In-laws

A wedding is not just about two people. It’s about two families merging into one. It’s about love and unity.

And it’s about in-laws.

Let’s back up for just a sec. All I ever knew about in-laws, I learned from watching my mother interact with my dad’s family.

I can sum up their relationship in two words: Mutual Loathing.

My grandparents, on my dad’s side, were pretty horrible to my mother. My aunt was no ray of sunshine, either. Mom, in turn, had to try very hard to reign in her fiery temper to keep things from escalating to epic proportions. Holidays with my dad’s side of the family were a cause for dread, panic, and general anxiety. My brothers and I did our best to stay out of the way and watch quietly from the sidelines. It was safer that way.

Fast forward quite a few years, and you’ll understand why I was more than a little nervous about meeting Mr. Unicorn's Family.

Turns out, I had no reason to worry. My FMIL and FFIL are both wonderful, wonderful people. They were quick to accept me as part of the family, even before Mr. Unicorn proposed, and I’m already very fond of them. My FSIL and FBIL are both super sweet and welcoming, too.

FMIL Unicorn dove wholeheartedly into helping me with my DIY Wedding projects, and FFIL Unicorn put in a good word for me when I applied for a job with the same company he works for. I honestly can’t imagine a better set of in-laws.

My family has also been very welcoming of Mr. Unicorn. My mother—who initially had some reservations because Mr. Unicorn had an ear piercing—promptly got over it and loves him like one of her own. It probably helped that Mr. Unicorn got rid of the piercing. My dad thinks my soon-to-be hubby is ridiculously smart and oh-so-good for me. And he’s right. Even my brothers think he’s pretty cool.

Did I get lucky? YES!

Am I relieved? Immensely.

But there was one final test.

We set up a dinner for both families to meet. My mother, stepfather, father, future father in law, future mother in law, and future-mother-in-law’s boyfriend all showed up to the dinner…and would you believe it??? Everyone got along swimmingly. Future-father-in-law’s girlfriend could not make it to the dinner, and my stepmother was simply not invited. I’d explain why, but that would be a whole post of its own. Suffice it to say, we don’t see eye to eye.

Was anyone else dreading in-laws? How did it work out for you?

A Hairy Situation

One of the most important parts of any bride’s look is her hair. I think we all agree on this one, and I’m not going to lie when I say that this scares the living daylights out of me. You see, I’m convinced that my hair has a mind of its own. I have a thick, wavy, frizzy mane that doesn’t always do what I want it to do. I thank my lucky stars when it chooses to behave…and I curse the days it decides to rebel.

A brief history of my hair:

I used to have long, long hair.

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Then, due to an unfortunate accident involving a Murder Mystery party and a bottle of hair gel, I tearfully had to hack it all off. The cut was short, but it grew on me. Bahaha. See what I did there? Hair? It grew on me? No...

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Then I grew it out again, only to have it butchered yet again in a tragic hair show. I refuse to upload pictures of the resulting mullet. Yes. A mullet. You will just have to use your imagination.

What happened in October of 2011 is still pretty baffling to everyone that knows me. I’m still not quite sure what possessed me. Let's just claim temporary insanity and leave it at that.

I dyed it orange. NEON orange.

“Oh, surely it wasn’t that bad,” you say.

So here’s some visual proof. Warning: the following photo may singe your eyeballs.

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Long story short, I did what I could to dye it back. Two dye jobs later, and you can still see a reddish tint in my hair. My poor, abused, barely-shoulder-length hair.

I have some time to grow my hair out, but I'm not sure it's enough. I still have no idea whether I want to wear it up or down on the day of the wedding. I’ll have to figure that out soon, though, because I've already scheduled my hair trial. I don’t know if I want to try dying my hair dark again right before the wedding, or if I should just deal with the reddish highlights .

Any hair horror stories out there? Should I dye my hair once more right before the wedding?

Flower Girl

Meet Leeloo.

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She’s just turned two, and she’s a stubborn, spoiled brat. Isn’t she adorable?

We think so, too. Which is why, originally, we wanted to have her at our wedding. We saw so many cute pictures of dogs at weddings. What's cuter than a pug in a bow tie or a golden retriever carrying a bouquet??? Inspired, we told Miss Leeloo our plan. She was ecstatic to hear that she would have a role in the wedding, and she celebrated by taking a nap in her favorite bean bag chair. 

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Gratuitous baby picture:

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After a little more thought, however, Mr. Unicorn and I realized that very few of our guests would be comfortable with a 65 lb. pit bull in their midst, regardless of how cute she looks in a tutu. And, to be honest, Miss Leeloo is not as well-trained as we like to think she is. She has been known to snatch food from people's fingers, and none too gently, I might add. It's hard to be gentle when your mouth is so darn big.

In the end, we decided to go ahead and reserve a "suite" for her at doggie daycare. She won't be too thrilled about it, and neither will we, but it's for the best.

Look at that FACE. Is that not the most pitiful pit bull you have ever seen??? 

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Has anybody got suggestions for including her in the wedding without making our guests uncomfortable?

Popping the Question

Two posts in one day! How did you get so lucky??? 
I have seven beautiful bridesmaids!

We will call them Bridesmaid A, Maid Of Honor (MOH) T, Bridesmaid S, Bridesmaid E, Bridesmaid M, and Bridesmaid H, and Bridesmaid N.

Most of them I met in college, with the exception of Bridesmaid S, whom I met in high school, and Bridesmaid M, who is Mr. Unicorn's sister.

I’ve heard that some people have difficulty choosing their bridesmaids, but I knew exactly who I wanted to stand by my side on one of the happiest days of my life. So I popped the question…and they all said yes!

Now we’ve all heard horror stories of the dreaded “Bridesmaid’s Dress.” The dress is typically expensive, unflattering, and just all-around evil. I vowed I wouldn’t do that to my bridesmaids. I picked a color and a fabric, and I’m leaving the rest up to them. This way, each girl can pick a dress that is comfortable and flatters her body type.

My only requirements were as follows:

-Knee-length-ish

-Navy

-Chiffon

-No strapless (per my mother’s request)

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. So far, I know MOH T has purchased her dress. She sent me a picture, and it was EXACTLY what I was picturing. I think they’ll look gorgeous in their mismatched, yet cohesive, dresses. And the navy dresses will look great with their peachy-orange bouquets.

And how did I ask these lovely ladies to be my bridesmaids?

Well I found adorable kraft paper cards with matching envelopes. And I found some cute, polka dotted silk flowers. With a little creativity and some glue dots, I made these:

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I made one for each girl, and each card is unique. Aren’t they cuuuute? Even if I do say so myself?

How did you ask your bridesmaids? Did you let them choose their own dresses?

Let's Get Messy!

A budget wedding means a lot of DIY projects. With 169-ish days to go ‘til the wedding, I started prioritizing my craft list.

First on the list: Yarn Balls!

The inspiration:

Image via Pinterest / Photo by Wednesday Inc 

I love how whimsical and dreamy they look suspended in the air, and I have the perfect place to hang these suckers.

The How-To (Unicorn Style)

1) Find tutorials online.

2) Completely disregard the tutorials and come up with your own, because you're terrible at following directions.

3) Gather materials:

                -Round Balloons (I found mine at Walmart)

                -Wallpaper glue and/or Tacky Glue. Pick your poison.

                -Vaseline

                -Corn starch

                -Cotton yarn and/or string

                -Gloves and a drop-cloth (this gets messy)

4) Inflate your balloons to desired size. Chastise dog when she runs off with one. Comfort dog when it pops in her face.

5) Coat remaining balloons generously with Vaseline.

6) Mix wallpaper glue or tacky glue with corn starch on a disposable plate. Just eyeball it. When in doubt, add more corn starch.

7) Cut string into manageable pieces that you can wrap around the balloon at least twice.

8) Completely saturate the string in the glue mixture and start wrapping it willy-nilly around the balloon. Keep wrapping until you’re satisfied with how it looks. The messier, the better, but try to keep the string taut around the balloon.

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9) Let dry overnight.

10) Ever so carefully, pop the balloon.

And voila:

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Now make two hundred more.

Anybody else going the DIY route for their wedding decorations? Does anyone know of an easier way of making these?