We're back!

Hello Hive,

Oh, I'm sorry if you don't recognize me. I know the name Mrs. Giraffe sounds strange, but I swear I'm just the same as that Miss Giraffe from a week and a half ago. Really.

I logged into the 'Bee on the second day of our honeymoon to see all the well wishes you guys left for me and the Mister. It was wonderful. Thank you.

Mr. Giraffe and I just returned home from Mexico on Sunday and I'm back at work today so we're trying to get settled into a routine. Y'know, a routine that means packing and moving into our new townhome and how to start the process of changing my name. Man, I thought I'd be done with projects now that the wedding is over. . .

Anyway, I have a billion pre-wedding things to share with you, still, hive (like hello? invitations!), and I promise I'll get to them soon. No, worries, though, it'll be a while until we get pro pics back, but then I'll have even more to share. Hang in there, it was a wild night.

It was the best day of my life, and I can't wait to clue you all in on the good, the bad, and the better.

But, hey, to tide you over until the pro pics come in, here is a pic my sister took on her iPhone. Epic for sure.


Can't wait to tell you allllllll about it!

Until Next Time

Hive,

Here it is. The day, the big one, go time.

The forecast is calling for rain, rain, rain, and thunderstorms. . . But I am ready.

I just had a crazy last two days and a wonderful rehearsal dinner with way too much chocolate cake. This last month has been such a wedding planning super storm that I haven't been around much. No worries, though, I have a ton more to share with you, a little more about Dadzilla and some DIY projects that happened to work their way in here some where.

I haven't blogged about the honeymoon, but I'll just let you know that by 10:35 tomorrow morning, Mr. Giraffe and I will be in Cancun, on our way to a sunny beach. I have a whole week ahead of me there :-).

Thank you for the support over the last 8 months and staying with me during some crazy projects. You, hive, are awesome, and I'm so honored I got to share my journey with you.

Lox & Sloth - I'll be thinking about you this weekend. Bring it, girls.

To the rest of the Bees and Pengy - thank you for all the support and for listening to me as I got crazy this last week. You guys are amazing.

Mr. Giraffe - You have my heart; you always have. I love you and I cannot wait to be your wife. Here's to us, baby, and here's to our future.

Signing off for now.
I'll see you on the other side.

Much love,
Miss Giraffe.

Fit for a Toast

Okay Hive, here's a little new flash for you: A good toasting flute is hard to find. In the interest of full disclosure, that little tid bit should have read "an good toasting flute is hard to find a week and a half before your wedding" . . . But I digress ;-).

Last weekend, Mama Giraffe and I hunted the mall, party stores, other stores for the perfect toasting flutes. For those of you on a hunt of your own, the a few places we looked (that typically carry a handful of styles) were Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Party City, Carson's, Hallmark, A different Hallmark, Macy's, Another Carson's, and a handful of other places. There's also quite a few to be found online, but that would entail not waiting until the last minute.

Mama Giraffe had absolutely no idea what she was getting into when she told me she'd like to buy toasting flutes for us :). I think it's my style, I wanted something simply, classy, but would remind me of my wedding. Tricky, eh?

Where to begin? Well, I was initially leaning towards the Misaka Love story, because I liked the cake server and cutter a lot. (FYI- Carson's had all Mikasa Love Story on Sale last week, so keep an eye out for sales when shopping for pricey flutes).

Mikasa Love Story via Bed, Bath, & Beyond

Mikasa Love Story via Bed, Bath, & Beyond

Funny story, I didn't like the flutes at all. The bottom looked too heavy for me, and even though they had two style of flutes (both match the server), I wasn't feeling either of them. But, as a side note, the Love Story cake stand is probably the cutest I've evern seen. Someone go buy it.

Then came the Mikasa Ribbon flutes. To be honest, I loved these at first, but then I was worried the looked too simple, and wouldn't look wedding-y enough to satisfy my taste for making something all sentimental. Also, these flutes don't have a matching cutter & server so I had to let them go.

Mikasa Ribbons via Bed, Bath, & Beyond

The Mrs and Mr flutes at Hallmark stole my heart the minute I saw them. . . But they were also the very first set I saw so we decided to hold off on buying them. You know, the grass is always greener, right? Anyway, Mama G and I left these at Hallmark and we on our merry way. Also, like the Ribbons, they didn't have a server so whatever, yo. They aren't for sale online, but just picture flutes that said "Mr." and "Mrs." on them.

After going round and round, and stopping to think about some Kate Spade Toasting flutes, we found ourselves at a different Carson's so I could look at the Ribbons again.

Kate Spade via Carson's

Kate Spade via Carson's - The bottom of these makes 'em super heavy!

And then, something amazing happened. See, Mama Giraffe got the Mikasa Cheers Wine Glasses as a Christmas gift (a set of 4), and she loved them so much that she purchased a second set. They're so cute, and I love them too. . . and I saw the Real Housewives of OC use them in an episode a few weeks ago. Ahem. Well, when we were at Carson's, the Cheers set was on display and I got so excited and called Mama G over. I pointed out all the cute serving platters and pitchers and glasses that matched her wine glasses.

The Wine Glasses that Mama G has - Mikasa Cheers via Carson's

Mama G gets all excited and says, "Look! They have champagne glasses! You could use those as flutes!"

Mikasa Cheers via Carson's

As I turned to look at the glasses, my heart skipped a beat, because next to them were the most perfect toasting glasses I'd ever seen.

Mikasa Cheers Flutes - image via Amazon

Aren't you just in love?! I know! I cannot wait to toast with these babies! I cannot believe that after going to a billion stores and worrying that I wouldn't find flutes I love, that these ending up right in front of me. Who would've thought?

Oh, and because I like to play this game in my head sometimes, if I was super rich (you know you play the game too!), I would buy a ton of these (matching!) Mikasa Cheers Celebration glasses for the reception, and make everyone toast with them!

Mikasa Cheers sentiment Flutes - Screenshot via Macy's

Now you're probably wondering why, after I nixed so many glasses that didn't have making cutters, what I decided to do. The Mikasa Cheers set does not have a cake server and cutter, but I ordered this one (and paid an extra $5 to get it here on time - oops) from The Wedding Outlet and am having our names and date engraved on the server. After looking and so so so many fancy cutters, I know that this simpler one is perfect for me.

It's funny, because originally, I had no interest in flutes or servers. I just figured I'd use whatever the venue had for us to use. . . But then, and this is funny, I thought about how the cave server from my parent's wedding is in a drawer in our kitchen at home. We use it for birthdays and Chirstmases and all kinds of things. That's something I want down the road, y'know, little reminders of this big day :).

Phew, and that ends the long (and exhausting) saga of find flutes. But, hey, it was worth it in the end :).

What are you toasting with at your wedding?