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Jason and I have been together since June 2002, which is a relatively short period of time compared to most people on The Knot, it seems. We both keep weblogs, web sites updated daily with journal-like or interesting linked entries. Jason stumbled across my site one day and mentioned in his that he though I was intelligent and interesting, musing on the protocol for introducing himself. He linked to me, I found the link in my referrer logs, and the rest is history.

We were enaged on August 8, 2003. I knew it was coming; he had been trying for months to order the ring without me knowing it, but his credit card company was being difficult and refused to let him send the package to an address other than the billing address. So the ring arrived the morning of the 8th, and he promptly hid it. I couldn't spend too much time thinking about it, because I had a job interview that day. I got the job, and to celebrate we went out to dinner at The Melting Pot. On the way home, he pulled into an abandoned parking lot and was down on one knee next to me before I could get out of the car. Both of us cried and hugged, I yelled "yes!" as loudly as I could, and we rushed home to call our families.

Our wedding website: wedding.jasonandjulie.net
Jason''s website: www.lojjic.net
Julie''s website: www.accidentaljulie.com

Christmas 2002, before heading out to a holiday party.

Our kittens, Meatwad and Boo.

On top of the world at Mount Bonnell, and showing off my bottom as a kid at Zilker Park.

My engagement ring is a platinum band and setting with a diamond and two smaller sapphires. Jason and I designed the ring at BlueNile.com. They had excellent customer service, a great selection, and they were able to get our ring to us at 9 a.m. two days after the order was placed. We're going to order our wedding bands from them as well. I'll wear a plain 2.5mm platinum band, and Jason will wear a 4mm platinum band.

We're getting married at the Austin Children's Museum. Our original plan was a historic home with landscaped gardens and a gazebo. But those plans fell through after some not-so-nice contract negotiations. So, we found the museum and we couldn't be happier. While it's not the romantic outdoor wedding both of us initially envisioned, we actually think the fun, funky atmosphere of the museum suits our personalities better. We realized, after wondering why we weren't more disappointed in losing our first-choice place, that we had been trying to conform to what we thought a wedding should look like. Now, we're doing it our way.

Museum exterior in downtown Austin.

The ceremony will take place in the atrium of the museum. One side is a magnetic wall, where we'll hang different-size photos of Jason and I and our families. We'll also have a giant rectangular magnet (think magnetic poetry, but bigger) for each person/couple/family; as they come in, they'll have their picture taken with the Polariod camera and then stick up to the wall. Above the magnetic wall is a balcony and staircase. I'll get ready in one of the museum conference rooms on the second level and then decend the staircase (after the bridesmaids, of course) into the atrium and meet Jason at the bottom. We'll walk down the aisle together toward the red wall on the other side of the atrium. Out officiants will meet us there, and we'll recite our vows.

The museum's lobby/atrium area. All the exhibits will be cleared out since our wedding is after hours. You can see the magnetic wall to the right and the balcony and staircase along the top and down the left. We're planning to have twinkle lights swagged along the balcony and staircase railing.

Alas, I'm not the first person to get married at the museum. The fabric draped over the top of the wall will be silver for our wedding instead of red. Also, all the chairs will be white (the red chairs belong to the museum) and we'll have the chairs placed in arcs to fit more guests on each row. When everything is set up, we'll have enough seats for 125 people and overflow seating on the balcony. Or, late people can just stand in the back. Serves them right!

The reception will be held thoughout the museum's exhibits. The picture below is horrid, but I've been promised the colors of the focal exhibit at the time we're there won't be bright green and pink. The chairs from the ceremony will be moved into the museum for the reception, and the atrium will become our dance floor.

Back to the left, you can see the "bar" area. This is where we'll have the Martha Stewart Punch Bar of Legend set up.

My dress is style #K3000 by Oleg Cassini from David''s Bridal. I purchased it at the David's in Westminster, CO; my coordinator's name was Terry. Please ignore the funny look on my face, the funny boob cutlet... basically everything. I'm somewhat busty, so they didn't have any long-line bras that fit my waist and my bust. My cups runneth over, literally.

I love Shelley George's shoes, and I wanted something simple with a low heel (Jason and I are the same height) to wear for the reception. I'll probably forgo the bow, though. And just in case my feet are aching, I've got the standby white flip-flops for the reception.

My mother is making all of the jewelry for the bridesmaids and myself. The earrings in the upper left are exactly what mine will look like. My necklace is similar to the one above, but there will be clear faceted crystal beads flanking the pearls instead of silver beads, and the pearl "units" themselves will be closer together along the strand. Because we're using stars as sort of a theme for the evening, she found a special star clasp she's using to complete the necklace.

Each of my bridesmaids will wear knee-length A-line dresses, but each will have a different neckline. Melissa, Jason''s sister and my maid of honor, will wear the strapless dress. Leia, one of my bridesmaids, will wear the sleeveless V-neck dress, and Amanda, the third bridesmaid, will wear the spaghetti strap dress. All three dresses will be silver with black belts and black shoes.

We finally made a decision about a cake! We're probably going to have three tiers, and we'll incorporate bright, jewel-tone colors -- silver, ruby, emerald, sapphire. So, the effect will be similar to the cake on the left, but we want the pieces to fit together more closely like the two chocolate cakes. Also, the top and bottom tiers will be multi-colored, and the center tier will have platinum "tiles" and be made of red velvet cake. We're also going to try to have the icing made of a mix of buttercream and cream cheese icing. We've heard horror stories about the taste of fondant. And while we like the smooth look, we're not going to pay for something that tastes bad. We've heard the mix of the two icings allows bakers to get the icing extra smooth, and it tastes delicious! Beyond that, we're still working with our baker.

We'll also try to incorporate stars into the design of the cake, since we're using stars for decoration and in our invitations and web site. The star will come into play, most likely, in the topper.

The ceiling of the museum atrium is very high, so we're planning to hang paper stars and lanterns from the unfished rafters (the building has an industrial feel to it, with lots of aluminum). I found some instructions to make the star-shaped paper lanterns you find in gift shops, so we'll see if I can tackle those. Round Japanese lanterns are also inexpensive, and using them would be a good way to keep from overdosing on stars.

I'd like to make the parent and honored guest rows of seating stand out at the ceremony, but I definitely don't want it to be overdone. Jason and I also aren't big flower people, so I'm all about using paper, fabric and light to make things stand out rather than blow our budget on flowers. Especially when no one notices the ceremony flowers and they'll only be there for about 20 minutes. But, I like these two ideas.

The centerpieces will be star-shaped Christmas tree toppers, several different styles, all silver-colored. We're going to surround them with garlands of greenery and scatter tealights over the tables. My wedding coordinator cleaned out Target of their tree toppers. We figure we'll keep one as a family heirloom to have on our tree every year and then give the rest away to guests.

And we can never forget the smallest decoration of them all -- the votive. I like the look of the leaf-wrapped votives. It adds color, but you don't have to worry about watering it or having it die.

In case it isn't obvious, we love tulips. But, more than likely, the tulips will end up being centerpieces or decorations instead of bouquets. In a fit of creative madness, I decide to make my own bouquet from hand-beaded flowers. The instructions were in the Winter 2003 issue of Martha Stewart Weddings. One of the real brides in the magazine actually showed off the bouquet she had made for her wedding; she said it took her ten months. When I started, I had less than six. We'll see how it goes. But here's my first flower, and it only took me about 4-5 hours total. I've gotten much faster since then. In fact, at the rate I'm going, I'm banking on having enough flowers for the three bridesmaids' bouquets and the bouts. Although I might mix in some real flowers just for fun. I'll also have a toss bouquet that's half beaded and half real; the totally beaded bouquet stays with me.

I really like the first hairdo, mostly because it would look good with my tiara, hair color and length. But I also like the looseness of the front of the second updo and, conversely, the sleekness of the third. We'll see how it goes.

The hairstyle on the left would suit me well, since my hair is shoulder-length and naturally curly. I also like the 'do on the right and the flowers in her hair, especially since I''m still undecided about whether or not to wear a veil.

Another option is hairpins. Since I'm beading the bouquet and my mom is making the jewelry, these will probably be custom-made as well. The simple snowflakes on the left and the flowers at top right match the embroidery and beading on my bodice. The lower right snowflakes are a little fancier, but I think I could easily modify the design to coordinate with the dress.

Our save-the-date cards were pretty basic. We kept them simple so we could print them ourselves. The white paper and envelopes were from Office Max. We printed the cards 4-up, trimmed them out, then punched the stars out of each with three different-sized paper punches. The fonts are Linoscript and Frutiger, and they're used on all of our paper goods.

We went through lots of different ideas before deciding on these invitations. I like them, but I probably could have come up with a zillion more ideas. Unfortunately, we plowed through a mailing deadline, to the point where people were e-mailing us to make sure the wedding was still on. The blue paper is Neenah Classic Columns 80# cover in Indigo - we bought 125 sheets for 15 cents each at Xpedx and had it chopped down to the correct size at Kinko's before we scored each card by hand with a bone folder. The ribbon is a silver organza from Michael's. The eyelets are aluminum 1/8" from Making Memories. And the "seal" on the front is plain vellum (purchased at Archiver's, a scrapbooking store) laid over silver Stardream Metallic paper from paper-source.com. I ran the vellum through my Xyron 150 sticker maker (vellum shows most adhesives), attached it to precut silver paper panels, and ran it through the sticker maker again.

The base of the inside of the invitation, where the text is printed, is Bright White Lines 80# Cover from Strathmore. You can't see it, but there are tiny lines running vertically across the paper that echo the embossed lines of the Classic Columns stock. The silver paper is Stardream Metallic in silver from Paper Source. The patterned vellum, American Stars Navy from Daisy D's Paper Company, came from Archiver's and was adhered with spray adhesive to keep any glue from showing through. And the star at the bottom was made with a trusty paper punch.

The programs will be 4x9 trifolds (I haven't decided whether to make them or buy them, but I have the template just in case). The center panel will be a waterfall (another word for the layered style that's popular) with a sewn binding across the top and containing the order of ceremony, information about the music, bridal party info, things to notice in the ceremony, special thanks, etc. The pocket on the right will hold a cootie catcher, a little saddle-stitched booklet with quotes and passages on love and marriage, and a tissue wrapped in ribbon. The outside will be held shut with a ribbon looped through a star-shaped grommet, and our names and the date will be on a panel on the cover secured with photo corners.

Since people love favors that are edible, we're making candy stars to give to the guests. The supplies are inexpensive and the labor is minimal, so it's a win-win idea. I'm still debating about packaging. I have the supplies to make my own stickers (thank you, Xyron!), so it's a matter of deciding whether I want cellophane or vellum bags, or whether I'd rather have boxes. Boxes would certainly help the candy hold up.

To go with the magnetic wall and the star theme, I''m also making marble magnets. Each person will get a set of six with stars and backgrounds alternating colors between white, red, silver and black (red and silver shown above). The silver paper is, again, Stardream Metallic in silver from Paper Source. The colored card stock is just bulk stock from Archiver's. I'll package them in an Altoid-style hinge-top tin, wrap them with a wide satin ribbon overlayed with a narrower organza ribbon, and seal them with a sticker (one that probably matches the candy favors and, possibly, the seals on the front of our invitations). We figured these would be fairly useful because they don't have our name, photo, wedding date or any mushy saying of any kind on the magnets themselves. The less personalized the actual favor, the better. And we're still managing to tie everything together with a theme.

The tools and supplies for these are also relatively inexpensive. The most costly piece will be the tins for the packaging. The magnets themselves are also simple to make. For instructions, just search for "marble magnets" at Google.com. The problem I'm struggling with right now is bubbles. I'm experimenting with different glues and techniques to keep bubbles from forming in the glue under the marble as the glue dries. I've got plenty of time to perfect my form.

Like everyone else and their mother, we're doing the Martha Stewart wish bowl. With a few modifications. For the bowl, we're using the Bella hurricane from Crate and Barrel. It was a lot larger than I expected it to be, which is great; the bowl part is about the size of a bowling ball. We'll have a ribbon around the nipped in area with a hanging card that reads "Best Wishes and Advice for the Bride and Groom." And we'll have parents and the bridal party fill their cards out beforehand to get the whole thing started. As for the cards themselves, they'll have our logo printed at the top of one side and an address form on the back so we can have everyone's current info.

We also bought some paper star kits from Paper Source (www.paper-source.com). We're not sure how we'll use them yet -- buffet table decorations, centerpieces, pew decorations, etc. -- but they're really easy to make and look awesome. The paper in the kit is Stardream, so it has a pearly metallic sheen to it that you can't see in the photo. Also, there are templates included for both five- and eight-pointed stars. I bought the cutting mat, knife and bone folder at Michael's.

Our rehearsal dinner will be in the Cactus Room, the private dining room of the Iron Cactus North (we wanted the downtown location, but it was booked). The dress I plan to wear is by Jessica McClintock.

Jason and I will spend five days and five nights in New Orleans to celebrate our wedding and our new life together. We booked the vacation through Hotwire.com, and for $1100 we got two round-trip tickets from Austin to New Orleans, a five-day car rental, and five nights in the swanky W New Orleans (www.whotels.com).

Venue -- Austin Children''s Museum (www.austinkids.org)
Photographer -- Ashley Garmon Photography (www.ashleygarmonphoto.com)
Dress -- David''s Bridal (www.davidsbridal.com)
Bridesmaids'' dresses -- Aria (www.ariadress.com)
Rehearsal dinner -- Iron Cactus North (www.ironcactus.com)
Cake and Desserts -- Michelle''s Patisserie (www.michelles-patisserie.com)
Coordinator -- Denise Walpole, Soiree (www.austinsoiree.com)
Engagement ring and wedding bands -- Blue Nile (www.bluenile.com)
Caterer -- Pascal's Catering (www.pascalscatering.com)
Rentals -- Austin Party Central (www.austinpartycentral.com)
Alterations -- Dina's Bridal and Tux, Superior, CO
Invitation supplies -- Xpedx (www.xpedx.com), Archiver's (www.archiversonline.com), Michael's (www.michaels.com), Paper Source (www.paper-source.com)
Tuxedos -- Men's Warehouse (www.menswarehouse.com)