Yeah, I know. It’s been like, forever since I updated this blog! OK, a little under a month. That’s not THAT bad! A lot has been accomplished and yet every time I say that, I feel like there are a million and one more things to do.
Any other bride or groom ever get the feeling that you want time to hurry up already so you can just be married to that special someone…but at the same exact time you wish you had all the time in the world?! Lately, as the date gets closer, I feel myself being pulled in these two directions almost constantly. Hurry UP already….let’s get it done! No no no…slow DOWN…I’ve got so much to do!! aaaaaaaahhhhh!
*deep breath, Jenny*
I need to remind myself that this moment in time–this being engaged, the excitement and anticipation leading up to the wedding–this moment is fleeting and I need to appreciate every minute. And I do, don’t get me wrong. I am loving just looking forward to the wedding. At the same time, I just can’t wait for it to BE here already! :)
As for the to-do items that have been checked off the list:
INVITATIONS! CHECK! This I am more excited about these than I’d thought I would be. I went to pick them up the morning of the Presidential Inauguration and was blown away. They are EXACTLY how I pictured them, but better! SO gorgeous, so US and 100% recycled & tree-free paper goodness! GUESTS: don’t forget–the seed paper (the blue part–you’ll see) is plantable! Yes, you absolutely CAN plant it and it WILL grow wildflowers!
CATERER! CHECK! Finally. We are still using Bloomingfoods Co-Op to cater our organic, locally-grown, vegetarian meal, but we had to shift gears. The guy we were working with TOTALLY flaked on us. Just NEVER got back to us after 4 whole months no matter how many times I tried to contact him. So we met with the wonderful, super helpful (and super apologetic) Kai Bookwalter at the East side store. Ohhhh how we love Kai. She is on top of things, full of yummy suggestions and actually gets back to us (of course it doesn’t hurt that she shares the name of my beloved future stepson!). We have a menu, a quote and are now 100% all set until we get a headcount in April.
FLOWERS! CHECK! Linda Chapman over at Harvest Moon contacted me herself to check in to see if I was still interested in working with them for our wedding. I love when vendors do this. I try to always “check in” with potential and current clients myself. I, of course, responded with a resounding “YES!”. We are to meet in April.
HAIR APPTS! CHECK! I contacted Les Champs Elysees Salon to set up the day-of hair appts as well as my hair trial.
SHOES! CHECK! While my regular under-the-dress shoes have been chosen and purchased for quite a while now, I decided to invest in some SUPER cute wellies (rain boots for those who don’t follow the lingo!) to wear just in case it rains (it IS May!). Now I’m kinda looking forward to the possibility of rain!
And now, the big one……HONEYMOON! CHECK! Oh yeah. Adrian is the BEST. We are now all booked for a 2-week trip to Europe!!! Where exactly? How about Dublin, Barcelona, Nice, Florence & Rome? How about that, hmmm? I say, AWESOMEEEEEE!!!!!!! Can you tell I’m excited? Now I don’t know what I’m looking forward to more, the wedding or the honeymoon!
I know there’s more, there’s got to be, but I can’t think of anything else right now. I’ve got Bride Brain (overloaded, overexcited, and overtired).
I’ll get back to you as I think of things 
Jenny the Bride
Now that the Holidays are over and 2009 has begun we can begin to focus once again on our wedding.
Of course it doesn’t help the nerves that now that it is 2009, everything is going in super fast-forward. Or so it seems. Does it feel that way to anyone else? Before the Holidays, I always felt there was a cushion there, a safety net. Tthen they came and went. And now it’s T-minus 4 months and counting and I’m growing a tad overwhelmed and panicky, albeit below the surface. Just below it.
*deep breath*
Things ARE getting done.
Remember how I’d said once our guests have received the Save-the-Dates that YOU’D get to see them? Well here they are:
Ta-da! Save-the-Date magnets from www.vistaprint.com. $1 each. Oh yeah.
You see how it says “invitation to follow” on the bottom there? Well that brings me to my next item of discussion: Invitations!
Adrian and I decided on the style, colors, fonts, and words for our invitations from Twisted Limb Paperworks last week and sent everything in. We should be getting to see the first draft today or tomorrow. I, for one, am SO EXCITED! Seeing our names, our words, our date & location all spelled out on an invitation makes it REALLY real! It’s concrete once it’s on an invitation. No going back! And that makes me happy.
Of course for pictures of these, you’re really going to have to wait. We won’t be sending them out until mid-March.
Next on the list:
- Decide upon a place to hold our Rehearsal Dinner. So far we’ve got FARM, Finch’s Brasserie, and DeAngelo’s in the running. We’re leaning toward DeAngelo’s.
- Meet with Jon C. to go over ceremony stuff.
- Start writing our vows!
- Plan a little something special for our out-of-town guests.
- Actually HEAR BACK FROM OUR CATERER! and book all that.
I suppose it’s all moving right along and I need to take more deep breaths. More to come as updates continue!
Thanks for reading!
Jenny the Bride
Filed under: Caterer, DJ, officiant, planning, reception, the dress | Tags: bloomingfoods, Caterer, dance machine, djs, etsy dress, officiant, tom marshalek, wedding
First off:
THE DRESS IS DONE!!!! eeeeeeeee!!!!!!
Ok now that I’ve got that out of my system I can move on.
NO wait. Seriously. MY wedding gown. My custom-made wedding gown. is finished. and it’s beautiful. and by next week, I should be able to put it on! It’ll be moments like that that I’m glad Adrian’s at work all day and I’m at home alone so I can prance around in it and edit pictures in it…
Second update:
We met with our first choice for a caterer (Bloomingfoods Co-op) and decided on a DJ (Tom Marshalek with The Dance Machine).
Adrian and I both knew going into this that we wanted a fun party for our closest friends and families. What better way than with good food and good music?! To be honest, Adrian wasn’t all gung-ho about the DJ thing like I was. He still isn’t. But in my line of work, I’ve seen a TON of DJs. I totally get why he’s a little scared. I’ve seen the cheese in person. I’ve seen the DJs that don’t know when to be quiet, or the ones that don’t realize this isn’t a show all about them, or the ones that totally didn’t listen to the bride & groom’s requests and just played whatever they want. I’ve even seen the DJs that will stop a song that’s rocking out before it’s over leaving dead silence hanging in the air while the crowd that was just having a good time groans in disappointment.
But our guy is not these guys. I’ve seen some great ones too in my line of work, don’t get me wrong. But Tom is the absolute best choice for us. He and I have worked together at two wedding receptions in the past couple of years. Only two, and at these two he impressed me exponentially. We even got to talk quite a bit at the most recent one only this past month. He’s a lot like us. Heck, we even found out recently that he’s our neighbor! He lives like one street over. How small a world is it?! Anyway, he gets it. And he truly loves what he does and I feel that really makes a difference. When vendors “do weddings” just to make money, or in their “off season”, you can tell. When they do it because they love it, it shows. Tom is excellent, end of story. Adrian still may be a little hesitant, but he won’t regret it. I appreciate so much his trust in me in this. And for the record, this is the only aspect of our wedding planning so far on which we haven’t seen eye-to-eye. I mean, iPod weddings may work for some, but for a rockin’ party, you need someone whose sole purpose is to crank out some excellent music!
As for Bloomingfoods, we both agreed on this from the beginning. After meeting with the super-friendly and totally laid-back (like us) Alan Simmerman from the near west side store, we felt even more sure about our decision. We’re still awaiting a price estimate which will help us make our final choice, but we’re pretty set on them. All organic, vegetarian, and super ridiculously delicious food. How can you go wrong?
In other planning news, we’ve also discussed the whole officiant thing. I mean, technically, the officiant is the most important (read: necessary) vendor. And when we think about it, it feels very strange to us to have anyone marry us that doesn’t already know us well. So we’re heading very seriously down the track of having a friend who gets ordained online marry us. We discussed possible friends of ours over lunch one day and came up with a couple of names. We’ve since narrowed it down to one that we think is the best for the job. Next step: Asking said friend. And no, we’re not giving away the name until he/she is asked! :) Nice try, though.
So yeah, I think that about covers it on the wedding planning front. More as things progress!
Jenny the Bride
