getting lost in stupid stuff

[star sparkle]

Star Sparkle, LOVE the fingerprint tree idea! I'd try to remember to put a box of babywipes or something near it so people can wipe the ink off their fingers post-fingerprinting.

Yes, I need to remember to get those! Thanks!

Sounds like you've done a fab job of getting things done so far! Mind sharing details on your venue and such?

 

[distracts]

Sounds like you've done a fab job of getting things done so far! Mind sharing details on your venue and such?

I put a little about it in the other thread on my dress etc but it's a recently-renovated art deco theater. It hosts concerts, performing arts classes, and a little art gallery. We've been to some events there and they're always really fun.

The frontispiece (underneath it a banner with the theater's name used to hang but now they have a neon marquee and I'm going to see if we can get our names up where the band names usually would go!):


Right inside the door, the first floor of the bar (there's a less fancy bar upstairs, and both upstairs and downstairs will be used during cocktails):


Inside, facing the stage:


Inside, facing the sound booth/bar (the row seats at the back upstairs are original seats from when the theater was first built, acquired on craigslist when the theater was bought by its current owners because they matched the color scheme - only when they went to pick them up did they find out they were original to the theater, lol):


We couldn't figure out how to decorate it (I am horrible at decorating for parties and things) so we're hiring a wedding planner to help with that and have a consultation on Wednesday. I'm pretty excited. It's a great basic space and with the right decorations I think it will be totally amazing.

And the theater colors are turquoise and gold and my favorite color is turquoise, so our wedding colors are turquoise and gold.

We did these save the dates and invites in our colors:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/70218046/diy-wedding-art-decovintage-glam-save
http://www.etsy.com/listing/61460276/art-decovintage-glam-wedding-invitations

Today is THREE MONTHS for me. I can't imagine how stressed you are with almost a week!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Three days before the wedding we were still deciding on songs to have the wedding party walk in to (the tent, not down the aisle) and what to cut the cake too (this NEVER crossed my mind lol)

SONG TO CUT THE CAKE TO!?!?!? THAT IS A THING!?!?!??!???!????? OMGGGGGG TO THE ITUNES!

My fiance always complains that rather than settling what he thinks are the "big details," I focus on nitpicky things. I love picking out my accessories, choosing the music (we went to a friend's wedding where they chose every single song that played during the wedding (they had a list of several hundred acceptable ones that they gave the dj, plus some number of must-plays), and it was the BEST EVER because it was so personal to them, and I plan on trying to do the same if I can find a DJ who will let me), and choosing gifts for the wedding party and everyone else who has helped out (I loooooooooove picking gifts! My bridespeople are just expecting pendants/cufflinks and maybe an "emergency kit" but they are going to be drowned in stuff because I am stress-shopping for them).

Crazy, right?! I can't even remember what it was now, but it was something with sugar or sweet from a nice 50's duwop group...LOVED it! We did make a list of acceptable songs and out dj was a friend, so I knew his music choices wouldn't suck if left to his own devices. That said, I absolutely wanted NONE of those terrible 'dance' songs like electric slide, macarena, etc. I was so thankful I said that and felt soooo much better about our evening because I wasn't expected to join in with those kinds of songs. We did a ton of different styles of music and I loved that I would randomly hear a song that I will jam out to by myself that maybe no one else has heard of. Definitely take some time to create a list for your dj! We went to a wedding a month after ours and the dj was HORRIBLE! We would have left early if we didn't like the people at our table (family lol)

 

[distracts]

Crazy, right?! I can't even remember what it was now, but it was something with sugar or sweet from a nice 50's duwop group...LOVED it! We did make a list of acceptable songs and out dj was a friend, so I knew his music choices wouldn't suck if left to his own devices. That said, I absolutely wanted NONE of those terrible 'dance' songs like electric slide, macarena, etc. I was so thankful I said that and felt soooo much better about our evening because I wasn't expected to join in with those kinds of songs. We did a ton of different styles of music and I loved that I would randomly hear a song that I will jam out to by myself that maybe no one else has heard of. Definitely take some time to create a list for your dj! We went to a wedding a month after ours and the dj was HORRIBLE! We would have left early if we didn't like the people at our table (family lol)

lol I said this on a weddingbee thread recently, but I call those dance songs "the only songs people bother to dance to at weddings." I'm definitely having some of them, though not the macarena. lol. My song-related dance rule is none involving breakups or cheating or death. If I hear a single one, I am gonna cut the DJ in the face.

The best/most hilarious thing about our friends who did their entire playlist was that they met in the goth dance club scene and both formed a goth dance band, like fifteen years ago, and had both gone on to totally different things before meeting up again, and so all their music was goth dance music. And the wedding was at Disney and all the small children dressed as Disney characters, so you had these tiny Disney princes/princesses rocking out to goth dance music. My wedding won't be QUITE that awesome, but I'll try. For the time when people are arriving and getting seated, and then cocktails, I've drawn up entire playlists since no one is dancing then so we don't need a DJ to keep it going. Plus they'll flow with the ceremony song choices. I may slightly break with my rule and use "Is you is or is you ain't my baby" by Dinah Washington but umm... it's a classic.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Ha! We must have chosen well because EVERYONE danced! Our parents, grandparents and friends were getting down to a TON of stuff, but the biggest hits were reggae music. I was adamant about having a ton of reggae because everyone seems to like it and I was right!! It was actually pretty cool seeing our grandparents dancing to it and really loving it too I just could not see us playing any of those dance-y songs at our wedding and even though my Dad told me I was making a mistake, I don't regret it for one single moment. Plus, no one asked for them, so it's not like they were in high demand lol

We had a playlist selected for dinner that was more mellow stuff, but I was so all over the place that I barely noticed what was coming through the speakers. Are you giving your people the opportunity to request songs? We didn't lol...I mean, if it was on my list, the dj played it, but he didn't really veer off of that, which was perfect for me!

 

[distracts]

We are absolutely not giving people the opportunity to request songs at the wedding, though I'm going to ask some friends for suggestions beforehand. If we let my friends request songs we'd just be listening to 100% glam rock, probably. Maybe some Joy Division. Or else everyone would request "Call Me Maybe" over and over again.

I can't for the life of me figure out a processional for the bridesmaids. I need to rescue my old music off my external harddrive (I managed to save it when my laptop died two years ago but the experience was so traumatic I never managed to load much of it onto my new one, lol) so I have more songs to pick from.

Entry music for guests (to be played while people are arriving and being seated): a playlist roughly structured around Stevie Wonder's "Uptight." So mainly just stuff that goes with it, a lot of Motown and Stax.
Processional for me: Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
Recessional: Same & Dave - Hold On (I'm Coming)
Cocktail hour: playlist mostly using songs from the Verve Remixed albums, with the notable addition of "Sayin' Something Toxic," a remix of The Velvelettes and Britney.

I'm gravitating towards those particular kinds of music for the playlists because they were the types that were originally played in the theater when it was first built. Plus I love the songs. And so do my friends. And they'll be familiar to the old people to. So far the music I've been picking out for the reception is much more eclectic because I'm just going with "anything I like." I'm trying to get my fiance to participate but he thinks that I'm nitpicking. Which I'm not.

 

[audball]

distracts!!! Your venue is amazing!!!

 

[audball]

Okay - we visited the venue this week. It did not go as well as we'd hoped.

First of all - the venue itself is beautiful. The location is good and bad. It's in an adorable downtown area with all these quaint shops and restaurants, brick paved streets, antique signs and light posts. Really adorable. The lot itself the house was on is much smaller than it looks in pictures. And unfortunately the street it's on is much busier than we would have thought. We had planned on utilizing the space indoors only - so the noise factor wasn't the end of the world. But the grounds just weren't as beautiful or large as we'd hoped. Definitely not as private as it seemed.

It was quite obvious in person that many of the photos we had seen had been heavily photoshopped. But worst off - in all our emails and discussions with the exclusive caterer (and event coordinators for the venue) we had discussed our total wedding budget and what we were going for feel wise. They made it seem like they were flexible (since we were aiming for a Monday event) on pricing of food and that there were no minimums for catering since it wasn't a weekend, etc. We get there, tour the space, get options for ceremony locations indoors and possible set ups and turnovers. We get up to her office to go over things further and she gives us a price sheet for the reception. The LOWEST cost package is an appetizer reception that is at nearly $70/person for our size party. It's only 5 appetizers, not passed, but served buffet style. No drinks. Plus 7% tax and 20% service fee (not including gratuity). They also had some fees for other things (corkage, cake cutting, etc). All said and done just the venue and food would have cost nearly 70% of the budget we had set for ourselves. We left absolutely crushed.

We're frustrated and unsure what we may want to do now. I keep casually looking, but we're more/less taking a break from serious research until we can establish the actual budget and decide what's really important to us.

Sigh.

 

[distracts]

distracts!!! Your venue is amazing!!!

Thank you! We certainly like it. It's in the neighborhood I grew up in, but didn't reopen until recently - for decades and decades, certainly all of my life until several years ago, it was derelict and I remember looking at the beautiful facade as we drove by and wondering what it was like inside (tornado-ravaged, is the answer). I initially didn't consider it as a venue at all but my fiance was adamant that it was The One. And of the two venues we liked when we toured them, it was FAAAAAAAR cheaper. And my fiance liked it more. (The other venue we liked had a flat rate for alcohol and for this wedding it would be $8000 plus paying the bartender. The venue we selected already HAS a bar, and three bartenders are included with the price, and we pay per drink consumed which they think will come out between 3-4k for our wedding. It also has no preferred vendors, though they'll give recommendations - most of which we're using because they all seem really good but have much more reasonable prices than what we find online. The one sort of exception is the caterer, because if we use this particular caterer we get a discount... but it happens that we love the caterer. Most other venues we found either didn't have tables and chairs or charged for you to rent them. This venue has them but doesn't charge. That saves several thousand dollars. I'm still having an expensive wedding, but at most other venues I would be having a barebones wedding that happened to be expensive, while here my expensive wedding will be just as lavish and ridiculous as the cost would indicate.)

Okay - we visited the venue this week. It did not go as well as we'd hoped.

It was quite obvious in person that many of the photos we had seen had been heavily photoshopped. But worst off - in all our emails and discussions with the exclusive caterer (and event coordinators for the venue) we had discussed our total wedding budget and what we were going for feel wise. They made it seem like they were flexible (since we were aiming for a Monday event) on pricing of food and that there were no minimums for catering since it wasn't a weekend, etc. We get there, tour the space, get options for ceremony locations indoors and possible set ups and turnovers. We get up to her office to go over things further and she gives us a price sheet for the reception. The LOWEST cost package is an appetizer reception that is at nearly $70/person for our size party. It's only 5 appetizers, not passed, but served buffet style. No drinks. Plus 7% tax and 20% service fee (not including gratuity). They also had some fees for other things (corkage, cake cutting, etc). All said and done just the venue and food would have cost nearly 70% of the budget we had set for ourselves. We left absolutely crushed.

We're frustrated and unsure what we may want to do now. I keep casually looking, but we're more/less taking a break from serious research until we can establish the actual budget and decide what's really important to us.

Ummm... YIKES on the food. Our caterer unexpectedly changed because we were using the venue caterer and THEIR caterer changed, but now we're using a restaurant group that is really amazing and has rave reviews and been written up in tons of newspapers and magazines (one of their restaurants is our absolute fave - both me and my fiance's AND my parents' - I should add that the original caterer had trained under one of my fiance's favorite chefs, so it's not like we switched from bad to good, we switched from good to maybe even better) and it's just going to be like $80pp including appetizer at cocktail hour, full buffet, drinks (only pay for those actually consumed but we're calculating based on $5 a drink and one drink per hour per person on average), tax, gratuity, and the service and rental fees. It could be more or less depending on the exact food we pick (if at all possible we'll do my favorite foods and his favorite foods) but that was the "high" price on the sample menu. I'm in Dallas, so it's not like anything is ever cheap here. So it IS possible to find prices that aren't totally effing insane. (And there's no harm in taking your time finding a venue - my fiance and I got engaged in March 2011 and didn't pick our venue until August 2012. We did a LOT of shopping around!)

I will add that everything I've learned from wedding planning says that getting an "all in" sort of package or going with any place that makes you use their exclusive people means extra charges. Oh, and another thing - for our engagement party, which had like 70 people, we had it catered by a woman who is mainly a personal chef (but does a little bit of catering). The food was AMAZING. I don't know where you find a personal chef if your mom doesn't just happen to know one (apparently my mom's friend has this lady as her personal chef? I didn't know personal chefs were affordable for regular people but apparently they are because this lady isn't superrich or anything?) but could be something to look into other than a big catering company.

 

[audball]

All that makes your venue that much more special! Aww, I just love it. I can't wait to see it all come together in your photots!

And yeah - the prices were nuts. They (the caterer) have rave reviews and are amazing. But still. I thought I did my part by being up front about our small budget. She knew we'd have to drive 2 hours each way just to visit the venue. I wanted to make sure we were comfortable with everything before taking time away from work and making the trip. And then we get there and get slapped with that at the end.

I was so crushed I cried the whole way home. Ah well. I guess we would have always wondered if we hadn't gone. And in the afterglow with lots of sweet comments from friends - it's all true. If they're not willing to work with us to help our vision come true, than they aren't the vendor for us anyway. We did love the city and location of the venue, so now we're looking for other alternatives in the area. Time will tell, but at this juncture I think we're going to take a break from any serious research. We'll just focus on being happily engaged and continue saving money. When we're closer to actually having the full budget set aside - then we can start making serious plans again.

 

[star sparkle]

distracts, your venue is gorgeous! I LOVE it!

aud, hugs! Sorry it didn't work out there, but I think taking a break from it is such a smart idea. You're in no rush anyway, so take some time to REALLY think about what you want out of your wedding, formulate and plan, and go from there!


As for me, ugh, I'm sick with a sinus infection. 9 days before my wedding.

I'm getting so so so excited though! My hair extension thing isn't going to work out, unfortunately. I was sad about it for like a day and then I realized that nobody but me is going to care what my hair looks like anyway, and why should I care so much? It'll still look great, who cares if I won't get the extra 2 inches of length I wanted initially.

I can't wait for everyone to get here (guests start arriving next Wednesday!) and for the festivities to begin. We're having planned events on Thurs, Fri, Sat (wedding), and Sun, so it's going to be nonstop fun from Thursday on. FI and I are having a date night tomorrow night, our last official date night before the wedding. Eeek! Then the weekend, which I'm sure will be spent frantically figuring out last minute things, and then only a few days after that until everything starts.

 

[audball]

As for me, ugh, I'm sick with a sinus infection. 9 days before my wedding.

I'm getting so so so excited though! My hair extension thing isn't going to work out, unfortunately. I was sad about it for like a day and then I realized that nobody but me is going to care what my hair looks like anyway, and why should I care so much? It'll still look great, who cares if I won't get the extra 2 inches of length I wanted initially.

I can't wait for everyone to get here (guests start arriving next Wednesday!) and for the festivities to begin. We're having planned events on Thurs, Fri, Sat (wedding), and Sun, so it's going to be nonstop fun from Thursday on. FI and I are having a date night tomorrow night, our last official date night before the wedding. Eeek! Then the weekend, which I'm sure will be spent frantically figuring out last minute things, and then only a few days after that until everything starts.

Oh no!! Fluids! Rest! Meds! Fluids! Rest! Meds! Get well soon dust!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too bad on the hair extensions, but you'll look fabulous anyway. 2 inches wouldn't have made a huge difference. Everyone will be too busy looking at your amazing comb than noticing that you're hair is shorter than you had hoped!

And omygoodness! I can't believe it's all so close. I hope you have the most perfect weather and that you fully enjoy every second of your week! I love love love that you guys are doing one final date night before you're married! We'll have to remember to do this!

Healing dust! I can't wait to hear every detail!

 

[TooPatient]

We're going to our first wedding expo this Sunday!

Any tips?

 

[TooPatient]

distracts, your venue is gorgeous! I LOVE it!

aud, hugs! Sorry it didn't work out there, but I think taking a break from it is such a smart idea. You're in no rush anyway, so take some time to REALLY think about what you want out of your wedding, formulate and plan, and go from there!


As for me, ugh, I'm sick with a sinus infection. 9 days before my wedding.

I'm getting so so so excited though! My hair extension thing isn't going to work out, unfortunately. I was sad about it for like a day and then I realized that nobody but me is going to care what my hair looks like anyway, and why should I care so much? It'll still look great, who cares if I won't get the extra 2 inches of length I wanted initially.

I can't wait for everyone to get here (guests start arriving next Wednesday!) and for the festivities to begin. We're having planned events on Thurs, Fri, Sat (wedding), and Sun, so it's going to be nonstop fun from Thursday on. FI and I are having a date night tomorrow night, our last official date night before the wedding. Eeek! Then the weekend, which I'm sure will be spent frantically figuring out last minute things, and then only a few days after that until everything starts.

So soon!

Feel better! Everything will be great. Just take care of yourself so you can enjoy!

 

[TooPatient]

Made it through the wedding expo without signing any expensive contracts
We did get lots of great coupons, may have found the musicians for the wedding, have a great new photographer option (2 actually!), and found out that one of the good jewelers in the area is having a wedding show in a couple of weeks with 30% off bands!

I need to confirm with the rabbi this week and then talk to our venue, but it looks like our date will be 8/22/13 (plus or minus a day depending on venue's schedule).

As soon as I've got the date confirmed (deposit in to venue & rabbi booked), STD's must be in the mail ASAP. After reading a bunch on this thread I think we're going to go with wedding paper divas for the STD's. I'm still up in the air with invitations. May go with wedding paper divas for them also or look at some of the other places people have used in past.

 

[audball]

Made it through the wedding expo without signing any expensive contracts
We did get lots of great coupons, may have found the musicians for the wedding, have a great new photographer option (2 actually!), and found out that one of the good jewelers in the area is having a wedding show in a couple of weeks with 30% off bands!

I need to confirm with the rabbi this week and then talk to our venue, but it looks like our date will be 8/22/13 (plus or minus a day depending on venue's schedule).

As soon as I've got the date confirmed (deposit in to venue & rabbi booked), STD's must be in the mail ASAP. After reading a bunch on this thread I think we're going to go with wedding paper divas for the STD's. I'm still up in the air with invitations. May go with wedding paper divas for them also or look at some of the other places people have used in past.

Awesome! I haven't been to one yet. I think we probably will even though we won't book vendors there.

Your day is THIS YEAR! That's so exciting! I hope you get it all pulled together! There are tons of cute STDs and invitations on WPD.

 

[distracts]

So this week we have:
- set a rehearsal dinner time and place
- contacted the invitation lady to get rehearsal dinner invitations
- interviewed multiple wedding planners (don't even ASK about the drama between me and my mom on this - suffice it to say we have very different ideas of what we want, but hers are based on no research whereas I have been researching for almost two years)
- walked through the venue again
- picked a store to register for dining chairs (Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, OF COURSE - we were trying to stay less expensive but oh well. Their registry is just gift cards which is good because there were three different chair styles we liked and now we can pick later)
- checked up on my wedding dress
- called the photographer to discuss lighting for the ceremony and reception
- tentatively scheduled bridal portraits
- added my fiance's sister to the wedding party to replace a groomsmen who is unable to attend

Of course, while checking up on my wedding dress I totally forgot to check that we can still order another bridesmaid dress. So I need to call back and do that. Then I'll need to email FSIL the info.

I also need to actually do a registry with other than just gift cards for dining chairs on it because our shower is in ONE MONTH (and a few days) and they need to go out on the invitations. But I don't know what we want. We own a home and my fiance has lived here for about eight years now, so it's not like we're lacking in stuff. Except dining chairs. Ours are LITERALLY falling apart. We also need sheets but the fiance is veryvery picky about thread count so most regular registry places don't have thread counts high enough for him.

 

[TooPatient]

Yay Distracts! That is a lot done.


FI has taken charge of music! He's got a list of songs started after getting inspired at the wedding expo. He really wants to have a string quartet for the ceremony & dinner. The music he wants played is difficult to find in sheet music (and he wants to re-arrange it anyway) so he found this thing that takes a wmv music file and breaks it down into little marks next to a keyboard so that he can enter it note by note into a music score for the musicians.... after he tweaks it.

I LOVE the idea. The music is beautiful and a real string quartet would be amazing. I've got to get a rough estimate from them before he gets too far to see if we can even manage to afford such a thing!

He's also starting to audition songs for me to walk down the aisle to and other such things.

 

[atp223]

So this week we have:
- set a rehearsal dinner time and place
- contacted the invitation lady to get rehearsal dinner invitations
- interviewed multiple wedding planners (don't even ASK about the drama between me and my mom on this - suffice it to say we have very different ideas of what we want, but hers are based on no research whereas I have been researching for almost two years)
- walked through the venue again
- picked a store to register for dining chairs (Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, OF COURSE - we were trying to stay less expensive but oh well. Their registry is just gift cards which is good because there were three different chair styles we liked and now we can pick later)
- checked up on my wedding dress
- called the photographer to discuss lighting for the ceremony and reception
- tentatively scheduled bridal portraits
- added my fiance's sister to the wedding party to replace a groomsmen who is unable to attend

Of course, while checking up on my wedding dress I totally forgot to check that we can still order another bridesmaid dress. So I need to call back and do that. Then I'll need to email FSIL the info.

I also need to actually do a registry with other than just gift cards for dining chairs on it because our shower is in ONE MONTH (and a few days) and they need to go out on the invitations. But I don't know what we want. We own a home and my fiance has lived here for about eight years now, so it's not like we're lacking in stuff. Except dining chairs. Ours are LITERALLY falling apart. We also need sheets but the fiance is veryvery picky about thread count so most regular registry places don't have thread counts high enough for him.

distracts! your wedding venue is GORGEOUS! when is your wedding, btw?

i saw your sheet comment and just had to chime in - i'm a huge thread count snob also, but more than that i just like really soft sheets. after my last set of egyptian cotton sheets ripped, i did major searching. i've found these bamboo sheets on amazon that i just can't get enough of! my fiance tosses and turns a lot, and full disclosure, HIS SIDE of the sheets have pilled a little bit (after about 6 months of use), but if you don't sleep like an egg beater I think they would hold up better. they are called "rayon from bamboo" sheets, and this is an example link: http://www.amazon.com/Rayon-BAMBOO-Sheet-Set-Thread/dp/B002WZPOPW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359513102&sr=8-1&keywords=rayon+from+bamboo+sheet+set

they come in like 800, 1000, 1200, and possibly 1500 thread counts. i have four or five sets of them (we just bought a 4 bedroom house so it was necessary), and i know that i own a variety of thread counts but honestly can't tell the difference. you should check them out!

 

[distracts]

Oh cool, thanks ATP! We are actually registering on Amazon so that works out perfectly.

Our wedding is April 20. We did another walkthrough last week and I took some more pics so I will try to upload them. They've made the upstairs bar area a lot nicer since we booked. The entrance outside is nicer too with the neon marquee, cool tiling, and big deco-style posters for upcoming shows. And we DO get to put our names/whatever we want on the marquee for the day of our wedding! I don't know what we'll put though.

 

[TooPatient]

According to an e-mail I just got, I "won the grand prize at the wedding expo"....
I looked at the details and what it is seems to be nothing more than generic advertising to suck me in and get me to use their services. The "grand prize" is either STDs for 100 people or $150 off any of their wedding packages.

I only need something like 15-20 STDs. Getting them free (and nice looking) would be nice, but I hesitate to accept this offer because it just feels *off*. Part of that feeling that it isn't entirely honest is that the "grand prize" expires tomorrow.

Eh. I don't think it is worth it. Even if I got REALLY nice STDs, we're still talking $100 max.

 

[TooPatient]

Rabbi very busy due to holidays. Winery absolutely booked. We're shifting to Sept 29 or 30. Will confirm with winery tomorrow. We're already penciled in on the rabbi and cantor's schedules!

Up side is lower prices and an extra 5 weeks to lose weight.

 

[audball]

Rabbi very busy due to holidays. Winery absolutely booked. We're shifting to Sept 29 or 30. Will confirm with winery tomorrow. We're already penciled in on the rabbi and cantor's schedules!

Up side is lower prices and an extra 5 weeks to lose weight.

I guess that's not surprising..August isn't far off! But yay! 5 extra weeks for planning, saving, losing...all good things! I hope it works out

 

[TooPatient]

Rabbi very busy due to holidays. Winery absolutely booked. We're shifting to Sept 29 or 30. Will confirm with winery tomorrow. We're already penciled in on the rabbi and cantor's schedules!

Up side is lower prices and an extra 5 weeks to lose weight.

I guess that's not surprising..August isn't far off! But yay! 5 extra weeks for planning, saving, losing...all good things! I hope it works out

Thanks. We'll know more tomorrow about that. I was thrilled to hear the Rabbi wasn't going out of town or something. The other possibility we talked about was shifting to mid-June and that is just TOO close to get ready. My first choice given the Rabbi's schedule would be either Sept 30 or Oct 1. (the winery has a mid-week thing that would save a couple of thousand dollars plus on 10/1 their rooms reduce in price too -- I do plan to ask for the 10/1 pricing even if we do 9/30!)

I've got to run out to the storage shed and grab my wedding box. I haven't looked at it in a couple of years, but I seem to remember having a ring pillow, guest book, signing pen, and a couple of other great things that would be just perfect.

 

[TooPatient]

Rabbi very busy due to holidays. Winery absolutely booked. We're shifting to Sept 29 or 30. Will confirm with winery tomorrow. We're already penciled in on the rabbi and cantor's schedules!

Up side is lower prices and an extra 5 weeks to lose weight.

I guess that's not surprising..August isn't far off! But yay! 5 extra weeks for planning, saving, losing...all good things! I hope it works out

Thanks. We'll know more tomorrow about that. I was thrilled to hear the Rabbi wasn't going out of town or something. The other possibility we talked about was shifting to mid-June and that is just TOO close to get ready. My first choice given the Rabbi's schedule would be either Sept 30 or Oct 1. (the winery has a mid-week thing that would save a couple of thousand dollars plus on 10/1 their rooms reduce in price too -- I do plan to ask for the 10/1 pricing even if we do 9/30!)

I've got to run out to the storage shed and grab my wedding box. I haven't looked at it in a couple of years, but I seem to remember having a ring pillow, guest book, signing pen, and a couple of other great things that would be just perfect.

My wedding box seems to have gotten a bit damp in storage. It isn't too bad, but the guest book cover and ring pillow both have rust stains (silk flower wires...) that would bug me. I'm actually not too upset by this. It would have been nice to have the option, but I'm actually looking forward to shopping for just the right things for what we're planning.

I did find a set of bride & groom bears and another set of bride & groom porcelain dolls. Not sure if I'll try to incorporate them in some how or not. I will try to get pictures and post them though. The bears are especially cute!

 

[TooPatient]

Really going now!

Venue has $1000 weekday rental fee.

Food & Beverage (includes "welcome brunch", private wine tasting, dinner (hors d'oeuvres, salad, sides, main), wine, full bar, cake cutting/serving, champagne, and a continental breakfast for the day after) is quoted at $6300
(includes taxes & service fees)

Rooms are available for $189/night. (we would be paying in full for a few rooms and then paying a portion of for the others to help reduce the cost for guests)

Total estimate (including 15 rooms in full) is $10,501


I need to reduce that...
The number will drop by $1000 (minimum) as we won't pay for all rooms in full.
We don't want a bar (will be having only wine (plus non-alcoholic)) so that will cut $500

What about the "B&G getting ready"? Do we need fresh fruit/berry plate, cheese plate, and wine? (keeping in mind we would have just had lunch and may have joined in a wine tasting)? That is called out at almost $200.


One of the bigger items that I could probably toss is the "welcome brunch". They've got that quoted for all guests to attend. My intention was to have something more like a "rehearsal brunch" so that we could do rehearsal in the morning of the same day (given 2+ hour drive) and then the two of us and the rabbi (plus one or two others if they were needed in rehearsal) would have lunch together.
Is there any reason why we should have a full lunch for everyone when they arrive? (my thinking was they'd arrive, check-in to rooms, relax for awhile (there is a spa on site and other such things), join for a wine tasting, relax doing whatever they'd like until wedding time, sunset ceremony followed by dinner/reception.


Oh -- Here's the venue. VENUE

 

[distracts]

The shower invitations have arrived to most people... I know the people hosting it asked for a theme, and they suggested Japanese and since I don't really like Japanese food and thought this was about the food, I said Italian... they are REALLY running with the theme. I have already fielded several "wow, you must REALLY like Italy and Italian stuff!" phone calls. SORRY GUYS MY AUNTS AND THEIR FRIENDS BE CRAZY. They got denied a themed Christmas this year so they must be taking it out on the showers! My cousin's baby shower (thrown by the same people) was pretty theme-obsessed as well but I just figured that was her doing, haha.

AND I was getting pretty sad because after the blowout with my MOH over the bachelorette party (there was a post in hangout), despite our resolution (not in the post, but everything got sorted), and me asking another bridesmaid and a friend in town who had both previously offered to throw the bachelorette party if they could put one together, I hadn't heard anything. So anyway I thought I'd have to throw my own and was getting all mopey because I might not be able to get it together in time for when my fiance is in Vegas on his bachelor party, but then two days ago they called to tell me their plan and make sure we could use my house and I could send them a guest list. Aaaaaaaand my MOH has gotten over her deal because she's helping them too! AND they are doing what I asked from the beginning which was "let's just watch Magic Mike and get drunk!!" So thank god no one will force me to dress in lingerie and pose sexy for pictures in front of a dozen friends. Thank god we're over that idea. That idea was terrifying. I'm so much more comfortable just getting smashed at home and watching a movie.

Anyway I was checking my registry today just to see the wedding countdown (69 days, apparently) and STUFF HAS ALREADY BEEN BOUGHT. What! Crazy! People are buying me stuff????? WHAT. I don't know, I'm a little shocked by it all.

Oh, also, my invitations arrived. I forgot to order outer envelopes though so I just did that, and then decided I also want envelope liners and belly bands because eff the idea of saving money, let's go all out!

OH AND WE GOT THE WEDDING PLANNER/DAY OF COORDINATOR HIRED. yessssssssssssss.

 

[distracts]

What about the "B&G getting ready"? Do we need fresh fruit/berry plate, cheese plate, and wine? (keeping in mind we would have just had lunch and may have joined in a wine tasting)? That is called out at almost $200.


One of the bigger items that I could probably toss is the "welcome brunch". They've got that quoted for all guests to attend. My intention was to have something more like a "rehearsal brunch" so that we could do rehearsal in the morning of the same day (given 2+ hour drive) and then the two of us and the rabbi (plus one or two others if they were needed in rehearsal) would have lunch together.
Is there any reason why we should have a full lunch for everyone when they arrive? (my thinking was they'd arrive, check-in to rooms, relax for awhile (there is a spa on site and other such things), join for a wine tasting, relax doing whatever they'd like until wedding time, sunset ceremony followed by dinner/reception.

Ooooh, your venue looks beautiful!

I'd see if you could keep the getting ready food plates but drop the wine... but it depends on whether you snack or starve when you're nervous. I tend to not eat when I'm nervous but most of my bridesmaids snack, so I need food for them.

I don't really think the welcome brunch is necessary unless you guys want it. I agree that having one for the rehearsal people is probably sufficient.

 

[TooPatient]

Yay for the planner!
That is great news, Distracts! I'm sure she'll really help you be able to enjoy the day.

I'm glad you are getting the girls party you wanted. I can't imagine posing in front of all my friends

 

[TooPatient]

Thanks for the input on the lunch. I really don't want to do one, but started to second guess. We're already doing a wine tasting prior to the ceremony and the great dinner reception plus a brunch the next day for anyone who stays over night. The "welcome brunch" just seems a bit much. I'd really like to keep it as relaxed as possible so people can look around and enjoy while they are there.

So excited!!!
We went to the bridal event at one of the local jewelers and had a great time. Spent several hours trying on all sorts of diamonds and just enjoying. I got to see the entire Tacori collection in person!!!!
Discovered that FI does best with a slightly narrower band than he thought and he really loves the hammered finish. So... we got his band ordered!

I found a Tacori that I really liked (except the $$$$$) and then browsed the rest of the collection (not Tacori) and found another amazing ring that was just exactly what I'd been looking for. The lady was kind enough to hold the special show pricing for me until the end of the week so we can get the contract details done with the winery first. She's even willing to take some other pieces for trade in value!

FI got distracted talking to one of the jewelers about airplanes and theater rooms so I got to wander and look some more.... so I found my birthday present
Okay.... so I have to make sure we can fit it in our daily budget, but I'm pretty sure I can. They are also giving me the sales price on that! It is this beautiful sapphire & diamond pendant. It is just perfect! I've been in search of something like it to wear for the wedding and there it was.

Making so much progress! We'll be visiting the winery Tuesday and then I need to go back and pick my diamond for the center stone!