July Wedding Thead

[JenZen]

Well, I thought I'd resurrect this for one more month. If no one else joins in, I'll just post some pictures after the wedding.

Anyway, my planning is in full swing. I bought my dress for $99, and I'm very happy with it. I can't wait to get it back from the seamstress. The date and reception site are set. My wedding is officially Oct. 4 in my parents' yard. The reception will be at a county park lodge about 10 miles away. The lodge is pretty rustic, which is what I wanted. We've hired a caterer, but I haven't set the menu yet. Let's see, I also registered, which was a lot of fun, bought my shoes and shawl and went wedding band shopping. Wow. The biggest problem so far is getting someone to officiate. DF and I have to meet with my pastor before he decides if he'll marry us. I'm extremely nervous about this.

My goals for this next week are to start figuring out the wedding invitations, get a final guest list and figure out music.

If I take this one step at a time, it will be just fine. :)


So, what are you other bride-to-bes up to?

Jennifer

[oskie]

Not a bride-to-be (well, I guess I should say not in the immediate future anyway :D), but just wanted to chime in that I hope this thread sticks around! I love reading about this stuff!

[gertdog]

Jen, as a former bride-to-be who is now approaching a first anniversary, I just wanted to say it sounds like you've accomplished a lot! How lovely to be able to have the ceremony at your parents' home. Don't worry too much about meeting with the pastor. I was nervous too and there wasn't really any reason to be. :)

Stephanie

[syzygy]

Jen,

It's been a long time since I was a bride-to-be (just recently celebrated my 34th anniversary!) but I had to chime in here, too. My wedding (and reception) took place in my parents' "yard" (very large -- about an acre -- with blossoming fruit trees here and there) -- it was really lovely, and the weather cooperated, too, a gorgeous, sunny day but not overly hot. It was perfect. And all our friends remember our wedding because it was not the cookie cutter affair like all the others. Although we were married in June, I have a special feeling for October 4th -- that's my birthday :D --and it's a great time of year, too, so I know your wedding day will be wonderful!!!!!

Have a fun time planning -- the time will fly by! -- and congratulations and best wishes on your happy day. :) :) :)

[JenZen]

Gertdog, Thanks for the reassurance about speaking to my pastor. I am so nervous because I just don't want to feel intimidated or have DF feel pressured.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm having a lot of fun with the decorations. I ordered some cool rustic hearts from sundancecatalog.com, and we're using white lights in the lodge, lots of pumpkins, etc. I also convinced my mom of my pie idea. My grandma thinks I should have cake, but pie is so much more autumnal. :)

I also got a ton of candles from SIL-to-be. She works for Joanne's Fabric, so she gets a things on super-sale.

[stefania4]

Wow, it sounds like things are rolling along! Have you looked at invitations? I've seen some gorgeous fall designs.

DH and I were married privately in May and our reception is next weekend. I think we're ready; we finalized the menu, we have the $ for it, I've learned how to make corsages and bouttonnieres (sp?), and the cake (red velvet) will be yummy. If only people understood what RSVP means... we've had to track down some 14 couples to see whether or not they were going to come.

And while I sincerely appreciate the offer of help, DH's step-mother offering their guest room ONE WEEK before the reception doesn't really help much! Everyone made their hotel reservations weeks ago.

[jjsooner73]

I hope this thread keeps going as well. I'm not planning a wedding, but think that will be in the cards sometime next year. :) I've already almost decided I just want to go away somewhere private, but then I start to wonder if that's what I really want, or do I just see that as the less stressful way to go? It took me 3 years to get my kitchen painted (deciding colors and all that. Oh, and removing wallpaper). If I try to plan a wedding, I could still be engaged by the time I'm 40 (I'm 29 now). Stuff like that stresses me out.

So, keep these threads going. Maybe they'll provide me some inspiration for when my time comes. :D

[jjsooner73]

and I forgot to say--Jen, your wedding sounds like it's going to be lovely! Can't wait to see pictures. I think the Fall is a beautiful time to have a wedding.

[stefania4]

Originally posted by jjsooner73
I've already almost decided I just want to go away somewhere private, but then I start to wonder if that's what I really want, or do I just see that as the less stressful way to go?It worked out beautifully for us! The two of us and our dogs went to the beach. It's definitely economical - dress, $250; flowers, $60; gift for the minister, $100; photographer, $200. On our wedding day I got a few last-minute things at Target that morning, played with the dogs on the beach, and worked out at the gym. We had a lovely Methodist ceremony (our minister drove out to SC), and took ourselves to a great restaurant for dinner.

People kept telling me I'd regret not havinga big wedding. It's been two months so far, and we're still quite pleased with our decision.

[Chefzhat]

Am I the only one that wishes I could go to all these lovely weddings that are being planned?? I hope you all post pictures.

Stephanie - my wedding was much like yours, very small and my boss (the mayor of the city) married us. It's been 13 years and I still don't regret it. For me the service was perfect.

Debie

[carrieateadingo]

My wedding is in less than a month now (August 9). We're mostly done- we finished picking out ceremony and reception music last night. I called the hotel where the reception is being held yesterday and they had screwed up all of our arrangements- had the wrong number of people, wrong color for tablecloths, didn't have down that we were renting a dance floor, pretty much everything I had told them. I talked to the special events manager and he straightened everything out and comped our room for our wedding night, so yay! It worked out well. We are having our bridesmaids' dresses made and they should be done any day now. Things are coming together!

[DanaSD]

We're planning a private wedding in Kauai this November and I am so tired of everyone's negetive reactions (friends, coworkers, people I don't who notice that I'm wearing an engagement ring) when I say its just the 2 of us. I want our wedding to be fun and special. We both work very busy and stressful jobs so we don't have the time to have planning take over our lives for a year. Both of our parents our divorced (our dad's cheated on our moms and only the dads are remarried) and our mom's don't want to be in the same room as our fathers - so why would that be fun? We don't have a close family and we're not religious so for us we feel this is the best way to get married. (just needed to vent - why can't people just me happy for my decision)

So far we have plane tickets, hotel and car reservations and DF's ring. I need to pick out my ring and dress and reserve a wedding date (but we're flexible as to date and time so it should be fine). For flowers and cake we're planning on jut stopping by a local florist and bakery when we get there (we're flexible based on what they have). I'm looking forward to 10 in Kauai - its been a long time since I've had a long vacation.

[JanetJ]

Let's see....we set the date for March 13, 2004 in Las Vegas. We will be getting married at the Monte Carlo and having the reception in a private room of the Italian restaurant located there. I've gotten the menu set, invitations/save the dates/thank you cards have been ordered and just arrived, honeymoon booked (Cambria and Santa Barbara) and I ordered my dress today (see other thread). We also will be having a traditional Indian/Muslim reception with DF's family right after the honeymoon. Next goal is to start gathering addresses to be able to send out save-the-date cards in September.

Though we are having a "destination" wedding (I'm loving all this new wedding lingo I'm learning), we are invited a fairly big amount of people (Viva Las Vegas!). I'm feeling you on the missing RSVP's, Stephanie, because I already know that's going to be a big headache for me. I'm also really glad to hear you have not regretted your decision to go away to get married. I keep hearing that I will, but it just seems more like "us" to do it this way.

Carrie...I can't imagine being less than a month away! Wow.

Dana, I had a friend get married in Kauai last year. The pictures looked amazing!

Jen, thanks for starting this thread! Your wedding plans sound wonderful.

[1MegMeg]

Brian and I are getting married June 5th, 2004. Our ceremony will be at the Lutheran Church we attend and the reception is at the Belleview Biltmore resort. I have designed my save-the-dates, but I still need to purchase more envelopes for them, print them, and all that fun stuff. We have the invitiations picked out, but will wait until November to order them. We are meeting with a photographer on Thursday and as long as we work looks as good in person as it does online we will be using her. We still need to get musicians for the ceremony, a videographer, and a DJ for the reception.

For the BM dresses, I am letting them pick their own dresses, within my parameters. This is what I told them: it must be from After Six (the maker), floor length, and Navy blue. It's easier for me because it's one less decision I have to make, and it's better for them because they can pick something they are comfortable in. I decided on navy blue dresses because I thought it would be a neutral palette for the flowers. I want the flowers to be bright pinks, purples, blues, etc. But I didn't want to stick everyone in a hot pink of fushia dress. :)

The centerpieces are going to be potted orchids. I grow orchids for a hobby so I definitely want to incorporate them into the wedding. My bouquet will probably have orchids in it, but not everyone else's....get's too pricey.

Most importantly, I have my dress! :D I went to the bridal salon with my Mom and my matron of honor. I tried on about 8 dresses total, and "the one" was the 3 dress in. As soon as I put it on, I knew, but I wanted to try on the others, just to be sure (plus I ws enjoying being princess for a day, lol!). Then I came back to "the one" and I just knew that was it. The designer is Amsale and it's from her 2004 collection so there aren't even any pictures on the website yet.

Janet - Your dress is gorgeous! And that is so awesome that you are getting married in Vegas. What are you having for your menu?

Dana - Kauai will be beautiful in November. :) That is one of the places DF I are thinking about going for our honeymoon.

Carrie - less than a month! How exciting. Glad everything got straightened out at your reception site...AND you got a free room out of it, so it isn't all bad. :)

Jen - How are you plans coming? Hehee, isn't registering tons of fun?

[stefania4]

Just a word of (admittedly unsolicited) advice: if you're having an adults-only event, some people will need to be beaten over the head with the fact that they can't bring their offspring.

Of the 30+ weddings I've been to, only two allowed children. They were both remembered for the screaming babies (no one could hear vows, the video is worthless), kids running into the cake/people on the dance floor/large floral displays, etc.

So we decided that our reception would be only for adults. It is not enough just to leave the kids' names off the inner envelope. Nor is it enough to phrase your RSVP card "____ (you fill in the number) seats have been reserved in your name. _____ (they fill in the number) will attend."

And apparently it's still not enough to go overboard, as we did, by including an insert with hotel information and a note stating that "This is an adult event. Please contact us if you need assistance with childcare arrangements for children under age 18."

We had three - yes, three - couples call because "for some reason they felt like the baby may not be invited." We also had several where two were invited and they RSVPed for four. We're still in fear that people will just bring kids unannounced to the reception. I'm just astounded by how many people think you mean that other peoples' kids aren't invited, and their little one is somehow exempt.

If you're having kids at your wedding, great. If not, be prepared to make some phone calls once the RSVPs come in.

[1MegMeg]

Originally posted by stefania4
Just a word of (admittedly unsolicited) advice: if you're having an adults-only event, some people will need to be beaten over the head with the fact that they can't bring their offspring.

Of the 30+ weddings I've been to, only two allowed children. They were both remembered for the screaming babies (no one could hear vows, the video is worthless), kids running into the cake/people on the dance floor/large floral displays, etc.

So we decided that our reception would be only for adults. It is not enough just to leave the kids' names off the inner envelope. Nor is it enough to phrase your RSVP card "____ (you fill in the number) seats have been reserved in your name. _____ (they fill in the number) will attend."

And apparently it's still not enough to go overboard, as we did, by including an insert with hotel information and a note stating that "This is an adult event. Please contact us if you need assistance with childcare arrangements for children under age 18."

We had three - yes, three - couples call because "for some reason they felt like the baby may not be invited." We also had several where two were invited and they RSVPed for four. We're still in fear that people will just bring kids unannounced to the reception. I'm just astounded by how many people think you mean that other peoples' kids aren't invited, and their little one is somehow exempt.

If you're having kids at your wedding, great. If not, be prepared to make some phone calls once the RSVPs come in.

Thank you SO much for your advice. We are definitely planning to have an adult only reception. We are not having any children in the wedding party and are not planning to invite any to the wedding or reception.

I can tell already that 2 of my biggest headaches are going to be people who think "Adult only wedding" means other people's kids can't come, but theirs can and the people who don't understand what RSVP means.

:)

[JenZen]

Happy Monday, everyone.

Well, I didn't do much on the wedding side of things this weekend. I did arrange a meeting with the pastor for this coming Sunday. On Friday night, DF and I meet with the photographer, so I suspect I'll get a lot of things squared away this coming weekend.

My mom is finally fired up about my ideas. It took her a while, but now she is really hip on my rustic wedding idea, and she is in full planning mode. She has asked several of my relation to help with pies (if I haven't said this yet, I'm having wedding pie instead of wedding cake) and she is busy with the yard. She also scored 10 oak pews from the local Christian school, which she is painting white for the ceremony. She's making cushions for the seats as well.

I was busy moving and reorganizing this weekend. The funny thing is that I might have to pick up and move again in the near future, because we've started house shopping. DF placed first in a fishing tournament this weekend, which included a nice paycheck. So, I think we have enough for a down payment now. Not a huge down payment, but with the interest rates so low, we sort of want to jump in if we find anything.

1MegMeg, I know what you mean about feeling like a princess. I had so much fun trying on dresses with my mom. I could have done it all day. :) Didn't really know I had that in me.

DanaSD, I think that no matter what you decide, somone is going to disagree with it. I've been struggling with the same question as you: Why can't people just be happy for us? :) It'll get better. Everyone is finally warming up to our ideas.

And everyone else, I love reading about your plans. It's good to know that problems are typical and things usually work out in the end. I'm trying not to make mountains out of molehills lately. :)

[RebeccaT]

Crashing the thread to make a suggestion... :o

I was a bridesmaid this past weekend in a perfectly lovely summer wedding in Winston-Salem, NC. They did a couple of things in lieu of a "guest book" that I thought were so neat...

First, they took one of their engagement photos (one of the more candid shots instead of posed), blew it up (not sure if it was 5x7 or 8x10), and put an inexpensive, 4 inch wide mat around it. As people arrived at the reception, they signed the mat around their photo with their well-wishes. Once everyone was seated at dinner, someone put the mat and photo in a standard frame with glass, and propped it up on a plate stand thingy. It was so sweet to see all these signatures surrounding the picture of the couple!

Second, the bride and her mother got a simple black scrapbook with black pages. They bought some nice ivory notecards with envelopes, and glued the envelopes to the pages in the scrapbook, four to a page. They then placed the notecards (probably a hundred or so) on the table with some nice felt-tip pens. As guests wandered around the reception, they could stop by the table and write the bride and groom a note with wishes and prayers, advice or stories from their own marriages. After they completed their note, they placed the card in an envelope in the scrapbook. Imagine how much fun the couple will have when they return from their honeymoon, going through that book and reading the personal notes that people took the time to write! I think it is one of the nicest keepsakes I have ever seen for a wedding.

That's all! Have fun planning, ladies! :D

[stefania4]

Originally posted by JenZen
She also scored 10 oak pews from the local Christian school, which she is painting white for the ceremony. She's making cushions for the seats as well.Wow - elbow grease support is the best kind!

[JenZen]

How's it going ladies?

Well, I have DF all primed and ready for this weekend. It's my cousin's wedding, so I'm taking advantage of the wedding climate and making DF do a bunch of wedding stuff with me. We're also hauling some of my furniture back to my parents.

My dress alterations are done, so I just have to figure out a time to pick it up. Everything is a drive from here, so I can't just zip by.

Also, my heart decorations from Sundance came yesterday. They're perfect. I ordered 10 metal heart candle holders for the lodge windows. Here's a link to the hearts. (http://www.sundancecatalog.com/public/product-info.jsp;jsessionid=baa4qj9UOrhHGr?g11n.enc=ISO-8859-1&id=2994432)

DF is going to design our invites. He's a graphic designer, so now I just have to figure out where to have them printed.

And, that's about it from here.

Later,
Jen

[sararosalie]

This is such a fun thread!

I'm getting married on May 30, 2004. We've chosen the location for the ceremony and the reception (we are having both at an old mansion in Austin) and our attendants (3 each).

Work is crazy right now, but things should slow down in about a week. I'm hoping to choose a caterer, a florist and a photographer before the end of September.



I'm really enjoying reading about everybody's plans.

carrieateadingo -where in Austin are you getting married?

[JenZen]

Hello everyone!

Well, this past weekend was packed full of wedding stuff. I told DF he needed to give me at least two weekends before the date to get some big stuff taken care of. We met with a photographer on Friday night, and although she was great, she was way too expensive. My mouth is still hanging open. She charged $350 per hour plus the album. The minimum album was $1,600. Holy cow. So, we ruled that out. I need to find an alternative.

We met with the pastor on Sunday, and we have to buy a book and go through it together. Plus, we have several more meeting before the wedding. The book is called, "The First Years of Forever."

Let's see, I also picked out invites. Here's the link: invites (http://www.invitationconsultants.com/ocatalog2/invitation.asp?p_invitationitem=WE8832)

That's about it. We had to go to my cousin's wedding this weekend, so DF got to meet several of my relatives he hadn't met before. We had some quality family time together, which was nice.

Now, he says he gets to fish all this weekend because he gave up last weekend for wedding things. Oh geez! :)

[stefania4]

Those invitations are gorgeous!

[sararosalie]

What great invitations! They are really lovely.
Thanks for pointing the way to that web page. I'm resisting the urge to puruse the rest of it now since I'm buried in work at the moment.