Inching Forward...

So tonight I have an appointment with a potential wedding florist (YAY!) but this is simply preliminary. I told Mr. Stilts that he could go or not go. It doesn't really matter. He is absolutely invited if he wants to go but if he doesn't- not a big deal. There isn't going to be anything signed or anything final done today. I really just want to get some ideas flowing on what we want for the church and the reception along with the wedding party flowers. I have some ideas in my head but I have no idea if they are even feasible. I am totally a flower-idiot. I really don't know much about them so I am pretty much going to learn as much as I can and hopefully get some ballpark figures on how much they are going to cost us. That is a REALLY big concern of mine. I know we are going to need a lot of flowers because 1) we have a large wedding party 2)we have over 150 at this time on the guest list and 3) we have two different locations for the ceremony and rehearsal. Wes and I both have 7 attendants. Plus, all the flowers for me and him along with our parent's and then the decorations for the church and reception. Whew- my head is spinning already.

Anyway, so we are meeting with someone tonight that our wedding planner recommended. Her website was beautiful and I am hoping that we are able to find out some great information that might put both Mr. Stilts and I at ease. I have also been working on negotiations with a bagpipe player and organist. We have an organist at the church but this particular one plays with the bagpiper a lot so I almost feel it would be better to have both of them rather than the bagpiper and the church organist. No diss on the church organist though, she was great and super sweet. It's all going to come down to cost and what we can fit into our budget. We both really love the idea of the bagpipes playing me down the aisle. It makes me a little misty-eyed just thinking about it. So I hope it works out. I am trying to do the negotiations myself (with the help of my awesome, experienced deal-makin' sister) so that I can go to Mr. Stilts and hopefully make him proud of my accomplishments. I want him to know that I am really working hard to make this work for our budget. I think brides get a bum rap from certain t.v. shows (I'm talking to YOU, Bridezillas) and people just think all we do is try and sneak a $100,000 wedding. You have these woman screaming and crying because their "man" didn't pick their nose the way they wanted them to. So it's totally annoying and it's because of people like that all "brides-to-be" get categorized as completely unrealistic and crazy. Perfect example: "The Bride Contract". You can google it and find tons of variations of it but all are just hilarious and genius. I have included it below for your amusement:

*Bridesmaid’s Contract*

Hello my beautiful bridesmaids! Let me just say again how happy I am that you are going to be a part of my special day! Below are just a few guidelines for the wedding that I’d like you to review, please initial by each point, sign at the end and send back to me. Just want to make sure they’re aren’t any surprises! The planning bride is a happy bride!
Thanks a bunch! Love ya!

______ My hair will remain at the length it is now or longer.

______ I will not change my hair color without first consulting Katie and providing a sample photo or hair swatch for consideration.

______ I will use Sally Hansen’s “Maximum Growth-Daily Nail Growth program” every day for the 4 months before the wedding day.

______ I will not gain more than 4lbs from the weight I was when I was asked to be a bridesmaid.

______ I swear to attend all showers, (lingerie, bridal & bachelorette) to arrive in a timely manner and do everything in my power to support and “be there” for the bride.

______ I will purchase the David’s Bridal style # 81123 dress below in Latte/Champagne within 3 weeks of today.

______ I will NOT knowingly get pregnant without notifying Katie at least 4 months prior to the wedding so a suitable alternate can be found. I will also give my purchased bridesmaid dress to said alternate.

I do hereby swear that I will adhere to all of the above & other understood bridesmaid duties for the wedding on September 21, 2007
X_________________________
(sign, print and date)

And..........You're welcome.

Don't get me wrong, I know we are still 10 months out but I cannot imagine myself getting to THAT point. Granted, there are some things that if we had a bigger budget I would love to have but none of them are things that that we absolutely HAVE to have. I am not one of those people that just insists on having gold and diamonds dripping from everything. Well, first of all EWW and second, it's totally not necessary. What is necessary is for us to be surrounded by those closest to us. In conclusion, I think what we both want is something that is elegant, fun and most importantly- US.

The rut of all ruts......

So I am sitting here at my desk (at work....I know, I know..blogging at work is bad..blah blah blah...) but I sitting here thinking about how we have accomplished a lot for the wedding all at once and then BLAM-O....nothing. Well, I take that back somewhat, I did pick out the bridesmaid dresses this week. SO I guess that's a pretty big accomplishment AND my Mom found the most beautiful dress to wear to the wedding too. So big woo-hoo for her too (YAY MOM!). The bridesmaid dresses are really pretty and I like them a lot. Plus, they ended up being very reasonably priced which is a huge plus. The dresses I had originally picked out were about $300 and I would never ask someone to buy a dress they will more than likely only wear once (seriously, I don't care how many times you say "oh you could TOTALLY wear that again". News flash- YOU WON'T) I have worn the dress I wore in my sister's wedding more than once but still. There's a pretty small percentage of dresses that do actually get worn again, most go into the back of closet only to be seen again during "clean out your closet day" or when you move. Regardless, sorry for getting sidetracked, the dresses I picked out this time are really pretty and the fact that they are not too expensive, is great too. Here is a picture of the bridesmaid dresses (note: this lady is NOT one of my bridesmaids, she doesn't look like the cool chicks I associate with) The colors are going to be royal blue and ocean. I wanted my sister, Linnea, to stand out more than the others because she is my Matron of Honor so I am making her dress royal blue with the sash/tie thingy in ocean and all the other bridesmaids will be ocean with a royal blue sash/tie- thingy. That way they are all tied in together but she will stand out a little more. I am really happy with the decision of doing the different color for Linnea but not having hers be completely different. I was struggling with trying to come up with a way to do that.

As for my Mom, her dress is this one: and this is the actual color it is as well. I really, REALLY liked this dress on my Mom. It made her look fabulous (even though she does all the time anyway, it's just cool to see your Mom so dressed up!) In fact, she looks so great in it that I am going to post the actual picture of HER in it. (Sorry Mom if you didn't want to be featured in my blog........you're just too dang cute not to!) There she is! Mom's blogging via picture debut!!! I L-O-V-E this dress and I can't wait for all the bridesmaid's to get theirs in too. I couldn't see the actual dress in the right colors because the store didn't' have one so I am really excited for the day they come in (which will be like December, so I have a little while to wait)

Other than these decisions, I have done nothing else. I am really ready to start working on finding a florist but I just haven't gotten around to making any appointments. I have contacted one florist (or excuse me- FLORAL DESIGNER) but haven't really set up a meeting or anything. I have that one and two others I would like to talk with and possibly meet, we'll just have to see. Then the chauffeur guy I liked Mr. Stilts was supposed to call and talk to about his prices again but hasn't gotten around to it yet. That I'm not as worried about but it would be really awesome to be able to work out something with this guy because we both love his car so much. Then I have started talk with a guy that plays the bagpipes (I know, right?? AWESOME!) Mr. Stilts and I went to a friend's wedding in October and the bride was walked in by a bag pipe player and we both LOVED it so it's definitely something we want for our wedding. We are possibly going to have him play at our announcement during the reception as well. Super cool. I am really hoping we can work something out soon, I would like to know it's been set up and ready to go. So this rut is not a huge rut but still a rut indeed. I feel like we were getting so much done and then stopped so now I feel like we aren't doing ANYTHING. I know we still have a lot of time left until March 20, 2010 but I want to be able to get as much squared away as early as possible so we can (sort-of) sit back, relax and enjoy the engagment without being "as" stressed". I put the word "stressed" in " " because I know weddings are never really stress free --especially if you're me. Also, on a side note- I am still working out 6 days a week and really watching what I eat. HIGH FIVE TO ME! I have exactly 3 weeks until my re-measure for my dress so I am determined...A wedding dress is the ultimate motivation, believe me! :-)

One more thing-

My birthday is in 4 days...... yay.........  Never in my life has my birthday snuck up on me like this.  Planning a wedding sure does preoccupy your mind. Well and I am going to be 28 so THAT'S not super exciting in itself.  :-)

We're BACK!!!

Ok, so the D.C. trip was AWESOME. We had such a good time and did absolutely nothing in relation to the wedding. It was so nice to get to see my sister and my brother-in-law and for Mr. Stilts to get to experience D.C. I think he had a really good time too. I can't wait to go back because the trip felt like it went by SO FAST! Now, we're back and I have not really done anything wedding-ish. Well, I take that back, I have called a potential chauffeur for us to go from the church to the reception and from the reception to the hotel. That is not set in stone yet either. Mr. Stilts, AKA "The Deal Maker" is going to call him and see what he can work out. I know I said before that I have gotten better with my "wheeling and dealing" skills but I am still no way as good as he is. It's something he does on a daily basis at work and well, I am just not that good. I'm leaps and bounds better than I was but still. I am hoping he can work out something because I really liked the guy and his car is A-W-E-S-O-M-E. Also, I have started looking around for florists. GEEZ- THIS IS HARD. First of all, I had zero clue there were this many florists in Nashville and second, that there were so many that weren't that great. We had one in mind from the beginning because her shop is right down the street from our house but I asked our planner about her and she told me that for one, she spray paints flowers.... ok stop...... ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? and then another planner she knew used her and she FORGOT about the wedding. Ok again........ ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!

How do you "forget" about a wedding? Who knows, but she is out. So I am looking into the referrals that our planner gave me and also trying to find some other options as well. I know flowers are really expensive and I know that we are going to need A LOT because we have a big wedding party and quite a few guests. So whereas I know that they are going to be really expensive and have told Mr. Stilts this- I don't think he is even remotely prepared for what it's going to cost and that makes me nervous. He has been really reluctant when it comes to stuff like this which is good because we don't want to "blow it up" for our wedding. It's not necessary and we can still have a beautiful wedding without breaking the bank. BUT there are certain things that you have to have and really can't go super cheap on. Like flowers. But I know that there are ways in which we can save money but still be happy. We just have to find the right florist that can help us do that. I'm just afraid that it's going to be a painful process. I know it will "all work out in the end...blah blah blah...".

Other that the florist we are doing pretty well. My super creative, incredibly awesome sister is doing the invitations for us and if they are anything like the ones she did for her wedding, they are going to be incredible. She rocks so much for doing this for us. I can't even talk about it. So we will have to brainstorm on the design and stuff like that along with save the dates and all that mess. Since we are doing a plated dinner, I will have to do a seating chart and table numbers, all that jazz which I am not really looking forward to but it will get done. First, and this needs to be done soon- we need to finalize the guest list. At least to the point where we can sort of know how many people. We can always add some back later if things (the economy) gets better.

As far as my goal to look as incredible as possible in my wedding dress goes- I have been doing well with working out and watching what I eat. I did have a little set back about a week ago. I was doing SO well with working out and then I hurt my back/neck. Not sure how I hurt it but I did so I went to see an orthopedic and was told that I needed an MRI and that I couldn't work out until I got it. I was told that until I knew everything was ok, I shouldn't risk hurting it worse. Which that was horrible news because #1, I was doing SO well and getting into a great workout rhythm and #2, I found out from my insurance that I would have to pay $1,000 for the MRI since I hadn't met any of my $1,000 deductible yet. SO, for anyone who has ever in their life planned a wedding, you know that a thousand dollars is a HUGE number that you have been saving for the wedding and it would really suck to have to use it for something else. But it's something we have to do if we have to do it. I got a second opinion and was told that it could wait another 6 weeks and I could try some other, less expensive treatments and see if it gets better. So keep your fingers and toes crossed that it does!!

I am so determined to loss some weight but overall tone up for the wedding and for my overall health. I just got an email from the bridal shop where I bought my dress (Shout out to Faccio..they ROCK!!) and my re-measure is for my dress is going to be the first week of June. SO I have around 5 weeks to rock it out and hopefully go down a size or two. I really want to look as fantastic as possible on our wedding day. I have to stick with it. WILL POWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, this was a long post.....didn't realize I had that much to say.. :-)