Maybe....Just Maybe?????

Ok, well I sort of feel like we are making SOME progress. We have narrowed the wedding coordinators down to 2 (from 3 so it's not THAT great) but it's something. Now I am torn between the planner I really, really want and the planner I know we can afford. It's such a tough decision and I know it's an important one. Maybe one of the most important ones for the whole wedding. I think they would both do a great job but one (to me) just seems to have more experience and is more "in touch" with what we want. I don't want to feel pushed towards certain things just because it's convenient. We also have a great option for a church. It's pretty and I think it would work for the wedding. We are trying to stick to a pretty small budget and I know we can do it, Mr. Stilts is definitely a "budget man" as his Mom calls him. I do not see a problem with this at all but I know that there are certain things that I think we should spend more on and I am not sure if he will be ok with this. He made a good point that if we kept the wedding local, we could save money on the overall venues and splurge more on the details. Which sounds great except ever since I can remember, I have wanted to get married in Nashville. But if we can find something local that we love, I am all for it. We need to be smart about decisions and make the best ones for us. So if that means that we get married locally, that's ok as long as we can find places that suit the both of us and that both of us are happy with. My only concern right now is the reception venue. The area of town in which we are thinking of having the wedding (Lebanon, TN) does not have that many options. I am hoping that we will find that diamond in the rough and we will both be thrilled with it. I know I would love a place that has a view or at least some windows and the one place that might work for us, doesn't have either. Also, the main preferred catering vendor at this place is not the best. I have eaten their food before and it's ok, but there is absolutely nothing special about it. We have decided that instead of a buffet or sit down dinner, we are going to do stations scattered throughout the room. This way there aren't 100 people standing in line waiting to get food with a buffet and we are saving money by not doing a sit down. I think this would be a great way to cut costs and have it be something a little different. So, moving along hopefully we will have a contract signed with a wedding coordinator really soon and then I can breathe a small sigh of relief that ONE thing is done! Then on to the VENUES!! Oh yeah, one more thing not wedding related. I feel so fortunate to be able to witness the first black president being sworn into office today. It is such a historical day and I look forward to the future.

Trying to get things moving...

So we have been trying to find a church to get married in and it's a LOT harder than I thought it would be. There aren't a lot of churches that hold as many people as we would like and the ones that do have a TON of restrictions. I understand them though seeing that we are coming in as an outsider and a non-member. Still though, we have a couple of churches in mind and I am hoping to be able to go and check them out in person soon. It makes it harder since I work full time but I have a wonderful Mother and future Mother-in-law who have the time to possibly go look at places while I am at work. Just to get an idea and then if they think we will like it, then we can make arrangements to do so. That way maybe we can weed out some of the absolutely nots. My Mom and I have started meeting with some wedding coordinators to possibly hire to help out. We have met with one so far and really liked her but we have two more to meet with this week so we will see how they go. I am hoping that Mr. Stilts and his Mom can come along for these meetings as well. I want them as involved as they want to be. It is not just my day, it's Mr. Stilts and I's day as well as a day for our parents. I am hoping the wedding coordinator we choose will be able to help with ideas for certain things and give advice as needed as well as direct the wedding weekend. I really want us and our family to be able to enjoy our wedding and not be bothered with little details or issues that might come up. I am having a BLAST so far in planning this wedding, even though, we haven't really done anything yet. So far all we really have is a tentative date, depending on the availabiliy of the church and reception venue. I am getting a little anxious even though I know we have plenty of time but I would really like to at least get ONE thing actually planned and set in stone. Hopefully with the next post I will!!

2009 is finally here!! Now I can say that we're getting married next year!! haha!

It does seem like 2008 went by SO fast but I am so excited about what is to come this year. I have so much to be thankful for and I feel very blessed. This year has been very good, better than last year I feel. I have a wonderful fiance (with an equally wonderful family), an incredible family, awesome friends. I am just so excited about what is to come this year. We have a lot of planning ahead for us and I am excited about all that we will come up with. I have heard Mr .Stilts say though that he is "just above the caterer" which I think is crap. I want him to be involved in anything and everything that he wants to be. I think we have almost 100% decided on March 20, 2010 as our wedding date. I know it seems far but I think it will give us every opportunity to have exactly what we want (well within our budget, that is) That is another thing we are working on right now, figuring out the budget we have to work with and the guest list. I think once we have those two things done, we should be in good shape. I have been reaching out to a couple of local wedding planners just in case I decide that we will need one. I know that my Mom and Mr. Stilts Mom will help (they have told me this) but I also want them to be able to enjoy this time too and not be totally stressed out. I do not want a wedding planner to do everything though, I think it will be a lot of fun for all of us to get together and plan this day. The wedding planner is just an option at this point and we are just checking them all out. I think my Mom and I are going to go meet with one possible option next week. We will see. I am getting really excited thinking about all the spring colors and what we might decide to use. I love the greens, yellows, purples and all those colors. I haven't been able to narrow down to a couple yet. I keep thinking about all these things that I have not thought of before and it's crazy all that goes into planning a wedding!! Nuts!! But it's going to be totally worth it in the end and I am totally pumped about all that is to come. Even the super stressful parts! HA!