, "Does this guy like me? I think he likes me. No, no. I don't think he likes me. I think he just wants to be friends." Turns out Mr. Coyote was having the same exact thoughts about me. And because we were both way too shy and awkward to bust-a-move, I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that he just wanted to be friends.

Mr. Coyote and I hanging out (in the middle of the night, as usual). That's my "yea, it's totally cool, we are just friends" face. And that's how Mr. Coyote looks all the time.

Hanging out in a group meant that neither of us were able to really explore these feelings or find out how the other person felt. Because Mr. Coyote was desperately trying to find a private moment alone with me and because I was just happy to spend time with him (whether in a group or solo) it quickly became a competition of who could stay up later. As our friends would one by one say good night and start to head home Mr. Coyote and I would proclaim that we weren't tired yet and wait for everyone else to leave.

Oh sure, I'm smiling here, but I'm really just wishing you guys would all go home so I can spend some QT with Mr. Coyote!

This is how I really got to know Mr. Coyote. I lived for those stolen moments at three and four and yes, sometimes even five in morning. Now before you get any ideas, you should know that this was strictly platonic. We would talk all night, Mr. Coyote would walk me back to my dorm, say good night and then go home. Nothing ever happened. Not even a peck on the cheek. Now, Mr. Coyote tells me that he was just trying to be a gentleman, but I mistook his chivalry as indifference. I desperately tried not to get my hopes up and continued to tell myself that he just wanted to be friends.

Then, late one night at the end of June, Mr. Coyote and I once again found ourselves alone in the radio station. I was taking summer courses that started at 9 AM and even though I had still managed to stay out later than all of our friends, by four in the morning I was ready to head back to my dorm and sneak in a few hours of sleep before my class. But on this particular night the quiet, shy Mr. Coyote was feeling particularly loquacious.

The minutes ticked by and soon it was almost 5 o'clock in the morning. I had already mentioned a few times that I had an early morning class and really needed to get going, but Mr. Coyote completely ignored me and kept right on talking. Eventually I even stood up and began walking to the door, explaining that I was utterly exhausted and that I would see him tomorrow. And yet, he refused to acknowledge me and continued to babble.

At this point I started to get angry. I mean really, what the hell was wrong with this guy?? I was exhausted and had to wake up in less than four hours to go to class! Why wouldn't he let me leave? I began to tap my foot impatiently and tried to interrupt to tell him I was really leaving this time, when suddenly he blurted out, "I like like you."

And I was stunned. Cranky Miss Coyote here did not realize that he was stalling. Stalling because he liked me. No wait, he didn't like me. He liked liked me. And that's not a typo. Everyone knows that when you say a word twice it gives it so much more meaning.

We super like each other. Can't you tell??

And so, in June 2005, at 5:30 in the morning, I sat myself back down on that couch and told Mr. Coyote that I like-liked him too. And exactly seven years after that fateful night (morning?), Mr. Coyote and I will stand up in front of all our family and friends to tell them exactly how much we "like like" each other.

And that my friends is the very, very long version of how Mr. Coyote and I chose our wedding date and each other.

Does your wedding date have any special meaning behind it?

The Ring Bling Arrives!

I know I talked a bit about ordering our wedding bands, but I didn't take any photos of my own so all I could do was find some that looked similar. I'm happy to report that our bands have finally arrived and it's time to show off the real deal!

Here they are in all of their glory:

Shhh. I took a sneak peak of my wedding band on when Mr. Coyote wasn't looking. I absolutely love how perfectly my two rings go together.

And of course, I couldn't help having a mini photo shoot with our new bands:

Mr. Coyote discovered that my fingers are so tiny that my band fits perfectly inside of his:

I am so in love with our bands and have been trying SO hard not to take them out of their secret hiding spot to try them on again and again and again. I still can't believe that we will be exchanging vows and rings together in less than two months!

What are you doing with your bands until your special day? Do you try them on over and over again like I do?!