Eloping is hard to do.

Actually it's very easy. A simple ride on the good ol' 2/3 to Park Place and a short walk to City Hall. Recently (and by recently, I mean, sometime in the past three years I've lived in New York), Mayor Bloomberg declared New York the wedding capital of the world. Or something like that. Basically they renovated City Hall so it doesn't make you sad when you sign your marriage certificate in front of an anonymous city bureacrat. *sigh* That's my dream wedding.

But in the real world, where you have a reasonable affection for your family and friends, you're in the wedding section of Michael's, wondering if $4.99 for tulle circles is a good price. And we all end up here. Or most of us do. After gazing at the lovely, design-alicious weddings on the different websites, more often than not, the most authentic thing to do is to simply get the mother-of-pearl guestbook and be done with it. Because as excited I am to be getting married, I have a ridiculously short wedding-attention span (as evidenced by me not posting since when, April? no idea).

Anyway the basics are covered. We have our date! We have a venue! Done and done. I won't do a countdown because I'm philosophically opposed to waiting. We've already found two caterers that we get good e-mail vibes from, and we'll meet them at some point this summer. We're in a good place. A good, forgettable place. i.e. when anyone asks me how the wedding planning is going, I get confused. Wait, I don't feel angry or frustrated. Am I still planning this wedding?

But don't worry. There is time yet. Our latest pre-wedding adventure brings us to engagement party #2. FP's parents are graciously hosting a party in New York for the NY family and friends. And I have graciously offered to bake favors for the 50 guests. Why? Because I'm glutton for wedding punishment.

Actually it's fun. It's an excuse to avoid looking for a full-time job. I mean, who would choose the want ads over chocolate chip cookies? Anyway we spent this afternoon preparing the favor boxes (100 boxes for $19.99 at Michael's). We made a mock-up. What do you think?

1.

2. Uh, this one is easier, so I'm pretty sure this is what I'll do. But tell me if it's offensively ugly.