From Wedding Vendor to Bride: Week 3
Warning...text heavy blog.
Wedding Date Minus 33 Days (Monday, November 29)
* Back to work on the wedding planning today.
* Heard from one of the caterers I was hoping to use...closed for the holidays. :(
* Emails sent and received, online dress shopping, online shoe shopping, online jewelery shopping.
* Talked to Jason's sister-in-law today. She and Jason's brother aren't going to be able to make the wedding (they live in California). I was willing to change our date if need because I know Jason REALLY wanted his brother here. But Jason said it was OK. I'm going to try to set up a web-cast of the ceremony for them. If anyone has tips in this, it would be greatly appreciated.
Wedding Date Minus 32 Days (Tuesday, November 30)
* Got the cost breakdowns for our honeymoon. Who would have thought that it would be less expensive to go to Jamaica than To Hawaii? Now if Jason gets his passport application together tomorrow, we can book the trip. I'm a little worried that the upcoming Christmas holidays will make getting a passport more difficult.
* Found my gift for Adrian. I'd say more about it here, but she might see it. Also found a BEAUTIFUL necklace on super-sale for myself. When I told the jeweler, that I'd be back on Saturday to pick up Adrian's gift, he told me I'd be back before that to get the necklace for myself. He was right...I didn't make it out of the parking lot.
* Made the final payment to Compton Gardens.
* Spoke with another catering option. Was NOT impressed with the service attitude. We're going to try to make it by for a meal at their restaurant this week to see if we like the food (they don't have time to schedule a tasting with us).
* Sent an email to a third catering option in hopes of getting a tasting scheduled. One of the drawbacks of planning a holiday wedding is that caterers are BUSY at this time of year!
Wedding Date Minus 31 Days (Wednesday, December 1)
* I finalized the invitations tonight...with the help of my super-talented sister, of course. (We're using pingg.com to send e-vites.) The original design artwork didn't fit the options available on pingg.com, so I decided to stay with pingg.com and change the artwork instead. Luckily, my wonderfully talented sister was willing to make changes for an hour until we got something we both liked.
* Jason got the passport sent off and...
* Booked the honeymoon. We're going to Jamaica! Sun, warmth, and room service...I can't wait! Oh, I guess there will be a beach or two as well. Sarah at Destinations has been great to work with. We did everything over the phone and email... Just the way I like to work.
* Spoke with vendors about my flowers some more today. Still haven't decided exactly what I'm doing.
* Here's my email to Karie today:
OK...
--rings on order
--dress shopping this weekend
--left messages/talked with Leslie's Catering & Spring St.
--make-up trial run tomorrow
--hair trim scheduled for mid december
--honeymoon options being looked at
--talked to jason about play list
* do i need to provide the ipod?
* what about speakers?
--invites being finalized
--bridal registries started
--sending photo contract in as soon as I find out if she takes credit cards
--talked to jason's mom...there won't be a rehearsal dinner
Questions:
--when does jason need to have his suit purchased & fitted by?
--when do adrian and michelle need to have their clothing ready?
--i haven't heard back from the JP...can you follow up, please?
--with the holidays, what's our deadline on getting a marriage license?
What Do I Need To Do Next?
I tend to not use capital letters when emailing friends. :) Her reply was much more detailed and informative!
Wedding Date Minus 31 Days (Thursday, December 2)
* Put together the guest list and gathered all the email addresses. Only two of our guests don't have email, so we'll call them tomorrow for a personal invitation. For the invitations, we used pingg.com. They have lots of options and are easy to use. I upgraded to get the virtual envelopes, which look really cool.
* Finally spoke with one of the caterer we want to try out...we've been playing phone tag for a few days now. Tasting set up for Monday.
* Got a message from the jeweler that the rings are being overnighted and will be here tomorrow!
* Sent out the invitations. I have to say, I'm impressed with this method. I've already had 4 RSVP's (out of 21)!
* Karie followed up with the JP. There might be a slight timing issue; the JPs usually swear in on the 1st, but she doesn't know know what time this will be. Hoping for the best!
Wedding Date Minus 29 Days (Friday, December 3)
* Received more RSVPs today.
* Looking back at my emails and calendar, I apparently didn't do much for the wedding on Friday.
Realized to day that the wedding is ONLY 28 DAYS AWAY!!!!
* Dress shopping! At Adrian's request, we are shopping for a 'real' wedding dress. Honestly, I wasn't too into this, but it turned out to be fun. Adrian brought a friend and I had my mom, sister, and best friend , as well as Adrian and Sarah. Ashley from David's Bridal was the best! (I need to take her some flowers!) She was honest with her opinions, and never got upset or frustrated with us...even when we added two more people to try on dresses! Ashley helped us find a wonderfully cute dress for Adrian and a matching dress for Michelle. Adrian's dress will have to have straps added, and Michelle's is in a matching color and is in a style that is perfect for her. By the end of the day, we were all tired and hungry, so I decided not to make a final decision on my dress.
follow-up: So I'm completely at a loss as to which dress to pick. I keep flip-flopping. This is frustrating!
follow-up: So I'm completely at a loss as to which dress to pick. I keep flip-flopping. This is frustrating!
Wedding Date Minus 27 Days (Sunday, December 5)
* Reminded Jason that he needs to
find a suit and get alterations scheduled.
* Spent all day looking at dresses again and trying to 'see' myself in them. Still no decision.
* Tried to visit one of the caterers, but they're closed today. On the other hand, we found a wonderful little Mexican bakery in Springdale. Fresh donuts....mmmm!
find a suit and get alterations scheduled.
* Spent all day looking at dresses again and trying to 'see' myself in them. Still no decision.
* Tried to visit one of the caterers, but they're closed today. On the other hand, we found a wonderful little Mexican bakery in Springdale. Fresh donuts....mmmm!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Whew! Quite a week. Stay tuned....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~