So, our RSVP due date has come and gone, and we received roughly 70% of the RSVPs, counting invites that went out, not people. Not bad! For total number of people, we currently have a 43% acceptance rate. T,his does not take out those who have not responded. This is a little bit low, but I had purposefully padded the number of potential guests by including dates for everyone over 18, and for including everybody's kids, even infants, which, looking at it now, does not make sense at all. This way we knew that we could accommodate everybody, even a few "crashers" if need be. So, there will be a little bit of tracking people down over the holidays, but not too much. I also need to remember to add the vendors onto the list of people so they get fed, but that is not a big deal... I think it will be just the photogs and DJ.
I got my dress back Tues night from the seamstress... this is really exciting! I will probably have to get it re-steamed a day or two before, but that is not a big deal. We also got our wedding rings today -- need to make absolutely sure they fit, and then we are all set! I chose a tungsten carbide set -- its got a neat darker look to it, and it is one of the only jewelry metals that is stronger than steel (we use it at work to cut steel, ha), so it won't get dinged up when I'm handling our parts. I also booked our hair and makeup appointments, and bought a veil, but i'm not committed to wearing it, yet. Veils are crazy expensive! I bought a cheap-o one from Amazon, which should work just fine. I think im going to get a sparkly hairpin as well, just for some visual interest.
After tomorrow, I have 10! whole days off of work, during which I am determined to knock shit off of my crafts list, mainly (goddamn) pomanders ( i am now calling them hate-manders, because they are taking way longer than anticipated, but i am too invested at this point to give up and think of a better ceremony decoration), votives, and pictures. I also need to order my favors, and we are meeting with the DJ on Tuesday, so I have to have all special songs gathered and burned onto CDs. I had the realization today that when we come back to work, I will have 2 4-day weeks, and then the wedding.... that is soooo soon! But, things are really truly starting to pick up steam and all come together, and I am enjoying it.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Sunday, December 18, 2011
AarrRRAgggh!
WHHAAAA!!! It is less! than! a! month!!! until our freaking wedding. AND AND, in about a month EXACTLY, Matt and I will be on a plane to Hong Kong. holy crap. For the last two weeks or so, every time I need to look at a calendar has caused a small, but increasing panic.
Again, as I say on almost every blog post, I haven't posted in a while, so this is going to be long and unmanageable. If I had like, 3 more hours per day, then I would do this more often. And, now that things are piling up, I am doing more, blogging less. This includes reading wedding blogs as well. Pretty much everything that I need to find "inspiration" for have been decided, so no more excuses for lazy Sunday mornings with coffee and wedding blogs. Dang. I am looking forward to having much, much much more spare time though, after this whole wedding thing is done with. I will have time to read, cook, clean more, update the house, etc.
1 -- One last thing that nobody tells you about wedding-planning is that getting back RSVPs is awesome!! It's so much fun to see your envelopes in the mail, and each has a little mystery -- who is it from? are they coming? bringing a date?? It's sorta like getting Christmas cards, but without the holiday schmaltz. Seriously awesome.
2 -- This Friday, my office threw me a shower! It was a complete surprise, and was super-sweet. It adds to my humility caused by how generous and loving everyone around me is. We had Little Caesar's pizza (one of my many guilty pleasures), soda, and gift-opening in the conference room for lunch, and it was perfect. Even the ruse to keep me away from my desk by scheduling an 11:45 meeting in the plant office was executed perfectly, and nobody complained about my persistent pouting over having lunchtime meetings on a Friday. ha.
3 -- I found out earlier this week that my seamstress is having knee surgery this week, and needed to have me in this weekend. I panicked a little, thinking of who I could have with me to lear n the bustle. luckily, ms jones was available. the dress still fits (yay), is now at the proper length, and, the bust fits amazingly because the seamstress was able to work a miracle with a piece of thread to gather the very top. And, most importantly, the bustle is going to be extreeemely simple! just two loops , one button. thats it. i have heard horror stories about extremely complicated and unwieldy bustles, and i'm incredibly relieved that this one should be just fine.
4 -- Afterwards, steph came over and helped me pick out ceremony music. I was having issues with this before... other than the typical "wedding" songs, my knowledge of orchestral music is kinda limited, and i didnt want to choose something overly trite that has no meaning to me. Although, I think the ceremony music is important at the time, it is something that nobody remembers. We ended up finding some fantastic songs though, and I am super-happy with how it will work out. Now, finding a mother:son / father:daughter dance....
5 -- Saturday, my mom, Matt's mom and I went dress-shopping for them. They both found beautiful dresses! I am really excited for them. We picked out some jewelry as well, and got ties for the groomsmen and Matt, so everyone should be outfitted now. wooo!
6 -- I have table decs figured out, supplies purchased, now just need to assemble them. I will do that as soon as I get done with the ceremony decorations, which are taking for-ever. After this week though, I have 10 days off of work, so I can knock all of that out. After that, I have my pictures project, plus working with vendors to finalize everything, buying jewelry for me, buying wedding rings, and then that should pretty much be it. Things are very quickly wrapping up, it is a little overwhelming.
Soon, soon... it will all be over, and we will be on our way to CHINAAAAAA!!
Again, as I say on almost every blog post, I haven't posted in a while, so this is going to be long and unmanageable. If I had like, 3 more hours per day, then I would do this more often. And, now that things are piling up, I am doing more, blogging less. This includes reading wedding blogs as well. Pretty much everything that I need to find "inspiration" for have been decided, so no more excuses for lazy Sunday mornings with coffee and wedding blogs. Dang. I am looking forward to having much, much much more spare time though, after this whole wedding thing is done with. I will have time to read, cook, clean more, update the house, etc.
1 -- One last thing that nobody tells you about wedding-planning is that getting back RSVPs is awesome!! It's so much fun to see your envelopes in the mail, and each has a little mystery -- who is it from? are they coming? bringing a date?? It's sorta like getting Christmas cards, but without the holiday schmaltz. Seriously awesome.
2 -- This Friday, my office threw me a shower! It was a complete surprise, and was super-sweet. It adds to my humility caused by how generous and loving everyone around me is. We had Little Caesar's pizza (one of my many guilty pleasures), soda, and gift-opening in the conference room for lunch, and it was perfect. Even the ruse to keep me away from my desk by scheduling an 11:45 meeting in the plant office was executed perfectly, and nobody complained about my persistent pouting over having lunchtime meetings on a Friday. ha.
3 -- I found out earlier this week that my seamstress is having knee surgery this week, and needed to have me in this weekend. I panicked a little, thinking of who I could have with me to lear n the bustle. luckily, ms jones was available. the dress still fits (yay), is now at the proper length, and, the bust fits amazingly because the seamstress was able to work a miracle with a piece of thread to gather the very top. And, most importantly, the bustle is going to be extreeemely simple! just two loops , one button. thats it. i have heard horror stories about extremely complicated and unwieldy bustles, and i'm incredibly relieved that this one should be just fine.
4 -- Afterwards, steph came over and helped me pick out ceremony music. I was having issues with this before... other than the typical "wedding" songs, my knowledge of orchestral music is kinda limited, and i didnt want to choose something overly trite that has no meaning to me. Although, I think the ceremony music is important at the time, it is something that nobody remembers. We ended up finding some fantastic songs though, and I am super-happy with how it will work out. Now, finding a mother:son / father:daughter dance....
5 -- Saturday, my mom, Matt's mom and I went dress-shopping for them. They both found beautiful dresses! I am really excited for them. We picked out some jewelry as well, and got ties for the groomsmen and Matt, so everyone should be outfitted now. wooo!
6 -- I have table decs figured out, supplies purchased, now just need to assemble them. I will do that as soon as I get done with the ceremony decorations, which are taking for-ever. After this week though, I have 10 days off of work, so I can knock all of that out. After that, I have my pictures project, plus working with vendors to finalize everything, buying jewelry for me, buying wedding rings, and then that should pretty much be it. Things are very quickly wrapping up, it is a little overwhelming.
Soon, soon... it will all be over, and we will be on our way to CHINAAAAAA!!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Things nobody tells you about wedding planning (or, things that I haven't heard, anyhow)
I understand that every wedding is different, and thus go through different processes, so not everyone will have these experiences. But, for me and my wedding planning, here are the things (so far) that have taken me by surprise, that I wish I would have been a little better prepared-for. Also, for the most part, all of the "I"s are assuming that the bride does all of this (for ease of writing) -- the groom also has a big part too.
1 -- You will need to make a staggering amount of decisions. Small decisions, big decisions. More small than big, but man, do they add up. Even fairly meaningless ones like "Which salad dressings? What kind of chairs do I want at the ceremony? How about the reception?" add up, and become exhausting. Setting up a registry, picking out music, picking out vendors, location, colors, theme, shoes, food, bridal party members, their wardrobe, etc. Wedding planning is nothing but a string of making decisions, and it gets tiring. Maybe I have a lack of endurance from being naturally ambivalent, and having a career that is essentially making a lot of small decisions. Either way, that is one thing I am looking forward to having done.
2 -- Everyone has opinions about weddings, and you hear a lot of them, especially with a long engagement.
3 -- There is an endless to-do list. I exacerbate it by coming up with little projects for myself here and there, but even then -- there is always something that needs to get taken care of. Hopefully I can get it all done by Jan 14. But, if I don't, then I don't, and we get married anyhow.
4 -- The outpouring of generosity that comes your way is overwhelming. I get very emotional when I think about everyone that is going out of their way to do all of these things, for me and matt. it's incredible, and humbling, and pretty much the greatest feeling in the world. I was not prepared for this at all.
5 -- Wedding shit (DIY things, paperwork, gifts) will take over your house. I've bought a number of plastic totes to try to keep things together, and they are filling up all of my livingroom space, and now migrating to the basement. its temporary, but still -- it's a lot of clutter.
1 -- You will need to make a staggering amount of decisions. Small decisions, big decisions. More small than big, but man, do they add up. Even fairly meaningless ones like "Which salad dressings? What kind of chairs do I want at the ceremony? How about the reception?" add up, and become exhausting. Setting up a registry, picking out music, picking out vendors, location, colors, theme, shoes, food, bridal party members, their wardrobe, etc. Wedding planning is nothing but a string of making decisions, and it gets tiring. Maybe I have a lack of endurance from being naturally ambivalent, and having a career that is essentially making a lot of small decisions. Either way, that is one thing I am looking forward to having done.
2 -- Everyone has opinions about weddings, and you hear a lot of them, especially with a long engagement.
3 -- There is an endless to-do list. I exacerbate it by coming up with little projects for myself here and there, but even then -- there is always something that needs to get taken care of. Hopefully I can get it all done by Jan 14. But, if I don't, then I don't, and we get married anyhow.
4 -- The outpouring of generosity that comes your way is overwhelming. I get very emotional when I think about everyone that is going out of their way to do all of these things, for me and matt. it's incredible, and humbling, and pretty much the greatest feeling in the world. I was not prepared for this at all.
5 -- Wedding shit (DIY things, paperwork, gifts) will take over your house. I've bought a number of plastic totes to try to keep things together, and they are filling up all of my livingroom space, and now migrating to the basement. its temporary, but still -- it's a lot of clutter.
Friday, November 11, 2011
I should be breaking these down into smaller blog posts, but there are almost too many things I want to document, that unless I did this daily, there would be multiple blog posts every day, and that would be as unwieldy as the long blogs I'm doing now.
1 -- Invites -- I met up with Keri briefly last weekend, and got a finished invitation.. I cried! They are so beautiful, and so much love has gone into them, I am incredibly lucky and humbled. Soon, they will be making their way out into the world. And yes, I already have stamps for them, that I picked out. The choices for .64 stamps are abysmal, however. A wedding cake, a monarch butterfly, and a dolphin. I'll keep you in suspense as to which ones I bought.
2 -- Menu -- we had our menu tasting this week.... the food was OK. Not bad, not great. The cakes were... dated. I am not going to bash a vendor that we chose (unless there is bad service or something like that), but the choice for the wedding cakes was all out of 1988.... lots of columns, flowers, and a lot of cakes with a fountain in the middle of them, inexplicably. We could have gone to a different bakery, but the cake is already included in our package, so we will make do. It's not super important to me anyway,,,, you take 3 pictures with it, cut it up, then it's served to people who feel obligated to eat it. Overall, the food is one thing I know we are sacrificing on to keep our budget. We could have done better food, but then we wouldn't be able to afford as many people, and I think having the people that you want there is more important and more memorable than being able to provide a high-class meal for a few. Nothing we chose is offensively bad, so that's good.
This was another situation where there was major decision fatigue. Appetizer/soup/salad/dressings for the salad/entree/side/desserts/cake flavor/icing/cake design plus some other ones is a lot to decide in an hour! At the end, I really didn't care what 2 salad dressings we were giving to people, or if we wanted fruit for the chocolate fountain, or what kind of wine to serve with dinner. Oy. I know there will be other things like this, and I suppose it's a good will-power strength building exercise.
3 -- I can. not. wait for tomorrow -- party x 3! Bridal shower, mom-bachelorette party, and then bachelorette party. Again, I'm incredibly humbled that people are doing all of these things for me, and this is cliche, but I am definitely feeling lots of love around me, which is incredibly wonderful and ... almost indescribable.
1 -- Invites -- I met up with Keri briefly last weekend, and got a finished invitation.. I cried! They are so beautiful, and so much love has gone into them, I am incredibly lucky and humbled. Soon, they will be making their way out into the world. And yes, I already have stamps for them, that I picked out. The choices for .64 stamps are abysmal, however. A wedding cake, a monarch butterfly, and a dolphin. I'll keep you in suspense as to which ones I bought.
2 -- Menu -- we had our menu tasting this week.... the food was OK. Not bad, not great. The cakes were... dated. I am not going to bash a vendor that we chose (unless there is bad service or something like that), but the choice for the wedding cakes was all out of 1988.... lots of columns, flowers, and a lot of cakes with a fountain in the middle of them, inexplicably. We could have gone to a different bakery, but the cake is already included in our package, so we will make do. It's not super important to me anyway,,,, you take 3 pictures with it, cut it up, then it's served to people who feel obligated to eat it. Overall, the food is one thing I know we are sacrificing on to keep our budget. We could have done better food, but then we wouldn't be able to afford as many people, and I think having the people that you want there is more important and more memorable than being able to provide a high-class meal for a few. Nothing we chose is offensively bad, so that's good.
This was another situation where there was major decision fatigue. Appetizer/soup/salad/dressings for the salad/entree/side/desserts/cake flavor/icing/cake design plus some other ones is a lot to decide in an hour! At the end, I really didn't care what 2 salad dressings we were giving to people, or if we wanted fruit for the chocolate fountain, or what kind of wine to serve with dinner. Oy. I know there will be other things like this, and I suppose it's a good will-power strength building exercise.
3 -- I can. not. wait for tomorrow -- party x 3! Bridal shower, mom-bachelorette party, and then bachelorette party. Again, I'm incredibly humbled that people are doing all of these things for me, and this is cliche, but I am definitely feeling lots of love around me, which is incredibly wonderful and ... almost indescribable.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
slacking off...
I went from posting every week, to every two weeks, and now to every month. I think there is an inverse ratio between planning and blogging... the more things i actually do, the less I blog about it. And wowza, there is a lot to do. I am getting to the point where we can almost count down in weeks, and it's both exciting and nervewracking. I have something going on every weekend in November already, and then it's December, and that will fly by, and then BAM. Wedding time! A review of what 's been done already.
1 -- Invitations! I gave final approval last night, and they are being printed right now! The RSVP cards still need some finishing touches (such as entree choices, and we are scheduling a tasting for next week, then those will be done). They are absolutely beautiful. And, they are silkscreened. How awesome is that?!? I cannot wait to see what they look like in person. Ms Harvey is extremely talented, and generous to do all of this for me. I cannot say enough about how much she's helped me out.
2 -- Honeymoon! All flights and hotels have been booked. We are doing 3 days in Hong Kong, 2 days in Chengdu, and 4 days in Beijing. I can't wait to get back , I already have a list of foods that are 'must-eat'. Matt is also excited, he has gone haywire immersing himself into Chinese language and culture.. although he annoys me sometimes by insisting that I brush up on my Mandarin skills (the pathetically small amount that I've retained), the research he's done is impressive.
3 -- Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Party/Registry Building -- The girls are throwing one in a few weeks, so Matt and I decided to register at two brick-and-mortar stores, in addition to our Amazon registry. That was not too bad, Matt had quite a bit of constructive input too. It's really exhausting, though. After a while, it's hard to make any more decisions on , anything. Colors/textures/brands/do we need this/ etc. I feel stupid complaining about it ("Oh goooodddd,,,,,, its soooo haaarrrrdddd to pick out things for others to buy for me, how can i dooo iiitttt......"), but it really is tiring. I'm happy I live in an age where I can add things online, from anywhere. If I had to go to the stores physically each time, then,,,,yeah. I would have a lot fewer choices. Anyhow -- I am not someone who likes to be the center of attention, and I especially hate opening gifts in front of others (Seriously, I cannot control my facial expressions! Any hint of disappointment, disgust, or negativity shows up.), but I realize that it's sorta my turn to go through this. And, it's a small price to pay to get to see a lot of people that I really love and appreciate at once. I can work up tears just thinking about this, I am going to be a mofo wreck when it actually happens.
Those are the main ones... we are still working on music and centerpieces, and have started work on Chinese visas and rehearsal plans. We also need to get the men's fashion lined up too, very soon.
1 -- Invitations! I gave final approval last night, and they are being printed right now! The RSVP cards still need some finishing touches (such as entree choices, and we are scheduling a tasting for next week, then those will be done). They are absolutely beautiful. And, they are silkscreened. How awesome is that?!? I cannot wait to see what they look like in person. Ms Harvey is extremely talented, and generous to do all of this for me. I cannot say enough about how much she's helped me out.
2 -- Honeymoon! All flights and hotels have been booked. We are doing 3 days in Hong Kong, 2 days in Chengdu, and 4 days in Beijing. I can't wait to get back , I already have a list of foods that are 'must-eat'. Matt is also excited, he has gone haywire immersing himself into Chinese language and culture.. although he annoys me sometimes by insisting that I brush up on my Mandarin skills (the pathetically small amount that I've retained), the research he's done is impressive.
3 -- Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Party/Registry Building -- The girls are throwing one in a few weeks, so Matt and I decided to register at two brick-and-mortar stores, in addition to our Amazon registry. That was not too bad, Matt had quite a bit of constructive input too. It's really exhausting, though. After a while, it's hard to make any more decisions on , anything. Colors/textures/brands/do we need this/ etc. I feel stupid complaining about it ("Oh goooodddd,,,,,, its soooo haaarrrrdddd to pick out things for others to buy for me, how can i dooo iiitttt......"), but it really is tiring. I'm happy I live in an age where I can add things online, from anywhere. If I had to go to the stores physically each time, then,,,,yeah. I would have a lot fewer choices. Anyhow -- I am not someone who likes to be the center of attention, and I especially hate opening gifts in front of others (Seriously, I cannot control my facial expressions! Any hint of disappointment, disgust, or negativity shows up.), but I realize that it's sorta my turn to go through this. And, it's a small price to pay to get to see a lot of people that I really love and appreciate at once. I can work up tears just thinking about this, I am going to be a mofo wreck when it actually happens.
Those are the main ones... we are still working on music and centerpieces, and have started work on Chinese visas and rehearsal plans. We also need to get the men's fashion lined up too, very soon.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
woo!!
I knew there was something I was missing from the last post -- we have our honeymoon tickets booked!!!
Matt's parents very very graciously donated some of their airline miles, and we are going to CHINA! I am so, so so excited to get back there, and Matt is really excited to go for the first time (He is even working on learning how to speak Mandarin, I am very impressed ).
I am working on putting together an itinerary now (along with booking all hotels/in-country transportation, getting visas, etc). All we have nailed down is that we are flying into Hong Kong, and flying out of Beijing 10 days later. We will be leaving on the Thursday after the wedding, so we have a few days of time to decompress , and prepare for this journey. It should really be a lot of fun. We will be there for the Chinese New Year, which is an added bonus, that is purely coincidental. Can't wait!
Matt's parents very very graciously donated some of their airline miles, and we are going to CHINA! I am so, so so excited to get back there, and Matt is really excited to go for the first time (He is even working on learning how to speak Mandarin, I am very impressed ).
I am working on putting together an itinerary now (along with booking all hotels/in-country transportation, getting visas, etc). All we have nailed down is that we are flying into Hong Kong, and flying out of Beijing 10 days later. We will be leaving on the Thursday after the wedding, so we have a few days of time to decompress , and prepare for this journey. It should really be a lot of fun. We will be there for the Chinese New Year, which is an added bonus, that is purely coincidental. Can't wait!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
busybusy!
Too long, didn't read (tl;dr) version : I am busy doing things like going to seamstress, picking out music, building registry, etc. I am also incredibly thankful for the wonderful people who are helping me out.
The more planning I do, the less blogging I do. So, I have been really busy with wedding things lately. This is good -- we are under 4!!! months, which is crazy! It's like, 15 weeks away. I keep doing little dumb things, like putting the summer clothes in the back of my closet, and thinking "by the time I bring these out next year, I'll be married". Or, signing up for the yearly flu shot at work, and thinking that this time next year, I'll be married. Um, I hate to break the news (to myself?), that by the time we celebrate Valentine's Day, I'll have been married for a month, already. It is coming up really, really really fast.
I never wrote this up, and it probably deserves its own entry, but I owe a ton of thanks to everyone that is helping me out. It is really really humbling and heartwarming to see other people spending their time to help you. I had a fabulous time assembling the save-the-dates with Amber and Keri , made even more fun by copious amounts of alky and snacks. This, in particular, was incredibly tasty, and really easy to make : Strawberry-Basil Margaritas . I know Steph has some great ideas cookin' for a cake topper and other decs, Keri's mom (Mrs Harvey) is waiting on me (eep!! sorry!) for a little project, Keri has been throwing out a ton of super-awesome ideas (the save-the-dates were amazing!), and putting a lot of time and effort into everything, and Matt has been the best fiance in existence. Thank you. <3 to all.
DJ is booked, and we have been working on the "big" songs. We definitely have our first dance picked out, and I think we have a solid contender for the dad/daughter mom/son dance. We are definitely combining those into 1. That way, a shorter amount of time before everyone can boogie, and... it's just more efficient. I think this has been documented a lot in other places, but it's really hard to find a fam-dance that is not incestuous, trite, or creepy. Like, really hard. Eh. Even the one we have now, the opening line is a little skeevy, but it mellows out after that.
The next big thing is ceremony music, and that is going to be difficult. Classic or contemporary? Cute/sweet or sassy and fun? I would love to work some Smiths, Morrissey, Kanye, Gaga, or Radiohead in, because Matt and I have little connections to those, but everything I hear that might be acceptable have lyrics that are completely inappropriate.
I've also been brainstorming centerpiece ideas -- I think i stumbled onto something super-awesome at a florist this weekend... will need to make a few prototypes, and see how they look. Ideally, I would like them assembled sooner rather than later.
And, registry-building. Oh ,,, my goodness. That is a chore!! I know it sounds dumb, but it really really is. I've been slowly adding things, but shower-time is coming up, so I gotta get this done. Plus, with the save-the-dates there was a card with the wedding website , which has the registry on it, so I assume people are looking. They have the option, at least. Matt came up with some good ideas, so I will take care of that tonight.
I also had my first dress fitting, which was interesting. The lady had a bird (mini-wedding-rage thought: "get that bird out of here, I do not want bird poo on my dress!." I didn't say anything), so she and Steph were talkin birds the entire time, which was amusing for me. You meet really interesting people during wedding planning... for sure. Very unique. They all seem to have a genuine love and passion for what they do, which is good to be around, and inspires confidence. Anyway -- I need to have the dress shortened, a lot, taken in at the bust, cups added, and bustled. other than that,,, it still fits, which is good -- I think it'll be super-good if I can trim down just a little, but if not, I know the dress will still be ok if I maintain. phew. So, the dress has moved from its space in my closet. It does seem a little empty, now. Ah well.
The more planning I do, the less blogging I do. So, I have been really busy with wedding things lately. This is good -- we are under 4!!! months, which is crazy! It's like, 15 weeks away. I keep doing little dumb things, like putting the summer clothes in the back of my closet, and thinking "by the time I bring these out next year, I'll be married". Or, signing up for the yearly flu shot at work, and thinking that this time next year, I'll be married. Um, I hate to break the news (to myself?), that by the time we celebrate Valentine's Day, I'll have been married for a month, already. It is coming up really, really really fast.
I never wrote this up, and it probably deserves its own entry, but I owe a ton of thanks to everyone that is helping me out. It is really really humbling and heartwarming to see other people spending their time to help you. I had a fabulous time assembling the save-the-dates with Amber and Keri , made even more fun by copious amounts of alky and snacks. This, in particular, was incredibly tasty, and really easy to make : Strawberry-Basil Margaritas . I know Steph has some great ideas cookin' for a cake topper and other decs, Keri's mom (Mrs Harvey) is waiting on me (eep!! sorry!) for a little project, Keri has been throwing out a ton of super-awesome ideas (the save-the-dates were amazing!), and putting a lot of time and effort into everything, and Matt has been the best fiance in existence. Thank you. <3 to all.
DJ is booked, and we have been working on the "big" songs. We definitely have our first dance picked out, and I think we have a solid contender for the dad/daughter mom/son dance. We are definitely combining those into 1. That way, a shorter amount of time before everyone can boogie, and... it's just more efficient. I think this has been documented a lot in other places, but it's really hard to find a fam-dance that is not incestuous, trite, or creepy. Like, really hard. Eh. Even the one we have now, the opening line is a little skeevy, but it mellows out after that.
The next big thing is ceremony music, and that is going to be difficult. Classic or contemporary? Cute/sweet or sassy and fun? I would love to work some Smiths, Morrissey, Kanye, Gaga, or Radiohead in, because Matt and I have little connections to those, but everything I hear that might be acceptable have lyrics that are completely inappropriate.
I've also been brainstorming centerpiece ideas -- I think i stumbled onto something super-awesome at a florist this weekend... will need to make a few prototypes, and see how they look. Ideally, I would like them assembled sooner rather than later.
And, registry-building. Oh ,,, my goodness. That is a chore!! I know it sounds dumb, but it really really is. I've been slowly adding things, but shower-time is coming up, so I gotta get this done. Plus, with the save-the-dates there was a card with the wedding website , which has the registry on it, so I assume people are looking. They have the option, at least. Matt came up with some good ideas, so I will take care of that tonight.
I also had my first dress fitting, which was interesting. The lady had a bird (mini-wedding-rage thought: "get that bird out of here, I do not want bird poo on my dress!." I didn't say anything), so she and Steph were talkin birds the entire time, which was amusing for me. You meet really interesting people during wedding planning... for sure. Very unique. They all seem to have a genuine love and passion for what they do, which is good to be around, and inspires confidence. Anyway -- I need to have the dress shortened, a lot, taken in at the bust, cups added, and bustled. other than that,,, it still fits, which is good -- I think it'll be super-good if I can trim down just a little, but if not, I know the dress will still be ok if I maintain. phew. So, the dress has moved from its space in my closet. It does seem a little empty, now. Ah well.
Monday, August 22, 2011
F You, USPS. Or, My First Wedding Rage Episode.
I finished putting labels on my Save-the-Dates (is there any way to abbreviate that other than STD? The jokes are good, don't get me wrong... but really.) Sunday night, after a fun assembly party on Saturday. I will do a little write-up on that later, it deserves its own post.
I brought all of them to work today, and on my lunch break, went over to the Carol Stream Post Office to buy some fancy stamps and send these bad boys out. I was planning on getting these fairly cute ones that had flowers in the shape of hearts. I talked to someone as I got in line, and they advised that they only had what they had in the cases. So, I had my choice of cats/dogs , flags of the world, wedding cake (but for 64 cents), wedding rings, and one that had a basket of pansies and said 'LOVE' . The first two would be ridiculous, the cake was too much postage, and the rings would have been a little hard-hitting, so the flowers it was. On the bottom of the display, the poster advised to ask for the 'love pansies' stamp. ..... USPS, you may want to rethink this, maybe try a different flower that is not a term for effeminate men.
I waited in line 10 minutes, then told the lady I wanted to buy love pansies stamps. She rolled her eyes, mumbled something about not having them, then rooted around in the back of her drawer, pulled out a tattered large envelope, looked in it, and said "Nope, we don't have those."
WTF?!?! First, I was a little angry because those weren't even the stamps I wanted, and they were ugly. Second, Carol Stream is a very large regional processing center, not some small town post office, so this was surprising. Third, they keep their fancy stamps in a ratty old envelope, in the back of the drawer? Bull - shit. It's way more likely that this person did not want to walk to the back and look for them. And, it's not like they are going to lose a customer, I still gotta get the envelopes sent.
So, I walked away, and went to the machine to get some regular stamps, because I needed to get these mailed. I got them, thinking about how I wanted to rub it in the cashier's face that their job was done better, and more politely, by a machine, and walked over to a counter and started putting them on the envelopes. That's when Bridezilla (can we get a new term for that too? its degrading... I am not a monster! unless you are talking about lady gaga's little monsters, then maybe. how about the wedding crazies? That might be offensive too.... how about... Wedding Rage, the distant, gender-neutral cousin of Road Rage. Yes.) .... That's when the Wedding Rage started.
I started thinking about how angry about the whole situation I was. I had wasted 10 minutes in line, was wasting my lunch break, the stupid lady didn't even offer for me to buy them online or check in the back or anything, and these stamps are fucking hideous shit-colored liberty bells, that ruined the entire envelope! Fuck the liberty bell -- whose idea was it to have that be some great national symbol anyway? I would have preferred a goddamn bald eagle, at least that would have had a little "put a bird on it, its art!" going for it. The liberty bell, is just damn ugly. and broken. it's not even functional!! It's a stupid broken thing that is pointless and just government propaganda to get tourists to shitty Pennsylvania. I was so worked up and angry about this, my hands were shaking peeling the stamps off and sticking them to each previously-beautiful, now ruined, envelope.
After I was done, I threw them in the outgoing box, and walked out. I was still pissed, and conspiring about how I'm going to use UPS or some other courier company to deliver the invites. Who cares if it will cost 20 times as much, the spite is worth it.
Then, rationality returned, and I realized I had just had a wedding rage attack.
Really? Erica? Really? You are upset about stamps? People don't even look at the envelope. It's whole purpose is to take abuse, and protect the super-awesome contents. The recipients rip them, and throw them away. They will look at the stamp for all of a second, and then open it, and smile at the really great mini-piece of arts and crafts inside, and throw the envelope away.
Lessons?? I will use the post office for the invites, but order the stamps I want online, so I have them ahead of time. This is a taste of my gut reactions to wedding adversity, and it's really not pleasant. I didn't lash out or anything, but it was close. I guess it's good to know what wedding rage feels like, so the proper cooling down/rationalizing process can happen next time, before there are regrettable decisions made, or actions taken. I can also laugh about it afterwards. It's all part of the process and bridal experience.
I brought all of them to work today, and on my lunch break, went over to the Carol Stream Post Office to buy some fancy stamps and send these bad boys out. I was planning on getting these fairly cute ones that had flowers in the shape of hearts. I talked to someone as I got in line, and they advised that they only had what they had in the cases. So, I had my choice of cats/dogs , flags of the world, wedding cake (but for 64 cents), wedding rings, and one that had a basket of pansies and said 'LOVE' . The first two would be ridiculous, the cake was too much postage, and the rings would have been a little hard-hitting, so the flowers it was. On the bottom of the display, the poster advised to ask for the 'love pansies' stamp. ..... USPS, you may want to rethink this, maybe try a different flower that is not a term for effeminate men.
I waited in line 10 minutes, then told the lady I wanted to buy love pansies stamps. She rolled her eyes, mumbled something about not having them, then rooted around in the back of her drawer, pulled out a tattered large envelope, looked in it, and said "Nope, we don't have those."
WTF?!?! First, I was a little angry because those weren't even the stamps I wanted, and they were ugly. Second, Carol Stream is a very large regional processing center, not some small town post office, so this was surprising. Third, they keep their fancy stamps in a ratty old envelope, in the back of the drawer? Bull - shit. It's way more likely that this person did not want to walk to the back and look for them. And, it's not like they are going to lose a customer, I still gotta get the envelopes sent.
So, I walked away, and went to the machine to get some regular stamps, because I needed to get these mailed. I got them, thinking about how I wanted to rub it in the cashier's face that their job was done better, and more politely, by a machine, and walked over to a counter and started putting them on the envelopes. That's when Bridezilla (can we get a new term for that too? its degrading... I am not a monster! unless you are talking about lady gaga's little monsters, then maybe. how about the wedding crazies? That might be offensive too.... how about... Wedding Rage, the distant, gender-neutral cousin of Road Rage. Yes.) .... That's when the Wedding Rage started.
I started thinking about how angry about the whole situation I was. I had wasted 10 minutes in line, was wasting my lunch break, the stupid lady didn't even offer for me to buy them online or check in the back or anything, and these stamps are fucking hideous shit-colored liberty bells, that ruined the entire envelope! Fuck the liberty bell -- whose idea was it to have that be some great national symbol anyway? I would have preferred a goddamn bald eagle, at least that would have had a little "put a bird on it, its art!" going for it. The liberty bell, is just damn ugly. and broken. it's not even functional!! It's a stupid broken thing that is pointless and just government propaganda to get tourists to shitty Pennsylvania. I was so worked up and angry about this, my hands were shaking peeling the stamps off and sticking them to each previously-beautiful, now ruined, envelope.
After I was done, I threw them in the outgoing box, and walked out. I was still pissed, and conspiring about how I'm going to use UPS or some other courier company to deliver the invites. Who cares if it will cost 20 times as much, the spite is worth it.
Then, rationality returned, and I realized I had just had a wedding rage attack.
Really? Erica? Really? You are upset about stamps? People don't even look at the envelope. It's whole purpose is to take abuse, and protect the super-awesome contents. The recipients rip them, and throw them away. They will look at the stamp for all of a second, and then open it, and smile at the really great mini-piece of arts and crafts inside, and throw the envelope away.
Lessons?? I will use the post office for the invites, but order the stamps I want online, so I have them ahead of time. This is a taste of my gut reactions to wedding adversity, and it's really not pleasant. I didn't lash out or anything, but it was close. I guess it's good to know what wedding rage feels like, so the proper cooling down/rationalizing process can happen next time, before there are regrettable decisions made, or actions taken. I can also laugh about it afterwards. It's all part of the process and bridal experience.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Florist : BOOKED. I had a pre-consult, basically picked out bouquet flowers, and paid money, and now I have a florist. Thank god. I don't want to give every single wedding detail away on here, but I will say that I am going to go very classic: single-flower, single-color bouquets. I still need to decide boutennieres ( I'm never going to be able to spell that word) , corsages , and ceremony arrangements. I think I'm also going to do a litttle bit of floral on the centerpieces too, so I need to price that out. I have a formal consult Aug 23, by which time I hope to have bridesmaid dresses closer to purchased. We'll see.
DJ: Almost booked. We are in negotiations with 2 people right now, and I think we have made our choice. I don't want to go into too many details here, but I don't think the original option is going to work out for us. Goodness -- I didn't think that we would run into all of these little problems, but we are ! It's a good thing we started fairly early.
It also looks like we will have a photobooth at the reception too, which I am uber-excited about -- I cannot wait to have access to all of those pictures!
I think, after finalizing things with those 3, we will be done booking vendors! That is HUGE!!! It will be just a little shy of 5 months out... that's not bad, at all. Actually, typing this, I am really really happy with that.
Well.... I might see if there is room for a day-of wedding coordinator. That is looking more and more appealing, the closer I get. Especially with a small bridal party, it would be nice to have someone directing traffic while getting everything set up. I can just imagine trying to decide where to put the flowers, while my grandma wants to be escorted into the bridal room to talk to me, the DJ showing up and needing to be pointed in the right direction, someone needing a safety pin or something, and all of this happening at once for like, 3 straight hours, and me freaking out. I
But, I've found that the list of things to do keeps getting a little bigger, little projects added on here and there. A week or so ago, at dinner, Matt asked me to make a list of everything that needs to be done, and make a big push to get everything completed 3 months ahead of time. That is way intimidating, and I had another mini-panic episode.... For everything else that needs to be done, there are a lot of decisions to make, and I am not ready to make all of them, right now. I have ideas for shoes, a guest book, a card box, centerpieces, favors, etc, but I am not in a good place to try to get all of them completed in the next few weeks.
Plus, our vendors will be working on their own timetable, which will almost certainly not be 3 months ahead of schedule. Anyway. It is a good goal, and I think we are making good progress. Matt has certainly turned into a tissue-paper-flower machine! I think he can churn out 3 to every 1 that I do. And, he is an incredibly good sport about it. Thank you :)
So, we are slowly grinding out everything. Progress is being made, and the big day is getting closer and closer. All good things.
DJ: Almost booked. We are in negotiations with 2 people right now, and I think we have made our choice. I don't want to go into too many details here, but I don't think the original option is going to work out for us. Goodness -- I didn't think that we would run into all of these little problems, but we are ! It's a good thing we started fairly early.
It also looks like we will have a photobooth at the reception too, which I am uber-excited about -- I cannot wait to have access to all of those pictures!
I think, after finalizing things with those 3, we will be done booking vendors! That is HUGE!!! It will be just a little shy of 5 months out... that's not bad, at all. Actually, typing this, I am really really happy with that.
Well.... I might see if there is room for a day-of wedding coordinator. That is looking more and more appealing, the closer I get. Especially with a small bridal party, it would be nice to have someone directing traffic while getting everything set up. I can just imagine trying to decide where to put the flowers, while my grandma wants to be escorted into the bridal room to talk to me, the DJ showing up and needing to be pointed in the right direction, someone needing a safety pin or something, and all of this happening at once for like, 3 straight hours, and me freaking out. I
But, I've found that the list of things to do keeps getting a little bigger, little projects added on here and there. A week or so ago, at dinner, Matt asked me to make a list of everything that needs to be done, and make a big push to get everything completed 3 months ahead of time. That is way intimidating, and I had another mini-panic episode.... For everything else that needs to be done, there are a lot of decisions to make, and I am not ready to make all of them, right now. I have ideas for shoes, a guest book, a card box, centerpieces, favors, etc, but I am not in a good place to try to get all of them completed in the next few weeks.
Plus, our vendors will be working on their own timetable, which will almost certainly not be 3 months ahead of schedule. Anyway. It is a good goal, and I think we are making good progress. Matt has certainly turned into a tissue-paper-flower machine! I think he can churn out 3 to every 1 that I do. And, he is an incredibly good sport about it. Thank you :)
So, we are slowly grinding out everything. Progress is being made, and the big day is getting closer and closer. All good things.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
One FAQ I forgot on the last post, and I am getting this a lot:
Will Figlet be in your wedding?
No. Matt and I both love him, and he is definitely a part of our family, and the pictures would be all kinds of adorable, but no. The absolute last thing I want to be doing on my wedding day is worrying about the dog. "Who has him? Where is he? Does he need to go out? Don't let him out of the room!!" etc etc, all damn day. No thanks. Plus, he does not like large groups of strangers, and the potential for something to go terribly wrong is much bigger. He is a homebody, and will be much happier staying at the house.
In other wedding news...
1 -- I finished the website! I have it password-protected, to keep out the creepers, so please just leave a comment with your email , and I will send the URL and password to you. I will also be including it with the save-the-dates. Putting together the website was a lot harder than I thought. The most difficult thing was writing "Our Story". But, it's done. Mostly. As we get closer, I will add things for the different events happening during the wedding weekend; more registries as we start doing brick-and-mortar store ones; maybe adding some pictures in, etc. It now has enough information and polish to make it presentable to the general public.
2 -- Finding a florist has become a PITA. I was referenced to a florist by my mom. I called and set an appt, and he was insistent that I have the bridesmaids dresses. I had a mini-panic about this, and then decided just to use a dress that is in the running for "the dress", and go for it. At least to have the initial consultation. The day of the appointment, the florist left me a message saying that he had to cancel, because he is shutting down his shop effective Labor Day, so he will not be able to do my wedding. Major bummer for him , and I feel bad. On the other hand, did he not know about this 3 weeks ago, when we booked? He could have told me then, and saved us all trouble.
Yesterday, I popped over to a florist that is very close to my house, and that seems to do more "unconventional" floral arrangements. But, they were already booked for my date. Boo!!! That is the first time this has happened, and its really disappointing! Oh well. I know of another florist, close to my work, that has good Yelp reviews, so I will try there. If they are booked, then... major web search time.
Flowers aren't even that important to me -- I don't need anything spectacular, just something that will look nice enough to be not offensive. So, I am resentful that I am running into the most roadblocks with this service. Oh well.
3 -- We met with a potential DJ 2 weeks ago. He was recommended to me by Steph, and after meeting with him, he seems like he will do a good job. The meeting was the most unusual of all of the wedding vendors we have had thus far.... it took place at his house, and it was very laid back and un-professional, but not in a bad way. For example, it seemed that contracts were not something he normally does, which is a little bizarre, seeing that they are for his protection as well as ours. His price was a little high, so Matt is in negotiations right now, and we will see what comes of that.
4 -- I bought loads of tissue paper, and the making of tissue paper flowers has started! These are going to take a mofo lot of time to do, so I am super-glad we started early. Right now, the strategy is to make a lot of 3 rough size groups (small, med, lg) of various colors. I don't have any firm plans of what to do with them, but once I do, I will at least only need to worry about assembly, and not production. I also bought the favor boxes, which will take about 3ish hours to fold together. I am planning on outsourcing that to somebody, since it's nothing that you can really do "wrong", and it is mindless work to be done while watching TV.
Other than that... the save-the-dates are getting close to being ready, and in 2 weeks, Lollapaloooooza, woo! Until then, this house will become a tissue-paper-flower factory.
Will Figlet be in your wedding?
No. Matt and I both love him, and he is definitely a part of our family, and the pictures would be all kinds of adorable, but no. The absolute last thing I want to be doing on my wedding day is worrying about the dog. "Who has him? Where is he? Does he need to go out? Don't let him out of the room!!" etc etc, all damn day. No thanks. Plus, he does not like large groups of strangers, and the potential for something to go terribly wrong is much bigger. He is a homebody, and will be much happier staying at the house.
In other wedding news...
1 -- I finished the website! I have it password-protected, to keep out the creepers, so please just leave a comment with your email , and I will send the URL and password to you. I will also be including it with the save-the-dates. Putting together the website was a lot harder than I thought. The most difficult thing was writing "Our Story". But, it's done. Mostly. As we get closer, I will add things for the different events happening during the wedding weekend; more registries as we start doing brick-and-mortar store ones; maybe adding some pictures in, etc. It now has enough information and polish to make it presentable to the general public.
2 -- Finding a florist has become a PITA. I was referenced to a florist by my mom. I called and set an appt, and he was insistent that I have the bridesmaids dresses. I had a mini-panic about this, and then decided just to use a dress that is in the running for "the dress", and go for it. At least to have the initial consultation. The day of the appointment, the florist left me a message saying that he had to cancel, because he is shutting down his shop effective Labor Day, so he will not be able to do my wedding. Major bummer for him , and I feel bad. On the other hand, did he not know about this 3 weeks ago, when we booked? He could have told me then, and saved us all trouble.
Yesterday, I popped over to a florist that is very close to my house, and that seems to do more "unconventional" floral arrangements. But, they were already booked for my date. Boo!!! That is the first time this has happened, and its really disappointing! Oh well. I know of another florist, close to my work, that has good Yelp reviews, so I will try there. If they are booked, then... major web search time.
Flowers aren't even that important to me -- I don't need anything spectacular, just something that will look nice enough to be not offensive. So, I am resentful that I am running into the most roadblocks with this service. Oh well.
3 -- We met with a potential DJ 2 weeks ago. He was recommended to me by Steph, and after meeting with him, he seems like he will do a good job. The meeting was the most unusual of all of the wedding vendors we have had thus far.... it took place at his house, and it was very laid back and un-professional, but not in a bad way. For example, it seemed that contracts were not something he normally does, which is a little bizarre, seeing that they are for his protection as well as ours. His price was a little high, so Matt is in negotiations right now, and we will see what comes of that.
4 -- I bought loads of tissue paper, and the making of tissue paper flowers has started! These are going to take a mofo lot of time to do, so I am super-glad we started early. Right now, the strategy is to make a lot of 3 rough size groups (small, med, lg) of various colors. I don't have any firm plans of what to do with them, but once I do, I will at least only need to worry about assembly, and not production. I also bought the favor boxes, which will take about 3ish hours to fold together. I am planning on outsourcing that to somebody, since it's nothing that you can really do "wrong", and it is mindless work to be done while watching TV.
Other than that... the save-the-dates are getting close to being ready, and in 2 weeks, Lollapaloooooza, woo! Until then, this house will become a tissue-paper-flower factory.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
FAQ
Because I keep getting asked the same questions (most of the time by different people, sometimes the same people ask the same question over and over, but that's ok too), and just for fun, I thought I'd put together a little FAQ.
q -- Are you going to take his last name, or keep yours?
a -- I really dislike my last name. I can not wait to get rid of it. matt's is easier to pronounce, to spell, to write, everything. Plus, I like the cohesion that sharing a last name in order to create a family unit brings. We had joked about combining our last names into a new shared one of Kromvine, but that is hideous to say and to look at , so no. its a fun ongoing joke though.
q -- what are you going to do for rings?
a -- matt does not want a wedding ring. he made that very clear from before we were engaged. that is completely fine with me. i am undecided as to what i am going to do. right now, i am wearing my engagement ring on my right hand, because it fits better there. i may get a different band that properly fits on my left hand, get that incorporated into the ceremony, and also continue to wear my engagement ring. or, take that off, and put it in a 'memories' box somewhere. we were also talking about planting a tree as a symbol of our vows together, but that would have to be done a few months later, because i dont think it'd even be possible to do in January.
q -- January? Why January? Why the 14th?
a -- no special significance. winter is my favorite season, I was trying to avoid 'wedding season' , which now extends from April - October, in order to be able to book vendors easier and pay less money for them. Jan 14 is after the holidays are done, and not too close to valentines day. After planning this out a little more and seeing when i will have to really get things done by, i think that the end of Jan would have been better. It looks like 2 weeks out is really-important-decisions-are-made-on-everything time, and that falls exactly on NYE, so the end is going to get muddled by the holidays. Oh well -- just another incentive to have them taken care of early. As an aside, there are 5! guests who have birthdays either on or within 4 days of Jan 14. This is a really big percentage of total guests, so it'll be one big birthday party for everyone too. fun!
q -- Um, you know it snows in January, right? What are you going to do? How are we going to get there?
a -- the chance of a major snowstorm happening that day , the day before, or the day after , is very slim. Obviously, there's a bigger chance of snow than if we were to get married in june, but it's definitely not a given. we will watch the weather, and inform people if there has to be major changes. really, when it comes down to it, you need very little to get married, and i doubt the hotel would close for anything less than a complete disaster.
q -- honeymoon?
a -- yes, we are tentatively going to china for 10 days following the wedding. we want to give ourselves a few days of recovery time first, so super-tentatively we will be leaving on the wednesday following, and returning the next weekend. the itinerary, as far as where in china we are going, is being worked on.
q -- kids?
a -- no, not at this time. we are very happy with our family of 2 humans and 3 animals.
i think thats it, off the top of my head. On a side note -- we are 2 days away from being 6 months away. that is mofo HUGE. This engagement has been really long, so i feel like this is really the final stretch.... scary, and exciting!
q -- Are you going to take his last name, or keep yours?
a -- I really dislike my last name. I can not wait to get rid of it. matt's is easier to pronounce, to spell, to write, everything. Plus, I like the cohesion that sharing a last name in order to create a family unit brings. We had joked about combining our last names into a new shared one of Kromvine, but that is hideous to say and to look at , so no. its a fun ongoing joke though.
q -- what are you going to do for rings?
a -- matt does not want a wedding ring. he made that very clear from before we were engaged. that is completely fine with me. i am undecided as to what i am going to do. right now, i am wearing my engagement ring on my right hand, because it fits better there. i may get a different band that properly fits on my left hand, get that incorporated into the ceremony, and also continue to wear my engagement ring. or, take that off, and put it in a 'memories' box somewhere. we were also talking about planting a tree as a symbol of our vows together, but that would have to be done a few months later, because i dont think it'd even be possible to do in January.
q -- January? Why January? Why the 14th?
a -- no special significance. winter is my favorite season, I was trying to avoid 'wedding season' , which now extends from April - October, in order to be able to book vendors easier and pay less money for them. Jan 14 is after the holidays are done, and not too close to valentines day. After planning this out a little more and seeing when i will have to really get things done by, i think that the end of Jan would have been better. It looks like 2 weeks out is really-important-decisions-are-made-on-everything time, and that falls exactly on NYE, so the end is going to get muddled by the holidays. Oh well -- just another incentive to have them taken care of early. As an aside, there are 5! guests who have birthdays either on or within 4 days of Jan 14. This is a really big percentage of total guests, so it'll be one big birthday party for everyone too. fun!
q -- Um, you know it snows in January, right? What are you going to do? How are we going to get there?
a -- the chance of a major snowstorm happening that day , the day before, or the day after , is very slim. Obviously, there's a bigger chance of snow than if we were to get married in june, but it's definitely not a given. we will watch the weather, and inform people if there has to be major changes. really, when it comes down to it, you need very little to get married, and i doubt the hotel would close for anything less than a complete disaster.
q -- honeymoon?
a -- yes, we are tentatively going to china for 10 days following the wedding. we want to give ourselves a few days of recovery time first, so super-tentatively we will be leaving on the wednesday following, and returning the next weekend. the itinerary, as far as where in china we are going, is being worked on.
q -- kids?
a -- no, not at this time. we are very happy with our family of 2 humans and 3 animals.
i think thats it, off the top of my head. On a side note -- we are 2 days away from being 6 months away. that is mofo HUGE. This engagement has been really long, so i feel like this is really the final stretch.... scary, and exciting!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
As one of my good friends pointed out, its been over a month since I've updated. Yikes. I have been doing wedding-related things, just not blogging about them.
We are still working on cementing things with both a DJ and a florist... this has been going on for forever, but that is 100% my fault. I'm pretty sure, unless something goes horribly wrong, I will book the 2 people I've been in contact with. That will take care of all of our main vendors, so then I just need to stay on whatever payment schedules, and take care of picking out things in a few months. Yay!
We are also close to picking out bridesmaids dresses. I've sent some options to the girls, and I think we are going to book a trip to (gag) house of brides to try some on, by the end of July.
When I set up an appointment with the florist, after we picked the date and time, he threw out that I need to have the bridesmaids dresses picked out, so he can match flowers to it. i asked him if the general color/shape were ok, and he was extremely adamant that i need the actual dress, and that it will be a waste of time if I don't. Seems a little crazy to me. i understand his point, but geez... i would like to at least reserve the date, give him a list of what i want, and get a very rough price quote. i'll probably call and reschedule for early Aug, just so we don't have to have 2 meetings within a few weeks of each other.
I have also picked out ushers, asked them to help us out, and they agreed. so yay! Amber Wozniak and Ryan Blinstrup will be the perfect greeters and seaters, and I'm really happy that Matt and I get to have them be part of our ceremony.
I have also started a wedding website -- making a good one is a lot harder than it seems! that little project is also dragging on unnecessarily. As long as I get it pretty much done before the save-the-dates are ready, it's all good.
We are still working on cementing things with both a DJ and a florist... this has been going on for forever, but that is 100% my fault. I'm pretty sure, unless something goes horribly wrong, I will book the 2 people I've been in contact with. That will take care of all of our main vendors, so then I just need to stay on whatever payment schedules, and take care of picking out things in a few months. Yay!
We are also close to picking out bridesmaids dresses. I've sent some options to the girls, and I think we are going to book a trip to (gag) house of brides to try some on, by the end of July.
When I set up an appointment with the florist, after we picked the date and time, he threw out that I need to have the bridesmaids dresses picked out, so he can match flowers to it. i asked him if the general color/shape were ok, and he was extremely adamant that i need the actual dress, and that it will be a waste of time if I don't. Seems a little crazy to me. i understand his point, but geez... i would like to at least reserve the date, give him a list of what i want, and get a very rough price quote. i'll probably call and reschedule for early Aug, just so we don't have to have 2 meetings within a few weeks of each other.
I have also picked out ushers, asked them to help us out, and they agreed. so yay! Amber Wozniak and Ryan Blinstrup will be the perfect greeters and seaters, and I'm really happy that Matt and I get to have them be part of our ceremony.
I have also started a wedding website -- making a good one is a lot harder than it seems! that little project is also dragging on unnecessarily. As long as I get it pretty much done before the save-the-dates are ready, it's all good.
Monday, June 6, 2011
good, bad, and ugly.
GOOD: I am 99% sure we have an officiant!! We met with Michele Rose last week, and she is a pretty awesome lady, who seems more than capable to put together an awesome, appropriate, and little bit unique ceremony for us. So, that is a good thing -- we definitely need to have someone to make it official, and that is done. Almost.
BAD: We made the guest list this weekend. This entire wedding planning session, i assumed we were not going to have enough people, and that we would be asking some pretty distant people to come and have a good time, just to meet our planned attendance of 100ish.
The rule of thumb is that you should expect about 20% of invitees to RSVP 'no'. We took the weather/location/distance of invitees into consideration, and decided to raise it to 30%, so a total of 130.
After we both separately assembled our lists , then added them together, we had somewhere in the 180s. Yikes... It's doubly bad, because Matt's "half" barely cracked 50. So, I had lots and lots of trimming to do. IT IS AWFUL. Terrible!!! So, so so deflating to delete people off the list. Matt was very business-like about the whole thing, and he was right, it's a part of the process. Still....man. Total bummer. We got it down to 135, and I think it is pretty much done. Now, I need to switch from being a negative Nellie about the people who aren't going to be there, and look forward to seeing/partying with all of the people that are!
UGLY: As I was cleaning my room this weekend, I came across a wedding checklist, and we are way behind. After the guest list ordeal, a mild panic was not a good thing, for me. But, I need to keep things more in perspective -- this is what the Bridal Industry wants me to have taken care of by now. I got to cross off, permanently, things like "book all transportation" and "pick a balloonist". A balloonist? seriously?! is this 1998? And, the hotel all-in-one eliminates needs for limos, etc. still. there are things that need to be done pretty quickly, and i am an excellent procrastinator.
BAD: We made the guest list this weekend. This entire wedding planning session, i assumed we were not going to have enough people, and that we would be asking some pretty distant people to come and have a good time, just to meet our planned attendance of 100ish.
The rule of thumb is that you should expect about 20% of invitees to RSVP 'no'. We took the weather/location/distance of invitees into consideration, and decided to raise it to 30%, so a total of 130.
After we both separately assembled our lists , then added them together, we had somewhere in the 180s. Yikes... It's doubly bad, because Matt's "half" barely cracked 50. So, I had lots and lots of trimming to do. IT IS AWFUL. Terrible!!! So, so so deflating to delete people off the list. Matt was very business-like about the whole thing, and he was right, it's a part of the process. Still....man. Total bummer. We got it down to 135, and I think it is pretty much done. Now, I need to switch from being a negative Nellie about the people who aren't going to be there, and look forward to seeing/partying with all of the people that are!
UGLY: As I was cleaning my room this weekend, I came across a wedding checklist, and we are way behind. After the guest list ordeal, a mild panic was not a good thing, for me. But, I need to keep things more in perspective -- this is what the Bridal Industry wants me to have taken care of by now. I got to cross off, permanently, things like "book all transportation" and "pick a balloonist". A balloonist? seriously?! is this 1998? And, the hotel all-in-one eliminates needs for limos, etc. still. there are things that need to be done pretty quickly, and i am an excellent procrastinator.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
woohooo!!!
I got my dress!!!!
My mom had referred me to a small place in McHenry, called Gipper Formalwear, a long time ago. I called them on Thurs, to see if they even did bridal, because their website was all about tuxes and prom dresses. The owner told me that they were going to get out of bridal, and starting that day, they were going to sell all of their samples, and everything was going to be marked down 40%. I confirmed that they had a big range of sizes (a room full of size 8s would do nothing for me), and left work a little early, just to see what they had.
They had 2 full racks, but a lot of it was too small for me. They did have some really nice dresses though, so if you are in the market for one, go! I picked out 3 to try on. I really really liked the first one I put on, the detailing was gorgeous, and I was really close to getting it. Then, I tried on the second one. It was really, really great. The owner lady, who was helping me, had teary eyes, and she said that she didnt think she could put me in anything else after seeing me in that dress. I tried on one more, which was not good. Then, I put the second one back on, and decided to get it.
Off the rack, it fits almost perfectly. As long as I stay roughly the same size, it will need minimal alterations -- in at the top a little bit, and hemming. It's got all of the things I want (controlling, shaping top; sweetheart neckline, buttons all the way down the back, lace/embroidery), and none of the things I don't want (tons of glitz, beading, lace-up back, ASS BOW!) I wasn't too excited when I first bought it, I was more like "ok, lets get back into street clothes, and do the sale , so I can get some dinner and you guys can go home (they stayed and let me do most of this after the store closed, which was awesome. Felt all VIP, ha)", and the owner was very sentimental, lots of congrats. As soon as I got in the car, then it was "Woooohoohahsdkfhsdlkfhdskhfkashfdsh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! holycrap i just got my dresss!!!!"
Since it was pretty impulsive, I thought I would have buyers remorse in the morning, but it was the exact opposite -- I am absolutely confident that this is "THE DRESS". It is almost perfect for me. Its a little minimalist, and classic, and timeless, and really is beautiful. Every time I see it in my closet, i get a happy glow. (gag, right??) ha. I am not sure if this is because of the dress itself, or the fact that i never have to go wedding dress shopping again, and its already purchased, paid for and done, and i can move on to other things.
The funny part is how unplanned this was. I did not have an appointment, I didnt have anyone with me, I was unshaven, wearing a black bra with straps, neon green underwear, no makeup, and absolutely no support garments, and i was able to be successful... so screw you, bridal industry! you dont need shit to get things done, and done well.
Here is the link to pics of the dress -- It's by Allure bridal, and is from their Spring 2009 collection, so no really good zoom-in type pictures seem to be left anywhere on the internet. MATTHEW -- DO NOT LOOK !
My mom had referred me to a small place in McHenry, called Gipper Formalwear, a long time ago. I called them on Thurs, to see if they even did bridal, because their website was all about tuxes and prom dresses. The owner told me that they were going to get out of bridal, and starting that day, they were going to sell all of their samples, and everything was going to be marked down 40%. I confirmed that they had a big range of sizes (a room full of size 8s would do nothing for me), and left work a little early, just to see what they had.
They had 2 full racks, but a lot of it was too small for me. They did have some really nice dresses though, so if you are in the market for one, go! I picked out 3 to try on. I really really liked the first one I put on, the detailing was gorgeous, and I was really close to getting it. Then, I tried on the second one. It was really, really great. The owner lady, who was helping me, had teary eyes, and she said that she didnt think she could put me in anything else after seeing me in that dress. I tried on one more, which was not good. Then, I put the second one back on, and decided to get it.
Off the rack, it fits almost perfectly. As long as I stay roughly the same size, it will need minimal alterations -- in at the top a little bit, and hemming. It's got all of the things I want (controlling, shaping top; sweetheart neckline, buttons all the way down the back, lace/embroidery), and none of the things I don't want (tons of glitz, beading, lace-up back, ASS BOW!) I wasn't too excited when I first bought it, I was more like "ok, lets get back into street clothes, and do the sale , so I can get some dinner and you guys can go home (they stayed and let me do most of this after the store closed, which was awesome. Felt all VIP, ha)", and the owner was very sentimental, lots of congrats. As soon as I got in the car, then it was "Woooohoohahsdkfhsdlkfhdskhfkashfdsh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! holycrap i just got my dresss!!!!"
Since it was pretty impulsive, I thought I would have buyers remorse in the morning, but it was the exact opposite -- I am absolutely confident that this is "THE DRESS". It is almost perfect for me. Its a little minimalist, and classic, and timeless, and really is beautiful. Every time I see it in my closet, i get a happy glow. (gag, right??) ha. I am not sure if this is because of the dress itself, or the fact that i never have to go wedding dress shopping again, and its already purchased, paid for and done, and i can move on to other things.
The funny part is how unplanned this was. I did not have an appointment, I didnt have anyone with me, I was unshaven, wearing a black bra with straps, neon green underwear, no makeup, and absolutely no support garments, and i was able to be successful... so screw you, bridal industry! you dont need shit to get things done, and done well.
Here is the link to pics of the dress -- It's by Allure bridal, and is from their Spring 2009 collection, so no really good zoom-in type pictures seem to be left anywhere on the internet. MATTHEW -- DO NOT LOOK !
Sunday, May 8, 2011
ohboy.
I had my first "real" dress-shopping outing yesterday, with an appointment and consultant and everything! I went to David's, I figured it was a good place to start.
The consultant lady was nice, very quiet, brought out some good things based on feedback, and it is waaaay easier to throw gowns on and off with someone who knows what they are doing. i guess you are supposed to dive into them headfirst, not step in and shimmy up. hm. even though i was wearing a full-length flexee, they still wanted to put me in a community longline bra, i said no. i did wear community slip, which is kinda gross, it had makeup stains on it and was overall dingy, but thats not rubbing up against my intimate areas really, so im ok with that.
keri, keris mom, my mom, and matts mom came with. (thank you soooo much, all of you!!!) i tried on 7-8 (i think?) dresses, none of them were "THE DRESS",, but there were a couple that I liked. One made 2 or 3 people cry, but it wasnt even one of the top choices, i think it was just the first one that made me look like a real bride... at least, thats what im going to chalk it up to.
3 important things that I learned from/were accomplished yesterday:
1 -- My mom originally wanted nothing to do with dress shopping. I was happily surprised that she went yesterday, and i think it was a good experience for her, that this is not like "normal" shopping. it was really nice to have her there, and get her input. i'll throw out invites for the next times i go, and we will see what happens.
2 -- its really, really mofo weird to walk out wearing a dress, that you havent seen yet, and have a line of people scrutinizing. not making eye contact with you, but clearly staring at what you are wearing, and making oooh/aaahhh sounds along the spectrum of approval/disapproval. i want to emphasize that i am so grateful and happy with everyone who came, and gave valuable input, but this is such a unique experience. its odd.
3 -- None of the dresses I had picked out beforehand looked good on me. The ones I did like on me were not at all anything I had looked at before. It turns everything I did not like in pictures (full skirt, beading, embroidery), actually looks good on. WTF. so, now I have to completely do a 180 on the styles i am looking for. this was the biggest thing that came out of yesterday, which is extremely productive in itself. designers i would have blown off before are now coming back (im thinking of demetrios). it sorta takes everything in a completely different direction than what i was envisioning. but, thats good! what i was thinking of before just does not work with the body i have, and thats ok, and good info to have.
So, now -- sweetheart neckline ; A-line dress, structured top (no Grecian styles), and a little sparkle. maybe a lot of sparkle. lace would still be nice, but not a must-have. beaded lace is actually preferable now, as before it was a definite no.
i think in 2 weeks from now, i will make appointments for Demetrios in Schaumburg, and a little place called Gipper in McHenry that my mom referred me to,,,, and go from there! i would really prefer to get the dress picked out sometime in the next 2 months; i think it's do-able, but will mean putting a lot more time into it than I have thus far. I wont lie, a little part of me wanted to find THE DRESS the first time out, but i know thats unrealistic, and i think the whole idea of the perfect dress is a myth anyhow... but you never know, maybe i will change my mind on that too.
The consultant lady was nice, very quiet, brought out some good things based on feedback, and it is waaaay easier to throw gowns on and off with someone who knows what they are doing. i guess you are supposed to dive into them headfirst, not step in and shimmy up. hm. even though i was wearing a full-length flexee, they still wanted to put me in a community longline bra, i said no. i did wear community slip, which is kinda gross, it had makeup stains on it and was overall dingy, but thats not rubbing up against my intimate areas really, so im ok with that.
keri, keris mom, my mom, and matts mom came with. (thank you soooo much, all of you!!!) i tried on 7-8 (i think?) dresses, none of them were "THE DRESS",, but there were a couple that I liked. One made 2 or 3 people cry, but it wasnt even one of the top choices, i think it was just the first one that made me look like a real bride... at least, thats what im going to chalk it up to.
3 important things that I learned from/were accomplished yesterday:
1 -- My mom originally wanted nothing to do with dress shopping. I was happily surprised that she went yesterday, and i think it was a good experience for her, that this is not like "normal" shopping. it was really nice to have her there, and get her input. i'll throw out invites for the next times i go, and we will see what happens.
2 -- its really, really mofo weird to walk out wearing a dress, that you havent seen yet, and have a line of people scrutinizing. not making eye contact with you, but clearly staring at what you are wearing, and making oooh/aaahhh sounds along the spectrum of approval/disapproval. i want to emphasize that i am so grateful and happy with everyone who came, and gave valuable input, but this is such a unique experience. its odd.
3 -- None of the dresses I had picked out beforehand looked good on me. The ones I did like on me were not at all anything I had looked at before. It turns everything I did not like in pictures (full skirt, beading, embroidery), actually looks good on. WTF. so, now I have to completely do a 180 on the styles i am looking for. this was the biggest thing that came out of yesterday, which is extremely productive in itself. designers i would have blown off before are now coming back (im thinking of demetrios). it sorta takes everything in a completely different direction than what i was envisioning. but, thats good! what i was thinking of before just does not work with the body i have, and thats ok, and good info to have.
So, now -- sweetheart neckline ; A-line dress, structured top (no Grecian styles), and a little sparkle. maybe a lot of sparkle. lace would still be nice, but not a must-have. beaded lace is actually preferable now, as before it was a definite no.
i think in 2 weeks from now, i will make appointments for Demetrios in Schaumburg, and a little place called Gipper in McHenry that my mom referred me to,,,, and go from there! i would really prefer to get the dress picked out sometime in the next 2 months; i think it's do-able, but will mean putting a lot more time into it than I have thus far. I wont lie, a little part of me wanted to find THE DRESS the first time out, but i know thats unrealistic, and i think the whole idea of the perfect dress is a myth anyhow... but you never know, maybe i will change my mind on that too.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
It's been a long, long time since I posted, so this is going to be really long, just as an up-front warning. I'll break it down in manageable chunks.
1 -- I tend to binge-plan for the wedding. I'll go weeks without doing anything, then get a whole lotta stuff done, then nothing. Is this normal? I guess if everything gets done in an adequate time frame, then it doesnt really matter. It is getting harder, since the weather is nice now, to not hang out inside and do wedding stuff instead.
2 -- Things I have not made any progress on, that I need to: attire (for everybody), guest list, florist. I need to resume communications with the DJ, which I plan on doing today. I also need to lose 9 more lbs, to get to my -15. I was doing well, but fell off the wagon in the last month or so. Work has been insane, with super-long hours, and I havent been exercising at all, really. So, I just need to get myself exercising and eating out less, and I should be good!
Things that have been done: Booked photographers (well, I still need to mail them a check, but I will do that Monday), I am soooo soo excited about working with them. We met with them a few weeks ago, and they are really awesome people, who know what they are doing. We are also done saving for the wedding, which is a huuuuge milestone. If you include the money that has already been spent, we have 30% over our budget already. So, there is a good chance that we have our honeymoon also paid for, or at least a good part of it. Now, it's my job to spend the money.
I bought a bridal undergarment. I wanted to have it for trying on dresses, so A - I dont have to touch the dreaded community bra that some places make you wear, because thats nasty, and B - I can see what dresses will look like with a support garment, in the best possible shape that i can squeeze myself in to. This thing is a beast. its not too uncomfy, once you have it on, but getting it on, holy hell.
I have set up an online registry, with the idea that we can both gradually add things to it, and not have it be a major task a few months from now. So far, its mostly low-priced kitchen things. Putting together a registry is actually kinda difficult, esp since we have a lot of things from matts parents still in the house, and i have been living on my own for 6ish years, so I pretty much have everything we need for the household. New towels, sheets, etc are always good though.
I also got my bridesmaids their gifts, a 3-day pass to Lollapalooza. I am unbelievably excited for this. I'll also get some small memento closer to the wedding, but at least I dont have to worry about what to get them for all of their time and hard work.
3 -- MORE DRAMA -- the person who we wanted as our officiant politely declined. I am pretty bummed about this, he would have done a fantastic job. I dont know what his reasons were... I have some ideas, but I'm not sure. Matt has offered to take on the responsibility of getting a new one, so I'll let him do that. In the meantime, I have drunkenly asked at least 2 friends to do it for us, hahaha. I was doing a basic internet search, and they are wicked expensive!! I suggested to my teacher friend that he do this for supplemental income,,, seriously, if you are good at it, there is a market out there. I was perusing Yelp, and a lot of the reviews said that the ceremony "had just enough religion to make the grandparents happy" - I'm glad I'm not the only one in that boat! I seriously don't have a clue as to what our ceremony is going to consist of. Sing-along? Raffle? Complete solemnity?
4 -- I need to get a new ring. I wear my engagement ring on my right hand, because it doesnt fit properly on my left (i sized it at a bad time, and the company that makes it doesnt do half-sizes). Other than raising a few questions, this hasnt caused any problems... until last week. I had a vendor visit, and he had a rather strong handshake, which really, really hurt - my pinky and middle finger both were bruised from the ring being pressed into it! Anyway. So, I am going to buy a new ring, and make sure it fits properly, and after being married, wear it on the traditional finger. I need to decide whether to get the same ring I have now, something similar, or completely different.
5 -- Royal wedding thoughts: Briefly, because everything that can be said about it has already been said, multiple times -- beautiful. They make such an adorable couple, and seem genuinely in love. I loved the trees in the church, and the dress. I did not like her bouquet, at all. Lily-of-the-valley is one of my favorite flowers, but a whole bouquet of them looked scraggly, esp from far away. it was pretty up close, though.
I think thats it, for now. Today, I want to try making a couple of tissue flowers, book a haircut appt at a salon near Carol Stream, with the intention of finding someone for hair/makeup for the wedding, re-email the DJ, and organize everything, and put together a payment schedule for venue, so I dont forget to pay them on time.
1 -- I tend to binge-plan for the wedding. I'll go weeks without doing anything, then get a whole lotta stuff done, then nothing. Is this normal? I guess if everything gets done in an adequate time frame, then it doesnt really matter. It is getting harder, since the weather is nice now, to not hang out inside and do wedding stuff instead.
2 -- Things I have not made any progress on, that I need to: attire (for everybody), guest list, florist. I need to resume communications with the DJ, which I plan on doing today. I also need to lose 9 more lbs, to get to my -15. I was doing well, but fell off the wagon in the last month or so. Work has been insane, with super-long hours, and I havent been exercising at all, really. So, I just need to get myself exercising and eating out less, and I should be good!
Things that have been done: Booked photographers (well, I still need to mail them a check, but I will do that Monday), I am soooo soo excited about working with them. We met with them a few weeks ago, and they are really awesome people, who know what they are doing. We are also done saving for the wedding, which is a huuuuge milestone. If you include the money that has already been spent, we have 30% over our budget already. So, there is a good chance that we have our honeymoon also paid for, or at least a good part of it. Now, it's my job to spend the money.
I bought a bridal undergarment. I wanted to have it for trying on dresses, so A - I dont have to touch the dreaded community bra that some places make you wear, because thats nasty, and B - I can see what dresses will look like with a support garment, in the best possible shape that i can squeeze myself in to. This thing is a beast. its not too uncomfy, once you have it on, but getting it on, holy hell.
I have set up an online registry, with the idea that we can both gradually add things to it, and not have it be a major task a few months from now. So far, its mostly low-priced kitchen things. Putting together a registry is actually kinda difficult, esp since we have a lot of things from matts parents still in the house, and i have been living on my own for 6ish years, so I pretty much have everything we need for the household. New towels, sheets, etc are always good though.
I also got my bridesmaids their gifts, a 3-day pass to Lollapalooza. I am unbelievably excited for this. I'll also get some small memento closer to the wedding, but at least I dont have to worry about what to get them for all of their time and hard work.
3 -- MORE DRAMA -- the person who we wanted as our officiant politely declined. I am pretty bummed about this, he would have done a fantastic job. I dont know what his reasons were... I have some ideas, but I'm not sure. Matt has offered to take on the responsibility of getting a new one, so I'll let him do that. In the meantime, I have drunkenly asked at least 2 friends to do it for us, hahaha. I was doing a basic internet search, and they are wicked expensive!! I suggested to my teacher friend that he do this for supplemental income,,, seriously, if you are good at it, there is a market out there. I was perusing Yelp, and a lot of the reviews said that the ceremony "had just enough religion to make the grandparents happy" - I'm glad I'm not the only one in that boat! I seriously don't have a clue as to what our ceremony is going to consist of. Sing-along? Raffle? Complete solemnity?
4 -- I need to get a new ring. I wear my engagement ring on my right hand, because it doesnt fit properly on my left (i sized it at a bad time, and the company that makes it doesnt do half-sizes). Other than raising a few questions, this hasnt caused any problems... until last week. I had a vendor visit, and he had a rather strong handshake, which really, really hurt - my pinky and middle finger both were bruised from the ring being pressed into it! Anyway. So, I am going to buy a new ring, and make sure it fits properly, and after being married, wear it on the traditional finger. I need to decide whether to get the same ring I have now, something similar, or completely different.
5 -- Royal wedding thoughts: Briefly, because everything that can be said about it has already been said, multiple times -- beautiful. They make such an adorable couple, and seem genuinely in love. I loved the trees in the church, and the dress. I did not like her bouquet, at all. Lily-of-the-valley is one of my favorite flowers, but a whole bouquet of them looked scraggly, esp from far away. it was pretty up close, though.
I think thats it, for now. Today, I want to try making a couple of tissue flowers, book a haircut appt at a salon near Carol Stream, with the intention of finding someone for hair/makeup for the wedding, re-email the DJ, and organize everything, and put together a payment schedule for venue, so I dont forget to pay them on time.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
tcb.
Holy crap it's March already. Even worse, it's like halfway through March. Jesus. I'm glad I got this started early.
1 -- I am in touch with an awesome photography duo, I Luv Photo . This was not my original choice... I had emailed a different photographer, who I went to high school with, and is amazingly talented and takes beautiful pictures, and who I was really excited to work with. But, 3+ (probably closer to 6, now. ) weeks later, and no response. I found I Luv Photo through OffBeat Bride, I loved their style, pricing was reasonable, and I had a response from them in less than 3 hours!!! Super, super impressive, already. Lesson -- If you want business, be very responsive.
2 -- I have contact info for a DJ, so I will be emailing him shortly. Unknown to me, Matt also got a quote from a DJ company. They were a little expensive, but not as bad as we thought they would be... but we'll see.
3 -- Matt is meeting with the person who we want as our officiant this week, so we will either have one set up, or need to come up with something.
I have colors sooorrrrrta picked out, and bought some small things to start experimenting with, to come up with decs. I also had my first wedding-related dream.... too early! I still have 9 months left!
1 -- I am in touch with an awesome photography duo, I Luv Photo . This was not my original choice... I had emailed a different photographer, who I went to high school with, and is amazingly talented and takes beautiful pictures, and who I was really excited to work with. But, 3+ (probably closer to 6, now. ) weeks later, and no response. I found I Luv Photo through OffBeat Bride, I loved their style, pricing was reasonable, and I had a response from them in less than 3 hours!!! Super, super impressive, already. Lesson -- If you want business, be very responsive.
2 -- I have contact info for a DJ, so I will be emailing him shortly. Unknown to me, Matt also got a quote from a DJ company. They were a little expensive, but not as bad as we thought they would be... but we'll see.
3 -- Matt is meeting with the person who we want as our officiant this week, so we will either have one set up, or need to come up with something.
I have colors sooorrrrrta picked out, and bought some small things to start experimenting with, to come up with decs. I also had my first wedding-related dream.... too early! I still have 9 months left!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
The search begins...
So, this weekend me and Steph went dress-shopping for the first time. We didn't make appointments anywhere, which is a big no-no (at least to some places) apparently. Oooopsie. Next time!
We started by downing a couple of small glasses of Zin at Portillo's (classsay!), then went across the parking lot to House of Brides. Back up -- there are a ton of bridal shops all within .5 miles on a stretch of Golf Rd in Schaumburg, which is where we went. SO -- House of Brides literally would not even let us past the front desk without an appointment. Not even to just look at dresses, without being assigned a consultant or a dressing room or anything. They were snippy, rude, and mean, and then asked what time I would be available to come in. I said no thanks, and we walked right back out.
We drove to LJM Bridal (right on the other side of Portillos, ha), and they were super-nice! As I was registering (note: all bridal shops make you fill out forms with all of your personal info... need to make fake email, stat! I wonder if idonotwantyourshittyweddingoffers@gmail is taken? maybe thats a little aggro. I WILL end up buying something from one of these places, after all. ) , some other bride who had just bought her dress was complaining about HoB. And , she had an appointment! So, that was sorta good to hear,,, at least I know where not to waste my time. Filled out paperwork, friendly lady told us to look at dresses, then some other lady gave us a fitting room, and pretty much left us alone. We picked out 3, and I started trying them on. A few points about that...
1 -- I really was not looking forward to a stranger seeing me naked and helping me into dresses. Thankfully, the stranger left us alone, and steph did that. (thanks!).
1a -- wedding dresses are mofo heavy!!! holy god, i was not even taking that into consideration. you do need multiple people to try them on.
2 -- I was also dreading the fact that the stores carry a small selection of sample sizes, which is too small for me. i had read that if you are big, some places/salespeople will hold the dress in front of you, and tell you to "ok, imagine what this would look like on you. Gorgeous!" i was prepared to cry and have a breakdown. BUT no! The samples were generously sized, and although i wasnt able to zip any of them up, I could get them over my waist, so they were sorta in place. this was good... big confidence-booster for going to other stores, thats for sure.
So, we tried on 3 dresses at LJM.... their style is not my style... a lot of beading, kinda fancy, eh. I did learn that I do not work in a halter. we gathered our things, and went to grab another dress or two, and the consultant came up, gave us her business card, and said goodbye. ....... hm. yeah, i guess we were done anyway. huh.
Then, 0n a whim, we went to Davids. I previously held some contempt for Davids... they are fairly cookie-cutter, cheap, etc. I want something unique, that is me. But, I wanted to see if we could at least look at dresses there... there is one that i've mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to see, and hey, if i could try a couple on to get ideas of what shapes look good on me, great. They were super-packed, but friendly! they put me on some waiting list, said that they would probably not be able to get me in today , but that we could look around. And we did. for over an hour. SO MANY DRESSES! rows and rows and rows of dresses.
To my surprise (and a little dismay), I found that I liked their selection. Some dresses I like, a lot. Like, I want to make an appointment and try these bad girls on. So, I think I will. I'm also going to start booking appointments at smaller boutiques as well, just to see. My budget is fairly modest, so I know that will be limiting, but that's ok. I really need something just to get me through the day, that makes me look good. Nothing jaw-dropping, or luxurious or over-the-top.
Thanks again to Steph, she is awesome at shopping. (except for her aversion to ivory dresses... I will have to go with someone else to try those on :) ). This was a super, super successful first dress outing. I have now switched over from dismay to excitement, where I am really looking forward to doing this again, and especially bringing other people along,,,, It's going to be fun!!
We started by downing a couple of small glasses of Zin at Portillo's (classsay!), then went across the parking lot to House of Brides. Back up -- there are a ton of bridal shops all within .5 miles on a stretch of Golf Rd in Schaumburg, which is where we went. SO -- House of Brides literally would not even let us past the front desk without an appointment. Not even to just look at dresses, without being assigned a consultant or a dressing room or anything. They were snippy, rude, and mean, and then asked what time I would be available to come in. I said no thanks, and we walked right back out.
We drove to LJM Bridal (right on the other side of Portillos, ha), and they were super-nice! As I was registering (note: all bridal shops make you fill out forms with all of your personal info... need to make fake email, stat! I wonder if idonotwantyourshittyweddingoffers@gmail is taken? maybe thats a little aggro. I WILL end up buying something from one of these places, after all. ) , some other bride who had just bought her dress was complaining about HoB. And , she had an appointment! So, that was sorta good to hear,,, at least I know where not to waste my time. Filled out paperwork, friendly lady told us to look at dresses, then some other lady gave us a fitting room, and pretty much left us alone. We picked out 3, and I started trying them on. A few points about that...
1 -- I really was not looking forward to a stranger seeing me naked and helping me into dresses. Thankfully, the stranger left us alone, and steph did that. (thanks!).
1a -- wedding dresses are mofo heavy!!! holy god, i was not even taking that into consideration. you do need multiple people to try them on.
2 -- I was also dreading the fact that the stores carry a small selection of sample sizes, which is too small for me. i had read that if you are big, some places/salespeople will hold the dress in front of you, and tell you to "ok, imagine what this would look like on you. Gorgeous!" i was prepared to cry and have a breakdown. BUT no! The samples were generously sized, and although i wasnt able to zip any of them up, I could get them over my waist, so they were sorta in place. this was good... big confidence-booster for going to other stores, thats for sure.
So, we tried on 3 dresses at LJM.... their style is not my style... a lot of beading, kinda fancy, eh. I did learn that I do not work in a halter. we gathered our things, and went to grab another dress or two, and the consultant came up, gave us her business card, and said goodbye. ....... hm. yeah, i guess we were done anyway. huh.
Then, 0n a whim, we went to Davids. I previously held some contempt for Davids... they are fairly cookie-cutter, cheap, etc. I want something unique, that is me. But, I wanted to see if we could at least look at dresses there... there is one that i've mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to see, and hey, if i could try a couple on to get ideas of what shapes look good on me, great. They were super-packed, but friendly! they put me on some waiting list, said that they would probably not be able to get me in today , but that we could look around. And we did. for over an hour. SO MANY DRESSES! rows and rows and rows of dresses.
To my surprise (and a little dismay), I found that I liked their selection. Some dresses I like, a lot. Like, I want to make an appointment and try these bad girls on. So, I think I will. I'm also going to start booking appointments at smaller boutiques as well, just to see. My budget is fairly modest, so I know that will be limiting, but that's ok. I really need something just to get me through the day, that makes me look good. Nothing jaw-dropping, or luxurious or over-the-top.
Thanks again to Steph, she is awesome at shopping. (except for her aversion to ivory dresses... I will have to go with someone else to try those on :) ). This was a super, super successful first dress outing. I have now switched over from dismay to excitement, where I am really looking forward to doing this again, and especially bringing other people along,,,, It's going to be fun!!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wow, that last month flew by! Now we only have 11 more. Yikes.
Check these out -- I love the feminine spin on a regular tissue poms. I wonder if I could make these myself though,,, dye and assemble the doilies.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/59831255/string-a-ling-paper-doily-garland
this (where i found this at ) is a pretty awesome bridal site. i like the marketplace section a lot.
I contacted the photographer I want (Willow Lane photography) tonight, and I am right on target with my pre-dress-shopping weight loss goal, so some progress has been made. I also bought and perused what will probably be my last bridal magazine... you can only look at so many, and the internets is full of ideas too.
Check these out -- I love the feminine spin on a regular tissue poms. I wonder if I could make these myself though,,, dye and assemble the doilies.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/59831255/string-a-ling-paper-doily-garland
this (where i found this at ) is a pretty awesome bridal site. i like the marketplace section a lot.
I contacted the photographer I want (Willow Lane photography) tonight, and I am right on target with my pre-dress-shopping weight loss goal, so some progress has been made. I also bought and perused what will probably be my last bridal magazine... you can only look at so many, and the internets is full of ideas too.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Footballllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!
A few quick things (mama is busy winning money today, haha):
1 -- We are less than a year away!! Holy cow! I have a theme picked out (as of about 10 min ago), so, I am ready to figure out decor. Then, all I have left are flowers (I have a florist connection, thanks mom!) , clothing for everyone, invitee list, DJ, ceremony, first dance/other important music, getting pictures to mRs harvey for some awesome tear-jerking slide show, photographer, paper goods, and I think thats about it. Oh, welcome bags for people at hotel. Oh, and favors. A little bit more than I thought when I started typing this out, haha. Ah well... there is still plenty of time left.
2 - Our wedding is right in the middle of NFL playoffs :( . Hopefully, nobody important will be playing that Saturday! Or , maybe we can have a little TV in a corner, to avoid people sneaking out to the bar. I tried to avoid SuperBowl weekend, but completely forgot about the weeks leading up to it.
3 -- On a personal note, the Kromrey-Lavine household grew by 8 feet this weekend . We adopted 2 cats from the Animal House shelter Friday night. We had planned on adopting Lucy for a while, just waiting for the right time to do it. While we were waiting, we started playing with Arizona, read her story (she has had more pain and suffering in her life than I even want to think about), and ended up getting them both. They are doing fabulously, adjusting much better and faster than I expected. Fig is even pretty calm around them, which is a big deal, given his fear of cats. I think they will make a great and fun addition to our house, and it feels good to give both of them a home and life-long companionship and care.
1 -- We are less than a year away!! Holy cow! I have a theme picked out (as of about 10 min ago), so, I am ready to figure out decor. Then, all I have left are flowers (I have a florist connection, thanks mom!) , clothing for everyone, invitee list, DJ, ceremony, first dance/other important music, getting pictures to mRs harvey for some awesome tear-jerking slide show, photographer, paper goods, and I think thats about it. Oh, welcome bags for people at hotel. Oh, and favors. A little bit more than I thought when I started typing this out, haha. Ah well... there is still plenty of time left.
2 - Our wedding is right in the middle of NFL playoffs :( . Hopefully, nobody important will be playing that Saturday! Or , maybe we can have a little TV in a corner, to avoid people sneaking out to the bar. I tried to avoid SuperBowl weekend, but completely forgot about the weeks leading up to it.
3 -- On a personal note, the Kromrey-Lavine household grew by 8 feet this weekend . We adopted 2 cats from the Animal House shelter Friday night. We had planned on adopting Lucy for a while, just waiting for the right time to do it. While we were waiting, we started playing with Arizona, read her story (she has had more pain and suffering in her life than I even want to think about), and ended up getting them both. They are doing fabulously, adjusting much better and faster than I expected. Fig is even pretty calm around them, which is a big deal, given his fear of cats. I think they will make a great and fun addition to our house, and it feels good to give both of them a home and life-long companionship and care.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Oooh myyy.
Yikes, it has been a long time since my last post! But, the holidays were in there. And, 2011 has not been kind to me so far. In the first few days, I broke my computer, and my car broke itself. The former has been not conducive to wedding planning or wedding blogging, and the latter is just terrible, terrible timing, and really a good test for matt and my future marriage. Ah well, my lifestyle is just going to be a little more spartan than originally planned. Thats how life is.
ANYWAY -- Wedding stuff!
I, historically, have never liked registries. If I am buying a gift for someone, I will look at their registry for ideas of what they want, but I am never going to check off that I bought something.. I dont like that it completely removes the creativity and surprise element of gift-giving. I talked to Matt about this the other day, and he agrees -- he thinks that it is almost rude to tell people what to get you. So, for a long time, I was not planning on registering anywhere for the wedding.
I have recently had a change of heart (Matt still feels the same, but I am using veto power on this one) .... using a registry can be helpful. I think guests would freak out if we had nothing, and we would end up with a bunch of random crap that we dont want or need. so, we will have a registry.
I gave Keri her first official bridesmaid job, and she rocked it out!!! I asked her to look for a website where you can create a wishlist of products from a whole bunch of different websites -- there are a lot of little ones that I really like products from, and a collection of those would be a perfect registry.
She found, on Amazon, they have a new feature called "universal wishlist", where you can link to anything, and it will add it on to your wishlist. AND, they have it for a wedding registry! Perfect perfect perfect. I will be setting that up rather soon, just so I can gradually add things that I come across.
Along with that, we will do one or two actual stores, since i know of some people who dont do online shopping. that should pretty much cover everything.
ive started getting inquiries from people about going dress shopping..... that is mildly concerning. i am on a weightloss plan now, i wanna drop about 15 before starting to shop. After that, as long as I maintain, I will be happy. I dont want to be one of the people who lose a ton of weight for their wedding,,,, i completely understand the reasoning behind it, but i know that i get stressed out over that easily, and it will be much, much easier to leave that off of my things to worry about.
Anyway, as long as the plan works, that will mean I start shopping in early April; I absolutely have to have a dress purchased by June.
OK - - this post is long enough to make up for lost time, so im gonna end it here.
ANYWAY -- Wedding stuff!
I, historically, have never liked registries. If I am buying a gift for someone, I will look at their registry for ideas of what they want, but I am never going to check off that I bought something.. I dont like that it completely removes the creativity and surprise element of gift-giving. I talked to Matt about this the other day, and he agrees -- he thinks that it is almost rude to tell people what to get you. So, for a long time, I was not planning on registering anywhere for the wedding.
I have recently had a change of heart (Matt still feels the same, but I am using veto power on this one) .... using a registry can be helpful. I think guests would freak out if we had nothing, and we would end up with a bunch of random crap that we dont want or need. so, we will have a registry.
I gave Keri her first official bridesmaid job, and she rocked it out!!! I asked her to look for a website where you can create a wishlist of products from a whole bunch of different websites -- there are a lot of little ones that I really like products from, and a collection of those would be a perfect registry.
She found, on Amazon, they have a new feature called "universal wishlist", where you can link to anything, and it will add it on to your wishlist. AND, they have it for a wedding registry! Perfect perfect perfect. I will be setting that up rather soon, just so I can gradually add things that I come across.
Along with that, we will do one or two actual stores, since i know of some people who dont do online shopping. that should pretty much cover everything.
ive started getting inquiries from people about going dress shopping..... that is mildly concerning. i am on a weightloss plan now, i wanna drop about 15 before starting to shop. After that, as long as I maintain, I will be happy. I dont want to be one of the people who lose a ton of weight for their wedding,,,, i completely understand the reasoning behind it, but i know that i get stressed out over that easily, and it will be much, much easier to leave that off of my things to worry about.
Anyway, as long as the plan works, that will mean I start shopping in early April; I absolutely have to have a dress purchased by June.
OK - - this post is long enough to make up for lost time, so im gonna end it here.
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