Our Wedding

Y'all, I can hardly believe it but our wedding day is just around the corner!

I have been hard at work on all sorts of projects: final vendor logistics, purchasing and putting together items, working on many crafty DIY projects, and relishing the time I have to plan and enjoy this stage of life. It truly has been a full time job for the last month or so, but I'm grateful to be able to invest my time, intention, and effort into something so momentous.

There has been lots in the works, so much that I (obviously) haven't been able to keep up with all of it on the blog! I also wanted to be careful of over-sharing... since most of the people who read this are probably my wedding guests I don't want to show off ALL of the things I've been working on and have no elements of surprise when the big day finally comes.

So I guess this is probably my last wedding planning post. It's been such a fun ride and I'm glad that I took the time along the way to thoroughly document and share my experience. I'm planning to make this blog into a little memento book to keep with all of our wedding planning memorabilia... but ultimately I'm ready to enjoy all the fruits of my labor, experience the whirlwind that will be our wedding, and then sink into married life. I'm ready to turn the page and move on to focusing on my marriage, my friendships, and my career more fully. I am looking forward to cultivating my married life with just as much thoughtfulness and intention as I have put into planning our wedding.

Thank you for reading and supporting me during this very special time. I am so humbled by the love I have felt from my community and I truly will never forget it.

All my love to you,
(Soon-to-be) Mrs. Hoback

My Under-the-Sea Bachelorette Party!

My friends are the absolute BEST. Before I even asked them to, they all started secretly planning the bachelorette party of my dreams!

I was told a time and day, but not a location or ANY information about what would be involved. When the day finally came, I was excited, but a little nervous. Ben and my maid of honor were in cahoots and Ben was instructed to drop me off at a specific location when the time came.

We ended up driving to my friend's house. I walked up the stairs, opened the door, and was met with the craziest screams, the grandest jubilation, the loudest rendition of "Part of Your World," and a thoroughly crafted underwater scene. I couldn't stop screaming... like really, over and over again... as they adorned me with a tiara, sash, fairy wings, and massive wine glass with a bendy-straw that read "bride."

The entire scene was so well thought through: there was a fish net hanging from the ceiling, bubbles drawn outside, fish toys and balloons strewn about, a photo booth set up, chalk-drawn fish and festive lettering, a libation station (a staple of mine), mermaids in mason jars of water, and so, so much more!

We all got to catch up a little bit and do some sipping and snacking, before our first official activity began. We were all lead out onto the deck and I was given the seat of honor to behold a custom-choreographed fish dance that three of my friends put together. They started the whole thing with a card from my pet fish, Buddy, to set the scene. They put on one of my favorite songs to groove to and entered in rubber fish masks before breaking it down into a dance that was hilarious, skillful, creative, and included all of my favorite moves!!! It was truly surreal and incredible, something I will never, ever, ever forget.

Then came the emotional kicker: a jar full of memories that each person had written. I both laughed and got a bit teary as I read through them all and tried to guess who had written each one. It was a very special, sentimental time and made me remember all of the fun and hilarious times we've shared together.

Then came the grand finale: a fish piñata! They strung it up outside and I had a blast whacking away at it with laughter and glee.

It was such a beautifully thought-through night and I felt so loved and known from all of the hard work my friends put into it. It was the perfect mix of Disney-princess, fun, wild, and sentimental. I will never ever forget this special, sensational night!

Our Invitation Suite!

Y'all... I have been drafting this project for years, practicing for just as long, and working to craft the details for several months now and I've finally done it... I sent out our invitations!!!

First came the design process, for which I've been prepping for years! Hours of consistent practice, countless drafts and ideas, and then the somewhat tedious task of actually crafting the final draft and knowing when to say "ENOUGH!" to my own perfectionism!

I have been tossing around sketches and drafts of our wedding crest / monogram for a while... playing with how to make it properly symmetrical, how to incorporate floral as well as architectural elements, researching and incorporating filigree (which I found out is a black hole of mathematical precision and symmetry that I only dipped my toes into!). I finally settled on something much simpler than what my original designs entailed: classic and official, something that I felt like could withstand the test of time and wedding design-trends.

Next, I got to lettering. I first covered the less daunting task of all of the detail text... knowing that all of my imperfections would be shrunk immensely and just getting used to the feeling of writing something with finality. Rather than knowing that I would have another few months and hundreds of hours of practice, I had to write it out, look back and assess, and rewrite anything that looked out of place or unsuitable for the final draft: learning how to finish.

I then tackled the larger components: our names and the titles of each card for the suite. I chose a spaciously-flourished script based on the script that I had used for the smaller text. I wanted something that felt formal but not too pretentious, aesthetically pleasing but not hyper-feminine, classic but also my own.



After I'd settled on a draft that I was pleased with, I moved on to the crest / monogram! I took the final concept that I had landed on and completely redid the entire thing: measuring the proportions with great precision and aiming to find a method of achieving effortless symmetry. I sketched in pencil, traced in pen, and then retraced once more with a few alterations, before scanning my design in and manipulating it digitally. I vectored the image, and then converted it back to a high-quality image file to put it to use!

With my final files completed, I gathered supplies for the design of my dreams!!

I finished up the final components of our suite: spacing everything out just so, creating a sketch of our venue as embellishment for one of the cards, and creating a clever multiple-choice option for our RSVP cards! After all of that, I sent my design off to the printer!

Upon receiving my prints with great joy, I got to slicing and scoring all of the cards...

And began the process of embossing our invitations. It was truly a handcrafted, small batch job... I might even be tempted to label it "artisan." I decided to emboss the major design components of the invitation itself in silver.

The crests were fairly easy to emboss...

...but the names proved much more challenging. There were so many components of the process that could so easily go wrong, I ended up crafting several that just wouldn't do to send out to guests.

In the end I got the job done and was so proud of the result!

ALL THE WHILE, as I was working on the invitations themselves, I was hard at work on addressing each envelope with great care. I decided to challenge myself with a flourishing script that was slightly askew on the envelope itself!

I have always LOVED the look of white ink on a light blue envelope, and since our wedding accent color is both slate blue and sky blue I decided to try to find something to match this theme. I found a beautiful metallic blue envelope that looks slate blue in shadow and sky blue in the light... perfect! The smooth finish made it really easy to create smooth, sweeping flourishes, which I could just STARE at for hours!!

Setting a schedule for myself to tackle at least two envelopes a day (they each took at least fifteen minutes to complete... did I say at least?), in my eagerness I ended up completing the task more than a week ahead of what I had planned! I think I was so daunted by the finality of the task initially, but once I fell into a rhythm working on the envelopes was really something I came to enjoy and look forward to.

From there, I used our trusty return address stamp (which I designed just before I sent out our save the dates) to mark each of the envelope flaps.

Then came stuffing the envelopes, sealing them, and adding the final, exciting embellishment: a custom-made wax seal! I used a version of our wedding crest / monogram to get this brass seal engraved and then purchased silver wax to add a bit of luxuriousness to the look of the envelopes as the icing on the cake!

I was so enthralled by how beautiful the seals were! The warm, melted wax oozing onto the envelope... the squish of the seal sinking into the wax... the pause in anticipation as I waited for the wax to cool... and then the gentle peel away, lifting the seal from the page and admiring the imprint with joy!

Ok now you can really tell that I'm a total stationary nerd!

I found some floral postage stamps and rushed to the post office. I hand cancelled each envelope so they wouldn't be damaged being run through a machine and walked away with a sense of accomplishment and glee.

I couldn't be happier with what I've come up with and can't wait to incorporate these special design details into our wedding day!! I've received with joy so many compliments on my hard work, and it really feels good to have tackled the whole task by myself. I've so enjoyed handcrafting every single one, and hope that each detail and consideration leaves each receiver feeling integral to our wedding day and to our life together. I hope these invitations serve as tangible souvenirs to happy memories made at our wedding this summer for years and years to come!

Bridal Shower #2: A Floral Soiree in Wisconsin!!

Y'all, I am so lucky! Not only did I get to have TWO bridal showers, but they were both AMAZING!

My future mother-in-law came in for the weekend of my Wisconsin shower. She is getting to know my family and extended family a lot during this special pre-wedding season! We all got to spend the weekend catching up, talking about wedding plans, looking through old photos, going out to eat, and just enjoying each other's company!

When the day of the shower came, we got ready and drove to my Godmother's beautiful home! She hosted the event and put all of it together...

...with the help of my mom. The setting was so beautiful, and I had a really wonderful time!

There was so much delectable food served on the most BEAUTIFUL Chintz china! I hope to host and have a spread this GORGEOUS one day!

There were chicken salad croissants, ham salad toasts, cheese & crackers (a Wisconsin staple), petit fours, chocolate strawberries, macaroons, lemon shortbread cookies, chocolate candies, and plenty of mimosas!

We played a few fun games: a wedding word-search and a trivia quiz featuring some challenging questions about my wedding, engagement, and relationship with Ben!

Then came the presents! There were so many and all of them were so lovely and thoughtful! There were plenty of beautiful cards as well!

And after it all, there were surprise cupcakes!

I'm so grateful for everyone who made it to the shower, and for those who were checking in and supporting me from afar!

(My mom took this photo)

It was truly so kind of my Godmother and mom to host such a beautiful event for me, and for everyone to be present for such a special time in my life! Thank you to all involved and looking forward to the months ahead!