My Wedding Report

Did you wonder where I went? Well, last week I basically put our wedding to-do list on hold (including blogging unfortunately) to get ready to move into our new place! A few weeks ago after we got approved for our lease Mr. Ducky brought me this cute sign and roses to to surprise me with the news. Since then between the wedding and preparing to move it’s been a whirlwind.

This is right after Mr. Ducky brought home the good news.  Excuse the make-up-less picture. At least I’m real with you all right?

The packing seemed to never end last week. Mr. Ducky and I were basically moving from 3 places; my house, his house and I had lots of stuff stored at my parents. The process was a little crazy. For example taking a box of computer stuff from my house, a box from his and trying to combine it into one box. However, we finished everything we needed to do and were prepared for the move.

Because we moved to a new apartment community it wasn’t available for move in until this last Saturday. Yes, a little hectic considering it’s less than 2 weeks to the wedding and it was my bachlorette party this last weekend (more on that later). However, my dad, brother, uncle and cousin came up to help Mr. Ducky with the move since I was gone all day Saturday. They were such a huge help. Mr. Ducky treated them to dinner at one of our favorite BBQ places Bad to the Bone as a thank-you.

Sunday was spent unpacking and my parents and brother came up again when I got back to help unpack the kitchen. It was so fun to unpack all of our registry stuff and fun appliances. There was just something so exciting about unpacking things into our own place. Our community is an all green community so everything is energy efficient. Double paned windows, high efficient washer and dryer and a toilet that has flushes for #1 and #2. TMI? Maybe, but all the guys were laughing about it so I thought I’d share with you. What’s with guys and bathroom humor?

I was absolutely thrilled to get our Kitchenaid Mixer from my grandparents.  Mr. Ducky documented the opening to send some pictures to them for thank-you.  I can’t wait to start using it.

Want to know about our “freak out” of the weekend? As we were unpacking our dishes Mr. Ducky noticed that the backs of our dishes didn’t say “dishwasher safe.” Well we went to check on the Crate & Barrel website and sure enough we found that it said “hand wash.” We were so disappointed! We reluctantly set the boxes aside to exchange at another time. We told my parents about it and started looking at new sets. Well, yesterday I decided to check one more time and suddenly I found in the description that it said, “dishwasher, microwave and oven safe up to 300 degrees.” What!?!? Well after a little investigating I figured out there was another dish set that looked similar to ours that was the hand wash and ours were really okay. We put them through the dishwasher last night and everything was still perfect. We were so happy and relieved. We love our dishes! They are the Stockton collection at Crate and Barrel.

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Now with less than 2 weeks to go until the wedding we have some SERIOUS DIY to get done. I’ll try to keep you guys as updated as possible. We are going to be working away and I have some friends coming this weekend to assembly line it. Don’t worry, the invitation tips & tutorial post is coming up this week though.

I love our new apartment, but am still waiting it for to to transition from being that really nice place to being our new HOME. We have lots of work to do and some will probably wait until after we get back from the honeymoon. I’m stocking up on my design blogs now in Google Reader.  We feel so blessed are excited to make it home.

What do you do to make a new place feel like home? Anyone else move right before the wedding?

A few weekends ago we officially started our registry process. I say started, because it seems like we have been continually adding, editing and changing our minds on different items. We originally planned on getting all 4 stores completely done in a weekend and that definitely did not happen. All the choices are almost overwhelming. We decided to register at Macys, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and Bed, Bath and Beyond,

Our first store was Macy’s and we headed straight for the item we have been coveting since we were engaged. The Kitchenaid Mixer! We registered for a beautiful silver one that will match everything. I am already crossing my fingers that someone gets us this guy for one of my showers. Is that bad? My roommate in college had one, and I’ve been dying to get my own ever since I moved out.

Here is a picture Mr. Ducky took of me at Macy’s. Excuse the poor picture quality, but it’s the only documentation I have from the marathon registry day.

Now here has been our dilemma of registering. Mr. Ducky and I are a young couple and with my chosen career path and recent grad school expenses, home furnishings have not been very high on the priority list. Basically when it comes to our registry process we need everything since we are starting from scratch. We’ve registered for all our essentials like kitchen supplies, dinnerware, bedding and bathroom stuff. Now I am seeing all the beautiful decorative touches at Pottery Barn and am drooling over the possibilities to make our first place a “home.” We worry that if we put these items on the registry that we might not get our essential items like plates. Do we wait and see what people buy us and then add the other stuff at the last minute? Or do we just go for it all and see what we end up with?

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Source We didn’t register for these plates, but aren’t they so cute!

Another issue we have run into is things going on sale. Now this on one hand is a good thing because it makes some things more affordable like our kitchen electronics, but some stores have sold out of sale items we registered for and they are no longer available. (Such as a beautiful rug I was in love with from Pottery Barn. Another one of those non essential items that I love. I took it as a sign that I shouldn’t have it anyways) We’ve had to go in and replace several items at a few stores. Currently I’m looking for some new glasses at Crate and Barrel. We tried to register for items that weren’t going to go on sale or that were seasonal, but we are still getting caught by a few items. We’ve just learned to check the different products frequently and make sure that everything is still available so we don’t get half sets.

Overall it has been so much fun registering and getting excited about the next chapter in our lives together. Suddenly, I can’t have flowery bedding anymore (hello stripes) and we are learning on what our style is together. We are already looking forward to cooking some delicious meals with all our fun kitchen supplies. Mr. Ducky even started growing vegetables in pods that we will be able to transplant into our garden. I have a black thumb, so I just encourage him.

Is anyone else worried about not getting your “essentials?” Is there some sort of registering strategy that I should know about?

What has been your favorite thing you’ve registered for so far?

As I look at different design ideas from websites like Frolic, Decor8 or The City Sage I get more and more excited for not just the wedding, but registering and being able to decorate our first home. I’ve always lived with roommates, my family or like currently, renting one room out of house to save some money. While these have all been fun experiences, I look forward to making a place our own.

One of the first steps to decorating and furnishing a home is of course the registry. I wanted to get your advice on where you all have registered and what your experiences have been. Also, what things you consider your must-haves. This will hopefully avoid Mark and I walking into the store going crazy with the scanner guns (he has already asked if he can be in charge of the scan gun…scary).

Here is where we are thinking thus far:

I think Bed, Bath and Beyond has a variety of more affordable price ranges. Your guests can use those great 20% off coupons that constantly come in the mail, and we can register for basic items here.

I’ve heard good things about the Macy’s registry and also their discounts they offer after the wedding to complete your registry.

My cousin registered at Crate and Barrel and loved it. I know just buying gifts for her showers and wedding etc. were affordable and we could buy more complete sets. (Remember her wedding?)

I just love Pottery Barn. Their craft rooms are my envy in every catalog.

I had originally been thinking about Target, but I’ve heard some really negative stories about their return policies. Any thoughts?

And last but not least we will probably be registering here. Yes, I know I can feel people shaking their heads. However, here is my reasoning (after his pleading), we can register for appliances. Also, Mark can use tools to make us furniture, cabinets etc. in the future because he likes doing that stuff. Has anyone else done this?

In terms of what to register for, I’d love to get your recommendations on items, brands etc. We don’t want to register for China, because I don’t think we’d use it. Also, my mom has a set of China that I will probably receive one day. We have a great set of knives and microwave. But from there we are hoping to upgrade from hand-me-downs and cheap dishes from college days. For those of you newlyweds, what items have you used the most that you originally questioned registering for?

What I do know is that we are registering for a Kitchen Aid…with the pasta and ice cream attachment! I’m already so excited!

There are so many color options! This isn’t even close to them all. We are thinking maybe a silver stainless steel one. Although the other colors are so tempting!

So what do you think? Tell me about your registry experiences!! How many is too many? What items were not a necessity, but were just too wonderful to resist?