My (future) husband.

Now that Wasatch is over (thank god!) I can RELAX and CELEBRATE that I am getting married to this wonderful and handsome man in a little over 2 weeks! Before the race, I had a hard time being excited about our wedding weekend because I knew that I had that huge hurdle to leap over but now that it's behind me I can't wait for the weekend of October 3rd and 4th.

We still have quite a bit to do before the big day arrives but, for the most part, the major things are taken care of. We've stuck with our initial plan to have a small and intimate wedding because we feel like it best suits both of our personalities. I know it seems crazy for a 'bride-to-be' to say but I feel really uncomfortable being the center of attention..... when I told my Dad this he said, 'Well Briana, you will be the center of attention that day so you better get used to it!'

Thanks, Dad.

It has been so cute to see Lee be so involved in the planning of our wedding. He has made 'to-do' lists and spread sheets.... he even made our invitations! We decided to do a 'green wedding' and instead of paper invitations that eventually get thrown away, we did electronic invitations (think evite, but waaaaay less tacky). Lee chose the picture, composed the wording, and even linked a map to the invitation with where the hotel is in relation to our loft and to where the ceremony will be! As soon as I become tech-savvy enough, I will post our invitation here for all to enjoy. :-)

I truly didn't realize just how much work goes into planning a wedding. Lee and I are doing a very non-traditional wedding and, even without all those traditional details, there is still so much to do! Now I know why people hire wedding planners because all those little details totally stress me out! And, let me just say, I am the worst when it comes to making a decision about those little details... like catering menus and decoration decisions and table placements, etc.... I get totally overwhelmed! I guess I'm not the person that has been planning my wedding since I was a little girl because, before this, I had no idea what I wanted! 

One of the benefits of having a small wedding (besides not having 200+ people staring at you) is that we are able to focus more on creating an experience for our guests. Most of our guest are traveling from out of town (O Canada!) and we wanted them to experience Salt Lake City the way we see it... as a dynamic, eclectic mix of cultures and (don't laugh at this) with a hip, downtown vibe. Lee and I live in the heart of downtown so we wanted our guests near the things that we love about where we live. Our guests are staying at the Hotel Monaco which, if you've stayed there or eaten at Bambara, you'll agree that it's a pretty hip place (albeit a bit expensive!). We've created 'welcome baskets' for our out-of-town guests that include the stylish klean kanteen water containers so that they can take our fabulous SLC tap water on the go without using disposable plastic water bottles (our arch-nemesis...those evil things!!). We've also included some delectable and locally famous salt water taffy because hey, it's my wedding and I'm a candy addict! My sisters have made up adorable bags with ribbon and a super-cute note... they have more creativity in one little pinky finger than I have in my entire body, I swear. 

The next two weeks will probably be a whirlwind of activity but I am looking forward to the end result... celebrating our love and commitment to each other in front of friends and family. Here's to hoping I'm not a sobbing, basket-case at the ceremony!!