However, that’s not what this post is about. It takes time, energy and wireless Internet (ahem, Matt, I’m picky and don’t want to sit at the desk to blog on my laptop) to write a post about a big event such as home ownership. And peppy captions don’t just write themselves. So more on that later!

This post, instead, is going back to the roots of what this blog is about: Matt, me and the warm, fuzzy love we share. And so, while at work, I logged onto an awesome radio site called Pandora.com to help pass the day. The site is smart and plays songs based on artists you like. Well, wouldn’t you know they played one of my favorite artists, playing my (now) favorite song of his:

Anyone recognize this? It was our first dance song, “More Than Anyone” by Gavin DeGraw. Although, we had the DJ take out the part in the beginning where he tries to convince the girl that he loved her a lot, as there was no need for convincing in our situation.  

I got kinda emotional listening to it today, which is strange considering I was way too excited and overjoyed to worry about being a sap when we actually danced to it. It’s not necessarily “our song,” but one that A) we could agree on; and B) was somewhat meaningful to us. It brought us back to the beginning of our relationship as I have been a fan of Gavin DeGraw for a while–my longtime college roommate and I went to see him open for Maroon 5 at the Hollywood House of Blues when he was all new and undiscovered. It was ooey-gooey awesomeness!– and listened to it a lot when I first met Matt. I tell you this to give some background on our wedding details, but also because his music has been featured in some popular shows that I don’t watch, so I just wanted to clear the air that our first dance song was not chosen because of a lame TV show.

That left the onus on me to provide a signature drink.  One drink I like to order is a Red Bull and Vodka.  Once again though, the Palm did not have Red Bull.  I don’t really like the taste of it, just the energy it provides, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.  The only other drink we order often is non-alcoholic.  It is called a “Kurt Uhler.”  We learned of it two years ago and have been ordering it ever since.  A friend of ours, Kurt Uhler, wanted a drink named after him, so he created it.  It consists of Diet Coke and Lemonade.  It is very similar to an Arnold Palmer, which is Iced Tea and Lemonade.

Kurt Uhler plays ultimate frisbee with us and has passed on the drink to the team.  Now every time the team goes out to dinner after practice we order it.   We try to find places with different types of lemonade (ie. strawberry, kiwi, etc.) to expand our ever discriminating palettes.  My favorite mix is with raspberry lemonade (available at Chevy’s.)  If you go to a chain restaurant in Pleasanton or Livermore and ask for a Kurt Uhler there’s a good chance the waiter/waitress will know what you’re talking about.

In fact, I encourage you to try the drink some time.  I don’t even like Diet Coke, but the lemonade neutralizes the bitterness in the Diet Coke to make the perfect combination.  As you can see in the picture above I did a simple taste test to see what the best mixture would be of the two liquids.  I tried it with 40%, 50% and 60% lemonade.  The best was the most simple solution 50-50.  Then I added some lemon flavored vodka.  I couldn’t taste it, so I added some more.  I still couldn’t taste it.  Wondering if my palette was shot, I had Warren try it.  He couldn’t taste the alcohol either.  I had it, I had created the perfect signature drink.  Hopefully you got to try one at the wedding.  If not, remind me next time we’re out and we’ll order some.

And, because I couldn’t resist, here are a couple favorites from the pile:

Why is Matt so grumpy? Apparently he caught all the fish, but his brother (and best man!) James got to pretend like he caught some, too!

I promise my hair and makeup will be much better at the wedding!

This made picking a DJ a difficult task. We couldn’t just find the cheapest guy and book him. He had to meet some standards. First we asked a good friend of mine, DJ Brian Rockwell, who taught me how to DJ in high school, and when Emily heard him in Tahoe, she claimed he is the best DJ she has ever heard. Unfortunately, considering he DJs clubs, he is not used to doing the wedding scene, which involves announcing the bridal parties, running the event and more. Instead, he recommended a good friend of his, DJ David D. This guy has played at clubs all over the Bay Area, playing all different genres for all different ages. He has tons of experience doing weddings as well, and has lots of equipment for it. The best part is that he mixes the music, so the beat never stops, and does not just play a 4 minute song, and when it’s over he starts the next one. I am confident in saying we will have the best DJ you’ve ever heard at a wedding, you will have the most fun on the dance floor of any wedding you’ve been to, and Emily and I will be dancing the night away. We can’t wait for you to join us on the dance floor, we’ll see you there!

I must say it was a lot easier than I had expected. The only problem I had was with signage on the County Recorder’s building, which read “Monday thru Friday.” Shouldn’t a government building correctly spell words in the English language?!. Let’s hope the name-changing process is smooth and without grammatical stressors.

Without further ado, I present a photo essay of the marriage licensing process:

Matt: Number of previous marriages? Hmmm.
Emily: Ahem!
Matt: Well, there was that one time…
Emily: Excuse me?
Matt: Just kidding! Zero for me!

My turn for forms. Boring, I know, but you can admire my cute new Target bag!

We sat on a cool mosaic bench to wait for our number.

Ta da! Wait, why so glum?

That’s better! Here’s the future Mr. & Mrs. West with the souvenir certificate!

I’m not sure when we’ll be taking our engagement pictures (soon I hope!), but rest assured that we’ll post them here soonafter.

This method is in preparation for what will surely be (joy-laced) madness. Last week Megan and her Matt became engaged. Yay! And as the MOH for the maybe March wedding, my planning has to take somewhat of a backseat so I can help.

Wedding season, here we come!

Blogs
Style Me Pretty — Beautiful ideas and advice, it also has been running awesome Inspiration Board contests. Unfortunately, all the ideas make me want to go the Pam & Kid Rock route and have several blessed events (except the last one, the divorce, of course!).

Something Old, Something New — Cute and classic. It’s similar to Style Me Pretty, not that there can ever be too much of this cutesy stuff! And not that I’m one to complain about this, but it’s a bummer that it’s not updated as often.

Wedding Bee — Cute pseudo-named brides blog about DIY, family problems, finding the perfect dress–everything! They update so often that my Google Reader is constantly replenished (RSS feed, that you really should be using if you read as many blogs as I do).

The Bride’s Guide — If you’re a fan of Martha Stewart, which I am wondering why I wasn’t before, you’ll feel blessed to be able to tap into the genius minds of Weddings editor Darcy Miller.

What Junebug Loves — A wedding planner’s blog. It highlights novel ideas, unique finds and local deals/events. These are all great, except that the deals are focused around Seattle. Apparently they don’t know that the Bay is the place to be!

Oh Joy! — While not really wedding related, it’s a great resource for chic parties. And from what I understand, there will be many from here on out.

Hostess with the Mostess — Again, another party blog. And I love parties!

Books
The Bargaining Bride: How to have the wedding of your dreams without paying the bills of your nightmares — Got this at the local library and it says how to negotiate, not settle for cheaper versions of what you want. It’s well written and easy to breeze through.

The Library — You’d be surprised how much great stuff is at your local library. So check it out. It’s free, that is, if you remember to return your books on time.

Forums
Project Wedding –Great design combined with knowledgable and frequent users, it’s a great tool for planning and deciding. Focuses on Northern and Southern California regions, but is also helpful for those elsewhere. It also has vendor reviews, but it’s not as easy to filter through as is the forum.

Bridal Insider — I actually only include this one since my co-worker said it was helpful. It used to be focused by region, but it looks like they threw that idea out the window. That being said, it was heavily used by San Diego brides that didn’t seem to frequent the site too much. Also, the forum is a little fugly.

Wedding Websites
The Knot — Where the checklist goes above and beyond, the gallery navigation falls behind. It has options to build your own wedding website, but that would be too easy for us! The latter is also nice for snoopers who like to see if friends are engaged yet (not that I would know anyone who does that…).

Wedding Planner — I like the galleries and scrapbook function. The budget calculator is also helpful, but is pretty generic. It also has website hosting, which I think are nicer than The Knots.

Kaboodle — This isn’t really a wedding website, but we’re considering it for our registry. It’s too hard to pick just a couple stores! All in all, it’s a good wishlist website.

Movies
Martha Stewart Wedding DVDs — I found one of these at my library and it was awesome! You got to see real life weddings, decorating how-tos and ideas for cakes, flowers, etc. These are much easier to get through than all the magazines, blogs and books.

Father of the Bride — Still makes me cry, this movie totally reminds me of my family. (Not that I think my dad would steal Matt’s dad’s bank book and throw it in the pool or go to jail for stealing hot dog buns!) You must own this. And before you think it would be a better idea to rent it from the library, double check their late fees!