"I'm on a roll this time."

My trip to Arizona for Christmas proved inspiring for the wedding in several ways. A few significant highlights:

Grandma Mary (dad’s mom) worked her magic on my Nana’s (mom’s mom) dress, letting out the seams a bit to fit my non-girdled waist. As you may know, I’ve declared Amanda Ellexson the prime minister of costume, hair and makeup. She asked for pictures of the dress, so she could see how it fit. But I forgot to take pictures, so this drawing is the best I can do, what with the dress in Arizona and me in DC. I can’t decide whether I should be ashamed or proud.

I have more to say about costuming, but I’ll save that until I consult with the parliament.

On the food front: although we can fall back on a number of cheaper (but no less delicious…mmmm Boston Market) options, I’ve been talking with the Festive Foods peeps in Bethesda, Md. as a catering option. For months I looked high and low for caterers who work with locally produced food but didn't find anything, not even on Local Harvest. Festive Foods does work with local purveyors, according to an article in the Washingtonian. I’m looking forward to hearing what they have to say.

Just this week we've progressed a lot on the invitations front. Inspired by these save the date cards, Eric and I decided to do something similar for our invitations. I’ve enlisted the help of our incredible Trout designer, Jim Gray, to take care of the photoshop and design elements, and our friend Erin Dooling has agreed to take the pictures for us. The wording will be different, since we're skipping save the date cards. I figure everyone who's coming already knows the date - so get a pencil and write it down, for goodness sake. We might shoot as early as this weekend. I’m thrilled that a whim on Monday has become reality by Saturday. These will look wicked.

Elizabeth and I talked over a few options for the invitation design, and I think I’ve settled on the tall-skinny folding card, with the photo-booth awesomeness pasted onto the cover. My smiley Eric-and-Hannahs might not completely capture the tone, but you get the point. I’m enlisting the help of my crafty elder sisters for paper choices and a cross-country invitation sweatshop.

Well, I’m off to return a call from the Festive Foods peeps. More on that and my possible costume changes later.