Miss me?

I'm sure you did. Since we last talked I bought three pairs of shoes for the Wedding. Don't worry I'm returning two pairs. I bought a veil; I know, I know! I didn't even do Veil Night. Sorry- I'm too damn picky. Besides, I'd rather have my accessories be cute little family things. Not the veil- I'm just going to take that off. I also managed to find myself graced with two HYSTERICAL Photographers for the Wedding.

I decided last night that Matt's getting a Grooms Cake. I'm excited about it. I need to find an outlet for that energy though... otherwise it won't be too much of a surprise. Oh well.

I still don't have favors picked out. I'm completely unsure as to what to put in them. Mostly because I don't want it to melt. I know it won't be a scorcher, but it could be hot enough to kill chocolate.

Knowing that there are only 143 days left almost makes me panic. Almost.

Let them eat Cake!

I am truly truly relieved. I thought that I was going to order the cake 6 months in advance since our date seems to be so popular. But ours is only the second Wedding on the books for the bakery. : D They told me not to worry so much, that I can order my cake as early as today or I can wait until 3 weeks before the wedding.

3 weeks makes me nervous though.

I'm going to wait to order it until after Easter. They're still taking orders for Easter pastries and breads- so I'm going to go back in when their business has calmed down.. and when I've calmed down some. Although, I'm much more at ease after hearing what Debbie needs from me. I was worried that she'd tell me that she couldn't do what I wanted on the cake.

It's kind of amusing though, I have 3 weeks to get a sketch of what I want on the cake, which seems like all the time in the world. Yet ordering the cake just 3 weeks before the Wedding makes me panic. I am a strange one.

6 months

So that's all that's left. And that doesn't seem very long. This has me worried. Granted there isn't much left for me to do. But there's enough to keep me busy. Not to mention it would be nice to have the living room painted and furnished by this fall. Since we will be having people coming from out of town who we will be entertaining and they may want to see the house. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.

What's left:
Dance Lessons
Invitations
Cake
Flowers
Favors
Aisle Runner
Ties for the Boys
Shoes for the Girls

[x] I'm not sure how I feel about these anymore. I want to go... but I'm not so sure I want to add another thing to my to do list.
[x] I will not enjoy addressing these. But I'll deal.
[x] I know where I want the cake from and what I want it to look like. I just have to get the decorators on the same page.
[x] I know I want red flowers. But there are lots out there. So I've been trying to weed out the ones I DON'T want to make any more floral consultations go more smoothly.
[x] Favors... ooooooh favors. I can't decide between those little chests I linked earlier and round metal tins. I also need to figure out what to put in them
[x] I was going to ask a friends mom to sew the runner for me, but the fabric I wanted was too expensive. $450+shipping for something I'm going to walk on? No thanks. So I'm left trying to get creative, but I think it'll work.
[x] Ties, simple enough
[x] Shoes: my one true love and current hate.

In other news I got my second box today... I still haven't gotten Thank You cards printed. I stink.

While I am terribly excited to get the gift of a Matthew, I know I'm ridiculous. The gifting process that goes with Weddings has me giddy. Matt and I had been living together in apartments, so we had limited space. But now we have a whole HOUSE! So some of our registry items are a touch silly. But well, we need a fair amount to fill and furnish this little ranch.

Today, the first box came. I made a mess with styrofoam peanuts and fell more in love with Kitchenaid than ever before. And as I was sitting on the floor cleaning up my mess it hit me: I have to send thank you cards now.

No big deal right?
I don't have thank you cards.

I should probably go get some...

Legal mumbo jumbo

In an effort to smooth things out later we went and had Matt's name changed. Which means I'll have just over 6 months to get used to him being Mr B before I become Mrs B. It's going to be an interesting ride. But I'm sure I'll manage. : P

I have an appointment with another Florist next week so I'll hopefully be able to check that off the list. And I have a friend looking into a runner for me as well. I feel like there's so much that still needs to be done- especially since we're almost at the 6mos mark.

Oh well, I guess I'll just hustle my little butt off for the next 2-4 weeks and see if I can get the rest of my to do list done.

: D

Now I know that all my headaches were worth it. Because I keep getting Phone calls and Messages from people saying that they love the StD's. Which makes me happy.

We went to Target today to add things on to the Registry. Because well, they were pretty much empty. I could tell that Matt was not enjoying the processes. And Target was super full. So I think I'll go back by myself to finish the rest. He stuck it out, and that pleases me.

I wanted to get shoes and a veil today as well. But work isn't going to let that happen. So maybe I just do that Th/F next week when I'm not running around.

SEVEN MONTHS!

The Check's in the Mail.

Well, not really. But the Save the Dates are! So check your mail boxes! Hopefully they'll get to all of you by Monday-ish!

YAY!

A little late, buuuuuuuuuuuuuut: MY MAGNETS ARE HERE!

So as long as the envelopes can withstand all of the stuff that needs to go into them they'll be mailed on Wednesday!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

My very first terrible vendor experience.

I had called a hotel about 2 months ago to set aside a block of rooms for people. I told them I would need 50-100. There are people coming in from out of town as well as people living in town who wanted to spend the night away from home.

They said "No problem!" Started giving me details. I hung up the phone feeling confident and completely at ease. Fast forward to today. Amy! Calls. She was unfortunately confused, she thought I was getting Married 10/19 not 9/19. Since it's back to school time they can only give me a block of 15 rooms.

...

33 is the low ball on rooms. That's doubling up on people who know each other and might stay together. That's expecting/hoping that some of the people will be staying at their parents houses.

So now I look for a new hotel and see if I can find one that'll give me ~50 rooms.

Keeping myself busy...

While I patiently wait for our Magnets to arrive I've been planning Registries. I will freely admit that this is the second most exciting part of the whole Wedding Planning process for me.

Some people think that Registries are the Devils work. I am here to tell you, no. They are not. The Registries are about your life together as Husband and Wife, and God willing: Parents.

It's about all of the little things that make your house into a home. And it's about the two of you. I will also freely admit that I put Wilton Cake Decorating Tools on there... as well as Cookie Sheets. Mostly because Baking is a big deal to me. And how am I to be expected to throw fabulous Cookie Exchanges if I don't have the proper tools and equipment?

I'm also trying to get the things that *I* want out of the way so that way Matt doesn't have to sit there and wait for me. But more importantly I'm hoping to take some of the tedium out of it so when we have to go 10 rounds over silverware- he'll have some stamina.

Picking paint for the house was terrible. I can only imagine what silverware will be like.

SO! What was your #1 must register for? What do you wish you'd Registered for?

Disappearing Vendors

I will not call Wedding Vendors Elves here. Generally, I don't like calling them Vendors. Because really, I want to pick people who care about what they are doing. Someone else called them Wedding Elves, and I liked it. Helpful creatures! What every girl needs... but moving on.

There are now TWO Brides in 5 months who I've seen have their Photographers run off after the Wedding. Leaving them with no pictures. This makes me more than a little nervous. The pictures may end up costing more than my Rings- and to have nothing to show for it? Well it terrifies me. I had wanted two photographers for the Wedding itself. Whether they be 2 from one studio or 2 independent. But that can also mean double the cost. And double the ditching.

I just want happy elves at my Wedding. Not greedy grumpy vendors. : (

Why are words so hard to find for a wordy wench?

I thought about giving y'all a sneak peek at the StD's, but I changed my mind. I need 7 more words and I cannot, for the life of me figure out what to put in there. I've been trying to add things so that you can make little statements or sayings. I think that most people will just enjoy the novelty of silly words. They may or may not try to make phrases out of them. And that's ok. I wanted these to get people's gear's churning and turning. I wanted them to let people start thinking- Pirate.

Hopefully I can wrap this up this weekend. Considering I've been banging my head on a desk for about a week now. I didn't want to start filling in the spaces until I knew that they could do what I wanted. So these may not reach people by Christmas.

Oh well! C'est la vie!

Funner Save the Dates!

So, I love me a Save the Date Magnet. Because not only does it serve as a reminder, but it serves a purpose too. Most people have room for one more magnet on their Fridge. Unless however you are my oldest sister. ; ) But I digress....

While I was getting my daily dose from Brooklyn Bride I fell in love, Love, LOVE with a readers STD. It's got a Magnet to serve as a reminder AND it's got Magnetic WORDS! a la Magnetic Poetry Pieces. And since I'm terribly wishy washy- I want those now. But I am now left staring at a template that I do NOT understand.

in the end they may end up costing a touch more than the plain cards. But that has more to do with image logistics [ie: if I send them a file they can't use because it's too small, the wrong DPI or the wrong format].

Hopefully I'll be able to figure this out so I get get one more thing off my list.

MARRIAGE LICENSE AND LAST NAME CHANGING JOYS!

I am over filled with joy! Although, my head is still pounding with a Migraine.

In any event!

I just found out that to change Matt's name we may not have to fill out all the paperwork again OR PAY THE $500!

Surname options

Every person has the right to adopt any name by which he or she wishes to be knows simply by using that name consistently and without intent to defraud. A person's last name (surname) does not automatically change upon marriage, and neither party to the marriage must change his or her last name. The bride and groom need not take the same last name.

One or both parties to a marriage may elect to change the surname by which he or she wishes to be known after the marriage by entering the new name in the appropriate space provided on the marriage license. The new name must consist of one of the following options:

* the surname of the other spouse;
* any former surname of either spouse;
* a name combining into a single surname all or a segment of the premarriage surname or any former surname of each spouse;
* a combination name separated by a hyphen, provided that each part of such combination surname is the premarriage surname, or any former surname, of each of the spouses.

The use of this option will provide a record of your change of name. The marriage certificate, containing the new name, if any, is proof that the use of the new name, or the retention of the former name, is lawful. Whether you decide to use or not use this option at the time of your marriage license application, you still have the right to adopt a different name through usage at some future date. However, your marriage license cannot be changed to record a surname you decide to use after your marriage.

Source: http://www.tonawanda.ny.us/townclerk/htm/t_p_wed.htm

Oh man. This is awesome on so many levels. This means that we won't have to: go to court, pay a lawyer, change his name a head of time, pay $500, wait for a lapse in my health care!

Here's to hoping that this JOY gets the black rain cloud out of my head.

Toasts and Dancing

First and foremost, I love how much I'm thinking about things that no one will care about.

Now, I don't know how my Brother or his Sister feel about Public speaking; so that topic will be brought up over Thanksgiving or Christmas. But, if neither of them want to speak in front of 200ish people; many of whom they will not know... then what? Can we just for-go a toast all together? Do I ask our Fathers to say something? What if they don't want to speak in front of 200ish people?

I know that I have 10 months to figure this out. It's just something that wobbles around in my brain.

And I know that Matt and I will have our first dance. But I'm not so keen on the whole Bridal Party dance. Especially since there will only be 2 other people out there. I mean honestly, what's the point in that anyways? I'd rather just get on with the fun and ridiculousness of the party.

No.

Small and direct. I do not like no when it is leaving someone elses mouth and it is directed at ME.

Further more, when someone tells me that I can't have something in or at my Wedding, it just wakes up the devious little 7 year old.

And she will find a way >: }

Favors and Centerpieces

I found these adorable little boxes at the Oriental Trading Company. I just need to figure out what to put into them. The site says that they're 3in; so I'm assuming that that's the length, but I can't be sure for now. I'll probably end up ordering a set at some point soon just so I can play with them and see what all I can and cannot fit in there.



The more I think about it the more indecisive I get. While having pillar candles in glassware looks nice. I am a girl, and I do like flowers. Matt said pirates don't have flowers. I did politely remind him that this wench will have flowers, maybe not a plethor-a. But there will be some. And if I did decide to put flowers on the tables I wouldn't go hog wild with huge arrangements. I'd just want a few flowers in pretty little containers.

For a moment you have to imagine that the sea shells and things are gold coins. But this is what I'd been thinking of doing with red and black candles.



The style centerpiece we go with would change the way the table numbers are displayed slightly. But rest assured I've got it all covered ; ).

DIYBecks!

So, it would appear that my new BFF Becky is a Veteran DIY Invitationer. This is pleases me on so many levels. Where shall I begin? She's an Art Teacher. Who can totally draw me somethin' super sweet for the tops of the invites. She's been shopping for cardstock in grosses before. Spray Glue does not scare her. I could go on, but I'll spare you. Now on to what I came up with on my own.



I looked at different colors of card stock today with the middle Sisty-ugler. I managed to find a parchment looking one that I like. As well as a red. I also found many much pink things to thrust upon the eldest Sisty-ugler to help move her into the realm of a PINK Bridal Shower.

But for now, I am off to wrestle a Guest List, that has now gone over 200.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!

The Kids Favors came today! I love, love , LOVE them.

I got cute little crayon roll ups for the kids under 10. I have to find some Piratey coloring pages to go with them, but that won't be hard. I'm absolutely over the moon for them. I wanted something for the little ones so they could not only have something special, but I wanted them to have something to keep them amused during the reception in case they aren't dancers.

Oh my GOOSES

179.

That's the total number of Guests right now. Including Children. So it's probably closer to 170 Adults. Matt's Aunt sent me a list of names and addresses. But I don't know who on there has kids or how many they have.

I know that the list will get bigger before it gets any smaller. And I'm not terribly worried yet. Because no matter what we'll be charged for 150 Guests. So I'd prefer to make sure I have at least that many so I'm not buying dinner for imaginary people!

BUT! This also means that the Ceremony might be tricky. Anything over 75 Chairs I have to pay for. I've been debating what to do about that. I know people usually skip out on the Ceremony, which is fine, but our Reception is right after. So people could skip out on the boring part... but then they'll miss part of the Cocktail hour happenings.

Oh well, no sense in me worrying now about what everyone else is doing during my Reception then. : P