Triple Threat

I've mentioned a few times that I will be having two maids of honor. I think I always knew I was going to have two, even before Mr. Coyote was in the picture.

I don't have any sisters, but I can say that MOH A and MOH D come pretty damn close. I met BM D in 5th grade and BM A a few years later. For all of middle school and high school we were completely inseparable. Sleepovers, movies, trips to the mall, even vacations... Whatever it was we did it together. We were the epitome of BFFs.

 Toddler Coyote and friends circa 2000.

Of course after graduation we went our separate ways, but we kept in touch and made sure to visit each other as often as possible.

 Right before our high school graduation in 2004.

We all still live in New York state, but it's amazing how large the state actually is:

Map of New York State via Geology.com / Personal photos

I am the first in my little trio to be getting married and I have to say that it's been quite an adjustment for me. My girls are more than happy for me and love Mr. Coyote almost as much as they love me (sorry buddy, but I always come first when it comes to these ladies!). Even so, it's definitely been a transition to move from single girl friend to engaged woman and eventually to that old married lady that goes to bed at 8 PM and never hangs out anymore (just kidding, that's never gonna happen).

And so, in honor of my two very best friends and of losing my singledom, I am planning the ultimate sleepover party.

Mr. Coyote and I have already decided that we will spend the night before the wedding apart so I booked one of the amazing suites at our venue's hotel and invited the girls to stay with me. I know I will be a bundle of nerves and honestly... No one knows me better than these ladies do. I couldn't ask for anything better than to have my two besties spend the night with me; drink some wine with me, make me laugh and cuddle with me until my wedding day.

Yes, we cuddle. No shame here!

I may not have been blessed with sisters, but I definitely scored the next best thing. My life is way better when these girls are in it.

How will you be spending the night before your wedding? Are you spending it with your significant other? Alone? With family or friends?

Miss Coyote's Sing-Along Blog: Ceremony Edition

Because Mr. Coyote and I are not getting married in the Catholic Church (and hired our DJ to take care of the ceremony as well as the reception) it seems that our options for ceremony music are limitless. Wellllll, maybe not totally limitless. I can't see our guests being too pleased with us strolling down the aisle to Pantera or Nine Inch Nails.

Image via The Giant Panther / Sorry Trent. Maybe for the cocktail hour.

And so, I spent way too much time on YouTube trying to find the perfect song choices for our ceremony. After I had gathered up a good number of options I sat down with Mr. C and we went through them all. I think we may have actually finalized our list so it's time to share some music with ya!

Prelude: I'm not going to be too picky about this part of the ceremony. I figure we'll tell the DJ to throw in some Jason Mraz or Michael Buble and be done with it. And for the rest of the ceremony we've decided to go with the ever popular Vitamin String Quartet.

Special Persons (Parents, grandparents, etc): I actually just decided on this last night. I had wanted to use Ben Folds' "The Luckiest", but Mr. C didn't like the lyrics. Dude, what?? Whatever, I wasn't going to take the time to figure that one out. Next! After a lot of searching we finally decided on a song thanks to our very own board member and Hostess Zippylef. Huge shout out to her. She saved the life of my ceremony with this post. A Vitamin String Quartet tribute to Elliott Smith?!?! I. DIE. We'll be using their cover of "Angeles" and I am so fa-reaking excited.

Bridesmaid Processional: One of the easier decisions we've made. "1, 2, 3, 4" by the Plain White T's has always been a favorite song of mine and sometimes Mr. Coyote will simply text me "1234" to make me smile. Oh and it helps that VSQ has an absolutely beautiful cover of it:

Video via YouTube

Bridal Processional: For a while I thought that we would go with Israel IZ Kamakawiwoʻole's (say that name three times fast) version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" or maybe "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" by Elvis, but once we finalized the other songs I thought it might flow better if we stuck with VSQ. Conveniently, VSQ did a tribute to Michael Buble's cover of it (got all that?) and we love what they came up with:

 Video via YouTube

And even though we're not using it in our ceremony, I just can't get enough of it, so here is "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for ya:

Video via YouTube

Recessional: There isn't much need for music during the actually ceremony so we can wrap it up with the recessional. This is where we strayed from our not-so-official VSQ-only rule. I've known for a looong time what our choice would be here. We definitely wanted something fun and upbeat. Something that would tell our story as well as help us begin our journey as husband and wife. And I can't think of a fitting song than this:

Video via YouTube

"And if I grow old. Well, I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you."

How did you go about choosing your ceremony music? Any other VSQ fans out there?

Mad About Monograms

I seriously love monograms. I think they are a great way to tie all of your stationary together and they're so easy to make! Perhaps even a little too easy. I swear I made a million different designs (similar to Miss Hawk) and then decided that I hated all of them.

(Personal Photo) / Hate it.

(Personal Photo) / Meh.

(Personal Photo) / Okay, this one isn't too bad.

My problem is each attempt looks so different from the one before it. I'm all over the place with my designs! Honestly, I was ready to give up. I didn't enjoy anything that I had created. Then I remembered about Wedding Chicks and their free downloads. I quickly downloaded their "Fancy Custom Monogram", made a few tweaks, and was back in business! Here is what it looks like with some tiny changes:

(Personal Photo)

I haven't decided for sure if this is what we will use, but it does go well with my unofficial "pretty swirly thingys" theme that you can see in my save the dates and bridal shower invitations:

(Personal Photo)

(Personal Photo)

I'll need to make a decision soon, but in the meantime it's been kind of fun experimenting with my n00b Photoshop skillz and creating different designs. Did you design your own wedding monogram? Tell me about your experience!

A Sign for My Chair

Image via Our Hobby To Your Home & Wedding on Etsy

Chair signs. Le sigh. My latest (wedding-related) obsession.

 Image via IslamoradaBride on Weddingbee

I just can't get enough of them! Even our own Miss Mink is on board:

Image via Miss Mink on Weddingbee

This is definitely the perfect, simple DIY for a non-crafty bride like me, but I am starting to think that my dream is not meant to become a reality. While I love chiavari chairs, our venue does not supply them and the cost for us to rent them was astronomical. And so, we have decided to stick with our venue's yucky, beat up chairs. Which, of course, means having chair covers and chairs that are going to look a little something like this:

Image via Toftrees Golf Resort on Flickr

Any and all inspiration photos I have found show the signs tied to the rungs of chivari chairs or draped over the side, like you can see in the photos above. I have been racking my brain to try and find a solution, but keep coming up empty-handed.

And so I turn to you lovely bees. Is it possible to have chair signs on rounded, covered chairs? Or is it time to give up the dream and come up with a different way to display them (maybe something similar to Miss Wizard's framed "Mr. & Mrs." sign for her head table)?

I Got 99 Problems, but a Bride Ain't One

Dudes. DUDES!

99 days.

99 days separates Mr. Coyote and me from our wedding day. Seeing as we are making our way through a 672 day engagement (yes, I am a freak and actually did the math), the fact that we are now in the double digits is kind of a big deal.

At this point in the wedding game I have been experiencing a variety of emotions and I'd like to use some our friendly neighbor celebrities to illustrate them. First of all, I just need to say that I now truly understand what Ron Burgundy meant when he said that he was in a "glass cage of emotion".

Image via Best for Film

The past few mornings have gone a little something like this:

I wake up in the morning and look at the calendar. I realize that we are now one day closer to the wedding. My initial instinct is to completely freak out when I digest the fact that I am actually getting married in three months.

Image via Dealbreaker 

Then, as I am drinking my morning coffee, the caffeine starts to surge through my veins and I get all crazy and giddy and happy. I start to daydream about specific "wedding" moments like putting on my wedding dress, saying our vows, having our first dance as husband and wife... And then I get this really goofy smile on my face.

Image via I Missed the Memo

Eventually my mind starts to wander (never good) and I think about all of the tasks I haven't completed yet. Invitations? Don't have any. Attire for the dudes? Haven't even thought about it. Booking a hair stylist and makeup artist? Crap. Then I get really overwhelmed and start wondering if I'm ever going to get my act together and get shit done. Probably not. And that makes me want to cry.

Image via Original Plumbing

After the sobfest I remind myself that no matter what happens on the wedding day, the most important thing is that Mr. Coyote and I will be jetting off to a fabulous honeymoon a few days later! Just kidding! In all honesty, the most important thing to remember is that (in 99 days!) I will marry my best friend and have a lifetime of happiness to look forward to -- sorry guys, my corny side is starting to show through, I'm blaming it on all the wedding emotions! But I have to admit that laying on a beach sipping margaritas with my new hubby definitely sweetens the deal. ;-)

Image via Bundle

Has anyone else experienced the wave of emotions brought on by wedding planning? Any other brides out there getting married soon and starting to feel the crunch?