Yikes

So I never said I was great at keeping up with a blog. In fact, I'm rather terrible at it, however, we live, we learn, and we move on.

But what is new in the world of my wedding planning, you ask? Well, a lot actually. Zach and I had our engagement pictures taken at the end of May (the picture at the right is one of my favorites). It was a fun experience. For the most part, Zach kept all of his faces from turning out ugly in pictures (something he is prone to do).....

And now we are three months later and just finishing this post! Well, we'll just leave it at that.

Wow....It's Been Awhile

So, I really haven't kept this up too well, but in my defense I did get a lot of stuff done in the beginning, then I kind of took a month off because I was tired...Planning is a lot of work.

However, there have been some new developments.

-Caterer...is narrowed down to just one...actually, I only contacted just one caterer, because that's just how I roll. I like the menu, it looks delicioso and they have cheesey potatoes, so it really can't go wrong.

-DJ. Zach and I have found our DJ (once again, the first and only one I contacted and looked at). Some may say this is a bad idea, however, I have been pretty lucky with all of the firsts that I've looked at...so, we'll go with it. We also got a SWEET deal because the guy misquoted the price in his email to us, so we got 400 dollars off the original price for four hours...I feel kind of bad, but not really!

-Horse and Carriage...YES we are having one. I contacted the lady last week and she is (hopefully) sending me a contract soon! Super psyched about this...it's such a fairy tale thing and it'll be so much fun (if the weather doesn't get nasty...which is a huge factor, but I'm thinking positively)

-Earrings...it seems so small, but I've been looking everywhere for earrings that will complete my outfit. I have three suitable choices, one pair is borrowed from my grandma and the other two pairs I bought recently. I think the winners are going to be the marcasite hoops with pearl drop, they're very pretty, but I will bring all three in to try on with my dress. I don't want a necklace, but I do want a bracelet, so I'm on the market for that now too.

On a side note, I've been thinking a lot about the something old, new, borrowed and blue. The dress is new, my claddagh ring I will be wearing is old (by only a few years, but I think it counts), I have nothing borrowed unless I use my grandma's earrings, and blue is either my shoes, or I'm thinking I could always wear blue underwear if all else fails. TMI? Sorry, but it's just a thought.

Uh...I think that's about it for now. As always, I am on the never-ending quest for shoes that will go with my dress. I want something with color, either blue or teal (not that those are my colors, I just like them) but if need be I think silver would work just as well. I will probably have three pairs in all...my winter boots, my heels, and a pair of flats for dancing at the reception. I've found some cute heels but of course, they are $150 or more and I just can't drop that kind of cash on shoes, let's be serious.

I think what's next is organzing: flowers, centerpieces, RINGS (I'm in charge of procuring the wedding bands...so we'll see how that goes), tuxes for Zach and the groomsmen, transportation for wedding party (horse and carriage only holds 4), and gifts for wedding party, parents, etc. A lot of it is little stuff, but I'm sure it will all work out fine. But the little stuff does get to me, so we'll see. (But the reason I'm doing all this craziness is because of the wonderful guy above, so I guess it's worth it!)

When a body meets a body, coming through the rye..

Sorry, the title of my post came from what I wrote about in my other blog, which is my literature blog. JD Salinger, the author of The Catcher in the Rye, passed away yesterday at 91, so I mentioned that in my post. That is one of my favorite books (though it's not too hard for me to like you if you're more than 50 pages and filled with thousands of vowels and consonants).

Anyways, the title of the book comes from a poem by Robert Burns called Comin' Thro the Rye. It actually goes like this:

O, Jenny's a' weet, poor body,
Jenny's seldom dry;
She draigl't a' her petticoattie
Comin thro' the rye.

Chorus:
Comin thro the rye, poor body,
Comin thro the rye,
She draigl't a'her petticoatie,
Comin thro the rye!

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro the rye,
Gin a body kiss a body,[r] Need a body cry?

Gin a body meet a body
Comin thro the glen,
Gin a body kiss a body,
Need the warld ken?

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you completely write random things having nothing to do with your actual blog theme!

Onto wedding stuff. Zach and I are now in the process of picking caterers and what not. I'm going to the big DB (David's Bridal) with my sister on Sunday to try on a possible (cross your fingers) bridesmaid dress. I've found others that I like, however, these dresses are expensive! So DB sounded like a good option, plus I love the dress. (link to it here: http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49998974&currentIdx=19&subCategory=-49998976|-49998975|-49998974&catentryId=6142398&sort=)

There are three colors that I'm looking at: Clover, Holly, and Kelly. They are all shades of green, Holly being Christmas Evergreen, Clover is a Dusty Jade, and Kelly is like a Bright Lilypad. So there you go. Lindsey likes Holly, as does Zach (like his opinion matters anyways...haha), however I've asked other people and they like the Clover or the Kelly. I originally wanted more of the Clover (Dusty Jade), but I kind of like the slight brightness in the Kelly. But what they look like on screen could be completely different than what they look like up close and personal. But I like that dress too. I wish I could buy that dress. It has pockets, and that's pretty much just awesome.

Well, that's the next few steps. Bridesmaid dresses and catering. Wedding planning is seemingly endless. Zach really wants to register, but it might be a little too soon (though my books/internet say 7-9 months prior is the usual). I think 10 months is pushing it, however it would be a fun thing to do together. (I'll just have to keep Zach away from the X-Box games, and the Wiis!)

That's all for now. So far, not too crazy. Oh, and I'm trying to get in shape so I can fit in my dress (I fit in it already, but it's a glove, so maybe a 5-10 pound weight-loss will make it pefect). I will blog about that endeavor another day!

Aaaaand we're off!

I don't really know where we're off to, but it sounded like a good title so I went with it. I haven't blogged in awhile...for shame, for shame, but that's me. I'm not very good at keeping up with this type of stuff.

Plus, I have two other blogs to keep up with (yep, TWO). I have to start a new one for a class and it has to be engaging for young adults. I'm getting nervous about having this many blogs. It makes me feel too exposed in the world of cyberspace, but we'll manage.

As for wedding stuff. I do have a few more details to add. Things are really coming together. Zach and I have figured out the officiant business. I originally wanted to go with a neutral person (not anyone from either of our churches) however it was really important to Zach's family that we go with his pastor. So I agreed, she's really nice and I like her. My only qualms with it are the "religiousness" level that it will be. I'm not a religious person, I would say more spiritual, and-full disclosure here-I have an issue with the Christian tradition (or just about any organized religion) because I feel that a lot of organized religions are exclusive rather than inclusive. Now I'm not one of those anti-religion people, I'm not an atheist, and I do know what I'm talking about. I'm not just making assumptions on what I have seen. I've actually studied religion a lot as it was part of my undergraduate studies. I took an entire class devoted to Jesus and I read the New Testament in the language it was originally written in (Greek--very unlike the King James "translation" if it can even be called a translation). I've also taken courses on religion pre and post-Christianity. So I know quite a lot about how it was formed and the belief systems it brought over from paganism. (No, I am not getting all of my info from The DaVinci Code).

Anyways, I digress (it's hereditary if you've ever met my father), so we chose his officiant and like I said my only concerns are with the level of "God, Jesus, Lord" and all that hoopla. I don't want to make it extremely religious specific, and seeing as I acquiesced to his pastor, I feel that a fair compromise would be to limit some of that religiousness. Now, obviously she's a pastor, so she's going to say some stuff, which is fine, but I would like to omit any saying such as "God bless us...." in our vows at the very least. And I would prefer not to have the Lord's Prayer because I would feel like I'm in a church service (Zach and I are still "discussing" this point so...we'll see). I guess I'm trying to say that I've never "felt" right in a church. It's always felt like going through the motions and I've never really been struck by that.

Overall, I want the ceremony to be about US, not God and us, not Jesus and us, but just Zach and I. And though some may see it that "God" brought us together, I see it as Zach and I becoming an entity through our love for each other. We can still be blessed in our marriage, and we can ask that life grants us the blessing of a long life together.

Understandably, Zach could want a very religious wedding, Lord's Prayer and all. And I am aware of that and that is where the whole "compromise" thing comes into place, and so far I think we've done a good job on compromising.

Anywho, I think that's it for now. I know, not too funny, not really much to say, I kind of turned this post into my viewpoints on religion, so yup, there you are for the day!

Dresses, Flowers, and Venues, Oh My!

Can I just say that wedding planning is exhausting. I am wiped from this weekend. Zach and I did a lot of wedding stuff, and then after he left I did even more wedding stuff with my sister and mom. The good thing is that most of what we want is set and available for the day we have chosen (December 11, 2010).

In fact, that is our official date since a deposit has been put down on the reception venue (The Brink Lounge---gorgeous and hip!). I even bought my dress (which is also gorgeous and was on-sale, so BONUS!). It was the second one I tried on and it fit me like a glove. Like it was made for me. And since the store was discontinuing that designer it was the last one I could get and I actually had to buy the sample. But I was fine with that. I just hope their store doesn't burn down over the next year since we're storing it there! Cross your fingers!!

My mom is surprised at my ability of choosing everything I want so quickly (dress shopping only laster 1.5 hours, but I chose my dress in about 15 minutes). My sister says that is just the way I would do it since I've only dated one guy. I believe her phrasing was something like this: "Well look at who she's dating. She pretty much chose one guy and went with him, so do you really think it's going to take her that long to choose the rest of this stuff? Now me, on the other hand, I'll probably choose a bagillion things before I settle on what I want, just how I dated guys." Well said, Linds, well said.

I'm so excited for next year and I can't wait for it! Not only for the wedding but because Zachary and I will be married!!

Since everything big is pretty much settled, it's now on to the littler details, like colors and centerpieces, invitations, etc.. The above is a picture of what I would like my flowers to look like at my wedding, most likely just my bouquet and then a few centerpieces. Funnily enough, I put that together, and I think it looks quite lovely. The roses are slightly too bloomed, but I got them at a cheap grocery story. The baby's breath came with it (and originially I didn't intend to use it, but I think it completes the look) and the evergreen sprigs are from the tree's at my parent's house. All-in-all I thought it was perfect for what we wanted, and hey, I made it in like five minutes. Of course I'd probably have my bouquet professionally made (but I would gladly bring the florist the evergreen branches from our house) but I could do the centerpieces for the head table. For the small table there might be just very tiny versions of this bouquet (which I could also make) or I'm still deciding on other things I could do on those tables. I don't want to have a lot of leftover material from my centerpieces, so anything that is disposable would be great.

The next big thing I have to tackle is the reception food. I should get on that, but I'm still waiting for other things to fall into place. I think Zach and I need to come up with a timeline of how the day will go from the ceremony to the dance.

And now that I have my dress I must find shoes, possibly three pair: One for the ceremony, a pair of cute winter boots for outside and a third pair that will be comfortable for dancing and walking at the reception. I also need to figure out some kind of coat/shawl/cape for outside as well.

I'm really tempted to procure a horse and carriage for a ride down State Street (since the ceremony venue will hopefully be there) and then we can take it up to the capital for pictures!! That would be lovely, and although it sounds extravagant I'm pretty sure a 1/2 hour ride would not be too much!!

Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself with the tiny details when so many big ones are yet to plan!!

Can you tell I'm excited? I've only used about a million exclamation points!!! (1,000,003 now)

Time stands still

I'm pretty sure that December 23rd is the longest day of the year. I feel like every second of today has taken 10x as long as a normal day. I guess I'm just excited to get home for Christmas. I really love the holidays but really I just want a break. Soooo tired.

Wedding planning is tough and tiring, and I haven't been engaged for two weeks, but everything says you should start early. I mean, I have less than a year to plan if I intend on having the wedding on December 11th.

I wasn't truly excited about a winter wedding to begin with. Originially I wanted one in the fall (and I guess that it technically still will be during the fall season) but I never really gave the winter wedding a thought until Zach and I started discussing dates.

Now I'm super excited about having a winter wedding! I really hope there is snow, but it'll probably be one of those things where the snow will be super late, or it will storm. That's one thing I have to figure out how to handle: snow storm! I honestly don't know what we'll do if that's the case. I highly doubt a lot of places would refund any of the money, especially on short notice and what not, so it's an issue that I will have to discuss with Zach and our families. I'll just hope for a large snow fall a week prior to the wedding!

I don't want to make my wedding theme Christmasy at all, I would prefer more of a winter wonderland feel to it. Or just something classy and elegant, but of course on a budget.

I put together a wedding binder today (yes I am at work, but like I said earlier, it's pretty much the slowest day of the year, and since every second lasts 10x longer that means I've actually be at work for 60 hours already, so I'm into imaginary overtime). Well, I made the binder and it's pretty big. Beforehand I would just print things out and put them in a folder, but today I organized them all. By far I would say that the "wedding dress" section has the most print outs. What's funny about it is that although I like certain styles, I've printed all different styles of dresses. I don't want anything too poofy, but I say that and I'll probably fall in love with a ball gown. I want simple, but guaranteed I'll get a fancy looking dress on and will be in love!

Putting the binder together helped me organize my thoughts better as well. I pretty much know where my reception is going to be and possibly the ceremony and even the officiant, so it was nice to just put all the information from each place in one convenient location. It's also nice because then I got to put together a collage of pictures of me and Zach throughout the years and use it as the cover. I guess I'm just happy that I feel like I accomplished something towards my wedding whereas before I was anxious because I couldn't set anything in stone.

So apparently I'm not as interesting as I thought I was, but oh well, sometimes you've got it, sometimes you don't (why am I reminded of a mounds bar right now!).

Well, I guess that's all for today. I probably won't write much until I get back on the 30th, and hopefully by then I will have lots to say!

Weddings are just overpriced parties

Okay, so first of all, that is what I want my wedding dress to look like. It is gorgeous and simple and very me, I think...but onto the topic of today's issue: The Scam they call a Wedding.


Weddings are effing expensive, and by effing I mean RIDICULOUSLY OUTRAGEOUSLY PERPOSTEROUSLY EXORBITANTLY expensive. For example, on a lot of wedding venue sites they have links for "weddings" and then also a link for "special events". In a lot of them "special events" are not as expensive as weddings. It's like you just mention the "w" word and the price goes up two-fold on every item. Bah-humbug to you wedding fairy!


There are also a lot of rules and fees that some venues require you to follow. The one I'm having the hardest time with is the "proof of licensed baker" one that a lot of high end and even mid-end reception venues require. Hello----I can bake, know how to bake, and love to bake, and above all want to bake my own wedding cake (with the help of my beloved mother!!). Now I don't want to do this to just save money, but because I want to have a delicious tasting cake as well.

Okay, so maybe part of it is to save money, but hey, why would I want to pay upwards of 400-500 dollars on a cake when I truly believe my mother and I could make just as nice of one (that would taste even better). Right now I really want to make this carrot and pineapple cake with cream cheese and macadamia nut frosting! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! It's more summery, but with the frosting I feel like it would look like a giant snow mountain. I don't want any fancy decorations on my cake, maybe just some nicely arranged flowers. I probably won't even have a cake topper. I want it to be simple. It's not about how it looks anyways, it's about the taste (at least for me!).

So yeah, to you "proof of licensed baker" venues out there I call shenanigans. You are just trying to canoodle and bamboozle all us doe-eyed brides out there into spending more money, either with the venue itself, or with some "licensed" baker you're in cahoots with. So I call your bluff. If no place will allow me to make and bring in my own cake, then I guess I won't have one (or I won't use your venue).

Also, do not try to pull the wool over my eyes with the $1 dollar cake cutting fee even if I have cupcakes. CUPCAKES!! They will charge me a cake cutting fee for CUPCAKES!! Now I don't know if you know what cupcakes are (har har har), but they are these nice, individual servings of cake. Conveniently cooked in a nice little lining, frosted and set out for your guests to grab at their leisure, no waiting for a cake to be cut. They are like your own cakes, but in a cup. And last time I checked, a serving size of a cupcake is 1. Not two, not three, but ONE. Meaning that no cutting is required in order for your guests to enjoy their own mini cake. No plate is required either as it comes in it's own packaging. Just fold over edges into a nice ball when done and throw in nearest garbage receptacle. Voila! It practically takes care of itself.

As you can see, I'm still trying to get over the shock of that one...

Anywho, I do have some ideas for my wedding that are pretty set in stone, and here are the details so far:

Ideally I would like my wedding to be held on Saturday, December 11, 2010 (exactly one year from when Zachary proposed). We're still discussing where the ceremony will be held and who will be officiating it (my lack of presence in the Catholic church--or any church, for that matter--has led us to investigate his, which is the United Methodist church). Our reception will most likely be held at this place called The Brink Lounge in Madison (going to check it out over Jesusmas break to see if it is the truly wonderful place that it looks like in pictures--take that Orpheum and your $1 cup-cake cutting fee (author's note: I do not intend to have cupcakes at my wedding, none-the-less, I still think it's outrageous and will be perturbed about it in spite of my desire to have a cake that will need cutting; it's the principle of the matter). I think I have a photographer figured out (she seems super cool). I pretty much know who my bridesmaids are (no flower girls or ring-bearers--I wanted my dog Chico to do that, but we will not be getting married outside in the middle of winter). I'm pretty sure my colors are going to be a sage-y green, silver and white...it's changed probably 3 or 4 times since I got engaged about 1.5 weeks ago!

I think Zach has his groomsmen chosen...I'm still deciding on who my attendant is going to be...Lucky for us that we both have siblings of our same gender (I have a sister, he has a brother) so maid-of-honor and best man are pretty much a given. Although, I'm sure Zach hasn't even asked his brother to be in his wedding; I will probably gently shove this process along at Christmas Eve with his family.

Before we were even engaged Zach would talk about how he wanted to have a say in the wedding decisions...and I of course said "okay" even though I secretly wanted to do a lot of it myself (I'm a control freak). Now we are both eating our words. After he chose what will most likely be our reception venue, he has decided that there are too many details and things to keep track of, so he's kind of sneakily bowed out of it. I, on the other hand, wish that he cared as much about the details as I do, because it's overwhelming to do this on your own.

Mostly it's been frustrating because it's hard to plan a wedding when you live 250 miles from where it will be held. I just want to know that my date and my venues are set, then I will let the details fall into place.

Sheesh, I'm exhausted just typing all of this.